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April 28 - 30, 2006
Stockholders of market operator Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing responded strongly to calls for reform, electing former legislator Christine Loh Kung-wai and shareholder rights activist David Webb to its board. Former monopoly casino operator Sociedade de Jogos de Macau, currently preparing for an initial public stock offering in Hong Kong, saw its gaming revenue decline by 2.3 percent last year in the face of new competition. Hong Kong's largest developers including Cheung Kong (Holdings) and Sun Hung Kai Properties have submitted bids to buy the HK$2 billion former headquarters of Hang Seng Bank in Central, market sources said.
Tourism Board chief Selina Chow Liang Shuk-yee will step down from her post as chairman of the Tourism Association and the Tourism Board after six years.
Hong Kong will launch a new deposit protection scheme later this year to discourage any possible runs on the banking system, Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen said on Wednesday.
By the end of 2005, Chinese banks had issued 960 million bank cards. About 20 countries and regions around the world accept China UnionPay (CUP) bankcards. A draft bill to combat money laundering widens the scope of the proposed law from financial institutions to realtors, law and accounting firms and jewellers.
Nigeria will give China four oil drilling licenses in exchange for commitments to invest US$4 billion (HK$31.2 billion) in downstream oil and infrastructure projects, a top Nigerian oil adviser said. About 2,000 overseas Chinese entrepreneurs are scheduled to meet in the Japanese city of Kobe in September next year for a business ideas convention which organizers hope will promote person-to-person relations despite the deep freeze in Sino-Japanese diplomacy. April 27, 2006
The value of new home loan approvals jumped 63 percent month-on-month to HK$12.6 billion in March as refinancing deals more than doubled amid a home-loan price war. Bank of China, the mainland's second- largest lender, has been forced by Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing to boost the size of its initial public offering to 20 percent of its share capital in a deal that is likely to raise US$7 billion (HK$54.6 billion), market sources said.
The Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA) on Tuesday pursued six claims in the Small Claims Tribunal for some $130,000 on behalf of eight employees — owed MPF contributions by their employers. Hong Kong would temporarily raise the number of live chicken imports from the mainland for the three days preceding the Tuen Ng Festival, or Dragon Boat Festival, the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau announced on Tuesday.
Saudi Aramco to push ahead China venture, supply 1 mln bpd crude by 2010 - On April 23 the company announced a memorandum of understanding was signed in Riyadh last Saturday between Aramco and China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), China's largest petroleum products producer and supplier. The two sides pledged further cooperation on the refining plant in Qingdao and promised to reach consensus on Aramco's participation in the project to make sure that the plant would be operational by 2008 as scheduled. Aramco, which turns out 8 million barrels of oil per day, or one-tenth of the world's total, has promised a daily supply of 1 million barrels of crude oil to Sinopec by 2010.
April 26, 2006
Hong Kong Disneyland and Inner Mongolia Meng Niu Dairy Industry (Group) Co. Ltd announced Monday the launch of a new alliance, making Meng Niu the milk supplier for Hong Kong Disneyland Park, HK Disneyland Hotel and Disney's Hollywood Hotel. To celebrate this alliance, starting from April 15 to June 30, Hong Kong Disneyland is also holding a special lucky draw with Meng Niu, with 400 lucky consumers of Future Star, one of Meng Niu's serial products, receiving a free visit to Hong Kong Disneyland. A further 1 million customers will receive a pack of Future Star milk. Bill Ernest, Executive President of Hong Kong Disneyland Resort said, "Hong Kong Disneyland is pleased to announce the appointment of Meng Niu as the official milk sponsor and official milk supplier for the park." Meng Niu President Yang Wenjun said Meng Niu brings good health to everyone while Hong Kong Disneyland brings dreams and happiness to adults and children alike. "The alliance between the two brands signifies a marriage of health and happiness and will bring a whole new experience to guests," he said. A joint venture of the Walt Disney Company and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, Hong Kong Disneyland opened on September, 2005. Meng Niu is one of the leading dairy suppliers in the Chinese mainland, with over 20 production bases in 15 provinces.
The International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA) would hold its 20th international congress in Hong Kong from June 6-11, a spokesman said on Monday. This year the congress will be held under the theme ''The New Silk Road for the Performing Arts''. This is a reference to the Silk Road during the Tang Dynasty in the 7th Century, when the arts and cultural exchange between the East and the West was flourishing. ''Hong Kong is honoured to offer a special opportunity for ISPA delegates to meet their peers from around the world to explore areas of common interest,'' said Agnes Tang In-kwan, assistant director with the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.
The volume of Hong Kong’s total exports expanded by 23.4 per cent in February 2006 compared with the same month in 2005, latest statistics released on Monday showed. Taiwanese investments on the mainland have continued to rise despite a recent order by Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian to tighten up on such activities.
Champion Real Estate Investment Trust, the prime office property spin-off from Great Eagle Holdings, aims to attract investors with an above-average yield of between 4.8 per cent and 5.5 per cent as it hopes to raise as much as US$900 million in next month's float. HSBC, Hong Kong's biggest card issuer, aims to boost its credit cards to more than three million from the current 2.8 million using rewards and offers to woo customers, according to regional head of customer acquisition Lucia Ku Sai-wing.
The mainland's push for companies to "go out" and invest abroad by buying foreign firms is facing political and commercial obstacles that could hinder Beijing's goal of raising total outward investment to US$60 billion in the next five years. Shanghai faces a huge challenge to balance the books when it hosts the 2010 World Expo, organisers said yesterday as they announced an imminent victory in relocating thousands of people for the event. Online payment systems, which barely existed in China a decade ago, are sprawling across the internet to compete for once-distrustful mainland consumers suddenly hooked on instant purchases. A new deal between mainland internet portal Sina.com and a collection of independent British musicians is being hailed as a model for promoting foreign acts in China while legitimising the online music business.
The volume of R&D investment will become an important tool to assess the performance of the senior managers of China's 167 central state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Global finance chiefs wrapped up three days of talks in Washington DC, calling for action against runaway oil prices and monitoring of China's currency policies.
Wang Shengchang, former director of the law department of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), has been arrested for alleged fraudulent activities, according to official sources. Judicial department officials have declined to give details about Wang's case, noting that it is being investigated. Wang, who was also the former secretary-general of the arbitration committee of the CCPIT, had participated in several hundreds of arbitrary cases, including a dispute between the international soft drinks giant Pepsi Cola and its local partner in Sichuan Province, southwest China. April 25, 2006
Famed movie director Tsui Siu-ming seems to be getting in on the financial and creative action at just the right time. Hong Kong filmmaking took a nose dive during and after the Asian financial crisis, but Tsui says he can turn around the decline in filmmaking and restore the glory days of its golden era in just two years. Tsui, president of Sundream Motion Pictures, a production company launched in March 2003, plans to make in- house movie production - the crafting of a film almost exclusively from start to finish-- a hallmark of Hong Kong moviemaking. The first thing Tsui's public relations manager, James Chick, shows off before the interview is the office of i-Cable Satellite Television, where Tsui wears his second hat as chief operating officer. This is Tsui's attempt to develop the first Rupert Murdoch-type institution for making, marketing and distributing major motion pictures in a territory that used to be the pinnacle of the industry but has seen a total slump in the past 10 years. The industry famous for producing about 200 films a year in the 1970s and 80s only managed about 90 a year in the late 90s due to the Asian financial crisis. Moviegoers could not afford to visit theaters. Producers refused to back risky ideas and did not financially support a movie unless it promised a big profit. So movies started to decline in quality as the industry became mired in stereotypes. Nearly 300 ethnic-Chinese residents, including Hongkongers, fled the troubled Solomon Islands yesterday on chartered aircraft provided by Beijing, after losing all their possessions in riots last week.
Governor of People's Bank of China called on all countries to take advantage the current favorable global economic growth to address structural problems and be against the trade protectionism.
The world's leading auction company of used vehicles Manheim Auctions and Shanghai International Commodity Auction Co., Ltd, have announced the establishment of a joint auction venture.
April 24, 2006
Supply of new apartments has risen sufficiently to meet demand for the next three years, according to the government's quarterly statistics on private housing stocks, undercutting speculation that the city is facing a serious residential shortfall. Hong Kong's banks will probably see the quality of their loans worsen this year amid high interest rates, and smaller lenders will continue to find the operating environment challenging, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said.
Vice-President Zeng Qinghong yesterday called on Hong Kong business leaders to help unite the community and support the government. The chief secretary has invited the government's advisers on the future of the troubled West Kowloon Cultural District project to propose changes to the arts hub blueprint.
Expatriates in Hong Kong and
foreigners planning to move to the city are being mobilised in an online
signature campaign to pressure the government into taking urgent measures to
curb air pollution.
The annual report of the Japanese Ministry of Finance released Thursday shows Japan's export to China has kept increasing for 7 years.
President Hu Jintao's visits to the Middle East, which begins today, and Africa underline China's growing interest in two regions which can help feed its unquenchable thirst for energy assets and resources to fuel rapid economic expansion. China's powerful Ministry of Communications has taken the unprecedented step of fingering international shipping lines for anti-competitive behaviour, saying their cartel-like application of terminal handling charges at mainland ports must change. Hong Kong's best-paid official, monetary authority chief executive Joseph Yam Chi-kwong, took home a pay cheque of $9.97 million last year - an increase of 12 per cent compared with 2004. Net profit at wireless telecommunications equipment provider Comba Telecom Systems Holdings plunged 65 per cent last year due to a slowdown in capital expenditure plans for wireless enhancement of the CDMA network in China. April 21 - 23, 2006
The government is to establish a voluntary registration system for local farms and require the two main supermarket chains to establish a comprehensive tracking system for farm produce, legislators have heard.
The lifting of an unpopular ban prohibiting dependents of foreign nationals from working in Hong Kong is expected to take place in June, and will extend to dependents of mainland professionals, immigration officials said. Jackie Chan, Andy Lau, Alan Tam and other Hong Kong entertainers will record a pop song to promote the 2008 Beijing Olympics, an assistant to Tam said. The song, titled Olympics Beijing, is separate from the official theme song for the 2008 Games, said the assistant, who only gave her surname, Lam. She said the Putonghua song, written by Eddie Ng, will be aired in the mainland. Lau, Tam, Hacken Lee, Shirley Kwan, Andy Hui, William So and Jordan Chan have recorded their parts, she said. Other big names are involved with the Beijing Olympics, a major source of pride for the Chinese. Famed Chinese director Zhang Yimou will oversee the design of the opening and closing ceremonies. US director Steven Spielberg has signed on as a consultant for the two ceremonies.
ZTE Corporation, one of the nation's leading telecom equipment makers, has been crowned the best corporate governance performer last year among China's top 100 listed companies. China Telecom showed signs of halting the slide of market share to mobile operators, adding 2.64 million fixed lines in the three months ending last month and booking a net profit of 5.91 billion yuan.
China's investment in fixed assets in the first quarter of this year totaled 1,390.8 billion yuan (173.85 billion U.S. dollars), up 27.7 percent, or an increase of 4.9 percentage points year on year. China's consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.2 percent in the first quarter of this year, down by 1.6 percentage points year-on-year. Beijing is likely to unleash another set of austerity measures this year to curb runaway business investment and tighten bank credit after faster-than-expected economic growth in the first quarter prompted fresh concerns about economic overheating and rising inflation. Tianjin Port Development Holdings, a unit of Hong Kong-listed conglomerate Tianjin Development Holdings, plans to sell its initial public offering shares at a higher price level than those of rival Dalian Port to take advantage of the strong demand for new offerings. Jiangxi Copper, the largest mainland producer of the metal, plans to spend nine billion yuan (HK$8.71 billion) over the next three years to boost its smelting capacity and explore resources to take advantage of strong demand growth in the country. Hong Kong's unemployment rate was at 5.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2006, the same as in the three months to February, latest statistics released on Thursday showed. The government has launched five research and development centres to cater for the technology needs of businesses in the region, Technology Secretary Joseph Wong Wing-ping said on Thursday. April 20, 2006
Bank of China, the mainland's second-largest lender, is scheduled to meet the Hong Kong stock exchange's listing committee for a "preliminary listing hearing" today - taking a big step closer to a May launch of its proposed $54.6 billion float, market sources said. Falling government spending and a sound economy have led ratings agency Standard & Poor's to lift Hong Kong's outlook from "stable" to "positive".
Henderson Investment, the investment arm of Hong Kong's No3 property developer Henderson Land Development, is seeking to raise HK$3.12 billion through a top-up share placement, according to a sale document obtained by fund managers. The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose to a fresh 5-year high Tuesday, while the Hang Seng China Enterprise Index jumped to its highest level since August 1997, as investors expect Hong Kong- listed stocks to gain from the mainland's recent announcement allowing domestic financial institutions to invest overseas. Regal Hotels International, a Hong Kong-listed hotel operator and developer, is switching its real estate focus from a planned Macau hotel-retail complex to a joint-venture project in Beijing. The cost of the Beijing project is set to surge 25 percent to H$5 billion as it awaits approval.
China will likely emerge as India's largest trading partner, overtaking the United States within a few years, with the two-way trade hitting US$100 billion in the near future, predicts a senior Indian businessman. Saroj Kumar Poddar, president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), said yesterday in Beijing that "tremendous potentials" exist in regards to bilateral trade between the world's two fastest-growing economies. The trade between China and India last year hit a record of US$18.7 billion, jumping 38 per cent year-on-year. If the growth is sustained, the bilateral trade could soon overtake Indo-US trade, which is hovering around US$30 billion, said Poddar, who is leading a FICCI CEO delegation in China this week.
Japan's direct investment in China rose 19.8 percent to a record 6.53 billion US dollars in 2005, according to a recent report issued by Japan External Trade Organization.
April 19, 2006
Chongqing Changan Automobile, a Shenzhen-listed minivan maker planning to list its shares in Hong Kong, saw its profits dive by more than 80 percent due to severe competition and rising costs. The company said net profit based on mainland accounting standards was 236.75 million yuan (HK$229.19 million) in 2005, down 82 percent from 2004, despite turnover rising 3.46 percent to 19.17 billion yuan. Net profit would have been 199.3 million using international accounting standards.
Criticism that the railway merger deal favored the MTR Corporation has been rejected by executive councillor Ronald Arculli, who says the company has to bear the risk of the property price cycle. Wharf (Holdings) and parent company Wheelock and Co are planning a real estate investment trust consisting of office, retail and industrial properties to tap the market for between $2.34 billion and $3.12 billion in the second half of this year, according to sources.
More than 20 delegations have visited the zone and 12 have set up businesses with an investment of 15 million US dollars. Zhang Yimou was appointed chief director for both opening and closing ceremonies of Beijing Olympics while Steven Spielberg was named artistic adviser.
Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) Honorary Chairman Lien Chan arrived in Fuzhou, capital of southeast China's Fujian Province, on Monday evening to warship his ancestors in his hometown Zhangzhou City.
China plans to let investors buy shares using borrowed money and speculate on price declines by selling stock they don't own for the first time, to tap the nation's US$4 trillion (HK$31.2 trillion) of bank deposits and boost trading.
April 18, 2006
The Hong Kong government is likely to urge the merged MTR Corp and Kowloon-Canton Railway Corp to buy electricity from a supplier other than CLP Power and Hongkong Electric. Tying subway fares to inflation indicators may leave travelers vulnerable to unchecked fare increases in coming years, critics of last week's merger between the city's two mass transit operators said. Hong Kong started hosting two large trade fairs at the weekend, adding further credibility to the city's middleman role for trade between the mainland and the rest of the world. Private doctors in Hong Kong are performing up to four times the number of Caesarean sections than recommended by the World Health Organisation, as pregnant mainland women on week-long visas flock to private wards to give birth.
