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How to Do Business with China, through Hong Kong & Setting up Business in China? - last update Feb 8, 2003 Do you know our dues paying members attend events sponsored by our collaboration partners worldwide at their membership rates - go to our event page to find out more! After attended a China/Hong Kong Business/Trade Seminar in Hawaii...still unsure what to do next, contact us, our Officers, Directors and Founding Members are actively engaged in China/Hong Kong/Asia trade - we can help! China Projects Bidding Information - update daily Scholarship & Grants
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April 28 - 30, 2006
Stockholders of market operator Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing responded strongly to calls for reform, electing former legislator Christine Loh Kung-wai and shareholder rights activist David Webb to its board. Former monopoly casino operator Sociedade de Jogos de Macau, currently preparing for an initial public stock offering in Hong Kong, saw its gaming revenue decline by 2.3 percent last year in the face of new competition. Hong Kong's largest developers including Cheung Kong (Holdings) and Sun Hung Kai Properties have submitted bids to buy the HK$2 billion former headquarters of Hang Seng Bank in Central, market sources said.
Tourism Board chief Selina Chow Liang Shuk-yee will step down from her post as chairman of the Tourism Association and the Tourism Board after six years.
Hong Kong will launch a new deposit protection scheme later this year to discourage any possible runs on the banking system, Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen said on Wednesday.
By the end of 2005, Chinese banks had issued 960 million bank cards. About 20 countries and regions around the world accept China UnionPay (CUP) bankcards. A draft bill to combat money laundering widens the scope of the proposed law from financial institutions to realtors, law and accounting firms and jewellers.
Nigeria will give China four oil drilling licenses in exchange for commitments to invest US$4 billion (HK$31.2 billion) in downstream oil and infrastructure projects, a top Nigerian oil adviser said. About 2,000 overseas Chinese entrepreneurs are scheduled to meet in the Japanese city of Kobe in September next year for a business ideas convention which organizers hope will promote person-to-person relations despite the deep freeze in Sino-Japanese diplomacy. April 27, 2006
The value of new home loan approvals jumped 63 percent month-on-month to HK$12.6 billion in March as refinancing deals more than doubled amid a home-loan price war. Bank of China, the mainland's second- largest lender, has been forced by Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing to boost the size of its initial public offering to 20 percent of its share capital in a deal that is likely to raise US$7 billion (HK$54.6 billion), market sources said.
The Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA) on Tuesday pursued six claims in the Small Claims Tribunal for some $130,000 on behalf of eight employees — owed MPF contributions by their employers. Hong Kong would temporarily raise the number of live chicken imports from the mainland for the three days preceding the Tuen Ng Festival, or Dragon Boat Festival, the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau announced on Tuesday.
Saudi Aramco to push ahead China venture, supply 1 mln bpd crude by 2010 - On April 23 the company announced a memorandum of understanding was signed in Riyadh last Saturday between Aramco and China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), China's largest petroleum products producer and supplier. The two sides pledged further cooperation on the refining plant in Qingdao and promised to reach consensus on Aramco's participation in the project to make sure that the plant would be operational by 2008 as scheduled. Aramco, which turns out 8 million barrels of oil per day, or one-tenth of the world's total, has promised a daily supply of 1 million barrels of crude oil to Sinopec by 2010.
April 26, 2006
Hong Kong Disneyland and Inner Mongolia Meng Niu Dairy Industry (Group) Co. Ltd announced Monday the launch of a new alliance, making Meng Niu the milk supplier for Hong Kong Disneyland Park, HK Disneyland Hotel and Disney's Hollywood Hotel. To celebrate this alliance, starting from April 15 to June 30, Hong Kong Disneyland is also holding a special lucky draw with Meng Niu, with 400 lucky consumers of Future Star, one of Meng Niu's serial products, receiving a free visit to Hong Kong Disneyland. A further 1 million customers will receive a pack of Future Star milk. Bill Ernest, Executive President of Hong Kong Disneyland Resort said, "Hong Kong Disneyland is pleased to announce the appointment of Meng Niu as the official milk sponsor and official milk supplier for the park." Meng Niu President Yang Wenjun said Meng Niu brings good health to everyone while Hong Kong Disneyland brings dreams and happiness to adults and children alike. "The alliance between the two brands signifies a marriage of health and happiness and will bring a whole new experience to guests," he said. A joint venture of the Walt Disney Company and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, Hong Kong Disneyland opened on September, 2005. Meng Niu is one of the leading dairy suppliers in the Chinese mainland, with over 20 production bases in 15 provinces.
