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February 28, 2007
About 4,200 kilograms of freshwater fish were seized from a mainland fishing boat Sunday morning as Hong Kong customs and food safety authorities stepped up the crackdown on the illicit trade of such unmanifested supplies. Directors of TXU, the largest electricity producer in Texas, gave tentative approval to sell the company to two private-equity firms in a deal that could be worth as much as US$44 billion (HK$343 billion) according to people close to the situation.
China's food additive industry sees promising future as 4.8 million tons of food additive are in demand by 2010, said the latest report on China's biological industry development. China's used car market is expected to speed ahead over the next two years, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) predicted. The organizer of the Internet-based TOEFL test has so far set up 48 test rooms in 26 Chinese cities, said the Examination Center of the Chinese Ministry of Education Saturday. China will build 12 major technological infrastructure projects and about 30 national science centers and labs, aiming to enhance its innovative capability, according to a plan released by the State Development and Reform Commission (SDRC) on Sunday. The 12 major technological infrastructures, such as spallation neutron source (SNS) and large-sized astronomical telescope, cover areas like aviation, bio-tech and life science, the plan shows. However, SDRC didn't specify in the plan the amount of money China will invest in the projects. In 2006, China implemented the national guidelines for medium and long-term science and technology development and the 11th five-year plan for science and technology.
The central government had formally approved a 15.3 billion yuan expansion of Shanghai’s domestic airport, including a second runway and new terminal, a mainland newspaper said on Monday. The National Development and Reform Commission approved the expansion of the Shanghai Hongqiao Airport at the weekend, the Shanghai Securities News said. Shanghai has another airport, Pudong, which handles all overseas flights and some domestic ones as well. Shanghai has ambitions to become a key aviation hub and the Hongqiao Airport is already operating at over-capacity. The airport handled 19 million passengers last year, double its designed capacity of 9.6 million, the newspaper said. The expansion plan included a new 3,300 metre runway and a 250,000 square metre terminal, it said. The airport currently has a single 3,400 metre runway and terminal space of 81,600 square metres. Shanghai already started clearing land for the project last year, sparking massive protests by residents living on the site. Although the project has been tainted by the sacking of former Party Secretary Chen Liangyu, who was dismissed for corruption last September, it is still moving ahead. Bank of Communications, the country’s sixth-largest lender, says it will sell subordinated bonds worth 25 billion yuan to increase its capital adequacy ratio before its possible A-share listing in the first half of this year. China became a net importer of coal in January for the first time, an official said on Monday, as the globe’s largest consumer turned overseas to supply its booming economy. February 27, 2007
ICBC unit rejects rumors of deal - Despite more and more local banks applying for mainland incorporation, ICBC (Asia) (0349) prefers to tap yuan business through its mainland subsidiary and retail banking expansion.
Attendances at Hong Kong's conventions and exhibitions last year jumped almost 25 per cent compared with 2005 and expectations are that growth in the high-yield market will continue despite intensifying regional competition, the Tourism Board says. The arrival in Hong Kong next month of aggressively expanding apparel retailer H&M of Sweden could have a big impact on some local retailers that are already reeling from shrinking profitability.
Two banks responded immediately to the gauntlet thrown down by Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp by announcing mortgage rate reductions which undercut HSBC. The value of new home loans approved in January by Hong Kong's lenders fell for the second consecutive month to HK$12.5 billion as falling primary- market transactions offset a recovery in the secondary market. Ysan Development (0014) - the largest commercial landlord in Causeway Bay - said retail tenants in the group's shopping malls recorded double-digit growth in sales volume during the Christmas and New Year holidays as last year's buoyant equities market fueled greater spending power.
The Sands Macau casino must pay a HK$740,000 jackpot to the mother of an
underage girl who won the money earlier this week while playing a slot machine
at the casino, gaming regulators in Macau have said.
Guangxi State Farm's plan to raise at least US$200 million from spinning off its sugar unit for a Hong Kong initial public offering has stalled after its bookrunner Credit Suisse abandoned the deal, sources said.
China Southern Airlines, the biggest mainland airline by fleet size, plans to grow its freighter fleet to 14 aircraft from two by 2011.
Amid falling mobile tariffs and the availability of more affordable handsets in the mainland, Xiaolingtong, the limited wireless service offered by China Telecom (0728) and China Netcom (0906), may soon become extinct, as a growing number of users opt for mobile phone service, market watchers say.
Guangdong's labour shortage is expected to worsen this year as migrant workers - especially those with skills - shun the province because of its relatively poor working conditions and low wages, local media reported. Russia's Year of China, a series of high-level forums and festivals that underscores a growing relationship with strategic and economic implications from Beijing to Moscow to Washington, will be launched today by the Chinese ambassador to Russia, Liu Guchang. Saudi Basic Industries Corp (Sabic) may find another location for a US$5.2 billion petrochemical plant planned for China if Beijing keeps delaying approval for the project, the company's chairman said. Linktone, a Shanghai-based mobile value-added service provider, failed in its bid to take over Monstermob Group as shareholders in the British firm accepted an agreement with a Spanish internet company. Billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has rejected investor calls to sell shares of PetroChina (0857), whose parent has an oilfield stake in Sudan, accused by the US Congress of genocide.
China has collected more than a million ancient ethnic books and published more than 5,000 of them during the 10th "Five-Year" Plan period (2001-2005). China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) granted 15 banks overseas investment quotas totaling 13.4 billion U.S. dollars last year. Total investment in third-generation telecom network construction in China is estimated to reach 114.1 billion yuan (HK$115 billion) in the first year after its commercial launch, and the number of users is estimated to reach 10 million in one year, said a mainland media report which quoted a Ministry of Information Industry official.
Gao Shan , the fugitive banker who fled China and emerged publicly in Vancouver after his arrest there this month, will be allowed to return to his home in Canada after an immigration adjudicator ordered his release on Thursday. February 26, 2007
The aging trend in Hong Kong's population continued during the past 10 years, with the median age rising from 34 in 1996 to 39 in 2006, according to the 2006 Population By-census results released Thursday. Speaking at a press conference, Commissioner for Census & Statistics Fung Hing-wang attributed this to the continuing low fertility rate and mortality improvement over the period. Anticipating that the aging pace will accelerate in 2015 or 2016, Fung said about 27 percent of Hong Kong's population will reach the age of 65 or above in the 2030s. Hong Kong's resident population was 6,864,000 in mid-July 2006.Of this total, 6,645,000 were usual residents and 219,000 were mobile residents. The sex ratio has fallen from 1,000 men per 1,000 women in 1996, to 911 men per 1,000 women in 2006. The corresponding sex ratios after excluding foreign domestic helpers were 1,037 men per 1,000 women in 1996, and 961 men per 1,000 women in 2006. The proportion of never-married people among the male population of age 15 and over dropped from 34.2 percent in 1996 to 33.9 percent in 2001, but rose to 34.3 percent in 2006. The figure for women was 28.9 percent in 1996, rising to 30.1 percent in 2001 and to 30.7 percent in 2006. About 95 percent of the population were of Chinese ethnicity. The largest non-Chinese ethnic groups in Hong Kong were Filipinos and Indonesians, the report result said.
Macao logged some 300,000 visitors during the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays from Sunday to Tuesday, 20 percent up over the same period in 2006, according to official statistics issued Friday. The figures from the Government Tourist Office showed that the visitor arrivals covered 140,000 from the Chinese mainland and 120, 000 from Hong Kong. The average hotel occupancy rate reached 92.88 percent during the three-day term, a year-on-year rise of 0.23 percent, the figures displayed. Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp is expected to trigger another home- loan price war after it dropped its mortgage lending rate Thursday to 4.87 percent from 5 percent. The Hang Seng Index continued its rally for the fifth consecutive day Thursday, led by China Mobile (0941), which was boosted by strong subscriber growth, amid good market sentiment in the region. Japan's benchmark index crossed the 18,000 mark. Hang Lung Properties (0101) will invest 2.5 billion yuan (HK$2.52 billion) in developing a shopping mall on a site in Shandong province that it has bought for 570 million yuan in its first purchase for 2007. Market regulator Securities and Futures Commission said revenues for the October to December period last year rose 40 percent to HK$372 million from HK$266 million in the previous quarter on strong growth in levy income resulting from increased market turnover and activities.
Women with pregnant bellies seemed to have invaded her working-class neighborhood, Joanna Leung recalls. They strolled in pairs through the fish market, and along the lanes running past concrete buildings stained grey with soot. And they spoke with thick accents.
China's import and export volume of stone slabs amounted to more than US$3.7 billion last year, a growth of 23.3 percent from the previous year, according to the China Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Minerals & Chemicals Importers & Exporters. The rise is attributed to China's abundant stone resources and the fast-growing real estate sector. Xiamen Port, in east China's Fujian Province, handled 9.3 million tons of stone slab imports and exports, valued at 2.3 billion U.S. dollars, more than 60 percent of the country's total, the local chamber of commerce said. The exports stood at 1.67 billion U.S. dollars and imports at 630 million U.S. dollars. Most of the imports came from India, Brazil and Spain.Xiamen has become China's largest stone trading center. There are now more than 600 stone importers and exporters in the city, the chamber of commerce added. Sponsored by the China Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Minerals & Chemicals Importers & Exporters, the 7th Xiamen International Stone Slab Exhibition is due to be held from March 8 to 11 this year in the eastern coastal city. Around 850 enterprises from 30-plus countries and regions will participate in the four-day event. February 24 - 25, 2007
Regal Hotels International Holdings (0078) has applied to the Securities and Futures Commission and the Hong Kong stock exchange to spin off its real estate investment trust, Regal REIT, for separate listing.
Hutchison Port Holdings, a unit of the Li Ka-shing-controlled Hutchison Whampoa (0013), plans to bid for a new container terminal near Vancouver, according to Canadian media reports. Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief executive Joseph Yam Chi- kwong said Wednesday the Chinese central bank's decision to raise the reserve requirement ratio on deposits will have little impact on mainland lenders as the banking system is filled with excess liquidity. Hong Kong's consumer price inflation in January probably remained steady at 2.3 percent, as food prices rose at a slower pace than they did 12 months ago due to the Lunar New Year holiday falling later this year, according to economists. The Chinese University of Hong Kong intends to have at least eight colleges by 2012 to cope with the expected increase in student numbers following the introduction of four-year degree courses. Hong Kong's population hit 6.9 million at the end of last year - a 0.9 per cent rise from a year earlier, Census and Statistics Department figures released on Thursday showed. Police had arrested a 55-year-old man on suspicion of trafficking in dangerous drugs following the seizure of about HK$2.4 million worth of suspected cocaine at the airport on Wednesday, a spokesman confirmed on Thursday.
US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, continuing efforts to deal with America's huge trade gap with China, will make his third visit to the country next month.
As China is ushering in the Year of Pig, many young couples are welcoming the Lunar New Year not only with firecrackers, but also with diapers. More members of the generation born under the one-child policy have reached the age of marriage and child-bearing and China is bracing itself for a comparative baby boom. But a mixture of tradition and superstition means that 2007 will be set to the tune of some serious dummy sucking. According to the Chinese lunar calendar, 2007 is the year of the Golden Pig, a particularly auspicious year that only comes round once every 60 years. Xu Wen, a young woman in Shanghai, became pregnant a few months ago and is just one of the millions of Chinese parents who succumbed to the belief that a 2007 baby would be showered with good fortune. "The oldies in my family said the Golden Pig will bring luck and blessings to my child," said Xu. "2007 is the year of "Jin", meaning gold, according to the rotation of five elements of gold, wood, fire, water and earth," said Yu Yue, an expert on folk culture. "The pig, as a major livestock, has been a symbol of wealth and abundance in China since ancient times," Yu explained. About 1,600 volunteers for the 2008 Beijing Olympics started a week-long training program on Sunday, the beginning of the Spring Festival, offering information, translation or interpretation services and emergency aid.
Taiwan's parliament speaker, a
prospective presidential candidate who favors improved ties with Beijing, would
visit the mainland and meet President Hu Jintao in March, it was reported on
Thursday. February 23, 2007
Airport Authority Hong Kong - operator of Asia's third busiest passenger airport - expects a higher percentage of its revenue to come from airport retail when the HK$2.8 billion Terminal 2 officially opens February 26, a senior authority official said. "Income from retail business may account a third of our latest result," commercial director Hans Bakker told The Standard. He hopes at least 30 percent of revenue will come from retail in the 2007 fiscal year. The authority's turnover soared to more than HK$ 7 billion - its highest ever - in the year ending March 2006. Much of that growth was in airport retail, the authority's second main income stream, which accounted 26 percent of turnover. Airport charges accounted for 38 percent. A quarter of the 140,000-square- meter Terminal 2, located next to the Airport Express station, comprises the 130 shops, catering outlets and entertainment attractions of SkyPlaza. Bakker said all the retail shop and 50 percent of office space above the terminal had been let. Retail and advertising general manager Eva Tsang added that rents for new lease shops were on par with Tsim Sha Tsui rents. Terminal 2 will also have 56 check- in counters that can be doubled to 112, and more immigration facilities for departing passengers. "These additional facilities will handle passenger demand for the next 10 years," Bakker said. Hong Kong's airport handled a record 44.45 million passengers last year, 9.1 percent more than 2005. The authority expects to handle 80 million passengers in 2025. Bakker said having more check-in counters and a 36-bay cross-border coach station will attract more travelers from the Pearl River Delta. Mainland travelers account for 20 percent of passengers, while Koreans and Taiwanese are the next largest groups. Several other projects are under way to boost capacity, Bakker said. The authority is in discussions with the government to set up check-in counters for travelers from the Pearl River Delta by ferry. The authority will also seek Board approval to expand Asia- World Expo by a third. Hong Kong airport was Asia's third- busiest by passenger numbers last year after Tokyo's Haneda and Beijing Capital International Airport, according to Airports Council International.
Hong Kong International Airport handled a record 872 flight movements last Friday - a daily record, a Civil Aviation Department spokesman said on Wednesday.
China is still lacking in logistics professionals despite the rapid expansion of its logistics industry and development of training for logistics professionals. European Union firms are denied business opportunities in China worth at least 20 billion euros (HK$205 billion) a year because of non-tariff trade barriers, a study published by the European Commission said.
Lenovo Group has hired another former executive from rival computer-maker Dell to a key company position, with the appointment of Yolanda Conyers yesterday as vice-president for cultural integration and diversity. February 22, 2007
HSBC Holdings' (0005) Canadian operations recorded an 8.8 percent increase in 2006 net income on strong growth in the commercial banking sector and wealth management business. The travel industry is hoping the government will pave the way for it to operate freely in the mainland under the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, according to an Election Committee tourism subsector member.
Amid stepped-up efforts by the government to boost medical tourism, former Hospital Authority director Ko Wing-man has raised one key concern - services capacity. He warns that capacity in public and private hospitals would be far from adequate if the idea gained ground. "My personal view is that many people consider medical services a charity rather than an enterprise. "Therefore, the capacity available is often at a bare minimum, or just enough, and the incentive to increase capacity is rather limited," Ko told The Standard. However, the situation could change. The debate over non-Hong Kong pregnant women giving birth in the city has gained momentum as the concept of medical tourism is being promoted. Faced with arrivals of mainland mothers-to- be, critics argue it is time to give serious thought to developing this "potential enterprise." According to the Immigration Department, the number of babies born to mainlanders in Hong Kong climbed from 10,128 in 2003 to 19,523 in 2005. In the first 10 months of last year, a total of 20,577 mainland mothers gave birth in Hong Kong. The Trade Development Council and China Travel Service last July agreed to introduce tours for mainlanders that would include a "must- go" attraction - private hospitals. The idea is to attract mainland tourists who can afford Hong Kong's quality private medical services - unavailable in most parts of the mainland - even for the relatively few who can afford them. Hong Kong Baptist Hospital recently signed a cooperation agreement with the University Hospital in Macau to boost medical tourism by attracting expatriates in Macau to cross to Hong Kong for medical services. This is the first such program in Hong Kong. The report on the Economic Summit on China's 11th Five-Year Plan released last month attempts to further explore this area and link it with the idea of a "Hong Kong medical center of excellence." Ko is the key contributor to the section on the medical profession in the report, which suggests consolidating and further developing Hong Kong's position as a professional medical center of excellence in the region "through exploring the feasibility of setting up medical centers of excellence, promoting Hong Kong's medical services in the mainland and our neighboring regions, and considering measures to facilitate patients from the mainland to seek medical treatment in Hong Kong." In his election platform released last Friday, Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen reiterated the idea of setting up a medical center of excellence. "The center would, in the long run, become the focal point for medical experts, provide opportunities for the medical profession and render quality specialist medical services to the people of Hong Kong and those from the mainland and other regions," Tsang's election platform notes. The idea is to intensify the flow of medical services between two places, rather than simply academic exchanges at the clinical level, Ko said. Yet, some questions remain unanswered, and choosing the center's site is not easy. "The center can't be too remote, but if it were located in a busy area already crowded with private clinics, it might spark vicious competition," Ko said. Other factors, such as resources including people and avoiding conflicts of interest, need to be considered. Tung Chung, with a population of about 100,000, could be one possible site. Ko, an orthopedic specialist, served at Princess Margaret Hospital for 24 years before taking up an executive post with the Hospital Authority in 1991. Ta Yang Group, one of the world's top three elastomeric keypad makers, plans to raise at least HK$1 billion by listing shares in Hong Kong to upgrade its production capacity on the mainland, market sources said. Energy World Corp, a developer of gas and electricity projects, said it signed an initial accord with an undisclosed mainland company for long-term sales of liquefied natural gas.
China has made substantial breakthroughs in shipbuilding as the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) ship made in China, one of the most advanced in the world, will be delivered in September. China's automobile industry made a profit of 76.8 billion yuan (approximately 10 billion US dollars) in 2006, up 46 percent from the previous year, according to figures from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).
February 21, 2007
Legislative Council education panel vice chairman Yeung Sum has warned education secretary Arthur Li Kwok- cheung and his former deputy that Legco may use the powers and privileges ordinance to force them to appear before a special panel meeting on February 28. Filings for personal bankruptcy increased to 1,006 cases in January, a rise of 32 percent over December, mainly due to lenient approval systems for credit card lending, a legal expert said.
Richard Branson's Virgin Group is looking for other partners to develop and run a casino in Macau after the collapse of talks with Australian betting firm Tabcorp Holdings, sources said. Ta Yang Group, one of the world's top three elastomeric keypad makers, plans to raise at least HK$1 billion by listing shares in Hong Kong to upgrade its production capacity on the mainland, market sources said. Energy World Corp, a developer of gas and electricity projects, said it signed an initial accord with an undisclosed mainland company for long-term sales of liquefied natural gas.
China Unionpay, China's largest credit card service company, had extended its overseas network to 24 countries and regions by the end of 2006, according to sources from the company's headquarters in Shanghai. China produced 110 million kilowatts of power generators in 2006, up 27 percent from the previous year, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in its latest report. Life expectancy for Chinese will increase to 85 years by 2050 from the current figure of 72; the average schooling period will increase from the current 8.2 years to 14 by 2050; and by that year, ecological degradation will cease. Beijing has sufficient hotel rooms to accommodate the influx of visitors from home and abroad during the 2008 Olympic Games, an official at the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee (BOCOG) said. Some worry that there won't be enough rooms available to ordinary tourists during the August 8-24 Games after 122 star hotels have been signed up by BOCOG to provide accommodation to the Olympic Family. "Such worries are unnecessary," said Xiang Ping, deputy director of BOCOG's games service department. Xiang said that those hotels contracted to BOCOG account for merely 20 per cent of the total in Beijing. "What we take is only a small fraction of the resources," she said. The Chinese capital currently has over 700 star-rated hotels and, along with other developments, the total number of hotels is expected to reach 800 with 130,000 rooms before the 2008 Olympics. Besides star-rated hotels, there are more than 4,000 non-rated hotels in Beijing which can be upgraded to help accommodate tourists, Xiang added. According to the forecast by the Beijing municipal tourism bureau, 500,000 to 550,000 overseas tourists and 675,000 to 774,000 domestic visitors will descend on Beijing during the Games. February 20, 2007
Banking conglomerate HSBC Holdings (0005) said Friday it plans to sell its 27 percent stake in Ping An Bank to Shenzhen Commercial Bank for about US$29.4 million (HK$229.32 million). The China Securities Regulatory Committee is studying a proposal that could help disperse China's 1.06 trillion yuan (HK$1.066 trillion) trade surplus into foreign countries by adding more channels for capital outflow. The government confirmed Friday it has received four tenders for the biggest public works contract in recent years - the controversial Tamar government headquarters, worth HK$5.2 billion. Filings for personal bankruptcy increased to 1,006 cases in January, a rise of 32 percent over December, mainly due to lenient approval systems for credit card lending, a legal expert said. China's advertising market revenue reached 386.6 billion yuan (HK$388.91 billion) last year, led by television, which claimed 81 percent of the total, Nielsen Media Research said Friday.
The public will not be allowed to attend the first chief executive election debate between incumbent Donald Tsang Yam-kuen and challenger Alan Leong Kah-kit on March 1, though they can send in questions through e-mail or fax. Legislative Council education panel vice chairman Yeung Sum has warned education secretary Arthur Li Kwok- cheung and his former deputy that Legco may use the powers and privileges ordinance to force them to appear before a special panel meeting on February 28.
Swire Properties has teamed up with Hong Kong property fund Gateway Capital to buy a multi-purpose project in Beijing's Sanlitun district - the capital's diplomatic quarter and entertainment area - for more than four billion yuan, a source said.
China's tax burden is still lower than that of most developing and developed countries despite the rapid growth in its tax revenue, an analyst has said.
China's exports of textiles, clothing and accessories in January grew 18.55 percent year-on-year, but the growth rate was much lower than in previous months. The required reserve ratio for financial institutes engaging in deposit business will be raised by 0.5 percentage points from Feb. 25 to 10 percent, the second hike in two straight months, sources with China's central bank said here on Friday.
China's foreign sales of machinery will likely grow at a rate of 20 percent or so this year, with high-value-added products expected to claim a bigger share. Indonesia's State-run plantation company PTPN-11 has bought 13,000 tons of sugar from China to meet demands mainly in Sulawesi island. Shares of fixed-line operator China Telecom (0728) gained nearly 4.6 percent Friday, while rival China Netcom Group (0906) was up nearly 3 percent on the back of talk from managers at China Netcom implying restructuring in the mainland telecom sector is likely.
The United States gave China more time last year to reduce widespread piracy of US goods but is again considering legal action through the World Trade Organisation, US trade officials said. February 19, 2007
Singapore will introduce a widely anticipated corporate tax cut, placing Hong Kong under pressure to do the same. Singapore's Second Minister for Finance Tharman Shanmugaratnam, announced in his budget speech that the island state would cut the corporate tax rate, known in Hong Kong as profit tax, by 2 percent from 2008.
Swire Properties has teamed up with Hong Kong property fund Gateway Capital to buy a multi-purpose project in Beijing's Sanlitun district - the capital's diplomatic quarter and entertainment area - for more than four billion yuan, a source said.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, a major index of Chinese shares, closed at a record 2,993.01 points on Thursday. London Mayor Ken Livingstone launched a campaign of celebrations to coincide with Lunar New Year, his latest effort to build stronger links with China. "Beijing promises not to set a double standard for Games ticket prices", Beijing vice mayor Liu Jingmin said on an Olympic themed-program yesterday that aired on Beijing Television(BTV). "If Chinese and Westerners are charged different prices, it will not honor the Olympic spirit." After more than one year of research, including an online survey, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), instituted the final ticket prices based on how much people can pay, said Liu, who is also the vice executive president of BOCOG. Liu further explained the conclusion drawn from in-depth research on both the country's urban and rural consumption levels was to adopt the relatively low-price system during the Beijing Games. "The amount of the 2008 competition fares less than 100 yuan (US$12.5) accounts for the 58 percent of the total," Liu stressed. Olympic ticket prices have not blindly followed international practices but fully considered the capability of ordinary people,"Compared to the tickets fee of Athens and Sydney Olympic Games, that price policy could be much cheaper in 2008." When asked if westerners with higher incomes would be charged more, Liu said "that's absolutely forbidden;it goes against the Olympic spirit of justice, equality and openness to all." "That's really good,"a Beijing freelance Ms.Fan told chinadaily.com upon hearing Liu's guarantee on Olympic tickets policy, "It should be a fair scheme that assures that each spectator can afford a match." It may seem to be a mistake from a commercial perspective, but low ticket prices will enable more people,regardless of east or west,to watch the Games and feel the atmosphere and the spirit of competition, Fan said. More than 7 million tickets for the Beijing 2008 Olympics will go on sale this year, and the fair distribution of low-price Olympic tickets will be the centre of attention. The long-awaited prices for the 2008 Beijing Olympics were published on Nov.29 last year on the official site of the Games and the prices for seats at the opening ceremony are as low as 200 yuan (US$25.50). More than 58 per cent of all tickets for open sale will cost 100 yuan (US$13) or less, with the lowest price being 30 yuan (US$4). The BOCOG will also offer student tickets, which account for about 14 per cent of all domestically available tickets and cost merely 5 yuan (US$0.64) for preliminaries and 10 yuan (US$1.28) for finals.
Ping An Insurance (Group), the mainland's second-largest life insurer, will buy out HSBC Holdings' stake in subsidiary Ping An Bank and then transfer the lender to the group's 89.36 per cent-owned Shenzhen Commercial Bank. February 17 - 18, 2007
Market regulators are looking into whether HSBC Holdings (0005) failed to abide by certain requirements outlined by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (0388), inside sources said. Shares of regional satellite operator Asia Satellite Telecommunications (1135) jumped more than 25 percent Wednesday after the company announced that its major shareholder proposed to take the company private for HK$2.31 billion. Canada-based Manulife Financial (0945) said Wednesday its net income rose 21 percent last year as strong performance in equity markets helped offset the negative impact brought on by a strengthening Canadian dollar. Hong Kong listed Clear Media (0100), the mainland's second largest outdoor advertiser in terms of sales, has posted a 14 percent increase in full-year net profit to HK$120 million on the back of robust demand and higher average selling prices. Mainland port operator China Merchants Holdings International (0144) said it plans to invest 3 billion yuan (HK$3.02 billion) in its parent's container terminal project in Tianjin in a bid to take advantage of accelerated development in the Bohai Rim region.
All commercial fishing in Hong Kong's marine parks should be banned as intensive efforts to control fishing in the past 10 years have failed, World Wide Fund for Nature Hong Kong claims.
Independent commission to probe accusations over academic freedom - A new inquiry would investigate allegations of government interference in academic freedom at the Hong Kong Institute of Education, Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen announced on Thursday. The total amount owed on credit cards in Hong Kong rose almost 12 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said on Thursday.
Optimistic caution - Once again, China's economic growth
shattered records; and once again, predictions for the coming year foresee a
slight slowdown. The World Bank sees China's GDP growing at 9.6% this year, down
from last year's blistering 10.7%, the highest in 11 years. A year ago, the
World Bank predicted 2006 growth would be 9.5%, and the Chinese government - in
a move characteristic of its command-economy roots - set its own growth target
at 8% (a rate that would have been remarkable for its own reasons had it been
achieved). Meanwhile, the trade surplus continued to wag tongues around the
world, as the G7 cited China's trade imbalance as a problem for the global
economy and Hank Paulson named a new special envoy to help him deal with China.
