Today's Shanghai | News(2000)

May

People in Shanghai are actively participating in the fight against smoking this year. Shanghai Medical University, recently affiliated with Fudan University, became the first campus that prohibits on-campus smoking.

To make way for repairs being carried out on a Hongqiao Airport taxiway, many flights are being switched to Pudong International Airport. Hongqiao Airport is closed from 10:30 pm to 7:30 am every day while repair work continues.

Police are still trying to track down the bronze statue of a young woman using a public telephone that used to stand on Huaihai Road which is missing, presumably stolen.

The local stock market soared to a record high of 1,900 points during midday trading on May 29 but ended slightly lower at 1,898.73 points on a transaction volume of 19.28 billion yuan (US$2.33 billion).

The three bronze heads bought by two Beijing-based companies at auction in Hong Kong will be displayed in the city in July.

A fourteen-year-old boyis dying of AIDS and he doesn't know it. He is the first child known to have contracted AIDS through a blood transfusion in Shanghai.

This year summer comes much earlier than usual. On May 24, the city saw the fifth consecutive days when the mean daily temperatures exceeded 22 degrees Celsius. The plum-rain season is expected to start in mid-June.

A homosexual man was recently prosecuted for killing his boyfriend out of jealousy, according to Zhabei Procuratorate.

Over 500 lawyers, officials, and experts in financial, insurance and other sectors from across the country gathered in Shanghai on May 27 on the development strategy of the Chinese legal profession in the new millennium.

Senior executives from central and local governmental administrations, large multinationals, banking sectors, high-tech industries and venture capitalists will attend a two-day conference in Pudong themed "Financing and Developing the High-tech Industry in China" from June 19.

The city's No. 1 Bus Company says fare evaders are costing the firm 800 to 1,000 yuan a day.

Preparations are in full swing to transfer some more flights from Hongqiao Airport to Pudong International Airport from May 28.

Park attendants are still replanting trees and fertilizing new patches of lawn in Pudong's Century Park after 400,000 visitors during the May holiday (May 1-7) caused havoc by invading off-limit areas, dropping litter and damaging trees.

From June 1 passengers can reach Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang Province from Shanghai within 4.5 hours, an hour less than before. The train speed is expected to be accelerated again later this year.

The Spain-based Barcelo International Hotel Management Company took over the management of the International Convention Center Hotel from Shanghai Jinjiang Hotel Management Group last week.

The Grand Cinema, located on Nanjing Road, was packed with movie buffs who had come to have a look at the world-famous US action-movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger on Sunday. The movie star came to Shanghai as spokesperson for the Special Olympics International.

A paid meteorology service in the country was mooted at a recent national meteorology conference held in Shanghai early this month.

Six deaf mutes were arrested for robbing US$12,000 worth of jewellery from a store, according to local police sources.

Three person suspected of killing a Japanese businessman in a Shanghai hotel were caught in Yingtan, in East China's Jiangxi Province, and brought back to Shanghai, according to Shanghai police.

Traffic through the Yan'an Road East Tunnel has been restricted as of Monday. Taxis with odd number plates are now allowed to go through the tunnel on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays while those with even number plates are only permitted on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Sunday open for all taxis.

In the first four months this year, Shanghai Customs foiled 228 attempts to smuggle goodes worth US$13.6 million into and out of the country.

Two foreign-invested garbage treatment plants still under construction will change the way in which rubbish is disposed of in the city. Shanghai now buries its household garbage, more than 10,000 tons in total, every day.

A total of 12 suspects were recently arrested by Luwan District Police for making and selling counterfeit money with a value of US$189,000.

Shanghai Radio Control Committee recently closed down several paging transmitters near Shanghai Pudong International Airport.

Shanghai Science and Technology Forum, which will address issues such as the city's R & D, economic development and social advance, will be held from November 7 to 10.

A UN report lists Shanghai as one of the world's six big cities that are short of potable water. This seemingly unbelievable truth was released by Shanghai Water Conservation Bureau on May 15, on the first day of the city's water-saving week which is a campaign to encourage local residents to economize on water.

Family planning in Shanghai has helped tremendously in reducing the city's population, according to an official with the local family planning committee.

The Fifth National Games for the Disabled ended on Sunday with a "help-the-disabled" week, which is a campaign running to May 24 in an effort to help disabled people.

Shanghai Textiles Shareholding (Group) recently made a presentation of 77 projects for economic cooperation to investors at home and abroad. The group welcomed all kinds of cooperation for the projects. So far it has signed agreements for seven of them, with an total investment of RMB300 million yuan.

Shanghai International Garment Machine Exhibition 2000 and Knitting China 2000 were held recently in Shanghai International Exhibition Center.

A man was recently sentenced to six years' imprisonment for killing his son who was suffering from a mental disorder, according to Minhang Procuratorate.

Eleven metro lines and 10 light rail lines will be constructed in the city with an expected investment of US$3.6 billion, according to the Shanghai Urban Planning and Administration Bureau.

The volume of traffic crossing the Huangpu River has soared in the past 10 days since tolls on bridges and tunnels were abolished on May 1.

Samples of food imported into Shanghai beginning in May are now being tested to make sure they are transgenetic food.

Local authorities say the "Love Bug", the computer virus that wrought havoc with computers all over the world during the past week, has left Shanghai unscathed.

Danish Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen arrived in Shanghai on the afternoon of May 8. The Danish guest was leading a delegation of about 100 members consisting of government officials, business representatives, and reporters.

Shanghai is planning to recruit more top foreign entrepreneurs to work as chief executive officers (CEOs) for local companies, said a senior local official.

Diplomats and scholars from 20 countries and regions discussed the themes for the APEC 2000 (Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation) in the city on May 8 as a prelude to China's preparations for the forum.

Shanghai Pudong International Airport customs recently stopped a passenger from bringing 14 broadcasting satellite tuners into China.

Two MD-90 aircraft, which were assembled before February, are still parked at the Shanghai Dachang Aircraft Manufacturing Factory, waiting to be sold.

Local business leaders will gain a lot from the upcoming Asia Society 11th Annual Corporate Conference to be held in Shanghai on May 10-12, according to Judi Kilachand, director for business programs policy and business programs for the Asia Society.

Shanghai International Garment and Culture Festival 2000 will be held in the city from may 10 to 18. It is the sixth time the city holds such a festival.

Occupancy rates of many star hotels in Shanghai have shot up over the seven-day May Day holiday. Several of them were booked up most days.

A student from East China's Zhejiang Province was recently sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment for bludgeoning his mother to death with a hammer on January 17 this year. The killing sparked a nationwide campaign to ease students' pressure.

Bus tickets on some routes running between Pudong and Puxi have been slashed by as much as 50%. The reduction in prices is due to the abolition of road tolls on bridges over and tunnels under the Huangpu River.

Commercial enterprises are having another bonanza during the Labor Day holidays. Department stores and supermarkets citywide were crowded with people.

China's first seven-day holiday for Labor Day has greatly boosted local tourism and public transport services. Tourist numbers increased by 30% on May 1 compared with the same period last year.

On May 1, the city cancelled charges on vehicles crossing the Huangpu River to spur the growth of the Pudong New Area, which is a special economic zone east of the river, offered special policies by the central government.

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