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March 31, 2008
If the government introduced a congestion charge today it would have to sting drivers for HK$90 for each trip to Central - and that would deter only one in five from making the journey by road. But drivers would need pay only HK$40 to HK$50 if the scheme were launched in 2016, when the Central-Wan Chai bypass has been built. Those are among the findings of the second study of the feasibility of electronic road pricing. A senior government source called the HK$90 charge huge and said: "We do not think people will be willing to pay such a high price." Congestion charging has been on the agenda since the 1980s. A consultancy study finished in 2000 was not released in full. The source said officials were looking at the second study's findings and considering how and when to release them. The source said the difference between the charges was so high because, without a bypass, drivers unwilling to pay would have almost no alternative route. "They would have to pay and go to Central because there was no other choice, thus only a huge charge can deter traffic coming to Central. With the bypass, drivers going to Sheung Wan and Western could skip Central without paying a charge. Without the bypass, motorists who don't want to pay would be pushed to Mid-Levels and that would be a nightmare." The source added: "The bypass is an essential part of the road pricing scheme." Tim Hau Doe-kwong, a University of Hong Kong transport expert, said the figures showed the significance of giving drivers a second option. "A mere increase in costs to suppress demand without the provision of an alternative would result in public chaos," he said. The Transport Department's 2006 annual traffic census shows the average number of vehicles entering and leaving the city's central business district each day was 491,320. Other cities have reported dramatic results from congestion charging. Singapore's Land Transport Authority says the number of vehicles entering the city centre fell by more than 70 per cent when road pricing was introduced in 1997. Transport for London, which oversees congestion charging in the British capital, says that in 2006, the number of vehicles entering the central zone where the charge applies was down 21 per cent on the number in 2002, a year before it began charging drivers. The Hong Kong government's third comprehensive transport study, in 2003, showed average speeds had dropped to 16km/h on major roads in the central business district. If nothing was done by 2011, it said, that would drop to 5.3km/h. The Council for Sustainable Development polled 80,000 people last year and found more than 40 per cent support for electronic road pricing. What other cities charge: Singapore charges between S$0.25 and S$10 (HK$1.40 to HK$56) per road Monday to Saturday from 7am to 10.30pm. Rates change every 20 minutes. London charges £8 (HK$125) to enter the city centre between 7am and 6pm on weekdays and 6pm to 7am at weekends and holidays. Discounts are offered to some categories of driver. Stockholm levies between 10 and 60 krona (HK$13 to HK$78) on vehicles using roads in the congestion zone between 6.30am and 6.30pm. There is no charge at night, during weekends and public holidays or in July. Dubai charges between 4 dirham and 24 dirham (HK$8.50 to HK$51) when drivers pass toll gates at the entrance to the emirate's congestion charging zone. New York has proposed levying congestion charges of between US$7 and US$21 on vehicles entering the Manhattan business district from 6am to 6pm. Hong Kong's flying dragon logo, seen on posters, brochures and Cathay Pacific flights, has been successful since it was unveiled seven years ago as part of a city image promotion program, a senior official said Friday. The image incorporating the letters HK and the Chinese characters for Hong Kong, often together with the phrase "Asia's world city," has been a successful example of branding, said John Tsang, financial secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, comparing it with Canada's trademark maple leave. "The Hong Kong Brand has become known overseas since it (the logo) was launched some seven years ago. Hong Kong is regarded as a vibrant, multi-cultural city with plenty of opportunities for those who dare to take the plunge," Tsang told a forum Friday. The strategic objective of the Brand Hong Kong initiative, launched by the HKSAR government in 2001 and run by the Information Services Department, was to communicate the city's competitive positioning, values and culture, the HKSAR government said. The HKSAR government has carried out massive promotion under the program. The visual identity can now be seen across Hong Kong, from the skyline to the airport. It even had an official website of its own. The phrase "Asia's world city' has become part of the regional lexicon and many organizations and individuals were applying for authorization to use the Brand Hong Kong logo, the website said. The ideas, hard work and passion of Hong Kong residents formed the foundation for Brand Hong Kong's success both at home and overseas, Frederick Ma, secretary for commerce and economic development, said at a workshop earlier. The HKSAR government is in the middle of public consultation, begun with Wednesday's workshop to review the Brand Hong Kong program. Tsang called for updated public services, among others, as he asked people to consider whether Hong Kong's competitive positioning was still relevant today. "Given the many changes around us, since its issuance some seven years ago, we are now in the process of reviewing its relevance and applicability through an extensive public engagement exercise, " he said, urging for revitalization of Brand Hong Kong.
The police will do a good job at ensuring law and order if protests break out during the Olympic equestrian events, Hong Kong's police chief said yesterday. Commissioner of Police Tang King-shing said the force had received information that protests by foreign groups would be staged in the city during the Games. He said the force would contact the protest groups to sort out the logistics as soon as possible. "We will contact foreign protest groups because they don't know the city and because we want to make sure that all protests go smoothly and are peaceful," Mr Tang said. Mr Tang said the force had not received any intelligence that terrorist groups had targeted the city during the Games but a medium security alert had been raised. The force has also been working with the Beijing Organising Committee for the Games to ensure the event goes smoothly. Mr Tang said officers trained to handle any eventuality would be deployed to ensure security at the equestrian events and throughout the city. Information on securing Hong Kong would also be sought from other countries. Booming industry 'threatens safety' - A boom in shipbuilding across East Asia is fuelling an acute shortage of experienced mariners, which poses a serious risk to safety standards, industry experts warn. New shipyards are coming on stream across China following industry expansion in the Pearl River Delta, Shanghai, Ningbo, Dalian and Tsingtao, with Vietnam and South Korea also seeing rapid growth. "We are set to see an even greater expansion over the next five years and the whole industry - because of the rapid expansion - is suffering from a shortage of experienced staff," one industry insider said. "It takes 10 to 12 years to build a captain in terms of giving him the experience and security to head a vessel, but it only takes two years to build a ship." Classification society DNV Maritime warned last week that global accident rates for large ships had doubled in the past five years, citing the boom in shipping, a shortage of officers, lower retention rates and faster promotion as key factors. Arthur Bowring, chairman of the Hong Kong Shipowners Association, said: "We do have a crisis in seafarer supply. Everybody is short of people. So far we haven't laid up any ships for lack of crew but in the next two to three years we should see a situation where ships are not able to sail because they don't have the right crew."
3G cell phone services on trial run in 8 cities - China Mobile will next week launch the pre-commercial service of third generation (3G) mobile phone telephony based on a home-grown standard.
The "Made in China" label, once scorned in Laos, is now coveted. "About eight years ago, the quality of Chinese products sold in Laos was so bad that they had an infamous reputation," said Peng Zhenghua, a Chinese businessman who has lived in the capital, Vientiane, since 1993. "Many people found that Chinese food they bought had already expired. Others complained their new washing machines and video players broke down after a few months' use. "Laos people used to boycott Chinese products. Even me. I refused to buy them at that time. As a result, many shops selling Chinese products were forced to fold and Chinese businessmen faced a hard time during the period." Mr Peng was speaking on the eve of the arrival of Premier Wen Jiabao in Laos for the third summit of the Greater Mekong Subregion. The change finally came when the central government weighed in, the Shanghai native and general secretary of the Vientiane Chinese Association said. "In 2002 or 2003, the Chinese embassy in Vientiane gathered Chinese businessmen in the capital," he said. "In a bid to avoid further deterioration of the reputation of Chinese products, officials warned them to stop selling substandard goods immediately. "As well, Chinese officers at border checkpoints tightened up on fake and bad-quality goods exported to Laos." The moves quickly achieved the desired effect. "From then on, motorbikes made in China gradually took over the Japanese market share because of their overwhelmingly low price," Mr Peng said. "For instance, a Japanese motorbike sells for US$1,200, while you can buy one imported from China for only US$500. "Although the quality of Japanese products still gives them advantages, more importantly, people must consider whether they are affordable before buying them. "People know how to choose. Nowadays, almost all Chinese products are welcomed by people in Laos. "Kangjia and Changhong are well-known brand names for TV sets, Haier is famous for its refrigerators, while Meide may be the best-seller of cookers here." Mr Peng's point of view is shared by China' ambassador to Laos, Pan Guangxue. "Bilateral trade between China and Laos is experiencing its fastest growth period and Sino-Laotian ties are at their highest point in history," Mr Pan said. In 1998, the volume of trade between the two countries was about US$28 million. "Last year, bilateral trade volumes hit historical highs and reached US$249 million, more than twice as much as four years ago," Mr Pan said. The governments of both countries were aiming for US$1 billion in the next few years. "I definitely believe economic and trade co-operation will deepen, and political relations will strengthen between the two countries after Premier Wen's visit," the ambassador said. March 30, 2008
Conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa (0013) said yesterday 2007 net profit rose 53 percent to HK$30.6 billion, generally in line with expectations, after losses shrank in its 3 Group mobile business and it booked a one-off gain on the sale of its Indian mobile business.
CITIC International Financial Holdings (0183), which owns CITIC Ka Wah Bank, yesterday reported a net operating loss of HK$24.86 million for 2007 after writing down HK$1.31 billion to cover its structured investment vehicle holdings which have lost value.
Social networking site Facebook had closed a second US$60 million investment round with Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing through his foundation, a source familiar with the deal confirmed late on Thursday. The source said the deal, which boosted Mr Li’s holdings in Facebook to US$120 million, including an earlier US$60 million round late last year, was valued on the same US$15 billion terms as a US$240 million stake Microsoft took in October. Mr Li’s investment was made by the Li Ka Shing Foundation. His companies such as Hutchison Whampoa (SEHK: 0013) and TOM Group (SEHK: 2383) were not involved, the source said. The stake boosted Mr Li’s holdings to a 0.8 per cent share of Facebook while Microsoft’s holds a further 1.6 per cent. A Facebook spokesman declined to comment on Mr Li’s stake. MarketWatch broke details of the story earlier out of Hong Kong, quoting Mr Li as saying “I may raise my investment in Facebook - anything is possible” during an earnings conference call for his company Hutchison Whampoa. But the report did not detail the scope of his investment. Founded in 1980, the Li Ka Shing Foundation has focused on funding a variety of health, education and environmental projects in recent years. In prior rounds dating back to 2004, Facebook has taken about US$40.7 million from venture capital investors including PayPal co-founder and former chief executive Peter Thiel along with Accel Partners, Greylock Partners and Meritech Capital Partners. Li Ka-shing dismisses need for 10th terminal - Tycoon Li Ka-shing, whose business empire spans a string of Chinese imports, including Hong Kong's, has poured cold water on government plans to develop a 10th container terminal. The Hutchison Whampoa (SEHK: 0013) chairman said those who assumed that expanding the port and building a cross-border bridge would boost the city's cargo business were guilty of "wishful thinking". Reiterating comments made in past years, Hong Kong's richest man predicted Shenzhen would overtake Hong Kong within four years as the world's third-busiest cargo port. "Other ports are growing fast, and their terminals are continuously being developed," Mr Li said at a meeting announcing Hutchinson's annual results. By cargo tonnage, or the total weight of goods loaded at a port, Shanghai ranked first, with 560 million tonnes in 2007, followed by Singapore with 483.4 million tons. Measured by 20ft equivalent units (TEUs) of container throughput, Singapore is the world's largest, with about 28 million, and Shanghai second, with more than 26 million. Hong Kong handled 245.4 million tonnes of cargo and 24 million TEUs last year. The government is eyeing southwestern Tsing Yi as a possible site to build Container Terminal 10. It cites forecasts container throughput will continue to increase. A spokesman for the Transport and Housing Bureau said a new berth would be needed by as early as 2015. But Mr Li said: "At Zhuhai's container terminals in Gaolan, the fees for handling cargo are cheaper than in Hong Kong. Even if the cargo leaves via Hong Kong, it would still be cheaper than if the cargo was handled here. We cannot compete." Mr Li's companies hold lucrative stakes in mainland ports. If built, Container Terminal 10 would boost Hong Kong's port capacity and employ the latest labor-saving technology, which could improve the city's cost competitiveness. New port facilities and a cross-border bridge could thus affect Mr Li's mainland port business. Hutchison Whampoa generated 15 per cent of its revenue last year from port-related business, which earned it HK$37.89 billion, up from HK$33.04 billion in 2006.
Foreign diplomats set to visit Lhasa - A group of Beijing-based foreign diplomats were scheduled to leave for Tibet’s riot-hit capital Lhasa on Friday for a two-day trip organized by the Chinese government, embassy officials here said. Diplomats from a number of countries including the United States, Britain, France, Australia and Italy were to participate in the trip, which came on the heels of another government-arranged tour for foreign journalists. “I suppose the objective of the Chinese foreign ministry is to basically answer the international calls including from the Australian government to have diplomatic access to Tibet,” said Janaline Oh, an Australian embassy official. She said embassies in Beijing were only informed about the planned trip on Thursday, while an Italian embassy spokeswoman said the representatives were expected back on Saturday night. One diplomat said that the embassies had been allowed to send one official each, although there was no official comment on the trip from Beijing and it was not clear how many countries were going or had been invited. In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack welcomed the move, but said it was not enough. “We see this as a step in the right direction, but it’s not a substitute for the ability of our diplomats, as well as others, to travel not only to Lhasa, but into the surrounding area specifically,” he told reporters. China took a foreign media delegation to Lhasa on Wednesday for a three-day trip following international pressure to allow independent reporting from the Tibetan capital after it was sealed off due to the unrest. AFP and some other major news organizations were not invited. Two weeks of deadly demonstrations against China’s rule of Tibet have put China under international pressure as it prepares to host the Olympics in August. China has insisted its response to the protests, the biggest challenge to its rule of Tibet in decades, has been restrained and that it has brought the situation under control. Tibetan doctor protected Han boy from mob, Ambulance attacked as rioters demanded child - Lobsang Tsering, a 36-year-old Tibetan emergency doctor, still believes he did the right thing when he risked his life to save a Han Chinese father and his son. March 14 was a busy day for the emergency medical staff, and Dr Lobsang was in an ambulance with a Tibetan nurse responding to a request for help. The ambulance stopped when the crew saw a desperate Han Chinese man holding an unconscious boy whose face was blackened by smoke. The boy's life was at risk from smoke inhalation. When they helped the pair into the ambulance, they suddenly found themselves surrounded by an angry mob demanding the boy. The Tibetan nurse begged the mob to spare the ambulance, telling them they were only saving lives, but the rioters smashed the window and jumped onto the vehicle. According to the boy's father, Wu Guangming, Dr Lobsang gave him his helmet and asked him to get down on the floor, fearing the rioters would kill him if they found out he was a Han Chinese. Dr Lobsang held the boy in his arms as he was battered on his head, jaw and back with stones and clubs. Speaking in a frail voice from his bed yesterday, the Tibetan doctor, who has worked at local hospitals and the emergency centre for 12 years, said he was targeted because he refused to hand over the boy. "Others [colleagues] were not injured," he said. "They only attacked me because I refused to give up the boy. I believed they were after the boy." He said he had no idea what made the mob hate the boy so much, and he was still grappling with the shock. "It is unbelievable. I am really sad about it. It is something that should not have happened."
March 29, 2008
Company directors will face criminal liability if they intentionally hide information from their auditors, according to a proposed law change released by the government yesterday. The new proposal replaces a suggestion made in a government consultation paper last year requiring all directors to declare that they had given auditors all relevant information. The paper was released last March for a three-month consultation. It included a wide range of suggestions by a government working group in charge of rewriting the Companies Ordinance, which was last updated in the 1980s. In a report summarising the consultation, the government said yesterday that most of the paper's proposals had gained support. They would be put into a White Bill next year for detailed consultation. The proposals include compulsory disclosure of the fees paid to company directors, along with their names, and permission for small firms to use simplified accounting forms to reduce their costs. But some suggestions were dropped as a result of opposition from respondents. They included the requirement for directors to declare their full disclosure to auditors. Many accounting bodies complained that such a disclosure would be "too onerous for those directors who were non-accountants or were not in a position to handle financial reporting directly", and would increase their potential liabilities substantially, the report said. Mike Wong Ming-wai, chief executive of The Chamber of Hong Kong Listed Companies, welcomed the changes. "The new proposals are more reasonable," he said. "However, the new proposed law change, if implemented, may not be easily enforced as it is difficult to show if anyone is intentionally trying to hide information." The government also dropped a suggested law change that would have allowed more company staff - such as secretaries and managers - to inspect companies' accounting records. Respondents were concerned about giving too many people access to such sensitive information. The government also dropped a proposal to require directors' reports to reflect any significant market valuation changes in a company's assets. Opposition to some points, however, failed to change the government's mind. It insisted on keeping a proposed change that will require companies to give more forward-looking analysis in their financial statements in order to provide shareholders with more information. After its shares surged as much as 111 percent yesterday, Henderson Investment (0097) announced it plans to sell some assets to a joint-venture partner, prompting renewed speculation of a delisting. Hong Kong & China Gas (0003), better known as Towngas, yesterday said its net profit last year jumped 58 percent on one-off gains, property sale and revaluation gain from investment properties. Jiangxi Copper (0358), China's second largest copper producer, says it plans to invest an additional US$1.4 billion (HK$10.92 billion) in a joint venture project in Peru with China Minmental Corporation.
A former store supervisor and a head chef of a popular hotpot restaurant chain were yesterday charged with bribery in relation to food supplies to the restaurant. In addition to Chiu Chak-man, 52, a former store supervisor at Little Sheep Hong Kong Holdings, and Ma Ka-wo, 37, a head chef, tea leaf supplier Elvy Wong Wing-wah, 43, was also charged. Little Sheep, a popular Mongolia- based hotpot restaurant in the mainland, has four outlets in Hong Kong. Chiu faces three counts of accepting an advantage while Ma is charged with one similar offense. Wong faces one count of offering an advantage to an agent. The defendants will appear in Kwun Tong Magistrates' Court at 9.30am tomorrow for mention. Two of the charges allege Chiu had accepted a watch worth HK$16,380 and a bribe of HK$20,000 from a supplier of beef and seafood in June and August, respectively, as a reward for placing purchase orders with the supplier.
Hong Kong had 410,000 people with liquid assets worth HK$1 million or more by the end of last year, Citibank Global Consumer Group said on Thursday. Citibank chief operating officer Weber Lo said the bank had interviewed more than 4,000 clients during a survey between October 20 until November 14. He said Hong Kong’s stock market had been booming at the time. “The survey found there were 410,000 people in Hong Kong who had HK$1,000,000 in liquid assets in their bank accounts,” Mr Lo said. This number is equivalent to about 8 per cent of Hong Kong’s total adult population. “It means there were 140,000 more millionaires compared with a year before, when there were only 270,000 millionaires,” said Mr Lo. The average number of millionaires throughout last year was 350,000 people. “About 10 per cent of them were very young and under 40 years old,” he said. According to the survey, most Hong Kong millionaires work in the area of financial services, followed by insurance agents, and government officials. The survey found most millionaires lived on Hong Kong Island. “One out of seven adults who live on Hong Kong Island are millionaires.” Mr Lo explained that most of them lived in Wan Chai. By the end of last year, the district had approximately 20,000 millionaires. “In Kowloon, one out of 15 adults was a millionaire and one out of 17 people living in the New Territories was millionaire,” he noted. The survey found that the large increase in millionaires was mainly due a bullish run on the stock market in 2007. But Mr Lo predicted the number of millionaires in Hong Kong would fall in future with a volatile, more bearish share market performance recently. “According to a survey conducted in mid-February, the number of millionaires decreased to 350,000 as the stock market became volatile and more people put their assets into the property market,” Mr Lo explained. He warned young people to manage their money prudently, advising them to diversify, and choose lower-risk investments.
Nestle opened a new ice cream plant in south China on Wednesday, demonstrating its aim to further develop the Chinese market. The 22,000-sq-m factory, in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, will increase the food and drink giant's annual ice cream productivity to 64 million liters, three times the output from its old facilities. The plant, involving 250 million yuan ($35.6 million) in investment, will help Nestle to promote its high-end ice cream brand in south China and meet the growing consumer desire for ice cream products, said Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Chairman and CEO of the Nestle Group worldwide at the opening ceremony. Nestle, the world's largest food company, has opened 20 factories in 17 regions across China since it entered the market two decades ago, employing more than 13,000 people. The Swiss-headquartered group said earlier this month that it expected underlying sales to rise in 2008 at a similar rate to 7.4 percent last year, a big jump from its long-term growth target of between 5 and 6 percent.
Guangdong environmental authorities say they will not stand in the way of a controversial US$5 billion oil refinery and petrochemical plant in Nansha despite opposition on ecological grounds. Chen Guangrong, deputy director of the provincial environmental watchdog, said on Tuesday that the provincial authorities supported plans for the Sinopec (SEHK: 0386)-Kuwait Petroleum Corporation plant. Mr Chen said the plant would have "significant strategic meaning" in securing the province's energy supply and would fit in with Guangdong's industrial strategy. But he said the Ministry of Environmental Protection had to give the final approval for the plant, a project that would also have a "significant impact on Guangdong's environment". "As far as I know, the plant has not yet obtained the environmental impact assessment approval from the national watchdog, and won't be allowed to start construction without it," Mr Chen said. However, mainland media reported that land requisition for the project had been under way in Nansha, a southern district of Guangzhou, since June. The Southern Metropolis News suggested the project was proceeding against national regulations that all planned petrochemical projects must have an environmental impact assessment, as well as feedback from the public and experts. The controversial plant was listed as a priority project in the province's annual economic and social development programme in January but 14 Guangdong legislators have jointly urged the government to shelve the project because of environmental concerns. Guangzhou Mayor Zhang Guangning said the government would reduce the plant's output of pollutants with advanced equipment that met international standards. "The reason we support this project is it helps control pollution and protect the environment," Mr Zhang said. He said the new technology applied at the Nansha plant could cut sulfur dioxide emissions by 80 per cent compared with existing petrochemical plants in Guangzhou. Meanwhile, Guangdong's environmental bureau said 14 cities in the province were afflicted with acid rain. In Guangzhou, 80 per cent of its rainfall was acidic. The province's pollution-reduction efforts were well short of targets. The Sinopec-Kuwait Petroleum plant, said to be the nation's biggest joint venture, will emit 6,000 tons of sulfur dioxide every year in a region that is already notorious for its air pollution. It is designed to be able to process 15 million tonnes of petroleum and 1 million tons of ethylene a year. March 28, 2008
Li Ning, chairman of China's largest sportswear retailer Li Ning Company (2331), is selling up to HK$408 million worth of his shares in the firm, according to a term sheet sent to investors. The Hong Kong Jockey Club yesterday awarded three-year scholarships to 30 undergraduates, including 10 from the mainland. Each student will get HK$290,000 spread over three years to cover academic expenses and living costs. Watchdog unveils proposed rules for exit pollsters - People conducting exit polls in Hong Kong elections would have to first tell interviewees "I am not from the government", and say who they work for, under proposed revisions by the elections watchdog.
The Chinese currency, the yuan, recorded its second high in as many days on Wednesday against the weakening dollar, breaking the 7.03 mark.
Another 20 airlines began operations on Wednesday at Beijing airport's new terminal, an expansion project for the anticipated passenger surge during the Olympics. The new terminal will be able to handle 60 percent of the airport's total capacity. Starting at 10 p.m. on Tuesday, more than 70 planes from various carriers, including Air China and Shanghai Airlines, were moved to Terminal 3 of the Beijing Capital International Airport, the Beijing Morning Post reported on Wednesday. Since it opened on February 29, about 5,000 passengers on 40 flights have been moved through the airport daily by the first six airlines to use the facility, China's Sichuan Airlines and Shandong Airlines and from abroad, Qatar Airlines, Qantas Airways, British Airways and El Al Israel Airlines. These six carriers and the 20 new ones will together raise the daily capacity of the world's largest air terminal to about 80,000 passengers on almost 500 flights. With a floor space of 986,000 square meters, the new building more than doubled the total area of the first two terminals. "The full operation of Terminal 3 will greatly ease overloading at the airport," said a BCIA official. The airport, already the country's largest and busiest, will be able to handle 1,800 daily flights, up from the current 1,000. It is expected to receive 5.56 million people during the Olympic Games in August. The airport handled 53.47 million passengers in 2007.
Argentina’s farmers’ strike has triggered a force majeure in soya and soya oil shipments to China, prompting worries over a possible shortage in May in the world’s top importer of the oilseed. Traders and industry officials on Wednesday said several suppliers of Argentine soya and soya oil declared force majeure on cargoes to China following a similar move on meal cargoes to Europe as a result of the strike. Up to one million tons of soya exports to China and about five cargoes of soyaoil have been affected, as the strike in the world’s No3 soya exporter began at the start of the South American season. “Suppliers told us the cargoes will be delayed indefinitely,” said an executive with Chinatex Grains & Oils Import & Export, a leading soya importer. “I think more than 15 cargoes, or about one million tons of soya beans to China, were interrupted ... Some cargoes will be substituted with US soybeans, but the costs are higher,” added the Chinatex executive, without elaborating. Force majeure,/i> is a contract clause allowing a supplier to forego their obligation to supply in extreme unforeseen circumstances. While 300,000 to 500,000 tons of the total had been switched to US soy, the US and Brazil cannot take up all the orders from China, with their physical prices are already surging due to the strikes. Chicago Board of Trade soy futures rose by their daily limit in early Asian trade on Wednesday, boosted by the Argentine strike that caused a switch to US cargoes. Several thousand protesters took to the streets of Argentina’s capital on Tuesday after President Cristina Fernandez refused to rescind a tax increase that sparked a two-week strike by farmers. The soya market in Argentina, the world’s number-three exporter after the United States and Brazil, has been frozen, with the leaders of the four groups taking part in the protest announcing that the strike would continue for “as long as necessary”. China needs to import between two million and three million tons of soya each month. With domestic vegetable oils prices surging to records, China has been an aggressive buyer of soya oil, booking about 300,000 tons a month. Beijing has also made the purchases for state reserves to try to tame inflation, currently running at a 12-year high. On the impact in China, an executive at a crusher in the south said: “There are a lot of beans that have been bought and are supposed to come in. Maybe that’s good that ... the cargoes will not come so closely together. “But if the strike does not get resolved until mid- to late April, yes, there will definitely be a shortage ... Oil demand may be a bit sluggish but demand is there. Meal demand is OK.” An executive at one of the leading international houses agreed: “Demand is there. Buyers have not been active because of the recent setback on CBOT. But when they come back ... there will be a new round in the rally.” Plane crew rewarded for foiling attackers - China Southern Airlines has given a 400,000 yuan (HK$442,000) cash reward to staff for foiling a “terrorist” attack on a domestic flight earlier this month. A second terminal opens at Shanghai's international airport today, as part of a 20 billion yuan (HK$22.09 billion) expansion that aims to make the city a leading global aviation hub by 2010. Terminal Two is the final part of a project that includes a third runway and a new cargo-handling centre. The expansion will allow Pudong International Airport to handle 60 million passengers annually, double its existing capacity. Shanghai Airport Authority chairman Wu Nianzu said the expansion was planned to ease pressure at the airport and handle a surge of visitors for the Olympics this year and the World Expo in 2010. "The target is to make the airport the key hub of Asia's air traffic," he said on Monday. Along with Beijing's Capital International Airport and Guangzhou's new Baiyun International Airport, Pudong is one of the country's three airports destined to become major air traffic hubs, a national blueprint issued by the government in 2002 said. It has experienced rapid passenger growth since it opened more than a decade ago, reaching nearly 29 million passengers last year. By 2015 it will be able to handle 80 million passengers a year with the possibility of a third terminal, Mr Wu said. The wave-shaped Terminal Two has 540,000 square meters of space in a three-storey building, nearly twice as large as Terminal One. Yet officials promised it would reduce the transfer time to less than 20 minutes for domestic flights and around 30 minutes for international ones. Among the "people-oriented" design features are 20,000 square meters for retailers, 54 baby-care rooms, free wireless internet access and assistance for disabled people. A total of 33 airline companies will operate in Terminal Two. The first 15 companies - Shanghai Airlines and 14 foreign airlines - will open today, while 18 carriers will follow on April 29. British Airways' China manager Sara Thorley said the opening would allow the company to increase its number of flights, given growing passenger demand. The airport tested its third runway two weeks ago. At 3.4km long and 60 meters wide, it will be able to handle a combined 60 take-offs and landings per hour. Officials said Pudong planned to build two more runways. This year the airport's cargo volume will rise to 2.9 million tons from 2.5 million tonnes last year. A new cargo-handling centre, which also opens today, will boost the capacity of the airport to 4.2 million tons annually. March 27, 2008
In a further sign that Hong Kong’s economy is staying robust, gross domestic product expanded 6.7 per cent in real terms in the fourth quarter compared with the same period a year earlier, government figures released on Tuesday showed. The Census and Statistics Department found services output rose 7.6 per cent year on year in the fourth quarter and 7.2 per cent last year as a whole. Net output in wholesale, retail and import and export trades, and restaurants and hotels sector grew 7.1 per cent in the fourth quarter and 7.2 per cent last year, the figures showed. “The rise came from consumer spending, inbound tourism and continuous growth in external and offshore trade,” a department spokesman said. Net output in transport, storage and communications sectors rose 7.4 per cent in real terms in the fourth quarter and 5.8 per cent last year. “Net output in the financing, insurance, real estate and business-services sector grew 15.5 per cent in real terms in the fourth quarter and 14.6 per cent last year,” the spokesman said. GDP is the total market value of all final goods and services produced in a country or territory each year. Hong Kong’s economy is enjoying strong domestic demand and its external sector has also performed well. Unemployment is also falling, while retail sales and exports are also enjoying steady growth. Some 28.2 million visitors visited Hong Kong in 2007 — representing a 11.6% increase from a year earlier. However, inflation has been edging up — consumer prices rose by 2 per cent in 2007 and increased 3.2 per cent in January this year. Total employment in Hong Kong’s private sector increased by 2.1 per cent or 50,600 people in December 2007 compared with a year earlier, latest figures released on Tuesday showed. The Hong Kong Flower Show attracted over 548,000 visitors this year – 21,000 more than last year, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department said on Tuesday.
March 26, 2008
In a bid to ease inflationary pressures on local residents, the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) government recently launched a special subsidy program which will cost it over 800 million patacas (around 1 million U.S. dollars), but public opinions showed that the government still need to do more to help the socially disadvantaged through the lean periods of high inflation. Starting from April 2008 to March of next year, electricity fee and income subsidies will be granted respectively to some 180,000 households in the city, and about 16,000 local full-time employees who, aged over 40, were paid less than 4,000 patacas (500 U.S. dollars) a month, according to the program, which was firstly revealed by the SAR government on March 12. The 150-pataca (19 U.S. dollars) monthly electricity fee subsidy will in effect exempt 55, 000 households, or 30 percent of the total, whose monthly electricity bills amounted to less than 150 patacas, from paying electricity charges for the period, said Francis Tam Pak Yuen, secretary for economy and finance of the SAR government. Meanwhile, the income subsidies were aimed to ensure that the beneficiary could earn at least 4,000 patacas a month, or about half of the officially measured median monthly employment earnings, which stood at 7,926 patacas in the fourth quarter of last year, according to the secretary.
Continued weakness in the mainland market - where indexes dropped more than 4 percent yesterday - and lingering concern over the state of the US economy are expected to put pressure on Hong Kong stocks this week.
Octopus card led to arrest in sex killing - Police investigating the murder of a North Point sex worker tracked down a 30-year-old jobless man through an Octopus card that belonged to the victim. Hongkongers look across border to cash in on yuan - Inquiries about how to open a yuan account have become common at Shenzhen banks near the Lo Wu checkpoint, especially since the latest rate cut in Hong Kong brought near-zero interest rates last week.
China had 565 million mobile phone users by the end of last month, up from 556 million in January and 547 million in December, the ministry said in a statement.
March 25, 2008
China online game company NetDragon Websoft (SEHK: 8288) posted an eightfold profit increase on the rising popularity of its games. The company reported net income of 374.8 million yuan (HK$412.99 million) for last year, up from 42.9 million yuan in 2006. Sales increased 428.6 per cent to 645.2 million yuan. The company declared 40 fen per share dividend. "Growth was mainly driven by our existing games Eudemons Online and Conquer Online," said chairman Liu Dejian. The company's top game, Eudemons Online, contributed 448.6 million yuan in revenue last year, from 69.5 million yuan a year earlier. Conquer Online contributed 135.3 million yuan, up from 51.1 million in 2006. Revenue from Tou Ming Zhuang, a title launched last December to tie in with a movie of the same name, reached 1.8 million yuan. However, due to the uncertain nature of the online game industry, Mr Liu was not confident that the company's performance could be repeated this year. "It will be difficult to increase revenue five times again this year," said Mr Liu, "We target a 20 to 30 per cent increase in revenue and net profit, which is the industry norm." The mainland online game market is expected to grow to US$3.05 billion in 2011, from 815.5 million in 2005, an annual growth rate of 30.2 per cent, according to market research firm, IDC. NetDragon will launch three more new games this year, including Heroes of Might and Magic Online, a game co-developed with French game company Ubisoft. It is also working on a game with United States entertainment giant Disney - Disney Fantasy World - which will be launched next year. The firm was considering buying a number of game studios this year to strengthen its development team, said Mr Liu, without elaborating.
March 24, 2008
Taiwan residents on Saturday vetoed "UN membership referendum" pursued by Chen Shui-bian authorities, according to results of the votes count on Saturday. Only 35.8 percent in Taiwan cast their ballots on Saturday for the "UN membership referendum" under the name "Taiwan", proposed by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). The result showed clearly the Taiwan residents' dissatisfaction with Chen, said Wang Hsiao-Po, a professor with Taiwan University. Voting on the proposed "referendum" was held simultaneously with the leadership poll. Su Chia-hung, a political expert from Kaohsiung, said the failure of the "referendum" proved that the people's will should never be overlooked. It was the common aspiration of the compatriots from across the Taiwan Straits to maintain peace and stability, he said. Chen's "UN membership referendum" has met opposition and condemnation from both within the Taiwan island and the international community ever since it was proposed. More than 100 countries and regions including the United States, the European Union and Russia previously had all voiced their opposition to the proposal and reiterated their adherence to the One China policy. The 3rd Hong Kong Music Fair opened here Wednesday with more than 70 exhibitors taking part in the three-day fair. The fair will continue until March 19 with exhibitors from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Germany, South Korea and Singapore. Record companies, new media content providers, music portals, mobile and hardware manufacturers, along with music industry artists and other professionals joined the fair. Jointly organized by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council(TDC) and the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) (Hong Kong Group), the fair caters to business as well as public interests, promoting music products and raising awareness of legal downloads. "Thanks to the 10 German companies joining us for the first time, our fair is more international than ever," said Benjamin Chau, TDC assistant executive director, speaking at the opening ceremony. "With the development of new media, music's business model can no longer focus solely on the sales of CDs and other traditional music products. That makes artist management, including concert management and celebrity endorsements, an even more important aspect of the industry," he added. A series of seminars will be staged on March 20, with artist managers from all over Asia sharing their management secrets. Among the other new features this year is the Talent Showcase, giving promising singers and composers from Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland a chance to be discovered by industry professionals. The Hong Kong Music Fair is one of the events of Entertainment Expo Hong Kong.
Japanese media visited Chinese export food factories and quality supervision institutions on Wednesday and Thursday as China sought mutual trust on the food trade after dumpling poisoning. U.S. companies are expected to invest another 17 billion U.S. dollars over the next three years in south China, the Guangdong Daily reported on Saturday. China's new Labor Contract Law, which came into effect on Jan. 1 this year, has increased labor cost, especially for labor-intensive industries, Harley Seyedin, the President of the American Chamber of Commerce in South China, was quoted as saying. However, Seyedin said, U.S. firms are less badly hit because they mostly recruit technical and managing staff and pay them higher salaries than required by the law. Seyedin made the remarks at a meeting with the Guangdong Provincial Labor and Social Security Department. Foreign-funded enterprises have invested 2.11 trillion U.S. dollars in China as of the end of last year, the State Administration For Industry and Commerce (SAFIC) said on March 11.The cumulative total dates back to 1978, when China began its reform and opening-up policies.
ORGANIZERS of 11th Shanghai International Film Festival are seeking another prominent film maker as jury chairman following the sudden death of Oscar-winning British director Anthony Minghella. The committee is compiling a list of candidates for the position but so far no decision has been made. "We are looking for another film maker of fame to head the jury panel," said Tang Lijun, a member of the organizing committee for the June 14-22 festival. "That is not an easy job, as Minghella's death was so sudden. We need to check each candidate's schedule." Tang, who declined to reveal the candidates' names, said Minghella's death was a big loss to the festival and to world cinema. Minghella opened the British panorama section of the Shanghai festival in 2006, and talked to up-and-coming Chinese directors. Tang said she was deeply impressed by his wonderful mind and great personality. She said the director had confessed his envy for Chinese film makers, because they had a long, brilliant culture and history that inspired their creations. This year's Shanghai International Film Festival will include a special screening of some of his films. His family and Chinese friends, including mainland director Chen Kaige and actress Xu Jinglei, will be invited.
March 22 - 23, 2008
Hong Kong was regarded as the best platform for reaching the Chinese mainland and Asian film and entertainment markets, according to an industry survey released here Thursday. The survey was conducted by an independent company commissioned by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. It interviewed 338 exhibitors and buyers attending the Hong Kong International Film and TV Market (FILMART) and the Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum(HAF). Seventy-seven percent of them agreed that Hong Kong is a major Asian content production, distribution, trading and film financing center. Hong Kong's favorable factor include creative talent, a strong distribution network in Asia, world-class industry events, state- of-the-art technology and internationally acclaimed producers and actors, according to the survey. Another driver is the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement ( CEPA), which gives Hong Kong companies greater access to the mainland market, the survey said. More than 90 percent of the respondents agree that co- production is the latest trend. About 55 percent believe that Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland will build the region's closest co- production partnership. More than half of the respondents have acquired content from Hong Kong, followed by the Chinese mainland, Japan, South Korea and Thailand. Hong Kong is also recognized as the hub for buying and selling Chinese film and TV dramas. Macao logged over 4.7 million visitor arrivals in the first two months of 2008, up 13.9 percent year-on-year, according to statistics released by the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR). Visitor arrivals reached more than 2.4 million in February this year, an increase of 11.6 percent compared with the previous month, among which the majority came from the Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong, which accounted for 57.7 percent and 28.4 percent respectively, according to the figures released by the SAR government's Statistics and Census Service (DSEC). The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), in its recent report, placed the SAR as the third most popular tourism destination in the Asia Pacific region, with projected international arrivals standing at 38 million by 2010, only after the United States and the Chinese Mainland. In addition, analyzed by mode of transport, DSEC said visitors to Macao mainly use land transport, which went up by 16.8 percent year-on-year to over 2.9 million in February of 2008, while those by sea and air stood at over 1.5 million and 260,000 respectively. Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen has proposed strengthening ties with the mainland so as to encourage more arts and entertainment troupes to visit the future West Kowloon cultural hub to entertain local audiences. Evergrande Real Estate Group (SEHK: 3333) and Wing Fat Printing have become the latest companies to pull their Hong Kong initial public share offerings amid unstable market conditions and volatile global capital markets. Guangzhou-based developer Evergrande failed to attract enough orders from institutional and retail investors for its HK$16.5 billion public offering, which was expected to be the second-largest fund-raising in Hong Kong and the third-largest in Asia. So far this year, China Railway Construction (SEHK: 1186) Corp's dual listing worth US$5.5 billion in Hong Kong and Shanghai is the world's largest offering. A smaller listing candidate, Wing Fat, a spin-off of Hong Kong-listed Shanghai Industrial Holdings, yesterday abandoned its planned HK$690 million offering because of unfavourable valuations, sources said. The company tried to sell shares late last year but delayed the offering because it said the valuations were unattractive. On Wednesday, Far East Consortium International (SEHK: 0035, announcements, news) , a Hong Kong-based developer, said that it had decided to postpone the proposed listing of its hotel assets through a real estate investment trust, blaming choppy markets. The deal could fetch as much as US$400 million, sources said earlier. Earlier this month, mainland insurance company China Pacific Insurance postponed its US$3 billion H-share offering in Hong Kong. Despite China Railway (SEHK: 0390) Construction's mega offering, global initial public offering volumes have fallen 52.6 per cent to US$15.3 billion from US$32.3 billion in the same period last year, according to Thomson Financial. This year, Hong Kong's initial public offering market has been hard hit by the global credit crunch, prompting eight listing candidates to postpone their plans to raise funds in the capital markets in January. Bankers said the poor sentiment would probably last into the second half because the credit crunch would not be resolved overnight. Weakening market demand had diminished companies' and arrangers' bargaining power in offerings, said Ronald Wan, a managing director at Bocom International, the investment bank of Bank of Communications (SEHK: 3328). A syndicate banker said: "God only knows what it will take to turn this market around. If we knew, we wouldn't be so troubled. We're thinking the second half may be better. We need a couple of good IPOs and market sentiment to turn better." Meanwhile, two small to medium-sized companies have drawn enough orders to go ahead with their share offerings due to attractive valuations. Solargiga Energy Holdings and Xingfa Aluminium Holdings (SEHK: 0098) have raised a combined HK$1.4 billion after pricing the shares at a lower valuation compared with their listed peers. The two stocks will start trading on March 31. Hong Kong needs a vibrant international school sector to maintain its competitive edge and global outlook. The government has the resources to develop a flexible system that can cater to local and expatriate families. What is needed is direction and leadership. It is therefore a welcome development that the Education Bureau has taken up Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen's pledge in his policy speech to expand the international school sector. A list of greenfield sites and vacant land has been drawn up for nonprofit-making international schools to bid for. Successful bidders will be given interest-free loans to build campuses and nominal rent to occupy the land. At the moment, most international schools have long waiting lists and their student populations have outgrown facilities. Many expatriate families have trouble finding school places for their children and this is deterring some overseas professionals from moving to Hong Kong. More local families are placing their children in international schools for their perceived better quality or because they exert less academic pressure. All these factors have created a premium on top international schools, some of which have debentures that are now worth millions of dollars. This is unhealthy, unfair and unsustainable. Most of the sites on offer are in the New Territories and Kowloon. Traditionally, the most prestigious international schools are on Hong Kong Island, so their first reaction may be disappointment. But land supply is tight on the island. More importantly, the government is right to spread out the locations of international schools. The earmarked sites are on prime land in their respective districts. The Tuen Mun site is near the Gold Coast, which has a growing expatriate population, as does the one in Sai Kung. The presence of international schools in these fast developing districts - and in older areas such as Lai Chi Kok and Chai Wan - will help boost their status by attracting middle-class families and professionals to move in. This opportunity for international schools to expand should also be a chance for the city to benefit as a whole.
