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How to Do Business with China, through Hong Kong & Setting up Business in China? - last update Feb 8, 2003 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! After attended a China/Hong Kong Business/Trade Seminar in Hawaii...still unsure what to do next, contact us, our Officers, Directors and Founding Members are actively engaged in China/Hong Kong/Asia trade - we can help! China Projects Bidding Information - update daily Scholarship & Grants
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to give it a try Sept 30, 2004 Hong Kong: Hong Kong has been offered a new tourism slogan: "Hong Kong: See It, Sell It". Authorities yesterday revealed tourism figures had hit a record high with more than 2 million visitors last month. The success of last Sunday's inaugural China Grand Prix may quicken efforts to establish a motor racing track in Hong Kong. A surge in oil prices will not hurt Hong Kong's overall economy although it might affect specific areas, the financial chief said yesterday. More mainland, Japanese and Korean tourists are expected to flock to the tranquil foothills of Lantau Peak after a project to plant timber obelisks bearing a Buddhist scripture is completed in the next few months. The Securities and Futures Commission has proposed setting a cap on how much stock collateral can be re-pledged by brokers to obtain bank loans. A rise in crude-oil futures to above US$50 per barrel yesterday put pressure on key stock markets around the region, including Hong Kong, as investors digested potential negative implications for growth and inflation. Several high-profile initial public offerings due for this year are unlikely to come to market before the Christmas holiday, as strict listing procedures and weakening market sentiment lead to delays.
Beijing authorities are using computer technology to keep tabs on advertisers who make illegal claims about their products, saving human monitors the task of scanning print, television and radio commercials.
Sept 29, 2004
Hong Kong textile manufacturers are encouraged to apply for country of origin (CO) documentation for their exports when import quotas expire on January 1 to avoid them being mistaken as goods made in China, the Trade and Industry Department said.
The value of Hong Kong’s tangible exports registered a 20.9 per cent leap in August compared to the same month last year. But an industry insider warns of leaner times ahead with world oil prices rising. Higher fuel and security costs may see the world's airlines lose up to US$4 billion this year despite a dramatic rebound in demand for passenger and cargo services in key markets such as the Asia-Pacific region, according to the International Air Transport Association (Iata). After much hype, the arrival of a powerful new wireless communications technology known as WiMAX is finally getting closer. WiMAX is touted as Wi-fi on steroids, with radio signals that can pass through buildings and travel kilometres rather than just metres. China: United States pharmaceutical giant Pfizer will file a judicial appeal against the decision by the China's State Intellectual Property Office (Sipo) to overturn the patent for its anti-erectile dysfunction drug, Viagra. With a bumper harvest in sight for this year, China is sowing the seeds for a fruitful 2005, planning to expand its acreage of wheat - the nation's second most important crop after rice - by 666,600 hectares.
Beijing police are stepping up measures against rioting and terrorism in the run-up to Friday's National Day celebrations, in a sign of unease over the country's security situation. TCL chief Tomson Li says the decisions to enter partnerships with Thomson and Alcatel was a departure from his cautious style. The next 12 to 18 months will be crucial for both joint ventures, he says. Sept 28, 2004
Outgoing health and welfare minister Yeoh Eng-kiong has revealed that the sorrow and depth of emotion of families who suffered from the Sars outbreak was the main reason for his decision to step down. No more Sars, no more bird flu, and don't even mention CSSA. Yeoh Eng-kiong says he just wants to be an ordinary citizen after his 33 years of public service end next week. The outgoing health and welfare secretary has expressed frustration at his no-win position in the welfare debate - criticized by some as being insensitive to the plight of the poor; warned by others that concessions will turn Hong Kong into a welfare state. A study released recently by Hong Kong Trade Development Council (TDC) shows ample opportunities for financial institutions to capitalize on Hong Kong's unique position vis-a-vis the Chinese mainland. Hong Kong's often-ignored and sometimes-maligned foreign domestic workforce contributes as much as HK$13 billion to Hong Kong's economy annually - more than 1 per cent of the city's gross national product, according to one estimate. From academics to community organisers, no one knows precisely how much these workers, principally from the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand, do contribute. This, says Sajida Ally of the Asian Migrant Centre (AMC), is part of why their work is too often under-valued. Calculating the total economic worth of Hong Kong's 240,000 foreign domestic workers as part of the SAR's HK$1.25 trillion GNP is a complex formula that takes into account several different multiplier effects including the amount they earn, the kind of work they do and how much they spend locally. Hong Kong companies are woefully unprepared as a stock exchange deadline to make their boards more independent approaches and an embarrassing extension by regulators looks increasingly likely.
