|
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 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
Are you ready to export your product or
service? You will find out in 3 minutes with resources to help you -
enter
to give it a try December 31, 2004 to January 3, 2005 - Happy New Year Hong Kong: Celebrities from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China will perform a fund-raising show next week for tsunami victims in devastated southern Asia, organizers said on Friday. Hong Kong is requesting incoming flights from Vietnam to broadcast health announcements urging passengers with bird flu symptoms such as coughs or fever to wear a mask and report to an airport medical post, the government said on Friday.
The decline in Hong Kong wages accelerated in September compared with three months earlier, bucking expectations that companies are raising salaries amid robust economic growth. In a surprise move, 19 pro-democracy organizations and the Liberal Party have agreed to set aside their differences and turn two opposing protests on January1 into a large-scale joint fund-raising campaign for victims of Sunday's devastating tsunamis. From midnight tonight, arrangements governing crucial water supplies by Guangdong province to the territory will expire, leaving no formal agreement in place for the quantity and price of supplies. China: About 700 officials have been punished and 21 billion yuan recovered in the six months since the National Audit Office published shocking revelations about rampant government corruption and the misuse of public funds, state media reports say. The mainland's foreign debt stood at US$223 billion at the end of the September quarter, up 1 per cent from the end of June, in a sign that a clampdown on corporate yuan speculation is working. The mainland's first comprehensive anti-monopoly law is expected to be passed by the National People's Congress next year. China's largest life insurer misused 750 million yuan to build a Beijing office tower before its initial public offering last year, mainland legislators were told this week. China is expected to post an unprecedented US$5.5 billion agricultural trade deficit this year, the Ministry of Agriculture sources said yesterday.
China's top telecoms equipment maker, Huawei Technologies, said on Thursday that China Development Bank will support its export drive with up to US$10 billion (HK$78 billion) in financing over the next five years. Shares in China Life Insurance, the mainland's largest insurer, fell 4.6 per cent to HK$5.15 on Thursday after a report that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission had opened a formal investigation into the company's 2003 initial public offering. Mainland oil companies could soon become major investors in Canada's vast reserves of oil sands as they seek to expand and diversify their sources of supply. December 30, 2004 Hong Kong: Nearly 400 Hong Kong people were missing in tsunami-devastated areas yesterday but the city's known death toll remained at one. Donations and aid have begun flowing in from around the world, in an outpouring of grief and concern for those devastated by the tsunami that slammed Asia. Hong Kong's donations to tsunami victims rose to more than $60 million yesterday.
Tighter regulation of listing sponsors and tougher disclosure requirements are among measures proposed to revive the sluggish Growth Enterprise Market (GEM), according to a source at Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx). Media and satellite-television operator eSun Holdings added to the Macau frenzy yesterday by revealing plans to build two hotels as part of its $2 billion television city development in the former Portuguese enclave.
The central government's liaison office in Hong Kong has set up a new department to lobby and court the support of institutions and groups representing the city's middle class and professionals. Ninety-five Beijing tourists stranded in Phuket arrived home on a charter flight yesterday to be greeted by kisses and hugs from relatives.
China Merchants Holdings
International will pay six billion yuan to take a 30 per cent stake in Shanghai
International Port Group (SIPG), according to industry sources, giving the Hong
Kong-listed company an interest in Shanghai's coveted Yangshan port project. About 50 major textile exporters have agreed to set up six price co-ordinating panels to keep an eye on export orders through self-discipline, as textile quotas are set to be removed on Saturday. The first Plasma Display Panel (PDP) television production line with Chinese intellectual property rights will be built in the beginning of the year in Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu Province. December 29, 2004 Hong Kong: The first Hong Kong casualty of the tsunami was confirmed last night, as the government said more than 200 city residents remain unaccounted for, nearly three days after the catastrophe. Hong Kong people are digging deep to help tsunami victims, donating at least $46 million to relief efforts. Hong Kong holidaymakers told of scenes of devastation when they returned home yesterday. It could have been a scene from the movie Titanic. Seeing her husband washed away as water rushed through their Phuket hotel room, Leung Wai-kei let go of the rail she was clinging to and followed him.
Hong Kong-listed Yanzhou Coal Mining has moved to safeguard a 640 million yuan loan it extended to an obscure industrial company in Shandong province, after it emerged that the loan's guarantor could not provide adequate security.
The export tariffs on garments China published over the holidays may help appease the United States and other nations worried about their textile industries, but they are far too low to have a significant impact on businesses, industry players say. China Metal International Holdings, which on Friday will become the last company to list this year, has had a reasonable response from investors for its initial public offering, despite receiving little publicity as the market focused on the controversial listing of the Link Reit. Harbin No 1 Tool Corporation, the largest production and scientific research base for precise and complex cutting tools in China, established a joint-venture (JV) with Plasma und Vakuum Technik GmbH (PVT), a well-known vacuum coating company based in Germany. December 28, 2004
Government land premium valuations should be outsourced to create jobs in the construction industry and ensure objectivity, an influential professional group has proposed.
