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February 28, 2007
About 4,200 kilograms of freshwater fish were seized from a mainland fishing boat Sunday morning as Hong Kong customs and food safety authorities stepped up the crackdown on the illicit trade of such unmanifested supplies. Directors of TXU, the largest electricity producer in Texas, gave tentative approval to sell the company to two private-equity firms in a deal that could be worth as much as US$44 billion (HK$343 billion) according to people close to the situation.
China's food additive industry sees promising future as 4.8 million tons of food additive are in demand by 2010, said the latest report on China's biological industry development. China's used car market is expected to speed ahead over the next two years, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) predicted. The organizer of the Internet-based TOEFL test has so far set up 48 test rooms in 26 Chinese cities, said the Examination Center of the Chinese Ministry of Education Saturday. China will build 12 major technological infrastructure projects and about 30 national science centers and labs, aiming to enhance its innovative capability, according to a plan released by the State Development and Reform Commission (SDRC) on Sunday. The 12 major technological infrastructures, such as spallation neutron source (SNS) and large-sized astronomical telescope, cover areas like aviation, bio-tech and life science, the plan shows. However, SDRC didn't specify in the plan the amount of money China will invest in the projects. In 2006, China implemented the national guidelines for medium and long-term science and technology development and the 11th five-year plan for science and technology.
The central government had formally approved a 15.3 billion yuan expansion of Shanghai’s domestic airport, including a second runway and new terminal, a mainland newspaper said on Monday. The National Development and Reform Commission approved the expansion of the Shanghai Hongqiao Airport at the weekend, the Shanghai Securities News said. Shanghai has another airport, Pudong, which handles all overseas flights and some domestic ones as well. Shanghai has ambitions to become a key aviation hub and the Hongqiao Airport is already operating at over-capacity. The airport handled 19 million passengers last year, double its designed capacity of 9.6 million, the newspaper said. The expansion plan included a new 3,300 metre runway and a 250,000 square metre terminal, it said. The airport currently has a single 3,400 metre runway and terminal space of 81,600 square metres. Shanghai already started clearing land for the project last year, sparking massive protests by residents living on the site. Although the project has been tainted by the sacking of former Party Secretary Chen Liangyu, who was dismissed for corruption last September, it is still moving ahead. Bank of Communications, the country’s sixth-largest lender, says it will sell subordinated bonds worth 25 billion yuan to increase its capital adequacy ratio before its possible A-share listing in the first half of this year. China became a net importer of coal in January for the first time, an official said on Monday, as the globe’s largest consumer turned overseas to supply its booming economy. February 27, 2007
ICBC unit rejects rumors of deal - Despite more and more local banks applying for mainland incorporation, ICBC (Asia) (0349) prefers to tap yuan business through its mainland subsidiary and retail banking expansion.
Attendances at Hong Kong's conventions and exhibitions last year jumped almost 25 per cent compared with 2005 and expectations are that growth in the high-yield market will continue despite intensifying regional competition, the Tourism Board says. The arrival in Hong Kong next month of aggressively expanding apparel retailer H&M of Sweden could have a big impact on some local retailers that are already reeling from shrinking profitability.
Two banks responded immediately to the gauntlet thrown down by Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp by announcing mortgage rate reductions which undercut HSBC. The value of new home loans approved in January by Hong Kong's lenders fell for the second consecutive month to HK$12.5 billion as falling primary- market transactions offset a recovery in the secondary market. Ysan Development (0014) - the largest commercial landlord in Causeway Bay - said retail tenants in the group's shopping malls recorded double-digit growth in sales volume during the Christmas and New Year holidays as last year's buoyant equities market fueled greater spending power.
The Sands Macau casino must pay a HK$740,000 jackpot to the mother of an
underage girl who won the money earlier this week while playing a slot machine
at the casino, gaming regulators in Macau have said.
Guangxi State Farm's plan to raise at least US$200 million from spinning off its sugar unit for a Hong Kong initial public offering has stalled after its bookrunner Credit Suisse abandoned the deal, sources said.
China Southern Airlines, the biggest mainland airline by fleet size, plans to grow its freighter fleet to 14 aircraft from two by 2011.
Amid falling mobile tariffs and the availability of more affordable handsets in the mainland, Xiaolingtong, the limited wireless service offered by China Telecom (0728) and China Netcom (0906), may soon become extinct, as a growing number of users opt for mobile phone service, market watchers say.
Guangdong's labour shortage is expected to worsen this year as migrant workers - especially those with skills - shun the province because of its relatively poor working conditions and low wages, local media reported. Russia's Year of China, a series of high-level forums and festivals that underscores a growing relationship with strategic and economic implications from Beijing to Moscow to Washington, will be launched today by the Chinese ambassador to Russia, Liu Guchang. Saudi Basic Industries Corp (Sabic) may find another location for a US$5.2 billion petrochemical plant planned for China if Beijing keeps delaying approval for the project, the company's chairman said. Linktone, a Shanghai-based mobile value-added service provider, failed in its bid to take over Monstermob Group as shareholders in the British firm accepted an agreement with a Spanish internet company. Billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has rejected investor calls to sell shares of PetroChina (0857), whose parent has an oilfield stake in Sudan, accused by the US Congress of genocide.
China has collected more than a million ancient ethnic books and published more than 5,000 of them during the 10th "Five-Year" Plan period (2001-2005). China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) granted 15 banks overseas investment quotas totaling 13.4 billion U.S. dollars last year. Total investment in third-generation telecom network construction in China is estimated to reach 114.1 billion yuan (HK$115 billion) in the first year after its commercial launch, and the number of users is estimated to reach 10 million in one year, said a mainland media report which quoted a Ministry of Information Industry official.
Gao Shan , the fugitive banker who fled China and emerged publicly in Vancouver after his arrest there this month, will be allowed to return to his home in Canada after an immigration adjudicator ordered his release on Thursday. February 26, 2007
The aging trend in Hong Kong's population continued during the past 10 years, with the median age rising from 34 in 1996 to 39 in 2006, according to the 2006 Population By-census results released Thursday. Speaking at a press conference, Commissioner for Census & Statistics Fung Hing-wang attributed this to the continuing low fertility rate and mortality improvement over the period. Anticipating that the aging pace will accelerate in 2015 or 2016, Fung said about 27 percent of Hong Kong's population will reach the age of 65 or above in the 2030s. Hong Kong's resident population was 6,864,000 in mid-July 2006.Of this total, 6,645,000 were usual residents and 219,000 were mobile residents. The sex ratio has fallen from 1,000 men per 1,000 women in 1996, to 911 men per 1,000 women in 2006. The corresponding sex ratios after excluding foreign domestic helpers were 1,037 men per 1,000 women in 1996, and 961 men per 1,000 women in 2006. The proportion of never-married people among the male population of age 15 and over dropped from 34.2 percent in 1996 to 33.9 percent in 2001, but rose to 34.3 percent in 2006. The figure for women was 28.9 percent in 1996, rising to 30.1 percent in 2001 and to 30.7 percent in 2006. About 95 percent of the population were of Chinese ethnicity. The largest non-Chinese ethnic groups in Hong Kong were Filipinos and Indonesians, the report result said.
