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to give it a try April 30 - May 1, 2005 Hong Kong: A number of Hong Kong newspapers carried editorials Thursday welcoming the Basic Law interpretation by the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People's Congress (NPC). They said the interpretation of Clause 2, Article 53 of the Basic Law not only effectively settles the debate on the tenure of the new Chief Executive, but also lays an unshakable legal foundation for the smooth selection of the new Chief Executive on July 10 and will eventually maintain the essential interests of Hong Kong people. The interpretation of Clause 2, Article 53 of the Basic Law has drawn warm applause from various circles in Hong Kong.
The receivers of Shanghai Land, once run by jailed tycoon Chau Ching-ngai, a key figure in several banking scandals, have begun efforts to liquidate the company, which is still unable to find more than 600 million yuan (HK$565.62 million) loaned to subsidiaries. Shanghai Land, suspended from trading in Hong Kong since June 2003, said Thursday that its receivers have entered negotiations with representatives of its chairman, Chau, and Bank of China (Hong Kong), its largest creditor. Hong Kong film star Jackie Chan would be appointed the ambassador of the 2006 World Firefighters Games, a government spokesman said on Thursday.
Charles Chan Kwok-keung says he will reassess his planned stake in Galaxy Satellite Broadcasting after three years, despite a clause in the proposed sales and purchase agreement with Television Broadcasts prohibiting sale of the stake within five years without the approval of all the signatories.
China's legislature has passed its first law regulating the activities of civil servants but left out a controversial measure aimed at curbing rampant corruption, state press said on Thursday. Strict land control and tax policies are among eight measures being implemented to beef up macro-control over China's red-hot real estate sector. Property draws overseas investors - Nothing is subtle about Hong Kong town in Shanghai. Dominating the centre of Huai Hai Middle Road, one of the city's prime business hubs, are the twin towers of Hong Kong Plaza, linked by a footbridge that spans across the wide boulevard. On its right and left extending three to four city blocks, are skyscrapers bearing names that are unmistakably Hong Kong - Lippo Centre, Central Plaza, New World Plaza, Shui On Plaza and Shanghai Times Square. They are all owned by Hong Kong's major property developers. On the other side of Huai Hai Park is Xintiandi, a cluster of bars combining Shanghai architecture with modern decor, developed by Hong Kong's Shui On Land. On the adjacent blocks are properties, including a service apartment complex and several office buildings, developed by Singapore investors, mainly CapitaLand. "Shanghai's commercial real estate market is an emerging investment magnet for overseas property developers," says Wayne Zane, associate director of Colliers International Property Services (Shanghai). "Demand for prime office space has continued to outstrip supply by a widening margin," he says. The country's top legislature in Beijing yesterday ended weeks of bitter debate and unanimously agreed that the SAR's new chief executive (CE), returned in the July 10 by-election, will serve only up to the end of June 2007.
China and the Philippines are pushing for the establishment of a "strategic and co-operative relationship for peace and development" by signing a series of agreements to open the way for more trade, investment and maritime co-operation.
The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Tuesday it would set up a reporting mechanism to oversee the country's overseas mergers, in a fresh move to intensify the management of China's outward investment. April 29, 2005
Even though Hong Kong is HK$1.9 billion richer than when the 2005-06 Budget was announced last month, Financial Secretary Henry Tang said he has no "magic wand'' for the economy. Expenditure for the year ended March 31 amounted to HK$242.2 billion, while revenue was HK$263.6 billion - resulting in a surplus of HK$21.4 billion. This is an improvement of HK$9.4 billion over the revised surplus of HK$12 billion forecast in the 2005-06 Budget, said a government spokesman. The Hong Kong government has approved plans by the Greek Mythology (Macau) Entertainment Group to take over the rights to renovate and operate the cross-boundary ferry terminal from Tuen Mun, thus providing a third alternative ferry service for Macau-bound gamblers.
Faced with declining revenue because of piracy, the Hong Kong Film industry is to launch civil action to stop the illegal downloading of copyrighted movies from the Internet. Hong Kong's Immigration Department expects 5.54 million people to pass through HK¡¯s land, sea and air control points during the Labor Day holiday period, up 15.7 percent on last year. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), allocated US$15 billion in government bailout funds last week, will soon invite the country's four state-owned asset management companies to bid for more than 450 billion yuan of non-performing loans it has on its books, industry sources say. China: China's economy is expected to grow by 8.3 percent this year, while its inflation rate will be 3.5 percent, well within the range set by the central government, the World Bank said Wednesday in a quarterly report.
The draft amendment of China's Securities Law to rejuvenate the stock market was submitted Tuesday to China's top legislature for first deliberation. Hong Kong's Immigration Department expects 5.54 million people to pass through HK¡¯s land, sea and air control points during the Labor Day holiday period, up 15.7 percent on last year. Chinese companies, especially brand name producers, have resolutely embarked on the road of safeguarding their rights after experiencing various lawsuits involving IPR at home and abroad.
The leader of Taiwan's Nationalist Party on Wednesday visited the tomb of Sun Yat-sen, the revolutionary claimed by both his party and its former communist enemies as their founding hero, as he prepared for a history-making meeting this week with Chinese President Hu Jintao. Mainland officials will be required to declare their income and assets under a new civil service law that is part of Beijing's efforts to crack down on rampant official corruption. April 28, 2005 Hong Kong: The Kuomintang (KMT) Party of China Chairman Lien Chan leading a Kuomintang delegation arrived at the Hong Kong Airport at noon by Dragonair Flight KA487 Tuesday. Lien and his delegation were welcomed at the airport by Assistant Director of the Taiwan Work Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China Xing Kuishan and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government Secretary for Constitutional Affairs Stephen Lam Sui-lung.