China: Officials will be told to resign if their actions lead to huge financial losses or have a negative impact on society, under a proposal being examined by the National People's Congress Standing Committee. Civil servants are soon going to have a clearer perception of their career responsibilities and performance standards, as the law-making Standing Committee of National People's Congress (NPC) begins deliberating a proposed law on civil servants today. China's wholesale destruction of its older neighborhoods is slowing, with housing demolitions this year falling by more than half compared with 2003, Construction Minister Wang Guangtao said on Monday. China announced a first round of export duties on textiles, in a move analysts said is as much an attempt to spur large-scale production of high-quality products as to head off a trade spat with the West. According to the International Business Daily , which is published by the Ministry of Commerce, China will impose export duties of between 0.2 yuan and 0.3 yuan per unit on 146 items from Saturday. Those items fall into six categories of clothing, including dresses, trousers, knitted and non-knitted blouses, sleepwear and underwear. For accessories such as hooks for knitted and non-knitted clothing, a duty of 0.5 yuan will be charged per kilogram. Residents of Chongming Island are hoping that more prosperous times lie ahead, with construction of 12.3 billion yuan bridge and tunnel project linking the island with Shanghai due to start this week. Mainland regulators will move to relax and clarify rules over the coming months to attract more foreign portfolio investors to the country's languishing stock markets, sources say.
With the launch of the first backbone network of the next-generation Internet in China, the country is expected to dramatically narrow its gap with the world's leaders, officials and experts said. Beijing International Power Development & Investment Corporation (BIPDIC) and Beijing Comprehensive Investment Company (BCIC), two State-owned investment enterprises, merged into Beijing Energy Investment Holding Co Ltd yesterday in Beijing. China has more aviation partners in Europe than ever before. While still negotiating with the EU, seven individual countries have signed MOU on air transport deals with China this year. December 27, 2004 Hong Kong: More than 9,000 people across Asia were killed on Sunday after one of the most powerful earthquakes on record triggered massive tidal waves that slammed into coastlines of countries including Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India, Thailand and Malaysia. Tourists, fishermen, hotels, homes and cars were swept away by walls of water unleashed by the 8.9-magnitude earthquake, centred off the west coast of the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, where 2,437 people were killed by floods and collapsing buildings. Holidaying SAR politicians may be among the missing - Several Hong Kong politicians could be among the missing following Sunday's devastating earthquake and tidal waves, according to sources. Contact has been lost with newly-elected Democratic Party leader Lee Wing-tat and his wife, Tuen Mun district councilor Josephine Chan. Tough rules urged for civil service retirees - The government needs to put real teeth into rules that bar retired civil servants from taking private sector jobs that cause conflicts of interest, according to an academic who advocates criminal penalties for rule breakers. China: Google may have grabbed the headlines, but it was Chinese companies that led the recovery of technology share offers in the US this year. The two best-performing IPOs in the US hail from China - Shanda Interactive Entertainment and 51Job. A world leader in chemical industry, BASF, announced plans to invest 30 million US dollars to build a new chemical plant in the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park in Shanghai, east China. Chinese foreign trade has increased 750 times since the People's Republic of China was founded 55 years ago. When Venezuela recognized China's status as a market economy last week, Beijing secured yet another pawn in a low-key battle it is waging against the United States and Europe, analysts said. December 24 - 26, 2004 Hong Kong: For the first time, the Star Ferry services from Hong Kong Island to Tsim Sha Tsui might be suspended on Friday night to prevent over-crowding at the waterfront, local media reported on Friday. Special traffic arrangements on Sunday would come into effect on Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the Tsing Yi area for the 9th Tour of the South China Sea International Cycling Race, the Transport Department announced on Friday. Police are investigating a death threat against legislator Albert Cheng King-hon following accusations he was to blame for halting a huge government property privatization, a statement said on Thursday.
Hong Kong people are the world's most frequent patrons of fast food restaurants, a global survey released on Thursday showed. Inflation in Hong Kong continued very subdued in November, rising just 0.2 per cent from a year earlier, the same rate as reported in October, government figures showed on Thursday. Former President Joseph Estrada, detained for nearly four years on corruption charges, will be allowed to go to Hong Kong to undergo knee surgery on Sunday, an anti-graft court ruled.
Hotels, ski resorts and karaoke parlors are tipped to be the big winners this Christmas weekend as the nation's businesspeople and younger generation go in search of the festive spirit.
China's second manned space mission will take place in September 2005 with two astronauts circling the Earth for five days, state media on Thursday quoted a high ranking space official as saying. Instant messaging provider Tencent Holdings expects its monthly profits to drop four million yuan after a possible change in its licensing agreement with China Mobile. The Shenzhen-based company said it was renegotiating a deal for its 161 Mobile Chat service with the country's largest mobile operator. The Hua Jiao Airship China, a private firm engaged in commercial airship services, received flying licenses for its airships from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) yesterday. China will continue to lower tariffs on imported alcoholic drinks next year. The moves are expected to bring challenges to Chinese alcohol producers.
