|
China.Hawaii Chamber of Commerce ® "Hawaii-China Guan Xi, We Get Things Done™" - Trade Advocacy Organization
Biz
Opportunities:
China
Hong
Kong China
Leaders
Business
Survey by
|
|
|
Hong Kong, China & Hawaii Biz*
How to Do Business with China, through Hong Kong & Setting up Business in China? - last update Feb 8, 2003 Our Resource Center Page provide daily Updates on SARS (HK Gov, WHO & CDC)
How can we serve you
better? - please take 1 minute to complete the web survey
Do you know our dues paying members attend events sponsored by our collaboration partners worldwide at their membership rates - go to our event page to find out more! China Business Opportunities provided by the Commercial Section of the U. S. Consulate in Shanghai - download in Microsoft Word Format - updated on Sept 30, 2003 Sept 30, 2003
Hong Kong insurance companies will be able to hold higher stakes in mainland rivals in a move likely to prompt more merger and acquisitions in the greater China market. Hong Kong's logistics industry, which earns its living adding value to the supply chains of multinational retailers, finds almost no value added for it in the latest Cepa details. The majority of the 273 goods eligible for tariff-free status under the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement will be subject to existing rules governing their content. Kowloon Motor Bus Holdings (KMB) will take a stake in Shenzhen's dominant public transport company in a deal which will see the two firms expand into southern China and prepare for a possible listing. A trade fair organiser has accused the Trade Development Council (TDC) of using government subsidies to force private companies out of the exhibition business. Efforts in technology research and innovation at the Chinese University of Hong Kong are increasingly focused on their commercial use to attract private-sector funding.
Work has started on a project to move water from Shanxi province to Beijing in an effort to quench the thirst of a city struggling through its fifth year of drought. A proposal by Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian to create a new constitution for the island in 2006 has met with scepticism and derision by his political opponents. Receivers for Shanghai Land Holdings last week moved the company's $1.2 billion in cash and bank balances from BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) to an account at Standard Chartered, according to sources. State-owned pharmaceutical giant Sanjiu Enterprise Group said yesterday that it sold more than one billion yuan (HK$937.2 million) of assets to repay bank loans but declined to confirm a report that it owed nearly 10 billion yuan, more than double its net assets. Foreign investment is pouring into the mainland's semiconductor market as chipmakers bet that increased demand from Chinese manufacturers signals a turnaround in their industry. Sept 29, 2003
Telecommunication companies in Hong Kong are expected to gain access to the mainland market under an amended version of the free-trade pact to be signed today. Li Ka-shing says he put the idea of a special tax-free industrial zone on the Hong Kong-Shenzhen border directly to President Hu Jintao because the Hong Kong government could not settle a dispute over reclaimed land there. A leading economist has cast doubt on the sustainability of Hong Kong's recovery, saying the latest rebound is fuelled purely by a psychological feel-good factor. The MTR is handing out shopping coupons worth $100 million to mainland tourists, while property agents are giving away gold to entice cross-border buyers to mark the National Day celebrations.
A popular English-language training school has been ordered to pay 10 million yuan (HK$9.4 million) in compensation to two United States companies for illegally selling test papers for key US university entry examinations. The Zhuhai municipal government intends to withdraw all support from the debt-ridden Zhu Kuan Group unless creditor banks owed HK$4.49 billion accept a restructuring offer by October 8. People's Insurance Co of China (PICC), China's largest property insurer, later this week will start pre-marketing in Hong Kong for its global share offering as part of attempts to gain listing-application clearance from the Hong Kong stock exchange. Three developers are hoping rich mainlanders will go on a spending spree in Hong Kong after a high-profile property promotion kicks off in Shanghai this week. Sept 26 - 28, 2003
Hawaii ranks last in U.S. for business friendliness - The state's high sales and gas taxes, along with electricity costs, put it at the bottom, a survey finds. Tourism’s cultural role encouraged - UH's new travel dean says the industry has responsibilities with visitors it has to accept. Hong Kong: Security chiefs from Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong have agreed to strengthen co-operation to combat cross-border crime because they expect closer economic ties will have an impact on law and order. The Hospital Authority is confident it has found an effective new treatment for Sars - using an HIV drug - but it is still prepared to use previously controversial methods in extreme cases. The Hong Kong government has put forward an alternative landing point on Lantau for the proposed bridge linking Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau, which would reduce the costs of construction and the project's environmental impact. Some of the 5,700 Hong Kong people who invested in languishing Guangdong property projects may never get their money back, despite official intervention, according to local NPC delegates. The University Grants Committee has proposed the government raise the cap on foreign students to 8 per cent of first-year intake, up from 4 per cent. Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) chairman Andrew Sheng will remain on the job for another two years after the government agreed to extend his contract, putting an end to protracted negotiations which had left his future at the regulatory body in doubt. Sir Chung-kong Chow has been appointed chief executive and a director of MTR Corp (MTRC), succeeding Jack So Chak-kwong. Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP) will embark on an aggressive plan for land-use conversion after holding talks with the government on premiums to convert five million square feet of agricultural land for residential use. The manufacturer of China's most famous alcoholic beverage has demanded an apology from retail giant Carrefour after the discovery of 720 bottles of fake wine on its shelves in three stores, before one of the busiest seasons, the National Day holiday. China: American businessmen in China have added their voices to the chorus of criticism from Washington of China's unfair trade practices. The American Chamber of Commerce in China said yesterday the mainland was still not meeting its commitments under the World Trade Organization to lifting trade barriers. Christian Murck, chairman of AmCham China, said many of its complaints were the same ones it had made a year ago. Politicians in the United States, under pressure from their constituents, are putting increasing pressure on the Bush administration to report China to the WTO for its allegedly unfair trade practices. Their complaints centre on what they perceive is the undervaluation of the renminbi, which they say makes Chinese exports artificially cheap and is costing US manufacturing jobs. Media groups in Asian countries should work together to break the monopoly held by western media giants, a vice-president of Xinhua said yesterday. China Digital Holdings, the mainland's largest information technology products distributor, has taken its first step towards overseas expansion by forming a system integration joint venture with General Electric (GE) and Japan-listed TIS. Japan's Nintendo said on Thursday that it would enter China's home-use video game market next month, making it the first computer game console maker to move into the mainland market. Sept 25, 2003
If the nation's leaders want to foster stability in Hong Kong, they should meet a diverse range of political groups, including democrats, the Liberal Party told State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan yesterday. Economy-watchers are noting some tantalising trends: property prices have begun rising, and luxury cars in Hong Kong could soon cost more. Further, the financial secretary says he thinks the weak US dollar will ease deflationary pressure by strengthening Hong Kong's exports and services sector. Members of a Hong Kong employers' group were told yesterday to be more selective when hiring staff and warned not to be too hasty in raising pay. Financial Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen has no sympathy for currency speculators who, he said, got their fingers burned by short-selling Hong Kong dollars. The growing problem of synthetic drug trafficking in Asia has been reflected in Hong Kong. Nearly 40 more people - 535 - were arrested for possession of methamphetamine and Ecstasy-type tablets in the first half of this year compared with the same period last year.
