Fishing boats dismantled
渔船拆解



A project to dismantle and dispose of fishing boats organized by the Siming District Government and the Xiamen Marine Bureau began on January 5. Due to low productivity, the Xiamen government has been encouraging workers in the fishing industry to shift to other careers. The project will last 10 days, with 250 fishing boats to be dismantled.

 

 

Economics

Three local brands recognized
3商标获中国驰名商标称号
Three Xiamen-based brands, Gulong, Xiagong and Shishi, have recently been awarded the "Famous Chinese Brand" title. This means seven Xiamen brands have now been honored. Previous recipients were XOCECO, Yinlu, Huierkang and Chengshin.

1/3 internet cafes unprofitable
1/3网吧不赚钱
It's a common perception among the general public that internet cafés are highly profitable businesses. In reality, they are having a hard time financially. According to industry insiders, one third of internet cafes in Xiamen are losing money, while the rest are just breaking even or making a small profit. The lack of profits has been attributed to excessively rigid modes of operation. Diversification has been suggested as a solution.

Mid-price cars sales brisk
中档车年终俏销
Statistics from Xiamen Traffic Administration Department show that 1,009 4-door saloons were sold in Xiamen in the December 1-20 period of last year, jumping 49% on November's figures. Mid-price cars enjoyed the best sales, with waiting lists until late March 2006 for some models.

Banking profits up
金融机构家家赢利
The latest figures show that as of the end of November 2005, the balance of deposits in RMB and foreign currencies with local banking institutions totaled RMB 157.9 billion, up RMB 25.8 billion on early 2005. The balance of loans stood at RMB 118.5 billion, up RMB 16.4 billion. All local banking institutions made profits last year, with total profits for the sector estimated at RMB 2 billion.

Thai Expo opens
泰国食品展销
The Thai Food & Products Expo is scheduled for January 14 and 15 on the second floor, Bldg 6, Xiamen Hotel. The products on display at the expo will include jasmine rice, Thai cuisine, herbal drinks and handicrafts, all sold at wholesale prices.

 

 

Society

5-star parks named
6家公园首获"五星"
The list of Xiamen's first group of star-rated parks has been published. Of the 20 parks on the list, six have received 5-star ratings: Xiamen Botanical Gardens, Zhongshan Park, Sunlight Rock and Shuzhuang Garden on Gulangyu, Huli Park and Nanhu Park.

Digital studio built in Xiamen
一流数码摄影棚落户厦门
The 2005 China Game Industry Annual Conference will take place in Xiamen on January 11-13. Xiamen has spent huge sums on building an action capture studio in the software park. The studio, one of the best in Asia, is equipped with 32 cameras at different heights for the production of 3D animated pictures based on the movements of real actors.

Icy Spring Festival
"冰雪嘉年华"春节开幕
During Spring Festival an ice and snow carnival will be staged in the tourist area at Haicang Bridge. Visitors will be able to play with snow and enjoy ice sculptures. An ice warehouse is under construction, and soon ice makers and ice will be procured, sculptures carved and a stage erected. The carnival will open on January 29.

Taxi cabs to be sauna bathed
给出租车蒸"桑拿"
Yinghua Taxi Co Ltd has built a "vehicle cleaning and inspection center" at a cost of RMB 1 million. At the center, taxi cabs will be sterilized every three days and sauna bathed every month in order to ensure a clean and safe ride for passengers.

Packed trains expected
铁路春运今年特别挤
The railway administration department estimates that 506,000 passengers will depart from Xiamen Railway Station during the 2006 Spring Festival peak travel period (January 14-February 22), up 7% over the same period last year. The travelling students and migrant workers will cause the surge in numbers.

Rental cars booked up
春节出行租车紧张
Although Spring Festival is nearly one month away, local car rental companies which provide rental cars for use during the holidays are booked solid. All cars had been rented out before the end of December last year.