Under the approval of China Banking Regulatory commission, the Bank of China will be the first Chinese commercial bank providing gold services to individuals. The US retail giant Wal-mart will open its first outlet in Shanghai next year and also move its headquarters there. Wal-mart says hello to Shanghai. Not only will the US retail giant open its first outlet in the port city next year, but will also place its headquarters there. Aside from the Pudong area store, the Commerce Ministry has also approved two other Wal-mart stores in Shanghai in 2005. Wal-mart will complete construction of its first Shanghai store by May 2005. The store is expected to provide about 500 jobs. Wal-mart entered China in 1996. It now operates 30 stores in China. Only three of these are located in East China, including one in Beijing. December 23, 2004 Hong Kong: There has been a sharp rise in the number of Hong Kong people buying second-hand flats on the mainland, with transactions up by 24 per cent this year. Efforts by Singapore's state-owned PSA International Corp to grab a slice of Hong Kong's lucrative container traffic business have been foiled again, after its $2.3 billion offer for a 57 per cent stake in Asia Container Terminals (ACT) was nullified by existing shareholders yesterday. In a further step towards turning Hong Kong into a leading financial intermediary for the mainland, the financial sector may receive the green light to significantly expand dealing in yuan-denominated financial products such as bonds and stocks, a leading mainland economist said. Ba Shusong, deputy director of the Financial Research Institute of the State Council's Development Research Centre, said Hong Kong would ``have bright prospects'' in expanding yuan-related businesses when the mainland decides to reform its exchange rate mechanism and move towards currency convertibility.
The newly-opened Ma On Shan Railway would probably meet its target of 190,000 daily passengers by the end of 2005, Kowloon Canton Railway Corporation chairman Michael Tien Puk-sun said on Wednesday. A record 400,000 people are expected to celebrate New Year's Eve in the Tsim Sha Tsui area, police said on Wednesday. Shangri-La Asia is talking to Swire Properties about operating a second new five-star hotel in Guangzhou, where not a single luxury hotel has opened since 1992.
The sixth WTO ministerial meeting is scheduled to be held in Hong Kong in December of next year, said Sun Zhenyu, China's first ambassador to the WTO, yesterday in Hong Kong.
The latest bid by the mainland's top judicial authorities to broaden the net of piracy crimes will add little force to the government's fight against rampant breaches, experts say.
US information technology giant HP aims to become one of the top three notebook computer vendors in the Chinese market next year, as its arch-rivals IBM and Lenovo are busy consolidating.
Toshiba says it will stop making notebook computers at its Philippine plant next month and shift production to its main factory in Hangzhou to cut costs.
Macau's newest gaming palace, the Greek Mythology Casino, opens today with an eye on topping the Sands Macau's blockbuster debut in May. Deputy general manager Michael Chan predicted on Wednesday that the opening will attract up to 50,000 customers, lured in part by a 100 million pataca (HK$97.1 million) lucky draw. December 22, 2004
The recent spate of high-profile corruption cases involving listed companies has prompted the ICAC to work with Hong Kong's securities regulatory bodies and mainland authorities to step up supervision and corporate governance. Retired senior officials employed by private companies may face stiffer government restrictions following the row over the former deputy housing director's role in the West Kowloon cultural hub project. The controversial $10-billion Ma On Shan Rail opened to the public to a mixed reception on Tuesday afternoon. Financial Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen officiated at the launch of the new 11.4km-long Kowloon Canton Railway Corporation line connecting Tai Wai and Ma On Shan, local radio reported. More than 21.36 million visitors were believed to have come to Hong Kong in 2004, Hong Kong’s Tourism Board chairwoman Selina Chow Liang Shuk-yee said on Tuesday. Over one-third of respondents participating in a Hong Kong University online poll said that they had no definite idea what Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa should focus on in his eighth policy address.
Top judicial authorities have reinterpreted the mainland's criminal law to include heavier sentences for copyright piracy and lower the threshold for punishable offences. Chinese courts will, from today, treat infringement on intellectual property rights (IPR) as a major criminal offense rather than a minor one. Finance Minister Jin Renqing has announced a 283.7 billion yuan fiscal surplus in the first 11 months. He also asserted the mainland's economy was not overheating and that he did not expect inflation to rise strongly.
December 21, 2004 Hong Kong: President Hu Jintao yesterday ordered Tung Chee-hwa and his ministers to lift their game. Read the president's remarks positively, Tung Chee-hwa says on his return from Macau. As a keen soccer fan, Tung Chee-hwa knows how difficult a game can become when playing away from home. Tung Chee-hwa swiftly went into damage-control mode yesterday, putting on a brave face and rejecting speculation that President Hu Jintao's remarks on his governance were a dressing down. A senior state official yesterday said broad agreement had emerged over constitutional reform in Hong Kong, but warned that discussions should not depart from the limits set by Beijing. The individual travellers' scheme for mainlanders visiting Hong Kong and Macau could be extended if Beijing were asked, a senior state official said yesterday. Hong Kong workers are increasingly becoming chained to the workplace, working a basic average of 44.5 hours a week this year, compared with 42.9 in 2001.
Investors yesterday greeted the scrapping of the controversial Link Reit listing with cautious relief, then celebrated the end of the muddle with a surprise buying spree. China: President Hu Jintao yesterday held up Macau Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau-wah's rule as a model of "one country, two systems". Auditors have launched a seven-month special investigation of the finances of China Central Television, the country's biggest TV network - a sign of a broader campaign targeting state-owned media organisations. The central government will strip provincial governments of the power to issue key economic statistics amid growing concern over the accuracy of information.
Top judicial authorities have issued
a set of guidelines to govern the revised jury system in an attempt to raise
sentencing standards and root out corruption in the mainland's courts. Dragged along by a booming China, East Asian countries should grow 7.6 per cent this year, their best result since the region's 1997 financial crisis, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said yesterday.
Surgeons from Shanghai's Ruijin Hospital announced yesterday an operation to transplant seven organs from a single donor to a woman on December 12 was a success.