China: Mainland customs officials will launch a nationwide crackdown later this year against multinational companies who evade payment of duty and taxes, says an international consultancy. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov announced yesterday that a long-awaited US$2.5 billion joint oil pipeline deal with China had been postponed. The country's first four-stage solid-fuel rocket capable of putting small satellites into space at short notice has been tested successfully, according to Xinhua. Guangdong's incessant power shortages and a rising demand for energy has provided the impetus for Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings (CKI) to invest $5b on a power plant, further deepening CKI's penetration into the province's power market. A desperate attempt by fund managers to abort China Merchants Bank's record-breaking convertible bond plan has grown into a chorus calling for a revamp of the mainland's deficient corporate governance structure to curb reckless stock market fund-raising. The hunt for Zhu Kuan Group assets is to spiral into the High Court as provisional liquidators lock horns with the Zhuhai government-owned companies' former adviser, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), over books and records. Tradelink, the public-private company which controls the electronic submission of regulatory trade documents, expects to reach an agreement with the government to build Hong Kong's digital trade transport network (DTTN) by the end of the year. Sept 24, 2003 Hong Kong: Financial Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen said on Wednesday that he had total confidence in Hong Kong's linked exchange rate system - despite recent market fluctuations. The historic July 1 mass protest was the most significant political event Hong Kong has experienced since the handover, the United States Consul General in Hong Kong James Keith said overnight (HK time). Li Changchun, the mainland official in charge of ideology, told a delegation of Hong Kong media executives on Wednesday that they should be more positive about the Tung government.
The government would confer with private medical institutions over the reporting of Sars information and the roles they should play if another outbreak occurred, Health Chief Yeoh Eng-kiong said on Wednesday. The Civil Service needs to improve communication within its ranks to ensure a more effective government, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa said on Wednesday.
Mainland resident Liu Xiong, 39, was sentenced to six months' imprisonment at the Kwun Tong Magistrate's Court on Tuesday for attempting to deceive Immigration officers about his travel destination. Two mainland women were arrested for working as illegal labourers in foot reflexology shops in Happy Valley, the police said on Wednesday. NWS Holdings, the infrastructure flagship of New World Development, is close to selling its problematic toll-bridge projects in Wuhan, Hubei province, according to a senior company official.
The central government will respond to growing pressure to revalue the yuan by making significant changes next year and possibly even floating the currency as early as 2008, economists say. Beijing acknowledges the concerns of the Group of Seven richest nations and the International Monetary Fund about the undervalued yuan, Finance Minister Jin Renqing said yesterday. Prime ministers from China, Russia and four central Asian nations yesterday agreed to increased security co-operation and closer trade ties.
Local water suppliers may be
placed under a single bureau to improve efficiency and the quality of supplies,
a senior official has said. China officials are studying the possibility of launching a Hong Kong-style Tracker Fund as a way to dispose of state assets and raise capital to cover its pension shortfall. Taiwan's China Airlines and the mainland's China Eastern Airlines plan to open a Taipei-Shanghai route through Okinawa, potentially taking business away from Hong Kong. Sept 23, 2003 Hong Kong: The government yesterday unveiled a battle plan to combat Sars II, with Tung Chee-hwa taking a leadership role as soon as a new case emerges in the community. A dramatic weakening in the US dollar yesterday sent Asian currencies sharply higher, while stock markets struggled amid fears that Asian companies will become less competitive. Police and industry officials yesterday joined the growing outcry for more stringent measures to combat gangs of international jewel thieves targeting Hong Kong. They say the spate of thefts has cast a shadow over future exhibition events in the city. Hong Kong's chief executive has vowed to step up co-operation between the city and Shanghai, saying the two will soon announce a detailed plan to forge a closer economic partnership. Selina Chow Liang Shuk-yee has gone through ups and downs in her 28 years of public service that few other politicians can match, going from weather girl to a member of Hong Kong's highest decision-making body. Growing demand in China, Japan and South Korea is keeping code division multiple access (CDMA) mobile networks neck and neck with Asia's nascent third-generation (3G) mobile services market. Fast-food giant McDonald's plans to serve up wireless broadband internet links to customers in Hong Kong, following a major rollout in Guangdong province.