Macao logged some 300,000 visitors during the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays from Sunday to Tuesday, 20 percent up over the same period in 2006, according to official statistics issued Friday. The figures from the Government Tourist Office showed that the visitor arrivals covered 140,000 from the Chinese mainland and 120, 000 from Hong Kong. The average hotel occupancy rate reached 92.88 percent during the three-day term, a year-on-year rise of 0.23 percent, the figures displayed. Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp is expected to trigger another home- loan price war after it dropped its mortgage lending rate Thursday to 4.87 percent from 5 percent. The Hang Seng Index continued its rally for the fifth consecutive day Thursday, led by China Mobile (0941), which was boosted by strong subscriber growth, amid good market sentiment in the region. Japan's benchmark index crossed the 18,000 mark. Hang Lung Properties (0101) will invest 2.5 billion yuan (HK$2.52 billion) in developing a shopping mall on a site in Shandong province that it has bought for 570 million yuan in its first purchase for 2007. Market regulator Securities and Futures Commission said revenues for the October to December period last year rose 40 percent to HK$372 million from HK$266 million in the previous quarter on strong growth in levy income resulting from increased market turnover and activities.
Women with pregnant bellies seemed to have invaded her working-class neighborhood, Joanna Leung recalls. They strolled in pairs through the fish market, and along the lanes running past concrete buildings stained grey with soot. And they spoke with thick accents.
China's import and export volume of stone slabs amounted to more than US$3.7 billion last year, a growth of 23.3 percent from the previous year, according to the China Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Minerals & Chemicals Importers & Exporters. The rise is attributed to China's abundant stone resources and the fast-growing real estate sector. Xiamen Port, in east China's Fujian Province, handled 9.3 million tons of stone slab imports and exports, valued at 2.3 billion U.S. dollars, more than 60 percent of the country's total, the local chamber of commerce said. The exports stood at 1.67 billion U.S. dollars and imports at 630 million U.S. dollars. Most of the imports came from India, Brazil and Spain.Xiamen has become China's largest stone trading center. There are now more than 600 stone importers and exporters in the city, the chamber of commerce added. Sponsored by the China Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Minerals & Chemicals Importers & Exporters, the 7th Xiamen International Stone Slab Exhibition is due to be held from March 8 to 11 this year in the eastern coastal city. Around 850 enterprises from 30-plus countries and regions will participate in the four-day event. February 24 - 25, 2007
Regal Hotels International Holdings (0078) has applied to the Securities and Futures Commission and the Hong Kong stock exchange to spin off its real estate investment trust, Regal REIT, for separate listing.
Hutchison Port Holdings, a unit of the Li Ka-shing-controlled Hutchison Whampoa (0013), plans to bid for a new container terminal near Vancouver, according to Canadian media reports. Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief executive Joseph Yam Chi- kwong said Wednesday the Chinese central bank's decision to raise the reserve requirement ratio on deposits will have little impact on mainland lenders as the banking system is filled with excess liquidity. Hong Kong's consumer price inflation in January probably remained steady at 2.3 percent, as food prices rose at a slower pace than they did 12 months ago due to the Lunar New Year holiday falling later this year, according to economists. The Chinese University of Hong Kong intends to have at least eight colleges by 2012 to cope with the expected increase in student numbers following the introduction of four-year degree courses. Hong Kong's population hit 6.9 million at the end of last year - a 0.9 per cent rise from a year earlier, Census and Statistics Department figures released on Thursday showed. Police had arrested a 55-year-old man on suspicion of trafficking in dangerous drugs following the seizure of about HK$2.4 million worth of suspected cocaine at the airport on Wednesday, a spokesman confirmed on Thursday.
US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, continuing efforts to deal with America's huge trade gap with China, will make his third visit to the country next month.
As China is ushering in the Year of Pig, many young couples are welcoming the Lunar New Year not only with firecrackers, but also with diapers. More members of the generation born under the one-child policy have reached the age of marriage and child-bearing and China is bracing itself for a comparative baby boom. But a mixture of tradition and superstition means that 2007 will be set to the tune of some serious dummy sucking. According to the Chinese lunar calendar, 2007 is the year of the Golden Pig, a particularly auspicious year that only comes round once every 60 years. Xu Wen, a young woman in Shanghai, became pregnant a few months ago and is just one of the millions of Chinese parents who succumbed to the belief that a 2007 baby would be showered with good fortune. "The oldies in my family said the Golden Pig will bring luck and blessings to my child," said Xu. "2007 is the year of "Jin", meaning gold, according to the rotation of five elements of gold, wood, fire, water and earth," said Yu Yue, an expert on folk culture. "The pig, as a major livestock, has been a symbol of wealth and abundance in China since ancient times," Yu explained. About 1,600 volunteers for the 2008 Beijing Olympics started a week-long training program on Sunday, the beginning of the Spring Festival, offering information, translation or interpretation services and emergency aid.