The US and China cannot even agree on what their bilateral trade imbalance
actually is: the Americans put it at US$232.5 billion, while the Chinese say
it's US$144.3 billion.
Chinese stocks hit a record high Thursday over easing inflation concerns and the return of funds after failing to procure shares in Ping An Insurance's A-share IPO.
Compulsory education for 150 million rural middle and primary school students will be free in the real sense when all miscellaneous fees are scrapped in rural schools nationwide starting this spring semester. Rural families will save 140 yuan ($18) a year on the average for each child receiving free education. But will every rural student be able to enjoy this benefit? Will every rural student get education of the same quality as before the fees are scrapped? Will rural teachers be paid what they are entitled to? The Ministries of Education and Finance will jointly organize a team to check for possible problems in nine western and central provinces and autonomous regions, starting next month. The central government will cover 80 percent of the expenses in underdeveloped western provinces and autonomous regions, and the remaining 20 percent will be locally financed. In the central regions, the central government will finance 60 percent, with the remaining 40 percent locally financed. Misappropriation of education funds was found in South China's Guangdong Province when the miscellaneous fees were first scrapped there last year. Some local education authorities withheld funds allocated by the central and provincial governments or put them to other uses rather than deliver them to the schools. As a result, some schools were forced into even more difficult financial straits and some teachers were underpaid or unpaid. Such irregularities or even corruption at local levels has undermined the policies of the central government. The education and finance ministries' team is to make sure the policy is carried out to the letter. Another important concern the team will examine is whether education conditions in rural schools are improved. This will be key in determining whether the central government policy is achieving its desired goal. Along with the team's investigations, a mechanism needs to be established to stop local officials from diverting this vitally needed funding.
Former Shanghai leader Chen Liangyu will go on trial for his alleged role in a multimillion dollar graft scandal. But, in comments published by state press, Shanghai Higher People's Court deputy chief Liu Hua did not say what charges Chen faced, or even if he had yet been charged. But it was the first time that any official had announced publicly that Chen, who was sacked as Shanghai's Communist Party boss in September last year, would go on trial. Liu revealed that Chen would have to stand trial when making comments about the court's determination to ensure no favors would be given to powerful people. Property tycoon Chau Ching-ngai, known as Zhou Zhengyi in the mainland, who was charged last month with bribery and forging tax invoices, could also expect no favors from the court, Liu told Xinhua News Agency. "If Chen and Zhou are proved guilty, we will adhere to the principle of giving the same punishment for the same crimes, and will show no leniency toward the two," Liu said. "Both cases have drawn wide attention from society, so we ought to handle the two cases strictly according to law." Chen, who was a member of the party's national politburo, was sacked for his alleged involvement in using the city's US$1.25 billion (HK$9.75 billion) pension fund for speculative property projects. A total of 3.7 billion yuan (HK$3.73 billion) went missing before the scandal was uncovered. Few details of Chen's role in the case have surfaced, although the media has reported that the 60-year- old was responsible for lending out 3billion yuan from the fund. At least 20 officials and businessmen have so far been implicated. Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said his country firmly supported the peaceful use of space as he started a visit to Japan for talks on ways to improve the two countries’ strained ties, officials said on Thursday.
Legislators in crime-ridden Guangzhou wanted to set up an information database to track the activities of foreigners blamed for some of the lawlessness, state media said on Thursday.
China may ask state-owned energy companies to establish oil reserves as a supplement to a national reserve being set up as the Asian giant struggled to fuel future growth, state media said on Thursday. China's leading internet search engine Baidu.com reported a fivefold increase in fourth-quarter net income as online marketing revenue more than doubled. China Mobile, the world's largest cellular network operator, has joined a group of its industry peers to lead a worldwide program to extend the use of mobile phones for payments at any point of sale. February 16, 2007
Former Taipei mayor Ma Ying-jeou has announced he will run for president of Taiwan next year, defying an indictment for alleged misuse of funds that prompted him to step down as chairman of the island's main opposition Kuomintang. Despite the company reporting a 69 percent jump in first-half net profit, shares of Nine Dragons Paper (Holdings) (2689), the mainland's largest containerboard maker, fell 9percent Tuesday, swept along by the outflow of funds from the Hong Kong market. Jewelry chain Hang Fung Gold Technology (0870) said it will open 200 stores across the mainland, expanding its network to 300 to capture business opportunities during the 2008 Beijing Games. Casino mogul Stanley Ho Hung-sun has outbid Orient Overseas (International) (0316) and a Singapore company to secure a prime commercial site in Shanghai for 1.43 billion yuan (HK$1.44 billion) at a public auction. The High Court has dismissed PCCW's (0008) request for a judicial review of the Office of the Telecommunications Authority's proposal to deregulate the connection fees that fixed-line operators receive from mobile-phone firms. Flat buyers will be spoiled for choice as Henderson Land Development (0012) gets ready to cash in on buoyant buying sentiment with the release of more than 1,000 inventory and new units during the Lunar New Year holidays.
Hutchison
Telecommunications International's (2332) exit from India triggered an investor
exodus, as the stock plunged a record 15 percent amid concerns the company was
left as an expensive cash shell stuck with operations in unexciting markets.
Internet access in Hong Kong had been fully restored - after repairs to undersea cables damaged by last December's earthquake off Taiwan were completed, the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (Ofta) said on Wednesday.
PCCW, the city's largest telecommunications operator, says it will appeal against a Court of First Instance ruling yesterday that rejected its application for a judicial review seeking to halt a regulatory consultation on a fixed-mobile convergence proposal. IBM has devised a way to triple the amount of memory stored on computer chips and double the performance of data-hungry processors by replacing a problematic type of memory with a variety that uses much less space on the slice of silicon, the company said on Wednesday.
The World Bank said Wednesday that China's economy may still enjoy favorable prospects in the near time, with a possible high growth rate of 9.6 percent this year.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson announced Tuesday that he has appointed Alan F. Holmer as Special Envoy for China and for the Strategic Economic Dialogue. The total assets of China's banking industry rose 17.3 percent to 43.9 trillion yuan (US$5.65 trillion) at the end of 2006. Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region plans to invest 10 billion yuan (US$1.29 billion) in the construction of highways. China suffers the most severe brain drain of any country, raising fears there may not be enough talent and skill around to manage the world's fourth- largest economy. Out of about one million Chinese who have studied abroad since the 1980s, two thirds have chosen to stay overseas after graduation, the highest ratio of any economy, according to official data. "It has been a great loss for China ... to see well-educated professionals leave after the country has invested a lot in them," said Li Xiaoli, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. "China is now in dire need of people of expertise," said Li, the coauthor of a new report on the problem. Since 2002, more than 100,000 students have gone abroad to study each year, but in the same period, the number of returnees has hovered between 20,000 and 30,000 annually, according to Ministry of Education figures. To a certain degree, the trend is unavoidable as it reflects China's growing integration with the outside world. But experts have called on the government to stem the tide by making the domestic job market more attractive to professionals overseas and offer incentives to encourage their return. "We need to set up a system to manage the outflow and inflow of talent," said Bian Binbing, the Shanghai-based chief executive of CBP Career Consultants. "Right now, China is adopting an overall approach, looking at the outflow as a whole, but we need to look at the individual cases, especially the people with much-needed skills in high and new technologies." There are already some preferential policies in place, such as low-interest loans for business start-ups, but more is needed. "Many talented Chinese emigrated overseas because they could not find opportunity at home," the China Daily said in an editorial. "It's time to nurture the reverse migration." This may be easier said than done, as Chinese companies will find it hard to compete with US or European firms, both in terms of the salaries they can offer, and in terms of less easily quantifiable benefits. "Chinese enterprises are just not mature enough," said Chen Bo, a Shanghai-based human resources consultant with McAllen International. Up to 29 Chinese brokerages that are under special regulatory oversight will likely be closed or merged with bigger rivals by the end of August, state press reported Wednesday. February 15, 2007
Yahoo Inc. announced on Monday an integration between mail and instant messenger, a move to consolidate its leading position on web mail and online communication.
Hong Kong's exports increased 13.4 per cent in volume in December last year compared with the same period in 2005, government data released on Tuesday showed.
China's mainland real estate market remained in the global investment spotlight last year, according to the latest market review released by international property adviser DTZ.
Fourth quarter 2006 EARNINGS reports from two of China's leading Internet portals, Sina Corp and Sohu.com, last week made it clear that online advertising is continuing its solid growth in China. Bank of China has ended a fund product that invests clients' funds overseas because the appreciation of yuan has limited returns, news agency reported on Tuesday. Philippines-based International Container Terminal Services said on Tuesday it has plans to acquire a majority stake in a Shandong province port operator in its first foray into the China market. China is expected to encourage more imports from the United States in a bid to narrow the yawning trade gap between the two countries, experts said on Tuesday.
China Mobile and China Unicom, which continue to lead mobile-telephone connections in the Asia-Pacific, are being chased hard by mobile network operators in India that have started to increase their subscriber numbers at a faster rate, industry experts say. February 14, 2007
Several listed firms simultaneously announced plans Monday for share placements, hurrying to cash in as investors remain uncertain when the market will eventually fail to accommodate such fundraising. A District Court judge has jailed four men for their role in the brutal attack last summer on Democratic legislator Albert Ho Chun-yan, but added that the nature of the crime convinced him there was a "far more sinister motive than has been revealed." The Legislative Council's education panel has decided to hold a special meeting February 28 to investigate allegations the government had interfered in academic freedom and the autonomy of the Hong Kong Institute of Education. Australian jockey Chris Munce on Monday pleaded not guilty in Hong Kong court to a bribery charge in relation to an alleged betting scam.
Two International Financial Centre, the tallest building in Hong Kong and partly owned by Sun Hung Kai Properties, has granted an office rental lease to a global financial firm at a record HK$150 per square foot, sources said.
The government will take absolute control of seven of China's industries. However, this will not prevent foreign-funded and private enterprises from entering these sectors, said Shao Ning, vice chairman of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council. China will adopt strict measures to standardize the transfer of bad loans of domestic financial institutions to foreign investors, so as to protect the legitimate rights and interests of investors and enhance smooth treatment of domestic bad loans.
Aluminum Corp of China (2600) - the mainland's largest alumina producer that is also known as Chalco - plans to issue 5 billion yuan (HK$5.04 billion) long-term corporate bonds this year as it seeks relatively cheaper financing for capacity expansion. February 13, 2007
The government will make efforts to ensure farm produce safety in the run-up to the traditional Spring Festival, said Chinese Agriculture Minister Sun Zhengcai Saturday. Agricultural products, if found harmful to health, will not be allowed to enter the market as the Chinese lunar new year is approaching, Sun said when inspecting supermarkets and wholesale markets in Beijing. The ministry launched a three-month long nationwide campaign last December to check pesticide remains and other chemicals in farm produce. Chinese people, especially rural residents, have a tradition to prepare a good many foods for Spring Festival, which falls on Feb. 18 this year. China will develop its own magnetically levitated (maglev) trains that can travel at speeds of up to 500 kilometers per hour, according to a government report. China will expand the special subsidy program for rural parents aged 60 and above who have followed the nation's family planning policy after more than two years' trial. Two of China's leading Internet portals announce 2006 fourth quarter earnings this week. Sina Corp and Sohu.com continue to be two of the top destinations for Chinese citizens online, despite increasing competition for online advertising spending from formidable companies such as Tencent (which operates the portal qq.com) and the search engine Baidu.com.
February 12, 2007
Octopus cardholders using EPS add- value services at MTR and KCR stations have had more than HK$140,000 deducted from their bank accounts in 571 transactions over the past two months even though the transactions did not complete, Octopus Holdings said Friday.
Galaxy Entertainment Group, which runs five Macau casinos, said its share of the enclave's booming gaming market reached a record 22 per cent last month, second only to Stanley Ho Hung-sun's Sociedade de Jogos de Macau (SJM). Hutchison Telecommunications International, a unit of Hutchison Whampoa, began taking bids for its Indian telecommunications subsidiary last night in a deal that has been valued as high as US$18 billion, market sources said.
China will become the world's top tourist destination before 2020, Francesco Frangialli, secretary general of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) said in Beijng at a ceremony Thursday. Beijing plans to develop a list of some 300 "tasty restaurants" featuring various types of cuisine that will be recommended to foreign guests attending the Beijing Olympic Games. Inbound, outbound and domestic tourism are all showing expansive growth, with tourism revenues now accounting for 6.1% of total GDP. With Fufeng Group's (0546) auspicious trading debut whetting investors' appetites, China Huiyuan Juice Group is believed to have snapped up more than HK$100 billion worth of margin orders from retail investors in its initial public offering. China, the world's fourth-largest economy, targets an 8 percent growth rate this year and is becoming more concerned over inflation, according to the central bank's quarterly monetary policy report. China is catching up with India in providing call-center services, one of the fastest-growing areas of global outsourcing. The number of employees at call centers in China is likely to rise 22 percent this year to 158,000, while in India the workforce is predicted to rise 16 percent to 312,500, Sydney-based research firm Callcentres.net said Friday. "The world is becoming flat," said Francis Scricco, senior vice president of US telecom firm Avaya, which has just set up an "intelligent communication center" in the northern Chinese city of Dalian. "More international corporations are entering the Chinese market while more Chinese companies are expanding into other markets." As telecommunications become cheaper, corporations are now looking to save money by outsourcing call- center services to countries with lower labor costs. China is particularly competitive in this area, with employee hourly costs of just US$3.62 (HK$28.24), compared with US$4.24 in India and US$18.46 in Singapore, Callcentres.net said. While China has been widely characterized as being up against the formidable challenge of an Indian workforce with far better English-language skills, the report seemed to suggest China did not face any particular disadvantage. Twenty-nine percent of call centers in China service international markets, compared with 33 percent in India, www.Callcentres.net said. As many as 93 percent of China's centers require a proportion of their agents to speak English to customers, the report said. India, the global leader in outsourcing services, including software development and call centers, employs about 350,000 people in an industry that earned US$6.7 billion in the year ended March 2005. India's global leadership in outsourcing has so far been undisputed but its position may gradually be challenged because of rising costs.
Former Sina Corp co-chairman Daniel Chiang and his wife Eva Chen have been fined for insider trading, according to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. February 10 - 11, 2007
The row over the government's alleged interference with academic freedom has widened with Hong Kong Institute of Education vice president Bernard Luk Hung-kay dragging former permanent secretary for education and manpower Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fan into the morass. Global banking giant HSBC Holdings on Thursday warned that increased provisions at its United States mortgage business would result in much higher than expected loan impairment and risk costs for last year.
A government report on Thursday has outlined the five misconduct charges against InvestHK director-general Mike Rowse in relation to his mishandling of the Harbour Fest show. In a report tabled to the Legislative Council on Thursday, the Civil Service Bureau revealed that a year-long disciplinary inquiry had found one charge against Mr Rowse fully substantiated and four other charges partly substantiated. The charges referred to his monitoring of the Harbour Fest, a series of concerts staged to restore Hong Kong's image in 2003 following the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) outbreak. The bureau said the inquiry found Mr Rowse failed to strictly audit the budget proposed by the Hong Kong American Chamber of Commerce, the event's organiser. At the stage of signing memorandums of understanding with the chamber, he failed to ensure pre-payments would be reimbursed if the event was cancelled, the report said. Other charges included failure to adequately monitor ticket pricing, causing losses to the government, the report said. As punishment, Mr Rowse had been warned of dismissal if a similar incident took place. He would also be reprimanded and fined a month's salary - about HK$156,000, the bureau said. Mr Rowse declined to comment on the findings on Thursday. A disciplinary inquiry began in September 2004 after Mr Rowse was criticised in a Legislative Council report for failing to properly monitor the use of HK$100 million in government money for the event. Proceedings were concluded in October 2005 and found the misconduct charges substantiated. However, details of the ruling were not made public at the time. In the same month, Mr Rowse filed an appeal to Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen. Mr Tsang later referred the case to Chief Secretary Rafael Hui Si-yan to show impartiality. In late January Mr Hui told Mr Rowse his appeal was rejected. The Landmark's decade-long reputation as Central's most expensive shopping centre is being challenged by rival IFC Mall, where a branded Italian leather bag retailer agreed to pay HK$600 per square foot a month.
China's securities regulator has resumed approving new mutual funds after a two-month suspension, sources confirmed yesterday, a move that pushed the stock market up on expectations of a flood of new liquidity. February 9, 2007
Despite the recent weakening of the Hong Kong dollar caused by arbitrage, the peg with the US dollar can run smoothly without Hong Kong Monetary Authority intervention, Bank of China Hong Kong has said. Rent rises at shopping centres controlled by the Link Reit were mild compared with increases at other private commercial malls, Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands Michael Suen Ming-yeung said on Wednesday. Broadband services in Hong Kong had a penetration rate of 68 per cent - among the highest in the world - Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology Joseph Wong Wing-ping said on Wednesday.
The Chinese Renminbi (RMB) again climbed to a new high against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday to reach a central parity rate of 7.7496 yuan to the dollar. North China's Shanxi Province, the country's largest coal reserve, has produced 580 million tons of coal last year, year-on-year growth of 7 percent, officials said Tuesday. Jia Changbin has been ordered to resign as general manager of the China Aviation Oil for his involvement in a scandal concerning the Singapore Exchange.
Beijing has announced that Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing will visit Japan this month, paving the way for a trip by Premier Wen Jiabao, even as the two Asian powers reignite a quarrel over sea boundaries. China had chosen the site for a new satellite launching centre, the country’s fourth, on Hainan Island in the South China Sea, Xinhua News Agency reported on Wednesday.
Companies were turning to banks for loans to repay money borrowed from a Shanghai pension fund, reports said on Wednesday, as city government advisers called for more public information to be released regarding a corruption probe linked to those loans. The world's biggest miner BHP Billiton on Wednesday reported a record first-half profit of A$6.17 billion (HK$37.4 billion), and said it expected China to continue to drive global demand for commodities. February 8, 2007
China has become the third-biggest nuclear energy producer in Asia, after Japan and South Korea, according a 2006 BP Statistical Review of World Energy. Nuclear power has become the third important method of electricity generation in China, following coal power and hydropower. Ending a freefall over five consecutive trading days, the mainland stock market climbed 2.42 percent Tuesday amid a second warning from Chinese lawmaker Cheng Siwei about a potential bubble forming in the A-share market. Despite a good start, the lower-than- expected performance of Hong Kong's real estate investment trust market last year meant a disappointing performance in the overall Asian REIT market in 2006 compared with other regions, Standard & Poor's said Tuesday, citing findings from its Global Property and REIT report. Despite the recent weakening of the Hong Kong dollar caused by arbitrage, the peg with the US dollar can run smoothly without Hong Kong Monetary Authority intervention, Bank of China Hong Kong has said. Qin Jia Yuan Media Services (2366), a Hong Kong-listed mainland television production house, said it plans to spend between 50 million yuan (HK$50.3 million) and 100 million yuan to set up a TV program and distribution network jointly with Chongqing Television.
Executive councillor Henry Fan
Hung-ling has been appointed chairman of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes
Authority, putting paid to speculation he would become a government minister in
July.
The value of the Chinese currency yuan against the U.S. dollar hit a new high on Tuesday with a central parity rate of 7.7595 yuan to the dollar, according to the Chinese Foreign Exchange Trade System. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOC) announced on Monday it would begin imposing an anti-dumping tax on potato starch imported from the European Union (EU) from Feb. 6 this year.
February 7, 2007
The US Federal Reserve's indication of a steady economic growth with tame inflation, while keeping the benchmark interest rate unchanged, spurred the global markets Thursday, helping the Hang Seng Index recover most of the ground lost the day before. While still embroiled in an inquiry into possible cross-media ownership violations, PCCW (0008) chairman Richard Li has denied reports of a possible merger between his media units - Now TV and local Chinese-language daily Hong Kong Economic Journal - and those owned by Malaysian tycoon Datuk Tiong Hiew King. Lenovo Group (0992), the world's third-largest personal computer maker, reported a 23.3 percent increase in net profit in the quarter ending December to US$57.7 million (HK$450.06 million), buoyed by cost reductions and higher worldwide shipments of PCs. Most Hong Kong banks decided Thursday to follow the US Federal Reserve's lead to keep interest rates unchanged, but the Hong Kong Monetary Authority put investors on alert to the possibility of local lenders raising rates later this year.
Members of the Independent Police Complaints Commission have expressed concern at the arbitrary stop-and- search powers exercised by police officers and the continuing complaints of improper conduct and foul language while on duty. The Securities and Futures Commission plans to relax restrictions on short selling for the first time since they were introduced as part of a packet of measures to combat market-grating speculation during the Asian financial crisis.
China is under great pressure and facing many challenges if it hopes to achieve its goal of cutting by 20 percent the amount of energy it uses to produce a unit of GDP, according to a official of the State Council research center. Lenovo Group Ltd, China's top personal computer (PC) maker, has posted its best quarterly results since purchasing IBM's PC arm in 2005. China is ready to work with other countries on an agreement to prevent an arms race in space, amid international uproar over its test of an anti- satellite missile, an official said Thursday.
China National Offshore Oil Corp, the parent firm of listed CNOOC, posted a 24 per cent rise in profit last year to 48.1 billion yuan on the back of higher oil prices. February 6, 2007
Investors should be cautious about investing in H shares as the mainland is trying to curb the overheating mainland stock market, brokers say. Mainland banks will see their market share in Hong Kong shooting up to 40 percent by 2010, Hong Kong Monetary Authority deputy chief executive William Ryback said Wednesday, amid growing integration between the territory and China. CNOOC (0883), the mainland's largest offshore oil producer, had its profit estimates cut by investment banks after the company lowered production guidance for last year, although output is forecast to recover in 2008. Shun Tak Holdings (0242) said more than HK$6 billion has been generated from sales of One Central Residences, the company's joint-venture luxury residential project in Macau with Hongkong Land. Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam- kuen is expected to take the unprecedented step of handing out his election manifesto on a busy Central street today after officially declaring his decision to run for the March 25 chief executive election, an inside source said. About 80 percent of people polled agree that paparazzi trespassing and using devices to snoop on others in private premises should be criminalized, according to a Hong Kong University survey.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told Congress on Wednesday that America's economy and workers benefit significantly from the trade with China. The China Banking Regulatory Commission detected 113 bribery cases in the banking sector in 2006 that involved 26.08 million yuan ($3.34 million), and detained 164 people. China will intensify its fight against advertisements for fake or scientifically unproven medical treatments, drugs, health foods, cosmetics and beauty services, says a government document. China is laying on a fleet of 15 brand- new high-speed bullet trains to tackle the passenger rush before and after this month's Lunar New Year holiday when just about the whole country is on the move. February 2 - 5, 2007
Shares in The Link REIT (0823), which operates the formerly government- owned shopping malls and carparks, climbed as much as 4.52 percent Tuesday to an historic high of HK$18.50 per share as investors sprang into action over plans to replace chairman Paul Cheng Ming-fun. CNOOC (0883), China's largest offshore oil producer, expects output to have dropped nearly 2 percent from a year ago after it missed its production forecast as oil fields in the South China Sea were damaged by typhoons last May. Pacific Textiles, a Hong Kong-based textile manufacturer, has picked Citigroup and Morgan Stanley to handle its US$200 million (HK$1.56 billion) initial public offering scheduled for the middle of this year, market sources said. Shares of China Travel International (0308), the Hong Kong-listed arm of the state-owned mainland travel service, soared more than 21 percent after its Zhuhai Ocean Spring Resort project recorded higher than expected revenue. Cheung Kong (Holdings) (0001) and associate Hutchison Whampoa (0013) plan to invest HK$3.6 billion in a housing project in Shanghai, shrugging off concerns over further macroeconomic tightening measures that are likely to impact the real estate sector.
The government yesterday unveiled a pilot cross-border scheme for trading in power station emission quotas, and said it could be a more cost-effective way of cutting Pearl River Delta air pollution than investing in costly facilities such as a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal The Link Reit's chief executive has sought to allay shop tenants' fears of rent rises a day after it was announced that outgoing Hongkong Land Holdings chief executive Nicholas Sallnow-Smith will replace Paul Cheng Ming-fun as chairman of the listed company. Foreign investors, including Cheung Kong (Holdings), Hutchison Whampoa and United States private equity firm Warburg Pincus, continue to splash out on mainland property even as Beijing tries to temper the real estate market and analysts warn of a bubble.
US President George W. Bush, launching a two-day campaign to tout his economic priorities, defended growing US trade with China. One of China's largest pharmaceutical firms, Hangzhou-based Kangliyuan Group, has been ordered to stop its operations for its alleged involvement with former head of the State Food and Drug Administration Zheng Xiaoyu.
Taiwan and China are close to reaching an agreement on allowing tourists to visit the island directly from the mainland, but the two sides currently do not plan to extend the nonstop passenger charter flights that take place during major holidays to weekends, a senior Taiwan government official said Tuesday. February 1, 2007
CITIC Pacific (0267), CITIC Group's Hong Kong listed arm, may book a profit of about HK$1.8 billion through the spin-off of its telecom business CITIC 1616, according to market sources. The cash holdings of institutional investors have not been reduced to tight levels, even after the strong rallies in the global markets particularly in Hong Kong in December, according to JPMorgan Asset Management. Neo-China Group (0563), a Hong Kong-listed property developer operating in the mainland, is acquiring a Tianjin real-estate firm for HK$655 million to further strengthen its foothold in China.
Chief executive challenger Alan Leong Kah-kit is set to announce on Wednesday he has secured enough nominations to stand in the election for the top job - a day before incumbent Donald Tsang Yam-kuen declares his candidacy. Researchers from Chinese University on Monday said they had discovered fake ingredients in some fat choy being sold in Hong Kong, Fat choy is a black, hair-like vegetable which is a very popular in Chinese cuisine -particularly during the Lunar New Year.
International news organisations covering the 10th anniversary ceremony of the handover on July 1 are likely to focus on Hong Kong's development as China's economic gateway rather than official pomp and pageantry. Malaysian gaming conglomerate Genting had said queries by Singapore authorities into its tie-up with Hong Kong-based casino magnate Stanley Ho Hung-sun would pose no problems to a planned gaming resort in the city-state, according to a report.
China retrieved a total of 41.2 billion yuan (5.28 billion U.S. dollars) from droughts and floods last year, thanks to efforts to improve anti-drought and floods capabilities, according to the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters on Sunday.
Shanghai's mayor said investigators recovered all the money siphoned away from city social security funds in one of China's most politically divisive corruption scandals. Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates begins a five-day official visit to China tomorrow, aiming to boost the flow of trade and investment between Portugal and the fast- growing nation.
