Economic Observer News- China business, politics, law, and social issues

PROPERTY: Preferential Loan Policy for First-home Buyers Eliminated; As of today, banks will only provide a 15% discount on mortgage interest rates for first-home buyers. The mortgage interest rate of second homes has been raised to 1.1 times that of the base interest rate. Loans will not be given to third-home buyers.; Caijing Online | 2010-11-01

STOCK MARKET: ChiNext Restricted Shares Become Tradable; Around 20 billion yuan of ChiNext restricted shares, 26% of the total, will be open for trading today. This is the first batch of restricted shares in the ChiNext market to be released for trade.; Caijing Online | 2010-11-01

PROPERTY: Trade Volume of Property Market in Many Cities Plummets; A month after the government issued new policies aimed at countering speculation and rising prices in the property market, the trade volume in 20 of the 35 cities monitored by the China Index Academy, one of Chinese largest private property research organizations, has witnessed a notable decrease, according figures released by the institution.; Xinhua News Agency | 2010-10-29

HOT MONEY: SAFE Uncovers 7.3 Billion US Dollars Worth of Illegal Hot Money Transfers in Pas...; The State Administration of Foreign Exchange announced yesterday that since February, they have uncovered 7.3 billion US Dollars worth of illegal hot money transfers. A total of 178 cases have been reported to or dealt with by the police and 6 Chinese banks were fined for their involvement in the illegal transfers.; Beijing Morning Post | 2010-10-29

PENSION: Retirees Will be Able to Draw Pensions Nationwide Within 5 Years; Currently, many retirees can only draw their pensions from the city in which they worked and made payments to their pension fund, but according to an official's response to a reporter's question during a news briefing held at the conclusion of the recent meeting of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, within five years, Chinese citizens will be able to draw their pensions from anywhe...; The Beijing Times | 2010-10-29

COTTON: Price of Cotton Rises 40% in Two Months; The price of cotton has risen from 18,000 yuan per ton at the end of August to 25,300 yuan per ton, a growth rate of almost 40 percent.; CCTV Online | 2010-10-29

LAW: NPC Standing Committee Votes to Adopt New Social Insurance Law; On the afternoon of October 28, the final day of the 17th bimonthly session of the 11th National People's Congress Standing Committee, delegates voted in favor of adopting a new law on social insurance. A draft of the law was first considered at the end of 2007 and now, after four readings, has finally been passed. The law is aimed at preventing the improper use of social security funds like the S...; China News Service | 2010-10-28