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How to Do Business with China, through Hong Kong & Setting up Business in China? - last update Feb 8, 2003 Hong Kong, China & Hawaii News Archive for Year 2002 Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle Weekly Update e-Newsletter
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News Updates on SARS It is amazing with a down economy and most small businesses are struggling that Hawaii lawmakers would support raising nearly $100 million in new taxes...... - By Lowell Kalapa, Hawaii Tax Foundation Go to Hawaii Reporter for complete story April 30, 2003
China: China’s State General Administration of Quality Supervision and Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) and Certification and Accreditation Administration (CNCA) on April 25, 2003 published at its website: www.cnca.gov.cn the Announcement No. 38 postponing the mandatory enforcement date of the CCC Mark from May 1, 2003 to August 1, 2003. The decision was made on April 23, 2003......Please enter here for complete story from U. S. Dept of Commerce Premier Wen Jiabao yesterday appealed for international understanding over the mainland's Sars crisis, asking for faith that his government could cope with a "grave situation". Amid growing panic in Beijing about the spread of Sars, the capital yesterday reported its biggest one-day rise in infections - 152. Shanghai will limit the number of new luxury housing projects this year after officials called for measures to cool the overheated property market, the city's Housing and Land Management Bureau said. Beijing's acting mayor warned on Wednesday the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) situation in the Chinese capital was ''severe'' and that a shortage of hospital beds was preventing patients getting timely treatment. ''The CPC Beijing Committee and Beijing municipal Government believes that at the present time the situation in Beijing remains severe for Sars prevention and treatment,'' acting mayor Wang Qishan said at a press conference. Cong Fukui, a former vice-governor of Hebei, was yesterday sentenced to death with a two-year repreive on corruption charges, Xinhua reported. The sentence was handed down by the Intermediate People's Court in Zhangjiakou, Hebei province. Cong, who served at the vice-governor post from July 1997 to July 200, and three other officials were arrested in 2000 for embezzling around 9.3 million yuan (HK$8.7 million) in an investment and loan scheme. He was expelled from the Communist Party a year later. Hong Kong: Donations to Project Shield were declared tax-deductible yesterday, giving a boost to the campaign to help Hong Kong's frontline medical workers. Supporters in Hong Kong and around the world have donated more than $8.4 million over the past five days. The family of a male nurse who died of Sars after working on high-risk wards was yesterday offered the chance to give him a permanent burial at Gallant Garden, a site reserved for people who die while performing exceptional acts of bravery. Hong Kong doctors yesterday produced reassuring news for parents preparing to send their children back to primary school from next week onwards: the Sars virus seems to be less aggressive in the very young than in teenagers and adults. Hong Kong stocks shook off weeks of depression to hop on board a surging regional stock market rally yesterday after the World Health Organization (WHO) signaled the Sars outbreak may have peaked in most Asian countries except China. April 29, 2003 Hong Kong: The WHO announced last night that Hong Kong's atypical pneumonia outbreak had peaked, but cautioned that its travel advisory would remain in place until there are no new cases of infection. Donors yesterday sent the Project Shield appeal to buy protective outfits for Hong Kong's frontline medical workers through the $6 million mark - enough to buy more than 200,000 suits for doctors, nurses and other health workers.
A coalition of local businesses believes Hong Kong's economy can be revived swiftly if consumers forget their Sars fears and get out and spend. More than 3,000 buyers attended a houseware and gifts fair in Hong Kong yesterday, which organisers said was higher than expected in view of the Sars outbreak. The Sars outbreak would probably trim economic growth in the region's developing countries by only a small margin, it was predicted yesterday. The Asia-Pacific electronics industry remains stable despite the outbreak of atypical pneumonia, according to a survey. Only 2 per cent of all mobile-phone subscribers in Hong Kong have registered for the so-called 2.5G or general packet radio service network (GPRS), compared with 62 per cent in South Korea, according to the local regulator, the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (Ofta).
Around 2,000 villagers torched a school building earmarked as a severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) quarantine centre, ransacked government offices and overturned cars in China's first reported instance of social unrest related to Sars, officials said on Tuesday. The mayhem in Chagugang town, a rural area not far from the heavily populated port city of Tianjin, happened on Sunday night after the Tianjin Government decided to convert a school into an isolation facility for people suspected of having contact with Sars patients. Four out of every 100 workers in Shanghai now come from outside the city, as rapid economic growth and greater integration with the rest of the Yangtze River delta create more jobs. Many Shanghai companies have traditionally favoured local residents, but construction and service-sector jobs are mainly filled by migrant workers. Some 2,959 companies from the two provinces set up operations in Shanghai last year, up by 34 per cent from 2001. Their registered capital reached 15.1 billion yuan (HK$14.3 billion), up 30.5 per cent. In 2002, the Shanghai government also signed 8 billion yuan worth of deals for 158 co-operative projects with the two provinces. The Ministry of Communications issued an emergency circular yesterday demanding that local officials stop disrupting the national transportation system as part of efforts to stop the spread of Sars to their provinces. Xinhua said last night that some provinces also had placed unauthorised restrictions on freight transportation. "The ministry maintains that such actions have severely undermined social stability and will probably also undermine the nationwide transport of essential medical equipment and materials used in the fight against Sars," the agency reported. Mini-bus and saloon maker Brilliance China Automotive Holdings says it expects a rebound in earnings this year after initial start-up losses of its saloon venture knocked 27.7 per cent off its net profit to 650.84 million yuan last year (about HK$609.96 million), down from 900.26 million yuan in 2001. Chairman Wu Xiaoan said the saloon venture, which will ultimately be able to produce 70,000 of its Zhonghua saloons and 30,000 BMW models, would be the company's growth driver. The company will spend up to 800 million yuan this year to bolster annual mini-bus production capacity to 120,000 units from the present 70,000 units. April 28, 2003 Hong Kong: People across Hong Kong yesterday sent messages of gratitude to medical staff battling the Sars outbreak, while their donations pushed Project Shield through the $3 million mark. Taiwan yesterday announced that people arriving from Hong Kong, the mainland and other Sars-infected areas will be placed in quarantine on arrival. The Hong Kong government yesterday warned of the "adverse implications'' arising from Taiwan's move to quarantine visitors, and urged the island's authorities to lift what it described as "unnecessary'' measures. Twelve people in Hong Kong died of atypical pneumonia yesterday, giving the city the world's highest death toll from the outbreak. China: US President George W. Bush has offered to help China curb the spread of Sars. Mr Bush spoke by telephone to President Hu Jintao over the weekend. He offered his condolences for the victims and said the US would provide "any possible support and assistance" in the battle to curtail the spread of the deadly virus, Xinhua reported yesterday. More than 4,000 people have been quarantined in the capital. Schools, cinemas and other entertainment complexes have been closed and road blocks set up in an effort to stop infected people spreading the disease. Inspectors were disinfecting trains, buses and the wheels of cars yesterday, and performing random temperature checks on people leaving the city. Wolfgang Preiser has learned a special lesson as an adviser to the World Health Organization (WHO) battling Sars on the front lines for the past five weeks - rumors can be true on the mainland. While health experts like Dr Preiser are more used to dealing with scientific facts, rumors of Sars cases led experts to Beijing military hospitals, where they found patients were being left off the city's official tally.
The Bank of China (BOC) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) are facing charges of fraud for their alleged involvement in the liquidation of Tele-Art, a bankrupt consumer products components maker, once listed on Nasdaq. French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin wound up a weekend visit to China saying he saw a new spirit of openness in relations between the two countries. "I have the impression of a certain opening-up," Mr Raffarin said before he departed for Paris. "Up until now I had the feeling that relations [between France and China] were very formal and not very concrete at all," he said, speaking after signing a series of trade deals including one for the sale of 30 Airbus passenger planes and another for the building of a conventional power station. The French prime minister, who arrived on the mainland on Friday, was the first Western leader to visit the country since the new government took over in March. He also braved warnings about the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome. At a meeting with members of the French community in Beijing before leaving China, Mr Raffarin urged them not to panic in the face of the outbreak. "We must face with determination, cool-headedness and clarity the difficulties we have to overcome," he said. The two prime ministers oversaw the signing of a 30-plane deal between Airbus and the Civil Aviation Administration of China in a deal that is expected to be worth more than one billion euros (HK$8.6 billion). April 25 - 27, 2003 Hawaii: Fear of SARS Hurting Hawaii Chinatown, Business and Hawaii's Tourism - "It's scary," said Johnson W. K. Choi, tax consultant and president of the Hong Kong China Hawai'i Chamber of Commerce. "A lot of people are very, very concerned." .....Please enter here for complete story from Honolulu Advertiser
Cathay Pacific Airways on Friday sought to assure passengers that it would safeguard their health and combat the spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) inside aircraft cabins. International credit rating agency Fitch Ratings cut its outlook for Hong Kong's currency yesterday, saying the outbreak of atypical pneumonia will hurt the economy, unemployment, deflation and the government's finances. Fitch's ratings for the dollar had been higher than that of other agencies. Economic growth in East Asia this year will be nearly a percentage point lower than last year as the outbreak of atypical pneumonia takes its toll on business and tourism, the World Bank said yesterday. Sars will cost East Asian economies US$15 billion this year. Analysts are
warning that Cathay Pacific Airways could be facing the worst year in its
history, as the airline's directors meet next month to consider the
unprecedented move of slashing its previously announced final dividend payout
for the past financial year. China is expected come under the spotlight for failing to stem the initial outbreak of Sars in its territory when East Asian health ministers meet here on Saturday over the crisis which has wreaked havoc on the region. That China did not alert the world to the fact of a mysterious form of pneumonia infecting people in the southern province of Guangdong as early as November has sparked criticism from its Southeast Asian neighbors and other countries. Analysts say delegates to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) ministerial meeting, a prelude to a regional Sars summit in Bangkok on April 29, are likely to seek greater openness and transparency from the mainland. Despite their frustrations, however, Asean countries are unlikely to openly confront Beijing over its earlier cover-up because the mainland remains a huge export market, they say. WHO officials have also predicted the virus would exact a greater toll on Shanghai. But they said the number of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) cases in Shanghai would probably be less than in Beijing and Shanxi province - the two hardest-hit areas of the mainland. WHO experts in Shanghai are continuing their visits to hospital and the Shanghai Centre for Disease Control. They will return to Beijing on Saturday. On Wednesday, the WHO advised against travel to Beijing and Shanxi province. Beijing has accounted for more than two-thirds of the mainland's Sars cases. Chinese airlines signed contracts at a ceremony on Friday to buy 30 Airbus A320 and A330 planes. The signing ceremony between the Civil Aviation Administration of China and the European aircraft manufacturer took place at Beijing's Great Hall of the People. It was inked in the presence of visiting French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. Other deals set to be concluded during Mr Raffarin's visit are likely to involve French engineering and transport group Alstom, insurance company Groupama and bank Credit Lyonnais, sources said. New figures from the World Trade Organization (WTO) show China's merchandise exports jumped 22 percent last year to $325.6 billion, while imports rose an equally impressive 21 percent to $295.2 billion. No other trading nation in the top 10 came even close to that level of growth. The world leader, the United States, saw its exports fall 5 percent in 2002 from the previous year. Exports by third-ranked Japan rose 3 percent, while second-ranked Germany posted a 7 percent rise. China's two-way trade flow totaled $620.8 billion, behind the U.S. with $1806 billion, Germany $1105.5 billion, Japan $752.4 billion and France $655.9 billion. Rounding out the top 10 are the U.K. with $615.7 billion, Italy $493.1 billion, Canada $480.1 billion, Netherlands $461.1 billion and Belgium $408.9 billion. Of total world merchandise trade flows of just over $13.1 trillion, the top 10 traders accounted for $7.4 trillion, or 56 percent. The U.S. share is 13.78 percent, while China has 4.73 percent. But even if China's economic growth this year contracts from its first-quarter rate of 10 percent to about five or six percent for the full year, its trade growth is likely to well outstrip that, as it continues to receive the lion's share of offshore investment into Asia. At anywhere near a 10 percent growth rate in merchandise trade, China will overtake France by the end of this year and begin closing on Japan, which has long held the mantle of Asia's greatest trading nation. China ranks No. 10 in services, with two-way trade of $81.5 billion. In contrast, U.S. services trade in 2002 was $486.2 billion, followed by Germany on $237.7 billion, U.K. $219 billion, Japan $170 billion and France $148.3 billion. Asia's other export-dependent economies also rate high on the global trade ladder. In merchandise exports, Hong Kong ranks at No. 11, followed by South Korea at 12, Taiwan 14, Singapore 15, Malaysia 18, Thailand 24 and Australia 25. April 24, 2003
A detective police constable was found guilty on Wednesday of accepting bribes to provide assistance to a criminal suspect, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) said on Thursday. Businesses hit hard by the Sars outbreak will receive help through cheap bank loans to pay staff wages under a $3.5 billion scheme announced yesterday. The Airport Authority is poised to unveil a package of measures aimed at helping airlines and franchise operators at Chek Lap Kok ride out the downturn in air travel through Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Tourism Board and the hotel industry will launch a worldwide campaign to restore travellers' confidence when the Sars outbreak is brought under control.
China: Vice-Premier Wu Yi is expected to be appointed health minister in what is seen as an unprecedented move to oversee the massive national effort to combat the Sars virus. The World Health Organisation last night advised against travel to Beijing after a further 105 Sars cases were reported in the city, where experts say the number infected has yet to peak. Mainland intellectuals have launched an Internet signature campaign urging the government to keep its promises on Sars. Beijing suspended classes in schools yesterday, giving an extended break to 1.7 million children. A team from the World Health Organization gained access to a Shanghai military hospital yesterday, as experts continue to probe the number of Sars cases in the city. The Chinese Football Association (CFA) will suspend all matches nationwide due to the escalating Sars outbreak, state media reported yesterday. Shanghai Auto Show is closing three days early, highlighting the threat which the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) outbreak poses to the mainland's economic prospects. Shares in Chinese companies took a pounding on the Hong Kong, Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges yesterday as growing fears over the Sars outbreak washed away investor perceptions that the mainland was a haven of stable and robust growth. April 23, 2003 Hong Kong: Hong Kong's frontline workers in the battle against Sars are about to be rewarded with the establishment of a $200 million fund to support medical staff. Amid a sea of anti-Tung sentiment, the shock sackings of two senior officials in Beijing over their mishandling of the Sars outbreak are poised to usher in subtle changes and more uncertainties in the Hong Kong political scene. Cathay Pacific Airways last night announced further temporary flight cuts due to plunging passenger demand in the wake of the atypical pneumonia outbreak and the war in Iraq. Hong Kong's largest banking group has seen no material business fallout as a result of the mounting public health crisis but says the government should do more to avert economic damage even if that worsens the Budget deficit. Many mainland insurance companies say Sars sufferers holding medical policies will largely be covered despite fine-print exclusions that seem to rule out compensation. China: Beijing authorities have begun a massive campaign to identify and isolate people who could be severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) patients, sending hundreds of investigators to round up those with symptoms, state press said on Wednesday. As of April 21, the number of proven Sars cases in Beijing stood at 588. An additional 666 suspected cases have been identified. Public schools in Beijing are to close Thursday for two weeks, affecting some 1.7 million students, the city's education commission said amid mounting efforts to stem the spread of the deadly Sars virus. Tests for primary, middle and high school students also have been postponed indefinitely, a spokeswoman for the Beijing Municipal Education Commission said Wednesday. The deadly pneumonia known as Sars bit deep into US-China educational exchanges overnight (HK time), as students returned home early from Chinese study trips and a prestigious international affairs school cut short spring studies in Nanjing. The last of around 45 students studying in the northeastern city of Harbin and Beijing on sojourns arranged through Washington firm CET Academic Programs arrived back in New York via Tokyo on Tuesday. Johns-Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), also based in Washington, said in a statement it had agreed with Nanjing University to end the semester, set to run to May 6, on April 22. April 22, 2003 China: Attendances and sales at the annual Guangzhou export fair have dropped dramatically due to fears related to the Sars outbreak. Organizers of the 12-day 93rd China Export Commodities Fair said the value of orders taken on the first six days of the event totaled US$2.2 billion (HK$17.16 billion), the Guangzhou-based Southern Metropolitan News reported yesterday. The fair, which starts its final session on Friday, has been attended by about 15,000 foreign visitors, the newspaper said. The mainland's tourism industry has started counting the cost of the cancellation of the traditional long holiday for Labour Day, with some travel agencies describing the decision as nothing short of disaster. "It's a big loss and a real disaster for us. I don't know how much money we will lose since the cancellations are still coming in," said an executive of the Shanghai Spring International Travel Service.
Mainland stock prices were pummelled yesterday by mounting fears over China's worsening severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) outbreak. China Mobile (Hong Kong) has for the first time posted single-digit profit, confirming investor concerns that the mobile giant's rate of growth is slowing after years of expansion. Hong Kong: Easing the cash-flow problems of sectors suffering from the Sars outbreak will be the Hong Kong government's priority when it announces a long-awaited package of relief measures, an official source said yesterday. The sacking of two officials by the central government over reporting of the Sars outbreak on the mainland has put some pressure on Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa to do a better job, according to academics and politicians. Two hundred thousand secondary school students will return to class today, wearing face masks and undergoing mandatory temperature checks, after a three-week suspension of classes because of the Sars outbreak. April 21, 2003 China: China fired its health minister and Beijing's mayor on Sunday after reporting an alarming spike in SARS deaths and cases in the capital, a tacit admission that officials had earlier hidden the extent of the disease. Chinese authorities said at least 12 more people were killed and 300 more were infected by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome virus, almost all in Beijing. They also canceled the week-long May Day holiday to discourage people from traveling and further spreading the disease.
China has not been invited to join Asean leaders for their one-day Sars summit later this month, a Thai foreign ministry spokesman said yesterday. The decision is an apparent U-turn after it was reported on Friday that China had been invited to attend the session. China plans to break up its tobacco monopoly over the next two years and permit one of its biggest tobacco firms to list on the stock market, mainland publication the Business Post reported yesterday. April 18 - 20, 2003 Hawaii: The Hawaii state Legislature is at it again - the majority is trying to raise Hawaii taxes an unprecedented $430 million. Hawaii business is paying the forth highest taxes in the nation. Rick Hamada of KHVH Radio and the Hawaii Reporter at http://www.HawaiiReporter.com are asking people to attend a rally coordinated by Rick Hamada during his morning broadcast from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. with the theme 'NO MORE TAXES!"
After more than a year of research, the highly anticipated report, “A New Economy in Hawaii. Benchmarking Hawaii’s Progress in the New Economy,” is now available to the business community. The nonprofit organization, Hawaii Institute for Public Affairs, today released 2,000 copies of its 72-page document (a four-color, glossy booklet). “It looks at the economy from a broad-based standpoint,” says William M. Kaneko, an attorney who also is the president and chief executive officer of the Hawaii Institute for Public Affairs. The report also goes beyond clichéd discussions of Hawaii as a high-tech center, he says. The report’s goal is to be a reference tool for public-policy decision-makers and business leaders. Download the complete report in PDF format (7.3 meg file size) Direct link to Hawaii Business Magazine China: DaimlerChrysler is closing in on a joint venture agreement to manufacture Mercedes sedans in Guangzhou, according to industry sources.
Businesses are giving everything from cash to stickers to virtual thank-you cards to help this weekend's Operation Unite cleanup campaign to fight Sars.