China's foreign exchange authority has awarded investment quotas totaling 350 million U.S. dollars to three qualified foreign institutional investors (QFII), according to the China Securities Journal. Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics, China's largest maker of blood pressure and blood-oxygen-level monitoring equipment, plans to raise up to US$300 million (HK$2.34 billion) in the largest initial public offering on the US Nasdaq by a mainland company, people familiar with the situation said. Internationally acclaimed filmmaker Zhang Yimou has been chosen to direct the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympic Games, the organiser announced yesterday. The Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (Bocog) also said eight consultants, including American filmmaker Steven Spielberg, would help Zhang ensure the ceremonies were a success. Zhang said at a Bocog ceremony: "I thank Bocog for trusting me with this huge task. To complete it will require the efforts of the whole team and advisers from home and abroad. I make a solemn promise to the Chinese people that I will complete the task beautifully and successfully." Zhang, 54, has co-operated closely with the organisers and had been widely tipped to direct the ceremonies in 2008. He directed a critically acclaimed performance showcasing Chinese culture at the closing ceremony of the Athens Olympics in 2004, and he shot a short promotional film that helped secure Beijing's bid for the Games in 2001.
April 17, 2006
Visiting Chinese vice health minister Huang Jiefu said Friday he hoped the introduction of a standardized medical examination and registration mechanism for specialist doctors in the mainland will help lessen costs and ease the difficulties of Hong Kong patients seeking treatment across the border.
As more than 1,000 retail outlets join "No Plastic Bag Day" today, the plastic bag makers are hitting back. They will stage a counter-campaign in Causeway Bay, handing out 3,000 leaflets aimed at correcting "misconceptions" about the bags that are blamed for clogging landfills and killing marine life. The mainland will draw on Hong Kong's system of registration for medical specialists in a bid to boost its health service.
China's move to relax rules to allow mainland banks, insurers and asset managers to invest in offshore securities will open new offshore investment channels to the country's vast domestic savings, says the chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. Trading firm Li & Fung is expected to buy German retailer KarstadtQuelle's sourcing operations next month for between US$100 million and US$200 million, sources said yesterday.
Foreign investment in China reached 14.246 billion US dollars in the first quarter, up 6.4 percent year on year. Doctors in northwest China have performed the country's first face transplant, and the second such operation in the world.
Foreign ventures in China's electronic information industry reported a year-on-year rise of 32.3 percent in sales revenue in the first two months. Leading international credit rating agency Moody's Corporation has entered agreement to buy a 49 percent stake in China Cheng Xin International Credit Rating Co. Ltd., (CCXI). Russia's Amur regional government has agreed with Heihe City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, to begin work on a cross-border bridge.
The mainland's Public Security Bureau is to clamp down on beauty parlors not recognized by the health authority to perform breast enlargement surgery, a senior health official said.
Poor lobbying is partly to blame for the mounting pressure from the US Congress over America's trade imbalance with China, according to a former top US trade representative. Charles Freeman, a former assistant US trade representative for China Affairs, said that ironically, in the years leading up to China's accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001, the annual hearing to grant Most Favoured Nation status (MFN) motivated the US business community to lobby Congress for free trade with China. April 14 - 16, 2006
Cheung Kong (Holdings), Hong Kong's second-largest real estate developer by market value, has outbid three groups of developers to win development rights to a Tai Wai housing project estimated to require HK$20 billion in total investment. Disneyland managing director Bill Ernest said Tuesday the government should speed up the reclamation work for phase two of the theme park. However, he agreed that several phase-one attractions have still to come on line, but will soon. Ernest said concrete plans for phase two have still to be agreed between the two sides and will take some time. He said that, apart from three "coming soon" attractions, there is room for other shows and exhibits in phase one. "It is not the number of attractions, but their size," Ernest said, adding that designing the various attractions was similar to fitting pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Ernest said that, when completed, phase one will be able to handle 10 million guests annually. He said the most popular attraction is the Hong Kong Disneyland Railroad, which runs from Mainstreet USA through Fantasyland. In order to avoid the chaos that occurred during the Lunar New Year holidays, Ernest said the park will be adding 11 more "special days" for Easter and the May Day holidays, during which sales of tickets will be limited to prevent overcrowding. During the Easter holidays the park will adopt a "cross utilization" system whereby back office staff will help those at the front line handle the crowd.
Commerce Minister Bo Xilai yesterday pleaded for Washington's understanding of Beijing's determination and efforts in cracking down on rampant infringement of intellectual property rights ahead of President Hu Jintao's US visit next week.
China is expected to ratify international treaties on the Internet with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in the second half of this year, an official said. China Eastern Airlines, the country's third-largest carrier, is seeking to sell at least a fifth of its shares to a strategic investor to raise funds and help improve management expertise, chairman Li Fenghua said.
China's crude oil imports rose 25.3 per cent in the first quarter of the year as vehicle sales also soared, official statistics showed on Wednesday, putting further pressure on world oil prices. Google chief executive Eric Schmidt defended the search engine's decision to co-operate with Chinese censorship as the company on Wednesday announced the creation of a Beijing research centre and unveiled its new Chinese-language brand name.
April 13, 2006
China is expected to ratify international treaties on the Internet with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in the second half of this year, an official said. To help reduce a massive trade gap, Beijing has agreed to lift a ban on US beef exports during latest bilateral trade talks in Washington, said a joint statement. BNSF railway company is expected to establish an office in Shanghai to become the first US rail firm to set up in the country. The Shanghai office, to be opened soon, represents the growing importance of Chinese exports to BNSF, the second-largest rail freight company in the US. "China is a key driver in BNSF's international business and we will continue to expand our network and services to accommodate that growth," said Steve Branscum, vice-president of BNSF, at a conference yesterday. BNSF's business from China has been growing by more than 13 per cent annually since 2000. China now accounts for 60 per cent of BNSF's international intermodal business, which adds up to 3 million containers. BNSF, the world's largest intermodal rail carrier, moves 5 million containers and trailers each year. China will open a new air route for international traffic tomorrow, a move that could reduce flight times between China and Europe by an average of 30 minutes and save airlines US$30 million in fuel cost every year. "Initially, 110 flights a week could benefit from the route, including those linking Europe and Southeast Asia," said Gunther Matschnigg, the International Air Transport Association (IATA)'s senior vice-president for safety, operations and infrastructure. Flights from Europe to Manila, for example, have to stop at Bangkok to refuel. But the new route will make non-stop flights possible. "The opening of the new route demonstrates the Chinese Government's determination to increase the efficiency of its air space, which is definitely needed to prepare for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing," Matschnigg said at a press conference on Monday. "We expect a traffic increase of at least 50 per cent in China by 2008, plus about 15 per cent more for the Games itself." Officials from the Air Traffic Management Bureau and the General Administration of Civil Aviation declined to comment on the new route. The route, also called IATA-1, is an alternative to the existing route that is just north of the Himalaya Mountains. China COSCO Holdings, the mainland's biggest container shipping company, said its profit surged more than 30 percent last year, boosted by strong growth in both its shipping and terminals business. April 12, 2006
Two large-scale events - the Hong Kong Electronics Fair and the China Sourcing Electronics & Components Fair - both to be held this weekend risk creating a conflict for buyers and putting a strain on their budgets. In the face of opposition from the industry, the Securities and Futures Commission backed away from some of its reform proposals, watering down a package aimed at ensuring that initial public offering sponsors have sufficient capital, experience and resources to handle growing business from the mainland. Shareholders of Cathay Pacific Airways, Hong Kong Dragon Airlines and Air China are in talks to realign their interests in the airlines and strengthen cooperation, the companies said in a joint announcement late Monday.
A Kwun Tong couple has been sentenced to 240 hours of community service for defrauding the government of HK$223,273 in financial aid for their two university student children, claiming they had no income despite earning about HK$400,000 a year in rent from the five flats they owned.
The Executive Council has agreed to the merger of Hong Kong's two railway corporations, Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen announced on Tuesday. The announcement came after Exco members held a special meeting on the merger between the Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTRC) and the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) on Tuesday morning. Mr Tsang said he was glad to see an agreement had been reached. He said the merger would bring considerable benefits. "Following the merger, the general public can enjoy an immediate fare reduction and more convenient railway services," he said. Announcing financial arrangements for the merger, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Frederick Ma Si-hang said the KCRC would grant a service concession to the MTRC. This would allow it to operate its existing and new railway lines and related transport businesses, he explained. According to the agreement, the MTRC will pay a $4.25 billion lump sum as well as $4.7 million in rent annually to the KCRC for the franchise to operate its services. The term will last 50 years and is renewable. From the fourth year of the merger, the MTRC will also pay a share of its annual revenue from KCRC operations back to the KCRC. "The post-merger corporation would be responsible for operating the two integrated railway networks. This would include undertaking and funding maintenance, improvement, and replacement of assets of the KCRC system," Mr Ma said. As part of the package, the government will also sell property interests to the MTRC for $7.79 billion. These would include the property development rights, investment properties and property management business, but not include the land premium to be paid by the developers to the government, Mr Ma added. Secretary for Environment, Transports and Works Sarah Liao Sau-tung said fares at the two railways would be cut immediately after the merger was completed. Dr Liao also said the two rail operators had agreed not to raise fares in the coming 24 months. The government would introduce an amendment bill to the MTRC and KCRC ordinances to the Legislative Council by this summer, she said. Dr Liao said she expected the bill could be passed in early 2007. Mr Tsang said it could help Hong Kong improve connections with the mainland. "With the fast expanding railway network on the mainland, the rail merger is a timely move for Hong Kong which will enhance our ability and potential in connecting with a railway route on the mainland," he said.
Executive Councillor and Hong Kong Jockey Club chairman Ronald Arculli is favoured to succeed Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing chairman Charles Lee Yeh-kwong, who steps down later this month after serving a maximum six-year term.
Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal has once again become the focus as 18 Chinese cities along its banks are ready for the application of World Heritage site.
German firm Allianz Insurance Group has been given the go-ahead by regulators to invest in China's largest bank. Acquisitions of Chinese enterprises by foreign companies are increasingly being challenged amidst a growing mood of "economic patriotism." Dalian Port, the largest container terminal operator on northeast China's Bohai Sea, has allocated 30 percent of its US$277 million (HK$2.16 billion) initial public offering to four strategic investors, people familiar with the situation said. Listing candidate Dalian Port, operator of China's largest oil terminal, plans to sell 10 per cent of its shares to Hutchison Whampoa and three other investors in its $2.16 billion initial public offering in Hong Kong, market sources said. While the international hotel giants battle to expand their empires in China and mull over branding and marketing strategies, there is something critical they can never ignore - staff. "Talents are given priority in Marriott, their potential, loyalty, interest and team spirit matters," says J. Willard Marriott, the founder of US-based Marriott International. "Take good care of your associates and they will take good care of customers, who will then return." As one of the leading international hotel groups, Marriott began operations in China in 1989. Now, its local presence is represented by 26 hotels, and by 2008, the portfolio will grow to 35. Marriott is not alone in its rapid growth. By 2008, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, Asia-Pacific's leading luxury hotel group, will add 17 more to its local list which already numbers 19; UK-based InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG), a worldwide hotel group, has a portfolio of 51 hotels, and plans to develop 74 more by 2008. Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, the world's leading high-end hotel brand, plans to have nine projects by 2009. The aggressive expansion can be attributed to the upcoming 2008 Beijing Olympics and the development of China's economy. "But how to attract and retain staff remains a pressing task," says Michael Malik, general manager with Beijing Marriott Hotel West, considered one of the best hotels in the Marriott chain. Generally, academic credentials, work experience and English skills are the basic requirements on hotel recruitment lists. However, for most hotels, there are two things even more important personality and potential. "We hire people for their attitudes," Malik says. "Passion is the key." The recruitment policy of Portman Ritz-Carlton Shanghai (PRC), which has been ranked as the best employer in Asia and China for three consecutive years by Hewitt Associates, is simple. "We only get highly-talented people," says Ralph Grippo, vice-president area general manager. April 11, 2006
Simon Murray, a former managing director at conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa, has confirmed a group he is leading is close to buying Asia Netcom from China Netcom Group in a deal said to be worth around US$350 million. Hong Kong's official foreign currency reserve assets amounted to 125.9 billion US dollars at the end of March, 200 million US dollars less than February, the Monetary Authority said in Hong Kong Friday. Hong Kong could be a role model for China in terms of sustainable mass public transport, an expert in the field said yesterday while suggesting the mainland public was becoming too dependent on the use of cars rather than railways. Legislators yesterday proposed "chicken boutiques" designed to keep customers away from live birds as a way of keeping at least part of the live trade going after central slaughtering is introduced.
China has accepted a request from both the EU and the US for talks with China on auto parts tariffs under the WTO trade dispute settlement mechanism. EU Finance ministers struggled to put recent spats over protectionism behind them and show a strong commitment to strengthening competition in the face of globalization challenges. China has banned commercial donation and supply of human eggs and tightened the control over sperm banks, in a bid to control the commercial use of ART.
Sino-US economic cooperation serves interests of two countries - Visiting Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi said in Memphis Friday that developing sound and stable Sino-US economic and trade relations was in the interests of both countries. Trade between China and the United States was mutually beneficial, Wu noted while meeting Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen in Memphis, the second largest city in the state of Tennessee. She said that China was the third biggest export market for Tennessee and bilateral trade has grown rapidly. In 2005, China purchased 1.4 billion US dollars of products from Tennessee including grain, cotton, chemical products and electronic parts. China's market was open, the vice premier said, adding that China welcomed the export of more US products to China and encouraged more Tennessee enterprises to invest there. Bredesen said the economic and trade cooperation between Tennessee and China was very close. He expressed his hope that the friendship between the people of Tennessee and Chinese people would be further enhanced through strengthening bilateral economic and trade cooperation. On Friday, Wu also visited the headquarters of the US FedEx Corporation in Memphis accompanied by its Chief Executive Officer Fred Smith. Memphis is the third stop of Wu's visit to the United States. She arrived here Friday afternoon after having visited Hawaii and Los Angeles, California.
A senior Guangdong health official has declared an end to this year's peak human bird flu season in the province, but the claim was dismissed by other health specialists. China Insurance International Holdings (CIIH) has vowed to turn in a net profit this year after posting a higher than expected loss for last year. It will aim to limit expenses at its life and property and casualty businesses to last year's levels while growing their income. April 10, 2006
Hong Kong will retain its own currency even if the yuan continues its rising trend and becomes the stronger of the two units, said the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's chief executive, Joseph Yam. The value of the yuan could equal or surpass that of the Hong Kong dollar before the year is out, Monetary Authority chief executive Joseph Yam Chi-kwong predicted last night. Bank of East Asia, a mid-sized Hong Kong-based lender, has held talks with several mainland banks to buy stakes, as it seeks to further expand in China, chairman David Li said. Shanghai Prime Machinery, a unit of state-owned Shanghai Electric Corp, plans to raise up to HK$1.3 billion in an initial public offering in Hong Kong to upgrade production facilities at its four primary divisions, sources said. After months of intense lobbying by the government, lawmakers have approved funding for an administrative post to oversee the implementation of the Tamar project, bringing one step closer to reality the administration's proposal to build its headquarters at the prime waterfront site. Hong Kong has slapped a ban on imports from a United States meat- packing plant after authorities found bone fragments in a shipment of boneless beef at the airport. This is the second time this year a packaging plant has been delisted for sending shipments of beef that included bone shards.