Chinese consumers' love affair with plastic is deepening with 714 million bank cards issued since the first was launched in 1985 and 18 trillion yuan (HK$16.97 trillion) worth of transactions charged on credit and debit cards last year. However, despite the seemingly huge numbers, it is an industry in its infancy. Credit cards account for only about 4 per cent of cards issued. Most plastic in China is debit cards. Shanghai is about to become even larger as the metropolis awaits its third baby boom in modern history. The city of nearly 17 million will see its population increase by more than 100,000 per year over the next decade, with a peak expected in 2014 and 2015, when the figure will reach an annual 160,000, Xinhua News Agency said. Chinese exporters should not be too worried about the possible further removal of Chinese products from the European Union's Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) list, and should focus efforts on increasing the competitiveness of their products, experts say. US-based world leading media conglomerate Viacom Inc is expanding its business in China, with a new partnership with Beijing Television (BTV) and much wider coverage for the 24-hour MTV channel launched in South China's Guangdong Province. The Chinese tax authorities' recent decision to exempt stamp duty on legal heirs but impose it on other beneficiaries who receive land and houses suggest the country will not impose inheritance or bestowal taxes in the near future, experts say. Universal Music Limited, a world-leading music company, announced an agreement on Saturday with Guangzhou Impact Audio-Video Co Ltd, to distribute classical music discs in the Chinese mainland. United States' companies that are less competitive in global trade may need to make adjustments to cope with "structural changes of the world economy that follow China's development," said Robert Kapp, president of the US-China Business Council, the principal organization for US companies engaged in business with China. The mainland's banking regulator will provide "active consideration and prior approval" for overseas banks wanting to have a stake in lenders based in the northeastern rust belt, as part of official policies to rejuvenate the region. Shanghai is raising the stakes in its battle to be seen as China's cultural centre, hosting the mainland debuts of Sir Elton John, Phantom of the Opera, and Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai's latest film, 2046.
China has decided to grant a package of preferential tax policies to its rust belt in northeast China, which includes the provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning. Leaders of China and Russia mutually recognized their status of full market economy on Friday in Moscow, saying that it will boost the development of bilateral economic and trade cooperation. A five-member mainland consortium led by state-owned China Minmetals Corp is poised to make a bid, likely to be priced at between US$4.2 billion and $5 billion, for Canada's biggest mining company Noranda. Sept 27, 2004 Hong Kong: The Michael Moore documentary which savages US President George W. Bush's handling of the September 2001 attacks, Fahrenheit 9/11, will open in Hong Kong on October 14. China's senior leadership has finally weighed in on the Hong Kong elections, with Premier Wen Jiabao saying the results of the race for Legislative Council seats was a clear manifestation of democracy. "It is most important for them to respect the Basic Law and to represent the interests of all the Hong Kong people,'' he said. State oil trader Sinochem has signed a final contract to buy South Korea's smallest refiner, Inchon Oil, for about US$549 million (HK$4.28 billion) - China's first takeover of a foreign oil company. Disappointment over the full-year results of Sun Hung Kai Properties, Hong Kong's biggest developer, and weak overseas markets set off a wave of selling in the local stock market yesterday, with investors keen to secure profits before the end of the quarter. Continued delays at the biggest ports on the west coast of the United States are disrupting peak-season trade movements and have set the stage for a rise in transport fees for Asian exporters next year as shipping lines look to pass on the cost. Two HSBC nominees were elected to Bank of Communications' (Bocom) board this week as China's fifth-largest lender seeks to improve its corporate governance system before its dual listing in Shanghai and Hong Kong.
Premier Wen Jiabao yesterday praised Jiang Zemin for handing power to the younger generation of state leaders and stressed now was not the right time to loosen the grip on the economy. President Hu presented on Saturday certificates to two nearly promoted generals in his capacity as CMC chairman. Premier Wen Jiabao yesterday hailed the Legislative Council elections as an advance for democracy in Hong Kong, and said there should be frequent dialogue between Beijing and various sectors of Hong Kong society.
China Unicom, the world's No 2 CDMA mobile operator by users, is spearheading the formation of a global industry alliance, with members ranging from operators to terminal manufacturers. Sept 24 - 26, 2004 Hong Kong: The wife of the first doctor to die of Sars has lost her bid for help from a government fund created to help the families of workers who die in the line of duty.
Hong Kong's average hotel occupancy rate was 86 per cent in the first eight months of this year - the highest level since 1996. Higher investment from the mainland is expected next year, driven partly by the impact of the cross-border Cepa agreements, InvestHK director-general Mike Rowse said yesterday. Fung shui experts will be consulted before the opening day for Hong Kong Disneyland is chosen.
The National Copyright Adminis-tration will intensify efforts to crack down on the making of pirated textbooks and computer software, copying or selling fake audio-video products and infringing on the copyright of network works.
Top executives of AMD, the world's second-largest computer chip maker, say they are aiming to achieve a market share higher than their global average in China with stronger co-ordination between its organizations in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong SAR and Taiwan Province.
High-level Chinese officials will take part for the first time in a meeting of the Group of Seven countries in Washington next month, the Foreign Ministry said yesterday. Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in Moscow yesterday with a mission to secure more power supply from Russia to satisfy China's booming demand for oil and gas. Viacom will announce today a strategic partnership with Beijing Television, part of its aggressive expansion into a television content production market that is emerging from strict state supervision. China Unicom, the world's No2 CDMA mobile operator by users, is spearheading the formation of a global industry alliance, with members ranging from operators to terminal manufacturers.
Chinese recruitment portal operator 51job's renewed Nasdaq-listing plan has drawn a warm response from investors as market interest in technology counters rebuilds, despite a number of Hong Kong listing candidates being forced to trim their offer sizes. Sept 23, 2004
Special registration and labelling may soon be required for all products that contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs), the government announced on Wednesday. The requirements are part of a plan to reduce VOC pollutants in the Pearl River Delta. The Equal Opportunities Commission chairwoman yesterday defended the work of an independent panel investigating the body, after a legislator complained to Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa that the inquiry team lacked credibility. Hong Kong's de facto central bank raised a benchmark lending rate by a quarter point on Wednesday, mirroring the US Federal Reserve's move, but at least one commercial bank balked at matching the full increase.
