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• Sino-Africa Trade Hits Historic High - Editor, 18 July 2012

Released in Beijing on Monday, the Annual Report on the Development of Africa noted that, despite the turbulence experienced by some North African countries during 2011, bilateral trade had reached an historic high. Jointly compiled and published by China's Social Sciences Academic Press, the External Relations Bureau of the Ministry of Culture, and the Institute of West Asian and African Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the report reveals that bilateral trade volume reached US$166 billion in 2011, reflecting an increase of 31 percent over the previous year, and 8.4 percent higher than the Asian country's overall foreign trade growth rate.

• China’s Local Leisure Industry Continues to Grow - Editor, 4 July 2012

In a recently released report compiled by the National Academy of Economic Strategy under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, it was noted that leisure consumption accounted for more than 6 percent of China's gross domestic product, and over 15 percent of China's total retail sales of social consumer goods, with consumption reaching nearly 2.9 trillion yuan in 2011. The 2012 China Leisure Industry Development Report was compiled at the request of the China National Tourism Administration's Comprehensive Coordination Department and revealed that as the incomes of Chinese citizens grows, their demand for leisure-related products and services is becoming more diversified, with their leisure consumption rising steadily.