Mind
your language, please. This is Shanghai. China's financial centre was mulling
over a law against using swear words in public, reports said on Monday, in a
sign of just how far the city had traveled from its famously profane
19th-century dockside origins. China had launched a trial run of home-grown fourth-generation mobile technology in Shanghai in what it called the world's first rollout of the wireless application, state press reported on Monday. January 30 - 31, 2007
Shares of Star Cruises (0678) plunged as much as 16.8 percent Thursday after news broke that the Singapore government was raising questions over the planned partnership between its sister Genting International and Macau casino tycoon Stanley Ho Hung-sun. Honesty Treasure International (0600), which sells finished leather to garment makers, acknowledged Thursday that chairman Pedro Chiang and executive director Miguel Wu Ka-i are being investigated over allegations of bribery by the Commission Against Corruption of Macau.
Mid-size developer K Wah
International (0173) expects revenues from its Hong Kong property sales to drop
nearly 30 percent year-on-year to about HK$2 billion for 2007 as the company
clears its remaining inventory units to focus on the high-end sector. British billionaire Sir Richard Branson said his Virgin Group was in advanced talks to build a US$3 billion (HK$23 billion) casino resort complex in the Chinese gambling haven of Macau, a report said on Friday.
Some Hong Kong hospitals are fully booked by expectant mothers from outside the territory as new measures to stem an influx of mainland women giving birth in the city loom, officials said on Friday.
Leading United States-based private equity investors Warburg Pincus and Carlyle Group were in a battle for a stake in a top Chinese retailer with lucrative property assets, media reported on Friday.
Locally made high-speed trains will make their debut on Sunday, operating routes from Shanghai to Nanjing, and from Shanghai to Hangzhou.
China's gross domestic product (GDP) surged by 10.7 percent year-on-year to reach 20.94 trillion yuan (2.7 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2006, said Xie Fuzhan, head of the National Bureau of Statistics in Beijing on Thursday. The economy turned in another sparkling performance last year, with gross domestic product (GDP) growing at the fastest clip in 11 years and inflation moving below 2 percent. China is likely to kick off another round of austerity measures to rein in unabated economic growth after the National Bureau of Statistics reported Thursday the mainland has recorded the highest increase in gross domestic product in 11 years. Microsoft Corp, operator of the world's second-most visited Website, partnered China's largest Internet travel agent to tap the country's growing market for online hotel reservations and airline ticket sales. Foreign investors are vying for a stake in Beijing Wangfujing Department Store (Group) Co Ltd, China's top Shanghai-listed retailer with 15 department stores across the country.
Chinese auditors believed 289 million yuan had been embezzled from funds earmarked for resettling residents displaced by the Three Gorges Dam project, state press reported on Friday. Soccer star Ronaldo was suing a Chinese drug company for using his image in a television commercial without his authorisation, reports said on Friday.
Shanghai's mayor and acting party
secretary has issued a stern warning to corrupt entrepreneurs, saying the city
will not allow such businessmen to get a foothold in the eastern metropolis,
local media reported late on Wednesday. January 29, 2007
In a market continuing to find support at record high levels, Lee & Man Paper Manufacturing (2314), a leading containerboard producer, is seeking to raise as much as HK$1.52 billion by selling new shares. Hong Kong Monetary Authority denied Wednesday that it was responsible for the Hong Kong dollar's sharp fall in recent weeks, saying it has not sold the currency to push it down to the weaker side. Hong Kong's exports, which showed signs of slowing last year, are expected to grow at a more moderate rate this year because of China's tighter export policy and the potential US slowdown, the Bank of East Asia (0023) said Wednesday. The value of Hong Kong's exports increased 13.7 per cent year on year last month to HK$214.7 billion, government figures released on Thursday showed.
Jockey Club betting director Henry Chan Shing-kai has called on the SAR government to sustain the long-term future of Hong Kong racing by relaxing the current ceiling of 78 race meetings per season in addition to the limitations on simulcast overseas races.
The Singapore government had questioned Malaysia's Genting International over plans to give Macau casino tycoon Stanley Ho Hung-sun a stake in the company's gaming resort in the city state, a report said on Thursday.
Preliminary estimation shows China's GDP totaled 20.9407 trillion yuan (2.7 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2006, up 10.7 percent year on year.
The Chinese government will reduce taxes for low-income groups and tighten controls on tax evasion by high earners to ensure fairness and social justice and to close the wealth gap, said State Administration of Taxation commissioner Xie Xuren on Wednesday. China fined the Jilin Petrochemical Company, a subsidiary of PetroChina, the maximum 1 million yuan (US$125,000), for seriously polluting the Songhua River. A new regulation restricting surveying and mapping by foreigners will be implemented in China on March 1. "The regulation will protect national security."
China Metallurgical Group had sealed an agreement to develop an iron ore mine project worth A$1.98 billion (HK$12 million) in Australia, media reported on Thursday. January 27 - 28, 2007
Macao gaming revenues overtake Las Vegas in 2006 - Macao logged a gambling revenue of 55.9 billion patacas (7 billion U.S. dollars) in 2006, overtaking Las Vegas as the world top casino hut, local media reported in Macao Wednesday. Macao Daily News, the region's leading Chinese newspaper, quoted international analysts as saying that gaming revenues of Las Vegas in 2006 was expected to range between 5.59 billion to 6.6 billion U.S. dollars. Macao, on the southern tip of China, witnessed a year-on-year rise of 22 percent in the gaming revenues, according to the city's Gaming and Inspection Coordination Bureau. Macao, with a population of merely 500,800, has boomed in recent years as a number of Las Vegas giants including Las Vegas Sands, GM Mirage and Wynn Resorts started gigantic projects here. The Hong Kong dollar's sudden jump toward the weaker side of its trading band against the US dollar as the yuan edges closer to parity with the SAR's currency is due to "squeeze play" as authorities on both sides speed up the process of the yuan overtaking the Hong Kong dollar to minimize market speculation and volatility, UBS said Tuesday. CITIC Pacific (0267), a state-backed conglomerate controlled by billionaire Larry Yung Chi-kin, has applied to the stock exchange to spin off its wholly owned telecom unit to "unlock its value," and the unit may command a separate listing, it said Tuesday. Guangzhou Automobile Group, a unit of red-chip Denway Motors (0203), is planning a share offering to raise funds for expansion this year and the listing is likely to be in Hong Kong, according to a senior executive. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (0388) will launch yuan futures trading in the middle of this year as part of its plan to forge closer relations with mainland financial markets, chairman Ronald Arculli said Tuesday.
Hong Kong officials are hopeful a high- level business and trade mission they
are sending to the Middle East this week will help boost the city's status as an
international financial center and strengthen economic ties.
A feature article in US-based Time magazine published on January 11 assessed the rise of China, calling it the "dawn of a new dynasty" and "the China century". It reviewed China's rapid development in recent years: from investment in Africa to diplomatic activities in Latin America, from energy needs to geographical influence, from domestic challenges to diplomatic achievements, and from democracy and human rights to sovereignty and territory. It ended by concluding that "China's rise to global prominence¡doesn't have to lead to the sort of horror that accompanied the emerging power of Germany or Japan¡There need be no wars between China and the US, no catastrophes, no economic competition that gets out of hand. But in this century the relative power of the US is going to decline, and that of China is going to rise. That cake was baked long ago." This article one of the most comprehensive, deep and balanced analyses of China to come from mainstream US media so far; it reflects a change in American society's view of China, and is largely in line with Washington's current China policy. This quiet change in the US' attitude towards China should be affirmed. Unlike past judgments which were simple, sentimental and tried to demonize China, the Time article indicates that US politicians, academics and journalists have become more objective and rational in their way of looking at China, which is critical for the development of sound, stable Sino-US relations. However, reading between the lines, we can see the US is still constrained by a deep-rooted US-centric mentality. Ideologically it has not moved away from democracy and peace or "historic fatalism" when it comes to the rise and fall of powers. As a result, it has failed to subscribe to the idea of constructive cooperation for mutual benefit and clung to traditional "power" thinking in which the western world will "manage" China's rise together. It will probably take time for America to really understand China.
Multinationals can learn from Chinese companies - For foreign multinationals, the way to get ahead in China's fast lane is to take advantage of what these companies are missing in their race to secure a global presence. There are three important areas where Chinese companies get stalled. The most significant is customer loyalty, in terms of both the end consumer and intermediate distributors. Chinese companies historically dealt with fewer distributors, relying instead on mega-retail channels. Customer insight takes time to develop, and global firms have many more years of experience to draw upon. The battle for talent will also be critical, as firms seek out people with global experience. Multinationals are experienced in developing strong leadership, and will rely on their best-in-class programs for recruiting, developing and deploying management. Then there's innovation. Corporations today are unlikely to repeat this mistake. Constant innovation and compressed product cycles will characterize Chinese and multinational firms alike. Not only development phases, but various industries and sectors will be integrated: One day soon, R&D will converge across cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and food industries. Emulation will become progressively more difficult; Chinese companies may find themselves continually playing catch-up. In the end, however, it's important to remember that the race will be won by those who endure the longest. Here, China has another advantage: The centuries have taught its people to be patient. With their emphasis on quarterly earnings, today's multinationals may have yet another lesson to learn from China's companies: the idea of thinking forward in decades.
Visa, the world's largest credit card payment system, signed strategic Olympic alliance Tuesday with the Bank of China in a bid to boost their business through the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Chery Automobile, the nation's biggest domestic automaker, plans to set up three assembly plants in the Middle East, Eastern Europe and South America, a news report and a company spokeswoman said.
China's financial derivatives exchange will delay the launch of its first futures product to at least the second quarter due to the lack of regulations covering the product and a well-working billing system, as well as worries over its effect on the domestic stock markets. January 26, 2007
A Hong Kong distributor of Hollywood film thriller "The Departed" said on Tuesday it was in talks with Chinese authorities to get the film in cinemas on the mainland after it was recently banned. The Departed, a Martin Scorsese remake of the hugely popular 2002 Hong Kong cop thriller Infernal Affairs, tells a story of an Irish-American mob boss who is trying to sell military hardware to the Chinese. The film's Hong Kong distributor, Media Asia, said it was informed by its Chinese counterparts that the film had been barred from showing in mainland theatres. "We've been told by our distribution company in China that the film is not appropriate to be shown there. They told us we can't import it," said Media Asia marketing manager Chan Ka-li. Chu Yam-chi, deputy general manager at Media Asia's distribution and marketing department, said although their first attempt to distribute the film in China had failed, they were trying to find other ways to get past the censors. "At the moment, we are trying to find other ways to do it. They don't tell you clearly why we can't show it, but we are following up the matter to see whether we can cut or change anything [in the film] so we can get it passed," Mr Chu said. "We will give it a try again. If we get rejected on the second or third attempt, then we might give up," he added. The Departed, which won Scorsese a Golden Globe award for best director, is seen as a likely Oscar nominee. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson. Riding the latest rally in the Hang Seng Index, a shareholder of Bank of China (3988) - the mainland's second- largest state-owned lender - plans to sell HK$1.42 billion worth of shares in the bank, according to term sheets obtained from a fund manager. China Mobile Communications, the parent of cellular giant China Mobile (0941), said it has agreed to pay US$284 million (HK$2.2 billion) to acquire an 88.8 percent stake in a Pakistani cellphone firm.
Diamond trade soars 44.4% due to tax cut - China's imports and exports of diamonds hit a record high of 610 million U.S. dollars in 2006, jumping 44.4 percent year on year. Chery Automobile, China's fourth-largest passenger vehicle producer, was in talks with potential partners to set up three new vehicle plants abroad, a company executive said on Tuesday. Embattled Linux software distributor Red Hat is charting a fresh course to expand into China, as new threats from separate open-source initiatives led by Oracle Corp and Microsoft Corp appear not to have hurt its business yet. January 25, 2007
The advertising industry grew 8 percent in 2006, because of the growth in the economy and because more enterprises were willing to invest in marketing, said Royce Yuen Man-chun, chairman of the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents of Hong Kong. Capital Estate (0193), an investment holding company with interests in property investment, has announced it has entered into a non-legally binding memorandum of understanding with Fulvid Investment to acquire a 45 percent interest in the issued share capital of Fulvid Investment for HK$330 million.
Hong Kong's veteran director Johnnie To earned two top honors on Monday, winning prizes for best picture and best director in awards voted by local critics. To's gangster flick, Election 2, a sequel to the popular Election movie, was named the best film, beating six others including his own gang war epic "Exiled", which won him the best director prize, the Hong Kong Film Critics Society said. To takes his fascination with the former British colony's underworld to its next logical step with Election 2 and explores how the triads cope under the iron rule of a Chinese regime that regained control of the city in 1997. Kung fu icon Jet Li was named best actor for his role that portrays martial arts master Huo Yuanjiain in Fearless. Chinese starlet Gong Li bagged the best actress gong for her empress role in Curse of the Golden Flower, the most expensive film made in Hong Kong with a budget of US$45 million (HK$350 million). The organisation said the decision came after a heated debate and voting that lasted over 10 hours. The awards ceremony has been scheduled for March. Hutchison Telecommunications International, which wants subscribers to its third-generation mobile-telephone business to try more non-voice applications, is offering Hong Kong users a flat-rate tariff for unlimited use of a new series of services, according to a company executive.
Despite last year's stock market rally and strong liquidity in the A-share market, mainland economists and professional investors warn it is time for a major correction and investors should be cautious as the high growth rate might not be sustained after the 2008 Olympics.
International Monetary Fund managing director Rodrigo Rato on Monday called for China to be “more flexible” in setting its exchange rates, renewing a demand frequently made by Western nations. January 24, 2007
Large corporates clearly believe that financial rewards get results, as a number will give "outstanding performers" more generous salary packages this year. The Hong Kong dollar continued to fall against the US dollar Friday, dropping to its lowest level in 17 years. The currency reached a low of 7.8120/22 against the US dollar before closing at 7.8111/13. The Hong Kong dollar has been weakening in recent days after it fell below the official US dollar peg of 7.8 Wednesday. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has said it does not see any abnormality in the falling local currency, as it continues to trade within the convertibility range of 7.75 and 7.85. The Hong Kong dollar is officially pegged at 7.80 against the US dollar, and the HKMA allows the currency to trade between HK$7.75 and HK$7.85 under a convertibility band the city's de facto central bank set in May 2005. Observers say one of the reasons for the weakening Hong Kong dollar is that speculation traders are cutting bets the currency will be allowed to gain along with the rising yuan. The Hong Kong dollar sold off sharply after yuan-Hong Kong dollar traded through one-to-one parity without a change to the US dollar-Hong Kong dollar peg, "reducing speculation of a change," Standard Chartered Bank (2888) said in a research note Friday.
China plans to set up a unified gross domestic product (GDP) calculation system nationwide in a move to prevent provinces from cooking their economic figures, said top officials at the National Bureau of Statistics. Provincial governments will no longer have the right to calculate regional GDP. Instead, survey teams will be set up in each province to investigate and report figures directly to the state bureau. The decision was made after complaints surfaced that the regional GDP was usually exaggerated as local governments tried to give the impression that they have fulfilled, or even exceeded, their targets, said Xinhua, citing a conference held on Thursday in Beijing by the bureau. "The fact that regional GDP is not in line with the state figure prompts moves for a unified calculating measure," said Xie Fuzhan, head of the bureau at the conference. Xie didn't give a detailed timetable of the move, but said so far the survey teams, under direct leadership of the bureau, have been formed in nearly all provinces. "For the sake of their political performance, local governments often interfere with the accounting procedure to make the figures look better than they actually are," said Li Mingliang, an analyst at Haitong Securities Co. China's GDP grew 10.9 percent in the first half of 2006, but all the provinces and regions reported double-digit growth rate for the same period of time, with 23 of them above 12 percent, according to Xinhua. "Therefore, it is necessary to make the process of calculation independent to better reflect the local economic status and help the central government check if its restraining measures are working well," Li said.
McDonald's opened its first drive-thru in Beijing Friday, launching a partnership with a major Chinese oil company to set up dozens of drive-thrus to exploit the country's growing taste for both cars and Western fast food. The Beijing drive-thru is McDonald's 16th in China but the first in its venture with China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, or Sinopec (0386), which McDonald's China chief executive Jeffrey Schwartz said would open 25 to 30 more in the next 12 to 18 months. China's booming market is a key growth area for the hamburger chain, Schwartz said. China Mobile, the country's largest mobile-telephone carrier, added a record 4.83 million users last month, outpacing its smaller rivals China Unicom and China Telecom Corp. Reader, reportedly China’s highest-circulation monthly magazine, has launched an online edition, hoping to expand its reach on the internet and into foreign markets, the publisher was quoted as saying on Friday. January 23, 2007
Hong Kong-listed TPV Technology, the world's largest computer monitor maker, will see Philips Electronics become its largest shareholder as BOE Technology Group of China plans to sell half its stake for up to HK$1.1 billion, market sources said. The Exchange Fund's investment income nearly tripled in 2006 - boosted by robust equity markets - adding HK$28.9 billion to the government's treasury, Hong Kong Monetary Authority said Thursday. Hong Kong stocks climbed Thursday to their highest close in more than two weeks as property developers were buoyed by speculation that banks may cut mortgage rates because of the continuing influx of foreign capital.
DHL has announced a US$35 million (HK$273 million) investment program in its Hong Kong facilities that will increase DHL Express ground handling capacity by about 20 percent. Hutchison Telecom Hong Kong, the subsidiary of Hutchison Telecommunications International (2332), said it expects average revenue per wireless user to rise 10 percent this year, as a result of a new bundle of mobile broadband services it launched Thursday. Asia's richest are getting richer. The tycoons listed on this year's Forbes Asia Greater China's 40 Richest List, which covers Hong Kong, Taiwan and China, saw their combined wealth grow by a staggering US$28 billion (HK$218.4 billion) to reach US$158 billion. Hutchison Whampoa (0013) is preparing to offer compensation to homeowners at its first large-scale housing development in Beijing following complaints of inferior quality in the construction. The mainland stock market is likely to rise modestly in 2007 after a correction by 10 percent in the first quarter, HSBC (0005) said Thursday, recommending investors stay invested in mainland equities but trim positions in "overvalued" sectors such as financials, telecom and consumer staples. A Hong Kong couple, convicted of laundering billions of dollars embezzled from a Bank of China branch in the mainland, were on Friday both sentenced to six and a half years in jail. The District Court on Thursday found Hui Yat-sing, 48, and his wife, Wong Suet-mei, 48, guilty of laundering HK$6.4 billion misappropriated from the bank's branch in Kaiping, Guangdong, between September 1995 and October 2001. A government spokesman confirmed the court had sentenced to the pair on Friday. The embezzlement at the branch - known as the "Kaiping Incident" - began in 1991 and only came to light in 2001. It was one of the largest cases of its kind in the mainland - involving funds amounting to US$485 million (HK$3.8 billion). Three former managers at the branch, including Hui's cousin, Xu Chaofan, fled to the United States in late 2001. They were arrested and charged in the US in 2004, with one later extradited to China and jailed. Hui was a former general manager of Ever Joint Properties and Wong a former manager of Yau Hip Trading, the trading arm of Ever Joint. Prosecutors said the couple used the Hong Kong-registered company as a vehicle to siphon off the stolen money. The couple had received the money through complicit mainland companies which received loans from BoC, unauthorised direct lending, and black market underground banks, the court heard. The couple then used the money to generate profits in property, shares, futures and foreign exchange in Hong Kong, the court heard.
Sex appeal is hot new selling point in HK tutoring business - Angela Yiu and Stella Cheng spent weeks meeting with fashion stylists and photographers before deciding on the miniskirts and high heels to wear in their promotion campaign.
International intellectual property rights (IPR) laws will take precedence whenever they are applied in domestic trials even if they differ from domestic laws, a senior judicial figure told a national conference on IPR-related trials. Chinese IPR laws are typically in tune with international IPR laws, so equal protection is accorded to both overseas and domestic IPR owners, Cao Jianming, vice-president of the Supreme People's Court (SPC), said yesterday. The value of the Renminbi (RMB) yuan dropped slightly against the U.S. dollar on Friday after rising for four days in a row earlier in the week, according to the Chinese Foreign Exchange Trade System. The average price of newly built commercial homes in 70 major cities rose 6.3 percent last month compared to a year ago, up 0.5 percentage point from November, according to the top planning body. Property owners will be required to reduce energy use in buildings, leading to at least 1.5 trillion yuan (HK$1.5 trillion) in renovations by 2020 and increased scrutiny of new projects.
China's official Catholic Church said on Friday troubled ties with the Vatican would improve if reports that the Holy See had approved the appointment of a new Beijing-appointed bishop proved accurate. January 22, 2007
China Unicom (0762) is rumored to be talking with top mainland search engine Baidu about launching a mobile search engine service, after a similar deal was signed between China Mobile (0941) and Google China earlier this month. Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun is in Rome to attend high-level meetings and discuss the Vatican's deteriorating relations with Beijing.
Hong Kong's unemployment rate remains static - at just more than 4 per cent - government figures released on Thursday show. A former Hong Kong property executive and his wife involved in a high-profile embezzlement case at Bank of China in the mainland were convicted in Hong Kong on Thursday.
China has overtaken Germany as the world's biggest producer of electrical products, said a report released by one of the key German research institutes on Wednesday.
Beijing Xinwei Telecom Technology Inc, the core developer of China's home-grown TD-SCDMA 3G standard, will hold its long-awaited initial public offering (IPO) in Shenzhen by the end of March, a source close to the situation said. Foreign sports fans on the mainland may be in for a frustrating time this year - the region's top pay-TV sports channels, ESPN and Star Sports, have lost their permission to broadcast to hotels and overseas residents' homes. January 19 - 21, 2007
Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp has reached an agreement to acquire a 100 percent stake in a factoring company in Taiwan, the world's second-largest factoring market.
Hunan Zhuye Torch Metals Co, the publicly traded arm of China's biggest zinc maker, said yesterday it will add 100,000 tons of annual capacity when it completes upgrading a production line next year. The People's Daily carried a letter yesterday from a few citizens of Yexian County, Henan Province, complaining about the county government's banning solar powered water heaters in their community - a residential area called Xinxin Garden. Chinese property stocks experienced a small crash Wednesday, the day after mainland tax authorities announced they are toughening the collection of land appreciation taxes that can range up to 60 percent, from February 1. China Unicom (0762) is rumored to be talking with top mainland search engine Baidu about launching a mobile search engine service, after a similar deal was signed between China Mobile (0941) and Google China earlier this month. Pope Benedict has approved the ordination of a mainland-selected Catholic priest to become bishop of Guangzhou diocese, the first such backing given by the Holy See after bilateral ties were strained with the appointment since May of "illicit" bishops.
The management of the Forbidden City will decide in the first half of the year whether a Starbucks outlet inside the historic site will continue operating following an internet outcry sparked by a mainland newscaster on his website. China's anaemic corporate bond market will be revived this weekend when the country's top leaders transfer regulatory authority from the conservative National Development and Reform Commission to the more market-friendly China Securities Regulatory Commission, sources said. Britain must fight against rising "techno-nationalism" and must collaborate with China, India and South Korea on scientific research to avoid being sidelined within a decade, a report warned on Wednesday. January 18, 2007
The value of the Renminbi (RMB) yuan overtook the HK dollar on Monday for the first time in history. 2007 will be a "bumpy boom" year, Standard Chartered Bank's (SCB) economists said Monday in their global and regional economic and interest rate outlook for 2007. The future well-being of Hong Kong will be determined largely by how well it can maintain and reinforce its status as a "globally significant" international financial-services center to the mainland, a focus group said Monday in the SAR's action agenda on China's 11th Five-Year Plan.
The Hong Kong government should co- operate with mainland authorities in overseas promotions of multi destinations within China, according to Leung Chun-ying, executive councillor and convenor of the professional services, information and technology and tourism group. To strengthen the ability of Hong Kong port to compete with China's western ports, a report from the Economic Summit on China's 11th Five-Year Plan and the Development of Hong Kong has suggested a multiple-entry permit system for river trade vessels aiming to connect the channels along the Pearl River. The Hong Kong Airport Authority has been urged by the economic summit on China's 11th Five-Year Plan and the Development of Hong Kong to work as quickly as possible to introduce an additional cargo terminal and to conduct a study on the need for a third runway at Hong Kong International Airport. The Federation of Hong Kong Industries expressed approval for the 11th Five-Year Plan issued Monday, referring to the report on maritime, logistics and infrastructure as "a good thing" for Hong Kong enterprises. Imagi International Holdings (0585), a Hong Kong-based computer-graphics company, is looking to sell up to HK$370 million worth of shares in a top-up share placement, market sources said. Hong Kong's mandatory provident funds had the best rate of return last year for the second year running, with equity funds from the greater China region and Asia-Pacific excluding Japan showing an impressive performance, a mutual funds analyst said in a report.
Six Taiwan and six mainland airlines will operate a total of 96 round-trip charter flights across the strait from February 13 to February 26 for the Lunar New Year holiday. Hong Kong people buying homes in the mainland are to get greater protection under a proposed new property law. The new law, which would strike a balance between private property and state ownership, would strengthen the confidence and desire of Hong Kong people who plan to purchase properties in the mainland, local National People's Congress deputy Ip Kwok-him said Monday. Hong Kong and Macau deputies to the NPC and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference were briefed on the new law by NPC vice chairman Sheng Huaren, who hosted a preparatory meeting in Shenzhen Monday ahead of the annual NPC session starting in Beijing March 5. The proposed law will be submitted to the NPC session for approval. The Hong Kong Police Force bade farewell Monday to outgoing Commissioner Dick Lee Ming- kwai. More than 100 people were present at the ceremony including senior officers, former secretary for security Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee and Lee's replacement, Tang King- shing. Legislators have accused the Office of the Telecommunications Authority of sitting on its hands during the recent Internet outage caused by an earthquake off Taiwan and called for a report on the incident to include recommendations and contingency measures. The government plans to absorb into the civil service about one-fourth of the more than 16,000 jobs now under contract terms, Secretary for the Civil Service Denise Yue Chung-yee said Monday. However, those holding the 4,000 positions would not automatically become civil servants, she said. Macau casino magnate Stanley Ho Hung-sun is set to buy a stake of up to 10 per cent in Star Cruises, which is to build a casino in Singapore with its partner Genting International, a report said on Tuesday. Hong Kong border officials would from next month deny entry to mainland women who were seven months or more pregnant and did not have hospital bookings, the Immigration Department announced on Tuesday. The chief executive yesterday unveiled more than 200 initiatives to boost Hong Kong's economic competitiveness under the nation's 11th five-year plan, saying they posed a "win win" situation for China. Macau casino magnate Stanley Ho Hung-sun is set to buy a stake of up to 10 per cent in Star Cruises, which is to build a casino in Singapore with its partner Genting International, a report said Tuesday.
China's balance of forex reserves had exceeded one trillion US dollars in 2006 to reach of US$1.0663 trillion, an annual increase of $247.3 billion. Canadian Trade Minister David Emerson signed a technology deal with China Tuesday at the opening of a trip aimed at reinvigorating bilateral trade and investment. China Netcom Group (0906), the largest fixed-line operator in northern China, said its parent company China Network Communications Group has agreed to buy its assets in Guangdong province and Shanghai Municipality for 3.5 billion yuan (HK$3.5 billion). The number of China Internet users reached 130 million by the end of 2006 with total revenue reaching 276.7 billion yuan (HK$276.7 billion), according to a report released by the Internet Society of China and the Internet Professional Association. Germany will use its presidency of the European Union in the first half of this year to push for an end to discrimination against European companies in China, according to the country's ambassador.