The International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA) would hold its 20th international congress in Hong Kong from June 6-11, a spokesman said on Monday. This year the congress will be held under the theme ''The New Silk Road for the Performing Arts''. This is a reference to the Silk Road during the Tang Dynasty in the 7th Century, when the arts and cultural exchange between the East and the West was flourishing. ''Hong Kong is honoured to offer a special opportunity for ISPA delegates to meet their peers from around the world to explore areas of common interest,'' said Agnes Tang In-kwan, assistant director with the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.
The volume of Hong Kong’s total exports expanded by 23.4 per cent in February 2006 compared with the same month in 2005, latest statistics released on Monday showed. Taiwanese investments on the mainland have continued to rise despite a recent order by Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian to tighten up on such activities.
Champion Real Estate Investment Trust, the prime office property spin-off from Great Eagle Holdings, aims to attract investors with an above-average yield of between 4.8 per cent and 5.5 per cent as it hopes to raise as much as US$900 million in next month's float. HSBC, Hong Kong's biggest card issuer, aims to boost its credit cards to more than three million from the current 2.8 million using rewards and offers to woo customers, according to regional head of customer acquisition Lucia Ku Sai-wing.
The mainland's push for companies to "go out" and invest abroad by buying foreign firms is facing political and commercial obstacles that could hinder Beijing's goal of raising total outward investment to US$60 billion in the next five years. Shanghai faces a huge challenge to balance the books when it hosts the 2010 World Expo, organisers said yesterday as they announced an imminent victory in relocating thousands of people for the event. Online payment systems, which barely existed in China a decade ago, are sprawling across the internet to compete for once-distrustful mainland consumers suddenly hooked on instant purchases. A new deal between mainland internet portal Sina.com and a collection of independent British musicians is being hailed as a model for promoting foreign acts in China while legitimising the online music business.
The volume of R&D investment will become an important tool to assess the performance of the senior managers of China's 167 central state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Global finance chiefs wrapped up three days of talks in Washington DC, calling for action against runaway oil prices and monitoring of China's currency policies.
Wang Shengchang, former director of the law department of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), has been arrested for alleged fraudulent activities, according to official sources. Judicial department officials have declined to give details about Wang's case, noting that it is being investigated. Wang, who was also the former secretary-general of the arbitration committee of the CCPIT, had participated in several hundreds of arbitrary cases, including a dispute between the international soft drinks giant Pepsi Cola and its local partner in Sichuan Province, southwest China. April 25, 2006
Famed movie director Tsui Siu-ming seems to be getting in on the financial and creative action at just the right time. Hong Kong filmmaking took a nose dive during and after the Asian financial crisis, but Tsui says he can turn around the decline in filmmaking and restore the glory days of its golden era in just two years. Tsui, president of Sundream Motion Pictures, a production company launched in March 2003, plans to make in- house movie production - the crafting of a film almost exclusively from start to finish-- a hallmark of Hong Kong moviemaking. The first thing Tsui's public relations manager, James Chick, shows off before the interview is the office of i-Cable Satellite Television, where Tsui wears his second hat as chief operating officer. This is Tsui's attempt to develop the first Rupert Murdoch-type institution for making, marketing and distributing major motion pictures in a territory that used to be the pinnacle of the industry but has seen a total slump in the past 10 years. The industry famous for producing about 200 films a year in the 1970s and 80s only managed about 90 a year in the late 90s due to the Asian financial crisis. Moviegoers could not afford to visit theaters. Producers refused to back risky ideas and did not financially support a movie unless it promised a big profit. So movies started to decline in quality as the industry became mired in stereotypes. Nearly 300 ethnic-Chinese residents, including Hongkongers, fled the troubled Solomon Islands yesterday on chartered aircraft provided by Beijing, after losing all their possessions in riots last week.
Governor of People's Bank of China called on all countries to take advantage the current favorable global economic growth to address structural problems and be against the trade protectionism.
The world's leading auction company of used vehicles Manheim Auctions and Shanghai International Commodity Auction Co., Ltd, have announced the establishment of a joint auction venture.
April 24, 2006
Supply of new apartments has risen sufficiently to meet demand for the next three years, according to the government's quarterly statistics on private housing stocks, undercutting speculation that the city is facing a serious residential shortfall. Hong Kong's banks will probably see the quality of their loans worsen this year amid high interest rates, and smaller lenders will continue to find the operating environment challenging, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said.
