BSE-related cosmetics' sale banned
Chinese establishments that sell imported cosmetics which might spread mad cow disease have less than one month to clear their shelves of the potentially deadly products. (People's Daily, 26 March)

China sets off anti-dumping investigation on steel products
China is going to launch an anti-dumping investigation on the imported cold-rolled steel sheet originated in Russia, the ROK, Ukraine, Kazakstan and Taiwan.(People's Daily, 27 March)

Beijing issues guidelines on foreign investment in service industry
The Beijing municipal government has drawn up guidelines on foreign investment in the tertiary industry. They are aimed at helping Beijing take the lead in opening up the tertiary-industry sector, especially in commerce, construction, education, environmental protection, finance, logistics, telecommunications, tourism and transport. (People's Daily, 27 March)

China rises as Switzerland's 2nd largest tourist source in Asia
China has become Switzerland's second largest source of tourists in Asia after Japan, as tourists from the Chinese mainland alone surged 15% in 2001 to hit nearly 100'000, a senior Swiss tourism official said. (Xinhua, 27 March)

German pharmaceutical giant inaugurates Shanghai plant
German pharmaceutical giant Boehringer Ingelheim has inaugurated a plant in the Zhangjiang pharmaceutical industry park in Shanghai. The USD 41 million plant will form the core base for Boehringer Ingelheim to supply the Chinese market. (Xinhua, 27 March)

Mainland launches national ATM network
China has launched an electronic network to link automated teller machines of major banks for the first time, hoping the service will help domestic banks fend off fierce foreign competition. The network, called China UnionPay, will also provide the backbone of a national credit-card settlement system that will link all domestic banks and merchants to a China-only network. (SCMP, 27 March)

Japanese trio to build RMB 1.2 billion microchip foundry
Japan's Ferrotec, Toshiba and Mitsui will jointly invest RMB 1.2 billion in a mainland microchip plant that will become the country's largest. After completion in 2004, the plant in Shanghai will have an annual output value of RMB 1.75 billion. China's emerging economy is increasingly the destination of choice for expansion within the hi-tech industry because of its potentially huge consumer market, low cost labor force and falling tariffs. (SCMP, 27 March)

HSBC gets permission to offer forex services to Chinese
The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation has become the first overseas bank to offer foreign currency services to Chinese citizens and companies in Beijing. (Xinhua, 28 March)

China eases port rules
China will scrap from April 1 regulations restricting foreign companies to a minority stake in mainland port facilities. The new guidelines will allow foreign investors to take a controlling stake or wholly own terminal facilities and their operating companies. (SCMP, 28 March)

Dai admits bad loans worse than official estimates
Central bank chief Dai Xianglong has publicly admitted for the first time that state banks' bad loans are higher than official estimates and could be as much as 30% of the banks' total lending. Analysts said the figure was still lower than some Western estimates of up to 50%. China has already transferred RMB 1.4 trillion in non-performing loans to four debt-clearing firms set up in 1999. Mr. Dai also surprised the market earlier this month when he estimated China's hidden liabilities, including bad loans, at 60% of GDP - the first time a Chinese authority has publicly revealed such a figure. (SCMP, 28 March)

Buying fast into Southeast Asia
China has taken a strategic decision to invest abroad to secure new supplies of natural resources and show it can do much more than just soak up foreign investment itself. For Southeast Asian countries this policy of "going outside" by the Chinese couldn't have come at a better time. (FEER, 28 March)

China joins dispute against US over steel tariffs
China has joined a number of other countries in a dispute against the U.S. over new duties on imported steel - the first action taken by Beijing since it joined the WTO. (Dow Jones Newswire, 28 March)

Hong Kong or Shanghai, which will prosper most in the new century?
Hong Kong is more than 1'500km from Beijing, and its leaders do not belong to the ruling elite. Will Shanghai, 1'200km away and much nearer to Beijing, recover its pre-communist status as China's greatest city, and once again outshine Hong Kong as a business and financial centre? Worse, isn't that what China's leaders, especially President Jiang Zemin and his powerful "Shanghai clique", secretly want? (Economist, 28 March)
http://www.economist.com/World/asia/displayStory.cfm?story_id=1056970&CFID=61457&CFTOKEN=25295137

Dai queries yuan-dollar link
Central bank chief Dai Xianglong said he would "seriously consider" an IMF proposal that China should consider relatively flexible exchange rates by introducing a currency basket system instead of a peg system. The surprise comment and choice of venue - a lecture to Japanese bankers in Tokyo - left analysts in Hong Kong and China divided over which currency the remarks were aimed at, the Chinese or Japanese. (SCMP, 29 March)

A comprehensive plan come up to guide work for Olympics
Keeping to its commitment to staging a best ever Olympics, Beijing organizers have come up with a comprehensive and systematic plan to guide the preparation work for the 2008 Games. According to the plan, Beijing will put on environmental-friendly Games, featuring most advanced science and technology, showcasing the time-honored Chinese culture and providing the best stage for Olympians to perform their best. (People's Daily, 29 March) Wow!