The severe acute respiratory syndrome crisis will hurt the mainland's growth this year, a senior economics official said yesterday. April 17, 2003 Hong Kong: Hong Kong's schools will open in stages from next Tuesday, officials announced yesterday, after the number of new Sars cases and deaths declined for the first time in a week. The Secretary for Education and Manpower, Arthur Li Kwok-cheung, said that Secondary Three level and above would resume classes after the Easter break. Hopes rose in Hong Kong's battle against severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) yesterday with the announcement that local scientists have made a breakthrough that will speed development of a vaccine. The leader of the research team at the University of Hong Kong, Professor Frederick Leung, announces the breakthrough in the genetic sequencing of the Sars virus yesterday. After weeks of fear, local university researchers say better treatment and drugs are on the way, while the death toll and infection rate drops on the same day a decision is made to reopen schools. A coronavirus specimen - weighing just one-millionth of a gram and taken from the lungs of a patient who died in Toronto - has played a key in the global fight against the deadly Sars. The outbreak of the deadly Sars virus has cost Asia nearly US$11 billion (HK$85 billion) and the figure could rise, it was reported on Thursday. China: Despite the Sars crisis, ratings agency Standard & Poor's yesterday upgraded from "stable" to "positive" its outlook for China's long-term, foreign-currency sovereign credit rating. Analysts say China needs to keep on the path to reform to stimulate growth. The foundations are being laid for a more market-oriented economy with less reliance on government spending to maintain growth.
April 16, 2003
Hong Kong's information technology (IT) market declined 13.8 per cent last year and would be hit even harder in the year ahead due to the Sars virus, research firm IDC Asia-Pacific said on Tuesday. China: Sina.com, one of the mainland's most popular Web sites, has joined about 200 Internet portals in a government-backed search engine alliance which challenges global giants such as Google. Guangdong's economy grew an impressive 13 per cent in the first quarter and is expected to grow by more than 11 per cent this year - despite the global slump and the atypical pneumonia outbreak, Guangdong Statistics Bureau director Pu Xinmin said yesterday.
April 15, 2003 China: China's economy grew by 9.9 per cent year on year during the first quarter, the fastest quarterly growth in six years, officials announced yesterday. Complementing the good news were other positive economic indicators, chief among them a rise of 17.2 per cent in industrial output, a 27 per cent surge in fixed-asset investment and a 40 per cent leap in foreign trade volumes. Foreign direct investment rose 57 per cent, to US$13.1 billion (HK$102.2 billion), the Ministry of Commerce also reported. Furthermore M2, the broadest measure of money supply, rose 18.5 per cent in March from a year ago, after rising 18.1 per cent in February. The government is encouraging state-owned banks to lend more to keep the economy growing by 7 per cent a year. Who wants to marry a Shanghai millionaire? An introverted millionaire with a hot temper, that is. A man claiming to be the wealthy chairman of a private company has placed adverts in several newspapers desperately seeking a virgin bride. He Xin, a lawyer handling the replies, said more than 1,000 women had responded to the ad - headed "Successful gentleman sincerely seeks ideal mate".
China: H-share Sinopec Beijing Yanhua Petrochemical, China's largest producer of resins and plastics, is holding joint-venture talks with foreign firms to capitalize on domestic demand. General manager Xu Hongxing said it was discussing a possible joint investment with German chemical and healthcare giant Bayer in producing rubber materials for China's car tyre industry. The company said it was also in talks with Japan's Mitsubishi Engineering about co-operation in plastic products used in the car industry and with Netherlands-based chemicals group DSM about producing rubber for the medical industry. Hong Kong: Heavy doses of potent anti-viral drugs will be given early to patients in a new Hospital Authority strategy to improve the effectiveness of treatment and ease the burden on intensive-care wards. However, a pharmacology professor warned the anti-viral treatments used - Ribavirin and steroids - could have serious side-effects including heart and liver damage and severe anaemia. Speaking at Legco's health services panel yesterday, Ko Wing-man, acting chief executive of the Hospital Authority, said: "In normal cases, doctors have to confirm diagnoses and weigh up the risk of the treatment before they prescribe drugs. However, the practice no longer works in this case. Meanwhile, Deputy Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food Thomas Yiu Kei-chung told Legco that the government had arranged for about 300 Home Ownership Scheme flats in Kowloon to be used as temporary hostels for medical staff who refused to go home to avoid infecting their families. April 14, 2003 China: President Hu Jintao made a crisis visit to Guangdong at the weekend, meeting Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee-hwa to discuss the worsening Sars situation. Mr. Hu's personal intervention - only revealed after his visit was over - came as Premier Wen Jiabao delivered the leadership's most serious portrayal yet of the dangers of the crisis. Urgent action was needed to stop it paralyzing the country, the premier said. He urged government officials to be fully aware of the "importance and urgency" of the prevention and treatment of Sars, saying it has "a bearing on the overall situation of China". The statements, made at a conference in Beijing on the control of the virus, underline the concern among the senior leadership, who until recently had not publicly acknowledged the outbreak. Mr. Hu said authorities were ready to meet the challenge presented by the outbreak of Sars. He also pledged to assist Hong Kong with medical supplies, and expressed confidence in the ability of Mr. Tung's administration to combat the virus. Mr Hu is the first senior government leader to visit Guangdong since the outbreak began. The secrecy surrounding his visit is unusual, given that the official media normally reports extensively on the activities of the leadership. Even government officials in Guangzhou seemed unaware yesterday that the president had been in the province visiting. "I don't know about this," said foreign affairs office spokeswoman Su Caifang. Guangdong is going ahead with its biannual Guangzhou trade fair this week despite the global concern over the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) outbreak. Hundreds of foreign participants have already cancelled plans to attend the 83rd China Commodities Fair, which starts tomorrow and runs in two sessions, the first until Sunday, and then from April 25 to 30. In a bid to reassure foreign visitors, organizers are taking a number of measures, including putting three hospitals with the most experience in treating Sars on alert and setting up medical teams at the fair venue and at hotels. Guangzhou International Travel Service's inbound manager, He Jiebin, said all her group clients for the fair, numbering about 1,000 people from India, Russia, Europe, the US and Malaysia, had cancelled. The world-recognized fair is very important to China because of the significant volume of export orders transacted. Last spring, the fair secured a record US$16.85 billion (HK$131 billion) in export orders - 14 per cent of China's total annual exports. Hong Kong: Japan's largest carriers are expected to miss first-half sales forecasts by a combined 100 billion yen (about HK$6.46 billion) as the Iraq war and the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) force airlines to slash hundreds of flights in the region. The Airport Authority said yesterday the Sars outbreak was hurting its core business, with more than 30 per cent of flights cancelled and passenger throughput down 60 per cent in recent days. Analysts have played down the prospect of Cathay Pacific Airways grounding its entire fleet. According to the RTHK Web site, the airline's director of corporate development Tony Tyler said the airline would have to respond to circumstances, but stressed it had no plans to ground its fleet. Bank of China International's head of transport and logistics research Michael Chan said: "Financially, Cathay is one of the strongest airlines in the world although it has been badly hit in the Sars crisis. "Cathay has reduced more than one-third of its capacity so far and there's room for a further cut." Cathay had liquid funds of HK$13.18 billion at the end of last year, enough to hold up the airline for 563 days even if it continues to lose US$3 million a day - a figure disclosed in Cathay's internal memorandum that was leaked to the media last Saturday. Hong Kong: Software giant Microsoft Corp has filed a complaint against Lucent Technologies to counter claims by Lucent that Microsoft's hardware partners were infringing on the telecommunications equipment maker's patents. April 11 - 13, 2003 Hong Kong: All passengers leaving Hong Kong will have their temperature taken at Chek Lap Kok airport before they are allowed to board a plane, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa announced yesterday in an attempt to reassure people overseas about the spread of atypical pneumonia. Cathay is carrying just one-third the number of passengers it did this time last year, with fears over the spread of Sars and conflict in Iraq prompting a collapse in air travel. The spread of Sars accelerated yesterday as Hong Kong saw its victim toll jump through the 1,000 barrier, with 61 new infections representing the biggest daily rise in 10 days. Guangdong and Hong Kong health officials held their first government-to-government meeting yesterday and agreed to set up an expert team within days to strengthen co-operation on Sars, including improving reporting mechanisms. China: Overseas buyers spooked by the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) virus may be cancelling their trips to Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta. But Hong Kong's famously flexible manufacturers have hit on a range of measures to keep their trade alive. The Hong Kong and Shanghai exchanges have put aside a fierce rivalry to launch a jointly developed range of energy derivative products, marking the first co-operative venture between the two centres. China's Shanghai Composite Index surged to a 26-week high yesterday, buoyed by hopes of accelerating economic growth and a more investor friendly regulatory environment.
China: CNBC Asia-Pacific has entered into a strategic partnership with Shanghai Media Group (SMG) under which the two companies will exchange content and split advertising revenue from shared programming.
April 10, 2003
Hong Kong: An aggressive price war between mobile operators will do little to hurt Sunday Communication's quest for its first profitability this year, according to group managing director Bruce Hicks. Sunday last week announced a HK$88 for 500 minutes monthly tariff plan - 10 per cent higher than the plans offered by four of its rival operators. Sunday, one of the two loss-making operators, trimmed its loss by 45 per cent to HK$117 million. No 1 mobile operator Hutchison Telecom also failed to make a profit last year. Mr. Hicks said last month that Sunday had made a profit in the first quarter, and promised the company would become profitable for the year.
Despite the atypical pneumonia outbreak, Beijing officials announced yesterday that the Boao Forum for Asia will continue as scheduled for May 18 and 19. Beijing stepped into the vanguard of the Chinese political reform movement yesterday, as city officials announced two broad-based programmes of administrative reform echoing those announced in Shenzhen last year. A US prosecutor warned that a human rights lawsuit against Li Peng - who was premier at the time of the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protest - might have "grave consequences" for ties between the two nations. April 9, 2003
April 8, 2003 China: Affluence will meet effluence on the shores of Shanghai by 2007: the city plans to build a beach to cater to a growing middle class seeking leisure activities. Four design institutions are working on the five billion yuan (HK$4.7 billion) project, which will transform a 10km stretch of barren coast into golden sand. This month's Xin Caifu (New Fortune) magazine will release a list of the 400 richest people in China, a rival to that published for the past four years by the American Forbes magazine. Larry Yung Chi-kin, chairman of Citic Pacific, gets top billing as the richest mainland Chinese, worth US$736 million (HK$5.7 billion), according to the list. The New Fortune top 10 includes six of the same people who appear on the Forbes list for last year, which also put Mr Yung at No 1, with US$850 million in assets. New Fortune ranks Lu Guanqiu, chairman of car-parts company the Wanxiang Group, second with US$631 million, and Huang Guangyu, chairman of the home appliances and property conglomerate Pengrun Group of Beijing, third with US$564 million. Only one woman made the New Fortune top 10 - Chen Lihua, the chairman of the Fu Hua Group of Beijing, whose business is real estate and sandalwood furniture. It gave her assets as US$464 million. President Hu Jintao personally intervened to stop the closure of the controversial weekly newspaper 21st Century World Herald, according to high-placed mainland media sources. The tabloid was temporarily suspended on March 13 after publishing an interview with Li Rui, a liberal-minded party elder who was a former secretary of Mao Zedong. In a March 3 article, published to coincide with the National People's Congress meeting, Mr. Li called for more democracy within the Communist Party and criticized the leadership for not adequately promoting the rule of law. Mr. Hu has hinted that he has a progressive attitude towards the media. He reportedly told media officials that he disliked the format of China Central Television news broadcasts and publicly called for more real news coverage instead of a focus on officials at meetings and on inspection tours. Hong Kong: Hong Kong's CSL joined its Australian parent Telstra, Malaysia's Maxis, Singapore's MobileOne (M1) and Smart of the Philippines to form the Asia Mobility Initiative (AMI) and establish a common portal with high-speed application services. Five Asian mobile operators serving a combined 20 million customers formed an alliance yesterday to develop data services and capture data roaming revenue. Analysts believed the alliance was a step towards co-operation on a larger scale. Hong Kong's largest information technology firms are confident the contingency plans they have in place will get their businesses and employees through the atypical pneumonia crisis unscathed. Technology firms and academics are keeping basic education and business going in Hong Kong, despite the lingering public health crisis. China: Zhongguancun, the central government's 200-billion-yuan (S$43.4-billion) dream of a national high-tech park, will have to jostle with Beijing's Central Business District (CBD) in attracting top-notch tenants and talent. The irony is that the CBD, in the heart of the bustling Chaoyang district, does not even exist. Buildings on its drawing board are slated to be ready only in 2006. But already, high-profile organizations have announced plans to be based there. Among them is China Central Television (CCTV), which is constructing a US$600-million (S$1-billion) headquarters that boasts theatres, visitor centers and public amenities. CCTV will sit among five million sq m of office space, 2.5 million sq m of residential units and another 2.5 million sq m set aside for cultural and entertainment facilities. Developers have also tried to attract clients by advertising their proximity to the CBD and the wide array of restaurants, bars and even exclusive gyms in Chaoyang district, giving publicity to the mega project. April 7, 2003
The main winners: Best Film: Infernal Affairs Canada announced its eighth death from Sars yesterday, as Chinese-Canadians in Toronto expressed worries over a racist backlash blaming them for the introduction and spread of the virus. Another death on April 1 is being investigated as a possible Sars case. A positive post-mortem diagnosis has not yet been made. Community leaders and anti-racism campaigners said Chinese-owned restaurants and businesses were facing unofficial boycotts. One restaurant in the largely Asian suburb of Scarborough took out newspaper advertisements to deny rumours that a kitchen worker had been infected.
China: World Health Organization director general Gro Harlem Brundtland has publicly criticised China for its handling of the deadly pneumonia outbreak, the BBC reported on Monday. April 4 - 6, 2003 Hong Kong: British Airways and Qantas announced last night that they are dropping non-stop Hong Kong services in response to the World Health Organization's travel advisory on the atypical pneumonia outbreak. It was a rare sight at Lowu: trains half-full and no queues in front of the immigration counters on the eve of the Ching Ming Festival, when tens of thousands of families usually dash across the border to sweep the graves of their ancestors on the mainland. The showcases of jewelers from Hong Kong, Singapore and China remained empty at the World Watch and Jewelry Show in Zurich this week. The traders were not allowed to present their products for fears that the SARS virus might spread. All hygiene black spots across Hong Kong will be cleaned to stop the spread of atypical pneumonia, Secretary of Home Affairs Patrick Ho Chi-ping said yesterday.
China: Intel's cancellation of developer forums in Taipei and Beijing may lend more weight to warnings by analysts who say severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) could eventually cripple the hi-tech industry if doctors can't control the disease soon. The China market helped chipmaker Intel avoid a decline in revenues last year, with the mainland's contribution jumping 37 per cent year on year to US$3.2 billion. A medical official yesterday apologized for China's failure to give the public more information about the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars).
Growth Enterprise Market listing committee chairman Lo Ka-shui has resigned, adding to the uncertainty the board faces under the government's controversial stock exchange reform plans. The government will invite companies to stake their claims for the management contract of Hong Kong's HK$3 billion digital trade transport network (DTTN), according to logistics industry sources. Tradelink, the government's minority-owned vehicle for the electronic transmission of regulatory documents, yesterday presented its case to run the network to the Logistics Council. It is believed at least three other companies have made informal inquiries about forming and managing the DTTN. The DTTN, as laid out in the Accenture group's HK$5 million report on the initiative, is an electronic nerve centre through which all modes of trade transport can be managed and documented. The deadline for formal submissions is April 30. China: The China market helped chipmaker Intel Corp avoid a decline in revenues last year, with the mainland's contribution jumping 37 per cent year on year to US$3.2 billion. A team of World Health Organisation (WHO) epidemiologists arrived in Guangdong yesterday to search for answers about the origins of Sars. Severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) is effectively under control in Guangdong, the health minister said yesterday.
April 3, 2003 Hong Kong: The World Health Organization yesterday warned travelers not to visit Hong Kong or Guangdong, in an unprecedented move aimed at preventing the spread of atypical pneumonia. China: Under mounting criticism at home and abroad over its handling of the pneumonia outbreak, the central government yesterday suddenly opened a floodgate of co-operation and said the fight against Sars was a top priority. The first cases of Sars have been traced back to people eating or handling birds in Guangdong, according to a top health expert from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
Hong Kong: Struggling Cable & Wireless (C&W) has named a veteran of the telecommunications industry, Francesco Caio, as its new chief executive as it tries to restore confidence in the 131-year-old firm. April 2, 2003
China: The United States has issued its annual report card on China's human rights - and, for the first time in years, it praises improvements. Human rights are no longer being eroded in China, it says. The European Union, too, cited positive developments in a report yesterday. In a clear indication that China's rigid official news media has to change to stay relevant, the new propaganda chief, Li Changchun, has urged a different approach to covering government meetings and reporting on leaders. Former Premier Zhu Rongji's heavy-handed approach to cracking down on tax cheats was controversial but has proven to be extraordinarily successful. The central government announced yesterday that tax revenues had risen by more than 27 per cent year-on-year in the year to March, reaching 436 billion yuan (about HK$408.66 billion), up 95 billion from the previous period last year. "I hear many rich people are paying taxes these days," said Huang Yiping, China economist at US brokerage house Salomon Smith Barney in Hong Kong. Though tax revenues are up, the government still needs to address the tax discrimination against domestic enterprises, which pay a 33 per cent profits tax, while most foreign investors have been granted years of rebates off the 33 per cent profit tax. April 1, 2003
Hong Kong: Yet another investment bank has cut its forecast for Hong Kong's economic growth this year in the face of the atypical pneumonia outbreak. Several other banks are planning reports this week that may result in more lowered forecasts. Investors yesterday reacted to gloomy forecasts about the economic damage the widening outbreak of atypical pneumonia is inflicting on Hong Kong by sending the market to a 4.5-year low. The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Hong Kong is forcing companies to turn to telecommuting as an increasing number of employees are being advised to work from home. International concern over the virulent, global outbreak of atypical pneumonia is growing with a fourth casualty in Canada and new possible cases reported yesterday in France. Inbound tourism has practically ground to a halt while hotel occupancy has fallen by up to 20 per cent amid the atypical pneumonia outbreak. China: China has installed safety systems to ensure that its first manned space shot, now just months away, does not end in a disaster like the final flight of the American space shuttle Columbia, state media said yesterday. The systems are designed to rescue astronauts from danger or mishaps at any time during the flight, according to an article on the website of the Communist Party's People's Daily. Astronauts can escape the pod before lift-off via cables, high-speed elevator or ejection seats, the article said. During orbit, they can exit the craft and be picked up by another spaceship. On re-entry, the stage during which Columbia broke apart, Chinese astronauts can escape by ejecting or reducing speed, said the article, entitled Safety of Chinese Astronauts Guaranteed and Emergency Escape Assured. March 31, 2003 China: Motorola plans to bid aggressively for other government and utilities contracts in Greater China after winning a US$69 million deal to upgrade the Hong Kong Police Force's mobile communications system. The United States firm will replace the police's existing CC2 system with the advanced CC3 in phases starting next year. It will provide nearly 10,000 wireless devices as well as integrating and maintaining the digital network. The system migration will be completed in 2006. "The system gives police access to license checks on vehicles and access to the criminal data-base," said John Cryer, director of business development for major projects for Motorola's Commercial Government and Industrial Solutions Sector (CGISS). He said all data transmission would be encrypted. Police in Beijing, Shanghai and Taiwan already used Motorola's communications systems, he said. Other customers in the region included the MTRC, Shanghai Pudong Airport and Taiwan High Speed Rail. The company was eyeing government units at state and provincial level in China as well as the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. "We are targeting every single police force, government departments and railways," said John Gherghetta, Asia-Pacific vice-president of global marketing and sales for CGISS.
