Oil price floor China, the world’s second-biggest oil consumer, won’t cut fuel prices as long as oil trades below US$40 a barrel and will raise prices or limit price increases if the international prices go above US$130 a barrel, the country’s top economic planner, said in a statement on January 13. The floor price* and ceiling aim to buffer the negative effects of violent fluctuations in international oil prices, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). Profits from fuel sales “will go into a government fund for enhancing energy conservation, fuel quality and energy security,” the NDRC said. Property cooling measures Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said on Thursday that the recent dip in residential rent and property prices shows the government’s efforts to increase housing supply over the past three years have been effective and there is no need to relax the cooling measures for now. Speaking at a radio phone-in* program on Thursday morning on his 2016 Policy Address, Leung said property prices are still beyond what many people can afford so the cooling measures will stay. AIIB starts operation The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a China-initiated multilateral bank, started operations on Saturday, marking a milestone in the reform of the global economic governance* system. Representatives of the 57 founding countries gathered in Beijing for the AIIB opening ceremony in the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse. Chinese President Xi Jinping made a speech. Student killed in US A 19-year-old Chinese student was shot to death by an American woman after a collision between their cars in Arizona, the United States, on Saturday, an official from the Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles confirmed on Sunday. Local police have arrested 32-year-old Holly Davis, who has been booked* on three charges including a first-degree murder, according to AP. Jiang Yue was a sophomore at the Arizona State University, said Jerry Gonzalez, spokesman of the university. (SD-Agencies) | 