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Dec 29, 2006 - January 4, 2007 Happy New Year
Hong Kong Consumer Council chief executive Pamela Chan Wong-shui is to receive an international award for her contribution to Hong Kong consumers' welfare and China's consumer movement, the American Council on Consumer Interests said.
Unabated desire for mainland financial and telecom stocks pushed up the Shanghai bourse and consequently the H-share index in Hong Kong, but analysts say both fund managers and retail investors have been too carried away to notice the looming risk of a stock market bubble. Dec 28, 2006
CITIC Pacific (0267) has agreed to purchase the remaining 10 percent stake in Shanghai CITIC Square from Swire Pacific (0019) for HK$280 million, giving it 100 percent control of the commercial project in China's largest city. The strength of China's A-share market looks set to spur mainland shares listed in Hong Kong to outperform blue chips, but in the wake of the low offer price range set by China Life (2628) for its A-share listing, the insurer's stock may suffer an initial setback. China Overseas Land and Investment (0688), the Hong Kong-listed flagship development arm of the mainland's construction ministry, has acquired a property management business from its parent for 128 million yuan (HK$127.35 million) to boost the value of its development projects. London-based Standard Chartered (2888), which derives 90 percent of its earnings from Asia, Africa and the Middle East, plans to expand its coverage in China by doubling the number of its outlets to 44 in 18 months, according to mainland weekly newspaper The Economic Observer.
A tycoon who heads China's largest private oil group has been detained on suspicion of embezzling 1 billion yuan (HK$994.2 million) in private and government funds, media reported Tuesday. Two managers of a China power generating company have been sacked for lax supervision that led to a diesel spill that polluted the Yangtze River and hit water supplies, state media said Tuesday. Consumer electronics retailer Best Buy is opening its first outlet in China, teaming up with a local partner to tackle the hyper-competitive market for gadgets and appliances. Nation to focus on key resources to support growth - China will strengthen its exploration of key resources like oil, gas and coal to support its growth, a senior official said yesterday. Vice-Premier Zeng Peiyan said the country's exploration work of mineral resources achieved new progress with a number of large oil and gas fields found in recent years. He was addressing the 25th session of National People's Congress's 10th Standing Committee yesterday, at which a work report on the subject was tabled for discussion. Eight large-scale oil fields with proven reserves of more than 100 million tons have been discovered, in Tahe, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and Penglai in East China's Shandong Province. Five gasfields, with an estimated reserve of more than 100 billion cubic metres, were discovered in Puguang in the Sichuan Province, and Sulige in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. A series of large and medium size non-ferrous mines have been found in west China. And the net increase of the newly discovered coal reserves was 18.8 billion tons in the 10th Five-Year Plan period (2000-05). Zeng said the country has increased construction speed of energy bases. Oil and gas development bases have been set up in Tarim, Xinjiang and Bohai Bay, and coal bases in Shanxi, Inner Mongolia and Shaanxi Provinces. The country's output of coal and iron ore has doubled compared with five years ago. About 155 aircraft will be delivered to China next year as the country's airlines expand their fleets, a top official said yesterday. Twenty-five aircraft will be taken out of service. The airlines, combined, will have a fleet of more than 1,000 aircraft next year. Meanwhile, 26 billion yuan (US$3.25 billion) will be invested in the civil aviation infrastructure next year, said Yang Yuanyuan, head of the General Administration of Civil Aviation (CAAC) at a two-day working conference in Beijing yesterday. The money will be used to build and expand 33 airports. "The ongoing expansion of the Beijing Capital International Airport will be the most important project next year," Yang said. So far, the concrete structure of the third terminal at the airport has been completed at a cost of 21 billion yuan (US$2.63 billion), he said. Yang also called for the speeding up of airport projects in Shanghai, Tianjin, Qingdao in Shandong, Shenyang in Liaoning and Qinhuangdao in Hebei, where the Olympic football preliminaries will be held. Next year the CAAC will also explore the possibility of building an energy-saving, environmental friendly, high-tech airport in Kunming, capital of Southwest China's Yunnan Province. China's auto part sector will see more overseas mergers and acquisitions in the years ahead, as more local manufacturers eye overseas, insiders predicted. China's threshold for investment in new auto projects is to rise to curb emerging overcapacity, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced on Tuesday. Renminbi savings in Chinese bank accounts are slowing, but economists hesitate to conclude that it will lead to increased domestic demand, believing the savings are shifting to the bullish stock market.
Dec 27, 2006
Regal REIT, a property trust spun off from Regal Hotels International (0078), has decided to shelve its initial public offering plan as the continuing lackluster performance of Sunlight REIT (0435) shows how little investors regard REITs as long-term holdings. China Life Insurance (2628), the first insurer to plan a listing in the mainland, has finished its price consultation and expects to set the range between 20 yuan and 24 yuan (HK$19.88 and HK$23.86) a share, fund managers said. The initial public offering market closed on a high heading into the Christmas break with a record HK$330 billion and a 35 percent surge by Ming An Holdings (1389) in its trading debut. Shares in Hutchison Telecommunications International Limited (2332), the emerging-markets mobile-phone firm controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, hit an all-time high of HK$19.08 Friday as reports Vodafone would bid for the Indian operations of the company sparked thoughts of a bidding war. Four men have earned the dubious distinction of being the first to be jailed in Hong Kong for butchering two dogs for food, after a judge sent them to prison for 30 days each. Curbing the influx of pregnant mainland women into Hong Kong will be high on the agenda when Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen meets tops officials during his duty visit to Beijing next week.
China Life Insurance Co, the country's largest life insurer, may raise as much as 28.3 billion yuan (US$3.6 billion) in a domestic stock offering after it set a lower than expected price range.
In a rare display of official tolerance, outspoken Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng was sentenced to three years in prison for subversion but execution of his sentence was suspended, meaning he could walk free. The mainland's richest people are earning on average about 18 times more than its poorest, and most mainlanders see themselves as being on the lower rungs of the income ladder, reports by a leading government think-tank show. The Shanghai-listed arm of Haier Group, the country's top home appliance maker, said yesterday it plans to grant stock options to select staff, joining a growing list of state firms to reward managers with shares. Dec 23 - 26, 2006 Merry Christmas
Despite softening economic data in China, the People's Bank of China may still raise interest rates next year to prevent excessive liquidity in the mainland stock market, said Dong Tao, Credit Suisse's chief economist for Asia, excluding Japan.
