Top News in Brief      

* China has set the direction for boosting the agriculture and rural economy, according to the top session of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The guidance says the country should promote innovation in rural financial system, land management system, supporting and protecting the agriculture to modernize the agriculture.
   The top advisors expressed that they will make great effort to study the issues on agricultural and rural development, improving farmers' life and guaranteeing the security of grain supply.
   China's top economic planning agency said on October 20th the country would raise the minimum purchasing price for wheat by as much as 15.3% starting next year, to boost farmers' income and grain output.
   The country will also increase commercial storage of fertilizer to help ensure market supply.
  The central government allocated RMB102.86 billion (US$15.1 billion) of agriculture subsidies in 2008, doubling that from 2007.

* China's consumer price index (CPI) rose annually 4.6% this September, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on October 20th.
   In the first nine months of 2008, the inflation indicator rose 7.0% over the same period of last year, amid the CPI growth, 6.7% for urban areas and 7.7% for countryside. The growth was 0.9 percentage points lower than that in the first half of 2008.

* PPI this September rose 9.1% year-on-year, one percentage point lower than the 10.1% growth in August. The downward PPI growth contributes to falling prices of oil, steel and raw materials.
   Analysts expect the PPI growth to slow down further in the remaining months of 2008.

* During January to September period, China's GDP was up 9.9% year-on-year, being RMB20.163 trillion or US$2.96 trillion, according to NBS. The growth rate was 2.3 percentage points lower than the same period of 2007, or 0.5 percentage points lower than the first quarter of 2008.

* China attracted US$74.37 billion of foreign trade investment (FDI) in the first nine months of 2008, up 39.85% year-on-year, the Ministry of Commerce released on October 10th.
   FDI in September alone was US$6.6 billion, lowest this year. Economist worries about foreign fund to flow out of China.  
   The number of newly established foreign firms dropped by 26.25%, being 20 801 in the first nine months of 2008. There were 2 004 foreign firms newly established in September.