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Oct 31, 2006
Outgoing Permanent Secretary for Education and Manpower Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun has dismissed rumors that her imminent departure from her post is because of her unpopularity, but because "today" is the most suitable time given the progress of education reforms. Permanent Secretary for Education and Manpower Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun, who is expected to be named the new ICAC commissioner, yesterday said it was an appropriate time for her to change jobs.
Hong Kong is
likely to get a giant panda next year to mark the 10th anniversary of the
handover.
Hong Kong-listed Cofco International has hired Goldman Sachs and Bank of China International to arrange the US$200 million spin-off of an agri-business subsidiary next year, market sources said.
China's Ministry of Commerce defended its duties on imported auto parts on Friday and expressed "regret" over the World Trade Organization's decision to launch a panel to oversee the issue. China and Iraq are reviving a 1997 deal worth US$1.2 billion (HK$9.36 billion) signed by Beijing and Saddam Hussein's government to develop an Iraqi oil field, Baghdad's oil minister said Saturday.
Oct 30, 2006
The Hang Seng Index scaled to a new record in the morning session Friday, on a day when dealing in shares of market debutant Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (1398) made trading volumes swell to levels not seen since 1998. But the blue-chip measure lost steam and ended the day in negative territory.
A mainland contract killer who shot dead Hong Kong millionaire Harry Lam Hon-lit with a bullet to the head in Central four years ago apologised to the victim's family yesterday and asked a Shenzhen court to sentence him to death. by primary schools in a key assessment test, but they have called on the government to do more to help weaker schools and to prevent a clear downward trend in performance as students progress through school.
Meeting with the 14th Japanese "Great Wall" Program Delegation to China on Friday afternoon in Beijing, Chinese top legislator Wu Bangguo called for lifting Sino-Japanese ties "to a higher level". Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has hailed the upcoming Africa-China summit in Beijing as being a crucial one for building closer bilateral relations between the two nations.
China inked on Friday the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP), which was concluded in Tokyo in November 2004 and came into force on Sept. 4, 2006. The China National BlueStar (Group) Corporation became the largest Chinese investor in Europe after an acquisition deal announced Friday with the France-based specialty chemicals producer Rhodia Group. China has announced the minimum hourly-wage standard in its 29 provinces and autonomous regions excluding Guangdong and Xinjiang. The 638 mainland-listed companies who have released their quarterly reports for the third quarter reported total net profit of 45 billion yuan (5.6 billion U.S. dollars) in the first nine months. The daily 0.3 percent floating band between the RMB and the U.S. dollar is wide enough, even if the RMB is under heavy pressure to appreciate, said a senior official with the People's Bank of China (PBOC) recently.
China is expected to recentralise the power to approve death sentences as soon as next year, with the issue up for discussion at a new round of National People's Congress Standing Committee meetings convened in Beijing yesterday. Oct 27 - 29, 2006
Shares of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China changed hands at HK$3.50 apiece Thursday, 14.66 percent above the initial public offering price of HK$3.07, in gray market trading before the formal start of dealing in its shares today. Taking advantage of strong market sentiment, three mainland property developers - Beijing Capital Land (2868), Shenzhen Investment (0604) and Greentown China Holdings (3900) - were seeking Thursday to raise at least a combined HK$4 billion for land acquisition through share placement and bond offer. Oasis Hong Kong Airlines - the territory's first long-haul budget airline - finally got off the ground Thursday after an overnight delay caused by Russia's refusal to allow the carrier's maiden flight over its airspace.
With just two days to go, promoters said on Thursday that they have cancelled Mariah Carey’s concert in Hong Kong due to a poor response and what they characterized as “unreasonable demands” from the US pop singer. The value of Hong Kong’s goods exports grew 4.7 per cent year on year last month to HK$220.1 billion, figures released on Thursday showed.
China and European Aircraft giant Airbus Thursday signed a framework agreement and a letter of intent for 150 Airbus A320 aircrafts and 20 Airbus A350 airplanes. China will built a new nuclear power plant in Hunan Province with an investment of 60 billion yuan (7.5 billion U.S. dollars), a local government source said Wednesday. A branch manager at the Bank of Shanghai, part- owned by HSBC Holdings (0005), was sentenced to nine years in prison after he embezzled 110 million yuan (HK$108.4 million) of the bank's capital, state media reported.
Oct 26, 2006
British mobile telecoms operator 3 UK, a unit of tycoon Li Ka-shing's flagship Hutchison Whampoa (0013), said it will acquire 95 stores from a rival operator and open another 30 outlets by the end of this year, nearly doubling its sales outlets in the UK. Hong Kong's press freedom ranking slipped to its lowest point in the past five years after a year that saw vandalism committed against a local newspaper office and a parcel bomb sent to two reporters, according to an annual report by Paris-based Reporters Without Borders. The Independent Commission Against Corruption has arrested a prominent disc jockey at Radio Television Hong Kong in connection with an illicit money scheme, in the latest setback for the public broadcaster. The confrontation between disgruntled tour guides and the tourism watchdog, the Travel Industry Council, has worsened after the council called for the scrapping of shopping trips - the main source of income for guides - from the itinerary of inbound tour groups.
The MTR Corporation and the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation declined to guarantee yesterday that their staff will not be worse off after the impending merger of their railway operations.