Vice-President Zeng Qinghong yesterday called on Hong Kong business leaders to help unite the community and support the government. The chief secretary has invited the government's advisers on the future of the troubled West Kowloon Cultural District project to propose changes to the arts hub blueprint.
Expatriates in Hong Kong and
foreigners planning to move to the city are being mobilised in an online
signature campaign to pressure the government into taking urgent measures to
curb air pollution.
The annual report of the Japanese Ministry of Finance released Thursday shows Japan's export to China has kept increasing for 7 years.
President Hu Jintao's visits to the Middle East, which begins today, and Africa underline China's growing interest in two regions which can help feed its unquenchable thirst for energy assets and resources to fuel rapid economic expansion. China's powerful Ministry of Communications has taken the unprecedented step of fingering international shipping lines for anti-competitive behaviour, saying their cartel-like application of terminal handling charges at mainland ports must change. Hong Kong's best-paid official, monetary authority chief executive Joseph Yam Chi-kwong, took home a pay cheque of $9.97 million last year - an increase of 12 per cent compared with 2004. Net profit at wireless telecommunications equipment provider Comba Telecom Systems Holdings plunged 65 per cent last year due to a slowdown in capital expenditure plans for wireless enhancement of the CDMA network in China. April 21 - 23, 2006
The government is to establish a voluntary registration system for local farms and require the two main supermarket chains to establish a comprehensive tracking system for farm produce, legislators have heard.
The lifting of an unpopular ban prohibiting dependents of foreign nationals from working in Hong Kong is expected to take place in June, and will extend to dependents of mainland professionals, immigration officials said. Jackie Chan, Andy Lau, Alan Tam and other Hong Kong entertainers will record a pop song to promote the 2008 Beijing Olympics, an assistant to Tam said. The song, titled Olympics Beijing, is separate from the official theme song for the 2008 Games, said the assistant, who only gave her surname, Lam. She said the Putonghua song, written by Eddie Ng, will be aired in the mainland. Lau, Tam, Hacken Lee, Shirley Kwan, Andy Hui, William So and Jordan Chan have recorded their parts, she said. Other big names are involved with the Beijing Olympics, a major source of pride for the Chinese. Famed Chinese director Zhang Yimou will oversee the design of the opening and closing ceremonies. US director Steven Spielberg has signed on as a consultant for the two ceremonies.
ZTE Corporation, one of the nation's leading telecom equipment makers, has been crowned the best corporate governance performer last year among China's top 100 listed companies. China Telecom showed signs of halting the slide of market share to mobile operators, adding 2.64 million fixed lines in the three months ending last month and booking a net profit of 5.91 billion yuan.
China's investment in fixed assets in the first quarter of this year totaled 1,390.8 billion yuan (173.85 billion U.S. dollars), up 27.7 percent, or an increase of 4.9 percentage points year on year. China's consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.2 percent in the first quarter of this year, down by 1.6 percentage points year-on-year. Beijing is likely to unleash another set of austerity measures this year to curb runaway business investment and tighten bank credit after faster-than-expected economic growth in the first quarter prompted fresh concerns about economic overheating and rising inflation. Tianjin Port Development Holdings, a unit of Hong Kong-listed conglomerate Tianjin Development Holdings, plans to sell its initial public offering shares at a higher price level than those of rival Dalian Port to take advantage of the strong demand for new offerings. Jiangxi Copper, the largest mainland producer of the metal, plans to spend nine billion yuan (HK$8.71 billion) over the next three years to boost its smelting capacity and explore resources to take advantage of strong demand growth in the country. Hong Kong's unemployment rate was at 5.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2006, the same as in the three months to February, latest statistics released on Thursday showed. The government has launched five research and development centres to cater for the technology needs of businesses in the region, Technology Secretary Joseph Wong Wing-ping said on Thursday. April 20, 2006
Bank of China, the mainland's second-largest lender, is scheduled to meet the Hong Kong stock exchange's listing committee for a "preliminary listing hearing" today - taking a big step closer to a May launch of its proposed $54.6 billion float, market sources said. Falling government spending and a sound economy have led ratings agency Standard & Poor's to lift Hong Kong's outlook from "stable" to "positive".
