Today's Shanghai | News(1999)

July

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China made public a circular forbidding Party members to practice Falun Gong on July 22. At the same time, The Ministry of Public Security issued a notice prohibiting all activities in support of Falun Gong, which was termed illegal and has been banned.

Shanghai is looking ahead into the next millennium with plans for another high-profile conference to succeed the Fortune 500 world summit scheduled to be held in Pudong in late September.

A series of publicity campaigns were launched in anticipation of Macao's return to the mainland. The elected chief executive of Macao Special Administrative Region Edmund Ho Hau-wah was present at some of the activities.

The unprecedented 43-day-long plum rain season finally came to an end and the highest temperature rose to 30.6 degrees Celsius. Last year saw 27 days of extremely hot weather, with the outdoor ground temperature hitting 63 degrees Celsius on July 14.

The publication of The Supplement to The English-Chinese Dictionary, an addition to the award-winning English Chinese Dictionary (http://www.sh.com/edu/fudan/ecd.htm) which was first published in 1989 by Shanghai Translation Press, was celebrated on July 19 and this virtually new-word dictionary will hit bookstores in September.

A reception was held to celebrate the publication of Macquairie English-Chinese Dictionary by the Australian Consulate General in Shanghai and the News Corporation. Macquairie English Dictionary is one of the most comprehensive Australian English dictionaries.

The 92-year-old Waibaidu Bridge, the steel bridge crossing the Suzhou Creek , is being repaired at a cost of US$97,800. The bridge, located on the Bund, was built in 1908 by the concession construction department at the end of the Qing Dynasty.

At midnight on July 22, mobile telep[hone numbers under GSM900/1800 and CDMA networks were upgraded nationwide from 10 to 11 digits by the addition of "0", placed after the original third-digit prefix.

Pudong New Area had a decifit of about US$993 million in international trade for the first half of the year, though it achieved a favorable balance in the first three months of the year.

Foreign businesses are thriving in Songjiang Industrial Zone. The zone recently signed investors from home and abroad for approximately 26 projects procuring a combined investment of US$305 million.

The new-version Shaoxiao opera A Dream of Red Mansions was being rehearsed at Shanghai Opera House during the previous two days. It differs greatly from the one staged 41 years ago. Shaoxing Opera, also known as Yue Opera, is a popular school of Chinese traditional drama in Shanghai and Zhejiang Province.

The admission line for local universities and colleges this year was recently announced. The hu kou, a person's household registration certificate, for local students enrolled in the city's colleges and universities will no longer be moved to their respective school.

Criminals wanted by the police have been made known to the public in a series of circulars recently published in Shanghai's Evening News, which has so far yielded positive results.

The most romantic show of 1999--Power of Love, Diamond Betrothal Ring Exhibition is being held this month in Yuyuan Garden. Visitors have the chance to see 39 antique engagement rings dating back as far as the eighth century.

Four Shanghai plays have recently been chosen by the Ministry of Culture to be staged in Beijing in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Shanghai plans to invite more than 700 high-caliber technical and managerial personnel from across the country and abroad to work in the city.

The city will build more subways in the next several years to support its public transit network, and alleviate the heavy traffic during rush hours.

The municipality held a conference on how to draft the "Tenth Five-year" plan for Shanghai's economic and social development on July 8. The city government will invite experts to take part in the bidding for important research projects.

The first six months witnessed a steady increase in the imports and exports at Shanghai Port. The total imports and exports reached US$32.9 billion, an increase of 20.5% over the same period last year.

About 60,000 high-school graduates took part in the annual college entrance examination. This year the enrolment rate in the city is 70%.

A recent conference held in Pudong was the springboard for a campaign to promote the link of high-tech industries and the establishment of venture capital in the city.

The economic success of Shanghai has led to the official launch of a department specializing in the handling of economic crimes, the Municipal Public Security Bureau announced on July 7.

Shanghai Economy Yearbook '99 Volume, a reference book providing an overview of the city including its economic and social development in the previous year, was published on July 8.

The president of Shanghai's Tongji University was given a medal of honor by the German Government on July 7 for her outstanding contribution to co-operation with German institutions of higher learning.

Shanghainese will have the chance to watch about 200 of the latest films from home and abroad during the Fourth Shanghai International Film Festival to be held from October 22 to 31.

Kentucky Fried Chicken's (KFC's) first restaurant in China recently resumed operation after receiving a facelift which will enable its customers to savor Western-style food while sitting in a Chinese ambience.

Local railways are expected to transfer 23.6 million passengers during the summer holidays, up 9% over the same period last year.

In meeting with visiting Namibian President Sam Nujoma on July 3, Mayor Xu Kuangdi expressed hope for furthering Sino-Namibia ties in general and Shanghai-Windhoek ties in particular.

While the water level in Shanghai's flooded suburban areas in Qingpu, Jinshan Songjiang counties have been receding slowly, the people in the area are resorting to all sorts of means to drain the flood water.

Local education officials affirmed the city's attempt to establish a Sino-foreign cooperation education system on July 5 in an attempt to provide quality graduates for overseas-funded ventures.

More than 40 overseas and domestic experts in polar research gathered in the city to exchange views on the latest progress into research of high- altitude atmospheric physics in the South Pole and discuss further Sino- Japanese co-operation in this regard.

Digital China--'99 E-enterprise and E-government Forum is to be held from July 5 to 20 in five major cities of China: Beijing, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Chengdu and Shanghai.

Flooding alarm has sounded as more heavy rain is expected in the next couple of days to come and the plum rain season drags on.

China's first Arctic Pole Research Ship "Xue Long" sailed out of Shanghai Waigaoqiao Harbor for the North Pole on July 1. The ship, carrying 66 researchers and 21 journalists, will return to Shanghai after a three- month voyage.

Crowds of visitors flow out after visiting the newly enlarged site of the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China located on Xingye Road on July 1, the birthday of the Party. The registry shows that as many as 6000 persons visited the site that day.

Chinese stock market is expected to witness sustainable and rational growth after the enforcement of the long-awaited Securities Law which came into effect on July 1, officials and experts in the field said.

Remarkable progress is being gradually made in the National Bio-tech and Pharmaceutical Base in Zhangjiang High-tech Park of Pudong since it came into being in 1998.

The Red Cross Society of China has recently received 50,000 packages of prunes as a donation from the California Prune Board aimed at supporting China's blood donation campaign.

Recent statistics show that more people in Shanghai are spending their money on housing, medical care, recreation and education.

Books on ancient Egypt are becoming bestsellers in Shanghai, as an Egyptian relics exhibition has been attracting over 10,000 visitors every day.

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