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April 30, 2008
The long-anticipated marriage of Hong Kong actors Carina Lau and Tony Leung will take place later this year. Lau, 43, revealed the news on Saturday during a commercial appearance in the northeast Chinese city of Shenyang. The Taiwan media reported the pair would officially announce the wedding date during the red carpet show of the 61st Cannes Film Festival next month. It's said that Lau started planning the marriage with Leung, 46, when her father passed away two years ago. She hopes tying the knot with her boyfriend of 19 years will provide some comfort to her mother.
Mainlanders are the city's biggest shoppers, spending 70 percent and 30 percent more than Hong Kongers and other tourists, respectively, according to a Polytechnic University study. Mainland shoppers spend an average of HK$2,862 per transaction at the retail level, compared with HK$1,682 for locals and HK$2,145 for other tourists, according to the university's Asian Centre for Brand Management. When it comes to precious items such as gold, jewelry and watches, mainlanders shell out HK$7,034 per transaction. But the center found non-mainland shoppers are more interested in electronics and spend HK$5,000 per item. The center also found frontline staff such as sales and customer services have improved their Putonghua over the past couple of years, though their proficiency remains below their level of English. The growth in the number of sales staff has not caught up with the expanding retail sector. The total number of retail sales staff increased only 6.75 percent in 30 months from 224,618 in June 2005 to 239,780 in December 2007, against the rate of increase in retail expenditure (23.6 percent) and tourist arrivals (37.9 percent). The report pointed out that most retailers are rather conservative and unwilling to employ more frontline staff but, from the customers' point of view, time and effort are included in the costs. It will affect Hong Kong's image as a shopping paradise and also their plan for future visits, the report warned. But the study had some encouragement for the retail and tourism sectors - the results showed the territory has regained its image as a safe, reliable and low risk shopping city despite experiencing negative publicity from a scandal over counterfeit products early last year. The findings released yesterday are some of the key points highlighted in the Customer Perceived Value of Hong Kong's Retail Services report. The study is based on 2,640 completed questionnaires from shoppers on their shopping experiences involving nearly 400 shops in January. The project, which began in 2004, assessed the satisfaction of both local customers and tourists about the retail services. The report says Hong Kong's seven major retail categories showed slight improvements in service quality, staff attitude and interaction with customers compared with the past. The seven categories are fashion, jewelry and watches, electronic products, department stores, cosmetics, footwear and telecommunications. But product quality and design, shopping environment and price have not improved at all for the past few years.
PetroChina said its first-quarter profit fell 31.5 percent to 28.9 billion yuan and Sinopec said its first-quarter net income fell 69 percent to 6.06 billion yuan.
The world's largest lender, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (1398), yesterday reported a 76.9 percent increase in net profit for the first quarter to 33.11 billion yuan (HK$36.81 billion) despite setting aside an additional US$58 million (HK$452.4 million) to cover possible losses in subprime and related investments. April 29, 2008
Hong Kong's new mortgage loans drawn down in March rose 12.3 percent to 20.6 billion HK dollars ( 2.65 billion U.S. dollars), while new loans approved grew 5.2 percent to 24.7 billion HK dollars (3.17 billion U.S. dollars), Hong Kong Monetary Authority said here Friday. According to the 23 authorized institutions that participate in the authority's monthly survey of residential mortgage lending, the rise was due to an increase in approvals for primary market transactions and refinancing loans. Approvals for primary market transactions and refinancing loans rose 89.1 percent and 35.1 percent, while approvals for secondary market transactions fell 6.6 percent. The number of new applications rose 13.8 percent. The proportion of new loans approved at more than 2.5 percent below the best lending rate increased to 90 percent from 89 percent in February, as the proportion of approvals for Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rate-based loans decreased. The mortgage delinquency ratio and rescheduled loan ratio dropped to 0.09 percent and 0.17 percent, driving the combined ratio to a record low of 0.27 percent.
April 19 - 28, 2008
Hong Kong's composite interest rate fell to 0.98 percent at the end of March, from 1.35 percent at the end of February, the Monetary Authority of Hong Kong said Thursday. Following a fall of 33 basis points in February the 37-basis- point fall in the March composite interest rate reflected across- the-board drops in local interest rates, including savings, time deposit and interbank interest rates. Authority Deputy Chief Executive Peter Pang said Thursday he expected the composite interest rate to be further affected by changes in U.S. interest rates and domestic liquidity conditions. Local interbank offering rates fell 18 to 130 basis points across the board in March. Banks cut their best lending rates by 50 basis points on March 20 and lowered savings deposit rates on lesser magnitudes. Some stranded Oasis ticket-holders have already been reimbursed because they paid by credit card. Others could get their money back soon, major card issuers confirmed yesterday. HSBC, Hang Seng Bank, DBS Bank (Hong Kong), Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) and Citi Hong Kong said customers who pay for a service with their cards but do not receive the service can file a charge dispute request, or request a charge-back. "It is a normal procedure, so it won't take long," said a Standard Chartered spokeswoman. "There are already mechanisms set up." All five banks said they had received "several" requests from their credit- card customers regarding Oasis Airlines and are processing the claims. Some DBS cardholders have already received refunds, said DBS Hong Kong head of consumer banking Sunny Cheung Yiu-tong. In most cases, the disputed charge will be temporarily removed from a customer's credit-card bill almost immediately while the claim is processed. This can take seven to 45 days, depending on the bank, after which the charge-back can be confirmed. "Usually after the first phone call, it's considered to be resolved," Cheung said. Citi said it has put in place new procedures so that Oasis ticketholders going through Citi's charge dispute process can get their money back faster than usual. "We just decided the handling procedure for this specific case," a Citi spokeswoman said, adding customers will know within 30 days if the charge- back is successful. Meanwhile, the Consumer Council said it has received a total of 1,070 complaints regarding Oasis since the budget long-haul carrier's collapse last week, and a further 1,186 inquiries. The cases involve HK$13.8 million, with the highest single loss involving HK$136,220. As the appetite for public offerings improves slightly, 10 listing candidates are aiming up to raise up to HK$37 billion on the local bourse in the coming two months. Four companies - including Maoye International Holdings, E-Land Fashion China Holdings, SFK Construction Holdings and Asia Cement Corp - will take the lead and start trading in May. Maoye will list on May 5, followed by E-Land China and Asia Cement on May 8 and May 20. Department store operator Maoye is set to start its four-day retail offering next Monday, aiming to raise a maximum HK$3.9 billion. In the last week of April, womens' apparel retailer E-Land China will kick off a retail offering for its HK$2.73 billion IPO. A week later Asia Cement's HK$1.95 billion listing will take place. "SFK is planning to list before May. The company will meet investors today and details of the listing timetable will be confirmed on Friday at the earliest," a source said. According to several IPO sponsors, the investment climate for new listings has improved slightly compared to January when six listing hopefuls shelved their IPOs because of weak market sentiment. "Investors have shown interests in IPOs but only in those whose pricing is reasonable," said an Asia-based sponsor. In June, six companies will be pitching for at least HK$27 billion in Hong Kong. They are paper maker Shandong Chenming Paper Holdings, retailer Pou Sheng International (Holdings), sugar producer Yingmao Sugar Industry, underground mall operator RenHe Business Management, Henan-based developer Central China Real Estate Group, and China Southern Locomotive & Rolling Stock Industry which plans to list in both Shanghai and Hong Kong. "Market sentiment has improved recently but not by much, we still need to observe the market closely as there are still undetonated bombs around," said the sponsor. Heightened demand is expected to push up imported beef prices. The cost of frozen Brazilian brisket has already doubled in the past six months.
