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January

 

Local economists believe that the two-digit growth rate in Shanghai's gross domestic product (GDP) for the past nine consecutive years is a good omen for the new century. Relics recently found in Songjiang District has enabled experts to date Shanghai's history to 600 years earlier than was previously believed. The city will open its first duty-free shop in March for foreigners and people from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. Located near Shanghai Stadium, the shop is the second of its kind in the country. Local residents need not worry about the beef sold in the market because no mad cow disease has been found in the city. Every slaughterhouse is under the daily supervision of the local epidemic prevention office and any bad beef that is found is destroyed. The city's annual charity event, known as "Deep love under the blue sky" this year, was held in the first weekend of the new year. More than 1,500 shops donated all the profits they made on Saturday, about US$156,000, to Shanghai Charity Foundation. Shanghai is fully prepared for direct transportation with Taiwan, Vice-Mayor Feng Guoqing said at a meeting with a visiting delegation from the island. An average of two baby animals were born in Shanghai Zoo every day last year. Many of them were among the endangered species which are protected by the government, such as catamounts and tigers. Local police opened a hotline and announced an e-mail address this week to give legal consultations and receive complaints about the police. The ecological garden inside the Shanghai Zoo, which is being tested for the growing of rare birds, has attracted thousands of wild birds each year. On the first day of the new century, 100 families in the city were chosen to be the first recipients of High-definition Television (HDTV) programs. Shanghai received 1.8 million foreign tourists last year, an 8.6 percent increase from the year before. Statistics show that about 1 million Shanghainese spent the New Year's Day online, sending messages and good luck wishes to friends and families. After three consecutive years of poor returns from the box office, revenue for movie theaters around the city rebounded in 2000, exceeding US$12 million, up 5% over 1999.

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