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May 1, 2010
HSBC and Hang Seng Bank have pledged to install keypad covers for all their ATMs by the end of next month after a dozen customers lost money in a scam. A Sheung Wan school that was barred from running a Primary One class has teamed up with a special needs charity in a HK$3.7 million fund-raising drive to run the class privately.
Leaders from 20 countries are due to gather in Shanghai today as the city prepares to raise the curtain on the biggest and most expensive World Expo in history. To outdo each other in impressing visitors to the World Expo in Shanghai, participating countries are putting on display their national treasures, many of which had never been taken abroad. The Little Mermaid statue from Denmark, Impressionist paintings and a Rodin sculpture from France, paintings by the Italian Renaissance master Caravaggio and other national treasures are part of the countries' bids to showcase their best. Entertainment will also be a major part of some pavilions' offerings. Among the 20,000-strong performances will be big names such as Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala from Italy, Russian singer Vitas and jazz pianist Herbie Hancock from the United States. Representatives of these pavilions see the higher profiles as a way to promote their countries' culture, as well as boost their tourism and economy. This is the first time, for example, The Little Mermaid has left Copenhagen since it was dedicated in 1913. Even during the six-day "soft opening" of the expo, thousands of visitors swarmed to the Denmark pavilion to view the lady from Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale, which is well known in China. Wang Jing , the pavilion's deputy director, said it was an honour to share the statue with tourists from all around the world. "Denmark has never valued an expo to such an extent. [Moving the statue] was meant as a cultural exchange, and in the meantime, it can be helpful to business and trade between [Denmark] and China," she said. The France pavilion will exhibit six paintings by Impressionist masters, such as Paul Cezanne and Vincent van Gogh, and a sculpture by Pierre Auguste Rodin, all borrowed from the Musee d'Orsay in Paris. Italy is showing two paintings by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Basket of Fruit and Boy With a Basket of Fruit. The Czech Republic removed two bronze Plaquettes of Good Fortune from Charles Bridge in Prague and installed them at the expo, and Nepal is displaying Buddhist relics. Luxembourg is also competing for Chinese people's attention by exhibiting the Gelle Fra (Golden Lady in English) statue, a national monument. Completed in 1923, the statue had never been out of the country. Professor Xu Mingqi , of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said the expo was a good opportunity for mainland people to learn about other countries, since most of them have never gone abroad. While Google's mainland business has suffered from a quixotic stand against Beijing's internet censors, Baidu is reaping a mighty windfall from it. If Beijing does not speed up approvals for hydropower projects it may not meet its clean-energy goals for 2020, the China Electricity Council says.
April 30, 2010
Greece was pushed to the brink of a financial abyss and started dragging another eurozone country – Portugal – down with it, fuelling fears of a continent-wide debt meltdown. Anti-drug push `driving down narcotic crime' - Drug offences involving teenagers slid 40 percent in the first quarter of the year, amid a decline in overall crime, according to the security chief.
Unionists say they have the figures to back up their demand for minimum hourly pay of no less than HK$33, which they say is vital to halt a widening gap between rich and poor.
Swire Properties, which aims to raise up to US$2.7 billion from a Hong Kong IPO, has tapped Bank of China Group Investment for US$100 million worth of shares, sources said.
Mainland will place a moratorium on capital raising by real estate firms as part of a broader campaign to rein in property price rises, state media reported on Wednesday. The move could stand in the way of about 110 billion yuan (HK$125 billion) in share issues planned by 45 companies, unnamed sources close to the China Securities Regulatory Commission told the China Daily. The suspension will allow the Ministry of Land and Resources to examine whether companies have used illegal methods to manipulate market prices, the newspaper said. Forty-eight Chinese fishermen arrived in Taiwan on Wednesday, the first group to start work under a new agreement which shows rapidly improving ties between Beijing and Taipei. China's steel industry body will allow mills to sign individual supply deals with global miners, as it seemed to abandon efforts to preserve annual pricing. Sinopec (SEHK: 0386) plans to issue up to 20 billion yuan (HK$23 billion) worth of corporate bonds to repay bank loans and top up its war chest for overseas acquisitions, a report said on Wednesday. Asia’s largest oil refiner will issue the exchange-listed bonds on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in May, marking the country’s biggest issue of its kind. An official at Sinopec confirmed the fundraising plan but said the exact timing would depend on market conditions, according to Dow Jones Newswires. Sinopec officials were not immediately available to comment when contacted. April 29, 2010
Hong Kong’s exports jumped 32.1 per cent in March, official data showed on Tuesday, as shipments returned to pre-financial crisis levels due to a strong rebound in regional trade. Hong Kong, under pressure to fall in line with international standards to combat money laundering and terrorism financing, is planning controls on cross-border currency movements that would require travellers to declare cash over a set amount. The threshold would be set with reference to controls elsewhere, such as the US$10,000 (HK$78,000) set by the US, but a public consultation would be held before the amount was decided, a senior government official familiar with the proposal said. Hong Kong has no foreign currency controls or restrictions and mainland travellers are known to bring large sums to make investments and buy luxury goods, despite a ceiling on the amount they are allowed to take in and out of the mainland. The travel industry warned that controls could damage the city's reputation as a free port. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the international body promoting currency control policies, pointed the finger at Hong Kong in 2008 over its lack of a system to detect or seize cash or financial instruments related to money laundering.
Asian universities racing to top, scholar says - Asia will produce several world-class universities to rival Harvard and Cambridge within 20 years, including up to three in Hong Kong, the chairman of the Research Grants Council has said. Asian universities will rise to the top rank in a fraction of the time leading institutions in the United States built global reputations, Professor Roland Chin Tai-hong told an international media conference at the University of Hong Kong yesterday. "A new centre of excellence in higher education will emerge in Asia," he said. "It took new universities like Stanford and the University of Chicago half a century to get to the stage of being world class. "But perhaps in a decade or two we will see world-class universities like Stanford and Berkeley emerge in Asia. I hope Hong Kong has a few - one, two or three. I think [mainland] China will have more. Japan and Korea will have some and India will definitely have some." Chin said Asia's new elite universities would not supplant top ranking Western institutions such as Harvard and Cambridge but would stand alongside them, attracting academics and students from around the globe. "This development will relate importantly to the geopolitical situation, the environment and the economy," he said. "Higher education could be a tool or vehicle for training, leadership and innovation." Chin said Hong Kong's higher education system was "quite well funded" compared to the rest of the world, accounting for a quarter of government expenditure on education, which in turn made up a quarter of all public spending. "Government funding of research is not enough, but we can't just depend on government resources," he said. "The private sector has to generate the extra resources." The announcement of a fifth matching grant scheme would help generate further private finance for universities, while the government's HK$18 billion research endowment fund had provided HK$900 million for research this year - 50 per cent more than research grants last year. "Hong Kong universities will have to work hard to be in the world-class league in Asia," Chin said. "Internationalisation is a key part of it. We have to let the world know that we have some great universities and you can come here and we will help you to become a world leader." However, Chin said he did not favour the approach of inviting foreign universities to set up campuses. "Singapore is trying to get brand names from abroad," he said. "They brought Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and [leading French business school] INSEAD. "In Hong Kong, we don't buy brand names, we grow our own, such as the University of Hong Kong. And Hong Kong University of Science and Technology is very new but it has a good name."
Mainland will have to resume
movement of its yuan exchange rate to manage a convergence of strong economic
growth, exports and inflation in the second quarter, an economist said. Alibaba.com said it will offer e-payment services on its new online commerce platform from eBay’s PayPal, in the first such tie-up between the former arch-rivals. Mainland’s key stock index fell 2.1 per cent on Tuesday to its lowest close in six and a half months, with banking stocks active as worries mounted over their fund-raising. Top US officials study in China for first time - Washington has sent 17 senior officials to an elite Chinese university on a training program, the first of its kind, intended to help the US government learn more about China. The organiser of the week-long program at Tsinghua University, which has been in preparation for two years, said it was designed to bridge the gaps in understanding between two countries whose diplomatic relationship has become one of the most important in the world. The participants in the US-China Government Executive Global Leadership Course, which ended on Friday, attended lectures and round-table discussions with leading academics who have been involved in government decision-making. The officials included executives and heads of 12 US government departments and organizations - among them the departments of homeland security and commerce, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Federal Executive Institute. While China has sent batches of officials to the US for similar courses since the 1990s, this was the first time the training had gone in the other direction, said Professor Sun Zhe, the program's planner and director of the Centre for US-China Relations at the university in the capital. "The US government has begun to attach importance to China in its training for officials in recent years," Sun said. He said the program was first conceived to correct the imbalance of educational exchanges between the two governments. "China has sent so many officials to learn about the US, and finally there is a course to let the American officials to learn about China," he said. The US has been the favored destination for China's training programs about Western powers. Hand-picked officials are sent to top institutions such as the Harvard Kennedy School and Georgetown University to learn the ropes. Sun said another program would be scheduled around the same time next year. "We hope to make this an ongoing program, but it takes a lot of effort and time to prepare, so we don't know what will happen after next year," he said. To avoid the impression the intent was brainwashing, Sun said the course was designed to allow candid discussions between the officials and the scholars. "There were different opinions on some issues, such as China's rising economic clout in the region," he said. "But the students and the teachers had the opportunity to express themselves freely without having to arrive at a conclusion. This helped to narrow the gaps." Rear Admiral Yang Yi, former head of strategic studies at the National Defense University under the People's Liberation Army, told the class that the US military was the greatest perceived threat to the PLA, state media said. Other issues touched on in the program included China's political system, military strategies and energy policies. Sun said efforts were made to have speakers who were fluent in English to allow discussions with the students. An official with the US Department of Health and Human Services, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he had gained a lot of understanding of the broader structure of the Chinese government and how things work in the country through the program. "We covered a broad regime of topics," he said. "We talked about 1989, Taiwan, Tibet, energy policy, military, everything you can imagine that would normally be difficult to have discussions about between the two governments. We were able to have very open discussions. "It's a very good venue to have these kinds of discussions, because normally when the governments come together there is not really discussion. So I think it has been very helpful." The US officials, many of whom were visiting China for the first time, were also taken to tourist spots such as the Great Wall and shopping areas during their stay. They also visited the Foreign Ministry and had a round- table discussion with mainland journalists.
April 28, 2010
Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen on Monday urged Hong Kong's legislators to try to find common ground over the government’s latest political reform package.
Contacts between Taiwan and Hong Kong have entered a new era now that the two sides have created semi-official bodies to negotiate with each other, Taiwan's top cultural ambassador to Hong Kong says.
German carmaker Volkswagen will build two new plants in mainland as part of a €1.6 billion expansion plan to capture growth in the world’s most dynamic auto market.
China is likely to stake out a position between the big nuclear states and the non-nuclear-armed countries at an international conference next month, a think-tank said on Monday.
The mayor of a city in the northeastern province of Liaoning lost his job for ignoring hundreds of petitioners who got down on their knees to seek fair compensation over a government land grab. At a city government meeting on Saturday, Sun Ming was ordered to resign from his posts as Zhuanghe's mayor and its Communist Party deputy chief under the official accountability system, Xinhua reported yesterday. Zhuanghe is a city of about 900,000 people under Dalian. It is rare that principal officials are held accountable for mishandling petitioners. The only similar case was last December when Shi Guozhong , party chief of Niuquanzigou county, Hebei , was fired after a Net posting revealed he told an elderly petitioner to jump off a roof. The accountability system has been under fire for its ineffective enforcement. Its credibility was in doubt after a large number of disgraced officials were sacked but then quietly restored to new positions. Sun's sacking came after more than 1,000 petitioners demanded to meet the mayor over land compensation and corruption. Many had even got down on their knees for more than 30 minutes, but Sun refused to meet them, Xinhua said. Sun was later penalised for the negative impact caused by his mishandling of the petitioners. The Xiaoxiang Morning Post in Hunan quoted petitioner Sun Zhihong as saying the complaints were about embezzlement, corruption and negligence of officials on the local land reclamation project in the Longwang Temple village area in Lushunkou district. "More than 1,000 of us arrived at the city government headquarters to talk about official corruption problems in our village," Sun said. "We waited for a long time, but no leaders received us. There was nothing we could do but kneel down in front of the city government, but even then, the city's mayor did not step out of his office to address us." The People's Daily reported that an official said during Saturday's meeting that the seriousness of the incident would be a lesson for officials handling petitioners. The Dalian government was very concerned after the incident was revealed and told officials to process the petitions. As of Wednesday, at least half of the residents had agreed to compensation for the requisitioned land.
Mainland is likely to introduce a
property tax on residential housing in the first half of the year as part of its
attempts to curb real estate prices, state media reported. April 27, 2010
The World Cup dream lives on after Hong Kong pulled off a sensational 32-8 victory over South Korea in one of the most slick performances seen by a local team in recent memory.
The United States says it will resume dialogue with China on human rights next month after a two-year hiatus, pledging to raise concerns about internet and religious freedoms.
April 26, 2010
The government is to press ahead with a controversial anti-terrorism law by the end of this legislative year. A senior official said the government was aware of the controversy but still had to make the law, which among other things will require people to answer questions or provide documents in an investigation into how terrorists move money. Legislators yesterday criticized a government plan to allow the two operators of outlying islands ferry routes to apply for up to HK$120 million in public funds over three years to offset maintenance costs and, in effect, subsidise fare increases. They said it was wrong to use public funds to subsidize private operators, and urged the government to speed up a plan to extend Central pier buildings to provide the operators with additional rental income. A Ming dynasty painting by classical master Shitao valued at almost US$15.5 million will be auctioned next month by Christie's, which says the work is the most valuable Chinese painting to go under the hammer in Hong Kong. Landscapes Inspired by Du Fu's Poetic Sensibilities is an album of eight ink and color works on paper and is among a group of more than 400 rare Chinese paintings and calligraphy works valued at more than US$45 million that will be sold on May 28. Christie's and rival Sotheby's have both expressed optimism about the Chinese art market despite the fact that the world is still recovering from the global crisis. They say a shrinking supply of top artwork and consistently strong demand for exceptional and rare items are driving up prices. Shitao, a renowned scholar-artist, was one of the most influential painters of his time. His work had a major impact on subsequent Chinese ink and brush artists, including early 20th century masters such as Zhang Daqian and Fu Baoshi. Shitao died in 1707 and the work on offer was created during his later years. The subject matter of this album is an ode to the poetic beauty of the ancient Chinese poet Du Fu, who often used metaphors of landscape to describe his anxiety about the rise and fall of the Tang dynasty, which is regarded as one of the golden ages of Chinese civilization. A funeral will be held on May 6 for Hong Kong volunteer Wong Fuk-wing, who was killed trying to save victims of the earthquake trapped in the rubble of an orphanage. Members of the public who wish to pay their respects to Wong, 46, can do so between 4pm and 7pm at the Universal Funeral Parlour in Cheong Hang Road, Hung Hom.
Guocoland, the developer controlled by Malaysian billionaire Quek Leng Chan, plans to double investment on the mainland to more than US$9 billion on confidence government efforts to avert a bubble will work. Guocoland, whose projects include shopping malls, apartments, offices and hotels, said a year ago it planned to invest 33 billion yuan (HK$37.52 billion) in new commercial properties in China. "We should very easily double that," Violet Lee, the head of Guocoland's mainland operations, said. "We have much more confidence now because we can sense the central government is taking things very seriously." "The recent policies focus on curbing demand, but China's urbanisation and the rising demand for housing are still there over the long term," Dai Fang, a Shanghai-based analyst at Zheshang Securities, said. "With the expectation of a yuan appreciation, it also makes sense for foreign companies to build up investment in China." Guocoland's new investments would focus on integrated projects in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai as well as provincial centres, Lee said. The company is also considering expanding its land holdings. Lee sees a "big opportunity" in the government's demand that 78 state-owned companies exit the property market because real estate is not their main business.
April 25, 2010
Cathay Pacific said on Friday it was working to ensure passengers stranded at Hong Kong International Airport could now get flights to their intended destinations.
The government on Friday again cautioned Hong Kong people that the black outbound travel alert for Bangkok was still in force – and people should avoid visiting the Thai capital.
Casino tycoon Stanley Ho Hung-sun says he has been so touched by the "never give up spirit" of rescue workers and Qinghai quake victims, that he's donating HK$5 million to help them rebuild their lives. The octogenarian sent the donation through the central government's liaison office in Macau yesterday. "I wish to express my deepest sympathy to the earthquake victims," Ho said. "We are deeply touched by the never give up spirit of the rescue crew and the people there. China, Hong Kong and Macau are as close as flesh and blood and when one side is in trouble, the other side will show support," he added. Meanwhile, Cathay Pacific will launch in- flight fund-raising activities from today. Every dollar collected will be used to assist Unicef relief efforts to help children. The airline will also collect donations from Cathay Pacific and Dragonair staff. Local property stocks took a pounding yesterday after the government outlined new steps to curb speculation and soaring prices. New World Development (0017) slumped 3.44 percent while Sino Land (0083) retreated 2.97 percent. The Hong Kong measures, plus a tighter mainland multi-home purchase policy, sent the Hang Seng Index 0.3 percent lower to close at 21,454.94 points. UOB Kay Hian analyst Sylvia Wong downgraded Sun Hung Kai Properties (0016) and Sino Land from "buy" to "hold" while Royal Bank of Scotland researchers recommended a switch from SHKP to Cheung Kong Holdings (0001). "Developers with higher exposure to the residential market will be more severely hit," Wong said.But she said even if the launches of SHKP's Larvotto in Ap Lei Chau and Sino's The Hermitage in Tai Kok Tsui are delayed, the impact will be limited. Wong said the increase in Hong Kong's land supply has led the public to believe that property prices will not rise sharply in the long term. There will be four land auctions in the next three months. CCBI executive director Adrian Ngan said the sector's near-term outlook is opaque but developers are likely to be restrained. Ngan said the provision of sales brochures and price lists in advance will dampen transactions and sales atmosphere. "The longer a person thinks, the less likely he will want to buy a home." Though interest rates are low and the economy is good, luxury unit prices may drop 3-5 percent this year, Ngan said. Given higher land supply, Wong expects home prices to drop by an average of 10 percent, with the luxury sector facing a stronger correction. RBS analysts see a potential minor price correction before an eventual 5 percent annual growth. But Citibank economists believe that with the mainland's tighter property policies and yuan revaluation expectations, "risks of a housing price bubble [in Hong Kong] will likely continue to form."
China will pay US$40 million to build an opera house for trading partner Algeria, a gift likely to serve as a powerful symbol of Beijing’s growing economic influence in Africa.
April 24, 2010
Hong Kong property shares retreated on Thursday after the government proposed rules requiring developers to increase transparency in their home sales to curb speculation. The Legislative Council on Thursday passed Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah’s budget – and rejected a move by pro-Beijing lawmakers to scrap funding for May’s by-elections. Share Hong Kong’s inflation rate rose two per cent year on year in March, official figures showed on Thursday. The increase was mainly due to the end of government subsidies for electricity. Netting out the effect of the subsidy, the underlying inflation rate in March rose just 0.8 per cent year-on-year, the Census and Statistics Department said. Underlying consumer prices in the financial hub rose 0.2 per cent in the three-month period between January and March, compared with a 0.3 per cent rise in the December to February period, the department said. “Overall inflationary pressure on consumer prices remained modest,” a government spokesman said, adding that the city’s economic recovery will likely boost inflation “somewhat” going forward.
The yuan's appreciation against the US dollar is likely to push up inflation in Hong Kong and hurt exports but the general impact would be moderate, Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah said yesterday.
China’s mutual fund industry posted an 88.5 billion yuan (HK$100.50 billion) loss in the first quarter, in stark contrast to a record profit last year, official media reported, after investors misjudged the country’s volatile stock market, one of the worst performing in Asia this year. Of 60 mutual fund companies, only Morgan Stanley Huaxin Funds and Minsheng Royal Fund Management Co made a profit, the Shanghai Securities News said on Thursday. The outlook for mainland exporters remains grim because of the risk of a double-dip in global growth, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on Thursday. In a statement issued ahead of a news conference, the ministry cited high US unemployment, eurozone debt strains and rising trade protectionism among the problems bedevilling the world economy. Although exports were now growing again in year-on-year terms, the situation remained “complicated”, Zhu Hongren, the ministry’s spokesman, told reporters. In the same vein, he said a brisk rebound in industrial production was mainly due to massive government stimulus; underlying factory output had yet to recover to normal pre-crisis levels. The pressure that some developed countries were exerting on mainland in many spheres, including their demands for a stronger yuan exchange rate, was weighing on mainland’s trade, Zhu added. “The world economy and trade have started to recover, but the global recovery is still very fragile. The process of recovery is fraught with difficulty,” he said. The comments underscore the divisions within the central government about the pros and cons of letting the yuan resume its rise after pegging it near 6.83 per US dollar since July 2008. The Ministry of Commerce, which speaks for exporters, opposes a stronger currency. The central bank, which would like a more flexible exchange rate to help it conduct monetary policy, is the leading advocate of abandoning the peg. A tight job market was adding to exporters’ problems, Zhu said. Labor costs in coastal areas, including the Pearl River Delta near Hong Kong and the Yangtze River Delta near Shanghai, jumped 20-25 per cent in the first quarter from a year earlier, he said. Firms in light industry, textiles and electronics were finding it tough to hire enough people, Zhu said.
China Yurun Food said on Thursday its controlling shareholder was selling 166 million existing shares for HK$3.96 billion. China Overseas Land & Investment (SEHK: 0688) posted a first-quarter operating profit of HK$2.44 billion amid recent measures by Beijing to cool surging home prices. Turnover was HK$6.06 billion, the company said on Thursday, without providing a comparison figure. But it said its property sales for the three-month period rose 48 per cent from a year earlier to HK$13.73 billion. Last month, the mainland developer posted a forecast-beating 62 per cent rise in second-half profit last year, but said it saw little growth in sales volume this year. Analysts said government measures to keep housing prices from rising too sharply may damp the financial performance of property developers. April 23, 2010
Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah on Tuesday proposed new measures to help cool Hong Kong’s residential property market and curb excessive speculation.
The Trade Development Council will consider hosting more trade fairs at AsiaWorld-Expo at Chek Lap Kok and enhance its co-operation with organisers in the private sector amid criticisms that the council is dominating the exhibition industry. Almost 40 industry representatives attended a Legco panel meeting yesterday, and were soon split into two camps in a heated debate over the dual role of the council - a government promotion arm and a competing trade show organiser. While many small- and medium-sized enterprises hailed the council's efforts to promote their trades to overseas buyers over the years, private exhibition organisers and the management of AsiaWorld-Expo had voiced their bitterness and branded the council "a structural problem" to the industry. Eddie Leung, the managing director of Paper Communication Exhibition Services, said the council should take a lesser role in organising trade fairs as its dominance was now edging them out of business. "Successful exhibitions are not necessarily being held by government bodies," he said. "The council is also responsible for supporting exhibition businesses in the private sector." The call was echoed by Global Sources, which organises the China Sourcing Fairs that anchor the AsiaWorld-Expo venue. The firm has also raised its opposition to the council's plan to increase the size of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) in Wan Chai. Company chairman Merle Hinrichs said the government had spent HK$2 billion to build the Chek Lap Kok venue and "the investment will be totally lost" if it is to expand the Wan Chai venue. Allen Ha, the chief executive of AsiaWorld-Expo Management, said the venue had met with fierce competition. "What we want is a level playing field to lure fairs to our venue," he said. Council executive director Fred Lam Tin-fuk said the body had never intended to compete with the private sector but rather wanted to create business opportunities and help the industry flourish. "Hong Kong is one of the most open cities for newcomers in the exhibition industry," he said. "In light of the comments, we will study, under prudent commercial principles, whether more trade fairs could be held in the HKCEC and improve our co-operation with the private sector." Professor Chan Kei-biu, the chairman of the Hong Kong Electronic Industries Association, said the council had spent three decades to establish its reputation in the industry and its efforts were recognised by many trades. "Many of us agree the council should continue its good work and an expansion could definitely help," he said.
Mainland banking regulators have ordered lenders to conduct quarterly stress tests on mortgages as the government tries to clamp down on bad loans and rein real estate speculation. All financial institutions must follow centralised rules for curbing property loans and ensuring risks are strictly controlled, Liu Mingkang, head of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, said in a statement late on Tuesday. Mainland has tried to clamp down on ballooning lending, which hit a record 9.6 trillion yuan (HK$10.90 trillion) last year, as it fears a growth of soured loans that could hit banks. Liu said this month banks had been ordered to reassess all loans to local government companies on a “project-by-project” basis. And policymakers have raised bank reserve ratios twice since the start of the year – effectively limiting the amount of money they can lend. Beijing has also recently announced a range of new measures to prevent the growth of asset bubbles and soaring property prices. Data showed property prices in 70 cities jumped 11.7 per cent in March, the fastest year-on-year rise for a single month in five years. Over the past week, the government has tightened restrictions on advance sales of new property developments, introduced new curbs on loans for third home purchases, and raised minimum down payments for second homes. Mainland’s economy still faces serious challenges this year even though the economy showed steady recovery in the first quarter, Liu said in the statement. Lenders must effectively control their full year new loan growth, adjust the pace of lending and optimise their credit procedures, Liu added.
The State Council released more guidelines yesterday on how local hospitals should be rewarded if they keep consumers' medical bills down.
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) said it had acquired 97.24 per cent of Thailand’s smallest lender, ACL Bank, for about US$550 million after a tender. Dongfang Electric Corp expects growth in wind and nuclear power equipment sectors to offset slowing thermal power orders, and aims to expand its overseas market.
April 22, 2010
Share Hong Kong stocks pulled back from a three-week low on Tuesday, with domestic plays such as China Mobile rising on expectations of consumption growth on the mainland.
An early-morning tremor and a premonition of worse to come prompted a schoolmaster to evacuate 830 students and teachers ahead of China's killer quake, saving their lives, state media said on Tuesday. Yanli Duode’s foresight helped his school in a remote area of Qinghai province avoid the heavy death toll seen in other schools which toppled in last Wednesday’s 6.9 magnitude quake, the China Youth Daily said. The earthquake in the predominantly Tibetan region of Yushu which killed more than 2,000 people, including more than 100 students, was preceded by a smaller tremor which awoke schoolmaster Yanli Duode. An ominous feeling “made me uncomfortable but I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was,” said the deputy principal of the Number One Minorities Middle School in Yushu prefecture. He got out of bed and ran to the student dormitories with four teachers, telling the children to wake up and leave the buildings. The strong quake struck at 7.49am, razing the boys’ dormitory and causing heavy damage to the living quarters of the girl students and staff. “We were so lucky,” Yanli Duode was quoted as saying after all 830 students and teachers survived the disaster. The paper did not specify his ethnicity but his name suggests he is Tibetan. Other schools in the mountainous, high-altitude prefecture suffered similar damage but many students were killed because they remained indoors. At least 100 students and 12 teachers were killed as the buildings crashed down, according to official figures. The schools issue is extremely sensitive in the mainland after thousands of children died in a huge May 2008 earthquake in the southwestern province of Sichuan as school buildings collapsed while neighbouring structures stood firm. At the time, angry Sichuan parents levelled corruption allegations at local officials, saying corners were cut on safety and construction quality. President Hu Jintao, during a tour of the quake region on Sunday, promised new schools as soon as possible.
April 21, 2010
Polytechnic University will face an operating deficit of HK$1.67 billion in the three years to June 2012 because of several development projects.
April 20, 2010
Swire Pacific (SEHK: 0019) said it expects its property arm to report an underlying net profit of at least HK$4.2 billion this year as it prepares for the unit’s US$3 billion initial public share offering. It would continue to focus most of its business in Hong Kong and mainland, it said in a filing to the Hong Kong exchange on Monday. Swire Properties has four representative offices on the mainland. Mainland iron ore producer China Tian Yuan Mining aims to raise between US$400 million and US$500 million from a Hong Kong initial public share offering, two sources close to the deal said on Monday. Tian Yuan, which kicked off pre-marketing for the IPO on Monday, planned to issue 600 million new shares or 30 per cent of its enlarged share capital according to a term sheet. The proceeds of the offer will be used to expand mining and processing capacity, pay resources fees and exploration expenses at Yanjiazhuang mine, the term sheet said. Tian Yuan, which will kick off a formal marketing road show on April 28, is set to price its deal on May 11, with a trading debut scheduled for May 19. Citigroup is the sole bookrunner of the deal, while CLSA is co-lead manger. Hong Kong's medical insurers may tighten benefits and limit the number of doctors who see patients in hospital as part of measures to curb abuse of the system. Stepped-up security was in place at RTHK's weekly City Forum yesterday in the wake of boycott threats by pro-establishment lawmakers after they were "threatened" by members of the audience at a previous forum.
April 19, 2010
Hong Kong Airlines announced yesterday that it would start a new service between Hong Kong and Shantou at the end of April as it seeks to cash in on growing tourist and business traffic on the route. The daily Boeing 737-800 service, with a two-class configuration of eight seats in the front and 154 in economy, will begin on April 30. The 45-minute flight will be the shortest route operated by the carrier, according to the airline's spokeswoman Eva Chan. Travelling to Shantou by car from Hong Kong takes about four hours. The service would target both tourist traffic and businesspeople, Chan said. Shantou Tourism Board and Shantou Airport yesterday signed an agreement with Hong Kong Air to provide commercial and operational support for the new service. The Tourism Board will help promote the service with businessman in Shantou and Shantou Airport would provide ground handling services, the company said. Hong Kong Air and its sister company Hong Kong Express, which share the same parent, HNA Group, operate in more than 20 Asian and mainland cities with seven Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The airline will take delivery of one more B737-800 in July and aims to expand its fleet to 23 in the near term. Hong Kong Air will also take deliver of an Airbus 330-200 in May, the first of six ordered by the carrier. The double-aisle aircraft will be deployed on the route between Hong Kong and Moscow from May 23. Last month, mainland and Hong Kong regulators ordered safety checks for some B737 aircraft over suspected mechanical problems with their horizontal tails. Eight B737-800 and B737-300 aircraft operated by Hong Kong Air and Hong Kong Express Airways were checked.
April 17 - 18, 2010
Swire Properties has received approval from the listing committee of Hong Kong's stock exchange for a US$3 billion initial public offering, a source close to the deal said on Friday.
Scientists at three Hong Kong universities are joining a new human genome project, this time focused on cracking the code on cancer, researchers said yesterday. Two hundred scientists from 12 countries announced their collaboration in an article published in this week's edition of the scientific journal Nature. The International Cancer Genome Consortium will co-ordinate large-scale genome studies in tumours on 50 different types of cancer, mapping more than 25,000 genomes within five to 10 years. The Hong Kong team will focus on brain cancer, and hopes to map the genomes of 100 samples within the first two years, said Professor Hannah Hong Xue, director of the Applied Genomics Centre at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. She will lead the project with HKUST professor Matthew Yuen Ming-fai, acting vice-president for research and development, who also serves on the international consortium's executive committee. The team will initially include six HKUST researchers and four each from the University of Hong Kong and Chinese University. Initial funding for the project has been provided by HKUST, but the university plans to apply for government funding for the estimated HK$20 million project. Most of the brain cancer samples for the project will be collected from local hospitals. Because cancers are caused by a combination of genetics and environmental and lifestyle factors, data would also be collected on each patient's personal history, although researchers have established ethical guidelines to ensure privacy. The research is an opportunity to study the genetic roots of brain tumours, which remain largely a mystery. More importantly, studying the genetics of brain tumours may offer innovative treatments for a cancer that is especially difficult to treat.
China risks little damage to its economy by letting the yuan appreciate, and it would likely benefit from greater resilience to external shocks, the chief economist of the Asian Development Bank said on Friday. As the world’s third-largest economy continues to gather steam, speculation is growing that Beijing may be preparing to yield to international pressure for it to loosen its grip on the yuan, which it has kept pegged against the dollar since mid-2008. “I think the risk which might come from more flexible exchange rates is very low, and it may not have a huge impact on the export sector,” Jong-Wha Lee of the Manila-based ADB said in an interview with Reuters in Tokyo. As productivity in the export sector has improved, it is time for China to shift resources to domestic industries to correct current distortions so that it is better able to absorb external shocks, Lee said. A spokesman of the Chinese Commerce Ministry said on Thursday that Washington was wrong to argue that by holding down the currency Beijing was giving Chinese exporters an unfair competitive edge. But “the yuan’s flexibility would be in China’s interest as well as the global economy’s interest,” said Lee, a South Korean academic and chief spokesperson for the ADB on economic forecasts and trends. “Allowing the exchange rate flexibility sooner rather than later would be better for China,” he added. China’s currency reform, at the same time, would discourage other Asian countries from massively intervening in currency markets to weaken their own currencies to maintain export competitiveness. “What I see is that probably the next step is policy coordination,” allowing “a concerted regional appreciation of currencies,” he said. Cooperation among East Asian countries has intensified due to the global financial crisis, but getting to the stage of concerted action may take time because the region needs to gain the trust of other countries, Lee said. In the latest annual outlook report, the ADB said Asia and Pacific economies should co-ordinate on unwinding easy policy and freeing up exchange rates, while forecasting strong growth for the region this year and next. Lee said that withdrawing the Asian countries’ “exceptionally easy monetary policies” would be the right procedure, but their stimulative fiscal stance would be better left in place this year.
April 16, 2010
President Hu Jintao has decided to cut short his planned tour of key South American nations and head home early after the BRIC summit in Brazil, in order to help better direct disaster relief after a 7.1-magnitude quake struck Qinghai early Wednesday.
Taiwanese high school students will be able to choose to study in mainland universities this autumn under the latest measure announced by Beijing to promote cross-strait exchanges. The island's pro-independence camp, which sees the move as a united-front ploy aimed at wooing the Taiwanese people, has expressed its concern. Fan Liqing, a spokeswoman for the mainland State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, announced yesterday in Beijing that Taiwanese students who had top results in the island's college entrance examination would be able to apply for enrolment at 123 mainland colleges and universities from September after passing an oral test. "We encourage exchanges between students across the Taiwan Strait," she said, adding that such exchanges would bring youngsters on the two sides closer together and contribute to the peaceful development of cross-strait ties. The new enrolment system for Taiwanese students was part of a consensus reached during a cross-strait forum between Taiwan's ruling Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China in May last year. Taiwan's pro-independence, opposition Democratic Progressive Party said it suspected that the new system would only bring more problems to the island. "Given that Taiwan is facing a low birth-rate problem and many universities or colleges are having problems finding students, the Chinese measure will create further disaster to our academic institutions," Liao Chih-chien, director of the DPP's information department, said. The measure was basically a mainland "charm offensive" to "win the hearts of the Taiwanese people", Liao said. He also warned of problems for Taiwanese students graduating from mainland universities because Taiwan has yet to recognise mainland academic qualifications. Taiwan's Education Ministry has proposed the recognition of mainland academic qualifications, but the proposal has faced strong opposition from sections of the public and the pro-independence camp, who say it could add to competition in the local job market. The legislature is to review the ministry's proposal during its current session. Jonathan Liu Te-shun, vice-chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, Taiwan's top mainland policy planning body, said Taiwan did not restrict its students from studying at mainland universities, but students studying there needed to consider whether or not the academic qualification they obtained from the mainland would be recognised in Taiwan. Asked if a brain drain could develop if many top Taiwanese students chose to study on the mainland, Liu said students or their parents would evaluate academic and living conditions on both sides of the Taiwan Strait before making their choices. "I believe our education environment should be good enough to keep most students here," he said. Currently, 6,755 Taiwanese students study at 187 mainland universities or colleges, but they had to sit for joint entrance examinations by those universities before getting enrolled. The subjects tested include Chinese literature, mathematics, English, history and geography. With the mainland's rising economic power, some Taiwanese parents believe their children would benefit from studying on the mainland, where they could work and prosper after graduation. But there have been reports of some Taiwanese students quitting after studying on the mainland for one or two years, mainly due to the keen competition in classes and their failure to adapt to local life. Yang Yao-chung, a student at a Taipei high school, said yesterday he would not choose to study on the mainland. "I would rather stay in Taiwan where I can live freely, going to any game parlours I like and getting the fashion toys I want," he said. President Ma Ying-jeou said on Thursday Taipei could sign an historic trade deal with Beijing as early as June and that it would bring major benefits to the whole region.
Construction has begun on a second railway linking China's northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region with inland cities, the railway company in Xinjiang announced Thursday.
April 15, 2010
China's Dongfeng Motor Group (SEHK: 0489) said it sees opportunities for mergers and acquisitions in the global auto sector still reeling from the fallout of the global downturn. “The company will closely monitor opportunities for overseas acquisitions,” Chairman Xu Ping told reporters in a news conference on Wednesday. He added that appreciation of China’s currency, the yuan, which many believe will take place in the next few months, would further strengthen Dongfeng’s position in making any acquisitions. Dongfeng, the Chinese joint venture partner of Nissan Motor, Honda Motor and PSA Peugeot Citroen, had 17.4 billion yuan (US$2.55 billion) cash and cash equivalents on hand at the end of last year, up from 7.2 billion yuan at end-2008. It will target assets overseas and at home that can lift the core-value of the China state-owned company. Chinese car makers are eager to buy technologies and brands from overseas to enhance their competitiveness in the US and European markets. The parent of Geely Automobile (SEHK: 0175) signed a definitive agreement late last month to buy Ford’s Volvo car unit for US$1.8 billion. China, which last year overtook the United States as the world’s biggest car market, has been a bright spot for global automakers battered by the industry’s worst downturn in a generation. A massive stimulus package from Beijing included aggressive cuts in sales tax on small cars. Xu expects China’s automobile industry will keep growing at a relatively rapid pace this year. “China’s automobile market is entering a mass consumption era,” he said. The company estimated China’s vehicle sales will rise about 10 per cent to 15 million units this year after breakneck growth of 46 per cent last year. Dongfeng aims to sell 1.65 million to 1.7 million vehicles this year, up 15-18 per cent from a year ago. The company sold 1.43 million vehicles, up 35 per cent with sales of passenger vehicles rising 45.6 per cent to about 1.06 million. That will see its market share rising to about 11 per cent from 10 per cent last year. The strong sales last year lifted its net profit for the year by 58 per cent to 6.25 billion yuan.
President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that China had yet to set a timetable for reforming the yuan despite "frank" conversations with President Hu Jintao.
Taiwan's high-tech pavilion in Shanghai will be completed next week, marking the island's return to the World Expo after an absence of 40 years. The Taiwan Pavilion, the last to begin construction, cost NT$1 billion (HK$245 million) and is due to start trial operation on Tuesday before the expo's official opening on May 1. The pavilion features a spherical theater with 4D special effects, where visitors will experience the scent of flowers and the splash of water. Taiwan last attended the expo in Osaka in 1970, a year before losing its United Nations seat to China.
April 14, 2010
A new survey released on Tuesday showed that people in Hong Kong were more content in 2010 than they had been in either 2009 or 2008.
Beijing said sanctions were not the answer to Iran's nuclear programme, after US officials said Beijing and Washington had agreed to jointly push for new punitive action.
China plans to raise retail prices of diesel and petrol as early as Wednesday to keep pace with recent swift rises in crude oil prices, a source said on Tuesday. China Southern Airlines, the nation’s biggest carrier by fleet size, said that it swung back to profit last year helped by a government bailout and improving domestic demand. China announced anti-dumping duties of up to 64.8 per cent on US and Russian steel used by the power industry on Tuesday amid a series of disputes with the United States. Shares in mainland carmaker Geely Automobile Holding dropped 5.28 per cent yesterday after the company reported 2009 earnings that were less than analysts had forecast. Avon Products Inc has suspended four executives as it investigates alleged bribery that began with the company's China operation and now involves a dozen or more countries, according to the Wall Street Journal.
April 13, 2010
Restricting vehicle use in Beijing
helped bring blue skies to the 2008 Olympics, and Guangzhou's authorities are
planning to do the same for the Asian Games in November. The United States wants constructive not confrontational talks with China about the value of the yuan, a top US State Department official says. Robert Hormats, undersecretary for economic, energy and agricultural affairs, said yesterday he did not know whether the currency would be discussed at talks in Washington this week between US President Barack Obama and President Hu Jintao . Hu will be in the US for a summit on nuclear arms control, which, Hormats said, was likely to be the focus of discussions. "I think the Chinese understand there is a lot of pressure on the president coming from the Congress and large numbers of Americans to address the currency issue," Hormats said on the sidelines of the Boao Forum in Hainan . "There is also the feeling on the part of the administration that as we address it, we want to do it in a constructive way not a confrontational way." Beijing has pegged the yuan near 6.83 per US dollar since mid-2008 to help exporters weather the global crisis. But this has drawn increasing complaints from Washington that the yuan is undervalued, handing Chinese firms an unfair advantage. Last week, US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner made a brief stopover in Beijing for talks with Vice-Premier Wang Qishan. "I don't know if [Geithner's visit] changed things," Hormats said. "I think he thought this was a good opportunity because he was in the region - he was coming from India, and this was a good chance for a face-to-face meeting. "The Chinese have very thoughtful people working on this who understand these issues very well. We have to give them time to address this and see what they can do about it."
April 12, 2010
Chi-X Japan KK will begin selling trading services in Japan by about July to capture a slice of the world's second-largest stock market. April 11, 2010
Rio Tinto said it had moved to quarterly pricing of iron ore contracts, becoming the latest major miner to dump annual price-fixing, despite opposition from buyers. Education Minister Michael Suen Ming-yeung said on Friday he expected a low level of participation in the voluntary class reduction scheme planned for Hong Kong secondary schools.
HSBC Holdings is aiming to expand its mainland branch network by 20 per cent or more this year, leveraging relationships with local partners to keep growing rapidly in mainland.
More people are having trouble getting drinking water in southwestern China as the region's worst drought in a century shows no signs of ending. Vice-Premier Wang Qishan and US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner concluded whirlwind talks last night without announcing any concrete results. A brief statement afterwards made no reference to Washington's concerns about China's stance on the value of the yuan, which has strained relations between the two countries. Still, observers said their meeting would pave the way for both nations to resolve their differences on the issue at future forums, including the next round of their strategic economic dialogue. A statement released by the US embassy in Beijing, Xinhua and the US Treasury Department said: "The two sides exchanged views on US-China economic relations, the global economic situation and issues relating to the upcoming economic track ... of the second US-China strategic and economic dialogue, to be held in Beijing in late May." Geithner left for the US after the 75-minute meeting, which took place at the VIP terminal of Beijing International Airport, Bloomberg reported. "The currency issue is a very complicated one because any decision would have serious impacts on both economies. Thus Geithner's visit may have focused on the agenda for next month's Sino-US high-level talks," said Tao Wenzhao, a senior research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of American Studies. Geithner's flying visit came days before President Hu Jintao heads to Washington for an international summit on nuclear security - and suggests the two countries are getting their relationship back on track. Hours ahead of the meeting, a newly appointed adviser to the People's Bank of China, Xia Bin, said China should resume a managed-float foreign exchange system soon because the impact of the global financial crisis had faded. Xia's comments appeared to suggest China intends to end the yuan's de facto peg to the US dollar and allow the currency to rise, although the timing of such a move remains unclear. Last month, central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan signalled Beijing soon would look to end the de facto peg. Between 2005 and 2008 it allowed the yuan to rise by 20 per cent against the dollar, but reimposed the peg after the global financial crisis hit. Xia said the peg was no longer necessary because "the worst of the crisis is over". But he did suggest that any rise in the yuan should be small, saying a large appreciation would not be beneficial to the domestic or global economies. Wang is in charge of economic and financial issues and heads the Chinese side for the strategic and economic dialogue with the US, with Geithner America's point man. Tom Orlik, an economist with research firm Stone & McCarthy in Beijing, said the flurry of diplomatic activity on the exchange rate issue, including Geithner's unscheduled trip to Beijing, had fuelled speculation the yuan would soon be allowed to begin rising again. Currency traders were yesterday betting on a 1 per cent rise in the yuan in the next three months - the biggest since July 2008. Traders said the US Treasury's decision on Saturday to delay by three months its report to Congress on whether China is manipulating its currency had given Beijing room to reform the mainland's rigid exchange regime and to allow a gradual appreciation of the yuan. Orlik said that, with the recovery in exports sluggish and inflation still muted, Beijing might want to wait a while longer before allowing appreciation to resume. The model for the coming shift in currency policy is Beijing's 2005 move to allowed the yuan to jump 2 per cent against the dollar overnight and then to trade in a wider daily range, but with a trend towards further strengthening. April 10, 2010
Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Stephen Lam Sui-lung said on Thursday the Legco by-elections due to be held next month were pointless.
Hong Kong businessman, Beijing loyalist and philanthropist Dr Tsui Tsin-tong was cremated in Beijing on Thursday morning. The Housing Society has received an overwhelming response to its sale of a final batch of 838 subsidised flats. The sale was 35 times oversubscribed, with more than 30,000 families applying to buy one of the so-called sandwich-class homes that are built for middle-income families who earn too much to qualify for public housing, but too little to afford private property. A spokesman for the society said: "The market response has exceeded our expectation and we believe all the flats will be sold out." Applications closed yesterday, but the society expects to receive some more by post in the next two days. A ballot will be held on April 22. The society is selling 181 flats at The Pinnacle in Tseung Kwan O, 161 at Highland Park in Kwai Chung and 32 at The Cascades in Ho Man Tin. These add to the 464 flats at The Pinnacle released for sale earlier. Homes at The Pinnacle range in size from 681 sq ft to 826 sq ft and have two or three bedrooms. They cost about HK$3,000 per sq ft, with prices ranging from HK$1.58 million to HK$2.64 million. The flats at Highland Park range in size from 727 sq ft to 816 sq ft and cost around HK$3,100 per sq ft. Those at The Cascades are between 681 sq ft and 688 sq ft in size and cost HK$3,700 per sq ft. The Housing Society said their prices were guided by recent secondary market transactions of the sandwich-class flats and those of private property in the area. The society then offers a discount, which is 23 per cent for the latest flats put up for sale. Concern group Caring Hong Kong will stage a protest on April 18 to press the government to resume building flats under the sandwich-class housing scheme and the Home Ownership Scheme (HOS). "Flat prices are crazily high," former legislator Dr Kwok Ka-ki, the group's convenor, said. "And after the government sells its remaining 4,000 HOS flats and the sandwich-class flats, those people - especially young people who are not qualified to apply for public rental housing but are not rich enough to buy private flats - will have nowhere to live."
China Life will increase the proportion of its portfolio invested in bonds this year, anticipating volatility in stocks after a major market run-up last year, an executive said.
China on Thursday urged the United
States to reduce its nuclear arsenal and pledged never to instigate an atomic
war, in a response to a new US nuclear policy unveiled this week.
China expressed concern on Thursday about a China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company (COSCO) coal ship that ran aground on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. China’s central bank added three-year bills to its open market operations on Thursday, stepping up efforts to keep asset prices and inflation from rising out of control. Nokia will offer free music with its mobile phones in mainland, as it looks to emerging markets to boost the download service that is struggling to compete with Apple’s iTunes.
April 9, 2010
Hong Kong travel agents have called off all tours to Thailand that were supposed to start today after a new round of drama and alarm in Bangkok.
ZTE Corp (SEHK: 0763), the mainland's largest listed telecommunications equipment manufacturer, saw its shipments of mobile phones and wireless data cards last year hit a record 60.17 million units as demand rose in international markets. "Seventy per cent of wireless terminals shipped by ZTE last year were to the global markets and this helped us move up [in ranking] to become the world's No 5 handset manufacturer," executive vice-president He Shiyou said. The Shenzhen-based firm, which will report its financial results tomorrow, shipped more than 40 million mobile phones and 20 million data cards to achieve about 33 per cent year-on-year growth in total wireless terminal unit shipments, according to US market research firm iSuppli. An impressive milestone was reached by ZTE in data cards, which are the small devices plugged into laptop computers to access 3G cellular networks. The company's unit shipments grew 200 per cent year on year, which He claimed made it the fastest recorded data card business growth in the industry. Estimates by iSuppli showed mainland suppliers, including ZTE and privately held Huawei Technologies, control more than 80 per cent of the world's data card market. ZTE has 35 per cent global market share and 40 per cent share on the mainland. It attributed the rise in mobile phone shipments last year to its expansion across Europe and North America, where internet-ready smartphones are in high demand. Last October, ZTE stepped up talks with cellular network service providers in Europe about supplying low-cost, operator-branded smartphones in the continent. Market analyst firm Gartner, however, has reported that Nokia, Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Motorola and Sony Ericsson remained the top-five mobile phone suppliers last year, when global shipments totalled 1.21 billion units.
April 8, 2010
A rare 5.16-carat blue diamond is to be auctioned in Hong Kong on Wednesday. Auction house Sotheby’s said the pear-shaped gem from a private collector was expected to fetch up to US$5.9 million (HK$45.8 million) at the sale. The stone is the first blue diamond from the celebrated De Beers Millennium Jewels Collection to appear at an auction. The collection, displayed in London’s Millennium Dome in 2000, consists of 11 high-quality blue diamonds from the Premier Diamond Mine of Transvaal, South Africa. It was reported that the mine could produce only one blue diamond of such high calibre each year. Sotheby’s said gem sales in Hong Kong were on the rise - the city has overtaken New York to become the company’s second biggest market after Geneva. Terry Chu, deputy head of Sotheby’s jewellery department for China and Southeast Asia, said diamonds were particularly appealing to new Asian buyers because of their stable prices and assured quality. “There have been a lot of new diamond buyers from the mainland, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and elsewhere in the region,” Chu said. “I think after the financial crisis, the Asian buyers realised that the prices of diamond are relatively stable compared to other types of auction items,” she said. In December, a five-carat chickpea-sized vivid pink gem set a per-carat world record price for a diamond when it fetched US$10.8 million at an auction in Hong Kong. The price beat the US$10.5 million paid by a Hong Kong property tycoon for a seven-carat blue diamond in Geneva in May last year. According to Sotheby’s, Hong Kong has become the world’s third largest auction hub after New York and London, spurred by China’s growing wealth and increasing taste for fine art. The Macau government stands by its decision to revoke Viva Macau's operating licence as the troubled budget airline begins to wind down operations, blaming the government move.
China has an understanding with the United States for each to respect the core interests of the other, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Wednesday, calling for positive ties ahead of a Washington trip by China’s president following a period of tension. An April 2 telephone call between President Hu Jintao and US President Barack Obama “reached an important new consensus”, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai told a news conference before Hu’s trip to attend a nuclear security conference on April 12-13 hosted by Obama. The two agreed their countries should “respect each other’s core interests and major concerns, appropriately handling disputes and sensitive issues, strengthening communication and cooperation in various spheres,” Cui said. Cui declined to say whether the two presidents would specifically discuss China’s currency, the yuan. The US has said it will delay a Treasury Department report that might have labelled China a “currency manipulator” from its original, April 15 deadline, a concession that allows Hu to visit without embarrassment and that the US side hopes will sow co-operation from the Chinese to allow the currency to gradually appreciate. China and the United States had “different views” on financial and economic issues but also had “broad common interests”, Cui said. US politicians have seized on the issue of the yuan, which some critics say is pegged at such an undervalued level that Chinese exporters enjoy an unfair advantage, thus distorting global trade. Beijing has repegged the yuan near 6.83 per dollar since July 2008 to help its exporters weather the global credit crunch. In the preceding three years it had let the yuan gradually climb 21 per cent against the dollar. US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Tuesday that he was confident China would see that it was in its own interest to adopt a more flexible currency. Ties between the world’s biggest and third-biggest economies have also been ruffled by disputes over Chinese internet controls, US arms sales to Taiwan, and Obama’s meeting with exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. Beijing defines Taiwan and Tibet as “core issues” of its sovereignty, regarding self-ruled Taiwan is an illegitimate breakaway province, and condemning the Dalai Lama as a “separatist” for seeking self-rule for his homeland. Logitech International, one of the world's largest makers of peripheral gadgets for computers and consumer electronics devices, is sharpening its focus on China.
April 7, 2010
Taiwanese visitors to Shanghai will be able to directly convert New Taiwan dollars into yuan at Bank of Communications branches starting May 1 - the day Shanghai's World Expo opens - Shanghai mayor Han Zheng said yesterday, on his historic arrival in Taipei.
China's outstanding external debt reached 428.6 billion U.S.dollars by the end of 2009, up 14.4 percent from a year earlier, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said here in a statement on its website Tuesday.
China Eastern Airlines Co Ltd signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China Airlines, Taiwan province's premier airline on Tuesday to extensively cooperate on cargo flights, passenger flights, logistics, aircraft maintenance and marketing. April 6, 2010
China's PMI of the non-manufacturing sector rose to 58.4 percent in March, 12 percentage points higher than the previous month, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said Saturday.
The mainland's top offshore oil producer CNOOC (0883) said net profit last year plunged 34 percent to 29.49 billion yuan (HK$33.54 billion), in line with market expectations, as crude oil prices declined.
April 5, 2010
Hong Kong housing prices hit a 12-year high in the first quarter after increasing 7.5 per cent from the end of 2009.
Indian Foreign Minister S. M. Krishna will visit China this week. Krishna will hold talks with counterpart Yang Jiechi and call on Premier Wen Jiabao during the four-day visit.
Hu's visit to US signals Beijing may let yuan rise - It is the number that lurks behind much of modern economic life, a figure that helps shape the fortunes of nations and the price of nearly everything. The number hovers around 6.827.
April 4, 2010
Forty-three per cent of prepackaged food products in Hong Kong have not yet complied with the new nutrition labelling regulation which will come into effect in three months, a government survey shows. The study, commissioned by the Centre for Food Safety and conducted last month, showed that only 57 per cent of the 2,360 prepackaged food products sampled had met the requirement of the new law, according to a document to the Legislative Council. The figure has increased by 10 percentage points compared to previous research done between October and January, which indicated that less than half of the surveyed items met the new restriction. "Items at supermarket chains have met the standard already because since January 1, large retailers only take goods that have complied with the new law," the chairman of the Hong Kong Food Council (HKFC) and the Association of Green Organic @ Living (Go@l), Simon Wong Ka-wo, said. "What's left are the small shops selling products for ethnic minorities," Wong said, adding that they might still need time to get government exemption. He said food traders should be able to make changes to their products before the deadline. Enacted by the Legislative Council in 2008, the labelling law's two-year grace period will expire on June 30. The law requires packaged food sold by retailers and wholesalers to carry the "1+7" (energy + 7 core elements) label. Food products also need to comply with the standards before making nutritional claims such as low in sugar or no trans-fats. But low-volume products - with annual sales of 30,000 units or below - that do not make any nutritional claims can apply for an exemption. Another survey done by the HKFC and Go@l showed that about half of the 50 food trading firms polled said none of their products would be taken off the shelf because of the new law. About 20 per cent said up to 5 per cent of their products would leave the local market. A mere agreement among bidders not to compete with each other in an auction is not a criminal offence, a court held yesterday. The ruling was given by the Court of Appeal in the case of 17 stallholders convicted by the Fanling Court in May 2008 of conspiracy to defraud the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department in an auction for food stalls in a market. They had been sentenced to nine months' jail. They were accused of collusion by drawing lots to allocate stalls before an auction and agreeing not to bid against each other. Represented by Martin Lee Chu-ming SC in the appeal, they said the charge against them under the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance should be struck down. The appeal judges - Mr Justice Robert Tang Ching, Mr Justice Wally Yeung Chun-kuen and Mr Justice Derek Pang Wai-cheong - quashed the conviction on March 15 and gave their written judgment yesterday. The operators are Chan Wai-yip, 31, Fung Moon-kwai, 58, Wong Lit, 80, Sin Kam-sing, 65, Choi Kwai-sing, 59, Chan Chun-kim, 62, Lee Chi-ying, 58, Cheung Chi-keung, Wong Chung-tit, 50, Li Yuk-fai, 55, Wong Tak-hing, 50, Cheung Mui-fong, 54, Fung Moon-kwong, 49, Tang Yiu-kwan, 52, Li Sai-hung, 53, Wong Oi-kwan, 46, and Hung Chau-ming.
Hong Kong housing prices hit a
12-year high in the first quarter after increasing 7.5 per cent from the end of
2009.
Number of US students set to soar in 4 yrs - US students in China are set to become one of the largest overseas groups with Beijing and Washington working together to bring 100,000 students to China in the next four years.
The doors are set to open in less than a month on the largest World Expo in history as Shanghai seeks to stamp itself on the map as one of the top international cities. An army of workers are frantically racing to put the finishing touches to the international extravaganza's vast 5.28 square-kilometre site, while a number of national pavilions are involved in a mad scramble hoping to complete their buildings in time. Yesterday marked the 30-day countdown to the opening of the massive event, which is expected to draw 70 million visitors. Shanghai party secretary Yu Zhengsheng celebrated the occasion by issuing nearly 7 million free tickets to the event - one for every permanent household in the city - each of which was accompanied by a travel card worth 200 yuan. The bonanza give-away was described as a "thank you note" to the city's residents for their patience. "We thank the ordinary people of Shanghai for the contribution they have made to the expo," Yu told the city's official news portal yesterday. "During the preparations for the expo, our infrastructure building and construction of the site has had a considerable impact on everyone's life. Shanghai residents have put up with everything silently."
April 3, 2010
Henderson Land Development says sales of 24 apartments in its Mid-Levels residential building could not be completed on time because of tighter restrictions on mortgage lending in the luxury market. Henderson Land (0012) will have to submit a new explanation for 24 uncompleted transactions at its luxury project 39 Conduit Road, an official source said.
A Taiwanese official says President Ma Ying-jeou will engage the opposition leader in a debate this month on a contentious trade agreement with China.
The United States heralded a potential breakthrough on Wednesday in building support for UN sanctions against Iran, saying China was now ready for "serious" talks
SAIC Motor Corp said on Thursday its net profit for last year jumped 904.6 per cent, beating market expectations, after Beijing’s stimulus measures spurred a surge in sales.
The mainland's top offshore oil
producer CNOOC (0883) said net profit last year plunged 34 percent to 29.49
billion yuan (HK$33.54 billion), in line with market expectations, as crude oil
prices declined.
April 2, 2010
The Hong Kong Consumer Satisfaction Index rose to 69.9 in 2009 – a figure close to the record high it reached in 2007, a new survey released on Wednesday showed. The survey by the Department of Management Sciences at City University of Hong Kong interviewed 13,057 people during June and August last year. The index uses a scale of 0 to 100 to indicate the level of consumer satisfaction. Associate professor at the university, Dr Geoffrey Tso Kwok-fai, said the index had shown a steady increase since 2008. “Its reading dropped from a peak of 70.2 recorded in 2007 to 69.1 in 2008, but it rebounded 1.2 per cent to 69.9 last year,” he said. “The global economic environment had suffered from the financial tsunami, but has gradually recovered since the second quarter of last year, and consumer sentiment, which is affected by people’s confidence in the future of the economy has also rebounded,” Tso said. Items consumers are most satisfied with are transport services and products, which scored 73, followed by clothing and personal care (72.8) and information and entertainment services (71.4). Although housing recorded the biggest improvement, it scored only 67.5, the index showed. The index covers 69 goods and services in six categories. They include clothing, food, transport, communication and housing sectors and items not included in consumer price index. About 80 Hong Kong people, who have joined four package tours to Russia, continued with their trips on Wednesday, travel agencies said. The assets of the Exchange Fund, which is used to back the Hong Kong dollar, totalled HK$2,201.7 billion at the end of February, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said.
COSCO Pacific (1199), China's largest port operator, said net profit for 2009 plunged 37.2 percent to US$172.5 million (HK$1.34 billion), from the previous year as international trade shrank because of the global financial crisis. A final dividend of 1.199 US cents was proposed.
Beijing denied on Wednesday it has "hijacked" water from the Mekong River, causing its lowest levels in 20 years for countries downstream in Southeast Asia.
Huawei Technologies said its profit
more than doubled last year and forecast strong revenue growth this year, fed by
an ambitious export drive and strong 3G spending in mainland.
April 1, 2010
The government was allocating more money and resources towards reducing domestic violence in Hong Kong, Director of Social Welfare Patrick Nip Tak-kuen said on Tuesday. Hong Kong and New Zealand have ratified a free-trade agreement that will allow people travelling on business between the two places to stay for up to three months.
Regional rebound favors SJM wagers - Tycoon Stanley Ho Hung-sun's gaming flagship SJM Holdings (0880) said its net profit jumped by 14 percent to HK$907 million last year, as improved economic conditions in China and Asia boosted the gambling hub of Macau. Fifty-four examples of endangered species of animals and plants have been seized at customs checkpoints in Hong Kong between January and mid-March this year. PCD Stores (0331) posted a 39.3 percent jump in profit last year to 242.1 million yuan (HK$275.32 million) as more stores opened in China in the second half and revenue rose on more direct sales.
Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, mainland's biggest private carmaker, said on Tuesday that it is prepared to pump up to US$900 million into the Volvo unit it is buying from Ford, as part of its plan to return the Swedish carmaker to the black. Geely had secured US$2.7 billion in financing for the landmark deal, which includes a previously announced US$1.8 billion purchase price plus the additional US$900 billion in working capital, chief financial officer Yin Daqing told a media briefing in Beijing. He added that half of the money would come from mainland sources, while the rest would come from overseas sources. From a broader perspective, Geely’s plan to turn around Volvo would involve giving the company the scale it needed to become profitable, with a focus on tapping the fast-growing mainland market, said Geely chairman Li Shufu. “Profit will only emerge if we expand the business scale, thus making costs per vehicle lower,” Li told reporters in Beijing, after returning from Sweden where his company signed the deal to buy Volvo. He added that the two brands would remain separate, with Volvo and Geely each continuing to produce their own cars. “Volvo comes from Northern Europe and is rooted in Sweden. Volvo will not be Volvo any more if taken out of the soil,” Li said. “Relations between Geely and Volvo in the future will be like brothers, not father and son.” Geely is counting heavily on its home market to revive the money-losing Volvo brand, with plans to double the Swedish company’s production by building a major new plant in mainland. Owning a global brand like Volvo will also give Geely a chance to build up its profile in the country, where it is known more for small, inexpensive cars, and to catch up with bigger state-owned rivals that have partnered with the likes of GM and Volkswagen. Mainland overtook the United States to become the world’s largest auto market last year, with sales zooming 46 per cent to a record 13.6 million units, driven by economic incentives from Beijing aimed at boosting consumption during the global downturn.
*News information are obtained via various sources deemed reliable, but not guaranteed
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Former Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief
executive Joseph Yam Chi-kwong, once the world's highest paid central banker,
has a new job in academia. Yam has been appointed a distinguished research
fellow at The Chinese University of Hong Kong's newly formed Institute of Global
Economics and Finance. The part-time role means Yam will take part in research,
share his experience and insights with top bankers and brokers, conduct classes
for Chinese University students and deliver lectures. It is not known how much
he will be paid. Before retiring as HKMA chief executive at the start of
October, Yam was the world's highest paid central banker, receiving HK$11.9
million in 2008 compared to US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke's
US$191,300. Yam was Hong Kong's first central banker and occupied the post from
the authority's establishment in 1993. The People's Bank of China in December
recruited him to be an executive vice-president of an advisory body to the
central bank. It is not known whether the bank pays Yam for the work. The
Institute of Global Economics and Finance has been set up to contribute concepts
and policy ideas on opening up China's financial system. It will also launch
educational programs related to global finance and banking issues, such as the
internationalization of the yuan. Besides Yam, the institute has enlisted top
professionals and academics including Nobel Prize-winning economists James
Mirrlees and Robert Mundell. At a university event to announce his appointment
yesterday, Yam slipped easily back into central banker mode, offering his views
on the outlook for the yuan. "It will be impossible for the yuan to keep on
rising forever," he said. "Mainland officials have also said the yuan has not
been undervalued." Yam reiterated his view that the yuan could become the third
major international currency, after the US dollar and euro. He also believed
Beijing's tightening of credit and other measures to cool down the property
market would have a positive economic impact.
