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Farmers in eastern China are grappling with an explosion in the population of wild boars, who are destroying crops and upsetting the ecological balance, state media said on Friday. The mainland will not publish quarter-on-quarter gross domestic output (GDP) data until 2011, a year later than scheduled, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday. Newbridge Capital, the Asian unit of US buyout firm TPG Capital, sold the remainder of its stake in Ping An Insurance (2318) yesterday for HK$9.07 billion, immediately after the insurance giant announced its merger plan with Shenzhen Development Bank. CITIC 1616 set to be telecom flagship - Telecom company CITIC 1616 Holdings Ltd (1883) expects a boost in business after it acquires China Enterprise Communications - the broadband network builder of parent conglomerate CITIC Group. Olympic gold medalist Li Ning is expanding from sportswear into the property market. Li, who is also chairman of Coolpoint Energy (8032), said yesterday he is using the renewable energy firm to launch an eco- city project in Shenyang. "People tend to forget about the environment," he said. Sportswear will remain the focus for Li Ning (2331), the retail giant that the gymnast built, while Coolpoint will be the vehicle for other businesses. The energy firm will acquire Viva China for HK$400 million by issuing 590 million new shares. It will then buy Bright Equal and Union Wealth - two financial holding companies - to gain the rights to develop and manage two plots of land in Shenyang. Coolpoint will also issue one billion new shares to support development of the sites. The city center plots together make up 607 hectares and will be developed into a sports center and green community over five to eight years at a cost of around 40 billion yuan (HK$45.66 billion). Ongoing financing will be sought when needed. Coolpoint will also end up with a 30.9 percent stake in Li Ning. Li will personally hold a 75 percent stake in Coolpoint, which will be renamed Viva China. The company will focus on China, while Li Ning will seek exposure in global markets. Li hopes the expansion will help the sportswear company getting 20 percent of its revenue from overseas.
Sept 4, 2010
Ten top Hong Kong athletes have been given HK$150,000 each in scholarship fees to help them prepare for the London Olympics in 2012, Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong president Timothy Fok Tsun-ting said on Thursday. “The scholarship program would assist our athletes... by providing financial support towards the cost of training, coaching, and medical and scientific monitoring,” Fok said. Under the Panasonic Sports Scholarship Program sponsored by Shun Hing Group, each athlete would receive a total subsidy of HK$150,000 within the next 18 months. The Olympic hopefuls include: Yip Pui-yin, a badminton silver medalist at the 2006 Doha Asian Games; cyclist Steven Wong, who won an East Asian Games gold medal last year; and Jasmine Lai Zin-man, who won silver at the equestrian team jumping event at the Singapore Turf Club Riding Centre.
China's Culture Minister Cai Wu flew into Taiwan on Thursday to become the highest-ranking mainland official to visit the self-governing island in 12 years, officials said. “While here, I will attend a seminar ... and promote cultural exchanges with Taiwan,” he said on arrival at Taoyuan airport outside Taipei. It was the first visit to Taiwan by a Chinese cabinet minister since 1998, when Zhu Lilan, then China’s science and technology minister, travelled to the island. Cai will attend a seminar in Taipei on September 6, according to its organisers the Shen Chun-chih Culture Foundation, a non-profit Taipei-based body focused on cultural exchanges with the mainland. He may meet his Taiwanese counterpart Emile Sheng, the chairman of the island’s Council for Cultural Affairs, the organisers said. The visit comes after Taiwan’s parliament last month approved a trade agreement with China – by far the island’s most wide-ranging accord yet with the mainland.
Sept 3, 2010
Hong Kong Financial Secretary John Tsang back from Taiwan with visa FREE deal - Taiwan offered free entry permits online to returning Hong Kong visitors as Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah wound up his four- day visit to the island. However, Hong Kong did not immediately reciprocate, with Tsang saying the possibility will be studied further. Tourists help retail sales hit new heights - Hong Kong retail sales grew for an 11th consecutive month in July amid an economic recovery aided by record tourist arrivals.
The condition of teenager Jason Leung Song-xue - who suffered serious head injuries in Manila last week - has stabilised after brain surgery, Tuen Mun Hospital said on Wednesday. A PhD student was sentenced to four years jail on Wednesday after he was convicted of conspiracy to blackmail a 76-year-old religious leader for HK$6.3 million. Customs officers on Tuesday raided 17 shops across Hong Kong and seized a large quantity of counterfeit leather goods, Trade Descriptions Investigation divisional commander Koon Hon-chuen said on Wednesday. He said 100 customs officers had discovered some 4,500 fake leather goods in retail outlets in Mong Kok, Wan Chai and Causeway Bay. The goods were worth about HK$5 million, Koon said. Customs officers also arrested three men and 23 women, aged between 19 and 45. Koon said some shop staff had claimed the leather goods were made in Britain. But investigations revealed they were from the mainland. He said a closer examination showed they were generally of poor quality. “We found many bags had been returned by customers with defects in their metal zippers and thread,” added Koon.
China launched live-fire naval exercises in the Yellow Sea on Wednesday after voicing opposition to similar war games to be staged there this month by the United States and South Korea. The Beihai fleet of the navy of the People’s Liberation Army will conduct a “live ammunition drill” until Saturday in waters off the east coast near the city of Qingdao, Xinhua news agency reported. The report said many of the planes, vessels and battlefield weaponry to be used in the exercises were unveiled at the National Day military parade on October 1 last year, when China celebrated 60 years of Communist rule. “This is an annual routine training, mainly involving the shooting of shipboard artillery,” Xinhua had said in a previous report, citing China’s defence ministry. The United States and South Korea are set to carry out a new round of joint drills in the Yellow Sea from Sunday in another show of force against communist North Korea following the sinking of a South Korean warship in March. Any military drills involving the United States in the Yellow Sea are a sensitive issue because of the area’s proximity to China and the disputed maritime boundary between North and South Korea. China has bristled at the idea of a US aircraft carrier group patrolling waters near its coast, although the US military has said this month’s planned anti-submarine exercise would not involve a carrier. As China launched its war games, PLA commander Zhang Youxia met in Pyongyang with North Korea’s number two leader Kim Yong-Nam and pledged to step up military exchanges, Xinhua said. The United States and South Korea staged massive joint naval and air exercises in July in the nearby Sea of Japan (East Sea), which also drew criticism from Beijing – North Korea’s closest ally and trade partner. Seoul and its allies say the sinking of the South Korean corvette the Cheonan in March was caused by a North Korean torpedo attack, but Beijing has refused to join in international condemnation of Pyongyang over the incident. China staged its own naval, air and artillery exercises in late July, though it was not clear if the drills had been pre-planned or were in response to the US-South Korea manoeuvres. Last month, the South staged its largest-ever anti-submarine drill including live-fire training near the disputed Yellow Sea border, prompting a North Korean artillery barrage fired into the sea. Also in August, the United States and South Korea held annual 10-day joint war games on land that involved more than 80,000 troops. Mongolian coking coal producer Mongolian Mining plans to raise about US$700 million through an initial public offering on the Hong Kong stock exchange, according a term sheet. China Strategic Holdings (0235) has failed to acquire Taiwan's Nan Shan Life Insurance - and it is believed that politics rather than regulatory hurdles was the stumbling block. Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs announced yesterday that the Financial Supervisory Commission rejected the US$2.15 billion (HK$16.77 billion) bid by China Strategic and Primus Financial for the Taiwanese unit of American International Group. The China Strategic-led consortium has a month to appeal. It also agreed with AIG to extend a deadline for any deal to October 12. Since the group agreed to buy Nan Shan in October, many Taiwanese have protested over fears China Strategic may be funded by Beijing. Analysts said the case turned political, with even the public posts of key members of the consortium coming under scrutiny. To smoothen the path for the deal, China Strategic vice chairman Raymond Or Ching-fai resigned from the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in June. Chairman Frederick Ma Si-hang is a former commerce and economic development minister. Sources said due to political concerns of Taiwan authorities, Or and his management team, as well as AIA, were forced to turn passive. Opposition also emerged within Nan Shan over the deal, Taiwan's United Daily News reported. The newspaper said the transaction would not be welcomed as the rights of employees and policyholders might be at risk. Taiwan's securities regulator, which examined the case for 10 months, set five criteria, two of which were not met, said FSC vice chairman Wu Tang-chieh. They were the ability to raise capital in the future and a commitment to Nan Shan's long-term operations. "From the information submitted by the [prospective] buyers, other than the US$325 million cost of purchase, we could not see further arrangements for possible expansion of capital in the future," said Wu. Sept 2, 2010
An all-star group of artists has failed in its bid to turn the former married police quarters in Hollywood Road into a creative cluster. The committee vetting applications for the project has shortlisted a foundation set up by a Sino Land executive and another established by a newspaper boss, leaving the Hong Kong Institute of Contemporary Culture out of the running. "The institute's creative elements are outstanding, but in other aspects it is outshone by the others," a committee member said. The committee comprises building professionals together with industry and community representatives. The member said the proposal lagged behind the others particularly in management capacity. The shortlisted bidders - the Hong Kong Heritage Conservation Foundation, set up by Sino Land executive director Daryl Ng Win-kong, and the Musketeers Education and Culture Charitable Foundation, formed by Hong Kong Economic Times Holdings chairman Lawrence Fung Siu-por - have yet to reveal their proposals. The member said the institute's proposal could be reconsidered if the shortlisted ones were found unsatisfactory. Honorary institute chief executive Ada Wong Ying-kay said last night she would not comment until she was informed officially about the decision, which was made at a meeting on Monday. Criteria considered by the vetting committee included reflection of historical value and technical aspects, creative industries' value and social value, financial viability and management capacity. The institute announced last week that it planned to invite 30 top arts and design figures as anchor tenants. The star would-be tenants included actor Daniel Wu Yin-cho, G.O.D. founder Douglas Young and Brian Tse Lap-man and Alice Mak Ka-bik, creators of the McDull stories and cartoons. It said the key players had promised to mentor budding talents in their arts. The Musketeers earlier said it would partner with the Polytechnic University, the Hong Kong Design Centre and the Design Institute. The successful operator will take a 10-year tenancy to set up a creative area at the site, which is composed of two vacant police quarters blocks and the remains of the Central School, founded at the site in 1889.
Sept 1, 2010
Philippine authorities will send investigators to Hong Kong this week to collect statements from survivors of last week's tour bus hijacking. School pulls out all the stops to help orphans learn to start new life - Two siblings orphaned by the Manila hostage tragedy have been promised help by their school, including 15 peer supporters, ahead of tomorrow's start of the new school year. Tracey Wong Cheuk-yiu will be in Secondary Five, while her brother Jason Wong Ching-yat will be in Secondary One. Both survived the bloodbath that claimed the lives of their father Wong Tze-lam, 51, mother Yeung Yee- wa, 44, and aunt Yeung Yee-kam, 46. Whether the pair can attend school tomorrow depends on the results of an evaluation of their mental status by the Social Welfare Department, said Daniel Wong Yip-cheung, principal of the Tsuen Wan Government Secondary School. The entire school is geared to help the siblings cope with their first school year without their parents. Fifteen schoolmates will be peer supporters for 15-year-old Tracey, he added. "We've taught them in a counseling workshop last week how to help Tracey cope with the trauma." The school will organize a life education seminar tomorrow and advise students not to dwell too much on the hostage-taking incident with Tracey and Jason, 12. In a statement posted on its website, the school also said: "The Parent- Teacher Association, the Alumni Association and alumni would also like to express their deepest sympathies to them and are prepared to provide all possible assistance." Donations have continued to pour in, with several groups expressing willingness to pay for the orphans' school fees until they graduate from university. These include the Jockey Club's Charities Trust, the Community Chest and MTR Corp, where their father worked. The Tung Wah Group of Hospitals aims to collect more than HK$1 million for its newly-launched special education fund for the Wongs as well as three other teenage survivors who lost a parent in the tragedy. The Housing Department have also allocated a public housing flat in King Lam Estate, Tseung Kwan O, for the siblings who are temporarily staying with their aunt who lives in the block. A spokeswoman from the Education Bureau, meanwhile, said the government will monitor the academic progress of the Wongs and two other survivors who are studying in local schools. The fifth teen survivor, Jason Leung Song-xeu, studies in Canada.