Taiwan's parliament speaker, a
prospective presidential candidate who favors improved ties with Beijing, would
visit the mainland and meet President Hu Jintao in March, it was reported on
Thursday. February 23, 2007
Airport Authority Hong Kong - operator of Asia's third busiest passenger airport - expects a higher percentage of its revenue to come from airport retail when the HK$2.8 billion Terminal 2 officially opens February 26, a senior authority official said. "Income from retail business may account a third of our latest result," commercial director Hans Bakker told The Standard. He hopes at least 30 percent of revenue will come from retail in the 2007 fiscal year. The authority's turnover soared to more than HK$ 7 billion - its highest ever - in the year ending March 2006. Much of that growth was in airport retail, the authority's second main income stream, which accounted 26 percent of turnover. Airport charges accounted for 38 percent. A quarter of the 140,000-square- meter Terminal 2, located next to the Airport Express station, comprises the 130 shops, catering outlets and entertainment attractions of SkyPlaza. Bakker said all the retail shop and 50 percent of office space above the terminal had been let. Retail and advertising general manager Eva Tsang added that rents for new lease shops were on par with Tsim Sha Tsui rents. Terminal 2 will also have 56 check- in counters that can be doubled to 112, and more immigration facilities for departing passengers. "These additional facilities will handle passenger demand for the next 10 years," Bakker said. Hong Kong's airport handled a record 44.45 million passengers last year, 9.1 percent more than 2005. The authority expects to handle 80 million passengers in 2025. Bakker said having more check-in counters and a 36-bay cross-border coach station will attract more travelers from the Pearl River Delta. Mainland travelers account for 20 percent of passengers, while Koreans and Taiwanese are the next largest groups. Several other projects are under way to boost capacity, Bakker said. The authority is in discussions with the government to set up check-in counters for travelers from the Pearl River Delta by ferry. The authority will also seek Board approval to expand Asia- World Expo by a third. Hong Kong airport was Asia's third- busiest by passenger numbers last year after Tokyo's Haneda and Beijing Capital International Airport, according to Airports Council International.
Hong Kong International Airport handled a record 872 flight movements last Friday - a daily record, a Civil Aviation Department spokesman said on Wednesday.
China is still lacking in logistics professionals despite the rapid expansion of its logistics industry and development of training for logistics professionals. European Union firms are denied business opportunities in China worth at least 20 billion euros (HK$205 billion) a year because of non-tariff trade barriers, a study published by the European Commission said.
Lenovo Group has hired another former executive from rival computer-maker Dell to a key company position, with the appointment of Yolanda Conyers yesterday as vice-president for cultural integration and diversity. February 22, 2007
HSBC Holdings' (0005) Canadian operations recorded an 8.8 percent increase in 2006 net income on strong growth in the commercial banking sector and wealth management business. The travel industry is hoping the government will pave the way for it to operate freely in the mainland under the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, according to an Election Committee tourism subsector member.
Amid stepped-up efforts by the government to boost medical tourism, former Hospital Authority director Ko Wing-man has raised one key concern - services capacity. He warns that capacity in public and private hospitals would be far from adequate if the idea gained ground. "My personal view is that many people consider medical services a charity rather than an enterprise. "Therefore, the capacity available is often at a bare minimum, or just enough, and the incentive to increase capacity is rather limited," Ko told The Standard. However, the situation could change. The debate over non-Hong Kong pregnant women giving birth in the city has gained momentum as the concept of medical tourism is being promoted. Faced with arrivals of mainland mothers-to- be, critics argue it is time to give serious thought to developing this "potential enterprise." According to the Immigration Department, the number of babies born to mainlanders in Hong Kong climbed from 10,128 in 2003 to 19,523 in 2005. In the first 10 months of last year, a total of 20,577 mainland mothers gave birth in Hong Kong. The Trade Development Council and China Travel Service last July agreed to introduce tours for mainlanders that would include a "must- go" attraction - private hospitals. The idea is to attract mainland tourists who can afford Hong Kong's quality private medical services - unavailable in most parts of the mainland - even for the relatively few who can afford them. Hong Kong Baptist Hospital recently signed a cooperation agreement with the University Hospital in Macau to boost medical tourism by attracting expatriates in Macau to cross to Hong Kong for medical services. This is the first such program in Hong Kong. The report on the Economic Summit on China's 11th Five-Year Plan released last month attempts to further explore this area and link it with the idea of a "Hong Kong medical center of excellence." Ko is the key contributor to the section on the medical profession in the report, which suggests consolidating and further developing Hong Kong's position as a professional medical center of excellence in the region "through exploring the feasibility of setting up medical centers of excellence, promoting Hong Kong's medical services in the mainland and our neighboring regions, and considering measures to facilitate patients from the mainland to seek medical treatment in Hong Kong." In his election platform released last Friday, Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen reiterated the idea of setting up a medical center of excellence. "The center would, in the long run, become the focal point for medical experts, provide opportunities for the medical profession and render quality specialist medical services to the people of Hong Kong and those from the mainland and other regions," Tsang's election platform notes. The idea is to intensify the flow of medical services between two places, rather than simply academic exchanges at the clinical level, Ko said. Yet, some questions remain unanswered, and choosing the center's site is not easy. "The center can't be too remote, but if it were located in a busy area already crowded with private clinics, it might spark vicious competition," Ko said. Other factors, such as resources including people and avoiding conflicts of interest, need to be considered. Tung Chung, with a population of about 100,000, could be one possible site. Ko, an orthopedic specialist, served at Princess Margaret Hospital for 24 years before taking up an executive post with the Hospital Authority in 1991. Ta Yang Group, one of the world's top three elastomeric keypad makers, plans to raise at least HK$1 billion by listing shares in Hong Kong to upgrade its production capacity on the mainland, market sources said. Energy World Corp, a developer of gas and electricity projects, said it signed an initial accord with an undisclosed mainland company for long-term sales of liquefied natural gas.
China has made substantial breakthroughs in shipbuilding as the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) ship made in China, one of the most advanced in the world, will be delivered in September. China's automobile industry made a profit of 76.8 billion yuan (approximately 10 billion US dollars) in 2006, up 46 percent from the previous year, according to figures from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).
February 21, 2007
Legislative Council education panel vice chairman Yeung Sum has warned education secretary Arthur Li Kwok- cheung and his former deputy that Legco may use the powers and privileges ordinance to force them to appear before a special panel meeting on February 28. Filings for personal bankruptcy increased to 1,006 cases in January, a rise of 32 percent over December, mainly due to lenient approval systems for credit card lending, a legal expert said.
Richard Branson's Virgin Group is looking for other partners to develop and run a casino in Macau after the collapse of talks with Australian betting firm Tabcorp Holdings, sources said. Ta Yang Group, one of the world's top three elastomeric keypad makers, plans to raise at least HK$1 billion by listing shares in Hong Kong to upgrade its production capacity on the mainland, market sources said. Energy World Corp, a developer of gas and electricity projects, said it signed an initial accord with an undisclosed mainland company for long-term sales of liquefied natural gas.