The Hong Kong Export Credit Insurance Corp has advised exporters to watch the operating performance of overseas buyers and closely monitor payment status in the post-Christmas period, in order to minimize the risk of non-payment. Television maker Skyworth Digital Holdings (0751) saw net profit surge more than 200 percent in its first half ended September 30, but its overall gross margin slipped slightly because of higher sales of liquid crystal display sets in China. Hong Kong is to introduce tough new measures to deter non-resident mothers from abusing the territory's maternity services, including almost doubling child delivery fees in public hospitals, and cracking down on defaulters.
Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam- kuen will use his annual duty visit to Beijing
next week to consult top state leaders on his blueprint governance proposals for
the next five years, and build up his links with the heads of mainland financial
and banking institutions. To improve safety for bush walkers and campers digital maps covered the most popular hiking trails in Hong Kong, the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) said on Friday. The Airport Authority will soon begin feasibility studies on building a third runway at Chek Lap Kok, according to a document outlining its 20-year vision released yesterday.
Chinese Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan said on Thursday the development of a recycling economy is the key link between saving resources and environmental protection. China's bullish stock market saw total market value hit a record high of eight trillion yuan (over one trillion U.S. dollars) on Dec. 20, making it the largest emerging stock market in the world. The Ford Motor Company expects Toyota of Japan to unseat it for good next year as the No. 2 company, behind General Motors, in the American car market, a position Ford has held since the 1920s. China Eastern Airlines has sacked a third senior manager for alleged corruption. The dismissal of Zhou Liguo follows the firing of two other deputy general managers who are being investigated by local authorities for alleged corruption. Zhou, deputy general manager, was removed from his post, the Shanghai-based company said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Wednesday, without revealing reasons. In October, deputy general managers Wu Jiuhong and Tong Guozhao were axed and probed on suspicion of taking bribes of more than 10 million yuan (US$1.28 million) at the airline's cargo division. The China Business News said yesterday that Zhou, former general manager of China Eastern, might be related to the corruption case and had been restricted from travelling abroad earlier, quoting unidentified sources. Zhou, also the chief economist of China Eastern, was originally a pilot. He joined the company in 1988 and served as general manager and deputy Party secretary of China Cargo Airlines between 2000 and 2003. The company refused to comment on the issue yesterday. China Eastern, the nation's third largest airline, is competing with two other major carriers Southern Airlines and Air China nationwide. It has witnessed frequent senior management changes in the past months. It nominated Fan Ru as deputy general manager in charge of flight business in August. One month earlier Cao Jianxiong had been appointed general manager when former executives Luo Chaogeng and Wan Mingwu were stripped of their duties. The frequent personnel replacements come on the heels of the airline's heavy losses between January and June. In August, the Shanghai-based carrier posted a net loss in the first half of 2006 of 1.46 billion yuan (US$187 million), while its fuel costs rocketed 86 per cent year-on-year on the back of rising fuel prices and an expansion of its fleet. Even though the company managed profits of 491 million yuan (US$63 million), it still reported a loss of 970 million yuan (US$124 million) for the first nine months of 2006, and estimated a negative growth for the whole year. To stave off the impact of soaring fuel prices, the cash-strapped company has gone as far as cutting the number of in-flight magazines to reduce redundant weight and save fuel. The company has also established an airline operations control (AOC) system to enhance overall efficiency. Other measures to cut costs include urging pilots to fly higher to reduce air pressure and to close down unnecessary equipment during flights. The company has also introduced an awards system to encourage staff to suggest cost-saving measures.
Brazilian and Chinese firms have agreed to a 9.5 per cent increase in iron ore prices for next year in a surprisingly swift deal that analysts on Friday said would set the benchmark for global contracts. Mesa Air Group on Thursday said it would become the first United States passenger airline to operate flights out of mainland China. The Phoenix-based carrier said it planned to sign a joint operating agreement with Shenzhen Airlines in Beijing on Thursday. The new airline had not yet been named, Mesa Air Group spokesman Paul Skellon said. Mr Skellon said the two airlines would operate the flights together, with Shenzhen holding majority control of the company. Mr Skellon said Mesa Air Group would not move any operations offices to China. The flights were expected to begin within a year, with 20 50-seat regional jets ready before the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Mr Skellon said the fleet would grow to more than 100 planes in five years. Overall, Mesa operates 199 aircraft with more than 1,300 daily flights to 173 cities, 43 states, Canada, Mexico and the Bahamas. It has contractual agreements to operate as America West Express, Delta Connection, US Airways Express and United Express. The company said it expected to end this year with a US$34 million profit. It carried almost 15 million passengers through the first 11 months of this year. Dec 22, 2006
Shares of Hong Kong-listed Datang International Power Generation (0991) soared nearly 10 percent and Tsingtao Brewery (0168) rose over 20 percent Wednesday, thanks to a flood of capital chasing their mainland-listed shares which also sent the price of both companies' H shares to record highs. Hong Kong-listed mainland companies, boosted by their A shares traded in the mainland, sent the market capitalization of the Hong Kong exchange soaring to an all-time high Wednesday, after Thailand's government lifted the capital controls on equity investment in the country late Tuesday, clearing the uncertainties overhanging the regional markets. China Mobile (0941), the largest mobile operator in the world by number of users, added a record 4.67 million new customers in November as mainland telecom firms continued to wait for the government to provide details on licenses for third-generation (3G) services. Industries are expected to give a lukewarm response to the government's HK$3.2-billion scheme to replace old diesel vehicles, prompting lawmakers to cast doubt on the effectiveness of the program. Hong Kong's inflation accelerated in November to 2.2 per cent on higher clothing, housing and food prices, and could head higher if Hong Kong imports more inflation from China due to its stronger currency, the government said. United States-based Carlyle Group and Hong Kong's Dah Sing Bank on Thursday joined the fast-expanding club of foreigners in China's banking sector with a combined stake in a small city.