The Air Pollution Index recorded "very high" levels across Hong Kong on Tuesday, a spokesman for the Environmental Protection Department said. Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah and his high-level Hong Kong delegation yesterday held a landmark meeting with senior government officials in Taiwan, paving the way for annual discussions.
Taiwan waits on visa-free deal to Hong Kong - The government is exploring the possibility of granting Taiwan visitors visa- free entry, according to the finance chief. However, discussions between John Tsang Chun-wah and Taiwan officials on the issue failed to reach a consensus. Yesterday's meeting in Taipei was the first between the Hong Kong-Taiwan Economic and Cultural Cooperation and Promotion Council, and the Taiwan- Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Co- operation Council. Tsang, honorary chairman of the Hong Kong council, and Mainland Affairs Council minister Lai Shin-yuan were both present at the meeting. Tsang - the highest ranking SAR official to visit Taiwan - will return to Hong Kong today after a four-day trip. He is scheduled to meet Taiwan Premier Wu Den-yih before he sets off. Tsang said the visa issue will be further discussed on bilateral platforms. "We will look into the problem. If both sides can show sincerity on the issue, the problem can be resolved," he said. Currently, Taiwan visitors must pay visa fees ranging from HK$50 to HK$650 to visit the territory. Following yesterday's meeting, the two governments said a series of economic agreements have been reached. That includes a "pragmatic" approach on issues such as cooperation on banking and financial regulations, shipping and air transport arrangements. The Hong Kong Tourism Board will set up an office in Taipei to promote tourism exchanges, it was agreed. The two sides also agreed to hold regular meetings to promote trade and investment. The next meeting will be in Hong Kong next year. Recent media reports suggest Taiwan plans to let Hong Kong and Macau residents apply for entry permits online for free. The permits would be valid for three months and allow multiple entries for up to 30 days, the reports said. But Taiwan officials said they have not made any such announcement.
Taiwan regulators rejected AIG’s planned US$2.2 billion sale of its Taiwan unit to a mainland-related group, citing regulations on mainland investment.
The government's efforts to curb rising property prices are beginning to work, the nation's top official paper said on Tuesday, citing shrinking transaction volumes.
Evergrande net soars five-fold - Evergrande Real Estate (3333) saw net profit soar nearly five-fold to 2.5 billion yuan (HK$2.86 billion) in the first half - fueled by record home sales.
Aug 31, 2010
The central government announced a global talent search on Monday to fill top posts at 12 major state-owned companies in its latest effort to improve performance at huge but inefficient government firms. State industries have hired managers from abroad in the past but the announcement on Monday by the Cabinet agency that runs the country’s biggest government companies appeared to be most sweeping recruitment effort to date. The State Asset Supervision and Administration Commission wants “talented candidates from home and abroad” to help strengthen and develop companies, said a two-page advertisement in the China Daily, the main government newspaper aimed at foreign readers. The posts include general managers of the State Nuclear Power Technology, the China State Construction Engineering and automaker Dongfeng Motor (SEHK: 0489). Some posts specified Chinese citizens were preferred, indicating companies were trying to lure back Chinese executives abroad. But others said they would consider managers of any nationality. Last year, a major aerospace firm, state-owned Aviation Industry Corp of China, announced a similar worldwide search for managers and said it would consider foreign nationals. After a six-month search, the company hired six Chinese executives. Some of the mainland’s top state-owned banking, oil, telecommunications and other companies are among the largest entities in their global industries due to their protected positions in the huge domestic market. But the government acknowledges they trail their global rivals in technology and efficiency. Other positions advertised on Monday included general manager of Chinatex, a major textile producer; deputy general managers at China National Administration of Geology, China National Gold Group and China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding and other jobs at China Shipping (Group), China Resources (SEHK: 0291) (Holdings) and China National Building Material Group. Closer contacts between retired Taiwanese generals and the mainland authorities have sparked concerns in Washington, the island's major arms supplier, media and an official said on Monday. The former generals started visiting China years ago, but with Taiwan’s mainland ties improving rapidly since 2008, the trips have become so frequent that they have drawn US attention, the Taipei-based China Times said. “The United States has voiced its concerns to [Taiwan’s de facto ambassador] Jason Yuan and voiced the hope that Taiwan can come up with an explanation,” the paper said, without naming the source. It said Washington was especially concerned if such contacts may endanger long-standing military co-operation projects with Taiwan. Washington is also wondering if the visits mark the beginning of discussion about military exchanges and the establishment of confidence-building measures between the two former cross-Strait rivals, it said. “It would be understandable if the United States voices such concerns, given the fast improving ties between Taipei and Beijing,” Chen Wen-yi, deputy chief of the foreign ministry’s North American Affairs Department, told reporters. But he said the concerns were unnecessary as the visits were not authorised by the government. China will launch an inquiry into whether to impose countervailing duties on potato starch imports from the European Union, the commerce ministry said on Monday.
Lenovo has said it will launch a video games console this year to vie with Nintendo’s Wii, Microsoft’s XBox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3 in the booming motion-gaming market.
*News information are obtained via various sources deemed reliable, but not guaranteed
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Whirlwind Beijing trip fans rumors Tang's moving in on top job - A whirlwind
trip to Beijing by Chief Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen has sparked feverish
speculation he may soon be announcing an intention to run for chief executive in
2012. Tang's trip was announced only hours before he left yesterday morning and
he was back in Hong Kong by midnight. With both Chief Executive Donald Tsang
Yam-kuen and Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah out of town on business
trips, Secretary for Justice Wong Yan-lung spent a few hours as acting chief
executive. During those few hours, Tang met with Zhou Bo, deputy director of the
Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council. The two exchanged views
on Hong Kong's role in preparing the national 12th Five-Year Plan and on Hong
Kong- Guangdong cooperation, a government spokesman said. Tang is one of a
handful being widely tipped as a candidate in the 2012 election for chief
executive. On Wednesday, industrial-sector lawmaker Lam Tai-fai said those
interested in running should announce their candidacy by the end of this year so
that residents can get to know them. Lam said if Tang is interested, he may have
to resign by year's end. He added that National People's Congress Standing
Committee member Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai is also a likely candidate. She appears
fit and should be able to work for 10 years or more, Lam said. Regarding
cross-border cooperation, sources said the Hong Kong government earlier made a
number of proposals covering a wide range of issues. Since some of these involve
policy changes, help from the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office is needed to
coordinate with the different mainland departments. The issues include yuan
business, a possible expansion of the individual travel scheme and cross-border
transport. The sources said Beijing may have wished to inform Tang of the
preliminary response to the proposals so Hong Kong can work on them further. The
confirmed pacts may be included in the 12th Five-Year Plan - which will outline
the nation's development blueprint between 2011 and 2015. "The arrangement [of
Tang's visit] is rare," political pundit Johnny Lau Yui-siu said. " I think it
was more urgent than just the economic affairs between Hong Kong and the
mainland. The hostage incident should not be ruled out either." He said Beijing
is probably concerned about public discussion in Hong Kong over the
"sub-sovereignty" issue when dealing with foreign affairs. "Beijing is probably
worried the talk could become so heated it may affect its sovereignty," he said.
Tang was originally due to go on leave for five days from last Monday but this
was canceled in the aftermath of the Manila hostage tragedy. Tang last visited
Beijing in July for two days to discuss cross-boundary infrastructure. On that
occasion as well, the announcement was made just a day before the trip. Donald
Tsang yesterday concluded his three-day trip to Russia. And John Tsang is
leading a business delegation to meet with senior government officials of
Changchun municipality and Jilin province.
Hong Kong-flagged ship to blaze Arctic
route - A cargo ship flying Hong Kong's Bauhinia flag and carrying 41,000 tonnes
of iron ore will make maritime history this weekend when it sets sail from
Norway on a voyage through Russia's Arctic wastes to China. The bulk carrier
Nordic Barents is the first foreign-registered ship Russia has allowed to make a
voyage between two foreign ports via the country's northern sea route. The
Scandinavian owner and charterer of the ship aim to prove that the route long
called the Northeast Passage is a viable commercial alternative to southern
routes from Europe to Asia. The Nordic Barents is due to leave the small
Norwegian port of Kirkenes tomorrow, less than a week after a Russian-owned
tanker completed a 13,000-kilometre voyage from Murmansk to Ningbo. The SCF
Baltica, owned by privately controlled company Sovcomflot, carried 70,000 tonnes
of gas condensate, less than the 117,500 tonnes the ship was capable of carrying
because of draft restrictions through Arctic waters. If the Nordic Barents'
voyage to Dalian , Qingdao and possibly southern China is successful it will
effectively end a 500-year-old quest by explorers, shipowners and cargo owners
to find a northern route between Europe and Asia. Shipping and chartering
companies, including firms in Hong Kong, are viewing the voyage with keen
interest.
CLP in talks on saving art deco HQ -
Utility explores alternatives to demolition for tower already approved - Then
and now: the CLP Power building as it was in 1940 (left) and as it is today. It
has 78,000 square feet of floor space, but the 2001 plan for a residential tower
on the site allows 309,000 square feet. CLP Power (SEHK: 0002) is in talks with
the government about economic incentives to preserve its 70-year-old
headquarters in Argyle Street, Kowloon, as it seeks to guard redevelopment
rights granted nine years ago. Grade-one historic status was proposed by the
Antiquities and Monuments Office last year for the building at 139-147 Argyle
Street. The negotiation is based on an approved building plan for a 39-storey
residential tower atop a four-storey car-parking podium on the site that CLP
secured in 2001, which could be worth billions of dollars, a person in the
heritage-conservation field said. A CLP spokeswoman confirmed the utility had
had discussions with the government on "the need to balance between preservation
of built heritage for the benefits of the community and allowing individual
owners such as CLP to exercise the rights that come with ownership". "We are
constantly reviewing our need and requirement for our properties and currently
reviewing various options for our head office building," she said. A top
government official said it was having talks with a grade-one heritage owner,
without giving a name. "If negotiations bore fruit, the case would be another
example in which the government managed to secure preservation of privately
owned heritage by handing out economic incentives instead of buying out with
cash," the official said. The art deco building was opened in 1940 as the
utility, led by the Kadoorie family, extended the electricity supply for a
growing Kowloon. It marked a milestone in the development of the company and the
district, according to a heritage appraisal by the antiquities office.
Roger Garcia will return from USA to run
Hong Kong International Film Festival - Roger Garcia will return as executive
director of the film festival - a role he held in the 1970s. Inspiring young
movie-goers top priority for new film festival chief - Roger Garcia will return
as executive director of the film festival - a role he held in the 1970s.
Inspiring a passion for cinema among the next generation of movie-goers through
new technology will be a top priority for the city's new international film
festival chief. Film festival veteran Roger Garcia will return as executive
director of the Hong Kong International Film Festival at the end of this month,
a role he held in the 1970s when the event was run by the Urban Services
Department. He has since worked as a consultant for the festival. Garcia is also
planning initiatives to foster the talent of budding film programmers, writers
and critics in the coming years. Garcia's appointment was announced yesterday by
the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society. He takes over from Shaw
Soo-wei, who is leaving her position after two years of service. Garcia, who is
currently based in the US, will return to his city of birth to manage the
festival, as well as the Asian Film Awards and the Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing
Forum. A renowned programmer and curator of film festivals around the world,
Garcia described his new job as a homecoming. "I started my film career here,"
said Garcia, also an established film critic, writer and producer. Having been a
"film person" for 30 years, Garcia said he now hoped to show films as a group in
a festival that can articulate a vision of cinema. And the format for showcasing
those films may not be limited to the big screen. Garcia said he hoped to reach
a wider, and especially younger, audience through new technology. "People watch
films in every format they can think of, and we can use new technology to meet
the audience, such as by streaming films," he said. Garcia said he wanted to
develop the film literacy of younger viewers. "We are being bombarded by
Hollywood blockbusters, but it's important to keep the auteur and art films ...
keep the idea among the audience that cinema is a diversified culture." While
glitz and glamour have become an essential part of film festivals, the Hong Kong
event should also be about promoting local culture and talent, Garcia said. "The
Hong Kong International Film Festival is an important part of the Hong Kong
cultural landscape," he said, agreeing it was important for the West Kowloon
Cultural District to devote areas to cinema such as the theatres recently
proposed in one of the conceptual plans for the hub. Garcia said the plan
reminded him of Southbank in London. He recalled going to the theatre at
Southbank when he studied in England. "That was when I learnt about cinema as a
student," he said. As the festival's executive director, Garcia said he planned
to make the case for a theatre in the Kowloon arts hub that was dedicated to a
range of film genres. Although other film festivals have sprung up in the
region, Garcia believed the Hong Kong event, the first of its type in Asia,
still had its niche and was supported by strong programming and curatorship. But
he noted there was a lack of successors and he planned to cultivate curatorial
skills among the next generation. Grooming the next breed of writers and critics
is also on Garcia's mind. He said he hoped the festival could organise an event
similar to the annual Talent Press, which is run by the Berlin International
Film Festival's Talent Campus and open to young film critics and journalists
around the world. Whether or not sponsors could be secured would determine the
extent to which these plans could be carried out, Garcia said. "We are trying to
develop a new generation and promote film culture among a young generation who
will grow up and become ambassadors or commentators of films," Garcia said.