Beijing is set to significantly expand energy co-operation with Moscow, Premier Wen Jiabao said ahead of a visit to Russia. A new set of rules on personnel management may strengthen the Communist Party's ability to govern, and curb the problem of officials going to work for companies they used to supervise, Xinhua reported this week. China Network Communications Corp (China Netcom), which is seeking a dual listing in Hong Kong and New York next month, will cut the size of its offer by at least 30 per cent to avoid following in the footsteps of the dismal listing of China Telecom in Hong Kong two years ago, according to market sources.
Techfaith Wireless Communication Technology, a Chinese handset design house, had scrapped a plan to go public on Hong Kong's second board in favour of a Nasdaq listing in order to achieve a higher valuation, according to market sources. A giant clock started ticking yesterday in Tian'anmen Square, at the very heart of the Chinese capital, counting down the days, hours and minutes to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. China's power supply will likely meet demands by 2006, said Zhao Xizheng, president of the State Grid Corporation of China, the country's largest power transmission and distribution firm.
Sept 22, 2004 Hong Kong: Hong Kong and US scientists believe they have found chemicals that can stop the spread of the Sars virus, raising hopes a cure for the pneumonia-like illness is in sight, researchers said on Tuesday. Steve Forbes, the billionaire who was once a US presidential hopeful, entered the Hong Kong political debate on Tuesday stressing economic stability is key to the city's success. Hong Kong's bars and hotels must clean up their act and ban smoking or face a barrage of health lawsuits, activists warned on Tuesday. Legislator Sin Chung-kai has renewed calls for Hong Kong to press Beijing to include a proposed Special Telecoms Zone under the city's new trade pact with the mainland. The proposal seeks rights for HK telecom firms to land their cable systems in Shenzhen and offer their services across the Pearl River Delta. The territory's power companies say that difficulties in sourcing alternative fuel supplies, the depletion of the Hainan gas fields ahead of expectations, and the cost and time of installing pollution reduction equipment mean it will be hard to further reduce emissions, a key contributor to Hong Kong's poor air quality. CLP Holdings and its rival Hongkong Electric in 2002 created 89 per cent of all sulphur dioxide (SO2) and 45 per cent of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions in the SAR. While those emissions are a far cry from 1992 levels, doctors and environmental groups want the companies to do more.
The top watchdog of the Communist Party of China (CPC) yesterday vowed to step up its fight against corruption to ensure the Party improves its capacity to govern the nation. China has great potential in developing its petroleum and natural gas industries, said Vice-Minister Zhang Guobao in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
Austria's AT&S, Europe's largest producer of printed circuit boards, plans to invest about 100 million euros (US$121 million) in Shanghai to build its second plant. Shanghai Aircraft Manufacture Factory yesterday delivered the 500th next-generation 737 horizontal stabilizer to the Boeing Company, marking another significant milestone in the Boeing-China aviation partnership. The European Union (EU) wants greater access to the Chinese market in the textile sector and it is sure to lift textile quotas as scheduled, according to a senior EU official. Sept 21, 2004 Hong Kong: Lawmakers from both sides of the political divide are uniting to demand the government suspend a planned cut in welfare payments, their first battle with the Tung administration since the Legislative Council election. Veteran lawmaker David Li Kwok-po has complained to Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa over the home affairs chief's handling of the Equal Opportunities Commission inquiry.
Hong Kong shoe merchants yesterday condemned the arrest of a colleague by German customs officers at a trade fair in Dusseldorf. A set of four stamps will be issued next month to celebrate cultural and economic partnerships between Hong Kong and other Pearl River Delta cities. Beijing has reacted positively to a request by Hong Kong lenders that they be allowed to conduct trade-related yuan business, top mainland officials told a Hong Kong Association of Banks (HKAB) delegation yesterday. Hong Kong's leading free-to-air broadcaster Television Broadcasts says it has won long-sought landing rights to legally air its two flagship channels to about five million homes in the Pearl River Delta area and will receive at least $50 million from sales each year.
China: A day after retiring from China's top military post, Jiang Zemin told army chiefs yesterday to accept the leadership of the Communist Party and that of their new commander, President Hu Jintao. The stage is set for China's transformation into a dominant military power with President Hu Jintao being handed control of the armed forces, analysts said yesterday. President Hu Monday praised Jiang Zemin for easing in a new era of Chinese leadership and for his "noble character, sterling integrity and broad-mindedness."
Singapore state investment firm Temasek Holdings and Henderson Land Development chairman Lee Shau-kee have committed to buying up to 20 per cent of the shares in China Power International Development's initial public offering, sources close to the deal say. Red chip Silver Grant International Industries will buy a portfolio of non-performing assets with a face value of 56.9 billion yuan from China Cinda Asset Management Corp, China Construction Bank's dedicated distressed asset management company, according to market sources. Sept 20, 2004 Hong Kong: Li Ka-shing's conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa could raise as much as $8.81 billion in a spin-off of its second-generation mobile phone business unit in Hong Kong and New York next month.
Eight mainlanders were arrested during an anti-theft operation on the first day of the Jewellery and Watch Fair yesterday.
Manufacturers and traders are most
vulnerable to cross-border corruption, the ICAC has found. The controversial plan to expand the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre might cost more than twice the estimated $1.2 billion, as that figure does not take into account a potential land premium, a leading surveyor says.