Judge rejects passport rule on birth country - HK handling of naturalized Chinese flouts law - Foreign-born Chinese citizens in Hong Kong may not have to list the country where they were born on their passports for much longer as a result of a court decision yesterday. In the Court of First Instance, Mr Justice Michael Hartmann ruled the Immigration Department's guideline that says naturalized citizens had to state their country of birth on their travel document was incorrect. The decision follows an application for judicial review by immigration consultant and Hong Kong passport holder Richard Aziz Butt, also known as Aziz Akbar Butt. Mr Butt had requested the place of birth on his passport be changed from Pakistan to either the city of Karachi or the province where he was born, Sindh. Mr Butt had told the Director of Immigration that he had been subjected to discrimination by border control authorities in other countries because of his place of birth. But the director rejected his application to remove the country. The court heard the director had rejected Mr Butt's arguments in three letters, claiming Hong Kong had to conform to international regulations by bodies such as the International Civil Aviation Organization. But Mr Justice Hartmann ruled international bodies did not have laws governing the country of birth issue. "The refusal is based on a mistake of fact which may more plainly be described as a mistake of law," the judge said in handing down his ruling before a court packed with South Asian Hong Kong residents. "That on its own is a good reason for quashing the decision and for referring it back to the director for consideration under law." The judge emphasized it was up to the administrative process, not the court, to decide whether to change the requirements. He said countries such as Britain, Canada and South Korea did not require a new citizen to list his country of birth. The judge said that, from his own experience, Australia did not either. The government's argument that the rule was the same for all Hong Kong passport holders, who are also citizens of the People's Republic of China, was not applicable as the city had the sovereign authority to issue its own passports. This authority meant the government must ensure the freedom of travel of all passport holders. The judge said there were "compelling arguments" from the evidence from Mr Butt and those known to him that the naming of the country of birth had interfered with this freedom. Mr Butt said outside court he hoped the decision would help all ethnic minorities who had suffered difficulties while travelling. "Hong Kong is my heart and China is my heartbeat. However, when it comes to law in Hong Kong, we do not need to follow the mainland," he said. "This is a matter of public interest. We have people who were not even born in Pakistan having to have Pakistan written on their passports." Mohammed Aslam, 75, a former Hong Kong police sergeant, said he was overjoyed at the decision. Hassen Shah, who was in court, said he had been waiting for the decision before applying to have his place of birth changed to the city of Sialkot. Senior legal sources described Justice Hartmann's decision as a "breath of fresh air". "It's rare for the Court of First Instance to find against the Immigration Department," one said. A department spokeswoman said it would have to see the written judgment before deciding whether to appeal.
China has hinted that talks with rival Taiwan could happen once the island's president-elect, Ma Ying-jeou, takes office in mid-May, but stopped short of directly confirming what could be landmark discussions.
US pizza giant Papa John's predicts sizzling future in China - Pizza delivery chain Papa John's plans to add 500 restaurants in China during the next five years, making the country its biggest market outside the United States, the company's chief financial officer said yesterday.
April 18, 2008
Regulators urged to relax listing rules, keep edge - Facing a slowdown in initial public offering activity this year, Hong Kong stock market regulators are being urged to make listing rules more market- friendly to enable the local bourse to maintain its competitive edge. "Engines that drove Hong Kong's recent stock boom are not bound to stay indefinitely. Other exchanges are aggressively competing for cross- border IPO business," Anthony Wu Ting-yuk, chairman of Bauhinia Foundation Research Centre, told a press conference. "If we don't want to lose out to our competitors, we need to expand - if not totally scrap - the short list of recognized jurisdictions." According to think tank BFRC, Hong Kong's listing rules prescribe only six jurisdictions of incorporation, such as Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, for listing eligibility. "Even the world's most developed markets, including the US and the UK, do not have a rule like this," said BFRC director Lawrence Lee Kam-hung. Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Ceajer Chan Ka-keung admitted Hong Kong will face a slowdown in new share sales in 2008. In the first quarter, IPO funds raised here already fell 12 percent from a year ago to HK$39.4 billion. However, a Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (0388) spokesperson said the regulator does not believe a stronger climate for the financial industry could be achieved simply by adopting a more relaxed approach in accepting listing candidates. Meanwhile, BFRC also suggested the city's regulator reconsider launching the Alternative Investment Market model to encourage more small- company listings. Unlike the Growth Enterprise Market - the current venue for small firms to float shares - AIM has less regulatory burden, but requires companies to disclose more detailed information to investors. But the HKEx spokesperson said the bourse operator and the Securities and Futures Commission believe it is too early to adopt the AIM model. Now exchanges such as Shanghai and Singapore are luring new listings away from Hong Kong.
Cheap deals on offer in health-care plan - Insurance premiums covering major surgery, intensive care, cancer treatment and dialysis could cost as little as HK$3,600 a year if the community opts for a mandatory scheme, a government source said yesterday.
A real-time rehearsal of the Hong Kong leg of the Olympic torch relay will be held on Friday to fine-tune the route, which has already been shortened, Deputy Police Commissioner Peter Yam Tat-wing said yesterday. The new route will be announced today. The second run along Nathan Road and the Hong Kong Park stop- over have been omitted, according to government sources. The May 2 Olympic torch relay will start from Tsim Sha Tsui's Hong Kong Cultural Centre, then Salisbury Road, Nathan Road, Kowloon Park, the Tsing Ma Bridge, Sha Tin's sport facilities, Shing Mun River and then back to Hung Hom and Tsim Sha Tsui's Star Ferry pier. On the island side, the torch will visit the Legislative Council building, Chater Road and Wan Chai Sports Ground before ending at Golden Bauhinia Square for the closing ceremony at 6pm. Yam said Friday's rehearsal is to test whether the relay can be completed on time and see if there is any need to change the route. The Transport Department will coordinate traffic arrangements. Olympic windsurfing gold medalist Lee Lai-shan said she will be one of the 120 torchbearers but she does not know at which stage. Leading triathlete Daniel Lee Chi-wo said he turned down an invitation to run because he is taking part in other competitions that day. Hong Kong had the world’s priciest up-market flat rents, with the lease for a three-bedroom unit more than US$9,700 on average a month, a survey released on Wednesday said.
Zero wine duties are expected to increase consumption in Hong Kong but it is difficult to assess by how much, organisers of the Vinexpo wine and spirits trade fair say. Much depended on how distributors and importers passed on the tax savings to consumers through lower prices, Vinexpo chairman Dominique Heriard Dubreuil said. Robert Beynat, chief executive of Vinexpo Overseas, said a clearer picture should emerge in the next six months. Vinexpo Asia-Pacific will be held May 27-29 at the Convention and Exhibition Centre. Last year, doubts emerged about whether consumers were enjoying the full tax savings despite an industry pledge to reflect the halving of the wine duty to 40 per cent. Duty on wine and beer was abolished in February's budget. An annual survey by the International Wine and Spirit Record, which researches the market, shows the city's wine consumption by volume is forecast to rise 61 per cent to 23.4 million liters in the five years to 2011. This is up from the 54 per cent growth recorded between 2002 and 2006. Wine consumption was 14.5 million litres in 2006, up from 9.4 million liters in 2002. By value, Hong Kong spent about US$152 million in 2006 on still wine. This is projected to rise to US$257 million by 2011. In 2002, the figure was US$104 million. The survey was completed last year and reflects data from 2006. Consumption of spirits in Hong Kong is expected to recover slightly by 2011 after falling about 8.7 per cent to 1.73 million nine-litre cases in 2006, from 1.89 million such cases in 2002. The survey estimates consumption will rise 1.3 per cent to 1.75 million cases in 2011. Spirits continue to be subject to a 100 per cent duty, with the government fearing a lower tax would lead to health problems due to increased consumption.
