Subway projects

    THE government approved subway projects in three cities including Beijing, Tianjian and Shenzhen worth a total of 464.77 billion yuan (US$73.04 billion), the country’s top economic planner said.

    The government has approved billions of dollars in infrastructure projects in recent months to stave off a sharper economic slowdown. The government has been particularly keen on projects in the less-developed western part of the country.

    Bombardier, CRRC unit

    THE commerce ministry has fined Canada’s Bombardier and a unit of local trainmaker CRRC Corp. 150,000 yuan each for setting up a joint venture before obtaining prior government approval.

    Bombardier and CSR Nanjing Puzhen agreed to invest 125 million yuan each in November 2014 to set up the joint venture but only notified regulators in December, violating the anti-monopoly law, the ministry said Tuesday.

    Microsoft Corp.

    MICROSOFT Corp. and its Chinese partner in an Xbox game console venture have been fined by China’s commerce ministry for breaching antitrust rules but escaped serious punishment after it deemed they did not hamper free market competition.

    Microsoft and Shanghai Oriental Pearl Media Co. Ltd., known as BesTV, were fined 200,000 yuan each for failing to report to antitrust regulators that their joint venture exceeded a market share threshold that usually triggers a disclosure requirement.

    Anti-dumping duty

    CHINA has imposed anti-dumping duty on optical fiber preform imported from Japan and the United States, China’s commerce ministry said yesterday.

    Companies affected included Corning Incorporated and Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd., the ministry said. The anti-dumping duty will be imposed for two years starting from Aug.19, 2015.