China's investment in highways, waterways up 2.9 pc in Jan-Nov

China's fixed-asset investment (FAI) in highways and waterways registered steady growth in the first 11 months of the year, official data showed. Total FAI in highways and waterways reached 2.16 trillion yuan ($294 billion) during the January-November period, a year-on-year growth of 2.9 percent, according to statistics from the Ministry of Transport.

Specifically, investment in inland rivers expanded 7.5 percent to reach 54.75 billion yuan, while that of highway construction recorded a growth rate of 1.9 percent to 2.02 trillion yuan during the period.

The FAI growth rate registered in central regions hit 6.7 percent year-on-year for the first 11 months, which was much higher than that of western and eastern China. China's cargo throughput at ports climbed 8.3 percent year-on-year to 12.7 billion tons in the first 11 months, official data showed.

Foreign trade cargo throughput amounted to 3.96 billion tons in the January-November period, up 4.7 percent year-on-year. Meanwhile, container throughput at ports registered a 4.5-percent increase to around 239.5 million TEUs (20foot equivalent units) in the same period.

At the beginning of the year, the Ministry of Transport expanded the statistical range from major ports to all ports across the country. The cargo throughput growth at ports came amid the steady expansion of China's waterway freight volume, which increased 6.3 percent year-on-year to 6.8 billion tons in the first 11 months.

The China Shouguang vegetable price index, a barometer of the country's vegetable market, fell 1.15 percent to 148.6 points on Sunday. The closely-watched vegetable price index was published daily by the city of Shouguang, Shandong province, China's major vegetable production base and its vegetable distribution and price-setting center.

The index was approved by the Ministry of Commerce in 2010 and first published on April 20, 2011 to offer more timely and accurate reference for vegetable growers and traders. China's top economic planner approved eight fixed-asset investment (FAI) projects with combined investment totaling 7.1 billion yuan ($1.02 billion) in November, official data showed.

The projects were mainly in the energy industry, according to Meng Wei, a spokesperson with the National Development and Reform Commission. China continued to see steady growth in FAI, boosted by robust high-tech investment and improving trend in some weak areas.

The FAI grew 5.2 percent year-onyear in the first 11 months of 2019, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

FAI includes capital spent on infrastructure, property, machinery and other physical assets. From January to November, 7.12 million trademark registration applications were filed in China, according to the trademark office of the National Intellectual Property Administration. China's total number of effective registered trademarks has reached 24.78 million, with every 4.9 market entities owning one registered trademark on average.

The public services related to trademarks have become more efficient and convenient. The period needed to review trademark registration in China has been shortened to five months on average.

Meanwhile, China's tertiary industry delivered impressive job gains with growing per capita revenue, the fourth national economic census showed.

By the end of 2018, the number of employees in the wholesale and retail sectors stood at 40.08 million, up 20.9 percent from 2013, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The accommodation and catering sectors had 7.06 million employees in 2018, up 2.1 percent from 2013.