An issue of the Communist Party's mouthpiece People's Daily has been censored in Jiangxi province, apparently because it carried an article highlighting corruption among local cadres. The future of a controversial US$2.5 billion pipeline will be the focus of talks when Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov meets Premier Wen Jiabao this week. The mainland securities regulator has issued tighter guidelines to cap the size of initial public offerings (IPO) as China's stock markets wobble from a rash of new share offerings. China Merchants Bank yesterday held meetings with Beijing-based fund managers in a bid to quell discontent over a proposed 10 billion yuan (HK$9.37 billion) convertible-bond issue that is threatening to turn the star of a new generation of state-owned enterprises into an example of China's corporate governance deficiency. The outlook for leading Hong Kong property developers will remain weak as they continue to be dogged by oversupply and further price falls, ratings agency Standard & Poor's has warned. Siemens, the world's fourth-biggest mobile-phone maker, has slashed handset inventory in China after a switch to direct selling to consumers in bigger cities helped increase sales. Sept 22, 2003 Hong Kong: Liberal Party vice-chairwoman and tourism chief Selina Chow Liang Shuk-yee has been appointed to the Executive Council, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa announced on Monday afternoon. Efforts have been stepped up to safeguard the independence of the judiciary amid concerns the court system is not sufficiently protected from government interference. Secretary for Justice Elsie Leung Oi-sie has hit back at critics of the government's offer to halt civil court action against three protesters. Developers are calling on the government to abandon its efforts to stabilise the residential property market since it has shown signs of improvement. The exhibition and convention industry is working overtime to accommodate higher than normal demand for trade shows and meetings. MTR Corp (MTRC) will delay the tender of its land lots for the development of a massive residential project at its depot in Tseung Kwan O for a year. The mobile phone price war in Hong Kong appears to have eased, with fewer subscribers switching networks. Executives from Hong Kong's mobile operators have criticised the price war as making little sense in helping the industry improve its profitability or services. Hong Kong's stock market will join forces with London's exchange to issue new rules that allow mainland and local companies to use one prospectus when listing in both places, with potential savings of up to 20 per cent. China: The failed World Trade Organization talks in Cancun, Mexico, are likely to provide extra ammunition for Washington's politicians in their attempt to make China a scapegoat for US economic woes, analysts say. Efforts by China and Russia to keep the United States out of their Central Asian backyard are likely to be highlighted when the two meet with four smaller neighbors in Beijing tomorrow, analysts say. The central bank rejected demands from the Group of Seven industrialised countries at the weekend for a rapid move towards more flexible exchange rates. City officials in Zhuhai have physically obstructed provisional liquidators of Zhu Kuan Group from probing up to HK$4 billion in property assets, forcing them to take their plight to the central government. Children in Beijing lined up in their hundreds from 5am yesterday to get their hands on a copy of the latest Harry Potter novel. State-owned telephone company China United Telecommunications Group is broadening a "help wanted" campaign to attract foreign talent with overseas experience to fill middle-management positions. Sept 19 - 21, 2003
Hong Kong: China's central bank boss has dashed hopes that all Hong Kong banks will soon be able to carry out yuan business locally. A jobless man who says he turned to drug smuggling because he needed money for his newborn son was allowed to hold the infant for the first time yesterday in the dock before being hauled off to jail.
Chief Secretary Donald Tsang Yam-kuen said yesterday the introduction of universal suffrage was a "clear goal" - but Hong Kong's political system should not be a clone of that in America or Britain. The British government wants to see early implementation of universal suffrage, Secretary for Economic Development and Labour Stephen Ip Shu-kwan has been told.
The central government has
expressed its concern to Hong Kong's security chief over the city's ability to
cope with the expected influx of mainland visitors during the forthcoming
National Day holiday.
US congressmen have introduced a bill calling on the Bush administration to step up pressure on China to revalue the yuan. Guangdong authorities have tried and sentenced 132 suspects after a two-year probe into eight smuggling gangs in southern China. They were convicted of smuggling goods worth more than 12 billion yuan (HK$11.2 billion). Advance bookings for the 94th China Export Commodities Fair have been sluggish because of continuing concerns about another Sars outbreak, according to the event's organizers. A Communist Party scholar has hailed a "bold gesture" by President Hu Jintao to further promote democracy within the party.
Sept 18, 2003 Hong Kong: Hong Kong's unemployment rate fell last month as the economy bounced back from the Sars crisis and travelers returned to the city, latest government statistics released on Thursday showed.
Enacting Hong Kong's controversial national security law would be no easy task - but the government would learn from the experience, Chief Secretary Donald Tsang Yam-kuen said overnight (HK time) in New York.
Hong Kong's residential property market was stabilising - but its large supply of flats would continue to limit rises in prices, Moody's Investors Service said on Thursday. An emergency meeting would be held on Friday to discuss an incident in which 200 mainland tourists were left stranded in Wan Chai, The Hong Kong Travel Industry Council executive director Joseph Tung Yao-chung said.
China on Thursday rejected US criticisms it was not doing enough to comply with the market-opening agreements of its WTO entry, saying it was determined to carry out its commitments. US entertainment giant Walt Disney said on Thursday the recent lifting of restrictions on individuals from mainland China visiting the territory would boost visitor numbers for its Hong Kong theme park. Dutch financial group ING has become the eighth foreign institution to gain approval to invest in China's A-share markets amid speculation that Beijing is trying to slow the fund inflow through a capital-account liberalisation scheme to ease monetary growth and reduce foreign-exchange pressure. Japanese electronics giant Sony said on Thursday it planned to ramp up output of digital cameras in China to 500,000 as it targets total annual sales in the country of US$4 billion annually. The lack of large homegrown firms is hindering the country's plans to develop hi-tech industries, according to a government official. China's economic rise is unstoppable and the entire Asian region can benefit by developing closer trade links with the mainland, according to senior officials of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Sept 17, 2003
The first 100 units at the Pacifica in Cheung Sha Wan sold out in two hours last night at prices 10 per cent higher than neighbouring developments, and prices could be raised further if demand held up, the project's backers said yesterday. Prominent mainland banker Fang Fenglei is leaving his position as head of ICEA Finance Holdings to help form a joint-venture investment bank that involves Goldman Sachs. Opening up the telecommunications market in the Pearl River Delta to Hong Kong companies would give the mainland a chance to prepare for full-fledged competition when the sector opens to foreign firms in 2006. The European Union has questioned the British government's mandate to negotiate a new air services agreement with Hong Kong, casting a shadow over plans by Virgin Atlantic to launch flights to Australia. A year after the mainland declared support for the Linux computer operating system, the Hong Kong government has launched its own campaign to promote its adoption by business and the public sector. The University of Hong Kong has asked the government to be flexible in raising the quota for admission of students from outside the city. The case of a Hong Kong businessman held in Guangdong for nearly two years without charge over alleged unpaid debts has been transferred to authorities in Shenzhen for further examination. Gem thieves struck on the eve of a twice-a-year jewelry fair, snatching a suitcase containing $2 million worth of jewellery from a guest room at a five-star hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui yesterday.
