Rail freight volume

    CHINA’S rail freight volume in February rose 19.4 percent from the same period last year to 281.21 million tons, the National Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday.

    The amount of cargo carried by railways went up 14.5 percent year on year to 591.78 million tons in the first two months of 2017, the data showed. China’s rail freight volume in January rose 10.4 percent from a year earlier. Rail freight is one component, together with electricity consumption and bank lending, that makes up the so-called “Li Keqiang index,” named after the country’s premier, to measure the well-being of the economy.

    Financial partner

    THE United Kingdom wants to be China’s leading Western partner as the Asian power is regaining its place as the world’s biggest economy, a top official at Britain’s finance ministry said Tuesday.

    “China is well on the way to reclaiming its position as the world’s largest economy and the U.K. Government firmly believes it is in our interest, as home to the world’s leading financial center, to be by China’s side as it makes that journey,” said Katherine Braddick, director general for financial services at the finance ministry.

    Huawei expansion

    HUAWEI Technologies Co. Ltd. will spend NZ$400 million (US$282 million) on research and development in New Zealand, the New Zealand Government said yesterday.

    With domestic partners in New Zealand, the Shenzhen company will build a cloud data center and innovation labs at universities in Christchurch and Wellington, New Zealand economic development minister Simon Bridges and science minister Paul Goldsmith said in a joint statement. “The initiatives that Huawei is committing to will also help strengthen our research and development activity and capability building in the digital and technological world,” Bridges said.