"[Sponsors] might not see the immediate return, but the return comes when the
young generation takes over in future." 
An international consortium founded in
Hong Kong launched the world's first universal standard for wireless battery
charging - Menno Treffers, the chairman of the Wireless Power Consortium,
unveils prototypes and soon-to-be-released mobile device chargers. An
international consortium founded in Hong Kong launched the world's first
universal standard for wireless battery charging yesterday, called "Qi", to cut
the last cord that limits mobility for smartphones, digital cameras, media
players and other consumer electronic gadgets. The Wireless Power Consortium's
new standard is expected to help speed up the ability of various consumer
electronics brands to bring compatible wireless charging products to market.
This will benefit consumers who have had enough with using different power
chargers and cables for a myriad of devices. Instead of plugging electronic
devices into a charger, consumers will be able to simply place their gadget on
top of a desk pad, which will charge their device wirelessly. Chairman Menno
Treffers said the consortium's goal was to "bring simplicity and convenience to
users", while making wireless power chargers ubiquitous. "Qi empowers
mobile-phone manufacturers to integrate wireless power receivers, the
semiconductor industry to incorporate the functionality into their chip sets,
and infrastructure providers to build chargers in homes, offices, automobiles,
hotels and furniture," Treffers said. According to market researcher iSuppli
Corp, shipments of consumer electronic products with wireless charging
capability will reach 234.9 million units by 2014 from 3.6 million units this
year. Treffers said hitting those numbers would be expedited by having a
universal standard with broad industry support. The consortium, which was set up
in December 2008, enabled that, he said. The group is looking forward to a
dialogue with the Chinese authorities that could lead to the standard being
officially recognised on the mainland, with consortium member Shenzhen Sangfei
Consumer Communications expected to help spearhead this effort. Petri Vuori, a
director of mobile solutions research and development at Nokia, said the
consortium was hopeful of wide acceptance on the mainland, where he said many of
the most popular consumer electronics devices were being made and bought by
consumers. The association had 59 members as of last month, including Nokia,
Samsung Electronics, HTC, Research In Motion, LG Electronics and Sony Ericsson.
Other members are industry leaders in consumer electronics, semiconductors,
mobile components, batteries and wireless power technology. Among the first
products to be certified by the consortium is the "Dragon Qi" charging pad from
local wireless charger maker ConvenientPower Group. This so-called wireless
inductive charger, available this month, can handle up to three devices,
regardless of manufacturer, at the same time. US-based battery maker Energizer
Holdings yesterday demonstrated its inductive charger, which will initially be
available in North America next month.
Hong Thai Travel pays tribute to
tour guide Masa Tse Ting-chunn killed in Manila - Hundreds attended a memorial
service in Kwai Chung yesterday organised by Hong Thai Travel for hostage crisis
victim Masa Tse.
Manila officers raps HK police over bullets in luggage earned them a reprimand
from a senior Philippine justice official. Philippine justice undersecretary
Jose Salazar holds up plastic bags containing bullets found in the luggage of
Chief Inspector Li Kwai-wah. 
Manila considers compensation for
bus hostage bloodbath - The Philippines is considering paying compensation to
families of eight Hong Kong tourists who were killed when their bus was hijacked
by a sacked policeman, an official said on Friday. The Chinese and Hong Kong
governments have demanded an exhaustive inquiry into the August 23 bloodbath in
Manila, while the Hong Kong legislature on Thursday passed a non-binding
resolution demanding Manila apologise and pay compensation. As the official
inquiry continues, President Benigno Aquino formed a cabinet-level committee to
look into possible indemnity for the victims, said Budget Secretary Florencio
Abad, a member of the committee. “I don’t think the issue here is compensation
alone. What is important is to be able to show solidarity. We understand what
happened. We are sympathetic to them,” Abad told reporters. He would not give an
amount or timetable for giving compensation, but added that the committee was in
constant touch with the governments in Hong Kong and China. “It is a question of
timing. What is important is we are prepared, we have options,” Abad said.
Aquino meanwhile told reporters on Friday he expected the official inquiry into
the carnage to conclude next week, and has promised to provide a copy of the
report to the Hong Kong and Chinese authorities. He pledged to do all he could
to prevent any repetition of the bloodshed. “By next week... I hope we can
demonstrate the capacity of our security forces in securing the people,” Aquino
said. The deaths, after a 12-hour ordeal broadcast live on television around the
world, triggered outrage in Hong Kong over the mishandling of the crisis.
Student activist Christina Chan
Hau-man was found not guilty in Eastern Court on Friday of assaulting a
policewoman during a protest on New Year's Day.
Risqué business - A Hong Kong film
about 'bad girls' selling sex online depicts them as anything but victims - A
scene from Kenneth Bi's new film, ''Girl$'' - Girl$, directed b Kenneth Bi, is
the latest Hong Kong bad-girl movie. Addressing the rise of teenagers
advertising their sexual services online, it features four independent-minded
young girls with few scruples about what they have to do to fulfil their
material desires. "These girls are not dumb - they are out to exploit guys,"
says Bi of his characters in Girl$. Yet, he did not set out to make a film to
judge these women. "The film has no moral position: that's the way I wanted it."
Art-house films about poor, victimised Chinese women tend to be the productions
that win awards at European film festivals, Bi says. "I always hated this
position - why do we have to play victims to get European sympathy? And here's a
chance to look at these prostitutes that are not victims - that's why I'm
excited to make this film." Bi says he's not worried about the reaction from
conservative groups. "The film is just a depiction of these girls. The truth is
there are hundreds or thousands of these girls out there. How did it come to
this? Is it because of films [about prostitution]? I don't think so. There are
good movies about good people, but we don't see the influence. It's the value
system in place from the 1970s and 80s; we are now seeing the disadvantages of
this. In Hong Kong we always place money before everything - before morals and
principles; these young girls are paying for their parents' sins or their
misunderstanding of what life is about." Girl$ has barely figured in the
mainstream media, unlike in 1982 when the release of Lonely Fifteen ignited
widespread moral outrage for its depiction of schoolgirls dabbling in
prostitution and drugs. "It's a topic nobody dared touch then," says Michael Mak
Dong-kit, who worked on Lonely Fifteen with his brother, Johnny. Inspired by
Christiane F., Uli Edel's 1981 German film based on the real-life ordeals of a
12-year-old, drug-taking prostitute, Lonely Fifteen was lambasted by many,
including Szeto Wah, then the chairman of the Professional Teachers' Union, Mak
says. "He questioned how we could present such a ugly picture of things. People
were hysterical in their condemnation, and in the news reports." Such an outcry
is unimaginable these days, Mak says. Hong Kong's sex-obsessed tabloid culture
and the internet is awash with video clips of teenagers up to no good. "It's all
down to the power of the internet - nothing looks outlandish any more. Back then
[Johnny Mak] and I were making this television serial about 10 bizarre crimes in
Hong Kong. Today, people would say, `What's so strange about them? We've read
and seen everything already.'" Bi agrees: "The media does what films used to do
and still do - exploit the subject matter and sugar-coat it with a grain of
morality. Before, you just read about those things; now, you can look at the
sexy pictures and be fascinated by them." 
Hong Kong Women at work put spouses
first - given up promotions because they do not want to outshine their spouses.
Some working women have given up promotions because they do not want to outshine
their spouses. Equal Opportunities Commission chairman Lam Woon-kwong said that
in his years in the public sector, he has seen "not an inconsiderable number" of
females holding back their career advancement for fear of overtaking their
husbands, some retiring earlier to devote more time to their families. "It's
free choice but I hope that is not a conscious choice conditioned by social
stereotypes disguised as free choice," Lam said at the launch of a women's
leadership program yesterday. According to the Census and Statistics Department,
women make up 53 percent of the Hong Kong workforce but hold only 29 percent of
leadership positions. This compares with the female representation rates in the
United States and Australia of 43 and 37 percent respectively, according to UN
figures. Also, Hong Kong female representation at senior levels across
professions and industries is low, with 19 percent in the legislative and
district councils, 10 percent at the Bar, 14 percent in academia, and 26 percent
in business management and administration. The Women's Foundation executive
director Su-mei Thompson said that the government and business should do more to
enhance the status of women and help narrow the leadership gender gap. "Things
will not change until there is a critical mass of women in leadership
positions," she added. The gender benchmark of the appointment of members in
advisory and statutory bodies has been raised from 25 to 30 percent since June
this year. Thompson urged the government to introduce flexible family-based
working policies and improve child-care services to help women concerned about
family who also wish to pursue their career. According to Thompson, there are
many capable women who are not achieving their full potential and because of
social stereotypes, they are not brave enough to change and they lack role
models. The foundation is launching a mentoring program for women leaders to
address the low number of women in senior management. Sixty mentors and
protegees will be joining the one-year program. Several corporations such as
JPMorgan and Kimberly-Clark are collaborating.
China*:
Step up fight against fakes, EU urges China - The European Union said it would
press China on Friday to back up its words with action and do more to stem the
flow of Chinese-made counterfeit goods into around the world.
China taps Canadian fund on rival Potash
bid - Mainland’s state-owned Sinochem has reportedly hired HSBC to evaluate
options to bid for Canada’s Potash Corp while reports say China Investment Corp
may also be seeking a bid of some kind. Chinese and other investors have
approached at least one big Canadian pension manager about a bid for Canada’s
Potash Corp to rival BHP Billiton’s US$39 billion hostile offer. The disclosure
by Alberta Investment Management Corp, which manages some C$70 billion (HK$517
billion) in public sector pension funds, is one of the first pieces of hard
evidence to back up speculation that mainland is looking for a way to derail a
takeover of Potash Corp by the powerful Anglo-Australian miner. AIMCo said it
was not interested, because the economics did not work. Mainland’s state-owned
chemicals giant Sinochem has reportedly hired HSBC (SEHK: 0005) to evaluate
options, and chatter persists that sovereign wealth funds, such as $300 billion
China Investment Corp, may also be seeking a bid of some kind. Given the size of
the deal, all major investment banks not working with BHP or Potash Corp are
pitching possibilities to mainland clients, multiple investment banking sources
in Asia have said. But so far, no formal counter bid has emerged, only talk. The
hefty price tag is still prohibitive for many potential suitors, bankers say.
Shares in Potash closed up 1.8 per cent at US$148.55 on Thursday, 14 per cent
above BHP’s US$130 offer price, while BHP shares edged up 0.3 per cent on
Friday.
China Southern Airlines began offering
direct flights on Thursday from Beijing to Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan, to
meet rising air travel demand and further strengthen bilateral ties between the
two countries. Flights to Tashkent, the largest city in Central Asia, depart
Beijing at 4:20 p.m. and arrive at 7:35 p.m. (local time). Return flights from
Tashkent leave at 8:55 p.m. (local time) and arrive in Beijing at 5:50 a.m.
Flights are scheduled every Thursday and Sunday. An Airbus 330-200 plane will be
used for the flights. The airline provides passengers with 100 classic movies
and 1,000 songs to entertain them during the long flight. It also serves a
variety of halal food. An executive with the company said the launch of the
route would facilitate personal exchanges and trade relations between China and
Central Asia.
