Thai Consular Office located in Xiamen
泰国领事办落户厦门
By Jean Chen
Photo by Yao Fan



Thai Consular Office has chosen No 3 building of Xiamen City Hotel as its location. The signing ceremony was held last week. It is the first consular representative of Thailand in Xiamen. It will mark a milestone on the way to strengthening the relationship between Thailand and Xiamen. The greatest advantage for tourists traveling via Xiamen to Thailand will be that they can obtain their visa to Thailand in Xiamen, within two days at no extra charge, instead of going to Guangdong.

 

 

Economics

EU automakers eye Xiamen-made parts and accessories
欧盟汽车商盯上厦门零部件
Xiamen, with its growing automobile, parts, and accessories industries, is drawing the attention of the EU, which homes the world's largest automobile industry. At the 2nd Xiamen Auto Expo, which is scheduled for September this year, some 36 purchasers of parts and accessories for the world's leading brands, such as Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Scania, will seek potential suppliers in Xiamen for auto parts and accessories.

G. Manager of Xiamen Xindeco appears on Forbes list
厦门信达总经理进"福布斯"
Chen Shuzhao, General Manager of Xiamen Xindeco Ltd., appeared on the list of the top 25 "Best Value for Money" bosses of China's public-listed companies, with Xindeco as one of the core teams under their leadership. Chen was ranked 17th by the Chinese version of the world's leading business magazine, Forbes.

Taiwanese fruit enters markets
台湾水果首入大卖场
Seven Taiwan-grown fruits, including wax apples and guavas, were recently put on sale in major marts in Xiamen for the first time. Market insiders said that Xiamen is the most convenient port for the import of Taiwanese fruits to the mainland, taking merely 24 hours for such fruits to arrive at Xiamen supermarkets after being picked in Taiwan.

Hong Kongese, Macanese, Taiwanese small commodities street to be built
要建"港澳台小商品街"
Since the arrival of the first self-employed businessmen from Hong Kong and Macao in Xiamen, a steadily rising number of Hong Kong and Macao residents have opened independently-owned shops here in Xiamen. According to the local authority for industry and commerce, Xiamen will have a Hong Kongese, Macanese and Taiwanese small commodities street by year's end, which will feature the commodities of these places.

Xiamen Gifts Expo to become the largest in China
厦门礼品展要做国内"老大"
The 3rd Xiamen Gifts Expo will open at Xiamen International Conference && Exhibition Center on July 2-5. With 1,200 international booths, the expo will attract an estimated 3,000 overseas buyers. Industry insiders say that Xiamen Gifts Expo, with its unrivaled superiority in industry clusters, will eventually replace the once prestigious Hong Kong and Taipei Gifts Expos.

 

 

Society

First "Quiet Residential Complex" to be built
创建首个"安静居住小区"
Huli District will take the initiative in building the city's first quiet residential complex, which will be based on the existing Jinshan Residential Complex. As the first of its kind in Fujian Province, the initiative is a major advancement by the State Environmental Protection Administration for the purpose of building sound high-standard living environments for residents.

Bullet-carrying air passenger punished
携弹登机被罚
Recently, an elderly woman who attempted to board a commercial plane with two rifle bullets in her luggage forfeited her ticket and was fined RMB 200 after the bullets were detected by airport security. The sixty year old Sichuan woman surnamed Kang, alleged that she had received the two bullets from one of her town fellows of the Tibetan ethnic minority group as souvenirs during her tour of Xiamen.

"Hospital on a Palm" to open
"掌上医院"将出现
Zhongshan Hospital will soon open its "hospital on a palm" in collaboration with Xiamen Mobile, allowing patients to make appointments with experts through text messages. So far, the text message platform has been developed and is now in trial operations.

Celebrating Sino-Filipino ties for 30 yrs
庆祝中菲建交30周年
On June 9, the Philippine Consulate held a ceremony to commemorate the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and the Philippines. Speaking at the Xiamen Bank Center, Madame Ye, the consulate general announced that a series of activities would be held to celebrate the occasion in the following days.