The first direct flight between China and Mexico will be launched on May 29, Aero Mexico's Shanghai office told Xinhua on Tuesday, a move to facilitate bilateral economic, cultural and tourism exchanges.
A movie park should be built on the former Tai Hom Village site in Diamond Hill to strengthen the local industry and preserve the city's filmmaking heritage, according to a joint proposal from concern groups. The groups, including the Community Alliance for Kai Tak Development and the Federation of Hong Kong Film Workers, suggested that instead of using the entire 7.1 hectare site for a depot for the Sha Tin- Central rail link, at least two-thirds should be set aside for a film park. Federation president Ng See-yuen said it was hoped the proposed park could include facilities for screenings and training for young directors, small studios for experimental filmmaking and museums. The Hong Kong Film Archive could be relocated from Sai Wan Ho. "There are not enough film productions in Hong Kong but, at the same time, we do not have enough talented people," Mr Ng said. "We have collaborated with the Institute of Vocational Education to provide training for talented young people for the past two years but we have stopped because [the institute] does not have enough facilities. Talent training is our greatest weakness and it is hoped that this park can fulfil such a purpose." The site is the home of three historic structures - the grade-two- listed Old Pillbox, grade-three-listed former Royal Air Force Hangar and the Stone House, the former home of late renowned actor Roy Chiao. The proposal includes hotels and residential apartments, and turning Chiao's home into a film resource centre. Mr Ng said offices and meeting rooms could be provided for young film workers, such as scriptwriters, who would be able to meet and brainstorm ideas. Businesses related to the film industry, such as special effects and design, could also be clustered together. He said the site had a filmmaking heritage, with more than 1,000 films made there by great studios of the past, such as Grandview Studios. "This can help revive the heritage of Hong Kong cinema," Mr Ng said, adding that even major industry events such as the Film Awards could take place there. The film park would not compete with mainland ones because they were shooting locations. "Hong Kong lacks such facilities and our industry has been declining seriously. We cannot afford to wait any more," he said.
The reserve requirement ratio would be raised by 0.5 percentage points to a record high of 16 percent as of April 25, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said in a statement on its Web site. The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has approved a plan to build an airport in the Tibetan autonomous prefecture of Gannan in the northwestern Gansu Province, the local government said on Wednesday. The provincial reform and development commission said preparations will start soon to pave the way for the civil construction of Xiahe Airport, a 700 million yuan (about 100 million U.S. dollars) project about 250 kilometers from Lanzhou, the provincial capital. "These will include land measurement, meteorological observation and environment assessment at the proposed site for the airport," said Ma Xiaojun, an official in charge of transport at the provincial commission. He said the preferred site was about 56 km from the nearest city, Hezuo, and 72 km from the Xiahe County seat. The airport will have a 3,000-meter-long runway and construction is expected to be complete in 2010. Gannan prefecture, located in southern Gansu Province, has a population of 680,000, more than half of whom are Tibetans.
General Electric, which last week announced its worst quarter of financial results in five years, plans to invest up to $2 billion in acquisitions and other deals in China over the next three years as it looks to double revenues in the country. The world's biggest industrial company is looking to hire a team of 20 "in-house investment bankers" to conduct the deals in China. "If we do not invest $2 billion over the next three years, I would be disappointed," said Steve Bertamini, chairman of GE's China operations. Bertamini said that the recent sharp drop in the mainland stock market, which is down nearly a half from its peak, would make it easier to negotiate investments. "One of the reasons we have not done much so far is because the prices have been so high", he said. The group will also continue to form joint ventures with leading Chinese companies, in part because in sectors such as infrastructure and power generation, there are foreign investment restrictions. It added that GE plans to increase its China revenues to $10 billion by 2010, up from $4.4 billion last year. GE also plans to increase sourcing and design in China and import fewer components. Luxury goods maker Gucci has won a trademark copycat lawsuit against a Chinese shoemaker, putting its foot down in a country where knock-off designer gear is on sale on every street corner.
April 17, 2008
More former KCRC middle managers have been asked to leave the MTRC following the merger of the two railways. According to a source, nearly 20 staff from the MTR's Kowloon Southern Link project alone are being forced to leave their jobs each month because their contracts are not being renewed. Others are having their contracts terminated long before the expiry date, the source said. The staff involved are on-contract, non-frontline staff and are mainly in middle management or the logistics and technical support teams, the source added. This group accounts for around 10 percent of the 12,000-strong MTRC, according to Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway Staff General Association deputy chairman Mak Pui-tung. In February, The Standard reported the rail company had started laying off long-serving senior staffers from the former KCRC just two months after the railways were merged on December 2. Mak said their departure was unlikely to directly affect the daily operation of the rail company. But he said the union was strongly against the MTR's unilateral decision to terminate their contracts. "Those workers who are on contract should be very clear about the temporary nature of their jobs. But they expect to at least stay in the job until the contract expires," Mak said. "Some of them might have given up other offers when they joined the KCRC before the merger." However, Mak admitted it was difficult for the union to take action on behalf of those who are not permanent staff. One of the middle-ranking engineers, who did not want to be identified, was told his two-year contract would be terminated in September, a year before it expired. "I was offered the second contract in May last year, four months before the first one ended. That gave me an impression the company was sincere in keeping me," he said. "But all of a sudden, I was told to leave the company in six months' time. "I did not expect to leave the job so soon and I recently borrowed money from the bank to buy two flats." An MTRC spokesman said: "The decision is based on our operational needs, which are determined by the progress of our projects." A former director and general manager of Centaline Property Agency admitted in District Court yesterday he had offered more than HK$1.68 million in bribes to secure property deals worth HK$300 million. The five-ringed Olympic symbol will add a HK$7.5 million glow to Hong Kong's iconic Victoria Harbor. The familiar Olympic symbol will be put up at an eye-catching site outside the Museum of Art in Tsim Sha Tsui as a part of the HK$17.8 million Beijing Olympics promotion campaign designed by the Hong Kong Tourism Board. The board is also spending HK$5 million, plus HK$3 million in sponsorships, to build an Olympic Piazza in the area. Tourism Board executive director Anthony Lau Chun-hon hopes the logo will impress overseas TV audiences as much as it did when it adorned the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 2000. Construction of the 15 meter by 35m symbol is due to be completed on May 1 and will be displayed until December 31. The best view will be from Golden Bauhinia Square in Wan Chai. Lau said the board had considered several other sites, including pier terminals in Central, the General Post Office and City Hall. The International Olympic Committee does not want the five rings to be displayed near any commercial elements. Putting it outside the museum will provide a quiet background without competing with other neon signboards. The Olympic Piazza outside the Hong Kong Cultural Centre is expected to attract 10,000 visitors a day during its operation between July 25 and August 24. The highlight of the piazza is the giant television screen on the center's curved wall. It will broadcast live games, highlights and other Olympic-related clips. The piazza comprises two zones, one with TVs streaming the games and the other an exhibition.
Mainland property firm Fantasia Group (China) planned to raise about US$500 million in a Hong Kong initial public offering in the third quarter, sources close the deal said on Tuesday, amid the central government’s clampdown on bank lending to the real-estate sector. The listing hopeful is shrugging off a 14 per cent drop in Hong Kong’s benchmark index <.HSI> so far this year on concerns about a United States recession and spreading credit market woes, which have scared off companies planning US$7 billion in Hong Kong IPOs so far this year, according to Thomson Financial data. The Shenzhen-based developer focuses on residential and office buildings, and has about 2 billion yuan (HK$2.23 billion) in assets, it said on its website. The firm plans to expand to other provinces, including Dongguan, Chengdu and Tianjin. Goldman Sachs is sponsoring the deal.