The need to renew talks on bringing
in workers from the mainland has acquired a new urgency as Hong Kong-owned
textile firms prepare to move factories back from across the border, an industry
leader says. Bankers chasing Hong Kong-listed Far East Pharmaceutical Technology for loan repayments have discovered the troubled drug firm's cash balance has plummeted from HK$600 million to less than $6 million, according to sources close to the lenders.
President Hu Jintao has widespread support within the rank and file of the PLA as he takes over the helm of the world's largest military from Jiang Zemin , according to analysts. The Communist Party's Central Committee yesterday pledged to ensure social stability as it highlighted the need to build a more effective party leadership.
Beijing's efforts to slow the economy by reining in investment in industries such as steel and cement are working, Vice-Premier Huang Ju says, suggesting further tightening measures such as an interest rate rise may be unnecessary. Automakers' main recalls in China so far this year, Mercedes-Benz: 17 vehicles in January, 12,988 vehicles in September, Toyota: 1,489 Lexus cars in July, 2,339 Land Cruiser Prado SUVs in August, Mitsubishi Fuso: 7,802 medium and heavy-duty trucks in September, Chang'an Suzuki: more than 157,000 Altos in September, FAW Car: 30,000 Mazda6 sedans in June, Guangzhou Honda: 70,240 Accords in June, Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen: 7,539 Citroen Picasso saloon cars in September. Sept 17 - 19, 2004 Hong Kong: Constitutional reform and safeguarding economic recovery take priority over security legislation, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa said yesterday. The Article 23 bill would not be reintroduced to Legco until there was a "basic consensus" on the question. The fairytale of the Hong Kong-born princess and her Danish prince is over. Prince Joachim, second in line to the throne of Denmark, and his part-Chinese wife, Princess Alexandra, are to divorce after nearly nine years of marriage.
Hong Kong's jobless rate dropped by 0.1 percentage points to 6.8 per cent last month, the lowest level in the past 30 months. Hong Kong's companies judge has voiced "serious reservations" over a three-year directorship ban proposed by the Official Receiver against former Peregrine boss Philip Tose, saying it may be too short. Negotiations over the terms and structure of a proposed merger between the MTR Corp and the KCRC are far from over, but they will now be better informed following the conclusion of a technical study.
HSBC has completed one of the more drawn-out share placement mandates in Hong Kong's financial market history, selling $2.1 billion worth of shares in Hang Lung Properties "left over" from a deal that went wrong eight years ago.
Mooncake manufacturers on the mainland are rolling out pricey cakes to cash in on the Mid-Autumn Festival gift-giving tradition, but academics warn that this festive delicacy and ritual can be abused - as a ready means of bribery. Political reforms aimed at building a more effective leadership were at the top of the agenda when the fourth plenum of the 16th Communist Party Central Committee opened yesterday. The central bank is leaning towards holding off an interest rate rise until the end of the year despite intense speculation such an increase is imminent, sources close to the bank say.
Rescue workers handle the debris of a crashed civil helicopter yesterday in Yuyao, East China's Zhejiang Province. Four people aboard died and three were hospitalized. The helicopter was rented by the Ningbo TV Station from the Zhejiang TV Station for filming a local scenic spot. Investigation into the cause of the crash is underway. Twice the number of US companies are planning to expand business in China compared with last year, according to the American Business in China White Paper. Shares of red chip Tianjin Development Holdings surged 13 per cent after it announced an almost fivefold increase in first-half earnings and said it would spend up to 200 million yuan (HK$188 million) to boost production at its profitable wine business. Sept 16, 2004
Hong Kong's election chief denied on Wednesday that vote-counting irregularities influenced the outcome of Sunday's legislative polls. Elections chief Mr Justice Woo Kwok-hing says it does not matter whether or not he resigns in the wake of the problems on polling day. The Electoral Affairs Commission released figures last night showing there were 14,220 invalid votes - unmarked or spoiled ballots - cast on Sunday in the five geographical constituencies. Lawmakers from the DAB, the largest party in the legislature after Sunday's election, were welcomed by Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa yesterday.
All 4.6 billion yuan earmarked for land acquisition and compensation to villagers forced to make way for the Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Centre has been fully disbursed, officials say, disputing villagers' claims that they only received 1.25 billion yuan. President Hu Jintao will today cement his authority over the ruling Communist Party at a key meeting, during which top party officials will discuss and approve his plan to bolster the party's legitimacy through increased transparency and accountability. China Resources Breweries (CRB) has taken over three money-losing plants from Lion Nathan in a US$154 million deal that helps strengthen its mainland market position and delivers a long-awaited exit for the Australian seller.
China recently sent its former Vice FM Wang Yi to Japan as the new ambassador, hoping the bilateral China-Japan ties may have a favorable turn. Sept 15, 2004 Hong Kong: One of Hong Kong's leading employers' groups yesterday sought to quash expectations of pay increases, despite recent good economic news. Improving economic conditions no longer automatically lead to better salaries in Hong Kong, the Employers' Federation of Hong Kong said. "Across-the-board [pay] increases to all employees should be avoided," the federation said in its annual guidance note to company chiefs yesterday. "Most companies should not adjust basic pay levels." The statement comes as some leading firms start to offer rises to all staff, signalling an end to a tough two years in which many workers suffered pay cuts and lay-offs.
