China’s recent cooling measures to curb real estate price growth have negatively affected foreign institutional investors, the China Daily reported.

Last year, China’s Ministry of Commerce ordered local authorities to stop approval of some foreign property investments to curb speculation amidst a huge influx of foreign investment in China’s real estate sector.

Local authorities are also required to strengthen their reviews of foreign exchange inflows for real estate transactions.

David Edwards at LaSalle Investment Management, a US real estate fund with US$45 billion under management, said, “We’ve investigated a number of projects since the last quarter of 2010. Though reducing market liquidity has made the price of assets more attractive, the tightening regulations have made investment much more difficult.”

Property Report, however, points out that statistics from the Ministry of Commerce show that foreign investment in the nation’s property sector rose to US$20.1 billion in the first 11 months of 2010, a 48% increase and close to three times the increase in the country’s total overseas capital inflows.

Greek companies are willing to talk with the Chinese securities watchdog when the time is appropriate to list on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, according to Ioannis Diamantidis, the Greek minister of maritime affairs, islands and fisheries.

Speaking during a three-day visit to Shanghai arranged by the Consulate General of Greece in Shanghai, Diamantidis said, “We have discussed the potential entrance of Greek maritime companies into the stock exchange in Shanghai, but this is an issue to be discussed between the stock exchange and the maritime companies themselves.”

Chinese institutions are also expected to raise a shipping fund that assists construction of Greek ships in China from the original US$5 billion to US$8-10 billion.

English.Eastday.com reports that orders for about 350 vessels have been placed with Chinese shipyards over the past few years and since 2000, more than 150 ships have been delivered to Greek-owned firms.

Prices of agricultural commodities will remain high this year, increasing the cost of China’s imports, the US Department of Agriculture said.

In a 10-page document titled “Prospects for the US Farm Economy in 2011,” the USDA’s chief economist said wheat crops in Russia and China have been decimated by drought. If so, American farmers will be able to charge more for their crops.

China is now forecast to be the top market for US agricultural exports in 2011 with an estimated US$20 billion of purchases.

24/7 Wall Street reports that China is a major importer of a number of commodities, accounting for almost 60% of world soybean imports, 40 percent of world cotton imports and about 20% of total soybean oil imports.

These three commodities accounted for about three quarters of total US agricultural exports to China last year.

More than 34 million students graduated from the country’s higher-learning institutions between 2006 and 2010, China’s Ministry of Education said.

Xu Mei, the ministry’s spokeswoman, said this number exceeds that of all the graduates in the 20 years prior to 2006.

“During the 11th five-year plan period (2006-2010), higher education has become even more accessible to the general public,” Xu said.

China.org.cn reports that based on the “Outline of China’s National Plan for Medium and Long-Term Education Reform and Development (2010-2020),” which was published last year, “the strategic goals to be attained by 2020 are to basically modernize education; shape a learning society; and turn China into a country rich in human resources.”

The government of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region has agreed with the Yunnan subsidiary of China Eastern Airlines to launch a Yinchuan-Kunming service next month.

Ningxia is a Hui autonomous region and is on the northwest highland. The Yellow River flows through much of the land. The Great Wall of China runs along its northeastern boundary. The capital of the region is Yinchuan.

Ningxia is bounded by Shaanxi (to the east) and Gansu (in all directions but the north) provinces and Inner Mongolia (to the north.)

At the moment passengers flying to Kunming from Yinchuan have to transfer at Chengdu. The new service marks the first non-stop route between Yinchuan and Kunming. After Kunming it will fly on to Dubai.

China.org.cn reports the new service will operate twice a week, and the travel time for the whole route will be seven hours.