"Central bank operations recently have already been in the direction of tightening. Monetary policies won't be any looser next year, in the broad policy frame of 'deleveraging'."

Zhang Qi, a Shanghai-based economist with Haitong Securities Co Ltd, said monetary policy next year may in reality be tighter than the "prudent" setting that is often mentioned. China will maintain its "proactive" fiscal policy and "prudent" monetary policy next year, said a statement issued at the conclusion of the annual Central Economic Work Conference on Dec 13.

"China has huge potential for natural gas use in the transport sector as the number of clean-energy vehicles continues to grow."

Dai Jiaquan, deputy director of the Oil Market Research Office with the CNPC Economics and Technology Research Institute. He estimated that China's natural gas consumption in the transport sector will reach 32 billion cubic meters in 2015 and grow to 56 billion cubic meters in 2020, which means it will replace 26 million tons of petroleum in 2015 and 46 million tons in 2020.

"China is growing much faster in terms of salary increases than the rest of the world."

Richard King, managing director of Michael Page North & Eastern China. Many Chinese employers expect to see as much as double-digit salary increases for their employees next year, according to the China 2014 Salary & Employment Forecast issued by global leading recruitment specialist Michael Page.

( China Daily European Weekly 12/20/2013 page18)