Regulator bans IPOs that fund land purchase - The securities regulator would continue to support the expansion of qualified property firms via IPOs, but wouldn't allow them to buy commercial land with the funds raised. March 21, 2008
Foreign nations voiced their support for China's legitimate actions to handle the violence in Lhasa in recent days, expressing their opposition to the secessionist activities and the politicization of the Beijing Olympics. According to a press release issued here Thursday from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Russian, Belarusian and Vietnamese foreign ministry spokesmen all expressed their support for China's efforts to stop the unlawful activities in an aim to restore local peace and stability and their confidence in China's capability of hosting the Olympic Games. Pakistani and Mauritania foreign ministries issued statements on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively applauding Beijing's commitment to host the Olympic event, stressing that their countries oppose to any attempts to sabotage or politicize the Beijing Olympics, as well as the conspiracies to undermine China's sovereignty and territory integrity. Singapore's Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan said, "It is vital to keep sporting competitions and politics separate. We must not let politics obstruct the sports." On the same day, Lesotho Foreign Minister Mohlabi Kenneth Tsekoa said in his meeting with Chinese ambassador that Lesotho will back China's efforts to safeguard national sovereignty and territory integrity, stressing that the handling of the Lhasa riot was China's internal affairs and no other countries have the right to make irresponsible remarks on the issue. The press release also said that ambassadors in Beijing from Arabian nations all expressed their shock to the violence that occurred in Lhasa, saying that their countries support China's approaches to safeguard national security and restore social stability, and would continue to adhere to the one-China policy. On the same day, Indian foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee urged Dalai Lama and his followers to stay away from any political activities. Cote d'Ivoire's Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohlabi Kenneth Tsekoa and the Republic of Congo (ROC) Foreign Affairs Minister Basile Ikouebe all expressed their firm supports for China and its efforts to hold a successful Olympic Games in Beijing, the press release added. Battered by the poor market sentiment, Hong Kong Hotel Real Estate Investment Trust has postponed its initial public offering, while two other listing candidates are agonizing over whether to shelve their IPOs.
Computer maker Dell yesterday unveiled a plan to buy US$23 billion worth of technology components and related products from the mainland this year, topping its purchasing commitment to mark 10 years of doing business in the country. The world's second-largest computer supplier's latest sourcing program represented a 28 per cent increase from US$18 billion last year, reflecting a growth trend that would continue, chief executive Michael Dell said in Beijing. "Including last year, this year and expected purchases next year, Dell will purchase US$70 billion worth of computer-related supplies and equipment from China," Mr Dell said. "We've become the third-largest computer-systems company in China, and are growing rapidly." Dell still faces strong competition from Lenovo Group (SEHK: 0992, announcements, news) , the country's top personal computer supplier, and global market leader Hewlett-Packard, which is the No.2 vendor on the mainland. With more than 6,000 employees in that market, Dell has responded to the challenge by boosting manufacturing operations in Xiamen, growing its design centre in Shanghai, and increasing points of sale to 1,000 cities from about 45 cities last year. Despite a restructuring and new retail partnerships worldwide, including with mainland consumer electronics giant Gome Electrical (SEHK: 0493) Appliance Holdings, Dell saw its global net profit for its fiscal fourth quarter to last month fall to US$679 million from US$726 million a year earlier. "We remain neutral on Dell, as there is still a long way to go to turn around its operations," analysts at United States investment bank Cowen said in a research note. Mr Dell yesterday pledged to invest 1.7 million yuan (HK$1.87 million) in new Dell Learning Centres for rural migrant children and to give one million yuan to plant trees in the capital's Chaoyang district. A 2005 Peking University study estimated that Dell's spending on the mainland this year would contribute more than US$50 billion to the country's gross domestic product and support more than two million jobs. March 20, 2008
Hong Kong stocks gained yesterday in line with other Asian markets, tracking an overnight rally on Wall Street, after the US Federal Reserve lowered its key policy rate by 75 basis points, bringing it to a three-year low of 2.25 percent.
Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels (0045), which operates the Peninsula chain, said recurring profit last year rose 20 percent to HK$1.09 billion on the back of buoyant travel demand, but that its performance outlook was clouded by world economic and market uncertainty. Administration fees for mandatory health insurance schemes would be capped at 7 percent if the community chose that option in the medical financing revamp, a government source said yesterday.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption will add listed companies to its watching brief and send them an anti-corruption guide later this year, ICAC commissioner Timothy Tong Hin-ming said yesterday. Tong said his three major goals are to maintain a graftless election, provide more anti-corruption guides for different sectors such as insurance, building repairs and maintenance, and to promote Hong Kong's economic development as a "clean" society. "We will set up working groups to review the past corruption cases in relation to listed companies, and provide guidelines to the industry to minimize the opportunities for corruption. We hope it will be available by the end of this year," Tong told tea gathering for the media. "For the coming Legislative Council election, we will take the initiative to contact all political parties and professional bodies to provide anti-corruption guidance." Tong is also working with Guangdong province to set up anti-bribery guidelines for Hong Kong's small and medium enterprises trading in the mainland. This will be available in April. He said foreign observers had feared Hong Kong's cleanliness would have been adversely affected after the handover, but that the tide of corruption never arrived. Last year Hong Kong was ranked 14th on a list of least corrupt cities in the world by the Transparency International's annual Corruption Perceptions Index, its highest position since the handover. The media was given a guided tour of the new ICAC headquarters in North Point which opened last October. Two of the 30 video interview rooms were opened for press to inspect the new technology. The first local law enforcement agency to record interviews of suspects and involved parties since 1990, the ICAC now uses specially ordered DVD recorders instead of VHS tapes. The new devices, with built-in serial numbers, can record interviews as long as three hours though the discs are used only once to prevent tampering. Executive councillor Leung Chun-ying has suggested giving mainland residents visa-free access to the proposed border development zone between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, where he said they should also be allowed to study and work. He was speaking during a radio program in Hong Kong yesterday. There were several areas in the zone with potential for development, according to a Planning Department paper released two years ago, such as Heung Yuen Wai, Kong Nga Po and Lok Ma Chau Loop. Mr Leung, who has put much effort into promoting closer Hong Kong-mainland ties, said an area of 20 sq km could be developed and another border checkpoint created at its southern end, but green belts should be retained. Exhibition and convention businesses, schools, medical services and high-end technology industries could also be developed in the zone, where mainland residents could enjoy services of the standard enjoyed in Hong Kong. "Mainland residents could enjoy Hong Kong medical services with no visa barrier," Mr Leung said, adding that the development zone should be managed under Hong Kong law and mainland residents could work and study there under certain restrictions. They would be allowed to work in certain industries and study at certain schools, but he gave no further details. Several proposals for the development of the area have been made in the past, and the Bauhinia Foundation, a think-tank with close ties to the administration, delivered a comprehensive proposal last year. The foundation suggested that a "special region within special regions" be established within the Lok Ma Chau Loop as a part of the Hong Kong-Shenzhen metropolis plan. The proposal would allow for the free flow of people into and out of the area to facilitate business activities. The think-tank even suggested setting up an authority to manage the zone, with 50 per cent of officials from Hong Kong and 50 per cent from Shenzhen.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Wednesday China was making big efforts on tackling climate change issue, calling for more support from developed countries to developing countries on clean technology transfer. China to launch 1st jumbo jet company - China's first jumbo passenger aircraft company, with a registered capital of 20 billion yuan ($2.82 billion), is set to launch in Shanghai. The company will be set up next week or sometime before May, depending on when it can finish registration, Wednesday's China Securities Journal cited sources close to the matter as saying. Major shareholders, including the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, the Shanghai government, aviation companies and other state-owned enterprises will gather in Shanghai for the first board meeting on Friday. Each of the three state-owned firms, namely the country's major metal producers, Baosteel and Chinalco, as well as Sinochem Co, will invest 1 billion yuan for a 5 percent stake. China's top two aircraft producers, the China Aviation Industry Corporation I (AVIC I) and the China Aviation Industry Corporation II (AVIC II), will mainly invest in the form of production assets they now have. Earlier reports said AVIC I and AVIC II would hold an equal stake. The actual figure was unavailable. The new company will be responsible for project management, design, test flights, sales and after service, said Jin Xingming, the aviation administration of Shanghai director. China plans to fly its first jumbo plane in 15 years. It usually takes 10 to 20 years of research and development to develop such a company, an Avic I source said. According to the source, China will pump about 60 billion yuan in the research and development of jumbo planes. The establishment of the jumbo passenger plane company was approved in February 2007 by the State Council, China's cabinet. This was to make the country capable of building aircraft with a take-off weight of more than 100 tons, or planes with more than 150 seats.
China Mobile (SEHK: 0941, announcements, news) , the country's No1 mobile-telephone operator, aims to sign up more than 80 million new customers this year to maintain its strong growth before an expected industry restructuring starts. Top executives, who were in Hong Kong yesterday, disclosed their target after announcing better than expected earnings results for last year. They said net profit for the year to December totalled 87 billion yuan (HK$95.57 billion), up 31.9 per cent from 2006, and operating revenue rose to 356.9 billion yuan, 20.9 per cent higher than the previous year. Earnings per share rose to 4.35 yuan from 3.32 yuan. China Mobile will distribute a final dividend of HK$1.16 per share and a special final dividend of 1.6 HK cents, taking its dividend for last year to HK$2.098 per share. Chairman and chief executive Wang Jianzhou said China Mobile would pay out only 43 per cent of its net profit as dividends this year as it needed cash in case investment opportunities arose. "China Mobile's results are slightly better than I had forecast, but they're no surprise," said Marvin Lo, a telecommunications analyst at Daiwa Institute of Research. But he was disappointed the company had not raised its dividend payout ratio. Strong growth last year was driven by its subscriber base expanding 22.6 per cent to 369.3 million. Net additional subscribers increased 28 per cent to 68.1 million from 53.2 million at the end of 2006. Although about 50 per cent of the new subscribers came from low-spending rural areas, the average revenue per user dipped just 1 yuan to 89 yuan last year. To maintain fast subscriber growth, China Mobile has budgeted 127 billion yuan for capital spending, up from 105.1 billion yuan, with about 55 per cent of it going to expanding core networks, said executive director Li Yue. "Our target is to gain 80 million subscribers this year. We expect voice traffic to continue to grow about 45 per cent this year," he said. China Mobile added a record of more than seven million subscribers last month. Yesterday, Mr Wang vowed to maintain the pace of new customer growth, saying the penetration rate in rural areas was still low. "Our growth engines include new subscribers from rural villages, where mobile penetration is only 19 per cent, compared with almost 40 per cent in the cities," he said. "Some urban users also have more than one phone number, while more business applications delivered through the mobile network are also driving our business." The industry restructuring was on track and unlikely to be affected by the establishment of the Ministry of Industry and Information, Mr Wang said. "The restructuring should not be affected as the new ministry would help push the macro-regulatory work in the market," he said. "The industry restructuring aims to make better use of resources. It's positive for the market. In fact, there is room for all operators to explore in the future. The companies should be well-prepared to compete globally with their own branding." He said he did not know when the restructuring would begin. March 19, 2008
Hong Kong's total exports to the Chinese mainland, mainland for outwards processing, rose 10 percent to about 451.5 billion HK dollars (about 57.88 billion U.S. dollars), revealed the Census and Statistics Department here Tuesday. Meanwhile, Hong Kong's imports from the Chinese mainland related to outward processing grew 1 percent to 780 billion HK dollars (100 billion U.S. dollars), according to the Census and Statistics Department. About 841 billion HK dollars (107.82 billion U.S. dollars) of Hong Kong's re-exports of Chinese mainland origin to other places were produced through outward processing in China's mainland, up 3percent on a year earlier. In the fourth quarter, about 119.2 billion HK dollars (15.28 billion U.S. dollars) of Hong Kong's total exports to the Chinese mainland were for outward processing, up 13 percent over the same period in 2006.
The Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority has given Sing Pao Daily News 21 days to settle outstanding MPF contributions totalling HK$4.2 million or face a winding-up petition.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority on Wednesday cut the base rate charged through its overnight discount window 75 basis points to 3.75 per cent.
Duties as high as 180,000 yuan (HK$198,000) per film have hindered the import of Hong Kong movies to Guangdong despite relaxed rules on screening Cantonese-language films. Guangdong film distributors said yesterday that only two movies had succeeded in making it to the big screen since 2006, when stage three of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement was implemented to allow Hong Kong-made Cantonese productions to be shown in the province. The relaxation exempted Hong Kong film companies from providing a Putonghua version of movies for the authorities' examination. But the distributors said the import duties on a Hong Kong film, including the value-added tax, were as high as 180,000 yuan. On top of that, distributors have to pay US$2,000 per copy of the film, a slice of the royalties to the Hong Kong companies and promotional expenses. If a film has been processed overseas, Guangdong distributors have to pay an extra tariff. "It is very difficult for distributors to make money out of it," Jiang Baoshan, of Guangdong Film Company, said at the annual Filmart fair. "All these fees together can add up to as much as 1 million yuan to bring in just one film. It's impossible to show a film that we are not confident with at the box office." Shenzhen had a huge demand for Hong Kong movies, said Cai Xinmu of Shenzhen Film Distribution and Screening. Mr Cai said his company had shortlisted 30 films for the Guangdong market. Six films were approved, he said, but only The Heavenly Kings directed by Daniel Wu Yin-cho and My Mother is a Belly Dancer by Lee Kung-lok were released in 2006. The rest of the approved films had been put on hold because of prohibitive costs, he said. Liu Zhoukeng, deputy director of the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Radio, Film and Television, said the two movies should be evaluated in order to seek solutions and make recommendations for future projects. Mr Liu added that he hoped films could be examined faster and that they could be checked in Guangdong instead of Beijing.
More than 260 lots of Chinese paintings will be offered at Sotheby's Spring Sale 2008 Auction on April 8, announced Sotheby's Hong Kong on Tuesday. The art works of famous Chinese artists from various collectors in Europe include a private collection of Fu Baoshi from France, a European collection of four late works by Qi Baishi, a Southeast Asian private collection of Xu Beihong as well as a private collection of Huang Junbi. "Cross-Island Highway, Taiwan" by Zhang Daqiang, one of the best-known Chinese artist of the 20th century, is estimated at 4 to 6 million HK dollars (about 514,138 U.S. dollars). It is considered to be one of the most representative splashed ink and color on paper paintings in Zhang's later artistic career. Another painting by Zhang Daqian offered in this auction is " Recluse in the Spring Mountain". The lot is an emulation of a masterpiece of the same name by Wang Meng, a master of ink painting of Yuan dynasty, and is considered to be the best imitation Zhang ever accomplished. It is estimated at 2.5 to 3.5 million HK dollars (about 321,336 to 449,871 U.S. dollars). A selection of antique Chinese classical paintings will also be offered in the auction. "Landscape After Wang Meng" by Wu Li, an artist in early-Qing dynasty, was accomplished during the height of Wu's artistic career. It is estimated at 3.8 to 5 million HK dollars (about 488,432 to 642,674 U.S. dollars).
March 14 - 18, 2008
Hong Kong's business receipts in all service industries grew in value terms in 2007, according to statistics released by Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department. Hong Kong's financing-industry business receipts grew 68.8 percent and those for real estate and banking industries rose 39.1percent and 38.4 percent on the previous year, the department said. The Census and Statistics Department said the rise for the financing (except banking) industry was due to the buoyant local stock market, while that of the real estate industry was attributable to the brisk trading activities in the property market. The business receipts rise of the banking industry was mainly due to continuous growth in non-interest income, the department said. Business receipts of the tourism, convention and exhibition services domain and the computer and information services domain rose 17.1 percent and 6.5 percent. Business receipts of all service industries increased in the fourth quarter compared with a year earlier. Larger rises were recorded in the financing (except banking) (up 83.1 percent), real estate (up 66.8 percent), banking (up 45.3 percent), insurance (up34.0 percent), wholesale and retail (up 17.2 percent), hotels (up 17.0 percent), communications (up 15.5 percent), restaurants (up 15.1 percent), transport (up 14.6 percent) and business services ( up 14.2 percent) industries, said the department. The government of Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) Tuesday announced that it will spend over 800 million patacas ($100 million) to subsidize local residents.
The Hong Kong Observatory would support the Beijing Olympic Games with detailed weather information for the Equestrian Events, observatory director Lam Chiu-ying said. The government had published a set of guidelines on the proper use of the internet, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Frederick Ma Si-hang said on Wednesday. Mr Ma was replying to information technology sector legislator Sin Chung-kai, who had asked how the government’s review of the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance had been progressing. Mr Ma said the public would be consulted about the ordinance later this year. “The government plans to consult the public in the second half of 2008 on ways to amend the ordinance in order to keep pace with the development of our society,” he said. Mr Ma said part of this review examined the role being played by the internet. “To help equip the public with some general knowledge about the proper use of the internet, for instance, good on-line practices and related legislations, we have published a set of guidelines on ‘Acceptable Use of Internet’,” Mr Ma said. The guidelines are now available on the government’s InfoSec website (www.infosec.gov.hk). “However, the guidelines, which are meant to provide reference for the public, are not legally binding,” the commerce secretary said. How people use the internet has become a salient issue in Hong Kong in the wake of the recent nude photo scandal. This resulted in hundreds of sexually explicit photographs involving leading Hong Kong celebrities being loaded on to the internet. This was done without the consent of the photos’ owner, actor-singer Edison Chen Koon-hei. The scandal has raised questions about Hong Kong’s obscenity laws, the right to privacy, as well as the role of the internet and the police. “In the light of the recent public concern over the dissemination of information on the internet, the government is considering with the information technology sector how to update the guidelines,” Mr Ma said. This would to include some relevant cases in people’s daily lives and frequently asked questions. “This is to provide the industry and the public with more information about computer or cyber crimes,” Mr Ma added. Mr Sin has raised a motion in the Legislative Council calling for additional resources to strengthen moral and sex education programmes in schools. He said the nude photos controversy had raised concern among educators and parents. Mr Sin said children could access pornographic material circulating on the internet but were often denied adequate teaching about sexual issues at school. “Topics such as sex abuse, contraception, sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy are only taught in the context of biology. They are not taught in separate sessions,” he said. “It is not a must to have a separate course or exams, but at least we should consider making it mandatory for schools to teach sex knowledge on a regular basis,” Mr Sin said. A set of guidelines to schools issued by the then Education and Manpower Bureau in 1997 cover all aspects of the teaching of sex education, but schools are not obliged to follow them. Adjudicators of the Obscene Articles Tribunal last month called for reforms to the classification mechanism after controversy over the celebrity sex photos.
Foreign-funded enterprises have invested a total of 2.11 trillion US dollars in China as of the end of last year, up 23.5 percent year-on-year, the State Administration For Industry and Commerce (SAFIC) said on Tuesday.
March 13, 2008
Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief executive Joseph Yam Chi- kwong said yesterday that local lenders have limited room to further lower interest rates.
Internet users will be able to view live and recorded Olympic action free in August, Cable TV announced yesterday. Cable TV, the official "new media broadcaster" in Hong Kong for the Olympics, said four streaming internet channels would be devoted to the Games, including live coverage of Hong Kong and mainland athletes. It is also discussing with mobile phone operators the possibility of extending the service to all its users that have a WiFi connection. "Hong Kong's comprehensive telecommunications network and proliferation of mobile audio-visual devices will provide an effective platform for us to distribute our programs to everyone at every corner, around the clock," said Cable TV executive director Benjamin Tong. "You can watch the Olympic programs anywhere, anytime. "There will be over 4,000 hours of live coverage from the Beijing Games broadcaster, which should accommodate all action with Hong Kong athletes. We have employed a team of sports experts, most of them retired athletes, for live commentary." Mr Tang said his company had made a significant investment in improving its equipment to avoid congestion on the internet when viewers accessed the programs. Charles Mok, chairman of the Internet Society, said with the government opening wireless internet connections in public facilities this summer, more of Hong Kong's 5 million internet users were set to watch the Games through the new media platform. Of the four channels, one will focus on Hong Kong and mainland athletes and one on other international competitors. The remaining channels will feature highlights. The commentary will be in Cantonese. Users will also be able to access a library of footage, enabling them to watch interviews and related coverage inside and outside the venues. Cable TV has also secured exclusive TV and new media broadcasting rights for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
China has become the third largest export destination for Panama, whose exports to China soared almost 80 percent last year, the latest official statistics from the Central American country show. China was only the 17th largest export destination for Panama in 2006, but jumped to third place last year after its exports to China grew to 62.9 million U.S. dollars, a 78.6-percent rise over the previous year, media reports said Sunday. China now ranks third in terms of imports from Panama, next only to the United States and the Netherlands, importing mainly scrap iron, coffee and chicken from that country. Bao Esheng, a Chinese trade official, said China's rapid economic growth guarantees the development of trade between the two countries. About 40 percent of Panama's exports go to the United States and some 33 percent end up in Europe. With an economic slowdown in the United States, Panamanian exporters are seeking to explore other markets. The Ministry of Health (MOH) will oversee food and drug safety by taking over the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), a government institutional restructuring draft bill presented to the NPC stated on Tuesday. Beijing plans to set up an Energy Commission to develop national strategy but will keep an existing bureau to administer the sector, potentially undermining the desire to improve handling of demand and security. Many people are likely to assume that the current tensions between the US and China are firmly centerd in Asia - with Taiwan, North Korea or Central Asia as the likely area for any future conflict. But another less-headline-grabbing continent is starting to dominate Sino-American rivalries: Africa. Echoing the struggle between European colonial powers over African territory and resources in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, there is once again a "scramble for Africa". Last week, US President George W. Bush embarked on a multistate African tour, a very visible sign of America's growing recognition of the strategic and economic importance of the continent, and its determination to catch up with China. China's investment in Africa in the past few years has been little short of remarkable. China-Africa trade has increased tenfold from 1999 to 2006, to US$55.5 billion, according to the most recent official Chinese figures. China also satisfies just short of one-third of its oil needs from Africa. The US has been slower to embrace Africa and is now playing catch-up. Yet Mr Bush was last week at pains to play down Sino-American rivalries on the continent, assuring local leaders and the media that America's intentions are honorable. March 12, 2008
More than 60 shipping experts from nine world class ports attended the World Ports Summit at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center on Tuesday to discuss port security, safety and environmental protection issues. The two-day summit, hosted by Hong Kong Marine Department, aims to provide an international forum for world class port authorities to gather together for sharing their experiences and come up with a communique for the reference of the international maritime world. The nine ports participating in the conference are Shanghai, Shenzhen, Rotterdam, Singapore, Los Angeles, Seattle, Melbourne, Busan and Hong Kong. Representatives from the Hong Kong Ship Owners Association and the Hong Kong Shipper's Council also attended the event. According to a press release from the Information Services Department of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, Hong Kong Secretary for Transport and Housing Eva Cheng and the President of China Merchants Group Ltd Yuning Fu will give a keynote speech at Tuesday's session. Hong Kong will play host to a world assembly of consumer leaders and advocates in 2011, Hong Kong Consumer Council said Tuesday. The consumer delegates will converge in Hong Kong for the four-day 19th World Congress of the Consumers International (CI), the independent global campaigning voice for consumers with over 220 member organizations in 115 countries. "We are highly honored to be selected to host this world congress of great significance to world consumers. Holding the event in Hong Kong will also have special significance to the 1.3 billion consumers in the mainland of China," said Hong Kong Consumer Council's Chairman Anthony Cheung. The CI World Congress is held every four years. The last one was held in Sydney, Australia, in November 2007. A Selection Committee of CI, including its President, Director General and CI Council members, was set up specifically for the venue selection of the next assembly and finally voted in favor of Hong Kong.
Three working groups between the Hong Kong and Shenzhen governments were set up yesterday aiming to start discussions this year on how to develop the 100 hectares of land at the restricted area of the Lok Ma Chau Loop. Yesterday's agreements between Hong Kong and Guangdong confirm growing mutual interest in cross-border co-operation. A joint taskforce to study possible uses of the Lok Ma Chau Loop and a decision on the border crossing at Liantang follow the green light for the Hong Kong-Macau-Zhuhai bridge and last year's opening of the Western Corridor. Guangdong, having become prosperous as the "factory of the world" with the support of investment from Hong Kong, has tended to give the impression that it no longer needs this city. The bridge, for example, won the support of Beijing and Hong Kong long before Guangdong came on board. Traffic on the Western Corridor crossing remains sparse because of cross-border license restrictions on the other side. Nonetheless, the hardware of greater integration is slowly falling into place. Lately, leaders across the border have conveyed a more positive approach. New provincial party secretary Wang Yang has emerged as a supporter of a "special co-operation zone" between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau with lower customs barriers and a liberalized flow of goods, people and funds. Provincial Governor Huang Huahua says Hong Kong and Shenzhen should consider forming twin cities. Shenzhen Mayor Xu Zongheng has called for a consensus on development of the Lok Ma Chau Loop. The long-standing interest in such closer links expressed by Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen is being reciprocated. The change in mindset reflects the stiffer competition being felt by the Pearl River Delta, especially from the Yangtze River Delta. Industry is defecting from the delta in the face of soaring costs of raw materials and labor and tougher pollution controls, not to mention worsening power cuts and government policies aimed at transforming the mainland into a service-based economy. In these circumstances, greater cross-border integration is an ideal whose time may be drawing closer than it seemed. The ultimate goal of a Hong Kong-Shenzhen world-class metropolis surfaced in Mr Tsang's plan for a strategic partnership in his election platform last year. That calls for a degree of institutional integration that remains a long way off. But now that the infrastructure for closer links is taking shape, it is time for political leaders on both sides of the border to address practical obstacles to integration. For example, we should be planning for a time when vehicles from both sides can cross the border more easily. The present restrictions on people from Shenzhen coming to Hong Kong could not be maintained in a twin-city metropolis. A gradual liberalization of the flow of people, such as extended visits to Hong Kong and a limited right to work, would extend our city's virtual boundary ahead of integration. With the "one country, two systems" policy guaranteed until 2047, some experts, officials and businesspeople have understandably adopted a cautious approach to integration. But if it is going to happen eventually, it is in our interests to at least start thinking seriously now about putting sound stepping stones in place. Budget carrier AirAsia will finally make its debut in Hong Kong on May 15, with a daily service to Kuala Lumpur for as little as HK$99 one-way. The move is expected to boost competition and passenger traffic in the region. "I believe Hong Kong, if we can get the right slots and times, will be a very big route for us," AirAsia chief executive Tony Fernandes said in Kuala Lumpur. The daily flight will depart Kuala Lumpur at 7am and arrive in Hong Kong at 11am before turning around about 30 minutes later. The carrier hopes to add evening departures soon to cater to business travellers. Mr Fernandes said the Hong Kong-Kuala Lumpur route could easily grow to four or five flights a day. The budget carrier is the largest in Southeast Asia. It uses the Airbus A320, which has 180 seats. The route is now dominated by Cathay Pacific Airways (SEHK: 0293), with three daily departures, and Malaysia Airlines, which flies twice daily. A Cathay Pacific spokesman said the airline offered promotional fares on various routes to reflect seasonal cycles. The latest promotion, which ended yesterday, carried fares from HK$990 to HK$1,990. "Aviation is already a competitive industry. Our fares are entirely market-driven," the spokesman said. Halimy Mahmood, Hong Kong area manager for Malaysia Airlines, was not available for comment. Mr Fernandes said AirAsia had been working on flying to Hong Kong for the past four years, but had only got as close as Macau until now. Relatively higher operating costs in Hong Kong had largely resulted in Macau capturing more of the budget air travel market. A year ago, the Airport Authority announced it would invest more than HK$1 billion to build a 10-stand satellite concourse targeting small aircraft and carriers with a quick turnaround, like budget airlines. AirAsia's turnaround is usually 25 minutes. "What we've done in Macau has probably excited Hong Kong airport," Mr Fernandes said. "We've gone from no flights to now 12 flights a day. In four years, we are now the second-largest airline in Macau and we're not far away from Air Macau. So the potential [for] growing business in Hong Kong is very good. There's no reason a Hong Kong destination couldn't have 12, if not more flights a day from AirAsia." Through Kuala Lumpur, AirAsia was also looking to connect Hong Kong to other destinations like Bangkok, Jakarta, Kota Kinabalu and Penang, he said. Mirza Mohammad Taiyab, director general of the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board, said with the new AirAsia route, the number of Hong Kong visitors to Malaysia could rise by more than 30 per cent in the next few years. He wanted to increase the percentage of business travellers to Malaysia from 4.6 per cent of total arrivals in 2006 to 10 per cent in five years' time. Macau casino to stage Miss International - It may be a case of beauty meets the beast, but Macau's monster casino resorts are set to play host to something a little more stimulating than the usual business conventions and trade shows. Starting in September, the Venetian Macao will be setting the stage for beauty pageants. Hong Kong-listed media firm Sun Innovation Holdings yesterday announced a US$15 million, five-year deal to host the annual Miss International Pageant in Macau. The event, to be staged in November and supported by a unit of Japan's foreign ministry, is touted as a "festival of beauty" and the world's third-largest beauty pageant after Miss Universe and Miss World, based on Hainan Island. In addition, the company will bring back the annual Miss Macau pageant, to be hosted in September at the Venetian and co-sponsored by the Macau Government Tourist Organisation, Hong Kong's TVB (SEHK: 0511) and Macau broadcaster TDM. "All the beauty pageants want to be in Asia," Sun Innovation chairman Michele Matsuda said yesterday. "Miss World is in Sanya and Miss Universe will be in Vietnam this year. Obviously, because Macau is an expanding market, we wanted to take advantage of the tremendous growth going on there." Gaming magnate Stanley Ho Hung-sun launched the first Miss Macau pageant in 1972.
A joint-stock oil refinery involving a total investment of $5 billion will be built in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, a local official said in Beijing on Monday. Beijing is expected to start the construction of a second international airport in 2010, a top civil aviation official said on Saturday. The General Administration of Civil Aviation (CAAC) said late January that it had submitted a report to the central government on the selection of a site for a second international airport of Beijing to ease traffic pressure. "The final result of the site selection will be announced the year after next, and the construction will begin that year," said Yang Guoqing, deputy head of CAAC. Already with the Beijing Capital International Airport in the north of the city, it seems very hard to find an ideal place for the new airport. The western area is not appropriate due to complicated terrain, said Yang on the sideline of the annual session of the country's top political advisory body, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). The eastern part is not suitable, either, because another airport has been in operation in Tianjin, a coastal city very close to Beijing, he said. Taking into account of terrain and airflow factors, the southern part is a relatively favorable choice, he said. "But we have to consider keeping coordinated development among different regions. Therefore, the final site will not be necessarily be located in an area under Beijing's jurisdiction," he added. Geographically, Beijing and Tianjian are almost completely surrounded by Hebei Province. Yang said late January that Beijing is expected to put the second international airport into use around 2015. The Beijing Capital International Airport, China's busiest, handled 53.47 million passengers last year, putting it among the world's 10 busiest. The airport opened its new Terminal 3 just a week ago, which is a major expansion project in preparation for the passenger surge during the Olympic Games in August. With a floor space of 986,000 square meters -- more than double the total area of the first two terminals -- the new building could be the largest of its kind in the world. The dragon-shaped building, built at a cost of 27 billion yuan ($3.8 billion), was designed by leading British architect Lord Foster and started construction on March 28, 2004. It will give the airport a handling capacity of 76 million passengers a year, more than double the previous 36 million. The airport is expected to receive about 5.56 million people during the Olympics period. China Railway Construction shares disappointed on their Shanghai debut yesterday, dampening sentiment in the already-jittery mainland markets. China Courts struggling to meet public's rising demands - China confronts a big gap between citizens' rising demands for legal protection and a court system struggling with inefficiency and poorly trained judges. Supreme People's Court president Xiao Yang listed the courts' achievements in the past five years but said serious problems remained. "We must also soberly understand that there remains quite a stark contradiction at present between people's constantly growing demands on the judiciary and the abilities of the people's courts," he said. Under the Communist Party, there is no independence for the courts, prosecutors, police or judges, who answer to local party chiefs. But citizens are becoming increasingly vocal about their rights and in calls for accountability. Xiao said "the legal environment" had to be improved continuously to give more independence to courts, which are funded and effectively controlled by local governments. "We should repel all kinds of disruption to ensure the people's courts can hear cases independently, fairly and according to law," Xiao said.
March 11, 2008
Shenzhen and Hong Kong have the potential to become the largest, most powerful metropolitan innovative zone in China, according to Shenzhen mayor Xu Zongheng. "There are many possibilities for cooperation between the two cities, especially in finance and boundary- crossing facilities," Xu said. The two cities could form an influential zone at regional and international levels, making the duo more competitive, along the lines of San Francisco and Boston in the United States. Cooperation between the two cities, he added, would be implemented in keeping with the "one country two systems" principle. Guangdong governor Huang Huahua, drawing a parallel between New York and New Jersey, described Shenzhen and Hong Kong as twin cities. Noting the completion of the environmental assessment of the Lok Ma Chau loop, Xu said: "It's time for the two governments to come up with development plans. I have my own ideas, but it's not appropriate for me to reveal much at this stage." He added there had been different proposals on development before, including those on hi-tech, software and finance. Both governments had claimed land ownership of the loop, but the issue has never been resolved, he said. In fact, the central government has been studying a Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau cooperation zone. Guangdong secretary Wang Yang had discussed the idea with the special administrative regions' chief executives last week in Beijing. Wang has been leading a study group on cooperation on trading, social and cultural aspects. Meanwhile, Xu admitted that, with the large transitional population of Shenzhen, he has difficulty in managing the city's public security because of the heavy flow of people and vehicles. "Our target is to make it the world's safest city," said Xu. Hopewell Holdings chairman Gordon Wu Ying-sheung said yesterday he cannot tell whether the 42.2 billion yuan (HK$46.2 billion), suggested by Guangdong governor Huang, is enough to build the Hong Kong-Zhuhai- Macau Bridge. However, he said that the bridge toll should be less than HK$300. On whether the developers need to take 36 years to recoup, Wu said he cannot tell as it would depend on traffic flow and the toll. "I am interested in investing in it, even if it takes 300 years to recoup," Wu said. Huang on Saturday revealed projections on the construction cost of the bridge and toll fees. The 42.2 billion yuan figure - which does not include the construction cost and operating boundary-crossing facilities and connecting roads - is higher than earlier estimates. The annual civil service pension payment has doubled to more than HK$16 billion over the past decade, raising calls for reform to ease the burden on taxpayers.
Manufacturers were wrong to blame the new labour contract law for the rising cost of production, Vice-Minister of Labour Sun Baoshu said yesterday. Mr Sun rejected calls to amend the legislation, which came into effect in January, and said the issue now had the "full enforcement" of the law. Speaking on the sidelines of the National People's Congress, Mr Sun said manufacturers complained of pressure only because they had violated the legal rights of their workers for years and misunderstood the law. "There are companies that sought to maximise their profits by cutting costs," he said, adding that in the process these companies had exploited workers. "This is not good, and [in some cases they have] broken the law," he said. For example, he said the provision that required employers to sign open-ended contracts with staff did not mean employers must offer them "iron rice bowls" - a job for life. "The open-term contract is by no means an iron rice bowl," he said. "It will not lead to rigidity in the labour market. "I think these concerns are a result of incomplete or inaccurate understanding," Mr Sun said. "It won't affect the investment environment. On the contrary, it will improve it." Investors and manufacturers have expressed strong concern about the labour contract law, saying it will lead to bankruptcies and business closures. Zhang Yin , one of the mainland's richest businesswomen and a delegate to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, has formally asked the NPC to amend the clause on open-ended contracts and replace it with fixed-term labour contracts. Yesterday, Ms Zhang declined to comment on Mr Sun's remarks, saying she was only expressing her view as an entrepreneur with her proposal to the NPC. Mr Sun said the government would step up public education about the new law and strengthen supervision of its implementation and arbitration relating to it. The Guangdong People's Congress chairman, Ou Guangyuan , said yesterday in Beijing that Guangdong province - a key centre for overseas and Hong Kong manufacturers - would soon promulgate detailed rules for implementation of the labour contract law. Speaking at the same press conference as Mr Sun, Minister of Labour and Social Security Tian Chengping said finding enough posts for job seekers remained a formidable challenge for his ministry. He said the mainland each year saw more than 20 million new job seekers - school leavers and rural migrants seeking work in cities - competing for about 12 million vacancies. He said he expected to reduce the urban registered unemployment rate to 4.5 per cent this year, a 0.5 per cent year on year rise when compared with 2007. March 10, 2008
The foreign currency reserves of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) rose to US$160.3 billion at the end of February, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said Friday. The latest figure, representing an increase of US$0.4 billion from a month earlier, made Hong Kong the ninth largest holder of foreign reserves among the world's economies, after the Chinese mainland, Japan, Russia, India, Taiwan, South Korea, Brazil and Singapore. Hong Kong and Taiwan, both Chinese territories, are taken as separate economies. The current foreign reserves were about 7 times the currency in circulation in Hong Kong, or 38 percent of the HK dollar M3, the broadest measure used by economists to estimate the entire money supply within an economy. Hong Kong has been maintaining a currency peg to the US dollar for quite a long time at the fixed rate of HK$7.8 to 1 US dollar. Wine lovers are lapping up the government's no-duty rule, drinking New Zealand's Feltan Road Pinot Noir 2006 at HK$365 a bottle instead of HK$458. Watson's Wine Cellar, in a full-page ad in The Standard yesterday, urged wine lovers to enjoy more of their favorite wine for less. But the drop in wine duty from 80 percent to zero has sent shocks through wine retailers still sitting on duty-paid inventory. "Those with dutied stock bought before the wine tax reduction will have a tough time," Annett Pocklington of hotel and restaurant supplier Kedington Wines said. While retailers able to offload stock the minute it arrived can comfortably lower prices, those stuck with inventory bought under the previous 40 percent and 80 percent duties are having trouble keeping up with the price cuts, she said. Gregory De'eb of Crown Wine Cellars said the pressure to keep up with competitors for those still holding on to dutied inventory meant that some merchants will have to write off 20 percent of their income this year, with many taking huge losses. Boris De Vroomen, co-chairman of the Hong Kong Wine and Spirits Industry Coalition and managing director of Moet Hennessy Diageo Hong Kong, said many members are in the same position, but stressed the problem is only short term. Head sommelier Cedric Bilien of the Four Seasons Hotel said his hotel is still reworking prices. With only a week passed since the no-tax announcement, retailers across the city have lowered prices. Farr Vintners Hong Kong has reduced prices for its array of fine Bordeaux by 15 percent to 30 percent while Berry Brothers & Rudd has an across- the-board price cut of 22 percent. ParknShop has also cut prices on all wines by 28 percent and Watson's Wine Cellar from 20 percent to 25 percent. Retail shop Ponti is offering discounts of up to 45 percent and Kedington Wines is planning to reduce some prices by 20 percent. Watson's Wine Cellar fine wine manager Eric Desgouttes said the territory is well on its way to becoming the only real duty-free wine zone in the world. The territory's recent move to remove its wine tax has also drawn immense international interest. New York auction house Acker Merral & Condit is planning a wine auction at the Island Shangri-La Hotel on May 31, billed as the biggest auction in Asia, De Vroomen said. The wine collection is estimated at over HK$20 million. British auction house Bonhams will also be holding an event next month, showcasing a magnum of Screaming Eagle 1992 valued at just under HK$70,000.