The MTR Corp's HK$33 billion Nam
Cheong Station project has attracted interest from 12 developers - four more
than when it was first launched five years ago. In 2005, when the KCRC was
managing the project in Sham Shui Po, eight developers expressed an interest
before the residential development was shelved due to concerns of green groups
that the 20 high-rise towers would cause a wall effect. The railway operator has
since modified the design and lowered the density of the development on top of
Nam Cheong Station, close to the Fu Cheong and Nam Cheong public housing
estates. The 6.2-hectare site will now house nine seven- to nine-storey low-rise
blocks and nine 42- to 46-storey high-rise residential towers, plus a
287,732-square-foot shopping centre. The project will provide 3,300 flats with a
total residential floor area of 2.96 million square feet and is due for
completion in 2016. All the major developers, such as Cheung Kong (Holdings) (SEHK:
0001), Sun Hung Kai Properties (SEHK: 0016), Sino Land, Kerry Properties (SEHK:
0683), Henderson Land (SEHK: 0012) and Nam Fung Development were among the 12 to
express interest yesterday. MTR is currently negotiating the land premium with
the government and will put the project up for tender in the near future, a
spokesman said. Even though there has been a better response this time it does
not mean the developers are more optimistic about the property market's outlook,
according to analysts. Alnwick Chan Chi-hing, executive director at Knight
Frank, said only a few of the developers could afford the large investment cost
and he expects only four of them to eventually join the tendering process. "But
it does present an opportunity for the developers to get the inside information
on land premiums if they submit expressions of interest. It can also show the
MTR that you are still a market player," Chan said. According to the transaction
data of Centaline Property Agency, prices at the seven-year-old Metro Harbor
View in the area range between HK$4,964 and HK$5,137 per square foot. A further
indication on the state of the property market will be available over the next
three months when the Lands Department sells four development sites in Fanling,
Tung Chung, Ho Man Tin and The Peak. The two residential sites at Mount
Nicholson Road on The Peak and Fat Kwong Street in Ho Man Tin are expected to be
major targets as they offer an opportunity for luxury residential projects. Chan
said Nam Cheong Station was still competitive, being a mass residential project
on top of an MTR station, although he did not believe the developers would be
submitting aggressive offers for it or any of the other sites due to the
uncertain market outlook. "The latest housing policies show the government is
paying special attention to the property market. The government may release new
measures to curb the growth in property prices." he said. 
Customs has stepped up its blitz on
counterfeit goods ahead of the May Day Golden Week. Over the past fortnight,
officers have seized 4,500 pirated items worth about HK$1 million and unearthed
five "storage warehouses" in Yau Tsim Mong. Nine men and seven women aged 24 to
49 have been arrested. Most are shop owners. The fake goods include mobile
phones, cosmetics, luxury watches, brand-name bags and - ahead of the FIFA World
Cup in South Africa - football strips. Intellectual Property Investigation
Bureau divisional commander Koon Hon-chuen said it will strengthen surveillance
in tourist shopping areas. There were 167 cases in the first quarter this year,
the same as in 2009. A total of 1,014 cases were recorded for the whole year.
Meanwhile, traffic at Kowloon West's Olympic City during the May Day Golden Week
is expected to increase 15 percent to 157,000 people and bring in HK$7.26
million in sales. Sino Group is predicting overall growth of 13 percent for
Olympic City, Golden Coast Piazza and Island Resort Mall. with 262,000 visitors.
To attract more high-spending mainlanders, Olympic City is offering a one-night
stay and buffet breakfast for two. It is also hosting a South African Festival
from today until May 9. The 10-day Golden Week lasts from May Day until Mother's
Day on May 8. Spokespersons for major shopping malls including Times Square and
Elements said mainlanders are becoming a force to be reckoned with. Times Square
has increased its cross-border bus service to 30 a day to pick up tourists from
Shenzhen, Foshan and Guangzhou. Elements expects mainland shoppers to contribute
40 percent to its overall turnover. The Hong Kong Tourism Board reported tourist
spending rose 3.2 percent to surpass HK$160 billion last year. Chairman James
Tien Pei- chun said average spending of transit visitors also went up 20
percent. 
China*:
Insurers rush to launch yuan-denominated policies - Expectations of an
appreciating yuan has spread to the insurance sector as policyholders seek out
yuan-denominated policies.
French President
Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, arrive at the Great Hall of
the People. Wen pledges that China will play a bigger part in global issues -
China yesterday pledged to take a greater role in global issues as it vowed to
work with the European Union on nuclear non-proliferation, energy security and
climate change. In wide-ranging talks between Premier Wen Jiabao and European
Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, the two sides also agreed to fight
protectionism and tear down trade barriers. "China will undertake greater
international responsibilities," Wen said in a joint media appearance with
Barroso after their talks. "This is not only to meet international expectations
but also serves China's interests." The two sides also agreed to set up a
climate change hotline between top environmental officials of the EU and China
to help both sides co-ordinate their positions in global greenhouse gas
negotiations, Barroso said. On the Iranian nuclear issue - a key concern of the
EU and United States - Wen did not say whether Beijing would support new
sanctions against Tehran. He said only that China was committed to the global
nuclear non-proliferation regime and upholding peace in the Middle East. Wen
said: "China will remain in touch with the relevant parties and will play a
positive and constructive role for the early and proper settlement of the
Iranian nuclear issue." Western nations are calling for a fresh round of UN
sanctions but Beijing - a veto-wielding permanent member of the UN Security
Council - has so far resisted such a move. "China and the European Union have
far more consensus than differences," Wen said. "We both stand for world
multi-polarity and diversity and we both believe that major decisions in world
affairs should be taken in an open, democratic and transparent manner." Barroso
and his delegation will leave Beijing today to attend the opening of the World
Expo in Shanghai. French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife, Carla
Bruni-Sarkozy - who will also attend the expo - yesterday walked the Great Wall
and wandered the imperial Ming Tombs on a sightseeing stop during their visit to
China. Sarkozy's trip is being billed as a return to healthy diplomatic
relations between the countries after spats over Tibet. The French leader is
also pressing Beijing to support further sanctions on Iran over its nuclear
program. Hours before Sarkozy's planned meeting with NPC chairman Wu Bangguo ,
the French first couple visited the tombs and a section of the Great Wall
usually closed to the public, French officials said. The tombs, on Beijing's
outskirts, were chosen by 13 of the 16 Ming dynasty emperors, who ruled between
1368 and 1644, as their last resting place. Sarkozy will travel to Shanghai
today, where he will attend the opening ceremony for the expo and visit France's
stand at the fair. On Wednesday, the couple went to Xian to visit the terracotta
warriors. 
More
than seven years ago, after Shanghai won the right to host the 2010 World Expo,
thousands of people whooped it up on the city's streets. People from all walks
of life believed the big show would help Shanghai catch up with Beijing, which
was splashing out roughly US$40 billion on the 2008 Olympics. The municipal
government mobilised enormous resources to ensure that expo-related projects
were completed on time, allowing the city to show its best face to the world.
Real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle says Shanghai has spent US$95 billion on
expo-related infrastructure, with analysts describing the scale and pace of
development over the past two years as something never seen before - anywhere.
Now the Shanghai government and people are hoping it all pays off. Xinhua has
reported that the international fair could create as many as 250,000 jobs in the
city and increase Shanghai's gross domestic product growth by 5 percentage
points. If the expo attracts the 70 million visitors that have been forecast,
income from ticket sales and food and beverage sales could top 10 billion yuan
(HK$11.4 billion). The hospitality sector will be one of the top beneficiaries
of the six-month event, which looks like being a windfall for the city's 310
star-rated hotels and 6,000 or so inns, which have 334,000 rooms and 557,000
beds. Cheng Meihong , a deputy director of the Shanghai Tourism Administration,
told a press conference this month that hotel prices were expected to rise
slightly during the expo, as thousands of travellers from other parts of the
country and abroad flocked to Shanghai. But economists say that while the expo
may boost the retail and hospitality sectors in the short term, it will be
difficult for Shanghai to sustain rapid growth after the event. "After all, the
economy doesn't necessarily hinge on the event," Morgan Stanley analyst Allen
Gui said. "Taking a long view, the outlook is still unclear because it's too
early to assess whether the massive infrastructure investments are redundant or
properly needed." When the expo opens tomorrow, Shanghai's Metro system will
have 420 kilometres of track in operation - nearly double last year's total.
That breakneck pace of subway expansion has seen "decentralised" office blocks
sprout up outside the central business district. At the end of last year,
Shanghai had 415,000 square metres of decentralised Grade A office space, Jones
Lang LaSalle said. It predicted the figure would jump to 1.8 million square
metres by the end of 2013. More corporate tenants are leaving the city centre to
take advantage of cheaper rents in the suburbs. Shanghai, one of the mainland's
two main economic locomotives, failed to dodge the bullet when the global
financial crisis struck two years ago. Shrinking external demand knocked the
steam out of Shanghai's economic growth and robust retail sales, which grew 13.6
per cent last year, were not enough to offset the export slowdown. The city's
GDP grew 8.2 per last year, 1.7 percentage points less than in 2008, and the
second consecutive year of single-digit growth. Shanghai had posted double-digit
growth in the previous 16 years - from 1992 to 2007 - as exports from the
Yangtze River Delta boomed and foreign capital flooded in. To add to the blushes
of the city's leaders, including Mayor Han Zheng , Shanghai's GDP growth last
year was also among the lowest recorded by any of the provincial-level regions.
"Shanghai would have to draw a lesson from the slowdown in the past two years,"
Zhang Youwen , the chief world economy researcher at the Shanghai Academy of
Social Sciences, said. "It will be difficult to gauge how much the expo can help
the local economy in the long term." The city took a hammering from the global
financial crisis, lagging behind mainland rivals whose economies kept growing
rapidly, fuelled by Beijing's 4 trillion yuan stimulus package. Shanghai has
been striving to shift its economic focus from manufacturing to services,
seeking to become a big-name metropolis on a par with New York, London and
Paris. Beijing drew up an ambitious blueprint for the city last year,
encouraging Shanghai to transform itself into a global financial and shipping
centre. However, in the absence of substantive liberalization policies,
economists have seen the plan as nothing more than an empty promise. Without
full convertibility of the yuan, they said, Shanghai's dream of becoming an
international financial hub centre would remain illusory. An official with the
Pudong Financial Services Office said district government and city government
officials were preparing to host several events during the expo where they would
lobby for accelerated market deregulation and seek to attract more overseas
investors. Some other governments around the country have also sniffed out
opportunities during the expo, hoping to promote investment and trade when
influential government officials and businesspeople visit the big show. "We
can't afford to miss the big party because it provides a good chance to get to
know the big shots," said Guo Yi , a deputy director of the economic research
department in Jining , Shandong . "It will be a platform to promote Jining's
trade and draw investment to the city."
President Hu visits
Shanghai World Expo Park.
Chinese President Hu
Jintao (C) visits China Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo Park in Shanghai,
east China, April 29, 2010. Hu Jintao paid a visit to the Shanghai World Expo
Park Thursday, two days ahead of the opening of the global event. 
Chinese President Hu
Jintao use sign language to express greetings to a volunteer at Life Sunshine
Pavilion in the expo site in Shanghai, east China, April 29, 2010. Chinese
President Hu Jintao paid a visit to the Shanghai World Expo Park Thursday, two
days ahead of the opening of the global event. 
Enjoy sleepless city of Shanghai.
As Western investments into mainland
companies go, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and UK private equity firm Actis
Capital's decision to plough US$73 million into yoghurt drink maker Hunan
Taizinai may qualify as one of the worst. On April 12 the company, which
operates across China but is legally based in the Cayman Islands, was wound up
by a court in the balmy British territory, owing creditors 2.7 billion yuan
(HK$3.1 billion). But back in January 2007, the company and its founder, Li
Tuchun, were the stuff of private equity managers' dreams. Li was a self-made,
energetic entrepreneur who left a state-owned enterprise in Shenzhen in 1990,
aged 30, with 300 yuan in savings. He built Taizinai, which produces probiotic
drinks similar to Japan's Yakult, into a supermarket brand that tapped into the
vast potential of China's nascent consumer goods sector. But by August 2008,
Taizinai was insolvent, according to a confidential report by accountants
Deloitte. After he won the foreign investment, Li massively overexpanded his
business, the accountants said. Deloitte also said it suspected Li of inflating
sales and assets and making payments out of the company that "drained cash". The
report was not an audit, but a draft discussion paper that the accountants
prepared for the private equity investors after addressing detailed questions to
Taizinai's management, including Li. 
After days of intense speculation, the
future of outgoing Swire Pacific (0019) heavyweight Philip Chen Nan-lok is now
clear. He will join Hang Lung Group (0010) and subsidiary Hang Lung Properties
(0101) as managing director of both firms. And he will get HK$21 million a year
for his services. Chen - the first Chinese to head Cathay Pacific (0293) -
announced on April 19 that he will step down as chairman of John Swire & Sons
(China), deputy chairman of Cathay Pacific and all other Swire posts on July 1.
He said the decision was prompted by his "desire to pursue other interests." The
shock announcement triggered media speculation that Chen will join PCCW (0008) -
which issued an immediate denial - or Hysan Development (0014). Hang Lung
chairman Ronnie Chan Chi-chung said he looks forward to working closely with
Chen, and that their appointment talks began "a few months ago." "Chen is a
well-rounded person, with experience in all aspects and also has a good
personality," Chan said. "I think he is a management professional who is hard to
come by," he told The Standard. Chan said though Chen lacks property experience,
the departing Swire executive will prove to be a good leader for Hang Lung's
property experts. "I believe the group will have bright prospects with Chen as
managing director," he said. Chen will succeed Nelson Yuen Wai-leung on July 15.
That is the day Yuen retires after 32 years of service with the group to become
a board adviser. He has been managing director for the past 17 years. Chan noted
Chen's pay will be "exactly the same" as Yuen's was because he will have similar
responsibilities. According to Hang Lung's statement to the bourse, Chen is,
apart from the HK$21 million a year, entitled to a bonus of HK$5.2 million at
the end of June next year. In addition, Chen will be granted the option to apply
for 10 million Hang Lung Properties shares and receive a director's fee from
Hang Lung Group. His total remuneration from the Swire Group in 2008 and 2009
was HK$15.1 million and HK$14.2 million, respectively. Hang Lung Group closed
down 3.3 percent at HK$39 and Hang Lung Properties ended 2.7 percent down at
HK$29.20 before Chen's appointment was announced.
Cathay Pacific Airways (SEHK: 0293)
said on Wednesday its operations had returned to normal after its flights to
Europe were disrupted for a week after ash from an erupting Icelandic volcano
covered a huge part of the European continent. Cathay Pacific’s chief executive
Tony Tyler said although the airline’s business had been affected, it was too
early to decide whether it would adjust its fares like other airlines. “The
closure of the European airspace has some impacts on our revenues, but I am
pleased to say we are recovering very quickly. “It’s too early to calculate the
total financial impact, we will probably make a statement about it later,” Tyler
said. 
'Referendum' push has failed, top adviser
says - Think-tank polls say most oppose poll campaign. The campaign to make next
month's Legco by-elections a "de facto referendum" on democratisation is a
failure, the government's chief adviser declared yesterday. Professor Lau
Siu-kai, the head of the Central Policy Unit, said its surveys had consistently
shown that more than half the people opposed the campaign. Five lawmakers from
the League of Social Democrats and the Civic Party resigned from their seats to
trigger the polls, hoping to offer voters the chance to show they wanted
"genuine" democracy. Campaign organisers rejected Lau's claim. Lau said the unit
had conducted more than three public opinion polls in recent months - he could
not recall how many exactly, nor over what time period they had been done. Each
had a sample size of about 1,000. In each survey, more than half the respondents
said they opposed the movement for a "de facto referendum" and thought it had
failed. Citing the findings and those of others, Lau said people did not think
the campaign would put pressure on Beijing to compromise on electoral reform,
and felt it lacked large-scale support. League chairman Andrew To Kwan-hang
dismissed Lau's conclusion. "Uncle Kai already maxed out his credit limit when
he wrongly predicted the turnout of the march on July 1, 2003." Lau reportedly
predicted only about 30,000 would join the protest, which saw an estimated
500,000 people take to the streets. Meanwhile, a minister had a message for
pan-democrats unhappy with the government's proposal for electoral reform in
2012: take it or leave it, and don't expect any second helpings. Since the
government had already "racked its brains" in preparing the proposal - which
pan-democrats look likely to veto - there would be no room to come up with one
more democratic, constitutional affairs chief Stephen Lam Sui-lung said. Under
questioning from Democrat Cheung Man-kwong, Lam said if Legco voted down the
proposals there would not be enough time before 2012 to restart the five-step
process Beijing has set down for drawing up electoral reforms. But Cheung said
after the meeting that the government would have no option but to come up with a
new proposal if its refusal to make concessions meant the current one was
vetoed. The government is proposing to create 10 new Legco seats. But five of
them would be functional constituency seats voted on by 405 district councillors.
The membership of the Election Committee that picks the chief executive would
rise by half, to 1,200. Pan-democrats have rejected these proposals on the
grounds they are too conservative and lack a road map to universal suffrage.
A top executive of the MTR Corporation
(SEHK: 0066) acquired his degree from a diploma mill in the United States that
was ordered to close seven years ago. According to the MTR's annual report last
year, operations director Andrew McCusker holds a degree in mechanical
engineering from the now-defunct Kensington University in California. The
school, however, was never accredited by a recognised accrediting agency or
association recognised by the United States Secretary of Education, shareholder
activist and former HKEx (SEHK: 0388, announcements, news) director David Webb
has found. "[McCusker] may well be a highly experienced and competent engineer,
certainly the MTRC seems to think so," Webb wrote in his online newsletter. "But
he might benefit from dropping his claim to a degree in engineering." The
school, according to the Los Angeles Times in 1996, had no classrooms,
laboratories or dorms; the campus was housed in a small office building, while
students earned their degrees at home without attending a class or meeting
instructors. The First Circuit Court of Hawaii, where the university was
incorporated, ordered it to be shut down in 2003 and tuition fees to be refunded
to all students since 1999, after it failed to obtain degree-awarding status.
The MTR Corp said McCusker, 65, had more than 15 years of experience when he
joined it as operations engineering manager in 1987, and the company looked not
just at education, but also at work experience, when recruiting for senior
positions. It was understood McCusker had worked for about eight years when he
began his Kensington degree in 1980. Edmund Leung Kwong-ho, former chairman of
the local branch of Britain's Institution of Mechanical Engineers - where
McCusker is a chartered member - said the institute required members to have an
accredited degree, but an engineer with ample work experience could also apply
as a mature candidate. 
Automated Systems Holdings, the leading
information-technology services provider to the Hong Kong government, plans to
accelerate expansion on the mainland and across Southeast Asia after recording
virtually flat sales in its last fiscal year. "We are working closely with
Beijing Teamsun Technology, the group's controlling shareholder, to capture more
business opportunities throughout the mainland," Automated chief executive Lai
Yam-ting said yesterday. Lai said potential mergers and acquisitions were being
considered for growth in Southeast Asia, where Automated already had operations
in Thailand. The company posted a HK$115.8 million net profit in the year to
March, up 171.4 per cent from HK$42.7 million a year earlier, boosted by a
one-off gain from the disposal of its global managed services business in August
last year. Revenue fell 2.3 per cent to HK$1.33 billion, due to a slowdown in
information-technology hardware and services sales. Lai, however, noted that the
improving economy helped the company grow in the January-March period, when it
generated HK$28.8 million in profit before taxation that was higher than those
of the previous three quarters combined. He said Automated would focus more on
growing its technology solutions business - which includes professional,
maintenance and outsourcing services - as it further develops operations on the
mainland and across Southeast Asia. About 61.2 per cent of the firm's revenue
for the year to March still came from its traditional infrastructure business,
which is based on sales of hardware such as computer servers and storage
systems. Market research firm International Data Corp forecast the mainland
information-technology services market this year to reach 82 billion yuan from
73.09 billion yuan last year. Lai said Teamsun, which bought the 68.4 per cent
holding of US-based consulting and outsourcing specialist Computer Sciences Corp
for HK$262.4 million in September, provides Automated with strategic support on
the mainland through its 30 branches nationwide.
Kong Siu-kau, 63, has a tea break at the
entrance to his cage home. Cages can cost HK$1,500 a month. The redevelopment of
old buildings in Hong Kong is cutting down the supply of "cage homes" in
centrally located areas and forcing up rents for the unemployed and
underemployed who can least afford to meet higher living costs. On a per square
foot basis, those who occupy "cages" of no more than 15 sqft created by
subdividing old apartments into up to 50 separate living compartments now pay
landlords from several hundred dollars to up to HK$1,500 in rent each. That
translates into a rental charge of HK$100 per square foot, which is at least 25
per cent higher than the per square foot cost of renting a luxury house on The
Peak, where effective rents for a 3,000 sqft house range between HK$70 and HK$80
per sq ft.
French President
Sarkozy seeks to bury the hatchet with Beijing - French President Nicolas
Sarkozy and his wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, arrive at the airport in Beijing on
Wednesday. French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in Beijing on Wednesday for
a visit aimed at reinvigorating ties tested two years ago over Tibet and at
winning China’s support for new sanctions against Iran. The French president,
making his second state visit to China, was to head straight into a meeting with
his opposite number Hu Jintao and address the media to kick off the official
part of his three-day trip. Sarkozy – along with his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy
and a delegation of top ministers – began the day with an initial stop in the
ancient capital of Xian, where the couple visited the famed terracotta warriors
under tight security. The French leader will also meet Premier Wen Jiabao and
other top officials during his time in Beijing before heading to Shanghai on
Friday for the start of the World Expo. “China has become an absolutely
indispensable actor on the world stage,” Sarkozy told China’s state Xinhua news
agency in an interview published on Wednesday. “Today, there is not one major
issue that we can handle without you.” Paris hopes to win China’s support for
fresh UN sanctions against Iran over its disputed nuclear program, but first
Sarkozy has to seal France’s reconciliation with Beijing, two years after a
heated row over Tibet. In March 2008, just four months after Sarkozy’s first
state visit to China, ties soured when the French leader expressed shock at the
security crackdown in the Chinese-ruled region after protests there led to
deadly violence. A month later, the Chinese leadership was incensed when
pro-Tibetan demonstrators booed and jostled the Olympic flame as it was carried
through Paris on its way to the Beijing Games. Tensions peaked when Sarkozy met
the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, in December 2008, before
starting to ease when the French leader met Hu at the G20 summit on the
financial crisis last year. French Prime Minister Francois Fillon, during a
visit to China in December, said any “misunderstandings” between Paris and
Beijing were a thing of the past. In his talks with Hu, Sarkozy is expected to
seek Beijing’s backing for an overhaul of the global monetary system by the G20,
but a French official said the leaders would not directly discuss foreign
concerns over the yuan’s value. On Thursday, he will meet China’s top legislator
Wu Bangguo, the second highest-ranking figure in the Communist hierarchy, before
seeing Wen on Friday. The French president will mix politics with sightseeing
during the trip, with scheduled visits to the Great Wall, the Ming Tombs and the
Forbidden City. Sarkozy will on Friday head to Shanghai, where he will
officially open the French pavilion at the World Expo and take part in the
opening ceremony for the six-month exhibition. Cooperation agreements on
ecology, higher education and the creation of new businesses are to be signed
during Sarkozy’s visit, according to French officials. “New chapters are about
to be written in China’s relationships with France and with the European Union,”
the China Daily said Wednesday in an editorial. “French President Nicolas
Sarkozy’s three-day visit shows how each side has let bygones be bygones. It
could be seen as a formal announcement to the world that the China-France
relationship is now back to normal.” Hu is scheduled to make a state visit to
France later this year. 
VIP guests take a look at the Aston Martin concept Rapide, a 12-cylinder,
four-door sports car at the Beijing Auto China on Sunday. Luxury auto market
zooms ahead in mainland - The businessman climbed into the Rolls Royce Phantom
with the gold-plated Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament and sank his feet into
wine-red carpet. He says he has a Mercedes S600 sedan and a Jaguar sports car at
home but needs something for work. “I just have to consider whether it’s too
flashy. But otherwise there’s no problem. The price isn’t a big problem,” said
the 32-year-old visitor to the Beijing auto show, who would give only his
surname, Liu. Free-spending new rich who have made mainland a key growth market
for luxury goods makers are more important than ever to US, European and
Japanese creators of high-end automobiles. Sales here are surging while they sag
elsewhere and manufacturers are pulling out the stops to woo mainland buyers.
Mainland is “increasingly becoming the engine of our industry”, said Dieter
Zetsche, CEO of Daimler AG. Sales of its Mercedes-Benz cars in mainland soared
112 per cent in the first quarter of this year to 23,600 vehicles. Volkswagen
AG’s Audi unit, BMW AG’s Rolls Royce, Fiat SpA’s Ferrari and other makers of
high-priced wheels are seeing similar gains. The surge has been propelled by an
economic boom that created a new crop of millionaires and several dozen
billionaires in a country that had almost no private cars 15 years ago. Mainland
now has 825,000 people worth at least 10 million yuan (HK11.35 million),
according to Rupert Hoogewerf, a researcher of wealthy mainlanders. The new rich
“need some luxury products to validate themselves”, said Wang Honghao, editor in
chief of the automotive magazine Trends Car. “Whether it’s luxury cars or luxury
luggage, or perfume, clothes, accessories, it’s all the same.” Mainland’s auto
market, the world’s biggest since last year, defied the global downturn on the
strength of Beijing’s 4 trillion yuan, which boosted stock and real estate
prices. Luxury car sales in mainland soared 66 per cent in the first quarter
from a year earlier, well ahead of 14 per cent growth in the United States and a
6 per cent fall in Germany, homeland of Benz and BMW, according to JD Power and
Associates. BMW AG’s Rolls Royce says sales in mainland, its third-largest
market after the United States and Britain, rose 200 per cent in the first
quarter from a year earlier to more than 20 vehicles despite a base price of 6.6
million yuan. Rolls Royce’s mainland sales are so strong that it added a
production line and hired more workers partly to meet the demand. “I see China
will even overtake the UK, our home market, this year and that we will see the
Chinese market as the second-most-important market after the US,” CEO Torsten
Mueller-Oetvoes said. As mainland’s jet-setting elite gets more sophisticated,
luxury automakers are focusing on building their brand image with this niche
audience. Rolls Royce publishes a Putonghua luxury lifestyle magazine and
invites customers from mainland to visit its factory in Goodwood, England, to
see their cars being made. Mercedes-Benz hired movie stars Zhang Ziyi and Li
Bingbing to promote its cars. Luxury automakers are opening dealerships in
cities as farflung as Chengdu and holds private gatherings for buyers who want
to share their enthusiasm for cars. Mainland customers are getting more
discerning and companies need to work to reach them, said Matthew Bennett,
regional director of Aston Martin Asia Pacific. “It’s simple things like
increasing the number of people in the company who can speak Mandarin,” he said.
“The growth in China doesn’t come for free. You have to invest and it will
come.” China’s most popular luxury car is the Audi A6L, favoured by government
officials. Sales were up 14 per cent in March over a year earlier to 9,983,
though that was driven partly by stimulus spending that is winding down this
year. Aston Martin – which showcased a DBS like the one James Bond drove in
Quantum of Solace – sold about 80 cars in mainland last year. Bennett said
mainland is likely to become the company’s top market in Asia by next year,
though he would not give a sales target. Bennett got a surprise when he showed
the company’s concept Rapide, a 12-cylinder, four-door sports car, to VIP
customers in Beijing in January. “We had about five or seven people on the night
who said, ‘Yup, fine, I’ll take it’,” he said. “They hadn’t seen other colours.
They hadn’t driven the car. We hadn’t confirmed the price at that point. They
said, ‘No, no, I’ll have it’.” The price: 3.6 million yuan. The luxury car
market already is big enough that manufacturers are willing to make basic
changes to suit wealthy mainland customers. Mercedes unveiled an extended
E-class sedan at the Beijing auto show aimed at mainland buyers, who are more
likely to sit in back and have chauffeurs. The new Mercedes gives them an extra
140 millimeters of legroom in back. Zetsche said the company is open to changing
other cars. “I don’t think it would be wise generally to adjust and change the
vehicles to become ‘more Chinese’,” he said. “On the other hand, there are
specifics in this marketplace. … To acknowledge these specifics makes sense and
therefore we have this extended version.”
New mortgage loans drawn down in March
soared 60.3 percent month-on- month to hit a 13-year high of HK$27.4 billion.
New loans approved surged 38.7 percent to HK$36.9 billion, the Hong Kong
Monetary Authority said, partly as approvals for primary market transactions and
refinancing loans more than doubled. But "second-quarter home transactions are
expected to fall and mortgage loans will be affected," said Centaline Mortgage
Broker managing director Ivy Wong Mei-fung, following government moves to cool
the property market and improve show flats. However, Sharmaine Lau Yuen- yuen,
chief economist at brokerage mRefferal, believes inflationary pressure has
brought de facto negative interest rates, which will sustain new mortgage loans
this month. The proportion of new mortgage loans based on interbank best lending
rates gained 12.2 percentage points to a new high of 76.5 percent, according to
the monetary authority. Wong attributed the increase to the Hongkong and
Shanghai Banking Corp's introduction of a one-month HIBOR plus 0.65 percent plan
in February. The mortgage delinquency remained at 0.03 percent, but Financial
Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah reiterated that a 3 percentage point increase in
rates will raise mortgage burdens by 30 percent. Tsang said the property upside
has eased as home prices gained 1.1 percent in each of the past two months, down
from 2.5 percent in January, but he also warned of the risk of a bubble
resulting from a short-term home shortage and hot money influx. Realtors said
many recent secondary transactions were completed after buyers lowered their
asking prices. A penthouse in Mei Foo Sun Chuen has just been sold for HK$2.48
million, or HK$4,276 per square foot, after the owner asked for HK$200,000 less,
according to Midland Realty. But Ricacorp Properties' statistics show that
transaction prices at 50 major residential projects were up 0.5 percent last
week, despite a 25 percent drop in total deals to 377. 
Concert collects HK$37m for Qinghai
victims - More than 300 singers and artists yesterday took part in a five-hour
charity concert to raise funds for the victims of the Qinghai earthquake. Jacky
Chan and Andy Lau Tak-wah were among the entertainers from Hong Kong, the
mainland and Taiwan who performed at the Artistes 414 Fund-Raising Campaign at
Hong Kong Coliseum. By midnight, when the show had finished, donations had
reached about HK$37 million, with HK$10 million coming from media mogul Sir Run
Run Shaw. Other donations, including those from the audience, had yet to be
counted. The show started at 6pm was broadcast live on radio and television.
Mainland website Sina.com also carried the event. Secretary for Commerce and
Economic Development Rita Lau Ng Wai-lan and Secretary for Home Affairs Tsang
Tak-sing led a minute of silence before the concert started. Other performers
included Jacky Cheung Hok-yau, Alan Tam Wing-lun, Kay Tse On-kay and Eason Chan
Yik-shun. Entrants to the 6,000-seat venue had to donate at least HK$100 each to
watch the show. Jacky Chan, who took 15 tonnes of materials to Qinghai days
after the quake, said he was sorrowful when he met the survivors. Sammi Cheng
Sau-man and Nick Cheung Ka-fai also visited victims. The concert honoured Hong
Kong volunteer Wong Fuk-wing, who died while trying to rescue victims in an
orphanage. 
Be more Chinese and more global to
compete, HK told - Our government departments aren't a patch on Shanghai's or
Beijing's, both cities have a better living environment than us and we're not as
good at innovating ... but Hong Kong is, for the fifth year in a row, the
nation's most competitive city. The lead is narrowing, though, and to stay ahead
of the other 293 Chinese cities, Hong Kong should become more of a world city -
and integrate more with the mainland - says the state researcher in charge of
compiling the national competitiveness index. Specifically, Ni Pengfei says we
need to focus more on the higher end of the global financial services market and
that the government should put more emphasis on science and technology. "Hong
Kong's competitiveness and ability to research in science and technology is
still very strong, but ... Hong Kong is not necessarily stronger than the
mainland," Ni said. Beijing was on track to surpass Hong Kong in this field, the
report, the Blue Book of Urban Competitiveness, by the Chinese Academy of Social
Sciences said. Ni had words of warning for the city, too. Shenzhen might not
need to rely on Hong Kong to export its products given its rapid development in
recent years. The border city came second in the survey, followed by Shanghai,
Beijing, Taipei and Guangzhou. The order was unchanged from last year. The
report ranks cities by criteria including economic scale, development costs,
industrial structure, talent and the living and business environments. Hong Kong
has the highest incomes, the best talent, the best business environment and the
biggest economy, it says. However, its advantage over Shanghai in terms of
economic scale has narrowed because the coastal city has developed more rapidly
than Hong Kong. Shanghai's gross domestic product exceeded that of Hong Kong for
the first time last year, growing 8.2 per cent year on year to 1.49 trillion
yuan (HK$1.69 trillion), compared to HK$1.61 trillion for Hong Kong. The city,
which aspires to be an international financial centre, has already seen its
stock market surpass Hong Kong's and its port overtake Hong Kong's to become
China's biggest. Responding to the report's findings, a government spokesman
said that since the economic structure in the Pearl River Delta region had been
evolving rapidly, Hong Kong had been striving to enhance its co-operation with
the mainland so that they could complement each other. "We are facing global
competition although Hong Kong ranked top in China. We must improve our
competitiveness at all times and move towards a high-value-added, knowledge
economy to maintain our advantage, as well as creating more quality jobs," he
said. The spokesman noted that even though Shanghai was rated higher than Hong
Kong for innovation and the competitiveness of its enterprises, Hong Kong was
still No.1 overall among 294 Chinese cities.
Major theme parks in Asia were hit
harder by the financial downturn than their counterparts in America and Europe.
A global survey found that total attendance in Asia dropped 3.5 per cent to 65.5
million last year, compared to a 1.3 per cent fall in the Americas and no change
in Europe. Like most leisure travel, theme park holidays are discretionary
purchases that consumers are likely to cut back on in lean times. In Asia, the
economic downturn and fears about the spread of human swine flu led many
visitors, including mainlanders, to stay home last year, hurting the attendance
of every major theme park in the region except Hong Kong Disneyland and Lotte
World in Seoul, according to data compiled by the Themed Entertainment
Association and the consultancy, AECOM Economics. Hong Kong Disneyland recorded
attendance growth of about 2 per cent to some 4.6 million last year, making it
the 16th most visited theme park in the world, up two places. Local rival Ocean
Park suffered a 4.6 per cent drop but still managed to attract 4.8 million
visitors, ranking it number 14 in the world, up one spot from the previous
year's list. Both parks are embarking on ambitious expansion plans to add more
attractions, a move they say is essential to boosting attendance and the bottom
line. Disney's Magic Kingdom in Florida again topped the rankings. Worldwide,
Disney parks dominated the top eight spots on the list with Universal Studios
Japan coming in at number nine with 8 million visitors, down 3.6 per cent. The
theme park that enjoyed the biggest improvement last year was De Efteling in the
Netherlands, up one-quarter to 4 million visitors. Islands of Adventure at
Universal Orlando in Florida saw the biggest drop, with attendance down 13.8 per
cent to 4.5 million visitors. The figures in the report are based on the
calendar year. Ocean Park's financial year ends on June 30 while Hong Kong
Disneyland's ends on September 30. AECOM uses various sources for its numbers.
"Most operators in Asia were cautiously optimistic for the 2009 season, and that
caution was justified. The season turned out to be challenging due to the global
financial crisis, outbreak of H1N1 and poor weather conditions in some markets
in Asia," Christian Aaen, AECOM's regional director in Asia, said. "Still, new
parks opened in China and key markets in Asia have a significant development
pipeline compared to anywhere else in the world." The opening of Universal
Studios Singapore this year marked the beginning of a decade in which Asia would
dominate in terms of growth for the industry, he said. 
3 days in Thailand, HK$29,000 in roaming fees - Anthony Lam displayes his phone
bill from 3 Hong Kong. When Anthony Lam Yue-yeung landed in Bangkok last
September bound for what he expected to be a pleasant three-day holiday on the
resort island of Koh Samui, he switched on his iPhone. Like mobile phones
everywhere it was swiftly flooded with welcome text messages offering roaming
discounts and other services. Lam selected an unlimited data roaming service
offered by his provider, 3 Hong Kong, at a rate of HK$138 per 24 hours,
confirmed and activated it, and proceeded to browse the internet from his phone
as he usually does. But Lam, a host for online radio station Hong Kong People
Reporter, had a rude shock when he got his bill a month later. Despite the
discount rate he had selected, the bill included HK$29,026 for "additional
roaming charges" during the three days he had spent on the island. The catch was
that the discount applied only to True Move, a partner network of 3 Hong Kong,
and during his travels his phone had connected to different networks depending
on his location. He and 3 Hong Kong are now in a deadlock, with him refusing to
pay and the company demanding that he do so, and cutting off his service every
few days to force him to pay. "They told me the discount was only available in
specific partnership networks and a standard rate applied when I roamed onto
other networks," Lam said. "It is ridiculous. How am I supposed to know which
network is their partner? And I wonder who will notice which network is in use
when we are roaming overseas." But 3 Hong Kong insists the bill is justified.
"The welcome SMS clearly states that customer can enjoy data roaming service at
a daily charge while roaming on True Move, as well as the subscription details,"
a spokeswoman said. "Mr Lam responded ... and subscribed to the service." Record
showed that Lam had roamed onto other operators' networks with which standard
charges applied, she said. Lam said he was preparing to file complaints with the
Consumer Council and the "telecoms watchdog Ofta". The service operator said it
would contact Lam this week in an effort to resolve the case. The Consumer
Council has received 134 complaints regarding mobile operators' GPRS charges in
the first three months of this year. A spokeswoman said the council had received
several complaints on similar cases, and strongly advised the customers to check
with their local operators before departure about the tariffs on roaming
services. "If consumers are to use overseas operators' economical plan for data
roaming, they should change the network setting from auto-connect to manual
connect," she said. 
TVB and ATV will air four matches live and
screen highlights from soccer's World Cup, which starts on June 11 - but only on
their digital channels.
Labor unions across the political
spectrum have called for an hourly rate of HK$33 to HK$35 as the city's first
minimum wage level. Some 270 representatives from about 180 unions met in Wan
Chai last night over the hotly debated issue. Some of the unions belong to the
pro- democracy Confederation of Trade Unions, the pro-government Federation of
Trade Unions, and the Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labor Unions. Li
Fung-ying, a lawmaker from the Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labor Unions,
said those at the meeting agreed that the minimum wage level should be set at
between HK$33 and HK$35 an hour. She said the unions are now polling their
members on their views. The unions also want the authorities to better define
the role of the government in the proposed panel to review the minimum wage
level on a routine basis after the related law comes into effect, Li said. She
said the panel should also include some members of the Labor Advisory Board, a
non-statutory body which advises the government on labor affairs. Li said some
participants at the meeting expressed hope that the minimum wage law will also
protect foreign domestic helpers. She did not rule out meeting with the Labor
and Welfare Bureau officials on the issue. The unions did not discuss the bottom
line of negotiations with the government in last night's meeting, Li said. FTU
chairman Ng Chau-pei also raised doubts over the government's role in the
minimum wage review panel. He too expressed hope that some Labor Advisory Board
members would be on it. The government hopes the main bill of the minimum wage
law can be enacted before the the Legislative Council breaks for summer around
mid-July. The Provisional Minimum Wage Commission is tasked with advising the
chief executive on the city's first minimum wage level. It is collecting
opinions from various groups. The deadline for submitting views is Monday.
Earlier, catering-sector legislator Tommy Cheung Yu-yan said his sector will
only accept a minimum wage level that is not over HK$24 an hour. Cheung, who is
also a member of the pro-business Liberal Party, had previously suggested a rate
of HK$20 an hour, leading to much criticism. He was forced to apologize after a
public outcry. The Liberal Party also suggested the level be set at HK$24 an
hour.
Bayer plans big push into booming Chinese market - German drug and chemical
maker Bayer plans to roll out 20 products in China as it expects mainland’s
medical market to grow nearly 10-fold over the next decade.
Persistent attempts by China's famed
Shaolin temple to stamp its trademark on instant noodles and coffee may have hit
a brick wall after a court ruled against the move.
China is a facing a severe shortage of
iron ore, which is likely to lead to higher prices and force some steel mills to
stop production. "A massive shortage of iron ore supply has developed in China
because domestic supply has not been able to keep up with demand," said Jim
Lennon, senior commodities strategist with Macquarie, speaking in Hong Kong
yesterday. "Prices are moving back up to their bull market highs of 2008." Iron
ore spot market prices have leaped from US$60 a ton at the beginning of last
year to around US$180 a ton. They have risen sharply this year on the back of a
massive increase in steel production which has been driven by strong economic
growth boosted by the 4 trillion yuan (HK$4.55 trillion) stimulus package
introduced in December 2008 and the increase in money supply. Chinese steel
production was running at an annualized rate of 425 million tons a year in
October 2008 but in February production had increased to an annualized rate of
656 million tons. This required an additional 350 million tons of iron ore
which meant that seaborne iron ore trade increased last year despite the biggest
downturn in non- Chinese production since 1946. Iron ore prices used to be
settled annually but recently shifted to a quarterly basis so as to better
reflect spot market prices. The move was accompanied by increases of more than
90 per cent and has upset steelmakers around the world. The move has not gone
down well in China, where the authorities have accused the big three producers
of acting as a monopoly. Lennon said that when iron ore prices dropped in 2008
and early last year as a result of the global financial crisis, many of China's
high-cost domestic ore producers stopped production since they needed at least
US$85 a ton to remain profitable. Since then, ore grades have declined and
domestic producers are thought to need prices of US$120 and in some cases US$150
to achieve profitability. As a result, when prices rose this year they were not
able to ramp up production fast enough. At the same time the global production
of steel has picked up sharply and the big iron ore producers of Vale, BHP
Billiton and Rio Tinto have reduced exports to China and reverted to their
traditional customers in Europe, Japan and South Korea. So, while ore imports
into China were 30 million tons lower in the first quarter of the year than in
the third quarter of 2009, steel production has continued to accelerate, Lennon
said. "You've got fewer imports of ore but 120 million tonnes more of demand,"
he said. While Australian producers were going flat out, Brazil's Vale was down
some 50 million tones on annualized rate because of serious production problems.
Supply might ease over the next six months as Vale may solve its technical
problems while BHP is expected to increase production. Lennon said there needed
to be a slowdown in steel production to enable the iron ore market to rebalance.
"But if there is no slowdown in steel production due to demand, there may well
have to be a slowdown in steel production driven by the shortage of iron ore.
That is, a shortage of iron ore may force some steel makers to stop production,"
he said. Lennon added that he had already heard of some steel makers having to
shut down blast furnaces because they could not get iron ore. He said there was
a chance that if the Chinese government's recent measures to cool the property
market took effect, steel demand might ease. "But over the next two years we
don't see enough iron ore supply globally to really change the situation
significantly," he said.
Sarkozy to mend ties on second China
visit - French President Nicolas Sarkozy will leave for China tomorrow for a
visit intended to set the seal on a reconciliation, two years after he offended
Beijing with comments on Tibet.
Yanzhou Coal Mining (SEHK: 1171) aims
to more than double its annual output to 100 million tons by 2015,
vice-chairman Li Weimin says. Yanzhou Coal aims to sell 43.55 million tons of
coal this year, up from 38 million tons last year, which would surpass the 40
million ton mark for the first time in seven years and reach the highest level
since the company floated on the Hong Kong bourse in 1997. After its output fell
in 2004 and 2005 to as low as 32.5 million tons, Yanzhou Coal struggled to
lift production owing to difficulties in land requisition and village
resettlement in its densely populated home province of Shandong. However, the
company has had a shot in the arm since completing the A$3.3 billion (HK$23.8
billion) purchase of Australian coal producer Felix Resources late last year.
Felix's net output target is 13.5 million tons in 2015, from 7.35 million this
year. It has 302.7 million tons of proved and probable reserves, against
Yanzhou Coal's 1.83 billion tons at the end of last year. Holding a 15.4 per
cent stake in the third coal export terminal in Newcastle, New South Wales, the
world's largest coal exporting port, Felix will help Yanzhou Coal obtain
much-needed export quota at the capacity-constrained port to expand sales at its
Austar mine in the state. Chief financial officer Wu Yuxiang said upon
completion of the second phase expansion of the port in 2012, Austar would be
able to lift annual sales to 2.5 million tons from 1.63 million tons last
year. Li said Yanzhou Coal "must consider" further acquisition opportunities in
Australia by tapping into Felix's resources but added that reserves from
existing mining projects are sufficient to meet Yanzhou Coal's 100 million tonne
output target. Yanzhou Coal's domestic projects include the Yushuwan mine in
Shaanxi province, which has a planned annual capacity of 20 million tons in
five years, and the Wanfu mine in Shandong province, with a capacity of 1.8
million tons in five years. Yanzhou Coal is embroiled in a six-year-old
shareholding wrangle and valuation arguments over the development of Yushuwan,
where it was supposed to take a 41 per cent stake. Its partners include
Thai-Chinese conglomerate Chia Tai Group and the local government, but a final
investment has not been reached. In Ordos, Inner Mongolia, Yanzhou Coal
completed this month the acquisition of a coal-to-methanol production project
for 190 million yuan (HK$216 million). Construction of the 3.4 billion yuan
plant started last month and is slated for completion in 2012. The firm posted a
36.6 per cent year-on-year fall in net profit to 4.1 billion yuan for 2009, but
this year's first-quarter earnings jumped 191 per cent to 2.1 billion yuan on
higher volume and prices. Li expected this year's domestic coal price to be
higher than last year, with contracts signed so far commanding a 17.6 per cent
price rise, while its Australian unit's sales price averaged US$131 a tonne in
this year's second quarter, up a third from last year's average of US$98. Shares
in Yanzhou Coal added 7.2 per cent yesterday to HK$19.42 in a market that rose
1.6 per cent. 
Xiang'an Tunnel, China's first undersea
tunnel linking Xiamen Island and the mainland in Fujian Province was put into
traffic on April 26, 2010. The undersea tunnel has a length of 8.7 kilometers.
SHKP brings high-end brands to Pudong -
From raw land 10 years ago, growth area given makeover for luxury-goods shoppers
- Sun Hung Kai Properties (SEHK: 0016) is about to change the retail landscape
of Shanghai's Pudong district by showcasing 25 world class brands in its
soon-to-be-opened luxury shopping centre. Retailers such as Louis Vuitton,
Chanel, Hermes, Gucci, Prada, Cartier and Salvatore Ferragamo will start opening
their flagship stores at Shanghai IFC Mall from Wednesday, said Maureen Fung
Sau-yim, a general manager of Sun Hung Kai Properties' leasing department. Fung
said nearly all the retail space in the 1 million square foot phase one at the
shopping centre in Lujiazui had been leased. The international brands will take
up the ground level of 161,400 sqft, with the remaining 155 tenants occupying
the other five levels. The leasing of the 100,000 sqft in phase two would be
finalized next year, she said. "It is a major breakthrough for Pudong, which has
not seen any high-end retailers for the past 10 years," said Albert Lau, the
managing director of property consultant Savills Shanghai. Up to now Pudong has
had only a Yaohan Department Store and the Super Brand Mall catering to the mass
and middle markets. However, since residential prices in Lujiazui, in the heart
of Pudong, have risen to as much as 160,000 yuan (HK$181,900) per square metre,
he believed there was a demand for high-end retailers. "As luxury residential
projects have been built along the Huangpu River in Lujiazui, the catchment area
has changed dramatically from raw land 10 years ago," Lau said. "More
importantly, the international brands' commitment to Pudong is a big thumbs-up
for the area." Fung said some of the international brands which were focused in
Puxi were reluctant to extend their reach to Pudong when the firm approached
them six years ago. "But the rapid economic growth and infrastructure
development in Pudong to host the World Expo has helped speed up the maturity of
the luxury retail market," she said. A Bain & Co report said the mainland's
luxury goods market rose 12 per cent last year, reaching US$9.6 billion and
accounting for 27.5 per cent of the global market. It estimated that in the next
five years the mainland would become the world's biggest luxury goods market
with sales reaching US$14.6 billion. With the Lujiazui metro station located in
the basement of the IFC Mall, Fung said the trip from Puxi, the city's
traditional core business district, would take only 15 minutes. Of the 180
tenants that have committed to take space in the shopping centre, 15 per cent
would be making their first appearance on the mainland, while 40 per cent would
be opening their first store in Shanghai. The IFC Mall is part of a development
comprising 4 million square feet of grade A offices in two towers, a five-star
276-room Ritz-Carlton Hotel, and 260 serviced apartments. It is also SHKP's
first wholly owned development on the mainland. HSBC (SEHK: 0005) occupies 22
floors of the 45-storey Tower One. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, due to open next
month, occupies the top 15 floors of Tower One. Fung refused to disclose the
rents but said overall rents for prime luxury space were US$10 to US$15 per
square metre per day in Shanghai. Lee Hing-yin, a director of Colliers
International's research and advisory department, said high-end retailers would
not withdraw from Puxi, but Pudong would provide an alternative for
international brands.
Swire Properties, a property arm of
conglomerate Swire Pacific (SEHK: 0019) plans to raise up to US$2.7 billion from
a Hong Kong initial public offering, two sources close to the deal said late on
Sunday. Hong Kong-based Swire Properties, one of the leading property companies
in Asia, is selling 907 million shares, or 13.8 per cent of its enlarged share
capital, at a price range indicated between HK$20.75 and HK$22.90 per share, the
sources said. Swire Properties’ spokesman declined to comment. The sources have
direct knowledge of the offering but are not authorized to speak on the record
about the deal. Swire Properties’ offering price represents multiple of about
9.5 to 18 per cent discount to estimated net asset value (NAV), one of the
sources said. By comparison, Singapore-listed Hong Kong Land trades about 14 per
cent discount to forward NAV while Great Eagle (SEHK: 0041) trades at about 35
per cent discount to forward NAV, according a Morgan Stanley report. Swire
Properties, which was formed in 1972, was involved in one of Hong Kong’s largest
redevelopment projects, transforming the territory’s Taikoo dockyards and sugar
refinery into the 12,000 unit Taikoo Shing project in the 1970s. Swire
Properties comprises three main businesses, including property investment,
property trading and investment and operation of hotels. Property investment
accounted for 90 per cent of the company’s total turnover last year. Morgan
Stanley expects the company to increase underlying profit by 12.7 per cent to
HK$4.31 billion this year, with a further 7 per cent rise to HK$4.6 billion next
year. Swire Properties, which kicks off its formal marketing roadshow on Monday,
issued a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Sunday confirming the
price range, but without mentioning the number of shares it plans to issue under
the global offering. Goldman Sachs, HSBC (SEHK: 0005) and Morgan Stanley are
underwriting the Swire Properties deal.
More than 1,000 young job seekers
flocked to the International Commerce Centre (ICC) yesterday in the hope of
landing a "high level" job at the city's tallest building. The one-day
recruitment exercise sought to fill just eight "ambassador" posts, whose main
role will be receiving guests and visitors at the observation deck on the 100th
floor of the West Kowloon building when it opens in the fourth quarter next
year. At 393 metres above sea level, it will be the highest observation deck in
Hong Kong. Some applicants said the job, with a starting salary of HK$10,000,
was "too good to be missed" and arrived at 7am, four hours before application
forms were to be distributed. Ho Yiu-kun, a finance student who graduated last
year, said he was desperate to find a job after months of looking. "I understand
the market needs experienced talent. We 'greenhorns' may have to adapt to the
market environment," Ho said when asked why he did not try for a job in finance.
Cheung Ka-yiu said it was a dream job for someone just out of college. "Even if
I cannot get the job, I hope I can take the chance to brush up my job interview
skills," he said. An observation deck spokeswoman said they were pleased with
the response. The city's unemployment rate dropped to 4.4 per cent in the first
quarter this year, down from 4.6 per cent in the three months to February.
Improvements were mainly seen in the insurance, arts, entertainment, recreation,
and information and communications sectors. But the jobless rate for those aged
between 20 and 29 was 5.6 per cent for the first quarter, a slight increase from
5.5 per cent for December to February. About 400 protesters from three labour
groups staged a rally outside the government headquarters in Central yesterday,
demanding the proposed minimum wage be set at up to HK$35 an hour. The
Provisional Minimum Wage Commission is taking public views until next Monday and
is expected to make a recommendation in July.
Troubled fung shui master Tony Chan Chun-chuen could face criminal charges of
tax evasion - even if he settles the HK$340 million he owes in outstanding
profits tax, experts say. Veteran certified public accountant Patrick Wong Lung-tak,
who specializes in taxation, explained the demand for tax payment filed with the
court by the Inland Revenue Department last Saturday for unpaid profit taxes was
a civil proceeding to get Chan to settle the tax bill. The writ claims Chan owes
profit taxes of HK$115.6 million for the 2005-06 financial year and HK$231.2
million for 2006-07. Wong said unless a taxpayer can persuade the judge that the
department has made an over assessment or that the money involved is not income
or remuneration for any services, the taxpayer will have to settle the amount.
Wong refused to comment directly on Chan's case but he said: "An income from any
fung shui services or massage fees or any services provided by a taxpayer is
subject to taxes. "Maybe a taxpayer needs to persuade the judge that the amount
in dispute is a `present of love,"' Wong said. "The worst consequence for a
civil proceeding is bankruptcy if a defendant refuses to settle the payment in
dispute." The department can still press criminal charges of tax evasion even if
a taxpayer is willing to settle the tax. It can also do so after the taxpayer
has gone bankrupt, according to both Wong and lawmaker Paul Chan Mo-po. Under
the Inland Revenue Ordinance, the maximum penalty for tax evasion is
three-years' imprisonment. It also carries a maximum fine of three times the tax
undercharged as a result of the tax evasion. But both Paul Chan and Wong agree
the government would need strong evidence before it could bring tax evasion
charges. Wong said even if Tony Chan has appealed the court's decision in the
will battle against Chinachem Charitable Foundation which he lost in February,
it is completely independent of the tax dispute. Paul Chan said it is not
unusual for the department to file a writ against taxpayers. Tony Chan's
assistant yesterday said Chan had no comment on the matter. 
Robert Zoellick,
president of the World Bank, left, and Dominique Strauss-Kahn, International
Monetary Fund managing director, talk at the start of the Development Committee
meeting at the World Bank headquarters in Washington overnight on Sunday. The
World Bank recognised China’s growing economic influence and agreed on Sunday to
elevate Beijing's voting power to behind only the US and Japan in the 186-nation
lending organisation. Lifting mainland above a number of western powers,
including Germany, France and Britain, also gives other nations with emerging
economies more voice and say in how the bank operates and lends money. Bank
members also decided to increase the institution’s capital by US$3.5 billion; it
was the first increase in more than 20 years. Mainland’s stake at the bank, in
terms of voting power, climbs from 2.78 per cent to 4.42 per cent. The US, the
world’s largest economy, remains No 1 spot at 15.85 per cent, effectively giving
it veto power, followed by Japan at 6.84 per cent. Finance Minister Xie Xuren
welcomed the shift, saying the change “represents an important step towards
equitable voting power between developing and developed members”, according to
Xinhua News Agency. Countries such as mainland, Brazil, India and Russia long
have complained about the dominance of the United States and European nations in
the bank’s decisions. Under an informal agreement dating to the end of second
world war, an American is president of the bank and a European leads its sister
institution, the International Monetary Fund. Robert Zoellick, the bank’s
president, said at a news conference that the shift in voting power “recognises
that we need to consign outdated concepts like ‘Third World’ to history. Today
the world is moving toward a new, fast evolving multipolar economy.” Speaking
after a meeting of the bank’s policy-setting Development Committee, Zoellick
said countries with emerging economies are critical sources of demand in the
global economic recovery under way and over time “can become multiple poles of
growth”. But Oxfam, a development advocacy group, said the World Bank broke a
promise made at its meeting last year in Turkey to protect the voice of the
poorest countries. “Of 47 countries in sub-Saharan Africa,” said Caroline
Hooper-Box, an Oxfam spokeswoman, “more than a third have lost share, stayed the
same and one [Sudan] has gained”. However, World Bank spokesman David Theis said
that was a misleading statement because it did not give the bank credit for
voting reforms it had already made in 2008, which had increased African shares.
The voting changes announced on Sunday built on the 2008 reforms. Zoellick said
the capital increase “means that we will no longer face the possibility that we
would have to cut back our lending later this year”. He said the bank has
provided US$105 billion in financial support to its members since the financial
crisis began to bite in July 2008. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the
bank “made a strong and compelling case” for the capital increase and said he
would seek approval of the US share – about US$117 million each year over five
years – from Congress.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy sets
off to China on Wednesday for a visit intended to set the seal on a
reconciliation, two years after he offended Beijing with comments on Tibet. The
state visit, Sarkozy’s second to China, will have a political rather than a
commercial focus and will include talks on possible new sanctions on Iran over
its nuclear programme, the French presidency said. Sarkozy will be accompanied
by his wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, and will find time during the three-day visit
for some private sightseeing in the ancient city of Xian, a former imperial
capital. He will meet President Hu Jintao and chief legislator Wu Bangguo in
Beijing before travelling to Shanghai on Friday for the opening of the Shanghai
World Expo, a huge multinational cultural exhibition. “China attaches a great
importance” to Sarkozy’s visit, said a source in Beijing. A source in Paris
added that “this year will be an exceptional year for Franco-Chinese ties,” with
“a return to unclouded relations”. The French president’s first state visit to
China was in November 2007, six months after his election.
Hongkongers are piling into the yuan on
hopes that the value of the currency will rise. Customers at city banks have
switched their Hong Kong deposits into yuan deposits, mirroring a shift by large
equity fund managers into stocks likely to benefit from such a trend. Hong Kong
dollar deposits converted into yuan in February amounted to 2.57 billion yuan
(HK$2.92 billion), according to data from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority,
double the 1.26 billion yuan converted in February last year. Total deposits
stood at 66.09 billion yuan at the end of February, up 22.46 per cent from
February last year. 
Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou
has decided to head a government-level free-trade agreement task force to show
his determination to keep the island from being economically marginalised. "I
have decided to take the rein of the free-trade agreement task force because I
want to upgrade its structure and level," Ma announced during a televised debate
yesterday. The 134-minute debate with Dr Tsai Ing-wen, chairwoman of the
pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party - the first between a president
and an opposition party leader - saw the two arguing heatedly over whether
Taiwan should sign a semi-free trade agreement with the mainland. Ma and his
government hope to strike the Economic Co-operation Framework Agreement (Ecfa)
with the mainland as soon as June. But the DPP fears the deal could lead to
political integration in the future. "The DPP has repeatedly claimed that Ecfa
is a sugar-coated poison and boycotted such a deal," Ma said. "Taiwan is bound
to be marginalised if it continues to oppose the pact." Stressing there was no
time to lose, Ma demanded the DPP's support in the efforts to sign Ecfa. He said
the mainland had already formed a trade bloc with the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations in January. "The Asean-plus-three is expected to be formed in five
years, and we have no time to lose, as we will stand to become marginalised
economically when such a trade bloc is formed," said Ma, referring to the
proposed trade bloc expected to be formed by Asean, the mainland, South Korea
and Japan in 2015. But Tsai criticised Ma for exaggerating the impact of Asean-plus-three,
pointing out Japan and South Korea were cautious about signing such a deal.
"They are concerned that it would make China the core of the East Asian economy
and expand its economic power," she said. She said Ma should carefully weigh the
possible harmful effects to Taiwan, including huge job losses and stiff
competition from the mainland once the mainland shipped tariff-free products to
the island. Referring to the DPP's fears that cross-strait economic integration
would lead to political integration, the opposition leader also criticised Ma
for trying to use the mainland as a stepping stone. But Ma said other countries
would be more willing to sign free-trade deals with Taiwan once Taipei signed
Ecfa with Beijing. Analysts said while the debate would help increase public
awareness of Ecfa, it would do nothing to bridge the gap between the government
and the opposition camp. "It might consolidate support from the grass-roots
Kuomintang members for Ma Ying-jeou's efforts to sign Ecfa with the mainland,
but it would never change the DPP's mindset in opposing it," said political
commentator Huang Kuang-chin. 
When word is out that twenty-somethings
have hit the streets, images of protesting young people come to mind. But for
Jann Wong Chun-wing, 27, and Joyee Chan Ching-ki, 28, yesterday's call was about
love. The pair tied the knot after a four-year courtship in the bustling Great
George Street pedestrian area in Causeway Bay. Shoppers witnessed the city's
first street wedding.
A suspected cousin of Hong Kong's
soaring dragon logo has lived a less high-flying existence in Wales for the last
few years before being quietly retired this month. Sport Wales, a unit of the
Welsh Assembly Government, used a dragon logo until April 1 which closely
resembles the icon for promoting Hong Kong. Designer Eric Cheung Kai-wa, who led
the team that created the original flying dragon logo for Hong Kong in 2001,
said the Welsh logo and his design looked remarkably similar. "Their overall
graphical execution is much the same and the two logos are 80 per cent similar
in structure," Cheung said. "The dragon heads are 90 per cent similar except for
the Welsh version's greater emphasis on the tongue." European dragons appear to
have longer tongues than Chinese dragons in many illustrations. Sport Wales,
formerly known as Sports Council for Wales, declined to say when and how its
dragon logo was created. Spokeswoman Jane Williams said they "no longer have
that information" when asked who the designer was. She said Sport Wales launched
a new logo on April 1, when the name "Sports Council for Wales" was phased out.
The market (top) and an impression of
the Urban Renewal Authority's renovation. There are many easy things in life,
but selling flowers, apparently, isn't one of them. Even in one of Hong Kong's
most famous streets. For more than 30 years, Cheung Yuk-hing and his family have
run a flower stall near Mong Kok's Flower Market Road, selling peonies, orange
trees and other plants they grow in a New Territories orchard. The hours are
long, profit margins low and the family faces a constant battle with hawker
control officers who regularly fine them for putting their plants on the
footpath. "We were the first to put our plants out in the streets, before there
were so many other flower shops. Now everyone does it," said Cheung, who was
fined several thousand dollars during the run-up to the Lunar New Year. Business
in the flower market has been tough for years as competition between vendors has
increased and rents have soared. Now its merchants have something else to worry
about: an Urban Renewal Authority plan to renovate Flower Market Road and a row
of pre-war apartment buildings on Prince Edward Road West. 
Sunny Lai in one of his shops in the flower market.