More than seven million people were expected to pass through Hong Kong's border checkpoints during the Christmas and New Year festive period, the Immigration Department said on Thursday. Hong Kong won three bronze medals at the Third International Junior Science Olympiad (IJSO) held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, from December 3 to 12, a government spokesman said on Thursday. Hong Kong stocks yesterday rallied and recouped Tuesday's losses with H shares hitting record highs, spurred by a sharp rebound in Thailand after the government there abruptly revoked restrictions on foreign investments in its exchange.
The average housing prices for newly-built apartments in China's 70 major cities rose 5.8 percent year-on-year in November, sources with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said Wednesday.
US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is heading for a confrontation on China with the new Democratic- controlled Congress after his department softened its criticism of the country's currency policy.
Officials from Japan and China met on Thursday to plan an operation to clear chemical weapons abandoned in China by Japan's Imperial Army at the end of World War II.
China's top energy firm PetroChina confirmed on Thursday that Iran would supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) in a key deal announced by Iran's state press earlier this month. Dec 21, 2006
Shares of Tom Online (8282), Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing's Internet and media venture in China, were suspended Tuesday afternoon after surging nearly 15 percent on news US online auction giant eBay will pour US$40 million (HK$312 million) into a new joint venture to be controlled by the Chinese company. Fearing a repeat of the clashes between police and protesters over the demolition of the old Star Ferry pier, lawmakers have rejected a HK$99 million funding request for an engineering study on the Central-Kowloon route project without a guarantee that the 80-year-old Yau Ma Tei police station will not be torn down. Hong Kong Disneyland is set for a bumper Lunar New Year in February after being given the green light to increase its daily visitor intake from 28,000 to 34,000. With additional seating areas and dining and supporting facilities, the theme park has won approval from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department to expand its visitor capacity. Managing director Bill Ernest said he was hopeful the festive mood would continue through Christmas and the New Year period to bolster ticket sales during the Lunar New Year, which falls on February 18. It will be the second Lunar New Year since Hong Kong Disneyland opened, and is expected to be a litmus test for the park's new management team headed by Ernest. The last Lunar New Year saw chaotic scenes at the theme park as scores of mainland tourists tried to barge their way in by climbing over the fences at the main entrance after being denied entry due to confusion over the type of tickets issued to mainland travel agencies and sold to tourists. The incident seriously tarnished the attraction's image abroad and in the mainland despite the park management's public apologies. The new management said it has learned a lesson from the incident and taken "well-orchestrated" measures to prevent a repeat of the chaos during the coming Lunar New Year golden-week break. It said communication with mainland travel agents has been stepped up, and a sophisticated reservation ticketing system has been introduced, particularly for tour groups. According to Glendy Chu Yee-lin, Hong Kong Disneyland's media relations director, a publicity campaign has been launched in major mainland cities to promote the new ticketing system and improve communication with major travel agencies. "We're unable to estimate individual ticket sales at this stage, but close monitoring of tourist flow during the week-long peak period can help us adjust ticket sales at MTR stations and at our booths at the main entrance," Ernest said. A Hong Kong policeman has been jailed for six months after taking photographs up a woman's skirt on his mobile phone, a media report here said Wednesday. Chow Koon-sing, 49, took two shots of a 29-year old woman in July as she filled in forms at a magistrates' court where he worked, the Chinese-language newspaper Sing Tao reported. The woman told the court that Chow, who had been an officer for 20 years, was helping her with her papers when she felt something touch her leg. She looked down to find Chow crouching near her and holding his camera-phone, the report said. He told her "I'm just playing with you," it added. When questioned, Chow told police he had lost the phone for two days but officers found it dumped in a nearby gutter with two skirt shots in its memory. Chow was released on bail pending an appeal.
The world’s largest mobile phone company, London-based Vodafone Group, was set to enter a bidding war to buy Indian mobile firm Hutchison Essar, The Economic Times newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The Chinese government is to set a single national standard on mobile phone chargers sold in the country to avoid waste and to lower costs, the Ministry of Information Industry (MII) has announced. Under the new standard, all mobile phones, regardless of the brand, will be able to share one charger with a USB access, allowing users to charge handsets through laptops. The unified standard will cut the cost of a new handset and reduce electronic waste and consumption of resources, an MII official said. The official said no deadline had been set, so as to allow charger makers to adjust their production. China has almost 450 million cell phone subscribers, with up to 100 million replacing their phones every year. The chargers are often disposed of with the phones. Under the new standard, cell phone manufacturers are expected to change their sales strategy, putting an end to the package sales of cell phones and chargers to save resources. Lou Peide, executive secretary general with China Mobile Communications Association, estimated the new standard could save nearly 2.4 billion yuan (306 million US dollars) each year for handsets made in China if the cost of each charger was seven to eight yuan.
Avnet Technology Solutions, a unit of multinational technology products distributor Avnet, on Wednesday opened a new global integration centre in Tianjin to serve North American original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) operating in China. Dec 20, 2006
Sun Hung Kai Properties (0016) said its "wtc more," shopping mall in Causeway Bay will attract 60 percent more visitors during the Christmas and New Year period compared with the same period last year.
Shares in Hutchison Telecom International Limited (2332), the emerging- markets phone division of Hutchison Whampoa (0013), rose to a record high Monday as media reports said a bidding war for Indian operation Hutchison Essar is heating up with other firms preparing to best existing offers of US$14 billion (HK$109.2 billion). The fate of the mechanical remnants of the clock tower at the old Star Ferry pier will be decided in a study on the planning of the new harborfront that will start ticking in the first quarter of next year, it was revealed Monday. About 4,000 contract staff will be phased out from the civil service when their terms expire, Secretary for the Civil Service Denise Yue Chung-yee has announced. Melco PBL Entertainment, a developer of casinos and resorts in Macau, on Tuesday said it had priced its initial public offering on the Nasdaq Global Market at US$19 (HK$148) per share, higher than initial guidance due to strong demand.
Hong Kong's jobless rate fell to less than 4.5 per cent last month - the lowest level since the beginning of 2001, latest statistics released on Tuesday showed. Privately run Shun Yan College has been granted the title of a university - and becomes the first private university in Hong Kong. The change of its status was announced on Tuesday by Secretary for Education and Manpower Arthur Li Kwok-cheung after the Executive Council approved its application. Mr Lee said the approval showed tertiary education in Hong Kong could count on resources from outside the government. Before Tuesday, Hong Kong had seven universities, all of which were government-subsidised. Shun Yan College, established in 1971, began its quest for recognition as a university in 1995 when it moved into its HK$100 million Braemar Hill campus.