December 20, 2004 Hong Kong: China's top legislature, the National People's Congress (NPC), explained in Beijing on Friday that the anti-secession law it plans to enact will not be applicable to the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions (SARs) of China. Hong Kong Financial Secretary Henry Tang said the chances of the Link Real Estate Investment Trust being listed as planned are "relatively low", which will, however, not affect HK's role an int'l financial center. The underwriters of the Link Reit issue are on the verge of pulling the plug on the Housing Authority's mega deal, fearing that if they proceed with the offering they could be vulnerable to shareholder lawsuits should the offering later be ruled invalid, sources said. "It's a very tough situation,'' said a source familiar with the deal. The three joint global co-ordinators of the deal - HSBC, Goldman Sachs and UBS - have until 8am on Monday morning to decide whether they wish to continue underwriting the deal, but sources close to the deal said the underwriters were leaning toward withdrawing from the listing. ParknShop, the supermarket chain controlled by tycoon Li Ka-shing, has wasted no time in taking advantage of this week's full opening of the mainland's retail market to foreign competition. The chain plans to open three new hypermarkets on the mainland, including one in Guangzhou, by the end of this month. This will increase the number of ParknShop hypermarkets on the mainland to 31, said Iwan Evans, chief executive of food, electronics and general merchandise at AS Watson, the Hutchison Whampoa unit that owns the foodstores. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority tightened the rules governing banks' liability for the contents of safe deposit boxes after finding that 24 of the 27 institutions it surveyed assumed no liability even if losses were caused by their own negligence. The move came in the wake of the DBS Bank (HK) debacle in which 83 depositors suffered losses when the bank accidentally destroyed their safety deposit boxes in October. DBS Bank ultimately offered compensation of about HK$12 million to the customers even though the terms and conditions of its safe deposit box service protected the bank from any liability.
China's Supreme Justice and President of the Supreme People's Court Xiao Yang vowed to improve the country's judicial capacity to meet the requirements of economic development at an on-going national court meeting. In a keynote speech to the national higher court presidents meeting, held here from Dec. 16 to 18, Xiao said judicial capacity mainly includes "striking hard" on severe criminal cases and cracking down on financial and economic fraud, intellectual property infringement, human rights violations in judicial fields and official power abuse. Cambodia reaffirmed on December 18 that Cambodia always pays great attention to strengthen the friendly relations with China, stressing that it will continue to push forward the all-around development of bilateral relationship. Cambodia's Senate President Chea Sim and Prime Minister Hun Sen met separately on Saturday with visiting Chinese delegation led by Chen Haosu, president of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC). Chinese film fans will have a rare, unprecedented opportunity to meet a group of major Hollywood stars next year in Beijing and Shanghai, on the 100th anniversary of China's film industry. The stars, including top film director Oliver Stone and actor Dustin Hoffman and actress Angelina Jolie, will come for "The Beijing-Hollywood World Movie Masters Forum-2005," scheduled from February 20 through July 16, next year, the China Film Association and Amer-Asian Hollywood Entertainment Group announced.
The mainland is becoming a world leader in nuclear power, outgoing United States Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said in Beijing, urging more co-operation on a range of energy issues. "Clearly, China is taking a global lead in nuclear power,'' he told students at Beijing's Tsinghua University on Friday. "Beyond traditional fossil fuels, there are China's very impressive efforts to accelerate its supply of nuclear power." Mainlanders are toasting their economic growth with beer as the country for the first time surpassed the United States as the world's top beer guzzler, a global survey by a Japanese brewer said. Mainland drinkers chugged down nearly 25 billion litres in 2003, accounting for 17.3 per cent of the world's beer consumption of 144 billion litres. The US accounted for 16.5 per cent, the study by Kirin Brewery said. Increasing incomes saw mainlanders drink 6.4 per cent more beer in 2003, while US consumption fell 0.4per cent in 2003 from 2002, the survey said. December 17 - 19, 2004 Hong Kong: Dragonair pilots have voted to launch a work to rule starting just before the Lunar New Year holiday because of a long-running dispute over the airline's refusal to offer them an agreement on working rosters.
Cheung Kong (Holdings) and its associate Hutchison Whampoa have "conquered" another mainland inner city, with plans to pour $1.7 billion into Xian's residential and commercial property market.
Three Leisure and Cultural Services Department officials failed to communicate adequately over the discovery of bloodworms in public swimming pools earlier this year, a report by the Ombudsman revealed on Thursday. Hong Kong’s jobless rate remained unchanged at 6.7 per cent for the three-month period ending in November, the government said on Thursday.
The Tung family's Orient Overseas (International) Ltd (OOIL) is about to acquire its first stake in a mainland container port as part of a joint-venture company that will build, manage and operate a new terminal complex in Tianjin. Mandarin Oriental International has finalised plans to spend US$110 million renovating its flagship hotel in Central.
Beijing is offering mainland companies more than 5 billion yuan in subsidies and dozens of other incentives to lure them to the Three Gorges Dam area in a drive to lift residents out of poverty. Pressure on prices will remain a top concern for Beijing next year because the country could move from food-driven to longer-lasting cost-push inflation, a senior economist says. December 2004, police in Shenzhen of Guangdong Province arrested more than 20 suspects who allegedly produced more than the 11,609 pieces of so-called "CISCO System" circuit modules, worth more than 20 million yuan (US$2.4 million). China's SOE regulatory body signed a contract with the presidents of 30 central State-owned enterprises yesterday, linking the salaries and bonuses of those presidents with the profitability of their enterprises. The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) reaffirmed yesterday that State-owned enterprises (SOEs) will continue joint-stock reforms - despite debates on whether such reform has led to the draining of State assets.