A Chinese entrepreneur delegation and the Los Angeles municipality signed Thursday an array of procurement contracts worth US$4.44 billion. The upcoming visit to the United States by Chinese President Hu Jintao will represent a key milestone in efforts that the two countries work together to contribute to international growth and stability, State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said at a briefing on Thursday. "This visit will represent one of the key milestones" in the " broad and complex undertaking" that both countries work together " to contribute to international growth and stability in ways that benefit both our countries," Ereli said at the National Press Center briefing. "This is an opportunity for the leaders of these two great nations to once again meet, to once again reaffirm their strong commitment to a healthy relationship, one in which there are many convergent interests," Ereli said when answering questions from Xinhua. The visit will also offer the United States an opportunity to raise the Chinese side issues that "we feel strong about," Ereli said. As U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick has pointed out, China is an important player on the international stage and the United States wants to work together with China in ways that help China meet its own development challenge as well as contribute to the growth and stability worldwide that benefits both countries, Ereli said. "That is going to be the fundamental nature of the discussions between the two leaders," Ereli said, noting that the United States regards its relationship with China as a "critical" one both for the United States and for the world.
SriLankan Airlines will increase its Colombo-Beijing service and hopes to expand services to Shanghai by the end of 2006 in a bid to become the No 1 choice for Chinese travelers, according to a chief representative from the company. London mayor Ken Livingstone is set for his China visit starting from Saturday to woo Chinese investors, tourists and students to put London on their map of destination. The mayor, who will lead a 70-member delegation from the business, education, tourism sectors as well as the creative industry to embark on a week-long visit in Beijing and Shanghai. During the trip, Livingstone will open the London Economic Development and Inward Investment office in Beijing and a representative office in Shanghai. "I'm honored that the opening of London's office in Beijing will be the first opened by myself, as Mayor of London, to any country in the world," he said, adding "London's growing relationship with the fastest growing market in the world is already bringing significant economic benefit to the city. I regard it as the highest strategic priority for London that we develop the strongest possible links with the Chinese economy." During the visit in Beijing, the mayor will visit the site of the 2008 Olympics and meet with members of the Beijing Olympic Games to discuss the planning of the Olympic Games and the building of sustainable communities. In Shanghai, Livingstone will have the opportunity to meet with key officials planning the 2010 World Expo, which London first hosted in 1851. The mayor noted earlier this year "It is central to the continued strength of London, as a financial center, that we remain open to the most important developments in the global economy." According to him, Britain is the largest European recipient of Chinese foreign direct investment projects, of which London attracts 30 percent. And trade and tourism are rapidly expanding.
Chinese leaders have become more proactive in a changing international environment, seeking to expand the country's economic interests while diluting rising international concern about its growing power, according to mainland analysts. Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp, a Shanghai-based chipmaker, gained 33 percent in its trading debut Friday despite its high valuation and lukewarm market interest, as the frenzy for initial public offerings continues amid a rallying stock market. April 7 - 9, 2006
The Hang Seng Index continued its bull run Thursday to close at 16,411.13 - the highest since September 12, 2000 - on the back of a strong inflow of funds from Europe. Some analysts revised up their forecast for the year to above 17,000. The Court of Final Appeal has ruled that the Hong Kong Stock Exchange did not deprive New World executives of their right to a fair hearing when it drew up preliminary directions for their disciplinary hearing.
Hong Kong's independent watchdog has issued a damning report of the government's medical welfare program, blaming the Social Welfare Department and the Hospital Authority for widespread abuses and gaping loopholes in a system that approved more than 99 percent of applications for medical fee waivers between November 2002 and March 2005. Cambridge University will name its new cancer research centre after tycoon Li Ka-shing after he donated $224.6 million for the building. Listed companies will come under direct scrutiny from Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing following a decision by the Court of Final Appeal yesterday that backed the stock exchange regulator in barring lawyers from fronting disciplinary tribunals for their corporate clients. Last year was a banner year for corporate Hong Kong, but analysts note the city's economic importance to these companies is shrinking because they now generate an expanding proportion of their earnings externally.
Hong Kong's international business community is urging the government to act quickly to tackle air pollution before conditions deteriorate further and deter top expatriate professionals from moving to the city. Hong Kong could take more nuclear energy from Guangdong after the current purchase agreement expires in 2014, says a senior official of a mainland power company. The government is proposing fixed penalties of HK$1,500 for those who flout the proposed ban on smoking in public places in a bid to save court resources, it was revealed in the Smoking Bill Legco meeting Tuesday. The ICAC trial of criminal lawyers Kevin Egan and Andrew Lam on a charge of perverting justice continued in the District Court Tuesday, with a witness being asked to shed some light over whether a gift of a car to a co-defendant could be considered a "reward" for her alleged conspiracy.
Less than three years after his brother Robert Kissel was murdered by wife Nancy in Hong Kong, Andrew Kissel, a US real estate developer charged with fraud, forgery and theft, was found dead in his Greenwich, Connecticut, home with multiple stab wounds.
Three mainland firms - Beijing-based retailer Jingkelong Supermarket Chain, Tianjin Port Development Holdings and Dalian Port - will launch initial public offerings (IPO) in Hong Kong, following approval from the stock exchange's listing committee. The Executive Council yesterday endorsed betting tax reforms, introducing a long-sought switch from a turnover-based tax to one based on profit, after concessions by the Jockey Club. United States gaming company Las Vegas Sands is considering a Hong Kong real estate investment trust listing for the 1.2 million square feet of retail space being built as part of its billion-dollar flagship Venetian casino resort in Macau.
Japan's Hitachi Global Storage Technologies will move all production of its 3.5-inch hard disk drives to Shenzhen within the next two years as the company seeks to tap growing demand for products such as digital video recorders and television set-top boxes. The China Foreign Exchange Trade System (CFETS) and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Wednesday exchanged copies of an agreement on cooperation in trading of foreign exchange and interest rate futures and options on futures.
Dalian Commodity Exchange, one of country's three futures bourses, is considering introducing palm oil futures, a move that it said would help the industry hedge risks and strengthen its position as the country's leading agricultural futures bourse. Small Hong Kong-listed mainland developer Coastal Greenland is selling US$40 million (HK$312 million) of senior notes to fund a property project in the northeast Chinese city Dalian, Liaoning province.
How fast is fast? According to China's road planners, the answer is 24,000 kilometres per five years not driving, but building expressways. That total length of new expressways will roughly equal that in Canada and Germany combined. The two countries rank third and fourth in the world in expressway length. The length of expressways in China was 41,000 kilometres at the end of 2005, the world's second longest only after the United States. About 24,000 kilometres were added in 2001-05, or 4,800 kilometres per year. In 1988, China did not have an inch of expressway, according to Dai Dongchang, director of Transport Planning and Research Institute affiliated to the Ministry of Communications. But in 2010, the total length is expected to be around 65,000 kilometres. The United States had some 90,000 kilometres in 2005. At least 60 per cent of the Chinese economy is facilitated by road transportation, the planning official said. After its completion in 2010, the Chinese expressway network will connect all provincial capitals and cities with at least half-a-million population, as well as some with population ranging between 200,000 and 500,000. 60 national firms have global potential - Sixty Chinese companies are set to become global players over the next decade, according to a paper released yesterday by the IBM Institute for Business Value. The 60 companies, 47 State owned and the rest privately owned, were selected by IBM after passing three tests relating to their global potential. Among the firms, there are relatively well-known players such as telecom equipment maker Huawei, and oil firms CNPC and CNOOC. There were also less well-known companies, such as Galanz, the Wanxiang Group, the Midea Group, Chery, Lifan and Ningbo Bird. "We used three filters, company size, industry characteristics and company characteristics, to select Chinese companies. ABB, the world's largest maker of power networks, has moved the headquarters of its robotics division from Detroit to Shanghai to head off competitors in the car business and force its executives to think Asian and not western.
China has reached a landmark agreement with its Southeast Asian neighbors on oil shipping along the Mekong River.
Beijing is to seal agreements to purchase US agricultural products, software, passenger aircraft, cars, automotive spare parts and electrical products ahead of President Hu Jintao's US visit later this month, Xinhua reported yesterday. Representatives of 111 mainland companies would soon begin negotiations with authorities, commerce associations and companies in 13 US states, it said. It is the first time the official media has confirmed widespread speculation about the likelihood of big-ticket purchases. In recent years, Beijing has usually sent a delegation of businessmen to place orders for US goods worth billions of US dollars ahead of a Chinese leader's visit to Washington. Although the size and other details of Beijing's planned purchases remain unclear, the cost could easily run into billions of US dollars, judging from the shopping list. It has agreed to purchase 80 Boeing passenger aircraft, and earlier reports indicate officials plan to lift the ban on imports of US beef and have agreed to buy more American soya beans. President Hu is due to visit the United States from April 18 to April 22. At his first stop, in Seattle, he is scheduled to visit the Boeing company and have dinner with Microsoft chairman Bill Gates at his palatial home. As computer software is on the shopping list, it is possible that Beijing could promise to purchase more Microsoft Windows operating systems and other US-made software as part of efforts to crack down on the widespread use of pirated computer software on the mainland, which costs US software makers billions of dollars in lost revenue each year. Vice-Premier Wu Yi who paid a stopover visit to Hawaii on Monday, is responsible for overseeing the purchases in the United States. She was on her way to Washington for the China-US Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade. While in Hawaii, she oversaw the signing of an agreement that will boost the number of mainland visitors to the island. The agreement "helps us to continue to spread the word in China about Hawaii", the Pacific state's Governor Linda Lingle said. The number of mainland visitors to Hawaii has been rising - up 34.5 per cent in 2004 from the year earlier to 34,216 travellers. But it captured just a tiny fraction of the about 27 million mainlanders who travelled to overseas destinations that year. Ms Wu said Hawaii had expertise in tourism planning, management and personnel training which could "serve as a valuable reference for the Chinese tourism industry". China regrets that the United States has rebuffed space cooperation with China, the head of China's space agency told his American counterpart in Washington.
In a recent study, analysts from one of the world's leading banks, Credit Suisse, say China is poised to become the world's second largest consumer market by 2014. China is poised to become the world's second largest consumer market by 2014. In a recent study, analysts from one of the world's leading banks, Credit Suisse, say China is poised to become the world's second largest consumer market by 2014. The bank has issued a report entitled "The Rise of the Chinese Consumer Revisited", indicating that China now represents 3.8 percent of global household consumption spending and remains on track to become the world's second largest consumer market in US dollars. In the report, Credit Suisse cites results from a proprietary survey conducted in China in December of 2005. This is the second major survey by Credit Suisse on this topic, with the first one released in September 2004. The 2005 study confirms Chinese consumption spending will likely represent approximately 11 percent of total global consumption spending for 2014, or about 3.7 trillion US dollars, versus 3.8 percent for household spending in 2005, up from an estimate of 2.9 percent in 2004. By 2014, Chinese consumers are expected to incrementally spend more US dollars than their US counterparts. China remains the seventh largest household consumer marketplace but looks poised to overtake Italy in 2006, France in 2007 and Japan by 2014. Head of Emerging Equity Market Strategy and Global Coordinator of China Research at Credit Suisse, Jonathan Garner has commented on the survey. He is quoted as saying: "The new survey increases our confidence in our original base case that China is set to become the world's second largest consumer spending market within ten years. However, it also points to the challenges of tapping into this growth with only a handful of companies achieving dominance within their individual sectors." Aviation officials from China and the United States will meet in about two weeks to discuss expansion of air services, which may give American airlines more direct passenger flights to the mainland and Chinese carriers more international routes, sources said. The United States and China are close to reaching an agreement that could eventually see the repatriation of 39,000 illegal Chinese immigrants, the US homeland security chief said yesterday. April 6, 2006
Local residents generally still strongly support Hong Kong Disneyland, but most believe the company could communicate better with the public, a tourism academic said. Hong Kong's recording industry has declared victory in the first round of its fight against illegal filesharers and rolled out a second wave of 50 new potential lawsuits that it says shows the industry's determination to crack down on online music piracy.
China Minsheng Banking Corp, the mainland's only privately controlled lender, has spurned Belgium-based Fortis Bank's interest in taking a strategic stake and is considering other banks including National Australian Bank, market sources said.
Hong Kong customs authorities have seized an aircraft believed to be a Soviet-made Mig-29 Fulcrum fighter jet at the Kwai Chung Container Terminal after a routine check revealed the shipment was missing an import license.
ChemChina acquires Australia's biggest ethene producer - ChemChina said the deal means its total assets now exceed 10 billion US dollars and its total sales revenues for this year is expected to hit 10 billion US dollars. China has completed the main part of a high-tech radio telescope which will serve China's ambitious moon-probe project.
Aviation officials from China and the United States will meet in about two weeks to discuss expansion of air services, which may give American airlines more direct passenger flights to the mainland and Chinese carriers more international routes, sources said. Beijing's reaction to the Holy See's efforts to re-establish diplomatic ties is "positive", but outstanding issues still need to be resolved through negotiations, which are at an early stage, a Vatican official said yesterday.
April 5, 2006
Conglomerate Citic Group will deepen cross-ownership between its mainland and Hong Kong stable of companies in a $5.54 billion deal that will further transform its Hong Kong-listed unit into an international financial flagship with strong business links in China. Business activity in Hong Kong hit an almost two-year high last month amid improved market demand and the launch of new products, but the buoyant mood has also contributed to higher overhead costs due to rising raw material prices and higher wages.
Hong Kong home sales jumped almost 40 percent last month - the third consecutive month of rebound - as mortgage loan discounts offered by banks prompted more purchases despite high interest rates.
A hurdle in the troubled Hong Kong- Macau-Zhuhai bridge plan appears to have been overcome after Chief Secretary Rafael Hui told businessmen the SAR government will drop its proposal for a one-stop customs and immigration checkpoint for Guangdong province and the two Special Administrative Regions, a source said. New York-based theatre company Mabou Mines will stage an avant garde production of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House in Hong Kong to mark the centenary of the great Norwegian playwright's death. Marine police seized $8.1 million worth of smuggled goods off Black Point in Tuen Mun last Saturday, a spokesman said on Monday. Chief Secretary Rafael Hui Si-yan on Monday stressed the importance of Hong Kong maintaining a business-friendly environment and a well managed public sector. In a speech to the Public Sector Reform Conference, Mr Hui noted that all international cities were facing similar challenges. "Our challenge is to excel in performance management and people-based services, taking full advantage of the modern methods, expertise and technology at our disposal." He also noted that Hong Kong's gross domestic product grew 7.3 per cent last year. An operating surplus for 2005-2006 had been forecast - three years ahead of schedule. Hong Kong's public service has a reputation for efficiency, but it has also been criticised for being too large and too costly - particularly in regard to civil servants' salaries. These are one of the biggest single items of government spending. Mr Hui was appointed Chief Secretary last year, taking over from Donald Tsang Yam-kuen who became Chief Executive.
It was signed in Beijing on Sunday on mutual assistance and cooperation in law enforcement, information exchange, technical cooperation and personnel training. The consumer price in China is expected to rise one percent this year, according to a latest report by experts from Peking University and National Bureau of Statistics. The Pan-American Aviation Holdings Ltd.(PAAH) is to become a shareholder of Grand China Airline (GCA), a subsidiary of the Hainan Airlines, China's fourth largest airline company.