Several leading Hong Kong developers had made bids for the tender to develop part of the former Kai Tak airport site as a cruise terminal, Hong Kong media reported on Friday. Details on who had won the tender were not available immediately after the tender deadline passed on Friday afternoon. The project aims to create a world-class cruise terminal. A number of well-known companies were believed to be interested, government sources, quoted in the local media, said. Sun Hung Kai Properties (SEHK: 0016) wanted to team up with Star Cruises (SEHK: 0678), VXL Capital and Nan Fung Development to bid for the Kai Tak cruise terminal, SHKP executive director Mick Wong Chik-wing confirmed on Thursday. Another developer, Cheung Kong (Holdings) (SEHK: 0001), had joined up with Ceres Terminals Inc (CTI) in a separate bid, according to media reports. CTI is one of the largest stevedores and marine terminal operators in North America. A statement from Cheung Kong said CTI would manage terminal operations if they won the tender. Government sources said a number of developers had bid for the tender. It is understood that besides the large developers, some medium-sized developers and a United States cruise company, Royal Caribbean, had also shown interest. Bidders were expected to have a minimum of three years’ direct experience in running a cruise terminal. At least, 200,000 people are expected to be arriving and departing as passengers at the terminal each year. The government will adopt a two-pronged tender approach, with a 70 per cent weighting given to the quality aspects and 30 per cent to land premium aspects in assessing the bids. Situated at the tip of the old Kai Tak airport runway, the first phase of the terminal is scheduled to be completed by 2012. The terminal will include customs and baggage handling areas and three landscaped decks. The project will feature a cruise terminal building for hotels, convention halls, offices, shops and dining locations with a floor area of not more than 50,000 square metres (550,000 square feet). There would also be about 30,000 square metres of space for baggage handling, passenger waiting and queuing, customs, immigration and a health quarantine area, the Lands Department has said. The government has estimated that construction costs of the terminal building wouls be about HK$3.2 billion. Tenders will have to pay premium for a 50-year lease and the right to operate. The successful bidder would design, build and operate the new cruise facilities for 50 years, starting with the first berth in February 2012. Hong Kong blue chips fell sharply on Friday, joining other Asian markets in recording heavy losses as more negative news from the United States on Thursday spooked investors, who sought to lighten their exposure before the weekend. The benchmark Hang Seng Index ended 3.6 per cent lower at 22,501.33, nearly matching February 11’s sharp decline. The H-share index finished 3.5 per cent lower at 12,606.83. Buyers were few before the scheduled release later in the day of US non-farm payrolls data. Heavyweight global bank HSBC Holdings (SEHK: 0005, announcements, news) tracked global financials lower, as the US mortgage market woes piled higher and the resulting credit crunch worsened. Private equity groups dealt with margin calls and mortgage lenders struggled with their financing. Asian stocks as a whole fell nearly 3 per cent on Friday, heading for their biggest weekly slide this year, weighed on by credit-related losses, a record low dollar and the US economy’s fall towards recession. Some analysts now say a recession in Japan is not far behind. The country’s central bank on Friday lowered its assessment of the world’s second-biggest economy, a challenge that newly proposed Bank of Japan Governor Toshiro Muto may have to face. The US dollar hit all-time lows against the euro and a basket of currencies and a three-year low against the yen, with some traders even speculating on emergency US rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. Making it worse, oil prices held near a record US$106 per barrel on the back of the falling US currency, reinforcing concerns that surging commodity prices will fuel inflationary pressures at a time of slowing global growth. Bonds across the region gained, with Japanese government bond futures hitting a two and a half-year high as investors opted for safety. “There is a huge element of panic out there,” said Angus Gluskie, portfolio manager at White Funds Management in Sydney. “Previously the concerns were broadly on financials but people are now latching on the fact that there are significant global growth issues that we are up against.” The MSCI measure of Asia-Pacific stocks excluding Japan touched its lowest since February 12, and was trading down 2.8 per cent in afternoon trade. The index had lost 5.6 per cent this week as of late trade on Friday, heading towards its worst weekly loss since mid-August. Asian stocks have lost about 14 per cent this year, managing a gain in only two out of 10 trading weeks. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei average hit a six-week low, ending down 3.3 per cent, while shares in India and Australia were also down more than 3 per cent each. Hong Kong stocks were down 2.9 per cent. Shares in South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, and China were down 1 per cent to 2 per cent each. Shares of financial firms dropped, with Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ down 4.2 per cent, after Thornburg Mortgage said it failed to meet a margin call, sparking fears the high-profile US mortgage lender might go bankrupt. Exporters such as Toyota Motor were also pressured as Asian currencies firmed against the ailing dollar, which can hit earnings from abroad when converted into Japanese yen or South Korean won, and erode export competitiveness. Concerns about a slowing global economy are being compounded by surging commodity prices, leaving some central banks around the world dealing with the prospects of slowing growth yet rising inflation, known as stagflation. The Federal Reserve ran the risk of feeding inflation if it concentrated too much on protecting the US economy from a slowdown, St Louis Federal Reserve President William Poole said on Thursday. The problem is being felt in Asia as well. South Korea’s central bank unleashed a barrage of warnings on inflation after holding interest rates steady on Friday. As widely expected, the BOJ left its interest rate target unchanged at 0.5 per cent at Governor Toshihiko Fukui’s last policy meeting, with his ambition for higher rates stymied by the global credit mess. Mr Muto, who was proposed as the government on Friday as Mr Fukui’s replacement, may now have to face these challenges, though his appointment is uncertain given an opposition wary of his close government ties. The euro pushed up to a record high of US$1.5405 to the dollar on Friday, its highest level since its launch in 1999, after the European Central Bank played down the prospects of an interest rate cut. The dollar also fell to an all-time low of 72.812 against a trade-weighted basket of leading currencies and a new three-year low of 102.45 yen. US crude futures were steady at US$105.55 in Asian trade, close to the record US$105.97 hit on Thursday, on the back of a weak dollar and a decision by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to hold output steady. But bonds gained, as they tend to do in uncertain times, with Japan’s March 10-year futures rising as high as 139.50, their highest since September 2005.
China faces growing pressure for prices to rise due to food shortages and a credit boom, but financial officials are confident inflation can be held to its target of 4.8 percent this year. "We will face increasing pressure for price rises, and they need to have our full attention because they have a direct bearing on the performance of our economy," Ma Kai, chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, said yesterday. Inflation "will be the No1 item on our agenda. We have the means to achieve the targets." Analysts are skeptical that Beijing can meet the goal announced by Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday after inflation soared to 7.1 percent in January, its highest level in 11 years. Party leaders worry about any possible fallout from rapid price rises, especially for food, that have battered consumers and threaten to erode rising living standards. Beijing will maintain a tight monetary policy while trying to ensure food supplies, said Ma, who appeared with Finance Minister Xie Xuren and the governor of the central bank, Zhou Xiaochuan. "We will use finance and taxation as leverage to vigorously support production of grain, meat, cooking oil and vegetables, ensure the supply of daily necessities and hold down price rises." This year's snowstorms have worsened food shortages, adding to price pressure and inflation worries. Beijing has yet to report February inflation, but the deputy director of the statistics agency, Lin Xianyu, said it is likely to match January's rate. Deutsche Bank's Jun Ma said February's rate should top 8 percent, while full-year inflation should hit 6.4 percent. "We think the government is too optimistic," Ma said. "We believe that the government is still underestimating the risk of inflation - as it did in the past six months." Monetary policy "remains overly relaxed" and the central bank could raise interest rates once February data are reported, Ma added. Beijing has hiked rates repeatedly over the past two years to tackle a boom in bank lending and investment that helped to drive economic growth to 11.4 percent last year.
Australian’s AED Oil, which has struggled with falling production and unpaid debt, on Friday said it had sold a 60 per cent interest in its assets to Sinopec (SEHK: 0386) for A$600 million (HK$4.3 billion). AED said in a statement that the deal valued all its assets, which include the Puffin and Talbot oil fields off northwest Australia, at about A$1 billion. “It looks like a good deal, good enough to get them out of jail because they were really stuck between a rock and a hard place with their poor production rates and overdue debts,” said Johan Hedstrom, a resource analyst at Bell Potter Securities. “I’m sure the share price will react positively to the news but it probably won’t be euphoric because AED will be a much smaller company and they won’t be calling the shots anymore.” Sinopec, Asia’s top oil refiner and a wholly owned unit of state-owned China Petrochemical Corp, would be the operator of the joint venture, AED said. Shares in Hong-Kong listed Sinopec were down 7.2 per cent at HK$7.59 in early trade. The fall came after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to neutral from buy, citing margins squeeze as adjustments to domestic refined products are seen lagging projected oil price increases. Prospects for oil product price increases in China this year were ”improbable” as inflation remained a top concern for Beijing this year, the bank said in a research report dated Friday. AED became an investor favourite last year after it said it was likely to have as much as 100 million barrels of recoverable oil at Puffin and Talbot, up sharply from an earlier estimate of 40 million barrels. But its stock has plunged from a record A$11.40 in October as technical problems slashed output from Puffin North East to just 6,000 to 10,000 barrels per day, well short of its initial forecast of 30,000 bpd. The stock took a further hit after Norwegian oil services firm AGR Group last month saidAED was overdue in paying an AGR subsidiary about A$41.5 million. The shares, which have been on a trading halt since February 28, last traded at A$1.85. Trade will resume on Monday. “AED will utilise the funds received from the transaction to retire debt, settle its creditors and fund its joint venture interest and development opportunities,” AED said in a statement. AED said it also planned to work with Sinopec to seek other project opportunities in the region. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals from the Chinese government and from the government of Australia’s Northern Territory.
Shanghai has applied to the central government to build its own Disneyland, Mayor Han Zheng said on Thursday, ending long-standing speculation on whether it would opt for such a park. It would be the third Disneyland in Asia after Japan and Hong Kong. Plans for a Shanghai Disneyland emerged in 2005 but were suspended when the city’s Communist Party boss, Chen Liangyu, was implicated in a corruption investigation in 2006. Recent state media reports had said that while Shanghai still planned to build a major theme park by 2020, it had yet to decide on any specific project. “We have applied to the National Development and Reform Commission [the economic planning agency], but so far we have not received any notice of approval,” Mr Han told reporters on the sidelines of the annual session of parliament. “Any big-scale project of this kind has to receive central government approval, and Shanghai will of course abide by the central government’s decision,” he said, adding that the location of the proposed park was not yet fixed. Walt Disney Company signed a statement of intent to build a Disneyland on the mainland in 2002, and then set up a venture to develop the site, which would be about 4.7 times the size of Hong Kong’s Disneyland. The plan was soon suspended, partly because of concerns that the Hong Kong park, which opened in 2005, would suffer, state-owned newspapers have reported. Hong Kong’s Disneyland has struggled since opening in 2005, falling well short of attendance targets. The park had around four million visitors in its second year of operation, a drop of more than 20 per cent from its first year.
March 8 - 9, 2008
Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen will lead a trade mission to three northeastern provinces in the second half of the year. Yesterday, he met Northeast Revitalisation Office director Zhang Guobao in Beijing to discuss preparations for the mission. He said afterwards that the region was a fast-growing economy and Hong Kong could explore opportunities of trade, financing and investment there. He also met Public Security Minister Meng Jianzhu , Commerce Minister Chen Deming and director of the General Administration of Sport Liu Peng before returning to Hong Kong on the same day. Mr Tsang made no direct response when asked whether he, Guangdong governor Huang Huahua and provincial party secretary Wang Yang had discussed creating a Pearl River Delta megalopolis including Hong Kong when they met on Wednesday.
Guangdong will order about 10 types of energy-consuming industries to disconnect from the power grid to overcome the province's worst electricity crisis in 30 years, a senior government official says. Guangdong Development and Reform Commission deputy director Li Miaojuan warned that smaller steel mills, electroplating factories and dyeing plants would have to stop production to cut power consumption after the snowstorm disaster added to power shortages in the manufacturing hub. The move, which follows existing power rationing across the region, is expected to darken the prospects of tens of thousands Hong Kong manufacturers across the border, as well as the skies over the Pearl River Delta, because they will be forced to generate their own electricity by using more costly and dirty diesel-fired generators. "Ten energy-consuming industries must stop production completely, when necessary, as the snowstorm has aggravated the shortage problem," Ms Li said yesterday during the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference meeting. "The problem will get worse in the summer peak season." Without revealing exactly when the power suspensions would take place, Ms Li said manufacturers would be informed "a day" in advance. She added existing rationing and energy-saving initiatives targeting manufacturers would continue for some time because residential needs were a priority. Factories in manufacturing hubs such as Dongguan and Longgang have to suspend operations for two to three days a week due to power rationing. She did not think the new measure would kill off Hong Kong factory owners, which were mainly engaged in producing and processing consumer goods. More than 10,000 factories in the Pearl River Delta have folded in the past few months as a combined result of higher production costs, wages, power shortages, a stronger yuan and new labour and tax laws. The tragic snowstorms in southern China downed power transmission grids and caused the province's power shortage to worsen to about 10 million kW this year compared with the original estimate of about 6 million kW, she said. Anticipating a power shortage of about 6 million kW in each of the next three years, Ms Li said the central government had agreed to speed up approval on new power projects. New projects involving nuclear and renewable sources would be given priority, she said. "We have negotiated with state power producers and grid companies that once the downed infrastructure is fixed between Hunan and the Three Gorges, the supply to Guangdong will resume," Ms Li said. However, some analysts said the electricity crisis would linger for a while because of the severe destruction of power grids in southern and western parts of the country. Shanghai has launched a unified land-trading market aimed at helping stem corruption in transactions across the city. The Shanghai Municipal Land Trading Market was inaugurated on Saturday with 3,000 square metres of space in the Lujiazui area of Pudong New District. Its main concerns are transfers and leases of land-use rights for commercial developments or industrial purposes, division and transfer of the use rights of large patches of land for development, housing construction and the transfer of land accompanying it. The market is connected to land trading departments in the city's 19 urban districts and suburban counties. In these departments, potential buyers can obtain information about all land resources put up for trading on the market, according to Shanghai Municipal Real Estate Trading Centre director Ma Ren. "The Shanghai Municipal Land Trading Market will serve as a platform through which all information is released in a unified way," Mr Ma said. "Trading can be done according to the same rule standards, so supervision will become easier." While addressing a function to mark the launch, Land and Resources vice-minister Wang Shiyuan said the new market would play a role in increasing trading opportunities and bringing down costs. "With this platform, market forces will be allowed to play a fundamental role in the mobilisation of land resources," Mr Wang said. "There will be less human interference, which will improve the transparency and credibility of land administrative departments. "This platform will help the government analyse information about the land market in a timely manner and improve relevant control measures." Shanghai's land transfer market is extremely lucrative. In the past, trading was not conducted openly, but often in a substandard manner leading to widespread corruption. The previously unregulated nature of the market led to the downfall of a number officials, including Yin Guoyuan, a former Shanghai Housing, Land and Resources Bureau deputy director, and Zhu Wenjin, chief of the bureau's land-utilisation management section. Prosecutors have accused Yin of accepting 36.7 million yuan (HK$40.3 million) and failing to account for 8.1 million yuan and US$40,000 found in his possession. Yin and his wife allegedly accepted bribes from real estate development companies in return for favourable treatment in land-use applications from 2000 to 2006, the Shanghai People's Procuratorate No1 Branch said. Mr Zhu is under investigation for "abusing his position by allowing others to profit in exchange for cash and expensive gifts" since April. No new progress has been reported about that investigation. March 7, 2008
Container shipping line operator Orient Overseas (International) (0316) reported yesterday full-year net profit skyrocketed 338.68 percent, boosted by its exceptional net gain of US$1.99 billion (HK$15.52 billion) from the sale of four North America container ports. Four top central government leaders will meet the entire 200-member contingent of Hong Kong and Macau National People's Congress deputies and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference members in Beijing today. President Hu Jintao, NPC chairman Wu Bangguo, CPPCC chairman Jia Qinlin and Xi Jinping, top-ranked Communist Party of China Secretariat member, will meet the contingent this afternoon in the Great Hall of the People. Hu is expected to give a speech. There will be a group photo session which will include Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen. It was in 2003 when the four top leaders met all the NPC and CPPCC members from the two territories. It is, in fact, the first time for Xi, who has been tipped to replace vice president Zeng Qinghong, to meet all the local NPC deputies and CPPCC representatives. Xi will head the Central Leading Group on Hong Kong and Macao Affairs, as announced last year. Change of personnel is expected gradually among central government officials who are responsible for the two special administrative regions' affairs. Chen Zuoer, deputy director of the State Council's Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, said yesterday he reached retirement age last December when asked whether he will retire. Sun Hung Kai Properties (SEHK: 0016), Asia’s top developer by market value, reported a 17 per cent jump in half-year earnings on Thursday, beating forecasts thanks to wider profit margins in a Hong Kong property market upswing. The firm also said in a statement that it would consider selling some non-core Hong Kong commercial property but executives told a news conference that a property trust spin-off was not planned because of tough stock market conditions. Eric Chow, executive director of SHKP’s property agency unit, said the firm expected to sell 2,000 flats in Hong Kong and 1,000 in the mainland in calendar this year, generating sales of HK$23 billion. “We’re still optimistic because of low interest rates, strong purchasing power and limited supply,” Mr Chow said of the Hong Kong market, predicting at least a 10 per cent price rise this year. Average home prices have risen a fifth in the past year.
Growing bilateral trade between Hong Kong and Japan was worth more than US$52 billion (HK$404 billion) in 2007, a government trade representative revealed on Thursday. Jennie Chok, principal representative of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Tokyo, said about 70 per cent of this bilateral trade consisted of Japanese exports to Hong Kong. Mrs Chok, was speaking at a business seminar in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. Japan is Hong Kong’s third largest trading partner in the world, and second largest trading partner in Asia. Hong Kong is Japan’s ninth largest trading partner. “Between 2003 and 2007, average annual bilateral trade between our two economies grew by 7.2 per cent” she said. On economic ties between Aichi Prefecture and Hong Kong, Mrs Chok said merchandise trade between the two places exceeded 384 billion yen in 2006. This represented a growth of five per cent over the previous year. “As a matter of interest, Hong Kong is Aichi’s 10th largest export market and that more than 97 per cent of our bilateral trade actually consists of exports from Aichi to Hong Kong,” she explained. “No doubt Toyota cars make up an important part of those exports, as almost all the taxis that run in Hong Kong are Toyota LPG five-seater saloons,” noted Mrs Chok. She said currently some 3,900 international companies maintained regional headquarters or offices in Hong Kong. Among these, around 750 were established by Japanese enterprises. Their businesses covered electronics, banking, transportation and retail services. Mrs Chok told her Japanese audience Hong Kong’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by an average of 7.7 per cent per annum in real terms between 2004 and 2006. “As announced by our financial secretary in Hong Kong last week, there was a 6.3 per cent increase in our real GDP last year, and Hong Kong’s economy is forecast to grow by 4-5 per cent this year,” she said. Mrs Chok urged more Japanese companies to use Hong Kong as a base to access the China market. The seminar was jointly organised by the HKETO and the Hong Kong Tourism Board.
China's banking regulator said it would continue to push for the local incorporation of foreign banks here on Thursday. The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) also urged locally incorporated foreign banks to build a so-called Chinese Wall separating themselves from parent banks and remaining Chinese branches. They should also set up independent risk control, accounting and IT systems to prevent overseas risk overflow, a statement on its website said. The CBRC will "pay close attention to the branches and subsidiary institutions of the subprime-affected foreign banks, and take more prudent supervision measures," said the statement. Foreign banks have been increasing steadily in assets, profits, deposits and loans. Outstanding non-performing loans were reduced by 45 million U.S. dollars year-on-year, said the statement. In total, 21 of these banks -- including the Standard Chartered Bank, the Bank of East Asia and the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp. -- have been approved to transform their Chinese mainland branches into locally-incorporated banks registered on the mainland by last year. Among them, six have been approved to provide renminbi services and five will be able to issue bank cards. Since foreign institutional investors were first allowed to invest in Chinese banks starting in 1996, 35 overseas banks have acquired stakes in 23 Chinese banks with a total investment of 21 billion U.S. dollars by October. Among them, the main business of the locally-incorporated banks had already accounted for 70 percent of the business of all foreign banks in 2007, the statement said.
March 6, 2008
China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) officials quashed the rumor the country had dropped the scheme allowing mainland investors to tap the Hong Kong stock market here on Monday.
Beijing plans a 17.6 per cent rise in its defense spending this year, another double-digit increase for a military modernization plan heavily scrutinized by western and regional powers who fear its intent. The planned allocation for the People’s Liberation Army for this year was 417.769 billion yuan (HK$458.3 billion), Jiang Enzhu, spokesman for China’s National People’s Congress, or parliament, told a news conference on Tuesday. Mr Jiang said the money would be used to raise the pay of service personnel and improve training for officers, as well as to upgrade military equipment. “Appropriately increasing spending on equipment upgrading will improve our defensive ability,” Mr Jiang said. The rise follows a 17.8 per cent increase in defence spending for last year, its largest rise in a decade, when the official outlay reached 350.92 billion yuan, or US$45 billion. International experts estimate China’s true spending on the PLA could be as much as triple that. Mr Jiang said that China’s spending on defense was still much lower than other countries, as a percentage of their overall economies. China says it adheres to a path of peaceful development and that it needs to modernize its massive forces with new ships, missiles and fighter planes for the purposes of self-defense only. “China sticks to a defensive national defense policy. China’s limited armed forces are totally for the purpose of safeguarding independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. China will not pose a threat to any country,” Mr Jiang said. But US officials have said its growing might is aimed at Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing claims as its territory and whose March 22 presidential election it will watch closely. China and Taiwan have faced off since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949. Beijing has vowed to bring the island back under its control, and has held out the possibility of using force against it should it move towards formal independence.
March 5, 2008
As several large-scale tourism and gaming facilities entered operations, Macao saw its electricity consumption in 2007 surged by 23.1 percent over 2006, according to the official statistics released on Monday. Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that in the fourth quarter of 2007, consumption of electricity rose by 22.9 percent year-on-year respectively, whereas that of fuel oil dropped by 15.1 percent. Macao's Terrestrial Natural Gas Import and transmission System has begun to operate last month, and the natural gas imported is mainly for the generation of electricity. CEM (Macao Electricity Company) predicted that the volume of natural gas for this purpose would reach 90 million to 95 million cubic meters. The natural gas transmitted through terrestrial pipes made its formal arrival at the beginning of 2008, which mainly comes from the liquefied natural gas stations in the neighboring Guangdong province. Chanel opens futuristic art exhibit in HK - A modern art exhibition consisting of artistic interpretations of the iconic Chanel handbag is open in Hong Kong. The exhibition venue is an art exhibit itself -- a curved pavilion resembling a UFO. The exhibition, called "Mobile art," is in a futuristic, shiny, white pavilion designed by renowned modern architect Zaha Hadid. The artworks inside include a giant sculpture of a black Chanel handbag that encases a video. It's by Swiss artist Sylvie Fleury. There's also a work featuring two stuffed pigs next to encased Chanel handbags. It's called "Jesus Love and 2 Handbags" and it's by Belgian artist Wim Delyoye. Visitors are encouraged to wear headphones to listen to music specifically designed to enhance the artwork. Fabrice Bousteau, Curator of Mobile Art Exhibition said "This exhibition is totally new because it was conceived like a real landscape and a 3-dimensional film which comes to life with visitors and with headphones." The exhibit also features works by artists from South Korea, Iran, Russia and the United States among other countries. Japanese artist Tabaimo designed a black hole with graphic animation. It's her interpretation of unlocking the secrets hidden inside a handbag. Bousteau says the exhibit is intended to be experimental -- and to move art away from the more traditional museum setting. Fabrice Bousteau said "Mobile Art in my view is an expression of utopia and the future. It's a completely weird architectural project because it's the first building in the world which will travel, which will circulate and which is nomadic." The exhibition took four weeks to assemble. It will travel through Asia, the U.S. and Europe. The next stop after Hong Kong is Tokyo. Hong Kong's Government House will be open on March 9 for the public visitors to enjoy the blossoming azaleas in spring time and to see the places where the Chief Executive holds important official functions and receives dignitaries, a government spokesman said Saturday. "Government House will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on March 9. It is open to the public twice a year. The previous open day on Nov. 11 last year attracted about 5,000 visitors," the spokesman said. The Government House is now used as a venue for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government and the Chief Executive to hold important official functions, such as official banquets in honor of visiting heads of state/government, and honors and awards presentation ceremonies. Government House was formerly the official residence and office of 25 of Hong Kong's 28 governors. Construction work started in 1851, and took four years to complete.
The Hong Kong Observatory and Northwest Airlines yesterday unveiled the first-ever uplink of wind-shear alerts to the aircraft cockpits via a Light Detection and Ranging system - called LIDAR - to improve safety. LIDAR, which functions only during fine weather conditions and collects wind data at Chek Lap Kok using infrared light lasers, enables pilots to receive automated information on wind shear - a rapid change in wind direction or speed over a very short distance - 40 minutes, or 370 kilometers, before landing. Each message costs less than HK$1 to transmit. Previously, pilots only received information through verbal communication with the control tower five to 10 minutes before arrival. "It's good for us to know as far ahead of time as possible [about] the weather so that we can make adjustments," said Steve Smith, chief pilot of Northwest Airlines. He said when pilots get information on wind shear they can plan whether to delay landing, hold and circle, or use different runways to land. Northwest meteorology manager Tom Fahey said the threshold for the company is 20 knots of wind shear, one of the conditions pilots consider when landing. They would rule against landing if it is more than 20 knots. The observatory's senior scientific officer Sandy Song Man-kuen said wind shear could affect an aircraft's intended path, reduce its lift or bring turbulence. She said the system, costing HK$18 million and currently semi-operational, has attracted interest from some airlines. Since the airport at Chek Lap Kok opened in 1998, about one in 500 flights had reported significant wind shear, which can cause major problems for pilots on landing and takeoff. Meanwhile, the observatory has also provided the local general aviation community with a website as a platform to share pilots' latest reports on weather observations. Under the scheme, launched this month and joined by the Government Flying Service, Hong Kong Aviation Club, Heliexpress and Heliservices, pilots will report weather information such as visibility, wind speed, cloud base and turbulence after their flights. "The best advantage is that we can share fast and clear information," GFS quality and safety manager Marcus Chan Shu-kei said. Kenny Choi Chi-yuen, flying instructor at the Aviation Club, said they would not take off if the cloud base is reported at 600 meters above sea level. Club president Danny Patterson said pilots previously recorded observations on their own, but now they have a more convenient way of sharing useful information.
Shanghai ranks top in China in terms of capability for sustainable development, a Chinese Academy of Sciences report revealed. The "China's Sustainable Development Strategy 2008" reported that of the top-10 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, including Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin and Zhejiang, most were in eastern areas while the vast middle and western regions still lagged behind. The eastern provinces were also pioneers in building a conservation-conscious society, said the report. The top 10, which included Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong Province, were also above the national average for conservation efforts. The environment, however, had deteriorated in most parts of China since 1995, with the exception of Beijing, Shanghai and the eastern Shandong Province, it said.
March 4, 2008
Cheung Kong (Holdings) (0001) unloaded more than 1,900 pre-sale units in The Capitol with prices ranging from less- than-expected HK$5,100-HK$5,200 per square foot this weekend - and it will not be selling any more than 100 pre- sale units to the general public. The through-train program that will allow mainland individuals to invest directly in Hong Kong should not be limited to only one institution, a Hong Kong delegate of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference said yesterday, adding he will propose that smaller securities firms also participate.
China Pacific Insurance, which withdrew a HK$24 billion initial public offering last month, plans to bring the deal back to market this month and will begin pre-marketing today, sources said. The H-share offering was approved by the Hong Kong stock exchange listing committee on Thursday last week, a source said. UBS, Credit Suisse and China International Capital Corp are arranging the deal. UBS and Credit Suisse analysts would meet fund managers from asset management companies including Fidelity Investments, Invesco and Martin Currie today and tomorrow, sources said. "The meeting is just to test the waters to ascertain how much the fund managers would be willing to pay for China Pacific Insurance," a source said. Pre-marketing will continue until March 21, longer than the usual two week schedule conducted for most initial public offerings. A formal roadshow would be launched depending on the response from fund managers, the sources said. The company was expected to raise about HK$24 billion by selling 900 million H shares after a 30 billion yuan (HK$32.88 billion) listing in Shanghai in December last year. Those shares closed at 35.21 yuan on Friday, 17 per cent up on the offer price. "China Pacific Insurance could have realized a higher valuation had it gone public last year, but not now," said one fund manager who will attend the pre-marketing meeting hosted by UBS. "Mainland insurance stocks have fallen quite a lot amid the massive sell-off in January. It's tough for the arrangers to justify a fair valuation for China Pacific." China Pacific was one of the six mainland companies that delayed or shelved plans for a Hong Kong listing as fallout from the subprime crisis in the United States continued to hang over global markets in January and February.
Macau's casinos will gain the most from the proposed Hong Kong-Macau-Zhuhai Bridge, for which funding arrangements were decided on Wednesday, gaming magnate Stanley Ho Hung-sun said. Mr Ho, chairman of Shun Tak Holdings (SEHK: 0242, announcements, news) , said yesterday the company would submit a construction tender for the bridge if there was an opportunity. "The project will benefit all three places," he said, "Macau's passenger flow will increase, as the travelling time between there and Hong Kong will be shortened. In the past, even if you took the quickest ferry it would take more than an hour, but in future it will be a 20-minute car ride." Asked who would benefit most from the bridge, Mr Ho said: "The casinos in Macau." The funding arrangement between the three jurisdictions involved was reasonable, he said, and he hoped the bridge would be built as soon as possible. Mr Ho, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Standing Committee member from Macau, was speaking in Beijing. He also said former Hong Kong chief secretary and newly appointed CPPCC delegate Raphael Hui Si-yan - widely tipped to become a Standing Committee member - was a suitable candidate. "He absolutely has the quality," Mr Ho said. "He was the chief secretary of Hong Kong and should be able to work here, and in Macau too." Mr Hui declined to comment on his CPPCC prospects. And he denied being involved in the standing down of Sun Hung Kai Properties (SEHK: 0016) chairman Walter Kwok Ping-sheung. Mr Ho told reporters he would advise Mr Kwok, a fellow Standing Committee member, to fall in with his mother's wishes and restore good relations with his two brothers, strained in a recent disagreement.
The mainland, worried about an ageing population, is studying scrapping its controversial one-child policy but will not do away with family-planning policies altogether, a senior official said late on Thursday. With the world’s biggest population straining scarce land, water and energy resources, China has enforced rules to restrict family size since the 1970s. Rules vary but usually limit families to one child, or two in the countryside. “We want incrementally to have this change,” Vice-Minister of the National Population and Family Planning Commission Zhao Baige told reporters in Beijing. “I cannot answer at what time or how, but this has become a big issue among decision makers,” Mr Zhao said. She added that the current plan was to study the issue seriously and responsibly, but avoid sudden changes that might cause a spike in births. “Minority groups already have two children, even three, and in the cities like Shanghai and Beijing, a lot of only children are already released (to have two), but the most important is those in the middle like in Henan... nearly a hundred million people, but strongly influenced by the classical way, they want a son, and they are already very fragile environmentally.” Teams studying the issue would have to consider the strain of China’s huge population on its scarce resources, popular attitudes, and how much of a social net China can afford to provide without the traditional reliance on large families to care for the aged, she said. Surveys show that 60 percent of Chinese younger than 30 want a maximum of two children, and only a “very small” number want more than three, Zhao said. The average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime has decreased to 1.8 in China today, from 5.8 in the 1970s, and below the replacement rate of 2.1. In recent years, the mainland has sought to soften its draconian and often controversial family control policies, which have included forced abortions and other punitive measures. But local officials remain under intense pressure to keep numbers down, leading to skewed statistics and sometimes brutality. The country is now relying more on education, especially about contraception, said Zhao, in charge of international cooperation, education and communication at the ministry. China says its policies have prevented several hundred million births and boosted prosperity, but experts have warned of a looming social time-bomb from an ageing population and widening gender disparity stemming from a traditional preference for boys. Normally, between 103 and 107 boys are born for every 100 girl infants, but in China, 118 boys are born for every 100 girls, Zhao said. Experimental policies include trying to improve women’s welfare and girls’ access to schooling. Still, the government has previously expressed concern that too many people are flouting the rules. State media said in December that China’s population would grow to 1.5 billion people by 2033, with birth rates set to soar over the next five years. Officials have also cautioned that population controls are being unraveled by the increased mobility of China’s 150 million-odd migrant workers, who travel from poor rural areas to work in more affluent eastern cities. China has vowed to slap heavier fines on wealthy citizens who flout family planning laws, in response to the emergence of an upper class willing to pay standard fines to have more children. March 3, 2008
Leading health-care financing experts from around the world are to attend a high-profile symposium in Hong Kong in April to discuss the long-awaited reform that will be revealed by the government in two weeks.
A bio-diesel plant that will recycle waste cooking oil from restaurants is to be built in Hong Kong by a Bahrain-based bank. Al Salam Bank-Bahrain has set up a joint-venture company, ASB Bio-diesel (Hong Kong), with six partners to build and run the plant at Tseung Kwan O industrial estate. Negotiations with Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks on a 40-year lease for a HK$42.3 million waterfront site are expected to be clinched within days. The plant - the second of its kind in Hong Kong - will produce up to 100,000 tonnes of bio-diesel per year for sale in Hong Kong and Europe. Dynamic Progress International opened a bio-diesel plant in Tuen Mun last year. Bank chief executive Yousif Taqi said the plant would mainly use cooking oil, waste animal fat and grease-trap waste. This set it apart from the production of bio-diesel from edible vegetable oils, which has caused growing concern over destruction of tropical rainforests. "This is an innovative investment," he said. "It illustrates our bank's strategy to meet clients' expectations for attractive investment opportunities that are differentiated by sector and geography, and to ensure competitive returns to our shareholders. "It also underlines our commitment to identify projects that have the potential to add value to the community and positively impact the environment." Mr Taqi said the project would have three environmental benefits: reducing harmful vehicle emissions and global warming through the use of bio-diesel; using materials that would otherwise go to landfills; and addressing the destruction of rainforests - felled to make way for vast oil-palm plantations grown to produce biofuels. Bio-diesel is not subject to the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance because it is not based on hydrocarbons, and Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen pledged in his October policy address to introduce a duty-free policy on its use. A spokesman for the Environmental Protection Department said: "We are drawing up a specification for the use of bio-diesel as motor- vehicle fuel. Our plan is to introduce a statutory specification on January 1, 2009. [After that date], bio-diesel offered for sale here will have to comply with the specification." The department also plans to require that all conventional diesel sold in Hong Kong meet the Euro V standard, which allows 80 per cent less sulfur than Euro IV diesel, by the same date. Patrick Siu, senior development manager with Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks, said completion of the deal with the joint venture on the 18,000 square metre site was expected within "a day or two". "In Europe, they are increasing the percentage of bio-diesel in diesel oil and together with escalating petroleum prices, it's quite an active area for business," he said. "We have quite a few firms showing interest in setting up bio-diesel plants at Tseung Kwan O." Christian Masset, chairman of green group Clear the Air, said: "If this plant uses exclusively Hong Kong-produced waste, this is a win-win situation. The waste will not end up in the Hong Kong environment and we will reduce noxious emissions from vehicles. But we will be watching the plant closely to see whether it lives up to expectations."
The Chinese government is strengthening its efforts in building a food produce quality tracing system to ensure food safety, with various food tracing systems applied across the country. In the logistic center of Jifa Farming Development Co. Ltd, the biggest vegetable provider in Qinhuangdao city of Hebei province, the black and white bar code appears on every package of tomatoes, celery and other green vegetables. "The bar code is the 'identity card' of vegetables. You can find information about the producing area, producing date, producer, brand and source of the seed just by scanning the bar code in the supermarket or through phones, internet and the shourt messages, " said Zhao Huan, an pesticide checker of the company on Friday. "Once a food safety incident happens, we can track the producing area of the vegetables through the bar code and solve the problem as quick as possible, " said Zhao. The Jifa company provides more than 200,000 kg vegetable to the neighbouring Beijing, Tianjin and Tangshan cities and is also a major provider for the Olympics. "We have a food safety data tracing center in our city, which covers the major fruits, vegetables, sea food, livestocks and eggs. The food provided for the Olympics will be tracked in all precedures including production, processing, packaging, storing and transporting, " said Chen Rurong, head of the Qinhuangdao Municipal Food Saftey Office. Since 2004, the Agriculture Ministry has explored ways and means on traceability systems for farm produce quality and safety, and conducted trials in eight cities including Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai for surveillance. The Beijing government has set up a rigorous food tracking and monitoring system for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and food safety for the games was fully guaranteed. All the procedures involving Olympic food, including production, processing, packaging, storing and transporting, will be closely monitored and the information would be incorporated into a database, which would enable food supervisors to be fully aware ofall the procedures and trace the sources in case of any incidents. Tianjin has established a tracking system for pork. In Shouguang city of eastern Shandong province, the largest vegetable provider of Beijing, code bar has been taken as a leading tracing tool for the vegetable safety. As a pesticide checker, Zhao Huan said he couldn't understand why China-made farm produce were regularly questioned and criticized in foreign press. As the upcoming Olympics will draw hundreds of thousands of foreign visitors to Beijing, the agriculture ministry has planned a special campaign to ensure market supply and food quality and safety in the city, said Gao Hongbin, vice minister of agriculturein early January. The campaign, which would be a team effort between the ministry and 13 provincial governments, aims to "further improve the quality and safety of agricultural products", he said. "The long-term goal is not to meet the demand of a single area or a single phase, we want to continuously improve the food safety across the country through the campaign," he said.
China's shipbuilding tonnage jumped 30 percent to 18.93 million tons last year, the country's top economic planning agency said Saturday. March 2, 2008
Shareholders of Hopewell Holdings (0054) will enjoy a lucrative special dividend after the company announced interim net profit for the six months ended December 31 nearly quadrupled to HK$5.25 billion from HK$1.34 billion the previous year, thanks to exceptional gains totaling more than HK$4.76 billion.
Flagfalls for urban and New Territories taxis rose HK$1 yesterday, just two weeks before talks seeking a further HK$2 increase for urban taxis are due to begin. The Shenzhen section of a rail link connecting the mainland city's airport with Chek Lap Kok will not start until 2011, Shenzhen Mayor Xu Zongheng said yesterday.
The government supports the suggested introduction of water taxis to connect tourist spots in Southern District and Ocean Park, as district councillors said such a service could help ease road traffic in the area. Kinnie Wong Kit-yee, an assistant commissioner at the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, told a Southern District Council meeting yesterday that one of the major considerations of developing the district into a tourist attraction was to revitalise the area's historic fishing village background. "Bringing the living culture of the old days back is one of the areas we focus on and water taxis fit this idea very well," Miss Wong said, adding that it would be good for visitors to experience a sampan ride. Ocean Park chairman Allan Zeman, who presented hotel projects planned for the theme park at the meeting, also supported the water taxi idea. "It's a good idea to link Aberdeen, Repulse Bay and Stanley. When tourists come it is nice for them to get around in a boat. People still like going on the Star Ferry," he said. "I think it's something that we will continue to discuss with the government and the Transport Department." Mr Zeman said Ocean Park was seeking Town Planning Board approval for three hotels and tenders would be invited once approval was granted. The projects will be presented to the board today. "The developers will have to pay for construction of the hotels and they will have to share their profits with Ocean Park," he said. Meanwhile, Becky Ip Ching-tak, the Tourism Board's director for mainland China, said mainlanders may choose to stay at home during the Beijing Games. She said some mainland travel agencies had forecast the number of visitors to Hong Kong might drop 10 per cent during the Games. Tourism Board executive director Anthony Lau Chun-hon said this summer's two-month shopping promotion would be extended to about 12 weeks. Travel Industry Council chairman Ronnie Ho Pak-ting said he did not think arrivals would be too adversely affected by the Olympics but warned airline seats would be hard to secure.