A city-wide review of road safety to
be conducted over the next three months could result in new restrictions on the
use of some roads - particularly narrow cul-de-sacs - and additional safety
equipment being required for goods vehicles. Macau's gaming revenue leapt 37 per cent in September to HK$4.5 billion, boosted by the September 6 opening of the US$1.2 billion Wynn Macau casino resort, according to official statistics released yesterday.
Ling Baoheng, director of Shanghai's Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, was detained at the weekend. Also held was his deputy, Wu Hongmei. Chinese newspapers and magazines will be prohibited from accepting misleading advertising effective November 1, says the State Press and Publication Administration and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC).
French President Jacques Chirac begins a four-day visit to China today, aiming to strengthen economic and business co-operation, against a backdrop of the North Korean nuclear weapons crisis.
Profits at China's industrial firms
rose 29.6 per cent year on year in the first three quarters of 2006 to 1.302
trillion yuan, the National Bureau of Statistics said yesterday. Huaneng Power International, China's largest publicly traded power producer, said third-quarter net profit growth slowed to 2.65 per cent year on year amid falling plant utilization. Oct 25, 2006
The Housing Authority's (HA) Commercial Properties Committee (CPC) on Tuesday approved new arrangements for tenants affected by the clearance of Kwun Tong Factory Estate. Secretary for Economic Development and Labor Stephen Ip Shu-kwan on Tuesday said more talks were planned with travel industry members and tour guides to resolve the controversy of "zero charge tours". China and Hong Kong face a shortage of skilled professional information technology workers that along with similar shortfalls across Asia could derail economic development across the region, according to a study.
Two senior managers at China Eastern Airlines, one of the country's three leading carriers, had been detained by authorities in Shanghai for unspecified wrongdoing, an official said on Tuesday.
China has punished 17,505 officials this year on corruption charges, and its top prosecutor has warned that the rule of law could be in danger if graft isn’t stamped out, a government news agency said on Tuesday. Chinese shares closed sharply higher on Tuesday, adding 2.61 per cent in a technical rebound from losses sustained on Monday as fresh funds came into the market for heavyweight blue chips and banks, dealers said. Wal-Mart Stores and General Electric's finance arm were joining the race for a share of China's growing consumer credit market by launching their own credit card this week, a Wal-Mart spokesman said on Tuesday. Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), China's biggest microchip maker, is considering whether to sell shares in its profitable Shanghai business for a listing in the city's A-share market next year or wait until the end of 2008 to list the entire group in the mainland, president and chief executive Richard Chang Ru-gin said. Oct 24, 2006
Discontented tour guides who complain about being made scapegoats as confidence in the tourism industry plummets have been told to "take a good look at themselves" before trying to "shift responsibility." Hundreds of thousands of smokers are now more willing to quit the habit following last week's passage of the anti- smoking bill into law, according to a Hong Kong University survey. Hong Kong residents assigned to mainland posts have seen their salaries increase by 20 to 30 percent this year, while their counterparts in Hong Kong received only a modest 3 percent rise, according to a human resources study. The government was set to commission an independent software asset management (SAM) contractor to provide free consultancy services to firms, Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology Joseph Wong Wing-ping said.
China BlueChemical (3983) said it will consider merging with China National Chemical Construction Corporation after its parent China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC Group) confirmed it will acquire the state-owned company at no cost to strengthen its fertilizer and petrochemical businesses. Beijing-based Dazhong Electronics - the mainland's fifth-largest electrical appliances retailer - said Monday it is seeking arbitration from a Chinese trade panel to terminate a cooperation agreement with China Paradise Electronics (0503) since the latter has been taken over by industry leader Gome (0493).
China's rulers are now beginning to embrace religion in efforts to build a fairer society but the persecution of religious groups remains a worry, the head of the world's Anglican Church said. Wrapping up a rare two-week visit, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said Monday that China is in the middle of a "watershed moment" with many people looking to religion amid huge economic and social changes. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is set to reap a record US$22 billion (HK$172 billion) bonanza after pricing its much-anticipated initial public offering at the top end of expectations on Monday. The European Union warned China on Monday that it must redouble market reform efforts and its commitment to economic openness or face a protectionist backlash. This year's Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus yesterday called for the mainland to allow micro-credit institutions to take deposits and described a recent experiment to develop China's version of Grameen Bank as "cutting one leg off before it starts to run". Oct 23, 2006
The government will spend HK$12.6 million to buy 36 fuel-inefficient luxury saloons, even as environment chiefs said yesterday that most of the official fleet of 1,071 cars will be replaced by environmentally friendly vehicles by 2014. K Wah International, a developer run by Galaxy Entertainment Group chairman Lui Che-woo, has triggered the auction of a Kowloon Tong luxury residential site with a HK$1.1 billion bid. A bill outlawing idling engines could be presented to the Legislative Council as early as March if there is a favourable response in a public consultation, the transport minister said yesterday. A day after heated debates on two controversial motions, lawmakers and government officials put aside their differences yesterday to wish Donald Tsang Yam-kuen happy birthday. And as they tucked into the traditional dessert chu bao - a symbol of long life - the chief executive said his birthday wish was not to make legislators angry.
Hong Kong-listed TCL Multimedia Technology Holdings and TCL Communication Technology Holdings have returned to profit in the third quarter, while their parent company TCL Corp predicted a full-year loss. The popular United States-based video-sharing website YouTube has deleted nearly 30,000 files over copyright concerns after being asked by a group representing Japan's entertainment industry.