March 28 - 30, 2003
China: Germany's Infineon Technologies said on Thursday it had extended a deal with Shanghai-based Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) to boost its output of computer memory chips. The move, which builds on a production deal agreed between the two companies in December, reflects Infineon's strategy of concluding manufacturing agreements with foundry partners, allowing it to increase output while keeping fixed costs down. TAIWAN: Watching its once world-beating computer manufacturing industry ebb away to China, is striving to acquire a new specialty - research and development. Taiwan faces a tough task in transforming its manufacturing economy into a knowledge-based one, despite its early victories in luring household names like HP, Dell and Sony to set up R&D centers. Two big question marks are Taiwan's lack of a large talented labor force and meagre domestic corporate spending on research. "I am kind of doubtful about the plan because the personnel problem can be a major obstacle," said Lin Chu-chia, an economics professor at National Chengchi University. "The quality of our R&D people in the design and application sector is not bad, but there aren't many of them," he said.
China: Guangzhou has been given the green light to start building a container terminal at Nansha and is in talks with potential foreign investors, according to a senior municipal official. Phase I construction of four berths at the port was formally approved last week by the State Development and Reform Commission and would be completed by September next year, Li Guorong, director of Guangzhou's Bureau of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation, said yesterday.
China: China's dominant offshore oil producer CNOOC, with a 16.1 per cent year-on-year rise in net profit last year to 9.23 billion yuan (about HK$8.66 billion), may buy downstream gas assets from its parent. Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical is studying the use of oil futures contracts as a hedging tool to better control crude costs, which accounted for 57.65 per cent of material costs last year. March 27, 2003
Newly formed power transmission giant State Grid Corp of China yesterday unveiled key growth targets and development policies for the mainland power industry. General Motors' (GM) mainland joint venture had a fourfold gain in profit last year after rising incomes and easier financing lifted sales of its Buick and Sail cars in Asia's fastest-growing market. The atypical pneumonia outbreak and the Iraq war have dealt a double blow to Guangzhou's economy as tourists cancel bookings and business travellers hold off on confirming plans to attend next month's giant China Export Commodity Fair. A Beijing university has formed an elite class that aims to turn its top students into Nobel Prize winners. Each of the 34 students from the Aviation and Aerospace University selected for the class has been assigned a noted academic to personally tutor them throughout the course. The university said it hoped to foster talent in the sciences and win Nobel Prizes for China. Of the more than 500 Nobel Prize winners to date, only a handful are ethnically Chinese, and most hold foreign citizenship. In recent years elements in the local media have highlighted this poor record. Hong Kong: Hong Kong's dominant free-to-air broadcaster, Television Broadcasts (TVB), avoided a profit decline last year, helped by a turnaround of its Taiwan television and publishing operations. Hong Kong and China Gas (Towngas) is planning to build a 30km pipeline as part of a scheme to partially replace its naphtha feedstock with cheaper natural gas. The Rolling Stones announced on Thursday that they have cancelled their concerts in Hongkong over the weekend citing fears over the fast-spreading atypical pneumonia which has claimed 10 lives in the city so far. March 26, 2003
Hong Kong: Global supply chain management firm Li & Fung's net profit rose 38 per cent last year on the back of surging exports from the Pearl River Delta. Hong Kong and China Gas (Towngas) has concluded a contract with state-owned enterprise Nanjing General Gas in a 1.2 billion yuan (about HK$1.12 billion) project to supply piped-gas in Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu province March 25, 2003 China: In China's first year as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), few industries grew at a faster pace than the car industry. Last year, China accelerated its transition away from a "bicycle kingdom" as competition grew and vehicle sales hit record levels. With car sales falling or flat in almost every country last year and the outlook for this year even less exciting, China is like the answer to a prayer. Car demand is booming. "See you in court," is becoming an increasingly popular retort on the mainland, even for schoolchildren, writes Peter Goff. A secondary schoolgirl from Liaoning province is suing a classmate for 160,000 yuan (HK$150,700) for psychological damage she claims she suffered after he frightened her with a plastic snake. The Bank of China (BOC) is expected to announce that its chairman, Liu Ming Kang, has formally stepped down to take over the newly created national banking regulator, a move which will set off a new round of personnel changes at the mainland's largest foreign exchange bank. March 24, 2003 Hawaii: Three U.S. airlines are already in bankruptcy protection -- UAL Corp. (UAL: Research, Estimates)'s United Airlines, US Airways Group Inc. and Hawaiian Airlines Inc. (HA: Research, Estimates) -- while the world's largest airline, AMR Corp (AMR: Research, Estimates).'s American, is also teetering on the brink. The war in Iraq could easily add $10 billion to world airline losses and deepen what is already the worst crisis in the history of commercial aviation, the International Air Transport Association said Saturday. In the gloomiest forecast yet of the impact of the war on the industry, the association said it expects international passenger travel to drop 15 to 20 percent during the war, depending on the region of the world. The IATA's forecast was the latest evidence of how devastating the outbreak of war in Iraq is for a key part of the global economy. Airlines have already reported accumulated losses of $30 billion since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States reduced air travel. Hong Kong: Hong Kong travelers could have the choice of a third local passenger airline by late summer, if CR Airways is given approval to launch a new carrier from Chek Lap Kok. Schools whose pupils fall victim to the outbreak of atypical pneumonia will be immediately shut down for seven days under a series of measures mapped out by the government yesterday to combat the spread of the disease. Financial Secretary Antony Leung has taken a swipe at Chief Secretary Donald Tsang for previous Budget excesses in a rare public sparring match between Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa's top two lieutenants. The government had overspent between the years 1996 and 2002, Mr. Leung said during an interview with Hong Kong Cable Television on Saturday. Mr Leung, who became Financial Secretary in May 2001, said his predecessor, Mr Tsang, had estimated in the 2001-2 Budget that the fiscal deficit would be HK$3 billion (S$682 million). The actual deficit turned out to be 20 times higher at HK$63.3 billion. He did not refer to his predecessor by name but Mr Tsang was Financial Secretary from 1995 to 2001 before he became Chief Secretary. March 21 - 23, 2003 Hong Kong: Measures aimed at protecting Hong Kong from terrorist attacks have been stepped up and safety assessments will constantly be reviewed, the secretary of security Regina Ip announced yesterday, an hour after the war broke out. Despite Tung Chee-hwa's refusal to accept his resignation over the controversy surrounding his pre-budget purchase of a luxury car, there is growing pressure for the financial secretary to step down. Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa yesterday stepped up his defense of Antony Leung Kam-chung, insisting the financial secretary made an honest mistake in failing to disclose his purchase of a new car ahead of tax increases. Schools may be forced to close if the outbreak of atypical pneumonia worsens next week, the education minister warned after a fifth student fell ill with the virus. China: Chinese cities have to be run increasingly like big corporations if they want to stay ahead in the bid for investments and tourist dollars, according to a new study which ranks the nation's most competitive cities. Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing and Macau - in that order - emerged as the top five most competitive cities from the study of 200 cities in China. Not surprisingly, coastal cities in south-eastern China dominated the rankings, while mining cities in central, western and north-eastern China took the cellar positions. Beijing has shortlisted 13 design firms competing to build a multi-million-dollar national stadium, the main arena for the 2008 Olympic Games. Each of the tenders that made it through the first round got US$50,000 (S$88,000) for their three-month architectural efforts. The three finalists will each take home a further US$50,000. The 13 designs - short- listed from a total of 44 - will go on display at the Beijing International Convention Centre from March 26-31 to solicit public opinion and suggestions, the Beijing Urban Planning Commission has announced. The evaluation panel consisting of 13 members - six Chinese and seven foreigners - includes architects, engineers, Olympic experts and government officials. They will select the top three designs and make the final decision, according to Mr. Li Yidong, an official with the commission in charge of the tenders. The national stadium will host the grand opening and closing ceremonies as well as track-and-field events during the 2008 Olympic Games. The Beijing State-owned Assets Management Co Ltd, the official operator of the stadium, said eight of the candidates were foreign companies or consortia from Australia, Japan and the United States as well as two domestic firms and three joint ventures. The eventual winner will draw up more detailed architectural plans, with construction work set to begin on Dec 24. Sited in the south of the Olympic Green, the heart of the 2008 Games, the national stadium will cover a floor area of 145,000 sq meter. March 20, 2003
Hong Kong: The global pneumonia outbreak is believed to have originated with a sickly Guangdong doctor who stayed in a Hong Kong hotel and infected six other people, health officials said last night. Among those infected by the doctor was a Hong Kong man, 26, who became the so-called index patient for the Prince of Wales Hospital outbreak of atypical pneumonia that is responsible for infecting most of the 150 people in hospital so far. World health experts are trying to identify what has caused a new form of deadly pneumonia called severe acute respiratory syndrome or HKSARS. It spread first in Southeast Asia and is now spreading across the world, including England, France, Israel, Slovenia and Australia, all of which previously been clear of infection. The nation's new leaders yesterday praised the performance of Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa and pledged their full support to revitalise the Hong Kong economy. As a hearing over Cathay Pacific Airways' application to resume flights to the mainland nears completion, lawyers for rival Dragonair have declared that a substantial part of the hearing was illegal under the Basic Law. PCCW is expected to report a significant fall in market share in its core fixed-line telephone business when it unveils a net loss estimated at more than HK$7 billion today. The residential property price war is escalating with Cheung Kong (Holdings) slashing up to 20 per cent off the price of its flats at West Kowloon's Hampton Place. March 19, 2003
China: China's new president and premier yesterday called for greater democracy and rule of law, saying reforms and opening up are the only path to a more prosperous country. On the eve of war in Iraq, China continued to hold out hope that conflict could be avoided and stressed its long-standing position in favor of a political resolution within the framework of the United Nations.
Hong Kong: Hong Kong and China Gas (Towngas) has signed a long-awaited 1.2 billion yuan (about HK$1.12 billion) contract to supply piped gas to end-users in Wuhan, Hbei province. Huawei Technologies, being sued by Cisco Systems for allegedly unlawfully copying its software, used software mirroring Cisco's, including the bugs, a former Huawei employee said in court documents filed in the United States on Monday. Hong Kong researchers have made a breakthrough in their battle to identify a mystery respiratory illness which has killed at least nine people and caused a global health scare, reports said on Wednesday. The illness known as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars), has been identified as a virus from the paramyxoviridae family by researchers from Hong Kong's Prince of Wales Hospital and Chinese University, said the reports. 'It is an important finding showing the anti-viral treatment is the right choice,' Dean of Chinese University's faculty of medicine Sydney Chung Sheung-chee was quoted as saying by the South China Morning Post. But doctors said the paramyxoviridae family incorporated different viruses that could affect humans and that further studies were needed to establish whether the Sars was a new virus and whether it was curable. March 18, 2003 Hong Kong: Hong Kong's health minister yesterday accused the World Health Organization (WHO) of spreading panic over the pneumonia outbreak and appealed for calm as the number of cases in the special administrative region doubled to 83. More airlines are refusing to let passengers with flu-like symptoms on board as a mystery pneumonia spreads globally. A Cathay Pacific flight engineer is one of the patients admitted to hospital with atypical pneumonia. Father of two Rob Saunders was admitted to hospital last week. He had been on holiday from his job with the airline before his admission and is believed to have traveled to the mainland and Bali.
March 17, 2003
March 14 - 16, 2003
More health workers have been admitted to Hong Kong hospitals with symptoms of respiratory illness as officials warned on Saturday that more people were likely to be struck down by the mystery bug. Speaking on a radio program, the hospital authority's director of operations Ko Wing-man said that eight more medical workers were admitted to three hospitals on Friday. These were in addition to the 43 already being monitored for the atypical pneumonia, 29 of whom are showing signs of the illness. March 13, 2003 China: Members of China's top leadership should set an example in the country's battle against corruption by declaring their own financial interests and those of their family members, according to a proposal that has caused heated discussions among NPC deputies and CPPCC delegates. The proposal has touched upon one of the most sensitive political taboos. Information about the personal lives of China's top leadership is regarded as a state secret. Hong Kong: Hong Kong's economy is expected to grow 2.5 per cent this year if an expected war in Iraq unfolds the way most observers expect it to, an executive research group said yesterday. Hong Kong's financial chief yesterday faced a critical audience of top businessmen as he continued to defend his unpopular package of tax increases. The overseas education allowance for civil servants in Hong Kong is outdated and a comprehensive review is needed, the secretary for the civil service said yesterday. Hong Kong's economy is expected to grow 2.5 per cent this year if an expected war in Iraq unfolds the way most observers expect it to, an executive research group said yesterday. March 12, 2003
Hong Kong: Overseas investors will effectively be able to buy permanent residency under the investor immigration program approved by the Executive Council yesterday. Starting in July, applications will be accepted from people willing to spend $6.5 million on real estate or financial assets such as stocks or bonds. In return, they and their families will be granted right of abode status if they live in Hong Kong for seven years. Those who do not remain for the required length of time will still be granted unconditional stay if they are willing to keep their investments in Hong Kong.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) confirmed on Wednesday it had arrested six people for alleged bribery and misconduct in public office this week. Those arrested included two serving electronic engineers and a retired senior project engineer from the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD). Three people from an information technology (IT) company were also arrested. The ICAC investigation has revealed that the engineers, after obtaining a quotation from the IT company, requested its director and staff to submit four false quotes from different companies to meet government regulations. China: Formal negotiations on a new air services agreement between the United States and China could start by the middle of the year, with a significant liberalisation of air services between the two countries expected to emerge. China posted a trade deficit in the first two months of the year, and economists believe the nation's exports growth might slow down as the shadow of war looms over Iraq. A man who said he had a bomb burst into Reuters news bureau in Beijing on Wednesday and held a number of journalists for about two hours before releasing them unharmed. China Petrochemical Corp - the parent of listed China Petroleum & Chemical (Sinopec) - has become the second Chinese oil firm to buy an 8.3 per cent stake in Kazakhstan's North Caspian Sea project for US$615 million. Mainlanders could be allowed to invest in Hong Kong stocks under the Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor (QDII) scheme as early as this year, according to China's central bank chief. March 11, 2003
The opening of the first phase of Shanghai's multi-billion yuan Yangshan port development will be delayed by two years, dealing a blow to the city's short-term ambitions to be northeast Asia's biggest shipping hub. Shanghai's new mayor, Han Zheng, was quoted at the weekend as saying the city would complete the first-phase construction of what could be the world's largest deep-water container port by 2007. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Jockey Club chief executive Lawrence Wong has admitted that the club is looking at the feasibility of buying the Macau Jockey Club outright. Its chief executive says negotiations are ongoing for a deal that could restore HKJC revenues to pre-handover levels. Speaking to the South China Morning Post at the Asian Racing Federation (ARF) conference in Auckland, Mr Wong said the lines of communication between him and his counterpart, Kenneth Liang Kin-man, were open and discussions had been positive.
March 10, 2003
Hong Kong: Hong Kong executives are now the best-paid in Asia, demoting their Japanese counterparts to second place, a survey found yesterday. The poll, conducted by Mercer Human Resource Consulting, found executives in Hong Kong received on average 32 per cent more than their counterparts in Japan and 45 per cent more than those in Singapore.
China: China's largest waste recycling project launched But Hong Kong environmentalists fear that a similar park proposed for Tuen Mun will not be able to compete. Construction of the country's largest waste recycling project has started in Guangdong. The $3 billion National Demonstration Eco-Industrial Park and South China Environmental Protection Industry Park, located in Nanhai 25km southwest of Guangzhou, will be completed in three to four years. The project is backed by the State Environmental Protection Administration. Spread over 6.6 sq km, the park will be home to a variety of green industries, such as environmental protection consultancies, research and design units, green products manufacturers and waste recyclers.
March 7 - 9, 2003
Under the scheme, which would be funded by the $200 million set aside for promoting foreign investment in the special administrative region (SAR) and the Pearl River Delta region in the Budget on Wednesday, local business leaders would introduce potential overseas investors to SAR officials. Prominent Hong Kong business leaders are to act as frontmen for the government to attract foreign investment, the Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology has revealed. People should not put all the blame for their discontent on the shoulders of Tung Chee-hwa, but the chief executive does have room for improvement, a Hong Kong deputy to the National People's Congress said yesterday. Speaking at a panel discussion for members of the delegation from the special administrative region (SAR), Allen Lee Peng-fei also said that the dollar should be devalued to regain competitiveness.
A Chinese engineering company has signed two contracts worth more than US$100 million to build a water system in an area of Kuwait where US forces are preparing for war with Iraq. A spokesman for the Gezhouba Group's No4 Engineering Co said yesterday that the contracts, worth US$109 million, were its largest overseas deal and also the biggest between China and Kuwait. A bureau has been established in Guangdong to promote the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Headed by deputy director-general Liu Huaquan, an economist, the Small and Middle Enterprise Bureau is modelled on a similar government department in Zhejiang province, where privately owned enterprises are flourishing. March 6, 2003 Hong Kong: Financial Secretary Antony Leung Kam-chung told radio listeners on Thursday to have confidence in Hong Kong's economic recovery - adding that the territory's linked exchange rate system would remain in place. Filipino maids have reacted angrily to Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's decision yesterday to temporarily ban the export of domestic helpers to Hong Kong. An extradited British banker charged with bribery was sentenced to four years' imprisonment in the District Court late on Wednesday. Swire Pacific reported a 31 per cent jump in net profit on Thursday due to strong growth in its aviation business. Cathay Pacific Airway's chairman James Hughes-Hallett said yesterday that the carrier's short-term prospects were not good. Cathay Pacific Airways chairman James Hughes-Hallett's warning that global economic turmoil and war fears mean prospects are not overly bright may be too pessimistic, given that the airline seems well positioned for another profitable year. China: A top environmental official has admitted there are problems with a water cleanup plan being undertaken as part of the massive Three Gorges Dam project. China will today announce a radical shake-up of government bureaucracy aimed at adapting it to the fast-changing market economy. Li Guoqiao's drug Artekin, which is spearheading China's latest foray into the international pharmaceutical market, could be a major weapon in the battle against an insidious disease. China painted a bleak picture of what lies ahead on Thursday as it posted a record budget deficit for 2003 and warned corruption, waste and unemployment were hampering progress. March 5, 2003
China: The liquidators and creditors of Guangdong International Trust and Investment Corp (Gitic) are chasing hundreds of millions of US dollars in assets despite a recent decision by the Guangdong Higher People's Court to end the company's four-year bankruptcy proceedings. The chief of China Minsheng Banking Corp has dashed hopes that foreign investors will be allowed to take a large stake in the country's only private bank. As part of its restructuring plan, state-owned China Reinsurance plans to bring in at least five Asian-based foreign investors to take up to 24.9 per cent of the nation's only reinsurer as it moves towards a listing. March 4, 2003 China: One of the mainland's richest men and a delegate to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) has called on the government to offer private entrepreneurs more protection. "I believe it is important that the government provides a safe environment for private entrepreneurs," said Liu Yonghao, the 51-year-old chairman of Chengdu and Shanghai-based New Hope Group, a large agricultural commodities company with investments also in banking. Mr Liu's comments come in the wake of the murder of Li Haicang, a tycoon and a fellow member of the CPPCC. A steel magnate from Shaanxi province, Li was shot dead early last month. The 10th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference opened yesterday with a promise to tackle tough issues ranging from social stability and the needs of disadvantaged groups to arbitrary levies and rural reforms. CPPCC delegates have become increasingly outspoken as economic reforms increase the gap between rich and poor. They have also become vocal in their attacks on widespread corruption. The advisory group has no actual power, but its opinions are supposed to reflect the concerns of Chinese society. Only about 40 per cent of its more than 2,000 delegates are Communist Party members. Hong Kong: The completion of a bridge linking Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai will bring an extra 2 per cent economic growth for Hong Kong and create more than 6,700 jobs in the city, a study has found. European countries may soon ask to renegotiate their air service agreements with Hong Kong in attempts to head off a proposal by the European Commission to take over management of civil aviation rights for all its member states. On March 6 last year, Financial Secretary Antony Leung Kam-chung gave his inaugural budget speech. It came at a trying time for the Hong Kong economy, faced with slumping growth, rising unemployment and a serious lack of confidence. Hong Kong's Director of Social Welfare, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, said yesterday she would not resign after social service groups criticised her for failing to consult them on cuts. March 3, 2003
China: The children of 'notable families' include a revolutionary leader's son who is expected to be named vice-president. Several dozen family members of top leaders - commonly called "princelings" - will participate in the annual meetings of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Top of the list is Zeng Qinghong, one of the nine Politburo Standing Committee members and president of the party's Central Party School. Mr. Zeng is an NPC deputy representing his home province, Jiangxi. The annual meetings of China's legislature and its related advisory body that bring thousands of delegates to the capital this week are the highest levels of what the communist Government calls its version of democracy - chances to network, debate issues within narrow bounds and, most importantly, endorse a prearranged agenda. This year, the results include appointments that will ripple across the world: the installation of successors to President Jiang Zemin, Premier Zhu Rongji and other top government leaders. The step is part of a generational transfer of power that is expected to be the most orderly in 53 years of Communist Party rule.