Major telecommunication operators from China's mainland, Taiwan, the United States and the Republic of Korea announced on Monday that they had started laying a submarine optical cable link across the Pacific Ocean.
China's largest milk producer, Mengniu Dairy Co, announced yesterday it would form a joint venture to make yogurt with the French giant Groupe Danone. A Citigroup-led consortium has won approval to buy a Guangdong bank in a US$3.1 billion (HK$24.1 billion) deal that would give a foreign lender control of a mainland institution for the first time in the country's newly opened market.
Dec 19, 2006
The plan by tycoon Michael Kadoorie's CLP Holdings (0002) to build another liquefied natural gas terminal in Hong Kong has met strong resistance from a legislator, who questioned the company's claims over the depletion of its Yacheng gas field. A group of Hong Kong legislators said on Monday they would launch a campaign to protect the city's heritage after the demolition of the territory's iconic Star Ferry pier. "We will ask citizens to name 100 buildings and monuments that they believe are worth saving before we talk to the government to discuss how we should have a proper policy to preserve our heritage," legislator Albert Chan Wai-yip said. He said the public's awareness about the need to preserve the city's historical structures had increased since the government continued to tear down the half-century old Star Ferry pier and clock tower. On Sunday, local activists clashed with police for the third time in a week over the demolition of the Victoria Harbour landmark. More than a dozen of campaigners had been on hunger strike. They and around 200 others marched towards the residence of Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen on Sunday but were stopped by police. A protest last week led to 13 arrests. Mr Tsang has insisted that demolition would go ahead but said the government was considering rebuilding the clock tower to the same design in a suitable location. The pier was closed last month and is being demolished to make way for a six-lane highway and a shopping centre. Local campaigners say it is one of the last architectural reminders of the southern Chinese city's maritime history. Queen's Pier has emerged as the next front line in the battle over the Star Ferry demolition as activists have demanded the preservation of the pier because of its role in Hong Kong's colonial past. Hong Kong's international airport handled nine per cent more passengers in November than it did a year earlier, boosted by an increase in visitor traffic from China and Southeast Asia, the city's airport authority said on Monday. The Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants plans to complete next year about 10 investigations of alleged auditing failures but will pass on all new dossiers to the newly formed Financial Reporting Council, according to institute president Mark Fong Chung. CLSA Capital Partners, the private investment arm of CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets with more than US$1.4 billion in funds, aims to complete four acquisitions across the region valued at US$75 million within the next three months, according to a senior official of the direct investment fund. Shares in Hutchison Whampoa rose 2.89 per cent to a one-year high of HK$78.20 yesterday amid rumours the company may be selling its loss-making third-generation mobile-telephone business in Britain and Italy to mainland telecommunications operators.
China seems to be in the middle of a smiling deficit, but one group in Shanghai is doing what it can to turn those frowns upside down. According to a recent online survey by Extrawhite, a maker of chewing gum, a quarter of the people in China never smile or smile less than five times a day. The survey found that only 2 per cent of Chinese people are willing to smile at strangers. To reverse this situation, a group of 40 students from the Humanities and Communications College of Shanghai Normal University launched a team of "smiling volunteers" last month. Their technique is simple enough: they smile at people. They carried out their first "smiling task" on Saturday at the Shanghai Film Art Centre, where they smiled at all the visitors and asked if anyone needed any help. "We started to prepare for this special team back in October," said Dai Ningning, a teacher at the college who is in charge of the team. "Wang Shengmin, a member of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and an alumni of the university, has been urging Shanghai residents to polish their manners. She recently published a book about the importance of good manners. She basically inspired us to create the team." But the team's work is not all fun and games. Dai suggested that the team's work also had a professional component. "Most of our students will be teachers after they graduate. Smiling is necessary for good teachers. We hope they will learn how to smile at each other properly before they become teachers," she said. Beijing has joined a global partnership to build FutureGen, a US$1 billion (HK$7.8 billion) project billed as the world's cleanest coal-burning power plant, the US Energy Department said. The proposed 275-megawatt plant, which would burn coal to produce electricity as well as hydrogen, is being developed by a consortium including the Energy Department and major utilities and mining companies. The plant would also suck heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions in underground reservoirs. China Huaneng Group, China's largest coal- based power generator, is a member of the consortium, but the new agreement adds the Chinese government to its government steering committee, the Energy Department said. US and China need to find ways to use abundant domestic coal supplies without polluting the air. As China's economy grows rapidly, it faces a shortage of locally educated managers with international experience. More Chinese - who previously left to study abroad - are returning, the International Labor Organisation (ILO) said on Monday. Starbucks Corp, the US coffee chain with more than 12,000 outlets worldwide, will issue stock options to all mainland employees of ventures in which it has a controlling stake.
Dec 18, 2006
Discussions between the government and the city's two power companies over regulating electricity charges next year should be finalized over the next few days, Secretary for Economic Development and Labour Stephen Ip Shu- kwun said Thursday.
CITIC Pacific (0267) managing director and executive councillor Henry Fan Hung-ling said he has confidence in Hong Kong's competitiveness for the next 10 years. Speaking at a business summit held by the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce Thursday, Fan said Hong Kong is still in a superior position, despite facing increasing competition from other cities, such as Shanghai. "Shanghai is definitely up and coming. But, due to its hierarchy, it cannot have the freedom Hong Kong enjoys," Fan said. The Chinese government has the right to intervene in the market "and China has the freedom to change contract terms," said Fan, while Hong Kong imposes a contractual bind. He cited the Eastern Harbour Tunnel as an example, saying operator CITIC was able to raise tolls last year despite government and public opposition. Taxi operators, citing high operating costs in an increasingly competitive environment, had been at the forefront of protests to have the fee hikes revoked. Fan said the government had called him "several times" regarding the toll rise, but it went ahead regardless. "At this point, so long as China doesn't change, Hong Kong is always superior, " Fan said. "It is not easy for Shanghai to catch up." However, Fan believes: "At the end of the day, nothing can stop this super powerhouse from connecting with the world." The largest challenge to Hong Kong is inadequate talent, he said. "We don't have enough talent who can operate under both systems - China and Hong Kong." He proposed that the government should bring in more mainland students to Hong Kong to study, and establish them in the city. He also commented on the Hong Kong dollar peg to the greenback, saying the link should not be altered to the yuan. The yuan jumped to 7.8195 versus the US dollar in Shanghai Thursday, hitting a fresh high since its revaluation on July 21 last year. "Stability is very important in doing business. Since the existing system has been working well, why should we bother to change it?" Fan said. The volume of transactions in the retail property market is likely to rebound by up to 30 percent on the back of the government's decision not to pursue the goods and services tax proposal, a real estate agent said. Conservation activists again broke through a police cordon Thursday night, in a renewed attempt to prevent workers from tearing down the famous clock tower at the old Star Ferry pier. We fully understand that there are views that the Star Ferry pier and its clock tower should be preserved as part of our collective memory. In response to community appeals, the Planning Department will examine how to incorporate some special features of the old Star Ferry pier and its clock tower into the design of the new Central Harborfront. We will consider rebuilding the clock tower at the open space on the new harborfront.