IOC President Jacques Rogge arrived in Beijing Saturday afternoon, beginning a five-day inspection tour of the host city of the 2008 Olympic Games.
China's first airport-based bonded logistics center will begin operation in the first quarter of next year and is expected to make Beijing an important Northeast Asian air cargo transportation hub.
Economists have warned of the danger of a rebound in capital investment and predict the central government will continue to steer the same macroeconomic course despite data suggesting a moderation of economic growth in the past quarter. With less than two years to go before the Beijing Olympics, China is still vulnerable to security challenges with widespread discontent, environmental disasters and disease outbreaks posing threats to the country's showcase events and projects such as the Three Gorges Dam, according to mainland scholars and officials. The estuaries of two of China's major waterways, the Yangtze and Pearl Rivers, have been declared marine "dead zones" as the United Nations warns that the number of such sites around the world is on the rise. China Mobile (Hong Kong), the world's largest wireless carrier in subscriber terms, said nine-month profit rose 25 per cent, driven by better average spending by users and higher data contribution amid a less competitive operating environment. China Telecom Corp, the larger of the country's two fixed-line operators, posted an 8 per cent drop in third-quarter profit from the previous quarter due to tough competition from mobile phone operators and higher operating expenses. China Cinda Asset Management and China Orient Asset Management, two of the five firms set up by Beijing to clear state-owned banks' bad debt, will for the first time be able to securitise their non-performing loans for sale to mainland investors, according to a senior banking government official. Oct 20 - 22, 2006
Thirty people, including 19 employees of Centaline Property Agency, have been arrested in the past three days for allegedly violating the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance in connection with property transactions, the Independent Commission Against Corruption confirmed Wednesday. Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp will become the first bank in Hong Kong to launch online money transfer services to India, acting as one of the agents to channel some of the US$23 billion (HK$179.4 billion) worth of funds flowing into India annually. Legislators have overwhelmingly passed the controversial anti-smoking bill banning smoking in all indoor workplaces and restaurants and selected outdoor areas such as parks and beaches after a marathon nine-hour debate. A Hong Kong man and his Japanese wife, who punished their 10-year-old boy by locking him in a hard-shell suitcase for two hours, have been sentenced to 18 months and two years jail, respectively, for manslaughter. Six environmental concern groups in Hong Kong on Thursday signed a joint statement opposing plans to build a liquified natural gas processing plant on the Soko Islands. Competition in Macau's burgeoning gaming sector is expected to heat up on Thursday as new casino StarWorld Hotel opens in the city that could soon overtake Las Vegas as the world's gaming capital. The HK$3 billion StarWorld, owned by Hong Kong's Galaxy Entertainment Group, features a 34-story hotel offering 500 rooms. It also boasts an outdoor pool, a modern exterior with a huge LED wall that lights up the whole building's exterior at night, and a casino with 300 gaming tables and 371 slot machines. StarWorld's opening follows hot on the heels of two casino openings in Macau last month. The HK$3.2 billion Grand Waldo Casino and Hotel - also owned by Galaxy - debuted on September 29, weeks after Las Vegas gambling tycoon Stephen Wynn threw open the doors to his Wynn Macau, a lavish US$1.2 billion (HK$9.4 billion) resort. StarWorld is Galaxy's fifth casino in Macau, marking the group's increasing presence in the territory's crowded gaming sector. The current gaming market is dominated by tycoon Stanley Ho Hung-sun's gambling flagship, followed by Las Vegas magnate Sheldon Adelson's Sands Macau casino.
The country's first experimental fast nuclear reactor will begin trials in 2010, said Kang Rixin, general manager of China National Nuclear Corporation. The argument by American scholar Lester Brown that China would become a hungry dinosaur, triggering a global food crisis in 2030, appears weak on Monday - the 26th World Food Day - given China has emerged as the world's third largest food donor. China's fixed asset investment rose to 7.19 trillion yuan (899.3 billion U.S. dollars) in the first nine months of this year, up by 27.3 percent from the same period last year. Gome Electrical Appliances Holdings Ltd said Wednesday its 5.27 billion-HK-dolar (675 million U.S. dollars) takeover offer was accepted by China Paradise Electronics Retail Ltd.
Chinese financial regulators might lift a moratorium on new foreign investment in securities brokerages in the second half of next year, an official newspaper said on Thursday. Oct 19, 2006
The Planning Department has rolled out a major reworking of its plans for the old Kai Tak airport site, consolidating a block of luxury hotels near the runway's two planned cruise terminals and drawing up plans for an eight-station monorail linking the tourist hub with neighboring Kwun Tong. Financial Secretary Henry Tang Ying- yen, whose goods and services tax proposal faces almost certain defeat in the Legislative Council today, has made a last-ditch effort to save his proposal, asking legislators not to terminate consultations on the controversial levy six months ahead of schedule. The wage protection movement to help cleaners and security guards, proposed by the chief executive in his policy address last week, got off to a flying start Tuesday with four major business groups and an employers' association pledging support for the voluntary campaign. Secretary for Economic Development and Labour Stephen Ip Shu-kwan Tuesday called on the Travel Industry Council to be tough and take swift action to discipline unscrupulous tour operators who jeopardize Hong Kong's reputation as a tourist destination.
