Beijing

FROM Sunday, China's long campaign to make sprawling state-owned industries more efficient will stretch beyond commodities like coal and steel into one of the most ancient markets of all - the salt trade.

As of Jan 1, almost 80 salt producers and traders from across China will be able to sell their wares in Beijing for the first time ever. The capital is implementing plans drawn up earlier this year by the central government to dissolve a monopoly that goes back centuries.