The Kuomintang wants to bring in more mainland tourists, make the yuan convertible and implement a plan for more direct weekend flights across the Straits starting in July.
President of the Commission of the European Union Jose Manuel Barroso will pay official visit to China from April 24 to 26 at the invitation of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. April 16, 2008
China issues notice on grain exports to HK - The Ministry of Commerce has issued a notice ensuring that grain and grain product supplies maybe provided to Hong Kong, but it also warned of penalties for those who diverted such food shipments to other markets. Wheat, corn, rice and flour made from these grains could only be sold to Hong Kong and violators would have their export licenses suspended. The licenses would only be available to suppliers who had signed agreements with designated Hong Kong counter-parties. "The relevant authority should issue a license strictly according to the quota allocated by the government and note on the license that the export is only to Hong Kong with no transshipment is allowed," said the notice. Hong Kong importers had to keep clear inventory and sales records that tracked food imported from the mainland, said the notice. Controls on food exports started early this year, when the Government imposed a temporary quota on the export of wheat, corn and rice products to guarantee domestic supplies. anic buying was reported in Hong Kong after the price of rice from Thailand, a major source for Hong Kong, shot up by about 30 percent in the past month. Rice hoarding has also been reported in the southern province of Guangdong, which borders Hong Kong. Premier Wen Jiabao promised mainland supplies of rice and agricultural products to Hong Kong and Macao on March 31, adding that China, with 40 to 50 million tons of rice stocks, would not be greatly affected by global price hikes. But as connections between the domestic and world grain markets increased, it had become more difficult to maintain stable domestic prices, said State Administration of Grain Director Nie Zhenbang. Wheat and rice stocks had increased in recent years, but uneven stock distribution in producing areas and selling regions should be balanced, said Nie. Seven major grain-selling areas are reporting substantial demand-supply imbalances, while 11 regions that both produce and sell grain have reported an increasing gap, Nie wrote in a signed article in the People's Daily, on Monday. China harvested 501.5 million tons of grain in 2007, but prospects might be less favorable this year because the severe winter weather in southern regions damaged crops. Meanwhile, northern China is experiencing its worst spring drought in years. Since early this year, the average rainfall has been 5.5 mm in Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, Hebei province, Beijing and Tianjin. That is less than half the average and the least since 1951, according to the China Meteorology Center. "We should always keep alert in guaranteeing grain security," said Nie. Students give 2017 vote of confidence - Two-thirds of secondary school students believe universal suffrage in 2017 to elect the chief executive is timely - or already too late, a survey has found. The survey, carried out by the Hong Kong Secondary Students Union in February and March, also showed about one-third believe the voting age should be increased to 21, or even above. Only 19 percent of the 1,008 respondents from more than 20 schools believe Hong Kong is not ready for universal suffrage, and only 10 percent believe it is too early to implement it on or before 2017, a date set by the National People's Congress Standing Committee on December 29 last year. But while 47 percent believe 18 is a suitable age for voting in district council and Legislative Council elections, 33 percent believe the age requirement should be tightened. Jenny Liu Mei-yan, the union's administrative officer, said the results are not contradictory. "Some students might be not be confident enough to make their own decisions as many believe they are just receivers of information provided by adults," she said. The union called on the government to provide "mock voting" for young people during major elections to encourage their participation in the future.
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Hong Kong:
Hong Kong continued to record a sustained upbeat consumer sentiment in March,
with its total retail sales value growing 20 percent year on year to 22.6
billion HK dollars (about 2.9 billion U.S. dollars), revealed the Census and
Statistics Department here Tuesday. According to the Census and Statistics
Department's latest statistics, the total retail sales volume also rose 13
percent from the same period of last year. Looking forward, the department
expected the firm labor market conditions, rising income, and further growth in
inbound tourism to continue providing support to the retail trade. But the
department said the society need to stay alert to the impact of the unfolding
global financial turbulence and the U.S. economic slowdown on the economy and
consumer sentiment. Rolling out the latest retail sales figures here Tuesday,
the department said total retail sales rose 17.5 percent in value and 11.6
percent in volume in this year's first quarter. Analyzed by type of retail
outlet, the sales volume of motor vehicles and parts led the growth by surging
29 percent, followed by sales of electrical goods and photographic equipment
with a 22.1 percent upsurge. Apparel, furniture and fixtures, miscellaneous
consumer goods, footwear, jewelry, watches and clocks and other valuable gifts
also saw a double-digit growth in sales ranging from 19 percent to10.7 percent. 
The Olympic torch arrives in Hong Kong
today for Fridays 120-member relay, with athletes forming a quarter of the total
number of torchbearers. The final list of torchbearers and the relay route were
announced yesterday. Forty-eight are athletes, past and present, 26 come from
the business and professional sectors, 14 are academics, 12 politicians, 12
community leaders and seven performing artistes. Torchbearers come from
different sectors, said Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong
president Timothy Fok Tsun-ting, who will be the second last runner. Athletes
who will run at the beginning of the relay are those who may have a chance to
win at the Olympics, added Olympic gold medalist Lee Lai- shan. Lee, a former
windsurfer, will be the first torchbearer. She will be followed by table-tennis
players Li Ching and Ko Lai-chak and badminton player Yip Pui-yin. Cyclist Wong
Kam-po will be the last runner, taking over from Fok, while badminton player
Wang Chen and swimmer Tsai Hiu-wai will be the third and fourth last
respectively. Multinational corporations have also sent representatives as have
major local developers Cheung Kong, Sun Hung Kai and Henderson. No political
party chairman is on the list, though there are some district councillors. There
will be no senior member of the government but Central Government Liaison Office
deputy director Li Gang will be in the line-up. There will also be some members
of the public, such as school teachers and principals. Former National Peoples
Congress Standing Committee member Tsang Hin-chi, 74, is the oldest torchbearer
while badminton player Chiu Chung- hei, at 14, is the youngest. The relay will
begin at 10.30am in Tsim Sha Tsui before going on to the Tsing Ma Bridge, Sha
Tin and Central. The relay is scheduled to end at Golden Bauhinia Square in Wan
Chai at 6pm. As with last weeks trial, roads will only be closed before the
torch arrives and reopened soon after it has left. Chief superintendent David Ng
Ka-sing said 3,000 police officers will be on duty. For security reasons, the
public will not be allowed to use footbridges above the torch route in Central
and Wan Chai. 
More than 10,000 supermarket shoppers have signed a petition organized by
retailers seeking exemption from new labeling laws for 15,000 health- food
items. The retailers claim these products represent 20 percent of the total
product range in supermarkets and that their sale may be stopped if their
retailers and importers are forced to comply with new regulations on the
labeling of nutritional facts. The signature drive collected more than 10,000
signatures at 500 outlets of members of the Hong Kong Retail Management
Association, including ParknShop, Wellcome and Citysuper. The association hopes
prepackaged health-food products selling less than 30,000 units a year could be
exempted from displaying the nutrition labels. It claimed the new law - now
being debated by the Legislative Council and which is expected to go into effect
in 2010 - is unique in that it adopts a combination of the European Union and
American labeling standards. It said manufacturers of health foods were unlikely
to design new packages for the Hong Kong market and that conducting laboratory
tests and making labels in Hong Kong will increase the burden on distributors
and retailers. Thomas Woo Ka-wah, spokesman for the association, said small to
medium health-food retailers will be impacted the most. "The American standard
is the highest in the world. Why should the government create a different
standard that may end up reducing consumers' choice of health foods?" Woo asked.