China is on its way in becoming the world's fastest-growing wine market with growth in consumption seen far outstripping global rates, a study released on Tuesday said.
Air China is expected to remain the country's most profitable carrier this year while the rest of the pack battles it out in a fast-growing but increasingly competitive market, according to analysts. China Construction Bank Corp, China Mengniu Dairy, China Southern Airlines, Datang International Power Generation and three other Hong Kong-listed stocks will outperform their global peers in delivering returns to investors this year, according to Standard & Poor's Equity Research. January 17, 2007
Hong Kong unveiled on Monday a series of economic proposals as part of a wider move aiming to strengthen its status as a financial centre and to assist China's rapid economic development. Hong Kong food authorities on Monday suspended imports of poultry and frozen poultry meat from Japan - after bird-flu virus infections were confirmed at a farm in the country. Hong Kong can be a reliable platform for any moves to make the yuan fully convertible in the future, having accumulated a great deal of experience in conducting yuan-denominated business since 2004, Monetary Authority deputy chief executive William Ryback said. The Airport Authority said the number of passengers handled rose to a record 44.45 million last year, 9.1 percent higher than in 2005. A decision on HSBC Holdings' (0005) plan to maintain its current stake in Bank of Communications (3328) following the latter's A-share sale is yet to be determined by the mainland regulator, according to a senior official at the United Kingdom-based lender, cited by a mainland newspaper. The past year saw a steadily increasing trend of foreigners acquiring mainland companies, especially in the retail and consumer sector, as Western firms, attracted by the promise of a rising middle class in China's boomtowns, took advantage of lower barriers to entry after the country's accession to the World Trade Organization.
Hong Kong unveiled on Monday a series of economic proposals as part of a wider move aiming to strengthen its status as a financial centre and to assist China's rapid economic development. The demand for chickens and pet birds for upcoming Chinese New Year festivities has raised fears of a surge in bird smuggling into Hong Kong, heightening the risk of outbreaks of deadly bird flu.
Hong Kong was examining the
viability of desalinating sea water to meet its future needs, Secretary for the
Environment, Transport and Works Sarah Liao Sau-tung revealed on Monday.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) used in China in 2006 topped 63 billion U.S. dollars, up 5 percentover the previous year, said Commerce Minister Bo Xilai on Monday. Chinese shares closed sharply higher on Monday, rebounding 4.74 per cent in the biggest one-day gain in seven months as fresh funds came into the market following heavy losses on Friday, dealers said. The central government has cut domestic gasoline and jet fuel prices for the second time in five years, in response to the recent decline in world oil prices. China earned US$33.5 billion (HK$261.3 billion) from tourism last year, making the country the sixth highest tourism revenue earner globally, Xinhua News Agency reported. China received 124 million visitors, Xinhua said, citing statistics from the China National Tourism Administration. Many of those, however, would be residents of Hong Kong and Macau making brief trips across the internal border. The number of tourists from Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia increased steadily last year, and there was "accelerated" growth from newer markets such as Europe, North America and India, Xinhua said, without providing details. "Inbound tourism has become China's biggest service trade area," it said. Officials expect visitor numbers to rise further in coming years, boosted by next year's Beijing Olympics.
The retail price of petrol on the mainland was cut by about 4 per cent yesterday - the first reduction in nearly 19 months by the world's second-largest oil consumer and the second in five years - after international crude oil prices hit a 19-month low.
Barring any last-minute changes,
Beijing is expected to open its much-delayed central financial work conference
on Friday, setting the pace and scale of financial reforms over the next five or
more years. China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), the country's biggest oil producer, would invest US$3.6 billion (HK$28 billion) to develop a block in Iran's offshore gas field, state media reported on Monday. January 16, 2007
The Soko Islands, on which CLP Power hopes to build a liquefied natural gas terminal, are steep with archaeological treasures, according to a report submitted to the government last month.
A green group has expressed fears over plans by Cheung Kong (Holdings) to build a housing project among fish ponds currently serving as a buffer along the Mai Po wetland park and nature reserve. Health officials from Hong Kong and the mainland yesterday pledged to ensure the city's food is safe by stepping up cross-border co-operation, especially on the import of pastries and puddings for the forthcoming Lunar New Year celebration. The mainland needs to institute Hong Kong-style surveillance of bird flu in addition to its vaccination programme if it is to trace the sources of human infections, the WHO said.
Beijing should keep its interest rate high and the real estate sector cool, according to a recent report from top research body the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Dr. Fang Xiang, deputy director of Remote Sensing Service Office, China Meteorological Administration, introduces the first images of weather satellite Fengyun-2D in Beijing January 12, 2007. Fengyun-2D, launched on December 8, 2006, is expected to provide better weather forecast services for the Beijing 2008 Olympics Despite the fact that China slapped a ten-percent tariff on steel billets in November 2006 to contain output, steel billet exports have soared, jumping 54.4 percent the very month the tariff came into force. Tax authorities have reached the first agreement with their US counterparts that could resolve potential double taxation disputes involving retail giant Wal-Mart. Beijing-based developer Soho China, which scrapped a planned initial public offering in 2003 amid poor market sentiment, aims to raise about US$400 million (HK$3.12 billion) in a Hong Kong listing in June, sources familiar with the situation said Friday.
January 15, 2007
Shares in Hong Kong fixed-line operator City Telecom (1137) rocketed 37.5 percent Friday amid rumors the company may be the target of a takeover by China Mobile (0941). The largest shareholder of Xinyu Hengdeli Holdings (3389), a distributor and retailer of high-end Swiss watches in the mainland, is seeking to sell 43.48 million shares, or 3.5 percent of the company, for up to US$32.9 million (HK$256.6 million). Beijing-based developer Soho China, which scrapped a planned initial public offering in 2003 amid poor market sentiment, aims to raise about US$400 million (HK$3.12 billion) in a Hong Kong listing in June, sources familiar with the situation said Friday.
All food products entering Hong Kong from the mainland will be closely monitored to ensure the Lunar New Year is as risk-free as possible, the mainland's Import and Export Food Safety Bureau said. Cathay Pacific Airways' stock price soared on Friday after it said it was planning an annual capital expenditure of HK$9.5 billion to HK$10 billion between now and 2009, mainly for fleet expansion. Customs officials seized HK$10.4 million worth of counterfeit goods and pirated DVDs during a month-long operation — which also led to the arrest 130 people, a spokesman said on Friday.
The mainland's largest lender Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (1398), together with several other banks around the world, has indicated an interest in taking over Korea Exchange Bank, South Korea's fifth-largest lender, according to a report by Yonhap News Agency.
China would have 30 million more men of marriageable age than women in less than 15 years as a gender imbalance resulting from the country's tough one-child policy became more pronounced, state media reported on Friday. Leading management consultancy firm McKinsey & Company confirmed yesterday that two employees of its Shanghai office are under investigation by police on suspicion of accepting bribes. "Two employees of our company's IT department in charge of logistics support are suspected of accepting bribes for purchases. But McKinsey itself wasn't accused of involvement," a member of the company's public relations department said. The company declined to give the nationality of the two employees or other details because the police investigation was continuing. "We're co-operating with the Shanghai Public Security Bureau in the investigation, including providing related documents," the public relations official said, referring to the police. On Tuesday, the Ministry of Public Security hailed its achievements in rooting out commercial corruption around the nation, saying it cracked nearly 1,000 cases in the first 11 months of last year, up 54 per cent from the same period in 2005. Nationwide, police arrested 781 people for involvement in the cases. PetroChina, the nation's largest oil and gas producer, has signed a preliminary agreement with the State Forestry Administration to develop biofuel projects in Yunnan and Sichuan provinces, as it seeks to diversify into renewable sources of energy. January 12 - 14, 2007
China Construction Bank (0939) plans to increase its Hong Kong and Macau presence by doubling its number of branches to 28 in three years, with a total investment of about HK$200 million, said senior officials during an inauguration ceremony Wednesday. London-based Standard Chartered (2888) said Wednesday it has spent HK$273 million to acquire a stake in Sino Ocean Real Estate Development, a Chinese property developer which plans to launch its initial public offering in Hong Kong in the third quarter.
Hong Kong is expected to enjoy its fourth straight year of above-trend economic growth in 2007, fuelled by robust consumer spending, healthy exports and falling unemployment, the University of Hong Kong says.
The Chinese economy is not immune to a slowdown in the global economy, even more so if such a slowdown is dragged by the U.S. economy, warned a UN report on Wednesday.
A trio of US House Republicans has reintroduced legislation threatening to slap duties on mainland goods, a sign congressional concern over China's exchange rate policy remains strong despite US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's recent efforts to calm tensions. United Airlines has won tentative approval to operate the first non-stop daily flight between Washington and Beijing, a 14-hour trip that links the countries' capitals as their economies become more intertwined. Final approval from the US Department of Transportation would give United a route coveted by rivals and government officials and potentially worth US$200 million (HK$1.56 billion) a year. "It means that I probably save two to three hours in my flight," said Richard Bush, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. "Anything that gets you into the hotel ahead of the evening rush hour [in Beijing] is great." United did not immediately say how much it would charge for the flight. Existing fares for travel between Washington and Beijing start at under US$1,000 for economy class and can top US$15,000 for first class. If it wins final approval, the airline can begin a non-stop service between Washington Dulles International Airport and Beijing Capital International Airport March 25. "It is overdue," said James Millward, associate professor of Chinese history at Georgetown University. "It shortens the time and shortens the fatigue that is part of international travel." United beat out competitors American Airlines, which sought to fly between Dallas/Fort Worth and Beijing; Continental Airlines, which applied for a service between Newark, New Jersey, and Shanghai; and Northwest Airlines, which applied for a Detroit-Shanghai service. The Transportation Department said United's rivals have 14 days to file objections. The new route would strengthen United's already-extensive Pacific network and provide an injection of cash when the carrier is still trying to regain its former financial strength after a three-year bankruptcy restructuring that ended in February. Analyst Roger King said the cachet of capital-to-capital flights was probably the deciding factor in United's win. Another analyst Terry Trippler said in Minnesota a flight to Shanghai would have offered more economic benefits and predicted it is likely to get stronger consideration for the next US route to be awarded next year. China's newly wealthy ranked travel as their top leisure activity, while spending time with their families placed a distant seventh, according to survey results released on Thursday. January 11, 2007
Wharf T&T, a Hong Kong fixed-line phone operator wholly owned by conglomerate Wharf Group (0004), said it is considering bidding for a third- generation CDMA 2000 license which is expected to be granted by the Office of the Telecommunications Authority in October.
Customers at a Tuen Mun filling station had to pay an extra HK$30 for every 50 liters of fuel purchased due to a defective dispenser that had over-recorded the amount of fuel sold by 5percent. More than half of middle-income earners polled in a survey want the salaries tax returned to 2002-2003 levels as the budget surplus for the current fiscal year is expected to exceed HK$30 billion. Ke Zaishuo, a senior mainland official who played a key role in the Sino- British negotiations leading to Hong Kong's reunification with China, passed away in a Beijing hospital Tuesday morning. China will give a pair of pandas to Hong Kong this year to mark the 10th anniversary of the former British colony’s return to China, state media reported on Wednesday. The pandas will be sent to the territory in the first half of the year, Xinhua News Agency said, citing State Forestry Administration spokesman Cao Qingyao. China gave another pair of pandas, “An An” and “Jia Jia”, to the territory in 1999, and last September the Hong Kong government requested a second pair. Mr Cao said the administration will select two “lively, healthy and young” pandas for Hong Kong. After more than two months into its service, Hong Kong’s long-haul budget airline Oasis said on Wednesday its performance has lived up to expectations and a second route will be launched in June.
China's entrepreneur confidence index, a key indicator of economic performance, hit a record high of 135.3 points in the fourth quarter of 2006. Enterprises that have poor environmental records risk being rejected for bank loans under a nationwide credit system that factors environmental information into loan applications.
China approved 10,538 technology import contracts in 2006, involving a contract value of 22.02 billion U.S. dollars, up 15.6 percent year on year, according to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce. The U.S. government on Tuesday tentatively gave United Airlines the right to operate a new daily flight from Washington to Beijing, China. China's trade surplus reached US$177.47 billion in 2006, the General Administration of Customs said Wednesday. Despite the ongoing frenzy in the A-share market and the listing of China Life Insurance Tuesday, mainland retail investors in Shenzhen were more cautious towards the buoyant market than was expected, contrary to what the share prices showed.
The United Arab Emirates, the second- largest Arab economy, will sign an accord with China to better protect 100,000 mainland construction workers from what Human Rights Watch has called "unscrupulous" employers.
Chinese television presenter Mao Wei had been ordered detained for 10 days on drunk driving charges after driving down the wrong side of one of Shanghai's main downtown freeways, newspapers said on Wednesday.
Philippine port operator International Container Terminal Services Incorporated (ICTSI) on Wednesday said it had bought 60 per cent of a container terminal operator in Shandong. China Unicom, the country's No2 mobile operator, will sell CDMA handsets at 400 yuan each next month to compete with larger rival China Mobile for rural users. January 10, 2007
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates believes the future will be one in which room decor changes with a person's mood and kitchens guide amateur cooks through recipes.
Two of the largest United States investment banks are urging investors to stop pursuing Chinese financial stocks, amid subsiding interest in the sector and the emergence of "late-stage peak- market" symptoms which hint at a bubble developing. Meadville Holdings, owned by the family of Hong Kong Financial Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen, aims to raise up to US$200 million (HK$1.56 billion) through an initial public offering before Lunar New Year, according to a preliminary offer document.
Customs officers have discovered copyright-infringing toys during the Hong Kong Toys and Games Fair 2007, and arrested three mainlanders, a spokesman said on Tuesday. Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun will travel to the Vatican later this month for a high-level meeting at which the Holy See's latest China strategy will be mapped out.
The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday gave its backing to the Hong Kong dollar's peg to the US unit, saying the exchange rate system could withstand Chinese yuan strength, helped by reforms introduced two years ago.
The China Life Insurance Co., the nation's largest life insurer, listed its shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange Tuesday at 37 yuan (4.74 U.S. dollars) per share.
Timetable set for making large planes - Hundreds of large planes fly in and out of Chinese airports daily but none sports a Made-in-China label. The picture will change in 10 to 15 years, when indigenously-developed large aircraft offer more choice to airlines which fly only Boeing or Airbus. "The large-plane project is being carefully studied," Huang Qiang, secretary-general of the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, said yesterday. "We estimate that within two or three Five-Year-Plan periods, our large plane will come into use." It was the first time officials specified a timetable for a project which Huang said has led to widespread interest among the public and would cause some nervous moments for foreign aircraft makers. In China, key projects are usually part of national five-year plans; and a large plane was listed as a priority project in the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10), during which design of the aircraft would start, commission officials said earlier. There have been mounting calls from the public for an early implementation of the large plane project, a program that "has also kept some in (global aviation giants) Boeing and Airbus on their toes," Huang told a press conference on the sidelines of the commission's annual work conference yesterday in Beijing. Used for both military and civilian purposes, large aircraft have a load capacity of at least 100 tons; and a passenger carrier of that size usually has 200 seats, experts said. Huang said the large-aircraft project can build on the expertise and experience of the aviation industry, particularly of the ARJ21, China's advanced regional jet whose manufacture started in December 2003. The China Aviation Industry Corp I (AVIC I) has clinched 71 orders for ARJ21 jets, even though the regional plane will have test flights only next year, according to Huang. The reasons for its success are that the company offers medium-capacity jets of the best quality at a competitive price, which best suits Chinese market needs, according to Liu Gaozhuo, former AVIC I president, who said he believed the same would be true for China's large aircraft. In its latest market outlook, the AVIC I-affiliated Aviation Industry Development Research Centre said China needs 2,230 large-sized planes through 2025, by which time Boeing expects the number to reach 3,900. Boeing and Airbus are sole suppliers of large planes to China. The announcement of the large-plane program comes on the heels of last week's unveiling of Jian-10, the home-made new-generation fighter jet made by AVIC I. Alibaba Group, China's biggest e-commerce company, rolled out a new business software venture yesterday as the IT giant sought to strengthen its position in the country's rapidly expanding e-commerce market.
China would mull a new financial super inter-agency to manage its US$5 trillion (HK$39 trillion) held in the nation’s various state-run financial institutions, media reported on Tuesday. Digital Media Group (DMG), a Beijing-based start-up battling for a share of Asia's surging LCD advertising market, has secured a new round of financing from Oak Investment Partners and other investors backing its bid to make a profit underground. January 9, 2007
Despite the tumble in share prices last week for H shares and American Depository Receipts, China Life Insurance's (2628) A-share listing tomorrow will be a catalyst in the A-share market, although its H shares may not benefit, fund managers say. Despite Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen's claim Hong Kong's economic situation is the best in almost 20 years, with the benchmark Hang Seng Index hitting record highs, great differences in the performance of retailers show not all have benefited. The coming Lunar New Year is shaping up to be the best for local outbound travel agents in the past 10 years, thanks to the booming economy and a longer break between Christmas and the New Year holidays.
As internet services return to normal after being disrupted by the Boxing Day earthquake off Taiwan, Hong Kong users face a possible new blow - higher charges.
Foreign trade in industrial powerhouse Guangdong province topped US$500 billion (HK$3.9 trillion) last year, up US$100 billion over the previous year, state press reported.
January 8, 2007
Despite the recent weakening of the local currency, Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief executive Joseph Yam Chi-kwong said he does not see liquidity flowing out of the Hong Kong financial market.
Hopes of mobile giant Vodafone taking over the Indian operations of Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd (2332) may have been dashed, as a Vodafone investor warned the rumored US$20 billion (HK$156 billion) price tag may be too high. COSCO Pacific (1199), the Hong Kong-listed unit of the mainland's largest shipper, China Ocean Shipping, plans to invest HK$4 billion to expand port capacity to boost its freight traffic by 20 percent. In Geneva, the new head of the World Health Organization Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun Friday expressed confidence that Hong Kong's health officials can cope with bird flu, the key concern of global health. Hong Kong has lost two of the four pillars of its economy, Lingnan University president Edward Chen Kwan-yiu warned yesterday. The economics professor said that of the pillars - logistics, tourism, finance and trade-related support services - the city had lost the opportunity to develop into a logistics hub and a "breakthrough" would be needed in tourism. He said Hong Kong could claim to have maintained only its status as a financial centre with its trade-support services. "[Guangzhou] Baiyun International Airport will certainly replace Hong Kong as a logistics centre," the former executive council member told a seminar on Hong Kong's economic outlook for 2007 to 2012. "Hong Kong has not understood what was meant by logistics from the very beginning." He also said that unless there was a breakthrough, tourism could not be counted on as a pillar. "It does not have historical sites, no Star Ferry pier, no artefacts and no scenic spots." Professor Chen also criticised the fact that few people understood the true meaning of "positive non-interventionism" - a term coined by Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen that sparked heated debate. The economist said the term referred to the fact that the market was imperfect and intervention was needed whenever there was a market distortion. While calling for a population policy, he urged local universities and other sectors to attract talent not only from the mainland but also from overseas to make the city a "desirable place for people to settle down", not just make money. Professor Chen also criticised Hong Kong for failing to achieve equality in society. Executive councillor Henry Fan Fung-ling, another seminar speaker, expressed more confidence in Hong Kong's development, saying it would benefit from the mainland's fast economic growth. While saying the individual traveller scheme had provided a market for local tourism, he said Hong Kong should take advantage of the business opportunities arising from the mergers and procurements of mainland enterprises. "What we lack [are people] who are experts in their field, yet also understand the thinking of mainland people," said Mr Fan, managing director of Citic Pacific and deputy chairman of Cathay Pacific Airways.
The Internet search giant Google Inc. has bought a stake in a Chinese software provider as part of the company's bid to extend its dominance beyond Internet searches to other online services, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
China's domain name managers and Internet service providers refuted on Friday recent media reports about the loss of domestic domain names following the Taiwan earthquake that severed undersea cables last month. China's central bank moved Friday to rein in the sizzling growth of the A-share stock market by raising the reserve requirement ratio for financial institutions by 50 basis points in order to mop up excess liquidity in the market. January 5 - 7, 2007
With a slowing property market due to the central government's tightening measures, mainlanders have been moving quickly into the red-hot domestic equity market, resulting in a record high in the total number of investors. According to China Securities Depository and Clearing, there were 72.6 million investor accounts throughout the country as of end November. Of these, 72.3 million or 99.5 percent are individual accounts. With the A-share market reopening for new offerings in June after closing for a year, new A-share investor accounts tripled to 2.76 million in 2006. An average 30,000 new accounts per day were recorded amid the A-share market's strong run towards the end of last year. China Mobile (0941) said it will cooperate with Google, the world's largest search engine, to provide mobile search services in the mainland.
Hong Kong's Central has maintained its position as the most expensive business district in the Asia-Pacific region and the third most expensive in the world, as rents in the office hub continue to rise, according to a survey released yesterday.
Sino Gold, an Australian-listed
gold-mining company, plans to seek approval for a secondary listing of about
US$100 million in Hong Kong on January 25, market sources said.
China's trade surplus may surge to a record new high of around 190 billion U.S. dollars this year despite government efforts to curb exports and encourage imports, the Chinese Academy of Sciences predicted in its latest analytical report. Chinese shares opened stronger on Thursday, the first trading day of 2007, with the major index, the Shanghai Composite, at 2,728.19 points, up 52.71 points or 1.97 percent.
New accounting and audit rules began on Monday after months of preparation and training by firms to ease the transition. "The transition may bring about the undulation of corporate accounting profits and thus influence the results of 2006 financial reports and activate the market revaluation," said Cao Deming, head of Renmin University of China's accounting department. The accounting reform will initially target listed companies. But the Ministry of Finance (MOF) has also asked other non-listed companies such as insurers to kick off the accounting change. Enterprises owned by the central government will also adopt the new accounting rules. Among them, 24 giants such as China Mobile and China Telecom will pioneer the new system, while the rest will follow suit before the end of 2008. The banking industry will be most affected by the change, and the new rules are expected to greatly impact performance indices such as net profits and assets. "Preparations for the link-up of the old and new accounting rules should be done before December 31, 2006," said a Bank of China (BOC) spokesman. Staff members at BOC have been busy revising its corporate accounting manual and redesigning, testing and adjusting its accounts system. China Construction Bank (CCB) has spent the past month intensively training its financial staff for the change. It invited professionals from IBM to help debug the financial software system. "Due to the nature of the change, the system readjustment is complicated," said a CCB employee. Per capita gross domestic product in Guangzhou was likely to have surpassed US$10,000 (HK$78,000) last year, making Guangdong's capital the first leading mainland city to break that mark, state media reported on Thursday. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will visit China next week to mark the 15-year anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties and to discuss the situation in the Middle East, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Thursday. Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, China's biggest chipmaker, yesterday denied it had been approached by buyout firms, adding to confusion surrounding the company after rumours triggered the stock's biggest gain in more than two years. Dec 29, 2006 - January 4, 2007 Happy New Year
Hong Kong Consumer Council chief executive Pamela Chan Wong-shui is to receive an international award for her contribution to Hong Kong consumers' welfare and China's consumer movement, the American Council on Consumer Interests said.
Unabated desire for mainland financial and telecom stocks pushed up the Shanghai bourse and consequently the H-share index in Hong Kong, but analysts say both fund managers and retail investors have been too carried away to notice the looming risk of a stock market bubble.
*News information are obtained via various sources deemed reliable, but not guaranteed
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Holidays Greeting from President Obama &
Johnson Choi
Hong Kong: Some 200
people chosen as volunteer leaders for the 2008 Olympic equestrian event on
Saturday joined in a ceremony which kicked off the Hong Kong equestrian
volunteer program. The leaders, who are fluent in Cantonese, mandarin Chinese
and English, will take part in a two-day course to learn basic knowledge on the
event. The volunteers will be deployed to a myriad of responsibility areas
ranging from competition venues to translation to media support, said the
organizers. At the ceremony, the equestrian company's chief executive officer
Lam Woon-Kwong reminded the volunteer leaders that they should be aware that
they are serving on the very front-line as goodwill ambassadors and that they
are making part of the Olympic history. Each volunteer was given a "smile
wristlet", a token of their unity with other Chinese host cities. Following the
ceremony, volunteers will receive some 80 hours of training, including
residential training, which will be held in Pl Leung Kuk holiday camp in Sai
Kung for two consecutive weekends in March. The leadership training programs are
tailored for volunteers in Hong Kong by expert trainers. Riordan, who also
trained volunteers at the Athens and Sydney Olympic Games, said the training
program is not simple despite it comes with just one Olympic event. "The reality
is that the equestrian event will be held far away from Beijing and in a
separated environment. We need to have volunteers trained to greet guests from
the airport, Olympic village and the transport hubs. It like putting on a
mini-Olympics, " he said. 
The crime drama "The Departed, " Hollywood's adaption of a Hong Kong thriller,
fought off the upstart "Little Miss Sunshine" on Sunday night to win the Oscar
for best picture of the year, while its director Martin Scorsese ended a long
losing streak and finally won an Academy Award.
China:
The 2007 Chinese Lunar New Year once
again reflected the emergence of a new trend: Chinese New Year is being
celebrated by people around the world. It has become a festival celebrated by
ordinary people in many countries and one that is enjoyed by both Chinese and
non-Chinese. Since the 1990s, the Spring Festival has become increasingly
fashionable in countries and regions where Chinese have immigrated. Many
festivities are held. Heads of state and government leaders convey their
greetings to the local Chinese community. Some cities and regions have listed
Spring Festival as a public holiday. On the eve of Spring Festival this year,
more than 1,000 red and gold lights were lit on the top of the Empire State
Building. London Mayor Ken Livingstone, joined by footballers Frank Lampard from
Chelsea and Wang Dalei from Shanghai, turned on huge Chinese lanterns at Oxford
Circus to launch celebrations arranged to coincide with the Lunar New Year. A
Chinese friend residing in Paris told me on the phone that farmers from Brittany
had arranged a special Spring Festival promotion. Each person purchasing their
cheese was entitled to a free pair of Chinese chopsticks. The farmers said they
were taking advantage of the Spring Festival to generate business in this
beautiful season. From the president to local villagers, French people are
celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year, each in their own way. With more and
more people around the world aware of the cultural value of the Chinese Lunar
New Year, the Spring Festival is becoming more internationalized. Different to
Western religious holidays and festivals, Spring Festival celebrations reflect
people's desire for well-being in their current life. People pray for happiness,
look forward to the future, guard their family, and seek smooth and harmonious
interpersonal relations during these holidays. All these philosophies are well
demonstrated in a series of festive activities. Jubilant drums and firecrackers,
lion dances, and the ubiquitous Chinese red color, reflect an optimistic outlook
on life. To Chinese people, the Spring Festival is a folk show. To people in
other countries, it has a broader and deeper implication: it is a festival of
cultural exchange and an opportunity for people across the world to appreciate
different cultures and communicate. Owing to the efforts of tens of millions of
overseas Chinese in more than 150 countries, the beautiful festival is receiving
more and more international recognition. It is these people's love of Chinese
culture and high degree of cultural consciousness that has encouraged the spread
of Chinese Lunar New Year traditions and customs to other countries and peoples.