Officials in some Guangdong townships are being offered salary packages of up to 150,000 yuan (HK$141,420) a year as part of growing efforts to stem a brain drain from the civil service and curb corruption. Urgent reforms are needed for Shenzhen's public hospitals which are overloaded with patients and face an increasing financial burden, the city's health authorities say. A top judicial official yesterday issued a warning over rampant financial fraud on the mainland after the Supreme People's Court upheld death sentences handed down to three former staff of state-owned banks. WHO officials have urged China and the rest of Asia to implement more effective measures to improve food safety, after a scandal involving substandard infant formula on the mainland earlier this year left at least 12 babies dead.
A Sino-Singapore joint venture yesterday entered the race to be the first budget airline to serve the promising mainland passenger market and expects to launch flights in 2006 from its hub in Guangzhou. The world's No1 water firm is to battle for supply franchises in three affluent mainland cities after snapping up a 700 million yuan project in Tianjin. China Central Television (CCTV) will make a giant step into the American market next month, when a deal will be unveiled for the distribution of 17 mainland channels over the Echostar satellite network, media sources say. The mainland's trade surplus for last month hit a record for the year despite soaring imports of key commodities such as oil, machinery and electronics. The US$4.49 billion (HK$35.02 billion) figure was expected to swing the mainland's trade balance into a surplus for the year, the China Daily newspaper reported, citing the General Administration of Customs. The US Commerce Department yesterday unveiled new tools in Beijing to help US companies expand exports to China's growing market, one of their fastest-growing export markets. The tools include the China Business Information Centre, American Trade Centres and the Global Supply Chain Initiative. Sept 14, 2004
Pro-democrat Cyd Ho Sau-lan lost her seat in the Hong Kong island constituency after being defeated by pro-Beijing candidate Choy So-yuk by only 0.23 per cent of the votes. China Power International Holding Co, which is expected to launch an initial public offering in Hong Kong next month, has gained an option to buy a 25 per cent stake in Shanghai Electric Power.
Prosecutors are discussing tougher measures to hunt corrupt officials who have fled overseas, Saturday at a national meeting in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province. United States labor and manufacturing groups have not abandoned their efforts to turn the yuan regime into an issue during the presidential campaign, but they may be running out of time. With only 53 days remaining until the elections, it will be difficult to frame criticism of China's trade and currency policies in rhetoric that translates easily to voters. Japanese Foreign Minister Kawaguchi Yoriko believes it is important to maintain friendly relations between the Chinese and Japanese governments and two peoples. Chinese people's huge appetite for houses and cars will keep the country's economic growth at more than 8 per cent per annum over the next two decades. Both vehicle output and sales in China rebounded in August after declining in four consecutive months from April to July, according to an industry organization. TNT, the world's leading provider of express, logistics and mail services, set up its China headquarters in the city last weekend, reinforcing its commitment to the Chinese market.
Sept 13, 2004 Hong Kong: More than 1.5 million people voted yesterday in a record turnout for the third Legislative Council (LegCo) elections since Hong Kong's reunification with the motherland. A record turnout of voters yesterday delivered a poorer-than expected result to the pro-democracy camp, a fillip to pro-Beijing forces and - probably - seats for two mavericks who are set to spice up events in the Legislative Council chamber. The high turnout in the election is a significant step in the development of democracy in Hong Kong. Against a backdrop of negative campaigning, voters sent a clear message to Beijing and the Hong Kong government by turning up at the voting booths: they want full democracy. Pro-democracy parties made smaller than expected gains in Hong Kong elections which were seen as a referendum on the territory's Beijing-backed rulers, according to results released on Monday.
Well-known political activist "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung has been elected a lawmaker after receiving 60,925 votes in New Territories East in Sunday's Legco Election. Hong Kong's fixed-line network operators face a fundamental challenge to their business in light of the top industry regulator's laissez faire stance on internet telephony, which should allow for its rapid deployment. Google forged ahead with its news website despite threats of legal action and allegations by local media of copyright infringement. The website for Hong Kong news cites news summaries and uses photos from local Chinese language media. China: Direct-sales companies seeking to enter the lucrative mainland market will be required to have investment capital of at least US$10 million and a turnover of 500 million yuan from the past three years, according to draft legislation. Beijing's top economic planner hit back yesterday at criticism the mainland was relying too heavily on government controls to put the brakes on the economy. Free broadcasts of CCTV's digital pay-TV service are being extended by two months in the hope of encouraging more people to sign up.
ICBC (Asia), the Hong Kong-listed unit of the mainland's biggest bank, has raised US$400 million to finance its continued aggressive expansion. The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of a global outbreak of avian influenza unless greater efforts are made to fight the disease in countries already affected by it and international co-operation is strengthened. The country's quality inspection authorities pledged on Saturday to deny market access to any food products that fail to pass the strict scrutiny of a new "market access system" by the end of next year, quality supervisor Ji Zhengkun said in Beijing.