Labor-rich China possesses no advantage in auto making
Labor in China is relatively inexpensive, but labor is one of the least important concerns to a car maker; the world's most efficient car factories are still in high-cost Japan. No wonder the world's big auto companies, which are scurrying to set up in China, are also continuing to invest heavily in Southeast Asia (Dow Jones Newswire, 1 April)

Guangzhou tops China wage scales
Guangzhou workers lead the mainland in the salary stakes. Annual salaries in Guangzhou last year rose 15.7%, to RMB 22'772, followed by Shanghai's average of RMB 21'781, up 17.5% year on year. In Beijing, the average annual salary was RMB 19'155 - 17.2% better than in 2000. (SCMP, 1 April)

China Merchants Bank IPO raises nearly RMB 11 billion
China Merchants Bank's initial public offering has raised nearly RMB 11 billion, with domestic investors snapping up shares in the Shenzhen-based commercial lender. (SCMP, 2 April)

China sets tighter scrutiny for use of T-Bond funds
A ministerial task force is planning to place the capital raised from treasury bonds under strict scrutiny to tighten supervision of its utilization and management. (Xinhua, 2 April)

Western regions continue to lag
President Jiang Zemin called for enhancing awareness of the importance of the large-scale west development campaign and pushing forward work on this front. Despite its wealth of natural resources, the inland has a weak industrial foundation. Even worse, statistics show that the pledged capital and actual volume of foreign investment project accounted for only 5.42 and 2.47% respectively of the nation's total last year. (China Daily, 2 April)

Russia lifts ban on meat from China
Russia has lifted a 2 1/2-week ban on imports of pork, beef and poultry from China.(Dow Jones Newswire, 3 April)

China becomes world's largest consumer of stainless steel
China has become world's largest consumer of stainless steel, overtaking the United States and Japan. China's consumption of stainless steel has been growing at an average rate of 17% for the past 10 years. In 2000 however China's per capita stainless steel consumption was only 1.4 kg, while that of the world per head consumption was 4 kg. China is expanding its stainless steel production capacity, which will reach 3 million tons per year in 5 years. The stainless steel industry will by then be 80% self-sufficient. (People's Daily, 3 April)

China protests EU over discriminative legislation on cigarette lighters
China said that the European Union's proposed regulation on safety standards for cigarette lighters is unfair and against the WTO principle of fair competition. The draft proposal rules that a cigarette lighter costing less than two Euros should have a child-safe device installed. (People's Daily, 4 April)

Taiwan businesses invest more on Chinese mainland
Taiwan businesses have poured more investment into the Chinese mainland over the past year, covering more regions and sectors. Chinese mainland approved 4'214 Taiwan-funded projects in 2001, involving USD 6.914 billion worth of contractual agreements, a 73.1% rise over the previous year. Actual use of Taiwan investment climbed 29.8% to USD 2.979 billion. (People's Daily, 4 April)

Tariff cuts in imported goods
China has cut its average tariff rate from 15.3% to 12% on more than 5'000 imported items since the beginning of 2002. The tariff rate cuts are in line with China's commitment to reduce import tariffs to 10% by 2005 as part of its WTO membership. The reductions this year included a cut in the tariff for crude and refined oil to 6.1% while tariffs on vehicles and electronics were cut to 17.4% and 10.7%, respectively. China also wiped out quota licenses on fertilizer, cotton, wool and grain. (FEER, 4 April)

China the big M&A hope
Investment bankers are pinning their hopes on a big rise in future mainland merger and acquisition deals to come to the rescue of a sharp slowdown in Asian M&A activity. China analysts back up those expectations by forecasting a "huge" volume of mergers as the mainland's corporate sector undergoes a process of consolidation to meet the challenge posed by entry into the WTO. (SCMP, 4 April)

Sino-foreign JVs allowed to deal in audio-video products
Sino-foreign joint ventures are permitted to engage in wholesaling, retailing and leasing of audio and video products in China, according to a new set of regulations issued by the Ministry of Culture. (People's Daily, 5 April)

China-France stock exchanges to link up
China and France will enhance mutual economic co-operation, especially in the area of finance, according to an agreement by more than 600 participants attending the 8th France-China Economic Conference. The first great leap forward (sic!) might be co-operation between the Euronext Stock Exchange, Europe's largest bourse by transaction volume, and the Shanghai Stock Exchange. (China Daily, 5 April)

Matsushita forms R&D unit In China
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. has set up a wholly owned company in China to carry out research and development for electric home appliances for the Chinese market. The new subsidiary will be the Japanese consumer electronics giant's second R&D laboratory in China. (Dow Jones Newswires, 5 April)

China faces stern export situation this year
According to Yu Xiaosong, chairman of CCPIT, China faces a grim export situation this year, due to some factors, like the uncertain US economic recovery and the middle-east situation. China's exports and imports in January and February increased to USD 40.84 billion and USD 34. 89 billion respectively, up 14.1% and 3.2% year-on-year. (People's Daily, 5 April)

Power firms fined USD 30 million for plant delay
Electricité de France and Alstom have paid a fine of USD 30 million for a delay in construction of what was supposed to be a model power project. In 1997, the two firms signed a contract for a coal-fired plant in Guangxi province worth more than USD 600 million, in the first build-operate-transfer project in the power sector. (SCMP, 5 April)

Beijing may sell RMB 100 billion in Olympic Bonds
The Beijing municipal government is considering selling up to RMB 100 billion in special bonds to finance the building of stadiums and other projects for the 2008 Olympic Games, the 21st Century Business Herald reported. The report said the city and the central government need to spend a combined RMB 300 billion to finance the games, China's first Olympiad. (Bloomberg, 6 April)

First-quarter foreign investment in Shanghai surges
Shanghai contracted a foreign investment totaling USD 2.553 billion in the first quarter of this year, up 21% compared to the same period last year. A total of 662 foreign-funded projects were approved. Among these foreign investment projects, contract value of USD 890 million comes from the service industry. (Xinhua, 6 April)