Over 480 organizations and groups jointly held a party Monday evening to congratulate Tung Chee-hwa on his assuming the post as vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). Tung and his wife, Henry Ying Tung Fok, the vice-chairman of the CPPCC, Donald Tsang, the Acting Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), Gao Siren, the Director of the Lianson Office of the Central People's Government in HKSAR, Yang Wenchang, the Commissioner of China's Foreign Ministry in HKSAR and Wang Jitang, the Commander of the People's Liberation Army Garrison Troops in HKSAR attended the congratulatory party.
Nearly half a million mainland visitors were expected to flock to Hong Kong during the coming Labour Day golden week, Tourism Commissioner Eva Cheng Yu-wah said on Tuesday. The Law Society has dropped its opposition to Beijing’s interpretation of the Basic Law over the tenure of the next chief executive after its delegation met with mainland senior officials in Beijing on Tuesday, local radio reported. Chinese President urged for closer China-ASEAN economic cooperation, setting the goal of bringing China-ASEAN trade to US$200 billion before 2010. China and Indonesia - the largest country in Southeast Asia - signed a joint declaration for a "strategic partnership" yesterday, signalling a new determination on both sides to further consolidate bilateral ties. PICC Property and Casualty, China's biggest non-life insurer, disappointed the market with an 86 per cent fall in its 2004 earnings on the back of higher-than-expected losses from claims and trading activities.
A regulation on internet piracy aimed at curbing illegal downloading of video, audio and software products will be issued next month by China's National Copyright Administration and the Ministry of Information Industry. Fledgling technology company Gaoxinqi would prefer to forget last summer. The Shenzhen firm had been flying high since its establishment in 1997. Going from a start-up with 40 workers, the company evolved into one of the mainland's leading telephone manufacturers.
April 27, 2005 Hong Kong: The NPC Standing Committee on Sunday started to examine a draft interpretation of Hong Kong's mini-constitution regarding the tenure of the region's chief executive.
The director of an independent advocacy group says the Planning Department is turning its back on efforts to allow storied Kai Tak airport to be a center for general aviation in addition to its planned role as a cruise ship terminal. A district judge Monday halted a troubled Independent Commission Against Corruption investigation into bribery and share manipulation in the financial sector for a second time in order to consider charges of malpractice directed at the ICAC. The trial of Kwong Hing International director Li Man-tak and former UBS financial analyst Nicholas Tan has been in court for 18 days but has yet to formally begin while district court judge Fergal Sweeney has heard arguments relating to ICAC investigative practices. The hearing was adjourned Monday as government lawyers and the judge prepared for a defense application to stay the proceedings.
It is probable that China will take over Canada this year to be the largest trading partner of the United States, said former US Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky at a trade negotiation recently. As is learned from Customs General Administration, on the eve of "4.26 World Intellectual Property Day", Chinese Customs has, in Tianjin, Xiamen, Urumqi, Zhuhai, etc., destroyed several batches of IPR-violation commodities, which include pirate CDs, counterfeit name-brand watches and counterfeited sneakers. This is only part of the discovered and seized commodities that infringed the intellectual property rights (IPR). Statistics show that since the new Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Customs Protection of Intellectual Property Rights was put into effect on Mar. 1 last year, Chinese customs has tracked down and confiscated a total of 1.129 cases of import and export commodity infringement, involving a value of 92.88 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 48.1 percent and 34.2 percent respectively.
China's iron and steel industry is set to be transformed in the near future, as the central government will soon introduce a new industry policy to regulate the fast-expanding sector. The executive meeting of the State Council chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday gave the go-ahead to the long-awaited China iron and steel industry development policy. The mainland's slumping car market has claimed another victim. Brilliance China, the country's biggest minivan maker and BMW's joint-venture partner, said profits plunged 95 percent from year-ago levels to 48.57 million yuan (HK$45.79 million), as sales dropped 35.29 percent to 6.54 billion yuan from 10.11 billion yuan in 2003. The fiercely competive mainland car market, coupled with government restrictions on lending for new car sales, have left many mainland automakers reeling. General Motors and Volkswagen, which had come to rely on China sales for a disproportionate amount of their profits, have seen their businesses slump. April 26, 2005 Hong Kong: The tenure of a new Hong Kong chief executive shall be the remaining part of the former chief executive's five-year tenure when the former retires before full term, according to a draft interpretation of Hong Kong's mini-constitution provisions. The state legislature's interpretation of the Basic Law on the chief executive's term is a one-off ruling that will apply only to the current vacancy, a senior mainland official said yesterday. Cheung Kong (Holdings), Hong Kong's second-largest developer behind Sun Hung Kai Properties, has arranged the cheapest financing of any public company in the territory as the competition to fund Hong Kong borrowers pushes the deal fees of lenders to the wall. The HK$5.6 billion loan will pay bankers, which include HSBC and Bank of China (Hong Kong), an all-in fee, including commissions and other deal-related charges, of 30 basis points on the five-year loan, said bankers familiar with the situation. That comes in just under the ultra-low 31 basis points Sun Hung Kai Properties squeezed from bankers on a HK$12.6 billion, five-year term loan earlier this year.
More young single people are applying for public flats, confounding previous assumptions about marriage, the formation of households and demand for subsidised housing. Retired US general and former secretary of state Colin Powell will visit Hong Kong in June to attend an economic forum, his first trip to the region since leaving office on January 26. http://www.hkchcc.org/Event.htm A plan to present a travel book to delegates attending a tourism conference in Macau last week was scrapped by the government due to its negative portrayal of the enclave's last governor, the author claims. A new listing rule requiring the disclosure of directors' remuneration by name could boost their average pay as it will enable directors to benchmark their pay packages against those of their peers, according to KPMG.
Hainan Airlines plans to issue up to 2.8 billion non-tradeable shares to finance its expansion and debt problems, according to an announcement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange yesterday. The spread of the news that Lien Chan and Soong Chu-yu will visit the mainland has aroused great repercussion at home and abroad. Official talks between Taiwan's opposition People First Party (PFP) and the Communist Party of China (CPC) over the schedule of PFP Chairman James Soong's planned visit to the mainland began yesterday in Beijing.
