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January 31, 2008
Punjab National Bank, a major India-based bank, staged a ceremony Wednesday to officially launch its commercial banking operations in China's southern special administrative region of Hong Kong. The new branch will be offering a full spectrum of banking facilities, including checkable accounts, deposit products, trade finance and loan syndication, the bank said, adding that it was critical to the bank's strategy of expanding its operations overseas and meeting the needs of its main customers who have opened offices in China. "Hong Kong is the bank's gateway to the Chinese mainland. The trade between China and India has already reached the figure of 38billion U.S. dollars," K C Chakrabarty, chairman and managing director of the India-based bank, said at the ceremony. Target for bilateral trade between China and India had recently been revised to 60 billion U.S. dollars at a meeting of national leaders from both sides, he said, noting that Hong Kong was the only financial center outside China's mainland where renminbi transactions were permitted and most of the trade was routed through Hong Kong. "I am delighted that the Bank has chosen Hong Kong as one of its first overseas bridgeheads in its global expansion strategy. It is a clear testament to this city's status as a global financial center," said John Tsang, Hong Kong's financial secretary. Established in 1895 in Lahore, Punjab National Bank has built a customer base of over 35 million and has 4,540 offices and 421 extension counters. The bank said it has also started the process to upgrade its Shanghai representative office into a full-fledged commercial banking branch.
Hong Kong's banking system is robust, healthy and well regulated while the subprime mortgage problem of the United States has developed into a credit crisis that may trigger economic recession, Hong Kong Monetary Authority Chief Executive Joseph Yam said here on Tuesday. In a written paper submitted to the Legislative Council's Panelon Financial Affairs, Yam said the recent financial turbulence did not have a systematic impact on Hong Kong's economy. However, the recent market situation was worrying and individual banks in Hong Kong might suffer from their investment in asset-backed securities, he said. In case of a hard-landing of the U.S. economy or a continued slump in the U.S. housing market, and if tightened credit conditions persist or get worse, growth might fall sharply. The impact on Hong Kong would be larger if the housing difficulties spill over to other sectors of the economy. Given the uncertainties regarding the outlook for the global financial markets and the global economy, Hong Kong could be affected through both the real economy and financial-market channels. The subprime problem had no systemic implication for Hong Kong's banking sector and did not affect banks' overall safety and soundness as the aggregate sub-prime exposures were not material relative to their total assets. The Hong Kong banking sector remains highly liquid, as the amount of customer deposits grew faster than that of loans. Yam said the market outlook for 2008 remains uncertain, though Hong Kong can withstand the financial turbulence with good risk management. He urged banks to set aside provisions and bad debts for assets affected by the subprime problem. There are other factors affecting currency stability, including local inflation, and the Chinese mainland's monetary and financial conditions. Yam said the Chinese mainland's financial situation has a crucial impact on Hong Kong.
A noted tenor and music teacher has been jailed for three months after being convicted of accepting a bribe in relation to the supply of instruments to a primary school. Tam Yu-leung, 34, part-time musical instructor at the Church of Christ in China Kei Wai Primary School and singer of a theme song for one of the popular McDull cartoon-pig films, pleaded guilty yesterday to one count of being an agent soliciting an advantage and one of being an agent accepting an advantage. Kowloon City Court heard that the proprietor of V Music Co submitted a bid of HK$153,800 for a contract to supply 13 musical instruments in December 2006. Tam was responsible for selecting suppliers of instruments to the school, the Independent Commission Against Corruption said. The defendant called V Music Co last February 1 and told the proprietor that the procurement order would soon be placed with her company for the purchase of eight types of instruments. The court was told that he asked for a 20 per cent commission or she would lose the contract to other suppliers. On April 26, the proprietor passed Tam an envelope containing HK$19,120, calculated to be 20 per cent of the total price of the instruments, in a meeting at a Mong Kok restaurant. Tam was arrested by ICAC officers shortly after he accepted the payment.
The visiting EU Commissioner responsible for taxation and customs, Laszio Kovacs, reiterated here on Monday that a concrete Action Plan on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) will be worked out between China and the European Union (EU).
China received more than 153,000 domestic invention patent applications in 2007, up 25 percent over 2006, a top Chinese official of intellectual property rights said here on Tuesday. Director of the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) Tian Lipu said foreign invention patent applications reached 92,000 in 2007, up 4.5 percent over the previous year. "Domestic patent applications for inventions accounted for 62.4percent of the total invention patent applications accepted by SIPO in 2007 while only 37.6 percent were from overseas." Tian said at an annual meeting of ISPO. He said the proportion between domestic and foreign patent applications for inventions were four to six in early 1990s and half-half in 2003. "It indicates that China's self-innovation capability is increasing and the quality of domestic patent applications is improving." Tian said. He noted that enterprises were playing a major role in China's technological innovation with their patent applications for inventions in 2007 increased by 29 percent over the previous year. PCT applications in China also increased to 5,401 in 2007, up 38 percent year-on-year, according to Tian. "It shows that the patent mechanism is playing a positive role in encouraging invention and promoting technical innovation in China, and the Chinese people's awareness of patent protection has been enhanced," Tian said. SIPO accepted 694,153 patent applications in 2007, up 21.1 over the previous year. Among them, 245,161 were invention patents, up 16.5 percent and 181,324 were designs patents, up 12.4 percent.
January 30, 2008
Troubled by the volatile stock market, Solargiga Energy Holdings may become the fifth of seven listing candidates forced to delay their public float in Hong Kong.
Property developers have been "named and shamed" for failing to adopt energy-efficiency measures as part of a voluntary government scheme. In the past decade, developers accounted for only 10.8 percent of all the buildings which introduced voluntary energy-saving measures, triggering calls by Friends of the Earth for mandatory action. The electricity used by Hong Kong's buildings totals about 90 percent of the city's power consumption. FOE said if all buildings complied with the Building Energy Code, the use of electricity could be cut by 10 to 15 percent, saving 3.56 billion kWh of electricity yearly or 2.67 million tonnes of carbon dioxide - almost 10 percent of Hong Kong's annual emissions. Switching to energy-efficient measures would add 3 to 5 percent to the total cost of the building, but this could be recovered in six years, FOE said.
A US warship, the USS Blue Ridge, on Monday arrived in Hong Kong – the first visit by an American vessel, since the controversial Kitty Hawk incident last November.
Chinese share prices ended around 7% lower on Monday, as investors dumped stocks after Friday's sell-off on Wall Street amid fears over a US recession.
A Chinese-English edition of first aid guidance has been issued to help foreign athletes and tourists at the forthcoming Beijing Olympics. The brochure translates medical expressions on different types of allergies, diarrhoea and fever, and contains a map of hospitals and first aid centers in the Chinese capital. In case of emergency, the brochure can also be used as an SOS sign, as the bright red color of its cover is easily seen. Sources claim other seven-foreign-language versions of the pamphlet will be released during the Olympic Games in the summer. Beijing has launched a series of campaigns to ensure food safety and the health and personal security of foreign athletes and tourists for the Games. From January to May this year, local police will beef up campaigns against organized crime, robbery, murder and other severe criminal offences as well as collect illegally-held explosives, guns and ammunition, and strengthen control over bows and crossbows. The police will also step up surveillance of entertainment venues to fight pornography and gambling, and remove safety hazards within 200 meters of Olympic venues. The city expects to welcome more than 500,000 visitors from overseas during the games, with the largest daily visitor-inflow estimated at 300,000. It has 806 star-ranking tourist hotels offering 130,000 guest-rooms or 220,000 beds. Other public lodging houses and inns will serve another 646,000 beds. Beijing is also expected to solicit around 1,000 local households as "Olympic Family Hotels" to receive foreign visitors in effort to increase the city's guest room supply. Also, it is estimated that 450,000 tickets for this summer's Olympic Games have been allocated, accounting for about a quarter of the tickets available for sale in the second phase. More than 700,000 orders for 4.2 million tickets were received, but only 123,000 bookings were confirmed after a computerized random draw.