Chinese language fever has also played a role in increasing the popularity of
the Spring Festival. Since the first Confucius Institute was opened in Seoul,
the capital of South Korea in November 2004, China has signed agreements with 52
countries to establish 131 Confucius Institutes across the world. Eighty-seven
of these have already been opened. There are a large number of people studying
Chinese through a variety of channels. Moreover, these people are sharing their
interest and love of Chinese language and culture with their family and friends.
These people realize that learning the language and studying Chinese culture
will allow them a shortcut to a dynamic country and the world's fourth largest
economy, as well as improve ties with a great nation that has a growing
economic, diplomatic and cultural influence in the world. They also understand
that mastering the Chinese language and understanding the culture is a
prerequisite for fully understanding the world. In such circumstances, how could
Spring Festival, the largest folk festival of the Chinese nation, be left out?
Thanks to China's development and increasing prosperity, the world is embracing
a great new cultural celebration, the Spring Festival. 
China's airlines
carried 3.71 million passengers during this year's week-long Spring Festival
holiday, up 21 percent year on year, according to preliminary estimate by the
Civil Aviation Administration of China.
Sik Kok Kwong, Hong Kong Buddhist
Association chairman, leads other local Buddhist leaders in prayer at the
association's spring reception at the Buddhist Cultural Centre in Causeway Bay
yesterday. Sik Chi Wai, abbot of Po Lin Monastery on Lantau, said seven Buddhist
Association members of the Election Committee had nominated Donald Tsang Yam-kuen
for chief executive, and he believed Mr Tsang would get most of the 40 religious
sub-sector votes.
TSMT wants a share sale in Hong Kong for its mainland operations to skirt
Taiwan's curbs on China investment, analysts say. Taiwan Surface Mounting
Technology Corp (TSMT), a printed circuit board assembly service supplier, plans
to spin off its mainland operations to raise between HK$400 million and HK$500
million for capacity expansion around June, market sources said.
Members of the City Contemporary Dance Company perform a lion dance in front of
a backdrop for longevity and prosperity during Lunar New Year celebrations at
Broadcasting House, Kowloon Tong.
A
bee collects pollen from plum blossom in a garden in Suzhou City, east China's
Jiangsu Province, Feb. 23, 2007. Warm weather has accelerated the florescence of
plum blossom, attracting swarms of bees in Suzhou.
Laborers begin preliminary work on the
construction of a dam on the Nu River in Lushui, Yunnan province . A proposed
series of hydroelectric dams on the river, which is also known as the Salween,
has caused an outcry among environmental groups and human rights activists. The
2,815km river runs through the mainland's Three Rivers area, a Unesco World
Heritage site, and through Myanmar and Thailand, and is Asia's last
international undammed river.
Tianjin may be touting its Binhai
New Area as the nation's next financial hub, but one of the country's top
advisers on urban planning says it will not replicate the success of Shanghai's
Pudong district. Binhai has been widely promoted by local authorities as the
mainland's third economic engine since the State Council announced last year
that the municipality would host experimental national financial and land
reforms. For the local government, the idea is for the region to follow in the
footsteps of Shenzhen, an important contributor to the rise of the Pearl River
Delta in the 1980s, and Pudong, the development zone that powered the Yangtze
River Delta's boom in the 1990s. But Lu Dadao , a geographical economist with
the Chinese Academy of Sciences and leader of an expert team advising the
country on planning programmes for the Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei zone and the
Yangtze River Delta zone, said the expectations were flawed. "It's impossible
for Binhai to become comparable to Pudong in many important aspects. They are at
two different levels," Mr Lu said. Entrusted by the National Development and
Reform Commission (NDRC), Mr Lu and his team have spent the past two years
working on economic plans for the two zones and, after discussions with the NDRC,
expect to wrap up the project in the next couple of months and send their
recommendations to the State Council for approval. The NDRC's urban planning
takes precedence over all others, including those compiled by other ministries
and city governments. Mr Lu said his team's plan called for Tianjin to be
positioned as a manufacturing and logistics centre, instead of a financial hub.
Tianjin Mayor Dai Xianglong , a former central bank governor, is pushing for
financial innovation in the Binhai zone and earlier this month expressed a
desire to see the city compete with Pudong and Beijing's Financial Street area
to attract finance companies, banks and brokerages. However, Mr Lu said Binhai
would not receive as much central government financial and policy support as
Pudong. "Pudong's development was determined by the central government. Binhai's
different, though it appears to be the same," he said. Pudong received more than
40 billion yuan from the central government and in bank loans in the 1990s to
fund its airport, subway and other infrastructure. In addition, the state
allowed the area to keep a share of its fiscal revenue. A solid foundation was
laid for the financial centre by moving national stock, futures, property rights
and commodities exchanges into Pudong and establishing a diamond exchange. There
have also been a string of preferential policies in corporate tax, land and
other sectors, allowing it to pioneer financial and trade services. Tianjin's
gains from the state are minor in comparison. Local officials have said they
will not get money from the central government to develop the zone, but the
municipality is allowed to increase the amount of land for industrial purposes
at a faster speed than other cities and grant hi-tech companies a 15 per cent
corporate income tax rate, the national average tax break for offshore
enterprises. 
Passengers
arrive in Xi'an railway station in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, Feb. 23, 2007. The
Spring Festival travel period begins to see its post-festival passenger peak on
Friday in some cities as college students started to return to schools and
migrant workers returned to the cities.
Scores of youngsters are treated for
indigestion at a hospital in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, yesterday as Lunar New
Year excesses take their toll on the mainland's pampered children. State media
blamed the indigestion epidemic on an inappropriate diet over the holiday
period, when children are not only offered packets of lucky money, but piles of
sweets and chocolates on which to pig out.
Sai Kung resident Kiki Sun Wai-ki, 8, plays the xiao ruan during the
Beauty of Sai Kung Traditions carnival yesterday. Organised by the Sai Kung
Rural Committee, the two-day event featured traditional folk music, dancing and
acrobatics to celebrate the Lunar New Year and the 10th anniversary of the
handover. The festival attracted 300 people on Friday.
A dragon and lion dance at Times
Square welcomes in the Year of the Pig. Tenant rents are set to rise after
excellent holiday sales.
European Union foreign policy chief
Javier Solana (L) and Chinese ambassador to the EU, Guan Chengyuan. Solana
extended on Thursday his best wishes to the EU-China relations in 2007.
Chan Tze-ching,
the head of Citigroup's Hong Kong operations, has resigned and will leave at the
end of April after spending 27 years at the world's largest banking group. His
retirement was announced on Friday by Robert Morse, chief executive of
Citigroup's corporate and investment banking in the Asia-Pacific, who said in an
internal memo to management that Mr Chan hoped to pursue other interests,
according to sources. "We don't expect any significant impact on the Hong Kong
operation as it is well established and has been doing very well for the past
few years," a bank spokesman said. Mr Chan was not joining a rival, the
spokesman added. Sources said Mr Chan, better known as T.C. Chan rather than by
his Christian name of Ignatius, told his staff privately that as the bank's
businesses had been well established, he should spend more time with his family
and help those who were in need. Mr Chan, 50, and married with two daughters, is
Citigroup's Hong Kong country officer and head of the Greater China corporate
and investment banking unit. He joined Citibank Hong Kong in 1980 after serving
in various positions in finance, operations, investment and corporate banking
organizations in the city. He was transferred to Japan in the mid-1980s and
stayed there for eight years before he returned to Hong Kong in 1994 to become
Citigroup's country treasurer and head of sales and trading. "He made
Citigroup's treasury business well recognised by the market while in Tokyo," a
banker close to Mr Chan said. He was promoted in 1997 as head of the Hong Kong
corporate banking business and two years later as country officer. In 2003, Mr
Chan left Hong Kong again to become the Taiwan country officer after his
predecessor Eric Chen left with about 20 senior staff for Chinatrust Financial
Holding, a major financial firm on the island. His colleagues at that time
called him a "firefighter", as he faced the daunting task of filling the sudden
void in senior management and restoring morale at the bank's Taiwan operation,
sources said. Mr Chan came back to Hong Kong in January 2005 and assumed his
current position. A market watcher said Mr Chan was partly in charge of the
group corporate and investment banking business in the mainland, a "challenging"
job that would be difficult for the bank to fill. A banker familiar with Mr Chan
said he was "smart" and very committed to his work as well as to interest groups
in the local financial service industry and to community service. Mr Chan, a
Justice of the Peace, is a council member of the Treasury Market Association of
the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and chairman of the government advisory
committee on human resources development in the financial services sector.
Gold will touch US$730
(HK$5,694) per ounce this year, closing in on last year's peak, according to
William Lee Tak-lun, president of the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society.
Lee reflected the bullish sentiment in the gold market as the exchange Wednesday
marked the first trading day in the Year of the Pig. In May 2006 , gold hit a
26-year high of US$730 per ounce. In London Wednesday it was trading at
US$657.75 per ounce. Lee said the 97-year-old exchange is gradually paving the
way for a public listing while also building up market infrastructure. "The
first step this year is to launch an electronic trading platform," Lee said.
Currently, the exchange uses an open outcry method of dealing, with trading from
9am to 5pm. Lee predicts trading volumes will multiply once the exchange begins
electronic trading. Trials will be carried out in the second quarter, with the
aim of going electronic in the third quarter. A HK$12 million investment has
been made in the new computer-based trading platform, provided by i-Asia Online
Systems. Lee said the system will allow for multi-currency trading and enable
after- hours trading to match the opening hours of overseas markets. Secretary
for Financial Services and the Treasury Frederick Ma Si-hang attended the
ceremony marking the first trade Wednesday. Ma said the economy had performed
well in the Year of the Dog and growth would continue this year. But he
cautioned investors to assess their own capacity and targets before putting
money into an equities market that was at new highs. He said the market was
easily affected by external factors, including the US property market and US
interest rates, as well as mainland economic growth. Referring to the US$730 per
ounce projection for gold, Ma said the price was "basically supported by the
real demand for gold globally, especially from countries including China and
Britain." The appreciation of the yuan and the weakening greenback would
stimulate gold demand in the mainland, Ma said. The first trade for 99 tael gold
in the Year of the Pig was quoted at HK$6,128 per tael, the highest Lunar New
Year opening price in the past five years. It compared with HK$5,228 last year,
HK$3,888 in 2005, HK$3,763 in 2004 and HK$3,438 in 2003. The price of 99 tael
gold slipped 1.35 percent to HK$6,133 per tael from the closing price last
Friday. 
Chief executive candidate
Alan Leong takes his campaign to the people outside the Kowloon Tong KCR station
on Thursday.
A police car is seen at the fog-covered
Tian'anmen Square in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 21, 2007. Sections of seven
Beijing and ten Tianjin highways closed due to the thick fog that smothered
north China on Wednesday morning.
Two archaeologists
work on a tomb nearby the Olympic Forest Park with special arrangement that
represents a turtle. The six bricks that strech out of the hexagon pit are the
head, tail and four feet of a turtle, its tail pointing to the north. When the
world's top athletes gather at the 31 newly-built arenas for the Beijing
Olympics to compete for gold, silver and bronze, many might not realize that
right beneath where they stand were buried mounds of "gold, silver and bronze"
treasures, some dating back 2,000 years. A: Five-color Porcelain Jar; B: Jade
Belt; Crane-and-cloud pot; Gold Gawu; C: Jade Fish; Terra-cotta Jar; Terra-cotta
pot. Archaeologists surveyed about 1.6 million square meters of land at about 17
under-construction Olympic venues between April 2004 and last November, and
unearthed 700 ancient tombs with 1,500 artifacts, according to Kong Fanzhi, head
of Beijing Administration of Cultural Heritage. Fittingly, Kong's briefing was
held at the reconstruction sites of two ancient temples, one next to the
National Aquatics Center and the other near the neighboring Olympic Village.
"Beijing has inherited a rich collection of cultural relics, so the construction
of Olympic venues had to take their preservation into consideration. This is
part of the government's promise to host a 'Cultural Olympics'". As most of the
city's relics rest inside Beijing's ancient city walls - a fortification built
around 1435 in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and now replaced by the city's
second ring road - and the city wall of the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368), which is
located a little north of the North Third Ring Road, none of the Olympic venues
were built inside or nearby these relics-rich city walls. The foundation of the
Water Cube, the aquatics center, was laid 100 meters further north to its
original chosen site so that a nearby 500-year-old Taoist temple dedicated to
the fertility goddess, could survive. Yet due to unavoidable construction at the
chosen sites, Kong's team had to excavate 9,787 square meters of land, about 0.6
percent of the total area they surveyed. The artifacts unearthed from the
mostly-civilian tombs will be used for research and displays. 
More than 85,000 people turned up at the
two racecourses Tuesday to welcome the Year of the Pig, the largest single-day
attendance in four years. They also poured more than HK$1 billion into the tote,
the highest single- day turnover for the current season, though this was
marginally down on the Lunar New Year turnovers for the first racing days of the
Monkey, Rooster and Dog. "The turnover may have been affected by the late
withdrawal of a well- supported runner in the Hong Kong Derby Trial," said
Jockey Club chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht- Bresges, who insisted the day
was still a "marvelous success in every way." The day also saw the creation of
at least four more Hong Kong multimillionaires, with more than HK$40 worth of
winning tickets for the Triple Trio which paid HK$8 million for each HK$10
ticket. Opening the celebrations to mark the Year of the Pig was Chief Secretary
Rafael Hui Si-yan, who with Jockey Club chairman John Chan dotted the eyes of
the ceremonial lions. Hui said he hoped Hong Kong would have a stable if not
prosperous Year of the Pig and wished the Jockey Club luck in its bid to win
back punters and betting dollars from illegal bookmakers and offshore betting
pools. Hui's remarks were followed by performances from the popular Cantopop
singing duet Twins, the Haicheng Stilt Walkers, Sichuan Opera Face Changing
master Liu Zhiyong and Red Poppies Percussion, the world's first all- woman
percussion band. By the time the races got under way, a total of 85,967 people
had crossed the turnstiles at Sha Tin and Happy Valley racecourses, a 4 percent
rise on the 82,703 who turned up last year. Total turnover for the 10-event card
reached HK$1.011 billion - about HK$40 million short of last year's figure.
Believers rub their hands on a bas
relief sculpture of a pig for good luck at Baiyunguan Taoist temple (White Cloud
Temple) on the third day of the Lunar New Year in Beijing. 
Higher revenue
from private treaty grants and lease modifications will boost total land income
this fiscal year to HK$43 billion - 50 percent more than last year, market
watchers say. In the first three quarters of the year ended December 31, total
land income reached about HK$34 billion - already surpassing the government's
full-year target of HK$30.5 billion. The government will book more than HK$9
billion in this last quarter when three residential sites in Tai Po valued at
HK$5.7 billion go under the hammer next month, as well as a finalized HK$3.34
billion land-conversion premium for a property project above Tseung Kwan O MTR
station. Financial Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen will unveil land income figures
for the year ending March 31, as well as land revenue forecast for the next
fiscal year in his budget next week. Total land income totaled HK$28.7 billion
in 2005-2006.
Brilliant chrysanthemums several
stories high lit up the dull skies over Victoria Harbor Monday night as 330,000
residents welcomed in the Year of the Pig on the second day of the Lunar New
Year. Despite the poor visibility and low cloud ceiling brought about by a
northeasterly monsoon, 12 displays comprising 28,000 shells were discharged from
three boats in the harbor in the 23-minute display. The show was sponsored by
the Association of Hong Kong Members of Guangdong's Chinese People's Political
Consultative Conference at a cost of HK$4 million and coordinated by the Home
Affairs Bureau. Several piers and roads near the waterfront were closed to
accommodate spectators. The fireworks took place after Chief Executive Donald
Tsang Yam-kuen appealed for community harmony while continuing to expound his
family theme during visits to two villages in Tai Po as part of his election
campaign. "The Lunar New Year has a significance to the Chinese people as the
time to gather the family that may be dispersed across the globe," Tsang said.
Speaking casually to villagers at Nam Wah Po during a tour of the 400-year old
ancestral hall in Hang Ha Po, Tsang appeared impressed with the Confucian
atmosphere of the hamlets, adding that family harmony was the foundation for
social unity.
In the first three days
of the Spring Festival, President Hu visited local residents, workers who stuck
to their posts in the week-long holidays and needy families in Gansu Province.
Chinese President Hu Jintao greets local residents at "small West Lake" park of
Lanzhou, capital city of Northwest China's Gansu Province February 18, 2007,
China's Lunar New Year's Day. In the first three days of the Spring Festival, Hu
and other officials visited local residents who stuck to their post during the
week-long holidays.
As Wal-Mart,
Carrefour and other foreign retailers crowd into China, they are greeted with
open arms by a government that, in this industry at least, shows few
protectionist proclivities. A major reason for the welcoming attitude is that
the foreigners, for all their lofty ambitions and deep pockets, remain minor
players in a giant market where 1.3 billion people are learning the joys of mass
consumption. "Excessive market share [by a foreign company] is not a concern for
the government," said Candy Huang, an analyst with BNP Paribas in Shanghai. "The
biggest player in China currently has only around a 5 percent national market
share," she said. The foreigners are working hard to become bigger. Earlier this
month, British retailer Tesco said it would open 10 more outlets in China this
year after its first store in Beijing opened last month. With a 90 percent stake
in Hymall - a grocery brand under Taiwan-based Ting Hsin International Group -
Tesco now effectively has 45 Hymall stores across China. Home Depot of the
United States also recently signed an agreement to buy China-based retailer
Homeway's 14 home furnishing stores to better compete with British rival B and
Q, which has 52 stores.
Heung Yee Kuk chairman Lau Wong-fat (right, red scarf) and Alex Choy Kan-pui of
Sha Tin Rural Committee officiate pray for good fortune at the popular Che Kung
Temple in Sha Tin.
Chinese President
Wen Jiabao sings on the eve of Chinese Lunar New Year, or the Spring Festival
with college students in Northeast University, Liaoning province.
A family shares a reunion dinner
yesterday at Hoi Tin Harbour Restaurant in Causeway Bay. Wu Ka-chun, of the Hoi
Tin eatery, expects a 20 per cent increase in turnover. 
Chinese President Hu
Jintao speaks at a grand gathering held in the Great Hall of the People in
Beijing, Feb. 16, 2007. Chinese leaders attended the grand gathering to
celebrate the upcoming Spring Festival and extend festival greetings to the
Chinese people. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Friday pledged to continue to
boost economic development, deepen reform and opening-up and listen to the
people in his New Year speech.
Man grasps
the bull horn of a statue in excitement in east China's Shanghai Feb. 16, 2007.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, a major index of Chinese shares, hit an
all-time high of 3036.35 points and closed at a record high of 2,998.47 points
on Friday, up 5.46 points over the previous close. The component index of the
smaller Shenzhen Stock Exchange also hit an all-time high of 8740.91 points but
closed at 8,572.27 points, down 10.64 points.
Li
Zhaoxing (right) shares a light moment with his Japanese counterpart, Taro Aso,
before talks in Tokyo yesterday. Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing offered yesterday
to reopen negotiations with Japan in a heated dispute over the East China Sea as
the two neighbours further mend strained relations, Japanese officials said.
Financial services secretary Frederick
Ma Si-hang (centre) attends the opening of the Democratic Alliance for the
Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong's booth at the Lunar New Year fair in
Victoria Park, with lawmakers Tam Yiu-chung (left) and Ma Lik.
the shape of a
dragon during a lantern fair to celebrate the upcoming Spring Festival at a park
in Shenyang, Northeast China's Liaoning Province, February 15, 2007. About
13,000 lanterns are displayed during the fair that begins on February 15 and
runs through March 5.
The photo
taken on Feb. 14, 2007 shows the newly-completed No. 3 terminal building and
parking building in Beijing Capital Airport in Beijing, China. The extension
project of the airport, with overall investment of 27 billion yuan (about 3.3
billion US dollars), started on March 28, 2004 and is expected to finish at the
end of 2007. The extension will contribute to the 2008 Olympic Games.
The Kowloon-Canton
Railway Corporation has promised a thorough review of its safety systems after a
blown transformer disrupted the morning commute for more than 1,000 West Rail
passengers Wednesday. This latest snag - which forced 650 angry passengers to
walk about two kilometers through a dark Tai Lam Tunnel and others to find
another way to the office - adds to the woes that have plagued the railway over
the past 12 months. Last year the railway operator - which is merging with MTR
Corporation - came under heavy fire for cracks discovered in the undercarriages
of its trains. According to eyewitness accounts, passengers riding the Tsuen
Wan- bound train Wednesday heard a loud bang at about 9.13am and saw smoke
pouring from the top of one of the train compartments. The carriages and the
tunnel were filled with thick smoke, according to some accounts. Passengers
panicked. The KCRC confirmed the conductor heard a loud bang and received
reports from passengers over the train's intercom about smoke in the carriage. A
spokesman for the Fire Department said the fire was quickly put out, but at
least 11 people were taken to hospital. All were discharged, except for one male
passenger who is listed as satisfactory. Passengers walked for nearly half an
hour to Tsuen Wan West station. The delay lasted for more than three hours, with
regular service through the tunnel resuming just before 1pm. Senior officials at
the KCRC said the fire was caused by oil leaking from a transformer on the roof
of a carriage.
A woman (L)
holding her child waits to board Shanghai Airlines flight 9501 bound for Taipei
in southeast China's Taiwan Province, in Shanghai, east China, on Feb. 14, 2007.
Shanghai Airlines on Wednesday started this year's direct charter flight service
across the Taiwan Straits for the Spring Festival, the Chinese lunar New Year
which falls on Feb. 18 this year.
John Leahy (R),
Airbus's chief operating officer and Airbus China President Laurence Barron
attend a press conference, Feb 14, 2007. The Chinese mainland will need 3,000
aircraft over the next 20 years, including 2,650 passenger planes, Leahy
predicted.
Sweet rise in ice
cream possible - After a chilly 2006 for domestic companies, China's ice cream
industry is expected to see more consolidation due to rising costs of raw
materials and increasing competition, although overall growth should continue.
Companies in the sector are expected to focus on product innovation and wiser
marketing. Last year the domestic ice cream industry entered a period when large
brands from home and abroad including Yili, Mengniu, Nestle and Wall's rose to
key positions by utilizing advantages in capital, advanced technology,
management and marketing. It was a very different picture from 10 years ago when
the number of companies reached a peak of more than 3,000. Rising costs of the
major four ingredients used to make ice cream milk powder, sugar, chocolate and
palm oil led to bankruptcy for a number of small- and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Price increases since 2003 of sugar were the sharpest, at some 111 percent. Milk
powder has also become more costly, increasing in price 20 percent over three
years, while chocolate prices have risen about 22 percent. All of this caused
severe problems for SMEs. Few of them survived and grew up, due to insufficient
capital, inefficient distribution and immature management skills. But surviving
players have opportunities in the coming years. In 2006, the industry generated
sales revenue worth 27 billion yuan, with an output of 2.2 million tons of ice
cream. Sales and output volume are estimated to grow to more than 30 billion
yuan and 2.5 million tons. Despite the positive figures, the consumption of ice
cream in China still lags that of the developed nations. Sales per capita is
currently 1.7 kilograms, which contrasts sharply with that of Western nations,
ranging in consumption from 11 to 23 kilograms per person. Such a gap leaves
room for growth in the industry, and raises interest from investors at home and
abroad. But companies should exercise caution due to raw material costs and
fierce competition.
Yangtze Power says the Hubei Energy stake
purchase complements its business and helps it diversify into non-hydropower
projects.
Buying an uninhabited island in
mainland waters to build a Hong Kong checkpoint would be a "quick-fix solution"
in expediting construction of the trouble-plagued Hong Kong-Zhuhai- Macau
bridge, Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen said. The idea was revealed at a
closed- door meeting Tuesday between Tsang and representatives of the Hong Kong
Chinese Importers and Exporters Association, and follows his duty visit to
Beijing in December. Tsang also met Election Committee members affiliated to the
import export subsector members of the Election Committee to secure their vote
in the race to be the next chief executive. Tsang's confidence in pushing ahead
with the multi-billion-dollar project was bolstered after Beijing gave the green
light for an ice-breaking meeting headed by the State Council's National Reform
and Development Commission vice chairman Zhang Xiaoqiang to discuss ways of
getting the long-delayed project off the ground. Tsang told association members
that since the plan to build a joint checkpoint for the three places was dropped
because it would involve a vast piece of land, it would be more practical and
feasible for Hong Kong to find a site to achieve the agreed "three places, three
checkpoints." At the meeting, Tse Long, a Hong Kong delegate to the Guangdong
provincial Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, pressed Tsang to
speed up the building of the bridge, quoting Guangdong vice governor Tang
Bingquan as saying "everything is now ready" but Hong Kong has still to decide
on its checkpoint location. Tsang said the SAR is very keen to build the bridge,
saying that the airport, which is close to the proposed bridge's starting point
at San Shek Wan on northern Lantau, had once been picked as a possible site for
the checkpoint. The plan was dropped after a study showed there is insufficient
land there to house immigration, customs and police facilities. Tse quoted Tsang
as saying that an island in mainland waters would cut out concerns about
pollution that could arise from a San Shek Wan checkpoint. According to a
source, Macau Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau-wah, for his part, has proposed
purchasing a site on Hengqin Island off Zhuhai for Macau's checkpoint.
Negotiations on the plan are underway between the Macau and Zhuhai municipal
governments. 
Hospital Authority chief executive Shane
Solomon and health minister York Chow Yat-ngok give blood at King's Park,
Jordan, yesterday to show their support for a campaign by the Hong Kong Red
Cross Blood Transfusion Service to recruit more donors.
It is a decade since the death of
China's great modernising leader Deng Xiaoping. This photograph shows Deng
(right) and Zhao Ziyang at the 13th CPC National Congress held in Beijing in
1987. Though he died 10 years ago, former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping is still
revered, albeit quietly, as the man who truly awakened the sleeping giant that
was China.
More than 200
Taiwan compatriots arrive in Shanghai on Wednesday aboard a charter flight of
Taiwan-based Mandarin Airlines, Feb 13, 2007. This is the first Spring Festival
charter flight from Taiwan in 2007.
Tata
Consultancy Services Managing Director and CEO S. Ramadorai at a news conference
in Beijing yesterday announcing the launch of a joint venture. India's biggest
IT company, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), officially launched a joint venture
in Beijing yesterday and announced a contract with China's Foreign Exchange
Trade System (CFETS), a part of the central banking system.
A Russian couple dress up in
traditional Chinese costumes at a promotional event for a mall ahead of
Valentines' Day and Chinese New Year festivities in Hong Kong on Tuesday. The
Lunar New Year begins this year on Sunday.
An immigration officer checks the
papers of a pregnant mainland woman yesterday at the Lok Ma Chau border
checkpoint, where officers are watching for heavily pregnant women without
obstetric bookings. Legislator Lau Kong-wah said yesterday such border
surveilance was not cost-effective, with 20 immigration officers being deployed
each day at Lok Ma Chau on the checks, but only 20 to 30 mothers-to-be seeking
to use the border crossing. He said at least 100 more officers would be needed
for the checks when train services began and the Western Corridor road opened in
July, adding further pressure to the operations of the Immigration Department.