English language website launched
厦大国际招生英文网开通
Xiamen University has set up an English language website. University authorities hope the site will be a platform for communication and information to give international students greater insight into Xiamen and Xiamen University. Anyone interested is welcome to visit the website: www.admissions.xmu.edu.cn (university intranet) and admissions.xmu.edu.cn (public network). There are currently more than 1,000 students from over 60 countries studying at Xiamen University, on some 30 programmes.

 

 

City News
Edited by Lily

Beijing 北京

Drops out of top 10 "best city" list
"十佳居住城市"北京落榜
In a recent survey, Beijing was rated 15th best place to live in China, losing points because of its bad traffic, high housing prices and heavy pollution. Dalian was selected as China's most livable city, followed by Xiamen. Beijing was not the only well-known city to miss the top 10: Tianjin, Shenzhen, Xi'an and Guangzhou also lost out.

11 satellite cities planned
拟建11个卫星城
Beijing has drawn up a plan for the establishment of 11 satellite authorities in its suburbs. It is hoped that the cities will accommodate 5.7 million people in the near future. The move is an effort to make Beijing more livable and appealing by the time it hosts the Olympics in 2008. There will be at least one state-of-the-art comprehensive hospital, a college, a middle school and a primary school for each new satellite city. The cities will accommodate both migrants from other parts of the country and local farmers.

2.21% unemployment rate in 2005
去年城镇居民失业率2.21%
The urban unemployment rate in Beijing City is estimated to have been just 2.21 percent in 2005. At the end of 2005, the number of people in employment in Beijing reached 8.54 million, compared with 6.193 million at the end of 2000. This year, Beijing will strive to keep the urban unemployment rate under 2.5 percent, guarantee employment for 300,000 first time job seekers, and help 180,000 laid-off workers find new jobs.

Graduates lured to suburbs
鼓励毕业生郊区就业
Beijing has adopted a series of preferential policies and measures to encourage more graduates to seek employment in its suburban areas. Once appointed to new positions, graduates are required to sign a three-year contract with local township governments. Each of them will be paid 2,500 yuan per month on average and the local government will pay for their insurance.

Shanghai 上海

Detectives busy with prenuptial spying
私家侦探"婚前调查"生意火
A growing number of Shanghai residents are hiring private detectives to investigate their future spouse before walking down the aisle. Detectives will look into a potential spouse's education, criminal record, finances, family background, health and even talk to friends and co-workers to learn about their personality. An investigation usually lasts one to two weeks, depending on the client's requirements. Investigation techniques range from following the target to rather more complex, hi-tech methods.

Starbucks revails against Shanghai rival in court
中美"星巴克"对簿公堂
A Chinese court has sided with Starbucks, the American coffee house chain, in its trademark battle with a Shanghai rival, Xingbake Cafe Corporation. The Shanghai court said the Chinese firm engaged in what it calls "illegitimate competition" by using the name and imitating the design of Starbucks cafes. It's been ordered to pay Starbucks the equivalent of $62,000. Starbucks opened its first cafe in China in 1999. It has since added outlets in Beijing's imperial palace and even at the Great Wall.



Gold Exchange doing brisk business
黄金销量去年激增
A total of 906.42 tons of gold was traded at the Shanghai Gold Exchange in 2005, posting a year-on-year rise of 46.4 percent. The price of gold shot up from 114.76 yuan (about 14.34 dollars) per gram at the beginning of 2005 to 133.39 yuan (some 16.67 dollars) by the end of the year. Affected by increased prices for precious metals on the world market, the trading of precious metals at the Shanghai gold market has been on an almost unbroken upwards trajectory.

GM cuts prices
通用部分车降价
Shanghai General Motors has cut retail prices on some Buick and Chevrolet models. The prices on five Buick Regal models have been cut by between 20,000-26,000 RMB to 183,800- 284, 800 RMB.

