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As the year draws to a close, both developers and homebuyers are speculating on how housing prices will behave in 2006. The Hong Kong Commercial Daily reports that developers have been predicting a continued rise in prices, but finds it unlikely that the government will allow any significant increase to occur.

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The draft of China's new personal income tax regulations released this week require that "high-income individuals must voluntarily file a tax return." This is designed to address the inequalities that exist in the current system, in which low- and middle-income wage-earners shoulder the majority of the tax burden through salary withholdings. High-income individuals are often able to avoid paying any income tax at all.

When statistics were revealed recently that showed Shandong's share of the national GDP leaping forward, with a growth rate far outstripping Guangdong and other southern provinces, China's business media started bandying about the possibility of Guangdong losing its status as the national economic center. And when the list of China's top 1000 industrial enterprises was announced just this week, it was found that Guangdong had 45 fewer companies on the list in 2004 than it had in 2003.

On 26 August, the National Bureau of Statistics will formally announce "China's top 1000 industrial enterprises" for 2004. 21st Century Business Herald reports on an early release of the statistics and looks at how "growth" is measured for these companies.

Rumors have been circulating recently about a new national policy on chip development, with chip designers potentially being the chief benefactors. But according to industry insiders quoted in China Business, it's not the designers who need favorable treatment. Rather, China needs to foster development of systems and software that use the chips already designed.

Many new developments in Beijing are including use of community conference centers as enticements for purchasers. In light of the national law on property rights issued recently, Beijing Youth Daily looks at some of the ownership issues related to shared used of these buildings.