Looking forward to the festivities ahead, a mother and child settle down happily
on the train leaving Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan Province on February 5.
China's railway system is expected to carry some 155 million people over the
upcoming Lunar New Year period as people return home for the festival, Xinhua
News Agency reported.
Kingsoft chief executive Lei Jun
(left) and chairman Kau Pak Kwan say the company's fortunes are improving and it
is expanding overseas. Kingsoft, regarded as the mainland's Microsoft before
rampant piracy helped to destroy its dominance in the personal computer market,
has staged a recovery by relying on online games and anti-virus software - areas
where piracy is difficult.
Thousands of people spell out the Chinese character fook, meaning "fortune", in
an attempt to set a world record at the Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground.
Huiyuan juice
products for sale at a supermarket in Yichang, Central China's Hubei Province,
February 9, 2007. China Huiyuan Juice Group, the mainland's largest fruit juice
maker, now aims to sell 400 million shares in its initial public offering in
Hong Kong. It is expected to start trading its shares on the Hong Kong Stock
Exchange on February 23, 2007.
Macau overtook Las
Vegas in terms of gaming revenue in 2006 to become the world's largest gambling
market, and the outlook for the enclave looks promising on the back of China's
surging economy. However, the road ahead for gaming company Melco International
Development (0200), remains rough. Melco's shares surged 106 percent in 2006,
while the Bloomberg/Standard Newspaper Macau Gambling Index, which comprise of
22 Hong Kong- listed companies involved in gambling- related business, jumped
43.3 percent. The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose more than 7 percent in the same
period. But Melco shares have slumped 27 percent since hitting a record high in
mid-December after the firm lost its bid to build Singapore's second casino and
Melco PBL, its joint venture with Australia's Publishing and Broadcasting
Limited, listed on the Nasdaq. "[After] the Melco-PBL share sale on Nasdaq in
December, Melco became a holding company with few assets outside the US
listing," Morgan Stanley's Rob Hart wrote in a recent report. He believes there
are limited prospects for sizable assets outside of Macau in the medium term.
"The spin-off greatly reduced Melco's asset value and people may invest directly
in Melco PBL if they are optimistic on the latter," Tung Tai Securities
associate director Kenny Tang Sing-hing said. After the spin-off, Melco's Macau
gaming project fell under Melco PBL, leaving it's 41.3 percent stake in Melco
PBL as the company's major asset, accounting for 89.1 percent of its total net
asset value, JPMorgan said in a report. Melco's 68 percent stake in brokerage
Value Convergence (8101); IT firm Elixir, Jumbo Restaurant and other businesses,
accounted for 2 percent of Net Asset Value, while the HK$2.6 billion in net cash
accounted for the remaining 8 percent, according to JPMorgan estimates. "Melco
PBL's separate listing makes Melco largely a holding company, meaning a holding
company discount should be applicable," Citigroup said in a report. Both
Citigroup and JPMorgan have applied a 10 percent discount to Melco's NAV to set
it's target price. Citigroup has lowered the target price from HK$21 to HK$19.5
and downgraded its rating to hold from buy, while JPMorgan lowered the target
price to HK$19.5 from HK$21.7. Morgan Stanley tuned up the target price from
HK$12 to HK$15. "Melco PBL accounts for nearly 90 percent of the company's
valuation, so its performance is instrumental to Melco's share," JPMorgan said.
Melco PBL currently owns one of the six gaming concessions and subconcessions in
Macau, and six Mocha slot-machine entertainment centers. Three casino projects
are also in the pipeline including Crown Macau and City of Dreams on Cotai
Strip. The company also plans to develop a mixed- use project comprising a
casino, hotel and serviced apartments. Also, starting from 2009, Melco PBL will
run the 400-table casino at eSun's (0571) Macau Studio City. With Crown Macau, a
six-star hotel and casino, commencing operations in April and as the new major
income stream for Melco PBL, analysts believe its battle in Macau's gaming
sector will not be easy. Crown Macau will be competing with the Venetian,
scheduled to open mid-2007 and the Grand Lisboa, which will open in the first
quarter. "The fight for dealers and hospitality staff is expected to intensify
over the next few months, also hurting the group's ability to execute its
initial phase," Citigroup said. Morgan Stanley says Crown Macau will open into a
competitive environment, given similar quality, established VIP rooms run by
experienced US operators, and it's less desirable location on Taipa Island.
"With Wynn and Las Vegas Sands both using junkets, the VIP niche that Melco PBL
claims to have is eroding." Though Melco PBL seems to be a more direct Macau
play than Melco, analysts say Melco is not totally unattractive. Unlike other
passive holding companies, Melco is actively traded. The free flow of Melco PBL
is less than 20 percent and investors still need to own Melco PBL through Melco.
Also, it is expected that Melco will seek projects outside Macau gaming and
eventually list those projects separately, which promises to bring additional
gains to the company.
If you think the
next lunar year is going to be an incredibly lucky one, think again; you may
have fallen victim to commercial hype. It will not be the year of the golden
pig, fortune tellers say. Rather, it is the fire pig which will rule our
destinies in the coming 12 months. So mothers who want their children born under
a sign that supposedly brings wealth and good fortune will have to wait until
2031 for golden pig offspring. Veteran fung shui master Peter So Man-fung said
the popular misconception that 2007 is a golden pig year may have come about
because restaurants and shops often advertise each year as a "golden" one to
help their business. "This year is definitely the ding hai, the fire pig. The
people who run restaurants like to say it's a golden year. Last year they said
it was the golden dog, in 2005 they said it was the golden rooster," Mr So said.
But he said the Hospital Authority, whose director of professional services and
operations, Allen Cheung Wai-lun, has also called 2007 a golden pig year, may
not be entirely wrong in predicting 11 per cent more babies will be born in the
next lunar year. "Last year was very lucky for marriage and there were a lot of
weddings, so it's normal that the following year, there will be a lot of
babies," Mr So said. Another fung shui expert, Raymond Lo, agreed that
commercial interests had likely been responsible for the year being mistaken for
a golden pig year. And astrologer Jin Peh said: "I guess it sounds more
attractive to say it's the golden pig. People are happier with the vision of the
golden pig and it's certainly easier to sell a golden pig than a fire pig." Mr
Lo said: "The Chinese element for the year is the fire pig. "It's fire over a
water element, but I think probably because all Chinese usually use gold as
something auspicious - it's a commercial thing. Shops like jewellery stores want
to sell gold. "The last year of the golden pig was in 1971, and in 1911 before
that, as it falls every 60 years," he said. Mr Lo said women who fell pregnant
thinking their children would be born in an auspicious year should not be
disappointed. Their children may not be destined for great wealth, but under
their astrological sign they will be protected by a nobleman who will help them
through troubled times. "All through their lives, they'll have someone to help
and guide them through danger," he said, and noted that US President George W.
Bush and thriller writer Steven King are both fire pigs. Mr Peh debunked another
new year myth - the year of the pig does not begin on February 18, it's already
here. "We use the solar new year for astrology, so anyone born since February 4
is already born under the sign of the pig," he said. 
Chinese Finance Minister Jin Renqing (L) shakes hands with World Bank President
Paul Wolfowitz, during the G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors
Meeting held in Essen, Germany, Feb. 10, 2007.
Companies listed on the
Hang Seng Index will reflect the growing influence of the mainland on Hong
Kong's exchange when two more Chinese financial stocks join the blue-chip
benchmark next month. Index compiler HSI Services named China Life Insurance
(2628) and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (1398) Friday as the two
companies to become new constituent members of the index from March 12. The
compiler also said the overall number of index members would increase to 50 -
from a total 38 next month - in due course. "This is an appropriate number,"
said Macquarie Research analyst Tacky Cheng. "More large mainland companies will
list on the Hong Kong bourse and meet the criteria for joining the index, so
increasing the number to 50 will allow more local companies to stay in the
index." But according to Vincent Kwan Wing-shing, director and general manager
of HSI Services, no actual timetable has been set to increase the number of
index members. "Increasing the number of members to 50 will make the index cover
70 percent of total market capitalization," Kwan said, adding it has always been
the objective for the Hang Seng Index to account for 70 percent of the local
equity market. Increasing the number of members aims to ensure that the HSI will
continue to be comprised of the largest and most liquid stocks in the market, to
serve as the most representative market benchmark as well as being a basis for
index- linked derivative products, Kwan said.
Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-
kuen has pledged to progressively introduce small-class teaching to most
secondary and primary schools over the next five years should he be re-elected
March 25. The pledge was made at a meeting Friday with six Election Committee
members representing the higher education subsector. The 800 members in the
committee will elect the next chief executive. One of those at the meeting, City
University finance professor Stephen Cheung Yan-leung, said Tsang pledged to
bring class sizes down to no more than 25 students. He said Tsang also pledged
to consider the implementation of a 12-year free education program after the
small-class teaching policy had been implemented. 
Models sport hairdos featuring
Beijing's Temple of Heaven and the Great Wall styled by Yeung King-hung at a
preview for his Lunar New Year hair show at Sha Tin New Town Plaza. Yeung's show
will be held on February 17 and 19.The renowned Chongqing Acrobatic Troupe will
also perform at the mall from February 13 to 19, with a break on February 18.
Passengers wait
near a Beijing Mobile advertisement at a bus station February 7, 2007. Starting
today, Beijing Mobile will offer several new plans that include free incoming
calls. The telecom company said the monthly plan is based on a one-way billing
scheme. The new plan will dramatically slash mobile call charges for users.
A policeman photographs the
destruction of 20 tonnes of illegal fireworks during a campaign organised by
police in Fuzhou, Fujian province. The public was warned ahead of Lunar New Year
that 30 per cent of firecrackers on the market are substandard.
Funds are likely to exit Hong Kong after the yuan - which advanced to a record
high Wednesday - eventually marches beyond the Hong Kong dollar's convertibility
zone with the US dollar, analysts say. Lehman Brothers economist Sun Mingchun
said Wednesday the market will dismiss the idea of the Hong Kong dollar
depegging from the greenback as the yuan breaches the level of 7.75, triggering
an outflow of funds from the territory. The yuan hit 7.7480 against the US
dollar, up from Tuesday's close of 7.7555, while the Hong Kong dollar was traded
at 7.8084, around the mid- point of its trading band of 7.75 to 7.85 to the
greenback. Economist Fan Gang, a monetary committee member of the People's Bank
of China, denied the yuan's rise resulted from mounting pressure from US
Treasury chairman Henry Paulson. Fan said the yuan's gradual appreciation is in
the interests of the mainland's economy, as it could help slow down rapid
inflows of speculative money. Fan, who once said "allowing more than 5 percent
annual appreciation of the yuan will result in a catastrophe," reiterated
China's longstanding view that allowing its currency more flexibility is neither
a resolution to the global economic imbalance, nor a favorable move for the
country's economy.
Esprit Holdings (0330) has announced plans to open more than 400 stores
worldwide over the next three years, after reporting a 28 percent rise in
interim profit. The company said Wednesday that it will make an annual
investment of between HK$1 billion and HK$1.5 billion to develop the new stores.
The apparel giant recorded a profit of HK$2.4 billion for the six months to
December 31. If the euro appreciation over the same period is discounted, the
company's profit increase was about 23 percent, well within the market
expectations of 17 to 33 percent. Espirit's turnover rose 23.4 percent to reach
HK$14.59 billion. Earnings before interest and tax margin increased 0.6 percent
to 21 percent, while net profit margin was up 0.6 percent to 16.4 percent. The
company declared an interim dividend of 70 HK cents per share. "The surprise is
that its retail business performed better than market estimates," said Theresa
Lo, an analyst at BOC International. The retail division, which accounts for 44
percent of sales, surged 32.8 percent during the period, while same- store sales
growth was more than 20 percent. Same stores are defined as those which have
been open for more than a year. Esprit's plans to open another 400 stores
worldwide will take the number of stores from the current 640 to more than
1,000. In order to implement a multi-brand strategy, Esprit started to open
standalone "edc" stores 18 months ago, and the company now has between 40-45
such stores worldwide. Edc is the secondary brand under the Esprit label
targeting younger customers. Sales for this brand now accounts for 19 percent of
worldwide sales. "One third of the new stores will be standalone edc stores,"
said John Poon Cho-ing, deputy chairman and group chief financial officer.
The God of Fortune, in the guise of Democratic Party legislator Fred Li Wah-ming,
distributes sweets outside the Legislative Council yesterday. The Democratic
Party was making a video for the Lunar New Year to wish the public health and
prosperity.
Visitors at an
international auto industry exhibition in Beijing. Boosted by buoyant sales,
China's auto sector reported a surprisingly sharp rebound in profits for
2006.Combined profits for the industry, including vehicles, engines, spare parts
and motorcycles, jumped by 46 percent to 76.8 billion yuan last year.
The US appears to have reached a
"crossover point" in trade with China after years of steadily rising deficits,
US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has said. "The good news with the current
account deficit and with the deficit with China ... is that we've hit what looks
like a crossover point," Mr Paulson told the Senate Finance Committee in
testimony on the Bush administration's budget plan. Trade data due out next week
is expected to show the US trade deficit with China hit a record somewhere near
US$230 billion last year, compared with US$39.5 billion 10 years ago. The
explosive growth in the deficit has led to calls in Congress for the Bush
administration to be tougher on trade with China. Many American lawmakers in
particular believe that China unfairly manipulates its currency to give Chinese
companies an unfair advantage in international trade. Mr Paulson noted US
exports to China grew by 33 per cent last year, while imports from China rose 19
per cent. A People's Bank of China adviser defended Beijing's exchange policy
yesterday, saying that a modest, gradual appreciation of the yuan would be in
the interests of China and the global economy. The dispute over the trade
imbalance between China and the US was inevitable and adjusting China's foreign
exchange rate could not solve it, Fan Gang , a member of the central bank's
monetary policy committee, said in an online interview on Sina.com. "Global
imbalances are an international problem, not just China's. The other side needs
to solve the problem too," he said, citing the US financial deficit and
America's low savings rate as adding to the imbalances. Dr Fan, a leading
mainland economist, said the recent rise in the yuan was not a response to US
pressure for the currency to be allowed to appreciate. He said the relatively
modest appreciation of the currency was designed to meet China's economic needs.
A projected 1.5 percent rise in real
wages for SAR workers this year due to rising inflation, coupled with a rapidly
narrowing salary gap between Hong Kong and the mainland, has fueled fears of an
accelerating northbound migration of management talent. The average real wage
rise forecast for the territory is the lowest in Hong Kong since the handover
and less than half the regional average, according to ECA International - a
leading global human resources organization. "Although annual salary increases
have risen in the past few years, any increase in real terms has been negated by
rising inflation," said Lee Quane, general manager of ECA. "In 2002, for
instance, average salary increases in Hong Kong were 3 percent and inflation was
minus 3 percent, giving workers a 6 percent real wage rise. However, the
forecast increase of 4 percent in 2007 will be undervalued by forecast inflation
of 2.5 percent," he said. According to ECA's latest survey, the salary
differential between Hong Kong and the mainland has continued to narrow. It
shows that while the average senior manager in the mainland earned just over a
third of what his or her counterpart earned in the SAR in 2002, this difference
narrowed to about 50 percent last year. "That salary increases at the senior
level have outstripped China's gross domestic product growth shows the impact of
a talent shortage in this market," Quane said. "While you can't expect senior
salary levels in China to be in line with more mature economies in Asia, the
rapid rise in mainland salary levels presents a huge challenge to businesses."
The study revealed that mainland wage increases (with consideration for
inflation) will be four times higher than those afforded to Hong Kong managers
this year. "Assessing whether to continue to use cash to attract and retain
staff will continue to be one of the main challenges facing human resources
managers now and in the next few years," Quane said. He said recent economic
performance has resulted in higher annual wage increases in Asia, with increases
forecast to be 50 percent higher compared with last year, and well above the
global average of 2.2 percent. Economic growth in the region has placed a
premium on skilled workers, producing talent shortages that further drive up
salary increases, he said. Businesses benefiting from China's low labor costs
have encouraged moving manufacturing to countries such as Cambodia and Vietnam
as rising wages impact on current business models, Quane added. Of the 45
countries surveyed by ECA, the top five real wage increases were all centered in
Asia with forecasts for Indian real salary increases at 7 percent. Workers in
Indonesia and the mainland are both expected to see 6 percent increases, while
the Philippines and Thailand are expected to see real wage rises of 4 percent.
Hong Kong's projected real wage increase of 1.5 percent ranks the city at 33 out
of 45 countries and territories. According to the study, the scarcity of talent
in many Asian economies has resulted in significant salary increases at all
management levels. A junior manager's average salary last year was HK$368,000
while a senior manager earned, on average, HK$980,000. Compared with 2002
figures, junior managers had realized a wage increase of 17 percent, and senior
management a 26 percent surge. It was within the senior management level that
the pay disparity between the mainland and Hong Kong was at its least. Tania
Mendez, Asia Pacific compensation database manager with Towers Perrin, another
global human resources firm, did not presently see any trends resembling a brain
drain but did not rule out such a possibility in the near future. "We do find
Hong Kong employees are supporting more businesses in China, but we do not see
more people mobilizing to China to work for Chinese companies at the moment,"
she said. According to a 2006 study by the Census and Statistics Department, of
the 237,500 Hong Kong residents working in the mainland, more than four-fifths
were engaged at the higher end of the occupation hierarchy. The study also found
the median monthly earnings for SAR workers in the mainland was HK$16,000, much
higher than the local average of HK$10,000. "There's a trend of mainland Chinese
CEOs favoring Hong Kong executives because of their international exposure,
negotiation, ethics and communication skills. It has already attracted a large
number of local talent. If wages on the mainland surpass local offers, these two
factors could pave the way for an accelerated brain drain," said Lai Kin-keung,
chair professor of management science at the City University of Hong Kong.
Chinese President Hu
Jintao and his South African counterpart, Thabo Mbeki, hold talks in Pretoria
Tuesday. China and South Africa issued a joint communique on Tuesday laying out
a variety of priorities for the two countries to strengthen bilateral
cooperation in such areas as politics, economy and trade, international affairs
and people-to-people interactions.
Senior Chinese lawmaker Cheng Siwei
has urged people to take a rational approach to stock investment decisions
particularly in a bull market. He also urged listed companies, not only the
heavyweights, to lift their profitability so as to provide a solid basis for the
healthy development of the stock markets.
China is concerned about global
warming but lacks the money and technology to significantly reduce its own
greenhouse gas emissions that are worsening the problem, a top government
scientist has said. The mainland is the world's biggest consumer and producer of
coal, and is expected to surpass the United States as the world's No1 greenhouse
gas emitter in the next decade. It wants to reduce its dependence on coal but
converting to cleaner energies on a mass scale would be prohibitively costly. It
also "lags behind Europe and the United States" in the technology needed to burn
coal, which accounts for 69 percent of its energy output, that was cleaner, said
Qin Dahe, chief of the China Meteorological Administration, and an adviser on
climate change, Monday. "It takes time to catch up," he said. Qin served as one
of the mainland's representatives to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change, which last week announced that global warming is very likely caused by
mankind and that climate change will continue for centuries. He said the
mainland agrees with, and is concerned about, the report's conclusions.
Huadian Power, a listed unit of one of
the five national state-owned power producers, faces greater than average cost
pressure as its plant utilisation rate may fall 5.4 per cent.
Chinese President Hu
Jintao and his Namibian counterpart Hifikepunye Pohamba wave at the airport of
Namibia's capital Windoek on Monday. Chinese President Hu Jintao proposed in
Windhoek on Monday that China and Namibia strengthen cooperation in politics,
economy and international affairs and increase people-to-people exchanges in an
effort to uplift bilateral ties.
Yi
Gang, assistant governor of the People's Bank of China, the central bank, said
further observations are needed to decide whether to raise the interest rate as
the current CPI rise fueled by a jump in grain prices was not sustainable.
About 2,300 migrant workers attend a dinner paid for by their employer to
celebrate the upcoming Lunar New Year in Chengdu, Sichuan province. Migrant
workers earn an average of 1,020 yuan per month and work 8.7 hours a day, a
Ministry of Labour and Social Security survey shows.
Sohu's exclusive contracts for the Beijing Olympics in the summer of next year
may pave the way for higher revenue in future. Shares in Sohu.com, the
second-largest online portal in China, tumbled after the company said
fourth-quarter profit fell 32 per cent amid a declining profit margin in online
advertising and deteriorating sales of wireless services.
Donald Tsang greets members of the
public during a visit to Wan Chai after announcing he plans to run for chief
executive. Mr Tsang yesterday made his long-awaited declaration to run for a
second term, with a platform of tax cuts and building a "new Hong Kong", with
more jobs, a greener environment and better governance. The dilemma for Donald
Tsang Yam-kuen in finding a balance between continuity and change could not have
been more obvious than when he pledged in his declaration speech to build a new
Hong Kong.
Chinese President Hu
Jintao (L) meets with his Liberian counterpart Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in
Monrovia, capital of Liberia, Feb. 1, 2007. The two president agreed to make
common efforts to implement the consensus the two sides have reached on
bilateral cooperation. Hu arrived here on Thursday starting his state visit to
Liberia.
A sales girl gives explanation to a
customer about a new charging scheme introduced by China Unicom, one of Chinese
major mobile phone service operators, in Guangzhou, capital of south China's
Guangdong Province, Feb. 1, 2007. China Unicom subscribers in Guangdong Province
do not have to pay for the incoming calls from Feb. 1 as the company has
launched a caller-pays scheme in which incoming calls are free for the person
who receives the call.
Delays, cancellations and
confusion mark the first day of Guangdong's high-speed rail service at Guangzhou
as travellers waited hours to get on a train.
Chinese President Hu
Jintao and his wife Liu Yongqing pose for a photo with Cameroonian President
Paul Biya and his wife before their meeting in Yaounde, capital of Cameroon,
Jan. 31, 2007.
Construction
has begun on a second power unit, power unit No. 4, as part of the Qinshan Phase
II Extension Project, in Haiyan, Jiaxing of east China's Zhejiang province on
January 28, 2007.When the project is complete, the plant will hold two new
650,000 kilowatt pressurized water reactors (PWR) - the No. 3 and No.4
generating units at Qinshan II power plant - and will be completed by the end of
2011.
The long-awaited cross-border
emission-trading scheme is ready to get off the ground but Hong Kong's two power
giants, the key players, remain noncommittal even as a local think tank says the
scheme fails to address the small- scale polluting factories in the mainland.
The Environmental Protection Department in Hong Kong and the Guangdong
Environmental Protection Bureau announced Tuesday the implementation framework
for a pilot emission-trading scheme for thermal power plants in the Pearl River
Delta region, a major step in introducing new economically driven measures to
tackle the worsening air quality in the region. The scheme is the pet project of
Secretary for Environment, Transport and Works Sarah Liao Sau-tung and part of
an attempt to help power companies in Guangdong and Hong Kong achieve
emission-reduction targets by 2010. Hong Kong and Guangdong agreed to cut four
major air pollutants - sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, respirable suspended
particulates and volatile organic compounds - by 20 percent to 55 percent by
2010, taking 1997 as the base year. However, Hongkong Electric and CLP Power,
the city's major polluters, remained noncommittal Tuesday, saying they needed
further information for consideration but promising to continue discussions with
the government. 
President Hu Jintao
(L) and his wife Liu Yongqing wave well-wishers upon their arrival in the
Cameroonian capital of Yaounde January 30, 2007, kicking off his eight-nation
Africa tour. Hu will also visit Liberia, Sudan, Zambia, Namibia, South Africa,
Mozambique and Seychelles.
Bullet train leaving from Nanjing,
capital of Jiangsu Province, for Shanghai Jan. 28, 2007. The new China-made
train, which can travel at 250 kilometers per hour, made debut on the Shanghai-Hangzhou
route Sunday. The train is expected to operate on test runs on the
Shanghai-Beijing route during the coming Spring Festival holidays when there is
sharp rise in demand for transportation.
President Hu Jintao (left) meets United Arab Emirates Vice-President and Prime
Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum in Dubai during a brief visit to
the oil-rich country before he started his eight-nation tour of Africa.
The curtain has finally come down on
a run-down area of Tai Kok Tsui - famous for its caged homes, metal workshops
and ramshackle grocery stores - with clearance teams set to evict the last
tenants to make way for a HK$1.4 billion residential and shopping mall complex.
The massive facelift for the 25,000-square-foot Kowloon site, bounded by Pine
and Anchor streets, is being undertaken by the Urban Renewal Authority under the
Lands Resumption Ordinance for redevelopment. It will be resumed along with
another site of about 23,000 sqft, bounded by Larch and Fir streets. The 167
business operators and some 220 tenants of Pine and Anchor streets have fought a
long and tiring battle with the government in an effort to stay put, but lost
after the Lands Tribunal ruled in favor of the project amid a bitter row over
compensation. Tai Kok Tsui may be a Hong Kong district that is unappealing to
many. As Professor Ho Pui-yin of the Chinese University of Hong Kong's
Department of History put it, it is an area "that gives people a cramped-up and
messy feeling" and "people don't want this side of Hong Kong to be left." The
metal workshops, watch-repair masters, dilapidated grocery stores and everything
else that is "so Tai Kok Tsui" will soon be a thing of the past. On completion,
the Pine/Anchor Street redevelopment project will offer 250 flats for about
1,500 people, and some 4,000 sqft of open space. But the district's history will
probably not be forgotten - bits and pieces of its narrow streets are woven into
a collective memory shared by residents who have lived and worked there for
decades.
Children race to "Beat the Banana" during
yesterday's fund-raising event along the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront. This was the
second year the 3.5km race was held for the World Cancer Research Fund Hong
Kong. The group promotes community awareness about reducing the risk of cancer
by eating fruit, vegetables and other healthy foods, keeping weight in check and
getting exercise. The organisation said 30 to 40 per cent of cancers could be
prevented if people were more conscious of these factors.
The flag of the sixth Asian Winter Games is
raised in Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province, Jan. 28, 2007.
The largest-ever Asian Winter Games raised its curtain here Sunday evening in
Changchun, a northeast city in China. Chinese president Hu Jintao declared open
of the sixth Asian Winter Games, which featured all 45 members of the Olympic
Council of Asia (OCA) for the first time in its 21-year-old history. Dignitaries
at the opening ceremony included OCA president Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah.
DPR Korea and South Korea marched together under the flag with an image of the
Korean peninsula for the second time in the Asian Winter Games, with the first
in Aomori, Japan in 2003. The Games to be co-hosted by Changchun and nearby
Jilin cities in China's northeast Jilin province, has been attracting a total of
816 athletes from 26 countries and regions, compared to 741 athletes from 20
members in 2003.
A university graduate checks
out her options at a Hangzhou job fair on Monday, after the International Labour
Organisation warned developing countries such as China could face a skilled
labor shortage, especially among mid-level technicians, as rural migrants
streaming into cities received no training.