February 28 - March 2, 2003
Hong Kong: The budget deficit is still on course to reach $70 billion this year, an academic and a legislator said yesterday after the government reported a cumulative $58.4 billion shortfall following the payment of profits and salaries tax in January. Li Ka-shing held on to the title of Asia's richest person in Forbes magazine's annual ranking of the world's wealthiest people, although his fortune shrank by 22 per cent because of the slumping stock market and global economy. The US magazine put Mr Li's fortune at US$7.8 billion (HK$61 billion), in 28th place behind the list's leader, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, who is worth US$40.7 billion. Hardcore pro-independence politicians, led by former president Lee Teng-hui, are losing their battle to stop the government from easing restrictions on business and transport links with China, according to analysts. According to the Investment Commission, Taiwanese businesses invested US$455.29 million (S$792 million) in the mainland in January, a jump of 120.78 per cent over the same period last year.
Mr. Zhu Rongji is retiring after more than a decade as China's economic chief. Zhu Rongji will go down in history as a leader who helped create the foundations of modern China. Hand-picked by paramount leader Deng to run the economy in 1991, he has steered the nation through many domestic difficulties and global volatility. His performance is spoken for by China's statistics:
February 27, 2003 Hong Kong: In a positive development for Hong Kong's economy, the value of exports rose by nearly 27 per cent year-on-year in January, latest statistics released on Thursday showed. Census and Statistics Department figures revealed that the value of total exports (including re-exports) rose by 26.7 per cent year-on-year to $135 billion. This was after a year-on-year increase of 16.7 per cent in December. The surge in exports was mainly due to a robust re-export sector. The value of re-exports rose by 30.3 per cent to $125.5 billion in January, despite a 6.8 per cent drop in domestic exports, the statistics showed. China: China has re-affirmed its commitment to form a free-trade zone with the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) by January 2005. Hong Kong: Wing Lung Bank is not letting a HK$129 million loss on its credit-card business last year dampen its enthusiasm for the high-risk consumer product. General manager Chung Che-sum believes the worst of the credit-card bad debt is over after the bank reported yesterday that its charge-off ratio for credit cards was 14.6 per cent for last year - above the industry average of 13.45 per cent. For the first time the Jardine group admits that redeveloping the 40-year-old Mandarin Oriental hotel is an option, subject to an evaluation of challenges posed by the rival Four Seasons hotel due to open in Central in 2005. China: The world's No 2 PC maker Dell Computer aims to bolster its position in China this year with a goal of outpacing overall growth in the market by a factor of three, its top Asia executive said on Thursday. Microsoft's Bill Gates will be in Beijing on Friday to sign a framework agreement with China United Telecommunications to jointly explore developing a platform and applications using Microsoft's operating system for mobile services. February 26, 2003 China: Despite speculation that talks had stalled, United States-based investment firm Newbridge Capital said it was close to a deal to buy nearly 20 per cent of Shenzhen Development Bank - the latest in a string of foreign forays into the mainland banking sector. China differs from the United States only in the short-term tactic of dealing with North Korea while both share the same goal of wanting the state to give up its nuclear weapons program. 'China knows North Korea well enough to suggest that the US tactic of coercing Kim Jong Il will not work,' said Professor Kenneth Lieberthal from the University of Michigan.
February 25, 2003
Oracle Systems and Hewlett-Packard have opened a centre in Hong Kong to help local independent software vendors and developers (ISVs) migrate from legacy systems to Oracle/HP solutions. The Competency Centre, at HP's headquarters in Taikoo Shing, is designed to help ISVs which may not have access to big systems and related hardware.
February 24, 2003 Hong Kong: Century-old rule on jury service is under review - Most trials are conducted in Chinese, yet English proficiency is required before HK people can perform their civic duty. Most Hong Kong citizens are barred from jury service because of a century-old rule that requires a juror to have a level of English proficiency, despite the extensive use of Chinese in courts since the handover. The government is now reviewing the rule. Legal experts and a lawmaker are urging that it should be changed to comply with the common-law principle that the accused should be tried by fellow members of the community. It means that only 316,812 or 4.4 per cent of Hong Kong's 6.8-million population are eligible. This compares to the United States, Britain and Canada where more than three quarters of citizens are potential jurors. A drastic overhaul to the tax system that could include a sales tax is needed to make it less dependent on cyclical swings in the economy, says Civic Exchange's report on the budget and public finances. Such reform will make the government's income less dependent on asset prices, which tend to fluctuate according to the property market, and tie it more to overall spending by the general population, which tends to hold steady. In doing so, Hong Kong would avoid large budget deficits like the $77.3 billion it has today, the report says. China: Foreign media and entertainment companies should not have high hopes that China will open up its television industry to them anytime soon, according to a senior official at state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV). Beijing's high court has thrown out the corruption conviction of Huaxia Bank's former chief in a development that will help the bank's plans to list on the domestic stock market this year. Zhongxing, one of China's biggest manufacturers of telecommunications equipment, has postponed plans for a public listing in Hong Kong and is considering instead an overseas private placement, an official newspaper reported yesterday. The Chinese government and private firms plan to spend up to 700 billion yuan (about US$84.6 billion) to develop key technologies in the next five years, the country's science minister said on Thursday. China, eager to promote economic growth and technological prowess, spent a total of 104.3 billion yuan in the five years to 2002, up from 50.9 billion yuan in the previous five-year period, Minister Xu Guanhua told a news conference. Hong Kong: The No 4 fixed-line operator in Hong Kong claims to be one of the few companies carrying millions of minutes of corporate Taiwan phone traffic into the mainland each month. Because of Taiwan's ban on direct cross-straits links, such traffic must be routed through Hong Kong. New World Telecommunications (NWT) has been expanding beyond Hong Kong by tapping into the lucrative market between Taiwan and the mainland. February 21 - 23, 2003
Hong Kong: A landmark deal has been struck to cut civil service salaries back to the level they were at during the handover, a move that will ease the soaring budget deficit to the tune of $7 billion by 2006. The government hopes the reduction, which will be implemented in two phases beginning next year, will put an end to long-running pay disputes. The two-phase pay cut will save the government HK$12.2 billion for the next three fiscal years, instead of HK$21 billion if the businessmen had their way. China: According to figures released yesterday by the Department of Commerce, the US trade deficit with China last year was US$103 billion. China overtook Japan three years ago as the country with which the US has its largest trade deficit, and has maintained that position ever since. Trained economist Han Zheng has been appointed as the new mayor of the mainland's key commercial centre. Despite lacking reformist credentials, he is expected to push economic growth. Hong Kong: A Hong Kong man infected with a bird flu virus has died in the first known death from the disease since it killed six people in the territory in 1997 and triggered worldwide alarm. The Health Department said the man and his nine-year-old son, who is in stable condition in a Hong Kong hospital, contracted the H5N1 bird flu virus, possibly while visiting relatives in China. February 20, 2003
The Obscene Articles Tribunal on Thursday upheld its ''obscene'' classification of a cover of gossip magazine Eastweek - which outraged Hong Kong people last year by featuring a semi-nude picture of an abducted actress. Magistrate Au See-hin and four adjudicators unanimously ruled the October 30 edition of the magazine was ''obscene'' - or in the Class 3 category - making it unfit for sale. Criminal charges are expected to follow the ruling.
China's northern port city of Tianjin is anxious to play catch-up. Its economic performance was just behind Beijing and Shanghai in the 1980s but, in the last decade, Tianjin has been overtaken by Guangzhou and Shenzhen. CHUA CHIN HON of The Straits Times China Bureau looks at the city's US$22 billion (S$38.8 billion) plan to remake itself.
February 19, 2003 Hong Kong: Talks aimed at forging closer economic links between Hong Kong and the mainland have been quietly resumed, boosting hopes that an agreement can be reached by the summer. Senior trade officials from each side held a meeting in Hong Kong last week over the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (Cepa), the first time such discussions have taken place since last August.
The holiday messages reaped 500 million yuan (HK$471.8 million) in total revenue for China Mobile, China Unicom and their subcontractors, according to CCID Consulting, an arm of the Ministry of Information Industry. But the popularity of the short-messaging system (SMS) has also left the authorities worried that it is being used to spread rumors and reactionary views. China is facing a serious shortfall in teachers and the situation could get worse when the number of youths entering high school and universities peaks in coming years, state media said yesterday. The country will need an extra 1.16 million senior high school teachers and 110,000 college teachers by 2005, the Xinhua news agency said, citing China's first official research document on education and human resources.
February 18, 2003
Visiting US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick has complemented China on its implementation of World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. But he says improvements are still needed in areas such as agriculture. Mr. Zoellick arrived in China on Sunday for a four-day visit after attending an inconclusive WTO meeting in Tokyo, at which 22 nations failed to agree on a proposal to lower import tariffs on agricultural products and cut farm subsidies. Foreign direct investment (FDI) in China surged last month after a two-month dip as money began to flow into service industries such as banking and insurance. Investment increased to US$3.59 billion (HK$28 billion), according to the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation. Meanwhile, contracted foreign investment, a sign of future investment, rose 65 per cent to US$9.24 billion.
Hong Kong: The population of Hong Kong rose in 2002 rose to 6.8 million, latest statistics on Tuesday revealed. The Census and Statistics Department said the SAR's population rose by 0.8 per cent year-on-year to reach 6,815,800. The department said there were 48,500 births and 33,800 deaths in the territory between 2001 and 2002. During the same period, there was a net influx of 42,100 people flowing into Hong Kong, contributing to 74 per cent of the population growth.
February 17, 2003
In 1982, when Vincent Chin was clubbed to death by two unemployed autoworkers and gotten no jail time by the judge. It was the Japanese American Organizations took the lead to fight for justice. In 1950s, during the Korean War, Congress was in the work to intern Chinese like what they did to the Japanese in case of war between China and USA, it was the Japanese American Organizations that worked to defeat the measure.
China: Shenyang food firm eyes listing in HK - L&D Group shrugs off comparisons with its provincial counterpart Euro-Asia, burdened with financial scandal. L&D Group founder and managing director Yang Kai said the enterprise, formed in 1992, was considering a spin-off of three core businesses for separate listings in Hong Kong, including food processing, berry cultivation and its dairy division. L&D Group - which last year recorded 1.4 billion yuan (about HK$1.3 billion) in sales - plans to use the listing proceeds to fund an expansion of sales and distribution channels across China. Judiciary and regulators need to be educated on trust law, lawyer says - China's efforts to establish professional asset management still have a way to go. China's trust law segregated legal and beneficial ownership of assets but its implementation had been weak, said Iain Batty, a partner at international law firm CMS Cameron McKenna.
An upstart carmaker that
has vowed to produce a people's car has gained backdoor access to the Hong Kong
stock market by setting up a joint venture with a listed firm and has hired one
of the country's top industry executives. The Jili Group, based in the eastern
province of Zhejiang, is the only private company in China's crowded car market.
It produced 50,000 passenger cars last year, some costing as little as 50,000
yuan (about HK$46,940) and aims to double that number this year. February 14 - 16, 2003
Shanghai is planning to develop an island roughly the size of Hong Kong into an eco-friendly resort zone in the largest project of its kind for the eastern Chinese metropolis. The central government has approved the plan for Shanghai to undertake the 12.2-billion yuan (S$2.7-billion) project, according to the Shanghai Municipal Planning Project Administration. The blueprint includes building an 8.5-km-long tunnel between Pudong and Changxing Island, a 9.5-km-long bridge between the Changxing and Chongming islands and a 7-km-long elevated highway on Changxing.
China: China Telecom has resumed the selling of its controversial mobile call-forwarding service after a local telecommunications bureau has said it will back innovative services. In December China Telecom's subsidiary offered the controversial mobile call-forwarding service, which re-routes incoming mobile calls to fixed-lines to escape fees payable to mobile operators. The service marks another bid by China Telecom to snatch revenue from mobile rivals.
China: Volkswagen, Europe's largest carmaker, sold 35 per cent more vehicles in Asia last year, boosted by gains in China, one of the world's fastest-growing markets. In China, it sold 43 per cent more cars, or 513,000 units, last year. It plans to sell more than 600,000 vehicles in China this year and introduce at least five new models, including the Audi A4 and the Polo sedan. Pakistan has signed a US$62 million (S$109.4 million) agreement to buy 1,300 railway cars from China, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said yesterday. The agreement signed this week in Beijing will help Pakistan modernize its antiquated and often dangerous railway system. February 13, 2003
China: US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick travels to Beijing early next week for talks that US farm and business groups hope will spur progress in areas ranging from biotech crop standards to insurance market reforms. Mr. Zoellick's first trip to China in nearly a year comes as the US trade deficit with the increasingly powerful exporter was expected to set a new record in 2002 at more than US$100 billion.
February 12, 2003
Mainland director Zhang Yimou's epic Hero was last night honoured with an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. It is the third time one of Zhang's films has been nominated for the award, after Ju Dou in 1990 and Raise the Red Lantern the following year.
Mainland developer Shanghai Forte Land will raise up to HK$1 billion in a public offering in Hong Kong later this month, in a move that will give competitors also planning share sales an indication of the market's mood. Sources familiar with the deal said privately-owned Shanghai Forte, with most of its assets in Shanghai, planned to issue 456 million new shares, representing about 30 per cent of the enlarged share capital.
February 11, 2003
The Hong Kong government has given a strong indication on the method it will use to carry out a trial run of an emissions trading scheme among power plants in Hong Kong and Guangdong in three years time. The government studied three systems being used in the United States - "open market", "off-set" and the "cap and trade" method. The document said the open-market system, which is voluntary in nature, could not achieve specific emissions reduction targets set by the government, while the off-set system, which levels off an increase in emissions by new polluters, was not effective enough.
The central government is pressing ahead with a study of the controversial $15 billion bridge connecting Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai, with a visit by its delegates due next week. The study, co-funded by the Guangdong and Hong Kong governments, is due to be completion in June. The key issues being looked at include the alignment of the bridge. It is understood that the Hong Kong government prefers a Y-shaped construction running from near Tai O on Lantau to Macau and Zhuhai, with a possible extension to Guishan to the southwest of Lantau, where a deepwater port could be developed.
Shanghai has spent 45 billion yuan (HK$42.3 billion) on environmental protection in the past three years, but a senior official says the city must do more to clean up its smoggy skies and dirty water to attract foreign investors. The city's spending on the environment grew roughly 10 per cent annually from 2000 to 2002, setting a record. During that time, Shanghai sought to clean up Suzhou Creek, in the northern part of the city, and to increase wastewater treatment. Beijing plans major Cabinet restructuring - Number of ministries will be cut in a bid to downsize the government and bring it in line with a market-oriented economy. The revamp will reduce the number from the current 29 to 22 or 23. February 10, 2003
Hong Kong: PCCW may revive an attempt to bid for British telecommunications firm Cable & Wireless (C&W) this week with a £2 billion (about HK$25.35 billion) offer, according to reports from London. China: Hong Kong and the Virgin Islands were the mainland's top two foreign investors last year, while contracted investment from the United States rose more than 25 per cent, according to official figures published yesterday.
February 7 - 9, 2003
More than 2.65 million Chinese went abroad on vacation last year, a rise of 37 per cent compared with 2001, the official Xinhua news agency reported, citing the Ministry of Public Security. The World Tourist Organization predicted that China would attract more tourists than any other country by 2020, shooting past Spain and the United States and usurping current leader France. The Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong estimated that Chinese mainland tourists would spend a total of HK$3 billion (S$675 million) during their stay in the territory, Xinhua said. China needs IT professionals - With strong growth in its software market, China is facing a huge problem - it doesn't have enough top-end info-tech professionals to service its export market, forcing the country to import workers from India.
Chinese judge Shi Jiuyong has been elected as president of the World Court, the United Nations institute for legal disputes between states, replacing Frenchman Gilbert Guillaume, who completed a three-year term on Thursday. He was born in Zhejiang, eastern China, and has law degrees from St John's University in Shanghai and Colombia University, New York. Hong Kong: China now accounts for 44.3 per cent of the Hong Kong's total trade in 2002 - and is still the territory's largest trading partner, according to latest statistics released this week. February 6, 2003 Hong Kong: Hong Kong has signed an agreement with Shanghai on mutual recognition of professional qualifications, a move seen as a way to promote more business opportunities for local professionals. The interim agreement will apply to five professional groups - architects, surveyors, planners, landscape architects and structural engineers.
