Chinese companies invested less overseas last month than in October last year, reversing sharp year-on-year rises seen earlier this year, due to a high comparison base with the same month last year, when Beijing and Moscow signed major energy deals. Outward direct investment (ODI) by non-financial companies fell 12.2% year-on-year last month to USD6.9 billion, while such investment rose 17.8% in the first 10 months of the year. Investment surged 90.5% in September after more than doubling in August. Investment in Russia had slumped 78.8% in the first 10 months of the year, Ministry of Commerce Spokesman Shen Danyang said in Beijing, because it was “affected by major projects made in October last year”. Investment in the European Union soared 192.6% in the first 10 months, while that in Japan climbed 128.6%. Investment in Hong Kong grew 22%.

China and Australia finalized negotiations on a landmark free trade agreement (FTA) after nearly a decade of talks. The deal comes on the heels of the China-South Korean FTA agreement, boosting China’s regional economic integration. The deal is one of 23 agreed upon by the two countries during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Australia. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott hailed November 17 as a “historic day” for the country. Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng said that Australia would eventually reduce tariffs to zero on all goods imported from China, and China will remove tariffs on a vast majority of Australian goods. The FTA would cover more than 10 areas, including a simplified review procedure for investments, most-favored-nation treatment, favorable market access rules and market transparency. China is Australia’s largest trading partner, with two-way trade of USD130 billion in 2013. Australia is China’s eighth-largest trading partner and an important source of the raw resources that China needs to sustain its development. Australia has been keen to switch from a reliance on exports of minerals such as iron ore to expanding its food and agricultural exports, the China Daily reports. The free trade agreement will be formally signed next year. Trade between the two countries stood at USD132 billion last year, according to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Of Australia’s total exports to China of AUD94.7 billion last year, iron ore accounted for AUD52.7 billion, according to Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Wool, the top agricultural export, made up just AUD1.9 billion.

The Beijing municipal government is moving ahead with plans to let public hospitals sell franchises to the private sector so that patients can get access to a wider range of quality services. The new system, if adopted, would make Beijing the first place in China to let private investors set up offshoots of public hospitals and capitalize on their reputations. In return, the public institutions would get greater access to investment capital.

The Chinese government is to beef up anti-counterfeiting measures aimed at electronic retailers. Increasing cross-border e-commerce trade, often featuring small packages sent by courier, meant new approaches were needed to crack down on counterfeit goods, Chai Haitao, Deputy Director of the Office of the National Leading Group for Combating IPR Infringement and Counterfeits, said. China has long been criticized for lacking adequate protection of intellectual property rights (IPR), especially trading on the internet. Nearly 20,000 people were prosecuted in IPR-related cases in the first three quarters of the year. Jack Ma, CEO of Alibaba, said “greedy” consumers were to blame for the prevalence of knock-off and fake goods available on the internet. “If you want to buy a Rolex for CNY25, you can only be blamed for being too greedy,” he told the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province. Some 26% of goods sold online in China failed government quality standards, said Chai, citing a recent report by the national product quality watchdog.

Almost 400 more people have joined the ranks of the Chinese mainland’s super-rich. With 5% of the world’s super-rich, China ranks second in Asia after Japan, and fifth in the world behind the United States, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom, according to the Wealth-X and UBS World Ultra Wealth Report. As of June, 11,070 individuals on the mainland now had net assets worth at least USD30 million, an increase of 395 over the previous 12-month period. Their combined net worth rose 3.3% to USD1.6 trillion. With an average age of 53, China’s super-rich population is among the youngest of the 60 countries and regions covered by the survey, compared with the global average age of 59. Women make up 15% of China’s super rich and have 12% of the total wealth. On average, China’s rich women have a net worth of USD114 million, compared with their male counterparts’ USD146 million. 91% are self-made millionaires. China’s super-rich population holds 7.3% of its total wealth, significantly lower than the 12.8% share of global wealth held by the world’s wealthy population. Globally, the report shows that 12,040 new ultra-high net worth individuals were created from July 2013 to June 2014, bringing the global wealthy population to a record 211,275, the Shanghai Daily reports.