China will invest over one trillion yuan (about 127 billion U.S. dollars) in developing an alternative coal-based energy source to ease the country's dependence on oil imports, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). The project aims to produce 30 million tons of liquefied coal and 20 million tons of dimethyl ether (DME) by 2020. Coal-to-olefin (CTO) output is expected to hit 8 million tons and coal methanol to reach 66 million tons. Traditional coal-chemical industries that have been guilty of overproduction, such as calcium carbide and coke, will be kept under control. The money will also be spent on building seven industrial bases nationwide to produce coal-based energy source on a massive scale, including the biggest alternative fuel production base in the lower reaches of the Yellow River. Xinjiang is projected to produce 10 million tons of liquefied coal, and the eastern region of Inner Mongolia will become the major methanol supplier, with an annual capacity of 10 million tons.
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Hong Kong:
Internet access slows to a crawl
after quake - Rescue workers search for survivors at a collapsed building in
southern Pingtung county December 27, 2006 after a strong earthquake shook
Taiwan. Access to overseas websites from the Chinese mainland slowed to a crawl
yesterday as a powerful earthquake off the Taiwan coast knocked off
international undersea fibre-optic cables on Tuesday, affecting communications
around Asia. It is believed to be the most serious disruption since 2001, when a
submarine cable connecting the mainland with the United States was cut off more
than four times, mostly by fishing boats. It is not clear when normal service
will be restored. China Telecom Corp, the mainland's largest fixed-line carrier,
said six undersea cables were cut off 15 kilometres from the southern coast of
Taiwan, causing severe Internet congestion on the mainland. International voice
calls were also affected. A survey by Internet portal Sina.com yesterday showed
that 97 per cent of Internet users on the mainland had difficulty accessing
overseas websites, and 57 per cent said their lives and work were affected. But
access to mainland websites remains normal. Such disruptions underscore the
increasing importance of back-up systems. "We have to use alternative cables as
well as satellite communications," said Xu Yongming, an official in charge of
China Netcom's international network. He added that mainland operators are
working with their overseas counterparts to repair the damaged cables.
"Aftershocks off Taiwan make it even harder to repair the damaged cables," said
a China Telecom spokeswoman. The disruption affected telecommunications services
in Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and Japan and paralyzed some
banking services. In Hong Kong, Internet connection, long distance calls and
online financial transactions were affected, but the stock exchange said
operations were normal. Internet connection speed was much slower than normal.
Some overseas websites in the United States, Britain and Taiwan could not be
accessed. Emails and online chatting were barely functioning. Internet Society
of Hong Kong Chairman Charles Mok said overseas users connecting to Hong Kong
and the mainland's websites were also affected. Hong Kong Computer Emergency
Response Team Coordination Centre Manager Roy Ko said it might take months to
repair the cables. Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom may be hardest hit. It said
repairing the cable could take three weeks, adding that almost no calls could be
made to Southeast Asia. Chunghwa said voice calls to the mainland, Japan and the
United States were down 10, 11 and 40 per cent of normal capacity. The Chinese
mainland is less affected as operators here have alternative lines away from
quake-hit Taiwan, said Xu with Netcom. He said it may take a shorter time to
restore communications on the mainland but limited capacity could slow down
access to overseas websites, especially during peak hours. Current Internet
networks on the mainland already face a bottleneck in capacity given the growing
popularity of broadband Internet access as well as data-heavy services such as
video downloads. At the end of November, the mainland had 51 million broadband
Internet subscribers, an increase of 13.7 million compared to the end of last
year, according to the Ministry of Information Industry. China Telecom Executive
Vice-President Leng Rongquan last week said the current submarine cable network
linking China and the US will not be able to meet demand after 2008. Six
operators from China, South Korea and the United States including Verizon
Business last week signed a deal to build a submarine cable linking China and
the United States at an investment of US$500 million. The new cable will have
more than 60 times the overall capacity of the existing one linking the United
States and China. 
China:
Beijing prepares
good news to mark Tsang visit - Central government leaders are expected to
announce some good news about the liberalization of yuan trading during Chief
Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen's four-day visit to Beijing, which began
Tuesday. According to an inside source, Beijing leaders will announce a number
of pleasant surprises after Tsang's visits to several financial ministries and
the central bank. There will also be some news on the progress of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-
Macau Bridge after Tsang meets Ma Kai, director of the National Development and
Reform Committee, today. Arriving on a chilly Boxing Day night in the capital,
the Hong Kong leader was in buoyant mood in expectation of gifts from the
central government to boost his popularity in the run- up to the chief executive
election next March. Meetings with top leaders in Zhongnanhai were not announced
Tuesday but have been fixed for Thursday and Friday, the source said. Tsang will
have separate meetings with President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao on
Friday. Tsang will also have a three-hour working meeting with Liao Hui,
director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council,
Thursday and a working dinner with Vice President Zeng Qinghong, who oversees
Hong Kong affairs, that night. The fourth-generation leaders, unlike their
predecessors, will not pledge open support for Tsang but have arranged a
top-level reception to lift Tsang's standing. "The chief executive's annual
visits have become a regular event," said Tsang. "But this visit will be very
hectic as I will stay for two more days on top of the two-day schedule. "I will
call on quite a number of ministries to discuss finance- and livelihood-related
issues. I hope to bring up topics like [yuan] trading, infrastructure, pregnant
mainlanders going into labor in Hong Kong and food safety issues. "As this year
has been a good one for our economy, a number of cross- border follow-up actions
and enhancement works can help to further our cooperation with our mainland
counterpart ministries." Tsang made it clear his mission was mainly
socio-economic oriented. In a well-orchestrated plan to exhibit Beijing's full
backing for Tsang, the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office packed his itinerary
with meetings with several financial ministries, indicating Hong Kong will
continue to gain from yuan reform and mainland enterprises listing in Hong Kong.