February 6, 2003 Hong Kong: An agreement on a new Pearl River Delta regional soccer league that would include teams from Hong Kong and Macau could be reached in the next few months, the home affairs chief said yesterday. Announcing the proposal, Patrick Ho Chi-ping said the scheme would raise the quality of soccer teams in Hong Kong and boost public interest in the sport. He also said the government would upgrade 21 pitches and build at least nine new football grounds by 2005. The vice-chancellor of Chinese University, Ambrose King Yeo-chi, has said he supports integration or a merger with other institutions to create "the best university in Asia". Professor King said yesterday that integration would be an effective way of meeting the university's goal of becoming a leading institution in the region as it prepares for its 40th anniversary celebrations this year. "The huge resources for top public universities in the United States come largely from their student numbers," said Professor King. "Hong Kong is in a position to produce the best institution in Asia, attracting top students from around the world, because of our international faculty. Mainland universities have not been able to do that because of the language barrier, but they are catching up fast." Hong Kong may build an exhibition complex on its border with China to allow Chinese businessmen to meet foreign investors, a report said yesterday. The Hong Kong Trade Development Council has been asked to conduct a feasibility study on the proposed exhibition and convention complex in a designated 96-ha 'special zone' on the border with the southern city of Shenzhen, the Chinese-language Sing Tao Daily said. The centre, which would be between the Lok Ma Chau and Huanggang checkpoints, would provide foreign investors with an opportunity to meet mainland businessmen. China: China tightened rules on liquids air travelers can bring aboard planes yesterday, three days after a would-be hijacker set off a mid-air fire with fuel hidden in a drinks can. The rules, published by the Civil Aviation Authority, stated that passengers will be allowed to bring no more than two bottles or cans of drinks on board future flights, the state Xinhua news agency reported. February 5, 2003
Faced with 600 extra primary school teachers due to shrinking classes, Hong Kong's Education and Manpower Bureau is considering implementing a scheme in which two teachers share a post. According to the report, a new teacher receives a monthly salary of HK$17,100 (S$3,800). Cutting it by half would reduce a teacher's pay to HK$8,550. February 4, 2003
The CIA has placed advertisements targeting Chinese-Americans in Asian-oriented newspapers and magazines across the United States, the Washington Times said yesterday. They will run all week in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco media. According to the US Census Bureau, there were more than 2.7 million Americans with Chinese ancestry in 2000, making them the largest group of Asian-Americans. Hong Kong: Hong Kong's homebuyers have been slow to acquire the global taste for fixed-rate mortgages, despite being urged to do so by the quasi central bank, preferring instead to ride interest rates lower with floating-rate loans tied to the prime rate. HKMC senior vice-president of operations, Kenny Fok Tze-chun said: "Fixed-rate mortgages have not been in fashion for the past one to two years . . . in a downward [interest rate] cycle, nobody looks at fixed rates." China: Defense Minister George Fernandes, who once cited China as India's 'potential enemy No 1', now sees vast potential for better relations between the two Asian giants. India could even learn from China's economic success, he said in comments which underscored a new upbeat approach towards China after decades of distrust. Hong Kong: The number of Hongkongers migrating to countries such as the United States and Canada has been falling steadily in the past eight years. Figures hit a 22-year low last year, with only 10,500 moving abroad compared to the peak in 1992 which saw more than 66,000 leaving Hong Kong. February 3, 2003 China: The Shanghainese are often seen as arrogant and cunning by other fellow Chinese. With the city expected to host an estimated 70 million visitors to the World Expo in 2010, Shanghai mayor Chen Liangyu is concerned about its negative image. Riding on Shanghai's 'Better City, Better Life' programme to get itself ready for its World Expo bid, Mr Chen has revived a 10-year-old 'Seven Nos' campaign. It urges people not to spit, harm the environment, damage public property, smoke in public, jaywalk, swear or litter.
January 31 - February 2, 2003
China: China today will introduce tough new rules on police who gamble, drink or violate gun laws, state press reported. The stringent new code, known as the Five Prohibitions, will also punish officers who drink-drive or carry firearms when under the influence of alcohol, the China Daily said.
Guangzhou has broken ground on its fourth subway line and announced that it is going ahead with plans to build three more lines - even as the central government announced it was suspending subway construction lines in 20 cities. January 30, 2003 Hawaii: It is a very significant occasion for the Asian Pacific American (APA) community that a Chinese American provided the response speech to the State of the Union. Governor Locke (Washington State) provided the 11-minute Democratic response, broadcast live minutes after President Bush finished his State of the Union speech. Throughout his speech, the Governor personalized his arguments with his own personal family experiences. The Governor spoke of how his grandfather came to the United States from China nearly a century ago, of how his father served in the United States Army during World War II, and of the values of education, hard work, family, and responsibility that led to his realization of the American Dream. Hong Kong: The confidence of Hong Kong consumers improved considerably over the past six months but people are still relatively pessimistic about the future, a survey suggests. This stands in stark contrast to their counterparts across the border, who remain the most optimistic in the region. Consumer confidence might be on the up, but corporate Hong Kong appears to be far less bullish about the future, writes Ambrose Leung. Two directors and a financial controller of an audio-visual company were convicted on Wednesday at the District Court of conspiring to defraud the University of Hong Kong (HKU) in relation to the tendering of a $35 million project for its new medical complex. Australia's outgoing Ambassador to China, David Irvine, yesterday offered a rare insight into China's new role on the geopolitical stage. "China is doing as much as it wants to be doing," Mr Irvine said, referring to the diplomatic impasse over Iraq and North Korea. "They [the political elite] just want the region to be as stable as it possibly can be without attention being diverted from the push to economic progress." He said the role of Hong Kong was central to this success, urging the special administrative region to continue to view itself as the "financial entrepot" to the region's powerhouse economy. "Hong Kong is such a vibrant place. I do not meet a lot of people who are not confident about the future of Hong Kong." Visitor spending in Hong Kong is expected to have increased 16 per cent year-on-year to more than $75 billion last year, fuelled by a record growth in mainland travelers, says the Hang Seng Economic Monthly.In 2001, tourism receipts stood at $64.28 billion, according to the Hong Kong Tourism Board. Mainland visitors spend an average of $5,170 per trip to Hong Kong, more than travelers from any other country, and 14 per cent more than the average visitor. In addition, strengthening Hong Kong's role as a shopping paradise for these visitors, not just based on price but also on service and quality, could probably induce them to spend even more, it said. Last Friday, the Hong Kong Tourism Board said visitor arrivals in 2002 rose 20.7 per cent to 16.6 million. But more than one-third did not stay overnight. The growth was largely due to the strong influx of mainland visitors, who increased by 53.4 per cent year-on-year to reach 6.8 million last year. China: A joint exploration project between Taiwan's government oil firm, Chinese Petroleum Corp, and the mainland's chief offshore oil producer, China National Offshore Oil Corp, has been given the all-clear. The approval by the central and Taiwan governments sets the scene for further cross-strait co-operation by government-owned enterprises as the two seek to establish direct economic links.
January 29, 2003 Hong Kong: Several mainland technology companies have expressed interests in leasing space at Cyberport and intend to lock up deals this year, according to a government official. Cyberport co-ordinator Betty Fung Ching Suk-yee said on Tuesday: "We are discussing terms with mainland companies. I'm sure we will see some Chinese companies at Cyberport." Six tycoons have backed the government proposals to enact security law legislation, according to analysis of the 97,097 submissions filed to the administration. The tycoons supporting the proposals included the chairman of Cheung Kong Holdings, Li Ka-shing; the chairman of New World Development, Cheng Yu-tung; the chairman of Hopewell Holdings, Sir Gordon Wu Ying-sheung; CITIC Pacific chairman Larry Yung Chi-kin and Macau gambling mogul Stanley Ho Hung-sun. China: The Guangdong government plans to invest 210 billion yuan (HK$200 billion) in 10 sectors over the coming years, state media reported. The selected areas include roads, subways, energy, waste water treatment, petrochemicals and cars. The central government is considering drastic reforms to deal with simmering rural problems, including giving the Ministry of Agriculture more power and disbanding township and village governments. The United States Department of Education in Connecticut said overnight (HK time) it has entered into an educational exchange agreement with the Shandong Provincial Department of Education in the mainland. The agreement will allow up to 50 Connecticut schools to connect with schools in Shandong, a province of 90 million people in the eastern mainland. The province already has an agreement with Connecticut, signed in 1986 by then-Governor William O'Neill and the governor of Shandong to promote a trade and economic relationship. January 28, 2003
National Basketball Association star Yao Ming has signed a three-year advertising contract with telecom company China Unicom, his first with a domestic firm. Unicom is China's second biggest mobile operator, with 12.1 per cent of the national telecommunications market, one third of its biggest rival China Mobile with 37.4 per cent, according to figures published by the Ministry of Information Industry last week.
Hong Kong: Police gear up for huge crowds at Lunar New Year fireworks display - About 380,000 people are expected to gather on the Tsimshatsui waterfront for the fireworks display on Sunday, with police sending 1,000 officers to the area to guard against a repeat of the New Year's Eve ruckus. China: Regional economists yesterday applauded the government's announcement that foreign exchange reserves stood at US$286.4 billion (HK$2.2 trillion) by the end of last year, a 35 per cent increase on 2001. Hong Kong: Hong Kong's young industrialists are offering mainland training stints to Hong Kong youths to show them that the territory still maintains sizeable manufacturing-related operations even though factories have moved north. ABOUT 20 members of the Hong Kong Young Industrialists Council yesterday held a one-day recruitment fair, offering Hong Kong youths more than 70 training places in their factories in the Pearl River Delta. The businesses are manufacturers of watches, gold jewelery, spectacles, toys, garments and plastics. The training stints on offer are mainly in management, engineering and design. Open to those 18 years and up, the programmes last for six months and pay HK$4,000 (S$890) a month for secondary school graduates and HK$6,000 a month for college graduates. Food, lodging and transport from and to Hong Kong are also paid for. China: Chinese citizens who fancy the waters and mineral-rich sand of the Dead Sea will not need to travel to the Middle East, because China is now building its own 'Dead Sea' in south-western Sichuan province. The one-billion-yuan (S$209-million) resort, sited in Daying county, is expected to be completed in 2005, the Huaxi City Daily reported. January 27, 2003
Last night's historic round-the-clock opening at Lok Ma Chau has made life easier for thousands of travelers and boosted land prices. But to many observers, those benefits are just the beginning. Passengers and trucks continued to criss-cross the border beyond midnight thanks to lengthy negotiations over the round-the-clock opening between Hong Kong and the central government. The breakthrough came last month after a visit by Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa to Beijing. The move has been seen as an important step in Hong Kong's integration with the Pearl River Delta region. Secretary for Security Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee was on hand in the early hours of the morning to witness the start of round-the-clock crossings. China: The new governor of China's central bank has ordered new measures to cut the level of bad debt in the four big state banks, but no decision has been taken on the establishment of a new bank regulator - a move that has been widely expected.
China: China plans to restructure key ministries wielding sweeping powers over trade, economic policy and state assets as part of the third major government overhaul in 20 years, ministry officials say. The reforms - led by Vice-Premier Wen Jiabao who is expected to take over Premier Zhu Rongji's post at an annual meeting of parliament in March - aim to eliminate overlap and create a more transparent regulatory structure. The latest round of reform blueprints envisions expanded roles for the State Development Planning Commission (SDPC), in charge of macroeconomic strategy, and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (Moftec), officials said. A small or medium-sized enterprise (SME), venturing into the huge China market may seem like going sailing in the open sea in a kayak. But what if SMEs got together to build a bigger boat and plotted a course for a specific destination? 'SMEs in particular, do not have the size or scale to influence or generate favourable conditions to aid their business,' said Asme president Lawrence Leow at the event. 'However, if SMEs can band together, then the combined force and influence can be sizeable enough to create a cluster effect,' he added. A group of Taiwanese businessmen who banded together to negotiate with the mayor of Kunsan, China and obtained tax, relief and other benefits during the 1997 currency crisis. He said: 'So, it can be seen that when you have the size, you can build a cluster effect that generates strong influence and leverage over the local authority and community.' He noted that elsewhere in China, Taiwanese businesses have created the 'same cluster effect' in Dongguan where there are 3,000 electronics firms, and Hongkong businessmen have also set up their clusters in Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Zhuhai. Hong Kong:
Market players have reacted cooly to
a Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx) plan to classify more than 800
main-board companies into different tiers, based on their risk profiles, in an
effort to improve the quality of listed firms. January 24 - 26, 2003
The Gee Technology Learning Center, named in honor of Dean Emeritus Chuck Yim Gee, was made possible largely by the generous donations of the School of Travel Industry Management alumni association, TIM International, Inc., and the endowments of Kitaro Watanabe and Bernice C. Loui. The Center, which opened in January 2003, include an executive videoconference suite, a multi-media computer learning laboratory with Smartboard technology and a multi-purpose computer laboratory named after benefactors Leong Hop and Bernice C. Loui. The Gee Technology Learning Center is a unique resource in travel industry higher education providing a platform for the School to deliver high-quality programs both on-campus and by distance. It also serves as a focal point for studies of electronic network information system and services in the travel industry, and dynamically evolving travel distribution systems. Cutting-edge technologies will be incorporated in to the center as they emerge. Dean Emeritus Chuck Yim Gee is a Director and Founding Members of the Hong Kong China Hawaii Chamber of Commerce (HKCHcc)
Hong Kong: ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption) chief calls for global links to combat corruption - The ICAC is at the "end of the beginning" in its battle against corruption in Hong Kong, its commissioner said yesterday. Speaking at the closing ceremony of a three-day conference hosted by the Independent Commission Against Corruption and global law-enforcement body Interpol, Ambrose Lee Siu-kwong spoke of a new era for the anti-graft agency as it approached its 30th anniversary. He urged the 500-strong gathering of the world's top anti-graft experts from 61 jurisdictions to forge a global partnership. "The experience of Hong Kong and other parts of the world clearly points out that no jurisdiction can afford to let corruption rear its ugly head," the commissioner said. Other conference speakers praised the ICAC proposal to lead a united global front after hearing of the rampant graft and corruption that once pervaded Hong Kong society. "Protection rackets, illegal kickbacks, bribery and other corruption-related crimes were common," ICAC community relations director Susan Mak told the conference. "Corruption within the civil service and in the police force were unchecked. It permeated every fabric of society. Ms Mak said the establishment of the ICAC in 1974 had drastically curbed graft and corruption.
Beijing officials announced yesterday they are offering residency benefits to qualified Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan executives as a means of attracting talent to the city, in a move applauded by top mainland headhunters.
Hong Kong: The University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has called for further private sector investment in its information technology (IT) park in Guangdong to help promote economic development in the Pearl River Delta. Its vice-president for research and development Otto Lin said yesterday further growth in the region could provide more industrial support for research in local universities, faced with a possibly heavy cut in government funding due to the huge budget deficit. Accusing the government of spending only paltry sums on research and development, he said the struggling economy had caused a reduction in research funding from the industrial sector. He said the Nansha Information Technology Park in Panyu, Guangdong, could help with technological development and training of mainland talent in the region. "There could also be more collaboration between industries and local universities as the economy develops there." He pledged that HKUST would take the lead in promoting economic and technological co-operation between Hong Kong and the rest of the delta. "Companies can do product development at much lower costs in the park." But he questioned why there was such a huge budget deficit, estimated at about $70 billion for this financial year. Investment in scientific research was necessary for improving Hong Kong's competitiveness in a knowledge economy, he said. Hong Kong ranked 45 out of the 49 countries polled in the world competitiveness study carried out by the Swiss-based Institute for Management Development in 2001. It invested only 0.25 per cent of its gross domestic product on research and development, lagging behind Taiwan, which ranked 10th, and Singapore, in 14th place. The Nansha IT Park, a joint venture which was set up between the Fok Ying Tung Foundation, set up by tycoon Henry Fok Ying-tung, the Guangzhou government and HKUST, provides support for technological development and professional training in hi-tech fields. Hong Kong's tourism industry has rebounded - with a record number of visitors coming to the territory in 2002, latest statistics on Friday revealed. Figures from the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) show the SAR had 16.57 million ''total arrivals'' in 2002. This was the highest on record and an increase of 20.7 per cent compared with 2001. More than 6.8 million visitors were from the mainland - an increase of 53.4 per cent on the 2001 figure. The HKTB attributed the increase in mainland visitors to the relaxation of visa requirements by China's central Government last year. The HKTB forecasted further growth of 8.4 per cent to 17.96 million visitors in 2003. Mainland visitors are expected to account for 7.86 million - a growth of 15.2 per cent, according to the HKTB. According to the statistics, in 2002 Taiwan remained Hong Kong's second largest source of tourists, with arrivals reaching more than 2.3 million. There were more than 1.9 million visitors from South and Southeast Asia - an increase of 9.1 per cent. Visitor numbers from North Asia, North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Africa and the Middle East also rose. China: First IQ, then EQ, now it's SQ! Study wants to find out how Chinese men's sexual quotient measures up to that of Westerners? You have measured your IQ and EQ, but people may soon ask for your 'SQ' - or sexual quotient - if some Chinese doctors get their way. SQ was introduced into popular Chinese lexicon on Wednesday as a measure of sexual health when several doctors launched a nationwide study on the 'quality of life' of Chinese men, who they say have a much lower SQ than their European or American counterparts. 'We have to break the theoretical bottleneck surrounding the international debate and research on sexual health and dysfunction,' said Dr Wang He, secretary of the China Sexology Association's Chinese Traditional Sexual Medicine Committee.
The US Customs Service left no doubt yesterday of its commitment to next month's new maritime trade regulations as it emerged that at least a quarter of US-bound exports were likely to be rejected for non-compliance. The arrest of two men on the mainland who are wanted for an execution-style killing in the United States was hailed yesterday as a defining case in the push for Hong Kong to be made the extradition platform of Asia.
Hong Kong: Financial Secretary rules out using reserves to cut deficit - Relying on Hong Kong's financial reserves was not the ultimate solution to the budget deficit problem, Financial Secretary Antony Leung Kam-chung told a luncheon on Thursday. Mr Leung said although the reserves could act as a buffer to the deficit problem, the long-term solution lay in reviving the economy. ''Our reserves mean we don't have to borrow to cover the deficit, at least for the time being. This has given us and the international financial community some comfort,'' Mr Leung said. Chinese vice-premier Qian Qichen downplayed on Thursday disagreements in Hong Kong over the enactment of the proposed anti-subversion law. Mr Qian told reporters in Beijing he did not think there were many significant differences of opinion. He said Article 23 was only one of many articles in the Basic Law. ''Hong Kong people would reach a consensus gradually,'' he said. China: Shenzhen mayor Yu Youjun met and chatted with a critic whose article sparked a lively Internet debate over the city's future, in a move that reflects Shenzhen's position as China's laboratory for reform - both political and economic. The article triggered an online debate involving more than 100,000 comments. The 2 1/2-hour meeting took place a few days ago, after securities researcher Guo Zhongjiao, 28, wrote an online article last October contending that the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) was losing its competitive edge following China's entry into the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Since its establishment as China's first SEZ in 1979, Shenzhen has been a pioneer in economic and, more recently, political experimentation as China moves towards a more market-oriented, open society. Recently, however, many feel the city has lost out as Beijing tries to level the playing field under its obligations to the WTO. January 23, 2003 China: Japanese electronics giant Toshiba will invest US$1 billion in China in the next few years to boost production of computer chips, screens and mobile telephones. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has received preliminary government approval to become the island's first chipmaker to open a factory in China, clearing the first hurdle in its bid to end a decades-old ban.