Ministry of Railways announced in Beijing Wednesday that China will begin building high speed railways, which carry trains traveling at 200 kilometers per hour or faster, in 2005. December 16, 2004 Hong Kong: Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa has appointed a four-member Independent Committee of Experts to make recommendations on future elections, a spokesman announced on Wednesday.
The government on Wednesday afternoon appointed Privacy Commissioner Raymond Tang Yee-bong to succeed Patricia Chu Yeung Pak-yu as Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) chairman next month. The Chief Executive has appointed four lay members to the Council of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA), a spokesman said on Wednesday.
China Network Communications Group Corp (China Netcom) has offered to buy a 20 per cent stake in PCCW. The offer comes just a few weeks after the Chinese carrier listed its unit - China Netcom Group Corp (Hong Kong) - in Hong Kong and New York. China: The flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) into the mainland slowed dramatically last month, but analysts say the annual figure is still well on track to top US$60 billion. Climate change could reduce China's food production by one-tenth by 2050. Given present conditions, the damage would hit China between 2030 and 2050, said a report presented at a United Nations conference on Monday. The Beijing-based parent firm of China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corp (CAO) is backing away from a rescue plan to help the company overcome its US$550 million derivatives losses. Wong Kwong-yu, recently named the richest man in China by Euromoney, yesterday cashed in a further $1.37 billion of his home appliance retail empire.
The Hong Kong Mortgage Corp
has expanded its insurance programme to cover loans for older properties in a
move the government sees as benefiting both homeowners and buyers. German software giant SAP is to greatly boost its research and development team in China, to serve local demands, and also work as a global development base, as the company's expansion in the world's most populous market enters a new stage.
December 15, 2004 Hong Kong: Mr Justice Michael Hartmann told the Court of First Instance on Tuesday that he wished to make a ruling over the Link Real Estate Investment Trust (Link REIT) case by 5pm on Tuesday, local media reported.
Most Hong Kong people working for foreign-funded enterprises in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region are men, a mainland survey released on Tuesday shows.
China's media regulator is reviving a plan to create a unified national cable-television platform, after earlier efforts ran into stiff opposition from local network operators. China has overtaken South Korea as the second-most popular destination for companies looking for acquisitions in the Asia Pacific, as the value of cross-border merger and acquisition (M&A) deals on the mainland tripled in the first 11 months of this year over last year.
In an effort to build up its nuclear power capacity, China plans to set up a new nuclear technology company. Three companies are in the running to design and build two nuclear reactors, including four units, in China.
December 14, 2004 Hong Kong: Equal Opportunities Commission chairwoman Patricia Chu Yeung Pak-yu would not serve another term after her first term ends on Wednesday, the government announced on Monday. A new public transport plan aimed at providing greater railway access and services to people living in the New Territories would be introduced this year, the assistant Transport Commissioner said on Monday.
Struggling telecommunications firm PCCW is planning a re-launch of its video-on-demand service, hoping to build a new earnings stream at its NOW Broadband pay-television business to compensate for the erosion of its core fixed-line revenues. Citigroup has signed its first purchase of non-performing loans from Silver Grant International Industries after buying a minority stake in the Hong Kong-listed distressed asset specialist last month. Lenovo and IBM are likely to lose enterprise customers as corporations worried about the uncertainty created by the pair's merger of PC businesses turn to major rivals such as Dell and Hewlett-Packard. China: Maritime authorities say last week's oil spill near the mouth of the Pearl River, caused by a collision between two container ships, is larger than previously estimated.
The US decision to impose punitive duties on Chinese wooden furniture will not have a big impact on the industry as manufacturers make efforts to tap new foreign markets. However, domestic market competition is expected to increase. The first petroleum association for China's private oil firms, the China Chamber of Commerce for the Petroleum Industry (CCCPI), was established on Saturday in Beijing. December 13, 2004
The owners of Hunghom Peninsula yesterday scrapped plans to pull down the never-occupied waterfront estate amid a widening political and legal dispute over their right to do so.
More than half the companies in a survey have monitored employees' use of the internet and e-mail, while about 30 per cent can monitor their phone calls.
Leading Hong Kong advertisers are locked in a showdown with dominant terrestrial broadcaster Television Broadcasts, which is trying to raise next year's advertising rates by as much as 18.8 per cent. HSBC Holdings sees early signs of growth in credit demand in Hong Kong, with recovering confidence in the property sector. The government, looking for better ways to spend the $4 billion remaining in the $5 billion Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF), has decided to set up four research and development centres to focus on areas such as car parts and textile development. Hong Kong Airport Authority (AA) Chairman Victor Fung pledged Friday to do everything possible to maintain HK's aviation leadership in Asia.
The central government looks set to announce a leadership reshuffle in several key provinces and the State Administration for Radio, Film and Television to build loyalty and fight corruption, sources say. Lenovo Group chief financial officer Mary Ma does not think employees will be fired when the company completes its US$1.25 billion purchase of IBM's personal computer business. China refuted rumors on Friday that it had been dumping US dollar-denominated assets from its massive foreign exchange reserves. The State-own Asset Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) took aim at the beleaguered China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corp on Friday for violating regulations on trading oil index futures. China's foreign exchange (forex) watchdog yesterday vowed to get tougher on speculation on the renminbi's appreciation.