The country's fast-developing tourism industry is expected to boost the hotel sector, a senior official has said. About 200,000 new hotels, resorts and guesthouses are likely to be built by 2015, head of China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) Shao Qiwei said on Thursday. Addressing a seminar on domestic and international hotels' groups, he said the new structures will include about 10,000 star-rated hotels. The number of five-star hotels in the country is expected to rise from 361 to 500. "The World Tourism Organization has forecast that China will grow into a huge tourism market, and have 100 million each of inbound and outbound visitors and 2.8 billion domestic tourists by 2015," he said. The booming tourism market has created the need for new hotels and other infrastructure facilities, he said. The Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts plan to open five new facilities in the country this year, and at least 13 more in big cities such Beijing, Shanghai and Xi'an in the near future, the general manager of Traders Hotel at China World Trade Center in Beijing, Xin Tao, said. In fact, the group plans to open at least 40 new hotels in the country by 2011. "The Olympic Games has brought us unlimited business opportunities and the increase of leisure, as well as business, travel in China will add to the appeal of hotel operators," she said. Investment from home and abroad into hotels will hit 340 billion yuan ($47.14 billion) between 2006 and 2010, the CNTA has forecast. The hotel sector was one of the first to be opened up in China, with Jianguo Hotel in Beijing being the first foreign-invested hotel to be approved by the State Council in 1979. Since then, 67 hotel brands of 41 international groups have entered the country and are managing 516 hotels at present, according to CNTA statistics. The hotel business has been expanding over the past three decades, and by the end of last year there were more than 14,000 star-rated hotels, 100 times more than in 1978.
January 29, 2008
Executives of Chinese listed companies who break securities laws will find themselves on a credit blacklist, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has warned. As a major step in the protection of intellectual property rights, the "Silk Street" brand of products was officially launched. Recently, the Beijing Commerce and Industry Bureau, Intellectual Property Office and other departments, jointly issued a trademark license to traders in Silk Street market. In recent years, Silk Street market has been exploring the protection of intellectual property rights and promoting a culture of new brand names. It has introduced 30 million in funds for the protection of intellectual property rights, trademarks, and an authorized management system; and it re-introduced old Chinese brands and formed new initiatives. The birth of the "Silk Street" brand is significant for the protection of intellectual property rights and the development of brands. Five commodities have been launched under the "Silk Street" brand: neckties, shirts, tablecloths, table runners, clothing production, and scarves. Silk Street market has yet to launch the "Silk Street" brand of T-shirt, jeans, knitted-goods and other products. At the contract signing by the Czech Republic to attend the Shanghai World Expo, it was confirmed that 192 national and international organizations will attend the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. The Expo is only one step away from its target to have 200 countries and international organizations participating. According to the briefing, the 192 organizations with exhibitions will represent or include: 48 countries in Africa, 22 countries in North and South America, 39 European countries, 42 Asian countries, 14 Oceania countries, and 27 international organizations. The Czech National Museum decided its theme will be "the fruits of civilization." It represents the city as a fruit of civilization. In order to develop urban areas, a number of technical innovations have emerged. People can identify various achievements in civilization by looking at cities. In the more than 150 years of World Expo history, the maximum number of exhibitors attended the 2000 Hanover Expo: 172 countries and international organizations participated. From May 1 to October 31, 2010, at the Shanghai World Expo, 70 million visitors are expected to attend; in addition to the anticipated 200 countries and international organizations. These two statistics are record highs.
January 29, 2008
The Chinese government has moved to assure Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions (SARs) that it can guarantee stable grain supplies and ensure livestock supplies. Ministry of Commerce spokesman Wang Xinpei told Xinhua on Thursday that the government had issued effective policy arrangements to ensure a stable supply of grain to the Hong Kong and Macao, under the Close Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), despite export restrictions to other areas. He said the mainland's wheat supply to the two SARs this year was generally the same as last year at an average of 269 tons per day for Hong Kong and 13 tons for Macao. He explained the recent volatile supply of live pigs to Hong Kong, attributing it to sharp price hikes for pork on the mainland, due to the increased costs of pig farming. The ministry had adopted a series of reforms to resolve the problem, including more agencies exporting live pigs to Hong Kong, exporting rights for mainland pig farms, and a reform of the pig export quota system. The mainland had supplied more than 3,900 live pigs per day on average, meeting basic market demand in Hong Kong. However, live pig prices were still rising and the situation remained serious as the traditional Spring Festival approached. The ministry would soon publish a list of farms eligible to export live pigs independently. He said officials had also asked export agencies and companies to try to ensure the live cattle supply to Hong Kong as demand was expected to increase in the run-up to the Chinese New Year, which falls on February 7 this year.
Thirty-six new Hong Kong deputies on Friday were elected to the National People’s Congress – including a new generation of prominent figures – while 23 incumbents retained their seats. Legislative Council chairwoman Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai drew 1,000 votes – 10 votes ahead of legislator and first-time candidate Laura Cha Shih May-lung. Executive Council member Bernard Chan, former Independent Commission Against Corruption commissioner Fanny Law Chiu-fun, former KCR Corporation chairman Michael Tien Puk-sun, Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong legislator Choy So-yuk and Chinese Chamber of Commerce chairman Ian Fok Chun-wan also made the list. However, two incumbents – David Chu and Phillip Wong – lost out in their re-election bids, falling short of the necessary votes. Of the 14 unsuccessful candidates, all four pro-democrats failed to be elected – a result many commentators had anticipated. This is despite attempts to improve ties with the central government in recent weeks. “I think under the current structure [of the NPC], it’s not a surprise,” said PCCW (SEHK: 0008) chairman Richard Li Tzar-kai, a self-professed democracy advocate who was among the voters on the mostly pro-Beijing electoral college. Despite this, some elected deputies said they had pushed issues that might ruffle some feathers in Beijing, including the release of Straits Times reporter Ching Cheong, who was jailed for spying. “I’ve always been trying to help him,” said Mr Choy. While all mainland provinces and territories elect delegates to the NPC, those from Hong Kong enjoy a special status given the city’s affluence and historical importance since reunification with the mainland in 1997. Elected candidates would be sworn in once the NPC approved their applications.