A week after the European Union announced an antidumping tax on Chinese shoes on March 23, the EU and the United States have filed a WTO complaint against China over auto parts and the EU said it would resume an antidumping tax on Chinese color televisions. Foreign retail giants are continuing their expansion in the China both in terms of opening stores and buying huge quantities of goods to sell overseas. According to a local newspaper, the world's leading retailers, including Walmart, Carrefour and Metro, will purchases goods in China worth more than 200 billion yuan (US$25 billion) this year. The world's largest retailer spent a whopping US$18 billion worth of goods in China in 2004 up five billion from the year before, reported the newspaper, which did not quote figures from last year. The France-based Anchan buys two billion euros worth of goods every year in China, said the newspaper. Carrefour, also from France, bought US$3.2 billion worth of commodities in China in 2004. The figure rose to US$4.58 billion in 2005. The Germany-based retail mogul Metro plans to purchase 300 million yuan (US$37 million) worth of goods, including meat products, fruits and vegetables, in Beijing alone this year, company sources said recently. More than 90 percent of commodities in Metro's supermarkets on the mainland are provided by Chinese manufacturers, company sources said, adding the retail giant plans to recruit 150 suppliers in Beijing alone this year. Metro annually purchases approximately two billion euros worth of commodities in China to support its global marketing, the sources said. The China National Offshore Oil Company Limited (CNOOC Ltd.) announced Monday that it has signed agreements for exploration permits on four blocks off Australia. CNOOC Ltd signed the agreements with BHP Billiton Limited (BHP Billiton) and Kerr-McGee Australia Exploration and Production Company Ltd. (Kerr-McGee) through its subsidiary, the CNOOC Australia E&P Company for a 25 percent interest in each of the exploration permits. The four blocks, WA-301-P, WA-303-P, WA-304-P and WA-305-P, are located in the Outer Browse Basin, off Australia's northwest coast. China's new windfall tax on oil producers will hit the companies at a sliding rate between 20-40 percent once their realized price of crude oil hits US$40 (HK$312) per barrel.
The 2008 Beijing Games could hasten the adoption of high-definition television (HDTV) on the mainland, resulting in the installation of more than 600,000 sets in rural communities around the country so that villagers can watch Chinese Olympians in action. April 4, 2006
Actress-turned-solicitor Mary Jean Reimer and her mother were behind the "vicious" attack on high-profile lawyer Andrew Lam Ping-cheung in which his face was slashed last April, the District Court heard yesterday.
The Securities and Futures Commission will introduce measures, including a ban on commission rebates given by issuers to brokers of derivative warrants, to avoid misleading the market.
China Mobile (Hong Kong) will look to developing markets to further its overseas expansion following the acquisition of China Resources Peoples Telephone, according to chairman Wang Jianzhou.
China's foreign debts (excluding those of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) totaled US$281.04 billion at the end of 2005. The mainland's foreign debt growth slowed last year as Beijing continued efforts to limit the amount banks can borrow overseas on concern speculators are using loans to bet on a strengthening yuan.
Kazakhstan and China plan to jointly build a large-scale coal-fired power plant in Kazakh's northern state of Pavlodar, the first venture of its kind between the two nations, a Kazakh official said on Friday. Beijing Capital Land, the property arm of Beijing's municipal government, has posted a worse than expected 19 percent drop in profits last year on the back of central government austerity measures to curb property speculation. China's big four state banks are still far from operating healthily despite billions of dollars in government bailouts and changes to corporate governance structures, the International Monetary Fund has said.
IKEA, one of world's largest furniture retailers, plans to open new branches in Beijing and Shanghai, according to sources from the Swedish furniture company.
Thieves found siphoning off fuel from mainland pipelines could face the death penalty if sentencing proposals from the Ministry of Public Security are adopted by judicial authorities. April 3, 2006
CITIC Pacific, a state-backed property- to-telecom conglomerate, said it will buy and develop two iron ore projects in Australia for almost US$3 billion (HK$23.4 billion) as it aims to shift more focus on the steel industry.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the city's de facto central bank, has said it will raise the salaries of its workers by an average of 4.2 percent this year but that its chief executive Joseph Yam's pay will remain steady at his own request. The Housing Society and the Urban Renewal Authority have unveiled a HK$100 million plan to preserve nine Chinese-style buildings in Wan Chai that were constructed during the 1920s. The US Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff visits Hong Kong this weekend to view the port security installed at Modern Terminals and Hutchison International Terminals, according to Stephen Flynn, fellow at the American think-tank Council on Foreign Relations.
March 31 - April 2, 2006
Prolonged interest rate hikes could further damage the local property market after the latest quarter percentage point increase by the US Federal Reserve Bank, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority has warned.
A European institutional shareholder in China Life Insurance, the Hong Kong- listed subsidiary of the mainland's largest life insurer, plans to sell its holdings for up to HK$980 million, market sources said. Datang International Power Generation, the second-largest Hong Kong- listed mainland electricity producer, said increases in its unit fuel costs will be capped at 5 percent to 7 percent this year as investment in coal mines and railways will help guarantee coal supply and stabilize prices. The Securities and Futures Commission has mapped out a three-year strategic plan aimed at strengthening governance of corporates and financial intermediaries in Hong Kong, as well as protecting retail investors amid a rising number of complicated products. Jardine Matheson Holdings said underlying profit grew 17 percent to US$463 million (HK$3.61 billion) last year on higher earnings from retail and motor units, but it warned higher interest rates and oil prices may crimp income this year. Stanley Ho's Sociedade de Jogos de Macau plans to file a listing application with the Hong Kong stock exchange by the end of the week now that its shareholders have given the green light on an up to HK$15 billion initial public offering, market sources said.
A new bill being introduced into the Legislative Council aimed to strike a balance between the interests of copyright owners and users of copyright works, Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology Joseph Wong Wing-ping explained on Wednesday. Despite the need to stop the spread of bird-flu in Hong Kong, current laws need to be amended to allow pet owners to keep specified birds as pets, Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food York Chow Yat-ngok said on Wednesday.
China launches massive reconstruction of buildings for energy saving - Work on buildings of the 10 central government ministries including the Ministry of Construction has begun and will be finished in one and half a years. A reality show in which would-be Chinese entrepreneurs from around the world compete to become bosses of new businesses is set to debut on China's largest national TV network in May.
There will be greater demand for foreign professionals in fields such as manufacturing, English teaching and overseas marketing in Guangzhou, the capital of South China's Guangdong Province, in coming years. China's State Council approved in principle a plan to prevent and control pollution in the drainage area of Northeast China's Songhua River, which flows into a river on the China-Russia border. The State Council ordered the launch of a batch of projects to tackle industrial sources of pollution and treat urban sewage.
The National Audit Office yesterday released details for the first time of the fallout from its annual inspection of state finances, saying dozens of people were prosecuted, charged or arrested after the 2004 audit. President Hu Jintao will visit Saudi Arabia soon, and securing oil supplies for China's power-hungry economy is expected to be high on the agenda, according to a senior Chinese diplomat. State-owned HNA Group, which partly owns Hainan Airlines, is expected to get the approval in its protracted bid for CR Airways after the group's chairman agreed to take only 45 per cent of the Hong Kong company, instead of the original 60 per cent, sources said yesterday. Sunday Communications' integration with PCCW took another step forward yesterday with the appointment of Ian Stone, chief executive of its UK Broadband unit, to head the mobile arm from June. March 30, 2006
Hong Kong's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 7.3 percent in real terms over 2004, Hong Kong Census & Statistics Department says. Horses coming for the 2008 Olympics will be quarantined for a week before coming to Hong Kong and then isolated for another 10 days when they reach the city, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said. Singapore's Temasek Holdings on Tuesday said it would buy a nearly 12 per cent stake in Standard Chartered, making the state-linked investment firm the biggest shareholder of the British-based bank. Hong Kong people should develop a better understanding of China’s latest five-year plan, Secretary for Constitutional Affairs Stephen Lam Sui-lung advised on Tuesday.
China's Cabinet, the State Council, has approved regulations for the country's welfare fund to invest overseas, according to state media reports, a move analysts said is a signal that the long- awaited qualified domestic institutional investor program will also be launched soon. Bank of Communications, the fifth- largest commercial lender in the mainland, has posted stronger- than-expected profit growth for last year after its non-interest income soared and the government gave it a major tax break. Two US senators behind legislation to impose punitive 27.5 per cent tariffs on Chinese goods if Beijing failed to revalue its currency said yesterday they would delay a vote on the bill until September 29 at the latest. Tianjin is in talks with a division of US entertainment giant Paramount about a US$7 billion investment in a theme park in the municipality, city government officials said yesterday.
Ma Ying-jeou, chairman of Taiwan's opposition Kuomintang party, has secured his unchallenged status as the United States' preferred choice as the island's next leader, according to analysts. Mr. Ma, who is returning to Taipei today after a highly watched 10-day visit to the US, succeeded in convincing decision-makers in Washington that he would be a responsible stakeholder in East Asia and not a troublemaker if the KMT was returned to power in 2008, analysts said. Senior officials, including Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, Deputy National Security Adviser Jack Crouch and Defence Deputy Undersecretary for Asia and Pacific Affairs Richard Lawless, reportedly met Mr. Ma for talks, indicating that Washington was eager to learn what the KMT chairman would offer if he became Taiwan's president. Mr. Ma's trip was also closely watched by Beijing, which hopes to understand the KMT leader's position. Mr. Ma has previously criticized the mainland for its suppression of the student-led Tiananmen protests of 1989 and activities by the Falun Gong spiritual group, which is banned on the mainland. China's banking regulator will make active efforts to set up a national postal savings bank this year, based on the existing savings deposit business at far-flung postal stations, a senior banking official said.
China's foreign currency reserves reached US$853.7 billion (HK$6.66 trillion) by the end of February, probably topping Japan's to become the world's largest, a state-run newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing an unnamed source. March 29, 2006
CITIC Ka Wah Bank and mReferral Corp, a mortgage agency unit of Cheung Kong (Holdings), plan to team up with developers to offer mortgage products in which interest payments are linked to the Monetary Authority's composite rate.
Savings of around 10 per cent will be passed on to customers when Hong Kong and China Gas starts using less expensive natural gas as part of its production in the fourth quarter of this year. Live chickens from the mainland returned to local wet markets for the first time in three weeks yesterday after the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department pronounced the first batch of imports safe despite the presence of seven dead chickens.
State shareholders in Bank of China (BOC), the mainland's second-largest lender, have agreed to a political compromise not to convert their holdings into H shares upon the lender's planned US$7 billion Hong Kong public share sale in May. A joint-venture investment fund managed by Morgan Stanley has sold Vicwood Plaza in Sheung Wan for about $2.6 billion - more than three times its investment of $842.8 million three years ago.
Shares of China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, better known as Sinopec, and its unit Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical, slumped on investors' concerns that the government will delay a reform on state-controlled oil product prices.
Shares of China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, better known as Sinopec, and its unit Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical, slumped on investors' concerns that the government will delay a reform on state-controlled oil product prices.
Beijing has renewed its pledge to step up the fight against pirated products and enhance international co-operation, with a top copyright official saying rampant use of pirated software among large mainland companies has been curbed significantly. A long-awaited raft of rules to govern human organ transplants on the mainland - including the sale of body parts - were issued by the Ministry of Health yesterday, but a leading surgeon said they failed to address the unregulated trade in organs. March 28, 2006
A decade after a law to make Hong Kong's police watchdog truly independent was derailed, the government will renew attempts to turn it into a statutory body - but it will still lack investigate powers. The saga of upgrading the Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC) into a statutory body goes back to 1986 when the Police Complaints Committee (PCC) was set up to monitor the Complaints Against Police Office (Capo).
Public hospitals may face a serious shortage of doctors in five years, with a survey finding nearly 80 per cent of junior doctors have decided to leave the Hospital Authority after obtaining specialist qualifications. More than 600 aspiring athletes - including those with the potential to take part in the Olympics - may be forced to abandon training at the end of the year after the Hong Kong Sports Institute hands over its venues to the Jockey Club for the 2008 Olympic Games equestrian events.
Golden Harvest Entertainment (Holdings), once one of Hong Kong's most successful film production houses, is back in the black after several unprofitable years.
Chinese Finance Minister Jin Renqing and his Japanese counterpart Sadakazu Tanigaki held talks Saturday over bilateral, regional and global financial and economic situations. More and more rural Tibetans, who traditionally live on farming and husbandry, have found a new way to shake off poverty - catering for the tourists swarming into the autonomous region. Beijing will accelerate plans to reorganize the State Post Bureau, which involve splitting off its banking component to create the nation's fifth- biggest lender by deposits, the China Banking Regulatory Commission said. US software firms are looking for significant progress in combating mainland piracy at trade talks before President Hu Jintao visits Washington next month, a US industry official said. March 27, 2006
A Hong Kong Disneyland committee has come up with three suggestions to avoid serious overcrowding problems, and the park is "actively considering" which of them to implement, a spokeswoman said. The solutions include creating a "fast pass" system that will encourage visitors to enter the park at staggered times. The park may also "dispatch" guests to its Inspiration Lake so they can take pictures. It is also considering hiring more staff to entertain guests while they wait in the humidity and heat. "We are enhancing our in-park procedures just in case crowds gather outside the park or overcrowding situations happen," said Glendy Chu, media relations manager for Disney. Chu said that the instructions to modify the park's logistical operations on busy days did not come from the government. Macau's first traditional Chinese medicine hospital opens Saturday at the Macau University of Science and Technology.
A nationwide tour by Hong Kong Disneyland suffered a setback in Shenzhen after police forced the cancellation of a show yesterday coinciding with the city's annual congress meetings.
A New Zealand university's research has suggested a 243-year-old map indicating a famous Chinese explorer discovered NZ, Australia and America before Europeans. Best Buy, the largest consumer electronics retailer in the United States, may acquire a 66.6 percent stake in Five Star Appliance, China's fourth largest retailer, valued at US$200 million (HK$1.56 billion), market sources said. Mainland Internet portal Sohu has announced that it will broadcast video content from this summer's FIFA World Cup on its Web site.
China Unicom executive director William Lo Wing-yan says although there have been many ups and downs for the mainland's No2 mobile operator during his four-year stint, he is heartened by how much the company has progressed in corporate governance. March 24 - 26, 2006
Li Ka-shing, Hong Kong's most powerful and richest businessman, has pledged his support for Chief Executive Donald Tsang to seek re-election next year, and praised Tsang as an outstanding leader in tackling complicated issues.
Hong Kong should further strengthen its financial ties with the mainland to avoid the risk of being marginalized as the country's financial markets become increasingly globalized, says Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief executive Joseph Yam. COSCO Pacific, the Hong Kong-listed unit of state-owned China Ocean Shipping (Group), plans capital expenditure of US$354 million (HK$2.76 billion) this year to buy mainland ports, after 2005 profit jumped 62 percent on strong container terminal business. Hong Kong's overheated retail leasing market cooled in the fourth quarter of last year as many store owners adopted a wait-and-see approach after the recent spate of rental hikes.
Hong Kong's total exports rose 20.5 per cent in February compared with the same corresponding period last year to $153.6 billion, latest statistics released on Friday showed.
