Mutual funds operating in China lost a combined CNY44 billion in the fourth quarter of last year as equity funds suffered the most due to a sluggish stock market. The loss narrowed the net gain the funds made last year to CNY172.4 billion, up 38% from a year earlier, data from TX Investment Consulting Co showed. Equity funds reported a loss of CNY35 billion from October through December when tight liquidity and concerns over the reboot of initial public offerings (IPOs) depressed the stock market. Bond funds suffered a loss of CNY6.8 billion in the fourth quarter while hybrid funds lost a combined CNY12.7 billion.

The Chinese units of the Big Four auditing firms KPMG, Deloitte & Touche, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Ernst and Young are to appeal a U.S. ruling suspending them from practicing in the U.S. for six months. The Chinese units were censured for “willfully” failing to provide the U.S. securities regulator with the audit working papers of Chinese companies under investigation for accounting fraud. The ruling will not take effect until reviewed and approved by the full SEC Committee. In their statement, the auditing firms said: “It is regrettable that the SEC’s administrative law judge has recommended sanctions against the Big Four firms in China for failing to produce work papers to the SEC in circumstances where such production would have violated Chinese law and regulations. The firms intend to appeal and thereby initiate that review without delay.” The firms “can and will” continue to serve all their clients without interruption in the meantime, it said. If the decision is upheld, more than 200 Chinese companies listed in the U.S. will have to find new auditors. The ruling is the latest escalation in a six-year standoff between China and U.S. securities regulators over accessibility to audit documents, the Shanghai Daily reports.

The central government has agreed in principle to approve 12 new free trade zones (FTZs), three months after giving the special status to a zone in Shanghai. The 12 would include zones in Guangdong, which has been lobbying the central government by highlighting its economic ties with Hong Kong, and Tianjin. Those two FTZs were likely to be launched in about a year. Other candidates included Zhejiang’s Zhoushan, which consists of several islands with a focus on the shipping business; Qingdao; Chengdu; Wuhan; and Hangzhou. A Shanghai-based researcher said the approval of more FTZs might not necessarily erode Shanghai’s edge, but would increase the bargaining power of the new zones. “A collective lobbying effort from various provinces and municipalities would probably prompt the central government to make determinations on financial liberalizations, such as convertibility of yuan under the capital account,” said the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences researcher, who asked not to be identified. Analysts said more free-trade zones would increase competition for talent and capital and result in an infrastructure building spree in the near term. In the longer term, they said that punishing competition and economic development might ultimately result in three prominent zones – one each in eastern, southern and northern China. Yuan internationalization and financial services would be key elements in all zones.

A 31-year-old Shanghai emergency room doctor has been confirmed to have died from the H7N9 bird flu virus. He worked at the Pudong New Area People’s Hospital and had denied that he had close contact with live poultry. Experts said the public needn’t panic as there was no evidence the virus could spread between humans. But the World Health Organization (WHO) Representative said human-to-human transmission of the H7N9 bird flu virus might occur on a limited scale in China. Shanghai has reported seven cases of H7N9 infection this year. Shanghai’s live poultry markets will shut from the end of this month until April 30 in a bid to prevent more cases. Experts warned that more cases could be reported in the Lunar New Year holiday season due to increases in poultry consumption. Human cases of H7N9 have also been reported in Jiangsu, Fujian and Guangdong, which reported its third H7N9 death. China has reported more than 200 human cases of H7N9 since March last year. Feng Zijian, Deputy Director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that there have been no mutations of the virus in terms of drug resistance, viral activity and in transmission capacity since March. Ten human H7N9 bird flu cases were reported in China on January 24, including seven in Zhejiang province, forcing cities in the province to close their live poultry markets. All the newly reported cases are in critical condition. One infection was also reported in Beijing. Zhejiang has seen new human H7N9 cases for 17 consecutive days since January 9. The new cases brought the number of infections in the province to 46 so far this year.

As many as 59,222 people suspected of intellectual property rights infringement were seized by Chinese police in 2013, the Ministry of Public Security said. They were involved in 55,180 cases with an estimated value of CNY173 billion. More than 90 million tons of counterfeit and substandard goods were confiscated, and 1,260 criminal networks smashed. During a special campaign against online sales of fake drugs, a record 300 million pills worth CNY2.2 billion were seized by police. Police officers cooperated on IPR with Interpol, the World Customs Organization and law enforcement authorities from various countries, including the United States, Britain and France. The Ministry also took part in Interpol’s Operation Hurricane against counterfeiting and trafficking last year, helping to resolve 2,914 cases. China has an average of about 200,000 administrative punishment cases concerning IPR infringement each year.