China may live broadcast the first ever spacewalk by its astronauts in the upcoming space mission of Shenzhou VII this year, a scientist involved in the program said Friday. The City and County of San Francisco launched the torchbearer selection process for the San Francisco leg of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay on Thursday, according to a U.S. Olympic Committee press release reaching here. Residents of North America are invited to submit online applications until Feb. 3, to be considered as one of the torchbearers who will make history on April 9 when the Olympic Torch travels throughout the city. San Francisco is the only North American stop on the worldwide 2008 Olympic Torch Relay in advance of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. "The Olympic Torch represents the journey for excellence," said San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. "And we are honored to have the opportunity to host and contribute to the Beijing Olympic Journey of Harmony. Here in San Francisco, we are on our own journey for a sustainable future. This is our chance to showcase how local innovation and excellence -- in fitness, environmental initiatives and sustainable business practices -- can be examples for the world." The 2008 Olympic Torch Relay, sponsored by the Coca-Cola Company, Samsung and Lenovo, will begin with the lighting of the Flame in Olympia, Greece, on March 24, 2008. After its arrival in Beijing on March 31, the torch will start its journey on April 1, traveling to 22 international cities, including San Francisco, before returning to mainland China where it will traverse the country for more than three months. Having been carried by more than 21,000 runners, the Flame will enter the Olympic Stadium as part of the Opening Ceremony of the XXIX Olympiad on Aug. 8, 2008. Trade between China's mainland and the Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR) reached 2.92 billion U.S. dollars in 2007, a 19.8-percent rise year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC). The mainland's exports to Macao totaled 2.64 billion U.S. dollars, up 21 percent, while its imports from Macao rose 9.7 percent to reach 280 million U.S. dollars, the ministry said. The mainland has attracted direct investment from the MSAR in 856 projects last year, down 1.4 percent, and the actual use of Macao direct investment reached 640 million U.S. dollars, down 6 percent. By the end of December 2007, direct investment of the MSAR in the mainland totaled 7.65 billion U.S. dollars in 11,553 projects since figures first began in 1978 with the opening up of trade between the mainland and Macao. The actual use of the MSAR's direct investment in the mainland accounted for 1 percent of all actually used direct investment from outside the Chinese mainland.
January 26-27, 2008
Hong Kong's major banks dropped their prime interest rates by 75 basis points yesterday following the US Federal Reserve's move Tuesday night, ushering in an era of negative mortgage and savings interest rates. Students from Hong Kong and the mainland account for the second largest group of international students at Oxford University, behind those from the United States. There are 700 Chinese students at Oxford at any given time. Wine is one of a handful of consumer goods that Hong Kong taxes. As a revenue-raising measure, the few hundred million dollars raised are of small consequence to the overall government coffers; they mean even less given the cost of administering the complicated procedures required to collect the duty from importers. For a city proud of its reputation for having one of the world's freest economies, the tax on such a widely consumed item is an anomaly. For the sake of Hong Kong's reputation, as well as the commercial opportunities being missed, consideration should be given to cutting or scrapping the tax in the forthcoming budget. Alcohol, tobacco, cosmetics and petroleum products were viewed by the pre-1997 British colonial administration as luxury items. Taxing them in the name of raising government finances was viewed as reasonable and socially acceptable. Times have changed, though, where wine is concerned. While valid arguments can be made that beer and spirits should be taxed due to their association with alcoholism, the same arguments are not so strong with regard to wine. Research has shown that wine can be beneficial to health when consumed in moderation. And there is no reason to think that a reduction in the tax on wine would lead to more people drinking to excess. More important when considering the issue of tax is what Hong Kong is missing out on. The call by the Wine and Spirits Industry Coalition for the 40 per cent duty on wine to be scrapped and that on spirits to be halved obviously has commercial benefits for the groups' members. But while in the case of spirits such a move is questionable, for wine there are benefits for consumers and businesspeople. For those who drink fine wine, the cutting of the duty from 80 per cent to 40 per cent in the last budget has been noticeable. The same is generally not true for most other wines, though: they are of low cost and quality, having been brought in to attract the least possible tax and maximum profit. Scrapping or further reducing the tax would make wine more affordable. In the internet-savvy world, where prices elsewhere can easily be checked, it would also prompt the importation of better-quality wines. Another option would be to follow Singapore's lead and impose a flat rate per bottle instead of a percentage. From the standpoint of those bringing wine into Hong Kong, having a flat rate or zero tax would either eliminate or streamline a complicated process. With every shipment needing to be scrutinised and a value determined by the Customs and Excise Department, large quantities from varied sources can take weeks or even months to process. By changing the tax, Hong Kong would also be able to capitalize on four decades of expertise in wine dealing by becoming Asia's fine-wine centre. A substantial slice of the multibillion-dollar auction, storage and trading industry now monopolized by London could be taken, creating thousands of jobs and adding to government revenue through company taxes. No other location in the region has as much knowledge and know-how in this area. Hong Kong is ideally suited to such a role - even more so with the wine boom on the mainland. Reviewing the wine tax should be among Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah's priorities in formulating his first budget. He will find the benefits of scrapping or revising the duty far outweigh the drawbacks. Hong Kong’s is still enjoying strong export growth – with the value of total exports rising by 8.2 per cent year-on-year last December, statistics released on Thursday showed.
The International Tennis Hall of Fame announced Wednesday that Michael Chang, the French Open's youngest men's champion, has been elected to the sport's honor shrine for 2008. Chang called his election "truly an honor". "It has been an incredible privilege to compete against the best players in the world for over 16 years and I will always cherish and forever remember my experiences on tour." He added. Chang, the famous Chinese American player, was 17 years three months old when he won the 1989 French Open. With the victory, he became the youngest player to win the French Open -- a record he still holds. In his career, Chang reached a career-high world ranking of No.2 and was ranked in the top 10 for seven years. He captured 34 singles titles and was also a finalist at the 1996 Australian Open, the 1995 French Open and the 1996 U.S. Open. Induction ceremonies will be held at the Hall of Fame and Museum in Newport, Rhode Island on July 12. China has launched the country's first market credit index in Yiwu, the country's largest distribution center for small commodities, in the eastern province of Zhejiang. The Yiwu Market Credit Index (YMCI), launched on Wednesday, has eight specific sub-indices: credit management, entrepreneur quality, business performance, financial credit, fair competition, commodity quality, intellectual property rights and consumer rights protection. Jointly developed by the Zhejiang Provincial Administration for Industry and Commerce, Yiwu municipal government and China Credit Research Center with Beijing University, the YMCI is aimed at reflecting the development, changes and trends of the credit situation at the Yiwu market. The index would be published monthly, covering 13 typical commodity categories, said Du Liqun, deputy director of the China Credit Research Center. It took September 2007 as the base period -- the basic points of YMCI and its sub-indices are designed at 100 -- for its measurement and calculation, because according to historical data and analysis, September usually saw a stable situation in market transactions with rational credit data, Du said. The newly-released YMCI for the September-December period stood at 101.575 points on average, indicating a good situation in terms of credit levels at the market, with business performance and consumer rights protection indices fluctuating slightly with other indices steadily rising, Du said. "It is a significant innovation in market management for Yiwu and also a good experiment in perfecting China's market system," Du added. He Meihua, vice mayor of Yiwu, believed the YMCI could offer an alternative to assessing the market credit situation and help enhance credit awareness among dealers. Yiwu has more than 1,400 accessories enterprises employing almost 90,000 people. Its major products are jewellery and ties. The accessories output of the city accounts for 80 percent of the country's market share with an annual sales value of 9 billion yuan (1.24 billion U.S. dollars). It has trade exchanges with 200 countries and regions and about30 billion U.S. dollars worth of goods orders each year. The city has been designated China's first national-level shopping tourist destination by the National Tourism Administration. The Yiwu market, with more than 50,000 stalls, reported a trade volume of 3.48 billion yuan (481.3 million U.S. dollars) last year. In October 2006, the central government officially launched the country's first small commodities index in Yiwu, covering 23 specific sub-indices in three main categories: price indices, market prosperity indices, and single monitoring and measuring indices.