Heads or ministers of the top finance institutes will receive Tsang today. The
addition of Environmental Protection Commissioner Zhou Shengyan to Tsang's list
of meetings Thursday is intended to help Tsang deflect criticism from his
potential rival, Alan Leong Kah-kit of the Civic Party. Health scares caused by
imported mainland food will be another issue that Tsang will raise Thursday with
vice commissioner of State General Administration for Quality Supervision and
Inspection and Quarantine Li Chuanqing. Significant and sensitive political
issues like the set-up of the chief executive election in 2012, the pace of Hong
Kong's democratization and Tsang's new ruling team will be also be on the
agenda. But the inside source said Tsang preferred to keep a low profile on
these political issues. 
Residents in
Fuzhou, the capital of southeast China's Fujian Province, fled their houses in
fear they would collapse when they felt the tremor caused by an earthquake in
southwestern Taiwan on December 26, 2006. Two powerful earthquakes struck
southwestern Taiwan at 8:26 p.m. and 8:34 p.m.
Olympic champion 110m
hurdler Liu Xiang(C) and his coach (R) Sun Haiping hold a donation tablet for
Shanghai-based Huashan Hospital December 25, 2006. Liu and his coach are
reported to have donated 250,000 yuan to the hospital in Shanghai to help treat
elderly people suffering from cataract.
Passengers flock to the railway
station during the Spring Festival travel peak. China's railways will transport
an unprecedented 156 million passengers during the upcoming Spring Festival
travel peak in 2007, up 4.3 percent year-on-year, said sources with the Ministry
of Railways on Monday.
Kazakhstan's President Nursultan
Nazarbayev (left) signs the visitors book at Hong Kong's Government House while
meeting Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen (right). Mr Nazarbayev is in Hong
Kong as part of a wider tour of China to foster greater economic ties between
the country and its big, oil-rich Central Asian neighbor. Chief Executive Donald
Tsang Yam-kuen on Friday paid tribute to Kazakhstan's progress since it gained
independence upon the breakup of the Soviet Union - saying the country had a
bright future.
A ceremony marking the
delivery of the nose of ARJ21 jet is held on Dec 20, 2006 in Chengdu, capital of
southwest China's Sichuan Province. ARJ21 is China's first internally-developed
regional jet, which is expected to go into commercial operation in 2008. Powered
by turbofan engine, the plane has a range of 2,000 nautical miles and can carry
between 70 and 110 passengers.
The China Insurance
Regulatory Commission (CIRC) published the draft regulation on overseas
investment of insurance capital on Thursday and invited submissions. Chinese
insurance companies will be able to invest up to 15 percent of their total
assets in international markets.
Experts from the Mengdingshan mountains
demonstrate a traditional tea ceremony in Chengdu, Sichuan Province.
Broadway comes to the Ice Palace: Skating school students in cat costumes
perform in on-ice versions of Broadway musicals at Cityplaza Ice Palace,
yesterday. The shows are choreographed by US professional figure skater Craig
Heath, who is performing and teaching at the centre until the end of February.
The shows at the rink will run daily until Saturday.
Wuhan, capital of
Central China's Hubei Province, is tipped to become the country's fourth air hub
after Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. International flights will soon start
arriving at and leaving from Wuhan Tianhe Airport without first stopping at
Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou. At present, international flights to inland
cities all stop at one of the three hubs first.
China Southern Power is boosting
its investment to capitalise on booming energy demand in southern provinces such
as Guangdong.
Customs and Excise Department officer Ng
Hing-tong holds up a toy plane with sharp points that could pose a hazard to
young children. It was one of seven toys found to be potentially hazardous from
13 samples checked by the department. Seventy spot safety checks were conducted
on festive toys across the city. The authority has issued warnings to more than
220 toy suppliers this year.
We
could blame our accents and different dialects on self-imposed borders but that
doesn't explain why animals like whales from different regions speak in
dialects. Using underwater microphones, scientists eavesdropped on some whale
talk and found that the blue whales off the Pacific Northwest sound different
than those living in the western Pacific Ocean or near Chile. The reason for the
different whale tongues is still unknown.
Classic Chinese liquor
Maotai is sold at a supermarket in Shanghai. The liquor has more than 100 years
of venerable history. During his first visit to China in 1972, former US
President Richard Nixon received two pandas from the Chinese Government as a
sign of friendship a gesture widely appreciated in the United States. What's
less known is that he also took home some milk candy as a special gift from then
Premier Zhou Enlai. White Rabbit milk candy is even today a household name in
China the story goes that it was Zhou's favourite snack when he worked late at
night. And it was also the secret love weapon of world champion weightlifter
Zhang Guozheng, who moved his girlfriend with 20 kilograms of the candy. White
Rabbit is one of many long-standing and famous Chinese brands tied to social
development and key historical events. Yesterday, the Ministry of Commerce gave
the designation of "time-honoured brand" to 430 brands around China. According
to selection criteria, these brands must have been in existence before 1956 and
highly popular among customers. Worldwide, China-made textiles and home
appliances enjoy great popularity and contribute greatly to the country's trade
surplus because of their low price and good quality. At home, however, old
brands are struggling to gain a foothold in the domestic market, where
competition from multinational giants is intensifying. These brands have
experienced hardships during their long history. After being established by a
family or an individual hundreds of years earlier, most of the enterprises
became State-owned in the 1950s. After decades under the planned economy,
they've started to face fierce competition under the market economy. Fang
Shuying, chairwoman and general manager of Tianjin Laomeihua shoe shop, said a
heritage brand is more than a product; it represents the culture of China and
has deep traditional roots. Set up in 1911, her shop first became well-known for
its specially made shoes for the bound feet of Chinese women living in the era
before the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949. Back then, the saying
"3-inch golden lotus" described the ideal foot of Chinese women. Many of these
enterprises face various problems. Patents and intellectual property rights, for
instance, are two concepts that are foreign to these long-standing brands.