China's fund management companies are competing strongly to get the first licences to manage occupational pension funds, a market worth 50 billion yuan (US$6 billion) at present and still growing rapidly. Sept 10 - 12, 2004
More than 1,500 suspected triad members or associates have been arrested in a cross-border police operation involving 6,000 local officers and 2,000 raids - but senior crime figures remain untouched. The Court of Appeal does not have the jurisdiction to hear the ICAC's appeal of the High Court judgment setting aside its warrants to search Sing Tao Daily's offices and a reporter's home, the court heard yesterday. Christians in Hong Kong have been urged to vote on Sunday to fulfil their religious and political duties. Ahead of a series of church activities this weekend to urge followers to turn up to the polls, clerics said that, as citizens, Hong Kong's 500,000-plus Christians should take an active part in public affairs. Major shareholders who pledge 5 per cent or more of the shares in a listed company to secure loans will need to make public disclosure, if a proposal by the stock exchange is approved this month. Hutchison Whampoa is planning to order up to 12 million third-generation (3G) mobile phones in anticipation of a surge in subscriber numbers next year, according to equipment vendors.
China Netcom Group (Hong Kong),
which is planning a US$1.5 billion initial public offering, has named former
telecommunications industry regulator Zhang Chunjiang as its chairman among 13
new board appointments.
The China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) will strive to deepen the reform of insurance asset management mechanisms so as to resolve problems in the management of insurance funds, a top official said yesterday. Most migrant workers would until recently have jumped at the chance to earn more than 700 yuan a month working at a foreign-funded electronics factory in Dongguan. But many, like Hunan native Ma Lu , are walking off the job in search of better careers. The five Olympic venues that will be scrapped to cut costs will be the tennis, baseball, softball, badminton and hockey facilities, the vice-mayor of Beijing says. The Ministry of Communications is requiring Shenzhen ports to impose "development fees" on shippers for the first time, a move that will force port users to pay an extra 500 million yuan a year. Software development company Zhongtian International hopes reforms of the mainland's debt-ridden rural credit co-operatives (RCCs) will create lucrative business opportunities.
Microsoft has lodged its first
anti-piracy complaint with China's copyright bureau against three mainland
software producers - Beijing Zhong Xin Lian, Tianjin Tian Bao Guang Die and
Tianjin Minzu Wenhua Guang Die. Sept 9, 2004
Hong Kong and Beijing signed a landmark aviation deal yesterday that will raise the number of airlines allowed to serve the mainland and ultimately add 400 flights a week to meet the growing demand for leisure and business travel. A journalist being interviewed by ICAC officers over the leak of a protected witness' name told them her career would be over if she revealed her source, a court heard yesterday. The Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA), formerly known as the Hong Kong Society of Accountants, defended its plan to end its recognition of certification with accounting bodies, saying the move is intended to uphold the standards and uniformity of its members.
Guangdong's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have won improved access to capital and will soon have their own regulatory environment, but they still want more assistance, academic and business sources say. Manufacturers in southern coastal China are so short of low-cost labour that many are trying to poach workers from their rivals to keep production lines running, a survey by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security has found. China Construction Bank (CCB), the country's third-largest bank, plans to inaugurate a shareholding firm on September 21 to hold its banking assets. The move is a key step towards multibillion-dollar domestic and international stock market flotations by the lender.
The past decade saw a sharp decline in number of rural poverty in China, but its urban poverty became a matter of concern, said the Report of China Population and Development Country. Sept 8, 2004
The opening value of next month's government land sale was boosted to more than $8 billion yesterday when another site was triggered for auction - fuelling optimism about the property market and putting another dent in the government's budget deficit. The ICAC has transferred to the Department of Justice evidence files relating to its investigation into a breach of the Witness Protection Ordinance. Confidence in "one country, two systems" and in the Hong Kong and central governments has risen, lessening the negative impact of Beijing's decision in April to rule out full democracy in 2007 and 2008, according to a survey. Mainland developer Shui On Land has doubled its land bank through the injection of three development sites from parent Shui On Group for 840 million yuan (HK$791.95 million), bringing its total new projects to five with total expected investment of more than US$8 billion (HK$62.4 billion). Hong Kong's chief telecommunications regulator signaled it will take a light approach towards regulating Internet-based telephony, and warned that traditional fixed-line operators should change their business models to face the challenge. Luxury hotel operator Shangri-La Asia said its first-half profits rose more than 11 times, beating analysts' forecasts, as tourism and business travel picked up in Asia following last year's Sars outbreak. Hong Kong's Airport Authority, which operates Asia's third-busiest airport by passenger volume, is seeking HK$4 billion in loans to boost working capital, those involved in the transaction said. China: Despite the recent slowing in world economic growth, Asia was likely to remain a good place to do business, economists said yesterday. Five of the 10 new Olympic venues which were to be built under the supervision of the Beijing city government have been scrapped in the latest cost-cutting exercise to affect the 2008 Games, the People's Daily reported. The Communist Party will hold the annual plenary session of its Central Committee from September 16 to 19, Xinhua reported yesterday after a report said Jiang Zemin may be preparing to step down as chairman of the Central Military Commission. The debt levels of the mainland's second-largest fixed-line operator, which is pursuing a stock-market listing in Hong Kong and New York, were more than twice the size of its bigger rival at the end of last year, according to analysts who have spoken to the company's management. Mainland officials have urged a slowdown of overseas listings by the nation's biggest state firms to boost the development of its fledging stock markets and arrest waning investment sentiment. Kam Hing International will invest part of the proceeds from its forthcoming initial public offering on building an additional electricity generation plant to offset power shortages in Guangdong and lower its electricity costs, according to chief financial officer Elmen Wong Wai-kong. The port of Shenzhen last month handled a record volume of manufactured goods as western and Asian consignees continued to direct carriers to ship their purchases through the cheaper facilities across the border. China Southern Airlines Northern Company, a subsidiary of China Southern Air Holding Company, said yesterday it is going to introduce 23 Airbus A320 Family aircraft to replace its MD-82 and MD-90 aircraft.