Wellcome marketing director Diane Chiu Man said the 15,000 health foods account
for 50 percent of the items on the shelves of ThreeSixty and Jasons MarketPlace,
two high-end supermarket lines also owned by parent company Dairy Farm. She said
the stores could be forced to close if the exemptions were not given. It was
reported earlier it would cost only a few thousand dollars to conduct laboratory
tests for each product. 
China:
The majority of U.S.-based companies are positive about business prospects in
China, with 89 percent characterizing their five-year outlook as optimistic or
cautiously optimistic, according to a survey released here on Monday by the
American Chamber of Commerce. The findings of the 2008 Business Climate Survey
revealed that U.S. companies remained bullish in China as an investment
destination, with many planning to expand. However, despite the positive outlook
and improved operating margins, competitive forces and rising costs are
increasingly affecting these companies, according to the survey. While China's
continued growth is playing an important role in investment decisions and
expansion throughout the country, the rapid growth of the domestic economy has
also created a fiercely competitive business environment that is driving
significant cost increases, according to the survey. "Accessing the China market
continues to be the primary goal and strategy for U.S. companies operating in
China," said the survey. According to the survey, more than half of the
respondents have already established a presence in a second- or third-tier city.
The outlook of U.S. businesses in China is tempered by operating challenges,
especially shortages of qualified staff and continuing regulatory challenges,
such as difficulty in achieving consistency of administration and enforcement.
With rapid economic development and increasing foreign investment, the demand
for Chinese managers of international caliber has also increased significantly.
In 2007, difficulty in attracting, developing and retaining managers and
technical staff, along with increasing salary and wage expenses, remained the
top operating challenges for U.S. companies, the survey shows. According to the
survey, the companies continue to see China as a strategically important
manufacturing base due to its domestic market potential, but more than
two-thirds agreed that China was losing some of its competitive advantage in
global markets due to rising costs. 
Motorcyclists
line up at a PetroChina gas station in Shanghai. PetroChina said its
first-quarter profit fell 31.5 percent as refining losses and windfall taxes cut
its earnings from record crude prices.
Speeding was
blamed yesterday for China's worst train accident in a decade that killed at
least 70 people and injured more than 400. The finding was delivered by an
investigation panel set up by China's Cabinet, the State Council, according to
the Xinhua News Agency. It came just a little more than 24 hours after two
trains collided in Shandong province in eastern China and as service on the
railway was restored. The investigation showed a Beijing to Qingdao passenger
train was traveling at 131 kilometers per hour before the accident - far over
the section's speed limit of 80kph, Xinhua said. The train jumped its tracks and
collided with an oncoming passenger train on another track. The government has
already sacked three railway officials over the accident. Local officials in
Zibo city, where the accident happened gave a glowing review of the emergency
response, praising rescuers who rushed to the site and a doctor who worked more
than 30 hours without rest. The central and provincial governments "do not need
to worry and the victims, their families and people from all walks of life are
satisfied," said Liu Xinsheng, deputy secretary-general of the Zibo city
government. Liu said the local government was covering all medical expenses of
the injured for the time being. "We won't let financial issues affect their
medical treatment." The railway line was reopened to traffic after work crews
used heavy cranes to clear the tracks of damaged rail cars. Seventy of the 416
people injured in the crash were in critical condition. No foreigners were among
the dead. Injured survivors included four French nationals, a Chinese national
sailing team coach and a three- year-old boy. One middle-aged woman said she was
lucky she was awake when the accident happened. "I was awake, I just got back
from using the bathroom," said the woman, adding that the crash lasted about one
minute. "I crawled out of a window. Anywhere there was space to get out, people
were trying to get out." Trains are the most popular way to travel in China, and
the country's overloaded rail network carried 1.36 billion passengers last year.
While accidents are rare, the government is trying to extend and upgrade the
rail network and introduce more high-speed trains. The crash happened just
before the May Day weekend holiday. When the train to Qingdao - site of the
sailing competition during the Summer Olympics - derailed, nine of its carriages
were knocked into a ditch, Railway Ministry spokesman Wang Yongping said in a
statement. The second train, on its way from Yantai in Shandong to Xuzhou in
eastern Jiangsu province, was knocked off its tracks although it stayed upright.
Xinhua said both the director and the deputy director of the Railway Bureau in
Jinan, the provincial capital and nearest big city, and the bureau's Communist
Party secretary, were sacked after the crash, and they face an investigation by
the Ministry of Railways. It was the second major railway accident in Shandong
this year. In January, 18 people died when a train hurtling through the night at
more than 120kph slammed into a group of about 100 workers carrying out track
maintenance near the city of Anqiu. The accident was the worst train crash in
China since 1997, when another collision killed 126 people. 
Chinese overseas students
cheer for the arrival of the Olympic torch in Seoul, South Korea, on April 27,
2008. The Beijing Olympic Flame arrived Sunday at Incheon international airport,
South Korea, for a torch relay later in the day. The chartered plane, dubbed
"Olympic Flame," touched down at 1:05 am local time (1605 GMT). Li Binghua, vice
president of the Beijing Organizing Committee of Olympic Games (BOCOG), stepped
of fthe plane first with the flame lantern. The flame delegation was warmly
greeted by Kim Sang-Woo, Secretary General of the Korean Olympic Committee and
Ning Fukui, Chinese Ambassador to South Korea, and other officials as well as
some 160 Chinese students in South Korea. 
Olympic Flame arrives in
Vietnam - The plane carrying the Beijing Olympic flame landed Monday night at
Tan Son Nhat International Airport of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, for Tuesday's
torch relay, the last leg of the flame's global journey outside China.
Mums-to-be warned of fish danger - Mothers-to-be and those planning to have
babies should avoid eating too much fish as it may contain excessive levels of
mercury, the Centre for Food Safety warned yesterday. The warning came after
three out of 280 fish samples tested between April and August last year were
found to contain a high level of mercury that would harm brain development,
especially in babies. Consultant Ho Yuk-yin said that if mercury levels exceeded
safety standards it would seriously affect embryos with developing brains. Too
much mercury will affect brain development, especially intelligence, and will
also cause chronic toxicity, damage to the nervous system and cancer, the
consultant said. Ho said children under the age of six, whose brains are still
developing, should also avoid eating large, predatory fish such as swordfish,
shark, bigeye and bluefin tuna, tilefish and marlin. "For pregnant woman,
assuming they don't take other fish that contain mercury, consuming more than 10
slices of sashimi that contains mercury in a week could exceed the tolerance
level," he said. For an adult, Ho said, the safety level is 20 slices a week.
The provisional tolerable weekly intake of mercury, as advised by the World
Health Organization, is 1.6 micrograms per kilogram of body weight. He
maintained, however, that there is no need to avoid eating fish entirely as it
still contains many essential nutrients like omega-three fatty acids, iodine and
high quality proteins. "We are advocating a balanced diet," he said. In the
tests, three deepwater alfonsino samples among the 280 had overall mercury
levels exceeded the safety standards of 500 micrograms per kilogram. One
sample's mercury level was double the safety standards at 1,180 micrograms per
kilogram. Mercury, Ho said, accumulates in the food chain naturally, especially
in fish and cannot be reduced by cooking. Fish traders are also advised to
inform customers of the type of fish sold and to obtain supplies from reliable
sources as well as maintain proper records to enable source tracing when
required. Carol Bracher, a housewife who is in the last month of her pregnancy,
said she was advised by doctors not to eat too much sashimi. 