Taiwan is investigating the trading of shares in one of the island's banks just before Standard Chartered announced it was planning to buy the financial institution, a senior prosecutor said on Wednesday.
The China joint ventures of Hyundai Motor and Ford Motor have recalled 151,397 locally made cars due to mechanical faults. US retail giant Wal-Mart appears to be rethinking its "pile it high, sell it cheap" philosophy in China at least with the billion-dollar purchase of a community supermarket chain. The central banks of China and Indonesia have signed a third currency swap arrangement under the Chiang Mai Initiative, according to a joint statement issued on Tuesday. China will blacklist the producers and distributors of spy software, or spyware, in a bid to safeguard Internet safety, Wednesday People's Daily reported. Shares of Guangzhou Shipyard (0317) soared to a record high after the company said it expects third-quarter net profit to increase sixfold year on year, thanks to higher gross margin and sales volume. A range of mainland banks have suspended or restricted transactions with North Korea following United Nations sanctions imposed against Pyongyang for its nuclear test. MTV and search engine Baidu.com Tuesday unveiled a venture to distribute music videos by Internet in China, boosting the music video channel's exposure in a market where regulation has limited its presence. Three former top executives of China Southern Airlines, one of the nation's leading carriers, have gone on trial in a massive graft case involving up to 1.25 billion yuan (HK$1.2 billion), press reports said on Wednesday.
China is expected to sign a multinational treaty next month on developing what is hoped will be a highly efficient form of nuclear energy, accelerating its search for alternative sources to meet its voracious demand for energy. Shanghai Electric Group, one of the city's biggest industrial groups, on Wednesday said several executives are under investigation for allegedly violating Communist Party rules, the latest reported suspects in a widening corruption scandal. Oct 18, 2006
Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing (0388) said Monday it granted a waiver to Industrial and Commercial Bank of China allowing warrants on the stock to be traded on the day ICBC shares begin trading on the main board, the first such arrangement aimed at increasing transparency in over-the-counter trading.
Total land income has reached HK$27 billion in the current fiscal year, not far short of the government's full-year target of HK$30.5 billion, as higher revenues from private treaty grants and lease modifications helped offset lower proceeds from land auctions. New government proposals to promote development of the local insurance industry, contained in Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen's policy address last week, have been criticized by legislator Bernard Chan Chi-sze as a reiteration of earlier policies. A local tourist guide has been given a two-week ban, and a travel agency issued with a warning letter after a group of mainland tourists complained they were left unattended for not making sufficient purchases at a shop. Financial Secretary Henry Tang Ying- yen has introduced three sweeteners to the proposed goods and services tax ahead of what is expected to be a hot debate on the issue at the Legislative Council tomorrow. He told a media briefing Monday the government is prepared to consider exemptions on public transport and medical services, and subsidies on primary and secondary school fees, which would reduce projected revenue by up to HK$1.4 billion a year. Tang also suggested the government might consider a progressive tax on luxury goods. He also said political parties were keen to make suggestions that would increase the expenditure of different sectors but seldom raised proposals to boost income. "One should not turn a blind eye to the narrow tax base problem and keep opposing the tax reform without making constructive suggestions," Tang said. His sweeteners came just one day after Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Frederick Ma Si-hang accused lawmakers of being "short- sighted" and irresponsible in blocking the proposed levy. "As mature political parties, they should offer some counterproposals when opposing the government's initiatives," Tang said. He also rolled out the income and expenditure checklist, seen as a further attempt to get support: A HK$5.2 billion revenue cut if the salary tax is returned to the 2003/2003 level. HK$2.4 billion in annual expenditure if the government is to implement small class teaching, reducing class sizes from the current 30 plus to 25. HK$8 billion annual expenditure to increase the tertiary education admission rate from the current 18 percent to more than 30 percent. A total cost of HK$50 billion on medical bills in 2023. Tang said he would also consider the non-GST options such as increases in salary tax and profit tax and the introduction of a green tax. The GST proposal suggests a 5 percent levy on goods and services. The government originally estimated it could earn HK$20 billion from the tax. Tang said that over the past 13 weeks of consultation, the government had received 1,300 submissions with more than 50 percent agreeing the current tax base is narrow though they did not necessarily accept the new levy. Tang said the public does not oppose discussion on the levy. However, representatives from the Democratic Party, the Liberal Party and the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong said Monday they are not convinced and will not change their opposition to the GST. The Liberal Party's Vincent Fang Kang argued the exemption is "a piecemeal sweetener" and he insisted the GST would ruin the business environment and increase the burden on the general public. Liberal Party leader James Tien Pei- chun said this is not the time to ask the question: "Where does the money come from?" Tien said: "This question comes when the government is suffering financial hardship. We have a lot of money [with HK$1.15 trillion in the reserve fund] and we should not have to worry about this question." Tien urged the government to return some of the surplus money to the public before asking them for more. DAB's Chan Kam-lam said he fears the proposed exemptions would increase the GST administration fee and that the government would not gain much eventually. The Democratic Party's Yeung Sum, who is tabling a motion on the tax, said the opposition is against the GST as it would widen the wealth gap. Democratic Party lawmaker Sin Chung-kai said: "After the exemptions and the concessions, there will not be much left, so why bother with the levy?" The Independent Commission Against Corruption was investigating a number of Centaline staff members over alleged corruption, the property agency's chairman Shih Wing-ching confirmed on Tuesday afternoon.