Henderson Investment, the investment arm of Hong Kong's No3 property developer Henderson Land Development, is seeking to raise HK$3.12 billion through a top-up share placement, according to a sale document obtained by fund managers. The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose to a fresh 5-year high Tuesday, while the Hang Seng China Enterprise Index jumped to its highest level since August 1997, as investors expect Hong Kong- listed stocks to gain from the mainland's recent announcement allowing domestic financial institutions to invest overseas. Regal Hotels International, a Hong Kong-listed hotel operator and developer, is switching its real estate focus from a planned Macau hotel-retail complex to a joint-venture project in Beijing. The cost of the Beijing project is set to surge 25 percent to H$5 billion as it awaits approval.
China will likely emerge as India's largest trading partner, overtaking the United States within a few years, with the two-way trade hitting US$100 billion in the near future, predicts a senior Indian businessman. Saroj Kumar Poddar, president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), said yesterday in Beijing that "tremendous potentials" exist in regards to bilateral trade between the world's two fastest-growing economies. The trade between China and India last year hit a record of US$18.7 billion, jumping 38 per cent year-on-year. If the growth is sustained, the bilateral trade could soon overtake Indo-US trade, which is hovering around US$30 billion, said Poddar, who is leading a FICCI CEO delegation in China this week.
Japan's direct investment in China rose 19.8 percent to a record 6.53 billion US dollars in 2005, according to a recent report issued by Japan External Trade Organization.
April 19, 2006
Chongqing Changan Automobile, a Shenzhen-listed minivan maker planning to list its shares in Hong Kong, saw its profits dive by more than 80 percent due to severe competition and rising costs. The company said net profit based on mainland accounting standards was 236.75 million yuan (HK$229.19 million) in 2005, down 82 percent from 2004, despite turnover rising 3.46 percent to 19.17 billion yuan. Net profit would have been 199.3 million using international accounting standards.
Criticism that the railway merger deal favored the MTR Corporation has been rejected by executive councillor Ronald Arculli, who says the company has to bear the risk of the property price cycle. Wharf (Holdings) and parent company Wheelock and Co are planning a real estate investment trust consisting of office, retail and industrial properties to tap the market for between $2.34 billion and $3.12 billion in the second half of this year, according to sources.
More than 20 delegations have visited the zone and 12 have set up businesses with an investment of 15 million US dollars. Zhang Yimou was appointed chief director for both opening and closing ceremonies of Beijing Olympics while Steven Spielberg was named artistic adviser.
Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) Honorary Chairman Lien Chan arrived in Fuzhou, capital of southeast China's Fujian Province, on Monday evening to warship his ancestors in his hometown Zhangzhou City.
China plans to let investors buy shares using borrowed money and speculate on price declines by selling stock they don't own for the first time, to tap the nation's US$4 trillion (HK$31.2 trillion) of bank deposits and boost trading.
April 18, 2006
The Hong Kong government is likely to urge the merged MTR Corp and Kowloon-Canton Railway Corp to buy electricity from a supplier other than CLP Power and Hongkong Electric. Tying subway fares to inflation indicators may leave travelers vulnerable to unchecked fare increases in coming years, critics of last week's merger between the city's two mass transit operators said. Hong Kong started hosting two large trade fairs at the weekend, adding further credibility to the city's middleman role for trade between the mainland and the rest of the world. Private doctors in Hong Kong are performing up to four times the number of Caesarean sections than recommended by the World Health Organisation, as pregnant mainland women on week-long visas flock to private wards to give birth.
China's foreign exchange authority has awarded investment quotas totaling 350 million U.S. dollars to three qualified foreign institutional investors (QFII), according to the China Securities Journal. Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics, China's largest maker of blood pressure and blood-oxygen-level monitoring equipment, plans to raise up to US$300 million (HK$2.34 billion) in the largest initial public offering on the US Nasdaq by a mainland company, people familiar with the situation said. Internationally acclaimed filmmaker Zhang Yimou has been chosen to direct the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympic Games, the organiser announced yesterday. The Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (Bocog) also said eight consultants, including American filmmaker Steven Spielberg, would help Zhang ensure the ceremonies were a success. Zhang said at a Bocog ceremony: "I thank Bocog for trusting me with this huge task. To complete it will require the efforts of the whole team and advisers from home and abroad. I make a solemn promise to the Chinese people that I will complete the task beautifully and successfully." Zhang, 54, has co-operated closely with the organisers and had been widely tipped to direct the ceremonies in 2008. He directed a critically acclaimed performance showcasing Chinese culture at the closing ceremony of the Athens Olympics in 2004, and he shot a short promotional film that helped secure Beijing's bid for the Games in 2001.