The central government pledged yesterday to maintain dialogue and negotiations with the United States despite signs the Bush administration is stepping up its trade dispute with China. The publisher of Forbes has defended the magazine's list of the mainland's richest 100 people - despite it being superstitiously regarded as the "kiss of death" after several listed tycoons met a violent end or were jailed. Sept 16, 2003
Hong Kong drivers will soon be able to take the wheel anywhere on the mainland without sitting its drivers' test - but most will still not be able to use their own vehicles. Liberal Party vice-chairwoman and tourism chief Selina Chow Liang Shuk-yee looks likely to be appointed to the Executive Council in a revamp of Tung Chee-hwa's cabinet following the July 1 protest. Hong Kong is set to host the next WTO ministerial meeting - but may have to wait three months just to find out when it will be held. Hong Kong property counters surged yesterday as investors bet that developers' moves to raise prices amid an improving economy signalled the end to a six-year slump in values. Hutchison Whampoa's terminal facilities in Pusan sustained more than HK$20 million in infrastructure damage when typhoon Maemi ripped through South Korea's biggest container port at the weekend. China: Ratings agency Standard & Poor's has backed China's decision not to revalue the yuan, saying that any flotation would be dangerous and could damage the nation's creditworthiness, as well as that of local banks. The collapse of the World Trade Organization talks in Mexico was applauded yesterday as a victory against the powerful rich nations that cemented China's role as a leader of the developing world. Convicted criminals wait to be sentenced in Guangzhou. President Hu Jintao has said that the three-year Strike Hard campaign is responsible for greater stability on the mainland. In July, the government announced that the campaign would continue for at least for another year. China's consumer prices increased in August at their fastest pace in four months as drought and floods caused food prices to rise and surging home loans pushed up property values. Sprawling Shanghai could be about to spread even further, property experts said after news that city authorities plan curbs on construction of tall buildings in central areas. China Merchants Bank's record-breaking 10 billion yuan (HK$9.37 billion) convertible bond issue has met stiff opposition from mainland fund managers, who have banded together in a rare show of solidarity. China Mobile is withholding an estimated 150 million yuan (HK$140.56 million) in payments to Internet content providers to stop them providing pornography to its mobile-phone users. Beleaguered computer services giant Electronic Data Systems (EDS), which is slashing jobs amid sluggish sales, has pushed further into China with a string of large business automation deals. Sept 15, 2003
BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) arranged for two of its lawyers to sit on the board of Shanghai Land Holdings, the locally listed vehicle of disgraced Shanghai property tycoon Chau Ching-ngai, and also for one of its accountants to work inside the company. The definition of what is meant by "local company" in the free-trade pact between Hong Kong and the mainland could be challenged, a senior government official has admitted. Hong Kong's economy, which is heavily reliant on exports and the service jobs they create, would suffer greatly in the event of a stronger mainland currency, says a veteran analyst. Ghosts, nudity, homosexuality and extramarital affairs may be cut from the scripts of local films as movie producers sacrifice Hong Kong audiences to get into the mainland market. Tired of typing long internet addresses for Hong Kong websites? Next year should bring relief. Following in the footsteps of the United States, Canada and Japan, Hong Kong internet users and companies will be able to register domain names ending with just .hk, instead of the usual com.hk, org.hk, gov.hk, edu.hk, or net.hk. Casino company The Venetian has terminated the employment of a senior manager in Macau after 23 illegal workers from Hong Kong were arrested at its construction site last month.
The government can expect a grilling from a more assertive Legislative Council in the next nine months, with political parties keen to impress voters in two upcoming elections. Cheung Kong (Holdings) plans to raise the prices for the remaining units at its Banyan Garden and Hampton Place projects as buyers grow more confident with a firming economy.
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), China's earliest foreign-invested chipmaker, has raised US$630 million from a private placement amid speculation of its imminent acquisition of a stake in Motorola's Tianjin semiconductor plant. A Shanghai-listed company controlled by arrested tycoon Chau Ching-ngai says it has been defrauded of more than 211 million yuan (HK$198 million) by Chau's private companies. China's securities watchdog plans to limit the size of initial public offerings (IPO) in an apparent bid to buttress market confidence in the wake of falling share prices. Foreign direct investment (FDI) into China fell sharply in August for the second month in a row, adding to a list of concerns about the health of the mainland economy.
China Network Communications Group Corp (Netcom Group) has upped the ante in its rivalry with fixed-line giant China Telecommunications Group after completing a 20-month restructuring plan. The mainland's central bank needs a radical strategy to push the nation's four biggest state-owned lenders to clean up their bad loans, People's Bank of China governor Zhou Xiaochuan said yesterday. Sept 12 - 14, 2003
Taxpayers will fork out up to $80 million to finance the Harbor Fest as part of Hong Kong's post-Sars revival efforts - but they won't be entitled to cheap tickets or information on how the money is spent. The chief executive will take a long-overdue break with his wife tomorrow after almost a year of relentless battles over the Article 23 legislation.
Hong Kong-based exporters and trading companies face a growing challenge to hold on to business as more buyers and overseas importers go straight to sources on the mainland, the Trade Development Council has warned. Hong Kong anti-globalisation activists staged a protest yesterday to urge the government not to sign any trade agreements at the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) fifth ministerial meeting in Mexico.
The chief executive has pledged
that top officials will closely monitor how individual professions can gain
access to the mainland market following the signing of a trade pact with the
central government.