China will not copy the international practice in corporate governance for enterprises that are carrying out reform, said Zhou Xiaochuan. Long-awaited Securities Law amendments, which focus on strengthening the supervision of listed companies and securities firms, came under the review of top legislators in Beijing yesterday.
A total of 108 eminent monks from the Chinese mainland, Taiwan Province, Hong Kong and Macao, sang in unison during the enshrining ceremony of a statue of Guanyin, or Bodhisattva, in Sanya, Hainan Province yesterday.
April 25, 2005 Hong Kong: Deputy Secretary-General of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) Qiao Xiaoyang held two meetings with nearly 300 Hong Kong personnel from various walks of life in Shenzhen City Thursday, in a bid to solicit views on the tenure of the new Hong Kong Chief Executive (CE) through by-election and the NPC Standing Committee's interpretation on the issue. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is conducting a WTO Asia-Pacific Regional Trade Policy Course for senior government officials in partnership with Hong Kong University. A spokeswoman of Hong Kong University said Thursday that the course, started on April 18 and due to complete on July 8, 2005, is attended by government officials from 28 countries and regions in the Asia-Pacific region. The course aims to address the need for developing countries to strengthen the skills and knowledge of their government officials to face the challenges of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA).
Inflation in Hong Kong held steady in March with prices rising 0.8 percent, the same rate in February, government figures showed on Friday. With its rising international profile, Macau was hungry for feedback from delegates at the Pacific Asia Travel Association annual conference, which came to an end yesterday. Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos have worked together for a decade to encourage overseas visitors, but tourism authorities say greater co-operation is needed.
The spread of the news that Lien Chan and Soong Chu-yu will successively visit the mainland has aroused great repercussion at home and abroad. The matter has recently become the focus of media reports and the topic of lively neighborhood discussion. It can be said that the news has caused a wide stir before their visits take place. Motivated by farsighted people between the two sides, a new platform of links between political parties is being set up. The atmosphere of the long-stagnant Taiwan Straits has presented a scene of the swirl of breeze. China and France reached a three-billion-euro deal Thursday morning during French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin's three-day official visit to Beijing. Raffarin and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao witnessed the signing ceremony of the 20 cooperative agreements, which deal with aviation, nuclear energy and agriculture. As part of the agreements, China promised to buy 30 Airbus planes, including five Airbus A380 and 25 A320 planes. Prior to the signing ceremony, Wen and Raffarin held hour-long talks, agreeing to further political and economic ties. Wen said both China and France are putting the bilateral ties in an prominent position in their foreign relations and making efforts to improve mutual political trust and strategic dialogue.
Chinese President Hu Jintao made a three-point proposal here Thursday on strengthening cooperation between Asia and Africa.
Haier, Lenovo, CCTV and Changhong have been listed in World Brand Lab's global top 500 brands made public recently.
China will plough US$15 billion ($117 billion) into Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) to rehabilitate its books and prepare it for a stock-market listing next year, state media reported yesterday. China has shut down several anti-Japanese websites to prevent people from organising more protests through the internet, in a further indication on Friday that the government feared demonstrations would get out of hand. Lenovo Group, hurt by a seasonal sales slowdown in the mainland, has lost its top spot in Asia-Pacific personal computer sales to Hewlett-Packard. Lenovo's fall in the first quarter was attributed to a dip in sales during the Lunar New Year holiday, although it also had to deal with "high levels of inventory" from the previous quarter, according to a research report. In the fiscal year of 2004 (April 2004-March 2005), the trade volume between Japan and China (Hong Kong SAR included) reached 22.71 trillion yen (about US$200 billion), while that between Japan and the United States was 20.63 trillion yenr. April 22 - 24, 2005 Hong Kong: Beijing has lifted an entry ban on a Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmaker, allowing him to visit the mainland to comment on its intervention in the territory’s affairs, the lawmaker said on Wednesday. Catholic leader Bishop Joseph Zen Ze-kiun said on Wednesday that he hoped the new Pope Benedict XVI will be able to mend ties between the Vatican and the mainland. The tourism industry says there are not enough hotels to cope with the increasing number of mainland visitors to Hong Kong, legislator Abraham Shek lai-him said on Wednesday. Lenovo Group has concluded a US$600 million revolving credit and loan facility with a syndicate of 20 banks, shoring up the mainland giant's funds for its US$1.75 billion purchase of IBM Corp's personal computer business. The Audit Commission has made official what most people see with their own eyes: the government is failing to tackle air pollution in the SAR. The main problems, according to an Audit Commission report issued Wednesday, are the 129,000 diesel vehicles and lax enforcement of standards for testing and regulating diesel emissions. According to the commission, the vehicles account for about 40 percent of the total distance traveled on Hong Kong roads, and about 90 percent of respirable suspended particulates.
KMT chairman Lien Chan will visit the mainland cities of Nanjing, Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai from April 26 to May 3.
China's GDP (gross domestic product) grew by 9.5 percent to 3.1355 trillion yuan (379 billion US dollars) in the first quarter of this year, and the growth rate was 0.3 percent lower than a year earlier. The IDC, world's renown advising and consulting institute, said in a report released on April 19 that China has become the world's third largest semiconductor consumption market with the market revenue topping $26 billion.
Avon unveiled an implementation plan for its direct-selling trial yesterday, a move signaling the start of a milestone testing programme proceeding the opening of China's highly monitored direct-selling sector. April 21, 2005
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has postponed its decision on Beijing's proposal to move the equestrian events for the 2008 Olympics to Hong Kong, saying the issue needs more study.