China Southern Airlines (1055), the mainland's largest carrier in terms of fleet size, plans to purchase 12 new passenger and freight aircraft in a deal worth nearly US$1 billion (HK$7.8 billion), according to a market source. A prominent Shanghai businessman implicated in a corruption scandal that toppled the city's top leader has been removed from a government advisory post, the China News Service said Monday. Zhang Rongkun, chairman of privately held Fuxi Investment Holding and former director of state-run Shanghai Electric Group, is under investigation for fraud and thus is no longer qualified to be a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. It said the CPPCC, an advisory group that works in parallel with the national legislature, formally removed Zhang as a member during a meeting earlier Monday. Zhang was reported by Forbes financial magazine to be China's 16th- wealthiest businessman in 2005. Shanghai courts froze the assets of Fuxi Investment Holding, a company controlled by Zhang that holds shares in Shanghai Electric, amid allegations Fuxi used funds illicitly loaned by a city pension fund to buy toll roads and other assets. Last month, Shanghai's Communist Party secretary and top leader Chen Liangyu was ousted in connection with the scandal, which has widened to include several prominent businessmen and an unknown number of senior city officials. China's wealthiest lavished 500 million yuan (HK$493 million) on Hennessy XO spirits, Porsche sedans, South African diamonds and other luxury goods during a show in Shanghai, double the value of transactions a year ago.
Oct 17, 2006
The central government will give higher priority to helping yuan business develop further in Hong Kong. Premier Wen Jiabao made the promise at a closed-door meeting with Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen before the opening ceremony of the 100th Chinese Export Commodities Fair in Guangzhou, Tsang's spokesman, Andy Ho On-tat, said Sunday night. Vice Premier Wu Yi, Commerce Minister Bo Xilai, Macau Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau-wah, Guangdong party secretary Zhang Dejiang and provincial governor Huang Huahua were also at the meeting. Andy Ho said the premier was positive about Hong Kong's general situation. Tsang had used the opportunity to ask if yuan business could be further developed in Hong Kong - an issue the chief executive took up at length in his policy address last week. According to Ho, Wen replied that Beijing would speed up dealing with the matter. At the opening ceremony, Wen drew on the Guangzhou fair - the country's largest trade expo - to encourage more "two-way" investments between mainland and foreign companies while emphasizing the country's commitment to market reforms. In a speech launching what is also known as the Canton Fair, Wen said China will continue to abide by World Trade Organization rules to pursue a more open market and protect intellectual property. He also announced that next year, the fair will be renamed the Chinese Import and Export Commodities Fair in order to recharacterize the event and encourage more imports in a bid to balance its trade surplus, one of the issues that causes tensions with the US administration. Mainland businessmen, however, are raising export quotations and fearing loss of business because of the government's attempts to address the trade surplus, according to Beijing- based journal Economic Observer. More than 14,000 companies with a record 31,408 standard booths are participating in the Guangzhou fair, which takes place every spring and autumn. China's downward adjustment of export rebates, a move seen as an attempt to appease American critics of its trade surplus, has caused mainland businessmen to raise quotations on their products by 3 percent to 5 percent at the Canton Fair, according to the Economic Observer. Last month mainland exports exceeded imports with a record US$110.9 billion (HK$865.02 billion) for the first nine months, surpassing the US$102 billion surplus for the whole of last year. Private kindergartens have lashed out at Secretary for Education and Manpower Arthur Li Kwok- cheung for saying that many of them are below par, and warned they could be driven out of business unless they are subsidized by the government. Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Frederick Ma Si-hang has launched a scathing attack on political parties working against the proposed goods and services tax, accusing them of harboring political motives and being "short-sighted." The chief executive has outlined his strategy and specific measures to fight pollution in his policy address, promising carrots and sticks for everyone from the public to big industries, spurring them to put their acts together to clean up the environment on all fronts with special emphasis on air quality.
Asia had become the driving force behind demand for mobile music services which would make up for lost revenue by telecom firms in their voice-only services, United States recording label Warner Music said on Monday.
More foreign venture capital will pour into China's promising high and new technology industries in the coming five to ten years. China's State Council, or the cabinet, has decided to send six teams of officials to 12 provinces to assess their performance in halting illicit investment projects.
China's national drug watchdog hasrevoked Anhui Huayuan Worldbest Biology Pharmacy Co.'s production license for injections and dismissed the company's top management. China's richest rural areas are concentrated in the coastal Pearl River and Yangtze River deltas, according to the latest ranking of the nation's top 1,000 towns.
PetroChina, the country’s largest integrated oil firm by capacity, on Monday said output rose 5.8 per cent in the first nine months of the year as the country’s robust demand for natural gas cushioned the company’s slower crude oil output growth. Oct 16, 2006
Hong Kong's jobless rate for July to September is likely to have dropped to a five-year low of 4.7 percent as economic growth and strong domestic consumption continued to create employment, economists and analysts said. Cambodian casino operator NagaCorp will price its Hong Kong initial public offering in the middle of the indicative range even though retail investor demand for the issue has been high. Government contractors will from Saturday be required to purchase bonds or bank guarantees of up to 10 percent of the contract value to cover unpaid wages in the event of companies going into liquidation, it was announced Friday. The government is considering the use of medical vouchers for health care, but the scheme might not cover all services, the health minister said yesterday. Profit-making preschools yesterday formed an alliance to fight for the right to be included in a voucher scheme introduced by the chief executive in last week's policy address. Customs has developed state-of-the-art software to monitor and track down copyright pirates on the internet. Jointly developed with University of Hong Kong software engineers, the program automatically tracks suspicious activities that may involve uploading and downloading. The organisation that runs English Premier League football matches has invited bids for a three-year contract to carry live matches starting next year, triggering what could be a bidding war between rival pay-television operators PCCW Now TV and i-Cable Communications for one of the most valuable franchises in local television.