A 16.7 billion yuan (HK$15.7 billion) expansion of Beijing Capital International Airport is planned to cope with an expected increase in visitors for the 2008 Olympic Games. The official mainland trade union will amend its constitution later this month at its national congress to make the protection of workers' rights a priority for unionists, officials said yesterday. Premier Wen Jiabao has called for increased reliance on market forces to jump-start the stagnant economy in the northeastern rust belt. A trade war between the United States and China would seriously damage both nations, a Ministry of Commerce expert warned yesterday.
Policies aimed at reining in over-investment in the car manufacturing industry are expected to be unveiled soon by the central government in a bid to prevent over-supply in the sector. China Telecom Corp is set to pay a higher than forecast US$9 billion to US$10 billion purchasing six provincial networks from its parent company, according to banking sources. For the past six months, Shenzhen Newspaper Group executives had been preparing the launch of a weekly financial newspaper. Planning had reached an advanced stage with an initial investment of 50 million yuan (HK$47.18 million) already budgeted, a nationwide distribution plan in place and a suitably ambitious name for the new paper: Global Economic Review. Sept 11, 2003
The largest property developer on the mainland is interested in buying vacant flats in Hong Kong under the Home Ownership Scheme, a government bureau said yesterday. Work on the bridge linking Hong Kong with the western Pearl River Delta is expected to start in 2006, a legislator said yesterday. Guangdong authorities are to hold talks with their Hong Kong counterparts on how solo mainland travellers can gain access to affordable medical care during visits to the city. Hong Kong's financial secretary is opposed to the idea of issuing bonds to ease the budget deficit, saying such a concept was like living on a credit card.
Taiwan will allow local airlines to offer indirect chartered cargo services across the strait as a transitional step before direct links with the mainland are established. Members of the US Congress have proposed a bill that would impose an extra 27.5 per cent tariff on Chinese imports if negotiations on a yuan revaluation are unsuccessful. Dutch bank ABN Amro won long-awaited regulatory approval this week to buy a stake in a Beijing-based fund manager, only to face the challenge of stemming mass redemptions of one of the first portfolios managed by a foreign-invested Chinese fund house. Strong growth in xiaolingtong subscribers in the first half has encouraged China Telecom Corp to step up efforts to snatch more revenue from mainland mobile carriers. China's internet police blocked 127 spam servers around the world in the latest move to fight the increasing amount of junk mail on the Web, state press said on Tuesday. Sept 10, 2003 Hong Kong: Hong Kong is on high alert to guard against a possible new outbreak of Sars following the discovery of a new case in Singapore, the health chief said yesterday. Measures have been stepped up to ensure travelers arriving in Hong Kong from Singapore are Sars-free. A Swiss company has developed a prototype vaccine against the Sars virus, but said yesterday it would only develop the product if the disease re-emerged. The mainland (China) is considering increasing the number of Hong Kong-made goods to be exempted from import duties under Cepa. Taiwan's Fubon Financial Holding plans to bolster the asset size of its newly acquired Hong Kong lender to qualify for preferential access to the mainland market under the free-trade agreement with the mainland. China: It does not take much reading between the lines to work out what mainland police are concerned about during the run-up to the 2008 Olympics. It is all there, in Chinese and English, in their language training textbook.
Tourism authorities in Guangdong have warned people planning to take breaks in Hong Kong during the "golden week" holiday next month that there are only 80,000 hotel rooms in the city. A new regulation is to be introduced to prevent police using evidence and confessions extracted through torture in non-criminal cases. Anti-graft inspectors are confiscating suspects' passports to prevent them from fleeing abroad in the latest effort to curb widespread corruption among senior officials. The Ministry of Commerce launched its "go abroad" investment strategy yesterday at the China International Fair for Investment and Trade.
The buyer of bankrupt Guangdong
International Trust and Investment Corp's premier asset, its 63-floor
headquarters complex in central Guangzhou, has missed three payment deadlines. Sept 9, 2003 Hong Kong: Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa has called on mainland entrepreneurs to set up factories in Hong Kong, saying the Closer Economic Partnership Agreement has created an ideal environment for manufacturing in the city. Vice-President Zeng Qinghong is not ruling out a meeting with Hong Kong's pro-democracy groups. But whether he sees them or not, their relations with the central government are likely to stay frosty, one observer believes.
Economic conditions and public opinion will be taken into account before the government decides whether to proceed with a land departure tax, according to the financial secretary. Financial Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen's first budget will not contain any drastic measures, a government source has revealed. Retail sales in July fell at their slowest pace in half a year, aided by the return of mainland visitors and local shoppers after the Sars crisis.
Taiwan's Fubon Financial will acquire 55 per cent of International Bank of Asia (IBA) from Bahrain-based Arab Banking Corp for $2.37 billion, marking the third local bank acquisition in just over a month. Hong Kong software firms, desperately needing to pump up sales, are poised to march into Guangdong province and take on government-backed enterprise information technology projects. IBM Hong Kong has won a US$4.5 million contract from the Hong Kong Hospital Authority to supply 10,000 desktop personal computers in the next two years. China: Experts are working on a plan aimed at tackling the environmental repercussions of rapid economic growth in Guangdong and ensuring sustainable development. Foreign direct investment worldwide this year is likely to match last year's depressed level, but will grow again next year, and China will continue to make a strong showing, a UN report says. The Zhuhai municipal government has attempted to seize a 42 per cent stake in Hong Kong-listed Zhu Kuan Development by enforcing a share charge its bank creditors suspect was illicitly created. The mainland government has taken aggressive measures to ease a glut in the handset market by imposing new restrictions on imports, paving the way for a major shake-up in the industry. Sept 8, 2003
Hong Kong has been urged by academics at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial meeting in Mexico this week to show more patriotism by supporting the mainland's position in trade negotiations. Several local scientists are believed to have been nominated for a new international academic award hailed as the "Nobel Prize of the East", established by movie mogul and philanthropist Sir Run Run Shaw. The central government is considering relaxing immigration rules to allow wealthy mainland investors to seek abode in Hong Kong in order to boost the city's economy, according to Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa. A recent surge in the number of trucks and cargo that have gone missing in Hong Kong and China has led to a record increase in insurance claims.