Jiang Xiaoyu (L in front),
executive vice president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008
Olympic Games (BOCOG), displays the lantern which holds the Olympic flame
together with Indian Olympic Association President Suresh Kalmadi (R in front)
upon arrival in New Delhi, capital of India, April 17, 2008. New Delhi is the
11th leg of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games torch relay global tour outside the
Chinese mainland. The Beijing Olympic flame arrived in New Delhi in the early
morning of Thursday on the second leg of its relay in Asia as it makes its way
to Beijing. The Olympic flame, carried in a specially-designed lantern on a
chartered plane, was flied to New Delhi from Islamabad, Pakistan. Upon arrival,
the Olympic flame and the whole delegation were welcomed by a cheering crowd,
among whom are President of India Olympic Committee Kalmandi and Chinese
Ambassador to India Zhang Yan.
Photo taken on April 17, 2008 shows the night
view of the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, in Beijing, capital
of China.
Photo taken on April 17, 2008
shows the night view of the National Aquatics Center, also known as the "Water
Cube", in Beijing, capital of China. 
A farmer leads his
cattle, with a building under construction in the background, while ploughing a
field in Shandong Province. China's arable land bank fell by 40,700 hectares
last year, to 121.73 million hectares.
Carrefour
denies Net claims of meddling in politics - French retail chain hits back at
online calls for boycott - French retail giant Carrefour yesterday rejected an
onslaught of internet criticism that it had meddled in Chinese politics and
supported Tibetan independence, amid growing online calls for a boycott of it.
"The rumours that the Carrefour Group supports illegal political organizations
are completely fabricated and groundless," it said on its Chinese website.
"Carrefour has never done and will never do anything to hurt the Chinese
people's feelings." In Paris, Carrefour made the same statement on Tuesday,
saying the information about its role in domestic politics or China's
international relations was false and unfounded. Chat room and mobile phone
messages have called on Chinese people to boycott French products and
organisations over the past week in response to the Olympic torch relay protests
in Paris and French President Nicolas Sarkozy's suggestion that he would not
attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics unless China reopened
dialogue with the Dalai Lama. Furious netizens also accused Carrefour, one of
the most popular supermarket chains on the mainland, of supporting groups that
supported independence for Tibet and urged a boycott, particularly on the May 1
public holiday. Mobile phone messages spread quickly saying: "Carrefour's major
shareholder, Louis Vuitton, has made huge donations to the Dalai Lama, so please
tell all your friends and relatives not to go there." The firm denied the charge
and "reserved the right to take legal action against individuals and
organizations that make up and spread the vicious slander". It also insisted
that it supported the Olympics and was preparing for the event. The company has
122 stores on the mainland, employing more than 40,000 people. French Foreign
Ministry spokeswoman Pascale Andreani played down the threat of boycotts and
criticism. "We listen to the voice of the Chinese people, which is a friendly
people, but the calls for a boycott are being made by a very small minority, and
we have no knowledge of any effect of these initiatives on our economic
relations," she said. Ms Andreani appeared to be responding to her Chinese
counterpart, Jiang Yu , who said on Tuesday that "we hope the French side can
listen to the Chinese people's voices concerning the recent problems and adopt
an objective position". But it was unclear whether the voices for a boycott
would fade. The mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoe, said he would ask the city
council to make the Dalai Lama an honorary citizen. The decision will "pay
tribute to a champion of peace, a tireless advocate of dialogue between people",
he said. If what happened in Kunming, Yunnan province, outside the Carrefour on
Nanping Street on Tuesday was any indication, then the boycott calls may get
louder. About 30 people launched a signature campaign outside the store. They
also unfurled a 20-metre red banner urging passers-by to "support the Beijing
Olympics, protest against Tibet independence, boycott French products and
Carrefour", China News Service reported. "We want to show that the Chinese
people are united. As long as we are united, the French will know our power,"
the organizers said. An estimated 1,000 people reportedly signed the petition
and the number of shoppers in the supermarket was down over the protest's four
hours. Police were deployed to maintain order but did not intervene. The
campaign also spread to the city's two other Carrefour outlets. In Qingdao ,
Shandong province , hundreds of residents assembled in front of a Carrefour
store on Saturday, singing the national anthem and holding banners demanding
that the "French government apologize to all Chinese people", mainland media
reported. But opinions were divided among shoppers who have become used to going
to Carrefour. "A boycott for one day is enough, because I an accustomed to
shopping in Carrefour," a 60-year-old Shanghai resident said. 
Cheung Kong (Holdings) (0001) said
yesterday it is possible apartment prices - which have already climbed 7 to 8
percent since January - will jump a total of 20 percent this year. Executive
director Justin Chiu Kwok-hung told reporters there is no way flat prices could
drop, given the recent year-over-year decline in property transactions amid
tightened inventory and current price levels. "It should be not bad. Now the
market is quite stable and projects are sold out," said Cheung Kong chairman Li
Ka-shing. "We will continue to develop, seeing that property prices are
maintaining rather nicely." Chiu said the company's sales have doubled
year-on-year so far, with its 2008 target aimed at 4,000 units worth some HK$20
billion. From January to March, the developer reaped HK$11 billion by selling
2,100 flats. Last year, Cheung Kong sold HK$22 billion worth of homes. Chiu said
it has received the letter of consent to pre-market the Celestial Heights
project in Ho Man Tin, where 500 units ranging from 1,700 to 2,200 square feet -
worth more than HK$10 billion - will be made available. The launch date for the
first batch of flats has not been confirmed. Meanwhile, Li said he may invest in
Taiwan in view of the island's improving relationship with Beijing following the
recent election of the new Kuomintang government. 
Suitors circle collapsed carrier - Grounded Oasis Hong Kong Airlines has
received "a number" of expressions of interest from potential new investors,
said KPMG, the provisional liquidator. There are a "comfortable number of really
serious players" that the provisional liquidator is talking with, said Edward
Middleton, head of restructuring services at KPMG, putting the number at "a
handful." He said: "The financial situation is dire." Interested parties include
local investors and foreign companies, he said, declining to provide more
details. KPMG has not received interest from Cheung Kong (Holdings) or any
unlisted arm of Cheung Kong Group, Middleton said, adding Cheung Kong deputy
chairman Victor Li Tzar-kuoi has not approached KPMG either. Cheung Kong said
yesterday it has not made any offer to buy Oasis and is not exploring the
matter, refuting reports in Ming Pao Daily. Middleton said no Oasis staff had
yet been laid off. He said the company is responding to claims from
ticketholders but "it's too early to say" whether they will get refunds. Founder
Raymond Lee Cho-min, with his wife Priscilla Lee Hwang at a first public
appearance since Oasis was grounded, said he is "very optimistic" about its
future. "It is our hope for Oasis Airlines to continue to survive." Before the
press briefing began, Middleton said questions about the reported quarrelling
between Oasis investors "will not be answered." The Standard revealed Monday
that a fallout between the Oasis partners triggered the collapse of the carrier.
"This is not a forum for that to be explored," Middleton said. Questioned about
his relationship with other Oasis investors, Lee said: "We are still really good
friends. We will still remain good friends in the future." 
The
proposed third-phase expansion of the Convention and Exhibition Centre is
unlikely to be accepted by the government because its impact on the Wan Chai
North area could stir up enormous public opposition, according to a source
familiar with the project. The source said the chances of the government
approving the proposal were slim. Media reports have said the proposal,
submitted by the Trade Development Council (TDC), calls for a third phase of the
centre to be built on land now occupied by public facilities including the bus
terminal next to the Great Eagle (SEHK: 0041) Centre, the Harbor Road Sports
Centre and Wan Chai Sports Ground, a popular location for many schools' sports
events. The source said strong oppositions to the proposal, especially from
users of the public facilities in the area, was likely to be a major concern.
