Expansion of New Urban Areas

Expansion of the new urban areas has been a concern in more than a decade and is becoming particularly urgent under the background of a new round of urbanization. Statistics show that in a recent survey， almost every city at regional level and above have built at least one new urban area. This problem has caused considerable attention from the government. Some authority people from the Ministry of Land and Resources said that the expansion problem of the new urban areas is severe enough to use some extraordinary supervision measures with great determination.

Puzzles for the Ministry of Transport

The dismantling of the Ministry of Railways was announced in March to reform China’s rail industry. Its original administrative powers and development planning functions were assigned to the Ministry of Transport. Subsequently， the State Council requires the State Commission Office for Public Sector Reform to establish and issue the reform plan involving the responsibilities adjustment of the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Transport， but the plan hasn’t been published yet.

True Government Debt Figures to Be Declared

The National Audit Office announced on July 28 that it will start a nationwide assessment of local government liabilities， which will address concerns about rising debt from overambitious development projects. The audit work was initiated on August 1st， which is expected to update China’s local government debt figures that stood at RMB 10.7 trillion （USD 1.75 trillion） by the end of 2010. However the audit work hasn’t yet entered the closing stage as the rumors said and the final results are expected to be declared in November.

CSRC Adjustments Under Way

It’s over half a year since Xiao Gang became the head of the China Securities Regulatory Commission （CSRC） in March and the commission is planning a new round of institutional adjustment. Some person close to the regulatory authority told Economy Nation Weekly that the commission is possible to combine some departments with similar regulatory functions and set up new departments for some advanced field such as bonds.