China’s luxury consumer price index staged the fastest rise in five years, the Hurun Research Institute said. The index, based on a basket of 124 luxury goods and services, rose 5.1% in June from the same month of last year. Comparatively the country’s CPI rose a mere 1.9%, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said. “Luxury property, health and education drove up the Luxury Consumer Price index this year, coupled with a decrease in the value of the yuan against most major currencies,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, Chairman and Chief Researcher of Hurun Report. Property was the biggest riser, gaining over 13%. High-end health care costs rose for a third consecutive year, up 11.7%, while top education continued its decade-long uptrend with a 6.2% price hike. Luxury travel market prices increased 5%; and the market for jets and yachts recovered 1% after a huge decline of 10.5% last year. Prices in the watch and jewelry market rebounded 3.9% after declining 3.6% last year while prices of luxury accessories and cosmetic products increased 2.9% after dropping 2.9% last year, the Shanghai Daily reports.

China will consider helping to train European astronauts and is making technical preparations to do so, Huang Weifen, Deputy Research Director of the Astronaut Center of China, said. In January 2013, European astronauts took part in a weeklong exchange and training program in China, and the two sides later agreed to enhance training collaboration. One of China’s astronauts, Ye Guangfu, recently finished a week of underground training in Italy that was organized by the European Space Agency (ESA). He is the first Chinese astronaut to participate in multinational training.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has condemned the management team and major shareholders of property developer Vanke over a hostile takeover that has battered the company’s share price. They have not taken “effective measures” to resolve their differences, but have “intensified conflicts” instead, CSRC Spokesman Deng Ge said. They “disregarded the stability of the capital market, disregarded the sustainable development of the firm, and disregarded the interests of all medium and small shareholders,” he added. In December, Vanke’s founder, 65-year-old Wang Shi, had trading of the dual-listed firm suspended in both Shenzhen and Hong Kong, blocking private conglomerate Baoneng from buying its shares after it became Vanke’s largest shareholder with a stake above 24%. Baoneng has tried to eject Wang and Vanke’s senior management, and Vanke has also tried to bring in state-owned subway operator Shenzhen Metro group to overtake Baoneng as its biggest shareholder. The battle has dented the firm’s value, with its share price down 28.8% in Shenzhen and nearly 30% in Hong Kong since December, the Shanghai Daily reports.The Shenzhen Stock Exchange sent letters to both Vanke and Baoneng, saying they had violated information disclosure rules during their recent actions against each other, urging them to make sure they make immediate disclosure of any material information in the future. The CSRC reiterated that all illegal actions would be penalized.

The Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway has become the nation’s most profitable and convenient rail project, boasting an annual profit of CNY6.58 billion, according to data released by one of its shareholders. The Beijing-Shanghai High-speed Railway Co, a subsidiary of the national railway operator China Railway Corp, reported a record revenue of CNY23.42 billion, and a net income of CNY6.58 billion in 2015, its shareholder Tianjin Railway Construction Investment Holdings (Group) disclosed in a bond prospectus earlier this month. The Beijing-Shanghai bullet train line has become a role model that offers bright prospects for the rail sector, especially for the strategic investors, said Feng Hao, a rail transportation researcher at the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). “It proves that high-speed rail lines can generate a profit, even in the short term,” he said. Last year, passengers made nearly 130 million trips on the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway, and it is estimated that each trip contributed an average of CNY50 to the line. The Beijing-Shanghai line was the first in China to start turning a profit within three years. It was initially proposed in 1990, but construction only began in 2008. The work was finished in 2011, and it opened to the public in June that year. The cost was about CNY208.8 billion, the China Daily reports.

Shanghai municipality and Xiamen, Fujian province, have been ranked as the most developed and convenient cities for public transportation.Twenty big cities were evaluated based on factors such as the number of bus stops and subway stations, trip cost, the total number of bus and subway lines and the density of the public transportation network. Shenzhen, Guangdong province, was next in the rankings, while Beijing was ranked fifth. Chongqing came in last, according to the Public Transport Report of Big Chinese Cities in the First Half of 2016, compiled by amap.com. Shanghai boasts the most developed subway system with the highest density and longest total length, with more than 600 km of track, followed by 554 km in Beijing and 278 km in Guangzhou, the top three among the 26 cities in the country with subways. The passenger capacity of Shanghai’s subway system exceeded that of buses for the first time in 2014. “Metro lines will measure 800 km in 2020 and there will be more than 500 stations on 18 routes,” said Sun Jianping, Director of the Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission. More than 53% of Shanghai’s residents are within 500 meters of a bus stop, which compares with 37% in Beijing and just under 3% for Chongqing, the China Daily reports.