China and the European Union (EU) will give each other unrestricted maritime market access as a result of the EU-China Maritime Transport Agreement, which is set to come into force on Saturday. Under the pact concluded in Brussels on December 6, 2002, international cargo transport and logistics operators may extend branches that provide door-to-door multi-modal services, according to a joint statement issued on Thursday. "The agreement has strengthened our maritime relations and cooperation. These close ties have been beneficial for the development of trade and economic activities, not only between China and the EU but also with the world at large," said European Commission Vice-President Jacques Barrot in a letter to the Chinese Minister for Communications, Li Shenglin. Barrot said that the accord would mean increased investment in all segments of maritime transport, and it would also boost cooperation in matters as important as maritime safety and environmentally sustainable shipping. Both sides would also increase investment in ports and logistics infrastructure to avoid costly congestion. The agreement aims to improve the conditions under which maritime cargo transport operations are carried out, based on the principles of freedom to provide maritime transport services, free access to cargoes and cross-trade and non-discriminatory treatment in the use of ports and auxiliary services. About 90 percent of world trade is seaborne, and both the EU and China are major participants in maritime affairs. EU shipping companies control more than 40 percent of the world fleet, and China is the EU's second largest trading partner. China may scrap one-child policy, official says - The mainland, worried about an ageing population, is studying scrapping its controversial one-child policy but will not do away with family-planning policies altogether, a senior official said late on Thursday. With the world’s biggest population straining scarce land, water and energy resources, China has enforced rules to restrict family size since the 1970s. Rules vary but usually limit families to one child, or two in the countryside. “We want incrementally to have this change,” Vice-Minister of the National Population and Family Planning Commission Zhao Baige told reporters in Beijing. “I cannot answer at what time or how, but this has become a big issue among decision makers,” Mr Zhao said. She added that the current plan was to study the issue seriously and responsibly, but avoid sudden changes that might cause a spike in births. “Minority groups already have two children, even three, and in the cities like Shanghai and Beijing, a lot of only children are already released (to have two), but the most important is those in the middle like in Henan... nearly a hundred million people, but strongly influenced by the classical way, they want a son, and they are already very fragile environmentally.” Teams studying the issue would have to consider the strain of China’s huge population on its scarce resources, popular attitudes, and how much of a social net China can afford to provide without the traditional reliance on large families to care for the aged, she said. Surveys show that 60 percent of Chinese younger than 30 want a maximum of two children, and only a “very small” number want more than three, Zhao said. The average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime has decreased to 1.8 in China today, from 5.8 in the 1970s, and below the replacement rate of 2.1. In recent years, the mainland has sought to soften its draconian and often controversial family control policies, which have included forced abortions and other punitive measures. But local officials remain under intense pressure to keep numbers down, leading to skewed statistics and sometimes brutality. The country is now relying more on education, especially about contraception, said Zhao, in charge of international cooperation, education and communication at the ministry. China says its policies have prevented several hundred million births and boosted prosperity, but experts have warned of a looming social time-bomb from an ageing population and widening gender disparity stemming from a traditional preference for boys. Normally, between 103 and 107 boys are born for every 100 girl infants, but in China, 118 boys are born for every 100 girls, Zhao said. Experimental policies include trying to improve women’s welfare and girls’ access to schooling. Still, the government has previously expressed concern that too many people are flouting the rules. State media said in December that China’s population would grow to 1.5 billion people by 2033, with birth rates set to soar over the next five years. Officials have also cautioned that population controls are being unraveled by the increased mobility of China’s 150 million-odd migrant workers, who travel from poor rural areas to work in more affluent eastern cities. China has vowed to slap heavier fines on wealthy citizens who flout family planning laws, in response to the emergence of an upper class willing to pay standard fines to have more children. March 1, 2008
The Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) announced Thursday the following senior appointments: Ma Lee-tak, Principal Government Engineer, will assume the post of Director of Water Supplies with effect from March 3, 2008. Peter Lau Ka-keung, Principal Government Engineer, will succeed Wong Chee-keung as Director of Drainage Services with effect from March 10, 2008. Captain Michael Chan Chi-pui, Chief Pilot, will succeed Captain Brian Butt Yiu-ming as Controller, Government Flying Service, with effect from March 27, 2008. Speaking on the appointments, Denise Yue, the Secretary for the Civil Service of Hong Kong said, "The appointees are all seasoned civil servants with profound professional experience and proven leadership and management skills. I have every confidence that they will ably lead their respective departments to face the challenges ahead and continue to serve the community with professionalism and dedication in their new capacities." Hong Kong's total goods exports values rose 15.8 percent in the past year to 240.1 billion HK dollars (30.8 billion U.S. dollars) in January, while goods imports values climbed 16.9 percent to 247.6 billion HK dollars, the Census and Statistics Department of Hong Kong said Thursday. This resulted in a visible trade deficit of 7.5 billion HK dollars, equivalent to 3 percent of the goods import value. Merchandise exports grew strongly in January mainly due to the robust performance of the Chinese mainland market and other emerging economies. The global trading environment remains rather uncertain, as the U.S. economy continues to weaken and the financial market turmoil has yet to settle. Nevertheless, the strong growth momentum in many emerging economies, particularly the Chinese mainland, should continue to support Hong Kong's trade performance. Among the total exports, the re-export value rose 16.4 percent to 231.6 billion HK dollars while the domestic export value grew 0. 8 percent to 8.5 billion HK dollars. Exports to Asia rose 20 percent, with export values to India up140 percent, to Malaysia up 38 percent, to Indonesia up 37.9 percent, to Thailand up 27 percent and to the Chinese mainland up 20.4 percent. Significant increases were also registered in the values of total exports to other major destinations, in particular to Germany up 17.1 percent and to the Netherlands up 15.7 percent.
Improved sentiment renews IPO activity - Two firms plan to list in Hong Kong in late March on improved sentiment for initial public offerings in the wake of China Railway Construction Corp's listing activities. HK agrees to pay 50.2pc of Macau bridge financing - Three regional governments reach financing agreement on ambitious project - Officials from Guangdong, Macau and Hong Kong have reach an agreement on financing arrangements for the ambitious bridge project linking Hong Kong with Macau and Zhuhai. Secretary for Transport and Housing Eva Cheng on Thursday said the governments had made a significant progress in plans for financing the 35 kilometre long Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge. Ms Cheng was speaking after a meeting in Guangzhou with government officials from the three territories. “After the discussion, we have reached an initial agreement that Hong Kong would pay 50.2 per cent of the project cost, the mainland will contribute 35.1 per cent and Macau 14.7 per cent. Of course we hope the governments would not have to pay too many extra costs,” she said. “This was calculated according to the economic benefits each place expected to gain from the project,” she added. Ms Cheng said they would now work on the tendering process and welcomed parties to bid for tender. “It would be joint tender and to economise the benefits and investments, our consultant suggests granting 50 year’s franchise to the licensee,” she said. However, Ms Cheng refused to reveal the cost of the project at this stage. The transport secretary said the design and technical alignment of the bridge was still being worked out. It is estimated that 13,000 to 24,000 vehicles would pass through the bridge each day and by 2030, traffic could be reach 70,000 vehicles a day. Lau Ching-kwong, director of the Civil Engineering Department and president of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers, said the project’s impact environmentally still needed to be addressed. But Mr Lau agreed the bridge could bring economic benefits to the delta. “Although during the early stage after the bridge had been built, I expected the traffic of the bridge would not be high. But in the long run, I foresee the project can boost the tourism, logistics development and bring economic benefits and increase the competitiveness of the entire delta to the entire delta,” Mr Lau said. The idea of building a superhighway project to link Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau was first raised by Hopewell Holdings (SEHK: 0054) chairman Gordon Wu Ying-sheung in 1983.
Growth in China's steel exports slowed in 2007, despite the country remaining a net seller of the strategic products. Last year, the country exported 62.65 million tons of rolled steel, a growth of 45.8 percent over the previous year, a General Administration of Customs source said on Thursday. The growth rate was 63.7 percentage points lower than the year-earlier level. Meanwhile, the country imported 16.87 million tons of rolled steel, down 8.8 percent. Net exports stood at 45.76 million tons. The customs source said the slowdown in exports was a result of government policies to contain exports. Since April, China has slashed export tax rebates and increased export duties four times, in addition to putting some steel products under an export licensing system. The aim was to end the disorder in steel exports and rampant expansion of production capacities at home. At the same time, it was to expedite industrial restructuring and upgrading. Though the growth rate slowed, concentration of the steel industry remained unsatisfactory. In the first half of 2007, the leading 10 steel producers accounted for 35 percent of the nation's total output, still far behind the 50-percent requirement set by the government for 2010. According to the customs source, growth in steel sales to traditional markets ebbed dramatically while demand from emerging markets became stronger. The Republic of Korea (ROC), European Union and ASEAN remained the top three target markets of Chinese steel products last year, accounting for 33.34 million tons, or 52.3 percent, of the country's total steel exports. But the growth rate in combined exports for the three markets went down 60.7 percentage points to 45.7 percent. Iran bought 3.14 million tons of rolled steel from China, representing a growth of 510 percent and edging to fifth place among overseas markets for the country's steel. China turned from a net importer to a net exporter of rolled steel in 2006.
Taiwan's Tzu Chi Foundation, a Buddhist relief organization, will become the first such charity on the mainland headed by non-mainlanders. Fan Liqing, a spokeswoman for the mainland State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, confirmed yesterday that Beijing had approved Tzu Chi's application to set up a foundation. "This foundation, to be supervised by the national religious affairs department, is the first foundation represented by non-mainland residents," she said. Ms Fan said she expected it would promote cross-strait charity projects. The foundation, set up by Taiwanese master Cheng Yen, started its relief work on the mainland in response to flooding in 1991. Its officials said charity had no borders and that it welcomed donations and other help from the mainland. "With the approval of our operation on the mainland, the foundation will continue to promote charity there," a foundation spokeswoman said. The largest charity in Taiwan, it was set up 42 years ago and works in 45 countries.
*News information are obtained via various sources deemed reliable, but not guaranteed
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Hong Kong:
China's State Council, or cabinet, appointed Simon Peh Yun-lu as the Director of
Immigration of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government
here on Friday. The State Council also ended the term of Lai Tung-kwok as the
Director of Immigration. Lai was named to the position last June. The decision
was made based on the nomination and suggestion by Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, chief
executive of the HKSAR government. 
China:
EU foreign ministers rejected Saturday the call for a boycott of the upcoming
Beijing Olympic Games over the Tibet issue. EU acknowledged Tibet is part of
China and Chinese territorial integrity should be respected.
Chinese Premier Wen
Jiabao (C) arrives in Vientiane, capital of Laos, March 29, 2008. Wen started
his working visit to Laos on Saturday evening by the invitation of Lao Prime
Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh, and he is also scheduled to attend the 3rd Summit
of the Great Mekong Subregion countries in Vientiane. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao
arrived here on Saturday evening, starting his working visit to Laos. Wen is
also scheduled to attend the 3rd Summit of the Great Mekong Subregion countries
-- China, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar -- to be convened in
this Laos capital city on Monday. According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry,
Wen, invited by Lao Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh, will meet with Lao
President Choummaly Saygnasone and hold talks with his Lao counterpart Bouasone
on future bilateral cooperation. Wen and Bouasone are scheduled to attend the
signing ceremony of cooperation agreement in the sectors of economy, technology,
coal and e-governance. After his working visit to Laos, Wen will join with
leaders from the other five GMS members as well as representatives from the
Asian Development Bank at the summit and attend the opening ceremony of a
1,800-km international road from China's Kunming city to Thailand's Bangkok. The
GMS, established in 1992, promotes economic and social development, irrigation
and cooperation within the six Mekong countries. About 320 million people live
within the GMS region, and their common link, the Mekong River, winds its way
for 4,200 km. The great majority of these people live in rural areas where they
lead subsistence or semi-subsistence agricultural lifestyles. The area boasts
abundant natural resources and huge development potential. With a long history
of cultural and economic exchanges among the nations, the area has formed
peculiar cultural and economic characteristics based on different folk customs
and natural landscapes of the six nations sharing the river. The first GMS
Summit was held in Cambodia's Phnom Penh in 2002,and the second in southwest
China's Kunming in 2005. 
Crew members of the Olympic Torch
plane take oath in front of the plane at Beijing Capital International Airport
March 27, 2008. The plane, chartered to carry the torch back to Beijing, will
take off for Athens on Saturday. The Olympic Torch plane takes off from Beijing
Capital International Airport on Saturday morning, heading for Athens where it
will collect the famous flame, Tan Zhihong, senior vice-president of Air China,
which provided the plane, said on Friday. The Airbus A330 passenger airliner,
which has 200-plus seats, including 30 for VIPs, has been chartered to carry the
torch on its global tour. "The aircraft has a specially designed stand to hold
the flame while it is in transit," Tan said. "We guarantee it will continue to
burn throughout the 11-and-a-half-hour flight from Athens. "It will arrive in
Beijing on Monday, after its six-day relay through Greece," he said. A grand
ceremony will be held to welcome the flame and officially launch the torch relay
of the 2008 Olympic Games.
Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi got close to
two orangutans at a conservation area in Sabah, Malaysia last December while
shooting a program to promote wildlife protection. Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi is
in the spotlight once again, but not as an actress. This time, Zhang Ziyi is
hosting an English TV program titled "The Story of Wildlife," which aims to draw
attention to wild animals facing extinction. Zhang shot the program last
December at a conservation area in Sabah, a region in Malaysia, Xiaoxiang
Morning Post reported. The trailer of the program shows Zhang visiting a
tropical rainforest and introducing some species of the nearly-extinct wildlife.
Although the insects in the rainforest are potentially harmful, Zhang insisted
going into the rainforest herself to give the audience a closer look at the
animals. After spending three days with a pair of orphaned orangutans, Zhang
experienced their deteriorating living environment firsthand. This primate,
which acts much like humans, is often captured and regarded as a pet. Some
wildlife experts predict that they will die out in ten years if no effective
measures are taken. 
A girl stands
beside a Bright Dairy booth at a supermarket of Yichang, Central China's Hubei
Province, on March 28. Approved by the regulator, Bright Dairy raised the prices
of some of its milk products on Friday.
The unmanned lunar
orbiter Chang'e I that blasted off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in
Sichuan province atop a Long March 3A rocket last October, heralding the first
stage of the mainland's lunar exploration program, is among several other space
technologies on display at an exhibition in West Kowloon. China Space Expo -
Space Odyssey, which winds up at the end of this week at the PopTV Arena in West
Kowloon, offers a rare look at the Chang'e I, the Long March rocket and Shenzhou
spacecraft. A space documentary is also a part of the show. Exhibits are on show
in two separate areas - the China Space Expo hall, and the Space Odyssey hall.
The Space Expo hall has more than 10 pieces of key equipment on display, such as
the Long March-2 rocket launcher, Shenzhou re-entry capsule and the Shenzhou
spacecraft. Huang Chunping, the commander of Shenzhou No 5 and 6 missions who is
also vice-chairman of China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, hopes the show
will inspire the young and stir their ties to the mainland. Secretary for Home
Affairs Tsang Tak-sing says that the expo reflects the giant leap made by China
in space technology. The expo is open from 2-10pm from today to Friday and from
noon to 10pm this weekend. Tickets for adults are priced from HK$80 to HK$100,
while students, children, the handicapped and seniors pay HK$40 on weekdays and
HK$50 on weekends. The exhibition is presented by Beijing Science Association in
conjunction with Beijing 1831 Mobility Technology Centre and the China
Exhibition Organizing Committee. It is also supported by the China Space Museum,
PopTV Arena HK, Cosmedia Group, and Live Nation.
Hong Kong film
star Maggie Cheung has settled down in Beijing and turned a new page in her life
with German architect boyfriend. "I'm quite happy nowadays even when I've got no
work to do." Maggie said on Wednesday in a fashion event as the spokesperson of
a luxurious brand, Beijing Times reports. "I can stay home for a whole week, do
nothing but cook. And, believe it or not, I can make both Chinese and western
style food, such as fried eggplant, steamed ribs, beefsteak and salad." Maggie
Cheung said. Although she owns properties in Beijing, Hong Kong and Paris,
Maggie chose to live in Beijing, where she met her latest beau in June last
year. They were introduced to each other at a party and the two hit it off at
first sight. At the time Maggie, 43, just broke up with former boyfriend of four
years, French businessman Guillaume Brochard. Ole Scheeren, 36, a partner in
Dutch firm Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), is leading the design of
the new headquarters building of China Central Television in Beijing. He was
also behind the Prada Epicenter store projects in New York and Los Angeles. He
is said to be a film buff. "Besides being tall and handsome, Ole is sweet and
considerate," said a friend of the pair, "They both love films and photography,
and seem to have endless topics." Maggie, who has starred in 75 films, expressed
her will to be an ordinary house wife, saying that "family and love matter the
most." When asked about her next film, she said "I don't know when."
Cheung Kong
(Holdings) (0001) said last year's underlying profit grew 73 percent to HK$10.4
billion, as strong investment gains covered stagnant property sales results.
Attributable profit, which includes revaluation gains and contribution from 49.9
percent associate Hutchison Whampoa (0013), rose 53 percent to HK$27.7 billion,
or HK$11.95 per share. Cheung Kong will pay HK$1.95 per share as final dividend,
compared to HK$1.74 a year ago. From investment and finance, largely equity
disposal, the company reaped HK$4.94 billion, versus HK$1.08 billion in 2006.
While property development profits were stagnant at HK$5.63 billion, earnings
from leasing, hotel and property management together grew 35 percent to HK$1.87
billion. The latter parts are better than expected, Macquarie analyst Eva Lee
said. In 2008, Cheung Kong plans to complete 21 projects in Greater China with
17.2 million sq ft of floor area, including The Capitol in Tseung Kwan O, a
project which was virtually pre-sold within a day and a half last month, with
prices just on par with the secondary market. Asked if the relatively low
selling prices achieved with The Capitol reflect Cheung Kong's bleak outlook for
the property market, deputy chairman Victor Li Tzar-kuoi said yesterday: "If we
didn't have a bright outlook, we wouldn't go on land hunting. Our logic is to
sell as quickly as possible." 
New diver drama may
end tragic tug search - Fire services rescuers are considering ending search
operations for 16 seamen trapped in a sunken Ukrainian tugboat off Lantau Island
after another diver got his air tube entangled in debris underwater. The
development came on the heels of news that Asia's largest floating derrick,
which could salvage the 2,700-tonne shipwreck, was not expected to arrive this
weekend as planned. Director of Fire Services Lo Chun- hung admitted for the
first time since the accident happened last Saturday that the chances of
survival of the missing Ukrainian seamen were slim while the danger for the
divers continued to escalate. "If the rescue operations underwater become too
dangerous, putting our divers under excessive threat, then we would make the
decision [to cease the operation]," he said. "The 32 rooms in the tugboat vary
in size and after searching them, we may have to search them over again.
Everyone should understand that the environment in which we are operating is
completely different from that when you go scuba-diving to see the coral." Lo
said the divers, who had now completed more than 40 dives to the wreck, had
searched six rooms of the sunken tugboat, one more than Wednesday's total. He
added the safety time limit for divers to stay underwater had already been
extended by 10 minutes to half an hour. The endangered diver, the third in two
days, had his air tube tangled in debris and had to be assisted to safety by a
standby diver. His stay underwater exceeded the safety limit by five minutes.
Meanwhile, salvage operations were dealt a blow yesterday when a spokesman for
the Guangzhou Salvage Bureau said the 4,000-tonne floating derrick Hua Tian Long
would not arrive over the weekend as planned. The spokesman said preparatory
salvage work underwater had not been completed and thus it would be futile even
if the derrick entered Hong Kong waters. An engineer of an Ukrainian delegation
led by vice minister of transport and communication Shevchenko Vasyl Vasylyovych
arrived at the scene yesterday to observe operations. He did not take questions
from reporters. A source said a marine police squad will head out to sea along
with the divers to immediately perform check ups if bodies are recovered. The
80-meter-long Ukrainian tugboat sank upside down at a depth of 37 meters after a
collision with mainland cargo ship Yao Hai last Saturday. The tugboat's captain
and six of his crew were rescued after the collision. Two bodies were recovered
early Wednesday. 
Democratic Party
founding member Martin Lee Chu-ming confirmed on Friday that he would step down
from the Legislative Council when his term ends in July. The decision by veteran
democrat Martin Lee Chu-ming not to seek re-election is likely to remove
uncertainty over whether former chief secretary Anson Chan Fang On-sang stands.
With Mr Lee out of the picture, Mrs Chan's participation would be crucial to the
pan-democratic camp's ambition of gaining four of the six Hong Kong Island seats
in the September Legco polls, Democratic Party sources said. Mrs Chan, who won
the by-election for the seat of late Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of
Hong Kong leader Ma Lik, has yet to say if she will run in September. She is not
a member of the Democratic Party but can be counted as a democrat. Meanwhile,
the sources said Mr Lee, former chairman of the Democratic Party, had made up
his mind only in the past few days. They said some political heavyweights, who
were not party members, had urged him to stay on, while other politicians had
urged him to step down to make room for new blood. "His family always wanted him
to step down. I would say that was an important concern for Mr Lee in coming to
his decision," a source close to the former chairman said. Party popularity
polls showing Mr Lee ranked around halfway down the list of potential Hong Kong
Island candidates was another factor, a veteran party member said. This emerged
in at least two polls conducted by the party to help in its planning, one last
year and one early this month. The sources said Mr Lee's decision had greatly
increased the possibility of Mrs Chan standing, which they said would give the
camp its only chance of securing four seats. The likely candidates from the
pan-democratic camp include Central and Western district councillor Kam Nai-wai,
former Democratic Party chairman Yeung Sum and Audrey Eu Yuet-mee and Tanya Chan
Suk-chong of the Civic Party. It is not clear whether Mrs Chan and Mr Kam would
be on a joint ticket, which is seen as the best way to secure Mr Kam a seat in
the legislature. A party source said it became urgent for Mr Lee to make up his
mind before Sunday, when the party will endorse the lists for the forthcoming
election. If Mr Lee had made his declaration then it would have overshadowed the
meeting, the source said.
Shares in Hong
Kong-based trading firm Li & Fung (SEHK: 0494), which sources goods for
Wal-Mart, fell nearly 10 per cent on Friday after its full-year results missed
expectations due to a slowdown in orders from its dominant United States market.
Shares ended 9.89 per cent lower at HK$28.70 while the Hang Seng Index rose 2.74
per cent. On Thursday, Li & Fung reported a 39 per cent rise in full-year net
profit to HK$3.06 billion but that fell short of an average forecast of HK$3.34
billion, according to analysts polled by Reuters Estimates. Merrill Lynch
downgraded the stock to neutral from buy, and Cazenove cut the stock to in-line
from outperform. “Given the market’s high expectations and the stock’s 42 per
cent rebound from its January low, we think the market is unlikely to look
through this miss,” Merrill said in a research note.
China Unicom
says no operational overhaul yet - It is still too early for China Unicom (SEHK:
0762, announcements, news) to overhaul its operations in anticipation of a
restructuring of the mainland telecommunications sector, chairman Chang Xiaobing
said in Hong Kong yesterday. The nation's smallest mobile operator is tipped to
be one of the parties most affected by the restructuring. Rumours have indicated
that Unicom's GSM mobile network could be merged with China Netcom Group (SEHK:
0906) Corp, while its smaller CDMA mobile business could be sold to China
Telecom Corp (SEHK: 0728). "I don't have anything new on the restructuring to
tell you," Mr Chang said. "It's too early to talk about our plans and our 3G
mobile-phone strategy post-restructuring. I think China is ready for 3G services
and I hope the government will issue a licence as soon as possible." Unicom
president Shang Bing yesterday denied rumours that the company had stopped
marketing activities for its CDMA business before a possible sale of assets to
China Telecom. "We haven't stopped our CDMA business," Mr Shang said. "We will
develop CDMA as usual and aim to increase high-tier users this year." Unicom
plans 30.95 billion yuan (HK$34.32 billion) in capital spending this year, up 20
per cent from 25.72 billion yuan last year. Of this, 73 per cent would be spent
on expanding its GSM network, he said. Net profit for the year to December
reached 9.29 billion yuan, up from 3.8 billion yuan in 2006. Revenue increased
4.4 per cent to 99.54 billion yuan, up from 95.34 billion yuan a year earlier.
The surge in net profit was due to a government tax refund on reinvestment in a
subsidiary of 2.78 billion yuan. Adjusted net profit, which excludes the impact
per share of convertible bonds issued to SK Telecom and the tax refund, rose
14.4 per cent to 7.09 billion yuan. The market had expected Unicom's adjusted
net profit to be between 7.16 billion yuan and 8 billion yuan. "Initial guidance
for this year appears weak," said Macquarie Research analyst Tim Smart in a
research note. "The company may face pressure to keep the profit margin due to
competitive pressure on the GSM business." Earnings per share were 71.3 fen, up
from 30.2 fen in the previous year. The company will pay a final dividend of 20
fen per share. Unicom's debts fell 84.9 per cent to 3.86 billion yuan last year
and the company generated free cash flow of 6.61 billion yuan. Unicom shares
fell 1.02 per cent to close at HK$17.54 yesterday. 
Tang Qingyan,
a worker in Yishion clothing store where five sales assistants were burned to
death in an arson attack by the rioters, tells the details of the atrocity
as journalists listen during an interview in Lhasa, capital of southwest China's
Tibet Autonomous Region, March 27, 2008. Reporters, from 19 media organizations
including the US-based Associated Press, Britain's Financial Times and the South
China Morning Post in Hong Kong, were touring the Tibetan capital on a three-day
trip following the recent riots.
A model is showing ABB's
energy-saving products to visitors at the China International Industry Fair 2007
in Shanghai on November 8, 2007. The company opened a global transformer design
center in Chongqing yesterday.
Hong
Kong Institute of Education plans to divert funding to a handful of key areas to
produce "world-leading" research centres, its president announced yesterday.
Anthony Cheung Bing-leung revealed the idea after a ceremony to officially
install him in his post, which he took up in January. "We will choose some
fields where we have an advantage, concentrate our resources on them and make
them leading units internationally," Professor Cheung said, adding that the plan
was the result of a recently launched exercise to make better use of resources
to enhance the institute's research capability. The institute had not yet
decided on which areas to focus, but he named four frontrunners - comparative
education, assessment, citizenship education and leadership in education. "We
also want to enhance our studies on education on the mainland," he added.
Professor Cheung also said a global search for chair professors had so far
attracted 130 candidates from around the world. At the installation ceremony, at
which Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen officiated, Professor Cheung
reiterated his priorities for his term in office, which include attaining
university status for the institute and strengthening its teaching quality.
"Driven by our vision to become a university of education, we champion an
`education plus' concept, where subject disciplines are being enhanced in
addition to achieving excellence in professional education studies," he said. He
cited a plan to launch double-degree programmes in collaboration with local
universities over the coming three years as a way to implement the concept. A
working group under the University Grants Committee is studying the institute's
application for full university status and is expected to make its
recommendations to the government by the end of the year. This month, the HKIEd
unveiled plans for collaborations with the University of London and Cambridge
University focusing on postgraduate research. Professor Cheung succeeds
Professor Paul Morris.
Hutchison Whampoa (SEHK:
0013), billionaire Li Ka-shing’s ports-to-telecoms flagship, posted a 50 per
cent rise in second-half earnings boosted by its Canadian Husky Energy unit but
lagged forecasts because of higher-than-expected telecoms losses in Asia and
Europe. Analysts cheered hints of a turnaround at the firm’s long loss-making
third-generation (3G) mobile telecoms business in western Europe this year or
next year after cutting losses substantially in the second half of last year.
This year could mark a slowdown in the firm’s notoriously furious pace of asset
sales, as the firm rides out a global downturn that is depressing prices
worldwide. But Mr Li said acquisitions were likely as valuations became more
attractive. “It is highly likely that we will buy, definitely we will buy, when
opportunities arise,” Mr Li, known in Hong Kong as “Superman” for his
deal-making prowess, told reporters. Hutchison’s shares trimmed early gains to
close 0.9 per cent higher at HK$73.70 but outperformed a 0.2 per cent rise on
the blue-chip Hang Seng index. “The Hutchison results came below expectation but
its 3G turned EBITDA positive in the second half which triggered some bargain
hunting on the stock since its relatively cheap,” said Alex Tang, research
director at Core Pacific-Yamaichi International. The firm’s shares trade at less
than 10 times this year’s earnings versus the market’s roughly 14 times, and
just above one time its book value. Hutchison, the world’s largest container
ports operator with large investments in retail, energy and property, reported a
net profit of HK$1.84 billion in the second half, lagging the average forecast
of HK$3.15 billion polled by Reuters Estimates. Last year, it made provisions of
about HK$11.74 billion in provisions and write-offs for investments in Thailand,
Britain and Italy. Its 3G loss before interest and taxes narrowed to HK$6.62
billion in the six months to December from HK$11.32 billion in the first half of
last year. “We will raise the dividend payout when 3G turns P&L positive,” Mr Li
said. But he did not give a timeframe for when the service, which has run at a
loss since it was launched in Britain in 2003, will become profitable. Hutchison
reported a net profit of HK$30.6 billion for the full year last year, up 53 per
cent from HK$20.03 billion a year ago and slightly lagging the average forecast
of HK$31.91 billion. The net included an exceptional gain of HK$35.8 billion
from the sale of its Indian mobile phone network in the first half. Expectations
for an economic downturn could put pressure on Hutchison’s world-leading
container ports business and sprawling retail operations, while further
forestalling its long-discussed spinoff of Italian telecoms unit 3 Italia. But
an expected breakeven in its 3G arm and higher contributions from Husky Energy
should result in a net profit of HK$10.9 billion for Hutchison this year,
analysts said. Depressed by its US$25 billion 3G investment that has yet to bear
fruit or even yield market spin-offs, Hutchison shares rose just 14 per cent in
the second half of last year versus a 28 per cent gain in the broader market.
Shares of sister firm and property developer Cheung Kong rose 41 per cent in the
same period. Hutchison underperformed Cheung Kong (Holdings) (SEHK: 0001), which
posted a 56 per cent jump in the second-half earnings. The firms are the twin
flagships of Mr Li’s multi-billion dollar empire. Cheung Kong, which holds
nearly 50 per cent of Hutchison, posted a net profit of HK$9.14 billion in the
six months to December 31 on the back of higher property sales, stronger
investment gains and contributions from Hutchison. The results, which compared
with a profit of HK$5.86 billion in the same period in 2006, beat the consensus
forecast of HK$7.32 billion according to 11 analysts polled by Reuters
Estimates. For the whole of last year, Cheung Kong earned HK$27.68 billion, up
53 per cent and was higher than the consensus forecast of HK$25.86 billion. A
slowing global economy and looming US recession could put a lid on Hong Kong
property prices in the short term, as underscored by slowing property sales in
the first quarter of this year. But Cheung Kong’s vast land bank spanning Hong
Kong and China should help to offset that, analysts said. 
The perils of the
rescue and salvage mission on a sunken tugboat off Tuen Mun were underscored
yesterday when two divers were caught in dangerous situations on a day when the
first two bodies were recovered. The incidents were disclosed by marine
officials, who said the recovery of the Ukrainian supply tugboat Neftegaz-67
from the muddy seabed could take more than a week. The bodies of two of 18
missing seamen were found early yesterday after the divers for the first time
gained access to the hull. One body was found in the auxiliary engine room at
about midnight and the other in the locker room at 2.20am. The tug's Ukrainian
owner, Chernomorneftegaz, identified the two men as Alexander Piskunov, 33, and
Alexander Kardash, 31. Piskunov, from Chernomorskoye, was a motor mechanic, and
Kardash, from Nikolayev, was a sailor. Both are survived by their wives and
Piskunov also by a daughter, born in 1996. Chief fire officer Chow Wing-tak said
only five of 32 cabins had been searched and the further the divers went, the
more dangerous it became. One diver's air hose became entangled in floating
objects inside the hull yesterday afternoon, and he had to be released by his
standby diver. "The time he stayed in the water exceeded the safety limit, and
he had to undergo decompression for 50 minutes before reaching the surface," Mr
Chow said. "It is very fortunate that his condition is OK, and he resumed his
part in the rescue operation later." In the morning, another diver developed
decompression sickness while searching for bodies. He received treatment in a
decompression chamber on a fireboat and was later sent to a clinic to be
examined. The marine officials could not say how long it would take to search
all the cabins on the 80-metre vessel. Divers can enter the water only four
times in 24 hours when the tides turn and the powerful currents sweeping the
seabed become weaker. Each "window" can accommodate up to three diving
operations. Diving coach Steve Chan said it was important for the divers to be
safe as the situation inside the cabin was very dangerous. "It is no more a
rescue operation, so it's not worth jeopardising the lives of our divers," he
said. "The wreck should first be lifted up, and then get the bodies out."
Thirty-two diving attempts had been made between the collision last Saturday and
yesterday afternoon. Director of Marine Roger Tupper said an agreement was being
worked on with the owner of the sunken ship and the salvage operator to lift the
wreck from the seabed. "But these operations take time, and we are looking at at
least seven days - possibly 10 - if things go smoothly to get the [salvage]
vessel on station. That is the advice from the salvage contractor," Mr Tupper
said. Chernomorneftegaz said the two recovered bodies would be taken home soon.
Surviving crew members who escaped harm would leave Hong Kong for the company's
home base of Krym, the company said. A fund for the families of the victims has
been formed under the company's name.
The country's "Go West" policy to develop
the lagging western regions is gaining ground, a United Nations report has
shown. The heartening signs are largely from government efforts to improve trade
and investment, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
said.
KFC wins Chinese 'Teadog'
lawsuit - A Beijing court has rejected the claim of a Chinese man and his
grandson for reputation damage in consuming a KFC "teadog set meal", the local
media reported on Thursday. Tongzhou District court ruled on Tuesday that the
two plaintiffs surnamed Jin would not get compensation from the KFC fast-food
chain as they couldn't provide substantive evidence to prove the set meal had
led to a "lower social evaluation" and reputation damage to them, as they
claimed. According to The Beijing News, the Jins bought a "teadog set meal" in a
KFC store in the capital's east Tongzhou District on Dec. 15. The two had found
an advert in the shop promoting the set meal, which the elder Jin thought meant
man and dog sharing the meal. He then sued KFC for insulting consumers, because
"according to the advertisement, my grandson has eaten dog food and we two have
become 'dog friends'", -- a term that means "a dissolute company" in Chinese.
Representatives for KFC, however, said the set meal was so named because
consumers could get a calendar featuring teadogs, a Japanese cartoon image, if
they paid extra money through a promotion. KFC argued the advertisement was
meant to convey the message that teadogs were men's good friends, and the advert
itself didn't break the law.
Chinese President Hu Jintao expressed his views on the Taiwan and Tibet issues
to his U.S. counterpart George W. Bush during talks over the telephone held
Wednesday.
Passengers
walk in the new Terminal 2 of the Pudong International Airport on its first
operating day in Shanghai, East China, March 26, 2008.
Farmers sow in
Yichang, Hubei province on March 26, 2008. China promised yesterday to raise
financial support for agricultural production as part of a larger effort to cool
an inflation surge blamed on food shortage.
The former
Communist Party chief of Shanghai who was sacked in one of the biggest
corruption scandals to hit the ruling Communist Party in recent years has gone
on trial, his lawyer said yesterday. The one-day trial of Chen Liangyu, 61, was
held in the northern city of Tianjin on Tuesday, lawyer Gao Zicheng said. Gao
said he did not know when the verdict would be delivered and the exact charges
that Chen faced. Press reports earlier this month said Chen was likely to be
charged with bribery and abuse of power and could be sentenced to death. Chen, a
former member of the Communist Party's elite politburo, was ousted in 2006 after
a probe found US$480 million (HK$3.74 billion) from the city's retirement fund
was illegally spent on speculative real estate and road projects. The scandal
implicated at least 20 other officials and businessmen. It was the biggest
corruption scandal for the Chinese government since former Beijing mayor Chen
Xitong was removed from his post in 1995 and sentenced to 16 years in jail.
Phone calls to the Tianjin court where Chen was tried went unanswered. A
spokeswoman with the Shanghai Municipal government declined to comment. 
Hong Yizhong, head coach of Chinese Taipei's baseball
team, presents a signed bat during a celebration honoring Chinese Taiwan's
baseball qualification for the Olympic Games in Taipei, March 24, 2008. Taiwan's
newly elected leader Ma Ying-jeou will root for the island's baseball team
during the Beijing Olympic Games, according to the local news agency udn.com.
"Please be assured. And I will try my best to support the island's sporting
cause," Ma said on Monday during a celebration honoring Taipei's baseball
qualification for the Olympic Games. "The policy is unchanged with regards to
having Taiwan's team go to the Olympics," added Ma when giving his best wishes
to the team. Ma attended the celebration less than 72 hours after he defeated
Frank Hsieh of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the island's leadership
election with a landslide victory on March 22. Ma got 7.6587 million ballots, or
58.45 percent of the vote with his running mate Vincent Siew, while Hsieh got
5.4452 million ballots, or 41.55 percent of the votes. During Monday's event, Ma
took a group photo with the baseball team including the 19 players who helped
the local team beat Australia and South Africa at the qualifying tournament in
Taipei on March 14. "The Olympic qualifying tournament was held during the
Taiwan election. Whenever I had a break, I watched the TV broadcasts," udn.com
cited Ma, who was pleased to see Taiwan's baseball team qualify for the Games.
Reports also say that Ma is a big sports fan, including baseball. When he was
mayor of Taipei, he spearheaded the construction of sports facilities like the
Skydome for baseball.
BOC
Hong Kong (Holdings) (2388) yesterday said net profit last year rose 10.3
percent despite an impairment charge of HK$1.5 billion for its subprime-related
investment in asset- backed debt securities. Earnings per share were HK$1.46 and
a final dividend of 48.7 HK cents per share was declared. BOCHK chief financial
officer Raymond Lee Wing-hung said the bank booked impairment allowances of
HK$1.253 billion for its subprime investment last year. A further loss of HK$260
million was incurred when the bank sold some of the subprime-related ABS. As at
the end of 2007, BOCHK's subprime investment stood at HK$4.118 billion after
deducting the above charges. It declined to HK$2.1 billion last month. "Prices
of subprime- related bonds have stabilized recently but it is difficult to tell
if the worst situation has passed or not," said Lee. BOCHK's net profit rose
10.3 percent to HK$15.4 billion last year on strong growth in its core
businesses. Net interest income increased by 22.5 percent to HK$19.4 billion on
widened net interest margin. NIM increased to 2.07 percent from 1.9 percent in
2006. Net fees and commission income surged 68.8 percent to HK$6.27 billion,
driven by strong stock market activity last year. Including the subprime-related
losses, BOCHK booked an aggregate HK$2.133 billion in impairment allowances on
its ABS portfolio. Excluding this, operating profit was up 32 percent to HK$19.5
billion. BOCHK chief executive He Guangbei said the bank will continue to
increase its investment in the mainland business. "We hope mainland business
will become the bank's growth engine in the long run," he said. Last year,
operating profit before impairment allowances on BOCHK's mainland business
jumped 53.5 percent to HK$200 million. 
China Netcom (0906) reported net profit for 2007 inched up 0.2 percent to 10.58
billion yuan (HK$11.64 billion), casting aside analyst expectations of a
decline, as a jump in revenues from value-added services offset a decline in the
firm's traditional fixed-line business. Turnover, excluding upfront connection
fees, rose 0.9 percent to 82.5 billion yuan. "The increase of broadband users
entered a stage of explosive growth in 2007," chairman Zhang Chunjiang said
yesterday. Analysts had expected net profit at the smaller of China's two
fixed-line operators to fall 6.5 percent to 9.87 billion yuan, according to a
Bloomberg survey of 24 analysts. The profit figures include net profit of 624
million yuan from discontinued operations, but exclude amortized upfront
connection fees of 1.52 billion yuan. Net profit including upfront connection
fees fell 6.7 percent to 12.1 billion yuan. Revenues from traditional fixed-line
business fell 14 percent to 43.22 billion yuan, as the firm lost 3.2 million
customers and fixed-line average revenue per user fell 9.6 percent to 36.6 yuan
per month. But revenues from newer non-voice business segments, including ring
tones, internet, and consulting services, surged 39 percent to 28.656 billion
yuan. Revenues from broadband services jumped 39.5 percent to 13.835 billion
yuan, from 9.916 billion yuan in 2006. Average revenue per user for broadband
rose 3.9 percent to 67.4 yuan monthly. The firm's advertising and media division
reported revenues skyrocketed 692 percent to 380 million yuan after it got a
display advertising license from the government and focused on growing its
yellow pages, voice search, and online advertising businesses. Netcom said it
has signed more contracts to handle call and data center services for government
agencies and corporates, leading revenues for its IT consulting and outsourcing
business to soar 367 percent to 3.99 billion yuan. Capital expenditures declined
15.8 percent to 20.684 billion yuan, a figure 316 million yuan less than the
previous guidance provided by management. Free cash flow climbed 57 percent to
11.8 billion yuan. Netcom declared a final dividend of 59.2 HK cents, up 7.1
percent from 55.3 HK cents in 2006. 
Yum! Brands Inc China, which operates KFC
and Pizza Hut in China, on Tuesday published a white paper on its food safety
policy, outlining its domestic suppliers' status and their efforts in
safeguarding food security. Sam Su, Yum! Brands Inc Global vice president said
the company had full confidence in its Chinese suppliers. The paper said after
years of continuous hard work, "the overall quality of Chinese food has improved
steadily, together with the food safety status". Yum! Brands has more than 500
suppliers in China, covering chicken, vegetables, bread and facilities, among
others. The statistics showed that chicken sold in all of its KFC and Pizza
Huts, in addition to 90 percent of other foodstuffs, was provided by Chinese
suppliers within the country. "All the food ingredient suppliers in China can
reach the standard set by the Yum!", said Su, adding the paper was a commitment
to the Chinese society on the food safety issue. Yum! was also willing to
receive the supervision of the government, consumers and the media, said Su,
also the president of the company's China operation. The company has more than
35,000 chain restaurants in 110 countries, including 2,500 in China. 
