BizChina

The numbers for China's relentless push for a high-speed rail network are impressive -- in terms of debt, not passengers.

The argument in support of the vast project -- with many lines connecting to more sparsely populated inland regions -- is that they are a strategic investment that will link markets across the country.

Detractors counter that while high-speed rail may suit the densely populated eastern corridor, investment is wasted on inland projects which are better served, and more cheaply, by short flights and slow trains.

"It will be a liability, not an asset, for China," complained Zhao Jian, a professor with Beijing Jiaotong University, a vocal opponent of the ambitious plans.

Pork retail zone in NC supermark Chongqing City.

China will release its first domestic trade and logistic plan for the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) and set a target for total retail sales to reach 30 trillion yuan ($4.63 trillion) by 2015, Economic Information Daily reported Thursday.

The plan will position logistics as the leading and fundamental sector in the national economy and will set a series of targets. Targets will include the sales of producer goods reaching 70 trillion yuan by 2015, the e-commerce transaction reaching 12 trillion yuan and online retail sales reaching 2 trillion yuan.

Ignite Media Group (www.igniteasia.com) and China Telecom are partnering in Macau and Hong Kong to enrich the article and advertiser content of China Telecom’s VIP magazine, deLight.

Of particular interest to the new partners is Guangzhou, where deLight has a circulation of 200,000. Guangzhou is a stable and growing source of travelers to Macau, and Ignite Media Group and China Telecom hope to build on this base. Ongoing economic expansion policies in the Pearl River Delta are expected to benefit the exclusive sales partnership.

deLight’s readers share the upper-end demographics and focus of the readers of an Ignite Media publication, Destination Macau, which is distributed in the rooms of all major hotels in Macau as a premium benefit for guests. deLight is distributed door to door, and this distribution pattern to customers of the world’s largest fixed-line telephone network opens the door for targeted marketing campaigns. Ignite Media Group hopes to exploit this zoning option in attracting new advertisers to the magazine.

Car sales in China dipped 0.1 percent in May from a year earlier, marking the first decline in more than two years amid a rapid slowdown in the world's biggest auto market.

After two consecutive years of frantic expansion, car sales in China settled into a subdued growth pattern at the beginning of 2011, with year-to-date sales up a mere 6.1 percent, having surged by almost two-thirds in 2010.

Japanese manufacturers, suffering from production disruptions in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake and tsunami, continue to report weak China sales.

The Chinese market may continue to soften in the summer months, a traditionally slack season for car sales, followed by a moderate rebound in autumn, industry observers say.