Today's Shanghai | News(1998)

November

The capital of East China's Zhejiang Province is planning to seek more foreign investment and strengthen its co-operative ties with Shanghai next year, said Hangzhou Mayor Wang Yongming.

One hundred new bookstalls that will sell newspapers and books have been making their debut on city streets. They features large glass windows and electrical screens.

The city's air quality last week was worse than the previous week. The average API (short for Air Pollution Index) for sulfur dioxide in the week fell 17%, but the average API for TSP (short for total suspended particles) and nitrogen oxide climbed 3% and 26% respectively.

Shanghai now can use petroleum from the East China Sea as energy to fuel its factories thanks to the development of four oil wells by the Shanghai Petroleum Corporation.

Shanghai, the country's leading industrial and commercial center, has invested heavily in technology in recent years. Latest statistics from the Shanghai Municipal Statistics Bureau indicate that the city injected US$60.4 million in the R&D sector last year.

Health experts are urging people to improve their lifestyles and change their diets for better health. A survey of 100,000 people has revealed that high blood pressure, hyperlipemia, diabetes and obesity are the leading diseases in Shanghai.

Songjiang Industrial Zone, a suburban development zone that highlights "high technology", has approved 16 foreign-invested enterprises and attracted US$150 million since July.

Shanghai will develop the urban industry in the next three years as part of its strategy to restructure local industries, a senior industrial official recently said.

Foreign trade enterprises will start to use digital ID cards on January 1, 1999 when dealing with customs offices.

November 24 marks the 100th anniversary of the late chairman Liu Shaoqi's birth. A series of activities were dedicated to his commemoration, including seminars on his thought.

The city's anti-smuggling efforts have paid off. It handled 374 cases directly related to smuggled goods worth US$5.8 billion during the first ten months this year.

Shanghai has worked out a strategy to highlight its food processing industry with raw material from local farms. The city now has 16 million people relying heavily on food from other parts of the country.

Foreign companies, especially small-sized enterprises, have become one of the focuses of the Shanghai Labor ad Social Insurance Bureau for delaying their contribution to pension funds.

Shanghai Environmental Sanitation Bureau will reinforce its efforts to administer all the 12,000 dumpsters in the city proper and keep them clean.

A recent survey of 300 primary and high school students revealed an average of 6.7 45-minute periods every weekday, with 80% of them spending an additional 1.6 periods for individual study.

The Leonid meteor shower didn't occur on the morning of November 18 although there were over one thousand star-gazers gathered on a platform in Shanghai Sheshan Observatory.

More Chinese kids can now enjoy the American TV series "Sesame Street" as 30 domestic TV stations start broadcasting it this month.

Privacy has never been part of Chinese life. However, a local woman is considering seeking US$30,220 claim in compensation with the Physical Ladies' Club for an alleged breach of privacy.

Shanghai must take great pains to stimulate Shanghai residents' ability in creating and developing new technology if it wants to be competitive in the world, Mayor Xu Kuangdi recently said.

The People's Bank of China, the central bank, unveiled its first regional mega-branch in Shanghai on November 18. This is the first move in its drive to replace all provincial branches with just nine regional branches.

China's steel industry will enter into a new era of development as its largest iron and steel complex, Shanghai Baosteel Corporation, was set up on November 18 in Shanghai.

During the past 10 years, diabetes cases have been increasing at a rate of 50%, according to a recent conference release. There are more than 750,000 people nationwide who suffer from diabetes.

A cold spell from the north has hit the city. The highest temperature on November 17 dropped 11.7 degrees, to 15.3 degrees centigrade. But it is expected to rebound in a day or two.

Shanghai has witnessed an increasing role of sectors other than the public-owned economy in the past two decades. According to local statistics bureau, non-public sectors contributed 22.9% to the city's GDP in 1997.

Government officials say that it might be possible to open Metro Line II next year because workers have dug a one-way tunnel (from Zhongshan Park to Longdong Road) 100 days ahead of schedule.

Shanghai will continue to strengthen its economic co-operation and exchanges with the Republic of Korea (ROK) in efforts to boost mutual prosperity, said Xu Kuangdi in meeting ROK President Kim Dae-jung on November 14.

The US$5.4 billion in foreign funds used to launch 1,211 projects in the first ten months this year has stimulated the growth of the local economy. The total investment is 18.8% higher than that of the same period last year.

Shanghai will convene its annual science forum from November 17 to 20 in a bid to stimulate its economic development. Sponsored by the Shanghai Association for Science and Technology, the forum will take "new era's challenges to science and technology" as its theme.

The local lottery prize has amounted to 1 million yuan (US$120,480). Since early April this year, 14 people in Shanghai have become millionaires overnight through buying social welfare lottery tickets.

Shanghai plans to build an island-based pilotage station at the estuary of the Yangtze River as part of its efforts to turn the city into an international shipping center.

More than 30 suspects have been arrested and 31 cars confiscated in the biggest car-theft ring ever uncovered in the city, according to the Police Department of Putuo District.

Students at 10 Chinese top-flight universities can soon choose courses at other universities in the country. These universities include Beijing University, Qinghua University, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Nanjin University, Zhejiang University, Fudan University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Hong Kong University, Hong Kong Chinese University and Hong Kong Science & Technology University.

Shanghai's architects are exploiting the city's vast underground space. Underground tunnels and subways are proof of their efforts. However, Shanghai still lags behind in this aspect when compared with other international megacities.

The city will implement a set of new rules on December 1 to regulate local residents' marriage with foreigners and citizens in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

The Seventh Shanghai TV Festival opened on November 8. One of its major events, The International TV Program Fair, attracted 700 TV and radio corporations from 34 countries and regions.

Shanghai's economy enjoyed faster growth last month, reaching US$4 billion in GDP (gross domestic product). This is an increase of 10.7% over the same period last year.

Under a revised pension system, the Shanghai Labor and Insurance Bureau is distributing pensions to 400,000 retired workers.

Shanghai now boasts of 1,373 wholesale markets that deal in a great variety of commodities. There were 1,173 such markets last year.

More local residents are participating in sports and physical exercises. A recent survey revealed that 81.4% of the subjects exercise regularly.

The percentage of people who have sexual relations before marriage has continually risen in Shanghai. About 70% of women who undertook a health examination before marriage admitted to having pre-marital sex.

Local residents now spend more money o education, entertainment, tourism and phones, a recent survey showed.

CHINABEX '98, an international exhibition of building materials and equipment, and CIHEX '98, a hardware show, were recently held at Shanghai International Exhibition Center.

A workshop on curtailing toxic emissions from combustion engines was held on November 4-5 in Shanghai. The workshop featured turbocharging technology, a key innovation in reducing car emissions.

The city's environment projects in curbing pollution have proved effective. Such projects include dredging Suzhou Creek, establishing a citywide sewage discharge network and cleaning urban rivers.

The Shanghai Sunlight Project has distributed US$377,000 in subsidies to another 48 scholars from 24 local universities to continue their research.

Shanghai will continue its open policy to promote its economic development, Mayor Xu Kuangdi said at the International Business Leaders' Advisory Council for the Mayor of Shanghai.

Shanghai will speed up the development of its service industry in the next decade in order to reach US$10,000 GDP per capita.

A China Eastern Airlines' passenger plane made a successful emergency landing on November 2 with only one wheel left in its forward undercarriage. All people on board the plane were safe.

Starting from November 1, the price of Xinmin Evening News, one of the major local newspapers, would be revised. The newsstand price would increase from US$0.06 to US$0.12. The price increase is an effort to cut financial losses.

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