China's first petroleum equipment export contract was signed on Thursday in Beijing, between Beijing Petroleum Machinery Factory (BPM) under China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), and the US-based Rowan Drilling Company Inc. China has achieved an initial success in using carbon dioxide enhanced coalbed methane (CBM) recovery technology from Canada to tap the country's huge CBM resources, a type of clean energy but also a major killer of miners every year.
December 10 - 12, 2004 Hong Kong: The government on Friday confirmed that the public listing timetable of the Link Real Estate Investment Trust (Link REIT) has not changed — even though the Court of First Instance has yet to decide whether to allow a lawsuit against the listing.
In a dramatic turnaround, the two developers of the Hunghom Peninsula announced on Friday afternoon that they have decided not to demolish the housing estate. Hong Kong and the mainland signed a liaison agreement in Beijing on Friday to encourage closer notification and liaison on poultry products imported into Hong Kong, a spokesman said. Hong Kong and Britain signed the second Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Friday aimed at enhancing co-operation over information and communications technology, a spokesman said. Modifying game players like X-Box and PlayStation II to run pirated discs and renting out movies may become criminal offences under proposals unveiled by the Hong Kong government on Thursday to close loopholes in the Copyright Ordinance.
MTR Corp's offer to pay 50 per cent of the land premium on its Tseung Kwan O line has elicited an enthusiastic response from smaller developers which are normally shut out of rail-side projects by prohibitive capital requirements. Executive Councillor Laura Cha Shih May-lung yesterday dismissed speculation that she was in line for the top job at the securities watchdog.
A developed China will not pose a threat to other countries, Premier Wen Jiabao said yesterday in The Hague, adding that human rights had been greatly improved and the economy was expanding fast. The China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership will logically require that China's full market economy status be recognized at an early date and restrictions on exports of high-tech products to China be liberalized, visiting Premier Wen Jiabao said here yesterday. Mobile phones were expected to generate more money this year than traditional fixed-line services for the first time due to surging demand in developing countries such as China, India and Russia, an annual industry report said on Thursday. China is expected to abolish the agriculture tax imposed on the country's more than 900 million rural residents next year three years ahead of schedule, experts said. The mainland has banned British computer game Football Manager 2005, saying it has violated Chinese law by referring to Hong Kong, Taiwan and other regions as separate countries.
China's total foreign trade volume amounted to 1,001.7 billion US dollars by Nov. 20, 2004, official said Thursday. December 9, 2004 Hong Kong: Standard Chartered group chief executive Mervyn Davies yesterday flagged profit growth of about 29 per cent this year - a hint that immediately drew heavy flak from labor spokesmen in Hong Kong, where the bank last month sacked 200 employees to cut costs. Tom Group is buying about 30 per cent of Huayi Brothers Media Group, the mainland's biggest private film-maker as it expands into a lucrative market recently opened to foreign investment.
The mainland has promised more investment to boost grain production and is considering measures to narrow the rural-urban divide and maintain steady growth in farmers' incomes, according to two top policymakers. Shenzhen authorities have fined a Hong Kong-invested joint-venture company a record 1.96 million yuan for paying illegally low wages and forcing workers to do overtime, two months after 3,000 employees took to the streets in protest at their treatment.
Zhou Xiaochuan, central bank governor, announced there were many things to do for China's next financial reforms, especially the improvement of relevant legislations concerning finance, and the Bankruptcy Law as well as other laws related to loan swindle in particular. December 8, 2004
The government was planning to raise medical charges for non-Hong Kong citizens next year - in face of the growing pressure on public medical services as more mainlanders come to Hong Kong, local media reported on Tuesday. Finnish pupils are the smartest in the world according to a survey of knowledge among 15-year-olds in 41 countries, the OECD said on Tuesday (HK time), with three Asian countries taking second through fourth place, including Hong Kong in third place.
A consortium controlled by Li Ka-shing has agreed to pay $1.93 billion for the four-star Kowloon Hotel complex in Tsim Sha Tsui, lower than the market had anticipated. The Hong Kong shares of Lenovo Group were suspended from trading yesterday amid rumours the mainland computer giant would announce a takeover of IBM's global personal computer business. China's largest manufacturer of personal computers Lenovo Group said on Tuesday it was in negotiations with a major information technology company, believed to be US-based IBM.
China: British conglomerate Virgin Group announced Tuesday that it is in talks with a mainland Chinese telecommunications company to set up a joint venture to provide mobile services in China. Guangdong authorities will launch a three-year campaign to instil patriotism in residents and encourage them to be more law-abiding, trustworthy and courteous, official media reported yesterday.
German-US auto giant Daimler-Chrysler and Chinese partner Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Corp yesterday began building a new plant for their joint venture to produce Mercedes-Benz sedans. The National Development and Reform Commission said Monday that domestic consumer prices are expected to rise by about 4 percent this year, which would be the highest in seven years since 1997. December 7, 2004 Hong Kong: Financial secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen said on Monday he was considering the Liberal Party’s proposal to open a casino on Lantau Island.