Celien Dion, driven by power of love, to
debut in China - Canadian songstress Celine Dion has been an international
superstar for decades and along the way there have been trials, tribulations and
criticism. But she is back once again, and she has promised a show next month.
China's Ding Junhui
plays a shot during the first round game against Joe Parry from England at the
2008 World Snooker China Open in Beijing March 25, 2008. The Chinese hopeful
advanced into the last 16 5-3 with match breaks of 71, 71, 63, 90 and 55.
The suspense of who
would be the first Chinese torchbearer for the Beijing Olympics gradually built
up over the past month. Yesterday, it ended with Olympic champion Luo Xuejuan
chosen for the glory. After the Olympic flame was ignited yesterday evening
Beijing time, the Athens 100m breaststroke gold medalist received the torch from
the first torchbearer, Greek athlete Alexandros Nikolaidis, and ran 200m from
the grove of Pierre De Coubertin. "To be the first Chinese torchbearer is a
great honor," said the 24-year-old Luo. "The honor is not just for me, but for
all the Chinese athletes, for Beijing and for China." Luo became the national
champion when she was only 16 and won the 50m and the 100m breaststroke gold
medals at the 2001 World Championships. Before retiring last year because of
severe heart problems, Luo had established herself as the top Chinese swimmer in
the world, winning one Olympic gold, five world championship titles and numerous
Asian and national titles. Luo, who was nominated by Volkswagen, the supplier of
the Beijing 2008 Olympic torch relay, said she was as happy as winning gold
medals when she heard about the privilege. "Through passing the flame, I hope I
can also pass to the whole world the Chinese people's enthusiasm toward the
Olympics," she said. A Volkswagen official listed several reasons as to why Luo
was chosen. "At the Athens Games, Luo was the only swimming gold medalist from
China," said Ye Wen, communication director of Volkswagen. "After retirement,
she chose to study to further improve herself and contributed a lot in public
activities, which set a good example." Luo, a student of Peking University,
said: "Retiring was a hard decision for me, and after that I was always thinking
of making some contribution to the Beijing Games Now I have realized my dream."
It was especially sweet given it came true in the same country she won Olympic
glory.
Filling stations on
the booming east coast were rationing diesel, staff at the facilities said
yesterday, despite Beijing's insistence that its refiners will ensure supplies
at unprofitable state-set prices. "The line outside our station is at least one
kilometer long," said a station manager in Fujian province. Other stations said
they had sold out of the day's supply by noon and did not know if a delivery
would arrive today. In Guangzhou, diesel was rationed to 300 yuan (HK$331) for
cash sales - enough for a family car but just a small portion of a truck tank -
and vehicles were stuck in queues for up to 20 minutes. The government said that
fuel supplies were adequate and that reports of rationing reflected only
sporadic problems caused by demand from farmers planting their spring crops and
the lingering impact of unusually severe weather. But as rationing and queues
spread inland and to the country's financial center, Shanghai, there were echoes
of last October's supply crisis, China's worst in four years. Last year, in the
face of large refining losses, majors PetroChina (0857) and Sinopec (0386)
slowed deliveries and cut supplies to the market, creating shortages across the
nation.
Lawyers
representing Lily Chiang Lai-lei - the former chairwoman of the Hong Kong
General Chamber of Commerce who is facing fraud charges - said on Tuesday she
might launch a judicial review. This is to challenge Secretary of Justice Wong
Yan Lung’s refusal to let her be tried for fraud before a High Court jury. The
ICAC charges against Chiang in connection with an alleged HK$7.5 million share
options fraud was heard in the Eastern Magistracy on Tuesday morning. Chiang’s
lawyers wanted the case to be tried before a jury in the High Court. But they
said they have received a letter from Mr Wong last Thursday, who has refused
their application to put the case to trial before a jury in the High Court. In
the letter, Mr Wong argued that the charges faced by Chiang would carry a
maximum jail term of less than seven years if she was found guilty.
Consequently, the case should be tried in the District Court, he reasoned. But
Chiang’s defence barrister Hectar Pun-hei said she was considering launching a
judicial review. Principal Magistrate Garry Tallentire had adjourned the case
until May 6 and has extended Chiang’s bail to HK$1 million. The charges arise
from the listing of Eco-Tek Holdings on the Growth Enterprise Market. Chiang, a
former chairwoman of Eco-Tek Holdings, had earlier been charged, along with
former executive director Shah Tahir Hussain. They were charged with conspiracy
to defraud and making two false statements over the granting of share options to
employees of the company in 2002. The anti-graft body said Chiang faced two new
fraud charges on March 4. The ICAC said Chiang and Pau Kwok-ping, 54, former
chief executive of Eco-Tek Holdings. They were accused of conspiring to defraud
the stock exchange by falsely representing share interests during the listing of
the company in 2001 and authorising the issue of a prospectus containing an
untrue statement in November 2001. Hectar Pun-hei said he opposed the new
charges. Moreover, Chiang had not been interviewed about the new allegations, he
added. 
Leslie
Cheung Kwok-wing has been dead for five years but the love from friends and fans
is still alive as thousands - including more than 1,000 from overseas - are
expected to join a series of anniversary events starting on Saturday. The
singer-actor jumped off the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Central on April 1, 2003.
Fans coming to the city this week included 400 from the mainland, 200 from Japan
and some from Canada and the United States, said Lee Wai-hung, spokeswoman of
fan club Red Mission. Some of the mainland fans were from remote villages or
provinces as far away as Heilongjiang and Xinjiang , Ms Lee said. She said it
would be the biggest gathering of overseas fans in Hong Kong for memorial events
for Cheung, affectionately known as Gor Gor. And these were only those who had
asked the fan club to reserve tickets to memorial concerts. "The actual number
is expected to be bigger as many of them do not seek help from us," Ms Lee said.
"It is very moving to see so many of them coming to Hong Kong for the occasion
because a lot of them have to save up for a long time to pay for this trip." The
memorial spirit will peak on April 1 - the fifth anniversary of Cheung's suicide
- with a charity concert entitled "Miss You Much Leslie" at the Coliseum.
Concert organiser Florence Chan Suk-fan said more than 10 of Cheung's singer
friends, including Jacky Cheung Hok-yau and Eliza Chan Kit-ling, would perform.
It was also reported that Tony Leung Chiu-wai, who worked with Cheung on the
movie Happy Together, and Joyce Cheng Yan-yee, daughter of late comedienne Lydia
Sum Tin-ha, whom Cheung thanked in his suicide note, would turn up. Ms Chan said
tickets were sold out in two hours and tickets to an extra March 31 show would
go on sale tomorrow. She said the concerts would be followed by more in
September and the money raised would go to charity. Separately, independent
singer-songwriter Joey Lo is organising a free concert for Sunday at the Avenue
of Stars to pay tribute to his idol. Angel Leung On-kay, director of Skymelody,
which is handling the production of the concert, said: "Compared to the concerts
at the Hong Kong Coliseum, this is a very down-to-earth show initiated by fans."
She said a candlelight vigil would be held during the concert. Fans may also lay
flowers at the wax statue of Cheung at Madame Tussauds Hong Kong and at the Ice
House Street outdoor area of the Mandarin Oriental.
Ocean Park has pulled
ahead of Hong Kong Disneyland in global rankings of the most-visited theme parks
last year. Ocean Park, which reported record attendance last year, was listed at
No 16, with 4.92 million visitors. In 2006 it had 4.38 million visitors and was
ranked 21st on the list. Hong Kong Disneyland, which opened in September 2005,
slipped to 21st place last year from number 18 in 2006 as attendance dropped to
4.15 million from 5.2 million, a decline of 20.2 per cent. Disney's Magic
Kingdom in Florida topped the rankings with attendance of more than 17 million
last year, up from 16.64 million in 2006. The figures in the Themed
Entertainment Association/Economics Research Associates' Attraction Attendance
Report are based on a calendar year. "Hong Kong Disneyland, in its second [full]
year of operation, experienced a sophomore slump, down more than 20 per cent
from its opening year," ERA principal Christian Aaen said in the report. "Ocean
Park, which caters heavily to the Chinese tourist market, displayed strong
attendance growth at more than 12 per cent, leading to a record season." Among
theme parks in Asia, Ocean Park was ranked fifth, up from eighth place in 2006.
Hong Kong Disneyland stayed put at seventh place. Ocean Park, which is the only
facility outside the Americas to be accredited by the Association of Zoos and
Aquariums, is spending about HK$5.5 billion to redevelop its facilities. 
Fuel stations on the
mainland’s booming east coast were rationing diesel, pump attendants said on
Tuesday, despite the central government’s insistence that its refiners would
ensure supplies at unprofitable state-set prices. “The line outside our station
is at least one kilometre long,” said one Fujian station manager who declined to
be named as fuel supplies are a sensitive issue. Other stations said they had
sold out of the day’s supply by noon and did not know if a delivery would arrive
on Wednesday. Down the coast in Guangzhou diesel was rationed to 300 yuan
(HK$332) for cash sales - enough to fill up a family car but just a small
portion of a truck tank - and there were queues lasting as long as 20 minutes.
The government said late on Monday that fuel supplies were adequate and reports
of rationing reflected only sporadic problems caused by demand from farmers
planting spring crops and the lingering impact of unusually severe winter
weather. “Supply tightness, even queues and rationing, in southern China was
partly due to rising needs in the spring season as well as more demand after the
harsh winter weather,” the National Development and Reform Commission said in a
statement. Hoarding in expectation of price rises may have exacerbated shortages
but overall supplies were good as domestic oil product stocks had risen 28 per
cent from the start of the year, and the country’s leading oil firms would
ensure supplies, the commission added. But as rationing and queues spread inland
and to the country’s financial centre, Shanghai, there were echoes of the supply
crisis in October last year, the mainland’s worst in four years. Last year, in
the face of large refining losses, majors PetroChina (SEHK: 0857, announcements,
news) and Sinopec (SEHK: 0386) curbed runs and cut supplies to the market,
creating shortages across the nation that forced the government to increase
state-set fuel prices. With international crude prices climbing briefly above
US$110 a barrel this month, refiners were again selling at tens of dollars below
the level that would allow them to break even on processing. But the central
government is reluctant to raise fuel prices because inflation is at its highest
in more than a decade, and earlier this month promised there would be no
increases in the short-term. In Shanghai more than half of 15 PetroChina or
Sinopec branded stations contacted by Reuters, in both the city centre and
suburbs, said they were rationing sales or had run out of diesel entirely and
were not expecting new deliveries. “Diesel shipments are spotty. Now we are out
and don’t know when the next one will arrive,” said one downtown attendant. Some
retailers from inland Anhui province said they had not recovered from the supply
crisis last year, while others were once again rationing or sold out of diesel.
“We haven’t sold diesel since last year’s shortage,” said a staffer at an
independent station in the provincial capital Hefei. Even in the capital, which
the top oil firms usually try to shield from shortages because it is the seat of
government power, pumps of at least two PetroChina stations had run dry by
mid-afternoon. “Our diesel stocks ran out in the afternoon after some 20 large
trucks rushed in for it,” an attendant said at one. “We only have some reserved
for prepaid customers.” In neighboring Hebei there were shortages too. “Due to
tight resources, we allow only 200 yuan each fill for nearly two weeks,” said an
attendant at a Sinopec station near the provincial capital Shijiazhuang. In
central Henan, drivers faced even lower quotas, with some Sinopec stations in
the capital Zhengzhou allowing only 100 yuan for each fill paid in cash.
ICBC's 2007 profit up
65% on loans growth, fee income - Profit rose to 82.3 billion yuan (11.7 billion
U.S. dollars), or 0.24 yuan per share, China's biggest lender said in its annual
financial statement. Its board of directors suggested offering 0.133 yuan of
cash dividend for per share.
China's Hainan
Airlines almost quadruples profit in 2007 - Hainan Airlines, China's fourth
biggest carrier, said Tuesday its net profit almost quadrupled last year, buoyed
by a booming domestic industry and the stronger Chinese currency. Net income
reached 651.4 million yuan (91.7 million U.S. dollars) or 0.18 yuan per share,
up from 166.8 million yuan or 0.06 yuan in 2006, the Haikou-based airline said
in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Operating revenue rose 6.1
percent from a year earlier to 13.6 billion yuan last year, it said. The airline
reaped 11.3 billion yuan from passenger transport last year, after carrying 14.5
million passengers, up 0.7 percent. But cargo transport volume declined 0.5
percent to 197,800 tons. China, the world's second largest air transporter after
the United States, reported an improved profitability of its civil aviation
industry last year as transport capacity expanded, market demand rose and the
domestic currency appreciated, the statement said. Chinese airlines carried 185
million passengers last year, up 15.9 percent, while cargo volume surged 13.3
percent to 3.96 million tons, according to government estimates. Hainan Airlines
planned to raise passenger numbers by 16 percent to 16.75 million in 2008.
"Considerable appreciation of the yuan led to a sharp shrinkage of U.S.
dollar-denominated debts that the company paid back in 2007," it said. China
moved its currency, the yuan, away from a pegged exchange rate to the U.S.
dollar in July 2005 and has allowed it to appreciate by about 14 percent since
then. Hainan Airlines added eight aircraft to its fleet last year, bringing the
total to 66, including 58 Boeing 737s. The airline will invest 9.8 billion yuan
this year in transport capacity expansion. Another 17 new aircraft will join in
this year, including the purchase of 10 Boeing 737-800s for about 3.5 billion
yuan. 
A woman walks by a
store of luxurious bags in Shanghai on October 12, 2007. As per capita GDP
exceeded $2,000, China is turning into a nation of spenders.
Ebullient after a decisive victory in Saturday's election, Ma said Sunday in
Taibei that he would try to reach agreement with the mainland on a wide range of
delicate issues because, unlike the independence-minded Chen Shuibian of the DPP,
he is willing to do the practical things to improve ties on all fronts. During
an interview with the Washington Post, Ma seemed confident of his ability to
move forward with Beijing on agreements covering direct airline flights,
increased tourism from the better-off mainlanders, closer business ties,
confidence-building military arrangements and even a formal end to the state of
hostility in effect since Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan in 1949 with his
Kuomintang or Nationalist followers, the Post reported. Speaking at a packed
news conference, Ma agreed he was setting out on a course that would be
impossible to navigate without equal determination from the mainland. "These are
very ambitious plans," he said. "They require the other side's goodwill." A
spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office in Beijing, addressing a Taiwanese
television crew in Beijing, expressed satisfaction that Taiwan voters rejected a
pro-independence referendum at the same time as the vote on Saturday. "It is the
hope of the people on both sides of the strait to develop peaceful cross-strait
relations," said the spokesman, Li Weiyi. "Therefore, all of us should work hard
on it." According to the Washington Post, Ma said that he based his confidence
on three years of contacts between his Nationalist Party and the Communist Party
of China (CPC) discussions that bypassed Chen Shuibian’ administration and
Chen’s relentless emphasis on Taiwanese independence. Those talks have led him
to believe that President Hu Jintao and Beijing are ready for dramatic changes
now that Chen will no longer be Taiwan's leader, Ma said. In particular, he
cited a statement by President Hu in November in which he expressed readiness to
seek a peace accord with Taiwan under certain conditions. They could begin
talks, Ma said, by returning to an understanding reached in 1992 that was
repudiated by the Chen Shui-bian government. Beijing said that the "one-China
principle" -- there is only one China in the world -- as a prerequisite for any
talks. Taiwan endorsed the principle in 1992, when Kuomintang Party was in
power, and said that both sides interpret the principle differently. Ma said the
first subject of discussion should be direct charter flights to and from
mainland cities, which he predicted could be in operation every weekend by July.
From there, he said, negotiations could begin about regular flights and
increasing the number of mainland tourists allowed to visit Taiwan. Within a
short time, he predicted, Taiwan could draw as many as 3,000 mainland visitors a
day, providing a boost to the island's economy and eroding the enmity built up
over the last half-century of hostility. Under Taiwan's present restrictions,
only 230,000 mainlanders visited the island in 2007. "If everything goes right,"
he said, "I think that will significantly change the Taiwanese attitude toward
the mainland." At the same time, Ma said he wanted to open negotiations on a
comprehensive agreement regulating economic ties between the two sides,
particularly the nearly $125 billion a year in trade and the growing level of
investment by Taiwanese businesses in the mainland. "The rules of the game, of
the economic game, mean that the two sides have to get together," Ma said.
Negotiations should also be held on confidence-building measures between the two
militaries, he said. Specifically, he suggested that military officers could
meet to exchange advance information on deployments and troop movements to avoid
misinterpretations and accidental alarms. More broadly, he said, talks could get
underway for the accord suggested by President Hu Jintao to set aside the
hostility that has made the strait one of the world's most volatile flash
points.
Hong Kong Disneyland
has plunged nearly to the bottom of the world's 25 most popular theme parks last
year - five places behind major rival Ocean Park - according to a survey by
Themed Entertainment Association and Economics Research Associates. Locally,
Mickey Mouse and his friends dropped from 18th place in 2006 to 21st last year.
Ocean Park, ranked 21st in 2006, jumped to 16th. The survey assessed various
theme parks internationally by attendance. Ranked in the world's top five are
Magic Kingdom in Florida (17 million visitors), followed by Disneyland in
California (14.8 million), Tokyo Disneyland (13.9 million), Tokyo DisneySea
(12.4 million), and Disneyland Paris (12 million). Hong Kong Disneyland recorded
just over four million visitors from October 2006 to last September, compared
with 5.2 million in the first year after its launch on September 12, 2005. The
23 percent drop raised concerns among both lawmakers and the Hong Kong
government. The TEA and ERA report also identified a significant decline in
attendance at Hong Kong Disneyland as Ocean Park saw sizeable increases. "Hong
Kong Disneyland in its second [full] year of operation experienced a sophomore
slump, down more than 20 percent from its opening year," the report said.
Meanwhile, it noted that Ocean Park, which caters heavily to the mainland
tourist market, showed strong attendance growth at more than 12 percent, leading
to a record season. Travel Industry Council executive director Joseph Tung Yao-chung
criticized the facilities at Hong Kong Disneyland for being "too primitive" and
for not bringing in the latest attractions from their overseas counterparts.
"The facilities and games in Hong Kong Disneyland are like the first- generation
US Disney theme parks. But Ocean Park has been very aggressive in making changes
from time to time to give visitors a fresh experience," Tung said. Hong Kong
Disneyland was designed to revive the tourist industry, which slumped following
the 2003 SARS outbreak. In November last year, Walt Disney Co admitted for the
first time that the poor performance of Hong Kong Disneyland was dragging down
its results, prompting calls from the SAR government for the park's management
to improve its operations. Hong Kong Disneyland's worsening performance has left
the park unable to meet performance promises to its lenders and the American
entertainment giant has asked creditors to temporarily remove the covenants on
its US$294 million (HK$2.29 billion) revolving- credit facility. TEA is the
leading trade alliance for creators of themed experiences such as museums, zoos
and theme parks, while ERA is a top global consulting firm providing economic
analysis for the entertainment and leisure industry. 
Classic French opera
"Le Roi d'Ys" will run April 3-6 at Beijing's National Center for the Performing
Arts. The opera, premiered in 1888, had its last two performances held 23 years
apart, in 1984 and 2007, for complex staging requirements, considered a
mysterious pearl buried under the dust.
China's
Olympic champions and Beijing Olympic Games torchbearers, table tennis player
Deng Yaping (L) and swimmer Luo Xuejuan participate in a tree-planting activity
in front of the tomb of Pierre de Coubertin, the chief founder of the modern
Olympics Games in ancient Olympia, Greece March 23, 2008.
China Life Insurance,
the nation's largest insurer, said it invested US$300 million (HK$2.34 billion)
in Visa Inc's initial public offering, and plans further investments in the US
and Europe to diversify its portfolio.
Taiwan's former economic minister
Chiang Ping-kung is widely expected to head Ma Ying-jeou's cabinet once the
president-elect is inaugurated on May 20. The 75-year-old is known for his
economic expertise, which observers say means he could help Mr Ma realise his
promise to improve livelihoods. An economic consultant to Mr Ma during his
campaign, Mr Chiang has been described by local media as the best choice for the
cabinet post to resolve various economic and financial problems left by the
government of independence-leaning President Chen Shui-bian. According to
official statistics, the Chen administration is leaving close to NT$4 trillion
(HK$1.02 trillion) in debt for the incoming government. However, some economists
said if hidden categories were included, the figure would amount to NT$8.3
trillion. Because Mr Ma, who brought the Kuomintang back to power with his
victory in Saturday's presidential election, has campaigned on a pledge to
revive the sagging economy and deliver Taiwanese people a better life, he would
need economic and financial experts to help him, pundits said. "If Ma Ying-jeou
is unable to keep his promise, voters will vote against him," political
commentator Cheng Tsun-chi said. Mr Ma yesterday declined to say whether he had
anyone in mind to be the next premier. Mr Chiang said: "It is still too early to
discuss the issue. After all, we just had the election on Saturday. It would too
abrupt to ask this question." A KMT vice-chairman, Mr Chiang is also currently
vice-speaker of the legislature. He had served as economic minister for
president Lee Teng-hui, and was Mr Lee's envoy at the Asia-Pacific Economic
Co-operation summits in 1998 and 1999. In 2005, he acted as the advance party's
chief for then KMT chairman Lien Chan to pave the way for a historic visit by Mr
Lien to Beijing that ushered in reconciliation between the KMT and the Chinese
Communist Party.
Shanghai
villagers told to make way for Disney park - Work on Shanghai's Disneyland - set
to pose serious competition to the struggling Hong Kong Disney park for the
crucial mainland tourist trade - could begin as early as the first half of next
year, villagers living on the site have been told. This emerged little more than
two weeks after the city's mayor, Han Zheng , announced that Beijing's approval
had been sought for the park to go ahead. If the start date is confirmed it
would mean the first phase would be operating soon after the 2010 World Expo
shoves the city into international spotlight. About 4 sq km of land belonging to
four villages in the Chuansha area of Pudong have been earmarked for the park,
according to villagers who have been told they will have to move to nearby
Shilong. About 3,200 families, many of them farmers, live in the four villages -
Qigan, Zhaoxing, Jiajia and Xueqiao, about 40 minutes' drive from the city
centre. Residents said leaders of their village production teams, who told them
about the plans, had said Qigan and Zhaoxing were earmarked for the first phase
and they would have to go by early next year. The Hong Kong government would not
comment on whether it knew of the plan before Mr Han's disclosure on March 6. A
non-executive director of Hong Kong Disneyland is understood to have been told
informally during a visit to Shanghai in February. The Shanghai city government
was also non-committal, with a spokesman saying: "We don't have any particular
department to deal with questions about Disney." Alannah Hall-Smith, Disney's
vice-president for corporate communications in Asia Pacific, said: "There is no
deal and there is no announcement." A Qigan resident, giving his name only as Mr
Hua - the village's clan name - pointed to a field in front of him, saying:
"This is where they said a Disneyland will be built. The whole area, about 4 sq
km." He said he had "no special feeling" about the plans, although he didn't
want to move. "They've been talking about it for 10 years but nothing has
happened so far," he said. A woman said most people did not want to move. "We
have a quiet and inexpensive life here," she said. "We farm and eat what we
produce, and things are also cheap here. They said the Disneyland in Hong Kong
was too crowded and a new one was needed to be built in Shanghai. Is it true?"
Despite the imminent move, villagers say there has been no word on compensation.
Mr Han broke the news about the Disney plan on the sidelines of the National
People's Congress meeting in Beijing. He said the project would be divided into
several stages to reduce commercial risk and avoid any extreme impact on the
Disneyland in Hong Kong, which is battling to meet its attendance targets. Mr
Han made a similar announcement in Beijing in 2006 but the plan was put on hold
after the then-Shanghai party chief Chen Liangyu was implicated later that year
in a corruption scandal involving social security funds. Apo Leong, director of
Asia Monitor Resources Centre, said: "Disney should comply with international
standard on resettling those affected. It should discuss it with the people,
instead of just telling them to leave. It also needs to comply with
international environmental standards."
Greek actress
Maria Nafpliotou, playing the role of the High Priestess, passes a torchbearer
an olive branch at the dress rehearsal for the Olympic flame lighting ceremony
for the Beijing 2008 Games at the site of ancient Olympia in Greece on Saturday.
HK looks forward to era of co-operation -
Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Stephen Lam Sui-lung hopes
Taipei will start a new era of improved cross-strait relations under Ma Ying-jeou
and prepare to implement the "three links" - direct trade, transport and
communications. Mr Lam said Hong Kong had been promoting ties with Taiwan across
a spectrum of political contacts. "Our hope is that, following this election,
the Taiwanese side will actively promote cross-strait relations and be positive
towards the idea of the three direct links being introduced," he said. "As far
as Hong Kong is concerned, we may in the short term see a slight reduction in
tourism arrivals from Taiwan. "But in the long run, if the economy across the
Taiwan Strait expands, there will be additional opportunities for Hong Kong."
About 100 members of the Hong Kong Back-up Group for Ah-jeou, which supported Mr
Ma, celebrated his success in Fanling last night. The group plans to visit the
island in late May, when the inauguration ceremony takes place. 
Hong Kong has lost out to Thailand as the location for the
filming of the period piece Shanghai because the territory lacks a colonial-era
atmosphere. US movie mogul Harvey Weinstein has moved the filming after a forced
exit from China, settling on Thailand for the bulk of the shooting. Hong Kong
doesn't have the colonial-era setting we need. It's difficult to find a building
there less than 50 stories high, so we'll be going to Thailand and, believe it
or not, England," Weinstein said. Among stars lined up for the movie are Hong
Kong's Chow Yun-fat, American John Cusack, China's Gong Li and Japan's Ken
Watanabe. Chinese film officials last month said they were blocking Shanghai
from shooting in the mainland over concerns about its script. The movie is about
an American who is investigating his friend's death in Japanese-occupied
Shanghai during the World War II era. "The decision has everything to do with
[Chinese authorities] not liking the script, especially elements about
collaboration," Weinstein said. "Of course we'll be in China in the future with
films like [the remakes of] Avenging Eagle and Iron Monkey. We respect [China's]
rules. And if things are too sensitive or too difficult, we'll simply locate
production elsewhere." Japan's invasion of China is a sensitive topic. Chinese
are still angry about Japanese atrocities - the worst among them in Nanking, now
Nanjing. 
China's diving
queen Guo Jingjing smiles after winning with her partner Wu Minxia the women's
three-meter synchro springboard event at the 2008 National Diving Championships
in Hefei, East China's Anhui Province, March 23, 2008.
Movie star Zhang Ziyi arrives in Athens
yesterday. She will attend the Beijing Olympic torch-lighting ceremony at the
Ancient Olympia site tomorrow. According to the Hellenic Olympic Committee, the
mother flame obtained at the ceremony will be divided between three lanterns:
two will be brought back to Beijing, and one will remain with the HOC until the
flame safely reaches Beijing.
HIGH-QUALITY property developers
are always encouraged to raise funds through both initial public offerings or
buying into listed companies, also known as back-door listings, to further
expand their business, a senior official with China Securities Regulatory
Commission has said. He was clarifying earlier market speculation that
regulatory approvals for such IPOs and additional public share sales have been
stopped. Meanwhile, IPO applications by property companies that intend to use
the funds raised to buy yet-to-be-developed land will be rejected, and the
securities watchdog will also ban IPO fund raising to hoard land and housing, Xi
Longsheng, an official at CSRC's Department of Public Offering Supervision, told
a conference in Beijing. "There were concerns it might be difficult for domestic
real estate developers to launch IPOs or sell additional shares but now it has
been clarified officially," said Wei Bo, an industry analyst with Central China
Securities Co. China's real-estate market has been considered overheated for the
past few years during which both land and home prices have been soaring. While
raising funds directly from the capital market has been widely agreed among
industry experts as an important approach for real estate developers to boost
their presence after tougher credit control policies were introduced, it is also
sometimes blamed for continuously rising land and property prices. "It seems
that it did take rather longer time for real estate companies to get a green
light for their financing applications, including both IPOs and additional share
sales, from the CSRC since last September," said an industry insider. "But it is
rather understandable as it could be viewed as one of the central government
efforts to cool down the red-hot real estate market." At the moment, financing
applications by real estate companies are treated normally at CSRC, Xi said. So
far this year, two IPO plans submitted by property firms have been approved, and
five are under review. And in terms of refinancing, four developers have
successfully raised a total of 13.2 billion yuan (US$1.86 billion) from the
domestic stock market. Three others have received nods and 15 more are now under
the process. About 120 real estate firms of the total of 50,000 nationwide, have
issued yuan-denominated shares on the two stock exchanges on China's mainland,
accounting for 7.5 percent of all A-share listed firms.
Luo
Xuejuan, China's Olympic torch bearer, is interviewed in Beijing, March 20,
2008. Luo will leave for Athens to participate in the ceremony of Olympic Holy
Flame Relay in a few days. 
Through ads put out in elevators, supermarkets and cell
phones, the Shanghai-based, NASDAQ-listed company Focus Media became a runaway
success and has maintained more than 150 percent revenue growth annually. 
After more than four
years of trading suspension, eCyberChina Holdings (0254) is back on track
tapping the outdoor advertising market in China by acquiring exclusive rights to
outdoor ads at Olympic venues in Beijing. "The government encourages internal
consumption which will bring advantages to the advertising industry," said
company director Joseph Lau Chi- yuen. Including property development, financing
and investment holding, motorcycle manufacturing, and information technology,
the core businesses of eCyberChina have been evolving over time since the group
first listed in November 1972. During the IT boom, the company produced and sold
equipment and accessories for broadband cable television. However, the business
did not run smoothly and the share price plunged when the IT bubble burst in
2000. During the penny stock crisis in 2002, there was forced liquidation of
eCyberchina, with the share price once plummeting 85 percent within an hour.
Consequently, the company started its lengthy trading suspension in 2003 after
the penny-stock crisis and it withdrew from the IT business. "There wasn't a
white knight who was willing to rescue the company," Lau recalled. In March
2007, eCyberChina announced a series of share reorganizations, among other
measures, cutting the par value per share from HK$20 to 1 HK cent. The share
reorganization was completed before Lau became the largest shareholder in
October 2007. After transformation of its core business, eCyberChina will change
its name to China Outdoor Media Group. This year, eCyberChina acquired two
advertising companies, namely China Olympics Thinker International Culture
Communication, and Shanghai Winmedia Advertising Media. "The acquisition of
China Olympics Thinker can be described as a great bargain," said Lau. The deal
saw eCyberChina purchasing an 80 percent interest in China Olympics Thinker by
issuing consideration shares of less than HK$20 million with a revenue guarantee
of a minimum 13 million yuan (HK$14.25 million) in this financial year. "China
Olympics Thinker is the sole advertising agent in the main 2008 Beijing Olympic
Games coliseum, and the surrounding area such as the Olympic Park and the
Beijing Underground City, which cover outdoor media advertising space of 12,500
square meters," said Lau. "All billboards are booked during the Olympic Games."
Giant corporations like Coca-Cola, Nike and Siemens have already rented outdoor
billboards in the main coliseum. "There is not enough space to even allot to
sponsors," said Lau. While the market is concerned about the situation after the
Summer Games, Lau is not concerned. "The Chinese government has invested a lot
on the Games and it hopes to get some return. Therefore the stadiums will be
utilized after the Olympics." Lau said the Beijing Olympics Exhibition Center
will be turned into an Olympics museum after the Games, with China Olympics
Thinker likely to retain its management position there. China Olympics Thinker
was established in January 2007 in Beijing as an advertising agent to distribute
advertisements for local and foreign companies to publish in China. It also
organizes exhibitions and provides public relations consultancy services.
Furthermore, it has formed a strategic alliance with Beijing New Olympic Group,
Beijing Xinao Property Management, and Beijing New Olympics Media. It reported a
net profit of approximately HK$7 million by the end of 2007. "China Olympics
Thinker planned to list in the mainland where an application may take a long
time to be approved," Lau said. "Therefore, it accepted our company's stake
acquisition so that it will become a listed company through the deal." Another
major acquisition for eCyberChina is an outdoor advertising company, Shanghai
Winmedia. Lau said the founder of Shanghai Winmedia is well-known in the
mainland's outdoor advertising industry, and has launched a magazine called
Asian Outdoor. Shanghai Winmedia has cultivated a stable of clients including
Nokia, Konica Minolta, and China Mobile. Established last May, Shanghai Winmedia
reported turnover and profit after tax of about 44.9 million yuan and 16.8
million yuan respectively by the end of December 2007. Total cost of the
acquisition is about HK$190 million, with HK$40 million to be financed through
issuance of new shares and HK$150 million payable in cash. Lau said eCyberChina
now has about HK$20 million cash. "The company has not decided by which means to
raise funds, but we won't borrow from banks," he said, adding that eCyberChina
plans to acquire other companies through Shanghai Winmedia. 
The Town
Planning Board has proposed wide-ranging height limits on buildings in
Mid-Levels in a move that could ease the area's severe congestion problems. But
it would deal a blow to owners of older buildings hoping to reap a windfall from
redevelopment. The proposals are aimed at keeping the area's development density
at existing levels, preventing new high-rises from blocking the view of the Hong
Kong Island ridgeline and allowing airflows to sweep down from The Peak to
Central. They have emerged from a review believed to be the last to be conducted
on prime urban districts. Similar reviews have already been carried out on North
Point, Happy Valley and Ho Man Tin. Government planners insist the proposed
height restrictions would not undermine property owners' rights. They say
restrictions on plot ratios - the formula that determines development density -
and gross floor area could also be introduced if the public endorses the idea.
Jones Lang LaSalle international director Lau Chun-kong said it was good news
for residents who enjoyed living in Mid-Levels as it would prevent
overdevelopment and congestion and preserve the view. "But to the owners of old
buildings who planned to sell their units to developers, it is bad news," he
said. "The owners will see the redevelopment potential of their properties
decline." A source in the Planning Department said that under the new rules, all
buildings could be redeveloped to their present heights except the landmark
69-storey Tower Three of the luxurious Tregunter development, once the tallest
residential building in Asia. If it was redeveloped, the maximum height would be
35 storeys, although the same plot ratio would be allowed. The proposals
announced yesterday cover 230 hectares in Mid-Levels West. The area is bound by
Bonham Road, Caine Road and Kennedy Road to the north; Bowen Road to the east;
Pok Fu Lam Road to the west and the Pok Fu Lam Country Park to the south. Height
restrictions ranging from 115 metres to 320 metres above sea level are to be
introduced to the commercial and residential sites in the area. Higher buildings
are generally allowed on sites to the north of Robinson Road, which is more
densely populated. An air ventilation assessment was carried out to assess the
existing wind flow and the likely impact of the proposed building heights on
wind flow for pedestrians. "The study shows that we must maintain at least three
green paths to allow the air to flow to Central," the source said, referring to
areas around the Botanical and Zoological Garden, the University of Hong Kong
campus and the Peak Tram. Congestion has posed a mounting threat to the
environment of one of the city's most expensive residential areas, despite a
so-called moratorium imposed in 1972 aimed at keeping development in line with
traffic capacity. Traffic flow in the area is consistently the heaviest in the
Transport Department's annual review of 11 districts and is expected to worsen
when 15 new developments are completed. Savills investment department director
Gabriel Cheng Hon-wah said developers would no longer offer aggressive prices to
buy flats in old buildings like Merry Terrace. Green Sense president Roy Tam
Hoi-pong said the proposals provided guidelines for future urban renewal in the
district. But he said some height restrictions were still too high, allowing
buildings of 30 storeys. He also worried that rezoning some government sites for
residential use would further increase the development density. Central and
Western District councillor Cheng Lai-king said the changes would help to
improve living conditions in the area.
HK Resort to ask for
higher plot ratio on 650-hectare site - Plans by Discovery Bay developer Hong
Kong Resort to build a HK$1 billion hotel and an upmarket commercial complex
triggered angry protests when they were announced seven years ago.
On March 19, AmCham Shanghai's Healthcare
Committee held a roundtable discussion with Dr. Xu Jianguang, the recently
appointed Director General of the Shanghai Municipal Health Bureau. During this
meeting, Dr. Xu outlined the key healthcare challenges affecting Shanghai today.
He went on to describe his immediate priorities to improve the quality and
accessibility of medical care in Shanghai, including the migrant population and
expatriates. During the dialogue that followed, the Healthcare Committee was
invited to contribute its collective expertise to support of the Health
Bureau's priorities and to identify potential areas of future collaboration
between AmCham Shanghai and Dr. Xu��s office. The Healthcare Committee is
delighted with the success of this! initial meeting and looks forward to
building a strong dialogue between Shanghai's U.S. business community and the
health care priorities of the Shanghai government.
Chinese President Hu Jintao (L)
hosts a welcoming ceremony for his Peruvian counterpart Alan Garcia on Wednesday
afternoon in Beijing. China and Peru on Wednesday vowed to push forward
all-round cooperative partnership, and be good friends and partners. China and
Peru on Wednesday vowed to push forward all-round cooperative partnership, and
be good friends and partners. The two countries also signed a series of
agreements on bilateral cooperation in economics, technology, cultural
exchanges, quarantine and media. During the meeting with the Peruvian President
Alan Garcia on Wednesday afternoon, Chinese President Hu Jintao sang highly of
the China-Peru relations over the past 37 years since the two countries
established diplomatic ties, describing bilateral relationship as healthy and
stable, mutual high-level visits as frequent, cooperation in various fields as
ever expanding and two sides as taking cooperative attitude in dealing with
international or regional affairs.
The central parity rate of
the yuan, or Renminbi (RMB), gained another 136 basis points to 7.0512 against
the dollar in the wake of the big interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
The pictures made by
Zhang Wei, a Chinese contemporary artiest, combine Qi Baishi's fanciful
watercolor figures and voluptuous images of Marilyn Monroe.
Hong Kong bank customers will be
earning virtually no money on their deposits as lenders slashed their rates in
wake of the US Federal Reserve's move to cut its key interest rate, bringing
their saving rates practically to zero percent. Two of the city's major lenders,
Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp, and Hang Seng Bank (0011), will offer an
interest rate of 0.01 percent for deposits of more than HK$5,000. This means
that, starting from today, their customers will receive HK$1 interest a year on
a deposit of HK$10,000 or HK$100 on HK$1 million. And, at HSBC, depositors whose
monthly balances are less than HK$5,000 will not only receive no interest at
all, they will be charged a monthly fee of HK$50 to boot. Senior citizens over
65 or recipients of the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme will be
exempted from the charge. Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) and others offer
slightly better deposit rates. Standard Chartered will pay 0.05 percent interest
for deposits under HK$500,000. Although depositors will feel squeezed by the
lower savings rates, homeowners will rejoice, as banks have lowered their prime
lending rates by half a percentage point. Citi economist Joe Lo estimates 25
percent of Hong Kong's households have mortgages. The latest lending rate cut
came after the US Federal Reserve shaved its key interest rate by 75 basis
points yesterday morning. In turn, local banks trimmed their savings rates by
just 50 basis points or less as they were already very low. Hang Seng, HSBC and
Bank of China (Hong Kong) (2388) lowered their best lending rate by to 5.25
percent from 5.75 percent, while Standard Chartered, DBS Bank (Hong Kong), and
others cut their prime rates by 50 basis points to between 5.5 percent and 5.75
percent. The new rates come into effect today. With saving rates virtually at
zero, senior bankers said local lenders may not lower their prime rates again -
even if the United States drops its Fed Funds Rate further. The market is
expecting the Fed to lower the benchmark interest rate by another 50 basis
points at its next meeting on April 29-30. Bank of East Asia (0023) chairman
David Li Kwok-po said Hong Kong's prime rates will remain at the current level
for quite some time following yesterday's cuts. So far this year, the city's
banks have lowered their prime rates by 150 basis points. Now that savings rates
are effectively zero, it will be unlikely that banks will be cutting prime
rates, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) (0349) director Stanley
Wong Yuen-fai told The Standard. Citi's Lo concurred. With savings deposit rates
near zero, banks would not cut lending rates unless they accept lower net
interest margins, he said.
China Merchants Bank (3968), the mainland's sixth-largest lender, said loan and
deposit growth will decline to 11 percent and 6 percent this year, amid tighter
monetary policy and the worsening international economic environment. Its
better-than-expected 2007 result and higher net interest margin growth surprised
analysts - and most revised upwards their 2008 earnings forecasts for the
Shenzhen lender - although president Ma Huihua admitted there could be stiff
challenges this year including more nonperforming loans. "Certain enterprises
may have credit risks and incurring possible increase in nonperforming loans, we
will adjust our portfolio accordingly," Ma said yesterday. There may also be an
impact on fee- based income, said company chairman Qin Xiao. China Merchants
said it will respond to the situation partly by looking to diversify
internationally and expand its product range, said Qin. "The bank is looking for
acquisition opportunities in Asia including Hong Kong," Qin said. But he
declined to comment on reports the mainland bank was eyeing small Hong Kong
lender Wing Lung Bank (0096), which suspended trading yesterday. On Tuesday,
Merchants Bank reported net income growth of 124 percent to 15.243 billion yuan
(HK$16.77 billion), with net interest income up 57.6 percent and fee income
increasing 1.56 percent. The bank's ratio of nonperforming loans against total
lending dropped to 1.54 percent in 2007 from 2.12 percent in 2006. But "special
mention" loans, which the bank classifies as those that need to be watched
closely for default, rose by 0.1 percent to 2.13 percent and totaled 14.34
billion yuan. JPMorgan raised its earnings forecast for Merchants Bank by 7
percent this year and 3 percent for 2009. "The low exposure to property
development loans and more exposure to the transportation sector means less
asset-quality stress in the near term," said JPMorgan banking analyst Samuel
Chen. Merchants Bank H shares rose 10.98 percent in intraday trading before
closing up 5.37 percent at HK$22.55. 