The days of paying by the minute for international direct dialing (IDD) calls look numbered. Both Hutchison Global Communications (HGC) and Hong Kong Broadband Network (HKBN) yesterday offered a flat-rate, unlimited plan for less than $40 a month. Shangri-La Asia, the region's largest luxury hotelier, says its mainland hotels performed strongly in the first quarter. Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief executive Joseph Yam Chi-kwong took home a pay cheque of $8.9 million last year, cementing his position as the best-paid central banker in the world.
President Hu left Beijing Wednesday for state visits to Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Beijing is set to open its markets to Taiwan in an arrangement similar to the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (Cepa) it struck with Hong Kong and Macau, according to informed sources. Car emissions are one of the main factors behind worsening air quality in Guangdong, provincial Environmental Protection Bureau vice-director Chen Guangrong has admitted. April 20, 2005 Hong Kong: Japanese tourists are canceling holidays to Hong Kong fearing they will be caught up in anti-Japanese protests that have erupted in Chinese cities, travel associations said Tuesday. Unemployment in Hong Kong held steady at 6.1 per cent in the three months to March, government figures showed on Tuesday.
Shanghai Electric Group, which hopes to raise as much as HK$5.2 billion from selling shares in Hong Kong, met a lukewarm response from retail investors in the first two days of its initial offering amid see-sawing share prices and rising interest rates. Hong Kong police said on Tuesday they were hunting a lone man who attacked and slashed the face of a prominent lawyer who is facing charges for allegedly obstructing an anti-corruption agency. The World Trade Organization agreement on anti-dumping needs to be clarified and improved, according to the Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology John Tsang Chun-wah. The US transportation secretary warned Hong Kong on Tuesday that it will lose its status as a global aviation hub if it doesn't sign an agreement with Washington to open its skies further. A shipping company on Monday was fined $64,000 by the Eastern Magistracy for using pirated computer software during business hours.
Struggling undersea cable carrier Reach has received further parental help from PCCW and Telstra Corp, which have slashed the joint venture's outstanding debt and committed US$212 million to fund its capital spending. Radio veteran Tony Reno had long dreamed of creating a program to bring Asian hip-hop, rock, metal, pop and other styles of music to western audiences, but the commercial demands of the industry kept him off the airwaves. Now, thanks to a confluence of technologies such as high-speed broadband connections and portable digital music players, the economics of audio creation and distribution have changed. Real estate tycoon Lui Che-woo and his family will take a payout of more than HK$11.5 billion on their long-shot bet on Macau's gambling industry. Lui secured his place in a triumvirate of Macau casino magnates - next to old-timer Stanley Ho and American newcomer Sheldon Adelson - as KWah Construction Materials, a supply company run by the Lui family, announced a HK$18.4 billion deal to buy nearly all of the stock of Galaxy Casino, mostly from the Luis themselves. Galaxy owns one casino and has four others under construction. The Luis spent HK$612 million to acquire their shares during a February 3 ownership restructuring.
Two American men were sentenced on Tuesday to prison terms of up to two years and six months for selling pirated DVDs over the internet in a rare success for joint United States-China efforts to enforce intellectual property laws. China has developed its home-made central processing unit (CPU) chip -- Godson II -- equivalent to Pentium III, announced the CAS in Beijing on Monday. The Ministry of Commerce has denied the rumor that the Chinese government is considering any plan to impose even higher duties on Chinese textile exports. China and Australia agreed to start talks on establishing a free trade area following Australia's recognition of China's full market economy status.
The Japanese consulate in Shanghai yesterday halted its direct service for providing visas to Chinese citizens, citing damage to the building inflicted during the protests and security concerns. The head of Taiwan's opposition People First Party (PFP), James Soong Chu-yu, has accepted an invitation from President Hu Jintao for a fence-mending visit, possibly early next month. April 19, 2005
The Highways Department planned to build two elevated roads in Lok Ma Chau to help ease traffic congestion in the area, a spokesman said on Monday.
PCCW intends to offer fully mobile voice and data services in the British market once the regulator liberalises its spectrum policy, according to company executives.
President Hu Jintao and Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi may meet this week at a conference in Jakarta to try to ease tensions that have sparked weekend anti-Japanese protests in mainland cities since April 2.
Chinese President Hu Jintao on Monday invited Taiwan opposition leader James Soong to visit the mainland, just weeks after Beijing feted a high-level Kuomintang party (KMT) delegation.
Air Macau has begun negotiations with management from at least two airlines with a view to surrendering its exclusive right to operate from the former Portuguese colony. The central government is considering a proposal to dissolve all provincial and state-level media group companies in a far-reaching reform of the mainland's media industry, sources say. Cosco Pacific and Guangzhou Port Group have agreed to form a four billion yuan joint venture to build and operate a container terminal in Nansha, Guangzhou. Guangdong recorded foreign trade volume of US$33.49 billion in March, up 16.2 per cent from the same month a year ago, according to statistics released by Guangdong Customs yesterday. April 18, 2005 Hong Kong: The Airport Authority of Hong Kong agreed to pay a 1.99 billion yuan (HK$1.87 billion) for a 35 percent stake in Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport, its first major investment outside the territory as it seeks to cash in on the mainland's rapidly growing aviation market.
Ministers will be allowed to join in electioneering for candidates in the chief executive race under proposed guidelines unveiled by the electoral watchdog yesterday. China: The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee has pledged to "pay efficient attention to problems that have a bearing on the fundamental interests of the people, while stepping up efforts to prevent and punish corruption." The Politburo meeting praised the personal participation in the campaign by the Standing Committee members, saying it is of great importance for promote the campaign among the whole Party.
The number of foreign tourists visiting China jumped by a record 14.8 percent in the first two months of this year to 17.9 million, the government said Friday. Tourist spending grew even faster, surging by 23.6 percent to 4.1 billion yuan (HK$3.86 billion), Xinhua and the China National Tourism Administration said. The European Union vowed on Friday to boost its partnership with China in an all-around manner, saying the issue of lifting an arms embargo on China does not overshadow the bilateral dialogue. China is the EU's "huge and important partner," said European Commissioner on External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner after a meeting of EU foreign ministers here. She noted that the issue of lifting the arms embargo on China does not "overshadow" the EU- China dialogue in as many as 20 fields.