The use of personal computers and the internet in Hong Kong households and private companies continued to enjoy steady growth this year, two new surveys released on Monday showed. The holding company of Hutchison 3G Italia, controlled by Hutchison Whampoa, has been ordered by an arbitration court to pay €423.3 |
Finet chief executive George Yu says Japanese content provider T&C Holdings will
take a 5 per cent stake in the financial information provider's enlarged share
capital before the forthcoming listing on the Growth Enterprise Market. Finet
will use the proceeds to fund expansion into the mainland where it sees a
growing number of opportunities. It hopes to partner China Unicom or China
Mobile in offering content to mainland mobile-phone subscribers.
The Housing Authority holds its special
open meeting where it was revealed that three options had been considered if the
listing had gone ahead as planned.
Skyworth Digital Holdings' new management team, finance director Frederick Leung
(left), chief executive Wang Dianfu (centre) and financial controller Zhao Kejun
hope to restore the television maker's credibility, which was shattered when the
former chairman was charged over missing funds after he and nine others,
including three board members, were arrested.
The government will finalize its plan to
make the Office of the Insurance Commissioner autonomous in the new year,
Insurance Commissioner Richard Yuen Ming-fai said. Once free, it probably will
increase licensing fees to compensate for the loss of funding. "It would be
meaningless to spin off the insurance authority if the government continues to
fund it," Mr Yuen said.
China:
Police struggle to keep back the surging crowd. The intense rush forced Lowu
station to close briefly in the evening. Shenzhen's subway opened amid fanfare
and confusion yesterday, as hundreds of passengers eager to take the first
trains clashed with security guards and police at Lowu station. Hong Kong and
other neighbouring cities are expected to eventually reap economic rewards from
the Shenzhen subway, with the retail and real estate sectors looking to be
primary beneficiaries.
Hong Kong:
Lo Siu-lan leaves her lawyers' offices in Wan Chai. The housing estate
resident's legal challenge derailed the Link Reit listing.
China:
One of a group of suspected drug
smugglers sits in a police compound after being detained crossing the border
from Vietnam at Pingxiang, Guangxi. It was the first joint anti-drug operation
by the two countries. Official figures show China has more than a million
addicts.
Tycoon Stanley Ho before a statue of
Zeus at the opening of the Greek Mythology Casino in Macau. The casino was
expected to make $390 million in profits each month.
Telstra has approached several mobile operators about offloading CSL, the
wireless carrier it acquired from PCCW for a whopping US$2.15 billion three
years ago. Australian telecommunications giant Telstra wants to sell Hong Kong
CSL, in a move that could lead to a new round of consolidation in Hong Kong's
crowded six-carrier mobile market, sources say.
China:
President Hu Jintao visits a food and aquatic products firm in Zhongshan during
a two-day tour of Guangdong cities, including Zhuhai , Foshan and Guangzhou that
ended yesterday. During the visit, China News Service reported that he
reiterated the central government's commitment to economic controls, while
stressing the need to pursue high quality and productivity.
Zhang Yanping, the president of
advertising company Beijing Media Corp, was in a buoyant mood as his company
began trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange yesterday. Investors were
impressed with Beijing Media's prospects - its shares spent most of their first
day's trade at about 20 per cent higher than the issue price of $18.95. The
stock closed at $22.70, a 19.78 per cent gain. The initial public share offering
was 422 times covered.
Workers put the final touches to
part of a giant snow sculpture depicting Santa Claus in Changchun, northeastern
China. The 80-metre-long sculpture was made with 7,000 cubic metres of snow and
the designers claim it's the world's biggest snow sculpture.
Hong Kong:
New World Telecom launched its music
download service at a colourful ceremony at the World Trade Centre in Causeway
Bay on Monday. New World Telecom has entered the competitive market for paid
music downloads with the launch of NWTmusic.com on Monday. The site has the
support of the big record companies, such as Sony BMG, EMI, Universal and
Warner, and local firms, such as Emperor Entertainment Group, Gold Label and BMA.
Like other mainland carmakers, the
Nissan-Dongfeng joint venture in Guangzhou has been trying to contain rising
costs.
Housing minister Michael Suen told
Commercial Radio the Link Reit listing could be back on in January. He sees no
reason to amend the Housing Ordinance for the deal.
BOC
Hong Kong (Holdings) has generated strong interest from developers and property
funds in the tender sale of its 33-room luxury guesthouse at One Gough Hill
Road. About 16 developers and property funds have expressed interest in the Peak
property, agent DTZ Debenham Tie Leung confirmed. With a gross floor area of
about 25,000 square feet, the property is likely to generate at least $500
million based on recent Peak transactions.
China:
President Hu
Jintao (L) arrives in Macao at around 11:30 a.m. (local time) on Dec. 19, 2004.
He arrived here to attend a celebration gathering to mark the 5th anniversary of
Macao's return to the motherland.
Papers charting the formation of the Basic Law in Beijing will be declassified
next year, the organiser of Hong Kong's first public archive on the
mini-constitution said yesterday. In a speech at City Hall, Basic Law Institute
chairman Alan Hoo (above) said mainland officials were analysing documents
donated by late legal expert Wu Jianfan , who was behind the drafting of the
city's mini-constitution in the 1980s. The Basic Law Library at City Hall will
open to the public from tomorrow.
Henderson Land Development chairman Lee
Shau-kee would like to have Warren Buffett's talent for profitable investment.
Tycoon Lee Shau-kee has set up a $50 billion fund for investing in Hong Kong and
the mainland as he bids to become the Chinese equivalent of his role model
Warren Buffett, the world's second-wealthiest man.