April 17, 2006
Visiting Chinese vice health minister Huang Jiefu said Friday he hoped the introduction of a standardized medical examination and registration mechanism for specialist doctors in the mainland will help lessen costs and ease the difficulties of Hong Kong patients seeking treatment across the border.
As more than 1,000 retail outlets join "No Plastic Bag Day" today, the plastic bag makers are hitting back. They will stage a counter-campaign in Causeway Bay, handing out 3,000 leaflets aimed at correcting "misconceptions" about the bags that are blamed for clogging landfills and killing marine life. The mainland will draw on Hong Kong's system of registration for medical specialists in a bid to boost its health service.
China's move to relax rules to allow mainland banks, insurers and asset managers to invest in offshore securities will open new offshore investment channels to the country's vast domestic savings, says the chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. Trading firm Li & Fung is expected to buy German retailer KarstadtQuelle's sourcing operations next month for between US$100 million and US$200 million, sources said yesterday.
Foreign investment in China reached 14.246 billion US dollars in the first quarter, up 6.4 percent year on year. Doctors in northwest China have performed the country's first face transplant, and the second such operation in the world.
Foreign ventures in China's electronic information industry reported a year-on-year rise of 32.3 percent in sales revenue in the first two months. Leading international credit rating agency Moody's Corporation has entered agreement to buy a 49 percent stake in China Cheng Xin International Credit Rating Co. Ltd., (CCXI). Russia's Amur regional government has agreed with Heihe City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, to begin work on a cross-border bridge.
The mainland's Public Security Bureau is to clamp down on beauty parlors not recognized by the health authority to perform breast enlargement surgery, a senior health official said.
Poor lobbying is partly to blame for the mounting pressure from the US Congress over America's trade imbalance with China, according to a former top US trade representative. Charles Freeman, a former assistant US trade representative for China Affairs, said that ironically, in the years leading up to China's accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001, the annual hearing to grant Most Favoured Nation status (MFN) motivated the US business community to lobby Congress for free trade with China. April 14 - 16, 2006
Cheung Kong (Holdings), Hong Kong's second-largest real estate developer by market value, has outbid three groups of developers to win development rights to a Tai Wai housing project estimated to require HK$20 billion in total investment. Disneyland managing director Bill Ernest said Tuesday the government should speed up the reclamation work for phase two of the theme park. However, he agreed that several phase-one attractions have still to come on line, but will soon. Ernest said concrete plans for phase two have still to be agreed between the two sides and will take some time. He said that, apart from three "coming soon" attractions, there is room for other shows and exhibits in phase one. "It is not the number of attractions, but their size," Ernest said, adding that designing the various attractions was similar to fitting pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Ernest said that, when completed, phase one will be able to handle 10 million guests annually. He said the most popular attraction is the Hong Kong Disneyland Railroad, which runs from Mainstreet USA through Fantasyland. In order to avoid the chaos that occurred during the Lunar New Year holidays, Ernest said the park will be adding 11 more "special days" for Easter and the May Day holidays, during which sales of tickets will be limited to prevent overcrowding. During the Easter holidays the park will adopt a "cross utilization" system whereby back office staff will help those at the front line handle the crowd.
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Hong Kong:
More than 100 chicken traders
converge on the Murray Building yesterday to submit a petition to the Health,
Welfare and Food Bureau over restrictions on live poultry imports. But the
traders remained disgruntled, despite a later government announcement that the
supply of day-old chicks would resume later this week, and live chicken imports
from the mainland would be increased for three days at the end of next month.
China:
China's non-financial
overseas direct investment surged 280 percent to 2.68 billion U.S. dollars in
the first quarter of this year, a source with the Ministry of Commerce said on
Tuesday.
The nerves of the donated tissue received
by China's first face transplant recipient are alive and active, reports the
Xijing Hospital in China's Shaanxi Province. A doctor removes stitches from the
face of Li Guoxing, who underwent a partial face transplant after being attacked
by a black bear. The 30-year-old from Yunnan was healing well, but could still
reject tissue from a brain-dead patient used to give him a new nose, lip and
cheek, reports said. Mr Li had much of the right side of his face reconstructed
by doctors at the Xijing Hospital in Xian during a 15-hour procedure on April
14.