The central government hoped to eventually lift caps on foreign stakes in its securities firms and allow such brokerage joint ventures to broaden their scope of business, the country’s securities regulator said in a report on Thursday. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) included these ideas in a statement of its policy aims over the next 12 years to 2020. New rules that took effect at the start of this year modestly expanded the business scope of foreign brokerage joint ventures in the mainland. But foreign investors are still prevented from taking more than a 33 per cent holding in brokerage houses jointly owned with mainland firms and are not allowed to operate in the country’s securities market independently. Credit Suisse this month said it planned to form a mainland securities joint venture with the Founder Group, hoping to compete with Morgan Stanley, UBS and Goldman Sachs, which have already set up such ventures. The CSRC report also said the mainland would like to increase the amount of foreign investment in its capital market and give non-nationals a wider range of investment options. Another goal is to allow foreign companies to list on the mainland’s stock exchanges, the CSRC said. IBM secures mainland advanced risk contract - Global information technology giant IBM Corp has secured a landmark project to build the first advanced risk management system for a mainland securities firm. January 25, 2008
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Hong Kong Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Frederick Ma on
Wednesday refuted calls to introduce "group loss relief" and "loss carry-back"
arrangements in the profits tax regime, saying it could lead to abuse like tax
avoidance. He told the Legislative Council that complicated legislative
provisions would be needed to guard against the abuse, complicating Hong Kong's
simple tax system. Substantial resources would also be required. He said the
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government has studied the proposal for
the arrangements but considers that they will bring significant tax revenue
loss, which would be particularly acute in economic downturns. "Group loss
relief" allows one or more companies' losses to offset profits of other
companies of the same group, and "loss carry-back" allows losses to offset
profits made in previous years so the company concerned can get a refund on tax
paid.
The biggest corruption trial in Macau's
history concluded on Wednesday afternoon with Ao Man-long, former secretary for
transport and public works, being handed a 27 year jail sentence after being
convicted of 57 out of 76 graft charges. Ao was also fined 240,000 patacas
(HK$233,000). Macau’s court of final appeal judge, Sam Hou-fai, said Ao had
abused his position, allowing personal gain to over-ride public interest. Ao’s
charges included bribe-taking, money laundering, abuse of power and unjustified
wealth. The 51-year-old is accused of amassing a personal fortune of more than
US$100 million by receiving kickbacks for 41 public works projects, including
contracts linked to casino construction.
A US naval
officer stands guard at the Navy's battleship, The USS Blue Ridge. The flagship
of the US Seventh Fleet anchored out in the Victoria Harbor Monday morning for a
scheduled port visit.
When even tycoon
Lee Shau-kee tempers his enthusiasm for the stock market, it's time to pay
attention. The Henderson Land Development (0012) chairman yesterday revealed a
much more conservative attitude toward the market, lowering his previous lofty
targets. He even asked his legions of loyal followers to knock him off his
pedestal as the "God of Stocks." Said Lee: "I am not the genuine 'God of
Stocks.' I am only a fake please don't call me that any more. I am just a simple
investor." The man known as "Asia's Warren Buffett" said he has changed to
become more stable and calm. He told reporters the Hang Seng Index will only
reach 27,000 to 30,000 points by March, then the market will ease its rise in
the second quarter. The stocks guru was in a much more bubbly mood previously,
saying on New Year's Eve the HSI would surge past 33,000 in the spring - a level
10 to 22 percent higher than his current predictions - before hitting 36,000 in
autumn. "Recently the index has plunged too much," Lee said yesterday. "Although
right now it has already gone back up to 24,000, I hope the index will continue
to rise gradually." Asked about a strategy for the second quarter, he said:
"Hold on to your stocks and don't be too aggressive." Lee even said his interest
in being a cornerstone investor in new listings has waned. "The share price for
the newly listed stocks are rather high and I'm not too fond of it," he
explained. Lee said stock investors should turn to professional financial
advisory companies that have the resources to properly guide their clients.
"When I speak about stocks, I only share with everyone my own personal
experience and the way I do things," Lee cautioned. "It is good for everyone to
make money together, but I don't want investors to have to worry about stocks
every day, affecting their jobs and emotional well-being." Despite such
protests, Lee couldn't help but share some picks with the masses. It is best to
choose stocks you can hold for the long-term, Lee said. "I put my money in
strategic investments," he explained. "I still haven't sold them." Among his
portfolio, Lee said his favorite stocks are the ones related to resources that
can be burned - including China Coal (1898), China Shenhua Energy (1088), CNOOC
(0883), and PetroChina (0857). He also likes China Life (2628) and China
Merchants Bank (3968). "The good thing about holding them long-term is that they
will not be swayed by any major waves," he said.
A system pioneering
the use of wireless sensor networks to improve coal-mine safety has won the Best
Innovation and Research division at the Hong Kong Information Communication
Technology Awards. The project, titled "Coal mine surveillance with wireless
sensor networks", was developed by University of Science and Technology
assistant professor Liu Yunhao, of the computer science and engineering
department, and doctoral student Li Mo. The problem with previous sensors was
their reliability, Mr Li said. "What's more, even when irregularities are
detected, it took the sensors a long time to deliver the information to all mine
workers underground." The new system involves several nodes, each made of three
parts: a microcomputer, a sensor and an antenna. Each one can detect and warn of
irregularities in a coal mine, such as gas leaks, seeping water, and
oxygen-enriched spots, Mr Li said. The nodes then provide underground data to a
central control room, which leads to the mapping of a possible escape route. The
research team has conducted tests at one of the mainland's largest coal-mine
fields, in Inner Mongolia, for the past three years. Asked the difference
between this project and existing wireless network surveillance systems designed
for coal mines, Mr Li said: "As far as I know, we're the first in the academic
circle to introduce wireless sensors to the system. "We don't need to fix cables
in the tunnels or around working faces underground, whereas the existing
wireless connection relies highly on them to reach access points. That ensures
us more flexible deployment." Mr Li said the system would probably be
manufactured, with the central government's sponsorship, in five to 10 years.
Department head Lionel Ni said the project's purpose was to reduce the number of
deaths in coal-mine accidents, in which 3,786 people were killed on the mainland
last year, according to the State Administration of Work Safety.
Police have
launched an investigation after more nude pictures purported to be of Hong Kong
pop and movie stars were posted online. The pictures included one of a young man
and woman, apparently captured from a video and said to be Twins duo member
Gillian Chung Yan-tung and singer-actor Edison Chen Koon-hei. Another purported
to be actress Cecilia Cheung Pak-chi. The pictures appeared a day after doctored
pictures with Chung's head on the half-naked body of another woman were posted.
A police spokeswoman said the Commercial Crime Bureau was investigating "two
reported cases of publishing indecent articles on the internet". The latest
pictures came to light after an internet user posted a message on popular
newsgroup discuss.com.hk saying more nude photos of Gillian Chung had been
uploaded to another newsgroup "featuring lots of 'kong nui' [Hong Kong girls]
photos". This message was removed about 5.40pm, but pictures had already begun
circulating on the internet. Chen's management company, Rich and Famous, said
the company was seeking legal advice and might make a complaint to the police.
"We believe this incident was more likely a joke in bad taste," a spokesman
said. "But it appears [the person who put up the photos] shows an intention to
attack Edison deliberately and we should stop that." Chung's record company,
Emperor Entertainment Group, which has already reported the case to the police,
released another statement yesterday urging the media not to publish the photos.
Lawyer Wong Kwok-tung said uploading computerised photos degrading Chung could
be criminal defamation, as it damaged her image as "a decent celebrity".
