China's business press carried the following stories on Monday. China.org.cn has not checked the stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

Carrefour won't exit China market--China Business News

In response to recent rumors that French retail giant Carrefour SA may retreat from the Asian and Latin American markets, Carrefour China told China Business News yesterday that the company had no intention of quitting China.

The retail giant has closed its operations in Japan, South Korea and Mexico after poor performance in recent years. Britain's weekly Economist carried an article on October 8, saying that two major shareholders of Carrefour, Colony Capital and billionaire Bernard Arnault are pressing it to sell its Asian and Latin American operations and exit the Chinese market.

China raises QFII investment limit to US$ 1b--Shanghai Securities Nwes

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange announced Saturday that it had raised the limits on securities investment by Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (QFII) from 800 million US dollars to 1 billion US dollars.

It also cut the lockup period for securities investments by foreign pension funds, insurance funds and mutual funds from one year to three months, in a bid to encourage both mid-term and long-term investments.

Think tank: China's GDP to grow 8.3 percent this year--China Securities Journal

China's economy will grow 8.3 percent this year, according to a Chinese Academy of Social Sciences report released on Saturday.

The report projected growth of 9 percent next year if the global economy continues to recover and no major natural disasters occur.

It ruled out the possibility of serious inflation this year or next on the grounds of ongoing sluggish demand and surplus output capacity, but said the CPI will return to positive territory and remain at around 3 percent throughout next year.

Central Huijin raises stakes in China's three largest lenders--Shanghai Securities News

Central Huijin Investment Ltd, the domestic investment arm of China's sovereign wealth fund, has increased its stakes in China's three largest lenders, the banks said Monday.

Central Huijin has increased its stakes from 35.41to 35.42 percent in Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, 57.08 to 57.09 percent in China Construction Bank and 67.5258 to 67.5279 percent in Bank of China, in a sign of Huijin's confidence in the stock market recovery and the macro economy, said the lenders.

The investment arm said it would further increase its stakes in the banks in the coming 12 months.

Central SOEs in 8 major industries see profit fall in 2008--China Business News

Centrally-administered state-owned enterprises (SOE) in eight of nine major industries, including the aviation industry, petrochemical industry and the power sector, reported profit falls last year as a result of the slowing economy, mounting costs, policy issues and natural disasters, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council announced over the weekend.

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