Noodle makers show their skills at a
Shanxi noodle culture exhibition in Taiyuan, capital of North China's Shanxi
province on Sept 3, 2010.
Move mulled to close door on
property migrants - Cash-rich overseas investors planning to win Hong Kong
residency through buying property could be in for a shock. Concern is growing
that the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme helps to fuel the overheated property
market, and the government is considering whether to cut property out of the
special scheme. Official figures show 41.3 percent of the investments by these
residency investors comprised real estate in the first half of this year - a
jump of 17.9 percentage points from 2007. As the property market is super-
sensitive, a source revealed, the government is now assessing how amending the
scheme might affect housing prices. Nothing has been decided yet. A government
spokesman confirmed that a review of the scheme is indeed underway, and it is
due to be completed by the end of the year. Under the scheme, an applicant has
to have net assets of at least HK$6.5 million in the two years before an
application. Investors must put in not less than HK$6.5 million in either or
both real estate assets and financial assets such as equities and debt
securities. Executive Council convener Leung Chun-ying said he has not heard the
government has a plan to exclude property investments from the residency scheme,
adding that it would not be as simple as it appeared. If real estate investments
are not counted in the scheme, he added, the government may have to consider
whether it should continue to allow foreign companies to acquire premises for
their staff and to allow non-local shareholders of local firms to buy premises
in Hong Kong. Lawmaker Priscilla Leung Mei-fun called on the government to raise
the minimum investment amount to HK$10 million instead of excluding property
investments from the scheme. "Many mainlanders prefer investing in the property
market," she said. "Some of them don't know much about the stock market."
Excluding property investments may drive mainland investors to move to other
places, Leung added. Legislator Chan Kam-lam of the Democratic Alliance for the
Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong said if property investments are counted
out of the scheme "it seems to suggest that the city is putting the blame for
home speculation on those immigrants. It is unfair." He suggested the government
double the minimum investment amount to HK$13 million. Bauhinia Foundation
Research Centre chairman Anthony Wu Ting- yuk said overseas investors should not
be banned from buying property. Excessive intervention is not desirable in a
free market economy. Hang Lung Group chairman Ronnie Chan Chi-chung said: "If
you ask me, I don't care whether they live in their local homes or not. I have
properties in Singapore and the United States, but I don't live there." He
called on the government to be cautious as it weighs the issue. "When it comes
to controlling demand through preventing outsiders from buying things in Hong
Kong, we have to be very careful. Our success lies in the complete freedom in
society. A very free market economy. "You should not spoil the ship for a
ha'porth of tar."
Forensic tests on Manila bus
completed - Hong Kong police forensic experts examine the tour bus used in the
Manila hostage-hijacking on August 23 at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City on
Monday. Secretary for Security Ambrose Lee Siu-kwong said on Thursday Hong Kong
police officers had finished their forensic examinations of the ill-fated Manila
tour bus. Lee told lawmakers police now planned to submit their findings to
Coroner Michael Chan Pik-kiu. He was speaking in the Legislative Council where
lawmakers are holding a special meeting to discuss the Manila hostage crisis.
Last week, eight Hong Kong tour-group members died in the Philippine capital.
Lee noted that Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen had already written to
Philippine President Benigno Aquino demanding a full report. “The president and
ministers of the [Philippine] justice department have promised several times
they would conduct a complete, fair and full investigation,” Lee noted.
Legislators also discussed a motion moved by Legco House Committee president
Miriam Lau Kin-yee. This expressed lawmakers’ anger with the Philippine
government’s handling of the rescue operation. Legco also observed a minute
silence to mourn the victims. Miriam Lau requested the Hong Kong government take
a strong stand on the issue. “The investigations are being conducted by a
government which handled the hostage crisis poorly,” she added. Lau urged the
Philippines government to publicly apologise to victims’ families and to offer
compensation. During the discussions, other legislators also strongly criticized
the way Manila had handled the crisis.
Esprit's second half profit down 19pc
- Esprit Holdings on Thursday posted a 19 per cent fall in fiscal second-half
profit, lagging forecasts amid slower sales growth. Esprit Holdings (SEHK:
0330), the world’s No 8 apparel retailer by market value, on Thursday posted a
worse-than-expected 19 per cent fall in second-half profit amid slower sales
growth and euro weakness, and said the wholesale market will remain challenging
to the end of the current year. “We expect the wholesale market environment in
the first half of the new financial year to remain challenging,” the company
said in a filing to the Hong Kong bourse. “The wholesale order book between July
and November 2010 shows a mid-single-digit year-on-year decline in local
currency and it is improving month by month to November 2010 – particularly
strong in flash and repeat orders.” Analysts said the lower euro and weak
wholesale business had offset retail sales growth, affecting earnings. The
appreciation of the yuan and soaring rental and labour costs in Asia could
impact profit margin in the year ahead. The Europe-focused fashion group said it
had earmarked HK$2.2 billion for capital spending in the new financial year, of
which HK$738 million would be invested in opening about 100 new stores and store
expansion, as well as HK$406 million for refurbishing existing stores. The
company said it planned to expand the overall volume of retail selling space by
5-10 per cent in the fiscal year ending June next year. Esprit posted a net
profit of HK$1.53 billion for the second half of its fiscal year ended June,
down from HK$1.89 billion a year earlier. The result lagged an average estimate
of HK$1.73 billion from 13 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Competing
with Hennes & Mauritz, Inditex, and GAP, Esprit reported a net profit of HK$4.23
billion for the fiscal year ended June, against a consensus forecast of HK$4.439
billion and a year-earlier profit of HK$4.745 billion. Shares of the company
have fallen more than 13 per cent so far this year, compared with a 4.5 per cent
fall by the Hang Seng Index. The stock was up 1.4 per cent by midday on
Thursday.
Hong Kong's SHKP Beas River house
at US$20,000/SF - SHKP Beas River house to carry HK$100m price tag - Rural
Sheung Shui touted as area for rich and famous. Most property buyers probably
wouldn't fancy Sheung Shui, close to the Hong Kong-Shenzhen border, as a
prestigious location. But developers seem to think otherwise. Sheung Shui's Beas
River, about five minutes' drive from Huanggang opposite Lok Ma Chau, is fast
becoming the new area for the rich and famous. Close to Beas River Country Club
and Hong Kong Golf Club, houses at St Andrews Place and Royal Oaks have been
going for HK$12,000 to HK$15,000 per square foot. Now Sun Hung Kai Properties (SEHK:
0016) has announced that it will offer its upcoming luxury housing project,
Valais, in the Beas River area, at a new record price in the New Territories.
Valais has 300 detached and semi-detached houses ranging from 2,600 to 4,500
square feet. SHKP plans to offer the cheapest unit at about HK$30 million, while
the most expensive house would come with a price tag of more than HK$100
million, or more than HK$20,000 per square foot, said Victor Lui Ting, executive
director at Sun Hung Kai Real Estate Agency. Given the going rates in the
neighbourhood, is SHKP aiming for the moon? Some analysts think so. "It is a
marketing gimmick. Any owner can ask for HK$100,000 per square foot, that does
not necessarily mean they will get it. We only look at transaction prices," said
analyst Paul Louie at Nomura International (HK). Eric Yuen, head of research at
GuocoCapital, said the SHKP brand could indeed sell its products at a premium
but it is hard to predict the sales outcome at this stage. "With prices like
that, the developer is clearly more interested in achieving high prices for the
project rather than generating a good turnover by volume," he said. The pricing
strategy underscored the limited supply of top-notch houses in Hong Kong, he
added. Valais would be targeted at Hong Kong businesspeople and affluent
mainlanders, said Lui. Danny Lau Tat-pong could be the kind of buyer SHKP is
angling for. Lau travels to Dongguan three times a week to visit his factory and
spends two days in his office in Kwun Tong. He lives in a 2,000 square foot unit
in Kowloon Tong, which is conveniently located for access to both his Hong Kong
and mainland offices. But Lau doesn't find the proposed prices of Valais
appetising. "I have friends living in Beas River. They just paid HK$7,000 per
square foot three years ago. It is getting expensive as prices have increased to
HK$11,000 per square foot now," he said. "[But] at that price level, I would
prefer to buy a house in Clearwater Bay as it is closer to my office in Kwun
Tong." Property agents, however, believe Valais would be sought after. Alfred
Cheung, sales director at Centaline Property Agency's northwest New Territories
branch, which focuses on broking luxury projects, said SHKP has created a loyal
customer base in the mainland. "They just buy the [SHKP] brand even if the
project is located in a remote area," he said. Assuming the entry level price
for a 2,600 square foot house will be set at about HK$30 million, or HK$11,600
per square foot, Cheung believes it to be reasonable. Given the high level of
privacy, Cheung says movie stars and celebrities would be quite interested in
Valais.
Lufthansa's third Airbus A380 'Peking' starts regular service to Beijing China -
Lufthansa's third Airbus A380，which bears the name Peking, arrives in Capital
International Airport in Beijing, Sept 2, 2010. Lufthansa has launched Airbus
A380 flights between Frankfurt and Beijing.
A photographer takes pictures of
fireworks during a ceremony to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the end of
World War II in Heihe, Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, Sept 2, 2010.
EU's Ashton in Beijing for
trade talks - European Union's Catherine Ashton shakes hands with Foreign
Minister Yang Jiechi in Beijing on Thursday. EU foreign policy chief Catherine
Ashton met Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on Thursday as she looked to wrap up a
visit thought to have included talks on trade, environment and security issues.
The Beijing meeting with Yang came a day after she took part in the inaugural EU-China
High-Level Strategic Dialogue in the southwestern city of Guiyang – a forum
intended to keep the two sides in contact on major issues. Ashton’s talks in
Guiyang with State Councillor Dai Bingguo – a senior foreign policy official –
helped promote mutual understanding, she told Yang. Through the dialogue, “we
know the issues better, and we understand better, and I think we can now turn
that... into pursuing some of the issues in greater detail,” she said before
going into talks with Yang. Neither side has given details on the substance of
their discussions but the EU had indicated earlier they were to have included
trade, climate change, and security issues such as the Iran and North Korea
nuclear standoffs. Ashton was also due to meet Premier Wen Jiabao later on
Thursday and hold a press briefing. Dispute thriving economic ties, relations
between China and Europe have been strained by trade disputes, with European
firms complaining Beijing is not doing enough to ensure a level playing field
for European companies in the country. It has also called for more aggressive
actions by key producers of greenhouse gases, such as China, to curb their
emissions. China, meanwhile, said in July it was opposed to tough new sanctions
imposed by the European Union on Iran over its contested nuclear programme,
calling for more talks to resolve the standoff. China is now Europe’s
second-biggest trading partner after the United States, according to the EU.
China is also Europe’s fastest-growing export market.
China Tibetan canyon Yarlung
Tsangpo entrance to be site of top hotel - The Yarlung Tsangpo Canyon in Tibet,
with spectacular views and limited access. The canyon's mouth is the intended
site of a hotel. A five-star hotel will be built at the entrance of Yarlung
Tsangpo Canyon - regarded by some as the longest and deepest in the world,
certainly one of the least accessible, and yet probably the most scenic in Tibet
- mostly to attract conference business, according to official media. The hotel
would stand on a mountain in the remote town of Pai, providing 150 rooms for at
least 300 guests at a construction cost of 100 million yuan (HK$114 million) and
with minimum carbon dioxide emissions, Xinhua quoted Liu Jianyun ,
vice-president of Tibetan Tourism, as saying. Liu said his company, based in
Lhasa and listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, had won the central
government's approval to set up a world-class conference centre. An increasing
number of demanding and prestigious guests found it impossible to stay in the
beautiful but ecologically fragile and politically sensitive area of eastern
Tibet. The only accommodation available at present was youth hostels and guest
houses run by local Tibetans. To create a different atmosphere, the hotel will
be run by an overseas management team and become the first major facility in
Tibet whose operations were entirely entrusted to foreigners. The mainland
spends more than 100 billion yuan on meetings every year. In the past, most
meetings have been held by the government, but in recent years, more overseas
companies and organisations have been choosing the mainland for their
conferences - a tribute to the country's growing economy. But though the
canyon's scenery is certainly remarkable, the choice of location left Yang Yong
, an explorer who was among the first adventurers to trek through the canyon in
1998, scratching his head. "Pai used to be a transaction centre for military
personnel and materials. It was at the mouth of the canyon but not part of it,"
he said. Yang and his teammates spent 35 days trudging for about 200 kilometres
through the heart of the canyon, where the river sharply turned south and
plunged more than 2,000 metres. The view was spectacular, he said, but the
dangers were many - landslides, snakes, disease-carrying mosquitoes, sudden
floods - and any one of them could keep you from making it home.