Beijing views John Woo's latest film
about an ancient war as a showcase of Chinese history and is pushing for it to
be released before the Beijing Olympics, according to a business partner of the
director. Terence Chang said the mainland is treating Battle Of Red Cliff,
starring Chow Yun-fat, as a marketing device for the 2008 Games. "This movie has
government backing. The government is taking it seriously because they want us
to release it before the 2008 Olympics," Chang said on the sidelines of a film
finance forum in Hong Kong. The movie is a co-production between the state-owned
China Film Group and Woo's Los Angeles-based Lion Rock Productions, which Chang
helps run. Chang said the importance attached to the project has made it easier
to seek help from provincial officials. Woo aims to start filming, mainly in the
northern Hebei province next March. Chang said Woo's vision for the movie is
ambitious but that he has asked the director to keep the budget within US$50
million (HK$390 million) - which is generous funding by Chinese standards -
because the market for Chinese-language movies is limited. Chinese films are
generally viewed across Asia, but the biggest potential market, the mainland, is
still developing. Chang said the movie, which may also feature Cannes best actor
winner Tony Leung Chiu-wai, has already been sold to distributors in the
mainland, Taiwan and Japan. He said he hasn't given up on the US and European
markets because one selling point will be the movie's epic scale, "like Titanic
or Pearl Harbor." The producer said one scene would feature the burning of 2,000
boats with horses jumping around on them. Another will involve a booby-trapped
battleship. Battle Of Red Cliff is set in the ancient "three kingdoms" period in
the third century, when China was split into three rival states. Chang said
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon writer Wang Hui-ling worked on the script and Lu
Wei, who worked on Chen Kaige's Farewell My Concubine and Zhang Yimou's To Live,
have recently joined the writing team.
CLP Holdings, the larger of the two electricity companies, has argued that
opening up the local power market to new competition might backfire. Justifying
his company's predominance in the market, chief executive Andrew Brandler said
after its annual meeting that, in trying to give users cheaper electricity by
introducing competition, the city may get the opposite instead. This could
affect the stability of power supplies. The government is conducting a review of
its deal with the two power suppliers - CLP and Li Ka-shing- controlled Hongkong
Electric - which distribute power to different parts of the territory. As well
as suggesting reducing the allowable profit margin for the pair as part of the
regulatory scheme of control, the administration is also considering introducing
new players in the hope that competition will mean better services and cheaper
prices.
Empathy, she wrote: A book written by two children whose father died from Sars
inspired Vance Yip Sze-kei to write an award-winning poem to express her empathy
for the children. Yesterday she collected her second prize in the junior
category of a Sun Hung Kai Properties book club competition, with To Kit-ming,
65, who took first place in the senior category. Vanceˇ¦s own father died when
she was a year old. Mr To wrote a love poem to his wife.
China and Morocco
agreed in Rabat Monday to make joint efforts towards continuous and further
development of bilateral friendship and cooperation in various fields. Hu said
both China and Morocco are undergoing reform and development and bilateral
cooperation has entered a new development stage.
Tianjin Port Development Holdings, a unit
of Hong Kong-listed conglomerate Tianjin Development Holdings, has upsized its
planned initial public offering to HK$1.26 billion, market sources said. The
company plans to sell 578 million shares on an indicative price range of about
HK$1.80 to HK$2.19 a share, market sources said. That's about 20 percent higher
than the HK$1.50 to HK$1.83 a share the company announced last week and came
before initial talks with investors, when a general price range is typically
hammered out, had begun. "The exchange required them to put out a price range to
give current shareholders some guidance for the annual general meeting on
whether to approve the spinoff," a market source said. The annual general
meeting is scheduled for May 8.
Musical film Perhaps Love, a production
of director Peter Chan Ho-sun. The acclaimed film was used to launch an
international film festival in the US last week. For the first time in the San
Francisco International Film Festival's 49 years, a Hong Kong film was selected
as the opening-night feature. Perhaps Love, a heartfelt love story told through
a kaleidoscope of flashbacks and the plot of a film-within-a-film, is directed
by the highly acclaimed Peter Chan Ho-sun. Another Hong Kong film All About Love
was also featured in the festival. Starring Andy Lau Tak-wah, the melodrama is
the latest work of film director Daniel Yu Wai-kwok and will be screened on
April 23 and 26. Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office Los Angeles director Doris
Cheung on Monday said the screening recognised the outstanding work of directors
Chan and Yu. It was also an honour for the Hong Kong film industry, she added.