Baoshan Iron & Steel Co Ltd (Baosteel), China's largest steelmaker, rolled out its long-awaited additional share offer plan on Friday, with an aim to raise 25 billion yuan (US$3 billion) on April 20 to acquire steel mills, raw materials, logistics and trading assets from its parent company Baosteel Group. American Express, one of the world's largest payment and travel companies, is in talks with one of its Chinese partners to introduce a corporate card product into the Chinese market, a move that could make it the first foreign firm to debut the business in China.
US President George W. Bush and other top American officials have stepped up the pressure on Beijing to liberalise its currency regime ahead of a weekend meeting of finance chiefs from rich nations. April 15 - 17, 2005
A Hong Kong property group controlled by billionaire Robert Kuok said that it would review its US$600 million development project in Shanghai, following a change in the government's policy on State-owned assets. In a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange yesterday, Kerry Properties and its hotel affiliate Shangri-La Asia said their hotel-office-residential complex project in downtown Shanghai had not obtained government approval due to recent changes in the Chinese laws on the disposition of State-owned assets. The delay is closely watched by many overseas investors who have been pouring money into the country's soaring property market. They fear the latest government measures might further increase the uncertainties on the already volatile property market, said Michael Hart, head of research at Jones Lang LaSalle in Shanghai, an international property agent.
PCCW will upgrade its broadband
network to offer download speeds of up to eight megabits per second as it
continues its transition from a traditional voice carrier to one with
internet-based services at the centre of its product offering. More Hong Kong criminal court proceedings were being conducted in Chinese - not English, Director of Public Prosecutions Grenville Cross said on Thursday. Pro-democracy lawmakers have been invited to meet top Beijing officials in Shenzhen next week to discuss the imminent interpretation of the Basic Law, local radio reported on Thursday.
Sun Hung Kai Properties yesterday said it sold a 5,353 square foot penthouse at its luxury apartment complex the Arch for a record $168 million, or $31,300 per square foot. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing's new trading hall will feature a traditional circular layout if brokers get their way but they want its glass-wall, "fish tank" design modified to protect their privacy, sources say.
Disgruntled Liberal Party chief James Tien decided Wednesday to drop out of the chief executive election on July 10 after failing to secure support from either the central government or the general public of Hong Kong. Announcing his decision, Tien made it clear he had consulted some Beijing officials about his possible candidacy and got a feeling that the central government will support Acting Chief Executive Donald Tsang.
China is expected to put a self-made communication satellite into orbit for Nigeria in 2007, making the African nation the first foreign buyer of both a Chinese satellite and its launching service.
China's foreign-exchange reserves rose to a record high last month as exports surged and investors continued to bet the government will allow the yuan to appreciate, according to the People's Bank of China. Beijing has issued its first set of detailed regulations governing management buyouts, which will bar the managers of large state-owned enterprises from acquiring a stake in the companies they run. Rules designed to curb hot-money inflows and the sale of undervalued state assets are complicating the overseas listing plans of private mainland firms and obstructing foreign-invested projects in the country, analysts say.
China's overall economic situation is good and the nation's economy continues to grow in a steady way in the first quarter of this year, according to an executive meeting of the State Council held here on Wednesday. Beijing said yesterday it expects Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan's planned mainland visit to help improve cross-Straits ties despite Taiwan authorities setting up hurdles to block bilateral exchanges. Australian mining giant BHP Billiton said yesterday that it had dropped a planned surcharge of up to US$10 per ton on its iron ore exports to Chinese steelmakers and agreed to set the price rise at 71.5 per cent in line with its rivals. Sohu.com Inc has acquired well-known online map provider Go2map Inc and teamed up with leading auction site Taobao.com, showing it is keen to grow its advertising business. Swiss-based UBS Global Asset Management yesterday announced that the China Securities Regulatory Commission has granted approval for a joint venture fund management company with the State Development Investment Corporation (SDIC). China Sciences Conservational Power (CSCP), known until recently as technology firm Central China Enterprises, will invest up to 1.5 billion yuan in three mainland waste-to-energy generation projects after completing an equity shuffle between companies controlled by its chairman, Hon Ming-kong. Power shortages, the summer scourge of Guangdong, China's most industrialized province, have begun three months earlier than usual this year, prompting the usual plant shutdowns and an emergency request from the provincial government for more power from the Three Gorges project. April 14, 2005 Hong Kong: Joseph Yam's deputy resigns to take 'mid-life sabbatical' in the USA. The long-serving deputy head of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority is quitting to take a career break. Norman Chan Tak-lam's announcement that he is leaving his $6 million-a-year post to study macroeconomics in the United States shocked the financial sector. Setting aside a clutter of legal wrangling and conflicting ideas of how to proceed, Beijing has spoken: the next chief executive will serve only until 2007. After a four-hour meeting in Shenzhen Tuesday with 82 Hong Kong lawyers, National People's Congress Standing Committee deputy secretary-general Qiao Xiaoyang emerged to tell reporters what they already assumed - that a full five-year term for the next chief executive is not in the cards. Hong Kong's lack of a clear cultural policy will create a bleak future for its artists because the "millions of dollars'' the government gives out to develop the sector raises questions over whether they are really investments for the long term, according to Taiwan's former minister of culture. The board of the International Olympic Committee is almost certain to name Hong Kong as the venue for all equestrian events at the 2008 Games after it meets next week. Apart from deciding whether Tung Chee-hwa's successor should initially serve only the remainder of his term, Beijing might also rule on the chief executive's maximum tenure upon re-election, a top mainland adviser says. The government is poised to earn a debut dividend of $250 million from its mortgage funding agency, the Hong Kong Mortgage Corp (HKMC). Cathay Pacific Airways is studying the feasibility of operating direct flights to Moscow, Bahrain, Dubai and Egypt, according to the group's chief executive Philip Chen Nan-lok.