Why bar staff may sniff at your credit
card tips - Not only are unscrupulous bar and restaurant owners keeping the 10
per cent service charge rather than passing it on to their staff, in many
establishments owners also use the tips that customers add to their credit card
payments to pay commission fees charged by card companies. Credit card companies
charge businesses a commission for accepting their cards. If a customer foots
his bill using a credit card, the card company charges the establishment up to 4
per cent on the final bill. But instead of paying the 4 per cent out of their
own pockets, some bar or restaurant owners pay it out of the service charges or
tips that are supposed to go to staff. Toby Cooper, director of the Globe bar in
Central, is a staunch advocate of leaving tipping at the customer's discretion
and then sharing out the tips among staff. He condemned the act of paying credit
card commissions with staff tips. "On every credit card the merchant pays
between 2 and 4 per cent commission," he said. "But what a lot of companies do
is that they take this 2 to 4 per cent commission out of the tips. Then whatever
tips are left are divided among the staff. "Basically the credit card commission
is not paid by the company - it also comes out of the staff's tips. It's a joke,
but it's done here all the time - which is ludicrous." Some bars and restaurants
in Central take 10 per cent of all the credit card tips and put it towards the
Mandatory Provident Fund contributions they must make for staff. This is not
illegal. Since the Sunday Morning Post (SEHK: 0583, announcements, news) 's
report last week about the common practice of pocketing the service charge among
upmarket bars and restaurants, restaurant activism has emerged. Ronald Pineda,
manager of Al Dente in Wan Chai, is one who is determined to do something about
it. "I've spoken to managers and staff in other restaurants and we feel it's
time that our voice was heard," he said. "That all this is taking place is a
disgrace and we are all really sick of it. All we want is to be treated fairly."
Pineda said the salaries of many staff were very low and that they depended on
the tips to get by. Some companies say they are struggling to make ends meet and
have no option but to keep the charge, while successful businesses see it as a
way of improving profits. "We intend to fight for our rights and bring this to
the attention of the government," Pineda said. Cooper added: "There were plenty
of issues with it in Britain, where employees got sacked because staff were
telling customers not to leave tips on their credit card because they didn't get
them. It's ... another way of owners not having to pay themselves."
The Communist Party cadre
who has ruled Xinjiang with an iron fist for nearly 15 years is being replaced,
months after the region's capital, Urumqi, was rocked by deadly ethnic clashes.
Wang Lequan's replacement as party secretary in the far-western region is a
surprise - Zhang Chunxian, the soft-spoken and media-savvy party boss of Hunan.
His appointment was announced yesterday in Urumqi by Vice-President Xi Jinping,
a day after Xinjiang came up for discussion at a meeting of the party's
Politburo chaired by President Hu Jintao. Xi described Zhang, 57, as having a
liberal mind and a spirit of innovation, and indicated the central government
considered him a safe pair of hands. He expressed the hope that all Xinjiang
cadres could work with Zhang to "make the different ethnic groups happy".
Speculation had been rife that Beijing would remove Wang since September, when a
series of mysterious stabbing attacks using syringes occurred in Urumqi, weeks
after the riots that left 197 people, most of them Han Chinese, dead.
Protesters, most of them Han residents who had publicly expressed their anger
two months earlier at the authorities' failure to stem the rioting by members of
the region's Uygur minority, took to the streets chanting, "Down with Wang
Lequan". They accused him of failing to stop the syringe attacks or protect
their property. It is extremely rare for protesters to publicly call for the
resignation of a senior official. Beijing did not take any action following the
protests to avoid being seen as bowing to public pressure. But Joseph Cheng Yu-shek,
a political scientist at the City University of Hong Kong, said Beijing was
obviously unhappy with Wang, even though he was appointed to another seemingly
powerful post; Wang will move to Beijing to become deputy head of the party's
top law enforcement body, the Central Political and Legislative Affairs
Committee. Cheng said: "Given the allegations of his corruption, especially his
favour to enterprises from his home province of Shandong , it is obvious that
Wang is an unpopular leader who has also been widely seen as an authoritarian,
applying high-pressure and heavy-handed tactics. The change of leadership is
necessary to indicate a new approach." Cheng said Zhang was "widely regarded as
tactful and soft-handed in handling grievances and protests". He said a
high-level Xinjiang Work Forum next month was likely to outline a softer
approach. Jin Zhong, a Hong Kong-based political commentator, also thinks Zhang
will be more moderate. "This is undoubtedly a time of change in terms of policy
in the region," said Jin. "One can hardly say the separatist and ethnic issues
in Xinjiang will disappear overnight along with the reshuffle of its top leader,
but ... one thing for sure is that Zhang is likely to be milder and more
open-minded than Wang. "After all, Wang was promoted to deputy chairman [of the
Xinjiang government] in 1991, two years after the crackdown on student-led
protesters [in Tiananmen Square] when the party was dominated by hardliners."
As communist
cadres go, Wang Lequan and his successor Zhang Chunxian represent two extremes.
Wang, 65 , earned the nickname "the emperor of Xinjiang " for his iron-fisted
rule over the restive region, and for his fiery rhetoric. After deadly riots in
the region's capital, Urumqi , in July, in which most of those killed were Han
Chinese, he appeared on television calling the riot "a massive conspiracy" to
sabotage ethnic unity and called on citizens to "point the spear towards hostile
forces at home and abroad". Zhang, on the other hand, is famous for his populist
style and his media savvy. When he was transport minister, he would patiently
answer questions from reporters who buttonholed him at the National People's
Congress. In 2006, he made a tearful appearance on television during a visit to
the parents of a university student who died trying to save people from
drowning. Wang cut his teeth as a rural cadre and climbed up the political
ladder in his native Shandong province, where he was appointed vice-governor in
1989. In 1991 he was made deputy head of the Xinjiang government and in 1995 was
promoted to party secretary. Wang's tenure in the province was unusually long.
Since the 1990s, very few party secretaries in other provinces have served
longer than two terms, or 10 years. The central government has shuffled leading
cadres between provinces to avoid corruption and nepotism. Tibet, another border
region deemed crucial for ethnic stability, is on its fourth party secretary
since 1992. Zhang Qingli , a close ally of President Hu Jintao , was appointed
in 2006. Wang's obsession with stability earned him another nickname - "the
secretary of stability". Political observers believe he remained in office so
long because Beijing was reluctant to make changes lest it cause instability in
the border region, which is perceived as China's frontline against Uygur
separatism and terrorism. In 1997 Wang presided over a crackdown on Uygur
separatism. When riots erupted in the city of Yining after police arrested
dozens of Muslims, and young Muslims battled police and attacked Han residents,
police responded with force. Officials reported nine deaths, but an Amnesty
International report concluded that hundreds, possibly thousands lost their
lives or were seriously injured. Subsequently, many were executed and others
jailed and "illegal" mosques and unauthorised religious classes shut down. In
2002, Wang was given a seat on the powerful Politburo, the party's inner
sanctum. He has since become an important adviser to the central government on
ethnic policies. In 2003, on his watch, Beijing labelled as terrorist
organisations four groups linked to the movement to forge an independent state
of East Turkestan in Xinjiang. Wang vowed to severely punish all terrorists in
Xinjiang. His rigorous style won him the trust of Beijing. Announcing his new
role yesterday, Vice-President Xi Jinping praised him for his staunch
anti-terrorist efforts. But everything changed with the riots in July last year,
when Han residents in Urumqi publicly showed their anger at the authorities'
failure to put down Uygur violence. In contrast to his predecessor, Zhang, 57,
is known for his tact and publicity skills. A manager in a machinery factory, he
became assistant to the Yunnan governor in 1995 before a transfer to the
Transport Ministry in 1997. In 2002, at age 49, he became the youngest minister
in the cabinet when he was appointed transport minister. His marriage to famous
CCTV anchor Li Xiuping has boosted his public image. If he shows his populist
style can work in Xinjiang, observers believe Zhang stands a good chance of
following Wang into the Politburo.
Inside World Expo museum.
Sand sculptures welcome
upcoming Shanghai Expo.
Henry Tang tells arts hub architects to interpret public freely - The chairman
of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority has asked architects to
interpret public views on the design for the district "freely". Henry Tang
Ying-yen's request came after authority board members expressed concern
yesterday at the diversity and conflicting nature of the views collected. The
authority also announced the appointment of Louis Yu Kwok-lit, chief executive
of the Arts Development Council, as an executive director of the authority in
charge of steering its performing arts policy and management services. The board
received the report of the first stage of public consultation, in which the
chairman of the authority's development committee, Ronald Arculli, concluded
Hongkongers wanted an arts hub with an artistic ambience, good green coverage
and an opportunity to enjoy the waterfront. He said the authority would adopt
the views as its strategic direction and the arts hub would be developed in a
sustainable manner. Members asked the authority to present design models in
exhibitions and on websites in the coming second stage of consultation, which
starts in the middle of this year. Some urged the authority to give further
direction to the three architects amid the diverse views collected in the first
stage of consultation. Board member Yuko Hasegawa said the public views were
diverse and sometimes conflicted with each other. She gave comments on the
flagship museum M+ as an example. Some said the exhibition area should be
enormous and create a "wow effect"; others said the museum did not need to be
large. Some said it should be clustered with other performance venues to
facilitate management and improve creativity; others said it should be a
stand-alone building and separate from performance venues. Some wanted the
museum far from shops; others wanted it to be an international art gift centre.
"Will the authority give clearer instructions to the architects?" board member
Ma Fung-kwok asked. Member Lee Chack-fan echoed Fung's views and said: "It will
be very useful if the authority will provide further analysis of the public
views." Henry Tang said the three architects had attended every public forum and
"would make their own interpretations". "I can promise that the authority will
continue communicating with the community," Tang said, adding that he expected
the second round of public consultation to provide far more interesting results
because the concept plans and models would be available for comment. Louis Yu
will join five other executive directors working under the newly appointed chief
executive of the authority, Graham Sheffield. Yu has more than 20 years of
experience in arts administration and management and his appointment at the
authority has been widely accepted in arts circles. Before he took up his role
at the Arts Development Council, he worked as the executive director of the Hong
Kong Arts Centre. Fringe Club founder Benny Chia said Yu had a good relationship
with various arts groups. "His vast experience in the local arts field will be
very useful," he said. Arts critic Ada Wong Ying-kay said Yu was a visionary:
"Apart from turning the Arts Centre into a nursery ground for small arts groups,
he is also a pioneer in advocating public arts."
A wind power project under
construction in Shanghai. China's wind power industry has seen over 100 percent
year-on-year growth in the past four years. China will choose the sea off
eastern Jiangsu province to build the country's first batch of offshore wind
power projects, an energy official said on Friday. The four wind power projects
include two near shore plants, each with installed capacity of 300 megawatts (mW),
and two built on tidal flats with a capacity of 200 mW each, said Shi Lishan,
deputy director of the new energy department under the National Energy
Administration (NEA). Public bidding for the four projects will start at the
beginning of next month, he said. "Construction of offshore wind power projects
will be one focus of China's wind power industry in the future. As the country
boasts rich offshore wind energy resources, China has great potential in this
field," said Shi. Shi added that the construction of offshore wind power
projects costs much more and requires more complex technology compared with wind
power projects built on land. China has finished construction of a pilot
offshore wind power project near Shanghai. Investment of the project is 2.5
times of an on land project with the same capacity, said Shi. China's wind power
industry has seen over 100 percent year-on-year growth in the past four years.
The country's installed wind power capacity has reached 25 gigawatts (gW), the
second-largest in the world. The country plans to build seven wind power bases
with a minimum capacity of 10 gW each by 2020, in a move to further increase the
use of the clean energy. The seven bases are: Jiuquan in Gansu province, Hami in
Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Hebei province, western Jilin province,
eastern Inner Mongolia, western Inner Mongolia, and Jiangsu province. Once
completed in 2020, the seven bases will have combined capacity of around 120 gW,
when the country's total power capacity is projected to be 1,500 gW, Shi told
China Daily earlier. Construction of these bases would require an investment of
around 1 trillion yuan, he said. However, with the rapid development of the wind
power industry, some problems in the sector also emerged. For instance, it is
hard for many finished wind power plants to connect to the grid. Commenting on
the issue, Shi said the government needs to improve its planning for the
development of wind power and grid capacity. "In my opinion there is no problem
in technology for wind power plants to connect to the grid," he said. 
China Cosco Holdings (SEHK: 1919), the
world's largest bulk vessel operator, said it will add fewer ships to its fleet
than rivals and cut capital expenditure as it seeks to recover from a sea of red
ink suffered last year. The shipping line saw 7.47 billion yuan (HK$8.48
billion) of net losses in 2009 as opposed to a restated net profit of 11.6
billion yuan a year earlier. Sales dropped 48 per cent to 68.46 billion yuan on
plunging freight rates. Cosco's woes add to growing concerns that the global
fleet that transports dry bulk - products ranging from iron ore and coal to
agricultural products - may be growing too fast despite signs of economic
recovery. The shipping conglomerate is scheduled to take delivery of 13 bulk
vessels with 1.9 million deadweight tonnes this year, translating to 5 per cent
of its fleet size as of the end of last year. "The net increase in capacity will
be even less than that, taking into account the disposal and scrapping of
vessels this year," said executive director Zhang Liang at a press conference
yesterday. Marsoft, a shipping consultancy, said the capacity of dry bulk
vessels increased 12.5 per cent year on year, outstripping the 10.5 per cent
increase in demand. There are some positive signs for Cosco. Freight rates for
dry bulk commodities would be higher this year, chairman Wei Jiafu said. The
company predicted that the Baltic Dry Index, which tracks the average charter
rates for bulk vessels, will trade at around 3,000 points this year, compared
with 2,000 points last year. Geoffrey Cheng, a transport analyst at Daiwa
Capital Markets, said the company will post a turnaround in the first quarter,
helped by the rebound in dry bulk freight rates. He forecasts the company's bulk
shipping division will make a profit of 500 million yuan at most while the
container shipping division will post at least 300 million yuan in losses.
Quarterly earnings will be released on April 30. Cosco's board approved a
proposed issue of 10 billion yuan five-year note to finance ship deliveries as
well as repaying bank loans and settling fixed-asset investment expenses.
Capital expenditure is expected to drop 11.6 per cent in the year to 10.2
billion yuan as the company remains cautious about the pace of the global
economic recovery. Cosco Container Lines has raised freight rates on the
Asia-Europe routes, intra-Asia routes and transpacific routes this year. It is
confident that it will be able to raise freight rates by US$800 and US$1,000 per
box to the west coast and east coast of the United States in the annual contract
negotiations which end next month. Sales from its container shipping division
dipped 38 per cent to 27.5 billion yuan last year while Asia-Europe trade was
the hardest hit, posting a 54.6 per cent decline in sales. The outstanding order
book of the shipping company amounted to 54 container vessels with a total
capacity of 414,926 20-foot equivalent units, representing 73 per cent of the
existing fleet size. Nine vessels with 46,000 teu capacity are scheduled to be
delivered in the year while six vessels will be chartered. 
The opening ceremony for
the World Expo in Shanghai is set to be the "biggest outdoor entertainment event
in history", according to people involved in the preparations. Contrary to
repeated official pledges to hold a "simple" ceremony with a frugal budget, the
city is understood to be sparing no expense to ensure the Friday night show is
an extravaganza of jaw-dropping proportions. The two-hour event will end with a
fireworks and lighting show expected to eclipse the Beijing Olympics opening
ceremony and outdo the closing ceremony at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 "by a
factor of 10". Shanghai authorities have been tight-lipped about what the
opening ceremony will include but told media it would be a relatively
understated affair to keep the budget in check. Shanghai party secretary Yu
Zhengsheng said earlier this month the ceremony would include indoor cultural
perfomances followed by an outdoor fireworks display. He said the event would
contain "surprises" but would be less extravagant than the Beijing Olympics
opening ceremony in 2008. However, a number of contractors and professionals
linked to the show said otherwise, and mainland media yesterday quoted Zhao
Weiping, chairman of Panda Fireworks - one of the contractors supplying the
display - saying the show would be record-breaking, using 100,000 shells,
"20,000 more than the Beijing Olympics". The South China Morning Post (SEHK:
0583) can confirm the scale of Friday's display will be more spectacular than
reported. The fireworks display is understood to involve 19 barges stationed
along a three-kilometre stretch of the Huangpu River, firing 70 shells every
second for a period of 30 minutes. The figures suggest close to 126,000
individual fireworks will be set off, which would almost double the current
record. The Guinness World Records website says the largest fireworks display
ever was held in Madeira in 2006 and used 66,326 fireworks. The lighting show
will feature 1,000 computer-controlled seven-kilowatt searchlights. "These
things could reach the moon," one person connected to the project said. "Nobody
has ever used anything like that many 7,000-watt lights at one time before." A
further 500 spotlights of 4,000 watts each are also being used in the multimedia
show. The Post understands the Shanghai government and expo organisers have
engaged Australian events organiser David Atkins Enterprises to produce the
outdoor pyrotechnics and lighting theatrics. The company directed the opening
and closing ceremonies of the Sydney Olympics in 2000, the Doha Asian Games in
2006 and the Vancouver Winter Olympics earlier this year. The company's Sydney
office confirmed staff were in Shanghai but declined to give details of what
they were working on. A spokesman for the expo bureau also declined to comment.
"Everything related to the opening ceremony has been designated top secret," he
said. "We are not allowed to accept any interviews whatsoever."
Hi-tech equipment important for police:
senior leader - Zhou Yongkang(C),a member of the Standing Committee of the
Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China,also
secretary of the Political and Legislative Affairs Committee of the CPC Central
Committee,visits the 5th China international police equipment fair in
Beijing,April 23,2010. A senior leader with the Communist Party of China (CPC)
has urged China's police equipment to be updated to better safeguard national
security and social stability. Zhou Yongkang, member of the Standing Committee
of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks when
visiting the China International Exhibition on Police Equipment in Beijing
Friday. "It is necessary to closely follow new police equipment developments
worldwide, learning about advanced technologies abroad and accelerating import
of sophisticated, practical scientific achievements and relevant application to
better handle complicated situations, public incidents and natural disasters in
China," Zhou said. While emphasizing the importance of training of personnel
with skills, Zhou called for greater efforts in research and development of new
police equipment with China's own intellectual property rights, and in speeding
up modernization of police equipment. He said that having modern police
equipment was an important symbol for overall police strength. The exhibition,
held by the Ministry of Public Security at the Beijing Exhibition Center from
Wednesday to Saturday, attracted more than 300 exhibitors from 14 countries and
regions in attendance.
A Wing-In-Ground (WIG) aircraft called "Angel Bird" flies over water during a
trial flight in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, April 23, 2010. The
aircraft, developed by Jiangsu Hengchuan Group with independent intellectual
property rights, is 10.7 meters wide, 12.6 meters long and 3.5 meters high,
Xinhua reported.
"Anything is possible in China," said
GM's China Chief Kevin Wale, "Five years ago we forecast that auto sales in
China will exceed those in the US by 2020, but the prediction came true last
year, 10 years early." General Motors (GM), the biggest vehicle producer in
China, announced earlier this month that it aims to sell more than 3 million
cars in the country in 2015, up from 1.83 million units last year.
Smell the spring flowers of Wuzhen -
The most important part of touring the town is experiencing the culture of the
town and its waterways.
Hong Kong's total advertising
spending for January-March rose 24 per cent to HK$6.74 billion from HK$5.45
billion a year ago, led by the banking and property sectors. Advertising
spending in Hong Kong accelerated in the first quarter, as the improving economy
helped drive more campaigns into television, newspapers and online media. Led by
robust investment from the banking and property sectors, total advertising
spending in the January-March period rose 24 per cent to HK$6.74 billion from
HK$5.45 billion a year ago, according to media-monitoring firm admanGo. It said
all sectors, except for the entertainment industry, increased their media
exposure last quarter. Last month, the Hong Kong Advertisers Association
reported many companies were optimistic about the economy's health and aimed to
raise their advertising budgets this year. It said the main focus of advertisers
would shift from driving sales to building brands. Although television
advertising generated the most revenue at HK$2.49 billion in the first quarter,
spending on online media and newspapers recorded the highest growth rate year on
year at 59 per cent and 32 per cent, respectively. "Entertainment-related
advertising, however, fell 11 per cent to HK$276.74 million from HK$312.67
million in the previous year due to a double-digit drop in spending each by
music recording companies, retailers and karaoke establishments," an admanGo
spokeswoman said. The banking sector spent the most in advertising during the
first three months of the year, with spending up 34 per cent year on year at
HK$658.82 million. HSBC (SEHK: 0005) was the top banking advertiser, with an
outlay of HK$56.15 million. Campaigns by the pharmaceutical and health-care
sector reached HK$538.3 million, up 31 per cent year on year. The industry's top
advertiser, GlaxoSmithKline, was also the city's largest spender, with a total
investment of HK$88.95 million. Advertising by the property sector hit HK$314.21
million, a growth of 153 per cent, the highest among all industry categories.
This was spearheaded by developer Sun Hung Kai Properties (SEHK: 0016), which
spent HK$30.63 million.
Fields of dreams -
Hongkongers are warming to fair-trade practices that help farmers get better
deals for their harvests. It's not often that city folk get to wade in rice
paddies. Bicky Wong Pik-yee and Lily Lo Kai-lei, rice importers from Hong Kong,
had that chance when they took up a supplier's invitation to check out a farm in
northern Thailand. Farmers gave the two women wellies to keep their feet clean
while out in the fields. "The trip was described to us as a 'mystery tour'. We
were definitely intrigued," Wong says of their visit in 2006. The pair wound up
in Ubon Ratchathani, at a small farm co-operative designed to give marginalised
farmers better market access and fairer payment for their harvests by reducing
the role of middlemen. The concept of fair trade, however, had yet to enter
their minds as they got ready to plough a field for the first time ever. "The
boots were a bust," Lo recalls, smiling. "We got stuck in the mud and left
behind by the buffalo." But by the end of their five-day visit - working the
land, sharing meals and chatting with rice farmers and the co-op manager - the
two friends came away with a new purpose. Within a year of their return to Hong
Kong, Lo dissolved her sushi business and joined Wong to establish the Rise Plus
Group to distribute organic and fair-trade produce.
A rare $2 stamp issued from 1914 to
1919 in China showing the inverted image of the Peking Hall of Classics may
fetch HK$550,000. Extremely rare Hong Kong and mainland stamps with errors will
be auctioned in the city, and one of them dates back to 1865. Zurich Asia, the
leading stamp auction house in Asia, will hold its postal history spring auction
from April 24 to 26 at the Excelsior Hotel in Causeway Bay. It will offer 2,258
lots, from Hong Kong and other Asian places, with an estimated total value of
more than HK$15 million. A Queen Victoria 96 cent stamp is among the highlights.
It was issued in Hong Kong in 1865 with an error in its colour. It is olive
bistre but it should have been printed in grey brown and is expected to fetch
HK$500,000. Another rare error stamp was issued between 1914 and 1919 in China.
The image of the Peking Hall of Classics in the $2 stamp was printed upside
down. It is expected to fetch HK$550,000. A rare full pane of red revenue
surcharge stamps issued in 1897 during the Qing dynasty is expected to fetch
HK$500,000. A rare and unissued stamp of Chairman Mao Zedong's inscription to a
Japanese labour friend is expected to fetch HK$400,000. Stamp collector Poon
Kam-leung said these stamps were valuable because of their limited number and
the printing errors. "They are rare and valuable to collect. Some of them were
unissued. It is rare to see the printing errors as well," he said. Zurich Asia
director Louis Mangin said the market for philately had grown significantly.
"There is a strong demand for a variety of rare stamps, and postal history of
China... This phenomenon is enhanced by the rapidly increasing interest among
mainland Chinese collectors who covet rare stamps with historical significance.
The accessibility of stamps also makes it a highly desired category for
collectors who are looking to invest in alternative assets from art, wine and
jewellery."
Hong Kong's Chief Secretary
Henry Tang greets Macau Chief Executive Fernando Chui. Tang to persuade HK
entrepreneurs to tap Hengqin island development - Hong Kong entrepreneurs will
be encouraged to take part in the development of Hengqin, a Guangdong island
earmarked as a key base for cross-delta co-operation, Chief Secretary Henry Tang
Ying-yen said in Macau after meeting Macau Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai-on.
Tang met Chui at the Macau government headquarters before attending a forum on
cross-delta economic ties in the former Portuguese enclave. "Mr Chui invited
Hong Kong to take part in the development [of Hengqin]," Tang said. "I'll
further introduce Hengqin to Hong Kong enterprises and see what suitable
investment opportunities there are." He said Hong Kong companies may have an
advantage in Hengqin's development, which is centred on tourism, convention,
exhibition, leisure and cultural industries. Guangdong officials said in
December that the province would spend 72.6 billion yuan (HK$82.4 billion) to
transform Hengqin, an island off Macau, from a bleak outpost with a gross
domestic product of just 128 million yuan in 2008 into a key base for
cross-delta co-operation. They said a new town would be built on the 86 square
kilometre island, with a theme park, multi-functional power station and business
district. Hengqin enjoys sub-provincial administrative status, joining the ranks
of Pudong New Area in Shanghai and Binhai New Area in Tianjin. Tang said at the
forum in the Macau Tower that Hong Kong entrepreneurs would be encouraged to
upgrade their plants in Guangdong and expand mainland sales networks. "We
believe the successful transformation of Hong Kong enterprises would be a huge
contribution to the upgrade of the overall competitiveness of the manufacturing
industry of the Pearl River Delta," he said. Tang said Hong Kong firms should
expand their sales networks as Beijing unveiled more policies to spur domestic
consumption in the wake of the global financial crisis. Guangdong deputy
governor Lei Yulan and Macau finance minister Francis Tam Pak-yuen also attended
the forum.
After an almost five-hour debate to
remove HK$147 million from the government's budget, the resolution, moved by
Federation of Trade Unions legislator Wong Kwok-hing, was rejected with only the
Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong and two
independents backing the union. "They are turning the by-election into a
referendum [for universal suffrage] ...Why is the government forcing Legco the
pass the funding?" asked Wong, who condemned the Civic Party and the league for
having a political agenda, saying it contravened the Basic Law. Secretary for
Constitutional Affairs Stephen Lam Sui-lung warned that the two parties would
pay the price for exploiting what he called legal loophole. "I believe the Civic
Party and the league clearly understand they are utilising a legal loophole. The
people can see," he said. The five-hour debate on Wong's amendment is the last
of the nine tabled to the financial secretary's budget, which was passed by a
vote of 35-16 at the end of a two-day session. All pan-democrats present at the
meeting voted against the budget saying it lacks measures to help the needy. The
debate quickly degenerated into a shouting match between government allies and
pan-democrats, with the issue of functional constituencies - of which existence
was the theme of the de facto referendum exercise, became the triggering point.
Tourism sector lawmaker Paul Tse Wai-chun accused the Civic Party, in particular
Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee, for her participation in the legal sector constituency
despite her party's opposition to the trade-base seats. Hitting back, Civic
Party leader Audrey Eu Yuet-mee said: "Are you suffering from schizophrenia?"
She referred to Tse's support of his partner Pamela Pak Wan-kam in running for a
seat in the by-election, as well as opposing to the election funding. She urged
people to vote in the election, as it would be a direct channel for them to air
their democratic aspirations. A strong show of public support would deter
Beijing from keeping these trade-based seats, she said. Ip Kwok-him, of the DAB,
joined in the defence of Wong's resolution, saying his party would not
participant, nor canvass for candidates, nor vote in the by-election. The
Liberal Party, and other pro-government independents, said they had no choice
but to reject the resolution because it was the government's duty to carry out
the election. The vote was defeated by a large margin in both the geographical
and functional constituencies. As lawmakers were debating, the University of
Hong Kong released a survey of 1,012 respondents which found public
dissatisfaction with the general performance of lawmakers had reached a
five-year high. The figure has risen by 2 percentage points to 49 per cent
comparing to a similar survey conducted three months ago, when the two parties
first announced their plan to carry out the de facto referendum exercise. In
September last year, the figure was 34 per cent. In the latest survey, 18 per
cent of respondents said they were satisfied with Legco's performance. Robert
Chung Ting-yiu, director of the university's public opinion programme, said the
surge in dissatisfaction was probably due to the constitutional reform row and
the lawmakers' resignations.
Britain has spent £25 million on its
striking dandelion-like pavilion and hopes the venue will generate more than
1,000 meetings between British and Chinese business leaders. Multinationals plan
brand and guanxi blitz at expo - Foreign firms spending millions with eye on
huge market. Coca-Cola is flying in hip-hop stars, Barclays is bringing English
soccer's Premier League trophy and General Motors will offer a glimpse of the
future as foreign firms woo China's massive market at the World Expo.
Multinationals are seizing on the six-month event beginning May 1 to build their
brand presence in the market of 1.3 billion people, but also the business and
government connections - or guanxi - crucial to making money in China. "At this
expo, because it's going on in Shanghai and in China, everyone wants to showcase
their latest and best here," Jean Liu-Barnocki, GM's expo project manager, said.
GM and Chinese partner Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp have built a
state-of-the-art theatre that creates the sensation of soaring over Shanghai in
the year 2030, with emissions and congestion eliminated by electric cars. Behind
the scenes, corporations will be laying the groundwork for such visions by
entertaining high-powered visitors to their pavilions. "Every pavilion has a
hospitality programme or VIP experience as part of its overall design," Liu-Barnocki
said. Signing on as an expo sponsor helped build brands and consumer contact
that could translate into sales, but often the main goal was networking, Pippa
Collett, managing director of London-based Sponsorship Consultants, said. In
China, building guanxi (connections and social reputation) - often through
lavish banquets and other wining and dining - is considered a key part of doing
business. Collet said that expo sponsorships from the likes of GM are often "an
excuse for a group of individuals to be in the same room at the same time".
Britain has spent £25 million (HK$298.8 million) on its striking dandelion-like
pavilion to promote business encounters. It hoped the venue would generate more
than 1,000 meetings between British and Chinese business leaders, Katherine
Dixon, Britain's political and economic consul in Shanghai, said. "This is the
stuff you don't see. This is actually what the UK is focused on. So we haven't
done retail, we haven't done catering," Dixon said, emphasising that unlike
others, Britain is not selling souvenirs or snacks. "Our focus is on targeting
the right people to interact with over six months." David Wright, vice-chairman
of Barclays Capital, which is a £500,000 sponsor of the pavilion, called it "a
major opportunity" to push the bank's brand deeper into China. Barclays, which
sponsors the world's most popular soccer league, will show off the premiership
trophy in Shanghai after the English season ends on May 9, and plans more
generally to promote British financial services in September. ANZ's board would
meet in one of the VIP rooms spread out over three levels in Australia's
pavilion and would host forums on natural resources and agriculture, Nancy Wong,
the bank's head of Asia-Pacific strategy, said. Coca-Cola had been at every
World Expo since Belgium in 1905, and was making a "huge investment" in its
pavilion, Neeraj Garg, head of the beverage giant's expo project, said. It will
host events including a concert by rapper K'naan, whose song Wavin' Flag is
Coca-Cola's anthem for the June-July soccer World Cup in South Africa.
Models pose near a Riich G5 car developed
by the Chery Automobile in front of an advertisement featuring Argentine soccer
star Lionel Messi at the Beijing Auto China 2010 in Beijing on Friday. China's
biggest domestic car brand signaled its ambition on Friday to become a global
player by signing argentine football star Lionel Messi as an international
ambassador.
Air China (SEHK: 0753) swung into profit last year on the back of improving
domestic demand and reduced fuel costs, the nation’s flag-carrier said Friday.
The country’s second-largest airline by fleet size earned 5.03 billion yuan
(US$736.9 million) in net profit, recovering from a net loss of 9.1 billion yuan
in 2008, said a statement filed with the Shanghai stock exchange. In the first
quarter of this year, net profit reached 2.17 billion yuan, up 121.3 per cent
from the same period last year, helped by rapidly rebounding air traffic demand
and gains from fuel-hedging contracts. The turnaround last year was a result of
“rapid growth in demand from domestic air passenger market... the change in
international jet fuel prices” and the company’s measures to cope with the
financial crisis, it said. Total revenue fell 3.5 per cent year on year to 51.09
billion yuan last year due to weak international demand and a drop in fuel
surcharges, it added. The company’s total costs declined 10.4 per cent to 48.9
billion yuan as fuel costs -- often an airline’s single largest expenditure –
fell 8.1 billion yuan thanks to a decline in annual average oil prices, it said.
Second-home buyers and developers which delay construction of their projects to
benefit from speculation are among those targeted in new government measures to
cool the market. China government is continuing to tighten the screws on
second-home mortgage approvals as it tries to damp speculative demand. The
Shanghai Securities News quoted China Banking Regulatory Commission director
Yang Jiacai as saying that banks will identify whether the buyer is acquiring a
second home by basing on the number of the flats the family owns and not on the
number of properties that the buyer owns individually. Previously, the banks did
not have a standard rule on identifying second-home buyers when approving
mortgages. Investors could apply for mortgage plans with lower down payments and
could access interest rates normally offered to first-time buyers even if their
spouses or family members already owned properties. "Some investors would also
buy flats in their baby's name," a property agent said. Investors who have paid
up mortgages for their first homes also used to be treated as first-time buyers
when acquiring a second home, enjoying the benefits of lower down payments and
interest rates. However, under the new rules, these customers will be treated as
second-home buyers. Last week, the State Council ordered banks to raise minimum
mortgage rates on second homes to 1.1 times the central bank's benchmark lending
rate instead of 80 per cent of the benchmark lending rate. The down payment on
second homes was also raised to 50 per cent from 40 per cent. A property agent
said some investors who bought flats in the past two months but had not yet
secured bank finance might be caught out by the new rules. Yang said the CBRC
has released guidelines to the banks in approving property loans to the
developers. Under the new guidelines, developers which delay construction so
that they can benefit from short-term speculation will not get a new property
loan from the banks. Developers which hoard property to drive up prices or use
loans to pay for the land price will also not be able to get a new property
loan. Wang Ren, an analyst at CCB (SEHK: 0939) International Securities, said
property sales are expected to decline in the next few weeks following the
government's new policies on second homes. "The policy will squeeze out some of
the demand. And other home-seekers will postpone their buying plans as they are
worried that the government will announce more cooling measures," he said.
According to the website of the Beijing local government, property sales in the
capital have continued to fall since the central government released the new
measures last week. Only 291 homes were sold on Tuesday, compared with 483
transactions on April 15. Wang believes property prices have peaked. "A sharp
fall in property prices is unlikely to happen," he said. "Property prices are
expected to drop 10 to 15 per cent by the end of the year. But prices would be
still slightly higher than they were at the beginning of this year." SJS Markets
expects the new policies will lead to a decline in property prices from next
month. The prices will drop up to 5 per cent by the end of the year.
Music fountain in trial operation in
Expo Park.
Customers enjoy wagyu beef at Katte Shabushabu, which says the export ban would
not have a big impact as its supply could last for about two months. Lovers of
wagyu beef may need to rein in their appetite for their favorite steaks. Japan
has suspended beef and pork exports after detecting suspected cases of
foot-and-mouth disease in a cattle herd. Doctors said that, while people could
not catch the disease, they should cook meat thoroughly before eating it. Local
restaurants said although the supply of wagyu from Japan was cut, customers
could still choose beef imported from Australia and the United States. The
Japanese export suspension, which was announced on Tuesday, came after the
country's first foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in a decade. Animal health
authorities culled a herd of 16 cows on a farm in the southern prefecture of
Miyazaki on Kyushu island because three animals showed symptoms of the highly
contagious disease, officials said. Foot-and-mouth disease affects cloven-hoofed
animals, including sheep, goats and deer. It is rarely transmitted to humans but
spreads easily between animals, causing them pain and often killing young
animals. Japan exported 565 tonnes of beef last year, including 111 tonnes to
Hong Kong, 347 tonnes to Vietnam, and 72 tonnes to the US, a farm ministry
official said. In Hong Kong, restaurants said wagyu supply would not be greatly
affected. Daikyo Japanese Cuisine in Wan Chai said their beef also came from
Australia. "More than half of our customers prefer Japanese wagyu to Australian
beef. The Japanese meat would melt easily as soon as you put it in your mouth,"
head chef Marco Chung said. He said the restaurant would now import more
Australian beef to cope with the demand. Katte Shabushabu in Tai Hang, which
offers Japanese beef hotpot, said its supply could last for about two months and
so the export ban would not have a big impact. University of Hong Kong
microbiologist Ho Pak-leung said consumers need not fear, as foot-and-mouth
disease would not be passed to human beings. No sick animals could enter the
city as their health would be checked at the border, he said. But it was
important to have beef thoroughly cooked because raw meat might contain other
viruses and bacteria, such as E coli. He said the export ban was implemented to
stop animals from passing the disease to each other. The Centre for Food Safety
said it would look into the export suspension with Japanese health authorities.
Meanwhile, the centre advised the public not to eat certain batches of Jean Caby
pre-packaged cocktail sausages, which are suspected of being contaminated with
Listeria monocytogenes, a potentially fatal bacteria. European Union officials
are recalling the batches with an expiry date before July 30.
Two
premium urban sites at Ho Man Tin and The Peak are set to go under the hammer in
June and July. The auctions underline official determination to increase land
supply, Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah said yesterday. Meanwhile, MTR
Corp (0066) has invited developers to express interest in a Nam Cheong Station
site by 2pm next Thursday. The site has a maximum GFA of 275,477 square meters
for residential use and 27,660 sqm for commercial use. Together, these moves
reveal government resolve in the short term to boost the supply of both high-end
and mass- market residential property. Government coffers are expected to swell
by up to HK$20 billion through the auction of the two choice urban sites.
Midland Surveyors director Alvin Lam Tsz-pun valued the 173,849 square- foot
plot at Valley Road Estate in Ho Man Tin at HK$12,600 per square foot of gross
floor area. His valuation for the 250,930 sq ft Mount Nicholson Road site at The
Peak was HK$30,000 psf. These much-sought-after sites received a combined 31
unsuccessful applications in the past three years. Cheung Kong Holdings (0001)
executive director Justin Chiu Kwok-hung said the developer is interested in
bidding for them, and expects fierce competition. He also welcomed official
moves to increase land supply for luxury homes, which is low at present. The two
sites - expected to provide 1,200 homes - are among the six urban sites the
government included in the application list this year. Secretary for Development
Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said in February they would be put up for sale in two
years' time if developers do not trigger them by then. However, Polytechnic
University professor Eddie Hui Chi-man and Centaline Surveyors said the increase
in luxury land supply will not cool the mass property market in the short term.
"Luxury home [prices] will be hurt," Hui said. "But it will take time for the
signal to be transmitted to the mass market, since they are two different
markets after all." Centaline Surveyors managing director Victor Lai Kin-fai
said the auctioning of the two plots is part of balanced official measures to
increase home supply. "There is a saying that the luxury market is the price
driver," Lai said. "After you have met mass-end needs, you also have to satisfy
the need of the upper class." Lai believes the expectation of increased supply
will help cool prices, while Hui feels its true effects will only be felt when
the homes become available two to three years later. It is unlikely that the
government will have to withdraw the two premium sites, Hui said. Four plots
will go on the block in the next three months. The four prime urban sites may be
made available based on market conditions. The government will invite tenders
for the former Yuen Long Estate site early next year as part of a pilot scheme
to provide small and medium-sized units. 
Nine new measures are on the way to
force developers to be more transparent in selling homes. The moves, announced
by Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah yesterday, come amid mounting anger
over spiraling property prices and developers' sales tactics. The measures
include providing sales brochures in advance of a launch, new price lists three
days prior to any sale and ensuring show flats are realistic. The nine official
guidelines announced yesterday to regulate property sales arrangement and
transparency will be music to homebuyers but they may considerably constrain
developers. Experts said the new requirements can help buyers make informed
decisions. But they also raised doubts over the inflexibility the rules will
impose on developers. It is common practice for developers to adjust prices
according to sales when they put more homes on the market. Henderson Land (0012)
sales general manager Thomas Lam Tat-man expressed his reservations: "The nine
measures could be considered. "However, the market changes very quickly, so it
will not be good for business if we are too inflexible." In February, Sun Hung
Kai Properties (0016) sold more than 900 homes at Yoho Midtown within two days.
Home prices at tower M5 were 3 to 5 percent higher than tower M2 launched
earlier. Centaline Surveyors managing director Victor Lai Kin-fai said the moves
mean developers will effectively have to "learn to sell homes from scratch."
Polytechnic University profess or Eddie Hui Chi-man noted that developers will
not be able to offload more units quickly now that they have to issue a price
list in advance. But he also noted the asymmetry in information between buyers
and developers will be reduced. Hong Kong Property chief executive Richard Li
Chi-shing believes agents will also benefit from the measures. "With more time,
they can better prepare important data, such as partitions, areas, directions
and club facilities." Housing chief Eva Cheng Yu-wah will also work with the
industry to increase transparency on show flats. The measures also require
developers to have at least one showroom that is exactly the same as a finished
flat. The other show rooms must clearly show how they are different from flats
in terms of decor, walls and doors. The government aims to implement the new
measures through the Real Estate Developers' Association "within the next few
months." REDA vice chairman Stewart Leung Chi-kin believes the industry body may
be able to meet the new requirements and will release further details after a
small group meeting this week. The financial secretary warned: "Should they
prove ineffective, we will not rule out the possibility of introducing
legislative regulation." Meanwhile, housing chief Cheng made it clear it is not
official policy to encourage the public to buy homes. "The decision to stop
building Home Ownership Scheme homes was an important one. So we cannot and will
not rashly return to the market." But she said the government is in talks with
banks for HOS buyers to be allowed to settle land premiums in monthly
installments. Transaction procedures will also be simplified. Democratic Party
lawmaker Lee Wing-tat said the policy will fail to curb speculation. "I wonder
why those selling pork chops and vegetables using inaccurate weighing and
measuring equipment could be jailed, but developers selling flats worth of
millions of dollars could escape with a fine," Lee said.
Hong Kong property shares were under pressure on Thursday after government
announced a raft of decisions to cool the local property market. Hong Kong
property shares retreated on Thursday after the government proposed rules
requiring developers to increase transparency in their home sales to curb
speculation and soaring home prices. The measures come as mainland announced
some of its toughest moves in the past half a year to rein in prices in its own
red-hot real estate sector, raising down payment minimums and urging banks to
lend more vigilantly. Sun Hung Kai Properties (SEHK: 0016), Asia’s largest
property group by market value, fell more than 3 per cent to HK$111.70, its
lowest since March 5 intraday, before ending Thursday at HK$113.30, down 1.7 per
cent. The blue-chip property index finished down 1.6 per cent, compared with a
0.3 per cent drop in the broader Hang Seng Index. Cheung Kong (SEHK: 0001)
Holdings, the second-largest developer in Asia, closed down 1.4 per cent at
HK$98.95, while Henderson Land (SEHK: 0012) fell 1.2 per cent to HK$50.75. In
the latest measures, Hong Kong’s government plans to increase the stamp duty on
property transactions above HK$20 million to 4.25 per cent and to disallow
deferred payment of stamp duty for those transactions. “The two proposals are
aimed at increasing the transaction cost of property speculation to reduce the
risk of a property bubble and to ensure the stable development of the property
market,” a government spokesman said in a statement. Since residential
transactions above HK$20 million account for only 1.5 per cent of annual
property transactions, the majority of homebuyers will not be affected the
measures, the spokesman added. “Although the measures are relatively mild
compared with regulations implemented in many mainland cities, we feel the Hong
Kong government is getting more serious in cooling the market, with a threat of
legislating the suggested guidelines if not followed by developers,” RBS said in
a report. Mainland tightens loans - Mainland will adopt a stricter standard in
identifying whether a house is a “second home” when approving mortgage loans, a
senior banking regulator said in remarks published on Thursday. The government
will consult the housing registry to determine whether a family already owns a
home, Yang Jiacai, a China Banking Regulatory Commission director, was quoted as
saying by the official Shanghai Securities News. Previously, regulators only
looked at whether a family had an outstanding mortgage. Beijing has ordered that
buyers of second homes pay higher down-payments than those purchasing first
homes, and several banks are also charging higher rates on second-home mortgages
as the government tries to crack down on property speculation. But some bank
executives said the new definition of second homes might be difficult to apply
in practice because the national housing registry is fragmented, frustrating
banks’ efforts to determine whether a family already owns a home. Separately,
some banks in Beijing raised down-payments on mortgages for third homes to 60
per cent and have started charging mortgage rates with a 15 to 20 per cent
premium over the benchmark interest rate, the 21st Century Business Herald
reported.
Hong Kong Mass Transit - MTR kicks off tender process for HK$33 billion (US$4
billion) Nam Cheong station project - The MTR Corp yesterday kicked off the
tender process for the HK$33 billion Nam Cheong station commercial and
residential project, in line with the government's policy of releasing more
sites to cool the overheated property market. A spokesman for the railway
operator said the company would invite developers to submit expressions of
interest today. Developers will have until next Thursday to show their interest.
The project on top of the station in Sham Shui Po is close to two public housing
estates - Fu Cheong Estate and Nam Cheong Estate. The 6.2-hectare site could
house nine 7- to 9-storey low-rise and nine 42- to 46-storey high-rise
residential buildings with a 287,732 square foot shopping centre. It could
provide 3,300 units with a total residential floor area of 2.96 million sqft and
is scheduled for completion in 2016. The MTR is negotiating the land premium
with the Lands Department. The firm estimated the project's total investment
cost, including the land premium levy and construction cost, at about HK$33
billion. As the project will be developed in two phases, the developer could pay
the premium in two stages. According to Centaline Property Agency data, property
prices at the seven-year-old Metro Harbour View range between HK$4,964 and
HK$5,137 per square foot. Including four residential sites scheduled for land
auction in the next three months, developers will have five development sites to
choose from. Eric Wong Chun-yu, a co-head of Asia property research at UBS,
believes the government's policy of releasing more sites could encourage
developers to launch more flat sales. "They [developers] don't need to worry
that it will be difficult to replenish their land bank. Property price growth
will slow after the housing supply is increased," he said.
Multi-nationals go for 'guanxi' at Expo - Coca-Cola is flying in hip-hop stars,
Barclays is bringing English football's Premier League trophy and General Motors
will offer a glimpse of the future as foreign firms woo China’s massive market
at the Shanghai Expo. Multi-nationals are seizing on the six-month event
beginning May 1 to build their brand presence in the market of 1.3 billion
people, but also the business and government connections – or “guanxi” – crucial
to making money in China. “At this Expo, because it’s going on in Shanghai and
in China, everyone wants to showcase their latest and best here,” Jean Liu-Barnocki,
GM’s Expo project manager, said. GM and Chinese partner Shanghai Automotive
Industry Corporation have built a state-of-the-art theatre that creates the
sensation of soaring over Shanghai in the year 2030, with emissions and
congestion eliminated by electric cars. Behind the scenes, corporations will be
laying the groundwork for such future visions by entertaining high-powered
visitors to their pavilions. “Every pavilion has a hospitality programme or VIP
experience as part of its overall design. Of course we wanted to make sure our
friends and customers can be very well taken care of,” Liu-Barnocki said.
Signing on as an Expo sponsor helps build brands and consumer contact that can
translate into sales, but often the main goal is networking, said Pippa Collett,
managing director of London-based Sponsorship Consultants. In China, building
“guanxi” – often through lavish banquets and other wining and dining – is a
considered a key part of doing business. And Collet, who has advised giants such
as Shell and Unilever, said that Expo sponsorships from the likes of GM are
often “an excuse for a group of individuals to be in the same room at the same
time”. Britain has spent 25 million pounds (US$38 million) on its striking
dandelion-like pavilion to promote business encounters. It hopes the venue will
generate more than 1,000 meetings between British and Chinese business leaders,
said Katherine Dixon, Britain’s political and economic consul in Shanghai. “This
is the stuff you don’t see... This is actually what the UK is focused on. So we
haven’t done retail, we haven’t done catering,” Dixon said, emphasising that
unlike others, Britain is not selling souvenirs or snacks. “Our focus is on
targeting the right people to interact with over six months.” David Wright, vice
chairman of Barclays Capital, which is a 500,000-pound sponsor of the pavilion,
called it “a major opportunity” to push the bank’s brand deeper into China.
Barclays, which sponsors the world’s most popular football league, will show off
the premiership trophy in Shanghai after the English season ends on May 9, and
plans more generally to promote British financial services in September. ANZ’s
board will meet in one of the VIP rooms spread out over three levels in
Australia’s pavilion and will host forums on natural resources and agriculture,
said Nancy Wong, head of Asia-Pacific strategy for the bank. “That’s to bring
together very high-calibre CEOs and government officials and economists to talk
about regional trends and show how we can help bring all these people together,”
she said. Coca-Cola has been at every world Expo since Belgium in 1905, and is
making a “huge investment” in its pavilion, said Neeraj Garg, head of the
beverage giant’s Expo project. It will host events including a concert by rapper
K’naan, whose song Wavin’ Flag is Coca-Cola’s anthem for the June-July football
World Cup in South Africa. It too has VIP lounges, where the company will host
retail executives and bottling company bosses, Garg said. He added: “Expo in
China is going to be the largest showcase event ever.” 
Shanghai will see between
450,000 and 500,000 square metres of new retail space added to the market every
year until 2012. Luxury retailers snap up prime space in Shanghai - Shop rents
rise 1.1pc amid demand from top brands.
Actress Zhang Ziyi (right) takes
part in a CCTV fund-raiser in Beijing on Tuesday for the victims of the Qinghai
earthquake. Actress Zhang Ziyi, her public image tarnished by allegations that
she failed to deliver on a donation promised for Sichuan earthquake victims two
years ago, is working hard to redeem herself after last week's quake in Qinghai.
Zhang gave 200,000 yuan (HK$227,400) to Qinghai quake victims during China
Central Television's charity show on Tuesday, state media reported. The actress,
in a black dress, recited the poem We're Together with other mainland artists.
It was recently revealed that she had also made an anonymous donation of 200,000
yuan to aid drought victims in southwest China. In February, Zhang handed over
160,000 yuan for Sichuan earthquake relief, and her agent apologized publicly
after outraged mainlanders flayed her for overstating her donation. Mainland
media had reported a significant shortfall in Zhang's promised donation of 1
million yuan. Online surveys showed that many internet users believed the
scandal had damaged her reputation and that it could not be repaired quickly.
Hong Kong's
jobless rate has fallen to a 15-month low and is expected to drop further as the
economy picks up, with banks leading the charge to hire more staff. The
seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the three months ended March 31 slid
to 4.4 percent, the government said yesterday. That was lower than the median
4.5 percent estimate of eight economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Secretary for
Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung Kin-chung said the fundamentals of the labor
market remain robust. Hong Kong's retail sales rose at the fastest pace in more
than 20 years in February as the jobless rate fell and gross domestic product
expanded in the nine months through December after a year- long recession. The
city's first-quarter economic report is due on May 14. Financial Secretary John
Tsang Chun-wah budgeted HK$20.4 billion in February for the year starting April
1 to support growth. The stimulus package included personal income-tax rebates
and property- rate waivers. Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation's personal
financial services unit said yesterday it plans to recruit more than 300 staff.
The lender is aiming to double its professional force to meet rising demand from
affluent mainland customers, according to unit head Francesca McDonagh.
Positions available include Premier customer and wealth management managers, and
general banking officers. In recent months, the bank recruited about 900 new
staff, taking its strength at the personal financial services unit to 3,600. The
recruitment period started on Monday and will end on May 16. The local banking
sector has been the most aggressive in hiring staff. BOC (Hong Kong) (2388)
signed up 200 employees, mainly frontline staff, at a recruitment day last
Saturday. China Construction Bank (Asia) Corp - the local retail banking unit of
China Construction Bank (0939) - aims to hire up to 400 people and plans to open
seven new branches, spokeswoman Willa Wong said.
Billionaire Steve
Wynn opened his latest hotel and casino in Macau on Wednesday and said he aims
to start building a massive new resort in Macau next year. Wynn said the project
– to be located in the territory’s Cotai area, a piece of reclaimed land seen as
the next great hope for global gambling – would likely feature less than 2,000
rooms, about 400 tables, restaurants, shopping and meeting rooms set across some
50 acres of lush gardens and landscape. Next to the towering interconnected
hotel-casino projects in Cotai from competitors like Las Vegas Sands, Wynn’s
planned resort would stand in marked contrast. “What makes people happy and what
don’t they get in China? .... What you don’t get in China is space, and the
heart of a resort is space – gardens, places to gambol, not gamble,” Wynn, chief
executive of Las Vegas-based Wynn resorts, said in Macau. “I know what I want to
do on the 51 acres, not build four hotels or six hotels or any of that
foolishness,” he said. “I am going to build one hotel of modest size with
gardens and extended space wherever you are.” Wynn revealed details of the
project ahead of the unveiling of the US$600 million Encore at Wynn Macau. The
only major project to open in the booming gambling territory this year, Encore
is geared toward high-end tourists and gamblers. With over 400 suites, four
7,000-foot villas and over 60 gambling tables, the project was described by Wynn
as “the ritziest hotel in China” whose rooms would raise the standard for the
region’s luxury tourism market. Macau, the world’s most lucrative casino market,
bounced back strongly from the global recession with a bumper last year. So
robust was Macau’s turnaround that the local government, under a new chief
executive, said last month it would seek to limit the industry’s growth by
withholding approval of new projects and capping the number of gambling tables
over the next few years. Wynn said his project wouldn’t be opening during the
government’s efforts to keep the local industry and economy from overheating.
But he said he believed his project would be allowed to proceed. “No one like
myself would be allowed to start a project unless they [Macau officials] wanted
it finished,” he said. “If the goal is to stop our development, we would have
been stopped or we will be stopped with plenty of time. There won’t be any
games. They don’t do that here.”
People canoe in
front of The Wynn Macao hotel (L) and Wynn Encore casino and hotel in Macao
April 21, 2010. The $600 million Encore with 414 suites and villas, opened on
Wednesday.
Taiwan's ruling
nationalist party legislator Chao Li-yun is gagged during a parliament session
inside the legislature Wednesday in Taipei. Dozens of Taiwanese lawmakers
scuffled in parliament on Wednesday over a controversial bill to open local
universities to mainland Chinese students. Several opposition legislators
manhandled Chao Li-yun of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party to stop her chairing
a review of the bill and struggled with others who tried to come to her rescue,
television footage showed. A conference table was overturned and two lawmakers
stood atop the podium shouting at each other in chaotic scenes that lasted about
20 minutes, local media said. Chao was later hospitalised after collapsing on
the scene while several female opposition lawmakers told reporters they were
also injured. Taiwan aims to admit mainland students for the first time as early
as this year to help ease a shortage of students caused by the island’s
dwindling birth rate and a tendency for Taiwanese students to enrol at mainland
universities. The DPP warns that an influx of young people from the mainland
could pose a threat to national security and worsen unemployment. The government
“is selling out everything to China. We won’t allow selling out education to
China,” said lawmaker Kuan Bi-ling of the opposition Democratic Progressive
Party (DPP). But the KMT condemned the unruly behaviour – the second major
incident of its kind in the past two years – and demanded the opposition admit
responsibility, said its parliamentary whip Lin Yi-shih. According to forecasts,
more than a third of Taiwan’s 164 universities will be shut down by 2021 because
they cannot enrol enough students. Taiwanese students have been enrolling at
mainland universities for years, attracted by relatively low tuition fees. An
estimated 7,000 are currently studying in the mainland. 
Catering
industry lawmaker Tommy Cheung Yu-yan - who got into hot water last month for
suggesting a minimum wage of HK$20 an hour - has joined Liberal Party colleagues
in proposing a rate of HK$24.
Top Chinese leaders pay silent tribute to quake victims.
Flag at
half-mast to mourn quake dead.
Chinese pay respect to quake victims.
Chinese light candles to mourn Yushu earthquake victims.
China Mobile
(0941) earned a first-quarter net profit of 25.5 billion yuan, up only a
marginal 1.1 percent from a year ago amid intensifying competition. "In the
first quarter of 2010, the group faced adverse factors such as increased mobile
penetration rate and intensifying market competition," chairman and chief
executive officer Wang Jianzhou said. Monthly average revenue per user continued
to decline, falling 12.5 percent to 70 yuan, from 80 yuan for the same period
last year. This is because new customers were mainly low-usage clients and more
people continued to acquire multiple SIM cards. The margin of earnings before
interest, tax, depreciation and amortization declined to 50.6 percent from 52.7
percent for the same period a year ago. Net additional customer growth slowed to
an average of 5.5 million per month in the first quarter, compared with an
average 6.6 million users it added per month during the same period last year.
Net customers added in 2009 was about 88 million. Of the 5.97 million users
added by China Mobile in March, 3.4 million were third-generation service
subscribers, the first time new 3G users at the company outnumbered those for
2G. Meanwhile, rival China Telecom (0728) also posted a drop of about 3 percent
in its fixed-line subscribers during the first quarter, to 184 million. The
company lost 19.79 million fixed- line subscribers in 2009. But its broadband
subscriber base increased by 2.38 million during the first quarter, to reach a
total of 55.84 million users. CDMA mobile subscribers at the fixed- line
operator increased by 9.36 million in the first quarter to 65.45 million. Net
addition of mobile subscribers increased to an average of 3.12 million per month
this year, from 1.64 million per month a year ago. 
Mainland’s
Australian iron ore imports keep rising - Imports of Australian iron ore into
mainland reached 24 million tonnes in March, up 22.39 per cent from a year
earlier and 16.85 per cent since February.
Visitors
wait to enter the Shanghai World Expo site April 21, 2010. The expo started
trial operations on Tuesday with the participation of about 70 percent of the
pavilions, Xinhua News Agency reported. China is the first developing nation to
host the World Expo and officials hope the event, held from May 1-Oct 31, will
improve Shanghai's position as a global city.
Retail prices of fresh
salmon flown in from Norway jumped almost 50 percent at some supermarkets in the
capital on Tuesday, as European freight remains grounded because of Iceland's
enormous volcanic ash cloud. Several large supermarkets contacted by METRO said
salmon supplies, which come primarily from Norway, might run short if European
flights don't resume. 
If you bought the
first issue of Monocle, you made a good investment. Three years ago the price of
the magazine was £5. Now it's worth £100. The rise in value, although
unexpected, doesn't surprise media maestro Tyler Brule, who founded the
high-brow, high-culture, high-priced publication after laying down
design-cum-lifestyle laws in Wallpaper*, the trendsetting magazine that made his
name. "There are only 13 left [of the inaugural edition]," he says archly,
suppressing, it seems, the urge to add: "Duh, as things become rarer, they
increase in price." What's worked for the magazine appears to be doing the same
for the store it spawned, which has tiny permanent outlets in London and Los
Angeles, with more planned this year, in Tokyo, Toronto, New York and Hong Kong.
In a run-up to staking its turf in Wan Chai in mid-year, Monocle last week set
up shop in Lane Crawford, enticing neophytes and aficionados alike with
limited-edition items and "entry-level" goods (meaning affordable if you shop at
Lane Crawford anyway). At the "seasonal shop", which will occupy a corner of
Lane Crawford Home Store for five weeks, a light bulb attached to a clamp sells
for HK$1,850, a small wooden table for HK$11,000, and a BlackBerry for
HK$11,650. Produced in collaboration with Monocle, and all limited editions,
they sit (more or less) underneath the main item they support: Monocle magazine,
whose strapline reads: "A briefing on global affairs, business, culture and
design". Back issues, all 32 of them, are displayed on shelves out of reach of
pint-sized paws. The May volume, which includes an urban survey of Hong Kong and
is the only one at browsing level, sells for HK$95, a relative bargain because
by the time the next issue comes out it will be twice the price. "There's no
better way to say this has value, at a time when everyone's devaluing print,"
says Brule. Like the magazine, which has 13,500 subscribers in 82 countries, the
store, he says, targets, "children of the late 60s or early 70s". Designs have a
certain nostalgia to them, such as the oak Ovalen IV table, which is a remake of
one of Swede Carl Malmsten's last designs. Brule, 41, who describes it as
masculine in terms of material but dainty in form, says: "It's very 'granny's
house', but that's why we love it." Also harking back to simpler times are the
no-nonsense canvas Porter bags, made in Japan, which range from HK$1,950 for the
wallet to HK$4,950 for the Boston bag. Their prices - like that of an
old-fashioned pushbike (HK$10,500) parked at their stores as if Ingrid Bergman
just dropped by - reflect their provenance and production costs. "The
[Swedish-made] bicycle is not smacked together in a factory in Shenzhen," he
says. "You have to pay for EU labour costs." So popular are the bags that a
British newspaper article implied their sales will fund a Monocle bureau,
opening in Hong Kong in conjunction with the permanent shop in June/July. An
exaggeration, but they are among the store's biggest revenue generators, Brule
says. Other bureaus have been set up in London, New York, Tokyo and Zurich. He
says the space the company is leasing in Wan Chai is its new media model, which
places back to back, literally, its journalistic endeavours and retail
extension: the front will be the store and the back the bureau. "The shop pays
for the real estate," he says. Although Monocle outlets and pop-up stores have
gained an enthusiastic following, not everyone has warmed to such small retail
spaces selling only a select number of goods. One reviewer, commenting on its
nine-square-metre Marylebone venue, wrote: "It's a shop. For a magazine. About
as big as a loo. It sells magazines. And, erm, some other design pfaff. But not
much." Then there are those who recoil from a sales pitch that implies: "Pare
back, but consume." Brule doesn't baulk at the apparent inconsistency. "You
don't need to invest in 1,000 things," he says, "but you do need to invest if
you want something that's going to last." The Monocle Shop at Lane Crawford Home
Store in Pacific Place closes on May 23.
Hong Kong homes are the least
affordable among the world's major cities and are rapidly becoming less
affordable - a fact buyers may find to their cost when interest rates rise. This
is shown by an international comparison conducted by a US consultancy at the
request of the South China Morning Post (SEHK: 0583, announcements, news) , and
Hong Kong government figures. A university professor specialising in real estate
warned that a "short-term illusion" of affordability had been created by very
low mortgage interest rates, which would evaporate when rates rose to a more
realistic level - possibly as early as next year - pushing up mortgage payments.
The survey found Hong Kong people pay more than 10 times their annual income to
buy a flat, the most of 272 metropolitan cities and earning it a "severely
unaffordable" rating along with London, Sydney and New York. This was backed up
by Hong Kong government statistics which showed buyers paid 8.5 times their
annual income for an average-sized flat in the last quarter of last year - up
from 7.6 times in the second quarter, an increase of almost a year's income in
six months. Despite this, Hong Kong buyers pay less of their annual income on
mortgage payments than some of the other most expensive cities - 44 per cent,
according to the survey, and 38.1 per cent, up from 34 per cent in the first
quarter, according to government figures. Chau Kwong-wing, chair professor of
the real estate and construction department at the University of Hong Kong, said
the big jump in flat prices and a mild increase in mortgage payments illustrated
that interest rates of just 0.8 per cent to 2.1 per cent were making housing
look affordable. "But it is just a short-term illusion. People think they can
afford an expensive flat with a reasonably cheap mortgage," he said. "Their
dreams will burst and the flat will become unaffordable when the interest rate
rises."
Mainland has tightened rules on
advance sales of new property developments, in the third move of its kind in
less than a week aimed at curbing rampant real estate speculation.
China Eastern Airlines said on
Tuesday it swung back into the black last year as it was boosted by a recovery
in domestic air travel and lower fuel costs.
Pupils donate money to quake-hit
Yushu prefecture in Shantou city, south China's Guangdong province, April 19,
2010. 
