Foreign investment

THE State Council issued guidelines Friday for previously announced measures easing restrictions on foreign investment in sectors including agriculture, coal mining, vehicles and aircraft.

The rules detail steps announced by the State Council during a briefing last week as part of China’s effort to further open its economy and markets and attract capital in industries including transportation, logistics, and professional services.

Investment projects

THE National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country’s top economic planner, said Friday that it approved 16 fixed asset investment projects worth 18 billion yuan (US$2.81 billion) in May.

The projects were mainly in telecommunications, NDRC spokeswoman Meng Wei told reporters at a news conference. The NDRC said last month that it approved 15 fixed asset investment projects worth 51.7 billion yuan in April. Official data showed China’s fixed asset investment growth cooled to 6.1 percent in the January-May period from the same period a year earlier, the slowest pace since at least February 1996.

Ford sales slump

FORD Motor Co.’s struggle to boost sales in China showed no sign of ending soon with volumes for May sliding 29 percent despite steps being taken by the U.S. automaker like appointing a new sales leader and readying launches of new products.

The company’s sales volumes in the world’s biggest auto market fell in May to 61,744 vehicles from a year earlier, Ford said Friday. That took sales volumes for the first five months of the year to 338,386 vehicles, down 22 percent from the corresponding period a year ago. Ford has been dealing with the sales slump since last year, caused in part by a dearth of competitive fresh products.