China Manufacturing sector ends
3-month decline - Trend expected to stay sluggish on property curbs - Inspecting
newly made items at a vehicle components factory in Suining, Sichuan province.
Manufacturing has staged a small rebound. The recent slowdown in the country's
manufacturing sector reversed course slightly last month, but it was still
manufacturing's second-lowest performance in 18 months, and economists generally
expect it will remain sluggish owing to efforts to cool the property market. The
Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) compiled by the China Federation of Logistics
and Purchasing on behalf of the National Bureau of Statistics, ended a
three-month decline and edged up to 51.7 last month from 51.2 in July. The
improvement, which was to a level slightly better than economists' forecast of
51.5, was driven by higher output and new orders. A reading above 50 indicates
expansion, while one below 50 signals contraction. The findings of a PMI survey
compiled by HSBC (SEHK: 0005, announcements, news) /Markit also showed a slight
improvement in the manufacturing sector, which was sharply off its near-record
growth trend at the beginning of this year. The HSBC/Markit PMI rose to 51.9
last month from 49.4 in July, buoyed by stronger new orders from the domestic
market. "China is moderating rather than melting down," said HSBC chief
economist Qu Hongbin. "Domestic demand will be resilient and uphold around 9 per
cent economic growth in the second half and next year, while external demand is
more likely to worsen in the coming months." The official PMI showed that new
orders jumped to 53.1 last month from 50.9 in July, while new export orders
edged up to 52.2 from 51.2. This means domestic demand grew faster than that
from overseas. Morgan Stanley chief economist Wang Qing said the manufacturing
sector slowed as a result of cooling measures in the property market and efforts
by local governments to meet full-year energy conservation targets. "With no
sign that the tightening on the property sector will be loosened soon,
industrial production will likely remain weak before policy turns
growth-supportive in the fourth quarter of this year," Wang said. Mizuho
Securities Asia chief economist Shen Jianguang said the two sets of PMI indices
signalled economic activity was gradually decelerating and that the country
seemed to be on track for an economic "soft landing". The official PMI found
that 14 out of 20 industries recorded expansion last month, but industries such
as chemical fibres, rubber and plastics and textiles slipped into contraction.
Meanwhile, the government's China Automotive Technology and Research Centre
revealed that retail deliveries of cars, SUVs and multipurpose vehicles rose
59.3 per cent last month to 977,300 units from a year earlier after Beijing
subsidised fuel-efficient models. The growth was much faster than the 15.4 per
cent increase in July to 822,300 units. This is despite the fact that the
government raised the consumption tax for small cars to 7.5 per cent from 5 per
cent. A Credit Suisse research report estimates that car sales will grow in the
next few months when there are more holidays, including National Day. It says
sales will probably be spurred largely by discount offers. However, Credit
Suisse says it expects car manufacturers and dealers to remain cautious about
sales in the rest of this year.
China Strategic chief hits out
at Taiwanese regulators - Raymond Or Ching-fai, the chief executive of China
Strategic Holdings, has criticized Taiwan's regulators for rejecting the
company's US$2.15 billion bid with partner Primus Financial Holdings to buy Nan
Shan Life Insurance from the American International Group. The Financial
Supervisory Commission, which vetted the sale, said it was concerned that China
Strategic, a battery maker, lacked experience in running an insurance business.
It also said that the buyers had failed to demonstrate they had the ability to
raise funds in the future, and that their commitment to operating the insurer
for the long term was questionable. It also questioned the stability of the
shareholder structure of the buyers. China Strategic has been in talks with its
private-equity fund partner Primus and AIG on what to do next since Taiwan's
Investment Commission and the FSC rejected the bid on Tuesday. Or said they had
not reached a decision on whether they would appeal. The Hong Kong buyers had
yet to receive an official written statement on the rejection of the bid from
the Investment Commission of Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs, which
approves foreign investments. Or said he did not understand the regulators'
reasons for rejecting the bid, saying that there were some "gaps" in the
regulators' knowledge of the operations of international capital markets and of
fund-raising exercises. He also questioned whether the Taiwanese regulators had
followed "standard protocol" when they examined the bid. There is continuing
speculation that Taiwan scrapped the bid because the proposed buyers had close
associations with the mainland. Or in June had to resign from the Chinese
People's Political Consultative Conference after politicians and regulators
expressed concern about a possible conflict between his advisory role in the
mainland body and his leadership of the bid. In July, Or and three other board
members of a consortium on the bid were barred by the Taiwanese government from
serving as directors of the company because they failed to provide documents to
prove that they were not mainland residents. Or said he was only a member of the
local Beijing CPPCC and not the national committee. He said the FSC had advised
the company that bidders only had to disclose whether they were members of the
national committee. "While I respect and understand the regulators' stringent
requirements, I believe when it comes to examining the deal they had been
influenced by the legislators, who were in turn influenced by the media, which
is owned by people with vested interests in Taiwan." Trading of China Strategic
shares has been suspended since Tuesday.
Ma pledges judicial independence - Hong
Kong's new Chief Justice, Geoffrey Ma, has begun his first day in the post by
pledging to uphold the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary. On his
first day in his new job on Wednesday, Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma Tao-li said he
was committed to upholding Hong Kong's judicial independence. Ma, 54, is the
territory's second chief justice since the 1997 handover. He succeeds Andrew Li
Kwok-nang – who retired on Tuesday. Speaking to local media, Ma said the job was
a great honour. “I am fully aware of the community’s expectations,” he added. Ma
had been in private practice since 1978 until he joined the Judiciary as a Judge
of the Court of First Instance of the High Court in December 2001. He was
appointed Chief Judge of the High Court in July 2003, where he led the High
Court, both judicially and administratively. Ma has considerable experience in
various areas of civil law.
Luxury site sets Kowloon record at
land auction - Steven Ho Shut-kan of Kerry Properties. A luxury residential site
in Kowloon topped records at a land auction yesterday, underpinning the buoyancy
of the runaway property market. Property sales, which had fallen in response to
recent government cooling measures, are now expected to rebound after Kerry
Properties (SEHK: 0683) won the most expensive site in Kowloon in terms of floor
area price. Prices have exceeded estimates in land auctions held since the
government introduced measures to slow the property market last month. Singapore
joined Hong Kong in imposing anti-speculation measures this week, underscoring
the risk of asset bubbles in Asia as record-low US interest rates and the
region's economic recovery spur demand. Kerry beat 15 other bidders to snap up
the site at 1 Ede Road in Kowloon Tong for HK$1.285 billion, or HK$16,587 per
square foot. This was 95 per cent higher than the opening bid of HK$659 million
and at least 17 per cent above market expectations. The previous record for
Kowloon was set in June, when Sun Hung Kai Properties (SEHK: 0016) paid
HK$12,540 per sq ft for a site in Ho Man Tin. Ricacorp Properties said weekly
sales at 50 big housing estates across the city fell 9 per cent to a four-month
low of 302 last week. Agents expect sales to pick up this week. Hong Kong's home
prices have surged about 45 per cent since the beginning of last year, prompting
a series of cooling measures including reducing the availability of mortgage
loans for luxury and investment properties as well as tighter control on
speculative selling. Leo Siu, a senior sales manager at Midland Realty, said
many flat owners in Kowloon Tong had raised their asking prices after the
auction. "One vendor raised the asking price of his 2,652 square foot duplex
flat at One Beacon Hill by 10 per cent to HK$55 million. Another owner at the
estate raised their asking price by 11 per cent to HK$80 million." Raymond So
Wai-man, dean of the business school at Hang Seng Management College, said the
record-breaking result would boost prices in the secondary market. "Property
sales have dropped in recent weeks as buyers worried the government may release
a new series of cooling measures," he said. "The aggressive bidding shows
developers believe the government will not release stronger measures and the
record-breaking site in Kowloon Tong is positive news." Both big and small
developers were drawn to the 25,823 sq ft site, with bids from Chinachem Group,
Wing Tai Properties, Kerry Properties, New World Development, Wang On Group, Nam
Fung Development and Tai Cheung Holdings. Surveyor Charles Chan Chiu-kwok said
the construction cost of the project was about HK$3,000 to HK$4,000 per sq ft.
The average price of the project has to reach more than HK$20,000 per sq ft to
generate a reasonable profit. Kerry Properties is part of the Kerry Group,
controlling shareholder of the SCMP Group, which publishes the South China
Morning Post (SEHK: 0583).
A minimum charge for inbound tours as a
deterrent to tourism malpractice is facing strong opposition even before it is
formally proposed to the government. The task force set up after a spate of
controversies - including a tour guide insulting mainland visitors - has agreed
in principle to a charge to tackle the problem "at its roots." But the
government, holding tight to the principles of a free market, appears lukewarm
to the idea. A government source said regulating fees has never been the
objective of the task force, set up by the Tourism Industry Council in the wake
of tour scandals. But two task force members said the plan has the backing of
the majority. The body is set to make recommendations to the government this
month on how to better regulate the industry. "No one objected to it in the
meeting," task force member Leung Fu-wah said. Legislator Paul Tse Wai-chun said
the government is reluctant to regulate tour fees because of its entrenched
free-market values. Tse added some industry stakeholders have expressed support
for price regulation because it can stamp out "zero-charge" tours, which have
been blamed for recent controversies. Hong Kong Inbound Tour Operators
Association chairman Simon Hau Suk-kei also supports the plan. "I think this can
be considered. It can be done as long as operators think this is feasible," Hau
said. Other places have similar arrangements, with Thailand setting the minimum
charge at about HK$350 a day per person and Taiwan at HK$250, according to
Leung, who said some operators believe the Hong Kong benchmark should be HK$400.
A government source denied that the issue has ever been discussed. But Leung
claimed Commissioner for Tourism Philip Yung Wai-hung has expressed a
willingness to explore the issue. The task force will consult tour guides,
travel agencies and other stakeholders in the coming days to hammer out final
details of the review, which will be discussed at a Tourism Industry Council
board meeting on September 14. Other suggestions that may be put on the table
include a point-deduction system for tour guides found to be breaking rules and
basic salaries for guides.
China and Hong Kong big real estates investors to the world - HK and mainland
buyers are among the biggest property players in capital cities - Mainland and
Hong Kong investors have become a major force in the global property market.
They have already emerged as the biggest group of buyers in many places, and
their share of the market is expected to grow even further. Favoured investment
destinations of Chinese buyers include university towns and cities where their
children study, especially in Britain, the United States, Canada and Australia.
The combined mainland and Hong Kong student population in Britain has reached
60,000. Patrick O'Neill, chief executive of the US property developer The
O'Neill Group, said the Chinese share of international demand for homes in the
US would double to 16 per cent this year. In Vancouver and London, he said, they
were already the biggest source of overseas demand. "Anecdotally, our associates
in Vancouver are reporting that Hong Kong and mainland investors comprise over
half of the open house traffic," O'Neill said. Figures from estate agency Knight
Frank show that 11 per cent of international property investors in prime central
London's new-homes market are Chinese, who are also the largest overseas group.
One-third of buyers of new homes in the Canary Wharf financial district come
from the mainland and Hong Kong, the agency reports. Jennet Siebrits, head of
residential research at CB Richard Ellis, said Chinese buyers were poised to
overtake Russians as the most active international buyers in the prime central
London housing market. "We would expect the favourable exchange rate to lead to
an imminent rise in the number of Chinese buyers investing in prime central
London property," Siebrits said. Chinese investors are most active in the
off-plan, or pre-construction, markets across the world from Dubai to Sao Paulo.