Moutai looks to int'l markets - Whilst many family-based enterprises in
drought-stricken Guizhou have had to cease production, one of the country's
leading liquor producers based there has managed to source enough water to
continue production. Chairman, Yuan Renguo, said that the company, Kweichow
Moutai, draws water from Chishui River, which can meet its demand. "We have
spent millions to update our water project in recent years," he said. "As long
as the Chishui River is not parched, our production will not be affected." The
water in Chishui River is about two-thirds of its normal level. Smaller liquor
producers in Guizhou are less well equipped and have been forced to stop
production as they rely heavily on wells for water. Yuan remains confident about
sales in the year ahead. Unlike other liquor, "it takes the company five years
to make a bottle of Moutai," he said. "Thus, the wine we are selling this year
was actually produced five years ago." Yuan said the company has increased its
efforts to crack down on fake Moutai in the market. As one of the best-known
liquors in the country, Moutai has the most copycats. The company has employed a
special team of more than 100 people to combat fake producers, Yuan said. 
China to mourn
quake dead - The Chinese flag will be lowered to half-mast around the country
and at embassies and consulates abroad Wednesday April 21 2010 in a show of
respect for those killed in the Qinghai quake.
Gremlins
rained on Hong Kong's parade yesterday when Chief Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen
paid a visit to the city's HK$346 million presence at the World Expo in
Shanghai. The two pavilions are intended to show Hong Kong off as a world leader
in hi-tech lifestyle solutions and innovations. Tang was visiting the sites
ahead of the May 1 opening. But he was left red-faced when a touch-screen
repeatedly failed to respond. He spent a minute trying to operate it before
being ushered to another screen. Shortly afterwards, he ended up briefly talking
at cross-purposes via an internet link to colleagues in the main pavilion across
the Huangpu River, due to a considerable time delay on the system. However, Tang
refused to let the problems spoil his enjoyment of the exhibitions. "The mood
inside was very good. You get to see a very moving multimedia experience," he
said. "We believe that we will definitely be able to improve these [glitches]."
The technical team would be able to use a test-opening period, starting today,
to "strive for full marks". Hong Kong is represented at the six-month expo by
two exhibitions, one on either side of the river. In the Urban Best Practices
Area, the city's exhibition focuses on "smart card, smart city, smart life". The
stand opens with a two-minute film introducing Hong Kong's landscape and
culture. Visitors then get the chance to interact with the touch-screen portals,
which introduce the Octopus card and other uses of smart-chip technology. The
city's main pavilion is in the larger half of the park on the east bank, in the
shadow of the China pavilion. The three-storey structure contains a variety of
interactive games, a 3D film and a rotating theme exhibition to project the
image of Hong Kong as an "open, inclusive, pluralistic society" with an
environmental twist.The pavilion's roof is a woodlands and wetlands garden to
highlight the city's country parks. 
Hong Kong
$120 millions set aside to subsidise rise in outer island ferry fares - The
government will inject up to HK$120 million of public funds to subsidise any
fare increase when contracts to run six outlying islands ferry routes are
renewed next year. Officials said the move would help stabilise fares, under
pressure because of rising costs and the dwindling population of the islands,
and ensure the 41,000 islanders did not lose their only transport link to town.
The Transport and Housing Bureau denied the move breached its long-standing
principle of not paying direct subsidies to public transport operators, but it
will in effect increase the ferry operators' financial dependence on the
government. Under the policy announced yesterday, the government will subsidise
half the fare increase after general inflation is taken into account. For
example, if a HK$15 fare rose by HK$1.50, or 10 per cent, the passenger would
pay the portion of the increase caused by the general inflation rate (say, 3 per
cent) plus half the remainder of the increase (half of 7 per cent), with the
government paying the other half - resulting in a rise for the passenger of
about HK$1. Government economists have projected an average inflation rate of
2.5 per cent for the year. Passengers on six major routes - Central-Cheung Chau,
Central-Mui Wo, Central-Peng Chau, Central-Yung Shue Wan, Central-Sok Kwu Wan
and inter-islands - will benefit from the scheme. The three-year licences to run
the six routes expire in June next year. Companies bidding to operate them - the
tenders do not open until next year - will be required to narrow the gap between
the price charged on weekdays and holidays from up to 40 per cent at present to
within 20 per cent. Four of the six routes had to be put out for tendering a
second time in 2008 because bidders proposed a fare rise so high that the
government had to offer some subsidies to push down the increase. A bureau
spokeswoman said the new policy was not much different from past practice, as
the HK$120 million subsidy would be used to cover the operators' repair and
maintenance expenses. "Operators can get the subsidy by claiming on the actual
amount they spend on repair and maintenance of their facilities and vessels,"
she said. The government has poured tens million of dollars over the years into
paying the operators' bills for pier maintenance, cleaning, water and
electricity, and waiving all vessel- related fees. It even spent a one-off
amount of HK$2 million in 2008 to encourage organisations to hold activities on
the islands to encourage patronage. But Richard Tsoi Yiu-cheong of the Coalition
to Monitor Public Transport and Utilities said it was obvious that the subsidy
was a kind of direct sponsorship. "When operators propose a fare increase, they
don't just look at their maintenance costs, but also at fuel expenses and
wages," he said. The spokeswoman said the bureau strived to strike the best
balance between the principal of non-intervention in private business and the
interests of island residents. "Unlike other commuters, islanders have no other
option but ferries, and without assistance, this business is simply financially
unviable," she said. New World First Ferry, which operates three of the routes,
said it had accumulated a deficit of HK$20 million since 2000, while Hong Kong
and Kowloon Ferry, operator of the other three, said it made a small profit last
year due to lower fuel costs. However, the cost of fuel has almost doubled since
early last year and officials expect it to rise further in the coming months.
Lawmakers and the community generally backed the plan, although Miriam Lau Kin-yee
of the Liberal Party criticised the government for not rushing through a plan to
add a floor to the pier building to boost the operators' rental income. If it
had done so, it might not need to spend this HK$120 million, she said. The
government said the plan required approval of the Harbourfront Enhancement
Committee and the Town Planning Board and could take years to complete. 
Sino
Land associate director Allan Chan and Sincere director of operations Brandy Yu
seal the retail space deal yesterday. Sincere, the city's oldest Chinese
department store, is set to open an outlet in a Tsuen Wan shopping centre this
year, its first expansion in the past 13 years.
Hongkong Electric
has cleared one of the hurdles to erecting wind turbines in waters off Lamma
after the government's environmental advisers gave the green light to the
project. With approval of the environmental impact assessment from the Advisory
Council on the Environment, the next step for the power firm will be a formal
application to the Environment Bureau for the multibillion-dollar green energy
project. But the company will still have to fulfil conditions attached to the
council's consent to minimise the environmental impact of the project during
construction and operation. A key condition is that Hongkong Electric (SEHK:
0006) should not conduct piling work from December to May, which is the peak
sighting season for the finless porpoise in the area. It should also improve
monitoring of piling noise at nearby sites and underground noise levels at
selected locations. The power firm had said it could not adopt the non-piling
method known as suction caisson, to be used by CLP Power (SEHK: 0002) to build
another offshore wind farm near the Ninepin Islands in Sai Kung, because the
seabed was not soft enough. The council also requires the secretary for the
environment to closely monitor the fuel mix used for electricity generation to
ensure that coal burning is be reduced proportionately after the wind energy
project is completed. Under the proposal, 28 to 35 wind turbines of up to 3.6
megawatts each will be erected in a 600-hectare area between Lamma and Cheung
Chau. The total generating capacity will be about 100 megawatts, about 1.6 per
cent of the power firm's generation. The council also approved CLP Power's
environmental impact assessment report for building two undersea gas pipelines
linking its Black Point power station with a natural gas receiving depot in
Shenzhen.
Young
Creative Competition winners Law Ka-in (left), Gloria Fung Ka-ka and Cheng
Ha-lo. Five young advertising professionals will soon have exposure on the world
stage under a funding scheme by CreateHK. They will represent the city at two
international advertising award shows, attending seminars and getting the chance
to meet world-class talent. CreateHK used HK$600,000 from the HK$300 million
CreateSmart Initiative to fund the trips by winners of the Kam Fan Awards and
Young Creative Competition. The winners of the Young Creative Competition,
organised by the Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies of Hong Kong
(HK4As), will attend the ADFEST Young Lotus Workshop in Thailand and Young
Spikes Awards in Singapore. The funding will cover participants' awards show
registrations, air tickets and accommodation. Young Creative Competition winner
Law Ka-in, 27, said it would be a valuable opportunity for him. "The
international competitions will enrich my experience," he said. "Being an
advertising professional, I want to have such chances to step on to the world
stage." He said he wanted to contribute to society through advertisements, not
only for commercial purposes, but also to help promote Hong Kong's development.
"When my works reach the public, they are like my babies. If the public's
reactions are not good, I will improve and make them better," he said. "When I
retire or get old, all these works will be my good memories. I will feel
satisfied with my career." Another winner, Cheng Ha-lo, 27, said: "My works can
deliver to the public through different channels. I can even affect kids'
minds." 
Casino Business -
Singapore Air to raise capacity on Hong Kong route - Singapore Airlines will
increase capacity between Hong Kong and Singapore by 15 per cent next month,
reflecting growing demand for business and leisure travel following the opening
of the casino resort and theme park on Sentosa island. The five daily flights
will be increased to six starting May 27, a resumption to pre-financial crisis
levels. "We've seen double-digit growth in travel demand in the first quarter
from the same period last year," David Lim Chee Seng, the airline's Hong Kong
general manager, said at a media briefing yesterday. The opening of the casino
resort and the Universal Studios theme park has attracted more tourists and
Singapore hopes to get 17 million visitors a year, generating more than US$21
billion by 2015, up from 9.7 million visitors last year. Three of the six
flights will continue using the Airbus 380 jumbo jet, while the other three will
use refitted Boeing 777-200s starting May 29. The newly renovated aircraft, four
to eight years old, will have first-class seats removed in order to make room
for wider, although fewer, business-class seats. The new configuration has 38
business seats and 228 economy ones. This compares with 12 first-class seats, 42
business seats and 234 in the back in the old configuration. The three A380
flights continue to provide a first-class suite. Lim said filling up first-class
seats was challenging as on average the load factor for the front-end cabin is
40 per cent to 50 per cent, compared with more than 80 per cent overall. The
refitted B777-200 will also serve New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore from
Singapore. More than 50 per cent of the Hong Kong passengers flying with
Singapore Airlines actually go beyond to other international destinations,
including Sydney, Melbourne, Zurich and London. The increase in passenger demand
on the route between Hong Kong and Singapore also reflected a rebound in the
demand for European and Australia routes, the company said. The newly added
flights from Chek Lap Kok to Singapore will depart at 8pm and arrive in
Singapore just before midnight, allowing passengers to catch connecting flights
to Zurich and Copenhagen. Since the new flight arrives at a late hour, the
airline is offering a promotional price of HK$1,200 plus tax and fuel surcharges
when booked until April 30 with departures between May 27 and July 9. The
appreciation in the Singapore dollar recently had not been reflected in ticket
prices to overseas stations, Lim said. In fact, for every 1 per cent increase in
the value of the Singapore dollar against other currencies, profit before tax
decreased more than 11 per cent, the company said. About 45.8 per cent of total
passenger revenues in Singapore come from East Asia while 21.2 per cent is from
Europe. The southwest Pacific contributes 18.4 per cent while the remainder is
shared by the United States, Africa and West Asia.
Home transactions in the
mainland have fallen dramatically in the past few days as the chilling effect of
Beijing tightening the screws sinks in. Analysts expect both buyers and sellers
will adopt a wait-and-see attitude in the next few weeks while the real effect
on prices will only be seen later. Sales have fallen in Shenzhen, where about 10
buyers decided to forfeit their deposits, said Centaline (China) Property
Shenzhen branch general manager Andy Lee Yiu-chi. "Many clients and owners have
been keeping an eye on policy execution," Lee said. "Some buyers failed to
complete transactions because of their inability to borrow money." Despite the
fall in sales, the number of units on the market has risen by 30 percent. Lee
said many end-users are unaffected as those who buy homes below 90 square meters
are not affected by the new measures. They continue to pay a 20 percent down
payment and enjoy a 30 percent mortgage rate discount. But a realtor in Nanjing
painted a gloomier picture. He said there have been no deals at any of its six
branches in Xiaguan district since the measures came out, while both transaction
volumes and home viewing have dropped significantly. He believes more
initiatives to cool the property sector will be introduced. Last Thursday,
Beijing ordered that down payments for second homes be raised to 50 percent from
40 percent and the mortgage rate to be 1.1 times the benchmark interest rate
instead of 80 percent. Two days later, Beijing asked banks to be cautious about
mortgages to non- locals and third-home buyers, especially in cities with high
prices. CITIC Ka Wah Bank chief economist and China banking strategist Liao Qun
said prices started surging in March again after moderating slightly in the
first two months, so the recent official curbs were more forceful than before.
"These will be effective for sure," Liao said. "The mainland property market is
expected to see a period of adjustments. Transaction volume will fall
considerably." While prices will be under pressure, he believes a sharp drop
will be unlikely. Liao expects the full effects of the official curbs will be
seen from next month, while Lee believes it will take three months. The CITIC Ka
Wah Bank chief economist does not expect any more follow-up policies in the near
term. He noted the introduction of a property tax remains a rumor. 
Local banks have competed fiercely on
rates driven by abundant liquidity, but the mortgage market is still healthy and
not over-leveraged, insists Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) chief executive
Benjamin Hung Pi-cheng.
Chan Ho-sun with
Bodyguards' best film award. The all-star epic Bodyguards and Assassins, which
recounts the story of how a group protects "father of the nation" Sun Yat-sen
during his brief stay in Hong Kong, was the biggest winner at last night's 29th
Hong Kong Film Awards, scooping eight titles, including best film. But the epic,
which received 18 nominations, lost best screenplay to Alex Law Kai-yui's Echoes
of the Rainbow, which won four prizes. Peter Chan Ho-sun, producer of
Bodyguards, beamed when he took to the stage to receive the best film award.
"This is the first time I have taken an award for a film I served on purely as a
producer," Chan said. "Although I am widely known as a director, I would want
people to remember me as a producer." Before last night's ceremony, Bodyguards
director Teddy Chen Tak-sum was holding out hope the film would win at least
nine prizes. Cheers erupted in the Cultural Centre's Grand Theatre when the host
named as best actress Wai Ying-hung - who won the same award at the first Hong
Kong Film Awards - for her role as an alcoholic single parent in At the End of
Daybreak. The character also won her the best actress awards at the Asian Film
Awards, Hong Kong Film Critics' Society awards and Golden Horse awards in
Taiwan. A tearful Wai said: "I desperately wanted this prize. I don't know why I
was `frozen' for some 10 years... I don't know why I was at a low point. I
nearly gave up on myself and my life. But now I feel I confident. I know I
belong to the acting industry," she said, thanking those who had given her a
hand in difficult times. Simon Yam Tat-wah cheerfully took the best actor award
for playing a shoemaker and father in Echoes, which is set in the Hong Kong of
the 1960s and relates the experiences of a struggling cobbler couple and their
two young sons. Echoes was shot in Wing Lee Street in Central, where 12 tenement
buildings were saved from demolition last month after Hongkongers took the film
and the street to their hearts. "I want to share this prize with people who are
strong in the face of pitfalls. To make one's dream come true, one has to be
strong and resilient," Yam said. Nicholas Tse Ting-fung, dressed in a red suit
and sporting a red scarf, won best supporting actor for his character as a
rickshaw runner in Bodyguards. Michelle Ye Xuan, who won best supporting actress
for her portrayal of an assassin in Accident, burst into tears as she accepted
the trophy. Aarif Lee Chi-ting won best new performer as one of the sons in
Echoes and as the singer of the best original film song. Funeral story
Departures took best Asian film award. Fung fu master Lau Kar-leung, who went
from stuntman to movie director, received a lifetime achievement award from
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Rita Lau Ng Wai-lan to a
standing ovation. The audience spent a sombre moment last night paying a silent
tribute to the victims of the Qinghai earthquake and Hong Kong volunteer Wong
Fuk-wing, who died rescuing victims. The film industry will mount a fund-raising
campaign for those affected by the quake. For the first time in 13 years, the
show was broadcast by ATV, Now TV and RTHK, breaking TVB (SEHK: 0511)'s
long-time stranglehold on the broadcast.
Michelle Ye, best
supporting actress with Bodyguards' best film award.
Wai
Yin-hung and Simon Yam celebrate their best actress and best actor awards last
night for their roles in At The End of Daybreak and Echoes of The Rainbow.
Sands China said on Monday that a
mega-resort being built on Cotai Strip on Macau is on track to open by September
next year. A Cotai Strip mega-resort being built by Sands China, the Macau unit
of US casino giant Las Vegas Sands, is on track to open by September next year,
its chief executive said, brushing off recent fears of further delays for the
troubled project. Between 2,000 and 4,000 labourers recently resumed work at its
two half-completed projects, known as sites five and six, Chief executive Steve
Jacobs said in a telephone interview on Monday. This follows a near two-year
hiatus as the debt-laden company looked to conserve cash during the financial
crisis. Shares in Sands China, the world’s second-most valuable casino operator
after its parent, have fallen 4 per cent, underperforming its rivals, since it
postponed a news conference in late March to officially announce it was
restarting construction of the projects. “We’ve got a series of announcements
coming up, so it made more sense to bundle them all together,” Jacobs said,
dismissing speculation of delays caused by labour issues. The perception of
delays – whether true or not – could weigh on Sands share price until the issue
is cleared up, said Gabriel Chan, a Credit Suisse analyst, before the interview.
“Once those problems are solved, the performance will be much better.” The
project, whose first two phases will cost US$2.35 billion to develop, will house
the world’s biggest casino as well as a Shangri-La, Traders and Sheraton hotels.
They would complement Sands China’s three existing Macau casinos, including the
massive Venetian Macau. With the addition of those properties, Sands’ market
share in Macau could jump to 30-35 per cent, Jacobs said – about a 50 per cent
rise from about 22 per cent that analysts estimate as the company’s current
market share. The properties on sites five and six would help boost Sands
China’s revenue from non-gaming operations to 20-25 per cent in two to three
years, versus 12 per cent now, Jacobs said. “As we move to develop sites five
and six … it would be in the not-too-distant future that non-gaming would become
the majority of our profitability,” he said. Sands China aimed to fetch
US$1.2-US$1.4 billion or more from the sale of its 1 million square feet of
apartments attached to the Four Seasons Macau, Jacobs said. “Rest assured that
we are acutely aware of the amount of value that can be unlocked through the
sale of those apartments and it is the top of our agenda for 2010,” Jacobs said.
“We believe there is ample interest from high net worth individuals from China,
Korea, Vietnam and Japan.” The company was also “actively engaged” in
discussions for expansion opportunities in Greater China, and was looking at
Japan, Thailand, Korea and Vietnam, Jacobs said. “Japan remains incredibly
attractive to us. We believe there’ll be a tender sometime in the near future,”
he said. “We clearly have [Thailand] on our top-tier opportunities. But it’s
nothing that would be between now and this time next year.” While Sands China
would continue to target the more profitable mass-market gambling segment,
Jacobs said he could not envision a future in Macau without junket operators,
which ensure the flow of VIP gamblers to the former Portuguese colony.
The rising sons of China - The
privileged offspring of the Communist Party elite are beginning to take a
leading role in shaping the country's future. Mao Zedong claimed that "political
power grows out of the barrel of a gun" but in modern-day China, political and
economic influence are also the fruit of family ties, especially those whose
roots were set by revolutionaries and senior Communist Party officials. Recent
reports by domestic media outlets suggest that 91 per cent the mainland's
richest millionaires, those with assets of 100 million yuan (HK$114 million) or
more, are children of senior party cadres. Much outrage has been exposed in
online forums of late over reports that 0.4 per cent of the population - the
estimated 450,000 millionaires - possess 70 per cent of the mainland's wealth,
but the "princeling capitalists" among the economic elite continue to extend and
consolidate their influence. A major leadership reshuffle in 2007 saw several
members of this elite group vault into positions of power while anointing the
son of a late revolutionary as a future leader of the nation. Although the
country remains a one-party state, it does now have ruling factions with
competing points of view. Princeling capitalism emerged in the 80s after
paramount leader Deng Xiaoping launched his reform and openness policy, to
revive the mainland's stagnant economy. The economic privileges enjoyed by the
princelings, though, began to infuriate ordinary people and became one of the
prominent gripes of the protesters who congregated in Beijing's Tiananmen Square
in 1989. After the Tiananmen crackdown, the business dealings of these fortunate
few became more politically sensitive. A wrong move could have had implications
for fathers still in power as well as for the businessmen themselves. Since
then, the word taizidang, or princelings, has developed negative connotations,
having come to mean one who is pampered, privileged, arrogant, egotistical and
probably unscrupulous, and whose superiority comes from pedigree rather than
merit. The term has also become synonymous with corruption and sleaze. Now,
princelings are staking a claim in the political arena. The 16th Communist Party
Congress, in 2002, saw princelings elevated to top positions in decision-making
bodies for the first time. The first members of what has come to be known as the
"princeling party" included the then vicepresident, Zeng Qinghong, a member of
the Politburo Standing Committee, Hubei party boss Yu Zhengsheng and Commerce
Minister Bo Xilai, who has gone on to make headlines as the gang-busting party
boss of Chongqing. More princelings were promoted at the 17th National Congress,
in 2007. The current 25-member Communist Party Politburo includes at least six
men (Bo and Yu among them) and one woman who are considered princelings. Recent
reshuffles in the ranks of the People's Liberation Army have given rise to the
phenomenon of princeling generals. In December, General Zhang Haiyang - the
third son of retired general Zhang Zhen, vice-chairman of the Central Military
Commission (CMC) between 1992 and 1997 - was made political commissar of the
Second Artillery Corps, the country's strategic-missile force, making him a
candidate for a seat on the CMC - the supreme command - in the next party
leadership reshuffle, in 2012. Zhang was one of three officers President Hu
Jintao promoted to full general last year. All are children of former party
leaders. Benefits conferred through family connections are exploited by people
in every nation, of course, and, according to Steve Tsang, a political scientist
at Oxford University, in Britain, such behaviour is nothing new in China,
either. "Such a phenomenon happens in every new dynasty in China and the
offspring of the founding generation's leaders have enjoyed huge advantages that
enable them to become high achievers," he says. "The so-called princelings
faction - or the grouping of senior cadres who are descendants of leaders of the
revolution - has not visibly suffered" from the emphasis on merit-based
promotion that has developed since Deng died, says Tsang. "Instead, many senior
cadres of a princeling background have benefited from this new emphasis."
Privileged upbringings, high-profile careers and family connections have enabled
them to acquire the technical competence, personal networks and political skills
needed to operate successfully within the party. "This puts them in a good
position to gain promotion on the basis of merit or achievement," says Tsang, an
author of several books on Chinese politics. "Thus, the princelings phenomenon
represents both nepotism and meritocracy at the same time." The children of
current or former leaders dominate the boardrooms of many of the nation's
biggest firms. Relatives of Deng are believed to control the huge Poly Group.
The family of ex-president Jiang Zemin has moved into telecommunications while
the offspring of former premier Zhu Rongji are powerful figures in banking. His
son, Levin Zhu Yunlai, is the chief executive of China International Capital
Corp. Hu's son, Hu Haifeng is the party secretary of Tsinghua Holdings, the
group that controls Nuctech, one of the top global providers of security
scanning equipment. President Hu's daughter, Hu Haiqing, is married to the
former head of internet giant Sina.com. Premier Wen Jiabao's son, Wen Yunsong,
is executive chairman of Unihub, which provides telecommunications services to
international corporations. Wen's daughter, Wen Ruchun, is married to one of
China's richest people, Xu Ming, who runs construction-materials company Dalian
Shide. Wen's wife, Zhang Peili, was the biggest shareholder in Beijing Diamond
Jewellery when it listed in Shanghai. The most prominent example of a princeling
business dynasty is the family of former premier Li Peng - who is himself a
princeling, having been adopted by Zhou Enlai, Mao Zedong's long-serving
right-hand man and popular premier. Li's family controls the country's energy
sector. Daughter Li Xiaolin is chairwoman of China Power International (SEHK:
2380) Development, a state-run electricity giant, and son Li Xiaopeng used to
head Huaneng Power (SEHK: 0902), another heavyweight, before being appointed
vice-governor of Shanxi province. Many other princelings have learned to lie low
and work under assumed names or keep their business activities out of the
spotlight. A 2002 internal survey by a party watchdog, the Central Commission
for Discipline Inspection, with the Ministry of Public Security and the Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) suggested some 98 per cent of the spouses and
children of high-level officials held senior government or business posts, with
incomes as high as 120 times the national average. Moreover, they accounted for
78 per cent of suspects in fraud cases involving more than five million yuan and
were the second-most cited cause of public grievances, after the police. More
than 600 relatives of high-level officials had fled abroad after having been
charged with graft. One of the most high-profile scandals of recent times
enveloped Hu Haifeng. Last July, Namibian anti-corruption investigators alleged
that a state-controlled Chinese contractor had facilitated a US$55.3 million
deal to sell the Namibian government security scanners with millions of dollars
in kickbacks. President Hu's son ran the scanner company, Nuctech, until the end
of 2008. Few cases of officials absconding with ill-gotten loot are ever
confirmed through a public trial but one that was involved a former head of
Chinese oil giant Sinopec (SEHK: 0386), Chen Tonghai, who was sentenced to death
with a two-year reprieve in July last year. Chen was found guilty of graft
involving 195.7 million yuan while he served as a top Sinopec official, from
1999 to 2007. Chen's father was revolutionary Chen Weida, party chief of Tianjin
and deputy head of the Central Committee of Politics and Law. Xu Youyu, a
liberal philosopher at CASS, says princeling capitalism is the result of China's
monolithic political system, within which power is unchecked, allowing people to
take advantage of family relationships with officials to make enormous profits.
"The princelings enjoy virtually the same political protection and status as the
officials. They are above laws and regulations and their business activities are
off-limits to supervision or public scrutiny," says Xu, an author of several
books on contemporary politics. Equipped with connections, they have been able
to exploit opportunities thrown up by the mainland's economic transformation. Xu
says that, whereas princelings once stuck to running state-owned enterprises,
they have recently migrated to private companies, which can be hidden from
scrutiny more easily. Xu says princelings are expanding their clout from
business to politics in order to seek protection for their illegal activities.
The choice of future leaders made at the 2007 party congress illustrates how
princelings have split Chinese politics into factions. Xi Jinping, the then
54-year-old Shanghai party boss, and Li Keqiang, then 52, party secretary of
Liaoning, are believed to be the successors to President Hu and Premier Wen in
2012. All future leaders must possess relative youth, a good education and a
track record. Xi and Li are the youngest members of the nine-member Politburo
Standing Committee and have PhDs from Tsinghua University and Peking University,
respectively, and have had regional success. But for today's aspiring leaders
without a princeling pedigree, a Communist Youth League (CYL) - Hu's power base
- background is necessary. Xi is the princeling of the two while Li belonged to
the CYL. Cheng Li, a China expert at the Brookings Institution, in Washington,
in the United States, refers to the rival coalitions as the elitists, or the
"blue team", and the populists, or the "red team". He says the Communist Party
is no longer led by one strongman, such as Mao or Deng. Instead, the top
decision-making bodies are run by the two informal coalitions, which compete
against each other for power, influence and control over policy. The populists
are led by Hu and Wen. Members of their core group, including Li Keqiang, party
organisation chief Li Yuanchao and Guangdong Party Secretary Wang Yang, are
known as tuanpai, denoting their CYL affiliations. Most tuanpai - they make up
23 per cent of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and number eight in
the Politburo - served as local or provincial leaders, often in poor inland
provinces, and many have expertise in propaganda and legal affairs. The elitist
coalition was born in Jiang's era and though its two current leaders - Wu
Bangguo, chairman of the National People's Congress, and Jia Qinglin, head of
the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference - are little known
outside China, they are among the country's highest-ranking political leaders.
In fact, Wu ranks above Wen. The core group of the fifth-generation (since the
birth of the Communist Party) elitists includes Xi, Vice-Premier Wang Qishan and
Bo. All are sons of vice-premiers. Most of the Politburo's princelings grew up
in rich coastal regions and pursued careers in trade, finance, foreign affairs
or technology. Cheng says that although political ties are not always strong
among the princelings, the shared need to protect their interests, especially in
a time of growing public resentment towards nepotism, is what binds them. "To a
great extent, the differences [between the two camps] reflect the country's
competing socioeconomic forces: princelings aim to advance the interests of
entrepreneurs and the emerging middle class while the tuanpai often call for the
building of a harmonious society, with more attention to vulnerable social
groups such as farmers, migrant workers and the urban poor," Cheng says. The
platforms of Xi and Li, for example, are strikingly divergent. Xi's enthusiasm
for market liberalisation and the development of the private sector is well
known to the international business community. Li is more concerned about the
plight of the country's unemployed. He has made affordable housing more widely
available and understands the importance of developing a rudimentary social
safety net, beginning with the provision of basic health care, according to
Cheng. Hu Xingdou, a professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology, sees the
rivalry as beneficial "because it shows progress in the development of
intraparty democracy". "Having different power coalitions is good and normal for
a country," he says, because it increases the amount of bargaining and
negotiating that goes on behind the scenes and helps avoid extreme rightist or
leftist policies. Xu at CASS says both sides are aware that "open confrontation
would [lead to] crisis" and adds that he sees compromise winning out. Cheng
agrees, saying both camps will realise the need to coexist: "This 'one party,
two coalitions' practice represents a major step forward for the party and the
people." 
Music water curtain in trial operation
at Shanghai EXPO park.
The Hospital Authority, which is suffering from a serious shortage of nurses, is
prepared to hire those in the Philippines. It will also consider former Filipino
nurses now working as domestic helpers in Hong Kong if they meet the
qualifications. There is a global shortage of nurses and the authority, which
has 20,000 nurses, is losing about 800 a year to the private sector and
overseas. The authority wants to recruit at least 1,300 nurses in this financial
year but expects fewer than 1,200 posts will be filled. It is setting up a
high-level task force to find ways to plug the brain drain and one solution is
to recruit from the Philippines. "Whatever nationality you may be, you are all
welcome to sit for the Nursing Council of Hong Kong's practising certificate.
It's open to everyone," Joseph Lee Kok-long, the chairman of the Association of
Hong Kong Nursing Staff, said. Nurses from overseas must pass a test certified
by the council before they can be accepted as a registered nurse in the city.
The test is in two parts - one written and one practical. It can be done in
English. The applicants must also have recognised qualifications from their home
countries before they take the test. They will then undergo interviews to assess
their suitability, experience, knowledge and skills, an authority spokesman
said. Many former Filipino nurses are already working in Hong Kong as domestic
helpers. Some are working essentially as carers for the elderly in the families.
The language problem is an obvious stumbling block. The authority said that as
patients in public hospitals are predominantly Cantonese speakers, knowledge of
the dialect would be a preferred attribute in the selection process. "One
obvious criteria is that nurses speak Cantonese," Lee said.
President Hu arrives in quake-hit
Yushu to direct relief work.
Chinese President Hu Jintao (R
front) gives a hug to injured student Zhoema of Tibetan ethnic group during his
visit to those injured in the quake receiving treatment at a stadium in the
Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu, northwest China's Qinghai Province,
April 18, 2010. Hu arrived in Yushu Sunday morning to direct relief work. 
Chinese President Hu Jintao
consoles a girl injured in the April 14 quake at a hospital in Yushu, Qinghai
province, April 18, 2010. 
Chinese President Hu Jintao
shakes hands with a man injured in the April 14 quake at a hospital in Yushu,
Qinghai province, April 18, 2010.
Chinese President Hu Jintao talks
with rescuers in Yushu, Qinghai province, April 18, 2010. 
Joining the SkyTeam will help
China Eastern Airlines fend off the competition from major rivals and share more
resources with other members.
PLA navy
warships are this weekend exercising southeast of Japan's strategic offshore
islands - part of a recent series of Chinese naval war games in East Asia
unprecedented in their reach and scope. After two decades of double-digit annual
increases in military spending, the PLA is rapidly proving it is capable of
things once seen as only theoretically possible as it strives to develop a full
"blue water" navy. The East Sea Fleet flotilla of crack Sovremenny class
destroyers, frigates and submarines steamed through the so-called first island
chain - the US-dominated stronghold that links Japan to Taiwan and the
Philippines - and is practising anti-submarine warfare manoeuvres, according to
a variety of sources. The ships moved out through the Miyako Strait just days
after a North Sea Fleet flotilla sailed in the other direction on its return
from a "confrontation exercise" deep in the disputed South China Sea. That
flotilla, which comprised destroyers, frigates and auxiliary ships and had air
cover, sailed some 19 days and covered 6,000 nautical miles. It included
psychological tests for crew exposed to tough conditions. The ships traversed
the Bashi Strait between the Philippines and Taiwan.
A submarine
Japan's Maritime Self-Defence Force identified as part of a PLA flotilla
navigates southwest of Okinawa last weekend.
Two new yachts put into use for
Shanghai Expo - A yacht sails near China Aviation Pavilion at the site of the
Shanghai World Expo in Shanghai, east China, April 18, 2010. Two new yachts were
put into use on Sunday for the Shanghai World Expo. The two yachts will be used
as the transportation vehicles on water with other 35 yachts during the
6-month-long world expo opening on May 1 in Shanghai.
Monks dispose of a body during the
cremation on a hillside in Jiegu yesterday. Hundreds of bodies were burned amid
sanitation fears attached to traditional sky burials. Tibetan monks broke with
centuries of tradition yesterday by holding a mass cremation for victims of the
Qinghai earthquake. Anwen Danbarenqing, living Buddha of the Jiegu monastery who
was in charge of the cremations, said the death toll could reach 10,000, though
the provincial government has put the death toll from Wednesday's 7.1-magnitude
quake at 1,484, with 312 people listed as missing. Jiemi Zhangsuo, head of the
main monastery, said the sheer number of corpses, in addition to sanitation
fears, had made it impossible to perform sky burials, in which corpses are left
on mountaintops to decompose or be eaten by vultures. "We have never had a
disaster like this. We have never had so many people die. Cremation is the only
way to send these souls off," he said. At least a thousand monks in crimson
gowns gathered from 7am at the site on a hill overlooking the shattered Jiegu
town as a convoy of trucks arrived with hundreds of bodies that had been kept at
the monastery.
Former Guangdong deputy governor Wan
Qingliang was appointed Guangzhou's new mayor yesterday as part of the largest
provincial leadership reshuffle in a decade. Wan was elected mayor by members of
the Guangzhou People's Congress yesterday. Last week, Guangzhou's city
government announced Wan's appointment as the city's deputy party secretary,
paving the way for him to become mayor. The South China Morning Post (SEHK:
0583, announcements, news) reported last month that Wan was tipped to be the
city's next mayor. Wan, 46, was the youngest of the province's eight deputy
governors and has been widely regarded as a rising star after being promoted to
the key provincial position in 2008. He has been closely involved in
cross-border issues and represented the province at the Hong Kong/Guangdong
Co-operation Joint Conference in February. No announcement was made as to who
would succeed Wan in taking charge of cross-border issues. Meeting the local
press yesterday after taking up the new position, Wan said he felt honoured to
take on the responsibility and would treasure the trust placed in him by the
Guangzhou people. "Today is a meaningful day in my life, as it is the second
time I have been elected as a mayor," Wan said. He was made mayor of Jieyang, in
eastern Guangdong province, in June 2003. Wan said he planned to implement
projects and goals laid out by former mayor Zhang Guangning. The new mayor also
pledged to speed up economic transformation, unite Guangzhou's people and
officials to put on a good show for November's Asian Games and address
livelihood issues. "I will do my utmost to serve Guangzhou's people and address
people's key concerns as well as striving hard to bring Guangzhou a bluer sky,
clearer water, smoother traffic, prettier houses and a more beautiful city," he
said. Wan did not take any questions from reporters. His appointment is being
closely watched by political observers, as his new position will make him a
strong candidate to move further up the political hierarchy in 2013. Zhang has
been promoted to become the provincial capital's party boss, replacing rising
star Zhu Xiaodan , who was appointed Guangdong's executive deputy governor in
February. Acting Shenzhen mayor Wang Rong was appointed that city's party boss
last week.
Hong Kong travelers treasure their
privacy more than their safety in the air, a global survey has revealed. Of the
11 nations and places surveyed, Hong Kong ranks second lowest in their support
for a range of aviation security initiatives such as full body scans, biometric
identification procedures or access to private information. Mexico scored lowest
in the survey by Unisys Security. Fewer than half of the 896 Hong Kong
respondents surveyed from February 10 to March 2 said they would be willing to
submit to the procedures if it meant some loss of privacy. This is in sharp
contrast with results from elsewhere, such as Britain, where an overwhelming
nine out of 10 respondents said they would do so for security reasons. "Despite
recent high-profile security infringements, such as the thwarted Christmas Day
2009 attack on a Detroit-bound flight, it appears Hong Kong residents are among
the least willing of the world's population to forgo some level of personal
privacy when it comes to specific security measures," Unisys Hong Kong practice
director of the public sector Terence Wong Ming-yin said. "This may be because
Hong Kong travelers have had relatively minimal exposure to security threats
close to home. "As a result, they may be complacent or over-confident in the
current levels of security." A spokeswoman for the Airport Authority said the
airport does not implement full body scans nor request either biometric or
personal data for security purposes, though it may be subject to the traveler's
destination. However, the security process at the airport involves X-ray
screening and explosive detection capabilities. "We understand that full-body
scanners have been on trial at a number of airports for some time. We will
closely monitor the situation and continually review our security measures with
our regulatory authorities," the spokeswoman added. Wong acknowledged, though,
that the results may point towards the positive image of the airport.
"Alternatively, the results may simply be a reflection of Hong Kong
International Airport being constantly ranked as one of the best in the world,
and this includes security processing," he said. He does not think the results
pose a potential threat to airport security.
Chief executive Nancy Hu talks down ATV's financial problems at a press briefing
yesterday. ATV was financially sound, its management stressed yesterday, a day
after the Court of First Instance heard disturbing testimony about the station
facing running out of cash. The station was making a loss, but the size of the
loss in the first quarter of the year was half the loss in the same period a
year ago, chief executive Nancy Hu Gin-ing told a press briefing yesterday. The
business would be able to break even in two years if management and the economy
stayed on the right track, she said. Her confidence was in stark contrast to the
grim picture painted by the station's legal representative, Daniel Fung Wah-kin
SC, in the Court of First Instance on Tuesday. The station's cash in hand at the
end of March was HK$28.9 million, while it required up to HK$50 million a month
for operations, he told the hearing of an application by Taiwanese snack tycoon
Tsai Eng-meng for an injunction against any ATV share deals with a third party.
Creditors were becoming increasingly impatient, he said, because ATV had yet to
fulfil last month's obligations. Granting of the injunction would exacerbate the
financial situation and "it would be a huge tragedy to see [ATV] fold and to see
the injunction contribute to that", he said. Since Fung's statement on the
station's financial status, her office had been flooded with calls from worried
staff and business partners, Hu said. But "ATV is very stable right now", she
said. "We have no layoff plans and will hire more people... We can pay the
salaries of staff." Hu did not comment on management's reaction to Fung's
statements in court, but she said Fung was appointed by the board of directors
and "[his comments] could be his strategy in court," she said. The station had
enough money for now and was not using any new funding it had received, Hu said.
Shenzhen property tycoon Wang Zheng is believed to have invested HK$23 million
in the station. Hu said Tsai was still the biggest shareholder and had offered
to inject HK$150 million at 30 per cent interest per annum to ATV, set off
against advertising airtime. The board would decide whether to accept the offer.
Although directors Payson Cha Mou-sing and his brother Johnson Cha Mou-daid were
locked in a battle with Tsai, Hu believed they all supported the station. "The
disputes do not involve us. We [the staff] just keep our heads down and work,"
she said. The station employs more than 600 people. The broadcaster has sacked
more than 300 staff in the past two years.
London-listed Hutchison China MediTech,
a subsidiary of tycoon Li Ka-shing's flagship Hutchison Whampoa (SEHK: 0013),
has launched a range of organic products for the mass market in Hong Kong, and
plans to introduce infant food and formula on the mainland this year. ParknShop
customers will find herbal tea, crisps, chocolates, soup and cereal on the
shelves, all branded as organic products and manufactured by the Hain Celestial
Group, a US organic food company that has a joint venture with Hutchison China
MediTech. Because the products are imported directly from the supplier, they are
30 per cent cheaper than similar organic items in the market, according to
Christian Hogg, the Hong Kong-based chief executive of Hutchison China MediTech.
"We feel there's a good opportunity in offering quality infant food and formula
in China," Hogg said. "We'll have some products from Hain but we might also
consider other producers." Despite being listed in the Alternative Investment
Market on the London Stock Exchange since 2006, Hutchison China MediTech's
business covers mainly China. Hogg has not ruled out a dual listing in London
and Hong Kong. "When we first listed the company, we took into account that part
of our business was invested in research and development and the London market
had a stronger knowledge in biotechnology in comparison to Hong Kong," he said.
"But we are less interested in financial engineering and we want to grow our
business organically." On the mainland, the company produces prescription and
over-the-counter drugs such as Banlangen, a remedy for flu and colds. While the
research business made a loss of US$9.9 million for the year ended December, the
operating profit for the health-care division increased 43 per cent to US$13.1
million. 
Chief Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen on
Thursday paid tribute to Hong Kong volunteer Wong Fuk-wing – who died in Qinghai
province on Wednesday trying to save the lives of earthquake survivors. Wong, a
46-year-old truck driver, rescued three children and an adult buried by the
earthquake in Yushu. He was later killed in an aftershock, while trying to
rescue more people. Tang told local radio he was deeply saddened by Wong’s
death. The chief secretary said the government had contacted local authorities
in Qinghai to offer aid. “We have also contacted his family members to provide
assistance to them. In fact, in sacrificing his life to save others he has shown
‘Hong Kong spirit’,” Tang said. Tang said the government would provide financial
support to Wong’s family from the disaster relief fund, if necessary. The
Immigration Department in Hong Kong said Wong’s brother and brother-in-law would
fly to Qinghai from Shenzhen on Thursday. Staff from the Immigration Department
and the government would also travel to Qinghai to provide help. In Qinghai, on
Thursday, rescue workers dug through piles of rubble searching for survivors.
The earthquake killed at least 617 people and has left thousands more homeless.
Strong winds and freezing temperatures combined with the lack of oxygen at high
altitude have hampered relief efforts. Resuce teams were forced to use shovels,
iron bars and their bare hands in the hunt through the ruins of the hardest hit
town of Jiegu as doctors set up makeshift hospitals in tents. Thousands spent
the night without shelter in freezing conditions following the 6.9 magnitude
quake that hit mountainous Yushu county in Qinghai province on Wednesday,
destroying almost all the houses in Jiegu, the local capital.
Accept this "golden opportunity" -
there's no room for further concessions. That was the message to lawmakers
yesterday as Chief Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen unveiled revised proposals for
electoral reforms for polls in 2012 for chief executive and Legco. The
sentiments were echoed in Beijing a few hours later by National People's
Congress Standing Committee deputy secretary general Qiao Xiaoyang. Qiao said
the proposed electoral reform package represents "a major step forward toward
the direction of broadening democracy" and called on Hongkongers to support it.
Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam- yuen, in a recorded address, also appealed for
public support. "In 2005, we let a golden opportunity slip away. We cannot
afford to let that happen again. Doing so would mean wasting a few more years
and stalling further our constitutional development. And, the infighting will
continue over this perennial issue." The revised package is similar to one
proposed last November. Key proposals, such as increasing the Election Committee
for the chief executive election from 800 members to 1,200 in 2012 and
increasing the number of Legislative Council members from 60 to 70, remain
unchanged. The only change is that the five additional Legco seats for the
district council constituency will be elected by proportional representation
instead of block voting as suggested by pan- democrats. The government hopes
Legco can vote on the plan before the July recess. Tang said the government
tried to find the "maximum latitude to enhance the democratic elements of the
two elections in 2012, and to pave the way for implementing universal suffrage
under the framework of the Standing Committee of the National People's
Congress's decision and in line with the Basic Law." He said the pan-democrats
should listen to the views of the public, since the package stands the best
chance of being accepted by most people, Legco, the chief executive and central
authorities. "It also addresses the two major reasons why the pan-democrats said
they vetoed the last constitutional reform proposal in 2005 - the lack of a
timetable for universal suffrage and allowing appointed district councillors to
participate in the Legco election." Since the community remains deeply split on
how to achieve universal suffrage for Legco, the future of functional
constituencies will be the task of the next administration, he said. Tang said
he will do his best to get the support of all legislators though some
pan-democrats had made it clear they do not like the proposals. The chief
secretary refused to comment on who should be blamed if the proposals are vetoed
again - the public is intelligent enough to apportion any blame, he said. "Rome
was not built in one day. By endorsing the 2012 package, we are building
together our road to Rome," Tang said, ending his speech in Legco. The
pan-democrats were unmoved. "How can you be sure we are indeed taking the train
to Rome, or whether the train will not be derailed," Democratic party chairman
Albert Ho Chun-yan said. Unionist Lee Cheuk-yan asked: "Are you taking us to
Rome when fascism reigned or today's Rome?" 
Qiao adds clout to Hong Kong reforms -
Senior Beijing official Qiao Xiaoyang said the revised political reform
proposals for Hong Kong in 2012 represent "a major step forward towards the
direction of broadening democracy." Speaking 3 hours after Henry Tang unveiled
the package, Qiao made an appeal in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to
urge the people of Hong Kong to support the proposals. He said the timetable for
universal suffrage was set in 2007 after careful consideration by the National
People's Congress Standing Committee, of which he is deputy secretary-general.
"I understand there is a view within the Hong Kong community, hoping that I can,
on the basis of the Standing Committee decision ... further clarify that not
only `may' Hong Kong implement universal suffrage, but also `must' implement
universal suffrage," he said. "In this regard, I wish to point out that, in
2007, the Standing Committee made clear the universal suffrage timetable for the
Chief Executive and Legco by way of a `decision.' Its authority and legal effect
is beyond any doubt." Qiao said the SAR government has done quite well in
putting forth a package that it hopes will be accepted by political parties and
meet their expectations. Qiao, who also heads the NPC's Hong Kong Basic Law
committee, said the reason the Standing Committee ruled that Hong Kong "may" and
not "must" have universal suffrage for the 2017 chief executive and 2020
Legislative Council elections was due to SAR law. Any change in electoral
methods has to be approved by local lawmakers, he said, adding that passage of
the reform package will create excellent conditions for universal suffrage in
the future. But democrats are not buying it. Veteran politician Szeto Wah said
Qiao's use of the word "may" means Beijing can break its promise. He also said
Qiao has failed to come up with a timetable and roadmap. "The package is not
progressive, but regressive and a step on a dangerous road," he said. But he
added he backs continued dialogue with the authorities. 
China's economic growth surged to 11.9 per
cent in the first quarter but inflation was lower than expected, easing pressure
on Beijing to hike rates and cool the boom.
Premier Wen arrives in quake-hit
Yushu.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (C)
visits quake-affected local people in Gyegu Town of Tibetan Autonomous
Prefecture of Yushu, northwest China's Qinghai Province, April 15, 2010. Wen
arrived here on Thursday to inspect the disaster relief work and visit affected
local people. 
Rescuers get on the plane leaving for the quake-hit Yushu County at Caojiabu
airport, Xining, capital of northwest China's Qinghai Province, April 15, 2010.
Xining to Yushu airline was considered "airline for life" since the
7.1-magnitude earthquake hit northwest China's Qinghai Province early on
Wednesday. Thousands of rescuers have been transported to the quake-hit Yushu
County since the disaster occured. 
Beijing will keep the yuan stable not only to help exporters weather the world
economic downturn but also to check the inflow of hot money, the Ministry of
Commerce said on Thursday. Ministry spokesman Yao Jian reaffirmed Beijing’s
stance that the United States should not blame the China’s exchange rate for its
domestic economic problems. China is under increasing US pressure to let the
yuan rise after keeping it flat against the dollar since mid-2008. But at a
regular news conference, Yao echoed other officials that China would act in its
own interests and reform its currency regime in light of domestic and external
conditions. “Do not let the yuan’s exchange rate issue become the scapegoat of
US domestic economic problems, including their unemployment,” he said. Yao
sounded a cautious note on the outlook for China’s exports. Net exports shaved
1.2 percentage points off first-quarter headline growth of 11.9 per cent year on
year. China reported a US$7.24 billion trade deficit in March, its first monthly
shortfall since 2004, and Yao said there would be other deficits in the first
half of the year as domestic growth outpaces the global recovery. As a result,
China’s full-year surplus would shrink from last year’s total of US$196 billion.
“External demand has not shown a clear rebound, which is expected to lead to a
slow recovery in China’s exports,” he said. 
Dongfeng Motor Group chairman Xu Ping says the Hubei-based company will consider
overseas acquisitions only if they raise its "core competitiveness". Dongfeng
Motor Group (SEHK: 0489), the mainland's third-largest vehicle maker, hopes to
increase its domestic market share to 11 per cent this year from 10.5 per cent
last year and expects to be cautious about overseas acquisitions. The Hubei-based
company said it planned to achieve above industry average sales growth this
year. Its market share fell from 10.8 per cent in 2008 because of lagging sales
growth in commercial vehicles, such as buses and trucks, which were badly
affected by the economic slowdown. It had a share of 10.1 per cent in 2007.
Dongfeng, which operates joint ventures with Japan's Nissan Motor and Honda
Motor and France's PSA Peugeot, aims to sell 1.65 million to 1.7 million units
this year. This is 15.4 per cent to 18.9 per cent higher than last year's 1.43
million. About 1.25 million to 1.3 million units will be cars - 18.1 per cent to
22.8 per cent higher than last year's sales - and 400,000 will be commercial
vehicles, up 7.5 per cent. Dongfeng aims to grab shares from rivals. The
management expects the mainland vehicle market's growth to slow from last year's
break-neck pace, which was buoyed by government subsidies for small-car buyers
and rural consumers. The company projects domestic market sales to grow 15 per
cent to 15.7 million units. Last year's sales leapt 46.2 per cent to 13.64
million units. "Our view is that this year's economic outlook is more complex
... growth will still be relatively fast but whether sales will show a 'fast
first' and 'slow later' trend, it is not easy to tell," chairman Xu Ping said.
He said Dongfeng achieved a 78.2 per cent year-on-year sales increase to 470,000
units in this year's first quarter, compared with 72 per cent of the entire
industry. Of Dongfeng's first-quarter sales, passenger cars jumped 71 per cent
and commercial vehicles doubled. The 41.2 per cent first-quarter sales growth
for Honda cars trailed Nissan's 69.7 per cent increase and Peugeot's 70.5 per
cent gain. Honda did not produce cars with engines small enough to qualify for
state subsidies. To cope with demand, Dongfeng plans to expand annual output
capacity to 1.7 million units this year, up from 1.42 million at the end of last
year. It is building a third Nissan car plant with 240,000 units of annual
capacity, slated for completion in 2012. Asked about the firm's interest in
acquisitions abroad, Xu said it would only consider those that would "raise its
core competitiveness". Rival Zhejiang Geely Holding Group recently completed the
purchase of the Swedish marque Volvo. For so-called "new energy vehicles",
Dongfeng launched petrol-electric hybrid buses and placed 25 pure electric buses
for consumer trials in Zhengzhou, Hubei province, and Tangshan, Hebei province.
Xu would not give sales targets. Dongfeng is also developing hybrid and pure
electric sedans, as well as natural gas and ethanol vehicles. Dongfeng also
plans to sell 60,000 of its own brand of vehicles this year, after selling
18,000 last year. They are priced at 76,000 yuan (HK$86,400) to 96,000 yuan,
compared with joint-venture products that sell for 70,000 yuan to 250,000 yuan.
Protectionist wind blows on stimulus - 'Buy American' drive to block aid to
foreign firms - Some US politicians are concerned that foreign firms are
benefiting from billions of dollars in US stimulus grants for clean energy
projects. Chinese turbines powered by west Texas winds are sparking a debate
over whether "Buy American" rules should be imposed on renewable-energy
investments backed by the US government. A-Power Energy Generation Systems, of
Shenyang in northeast China, will supply turbines to a joint venture planning to
build a US$1.5 billion wind farm. The group, which includes two US partners,
says it may seek financial aid from the US government because the project will
create at least 1,000 American jobs. Lawmakers led by Senator Charles Schumer, a
New York Democrat, say such assistance amounts to subsidising green jobs outside
the country. They want to slap made-in-America requirements on renewable-energy
initiatives aided by the US, like those already faced by highway and
water-treatment projects helped by President Barack Obama's US$787 billion
stimulus plan. "Congress is feeling pressure to make sure they won't be held
accountable for green jobs going overseas," said Kevin Book, of Clearview Energy
Partners, a Washington policy research firm. Buy American restrictions may be
added to climate legislation that will be introduced in the Senate as early as
next week, Book says. Producers of renewable-energy equipment, led by General
Electric, the biggest US maker of wind turbines, say such restrictions would
hurt their ability to compete in a global clean-energy market that relies on
parts from many countries. Buy-American provisions may cause other nations to
retaliate by curbing their use of US products, GE says. The wind industry will
create 20,000 US jobs in the next decade and would generate more if the US
adopted clear policies and incentives for clean energy, such as requiring the
use of power generated from renewable sources, said Steve Bolze, head of GE's
power and water unit. "What the US needs, which Europe, China and other
countries have, is stable, long-term policy," Bolze said. GE, the world's No 2
maker of wind turbines, is planning to invest €340 million (HK$3.59 billion) in
developing and expanding wind-turbine operations in Britain, Germany, Norway and
Sweden, creating a total of more than 2,000 jobs in those countries, Bolze says.
"We need to be very, very careful about any kinds of protectionist measures" in
clean energy, US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said in an interview this month.
The Texas project's US partners announced the 600-megawatt wind farm on October
29. A-Power was designated as the wind-turbine supplier, John Lin, the company's
chief operating officer, said. The US Renewable Energy Group, a Washington-based
private equity firm, and closely held Cielo Wind Power of Austin, Texas, are in
the joint venture with Shenyang Power Group, a Chinese energy alliance that has
A-Power as its biggest investor. Schumer criticised the use of Chinese-made
turbines at the time, and last month joined Democratic colleagues in introducing
legislation that would make the Texas wind farm and projects like it that are
dependent on foreign manufacturing ineligible for stimulus aid. "We can't sit
idly by while China races to the forefront of clean-energy projects at the
expense of US manufacturing, US jobs and US energy independence," Democratic
Senator Sherrod Brown, a co-sponsor, said last month. "And we certainly can't
shoot ourselves in the foot by helping to finance Chinese clean-energy
production." Asia makes half the world's wind and solar energy equipment and is
widening its lead. China invested US$34.5 billion in low-carbon energy
technologies last year, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The US spent
US$18.6 billion. Partners in the Texas wind farm will fully fund the project and
construct the plant using only American labour, according to Ed Cunningham, a
managing partner with the US Renewable Energy Group. "We will then have the
opportunity to apply for incentives," Cunningham said. "All incentives would be
repaid within just a few years through the federal taxes generated by the wind
farm, and this doesn't include the value tied to the thousands of high-paying,
stable American jobs." The Buy American debate is growing as companies move
renewable-energy jobs away from the US. London-based BP last month said it was
ending US production of solar panels at a plant in Maryland, cutting 320 jobs,
as it shifts production to joint ventures in China and India. Arizona-based
First Solar, which received US$16.3 million in federal funds to hire 200 people
at an Ohio plant, plans to do 71 per cent of its manufacturing hiring in
Malaysia. As of mid-March, at least US$1.6 billion of US$2.7 billion in US
stimulus grants for clean-energy projects went to companies based outside the
US, says Denise Heckbert, an analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance. "It
doesn't look good on paper, but actually the funds are supporting a substantial
number of US jobs," she said. That is a theme sounded by energy companies
opposed to Buy American restrictions. Partners in the 12,950-hectare Texas wind
farm, which would power 180,000 homes, have emphasised that the "vast majority"
of jobs would go to Americans. "A minimum of 70 per cent of each wind turbine,
including the massive towers and blades, will be wholly manufactured in the
United States and made of American steel," the US Renewable Energy Group said on
its website. The Obama administration shares Schumer's goal of ensuring that
government aid creates US jobs, says Matt Rogers, a senior adviser at the Energy
Department. "The good news is these programmes have worked to create jobs and
bring in a lot of foreign investment to the US," Rogers said. Two programmes
under the stimulus act aimed at promoting renewable energy have created or saved
more than 20,000 US jobs, according to the Energy Department. Concern that most
wind-power jobs will flow overseas is exaggerated because of the heavy equipment
required, says Walter Hornaday, president of Cielo Wind Power. "It doesn't make
sense to haul 400,000 pounds of equipment around on the open ocean," Hornaday
said.
Huawei Technologies has been tapped by money-losing smartphone maker Palm for
preliminary acquisition talks, a person familiar with the matter said. Huawei
was approached through its investment bank in February, the person said. "As a
matter of policy, Huawei does not comment on speculation about possible mergers
or acquisitions. Huawei is always open to consider opportunities that will
further enhance its business development," the company said in a statement. Palm
is understood to have hired bankers to explore several options, including a sale
of the company, whose smartphone sales have suffered against those of rivals
such as Apple's iPhone and Research In Motion's BlackBerry. Palm has been
considered a target for larger companies hoping to enter or expand in the mobile
market. Suitors are likely to pay more than US$1 billion for Palm. It had a
stock market value of US$870 million as of last Friday and deals for technology
companies are carrying a premium of about 30 per cent these days, according to
bankers. In the past six months, the company's stock has dropped 69 per cent.
Hongcun village, which looks like a
traditional Chinese ink painting, is one of Anhui's most visited sites. The
upcoming 2010 World Expo promises to be a bonanza for Shanghai's tourism
industry, and many visitors attending the international showcase will also
journey outside the city to nearby provinces such as Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
At least one third of the expected 70 million Expo visitors are expected to make
a sojourn outside Shanghai to neighboring provinces, according to the National
Statistics Bureau. Only three to four hours drive from Shanghai, the natural
beauty and rich culture and heritage of Anhui provide a great escape from the
urban vistas of the metropolis and are sure to attract many visitors. "Anhui has
the Huangshan Mountains, which are just like a traditional Chinese ink painting,
Hongcun village and Tunxi Old Street, which could well date back over 1,000
years, as well as the country's oldest paper and ink cultures," says Hu Xuefan,
director of the Anhui tourism bureau. The Chinese writing brush, ink stick, ink
stone and paper are known as the "Four Treasures of Chinese Study", and Anhui
province can claim to be the place of origin of two of them: Xuan paper and Hui
ink sticks. The majority of the ancient Chinese books and paintings by famous
painters that still survive were created using Hui ink sticks and Xuan paper.
Named after ancient Anhui's Xuanzhou prefecture, where the finest quality paper
was traditionally produced, Xuan paper is renowned for its fine texture and
durability, some Chinese calligraphy collectors believe that top quality Xuan
paper will last forever. There are numerous kinds of Xuan paper and each paper
manufacturer has its own carefully guarded secrets. Neighboring She county is
renowned for producing Hui ink, the country's best ink sticks. With pre-mixed
liquid ink available nowadays, why do painters and calligraphers still insist on
grinding their own ink? People from She county know the answer: The texture and
quality of freshly ground ink is better, and people like to relax their muscles
and prepare for using the brush by grinding the ink. Hui ink sticks used to be
known as Li sticks, as the late Tang emperor Li Yu (AD 936-978) was a great
admirer of their qualities and it used to be said that it was easier to get gold
than a Li ink stick. So if you are visiting the Expo and want a little relief
from the hustle and bustle of Shanghai, why not pay a visit to Anhui province
and discover these Chinese treasures for yourself.
Chief Secretary for Administration Henry
Tang proposes a political reform package for the election of the Chief Executive
and the Legislative Council in 2012 in the Legco chamber on Wednesday. The Hong
Kong government announced its political reform plans for the 2012 elections on
Wednesday. The proposals are largely similar to those introduced last autumn to
the Legislative Council before the government’s three-month public consultation
process. The government at that time proposed modest changes to the composition
of the committee that selects the chief executive and the number of lawmakers
elected to Legco. Chief Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen told legislators on
Wednesday the government wanted to expand the chief executive selection
committee from the present 800 people to 1,200 for the 2012 election. Tang also
proposed expanding the Legislative Council to 70 members – from the present 60 –
while maintaining the present 50:50 ratio of those directly by the public and
those elected by members of various functional constituencies. The government
proposed adding five more geographical constituency seats directly elected by
the public and five more functional constituency elected by district councillors.
This new set of proposals differs from those proposed last autumn in that it
states that the five new functional constituency seats will be elected using a
proportional representation system. 
Developers have agreed to disclose the
sales prices of connected transactions involving senior executives after a
meeting with the government. They find it an acceptable and easy measure to
adopt if the disclosure of names is not necessary, a developer told Sing Tao
Daily, sister publication of The Standard. About 10 members of the Real Estate
Developers Association held talks with the Transport and Housing Bureau early
yesterday on measures to raise pre-sale transparency and accuracy. REDA vice
chairman Stewart Leung Chi-kin said the two parties also looked into preventing
show flats and advertisements from misrepresenting facts, in keeping with Bureau
chief Eva Cheng Yu-wah's call on Monday. Details yet to be discussed include
what penalty developers will be liable to if they fail to fully follow the
guidelines, Leung added. Cheung Kong Real Estate director William Kwok Tsz-wai
believes more transparency will enhance public confidence and benefit the
market. Kwok noted that Cheung Kong's show flats completely abide by official
requirements. While Cheng believes the removal of walls in show flats misleads
customers into believing the apartments are larger than they actually are, Kwok
explained that such a measure may aim to ensure customer safety in crowded
rooms. Sun Hung Kai Real Estate executive director Victor Lui Ting noted that
transparency is beneficial to both developers and buyers. Separately, Centaline
Property chairman Shih Wing-ching said property prices are still below the 1997
level, but there are signs of a bubble. Shih pointed out that some banks have
even raised agent commissions to boost business. He said the resumption of Home
Ownership Scheme flats may be advisable, since public anger over the wealth gap
is mounting.
Pilots
hailed as heroes over miracle landing - Two Australian pilots have been called
heroes after a miracle landing of a stricken Cathay Pacific (SEHK: 0293) plane
with hundreds of passengers on board in Hong Kong yesterday. Both engines on the
Airbus A330-300 malfunctioned on its approach to Chek Lap Kok, the pilots told a
colleague. For at least several seconds of the plane's descent it was flying
with no power in either engine, effectively gliding at high speed towards the
airport. Eight people, mainly Indonesians, suffered cuts and bruises sliding
down emergency chutes after flight CX780 from Surabaya made the landing shortly
before 2pm. Colleagues of the two pilots said it was a miracle the plane made it
to the airport intact. The captain and first officer lost the use of the
left-hand engine shortly after the aircraft reached cruising altitude after
taking off from Surabaya in Indonesia on a four hour 40 minute flight to Hong
Kong, one colleague said. They either shut the engine down or left it idling
after unknown problems developed early in the flight, he said. With the plane
able to fly and land safely on one engine - provided it is in range of an
alternative airport - the Airbus, carrying 322 passengers and crew, continued
towards Hong Kong. Shortly after it began its descent, however, the second
engine began to cut out inexplicably, leaving the pair to cope with dips and
surges in power and the prospect of the plane plunging into the sea short of
Chek Lap Kok. Working together, the two pilots somehow managed to half glide,
half fly the aircraft towards the runway in a tense and extraordinary 20 minutes
as the power in the right-hand engine came and went. The second engine cut out
and restarted several times as the two pilots struggled to bring the aircraft in
to land at Chek Lap Kok without lurching off course, the colleague said. The
pilots struggled to control the plane's approach as the dips in power left them
flying too low while surges took them too high as they approached the airport at
what the colleague said was "far in excess of the normal approach speed". As the
plane was making its final, perilous approach over the sea, they managed to get
enough thrust in the right-hand engine to carry it safely to the runway. Landing
at a high speed, the pilots managed to use reverse thrust as well as other
braking devices to bring the plane to a stop, setting the tyres on fire as they
did so but bringing the aircraft to a safe standstill, the colleague said. Most,
if not all, of the injuries were caused by people hurting themselves as they
went down emergency chutes, not during the life-or-death approach to the
airport. "It was an amazing piece of piloting in extremely testing
circumstances," the colleague said. "One engine was shut down completely and the
other was going on and off. They effectively landed the plane on half an engine.
