Today's Shanghai | News(2001)

November

One out of every three Shanghai citizens had a mobile phone by the end of October. During the first 10 months of this year, the number of Shanghai Mobile subscribers had increased to 1.51 million, the equivalent of 3.47 mobile users added every minute, according to information from Shanghai Mobile.

Shanghai's Price Administration Bureau issued a regulation recently relating to lawyers' fees. The regulation said the highest charge for time can't be higher than 3,000 yuan ($361) per hour. The regulation also set the standards for maximum charges for cases at specific stages.

The ballet "Butterfly Lovers" will be the highlight of the third China Shanghai International Arts Festival closing gala. The ballet is adapted from a Chinese classic romance of the same name, with the plot resembling Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night".

According to Shanghai's development blueprint, the city will become a hub for the flow of domestic and overseas commodities, information, capital and talent. Shanghai has listed modern logistics as one of the four priority industries in its 10th Five-year Plan (2001-05).

China has made the decision to bid for the 2010 World Exposition after careful consideration. Shanghai will represent China and compete with five other nations, including Russia and the Republic of the exposition. If the event is held in China, it will provide the country with a wider stage for international exchanges.

Waigaoqiao Shipyard in Shanghai, the largest shipbuilding base in China, went into operation last week with the start of construction of a 175,000-ton bulk freighter for a Hong Kong shipping company. With a total investment of 3.2 billion yuan ($386 million), the shipyard project broke ground in 1999 and has been regarded as one of China's key projects.

The Shanghai International Consumer Goods Fair opened at the Ever bright Convention and Exhibition Centre yesterday with more than 1,000 Chinese enterprises and delegations from 12 countries attending.

The total volume of consumer goods retail sales in Shanghai reached 136.309 billion Yuan ($16.42 billion) during the January-September period, an increase of 8.8 per cent over the corresponding period of last year.

Global banking giant HSBC (Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp) will open its service center in Shanghai next year, after having set up its first center in China's mainland in the southern city of Guangzhou. With approval of the Shanghai authority, HSBC will establish a data processing company to manage the center. The bank moved its China headquarters from Hong Kong to Pudong in Shanghai last year.

Bayer of Germany plans to build a $3.1 billion polymer base in southern Shanghai Caojing industrial park. Covering an area of 1.5 square kilometers, the project, to be fully completed in 2008, will provide raw materials to the electronic and automotive industries.

Themed "The Opportunities and Challenges for Shanghai upon China's Entry into the World Trade Organization," this year's meeting attracted 25 CEOs row multinational companies and senior government officials from 15 countries together with almost 100 other participants. They shared their own experiences concerning the WTO issue with Shanghai leaders and provided suggestions to help China through the process.

A new value among some young women in Shanghai is rapidly gaining the sobriquet "zero-saving group." They are mostly higher-income workers who are single without family obligations, know what they want and how to enjoy themselves.

VISA International donated 50,000 yuan ($6,024) to Shanghai Zoo on Monday to foster an 11-year-old Giant Panda named "Chuan Chuan" for a year.

A survey by the Shanghai Women's Federation indicates that an increasing number of women believe the most important job for a woman is being a housewife.

Encouraged by the success of the APEC meeting, Shanghai is competing to host a major event that could bring huge economic benefits. On May 2 this year, the Chinese Government officially submitted its application to the BIE and put forward the theme "Better City, Better Life." If the World Expo 2010 is held in Shanghai, at least 50 million visitors will be drawn to the six-month exhibition because of the city's beauty and capacity as an international metropolis.

With China on the threshold of World Trade Organization(WTO), Shanghai is busy combing the various administrative approvals issued by the city's government sectors with a view to making them conform with international practices.

Pudong will witness the opening of a new international expo center tomorrow. The result of two years' construction, the center is funded by Shanghai Pudong Land Development (Holdings) Corp, Deutsche Messe AG Hanover, Messe Dusseldorf and Messe Munchen..

Shanghai will host a high-level China Logistics Summit on November 13 at JJ Oriental Tower in Pudong.

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