Other hot destinations include France, where they are buying second-hand
apartments in Paris and holiday homes on the French Riviera as well as new
homes, reports estate agency HomeHunts. Homebuying is tracking other economic
activities. In Bordeaux, for example, the number of vineyard investors from the
mainland and Hong Kong has been growing, according to Joel Palous, proprietor of
AIM Vineyards consultancy. Chinese buyers are said to target homes across the
price spectrum. "The price points of mainland and Hong Kong investments begin
from the low-end properties starting around HK$800,000," O'Neill said. At the
top end of the market, agents recount helping mainland business people purchase
£15 million (HK$180 million) houses in London. O'Neill said Chinese investors
were taking advantage of the slump in property prices overseas to buy into these
markets for capital gains in future. "In some of the overbuilt markets in
Southeast Asia and US cities like Miami and Las Vegas, homes are going at a
discount of up to 70 per cent," O'Neill said. "Real estate is cyclical, and even
the most conservative economists project returning to and eventually surpassing
the 2006 prices in the next upswing in about four to six years." Gary Zhang, a
senior manager in a Beijing-based energy company, has been looking for an
apartment below US$1.5 million in Manhattan. Among the main reasons for his
interest are an appreciating yuan and a drop in New York property prices.
"Prices in Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong all are too high. New York City is a
better place to invest," Zhang said, adding that prices in Manhattan have picked
up a bit in the first half but are still lower than their peak levels. "I may
work in New York City in the next couple of years. I will move in if I do go. If
not, it can just be an investment," Zhang said. Currency fluctuations in some
countries has also made property less expensive for Chinese investors. The pound
has depreciated 20 per cent against the Hong Kong dollar and 30 per cent against
the yuan over the past three years, according to Reuters, while the US dollar
has depreciated 10 per cent against the yuan. The mainland's rapid economic
growth means it now has 343,000 high net worth individuals, or people with more
than US$1 million in investable assets, according to wealth management company
Scorpio Partnership. Hong Kong has 72,000 high net worth individuals. Many such
people buy property in Canada, Britain and the US because they are also
attracted to their visa programmes, O'Neill said. Wealthy foreigners can gain
permanent residency in Britain by investing £1 million over five years. In
Quebec, Canada, those who have net assets of C$800,000 (HK$5.94 million) and
invest C$400,000 can get permanent residency. In the US, the requirement is an
investment of US$1 million in a business that employs 10 people. Matthew Montagu-Pollock,
publisher of the website Global Property Guide, said mainland investment in
overseas property was on the threshold of a boom. "What triggers any national
buying spree is of course economic growth, large increases in personal wealth
and large increases in the value of the currency. The mainland Chinese have
experienced the first two," he said. "Many of them have good reason to want to
keep some property outside the mainland for the time-honoured reason of
diversification or risk-avoidance. I would expect the US, Canada, Hong Kong,
Singapore, Australia and the UK to continue to top the list. Mainlanders'
interest in overseas property seems likely to just keep growing." Ed Lewis,
director of London new developments at Savills estate agency, said 10 per cent
of his company's sales went to mainland and Hong Kong buyers. He said he
expected this proportion to rise next year when the number of British buyers are
likely to decline further. According to website Smart New Homes, the number of
new homes for sale in Britain is at its lowest since November 2006. A lack of
mortgage financing has deterred many Britons from buying, the website says.
Ironically, while Hong Kong investors benefit from affordable buying
opportunities overseas, they are finding competition from mainland investors
increasingly tough at home. A third of Hong Kong's luxury flats were sold to
mainland buyers in the first six months of this year, prompting lawmakers to
debate curbs on mainland investment. Two ideas being discussed are raising the
investment level in the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme to HK$10 million from
HK$6.5 million, and banning outside investment in small-to-medium-sized flats.
If enacted, they could restrict the number of mainlanders using Hong Kong as a
springboard into overseas property.
Snipers should have acted earlier, Manila
mayor says - City chief rues missed opportunities to shoot hostage-taker.
Officers from the Philippine National Police light candles and make offerings
yesterday at the spot in Manila where eight Hongkongers died in the August 23
hostage tragedy. Manila mayor Alfredo Lim said yesterday snipers should have
shot the gunman in last week's tragic bus hijacking when they had the chance
instead of waiting to see if the situation could be solved through negotiation.
Several times throughout the day sacked policeman Rolando Mendoza was in clear
view in the door of the bus where he held a group of Hong Kong tourists at
gunpoint, but police held off in the hope they could end the crisis peacefully.
"I think that was a mistake, the failure to take that opportunity [to shoot],"
Lim said yesterday at a memorial Mass in Manila for the victims. "But at that
time he was already releasing some of the hostages and no harm was being done to
them." He said earlier that as a general rule, a hostage-taker was not shot if
he was not hurting the hostages. "But there is also a rule that if a clear shot
could be given ... and no one else would be hurt, the negotiator has to take
advantage of that opportunity." Lim was speaking as Hong Kong police officers in
Manila wound up 15 hours of investigations on the Hong Thai Travel coach where
eight hostages and Mendoza died and began to make ballistic examinations of
firearms used in the shoot-out.
China's August car sales jumps 59% - A man
is seen taking a closer look at a car on display for sale at a second hand car
market in Beijing. On Wednesday, China Automotive Technology and Research Center
said the sales of cars in August rose 55.7 per cent over a year earlier to 1.21
million vehicles. Mainland’s car sales in August rose 59.3 per cent from a year
earlier, bouncing surprisingly higher after sluggish sales in the summer months,
helped largely by Beijing subsidies for fuel-efficient models. The up-turn in
demand in the world’s largest car market could extend into September and
October, the best auto sales season, and may continue into the winter months if
automakers slash prices to drive sales, industry observers said. “It’s a big
surprise! Everyone was expecting car sales to hit bottom in August, but they
didn’t,” said Zhang Xin, a Beijing-based analyst with Guotai Junan Securities.
“The rebound shows that the intrinsic demand for automobiles is still there. A
little policy incentive could make a big difference.” Beijing unveiled a pilot
program in five select cities in June to subsidize green car buyers, with
handouts ranging from 3,000 yuan (HK$3,422) for fuel-saving models to as much
60,000 yuan for electric cars.
Andrew Li leaves
the Court of Final Appeal in Central on his final day as chief justice
yesterday, having passed the baton to Geoffrey Ma. Ma takes firm stance on role
of courts - Judge's meteoric rise marked by efforts in shaping constitutional
order under Basic Law. At 54, Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma Tao-li is a relative
newcomer to the judiciary, having only become a judge at the Court of First
Instance in 2001. Nevertheless, as a young barrister Ma was already playing a
pivotal role in shaping Hong Kong's new constitutional order, representing the
government in a right-of-abode case that led to a controversial interpretation
of the Basic Law in 1999 by the Standing Committee of the National People's
Congress. In 1999, he represented the government in the case, in which the Court
of Final Appeal ruled any Chinese person with a parent who was a Hong Kong
resident had right of abode. The Standing Committee's reinterpretation,
requested by the Hong Kong government, effectively overturned key parts of that
ruling. Ma's involvement in the case, the very first involving Basic Law issues
to reach the Court of Final Appeal, as well as subsequent cases that debated the
effect of the Standing Committee's interpretation on Hong Kong, proved himself
on the fundamental constitutional nature of the city's courts, under the watch
of then chief justice Andrew Li Kwok-nang himself. In the right-of-abode case,
Li remarked that Ma was not advocating the court should seek an interpretation
from the Standing Committee, but was providing useful assistance on the issue:
"He must draw to our attention these submissions to enable the court to consider
whether a reference should be made. In our view, it is proper for Mr Ma ... to
put these submissions to us since they relate to the Court's constitutional
jurisdiction." And while that case is most well known for sparking a
reinterpretation by Beijing, it also provides the platform for setting in stone
other key principles that lie at the heart of the "one country, two systems"
concept: Hong Kong's use of common law principles, the court's purposive
approach to interpretation of the Basic Law, and the emphasis on granting Hong
Kong residents "the full measure" of the rights and freedoms guaranteed in the
Basic Law.
Appeals for justice mark Mass for
Manila dead - Almost 1,000 people turned out in Manila yesterday for a memorial
service for the victims of last week's tour bus tragedy, with appeals for
justice over the botched handling of the hostage crisis that led to the deaths
of eight Hong Kong tourists. There has been a storm of criticism from Hong Kong
since last Monday's carnage in which authorities' mishandling of the crisis
seemed to enrage the hostage-taker, former police officer Rolando Mendoza, who
shot the victims before he was killed by a police sharpshooter. About 250 police
officers were among those who attended the Mass, which was offered in front of
the Quirino Grandstand, the site of tragedy. "This terrible case is also calling
out to heaven for justice," Bishop Broderick Pabillo, Manila Auxiliary Bishop,
said in his homily. "Not only the Chinese are calling for a just and swift
investigation of this case. We Filipinos demand the same from our officials.
Bring out the truth, let those who are responsible, whoever they may be, be held
accountable. No whitewash. No scapegoats. Let there be new life for our justice
system." The Mass was preceded by a ceremony performed by Buddhist monks from
Taiwan. China's ambassador to the Philippines, Liu Jianchao , said that a fair
and thorough investigation would help relieve the anger and loss of Hong Kong
and Chinese people.He told the South China Morning Post (SEHK: 0583,
announcements, news) that "both the Chinese and Philippine governments share the
aspiration that we should focus now on the investigation, which means a
thorough, fair and credible investigation that will bring further relief to the
[families of] people who lost their lives". After laying a single white rose on
a dais in front of the site of the incident, he added, "I'm really touched by
the service." Liu said, "We appreciate everything the Philippine government and
the president himself have done" in the aftermath of the hostage-taking. In his
homily, the prelate noted that Mendoza was a veteran policeman and he had a
special message for the authorities: "Did his service not ingrain in him respect
for others and respect for life? New life for our police and armed forces is not
just to get more sophisticated arms or to get more training. It is above all to
have deep love and respect for human rights and life itself."
E-games creator CY Foundation gets
visit from ICAC - CY Foundation's first Enternet store. The company serves a
network of 20,000 internet cafes to help promote its e-sports game sites. CY
Foundation Group's plans to conquer the mainland's burgeoning digital
entertainment industry appear to have hit a snag, following a visit by Hong
Kong's graftbusters. The Independent Commission Against Corruption on Monday
swooped on the group's headquarters in Wan Chai, where officers reportedly
stayed several hours before taking away documents and an undisclosed number of
employees whose identities are unknown. In a filing with the Hong Kong stock
exchange yesterday, CY Foundation executive director Woelm Samuel said the
group's board had requested a suspension of trading in its shares, "pending the
release of a public announcement in relation to information, which is considered
to be price-sensitive in nature". CY Foundation, which describes itself as the
mainland's leading electronic sports tournament provider, was in the middle of
pre-launch testing of its flagship, multiplayer online game when the ICAC raid
occurred. A spokeswoman for CY Foundation confirmed that "the ICAC contacted the
company yesterday", but declined to elaborate. The ICAC had no comment on the
investigation. In May, gaming machines and software that CY Foundation bought
from a company called Weike, owned by a former director of the group, were
confiscated by mainland police for being used in gambling. A month earlier, Luck
Continent, a substantial shareholder of CY Foundation, filed a lawsuit against
group chairman Theodore Cheng Chee Tock and his spouse, and six other corporate
shareholders, concerning various allegations related to the group's investments.
CY Foundation recently received approval from the General Administration of
Press and Publication and the Ministry of Culture to operate its South
Korean-developed online game, Rohan, across the country as part of its move into
the larger and more profitable online game market. With the Communist Youth
League-owned Network Media Centre and software developer Playtech as strategic
partners, CY Foundation has developed a network of more than 20,000 internet
cafes to help promote its e-sports game sites.
National registration aims to foil
phone scammers - Pre-paid SIM cards lose their anonymity - A new nationwide
policy will require mobile phone users who buy prepaid SIM cards to use their
official identity cards and register with their real names from today. The
Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has been pushing for the move
for five years. It said the new move would curb fraud. However, activists and
online users are worried the new move, which coincided with the tightening of
control over the internet - including a ban on individuals owning website
domains and the closure of popular online communities - is aimed at curbing the
flow of information and dissident views. Mobile users who already have prepaid
SIM cards won't have to register immediately, but they will have to provide
their real names and ID card numbers within the next three years, according to
the new policy effective today. They will be encouraged to go to one of three
telecommunications service provider (TSP) offices with their ID cards or call a
customer service number and, in exchange, they will receive a benefit such as a
fee waiver, according to The Beijing News.