"The passengers who were on that plane should be praying to whatever God they
have that they got down safely after what happened." The colleague said: "The
two guys who landed the plane safely are pretty shaken up as you'd imagine and I
expect they will be dreaming for some time about that second engine stalling and
restarting." Another colleague of the two men said: "Their stories will come out
in due course when the investigation is complete but what they did was nothing
short of heroic. It's a miracle they managed to get the plane down safely. "If
this had happened on another airline or if this had happened to less skilled and
resourceful pilots, there is no way those passengers would have all walked away
from that plane alive." A Civil Aviation Department investigation has been
launched into the incident and both pilots were interviewed for about two hours
yesterday afternoon as the probe got under way. One of the two pilots is based
in Hong Kong and was expected to return to his family last night, while the
other is based in Australia and will stay in a hotel in the city for the time
being. Air traffic controllers were alerted 20 minutes before the emergency
landing and firefighters stood by for the arrival of the plane. Several of the
plane's tyres deflated in the hard landing. Cathay Pacific said the tyres were
designed to deflate during such a high-pressure braking to stop them bursting. A
Cathay Pacific flight quality controller said it was extremely rare for an
engine to break down during a flight unless it was hit by an object such as a
bird or birds. "Even with both engines dead, our planes still have a backup
power supply that should allow it to glide for up to hour, with the help of
flaps and spoilers." The aircraft in the incident went into service in 1998 and
had a thorough inspection two years ago. A plane can have a lifespan of more
than 25 years with the proper maintenance. The director general of civil
aviation, Norman Lo Shung-man, said investigators would submit a report in four
weeks, although it would take much longer to find out the reasons behind the
incident. The northern runway was closed for two hours and 20 minutes due to the
accident. But only 35 of the 125 flights supposed to take off during that period
were delayed, and for an average of less than half an hour. Last Wednesday, a
Swiss International Airbus 340 was forced to abandon take-off at Chek Lap Kok
after four of its tyres exploded, with debris damaging an engine. An Air France
Airbus A300-200 plunged into the Atlantic after engine failure last June,
killing 228 people. 
Hong Kong's secondary housing
market has shown a patchy recovery from the collapse of prices that followed the
1997 Asian financial crisis. On Hong Kong Island, prices in Taikoo Shing in
Quarry Bay and City Garden in North Point are now close to the peak levels
reached before the crisis saw prices collapsing by up to 67 per cent across the
market. The Island rebound has been much higher than the recovery recorded in
Kowloon and the New Territories over the past 13 years, however, and for the
overall mass residential market, prices are still 21.3 per cent down on the 1997
peak, according to the widely used barometer of home prices, the Centa-City
Leading Index. The weekly index, which is based on Centaline's current
preliminary contract prices, set 1997 prices at 100. On April 9, it stood at
78.64 - still 21.3 per cent below the 1997 level. In the luxury residential
market, by contrast, prices have already rebounded above their 1997 peak levels.
In the secondary market, Taikoo Shing and City Garden are now expected to be the
first two mass housing estates to break through the 1997 peaks. Midland Realty
research shows the average prices of flats in Taikoo Shing and City Garden in
March were within just 3 and 4 per cent respectively of their previous highs
achieved in November 1997. In Taikoo Shing, average prices reached HK$8,180 per
square foot last month, up 7.69 per cent from the end of last year. "We will see
average prices of the two estates exceed the peak levels this year," Wong Leung-shing,
an associate director of research at Centaline, said. In some isolated cases,
those previous peaks had already been breached, Centaline sales director Patrick
Tsang said. "The larger 1,237 sq ft flats in the area are the only ones that
come with a maid's room. In recent months the prices of these units have reached
HK$14 million, which is a record," he said. By contrast, prices in housing
estates in Kowloon and New Territories have a long way to go before they breach
their previous highs set in 1997. Helped by an influx of investors, prices in
Laguna City hit HK$7,255 per square foot in November 1997. But the current
average price is just HK$4,780 per square foot - still 35 per below the peak
level reached in August 1997. And prices in the estate have risen just 2.6 per
cent in the last three months. In City One in Sha Tin, the average price in
February was HK$4,449 per square foot - 26 per cent below the market peak.
Buggle Lau Ka-fai, the chief analyst at Midland, said the reason that prices of
housing estates on Hong Kong Island were now close to the market peak level was
tight new supply of flats and development sites in good locations. "It is
difficult to find a large-scale residential site for sale on Hong Kong Island,
the new supply is also limited to luxury residential," he said. This shortage
has forced home seekers to look to mass housing estates, added Centaline's Wong.
Buyers were able to make this decision because they were generally better off
and average household incomes on Hong Kong Island ranked top in the city.
Economist Kwan Cheuk-chiu said prices in Kowloon and the New Territories were
usually 20 to 30 per cent lower than prices on the Island. He expected that
prices in a few major housing estates on the Island would exceed their 1997
market peaks in the second or third quarter, while the Centa-City Leading Index
would rise by then to 85 or 86 points. But he said home seekers should be
cautious about price trends. "Property prices will continue to rise in the short
term as a bubble is forming in the market. But this may change. And it may
become horrible once the bubble bursts," he said. This is a harsh lesson still
being suffered by those who bought into new projects at the peak in 1997. Two
such estates were Villa Esplanada in Tsing Yi, and Discovery Park in Tsuen Wan.
Average prices in Discovery Park in November 1997 were around HK$7,747 per
square foot and in March this year were only around HK$4,518 per square foot -
still 42 per cent below their 1997 levels. At Villa Esplanada prices are still
22 per cent below their 1997 peak. Data also shows that even being located on
Hong Kong Island does not guarantee a better performance for new releases. Units
in the Legend in Tai Hang, released for sale in 2007, were bought at prices
ranging from HK$16,200 to HK$21,000 per square foot. But prices achieved in
secondary sales in the development in recent months have fallen to as low as
HK$12,000 to HK$13,000 per square foot. Wong of Centaline said buyers of new
projects would have to be patient about achieving an appreciation in capital
value for their flats. "Developers are selling at prices that might be realised
three years on. This means they have considered the upside potential of the
flats in the next three years. If buyers are looking for a capital value gain,
they should be prepared to wait for three years," he said. Economist Kwan said
the latest market movements seemed to be following the same path taken in the
run-up to the 1997 collapse of prices. "Home seekers today have a similar
mentality to those who bought flats in 1997. They worry that property prices
will rise further and so decide to buy, which boosts prices sharply. But they
are neglecting the key element that supports property prices, namely household
income. They are no longer questioning whether salary rises could catch up with
the property price surge," he said. Even if salaries were to increase by around
3 per cent this year, this would still lag the rise in property prices, he
warned. Last year, the median household income for Hong Kong was HK$17,500 a
month, still 6 per cent below the median income measured before the global
financial crisis happened in October 2008. In 1996 and 1997, the median
household income was around HK$20,000 a month.
An award-winning actor who denied wounding
a man and tearing his ear in a scuffle is now ready to admit to a lesser charge
of assault. Francis Ng Chun-yu, 48, will appear at Kowloon City Magistrates'
Court today. In February, he pleaded not guilty to wounding Ming Chi- hong at
Ceres Boulangerie et Patisserie bakery in Kowloon City on January 1. But Ng -
who is also known as Francis Ng Chi-keung - has decided to plead guilty to
assault causing bodily harm, according to informed sources. Although an assault
offense carries a maximum penalty of three years in jail, judges can pass a
lighter sentence, such as a suspended sentence or a fine. Ng will enter his plea
before Principal Magistrate Anthony Kwok Kai-on at Kowloon City Magistrates'
Court today. Ng's lawyer is Lawrence Lok Ying- kam, who specializes in criminal
cases. Lok was hired by Chinachem Charitable Foundation, which won against fung
shui master Tony Chan Chun- chuen in the battle for the late tycoon Nina Wang
Kung Yu-sum's estate. Ng is out on HK$5,000 bail. The prosecution originally
arranged five prosecution witnesses, with a surveillance tape also offered as
evidence. The court was told Ng and his wife allegedly argued with another
couple at the bakery. Ng, whose career took off in the 1996 triad tale Young and
Dangerous, has since won the HK Film Critics Society best actor award three
times. It's not the first time Ng has been taken to court. In November 2008, he
was sued by a decoration company seeking to recover HK$1.2 million owed for
renovations at his house in Sai Kung. Shun Fai Decoration and Handicraft filed a
writ in the High Court in 2006 to recover the money. Ng filed a counterclaim
seeking HK$410,000 for alleged defects. But the judge found in favor of the
decoration firm, ordering Ng to make the payment, plus legal costs.
Chinese
President Hu Jintao(4th R,front)poses for a group photo with other world leaders
during the Nuclear Security Summit at the Washington Convention Center in
Washington,April 13,2010. World leaders or international organization
representatives attending the Washington Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) on
Tuesday proposed in a work plan a series of detailed measures designed to secure
nuclear material in response to the growing threats of nuclear terrorism. The
seven-page work plan, released at the end of the two-day summit, recognized
states' rights to develop and use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, and
noted the responsibility of each state for the use and management of all nuclear
materials and facilities under its jurisdiction. The plan said highly enriched
uranium and separated plutonium are particularly sensitive and require special
precautions, including the consolidation of national sites where nuclear
material is held and the exercise of particular care in ensuring the safe and
secure transport of nuclear materials, both in domestic and international
transport. The plan urged every participating state to be mindful of its
responsibility to maintain effective nuclear security and a robust domestic
regulatory capacity, including the establishment, review, adjustment and
enforcement of related regulations as well as personnel training. The plan also
emphasized the importance of the human dimension of nuclear security, the need
to enhance security culture, and the need to maintain a well-trained cadre of
technical experts. The work plan underscored the value of exchanging accurate
and verified information, without prejudice to confidentiality provisions, to
detect, prevent, suppress, investigate and prosecute acts or attempted acts of
illicit nuclear trafficking and nuclear terrorism. 
Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu (third
right) comforts a quake-affected villager in Yushu of northwest China's Qinghai
province April 14, 2010. A 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit the region early on
Wednesday, leaving about 400 dead and 10,000 injured. Yushu, Qinghai: Relief
materials have been sent to Yushu by the Qinghai Bureau of Civil Affairs after a
7.1-magnitude-earthquake hit the region early on Wednesday. 5,000 tents, 10,000
beds, 5,000 articles of winter clothing and more than 200 emergency lamps have
arrived in the quake-hit area. The bureau has allocated more than 10 million
yuan as rescue fund. In addition, 120 firemen were also deployed by the Gansu
Rescue Unit. Luo Huining, governor of Qinghai province, visited the earthquake
area to comfort victims and assure them that adequate support will be delivered
soon.
A magnitude 6.9
earthquake on Wednesday killed at least 400 people and injured 10,000, trapping
many others in collapsed houses in the mountainous Tibetan plateau. Local people
gather in the outdoors after being evacuated from buildings following the
powerful earthquake that hit the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu, Qinghai
province, on Wednesday. 
Rubble of destroyed houses fills the
street after an earthquake hit the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu,
Qinghai province on Wednesday. 
Stephen Bloom explores China's pearl culture for his latest work on this
"accident of nature" which has attracted mankind for millennia. Liu Jun reports
- Stephen Bloom was running late. I stomped my feet on the cold cement floor to
keep myself warm in Beijing's chilly early spring. At the Pearl Market, facing
the Temple of Heaven, we were to meet a pearl dealer who had entertained
Margaret Thatcher and other dignitaries. The professor of journalism from the
University of Iowa clearly wasn't in a hurry. He planted himself on a stool in
front of a pearl stand on the second floor, and asked the young girl named Tammy
to bring out one hank after another. "I give you deal better than I give other
customers," Tammy said in her broken English as Bloom finally got up, promising
to come back once we finished an interview on the third floor. It was a great
learning opportunity for a young journalist to interpret for a veteran American
colleague, whose works like Postville, The Oxford Project, and Inside the
Writer's Mind: Writing Narrative Journalism have become must-reads for
journalism students. But his apparent disregard for punctuality was annoying,
and the way he bargained with Tammy to get pearls for his wife - and my mother
(I wanted a birthday present for her) - was more like a sharp-toothed customer
than a professor. Three years later, with Bloom's latest work Tears of Mermaids:
The Secret Story of Pearls (St. Martin's Press) arriving (in China this year),
his unhurried approach finally makes sense. In the world of pearls, you've got
to show patience to get past snobbish dealers and reach the bottom of the pearl
business. In his review, the Wall Street Journal's Joseph Sternberg wrote that
Bloom "tells us too much about his personal odyssey and not enough about the
pearls themselves", but I found the opposite to be true. Bloom's firsthand
account and wry humor add much value to an otherwise dry account of the global
pearl trade. Inspired by his mother's modest string of pearls, Bloom took a
48,000 kilometer journey around the globe to understand why this "accident of
nature" has fascinated men, and women, for millennia. The surprising array of
people he met are more memorable than the huge rare pearls that landed in
Bloom's palms: The Japanese "Pearl Emperor" who denies the demise of Japanese
pearls; the Tahitian pearl farmer Daniel Tavere who found and lost a colossal 22
mm black pearl; the French pearl guru Jacques Branellec who piloted his chopper
to show Bloom around his pearl farms in the Philippines; and Ricki Angelus, a
middle-class woman in the United States who secretly amasses pearls. The
chapters on Bloom's experience as a deckhand on a pearling vessel under the
Australian pearl lord Nicholas Paspaley are full of action and insight. To Bri,
Selena and Hannah, who sweat alongside men to haul, swing, clean, rinse and
stack thousands of oysters that contain breathtaking pearls, wearing any of
these shiny orbs remain a dream. But for me, the most revealing part of the book
is about Zhuji (spelled Joo-jee in the book), East China's Zhejiang province,
which is now the world's biggest fresh water pearl production base. Bloom's tour
proves that the quantity and quality of Chinese fresh water pearls are improving
quickly. From a single mollusk, the astonished author pulled out dozens of
pearls of different colors. After polishing and other technical improvements,
these pearls would seem to be identical to topnotch pearls for an average
customer. Although China still lacks a smart marketing strategy to generate
interest and bigger prices for the "perfect pearl", Bloom did meet ambitious
pearlers like Faye Tian, who studied in New York and cultures colorful pearls at
her family's farm in Zhuji. At the end of his odyssey, Bloom journeyed to
Cubagua, a small island in Venezuela, which supplied Spanish King Ferdinand and
Queen Isabella with huge natural pearls in the early 16th century and sparked a
pearl craze throughout Europe. Shiploads of African slaves were chained and
pushed into the sea to gather as many oysters as possible. Cubagua thrived on
this bloody trade for decades, before the depletion of pearls called an end to
it all. Five hundreds years later, a pack of dogs welcomed Bloom and accompanied
him everywhere on the deserted island. He sat down, gazing at the sea and mused
over the nature of pearls and human greed. That solitary scene void of any
pearls is much more poignant than the auction of the world's most expensive
pearl strands Bloom witnessed at New York's Christie's. "I wanted to track the
global journey of an inanimate object and give it life," Bloom told me. He
certainly did. 
Metallurgical
Corporation of China Ltd has recently taken steps to expand its global footprint
by making investments in overseas mining assets. Engineering, procurement and
construction major Metallurgical Corporation of China Ltd (MCC) is in the
running for the zinc assets owned by diversified miner Anglo American Plc,
according to company officials. Anglo American's zinc assets include the wholly
owned Skorpion and Lisheen mines in Namibia and Ireland and a 74 percent
interest in the Black Mountain mine in South Africa. According to Reuters
reports, the total value of Anglo American's zinc assets could be around $1
billion. No other details were immediately available. The London-listed Anglo
American's major mining businesses include diamonds, platinum, coal and other
industrial metals. The Shanghai and Hong Kong-listed MCC is a leading
international contractor for metallurgical projects and also a domestic real
estate developer. The company has recently taken steps to expand its global
footprint by investments in overseas mining assets. "We intend to capitalize on
the commodity price rally and the Anglo bid is in line with our strategy," said
an investment relations manager from MCC on condition of anonymity. In February,
MCC agreed to pay $200 million for a 5 percent stake in Australian miner
Resourcehouse Ltd. MCC also agreed to buy coal from the Australian firm and to
buy a 10 percent stake in its Queensland-based China First coal project.
State-owned MCC has a good chance of winning the Anglo bid as it has deep
coffers, said analysts. Most of MCC's mining assets are located abroad, and it
is line with the nation's "going-out" strategy. "The $1 billion Anglo deal if
clinched would offer returns only over the long-term and should be seen as a
strategic agreement," said Peng Bo, an analyst at Guosen Securities. Cash-rich
Chinese State-owned enterprises and China Investment Corp, the nation's
sovereign wealth fund, have played lead roles in fostering outbound deals for
resources. 
China's fast-growing economy demands ever more energy, and since the world's
factory is also the world's biggest polluter, it is steaming ahead with
developing renewable energy sources. The drive to establish alternative energy
supplies has seen the mainland overtake Germany to become the world's
second-largest wind power nation in terms of installed capacity, according to a
report issued on Monday by the Global Wind Energy Council, an industry
association. China's installed capacity totalled 25.9 gigawatts (GW) last year,
second only to the United States, after it installed wind farms capable of
generating 13.8 GW last year - a third of the world's additional capacity. He
Dexin, director of the Chinese Wind Energy Association, forecast a total
installed capacity of 100 to 150 GW by 2020. With brisk growth in wind power
installations expected to continue, some foreign industry players have called
for steady, long-term policies from the government to ensure an orderly market.
Tulsi Tanti, chairman and managing director of Indian wind turbine supplier
Suzlon Energy, said the central government had to make a long-term commitment of
at least 10 years so that any company interested in wind power could plan ahead.
Tanti said the biggest obstacle to doing business in China was that "they are
constantly changing the policy". For instance, he said, China halted tax
exemptions for imported wind turbines of less than 2.5 megawatts in May 2008,
affecting the whole supply chain. Suzlon is the world's third-biggest wind
turbine supplier and was the only international player in the Chinese market
until three years ago. Despite the wind industry's remarkable growth,
difficulties in connecting to the grid have long been a troubling sign. Asked
about its plans for China, Tanti said: "We are not using the full capacity. We
want to utilise that first before we expand." Chinese Wind Energy Association
director He said a 750-kilovolt power transmission project started last year
would provide grid connectivity for wind farms in Gansu and part of the wind
capacity in Inner Mongolia would be connected to grids in northern China.
Despite the enormous potential, wind power accounts for less than 1 per cent of
China's total electricity consumption. The goal for 2020 is around 3 per cent,
He said. Besides traditional renewable energies like wind and solar, China has
also been pushing ahead with clean-burning bio-fuel to achieve its commitment to
a 40 per cent reduction in carbon intensity (from 2005 levels) by 2020. Working
in partnership with Danish ethanol developer Novozymes, oil and gas giant
Sinopec (SEHK: 0386) and China's largest food manufacturer and trader, Cofco,
are planning large-scale commercial production of cellulosic ethanol, a
second-generation bio-fuel produced from agricultural waste, in 2011. The three
companies signed an agreement to co-develop bio-fuel last year, under which
Cofco will be responsible for feed-stock plantation and logistics, Novozymes
will provide core technology, and Sinopec will be engaged in production,
blending and distribution. Novozymes launched the first commercially viable
enzymes for production of bio-fuel from agricultural waste in February. Enzymes
play an important role in converting bio-mass to ethanol. When the technology is
used in commercial biofuel production next year, the supply of biofuel will be
increased by 25 per cent from now, Michael Fredskov Christiansen, Novozymes's
China president, said. Biofuel is cheaper than oil and emits less carbon dioxide
than petroleum-based fuels. 
Military
exchanges between China and the United States are still suspended, a People's
Liberation Army spokesman said yesterday, despite a recent warming of relations
between the countries.
Workers inspect natural gas equipment at a Sinopec facility in Hebei province.
Spending by Chinese companies on mining and energy acquisitions reached a record
$32 billion last year. China Petrochemical Corp agreed to pay ConocoPhillips
$4.65 billion for its stake in Syncrude Canada Ltd, a higher price than analysts
expected, as Asia's biggest refiner seeks overseas petroleum reserves. China
Petrochemical, the Beijing-based company known as Sinopec Group, will buy about
9 percent of oil-sands producer Syncrude through its unit Sinopec International
Petroleum Exploration & Production Co, according to a statement issued by
Houston-based ConocoPhillips on Monday. The price the group agreed to pay for
Syncrude surpassed by $650 million the high end of an estimate by Macquarie
Securities of the assets' worth, said Jason Gammel, an analyst in New York with
the firm. ConocoPhillips received a premium of about 20 percent compared with
the value implied last week by Canadian Oil Sands Trust's market worth, debt and
cash, according to a research note from Raymond James. "What it reflects is
China's insatiable appetite for resource accumulation overseas, not to mention
the fact that Beijing has a pretty big checkbook," said Pavel Molchanov, an
analyst with Raymond James who rates ConocoPhillips at "underperform" and
doesn't own any of its shares. Molchanov said he thought the stake would fetch
about $4 billion. Canadian Oil Sands Trust is the lead partner in Fort McMurray,
Alberta-based Syncrude with a 36.7 percent interest. ConocoPhillips, the
third-largest US oil company, said in October it planned to sell $10 billion of
assets over two years to help cut debt. Oil sands are deposits of bitumen, an
extra-heavy oil that must be treated for use in refineries to produce gasoline
and diesel fuels. The Syncrude deal shows the Chinese are putting prices on
resources out of line with criteria such as the rate of return, said Mark
Gilman, an analyst at the Benchmark Co in New York who has a "hold" rating on
ConocoPhillips shares and owns none. "You don't need a degree in rocket science
to come up with the fact that this is more than twice its economic value," he
said of the Syncrude transaction. Spending by Chinese companies on mining and
energy acquisitions reached a record $32 billion last year. China, South Korea,
Japan and India are seeking overseas resources to drive their economies. The
International Energy Agency on March 12 raised its forecast for fuel demand in
developing countries, led by China and India, to 41.2 million barrels a day and
cut its prediction for Europe and the United States.
An
Alibaba booth at a recent digital products exhibition held recently in Beijing.
The company's subsidiary Alipay controlled about 50 percent of China's online
payment market in 2009. Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group said on Monday it
will invest 5 billion yuan ($732 million) over the next five years in its online
payments subsidiary Alipay.com Co Ltd as part of its effort to maintain its lead
over rivals Tencent Holdings and EBay Inc. The new funds, according to Alibaba,
will be used to improve the security of its payment infrastructure, the
development of payment products and to attract new customers. The company said
it would also commit additional resources to online safety and security, risk
and data management, as well as innovation in new technologies such as mobile
payments. "Online payments will continue to play an ever-growing and significant
role in the development of e-commerce as well as the stimulation of consumer
demand," said Lucy Peng, chief executive officer of Apilay and the chief
personnel officer of Alibaba Group. She said Chinese consumers expect a safe,
convenient and affordable payment platform. Alibaba's announcement came shortly
after US-online payment firm PayPal Inc last month clinched an agreement with
Chinese national electronic-payment network China UnionPay that enables Chinese
users to make purchases on overseas websites. PayPal is owned by EBay Inc.
Alibaba to delve deeper into online payments - Alibaba's online auction site
Taobao.com said it plans to double its workforce in the Asia-Pacific region to
2,000 by the end of 2010 as it expands its China market share. Boosted by the
country's increasing online population, Internet transactions through online
payment firms in China more than doubled to 576.6 billion yuan last year and are
expected to hit 2.75 trillion yuan in 2013, according to Beijing-based research
firm iResearch. Alipay controlled about 50 percent of the market in 2009,
compared with about 21 percent by rival Tenpay, offered by Internet company
Tencent Holdings, the research firm said. "The new investment makes it clear
that Alibaba still regards Alipay as an infant business that needs long-term
investment, rather than a mature revenue generator," said Cao Fei, an analyst
from domestic research firm Analysys International. Earlier reports have said
that Alipay broke even last year and may consider a public offering in the near
future. Since its establishment in 2004, Alipay quickly became China's most
popular online payment tool. That's due to its unique business model that
vouches for online sellers and buyers, thus significantly increasing online
trades and transactions, analysts said. That partly helps Alibaba beat its rival
EBay, which shut down its China site in 2006 after its market share declined by
half due to the rise of Taobao.com, an online-auction site owned by Alibaba,
analysts said. EBay then entered into a joint venture with Tom Online Inc.
Alipay said on Monday that it has over 300 million users at the end of last
month. 
RTHK staff
will be excluded from a proposed advisory board for the government-owned
broadcaster because the board will not get involved in routine administration
and staff matters, a senior official said. Rita Lau Ng Wai-lan, the Secretary
for Commerce and Economic Development, also insisted that RTHK would preserve
its editorial independence with the new charter. "The board, focusing on
editorial principles, will act like a mirror to RTHK's performance," Lau told
legislators. "Appointing staff representatives to the board could be like
inviting it to involve in daily operations and staffing matters." Lau was
speaking at a meeting of the Legislative Council information technology and
broadcasting panel at which the proposal drew strong criticism from
pan-democratic lawmakers. The panel may hold a public hearing on the proposal
next month. RTHK staff representatives, who have expressed fears about editorial
independence under the board, to be appointed by Chief Executive Donald Tsang
Yam-kuen, have called on the government to scrap the idea. The draft of the
charter, handed to lawmakers this month, states that the board will have no
executive power and will not be involved in the day-to-day operation or staffing
matters of RTHK. But it will be responsible for "advising the Director of
Broadcasting on all matters pertaining to editorial principles, standards and
quality of programming" and the director "shall report and explain to the board
the reasons for not following the advice". Lau said the broadcaster would not be
subordinate to the board, and the ultimate editorial responsibility would rest
with the director. Director of Broadcasting Franklin Wong Wah-kay said RTHK's
future working relationship with the government would be based on the principle
of mutual respect. He, as the only RTHK representative on the board, would try
to educate it about the operations of the broadcaster. Civic Party legislator
Ronny Tong Ka-wah questioned the need for the board, as the government had
already stated that RTHK had maintained its creditability for decades. "People
say leave well alone," he said. "Why do we need a new body to monitor its
performance? Is it doing too well so the government wants it to be monitored?"
Democratic Party vice-chairwoman Emily Lau Wai-hing said the government might
add a clause to the charter to prevent the board from interfering with the
editorial independence. "It is not only an issue with the staff but the public
as a whole. The charter has made people worried," she said. Fellow lawmaker Lee
Wing-tat also doubted the promise that the board would not meddle with the
handling of individual programmes. "The staff might pick less sensitive topics
to avoid getting into trouble," he said. In a survey in November last year, 80
per cent of RTHK staff opposed the proposal to set up the board, while 36.4 per
cent strongly opposed the idea. RTHK programme staff union chairwoman Janet Mak
Lai-ching said the staff wanted the government to scrap the idea. 
Eight passengers were injured
on Tuesday afternoon when a Cathay Pacific Airbus made an emergency landing at
Hong Kong International Airport because of engine failure.
The University Grants Committee believes
there are better uses for the HK$150 million a year which the City University of
Hong Kong wants for the first veterinary medicine program in Hong Kong. A UGC
source said yesterday that the same money could be spent on 50 medical, 150
nursing or 200 engineering or teaching courses. The source also pointed out the
vet- to-animal ratio in Hong Kong is one to 600, which is satisfactory when
compared with the United States where it is one to 1,600. "The public should
have a real discussion on how to spend this money," the source said. But a City
University spokeswoman said Hong Kong should not delay the establishment of the
first veterinary medicine school any longer. "The threat to human health by
zoonotic diseases has been a world-wide concern in the medical sector. Hong
Kong, being strategically located, has the need and the responsibility to train
local talent. We cannot afford to tarry any more in establishing our own school
of veterinary medicine," she said. She said the university had submitted an
application to the UGC last August but has not yet received a formal reply. The
university had said it would not rule out the possibility of having the program
fund itself. Under its plan, the school could start a six-year course in 2012
for 30 students in the first batch. The university last December signed a
memorandum with the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University in the
hope the local degree will be recognized by the American Veterinary Medical
Association. The plan is also supported by the municipal government of Shenzhen,
where laboratories and a teaching hospital will be set up. Meanwhile, the UGC's
Research Grants Council yesterday announced the launch of the first round of the
theme- based Research Scheme. In the HK$18 billion Research Endowment Fund
established by the government last year, HK$4 billion was set aside for
theme-based research which would support projects on themes of a more long-term
nature. RGC chairman Roland Chin Tai- hong said the funding of the first-phase
would be focused on three themes: promoting good health, developing a
sustainable environment; and enhancing Hong Kong's strategic position as a
regional and international business center. 
About one-fifth of the floor area of the former police married quarters on
Hollywood Road will be for shops and a restaurant after it is turned into a
creative industry hub. Helping conduct a tour of the 59-year-old compound
yesterday, the chief assistant secretary of the Commissioner for Heritage's
office, Robin Lee Kui-biu, said about 3,000 square meters of the 15,000-sqm
floor area will be strengthened to allow for shops and a restaurant. The
compound on the original site of the Central School includes a now-deserted
eight-story residential block, a seven-story housing block and a two-story
Junior Police Call Clubhouse building. Shops will be mainly on the first floor
of the residential blocks. Antiquities Advisory Board member Greg Wong Chak-yan
said it is appropriate to set aside areas for commercial use. "The proposed
restaurant can help bring in more visitors," he said. "Few people will come by
if artists just work in their studios with their doors shut." Planners want the
roof and top floor of the seven-story block removed and replaced with glass
curtain walls for the restaurant, but Wong said it would be better to preserve
the top floor and put the restaurant near the main entrance of the compound at
ground-floor level. Non-profit groups were invited on March 19 to offer ideas on
creative industries. While no submissions have been received, Lee said, almost
40 groups have signed up for a briefing on project details on Monday. It will be
up to a selected operator to decide whether to redevelop the Junior Police Call
Clubhouse building, officials have said. Lee said yesterday that there is no
height limit on the site, but he does believe it will be replaced by a high
rise. The clubhouse and a basketball court in front of it should be converted
for community use. Katty Law Ngar-ning, convener of the Central and Western
Concern Group, called for a height limit. So did Central and Western district
councillor Tanya Chan and the director of the University of Hong Kong's
Architectural Conservation Programme, Lee Ho-yin. 
Property developers who give potential
buyers false or misleading information have been warned to get their house in
order. Housing chief Eva Cheng Yu-wah yesterday revealed details of yet-to-be-
announced guidelines developers will have to adhere to - or face the prospect of
legislation to bring them into line. Cheng will meet the developers' industry
body later this week to discuss the issue. After visiting a fourth lot of show
flats in three weeks yesterday, Cheng said that all developers have room for
improvement. "First, something can be done on show flats so that consumers don't
have any misconceptions. For example, certain partitions or settings may make a
room seem more spacious," she said. Along with the Real Estate Developers
Association, officials are also investigating the possibility that developers
must include a completely empty show flat to give a true sense of space. "We
will require promotional materials to provide the correct region and address,"
said Cheng, adding that while sales brochures include comprehensive information,
advertisements may tell readers nothing in this respect. "Also, in response to
market feedback, we want the information disclosed to include connected
transactions involving senior executives." K Wah International (0173) chairman
Lui Che-woo welcomed official rules "as long as they are not too strict." REDA
vice chairman Stewart Leung Chi-kin earlier raised concerns over the definition
of "senior executives" and said there are already disclosure criteria for
connected transactions at listed developers. Polytechnic University professor
Eddie Hui Chi-man said: "Frankly, more could be done. The proposals concern what
can be 'seen.' "People know about the locations even though they are not clearly
spelled out. They also know that the decor [at show flats] is not for real." He
believes transparency on prices may prove more important. While clearer floor
plans have helped, how developers price different homes is not so clear. Cheng
said regulation through the REDA has brought progress, as reflected in the
disclosure of saleable area and transactions within five days. She said the
government may revoke presale consent or further legislate if the rules prove
insufficient.
China to make its own decision on yuan, Hu tells Obama - President Barack Obama
greets President Hu Jintao at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington on
Monday. Obama opened a 47-nation summit dedicated to keeping nuclear arms from
terrorists and seeks momentum with China in his push for a new round of
sanctions on Iran. China will chart its own course in reforming the yuan,
President Hu Jintao said as US President Barack Obama renewed his call for a
more flexible Chinese currency. The two heads of state, meeting for the first
time since tensions over the yuan threatened in recent months to escalate into a
serious trade dispute, chose their words carefully and, in the view of
investors, left the door open for Beijing to resume appreciation in the coming
weeks. Hu said that China would not be pushed by external pressure and would
instead base any decision on the yuan on its own economic needs. But he also
made clear that it was committed to reform. “China will firmly stick to a path
of reforming the yuan’s exchange rate formation mechanism,” Hu told Obama,
according to Xinhua’s account of their discussion. “In making reforms, we will
give careful consideration to global economic developments and changes, as well
as to China’s economic condition,” Hu said. The yuan edged down in the offshore
forwards market for a second day on Hu’s comments, but investors were still
positioning themselves for a gradual resumption of the currency’s appreciation.
Beijing has frozen the yuan’s exchange rate against the dollar since mid-2008 to
help cushion its economy from the global downturn, but the strength of the
recovery in the mainland has fuelled criticism of this policy and market
expectations that it is about to resume appreciation. Notable by its absence in
Hu’s reported comments was a declaration, previously a stock phrase for China’s
leaders, that a stable yuan was benefiting the global economy. Obama, for his
part, touched only delicately on the yuan, with his focus on the summit at hand
and securing Beijing’s backing for tougher sanctions against Iran’s nuclear
activities. “The president reaffirmed his view that it is important for a ...
sustained and balanced global economic recovery that China move toward a more
market-oriented exchange rate,” Jeffrey Bader, a top White House adviser, told
reporters. The US Treasury this month delayed publication of a report that
politicians had urged Obama to use to name China a currency manipulator,
potentially paving the way for punitive trade measures. China had warned
repeatedly that foreign criticism of its currency policy would be
counter-productive. Months of tensions – over trade, Internet freedom, Taiwan
and Tibet – placed heavy expectations on the 90-minute talks on the sidelines of
Obama’s nuclear security summit, even if the meeting was unlikely to produce
concrete results. “Most importantly, it seems that the atmospherics surrounding
the bilateral US-China relationship have improved, opening the door for movement
on a number of issues,” said China expert Drew Thompson of the Nixon Center in
Washington. “Political statements won’t prevail over economic and market
realities. The trend for China to abolish the yuan/dollar peg this year remains
intact, with the earliest move possibly coming late this month or in May,” said
a senior dealer at a major bank in Shanghai. With China’s exchange rate policy
under intense scrutiny, Hu also used the meeting with Obama to argue that a
stronger yuan would not be a panacea for woes afflicting the world’s largest
economy. “Yuan appreciation would neither balance Sino-US trade, nor solve the
unemployment problem in the United States,” Hu said. He added that the mainland
wants to increase its US imports, especially of high-tech products. Repeating a
decade-old mantra from Beijing, Hu urged Washington to loosen its export
controls of such goods. US politicians complain the value of the yuan is being
held down against the dollar by Beijing to boost Chinese exports at the expense
of US exports, and thus jobs, and want Obama to take a hard line to push for
China to allow appreciation. China ran US$250 billion trade surplus with the US
last year. Recent signals from Beijing have encouraged hopes that it was edging
toward a more flexible yuan, which analysts say would suite China’s own
interests as its economy takes off, with exports recovering strongly and
inflation picking up.
Visitors to the 2010 World Expo
in Shanghai will face some of the toughest security checks imposed at an
international fair as the authorities tackle the mammoth task of ensuring that
the six-month show passes without incident. Hundreds of X-ray machines and
security gates have been installed at the site's eight entrances to cope with
the crowds, but officials effectively admitted yesterday that it could take
several hours to clear the backlog on busy days. Speaking at a press conference,
Cheng Jiulong, deputy chief of Shanghai Public Security Bureau, called for expo
visitors to keep their possessions to "a minimum" to help speed up the process.
The stringent restrictions on what items visitors will be allowed to take with
them into the 5.28 square kilometre fair site rival pre-boarding controls at
airports. Cigarette lighters, matches and any liquids - other than medicines or
milk for babies - will be banned, along with less conventional items such as
blades, radioactive devices and explosives. Visitors will need to apply for
special licences to take wireless electronics into the site, other than mobile
phones, digital cameras and car keys. Cheng said the bureau estimated each
security gate would be able to handle one visitor every 18 seconds, giving an
expected passenger flow into the park of close to 200,000 per hour. Expo
organisers announced this weekend they would cap daily visitor numbers at
600,000 to prevent overcrowding - meaning visitors could potentially have to
queue for up to three hours to get in. However, Cheng said no decision had yet
been taken on whether to begin letting visitors into the site earlier than the
official opening time. "According to Shanghai Expo Bureau regulations, the park
is to open at 9am and the pavilions will open at 9.30am," he said. "We will need
to wait until the test opening to get an exact figure of our capacity." The site
is due to be put through its paces in a series of test openings involving
thousands of volunteers beginning next Monday, ahead of the official opening on
May 1. An estimated 70 million visitors are expected to visit the site during
its 184-day run. Only 5 per cent are expected to come from overseas. Before
announcing the daily cap on visitor numbers, expo officials had suggested
upwards of 700,000 or even a million might visit on the busiest days. Cheng
admitted it was almost impossible to predict accurately how many people would go
to the site on any given day, particularly as the vast majority of tickets were
not tied to a specific "These tickets could be used on any day whatsoever. We
don't know which day people will decide to use their tickets on," he said.
"There could be days when fewer than 200,000 people come." Unlike major sporting
events like the Olympics, the crowd flow would not be governed by the starting
times of competitions. "Something like a big football match is much easier to
control," Cheng said. Police would instead monitor hotel bookings and transport
systems, and liaise with tour operators to estimate the likely numbers of
visitors. "We don't just need to deal with local visitors. There are tourists
coming from other places as well," Cheng said. He said he expected an early peak
in visitor numbers next month while the show was still a "novelty", but that it
would be quieter in June and July, when students would be taking university
entrance exams. "August and September could be another high point," he said.
"Then in October, it will not be long before the pavilions are closed, so there
could be a final rush. The weather in Shanghai is also quite nice in September."
Cheng said he was not prepared to reveal how many police officers would be
deployed to monitor security in and around the expo site. "We have a regulation
which states we are not allowed to make such information public," he said.
Chinese
President Hu Jintao and other world leaders met in Washington on Tuesday for a
nuclear security summit aimed mainly at preventing acts of nuclear terrorism.
The leaders of the international delegations pose for a group photo at the
Nuclear Security Summit 2010 in Washington, April 13, 2010. The leaders or their
representatives from 47 countries are attending the summit at the Washington
Convention Center. The United Nations, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
and the European Union are also participating in the summit, which was proposed
by U.S. President Barack Obama. "The summit is dedicated to nuclear security and
the threat of nuclear terrorism. And I think that it is absolutely fundamental
to view this summit with the starting point of the grave nature of the threat of
nuclear terrorism," Ben Rhodes, U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor for
Strategic Communications, said at a briefing last Friday. "We know that
terrorist groups, including al Qaeda, are pursuing the materials to build a
nuclear weapon, and we know that they have the intent to use one. This of course
would be a catastrophic danger to American national security and to global
security were they able to carry out that kind of attack," he said. In a speech
in Prague last April, Obama described nuclear terrorism as the most immediate
and extreme threat to global security and called for a new international effort
to secure all vulnerable nuclear materials around the world within four years.
"We must also build on our efforts to break up black markets, detect and
intercept materials in transit, and use financial tools to disrupt this
dangerous trade," he said while proposing a summit on nuclear security. At the
summit, President Hu will deliver a speech that will explain the importance of
strengthening nuclear security for the sustained and healthy development of
nuclear energy and international security and stability,elaborate on China's
policy and practices on nuclear security and make proposals for cooperation in
coping with international challenges,according to Chinese diplomats. During a
telephone conversation with Obama on April 2, Hu said China attaches great
importance to the issue of nuclear security, opposing nuclear proliferation and
nuclear terrorism and supporting international efforts to enhance cooperation on
nuclear security. China is ready to work closely with the United States and
other sides concerned to make sure that the summit is successful and fruitful,
Hu said. As a major power of nuclear energy development, China has taken a
series of effective steps to ensure nuclear security and established relatively
comprehensive nuclear security and safety regulations and monitoring systems.
China has played an active role in the development of related international
conventions on nuclear security and maintained close exchanges and cooperation
with the IAEA and other countries. Earlier this month, Chinese Foreign Ministry
spokesman Qin Gang described the summit "as an important multilateral meeting"
when he announced Hu's attendance at the summit. "We hope the summit will
achieve a consensus by all countries on nuclear security and yield positive
results," Qin said. On Monday evening, President Hu and other leaders attended a
kickoff working dinner, which was chaired by President Obama. The focus of the
opening dinner, a component of the summit, was on the threat of nuclear
terrorism and the magnitude of the threat.
Running a restaurant in
Hong Kong can be a brutal business, with soaring rents and long hours forcing
the closure of hundreds across the city in the past few years. The number of
restaurants in the city dropped from 12,354 in 2005 to 11,539 in 2008, the
latest government data shows - a loss of more than 800 lunch options for hungry
residents. Those that have survived are increasingly bigger and run by large
chains with deeper pockets. While the number of restaurants is declining, the
number of employees in the catering industry grew from 185,853 in 2005 to
224,210 in 2008. But it is not all bad news for the little guy, with a number of
family-owned restaurants surviving against the odds. The next Jamie Oliver or
Gordon Ramsay may be just around the corner and more than likely he is a chef
who not only runs the kitchen but owns the place. Their key to success is simple
- good food and commitment only an owner can have. From the finest French dishes
to the freshest sushi and dumplings, small chef-owned restaurants are giving
their bigger rivals a run for their money but facing tough challenges. The fact
the cooks can often have their life savings tied up in their business is adding
to their taste for survival. Dimitri Bastiani, the executive chef who co-founded
French restaurant Green Mouse in Central's Peel Street, says he enjoys more
freedom as the boss than when he was an employee working for other restaurants.
The 32-year old worked for a number of restaurants in France before coming to
Hong Kong about five years ago. After cooking for other local restaurants, he
established his own with business partners 18 months ago. "I can design the menu
all by myself with no need to get anyone's approval," Bastiani said. "We can
make changes to items on the menu quickly if we receive comments from
customers." As the boss now, he can also decide who to hire and speak to
customers directly - things he could not do when he worked for other
restaurants. But there is also a price. Bastiani earns less than in his previous
role as an employee chef. Generally, the executive chef of a French restaurant
earns between HK$25,000 and HK$30,000 a month. As a boss he has to shoulder the
losses his 30 per cent stake suffered. The restaurant was founded in October
2008 - at the peak of the financial crisis. "It was a very tough time when we
first started," Bastiani recalls. "When I saw empty tables, I was so sad. This
was so different from when I was an employee. [Back then] I would consider empty
tables meant an easy and quiet day. "When I was an employee, I would receive my
salary anyway. But now, even when the business is not good, I have to pay wages
to my staff." After 18 months, the father of two young children now finds he can
cope with the most difficult times. Word of mouth has helped and the restaurant
is full during the weekends. But space is at a premium. "We can provide very
good service for 10 tables but a big party may make life difficult," he said,
adding expansion was a challenge for a small restaurant with limited resources.
At the other end of the international food spectrum, 51-year-old Sato Naoyuki,
executive chef and co-owner of the Naozen Japanese Restaurant in Wellington
Street, is relaxed about his prospects. "It was always my dream to have my own
shop so I do not care much about business volume," Sato said while cutting
sashimi. "The most important thing for me is to see all my customers happy and
satisfied with the food." Tokyo-born Sato learned to cook in Osaka and started
his career with the prestigious Nadaman group of Japanese restaurants. Nadaman
is a household name in Japan dating back to the first restaurant in Osaka in
1830. It now has restaurants around Japan and overseas, including two at
Shangri-La hotels in Hong Kong. Sato came to Hong Kong in 1994 as executive chef
for the Kowloon Shangri-La Nadaman. Even though he was boss of the kitchen, he
still had to follow house rules. When Nadaman wanted to send him back to Japan
in 2003, he preferred to quit and set up his own restaurant. The Japanese chef
has not regretted his decision. "When I was an employee, I had to stick to what
the restaurant traditionally did. I could not freely decide to use new materials
or ways of presentation," Sato said. "Now, I am completely free to do anything
with the menu or the dish. "Before, I was confined to the kitchen but now I can
come out to meet my clients and ask what they think about the food." With a team
of more than 10 chefs, Sato's restaurant can handle more than 130 people. This
came in handy during last month's Hong Kong Sevens. No matter how good a good
small restaurant is, it often struggles to get the word out. Unlike MacDonald's,
which can easily afford to spend millions of dollars on advertising, small
restaurants spend next to nothing. "We had not done any advertising but when the
customers find the food delicious, they bring their friends," Sato said. "This
is how we expand our business." Sato opened in the aftermath of the Sars
outbreak, and business in the first six months was poor. Luckily, Sato's
business partner is lawyer and racehorse owner Woo Po-shing, who owns the
two-floor restaurant. A supplier is also a partner and they were able to support
Sato during the start-up stage. But not everyone is lucky enough to have their
landlord as their partner. Rising rents are a nightmare for 58-year old Wang
Zong-yuan, head chef and owner of the Dumpling Yuan in Queen's Road East, Wan
Chai, which serves traditional Chinese dumplings and noodles in soup. Rocketing
rents were the reason he moved his shop from Central to Wan Chai seven years
ago. Now, he said he may need to quit this site if the owners raised rent
further when his lease expires in November. "When our shop was in Central, it
cost HK$50,000, which was too high," Wang said. "We then moved here and the rent
was lower than HK$40,000. But the owner has increased the rent every two years."
Wang comes from a family of restaurant operators. His grand- father and his
father owned one of the eight most famous restaurants in Beijing before the
communists took power. After 1949, the restaurant was nationalised and his
father moved into retailing and trading, raising Wang and his four siblings in
their hometown of Yantai, Shandong province. Wang and his wife came to Hong Kong
in 1986 to join his uncle's tablecloth trading business and started their own
dumpling shop nine years ago. "For Shandong people, dumplings are their rice,"
Wang said. "My mother taught me how to make good dumplings and cook them in the
traditional Shandong style." When business is good, he can sell more than 3,000
dumplings a day, which allows him to hire a team of five. But he and his wife
still have to make the dumplings themselves and Wang handwrites the menu hanging
on the wall. "My staff does not have any idea how to make dumplings. The mixture
is very important and that is why my wife and I have to do it ourselves," Wang
said. "It is also for cost reasons. A head chef has a salary of between
HK$10,000 and HK$15,000. If we hire others to do the job, we could not afford
it." He said the business had been hard hit by the financial crisis, and during
the downturn people would order less or order the cheaper items. "Now the worst
is over and we have seen more customers coming in." But Wang said rising costs
for ingredients, such as oil, sugar and flour were eroding his profit margins
after increasing 25 per cent to 50 per cent in recent years. Shortage of money
is not the only problem facing many up-and-coming restaurant owners. They are
also time-poor. Even chefs working for big chains work long hours, but for chefs
that own their own restaurants the only holidays they have are the ones they
dream about. Sato's restaurant is open every day except Sunday morning, while
Bastiani only has Sunday off. Wang and his wife take alternative Sundays off.
Wang misses working in a trading company. "When I was an employee I only needed
to work about eight hours a day," he said. "Now I am a boss and it is very tough
and I work long hours. My wife comes to the shop at 7am to do the preparation
and I am here every day from 9am. We work all day through to 10pm ... you have
no leisure time at all. "If the property owner increases my rent substantially
in November, I will quit and retire. What is the point if all your long hours
are just to pay the high rent?"
Christian Zheng Sheng College principal
Alman Chan Siu-cheuk (centre left) and supervisor Jacob Lam Hay-sing (centre
right) with college students. A Lantau drug rehabilitation school said it wants
its long wait to relocate to Mui Wo to end, especially since a six-month probe
by anti-graft officials recently cleared it of allegations of corruption and
malpractice. But accountant Ernst & Young has pulled out of a project to split
the accounts of the Christian Zheng Sheng College and its sponsoring body, the
Christian Zheng Sheng Association. The only drug rehabilitation school in the
city, the college was overtaken by a string of allegations concerning its
operations last year. In August, the Independent Commission Against Corruption
launched an investigation after it received a complaint. School supervisor Jacob
Lam Hay-sing yesterday said the ICAC notified the school in a March 22 letter
that the investigation had ended without uncovering any evidence to justify
further investigation. "The probe was a huge disappointment to us but life goes
on, and they have now cleared our name," Lam said. "It is the best response to
the public concerns over our operations." He said the investigation had been
thorough and detailed, and included the alleged use of students' government
subsidies. ICAC officers had visited the school's projects on the mainland and
in Japan and had looked into the financial statements of the association since
its establishment in 1985. The ICAC refused to comment last night.
Budget carriers in the US and Europe
have access to secondary airports, which are much less costly than main
transport hubs. In Asia, budget airlines have to use main airports. They may
have carried millions of budget-conscious Europeans and Americans to exotic
locales over the past 30 years but in this region low-cost carriers are hitting
serious turbulence. The recent failure of Viva Macau, a Macau-based budget
carrier, nearly two years after the collapse of Hong Kong Oasis Airlines, has
put the survival of so-called low-cost carriers in this region in question
again. A lack of demand does not seem to be the problem. A lack of an "open sky"
policy and an absence of a genuine low-cost operating environment in the region
are the underlying reasons the two carriers shared the same destiny, transport
experts say. The low-cost model originated in Britain in 1971 when Freddie Laker
founded Skytrain, which served the transatlantic route. The model was later
adopted with outstanding success by Southwest Airlines in the United States,
Ryanair and EasyJet in Europe and more recently by AirAsia, a Malaysian-based
carrier. Low-cost carriers generally refer to airlines providing discounted
fares and a no-frills service to passengers. "If you think you can copy the
business model of low-cost airlines used in the West to the East without any
adjustment, you are meant to fail," said Zhang Wuan, an executive with Spring
Airlines, a Shanghai-based budget carrier that started operation in 2005 and
plans to list it shares by next year. One of the major reasons budget airlines
in Hong Kong and Macau have struggled to lower their operating costs is a lack
of pilots. Asian carriers, especially those on the mainland and in India, are
growing at about 10 per cent a year, meaning a shortage of qualified pilots.
That means low-cost carriers in the region are sometimes forced to offer higher
salaries than other airlines to lure pilots, said Kelvin Lau, a transport
analyst at Daiwa Capital Markets. Labour costs are the second-largest cost
component of airlines after fuel expenses. 
Two frontline employees of Bank of China
(Hong Kong) have been charged by the Commercial Crime Bureau in connection with
the sale of Lehman Brothers-related structured products. The two women, aged 38
and 51, were arrested last month by the police for "separately misleading and
inducing eight customers on various occasions to purchase structured products
between 2005 and 2008" in contravention of the Securities and Futures Ordinance.
The police said at the time of the arrests that the case involved eight
customers and HK$3.5 million. According to a voluntary statement filed yesterday
by Bank of China (Hong Kong) with the Hong Kong stock exchange, a third employee
was arrested by the bureau on March 26, also in connection with the sale of the
structured products. The third employee has not been charged. All three
employees are on bail and are also on compulsory leave from duties, according to
the filing. The bank said in the statement that it would not comment on the case
because an investigation was under way. Bank of China (Hong Kong) was the
largest local distributor of the minibonds - credit-linked derivatives which
paid high rates of interest to holders. The bank has repaid about HK$3.3 billion
to investors in Lehman Brothers-related products. The charge against the Bank of
China (Hong Kong) employees is the second prosecution relating to the sale of
the structured products issued by Lehman Brothers. In January, a former Dah Sing
(SEHK: 0440) Bank employee was accused of forging a customer's signature to buy
minibonds from the bank. The employee, Chu Lai-sze, 32, denied one count of
forgery when she appeared in Eastern Court on January 12. The court heard Chu
was alleged to have forged the signature of Belinda Au Fung-yee on four
applications to buy minibonds from Dah Sing Bank on April 30, 2008. The case was
adjourned to April 19 and Chu was released on bail. More than 5,400 complaints
of alleged mis-selling of so-called structured investment products have been
filed since Lehman Brothers collapsed into bankruptcy in September 2008. Last
month, the Commercial Crime Bureau said there were more cases under
investigation but did not say how many. Bank of China (Hong Kong) and other
local lenders agreed in July last year to pay investors a total of HK$6.3
billion following talks with regulators, who brokered the deal on behalf of
investors who lost money after buying the complex Lehman Brothers products.
Graham Sheffield, the incoming chief
executive officer of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority, has a
background that made him perfect to go into the arts from an early age. "My
mother played the piano - I recall her playing Mendelssohn's Songs Without
Words," he told the authority's e-newsletter. His mother, 87, who lives on the
east coast of England, is half- French and half-Lebanese, and speaks four
languages. His parents met in Cairo, where his paternal grandfather ran a
jewelry business, while his mother's father was a lawyer in the government of
King Farouk. His parents moved to Britain after World War II and settled in
London's Little Venice, where Sheffield was born. Sheffield, 58, who took up the
piano at eight, said: "I remember going to my first concert at the Albert Hall,
probably aged nine, to hear Rachmaninov's 2nd Concerto." Then he was introduced
him to opera. At junior school, he played the organ and sang in the choir. There
was also "some acting at school, mostly in Shakespeare, and visiting lots of art
galleries" before he earned a bachelor's degree in music from Edinburgh
University. He has been artistic director at London's Barbican Centre for 15
years. His most significant accomplishment was "turning it, with a brilliant
team, from an artistic lost cause into one of the most respected and
forward-thinking artistic institutions in the world." 
Head of Hong Kong's Catholics says -
Soft approach works best with Beijing - Bishop John Tong Hon with his
predecessor Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun at a reception at the Vatican last
month. It would have been unthinkable only a few years ago: hosting a top party
cadre, one accused of helping to keep an unholy grip on religious freedom on the
mainland, at the Holy Spirit Seminary in Aberdeen. But one year into his job as
head of the Hong Kong Catholic Diocese, Bishop John Tong Hon did just that when
Wang Zuoan, director of the State Administration for Religious Affairs, paid the
diocesan leadership a visit last month. On the eve of his first anniversary of
succeeding the outspoken Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, Tong said the marked
change in Beijing's attitude towards the diocese was partly due to his low-key
approach. "Perhaps Beijing feels the way I do things is less provocative for
them," he told the South China Morning Post (SEHK: 0583, announcements, news) .
"I have always told them about my views and what I disagreed with. I am not a
yes-man. It's just that I won't make my criticisms through the newspapers." It
is likely to be modesty that leads the cleric, 70, to say there have been no
achievements "worthy" of mention over the past 12 months. In reality, few would
doubt that the better relations between the diocese and Beijing - at least on
the surface - can be attributed to Tong. "I am not looking for any breakthrough.
I only hope to maintain stability, so that we can move forward smoothly," he
said. Before Tong took office, some activists had expressed concern that under
his leadership the church would retreat from its role as a champion for social
justice and political equality. Tong said that being personally quiet on these
issues did not mean the church had scaled back its concern for underprivileged
groups. He had delegated the matter to one of the vicars-general, Reverend
Pierre Lam Minh, who oversees the work of the diocese's justice and peace
commission, he said. The bishop himself has met more than 50 priests
individually to listen to the difficulties they face in the parishes. And the
queues for baptism are growing - there were more than 3,000 at Easter alone this
year. Tong spent two decades as the diocese's top expert on mainland church
affairs, a period that saw the state make sluggish improvement in religious
freedoms. Nevertheless, he still believes that Beijing will honour its pledge on
Hong Kong's democratic progress under the "one country, two systems" formula. "I
haven't seen a single instance of Beijing not fulfilling something that was
clearly spelled out," Tong said. "It is only when it is not clearly spelled out
that Beijing can interpret things in favour of its own wishes." What constituted
a gradual move towards universal suffrage had not been clearly defined, Tong
said. But he believed that genuine universal suffrage would be introduced for
the chief executive and Legco elections in 2017 and 2020, as promised by
Beijing. "I do believe it. We haven't seen it happen yet, why don't we have
faith?" Tong has already made two official visits to Beijing - once before he
took office for the Olympic Games, and the other for National Day events in
Tiananmen Square on October 1. Beijing had all but abandoned efforts to build a
relationship with Zen after his visit to his native Shanghai shortly after he
took office. Tong is also taking a conciliatory tone over the diocese's judicial
challenge to the government's reform of school management. In February, the
Court of Appeal upheld the constitutionality of the government's schools
management reforms, introduced in 2004, which require the church to give up its
previous 100 per cent control over its sponsored schools. The diocese has said
the schools might lose their Catholic identity, but Tong vows not to close any
if the diocese loses the final appeal. When he took office, Tong said he hoped
to see more people joining the church and entering the priesthood. At Easter
alone, more than 3,000 new members joined the church, bringing the total number
of baptisms performed for adults and children to almost 5,000 over the past 12
months. Tong said there was a need to deepen the formation of faith among
Catholics in the diocese, as well as more effort to seek young people who want
to enter the priesthood. Despite the regular contacts between the Vatican
Secretariat of State and the Foreign Ministry, Hong Kong continues to maintain
its importance in the Sino-Vatican equation. The diocese acts as an important
link between the church on the mainland and Rome, with mainland priests allowed
to visit Hong Kong freely and interact with Catholics, and vice-versa. In
recognition of Hong Kong's special status, Pope Benedict agreed to a request for
a private audience made by Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen - a Catholic -
both in 2008 and in January this year, although on both occasions Tsang
cancelled the appointments. It is understood the Foreign Ministry has given
tacit approval for Tsang to meet the Pope. Tsang would be the highest ranking
Chinese official to meet Pope Benedict. Meanwhile, Tong said taking a slow pace
in life would help him better fulfil his duties. He still manages to maintain
his lifestyle of going to sleep at 11pm and waking at 6am. He completes his work
at the diocese's office in time to return to the seminary and pray before dinner
with seminarians, he said. "I am a limited company, unlike people who appear to
be able to do lots of things in one day. Trying my best doesn't mean overdoing
it. How many times can you take out an overdraft?" he said. "I live the same
life - playing the same weekly game of basketball." 
Paulson calls for market-driven
exchange rate - Flexible yuan 'in China's interests' - Former US treasury
secretary Henry Paulson, who initiated the top-level strategic economic dialogue
between Washington and Beijing, urged mainland leaders yesterday to press ahead
with financial reforms, including liberalisation of the exchange rate. Stopping
off in Hong Kong after meeting senior mainland officials, including Premier Wen
Jiabao, at the Boao forum, Paulson, who was treasury secretary from 2006 to 2009
under president George W. Bush, told the South China Morning Post (SEHK: 0583,
announcements, news) currency reform would benefit China. "Renminbi flexibility
is very much in China's interests," he said. A market-determined exchange rate,
he argued, would assist China's financial system to allocate capital more
efficiently and help to rebalance the economy more towards domestic consumer
demand. "It is not in China's long-term interests to have an economy dependent
on low-value-added, highly energy-intensive exports," he said. Paulson's visit
follows a week of intense economic diplomacy over the yuan, culminating in a
surprise visit by his successor as treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, to
Beijing on Thursday for talks with mainland economics supremo Vice-Premier Wang
Qishan. Both sides were keeping tight-lipped afterwards, but the meeting spurred
feverish speculation that Beijing is on the point of revaluing the yuan, which
it has kept steady at an exchange rate of 6.83 yuan to the US dollar since
mid-2008. The yuan's 2008 repegging, which Chinese officials describe as an
emergency measure intended to ensure stability during the economic slump, has
attracted bitter criticism from US legislators who argue the currency has been
kept artificially cheap to boost China's exports at the expense of other
economies. Paulson, however, played down talk of deteriorating relations between
Beijing and Washington. "The relationship is better and stronger than some of
the press reports would indicate," he said. He praised China's response to the
global crisis, emphasised that the rest of the world had benefited from
Beijing's economic stimulus efforts and dismissed fears that government-mandated
bank lending was inflating a bubble on the mainland. "I admire what China did,"
Paulson said. "You can't do something like that without creating some
undesirable effects, but those are manageable." Paulson called on the US
authorities to push ahead with regulatory reform, setting up a systemic risk
regulator as well as an authority to wind up failed financial institutions, to
minimise the impact of future crises. He defended his record as treasury
secretary, saying his main errors were mistakes of communication, and rejected
criticism of his decisions in the depths of the crisis in 2008. "With 20-20
hindsight, those decisions were right," he said.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (C)
inspects a cole field in Chizhou, east China's Anhui Province, April 10, 2010.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has called for enhanced efforts during the country's
spring ploughing season to ensure a good harvest, during his inspection tour of
Anhui Province from April 9 to 11. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has called for
enhanced efforts during the country's spring ploughing season to ensure a good
harvest. Wen made the remarks during an inspection tour of east China's Anhui
Province from April 9 to 11. He said good work in the agriculture sector,
especially in ensuring grain production, was significant for stabilizing the
country's economy and prices. He urged governments at various levels to take
every possible measure to ensure spring farming was done well. Wen visited
farmland, villages, processing companies, farm supply centers, and irrigation
projects in rural areas of Bangfu and Chizhou cities. He also held seminars to
solicit opinions from farmers and local officials. Wen urged the authorities to
guarantee the farm supplies, including chemical fertilizers, seeds, pesticides,
and fuel for spring planting. At a water control project on Huaihe River,
China's third longest river, Wen called for coordinated control efforts by
provinces through which the river runs. Nineteen key water control projects
under the Huaihe River management program have been completed, which improved
greatly the ability to combat floods and droughts. The 1,000-km-long river, one
of the most flood-prone rivers in China, flows through four central and east
China provinces including Henan, Anhui, Shandong and Jiangsu. 
