Today's Shanghai | News(1999)

June

China Elecomm '99, a major telecom and information technology exhibition, opened on June 28 at the International Exhibition Center and at ShanghaiMart.

More than 120 overseas and domestic agents and representatives for publishers and copyright traders participated in the '99 Shanghai Book Copyright Exchange Salon which opened on June 28.

Shanghai Alzheimer's Disease Center was established recently in hopes of spreading the awareness of Alzheimer's disease and improving treatment of the disease.

Local customs confiscated 16,000 kilograms of whey powder from the Netherlands because of fears that it may be contaminated with dioxin.

Some 100 overseas Chinese and students from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan participated in the three-day college entrance examinations beginning on June 23 in the Shanghai Educational Examination Institute. In recent years more and more students from the three regions have applied for higher education in the mainland.

Since the opening of the hotline recruiting young people volunteering to donate blood on October 1, 1998, about 1,724 people have signed up and 75% of them of young people under the age of 35.

Now there are almost ten thousand local residents in Shanghai owning a private car which starts with the letter Z on the car plate.

In response to the diversity and demands of the Chinese auto market, Shanghai General Motors, a 50/50 JV between Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation and General Motors, announced plans for the production of the W-Wagon beginning in the year 2000.

Shanghai Pudong Development Bank announced last week its plan to grant loans to people wishing to study abroad from July 1 this year. The loan, the first of its kind in China, will be available from the bank's 17 branches in Shanghai, Beijing, Nanjing, Hangzhou and Ningbo.

The local food market is feeling the effects of the recent food scare surrounding contaminated dairy and poultry products imported from four European countries--Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and France.

A Super Kingair plane successfully landed at Pudong Airport on June 20, preluding a series of flight checks prepared for the routine operation of the airport scheduled to officially begin on October 1st.

Chinese National Human Genome Center (Shanghai), located at Zhangjiang Hi-tech Park, is making stable progress in its targeted basic research field.

Lucent Technologies announced recently that the company, together with Shanghai Jiaotong University, will establish a program offering a Master of Engineering degree beginning in September, 1999.

Dazhong Taxi will replace its cars once a year beginning July 1 offering more comfort and better service for passengers. The company now has about 4,500 taxis.

Shanghai Museum experienced an unprecedented scene over the weekend as tens of thousands of visitors lined up to view the ancient Egyptian treasures on display.

The first Y2K test nationwide will start at 12 o'clock on June 19 and end at 12 o'clock on June 20. All personal savings and business accounts including Renminbi and foreign currencies and Renminbi-related credit and saving cards will be denied computer network access.

June 18 is this year's Duan Wu festival which features zongzi-- glutinous rice with stuffed filling wrapped inside bamboo leaves. The traditional festival is set aside to commemorate an ancient Chinese poet, Qu Yuan.

A Sino-British research center dedicated to the technological, manufacturing process and development of China's automobile industry will soon be established in Shanghai.

Senior business executives and key government officials will gather in Shanghai on June 20 to discuss the critical issues impacting the city's business environment and the tasks needed to improve it.

Tickets have already been sold out for the approaching football match between Manchester United and the home team Shanghai Shenhua for the Sharp Cup '99 scheduled to be held at Shanghai Sports Center on July 21.

The Shanghai police department will launch a manhunt for escaped criminals from July to September by taking advantage of its sophisticated computer network.

A three-phase program for the development of an umbilical cord blood bank in Shanghai was drafted at a project feasibility meeting held recently at the Shanghai Blood Center.

Pudong New Area, the frontier of the State policy of financial opening up and reform, is to push forward the development of its high technology industry, said Vice-Mayor Zhou Yupeng in a recent conference.

The pharmaceutical giant, Roche, excited by its great achievement in the local market after just five years of investment in China, will continue to enlarge its business in the country, according to a recent company briefing.

Shanghai will see its first world food festival on downtown Yandang Road between June 26 and 27 when local residents can feast on flavors from around the world.

Within an initial funding of US$72 million invested by the municipal government, Shanghai Science and Technology Pioneering Investment Center was officially established on June 14 to promote the translation of scientific research into product development.

Plum rains--the annual raining season in southern China--which started last week helped make the city's air cleaner, according to a report from the Shanghai Environmental Monitoring Center.

More than 300 heads of major multinational companies will meet with some 200 heads of China's most important enterprises at the 1999 Fortune Global Forum between September 27-29 in Shanghai.

China is determined to develop its own high value-added industries inside the 53 national high-technological development zones, according to a conference held on June 10 in the Pudong New Area.

The number of people using Internet has doubled in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou over the past two years although the usage rate of 4 per cent is still low by international standards.

The city was hit by a heavy rainstorm on June 10 and many streets were submerged under more than 10 centimeters of water. Rainfall in some districts reached 40m within two hours.

Almost 300 so-called Internet cafes were ordered to be closed in last week's government crack-down on illegal public Internet premises in Shanghai.

The city government is drawing up a three-year program aimed at protecting the local environment, said Vice-mayor Han Zheng.

The World Sports and Leisure Exposition '99, started on June 4 to 8, was exhibiting various kinds of sports and leisure equipment.

China's first bone marrow donors club opened in Shanghai recently. The club will hold various activities to encourage local people to donate bone marrow.

Shanghai has completed laying tracks for its second cross-city subway line. The Shanghai No. 2 Subway Line, 16.5 kilometers in length, traverses the city from east to west and crosses underneath the Huangpu River.

Experts express their optimism about the future of China's consulting firms, though intense competition still looms ahead from multinational companies.

China's civil aviation authorities have reaffirmed their policy of prohibiting the selling of discount air tickets by airlines nationwide.

Football champions, Manchester United, who recently completed a unique treble in English soccer that gave them a three-cup win, will play a match against Shanghai Shenhua at Shanghai Sports Center at 19:30 on July 21.

A government working committee met on June 7 to report on the progress of the city's economy since the second quarter of the year and assign priorities for the tasks ahead.

In honor of '99 International Environment Day on June 6, Shanghai will take the lead in the country to predict the daily air quality.

The newly enlarged museum commemorating the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China has been flooded by visitors since its re-opening on May 26.

The city has more laid-off workers this year than before due to industrial restructuring. Local re-employment centers are expected to take in 226,000 laid-off workers. And the city plans to lay off 200,000 workers in each of the next three years.

A municipal seminar highlighting motor vehicles and environment problems was held on June 3 to discuss the reduction of tailpipe gas emissions from motor vehicles.

A campaign has been launched by the city to fight against "white pollution," polluting plastics and rice boxes, in an attempt to further clean up Shanghai.

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