Hong Kong: Hong Kong must remain vigilant in fighting corruption, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa told an international anti-graft conference on Wednesday. Speaking at the opening of a three-day ICAC-Interpol Conference, Mr. Tung said: ''Corruption can erode the rule of law, undermine the efficiency of governments, stifle economic development, and in some cases may trigger social and political unrest.'' Mr Tung said Hong Kong had been ranked as one of the world's least corrupt places in the Corruption Perceptions Index, released by Transparency International in August 2002. But there was no room for complacency, emphasised the Chief Executive. A former Ocean Park food operations manager on Tuesday was charged for alleged fraud relating to the award of $330,000 worth of purchase orders. The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) said Tsui Wai-chung, 50, currently on bail, would appear in Western Magistracy on Thursday. He faces 19 counts of fraud, and one of trying to pervert the course of justice. The case arose from a corruption complaint alleging Tsui might have accepted bribes from a food stall operator for allowing the latter to operate at Ocean Park. After the rail project is given the green light, questions will be raised about the future of the controversial Route 7 highway. The government has finally given the green light to the MTRC's proposed loop rail line in southern Hong Kong Island. The Executive Council decided yesterday to proceed with further planning on the $10 billion South Island Link, which would possibly be a light rail track. Dragonair is readying itself for the possibility of a long legal fight if the Air Transport Licensing Authority (Atla) rules against it in relation to constitutional issues raised over Cathay Pacific's bid to resume services to the mainland, according to industry sources. China: A former planning director of the company that built the Guangdong-Hainan railway has gone on trial in Guangzhou for alleged corruption. Lu Hanzhang, a former official of the Guangdong-Hainan Railway Company, appeared before Guangzhou Intermediate Railway Court on Tuesday for allegedly accepting more than a million yuan (HK$940,000) in bribes from more than a dozen contractors and railway companies, the Guangzhou-based Nanfang Daily reported on its Web site yesterday. According to reports published in state-run media yesterday, more than 200 billion yuan (about HK$188 billion) had been "mislaid" by state agencies in the first 11 months of last year, while 7.3 billion yuan had been "lost" through "poor decision-making". When a high-profile conference begins in Beijing tomorrow to address perhaps the most complex issue facing the national leadership - reform of the financial system - senior cadres will have had some interesting reading to digest. According to reports published in state-run media yesterday, more than 200 billion yuan (about HK$188 billion) had been "mislaid" by state agencies in the first 11 months of last year, while 7.3 billion yuan had been "lost" through "poor decision-making". China's position as the centre for its traditional medicine has been eroded by Japan, South Korea and even Germany, which are flooding the world market with their own brand of Chinese cures. The situation is so serious that it has sparked calls from the country's Chinese medicine community for a national effort to reverse the tide. At stake is not just cultural pride, but also a home market worth more than US$5 billion (S$8.7 billion) a year and a world market surpassing US$16 billion in value, of which China has only a 3-per-cent share. Not helping the situation is the fact that China must slash import tariffs for medicine by 60 per cent next year. The Taiwanese government is considering loosening its ban on direct contact with China by allowing mainland students to study in Taiwan. It is one of the measures the authorities may be forced to take to counter the growing influence of China over the island and foreign countries. China allows Taiwanese to study on the mainland and the number of such students has been growing. China displaced Japan as the world's second-largest market for personal computers (PCs) in the second half of last year, after the United States, market researcher International Data Corp said yesterday. A total of 6.3 million PCs were shipped in China in the period, compared with 5.7 million in Japan, IDC analyst Kitty Fok said. January 22, 2003
Hong Kong's deflation continued in the final month of 2002 - with prices falling 1.5 per cent year-on-year - due to weak demand and soft import prices, latest statistics released on Tuesday showed. Hong Kong universities can no longer rely solely on government funding during the economic downturn, Financial Secretary Antony Leung Kam-chung said on Tuesday. Social stability was a major foundation of Hong Kong's future economic prosperity, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa said on Tuesday.
The PetroChina-led consortium behind the 4,000 km west-to-east natural gas pipeline project says it has signed agreements with 17 buyers for a combined annual volume of 2.81 billion cubic metres (bcm). The Danish manufacturer of the colorful snap-together Lego building blocks has won a copyright-infringement case in a Chinese court, a development in the anti-piracy fight promised by China's leadership since the country joined the World Trade Organization. The ruling by the Beijing High People's Court is a 'landmark' one, the Lego Company said. 'It is the first time that the Chinese legal system has delivered a judgment that confirms copyright protection of industrial design/applied art,' the Denmark-based company said in a news release posted on Monday on its Web site. It also establishes the possibility of gaining 'double protection' under China's legal system, the toymaker said. This allows a company to register design protection and simultaneously obtain copyright protection for a product in the courts. Lego, best known for its interlocking plastic building blocks, filed suit in 1999 against an unnamed Chinese company, alleging it had copied 53 characteristics of Lego toys, the statement said. The court ruled that 33 of the elements are protected by copyright, which had been infringed by the Chinese design, Lego said. The lawsuit comes amid repeated promises by the Chinese government to increase protection for patents, copyrights and other intellectual property after being admitted into the World Trade Organisation in December 2001. Foreign businesses have complained that China is failing to fully enforce the laws, forcing them to spend extra money on anti-piracy technology and tactics while worrying about seeing customers snatched away by unscrupulous competitors. January 21, 2003 Hong Kong: One of Hong Kong's smallest mobile operators, Peoples Telephone, is to deploy a third-generation (3G) alternative that will deliver near-3G speeds at a fraction of that technology's cost. Pacific Century CyberWorks is pinning its wireless strategy on Wi-Fi technology, as it doubles the number of public installations for wireless local area networks (WLANs) in Hong Kong this year. China: Legend Group was the top seller of personal computers in the Asia-Pacific region, excluding Japan, in the fourth quarter of last year, according to a preliminary report from research firm International Data Corp (IDC).
The China policy chief for Taiwan's governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) quietly arrived in Beijing on Sunday for a rare visit seen as a potential breakthrough in cross-strait relations. Chen Chung-shin, a DPP legislator and concurrent director of the party's China Affairs Department, was in the capital at the invitation of think-tanks affiliated with the central government and armed forces. Mr Chen, a close associate of Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian, was making his first visit to the mainland since taking over the DPP's China department in July.
Beijing is considering a multi-billion-yuan recapitalisation of its technically insolvent big four state banks, ahead of a key meeting this week of China's financial policy-making institutions aiming at reforming the sector. Hong Kong: Hong Kong trading firm Li & Fung has aggressive plans for its Circle K convenience stores in Guangzhou, hoping to open one shop every two weeks, and already firing the first shot in an expected price war with competitors. Chinese basketball sensation Yao Ming is providing an Asian role model for Hong Kong fans who previously looked up to Americans like Shaquille O'Neal or Tim Duncan, the Hong Kong Basketball Association said yesterday. Called the "Little Giant" and the "Great Wall" by the mainland media, Yao Ming joined the NBA only three months ago. His four-year contract is worth US$17.8 million (HK$138 million). China: In an exercise that might have ramifications for political reform in a still avowedly communist country, the people of Siyang County were given the chance recently to single out non-performing public servants through a ballot of sorts. The results of the vote were announced live on local TV and radio. A little-known county in China's eastern province of Jiangsu has struck a blow for public accountability by allowing its residents to vote out incompetent officials. January 20, 2003 China: China has taken an important step towards the convertibility of the yuan by liberalizing rules under which companies that invest abroad exchange their yuan for foreign currency, according to state media. Another of Communist Party chief Hu Jintao's allies, Mr. Meng Xuenong, moved up the political ranks yesterday when he was named mayor of Beijing. Hong Kong: Airline industry sources say Dragonair and Cathay Pacific Airways have abandoned talks aimed at a private settlement of their dispute over Cathay's bid to resume mainland flights and are focusing their efforts on preparing for the public hearing scheduled to begin on Thursday. China: China's wealthiest used to flaunt their riches by hiring bodyguards to carry their shopping bags and dageda, mobile phones the size of walkie-talkies. Today's tycoons, many of whom live in the capital, go to the five-star Beijing Hotel next to Wangfujing, the city's premier shopping street. Every Saturday night, hundreds of high-powered entrepreneurs, officials and artistes network inside the hotel's Golden Hall and feast on nutritious shark's fin soup served up in porcelain cups, pick at perch and watch performances by popular dance troupes. The occasion? The controversial First Banquet parties. The real First Banquet was chaired by late premier Zhou Enlai on Oct 1, 1949 to mark the founding of the People's Republic of China. Cadres ate simply, with dousha bao, or red-bean buns, and dumplings as the staples. Pork balls and carp were about the only pricey dishes. From 1949 to 1958, all the national day receptions were held at this hotel. But today, its First Banquet parties are an unapologetic celebration of wealth, with tickets sold at between 800 yuan and 2,000 yuan (S$170 and S$420) per tycoon. China is to build a permanent scientific survey station at the North Pole this year, the People's Daily said yesterday. The base will allow Chinese scientists to conduct year-round research related to the Arctic Zone. China previously had temporary research bases at the Pole. The mainland will overtake Japan to become the largest importer in East Asia within two years and become the biggest exporter by 2010, a US economist said yesterday. Shenzhen's trial political reforms will be launched within the next six months, creating a three-tiered government with clear separation of policy-making, execution and supervision functions, Mayor Yu Youjun said. Mainboard-listed telecommunications services provider China Motion Telecom International has won a license to enter Hong Kong's already crowded fixed-line market. Hong Kong: Hong Kong police apologised yesterday to the family of an elderly mainland Chinese tourist who was mistaken for an illegal immigrant and sent back to China. Mr. Lee Shung, 71, who is partially senile, was in the territory visiting relatives with his wife. Deputy Police Commissioner Dick Lee told reporters that police were investigating whether the incident involved communication, procedural or human errors and that they would bring Mr Lee back to Hong Kong. In August 2000, Yu Man Hon, an autistic 17-year-old with the mental age of two, had gone missing after being mistakenly sent across the Chinese border by immigration officers. January 17 - 19, 2003 Many businesses in Hawaii are hopeful the latest additional to Governor Linda Lingle Team, the old way of "play and pay" system will be a thing of the past. People familiar with DBEDT internal operation in the past said change on the top is necessary, but most of the problems were created by people not at the Director or Management level. The problem is at its roots level. In the past, many business/trade mission was nothing more than a State paid vacation funded by the Hawaii DBEDT to local entities willing to "play and pay". Many businesses went on business/trade mission in the past gave very high score on the fun aspects, many thought the wine, dine and sightseeing portion was great. When asked how businesses or entities were selected. Many replied that it is a non-bid contract, depending on who you know and decision not made by head of DBEDT. Scheme is also set up to turn a "bid" contract into a "non-bid" contract. Inside source said that amount to $500,000 per year.
Foreign investors in mainland power plants will be forced to re-negotiate guaranteed-price purchase agreements with buyers as part of the industry reform, leading to a probable reduction in tariffs and returns. If China can achieve its modernization objectives by 2050, its ranking in the world economy will scale new heights, to complete the transformation from a large developing economic entity to an economic power. The mainland can then 'rank among the major powerhouses for the development of the world economy', said Dr. Liang Youcai and Dr. San Feng. By 2050, China could become the second-biggest engine, after the United States, driving the global economy - as long as the country grows by at least 4.5 per cent a year, say two state economists. Premier Zhu Rongji has called for better welfare benefits in the north-eastern rust belt where two labour activists stood trial after leading laid-off workers in protests against lost wages and corruption. The services sector has become China's biggest job creator and has the potential to absorb more unemployed workers, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said yesterday. The ranks of Chinese Internet users swelled by a whopping 75 per cent to 59.1 million people by the end of last year, making China the world's second-largest online population, ahead of Japan and behind only the United States. Shenzhen, facing low-cost competition elsewhere on the mainland, will have to learn from the Hong Kong experience to avoid the hollowing-out of industry over high costs, according to Shenzhen mayor Yu Youjun. Hong Kong: Hutchison Whampoa, Asia's biggest investor in European mobile-phone companies, and Singapore Technologies Telemedia have received European Union approval to buy 62 per cent of bankrupt fibre-optic network operator Global Crossing. The Hong Kong Shippers Council yesterday warned its members to take new United States Customs Service regulations seriously because shipping lines will reject all US-bound cargo not registered 24 hours in advance of sailing. The Office of the Telecommunications Authority (Ofta) plans to monitor provision of wireless local area network (WLan) services by requiring Internet service providers (ISP) to apply for a class licence before deployment. Hong Kong crime victims in Shenzhen can expect quicker police help under a new co-operation scheme launched yesterday - but only if the offences are committed in border areas. China: China United Telecommunications has signed a framework accord with South Korea's SK Telecom for a joint venture to provide wireless Internet services in the mainland. Hong Kong: In a major change of strategy, Hutchison-Priceline (Travel) will offer published-price travel products, a departure from its loss-making United States counterpart's name-your-own-price model. China: The mayor of Guangzhou called on Hong Kong yesterday not to stand in the way of his city's development, particularly its plans for the Nansha port, saying co-operation would lead to mutual gains and a "win-win" situation. At a time of mounting anxiety over Hong Kong's economic future, increased integration with the Pearl River Delta has been portrayed as a given. It appears, however, that despite the success of Hong Kong investors across the border in recent years, further integration is being held back by nothing more - or less - than a lack of mutual respect. Premier Zhu Rongji has come down hard on the mainland's property markets in recent months, warning that overzealous officials and real estate developers are creating a bubble.
Hong Kong: Britain has told China that the Article 23 controversy will undermine international confidence in Hong Kong if the issue is mishandled. Hong Kong: The Asia's space race - CHINA: Man on the moon by this year - INDIA: Lunar spacecraft by 2015 - JAPAN: Manned lunar flight by 2020, but observers they do not foresee a repeat of the space race of the 1960s in which the former Soviet Union and the United States spent vast sums to compete for global supremacy in outer space. Yet, the three Asian countries' space aspirations are impressive, given that many countries are scaling back on their space programmes because of a lack of funds. Although China aims to set up an independent space station in five to six years, a number of Chinese officials indicated interest in participating in the International Space Station - a joint effort of Europe, Canada, the US, Japan and Russia. China: As Hong Kong speeds up border crossings with Guangdong province to foster closer economic integration with the Pearl River Delta, Shenzhen is agitating to dismantle an internal border which divides the special economic zone (SEZ) from the rest of the city. Shenzhen delegates to the Guangdong People's Congress lobbied for the lifting of the border during a meeting at the congress, now in session. With factories and residential projects concentrated inside the zone, Shenzhen's further development has to take place outside its boundaries. The Shenzhen Airport and seven planned satellite towns are located around the zone. Shenzhen and Zhuhai are the only two of China's five SEZs to have internal boundaries. Controls at Zhuhai have been relaxed. January 16, 2003 China: The Beijing telecommunications regulator has signaled its determination to crack down on irregular pricing among mobile telephone operators by fining China Unicom 300,000 yuan (about US$281,550) for tariff violations. Computer chip giant Intel is set to begin its first mainland processor assembly this year at a newly upgraded US$500 million plant, even as the company announced plans for a major cut in capital spending.
China: Foreign travelers heading for Beijing will no longer be restricted to staying at designated hotels in the capital city, according to the Chinese authorities. Foreigners looking for a place to put up for the night will now have no worries as they can check into any hotel which has vacant rooms. China's entry into the World Trade Organization, this restriction has been lifted from this year, reported the Beijing Morning Post. Hong Kong: Coming at a time of widespread concern about poor standards of Putonghua in Hong Kong impeding integration with the mainland, it received cross-party support. Finally, Hong Kong legislators spoke with one voice yesterday in an effort to enhance integration with the Pearl River Delta. It just wasn't in the language most people are accustomed to hearing from them. China: "Statistics show that there are some speculative bubbles in the property market in both Guangzhou and Shenzhen but the bubbles are not very big," Ma Jing, governor of the Guangdong branch of the People's Bank of China, said in an interview with GD-HK Information Daily. Guangdong officials have dismissed the threat of a bubble in the local property market but said they would control the supply of land allocated for development to avoid future overheating. Centaline (China) Property Consultants director Lai Kwok-keung that said a bubble burst was unlikely in Guangdong although the property market there would enter a period of consolidation. Hong Kong: Guangdong knew of bridge plan - Hopewell Holdings chairman Sir Gordon Wu Ying-sheung has told Guangdong of his intention to invest in a bridge linking Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau but officials want a more detailed plan, a mainland academic said yesterday. Hong Kong: The warped perceptions of people who have failed to get over the "glory days" of the mid-1990s are to blame for the gloom about the economy, not the government, the chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce said yesterday. January 15, 2003
China: After years of finding nothing but fault with China's human rights record, a major New York-based monitor said conditions had improved in the past year. The report credited this to the generational leadership change that took place last year at the 16th Communist Party Congress when Hu Jintao was named as general secretary, succeeding President Jiang Zemin. It was the first seamless leadership handover in the 54 year history of the People's Republic of China. China: China yesterday made an unprecedented offer to host talks between the United States and North Korea to resolve their dispute over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.