Teaching hotel may bite hands that
fed it - 5-star sector fears luxury PolyU venue will hurt it - Rising in the
grounds of Polytechnic University in Hung Hom, a 28-storey tower is casting a
shadow over the five-star hotels clustered in one of the city's prime tourist
districts. The HK$1.3 billion edifice is a teaching hotel complex that was
backed so strongly by hoteliers hungry for well-trained executives that they
lobbied the government to waive most of the land premium. Many are now having
second thoughts after it became clear that, rather than the modest teaching
facility they had expected, the university was building a hotel to the highest
luxury standards that could pose severe competition to them. Even without the
land premium - estimated at HK$250 million to HK$300 million but eventually cut
to a nominal HK$1,000 - the Hotel ICON is costing more to build than the average
five-star hotel, people with knowledge of the industry say. "It is not a level
playing field and unfair to other hotels, as PolyU didn't have to pay market
land premium," a hotelier said. A source close to PolyU said: "Private hotels
helped PolyU as they didn't expect the university would build such an upscale
teaching hotel. Those in the neighbourhood of Tsim Sha Tsui East are
particularly unhappy to see a potential competitor pose a threat to their
business." Others question why the university is going into the top end when the
trend is to more modest hotels catering to mainland visitors and business
travellers on reduced budgets. But the university is confident it is on the
right track. "The changing economic and market situations have favoured the
development of an upscale hotel. This is also consistent with the growing hotel
and tourism industry in Hong Kong," communications director Tracy Ng said in
response to inquiries. PolyU, which suffered a HK$900 million loss last year and
has been under fire over the way it operates subsidiary companies, has pumped in
more than double the 2005 estimate of HK$500 million for the hotel. When it
opens in the first half of next year, it will offer 233 deluxe rooms, 26 suites
and three prototype rooms to showcase new hotel technology. All will be equipped
with the best facilities, including docking stations for iPods and iPhones. The
Club Floor on the top has a restaurant overlooking the harbour, a multifunction
dining and meeting room with a wine cellar and kitchen. The publicly funded
university hired British design house Conran and Partners - designers of the
Mandarin Grill and Bar at the Mandarin Oriental - to sketch its Club Floor. It
has yet to say whether the Club Floor will be for private members only. The
world-class team of designers and architects also included Rocco Yim of Rocco
Design Architects, responsible for the Four Seasons in Central, as well as
French botanist and vertical garden designer Patrick Blanc, who decorated the
Parlement de Bruxelles in Belgium and French embassy in New Delhi. The complex -
redeveloped from PolyU's former staff quarters, Pak Sui Yuen, in Science Museum
Road - includes offices for the university's School of Hotel and Tourism
Management and about 30 flats in a separate wing for senior university staff.
The university said its approved budget for the redevelopment was HK$1.3 billion
and the total construction cost as of early April was about HK$1.1 billion,
about a third of the university's fund - cut by a series of deficits from about
HK$4.7 billion in 2007 to HK$3.5 billion last year. PolyU appointed a panel in
November 2004 to compile a feasibility study for the development project. Ten
months later - after its hotel school was ranked fourth in the world by the
Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research - it announced the hotel project.
Professor Kaye Chon, head of the school, said at the time that the new facility
would be a great boost to the school's long-term development and would attract
more students and world-class scholars. The Town Planning Board turned down
PolyU's rezoning application in 2006 but approved a blueprint for a 116-metre
building the next year. According to university papers, PolyU revised the
redevelopment budget upwards from HK$500 million to not exceed HK$1 billion in
May 2007, with one document stating the revised budget was "mainly due to the
increase of the property's plot ratio from 7 to 9 and upgrading the quality of
the teaching and research hotel from 3+ star to upper 4 star/5 star level". The
university council in June 2008 approved the second revision, to HK$1.3 billion,
as a result of "the increase in fluctuation cost for contract works caused by
high inflation and cost arising from design improvement". PolyU refused to
disclose the latest cost distribution. A council meeting document in mid-August
2008 shows the HK$1.3 billion estimate was split into HK$741 million for the
hotel, HK$161 million for conference and training facilities, HK$224 million for
teaching and office facilities for the school, and HK$171 million for staff
quarters. Based on this estimate breakdown, each room in Hotel ICON cost HK$2.8
million, while the 7,900-square-metre office block cost about HK$28,354 a square
metre. This compares with the average building cost of a five-star room in the
third quarter of last year - HK$2.3 million, Centaline Surveyors director James
Cheung King-tat said, citing statistics from quantity surveyors. "The
construction costs of standard education institutions and high-end office
buildings were about HK$10,600 per square metre and HK$16,200 per square metre,
respectively," Cheung said. The PolyU document shows the HK$1.3 billion does not
include furniture and equipment for the school offices and staff quarters. The
university would have had to pay more for the project if the Federation of Hong
Kong Hotel Owners had not backed its case for a waiver of the land premium. "PolyU's
former president Poon Chung-kwong told us that the university had to build a
teaching hotel to train more hotel executives," federation secretary Michael Li
Hon-shing said. "As he said the redevelopment would be of benefit to the entire
hotel industry, we agreed to help him and wrote to the government." But Li said
the federation was not told at the time about the scale and details of Hotel
ICON. A source close to the issue said the government initially planned to
charge PolyU a land premium of HK$250 million to HK$300 million for the
redevelopment. Thanks to the help of the hotel owners' group, a nominal premium
of HK$1,000 was approved in November 2008. Li said a three-star hotel with about
100 rooms would be more appropriate for teaching purposes. "Mainland tourists
are now the major momentum to support Hong Kong's hotel market," Li said.
"Mainland tours usually go to the low-end hotels, which charge about HK$300 per
night. Individual mainland tourists at most choose medium-priced hotels for an
average room rate of about HK$600. "Business travellers are more cost-cautious
than before. Now they would not mind staying at four-star or boutique hotels. As
demand for five-star hotels is weaker than the prime time in 1997, most new
hotels, such as JW Marriott Courtyard (Connaught Road West), are built to tailor
to this new business development." As the latest four-star boutique hotels only
have one or two restaurants providing basic services, they employ fewer staff
than the five-star hotel chains. As a result, the city's average staff-to-room
ratio has fallen to 0.7 staff per room from about 1 to 1. This meant it was
important for the hotel school to train students in multiple roles, rather than
just boosting the number of students. PolyU projected in June 2008 that its
teaching hotel could charge an average room rate of HK$1,820 - higher even than
the harbour-view rooms of some neighbouring five-star hotels, such as the
Harbour Grand Kowloon and Intercontinental Grand Stanford, and about the level
charged by the Kowloon Shangri-La at Easter. In the February edition of the
hotel school's magazine, PolyU said Hotel ICON would hire about 350 permanent
staff in the second quarter of this year and 50 student interns. Another 100
interns would be hired when the hotel started operating. In its business
projection in 2008, PolyU estimated the hotel could reach 80 per cent occupancy
in its second year and would be able to increase room rates 3 per cent a year.
"All profits made from Hotel ICON will be ploughed back to the university," a
PolyU spokesman said. Li, of the hotel owners' federation, said the city now had
more than 60,000 hotel rooms, double the number of 10 years ago, and would add
7,000 rooms in the next two years. Half the PolyU redevelopment is funded by the
university, the balance by a bank loan. PolyU declined to reveal details, but
Post inquiries found the university signed a HK$700 million facility with the
Bank of East Asia (SEHK: 0023) in June 2009. The signing came nine months after
a run on the bank and shortly after a consultant to the bank, Chan Tze-ching,
was appointed a PolyU council member in May 2009. A council meeting document
shows Chan declared his interest and refrained from voting on the loan.
Key
role for Tung Chee Hwa as the go-between - Ex-chief executive's 'quiet
diplomacy' valued in Washington and Beijing. Tung Chee-hwa, the former shipping
tycoon who became Hong Kong's first chief executive, is back. Five years after
he resigned, citing poor health but following a turbulent reign which culminated
in a 500,000-strong mass protest, he has managed to forge an intriguing role as
an elder statesman involved in Sino-US and cross-strait relationships. Tung last
week hosted US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and then former US President
George W. Bush during their flying visits to Hong Kong. Next month he is almost
certain to catch up with another American, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, who
will pass through Hong Kong heading a trade delegation en route to Beijing. Tung
was also visible during US President Barack Obama's first state visit to Beijing
last November. The Beijing loyalist met Locke, the first Chinese-American state
governor and just the second appointed to a presidential cabinet, last year
during one of his regular forays to Washington and New York. As well as chairing
the Hong Kong-based China-United States Exchange Foundation he created two years
ago, he maintains links with Harvard University's Asia Centre and close ties to
the New York-based Committee of 100, an influential grouping of Chinese
Americans prominent in business, politics and the arts. Closer to home, Tung
became the chief director of the newly founded Hong Kong Association for the
Promotion of Peaceful Reunification of China, along with other Beijing
loyalists, which seeks to promote reconcilliation between Taiwan and the
mainland. Chan Wing-kee, a Hong Kong delegate to the Chinese People's Political
Consultative Conference, said Tung's long-time personal connections allowed him
to be an unofficial bridge between China and the US. "He is neither an official
representative nor an ordinary person," Chan said. "His special roles as a
former chief executive of Hong Kong and a CPPCC vice-chairman give him
flexibility to build ties with political and business sectors in the US. There
are many channels for US-China communications. He is certainly one of the
channels." Just like his father, Tung Hao-yung, founder of the Orient Overseas
Container Line, who forged ties with US presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and
George H. W. Bush, Tung maintains both Republican and Democrat connections as
well expansive business relationships. Elaine Chao, labour secretary in George
W. Bush's cabinet, is considered a close family friend. "As a networker, he is
the consummate operator and still moves in the upper stratosphere of both cities
(Washington and Beijing)," said one person long familiar with Tung's
connections. "I'm not sure Hong Kong people really appreciate it but he was at
it long before he got the chief executive job and he continued it after he left
office ... he doesn't just rely on old connections, but he keeps himself very
current. "He has consciously positioned himself as a go-between between Beijing
and Washington ... he is close to Beijing but he cares deeply about the
relationship and believes he can play a role, straddling both cultures." A
diplomat familiar with Tung's efforts described his "old school, backroom
skills". "He is very courtly and quietly offers a useful perspective ... he is
clearly loyal to Beijing but he still speaks as an outsider and the Americans
and others still find that useful. He is also ultra discreet, too, and that is
always appreciated." However, his discretion when dealing with the US is in
marked contrast to his recent visit to Taiwan, which drew wide media coverage.
Despite positioning the trip as a private one, he allowed cameras to film him
sightseeing and speaking at a luncheon hosted by the Straits Exchange Foundation
chairman Chiang Pin-kung - the island's top negotiator with the mainland. Unlike
other mainland officials whose trips see the outbreak of pro-independence group
protests, a relaxed Tung fronted Taiwan's press, talking about his favourite
steamed dumpling (xiaolongbao) restaurant in Taipei and his appreciation of the
island's high-speed railway. These scenes would seem unimaginable for those in
Hong Kong who remember Tung as the chief executive who either remained silent or
spoke sternly on thorny public issues. During his one-week visit, Tung also met
Lien Chan, Kuomintang honorary chairman and former vice-president of Taiwan,
whom he described as "an old friend". "Mr Tung's family has extremely close ties
with Taiwan. Just look at the plum blossom flower in the logo of Orient Overseas
Container Line - it is the national flower of the Republic of China. You can
tell how profound the relationship is," Chan said. Tung's go-between role has
increased because, while US administrations have dramatically expanded direct
connections with various arms of the Communist Party, government and military in
recent years, there is still the need for other perspectives, particularly
during times of tension. It is often forgotten in the wake of his troubled
tenure that his range of international connections was a key factor that put
Tung in the running to become Hong Kong's first post-handover chief executive.
Discontent with Tung's stewardship began growing almost from the day he took
over on July 1, 1997. First came the Asian financial crisis and controversial
approvals for developments such as Disneyland. And despite his appointment for a
second term in 2002, the criticism continued with the administration's
controversial decision to push for introduction of the Article 23 legislation -
laws relating to national security that critics said would cripple free speech
in Hong Kong. Disapproval of Tung's leadership intensified with the government's
response to the Sars epidemic in early 2003. All this culminated with one of the
biggest demonstrations in the city's history, when at least 500,000 people took
to the streets. Tung outlined his vision of the Sino-US relationship - "the most
important international relationship today" - in a speech in Hawaii at the 50th
anniversary of the East-West Centre think tank in February. He also outlined his
cultural perspectives, speaking of his pride in being a Shanghai-born Chinese
but also his "great admiration" for the American people. "In 1960, I arrived in
the United States and for the next nine years, I made this country my home," he
said. "I was married in the United States, I worked in the United States, and
began building a family in the United States." While attempting to explain and
justify China's military build-up and Beijing's policies on Taiwan and Tibet, he
repeatedly stressed the importance of an enduring strategic trust between
Beijing and Washington. "This may be the hardest nut to crack in the history of
mankind," he said. "But it is worth our while to try every means to crack it ...
we cannot afford to bear the consequences of China and the United States
becoming enemies. "For the sake of our next generation and the interests of the
whole world, we must try our best. This requires vision, wisdom and courage."
Reviewing current strains including US arms sales to Taiwan, Sino-US tensions
over Google, Tibet and the value of the yuan, he said: First, "steady hands and
cool heads" must be allowed to manage the issues. Second, decisions on such
issues must not be based on "political expediency". Instead, a long-term view
must dominate if strategic trust were to be forged. Jackie Hung Ling-yu, a
former convenor of the Civil Human Rights Front who led at least 500,000
protesters against the Tung administration in 2003, said Tung would always be
remembered for his controversial leadership in Hong Kong. "I have no
expectations of him," Hung said. "He didn't even defend 'one country, two
systems' during his office. What can we expect from him after he stepped down?
"I am most furious about him seeking to have the National People's Congress
Standing Committee interpret the Basic Law in 1999. He also pushed forward the
legislation on Article 23 against the public's will. These are all bad
precedents for the SAR government. "His vice-chairmanship of the CPPCC is just a
reward for his selling out Hongkongers' interests." 
A voluntary scheme allowing secondary
schools to reduce the number of classes to ease the impact of falling student
numbers has received a lukewarm response. Just 23 schools had signed up by the
scheme's first deadline yesterday, well short of the target of more than 100 the
government says it needs to make the scheme work. Not a single school in Tuen
Mun and Yuen Long, two of the districts suffering the steepest drop in numbers,
have agreed to take part, principals from the two districts say. The scheme
protects teachers' jobs and offers subsidies while schools reduce the number of
classes they run. Yesterday's deadline was for schools wanting to join in the
next academic year. Those wanting to join later have until August next year.
School representatives said the scheme had only been announced by the government
on March 25 and they had been given too little time to make a decision. Yuen
Pong-yiu, chairman of the Hong Kong Association of Heads of Secondary Schools,
said it took time for schools to consult all stakeholders. "Schools have to mull
over a lot of factors before pledging to join," he said. Under the scheme, a
participating school will admit four classes of Form One pupils, one fewer than
at present. No teachers will be fired for five years, by which time the number
of pupils is projected to rise again. The government envisages teachers without
classes can be put to work introducing the new secondary school curriculum that
began last year. As an incentive to join the scheme, a school will be given
extra funding of HK$250,000 a year. Schools can apply to increase the number of
classes they operate if pupil numbers bounce back. Education Secretary Michael
Suen Ming-yeung said more than 100 classes would have to be cut to ride out the
fall in enrolments, which began in 2008 and is predicted to continue until
September 2017. "Six thousand fewer students will be admitted to Form One in the
2010-11 academic year ... but the scheme is voluntary," he said. "In districts
where the enrolment shortage is the most severe, like Sha Tin and Eastern
District, schools within the districts must discuss among themselves how to
improve education quality." The minimum enrolment for Form One students is 61.
Schools that fail to reach the threshold are at risk of closure. Sha Tin is
expected to have a shortfall of 500 Form One students in the coming academic
year. A minimum of 16 schools would have to cut their Form One classes from five
to four in September so that the students originally bound for the 16 classes
could be assigned to schools that have difficulty attracting enough students.
Sha Tin District Secondary School Heads Association chairman Chau Hau-fung said
one district school had applied and two were seriously considering doing so. In
Tuen Mun, where the numbers require a minimum of 10 participating schools, not
one has signed up. "We have a year to consider whether to join before the final
deadline next year," Tang Yin-ping, chairwoman of the Tuen Mun District
Secondary School Heads Association, said. Kwok Wing-keung, president of the
Association of Heads of Secondary Schools for Tai Po, said no school there had
joined before yesterday's deadline. But he was confident schools would embrace
the scheme. "We have a great sense of solidarity," he said. "Thirteen schools
that are currently offering five classes have voiced interest in joining. All of
them are schools that do not have difficulty in admitting enough students but
want to extend a helping hand to those in need. They just need time to consult
all the parties," he said. The best response was in Eastern District, where five
schools had joined. Lo Sui-kwong, president of the Association of Heads of
Secondary Schools for Eastern District, said schools wanted to band together to
ride out the student shortage. Lo said: "Of the five which joined, Cheung Chuk
Shan College is an English-medium school. The scheme could improve education
quality [by having the same number of teachers teach fewer number of students].
"Quite a few schools have long been considering shrinking their class numbers
voluntarily even before the government scheme was announced. The scheme, with
its financial incentives and promise of keeping the surplus teachers for five
years, only spurs them to take the plunge."
Lau
Kar-leung, a kung fu master who went from stuntman to movie director, has been
honoured with a lifetime achievement award from the Hong Kong Film Awards. Lau,
74, is the leader of the "Lau Brothers", a family at the heart of the martial
arts tradition that defined the city's film industry in the 1960s. "Hong Kong
movies are famous for their martial arts. It has everything to do with Lau," the
chairman of the film awards association, Gordon Chan Ka-seung, said yesterday in
making the announcement. Lau is suffering from cancer but was expected to attend
the ceremony on April 18. Lau's kung fu goes back to the legendary Wong Fei-hung
in the 19th century. Lau's father learned the art from master Lam Sai-wing, who
belonged to Wong's faction. Lau started off as a stuntman in the 1950s but
switched to directing action films in the 1960s. Over the next decade, he became
a core director for the Shaw Brothers Studio. The 36th Chamber of Shaolin saw
the rise of his brother, actor Gordon Liu Chia-hui, who later appeared in
Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill series. In 1994, Lau's work on Drunken Master II,
starring Jackie Chan as the master Wong, brought him an award for best action
choreography at the film awards. Lau's health returned to public attention in
January when he was sent to the intensive care unit for complications of flu. In
1995, he learned he had lymph node cancer. "I saw him recently and he was in
good condition," Chan said. Chow Lam, who heads the Hong Kong Cinematography &
Television Lighting Association, will also receive a lifetime achievement award.
He has been lighting more than 60 films since the 1980s, with the latest being
Bodyguards and Assassins. Meanwhile, best actress nominee Zhang Jingchu said she
tipped fellow contenders Wai Ying-hung or Sandra Ng Kwan-yu to scoop the prize.
In Night and Fog, Zhang plays the role of an abused mainlander who comes to Hong
Kong after marrying a local. She was up for the same award for her role in
Protege two years ago. "This time my role is more passive. In Protege, my
character was stronger and the nomination was not as surprising," she said. Wai
won the best actress award at the Asian Film Awards, Hong Kong Film Critics'
Society awards and Golden Horse awards in Taiwan for her role as an alcoholic
single parent in At the End of Daybreak. Among those nominated for best new
performer are Zhu Xuan, who starred in Prince of Tears, and Fala Chen, who
starred in Turning Point. The film awards will be broadcast on ATV, meaning
singers from four big record labels that are locked in a row over royalties with
TVB (SEHK: 0511) will have a chance to appear in the show. Eric Tsang Chi-wai
will be on both channels that night: his programme The Prize Master will be on
TVB, while the actor himself will attend the awards ceremony. New awards were
introduced this year for best dressed actor and actress on the red carpet.
Former US president George W. Bush was
in town yesterday and managed to squeeze in a meeting with close family friend
Tung Chee-hwa and a fitting for some suits in a whirlwind stopover. Bush arrived
from Shanghai, where he was the keynote speaker at the 2010 Halter Financial
Summit, which ended yesterday. The theme of the summit was "China in a Changing
World" and Bush spoke at length about the dangers of protectionism, saying
Americans should not fear Chinese growth. Bush immediately returned to the US
after his brief stopover in Hong Kong. A spokeswoman for the US consul general
in Hong Kong said she was not aware of the trip, saying, as a former American
president, Bush was not required to notify it of any trips. Bush met Tung, the
city's former chief executive and currently a vice-chairman of the Chinese
People's Political Consultative Conference, in a private gathering during a
low-profile visit, according to a person close to Tung. The Bush and Tung
families are known to have long-time ties dating back to the 1970s, when the
parents of Bush and Tung became friends. At that time, the Oriental Overseas
Container Line, founded by the shipping tycoon and the former chief executive's
father, Tung Hao-yung, was extending its global business network and Bush's
father was the US envoy in Beijing. Bush senior, the 41st US president and the
father of the 43rd, visited Hong Kong twice in 1999, both times meeting Tung,
then the city's leader. Tung visited Washington three times during his tenure as
chief executive. Since his resignation in 2005, Tung has been active in
promoting Sino-US ties. Two years ago, he set up the China-United States
Exchange Foundation, which organises exchange activities between academics,
businessmen, retired military officers and people from other professions from
the two countries. The former American president did not arrange a meeting with
acting chief executive Henry Tang Ying-yen.
Edgar Hui has
been putting aside HK$20,000 every month in yuan since October in anticipation
of a revaluation. These days Hui, who runs a small business, can hardly contain
his excitement. Payoff is nigh. But is it really? Even if it the revaluation
does happen, will it be worth the wait and the trouble? More importantly, what
does a possible revaluation mean for those who do not have yuan holdings like
Hui? How can they get on the revaluation train? The buzz over a possible yuan
revaluation has intensified these past few weeks, especially with US Treasury
Secretary Timothy Geithner's arrival in China. Most analysts predict the US
government's efforts to mend frayed relations will result in a currency change,
possibly within weeks. A change in China's currency policy was imminent, said
Ben Simpfendorfer, Hong Kong-based chief China economist at Royal Bank of
Scotland. The New York Times reported on Thursday that Beijing was very close to
announcing a shift in its currency policy, including a "small but immediate"
revaluation of the yuan. But others have been pointing to the likelihood of
customs figures showing trade deficits for China, thus weakening US arguments
that the nation is keeping its currency undervalued to gain an advantage.
Economists have been expecting a deficit partly because of the rise in commodity
prices. In fact, yuan forwards weakened against the dollar on Friday on
speculation the government might not resume appreciation in the currency any
time soon. A one-off currency revaluation looks unlikely, says Zhu Baoliang,
chief economist at the State Information Centre (SIC), a think tank that comes
under the National Development and Reform Commission, the mainland's powerful
planning agency. "I believe a band widening is possible but another one-off
revaluation is unlikely. The yuan might be pegged to a basket of currencies."
Swiss bank UBS is also among those who believe a widening of the yuan's trading
band against the dollar is a more likely scenario. "A one-time revaluation isn't
feasible because no one knows how much it should rise in one step," said Wang
Tao, an economist at the bank. Wang believes the band may be widened in the
second quarter by as much as 2 per cent either side of a daily reference rate
set by the central bank, from the current 0.5 per cent. Currency watchers are
widely expecting a gradual appreciation of the yuan by up to 3 per cent this
year. That translates into a straight 3 per cent gain for yuan depositors like
Hui if they decide to cash out. "We are expecting an appreciation on the yuan
but it won't be huge," said Catherine Cheung, head of investment strategy and
Research at Citibank Global Consumer Group. "We estimate a rise of 3 per cent,
with the exchange rate against the US dollar going up from around 6.82 now to
6.62 by the end of this year." Last year, the exchange rate of the yuan against
the US dollar hovered in the 6.8 range. Yuan investors have had no capital
appreciation for quite a while. This might tempt them to cash out at the first
sign of a revaluation. But since the revaluation is widely expected to be
staggered rather than a big bang, investors are advised against doing so even if
it does happen, because it might just be the first of a series of small
adjustments. For investors who prefer to have plain cash holdings, yuan deposits
make a lot of sense. Interest rates on yuan fixed-term deposits in Hong Kong
range between 0.5 and 0.8 per cent compared with virtually nothing on Hong Kong
dollar deposits. For these investors, cashing out is a particularly bad option
since the alternative is really bleak. But it is doubly so because Beijing is
tipped to raise interest rates this year. If the banks choose to take the cue,
yuan investors who prefer to keep their money in bank deposits would be ill
advised to pull them out at the first sign of an appreciation. Standard
Chartered Bank forecasts the central bank to raise rates twice in the second
half of this year, with each rise of 0.27 percentage points. DBS Bank, though,
expects the central bank to increase rates three times this year, by a total of
0.81 percentage points. However, that does not necessarily mean banks will raise
deposit rates, said Nicolas Kwan, head of research for Asia at Standard
Chartered Bank. "That will depend on the demand for yuan." Those who believe an
appreciation - in one go or staggered - is imminent and want to cash in on it
but did not have Hui's foresight can still benefit by getting into yuan
deposits. This is fairly simple. All you need is to go to a bank with a valid
ID. You are limited to exchanging HK$20,000 a day for yuan. A good way to be
exposed to the yuan's capital growth is to invest in bonds. But there are no
fresh issues of yuan-denominated bonds around the corner and the supply in the
secondary market is so thin that these bonds are now too pricey for investors,
said Daniel Chan, a senior investment strategist for DBS. Yuan-denominated bonds
issued last year pay about 2 per cent annual interest. Although bondholders can
choose to sell for a quick gain, most have chosen to hold on to them for now,
said Chan. 
Guangdong announced top leadership
reshuffles yesterday in its two most important cities. Acting Shenzhen mayor
Wang Rong has been appointed the city's party boss, and Guangzhou mayor Zhang
Guangning is now the provincial capital's party boss. Zhang replaces rising star
Zhu Xiaodan , who was appointed Guangdong's executive deputy governor in
February. Guangzhou's city government announced yesterday the appointment of
Guangdong deputy governor Wan Qingliang as the city's party vice-secretary,
paving the way for him to succeed Zhang as mayor. Speculation had been rife for
months that Shenzhen party secretary and provincial vice-secretary Liu Yupu ,
60, would step down after former Suzhou party secretary Wang was parachuted into
the city as acting mayor in June. Former Shenzhen mayor Xu Zongheng was toppled
in a corruption probe linked to the downfall of several top provincial
officials, including Chen Shaoji , the former chairman of Guangdong's top
political advisory body. The Guangzhou appointments yesterday confirmed a South
China Morning Post (SEHK: 0583, announcements, news) report last month. The
reshuffles are part of the largest political realignment in the province in at
least a decade. Governor Huang Huahua , 63, and several deputy governors will
reach retirement age when their terms end in 2013. Wan's appointment is being
closely watched by political observers. Wan, 46, is the youngest of Guangdong's
eight deputy governors. The expected appointment of Wan as Guangzhou mayor will
make him a strong candidate to move further up the political hierarchy in 2013.
He has been closely involved in cross-border issues and represented the province
in the Guangdong-Hong Kong Co-operation Joint Conference in February. It remains
unclear who will take over from him in dealing with cross-border issues. Zhang,
57, a Shandong native who started working in Guangzhou as a steel worker in
1971, climbed the city's political ladder over the past four decades. But
political observers mostly see him as a transitional figure, because he will
reach 60, the retirement age for the party post, by 2013. The appointments
nevertheless set the stage for the race for top provincial posts. A top
candidate to succeed Huang is Zhu, 57, who has a strong resume, not only because
of his Communist Youth League background, which has been a bonus point for
advancement ever since President Hu Jintao , a former first secretary of the
youth league's central committee, became party general secretary. Zhu is also
one of three alternate members of the Communist Party Central Committee working
in Guangdong. All eyes are now on the post of provincial vice-secretary of the
party, left vacant by the retirement of Liu, because that person is likely to
compete with Zhu for the post of governor, analysts say.
Warming ties with the mainland
and a long spell of peace have taken their toll on the discipline, morale and
professionalism of the Taiwanese army, with scandal after scandal breaking out
within the military. In the latest such incident, a military security and
anti-graft unit, which apparently had too little work to do, recently started
offering fortune-telling services to soldiers. It is reportedly doing a roaring
business. "It is just too ridiculous, and if they really have nothing to do, the
defence ministry might as well consider shutting down itself," Lee Chun-yi
shouted at a legislative meeting yesterday. The special unit, formed four months
ago to crack down on security and intelligence leaks and bribery within the
military, offered the free fortune-telling services through its internal website
- accessible only by soldiers. Because of its accuracy and swift responses, the
website has provided more than 1,000 services since opening in December. A
military spokesman, Yu Sy-tue, said the fortune-telling service was merely one
of many topics in public discussion areas for servicemen and that the officer
who provided the service did not do it during office hours. "But to avoid
creating misunderstanding, we will make sure that the discussion areas only
involve official businesses in the future," he said. The latest fiasco is just
one of many blunders and scandals that have come to light since Ma Ying-jeou, of
the mainland-friendly Kuomintang, became president in 2008. The first to attract
public attention was a video aired by a cable news channel in June last year
which showed two soldiers clad in camouflage uniforms apparently engaged in oral
sex while 40 other servicemen looked on and laughed. Although the military later
disciplined 13 members of a reserve brigade and sent four others to prosecutors
for involvement in public obscenity and spreading an obscene image, sex scandals
have continued unabated. Female soldiers posted revealing photos on a website in
December, with one sergeant lifting her uniform to show her brassiere and two
others preparing to French kiss, forcing the military to apologise to the
public. A month later, about 20 personnel, including a lieutenant colonel and an
army captain, were caught by police for engaging the services of underage
prostitutes. A female officer was sexually harassed by her superiors and a naval
petty officer exposed himself in a women's underwear shop. Even military police,
who are supposed to discipline military personnel, were allegedly involved in a
sex scandal, with a senior officer taking his cadres to a girlie bar. Besides
sex scandals, there have also been reports of corruption, including embezzlement
by senior officers. Last month, military prosecutors indicted Lieutenant General
Ho Yung-chien, a former head of the military police, on charges of embezzling
NT$3 million (HK$738,000), and two other army colonels for helping Ho. In
September, a court sentenced Yuan Hsiao-lung, a retired lieutenant-general, to
10 years and four months in jail on charges of bribery, blackmail and leaking
secrets. In addition to scandals, the military has also been hit by a series of
blunders, including warplanes failing to hit the drones and torpedoes missing
their targets during military drills. The military came under fire last month
for failing to intercept a Russian bomber which entered Taiwan's airspace.
Although air force Major General Wang Hsuan-chou later explained that the bomber
had only briefly entered Taiwan's airspace and had left immediately after it was
warned, the incident provided a much-needed ammunition for the pro-independence
camp to criticise Ma's mainland engagement policy. "Taiwan cannot continue the
Ma government's China policy, or its military would stand to lose its combat
readiness," said Lai Ching-te, a legislator from the Democratic Progressive
Party. The party has attacked Ma's engagement policy, saying it is tantamount to
a "surrender" policy, aimed at dismantling the morale and professionalism of the
island's military. "Ma's China appeasement policy only serves to crack the
military's morale and professionalism," DPP legislator Tsai Huang-liang said.
"This explains why there is such a serious lapse in discipline." Even KMT
lawmakers have expressed their concerns over the problems within the military.
"The defence ministry must step up efforts to discipline its troops and sharpen
up the morale as well as professionalism within the military, while continuing
to maintain an effective defensive force," said Shui Hua-min, a retired general.
He said such efforts were important, given that the military was adopting an
elite force policy - cutting troop numbers to 215,000 by 2015, down from 350,000
in 1997. KMT lawmaker Lin Yu-fang accused the former administration, led by the
DPP's Chen Shui-bian, of corrupting the military system by tolerating senior
officers bribing their superiors for promotions. Ma ordered a clean-up campaign
a year ago and military prosecutors have indicted 13 officers for alleged
corruption.
A US judge has ordered China's
biggest producer of plasterboard to pay US$2.6 million in damages to families
whose homes were affected by defective product, a judgment that could lead to
further litigation. The seven families lived in homes that contained defective
drywall, as is known in the US, manufactured by Taishan Gypsum, a subsidiary of
China National Building Material (CNBM), a Hong Kong-listed firm that is one of
China's biggest building material producers. The ruling by Judge Eldon Fallon on
Thursday could set a legal precedent for further damages caused by the
plasterboard that has been blamed for everything from smells to electrical
faults. "The general principles found applicable to the seven families will have
relevance to all homes contaminated by defective Chinese drywall," Fallon said.
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has received 3,082 complaints
about Chinese drywall. The US$2.6 million damages awarded to the seven
households could result in US$1.1 billion of damages, assuming all 3,082
complainants are granted similar damages. The issue has taken a political turn.
"Homeowners didn't cause this. The manufacturers in China did. That's why we've
got to go after the Chinese government," said Senator Bill Nelson of Florida. At
least 2,100 US homeowners have filed lawsuits against Chinese manufacturers and
the US suppliers that sold defective drywall. One of the successful claimants
discovered a foul smell on the first day they moved into their house.
Subsequently, the water heater, heating and air-conditioning system, smoke
detectors, computers and television failed, according to Fallon's judgment.
Fallon called for fire alarm systems, electrical systems, gas pipes and fire
sprinklers to be removed from homes suspected to contain Chinese drywall. CPSC
and the Department of Housing and Urban Development made a similar
recommendation to all homes with the Chinese drywall. "This is an important
court case and they're realising it is a serious problem," said Ronald
Kozlowski, an executive with Towers Watson, a leading US professional services
firm. "Potentially, many more US households than the 3,082 complainants will
look to see if their homes have Chinese drywall." Kozlowski and his colleague,
Rachel Boles, last year estimated the total cost of Chinese drywall problem
could be as high as US$25 billion, including house repairs of up to US$10
billion and legal fees of up to US$10 billion. Kozlowski yesterday said he and
his colleagues were revising the US$25 billion estimate, and damages from
Chinese plasterboard cannot be accurately estimated because there are still
unknown factors. Last year, a US class action lawsuit was filed against Taishan
Gypsum, which is majority-owned by the State-owned Assets Supervision and
Administration Commission (Sasac), the government body that oversees state-owned
enterprises. Taishan Gypsum did not respond to the lawsuit and did not show up
in the US court. On November 20 last year, the US court made a default
preliminary judgment against Taishan Gypsum. 
An artist's rendering of the
winning design for the cruise terminal, which sources close to the project say
belongs to Foster and Partners. The terminal is to go into operation in 2013 and
contracts are expected to be awarded for work to begin in May. Foster 'shark'
wins cruise terminal tender - Some hail concept for Kai Tak, while others say it
looks like seafood dinner leftovers. World-renowned British architect Lord
Foster, who designed the airport and HSBC (SEHK: 0005, announcements, news)
headquarters and is in the running to design the West Kowloon Cultural District,
is set to add the Kai Tak cruise terminal to his portfolio of iconic buildings.
Foster's shark-like concept - variously described as modern and curvaceous or
resembling the remains of a seafood dinner - is the design put forward with the
winning bid. The winner has yet to be announced but a person close to the
project said Foster had been working with French construction company Dragages,
which has had an office in Hong Kong since it built the Kai Tak runway in the
1950s. The decision has sparked questions about why the design was not opened up
for a public competition as with other major public projects, but the government
said the approach taken was better because of the technicalities involved.
Foster's design houses the terminal in a structure resembling a shark skeleton
with its mouth open wide towards the sea. Images of the terminal were revealed
in a paper submitted to Legco on Wednesday, which the government said were the
design from the winning bid. A person told of the tendering result said the
government had chosen Foster's design. "His works are always impressive," the
person said. A spokeswoman for Foster and Partners did not confirm or deny that
it had won the tender. Dragages is part of the Bouygues group, one of France's
largest conglomerates. Its local arm is bidding for infrastructure contracts
funded by the government's economic stimulus package, including extensions to
AsiaWorld-Expo and the Convention and Exhibition Centre. It was among the six
companies that made submissions when the government sought expressions of
interest for a cruise terminal in late 2005, but none was accepted because of
what the administration termed technical difficulties. "I won't comment on the
design. But the news has already circulated in our circle for a while," an
experienced architect said, adding that Foster had joined local architectural
firm Wong Tung Group in seeking government projects. The group is chaired by
veteran architect Edward Ho Sing-tin, a former lawmaker, former Executive
Council member and former chairman of the Antiquities Advisory Board. Its
projects cover Cyberport, Hong Kong Park, Taikoo Shing's Residence Bel-Air and
the city's first private estate, Mei Foo Sun Chuen. The lawmaker representing
architects, Patrick Lau Sau-shing, said the project should have been opened up
for a design competition. This would have enabled the public to choose their
favourite design - important for projects that were widely used by the public
and were significant to the community, he said. But a competition would have
delayed the project, which has a timetable for the first berth to open by the
middle of 2013. Originally planned for 2014 or 2015, the terminal building is
now due to open at the same time. The design-and-build tender attracted four
bids and the contract will be awarded in time for construction to start in May.
The building will be leased to an experienced operator. A Commerce and Economic
Development Bureau spokeswoman said a world-class cruise terminal required a
design that catered for the needs of the cruise vessels and passengers, customs,
immigration and health quarantine facilities, as well as the practical
requirements of other users of the terminal. "Because of the technicalities
involved, it will be more appropriate and prudent to prequalify bidders with
relevant experience and track records through an open tender exercise," she
said. "This arrangement could ensure an iconic design." Lawmaker and Kowloon
City district councillor Starry Lee Wai-king said the design looked modern and
curvy, "but our priority is that the terminal will be well connected with the
old districts nearby". Vincent Ng Wing-shun, a member of the defunct
Harbourfront Enhancement Committee, said: "The design is like a sculpture with
marine elements." But architects who did not want to be named said it looked
like a half-eaten fish. A spokeswoman for Dragages declined to comment except to
say the company had submitted a bid. The bureau's spokesman said it was not
appropriate to reveal at this stage the name of the winner as the contract for
the construction of the cruise terminal building had not been formally struck.
High Court Chief Judge Geoffrey
Ma Tao-li will maintain a distance from his wife if, as expected, he becomes the
SAR's second chief justice. But a limit on the relationship would be strictly in
the cause of showing that justice - unlike love - is not blind. For Ma's wife is
Maria Yuen Ka- ning, a Court of Appeal judge, and he will have to avoid any case
in which she has been involved. Ma, 54, looks sure to succeed Andrew Li Kwok-nang
as chief justice come September, but it is subject to Legislative Council
approval. Li said yesterday he is confident Ma will be an outstanding successor:
he will uphold the rule of law, protect judicial independence, and under his
leadership the Judiciary will continue to safeguard the rights and freedoms of
the individual. Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam- kuen, in accepting the
recommendation, described Ma as an outstanding lawyer with "exceptional
judicial, professional and personal qualities." Tsang added: "He is a man of
high integrity and commands strong respect within and outside the Judiciary,
including that of the legal profession." To avoid a possible conflict of
interest, it was stated in the recommendation that Ma would not hear appeals
from cases in which his wife has sat. Nor would he deal with any administrative
matter concerning Justice Yuen. The judicial power couple have a daughter.
Judges of the Court of First Instance Johnson Lam Man-hon and Joseph Fok are
tipped to succeed Ma to become High Court chief judge. Law Society president
Wong Kwai- huen, who has known Ma for more than 20 years, described him as
"eloquent, intelligent, meticulous" with an "easygoing" personality. Legislator
and barrister Audrey Eu Yuet-mee hoped the new chief justice would safeguard
judicial independence, while colleague Ronny Tong Ka-wah believed Ma would
uphold justice but he could sometimes be a little too "conservative." Tong cited
an appeal from September when Ma and fellow judges criticized the government for
not disclosing information but eventually ruled in favor of an Immigration
Department decision to deny entry to Falun Gong practitioners on "security
grounds." Born in Hong Kong, Ma received his education in England from a young
age. He was called to the English bar at Gray's Inn in 1978, to the Hong Kong
bar in 1980, to the bar of Australia's Victoria state in 1983 and to the
Singapore bar in 1990. He became a QC in 1993. He was in private practice from
1978 until he joined the Judiciary as a judge of the Court of First Instance in
December 2001. He became a judge in the Court of Appeal in November 2002 and
heard criminal and civil appeals as well as judicial review cases. The following
July he became chief judge of the High Court. Besides hearing appeals, Ma has
been responsible for the administration of the High Court, for the
implementation of Civil Justice Reform and the monitoring of the working of the
reformed system.
The number of non-permanent Hong Kong
judges at the Court of Final Appeal has doubled to six following the appointment
of Appeal Court justices Michael Hartmann, Frank Stock and Robert Tang Ching.
Prior to the trio's appointment, there were three non-permanent local judges and
11 non-permanent judges from common law jurisdictions. The maximum number is 30.
Chief Executive Donald Tang Yam- kuen, in accepting the recommendations,
described the three appointees as outstanding lawyers who have "considerable
experience in handling criminal and civil cases, including constitutional
cases." He said they will provide the much-needed flexibility in deployment to
deal with the case load of the Court of Final Appeal. Outgoing Chief Justice
Andrew Li Kwok-nang also welcomed the appointments. The government will seek
Legislative Council endorsement of the recommendations. The Hong Kong Court of
Final Appeal Ordinance provides for a list of non-permanent Hong Kong judges and
a list of judges from other common law jurisdictions. In hearing and determining
an appeal, the Court of Final Appeal comprises five judges - the chief justice,
three permanent judges and one non- permanent Hong Kong judge or one
non-permanent common law judge. The three current non-permanent judges are
Gerald Nazareth, John Mortimer and Henry Litton while the three permanent judges
are Kemal Bokhary, Patrick Chan Siu-oi and Roberto Ribeiro. According to Article
88 of the Basic Law, the chief executive appoints judges on the recommendation
of an independent commission composed of local judges, persons from the legal
profession and eminent persons from other sectors. The Judicial Officers
Recommendation Commission comprises the chief justice as chairman, the secretary
for justice and seven other members.
Geithner meets Tung and Yam in
surprise visit - US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner met two influential
former officials close to Beijing during a surprise stopover in Hong Kong
yesterday. He met former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa and former Hong Kong
Monetary Authority chief executive Joseph Yam Chi-kwong, and also paid a
courtesy call on Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen at Government House, the
US Treasury Department said. The meetings were private and a US consular
spokesman declined to elaborate on the agenda or purpose of the visits. US
officials declined to explain why Geithner chose to meet Tung and Yam during the
visit, which was announced less than 12 hours before he met Tsang and Financial
Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah. Tung, Hong Kong's first chief executive until he
resigned in 2005, is now a vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political
Consultative Conference. Yam, who retired from the Monetary Authority in October
last year, is now a key adviser to the People's Bank of China and executive
vice-president of the China Society for Finance and Banking, a research
institute and think tank. The present chief executive of the authority, Norman
Chan Tak-lam, did not meet Geithner. A spokeswoman said Geithner had asked for a
meeting but Chan had already arranged to be in Beijing. In December last year,
Yam publicly voiced support for allowing the yuan to appreciate. On December 18,
Yam said that the yuan could become a "third pillar" of the global currency
system, competing with and even surpassing the US dollar and the euro, if it was
allowed to appreciate and the mainland authorities managed the economy
prudently. Those two steps would provide the necessary foundation for the
maintenance of currency stability and international confidence, he said at a
financial conference in Beijing. Yam also said Hong Kong was the ideal testing
ground "to quickly internationalise" the yuan. He suggested the central
government scrap restrictions on yuan business in the city so that it could
further develop in the market.
The really big picture - Hong
Kong-Shenzhen-Guangzhou is the biggest "mega region" in the world, with 120
million people, according to a new United Nations report, "State of the World's
Cities 2010-2011". It describes how the world's large cities are merging to form
vast metropolises. The second-biggest is the Nagoya-Osaka-Kyoto-Kobe region in
Japan, followed by the Rio de Janeiro-Sao Paulo region in Brazil. Then comes
West Africa, an area of 600 kilometres linking Nigeria, Benin, Togo and Ghana as
that region's driving economic force. India's mega regions centre round Mumbai
and New Delhi. The report also notes that East Asia has four mega regions and 77
cities with more than 200,000 people each, stretching from Beijing to Tokyo via
Pyongyang and Seoul. Urbanisation, it says, is now unstoppable. Just over half
of the world's population live in cities and, by 2050, probably over 70 per cent
will be urban dwellers. Mega regions around the world are the key drivers for
wealth creation, the report notes; countries become less important from this
perspective. This means regional authorities and city mayors are just as
important as national leaders. While national governments chart broad policies,
they are implemented at the local level; thus, the quality and ability of local
leaders is very important. How Hong Kong and Guangdong develop the Pearl River
Delta region, together with Macau, is very important, not just for us but also
in world terms. We are responsible for how we evolve. The key is how we design
our cities and what we prioritise. So, it does matter who leads Hong Kong, who
the government appoints to public bodies, and who we elect as our legislators,
because they are the people who will chart our course. Indeed, from this
perspective, the leaders of our neighbouring cities are just as important
because the more visionary and competent they all are, the better it should be
for the whole region. Beyond competence is, of course, their vision and
priorities for meeting new challenges. The UN report highlights the world's 40
mega regions and notes that they only cover a small fraction of the earth's land
surface, are home to just 18 per cent of the world's population, but account for
66 per cent of economic activity and 85 per cent of scientific and technological
innovation. Moreover, the top 25 cities account for more than half of the
world's wealth. For example, the five largest cities in China and India now
account for half of the wealth of those two countries. Migration of rural people
to cities also has an important impact on rural areas, since most of their
earnings are sent home. Hong Kong should pause and think. We are undoubtedly
China's richest city. As such, we have special responsibilities to ensure
developments in the city are thoughtful and focus on future needs. We have
essentially completed building the physical hardware, such as highways, bridges,
airports and ports. It is the software that needs to be strengthened, so
development should focus on management and how people live. This means we must
be wise with land use, clean up the environment, improve public health -
including ensuring food safety - upgrade education and focus on the quality of
work and play. The UN report notes that the growth of mega regions and cities is
also leading to unbalanced development and income inequalities. This is true in
Hong Kong, where one in six workers - or nearly 470,000 people - earn less than
HK$33 an hour, and some 130,200 actually get much less. Raising pay levels is
good for society as a whole, and the debate on where to set the minimum wage
gives Hong Kong a chance to reflect on the kind of society we want. The
challenge for those in government is that all these things have to be worked on
at the same time. A silo mindset, reinforced by disjointed policymaking, and
politics in which vested interests have a dominant say through functional
constituencies, don't help. Perhaps seeing ourselves as the biggest mega region
can give us all a sense of responsibility.
About 1,200 local artists will
showcase their talent at the Shanghai World Expo in the largest cultural program
organized outside Hong Kong. The artists from 24 performing arts groups will
participate in 26 programs with more than 70 performances and four visual-arts
exhibitions during the six-month exhibition which opens on May 1. More than 20
free performances will be staged at the showpiece Expo. A total of 13 shows will
also be held at venues in Shanghai, including the Shanghai Grand Theatre and
Shanghai Oriental Art Center, which have a total seating capacity of 20,000.
Asked if politically sensitive productions will be screened out during the
selection process, the chairman of the Leisure and Cultural Services
Department's program and development committee Lo King-man said no limitations
have been set on the themes. However, all art groups have to get approval from
mainland authorities to stage their productions. The department has earmarked
HK$25 million for the program - of which HK$21.6 million will be for the art
groups and HK$3 million for a pair of painting exhibitions. Participating groups
include Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, Hong Kong Ballet, Hong Kong Arts Festival
and the Chinese Artists Association of Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Police Band will
also take part in the special Hong Kong Week Program. The Yat Po Singers will
stage their first mainland performance with the production Rock Hard, which
features 13 acapella singers. "It is a great opportunity for us to gain
publicity in the mainland with such a cutting-edge form of art and, more
importantly, to share a localized view of Hong Kong with a mainland audience,"
said stage director and designer Yuri Ng Yue-lit. The Edward Lam Dance Theatre
will stage Charles Dickens' Great Expectations. "This sets a good example of how
Hong Kong art groups can gain support from the government," said artistic
director Edward Lam. City Contemporary Dance Company will stage a street
performance entitled DELT. 
Sales of passenger cars grew by almost
two-thirds in mainland last month as buoyant consumer sentiment bolstered
spending on big-ticket items in the world’s third-largest economy. But growth in
what is now the world’s biggest autos market is likely to slow from the current
quarter as year-ago sales were strong after Beijing rolled out incentives to
boost consumption along with 4 trillion yuan (HK$4.5 trillion) economic stimulus
plan. March sales totalled 1.26 million passenger cars, up from 942,900 sold in
February, according to data provided by the China Association of Automobile
Manufacturers. January-March car sales were up 76.3 per cent from a year ago, at
3.52 million. “March sales are much stronger than expected, but I don’t think
that will last. It will be very difficult this year to match the near doubling
of monthly sales in late 2009,” said Chen Lian, an analyst at Huatai Securities.
Three analysts polled by Reuters last week had projected a 30-40 per cent
increase in March car sales. Mainland has been a major bright spot for global
automakers amid a sharp industry downturn, thanks to Beijing’s stimulus measures
that included aggressive cuts in the sales tax on small cars. In India, too, car
sales rose sharply in March, showing 20 per cent year-on-year growth as
customers advanced purchases ahead of price hikes. Those increases, and higher
fuel prices, are likely to subdue growth this quarter. Mainland, where car sales
sped past 10 million units for the first time last year, is a safe haven for
industry giants such as General Motors, Ford Motors and Toyota Motor. The growth
in March is, however, slower than the 85.5 per cent in January-February, when
sales rebounded strongly from depressed year-earlier levels at the height of the
economic crisis. Analysts predict full-year growth in car sales of 10-15 per
cent this year, though one Shanghai-based dealer for GM’s Chevrolet brand
remained upbeat. “I’ve heard talk about a slowdown, but I’ve seen no signs of
it. We sold more in April than in March and people still keep coming into the
showroom,” Meng Ye, a senior sales consultant, said. “For some hot-selling
brands like the new Sail, our customers have to wait for weeks before getting
the car. It’s just hard to keep up with demand.” Across mainland, sales of GM
Chevrolet models more than doubled to 46,139 units, according to company data.
GM, which makes cars, minivans and light commercial vehicles with big state auto
groups SAIC Motor Corp and FAW Group, sold a total of 230,048 vehicles in
mainland in March, up 67.9 per cent from last year. First-quarter sales were up
71.4 per cent at 623,546 units. Shanghai-based SAIC, which on Friday said its
first quarter profit quadrupled, sold 336,387 units in March, up 58 per cent
from a year ago. Its first-quarter sales were up 64 per cent at 891,795 units.
SAIC, which also operates a car venture with Volkswagen, aims to move more than
3 million vehicles this year, up from 2.73 million last year. Ford and its
mainland ventures sold 153,362 vehicles in January-March, up 84 per cent on last
year. Toyota sales increased 39 per cent to 179,000 units.
The Chief Judge of the High Court,
Geoffrey Ma Tao-li, has been named as the new chief justice, a government
spokesman said on Thursday. He will replace Andrew Li Kwok-nang, who will step
down in August. Ma, 54, will succeed Li with effect from September 1. Three
judges, including Mr Justice Robert Tang Ching, Mr Justice Frank Stock and Mr
Justice Michael John Hartmann, have been appointed non-permanent judges to the
Court of Final Appeal. They are all currently serving on the Court of Appeal of
the High Court. Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen said: “Mr Justice Ma is an
outstanding lawyer with exceptional judicial, professional and personal
qualities. “He is a man of high integrity and commands strong respect within and
outside the judiciary, including the legal profession.” Ma said he would do his
best to ensure the rule of law and judicial independence were maintained in Hong
Kong. Ma was in private practice from 1978 until he joined the judiciary as a
Judge of the Court of First Instance in December 2001. He was appointed Chief
Judge of the High Court in July 2003. Ma also has wide experience in civil law,
arbitration, commercial, company, and constitutional law. 
A selection of Chinese
imperial works of art smashed world records after fierce bidding at Sotheby’s
sales on Thursday, as China’s rise sparked international interest in objects of
its glorious past. An imperial white jade seal commissioned by Emperor Qianlong
of the Qing Dynasty in the 18th century went to an Asian buyer for US$12.29
million (HK$95.6 million), breaking the world auction record for both white jade
and imperial seals. The price was almost double its estimate of about US$6.4
million. Another star lot, a ceremonial pearl necklace believed to have belonged
to Qing Emperor Yongzheng in the early 18th century, smashed the world record
for any imperial jewel at auction after a telephone bidder snapped it up for
US$8.7 million. The price was more than five times its highest estimate. “They
are objects that crystallised imperial power. These are something that can
easily capture our clients’ imagination,” said Nicolas Chow, Sotheby’s
international head of Chinese ceramics and works of art. He said interest in
Chinese works of art was booming. “Everything is about China today,” he said.
“Our worry is actually not finding buyers. Our worry is how do we feed that
monster that is growing on the other side of harbour, because great objects are
getting scarcer and scarcer.” Other eye-catching “objects of power” included a
three-tiered enamelled box from the 18th century, which broke the world record
for Beijing imperial enamel ware at auction after it sold for US$3.53 million.
Although the majority of bidders which packed the auction room were Chinese,
Chow said there was also “very strong participation” in the bidding from Western
buyers. Both Sotheby’s and rival Christie’s said Hong Kong has become the
world’s third largest auction hub after New York and London, thanks to the
rising political and economic prowess of China. The auction giants said mainland
buyers often grabbed the top lots in their recent sales of works of art,
jewellery, and fine wine, reflecting their growing wealth and increasingly
sophisticated taste for fine art.
The launching ceremony of
China's stock index futures in Shanghai, April 8, 2010.
Angry customers mobbed Kentucky Fried Chicken outlets in the mainland this week,
turning over tables at a restaurant in Beijing, in anger over a coupon promotion
gone awry, state media reported on Thursday. The trouble flared on Tuesday as
the US restaurant chain launched a promotion in which coupons downloaded from
the Internet could be exchanged for food at KFC outlets, the Global Times
newspaper said. Customers became angry after staff refused to accept some
coupons for the “Super Tuesday” promotion, saying they were invalid fakes. Angry
coupon-holders at one branch in Beijing’s central business district flipped over
chairs and tables and had to be dispersed by police, the Global Times said. The
report did not mention any injuries or damage. Crowds also gathered in at least
one Shanghai branch, the newspaper said, adding that complaints were reported in
at least four other major cities. “It is with great regret that the promotion
activity caused trouble for some consumers. This was not the original intention
of the activity we designed and for this we are deeply sorry,” said a KFC
statement on Tuesday. The fast-food chain has more than 2,100 outlets in 450
cities around China. 
Yang
Shunping smiles while looking at water running through the pipe in Jinze county,
Southwest China's Yunnan province, April 6, 2010. Since drought ravaged Yunnan
in November last year, Greenpeace China has built solar-powered water pumping
stations for free in areas with power shortage to provide irrigation water for
local peasants.
Film star Jet Li plants coffee plant seedlings to help those suffering from the
drought in southwestern China. Action movie star Jet Li, and staff of "Jet Li
One Foundation" visited Mohei town in Puer city of southwestern China's Yunnan
Province, on Wednesday, April 7, 2010, Ent.sina.com reports. Li along with actor
Wen Zhang and some staffers from the charity organization spoke to locals who
are suffering from the drought in southwestern China. They donated drinking
water and brought plant seedlings of coffee and grape for the locals. The "Red
Cross Society of China Jet Li One Foundation Project" (Jet Li One Foundation)
was founded in 2007 by Red Cross ambassador Jet Li, under a strategic
partnership with the Red Cross Society of China.
Renowned Suzhou Garden attracts tourists
home and abroad - A female performer sitting inside an archaic boat entertains
the excursionists with Suzhou Pingtan, a typical folklore art form of
ballad-singing and story-telling, inside the Liuyuan Garden of Suzhou, east
China's Jiangsu Province, April 5, 2010. The renowned Suzhou Garden put on
series of tourist program typical of local Wu Culture to lure tourists from both
home and overseas during the vacationing of Qingming Festival. 
Chinese Vice
President Xi Jinping (C), Donald Tsang (R), the chief executive of the Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, and Huang Huahua, the governor
of Guangdong Province, arrive to attend the framework agreement on Hong
Kong/Guangdong cooperation signing ceremony in Beijing, capital of China, April
7, 2010. Hong Kong and south China's Guangdong Province reached a framework
agreement here Wednesday to secure closer economic cooperation.
Signing launches
Hong Kong's enlarged role in nation - Ceremony marks breakthrough for delta
integration - Central government support for Hong Kong to take the lead in
financial services and for its policy initiatives to be integrated into China's
12th five-year plan has marked a significant breakthrough for greater
integration of the Pearl River Delta. But in what form, how and when depends
very much on the details of a framework agreement on Hong Kong and Guangdong
co-operation signed in Beijing yesterday. The agreement, endorsed by the State
Council before being signed, is designed to set in motion measures that have
been discussed for years, if not decades. Although many of the measures are not
new, securing Beijing's blessing will help ensure they are realised and pave the
way for Hong Kong and Guangdong to become a "world-class economic zone" in the
words of the pact. Covering financial services, the environment, education,
transport, manufacturing and more, as well as Macau, the agreement puts Hong
Kong's agenda at the national level for the first time. The central government
named Hong Kong the leader in financial services, for example, and ordered
Shenzhen and Guangdong to provide all necessary support. At yesterday's signing
ceremony in Beijing, Guangdong Governor Huang Huahua said the agreement heralded
a new phase of co-operation between the two economies. According to the
agreement, both sides will set an agenda for their co-operation each year. "The
framework agreement will draw ties between Guangdong and Hong Kong closer,"
Huang said. Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen said the agreement would not
just be beneficial for the development of Hong Kong and Guangdong but would also
serve as a model for integration in other areas of the mainland. A top priority
for Hong Kong's co-operation this year is furthering the use of the yuan in
settling cross-border transactions, he said. "In the 10 years since Hong Kong's
handover of sovereignty, China's economy has seen rapid growth," he said. "In
order for Hong Kong to step up another level, we must strengthen our integration
with the mainland." The city received just a passing mention in the previous
five-year plan and none at all before that. A government official said the
agreement would help speed up decision-making and implementation of policies, as
a certain amount of authority would be delegated to Guangdong from the central
government, as in the Cepa free-trade pact. Authorities on both sides plan to
expand the multi-destination travel scheme under Cepa to all of Guangdong, the
official said. Baptist University finance professor Billy Mak Sui-choi said the
agreement might end the subtle grappling between Hong Kong and Guangdong. "In
the Pearl River Delta alone, we have five airports," Mak said. "Territorial
competition could lead to overlapping and wastage of resources, while
co-operation could boost the country's economy. Beijing knew that well and it
wants local governors to stop fighting each other. "It is not a case of Beijing
favouring us so much that it tips all policies in Hong Kong's favour. Rather, it
is us who have proved our worth to the mainland economy." Over the years,
mainland companies have listed their shares in stock markets across Asia,
including Japan and Singapore, but Hong Kong received the biggest transactions.
Xu Xinpeng, an associate professor of economics at Polytechnic University, said
the agreement was designed to put in perspective Hong Kong's role and position
in the region over the coming decades. By paving the way for incorporating the
various initiatives into the 12th five-year plan, the agreement essentially made
Hong Kong's integration with the mainland official with central government
support, Xu said. But there were questions about Hong Kong's readiness to
integrate with the Pearl River Delta region, particularly in such areas as
education, he said. The two sides have agreed to cross-border traffic
infrastructure, such as the HK$66.9 billion high-speed rail link, and
strengthening the flow of people. Authorities have also promised to simplify the
clearance and inspection procedures for goods at the border by greater use of
electronic tagging technology. In financial services, the mainland will expand
its yuan cross-border trade settlement services to more regions, banks and
industries. Hong Kong financial institutions and insurance firms may also be
able to set up banks or lending facilities in Guangdong's towns and villages
without having to establish joint ventures. The two parties will also work
towards a cleaner and greener environment. Up to 100 million yuan (HK$113.74
million) will be allocated for the development of a mangrove conservation area
along the border over the next five years, while more will be done to promote
the use of electric vehicles on the roads. Officials also plan to set new
regional air quality objectives before the end of the year. Hong Kong's tertiary
institutions will also jointly offer education programs or set up branches in
Guangdong. What the two sides agreed: Hong Kong and Guangdong to be a
world-class economic zone; Hong Kong to take the lead in creating a regional
financial hub, with backup from other Pearl River Delta cities; A pilot scheme
for settling cross-border trade in yuan to be expanded; More Guangdong
enterprises to be encouraged to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange;
Arrangements to be made in Hong Kong for bank financing for, and the issuance of
yuan-denominated bonds by, Guangdong enterprises; Cross-border flows of people,
goods, information and capital to be facilitated; Construction of cross-border
transport infrastructure to be speeded up; Liaison and co-operation between the
region's five airports to be strengthened; Clearance and inspection of
cross-border cargo to be simplified; Support to be given for Hong Kong to become
an international logistics hub and maritime centre; A regime to protect the
region's ecology and environment to be implemented; Objectives for regional air
quality management to be fulfilled this year; Electric cars to be introduced in
big cities; Collaborative development to be promoted; Tertiary education
institutions in Hong Kong to offer programs in Guangdong; Joint laboratories and
research centres to be set up. Vice-President Xi Jinping is flanked by Huang
Huahua and Donald Tsang at the signing ceremony.
A system aimed at getting ambulances to
more serious emergencies faster is to start next year - but not everyone is
happy with the plan. Response times will be based on the level of the emergency.
But it will be up to the 999 caller to assess how serious the situation is,
sparking ambulance union fears. For the most critical cases, ambulances are
expected to arrive in nine minutes, compared with 12 minutes for serious,
non-life-threatening cases and 20 minutes for non-acute cases. The current
response rate for all cases is 12 minutes. According to a paper to be discussed
in the Legislative Council on Tuesday, the three-tier mechanism will be
implemented by 2014. The Fire Services Department paper said the government will
consult with the medical profession on guidelines for operators, who will
receive training to identify cases by asking a series of questions about
patients' condition. The department said the system will be designed based on
public views received in a four-month public consultation from July to November
last year. The government received more than 560 written submissions. The
consultation also covered all 18 district councils, the medical sector, patients
groups and elderly welfare groups. Around 70 percent supported the proposed
response time targets, according to the document. But the Fire Services
Department Ambulancemen's Union vice chairman Wat Ki-on criticized the system,
saying it could mislead the public to believe they will all receive a quicker
response. "In fact, the response time for the lowest emergency cases will be
delayed from the current 12-minute standard to 20 minutes," Wat said. He also
warned the success of the new mechanism will be determined by effective
communication between the caller and the operator on accurately identifying the
degree of the emergency. "It is rather difficult to achieve within a short
period of time, especially to educate the public, on how to determine if their
calls are urgent. Public education is long-term and cannot be easily achieved in
a few months." 
All frontline firefighters will today
be equipped with the latest type of breathing apparatus, after a five-year wait
for it. The city's firefighters had complained about the length of time taken to
provide them with new equipment - including the breathing apparatuses - after
senior fireman Yeung Chun-kit, 47, died in a factory fire in Cheung Sha Wan on
March 8. The 1,600 sets of the new apparatus had been distributed to all fire
stations and would be ready for use from this morning, a Fire Services
Department spokeswoman said. The breathing apparatus allows easier movement, and
can monitor and record conditions. In addition, 6,000 face masks that can show
oxygen levels will be distributed to all firefighters. The department began the
process of upgrading equipment in 2006, at a cost of HK$45.7 million. The Fire
Services Department Staff General Association will hold a meeting today seeking
views from members. Last week, some firefighters called for association chairman
Chiu Sin-chung to stand down after he said Yeung's death had had nothing to do
with inadequate equipment. Chiu yesterday said that only a small group of
firefighters had been calling for him to stand down. The association will today
send all members a document about their work. An extraordinary general meeting
will be held next Thursday to discuss members' concerns about the blaze.