"Hong Kong has a long history of film-making. With our historical background
which makes Hong Kong the meeting point for Eastern and Western culture, and our
emphasis on free flow of information and talents, Hong Kong has been the place
for creativity and movie production," she said. Ms Cheung also highlighted
benefits the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (Cepa) could bring for Hong
Kong film-making companies and how foreign companies could enjoy such benefits
in Hong Kong. "Under our partnership arrangement with the mainland, Chinese
language films produced by Hong Kong companies can enjoy a quota-free access to
the China market," Ms Cheung said. She added that the film was a flagship of
Hong Kong's creative industry and the government was dedicated to building a
favourable environment for the industry to flourish. 
Singers Gillian Chung Yan-tung, Charlene
Choi Cheuk-yin and Aaron Kwok Fu-shing join yesterday's launch of PCCW's "moov.now.com.hk",
Hong Kong's biggest online music portal with a library of more than 40,000
songs. PCCW, which has joined forces with 16 local music publishers, is charging
users $39 a month to gain unlimited access to the online music.
Morocco's King Mohammed directs Hu
Jintao and wife Liu Yongqing after the president arrived at the royal palace in
Rabat yesterday for talks on trade and other issues. 
Riding a golf buggy "sleigh" and attended by ballerinas and elves, Santa Claus
arrived eight months early yesterday at the opening of the China Sourcing Fair,
the biggest event yet at the AsiaWorld-Expo exhibition centre. "Can you keep a
secret?" he said at the opening ceremony. "I outsource everything. I heard that
the China Sourcing Fair was the fair to go to. I just had to come here and do my
shopping." InvestHK director Mike Rowse, who is also chairman of AsiaWorld-Expo,
said Santa's early visit was to emphasize that the trade fair was important to
retailers around the world. Running till Tuesday, it is the largest event held
at the AsiaWorld-Expo exhibition centre at Chek Lap Kok since it opened four
months ago - in direct competition to the established Convention and Exhibition
Centre in Wan Chai. More than 3,600 exhibitors from all parts of Asia -
including the mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Indonesia and India - are taking part. The exhibits occupy all 10
halls of the exhibition centre, which has a floor area of 753,480 sq ft.
Hong Kong Construction chief executive and
managing director Eric Oei Kang announces a 44.7 per cent jump in last year's
net profit to $367.8 million.
President Hu raises his glass
during a toast at a corporate dinner organised by the business community in
Washington, in which he vowed to improve democracy in China.
It's a homemaker's dream without a
homemaker in sight. The 21st Hong Kong Houseware Fair opens at the Convention
and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai today. But eager wives will not be dragging
husbands along on a big shopping spree - the four-day fair is only open to major
overseas and local trade buyers. More than 2,300 exhibitors from 36 countries,
including 1,000 from Hong Kong and 400 from the mainland, will display their
products.
George Bush watches a Revolution-era band welcome Hu Jintao to the White House.
Though not a state visit, there was plenty of pageantry.
Hu Jintao hugs Paul Dernier, who
called it "probably the premier event" after children and marriage. 
Fuel costs for China Southern Airlines
have doubled but company chairman Liu Shaoyong says hedging is too risky.
Thousands of people prayed and burnt incense at Tin Hau temples, including this
one at Cha Kwo Ling, yesterday, the eve of the sea goddess' birthday. Hong Kong
has about 60 temples dedicated, at least partially, to Tin Hau. Most were built
in the early Qing dynasty, from 1644 to 1911.
Paliburg Holdings plans to build the tallest skyscraper in Beijing as part of
the once-troubled developer's ambitious plan to seek new earnings growth on the
mainland. The company, controlled by Lo Yuk-sui, will scrap approved plans for a
200-metre twin-tower residential-hotel-office complex in the Chaoyang district,
and will instead embark on a 300-metre, 80-storey single tower that will contain
the same components. Total investment for the project will rise to more than $5
billion from an original budget of about $4 billion. Paliburg, which jointly
owns a 59 per cent stake of the project with its hotel arm Regal Hotels
International Holdings, will be responsible for extra investments in proportion
with its mainland partners. The funds will come from internal resources. "This
will be the flagship development for our expansion into China," Mr Lo said while
announcing the group's annual results. "We don't have the opportunity of
building such a mega project in Hong Kong." Under its revised plan, the project
would comprise about two million square feet of hotel and office space, about
1.26 million sqft of commercial space and 750,000 sqft of residential space, he
said. He said the project would be completed by 2009 at the earliest.
