A bigger base in China
林德公司更名
Photo by Liang Wei



September 12, 2005. Linde-Xiamen Forklift, the biggest forklift truck manufacturer in Asia, has announced that the company has changed its name to Linde (China) Forklift Truck Corp., Ltd, and simultaneously launched a brand-new company logo to replace the old one. The new logo uses the catchy combination of a unique red and brilliant white instead of the previous blue.

At the press conference, Mr Heinrich Winzl, General Manager/CEO of Linde (China), said, "China is one of the strategic areas for Linde's growth worldwide in the future." The strategy of the Linde Group is to build Linde (China) into Asia's largest production and sales base for materials handling equipments. Linde Group is headquartered in Germany but has initiated a long-term development plan in the Chinese market in order to boost the momentum of its development in China. This means increased investment in China. (By Enid)

 

 

Economics

Farmers' wallets grow fatter
农民"钱包"胀得快
Local farmers' per capita incomes in cash in the first half of 2005 reached RMB 3,815, up 9.72% year-on-year, which is the highest growth rate recorded in the last five years.

Construction of auto export base kicks off
汽车出口基地开工建设
The ceremony marking the start of construction of the Xiamen Auto Export Base and the Related Facilities Project was held recently. When the project is completed, the Auto Industry City will become one of China's leading car parts and components export bases. It will also be the largest large- and medium-sized passenger bus manufacturing base in the country and perhaps even in the world, with its production value expected to top RMB 20 billion per year.

Xiamen experiences fastest rise in power consumption in Fujian
用电量增速居全省首位
The statistics released by Xiamen Electricity Power Bureau on the rise of electricity consumption during the first eight months of this year show that Xiamen has had the fastest growth in power consumption in Fujian as the power demands of the city's leading industries surged.

Imported Taiwanese fruit to receive RMB 1000 subsidy per ton
进口台湾水果有奖励
In an effort to speed up the development of Xiamen into a distribution center for Taiwanese fruit on the mainland, local authorities will give a subsidy of RMB 1000 to enterprises importing Taiwanese fruit through Xiamen Port and to newly built Taiwanese fruit distribution markets. The subsidy will be paid from city public funds.

"Xiamen Premium Export Brands" to be nominated this week
"厦出口名牌"本周评选
In a bid to develop premium export brands, local authorities will start to nominate "Xiamen Premium Export Brands" this week. Enterprises appearing on the list will be eligible for Xiamen's preferential brand-building policies and be recommended to the Ministry of Commerce as potential "National Key Export Brands for Fostering and Development".

 

 

Society

Thai Consular Office opens to the public
泰国驻厦领事办对外办公
On September 20, the Thai Consular Office Xiamen, located in Villa 3 of Xiamen City Hotel, officially opened to the public. Working hours are 9:00-11:30 am and 3:30-4:30 pm. Applications for travel visas to the Kingdom of Thailand will take only two days to process. Questions and enquiries about Thailand are welcomed on 2027982.

Rubbish pile higher than Sunlight Rock
垃圾山高度超过日光岩
The rubbish landfill at Dongfu has reached a height of 100 meters, exceeding the height of Sunlight Rock, the Gulangyu landmark. It is now the highest rubbish tip in China. The newly expanded landfill will last only two more years, and the situation will be improved with the imminent opening of a sorting plant and an incinerator, which will greatly reduce the landfilling of rubbish.

Xiamen's public toilets second best in the country
公厕卫生位居全国第二
A recent survey on the sanitary condition of public latrines, which has been conducted in 31 cities throughout China by interviewing 3,434 permanent registered residents, shows that toilets in Shanghai, Xiamen, Hangzhou, Yichang, Qingdao, Shenzhen, Dalian and Chongqing, in that order, have the best sanitary conditions.

Nine teachers recognized for outstanding contribution
9教师获突出贡献奖
Nine middle school teachers in Xiamen have received the 2005 Awards for Outstanding Contributions to the Educational Sector. Each of the nine teachers received a cash award of RMB 8,000, which is the most generous award among the various prizes offered by educational foundations in Xiamen.

Parks to receive star rating by year end
公园年底将戴"星"
The Standards for the Star-rating of Local Parks (Provisional) have recently been officially released. The application procedures for the city's first group of "star-rated" parks will start next month, and the star rating process will be completed by the end of the year. The list of star-rated parks will then be published and such parks will be awarded a plaque to confirm their star rating.

Food court to open in October
美食广场十月开张
The largest space dedicated to gourmet cuisine in Southern Fujian will open in Xiamen in October. The food court, with an area of 6,000 sq. m., will be on the 5th floor of the SM Shopping Mall, and will include 56 specialist stores. All of the business space has already been leased, and furnishing and decoration are under way.

 

 

City News
Edited by Lily

Beijing 北京

Forbidden City to get full face-lift
紫禁城将全面翻修
1.5 billion yuan is to be spent on revamping the Forbidden City (the Imperial Palace or Palace Museum). The face-lift will repair old buildings, worn flooring and fading paintings as well as antique artworks and articles of historical interest that need protection. More than 80 percent of the palace will in future be open to the public, instead of the current one-third of the palace's total area.



Seeking world heritage listing for Mid-Autumn Festival
申报中秋节入"世遗"名录
China is seeking to have its Mid-Autumn Festival included on the World Heritage List. As one of the three major traditional Chinese festivals, Mid-Autumn is a celebration of reunification and harmony, key concepts in eastern spiritual philosophies. For more than 30 million Chinese living and working overseas, the Mid-Autumn Festival serves as a reminder of their Chinese origins. Listing this festival as a World Heritage celebration would help to unite overseas Chinese as part of a bid to promote Chinese culture.