China's benchmark
stock indexes fell 4 percent Thursday after comments from "Commodities King" Jim
Rogers that a bubble was forming in the domestic market. Rogers appeared for 30
minutes during prime time on China Central Television, a mouthpiece of the
central government, in what market observers saw as a sign Beijing was seeking
to cool the overheating market by airing a shrewd investor's professional
opinions. Rogers, who co-founded the Quantum Fund with global financier George
Soros, said the market was at bubble stage after he saw people crowding into
Galaxy Securities, a mainland brokerage firm. Retail investors are now in a
"hysterical" state of mind - a dangerous sign, Rogers said. As soon as the
central government introduces more powerful measures to assert control on the
overheating economy, the bubble will burst, Rogers said. His prediction has an
ominous ring as his previous statements regarding China's stock market have
proven correct. In May 2004, Rogers predicted the Chinese stock market would hit
a record low within four to 16 months. Thirteen months later in June 2005, the
market plunged to an historic low. The China Banking Regulatory Commission has
also warned banks in the country to be on the alert for any personal loans from
their clients which may be misused for stock speculation as the regulator
attempts to cool down the equity market. During a recent meeting with local
banks the CBRC issued guidelines for the lenders to follow, according to a
report Thursday in government paper China Securities Journal. However, Eugene
Law Sheung-pui, head of research at Celestial Securities, said the market was
over-reacting. "Although the China market will experience some short-term
volatility, I think the fundamentals are sound. The Shanghai Composite Index
could reach 3,500 points this year," he said. Despite China announcing gross
domestic product growth of 10.7 percent for last year, the benchmark Shanghai
Composite Index fell Thursday to 2,857.36, down 3.96 percent. The Shenzhen
Composite Index slumped 4.3 percent to 675.78. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng China
Enterprises Index followed suit, sliding 148.26 points to 9,864.31. Economists
have expressed concerns that investments risks in China will grow as Beijing is
likely to kick off another round of cooling measures.
The Hong Kong Institute of
Education's governing council has decided not to renew the contract of the
institute's president, giving rise to speculation the government is trying to
force the institute to merge with universities. The council Thursday decided by
10 votes to three, with three abstentions, not to renew the contract of Paul
Morris, who became the head of the education faculty in 2000 and institute
president two years later. Morris said he was not surprised as he had been
informed earlier his contract would not be renewed if he did not support a
merger. "Basically I was told in June that the renewal of my contract was
dependent on my support of a merger. So the exercise has come as no surprise,"
Morris said. Council chairman Thomas Leung Kwok-fai said he could not comment on
what Morris said but insisted the decision was not linked with any proposed
merger. Morris' contract will end in September. Under the rules of the institute
he can choose to become a teacher or participate in the selection process for a
new president. Morris said he had not made any decision as yet.
Animal ambassadors for the "first pets
mass wedding in Hong Kong", collie bitch Naughty (right) and males Gas, a
sharpei, and Piggy, join forces with two human counterparts at the World Trade
Centre, Causeway Bay. They called for all species of pets to take part in the
mass wedding, organised by Sun Hung Kai Properties, on February 13 to celebrate
Valentine's Day.
Hong Kong Airlines chairman Ren Weidong
has big plans. He wants the carrier to be bigger than Dragonair in terms of
destinations by 2009.
Chinese Foreign
Minister Li Zhaoxing (R) shakes hands with the Republic of Korea (ROK) Foreign
Minister Song Min-soon in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 25, 2007. Song, who
starts his three-day official visit to China on Thursday, said that the ROK is
engaged in peaceful solution to the nuclear issue through dialogue and will work
closely with host China to make the talks achieve new progress.
A girl poses with a
China-made Hover CUV during a promotion held in Santiago, Chile, Jan 24, 2007.
The Hover CUV of China's Great Wall Motors, priced at US$ 16,000, will be sold
in Chile on Feb 1.
Fake cigarettes worth more than
23 million yuan, which were seized in raids over the past few months, are
destroyed in Xian, Shaanxi province. China is the world's largest tobacco
market, with about 350 million smokers and nearly 1.8 trillion cigarettes sold
in 2003. Tobacco-related taxes are a main source of income for the government.
Students from Island School and Polytechnic University and environmentalists
from WWF Hong Kong hand in petitions at the Environmental Protection Department
against CLP Power's proposal to build a liquefied natural gas receiving terminal
on South Soko Island. The WWF says an environmental impact assessment is
misleading the public to believe the South Sokos, a designated marine park, is
the preferred and acceptable site.
China UnionPay Co expects
double-digit growth on its overseas card-based transactions this year as more
Chinese travel overseas. Bankcard-based transactions topped 25.5 billion yuan
(US$3.19 billion) last year in overseas markets, nearly double the level of a
year ago.
China's sizzling economy grew 10.7 per
cent last year but faces strains from a soaring trade surplus and excessive
investment especially in property, such as this luxury villa project under
construction in Beijing.
A week after Hong Kong placed entry
restrictions on mainlanders who are in the late stages of pregnancy, Beijing has
weighed in with a stern warning that babies born in the SAR could lose their
mainland residency rights. National Population and Family Planning Commission
vice president Wang Guoqiang said in Beijing that some mothers were attempting
to get around the "one-child policy" by giving birth outside the mainland. He
warned these mothers to bear in mind that children who have acquired Hong Kong
residency could lose their mainland household registration and benefits. "The
reasons why they choose to give birth in Hong Kong, I think, are many and
complicated," Wang said. "But they have to ask themselves why they want to give
birth in Hong Kong and make their own judgment ... they can't enjoy the benefits
of both places." He also reiterated medical resources and obstetric services in
the mainland are sufficient and that there is no need for them to give birth in
Hong Kong.
Workers clean a building in Sham Shui Po as part of
an initiative where 40 unemployed middle-aged people scrub buildings ahead of
the Lunar New Year. The Caritas Lai Chi Kok Workers Centre has been organising
the event for three years, providing short-term employment for those jobless
because of their age or health status.
An Emergency task
force work at the gas leak site in Shuangqiao district, southwest China's
Chongqing Municipality on Jan. 23, 2007. Authorities in southwest China's
Chongqing Municipality have successfully capped an abandoned well where leaking
gas led to the evacuation of more than 3,500 people on Sunday.
It could take up to 15 years for China's
gender imbalance to sort itself out, the country's top family planner said
Tuesday, admitting three decades of strict population policies had contributed
to the problem. In 2005, there were 118 boys to every 100 girls born in China as
wider use of ultrasound and easy availability of abortions compounded a
traditional preference for boys. In some parts of the country, the imbalance is
as high as 130 to 100. 
Yang Chao's successful leadership of China Life makes him an ideal candidate to
head PICC. 
Democratic Party members (from left)
Wong Shing-chi - dressed as the God of Fortune - Sin Chung-kai and Lee Wing-tat
distribute Lunar New Year calendars to the public in Central, featuring the
party's budget proposals and urging the government to reduce salaries tax.
Shanghai International Port Group, the
operator of China's busiest port, is expected to raise handling charges as
throughput is likely to grow 20 per cent this year, analysts said. The
expectation came as the company, which completed the listing of the entire group
in October, said net profit rose 36 per cent on the back of 20 per cent
throughput growth. About 21.7 million teu (20-foot equivalent units) were moved
at the Shanghai port last year and throughput was expected to hit 26 million teu
this year, said Niu Yuming, a port and transport analyst for Hai Tong
Securities. Shanghai is likely to overtake Hong Kong as the world's
second-busiest port after Singapore given that Hong Kong's port is expected to
post low single-digit growth this year from 23.2 million teu last year.
Officials, headed by
Assistant Foreign Minister Kong Quan (R-C) pose with five Chinese workers who
were abducted on January 5 in Nigeria and released 12 days later after they
arrive at the Capital International Airport in Beijing January 22, 2007.
A pedestrian passes
a Shanghai Pudong Development Bank billboard for its bank card. The bank said
yesterday it had received China Banking Regulatory Commission approval to set up
a fund management joint venture.
On the back of a
record-breaking year for the stock market, two more companies are opening their
order books for retail subscriptions today to raise a combined HK$2.06 billion.
Investors expect the year ahead to bring another bumper period for the capital
market, especially in terms of public flotations. Initial public offerings
accounted for HK$329.5 billion of the total HK$497.8 billion in equity capital
raised in the city in the year to December 20, with H-share firms soaking up
most of it. Some analysts say that with mainland enterprises accounting for more
than 90 percent of all funds raised last year, the stock market will continue to
remain a magnet for companies seeking capital. Privately held mid-sized
companies Meadville Holdings and Wuyi International Pharmaceutical will be among
the first in the IPO queue this year. Meadville Holdings, a printed circuit
board and laminates maker controlled by the family of Financial Secretary Henry
Tang Ying-yen, plans to sell 526 million shares in an indicative price range of
between HK$1.90 and HK$2.40, raising up to HK$1.26 billion. The price range
represents 8.2 to 10.35 times Meadville's 2007 forecast earnings.
A government delegation will leave
for the Middle East this week. Jonathan Cheng looks at the SAR's efforts to
promote the city as an investment hub in the first of a two-part series With
China's economy booming, oil- rich Islamic investors are pouring more dollars
than ever into the region - and increasingly raising concerns that Hong Kong is
missing their message and losing their business. Instead of drawing in these
eager investors, diplomats and experts from these countries said in a series of
interviews this month there is evidence that Hong Kong's financial community and
its government officials have alienated potential investors through ignorance,
indifference and arrogance. "Do you want me to be frank? Hong Kong does not pay
positive attention to wealth management from the [Persian] Gulf, and they're
making a serious mistake," Saeed Hamad Ali al-Junaibi, consul-general of the
United Arab Emirates and its booming center of Dubai, told The Standard earlier
this month. "Hong Kong officials don't pay any attention to Gulf countries, and
that's their own choice." Al-Junaibi's words stand out in their directness, and
the underlying themes were echoed in interviews this month with analysts, fund
managers and top diplomats of five oil-rich countries in the Middle East and
Central Asia - countries whose government investment authorities control
trillions of dollars of funds. Abdollah Nekounam, consul-general from the
Islamic Republic of Iran, used softer language, but made a similar point,
warning Hong Kong that its apparent unwillingness to accommodate Iranian
investors was turning the country's vast investment dollars elsewhere - to
places like Singapore. "There's a lack of knowledge and understanding from Hong
Kong about the Middle East region and the Persian Gulf," Nekounam said in an
interview last week. "More emphasis is made on [Hong Kong's] neighboring
countries rather than on other countries. And this is [all happening] while
Singapore's view and policy have dramatically changed." The themes highlight a
growing trend that is both a rebuke to and a potential lost opportunity for Hong
Kong.
Work of hearts: The forecourt of Happy
Valley Racecourse blazes with colour as patients, rehabilitation workers,
students from special education institutes and artists join more than 1,500 of
their paintings to make a 5,000 sq ft artwork entitled Happy Care, in an
attempt to break the Guinness World Record for hospital art. The organiser, Art
in Hospital, invited patients in its city-wide "Big Happy Heart" community arts
programme to enter paintings in the belief that art can help healing.
A Shanghai real estate tycoon was
arrested Sunday on charges of bribery and using phony tax receipts amid a
sweeping corruption probe, a mainland news report said. Chau Ching-ngai, also
known as Zhou Zhengyi, was released in May last year after serving a three-year
sentence for fraud and securities manipulation. He was detained in October on
new charges, with authorities formally arresting him Sunday, Shanghai- based
Dragon TV said on its Web site. The report gave no other details of the charges
against Chau. Chau is also on the most-wanted list of the Hong Kong Independent
Commission Against Corruption for economic crimes committed in the city.
Respects for an immortal: The remains of revolutionary hero Bo Yibo were
cremated in Beijing yesterday, following a ceremony attended by the nation's
highest leaders, including President Hu Jintao (right) and Bo's son, Commerce
Minister Bo Xilai (far left). Bo, a member of the post-Mao circle of leaders
known as the "eight immortals", died last Monday at the age of 99. He was
cremated at Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery.
Four people - including the former
chairman and deputy chairman of RNA Holdings, a one-time gold-refining and
trading company - were convicted Friday of conspiracy to defraud the firm of
HK$100 million. A fifth defendant was acquitted by Deputy District Court judge
Timothy Casewell. Sentencing on the four accused was adjourned to next Friday.
The judge found former RNA chairman Raymond Chan Fat-chu, 54, and his brother
Alexander Chan Fat-leung, 51, the former deputy chairman, made a bogus HK$100
million loan to the company, then pocketed HK$55 million in cash and HK$45
million in RNA stock as repayment. The offenses occurred between December 28,
2000 and September 18, 2001. The other co-accused were Tsui Muk-ming, 47, an RNA
director at the time, and his brother Chui Muk-hing, 40, who was party to the
conspiracy. Tsui Yuk-hing - who was previously Raymond Chan's secretary and was
believed to have assisted her boss in making 20 bank transactions involving
eight shell companies - was acquitted after the judge ruled she did not play a
significant enough role in the scheme. In convicting four of the accused,
Casewell accepted the testimony provided by Andie Lo Chi-kin, former finance
manager of RNA, and Tze Ka- yi, a former director of a shell company, who had
both been granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for their evidence. The
judge rejected a submission by defense lawyer Eugene Wong Yu- ching, who argued
that Raymond Chan did not receive any personal benefit from the scheme. 
Comet McNaught, one of only seven which
people have been able to see in daytime in the past 263 years, is captured early
on Friday from Pucon in the Calafquen Lake area, 900km south of Santiago, Chile.
It may still be visible in the southern hemisphere but is expected to fade by
early next month, space.com said. The comet swept past the Sun on January 12, at
a distance of 25.6 million km. Astronomer Robert McNaught, of Australia's Siding
Spring Observatory, discovered it in August.
Businessman Paul Zimmerman's love for
Hong Kong has led him to become involved fight to protect the harbour and in
politics.
Consultant Wong Man-chiu shows off his
fung shui compass at his office in Causeway Bay where he also holds classes.
Like many others before him, Wong Man-chiu thought he could do a better job than
the fung shui specialist whom he had just paid a fortune for some work. But
instead of just fuming and thinking, Mr Wong went out and did something about
it.
Garments sold at upscale malls in the city under famous brands such as Chanel,
Burberry and Dior, with price tags of at least 1,000 yuan ($120), have been
declared substandard. Coats, jackets and pants made under 17 international
brands failed quality tests, with either high concentrations of a potentially
dangerous chemical, shoddy dye or excessive fiber content, according to an
online statement from the Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Administration.
Zara, MNG, Armani, Ermenegildo Zegna, S.T.Dupont, PINK and MaxMara were also
found to have substandard products. In a recent test, 24 kinds of garments
bearing these fancy brands were found to be faulty in more than 10 department
stores, including Plaza 66 on Nanjing Road and Gateway Mall in Xujiahui. A Zara
skirt was found to contain twice the allowable quantity of formaldehyde, a
chemical that threatens respiratory health and the skin. And an MNG coat,
labeled 20 percent cashmere, was found to have only 1.7 percent cashmere.
Dealers will stop selling the faulty garments, remove them from the malls and
take responsibility for any later charges, the statement said. Giorgio Armani's
Hong Kong branch said the company was very sorry for its faulty goods and
promised to take immediate action. It told the Shanghai Morning Post that it
would ensure all its garments were modified to comply with Chinese quality
standards. 
Beijing has played down fears of a
military space race after US spy agencies said China had shot down a satellite
for the first time, drawing condemnation from Washington and its Asian allies. A
foreign ministry spokesman, while declining to confirm the incident, said other
countries should not be alarmed. "There's no need to feel threatened about
this," Liu Jianchao said. "So far, we have not got any confirmed information
about this." He said China had no intention of triggering an arms race in space.
"We are not going to get into any arms race in space." Washington said China
fired a missile to destroy an orbiting weather satellite last week, making it
the third country after the United States and the former Soviet Union to shoot
down anything in space. If confirmed, the test would mean China could now
theoretically shoot down spy satellites operated by other nations. The aging
Chinese weather satellite was hit on January 11 and may have left considerable
debris behind, a US official said. The US magazine Aviation Week and Space
Technology first reported a missile launch, which was confirmed by the White
House. The magazine said the missile was fired from the Xichang space center in
central Sichuan province and had destroyed a Chinese weather satellite that was
launched in 1999. The impact reportedly occurred more than 800 kilometers above
Earth, high enough to hit orbiting satellites.
The large radio
telescope at Yunnan Observatory weighs approximately 400 tons and has a diameter
of 40 meters, photo taken on January 17, 2007. Four radio telescopes have been
put into trial operation to measure orbits and receive data for "Chang'e I"
Lunar Orbiter, to be launched later this year. They are located in Fenghuang
Mount in Kunming, Yunnan, Miyun in Beijing, Sheshan Mount in Shanghai and
Southern Mount in Urumqi, Xinjiang. When Chinese astronauts eventually walk in
space, a small satellite will be used to monitor their movements, said a
satellite expert on Thursday.
A Sinopec billboard in Shanghai. The company wants pump prices to follow market
fundamentals after world crude oil prices soared to all-time highs in 2006.It
has called for a more market-oriented oil pricing mechanism in 2007 after
struggling last year to refine more oil at higher cost for local consumption.
Five China telecommunications workers
kidnapped nearly two weeks ago in Nigeria have been freed by their captors, the
Foreign Ministry said. The workers were released Wednesday, ministry spokesman
Liu Jianchao said Thursday. "We want to express our thanks and support for the
assistance on the Nigerian side," Liu said. Asked if a ransom had been paid to
ensure the workers' release, Liu said: "I'm sorry. I can't give any details on
the specific process." In Nigeria, Emeke Woke, a government official in Rivers
state where the kidnappings occurred, said the five were handed over to their
company's lawyers in the state. The ministry said its diplomats and officials
from the Commerce Ministry worked with the Nigerian government to secure the
workers' release. Teleken, based in the southwestern city of Chengdu, had been
contracted to install equipment to upgrade rural telephone services in Nigeria.
It is a subsidiary of China Telecom, the country's biggest telephone company.
HAsia's richest tycoons were profiting
mightily from China's economic rise, with Hong Kong real estate and ports
magnate Li Ka-shing once again in the lead. Hong Kong real estate and ports
magnate Li Ka-shing was once again at the top of Forbes magazine rich list for
Asia's wealthiest tycoons, the magazine said on Thursday. The magazine estimates
Mr Li's wealth has reached HK$172b. 
Central China's
Hubei Province is recovering from the recent heavy snowfall, which crippled
southeastern parts of the province. Water and power supplies, traffic and
communications were all restored on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2006.
Chairwoman of CS
Finance & Investment Ltd Susie Chiang Su-hui (third from left) offers a toast
with Li Ruogu (second from right), chairman and president of the Export-Import
Bank of China (China Eximbank), during a signing ceremony in Hong Hong
yesterday. China Eximbank, a policy bank that backs up the mainland's foreign
trade, will study the renminbi market in Hong Kong to decide whether it will
issue yuan-denominated bonds there.
Starbuck's outlet at the Forbidden City - He wrote in his popular blog that "it
is not globalizing, but trampling Chinese culture" to have a Starbucks in the
Forbidden City, a symbol of Chinese civilization. He added that more than 300
multinational CEOs he had interviewed including Microsoft boss Bill Gates were
surprised at the commercialization of the landmark. Rui said he met the
Starbucks CEO Jim Donald at a summit in Yale University, and suggested he
relocate the outlet. However, Donald said the decision was made by his
predecessor; and that the chain was invited by the Forbidden City to open an
outlet. Rui said he plans to write another letter to Donald, telling him that
the company's withdrawal would win more respect from, and more patronage of,
Chinese. His blog attracted 530,000 hits and comments have flooded the Web. Many
called the outlet a "disgrace" and the Palace Museum, the administrative organ
of the Forbidden City, a "slave of money". 
The number of
visitors to Macau, lured by the city's booming gaming industry, has soared to a
new high and is closing in on Hong Kong's total. Macau welcomed 21.9 million
visitors last year, a 17 per cent increase on 2005, while Hong Kong saw 25.2
million, an 8 per cent increase but short of tourism authorities' 27 million
target. "The year 2006 was a fruitful year for the Macau tourism industry, as
total visitor arrivals scored a new high," the city's secretary for social
affairs and culture, Chui Sai-on, said yesterday. "The largest source market
continues to be the mainland ... followed by Hong Kong and Taiwan." A total of
11.9 million mainland residents visited Macau last year, up 14 per cent on 2005,
while Hong Kong visitors to the city reached 6.9 million, up 23 per cent on
2005. Taiwanese visitors to Macau fell by 3 per cent, to 1.4 million. The number
of visitors to the former Portuguese enclave has nearly doubled since 2003, the
year before the opening of the Las Vegas-style Sands casino, which spearheaded
the city's gaming boom. Large hotel-casino projects in the pipeline are expected
to fuel even greater growth in visitors this year. These include the 3,000-room
Venetian Macau, scheduled to open in the summer, and the Grand Lisboa, flagship
of casino magnate Stanley Ho Hung-sun's company, Sociedade de Jogos de Macau,
expected to open later this year. "The completion of several tourism and
entertainment facilities this year is bound to add various new elements to the
tourism industry of Macau," Dr Chui said. Joao Manuel Costa Antunes, director of
the Macau Government Tourism Office, said the city's tourism sector would
receive a big boost this year from new conference and exhibition facilities, but
these would not pose a threat to Hong Kong. "Conditions are far from mature for
Macau to become a conference and exhibition hub. Hong Kong's sector is way more
advanced. 
More economic and trade offices
should be set up by the government across the border to speed the opening of the
mainland market, the head of an advisory group on the nation's 11th five-year
plan said yesterday. Hong Kong should also strive to play a part in the drafting
of the next five-year plan, rather than merely staying on the receiving end as
it did for the current one, said Leung Chun-ying, who is also an executive
councillor. The action agenda for the city's strategy on the plan was unveiled
on Monday. The administration has three economic and trade offices, in
Guangdong, Shanghai and Chengdu , to enhance cross-border economic ties and
promote professional exchanges. The Beijing office of the Hong Kong government
also has a department performing the same function. The number of offices was
far from sufficient, said Mr Leung, convenor of the professional services,
information and technology and tourism group, one of the four focus groups
appointed by Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen to advise him on ways to
implement the plan. "Today, any established bank or professional firm from Hong
Kong has at least 10 offices in the mainland. As a government, how can it only
have four economic and trade offices?" The Trade Development Council has 11
offices on the mainland to market opportunities and organise promotional
activities, but Mr Leung said with the culture of the mainland, discussions must
be initiated on the government-to-government level. He said Hong Kong had to
intensify exchanges with Beijing to dispel concerns that Hong Kong professionals
wanted to compete rather than collaborate with their mainland counterparts. He
also urged legislators to approve the funding for more economic and trade
offices. "There is no need to ask consultants to conduct a feasibility study,"
he said. Mr Leung said Hong Kong should take part in the drafting of the 12th
five-year plan, so that the city's needs and interests could be reflected and
incorporated into the blueprint. 
Hopewell has invested HK$600m to convert its Hongkong International Trade and
Exhibition Centre into the EMax shopping mall.
A contestant in a children's
modelling competition in Beijing gets made up for his turn on the catwalk.
Fashion shows are booming on the mainland along with rising incomes and a
growing taste for luxury western goods. Child models are a recent phenomenon.
A bullet
train at a railway station in Shanghai January 15, 2007. After completing a
trial run in Shanghai, the new CRH (China Railway High-speed) bullet train will
be tested for operation during the coming Spring Festival holidays where there
is a sharp rise in demand for transportation. The train can run at 250km per
hour.
Police in Jieshou, Anhui province,
inspect some of the 6.45 million yuan in counterfeit currency that was seized
from two women last week. The Guangming Daily reports that the women claimed to
have bought the fake cash in Guangdong.
State Grid, which is planning an initial public offering next year, is aiming to
further increase net profit this year by 30 per cent. 
Secretary for Home Affairs Patrick Ho
Chi-ping (centre) sports a traditional cap at a colourful celebration of Nepal's
multicultural society in Kowloon Park piazza yesterday. Dr Ho, seen with Hem L.
Bhattarai (left) acting consul-general of Nepal, and Hejen Rai, chairman of the
Hong Kong Nepalese Federation, attended the Culture in Motion festival organised
by his bureau, the Hong Kong Nepalese Federation and the consulate of Nepal to
promote cultural diversity and understanding.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (C) shakes hands
with South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun (L) and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe in Cebu of the Philippines, Jan. 14, 2007. China, Japan and S.Korea agreed
to hold aperiodic meetings on a rotating basis to further enhance political
trust. 
A worker changes the price markers for
fuel sold at a station operated by the China National Petroleum Corporation in
Chongqing, western China. The cut, which is too small to make much difference to
consumers, is expected to serve as a small step towards price reforms for the
oil sector.
Secretary for Home Affairs Patrick
Ho Chi-ping joins guests for the opening of the Hong Kong Computer Festival
2006-07 in Sham Shui Po yesterday. The fair, organized jointly by the Sham Shui
Po District Council and the Chamber of Hong Kong Computer Industry, this year
focuses on the application of digital technology. The fair runs until Monday.
Schoolchildren recite a selection
of The Analects of Confucius in Chinese and English at a grand launch for a
100-volume edition of Chinese literary classics in Beijing yesterday. The
state-supported venture brings works dating back to the Warring States (477-221
BC) up to the 19th century, with translations in English and modern Chinese. The
books are targeted at the growing number of students of Putonghua around the
world, estimated to be more than 30 million.
The Hong Kong Police Force has
reshuffled its top tier after the government announced the appointment of Tang
King-shing to replace Dick Lee Ming-kwai, who retires as police commissioner.
The appointment, which was approved by the State Council, takes effect Monday.
Tang, who joined the force as a probationary inspector in 1976, becomes the
fourth Chinese police commissioner to lead the 31,000-strong force. Tang, 52,
described his appointment as an honor and vowed, with the support of all members
of the force, to maintain Hong Kong's public order and stability and its status
as one of the safest in the world. Tang outlined four measures he will implement
upon assuming office: enhancing internal communications by understanding the
problems encountered by frontline policemen and lessening their stress;
enhancing liaison work with the community and all sectors of society;
strengthening cooperation with mainland authorities and foreign intelligence
agencies to combat cross-border crimes and terrorist activities; and enhancing
staff training to lift the force's service standards.
Landing a championship: Jenny So
Ming-wai (left) lands a punch on Wong Chi-shan on the way to becoming the city's
first woman Muay Thai boxing champion last night at Queen Elizabeth Stadium. "I
feel good," she said after four rounds in the flyweight A division. "My elbow
joint was hurt earlier and it dislocated in the third round, but luckily I still
won."
