(Yicai Global) Sept. 2 -- On Aug. 26, China's cabinet agreed to set up new free trade pilot zones in Yunnan, Shandong, Jiangsu, Guangxi, Hebei and Heilongjiang, taking the total number of such areas in the country to 18.

On Aug. 26, the Research Center for National Balance Sheet at the National Institution for Finance and Development published a report saying the debt-to-gross domestic product ratio rose by 5.1 percentage points in the first quarter and another 0.7 point in the second.

On Aug. 27, the National Bureau of Statistics published a report saying the total profit at China's biggest industrial enterprises tallied CNY3.5 trillion (USD489 billion) during the first seven months, down 1.7 percent annually.

On Aug. 29, Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng said that China's pork supplies were adequate and that he would monitor the market. The government will release its pork, beef and lamb reserves as necessary to increase supply, he added.

On Aug. 30, Indonesia's Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources said the country had signed new regulations on export restrictions. Shanghai's  most-held nickel futures surged 6 percent on the news to a record high CNY137,000 (USD19,140) a ton that night.

On Aug. 30, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China and Bank of China posted net profits of CNY168 billion, CNY154 billion, CNY121 billion and CNY114 billion for the first half, all growing between 4.5 and 4.9 percent.

As of Aug. 31, more than 3,200 of the 3,630 mainland-listed companies that had published their first-half reports had made a profit. Their total revenue tallied CNY21.3 trillion, up 9.1 percent, while net profit rose 8.1 percent to CNY1.9 trilion.

China yesterday expanded its centralized procurement of medicines in 25 regions, including the provinces of Shanxi, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Jiangsu and Zhejiang and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The bid-winning products were one average 52 percent cheaper than the previous lowest purchasing price.

The Shanghai Composite Index closed the week at 2,886.24, declining 0.39 percent throughout the week. The Shenzhen Component Index rose 0.03 percent to finish at 9,365.68, and the ChiNext Price Index, which tracks grown enterprises in Shenzhen, slid 0.29 percent to end the week at 1,610.90.