Construction speeds up
火炬(翔安)产业区工程狂飙突进
Photo by Lin Shize



The construction of the Xiamen Xiang'an Torch Industrial Zone is speeding up. 900,000 m3 of earth was levelled in just 25 days, which was originally scheduled to be finished within the next 6 to 7 months. The Auto City inside the industrial zone is a key project in Fujian. The 7 companies based there have invested a total value of RMB 1.95 billion.

 

 

Economics

60% CIFIT projects last year implemented
投洽会六成签约落实
Of the 49 projects whose contracts were clinched during the CIFIT last year, 31 have been implemented, representing a contract performance rate of 63.28%. Statistics indicate that the Xiamen trade delegation signed contracts for 49 foreign investment projects at the CIFIT last year, worth USD 2.75806 billion, with the combined amount of contracted foreign capital totaling USD 2.3936 billion.

World's largest UPS supplier establishes presence in Xiamen
全球最大UPS供应商进驻
Xiamen Torch High-tech Zone has attracted another internationally recognized business. APC (Xiamen) Electrical Equipment Co Ltd, an investment by the world's largest UPS supplier US-headquartered APC Corporation, has officially established a presence in Tongji Park of Xiamen Torch High-tech Zone. APC Xiamen has made a total investment of USD 25 million and will start production in October.

Software talent in hot demand
软件人才供不应求
Statistics provided by the Personnel Market show that last week the local computer industry provided 1,869 job openings, while the number of candidates seeking jobs in this industry totaled 1,718. Industry insiders predict that the demand for talent with computer skills will continue to grow.

Supermarket to open in Xiamen University community
大卖场将开进厦大社区
The history of no supermarket in the vicinity of Xiamen University will soon come to an end. The New Huadu Shopping Mall will open its 3rd outlet in Xiamen in the University Town residential complex across from Xiamen University. The new outlet will have a shopping floor area of 4000-plus square meters.

No more moon cakes with sky-high prices this year
今年将难觅"天价月饼"
Under the Draft of National Standards on Moon Cakes, which was published by the Standardization Administration of China on July 18, and is expected to be promulgated in the upcoming autumn, local moon cake makers will bid farewell to moon cakes with a hefty price tag. The maximum price of moon cakes of top brands has been capped at RMB 400, and moon cakes costing RMB 1000 or more apiece will vanish from the market.

"Gulong", "3 Circles" rated as premium brands
"古龙""三圈"荣升"中国名牌产品"
"Gulong"-branded pork cans of Xiamen Cannery and "3-Circles"-branded batteries of Xiamen Three Circles Co Ltd have been awarded the title of "Premium Brands of China" by the China Commission for the Promotion of Branding Strategies. To date, 13 products of 10 local enterprises, including XOCECO color TV sets have received this title.

"Sanvu" costs Xiamen RMB 28 million
"珊瑚"刮掉厦门2800万元
Heavy rains brought by typhoon Sanvu has cost Xiamen direct economic losses valued at RMB 28 million, however, thanks to sufficient precautionary measures put in place and the emergency evacuation of 17,300 local residents, no casualties resulted from Sanvu.

 

 

Society

Sewage pipe network construction receives funding support
污水管网建设获支持
The construction of the city's sewage pipe network has again received a state financial support of RMB 12 million, which will ease Xiamen's funding pressure for sewage pipe network construction and make it possible to speed up the construction of municipal infrastructure facilities off the island.

Enjoy local scenery from double-decker
乘双层巴士看鹭岛美景
The city's transportation authority plans to open a sightseeing double-decker route in mid-September. This new route will run through the Island Ring Road, the ferry terminal and leading tourist attractions in the downtown area. The route starts and ends at the Airport Hotel in the vicinity of Gaoqi Airport. A round trip will take three hours and costs RMB 20 per person.

Intelligent traffic lights to be installed
红绿灯将智能化
In response to complaints made through the mayor's hot line by a local resident about the unsound design of traffic lights, Zheng Dongqiang, Deputy Chief of Xiamen Public Security Bureau has said that the problem will be solved by installing intelligent traffic lights in Xiamen. So far, Bailuzhou Road already has intelligent traffic lights.

Earthmoving trucks to wear hats
土方车"戴帽"方可上路
Earthmoving trucks tend to cause public annoyance as they spread dust when driving down the road. This problem will soon be solved with the decree that all such trucks must be refitted by Oct 1st this year before they can hit the road again. According to the city's Urban Management & Law Enforcement Bureau, Xiamen is home to 200-plus earthmoving trucks and over 20 of them have been refitted with a "hat" over their loading platform.

Domestic and overseas mayors to gather in Xiamen in October
数十位海滨城市市长将莅厦
Xiamen will host the 2005 Xiamen International Forum for Coastal Cities in early October. The forum will attract mayors from 30-plus renowned foreign coastal cities and 20-plus domestic coastal cities. Local authorities plan to continue to host the forum in the years ahead in order to create a "water festival" here in Xiamen.

 

 

City News
Edited by Lily

Beijing 北京

Olympic mascot to be unveiled soon
奥体吉祥物即将揭晓
The mascot of the 2008 Olympic Games will be unveiled in the near future. Beijing launched a worldwide campaign last year to seek the mascot for the 2008 Olympics. Images that have been suggested include the "Monkey King", the widely loved figure in China's noted classic work "Journey to the West"; others are of a panda and a Tibetan antelope, two of the country's most treasured animals.