Meanwhile, the union representing console operators - who work at the call
centre - has called for additional personnel following a 4 per cent staff
turnover in the past two years. Fire Services Control Staff Union chairman Lee
Chung-wing said the pressure of the job was one reason for a high turnover.
Macau casino stocks are back on a
bull run. After trading mostly flat for the past six months, shares in Hong Kong
and US-listed casino operators are up as much as 59 per cent in the year to
date, far outpacing the 0.26 per cent gain in the Hang Seng Index or the 6.67
per cent rise in the Standard and Poor's 500 Index. Investors in the sector are
doubling-down as Macau's casino revenues continue to surge, rising nearly 60 per
cent in the first quarter. Shares in most operators are now trading at their
highest since the September 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers. Both Sands China
and SJM Holdings saw their stocks hit fresh highs yesterday as the rally added
steam. Sands rose 5.64 per cent to HK$13.48 while SJM gained 4.31 per cent to
close at HK$5.33. Melco International Development (SEHK: 0200) rose 6.82 per
cent to HK$3.76 and Galaxy Entertainment (SEHK: 0027) finished up 5.56 per cent
at HK$3.80. The stocks reacted to preliminary data published over the long
Easter holiday weekend indicating a near-record 13.569 billion patacas in casino
revenue last month, up 42.4 per cent from a year ago. "Although gross gaming
revenue has been exceeding expectations for many months now, Macau gaming stocks
have failed to excite as the market is still discounting the potential impact
from China's credit tightening," Credit Suisse gaming analyst Gabriel Chan wrote
last month in a research note. Chan tips stocks in the sector to rise further as
investors upgrade expectations given the booming revenues and the government's
limited ability to adopt measures to rein in growth. Nasdaq-listed Melco Crown
Entertainment has led all operators with a 59.2 per cent rise in the year to
date. US-listed Las Vegas Sands Corp is up 56.8 per cent and Wynn Resorts has
gained 40.4 per cent. In Hong Kong, Sands China has led with a 42.49 per cent
gain this year while SJM and Wynn Macau are both up 24 per cent. Galaxy has
risen 18.4 per cent, while holding company Melco International is a comparative
laggard with a 5 per cent gain. The stock market rally is being driven by
red-hot growth in Macau, which in turn is being driven by high-rolling gamblers
from the mainland. Casino revenue in the first three months of the year rose to
a quarterly record of 40.91 billion patacas, up 57.2 per cent from a year
earlier and 13.1 per cent from the fourth quarter of last year. Macau is on pace
to hit a record 160 billion patacas in casino revenue this year, which, if
sustained, would result in annual growth of more than 40 per cent. High-stakes
play has fuelled the surge. Deutsche Bank gaming analyst Karen Tang estimates
Macau's VIP casino revenue rose nearly 80 per cent in the first quarter. But
Macau's heavy reliance on high rollers means concerns continue to linger over a
potential contraction of liquidity on the mainland driven by tighter lending
requirements and rising interest rates. 
A huge HK$3 billion is to be injected
into the battle to stem the rising tide of youth drug abuse. Earmarked by
Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah for this financial year, the cash boost
will beef up anti- drug programs under the Beat Drugs Fund, the government says.
Officials have pledged to come up with new and innovative treatment and
rehabilitation programs, including the possibility of sponsoring voluntary
school-based drug testing. Government statistics show a 54 percent rise in the
number of reported young drug abusers under 21 in the past five years, from
around 2,200 in 2004 to 3,400 in 2009. That surge was also reflected in overall
numbers, with the young making up 24 percent of all drug users, from 14.7
percent in 2004. "Fighting drug abuse cannot be a one-off or short-term effort.
It is imperative that everyone collaborate in tackling the problem," a
government paper says. Officials have pledged to ease the difficulties faced by
treatment and rehabilitation centers over planning, land issues, relocation,
project implementation, or in raising funds. The paper which goes before
lawmakers next week adds that "upgrading these centers to meet licensing
standards, relocation and/or expansion is important to ensure adequate and
appropriate provision of services to drug abusers." The fund will also use the
money to strengthen preventive education programs, and enhance the roles and
skills of parent-teacher associations, schools, youth groups and
non-governmental organizations, as well as reaching out to high-risk young
people to strengthen their resolve against drugs. 
Visitors watch illuminated
screens inside the US pavilion during a press preview at the site of the 2010
World Expo in Shanghai yesterday. Organisers say only minor decorative work
remains to be completed. Organisers of the US pavilion at the 2010 World Expo in
Shanghai confounded critics yesterday by announcing they had reached their
US$61.5 million fund-raising target. Allowing media into the pavilion for the
first time, US expo commissioner general Jose Villarreal said a US$5 million
donation from financial conglomerate Citigroup had pushed the campaign over the
finishing line. Villarreal said that when he made his first visit to Shanghai as
pavilion commissioner in July last year, he made the "fairly audacious"
prediction that the project would meet its fund-raising target and be finished
in time for the expo's opening on May 1. "I am very pleased today to announce
that we have achieved both," he said. Only minor decorative work on the interior
remained to be completed and the exhibit would be ready to participate in the
park's test openings, starting on April 20. The US building has been one of the
most controversial pavilions constructed for the massive six-month-long fair,
with the country being one of the last to sign up and break ground on the
project, due in part to the way its pavilion is funded. US federal funds cannot
be used to pay for expo participation, meaning every penny had to be solicited
from private donors. The US$61.5 million budget is divided roughly equally
between design and construction, operations and entertainment. But Villarreal
said he would not turn away extra contributions. "Every additional dollar that
we raise will allow us the ability to enhance the programme of entertainments we
are offering," he said. "I don't want at all to communicate that we are not
accepting any more money." US pavilion organisers said yesterday they planned to
bring out Grammy Award-winning acts Herbie Hancock, Ozomatli and Dee Dee
Bridgewater during the first month of the expo. But while journalists were
allowed to view the building's three showrooms - audio-visual viewing spaces
designed to accommodate 500 visitors at a time - organisers refused to give a
preview of the programs. "We want the first visitors waiting in line on the
opening day to be the first to see the show," Villareal said. The building's
design has been widely criticised in Shanghai's expatriate American community
and by online expo aficionados for lacking the visual power of past US
pavilions. The project's architects say the building is intended to resemble an
eagle with outstretched wings "welcoming" visitors, but critics unfavourably
compare it to an out-of-town shopping mall or multiplex cinema. The interior of
the 6,000 square metre building is essentially a show space featuring three
eight-minute films aimed at giving mainland visitors a taste of America, and
culminating in a "4D" cinema which will include rain and wind effects. Greg
Lombardo, a director of BRC Imagination Arts, which produced the pavilion's
entertainment, said the content was intended to express American values and the
aim of "making the world a better place". Tom Cooney, a deputy commissioner of
the expo pavilion, said the shows would make repeated references to the strong
"American spirit of freedom and innovation". "The pavilion stands for everything
that America is about. There is nothing off-limits here," Cooney said. "That
would certainly include our democratic system of government."
China Life Insurance (2628) said net profit surged 71.8 percent to 32.88 billion
yuan (HK$37.39 billion) last year from 2008 thanks to strong growth in
investment yield. 
An anti-explosion drill for
the upcoming Shanghai World Expo is held in Changshu in East China's Jiangsu
province on April 6. The local public security bureau, criminal police, traffic
police, fire-fighting, environmental protection and emergency aid departments
took part in the drill.
China poised to be world's largest LCD
TV market - LG Electronics Inc, the world's second largest TV brand and third
biggest mobile phone maker, expects to double its sales in China this year as
the global economic recovery spurs demand. "LG Electronics is on track to a 100
percent growth in China," Choong Bong Cho, chief executive officer of LG
Electronics Greater China Region said in an interview with China Daily. China
poised to be world's largest LCD TV market. Sales of LG Electronics in China
reached approximately $22 billion last year, according to the company. He added
that the company's sales in China grew by 80 percent year-on-year over the first
quarter, mainly led by rising demand for mobile phones, LCD (liquid crystal
display) TVs and other home appliances bolstered by government subsidies for
residents in rural areas launched in late 2008. China is currently the sixth
largest market for LG Electronics, and the company hopes it will play a bigger
role in its global business. "We've just redefined China as a market equally
important with South Korea," said Cho, adding that the company hopes to increase
the manufacturing force in China. The company is now waiting for approval from
the Chinese government for LG Display Co, the world's second largest LCD maker
that LG Electronics is the largest shareholder in, to set up a plant in China to
produce eighth-generation LCD displays. According to Semiconductor Equipment and
Materials International (SEMI), China is likely to be the largest LCD TV market
in the world this year, with its LCD TV sales forecast to grow by nine million
units this year. SEMI is an industry association serving the manufacturing
supply chain for the microelectronic, display and photovoltaic industries.
Hong Kong and Guangdong on
Wednesday signed a new agreement aimed at enhancing mutual economic and
financial co-operation. Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen and Governor of
Guangdong, Huang Huahua signed the “framework agreement” in Beijing. The signing
ceremony was observed by mainland vice-president Xi Jinping. Tsang said the
agreement would be an opportunity for Hong Kong to contribute towards economic
development in the mainland. A Hong Kong government spokesman said the agreement
would boost the competitiveness of Hong Kong’s service industries and
Guangdong’s manufacturing industries. This would help them develop a global
manufacturing and services base. “The framework agreement builds on years of
close co-operation between Hong Kong and Guangdong,” the spokesman said. The
agreement – approved by the State Council – would increase co-operation in
several areas. This includes: Developing financial services industries in
Guangdong so it can build an international financial centre with Hong Kong;
Using Hong Kong’s service industries and Guangdong’s manufacturing industries to
develop a global manufacturing and services base; Building an international
aviation, shipping and logistics hub; and Promoting more co-operation among Hong
Kong and other Pearl River Delta cities.
Donald Tsang (front, L), the
chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR)
government, and Huang Huahua (front, R), the governor of Guangdong Province,
exchange the framework agreement, as Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping (back, C)
looks on, in Beijing, capital of China, April 7, 2010. Hong Kong and south
China's Guangdong Province reached a framework agreement here Wednesday to
secure closer economic cooperation.
US Treasury Secretary Timothy
Geithner will visit Beijing on Thursday for talks with vice-premier for economic
affairs, Wang Qishan, a spokesman for Geithner said. Geithner will meet with
Wang, spokesman Andrew Williams said Wednesday, as the Treasury secretary ended
a two-day visit to India. “The secretary and the vice-premier have been working
together to find an opportunity to meet for some time,” Williams told reporters
in Mumbai, the Indian financial capital. Williams gave no details of the agenda
for the Geithner-Wang meeting, but the decision to have such a high-level
encounter suggested Washington and Beijing are moving toward settling dispute
over yuan controls. Washington and other western trading partners are pressing
Beijing to ease exchange rate controls that they say keep its yuan undervalued,
giving mainland’s exporters an unfair price advantage and swelling its
multibillion-dollar trade surplus. The two governments have tried to keep the
dispute contained to avoid straining relations as they co-operate on reviving
global economic growth, containing Iran’s nuclear program and other issues.
President Barack Obama vowed in February to press for an end to exchange rate
systems that he said depress the value of currencies and harm US companies. Some
American lawmakers are pressing for punitive tariffs on mainland imports if
Beijing fails to act.
Workers labor on top of the USA
Pavilion for the Shanghai Expo on Wednesday. Organisers for the USA Pavilion at
the Shanghai Expo say they have met a US$61 million fundraising target after a
struggle to win corporate support. Organisers for the USA Pavilion at the
Shanghai Expo say they have met a US$61 million fundraising target after a
struggle to win corporate support in hard times but would welcome more money to
help improve entertainment. A US$5 million sponsorship by Citigroup announced on
Wednesday means the pavilion is fully funded, said Jose Villarreal, the San
Antonio, Texas-based lawyer who is serving as commissioner general of the USA
pavilion. “By no means am I saying we won’t take any more money,” Villarreal
said. “We continue to receive expressions of interest and every dollar we raise
will allow us to enhance the entertainment aspect of our offering.” USA Pavilion
organisers received no government money and struggled to get recession-stricken
companies to commit to the event, which opens May 1 and is projected to attract
70 million visitors. Organisers appealed to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,
who helped to win over many sponsors, Villarreal said. Citigroup joins Wal-Mart,
PepsiCo, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, General Electric, among others, in
becoming a major sponsor. Citigroup reported a US$7.77 billion fourth-quarter
loss due to failed loans and the costs of repaying US$20 billion in government
bailout money. “The US pavilion will nurture even greater understanding between
the peoples of our two great nations, and the Citigroup is proud to be part of
that process,” said Andrew Au, chief executive officer for Citi China. About
one-third of the US$61 million budget paid for the building, which includes
several large halls that will seat hundreds of people at a time. Roughly another
third paid for multimedia shows that will run during the six-month event, said
Tom Cooney, deputy commissioner general for the pavilion. The rest will pay
operating costs and the expenses of the pavilion’s American student volunteers
and entertainers. Artists due to perform there include jazz legend Herbie
Hancock, jazz singer Dee Dee Bridgewater and hybrid rockers Ozomatli. “Jazz
music was invented in the United States. We think it’s a great example of
American society and culture,” Cooney said.
Shanghai promotes World Expo in
Taiwan - In terms of cultural exchanges, Han adds that his city is actively
pushing for the establishment of a regular direct flight schedule between
Shanghai's Hongqiao Airport, and Taipei's Song Shan Airport. Han Zheng, Shanghai
Mayor, said, "I believe that strengthening cooperation between Shanghai and
Taipei will definitely benefit both cities." The Mayor also says that Shanghai
will actively participate in the 2010 International Flora Expo, which will be
held in Taipei in November. This week's City Forum was highlighted by the
signing of several memorandums of understanding dealing with cultural, tourism,
environmental protection, and high tech concerns involving the two metropolitan
areas.
It would cost about 20 per cent
more than the last pay rise for civil servants, an eighth of the price of the
new Hong Kong-Guangdong express railway, less than half a per cent of gross
domestic product or about HK$1,100 for each Hongkonger. Social scientists say it
is equivalent to no more than "a penny" in terms of the overall economy.
Employers say it is "enormous" and potentially lethal to business. Unions say it
is the least they would accept. Whoever is right about the impact, a statutory
minimum wage of HK$33 an hour would cost a bit over HK$8 billion a year,
calculations based on figures from the Census and Statistics Department show. A
minimum wage of HK$25, which employer groups say is the most that business could
sustain, would cost about HK$1 billion a year. The calculations were made using
figures from a survey by the department that will be a key factor in determining
the statutory minimum wage, due to be announced by the Provisional Minimum Wage
Commission as early as July. The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce is
finalising a submission to the government on a minimum wage of HK$24 or HK$25 an
hour. Several major labour unions have called for HK$33 an hour.
Hong Kong may be aggressively pursuing tax
treaties allowing greater exchange of information with trading partners, but it
has missed an international deadline to prove it is not a tax haven. The Group
of 20 major economies threatened to impose sanctions on tax jurisdictions that
had not signed 12 such treaties by last month to meet new standards set by the
club of rich nations in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD). Still, no penalties have been handed out yet, and the city's
tax chief says Hong Kong is negotiating with other countries "at full pace". He
is confident it will soon meet the standard. Hong Kong has signed comprehensive
agreements for the avoidance of double taxation (CDTAs) with three countries and
agreed to sign CDTAs with another six. "We believe the deadline is not the most
important as long as we are trying our best to achieve it," Chu Yam-yuen, the
commissioner for inland revenue, said. "I believe we can soon have 12 CDTAs."
Double taxation arises when the same source of income or profit is subject to
tax in more than one jurisdiction, hence impeding trade. To avoid this problem,
countries sign CDTAs to establish guidelines for the taxation of individuals and
corporations working in each jurisdiction, often to the benefit of those working
abroad. Their home countries withhold less tax on passive sources of income such
as dividends and interest. The city has been under mounting pressure to conform
to the OECD tax transparency standard. At a G20 meeting in London a year ago,
leaders of the world's 20 major developed and developing economies, including
China, agreed to name offshore tax havens. Hong Kong, which narrowly escaped the
blacklist, has been striving to meet the standard since then. The Legislative
Council passed legislation to adopt the OECD standard in January. It permits the
government to collect tax information on behalf of another country or tax
jurisdiction. In the past, the city could collect information only for domestic
tax purposes, which was a major stumbling block in previous tax treaty
negotiations. The city has since signed CDTAs with the Netherlands, Brunei and
Indonesia. 
HKEx chairman Ronald Arculli says a
large Brazilian resource company has started preparatory work and may become the
first South American firm to list in Hong Kong. First it was the Russians, now
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (SEHK: 0388, announcements, news) is looking to
attract South American and African companies to list on the Hong Kong bourse.
"It is part of our three-year strategic plan to have more international
companies to list here and establish Hong Kong as an international financial
centre," HKEx chairman Ronald Arculli said. He said a large Brazilian resource
company, which he declined to identify, had expressed interest in listing in
Hong Kong and had already appointed lawyers and investment bankers to do the
groundwork. "Brazil is an emerging market, while a lot of its companies have
trade relationships with Chinese companies. A listing in Hong Kong would allow
them to get closer to the Chinese investors," Arculli said. If it gets approval,
it will become the first South American company to list in Hong Kong. In
addition, Arculli said members of the exchange would visit Nigeria, where some
resources companies had been identified by investment bankers as listing
hopefuls. "Nigeria is a very rich country and has many good-potential resource
companies that may be suitable for listing here." Arculli added that mining and
resource companies from Brazil and Nigeria could benefit from proposed
improvements in the HKEx rules to make it easier for them to list here. But the
chairman said the exchange would not go as far as relaxing rules to allow mining
companies at an exploration stage with no production date to apply for a
listing. "We have to safeguard the interests of investors and cannot relax the
rules too far. It would be better to gradually introduce the rule changes step
by step," he said. Arculli has recently been to Moscow, Vancouver and Toronto to
meet listing hopefuls. The exchange has been eager to attract more international
firms, especially as it is likely to face stiff competition from Shanghai. Since
1993, more than 300 mainland firms have listed in Hong Kong, representing 58 per
cent of of the bourse's market capitalisation. Arculli said for Hong Kong to go
a step further, it must become not just a listing centre for mainland firms but
also for other international firms. "Unlike the European and US markets, where
financial institutions have been hard hit by the economic crisis, many Asian
firms and investors are full of liquidity," Arculli said. If companies come to
list in Hong Kong, they can tap funds from Asian investors through HKEx. They
can also get closer to the mainland and Asia markets, which are the
fastest-growing in the world, he said. Efforts to internationalise the exchange
attracted the world's biggest aluminium firm, Rusal, to list in Hong Kong in
January, and Arculli said more Russian companies were on the way. Mongolian coal
miner SouthGobi Energy Resources also listed in Hong Kong in the first quarter.
Cosmetics retailer L'Occitane en Provence will become the first French company
to list here, having chosen Hong Kong ahead of Paris. Arculli believes Hong Kong
can compete with London as an international listing centre because of our good
banking structure, rule of law and proximity to the China market.
People who cheat on property tax are dead
center in the sights of Inland Revenue Department investigators. Commissioner of
Inland Revenue Chu Yam-yuen warned yesterday that his officers are closely
monitoring property speculators with the help of a supercomputer as they step up
efforts against would-be dodgers. The high-tech-backed officers identified 4,300
suspected greenhorn property speculators in 2008-09 compared with 6,700 in
2007-08, Chu said. This was after just 2,500 were rumbled in 2006-07.
Corporations that make quick money by speculation should pay profits tax at a
rate of 16.5 percent while non- corporations pay 15 percent, Chu said. So IRD
officers are, as a matter of routine, seeking to identify speculation- related
transactions with the help of computer programs. Then come in-depth
investigations of individual cases. In an interview with Sing Tao Daily, a
sister publication of The Standard, Chu said officers check for speculators by
how often someone buys and trade premises, how many properties they acquire, and
how long they hold the ownership of a property. The shorter the period of
ownership, Chu said, the more likely someone will be checked. The snag, however,
is a lack of a law that clearly defines speculation. So the IRD checks why
people buy property and then refers to court judgments and the Inland Revenue
Board of Review. In a judgment handed down by the board in January 2002, a
company that decided to sell a flat within a month of purchase was ordered to
pay profits tax. It was on October 5, 1998, that Company A, with two people as
shareholders, purchased a 1,942-square-foot property from Company G for HK$8.38
million. Early the following month Company A hired an agent to sell it - which
it did to Company J for HK$10.5 million within a few days. The minutes of a
meeting of Company A directors on November 16, 1998, showed the sale was
approved without reasons for the transaction being noted. A shareholder of
Company A admitted he had not inspected the property before or after its
purchase. In another troublesome area - double taxation - Chu said that in an
attempt to avoid the problem the department recently reached a deal with the
Netherlands, Indonesia and Brunei under which taxpayers do not have to pay on
income already taxed elsewhere. It is expected to take effect in six months.
Hong Kong already has similar pacts with Japan, Austria, France, Hungary,
Ireland and Liechtenstein.
More candidates have emerged for the
Legislative Council by-elections next month, ahead of the deadline for
nominations tomorrow. But political academics say the numbers will not result in
more heated competition because there is still a lack of heavyweight competitors
running against five former lawmakers from the League of Social Democrats and
the Civic Party who resigned to trigger the polls. By yesterday, 18 people had
filed their candidacies or expressed a firm intention to stand. Among the latest
to declare was Spencer Tai Cheuk-yin, a core member of the pro-Taiwan camp. A
standing committee member of the Kuomintang's local branch and a former chairman
of the defunct pro-Taiwan 123 Democratic Alliance, Tai said he would submit his
nomination on Hong Kong Island today. No pro-Taiwan candidate has won in an
election since the alliance's former legislator Lawrence Yum Sin-ling lost his
seat in 1998. Tai's platform includes fighting for a road map for universal
suffrage, abolition of functional constituencies, and raising awareness of the
importance of the Hong Kong-Taiwan relationship.In Kowloon West, the most
crowded constituency so far, Hong Kong Small and Medium Enterprises Association
vice-chairman Wilson Shea Kai-chuen announced that he would file as an
independent today. Shea said he hoped to be a voice for small and medium
businesses. He also supports dual universal suffrage in 2012 and the scrapping
of functional constituencies. "Many businesspeople are capable of running in
direct elections. But the present functional constituency lawmakers often fail
to represent small and medium enterprises. I think their seats can be
abolished," Shea said. Former ICAC deputy director of operations Alex Tsui
Ka-kit is reported to be considering standing in the same constituency. Without
confirming or denying the reports, Tsui said he would "speak when things are
confirmed". Democratic Party veteran Martin Lee Chu-ming yesterday joined a
march to drum up support for the by-elections, which are being viewed by the
league and Civic Party as a "de facto referendum" on the pace and scope of
democratisation. He said the turnout for the polls was bound to be lower than
for an ordinary election due to the boycott by the pro-establishment camp. March
organisers believed about 2,600 people took part, close to the 3,000 they had
set as a benchmark. Police at the scene said about 900 people left the starting
point in Victoria Park. Political analysts Ivan Choy Chi-keung of Chinese
University and James Sung Lap-kung of City University said the increase in
candidates would do little to boost turnout, as the atmosphere of two major
political blocs "fighting a duel" was lacking.
Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen
has taken most of his Cabinet ministers to Beijing to sign a ground-breaking
pact with Guangdong today, which may make Hong Kong part of the nation's next
five- year plan. Chief Secretary for Administration Henry Tang Ying-yen and
Secretary for Justice Wong Yan-lung will attend the signing ceremony for the
Framework Agreement on Hong Kong-Guangdong Co- operation. Other major officials
attending include Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Stephen Lam
Sui-lung, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Chan Ka-keung,
Secretary for the Environment Edward Yau Tang-wah, Secretary for Transport and
Housing Eva Cheng, and the Director of the Chief Executive's Office Raymond Tam
Chi- yuen. Guangdong Governor Huang Huahua is expected at the ceremony while
state leaders will witness the signing ceremony in the Great Hall of the People
in Beijing. Details of the pact had still not been released by yesterday.
However, it is understood that the pact is about boosting cross-border
cooperation in areas such as services, infrastructure, education, finance and
environmental protection. The pact will be the first top-level deal recognized
at central government level signed between Hong Kong and Guangdong on closer
cooperation. Priscilla Lau Pui-king, associate professor and co-originator of
the Hong Kong Polytechnic University's China Business Studies master program,
said support from Beijing is important for the integration of Hong Kong and
Guangdong. Lau, a deputy to the National People's Congress, said the pact will
help upgrade and restructure enterprises in the Pearl River Delta. 
Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng arrived in Taiwan yesterday amid protests by islanders
fearful of the consequences of closer ties with the mainland, officials said.
Taiwanese visitors to Shanghai
will be able to directly convert New Taiwan dollars into yuan at Bank of
Communications branches starting May 1 - the day Shanghai's World Expo opens -
Shanghai mayor Han Zheng said yesterday, on his historic arrival in Taipei.
Currently, Taiwanese visiting the mainland are required to bring Hong Kong
dollars or other currencies to exchange for yuan in China. Han, the first
Shanghai mayor to visit the island in 60 years, also said he looks forward to
the resumption of direct flights that will reduce travel time between his city
and Taipei to just 80 minutes. Political commentator Johnny Lau Yui-siu said
Han's announcement indicates that similar arrangements will be made with other
mainland cities. A research economist said the currency convertibility will
certainly put pressure on Hong Kong, though the competition will be good for the
SAR. Citi Investment Research economist Shen Minggao said the move will also
strengthen the yuan's internationalization, making it one of the main global
currencies in the next 10 to 15 years. Han, speaking shortly after his arrival
at the head of a 260-member delegation, said the main purpose of his trip to
Taiwan is to promote the expo. "This tour is bringing the hearts of 20 million
Shanghai residents to Taipei. Apart from promoting and facilitating the
cooperation and communication between our two cities, our visit is to promote
and recommend the Shanghai expo to Taipei citizens," Han said. Protesters from
the pro- independence green camp shouted slogans before police told them to
leave the airport. Han met his Taipei counterpart Hau Lung-bin and attended the
"Shanghai- Taipei Forum," and the two cities signed four memorandums of
understanding on culture, tourism, technology and environment. It was during the
forum that Han announced the convertibility of the two currencies starting May
1. Han also attended a tea party hosted by the honorary chairman of the ruling
Kuomintang party, Lien Chan. The Shanghai delegation will also visit Taipei
county, Taichung city and Taoyuan before leaving on Friday. Lau said the
currency convertibility would tighten the financial as well as the political
relationship between the mainland and Taiwan, which could survive any change of
government on the island. Citi's Shen said: "This is a mutually beneficial
issue, and the economic and trade relationship between the mainland and Taiwan
will definitely become closer and closer in the future." CITIC Ka Wah Bank chief
economist and China banking strategist Liao Qun said the impact on Hong Kong
will not be too great as the SAR enjoys several other advantages. "Whatever,
this is a positive sign for cross-strait economic and trade relationships," he
added.
Beijing reiterated yesterday that its
exchange rate policy is not to blame for a ballooning trade imbalance with the
United States, and warned Washington against labeling China a currency
manipulator. The comments came after the US Treasury announced the delay of a
report expected in mid-April that could have slapped the mainland with the
"manipulator" tag, paving the way for sanctions against Beijing. US lawmakers
accuse China of deliberately undervaluing its currency, leading to a flood of
inexpensive goods and contributing to a trade deficit that soared to nearly
US$227 billion (HK$1.77 trillion) in 2009. "The [yuan] exchange rate is not the
reason for the trade deficit between China and the United States, and the
appreciation of the [yuan] is not the way to address the trade imbalance," said
foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu. "China has never used this so-called
currency manipulation in an effort to benefit from international trade - we hope
the US side can view this question in an objective way." Jiang said Beijing
would continue to adapt its exchange rate regime in a "proactive and gradual
manner." China's trading partners claim the current exchange rate of about 6.8
yuan (HK$7.735) to the dollar gives China an unfair trade advantage by making
Chinese exports cheaper. But in announcing the delay of the report, US Treasury
Secretary Timothy Geithner said there were better ways to advance US interests.
"There are a series of very important high-level meetings over the next three
months that will be critical to bringing about policies that will help create a
stronger, more sustainable, and more balanced global economy," he said. Jiang
also told reporters that such consultations would be more conducive to finding a
solution. President Hu Jintao is due in Washington for a nuclear security summit
on April 12-13 - just before the report was to have been issued - prompting
speculation that a deal was reached to ensure a smooth visit. Jiang dismissed as
"groundless" allegations that the delay of the Treasury report was part of an
arrangement under which China would support a new round of UN sanctions against
Iran over its nuclear program. Dollar/yuan six-month offshore forwards fell
yesterday to their lowest since August 2008, implying greater future yuan
appreciation, after Geithner put off the report. Mirza Baig, Deutsche Bank's
Asia FX strategist, said China was more or less getting ready to change tack on
the currency, with the move happening in the next four to five weeks.
China-bashing based on bad economics -
The United States' fixation on the "China problem" is now boiling over. From
Google to the renminbi, China is being blamed for all that ails the US.
Unfortunately, this reflects a potentially lethal combination of political
scapegoating and bad economics that could end in tears. The political pressures
are grounded in the angst of American workers. After over a decade of relatively
stagnant real compensation and, more recently, a historically sharp upsurge in
unemployment, US labor is being squeezed like never before. Understandably,
voters want answers. It is all because of the trade deficit, they are told - a
visible manifestation of a major loss of production and employment to foreign
competition. With China and its so-called manipulated currency having accounted
for fully 39 percent of the US merchandise trade deficit in 2008-09, Washington
maintains that American workers can only benefit if it gets tough with Beijing.
However appealing this argument may seem on the surface, it is premised on bad
economics. In 2008-09, the US had trade deficits with over 90 countries. That
means it has a multilateral trade deficit. Yet aided and abetted by some of
America's most renowned economists, Washington now advocates a bilateral fix -
either a sharp revaluation of the renminbi or broad-based tariffs on Chinese
imports. A bilateral remedy for a multilateral problem is like rearranging the
deck chairs on the Titanic. Unless the problems that have given rise to the
multilateral trade deficit are addressed, bilateral intervention would simply
shift the Chinese portion of America's international imbalance to someone else.
That "someone" would most likely be a higher cost producer - in effect,
squeezing the purchasing power of hard-pressed US consumers. Ironically,
Washington's penchant for the bilateral fix to a multilateral problem risks
turning the tables on American workers just at a time when they are struggling
to get back on their feet in this feeble post-crisis recovery. Instead of
counterproductive China bashing, the US would be far better served if it took a
deep look in the mirror and faced up to why it is confronted with a massive
multilateral trade deficit. America's core economic problem is saving and it's
not China. In 2009, the broadest measure of domestic US savings - the net
national savings rate - fell to a record low of a -2.5 percent of national
income. This is the sum total of depreciation-adjusted savings by households,
businesses, and the government sector. Depreciation is removed to get a sense of
how much savings are left - after providing for the normal obsolescence of
antiquated or worn-out capacity- for the expansion of capital stock. In the case
of the US, there isn't any. That means the US must import surplus savings from
abroad to fund the sustenance of its future growth. This is where China enters
the equation. In order to attract the foreign capital that the US needs to
sustain its growth, the US must then run a large current account deficit. In the
case of the US, the cross-border multilateral trade deficit in goods and
services has accounted for an average of 95 percent of the total current account
deficit over the past five years. In other words, for a US economy without
savings, there is no escaping large multilateral trade imbalances. Yes, China is
the biggest piece of America's multilateral trade deficit. But that is because
high-cost US companies are increasingly turning to China as a low-cost offshore
solution. And it also reflects the preferences of US consumers for low-cost and
increasingly high-quality goods made in China. In other words, the US is
actually quite fortunate to have China as a large trading partner. No, China is
hardly perfect. Like the United States, it, too, has a large imbalance with the
rest of the world - namely, an outsized current account surplus. And just as
responsible global citizenship requires the US to address the savings deficiency
that lies at the heart its international imbalances, the world has every reason
to expect the same from China in reducing its surplus savings. Those adjustments
must be the essence of any successful global rebalancing agenda. But these
adjustments must be framed in the multilateral context in which the imbalances
exist. Just as China is one of over 90 countries that the US runs trade deficits
with, US-China trade now represents only 12 percent of total Chinese trade with
the rest of the world. Consequently, it is wrong to fixate on the relative price
between these two nations - specifically, the foreign exchange rate between the
US dollar and the Chinese renminbi - as the solution for the deeply rooted
savings disparities that drive these multilateral imbalances. Yet some of
America's most prominent economists are saying the opposite - claiming that a
revaluation of the renminbi vis--vis the dollar would not only create over one
million jobs in the US but that it would inject new vigor into an otherwise
anemic global recovery. Economists should know better. Changes in relative
prices are the ultimate zero-sum game - they re-slice the pie rather than expand
or shrink it. When nations have large imbalances with a large cross-section of
their trading partners - as is the case with both China and the US - there can
be no bilateral solution. Currency, or relative price, adjustments between two
nations are not a panacea for structural imbalances in the global economy. What
is needed, instead, is a shift in the mix of global savings. Specifically, the
US needs deficit reduction and an increase in personal savings, while China
needs to stimulate internal private consumption. Washington's scapegoating of
China could take the world to the brink of a very slippery slope. It wouldn't be
the first time that political denial was premised on bad economics. But the
consequences of such a blunder - trade frictions and protectionism - would make
the crisis of 2008-09 look like child's play. The author is the chairman of
Morgan Stanley Asia and author of The Next Asia. 
USA's Green card loses allure as taxman
takes bigger cut - Once a symbol of security in uncertain times, the US passport
has lost its appeal for an increasing number of people in Asia and across the
globe, who are giving up their citizenship in record numbers. For those in Hong
Kong, the combination of relative political stability, growing regional economic
opportunity, and increasingly complex and costly tax requirements are driving
people to give up the safety net of US citizenship. In the last quarter of 2009,
502 people relinquished their citizenship or long-term permanent residency
status in the United States, a nearly eight-fold increase compared with the last
quarter in 2008, when 63 people did so, according to the US Federal Register,
which publishes the names of such people on a quarterly basis. In recent years,
the number of people worldwide giving up US citizenship or permanent residency
has ranged from 22 to 144 people per quarter. The numbers dipped to double
digits in 2008, when the government created an "exit tax" on assets that made it
expensive for the wealthy to give up their passports or green cards. But the
devaluation of assets, along with the economic crisis, has seen the expatriation
rate shoot up over the past six months. An analysis by the South China Morning
Post (SEHK: 0583, announcements, news) found that about 150 people with Chinese,
South Korean or Japanese names gave up US citizenship in the last three months
of 2009, including 87 with Chinese surnames. For the same period in 2008, only
nine people with Chinese surnames did so. The rising numbers were a result of
the costly and increasingly complex taxation system in the US, said Joseph
Field, senior regional partner for Asia at the law firm Withers Worldwide, which
works with clients from Hong Kong and Taiwan to navigate the complex American
tax requirements for citizens living abroad. Field also noted that the global
crackdown on offshore tax evasion has inadvertently had an impact on Americans
living abroad in "dramatic and perhaps unfair" ways, especially for those who do
not even know they are "US persons" in the eyes of the taxman. One example,
Field said, was when people who, born of one American parent and a foreign
parent, are considered US citizens. They may have never travelled to the US,
learned English or obtained a passport, but they are subject to reporting and
tax laws in the US. Another common case involves people who have a green card,
but have been away from the US for so long that they can no longer use it to
enter the country. But if they did not file forms to formally declare their
expatriation with the US Internal Revenue Service, they may still be liable for
taxes and reporting requirements. "This could apply to people living in Hong
Kong or Taiwan who took a green card decades ago, out of fear because of
possible political instability in the region, who never set foot in the US, who
now could owe taxes or penalties for failure to file or for taxes owed," Field
said. "For immigration purposes, it's dead. But for tax purposes, it may be very
much alive, depending on the circumstances. Timothy Burns, Field's colleague at
Withers, said: "We see people who are enraged when they come to us and they say,
'I never knew any of this, and you're telling me that I'm either poor or I'm a
criminal. I either have to willfully ignore what you are telling me, making me a
criminal, or I have to give my life savings to the IRS and I've never been to
America.' "That's why we are seeing a lot of people give up US status." There
are an estimated 60,000 US citizens living in Hong Kong, according to the US
State Department. There are also many Hong Kong residents who hold a US green
card, or permanent residency status, though the department could not provide a
specific number. In addition to paying local taxes, these citizens and residents
must regularly declare their earnings to the Internal Revenue Service, the tax
enforcement arm of the US Treasury Department. The US is one of the few
countries that taxes its citizens and permanent residents living abroad, and
those who made more than US$91,400 in annual income are also subject to US
taxes. US taxpayers must also disclose the combined value of their personal
overseas bank accounts if they exceed US$10,000 at any time in a given year.
Last month, US President Barack Obama signed legislation that forces foreign
financial institutions, trusts and corporations to hand over information about
their US clients. The new law imposes additional reporting requirements for
people with foreign assets. Taxpayers must now report foreign assets
cumulatively valued at more than US$50,000, including accounts in a non-US bank,
non-US investments, and passive foreign investment companies. Failure to report
could result in fines of US$10,000 or more, on top of the previous fines and
penalties. Because of the Byzantine rules, "many people think in good faith that
they are in compliance with the American rules, when they in fact are not",
Field said. "As a tax lawyer, I know a bit better; but it cost me a lot - three
years of law school and 30 years of practice in the field - for me to understand
these issues." And for some, the cost of compliance is no longer worth the
benefits. "Now that I'm spending more time overseas, I definitely feel like
people with green cards don't enjoy the upside, but get all the downside," said
one Hong Kong-born, US green card holder. Educated in the US, she received an
Ivy League education and has worked for prominent international firms in America
and abroad. She has had a green card for most of her life, but has been weighing
whether to give up her US status. The reasons, she said, ranged from the
practical to the personal. "The universal taxation. That is actually a major
disincentive. On the personal level, my family is in Hong Kong and they've
decided not to retire in the States," she said. Last month's new tax rules were
"definitely something that's on my mind", she said. "It creates the appearance
that the paperwork and the hassle are going to be even more of a pain in the
future. "Most people I know living in Hong Kong with US green cards, they all
give it to accountants to do it. I know some friends who make special annual
trips to the US just to talk to their US accountant. It is crazy. "A lot of
people in the '80s got citizenship because they were afraid of the handover.
They didn't know what awaited them in Hong Kong. But the handover has already
taken place, and China is becoming more developed and stronger. And Hong Kong is
so international and it's politically and economically stable. You could argue
that some of us are more marketable in the labour market here than we are in the
US," she said. "I actually have relatives who have moved back to Hong Kong. "And
frankly, there are people in Hong Kong with multiple citizenships ... you can
argue that some countries also offer the same political clout that the US offers
to its nationals overseas. The relative value of the US passport has
diminished."
[From right] Union committee
member Vera Wu; chairwoman Dora Lai and vice-chairwoman Becky Kwan Siu-wah at
the meeting yesterday. Cathay Pacific (SEHK: 0293) passengers have been spared
flight disruptions - for now. The company's flight attendants have agreed to
abandon plans for industrial action today - the peak time for Easter
holidaymakers returning to work. But there could be more threats of chaos ahead,
with negotiations on other issues between the union and the airline still
unresolved. Cathay's Flight Attendants' Union signed an agreement with the
airline at the Labour Department yesterday after more than 300 of the 350 voting
cabin crew members ruled out a strike. Under the agreement, the airline will
remove a controversial condition on shift swapping, management will consult the
union before it brings in new policies, and bi-monthly meetings will be held
with the union. More than 700 attended yesterday's special staff meeting,
although only half stayed behind to vote. Twenty-three voted for cabin crew to
work to rule, which could have meant flight delays of 10 to 15 minutes. Another
19 abstained from the vote. Dora Lai Yuk-sim, the union's chairwoman, welcomed
the airline's cancellation of a policy requiring staff to work a minimum of 70
hours per month before they could swap shifts, which had triggered the dispute.
But she said that was not enough to end the saga. "The management has until the
end of this month to respond to our demand that they stop replacing local staff
with our foreign colleagues on certain routes," she said. Lai said that after
last night's deal was struck, both sides had agreed to hold another meeting on
April 23. The union would stage a rally on May 1, Labour Day, if Cathay failed
to offer a satisfactory resolution, Lai said, adding she would not rule out more
disruptive action if necessary. One flight attendant said management had
recently replaced local cabin crew with staff from Thailand and Singapore on
better-paying routes - including direct flights between Hong Kong and Melbourne
and Hong Kong and Tokyo - while some local staff were told to take up routes
between Bangkok and Colombo, or Bangkok and Bombay. "The daily allowance for
Japanese and Australian routes can be up to five times higher than that of some
other services, so those flights are more desirable," the flight attendant said.
The airline could also get more from their staff by putting foreign employees on
those routes because local staff were entitled to fewer holidays, the flight
attendant said. Cathay said it was a trial scheme that would end in May. A
person familiar with the situation said Cathay's management had acknowledged the
union's growing power. The airline's union comprises about 70 per cent of its
staff. "[The union] always uses the long holidays to their advantage. In some
cases, a strong union could seriously cripple a company's operation when it
stands in the way of wage cuts, layoffs and staff restructuring," the person
said. Lai, however, said it was never the union's intention to use passengers as
their bargaining chips. "We don't want to disrupt passengers' travel plans - it
just so happened that this negotiation happened around Easter, so it attracted
wide media attention." The agreement reached yesterday between Cathay management
and the union came after four days of discussions. 
An iPad owner is protective of his
purchase in Mong Kok. Online forums were swamped with iPad reviews, some giving
it the thumbs up while others highlighted shortcomings. First iPads fetch
HK$6,000 as tech-savvy mainlanders add to buying competition - Apple's new iPad
arrived in Hong Kong yesterday with retailers reporting almost half of the
stocks they imported from the US were sold to technology-savvy mainlanders. It
was estimated that about 1,000 iPads arrived yesterday as parallel imported
goods. They received an enthusiastic response, despite a price tag of more than
HK$6,000 for the basic model. Retailers said mainlanders were active buyers,
unlike for the release of Apple's iPhone three years ago, when the majority of
buyers were Hongkongers. "Mainlanders are getting richer and are more interested
in new gadgets," said Lau Chi-kong of G-world Mobile, one of the first retailers
in the city to sell the iPad. The much-awaited computer went on sale in the
United States on Saturday but it was not known when it would officially be
released in Hong Kong. Some local retailers had the products speed-freighted to
the city and sold them at a profit. An iPad with 16GB of memory, which can
connect to the internet via Wifi, costs US$499 in the US but sells in Hong Kong
for between HK$6,000 and HK$7,000. Models with larger memory capacity cost even
more - an iPad with 64GB of memory fetches more than HK$8,000. It is expected
that Apple will release a newer model, which would also support 3G connections,
by the end of this month and these could be available in Hong Kong early next
month. Alex Tang, from Esatto, another iPad vendor, also reported many
mainlanders were buying the iPad. He said some Hong Kong buyers would resell
them on the mainland for a profit. "If they bought the products at HK$6,500 and
sell it for 6,500 yuan, they can already make a 10 per cent profit [on the
exchange rate]," he said. Tang said most people bought the devices in order to
stay trendy, whereas others wanted one to read e-books. "Hong Kong is a good
place to use iPads as we have a lot of Wifi access points," he said. Jacky Lai,
an Apple fan who rushed to get an iPad yesterday, was satisfied with its
performance, despite it failing to support a number of applications. "The
internet speed is four to five times faster than the iPod, and it is smooth when
loading high-definition videos onto YouTube," Lai said. "One shortcoming is that
it does not support flash, so some animations cannot be played. Also, the
interface does not support traditional Chinese characters, but I believe it
could be fixed in future patches." Online forums were swamped with iPad reviews
yesterday. While some gave it the thumbs up, many posts pointed out shortcomings
such as the absence of a camera. "Most of iPad's features can already be found
in the iPhone. Its only advantage is the larger screen, with which we can play
games and read books," a user wrote. "But the iPad is too large to be a portable
game console, and its configurations are too low to be used as a personal
computer at home."
US delays yuan report "to prevent
showdown" - US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Saturday he was
delaying an April 15 report on whether China manipulates its currency, amid
growing debate on the revaluation of the yuan.
Taobao.com, the mainland's biggest
retail portal, is attracting more shoppers from Hong Kong looking for bargains,
more variety - not to mention offbeat goods - across the border.
The tales behind the Wangjialing
Coal Mine miracle are starting to emerge after more than 110 miners were brought
out alive from the flooded mine in the northern province of Shanxi. They tell of
how the men, trapped underground for eight days and eight nights, ate tree bark
and strapped themselves to shaft walls by their belts to avoid falling into the
water while sleeping. Their lamps provided the only light for the trapped men -
the 153 who did not make it to surface when the mine flooded on March 28 - as
they held on to the hope that rescuers would be guided to them in the pitch
black shaft. Their strong will to live saw them overcome 190 difficult hours
trapped in flooded shafts as toxic gas levels rose. Above ground, some 3,000
rescuers had almost given up hope. But all that changed early yesterday when a
team of 100 rescue workers discovered the first nine survivors. The first to
make it to the surface, just after midnight on Sunday, was 36-year-old Jin
Qunhong. By mid-morning, up to 300 rescuers were in the pit looking for more
survivors. "How fantastic to be on the surface again," Xinhua quoted one
27-year-old survivor as saying after the rescue. The country watched as the
miracle survival story played out on national television. One by one, 115 soaked
and exhausted miners were carried out on stretchers and taken to hospital. Most
were rescued from a platform above which rescuers had drilled a hole last week,
ensuring those trapped had oxygen. Of the 153 initially trapped, there are still
38 miners in the shaft. Rescuers expressed confidence last night that they could
be saved but did not say whether there had been any contact with the men.
"Strive with all your might and make each second count, doing everything
possible to rescue the workers who are trapped," President Hu Jintao and Premier
Wen Jiabao said in a message issued by Xinhua. The head of the State
Administration of Work Safety, Luo Lin, told CCTV he was excited about the "two
miracles" after the accident, which authorities blamed on lax safety standards
at the mine. "The first is that these trapped people have made it through eight
days and eight nights - this is the miracle of life. Secondly, our rescue plan
has been effective - this is a miracle in China's search-and-rescue history,"
Luo said.
Japan's Finance Minister Naoto Kan
(L) talks to China's Vice Premier Li Keqiang during their meeting in Beijing
April 3, 2010. Naoto Kan said Friday he has no plans to pressure China to reform
the yuan's exchange rate, according to a Kyodo News report.
Evergrande plans 3 billion yuan
tourism investment in Chongqing - Evergrande Real Estate Group, the mainland's
third-largest developer, is to beef up its Chongqing presence with a three
billion yuan (HK$3.41 billion) tourism investment.
Two years from old shipyard to Expo
Park - The combination photo shows a building of the Jiangnan Shipyard Corp.
during its removal (lower, taken on Sept. 8, 2008) and the Expo Museum of the
Shanghai World Expo Park reconstructed on the site of the factory building
(upper, taken on April 5, 2010) in Shanghai, east China. The shipbuilder, a
subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corp. (CSSC), moved from its Huangpu
River site in Shanghai to Changxing Island on the mouth of the Yangtze River, to
make room for World Expo 2010. 
At the burial ground people arrive to
mourn their relatives in Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan province,
April 4, 2010. The traditional Qing Ming Festival or Tomb-sweeping Day falls on
Monday April 5 this year.
Wine investment yields high returns,
withstands tough times - Investing in wine, not just top Bordeaux from great
vintages but even cheap varieties, could be good for your portfolio and is
especially useful during a financial crisis, according to a new study. "Wine in
a portfolio has produced higher returns and lower risks than the Russell 3000
equity index ... Especially in times of economic downturns," economists Philippe
Masset, of Lausanne Hotel School, and Jean-Philippe Weisskopf, of the University
of Fribourg, both in Switzerland, told the American Association of Wine
Economists. Their study comes as auction houses reported holding sales of fine
wines totalling more than US$12 million in the last two weeks. The pair looked
at auction hammer prices from The Chicago Wine Company from January 1996 through
January 2009. They accumulated data from 144 auctions with a turnover exceeding
US$237 million and covered a period that included two significant economic
booms, 1996-2001 and 2003-2007, as well as the two most recent major financial
downturns, 2001-2003 and 2007-2009. They then created a General Wine Index (GWI)
and other indices that tracked different price categories as well as ones that
followed five major wine regions. The GWI and the Russell 3000, which measures
the performance of 3,000 publicly held US companies, both rose between 1996 and
1998. But while the Russell 3000 declined between 2001 and 2003, when the
internet bubble burst, the GWI steadily rose. "Neither the terrorist attacks in
New York, nor the burst of the internet bubble nor the boycott of French goods
after the Iraq invasion have had much effect on wine prices," the authors said.
From 2005 to 2008, the GWI doubled. Since mid-2008, it has fallen 17 per cent as
a result of the global financial crisis. Meanwhile, the Russell 3000 index lost
47 per cent in the same period. The economists also found that wine had a more
positive effect, with a lower amount of risk, on investment portfolios than
stocks. Wines selling below US$200 a bottle steadily increased over the 13-year
period and yielded a return of 120 per cent, while those selling for under
US$100 a bottle, which are considered cheap in the world of wine auctions,
generated a 170 per cent return. Wines selling for more than US$200 and
especially those over US$400 a bottle, such as Chateau Lafite or Haut-Brion, had
a three-to-four-fold price increase. These wines also suffered the most declines
during the financial crisis, losing about 25 per cent. Wines under US$200 a
bottle lost between 5 and 10 per cent during that time. The pair also created
model portfolios mimicking the broad categories of investors from conservative
to aggressive and found that no matter the investing style, allotting 20 per
cent of a portfolio to wine had a positive effect on performance.
Mainlanders last year invested
￡116.5 million in central London property such as prestigious residential
project One Hyde Park. Cashed-up mainlanders are on a multibillion-dollar binge
of overseas luxury-home buying in the United States and Britain, where bargains
abound, as well as in long-favoured destinations such as Canada and Australia.
Home prices in many struggling developed countries fell significantly during the
global economic downturn. But China's economy has been minting millionaires, and
its relatively strong currency and soaring domestic housing market has sent rich
mainland investors flooding overseas to get more for their money. Property
agents overseas say wealthy mainlanders out to take advantage of falling real
estate prices are the perfect clients: they make decisions quickly, pay in cash,
focus on high-end property and don't ask for discounts. Where all the money
comes from and how it gets overseas - given the mainland's strict currency
controls - isn't always clear. But the legal hurdles that exist for mainland
buyers generally don't concern overseas sellers, who are happy to take their
cash and often ask no questions. Many mainland buyers are entrepreneurs from
major cities such as Shanghai and Beijing, but overseas estate agents say they
are seeing more nouveaux riches from places such as Shaanxi province joining the
rush to buy. "These cashed-up mainland individuals are opportunistic investors,"
Lee Hangyin, the director of research and advisory for East Asia at Colliers
International, said. In California, median home prices have plunged as much as
45 per cent from their peak in 2007, according to US property information
provider DataQuick. Property values in central London dropped 16.5 per cent from
their peak in January 2008 to their trough in April 2009, according to the
British Land Registry. Between April and January prices rebounded 13.4 per cent,
it said.
China should make the yuan fully convertible with the Hong Kong dollar as the
first step towards making it a global currency, said Dai Xianglong, chairman of
the National Council for Social Security Fund. However, Dai, who was head of the
People's Bank of China from 1995 to 2002, said it would take 15 to 20 years to
make the yuan an international currency. That did not mean it would replace the
US dollar, which would remain dominant in the global currency system for a long
time, he said during a speech in Shanghai last night. 
China needs to expand the Renminbi, or
yuan, cross-border settlement efforts when conditions allow, the People's Bank
of China (PBOC) said Friday.
Hong Kong welcomed 2.866 million
visitors in February, setting a record for the month thanks to a 49.4 percent
surge in Mainland arrivals during the Lunar New Year Golden Week, the city's
Tourism Board said Thursday. The number of visitor arrivals in February, which
represents a rise of 32.5 percent from the same period last year, reflected the
global economic recovery and improved consumer sentiment to travel, the Tourism
board said. For the first two months of the year, total arrivals stood at 5. 826
million, 17.5 percent higher than the same period last year. All long- and
short-haul market regions recorded positive growth. Taking the two months
together, Mainland arrivals advanced 21 percent, followed by South and Southeast
Asia. Meanwhile, for long-haul regions, Europe, Africa and the Middle East
continued to be the leading performer with a 9.9 percent growth in the first two
months. In the first two months of the year, overnight and same-day arrivals
rose 13.8 percent and 22.5 percent respectively. About 56 percent of all
arrivals stayed in the city for at least one night, up from 57.8 percent last
year. The proportion of same-day visitors grew from 42.2 percent to 44 percent.
Hotel occupancy across all hotel categories in February was 79 percent, up three
percentage points from the same month last year. 
A board appointed by the chief executive to advise the head of RTHK on editorial
principles will be formed by the end of this year in the face of objections by
staff that it will interfere with editorial independence. The appointment of the
board is part of a draft charter for the government-owned broadcaster released
yesterday that also says RTHK should remain a government department under the
"policy purview and housekeeping oversight" of the Commerce and Economic
Development Bureau. A government official said consultation with staff would be
launched at the end of this month and the charter was expected to be signed in
the summer. He said the board would be formed by the end of the year. RTHK
program staff union chairwoman Janet Mak Lai-ching said the government's
"stubborn decision" to set up a board of advisers was unacceptable, adding that
the proposal had been opposed by 80 per cent of staff in a survey in November.
But the government released results of a telephone survey by the Central Policy
Unit in November in which almost 70 per cent of respondents backed the charter
and approved of the board. Under the charter, the head of the Commerce and
Economic Development Bureau would provide guidance and support to the RTHK chief
on defining program areas and agreeing on "underlying activities". The board
would be responsible for "advising the director on all matters pertaining to
editorial principles, program standards and quality of RTHK programming". The
charter includes a paragraph on editorial independence stating that "RTHK is
editorially independent" and "impartiality is the core value and guiding
principle for RTHK programs".
The dragon that will continue to
represent Hong Kong with a few additional adornments was decided on after
extensive opinion research covering a wide spectrum of the community, the
government said, responding to fierce criticism by designers. It said the HK$3.3
million survey found that those who wanted to keep the BrandHK dragon
outnumbered those who opposed it, even though no one was asked what they thought
of the dragon. "Opinion research shows that the dragon icon has built up equity
and gained a high level of awareness with international and local audiences,"
Mary Leung Lai Yim-ming, the Information Services Department's assistant
director for public relations outside Hong Kong, said. "Taken in totality, there
is considerably more support for retaining the dragon symbol than changing it.
In view of this, we required the service provider to maintain and enhance the
dragon logo." The modified logo with three flying ribbons added to it, designed
by Alan Chan Yau-kin for HK$1.4 million, was unveiled on Saturday. Critics,
including top designers Kan Tai-keung and Freeman Lau Siu-hong, complained about
the closed process used in selecting a designer, saying it killed off Hong
Kong's reputation as a design hub. Leung said that between May 2008 and April
last year more than 20 consultation sessions, numerous focus group interviews,
workshops and a dedicated website and two creative competitions were staged to
gauge the community's views. Those expressing their thoughts included
businessmen, academics, students, environmentalists and district personalities,
as well as people from tourism, creative and cultural sectors and think tanks.
Asked if rejected designs would be revealed, Leung said this would not be
possible. "[The designs] are the intellectual property of those who submitted
them. We are not supposed to make them public," she said. Leung said creative
methods had been adopted during the consultation. In one survey, interviewees
picked one of at least 56 pictures - ranging from a nest of three golden eggs to
a row of coloured pencils - and asked which they considered "most representative
of my ideal Hong Kong in 2020". She admitted that there was no specific question
asking people what they thought about the dragon logo. "But people still offered
their opinions during consultation sessions," she said. "When people were asked
what kind of animal sign would best represent Hong Kong, many actually suggested
a dragon, which was followed by a horse and a bird." In response to criticism of
the closed selection process, in which chosen candidates were asked to submit
proposals, Leung said it was in line with government regulations on requisition
of services. These required written quotations from five service providers for
jobs paying more than HK$50,000 and less than HK$1.43 million. Fourteen design
firms were invited to submit the quotations, said Leung, after earlier saying
the selection was conducted by a panel of government officials. Art critic Oscar
Ho Hing-kay said it was an example of the government failing to admit a mistake.
"If our creative image is decided by bureaucrats, it is a big joke ... Why can't
they just admit that yes, we have bad taste, and leave it to the professionals?"
Tina Leung Kwok-hing,
the legendary screen siren widely known as Ti Na who reinvented herself as an
entrepreneur, pro-Beijing activist and political commentator, has died aged 65.
The actress, who gained notoriety in the 1970s for nude scenes that she said she
later regretted, died on Wednesday morning after working on her latest book to
the last, Chan Wing-hong, a close friend and family spokesman, said yesterday.
In a note Chan read to the media yesterday, her daughter Michael Ma Tin-yu, who
had gender reassignment surgery to become a man at the age of 30, said Leung did
not want to have any open funeral arrangements. "She wanted everybody to
remember her jaunty and chatty persona. She doesn't want people to see her
expressionless face after death," the note said. Chan said Ma was too devastated
by her death to speak to the media. "Her death was quite sudden. Her health
worsened much faster than before," he said. Chan said Leung worked on her
upcoming book till her last breath. "She wrote it during the whole time she was
sick." News that Leung was ill came in 2005 when she was diagnosed with cervical
cancer. Ma was at her bedside when she died in the Hong Kong Sanatorium &
Hospital from organ failure. Chan said before Leung died she penned a note to
the media urging them to exercise their social conscience to do constructive
work to speed up the progress of society. Her soon-to-be-published fourth book,
Movies - My Absurdity, chronicles her glamorous career as a movie actress and
her views on the entertainment industry. The former screen siren, whose
voluptuous body and torrid performances on screen earned her the moniker "flesh
bomb", was the first local actress to appear nude in films. Dubbed by some as
Hong Kong's Marilyn Monroe, Leung made 54 films in the 1960s and 1970s, in many
of which she immersed her skimpily-clad body in a bubbly bathtub and titillated
the audience with her slender legs. Her ascent to the status of screen goddess
was thanks to the generosity of a high-ranking Thai official who financed her
film career during their courtship. She was flown to Bangkok where she finished
two films during her two-to-three-year stay in the 1960s. 
Property portfolio manager-turned-chocolate
maker Baldwin Ko checks out his new Wong Chuk Hang warehouse and food
manufacturing centre. Sweet success greets career switch - Life is like a box of
chocolates. You never know what you are going to get. If you are in any doubt
about that home-spun wisdom, consider the case of property doctor turned
confectioner extraordinaire, Baldwin Ko. Ko's future in the property business
seemed clearly mapped out. He joined developer Swire Properties in 1996 and
worked his way up the property ladder to the point of becoming assistant
portfolio manager involved in leasing retail space in the group's blue-ribbon
Pacific Place in Admiralty, and Festival Walk in Kowloon Tong. After working for
Swire for 10 years he joined AIG Asset Management as a senior manager
responsible for acquiring under-performing shopping centres and restoring them
to health by repackaging the assets to add value and improve their rental
income. But after 12 years in the industry and with steady progress up the
property management ladder assured, Ko could no longer resist the temptation to
run his own business, and so he set about thinking about what to do. "The choice
was to sell either diamonds or chocolates as both are high in value and small in
size. That means there is no need to rent a big store and this would help keep
costs low," he said. Chocolates got the vote. "At that time, the market for
top-end chocolate seemed to have ample potential for expansion as only two
brands dominated sales," Ko said. So armed with years of experience and a
network of useful connections, Ko approached upmarket fashion retailer Agnes b -
which had already expanded to operate cafes and flower shops - with the
suggestion it join him in a joint venture selling hand-made chocolate under its
brand. In October 2007 the joint venture started selling chocolates in shopping
centres such as apm in Kwun Tong, Harbour City in Tsim Sha Tsui, and from a
ground level store in Causeway Bay. Today it operates nine stores and plans to
open another three this year. Ko, whose company employs 60 staff, also plans to
expand into Taiwan and open three stores that are already on the drawing board.
To differentiate his product from that of his rivals, his chocolate is handmade
in Hong Kong with ingredients from France and elsewhere in Europe. "Freshness is
our major drawcard. Our chocolate has a shelf-life of just three weeks and if it
is still unsold after this period we take it off the shelves and write it off,"
he said. As a retailer and manufacture, opening a store in the right location is
equally important as food quality control. "I learned a lot from my leasing
experience at Swire. That gave me a good feel for what locations work or not and
a sense of the rental value they commanded," he said. But true to his original
intention to keep rental costs down, most of the outlets where his businesses
operate are below 400 square foot in size, which helped make them affordable for
a start-up operation. He also chose to rent outlets instead of buy as this would
give him more flexibility, he added, but he did recently buy a 10,000 sq ft
industrial space in Wong Chuk Hang for a warehouse and food manufacturing centre
for about HK$22 million or HK$2,200 per square foot. To help fund the investment
Ko sold his flat at Regent On the Park on Kennedy Road, Mid-Levels early last
year. "Apartment prices in the area had already risen a lot and I preferred to
buy something that lagged behind, like industrial properties, which now offer
better upside potential," he said. Already that strategy is showing dividends,
added Ko, since prices of industrial spaces in Wong Chuk Hang have gone up to
about HK$2,500 per square foot since his move. Besides offering capital
appreciation, the space enabled him to increase production capacity to as much
as 25,000 pieces of chocolate a day. "It will meet the demand for our expansion
at home and overseas," he said. But not all the chocolates in that box have been
as sweet for Ko. "In 1997 I bought a unit at Amigo Mansion in Happy Valley for
HK$4.09 million and sold it for HK$3.8 million in 2000. It was a big loss for
me," he said. But the experience did not stop him from investing in property and
he joined his father in buying two units at Rose Court in Happy Valley at HK$8.5
million each. He resold one for HK$17 million in 2005 and the second for HK$20
million a year later. "Never develop sentimental feelings for a property," Ko
advises. "I will always be prepared to sell if the property generates a handsome
profit." Ko now leases a unit and says he will re-enter the market as a buyer
only after an expected price correction has occurred. "I hope prices will peak
next year and they could then fall by 20 to 30 per cent."
Leslie Cheung
tops most beautiful men from Hong Kong cinema.
Following her return from Thailand, she quickly shot to fame for playing sexy
girls in comedies, including Wise Wives and Foolish Husbands, and Diary of a
Lady-Killer. But it was her role in late director Li Han-hsiang's The Warlord in
1972 that etched Leung's sultry image indelibly in Hong Kong's memory. Playing
one of the warlord's wives, she was filmed emerging nude from a bath to greet a
lover. But that legendary scene was not done without remorse. Last year, in an
interview with the Chinese-language East Week magazine, Leung said of this
scene: "I have done some stupid things in the past. To this day, people still
use the pictures of the sexy scene ... It is more important that you should
study more to increase your knowledge, and to make yourself smarter. "Beauty
cannot last forever. Once you get old, you may not be beautiful any more. But if
you are educated and cultivated, you will shine wherever you go and everyone
will be attracted by you," she added. Her patriotic leanings gained wide public
attention in the early 1970s when she proclaimed herself a supporter of the
proletarian revolution, and went to the mainland to work alongside the Red
Guards. In a 2008 interview with Cable TV, she claimed she had collected
intelligence for China during her days in Thailand, taking advantage of her
popularity there and her relations with the Thai leadership. "The first film I
made was entitled Spy. And I was a real-life spy," she said in the interview.