The mainland attracted US$5.4 billion in foreign investment last month, the most in nine months but down 7 per cent on March last year in a sign the world's seventh-biggest economy could be losing some of its lustre. Offshore oil and gas producer CNOOC has bought the mainland's first significant stake in an oil sands project, betting that global petroleum prices will remain high enough to sustain profitable exploitation of unconventional crude oil reserves.
Air China and China Eastern Airlines, two of the mainland's three biggest airlines, reported big profits for 2004 but management warned that high oil prices will make 2005 a difficult year. Air China, the mainland's largest international carrier, reported a net profit of 2.39 billion yuan (HK$2.25 billion), or 0.36 yuan a share, compared to 159.6 million yuan a year earlier when earnings were hit by the SARS crisis. China's foreign exchange regulator aims to cut the country's balance of payments surplus this year by strengthening supervision of capital inflows and steadily promoting foreign exchange reforms, state media said Tuesday. April 13, 2005 Hong Kong: Acting Chief Executive Donald Tsang is prepared to serve in the top post for just seven years in order to keep alive Financial Secretary Henry Tang's hope of contesting the job in 2012, according to a source. Tang, mentioned as a contender for the chief executive race in 2007, is seen as "vital'' to the government, the source said. Henderson Land has taken the Urban Renewal Authority to the High Court in a case that challenges the government's right to take over property to enhance the revenue potential of an unprofitable renewal project. In a three-day judicial review that began Monday over the redevelopment of part of the fashionable SoHo nightclub area, Henderson Land says the URA has refused to consult openly, failed to consider Henderson's appeals, and contravened the company's existing right to manage its own development. Bank of East Asia shareholders have voted to deny the bank's directors a "general mandate'' to issue new shares at will, the first time a blue-chip company has suffered such a setback in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong-listed ZTE Corp, the country's second largest telecommunications equipment provider, posted a net profit of 1.27 billion yuan (US$153 million) yesterday for the 2004 fiscal year, registering a growth of 23.7 per cent from the previous year. Hong Kong lawmakers and legal experts met with Chinese legislative officials Tuesday to discuss a constitutional dispute over how long Hong Kong’s next leader will serve. Tastes among Hong Kong’s well-to-do have changed and buyers are queueing up to pay more than $30,000 per square foot for penthouse duplexes in the Arch, near Kowloon Station. When it comes to promoting itself as a hi-tech hub, Hong Kong always points to its sky-high mobile phone and broadband penetration rates and long history of consumer electronics manufacturing, here and in southern China. The government has even thrown in a science park for good measure. A European initiative to consolidate patent laws for computer-implemented inventions (CII) this year could help spur a review of digital technology patent structure in Asia, according to industry experts. A senior partner in a law firm is claiming almost HK$20 million in damages for psychological injuries after his Shiitsu dog was mauled to death by two mongrels owned by his former neighbors in Sai Kung.
China's hi-tech import and export enjoyed robust growth for the 1 quarter of the year, which contributed 28.5 percent to the country's total foreign trade. In 2004 the foreign trade between China and DPRK, ROK, Japan, Russia and Mongolia accounted for nearly one-fourth of China's total imports and exports. Four of Shanghai Electric Group's mainland corporate investors will see total gains of up to $2.3 billion on the combined 30.52 per cent stake they took in the listing candidate barely a year ago. China's steelmakers and traders, refusing to accept an iron ore surcharge proposed by BHP Billiton, are looking for alternative suppliers as negotiations with the Australian mining giant make little headway. April 12, 2005 Hong Kong: If the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is not able to discharge his or her duties for a short period, such duties shall temporarily be assumed by the Administrative Secretary, Financial Secretary or Secretary of Justice in this order of precedence. Fishermen on Monday stationed their boats off the building site of Hong Kong Disneyland, demanding the project be halted for allegedly polluting local waters and killing an estimated 1.6 million fish. The government was considering a new plan to encourage consumers to use re-usable shopping bags in supermarkets, Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works Sarah Liao Sau-tung said on Monday. The Independent Commission Against Corruption and Hong Kong's six largest chambers of commerce will jointly host a leadership forum in June, in a bid to enhance ethical behaviour and corporate governance. China: The anti-Japanese protests have been largely peaceful and controlled, compared to demonstrations of a similar scale in western countries. Angry protesters threw eggs, bottles, stones and bricks at the Japanese embassy and ambassador's residence, and smashed one or two Mitsubishi vehicles in Beijing, but no one was hurt or arrested. Main board-listed Chevalier iTech Holdings has bought the Pacific Coffee chain for $205 million, in a move that will bring cappuccino culture to the local stock market for the first time. China's imports and exports are believed to have grown 15 percent and 35 percent respectively in the first quarter of 2005 over the same period last year.
Alcatel has pledged it will consolidate its performance in the domestic market by enhancing its research and development (R&D) in China. The world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc, says it will open two outlets in Beijing this year, and at least one more store next year. April 11, 2005 Hong Kong: The State Council Sunday decided to make a request to the NPC Standing Committee to interpret the Clause 2 of Article 53 of the Basic Law of the HKSAR concerning the tenure of new chief executive. Democratic Party chief Lee Wing-tat declared yesterday he would run for chief executive in the July 10 election. Democratic Party chief Lee Wing-tat conceded last night that he faced an uphill struggle to find the nominations he needed to run in the election for chief executive.