 

 

Education

Ph.D. candidates offered maximum RMB 20, 000 research subsidies
博士生搞科研最高资助2万元
In an effort to encourage students to conduct scientific research, Xiamen University will set up a special cultivation fund to provide RMB 10,000-20,000 subsidies for Ph.D. candidates with strong research capabilities. The university will use all resources available to develop its graduate students into a force for scientific research.

Enterprises provide part-time jobs for students
岗位助学得到企业支持
"Student Aids through Part-time Jobs," a brand-new student aid model jointly launched by the city's Charity Society and Xiamen Evening News, has received enthusiastic responses from local enterprises; many enterprises pledge to offer the safest and most appropriate part-time jobs to poverty-stricken students admitted to universities, with one enterprise offering as many as 300 such jobs.

 

 

City News
Edited by Lily

Beijing 北京

Cleaner air as steel giant leaves town
空气净化得益于钢铁大户搬迁
Beijing's air quality will be greatly improved by 2010 when Beijing Shougang Group, China's fourth largest steel manufacturer, has moved its plants to a neighboring province. With an expected annual production capacity of eight million tons, the new base, covering about 20 square kilometers, will be located on an island 80 km south of Tangshan, in Hebei Province, and will not damage the ecological environment there.

Monthly tickets for commuters to be abolished
建议取消月票
The prices of monthly tickets in Beijing are currently 40 yuan for the bus and 50 yuan a month for the subway. The government adds another 50 yuan towards each monthly ticket.
These cheap prices have put a heavy burden on the municipal government and have weakened the competitive edge of bus firms, which rely heavily on government support. It's planned now to bring in an integrated travel card for all public transport, replacing the monthly tickets.

Animal welfare safeguarded
保障动物福利
Though many people in China continue to see dog meat as a delicacy, some have begun to accept the idea of animal welfare. Recently created animal shelter rules cover stray animals, animals abandoned by their owners and animals in danger. Animal shelters in Beijing must provide food, drinking water and veterinarian services for the animals they accommodate, and take measures to prevent the animals from being injured, harassed and abused.

Shanghai 上海

Pudong Development Bank reveals new card plan
浦发银行推出新信用卡
The Shanghai Pudong Development Bank revealed its plan to issue credit cards in six more cities in China, bringing to ten the number of cities the bank can provide credit card services. The six cities are Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Nanjing, Ningbo and Suzhou. Shanghai Pudong Development Bank credit cards are supported by CITI Bank. The two banks signed a strategic cooperation agreement in 2002 and agreed to strengthen cooperation in product development.

1st mainland-made cargo ship for Taiwan is launched
"中华和平号" 驶往台湾
The first cargo ship, "Zhonghua Heping" (China Peace) built on the mainland for Taiwan left Shanghai. The ship is about the size of three football fields and is ten-story high. It carries the common wishes of the cross-Straits people for peaceful reunification. It was made by Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Limited under the order of Chinese Maritime Transport Company Limited in Taiwan. It ushered in a new era of cooperation in the cross-Straits shipping business.



British Airways flights touch down
英航新开上海伦敦直航
The arrival of BA's first Boeing 777 passenger flight at Pudong International Airport marked the British carrier's first new route in half a decade. It also launched a price war that will make passengers the ultimate winners, at least for a couple of months. The new flights will also increase competition among the three airlines that fly directly from Shanghai to London, which acts as a major gateway to Europe.

Little sex knowledge means more abortions
缺乏性知识导致过多流产
More than half of the women in Shanghai who had abortions last year did not use any reliable form of contraception. Fifty-four percent of the married women who had an abortion didn't use effective contraception and the figure soared to 80 percent among unmarried women. Abortion surgery can result in many other gynecological illnesses. What's more, it can cause psychological distress.