Her love-hate relationship with communism was revealed in her tirade against the
June 4 Tiananmen crackdown in her book, War Tactics: The Corporate War in
Beijing. "The gun barrels were aimed at their own people. Such an incompetent
government ... why open fire on children? ... I must continue my quest to
develop the country and improve people's livelihood. I can't let the feudal
lords who hold leadership power shut the door to opening and revert to the old
isolationist days," she wrote in the book. Her patriotism brought her back to
the mainland to make inroads into the fledging business world in the 1980s.
During her stay on the mainland, she proved herself a savvy businesswoman. Among
other ventures, she helped China acquire sophisticated military and aeronautical
equipment. Her business acumen was revealed in her successful forays into the
mainland aeronautical industry. Being the marketer for Galileo, a global
satellite navigation system launched by the European Space Agency, she managed
to get the airports in most mainland cities to install the system by the end of
the 1980s. Her showbiz calling got her back into the local limelight in 2005
when she became a host for the TV programme, A Century of China, for TVB (SEHK:
0511). Dripping with caustic wit and barbs, her commentary on the development of
China earned her critical kudos and good ratings. For all the glamour and
business success, her family and love life was filled with crises and
heartbreaks. In 1967, she gained notoriety by becoming pregnant while unmarried.
She married sports coach Ma Yik-cheung the same year. Several months later, she
gave birth to a daughter, Tin-yu. The marriage failed and the couple divorced in
1972. Ma, said to be Tin-yu's father, publicly declared in 1989 she was not his
child after hearing that she had had a sex-change operation. Tin-yu finally
became Michael and settled in Europe. In a book on business tactics Leung told
of the suffering she went through before her daughter's sex-change operation. "I
saw how my child developed a stooped back as she tried to cover her female
attributes on the chest by leaning herself forward when walking. It was heart
wrenching. I knew [the sex-change operation] would be a bumpy ride, but how can
I let her go on the quest on her own?" she wrote. Leung has published three
books - one detailing her relationship with her daughter and the other two
portraying her dealings with mainland cadres and her views on global finance and
business tactics. Film historian Law Kar said that Leung had a reputation as a
sex symbol early in her career but did not shoot to fame until she made The
Warlord. Law said that although she only showed her back, it was enough to make
the headlines. "But she was not given that many roles that allowed her to
demonstrate her acting flare," Law said. 
Premier Wen Jiabao is talking
the talk when it comes to reining in overheated property prices but has shown
his political savvy by not walking the walk. In his seven years as head of the
central government, Wen has talked constantly about the need to curb soaring
prices. Since 2004 he has reiterated his determination on at least a dozen
high-profile occasions, ranging from State Council meetings to his annual
address to the National People's Congress and his post-NPC press conference.
However, all that talk has come to naught. Wen has overseen an economy riding
the crest of a development wave, leapfrogging France and Britain to become the
world's third largest under his stewardship. But that prosperity (SEHK: 0803,
announcements, news) has been accompanied and partly fuelled by a buoyant
property market. China was the first major economy to recover from the global
economic downturn, expanding by 8.7 per cent last year. That amazing V-shaped
recovery has been matched by an equally amazing jump in its housing prices,
which, after a brief retreat, are breaking records in many cities. Housing
prices in Shanghai and Beijing doubled in less than four years before the global
financial crisis and have doubled again since, largely fuelled by the central
government's pro-growth policies. People are becoming frustrated as buying a
home slips further out of reach and Wen is clearly concerned, having chosen to
express his sympathy for their plight several times in the past few months. On
December 14, Wen chaired a special cabinet meeting to discuss measures to deal
with the problem. On December 27, in an exclusive interview with Xinhua, he
said: "I know that Chinese internet users are deeply concerned about this issue
because I surf online every day. I've seen ... some rather sharp critiques." In
an online chat with internet users on February 27, just days ahead of the annual
NPC meeting, Wen said he was determined to tame the "wild horse" that was the
country's soaring housing market and to keep prices at a reasonable level during
his tenure as premier. He even acknowledged that he had watched the popular
television drama Snail House, which depicts white collar workers struggling to
claw together down payments or pay off mortgages. The show has struck a nerve in
Chinese cities, where discontent about runaway real estate prices is widespread.
Wen also highlighted the issue three times during the annual NPC session last
month. Joseph Cheng Yu-shek, a veteran China watcher at City University of Hong
Kong, likened Wen's approach to the problem to that of Chris Patten, the last
Hong Kong governor between 1992 and 1997. "Wen and Patten have the political
savvy to know that politics is sometimes about talking not doing," Cheng said.
He said Wen was well aware that any harsh action against property prices would
cost him a lot economically and politically, even though cooling the market
might please grass-roots families on medium and low incomes. "Politically, a
cooling property market would hurt powerful interest groups - regional
governments, state-owned commercial banks and developers - who benefit most from
soaring prices," Cheng said. "Economically, a slowdown or an even worse slump
would mean slowing economic growth and fiscal revenue, and rising unemployment."
Official data suggests property development has become a key engine of economic
growth and the chief source of local government revenue in many urban, coastal
regions. The mainland's local governments reaped 1.59 trillion yuan (HK$1.8
trillion) from land sales, 63.4 per cent more than in 2008, according to the
Ministry of Land and Resources. China sold 5.3 trillion yuan of land between
1999 and 2008. Fiscal revenue from land sales in Shanghai, Beijing and Hangzhou
exceed 100 billion yuan last year, contributing the lion's share to local
coffers. Cheng said the central government would prefer a relatively buoyant
property market, citing the property slump in Hong Kong after 1997, following
then chief executive Tung Chee-hwa's introduction of tough policies designed to
cool the market that cost the local economy dearly and became one of reasons
behind Tung stepping down 2005. Cheng said that even if Wen was determined to
cool the market, there was little he could do to bring regional officials and
powerful business interests to heel. That was why the markets had ignored each
of Wen's pronouncements. When he talked tough in the Great Hall of People at the
opening of the NPC session on March 5, mainland property stocks in Hong Kong
shrugged off the news, with the Hang Seng Property Sub-Index rising on the day.
And a day after Wen's post-NPC press conference on March 14, the Beijing
municipal government auctioned off three plots of land for record prices. "What
concerns Wen most is economic growth that can create enough jobs and derive
larger revenue to pay bills for increasing demands for social security,
pensions, education and medical reform," Cheng said, adding that only a buoyant
property market could help accomplish that goal.
Offshore yuan forwards (NDFs) hit nearly a three-week high against the dollar on
Friday after the US currency eased on global markets, but dealers said China’s
central bank’s strong intention to maintain a stable yuan policy will keep trade
boxed in a tight range for now. The White House on Thursday repeated President
Barack Obama’s view that Beijing’s move toward a more market-oriented exchange
rate would help rebalance the global economy. Also, Democratic Senator Charles
Schumer said that China’s decision to send President Hu Jintao to Washington for
a nuclear security summit this month should not stop the United States from
pressing Beijing to revalue its currency. HSBC (SEHK: 0005, announcements, news)
bank said in a research report it believed the latest positive development on
the political front should encourage Beijing to make a move on the yuan, which
was in China’s interest. “We believe that the latest development should make it
more likely for Beijing to start moving away from the renminbi’s current de
facto peg within the next few months, if not weeks,” said Qu Hongbin, HSBC’s
Chief Economist for China. Dollar/yuan one-year non-deliverable forwards hit an
intraday low of 6.6420 on Friday, its lowest level since March 15, little
changed from Thursday’s close of 6.6450. Twelve-month yuan appreciation implied
by NDFs rose to 2.77 per cent measured from the Chinese central bank’s daily
mid-point, versus 2.73 per cent implied at the previous close. “China’s strong
intention for stable yuan policy will keep the yuan stable now,” said a dealer
at an Asian bank in Shanghai. “And, if China records a trade deficit, it will be
less possible for the yuan to rise now.” China was highly likely to record a
March trade deficit due to a surge in imports, Vice-Commerce Minister Chen Jian
told a forum on Friday. Zhou Qiren, a Peking University economics professor and
newly appointed central bank academic adviser, said in remarks published on
Friday that China can achieve only nominal yuan stability by pegging to the
dollar because the US currency is unstable. “Keeping the value of the yuan
stable is the most important thing both internally and externally (for China),”
he said. But Liu Daokui, a member of the central bank’s monetary policy
committee, told reporters in an interview that a successful visit by Chinese
President Hu Jintao to Washington this month could open the door for an
adjustment in yuan policy, but another one-off revaluation should be avoided.
The US dollar index, measured against a basket of six major currencies, rose
slightly on Friday, after surging overnight. Spot yuan ended slightly higher at
6.8256 per dollar on Friday compared with Thursday’s close of 6.8263. The
Chinese central bank fixed the yuan’s daily mid-point, or reference rate, at
6.8260 per dollar, barely changed from the previous session’s 6.8261.
Beijing has delayed the
long-awaited consumer subsidies for alternative-fuel vehicles because of
disagreement within the car industry over whether to favour hybrid cars or pure
electric vehicles. A Ministry of Industry and Information Technology meeting
last month, which included more than 10 car executives, ended without an
agreement on subsidies, according to one executive who attended. "Some carmakers
want the government to subsidise more for hybrids, which is the technology that
manufacturers [are better at]," the executive said. "But the government in fact
doesn't want hybrids to dominate the [domestic] market." Beijing originally
planned to begin the subsidies in the first quarter. But car executives and the
government could not come up with a compromise. The plan was to give individual
consumers a huge subsidy, as much as 60,000 yuan (HK$68,274) for a pure
electric, plug-in car, while hybrids would get 3,000 yuan per unit.
97% of China's richest do charity
work - Beijing is home to the largest number of the country's wealthiest lot,
with 151,000 people owning more than 10 million yuan ($1.46 million) and about
94,000 people with more than 100 million yuan in personal assets, according to a
recent report.
The ongoing drama over control of free-
to-air television station ATV has taken another twist with the Broadcasting
Authority taking up a role. The independent regulator has broken its long
silence and asked ATV to clarify its current shareholding structure and
investment commitments, according to a source who has read its letter to the
broadcaster. The authority "learned from media reports" that mainland property
tycoon Wang Zheng vowed to buy ATV shares, invest HK$2 billion over 20 years,
launch a nationwide Putonghua channel and transform the broadcaster into the CNN
of Asia. While the broadcaster notified the authority in a letter that director
James Shing Pan-yu has become an executive director, the regulator only learned
through the media that Shing was a close family relation of Wang. It is
concerned that Wang now may have de facto control of the broadcaster through
Shing. Under the Broadcasting Ordinance, unless granted an exemption, the
license holder of any broadcaster must maintain the shareholding structure as it
was when it applied for a free-to-air license. The regulator requires ATV to
apply for approval as soon as possible before any stake changes become
effective, the source said. During an interim review of ATV's FTA license in
December, the broadcaster committed to investing HK$2.3 billion from 2010 to
2015. As such, the regulator would like to know whether Wang, reported to be a
new shareholder, will honor the investment commitment or keep the existing
programs. Wang's avowed intention to start a national Putonghua channel and
transform loss-making ATV - long in the shadow of local rival Television
Broadcasts - into Asia's CNN also drew the regulator's attention as to whether
its service will keep Hongkongers as its major audience. "In accordance with its
license, ATV is required to provide a domestic free television program service
primarily targeting Hong Kong," the source said. Meanwhile, Wang did not proceed
with the share purchase from ATV non- executive director Chan Wing-kee and
Phoenix Satellite Television chairman Liu Changle as agreed by the deadline
yesterday, another source said. However, there is no indication there are any
hitches with the deal. Dragon Viceroy - jointly held by Changle and Chan - holds
26.85 percent of ATV. Their stake is second only to Antenna Investment's 47.58
percent, which is owned by Payson Cha Mou- sing, his brother Johnson Cha
Mou-daid and Want Want China Holdings (0151) chairman Tsai Eng-meng. Taiwanese
snack billionaire Tsai got an interlocutory injunction against certain stake
transfers of ATV on March 10. Tsai is suing the Chas, their legal consultant
Peter George Brown, Antenna, Panfair Holdings, which holds a key stake in the
station, and ATV itself over the issuance of convertible bonds with a lower
conversion price than the shareholders' agreement.
Hong Kong's Octopus card and the
Shenzhen Tong - the neighboring city's smart card - will be interchangeable by
the end of this year, according to the Octopus Card Company. The Shenzhen
Science & Technology, Industry, Trade and Information commission deputy officer
Lu Jian told the mainland media yesterday the technical problem between the two
cards has been solved. He said the problem related to the differences in the two
systems, as well as the currencies in Shenzhen and Hong Kong. With the problem
solved, the Octopus card can be used in Shenzhen soon, he added. However, an
Octopus spokesman said the interchangeable card is not expected to be available
until the end of the year at the earliest. He said the company had formed a
working group with Shenzhen Tong to examine the possibility of integrating the
two cards and the group is now focusing on the technological area. "The exact
timing to sell the integrated card must be decided by the result of
technological research and business arrangements," he said. Octopus had been
holding talks with the Shenzhen Tong company for years over an integrated card.
The two companies have already discussed issues such as security and financing,
but the difficulties were on how to upgrade software to smooth integration.
The celebrated actress and businesswoman Tina Leung died on Wednesday. She was
65 years old. The mainland-born actress died due to multiple organ failure,
according to her friend Chan Wing-hong. Chan told a press conference on Thursday
he was making the announcement on behalf of Leung’s son, Michael Ma. “Leung
Kwok-hing, also known as Tina, died at 11.10am on March 31,” Chan told reporters
on behalf of Ma. Ma said his mother wanted the public to remember her as the
happy, smiling person she had been. She did not want a public funeral. Leung had
suffered from cervical cancer since 2005. Local media reported that her cancer
deteriorated rapidly in March. She was hospitalised two weeks ago. Tina Leung
born in 1945 in Xingning in Guangdong. She began her acting career in the 1960s,
when she appeared in films such as Beauty & Seven Beasts and was famous for her
nude scenes in the popular Shaw Brothers comedy The Warlord. In the 1970s, she
gave up her successful acting career and developed profitable business interests
in aerospace and satellite systems in the mainland. Recently, Tina appeared in
TVB (SEHK: 0511) as a talk show host for the programme Rise of Great Powers on
China’s history and development. In an interview with local television, the
actress confessed she had been a spy for the Communist Party during the 1960s
while filming in Thailand. Ironically, Leung played a spy in her first film.
Leung married mainland swimming coach Ma Yi Chang. The couple had a daughter
called Ma Tin-yu. In 1995, Ma Tin-yu received sex re-assignment surgery and
became Michael Ma.
There's some rare
good news for wildlife in the city, with birdwatchers reporting a 40 per cent
rise in the local population of the endangered black-faced spoonbill. That
helped the global population of the rare waterfowl to a new high. Birdwatchers
are in an upbeat mood after the release yesterday of the latest census on the
endangered black-faced spoonbill showing a 15 per cent increase this year in the
worldwide population to a record high of 2,346. The city's bird lovers have even
more reason to celebrate because a fifth of the spoonbill's world population
have been seen wintering in Hong Kong this year. Some 462 of the birds have been
spotted, a rise of 40 per cent compared with last year, and the biggest increase
among all places reporting an upward trend. But the number of the birds found
along the mainland's coastal areas this year dropped 5 per cent to 234,
comprising about 10 per cent of the world's total. "It is possible that
development of the coastal areas on the mainland has forced some black-faced
spoonbills to move to other places such as Hong Kong and Taiwan," Yu said.
"Climate change that drove temperatures down in the northern mainland last year
could be another reason that the birds came to Hong Kong for food." Vietnam
recorded the biggest loss, 27 per cent, to 46 birds this year. Despite the rosy
picture, veteran birdwatchers warn of the risk of deadly threats such as water
contamination that would decimate the population, especially since the two main
wintering sites are in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Some 20 per cent of the world's
black-faced spoonbill population come to Hong Kong and 55 per cent winter in
Taiwan. Yu Yat-tung, co-ordinator of the survey, conducted between January 8 and
10 worldwide, cited an incident in 2003 when more than 70 spoonbills died of
poisoning in Taiwan because of water contamination. "If we have a big flock ...
in one place, the bigger the threat to the bird," Yu said. "If there was a
disastrous incident in either Hong Kong or Taiwan, it could wipe out the
population." Yu credited the increase to good breeding and a high survival rate
last year. "The record high number of the birds in Hong Kong is very
encouraging," Yu said. "But we should not take pride in having an endangered
bird here. We should hope that one day the bird is no longer endangered." It is
also the first time this year that the species has remained in Long Valley,
where birdwatchers counted 10 spoonbills. The birds usually winter from October
to March at the Wetland Park in Yuen Long and the Mai Po Marshes near Deep Bay.
Last year the number of birds in Hong Kong dropped, the first decline in a
decade. The endangered bird, which has a spoon-like black bill and a yellow
patch beside its eyes, is found mainly along coastlines in East Asia. The
conservation group BirdLife International once listed it as a critically
endangered species in the 1990s after the worldwide total plunged to 300. The
spoonbill, which breeds in the islets near the demilitarised zone between North
and South Korea, and travels south in winter, is still on the red list of the
International Union for Conservation of Nature. 
The University of Hong Kong medical
faculty and Queen Mary Hospital are to lose their leading bone marrow transplant
specialist to the private sector, adding to concerns that a brain drain of
experienced doctors will affect public services. Professor Raymond Liang
Hin-suen, the head of the HKU medical faculty's bone marrow transplant team and
former dean of medicine, will join the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital in
October as the head of a newly established department of medicine and oncology.
The hospital will also appoint retired HKU chair professor in surgery William
Wei to lead its surgical department in June. With his expertise in bone marrow
transplants and treatment of leukaemia, Liang, 55, has been an iconic figure at
the HKU medical school. He is also the president of the Hong Kong Academy of
Medicine, the body responsible for training specialists. Liang admitted
yesterday that the medical school had been suffering a brain drain but said his
case was not an example. Queen Mary Hospital, the HKU's teaching hospital, and
Prince of Wales Hospital in Sha Tin are Hong Kong's only two bone marrow
transplant centres. Liang said he had formulated a plan to ensure continuation
of HKU services. "There are seven other doctors in our team, and many are on
consultant grade," he said. "There is no problem of succession at all." The HKU
head of liver transplants, Professor Lo Chung-mau, has previously expressed
frustration at how development of liver transplants was being "suffocated" by a
brain drain. Liang's resignation follows those of three liver transplant
surgeons from Queen Mary Hospital in the past few years. Liang said he had
decided to take early retirement from the university to share his experience
with the private sector. He said earlier that restrictions on university doctors
seeing private patients was one of the factors prompting senior doctors to quit.
Doctors said while a public hospital consultant made about HK$2 million a year,
a popular private surgeon could earn more than HK$10 million. But Liang said
more money was not the reason he quit. "My income in the private sector will be
just about the same as at the university because most leukaemia patients are
under public hospital care. It is time for me to start a new chapter in life
after spending 25 years at the university My departure can also give
opportunities to younger doctors to lead the team." He would continue to spend a
fifth of his time at the medical school. The superintendent of the Hong Kong
Sanatorium and Hospital, Dr Walton Li Wai-tat, said the hospital wanted to set
up more departments to make prices more transparent and clinical audits more
systematic. "Having our own departments in different specialities can also
expand our spectrum of expertise," Li said. Having more doctors with a
university background serving the hospital would strengthen links between public
and private health care. Dr Chu Kin-wah, a former consultant surgeon at Queen
Mary Hospital, said a rigid pay system and heavy administrative work at public
hospitals had also prompted some experienced doctors to go private. Chu, who
started private practice in 2004, said more than 10 senior surgeons had quit
Queen Mary Hospital in the past five or six years, and many had made a lot more
money after turning private. "The brain drain of senior public doctors may not
be good for public patients, but in another sense, patients who can afford
private services can have access to senior doctors in the private sector," Chu
said. Another HKU doctor said staff morale had been poor since the imprisonment
of the faculty's former dean Lam Shiu-kum. Lam was jailed for 25 months in
September for inducing patients to make payments of almost HK$4 million to his
company. Cheung Tak-hai, vice-chairman of the Alliance for Patients Mutual-Help
Organisation, said his group had raised the issue of the loss of expertise with
the Hospital Authority but understood there was not much the hospital management
body can do. "It is a vicious cycle, when one doctor from a department leaves,
the hospital may not be able to hire a replacement because of manpower
shortages," Cheung said. "Those who stay on have to face extra workloads and at
the end of the day, some of them cannot tolerate the increasing pressure and
they want to leave too."
Tsang Tak-sing (left), Charles Lee and John Tsang announce the establishment of
two councils, in Hong Kong and Taiwan, that will ensure closer working ties
between the city and the island. In a reflection of warming relations between
Taiwan and Beijing, Hong Kong and the island are establishing a quasi-official
framework under which deals on economic and cultural co-operation can be
negotiated. The Hong Kong-Taiwan Economic and Cultural Co-operation and
Promotion Council, headed by top ministers, will be authorised to hold talks and
sign memorandums of co-operation with a soon-to-be formed Taiwanese counterpart.
The council, being established today, will be registered as a limited company,
bypassing political obstacles to direct negotiations. Announcing the launch
yesterday, Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah, who will be the council's
honorary chairman, said officials from both sides could exchange views on issues
of mutual concern "in appropriate capacities under this umbrella". The council
will be registered as a limited company under the Companies Ordinance, with the
Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau providing secretariat support and the
government as a whole providing "full support and resources", Tsang said.
Executive councillor Charles Lee Yeh-kwong will chair the new body. The four
vice-chairmen are Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Stephen Lam
Sui-lung, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Rita Lau Ng Wai-lan,
Secretary for Home Affairs Tsang Tak-sing and businessman David Lie Tai-chong.
Lie, a local delegate to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
who has extensive business links in Taiwan, will also chair a new Hong
Kong-Taiwan Business Co-operation Committee, where local and Taiwanese
businessmen in Hong Kong will discuss issues relating to trade, tourism and
investment between the two places. The Taiwan counterpart, the Hong Kong
Economic and Cultural Co-operation Council, headed by high-ranking Taiwanese
government officials, will be established soon, according to Taiwan media
reports. Tsang said the two councils would hold their first joint meeting in the
coming few months. "We expect to see multifaceted and multilevel exchanges with
Taiwan," a government spokesman said. These could include health issues such as
infectious diseases, medical services, clinical trials and the exchange of
drug-related information and financial topics such as co-operation in financial
regulations and the avoidance of double-taxation. In Taipei, Chiang Pin-kung,
chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation - the island's top representative
body for talks with the mainland - said there would be closer economic ties
between the mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Chiang was hosting a lunch with Hong
Kong's former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa, who was visiting the island. Tung,
now a vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference,
said he believed there were "very good achievements" ahead. China affairs
commentator Johnny Lau Yui-siu said the council as a quasi-official body could
provide greater flexibility in negotiations. "From Hong Kong's perspective, the
Taiwan government is a municipal administration, but from Taiwan's perspective
it is the central government of the Republic of China. Talks under a
semi-official framework will avoid these political problems."
The Illinois Gaming Board has informed
MGM Mirage that it is aware of New Jersey’s recent findings on the company’s
Macau joint venture and will be conducting its own investigation. The casino
operator was told of the plans at a meeting of the Illinois regulatory board on
Tuesday, according to general counsel Michael Fries. Officials at MGM Mirage did
not immediately respond to a request for comment. MGM owns a 50 per cent stake
in the Grand Victoria Casino, a riverboat casino about 64km from Chicago in
Elgin, Illinois. MGM said earlier this month it would sell its 50 per cent stake
in the Borgata casino-hotel in Atlantic City after New Jersey gambling
regulators said the company’s Macau partner, Pansy Ho, had links to mainland
organised crime. Pansy Ho is the daughter of Macau casino magnate Stanley Ho.
Macau, the only place in the country where gambling is legal, has surpassed Las
Vegas to become the world’s largest gambling centre. Regulators in Nevada, where
MGM operates 14 casinos, said they have no plans to reopen their inquiry into
the Macau joint venture, which was formed in 2004. “Nevada’s position has not
changed and there are no plans to reassess the joint venture relationship
between MGM Mirage and Ms Ho,” Randall Sayre, a member of Nevada’s Gaming
Control Board, said in an e-mailed statement. But a spokesman for the Michigan
Gaming Control Board said that agency will likely reexamine MGM Mirage following
the New Jersey events. MGM owns half of the MGM Grand Detroit casino. “It’s
already under review,” said Michigan board spokesman Eric Bush. In the United
States, MGM also operates two casinos in Mississippi. The Mississippi Gaming
Commission is reviewing the New Jersey report on MGM Mirage and Pansy Ho, said
Allen Godfrey, the commission’s deputy director. MGM said in a statement earlier
this month that all of the jurisdictions in which it operates were well aware of
the Macau joint venture, “had access to the same information as the New Jersey
gaming regulators, and have all either determined that the company’s
relationship with Pansy Ho is appropriate or that further action was not
necessary”.
The
Securities and Futures Commission has applied for a court order to recoup HK$1
billion raised by mainland sportswear-fabric maker Hontex International Holdings
in its initial public offering three months ago - the first such move by the
stock market watchdog. The writ submitted to the High Court yesterday alleges
Hontex contravened sections of the Securities and Futures Ordinance covering
deception and fraud. If successful, the money raised in the share sale will be
paid back to initial subscribers and those who have bought the stock since the
company listed on Christmas Eve.
Chinese President Hu Jintao will attend the Nuclear Security Summit and the
second summit of BRIC nations.It is widely expected China, as a major developing
nation, will play important roles in the summits and join the international
community in meeting global challenges.
Hong Kong-based Bank of China Group
Investment, has agreed to buy a 4.5 per cent stake in Beijing-Shanghai
High-Speed Railway Co, its parent Bank of China announced on Thursday. Bank of
China, the country’s third-biggest lender by market value, said on Thursday it
planned to invest up to 6 billion yuan (HK$6.81 billion) in a state-owned firm
building a high-speed railway linking Shanghai and Beijing. It said its Hong
Kong-based unit, Bank of China Group Investment, has agreed to buy a 4.5 per
cent stake in Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway Co using foreign currencies,
“The investment is expected to generate reasonable return and will help the bank
diversify its services,” the Beijing-based lender said in a statement to the
Shanghai Stock Exchange. “It will also help the bank win more businesses in
China’s large-scale railway investment and construction, which is in line with
our development strategy.” Mainland last year unveiled a 4 trillion yuan,
infrastructure-focused stimulus package that boosted railway investment by 67
per cent last year. Beijing will continue to boost railway investment, which had
lagged economic growth in the past decade. Planned investment in the
1,318km-long high-speed railway linking Beijing and Shanghai totals 220.9
billion yuan. The project, which started in April, 2008, will be completed
within five years. Bank of China and state rivals such as China Construction
Bank (SEHK: 0939) and Bank of Communications (SEHK: 3328) benefited from a
government-directed lending spree last year aimed at reviving the economy, but
they plan to curb expansion this year as Beijing starts to tighten monetary
policies. Bank of China Group Investment is buying the stake from China Railway
(SEHK: 0390) Investment Corp. The deal is yet to be approved by regulators,
according to Thursday’s statement.
Trial illumination marks 30 days
counting-down of Shanghai Expo.
Shoppers' return brings retailers
HK$27b as economy improves - New cars, electronic gadgets and jewellery topped
shopping lists last month as consumers spent almost HK$27 billion, up more than
a third from the period a year ago, according to data from the Census and
Statistics Department. Although the strong growth in retail sales last month was
skewed by the timing of the Lunar New Year holiday from last year, February's
35.8 per cent jump in the value of sales failed to meet the 43.2 per cent rise
economists had expected. By volume, total sales climbed 31.5 per cent. In
January, sales improved 6.5 per cent in value and by 3.2 per cent in volume.
Taking January and February data together gives a more accurate reading of
retail sales as they are usually distorted by the floating date for the Lunar
New Year. This year's holiday was in February but it was in January last year.
Over the two-month period, retail sales increased 18.8 per cent in value and
15.1 per cent in volume. A government spokesman said consumer sentiment should
stay firm as the economy picked up. "The improvement in labour market conditions
along with the economic recovery has reinforced consumer confidence. The robust
performance of inbound tourism has also been highly supportive," the spokesman
said. Consumers were quick to cut back on their spending, particularly luxury
goods and non-essential items as global financial markets crashed amid the
downturn. Businesses struggled and shed jobs, fewer people travelled for leisure
or work and those who were still well-off shunned displays of wealth. Hong Kong
Retail Management Association chairwoman Caroline Mak Sui-king said that while
the 55.2 per cent surge in the volume of car sales over the past two months was
a positive sign, many everyday items, such as books, newspapers and fruit and
vegetables, were experiencing virtually no growth. Mak said it was still too
early to declare an economic recovery as many people were still cautious about
their spending. A clearer indication of economic health should emerge in the
second quarter of this year, as orders trickle in from retailers for the
Christmas shopping season, she said. Other than car sales, the volume of sales
of electrical goods in the past two months rose 27.9 per cent while jewellery,
watches and clocks jumped 24.7 per cent. Department store sales improved 17.2
per cent, furniture and fixtures climbed 17.1 per cent, clothing increased 16
per cent and footwear rose 13.4 per cent.
The daughter of late kung fu legend Bruce Lee said on Wednesday she was thrilled
his fame had endured four decades after his untimely death, and hoped Hong Kong
would soon have a museum in his memory. Shannon Lee Keasler was visiting Hong
Kong with her mother Linda Lee Cadwell to launch an exhibition dedicated to the
“Enter the Dragon” star, who died of brain swelling at the peak of his film
career in 1973 aged just 32. “We are absolutely thrilled that so many people
continue to be inspired by him and find so much value in his life and work,” Lee
said, adding that she would be in Tokyo next month to launch another exhibition
of her father. Keasler, who is an actress in the United States, said some of the
exhibits were from the family’s collection, including a pair of sunglasses,
boxing headgear, film costumes, and samples of her father’s handwriting. The
exhibition, which will end on April 6, is part of a series of events to pay
tribute to Lee during this year’s Hong Kong International Film Festival. The
future martial arts hero was raised in Hong Kong before moving to the United
States in his late teens. Keasler said they were raising funds for a US museum,
and hoped a government plan to transform Lee’s former home in Hong Kong’s
Kowloon Tong district – now a seedy love hotel that rents out rooms by the hour
– would begin soon. “We hope there will be some sort of symbiotic relationship
between the museums in Hong Kong and the US, so that the two museums can share
some of the exhibits.” A local design contest ended earlier this year. But the
Hong Kong museum’s final look, building costs, and the project’s completion date
have yet to be determined. 
Cheung Kong Holdings (0001) chairman Li
Ka-shing is not handing out any investment tips this year - even though he's
expecting a stable and positive property outlook. Hong Kong's richest man said
those who had followed his suggestion a year ago and bought homes would have
profited. But with an already red-hot property market in the SAR, Li - who
generally appeared more cautious than in previous years - was on his guard
yesterday. "It's truly a crime to tell the public anything inaccurate or
exaggerated, so I tend to be more cautious," Li said, noting he had "bared his
soul." The billionaire added: "One has to be very careful with what one says."
Property prices depend on two factors these days, Li said. Land costs appear
stable, but construction costs have been rocketing. In Cheung Kong's statement
to the stock exchange, Li wrote that "the local property market is expected to
remain stable and positive in the medium to longer term," in view of the
prevailing low interest rate environment and official measures to increase land
supply flexibility. His son and Cheung Kong deputy chairman Victor Li Tzar-kuoi
noted the property giant almost ran out of homes to sell recently, but added
that flats will be on the market as soon as consents are given in order to
ensure market supply. Victor Li urged people to be always cautious when it comes
to buying a home, but noted that demand surged in the past two years while
supply remained low. "In the past few decades, out of every 10 homebuyers who
held their homes for an extended period, nine made money," he said. "I don't
think this formula will change." Asked whether the government should tighten
regulations on property sales, Li Ka-shing said it has been trying its best to
stabilize property prices. "I think the government has done a nice job," he
said. Victor Li added official regulations will not cause them any trouble. The
elder Li did not address the resumption of construction for the Home Ownership
Scheme directly. "I am very supportive of providing public rental housing to
low-earners," he said. "As for HOS homes, I think there has been much discussion
and people have different views." Victor Li added Cheung Kong does not want to
pressure the government and prefers to leave room for it to come up with ideas.
He said developers can increase the supply of smaller homes for aspiring
homebuyers only if the government increases the maximum number of units
officially allowed. Chairman Li said the mainland's steady growth has given
solid support to the local economy, while accelerated cooperation presents the
city with good growth opportunities. "In the first quarter this year, almost all
our businesses performed better than budgeted," Li said. "It proves that many
businesses are faring better than last year." He added: "Unless anything
extraordinary arises, Cheung Kong and Hutchison (0013) will see good growth this
year." Li also said that he would buy more shares of the two firms, particularly
when their P/E ratios are still low. 
Media tycoon slams attacks on Ronny Tong - Sorry to say this ladies, but shame
on you! Not quite his words, but this was the gist of Sing Tao News Corp
chairman Charles Ho Tsu-kwok's admonishment of the Civic Party's Audrey Eu
Yuet-mee, Margaret Ng Oi-yee and Tanya Chan Suk-chong. Ho was chastising the
three women for not rushing to the aid of party colleague Ronny Tong Ka-wah, who
has been verbally attacked by "Mad Dog" Raymond Wong Yuk-man of the League of
Social Democrats, crucified by Wong's followers on the internet, abused by other
netizens, and even threatened with death. Barrister Tong's "crime" was that he
did not agree with the so- called election-referendum, first mooted by the LSD
and later joined by the Civic Party. "Ronny Tong received severe verbal attacks
and threats. He was a teammate of the three ladies when they started the Civic
Party. Why didn't they speak out for him?" Ho said at last night's Leader of the
Year 2009 award presentation ceremony. Ho added he was amazed at how the Civic
Party and league became an alliance. "It is a story of three women and three
wolves. The three ladies are Eu Yuet-mee, [Margaret] Ng Oi-yee and Tanya Chan,
while the three wolves are [Raymond] Wong Yuk-man, Leung Kwok- hung, and
[Albert] Chan Wai-yip," he said. "The only explanation I can think of is that
the two sides started to have feelings for each other. As time went by, they
eventually chose to get together," Ho said.
Chan teams up with Thai giant in $3b
hospital bid - Former executive councillor Bernard Charnwut Chan and a
world-renowned Thai company are planning to mount a bid to build a HK$3 billion
hospital in Aberdeen. Asia Financial Holdings, of which Chan is president, has
submitted an expression of interest with Bumrungrad International to build the
350-bed private hospital at Wong Chuk Hang. The companies made their submission
to the Food and Health Bureau yesterday. Bangkok-based Bumrungrad owns the
Bumrungrad Hospital, one of the world's largest medical tourism facilities,
which treated more than a million patients last year. It also owns, operates and
manages hospitals and health-care facilities in seven other countries in Asia
and the Middle East. Today is the last day of submission for expressions of
interest to build private hospitals at four sites. Members of a prominent city
family last week said they are teaming up with Chinese University to bid for 2.6
hectares at a Tai Po site. The other sites are at Tung Chung and Pak Shing Kok
in Tseung Kwan O. Others known to be interested are Union Hospital, Henderson
Land and Great Eagle. Chan, who also chairs the Antiquities Advisory Board, said
it is envisioned that the Aberdeen facility will be an integrated hospital
offering comprehensive services. The second phase of the hospital will involve
room for another 150 beds if necessary, said the former legislator. "We have
decided to come up with a plan to develop the site. Our idea is to split the
plan into two phases." The first phase will be opened together with the MTR
South Island Line "so that we don't have to wait for the entire completion of
the subway to start [building]," he said. The second phase will depend on
whether there is a demand and on whether there is sufficient medical personnel.
Chan said the HK$3 billion investment does not include land premium, which the
government has yet to reveal. "The one single factor that will determine whether
we will go ahead or not is the land premium," he said. For the government to
attract the private sector, it will have to offer "a huge concession" in the
land premium. "Their challenge is how can they justify giving a land to a
private operator with any form of concession," he said.
Sales of flats at the Larvotto (above)
and the Hermitage are keenly watched for their impact on how upcoming projects
are priced. A flood of new luxury homes is expected to hit the market next month
and industry watchers are divided on how potential buyers will respond.
Interviews with people who are looking for a new home reflect the range of views
held by analysts and agents. Self-employed engineer Jason Wong, for one, plans
to buy a flat at Festival City, a development by Cheung Kong (Holdings) (SEHK:
0001). "We have two children. We need a bigger living space, and Tai Wai has
better transport connections," he said. But Jeff Pao, who works in a news
agency, prefers to wait. "I don't want to buy at the market peak. Prices may
drop once interest rates increase in the middle of this year. I will buy once
prices drop 10 per cent," he said. Pao sold his flat at Ocean Shores in Tseung
Kwan O in June last year and is now renting a flat in the same estate. Buyers'
concern about whether prices have peaked will lead to a slow take-up of new
flats, some analysts and agents say. But others remain bullish, pointing to the
strong demand. The first phase of the 4,304-unit Festival City was launched for
sale last Friday, getting to the market just ahead of the release by a
consortium led by Sun Hung Kai Properties (SEHK: 0016) of Larvotto, a luxury
project in Ap Lei Chau, over the Easter holiday. A consortium led by Sino Land
is also expected to launch the Hermitage in West Kowloon for sale next month.
All three projects target the higher-income groups. Although Festival City is
located in the non-core area of the New Territories, the minimum price of the
first batch of 20 flats released last week was HK$8.95 million. The 715-unit
Larvotto project is pitched at an average of HK$25,000 per square foot, with the
minimum price of a flat at about HK$60 million. Analysts expect prices of the
Hermitage, which will offer 852 flats, to reach HK$13,000 per square foot. These
three luxury residential projects are expected to ease demand significantly and
consume a good portion of the market's buying power, analysts say, stirring
concerns about the strength of support for new releases due later this year.
Property seekers are becoming wary of rising home prices, said Michael Wu, a
director at Fitch Ratings. He points to Festival City's slowing sales. Fewer
than 400 flats at a cost of between HK$8,000 and HK$11,000 per square foot were
sold in the first three days of sale. Of this number, 300 were sold on the first
day. This compares with the developer's weekend sales forecast of 1,360 flats.
Chinese auto maker Zhejiang Geely Holding
Group is ready to inject 900 million U.S. dollars operating capital into Volvo
on top of the 1.8 billion U.S. dollars purchase price, Geely chairman Li Shufu
said Tuesday.
A sea lion pounds on a drum to mark the
30-day countdown to the opening ceremony of Shanghai World Expo at Shanghai
Changfeng Ocean World, on March 30, 2010. Ocean World will put on stage live
animal performances in April. April 1 marks the 30-day countdown to the opening
ceremony of Shanghai World Expo. 
Beijing subway stations on alert after
Moscow tragedy - A police dog and its handler, a policewoman, patrol at a
Beijing subway station, March 30, 2010.
Dai Wensheng visited Vietnam for the
first time in September - and came back with a wife. The 42-year-old Nanjing
dance school owner has been back seven times since, leading groups of mainland
bachelors looking for the marital bliss described on his blog. Vietnamese women
were young, virtuous, pretty, hard-working, obedient and gentle, he wrote,
unlike their money-worshipping, greedy mainland counterparts. That description
struck a chord with male internet users, with almost every major online forum on
the mainland featuring fevered discussion of his success and thousands of
bachelors from across the nation calling him, seeking to copy it. Reports of a
gender imbalance that will see the mainland home to 24 million unmarriageable
bachelors in 2020 has added to the urgency of their search and prompted many to
look south, towards Vietnam. It all started with a 15-day trip to Vietnam that
cost Dai a total of 35,000 yuan (HK$39,800). Dai, who previously had a Chinese
wife, spent about 80 yuan to publish a marriage-wanted advertisement in a
Vietnamese newspaper and, with the help of local matchmakers, met about 100
Vietnamese women. A month later, he registered his marriage to 23-year-old Ngan
in her hometown of Haiphong, northern Vietnam, and now lives with her in Nanjing.
"Marrying a Vietnamese girl is very simple and there is a plentiful supply too,"
Dai said. "You only need to obtain the girl's parents' consent and then you can
organise the banquet, and the marriage certificate can be done soon after.
Two female celebrities and a large
amount of money were the star attractions in Tuesday's bribery trial of Wang Yi,
former vice-president of State-run China Development Bank. Wang, who stood trial
at the Beijing No 1 Intermediate People's Court, pleaded guilty to the charge of
accepting bribes of more than 11.96 million yuan ($1.76 million), and confessed
that he "used his power and his influence to make profit for others and
himself". No verdict was reached. However during the trial testimony by Li Tao,
a businessman from Hong Kong who bribed Wang with 5 million yuan, unexpectedly
named two famous celebrities - movie star Zhao Wei, and the anchor of China
Central Television, Liu Fangfei, the Beijing Evening News reported. Li, who has
also been arrested, said that years ago he invited Wang to attend an opening
ceremony for his company in Shenzhen in South China. Zhao arrived with Wang and
was later given a 300,000 yuan ($43,944) "appearance fee", the report
said.Banker's bribery trial names two female celebrities Zhao's agent, Chen Rong,
denied Li's remarks. "Zhao did attend an activity in Shenzhen 10 years ago, but
it was completely a commercial event, just like a commercial performance. We
were invited by a public relations company and we do not know Wang or Li at
all," Chen told Sina.com, a popular online portal. Li said Wang also asked him
to give Liu 2 million yuan ($292,960) so that Liu could pay off her housing
loan. In 2008, Wang then asked Liu to give the money back to Li when the police
started to investigate his case, according to the report. Liu could not be
reached for comment on Tuesday because her mobile phone was switched off.
According to charges brought by the No 1 branch of the Beijing Municipal
People's Procuratorate, Wang received all of his bribes by helping others to get
loans. He helped Li get a loan for a highway construction project and received
about 5 million yuan ($732,402) in return. Wang also allegedly took advantage of
his post to help Zhou Hong, chief executive of a steel slag company in Southwest
China's Yunnan province, with business operations and loan applications, in
which he received bribes of 6.3 million yuan. Wang, 54, had an impressive career
path before he was investigated for possible corruption. He graduated from the
history department of Peking University in 1984. At the age of 39, he became the
vice-chairman of China Securities Regulatory Commission and he was
vice-president of the China Development Bank from 1999 to 2008, when he was
investigated and removed from his post. Wang is one of eight ministerial-level
officials being investigated for corruption last year. Others include Huang
Songyou, former vice-president of the Supreme People's Court, and Chen Shaoji,
former top political adviser of Guangdong province in South China.
Li Ka-shing, chairman of Hutchison
Whampoa Limited and Cheung Kong Holdings waves to reporters after a news
conference to announce the annual results of the company in Hong Kong on
Tuesday. Hutchison Whampoa (SEHK: 0013), billionaire Li Ka-shing’s
ports-to-telecoms flagship company, is looking to acquire assets for its ports
business, seeking bargains in the global shipping sector, as it focuses again on
its core businesses after a difficult 3G foray. The Hong Kong conglomerate aims
to tap into guarded optimism that the shipping market has bottomed out, a view
that has helped lift shares of Asian liners across the board this year with
firms such as Orient Overseas (International) (SEHK: 0316) and Hanjin Shipping
up by about half this year. “It is very difficult to buy port assets in good
times, but in such a weak operating environment, we see more opportunities and
are looking to buy more port assets,” Hutchison’s chairman Li told a news
conference on Tuesday after announcing its results. The outlook on the ports
front contrasts with the view on the loss-making third-generation (3G) mobile
phone business, which has long been a drag on earnings and continued to lose
money last year, albeit at a slower pace. “The bleeding on its 3G business is
finally slowing,” said Francis Lun, general manager of Fulbright Securities.
“Ports will be the single biggest factor driving earnings this year, and that is
really the area they should concentrate on right now.” The ports business, which
contributed more than a quarter of total earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT),
however, had a rough last year in the global downturn, with revenue slipping 16
per cent and EBIT falling 21 per cent. Shares of Hutchison closed down 2.7 per
cent on Tuesday at HK$56.70 after the release of its results, which lagged
forecasts. Volume was heavy, with 12.5 million shares changing hands on the day,
up nearly 80 percent from the 90-day average. Hutchison, one of the top
conglomerates in Asia-Pacific by market capitalisation, has been boosted in
recent years by one-off gains, which helped shield it from the worst of the
global economic downturn. It recorded more such gains last year for the sale of
assets from its emerging markets telecoms unit and the merger of its Australia
3G business with Vodafone’s. But those failed to set off weak performance from
its ports division. The widely diversified group, whose businesses include
telecoms operator 3 and Watsons retail stores, reported net profit of HK$8.4
billion in July-December, according to Reuters calculations using company
figures. This was higher than the restated HK$4.09 billion recorded the same
time in 2008, but lower than the HK$9.44 billion market forecast according to 10
analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Hutchison’s Li is the richest man in
East Asia with an estimated net worth of US$21 billion and his companies make up
about 15 per cent of the Hong Kong’s stock market’s total capitalisation, Forbes
magazine said earlier this month. By comparison, Mongolia has an annual GDP of
about US$5 billion. Separately, Cheung Kong (SEHK: 0001) Holdings, which holds
nearly 50 per cent in Hutchison, reported a second-half profit of HK$8.4
billion, quadrupling from the previous year’s restated second-half figure and
beating market expectations for a HK$6 billion profit. Hutchison’s loss-making
third generation (3G) mobile phone services unit, which offers service in
markets in Europe and Australia, reduced its loss before interest and taxes (LBIT)
by 67 per cent last year to HK$5.3 billion. “Hutchison’s been saying that 3 will
return to profit for a while now, but its failure to turn it around is going to
disappoint the market,” said Andy Lam, a strategist at Harris Fraser, adding he
was neutral on the company. Hutchison shares are up about 6 per cent this year,
outperforming the roughly 2.3 per cent decline on the benchmark Hang Seng Index.
Construction of the Kai Tak cruise
terminal building will start in May if the Legislative Council approves the
higher cost. Latest estimates given to Legco's panel on economic development put
the total construction cost of the terminal block, plus site formation works, at
HK$8.156 billion - up from HK$7.2 billion in September 2008. Secretary for
Commerce and Economic Development Rita Lau Ng Wai-lan said the latest estimate
is within budget and close to the 2008 estimate in real terms. Permanent
Secretary for Development Mak Chai-kwong said the rise in cost is due mainly to
inflation. If the 2008 estimate is expressed in last September's prices, it is
equivalent to HK$7.512 billion, he said. This year's estimate is slightly lower,
standing at HK$7.408.3 billion in September 2009 prices, Mak added. The
government plans to seek funding of HK$5.8521 billion for the terminal's
construction from the Legco public works subcommittee on April 14, and the
Finance Committee on April 30. If approved, the design-and- build contract will
start in May, with the completion of the terminal building brought forward to
mid- 2013 from the initially planned 2014-15. Last November, the Finance
Committee approved HK$2.3039 billion for site formation works, which are
underway. The first berth is slated to come into operation in mid-2013 and the
second in 2014. Kowloon East legislator Chan Kam-lam said he is pleased to hear
that the terminal block will be ready a year earlier than scheduled. But he
expressed concerns on whether the number of parking spaces will be enough to
meet the demand. Director of Architectural Services Marigold Lau Lai Siu-wan
said about 200 parking spots and 100 pick-up or drop-off spaces will be
available in the terminal building. Mak said more parking lots will be set up in
the Kai Tak area on top of those inside the terminal. Democrat lawmaker Emily
Lau Wing- hing urged the government to ensure easy access for people with
disabilities, and more washroom stalls for women. Construction work will create
about 3,000 jobs, and the terminal will provide 5,000 to 9,000 jobs when it
comes into operation. 
Try-then-buy flats for elderly -
Senior citizens looking for a quality retirement are to get the chance to try
out new housing in troubled Tin Shui Wai for free before committing to buy.
Speaking at a ground-breaking ceremony yesterday, Hong Kong Housing Society
chairman Yeung Ka-sing said six show flats will be ready by November next year
and those seriously seeking retirement in Tin Shui Wai "will be able to get the
feel" of the facilities for free. "Tin Shui Wai is not as far away as urban
residents think," Yeung said. "A mere 30-minute drive will get you to a peaceful
and green lifestyle." He said the society would rather promote a new living
environment than get a few weeks' rent. The project, which is close to the
Wetland Park in North New Territories, will cover 64,400 square meters in Tin
Shui Wai Area 115. It will provide about 1,000 residential units for the
elderly, a wellness center, a residential care home for the elderly and a hotel,
as well as various training and recreation facilities. It is anticipated that
Phase I, comprising 630 units ranging in size from 500 to 1,100 square feet,
will be completed and start operation in 2014. Phase II, with a further 370
units, will be completed by 2018. The project will also create about 1,200 jobs
in the transport, hospitality management, catering services and elderly nursing
services sectors. "The first beneficiaries will be the residents in Tin Shui Wai,"
Yeung said, "Women, minority groups and the young who are unemployed will get
proper training." A second site, Area 112, comprising 30,000 square meters, will
be developed into a Vocational Training Council center, offering 1,500 training
opportunities annually, and some ancillary commercial facilities such as shops.
The proposed center will provide training programs in hospitality services,
catering and medical care services. It will be equipped with a training kitchen
and dining facilities, a dormitory, classrooms, an adventure-based training
center, a greenhouse and an organic farm. These short-term facilities, which
will be completed after mid-2011, are expected to create about 200 jobs. The
overall construction cost of Area 112 is expected to be around HK$100 million
with an annual operation cost of HK$10 million.
John Rowan, a vice-president of the Savannah College of Art and Design, says the
school does not have a student quota and welcomes top students from around the
world. One-third of applicants to Hong Kong's first private American art college
are from the city, another third are from the United States and the rest from
elsewhere. But the Savannah College of Art and Design will not reserve any
places or provide financial aid specifically for local students to attend its
Hong Kong branch, which is due to open in September. College leaders have begun
interviewing prospective students for the 300 school places at its art gallery
in Wyndham Street. Tuition fees are US$29,000 per year for the four-year
undergraduate programmes and US$31,000 per year for master's programs. The
school, based in Savannah, Georgia, plans to offer 14 degree programmes in
digital arts at the new campus being developed at its own expense in the former
North Kowloon Magistracy in Sham Shui Po. SCAD was awarded the historic building
last year at a nominal rent in a government revitalisation scheme, beating a bid
by the Chinese Artists Association to use it for Cantonese opera - a decision
which drew protests from the arts community. John Rowan, a vice-president at
SCAD Hong Kong, said it had received applications from as far afield as Chile,
and there had been "very strong interest" in Hong Kong. He declined to reveal
the number of applications or the breakdown of admissions by country and region
until the process was complete. "We are not subject to any limit or quota on the
number of non-local students," he said. "We want the top students from anywhere
in the world. I would love to see a number of top Hong Kong students come to
SCAD." Victor Lai Ming-hoi, an associate head of the cultural and creative arts
department at the Hong Kong Institute of Education, said SCAD's fees were more
than twice the typical level for degree programs. "It is quite expensive and, if
it is their policy not to reserve any places for local students, I think that is
unacceptable as they have free use of a public building," he said. Connie Lam,
an executive director of the Hong Kong Arts Centre, which runs a fine arts
school with 200 full-time students, said there was a lot of unmet demand for art
degrees and society should welcome new schools. Rowan said the charitable
foundation that runs the Hong Kong branch is required to keep any surplus income
it generates within the city and reinvest the money in improving and expanding
the school. "Once we reach full capacity in about three years, we will be
looking for another site to expand the university further," he said. "And we
would like to collaborate with other universities in Hong Kong to develop shared
courses both within visual art and other programmes, such as humanities,
business and even science." Ginger Hansen, the director of recruitment and
admissions, said all applicants were considered for scholarships based on
academic merit and artistic ability. The school also provides 80 private
endowment scholarships. "At SCAD, about 50 per cent of incoming students receive
academic, artistic or combined honours scholarships each year," she said. "These
range from US$1,500 to full tuition per year. But there are no needs-based
scholarships and we do not restrict scholarships to any one campus, so there is
no SCAD Hong Kong internal scholarship fund." Students in Hong Kong will be
eligible for the government's non-means tested loans scheme and travel subsidy
scheme, she said. More than 9,500 students attend SCAD's two US campuses and
study centre in France.
Fall in HK expats joining Chinese
citizenship queue - In 2001, the then Invest Hong Kong director general Mike
Rowse made headlines when he became the first expatriate civil servant in Hong
Kong to become a naturalised Chinese citizen. Lan Kwai Fong and Ocean Park chief
Allan Zeman did the same in 2008. Both have spent about four decades living and
working in Hong Kong. But now, with the mainland opening up internationally,
increasing numbers may choose to be based there rather than in Hong Kong,
resulting in fewer people applying for Chinese citizenship in Hong Kong. Local
immigration department data shows the number of applications for such
citizenship fell to 1,295 last year from 1,541 in 2008, a 16 per cent drop. The
number of applications has fallen steadily since peaking at 1,840 in 2006.
Before the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak in 2003, the number mostly
remained below 1,000 applications a year and then almost doubled from 702 in
2003 to 1,342 the following year. Dr Chung Kim-wah, an assistant professor of
applied social sciences at Polytechnic University, said he believed that after
13 years of Chinese sovereignty in Hong Kong, many locally based foreigners who
had been using the city as a stepping stone to the mainland had decided to take
on Chinese identity. "Usually, people will settle down after more than 10 years
and would make this choice," he said. "But people now have direct access to the
mainland and do not need Hong Kong as a stepping stone. Maybe this shows there
is less tendency to use Hong Kong to apply to be a Chinese national. I think
this is a trend." For many foreigners whose lives, families and businesses
revolve around Hong Kong and the mainland, the decision to relinquish their
citizenship in favour of a Chinese passport can be an obvious and easy one.
Gregory De'eb, managing director of Crown Wine Cellars and a former South
African consul general to Hong Kong, said he was planning to apply for Chinese
citizenship after becoming a permanent resident of the city about 12 years ago.
"For me, it's been a journey of about 12 to 14 years," De'eb said. "I just
realised that this is the place I care about the most - the place I feel most
passionate about." South African-born De'eb said obtaining a Hong Kong passport
would give him a sense of belonging, as he had not been back to his birthplace
for a long time. His wife had encouraged him to apply for a Dutch passport
several years ago, but he felt being a citizen of a second country without any
intention of committing or contributing to that nation would be silly. "When
people ask me about who I am and where I'm from, I always have great pleasure in
saying that I passionately belong to Hong Kong. But I can't say that about the
citizenship I have," De'eb said. Generally, mainland laws allow foreigners to
apply for naturalisation if they have close relatives who are Chinese nationals,
have settled on the mainland or have other legitimate reasons. To qualify, they
must live there for more than nine months a year for at least five years. The
mainland does not allow dual citizenship, meaning that applicants must renounce
their existing citizenship.
Taoists take part in the opening ceremony of the 10th Hong Kong Taoist Festival
at Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Wan Chai yesterday. The city's Taoists want the
birthday of their religion's founder, Lao Tzu, to be declared a statutory
holiday, saying a poll showed that a majority of the population supported the
idea. The Hong Kong Taoist Association yesterday proposed the 15th day of the
second month of the lunar calendar be made a public holiday to promote their
religion and to honour Lao Tzu. The association also suggested it would be an
extra holiday, thus bringing the total number of general holidays in a year from
17 to 18. According to a survey of 1,012 people in February, 41 per cent backed
the proposal, 30 per cent opposed it and the rest had no opinion or said the
question was too difficult to answer. It also found that 54 per cent of
respondents said they took part in Taoist activities such as picking a fortune
stick, burning incense sticks and worshipping Taoist deities - but only 2 per
cent of people polled called themselves Taoists. Association chairman Tong
Wai-ki said that during the Lunar New Year, more than 1.35 million people
visited popular Taoist temples, such as Wong Tai Sin Temple and also Che Kung
Temple in Sha Tin, reflecting a tight bond between Hong Kong people and Taoism.
"When the birthday of Lord Buddha was designated as a public holiday 10 years
ago, we wanted to apply to the government to turn Lao Tzu's birthday into a
public holiday too," Tong said during the opening of the Hong Kong Taoist
Festival. "But people did not know much about Taoism at the time, so we scrapped
the plan. "After 10 years of promotion and active participation in charity
works, we think it is a suitable time to submit an application now," he said. He
estimated that there were about 1.2 million Taoists in Hong Kong. The Confucian
Academy applied to have Confucius' birthday on August 27 declared a holiday,
replacing the Easter Monday holiday. But the government said the public had not
reached a consensus and it would not consider the proposal.
Gold consumption in China is likely
to double over the next decade, boosting prices as burgeoning demand will
outpace the growth in supplies, said a report released on Monday by the World
Gold Council (WGC). Gold prices set to soar as demand outpaces supplies. With
gross domestic product set to grow at above 9 percent this year, China, the
world's second largest gold consumer after India, has the potential to double
its gold consumption from the 2009 level of 500 tons a year, the report said.
Aram Shishmanian, chief executive officer of the WGC, said gold demand will
remain bullish this year and for the next five years as investors consider the
yellow metal a safe haven amid uncertain recovery trends and inflation
expectations. The only way for the Western countries to resolve the economic
crisis is to slowly repay their debts and print more money, which devaluates the
currency and results in inflation, said Shishmanian. Conventionally, gold is
priced against the dollar and performs inversely against the greenback. "The
dollar is now being challenged as the world currency and the US economy will
struggle for a number of years before recovering. In such a scenario gold prices
would continue to remain robust," said Shishmanian. "If gold demand continues to
increase, domestic supplies would be unable to keep pace. Whatever the outcome,
China's outlook will have implications for the global gold market," said Eily
Ong, investment research manager at WGC. During the past five years, demand for
gold increased at an average annual rate of 13 percent in China. The bulk of
this demand has been satiated through domestic supplies. 
PBOC adviser Li Daokui wrote on Tuesday that mainland should change its yuan
policy before September because the yuan debate could become a more heated
political issue ahead of the mid-term elections in the United States in
November. China should adjust the yuan exchange rate before September to head
off rising foreign pressure on Beijing, a newly appointed central bank adviser
said in remarks reported on Tuesday. “One way of relieving pressures on the
renminbi [yuan] exchange rate is to make an adjustment on China’s own
initiative,” Li Daokui, an economist at Tsinghua University, was quoted as
saying in a report on Caijing magazine’s website. Mainland should change its
yuan policy before September because the debate on the yuan could become a more
heated political issue ahead of the mid-term elections in the United States in
November, he added. On Monday, Li was appointed to the central bank’s monetary
policy committee along with two other economists. Another new appointee, Xia
Bin, said on Tuesday that mainland should let the yuan resume its gradual
appreciation as quickly as possible. For his part, Li said mainland should
improve its communications with US lawmakers and various state leaders to reduce
what he called a long-running “misunderstanding” about the currency issue.
Beijing has effectively pegged the yuan near 6.83 to the US dollar since
mid-2008 to help its exporters ride out the financial crisis, but its stance is
under growing fire from Washington. US lawmakers and quite a few economists
argue that the undervalued yuan has given mainland goods an artificial
competitive edge that is distorting the global economy. A semiannual US Treasury
report due in mid-April could label mainland a “currency manipulator”, fuelling
pressure on Beijing. Calls to let the yuan rise steadily are rising among
mainland economists, fuelling a debate on the currency policy. Separately, Huang
Haizhou, a managing director of the China International Capital Corp (CICC), a
joint venture investment bank, said mainland should let the yuan rise and press
ahead with internationalising the currency. In the latest issue of a Beijing
policy journal, Huang asserted that lifting the value of the yuan would
ultimately benefit mainland’s own growth, by dampening inflationary pressures
and making imports relatively cheaper. “An appropriate appreciation of the
renminbi would be to China’s own benefit,” Huang writes in the March issue of
the International Economic Review. “This could increase the flexibility of
monetary policy, develop financial markets, expand domestic consumption and
promote structural adjustment of the economy, helping to keep a balance between
inflation and exchange rates,” Huang wrote.
China has expressed appreciation over the "positive remarks" made by U.S.
President Barack Obama and other officials on Sino-U.S. relations. China valued
the reaffirmation by the U.S. side on its commitment to China on the Taiwan and
Tibet-related issues, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in a press
release Tuesday. 
Flower prices bloom as supply dips,
demand up - Dounan Flower Market in Chenggong county, Kunming, where drought has
cut production as Ching Ming approaches. The crippling drought and the approach
of next Monday's Ching Ming festival, when Chinese traditionally commemorate the
dead, have driven flower prices sky high in Kunming , China's largest flower
supplier. Zhao Lei, who works at the Kunming International Flower Auction Centre
(KIFA), said production of top quality flowers had been hit hard by the drought.
"Prices for class A and B carolas [red roses] have at least doubled compared
with the same period last year," he said. Because good quality flowers had
stricter cultivation requirements, their supply was now half what it was last
spring. The prices of white flowers have climbed as Monday's festival draws
near. Xiaohui, a flower dealer at the Dounan Flower Market, Kunming's largest,
could not hide his excitement when asked how business was going at present. "At
least 1,000 yuan (HK1,135) a day," he exclaimed. He deals in violets, which come
in 12 different colours. The most expensive ones he sells are white, the colour
of mourning in China. He said white violets usually sold for between two and
three yuan a bunch (10 stems) but he was now selling them for between 14 and 15
yuan. At the Lianmeng Shangyi Flower Market in central Kunming, white
chrysanthemums have replaced red roses and pink lilies. Traders were busy
tidying up chrysanthemums that had just arrived from farms in nearby Chenggong
county, the major flower production base in Kunming. A woman bundling white
chrysanthemums in front of her stall said she expected prices to increase by
50per cent, from the usual 10 yuan to 15 yuan a bunch. Known as "The World's
Garden", Yunnan produces more than 2,500 flower species and its flower industry
is growing by 30 per cent a year. Kunming, the provincial capital, provides half
of China's fresh-cut flowers. KIFA was established in 2002 in an attempt to
follow in the footsteps of the world's biggest flower producer, the Netherlands.
It introduced a new flower trading system, suggesting a maximum price, where
bidding starts, and a minimum for each species. Buyers come from across the
mainland and also overseas, including Japan, Korea, Singapore and Russia.
According to KIFA's 2009 rose trading report, average prices and trading volumes
increased by 13.2 per cent last year. Zhao, the KIFA staff member, said weddings
and Valentine's Day were the two occasions that consumed most of the fresh
flowers in China. But Valentine's Day had been exceptional this year because
supply was tighter, he said. The trading volume of roses in the first half of
February dropped by nearly half compared with the same period last year - from
four million yuan to two million yuan. And unlike previous years, when prices
slumped after Valentine's Day, they had remained steady this spring because of
the drought. "Even class C and D carolas are selling for 25 yuan a bunch. Not a
low price at all," Zhao said.
Workers put final touches to
decorations in China Pavilion at World Expo site in Shanghai, east China, March
30, 2010.
