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10 percent

China raised the price of gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel by about 10 percent, or 500 yuan (US$62.4) per metric ton on May 23, sources with the State Development and Reform Commission said.

3.6 billion

Internet music downloading generated 3.6 billion yuan (US$449 million) in earnings in 2005, creating a new "dawn for China's online music," according to Liu Guoxiong,head of the Chinese Audio-Visual Association.

1.3 billion

In the first quarter of 2006, 18 Chinese mainland companies raised US$1.3 billion through overseas initial public offerings (IPO's).

18.48 billion

In the first four months of 2006, China got US$18.48 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI), 5.76 percent more than during the same period in 2005, said sources with the Ministry of Commerce.

6.6 percent

China's industrial production in April 2006 was 16.6 percent higher than that of April 2005, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on May 16.

110 star-rated hotels

Beijing will build 110 more star-rated hotels to ensure adequate accommodations for people who attend the 2008 Olympic Games; the 110 hotels will range from one to five stars in quality, with a majority of them targeting high-end guests, according to Du Jiang, director of Beijing Tourism Bureau, who spoke at a meeting on May 19.

416 million

There were 416 million mobile phone subscribers in China as of the end of April, the Ministry of Information Industry (MII) said on May 21.

1,150 tons

Taiwan shipped more than 1,150 tons of zero-tariff fruit to the Chinese mainland in the first four months of this year, roughly equivalent to that of the last five months of 2005, sources with the General Administration of Customs (GAC) announced on May 17.

1.5 billion

The World Bank has promised in its new China strategy to lend up to US$1.5 billion in loans to China annually from 2006 through 2010 via the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the bank said in a statement on May 28.

26 percent

A government-backed investigation has found that 26 percent of the software packages installed on computers throughout the country in 2005 were illegal, pirated copies, according to a China Daily report on May 15.

2,600 enterprises

More than 2,600 enterprises were closed down for causing serious environmental pollution and for violating industrial policies in 2005, according to an Environmental Protection in China (1996-2005) white paper issued on June 5 by the Information Office of the State Council. It was the country's second white paper on environmental protection since 1996.

90 percent

A national survey found that 91.8 percent of respondents were worried that their private information may be too easily divulged and misused. The survey was conducted in May by the national newspaper China Youth Daily and the Sina.com Web site and had 4,003 respondents.

50 million

General Electric Chairman Jeff Immelt, head of the world's second most valuable company, said GE will also invest up to US$50 million in China under an agreement with the Chinese Government to develop non-polluting technologies.

8 percent

Beijing residents spent one-third of their income on cultural and recreational activities in 2005, up 8 percentage point over 2004.