Overall employee turnover and vacancy
rates last year hit a five- year high of 14.69 and 3.63 percent, respectively,
while the unemployment rate hit a 10-year low of 3.3 percent, according to the
Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management. A survey by the institute,
conducted across 109 companies with 130,421 employees during the fourth quarter
of last year, showed a net growth of 1.12 percent in new positions - 0.29
percent higher than the third quarter and 0.35 percentage points higher than in
the corresponding period in 2006. The turnover rate for the fourth quarter last
year was 3.08 percent, 1.46 percentage points lower than in the previous
quarter, but still 0.42 points higher than the same period in 2006. "The slight
dip was largely due to the traditional seasonal slowdown in which employees stay
on for the year-end bonus," said institute president Lai Kam-tong. The yearly
turnover was highest in the retail industry, which reached 31.1 percent. Second
highest was in the property development/real estate/ construction sector (26.92
percent). Wholesale, import/ export and trading came in third (24.08 percent)
followed by business/ professional service at 23.68 percent. In terms of people
on the move, the highest turnover rate was among clerical/frontline staff (15.65
percent) followed by middle management/non- managerial professional staff. The
results reflect a strong economy in which more jobs are created and more
employees are sourcing better career development, Lai said, adding that the
results were in line with the continuing decline in the unemployment rate over
the past years. Although Lai said he expects the trend to continue this year in
the wake of the strong local economy, external factors such as the US credit
crunch, macro- control in China and rising gas prices could affect job prospects
in sectors involved in mortgages, investments and finance. He also urged
companies to compare their internal data with the survey results and establish a
plan to retain talent by studying the income, seniority and the time of
resignation of departing staff. Long-term career advancement and development
opportunities are also key to staff retention. The institute predicts that the
overall pay rise this year will be in the vicinity of 4 percent. 
China vowed yesterday to take the Olympic torch to Tibet despite riots there and
warned against international protests over its crackdown in the Himalayan region
that are certain to dog the run-up to the Games. "The situation in Tibet has
essentially stabilized, the Olympic torch relay will proceed as scheduled," said
Jiang Xiaoyu, executive vice president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for
the Olympic Games. The crackdown in Tibet and nearby provinces, following riots
that may have killed dozens, have sparked calls for a boycott of the August
Beijing Games, which China wants to turn into a celebration of its emergence as
a world power. "We hold the opinion that those activities [international
protests] are a challenge to the Olympic Charter, a challenge to all those who
love the Olympic movement around the world," Jiang told a news conference.
"Those activities will not win the hearts and minds of people and are doomed to
failure. The message we are trying to convey through the torch relay is peace,
friendship and harmony." Mainland officials again blasted exiled Tibetan
spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. Tibet's Communist Party secretary Zhang Qingli
said: "We are engaged in a fierce battle of blood and fire with the Dalai
clique, a life-and-death struggle between the foe and us." The Dalai Lama has
denied that he masterminded the protests - which culminated last Friday in a
riot in Lhasa. His government-in-exile says 99 people died when security force
New World Development's (0017)
interim core earnings soared 162 percent to HK$1.73 billion, boosted by more
apartment sales in Hong Kong and the mainland. The property-to-infrastructure
conglomerate also recorded some HK$2.4 billion worth of extraordinary profits,
including proceeds of HK$1.6 billion from spinning off New World Department
Store China (0825) last July. Meanwhile, the parent group's share for the sale
of half of Harbour Place in Hung Hom - a major project completed last year in
partnership with Sun Hung Kai Properties (0016) - was HK$1.02 billion. Those
proceeds came under construction and services arm NWS Holdings (0659), whose
interim net profit jumped 144 percent to HK$22.3 billion. "In the pipeline, the
group will launch four more projects with some 1,200 units, including a Hanoi
Road redevelopment project in Tsim Sha Tsui," said NWD managing director Henry
Cheng Kar-shun. "These projects can be booked in a year or two." Asked whether
the group is interested in bidding for the Hong Kong- Zhuhai-Macau bridge
mega-project, Cheng said a 36-year recoup period makes it "unattractive for
investors." Meanwhile, interim net profit for mainland property arm New World
China Land (0917) jumped 126 percent to HK$920 million on more completions of
residential projects. Cheng said NWCL is looking at floating some of its assets
on mainland bourses. For the six months ended December 31, NWD's net profit,
including one- off income and property revaluation gains, more than quadrupled
to HK$5.64 billion. 
There were words of
encouragement from President Hu Jintao when he met Chief Executive Donald Tsang
Yam- kuen in Beijing yesterday. At their meeting in the Zhongnanhai leadership
compound, Hu told Tsang he believes the Hong Kong government will continue to
achieve good results in developing the city's economy, improving people's
livelihood, and promoting democracy and social harmony. Also present were vice
president Xi Jiping, state councillor Liu Yandong, director of the general
office of the Communist Party's central committee Ling Jihua, and Hong Kong and
Macau Affairs Office director Liao Hui. "With efforts made by the SAR government
and society, Hong Kong is developing in a good and right direction," Hu told
Tsang. "The central government believes you and the SAR government can make
great efforts to build a strong state, to administer according to legislation,
[and] have new achievements in terms of economic and democratic development,
improving people's livelihood and building harmony." Tsang gave an account of
the latest situation in Hong Kong, saying the budget announced last month lists
out different measures to stimulate the economy, create more job opportunities
and improve livelihood. "The government introduced tax relief and other measures
to return wealth to the public as the government had a surplus last year," Tsang
said. He congratulated Hu for being re-elected president, adding the National
People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
meetings had been successful. Tsang also met People's Bank of China governor
Zhou Xiaochuan and China Securities Regulatory Commission chairman Shang Fulin.
Hu also met Macau Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau-wah, with the president saying
he hoped Ho can maintain the well-being of Macau. "The central government
believes you and the government can unite Macau people and continue to make
society prosperous and stable," Hu told Ho. 
Lenovo chairman
Yang Yuanqing at the launch of the ThinkPad X300 laptop in Beijing. Lenovo hopes
the new product will help the company regain ThinkPad's reputation and help it
compete with HP, Dell, Acer and Apple.
Premier Wen
Jiabao said yesterday that curbing inflation remains the main task this year and
during the remainder of his second five-year term. He also expressed concern
that the potential global economic slowdown caused by the US subprime crisis
would make it harder to beat back inflation. "This year will be the most
difficult year for our economy," Wen said, adding that it would be difficult to
keep inflation within the government's 4.8 percent target. Speaking after
theclosing session of the National People's Congress, he said: "We have food
reserves of between 150 million and 200 million tonnes, indicating the situation
of oversupply has not changed. We are confident when the appropriate measures
are implemented consumer price rises can be controlled." The premier
acknowledged the growing cries of concern from citizens worried about rising
prices. He was concerned about the falling US dollar, and the increasing
uncertainties over credit caused by the US subprime turmoil. The US dollar
yesterday dropped to its lowest against the yuan in 13 years, closing at 7.08
yuan. Despite pressure from China's trading partners, Wen did not clearly
address Beijing's stance on yuan appreciation in curbing inflation. "The Chinese
currency has risen 15 percent against the dollar since it was de-pegged in July
2005," he said. "I am closely watching the global economic situation and am
deeply worried. "It will pose a challenge for China to meet a balance in
economic growth and keep inflation, excess investment and credit growth under
control. China is a developing country of 1.3 billion people. We need to
maintain fast economic development to resolve employment pressures." He added:
"Global economic developments will have an impact on China, but internal matters
will be more crucial." 
Alibaba profit surges 340pc but stock falls - Shares of Alibaba.com, the
mainland's largest e-commerce company, plunged to a record low yesterday, even
though the company reported a fourfold increase in profit.
Director Ang Lee's
protege, Tang Wei, is expected to attend the Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong next
week despite a reported media ban against her, organisers said on Tuesday.
Mainland media reported recently that regulators had ordered TV stations to stop
reporting on the actress and pull ads featuring her. The ban has not been
officially announced and its reasons were unclear. But Tang’s breakthrough role
came in the recent Lee movie Lust, Caution which has drawn attention for
portraying explicit sex and allegedly unpatriotic behavior. In the movie, Tang
plays a student activist who gives away the plot to assassinate a
Japanese-allied Chinese intelligence official in second world war Shanghai. It
was released in the mainland after heavy editing. Tang is up for best actress
for Lust, Caution. Rosa Li, a spokeswoman for the Asian Film Awards, said Tang
has been asked to present an award at the ceremony Monday, and that organisers
expect her to show up. Ang Lee won best director Oscar for the gay romance
Brokeback Mountain last year. His kung fu hit Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon won
best foreign film for Taiwan in 2001.
While Macau's once-restricted air transport market continues to transform, the
chief executive of Viva Macau has called on the special administrative region's
aviation regulators to revisit policies that are hindering the low-cost
carrier's growth and also impeding tourism expansion.
Expected returns for the government on its HK$37.4 billion investment on the Sha
Tin to Central rail link may be relatively small, but academics say the
administration has made a clever choice on the model adopted for the line. Under
an agreement between the government and the MTR Corporation (SEHK: 0066), the
administration is expected to receive a total rent of HK$91.8 billion from the
MTR for a 50-year lease for the operating rights. Secretary for Transport and
Housing Eva Cheng said the amount of rent was calculated on a formula under
which, after deducting the MTR Corp's operating and ongoing capital costs from
the total revenue of the line, the government would enjoy 90 per cent of the net
profit. But traffic expert and civil engineer Greg Wong Chak-yan said the
government's income - subject to variations in the number of travelers, the
line's operating cost and fares - might not be as high as HK$91.8 billion. "My
experience has been, 90 per cent of the world's railways suffer losses, not
gains," Mr Wong said. "The government will enjoy 90 per cent of whatever the
line earns, but what if it doesn't make a profit?" The estimate is based on a
forecast that the line will attract 1 million passengers a day by 2021.
Financial analyst Raymond So Wai-man also believed the line's profit outlook was
less rosy than government expectations. However, both academics said the
government had made the right decision in adopting a service concession
approach, instead of the usual rail-plus-property funding model. "By retaining
the ownership of the rail line, the government obviously enjoys a lot more
freedom over the line's financial arrangement and construction works, and that
will speed up the process," Mr Wong said. "It is good news to every commuter."
As a listed company, the MTR Corp saw the property-based model as the best
option for its shareholders, a government source said. But other sources said
the capital injection and land-subsidy approach was not suitable for the link,
as it involved a huge sum of capital and a lack of attractive land for
development along the line. A senior government official said the administration
could afford to build the rail link itself when public coffers were full and it
would enhance community development. Although some legislators are expected to
oppose using huge sums of public money to build the link, the government is
confident of securing sufficient support for the financing application to be
passed. A senior official said the line passed through several geographical
constituencies and lawmakers would not want to vote it down in an election year.
Hong Kong property
developers have shown a cool response to the government's move to allocate 10
sites in non-core areas for hotel projects. They say the sites may not generate
acceptable returns on their investment. Forecasting low single-digit investment
returns on development costs that are expected to be 50 per cent higher than for
residential projects, major developers say they are not keen on bidding for the
sites. A source at Sun Hung Kai Properties (SEHK: 0016), Hong Kong's largest
developer by market value, said the hotel sites would not be attractive to most
players because of their inferior location. He said hotels built on those sites
would provide rental yields of just between 5 and 6 per cent. The new land
application list released last month contains 62 sites up for sale, of which 10
are designated for hotel development as the government's response to the tourism
industry's call for more hotel supply. The sites are in North Point, Wan Chai,
Central, Kwun Tong, Tin Shui Wai, Tsuen Wan, Sai Kung, Hung Hom Bay reclamation
area, and Kowloon Bay, where there are two. "If a hotel development doesn't
work, we could simply convert it into other uses," the source said. "But the 10
sites on the land application list are for hotel use only. We have to take on
higher investment risk and will suffer if the project doesn't work."
Couples plant
trees in an activity in Rizhao, Shandong Province, March 11, 2008. The annual
Tree-planting Day falls on March 12.
A model
poses by a Citroen sports car on an auto show in Shanghai on April 20, 2007. PSA
Peugeot Citroen plans to boost its sourcing of spare parts from China this year,
according to its local venture.
China’s Foreign
Minister Yang Jiechi on Wednesday said that the mainland had yet to receive a
formal application from the United States to allow the USS Kitty Hawk and a US
navy battle group to visit Hong Kong. “If we receive the application from the US
consular officials, we will then... decide whether the battle group would be
allowed to enter Hong Kong,” Mr Yang said. Earlier reports said the US was
poised to ask Beijing to allow the Kitty Hawk battle group to visit in
mid-April. When the Kitty Hawk request is made, it will be the first since
Beijing refused permission for the aircraft carrier to enter local waters for
Thanksgiving last November. To enter Hong Kong, US consular officials must
formally pass on a Pentagon request to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong
Kong, They must give more than the required 30 days’ notice. Port visits are
usually only announced 24 hours in advance. The last-minute rejection of
November’s port visit rattled Washington. It placed Sino-US relations at their
lowest ebb since the collision between a US Navy spy plane and a PLA jet fighter
over the South China Sea in 2001. Hundreds of US military families had flown to
Hong Kong in anticipation of 2007 Thanksgiving holiday with relatives in the
navy. Thanksgiving is one of the most important holidays in the US. Beijing
later reversed its decision, allowing the Kitty Hawk to enter Hong Kong for
humanitarian reasons. But Washington said the reversal had come too late. The
Kitty Hawk and the battle group were already sailing northwards from Hong Kong
through the Taiwan Strait. The head of the US Pacific Command, Admiral Timothy
Keating, subsequently visited Beijing to appeal for greater co-operation. This
helped secure permission for the USS Blue Ridge to make a port visit to Hong
Kong in late January. Beijing has yet to confirm the reason for the November
rejection, which came shortly after moves by Washington to upgrade Patriot
missile batteries in Taiwan and a meeting between US President George W. Bush
and exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. 
Beijing warned
foreign groups on Wednesday not to use the Summer Olympics to pressure Beijing,
presenting the nation as a responsible but poor power eager to end rows over
trade, pollution and human rights. China has been buffeted ahead of the games by
worries over dirty air and international protests over human rights, Tibet,
Sudan’s Darfur and other controversies that often irk Chinese diplomats. Foreign
Minister Yang Jiechi told critics to back off, accusing them of violating the
Olympic Games charter keeping politics away from sports. “I don’t believe that
the international community wants to politicise the Beijing Olympics. That’s a
handful of individuals and forces extremely unfriendly to China and bearing
massive prejudices,” Mr Yang told reporters. China welcomed “well-intentioned”
criticism of the games, he said. “But those who want to tarnish China – and hear
me, I said China – won’t succeed.” The scholarly-looking diplomat made the
comments in a news conference coinciding with the annual national parliament,
and carefully answered questions on the United States, Japan and European Union,
arguing that China wanted co-operation, not contention. But his comments also
came after a slew of news that underscored the headaches China faces in holding
the huge, live-to-air sporting spectacle that starts on August 8. In February,
Oscar-winning film director Steven Spielberg quit as an artistic adviser to the
games, claiming that China had failed to use enough sway in Sudan to seek an end
to bloodshed in Darfur. This week has seen protest marches against the Games by
Tibetan refugees. Ethiopia’s marathon world record holder Haile Gebrselassie
announced he will not race in Beijing because of health fears from pollution.
And officials announced a domestic flight from the restive western region of
Xinjiang was grounded over fears of a terrorist attack, stirring concern about
security around the games. But Mr Yang said the capital would be safe and clean
for visitors and the event would seal, not sour, friendly ties. “The
international community and governments, leaders and the publics of countries
across the world warmly support a successful Olympics, showing their deep
friendly feeling for the Chinese people,” Mr Yang said. “China of course is one
of the safest places in the world”,” he added. Beijing’s games have been
presented as a chance for China to brandish its growing prosperity and pride,
with the government pouring billions into new subway lines and shining stadiums.
But in response to questions about Africa and climate change policy, Yang also
said China was still a poor country, too focused on its own development to bear
too much of an international burden, especially in cutting greenhouse gas
pollution. “China is a responsible member of the international community,” Mr
Yang said. “At the same time, as a developing country, frankly, China cannot
assume international responsibilities beyond its own capacity to bear.” China is
set to surpass the United States as the world’s top emitter of carbon dioxide,
but says it will not accept fixed caps on emissions and the burden in fighting
climate change should fall on rich countries, who create much more pollution per
head. “It’s like there is one person who eats three slices of bread for
breakfast, and there are three of them who eat only one slice. Who should be on
a diet?”, Mr Yang said. He also said “transfer emissions” – the environmental
costs of products produced in one country and then exported to – should be
considered in emissions calculations. Asked about US criticisms of China’s
strict leash on citizens’ political activities, Mr Yang accompanied a call for
more friendly dialogue with a prickly warning. “We resolutely oppose clinging to
a cold war mentality and drawing an ideological line to engage in confrontation
and double standards,” he said. 
The Urban Renewal Authority is offering
a record HK$7,012 per square foot to flat owners at the Sneakers Street
redevelopment in Mong Kok after interested owners vowed to escalate their
opposition to the project. Offers for the 175 property interests include
record-high compensation for ground-level shops, ranging from more than
HK$20,000 per square foot on Sai Yee Street to about HK$200,000 psf on Nelson
Street. The authority has faced staunch resistance since December from owners
who have refused to budge and vowed to continue their businesses. They recently
joined forces with a developer and proposed a counter-offer at a 10 percent
premium to the authority's offer. The authority is offering HK$7,012 psf for
domestic property compared to HK$7,713. Some owners have also applied to
redevelop their own buildings. Of three plans submitted so far, a plan to
redevelop 94-96 Fa Yuen Street into a 31-story commercial and residential
building with a clubhouse was approved in January. Salina Tsang Hing-lan, who
has been running a sporting goods shop on Fa Yuen Street for a decade, is one of
the proposers of the approved plan. She said they were forced into action by the
authority, and expected a long battle. "Rather than wait for acquisition, we
choose to redevelop ourselves. The compensation is not the most important thing
- we just want to continue our businesses," she said. The K28 Sneakers Street
Concern Group will unveil a new "six-win" self-redevelopment plan tomorrow,
which proposes that ground-level shops continue business after the redevelopment
is finished. Last year, the authority rejected a proposal to renovate the
buildings while keeping ground-level shops operational. The authority's HK$3.14
billion plan is to develop the site into a sports retail shopping mall to be
topped by a 30-story residential tower by 2013, with owners renting space inside
the arcade. The authority's managing director Quinn Law Yee-kwun did not rule
out the possibility that redevelopment could be carried out with owners'
participation but said the current system had no provision for such cooperation.
He said the top priority was to improve living conditions and that the booming
property market has led to the cost of acquiring the site rising 25 percent,
with an estimated loss capped at about HK$1 billion. 
Universal suffrage will not solve the often strained working relationship
between Hong Kong's chief executive and the legislature, according to outgoing
British consul-general Stephen Bradley.
Actor urges promotion of quality migrant scheme - Award-winning mainland actor
Hu Jun will soon be one of Hong Kong's newest residents thanks to the Quality
Migrant Admission Scheme.
Renowned industrialist Chiang Chen, often
described as one of Hong Kong's model patriots, has expressed sympathy for
beleaguered singer-actor Edison Chen Koon-hei, saying he will come out of his
current troubles a better man. "Chen Koon-hei is a young man. Young people will
make mistakes," he said. "Making mistakes is an education, and this will help
him." Mr Chiang, 85, received an honorary degree from the University of Hong
Kong yesterday. His life story has often been hailed as a model example of how
hard work and ethical living can overcome all sorts of obstacles. Having arrived
in the city with nothing in 1949 at the age of 26, the Shandong native has built
the world's largest manufacturer of injection moulding machines, Chen Hsong
Holdings, and founded the Chiang Chen Industrial Charity Foundation. Without
English, Cantonese or Shanghainese skills, and with only four years of
education, Mr Chiang began as a laborer on a dock, then worked in a cotton mill
and mine. However, he insists that comparisons cannot be made between present
society and his experience, since times have changed. "I have never tried to
teach people how to live their lives." Nevertheless, he had words of wisdom to
pass on to the younger generation, urging them not to fear competition, pressure
or criticism, and to learn from their mistakes. "Criticism is normal ... Only
after criticism, do you set out to improve." Chen last month admitted he had
taken pictures of female celebrities engaged in sex acts, which were stolen from
his computer and circulated on the internet. He said: "I hope this matter will
teach everyone a lesson. To all the young people and our community, let this be
a lesson for you all." Chen added that he would dedicate his time to charity and
community work, and use the "opportunity to heal myself and to search my soul".
One of Mr Chiang's six children, Lily Chiang Lai-lei, is having her own troubles
- she has been charged by the Independent Commission Against Corruption over an
alleged HK$7.5 million share-option fraud. Mr Chiang said he believed she would
also learn from adversity. "She'll come out the better after this ordeal," he
said. Other recipients of honorary degrees included Monetary Authority chief
Joseph Yam Chi-kwong, scientist Mak Tak-wah and former president of Lingnan
University Edward Chen Kwan-yiu. 
Beijing's top man in Hong Kong is tipped as a second Hong Kong-based candidate
for membership on the National People's Congress Standing Committee. Ng Hong-mun,
former local deputy to the NPC who stepped down as the new annual session opened
this month, wrote in his column in Ming Pao yesterday that Gao Siren, 64, might
join the Standing Committee alongside Legislative Council president Rita Fan Hsu
Lai-tai. Mr Gao is widely expected to retire as director of the central
government's Hong Kong liaison office this year. He and Mrs Fan were selected as
members of the NPC presidium. Candidates for the Standing Committee are usually
picked from the presidium. The election is scheduled for Saturday. "If Gao Siren
is also considered a 'Hongkonger', then it can be said there will be two" local
members on the Standing Committee, Mr Ng wrote. A source familiar with the
situation said it would not be surprising for Mr Gao to become a Standing
Committee member, as many top mainland officials at the provincial and ministry
levels joined the nation's top legislature after retiring from the government.
Citing Mr Gao's predecessor, Jiang Enzhu, as a precedent, the source noted that
Mr Jiang was selected as a member of the Standing Committee and chairman of the
NPC foreign affairs committee in 2003, after stepping down as the liaison office
chief in 2002. Although Mr Gao is a deputy from Guangdong, the source said Mr
Gao's membership in the Standing Committee would reflect the importance attached
by Beijing to Hong Kong affairs. "Although he was not elected by the Hong Kong
election panel for the NPC deputies, he has been carrying out his NPC activities
in the Hong Kong delegation in the past five years," the source said. NPC
vice-chairman Xu Jialu said on March 4 that Hong Kong should be given an extra
seat on the Standing Committee, saying that the city's extensive international
connections and experience in the rule of law and administration could serve as
the country's reference.
Jet Li said he has changed the script of his upcoming movie with fellow action
star Jackie Chan to better suit Western tastes, an online news site reported. Li
said "The Forbidden Kingdom" was conceived as a film about Chinese mythology's
monkey king and he thought the idea of a kung fu fighting monkey was too
far-fetched for Western viewers, according to an interview transcript posted on
the Chinese news website Sina.com. Li said he altered the script, inspired by
the classic Chinese novel "Journey to the West," to turn the story into a
child's dream about Chinese mythology. He said this would make characters with
special powers like the monkey king more believable to a Western audience. "The
West can't accept a traditional interpretation of 'Journey to the West.'
Westerners can understand Superman, Batman, but not this — a monkey that's so
dominating," the actor was quoted as saying. "The Forbidden Kingdom," scheduled
to be released in the United States this spring, follows an American teenager's
fantasy journey to ancient China to rescue a mythological monkey king. Li plays
the monkey king and a silent monk, while Chan plays another monk called T'sa-Ho.
Li attributed the failure of many Chinese movies to break into the U.S. market
to differences in Chinese and American perceptions about Chinese culture. "We
like shark's fin and abalone. We think this is the best food and treat friends
to it. But Westerners may think that the best Chinese food is fried spring rolls
and sweet and sour pork, or hot and sour soup," Li said. 
Thirteen developers
have expressed interest in an MTRC (0066) project - worth up to HK$6 billion -
above Che Kung Temple station in Sha Tin. Sources said Cheung Kong Holdings
(0001), Henderson Land Development (0012), Sun Hung Kai properties (0016), New
World Development (0017), Wheelock Properties (0049), Sino Land (0083), K Wah
International (0173), HKR International (0480), Nan Fung Development and four
unidentified developers expressed interest. MTRC property director Thomas Ho
Hang-kwong said after applications closed yesterday he was satisfied with the
response. Tenders will open soon after agreement on the land premium with the
Lands Department. Surveyors expect the premium to be between HK$3,100 and
HK$4,000 per square foot, and developers would make a reasonable profit by
selling at HK$6,500 psf. Ho said the MTRC would consider absorbing half the
premium to attract smaller developers, but refused to say if the financial
concessions will result in a higher profit-sharing ratio. The development on the
Ma On Shan line station has a gross floor area of 975,448 sq ft, and consists of
four towers with 1,240 apartments. Concern group Green Sense said the project
may lead to poor ventilation in the already densely populated district, and
advised the MTRC to leave three ventilation corridors between the towers, lower
its plot ratio to four from five, and limit the tower height to 110 meters. Ho
said if the planning needs adjustment in regard to any "wall effect,"
negotiations will be held with the Town Planning Board. He added the company
will also offer two more projects atop Tsuen Wan West station in the next 12
months, providing 5,026 apartments. Lohas Park Phase 4 will be delayed until
next year, Ho said, as the three projects so far will satisfy demand. Net profit
from underlying businesses attributable to equity shareholders was HK$8.57
billion, 43.8 per cent higher than 2006.The calculation of share earnings is
based on the weighted average of 5,573.74 million shares in issue during the
year vs 5,510.35 million shares in issue during the last year. Total dividend
for the year is 45 H.K. cents (including interim dividend of 14 cents) versus 42
cents. The consensus (mean) forecast, according to a poll by Reuters, was for
net profit of HK$7.07 billion for the year.
China's consumer price index
(CPI), the main inflation indicator, rose 8.7 percent in February over the same
time last year, the highest monthly increase in nearly 12 years, the National
Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Tuesday.
Chinese singer Li Yuchun performs at her solo concert held at the Shanghai Grand
Stage on Sunday, March 9, 2008, ahead of her 24th birthday on Monday. At the
show, Li Yuchun shed light on "Cha Sheng" ("Bad Student"), her first single this
year which she co-wrote and also directed its music video. Emerging on the scene
by winning the 2005 Super Girl, a singing competition similar to American Idol,
the former tomboy has already had two full-length albums to her name.
Magnolia flowers blossom on the
riverbank opposite of the Lujiazui financial area in Shanghai, as temperatures
surpassed 20 degrees Celsius, March 11, 2008.
Containers to be
monitored through homegrown technology are being loaded on a ship in Shanghai
March 10, 2008. The e-tags attached on the containers will send warning signals
if they are opened without authorization during the journey.
Hostesses pose for a photo outside the Great Hall of the People as the National
People's Congress meeting continued yesterday. While fun went on outside,
delegates inside were considering weighty issues such as China's
responsibilities on the global stage and domestic crime.
Guo Qingping (right), chief of Bank of
China Tianjin branch, talks to reporters yesterday in Beijing after the Tianjin
delegation's panel discussion at the 11th NPC. Investors told HK stock trial "on
track". Tianjin's mayor assured investors Sunday that the city's pilot program,
allowing mainlanders to invest in Hong Kong-listed shares, is on track. "There's
a lot of preparation involved. Risk assessment and research is under way to open
the door for mainlanders to invest in the Hong Kong stock market," Huang Xingguo,
mayor of Tianjin, said Sunday. "The project's going smoothly, but timing depends
on central government approval. I can assure you that Tianjin's status as a
pilot city (for financial reform) will not change," he said. The scheme is in
line with the nation's economic development and investor demand and will be an
effective way to bring in conversion of the renminbi via capital accounts, Guo
Qingping, chief of Bank of China's (BOC) Tianjin branch, said on the sidelines
of yesterday's NPC session. But authorities are cautious about rushing the
program through, due to its complexity and risk. "One risk is hot money flowing
into and out of the mainland," Guo said. BOC was originally expected to be the
only financial institution providing the program, but Guo said the details are
still being ironed out. The trial scheme was announced in August last year as a
way to diversify mainland investor channels. But it's been put on hold amid the
unfolding US subprime crisis and global stock market uncertainty. Preparation
for the program includes payment systems, renminbi conversion, regulation
changes as well as extensive risk assessment, Huang said. Liu Mingkang, chairman
of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, told China Daily earlier that no
timetable has been set for the pilot scheme, which will allow mainlanders to
invest directly in Hong Kong-listed shares. The regulator stressed that more
research into the system is needed. Meanwhile, a timetable is not yet available
for Tianjin's new offshore financial center, which is also subject to further
research, according to Guo from BOC.
Jackie Chan (2nd L) carries a portrait of
his father Charlie as his son Jaycee (R) follows carrying a fishing rod, hat and
pipe after a funeral service in Canberra March 8, 2008. Chan returned to his
Australian roots on Saturday to bury his father alongside his mother almost six
years after she died in Australia's capital. Chan's father Charlie died in a
Hong Kong hospital on Feb. 26, aged 93, after battling prostate cancer. Chan
brought his body back to Canberra to be laid to rest beside Lee Lee Chan, who
died in 2002.
Passengers
feel the crush after fare reductions - The MTR's Admiralty station has always
been packed during evening peak hours, but passengers say it is more so now.
Private entities
urged to invest in railways - Minister of Railways has encouraged overseas and
domestic private investors to get a share in the railways' as China accelerates
the construction and reconstruction of its railway network.
Passengers check flight departure time at Shanghai Pudong International Airport
on January 29. Domestic airports handled 387.59 million passengers in 2007, a
growth of 16.8 percent year-on-year.
China's Liu Xiang
runs with a national flag to celebrate his win of the men's 60m hurdles final at
the 12th IAAF World Indoor Athletics Championship in Valencia March 8, 2008. Liu
clocked 7.46 seconds to claim his first indoor title.
Protectionism
was behind rising fears overseas over the set-up of China's sovereign wealth
fund, the vice general manager of China Investment Corp, Jesse Wong Jianxi, told
The Standard. Wang for the first time addressed the latest criticisms facing the
sovereign fund of the world's fastest-growing economy. CIC manages the
mainland's US$200 billion (HK$1.56 trillion) sovereign wealth fund. He said the
mainland's fund is very similar to other foreign public pension funds or college
pension funds, adopting a diversified, long-term and passive investment
strategy. "You cannot compare us with hedge funds. Our investments in Blackstone
and Morgan Stanley demonstrated our policy," he said. Wang, who accompanied CIC
chairman Lou Jiwei on trips to the United States and Europe last year, said he
saw no rules limiting SWF investments during the visits. But the doubts and
queries from foreign governments on SWFs sparked by CIC's buying of a stake in
Blackstone made him suspect they were somewhat related to protectionism.
Meanwhile, despite the sovereign fund needing to make its first interest payment
due February 29, Wang denied CIC has any plans to sell its stakes in three major
mainland banks. "The stakes in Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (1398),
Bank of China (3988) and China Construction Bank (0939) will remain as long-term
investments, according to the State Council, and I see no changes to the policy
so far," Wang said. CIC currently holds a 35.3 percent interest in ICBC, a 67.49
percent stake in BOC and 67.98 percent of CCB. It also indirectly holds stakes
in eight securities firms, including CITIC Securities and Shenyin Wanguo. For
the 1.55 trillion yuan (HK$1.7 trillion) that CIC borrowed from China's central
bank and the market last year for operating capital, annual interest payment
would be about US$8 billion. With only the bank shares, the market estimates
that CIC is entitled to dividends amounting up to 55 billion yuan, or US$7.8
billion - almost enough to cover the interest payment - after the valuation of
those lenders tripled. However, Wang has not denied the sovereign wealth fund
manager might have plans to sell its stakes in the securities firms, held
through CIC subsidiary Central Huijin. 
China's labor
minister admitted yesterday the booming economy faced a "very severe"
unemployment situation as millions of new job seekers join the market every
year. The flood of new entrants in both urban and rural areas will continue for
a long time, Labor and Social Security Minister Tian Chengping said. "The
employment situation that we are currently facing is very severe. The main
reason is that 20 million new job seekers emerge every year in the countryside
and in the cities. This will continue for a very long time." Tian said measures
to deal with the problem included encouraging more start-ups and providing
retraining for workers with outdated skills. Premier Wen Jiabao has called for
more measures to increase jobs, saying the urban jobless rate should be kept
below 4.5 percent this year, compared with a 4.6 percent target last year. "We
must redouble our efforts to increase employment, a matter that is crucial to
people's well-being," Wen said in his annual work report. Unemployment and
inflation are the two top priorities for policy makers, because they affect, or
threaten to affect, a large proportion of the population. The main reason the
government is targeting at least 8 percent growth every year is to ensure enough
new jobs will be created to avoid social unrest. There is no clear picture of
the extent of the jobless issue, as unemployment statistics are notoriously
unreliable, and probably higher than the 4 percent reported for the end of last
year. They tend to understate the true scale of the problem by, for instance,
not counting rural unemployment or workers fired from state-owned firms.
China's stock
market may have come off the boil but hot money is still likely to be attracted
by the appreciating currency and comparatively high interest rates, senior
officials said. Last year, China abandoned its strategy of keeping yuan interest
rates below those of the US dollar in an attempt to cool down stock and property
markets that were sucking in money. But the weak outlook for other markets
because of the US subprime crisis, combined with aggressive US rate cuts, have
made mainland markets attractive again. "Though China's stock market also
suffered some losses due to the global turbulence, I think people in the market,
by making comparisons, will prefer to put their money in places where the impact
is relatively small," Sun Gongsheng, head of the Nanjing branches of the
People's Bank of China and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, said on
the NPC sidelines. China's robust economic outlook also makes it attractive to
international speculators. The central bank raised benchmark interest rates six
times last year, which, together with other cooling policies, has brought the
main stock index down 30 percent from its October 16 peak. China's foreign
exchange reserves jumped by a record US$61.6 billion (HK$480.48 billion) in
January to reach US$1.59 trillion, renewing the debate on whether Beijing is
attracting new flows of speculative money. The increase was twice as great as
the combined inflows from the trade surplus and foreign direct investment in the
month. There is now about US$500 billion of hot money in China, former
statistics chief Li Deshui has estimated. "Many new changes have happened
recently on the global market. And Chinese stocks and property are still one of
the few harbors for global capital," Li said. "We still haven't dampened
overexpectations on the yuan's rise and have not effectively controlled large
amounts of illegal hot money inflows. Otherwise, our international payments
imbalance and excess liquidity will get worse.
China's central
government gives all-out support to Donald Tsang Yam-kuen and Edmund Ho Hau Wah,
chief executives of the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions
(SAR), and their government work, top legislator Wu Bangguo said Friday. Wu,
chairman of the Standing Committee of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC),
made the remarks while joining a panel discussion of NPC deputies from Hong Kong
and Macao at the parliamentary session. "The central government will continue
implementing the 'one country, two systems' policy unwaveringly, enhance
communication with the two SARs, and help them pursue a better future," he said.
Noting that Hong Kong and Macao have made great economic, social and democratic
progress, Wu urged Hong Kong and Macao people to support their governments' work
and boost social harmony. 
The head of British-based bank Standard
Chartered on Friday said he saw the present global market turbulence continuing
for several more months. “The financial markets’ problems are starting to affect
the real economy,” Peter Sands, chief executive of the London-based bank, told a
news conference, adding that “many problems” still needed to be resolved in that
regard. But Mr Sands said Standard Chartered would keep looking at further
opportunities to for acquisitions. “We will keep investing to continue rapid
growth,” he said. Standard Chartered beat forecasts with a 27 per cent rise in
profits for last year announced last week. The bank took a US$300 million
write-down on its exposure to risky assets for last year, a modest total
compared to losses at other major banks. The write-down included a US$116
million hit on its Whistlejacket structured investment vehicle. “We now have
minimal financial exposure to Whistlejacket,” Mr Sands said on Friday. Mr Sands
also said the company did not plan to re-list Seoul-based SC First Bank, which
it acquired in 2005 for US$3.3 billion. South Korea, where Standard Chartered
made its biggest-ever acquisition in 2005, remained a problem area last year,
with profits tumbling 29 per cent. The Korean results were the one blemish in an
otherwise stellar year. Profits from Hong Kong jumped one-third last year while
earnings in the mainland rose 72 per cent and Indian profits 71 per cent. Mr
Sands reiterated his confidence in the Korean unit. “I see SC First Bank as
being a really sustained source of strong profit growth for the group,” he said.
Standard Chartered in January bought a mutual savings bank from Korea’s
government restructuring agency for a reported sum of about US$160 million.
Standard Chartered is also reported to have bid for Hannuri Investment and
Securities and LIG Life Insurance last year. Both were snapped up by rivals. Mr
Sands reiterated his group’s interest in forming a holding company in Korea as
part of efforts to strengthen brokerage and insurance businesses. A holding
company format would help sell financial products and transfer staff under the
group, and be in line with government wishes, the company has said in the past.
Taiwan's presidential hopefuls face off
on Sunday in their final debate before the March 22 vote, with frontrunner Ma
Ying-jeou likely to come under fire for favoring closer ties with China,
analysts say. Mr Ma, a former Taipei mayor standing for the opposition
Kuomintang (KMT) party, has a comfortable 20-point lead over former premier
Frank Hsieh of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), latest polls show.
The Hong Kong-born and Harvard-educated Ma is heavily favored to succeed
outgoing independence-leaning President Chen Shui-bian, especially after the
Kuomintang crushed Chen’s DPP in January parliamentary elections. But analysts
say Mr Hsieh is hoping to use the debate, less than two weeks before the
presidential polls, to cut into Ma’s lead by slamming his plans for stronger
trade ties with China, which sees Taiwan as part of its territory. “Hsieh may
target the KMT presidential ticket’s proposal for setting up a ‘common market’
with China,” said Liu Bih-rong, a political science professor at Soochow
University. Mr Ma says the plan is aimed at revitalizing the island’s flagging
economy – a key concern for voters – but Hsieh has said it would be tantamount
to creating a single “China market” that would undermine Taiwan’s sovereignty.
“The 200 million jobless Chinese could flock to Taiwan... and lots of people
here would lose their jobs,” Mr Hsieh told supporters at a rally in Taipei this
week. Lee Shiao-feng, a professor at the National Taipei University of
Education, agreed that Hsieh’s best bet on Sunday will be to attack Ma on his
China policy, in a bid to win over pro-independence voters. He said the DPP’s
television ad on the “common market” had “impressed a lot of people because they
realized the issue could affect how they live in the future.” “Hsieh may also
continue to question Ma’s integrity and his loyalty towards Taiwan,” Mr Liu
noted. Mr Ma has pledged to make the economy the focus of the debate – a shrewd
strategy, analysts say, as the KMT rode promises of improved growth and job
creation to victory in January, winning an overwhelming parliamentary majority.
Mr Ma has promised annual growth of six per cent, up from the current estimated
4.5 per cent, and a three per cent drop in unemployment within eight years if
elected. He and running mate Vincent Siew have pledged to bolster economic,
trade, tourism and civic exchanges with mainland China. Beijing and Taipei have
been bitter rivals since their split in 1949 at the end of a civil war. Taiwan
has since banned direct trade and transport exchanges but began liberalizing
mainland-bound investments in the early 1990s. Mr Ma has pledged to allow more
Chinese tourists to visit the island, and vowed to seek talks with Beijing on
re-establishing direct air links soon after taking office if elected. The two
candidates will answer questions from journalists before grilling each other
during the 2.5-hour debate, organizers said. “Since Ma has gained the upper hand
in the race, he is not going to go on the offensive in the debate or in the last
days of campaigning,” predicted George Tsai, a political science professor at
Chinese Culture University. “All he has to do is to defend his gains.” Mr Chen
will retire after his second and last four-year term ends in May. 
Chinese
President Hu Jintao met here on Friday with former U.S. President George Bush.