The MTR's project, next to the Tseung
Kwan O station, is expected to have its land premium set before the Lunar New
Year. MTR Corp's proposed multi-purpose complex in Tseung Kwan O, estimated to
cost HK$8 billion, has attracted keen interest from most large developers,
boding well for a bigger residential project that the railway operator plans to
launch later this year. MTR Corp's proposed multi-purpose complex in Tseung Kwan
O, estimated to cost HK$8 billion, has attracted keen interest from most large
developers, boding well for a bigger residential project that the railway
operator plans to launch later this year. Property director Thomas Ho Hang-kwong
yesterday said the company had received 14 expressions of interest for the
project in Tseung Kwan O's Area 56, which is due for tender by the Lunar New
Year. The submissions came from Cheung Kong (Holdings), Sun Hung Kai Properties,
Sino Land, Nan Fung Development, New World Development, Henderson Land
Development, Hang Lung Properties, Kerry Properties, Wharf (Holdings), K Wah
International, Wing Tai Asia, Kowloon Development, Chinachem Group and Chun Wo
Holdings. "The positive response doesn't mean the tender would draw many
developers to submit bids," said Charles Chan Chiu-kwok, the managing director
of Savills Valuation and Professional Services. "It will depend on how much the
land premium will cost." The MTR expects the Lands Department to set the land
premium, a payment to the government for changing land use, on the Tseung Kwan O
project before the Lunar New Year. The development right will be awarded in the
first quarter. The winning bidder will have to pay the land premium and bear the
construction costs of five footbridges and the park nearby, according to the
requirements of the tender. Mr Ho estimated that the total investment cost,
including the land premium and building expenses, would be HK$8 billion. The
surveyor expects the mid-tier developers to team up. The project, above the
MTR's Tseung Kwan O station, has a site area of 430,452 square feet that could
provide a gross floor area of 1.8 million sq ft. The project comprises four 42
to 45-storey residential blocks and two 36-storey hotel and office towers. It
will provide 1,150 residential units and 1,290 hotel rooms. The MTR cannot book
sales from the project until 2011 under new accounting rules that allow revenue
to be booked only from completed projects. The company yesterday also announced
plans to release the development right for the third phase of Dreamcity, a
residential project in the district, in the third quarter. The third phase of
the complex is in Tseung Kwan O's Area 86. It will provide eight residential
blocks with more than 3,000 units. Cheung Kong has been awarded the rights to
develop the first two phases.
The Beijing
2008 Olympics emblem suffers parody and has been transformed to washroom signs
by mischievous netizens Beijing Legal Evening reports Friday. Mischievous
internet users have mocked up and changed the emblem for the 2008 Beijing
Olympics to public toilet signs. The pranked version of Olympic emblem was
originally posted on a domestic well-know sports online community and the
emblem, namely "Chinese Seal, Dancing Beijing", has been changed into male and
female rest rooms nameplates respectively. The entangled five rings embodying
Olympic spirit, the symbol of "Beijing 2008", was cleaned away from the bottom
in both of the redesigned ones. The Chinese characters for the two genders stand
instead. The color of the sign for male turns to be gray, not red like the
original, while the Chinese calligraphy character for "Jing", standing for the
city of Beijing in the prototype was redesigned as a female toilet sign looking
like a girl dressed in a skirt. The paper said by now the emblems has been
widespread on the Internet. Web users can easily find them on famous search
engines such as Google and Baidu. The prank mischief evokes netizens' backlash,
who criticize it's unacceptable to see these originally beautiful emblems
fiddled with into such ugly signs; while supporters said prank that amuse
netizens is just a prank, but without any vicious intentions. The director of
that online community said in the interview with the paper they won't remove the
poster from their website since it didn't violate laws. "Any position of
netizens didn't represent that of the website as well as the editors, but I
admit the poster is eye-catching and brings into high amount of hits," she
added. An official with the Beijing Olympic organizer, BOCOG, condemned the mock
"indeed improperly", warning its spread online is likely to do harm to Beijing
Games and the image of the city. BOCOG published a regulation in 2003 on the
protection of intellectual property rights concerning the Beijing Games' emblem.
It prohibited actions from setting apart, distorting or juggling the emblem by
any organization and individual in any case. Making the emblem part of other
incorporated logos is also banned. Fang Yu, however, a lawyer of Beijing Dadi
Law Office, said the juggle did not violate the BOCOG regulation for it only
spread online without any attempt for commercial purposes. Fang also claimed the
BOCOG regulation doesn't bear any legal force. In a similar online mischief
recently, the Beijing Olympic mascots, the five Fuwas, did not escape from the
mean-spirited zeal of netizens either. The heads of the five mascots kids were
replaced with famous Chinese comedians, like Zhao Benshan and Ge You. Embodied
traditional Olympic spirit, filled with Beijing's hospitality and hopes,
carrying out the city's commitment to the world, 'Dancing Beijing" was unveiled
for the Beijing Olympics on August 3, 2003. 
Syphilis, virtually eradicated
after the founding New China in 1949, has become a viciously-growing epidemic
there, driven by prostitution, internal migration and poor health controls, a
new study warns. In 1993, the reported rate of syphilis in China was a mere 0.2
cases per 100,000. A Chinese prostitute is caught in bed with two men at a
brothel in Guangzhou, July 2003. Syphilis has become a viciously-growing
epidemic there, driven by prostitution, internal migration and poor health
controls, a new study warns.[AFP] In 2005, it had surged to 5.7 cases per
100,000, a figure that may well be a serious under-estimate, according to the
paper by Chinese epidemiologists. In addition, the number of babies born with
syphilis has shot up. Congenital syphilis occurred among just 0.01 per 100,000
live births in 1991; in 2005 it was 19.68 -- an annual rise of nearly 72 percent
over that time. "Surveillance data and focussed reports from throughout China
provide compelling evidence of a substantial and worsening syphilis epidemic in
individuals at high risk and in the general population," the research says. "The
spread of syphilis in China has been insidious and has only recently attracted
the attention it deserves." The paper, written by experts from China's National
Centre for STD (Sexually Transmitted Diseases) Control, appears in Saturday's
issue of the British health journal The Lancet. Syphilis is a sexually
transmitted disease caused by a bacterium, Treponema pallidum, that can be
treated by antibiotics. If untreated, it can cause genital ulcers, damage the
cardiovascular and nervous systems and brain, affect fertility and foetal
health. By the time New China was founded in 1949, China had one of the biggest
syphilis epidemics in history: one person in 20 in some large cities had the
disease, and the rate was two to three percent among dwellers in the
countryside. 
The State
Council Wednesday gave Hong Kong wider scope in its yuan business by allowing
mainland financial institutions the right to issue yuan- denominated bonds in
Hong Kong as well as allowing importers to settle their trade accounts with yuan.
Details of the market operation are expected to be discussed next week in
Beijing when representatives of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the
People's Bank of China meet, Financial Secretary Henry Tang Ying- yen said. Hong
Kong banks welcomed the development but expressed concern that the present
limited source of yuan may hinder the yuan-denominated bonds business. They
urged the central government to allow greater relaxation in the yuan- deposits
business to support an active secondary market in the future. "Whether the
approval of yuan- denominated bonds issued in Hong Kong could bring us [local
banks] potential income is yet to be seen," said Raymond Or Ching-fai, Hang Seng
Bank (0011) deputy chairman. "It all depends on other aspects such as whether
the regulations surrounding the yuan-deposits business could be relaxed." A
banker who preferred not be named said: "The important thing is where will the
money [yuan] come from? "Since the yuan is not freely convertible, how can
foreigners obtain the currency to buy the financial bonds? Not having enough
yuan will mean a very thin trade in the secondary market." At present, yuan
deposits in Hong Kong banks amount only to 20 billion yuan (HK$19.97 billion),
while no official figures on corporate yuan savings have been announced. ICBC
(Asia) (0349) director and general manager Stanley Wong Yuen- fai, however, was
optimistic about the growth of yuan deposits in Hong Kong. "The annual return
for yuan bond holders could be as high as 6 percent to 7 percent, when you take
the potential for yuan appreciation into account, and use the 3 percent average
yield of mainland yuan bonds as a reference." The announcement by the central
government has been a long time coming, and happens just days before the
submission of the first phase of a report by Hong Kong's working committee on
the 11th Five Year Plan. The report is due to be published Monday. Chief
Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen said Wednesday he was pleased the State Council
had formally approved the further expansion of the yuan business in Hong Kong.
He said: "This new category of renminbi business is conducive to business
opportunities for banks and enhancing financial flows between Hong Kong and the
mainland, and embodies the support of the central government in strengthening
Hong Kong's position as an international financial center." The acting chairman
of the Hong Kong Association of Banks, Julian Fong, also welcomed the move,
saying "it will facilitate more efficient cross- border capital flows and
provide new business opportunities for underwriting and distribution on Hong
Kong." The Hong Kong Monetary Authority said the move could provide the ample
yuan currently circulating in Hong Kong with a channel back to the mainland and
enhance the convergence of the two economies. 
The government is studying
the development of phase 3 of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre and
the early expansion of the AsiaWorld- Expo site to maintain Hong Kong's
competitiveness in the exhibitions sector, Secretary for Commerce, Industry and
Technology Joseph Wong Wing- ping said Wednesday. Last month Premier Wen Jiabao
said the central government would ensure that Hong Kong's position as an
international exhibition and conference center, as well as its logistics and
financial hub status, was strengthened. "The government and the Hong Kong Trade
Development Council see a need to further expand Hong Kong's exhibition
facilities, including the development of HKCEC phase 3," Wong said during a
Legislative Council meeting. Sources said the land between Great Eagle Centre
and the Wan Chai ferry pier, currently used as a bus terminal, is one option
being considered for the HKCEC phase 3 development. The plot has the strategic
advantage of being adjacent to the existing HKCEC building, and further harbor
reclamation under the current government policy may be difficult. The council is
currently expanding the atrium link between HKCEC phase 1 and phase 2 which will
provide an additional 19,400 square meters of exhibition space, boosting HKCEC's
total dedicated exhibition space by 42 percent. The expansion project is
expected to be completed in 2009, and will increase the exhibition area to
65,000 sqm from the current 46,000 sqm. Frederick Lam Tin-fook, executive
director of the council, would not comment directly on the location of phase 3,
but said the development would be close to the existing building, that
reclamation would not be required and would not add to the traffic pressure in
the area. He said he hopes to have a final decision on the site within a few
months as the council aims to finish the phase 3 project by 2015. Upon
completion the total exhibition area in the HKCEC would be more than 100,000 sqm.
Lam warned that the lack of exhibition space is stifling the development of Hong
Kong's exhibition business, so a confirmation on the expansion plan is urgently
needed as Hong Kong also faces severe competition in the region. Lam also said
more hotels are needed to cater to the increasing numbers of business travelers
and exhibition delegates. However, Lam said Hong Kong retained several
advantages over the competition namely a swift visa process, easy customs
procedures and strong flight connections. He suggested Hong Kong should host
more exhibitions with varied themes such as art, antiques, music, gardening and
medical expos, to attract more visitors from China and throughout Asia. The
government is also liaising with AsiaWorld-Expo to urge an early commencement of
its phase 2 which will increase the center's total exhibition space to 100,000
sqm. Since opening in 2005, AsiaWorld- Expo has hosted more than 40 events, of
which more than 90 percent were in Hong Kong for the first time. These include
ITU Telecom World 2006 held in December, which brought direct economic benefits
of about HK$900 million to the city. 
The remains of a former British
governor's summer residence has been found buried beneath the streets at The
Peak, the Economic Development and Labor Bureau said Wednesday. The find, near
the pavilion at Victoria Peak Garden, comprised some granite steps, a few
boulders and small pieces of a wall and roof tiles. The site is believed to be
the remains of the entrance at a former governor's summer residence built in
1902. These remains were discovered during the Architectural Services
Department's standard procedure of checking for underground obstructions on a
site where a Victorian-style pavilion was to be built as part of the Tourism
Commission's Peak Improvement Project. "It was an unexpected discovery," said
Permanent Secretary for Economic Development and Labour Eva Cheng Yu-wah, adding
the remains would match the Victorian-era architectural style being used in the
improvement project. Architectural Services Department chief architect Stephen
Tang Man-bun said since the tiles contained the name of the manufacturer, which
no longer exists, they were definitely historical. Tang said all construction
work in the area had been halted and the Antiquities and Monuments Office had
been informed.
An An, 18, has been assured of his spot in
the limelight even after the new pandas arrive. His minders promised he will
continue a contented life of eating and sleeping. 
Olympic licensed products fascinates
customers - Beijing 2008 official licensed products- jewelry.
Li Shufu (R),
chairman of Chinese car maker Geely Group Co., Ltd attends a press conference
for its global logo design contest, Jan 9, 2006. Geely announced to launch a
global logo design contest in an attempt to find a new logo that will help the
internationalization of its cars. The winner will win prize money of two million
yuan.
An artist paints chocolate on a
model during a sales promotion at a candy store in Xian, Shaanxi province, on
Monday. Western manufacturers only recently rediscovered the cosmetic virtues of
cocoa more than 3,000 years after the Mayans, tapping into the trend for and
benefits of "tasty" beauty treatments.
Roots from the cassava bush (left) and
palm oil fruit (right) will be used in a US$5.5 billion CNOOC-backed project to
produce biofuel in Indonesia.
Taking advantage
of its strong business presence in China, global property consultancy group DTZ
plans to diversify into fund management by using a US$400 million (HK$3.12
billion) Middle East capital fund to explore opportunities in mainland real
estate. Leung Chun-ying, DTZ Asia- Pacific's chairman, who in just 14 years has
built his business up to become the largest international property adviser in
China, said the investment fund marks the group's first foray into the new
business. Given its corporate finance knowledge, coupled with its expertise in
the mainland real estate market, the new business is a major part of the group's
expansion strategy in the region. "We are familiar with the China market and
that will be an advantage to us in diversifying and expanding our business
there," Leung said in an interview with The Standard. The veteran real estate
man, who has been in the industry for almost three decades, said he is upbeat
about prospects in the office market in Shanghai and Beijing as demand remains
robust. Leung, who used to be a partner of Jones Lang Wootton - renamed Jones
Lang LaSalle in 1999 - built up his consultancy expertise in Shanghai in 1988
when he handled the first public property tender in the city. In 1993, he set up
its own consultancy firm after leaving Jones Lang Wootton. DTZ now has real
estate consultancy offices in 12 mainland cities since entering China 14 years
ago under its former name CY Leung & Co. After setting up offices in Shanghai,
Shenzhen, Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Dalian, Chongqing, Hangzhou,
Wuhan and Xian, the company now has its sights set on expansion opportunities in
Shandong, Jiangsu and Fujian. Leung said the Middle East fund DTZ will manage is
keen to buy non- residential property in the mainland as a long-term investment.
Overseas interest in office properties in Beijing and Shanghai has risen sharply
in recent years. Foreign institutions, including Morgan Stanley, have invested
in the mainland real estate market, seeking to capitalize on China's economic
boom. "As a fund manager, DTZ will not invest in properties, to avoid a conflict
of interest," Leung said. In addition to its ambitions in China, DTZ aims to
become one of the world's three largest property advisers after consolidating
its North Asia equity shareholding with a London-listed holding company DTZ
Holdings. CB Richard Ellis and Jones Lang LaSalle are the world's two largest
property consultants. "Globally, DTZ has a good business foundation in
Asia-Pacific, Europe and the United States. To achieve the group's goal to
become one of the world's largest property consultants in one to two years, we
can continue to acquire real estate firms in the United States as there is much
room to propel our business development there," Leung said. He said DTZ would
speed up its expansion in the Asia-Pacific region including China, India and
Japan after restructuring the group's business in the region last month. Leung,
who also built up the DTZ Debenham Tie Leung property consultancy, agreed with
his partners to sell their remaining 70 percent stake in the North Asia equity
shareholding to DTZ Holdings for HK$330.3 million in mid- December involving a
share swap and cash payment. The share swap allowed Leung to increase his
holdings in DTZ Holdings to 4.61 percent, making him the fourth- largest
shareholder and a board member of the London-listed company. The transaction
involved DTZ Holdings shares worth HK$278.4 million, with the remainder in cash.
Leung did not build up his personal fortune by cashing in his shares in DTZ
Debenham Tie Leung. Instead, he took his share of the consideration entirely in
DTZ Holdings shares. In 2000, CY Leung & Co announced a merger with DTZ in
Britain and Edmund Tie & Co in Singapore. CY Leung was renamed DTZ Debenham Tie
Leung. DTZ Holdings took 30 percent of the North Asia business. "Personally, I
don't have much spare money, as the company's previous earnings were mainly used
to re-invest in business development," Leung said. Aiming to reward and retain
outstanding management staff, DTZ Debenham Tie Leung has launched an employee
share incentive plan. To share the fruits of the company's development with its
employees, Leung, DTZ Holdings and other four shareholders, will distribute
shares amounting to HK$30 million to more than 70 employees in Hong Kong, the
mainland and Taiwan. The shares will be distributed in batches over the next
three years. "As the North Asian shareholders are now significant owners of the
holding company, we hope to motivate our staff by making them stakeholders,
which encourages them to continuously build up the business with the company,
and also their personal stake in the business," Leung said. Commenting on Hong
Kong's real estate market, Leung supports the current application list system of
land sales, saying the system is market driven and working fine. 
The government, acknowledging a
growing chorus of discontent over its heritage policy, made active strides
Monday to show it is taking preservation seriously. It vowed to create more
public consultation channels and to consider protecting buildings that carry a
strong sense of "collective memory." The government will also appoint new
members to an advisory board that will actively seek public views before any
historic building is demolished. But heritage groups and local activists
remained cool to the government's new policies, saying the administration had
not done enough to win back their trust after last month's debacle over the
iconic Star Ferry clock tower. Introducing the new proposals Monday, Secretary
for Home Affairs Patrick Ho Chi-ping promised to take a more sensitive approach
to heritage preservation. Historic buildings "bear witness to Hong Kong people's
way of life, culture, social movements and collective experience of historical
events," Ho said. He asked the public to tell the government which buildings it
deemed worthy of protection, while making public for the first time an internal
government list of 496 buildings that were being monitored based on their age,
distinctive characteristics and ties to historical events. None of these
buildings has legal protection from demolition, Ho said, but a team of
professionals was reassessing a total of 1,440 sites based on a new set of
"abstract" criteria that includes collective memory, historical significance and
value to society.
Secretary for Justice Wong Yan-lung
marks the opening of the legal year with a speech at City Hall in Central
yesterday. 
Hutchison Essar, India's
fourth-largest mobile-telephone company by subscribers, has attracted four
potential bidders so far. Indian Commerce Minister Kamal Nath on Tuesday said
Vodafone Group's chief executive had sought to meeting him to discuss a possible
bid to purchase Hutchison Whampoa's controlling stake in a leading Indian mobile
phone company.
China's scientific
survey ship "Da Yang Yi Hao" departs for its 220-day scientific ocean expedition
from Qingdao, a city in east China's Shandong Province January 8, 2007. The ship
will finish a 30,000 sea mile-voyage, covering sea areas of the southwest
Pacific Ocean, southwest Indian Ocean and west Pacific Ocean . The ship started
its maiden long distance ocean expedition on April 2, 2005.
Chinese President Hu Jintao on Tuesday
pledged a more severe and systematic crackdown on corruption in a key-note
speech delivered at a national anti-graft conference. Hu, who is also the
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
(CPC), made the call at the Seventh Plenary Session of the CPC Central
Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), a three-day meeting that started on
Monday. Acknowledging the progress the commission had made in the past year, Hu
said the Party still faced an "arduous fight against corruption". Hu told senior
Party officials and the 110 CCDI members attending the session that they should
continue to work on investigating "major and high-level corruption cases" and
sternly punishing crooked officials. China's anti-graft fight last year led to
the downfall of several senior officials, including former Shanghai party chief
Chen Liangyu,former Beijing Vice Mayor Liu Zhihua, and former top statistician
Qiu Xiaohua. Chen was China's highest ranking official to fall in a corruption
scandal in a decade. Hu called on government officials and Party cadres at all
levels to establish a comprehensive system to prevent and punish corrupt
officials, and to blend anti-graft efforts into the country's economic,
political, and cultural developments. 
Workers put the finishing touch to a snow
sculpture of a Han Dynasty palace before the Shenyang International Ice and Snow
Festival which starts on Wednesday in Shenyang, Liaoning Province.
Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen
and his wife Selina Tsang Pou Siu-mei donned their walking shoes for the launch
of the "2006-07 Hong Kong and Kowloon Walk for Millions" at Hong Kong Stadium,
Causeway Bay. The Community Chest event, to raise funds for children and youth
services, attracted about 13,000 participants and a record of 150 teams. The
10km walk ended at Aberdeen Country Park.
A 67-meter-high
building near the West Lake in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang
Province, looms large in the morning ray before the demolition blast on January
6, 2006. The building, also the highest within the lake area, was torn down
successfully Saturday, causing no casualty. It served as the main teaching
building of the Hubin district of Zhejiang University before the demolition.
The Internet search
giant Google Inc. has bought a stake in a Chinese software provider as part of
the company's bid to extend its dominance beyond Internet searches to other
online services, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
Zhang Xiaochun's son is 14 years old, but she has not seen
him since she left her village in southwest China to work in the capital eight
years ago. She thinks it's too expensive to go home. "I want to save as much as
I can," said Zhang, 36. "Money is what drove us here." Zhang sweeps the
corridors of a 33-story Beijing office building. Her husband, who also left home
when their son was six, works at a construction site. They spend money only on
the most basic necessities, and together they manage to put as much as 9,000
yuan (HK$8,982) in the bank every year. Zhang's mother cares for their teenage
son back home. The incomes of farming communities - the primary source of the
country's migrant workforce - have risen significantly in recent years. But the
stories told by Zhang and other migrant workers suggest that the extra money may
not be translating into more consumption, which the government sees as crucial
for growth in the world's fourth-largest economy. "Growth in consumption has
been declining even as income has kept rising," said Huo Deming, an economics
professor at Peking University.
Land hungry
developers are likely to show keen enthusiasm in the MTR Corp's (0066) HK$8
billion Tseung Kwan O Area 56 development project after the company asked
developers to register to tender. The railway company invited expressions of
interest Friday from developers for the project atop its Tseung Kwan O station.
The site, with an area of 430,452 square feet, offers a gross floor area of
between 1.11 million and 1.81 million sqft for residential, commercial and hotel
use. The maximum number of residential units is 1,150 while the hotel is limited
to 1,290 rooms. An MTR spokesman said there was no timetable for the tender yet.
"If everything goes smoothly, we hope to start work within this year." The land
premium negotiations with the government are expected to be concluded soon. In
railway tenders, developers submit their best offers, including the
profit-sharing scheme, and bear all the costs of development, including land
premium, construction and financing costs. Henderson Land Development (0012) and
Wheelock Properties (0049) said they would study the project. Surveyors reckon
the land premium could reach up to HK$54 billion, equivalent to an accommodation
value of HK$2,976 per square foot if the upper GFA limit is used. "With such a
large investment amount, it can only be the big developers," said chartered
surveyor Pang Siu-kee of SK Pang Surveyors, adding it was premature to say if
the MTR would pay half the premium as it did for the first phase of Dream City
in Tseung Kwan O's Area 86 in early 2005 to attract smaller developers. In the
end, that tender went to Cheung Kong (Holdings) (0001). Midland Surveyors
director Alvin Lam Tze-pun said on completion, the flats could sell for HK$5,000
psf. Developers have until next Friday to submit their expressions of interest.
Meanwhile, the government has sold Block A of Wylie Court, a former government
quarters in Ho Man Tin, for HK$410.8 million through public tender to New World
Development (0017). Last month developers and investors submitted eight tenders
for the 20-year- old property comprising 40 flats and car-park spaces. New World
said last month that it is upbeat on the high-end residential market, and the
firm would refurbish the Ho Man Tin residential tower if it won the bidding.
Each flat in Block A, located at 15-23 Wylie Path, has a saleable area of about
1,629 sq ft. 
China's indigenous
third-generation Jian-10 (Fighter-10) makes its debut in Beijing January 5,
2007. The airplane is manufactured by the China Aviation Industry Corporation I
(AVIC I) based on the country's own Intellectual Property Rights.
Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun took up her
position as new head of the World Health Organization Thursday, saying her
priority is to improve the health of women and Africans.
A Chinese Buddhist prays as people
celebrate the start of the new year on Thursday at Yuyuan Temple in Shanghai,
China. According to the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac, the year 2007 marks the
year of the pig.
China's
banking regulator has formally approved the launch of the postal savings bank,
setting a new stage in the development of the country's postal savings services.
Internet access slows to a crawl
after quake - Rescue workers search for survivors at a collapsed building in
southern Pingtung county December 27, 2006 after a strong earthquake shook
Taiwan. Access to overseas websites from the Chinese mainland slowed to a crawl
yesterday as a powerful earthquake off the Taiwan coast knocked off
international undersea fibre-optic cables on Tuesday, affecting communications
around Asia. It is believed to be the most serious disruption since 2001, when a
submarine cable connecting the mainland with the United States was cut off more
than four times, mostly by fishing boats. It is not clear when normal service
will be restored. China Telecom Corp, the mainland's largest fixed-line carrier,
said six undersea cables were cut off 15 kilometres from the southern coast of
Taiwan, causing severe Internet congestion on the mainland. International voice
calls were also affected. A survey by Internet portal Sina.com yesterday showed
that 97 per cent of Internet users on the mainland had difficulty accessing
overseas websites, and 57 per cent said their lives and work were affected. But
access to mainland websites remains normal. Such disruptions underscore the
increasing importance of back-up systems. "We have to use alternative cables as
well as satellite communications," said Xu Yongming, an official in charge of
China Netcom's international network. He added that mainland operators are
working with their overseas counterparts to repair the damaged cables.
"Aftershocks off Taiwan make it even harder to repair the damaged cables," said
a China Telecom spokeswoman. The disruption affected telecommunications services
in Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and Japan and paralyzed some
banking services. In Hong Kong, Internet connection, long distance calls and
online financial transactions were affected, but the stock exchange said
operations were normal. Internet connection speed was much slower than normal.
Some overseas websites in the United States, Britain and Taiwan could not be
accessed. Emails and online chatting were barely functioning. Internet Society
of Hong Kong Chairman Charles Mok said overseas users connecting to Hong Kong
and the mainland's websites were also affected. Hong Kong Computer Emergency
Response Team Coordination Centre Manager Roy Ko said it might take months to
repair the cables. Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom may be hardest hit. It said
repairing the cable could take three weeks, adding that almost no calls could be
made to Southeast Asia. Chunghwa said voice calls to the mainland, Japan and the
United States were down 10, 11 and 40 per cent of normal capacity. The Chinese
mainland is less affected as operators here have alternative lines away from
quake-hit Taiwan, said Xu with Netcom. He said it may take a shorter time to
restore communications on the mainland but limited capacity could slow down
access to overseas websites, especially during peak hours. Current Internet
networks on the mainland already face a bottleneck in capacity given the growing
popularity of broadband Internet access as well as data-heavy services such as
video downloads. At the end of November, the mainland had 51 million broadband
Internet subscribers, an increase of 13.7 million compared to the end of last
year, according to the Ministry of Information Industry. China Telecom Executive
Vice-President Leng Rongquan last week said the current submarine cable network
linking China and the US will not be able to meet demand after 2008. Six
operators from China, South Korea and the United States including Verizon
Business last week signed a deal to build a submarine cable linking China and
the United States at an investment of US$500 million. The new cable will have
more than 60 times the overall capacity of the existing one linking the United
States and China. 