Russia could wrap up talks with the United States on its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in two weeks, Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref said on Friday.
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Hong Kong:
A who's who of Hong Kong's political
power players has stepped forward to pay tribute to Henry Fok Ying-tung, one of
the territory's most important ties to the mainland and a local symbol of
loyalty to China and rags-to-riches prosperity. Fok, who for more than a decade
served as one of Hong Kong's highest ranking representatives in Beijing, died
Saturday night at Peking Union Medical College, where he was being treated for
cancer. He was 83. His body is expected to be returned to Hong Kong as early as
tomorrow, and the stature of the committee overseeing Fok's funeral arrangements
- rumored to be headed by high-level state leader Wang Zhongyu - suggests Fok's
farewell will be on a par with that of Ann Tse-kai. Like Fok, Ann served as a
vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political
Consultative Conference. At his funeral in 2000, Ann's coffin was draped in the
national flag and was surrounded by wreaths from Beijing's top brass, including
then-leader Jiang Zemin. The mainland's state media organization Sunday called
Fok "a renowned patriot" and "a close friend of the Communist Party of China."
News of Fok's death sent ripples through the upper tiers of Hong Kong's
political class and left many observers with a sense that an important era in
Hong Kong's relations with Beijing had ended. One of Hong Kong's most powerful
men, Fok first made his name as a businessman in the 1950s and 1960s, staking
his claim in the local real-estate boom and in Macau's blossoming casino
industry before turning his gaze northward to the mainland. As he broke ground
in the 1970s with investments in the mainland, his political influence grew. He
was named a member of the CPPCC in 1980, and was elevated to vice chairman in
1993 - a position he held until his death. Timothy Fok Tsun-ting, Fok's eldest
son, appeared shaken during brief interviews with the press in Beijing Sunday.
"It all happened rather suddenly," said Fok, a legislator who, like his father,
is also a member of the CPPCC. He added that many friends and national leaders
had come to visit his father over the past month. "Those visits brought him
comfort," said Fok, wearing sunglasses and visibly restraining his emotions.
Family members, he added, were at his father's side during his last moments.
Both Timothy Fok and second son Ian Fok Chun-wan were in Beijing to be with
their father. Timothy Fok said the original intention had been to conduct a
simple ceremony in Beijing - where his father had built many friendships. But
plans for that memorial have since been scrapped to return the body to Hong Kong
as soon as possible. Ian Fok said a service would likely be held at the Hong
Kong Funeral Home in North Point.
Deputy Director of Health Leung
Ting-hung and windsurfing star Lee Lai-san, who has been appointed a smoke-free
ambassador by the Department of Health, distribute pamphlets about the coming
anti-smoking law at a Chinese restaurant in Mong Kok yesterday.
China:
China's foreign exchange reserves
look set to hit the US$1 trillion mark at the end of this month or beginning of
November. But as the figure rises, so does the debate over how to best manage
it.
Workers prepare the venue of a summit
in Nanning, Guangxi, where Premier Wen Jiabao and the 10 leaders of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations are expected to underline their
commitment to creating a huge free-trade zone by 2010. The two-day summit marks
the 15th anniversary of dialogue relations.
Soliders rehearse an honor guard for
today's China-Asean summit, at which Premier Wen Jiabao will meet leaders from
10 nations. Chinese and Southeast Asian leaders will underline at a two-day
summit starting today their commitment to creating a giant free-trade zone by
2010, according to a draft statement seen yesterday.
Shares in Industrial and
Commercial Bank of China (1398), which raised about US$22 billion (HK$171.6
billion) in the world's largest initial public offering, surged on their Hong
Kong trading debut Friday. Its H shares opened at HK$3.60 and hit an intraday
high of HK$3.63, before closing at HK$3.52, nearly 14.66 percent above the IPO
price of HK$3.07. Meanwhile on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the lender's A
shares closed at 3.28 yuan (HK$3.23), up 5 percent from the offering's 3.12
yuan. A shares opened at 3.4 yuan. Analysts said they remain bullish about the
stock's upside potential in the medium to long term. "A 15 percent rise for the
first trading day is already very impressive," said an equity broker at a US
securities house. "If you believe China's economy will be boosted, then you will
believe ICBC will have upside potential of 20 percent more than its listing
price." During ICBC's local listing ceremony, bank chairman Jiang Jianqing said
the company aims to deliver "rich dividends" to investors. In their Hong Kong
debut, ICBC shares were heavily traded, as 10.63 billion shares changed hands
with dollar volume totaling HK$37.45 billion, representing nearly half of
Friday's market turnover of HK$76.17 billion. On the flip side, ICBC's peers
experienced falls of 1.5 percent to 3 percent in their share prices. China
Construction Bank (0939) closed at HK$3.52, down 3.02 percent; China Merchants
Bank (3968) closed at HK$11.82, down 2.64 percent; while Bank of Communications
(3328), and Bank of China (3988) fell 2.02 percent and 1.47 percent, closing at
HK$5.82 and HK$3.34, respectively. Merrill Lynch, ICBC's global coordinator, and
other bookrunners dominated share transactions Friday. Brokers said Merrill
Lynch and Credit Suisse, one of five bookrunners, were the major buyers and
sellers, with Merrill Lynch accounting for nearly 35 percent of ICBC's turnover.
