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- December, 1998
- November, 1998
- October, 1998
- September, 1998
- August, 1998
- July, 1998
- June, 1998
- May, 1998
- April, 1998
- March, 1998
- February, 1998
- January, 1998
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November
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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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