China Unionpay, China's largest credit card service company, had extended its overseas network to 24 countries and regions by the end of 2006, according to sources from the company's headquarters in Shanghai. China produced 110 million kilowatts of power generators in 2006, up 27 percent from the previous year, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in its latest report. Life expectancy for Chinese will increase to 85 years by 2050 from the current figure of 72; the average schooling period will increase from the current 8.2 years to 14 by 2050; and by that year, ecological degradation will cease. Beijing has sufficient hotel rooms to accommodate the influx of visitors from home and abroad during the 2008 Olympic Games, an official at the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee (BOCOG) said. Some worry that there won't be enough rooms available to ordinary tourists during the August 8-24 Games after 122 star hotels have been signed up by BOCOG to provide accommodation to the Olympic Family. "Such worries are unnecessary," said Xiang Ping, deputy director of BOCOG's games service department. Xiang said that those hotels contracted to BOCOG account for merely 20 per cent of the total in Beijing. "What we take is only a small fraction of the resources," she said. The Chinese capital currently has over 700 star-rated hotels and, along with other developments, the total number of hotels is expected to reach 800 with 130,000 rooms before the 2008 Olympics. Besides star-rated hotels, there are more than 4,000 non-rated hotels in Beijing which can be upgraded to help accommodate tourists, Xiang added. According to the forecast by the Beijing municipal tourism bureau, 500,000 to 550,000 overseas tourists and 675,000 to 774,000 domestic visitors will descend on Beijing during the Games. February 20, 2007
Banking conglomerate HSBC Holdings (0005) said Friday it plans to sell its 27 percent stake in Ping An Bank to Shenzhen Commercial Bank for about US$29.4 million (HK$229.32 million). The China Securities Regulatory Committee is studying a proposal that could help disperse China's 1.06 trillion yuan (HK$1.066 trillion) trade surplus into foreign countries by adding more channels for capital outflow. The government confirmed Friday it has received four tenders for the biggest public works contract in recent years - the controversial Tamar government headquarters, worth HK$5.2 billion. Filings for personal bankruptcy increased to 1,006 cases in January, a rise of 32 percent over December, mainly due to lenient approval systems for credit card lending, a legal expert said. China's advertising market revenue reached 386.6 billion yuan (HK$388.91 billion) last year, led by television, which claimed 81 percent of the total, Nielsen Media Research said Friday.
The public will not be allowed to attend the first chief executive election debate between incumbent Donald Tsang Yam-kuen and challenger Alan Leong Kah-kit on March 1, though they can send in questions through e-mail or fax. Legislative Council education panel vice chairman Yeung Sum has warned education secretary Arthur Li Kwok- cheung and his former deputy that Legco may use the powers and privileges ordinance to force them to appear before a special panel meeting on February 28.
Swire Properties has teamed up with Hong Kong property fund Gateway Capital to buy a multi-purpose project in Beijing's Sanlitun district - the capital's diplomatic quarter and entertainment area - for more than four billion yuan, a source said.
China's tax burden is still lower than that of most developing and developed countries despite the rapid growth in its tax revenue, an analyst has said.
China's exports of textiles, clothing and accessories in January grew 18.55 percent year-on-year, but the growth rate was much lower than in previous months. The required reserve ratio for financial institutes engaging in deposit business will be raised by 0.5 percentage points from Feb. 25 to 10 percent, the second hike in two straight months, sources with China's central bank said here on Friday.
China's foreign sales of machinery will likely grow at a rate of 20 percent or so this year, with high-value-added products expected to claim a bigger share. Indonesia's State-run plantation company PTPN-11 has bought 13,000 tons of sugar from China to meet demands mainly in Sulawesi island. Shares of fixed-line operator China Telecom (0728) gained nearly 4.6 percent Friday, while rival China Netcom Group (0906) was up nearly 3 percent on the back of talk from managers at China Netcom implying restructuring in the mainland telecom sector is likely.
The United States gave China more time last year to reduce widespread piracy of US goods but is again considering legal action through the World Trade Organisation, US trade officials said. February 19, 2007
Singapore will introduce a widely anticipated corporate tax cut, placing Hong Kong under pressure to do the same. Singapore's Second Minister for Finance Tharman Shanmugaratnam, announced in his budget speech that the island state would cut the corporate tax rate, known in Hong Kong as profit tax, by 2 percent from 2008.
Swire Properties has teamed up with Hong Kong property fund Gateway Capital to buy a multi-purpose project in Beijing's Sanlitun district - the capital's diplomatic quarter and entertainment area - for more than four billion yuan, a source said.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, a major index of Chinese shares, closed at a record 2,993.01 points on Thursday. London Mayor Ken Livingstone launched a campaign of celebrations to coincide with Lunar New Year, his latest effort to build stronger links with China. "Beijing promises not to set a double standard for Games ticket prices", Beijing vice mayor Liu Jingmin said on an Olympic themed-program yesterday that aired on Beijing Television(BTV). "If Chinese and Westerners are charged different prices, it will not honor the Olympic spirit." After more than one year of research, including an online survey, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), instituted the final ticket prices based on how much people can pay, said Liu, who is also the vice executive president of BOCOG. Liu further explained the conclusion drawn from in-depth research on both the country's urban and rural consumption levels was to adopt the relatively low-price system during the Beijing Games. "The amount of the 2008 competition fares less than 100 yuan (US$12.5) accounts for the 58 percent of the total," Liu stressed. Olympic ticket prices have not blindly followed international practices but fully considered the capability of ordinary people,"Compared to the tickets fee of Athens and Sydney Olympic Games, that price policy could be much cheaper in 2008." When asked if westerners with higher incomes would be charged more, Liu said "that's absolutely forbidden;it goes against the Olympic spirit of justice, equality and openness to all." "That's really good,"a Beijing freelance Ms.Fan told chinadaily.com upon hearing Liu's guarantee on Olympic tickets policy, "It should be a fair scheme that assures that each spectator can afford a match." It may seem to be a mistake from a commercial perspective, but low ticket prices will enable more people,regardless of east or west,to watch the Games and feel the atmosphere and the spirit of competition, Fan said. More than 7 million tickets for the Beijing 2008 Olympics will go on sale this year, and the fair distribution of low-price Olympic tickets will be the centre of attention. The long-awaited prices for the 2008 Beijing Olympics were published on Nov.29 last year on the official site of the Games and the prices for seats at the opening ceremony are as low as 200 yuan (US$25.50). More than 58 per cent of all tickets for open sale will cost 100 yuan (US$13) or less, with the lowest price being 30 yuan (US$4). The BOCOG will also offer student tickets, which account for about 14 per cent of all domestically available tickets and cost merely 5 yuan (US$0.64) for preliminaries and 10 yuan (US$1.28) for finals.