China: Guangdong's planning chief yesterday invited investors to come forward with proposals for a bridge linking Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau, but said the provincial government would not itself fund the project. Hong Kong: More than half of Hong Kong's 178,000 civil servants are being invited to retire early. Though unions say the $2.1 billion package is unattractive, civil service chiefs expect about 7,000 to take up the offer over four years. January 14, 2003 Hong Kong: The corporate restructuring trend in Hong Kong is expected to continue this year as firms move to improve balance sheets, make use of idle cash and strengthen shareholder value, according to Morgan Stanley executives. China: GUANGDONG Governor Lu Ruihua mentioned Hongkong in only one paragraph of his work report at the opening of the provincial people's congress yesterday, a sign which showed that both sides needed to step up dialogue on regional development. China: More than 7,000 foreigners have taken up Shanghai's offer of residency since the Chinese city implemented its green card scheme six months ago, state media reported yesterday. Shanghai's green card scheme, the first in the country, allows talented professionals from other countries and other cities in China to apply to live in the city while retaining their foreign nationality or original residential status. China: China is to tighten its regulatory framework for listed companies and accounting firms to prevent any corporate scandals similar to those that rocked world markets last year, state media said yesterday. The strict new rules to be implemented in the coming one to two years include strengthening the accounting responsibilities of chief executives and chief accounting officers of listed firms. They would also boost information disclosure requirements relating to economic activities among management teams and major shareholders, said China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) chief accountant Zhang Weiguo. CSRC is the top watchdog overseeing China's securities sector. January 13, 2003 China: The Government predicts 1.82 billion people, roughly equivalent to the mainland's entire population, will travel during the Chinese New Year holiday period China: Strong private investment, a vibrant services sector and heavy consumer buying of homes and cars helped spur Beijing's double-digit growth last year, according to experts. Mr. Cui Shuqiang, chief of the Beijing Statistical Bureau, announced on Friday that Beijing's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 10.2 per cent last year. A big-ticket item selling like hotcakes is cars, with 120,000 units sold in the Beijing area last year, up 20 per cent over 2001. China: The mainland's largest non-life insurer, with more than 70 per cent of the domestic market, aims to list in Hong Kong or New York this year, and will consider foreign firms as shareholders, according to a Business Post report. Last month, the State Council gave its approval for the listing as part of a restructuring of Peoples Insurance Company of China (PICC) into two companies - PICC Holding and PICC Asset Stock, the report said. China: Many foreign observers believe China has undergone a remarkable change in its handling of foreign affairs. Gone is the strident rhetoric and readiness for a show-down on the slightest provocation. Instead, it is nurturing a kinder, gentler image of a responsible "major player" in the international community. Hu Jintao, the country's enigmatic new leader, has stepped out of the shadows after being officially crowned general secretary of the Communist Party. The 10th Guangdong People's Congress will convene today in Guangzhou with the important task of electing a new government to lead the province for the next five years. The mainland is bracing for about 1.7 billion passenger trips over the Lunar New Year as people take advantage of the break to return home or travel. January 10 - 12, 2003
Hong Kong: Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa has moved to ease concerns about tax rises, pledging that any increases would not undermine Hong Kong's simple, low-tax system. China: When the mainland plots its radical reforms of the financial sector later this month, one official worth watching closely will be Yan Haiwang, a deputy governor of the central bank, the People's Bank of China. China & Hong Kong: China air route row postponed - Dragonair has moved to delay indefinitely a public hearing it called into Cathay Pacific Airways' bid to re-enter the China market, industry sources say. China: China National Offshore Oil Corp yesterday announced plans for a significant foray into the power business in an effort to diversify its energy division and secure demand for its liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals. China: Beijing yesterday unveiled new guidelines on extending small, low-interest loans to unemployed and laid-off workers to help them start their own businesses. The loans will be capped at about 20,000 yuan (HK$18,800) per person and guaranteed by funds set up by provincial and municipal governments. People who team up to start businesses are eligible for larger loans. China: The Chinese government seems hell-bent on encouraging people to buy cars - even if it results in traffic gridlocks in major cities and urban dwellers choking on exhaust fumes. Beijing has targeted the vehicle industry as one of the key driving forces of economic growth and a pillar industry of the Chinese economy. With China's entry into the World Trade Organisation in 2001, it also lowered import tariffs from 70-90 per cent to 44-51 per cent, and in 2005 these will fall further to 25 per cent. In the first 11 months, locally made vehicles soared by 37 per cent over the same period in 2001 to 2.96 million units, while vehicle imports grew to 112,000 units from 68,000. Foreign car-makers such as BMW, thirsting after a relatively undeveloped and fast-growing market, have entered China aggressively in recent years through joint ventures with state-owned enterprises. Volkswagen, the first foreign car-maker to enter China 20 years ago in a joint venture with First Auto Works, has cornered 18.2 per cent of the market. But General Motors, a relative latecomer, is aggressively gaining market share. Other main players include Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Hyundai. January 9, 2003
China: China has granted approval for News Corp's Star TV to air its Chinese-language entertainment channel to limited locations across the mainland, an executive said yesterday. The approval follows a similar deal for the InfoNews channel operated by Phoenix Television Holdings - a move industry watchers called a significant step towards looser restrictions of China's broadcasting industry. Star owns 37.6 per cent of Phoenix Television. China: China Construction Bank will seek government approval to form a joint venture with Morgan Stanley to resolve bad assets with a book value of around four billion yuan (US$480 million), an official of the bank said. China: The State Economic and Trade Commission warned yesterday that the nation's economic growth will slow this year, the first sign that China's leaders are gearing up for a less-than-stellar performance in 2003. Regional economists in Asia agree that China's economy will continue to grow between 7 per cent and 8 per cent, but warn that a prolonged conflict between the US and Iraq may hurt China. Hong Kong: Hong Kong is planning to speed up economic integration with the Pearl River Delta, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa said on Thursday. ''Hong Kong has been consistently the largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the PRD and Guangdong province,'' he said in his first major speech since Wednesday's policy address. Mr Tung said a total of US$79 billion (HK$614.6 billion) in direct investment from Hong Kong was recorded in the region at the end of 2001. Statistics show the combined gross domestic product of Hong Kong, Macau and the rest of the PRD reached US$260 billion (HK$2,022.8 billion) in 2001. It was estimated to reach over US$500 billion (HK$3,890 billion) in 10 years, making the PRD one of the world's top 20 economies, the Chief Executive noted. ''Our vision is to develop the PRD into an internationally competitive major economic region. It will not only be a manufacturing base with new technology inputs, but also a principal provider of modern services to China and the Asia-Pacific,'' he said. ''With China already in the WTO and the mainland market further opening up, we are working to attract numerous small and medium enterprises from North America, Europe and Japan to use Hong Kong as a base...'' added Mr. Tung . China: The State Administration for Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) has granted Bloomberg Television the right to broadcast its Asia news channel to luxury hotels, diplomatic residences and other specially designated compounds in China, a senior company executive said yesterday. China: Samsung Electronics, the world's third largest mobile handset maker, has won a foothold to sell its GSM handsets in China, casting a threat to dominant foreign players Motorola and Nokia. January 8, 2003
China:
Chinese Internet portal
Sina.com said on Tuesday it would achieve profitability for the first time ever,
as it announced two new deals to expand high-growth mobile and online Hong Kong: PCCW shareholders on Tuesday approved a five-for-one share consolidation plan aimed at boosting the stock price of the telecommunications company. Hong Kong: Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee-hwa on Wednesday promised to tackle the ballooning fiscal deficit and build closer ties with China to reinvigorate the city's ailing economy. China: China yesterday said US charges against two firms for illegally sharing sensitive space technology with Beijing were 'laughable'. 'The Chinese side has no need to, nor could China, get technology from American companies that relates to satellites, rockets and missiles,' Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhang Qiyue told reporters. Meanwhile, prominent rocket scientist Wang Decheng also blasted the US charges as 'laughable', saying only China was responsible for the success of its space program. China: Hundreds of seats remain empty on the first-ever flights between Taiwan and China, a weak show of interest that organizers blamed on requirements forcing time-consuming stopovers in Hong Kong or Macau. January 7, 2003 China: China will phase out the 'jobs-for-life' system for the country's 30 million civil servants over the next few years in a major shakeup of the decades-old 'iron rice bowl' employment system, state media reported on Tuesday. China: China's new leader Hu Jintao has begun putting his own people in key positions, appointing a number of cadres from the Communist Youth League (CYL) which he used to head, according to sources in Beijing. Mr. Han Zheng, who is currently deputy party secretary of Shanghai, will become the city's mayor, while Mr. Shen Yueyue, deputy party secretary of Anhui province, will become deputy head of the Chinese Communist Party's Organization Department. China: Eighteen houses and apartments belonging to leading Chinese actress Liu Xiaoqing, who has been convicted of tax fraud, have been auctioned for 6.6 million yuan (S$1.4 million) but the amount still falls short of the 14.6 million yuan in taxes she evaded.
January 6, 2003 Hong Kong: Madam Justice Maria Yuen Ka-ning ruled in a High Court judgment yesterday that George Soros' SFM Advisory Holdings, the Asian Development Bank and others conspired to strip Peregrine Investment Holdings of the true value of its stake in the company that manages the US$779.5 million Asian Infrastructure Fund (AIF). China: Phoenix Satellite Television has won approval to air its Putonghua InfoNews Channel in China, raising hope at the loss-making firm that the 24-hour channel can boost advertising revenue and break even by next year. The landing rights, granted by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, enable InfoNews to be viewed legally in luxury hotels, diplomatic compounds and other specially designated compounds. Phoenix, in which Rupert Murdoch's News Corp has a stake, has recorded losses for the past seven quarters partly because of InfoNews. Launched in early 2001, with an annual budget of US$15-$20 million, it had failed repeatedly to get rights to broadcast in the mainland.
China: Sinotrans, a unit of China's biggest air-shipper, is expected to post earnings growth of at least 20 per cent in each of the next three years, according to a research report by one of the investment banks arranging its share sale. January 5, 2003 China: China is stepping up liberalisation of its gigantic utility sector by enticing private investment as the Ministry of Construction, in a rare announcement, called for the franchising of water, gas and heat supply as well as public transport and sewage and refuse treatment. Hong Kong: Hong Kong's toy industry faces a tough year, coming off a weak 2002 and hampered by a slow global economy and threatened by growing competition from mainland rivals. China: China has approved a Taiwanese airline's plan to provide indirect charter flights to Shanghai during the Chinese New Year period, Taiwanese media reported yesterday. Far Eastern Air will be allowed to offer the indirect flights from Jan 26 to Feb 10, the China Times reported yesterday. It had applied for six round-trip flights and the airfare is set at NT$16,000 (S$800). China: Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji has ruled out devaluing China's currency, saying Beijing's current policy is in the interests of the country, state press reported yesterday. China's foreign exchange reserves surged 35 per cent last year to US$286.4 billion (S$501.49 billion), figures sourced to Premier Zhu Rongji revealed yesterday.
January 3, 2003
January 2, 2003 China: China, where the economy has outgrown its biggest rivals for the past seven years, may no longer need a weak currency to keep its edge. And some of China's biggest companies say they will gain from a stronger currency. China: Speculation has been rife that Mr. Chen Long, one of the 14 astronauts currently undergoing training, has been selected for the historic mission. According to sources, China will send only one astronaut on its first manned space flight, expected to take place later this year. Mr. Chen has been chosen over other trainees due to his outstanding performance, Sing Tao Daily reported, quoting sources. January 1, 2003 China: Double-digit economic growth continues for Shanghai - Shanghai's economy has posted its largest rise in five years, surging 10.9 per cent in 2002 amid record levels of foreign investment following China's World Trade Organization entry. Taiwan: TAIPEI - Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian yesterday sought to mend fences with China by pledging not to advocate radical changes that would escalate cross-strait tensions. The back down by Mr. Chen was seen as an attempt to avert cross-strait tensions which could affect his re-election bid next year, analysts said.
China: Many women in China resort to the pariah status of being a mistress to a married man not because of love but economic survival, a survey said. Conducted in the southern province of Guangdong, where many rich Hong Kong and Chinese men put up mistresses in apartments, the survey found that 74.5 per cent of mistresses became an er nai or 'second wife' to shake off poverty, the Chinese news portal www.sina.com said. Only 13 per cent of the women said they did it for love while 42 per cent said it did not bother them never having a legal marital status. China: The country's economy also grew by 8 per cent while the world economy struggled through a slump. China also moved up to fifth place from sixth on the list of the world's major foreign trade powers and became the world's number one recipient of foreign investment. Hong Kong: Health inspectors have destroyed more than 50 chickens at a fresh food shop here after some of the birds were stricken with avian flu. The latest discovery of the virus came after the government slaughtered more than 16,000 chickens on a farm on Saturday after a number of dead birds were found there. China: The ongoing quest by China's rich and powerful for more high-status possessions will reach new heights next year when a Chinese aeroplane manufacturer rolls 'affordable' private planes off the assembly line. The Shenyang Airplane Industry (Group) Company Ltd, one of the largest aircraft manufacturers in China, is due to begin selling a superlight private plane for 500,000 (S$105,000) to 600,000 yuan, according to the Beijing Times. Its EV-97 plane weighs about 475 kg and can travel at speeds of up to 180 to 200 kmh.
*News information are obtained via various sources deemed reliable, but not guaranteed
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Members of staff at Tuen Mun Hospital
attend a memorial service for their colleague Lau Wing-kai, who died on Saturday
hailed a hero by Chief
Executive Tung Chee-hwa.
Shun Lee Catholic school pupils
in Kwun Tong have their temperatures checked with an infrared scanner yesterday. 
China:
The Shanghai government is
considering a proposal to invest up to 10 billion yuan (about HK$9.37 billion)
over the next five years building a "cruise city" on the Shanghai waterfront to
receive luxury liners and tap a new market among mainland tourists.
Hong Kong:
Specimens of endangered Siberian tiger cubs are displayed among other illegal
animal specimens confiscated after a crackdown by police in Changsha, central
China, on Friday. Trade in endangered animals in China is punishable by fine,
jail and sometimes even life imprisonment in cases involving the Giant Panda.
China:
Hong Kong:
China:
Jardine OneSolution chief
executive Steve Lo says the war in Iraq could slow corporate spending on
information-technology. Slower growth and poor prospects in China have come as a
"culture shock".
Four Kings of
Canto-pop agree to pay tribute to Leslie Cheung
- Awards chairman Cheung Tung-joe said the "Four Kings" of Canto-pop - Jacky
Cheung Hok-yau, Andy Lau Tak-wah, Leon Lai Ming and Aaron Kwok Fu-shing - had
agreed to perform a tribute to Leslie Cheung, who jumped to his death from the
Mandarin Oriental Hotel on Tuesday. The tribute is expected to include clips
from his movies and a medley of his musical hits, including the theme song from
John Woo's A Better Tomorrow, the 1986 film which catapulted Cheung to
fame. "We have extended the invitation to all four singers and they have given
us a verbal confirmation that they will do it. However, there are no guarantees.
If they are too upset or emotional to perform, then, of course, we will
understand,'' said Cheung Tung-joe. "Leslie was a part of the industry and the
tribute is our mark of respect. Other aspects of the awards will proceed as
normal. This is a professional industry awards ceremony." Cheung's funeral will
take place at 11am on Tuesday at the Hong Kong Funeral Home in North Point. His
family has also set aside 6pm to 8pm on Monday for fans to pay their respects.
Cheung is one of the nominees for the best actor award for his performance as a
troubled psychiatrist in Lo Chi-leung's Inner Senses. The atypical
pneumonia outbreak has also forced organizers to change their plans for the
night. The red carpet leading into the ceremony at the Cultural Centre has been
scrapped in favor of a so-called "walkway of compassion", dedicated to medical
staff.
Hong Kong's tourism
industry is not the only one affected by the Sars virus. Although officials say
the outbreak in Beijing is under control, only a few visitors were at the Temple
of Heaven yesterday. Residents have been warned to avoid crowds, and many
tourists are staying away from the mainland.
China Unicom chairman
Yang Xianzu, left, confers with executive vice-president Shi Cuiming during
yesterday's earnings announcement. Profits rose by just 2.5 per cent last year -
the slowest in four years. 
Hong Kong:
French entrepreneur
Xavier Naville and a worker inspect some of his company's vegetables at a plant
outside Shanghai. Mr. Naville's company, Creative Food, processes fresh
vegetables for export throughout Asia. 
The Chinese
Communist Party's third-ranking member has been appointed its next premier,
assuming control of a huge, rapidly-evolving economy. Sunday's vote will see Wen
Jiabao, 60, replace Zhu Rongji, who will retire. Wen will assume control of an
economy that has recorded staggering growth, but one wracked with myriad
problems brought on by decades of reform. Wen, 60, was confirmed as successor to
the highly respected Zhu by the National People's Congress, China's ceremonial
legislature, as it wound down its annual two-week session.
The chairman of the
Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation, Michael Tien Puk-sun, addresses the West
Rail Building inauguration ceremony at Kam Tin yesterday. Mr. Tien pledged his
support for a new transport fare adjustment system in Hong Kong. He said a
review of the existing fare structure was necessary in view of the changing
economy and prices.
Secretary for Financial
Services Frederick Ma (centre) with Dao Heng Bank chief executive Randolph
Sullivan and DBS Hong Kong chairman Frank Wong at the opening of Dao Heng's Bond
Investment Centre. According to proposed law changes, companies will not be
required to produce prospectuses if they issue bonds or equities to fewer than
50 people or solely to professional investors.
China:
Hawaii:
Governor Linda Lingle efforts to
improve Hawaii business image continues to face challenges when both House and
Senate are controlled by Democrats. Anti-business bills continue to emerge
discourage outside investments in Hawaii. New taxes are proposed to put
additional burden on small and medium size enterprises (SME).
General Secretary Hu
Jintao meets Henry Fok Ying-tung, the Hong Kong CPPCC vice-chairman who led a
delegation in Beijing yesterday. Two possible successors to Hong Kong and Macau
Affairs Office (HKMAO) director Liao Hui are said to have emerged, if as
expected he is appointed a vice-chairman of the central government's top
advisory body.
China:
Zhai Ruoyu, chairman
of Beijing Datang, expects consumers to pay less for their electricity after the
Chinese government implements a new tariff scheme, to be unveiled next month. 
Former chief secretary
Anson Chan Fang On-sang said people should not take their anger over the
reduction in social welfare payments out on the government. "We can't rely
totally on the government. In the past, people perhaps relied too much on the
government but now they have to learn to rely more on themselves." 
Monday is an important day
for Hutchison Whampoa as it is the start date for its 3G venture. And with more
than half of the firm's capital budget sunk into the venture, the world is
watching to see if Mr Li can turn the new tech into a world-class business.
China:
China and Russia
yesterday toughened their united opposition to a war in Iraq, saying a conflict
"can and should be avoided". But neither country revealed whether it would use
its veto powers to block a second United Nations resolution authorizing force. 
Hong Kong:
An officer puts a dog through its
paces at the Police Dog Unit in Kowloon Bay. Dogs from the unit will feature in
an RTHK show to be screened on TVB Jade tonight about canine crime fighters. It
includes the story of Lorna, a police dog chopped in the head with an axe while
pursuing a burglar more than 20 years ago. 
China:
A villager stands in the
rubble of his house in Qiongkuer Qiake, the centre of a devastating earthquake
that hit Xinjiang on Monday. About 8,000 buildings were razed in Bachu county.
Thousands of homeless villagers freeze through another night as authorities
plead for help to rebuild the 'war zone'.
Hong Kong:
Colin Powell meets
Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan in Beijing. Beijing has angrily denied the
missile Pyongyang fired into the Sea of Japan, or East Sea, earlier this week
was imported from China or made with Chinese technology. 
Hong Kong:
CSL Hong Kong's Dolphin Ip
displays the Tungsten W, a wireless mobile phone and e-mail device with
always-on access to the Internet. It is Palm's first wireless device for the
international market. 
Smugglers beware: Senior
Customs official Chow Kwong demonstrates the department's new computer system
that has been installed at the Lowu and Lok Ma Chau checkpoints and the Hong
Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal to crack down on travelers who break duty-free
regulations. From tomorrow, any Hong Kong resident who has not left for at least
24 hours is not allowed to return with duty-free items. 
China:
Visiting US Secretary of
State Colin Powell attends a media briefing after holding talks with Chinese
officials. China and the US have found mutual areas of interest as bilateral
trade increases. China's co-operation on counter-terrorism issues has also
helped win America's trust. 
Hawaii & Hong Kong:
It's a typical fine
winter day in Honolulu and Samuel Wong is sitting at a waterfront table at the
plush Halekulani Hotel in Waikiki, watching the waves and working on a plate of
eggs benedict and a cup of coffee. Hawaii seems a world away from Hong Kong, and
Wong, who is concurrently the music director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic and
the Honolulu Symphony, is clearly consumed by the spirit of the islands. ''My
mind and heart is where I am making the music,'' the 42-year-old says,
matter-of-factly. ''It's important to focus, because there are so many
distractions.'' Kicking off with a pre-tour concert in Hong Kong on February 12,
they will travel to Macau and South Korea before hitting London, Belfast and
Dublin, and finally holding their closing concert at the Theatre de Champs
Elysee in Paris on March 2. Before becoming a full-time conductor, Wong was an
eye surgeon who dabbled in music. He studied medicine at Harvard and also
attended the Toronto Conservatory of Music, where he became an accomplished
piano player as well as a conductor. ''I think the Hong Kong Philharmonic can be
the best orchestra in Asia,'' he says. ''We are planning a major tour in China
in the next two years. My dream is also to bring the Phil to Carnegie Hall and
the American east coast as well during my tenure. As for recording, we are
branching out to more popular crossover projects of folk songs involving
traditional Chinese instruments.'' All these plans suggest there will be
little work for the new music director, when one is appointed, to do. Wong gives
an enigmatic answer: ''Some orchestras in Britain don't have permanent music
directors, they just have conductors,'' he says. ''A lot of people care very
deeply about music in Hong Kong; it's worth my effort to build it. I am at peace
with myself.'' 
Hong Kong: A cashier serves a customer
at a Mongkok money exchange. Monetary Authority chief Joseph Yam says a stronger
yuan would lower prices for goods in Hong Kong.
China:
The US State Department's
coordinator for counter-terrorism, J. Cofer Black, praises China's anti-terror
efforts at a Beijing briefing yesterday.
Mr. Black, who has been
in China for several days for the third round of US-China counter-terrorism
consultations, said he had "very constructive" talks with Chinese officials,
specifically on stopping the financial links for terrorists. 
Hong Kong:
Standard
Chartered's Hong Kong director Peter Wong says the bulk of the bank's US$287
million write-off was due to credit cards. He warned that the personal
bankruptcy problem would continue to haunt Hong Kong banks this year.
Ho Ming-sze, an adviser to
the Fok Ying Tung Foundation, told a seminar hosted by the Hong Kong Chinese
General Chamber of Commerce that a cross-delta bridge was neither feasible nor
appropriate. Ho Ming-sze sets out his case against a link to the Pearl River
Delta, while Henry Fok, who said he would not invest in the project, looks on. 
China:
A military policeman guards
the Japanese Embassy in Beijing after North Korean asylum seekers managed to
enter a school run by the consulate. A Japan-based rights group confirmed that a
man, a woman and her two children had entered the school and asked for refugee
status from the Japanese government.
China:
The world's largest hydropower
project, China's Three Gorges Dam, plans to list up to 18 percent of its power
assets in an initial public offering in Shanghai by the end of the year, a
senior project official said. The Three Gorges project is due for completion in
2009. State-run China Yangtze Power Corp (CYPC) aims to raise four billion yuan
($483 million) through its IPO and to reap a total of 40 billion yuan ($4.83
billion) over ten years via additional stock offers and sales to institutional
investors.