To strengthen Hong
Kong's position as an economic springboard in and out of the mainland, InvestHK
will open two new economic and trade offices in China by the end of the year,
the government said. However, the opening of offices in Shanghai and Chengdu
will cause some reshuffling inside the government agency which promotes foreign
investment in the territory, according to investment promotion director-general
Mike Rowse. InvestHK's East China team will be subjected to review as the new
Shanghai office will take over most of its duties. In addition, the two offices
will each set up an Investment Promotion Unit, Rowse told a Legco commerce and
industry panel Tuesday. Rowse said the SAR has already joined forces with
mainland cities and provinces to promote China abroad. Hong Kong and Guangdong
held seminars in Vancouver and San Francisco in October. In November, Hong Kong
and Shanghai joined hands to offer an audience in Tokyo an insight into
investment opportunities there, Rowse said.
This jadeite bead necklace, comprising 35 graduated highly translucent beads, is
expected to fetch about $12 million when auctioned by Christie's in Hong Kong on
June 1. The jadeite ring is estimated to be worth $3.5 million and the pair of
jadeite earrings $3.8 million. The jewellery spring auction will also feature a
rare 9.25 carat ruby ring of Myanmese origin estimated to be worth $9.5 million.
Hu Jintao and Bill Gates enter
Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, near Seattle. "Bill Gates is a friend of
China and I'm a friend of Microsoft," Mr Hu told his host.
Microsoft chairman Bill Gates is introduced at the signing ceremony for the
Lenovo deal. President Hu Jintao was touring Microsoft's headquarters with Mr
Gates yesterday. Beijing has offered up another big sweetener to deflect US
criticism over China's huge trade surplus and rampant copyright piracy - a
US$1.2 billion deal between its biggest computer maker, Lenovo, and software
giant Microsoft.
Li Guoxing, a 30-year-old patient from Yunnan province, is recovering from the
ground-breaking face transplant surgery. This is believed to be the world's
second face transplant. 
Faces from a turbulent chapter in
China's history stare out from a wall in Nelson Street, Mongkok, attracting the
interest of a passer-by. The photo exhibit of Sun Yat-sen, the first president
of the Republic of China after the end of imperial rule in 1912, was organised
by the Hong Kong and Kowloon Trades Union Council as part of an appeal for a
peaceful reconciliation between Beijing and Taipei.
Hu Jintao (front, second right) applauds after a group photo yesterday in
Beijing with the Taiwanese delegation headed by Lien Chan (front, second left).
President Hu Jintao yesterday called for new talks with Taipei, but warned that
the Taiwanese government's refusal to accept the preconditions for dialogue was
worsening relations across the Taiwan Strait.
Geely chief Li Shufu says the first exports to the US will be a model costing
less than US$10,000 for budget-conscious families. Geely Auto has signed a
contract to invest 18.8 billion yuan on a plant in Zhejiang province that will
produce one million cars a year, making it the biggest private car factory in
China.
Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun conducts
the Good Friday service at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Caine
Road as Catholics around the world marked the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Sourcing fairs on the double:
Global Sources chairman Merle Hinrichs (centre) and Agentrics executive chairman
Christopher Sellers (second from left) at yesterday's press conference on Global
Sources' electronics and fashion accessories fairs, which both open today at
AsiaWorld-Expo in Chek Lap Kok. Mr Hinrichs says the China Sourcing Fair:
Electronics & Components, which runs until Tuesday, showcases the latest
electronics products and components from China.
In scenes similar to those of
pilgrims following the Stations of the Cross along Jerusalem's Via Dolorosa,
Chinese Catholics make their way to a shrine for the Virgin Mary on the
outskirts of Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi province. Clerics based in the town are
optimistic that a resumption of diplomatic ties between Beijing and Vatican will
help the church to grow on the mainland.
A reception full of French pomp and
splendour was held aboard the surveillance frigate Prairial last night by
Commander Alexis Latty to celebrate the relationship between France and Hong
Kong. The Prairial is part of the French Pacific Fleet. The ship's visit to Hong
Kong follows last year's "Year of France in China". Tomorrow, the ship will be
open to the public at its berth at Ocean Terminal, Tsim Sha Tsui, from 9am until
11am and then again from 2pm until 5pm, but only to a maximum of 300 people.
BOCHK deputy chief David Lam says the acquisition will broaden the bank's income
stream and enhance its profit margin. BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) has agreed to pay
its parent company $900 million for a majority stake in a life insurance unit as
the bank implements the first stage of its plan to