Wangmazi, the most famous and long-standing brand of scissors in China after
being established in 1651, went bankrupt in 2004. "We were defeated by fake and
inferior Wangmazi products," a spokesman for the enterprise said. Chairman Mao
Zedong was often quoted as saying "Wangmazi, Donglaishun (the famous hotpot
restaurant) and Quanjude (the famous Beijing duck restaurant) need to be
preserved forever." In 2004, however, more than 5 million fake Wangmazi scissors
were found in the market, three times the output of the brand itself. Goubuli, a
famous brand of traditional baozi, based in Tianjin, faces a similar problem.
Thousands of stores with the name are found nationwide, but a company spokesman
said that only few of them have been authorized. The fake stores, he said,
without the company's special recipe, have ruined the product's image. As new
brands emerge every day in China, traditional brands attract more middle-aged
and old people rather than young people. The famous Beijing bakery Daoxiangcun
has long queues in the store most of the time, but the customers are generally
in their 50s or 60s. The younger generation are more frequently seen in KFC or
Pizza Hut. But some old brands are criticized for bad service and low
efficiency. Tourists to Tianjin are often urged to taste the best baozi ever,
but they often complain about the service at the flagship store of Goubuli.
Heritage has become something they take for granted, and sometimes they become
so proud of their brands that they pay little heed to customers. Faced with
competition, many brands have started to reform and build new images to attract
new customers. The Flying Pigeon brand, the biggest bicycle maker in the 1980s,
sold only single-gear bicycles in only one colour back then. Now it has
diversified its product range to include more than 300 models of racing and
mountain bikes to meet new demands and tastes. Some brands have flourished with
new products and the courage to renovate. The sales volume of Wong Lo Kat herbal
tea, for instance, is increasing by more than 40 per cent each year since its
canned product entered the market three years ago. As a famous brand in southern
China, the herbal tea was often sold at the market with a bowl at a cheap price.
Wong Lo Kat combined the recipe with the convenience of a canned beverage.
Though each can is priced at over 3 yuan (38 US cents), compared with less than
2 yuan (25 US cents) for Coca-Cola, its sales volume in China is higher than
Coca-Cola's, according to an official from the Guangdong Food Industry
Association. The delicate craftsmanship that made Laomeihua shoes famous in
Tianjin has continued with its new target market. It now employs more than 70
workers, who make comfortable, low-priced shoes for the middle-aged and the
elderly, its chairwoman Fang said. And sometimes, tradition simply wins out. In
a recent survey of Chinese women consumers, Tongrentang surpassed other
pharmaceutical brands. Founded in 1669, Tongrentang supplied medicines and
prescriptions to royal families for 188 years. Today it has overcome the
outdated, parochial connotations that go with being a heritage brand with new
medicines and opening chain stores in shopping malls. A spokesman for
Huogongdian, a snack food shop in Changsha, Hunan Province, said it had imported
more varieties of food to attract new customers. They previously had only eight
kinds of food; now more than 40 are available at the shop, whose annual volume
is more than 100 million yuan (US$12.7 million). Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai
said the first group of time-honoured brands employ more than 120,000 people,
and all the time-honoured brands employ more than 600,000. The longevity of
these brands, Bo said, shows that China has begun paying attention to building
brands. 
Top envoys representing their respective
countries for six-party talks over North Korea's nuclear ambitions join hands
during a photo call with Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, centre, on
Wednesday at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing. From left are, Japan's
Kenichiro Sasae, Russia's Sergey Razov, North Korea's Kim Kye Gwan, Li, the
United States' Christopher Hill, South Korea's Chung Yung-woo and China's Wu
Dawei.
Li Rongrong, chairman of the State-owned
Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, says firms will soon pay
dividends to the state.
Regal Hotels International Holdings (0078)
will look for suitable financial investments, including shares, to park its
expected cash mountain of about HK$5 billion from the proceeds of its upcoming
REIT, while it looks for suitable projects in the mainland.
Elsie Leung toasts new federation: Former
justice secretary Elsie Leung Oi-sie, now the deputy head of the Basic Law
Committee, attends the inauguration of the Federation of Guangxi Community
Organisations in Wan Chai yesterday. Formed by 16 groups of Guangxi natives in
Hong Kong, the federation hopes to strengthen ties between the city and the
autonomous region, which is part of the pan-Pearl River Delta area.
A new book British Hong: Kong Fact and Fable by local author Arthur Hacker
offers an entertaining and amusing look at Hong Kong history through cartoons.
The more than 100 cartoons and drawings in the book vividly capture 19th and
20th century colonial Hong Kong - depicting prominent citizens, former
governors, sailors, soldiers, and local Chinese - often in traditional dress.
Most of the cartoons feature the Victorian era. "The best stories happened
during the Victorian era, so they take more space in the book," explains Hacker.
The cartoons not only reveal some interesting historical details but also
fascinating aspects of daily life, work, sport, and the customs and mores of the
time. There are also excellent drawings of ships, Chinese junks, and famous Hong
Kong buildings such as the Wan Chai Clock tower and the 1886 bank building in
Des Voeux Road. Few of the cartoons deal with Hong Kong since 1945. As an
artist, Hacker is well-known for his distinctive style as well as the endearing
characters he has drawn over the years.
The Ministry of
Information Industry denies a media report that it will introduce a caller-pays
system for cell phone users. Chinese regulators and cellular operators yesterday
refuted reports that they are ready to introduce a caller-pays charging scheme
for mobile phone calls as early as next month. The South China Morning Post,
citing an anonymous source from the Ministry of Information Industry (MII),
yesterday reported that regulators and operators had made a decision to adopt
the caller-pays approach, which could be implemented or phased in as early as
January 1. Xi Guohua, vice minister of the MII, said: "We have discussed the
caller-pays system for years, but we have yet to make a decision." "Even if it
is introduced, it will not be implemented nationwide," he told China Daily. A
spokesperson with China Mobile Communications Corporation, parent of Hong
Kong-listed China Mobile Ltd., said he has not heard of such a policy.