Ping An Insurance (Group), the mainland's second-largest life insurer, will buy out HSBC Holdings' stake in subsidiary Ping An Bank and then transfer the lender to the group's 89.36 per cent-owned Shenzhen Commercial Bank. February 17 - 18, 2007
Market regulators are looking into whether HSBC Holdings (0005) failed to abide by certain requirements outlined by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (0388), inside sources said. Shares of regional satellite operator Asia Satellite Telecommunications (1135) jumped more than 25 percent Wednesday after the company announced that its major shareholder proposed to take the company private for HK$2.31 billion. Canada-based Manulife Financial (0945) said Wednesday its net income rose 21 percent last year as strong performance in equity markets helped offset the negative impact brought on by a strengthening Canadian dollar. Hong Kong listed Clear Media (0100), the mainland's second largest outdoor advertiser in terms of sales, has posted a 14 percent increase in full-year net profit to HK$120 million on the back of robust demand and higher average selling prices. Mainland port operator China Merchants Holdings International (0144) said it plans to invest 3 billion yuan (HK$3.02 billion) in its parent's container terminal project in Tianjin in a bid to take advantage of accelerated development in the Bohai Rim region.
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Hong Kong: Some 200
people chosen as volunteer leaders for the 2008 Olympic equestrian event on
Saturday joined in a ceremony which kicked off the Hong Kong equestrian
volunteer program. The leaders, who are fluent in Cantonese, mandarin Chinese
and English, will take part in a two-day course to learn basic knowledge on the
event. The volunteers will be deployed to a myriad of responsibility areas
ranging from competition venues to translation to media support, said the
organizers. At the ceremony, the equestrian company's chief executive officer
Lam Woon-Kwong reminded the volunteer leaders that they should be aware that
they are serving on the very front-line as goodwill ambassadors and that they
are making part of the Olympic history. Each volunteer was given a "smile
wristlet", a token of their unity with other Chinese host cities. Following the
ceremony, volunteers will receive some 80 hours of training, including
residential training, which will be held in Pl Leung Kuk holiday camp in Sai
Kung for two consecutive weekends in March. The leadership training programs are
tailored for volunteers in Hong Kong by expert trainers. Riordan, who also
trained volunteers at the Athens and Sydney Olympic Games, said the training
program is not simple despite it comes with just one Olympic event. "The reality
is that the equestrian event will be held far away from Beijing and in a
separated environment. We need to have volunteers trained to greet guests from
the airport, Olympic village and the transport hubs. It like putting on a
mini-Olympics, " he said. 
The crime drama "The Departed, " Hollywood's adaption of a Hong Kong thriller,
fought off the upstart "Little Miss Sunshine" on Sunday night to win the Oscar
for best picture of the year, while its director Martin Scorsese ended a long
losing streak and finally won an Academy Award.
China:
The 2007 Chinese Lunar New Year once
again reflected the emergence of a new trend: Chinese New Year is being
celebrated by people around the world. It has become a festival celebrated by
ordinary people in many countries and one that is enjoyed by both Chinese and
non-Chinese. Since the 1990s, the Spring Festival has become increasingly
fashionable in countries and regions where Chinese have immigrated. Many
festivities are held. Heads of state and government leaders convey their
greetings to the local Chinese community. Some cities and regions have listed
Spring Festival as a public holiday. On the eve of Spring Festival this year,
more than 1,000 red and gold lights were lit on the top of the Empire State
Building. London Mayor Ken Livingstone, joined by footballers Frank Lampard from
Chelsea and Wang Dalei from Shanghai, turned on huge Chinese lanterns at Oxford
Circus to launch celebrations arranged to coincide with the Lunar New Year. A
Chinese friend residing in Paris told me on the phone that farmers from Brittany
had arranged a special Spring Festival promotion. Each person purchasing their
cheese was entitled to a free pair of Chinese chopsticks. The farmers said they
were taking advantage of the Spring Festival to generate business in this
beautiful season. From the president to local villagers, French people are
celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year, each in their own way. With more and
more people around the world aware of the cultural value of the Chinese Lunar
New Year, the Spring Festival is becoming more internationalized. Different to
Western religious holidays and festivals, Spring Festival celebrations reflect
people's desire for well-being in their current life. People pray for happiness,
look forward to the future, guard their family, and seek smooth and harmonious
interpersonal relations during these holidays. All these philosophies are well
demonstrated in a series of festive activities. Jubilant drums and firecrackers,
lion dances, and the ubiquitous Chinese red color, reflect an optimistic outlook
on life. To Chinese people, the Spring Festival is a folk show. To people in
other countries, it has a broader and deeper implication: it is a festival of
cultural exchange and an opportunity for people across the world to appreciate
different cultures and communicate. Owing to the efforts of tens of millions of
overseas Chinese in more than 150 countries, the beautiful festival is receiving
more and more international recognition. It is these people's love of Chinese
culture and high degree of cultural consciousness that has encouraged the spread
of Chinese Lunar New Year traditions and customs to other countries and peoples.
Chinese language fever has also played a role in increasing the popularity of
the Spring Festival. Since the first Confucius Institute was opened in Seoul,
the capital of South Korea in November 2004, China has signed agreements with 52
countries to establish 131 Confucius Institutes across the world. Eighty-seven
of these have already been opened. There are a large number of people studying
Chinese through a variety of channels. Moreover, these people are sharing their
interest and love of Chinese language and culture with their family and friends.
These people realize that learning the language and studying Chinese culture
will allow them a shortcut to a dynamic country and the world's fourth largest
economy, as well as improve ties with a great nation that has a growing
economic, diplomatic and cultural influence in the world. They also understand
that mastering the Chinese language and understanding the culture is a
prerequisite for fully understanding the world. In such circumstances, how could
Spring Festival, the largest folk festival of the Chinese nation, be left out?
Thanks to China's development and increasing prosperity, the world is embracing
a great new cultural celebration, the Spring Festival. 
China's airlines
carried 3.71 million passengers during this year's week-long Spring Festival
holiday, up 21 percent year on year, according to preliminary estimate by the
Civil Aviation Administration of China.
Sik Kok Kwong, Hong Kong Buddhist
Association chairman, leads other local Buddhist leaders in prayer at the
association's spring reception at the Buddhist Cultural Centre in Causeway Bay
yesterday. Sik Chi Wai, abbot of Po Lin Monastery on Lantau, said seven Buddhist
Association members of the Election Committee had nominated Donald Tsang Yam-kuen
for chief executive, and he believed Mr Tsang would get most of the 40 religious
sub-sector votes.
