Common Talk Weeklyshuang yu zhou kan
issue date

Municipality, science, society, economics
October 29, 2003

Municipality

Section chiefs reachable by E-mail
处级领导开通便民电邮
The website of the municipal government has recently opened e-mail accounts for the city’s 2,000-plus officials at the section-chief level and higher and personnel engaged in information work. Local citizens can write directly to these government officials.

Local citizens contribute ideas
市民热情为公益献策
On October 8, the municipal party committee and municipal government jointly ran an advertisement on the local media to solicit public suggestions on public welfare undertakings for 2004; as of October 18, a total of 1,102 survey forms were received from the respondents, with 1,931 suggestions.

Science

Instructions issued within seconds
疫情处理指令数秒送达
The local government has recently completed the creation of the “Public Health Accident Information and Emergency Response System”, allowing top health officials to issue emergency instructions within seconds. Preparatory work for this system started in April, with an appropriation of RMB 870,000 from municipal financial revenues. Currently, the system is on a trial run at the city's Disease Control Center.

Society

Zhangzhou geological park opens
漳州地质公园开放
Construction of the first phase of the National Geological Park of Zhangzhou Coastal Volcano, located in the Fragrant Hill-Lin Jin Islet Sightseeing Area in Qianting Township, Zhangpu County, has recently been finished and is open to the public.

Tropical forest to be introduced
把热带雨林搬进鹭岛
Local residents will soon be able to enjoy a tropical forest right on the island. The Botanical Garden is currently drawing up a plan to build Fujian Province’s first tropical forest in Xiamen, with landscaping scheduled for next year and construction completion for the year after next.

Accredited overseas universities publicized
国外正规大学名单公布
The Ministry of Education has recently publicized two lists of accredited higher-education institutions from 21 countries on the “Educational Foreign-related Supervision Information Net”(www.jsj.edu.cn) and “China Overseas Studies Net (www.cscse.edu.cn). Chinese media had previously protested against the alleged fraudulence by some American universities which were offering academic programs in China but had never been accredited by the accreditation body in their home country.

Personal info required for air trips
买机票请填个人信息
Effective October 26, all air passengers are required to provide their personal information, including name, sex, nationality, number of valid identification document (national citizenship card, passport or other valid papers), contact phone and address, to the ticketing office. This is a requirement recently imposed by the Civil Aviation Administration of China and the Ministry of Health.

“Shuyou” put on list of national top 10
“舒友”跻身“全国十佳”
At the 4th China Gourmets’ Festival, Xiamen Shuyou was awarded the title of one of the top 10 restaurants in China, becoming the first one in Fujian Province to receive this honorary title. The vegetarian dish presented by Xiamen Nanputuo Temple Enterprise Society was named a “China’s Renowned Feast” at the festival.

Economics

More places to change currencies
兑换外币不用再“跑”银行
Starting on November 1, international tourists and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwanese compatriots, as well as local people going abroad, will have more places to change currencies. Some qualified local businesses are currently working on an agreement with banks to provide foreign currency exchange services at the port, airport, bus station, wharfs, major shopping establishments and hotels catering to international tourists.

Xiamen has its first foreign-funded property management company
首家外资物业公司进驻厦门
Xingong Property Management, the first foreign-funded property management company in Xiamen, recently started operations by signing service contracts with two local real estate developers, signifying the start of inroads by foreign-funded property management companies into the local market.

Local industrial performance index jumps to fifth slot nationwide
用工景气指数全国第五

Despite a host of unfavorable factors, including the restricted electric power use, in the 3rd quarter of this year, local industrial enterprises managed to turn in a “relatively good” performance, with the index gaining 5.91 percentage points over the 2nd quarter and 5.8 percentage points over the same period last year.

RMB 1 billion to build a photoelectron giant
10亿元建造“光电航母”
Cold lighting, which relies on semi-conductors for illumination, will soon have a large-scaled R&&D center and chip production line here in Xiamen. On the afternoon of October 20, Quanzhou San’an Group Corp., Lancaster Inc. and Siming District State Assets Investment Co., Ltd. signed a joint venture contract to build Xiamen Anmei Photoelectron Co., Ltd. A total investment of RMB 1 billion will be injected into the new venture.