Foreign finance firms

CHINA is mulling allowing foreign multinationals to establish finance companies in the country in its latest opening-up move.

Foreign multinationals will be able to establish finance companies directly or through foreign-funded investment companies established in China, according to a draft document released by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission. In the draft, the same market access conditions are applied to foreign-funded finance companies and Chinese counterparts.

Shanghai port traffic

SHANGHAI port registered a throughput of more than 4.3 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in July, a record high in the same period, the port operator said Tuesday.

From January to July, the port’s total throughput achieved positive growth compared with the same period last year despite the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, according to Shanghai International Port (Group) Co. The daily average throughput in July neared 140,000 TEUs, recovering to the pre-epidemic level, the company said.

Freight train services

CHINA-EUROPE freight train services saw robust growth in July amid a safe and smooth operation, according to China State Railway Group Co.

The number of China-Europe freight train trips surged 11% year on year to hit a record 1,517 last month. The freight trains handled 149,000 20-foot equivalent units of goods, up 12% from a year ago. During the first seven months, the number of China-Europe freight train trips rose 3% year on year to 8,990. The trains transported a total of 869,000 20-foot equivalent units of goods, an increase of 4% from a year ago.