TSMT wants a share sale in Hong Kong for its mainland operations to skirt
Taiwan's curbs on China investment, analysts say. Taiwan Surface Mounting
Technology Corp (TSMT), a printed circuit board assembly service supplier, plans
to spin off its mainland operations to raise between HK$400 million and HK$500
million for capacity expansion around June, market sources said.
Members of the City Contemporary Dance Company perform a lion dance in front of
a backdrop for longevity and prosperity during Lunar New Year celebrations at
Broadcasting House, Kowloon Tong.
A
bee collects pollen from plum blossom in a garden in Suzhou City, east China's
Jiangsu Province, Feb. 23, 2007. Warm weather has accelerated the florescence of
plum blossom, attracting swarms of bees in Suzhou.
Laborers begin preliminary work on the
construction of a dam on the Nu River in Lushui, Yunnan province . A proposed
series of hydroelectric dams on the river, which is also known as the Salween,
has caused an outcry among environmental groups and human rights activists. The
2,815km river runs through the mainland's Three Rivers area, a Unesco World
Heritage site, and through Myanmar and Thailand, and is Asia's last
international undammed river.
Tianjin may be touting its Binhai
New Area as the nation's next financial hub, but one of the country's top
advisers on urban planning says it will not replicate the success of Shanghai's
Pudong district. Binhai has been widely promoted by local authorities as the
mainland's third economic engine since the State Council announced last year
that the municipality would host experimental national financial and land
reforms. For the local government, the idea is for the region to follow in the
footsteps of Shenzhen, an important contributor to the rise of the Pearl River
Delta in the 1980s, and Pudong, the development zone that powered the Yangtze
River Delta's boom in the 1990s. But Lu Dadao , a geographical economist with
the Chinese Academy of Sciences and leader of an expert team advising the
country on planning programmes for the Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei zone and the
Yangtze River Delta zone, said the expectations were flawed. "It's impossible
for Binhai to become comparable to Pudong in many important aspects. They are at
two different levels," Mr Lu said. Entrusted by the National Development and
Reform Commission (NDRC), Mr Lu and his team have spent the past two years
working on economic plans for the two zones and, after discussions with the NDRC,
expect to wrap up the project in the next couple of months and send their
recommendations to the State Council for approval. The NDRC's urban planning
takes precedence over all others, including those compiled by other ministries
and city governments. Mr Lu said his team's plan called for Tianjin to be
positioned as a manufacturing and logistics centre, instead of a financial hub.
Tianjin Mayor Dai Xianglong , a former central bank governor, is pushing for
financial innovation in the Binhai zone and earlier this month expressed a
desire to see the city compete with Pudong and Beijing's Financial Street area
to attract finance companies, banks and brokerages. However, Mr Lu said Binhai
would not receive as much central government financial and policy support as
Pudong. "Pudong's development was determined by the central government. Binhai's
different, though it appears to be the same," he said. Pudong received more than
40 billion yuan from the central government and in bank loans in the 1990s to
fund its airport, subway and other infrastructure. In addition, the state
allowed the area to keep a share of its fiscal revenue. A solid foundation was
laid for the financial centre by moving national stock, futures, property rights
and commodities exchanges into Pudong and establishing a diamond exchange. There
have also been a string of preferential policies in corporate tax, land and
other sectors, allowing it to pioneer financial and trade services. Tianjin's
gains from the state are minor in comparison. Local officials have said they
will not get money from the central government to develop the zone, but the
municipality is allowed to increase the amount of land for industrial purposes
at a faster speed than other cities and grant hi-tech companies a 15 per cent
corporate income tax rate, the national average tax break for offshore
enterprises. 
Passengers
arrive in Xi'an railway station in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, Feb. 23, 2007. The
Spring Festival travel period begins to see its post-festival passenger peak on
Friday in some cities as college students started to return to schools and
migrant workers returned to the cities.
Scores of youngsters are treated for
indigestion at a hospital in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, yesterday as Lunar New
Year excesses take their toll on the mainland's pampered children. State media
blamed the indigestion epidemic on an inappropriate diet over the holiday
period, when children are not only offered packets of lucky money, but piles of
sweets and chocolates on which to pig out.
Sai Kung resident Kiki Sun Wai-ki, 8, plays the xiao ruan during the
Beauty of Sai Kung Traditions carnival yesterday. Organised by the Sai Kung
Rural Committee, the two-day event featured traditional folk music, dancing and
acrobatics to celebrate the Lunar New Year and the 10th anniversary of the
handover. The festival attracted 300 people on Friday.
A dragon and lion dance at Times
Square welcomes in the Year of the Pig. Tenant rents are set to rise after
excellent holiday sales.
European Union foreign policy chief
Javier Solana (L) and Chinese ambassador to the EU, Guan Chengyuan. Solana
extended on Thursday his best wishes to the EU-China relations in 2007.
Chan Tze-ching,
the head of Citigroup's Hong Kong operations, has resigned and will leave at the
end of April after spending 27 years at the world's largest banking group. His
retirement was announced on Friday by Robert Morse, chief executive of
Citigroup's corporate and investment banking in the Asia-Pacific, who said in an
internal memo to management that Mr Chan hoped to pursue other interests,
according to sources. "We don't expect any significant impact on the Hong Kong
operation as it is well established and has been doing very well for the past
few years," a bank spokesman said. Mr Chan was not joining a rival, the
spokesman added. Sources said Mr Chan, better known as T.C. Chan rather than by
his Christian name of Ignatius, told his staff privately that as the bank's
businesses had been well established, he should spend more time with his family
and help those who were in need. Mr Chan, 50, and married with two daughters, is
Citigroup's Hong Kong country officer and head of the Greater China corporate
and investment banking unit. He joined Citibank Hong Kong in 1980 after serving
in various positions in finance, operations, investment and corporate banking
organizations in the city. He was transferred to Japan in the mid-1980s and
stayed there for eight years before he returned to Hong Kong in 1994 to become
Citigroup's country treasurer and head of sales and trading. "He made
Citigroup's treasury business well recognised by the market while in Tokyo," a
banker close to Mr Chan said. He was promoted in 1997 as head of the Hong Kong
corporate banking business and two years later as country officer. In 2003, Mr
Chan left Hong Kong again to become the Taiwan country officer after his
predecessor Eric Chen left with about 20 senior staff for Chinatrust Financial
Holding, a major financial firm on the island. His colleagues at that time
called him a "firefighter", as he faced the daunting task of filling the sudden
void in senior management and restoring morale at the bank's Taiwan operation,
sources said. Mr Chan came back to Hong Kong in January 2005 and assumed his
current position. A market watcher said Mr Chan was partly in charge of the
group corporate and investment banking business in the mainland, a "challenging"
job that would be difficult for the bank to fill. A banker familiar with Mr Chan
said he was "smart" and very committed to his work as well as to interest groups
in the local financial service industry and to community service. Mr Chan, a
Justice of the Peace, is a council member of the Treasury Market Association of
the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and chairman of the government advisory
committee on human resources development in the financial services sector.