Guangzhou & Shenzhen 广州 & 深圳

Divorce rate reaches record high
粤离婚率创新高
An unprecedented 100,000 Guangdong residents were divorced last year. Both the number of divorcees and the rate of increase have broken records. Women were more active in divorce proceedings- making up 70 per cent of the cases filed. Work pressures, leaving little time for love, caused 60 per cent of family break-ups, a third of which happened because of infidelity. The remaining 20 per cent broke up because of poor sex lives or disparities in social status between couples. It's predicted this trend will continue.

Smart dolphin dies after stomach surgery
聪明海豚胃部手术后死亡
Guangzhou's smartest dolphin, a 7 year old, named L, died after veterinarians took a steel scrap from her stomach at Ocean World. She died of panic after the surgery. L was sent from Japan to Guangzhou's Ocean World in November 2003. She was the main performer in the dolphin show and was always nimble and hardworking.

New toys and gifts center to open
世界玩具礼品中心开业在即
The Guangzhou International Toys and Gifts Center located in Huangpu district is going to open soon. The government will provide easier procedures for shops moving in, as some shops are oversea companies. Made-in-Guangdong toys account for 70% of the national market. Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Chenghai and Foshan are key toy production areas, with the production volume accounting for over 50% of the world's total volume.

Chongqing 重庆

40, 000 people affected by heavy rain
四万人受困暴雨
More than 40,000 people and about 3,000 hectares of crops suffered from the heavy rainfall that hit Qijiang County of Chongqing recently. No casualties were reported thanks to early-warning efforts. Floods have also affected 1.8 million hectares and destroyed 614,000 hectares of farmland and damaged 137,900 houses.



Hong Kong 香港

Chicken restrictions eased for festival
鸡肉限制端午节解禁
Hong Kong lifted the ceiling on daily imports of live mainland chickens from June 8th to 10th to meet the surge in demand during the Dragon Boat Festival. The lift is being made only after securing commitments that public health conditions will be strictly observed and there will be no overstocking of live birds.
Hong Kong may cancel the lift if the threat of avian influenza arises. To minimize the risk of an outbreak at wholesale and retail outlets, The SAR government will strictly monitor markets for several days following the festive period.

International Airport receives top honor
国际机场获殊荣
The Hong Kong Airport Authority won the Best Airport Worldwide Award in the 2004 AETRA survey. AETRA is a year-round survey conducted at 48 participating airports, which measures passengers' experiences on the day of travel. HKIA ranked first in overall passenger satisfaction among both business and leisure travelers in the 2004 AETRA survey.

Taipei 台北

Taichung mayor promotes tourism in Beijing
台中市长北京促销旅游
Jason C. Hu, mayor of Taichung, the third largest city in Taiwan, said his ultimate goal in Beijing while attending the World Mayors' Forum is to promote travel to Taichung. Hu said he was optimistic about two developing events:: mainland people visiting Taiwan and the presentation of a pair of giant pandas to Taiwan as gifts. The Chinese mainland has recently taken a series of moves to strengthen links across the Taiwan Straits, which also includes opening the market to 18 Taiwan fruits and abolishing tariffs on 15 of them.

Fishermen protest Japan's occupation of disputed waters
渔民抗议日本占领争议水域
About 50 Taiwanese fishing boats staged a protest in the Suao Sea against Japan's occupation of the traditional fishing grounds of Taiwan fishermen. The protest is also aimed at directing Taiwanese authorities' attention to the issue. Japan has detained 13 Taiwanese fishing boats since 2001, and the boat owners and relatives of detained fishermen had to pay 4 million to 5 million Japanese yen for the release of the fishermen and their boats.

Vocabulary
accessory 附件
guava 番石榴
rifle 来复枪forfeit 放弃
allege 声称
contraception 避孕
gynecological 妇产科的
veterinarian 兽医
scrap 碎屑