However, those who downloaded the images should bear no legal responsibility. In
2006, a magazine that published photos portraying Chung changing her clothes was
classified as class II indecent, meaning it should not have been sold to people
under the age of 18.
China:
China to invest billions to deal with water pollution - The Chinese government
has decided to invest largely in developing technologies to treat water
pollution, according to the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA)
in Beijing Monday. The State Council, or the cabinet, has approved three big
state-funded programs for the research and development of such technologies,
said Zhao Yingmin, a SEPA official. The investment will be hundreds of million
yuan, he said. The programs, to last between 2008 and 2020, will support
researches of technologies to remedy pollution of rivers, lakes, drinking water
and those to monitor the water body environment. The SEPA said earlier that 26
percent of surface water in China is totally unusable, 62 percent is unsuitable
for fish and 90 percent of the rivers running through cities are polluted. The
latest survey showed that 32.3 percent of Chinese were unsatisfied with the
local water environment while 20 percent were not content with the sanitation of
drinking water in public places. The survey, titled "2007 environmental
protection and people's livelihood index," covered 9,011 respondents from 29
provinces and autonomous regions. A project under the program will be carried
out at Taihu Lake in the eastern Jiangsu Province. It had suffered a serious
blue-green algae outbreak in summer 2007, threatening the tap water supply of
more than 1 million residents in the lakeside city of Wuxi. "The local
environment authority will actively cooperate with scientists to help improve
the water quality of the lake," said Shi Zhenhua, head of the provincial
environmental department.
Chinese Premier Wen
Jiabao talks to a customer in front of a butcher's stall as he inspects the food
supply in a market in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province, January 30,
2008. Wen first visited stranded passengers at a railway station in
Guangzhou, after continuous heavy snow paralysed road and railway traffic in
central and southern parts of China.
China plans to invest 300 billion yuan (US$41 billion) to
lay 7,820 kilometers of railway in 2008, the Ministry of Railways said on
Friday. "A batch of new projects will start construction this year, and the
building of the high-speed railway linking Beijing and Shanghai is the most
important one," said Railway Minister Liu Zhijun at a national work conference.
Earlier reports said the construction of the multi-billion-dollar
Beijing-Shanghai railway could be underway as soon as the middle of January
after six companies were confirmed to have won the tender. Liu said the new
railways should use state-of-the-art technologies and meet the world's highest
standards. China will have 15,000 kilometers of new railways built and put into
operation in the following three years, with 7,000 kilometers being
passenger-only high-speed tracks. The total railway length will reach 120,000
kilometers by 2020. From 2003 to 2007, China invested a total of 522 billion
yuan (US$71.5 billion) in railway construction. Liu predicted that passengers
would make more than 1.4 billion rail journeys in 2008 and the cargo transported
on railway would exceed 3.3 billion tons, generating a total revenue of 361
billion yuan (US$49.5 billion). He said priority must be given to the transport
of coal, grain, fertilizer, cotton, disaster-relief materials and people's daily
necessities. He also said China would strengthen international cooperation in
the railway sector, including the construction of the pan-Asian railway network
and technical cooperation with developed countries.
Shanghai's mayor won a second five-year term on Wednesday, cementing his
political survival after a wide-ranging corruption scandal brought down the
city’s Communist Party boss. Han Zheng, 57, was reappointed at the annual
meeting of the municipal legislature, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Xinhua gave no details. Mr Han’s new term will run through Shanghai’s staging of
the 2010 World Expo, an opportunity for international exposure that the city
hopes will rival Beijing’s hosting of this year’s Summer Olympic Games. Mr Han,
first appointed mayor in 2003, pledged last week to repair the city’s “negative
image,” a reference to the scandal that toppled Chen Liangyu, the city’s most
powerful official, in September 2006, as well as other top city officials and
businessmen. The mayor was never implicated in the investigation into misuse of
city social security funds. However, he was seen as tainted by his long
association with Chen and likely owes his survival at least in part to the
Communist Party’s desire to maintain stability and investor confidence in
China’s biggest and wealthiest city. While Shanghai has firmly established
itself as China’s financial center, it is struggling to modernise while
contending with traffic snarls and a rising population of migrants from
elsewhere in China. Most recently, hundreds of residents held unusually bold
protests against a proposed extension of the city’s showcase magnetic levitation
train line. Authorities have not yet indicated whether the multi-billion-dollar
project will still go ahead, but Mr Han pledged last week to forestall protests
by resolving tensions over construction projects and other issues. He made no
direct mention of the train or the recent protests. 
Data from the Beijing Space Flight Control
Center show that on the 28th, Chang'e-1's satellite equipment is working
properly. It is in orbit 200 km away from the Moon, with orbital accuracy only
slightly different (.0003) from the theoretical figure. In addition, Director
Tang Ge, from Beijing Space Flight Control Center, said in an interview on
January 28th that the tracking data from Chang'e-1 indicate that China's deep
space exploration flight control capabilities have made a breakthrough. The Moon
is a very irregular sphere, and satellites in orbit around different locations
of the Moon experience relatively different gravitational pulls. A chapter has
been written on China's flight control of lunar exploration satellites where
there was once a blank page.
Picture taken on Jan. 29,
2008, shows the interior scene of Passenger Terminal 3 at the Beijing Capital
International Airport. More than 10 scenes, most of which bear strong
characteristics of classical Beijing imperial architectures, have been
constructed inside Terminal 3. As one of the key projects of the Beijing
Olympics, Terminal 3 is to go into test operation soon.
CNOOC Ltd (0883) said 2008 will see the firm's fastest production growth since
listing, as it plans to ramp up output by 15 percent over last year. But China's
largest offshore oil producer is concerned that devaluation of the US dollar
could challenge its business. The Beijing-based company will set aside US$5.24
billion (HK$40.87 billion) for capital expenditure this year, a rise of 43.7
percent from 2007. It plans to spend US$1 billion for exploration and US$4.1
billion for project development. Ten development projects are scheduled to come
on stream this year. Chief financial officer Yang Hua said 2008 "will be a very
exciting year for CNOOC, as we are expecting our fastest growth in production
since listing." The company raised its target to produce 195-199 million barrels
of oil and gas equivalent this year, up from 169-171 million barrels in 2007.
Yang ruled out the possibility that CNOOC will enter into the downstream market,
but said it is actively seeking overseas acquisition opportunities. "For us,
overseas acquisition deals are very hard to strike. It's not like you want to
buy, they will simply sell to you. [We] will continue to add reserves through
exploration and acquisitions." Yang told a Hong Kong news conference yesterday.
CNOOC owns a string of "high- quality" overseas assets in countries including
Nigeria and Indonesia, Yang said. "The company's exploration program will
continue to focus on offshore China, where more drilling activities and seismic
collection work will be conducted during the year," he said. "But US dollar
devaluation and global inflation can impose challenges for our business."
Taiwan's presidential candidates have kicked off their campaigns for elections
scheduled for March 22, with both the ruling and opposition parties calling for
improved ties with the mainland.