Gold will touch US$730
(HK$5,694) per ounce this year, closing in on last year's peak, according to
William Lee Tak-lun, president of the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society.
Lee reflected the bullish sentiment in the gold market as the exchange Wednesday
marked the first trading day in the Year of the Pig. In May 2006 , gold hit a
26-year high of US$730 per ounce. In London Wednesday it was trading at
US$657.75 per ounce. Lee said the 97-year-old exchange is gradually paving the
way for a public listing while also building up market infrastructure. "The
first step this year is to launch an electronic trading platform," Lee said.
Currently, the exchange uses an open outcry method of dealing, with trading from
9am to 5pm. Lee predicts trading volumes will multiply once the exchange begins
electronic trading. Trials will be carried out in the second quarter, with the
aim of going electronic in the third quarter. A HK$12 million investment has
been made in the new computer-based trading platform, provided by i-Asia Online
Systems. Lee said the system will allow for multi-currency trading and enable
after- hours trading to match the opening hours of overseas markets. Secretary
for Financial Services and the Treasury Frederick Ma Si-hang attended the
ceremony marking the first trade Wednesday. Ma said the economy had performed
well in the Year of the Dog and growth would continue this year. But he
cautioned investors to assess their own capacity and targets before putting
money into an equities market that was at new highs. He said the market was
easily affected by external factors, including the US property market and US
interest rates, as well as mainland economic growth. Referring to the US$730 per
ounce projection for gold, Ma said the price was "basically supported by the
real demand for gold globally, especially from countries including China and
Britain." The appreciation of the yuan and the weakening greenback would
stimulate gold demand in the mainland, Ma said. The first trade for 99 tael gold
in the Year of the Pig was quoted at HK$6,128 per tael, the highest Lunar New
Year opening price in the past five years. It compared with HK$5,228 last year,
HK$3,888 in 2005, HK$3,763 in 2004 and HK$3,438 in 2003. The price of 99 tael
gold slipped 1.35 percent to HK$6,133 per tael from the closing price last
Friday. 
Chief executive candidate
Alan Leong takes his campaign to the people outside the Kowloon Tong KCR station
on Thursday.
A police car is seen at the fog-covered
Tian'anmen Square in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 21, 2007. Sections of seven
Beijing and ten Tianjin highways closed due to the thick fog that smothered
north China on Wednesday morning.
Two archaeologists
work on a tomb nearby the Olympic Forest Park with special arrangement that
represents a turtle. The six bricks that strech out of the hexagon pit are the
head, tail and four feet of a turtle, its tail pointing to the north. When the
world's top athletes gather at the 31 newly-built arenas for the Beijing
Olympics to compete for gold, silver and bronze, many might not realize that
right beneath where they stand were buried mounds of "gold, silver and bronze"
treasures, some dating back 2,000 years. A: Five-color Porcelain Jar; B: Jade
Belt; Crane-and-cloud pot; Gold Gawu; C: Jade Fish; Terra-cotta Jar; Terra-cotta
pot. Archaeologists surveyed about 1.6 million square meters of land at about 17
under-construction Olympic venues between April 2004 and last November, and
unearthed 700 ancient tombs with 1,500 artifacts, according to Kong Fanzhi, head
of Beijing Administration of Cultural Heritage. Fittingly, Kong's briefing was
held at the reconstruction sites of two ancient temples, one next to the
National Aquatics Center and the other near the neighboring Olympic Village.
"Beijing has inherited a rich collection of cultural relics, so the construction
of Olympic venues had to take their preservation into consideration. This is
part of the government's promise to host a 'Cultural Olympics'". As most of the
city's relics rest inside Beijing's ancient city walls - a fortification built
around 1435 in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and now replaced by the city's
second ring road - and the city wall of the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368), which is
located a little north of the North Third Ring Road, none of the Olympic venues
were built inside or nearby these relics-rich city walls. The foundation of the
Water Cube, the aquatics center, was laid 100 meters further north to its
original chosen site so that a nearby 500-year-old Taoist temple dedicated to
the fertility goddess, could survive. Yet due to unavoidable construction at the
chosen sites, Kong's team had to excavate 9,787 square meters of land, about 0.6
percent of the total area they surveyed. The artifacts unearthed from the
mostly-civilian tombs will be used for research and displays. 
More than 85,000 people turned up at the
two racecourses Tuesday to welcome the Year of the Pig, the largest single-day
attendance in four years. They also poured more than HK$1 billion into the tote,
the highest single- day turnover for the current season, though this was
marginally down on the Lunar New Year turnovers for the first racing days of the
Monkey, Rooster and Dog. "The turnover may have been affected by the late
withdrawal of a well- supported runner in the Hong Kong Derby Trial," said
Jockey Club chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht- Bresges, who insisted the day
was still a "marvelous success in every way." The day also saw the creation of
at least four more Hong Kong multimillionaires, with more than HK$40 worth of
winning tickets for the Triple Trio which paid HK$8 million for each HK$10
ticket. Opening the celebrations to mark the Year of the Pig was Chief Secretary
Rafael Hui Si-yan, who with Jockey Club chairman John Chan dotted the eyes of
the ceremonial lions. Hui said he hoped Hong Kong would have a stable if not
prosperous Year of the Pig and wished the Jockey Club luck in its bid to win
back punters and betting dollars from illegal bookmakers and offshore betting
pools. Hui's remarks were followed by performances from the popular Cantopop
singing duet Twins, the Haicheng Stilt Walkers, Sichuan Opera Face Changing
master Liu Zhiyong and Red Poppies Percussion, the world's first all- woman
percussion band. By the time the races got under way, a total of 85,967 people
had crossed the turnstiles at Sha Tin and Happy Valley racecourses, a 4 percent
rise on the 82,703 who turned up last year. Total turnover for the 10-event card
reached HK$1.011 billion - about HK$40 million short of last year's figure.
Believers rub their hands on a bas
relief sculpture of a pig for good luck at Baiyunguan Taoist temple (White Cloud
Temple) on the third day of the Lunar New Year in Beijing. 
