Economy

Tax incentive for Green Cars

The State Administration of Taxation, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Finance have jointly announced tax cuts on energy-efficient cars and ships starting this year. The annual vehicle and vessel tax is reduced by 50 percent for energy-saving cars and ships, while the tax on those using new energy sources will be exempted. The half rate applies to those with petrol or diesel engines (including non-plug-in hybrid and duel-fuel passenger cars) that fulfill minimum emissions criteria. New energy vehicles are mainly those with pure electric, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell propulsion systems. When vehicle tax was first introduced, rates were based on seating capacity, and then re-based on engine size.

U.S., Canada and Australia Remain most Acquisitive in mining

A report by PricewaterhouseCoopers shows that, despite falling commodity prices, in 2011 more than 2,600 merger and acquisition deals, worth a total of US $149 billion, were announced in the global mining sector. This is 33 percent higher than 2010. Consistent with past trends, buyers based in the U.S., Australia and Canada were responsible for the lions share of merger and acquisition values in the global mining sector in 2011. The three countries together accounted for 53 percent of annual acquisition values, up from 46 percent in 2010. Australia remained at the top with 22 percent market share, while U.S. supplanted China to become the second most acquisitive by value, representing 17 percent of buy-side values, up from nine percent in the previous year. The same trend is evident when segmenting the market by volumes. Australia, Canada and the U.S. represented 57 percent of buy-side activity. Canada-based buyers alone are involved in 30 percent of all global mining acquisitions. China and Russia continue to be the only non-Western countries to make it into the top five. Last year saw buyers based in these two countries lead 16 percent of deals by value and 11 percent by volume.

Germany and China Favor each Other as investment Recipients

According to Germanys Foreign Trade and Investment Agency GTAI, a total of 827 foreign corporations from 33 countries made investments in Germany last year. China has the biggest share, with 158 investment projects, followed by the U.S. (110), Switzerland (91) and France (53). A survey by AHK (Delegations of German Industry and Commerce) on 7,000 German businesses shows that 44 percent aspire to make overseas investment, and that China, chosen by 43 percent of the group, is their favored potential destination.

First private Jet Dealer

Zhuhai Cirrus General Aviation Co., Ltd. (Zhuhai BAC) opened a private jet 4S shop in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, the countrys first fixed-base operator (FBO) that provides aeronautical services such as fueling, hangaring and aircraft maintenance. The company sells two models, one priced about RMB 3 million and the other RMB 5 million. The store sold 14 private jets in the first four days of operation, mostly to customers in Shenzhen, Dalian and Heilongjiang. The company is planning to open more private jet dealers across the country, and preparation is underway in Shenyang, Dandong, Jilin and Daqing.