China:
Bemused shoppers pass talent
scout Zhao Xuan after taking his business card. US-based agency Trans
Continental Talent has signed 400 people in Beijing and Shanghai for
advertisements, ceremonies, films and television programs. 
China:
Chinese university students
accustomed to cramming for exams are now cramming job fairs across the country
in the hopes of landing a job. Eager students (above) besieged an employer at a
job fair in Xian, capital of Shaanxi province at the weekend. A record 2.12
million university graduates will join China's labor force in July, a near
50-per-cent jump on last year's 1.45 million graduates.
Hong Kong:
Yon So and Maggie Tsui
Mee-kie brought their pets to register as blood donors at the Convention and
Exhibition Centre yesterday. The Society for Abandoned Animals, which organized
the event, aims to create a database of healthy pets that can be used as blood
donors during emergencies. 
Former
attorney-general Michael Thomas has backed the government's blue bill on
national security legislation, dismissing remaining concerns as matters of
refinement. While Mr. Thomas, who was attorney-general from 1983 to 1988, said
that even though he had not read the blue bill on the laws based on Article 23
of the Basic Law as closely as local experts, he felt that it had broadly
managed to balance national security with human rights considerations. Mr.
Thomas also praised the development of the Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong. 
Hong Kong:
Hawaii:
Exporting giants seeking new markets
and nations intent on protecting their own farmers could not bridge their
differences on tariffs at the last day of a World Trade Organization ministers'
meeting Sunday. During the three-day Tokyo meeting, delegates from 22 nations of
the 145-member WTO clashed over a proposal from Stuart Harbinson, the chair of
the WTO farm negotiations, to reduce tariffs by an average 60 percent in five
years, cut agricultural subsidies and raise import quotas. "There are very deep
differences represented on this table," U.S. Trade Representative Robert
Zoellick said after the meetings.
China:
Chinese scientists
reveal the contents onboard the 'Shenzhou IV' module -- launched in January --
which carried samples of rice, wheat, cotton, corn, fruit, vegetables, herbs and
flowers. China is sticking to plans for a manned space launch this year,
confident its rockets are safe, the head of the country's main civilian space
agency was quoted as saying.
China:
A billboard provides a
fitting backdrop for this Beijing couple on Valentine's Day, an event that is
growing in popularity in China. A Western event long accepted by only a
fashionable few in China, became a mainstream holiday in Beijing yesterday that
seemed to surpass the traditional Lantern Festival in popularity. 
Hong Kong:
Sir Run Run Shaw and Chief
Executive Tung Chee-hwa opened the 31st Hong Kong Arts Festival at the Hong Kong
Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui last night. More than 1,600 attended the
opening performance, the Stutgart Opera's The Abduction from the
Seraglio. Tickets to the festival's 108 performances are almost sold out.
China:
Security Secretary Regina Ip says
the government has listened to concerns. Beijing wants Hong Kong to enact the
legislation as soon as possible to prevent hostile forces from using this
southern territory as a base to subvert the communist mainland. The government
wants the bill passed by July. "The government has taken heed of people's views
and concerns and incorporated many suggestions in formulating the bill, which
has struck a good balance between protecting national security and safeguarding
people's rights and freedoms," Ip said.
Chinadotcom chief Peter Yip,
whose firm reported it first-ever profit. Chinadotcom is the last of the four
US-listed Chinese Internet firms to turn a profit. Internet services firm Chinadotcom
reported its first-ever quarterly profit on Thursday at least two quarters ahead
of schedule, largely as a result of aggressive cost cutting.
Hong Kong:
Box-office receipts from the
United States at the weekend show Chan's style of action-comedy has a healthy
fan base there. But we'll wait and see whether or not his act still tickles Hong
Kong's funny bone.
Hong Kong:
MTRC boss Jack So
Chak-kwong yesterday announced he is resigning from the urban train operator -
making him the latest in a flood of executives to depart from government
corporations. He leaves ahead of the widely expected announcement of a merger of
Hong Kong's two railway companies.
Comic heroine returns:
Theresa Lee Wai-chun, the creator of the comic book character "13 Dots", checks
one of her art works, the "Cheers Bar", which goes on exhibition from today. The
heroine character Ms Lee created was a fashion icon in the 1960s and 1970s and
is being revived in 18 pieces of her work on display until March 8 at the
Basheer Design bookshop in Causeway Bay. 
China:
Hainan now offers
visa-free access to 21 nationalities.
China:
If war breaks out in
Iraq, China will have no shortage of reporters to rival the globally-recognized
anchors of U.S. prime time network news. There is 100 Chinese reporters making
their way to the Middle East to cover a possible war with Iraq who are a
testament to how much China's media have changed since the last showdown in the
Gulf 12 years ago. 
China:
Despite the flood of
foreign investment into the greater Shanghai region, Guangdong remains the top
international trader in China, accounting for more than one-third of exports
last year. Last year, Guangdong posted a trade surplus of US$15.83 billion
(HK$123.15 billion) on imports and exports of US$221.1 billion, 35.6 per cent of
the national total and an increase of 25.3 per cent over the previous year. Next
came Shanghai, with trade of US$72.64 billion, followed by Jiangsu with US$70.29
billion and Beijing with US$52.5 billion.
Hong Kong:
Bank of East Asia chairman
David Li, at yesterday's results announcement, says a sharp rise in personal
bankruptcies hit the bank hard last year. 
HP chief aims to
conquer Hong Kong - General manager Peter
Yeung's vision for Hewlett-Packard HK underscores a confidence built on years of
experience. HP
general manager Peter Yeung says his firm is ready to "go after all the other
players". He singled out the computer storage systems maker EMC and IBM's Global
Services unit, saying these rivals "better watch out".
China:
Amid the talk of war,
several Asian nations have ordered their embassy staff members to leave Iraq.
About 10 staff members of the Chinese Embassy in Baghdad have left the country
after Beijing earlier this week ordered the departure of the mission's
nonessential personnel. 
Hong Kong:
Chinese freight forwarder
Sinotrans Ltd. will sell more shares to Hong Kong public investors after the
retail portion of its $436 million initial public offering was more than 15
times subscribed, a source close to the deal said on Monday.
Canto-pop singer Cecilia
Cheung Pak-chi cuddles a rescued dog after being appointed an animal ambassador
by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Ms Cheung said she was
thrilled to be able to help.
China:
The plight of China's
millions of rural residents has been made a priority of the new leadership, but
many officials say the government is not prepared for a radical policy overhaul. 
Hong Kong:
A mainland visitor is helped
off a tourist bus in Hong Kong. The number of mainland tourists traveling is
surging as visa restrictions are increasingly being relaxed. Singapore and other
Asian countries plan to compete aggressively this year with Hong Kong to attract
mainland tourists. The tourism chiefs of Thailand, Japan and Singapore said they
would increase their budgets in the hope of gaining a bigger slice of a market
that saw 16.6 million mainland tourists travel abroad last year. 
China:
Shanghai's planned edifice
faces competition from the finalists in the New York World Trade Centre
competition to erect the world's tallest building.
Hong Kong:
PCCW, Hong Kong's dominant
fixed-line carrier, initially denied that it had made a bid for Cable & Wireless
(C&W). But late on Thursday, the company confirmed it had tried to initiate
discussions about buying the company in December.
China:
The Siberian tiger feasts on
the mule it had killed the day before in the Hunchun nature reserve. It is
believed only 20 remain in China. 
China:
China:
A worker cleans a bust of
Chinese revolutionary author Mao Dun at the traditional courtyard museum that
was his former residence in Beijing. Museums in the city are struggling with low
visitor numbers. 
Henry Tang Ying-yen lights a
firecracker at RTHK's Lunar New Year celebrations yesterday, watched by the
Director of Broadcasting, Chu Pui-hing, left. After the reception, the Secretary
for Commerce, Industry and Technology confirmed a trading zone near the Lok Ma
Chau border was being considered.
China:
In the quest to
clean up the mainland, environmental lawyer Wang Canfa may have the hardest job
- taking the government to court to enforce its own laws. A United Nations
Development Programme report said while China's laws were "impressive" in
quantity, many were contradictory. Another problem is the lack of environmental
law professionals. While there are around 40,000 environmental officials and
more than 110,000 lawyers, there are only a handful of environmental law
specialists. Corruption is the root of the problem. "Local protectionism is the
crucial reason for environmental pollution," a Xinhua headline said. Local
courts and environmental bureaus survive on the taxes and bribes of the
industries they monitor. 
Hong Kong:
CoCo Lee hopes her performance of
the US national anthem at the home debut of basketball star Yao Ming will help
raise the profile of Asian-Americans.
Eighteen months earlier,
she performed A Love Before Time, the theme to the hit movie Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon, at the Oscars ceremony. Wearing a Versace-designed red
cheongsam, her performance was beamed to a worldwide television audience of one
billion and she was touted as the next Jennifer Lopez or Mariah Carey. ''The amazing thing
is not many [Chinese-American] people say they want to be a singer, because
there isn't one [to inspire them],'' she says. ''It's really important for me to
do well because we need that voice. Hopefully I can be that person. If I do
succeed I can help others. Once people have accepted an Oriental or Asian person
singing English songs, there'll be many more CoCos to come. I want to help open
that door.'' 
China:
United States government
restrictions on high-technology exports may torpedo Shanghai's hopes of
attracting Intel's first plant that would make central processing units (CPUs)
in Asia, an official newspaper reported.
A train pulls into Zhichunlu
station on Beijing's first above-ground commuter rail system that covers the
capital's northern districts. It is now fully operational.
China's top
tourist destinations are reporting robust business over the Lunar New Year
holiday, with visitor numbers up significantly over the same period last year,
according to state media.
Hong Kong:
A crime syndicate believed to have
smuggled scores of illegal immigrants into Hong Kong inside suitcases wheeled
through the Lowu checkpoint is known in the Indian and Pakistani communities as
"Mukha Airlines".
China:
Heaven-sent for the
new year: Security guards dressed as imperial officers perform their annual
ritual marking the third day of the Lunar New Year at the Temple of Heaven in
Beijing. The colorful ceremony was performed by China's emperors to ensure
bountiful harvests in the year ahead. 
Hawaii:
Chris Lee,
founding co-director of the Cinematic and Digital Arts Program at the University
of Hawaii, is a longtime Hollywood producer whose films include the Julia
Roberts' hit "My Best Friend's Wedding."
I absolutely think
there are more ecumenical tax credits that could be put in place, so that
everybody could take advantage of them, so that there's not even a process of
having to go to attorneys and be approved. 
A Chinese policeman stands
guard as entertainers perform a lion dance during the opening ceremony of a
Chinese New Year temple fair at the Temple of Earth in Beijing.
China:
Gala shows, like this Beijing
TV Station production, are traditional TV fare for the Chinese New Year.
Hong Kong:
The Government received
over 100,000 submissions on its proposed anti-subversion law, Secretary for
Security Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee revealed on Tuesday. The Government has made
amendments to the proposed Article 23 legislation following a three-month period
of public consultation, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa said on Tuesday.
Proof that the Hong Kong government
has listened to the public over proposed anti-subversion laws will be found in
its response to views expressed during the consultation process, the financial
secretary said yesterday.
China:
A study conducted by a
leading think-tank for the Shanghai government shows that Wenzhou and Ningbo,
two of the mainland's wealthier cities known for their aggressive private-sector
expansion, are pumping tens of billions of dollars into China's commercial
capital. This year, according to the study by the Shanghai Academy of Social
Sciences, no less than 10 billion yuan (HK$9.4 billion) is expected to move from
these two cities to Shanghai. It will feed into a range of sectors, from
property to infrastructure, will be seen in the ownership of private hospitals
and schools, and will end up in the city's banks as deposits.
Lion dancers perform at
Shanghai's Pudong airport as passengers board the first Taiwanese charter flight
to land on the mainland in more than 50 years. The services will run until
February 6. 
Hong Kong:
PCCW Infrastructure chairman
Robert Lee Chi-hong is relying on his experience as a band player, lawyer and
property salesman to realise the dream of Cyberport, HK's hi-tech premier
project. In his present incarnation as chairman of Richard's Li Tzar-kai's PCCW
Infrastructure, Mr Lee's goal is to complete and sell or lease the various
components of the Cyberport project which is touted as Hong Kong's premier
high-technology working and living environment. "We expect Cyberport to generate
sufficient sale proceeds to cover on-going development costs by the fourth
quarter of 2003 and this cash flow sufficiency is predicated upon the sale of
400 to 500 units a year. By December 31, we will have US$500 million invested in
Cyberport and next year's investment will be around US$100 million to US$150
million assuming these units are sold."
China:
Fidel Ramos, Bob Hawke and
Jiang Zemin meet the press after their Boao forum board of directors meeting in
Beijing yesterday. President Jiang Zemin has agreed to attend the annual
conference of the Boao Forum for Asia, the organisation that is likely to become
the stage for him to take on the role of international statesman after
relinquishing his government position at the National People's Congress.
A Taiwan Semiconductor
Manufacturing Company (TSMC) engineer inspects a silicon wafer. The Taiwan
chipmaker plans to invest US$898 million to build a factory outside Shanghai.
Taiwan
Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has received preliminary government
approval to become the island's first chipmaker to open a factory in China,
clearing the first hurdle in its bid to end a decades-old ban.
Nokia is reorganizing its
mainland set-up to better compete with Motorola and other Asian rivals.
Regaining the No 1 spot in China is seen by analysts as vital for Nokia if it is
to retain its lead worldwide.
Hong Kong:
The new Taiwanese cultural
envoy finally arrived in Hong Kong yesterday, following the long-awaited
granting of her work visa. Lu Ping arrived in Hong Kong last night pledging to
promote cultural exchanges between Hong Kong and Taiwan. The new Taiwan envoy
would not be drawn on topical local issues.
China:
Xiong Ziren: moving to
Nanjing - A spokesman for the Hong Kong garrison said yesterday that
Major-General Wang Jitang had replaced Lieutenant-General Xiong Ziren as
commander. The PLA chief in Yunnan province has been appointed the new
commander-in-chief of the troops stationed in Hong Kong. General Xiong has been
appointed deputy Political Commissar of the Nanjing Military Command. His move
is seen as a promotion because the Nanjing Military Command is the mainland's
most important military region, responsible for mapping military attacks against
Taiwan should a war break out.
Hong Kong:
Round-the-clock opening
of the Lok Ma Chau crossing will not lead to more crime because extra police
will be deployed after midnight, a senior officer said yesterday. The district
commander of the border district, Stephen Fung Kin-man, said the number of
officers on duty at the crossing would double from three to six from Monday.
Hong Kong:
China:
Cross-strait education:
Students from Taiwan attend a class at the Hua Tong Taiwan Businessmen's School
in Kunshan, 50km from Shanghai. Taiwanese business people have invested up to
US$100 billion (HK$778 billion) on the mainland since the late 1980s and an
estimated one million now live on the other side of the Taiwan Strait. (Reuters photo)
Guangdong's new provincial
governor Huang Huahua, right, meets the press yesterday with Lu Ruihua, the man
he will replace. He says his focus in the new role will be on boosting
Guangdong's ability to compete in international markets. (Reuters photo)
Chiang Kai-shek's
grandson says a wall is slowly being torn down
- For Taiwanese lawmaker John Chang
Hsiao-yen, son of former president Chiang Ching-kuo and a grandson of
Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek, the arrival of the first Taiwan plane in
Shanghai on Sunday will be nothing less than a "D-Day" in the rocky history of
cross-strait relations.
Hawaii:
Artist Clarence Lee, Member of HKCHcc, an American of Chinese descent, from
Hawaii, was commissioned to design the stamps. To commemorate the Year of the
Ram, Mr. Lee created an intricate paper-cut design of a ram, with the Chinese
characters “Year of the Ram” drawn in grass-style calligraphy.
Organization of Chinese
Americans (OCA) joins the United States Postal Service in celebrating the Year
of the Ram with the issuance of the 11th stamp in the award-winning
Lunar New Year series. The first day of the issue ceremony took place in
Chicago, Illinois on January 15, 2003. The series began in 1993 with the
issuance of the Year of the Rooster stamp, followed by stamps for the Years of
the Dog, Boar, Rat, Ox, Tiger, Hare, Dragon, Snake and Horse.
Hawaii:
Last year, the US Postal Service dedicated a stamp in honor of Duke Kahanamoku,
the legendary swimmer and Olympian who is best known as the international
surfing. Besides King Kamehameha I, this stamp will be the only dedicated to a
Hawaiian or Pacific Islander.
Hawaii:
Ted Liu, the
Hawaii DBEDT chief is ready for business -
Faced with a need
to do more with less, the new director of the state's Department of Business,
Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) said yesterday that he'll seek to
streamline the agency and rely on more private-sector partnerships to accomplish
its mission.
China:
A business dispute between
the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation (Moftec) and the
Guangzhou government's new convention centre is threatening to undermine the 4
billion yuan facility. If unresolved, the Pearl River Delta could inherit
another white elephant on a scale approaching Zhuhai's under-utilised 6.9
billion yuan (HK$6.5 billion) airport. The dispute illustrates how poor
communication and co-ordination between different levels of government on the
mainland can lead to tremendous waste. According to government and industry
sources familiar with the matter, the dispute centres on Moftec's biannual China
Export Commodities Fair (CECF), whose spring and autumn sessions attract
hundreds of thousands of people to Guangzhou. "It's a real cash cow for Moftec.
They don't want to give it up," one source said. "Basically, this dispute is all
about money and which department gets it."
Hong Kong:
Hong Kong:
Regina Ip Lau
Suk-yee, who has come under fire for her handling of the debate, said yesterday
that religious and political leaders were to blame for creating a "herd
mentality" which had prompted irrational comments from people who did not
understand the proposals. At the opening of the legal year on Monday, Chief
Justice Andrew Li Kwok-nang called on the community, including the government,
to engage in rational debate on matters such as the enactment of new laws.
Secretary for Justice Elsie Leung Oi-sie, who was also at the briefing, denied
the chief justice had expressed concern about Article 23, saying he had merely
called for rational debate. 
China:
Hawaii:
Sustainability Workshop -
Sponsored by the City and
Hong Kong:
Hong Kong in line for best
value Disney experience in the world - Michael Eisner, chairman and
chief executive officer of the Walt Disney company, said although prices had yet
to be set, rumors of an entrance fee of between $200 and $250 (US$25 and $32)
were at the "high end" of what they were considering.
"We have not set the price yet since we are
still considering discount and group package prices, " he said. "I can only say
the price will be reasonable and affordable. I think [$200 to $250] is towards
the high end."
China:
Hong Kong:
Deutsche Telekom Group,
Europe's No 1 telecommunications provider, opened its operational office for
Greater China in Hong Kong. Its subsidiary & China Ltd offers convergent
solutions merging IT and telecommunications technologies to corporate customers
in Greater China.
Hong Kong:
Habasit East Asia Ltd
has selected Hong Kong as its regional headquarters and fabrication and
distribution centre to tap the potential of the growing Greater China market.
The Swiss company is a leading developer and manufacturer of power transmission,
conveyor and processing belts. Habasit has offices and factories in 70 countries
and employs 1,980 people around the world. Global sales revenue in 2000 was
HK$2.1 billion.
China:
Hong Kong:
New regulations and higher reinsurance
charges are forcing up fees for insurance providers, who are expected to pass
along the higher costs to policyholders, according to legislator Bernard
Charnwut Chan, who represents the insurance industry.
China:
