|
China.Hawaii Chamber of Commerce ® "Hawaii-China Guan Xi, We Get Things Done™" - Trade Advocacy Organization
Biz
Opportunities:
China
Hong
Kong China
Leaders
Business
Survey by
|
|
|
Hong Kong, China & Hawaii Biz*
Do you know our dues paying members attend events sponsored by our collaboration partners worldwide at their membership rates - go to our event page to find out more! After attended a China/Hong Kong Business/Trade Seminar in Hawaii...still unsure what to do next, contact us, our Officers, Directors and Founding Members are actively engaged in China/Hong Kong/Asia trade - we can help!
Are you ready to export your product or
service? You will find out in 3 minutes with resources to help you -
enter
to give it a try
July 31, 2007
Secretary for Development Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has sounded the final death knell for Queen's Pier, insisting the demolition of the 53-year-old Central landmark is irreversible.
China, fighting to curb excess liquidity, will raise the reserve requirement ratio by 0.5 percentage points to 12 percent for commercial banks from August 15, the central bank announced Monday.
July 28 - 30, 2007
Cheung Kong Holdings (0001) and partner Keppel Land are among property heavyweights vying for a prime site in Singapore, with market watchers estimating bids could have topped the HK$10 billion mark.
New standards for cooking oil are due to take effect soon, a government official said yesterday. "We are looking at a total of 92 standards for the cooking oil industry and we expect the standard regulatory authority to issue some shortly," Du Zheng, director of the Standards and Quality Center of State Administration of Grain, told China Daily. "Thirty of the standards are almost decided upon, 10 of which address the edible oil sector," he added. The 10 edible oil standards will address product quality and the manufacturing processes of four categories of edible oil - sesame oil, olive oil, palm oil and multi-purpose nutrition oil. China has already issued product standards for eight kinds of plant-based oil, such as soybean and peanut oil. "The new standards will help guide manufacturers and ensure the market as a whole is well regulated. Of course, since the manufacture of cooking oil is complicated, the healthy development of the segment will also depend on self-regulation," Du stressed. Zhang Zhentao, general manager of COFCO Food Sales & Distribution Co Ltd, said his company has been actively involved in drafting the new standards and has provided the regulator with technical details for Fortune Cooking Oil, an edible oil brand managed by COFCO.
France and China will sign an accord in Beijing on Tuesday for the construction of two third-generation EPR nuclear reactors, in the biggest contract ever netted by the French company Areva, informed sources said yesterday. July 27, 2007
Jewelry retailer Luk Fook Holdings
(0590) said net income surged 107 percent to HK$198.1 million for the year ended
March, supported by sales to couples tying the knot and purchases by mainland
visitors to Hong Kong during the Golden Week holidays in May and October.
China on Wednesday banned the imports of poultry and poultry products from Germany, the Czech Republic, the State of Virginia of the United States as well as the imports of swine products from the Republic of Georgia. Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine jointly issued the public notice on Wednesday, saying both direct and indirect imports are prohibited due to local outbreak of animal diseases. The notice said that recently Germany, the Czech Republic and some areas of the United States were hit by avian influenza and the Republic of Georgia by African swine fever. The ban is aimed at preventing these animal diseases from infecting China, so as to protect China''s animal husbandry industry and ensure public health of the Chinese. China ordered the return or destruction of poultry, pigs, wild boar and related products that had been shipped to China since the outbreak of relevant animal diseases. No poultry, pigs, wild boars and related products from the above countries or areas are allowed to enter the Chinese territory. If poultry, pigs, wild boars and related products from the disease-hit countries and areas would be found on ships, boats, planes, trains or any other transportation vehicle that pass by or stop over the Chinese territory, they would be destroyed under the supervision of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, said the notice. The nation''s quality supervision, inspection and quarantine bodies and animal epidemic prevention organizations at all levels are urged to watch closely at this issue and act in accordance with relevant laws, according to the notice.
More than 300 billion yuan ($39.5 billion) is ready to flow into the international market with China's insurance companies getting government approval to invest abroad. The new rules that became effective yesterday raised Chinese insurers' overseas investment ceiling from 5 percent of their assets to 15 percent, said a China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) statement. The CIRC, Bank of China and the State Administration of Foreign Exchanges jointly issued the rules. At the end of 2006, the industry's total assets were valued at 2 trillion yuan ($263 billion). The immediate beneficiary of the new rules may be Hong Kong. Mainland companies' shares traded in Hong Kong, or H shares, are likely to be "the main target" of insurers, said Central University of Finance and Economics professor Hao Yansu, who specializes in the insurance industry. Shenyin & Wanguo Securities Co analyst Yu Bin said: "Given the continuing revaluation of the renminbi, the overseas investment of most insurers is likely to target equities rather than bonds." According to the rules, only insurance companies with a capital adequacy ratio of 10 percent or more can invest abroad. The products that they can invest in include bank deposits, commercial bills, bonds, monetary funds and stocks. But the CIRC statement has warned insurers to be "very careful" while investing in financial derivatives. Orient Securities Company analyst Wang Xiaogang said it's unlikely for the mainland stock market to get a jolt from the move because "some of the domestic capital has already flowed into Hong Kong and the general price gap between H shares and A shares in Shanghai and Shenzhen is narrowing". Insurers will cash in on the chance to expand their investment overseas, even though the domestic stock market is passing through its best phase in seven years. But again, overseas expansion is important for the diversification of their investment portfolios, he said. China will curb exports of cheap, labor- intensive products to force manufacturers into making higher-quality goods, in a move to narrow the world's largest trade surplus and reduce environmental damage. US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will visit Beijing next week to make a last-minute plea for more currency flexibility as Congress prepares to act on legislation to curb growing trade imbalances with the mainland. July 26, 2007
The number of imported laborers of China's Macao Special Administrative Region reached 73,460 at the end of May, accounting for nearly 25 percent of the region's total labor force, according to official statistics issued Wednesday. The figures from the Labor Affair Bureau showed that Macao with a population of 520,000 has a total labor force of 301,000. Laborers from the Chinese mainland accounted for 55.5 percent of the total imported labor force, the figures showed. Locals have long been urging the government to protect the interests of the local work force by ensuring them of employment priority. Tom Online (8282), a wireless internet company controlled by Li Ka-shing, tumbled to a net loss of US$9.56 million (HK$74.56 million) in the second quarter against a US$11.7 million net profit in the corresponding quarter a year ago, as revenue plunged and a joint venture suffered losses. With their eyes set on a possible 550,000 visitors, local games producers are hoping the annual Hong Kong Ani- Com and Game Fair which begins on Friday will give them a multimillion- dollar payday. "The fair has, on average, been enjoying a 12 percent annual increase in terms of visitors so this year we expect 550,000 visitors to show up against 490,000 last year," fair chief executive Leung Chung-poon said yesterday. Leung said the extended fair hours should also help ensure a bumper crowd. The fair, in which a comics festival and games fair are held in conjunction, runs until Tuesday at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. "Opening hours will be increased by over an hour, until 11.30pm. I believe this will help us attract the working population who may otherwise not get enough time after they finish work and dinner," he said. Leung said additional attractions, such as music and dance performances, would also help. There will be about 100 exhibitors, mostly from Hong Kong, with about 20 from the mainland. Oscar Chu Chung-ho, president of U1 Technology, one of the largest local game producers, is confident in the success of the fair and company sales. "Last year we earned about HK$1 million in sales, but the fair is not really the place where we earn most of our income," Chu said. "During the periods around the fair, we earn much more from our outside outlets." Chu said he is expecting fair sales to reach between HK$1.2 million and HK$1.5 million and about three to four times that amount outside the fair. One of U1 Technology's top products is a network game called Akuma. "The game is the first to employ the Lucid Platform 2.0 game engine," Chu said. The game engine was produced by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and funded by the government. One of the main fringe events is the second Hong Kong International Animation Film Festival, which began at the weekend. Ten animation movies will be screened and viewers can gain entrance to the game fair. There will also be the 2007 World Cyber Games, in which 300 local players will be engaged.
The scale of the police investigation into the attacks targeting New World Development properties in July is one of the biggest in recent times, according to Director of Crime and Security John Lee Ka-chiu. Police have so far arrested 32 people aged between 20 and 60. All but one are men. But Lee declined to comment on whether the mastermind behind the attacks was among those arrested. "The police have so far interviewed 150 staff of the New World Group and 400 others who are not part of the group," Lee said yesterday. "We have also raided and inspected more than 800 premises in different places and have seized lots of evidence which has been sent to the government laboratory for examination." He said the investigation involved various police departments including the Organized Crime and Triad Bureau because the force was determined to solve a case that is seen as a direct challenge to the government, the police and the community. He said for the time being, the police could not divulge further information, such as the possible motive, as this could affect the investigation. "But we are confident we will get to the bottom of it," Lee said, adding: "I hope we can say more after the laboratory's report." The attackers targeted the New World Group's headquarters in Central, 16 mobile phone shops and two hotels. Among those arrested was the president of the Hong Kong Muay Thai Association, Lee Yuk-tim. The 50-year-old man took charge of the Thai boxing association after his release from jail following a 1996 conviction for being a triad member. Though the vandalism happened on July 4, it was one of the main points of yesterday's review of crime in the first six months of this year. The number of drug offenses and drug seizures soared in the first half of this year though the city's general crime rate has risen by only 2.3 percent. Police are also very concerned at the number of juveniles and young persons involved in drug cases, Lee said. A total of 403 youngsters were arrested in relation to drug-related crimes in the first six months, a 97.5 percent increase from last year's 204 for the same period. Police seized 42,759 tablets of ecstasy and 444 kilograms of cannabis, both being 12 times the amount seized during the same period last year. Lee said the increase in drug seizures was the result of the rising supply and demand as well as better intelligence. He said police will continue to work closely with other government departments and concerned organizations to crack down on drug crimes and to educate young people about the dangers drugs posed to their health. The number of domestic violence cases doubled in the first six months of this year, from 1,834 in the first half last year to 3,702 this year. Lee said this was because people were now more willing to report such cases to the police. The number of rapes and criminal intimidation also rose, 52.6 percent and 32.5 percent respectively, but there was a fall in the number of homicides and bank robberies. There were a total of 40,357 crimes reported in the first half of this year, compared with last year's 39, 433.
US-based Westinghouse Electric yesterday signed a multi-billion-dollar deal with mainland partners to build four nuclear reactors in eastern China, clinching a pact agreed between Beijing and Washington seven months ago. Pirated software worth US$500 million (HK$3.9 billion), including counterfeit Microsoft and Symantec products, has been seized in a long-running joint probe by Chinese police and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, officials from both countries said yesterday.
July 25, 2007
Six former and incumbent senior executives of listed property developer Grand Field Group Holdings (0115) and securities and commodities broker Upbest Group (0335) have been charged by the Independent Commission Against Corruption with alleged conspiracy to defraud shareholders and the stock exchange. Billions continue to pour into mainland equity markets regardless of new monetary measures unveiled on Friday to tighten the liquidity tap. And the interest rate increase appears to have done little to slow the bull run in Hong Kong. Mainland commercial banks have sold 13 billion yuan (HK$13.42 billion) worth of financial products associated with the qualified domestic institutional investor scheme by the end of last month, accounting for 26 percent of the 50 billion yuan QDII quotas, according to the banking regulator. The former Communist Party boss of Shanghai - the highest-level party official to be dismissed in a decade - is closer to being punished in a corruption scandal, a Hong Kong newspaper reported yesterday.
Parents who think they can secure places in elite schools for their children are "living in a fantasy world," according to the headmaster of a prestigious secondary school. The warning came from Terence Chang Cheuk-cheung, headmaster of Diocesan Boys' School - a secondary school in Mong Kok with a reputation of being a "through train" for students from other educational institutions in the territory. Chang said yesterday parents must not be misled by the case of a woman teacher at the elite Diocesan Preparatory School in Kowloon Tong who was arrested by graftbusters over the weekend on suspicion of collecting and soliciting more than HK$700,000 from various parents to secure places at the school for their children. The suspect, who was responsible for handling student admissions at the aided institution on Chester Road, was picked in a sting operation by officers of the Independent Commission Against Corruption as she was allegedly being paid a second installment of HK$70,000 by a parent at a restaurant in the Festival Walk shopping complex in Kowloon Tong. It is also alleged the woman had approached three other parents and solicited advantages from them, claiming she could get their children admitted to her school. ICAC investigations revealed that two of the parents had allegedly paid the suspect HK$20,000 and HK$580,000, respectively.
A District Court judge on Tuesday ordered the arrest of a former chairman of Semtech International Holdings after he failed to turn up to hear a verdict over his bribery charges. The lawyer representing Derek Wong Chong-kwong, who was accused of bribing agents in return for promoting his company’s shares, told the court several attempts to contact his client by telephone on Tuesday were unsuccessful. The court was to originally deliver a verdict on Tuesday morning on the case involving Wong and two others. Wong’s counsel said he could not get in touch with him since their last telephone conversation dated last Tuesday. The lawyer told the court he believed Wong could have possibly met some accident. Judge Colin Mackintosh issued an arrest order on Wong and adjourned the case until Tuesday afternoon. The judge also required the defence counsel to contact people who last saw Wong. He said the aim was to obtain information to help determine whether Wong had breached bail conditions or his absence was due to causes beyond his control. Wong, 37, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of offering advantages to an agent. The alleged offences, which took place in 2004, involved some HK$500,000 in bribes. Two co-defendants, Earnest Leung Chi-wah and Yung Ka-tim, both 48, appeared in court on Tuesday. They have denied a count of accepting an advantage as an agent.
Southeast Asian nations and China are on track to establishing a free trade pact with just a number of details to be ironed out, a senior ASEAN official said Monday. "We are on track on (the) ASEAN-China" free trade area, said Ong Keng Yong, secretary-general of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Trade between China and ASEAN, expanding by nearly 40 percent a year, is likely to exceed US$200 billion a year by 2008, two years before the free trade area is due to be established in 2010. "By 2010 is well within our expectations," Ong said on the sidelines of a luncheon with American business leaders in Singapore. Plans were set in 2002 for a free trade area with China that will create a market of about 1.8 billion consumers -- more than a quarter of humanity -- and trade totaling more than US$2 trillion (euro1.6 trillion). Countries have already begun slashing tariffs on some products, though tough negotiations continue on loosening trade restrictions for finance and other service industries. "Some services still (need) to be ironed out," Ong said, without elaborating. He said negotiations on how the agreement will cover investments between the China and ASEAN will hopefully be completed by the end of the year. ASEAN is a key market for Chinese manufacturers, as well as a source for energy, rubber, minerals and other natural resources. ASEAN's members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- countries ranging from some of Southeast Asia's most affluent to some of its poorest.
China will spend 620 billion yuan (82 billion U.S. dollars) building subways and urban railways in 15 major cities in the next ten years to ease traffic jams, according to the Ministry of Construction. Around 1,700 kilometers of light rail systems will be built in the 15 cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Shenzhen and some provincial capitals. Currently, there are only 22 urban rail lines with a total length of 602.3 kilometers in operation or in trial operation in China, mainly in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, according to ministry's statistics. An official with the ministry said that 36 urban rail lines are under construction in 12 cities. Air China Ltd., the official airline partner for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, is working to cut delays and improve employees' English language skills ahead of next year's Games, according to executives. The standard of service on the Hong Kong-listed airline, part owned by Cathay Pacific is a popular topic of discussion in Beijing, with complaints ranging from frequent delays to poor English abilities. Air China says some of those delays are caused by the weather and are unavoidable -- thunderstorms which strike Beijing during the summer frequently lead to the airport closing -- but acknowledge they could keep passengers better informed. "We will improve our service quality this year, including addressing the delay problem," vice president in charge of sales Zhang Lan told a small group of foreign reporters. "A lot of information does not reach the front-line workers," admitted senior vice president He Li. "We're working on that too. These are the people who reflect the general service attitude of the airline." Frustration at mysterious delays, diversions and cancellations have at times boiled over into violence at Chinese airports, as passengers try to storm grounded aircraft and police are brought in to keep peace. The government is keen to improve service standards at airports and on Chinese airlines ahead of the Games, worried delays and rudeness could tarnish China's image. Raising English skills is another area Air China is concentrating on, as English is the international language of aviation. China's civil aviation regulator issued a terse statement last month demanding Chinese pilots improve their English. Many Chinese pilots are ex-military and speak little or even no English, though some airlines do now train their new pilots overseas to ensure they have the required language skills. "We pay a great deal of attention to this issue," said He. "But we are a developing country, whose language is Chinese. It's quite hard for us."
The global smash hit musical "Mamma
Mia!", now showing in Shanghai Grand Theater on its China tour, is planning to
launch a Chinese version, an official of the theater disclosed on Tuesday. Hong
Kong-based Wen Wei Po quoted the official as saying that the musical's European
production company, Littlestar, has shown a great interest on a Chinese version
of the drama. Discussion on the details, such as the scenario and the cast, is
expected to be carried out after this performance season ends. The musical has
already been adapted into various languages including Swedish, Russian, Japanese
and Korean during its international tour. The largest difficulty of the
adaptations lies on the translation of ABBA's songs, a director of the musical
said. Although many suggested retaining the English lyrics, Littlestar believed
singing in a local language would make the audience feel closer to the show. "We
now need a Chinese 'poet' as good as ABBA," the director said. The show's
current China tour covers Shanghai (in Shanghai Grand Theater from July 6 to
August 2) and Beijing (Poly Theater from August 7 to 19). July 24, 2007
A lawmaker's renewed push for cuts in taxi fares to deal with illicit discount cabbies has been met with strong opposition from part of the taxi trade. Speaking on RTHK's City Forum yesterday, Democrat Andrew Cheng Kar-foo, who chairs the Legislative Council's transport panel, said lowering fares for long-distance journeys may level the market share - up to 90 percent of which is now dominated by discounted cabs - among the territory's 18,000 taxi drivers and help their business. "I believe this could solve the issue of vicious competition between legitimate cab drivers and those offering discounts to passengers," said Cheng, again urging the government to review whether price negotiations by any party should be allowed under the law. His proposal involves lowering the meter fare jump to HK$1 per 200 meters or a minute's waiting period - instead of the current HK$1.40 - after the meter passes HK$50. The suggestions are similar to those made by Hong Kong Public Light Bus Owners' and Drivers' Association president Lai Ming-hung. Lai's proposal included raising the initial meter fare from HK$15 to HK$17, while the proposed reduction in the meter fare jump is the same as Cheng's. However, plans for a fare reduction were opposed by representatives of call- cab drivers and taxi owners.
The manufacturer of China's first locally developed short haul plane has received its first overseas order for ARJ21 regional plane, the Oriental Morning Post reported today. China Aviation Industry Corporation I (AVIC I) received the order from Lao Airlines for two ARJ21 jets. AVIC I has received orders for 71 ARJ21 jets from domestic airline service firms including Shanghai Airlines, Shandong Airlines and Xiamen Airlines. Shanghai Airlines ordered five ARJ21 jets, Xiamen Airlines plans to buy six such regional airliners, and Shandong Airlines wants to buy 10 such planes. In addition to the airlines, Shenzhen Financial Leasing Co Ltd and Shanghai Electric Leasing Co Ltd have ordered 20 and 30 ARJ21 jets respectively. The jet is expected to take off for its maiden flight in March, 2008, according to Lu Zheng, vice general manager for marketing of AVIC I Commercial Aircraft Co Ltd, a unit of AVIC I. The ARJ21 jet, powered by turbofan engines, can carry 70 to 110 passengers and boasts a maximum flight distance of 2,000 nautical miles. Insiders said the planes will sell at roughly US$30.50 million each. Currently, AVIC I Commercial is promoting the jet worldwide. According to Lu, the manufacturer will attend the Asian Aerospace International Expo, which will be held from September 3 to 5 this year in Hong Kong. Lin Zuoming, general manger of AVIC I, said earlier that AVIC I Commercial is mulling an overseas listing and hired Citibank as investment adviser. AVIC I Commercial is expected to become the first Chinese civilian aviation company listing overseas. An insider said that AVIC I's Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Factory, a manufacturer of commercial aircraft, would likely inject assets into AVIC I Commercial Aircraft. The ARJ21 program was officially approved in 2002, with a governmental investment of 5 billion yuan (US$661 million) for the first stage of the project. Beijing's Silk Street, famous for knock-off designer gear from North Face jackets to Louis Vuitton bags, has been raided again after state media heralded a cleanout of fake goods. July 21 - 23, 2007
|
Skype - FREE
Voice Over IP
Hong Kong:
The uniforms
may have been hot and the boots heavy, but the first intake of girls to complete
a two-week military training course with the PLA had nothing but praise for the
experience. "Quite a lot of the students suffered heatstroke during training.
Some fainted when we marched, practised martial arts and went hiking. But none
of us gave up and we insisted on completing the course," said Law Shuk-yu, one
of the 50 girls who took part in the summer camp. The girls were among about 200
secondary school students who graduated yesterday from the gruelling third
annual Military Summer Camp for Hong Kong Youth with the PLA's local garrison.
Although this year's camp was the first to include girls, the students were
undaunted by the experience, and all managed to adjust to the tough training and
strict discipline in a day or two. It was the heat that posed the biggest
challenge during their 15-day stay at the People's Liberation Army barracks in
San Wai, Fanling. Demonstrating the skills they had learned over the two weeks
and sitting through yesterday's hours-long graduation ceremony under the fierce
sun was the last challenge before leaving the camp. "The long-sleeved uniform
and heavy leather boots are really killing us. It's made us wonder how the
officers stand it. They are very tough!" said Shuk-yu, a Form Three student at
Kiangsu-Chekiang College. "Though it's tough, I will sign up for the camp again
if I have the chance. I learned a lot from the training. I used to be a loner,
but now realise the importance of team spirit." The Form Three and Form Four
students who took part in the camp were nominated by their principals and
screened by the Education and Manpower Bureau. Apart from the tough military
drills, discipline, use of weapons and defence theory, the students also had to
attend lessons on Chinese history, China's development and on how the PLA
operates. The course, which was originally proposed by Betty Tung Chiu
Hung-ping, wife of former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa, also included first
aid. 
The number of unmarried Hong Kong women living on their
own has jumped 43.8 per cent in five years because of the trend among local men
to marry mainlanders, according to a University of Hong Kong statistician. The
results of the 2006 census, released yesterday, showed that 182,648 women were
living alone, compared with 127,001 in 2001 and 103,938 in 1996. The number of
lone men has increased just 14.1 per cent, to 185,005, since 2001. University of
Hong Kong statistician Paul Yip Siu-fai said the increasingly large number of
Hong Kong men marrying mainlanders had fuelled the imbalance between single men
and women. "The imbalance is likely to grow further in the near future," he
said. Last year, about 28,000 Hong Kong men married mainland women, an increase
of more than 80 per cent on 2001. But only about 6,500 Hong Kong women married
across the border last year. Another reason for the increasing number of lone
women is that they are becoming more independent and better educated, according
to Dr Yip. "Many women can support themselves financially and feel less need to
get married," he said. Another factor is the changing gender ratio. A decade
ago, the sexes were equal in number; now there are only 961 men for every 1,000
women. The number of single mothers has risen 27.8 per cent to 57,613 since
2001, while the number of single fathers has grown 9.8 per cent to 14,713. "The
growing divorce rate will cause serious social ills, such as behavioural
problems among the children of single parents," Dr Yip said. There were 65,626
births in the city last year, up 36 per cent from 2001. Part of the increase was
due to mainlanders giving birth in the city. One in every four babies born in
the city last year had mainland parents. The Senior Citizen Home Safety
Association, which provides personal emergency services to elderly people who
live alone, said the government should improve medical services in the face of
the increasing number of people living alone. "Regardless of the gender, the
number of people living alone has increased in the past years. It is vital for
the government to provide better medical service for them as the population of
Hong Kong is ageing," the association's executive director, Ma Kam-wah, said. Mr
Ma said a change of mentality had boosted the number of elderly women living
alone: "Most elderly people, especially mothers, prefer living alone rather than
staying with their married children as they believe the family relationship will
be better if they don't live under the same roof."
It's not quite
Venice or Cannes, but Twins member Charlene Choi Cheuk-yin made a bit of a mark
on the international film festival scene last week. The Canto-idol was voted
best actress at this year's 11th annual Puchon International Fantastic Film
Festival in South Korea for her performance in Oxide Pang Chun's new spooker,
Diary. Choi plays a psychotic woman searching for her boyfriend. "When I was
told about the news, I was shocked and I called a lot of people to check if it
was for real," Choi said. The Puchon festival focuses on genre works of a love,
fantasy and adventure nature, far more audience oriented than other more
high-minded artistic showcases. Choi said her success was a result of lessons
with her Simply Actors co-star Jim Chim Sui-man. "I really want to say thank you
to my teacher, 'Jim Sir'. He helped me improve on my acting a lot." Now, if we
can just find her a voice coach for singing.
China:
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson arrived in Xining, capital of northwest
China's Qinghai Province Sunday evening, kicking off his "environmental tour" in
the country. Paulson's tour in Qinghai, home to China's largest salt water lake
Qinghai Lake, includes visiting local environmental protection programs. He will
also visit some rural households in the remote province on the Qinghai-Tibet
Plateau, dubbed the "roof of the world". As special representative of the U.S.
President, Paulson will visit China from July 29 to Aug. 1 to exchange views on
the process of the U.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue, China's Foreign
Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao announced on Thursday. Collaborating on energy
and environmental challenges is one of the key focuses of the U.S.-China
Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) launched by U.S. President George W. Bush and
Chinese President Hu Jintao last year, which was established to provide a
focused and effective framework for addressing issues of mutual concern. Before
flying to Xining, Paulson had made a brief stopover in Beijing on Sunday
afternoon. He will return to Beijing on Tuesday. President Hu Jintao will meet
with him and Vice Premier Wu Yi will hold talks with him as Hu's special
representative. This is Paulson's second visit to China this year, following his
short tour in March. 
Photo taken on July
28, 2007 shows Chinese President Hu Jintao (front, center) chats with an elder
woman in a residential community of Hangzhou, capital of east China’s Zhejiang
Province, during his inspection tour in the province. Hu Jintao has urged
officials to keep cleanhanded and devote themselves to the construction of a
harmonious and all-around better-off society. Hu, also general secretary of the
Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), made the remarks during
an inspection tour in east China’s Zhejiang Province from Saturday to Sunday.
Children enjoy
the cool from water fountains in Shanghai's People's Square Sunday night. The
temperature reached 39.6 celsius on Sunday, July 29, 2007, a record high for the
city in the past 63 years.
A boy is attracted by
large screen flat-panel TV sets in a supermarket in Beijing. China's LCD TV
output reached 6.34 million sets in the 1st half, up 65.4% on the previous year.
For months, US
lawmakers have been warning Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson their patience was
wearing thin as his dialogue with Beijing failed to produce breakthroughs on
currency revaluation and other disputes. This week, as Paulson meets with
mainland leaders, he faces new pressure in Congress, where proposed measures
might punish Beijing for manipulating its currency. "The problem is there is
very little [Paulson] can do in the immediate future that will make Congress
happy," said Andy Rothman, a China strategist for investment bank CLSA. Paulson
will discuss with President Hu Jintao and Vice Premier Wu Yi, the lead mainland
negotiator in the Sino- US "strategic economic dialogue," progress in the talks
that was launched last year to resolve China's swelling trade surplus and other
issues. But Paulson's real target audience is as much Congress as Beijing.
"Paulson is going to be hoping to come back from the current trip with private
whisperings and confidences that he can share with members of Congress so as to
discourage drastic action," said Sherman Katz, a former trade lawyer and
researcher at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.
Paulson has appealed for patience, saying the dialogue launched in December
needs time to produce results on key fronts such as yuan controls, product
piracy, barriers to foreign entry into its financial industries and trade.
Beijing has begun easing currency controls and reining in its trade surplus.
Yet, the United States and other countries that have seen trade deficits with
the mainland soar are demanding swifter action. Last week, over Paulson's
objections, a Senate panel approved a bill mandating the US Treasury identify
and punish "currency manipulators." Another proposal would tighten the legal
definition of currency manipulation to target China. Beijing says the yuan will
eventually be freely traded. But it says abrupt changes would hurt its
underdeveloped banking industry and cause financial turmoil. China revalued the
yuan by 2.1 percent against the US dollar in July 2005 and allowed it to
appreciate by 7.2 percent since then. Last week the yuan traded at 7.6 to the
greenback. Analysts expect the yuan to rise by an average of 5 percent annually
over the next few years - yet critics demand more. On Sunday, Paulson visited
Qinghai Lake in the far west to highlight environmental challenges amid the
country's breakneck growth. Paulson's stature as a former Goldman Sachs head and
personal lobbying of Congress have bought him time, analysts say. But China's
supercharged economic performance has fueled arguments that it can afford to
move faster. China grew by 11.9 percent last quarter - the fastest quarterly
rise since 1995 - and its trade surplus jumped by 85 percent last month to
US$26.9 billion (HK$209.82 billion). Beijing's international standing has been
hurt by a string of product safety complaints about exports ranging from toxic
toothpaste to faulty tires, says Katz. He added: "It contributes to a sense that
... [Beijing] may be a government that has a lot to learn about acting as a
responsible citizen in the global economy."
Shanghai villas
see strong demand, Limited supply and steady inflow of expatriate staff underpin
high-end rental market. A steady inflow of expatriates and limited fresh supply
due to land policies will underpin continued strong demand for Shanghai's
upmarket villas, analysts say. The latest data from property consultants shows
Shanghai's villa residential market has taken in stride various control measures
introduced since 2005 to cool the mainland's overheated property market. The
average monthly rent fetched by villas reached US$21.50 per square metre in the
first half of the year, up 6.5 per cent from the same period last year,
according to statistics from Colliers International. The overall vacancy rate
was 10.6 per cent, compared with 15.9 per cent last year. In the villa district
of Changning, the vacancy rate was unchanged, while in Minhang, vacancies fell
12 percentage points to 6.7 per cent. And although 13.6 per cent of Pudong
district's luxury villas remained vacant, the vacancy rate was down 6.9
percentage points from the same period last year, the figures showed. The
gradual opening of the mainland financial sector and growing domestic consumer
demand had lured foreign banks and retail giants to expand aggressively in the
mainland, analysts said. Official data showed that by the end of April, Shanghai
was home to 57,000 registered expatriates - 11.8 per cent up from the previous
year. Larry Hu, head of residential consultancy at Knight Frank Shanghai, said
he was optimistic about the outlook for the villa market. "A quarter of the
expatriates living in Shanghai rent luxury homes with monthly rents ranging from
US$3,000 to US$10,000," said Mr Hu, who added that expatriates accounted for
more than 90 per cent of the total luxury residential leasing market in
Shanghai. Meanwhile, in a move to cap the supply of upmarket villas, the
Ministry of Land and Resources and the National Development and Reform
Commission jointly reiterated this month a policy to end new land approvals for
villa developments. Lina Wong, managing director for East China at Colliers
International, said the measures would boost the villa market. "The rising
number of expatriates and the future limited new supply will help the outlook
for the villa leasing market," she said.
The Exchange Fund earned
investment income of HK$47 billion in the first six months of the year, a 53
percent jump over the same period a year ago, thanks largely to the hot equities
market. The Hong Kong Treasury's share of the take is HK$13.3 billion. Figures
released yesterday by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority show the Exchange Fund
gained a total of HK$15.1 billion from Hong Kong equities, an increase of 41
percent over the previous year; HK$12.3 billion from bond returns, up 193
percent; HK$12.1 billion from gains on other equities, a surge of 246 percent;
and HK$7.5 billion from foreign exchange gains, a decline of 39 percent from
HK$12.3 billion. "The outlook for Hong Kong's equity market for the second half
will be quite volatile, but bullish," said Billy Mak, associate professor in the
department of finance and decision sciences at Hong Kong Baptist University. The
positive outlook, he added, stems from expectations that corporate earning
performances will be strong amid robust economic growth. The drop in the
Exchange Fund's exchange valuation gain was attributed to the weak US dollar.
Mak said the fund is already investing a sizable portion of foreign currency
reserves in US dollar assets for the purpose of safeguarding the Hong Kong
dollar currency peg. "So the weakening US dollar will definitely affect that
portion," he said. However, this does not mean the Hong Kong dollar should
de-peg from the greenback, said Nicholas Kwan Ka- ming, Asia regional head of
research for Standard Chartered Bank. "The purpose of the Exchange Fund lies in
maintaining monetary stability, and should not be [judged] solely by how much
investment return it is generating," Kwan said. "Exchange gain represents a
small portion of the total investment income of the fund. It can shift the
investment portfolio to make up for the potential loss." Commenting on the
Exchange Fund results, HKMA chief executive Joseph Yam Chi-kwong said despite
continued global economic growth so far in 2007, financial markets have
experienced sharp volatility. He noted the global stock market correction in
late February and early March and the rise in long-term bond yields in May and
June as concerns. "It is nevertheless encouraging that, notwithstanding these
sharp and unexpected market movements, the Exchange Fund has been able to earn
an investment income of HK$47 billion in the first half of the year," Yam said
in a statement published on the HKMA website. He cautioned that sustainability
of the recent stock market rally and investor optimism should not be taken for
granted because uncertainties over global economic strength and interest-rate
movements will continue to cloud the investment outlook in the equity, bond and
currency markets. In his weekly blog "Viewpoint," published on the HKMA website,
Yam also said the issue of the carry trade should be watched. But he believes
the chances of a financial crisis recurring are slim. The Exchange Fund's total
asset value stood at HK$1.257 trillion as of June 30, up by 13.66 percent from
the HK$1.105 trillion a year ago. 
Undeterred by the
market plunge yesterday, shares of high-speed steel maker Tiangong International
(0826) soared on their trading debut, advancing 81.76 percent above the offer
price. Tiangong hit a high of HK$12.10 before pulling back to close at HK$11.56,
up from the offer price of HK$6.36, with HK$1.28 billion worth of shares traded.
The Jiangsu-based company became the fourth best-performing new listing on the
Hong Kong main board. China Communications Services (0552) was the third-highest
gainer on debut, rising 85 percent; China High Speed Transmission (0658) surged
97.7 percent, ranking second; while Beijing Enterprises Holdings (0392) gained
the most, rocketing 222 percent on its May 1997 debut. "Tiangong's performance
was above market expectations of 25 percent," said Cherrie Yan, analyst at
Phillip Securities. The Hang Seng Index retreated from a record high to close
down 0.6 percent yesterday.
Police have arrested
eight people over a HK$5 million internet scam that made use of international
e-auction platform eBay to cheat would-be buyers all over the world. It is
believed more than 10,000 people have been swindled through fraudulent
transactions and police are still trying to ascertain the actual number of
victims. The suspects - five men and three women aged between 18 and 47 - were
detained in raids that began across the territory early yesterday. They are
alleged to have been involved in a well- organized e-auction fraud syndicate
that was smashed following intensive investigations with the help of eBay, which
is based in the United States. Senior Superintendent Man Chi- hung of the
Commercial Crime Bureau's technology crime division said most of the
transactions involved electronic products such as MP3 players and computer
memory cards. 
Executive councillor Cheng
Yiu-tong said yesterday he expects Beijing to give the go-ahead to a proposal
that reportedly will allow up to two million Shenzhen residents easy access to
the SAR. The non-official Exco member, who is also a local NPC deputy and the
president of the Federation of Trade Unions, would not say if such a proposal
would be included in Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen's policy address in
October. "But I think there will be little problem [in getting Beijing's
approval]," Cheng said. If approved, he said there would probably be a three-day
time limit on such visits. Cheng chairs the Hong Kong-China Relation Strategic
Development Research Fund, which advocated such an idea in one of its research
studies. According to a Ming Pao report published Wednesday, the proposal would
only affect Shenzhen residents with household records rather than the special
economic zone's entire population of more than eight million. Le Zheng, director
of the Shenzhen Academy of Social Sciences, estimated the scheme would attract
an extra 10,000 to 20,000 Shenzhen residents per day to the territory on one-day
trips.
China needs to improve the quality of
its exports to win a better international reputation, Premier Wen Jiabao said
during a meeting on Friday that set out punishments for food and drug firms that
violate standards. "Product quality relates to our people's interest, the
survival and development of our enterprises and the image of our nation," Wen
told the meeting on export quality. It was crucial to win over the international
market with good-quality exports, Wen added. Chinese exports of everything from
fish to toys, pet food to toothpaste, have been found in recent months to be
mislabeled, unsafe or dangerously contaminated, creating an international
backlash. Wen's remarks were reported on state radio and TV. "We will not avoid
problems, but we protest against untrue reports that tell only part of the
story, and trade protectionism and discrimination," Wen was quoted as saying.
Food safety scandals are a regular topic in the Chinese media, but the nation
lacks a basic food safety law and the ability to enforce its food and drug
safety regulations at home or for exports. Its imports are generally carefully
scrutinized. The head of the State Food and Drug Administration was executed
last month, after being found guilty of accepting bribes to approve drugs. "It
is a timely, urgent and important job and also a long-term and enduring task for
us to fully improve the quality of Chinese products," Wen said. China would
raise the threshold for products relating to human health and safety so as to
prevent problematic exports from leaving the country, he said. The authorities
would also check every stage of production, including raw materials, additives
and intermediate products, so as to make the "made in China" brand a symbol for
goods with great quality, Wen said. Producers of food, drugs and other
agricultural goods that violate the food safety rules would face fines of up to
100,000 yuan ($13,220), have operation certificates or export permits cancelled
or even risk arrest, according to regulations carried on the central government
Web site 
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said on
Friday that China would strengthen exchanges and cooperation with other
countries to cope with the issue of food safety "in a responsible way" at a
national work meeting in Beijing. The following are measures the Chinese
government has taken since China''s food quality was called into question both
locally and globally. (1) China and the United States will hold a
vice-ministerial-level talk on food security in August and the two sides will
sign a memorandum of understanding on food safety by the end of this year to
enable the two countries to resolve food safety issues more effectively. (2) The
U.S. Health and Human Services officials will visit China at the end of July to
exchange views with Chinese officials on the U.S. detention of four categories
of aquatic products (catfish, basa and dace, shrimp and eel) that were alleged
to contain banned substances. (3) China pledged on July 25 to provide regular
and detailed information about potentially dangerous exports from China based on
European complaints during the visit of Meglena Kuneva, the European
commissioner for consumer protection. (4) China has established bilateral
mechanisms and multi-lateral mechanisms on food safety with its trade partners
including the United States, the European Union, Japan and the Republic of
Korea.
A visitor at Experience Israel, a consumer goods event in Beijing, checks
Israeli wine. Israeli producer hope their high-end products can attract China's
affluent consumers.
Summer is particularly hot in big
cities. To help city dwellers keep cool through this difficult period, here are
some tips to rescue them from the heat. Summer is particularly hot in big
cities. According to the ancient lunar calendar, the last 10 days of July are
the hottest days in the year. To help city dwellers keep cool through this
difficult period, here are some tips to rescue you from the heat. With the right
liquids, right clothes, right diet and good habits, people can ease through the
hash period of the year without too much difficulty.
Confrontation over
Darfur 'will lead us nowhere' - It's like sitting around a dinner table:
Westerners use forks and knives, Chinese prefer chopsticks, and Arabs and
Indians their hands. The mediums may be different, the purpose is the same. Why
should all of us have to use forks and knives? You should not force others to
use the medium you like. The same applies to the negotiation table. The solution
to a problem is more important than the means employed. Coercion and
confrontation "will lead us nowhere". This is how China's special envoy to
Darfur Liu Guijin describes the Darfur issue. "China insists on using influence
without interference, and we know respect for all the parties is vital to
finding a solution," Liu said in an interview with China Daily. "If the
situation in Darfur gets out of control or if it gets too late before a solution
is found, it will hurt the interest of not only the people in Darfur, but also
the international community." But to find a fair solution, "you have to learn
how to deal with the Sudanese government" because no peacekeeping operation can
be smooth without its support, Liu said. The international community should not
forget that it is a "legitimate government that deserves respect". "We sit
together to solve the problem and restore peace in Darfur, not to punish one
side in favor of another." China has been trying to find a solution agreeable to
all the parties. It has been trying to alleviate the suffering of the people,
too. It sent a team of agriculture experts to Sudan last month to study the
possibility of setting up an agriculture technology demonstration center. "Such
help targets the right cause of the conflict - poverty." China has already given
$10 million in humanitarian aid and promised to offer more. China has used its
ties with Sudan to build infrastructure such as schools, hospitals and water
projects. But their relations have been politicized by a section of the media
and some NGOs and politicians, Liu said. 
Hong Kong has been
ranked as the world's eighth most fashionable city in a latest survey by Global
Language Monitor. China News Service Thursday quoted HK's Wen Wei Po newspaper
as saying, also listed as one of the world's most fashionable cities is
Shanghai, eastern China's financial hub, taking the fourteenth place on the top
25 list. The California-based Global Language Monitor says the rise of Shanghai
in the list indicates that a Chinese mainland city has for the first time broken
into the big names. New York was elected as the top fashion city for the fourth
consecutive year. Rome came second and Paris took the third place. Asian cities
on the list also include Tokyo, in the 6th place, Singapore in the 10th and
Bangkok in the 17th. Global Language Monitor, a non-profit organization, is in
charge of documenting, analyzing and tracking trends in language, especially in
English. The American company also conducts fashion surveys.
The heatwave has
continued to take its toll, with two deaths and more than a dozen people falling
ill in the past few days, and the temperature soaring to a record high on
southern Hong Kong Island. A dole recipient taking part in outdoor community
work collapsed with suspected heatstroke yesterday, bringing to 13 the number of
people who have been overcome by the heat since Monday. Two people - an outdoor
worker and a teenager playing football - died on Monday and at least eight
people were taken ill. Another five people fell sick on Tuesday. According to
the Hong Kong Observatory, the temperature hit a record high of 38 degrees
Celsius at Repulse Bay on Hong Kong Island yesterday, while temperatures of
above 36 degrees Celsius were recorded in parts of northern New Territories. The
highest temperature on record was 36.1 degrees, which was registered on August
19, 1900, and August 18, 1990. The very hot weather warning was issued on
Tuesday afternoon and remained in force yesterday. 
A newborn panda cub sleeps in an incubator at Chengdu Research Base of Giant
Panda Breeding in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan province July 26, 2007.
Andy Lau Tak-wah has
signed on to star in a remake of the movie that inspired the 1986 John Woo
gangster classic A Better Tomorrow, a spokeswoman for Lau and the film's
director said. Lau, one of Chinese cinema's biggest stars, has agreed to appear
in the movie called Ying Hong Boon Sik in Cantonese, spokeswoman Alice Tam said
yesterday. He will play a mobster who is betrayed by a close friend, director
Stephen Fung Tak-lun said. Ying Hong Boon Sik is a remake of a 1967 movie by the
same name, Fung said. The 1967 movie inspired A Better Tomorrow, the
Woo-directed action thriller that made Chow Yun-fat's trench-coat wearing,
gun-toting gangster character an icon. It was not immediately clear who is
funding Fung's movie and when he will start shooting. Spokeswoman Emily Wong at
Hong Kong movie company Media Asia, which said earlier it was in talks with Fung
about investing in the movie, said the company was not involved in the project
any more. Fung grabbed headlines recently when Hollywood producer Andrew
Tennenbaum bought the remake rights to the Hong Kong director's comedy Enter The
Phoenix. Tennenbaum produced The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy and the
upcoming The Bourne Ultimatum. Lau's credits include the kung fu movie House of
Flying Daggers and the crime thriller Infernal Affairs, which was remade by
Martin Scorsese as The Departed. Lau has shot two Chinese historical epics
recently - Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon and The Warlords. Lau, who
also sings, is scheduled to launch a concert tour in China this year.
Police may use
force if they are attacked when government workers dismantle Queen's Pier,
possibly before the end of this month, Development Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng
Yuet-ngor warned yesterday. "I pledge that we will not use violence to cordon
off the pier area," she told a Legislative Council panel. "It is not the usual
way we do things." But she added an attack would prompt different tactics. Mrs
Lam said the government was still open to options as to where to rebuild the
54-year-old pier. Mrs Lam, who promised to meet the activists on Sunday in a
public forum, said the government would clear the pier area to avoid further
delays in the Central reclamation project. 
Australian actress still to work with HK director - A
much-anticipated project involving Nicole Kidman and Wong Kar-wai is still
alive, but it is not easy co-ordinating the schedules of the Oscar-winning
actress and Hong Kong director, Kidman’s publicist said on Wednesday. “I can
tell you that they still continue to discuss making the movie together. I
believe it is a matter of both of their schedules, not just Ms Kidman’s,” the
publicist, Catherine Olim, said in an e-mail to AP. Charlotte Yu, a spokesman
for Wong’s production company, Jettone Films, said she did not know the latest
status of the film, tentatively called Lady from Shanghai. Little is known about
the film, and its story has not been made public. Wong was quoted as saying in
May 2005 he had started preparing for the film. A film consultant told AP in
February 2006 that the project was being delayed to 2007 because Wong had not
found a strong male lead. But there are no signs that Wong will start shooting
this year. His English debut, My Blueberry Nights, is scheduled to be released
in November and Wong will likely be tied up with promoting that film until then.
Wong, who was born in Shanghai and moved to the territory at the age of five, is
a Hong Kong icon. He has international reputation for art-house films with
mood-setting visuals and melancholy soundtracks. He has attracted a strong
following among the Hollywood elite despite making mostly Chinese-language
films. His breakthrough film was 1994’sChungking Express in which the tagline
“If my memory of her has an expiration date, let it be 10,000 years...” became a
classical quote for lovers. Happy Together won him the best director title in
the Cannes Festival in 1997. Wong is known for not using detailed scripts for
his films. Many of his films feature famous Hong Kong stars including Maggie
Cheung Man-yuk, Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Faye Wong. Japanese star Takuya Kimura
played a part in the 2004 film 2046.Kidman has been quoted as referring to Wong
as “God”. Other Americans have similar views. Director Sofia Coppola praised
Wong in her Oscar acceptance speech in 2004. Quentin Tarantino lists Wong’s 1994
Chungking Express as one of his favourite films. My Blueberry Nights, the
opening film in this year’s Cannes Festival, features a distinguished cast
including Jude Law, Natalie Portman, Rachel Weisz and Grammy-winning singer
Norah Jones in her film debut. Kidman, the Hawaiian-born Australian actress, won
best actress Oscar for The Hours in 2002. She was most recently seen in Fur: An
Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus.
Hong Kong and United States
customs officers will conduct a series of joint factory observation visits in
Hong Kong from August 10. Head of trade controls for the Hong Kong Customs and
Excise Department, Cheung Sai-yan, said on Wednesday the visits were part of a
policy of co-operation between Hong Kong and US customs. Mr Cheung said they
were needed to ensure legitimate textiles and clothing trade continues, as well
as to combat illegal trans-shipment of textiles and clothing products. “The
joint visits will keep the US updated on the manufacture of textiles and
clothing products in Hong Kong and the implementation of Hong Kong’s origin
control programme for textiles and clothing exports,” he said. Mr Cheung said
the visits would facilitate a better understanding by the US Customs authorities
of the effectiveness of Hong Kong’s origin control system. They would also
ensure that textiles and clothing exports claiming to be products of Hong Kong
are genuinely manufactured in Hong Kong, he added. “This will also be conducive
to the legitimate textiles trade especially at a time when restrictive measures
are still in place against certain textile exports from other economies in the
region,” Mr Cheung said. The joint visiting teams, comprising Hong Kong and US
Customs officers, will inspect only textile factories which have given prior
consent. “Joint visit team members will not undertake any enforcement activities
during the visits. Enforcement activities, if necessary, will be undertaken by
Hong Kong Customs officers independently and separately from the visits,” Mr
Cheung said. The visits will not disrupt the production and operation of
factories. The visits, starting from August 10, will last for about two weeks.
Detailed arrangements about the visits have been announced by the Trade and
Industry Department separately through a Notice to Exporters and Certificate of
Origin Circular.
Xi'an Aircraft Company (XAC), a
subsidiary of China Aviation Industry Corporation I (AVIC I), yesterday made its
first delivery of an Airbus A319 wing box - making the country Airbus' only wing
box manufacturer outside Europe. The wing box, or the main body of the wing and
among the toughest structural parts of an aircraft, is valued $1.75 million per
set. It will be dispatched to the Airbus assembly plant in Broughton in the UK.
"Airbus has ordered 250 sets of wing boxes from our company. We expect to make
two sets this year. Production will pick up to four sets per month by the end of
2009, and then to six sets per month in 2010," Tang Jun, vice-president of XAC,
told China Daily. Airbus plans to increase its subcontract volume in China from
the current $60 million to $120 million by 2010, about 50 percent of which will
be contributed by the overall wing program, according to company sources.
Yesterday's delivery signals important progress in China's aircraft
manufacturing industry, Tang said. The A319 wing box is the largest and most
complicated Airbus aircraft component a Chinese aviation manufacturer has ever
made. The wing box is the third phase of the long-term technological partnership
between Airbus and China's aviation industry, which started eight years ago. The
first two phases covered technology transfer of wing leading edge track ribs,
and wing leading edge and trailing edge packages. The delivery "reaffirms
Airbus' commitment to a meaningful partnership with China," said Laurence
Barron, Airbus China president. According to Tang, XAC and Airbus are in talks
on more wing-related technology transfer. China expects to obtain the rest of
the wing-related contracts from Airbus by 2009, said Yang Chunsheng, a senior
executive with China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation. If
that comes true, he said, "Xi'an will be able to directly provide Airbus wings
to the future A320 assembly line in Tianjin." Airbus and Chinese partners
officially signed an agreement last month to open the assembly line there to
produce the European aircraft manufacturer's A320 jets. The plant is expected to
deliver its first aircraft in early 2009, Airbus said. The assembly line will be
able to produce four A320s a month by 2011 and a total of about 300 A320 planes
by 2016, the company said.
The outside of the Tianjin Olympic Center Stadium. After
over 1,000 days of construction, the stadium is now on its way toward
inauguration.
Guided missile destroyer Guangzhou. Two Chinese naval vessels left Hainan on
Tuesday for an 87-day tour that will take them to Russia, Britain, Spain and
France. Two Chinese naval vessels left Sanya, Hainan, on Tuesday for an 87-day
tour that will take them to Russia, Britain, Spain and France. The guided
missile destroyer Guangzhou and the supply ship Weishanhu are under the command
of Major General Su Zhiqian, deputy commander of the South China Sea Fleet of
the Chinese Navy. The Guangzhou -- 155 meters long, 16 meters wide and with a
displacement of 5,850 tons -- is said to be one of China's newest naval vessels.
The two ships will travel more than 23,000 nautical miles, stopping in Russia's
Saint Petersburg, Britain's Portsmouth, Spain's Cadiz, and France's Toulon in
succession. More than 500 soldiers and officers are on board the vessels. They
will join activities for the Year of China in Saint Petersburg and hold joint
rescue exercises with the British, Spanish and French navies.
Ion network - 3i is a
leading private equity business with a history of 62 years. Established in 1945
with funding from the Bank of England, UK clearing banks and the City, seasoned
entrepreneur William Piercy (later Lord Piercy) was appointed to manage the
initial fund. 3i Group listed in London in 1994 and remains the only FTSE 100
Private Equity business, with five different asset classes and $14.3 billion
under management. The company has invested over $250 million in many well-known
Chinese companies, such as: Focus Media, Chinas largest multi-channel
advertising media company; D.Phone, one of China's earliest mobile phone
retailers; PCD, established by Ports CEO, a high-end department store; and Inner
Mongolia Little Sheep Catering Chain Co, China's leading retail hotpot
restaurant chain. 3i is currently invested in more than 500 businesses
worldwide. At least 60 of these businesses operate in Asia, of which more than
35 are in China. Lily Jin was voted the best venture capitalist in 2006 by
Forbes for her investments in Mengniu Dairy and Suntech Power.
Art of
investment - Profile of Li Jianguang - 2000: Vice-President and Partner of IDGVC;
1999: Assistant General Manager, Tintic Trust & Investment; 1994: Manager,
Crosby Group, Beijing Representative Office; 1987: Research Fellow, Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences; 1987: Graduated from Peking University, Economics
Department. IDG Technology Venture Investment (IDGVC Partners) is one of the
most prestigious venture capital firms in China. Since it was first established
in 1992 with offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Boston and the Silicon
Valley, the organization has invested in a group of unknown start-ups in the
country that later became big names - like Baidu, Focus Media, Sohu, Tencent,
EachNet, Dangdang and Ctrip. One of the earliest US venture capital firms to
enter the Chinese market, IDGVC Partners invests in early to growth-stage
companies and is focused on hi-tech sectors like the Internet,
telecommunications, wireless communications, digital media, IC (integrated
circuit) and life science. It manages over $800 million in capital and has an
investment portfolio of 100 start-up companies, 30 of which have completed
public offerings or successful mergers. Earlier this month, IDG Partners
announced it had successfully raised $510 million in investment for its
IDG-Accel China Fund II in just 45 days. On the eve of the company's new round
of investing, Li Jianguang, vice-president and partner of IDGVC Partners, sat
down with China Business Weekly reporter Wang Xing to talk about the art of
investment.
The Hong Kong
director whose movie inspired Oscar-winner The Departed plans to make his
television debut with a Chinese- language kung fu series based on a comic book.
Andrew Lau Wai-keung said in an interview with the Chinese news website Sina.com
that he hopes the series, called A Bi Jian in Chinese, will also spawn a movie
and an online game. Footage of the interview was posted on Sina.com yesterday.
Lau said he wants to give TV a try because it does not have the same time
constraints as a movie. "After making a movie, maybe you weren't able to shoot
many of your ideas, because a movie is only 1 or two hours long, but TV gives
you space to film a lot of things." Lau rose to fame after making the 2002 crime
thriller Infernal Affairs, which was remade by Martin Scorsese as The Departed,
starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson and Matt Damon. It won the Best
Picture Oscar at the 2007 Academy Awards. Lau has since shot the Hollywood movie
The Flock, starring Richard Gere and Claire Danes. Lau said he plans to devote
the same resources to his TV show as a movie, including computer special
effects. "I want to put elements from movies into TV to raise the quality of
TV," he said. The director did not say how many episodes his new series will
comprise or how much it will cost. He also did not give a shooting schedule or
say if anyone had commissioned the show. Calls to Lau's office seeking more
detail on the project went unanswered. Sina.com said he visited Beijing recently
to cast for the show.
Former chief
secretary Anson Chan Fang On-sang said yesterday she was very disappointed with
the government green paper on the ways to achieve universal suffrage, as it
seemed to be "a recipe of confusion and procrastination". Mrs Chan said remarks
by Chief Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen, who said the public's opinions "would
only be a reference point, instead of the determining factor in the
consultation", did not match those of Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen
during his election campaign.
Sex, a centuries-old taboo considered by most of Chinese, is creating a buzz in
this conservative country. Claims that approximately 25 percent of Chinese
adults had multiple sex partners in 2006 by Pan Suiming, director of Institute
of Sexuality and Gender at Renmin University of China, has prompted society to
open debate over whether China has become morally corrupted. Pan said having
multiple sex partners is partially indicative of a sexual revolution, during an
interview with Life Times on July 6. Touching the surface of a topic the whole
nation is trying to avoid, the sexl scholar believes the Chinese are getting
closer to an open and transparent attitude toward sex. Pan's shocking claims
were part of his survey Chinese's sexual behaviors and relations: 2000-2006 of
6,010 Chinese aged between 18-61. The sex survey asks about premarital sex and
homosexuality, both of which are on the rise on the back of the country's
double-digit economic growth. The practice of having sex with more than one
other person gained a momentum in the last few years. Its rate occurrence
advanced to 25.3 percent in 2006, from 16.9 percent in 2000, a seven percent
increase from the same period last year. The figure was six percent in the
1980s, a time when China launched its reform and began opening up its economy to
the rest of the world. Pan's findings are unpopular, as many believe the
sharp-rise in people having more than one sexual partner indicates the country
is on the verge of falling from morality. "Loyalty to marriage is an enduring
theme of society and has a deep place in people's souls. His findings cannot
change that fact," a netizen, only identified by his nickname Xiao.Xiao.Xiao
wrote on the popular qq.com. But the expert defied public opinions, arguing the
results of his survey marked a progress in people's attitude toward sex. His
findings indicate women, usually passive in sex, are becoming more active in the
bedroom. "The exodus of women from rural areas to urban cities has contributed
to the changes in women," explained Pan. He added that the improvement in
women's education is helping them get rid of the conventional stereotype that
women are for bearing and raising offspring for men. "The longing for of love
and happiness has led to changes in women's attitudes toward sex," said Pan.
"And easy access to abortions and birth control have also had a great impact on
women." Of course, a sex revolution isn't just about a variety of spiced-up
sexual activities. "A harmonious society must include sex, which is no longer a
revolution but a part of our lives," said Pan.
China
Development Bank's Shanghai branch. The bank dramatically increased its
international profile by announcing that it will buy up to 5% in London-based
Barclays.
A traditional Chinese
medicine store in Shanghai. Some drugmakers are raising funds overseas to bring
companies up to modern pharmaceutical industry standards. China Shenghuo
Pharmaceutical Holdings Inc, the first traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) maker
on the American Stock Exchange, plans to raise as much as $300 million in the
coming years to build a large, modern pharmaceutical company producing
traditional herbal medicine. The company specializes in panax notoginseng, the
Latin name for a root that is used to treat wounds, bleeding and even internal
blood disorders. Shenghuo aims to raise $10-20 million from additional share
sales later this quarter to fund growth for the medium-sized company based in
Kunming, Southwest China's Yunnan Province, an area that boasts rich herbal
medicine resources. As the Chinese pharmaceutical industry is expected to
consolidate and companies realize the importance of innovation and
brand-building, private firms with plans for expansion have turned to overseas
investors for funds. "This is such a huge industry, we could not be successful
without more investment," said Lan Guihua, chairman and CEO of Shenghuo.
Shenghuo floated its stock in June through a backdoor listing using a share
exchange program with a United States firm by selling 2.6486 million shares
priced at $3.5. In March, Tongjitang Technology, a company in neighboring
Guizhou, became the first TCM maker to list on the New York Stock Exchange, when
it raised $120 million. Guo Yunpei, deputy chief editor of China Medicine News,
said the situation in China is similar to the pharmaceutical industry in the US
at one time, when there were over 3,000 drugmakers - yet after intense
consolidation, there are now only about 500.
The European Union has urged China to
be more vigilant about product safety, particularly when it comes to toys, and
to provide more information about the measures it takes against manufacturers of
fake or shoddy exports. EU Consumer Commissioner Meglena Kuneva yesterday made
the request during talks in Beijing with Li Changjiang, head of China's product
safety watchdog, the General Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection
and Quarantine. Kuneva encouraged China to make greater efforts to improve its
market surveillance to prevent dangerous products ending up in the EU and to
help improve China's reputation as an exporter. "There is an improvement, but
also it's equally valid that there is need of more step up of the reforms on the
market and on the market surveillance," Kuneva said. Last year, 924 products -
from unsafe lighters to wobbly strollers to short- circuiting kettles - were
identified as too dangerous to be sold in the 27 European Union nations, plus
Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
Miss Hong Kong 2007
Kayi Cheung (C) poses with first runner-up Grace Wong (L) and second runner-up
Lorretta Chow after winning the annual beauty contest in Hong Kong July 21,
2007.
Residents walk past a
branch of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) in Central, a business
district in Hong Kong October 27, 2006. In a fresh sign of China's financial
strength, a leap in the shares of Industrial & Commercial Bank of China on
Monday made it the world's biggest bank by market capitalization, overtaking US
giant Citigroup. ICBC's Shanghai-listed A shares surged 2.68 percent to 5.75
yuan, giving it a market capitalization of $254 billion, according to Reuters
calculations. That exceeded the $251 billion capitalization of Citigroup,
previously the world's biggest bank, when its shares closed at $50.73 in New
York on Friday. HSBC Holdings was in third place with $215 billion. Shares in
ICBC, which listed in Shanghai and Hong Kong last October, have gained 15
percent this month on the back of a rally in China's booming stock market as
well as strong growth in the bank's own earnings. Weakness in Citigroup's share
price, and appreciation of the yuan against the dollar have also shifted market
values in favor of ICBC. But some analysts believe ICBC's ballooning
capitalization may also be a sign of a dangerously overheated Shanghai stock
market as speculating Chinese investors pour money into shares. ICBC, a
state-controlled behemoth which is trying to modernize a creaky branch network
operating almost entirely inside China, reported income of $24 billion last
year. Citigroup, one of the world's most sophisticated financial institutions
with operations around the globe, reported income almost four times as large, at
$90 billion. ICBC's share price on Monday valued it at 28 times analysts'
forecasts for its earnings per share in 2007, far above 11 times for Citigroup
and an average of 16 times for major global banks, according to Reuters
Estimates.
The mainland will
become a key global player in the private equity industry in terms of
institutional investors and market participants in 10 years, said Peter Lee,
executive director of NIF SMBC Ventures Asia, a venture capital firm. "We are
seeing a very rapid development in the private equity industry in Asia,
especially in China," said Lee, who is also a member of the financial reporting
and corporate governance committee at CPA Australia. According to Lee, the
committed capital - total pledged to a private equity fund - by the end of the
first half in China was about US$4.33 billion (HK$33.77 billion), representing a
220 percent increase over the same period last year. Lee described it as an
"unprecedented," increase. In comparison, the combined committed capital in
India and Australia - the other two major markets for private equity - during
the same period was US$3.2 billion, Lee said. Lee said the private equity
industry in the mainland would grow at a robust pace over the next three to five
years. While the private equity industry in the mainland has been historically
dominated by foreign players, domestic firms are increasingly becoming active
and institutional investors are recognizing private equity as a major asset
class, Lee said. "That would boost the activities and awareness of the private
equity market, and is a positive development for the private equity industry in
China." Lee does not see the emergence of domestic private equity funds as a
threat to foreign private equity funds operating in the mainland. 
Beef traders have
failed to reach a consensus on boycotting cattle sales after the supply of live
cattle dropped by about one-fourth yesterday. The threat of a boycott had
emerged after Ng Fung Hong - the city's sole supplier of live cattle from the
mainland - raised the wholesale price of live cattle Saturday. A fresh meat
coalition complained that only 90 head of cattle were to be offered for sale
yesterday, compared with the daily average of 120. About 20 buyers staged a
protest and threatened to boycott the sale at the Sheung Shui abattoir when they
knew the supply had been cut. They talked to representatives of Ng Fung Hong and
decided to allocate cattle among buyers to solve the shortage problem after a
two-hour meeting. A buyer later told reporters Ng Fung Hong had explained the
decrease in supply was due to a traffic accident, but the buyers were not
satisfied with the explanation.
Local politicians
yesterday cut their ties to pieces and vowed to dress down this summer as they
called on the government to take climate change seriously. Their protest came as
green activists staged a parade in Causeway Bay to raise awareness of global
warming. They attacked senior government officials who continued to dress
formally at public functions, even though they promoted a dress-down code for
the civil service as a way of saving on energy bills. "Senior officials are just
paying lip service to the dress-down call. They themselves defy the idea," said
Fan Kwok-wai, a Sai Kung district councillor, who is also a member of the
Democratic Party. The councillor was among nine other politicians from Tai Po
and Tseung Kwan O to protest at government headquarters yesterday, a day before
"major heat", the hottest day in the Chinese lunar calendar. They handed a
petition letter to a government representative before shredding their ties in a
symbolic protest.
Chinese President Hu
Jintao visits the southwest municipality of Chongqing over the weekend to
inspire locals to fight the flood and summon up the confidence in rebuilding
homes.