The Pakistan government will soon invite foreign companies, including Chinese equipment suppliers Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp, to participate in the country's biggest telecommunications privatization plan. The Hong Kong government is to adopt a stringent new policy to streamline public sector information technology investments. The move is designed to sharpen the focus of the bureaus and departments on the return on investment of e-government activities. Acer chairman, chief executive and founder Stan Shih once wrote that many strategies employed by the companies in the west cannot be applied directly in Asia. And true to form as a creative industry leader, Mr Shih, in his final year at Acer, named Gianfranco Lanci as the firm's new president. Sept 7, 2004 Hong Kong: Hong Kong's tepid property market received a much-needed boost yesterday with the government accepting a guaranteed bid of $5.02 billion that triggers the auction of what is expected to be the most expensive site sold since the handover.
They may have overcome the burden of their country's expectations and the challenge of world-class competition, but China's Olympic gold medallists appeared to be struggling on the first day of their publicity marathon in Hong Kong. Hong Kong has a chance of hosting some events for the Beijing Olympics, but a lot of red tape will have to be unravelled first, a top mainland sports official said yesterday. Fund managers have reacted cautiously to Hutchison Whampoa's planned spin-off of its telecommunications assets, questioning prospects for its Indian mobile business and grumbling about a stated zero-dividend policy. The world's biggest port operators were yesterday shortlisted to bid for CSX Corp's global container-terminal network, which includes three berths in Hong Kong and three projects in China and South Korea, according to sources involved in the deal. Cathay Pacific Airways will substantially expand services to Australia for the winter schedule as it moves to strengthen its presence in one of the fastest-growing tourist destinations for Hong Kong and mainland travelers. Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief executive Joseph Yam Chi-kwong has been called on to help lobby mainland authorities to grant Bank of East Asia (BEA) and other Hong Kong enterprises listing rights on mainland exchanges through a system of China depositary receipts (CDRs).
Acer Group chairman, chief
executive and founder Stan Shih once wrote that many strategies employed by the
most admired companies in the west cannot be applied directly in Asia without
considering the region's unique resources and business conditions. Wynn Resorts has raised its investment profile in Macau by buying out its local partners with US$52.2 million (HK$407.1 million) worth of its own stock. The company, run by mogul Steve Wynn, is building a US$705 million casino resort set to open next to the Casino Lisboa by the end of 2006. China: The founder of a crime-fighting website based in Shenyang has been ordered by a telecommunications watchdog to shut down his operation. A year-long anti-piracy campaign is to be launched to strengthen law enforcement with tougher penalties for violators, the central government said yesterday. With the ink just dried on its landmark deal in China, international cable network operator Flag Telecom is planning to make a big push to supply more bandwidth to mainland carriers as they prepare for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Chinese companies made overseas direct investments valued at US$2.85 billion last year, an increase of 5.5 per cent compared with 2002, the Ministry of Commerce said yesterday.
Global investment agency Carlyle Group has invested US$15 million in Target Media Holdings Ltd, a Shanghai-based media company. SHANGHAI: Dow Jones Indexes yesterday launched the Dow Jones CBN China 600 Index, a broad Chinese benchmark index, in co-operation with China Business Network Co Ltd (CBN).
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China:
A Chinese performer attempts to make
a white tiger eat a moon cake stuffed with chicken during a performance at a
night zoo in Guangzhou. Chinese around the world marked the moon day festival on
Tuesday, traditionally sipping tea and eating moon cakes made from red bean
while enjoying the full moon.
The American-born female giant panda Hua Mei and one of her cubs at the China
Wolong Giant Panda Protection and Research Center in southwest China's Sichuan
Province. Giant panda Hua Mei, who did not know how to feed her babies after
giving birth to them, learned some basic skills in the nursing of cubs in a
7-day training session held by the staff of the research centre.
Hong Kong:
The traditional fire dragon dance is
staged in Tai Hang, Hong Kong Island, last night, as part of the celebrations
marking the Mid-Autumn Festival. For more than 120 years, people have been
parading the dragon, bristling with incense sticks, in the belief it will drive
away plague.
The
questions may have been probing, but this reporter wasn't getting any answers as
she tried to interview Hu Jintao on his arrival in Hong Kong yesterday. She
failed because the president was a wax figure which has joined Madame Tussauds
on The Peak. Mr Hu's figure is part of a new display called "Proud to be a world
leader", in which visitors can join the president as he gets off a plane.
Hong Kong:
The president and grass-root soldiers
from the army, navy and air force and armed police stationed in the capital city
watched the dance, which is known as "Diary of a Soldier", at the China Grand
Theater.
China:
Germany's Michael Schumacher walks
through a pit area after a software problem in his Ferrari caused him to abandon
the free practice at Shanghai International Circuit. 
One hundred couples who work for a Taiwanese-funded company in Fuzhou yesterday
held a giant wedding in a public park. The company, an electronics maker, is the
biggest Taiwanese-funded business in the Fujian city, with more than 6,000
employees.
Chinese opera performers rehearse in
Kowloon Park yesterday for next week's Mid-Autumn Festival. 