China Netcom Group (Hong Kong), the mainland's second largest fixed-line phone operator, expects to receive one of the third-generation mobile phone licenses likely to be awarded later this year. Shares in mainland department store operator Golden Eagle Retail Group rose a less than anticipated 13.5 percent on their Hong Kong debut Tuesday, but market watchers say this is not a sign of fading enthusiasm for new listings. Giordano International, a Hong Kong- listed casual wear retailer, plans to more than double its pace of expansion in the mainland this year as it announced a 5 percent profit growth in 2005. Tom Group, a media company controlled by tycoon Li Ka-shing, said it could sell some of its unprofitable businesses to make its sprawling portfolio of media assets easier to manage, as well as slow the pace of new acquisitions after reporting lower earnings last year. Cheung Kong (Holdings) has increased by nearly one-third the planned gross floor area for its HK$1 billion luxury housing project to be built on the Asia Television's headquarters site. Hutchison Port Holding, wholly owned by Li Ka-shing's Hutchison Whampoa, and Christchurch City Holding are "continuing to consider" whether to team up to buy out the outstanding shares of a New Zealand port company after its board recommended that its shareholders reject the offer. Hutchison Whampoa plans to take control of a Beijing hotel company as the city prepares to host the 2008 Olympic Games. A Hong Kong mother of two, dramatically rescued off Phuket following the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, for lying to the government while receiving HK$100,000 in welfare payments. Transport chief Sarah Liao told legislators Tuesday that neither she, nor anyone else in government, could have anticipated the magnitude of the management meltdown that gripped the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation last week. Education chief Arthur Li expects the number of year two and three university places to increase "several times" in the coming years to meet the demand of associate degree students taking articulation courses to enter university. Incidents involving passengers falling onto MTR's railway tracks have decreased since platform screen doors were installed, government figures unveiled at the Legislative Council showed.
The Chinese government has approved the outline for mid-and long-term development of nuclear power generation (2005-2020), in a bid to boost clean energy production. The outline was examined and approved at a State Council executive meeting presided over by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Beijing on Wednesday.
Mainland sportswear brand Li Ning, which recorded higher profits for last year, plans to substantially boost its vast retail network by 50 percent over the next three years to take advantage of the enthusiasm for sports that will likely be sparked by the Beijing Olympics. China's largest offshore oil producer by output, CNOOC, on Friday said last year's net profit rose 57 per cent on soaring oil prices and strong output growth. The mainland's highest-paid official may have to start looking for a new job unless he can meet investment targets, Oriental Morning Post reports. The Wuxi government hired Yan Bing two years ago on a 500,000 yuan annual salary as its chief business development representative with Japan, but he has failed to attract US$50 million in investment as promised. Lenovo Group and Coco-Cola announced a strategic partnership in Shanghai March 20. The two sides will cooperate in marketing and sales after alliance, according to Chen Shaopeng, general manager of Lenovo China. Su Boliang, vice president of Coco-Cola China, said the two will launch a series of promotion activities in April. Lenovo will become Coco-cola's authorized supplier and will design IT products for Coco-cola. It will also make 1000 PCs, 1000 laptops and 10,000 printers for the promotion activity. China announced Tuesday its plan to impose a consumption tax on disposable wooden chopsticks, wooden floor panels, yachts, luxury watches and more oil based products as of April 1 of this year.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will pay official visits to Australia, Fiji, New Zealand and Cambodia from April 1 to 8, according to Chinese Foreign Ministry. CPC and KMT agreed that a forum on economic and trade affairs between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan will be held in Beijing from April 14 to 15. Chinese mainland made-to-order chipmakers, including Hua Hong NEC and Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp, are raising investment to catch up with overseas rivals, industry officials said during a semiconductor fair in Shanghai yesterday. Hua Hong's 12-inch wafer plant, the first in Shanghai, will start operation by the end of 2006 and its monthly capacity will reach 20,000 8-inch equivalent wafers, Carolina Ng, Hua Hong NEC's senior sales manager, said at the Shanghai-based firm's booth at Semicon China 2006, which ends tomorrow. "The capacity is in its initial stage and we will increase the capacity depending on the market demand," said Ng, adding the firm's production capacity is 50,000 wafers. March 23, 2006
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) on Tuesday posted a 29 per cent growth in net profit to $980.6 million for the year ending December 31, 2005. Netcom Group Corp (Hong Kong), the Hong Kong-listed unit of China’s No2 phone company, on Tuesday said net profit for last year jumped more than five times to 13.89 billion yuan (HK$13.5 billion).
The European Commission is likely to impose a provisional tax on imports of Chinese leather shoes, despite disagreement about the move among member states. Signs of a sharp downturn are emerging in Shanghai's once-sizzling property market with prices slumping more than 30 per cent for some flats and increasing reports of mortgage defaults. The National Council for Social Security Fund (NSSF) has opened an account in the local stock market's clearing house, indicating that it has successfully lobbied mainland authorities to allow it to receive shares, rather than cash, from the initial public offerings of state-owned enterprises. Internet and media company TOM Group on Tuesday said net profit last year fell 66 per cent, a decline largely caused by gains it booked in 2004 from the spinoff of its Internet unit, TOM Online; earnings after exceptionals expanded five-fold. March 22, 2006
Hong Kong and China Gas, the city's dominant gas utility, will save 1.59 million customers 5 percent to 10 percent next year when it introduces by phases cheaper and cleaner natural gas.
Two Hong Kong-listed mainland drugmakers, Lijun International Pharmaceutical (Holding) and China Shineway Pharmaceutical Group, reported net profit growth in 2005. Hong Kong airlines will gain the right this year to pick up passengers and cargo in the mainland on their way to third- country destinations, according to Xu Jialu, a vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. Hutchison Whampoa, a conglomerate controlled by tycoon Li Ka-shing, may report net profit fell by up to 26 percent last year while analysts are split in their forecasts on its major shareholder, Cheung Kong (Holdings), as it will depend on accounting gains from property revaluations. In an attempt to end mounting speculation over the deadly shoot-out in a Tsim Sha Tsui pedestrian subway last week, in which two policemen were killed, the police said Monday the rogue cop at the center of the incident was working alone and that the ambush of the two uniformed officers was premeditated.
Fresh chicken will be available again in Hong Kong markets from Monday when a three-week ban on live imports from the mainland is lifted, the government said. A 10-member delegation from the Immigration Department would visit Beijing, Chengdu and Dalian on Wednesday for a study visit, a spokesman said on Monday. Ma Ying-jeou, chairman of Taiwan's main opposition Kuomintang, left yesterday for a highly watched trip to the US, where he will reportedly talk to President George W. Bush on the phone and meet senior State Department officials.
Kuroda said with about 60 percent of its population engaged in the agriculture sector, China should give priority to the development in the poorest rural areas.
March 21, 2006
Pacific Concord, a mid-sized property developer, plans to raise up to HK$3.1 billion by spinning off Hong Kong and mainland property assets only three years after going private, according to market sources. Several major listed local contractors including Paul Y Engineering and China State Construction Engineering - as well as overseas contractors such as Leighton - are among the applicants hoping to qualify for the government's controversial Tamar office building project. Viva Macau, one of the three discount airlines which will operate from the former Portuguese colony, plans to bring in strategic investors including other carriers to provide financing and other support, chief executive Andrew Pyne said. Police have seized HK$2.1 million and are looking for more cash from the suspected rogue cop who allegedly killed another officer before being killed in the shootout that shocked Hong Kong late last week. The off-duty police officer who shot dead one of his colleagues and critically wounded another had long-standing connections to an underground soccer gambling syndicate, a police source has told the Sunday Morning Post. The chief executive and most of his top ministers yesterday appeared at the opening ceremony for DAB legislator Tsang Yok-sing's new office in an apparent bid to counter reports of antagonism between the party and the government. Seven developers have lined up with bids for the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corp's $21.5 billion residential project in Sha Tin, lured by a lower land premium than for the Tuen Mun station development, which they ignored because the levy was too pricey.
Chinese computer giant Lenovo Group started a large-scale restructuring plan on Friday, including cutting its workforce in the Americas, Asia Pacific and Europe by 1,000. PetroChina, which will kick off the earnings season for the oil sector today is expected to report a 36 percent rise in net income last year, boosted by high oil prices and the mainland's almost insatiable demand for energy. China will approve the first mainland fund to invest abroad as early as next month under the long-awaited qualified domestic institutional investor (QDII) scheme as the government makes good on promises to ease controls on capital outflows. More than 33 per cent of China's city commercial banks are technically bankrupt, and most of them are not real banks but serve as cash cows for the local governments that control them, according to a just-published scathing report. Yao Ming, China's richest and most famous sports star, has invested in a music website, one of the few that pays copyright to publishers and charges users for music they download. March 20, 2006
China Mobile (Hong Kong) Ltd, the world's largest mobile phone operator by users, posted a 27 per cent gain in fourth-quarter profit as customers used handsets to download games and send text messages. China Mobile (Hong Kong), the mobile phone company with the most subscribers in the world, exceeded market expectations by delivering a nearly 30 percent surge in net profit for last year, driven by a spurt in its data business and a substantial influx of new customers.
Cheung Kong Infrastructure, a Li Ka- shing controlled company with toll road and utilities assets in Europe and the region, said it is studying plans to buy British-based Thames Water as part of a consortium involving associate company Hongkong Electric and other third-party investors. Paving the way for the listing of Sociedade de Jogos de Macau in Hong Kong, gambling tycoon Stanley Ho has given up his top posts at Melco International Development to comply with the listing rules against conflicts of interest.
Leading Hong Kong film stars including Jackie Chan and Maggie Cheung Ho-yee will open the southern Chinese territory's biggest entertainment event on Monday, organisers said on Friday.
U.S. Secretary of States Rice said that her country had no policy of containment against China and was striving to engineer a greater role for China. China's population could hit 1.30756 billion by the end of 2005 (excluding those in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan). China is concerned about the international iron ore price talks in 2006, and hopes that iron ore prices should be fixed fairly to achieve a win-win result between producers and consumers, Chinese officials said on Thursday. The nation's biggest oil producer, PetroChina, is stepping up efforts to source oil reserves in China's offshore areas, and expects to locate assets in the China South Sea within the next five years, a senior company executive said yesterday. March 17 - 19, 2006
18.2 percent of rural residents, a record-low figure, are intending to buy houses in the coming three months.
US mobile communications giant Motorola has invested in three Chinese companies as a strategic move to penetrate into the mobile value-added services sector. This area is thought to be critical for the coming third generation mobile communications (3G) sector. The mainland's industrial output rose 16.2 per cent year on year in January and last month, driven by brisk investment, booming exports and rising consumer spending. The yuan yesterday made its biggest gain against the US dollar since it was revalued in July last year, hitting more than 8.03 per dollar, with analysts saying it could rise to as much as 7.80 by the end of the year. March 16, 2006
The world's second largest alumina producer, Aluminum Corporation of China (Chalco), yesterday issued about US$375 million in one-year corporate bonds to repay short-term debts and supply it with working capital. Conglomerate New World Development, which posted a higher-than-expected 30 percent jump in first-half underlying profit, said it may spin off its department store businesses for a separate listing. Wharf (Holdings), a Hong Kong conglomerate with interests in properties and ports, said its underlying profit rose 20 percent last year because of higher rental income and cargo throughput. New World China Land, a unit of conglomerate New World Development, said half-year net income jumped by nearly five times despite a decline in property sales profit, as earnings were boosted by a gain from the revaluation of investment properties. Chipmaker Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing is hoping to capitalize on Hong Kong's IPO frenzy by setting a higher valuation than its larger rival when launching its US$100 million (HK$780 million) initial public offering.
In a bid to avoid a repeat of last weekend's chaotic scenes at Lok Ma Chau and to cope with a new influx of mainland visitors, the number of automated immigration processing devices will be nearly doubled at the border crossing, the immigration chief announced Wednesday.
Cheung Kong (Holdings) raised the stakes in the mortgage war yesterday, pitching an aggressive plan to homebuyers despite signs that property market sentiment may be improving.
China's automobile imports more than doubled to 29,000 units in the first two months of this year at lower import costs, the General Administration of Customs said on Tuesday. Sinopec processed 139.94 million tons of crude last year, or 2.8 million barrels a day, Its crude oil output rose by 1.7 per cent to 278.82 million barrels (763,890 barrels per day) for the period, in line with the company's target. Gas production increased by 7.2 per cent to 221.92 billion cubic feet during the year, exceeding its target of 214.3 billon. HSBC, Europe's biggest bank, will quicken its expansion in China thanks to foreign banks being allowed to provide a retail renminbi business to local residents at the end of the year. March 15, 2006
Hong Kong's midsize companies surged ahead of competitors around the world last year, according to results of an international accounting firm's annual poll. Property-to-airline conglomerate Swire Pacific plans to sell HK$1.8 billion worth of bonds to partially fund the purchase of a 50 percent stake in Festival Walk shopping mall. NOW Broadband TV - the pay- television unit of Hong Kong's largest fixed-line operator, PCCW - will launch a 24-hour, all-business channel next week, hoping to capture the eyeballs of Hong Kong's one million private investors and further underpin the company's late charge against i-Cable. Human error is to blame for a leakage of personal information of more than 20,000 people who have lodged complaints against Hong Kong police over the past decade, a two-day investigation has revealed.
Hong Kong-listed shoemaker Kingmaker Footwear Holdings will slash about 8,000 jobs, mainly on the mainland, as European Union anti-dumping measures begin to bite. Hong Kong and Russian negotiators have agreed to a big expansion of passenger and cargo services in their latest bilateral talks but no progress was made on Cathay Pacific Airways' troubled bid to launch services to Manchester through Moscow.
Organizations from overseas in China are not permitted to promote foreign exchange business unless approved by the China Banking Regulatory Commission, the commission said here on Monday. In an announcement the commission said an online service was also prohibited. "The Chinese laws and regulations do not protect such businesses and consumers should take care," it said. The commission said the reason it issued such an announcement was that it had recently found foreign organizations promoting their foreign exchange business online or when holding seminars and training projects. "This act has violated Chinese regulations and the cases in which consumers suffer losses have occurred," the commission said. Foreign direct investment (FDI) into China in the first two months of this year grew by nearly 8 per cent from a year ago, the Ministry of Commerce said yesterday. The figures show China continues to attract foreign investors. Morgan Stanley, which bought US$8 billion of Japanese real estate last year, said it will triple investment in Chinese property this year, shifting emphasis from Japan in a bet on the world's fastest-growing major economy.
China Shenhua Energy, the mainland's biggest coal producer, said it will pay its parent 1.16 billion yuan (HK$1.12 billion) to acquire a coal and power project in Shaanxi province that will boost its coal reserves by 9.1 percent and increase its power-generating capacity by 55 percent by 2010. care system is badly needed from Hong Kong and overseas to help fund its reform programmes, the health minister said. Record fund-raising combined with a dearth of deal-making has caused a venture capital overhang in China, leading to higher valuations and some observers to warn of a boom and bust in the most competitive sectors. March 14, 2006
With China's cotton market shortfall expected to reach 4 million tons this year, thousands of textile producers are under pressure from rising costs and insufficient supplies of raw cotton materials. March 13, 2006
Shares of Melco International Development, controlled by the family of casino tycoon Stanley Ho, soared by more than a quarter to a record HK$14.60, after the company said it has clinched the last available gambling subconcession in Macau. China Resources Cement, a unit of state-controlled conglomerate China Resources (Holdings), plans to invest HK$1.8 billion to boost capacity over the next three years, despite profits plunging 85 percent last year amid high costs. The city's banking sector and regulator yesterday warned of a continued climb in interest rates as the rise in US rates looks set to go on longer than expected. The Securities and Futures Commission is concerned that the recent spate of companies announcing plans to launch real estate investment trusts could lead to market malpractices, according to chairman Martin Wheatley.