Business tycoon Yang Bin has lost his appeal against an 18-year sentence for bribery and fraud, Xinhua reported.
Interbrew has paid US$131.5 million to secure a 50 per cent stake in the China brewing operations of Malaysia's Lion Group. Hong Kong and China Gas (Towngas) has signed its third piped-gas project in Shandong province in less than a week. More than 10,000 foreign investors and 40,000 domestic business people are converging on Xiamen this week to discuss opportunities for foreign investment on the mainland, as well as investment opportunities for Chinese enterprises abroad. Property tycoon Chau Ching-ngai is suspected of manipulating the share price of locally listed Shanghai Land Holdings to prevent it dropping below a key level set out in his $1.77 billion loan agreement with BOC Hong Kong (Holdings). Sept 5 - 7, 2003
BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) did not know the net worth of Chau Ching-ngai when it granted a $1.77 billion loan to the Shanghai property tycoon and relied on his "good faith and honesty" to raise cash to repay the bank. No one is to blame. Nor is there necessarily anything to blame anyone for. And, most importantly, the whole unfortunate episode will make BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) a better bank. Hong Kong and the mainland were once again the most popular places for foreign direct investment (FDI) in Asia last year, the United Nations said yesterday.
Three days after buying a controlling interest in Vanda Systems & Communications Holdings and installing Canning Fok Kin-ning as chairman, Hutchison Whampoa sold a parcel of shares for a $72 million profit. Apec members are sharply divided over a call by US Treasury Secretary John Snow for China and other East Asian economies to let markets determine exchange rates.
Hong Kong is still the best-performing "host economy'' for foreign direct investment (FDI) in Asia - and the region's second-largest FDI destination after China, according to the United Nations' World Investment Report 2003. Concerns that some provisions of the free-trade agreement between Hong Kong and the mainland are inconsistent with the World Trade Organization's rules were unfounded, the government said last night. Hong Kong's revival hinges on the effective implementation of the free-trade pact struck with the mainland, a senior central government official said yesterday. Property tycoon Chau Ching-ngai struck a deal to sell his 63.19 per cent stake in Shanghai Merchants Holdings to a 35-year-old retired Shenzhen judge for $11.5 million while in Chinese custody. A renewed outbreak of Sars in the winter will not derail the stock market boom, according to HSBC, which estimates the disease is already factored into prices even if it has mercifully not returned to haunt Hong Kong. A proposal to increase the number of independent, non-executive board members at listed companies may improve corporate governance, but there may not be enough qualified directors to go around. Secretary for Education and Manpower Arthur Li Kwok-cheung on Thursday said universities and secondary school representatives have agreed to draft a timetable for implementing a "three-three-four" education model by this year. About 30 foreign domestic workers marched to government headquarters on Thursday in a protest against a recent minimum wage cut and an upcoming levy on their employers.
Five members of the Democratic
Party on Thursday took up their concerns about Article 23 with Secretary for
Security Ambrose Lee Siu-kwong. Eleven Asians are among the 40 wealthiest people below 40 years old outside the United States, with India's Kumar Birla ranked as the richest and six Chinese making the list, according to Fortune Magazine.
Shanghai prosecutors have ordered the arrest of Chau Ching-ngai on charges of fabricating registered capital and manipulating stock prices, local media and police said yesterday. Scientists who have provided fresh evidence linking the Sars coronavirus to civet cats in Guangdong's wet markets have stopped short of calling for a ban on the animal trade, instead urging better monitoring. A surge in high-stakes gamblers from Hong Kong and the mainland sent Macau's casino revenues soaring to a record $2.8 billion last month. "We broke all records," said Kingsley Kong, a senior manager of Stanley Ho Hung-sun's casino-concession company, Sociedade de Jogos de Macau (SJM). No top communist leaders have ever published their memoirs after leaving office, but ex-premier Li Peng has broken the pattern by rushing his diary into print within months of his retirement. US Treasury Secretary John Snow will head home with a commitment from China to deepen economic reforms and accelerate the move towards a floating exchange rate, but this may not be enough to please hardline US manufacturers. A fierce price battle has severely eroded their margins. The industry sheriff, the Ministry of Information Industry (MII), is unwilling to intervene. And the two dominant providers of mobile phone services - China Mobile and China Unicom - are bickering over who fired the first shot. Citic Pacific hopes fresh management blood and a controlling equity stake will help turn around Dalian CP Digital Technology, its limping telecommunications joint venture on the mainland. Flood waters tore a 100-metre hole in an embankment in northern China, forcing the emergency nighttime evacuation of more than 100,000 people, the official Xinhua News Agency reported on Thursday.
The Ministry of Health yesterday denied rumours of a resurgence of Sars cases in Beijing after it received inquiries from the World Health Organization. Senior officials from China and Japan are meeting to discuss an accident last month in which dozens of Chinese were poisoned by mustard gas left behind by Japan's army after the second world war. The economies of East Asia, excluding Japan, will record the fastest growth in the world this year and next because of China's strength, the World Bank said in its annual global economic forecast, released yesterday. China's oil giant CNOOC on Thursday reported an impressive rise in interim profit due to a significant increase in oil and gas revenues. Sept 4, 2003 Hong Kong: Businesses, financial markets and schools in Hong Kong reopened on Wednesday after Typhoon Dujuan swept past the territory, slightly injuring 22 people and causing chaos at the territory's airport. Hong Kong maritime authorities said on Wednesday they had failed to find four mainland fishermen reported missing at the height of Typhoon Dujuan the previous night. More jobs were available for job seekers in August - indicating that the labour market was improving following the control of Sars and the implementation of the "individual visit" scheme from China, Financial Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen said on Wednesday. If Hong Kong legislators discuss current affairs overseas, their remarks should reflect "mainstream opinion'' in the territory, suggested Secretary for Constitutional Affairs Stephen Lam Sui-lung on Wednesday. Economic ministers from Southeast Asia and China on Wednesday said negotiations for a free-trade zone between the two were progressing and noted that two-way trade would probably soar to more than US$70 billion this year. China: The World Health Organization (WHO) warned of a possible new epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) in coming months, as winter takes hold in the northern hemisphere. Millions of people were soaked by floods seeping across China on Wednesday that killed seven people and destroyed large swathes of cropland, according to state media. Except on state security, officials will have to answer to the media. New regulations on information disclosure are expected to come into force this year. The regulations on information disclosure are a long way from constituting a law to enshrine and protect the people's right to know, Professor Li acknowledged. Sept 3, 2003 Hong Kong: Guangdong and Macau were bracing for severe floods early today after Typhoon Dujuan lashed the Pearl River Delta with torrential rain after narrowly missing Hong Kong. Businesses, financial markets and schools in Hong Kong reopened on Wednesday after Typhoon Dujuan swept past the territory, slightly injuring 22 people and causing chaos at the territory's airport.