Mengniu earnings decline on rising prices of raw materials - China Mengniu Dairy
executives (from left) Lu Jianjin, Wu Jingshui and Chris Kwok at the results
announcement yesterday. China Mengniu Dairy (SEHK: 2319), the biggest liquid
milk maker on the mainland, reported its net profit slid for the first six
months of the year because of rising costs of raw materials. The company, which
was deeply embroiled in the melamine scandal of 2008, posted a net profit of
618.82 million yuan (HK$707.25 million), down 6.5 per cent from a year earlier.
Revenue increased 19.3 per cent to 14.43 billion yuan. The cost of sales as a
percentage of revenue rose 0.5 per cent to 73.3 per cent, or 8.86 billion yuan,
while operating expenses such as distribution and administration costs also
increased. The company will not pay an interim dividend. Chief financial officer
Wu Jingshui said the cost of raw materials, such as raw milk and sugar, have
increased by 10 to 30 per cent so far this year. The company has not responded
by raising its prices but will not discount that possibility for the rest of the
year. Wu denied that Mengniu's sales had been affected by recent discoveries of
melamine-laced milk powder. Last month, food safety authorities seized more than
100 tonnes of tainted milk powder in several provinces in the north of the
country, raising concerns over how much of the product, which should have been
destroyed in 2008, was hidden and is still leaking into the market. The mainland
dairy industry faced another scandal last month when the Ministry of Health said
it would investigate claims that Qingdao-based Synutra International produced
infant formula tainted with adult hormones, which caused baby girls to grow
breasts. The liquid milk business, which includes ultra-high-temperature
processed milk and flavored milk beverages, accounted for 86.4 per cent of total
group revenue. The business recorded a 21.1 per cent increase in sales year on
year to 12.46 billion yuan. The ice cream business saw revenue grow 9.9 per cent
to 1.82 billion yuan. Mengniu expanded its production capacity with aggregate
annual production capacity reaching 6.14 million tonnes as of June. Shares in
Mengniu closed 3.6 per cent lower at HK$21.50.
Hong Kong Jockey Club boss bets on flats at his final hurdle - Retiring Jockey
Club chairman John Chan Cho-chak is all for the resumption of the Home Ownership
Scheme. But the government must ensure that the scheme is not seen as
interfering with market mechanisms, Chan warned. Citing his own experience, the
67-year-old said most youngsters need help from their families to get started on
their first homes. "HOS flats are cheaper and the mortgages easier to pay off,"
he told a media gathering yesterday. He officially steps down as the Jockey Club
chairman today, with Brian Stevenson taking over. The former civil servant
bought his first home in 1967. Property prices at the time had been adversely
affected by riots in what was then British-ruled Hong Kong. Chan's 1,200 square
foot home on Waterloo Road Hill, an upper-class residential area, cost around
HK$70,000. That was equivalent to years of earnings for an average worker. "At
any point in time, youngsters wanting to buy their first home will need some
sort of help from the family," Chan said. It was his father who made the
downpayment for him. But Chan, then a junior civil servant, had to pay HK$1,000
a month to the bank as mortgage. The top executive of Hong Kong's biggest donor
also advised youngsters to aim lower when buying a home. "You should work your
way up. Target the smallest flat and trade up slowly." Turning his attention to
racing, Chan said the equestrian facilities for the Guangzhou Asian Games will
be turned into a training base for the Jockey Club when the tournament ends in
November. Construction work for the Conghua training base will be completed by
2014. Racehorses from the territory can then be trained there. "The mainland
facilities will be more modern and spacious. It will not be two to three-story
buildings," Chan said. The club hopes to increase the number of horses from
1,200 to 1,400 once the new base is opened. The base will also include an uphill
track and other facilities. Chan said the stables at Sha Tin Racecourse are in
need of renovation. They were built more than 30 years ago on reclaimed land
that has been sinking each year. He also renewed the call for a change in the
betting duty system. The club has suggested that the government scrap the double
taxation system and lower the betting rate to attract revenue from overseas. But
the man who helped stabilize the Jockey Club revenues by increasing the number
of racing days by five, said such a policy change may take a long time to
materialize.
Kerry Properties lands Kowloon (HK)
site for HK$1.285b (US$165 million) 33% above market forcast - Hong Kong sold a
piece of land on Tuesday at a price that was a third above forecasts, indicating
that the territory’s property sector could still be frothy even after cooling
measures were announced weeks ago. View of a residential site at 1 Ede Road,
which was auctioned of on Tuesday for for HK$1.285 billion, a price that was a
third above market forecasts.
Twenty-nine bucks an hour - that's the
amount a panel tasked with arriving at Hong Kong's first minimum wage is set to
recommend to the chief executive. Members of the Provisional Minimum Wage
Commission have settled on a figure, which sources put at HK$29, give or take a
few cents. But chairwoman Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah was tight-lipped about the
figure yesterday. Aside from talking about aspects of the panel's work, all she
would say is that the 13 members of the commission - which includes
representatives of bosses and workers - have reached a consensus on the minimum
wage. If it is HK$29 an hour - or HK$4 less than what unionists demand - some
347,800 workers stand to benefit. That is the number of people the Census and
Statistics Department reckons earn less than HK$29 an hour. It arrived at that
the number after a study of wage levels in the second quarter of last year.
Declining to give anything away, Cheng said: "It's not due to any worries. Our
task is to make a recommendation to the chief executive. As an advisory group, I
think we should respect the one whom we advise. "He has his own considerations
and will have to mull it over before deciding what to do." The commission is
still putting the finishing touches to its report for Donald Tsang Yam-kuen. The
Chief Executive-in-Council will decide whether to accept the recommendation or
come up with other ideas about a minimum wage backed by law. A government source
told The Standard that Tsang is not aware of the figure being proposed. Cheng
said it was challenging to reach a consensus, but members had discussed the
issue rationally and weighed wage statistics from the government. Factors taken
into consideration to arrive at an hourly rate include the general economic
situation, the labor market, the SAR's competitiveness and people's living
standards. The commission also carried out impact studies of businesses and
employees to try to determine the effects of different wage levels. Asked how
workers might greet the final figure, commission member Lee Kai-ming, a
consultant to the Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labour Unions, said: "We
seek to strike a balance. As the consensus was reached through a complicated and
thorough discussion, it is not a matter of whether we can swallow it or not." On
speculation the government may extend the Transport Support Scheme - a subsidy
program for low-paid workers - should the minimum wage be HK$28 an hour,
Permanent Secretary for Labour and Welfare Paul Tang Kwok-wai said it was a
separate issue. But the scheme is now under review in any event. Commission
member Thomas Kwok Ping-kwong, vice chairman and managing director of Sun Hung
Kai Properties, said he believes businesses will comply with the law and pay
wages at the level the law will demand. But commission member Michael Chan
Yue-kwong, executive chairman of Cafe de Coral Holdings, who came under fire for
saying that a profit warning and layoffs may be considered if the minimum wage
was HK$33 per hour, declined to take questions yesterday. The Minimum Wage
Ordinance was passed by a wide margin by the Legislative Council on July 17.
Legislators must next decide whether to accept or reject the rate decided by the
chief executive. The minimum wage is scheduled to take effect in the first half
of next year.
Twist in Gome battle as Du freed from jail - Founder's wife can have say at
showdown - Du Juan has had her jail term for insider trading commuted by the
Beijing high court. Wong Kwong-yu's 14-year sentence was upheld. The power
struggle between Gome founder Wong Kwong-yu and the giant mainland appliance
retailer's current management took another twist yesterday as Wong's wife, Du
Juan, was freed from jail with a commuted sentence for insider trading. The
release of Du is likely to benefit Wong because she will be able to participate
in a September 28 special general meeting where a vote will be taken on whether
to remove Chen Xiao as Gome's chairman. Du now will also be able to manage the
family's huge fortune directly. The Beijing high court upheld on appeal Wong's
14-year jail sentence for bribery and insider trading handed down in May. But it
commuted a three year and six month term given to Du and released her,
prosecutors said in a statement. Wong, known on the mainland as Huang Guangyu,
and Du have yet to answer allegations by Hong Kong's Securities and Futures
Commission that they perpetrated stock market malpractice resulting in HK$1.6
billion in losses in 2008. Last August the SFC won a High Court order freezing
HK$1.66 billion in Gome shares controlled by Wong and Du. But to date it has
been unable to serve a summons on the pair as their whereabouts were unknown.
People with direct knowledge of the case said the regulator cannot send a writ
to Du across the border. Meanwhile, Du could send her representative to take
part in Gome's special general meeting in the city next month. On August 4,
Wong's wholly owned Shinning Crown Holdings sent a letter to Gome's board
proposing a special general meeting to vote on Chen's removal and the
cancellation of a mandate to issue new shares, which is regarded as a move to
dilute Wong's stakes in Gome. Wong's Shinning Crown, a shareholder of Gome, said
in its statement it will take legal action to stop the company from issuing new
shares because the dilution of stakes could affect the voting results at the
special general meeting. Meanwhile, Wong's family bought 120 million Gome shares
last week, increasing their stake to 34.78 per cent from 33.98 per cent. A
spokesman for Gome said the company has not yet made a decision to issue new
shares. Also yesterday, Gome said it had received a letter from Beijing Gome, a
company owned and controlled by Wong, threatening to cut contracts between the
company and hundreds of stores that the jailed tycoon still owns if shareholders
support the current chairman Chen. Gome dismissed the threat as an "empty"
ultimatum, saying it was "clearly motivated" by Wong's desire to win over
investors ahead of the special shareholders' meeting. In May, Gome's management
reinstated three directors from the US private equity firm Bain Capital after
they were voted out by shareholder companies Wong owns. "We were so urgently in
need of money to address the cash crush caused by Wong's detention," Chen said
earlier in Beijing. "Only Bain accepted the condition that it would bring money
to Gome and would not dilute the equity stake of the largest shareholder." Bain
spent HK$3.6 billion to become the second-largest shareholder in Gome after
buying new shares and convertible bonds. Bain has committed to convert the bonds
into equity before the next general meeting. After the conversion, Bain will
then have a 9.8 per cent stake.
Ningxia races to harness sun and
wind - This 10MW solar power plant in Shizuishan, Ningxia, makes use of the
region's sunny weather, which averages 300 days a year. Government subsidies
have triggered high levels of investment in renewable energy. Times are tough in
the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region , so about 1,000 families in Zhongwei city's
Yongkang town are looking to boost their incomes by adding to the power grid the
natural way - through sun and wind. The Wang family earned around 9,000 yuan
(HK$10,300) last year from their farmland in Yangtan village. But their rooftop
will also contribute from October, with solar panels that feed electricity into
the public grid set to provide 1,000 yuan. Wang Tingli , head of the family,
said they paid 1,500 yuan to have the system installed and are looking forward
to an annual subsidy of 540 yuan from the government and around 500 yuan for the
electricity their panels generate. A remote, dry region covered in part by the
Tengger Desert, Ningxia is looking to the sun and wind to increase its energy
production and thereby fight poverty. Local authorities say the region has an
installed capacity of 673 megawatts of wind power and 60MW of solar power.
Eighteen more solar power stations are being built, each with a capacity of
about 10MW. "In recent years, we realised renewable energy is a new advantage
Ningxia has," Yang Ruijun , deputy chief of the Ningxia Development and Reform
Commission's comprehensive affairs section, said. "We have about 300 sunny days
in a year. And we don't need to occupy farmland to develop wind farms and solar
stations, since we have big areas of sandy wasteland to make use of." Already
self-sufficient with coal-fired power and hydroelectricity provided by plants
built on the Yellow River, the region is selling its surplus electricity to
Shandong and Lanzhou , the capital of Gansu . What's more, it is planning to
help the east's energy-thirsty areas further by participating in China's West
Electricity for the East project. "We are now talking with Zhejiang to transfer
part of our electricity there," Yang said. Solar and wind companies have
burgeoned in Ningxia in recent years as central government subsidies triggered a
renewable energy frenzy. When it comes to harnessing the wind, there has been
talk of too much investment on the mainland, but Ningxia is undaunted. Chang
Xiaowei , deputy general manager of the Ningxia Yinxing Energy Co's wind
equipment subsidiary, said that although wind farms needed 10 years to recover
the cost of the original investment, the government's preferential policies were
a big attraction. "But if it were solely market-motivated, nobody would be in
the business," he said. Given the damage from blowing sand, a wind turbine
installed in Ningxia has an average life of 20 years. "The first 10 years is the
cost-recovery period, and we have another 10 years to make profits," Chang said.