China's first joint venture life insurer Manulife-Sinochem Life Insurance Co Ltd (MSL) expects its premium earnings to rise rapidly this year, on the strength of quick geographical expansion in the past two years, top executives said in Shanghai on Friday. Guangdong Development Bank has retrieved 400 million yuan (HK$385.9 million) from an auction of its bad assets - less than 10 percent of the assets' value - as it rushes to improve its balance sheet before selling a stake to foreign investors. Intensified efforts against corrupt officials on the run resulted in record levels of state funds being recovered last year, according to reports by the Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate.
China's Internet auctioneer flagship Alibaba will continue to focus on integrating the Yahoo China operation, Jack Ma, CEO of Alibaba.com, said. To promote meticulosity in meting out capital punishment, top judge Xiao Yang said Saturday that Chinese courts will start from this year to open court session when hearing death sentence trials in second instance, after taking steps to retrieve the power of death penalty review from provincial courts. "As of July 1, 2006, all the second-instance trials of death sentence cases shall be heard in open court," Xiao, who is also the president of the Supreme People's Court (SPC) said in his report on the work of the Supreme People's Court. A special court to prosecute product piracy cases has been created, according to a government spokesman, amid demands for Beijing to step up action against rampant illegal copying of movies, music, software and other goods. China, known for its rampant piracy of everything from high-fashion handbags to software, vowed yesterday to crack down on intellectual property rights theft and urged foreign companies to take their complaints to its courts March 9 - 12, 2006
The Hong Kong stock market, which has fallen for two consecutive days, has been dented by renewed worries about rising interest rates in the United States, where the yield on long-term treasuries has reached its highest level in 21 months. Guangdong's agriculture department says the province has done a thorough job in keeping its poultry safe from bird flu and has appealed to Hong Kong to lift its ban on chicken imports, even though the Food and Agriculture Organization has warned that backyard farms still pose a risk.
The parent firm of Lenovo Group plans to spin off its mainland commercial property subsidiary as a real estate investment trust in Hong Kong and may consider listing the world's third-largest computer maker in the United States, the group's founder and president said yesterday in Beijing. PCCW chairman Richard Li Tzar-kai is reported to be moving into the print world, potentially escalating the price war in the industry, especially if he links up his new acquisition with his online and television ventures.
A world-leading helicopter manufacturer announced Wednesday in Beijing a plan to co-develop in China new, advanced heavy-lifting aircraft in the hope of capitalizing on soaring demand in this country and around the globe. China is planning a massive reshuffle of local politicians, linking promotions to how well they adhere to the central leadership's efforts to address social imbalances, an official newspaper said. There are signs the central government may step up coordination and see to it that Hong Kong's status as an international hub in finance, trade and shipping will not be shaken as rivalry from other key mainland cities, especially Shanghai, intensifies. Globalization scares people. Security threats scare people. By fusing these fears during the Dubai ports flap, US demagogues have had a field day. Now, having demonstrated this formula, the demagogues are poised to strike again. Their next target will be arriving soon, in the person of President Hu Jintao.
China's space technology is unlikely to catch up with America's in the next decade, according to a mainland space expert who also called for Hong Kong's involvement in the nation's first lunar mission, scheduled for April next year. March 8, 2006
MTR Corp, which runs Hong Kong's subway system and develops the land around its stations, said its net profit rose 29.1 percent to HK$8.45 billion last year thanks to another one-time gain from revaluation of investment properties and higher property sales. Hong Kong will reduce its chicken population by a third within three months, control the importation of live birds and restrict the granting of new licenses for poultry farms, following the death of a man from bird flu last week in neighboring Guangdong province, officials said. Hysan Development, the largest commercial landlord in Causeway Bay, said net profit of its core business rose 9.4 percent last year, as it lifted rents amid strong demand for shopping and office space. Hong Kong's banks, some of which have slashed mortgage rates to boost a sluggish home-loan market, said they face a challenging year as downward pressure will continue on lending interest spreads. Legislative Council president Rita Fan has been picked by Beijing to replace the ailing and controversial Tsang Hin- chi when he steps down as the only Hong Kong member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress in 2008, according to NPC sources.
The Shanghai Futures Exchange is steadily moving ahead with its proposed trading of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) futures, a sign the bourse is quickening its pace to introduce a full range of energy futures. March 7, 2006
Hang Seng Bank, the second-largest bank in Hong Kong by market capitalization, disappointed analysts with a flat full-year profit as contributions from its treasury division slumped and on bad-loan provisions. Melco International Development, controlled by the family of casino tycoon Stanley Ho, has upgraded its status as a casino player after its partner, Australian media giant Publishing and Broadcasting Limited, agreed to pay Wynn Resorts US$900 million (HK$7.02 billion) to secure the last available gambling subconcession in Macau. China National Building Material, the country's largest provider of products used in construction, plans to raise up to HK$1.7 billion in a larger-than-expected initial public offering later this month, people familiar with the situation said. Secretary for Justice Wong Yan-lung said Monday the rising number of judicial review cases involving human rights clauses under the Basic Law since the handover was a normal phenomenon.
The Transport Department on Monday signed a $70 million contract with Siemens and Siemens PLC Joint Venture to construct an area traffic control (ATC) system for Tuen Mun and Yuen Long. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the largest lender on the mainland, has decided in principle to hire Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, China International Capital Corp and its own Hong Kong investment bank arm, ICEA, to arrange its initial public offering of more than US$10 billion, well-placed sources say.
China will continue to gradually increase the flexibility of the RMB exchange rate, said Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China, on Sunday. Chinese President Hu Jintao said that the country must earnestly implement the scientific concept of development if it wants to attain various development goals set for the 11th Five-Year Plan period (2006-2010). "The scientific concept of development is a guiding principle that must be adhered to for a long period in order to promote our country's reform, opening-up and socialist modernization drive," said Hu while joining in a group discussion of lawmakers from Tibet Autonomous Region.
The mainland will not reduce the US dollar component of its ballooning foreign-exchange reserves, even as it makes "adjustments" to protect its principal and maximise returns on the already formidable stockpile, the central bank governor said yesterday. Chinese technology entrepreneurs are a special breed and Justin Tang, chairman and founder of online travel company ELong, is a typical specimen. Casually dressed, urbane and well-spoken, Mr Tang is a member of the exclusive group that has built the Chinese internet business from scratch. March 6, 2006
Sun Hung Kai Properties, which posted a 10.5 percent rise in first-half underlying profit, said it spent HK$17 billion to replenish its land bank in the six months to December. General insurance underwriting profit reaped by Hong Kong agents slipped 5.6 percent last year as widening losses from motor insurance and workers' compensation more than offset gains from property damage cover, according to the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance.
Marking another major step in his political comeback, Tung administration top aide Lam Woon-kwong has been named chief executive officer of equestrian events for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen last night joined the pro-Beijing camp in playing down suggestions of antagonism between the two sides. The government has proposed merging the Telecommunications Authority and Broadcasting Authority to create a powerful unified regulator to deal with spiralling competition issues stemming from the convergence of telecom and media services.
Sinopec, the nation's biggest oil refiner, said it planned to build two crude oil importing facilities in North China's Tangshan, involving a total investment of 6 billion yuan (US$739.8 million). Xingda Steel Tire Cord Group and China National Coal Group's planned initial public share offerings have been pushed back to the second half while Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp finally received approval to list shares, market sources said. Continental Airlines, which last year broke a two-decade grip held by two US rivals on nonstop Beijing-to-New York flights, aims to become the first carrier to offer passengers direct Shanghai-to- New York travel, starting next year. China's securities regulator will continue its clean-up of the distressed brokerage sector and will not approve any new securities companies or foreign investments this year without the intervention of the State Council, according to sources. March 3 - 5, 2006
i-Cable Communications, the dominant pay-television operator in Hong Kong, saw operating profit fall 5.5 percent last year as competition heated up after its major rival boosted services. HSBC Holdings, which controls two banks in Hong Kong, will probably report an 11 percent increase in net profit Monday as it expanded in emerging markets when those in more developed regions became uncertain. Legislators have pounced on the government's newly unveiled surveillance bill, threatening to derail it unless the administration amends a provision which, they say, gives the executive branch overreaching powers to install politically reliable judges to approve surveillance operations.
Aluminum Corp of China Ltd, the world's second-biggest alumina producer, is poised to make China's single largest investment in Australia as it seeks to ease shortages of materials used to make aircraft and car bodies. United Airlines, the world's largest transpacific airline, is applying to run daily nonstop flights between Guangzhou and San Francisco, a move that could make it the first US carrier flying to South China. China Post is talking to China Telecom and China Unicom about their taking stakes in a savings bank it hopes to set up in June and eventually list on the stock market, industry sources said yesterday. The Lands Department has set a levy of about $7 billion for the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corp's Tai Wai maintenance centre residential project, having learned a lesson from the Tuen Mun station tender withdrawal late last year. March 2, 2006
Sociedade de Jogos de Macau, a casino operator controlled by tycoon Stanley Ho, may almost double the size of its initial public offering in Hong Kong and list it shares earlier than expected. The Hospital Authority was spared a debilitating blow Wednesday, when the High Court ruled that the 4,600 public doctors are only entitled to cash compensation for "actual work" done on rest days and statutory holidays, and not for being on call. The administration has unveiled its highly-anticipated wiretapping and covert surveillance bill, officially kickstarting what is sure to be a contentious fight in the coming months, especially because the proposal leaves open the possibility that the mainland could influence who is targeted.
Hong Kong Disneyland is adding 11 more "special days" - during which only date-specific tickets can be used - to avoid a repeat of the Lunar New Year chaos, when hundreds of visitors were turned away from the theme park. Lunar New Year tourist arrivals shot up 25 percent compared with the 2005 holiday, boosted by big gains from Australia, the Philippines and South Korea, the Hong Kong Tourism Board said. Hong Kong's fund industry yesterday claimed victory in a two-year lobbying war to exempt offshore funds from profit tax and bring the city into line with other leading financial centres. The central government plans to ease restrictions on capital outflows and accelerate the transition to a "basically convertible" yuan for capital account transactions, according to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange official in charge of China's capital account.
China eyes a 40 percent annual increase in its auto and auto parts exports over the 11th Five-year Plan period and expects the exports to reach US$70 billion. China plans to build more overseas sales platforms abroad to make domestic agricultural products available in the overseas market. SAFE official Zou Lin was quoted saying that the government will encourage a greater outflow of capital while maintaining the balance of capital entry and exit. The Shanghai Futures Exchange, one of China's three futures bourses, may get the greenlight to trade steel wire rod futures this year, China Securities Journal newspaper reported yesterday. The move is expected to boost the industry. Residential property prices in Beijing last year surpassed Shanghai, the country's hottest real estate market, and remained the fastest-growing market in China in January. Analysts, however, indicate this is temporary and general price growth nationwide will gradually slow down The yuan rose to its highest against the US dollar since last July's revaluation of the currency after reports that Beijing plans to make the yuan basically convertible under the capital account "soon." US Treasury Secretary John Snow and his undersecretary, Tim Adams, have called on Beijing to allow the yuan to trade more freely and to make it more responsive to market forces. China will test fly its first homemade commercial jet in 2008, state press said Wednesday, a feat that will bring the country one step closer to achieving its goal of becoming an aviation power. Guangzhou will spend 13.5 billion yuan in the next five years to speed up construction of phase II of Baiyun International Airport to enable it to meet its goal of becoming an international passenger and logistics hub, a senior airport official said. March 1, 2006
Peace Mark Holdings, Hong Kong's largest timepiece maker, will invest HK$300 million (US$38 million) to HK$400 million (US$51 million) in opening 30 luxury watch stores in the mainland over three years. The Children's Investment Fund, a British-based hedge fund that has been adding shares of Hong Kong property firms in its portfolio, is buying a 9 to 10 percent stake in Chinese Estates Holdings for about US$200 million (HK$1.56 billion), a source familiar with the situation said. Shau Kee Financial Enterprises and Henderson Land Development are planning a May launch for a real estate investment trust comprising about 25 office and retail properties worth $10 billion, sources say.
China will spend 140 billion yuan (HK$135 billion) in the next five years to expand airport infrastructure to meet a forecast 14 percent annual growth in domestic air traffic, an official said. Flat panels will replace conventional cathode ray tube televisions by 2010 in China and mainland manufacturers must work hard to catch up with their foreign rivals if they are to survive, the head of a Hong Kong-listed television components maker said yesterday.
*News information are obtained via various sources deemed reliable, but not guaranteed
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Hong Kong:
More than 100 chicken traders
converge on the Murray Building yesterday to submit a petition to the Health,
Welfare and Food Bureau over restrictions on live poultry imports. But the
traders remained disgruntled, despite a later government announcement that the
supply of day-old chicks would resume later this week, and live chicken imports
from the mainland would be increased for three days at the end of next month.
China:
China's non-financial
overseas direct investment surged 280 percent to 2.68 billion U.S. dollars in
the first quarter of this year, a source with the Ministry of Commerce said on
Tuesday.
The nerves of the donated tissue received
by China's first face transplant recipient are alive and active, reports the
Xijing Hospital in China's Shaanxi Province. A doctor removes stitches from the
face of Li Guoxing, who underwent a partial face transplant after being attacked
by a black bear. The 30-year-old from Yunnan was healing well, but could still
reject tissue from a brain-dead patient used to give him a new nose, lip and
cheek, reports said. Mr Li had much of the right side of his face reconstructed
by doctors at the Xijing Hospital in Xian during a 15-hour procedure on April
14.
Beijing views John Woo's latest film
about an ancient war as a showcase of Chinese history and is pushing for it to
be released before the Beijing Olympics, according to a business partner of the
director. Terence Chang said the mainland is treating Battle Of Red Cliff,
starring Chow Yun-fat, as a marketing device for the 2008 Games. "This movie has
government backing. The government is taking it seriously because they want us
to release it before the 2008 Olympics," Chang said on the sidelines of a film
finance forum in Hong Kong. The movie is a co-production between the state-owned
China Film Group and Woo's Los Angeles-based Lion Rock Productions, which Chang
helps run. Chang said the importance attached to the project has made it easier
to seek help from provincial officials. Woo aims to start filming, mainly in the
northern Hebei province next March. Chang said Woo's vision for the movie is
ambitious but that he has asked the director to keep the budget within US$50
million (HK$390 million) - which is generous funding by Chinese standards -
because the market for Chinese-language movies is limited. Chinese films are
generally viewed across Asia, but the biggest potential market, the mainland, is
still developing. Chang said the movie, which may also feature Cannes best actor
winner Tony Leung Chiu-wai, has already been sold to distributors in the
mainland, Taiwan and Japan. He said he hasn't given up on the US and European
markets because one selling point will be the movie's epic scale, "like Titanic
or Pearl Harbor." The producer said one scene would feature the burning of 2,000
boats with horses jumping around on them. Another will involve a booby-trapped
battleship. Battle Of Red Cliff is set in the ancient "three kingdoms" period in
the third century, when China was split into three rival states. Chang said
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon writer Wang Hui-ling worked on the script and Lu
Wei, who worked on Chen Kaige's Farewell My Concubine and Zhang Yimou's To Live,
have recently joined the writing team.