"This is the world's largest IPO with the biggest ever subscription rate," said
Damian Chunilal, president of Pacific Rim Global Markets & Investment Banking at
Merrill Lynch. A US fund manager said: "Many investors are holding the stock for
a longer term because they have confidence in the bank, as it is the largest
lender in the fastest- growing economy. "People are also buying the stock
because many of them are speculating on the prospects of the yuan and the future
of China's economy." An analyst from the investment arm of an European bank
said: "Investors would not be disappointed if they were expecting a rise as high
as that of China Merchants Bank." China Merchants leaped 24.91 percent on its
first trading day September 22 to HK$10.68, up from its IPO price of HK$8.55.
A lawmaker has called
on the government to either take over or replace the operator of the Ngong Ping
360 cable car system, saying its frequent interruptions of service are hurting
Hong Kong's tourism image. The call by the Democratic Party's Andrew Cheng
Kar-foo, chairman of the Legislative Council's transport panel, followed a
four-hour service suspension Friday that affected more than 200 passengers. It
was the longest of eight suspensions that have been recorded since the new
tourist attraction was opened on September 18. "Public confidence in the Ngong
Ping 360 cable car service is already at a red light," Cheng said. "The
government should seriously consider whether it needs to replace, or even take
over the management, as the service has reached a level that is unacceptable to
the public and to tourists." 
Award-winning chef Feng Yongbo shows
off his culinary skills with this fried Daliang milk dish yesterday at the
Chinese Cuisine Training Institute in Pok Fu Lam. The dish was among others he
showed to promote the cuisine of his home town Shunde, a city in Guangdong
province.
European plane maker Airbus and French
engineering and utility firms landed deals worth more than US$10 billion (HK$78
billion) in Beijing as China rolled out the red carpet for French President
Jacques Chirac.
French President Jacques Chirac,
leading a business contingent on a four-day visit, is accompanied on his arrival
at Beijing airport yesterday by Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing. Mr Chirac said the
2008 Olympics would put the spotlight on human rights in China. Airbus on
Thursday scored a Chinese order of 150 A320 aircraft and finalised an agreement
to set up a plant in China as part of a deal bonanza unleashed by French
President Jacques Chirac's visit to Beijing.
The successful
bidder for the two-berth cruise terminal at the old Kai Tak airport site will
have the right to operate the terminal and its supporting facilities for 50
years, at a total cost of HK$2.4 billion. The Economic Development and Labour
Bureau Tuesday announced its decision to surrender the 7.6-hectare site to the
private sector, saying it would be better suited to developing a competitive,
world-class terminal in a short period of time. If all goes well, the successful
bidder could be reaping between HK$1.2 billion and HK$2.4 billion a year by
2020, the bureau estimated. The new terminal could also help create up to 10,900
new jobs by the same year. Citing time pressure, bureau secretary Stephen Ip
Shu-kwan said the government will invite tenders for the site in the fourth
quarter of 2007, with the aim of awarding the tender in the first quarter of
2008. The successful bidder is then expected to complete construction on at
least one of the two 400-meter-long cruise berths by 2012. The berths must be
able to accommodate "mega" vessels weighing up to 100,000 tons - a limit that
will still rule out many of the industry's newer cruise ships. A third cruise
berth, while also in the government plans, will undergo a separate tender
exercise sometime "further down the road." "All along, the tourism sector has
expressed concern about the provision of cruise facilities in Hong Kong. We have
been approached by some of the largest cruise companies in the world," Ip said
during a press conference Tuesday. "The sooner the first berth is built, the
better. If it can be done before 2012, that is even better." The bidder will be
limited to 50,000 square meters of gross floor area for the development of the
terminal and any accompanying retail facilities, which can be built in phases.
The bidder must also build requisite ticketing, security, customs and baggage
facilities. The bureau estimates site formation will cost HK$1.3 billion and
berth construction about HK$300 million.
The financial secretary yesterday
held out the possibility of more relief for poor people if a goods and services
tax is introduced. Renewing his campaign to gain support for the tax - in the
face of a Legislative Council motion overwhelmingly rejecting it - Henry Tang
Ying-yen said subsidies set out in the original proposal for low-income people
could be increased. Speaking after a tax reform forum, the finance chief also
said the government was prepared to broaden the debate to cover alternatives
raised by opponents of a GST. These include discussing the feasibility of
widening the tax base by introducing progressive profits tax rates. Other
options included a capital gains tax and dividends tax. But Mr Tang insisted
that a GST remained the best way forward. The government, he said, was
considering a mid-term summary on the consultation before it closes in March.
The government estimates a 5 per cent GST will generate net additional revenue
of HK$20 billion a year. Low-income households may be compensated with annual
subsidies worth HK$5,500. Asked if the government would consider raising the
proposed subsidies to ease public opposition, Mr Tang said: "Certainly. We have
repeatedly stressed that what we have proposed is not cast in stone. "Our first
priority is to ensure the standard of living of low-income earners will be
protected." He also hit out at critics for making "biased and misleading"
remarks, after some claimed a GST would aggravate the problem of a widening
wealth gap. "Those who have higher purchasing power spend more and end up paying
more," he told the forum. 