Nearly nine out of 10 children aged eight to 11 have been left alone at home
before, a youth group survey has revealed. But only 40 percent of these children
support legislation against parents who leave children at home because they do
not want their parents sent to jail. The Boys' and Girls' Clubs Association of
Hong Kong poll took in 509 pupils in Tsing Yi as well as 507 parents from around
the city over the past month. Only 26 percent of parents admitted they had left
their children home alone, while 88 percent of the children said they were left
at home alone. Mui Ka-hin, 11, said he once burned a sauce pan when he was
trying to cook some dim sum alone at home. "We urge the government to improve
public education," said association assistant director James Leung Wing-yee,
adding the public should further discuss the pros and cons of legislation before
jumping to any conclusions. Assistant supervisor Raymond Lee Lut-man said that
in comparing the latest results with the 1991 and 1997 surveys, the home- alone
situation has improved, but significant room for improvement exists. "Doing
housework, going to work and leaving home because of emergencies are the three
main reasons cited for children being left alone," he said. Nicole Tai Wai-yuen,
a 12-year- old who had been left alone before, said she did not advocate
legislation. "If you fine those from rich families, it will not have any
deterrent effect, and if you fine the poorer families, it would hurt their
livelihood."
Hong Kong banker David Li Kwok-po has reached a tentative agreement with US
regulators to pay more than US$8 million (HK$62.2 million) to settle an insider
trading case linked to News Corp’s purchase last year of Dow Jones & Co Inc, the
Financial Times said on its website. Mr Li, chairman and CEO of Bank of East
Asia (SEHK: 0023), was travelling on Monday and not available for comment, his
office said. A Bank of East Asia spokeswoman said the lender had no comment on
the FT report. Mr Li faced potential civil charges in an insider trading
investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission linked to News Corp’s
US$5.6 billion acquisition of US media firm Dow Jones, where Li was a board
member. The Financial Times report, citing unnamed people familiar with talks
between Li and the SEC, said Li would neither admit nor deny wrongdoing under
terms of the potential settlement. It said negotiations were continuing and that
details could change before any deal is approved by the SEC. The SEC was
investigating unusual trading in Dow Jones stock and options in the weeks before
the company disclosed the $60 per share buyout offer from Rupert Murdoch’s News
Corp on May 1 last year. The SEC said on May 8 that a Hong Kong-based couple,
Kin Kang Wong and Charlotte Ka On Wong Leung, had “engaged in widespread and
unlawful trading activity” that put them in a position to make an estimated
HK$8.1 million profit on Dow Jones shares. The Wall Street Journal reported last
year that the SEC was expected to pursue a link between the Hong Kong couple and
Li. Li and Charlotte Leung’s father, Michael Leung, share a history of business
and social dealings, media have reported. In July, Li issued a statement denying
any wrongdoing in the matter. If a deal is not reached, the SEC could file a
civil fraud complaint against Mr Li, the Financial Times reported.
Hong Kong’s economy grew just more than 6
per cent last year but would slow this year, although the government said it
remained “cautiously optimistic” on the outlook, despite an uncertain global
economic environment. “Economic growth last year was just above 6 per cent,
around 6.1 or 6.2 per cent, less than 6.5 per cent,” a spokesman for Financial
Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah said on Monday. “We are cautiously optimistic but
we don’t expect the growth rate to be as high this year as in the past few
years.” A 6.1 to 6.2 per cent expansion in gross domestic product last year
meant the economy expanded about 6.4 per cent in the fourth quarter from a year
earlier, close to the 6.2 per cent rate of growth in the third quarter,
economists said. Private consumption expenditure was the main driver of
fourth-quarter growth, as interest rates were falling and wages continued to
rise, and was likely to remain so this year. Economists expect economic
expansion to slow to between 5 per cent and 5.5 per cent this year because
export growth is set to ease. However, their forecasts are based on the view
that a potential United States recession would be short. “Recent turmoil in
financial markets clearly shows higher risk of a downturn in the United States
affecting the global economy. Hong Kong’s two main sectors: trade and finance
will get hit,” said Joe Lo, senior economist at Citigroup. This month he lowered
his forecast for this year’s economic growth to 5.3 per cent from 6.2 per cent.
Hong Kong’s economic growth has surged in the past four years, averaging 7 per
cent annually.
Severe weather continues to hinder travel
between HK and China - Travel between Hong Kong and the mainland on Monday
continued to be disrupted by severe weather conditions in southern China.
The "WD100" unmanned helicopter,
researched and developed by He Xiang Aviation Technology Co., Ltd., completed an
automatic landing flight in Anyang, Henan Province on January 27. This indicates
that China’s technology in this field ranks among the most advanced in the
world. At present, only the United States, Germany and a few other countries
have unmanned helicopter technology. The aircraft is capable of aviation remote
sensory and resource exploration, and land surveys; and will be used widely.
Workers try to clean a major moat of
algae in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, last July. Jiangsu will constantly focus on
environmental protection while maintaining strong momentum in economic
development in the next five years.
The
mainland yuan extended last week’s strong rise to set another post-revaluation
high against the US dollar on Monday, because of persistent inflation worries
and expectations for another, imminent cut in United States interest rates. The
US Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates again this week following
last week’s emergency cut, making it even more likely that mainland authorities
will accelerate yuan appreciation rather than raise its own interest rates to
combat inflation, dealers said. “The yuan is maintaining its strength. The
reason is the same: the central bank has fewer and fewer choices to control
inflation. It has to allow the yuan to rise further against the US dollar,” said
a trader at a leading mainland bank. The yuan was at 7.1985 to the dollar in
late morning trade on Monday, after touching a high of 7.1956, its highest level
since the mainland currency was revalued in July 2005. Friday’s close was
7.2102. Before the market opened on Monday, the central bank set the yuan’s
daily mid-point at 7.1996 against the dollar, the fourth consecutive
post-revaluation record, in an apparent bid to guide the mainland currency
higher. Inflation looks set to hit fresh 11-year highs this month and perhaps
next month because of fierce winter weather across central and eastern China,
which is disrupting transport and food and fuel supplies just as they come under
pressure because of the Lunar New Year holiday early next month, some analysts
say. “The bad weather has heightened expectations that inflation may go up
further, at least in the short term,” said a dealer at another mainland bank.
Traders said the weather would probably not affect the economy and policy over
the long term - but if there was any impact at all on yuan policy, it would
likely be in the direction of an even stronger yuan. In the offshore forwards
market, one-year dollar-yuan non-deliverable forwards fell to 6.6105-6.6180 in
late morning trade on Monday from 6.6370-6.6420 late on Friday. Their latest
levels implied yuan appreciation of 8.79 to 8.91 per cent against the dollar
from Monday’s mid-point over the next 12 months, up from 8.50 to 8.58 per cent
implied on Friday.
Cheng out to cook up storm in new
role - Legislator Albert Cheng King-hon says he is not setting up a radio
station as an ego trip but to reform the industry in the city.
Farming deep-sea fish
in an industrial building might be the answer to how Chinese can keep live
grouper on the banquet menu, with a clear conscience. Despite the declining
numbers of deep-sea fish like grouper, demand has not waned. Many view this as
an environmental disaster with little hope for a solution. But one company saw
an ideal business opportunity that is now paying off after nearly a year of hard
work. Business has been so good for Marine Culture Technology, which has its
headquarters in Australia, that it plans a massive expansion in Yuen Long. The
company, which set up shop in March last year, has an enclosed, environmentally
friendly fish farm on the 14th floor of an industrial building in Chai Wan,
breeding saltwater fish for the commercial market. It has two tanks, which now
have 1,500 mouse grouper fingerlings and a few hundred leopard coral trout
fingerlings that will be ready for the table in nine to 10 months. Having
supplied fish to three hotel restaurants in Hong Kong, business is progressing
swimmingly. And in six months another larger enclosed fish farm comprising 300
tanks will be set up. "Farming fish in this self-contained environment will be
free from disease, heavy metals and growth hormones," said Brutus Lo Wai-sing,
general manager of Marine Culture Technology. "There will be no discharge of
waste into the environment and the water is 100 per cent recyclable." Although
Mr Lo will not disclose how much the company invested in the project, he did
admit the cost was high. As a result, more profitable species are bred,
including mouse grouper and leopard coral trout. Humphead wrasse, a species that
has been over fished, will also be bred. Wong Ming-hung, chair professor of the
biology department at Hong Kong Baptist University, said water quality was very
important for fish farming and a self-contained system helped. Having been to
another local self-contained fish farm in Tin Shui Wai, Professor Wong believed
this type of farming was becoming a trend in Hong Kong. "Taiwan and Japan have
already attempted a similar method. This is going to work in Hong Kong,
especially with the pollution in the Pearl River Delta becoming more serious."