CLP Holdings, the larger of the two electricity companies, has argued that
opening up the local power market to new competition might backfire. Justifying
his company's predominance in the market, chief executive Andrew Brandler said
after its annual meeting that, in trying to give users cheaper electricity by
introducing competition, the city may get the opposite instead. This could
affect the stability of power supplies. The government is conducting a review of
its deal with the two power suppliers - CLP and Li Ka-shing- controlled Hongkong
Electric - which distribute power to different parts of the territory. As well
as suggesting reducing the allowable profit margin for the pair as part of the
regulatory scheme of control, the administration is also considering introducing
new players in the hope that competition will mean better services and cheaper
prices.
Empathy, she wrote: A book written by two children whose father died from Sars
inspired Vance Yip Sze-kei to write an award-winning poem to express her empathy
for the children. Yesterday she collected her second prize in the junior
category of a Sun Hung Kai Properties book club competition, with To Kit-ming,
65, who took first place in the senior category. Vanceˇ¦s own father died when
she was a year old. Mr To wrote a love poem to his wife.
China and Morocco
agreed in Rabat Monday to make joint efforts towards continuous and further
development of bilateral friendship and cooperation in various fields. Hu said
both China and Morocco are undergoing reform and development and bilateral
cooperation has entered a new development stage.
Tianjin Port Development Holdings, a unit
of Hong Kong-listed conglomerate Tianjin Development Holdings, has upsized its
planned initial public offering to HK$1.26 billion, market sources said. The
company plans to sell 578 million shares on an indicative price range of about
HK$1.80 to HK$2.19 a share, market sources said. That's about 20 percent higher
than the HK$1.50 to HK$1.83 a share the company announced last week and came
before initial talks with investors, when a general price range is typically
hammered out, had begun. "The exchange required them to put out a price range to
give current shareholders some guidance for the annual general meeting on
whether to approve the spinoff," a market source said. The annual general
meeting is scheduled for May 8.
Musical film Perhaps Love, a production
of director Peter Chan Ho-sun. The acclaimed film was used to launch an
international film festival in the US last week. For the first time in the San
Francisco International Film Festival's 49 years, a Hong Kong film was selected
as the opening-night feature. Perhaps Love, a heartfelt love story told through
a kaleidoscope of flashbacks and the plot of a film-within-a-film, is directed
by the highly acclaimed Peter Chan Ho-sun. Another Hong Kong film All About Love
was also featured in the festival. Starring Andy Lau Tak-wah, the melodrama is
the latest work of film director Daniel Yu Wai-kwok and will be screened on
April 23 and 26. Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office Los Angeles director Doris
Cheung on Monday said the screening recognised the outstanding work of directors
Chan and Yu. It was also an honour for the Hong Kong film industry, she added.
"Hong Kong has a long history of film-making. With our historical background
which makes Hong Kong the meeting point for Eastern and Western culture, and our
emphasis on free flow of information and talents, Hong Kong has been the place
for creativity and movie production," she said. Ms Cheung also highlighted
benefits the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (Cepa) could bring for Hong
Kong film-making companies and how foreign companies could enjoy such benefits
in Hong Kong. "Under our partnership arrangement with the mainland, Chinese
language films produced by Hong Kong companies can enjoy a quota-free access to
the China market," Ms Cheung said. She added that the film was a flagship of
Hong Kong's creative industry and the government was dedicated to building a
favourable environment for the industry to flourish. 
Singers Gillian Chung Yan-tung, Charlene
Choi Cheuk-yin and Aaron Kwok Fu-shing join yesterday's launch of PCCW's "moov.now.com.hk",
Hong Kong's biggest online music portal with a library of more than 40,000
songs. PCCW, which has joined forces with 16 local music publishers, is charging
users $39 a month to gain unlimited access to the online music.
Morocco's King Mohammed directs Hu
Jintao and wife Liu Yongqing after the president arrived at the royal palace in
Rabat yesterday for talks on trade and other issues. 
Riding a golf buggy "sleigh" and attended by ballerinas and elves, Santa Claus
arrived eight months early yesterday at the opening of the China Sourcing Fair,
the biggest event yet at the AsiaWorld-Expo exhibition centre. "Can you keep a
secret?" he said at the opening ceremony. "I outsource everything. I heard that
the China Sourcing Fair was the fair to go to. I just had to come here and do my
shopping." InvestHK director Mike Rowse, who is also chairman of AsiaWorld-Expo,
said Santa's early visit was to emphasize that the trade fair was important to
retailers around the world. Running till Tuesday, it is the largest event held
at the AsiaWorld-Expo exhibition centre at Chek Lap Kok since it opened four
months ago - in direct competition to the established Convention and Exhibition
Centre in Wan Chai. More than 3,600 exhibitors from all parts of Asia -
including the mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Indonesia and India - are taking part. The exhibits occupy all 10
halls of the exhibition centre, which has a floor area of 753,480 sq ft.
Hong Kong Construction chief executive and
managing director Eric Oei Kang announces a 44.7 per cent jump in last year's
net profit to $367.8 million.
President Hu raises his glass
during a toast at a corporate dinner organised by the business community in
Washington, in which he vowed to improve democracy in China.
It's a homemaker's dream without a
homemaker in sight. The 21st Hong Kong Houseware Fair opens at the Convention
and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai today. But eager wives will not be dragging
husbands along on a big shopping spree - the four-day fair is only open to major
overseas and local trade buyers. More than 2,300 exhibitors from 36 countries,
including 1,000 from Hong Kong and 400 from the mainland, will display their
products.
George Bush watches a Revolution-era band welcome Hu Jintao to the White House.
Though not a state visit, there was plenty of pageantry.
Hu Jintao hugs Paul Dernier, who
called it "probably the premier event" after children and marriage. 
Fuel costs for China Southern Airlines
have doubled but company chairman Liu Shaoyong says hedging is too risky.
Thousands of people prayed and burnt incense at Tin Hau temples, including this
one at Cha Kwo Ling, yesterday, the eve of the sea goddess' birthday. Hong Kong
has about 60 temples dedicated, at least partially, to Tin Hau. Most were built
in the early Qing dynasty, from 1644 to 1911.
Paliburg Holdings plans to build the tallest skyscraper in Beijing as part of
the once-troubled developer's ambitious plan to seek new earnings growth on the
mainland. The company, controlled by Lo Yuk-sui, will scrap approved plans for a
200-metre twin-tower residential-hotel-office complex in the Chaoyang district,
and will instead embark on a 300-metre, 80-storey single tower that will contain
the same components. Total investment for the project will rise to more than $5
billion from an original budget of about $4 billion. Paliburg, which jointly
owns a 59 per cent stake of the project with its hotel arm Regal Hotels
International Holdings, will be responsible for extra investments in proportion
with its mainland partners. The funds will come from internal resources. "This
will be the flagship development for our expansion into China," Mr Lo said while
announcing the group's annual results. "We don't have the opportunity of
building such a mega project in Hong Kong." Under its revised plan, the project
would comprise about two million square feet of hotel and office space, about
1.26 million sqft of commercial space and 750,000 sqft of residential space, he
said. He said the project would be completed by 2009 at the earliest.
To strengthen Hong
Kong's position as an economic springboard in and out of the mainland, InvestHK
will open two new economic and trade offices in China by the end of the year,
the government said. However, the opening of offices in Shanghai and Chengdu
will cause some reshuffling inside the government agency which promotes foreign
investment in the territory, according to investment promotion director-general
Mike Rowse. InvestHK's East China team will be subjected to review as the new
Shanghai office will take over most of its duties. In addition, the two offices
will each set up an Investment Promotion Unit, Rowse told a Legco commerce and
industry panel Tuesday. Rowse said the SAR has already joined forces with
mainland cities and provinces to promote China abroad. Hong Kong and Guangdong
held seminars in Vancouver and San Francisco in October. In November, Hong Kong
and Shanghai joined hands to offer an audience in Tokyo an insight into
investment opportunities there, Rowse said.
This jadeite bead necklace, comprising 35 graduated highly translucent beads, is
expected to fetch about $12 million when auctioned by Christie's in Hong Kong on
June 1. The jadeite ring is estimated to be worth $3.5 million and the pair of
jadeite earrings $3.8 million. The jewellery spring auction will also feature a
rare 9.25 carat ruby ring of Myanmese origin estimated to be worth $9.5 million.
Hu Jintao and Bill Gates enter
Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, near Seattle. "Bill Gates is a friend of
China and I'm a friend of Microsoft," Mr Hu told his host.
Microsoft chairman Bill Gates is introduced at the signing ceremony for the
Lenovo deal. President Hu Jintao was touring Microsoft's headquarters with Mr
Gates yesterday. Beijing has offered up another big sweetener to deflect US
criticism over China's huge trade surplus and rampant copyright piracy - a
US$1.2 billion deal between its biggest computer maker, Lenovo, and software
giant Microsoft.
Li Guoxing, a 30-year-old patient from Yunnan province, is recovering from the
ground-breaking face transplant surgery. This is believed to be the world's
second face transplant. 
Faces from a turbulent chapter in
China's history stare out from a wall in Nelson Street, Mongkok, attracting the
interest of a passer-by. The photo exhibit of Sun Yat-sen, the first president
of the Republic of China after the end of imperial rule in 1912, was organised
by the Hong Kong and Kowloon Trades Union Council as part of an appeal for a
peaceful reconciliation between Beijing and Taipei.
Hu Jintao (front, second right) applauds after a group photo yesterday in
Beijing with the Taiwanese delegation headed by Lien Chan (front, second left).
President Hu Jintao yesterday called for new talks with Taipei, but warned that
the Taiwanese government's refusal to accept the preconditions for dialogue was
worsening relations across the Taiwan Strait.
Geely chief Li Shufu says the first exports to the US will be a model costing
less than US$10,000 for budget-conscious families. Geely Auto has signed a
contract to invest 18.8 billion yuan on a plant in Zhejiang province that will
produce one million cars a year, making it the biggest private car factory in
China.
Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun conducts
the Good Friday service at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Caine
Road as Catholics around the world marked the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Sourcing fairs on the double:
Global Sources chairman Merle Hinrichs (centre) and Agentrics executive chairman
Christopher Sellers (second from left) at yesterday's press conference on Global
Sources' electronics and fashion accessories fairs, which both open today at
AsiaWorld-Expo in Chek Lap Kok. Mr Hinrichs says the China Sourcing Fair:
Electronics & Components, which runs until Tuesday, showcases the latest
electronics products and components from China.
In scenes similar to those of
pilgrims following the Stations of the Cross along Jerusalem's Via Dolorosa,
Chinese Catholics make their way to a shrine for the Virgin Mary on the
outskirts of Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi province. Clerics based in the town are
optimistic that a resumption of diplomatic ties between Beijing and Vatican will
help the church to grow on the mainland.
A reception full of French pomp and
splendour was held aboard the surveillance frigate Prairial last night by
Commander Alexis Latty to celebrate the relationship between France and Hong
Kong. The Prairial is part of the French Pacific Fleet. The ship's visit to Hong
Kong follows last year's "Year of France in China". Tomorrow, the ship will be
open to the public at its berth at Ocean Terminal, Tsim Sha Tsui, from 9am until
11am and then again from 2pm until 5pm, but only to a maximum of 300 people.
BOCHK deputy chief David Lam says the acquisition will broaden the bank's income
stream and enhance its profit margin. BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) has agreed to pay
its parent company $900 million for a majority stake in a life insurance unit as
the bank implements the first stage of its plan to become a fully fledged
financial services group. The lender said yesterday it would acquire 51 per cent
of BOC Group Life Assurance, a Hong Kong company, from Bank of China in a deal
that should receive shareholders' approval by early June. BOCHK chief financial
officer Raymond Lee Wing-hung said the price represented 1.8 times BOC Life's
book value, or 1.3 times its appraisal value, in line with recent transactions
in the sector. BOC Life's assets amounted to $9.34 billion at the end of last
year. Its profit after tax was $200 million from an income of $3.69 billion.
BOCHK deputy chief executive David Lam Yim-nam said the acquisition represented
a key step in implementing the bank's strategic plan for 2006 to 2010. He said
the bank had acted as a distribution agent for BOC Life for many years, but now
it could move into product manufacturing, while restructuring the bank's sales
and marketing efforts. "It can broaden our income stream and enhance our profit
margin," Mr Lam said. "As we have a customer base of 2.5 million, there is a lot
of room for developing wealth management business and life insurance is a key
factor." 
Visiting Chinese
Vice-Premier Wu Yi (C rear) applauds during a ceremony at which the China
Aviation Supplies Import and Export Group. signed an agreement with U.S. Boeing
Co. to buy 80 Boeing 737 planes, in Washington April 11, 2006.
Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi (L) attend
the signing ceremony for 4.44 billion US dollar-procurement order for US
products in Los Angeles on April 6. By April 11, the Chinese business delegation
has inked 16.21 billion US dollars of deals with the US, the largest single
procurement order ever placed by China.
Chinese Vice-Premier Wu Yi (C) co-chairs
the 17th meeting of the Sino-U.S. Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade with
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez (L) and Trade Representative Rob
Portman in Washington on April 11, 2006. China and the United States wrapped up
their annual trade negotiations here Tuesday with consensus reached on a series
of issues. At the day-long meeting, the two sides agreed that the China-U.S.
High Technology and Strategic Item Trading Working Group will be established
under the China-U.S. Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) framework,
the officials said at a press conference on Tuesday.
Flight attendants and passengers
sign a petition at Chek Lap Kok yesterday calling for the mandatory retirement
age for attendants to be raised from 45 to at least 50. Attendants have gained
more than 1,000 signatures in support of their claims for an extension of their
career life. Cabin crews from Cathay Pacific, British Airways and Dragonair
gathered the signatures over two hours outside the airport passenger terminal.
China has begun
production of the rocket carrier for the launch of Shenzhou-7 spaceship in 2008,
a senior project official has announced. Jing Muchun, chief designer of the
launch vehicle system of China's Manned Space Program, told China Central
Television that procurement and production of the parts for the rocket carrier
had commenced. Jing said better quality parts would be used for the rocket
carrier and scientists would upgrade sections to improve its reliability. Under
the manned space program, Chinese astronauts will conduct space walks and
rendezvous in space during the second stage of the program starting with
Shenzhou-7.
Rock'n'roll circus hits town: Its
thumbs-up and all smiles as 8,000 fans wait for the lights to dim and the
Rolling Stones to take the stage at the Shanghai Grand Stage last night, the
band's first mainland show. After waiting 30 years for approval, Mick Jagger
kicked off with Start Me Up, with suggestive lyrics that made it past
censors who banned five other songs.
Chairman Feng Xiaozeng is happy with
China Insurance International Holdings' progress. China Insurance
International Holdings (CIIH) has vowed to turn in a net profit this year after
posting a higher than expected loss for last year. It will aim to limit expenses
at its life and property and casualty businesses to last year's levels while
growing their income.
The manager of Harley-Davidson's
first authorised dealership in China, in Beijing, anticipates customers as
consumer confidence rises.
Yuen Kit-ying, with her son (centre)
and nephew, are impressed by the exhibition of fossilised dinosaur eggs at
Olympic City in Tai Kok Tsui yesterday.
Officers remove the Hong Kong
flag from Constable Tsang Kwok-hang's coffin during yesterday's moving farewell
to the slain officer. The police force is considering recommending an award for
bravery be granted posthumously to constable Tsang Kwok-hang, who died of his
wounds after gunning down a suspect in the bloody shoot-out in a Tsim Sha Tsui
underpass last month.
Premier Wen Jiabao says free-trade talks
with New Zealand are ready to enter their final stage, although difficulties
remain. New Zealand looks set to become the first western developed country to
sign a free-trade agreement with China after Premier Wen Jiabao and New Zealand
Prime Minister Helen Clark agreed yesterday to conclude negotiations in two
years.
