Ｍａｒｋｅｔ Ｗａｔｃｈ

TO THE POINT: China's central bank cut benchmark interest rates for the second timethis year to spur economic development against the backdrop of a possible world eco-nomic recession. Despite the devastating financial crisis, most banks here posted profitincreases in the first three quarters. Foreign banks operating in China doubled theirprofits in the first nine months year on year to more than 10 billion yuan ($1.47 billion),while domestic banks earned 237 billion yuan ($35 billion). The Industrial and Commer-cial Bank of China remained the world's most profitable bank. The October export taxrebate increase might not be enough to help exporters on the edge of bankruptcy, whosay cost surges and reduced foreign demand are the root causes of their problems. Thegovernment is conducting a survey of the salaries of staff at large state-owned enter-prises and has passed a law to safeguard the nation's state-owned assets.