Experienced fisherman Lee Choi-wah, who is also chairman of the Hong Kong
Chamber of Seafood Merchants, welcomes the technology. But he believes it is not
going to be popular because he says Hong Kong customers can taste the difference
between wild and farmed fish. Mr Lee said a similar unsuccessful operation had
been attempted in Hong Kong. He said the mainland and Macau would be ideal
markets to target. "Mainland people cannot tell the difference in taste, but
they like to order expensive fish," he said. But Mr Lo is confident there is no
difference in taste and believes people are willing to spend money when it comes
to their health. Environmental group WWF welcomed the enclosed fish farm if it
would reduce unsustainable fishing. WWF compiled a seafood guide in March last
year to encourage people to choose sustainable seafood.
Photo taken on Jan. 25, 2008 shows
porcelain trays with the image of a stamp portraying rat, which is the first one
of 12 symbolic animals chosen to represent 12 years in the Chinese lunar
calendar, in Jingdezhen, east China’s Jiangxi Province. The tray issued by China
Post is to greet the coming Chinese lunar New Year of the Rat, which falls on
Feb. 7 this year.
Chinese Premier Wen
Jiabao(R) talks with a truck driver at the Zhuozhou service station of the
Beijing-Shijiazhuang Expressway, in north China's Hebei Province, Jan. 25, 2008.
Wen Jiabao inspected the Zhuozhou Service Station of the Beijing-Shijiazhuang
expressway and Beijing's West Railway Station on Friday. Premier Wen Jiabao has
urged all departments concerned to ensure a safe and smooth transportation
during the traditional Chinese New Year holidays so that the people would enjoy
a happy, peaceful and harmonious festival season. Wen visited a service zone of
an expressway and a railway station in Beijing on Friday and inspected the
traffic situation before and during the Spring Festival holidays, the busiest
travel season in the country. The Spring Festival traffic season is 20 days
ahead and 20 days after the Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on February 7
this year. All kinds of traffic tools will be busy with shipping homebound
passengers and food and major industrial goods like coal used for power plants.
Newly elected
Beijing Mayor Guo Jinlong addresses a press conference after the first session
of the 13th Beijing Municipal People's Congress in Beijing on January 26, 2008.
Actress Ruby Lin poses
at a party celebrating her ten-year career anniversary in Beijing, January 22,
2008. Lin donated 200,000 yuan on-site to build a school for rural children.
Taiwan actress Ruby Lin celebrated her ten-year career anniversary on Tuesday by
funding a new school for rural children. At a party in Beijing, which was held
partially to celebrate her 32nd birthday this Sunday, Lin handed over a
200,000-yuan ($27,627) check to the Chinese Red Cross Foundation, through which
the money will be used to build an elementary school. The Red Cross runs a
project assisting Chinese children in rural areas in obtaining an education.
Ruby Lin said she plans to contribute to building a school every year.
Olympic Etiquette
- Beijing's Olympic authorities have rigid standards for the women who will
serve at awards ceremonies.
Visitors at
the Bund are rugged up but enjoying the snow yesterday, as Shanghai received its
biggest fall since 2004. The snow covered some of the roofs downtown with a thin
sheet of whiteness.
Chad Hurley (L) and Steve Chen,
co-founders of YouTube, which was acquired by Web search leader Google Inc. for
$1.65 billion last year, attend a news conference in Paris June 19, 2007.
Google-owned YouTube on Thursday began making all of its videos available on the
latest-generation cellphones, hoping to widen its sway on pop culture. YouTube
began making videos available to "smart phones" in 2006, but only a small
portion of its huge trove of user-contributed material could be viewed on the
devices. YouTube for Mobile lets people view any of the popular website's
videos, provided their cellphones can stream the data and are linked to a 3G
network that incorporates high-speed internet access. "Creating the best
possible mobile video experience for users involves allowing the community to
engage with YouTube whenever they want, wherever they are," YouTube said in a
written release. "The latest enhancements to YouTube for Mobile will give users
access to the largest repository of mobile video content available, on over 100
million devices worldwide, and more tools to personalize their experience."
YouTube's mobile service, reachable at http://m.youtube.com, is being offered in
16 other countries and regions besides the United States and 10 other languages
besides English. The other languages are: Japanese, Italian, French, Spanish,
Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Chinese, German and Russian.
Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief
executive Joseph Yam Chi-kwong said yesterday while the US subprime mortgage
plight has not caused a systematic problem in the city's banking system, the
impact might become aggravated.
The Court of Appeal has upheld a ruling
against the Hong Kong Medical Council in a judgment that allows doctors to
advertise their services in the media. The council had appealed against a High
Court ruling that the ban on advertising violated free speech and was
unconstitutional. The initial challenge to the council was made by Kwong
Kwok-hay. Three judges ruled yesterday that the ban breached the Basic Law, the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Bill of Rights -
which includes advertising as a right that comes under freedom of expression.
The council had argued that there were two dangers - misleading advertisements
and the exploitation of the sick for commercial purposes. Dismissing this
argument, the judges said the council's own code already permitted information
from doctors to be be posted on signboards and service information notices.
"Given that the same information [can] be conveyed to the public by other means,
there is no reason or logic why the same information cannot be made available to
the public by a wider public circulation," Chief Judge Geoffrey Ma Tao-li said.
If the council accepted that such information allowed the public to make
informed choices, he added, it must accept that greater accessibility would
benefit the public. Ma rejected the council's argument that it did not have the
resources to police the media. "There must be less intrusive means of dealing
with the concerns of the Medical Council other than a total ban," Ma said.
Welcoming the court's decision yesterday, Kwong said that if accurate
information is given patients can share among themselves their experiences of
doctors as well as compare charges. "In many countries, particularly the United
States, it has been found that transparency increases competition and that
competition frequently lowers costs," Kwong said. It is the duty of the council
to establish rules to supervise advertisements and ensure they are accurate, he
added. Three other restrictions imposed by the council's code were also shot
down by the court.
RTHK's assistant director of
broadcasting Cheung Man-sun on Friday received an 18-month driving ban in Sha
Tin Court – resulting from a drink-driving incident in Sha Tin last year.
Chinese people have a habit of taking
tonic supplements to beat the cold. To meet an increase in demand, many
traditional Chinese medicine hospitals in Shanghai have opened tonic
prescription outpatient services, while qualified pharmaceutical companies and
drug stores have also started the business of concocting tonics.
There are many traditional brands in
China's capital Beijing. With the approach of the Beijing Olympic Games, owners
of these well-known names are taking the opportunity to join forces and draw on
foreign experts to rejuvenate their ancient properties.