The football World Cup this year
drove up illegal connections of pay TV. The Satellite and Cable Broadcasting
Association for Asia said piracy in Hong Kong will cost broadcasters US$32
million this year while in Asia, excluding Japan and mainland China, the cost
will be US$1.13 billion. 
Freshmen at the Special
Police College in Beijing are put through strenuous muscle-building exercises
during a week-long drill. The new recruits must complete 25 difficult tasks
during the week with less that 45 hours of rest, to ready them for their role in
combating terrorism.
A pregnant woman presses a Mark Six ticket she has just bought at a Wan Chai
Jockey Club outlet on her stomach, hoping her baby will bring her luck in
tonight's draw, with a first prize as high as HK$65 million. Tonight's
first-prize jackpot includes HK$50 million carried over from previous draws.
Members of a special forces squad
from the paramilitary police storm a China Eastern Airlines plane during a
simulation exercise to prepare for a terrorist hijacking at Lukou International
Airport in Nanjing, Jiangsu province.
New Securities and Futures Commission
non-executive chairman Eddy Fong Ching meets the press on his first day in the
post, when he agreed it was time to review the vetting system for new listings.
Li Zhaoxing greets Condoleezza Rice in Beijing yesterday. The US secretary of
state stood firm on financial sanctions against North Korea.
China's austerity measures have failed
to curtail the expansion plans of Shui On Land (0272) as the developer prepares
to put 86 homes with a cumulative price tag of 400 million yuan (HK$393 million)
on sale Sunday.
A massive investigation of
corruption in Shanghai has spread to the sporting world, implicating the host of
the city's Formula One Grand Prix. Yu Zhifei, general manager of Shanghai
International Circuit, was "assisting investigations" into a scandal involving
the city's social security system and breaches of rules in running his company,
the official Shanghai Securities News reported. The Chinese Grand Prix, last
held early this month, is staged with government support on a US$350 million
(HK$2.73 billion) track outside Shanghai that is operated by Shanghai
International Circuit. Senior officials of the company declined to comment on
the report. A team of more than 100 investigators is probing suspicions some of
Shanghai's social security funds, which total over 10 billion yuan (HK$9.84
billion), were siphoned off in illicit loans and investments. The scandal has
implicated at least 10 city officials and businessmen, including the head of
Shanghai's Communist Party Chen Liangyu, who was dismissed late last month. Yu,
54, is a flamboyant figure who moved from running a small manufacturing firm to
controlling a Shanghai soccer club before he took the racing job. He brought
Manchester United to Shanghai to play against his club in 1999. The newspaper
said Shanghai's holding of the Formula One race in future would not be
jeopardized by the scandal. Authorities postponed summoning Yu for questioning
until after this year's race to avoid affecting it.
A laborer works at a construction
site in Haikou, Hainan. China says it will continue to rein in the property
market despite a slowdown in the sector. 
A fence goes up around 15
seven-storey residential blocks at the city's oldest public housing estate
yesterday as it is closed off ahead of demolition. A dozen onlookers, mainly
elderly residents who have been given a two-week grace period before they must
leave, came to watch the barriers go up around the 53-year-old Shek Kip Mei
Estate.
Martial arts practitioners perform at
the second World Traditional Wushu Festival yesterday in Zhengzhou, Henan
province. More than 1,900 competitors from 66 countries and regions were to
compete in four martial arts events during the five-day festival, which started
on Saturday. Chen Guorong, of the Chinese Wushu Association, said the martial
art would probably appear during the 2008 Beijing Olympics as a demonstration
sport.
Percussionist Lung Heung-wing
demonstrates his drum kit - cobbled together from household items - before
performing at a concert at the University of Hong Kong yesterday as part of the
global Stand Up Against Poverty campaign. The campaign called on people around
the world to stand up for one minute to raise awareness of poverty.
Interpreters wait for business
outside the 100th Chinese Export Commodities Fair in Guangzhou. The fair will
add the word "import" to its name in the spring as a gesture of China's efforts
to attain balanced trade with partners, Premier Wen Jiabao said at the weekend.
Investors pick up ICBC initial public offering applications and prospectuses in
Kwun Tong as people across Hong Kong flock to try for a slice of the action in
what is likely to be the world's biggest IPO. Thousands of people across Hong
Kong flocked to banks on Monday in a rush to buy into what could be the world's
largest initial public offering from Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.
A heavy pollution haze hangs over the
Victoria Harbour skyline yesterday. Chief Executive Donald Tsang says the
reality is "that we will not see major improvements for a few more years yet".
Overseas buyers crowd into the
Bazhou exhibition hall in Guangzhou yesterday at the opening of the 15-day fair.
China will rename its oldest trade fair as a gesture to reflect its efforts to
attain balanced trade with its partners, Premier Wen Jiabao said yesterday as he
officiated at a ceremony marking the 100th consecutive session of the Chinese
Export Commodities Fair.
Laborers move sacks of grain at a food
processing factory on the outskirts of Wuhu, Anhui province. China's grain
output is expected to rise for the third consecutive year to more than 490
million tons, according to the State Grain and Oil Information Centre.
Oct 15, 2006