Education officials were praised
by parents and principals for reacting more swiftly than usual in ordering
schools to close as Typhoon Dujuan approached. The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC)'s managed compensation fund has suffered its biggest net loss, $200 million, after being hit by the 1998 collapse of one of Hong Kong's biggest brokers, CA Pacific Securities. The former head of the Broadcasting Authority - now an official at Television Broadcasts (TVB) - says the agency should regulate the pay-television services of City Telecom (HK) but denies his lobbying of his previous employer is a conflict of interest. Mobile phone networks were jammed for at least an hour on Tuesday as millions of calls were made by people warning friends and relatives that the No 8 signal would be raised in the afternoon. China: Guangzhou is expecting huge flooding today after Typhoon Dujan pounded the Pearl River Delta last night. Reports that Japan will offer the equivalent of $6.7 million - but no official apology - to people poisoned by mustard gas in northern China last month have increased anger over the incident. One man died and 42 people were injured when five canisters of mustard gas were dug up at a building site in Qiqihar, Heilongjiang.
Booming exports and imports helped container throughput at the port of Shenzhen surge to a record high of one million boxes last month, matching throughput figures at Hong Kong's deep-sea port of Kwai Chung. Mobile phone sales rose slightly on the mainland in July, the first increase since the Sars virus struck in April, but they are unlikely to dent the huge inventory that has plagued China's handset manufacturing industry. Sept 2, 2003
A Hong Kong computer games firm has lost the second round in its legal battle with the world's top three console giants.
It was 4am and a boisterous crowd had already started to gather outside the visa bureau in Beijing. The mood was jovial for such an absurdly early hour as strangers chatted and served each other tea and steamed dumplings. Perhaps it was because they were all going to a party. Destination: Hong Kong. Thousands of people poured into visa bureaus in Beijing and Shanghai yesterday for permits to visit Hong Kong and Macau, but a mainland official urged them not to book trips to Hong Kong yet because the city would be unable to cope with the rush. Tourists from the mainland can soon check on the availability of Hong Kong hotel rooms and flights, and the conditions at border crossings - thanks to a one-stop internet information centre. Receivers have been appointed to seize the personal assets of Shanghai businessman Chau Ching-ngai in an attempt to repay US$34.2 million he allegedly owes Shanghai Land Holdings.
Hoping to prevent a return of Sars, the Guangzhou health bureau has ordered the isolation of all fever patients who have been verified as having flu. A Beijing construction company has been caught bribing hundreds of migrant workers to vote for its design in a competition to build the gymnasium at the Olympic village. Global instability has locked China and the United States into a "straitjacket" of strategic co-operation, according to a US scholar. Negotiations with foreign partners on a planned US$5.2 billion natural gas pipeline had not ceased, PetroChina said yesterday, a day after the chairman of Royal Dutch/Shell said discussions were deadlocked. Sept 1, 2003 Hong Kong: Financial Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen said on Monday that he did not foresee a revaluation of the yuan in the short term. The Customs and Excise Department said on Monday it had confiscated 10 models of battery-operated toy lanterns and seven types of thin fluorescent lights for safety tests after conducting over a 100 spot checks on various retailers.
The Hong Kong and China Gas
Company (Towngas) on Monday reported a slight rise in interim profit - due to
profit derived from property investments. Insurance industry bodies and the police are working to crack down on the sale of policies without the consent of buyers - a tactic used by unscrupulous salespeople to boost their performance. The four Hong Kong companies cleared to operate third-generation (3G) mobile phone networks have been given another year to pay deposits for their licenses because of subdued demand amid the continuing economic slump. China: Two tiger cubs born in a Shanghai zoo began a trip Monday from China to South Africa, where they'll be taught hunting skills to help them survive in the wild.
Jinan Qingqi Motorcycle, which last year posted the biggest loss by a publicly traded company in China, has avoided expulsion from the stock exchange by posting a first-half profit. China's home-grown third-generation (3G) mobile technology - time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) - could begin commercial trials early next year, according to Li Shihe, chief technology officer and vice-president of Datang Telecom. Since the introduction of the one-child policy more than 20 years ago, mainland parents have been exerting pressure on their children to perform well academically. Now, some are going to the extraordinary length of hurrying up their child's birth to ensure they can attend school sooner. US Treasury Secretary John Snow's visit to Beijing this week is unlikely to pacify critics of China's yuan-dollar peg, analysts said yesterday. August 29 - 31, 2003
|
Hong Kong: 
Hong Kong companies now have the chance
to own more than 50 per cent of mainland telecommunications service companies.
China:
Hong Kong: 
China:
Pilgrims attend a memorial ceremony in
honour of Confucius at his birthplace, Qufu in Shandong province. It was part of
a series of events being staged this year for the Confucius Culture Festival.
Hong Kong: 
customer looks for discounts at a
department store in Hong Kong yesterday, the day after the government said
deflation eased in August.
