879 Listed Companies See H1 Profits Down 18%
The China Securities Journal reports that 879 listed companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges have posted their first-half results yesterday, reporting 114.3 billion yuan ($16.73 billion) in combined profits, down 18% from the 140.6 billion yuan recorded a year earlier. In the first half of 2009, the 879 companies' revenue reached about 1.54 trillion yuan, compared with 1.64 trillion yuan in the same period last year.

China's Current-account Surplus Falls
According to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange yesterday, China's current-account surplus fell 32% in the first half from a year earlier, the first decline in five years due to dropping exports and increasing outbound investments.

GD's Export Volume on the Rise
The head of the Guangdong Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation bureau, Liang Yaowen, admitted that though Guangdong's export volume is seeing smaller decrease rates every month and might even see an increase in the 4th quarter of this year, it may still be difficult to achieve a yearly increase in the volume of exports. Statistics show that since May, the decrease rate is getting smaller and that July even saw an 11% increase from that of June.

Thailand Opens Third investment-luring Office in Guangzhou
The Thai Board of Investment has opened an office in Guangzhou, its third office in China after Beijing and Shanghai. According to the agency's secretary-general, its strategic location as a port on the Pearl River, with access to the South China Sea and to Hong Kong and Macau makes Guangzhou an important gateway to southern China.

HK's Consumer Prices Fall 1.5%
According to the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department yesterday, Hong Kong's Consumer prices fell 1.5% in July compared to the same month last year, as local and external price pressures were both virtually absent.