Rental contribution from Sun Hung Kai's
flagship Two IFC should boost earnings next year. Hong Kong's biggest developer
yesterday urged the government to put up more land for public sale and ease
fears of a housing shortage.
China: Workers
put finishing touches to seating at the Shanghai International Circuit yesterday
in preparation for the grand prix. Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone
yesterday rated Sunday's inaugural China Grand Prix more highly than the
Olympics.
A fountain decorated with flowers
forms the centrepiece of a display in Tiananmen Square celebrating the 55th
anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China next Friday. The
display covers 12,000 square metres and incorporates 300,000 pots of flowers.
Hong Kong:
China:
Two workers relax on the back of
tricycles outside a construction site in Beijing on Wednesday. Hundreds of
thousands of migrants from rural areas of China are employed on the construction
sites in the city.
A buffalo grazes in front of abandoned
houses in Zili village, Kaiping, Guangdong province, which were built with money
sent home by villagers who migrated to the US and Canada in the 1920s. Local
authorities are applying for the houses to become world heritage sites.
Air Macau broke even in the first eight months of this year and the carrier is
expected to deliver a profit for the full year.
MTR staff check out the new pedestrian
subway that opened yesterday in Tsim Sha Tsui. Connecting the MTR station with a
Kowloon Canton Railway station, which is still under construction, the $1
billion subway is 400 metres long and will be open daily from 5.50am to 1.15am.
The East Rail extension is expected to open this year, allowing passengers to
change trains between it and the MTR at Tsim Sha Tsui or Kowloon Tong.
Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief
executive Joseph Yam Chi-kwong yesterday led a group of about 20 top bankers
seeking to lobby mainland authorities to enable local lenders to conduct more
types of yuan business.
Chinese soldiers strike the bell bearing the words "Do not forget the National
humiliation" at the September 18 Museum in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning.
Saturday marked the 73rd anniversary of Japan's September 18 invasion of China.
The Halloween theme proves a little too
authentic for Ho Siu-tung, eight, at an event yesterday to promote Ocean Park's
month-long Halloween Bash. The fear-filled festival, featuring haunted houses
and other ghastly attractions.
A
cool response from fund managers has obliged Li Ka-shing's Hutchison Whampoa to
scale back its upcoming second- generation telecom offering and pitch shares to
third-generation allies. To guarantee a successful completion of the planned
spin-off of its second generation (2G) phone business, Hutchison Whampoa has
agreed to trim the offer's size and is holding talks with "friendly business
partners" to buy shares in the unit.
Women's fashion retailer Veeko International Holdings said it plans to expand in
Hong Kong by tapping into the local cosmetics market.
China:
Health officials check an illegal
food-processing shop in a back alley in Shaanxi's capital Xian yesterday. Local
authorities are conducting a crackdown on the city's food-processing facilities
in the lead-up to the week-long October 1 National Day holiday.
The airline board's Gilbert Chow (left )
and Airport Authority director Howard Eng discuss details at the seminar. Talks
will begin before the end of the year to establish a new mechanism for setting
airport landing charges, a vital step in setting up the regulatory framework for
privatisation of Hong Kong International Airport.
China:
Medical workers take care of twin
girls in the intensive care unit at Shanghai Children's Medical Centre on
Tuesday, four days after their surgery last Thursday at the Xinhua Hospital. The
twins were conjoined at the abdomen and chest.
The all-male Les Ballets Trockadero
de Monte Carlo, or The Trocks, rehearse yesterday before their show in the Lyric
Theatre at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts later in the evening. The
comedic New York troupe will be in the city until Sunday.
Wheelock and Co chairman Peter Woo Kwong-ching (left) and Sun Hung Kai
Properties chairman Walter Kwok Ping-sheung (centre) yesterday received awards
from Walpole, a non-profit organisation aiming to advance British products and
services. Presenting the awards at the British Consulate, Walpole deputy
chairman Guy Salter said they were chosen on the basis of their association with
retailers that featured luxury British brands. Also at the ceremony were Dickson
Concepts chairman Dickson Poon (rear centre), Hutchison Whampoa deputy chairman
Victor Li Tzar-kuoi (rear right) and the Earl of Home, the chairman of Coutts &
Co (front right). 
The second stage of Cepa eliminates
import quotas on another 713 product categories and leaves Hong Kong's IT sector
scrambling for increased preferential treatment. Hong Kong's information
technology sector is scrambling to obtain more trade concessions from mainland
authorities as competition builds up in the IT services market in China.
China:
Festivities are in the air, first for the 50th anniversary of the NPC, followed
by the 55th anniversary of the nation's founding next month. Fifty years ago,
the first National People's Congress met in Beijing and ratified the
constitution of the People's Republic. Those landmark events are to be
commemorated today with fanfare in the Great Hall of the People.
Tung Chee-hwa, and Electoral Affairs
Commission chief Justice Woo Kwok-hing (second right), open a ballot box.
Hong Kong:
Hong Kong:
China:
A man jumps from a bridge onto an
airbag as a fireman shouts instructions during a drill in Guangzhou. Fire
services and staff from the city's Convention and Exhibition Centre took part in
the exercise, one of several designed to improve disaster response.
Hong Kong:
Gold medal winners hurdler Liu Xiang
(left) and divers Guo Jingjing and Tian Liang greet their fans after arriving
Hong Kong.
Members of China's women's
volleyball team and fellow gold medallists arrive at Chek Lap Kok. They later
attended a function at Government House.