Currently, both callers and receivers in China are required to pay for mobile
phone conversations, a focus of criticism from consumers. Increasing complaints
have put regulators under pressure in the past 10 years to allow a switch to the
caller-pays approach, or the so-called "one-way billing" scheme. But regulators'
efforts to adopt such an approach have failed. Media reports of such an
intention in recent years have led to sell-offs of China Mobile Ltd. and China
Unicom Ltd. stocks, both of which are now listed companies. Some industry
observers said the two listed companies have become "hostages" held by
investors, who fear the one-way billing approach would lead to declining
revenues for China Mobile and China Unicom. Sell-off of stocks of China Mobile
and China Unicom have put regulators under pressure as they are seen as "losses
of state-owned assets." Both parents of China Mobile and China Unicom are
state-owned companies. Wang Guoping, an analyst with China Galaxy Securities,
said the regulators are unlikely to introduce the caller-pays approach in a
unified ruling. 
Huang Huahua, governor of South China's Guangdong Province, gestures at a press
conference in Guangzhou, capital of the province, December 18, 2006. The gross
domestic product (GDP) in South China's Guangdong Province is expected to reach
2.58 trillion yuan this year (US$329.67 billion), an increase of 14 percent from
a year earlier, said provincial governor Huang Huahua in Guangzhou on Monday.
Guangdong's gross domestic product rose 14.1 percent year-on-year to hit 2.34
trillion yuan (US$299 billion) during the first eleven months of this year. The
average yearly GDP growth rate in the province from 1979 to 2005 is 13.7
percent. The year 1979 marks the time when China began to adopt the policy of
reform and opening up to the outside world. Guangdong's GDP growth rate is 4.1
percentage points higher than the national average and over four times that of
the international average, Huang said at a press conference. Guangdong's GDP
reached 223.66 trillion yuan (US$273 billion) last year, surpassing Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region and Singapore, previously two of the strongest
economies in Asia. The figure also represents US$65.50 less than that of Taiwan,
whose GDP stood at US$323.4 billion last year. "It will take about three years
for Guangdong to catch up with or surpass Taiwan in terms of GDP," said Huang.
Gungdong's GDP grows by more than US$30 billion a year, while Taiwan's grows by
US$10 billion a year, Li Huiwu, deputy director of the provincial government's
development research center, said last week. The governor admitted there are
existing problems which have caused great concern about the province's
development in the past such as unbalanced economic development between cities
and rural areas, the fact that social development has lagged behind economic
development and environmental pollution. Huang promised that the provincial
administration will speed up its efforts to turn Guangdong, dubbed as "the
factory of the world", into a people-oriented, environmentally friendly and
harmonious province in the 11th Five-Year-Plan period (2006-10). Guangdong
raised up to 113.3 billion yuan in fixed assets investment in rural areas in the
province during the first ten months of this year, up 39.5 percent year-on-year
and 29.7 percentage points higher than in urban areas, he said.
Bridging the divide: A dual-function
bridge now under construction in Binzhou city, Shandong province, is the first
of its kind on the Yellow River. The 7km railway and highway bridge will be
completed by December 30 and open to traffic on July 1.
Next year in Paris - Alice Wang and
Eric Deng, newly married, are busy preparing for their honeymoon this Christmas
in Hong Kong, Asia's shopping paradise and most prosperous international
metropolis. With China's affluent packing their bags, travel professionals are
working on making dream destinations easier to reach. "Actually, my dream
honeymoon destination is France, so romantic and elegant," acknowledges the
bride, "However, given limited budget and complex visa procedures, we gave up."
The couple is not alone. A travel survey of affluent Chinese, conducted by
American Express Global Network Services, found that France is the top dream
destination for leisure and honeymoon trips whilst Hong Kong is the No 1 planned
destination for shopping and family trips. Dream destinations are defined as
places people desire to travel to but may face numerous difficulties. Planned
destinations are ones that people can arrange to tour in a practical way. With
China's affluent increasing their travel, the country is expected to become the
world's fourth largest outbound travel market by 2020, according to the World
Tourism Organization. Streamlining dreams - With the growth in high-end travel,
one major goal of the travel sector is understanding Chinese travel preferences
and turning dream destinations into planned ones, according to Dave Keung, vice
president and general manager of Global Network & Establishment Service of
American Express Company Greater China. The survey asked 1,220 affluent Chinese
living in the eight key cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen,
Hangzhou, Chengdu, Shenyang and Xi'an, for their preference for honeymoons,
shopping and family trips. The interviewees, aged 24 to 44, had all travelled
within China or abroad in the past year and planned leisure trips in the coming
year. Respondents' income level ranked in the top 5 per cent of their cities'
population. The survey found that France slightly surpassed the United States as
the top leisure destination, with 12 per cent of those interviewed choosing
either of the two nations if factors such as time, money and visas were not
issues. 
Members of the six
delegations, namely, China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK),
the United States, the Republic of Korea (ROK), Japan and Russia, attend the
opening ceremony of the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue
opened at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on Dec. 18, 2006.
The Organization of
Petroleum Exporting Countries said it will reduce its daily oil production by
500,000 barrels with effect from Feb.1, 2007. China, hosting its first major
energy summit, urged top oil consumers to unite in the face of fluctuating
global oil prices and maintain energy security.
Shenzhen Development Bank, a
mainland lender controlled by buyout company Newbridge Capital, said it will
revise an agreement to sell a 7 per cent stake to General Electric.
Bank of East Asia chairman David Li (right) accepts the Business Person of the
Year award as South China Morning Post editor-in-chief Mark Clifford and Great
Eagle Holdings chairman Lo Ka-shui look on. 
It takes two to tango: Liberal Party
chairman James Tien Pei-chun and his wife rule the dance floor at a Christmas
banquet at Belair Gardens in Sha Tin attended by fellow party members and
district councillors.
UN
Secretary-General-designate Ban Ki-moon is sworn in as the next
Secretary-General to succeed Kofi Annan at an oath of office ceremony Dec. 14,
2006.
China's currency
rose to a new high Thursday as American and Chinese officials tackled thorny
trade issues in Beijing, hitting 7.8180 per U.S. dollar in early trading.