Scrap metal imports

SCRAP metal imports by China fell 44.5 percent in June from a year ago to 400,000 tons, the General Administration of Customs said yesterday.

Scrap copper imports dropped 39.8 percent in June from a year ago to 200,000 tons, while scrap aluminium imports slid 41.1 percent year on year to 110,000 tons last month. Waste paper imports were down 53 percent year on year at 1.12 million tons, while June waste plastic imports were zero.

Shadow banking

THE country’s shadow banking has declined sharply since the beginning of the year due to stricter supervision.

“At the beginning of the year, authorities made it clear that the risks from shadow banking and cross-industry financial businesses will be included in this year’s main subjects for rectification,” said Sheng Songcheng, an advisor to the People’s Bank of China. Central bank data showed that entrusted loans in the first half of the year dropped by more than 800 billion yuan (US$118 billion).

4G mobile users

THE number of fourth-generation (4G) mobile Internet users in China has exceeded 1.1 billion, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

Mobile broadband users including 3G and 4G subscribers reached 1.26 billion by the end of June this year, accounting for 83.2 percent of the country’s total mobile phone accounts, an MIIT report showed.

Alibaba expansion

E-COMMERCE giant Alibaba has agreed to pay US$2.23 billion for a roughly 10-percent stake in Focus Media, a digital advertising company which operates screens in subways and elevators across China.

The move holds the potential to boost Alibaba’s core e-commerce operations. But it also extends the reach for Alibaba as a media operator.