Vice-foreign Minister Wang Yi ties a New Year card to a tree at the Great Hall
of the People in Beijing on January 24, 2008 as a gesture of goodwill to the
more than 5,500 Chinese diplomatic personnel stationed around the world.
Foreign
business people purchase small commodities at the Yiwu China Commodity City in
January, 2008. China has launched the country's first market credit index in
Yiwu, the country's largest distribution center for small commodities.
Chinese actress Tang
Wei attends a Japan premiere event of "Lust, Caution" in Tokyo January 24, 2008.
The film opens in Japan February 2.
A chocolate Valentine's Day -
Valentine's Day is an important occasion for many people. They make reservations
at expensive restaurants and rack their brains to come up with romantic gift
ideas to give their beloved. Whatever it is, chocolate is always an
indispensable element of V-day. With its sweet fragrance, full-bodied taste and
smooth texture, chocolate is a long-standing symbol of the special intimacy
between lovers. What's more, chocolate also has blue blood in its origin. It's
said that a Spanish princess once sent cacao to Louis XIV as an engagement gift.
Legendary and sweet, no wonder chocolate has caught on as the gift of love. Yet
Valentine's Day chocolates ought to differ from ordinary ones.
Shanghai's mayor vowed yesterday to
clean up the "negative image" of China's biggest city and to forestall protests
by resolving tensions over construction projects and other issues. Outlining the
city's economic plans, Han Zheng said Shanghai intends to rely increasingly on
its financial industries and other services, which account for about half of its
business activity. He projected that the city's gross domestic product would
jump to 2 trillion yuan (HK$2.16 trillion) by 2012, from 1.2 trillion yuan last
year. Police escorted away a few protesters standing near the Shanghai
Exhibition Center, where local lawmakers were gathered for their annual session.
"We will proactively forestall and appropriately defuse social tensions," Han
said, without directly referring to protests against a proposed extension of the
magnetic levitation train line. "We will take measures to prevent, reduce and
appropriately handle crowd incidents to minimize their detrimental impact on
social harmony." Han said Shanghai was still working to mend the damage to its
reputation from a corruption scandal that toppled the city's top Communist Party
official, Chen Liangyu, and other officials.
Guangdong governor vows progress after
re-election - Guangdong governor Huang Huahua pledged to lead the province to
new heights after being re-elected as the provincial leader yesterday, ending
weeks of speculation that he might step down.
This Hong Kong import, designed by
Philippe Stark, Volar brings one of the best liquor selections and some of the
best trained bartenders to the Shanghai scene. What's more, all is exclusively
at Volar and the prices are to match. One thing to note about this place is
that, although sometimes a bit intimidating, Volar throws sweet parties and more
importantly they have great bartenders. It upholds a members only plus guests
door policy. For people who need something more than "a beer" or "a drink",
Volar is great simply because the bartenders have a clue. When the upstairs bar
at Volar is not so crowded, it's nice to sip on a Long Dragon while lounging on
one of Philippe Starck's black pony armchairs. Bar-goers may expect nothing but
la creme de la creme of Shanghai's local and foreign crowd in a very cool
interior.
HK boasts Asia's most costly flats - You
may buy the world's second-cheapest Big Mac in Hong Kong, but a 120 square metre
flat in the city centre will cost you more than a similar-sized apartment
anywhere else in Asia.
A security gadget that looks like a flashlight but can be used to take
clandestine snapshots or videos of suspicious people or objects won a top design
award yesterday. The maker, Protronic (Far East), says the flashlight digital
video recorder has already been shipped to five countries for use by police and
security organisations and the Hong Kong Police have been approached. The device
won the consumer product design grand prize at the Hong Kong Awards for
Industries 2007. It uses a super-bright, white light-emitting diode for the
flashlight with built-in image sensor and microphone for pictures and sound, and
infrared night-vision sensors for night shooting. In addition to a 128 megabyte
internal memory, there is a card slot that supports an external, secure digital
card, while only three C-size batteries are needed to capture all the memorable
moments for the suspects. Protronic associate director Benson Wong Kwan-hon said
countries where it had been sold included South Africa, Britain, the United
States and Japan for use by police - and Australia for a security organisation.
"We're currently approaching the Hong Kong Police," he said. Mr Wong said one of
his clients would use the gadget at a nightclub. "While the bouncer [uses the
flashlight] to check a customer's ID, he can also take pictures of it." Eddie
Lam Kwok-kwong, chief designer of the winning gadget, said it had more
applications than security. It could also be useful while checking engineering
projects, he said, adding that it could have domestic uses, which he did not
specify. The export price of the flashlight-camera is US$150. Other winners
include Altai Technologies for technological achievement, Solomon Systech for
productivity and quality, Chow Tai Fook Jewellery for customer service, and the
Hong Kong and China Gas (SEHK: 0003) Company for environmental performance.
"Lust, Caution"
starlet Tang Wei is shown here in a series of swanky portraits released by her
stylist Chen Fei on his blog.
Last June, fans at
Vitas's Beijing concert were enraptured by his unique voice. Just six months
later, Vitas is returning to Beijing for a concert at the Capital Indoor Stadium
on Jan. 24. Compared with his first visit to Beijing, Vitas has surprised fans
and the media by breaking from his usual mysterious image. Ordinarily, he is
silent in front of people, and answers questions only through his agent, Sergey
Pudovkin. But on Wednesday at a ceremony attended by V fans in Beijing, Vitas
talked -- in Chinese! -- which won over his screaming female funs. "Dear
friends, thank you very much for your love and caring for me. I love you," said
Vitas. According to Pudovkin, Vitas's concert will feature many new songs,
including some Chinese songs. The 3-hour concert will showcase 23 select songs,
such as Russian folk songs, opera, hip-hop and rap. Vitas first appeared in
Russia in December 2000 with his hit " Opera #2," captivating the public with
his energetic soprano voice. But Vitas also has numerous fans in Beijing. Here
is Sussan, a TV producer in Beijing. "I think the most touching thing is his
voice, and then his appearance. He is very pure. To me, he is always like an
angel. I've never seen anybody as pure as him. I think that he is the greatest,
most talented singer in the human world." Vitas has also produced numerous other
creative works in fields such as acting and fashion design, aside from composing
and singing his own songs. Vitas has produced 5 albums so far: "Philosophy of a
Miracle," "Smile!," "Mama," "The Songs of My Mother" and "Kiss as Long as
Eternity." 
A section of
Shengli oil field, China's second largest oil field. Sinopec said that the
Shengli oil field's proven oil reserve was 11.79 percent higher than previously
thought to the exploration efforts made by the oil field.
American fast-food
chain KFC on Monday began serving youtiao, a quintessential Chinese food for
breakfast, in all of its restaurants in China, making another step on its road
of localizing it menu. KFC claims its youtiao, or deep-fried dough sticks,
contain no alum, which is widely used by Chinese youtiao makers to keep the food
fluffy and crisp, and which has sparked health worries. A KFC representative
surnamed Xu was cited by the Beijing Business Today as saying that her company
spent over a year to come up an alternative for alum, but she declined to
elaborate further about the substitute. Each youtiao stick sells at three yuan
(41 US cents), nearly three times as its price in ordinary Chinese restaurants.
KFC believes the new addition is a perfect complement to its already popular
Chinese-style porridge selections, the report says. More Chinese food is
expected to enrich KFC's breakfast menu in the near future. Another fast-food
restaurant chain, McDonald's, currently has no plan to roll out youtiao, a
representative was quoted as saying.