Hutchison Whampoa managing director Canning Fok Kin-ning pocketed $124.85 million in bonuses last year, just $400,000 short of his entire 2003 pay packet, according to the conglomerate's annual report. Power tool maker Techtronic Industries expects lithium ion batteries to be a key profit earner this year, as it makes known its desire for blue-chip status on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Two local start-up airlines, Hong Kong Express Airways and CR Airways, have obtained licenses to fly passengers to China and tap into a market now served by Hong Kong Dragon Airlines. The government says there will be no change to the requirement that only permanent residents can apply for welfare handouts. Those who do not meet the seven-year residency requirement will be treated on a case-by-case basis. Speaking at a meeting of the Legislative Council's welfare services panel Friday, Director of Social Welfare Paul Tang said the purpose of the policy is to encourage new arrivals to be self-reliant rather than fall into the welfare assistance program within seven years of their arrival in Hong Kong.
China's steel output climbed by 23.7 percent to 77.7 million tons in the first three months of this year, said an official Saturday in Beijing. European textile industry leaders have lambasted the EU executive for failing to stem a rising tide of cheap imports from the mainland, warning that without action up to a million jobs could be lost this year.
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is
understood to be in advanced talks to take a 15 to 20 per cent stake in Bank of
China (BOC) in what will be the largest single foreign equity acquisition in the
mainland's banking sector to date.
Steel makers adopted a hard line during negotiations with Australian mining company BHP Billiton Ltd on the price of iron ore, claiming they would not accept any unreasonable requests "under any circumstances." The Shanghai Shenzhen 300 Index, the first unified index jointly launched by the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges, closed up 1.9 per cent at 1,003.445 points on its debut on Friday. The index is made up of 300 index heavyweights on the two bourses in Shanghai and Shenzhen. Apr |
Acting Chief Executive Donald Tsang
faced a barrage of criticism Thursday from those whom he logically would have
expected it least - government-friendly, pro-Beijing politicians acting out
their frustration at being given short shrift by China's leaders, who ignored
them in picking Tsang as Hong Kong's prospective leader. Making his first
appearance at the legislature Thursday, Tsang faced an unrelenting attack from
pro-Beijing lawmakers who questioned his performance and the propriety of some
of his actions prior to the departure of his predecessor, Tung Chee-hwa, who
stepped down March 10.
Walton Brown, part of Lane Crawford
Joyce Group, plans to open its second mainland lifestyle mega-store in Dongguan.
Walton Brown's Joe Wong (left) and Wu Kwai-yung, chairman of developer Dongguan
Sanyuan Yinghui, seal the store deal.
China:
Chairman Lien Chan (L2) of the
Kuomintang (KMT) Party of China and his wife Fang Yu (L1) wave to the greeting
crowds upon their arrival in Beijing April 28, 2005. Lien arrived in Beijing
Thursday, the second leg of his mainland visit. Lien Chan said Thursday that a
peaceful and win-win future to be achieved Is the common aspiration of the
people across the Taiwan Straits.
Beijing has told
recalcitrant - or just plain confused - local government officials to start
implementing new rules that will allow foreign companies to set up their own
distribution systems on the mainland, one of the most sought-after goals of
foreign companies doing business in China.
Singer Ella Koon Yun-na is thanked by Lee Man-yuk, six, for helping in a
cake-decorating competition at the Grand Hyatt. The event on Monday, organised
by the Heep Hong Society, was to promote a buffet on May 26 that will raise
money for disabled children.
President Hu Jintao reaffirmed burgeoning ties with the Philippines Wednesday by
agreeing to investments and loans worth US$1.7 billion (HK$13.3 billion) to fund
infrastructure and mining projects in the Southeast Asian country. The
Philippines also edged towards closer security ties with China despite concerns
by some senior Philippine military officers this could irritate the United
States, Manila's traditional ally.
One of the 15-year-old Hubble
Telescope's best-known images is that of the Whirlpool Galaxy passing in front
of a smaller cluster of stars. The Whirlpool is 31 million light years from
Earth.
Stonecutters Island treatment works,
which will be expanded by 2013, will lead the way to a cleaner, safer harbour,
according to officials.
China:
A TV grab shows Chairman Lien Chan
(L) of the Kuomintang (KMT) party and his wife wave to people upon arriving
arrived in Nanjing in east China's Jiangsu Province at 16:40 Tuesday to begin an
eight-day mainland visit. This is the first time the chairman of the KMT party
has landed foot on the mainland in more than half a century. When the KMT
described Lien's visit a "journey of peace," Lien said in Taiwan on Monday that
"cross-Straits exchanges should no longer be hampered by the mindset of civil
war." He expressed the hope that his visit could lay the groundwork for improved
relations and closer trade links across the Taiwan Straits. An overwhelming 96
per cent of Chinese mainland respondents to a survey released yesterday in
Beijing show they welcome and appreciate the imminent visits of Lien Chan,
chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) and James C. Y. Soong, chairman of the People
First Party (PFP).
China Southern has recovered from Sars
but now faces a future at the mercy of oil prices.
For the first time since he resigned
last month, former Hong Kong leader Tung Chee-hwa openly backed Donald Tsang to
succeed him as Chief Executive. 
China:
Chen Yunlin (L2), Director of Taiwan Work Office
of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in the talks with
the nine-member delegation led by Chin Chin-sheng, Secretary-General of Taiwan's
People First Party (PFP), at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, April
24, 2005. Official talks over the schedule of PFP Chairman James Soong's planned
visit to the mainland began yesterday.
Hu Jintao leaves the Jakarta palace after
signing a deal lifting trade between China and Indonesia to US$20 billion a
year. Beijing has sealed a far-reaching deal with Indonesia to extend
billions of dollars of trade and provide a raft of other assistance likely to
help revive Southeast Asia's largest economy and cement China's regional
dominance.
Unbeaten thoroughbred Silent Witness
did everything expected of him as he racked up win No17 in yesterday's Queen's
Silver Jubilee Cup at Sha Tin and simultaneously opened up a world of
possibilities. Jockey Felix Coetzee raises an arm in triumph after Silent
Witness' record win.