Stephen Ng Kam-chun, chairman of Wan Chai District Council's development,
planning and transport committee, said: "We definitely do not want a tall
building blocking the view of the harbor and we want the sports facilities to be
retained." Mr Ng said the council had yet to receive a detailed plan for the
third-phase expansion. He said the expansion was not just an issue for the
exhibition industry but also concerned planning in the district. "We support an
expansion because we understand it is important to maintain Hong Kong's leading
role in the exhibition industry," Mr Ng said. "But this project does not stand
alone. It has to be co-ordinated with other developments in the area, such as
the proposed new MTR station and the Central-Wan Chai bypass." The Commerce and
Economic Development Bureau said it had received a proposed conceptual design
for the third phase of the centre from the TDC in late 2006. It said the
government was still examining issues related to the proposed project, including
planning issues and its impact on traffic and public facilities in the area.
Peter Woo Kwong-ching said in September, when he was TDC chairman, that another
100,000 square meters of exhibition space was needed. The centre's website says
it currently has more than 70,000 square metres of rentable function space. The
TDC said another, refined, proposal for the expansion was submitted late last
year. It declined to disclose details, saying it was still waiting for a
decision from the government. A TDC spokesman said there had been an urgent
demand for exhibition space and the centre's current atrium expansion - which is
expected to be completed early next year - would not be able to cope with
increasing demand. He said the TDC had a long waiting list of companies wishing
to exhibit at trade fairs but could not accommodate them because of the lack of
space. "For example, there are more than 2,000 companies on the waiting list for
the upcoming gift and premium fair, and 1,000 for the electronics fair in the
autumn. This shows how great the demand is," he said. The atrium expansion was
expected to provide an extra 20,000 square meters of exhibition space but that
would not be enough in the long run, the spokesman said. 
Islamabad stages Olympic flame
relay - "I welcome the Beijing 2008 Olympic torch relay on its 'Journey of
Harmony'. Let me convey my strong sentiments to Beijing and wish them the best
of luck at the Beijing Olympic Games," said Pervez Musharraf in the opening
ceremony.
Nike hopes for strong Olympic performance - Nike Inc's chief executive officer
Mark Parker knows how demanding Olympic athletes can be. "We grew up with the
Olympics, and it's our challenge to work with the athletes, elevating the levels
of their performances and helping them realize their potential. That is the core
of what Nike is all about," Parker said on the sidelines of the Innovation
Summit for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
A worker
fills a bus' fuel tank at a BP hydrogen station in Beijing. China has bought a
stake in BP Plc, as the nation seeks to boost returns on the world's largest
foreign exchange reserves.
China's new National Stadium,
the centrepiece of the Beijing Olympics and better known as the Bird's Nest, was
opened to international media for the first time on Wednesday. The iconic 3.5
billion yuan (HK$3.9 billion) arena, which was started in December 2003 and
completed 14 weeks behind schedule, will host the opening and closing ceremonies
as well as the athletics and soccer finals at the Aug. 8-24 Games. With 114 days
to go until the opening ceremony, the finishing touches were still being
applied. Workers were painting lines on the running track and some of the 91,000
seats had yet to be fixed in place. Workers and the large band of volunteers
were reluctant to talk to the media but several said they thought the structure
"amazing". From the inside, the interwoven steel structure that gives the
stadium its nickname was largely hidden by a membrane that will keep the rain
off many of the seats and prevent unsightly shadows from ruining television
pictures on sunny days. The sun was struggling to break through the Beijing smog
and dust on Wednesday, a reminder of how much work remains to be done to ensure
good air quality for the Games. Cost-cutting measure - The roof that was in the
original design was cut out of plans in 2004 as a cost-cutting measure and the
Beijing meteorological office is experimenting with rain-prevention measures to
stop wet weather spoiling the opening ceremony. The stadium was supposed to have
been finished along with the other venues by the end of 2007 but the completion
date was first postponed to the end of March and then to the middle of April.
Organisers said that the complexity of preparing the stadium for what is
expected to be a lavish opening ceremony on the evening of Aug. 8 was
responsible for the delays. It was the only significant delay in a building
programme that presented a clear contrast with the last Summer Games in Athens,
where the last licks of paint were being applied only days before the Games
began. There was no sign of where the Olympic cauldron will be placed. That,
along with details of the opening ceremony, are among the best-kept secrets in
China. Officials confirmed in January that two workers had died during
construction of the stadium, denying media reports that there had been at least
10 fatalities. The first event to take place at the stadium is the IAAF men's
20-km walking test event on Friday. Sunday's Good Luck Beijing marathon will
also finish at the Bird's Nest. An athletics test event from May 22-25 will be
the first thorough test of the stadium's ability to host top level track and
field events. After the Games, an auction will be held for naming rights that
could result in a foreign company attaching its brand to the the stadium. 
Hongkongers could soon be traveling
visa-free to Taiwan, the islands president-elect Ma Ying-jeou revealed
yesterday. His comments came as he and vice president-elect Vincent Siew Wan-
chang met journalists from Hong Kong and Macau in Taipei yesterday. I am glad
that democracy in Hong Kong has further developed, said Ma, who takes office on
May 20. I would like to exchange [ideas] with Hong Kong friends on this. I
believe once the three links are realized [between Taiwan, the mainland and Hong
Kong], Hong Kong will lose its middleman role. But I think the impact will be
limited because Hong Kong is still the major re-exporter for Taiwan and
Southeast Asian countries. All along, relations between Hong Kong and Taiwan
have been active in non-government circles, but cold officially. I hope
relations on both levels can be closer in future. Ma said he would name KMT vice
chairman Chiang Pin-kung as Taiwans chief negotiator in dealing with China.
Chiang will head the semi-official Straits Exchange Foundation. But Ma said he
will have to consider when to resume the negotiation mechanism between the SEF
and the mainlands Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits. Ma said
he would name KMT vice chairman Chiang Pin-kung as Taiwan's chief negotiator in
dealing with China. Chiang will head the semi-official Straits Exchange
Foundation. Chiang, 75, served as economics minister and chairman of Taiwan's
economic policy planning body under the former KMT government. Ma said the
landmark Hu-Siew meeting on Saturday has started to thaw relations across the
strait and that he hoped both sides can continue to develop economically and
culturally. "The iceberg is quite large. We don't want to melt the iceberg too
quickly, otherwise it will flood. It takes wisdom and perseverance to melt the
ice. It still has a long way to go," he said. Ma's agenda also includes inviting
the Hong Kong government to set up an office in Taiwan. He also wants to sign a
peace treaty with Beijing but cautions he is not prepared to discuss unification
with the mainland during his presidency. In Hong Kong, a spokeswoman for the
Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau said the government is taking a
positive attitude to cultivating exchanges and liaison between Hong Kong and
Taiwan. She said the Trade Development Council has proposed a Taiwan branch
office be set up and that an application has already been submitted with Taiwan
authorities. 
Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer
Alistair Darling made a pitch on Tuesday for the mainland’s US$200 billion state
investment fund to invest in his country as he visited Beijing amid strains over
Tibet and the mainland’s trade surplus.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao
(R) meets with Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt at the Great Hall of the
People in Beijing, on April 14, 2008. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao held talks with
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt here Monday. Both agreed to deepen
cooperation. During their talks, Wen said as the first western country to
establish diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China 58 years ago,
Sweden and China have continued to increase mutual trust and understanding, as
well as expand cooperation in all areas. 
Wearing an armor-like Chinese suit, Chinese actress and singer Zhou Xun is the
cover girl for world's top fashion magazine VOGUE for its May's Chinese edition.