Only 5 per cent of youngsters
admit to smoking in the past three months, but experts say that real number is
much higher.
The Institute of Surveyors urges overhaul
in land charges so developers can clean up urban blight.
China:
China:
A workman walks past a flower
arrangement in the form of the official logo for the 2008 Olympic Games at a
park in Beijing. The capital has launched a series of events to promote the
sporting extravaganza. The logo, unveiled early last month, is shaped like the
character for jin, meaning Beijing.
A photographer who set up for his picture in
the wrong place races to catch up with a row of mooncake tins knocked over
domino style at Ling Liang Church MH Lam Secondary School in Tai Po. The school
had collected the 1,600 mooncake tins for recycling and the students decided to
play dominoes with them for fun.
China:
People's Bank of China governor
Zhou Xiaochuan sees Hong Kong playing an important role in the bank's currency
operations. The central government attached great importance to calls for Hong
Kong banks to be allowed to conduct yuan business with individuals in Hong Kong
and welcomed proposals to legitimize the overseas use of the yuan, the mainland
central bank chief said yesterday.
Sohu chief Charles Zhang yesterday made
an impassioned plea for the proper recognition of private wealth and an end to
political vendettas that were a hangover from the worst excesses of the
communist period. 
Chui Kam-kee, a 71-year-old farmer,
strolls along a beach at San Shek Wan on Lantau Island. Mr Chui and his wife are
among two dozen families living in this remote village, but their tranquil life
is now under threat from the proposed construction of a bridge linking Hong Kong
with Macau and Zhuhai.
Actress Suki Kwan Sau-mei (centre) leaves court after spending two weeks in
detention for perverting the course of justice.
China:
Hong Kong: 
China:
Hong Kong: 
Hong Kong: 
Customers dine on seafood outdoors at
a Sai Kung restaurant. Owners say business has improved 40 per cent since the
government introduced an outdoor seating scheme. 
China:
Japanese experts handle a bomb containing toxic gas in Shijiazhuang, central
Hebei province. The 52 shells in the stockpile being disarmed are only a small
fraction of those left behind by the Japanese military. 
Hong Kong: 
Lighted Chinese lanterns at
Victoria Park earlier in the week, ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival, which fell
on Friday when the moon was supposed to be at its roundest and brightest.
China:
Chinese traders load a truck with
packages of cheap clothes near a market in Beijing. The clothes had been sold to
Russian traders who make a living travelling to Beijing and returning with large
quantities of cheap clothing to sell at home. 
Hong Kong: 
China:
Visitors to Tiananmen Square in
Beijing gaze curiously at a replica of the Three Gorges Dam being built for the
forthcoming National Day celebrations. The display, which will also recreate a
miniature section of the Yangtze river, is expected to take nearly a month to
complete.
Goods being unloaded from a Dragonair
plane. Cargo revenues held firm for carriers during the Sars outbreak.
Canto-pop star Leon Lai Ming, a Unicef
special representative, arrives at Chek Lap Kok airport, where Cathay Pacific
announced it had raised $5.54 million for the United Nations youth agency
through its Change for Good scheme. The sum, collected from August 2002 last
month, was 26 per cent lower than the previous year's figure because of the Sars
outbreak.
Hong Kong: 
Shoppers at the Mongkok branch of the Wing
Wah Cake Shop, which stocks only traditional mooncakes made with brown
lotus-seed paste and egg yolk.
China:
Carmakers such as Volkswagen are still
waiting to enter China's vehicle-financing sector. The car industry has been
China's hottest sector since the country joined the World Trade Organisation,
with foreign producers piling in to capture a slice of the action. But companies
are still waiting for China to comply fully with the WTO promises it made.
Hong Kong: 
Stalked by paparazzi day and night,
Canto-pop star Anita Mui Yim-fong told yesterday of being unable to step out of
her home for weeks - making it impossible for her to get treatment for her
cervical cancer.
Displays are starting to take shape
at Victoria Park for the Mid-Autumn Festival. 
Officials from Kenya Airways yesterday
launched flights between Hong Kong and Nairobi, marking the first direct service
between Chek Lap Kok and the East African nation. They are seen with David Pang
Ding-jung, chief executive officer of the Airport Authority. The airline plans
to fly to Hong Kong three times a week with a stopover in Bangkok.
China:
Hein Verbruggen, chairman of the IOC's Co-ordination Commission, looks at the
winning design for the main Games stadium. The International Olympic Committee
will give the Beijing organisers top marks today for their efforts to date in
preparing for the 2008 Games.
Richard Parsons of AOL Time Warner
tells AmCham lunch guests he wants piracy controlled. United States media giant
AOL Time Warner is still searching for the right business model and struggling
with rampant piracy in China, two years after it first entered the market.
With a growing chorus in favor
of keeping China's currency pegged to the US dollar, US Treasury Secretary John
Snow is unlikely to win any major concession on exchange-rate policy when he
meets Premier Wen Jiabao today.
Hong Kong: 
A mainland
woman tries on a ring in a jewellery shop in Hong Kong. Banks are looking to
offer yuan services as more visitors arrive. 
Philips president
and chief executive Gerard Kleisterlee says the Dutch consumer electronics giant
is no longer "selling boxes", but has become a platform service provider. Royal
Philips Electronics is looking for partnerships with large Asia-Pacific
telecommunications network operators, with the aim of packaging broadband-linked
entertainment and communications services.
China:
These primary school
pupils seem happy to be back at school on the first day of the academic year at
Huanggang Primary School in flood-ravaged Xuyi county in Jiangsu province. All
600 pupils turned up despite heavy floods in July that inundated 15 of the 18
classrooms. The school had cleaned its classrooms and other areas in time for
the start of term.
A young boy gazes at a model stadium
at an exhibition of concept designs for the main venue for the 2008 Olympic
Games in Beijing. Construction of the main stadium is scheduled to begin next
year. The country has already begun seeking sponsors for the prestigious event.