Hailing the progress of China-U.S. relations in recent years, Hu said that to
develop healthy, stable bilateral ties was in the common interest of both sides
and had great significance for peace and development of the Asian-Pacific region
and the world at large. China was willing to properly handle divergence and
major concerns through dialogue and beef up bilateral exchanges and cooperation
on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, Hu said. He said
that he appreciated Bush's efforts to boost China-U.S. friendship. He also
briefed the former U.S. leader about China's stance on the Taiwan issue and its
preparations for the Beijing Olympic Games. Calling U.S.-China relations one of
the world's most important bilateral ties, Bush said that he was happy with the
development of the progress of bilateral relations and expressed confidence that
there would be even closer ties with China. As the honorary president of the
U.S. delegation for the Olympic Games, Bush said he expected to be back in China
in August to watch the Games. Calling the Olympics a world sports festival, Bush
said that he opposed politicizing the event and expected a complete success for
the Games. 
Chinese basketball superstar Yao Ming promised his countrymen he would do his
utmost to recover from a broken foot that has cast doubt on his role at the
Beijing Olympics. “I will definitely make the greatest effort possible to
recover from this difficulty and don the national uniform in the best possible
physical condition for the Beijing 2008 Olympics campaign,” the Houston Rockets
centre said in a letter issued through Chinese media. On Monday, Yao underwent
surgery on the stress fracture in his left foot, which the Rockets described as
successful. He is expected to have to wait three to four months before beginning
rehab, leaving little over a month to prepare for the Games which open on August
8. The injury has caused much hand-wringing in China amid fears that the
lynchpin of the nation’s basketball medal hopes might not be at his best during
the Games. China also had been promoting the globally popular Yao as one of the
key faces of the Olympics. Yao has said he hopes to be ready in time. “So far,
the operation has been a great success and soon I will begin physical therapy
and rehabilitation,” Yao said. He added that his confidence was buoyed by the
timely discovery of the injury and the top-quality care he has been provided by
the Rockets. The self-effacing Yao also thanked Chinese fans for their support,
calling it a crucial part of his success. “You have not hesitated to give me
tremendous support and encouragement, constantly driving me forward. Amid this,
I want to say to everyone: thanks for your concern and support.” The Rockets had
won 12 games in a row before Yao’s injury was discovered, but the absence of
their star centre hasn’t slowed them one bit. Houston stretched that streak to
17 with a 116-110 win over Western Conference rivals the Dallas Mavericks on
Friday (Hong Kong time).
Mao Zedong's family and descendants still command great media attention at the
annual meeting of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
Replacing his mother - Mao's daughter-in-law Shao Hua - as a CPPCC delegate,
38-year-old Mao Xinyu was mobbed by reporters yesterday as he attended a CPPCC
discussion group for the first time. Senior Colonel Mao, a researcher at the
Academy of Military Science, walked and talked casually. But he appeared
uncomfortable when confronted by dozens of microphones and cameras. He said
improving the military's weaponry was one of his areas of concern. And he
emphasised the importance of following principles set down by his grandfather.
"It was a wise decision of Chairman Mao to propel technological development
through defence build-up. We should deepen development based on the foundation
of current achievements," he said. Senior Colonel Mao stressed the need for
China to continue developing space technology, since space would be a very
important battleground in the future.
Beijing
citizens planning to celebrate the "People's Olympics" by becoming the first to
stage an event in the showpiece Bird's Nest stadium had their dreams dashed
yesterday. The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (Bocog)
announced further delays to the opening date, citing finishing touches. But
officials guaranteed the scheduled test events, including a competitive marathon
and an athletics meeting in late April and May would go ahead. However, 20,000
Beijingers planning to finish a fun run on the newly laid track to celebrate the
stadium's completion will miss their chance to make history. "The main
structure's completed but the finishing touches and the requirements of the
opening and closing ceremonies mean it will be not be ready until April," said
Sun Weide, of Bocog. He added: "But it will be ready for the first test event."
The 91,000-seater stadium was due for completion along with the other 35 venues
by the end of last year, but preparations for the opening and closing ceremonies
caused an initial delay until the end of March. Zhang Hengli, the deputy general
manager of the company that owns the HK$3 billion-plus property, also assured
the test events would not be affected. But he ruled out the planned public event
that was due to take place in early April. "Other than two April test events and
a further one in May, we will not be playing host to any other events in the
run-up to the Games," Zhang told the SCMP last night. Sun Kanglin, the chief of
the Beijing Municipal Sports Administration, said in January that more than
20,000 Beijing residents would be allowed access into the Bird's Nest for the
final laps of their fun marathon, an event, he said, that was to symbolise the
People's Olympics theme.
Children wrap
dumplings together with their moms at the Golden Dock Bilingual Art Kindergarten
in Caohu, East China's Anhui Province, March 6, 2008.
Tung Chee-Hwa (L), vice chairman of the
10th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative
Conference (CPPCC) and former and the first chief executive of the Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), joins in the panel discussion of Hong
Kong delegation on the opening day of the First Session of the 11th NPC in
Beijing, China, March 5, 2008.
Bucking tradition,
Sun Hung Kai Properties (0016) held its results announcement yesterday with all
three Kwok brothers conspicuous by their absence. Whether the absence of Walter,
Thomas and Raymond Kwok was the right move from a public relations perspective,
an expert in the field said a no- show at such a critical moment may cause some
damage to SHKP's corporate image by arousing even more doubts and speculation.
"But it may be too risky otherwise as the Kwoks' reaction to potentially
irritating questions is totally unpredictable," one PR expert told The Standard.
However, he added: "This is all they can do for now." Another PR expert said the
brothers' refusal to front the results announcement might prove to be the best
strategy for damage control. The news briefing to announce a 17 percent growth
in the city's largest developer's half-year core earnings was held at 5pm
yesterday, but SHKP was unable to confirm the go-ahead until just three hours
earlier. Director Thomas Chan Kui-yuen hosted the conference on behalf of Walter
Kwok Ping-sheung, the chairman who is on leave. Last month, The Standard
exclusively revealed Kwok was forced to take a sabbatical by his mother over the
increasing influence of a female friend in the company. To explain the three
siblings' absence, director Michael Wong Yick- kam said the developer wanted to
clearly separate company matters from personal issues. "The board has passed a
resolution that the two vice chairmen, Raymond and Thomas, would step aside from
the event," Wong said. The company apologized for the briefing's arrangement,
but emphasized its operations are not affected by the controversy surrounding
Walter Kwok. But, as expected, reporters threw questions about the missing
targets, including requests for clarification to reports that SHKP had made some
suspicious deals that strayed from its known conservative strategy. In
particular, as Wong confirmed, the company was the purchaser in September of
Oterprise Square, an office-retail complex in Tsim Sha Tsui, paying HK$2 billion
- more than what market watchers thought the property was worth. Wong stressed
it was the Kwok family - and not SHKP - that acquired the Express by Holiday Inn
Hotel in Causeway Bay late last year for HK$1.58 billion. "Buying a completed
hotel is not our strategy," he added. In its interim results, the company posted
a 24.9 percent increase in net profit to HK$13.63 billion, or HK$17.26 per
share, for the six months ended December 31, buoyed by investment valuation
gains. Underlying profit was a better-than- expected HK$6.2 billion,
attributable to the sale of flats at higher margins and strong rental income.
SHKP will pay an interim dividend of 80 HK cents per share, up 10 HK cents from
last year. 
PCCW (0008) reported
net profit rose 20 percent to HK$1.503 billion, broadly in line with forecasts,
after its mobile business broke even a year ahead of schedule. Revenue at
billionaire Richard Li Tzar-kai's telecoms flagship fell 7 percent to HK$23.715
billion on lower contributions from property unit Pacific Century Premium
Developments (0432). Revenue from PCCW's core businesses, which excludes the
PCPD contributions, rose 12 percent to HK$20.581 billion. Earnings before
interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization at PCCW's fixed-line business
rose 6 percent to HK$7.435 billion after it maintained market share and raised
prices for business customers. PCCW's mobile unit swung to an Ebitda gain in the
second half of the year and exactly broke even for the year, improving from the
HK$186 million Ebitda loss recorded in 2006. The company's pay-TV unit, Now TV,
increased its number of customers by 16 percent to 882,000 as of the end of
December. The number of subscribers paying for TV content rose 25 percent to
628,000. A final dividend of 13.5 HK cents per share was declared. Net profit at
property unit Pacific Century Regional Developments fell 19 percent to HK$784
million. PCPD declared no final dividend. Group managing director Alex Arena
confirmed a consortium including PCCW received a fixed-line license last week
from the Saudi Arabian government. PCCW is the operating partner and has a
minority stake in the venture, he said. Broadband Internet services will
"definitely" be part of the company's offerings in Saudi Arabia, he added. "We
do have some good prospects, not only domestically," Arena said. 
A scale-model of the Olympic
Village is displayed in Beijing, capital of China, March 5, 2008. Olympic
Village Covering an area of 66 hectares, the village has 42 buildings and will
house 16,000 athletes, coaches and officials during the Beijing Olympic Games.
The village will be officially opened on July 27 for the Olympics and August 30
for the Paralympics.
A model
poses with a miniature replica of the official Beijing Olympic Torch during its
launch in Beijing March 6, 2008. The replica is 29cm long, representing the 29th
modern Olympic Games, and is made from excess steel left over from the
construction of the National Stadium also known as Bird's Nest.
A ship carrying 5,668 containers started its voyage from
Yantai toward the Middle East on Monday, marking the inauguration of a new
shipping line for the Yantai Port. 
Landmark ruling means ex-wives get half the family wealth - A man's "better
half" is worth exactly that, the Court of Appeal ruled yesterday. In a landmark
decision, the panel of appeal judges overturned a June 30, 2006, decision by a
deputy district judge to grant the wife one-third of her husband's assets of
HK$4.6 million in a divorce ruling - which amounted to HK$1.5 million. In
yesterday's judgment, appeal judge Peter Cheung Chak-yau embraced the notion of
equality in division and said the former one-third rule had been disapproved of
in one case as far back as the 1980s. "On marriage, the parties commit to
sharing their lives. It is a partnership of equals. The husband may work while
the wife may stay at home to take care of the family. Their contributions are
nonetheless equal," the judge said. "In divorce, the principle and spirit
underlining the union should be reflected in the division of the family assets.
"The division should proceed on the basis of fairness and this necessarily means
there is no room for discrimination between husband and wife." Cheung said the
"reasonable requirements" matrimonial principle that had served Hong Kong for
nearly two decades should be disregarded and replaced by the new approach. "The
equality principle is fully embraced in the Basic law and Bill of Rights of Hong
Kong. One cannot see any discernible difference in the social and economic
context of these two places which may justify a retention of the former
matrimonial practice which is no longer applied in the United Kingdom," he said.
"In my view one can safely reject the notion that appeared in some previous
cases that equality in treatment does not necessarily mean equality in
division." Another appeal judge, Johnson Lam Man-hon, agreed the reasonable
requirement principle was outdated. The couple, both in their 40s, were married
in Hong Kong in 1996. They had no children. They jointly applied for divorce in
June 2003. In a joint application, the pair also asked the court to make the
terms of an agreement reached between them on the division of the matrimonial
assets an order of the court. Three months later, in September 2003, a divorce
decree nisi was pronounced but the financial arrangement was adjourned. The wife
later alleged there was non- disclosure by the husband when they entered into
the agreement and therefore she refused to comply with the terms they had
reached earlier. The husband is a businessman while the wife, a former mainland
resident and a graduate of Tsinghua University, left her job and became a
housewife after they were married. The wife said she had, at one time, suffered
from depression and had an operation in 2002 to remove a tumor in her uterus.
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (0388)
beat analysts' estimates to post a record net profit of HK$6.17 billion last
year on soaring trading volume. For the year ended December 31, 2007, the local
bourse operator's net income jumped 145 percent from HK$2.52 billion in 2006,
capping a fourth consecutive year of record earnings. Earning per share rose to
HK$5.78 from HK$2.37, and it declared a final dividend of HK$3.40 per share,
making its total dividend for 2007 HK$5.19, a 144 percent rise from 2006. The
revenue of Asia's third largest bourse operator more than doubled to HK$8.39
billion, bolstered by turnover- related income, which jumped 121 percent to
HK$5.29 billion. Average daily turnover of local stocks soared 160 percent to
HK$88.1 billion, fuelled by hopes of inflows from the mainland after Beijing
said in mid- August that it would let Chinese citizens invest directly in the
Hong Kong stocks. Analysts doubt HKEx will be able to generate similar income
this year, citing shrinking turnover amid mounting subprime-related losses and
the prospect of recession in the US. "We believe the macro headwinds in China-
high inflation and tightening measures- and the US will likely dampen market
sentiment," Goldman Sachs said, cutting its rating for HKEx to "neutral" from
"buy" and its target price by 51 percent to HK$147. Eighty-three new companies
listed on the main board last year, up 46 percent from 2006, while 6,312
warrants were listed in the derivatives market, a jump of 124 percent, helping
to raise the income from listing fees by 48 percent to HK$688.53 million. 
Hong Kong has 26 billionaires this year
on Forbes magazine’s annual rich list – five more than last year. The number of
billionaires in Asia increased more than 30 per cent from last year, according
to Forbes magazine’s annual billionaires’ list, released on Thursday, showed.
The mainland and Hong Kong had 42 and 26 billionaires, respectively. If grouped
together, they lead the Asian list. Asians accounted for 211 people on the list,
up from 160 last year, with India counting 53, up from 36 in 2007, and the
mainland, which had just 20 billionaires last year, now claiming 42. In total,
there are around 1,125 people around the world making the list this year, up
from 946 last year, representing a total net worth of US$4.4 trillion (HK$34.2
trillion) and a dramatic increase from US$3.5 trillion in 2007. “A lot of the
fortunes in China and Asia in general are in real estate and infrastructure
development as the booming economies basically build up to handle all of the
growth,” said Forbes’ senior editor Luisa Kroll. Hong Kong businessman Li Ka-shing
was the highest-placed billionaire from eastern Asia and ranked 11 out of 20
among world’s richest billionaires, with a fortune of US$26.5 billion, followed
by the three Kwok brothers – Walter, Thomas Kwok Ping-kwong and Raymond Kwok
Ping-lue ranked 23rd, with a fortune of US$19.9 billion. Also making the top 40
billionaire list was Lee Shau Kee, the property developer and majority owner of
Henderson Land Development (SEHK: 0012) ranked 29th with a fortune of US$19
billion. China’s Yang Hui-yan was the top placed figure in China. The
26-year-old Yang inherited her US$7.4-billion wealth when her father transferred
his shares in the Country Garden Holdings property company he founded into his
daughter’s name. Japan, which last year lost Asia’s leading spot after 20 years
at the top, by contrast counted only 24 tycoons on the list, unchanged from last
year and down from 27 in 2006. India placed third in the world for the number of
billionaires, trailing the United States, which easily led the rankings with 469
billionaires up from 415 last year, and Russia with 87. Four Indians figured in
the top 10, with steel giant Lakshmi Mittal placed fourth with US$45 billion,
followed by petrochemicals tycoon Mukesh Ambani with US$43 billion dollars and
his estranged brother Anil Ambani on US$42 billion. Property magnate K.P. Singh
came in eighth on the list, with a fortune estimated at US$30 billion. Gautam
Adani, an Indian college dropout who made his money building Mundra Port – a
private sector port on India’s west coast, was the richest newcomer in Asia with
a personal fortune of US$9.3 billion. Australia counted the most billionaires in
the Asia-Pacific region with 14, followed by South Korea with 12 and Malaysia
with eight. Taiwan had seven, Indonesia and Singapore both counted five, while
Thailand had three and the Philippines two. According to Forbes annual
billionaire’s list, Warren Buffett has overtaken Bill Gates as the world’s
richest man. The 77-year-old chief of the Berkshire Hathaway holding company,
saw his wealth jump from US$52 billion last year to US$62 billion, pushing
Microsoft co-founder Gates into third position after 13 years at the top.
Mexico’s telecom mogul Carlos Slim Helu grabbed second place with a tidy nest
egg of US$60 billion, up from US$49 billion last year.
Japanese tourists sit on the Waikiki
Trolley as they travel down Kalakaua Ave. in Honolulu, Hawaii, Friday afternoon,
April 30, 2004. Hawaii tourism officials are looking to China and South Korea to
help offset continuing declines in the number of visitors from Japan. Hawaii
tourism officials are looking to China and South Korea to help offset continuing
declines in the number of visitors from Japan, the state's largest source of
foreign tourists. The interest in those markets comes at a time when the overall
number of tourists to Hawaii is also declining. Nearly 7.4 million visitors came
to the islands last year, a drop of 1.2 percent from 2006. While arrivals in
January increased over the same month last year, the number of visitors in 2008
is expected to decline by 1.4 percent. "I wouldn't bet the mortgage on the fact
that January is going to continue," said Rex Johnson, head of the Hawaii Tourism
Authority. While January saw a surge in Canadian visitors, arrivals from Japan
dropped by 5.2 percent. More than 1.3 million Japanese visited Hawaii last year.
Marsha Wienert, state tourism liaison, said more Japanese visitors are not
returning to Hawaii after their first trip in favor of new, cheaper
destinations. Increased fuel costs are leading to higher ticket prices, she
said. While state tourism officials are trying to increase tourism from Japan,
they are also turning to China and South Korea. South Korean tourist arrivals
have been hovering at around 35,000 a year - far below the high of 123,000 in
1996. Visitors from the country must currently apply for a visa in person at the
US Embassy in Seoul before they leave for the United States. Short-term visitors
from Japan and selected other nations, in contrast, may enter the United States
without obtaining a visa in advance. Tourism officials say they hope South
Koreans will be able to do the same by the end of 2008 or the beginning of next
year under a law signed by US President Bush last year that allows more
countries to qualify for visa waivers. "We are very optimistic once Korea
becomes a visa waiver country ... that Hawaii will reap major benefits where
tourism is concerned," Wienert said. She added that Hawaii also expects to see
increases in visitors from China, where the islands could not actively promote
themselves until recently. But Frank Haas, assistant dean of the school of
travel industry management at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, said the
Chinese face many obstacles in traveling to Hawaii. They must apply for visas in
person and don't have convenient flights to the state, he said. He added that
while the country has a growing middle class, it does not have the spending
power of Japan. "It's just easier, less expensive and less of a hassle for them
to go somewhere else," he said.
A security
guard at a high-speed train in Qingdao in December last year. Qingdao is
building such trains with highest speed of 300km an hour, the first of its kind
made in China.
Flowers bloom
near Slim West Lake, an icon of Yangzhou. Gu ren xi ci huang he lou, Yan hua san
yue xia yang zhou. (An old friend left Huanghe Tower, To visit Yangzhou in the
lovely spring.). These lines were penned by the poet Li Bai in the 7th century.
Fourteen centuries later, they capture the allure of Yangzhou's refined beauty.
Its elegant landscape and the aesthetic lifestyle have made the ancient eastern
city a perfect testament to how crafty the art of enjoying life can be. I
arrived in Yangzhou in early February, just as the weather was getting warmer
after weeks of heavy snow. Steady drops of water glistened in the morning sun as
the melting snow dripped down the centuries-old pavilion-style eaves curling to
the skies. I was born in this town of Jiangsu province. Although I never spent
much time here, I've always felt connected with it in indefinable ways, and I
usually spend the holidays with my relatives here. Before the Chinese New Year
festivities kicked into gear, I found some time to revisit the gardens where I'd
roamed as a child. I started with Slim West Lake (Shou Xihu) park, an icon of
the city's southern beauty. The park is the epitome of a Chinese garden, and
mentioning its name to Yangzhou locals invokes images such as sunlight sifting
through weeping willows, a hidden corner of a rock garden, and a secret cave
view of the moon. I rented a boat and paddled under five-pavilion bridge and
along the narrow waterway (hence the "slim"). It is said the bridge was designed
so that five reflections of the moon can be seen under the five arches when the
moon is full.
Premier Wen Jiabao
warned yesterday that overheating remains the nation's top economic foe even as
global growth softens, vowing a tough fight against price rises and feverish
investment. In his annual "state of the nation" report to parliament, Wen
targeted pollution, misgovernment and the gulf between the urban rich and
farming poor as China prepares to go on show at the Olympic Games. But he mostly
dwelt on the risks that heady inflation poses to China's social fabric and
double-digit growth, which has transformed the country into the world's
fourth-biggest economy. "The current price hikes and increasing inflationary
pressures are the biggest concern of the people," Wen told the National People's
Congress. As Wen and President Hu Jintao head into a second five-year term, they
have vowed to build a "harmonious society" freed of strains over inequality and
noxious air and water. Yet Wen's speech underscored how deeply Beijing remains
preoccupied with generating jobs and lifting incomes, especially for hundreds of
millions of poor farmers, while also taming hectic industrial expansion that has
bucked cooling measures. "The primary task for macroeconomic regulation this
year is to prevent fast economic growth from becoming overheated growth and keep
structural price increases from turning into significant inflation," Wen said.
"Because factors driving prices up are still at work, upward pressure on prices
will remain great this year," he went on, vowing "powerful measures" to counter
inflation, including support for boosting food and grain production. Wen's
report was a warning to local officials, many newly promoted and keen to stand
out with big-spending projects, that fighting inflation should be their
priority, said Mao Shoulong, a public policy expert at the People's University
of China. "Inflation is a test of the government's ability to enforce
macroeconomic controls, and Premier Wen wanted to warn these local officials to
take this test seriously - for economic reasons and for social stability," Mao
said. By contrast, Wen made only glancing reference to the credit crunch and
global economic slowdown that have spooked the United States and Europe, saying
that China would watch developments and "take prompt and flexible measures." Wen
sought to turn some attention to longer-term worries over pollution, inequality
and corruption. To a long burst of applause, he also warned Taiwan, which holds
its presidential election on March 22, that China would never abandon its
demands for "one China." Heavy polluters would be a target of government efforts
to stifle excessive investment, Wen said. He also promised more spending on
sewage treatment, clean energy, and repairing polluted rivers and lakes. The
parliament is due to pass a government reorganization plan intended to cut
red-tape and corruption. "Oversight mechanisms and checks on government
authority are not strong enough," Wen told the delegates, most of them Communist
Party members and state officials.
David Chiu Tat-cheong is very proud of the
fact that his family-owned business, Far East Consortium International (0035),
is completely run by professionals. The son of former Asia Television chairman
Deacon Chiu Te-ken, David Chiu started his career at his father's company Far
East Consortium - the predecessor of Far East Consortium International. "After
graduating in the 70s, I felt that I needed to help manage the family business,
so I did not think of working in other companies," Chiu recalls. At that time,
Chiu worked as a project manager at Lai Chi Kok Amusement Park, which was bought
by his father in 1961. "Similar to many who founded their own business, my
father believes in the family business model. I do not object to family
business. Many successful companies in Asia all started as a family business.
Cheung Kong Holdings (0001), for example, is managed by Li Ka-shing and his
sons. "Yet, when a company has developed to a certain stage, I think there is a
need to decentralize part of that power and let professionals manage the
company." Chiu says due to differences in views with his father over how much
control the family should have on the day-to-day running of the company, Chiu
branched out on his own in the 1980s, seeking his fortune in the Malaysian
real-estate sector. "My father actually offered to help me but I turned down his
offer. If I had taken it, then I would have been just following the family
business model," he says. Chiu set up Malaysia Land with HK$30 million, an
amount he says was rather modest for starting a property developer. From its
first project requiring the building of 88 units Malaysia Land now launches on
average about 2,000 units into the market every year. "Spending my years in
Malaysia, I experienced one thing - it is alright for a company to have either a
completely hands-on or hands-off attitude to management but never let somebody
who lacks expertise manage the business simply because he is family," he says.
Chiu says family members or their representatives can sit on the board of a
company. But actually managing the business is a different ball game. "When a
company has developed to a certain scale, it cannot be run by several family
members any more as it is no longer a small company. Distributing work
systematically is essential," says Chiu. Taking a hands-off approach to
management can be easier said than done. When Chiu advised his father it was
time to loosen the grips, he refused. Chiu faced a similar dilemma when he
decided to quit Malaysia Land - the company that he founded. "I finally
understood how my father felt. It is quite extreme - to leave the place where
you have been working from nine to five everyday." But Chiu realized Malaysia
Land had matured over the years and was best left to professional managers. Even
now, the company has a large enough land bank to be able to launch 2,000-3,000
units in Malaysia every year for the next seven years, says Chiu. So in 1999,
Chiu returned to Far East. "There is a close tie between Far East and me," says
Chiu. "Since I have been back, my father agreed not to meddle in the company's
business. He has kept his word and lets me, and those I hire, to run the
company." Chiu did not make any big moves right after he returned. He has been
scouring around for the right opportunity. "I always believe that the more you
work, the more opportunities you create. Just like girls who go shopping. The
more time they spend browsing around, the higher their chance will be of
securing reasonably-priced good quality goods." His own opportunity, Chiu says,
finally came in 2003. That was the year the Hong Kong property and stock markets
took a tumble after the territory was hit by the SARS virus. Chiu decided to
expand the company's hotel business. Far East has a long way to go, he says.
Looking into the future, Chiu hopes 40 percent of Far East's revenue is derived
from its hotel business, providing a stable recurring income to the company. In
the last fiscal year, 35 percent of the company's revenue - HK$348 million - was
generated by its hotels. "If you want to be successful in the hotel industry,
you got to understand that not all locations are suitable for a five-star
property. You need to match the type of hotels with the location," he says,
adding, a five-star hotel in traffic- heavy Causeway Bay would be very
unsuitable. "Every time I walk out of that hotel I will be hit with the exhaust
from the cars ," says Chiu. "Remember, being professional means you know the
location. You will strive for maximizing profits instead of blindly building
five-star hotels just to boost your company's prestige." 
The Independent Commission Against
Corruption laid two additional charges at the Eastern Magistracy on Tuesday
against the former chairwoman of the General Chamber of Commerce, Lily Chiang
Lai-lei. The ICAC charges are in connection with an alleged share options fraud.
Chiang, the former chairwoman of Eco-Tek Holdings, is alleged to have conspired
with others to defraud Pacific Challenge between February 1 and August 31, 2002.
The anti-graft body said Chiang faced two new charges on Tuesday. The first of
these charges was that she did not disclose the share options she held in Eco-Tek
Holdings when it was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s Growth Enterprise
Market in 2001. Secondly, that Chiang authorised the issue of a prospectus of
Eco-Tek Holdings containing a false statement, Hong Kong media reported. The
move to lay further charges was opposed in court by her lawyer, who argued that
Chiang had not been informed or interviewed about the new charges. Her lawyer
also revealed that Chiang wanted the case tried before a jury in the High Court,
and that she would seek legal advice from Secretary for Justice Wong Yan-lung.
Chiang has been granted bail of HK$1 million. The case will go to trial again on
March 25. Chiang, also a former chairwoman of Pacific Challenge Holdings,
previously faced one count of conspiracy to defraud and two counts of making
false statements over the granting of share options to employees. The charges
are jointly laid against her and former executive director Shah Tahir Hussain.
They are latest development in a series of controversies surrounding Pacific
Challenge. The company has already been the subject of a lengthy investigation
by the Securities and Futures Commission over possible breaches of the takeover
code. The ICAC also alleges Chiang and Shah, a former executive director of the
company, conspired with others to defraud Pacific Challenge between February 1
and August 31, 2002. The charge of conspiracy to defraud alleges they both
falsely represented that options were to be granted to subscribe to a total of
23.88 million shares. The pair also allegedly did not disclose that some or all
of its employees, in whose names the options would be granted, would not be
beneficiaries. The true extent of Chiang’s interest in the share options was
kept from the SFC and the stock exchange, the ICAC alleged. The charges of
making false statements also state that the pair – with another former executive
director – agreed to publish two false written statements on April 22 and June
6, 2002 about the share options. At the time, Chiang was a member of the ICAC’s
Advisory Committee on Hong Kong Ethics Development. Pacific Challenge Holdings
changed its name to New Times Group Holdings in April 2003.
Photo taken on March 3, 2008 shows the evening
view of the National Stadium, nicknamed the Bird's Nest in Beijing, capital of
China. The Stadium was on lighting test on Monday, for the Beijing Olympic Games
in August.
Yao Ming recovered well after a surgery on his left foot,
according to the Houston Rockets team doctor Tom Clanton Monday, who performed
the surgery with another doctor. Tom Clanton and Bill McGarvey performed the
surgery on the All-Star center to repair a stress fracture in Yao's left foot on
Monday morning. After the surgery, Clanton said in a press release, "Yao is
comfortable and recovering well after surgery. We will continue to monitor his
recovery and begin an aggressive rehabilitation once he is physically deemed
ready." Clanton had mentioned the surgery would involve placing screws across
the bone to hold it together with a recovery time of about four months. Doctors
said they did not expect the injury to keep Yao from playing for China in the
upcoming Beijing Olympics in August. "I am very relieved that everything went
well with my surgery today," Yao said in the press release, "I am looking
forward to getting better and starting my physical rehab as soon as the doctors
say I can." "I would like to thank everyone for their kind wishes during this
time," Yao continued, "I look forward to the day that I can rejoin my Rockets
teammates on the bench." The Houston Rockets have won 15 consecutive games,
including three in a row after Yao's season-ending injury. 
The central government on Tuesday said it would not backtrack on a series of
recently introduced economic rules, including more rights for workers, even if
the legislation had made life more difficult for foreign investors. The new
regulatory landscape made doing business in the mainland more predictable and
companies needed to adapt to the changes, Jiang Enzhu, spokesman for China’s
National People’s Congress, told a news conference on Tuesday. The mainland has
unveiled export tax rebate cuts, stiffer pollution controls and a new labour law
over the past year, trying to move away from the cheap manufacturing that has
driven growth but exacted a toll on the environment. Exporters in the mainland’s
industrial heartland in the south have warned in recent weeks that higher costs,
propelled by both the new rules and the yuan’s appreciation, may force thousands
of smaller firms to close their doors and move to cheaper locales. “Even if some
foreign-invested companies and investors can’t get used to China’s policy
changes, most have shown understanding,” Mr Jiang said. “From a long-term
perspective, these rules will increase competitiveness and promote their healthy
development.” Companies have complained loudly about a new labor contract law
that makes it tougher to fire employees, although independent economists said
its impact on costs would be relatively mild. Mr Jiang conceded that some bosses
had skirted the law by making workers accept terms verbally with nothing in
writing. “This is because some companies have taken open-ended contracts to mean
a lifetime or an iron rice bowl,” he said, using the phrase that described
guaranteed employment in the mainland’s command-economy heyday. Mr Jiang was
adamant this was not the case, saying companies could still get rid of poorly
performing workers or cut staff to save costs. Better protection of workers,
along with efforts to rein in the dirtiest industries, are key planks of the
“harmonious society”-style development espoused by President Hu Jintao. A with
most new legislation in the mainland, though, the labor contract and
environmental laws merely lay out broad principles. How those principles are
implemented in practice differs widely across the country.
China would build
its largest offshore wind farm in Guangdong, media reported on Tuesday, in a bid
to alleviate looming power shortages. The facility, covering a sea area of 240
square kilometers, includes a 1,250 megawatt wind farm, an 8,000 megawatt power
plant and a dock construction project, the Xinhua news agency said. The city of
Lufeng, close to the farm’s planned location, and Guangdong Baolihua New Energy
Stock last week signed an agreement on the project, according to earlier media
reports, which gave no financial details. A power crunch has plagued Guangdong,
the country’s industrial powerhouse, for years, and this year shortages threaten
to become the worst in three decades due to demand and also damage to
transmission lines caused by prolonged cold weather. Local government officials
said the wind farm was expected to “relieve the energy pressure and optimize the
energy structure” in the province, according to Xinhua.
HSBC Holdings
(0005) yesterday reported 2007 net profit jumped 21 percent to US$19.133 billion
(HK$149.24 billion), near the top end of analyst forecasts, as stellar results
in Asia subsidized mounting troubles in its US businesses. Net profit at Asia
subsidiary Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp soared 53.9 percent to HK$58.028
billion, including dilution gains of HK$4.735 billion from investments in its
mainland associates. "We believe that HSBC has produced a relatively comforting
set of 2007 results," Citi analyst Tom Rayner said. HSBC's London-listed shares
rose 1.8 percent in mid-afternoon trading after the results announcement. The
London-based lender reported that net operating income climbed 12.7 percent to
US$61.751 billion. Net interest income rose 10 percent to US$37.795 billion
after net interest margin narrowed to 2.91 percent, from 3.10 percent in 2006.
Loan impairment charges jumped 63 percent to US$17.242 billion, mostly
concentrated in HSBC's US consumer business. HSBC recorded write downs of US$2.1
billion in its global banking and markets division after dislocations in the
credit market drove down the market value of debt held by HSBC. "I do not rule
out further asset value reductions," HSBC group chief executive Michael
Geoghegan said. The bank said it does not have any "material holdings" of
collateralized debt obligations backed by US subprime assets. The company
declared a fourth interim dividend of US$0.39 per share. Total dividends for the
year rose 11.1 percent to US$0.90 per share. At Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, net
operating income improved 38.5 percent to HK$121.204 billion. Net interest
income increased 22.8 percent to HK$62.761 billion after net interest margins
widened to 2.37 percent, from 2.31 percent in 2006. For the lender's Hong Kong
business, profit before tax jumped 41.6 percent to HK$53.792 billion. Net
interest income in Hong Kong rose 17 percent to US$5.483 billion, although net
interest margin contracted to 2.27 percent, from 2.29 percent in 2006. Group
chairman Stephen Green said the outlook for the rest of this year remains
uncertain and stressed emerging markets have only partly decoupled from the
United States. "The USA will probably get worse before it gets better,"
Geoghegan said. "Across Asia Pacific generally, there may be a slight slowing of
growth, but probably not until 2009." Meanwhile, the HSBC announced
non-executive directors Lydia Dunn, Brian Moffat, and Robin Butler will step
down from the group board on May 30. Sandy Flockhart, HSBC's Asia chief
executive, and Stuart Gulliver, CEO of the global banking and markets division,
will join the board on May 1, HSBC said. Oracle Corp president Safra Catz and
Infosys Technologies chairman Narayana Murthy will join as non-executive
directors. 
Hang Seng Bank (0011)
yesterday reported that its 2007 net profit jumped 51.5 percent over the
previous year to HK$18.2 billion - beating the higher end of market estimates of
about HK$17 billion. Earnings per share were HK$9.54, up from HK$6.30. A final
dividend of HK$6.30 per share was declared, a rise of HK$1.10 from 2006.
Excluding the unrealized gain of HK$1.47 billion on the dilution of Hang Seng's
investment in its strategic China partner, Industrial Bank, profit before tax
climbed 39 percent to about HK$20 billion, underpinned by strong growth in
interest and fee income. Net fee income soared 96.9 percent to HK$6.89 billion,
mainly driven by strong growth in its wealth management business. "We doubled
wealth management income in 2007," said Hang Seng Bank chief executive Raymond
Or Ching-fai. "Capitalizing on positive investor sentiment, we achieved
significant success with our investment, insurance and private banking
businesses." Securities-related income surged 146.6 percent, while net interest
income jumped 25.9 percent to HK$14.7 billion. Net interest margin rose by 21
basis points to 2.23 percent. Or said the margin will remain stable this year.
Loan impairment charges and other credit risk provisions last year shot up 118.2
percent to HK$576 million. "The surge has nothing to do with subprime. It was
only an individual case caused by a corporate banking client. I am optimistic
toward this year's credit quality," Or said. Operating expenses rose 26.9
percent to HK$6.65 billion because of the bank's network expansion plan in
China. By 2010, Hang Seng Bank, a subsidiary of HSBC Holdings (0005), expects to
increase its number of mainland branches to 50. Hang Seng Bank shares closed
yesterday at HK$147.10, falling 2percent.
MTR Corp (0066)
yesterday invited developers to submit expressions of interest in a HK$5.8
billion residential project atop Che Kung Temple station in Sha Tin. The
development on the Ma On Shan line station would occupy a site of 195,122 square
feet of area, on which more than 975,448 sq ft of floor area will be built,
accommodating 1,240 apartments in four towers of 36 or 37 stories. The winning
developer will be responsible to build a kindergarten. Submissions close on
March 10. The railway operator will open a formal tender after the land premium
is determined. Most large surveyor firms estimate the premium at HK$3.9 billion,
or HK$4,000 psf. CB Richard Ellis believes it would be set at HK$3.02 billion,
or HK$3,100 psf. Centaline Surveyors managing director Victor Lai Kin-fai raised
his land premium estimate by some 20 percent from more than a year ago, as home
values in the district surged in 2007. Flats at City One Sha Tin have jumped
nearly 30 percent in half a year to HK$4,200 psf, he said. MTRC said it is
considering absorbing half of the land premium. Charles Chan Chiu-kwok, managing
director of Savills Valuation and Professional Services, said construction cost
would hit HK$2,000 psf, bringing the total investment to HK$5.8 billion. Midland
Surveyors director Alvin Lam Tsz-pun expects the completed project to be sold at
HK$6,500 psf. Knight Frank executive director Alnwick Chan Chi-hing said while
the site does not have a very nice view, and building density is high in the
area, he still sees potential as flats at railway stations are popular with
homebuyers. The Che Kung Temple station development is the first of three
projects MTRC plans to put forward this year. Two other developments will both
be on Tsuen Wan West station on West Rail, providing a total of 5,026 units.
We can learn from HK,
says health minister - The mainland should learn from Hong Kong when reforming
its health-care sector, according to Health Minister Chen Zhu. Speaking on the
sidelines of the opening ceremony of the annual session of the Chinese People's
Political Consultative Conference yesterday, Dr Chen said Hong Kong had set a
good example in providing accessible health care on a reasonable budget. "In
order to set up a basic health-care system covering rural and urban areas,
places such as Hong Kong have provided good experience," he said. "And medical
expenditure in Hong Kong is not too high, it only takes up 5 per cent of the
GDP, it is quite good." Mainland officials have previously refrained from
pinpointing which system Beijing would use as a model for reforming its ailing
health sector. Dr Chen said yesterday there were many good lessons the mainland
could learn from Hong Kong. "Big hospitals in Hong Kong are mainly public
hospitals. Its community-level health-care services are also good and they are
mainly provided by family doctors," he said. Training general practitioners was
now an important task for the mainland, he said. However, unlike in Hong Kong,
Dr Chen said general practitioners on the mainland should work in
government-funded community-level clinics and health-care institutions. "In
developed countries, general practitioners earn more [in private practice] than
those working in hospitals," he said. "But China cannot afford such high costs
and general practitioners should work within the government framework." One of
the aims of the upcoming health-care reforms was to shift patient loads to
community-level institutions. Beijing had pledged to reform its health-care
sector since an official report admitted three years ago that it was a failure.
Dr Chen declined to give a firm date for when the reforms would be unveiled
except to say that they would be rolled out this year. Although debate is
continuing about how to finance public hospitals, Dr Chen said it had been
decided that large public hospitals would have to hand their income to the
government, which would be in charge of overall distribution of funds. The move
aims to force hospitals to wean themselves from relying on medicine
prescriptions for revenue. Dr Chen said the government aimed to provide
universal medical insurance to the entire population by 2020 and a rough
framework was expected to be set up by 2010.
Legislative Council
president Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai is on the list for the proposed presidium of the
National People's Congress, increasing the likelihood of her election as a
member of the NPC Standing Committee. Mrs Fan said she believed she stood a
better chance of becoming a Standing Committee member because her name was on
the list of the NPC presidium released yesterday. The list, released to
deputies, is scheduled to be endorsed at a preparatory session of the NPC this
morning. Mrs Fan, tipped to succeed incumbent Tsang Hin-chi, said a candidate
had to get the backing of more than 2,900 deputies. "I only recognize a few
deputies and the campaign strategy in Hong Kong does not work in this election,"
she said. Mr Tsang said: "Mrs Fan has rich knowledge about Hong Kong and
national affairs and many mainlanders also know her very well." Some NPC
deputies had wanted Mrs Fan and Federation of Trade Unions president Cheng Yiu-tong,
to be put forward to balance the interests of leftists and pro-Beijingers.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong deputies decided to set up three sub-groups - economic,
political and legal, and education, science, cultural and social development -
to ensure a better division of labor among the deputies. Yuen Mo, a director of
Chinese Merchants Group, has been re-elected as head of the Hong Kong
delegation, while Ng Chi-fai was re-elected as a deputy head. 