Guangzhou 广州

Railway info center started
铁路旅客信息中心在建
Guangzhou's railway information center began construction on December 29, and is expected to begin service on January 14. It will provide information by phone and consulting services to the railway passengers.

New destinations from Baiyun airport
白云机场跻身世界50强
Over 235 million passengers passed through Baiyun airport in 2005, making it one of the top 50 airports in the world. It will inaugurate 50 new international routes in 2006. From 2006-2010, the airport plans to expand, build a transfer center for the exclusive use of FedEx, introduce full digital systems and improve other facilities. It aims to be among the world top 20 airports by the year 2015.

Buses to provide mobile TV
公交车上看电视
Half of Guangzhou's buses will provide mobile TV services by the end of this year. Passengers will be able to watch current news and weather forecasts in any of Guangzhou's 500 series buses. The mobile TV services have been welcomed by passengers, who are no longer forced to watch repetitive advertisements because of the conventional TV technology. There will be no extra charge for buses equipped with mobile TV.

Chongqing 重庆

Orange capital of Asia
将建亚洲最大产橘基地
Chongqing is building the largest orange cultivation area in Asia. The total sales of oranges in Chongqing last year were over one million tons. 60% of the oranges were high grade fruit, the highest rate in China.



Space flowers bloom
空中荷花地面开放
The first patch of lotus plants to have been brought back from the SkyLab space station have been in blossom for the past few days. The plants, at Hehua Mountain Villa in Dazu County, were sent into space by the owner at his own expense, and were brought back to earth by China's 21st recovered satellite.

Hong Kong 香港

Hong Kong director heads Cannes jury
王家卫出任"戛纳"评委主席
Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai will head the jury at the 2006 Cannes film festival, the first time that the honour has been awarded to a Chinese filmmaker. Wong said he was very honored to have been named as the president of the jury at this year's festival, which will take place at the upscale southern French resort from May 17-28.

World's most liberal economy
连续12年当选世界最自由贸易港
The Heritage Foundation (HF) has ranked Hong Kong as the world's freest economy for the past 12 consecutive years. Hong Kong's virtues include: its free port with no barriers to trade; low levels of government intervention; high degree of transparency; the rule of law; streamlined and uniformly applied business regulations; strictly enforced labor regulations; simple procedures for investing and running businesses; largely market-determined wages and prices; stringent protection of property rights; and low levels of informal market activities.

Sichuan poultry imports suspended
取消四川家禽进口
Hong Kong has announced the suspension of poultry and poultry meat imports from Sichuan Province after a confirmed H5N1 avian influenza outbreak in the area. At present there are no applications for poultry imports from Sichuan Province. If there were, they would not be processed for the time being to ensure food safety.

Taipei 台北

Colon cancer deaths rise
大肠癌成为健康第三号杀手
With deaths from cancer of the large intestine on the increase, health experts encouraged those with symptoms to seek early diagnosis and urged the public in general to eat plenty of fruit and vegetables. Among deaths from cancer in Taipei, cancer of the large intestine is the third biggest killer.

Cruise ships to visit Taiwan
"丽星"游轮有望复航辟新线
International cruise liners may call at Makung and Green Island, two of Taiwan's offshore tourist resorts, this year. The move is expected to boost tourist numbers to Taiwan. Star Cruises, which suspended its Taiwan route last year, will send ships to Keelung again this year and is likely to launch new routes to Makung and Green Island.

Zoos vie for pandas
岛内动物园争养大熊猫
Since the mainland announced the gifts of two pandas to Taiwan , a battle to house the two bears has already begun on the island. Taichung City and zoos in Taipei and Hsinchu all want the endangered animals. The mainland chose to offer two giant pandas to the island as a symbol of peace, unity and friendship.




Vocabulary
dismantle 拆除
jasmine 茉莉花
procure 取得
carnival 狂欢节
prenuptial婚前的
illegitimate违法的
upscale高消费阶层的
transparency 透明度
consecutive 连续的
large intestine 大肠