"Tomb" names puzzle many
路名"坟"字太多
The question of whether to change or not turned out to be a headache for Beijing's road authority, which has received repeated criticism over the city's numerous bus stop names containing the Chinese character "fen," or tomb in English. There are in total 35 place names including "fen" in the capital. Most of the criticism has come from people that are from other parts of the country as well as some superstitious locals who are worried that living near a place with "fen" in the name will bring about bad luck. Some even took advantage of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, saying a place containing "fen" won't be accepted by foreign travelers.

Shanghai 上海

New TV show looks for tomorrow's entrepreneurs
新频道打造明日商界之星
More than 10,000 up and coming "entrepreneurs" from around the country have registered for the "Wise Man Takes All" competition, China's first reality television show promoting young business start-ups. Around 300 have been chosen to participate in the competition in Shanghai. After the first round of competition, 16 participants will be selected to go through to the televised knockout stages. The winner will be awarded 1 million yuan (US$123300) to invest in his or her business plan. In Shanghai, most participants are aged between 20 and 30.

Free premarital check-ups offered
婚前体检免费
Shanghai Municipal Government will offer free premarital medical check-ups, throughout its jurisdiction, to couples amidst concerns that the absence of such checks could lead to a rise in birth defects. Couples only pay for the part of the test that involves testing for HIV and other procedures that are beyond routine testing. After the check-up, the doctor will give the couple a report card that says whether or not they are suitable, or temporarily unsuitable for marriage. Couples with curable reproduction-related diseases will be advised to postpone their marriage.

Police get tough on SMS texts
警方严控不良手机短信
The Shanghai police began to accept tip-offs regarding spam messages in response to the rising number of related fraud cases. Police discovered some mobile users had replied to messages with offers such as a free lunch, the recepient would be told that they only had to cover the cost of delivery... The fraudsters would disappear after the money was paid into designated accounts. Co-operating with local telecommunications operators and banks, the police may notify telecom operators to terminate the sender's service and for banks to freeze the accounts mentioned in such messages.

Guangzhou 广州

Children banned from buying lottery tickets
未成年人不得买彩票
Guangzhou has just issued a law banning children under the age of 18 from buying lottery tickets. The ban is aimed at preventing young people from getting hooked on the lottery, and becoming distracted from their studies. Guangzhou sells more lottery tickets than any other Chinese city, and it is the first place to set an age limit.



Air quality below par
空气质量低于标准
Guangzhou was the only city in the province that didn't meet the national standards for sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and breathable particles. The air quality of the province is getting better, but acid rain is still a major environmental problem for the province. Guangzhou has more than 1.74 million registered automobiles. It's planned to give financial rewards to people who stop using their cars before the service lives of their cars have ended.

Refined oil supplies to increase
增加供应精炼油
The recent oil shortage prompted many petrol stations in the city impose a supply quota of around 100 yuan (US$12.33) on each vehicle for every petrol-station visit over the past half month, while many others restricted supplies to their bulk-use customers such as bus companies or taxi firms. Sinopec will supply 40,000 tons and the China National Petroleum Corp, a further 11,000 tons of refined oil each day.

Breakfast stalls increase
增加早餐售点
About 50 safe breakfast stalls emerged in Guangzhou after a three-month trial in the Haizhu District at the end of May. The stalls had a uniform appearance and offered various types of food for the same price. The safe breakfast company provided dealers with food on demand, and retrieved all of the goods that dealers failed to sell before noon each day for disposal, ensuring that no expired food was on sale. Dealers had to pay 60 percent of the costs while the remaining 40 percent was covered by the company.

Chongqing 重庆

American WWII veterans visit
美二战老兵重游"故乡"
More than 50 American Second World War veterans and their relatives arrived in Chongqing to revisit their "second hometown". They are among the 262 American veterans and their relatives who came to China to attend ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of China's victory in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, and the global defeat of fascism.Most of the visiting American veterans did not live in Chongqing during the war, but they love Chongqing very much as they flew over it frequently.

Biggest Dairy product processing facility
三峡坝区建最大奶制品厂
The biggest Dairy product processing facility in the Three Gorges dam area will be built in Kai County. 10,000 cows will be raised, a feed-processing plant, dairy product processing plant, cow research Institution, and a training center will also be built. When the project is completed, it will give local farmers many opportunities to increase their incomes.

Hong Kong 香港

Issues "4 great inventions" stamps
发行四大发明邮票
Hong Kong Post issued a set of special stamps featuring the "Four Great Inventions of Ancient China."(the compass, printing machine, gunpowder and papermaking) The concept of the set of special stamps came from a middle school student who suggested the idea to Hong Kong Post, who solicited themes for stamp designing two years ago.



Employment reaches record high
就业率创新高
Hong Kong's total employment during the period from May to July this year reached an all-time high of 3.37 million. Despite this further expansion in total employment, the total labor force has expanded at an even faster rate due to the increased number of graduates and school leavers entering the labor market, which has reversed the downtrend in the unemployment rate seen in the preceding several months.

Taipei 台北

Probe of Taiwan election shooting ends
台选枪击案调查结束
Taiwanese investigators announced Wednesday that they have ended a probe into last year's election-eve shooting, with the conclusion that the shooting was not directed or staged by the campaigners, incumbent leaders Chen Shui-bian and Lu Hsiu-lien. However, media reports have questioned the official version of events and raised doubts, including why Chen was found wrapped in a fishing net and why the gun used in the shooting has not been found.

Fujian strives to help Taiwan compatriots
福建力助台胞
Fujian Province has established an initial network of legal protection for Taiwan compatriots in southern China's costal region. As a station for many Taiwan compatriots, Fujian Province has passed more than 10 laws and regulations regarding the protection of Taiwan compatriots and has become one of the most attractive places for Taiwanese overseas investment.


Vocabulary
clinch 钉牢
implement 执行
annoyance 烦恼
precautionary 预防的