SmarTone's deal with Vodafone is expected to help it mount a strong challenge to
Hutchison's 3. Shaking on it are (from left) SmarTone's Douglas Li and Raymond
Kwok and Vodafone's Brian Clark and Thomas Nowak. SmarTone Telecommunications
Holdings, which is due to launch its third-generation (3G) cellular service this
month, pulled an unlikely ace from its sleeve on Wednesday - an exclusive
network alliance with the world's largest mobile phone operator, Vodafone Group.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat
Aziz is welcomed to Beijing by Premier Wen Jiabao yesterday. Mr Aziz was quoted
by Xinhua as saying that his government had recognized China as a market
economy, with Beijing promising Pakistan US$150 million in aid to build a
nuclear power plant.
Performers from the Imperial Ice
Stars put a smile on the face of young Wong Tsz-tsung from the Hong Kong Society
for the Deaf, accompanied by his mother. Olga Sharutenko, in pink, plays Lilac
Fairy and Maria Borovikova stars as Carabosse, in the performance of Sleeping
Beauty on Ice.
As office rents go, the sky's the limit. With vacancy rates at a four-year low,
rents for Hong Kong grade A offices will soar as much as 35 per cent next year,
says consultant Jones Lang LaSalle. As rents rise, more foreign investors will
jump into the sector.
Ballerina Irene Lo attends the announcement by Dynamic Star International of a
partnership agreement with the Hong Kong Ballet and Hong Kong Sinfonietta.
China: Haier-CCT
Holdings, which gained shareholder approval to buy controlling shareholder Haier
Group's washing machine business, says it will acquire all the group's other
white goods businesses. Also, Haier-CCT will change its name to Haier
Electronics Group.
IBM's
departure from the PC business and Lenovo's transition to a global player is an
opportunity for others to grab the market for 14 million corporate PCs in the US
and tens of millions more internationally.
More than 2,300 pupils hula-hooped their
way to a world record by spinning for two minutes. Taiwan held the previous
record.
KCRC chairman Michael Tien says it would
be "financially irresponsible" for the firm to build the Canton Road station
alone. Kowloon-Canton Railway Corp (KCRC) will revive a planned $1.8 billion
station serving the Canton Road shopping area only if the main property owner in
the district shares a large portion of the cost, said chairman Michael Tien Puk-sun.
Hong Kong:
Students from the Li Po Chung United World College perform at a concert in Wan
Chai to mark International Human Rights Day.
Chow Yei-ching, Chevalier International
chairman and managing director, says the company will concentrate on mainland
projects.
China:
Policemen stand watch as a railway
carriage filled with fireworks burns into the night in Changsha, Hunan province,
after the cargo exploded and injured 18 workers who were repairing tracks
nearby.
China's first man in space, Colonel Yang
Liwei, is led back to his seat after being conferred with an honorary doctorate
by Chinese University yesterday. Fellow recipients were Shun Hing Group chairman
William Mong Man-wai (seated), Nobel economics laureate James Mirrlees and
philosopher Lao Yung-wei, also known as Lao Sze-kwang. The astronaut said he
felt honoured to receive the degree.
AIG Tower, a new Grade A commercial building on the former Hotel Furama site,
will come on the market in March next year. The landlord - AIG Group, CapitaLand
and Lai Sun Development - officiated at the topping out ceremony yesterday.
Michael Dell says his company sees
organic growth, rather than mergers and acquisitions, as the more sustainable
way, citing Dell's preference for long-term marketing and technology alliances.
China:
A man walks past a life-size model
of a US Army soldier outside a store selling military paraphernalia in Beijing
on Friday. Though the newly opened store sells clothing and other military
accessories imported from the US and European suppliers, it did not offer any
products related to China's People's Liberation Army.
A worker attends to a customer at a Shanghai tea house - the Chinese character
on the window means tea. In terms of tea production, China is closing in on
India, the world's top tea producer, according to a UN food agency. China
produces 24.6 per cent of the world's tea.
China: China's largest PC
maker Lenovo has bought IBM's PC business for US$1.25 billion. Analysts say the
move will help Hong Kong-listed Lenovo's entry into the high-end corporate
market marking the biggest ever outright corporate acquisition by a mainland
company overseas.
Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing (left), his Dutch counterpart Bernard Bot and EU
foreign policy chief Javier Solana sign agreements for closer exchange, watched
by Premier Wen Jiabao, Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and European
Commission chairman Jose Manuel Barroso. China is now the EU's second most
important partner, after the US.
Hong Kong:
Henderson Land Development chairman Lee
Shau-kee says he will subscribe for up to US$500 million worth of shares in Hong
Kong's first real estate investment trust, the Link Reit.
PCCW's Wu Liang-tai says 3G by itself is
not enough to satisfy demand for broadband because it is a voice-oriented
service and there is not enough frequency.
Wong
On-yuen plays one of James Wong's songs on the erhu at yesterdays public
memorial. The love of James Wong Jim's life broke her silence last night after
his public memorial at Hong Kong Stadium, saying the lyricist died fearing his
talents were not respected. "To me, he was always number one in writing lyrics,"
Eunice Lam Yin-nei said in an interview broadcast on Cable TV hours after the
father of Canto-pop's service. Lam and Wong lived together for 14 years, from
1976 to 1990, but never married. He later described her as the great love of his
life.