Chairman Li Mohua says the purchase of the parent company's upstream assets will
allow Bengang to have a complete industry chain. Bengang Steel Plates yesterday
unveiled a massive A-share issue plan to fund its acquisition of 10.3 billion
yuan worth of assets from its parent firm as the group gets into shape to
negotiate a better merger deal with bigger rival Anshan Iron & Steel Group Corp.
Skip a meal for a good cause:
Schoolchildren across the city will go hungry today when they join World
Vision's skip-a-meal day to raise cash for the charity's food programs. Children
from the Christian and Missionary Alliance Sun Kei Primary School were the first
to give up lunch yesterday, using their empty lunch boxes to form the Chinese
words "skip a meal" to encourage other children to participate.
The
performance of Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts' flagship properties in Hong Kong
finally crested its pre-handover peak, boosted by the flood of visitors. While
announcing the 2005 results for the region's largest luxury hotel and resort
chain Tuesday, chief executive and managing director Giovanni Angelini revealed
that average room rates at the Island Shangri-La in Admiralty reached US$340
(HK$2,652) in the first quarter, when the the hotel filled 85 percent of
available rooms. The rate for Kowloon Shangri-La in Tsim Sha Tsui reached US$250
on 82 percent occupancy. "We expect those room rates to increase another 6-8
percent this year," Angelini said. Since 1997, Hong Kong hoteliers have been
staggered by blows from the first bird flu outbreak, the Asian financial crisis
and SARS, but tourism has rebounded strongly the past 18 months. Boosted by big
gains in its Hong Kong and Fiji operations in 2005, Hong Kong-listed Shangri-La
Asia - which owns the two SAR hotels and most others managed by its Shangri-La
Hotels subsidiary - reported a 33 percent rise in net profits to US$151 million
for the year. The gain fell slightly shy of the US$152.5 million consensus
estimate of analysts surveyed by IBES. Revenues at the company rose 16 percent
to US$842 million. For the year, Shangri-La, controlled by the family of
Malaysian tycoon Robert Kuok, filled 73 percent of the 23,000 rooms in its 36
owned hotels, two percentage points more than in 2004. Average daily room rates
rose more strongly, increasing US$15 to US$117. Revenue per available room rose
in every market, though occupancy declined slightly in a few places.
A policeman
gunned down in a pedestrian subway last month has been given a hero's funeral.
With a 52-piece police band leading the funeral cortege, the body of Tsang
Kwok-hang was taken from the Universal Funeral Parlor in Hung Hom to its final
resting place in Gallant Garden, which is reserved for civil servants who die
while carrying out extraordinary acts of courage. Guests at the ceremony
included the slain constable's patrol partner, Sin Ka- keung, 28, who was
seriously wounded in the shootout. Sin is still being treated in hospital for
his wounds but was given a temporary discharge Tuesday to attend the funeral.
Wearing a dark suit, a face mask and baseball cap, Sin arrived in a wheelchair.
Numerous government and police officials, including Police Commissioner Dick
Lee, paid their last respects to Tsang who lay in an open casket wearing his
police uniform. Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong
member Choy So-yuk was one of a handful of legislative councilors at the
ceremony.
Mainland oil companies have been hit with
a windfall tax of between 20 per cent and 40 per cent every time the price of a
barrel of crude oil goes above US$40. Sinopec chairman Chen Tonghai says the
impact of the domestic oil price increase on the company's bottom line this year
will outstrip that of the crude special levy. 
A decked-out handset is a
must-have accessory for young and trendy mainlanders. Several firms are betting
that music will play an even bigger role in purchasing decisions. Several
mainland companies are positioning themselves to take advantage of what is
expected to be the next phase of the mobile music sector's evolution, where
songs will be downloaded from the internet or over mobile phone networks.
Sevens fans queen it in the South Stand at Hong Kong Stadium. With the Six
Nations tournament over, England fans are out in force. Sevens fans set an
attendance record for the first day of Hong Kong's annual rugby festival, with
26,900 turning out to cheer on their teams and soak up the atmosphere.
Fancy adorning your sweetheart's finger with this rare pink 10.04 carat diamond
ring? It'll cost you a cool $40 million. Perhaps a $6.5 million heart-shaped
jadite and diamond pendant might appeal more? The sparklers are among a
spectacular array of jewellery that will go under Sotheby's hammer on April 9 at
the Convention and Exhibition Centre. 
Sociedade De Jogos De Macau
directors Louis Ng Chi-sing (left) and Ambrose So flank Stanley Ho as they meet
the media after the closed-door meeting of shareholders of Sociedade de Turismo
e Diversoes De Macau. Lawyers representing the estranged sister of gaming
magnate Stanley Ho Hung-sun were barred from entering the family firm's annual
general meeting in Macau yesterday, as the remaining shareholders signed off on
a restructuring plan pushing Mr Ho's privately held gaming assets closer towards
a Hong Kong stock listing expected to be worth about $15 billion.
Statues of emperors Yan and Huang under construction in the Yellow River Park in
Zhengzhou, Henan province. Yan and Huang are regarded as the founders of the
nation. The 100-metre high statues will be opened to the public soon.
Vice Minister Ma Xiuhong,
is the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and Chairman Shao Qiwei
is Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) Leadership Group and Chairman
of the China National Tourism Administration stopped by Honolulu Hawaii on their
way to the Mainland USA.
CITIC Bank, a
wholly-owned subsidiary of the major investment arm the CITIC Group, is expected
to float on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange this year, a top manager at the bank
has revealed.
US Treasury Secretary John Snow (centre) discusses China trade policy with
senators Charles Schumer (left) and Lindsey Graham. Within hours of Tuesday's
decision by two United States senators to delay legislation targeting China's
currency regime, another bill focusing on the yuan was announced in Washington
by a separate pair of upper house legislators.
New World Development chairman Cheng Yu-tung
says high reserve prices for lots on the land sale application list dampen
interest in government site auctions. New World Development chairman Cheng Yu-tung
yesterday joined a chorus of smaller developers urging the government to resume
regular land sales, saying such auctions could be held at least once or twice a
month.
US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez
is greeted by Commerce Minister Bo Xilai in Beijing yesterday, following talks
on Tuesday to press for more access to mainland markets.
Super 8's new hotel in Fujian (its
first) is scheduled to open for business in the Xiamen district this month or
next, with local hostelry New Era Garden becoming a partner. New Era Garden
general manager Xu Deqing reported that Super 8 is currently looking for a
suitable site. Super 8 indeed is quite pleased with the prospects in Fujian and
expects to have at least nine new hotels established throughout the province by
2008.
A view of China's 91,000-seat
National Stadium. It requires 42,000 tonnes of steel. Work continues on Tuesday
at a fast pace towards the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
Martin Lee Chu-ming and Cardinal Joseph
Zen greet the Pope during an audience at the Vatican. Hundreds of people from
Hong Kong and elsewhere attended the audience in the Paul VI Auditorium
yesterday. Pope Benedict yesterday expressed his wish to visit China but said
the timing would be decided by God.
Artist Erin Crowe with her painting of Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen,
which is among many portraits in her exhibition, titled Hong Kong Financial
Gurus, that opened at Citibank Plaza yesterday.
Gaming boss Lawrence Ho Yau-lung is
considering running for a place on the board of the Hong Kong stock exchange
next month, putting pressure on two directors, David Webb and Dannis Lee Jor-hung,
who will seek re-election.
US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez speaks at
Chongqing University yesterday. In Chongqing yesterday, Mr Gutierrez welcomed
Chinese efforts to crack down on counterfeiting and praised Vice-Premier Wu Yi
for taking the lead in tackling what he said was clearly a complex issue. "We
need to see results, but we should also recognise the tremendous effort that's
being made. That's a very positive development," Mr Gutierrez said.
Szeto Mei paints a prospective design for the West Kowloon Cultural District
during a workshop at the waterfront promenade yesterday that aimed to revive
interest in the project. The government announced last month that it was giving
up its plan to assign a single contractor to developing the proposed cultural
hub, which has been plagued with controversy since the project was first mooted
in 1998.
Tony Liu, the president of Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp, says he is
confident the company will see an increase in orders. Listing candidate Advanced
Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp may turn in a net profit for the six months to
June as it banks on a jump in orders for its loss-making eight-inch wafers, the
company said yesterday.
Cardinal Zen receives his biretta from
Pope Benedict yesterday. "I am very touched by the Holy Father's great love
[for] China and, with God's grace, I will do whatever I can to help," says
Cardinal Zen. Pope Benedict would not hesitate to travel to Beijing to show
his "admiration for the great Chinese people" and all he is waiting for is an
invitation from Beijing and the fulfilment of necessary conditions, the Vatican
foreign minister says.
KMT chairman Ma Ying-jeou, at
Washington's National Press Club, says he hopes there will be no more surprises
in cross-strait relations.
China National Offshore Oil president Fu
Chengyu is keen for the group's fertiliser unit to seek merger opportunities.
China National Offshore Oil Corp planned to list its fertiliser unit in Hong
Kong after waiting two years for approval for a Shanghai listing, president Fu
Chengyu said.
New World First Bus' new managing
director, Samuel Cheng Wai-po, proves he means to be hands-on at the company's
Heng Fa Chuen depot yesterday. He warned that a fare rise was inevitable in
light of rising wages and operating costs, but it would not happen this year. Mr
Cheng, who succeeded Lyndon Rees this month, said concessions offered under the
bus fare adjustment mechanism would cost the company $20 million a year. 
HKMC chief executive James Lau says the c-rate is a less volatile and more
transparent index for mortgage loans.
Premier Wen Jiabao chats to
villagers in Nanshi, during a tour of rural areas in Shanxi province. He assured
them policies he outlined at the end of the National People's Congress would be
honoured within two years. They include free school education, increased
subsidies for farming, more investment for water projects and improved health
care.
A Cathay Pacific flight attendant
takes a passenger's temperature during an exercise at Hong Kong International
Airport. This is to simulate a scenario in which a highly contagious disease
such as Sars or avian influenza (H5N1) is suspected to have infected a passenger
on board a Cathay Pacific flight arriving in Hong Kong on Friday.
Award-winning composer Peter Kam Pui-tat yesterday promotes the movie
Isabella at a media conference. It will be screened as the opening feature
of the Hong Kong International Film Festival, to be staged between April 4 and
19. The film won a prestigious Silver Bear award for best music at the Berlin
Film Festival last month.
There were smiles, sighs of relief and even a media-orchestrated
handshake between the two dueling officials at the helm of the embattled
Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation. Both Tsang and Liao refrained from naming
names, but there was little doubt the admonition was aimed at the 20 senior KCRC
managers and department heads who rushed to Lai's side just minutes before the
emergency KCRC board meeting Tuesday that apparently patched up Lai and Tien's
differences. Their highly publicized press conference stopped just short of
calling for Tien's ouster, but its open assault on his management style - they
cited a "blame culture" and a "lack of mutual trust" - sent a sufficiently
strong message to raise the ire of Tsang and other government Tien-backers.
Exactly what form of punishment will come down may not be known for some time.
But the KCRC managers who boldly faced the press Tuesday certainly felt the tide
turning Wednesday, with Tsang's move clearly designed to reaffirm his support
for Tien. 
Former governor Lord Wilson of Tillyorn receives an honorary Doctor of Letters
degree conferred by Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen at the University of
Hong Kong. Other recipients of honorary doctorates included executive councillor
Leong Che-hung and professor Wu Jinglian.
Shun Tak's Pansy Ho says the firm has yet to decide whether to increase its
investment in the Nam Van project.
Premier Wen stated
in his work report that China 's GDP would grow by eight percent in 2006, higher
than the 7.5 percent set for the next five years, although two percent lower
than the ten percent in the past three years.
Transport minister Sarah Liao leaves
after crisis meetings with KCRC officials. The board of the KCRC will hold
an emergency meeting today in a bid to find a solution to the dispute between
the corporation's chairman and acting chief executive. The resignation of KCRC
chairman Michael Tien Puk-sun should prompt a review of the government's stance
towards the corporation when problems arise, says executive councillor Selina
Chow Liang Shuk-yee. The unprecedented feud among the KCRC's top management has
added uncertainty to the planned merger with the MTR Corporation, but the plan
remains on track, the transport minister said yesterday. Chief Executive Donald
Tsang Yam-kuen has been caught between a rock and a hard place in trying to
resolve the dispute between the KCRC's senior management and staff and its
chairman.
Orient Overseas chief financial officer
Nicholas Sims says the company has not hedged any fuel, which increased 58 per
cent in the second half. Senior management from Orient Overseas (International)
have forecast a tough year ahead after the container shipping line posted its
first six-month profit decline in three years on rising fuel costs.
Saudi Arabia's princess Loulwah Al-Faisal yesterday urged Hong Kong investors to
explore business opportunities in her country as it was now "completely open" to
foreign investment. Speaking at a Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce
conference yesterday, the princess said foreign investors could wholly own
businesses without having to form joint ventures with local companies. The
market had been opened to show that Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil
supplier, was determined in its bid to gain World Trade Organization accession.
NPC law committee chairman Yang
Jingyu says he hopes the property law will be submitted for approval at next
year's session. A contentious bill to define property rights will undergo
further review in August, a top law drafter said yesterday, denying it had been
shelved because of a conservative backlash.
Trainees work on high-voltage cables at the CLP Power Overhead Line Training
Centre in Tai Wai. The school, which relocated from Lai Chi Kok in 1980, has
trained more than 2,000 people in the past two years. Facilities include
classrooms, workshops and a warehouse, plus overhead cables of various voltages
on which trainees practice in different conditions. Enrolment for 17 different
courses on overhead lines starts in March and April.
Premier Wen Jiabao delivers his
government work report before NPC delegates yesterday. Premier Wen Jiabao's
pledge to improve the much-criticised medical care and education system seems a
distant dream to Shenzhen migrant worker Zhou Lifeng. As widely expected,
Premier Wen Jiabao pledged yesterday to boost spending on health care, education
and social security for the country's poor, particularly for the 800 million
living in rural areas, as part of the mainland's ambitious efforts to narrow the
growing wealth gap between its richer urban areas and the restive countryside.
Shares in Nine Dragons Paper (Holdings),
China's largest containerboard maker, surged as much as 45.6 percent on their
Hong Kong trading debut after the company's initial public offering attracted
strong demand.
Dianthus is the theme flower chosen for the Hong Kong Flower Show, which runs
from today until March 12 at Victoria Park. The show features more than 350,000
flowers, plus floral displays of the Olympic emblem and that of the East Asian
Games, as well as a sea of more than 15,000 tulips.
Kerry's Semy Ng says the developer has been liaising with possible tenants about
leasing in Enterprise Square Five, scheduled to be completed in the middle of
next year.
Swire Pacific's new chairman, Christopher
Pratt, received a warm reception at his first extraordinary general meeting
yesterday as the firm announced it had received overwhelming support for the
buyout of the remaining 50 per cent stake in Festival Walk for $6.18 billion.
With the company's annual results due out next Friday, Mr Pratt declined to
comment on any business, although he said Swire would be interested in the
government's new tender for the West Kowloon cultural district.
Electricity supplier CLP Holdings is
beefing up overseas investment in the wake of a government plan to slash its
future return on Hong Kong's regulated business, according to group managing
director Andrew Brandler. "We are diversifying outside Hong Kong and in good
progress," Mr Brandler said at the utility's annual results announcement
yesterday.
