Today's Shanghai | News(1998)

September

The 49th National Day celebration starts from October 1. People of all walks of life are entitled to having two days off.

'98 (The Seventh) Shanghai Nation-wide Commodities Fair will be held from October 14 to 17. So far the 1,400 booths have been fully booked.

High schools and primary schools citywide will adopt English Proficiency Test (EPT). It is the first pilot program throughout the country. College students have been taking CETs (College English Tests) for years.

In an effort to preserve more natural land, Shanghai Environment Protection Bureau has formulated new plans to increase the area of natural preservation areas to 40,000 hectares.

Beginning October 1, local travelers will have more trains to Nanjing in Jiangsu Province and Hangzhou in Zhejiang Provinces. These two provincial capitals are two of the most popular destinations for local tourists.

Shanghai has set up a human genetic center as part of its drive to propel the city's biotechnology and modern medicines industry.

The commencement of San Francisco Week in Shanghai on September 24 will further enhance the relationship between this two sister cities in the future.

Shanghai is expected to invest an additional US$36 million expanding its power transmission and distribution industry.

Shanghai will take the lead in the country by installing energy-efficient windows in residential buildings. Beginning from October 1, housing projects in Shanghai will be banned from using steel casements windows.

Shanghai Sunrise, a charity group funded by local expatriates, presented full scholarships to 117 children during a recent ceremony at Hilton Hotel.

The city's supervision sector has uncovered 479 cases of violations against Party rules and administrative laws over the past year.

Ireland plans to strengthen its economic co-operation with Shanghai, especially in the computer software sector, visiting Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern said.

The city is beefing up its efforts in protecting the environment. It plans to complete a series of large environmental projects such as cleaning up the Suzhou Creek and dredging urban rivers.

A dozen of roller-coaster rides in amusement parks in the city has been found failing to meet national safety standards. They were ordered to shut down. The crackdown on such rides came after an accident in Zhabei Park last month.

Shanghai Municipal Government honored 23 expatriates on September 16 for their contribution to the city's economic and social development.

Dazhong Taxi opened a new 800 number--toll-free telephone service--last weekend in an effort to attract more passengers. Before that, passengers have to pay additional cost for ordering a taxi in advance.

To demonstrate its commitment to the development of the community in which it operates, DuPont, the American chemical giant, opened a "DuPont House" in the Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone in Pudong on September 15 to showcase quality daily-use goods made from DuPont materials.

The U.S.'s newly imposed regulation to control Chinese imports packed in wooden crates will not only affect China's exports to the US, but also hinder bilateral trade relations, local officials and expert said recently.

The Shanghai Public Security Bureau arrested a 22-year-old graduate student on a charge of sabotaging a computer information network. It will be the first reported hacking case since the amended Criminal Law was implemented on October 1, 1997.

Shanghai is mapping out a plan that is intended to tap more marine resources to propel its economy. Last year, the city produced US$4.2 billion worth of marine products.

China International Travel Trade Fair will be held in Shanghai from October 29 to November 1. It is expected to set up more than 930 booths.

The city's IT industry recently held a working meeting, hammering out the timetable to solve the "Year 2000 Problem". So far Shanghai's interconnected computer networks consist of 100 mainframes, 1,000 servers and a million PCs.

At a gathering on Teachers' Day (September 10) to reward 263 outstanding local teachers, Shanghai Deputy Party Secretary Gong Xueping said the city should provide teachers with better housing.

During the first eight months this year, Shanghai exported more than US$10.9 billion worth of goods, up 10.4% from the same period last year.

Six more medical teams have left for the flood-stricken areas in Hunan province. They will all work on the embankments along the Yangtze River where flood victims congregate.

'98 Shanghai Urban Energy International Symposium was held on September 10. More than one hundred experts, at home and abroad gathered at the World Museum Hotel.

Shanghai Customs has nominated 335 "trustworthy firms" for their quality products and management and will provide them with special treatment in handling imports and exports.

Songjiang is still a hot place for overseas investment despite the Asian flu. Last month, the county attracted more than US$60 million in overseas funds.

Shanghai needs more technology brokers to push forward its technology market, which is considered an important step in developing local high-tech industries.

Volunteering has been gaining momentum in Shanghai. More than 5,000 people, mostly university students, signed up on Sunday for volunteering work for the '98 World Middle School Students Games which is to be held on October 12-19.

Local exporters are teaming up with universities and research institutes to set up R & D centers in order to develop competitive products for the global market.

A new generation of video technology that is expected to replace VCD (which stands for video CD) has recently emerged. It is called SVCD, namely Super VCD. It promises better delivery of clear images.

The municipal police department recently raided the cybercafes all over the city and confiscated hundreds of obscene CDs. As far there are more than 1,000 cybercafes of all kinds in the city, only 157 have registered with the police department.

Party Secretary Huang Ju visited the Anti-Drugs Picture Display. He emphasized that more anti-drugs publicity will help facilitate the country's anti-drugs campaign. The display themed "Love life, Refuse drugs" has so far attracted thousands of local residents.

The municipal police department's computer monitoring office recently announced measures to prevent the outbreak of CIH virus, a malicious computer virus that infects executable programs with Windows 95 and Windows 98. CIH is said to break out on the 26th each month.

21 volunteers recently left for Yunan Province's rural areas to help the local poor. It is part of the city's efforts to offer helps to the in-land province.

Shanghai will use information technology to push forward its economic growth and social development. Mayor Xu Kuangdi said on Wednesday the government will fully adopt IT into its industrial and social sectors over the next 10 to 12 years.

Shanghai estimates that US$31.3 billion worth of investment will be needed over the next three years to make the city's industrial sector tech-intensive.

By clarifying the definition of laid-off workers, labor authorities have finally outlined the situation of downsized workers, counting their number to 129,700 by the end of June.

As soldiers and civilians fight the eighth flood crest in the middle- and lower-reach of Yangtze River, Shanghai citizens and enterprises continue to donate necessities to the flooded areas.

Meditech China '98, an international exhibition and conference on medical, hospital equipment and supplies, opened on Wednesday at Shanghai Exhibition Center.

Beginning September 1 Shanghai will increase the monthly rents of the public- owned housing as part of its efforts to encourage people to buy the public property outright from the government.

The city plans to spend US$4 billion on projects to improve the local environment by 2000, Mayor Xu Kuangdi recently said. It is part of the city's sustainable development strategy.

Back>>>