The production line at the photovoltaic equipment subsidiary of Yinxing Energy
has been halted. Hu Jianping , its assistant chief engineer, explained that
supplies of silicon, a material needed for solar panels, had fallen short of
demand. "Solar projects are being implemented all over the country. We've even
tried some southern provinces but didn't manage to buy any [silicon] from
there," he said. It normally depends on local providers. China has recently
launched bidding for the second batch of 13 solar power station projects, with a
total capacity of 280MW. All the projects were planned for the western region,
with Ningxia sharing 30MW. Besides providing solar panels for power stations,
his company also contracted the rooftop project in Yongkang village, which was
jointly invested by the central government, local government and farmers. "I
think it's a good thing [to make money by installing solar panels]," Wang, the
villager, said, adding that 263 of the 300 households in his village had signed
contracts. The rest are either too poor to afford the investment or have adobe
houses unsuitable for solar panels.
'China threat' exaggerated -
Despite Japan's escalated maritime disputes with China, discussion about
"military threats from China" in Japan is indeed exaggerated, Japan's former
defense minister said on Monday. "There is no need for us to keep stressing that
China is a threat. The China-threat theory in Japan has turgidly stirred unease
among the people," Shigeru Ishiba said when talking with diplomats and scholars
from China and Japan on diplomatic and security affairs at the Beijing-Tokyo
Forum. Japanese scholars attending the forum, however, were still extremely
concerned about China's naval development. "China insists on self-defense, but
the stance of its military is more and more aggressive," said Masashi Nishihara,
director of Japan's Research Institute for Peace and Security. A series of
Chinese naval exercises this year have shown a different stance, he said,
warning that the US has been more and more active in containing the Chinese navy
based on Washington's joint military actions with Seoul and Hanoi this summer.
The US has conducted condensed military drills with the Republic of Korea and
Vietnam, its old rival, in the neighborhood of China since July and vowed to
remain in the South China Sea where China has overlapped territorial disputes
with some countries. Media reports have linked China's military exercises to its
discontent with the US moves. Chen Jian, former Chinese ambassador to Japan,
said Japan's views on the Chinese military have long been disturbed by the Cold
War thinking pattern. "Some of our problems are due to lack of confidence and
mutual trust," Chen said. "We both have our own advantages and there is no need
to be overly concerned." Liu Jiangyong, a senior scholar on Japanese studies
with Tsinghua University, said China would not choose to expand across the world
as the US and the former Soviet Union did. He, however, warned of the shift of
Japan's military attention to the Southwest toward China. Japan's National
Defense Program Outline, scheduled to be finished this year, is highly
dangerous, Liu said. "That will draw China's unease toward Japan," he said.
"This is the first such revision of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan and I
hope they do not choose the wrong direction." Now there is noticeable imbalance
between China and Japan over each other's military intention, Liu said. "China
used to believe Japan would become a strong military power. But we noticed the
Chinese government changed its attitude after Shinzo Abe (former Japanese prime
minister) took office," he said. Li Wei, chief of Japanese studies with the
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said getting Tokyo to understand Beijing is
not as difficult as getting the US to understand Beijing. 
Beijing's tallest skyscraper
open for business - A 330-meter tall skyscraper, located in the central business
district (CBD) of Beijing, opens for business on Aug. 30, 2010. The
International Trade Plaza, an office building, is the tallest structure in the
capital. 
Photo taken on Aug. 30, 2010
shows both sides of the Huangpu River in Shanghai, east China. According to a
new survey released on Aug. 30, Shanghai topped the "List of Best Chinese Cities
of Global Images", followed by Beijing, Chengdu, and Nanjing. The survey took
into account culture, environment, quality of life, public security, government,
investment value and internationalization, among other aspects.
Chinese showbiz belles in traditional Qipaos
Hong Kong forensic experts on Monday
inspected the bullet-riddled bus in which a hijacker killed eight Hong Kong
tourists in Manila last week, as the Philippines tried to calm outrage over the
bloodshed. A Hong Kong police forensic team examine the tourist bus used in the
hostage-hijacking in Manila on August 23 at an auditorium in Taguig City,
Manila, on Monday. Guided by Filipino investigators, the Hong Kong team used
torches to examine the bloodied passenger compartment, taking pictures of bullet
holes and shattered windows. Another investigator checked the bus tyres shot out
by police to prevent the hostage-taker from moving out of a police cordon. Hong
Kong investigators refused to talk to a throng of Chinese and Filipino
journalists. Justice Secretary Leila de Lima met Hong Kong officials on Monday.
Philippine investigators plan to question Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, who helped
oversee the hostage negotiations, as well as journalists who interviewed
hostage-taker Rolando Mendoza by phone during the drama, de Lima said. They may
also travel to Hong Kong to talk to survivors of the nearly 12-hour stand-off.
It is unclear if that will be enough to stem the anger in Hong Kong, which has
discouraged its residents from traveling to the Philippines. About 140,000 Hong
Kong tourists visit the Philippines annually and hundreds have cancelled planned
trips. Concerns have also been raised about a possible backlash on the more than
100,000 Filipinos working in the territory, mostly as maids. Filipino anti-crime
activists placed flowers on Monday at the site of the carnage in a Manila park.
One carried a wooden cross bearing the names of the slain hostages. “We couldn’t
stomach this crime,” said activist Dante Jimenez. On Monday morning Hong Kong’s
Assistant Commissioner of Police David Ng Ka-sing confirmed that Hong Kong
police had been given permission to board the Hong Thai tour bus to carry out
investigations into the siege. He said Hong Kong officers had met with officials
from the Department of Justice, Legal Department and the Department of Internal
Affairs in the Philippines on Monday morning. “This was to discuss arrangements
for Hong Kong officers to collect evidence and conduct forensic investigations
on the bus,” Ng explained. Ng also said he hoped Philippine authorities would
allow them to examine the guns used by police and the gunman. He pledged that
Hong Kong officers would try their best to find out the truth. Philippine
Justice Secretary Leila De Lima said it was the responsibility of the
Philippines police to carry out a thorough and fair investigation. But she has
not said when the investigation would be completed. Anger has been rising in
Hong Kong since the August 23 carnage in which a disgruntled former Philippine
police officer took the busload of tourists from the Chinese territory hostage
in a bid to win his job back. HongKongers have blasted a failed rescue operation
and botched negotiations that seemed to enrage the hostage-taker, who was
eventually killed by a police sharpshooter. Organisers said about 80,000 people
marched in Hong Kong on Sunday, denouncing the Philippines and demanding justice
for the dead. President Benigno Aquino III has ordered a thorough investigation
into the crisis and the police response. “We want to appease them [HK officials]
and show that we’re not hiding anything,” Philippine National Police spokesman
Agrimero Cruz said. “This is a show of transparency.”
The
Provisional Minimum Wage Commission (PMWC) has reached an agreement on what
level Hong Kong’s minimum wage should be set at, PMWC chairwoman Teresa Cheng
Yeuk-wah said on Monday. However, she did not disclose the exact amount which
the commission believes the statutory minimum wage should be. Cheng said the
commission would submit its report to Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen
soon. She said that in reaching its decision the commission had referred to
experiences in other countries, the views of different sector groups, and
relevant statistics. Local media reported that the wage would be set at
HK$28-HK$29. Christine Fang Meng-sang, chief executive of the Hong Kong Council
of Social Services, said she believed the minimum wage should be set at HK$33.
“The PMWC’s main task is to advise the chief executive on the initial statutory
minimum wage (SMW) rate to be adopted,” Fang said. She said the commission had
to strike balance between raising wages, minimising the loss of low-paid jobs
and ensuring Hong Kong’s economic growth and competitiveness.
The government may rake in up to HK$1.1 billion for a Kowloon Tong site in an
auction that could breathe new life into the secondary home market where sales
have plunged to a 27-week low. The 25,823-square-foot site at 1 Ede Road is
expected to fetch between HK$930 million and HK$1.1 billion tomorrow, according
to four surveyors. Given a gross floor area of 77,469 square feet, the
accommodation value could be be HK$12,000 to HK$14,200 per square foot. Midland
Surveyors director Alvin Lam Tsz-pun said property development and capital
inflow are long-term, so a competitive atmosphere at the auction is unlikely to
be affected by short-term market cooling. His valuation of HK$1.02 billion is 20
percent higher than a month ago. Slacker rules on joint development - with a
larger plot at 3 and 5 Ede Road on the application list - will make the site
more attractive, surveyors said. "If the same developer owns both sites, it can
apply for lease modification," said Ringo Lam Chun-chiu, valuations director at
AG Wilkinson & Associates. "The developer can build an underground car park and
a clubhouse for joint use." He believes developers are willing to pay a premium
for 1 Ede Road, which he values at HK$1.1 billion. Midland expects the site to
be developed into low-rise buildings with around 50 homes of about 1,500 sq ft
each. Savills forecasts the average selling price for completed homes can reach
HK$17,000 psf . There were four deals this month at nearby One Beacon Hill and
Beacon Heights, averaging around HK$14,000 and HK$17,000 psf, said Centaline
senior sales director Matthews Lee Tze-ming. Lee admits transactions have
halved, but "sellers believe prices will be better after the auction. On the
other hand, buyers may expect new [home] measures in the policy address." Total
secondary transactions over the weekend fell to just 26, down from 29, while the
number of primary homes launched dropped to 417 as of Friday, from 1,513 in
July, Midland Realty said.
Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis
Rodriguez Zapatero and Zhou Hanmin, deputy director of the Shanghai Expo's
Executive Committee pose with the World Cup football trophy at the Spanish
pavilion at the Shanghai Expo on Monday.
In a world of
fakes, tainted food, indifferent service and shoddy products, Lionel Derimais is
trying to highlight the best of the mainland's crafts and services people.
Xiamen Red Dragon Yacht Building employees craft a sailing boat for a client.
The yacht builder is one of the mainland companies featured on
nicelymadeinchina.com. And the idea has obviously struck a chord, with the
website attracting around 7,300 readers since it launched in April. Derimais,
who arrived in Beijing five years ago, said the aim of the website was to focus
on the manufacture of "well-made goods by Chinese who take pride in producing
quality products". Perhaps unsurprisingly, the companies featured so far have
been small and medium-sized enterprises, some of which already have a global
reach. They also feature a high proportion of expatriates, albeit with Chinese
connections through family or mainland partners. For example, Xiamen Red Dragon
Yacht Building, which focuses on yachts and speedboats, was founded in 2003 by
David Winter, an expatriate who was associated with shipyards in Taiwan. Working
with general manager Liu Hongyan and a team of 50 crafts people, Winter has
since developed a network of clients all over the world and the company has sold
vessels to at least 10 European countries, the United States, Australia and
India. Shanghai Trio, which started making souvenirs 12 years ago, has branched
out into making bags, quilts, tablecloths, silk jackets and other products that
are sold in its own stores on the mainland and stocked by shops in Hong Kong,
Taiwan and Europe.
Shanghai Pudong Development (SPD) Bank
said its first-half-year net profit rose 33.92 percent from one year earlier due
largely to lending boom and increased commission fees. Net profits climbed to
9.08 billion yuan (1.34 billion U.S. dollars) in the first six months of this
year, the Shanghai-based lender said in a statement filed with the Shanghai
Stock Exchange late Sunday. Its growth in profits stemmed from rising operating
revenues, a result of growing net interest earnings, increased fee incomes and
the improved quality of assets, according to the statement. Earnings per share
stood at 0.791 yuan, up 20.21 percent from one year earlier. Also, operating
revenues grew 36.42 percent to 22.75 billion yuan in the first half of 2010, it
said. Total assets for the commercial bank hit 1.781 trillion yuan by the end of
June, up 9.77 percent from the end of 2009. 