Olympic volunteers covered by insurance
中保为奥运会志愿者投保
PICC Property & Casualty has underwritten the first batch of insurance policies for the volunteers of the 2008 Olympic Games after being named the insurance partner by the organizing committee. It becomes the 10th company to join the elite club of the 2008 Olympic partners, which includes Germany's automobile giant Volkswagen, Sinopec, PetroChina and Bank of China. There will be at least 100,000 volunteers working at the 2008 Olympics.

Shanghai 上海

Metro fares raised
地铁票涨价
Shanghai has raised metro fares in order to encourage more people to take buses to relieve the strain on underground trains. Fares in Shanghai are set by distance traveled. The lowest fare is for the first 6 kilometers, and prices go up by 1 yuan for each additional 10 kilometers after that. For trips longer than 28 kilometers, prices have either remained the same or dropped by 1 or 2 yuan (12-24 US cents).

Solar panels for building roofs
屋顶将安装太阳能板
Shanghai has approved a proposal to install thousands of solar panels on the roofs of office and apartment buildings, universities and nursing homes as part of a three-year plan to increase the use of green energy. Several landscaping lighting systems in the city's downtown area will also be powered by solar energy in the near future.

Thousands of extra home nurses planned
新增数千张老年家庭护理床位
Shanghai will provide home-based nursing for an additional 20,000 senior citizens by the end of this year. The city at present has only 40,000 beds in nursing homes for the elderly, and just 30,000 elderly people have access to nurses at home. By introducing a reverse mortgage system adopted in developed countries, homeowners can receive a monthly income in return for equity in their property.

1st cardiac treatment network established
设立国内首个心脏急救网
Shanghai is establishing the nation's first urgent treatment network for cardiac patients, in order to ensure that people who have had heart attacks or other cardiac problems can receive proper treatment no matter which hospital they are sent to. The city will promote the idea in other parts of China once the network is running.

Guangzhou 广州

E-airport in the making
白云机场将成首家电子机场
Guangzhou's Baiyun International Airport plans to become the country's first e-airport upon completion of its public data system in 2007. The system will enable passengers to get the latest information about the airport and flights, including ticket prices, flight delays and stores in the airport. Passengers will just have to log onto the system to find the information they require.

Residents to be relocated to protect historic buildings
为保文化遗址居民迁居
16 buildings with a total of 382 apartments on Shamian Island have been listed as heritage buildings to be protected. The residents of these buildings will have to move out. Over a three-year period from October 2005 to September 2008 they will be resettled by the government.

Taxi service to enter a digital era
的士服务步入数字时代
The Guangzhou Baiyun Taxi Group has installed a new digital management workstation in over 150 taxis to improve the quality of their service. The new digital taxis are equipped with GPS, Yangchengtong Card (Guangzhou stored-credit transport card) terminals and mobile TVs, creating a revolution in the taxi industry.

Auto imports drop by 50 percent
进口汽车前八月下降一半
In the first eight months of this year, car imports dropped by 50 percent compared with the same period of last year. The drop is blamed on a new tax policy, fuel shortages and consumers' expectations of further price declines. In addition, some global carmakers have set up factories in China and introduced a number of new models. In the middle and low-end markets, domestically produced cars are replacing imports.

Chongqing 重庆

Undergraduates get scientific research funds
本科生科研获资助
Southwest University of Political Science and Law has decided to dedicate a fund of 300,000 yuan every year to supporting scientific research by undergraduates. The move aims to encourage innovation and to improve undergraduates' research capabilities.

Exports of agricultural products increase
农产品出口上升
The export value of agricultural products from Chongqing was 121 million US dollars from January to August this year, an increase of 24.7% over the same period last year. The product showing the greatest increase in exports was tussah silk.

Hong Kong 香港

Free weekend newspaper launched
免费发行周末"特快邮报"
"Express Post", Hong Kong's first free weekend newspaper, was launched on September 17. It focuses on local news, tips for shopping and weekend leisure activities. At the end of 2004, there were 21 Chinese-language dailies, 13 English-language dailies, 7 bilingual dailies and 5 newspapers in other languages in Hong Kong.

Free influenza vaccinations
提供免费流感疫苗
The HKSAR government is to carry out its annual Influenza Vaccination Program from Nov. 7 to Dec. 31 this year, vaccinating a total of 250,000 people. The target groups include: elderly people living in residential care homes, long term residents of institutions for the disabled and people aged 65 or above with chronic illnesses that have been treated in public clinics.

Kaleidoscope lantern unveiled
万花筒灯饰展亮相
The first lantern in the world with a kaleidoscope function was revealed on September 14. It cost 2 million Hong Kong dollars, and is large enough for a visitor to walk inside.



Taipei 台北

Central bank may raise key interest rate
主要利率可能提高
Taiwan's central bank will probably raise its benchmark interest rate for a fifth successive quarter to keep inflation in check as higher oil costs force up pump prices and storm damage limits food supplies. Policy makers will probably increase the discount rate on 10 day loans to banks by a quarter of a percentage point to 2.25 percent.

Water-born infant dies
水中分娩护理不当婴儿死亡
Health authorities in Taiwan's Taipei County ordered a midwifery clinic to suspend operations for six months after improper care of a "water-born" baby led to its death. Investigations found that the baby boy was initially healthy, but began to turn pale 15 minutes after birth. In water births, the mother lies in a pool of warm water and the delivery takes place under the water. This form of delivery is said to ease the infant's entry into the world.


Vocabulary
simultaneously 同时地
component 部件
premium优质高价
incinerator 焚化炉
provisional 临时的
tussah 柞蚕
midwifery 助产术
benchmark 基准
kaleidoscope 万花筒
cardiac 心脏的