HK, Macau, Guangdong
should form megalopolis: party boss - Guangdong's new party chief will initiate
the establishment of a "special co-operation zone" with Hong Kong and Macau to
create the biggest megalopolis in China, according to a media report. In a study
on strengthening co-operation between the three administrative regions,
Guangdong provincial party secretary Wang Yang , who is also a member of the
Communist Party Politburo, will put forward a proposal to enhance economic and
cultural exchanges, the pro-Beijing Wen Wei Po reported yesterday. A source said
the proposed "special co-operation zone" would assemble a free-trade area with
its own tariffs, and administrative limitations under "one country, two systems"
would be lifted to enhance the free flow of passengers, goods and funds. A total
of 23 provincial departments and research institutes are participating in the
project. It covers nine topics, including exploring the possibility of creating
a special administrative zone. During last year's CPPCC meeting, delegates
tabled 24 motions relating to co-operation between the three places. Guangdong
had also sought support from the State Council's research office, the Hong Kong
and Macau Affairs Office, the National Development and Reform Commission and the
Ministry of Commerce, to carry out the study, the report said. Mr Wang has
called for "thought liberalization" and "bolder reforms" to help the province
maintain its competitive edge. Priscilla Lau Pui-king, a local deputy to the
National People's Congress, agreed that co-operation needed to be enhanced but a
megalopolis was only a preliminary idea. "There are still a lot of issues to
clear," Professor Lau said. "For example, are there any possible contraventions
with the World Trade Organization's regulations if `free-trade arrangements' are
introduced? What is the central government's assessment of the effect of the
opening up Guangdong's financial market on the whole country?"
Cheung Kong (Holdings) (SEHK: 0001) and MTR Corp have set the average price for
the initial batch of units at the Capitol in Tseung Kwan O at HK$5,133 per
square foot. The price will be offered to buyers of the 60 units in the fifth
block of the project in Lohas Park, a newly developed area near Tseung Kwan O
Industrial Estate, that is being launched today. The Capitol is the first phase
of the Lohas Park development, the first new project to be launched in Hong Kong
this year. The first pre-sale units range between 684 sqft and 960 sqft each,
and are priced from HK$3.44 million to HK$5.38 million, if buyers pay in
instalments. A 5 per cent discount will be granted to buyers who pay in cash.
Prices of the units range between HK$5,021 and HK$5,622 per square foot, about
7.72 per cent higher than the average price achieved in Metro Town in the same
area, according to Centaline Property. Metro Town is a mass residential project
developed by Cheung Kong and MTR Corp, which was completed last year. The
average price at the housing estate was HK$4,765 per square foot. Justin Chiu
Kwok-hung, an executive director of Cheung Kong, yesterday said that the company
would pre-sell all of the Capitol's 2,096 units before the project is completed
in the second quarter of next year. The developer may pre-sell a further 200
units in the next few days if the first batch is well received by the market.
Unit sizes at the Capitol range from 683 sqft to 1,116 sqft. The Lohas Park
development - on Wan Po Road, north of Tseung Kwan O industrial district - will
eventually comprise 50 towers of 46 to 59 floors each, offering 21,500 units
with a gross residential floor area of 17.36 million sqft. Shares of Cheung Kong
rose 1.26 per cent to end at HK$119.90 yesterday.
A fisherman in China's Zhejiang province
has netted a fish that, according to local tradition, may sell for over 1
million yuan (about 140,000 U.S. dollars). Li Shaoshuang, from Cangnan county of
the coastal province, caught it in his Saturday's first cast while working
offshore nearby the Xiangshan harbor. "It is dark brown all over, 1.2-meter long
and 15-kg in weight," said the veteran fisherman Li who has already frozen the
fish. "It's my first time to see this kind of fish." A fellow 60-year-old
fisherman who came with others to Li to get a glance of the fish told him in
great surprise that it is Bahaba flavolabiata (Chinese bahaba) which have
disappeared from the site for at least 50 years. Due to its extreme scarcity,
the air bladder of Chinese bahaba is said to be as expensive as gold in weight.
More than a decade ago, another fisherman of the same county caught a Chinese
bahaba of less than 3.5 kg but fetched for more than 100,000. Therefore,
fishermen on the scene urged Li to ask for at least 1 million for his. To make
sure it is a sky-high pricing Chinese bababa, the fishermen sent for an aquatic
research institution expert the next day, who uttered the appearance should tell
it's a Chinese bahaba no doubt, but, still, a dissection is needed to make sure
it is not another species similar to Chinese bahaba. Li declined the expert's
suggestion in fear that it would ruin the fish and lower the selling price. He
also turned down a fish vendor's offer of 500,000 for this queer fish, making it
clear he would not let it go for less than 1 million. In April 2007, a fisherman
in Zhanjiang City, Guangdong province, netted a 49-kg Chinese bahaba and sold to
a restaurant for 580,000 yuan. The restaurant cooked the fish meat but has kept
the dried maw since, tagging it at 2 million yuan with words "not for sale."
In a project called Vision Beijing to
promote the 2008 Olympic host city, Beijing municipality invited Italian
Giuseppe Tornatore, Majid Majidi from Iran, Patrice Leconte of France, Daryl
Goodrich of Britain as well as Andrew Lau Wai Keung from Hong Kong to each make
a five-minute Olympic promotional film, which were broadcast by television
stations inside and outside of China last Thursday. In Leconte's "Beijing-A Film
Impressionistic," there is no storyline but like an impressionist painting.
There are many images like kites flying in the sky, the Great Wall, the Temple
of Heaven, the National Stadium and people performing acrobatics in this
impressionistic "painting". In comparison with Leconte's images, Andrew Lau
focuses his camera on enticing food in Beijing. In the Hongkonger's five-minute
movie, he shows the delicious buffet of food, including Peking duck in fancy
restaurants and snack stands along the street. The shots of the food are enough
to make any viewer hungry. Following his signature theme of children, Majidi has
them in his film to send Beijing's best wishes for the Olympics and hopes for a
harmonious world. Named "Colors Fly", the short movie features a group of
children who fly balloons in the five colors of the Olympic rings. As the
children ride the bicycles on the street, they release the balloons with wishes
written on them. Young athletes are the main theme of Goodrich's film. The
British director was inspired by a local youth's three questions about China's
role in the modern Olympics. The movie answers the queries by affirming China's
status in the sporting world and its big contribution to the Olympics. Finally,
compared with the other four films, Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore's work
is a complete story. His film begins with a busy Beijing morning, when a bus
driver surnamed Li recognizes an elderly woman doing tai chi in the park is his
former teacher. What follows are scenes of people with various occupations, like
construction workers, Peking opera singers and tricycle riders. The story
follows with Li writing to her former classmates to organize a reunion with
their teacher. 
Hundreds of
thousands of police, security guards and volunteers patrolled Beijing yesterday,
ready to pounce on the slightest hint of dissent in the Olympic host city as the
government top advisory body, the Chinese People's Political Consultative
Conference, opened its annual session. And with National People's Congress
deputies from around the country gathering in the capital for tomorrow's opening
of the annual NPC meeting, authorities have left nothing to chance, demanding
security forces regard the two-week meeting with the same urgency they would for
the Olympics in August. Police were out in force outside the Great Hall of the
People, the giant building abutting Tiananmen Square where the two meetings are
being held. A few blocks east of the square, grocer Liu Xiang, 33, like many
people, could only guess at what the fuss was all about: "I suppose there's some
meeting between the leaders. Who knows what they talk about? How would I know?
I'm just a common person." Beijing has called on People's Liberation Army
troops, the paramilitary People's Armed Police, city police, security guards and
urban management officials to fan out across city streets. In and around
Tiananmen Square, volunteers with red arm bands stood watch every 100 metres or
so in the bright spring sun. More than a million volunteers were to stand at
street corners and bus stations, and patrol local communities "as a rehearsal
for the Olympics", Xinhua said. Their ranks would include 80,000 Olympic
volunteers who would also "assist with urban beautification", the Beijing Youth
Daily said. All aviation activity involving "sport, recreation and advertising"
within a 200km radius of Tiananmen Square had been put on hold, the Public
Security Bureau said in a statement to six provinces surrounding Beijing. Local
officials were also asked to keep track of the activities involving
"parasailing, paragliders and private light aircraft" in their regions, the
bureau said. While government websites have invited internet users to air their
grievances, authorities have taken great pains to ensure their complaints are
not delivered to NPC deputies and CPPCC delegates in person. Shanghai resident
Cai Zhengrong, who has been trying to get compensation after his house was
demolished to make way for luxury apartments, said yesterday he was detained
shortly after he arrived in Beijing with the intention of petitioning the
central government. "When I got off the train today I was forced into an
underground room on an unknown street by people whose identities I do not know,"
Mr Cai said by text message. He was unable to be reached after that.
Top filmmaker
Zhang Yimou said director Steven Spielberg's resignation as an adviser to the
Beijing Olympics was "quite regrettable", but would not affect the Games, China
News Service reported. Zhang and Spielberg were working on the direction team
for the opening and closing ceremonies for the August Games, widely expected to
be a spectacular affair showcasing the nation's culture. The absence of the
three-time Oscar winner, who pulled out last month over Beijing's policy on the
conflict in the western Sudanese region of Darfur, would not have any effect on
the opening ceremony, the agency quoted Zhang as saying. The 56-year-old gave
little else away when entering the Great Hall of the People for the opening of
the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Spielberg said Beijing
was doing too little to help halt the bloodshed in Darfur, where militia linked
to the government in Khartoum have battled rebel groups. "This has been a very
difficult decision for me, as I have cherished the relationships with my Chinese
counterparts, in particular ... Zhang Yimou, who is a close personal friend,"
Spielberg said in his resignation statement. Some 200,000 people have died and
2.5 million have been driven from their homes in more than four years of
conflict in Darfur, according to estimates by international experts. The
Sudanese government puts the death toll at 9,000. Beijing said it was concerned
about the humanitarian situation in Darfur and that it had played an active role
in pushing forward the peace process, while rejecting all attempts to "politicise
the Olympics". Zhang, best known for his Oscar-nominated films Raise the Red
Lantern and Hero, said preparations for the opening ceremony on August 8 had
reached the stage of "large-scale rehearsals with more than 10,000 performers".
An unscripted drama
erupted at a public memorial service for Lydia Shum Din- ha yesterday when a
longtime friend of the comedienne launched an attack on Shum's former husband in
front of more than 6,000 grieving fans. "Shum's daughter does not have a
father," Alan Tang Kwong-wing said on stage to a burst of applause. "Why should
the responsibility rest with the uncles and aunts?" Tang also called on Adam
Cheng Siu-chau to go on stage and explain why he had not shown up at any of the
gatherings for Shum until yesterday's ceremony at the Hong Kong Coliseum. Cheng,
who was not scheduled to speak, then went on stage accompanied by daughter Joyce
Cheng Yan-yee. When seeking to explain why he missed Shum's funeral service and
burial in Canada, he turned toward Joyce and asked if he could reveal the truth.
He was interrupted by yells of "shut up" before Joyce shook her head. Cheng said
he had tried on many occasions to visit Shum when she was in hospital, but his
daughter turned him down, fearing it would further exhaust her mother. He also
defended his role as a father, saying he had often invited Joyce for dinner,
around Christmas and New Year, though Joyce preferred to spend more time with
her mother. As such, their contacts were mainly restricted to the telephone. As
he tried explaining his role, Cheng was constantly interrupted with yells of
"It's an excuse," until Joyce came to her father's rescue. Joyce said: "I think
many of these things were caused by misunderstandings. Today this ceremony is to
remember Mommy. Do not allow gossip or those with bad intentions to affect how
we remember her." Joyce said it did not matter what people said. More important
was for her and her father to understand each other.
Henderson Land
(0012) chairman Lee Shau-kee said the Hang Seng Index will linger between 23,000
and 25,000 points in the first half of the year, experience a torrid summer and
then improve by September. Speaking in Beijing yesterday, Lee said the HSI will
still be affected by the US subprime debacle in the first six months but will
remain "stable." "Plunging to 22,000 points was already more than enough. At the
current level of around 24,000 points, the index will slowly climb back. The HSI
may rebound to 27,000 this spring and reach 30,000 points this year." But Lee
warned the bourse will be very volatile in the summer. "If you have money, you
should not invest too aggressively [in the summer]." Lee also expects property
prices in Hong Kong to jump 10 percent this year on the back of ample liquidity
in the global market. "As Hong Kong citizens have much cash on hand, they may
want to improve their living conditions. I believe flat prices will go up 10
percent." But mainland prices will not surge because of austerity measures.
Meanwhile, Lee denied he used the mainland identity of his younger brother, Li
Zhaonan - or Lee Shau-lam - to invest in A shares of Ping An Insurance (2318).
It was reported the younger Lee bought 200 million A shares in Ping An, giving
the brothers a paper gain of at least HK$15 billion. "I only have some [H]
shares in Ping An," said Lee, and most of the Ping An A shares were held by the
family trust. "If you want to know whether the family trust will sell the [A]
shares, you need to ask Li Zhaonan." He also confirmed that Sun Hung Kai
Properties (0016) chairman Walter Kwok Ping-sheung has taken a short leave after
his mother stepped in to settle a dispute among the Kwok brothers. "It's common
to see brothers having arguments," he said. "But when the disagreement cannot be
settled, the mother needs to do something. Yet it's unlikely that Kwok will
quit." 
Heat on over timing of
third runway - The government has come under fire for dragging its feet on
planning for a third runway when the two now in service at the Hong Kong
International Airport could reach capacity by 2014 - years before a third runway
could be ready. The criticism came despite an announcement by Financial
Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah that the Airport Authority is to start engineering
and environmental feasibility studies some time this year. "We are confident
that the capacity of the existing runways can be gradually increased to 68
aircraft movements per hour by 2015," Tsang told lawmakers. That compares with
the 54 movements per hour currently, which is expected to be increased to 58
next year. Chinese University's aviation policy and research center associate
director Law Cheung-kwok said the government could ill-afford to waste any more
time contemplating the construction of a third runway. "It takes about three to
four years for a runway's initial planning and design, another four for public
consultation, then another four to build it," he said. "It took London's
Heathrow 12 years to build a new runway." "If we adopt a 5 percent annual growth
rate for air traffic, the airport will reach capacity as early as 2014, or half
the time before we can get ourselves a new runway." Law noted that the two
existing parallel runways at the airport, considered widely separated, are 1,525
meters apart and each is 3,800 meters long. "The authorities should also
consider whether there needs to be a fourth runway in the future," he said.
Airport Authority chairman Victor Fung Kwok-king was earlier quoted as saying
the authority's top priority was to increase the capacity of the existing
runways rather than build a third. A spokeswoman from the Airport Authority
argued that the two concepts did not contradict one another, reiterating that
feasibility studies will be under way within the year.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club estimates it has so far managed to recover at least
HK$7 billion to HK$8 billion from illegal bookmakers as a result of reforms to
the way the government taxes its betting revenue. Without the betting duty
reforms introduced in 2006-07, the club's turnover would probably have fallen to
about HK$55 billion or HK$56 billion compared to an estimated HK$67 billion to
HK$68 billion currently, its chief executive, Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges,
said. Some of the growth could be attributed to the robust economy, he said. But
around HK$7 billion to HK$8 billion of the revenue increase was generated by the
top customer segment - those who qualify for rebates on bets - he said. The
club's cash rebate scheme covers 10 per cent of losing bets over HK$10,000. "The
reforms are a success in that we think we have definitely clawed back money from
the illegal market," he said. "With our rebate programme, which is really
targeted at those who are price-sensitive - the people who bet with illegal
bookmakers are much more price-sensitive - we have growth in this segment of
around 70 per cent. "This 70 per cent has definitely come from the people who
were probably enticed by the illegal market or who bet offshore," he said. But
despite the initial success, Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges said, the club could compete
effectively only by extending the regular 78-meeting racing season by five
meetings and gaining more simulcast opportunities. Last week, the Home Affairs
Bureau voiced reservations about such a move. But Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges, who is
optimistic an agreement can be reached, warned that the club's ability to invest
in its facilities and meet its annual HK$1 billion in charitable contributions
would suffer without the additional meetings. It is looking to invest between
HK$6 billion and HK$8 billion to upgrade its racecourses and facilities in the
face of intensifying competition from casinos in Macau. The club also wants to
increase its charity handouts, "if we have a sustainable and viable business
model". "We are not pressing for something immediately, or that it has to be
implemented tomorrow. But I think one has to recognise it is a serious problem
which will affect us in the future. We want to take this dialogue forward. And
we will, in a way, point out what we think is necessary." In 2005-06, the bureau
agreed in principle with the club's position on additional race meetings, he
said. Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges also wants the double taxation of bets placed
overseas to stop. Overseas betting turnover on Hong Kong races amounts to about
HK$3 billion. If only the turnover that came into Hong Kong was taxed, he said,
he believed the club could reap as much as HK$6 billion in additional turnover.
Members
of China's men's table tennis team (from L) Chen Qi, Ma Long, Wang Liqin, coach
Liu Guoliang, Wang Hao and Ma Lin pose with their trophy on the podium after
beating South Korea in the men's final of the World Team Table Tennis
Championships in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou March 2.
China's Ma Lin, Wang Hao and Wang Liqin celebrate their victory over their
respective South Korean opponents in the men's final game; members of the men's
team lift their trophy on the podium at the World Team Table Tennis
Championships in Guangzhou of South China March 2, 2008.
Policy
bank to gradually go commercial - The China Development Bank (CDB), one of the
three policy lenders in China, will mainly serve medium- and long-term national
development strategies even after it is transformed into a commercial bank, said
Liu Kegu, vice governor of the bank on Sunday.
The largest
multilevel garage in Beijing is under construction to ease the traffic
congestion near the Panjiayuan second-hand goods market.
Standard Chartered (2888) has
relocated its Asia CEO office to Hong Kong from Singapore to focus more on its
booming Greater China market. "Hong Kong has, and is, and will remain our
largest market. Greater China for a long time will be the biggest engine of
growth for the bank" and "is the bank's biggest focus," said Jaspal Bindra,
chief executive officer for Asia at Standard Chartered. Hong Kong delivered a
record net profit of US$1.19 billion (HK$9.28 billion), constituting nearly 30
percent of Standard Chartered's total 2007 net profit. Revenue in China
increased 73 percent to US$498 million with a net profit of US$184 million. "If
you look at the pace of earnings growth [in China] last year, rebasing the CEO
office to Hong Kong makes a lot of sense," said analyst Michael Siu Yiu-han at
Lehman Brothers. Standard Chartered has already been appointed underwriter by
both the China Banking Regulatory Commission and the People's Bank of China. The
lender will underwrite government bonds issued by the finance ministry, and
underwrite bills sold by the PBOC. Still in its infancy, Standard Chartered
China has "not even started scratching the surface. There is just so much for us
to do and achieve." The move to Hong Kong "allows me to be closer to the
action," Bindra said. Many Asian sector heads will relocate to Hong Kong along
with the CEO office. "Everybody that I need will be in Hong Kong," Bindra said.
He vigorously denied that the relocation was a result of the Hong Kong Monetary
Authority possibly revoking Standard Chartered's note-issuing status, saying the
move to Hong Kong had been planned before any of that came up. Standard
Chartered wants to retain its note-issuing status and "I am here to sign notes,"
he declared. 
HSBC Insurance believes it is on to a winner with a new product aimed at the
less savvy investor in the Mandatory Provident Fund market, in spite of
reservations by some asset management experts. The target fund product, which
aims at simplifying employees' MPF investments, was introduced last month by
HSBC Insurance (Asia-Pacific). SimpleChoice, the first target fund launched in
the MPF market, is composed of three constituent funds, a capital preservation
fund, global bond fund and global equity fund. Running with a preset asset
allocation system based on the age of scheme members, SimpleChoice designates
the MPF savings of employees into the above three funds. Older employees will
have more of their MPF savings allocated to a global bond fund which is of lower
risk, while younger employees will have more MPF savings invested in a higher
risk global equity fund. "SimpleChoice is suitable for investors who are not
investment savvy and don't have the time to manage their MPF schemes," said
Jason Sadler, managing director of HSBC Insurance Hong Kong. "A number of
employers, particularly those with a large workforce that involves more
temporary staff or lower- skilled staff, have expressed lots of interest in the
product," Sadler added. "SimpleChoice also receives a lot of interest at the
individual level, especially from those who are looking for more simple and
efficient ways to invest their preserved account money." 
Cathay Pacific
(SEHK: 0293) chairman Christopher Pratt and the airline's director of
engineering were on the flight deck of a new airliner when the pilot performed a
Top Gun-style low-flying manoeuvre that led to his sacking. Mr Pratt and
Christopher Gibbs were invited to sit in jump seats on the flight deck as chief
pilot Ian Wilkinson swooped to within 8.5 meters of a runway in Seattle in a
Boeing 777 on January 31, the Sunday Morning Post (SEHK: 0583, announcements,
news) has learned. Two Cathay first officers were also standing, unharnessed,
inside the cockpit door behind Mr Wilkinson, his co-pilot Ray Middleton and the
two executives during the fly-by, which has been criticized by fellow pilots as
a dangerous and irresponsible piece of showmanship. Management sources said Mr
Pratt had no idea the fly-by was unauthorized. Mr Wilkinson, 55, was pictured in
Cathay's in-house magazine toasting the maiden flight with executives and crew
members upon its arrival in Hong Kong. It was only when video images of the
stunt began circulating among Cathay staff - and later on websites including
popular file-sharing site YouTube - that an investigation was launched. It led
to the sacking of Mr Wilkinson and the suspension from training duties of Mr
Middleton, 47. Cathay has also confirmed there had been two earlier fly-bys -
both involving Mr Wilkinson and both unauthorized - during collection of new
Boeing 777s from Seattle. The first was in 2001 and was performed by Mr
Wilkinson; the second was performed last year by a fleet pilot given permission
by fleet commander Mr Wilkinson to execute the manoeuvre. The chief pilot did
not have the authority to give that permission, a senior Cathay source said.
However, the airline said neither incident was "of the same nature" - meaning
the planes did not fly as low as 8.5 meters - and no executives had been on
board. An investigation into those fly-bys is understood to be continuing. There
have been no other low-flying stunts, the airline said. Mr Wilkinson was fired
and Mr Middleton punished after a disciplinary hearing on February 19 which
found that although the chief pilot had permission from the Seattle control
tower for the fly-by, Cathay's 777 fleet captain did not have the written
permission required from the airline. Asked about the role of Mr Pratt, who took
over as Cathay chairman in 2005 after nearly 30 years climbing through the ranks
of parent company Swire, an airline spokeswoman said he was in no way connected
to the decision to perform the fly-by. "There was no request or suggestion from
anyone in Cathay Pacific for the fly-by to take place," she said. "The decision
was entirely that of the captain in command." The Cathay spokeswoman said it was
the first time Mr Pratt had sat on a delivery flight and that he would have
assumed the fly-by was authorized. "The chairman is not an aviator and was there
in a purely ceremonial role," the source said. The two first officers standing
on the flight deck during the fly-by were strapped in during takeoff. In a
detailed statement, Cathay described the January 31 fly-by as "inappropriate and
regrettable" and said the previous two fly-bys only came to light during
investigation of that incident.
The Central Committee of the Communist
Party of China (CPC) held a symposium in the Great Hall of the People on Friday
to mark the 110th birthday of the late Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai. Chinese
President Hu Jintao highly praised Zhou's devotion to the Party, the people and
the nation, calling on the whole Party members and people to learn from his
example in the process of building socialism with Chinese characteristics and
completely implement the spirit of the 17th National Congress of CPC. Zhou, born
in 1898, was one of the key CPC leaders leading China's revolution and as well
as one of the founders of the People's Republic of China and the People's
Liberation Army (PLA). Zhou served as Chinese Premier from 1949 to 1976. Hu
called Zhou a great Marxist, a great proletarian revolutionist, a great
statesman and diplomatist, and an important member of the first-generation
central leadership of the CPC with Mao Zedong at the core. "Zhou had devoted his
whole life to the Party, the nation and the people, his spirits and deeds will
inspire us to work harder in the reform and opening-up on the road of building
socialism with Chinese characteristics," Hu said. The symposium was presided
over by Premier Wen Jiabao. "Comrade Zhou Enlai has made a life-long selfless
devotion to the cause of Chinese revolution and construction. He loved the
people as much as the people loved him. His spirit of self-sacrifice devotion
will live forever in the people's hearts", Wen said. Other top Chinese leaders
Wu Bangguo, Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, He Guoqiang, Zhou
Yongkang as well as other senior officials and representatives from various
departments and organs of the government, CPC, PLA and non-Party organizations
attended the symposium. 
China home-grown 3G tech trial successful - Home grown 3G standard TD-SDMA
received a boost in China when network trials went off without a hitch.
Beijing
airport's new terminal, a major expansion project in preparation for the
passenger surge during the Olympics, received its first commercial flight after
opening on Friday morning. Journalists visit a scene in Passenger Terminal 3 at
the Beijing Capital International Airport, Jan. 29, 2008. More than 10 scenes,
most of which bear strong characteristics of classical Beijing imperial
architectures, have been constructed inside Terminal 3. As one of the key
projects of the Beijing Olympics, Terminal 3 is to go into test operation soon.
The first flight took off from the terminal on 9:35 a.m. to Jinan of Shandong
Province. The terminal would receive and send 42flights on its first operation
day, said Dong Zhiyi, general manager of the Beijing Capital International
Airport (BCIA). With a floor space of 986,000 square meters -- more than
doubling the total area of the first two terminals -- the new terminal building
could be the largest of its kind in the world, said construction project manager
Fan Jun. The opening of the dragon-shaped building, which was designed by
leading British architect Lord Foster and started construction on March 28,
2004, will enable the capital airport to handle 76 million passengers a year,
against 53 million passengers in 2007. The city is expected to receive more than
five million people during the 2008 Olympic Games held in August. Three highway
roads are also under construction to connect the new terminal to the existing
traffic system, and are planned to open before Olympics. Six new airport bus
lines were put into operation with 88 new buses. The bus fee remains 16 yuan
(about 2.25 U.S. dollars), the same as existing lines. Shuffle vehicles were
also equipped to carry passengers between the three terminals. The new terminal
will be used by six airlines initially, including Sichuan Airlines, Shandong
Airlines, Qatar Airlines, Qantas Airways, British Airways and El Al Israel
Airlines. A further 21 airlines companies would start using it on Mar. 29. China
is also upgrading several standby airports near Beijing for the Olympics by
renovating terminals, enlarging tarmacs, lengthening runways and improving
services. 
A Baidu booth at a
Shanghai exhibition. The Chinese search engine Baidu Inc said on Friday it has
started a beta test for its instant message (IM) product, marking the company's
formal entry into China's IM market.
The
governments of Hong Kong, Guangdong, and Macau yesterday endorsed the financing
scheme for bridges linking the three places and the massive project will soon
proceed to public tenders. It is expected a number of state- owned enterprises
will play a major role in building the bridges. The Hong Kong listed China
Communication Construction Company (1800) and China Railway (0390) have a long
history in building infrastructure projects in the mainland, Hong Kong and
overseas. China Railway Construction, which will open its retail sales book in
Hong Kong today, is also said to have the capability to handle
multi-billion-yuan projects. However, neither company responded last night to a
question from The Standard whether they were interested in bidding for the
project. Hopewell Holdings (0054) co- managing director Thomas Wu Man- sun said
Hopewell Highway (0737) could be among the bidders. He said Hopewell Highway had
the financial capability, with around HK$6 billion in cash and a further HK$3
billion in borrowing. Wu said his company has had discussions with the three
state enterprises on the construction of bridges before but refused to say
whether they discussed the Hong Kong- Zhuhai-Macau Bridge. Wu's father, Gordon
Wu Ying- sheung, had been advocating the construction of such a bridge since the
1980s. Shun Tak group chairman Stanley Ho Hung-sun said he too is interested in
bidding for the project. Under the agreement Hong Kong will meet just over half
the total cost, at 50.2 percent, with Guangdong chipping in 35.1 percent and
Macau 14.7 percent. The equation takes into account the economic benefits to
each side, such as the savings in transport costs and time, as well as the costs
to each side in building their own connecting roads. Mainland officials said
last year Hong Kong's economic benefits could reach 64 percent compared with 26
percent for Guangdong and 10 percent for Macau. Eva Cheng Yu-way, convenor of
the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge Advance Work Co-ordination Group said
yesterday the main body of the bridge will go to tender in its entirety. "The
three sides agreed that the three governments would be responsible for the
construction and operation of the boundary crossing facilities and the
connecting roads to the bridge within their own territory," Cheng said. She
added the connecting roads are about 12.6 kilometers on the Hong Kong side with
the mainland responsible for 13.9 kilometers. Under the proposed construction
package, the main body of the bridge will be about 29.6km. To the west, it lands
on the artificial island off Gongbei, and to the east it lands on the eastern
artificial island for the tunnel section just west of the Guangdong boundary. It
will be a six-lane expressway allowing for vehicle speeds of 100 kilometers an
hour. To ensure unimpeded sea traffic along the main navigation channels towards
the Guangzhou and Shenzhen ports, there will be a tunnel linking up the two
artificial islands that provide the bridge/tunnel switching facilities. National
People's Congress local deputy Cheng Yiu-tong warned the future actual economic
benefits may be different from what is expected. He said if vehicles using the
bridge have to pay tolls, the profits should be divided along the same
percentages as the costs.
`Santa' Tsang wins battle for hearts - The maiden budget
speech of Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah has been ranked the second
best since the handover - less than two percentage points behind the 2000 budget
prepared by Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, the current chief executive. 
Edison leaves HK
after police investigations - A week after apologising for his role in the
celebrity sex-photos scandal, Edison Chen Koon-hei left Hong Kong yesterday as
police ended their inquiries with him. A statement from his lawyer said Chen
wished to inform members of the media that he had given full and helpful
co-operation to the police in the past few days since returning to the city to
explain his role in the controversy. "The Hong Kong police have informed Mr
Chen, through his legal counsel, that the request from the police for Mr Chen's
assistance has concluded ... and that no further assistance is required of him
in the immediate future," the statement added. There had been media speculation
that Chen would face a criminal investigation for his role in the scandal, and
suggestions that the case involved more than pictures being stolen from his
computer. Last night, police said they had obtained the information they needed
at this stage. "Police need time to follow up the information. The case is still
being investigated," a police spokesman said. Chen's management company
confirmed he had left Hong Kong but declined to reveal his whereabouts. The
beleaguered star returned from the United States last Thursday, weeks after the
scandal broke. He admitted he had taken the pictures of female celebrities
engaging in sex acts with him that had been circulated on the internet around
the world. He apologised to Hongkongers and the women involved and announced he
would quit the local entertainment scene indefinitely. He has not spoken in
public since then and had been staying at the Four Seasons Hotel in Central and
giving statements at police headquarters in Wan Chai, accompanied by privately
hired and police bodyguards. Lawyer and lawmaker James To Kun-sun said Chen was
"cleared from the case for the moment only". "The police state he is now a
witness in the case, based on the information they have so far. It does not mean
100 per cent that he is totally free. And Chen may be required to come back to
Hong Kong for more investigations or to testify in court later," Mr To said. Two
men linked to the scandal are still on bail. Kwok Chun-wai, a 24-year-old clerk,
is alleged to have posted two internet hyperlinks to a website from which people
could download 100 explicit photographs. Sze Ho-chun, 23, a computer technician,
is accused of dishonestly accessing a computer. The prosecution has asked for
more time as police work on the case.
British Foreign Secretary David
Miliband (R) talks with a Chinese student in English in southwest China’s
Chongqing Municipality on Feb. 27, 2008. Miliband started his six-day official
visit to China on Sunday. He arrived in Beijing on Wednesday afternoon, after
visiting Hong Kong, Shanghai and Chongqing.
Popular Japanese rock band L'Arc-en-Ciel,
who played a sold-out show in Shanghai in 2005, is staging a comeback show in
the eastern Chinese city to kick off its first world tour. The four-member band
will begin its "Kiss" tour with a concert at Shanghai's Yuanshen Stadium on
April 19, the local Oriental Morning Post reported on Thursday. L'Arc-en-Ciel,
founded in 1991, is characterized by high-energy live shows. Their Chinese
mainland debut at the Shanghai Grand Stage in 2005 drew a packed house, though
tickets sold for as much as 5,000 yuan (698 U.S. dollars). A representative of
the Shanghai International Culture and Art Exchange Company, the organizer of
the upcoming show, told the Oriental Morning Post that L'Arc-en-Ciel chose to
begin their world tour in Shanghai because the group was very impressed during
their last visit. "However, despite the success of the 2005 show, the band
thinks the indoor Shanghai Grand Stage is not the best venue for their style of
rock," the representative said. The band picked Yuanshen Stadium after a long
search, so fans can expect an even more explosive show this time around, he
added. Around 16,000 tickets will go on sale on Friday, with prices ranging from
150 to 3,000 yuan (21 - 419 dollars). The organizer is already swamped with
ticket inquiries, including many from Japan, the report says. Following the
Shanghai show, L'Arc-en-Ciel is set to play in Paris, Seoul and Hong Kong. They
will return to Japan in late May for shows in Tokyo and Osaka. 
Little Swan products
displayed at a Beijing department store. Home appliance maker Midea said
Thursday it will buy a 24.01 percent stake in Little Swan for $236 million from
Wuxi Guolian Development Group.
Shichahai's spring
cleaning of Olympic proportions - Liu Yongfu's new home would not have been
built without the Beijing Olympics, an epochal event-in-the-making that promises
to leave a lasting legacy on the city of 17.5 million including better housing,
more extensive public transport and expanded sporting activities. "My family has
just moved into our new house," said Liu of Beijing's Shichahai community in
Xicheng District. "I am over the moon at how our shabby dwelling has been fully
renovated within the space of four months. It looks brand new." Liu lives in
Liuhai Hutong, one of the city's preserved neighborhoods of archaic-looking
alleyways, among Shichahai's 100,000 residents. The area was earmarked for a
cosmetic overhaul ahead of the August 8-24 Games under the Old City
Reconstruction Project of the Beijing Municipal Government. "We will be able to
use electricity instead of coal to warm the house, as it is clean and more
environmental friendly," added Liu. The overhaul cost the family next-to-nothing
in relative terms and has come at no inconvenience, her husband chimed in. "It
only cost us a few thousand yuan to decorate our new home but it hasn't
interfered with our living habits," said Ji Bingzhi. "We even kept the same
telephone number." Ji said he was looking forward to showing his foreign friends
around his "new" property, with its traditional courtyard, when they stop by for
the Beijing Games. The government will invest 1 billion yuan ($130 million) this
year to renovate four downtown districts: Dongcheng, Xicheng, Xuanwu and
Chongwen. Retired worker Qiu Pumin said the reconstruction work has come as a
breath of fresh air, but he doubts it would have happened without the clean-up
drive powered by the Olympic juggernaut. "My house is brighter now as the window
lets in much more light than before. The messy courtyards are clean, new and
flat - all of which is attributable to the hosting of the Beijing Olympic
Games," he said. The Olympics has also spurred a colorful new calendar of
sporting activities in the city. In the case of Xicheng, it has accelerated
measures to install bodybuilding facilities in residential areas there that
began several years ago, thanks to increased investment. "We also have dancing,
model and chorus teams," said resident Li Yanhong. At the heart of the
neighborhood is a square where residents can play table tennis, China's de facto
national sport, for four hours a day for free.
A model
presents ornaments made of chocolate during a promotion for the opening of a
French chocolate shop in Hong Kong, China, Feb. 27, 2008. Many chocolate
ornaments exhibited here were shown to public for the first time.
Everyone's a winner with $44b handouts - In his maiden
budget yesterday, Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah unveiled a HK$44.1
billion windfall. This included one-off handouts and benefits for the elderly
and the disadvantaged as well as tax cuts and rebates for the middle class and
well- off. The measures, which include HK$1,800 worth of free electricity to 2.4
million households, were announced on the back of a record surplus of HK$115.6
billion, double last year's figures. In a bid to ease inflationary pressures,
Tsang pledged more than HK$35 billion in tax breaks. He also announced the
widening of tax bands, which was in line with last year's policy address. He
attributed the large surplus to stock, property and company tax revenue and the
economic buoyancy, but warned inflation and a US-led economic slowdown could
curb Hong Kong's growth. Tsang forecast GDP to increase by 4 to 5 percent, lower
than the past four years, and the inflation rate to soar to 4.5 percent this
year, up from 2.8 percent last year. The budget centered around four themes -
economic development, supporting disadvantaged groups, leaving wealth with the
people and providing for the future. Economic stimulation was announced with a
cash boost of HK$21.8 billion for the government's flagship infrastructure
projects - which will create 27,000 new construction jobs. To keep up with
Macau's booming tourism, HK$150 million will be doled out to promote Hong Kong
as an international convention, exhibition, and tourism capital and the hotel
accommodation tax will be waived. But the heart of the budget was to alleviate
the hardship of the underprivileged by building a "harmonious, family-based
society." A one-off grant of HK$3,000 for Old Age Allowance recipients, which
will cost HK$1.5 billion, was revealed. Low-income families who receive social
security and disability payments will receive an extra month's payment while
those in government housing will receive one-month's rent. The budget saw
innovative moves to ease inflationary pressure such as an electricity subsidy of
HK$1,800 - allowing 15 percent of households to cover their electricity charges
for a year and 20 percent of households to cover charges for six months. Under
the banner of "providing for the future" HK$50 billion was earmarked for
health-care reform and HK$8.5 billion for a one-off injection of HK$6,000 into
the Mandatory Provident Fund account of every employee earning less than
HK$10,000 a month. Most major political parties were positive about the budget,
saying it responded to all groups and classes and included innovative measures
with the MPF handout and electricity subsidy. The standard tax rate was slashed
to 15 percent and the profits tax to 16.5 percent while there was a 75 percent
waiver of salaries and profits tax, to be capped at HK$25,000. Tsang denied
suggestions he gave away too much, saying the HK$7.5 billion deficit predicted
for 2008/09 was just 0.4 percent of Hong Kong's HK$1.7 trillion GDP. "As the
measures proposed in this budget are mostly one- off or time-limited, they will
not have significant implications for future public finances," he said. But
Tsang stressed he would be cautious about future spending in the face of global
turmoil and inflation, adding: "We should be aware of the possibility that the
situation might deteriorate in the near future and that the fallout may be
prolonged." Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen praised the budget, saying:
"These undertakings all honor the pledges in my election manifesto to leave
wealth with the people."
The government
may free up prime sites for office buildings in Wan Chai by moving some of its
own offices to Kowloon and the New Territories. Financial Secretary John Tsang
Chun-wah said the government would study the feasibility of rebuilding
Immigration Tower, Wan Chai Tower and Revenue Tower at Kai Tak and in Tseung
Kwan O. If the plan goes ahead, developers could be expected to pay HK$20
billion for the land freed up in Gloucester Road, a surveyor said. The move
would not be possible before 2011, when infrastructure work at Kai Tak ends.
However, Mr Tsang said the government would not resume holding regular land
auctions, as some developers have demanded, but would stick with the application
list system under which developers must lodge bids for sites to trigger their
sale. He said holding regular auctions could distort the market. The financial
secretary said the next application list would comprise 62 sites - 10
commercial, 10 for hotels and 42 residential. If all the hotel sites were
developed, they would increase the rooms available in the city by between 9,000
and 11,000. The government believes the move would not only provide more land in
the central business district on which to build grade A office blocks, but bring
fresh impetus to new districts and create new jobs. Mr Tsang said it was not
necessary for all government office buildings to be in core business areas.
While noting that the government's Hong Kong 2030 Study forecasts the land
available for new grade A offices in the next few years would be adequate, he
said moving government offices away from central districts would stimulate
economic growth. Government sources said the study was at a preliminary stage
and there was no concrete plan for the sites' redevelopment.
Workers add
finishing touches to the Jintaixizhao Station on the new Beijing subway Line 10,
February 27, 2008. The new line is due to open before the Olympics this summer.
Pop prince Jay Chou
has accepted a request by Fudan University's Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts
to tutor its students and offer them guidance. Li Liya, a teacher with the
institute, told China Daily yesterday Chou accepted the offer on Sunday when he
met more than 1,000 students at the school. The Taiwan-based singer, actor and
director was in Shanghai for the premiere of his movie Kungfu Dunk. "He has such
a wide appeal to youngsters," Li said. "He is talented and experienced in music
and performance, which will benefit our students greatly." Li said Chou will
tutor and guide students in the institute's performing school when he has the
time. He chose to be a volunteer, which means the school will not pay him for
his services, Li said. "Chou accepted the job happily and said again and again
that he would like to talk to the students," Li said. Before Chou, the school
had also signed Taiwanese director Ang Lee, who directed Lust, Caution, as an
honorary professor, and Eric Tsang, a Hong Kong actor and anchorman, as a guest
professor. Chen Xi, a third-year student of TV and broadcasting, said she and
her schoolmates have been very excited at the prospect of Chou teaching them,
although she admitted that they seldom see those celebrity professors. "We have
to fit into their busy schedules," she said.
China has labeled
the United States the world's largest importer of smuggled Chinese relics, and
demanded the country do more to combat the trade. Shan Jixiang, director of the
State Administration of Cultural Heritage, called on the United States to sign a
memorandum of understanding with China to speed up cooperation in preventing the
theft of relics and illegal trade. "Among other countries, we want most to sign
such an agreement with the United States. We have worked on it for more than
four years but the process has been slow recently," Shan said. Shan said the
plan had been supported by US archaeologists and scholars, but "influential
museum directors and collectors" had been against it. They had "held the
incorrect view that these Chinese cultural properties in the United States have
become part of American culture because they were there for a long time," Shan
said. Demand for Chinese art has soared among international collectors in recent
years, with auctions of both modern and ancient artifacts achieving record
sales.
