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Summary of significant accounting policies (Details 4) | 12 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2015 CNY (¥) ¥ / $ shares | Mar. 31, 2014 CNY (¥) shares | Mar. 31, 2013 CNY (¥)
Investment in equity investees |  |  |
Period of time within which results of equity method earnings are recognized in arrears | 3 months |  |
Impairment charges of cost method investments | ¥ 419,000,000 | ¥ 119,000,000 | ¥ 245,000,000
Impairment charges of equity method investments | ¥ 438,000,000 | ¥ 0 | 0
Treasury shares |  |  |
Number of ordinary shares included in treasury shares account | shares | 28,245,662 | 33,000,000 |
Statutory reserves |  |  |
Percentage of after-tax profit from subsidiaries incorporated in the PRC required to be appropriated to the statutory reserves | 10.00% |  |
Limit of statutory reserve fund as a percentage of registered capital, after which allocations to statutory reserve fund are no longer required | 50.00% |  |
Convenience translation |  |  |
Convenience exchange rate (RMB to USD) | ¥ / $ | 6.1990 |  |
PRC |  |  |
Statutory reserves |  |  |
Appropriation to statutory reserves | ¥ 267,000,000 | ¥ 1,137,000,000 | 241,000,000
Appropriation to the enterprise expansion fund and staff welfare and bonus fund | 0 | 0 | 0
Interest rate swaps |  |  |
Interest rate swaps |  |  |
Loss recorded in consolidated income statements upon termination of the interest rate swaps contracts | 59,000,000 |  |
Gain (loss) on the fair value change of the interest rate swaps not qualified for hedge accounting | ¥ (43,000,000) | ¥ 102,000,000 | ¥ 0

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- Definition This item represents an other than temporary decline in value that has been recognized against an investment accounted for under the cost method of accounting. The excess of the carrying amount over the fair value of the investment represents the amount of the write down which is or was reflected in earnings. The written down value is a new cost basis with the adjusted value of the investment becoming its new carrying value. Evidence of a loss in value might include, but would not necessarily be limited to, absence of an ability to recover the carrying amount of the investment or inability of the investee to sustain an earnings capacity which would justify the carrying amount of the investment. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 325 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6872867&loc=d3e40691-111596 + Details
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