PetroChina – the country’s largest oil and gas producer – said it’s refining unit would import 40% of the 120 million tons of crude oil it needs for refining this year, signaling China’s rising dependence on imported crude oil, the Economic Daily reported. It imported 30% of its crude last year, while China as a whole imported 47% of its oil needs. According to Jiang Xinmin, a researcher with the Energy Research Institute under the National Development and Reform Commission, imported crude is expected to climb one percentage point as a percentage of total consumption each year until 2020. Jiang added that PetroChina’s refining business would remain profitable as long as the crude oil price stayed under US$65 a barrel. Separately, Sinopec – China’s largest oil refiner – has signed a petrochemical joint venture deal with its South Korean counterpart SK Corp to build a nearly US$2 billion refinery in Wuhan, in central China’s Hubei province, whichj is expected to produce 800,000 tons of ethylene a year by 2010.

The central government plans to double water discharge fees for companies that dump waste or pollute the environment, the China Times reported. A deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission said current sewage treatment fees of RMB0.67 per ton were insufficient to cover the government’s waste treatment expenditures. The move comes as China’s sulfur dioxide emissions rose 27% between 2000 and 2005, failing to fulfill the government’s target to reduce emissions by 10%. Once the new fees are imposed, those who do not pay or on the default the payment will be disconnected from the power and water supply.

PricewaterhouseCoopers will increase its number of employees in China by 3000 by 2011 to keep up with growth in the country’s listing and merger and acquisition deals, the China Business News reported. The accounting company, which currently has 8,000 employees, has recently appointed 40 new partners on the mainland and 15 in Hong Kong. PwC’s partners in China represent 5% of its partner pool worldwide and the percentage will double in five years, according to PWC’s global CEO, Samuel di Piazza.

The RMB is likely to appreciation faster against major currencies this week due to market speculation of another interest rate rise, the Shanghai Financial News reported. Economists said strong economic indicators in May were likely to persuade the central bank to take measures to rein in the world’s fourth largest economy, while Premier Wen Jiabao implied more tightening initiatives were likely to prevent the economy from overheating. Last Friday, the RMB closed at 7.6246 against the greenback – up from 7.6550 a week earlier – as the central bank set the central parity rate at 7.6238. The Chinese currency has appreciated almost 8% since the government scraped the pegged rate of 8.28 to dollar on July 21, 2005.

Government efforts to cool the housing market are having little effect, and a surge in student numbers in recent years will soon spill over into the market, pushing prices even higher. China Economy discusses the effect of these changing demographics, and argues that stronger government efforts are needed to cool the sector.