China:
During talks with Japanese Prime
Minister Junichiro Koizumi (L) on the sideline of the Asian-African summit in
Jakarta, Hu (R) initiated five proposals on developing Sino-Japanese relations.
Chinese business leaders attending the Boao Forum for Asia say trade and
investment relations between China and Japan could be on the mend following a
meeting between the countries' leaders. The meeting between President Hu Jintao
and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in Jakarta was timely and
necessary, and is set to greatly ease tensions between the two countries.
David Eldon (centre right)
yesterday presided over his last annual general meeting as Hang Seng Bank
chairman. Mr Eldon, due to retire next month as chairman of sister bank Hongkong
and Shanghai Banking Corp, will hand the Hang Seng chairmanship today to
Hongkong Bank chief executive Michael Smith (centre left).
Hong Kongers spent 3.3 billion yuan
(HK$3.1 billion) to buy properties on the mainland in the first quarter, 15
percent more than a year earlier, property consultancy Land Power International
said.
Hong Kong:
More than 250 emergency services
personnel conduct a counter-terrorism exercise last night at Ocean Terminal,
Tsim Sha Tsui, focusing on biological and nuclear hazards. Victims of a
simulated attack were rescued from a cruise liner.
Visiting US Secretary of Transport
Norman Mineta adds some muscle to Washington's efforts to force the pace of
talks for an "open skies" deal with Hong Kong. He told an American Chamber of
Commerce luncheon yesterday that Hong Kong negotiators' priority should not be
the city's airlines. He urged an immediate lifting of flight restrictions
instead of gradual liberalization. The message failed to win over Cathay Pacific
Airways, among other local interests.
Singapore has followed the region in
allowing casinos.
Hong Kong:
Within one week of the Arch notching a record per-unit price for a $168 million
penthouse, all available units in the Sun Hung Kai Properties development have
been sold. The developer says only reserve units remain on its books at the West
Kowloon project. Eight hundred of the 1,052 units were sold within days of the
pre-sale launch.
Passengers wait for a cable car in the fog in the southwestern city of Chongqing
on Saturday. Since it started operating in 1987, the 1,166-metre cable car
service, the first built across the Yangtze River, has been the main mode of
transport for residents to cross from the main island in the middle of the
river.
Weddings at any time of the day or night
and at virtually any location within the SAR came a step closer yesterday when
the Legco security panel supported proposed amendments to the Marriage
Ordinance. 
Secretary for Health York Chow talks with a villager about the anti-mosquito
efforts in Sha Kong Tsuen, Yuen Long. He says vacant houses are dangerous
breeding grounds.
Hong Kong:
Two antique cups carved out of rhinoceros
horn are under the spotlight as Baptist University president Ng Ching-fai (left)
discusses them with their owner Lee Chun-hung, chairman of Lee Hoong Kee. The
cups went on display yesterday at the university's museum of Chinese medicines
and they will remain there until March next year.
Wheelock Properties expects to reap more
than HK$3 billion from the sale of No1 Plantation Road, a two-year-old
development of 40 apartments and eight penthouses on The Peak, the SAR's poshest
residential district. Wheelock property investment director Gareth Williams said
the development, due to be sold during the second quarter, has already attracted
keen interest from overseas funds. However, the company believes it could fetch
a higher price by selling the development unit by unit.
Financial Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen
says the only way is up with his plan to submit a bill to the Legislative
Council this month that will seek to abolish estate duty. Mr Tang, speaking at a
Hong Kong Capital Markets Association lunch meeting yesterday, said he would
like to see the tax taken off the books as soon as possible if the bill were
passed, which would be a boon to the capital and investment markets. He also
said talks would be held with mainland authorities on expanding the scope of
yuan business for local lenders.
Shoppers wait to sample tuna sashimi as a chef prepares the fish at the newly
opened Ito-Yokado company store in Beijing.
Hsufuchi is planning to act as foreign confectionery makers such as Mars,
Cadbury and Nestle continue to expand aggressively in China. Dongguan Hsufuchi
Food, a Guangdong-based confectionery maker, plans to raise US$100 million to
US$150 million (HK$780 million to HK$1.17 billion) in a fourth-quarter share
sale in Hong Kong, sources said. Technical issues that have blocked a share sale
since 2003 should be cleared up soon, sources said, with an initial offering as
soon as October or November. The sale will be underwritten by BNP Paribas, which
declined to comment. If successful, Hsufuchi would join a growing number of
privately owned mainland firms seeking overseas listings. Until now, most
overseas share sales have been by state-owned enterprises, partly because they
are generally far bigger than private firms and had central government backing.
In recent years, though, a clutch of mainland tech firms have made the Nasdaq
stock exchange their home. Now it is the Hong Kong market's turn. Hsufuchi, set
up in 1978 by the Taiwan-born Xu brothers, makes products ranging from
chocolates to biscuits to preserved fruits. They are sold chiefly in mid-sized
mainland supermarkets under such brand names as Hsuchi, Anke and Qiaobi. The
company, with a workforce of more than 10,000 manning 110 assembly lines,
operates through 15 distribution companies. Besides the mainland, its goods can
be found in the United States, Europe, Singapore and Hong Kong, where ParknShop
supermarkets peddle Hsufuchi chocolate bars. Foreign confectionery makers such
as Mars, Cadbury and Nestle have expanded aggressively in China, while domestic
food processor Beijing-based China National Cereals, Oils & Foodstuffs saw sales
at its confectionery arm grow 17 percent last year.
Britain's Prince Charles and the new
Duchess of Cornwall greet well-wishers as they leave St George's Chapel at
Windsor Castle after a blessing service for their marriage.
China Resources Enterprise chairman
Charley Song says the firm is eager to capitalise on Hong Kong's energy market
through its power flagship China Resources Power. Red chip conglomerate China
Resources Enterprise has joined the fray to challenge Hong Kong's electricity
duopoly with plans to source low-cost electricity from Guangdong province.