Higher revenue
from private treaty grants and lease modifications will boost total land income
this fiscal year to HK$43 billion - 50 percent more than last year, market
watchers say. In the first three quarters of the year ended December 31, total
land income reached about HK$34 billion - already surpassing the government's
full-year target of HK$30.5 billion. The government will book more than HK$9
billion in this last quarter when three residential sites in Tai Po valued at
HK$5.7 billion go under the hammer next month, as well as a finalized HK$3.34
billion land-conversion premium for a property project above Tseung Kwan O MTR
station. Financial Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen will unveil land income figures
for the year ending March 31, as well as land revenue forecast for the next
fiscal year in his budget next week. Total land income totaled HK$28.7 billion
in 2005-2006.
Brilliant chrysanthemums several
stories high lit up the dull skies over Victoria Harbor Monday night as 330,000
residents welcomed in the Year of the Pig on the second day of the Lunar New
Year. Despite the poor visibility and low cloud ceiling brought about by a
northeasterly monsoon, 12 displays comprising 28,000 shells were discharged from
three boats in the harbor in the 23-minute display. The show was sponsored by
the Association of Hong Kong Members of Guangdong's Chinese People's Political
Consultative Conference at a cost of HK$4 million and coordinated by the Home
Affairs Bureau. Several piers and roads near the waterfront were closed to
accommodate spectators. The fireworks took place after Chief Executive Donald
Tsang Yam-kuen appealed for community harmony while continuing to expound his
family theme during visits to two villages in Tai Po as part of his election
campaign. "The Lunar New Year has a significance to the Chinese people as the
time to gather the family that may be dispersed across the globe," Tsang said.
Speaking casually to villagers at Nam Wah Po during a tour of the 400-year old
ancestral hall in Hang Ha Po, Tsang appeared impressed with the Confucian
atmosphere of the hamlets, adding that family harmony was the foundation for
social unity.
In the first three days
of the Spring Festival, President Hu visited local residents, workers who stuck
to their posts in the week-long holidays and needy families in Gansu Province.
Chinese President Hu Jintao greets local residents at "small West Lake" park of
Lanzhou, capital city of Northwest China's Gansu Province February 18, 2007,
China's Lunar New Year's Day. In the first three days of the Spring Festival, Hu
and other officials visited local residents who stuck to their post during the
week-long holidays.
As Wal-Mart,
Carrefour and other foreign retailers crowd into China, they are greeted with
open arms by a government that, in this industry at least, shows few
protectionist proclivities. A major reason for the welcoming attitude is that
the foreigners, for all their lofty ambitions and deep pockets, remain minor
players in a giant market where 1.3 billion people are learning the joys of mass
consumption. "Excessive market share [by a foreign company] is not a concern for
the government," said Candy Huang, an analyst with BNP Paribas in Shanghai. "The
biggest player in China currently has only around a 5 percent national market
share," she said. The foreigners are working hard to become bigger. Earlier this
month, British retailer Tesco said it would open 10 more outlets in China this
year after its first store in Beijing opened last month. With a 90 percent stake
in Hymall - a grocery brand under Taiwan-based Ting Hsin International Group -
Tesco now effectively has 45 Hymall stores across China. Home Depot of the
United States also recently signed an agreement to buy China-based retailer
Homeway's 14 home furnishing stores to better compete with British rival B and
Q, which has 52 stores.
Heung Yee Kuk chairman Lau Wong-fat (right, red scarf) and Alex Choy Kan-pui of
Sha Tin Rural Committee officiate pray for good fortune at the popular Che Kung
Temple in Sha Tin.
Chinese President
Wen Jiabao sings on the eve of Chinese Lunar New Year, or the Spring Festival
with college students in Northeast University, Liaoning province.
A family shares a reunion dinner
yesterday at Hoi Tin Harbour Restaurant in Causeway Bay. Wu Ka-chun, of the Hoi
Tin eatery, expects a 20 per cent increase in turnover. 
Chinese President Hu
Jintao speaks at a grand gathering held in the Great Hall of the People in
Beijing, Feb. 16, 2007. Chinese leaders attended the grand gathering to
celebrate the upcoming Spring Festival and extend festival greetings to the
Chinese people. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Friday pledged to continue to
boost economic development, deepen reform and opening-up and listen to the
people in his New Year speech.
Man grasps
the bull horn of a statue in excitement in east China's Shanghai Feb. 16, 2007.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, a major index of Chinese shares, hit an
all-time high of 3036.35 points and closed at a record high of 2,998.47 points
on Friday, up 5.46 points over the previous close. The component index of the
smaller Shenzhen Stock Exchange also hit an all-time high of 8740.91 points but
closed at 8,572.27 points, down 10.64 points.
Li
Zhaoxing (right) shares a light moment with his Japanese counterpart, Taro Aso,
before talks in Tokyo yesterday. Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing offered yesterday
to reopen negotiations with Japan in a heated dispute over the East China Sea as
the two neighbours further mend strained relations, Japanese officials said.
Financial services secretary Frederick
Ma Si-hang (centre) attends the opening of the Democratic Alliance for the
Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong's booth at the Lunar New Year fair in
Victoria Park, with lawmakers Tam Yiu-chung (left) and Ma Lik.
the shape of a
dragon during a lantern fair to celebrate the upcoming Spring Festival at a park
in Shenyang, Northeast China's Liaoning Province, February 15, 2007. About
13,000 lanterns are displayed during the fair that begins on February 15 and
runs through March 5.
The photo
taken on Feb. 14, 2007 shows the newly-completed No. 3 terminal building and
parking building in Beijing Capital Airport in Beijing, China. The extension
project of the airport, with overall investment of 27 billion yuan (about 3.3
billion US dollars), started on March 28, 2004 and is expected to finish at the
end of 2007. The extension will contribute to the 2008 Olympic Games.
The Kowloon-Canton
Railway Corporation has promised a thorough review of its safety systems after a
blown transformer disrupted the morning commute for more than 1,000 West Rail
passengers Wednesday. This latest snag - which forced 650 angry passengers to
walk about two kilometers through a dark Tai Lam Tunnel and others to find
another way to the office - adds to the woes that have plagued the railway over
the past 12 months. Last year the railway operator - which is merging with MTR
Corporation - came under heavy fire for cracks discovered in the undercarriages
of its trains. According to eyewitness accounts, passengers riding the Tsuen
Wan- bound train Wednesday heard a loud bang at about 9.13am and saw smoke
pouring from the top of one of the train compartments. The carriages and the
tunnel were filled with thick smoke, according to some accounts. Passengers
panicked. The KCRC confirmed the c