The star flew to London to work with David Sims, a world renowned fashion
photographer, in whose eyes Zhou Xun is a "super mini model." During the
shooting, Zhou Xun put on the latest fashions by the European top luxury brand
Balenciaga, which employed a lot of Chinese-style designs. As the world's top
fashion photographer, David Sims has cooperated with many front-line fashion
magazines and created numerous classics. For the cooperation with Zhou Xun,
David Sims said, "We soon found understanding for the shooting, and we can
easily communicate without speaking, and she is talented and expressive."
Buddhist monks
carry spruce trees and gardening tools to plant the saplings on the hillside of
the Chali Monastery in Aba County, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, April 14,
2008.
Visitors pass by
Ericsson's booth at China (Nanjing) International Software Product Expo 2007 on
September 2, 2007 in Jiangsu province. Ericsson signed framework network
expansion agreements worth $1.44 billion with China's two top mobile operators.
Listed in Hong Kong last year, Centron
Telecom (1155) says it aims to grab opportunities from an expected
reorganization of the telecommunications industry in China, which will include
the issuance of more 3G licenses. Centron plans to expand its overseas market
and its digital television business. One of the top three wireless coverage
solution providers, Centron Telecom clients include China Mobile Communications
and China United Telecommunications. The company provides an engineering after
sales service to expand the wireless coverage to districts with weak signals or
without network coverage, including high-rises, highways, railways, tunnels and
rural areas. Centron recorded 76.7 percent growth in turnover to 348 million
yuan (HK$386 million) with net profit doubling to 90.33 million yuan, for the
first half ended June 30. According to the forecast in its IPO prospectus,
Centron expects annual net profit of 203.3 million yuan, at a growth rate of
51.83 percent compared to the previous financial year. Nonetheless, Centron
Telecom relied on revenue from its two major customers, China Mobile and China
Unicom, to contribute about 90 percent of total turnover in the past 3 years.
Centron has been strengthening its business foundation in main cities including
Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong, said executive director Yi Zhangtao, and the
company would develop 3G business in these cities when the expected issuance of
3G licenses is confirmed. 
Small enterprises even those in sunset industries can ride the tide in a buoyant
economy if they are flexible enough, says Eddy Li Sau-hang, president of the
Hong Kong and China Economic and Trade Association. Li, founder of his watch
company, Campell Timer, was among the first batch of Hong Kong manufacturers to
set up factories in Guangdong in 1989. After that, he watched the territorys
manufacturing sector continue to lose competitiveness to its mainland
counterparts. And in 2003, the year of the SARS outbreak, Li shifted his
business strategy from purely that of a manufacturer to include property
investment and equity holdings. 2003 posted a golden opportunity for property
investment, he recalls. At that time, not only was property priced at just half
of the land cost, but also it was cheap to borrow money. With banks only
charging me one percent interest, why not invest when bread was cheaper than
flour? That year, Li pumped HK$300 million to start up a family foundation in
conjunction with a property management unit. He started acquiring old industrial
blocks and renovated them into modern buildings, leasing premises to small
innovative entrepreneurs. He focused on areas including Wong Chuk Hang, Shau Kei
Wan, A Kung Ngam, and Yau Tong. The return is good, Li says. Property prices
have more than tripled and rentals are up 20 percent, providing a yield of about
five percent. We hold property for stable rental income on a longterm basis, not
for speculative investment. His industrial premises boast full occupancy with
waiting lists, compared to only 50 percent vacancies five years ago. Li also
believes in the growing story of China, so his family foundation continues to
look for potential stake acquisitions in mainland enterprises that are preparing
for public listings. We have been buying stakes in potential Chinese firms,
mainly in [liquid crystal display] manufacturers and environmental related
factories, he says, adding some of them will be seeking listings in the near
future. As at March 31, Lis family foundation assets mostly in property have
ramped up to HK$2 billion in value. Though not in the same league as big tycoon
foundations, it nevertheless represents nearly a seven-fold increase over the
past five years. For now, I regard the portfolio as a diversification of my
manufacturing base. Since 2005, Li has also been investing in stocks. His equity
assets total about HK$30 million a small portion of his family foundation. [The
foundation] only buys state- owned enterprises, for most of them have a monopoly
in their industries, he says. Their [price-to-earnings ratios] are high, but
profits are huge too. I have bought stocks like Ping An Insurance (2318), and
Bank of Communications (3328). They have so much room for development. Like
mainland banks, there are areas of private banking, asset management and foreign
exchange they could get into, providing earnings growth. Li, 54, earned his seed
capital for his various ventures through savings, starting his own business in
the mainland in 1989. I saved through my monthly salary, which was about
HK$40,000 to HK$50,000, he recalls. By the time I started my own business, I had
saved HK$400,000 to HK$500,000 for use as startup capital. Witnessing the
evolution of the Hong Kong manufacturing industry over the past 20 years, Li
acknowledges that there is no going back. He notes if Hong Kongs economy was to
revert back to a manufacturing base, it would be a step backward and not
realistic. Li adds: China counterparts are catching up with us, equipped with
better resources and support. Hong Kong industries can only take a complementary
role not lead them. He says businesses also need to adapt to environmental
changes. Along these lines, Campell Timer changed from being solely a
manufacturer to become a more marketing-oriented enterprise. Back in 1989, we
had 70 percent of our business in manufacturing and 30 percent in marketing, but
now we have 90 percent focus in marketing. Manufacturing is done only for
quality control and design purposes. The extension to property and equity
investment is also another kind of flexible change. Manufacturing is my base,
while the property sector provides me with a steady and higher return on
investment, Li says. Property investment never fails me as long as I have enough
holding power. As long as you own the properties and they generate rental income
that covers your investment, you could never lose. Meanwhile, he recognizes that
the equity market can be volatile, resulting in losses on some occasions, and
gains on others. I have no fear of the recent turbulence in the stock markets,
Li says. I only use spare money so it will not hurt. 
China shares sink 5.6% on Wall St
sell-off, inflation fears - China's benchmark stock index plunged 5.62 percent
on Monday, the biggest one-day loss since late January, as sell-offs on Wall
Street and regional markets further undermined investor confidence.
Torch relay in Oman's Muscat starts
- The relay kicked off at local time 5 p.m. (1300 GMT) at Al Bustan roundabout
in the eastern part of the coastal city, where lies the duplicate of an ancient
Omani wooden ship that sailed to China more than 1,000 years ago.
Wang
Yufen shows her papercutting "100 Dragons Welcome the Beijing Olympic Games", in
Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, April 13, 2008. The
11-meter-long and 1.2-meter-wide paper Cutting includes the Olympic logos and
100 dragons in different patterns.
Photo taken on April 11, 2008 shows the platform of
Chongwenmen station of Beijing's No. 5 subway line in Beijing. Beijing's No. 5
subway line, which runs through the heart of the city from north to south,
opened from last October after nearly five years' construction. The 27.6-km line
is installed with 23 stations and runs from Tiantongyuan North Station in
northern Beijing's Changping district to Songjiazhuang Station in southern
Fengtai district. Equipped with a wireless communication network, live
broadcasts will be provided on televisions installed in each subway car and
passengers will never lose the signal on their mobile phones. The subway cars
are wider and taller than the ones operating on the older lines and are designed
to reach speeds of 80 km per hour. Elevators designed to aid disabled people
have been installed.
Yang Xiaoping,
vice-president of the Thai conglomerate Chia Tai Group, shows the business
license of his Shenzhen company's joint venture at a forum reflecting on China's
30 years of reform and opening up in Boao, Hainan province on April 13, 2008