Shanghai Snacks

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BEIJING, June 25 -- Shanghai Snacks could be traced back to as early as the Southern Song Dynasty and became more exquisite in cooking when Shanghai grew into an important city in early Ming Dynasty. After Shanghai was listed as a trading port by the end of the Qing Dynasty, various regional snacks were assimilated, developed and refined, bringing forth the specialty of Shanghai style. A while selection of Shanghai snacks comprises four must-haves for locals—baked sesame pan cake, deep-fired dough sticks, soybean milk, sticky rice combo—as well as dozens of kinds of pastry, bun, stuffed dumpling and rice and cake. Different from pure sweet taste of Canton-Hong Kong style or hot and spicy flavor of Sichuan-Chongqing type, Shanghai snack is famed for being light, fresh and tasty, and has long been diners'favorite for its characteristics.


He Feng Lou

He Feng Lou beings all Chinese snacks together and introduces 144 snacks and dishes from 8 major styles and their 16 sub-cuisines. The two-storey restaurant serves on the first floor buffet-style Chinese cuisine numbering 300 in kinds according to their origins such as Shanghai, Sichuan & Hunan, Taiwan, Jiangsu, etc. The second floor id featured with specialty Chinese and overseas snacks including Japanese Teppanyaki, popular with tourists.

Specialty: steamed juicy crab roe bun, marinated pond snail

Address: 10 Wenchang Road

Tel: 021-63557878

Transportation: Bus 55, 930, 932, 980

Nan Xiang Steamed Bun Restaurant

Nan Xiang Steamed Bun Restaurant, situated by nine-twist-bridge at Old City God Temple, is an attraction in Yu Garden area, formerly named marble boat hall. In the restaurant with latticework windows, it takes a short while to have hot steamed buns serve. With chopsticks, bite a small hole, suck the juice and then dip into vinegar sauce before putting into your mouth-smooth, juicy and luscious.

Specialty: recipe-made crabmeat bun, juicy crab roe shrimp ball



Address: 85 Yuyuan Road

Tel: 021-63554206

Transportation: Beijia Line, Xianghua Line, Hu’nan Line, Luonan Line


Guang Ming Cun Restaurant

Guang Ming Cun Restaurant, open in 1948, is remarkable for dim-sum and snacks with over ten dishes awarded "Shanghai specialty snacks". Those snacks are highly appreciated including juicy chicken wanton soup, fired crabmeat stuffed bun and steamed pork stuffed bun. Some signature dishes are superb like crystal shrimp, peppery beef filet with honey, crispy duck, turtle and snake soup with herbs, eye brow-shaped crispy cake and milky date. The restaurant is popular with customers for its inexpensive piece, authentic taste, comfortable ambience and excellent service.

Specialty: juicy chicken wanton soup, fires crab meat stuffed bun

Address: 588 Huaihai Road (M.)

Tel: 021-53067878

Transportation: Bus 42, 911, 945


Lu Bo Lang Restaurant

Lu Bo Lang Restaurant, located by nine-twist-bridge at Old City God Temple, has an archaic, elegant and peaceful surrounding matching the elegance of Mid-Pond-Pavilion tea house next door. It is well-known by carefully selected raw materials and meticulous preparations, highly praised by gourmands from home and abroad. The signature dish "osmanthus cake" is so sticky in texture that gets stuck on plate or chopsticks but not tooth and feels smooth in the mouth carrying faint fragrance of rice wine, which puzzled former U.S President Clinton who had practiced with chopsticks for one month.

Specialty: eye brow-shaped crispy cake, sticky osmanthus cake, eight-treasure duck

Address: 115-131 Yuyang Road

Tel: 021-63280602

Transportation: Bus 11, 64, 66, 126, 920

Wang Jia Sha Restaurant

Wang Jia Sha Restaurant, lying at the crossing Nanjing Road (W) and Shimen Road, enjoys high popularity in Shanghai for its wide selection, meticulous preparations and delicious taste. The most popular four must-eats are tasty and fried stuffed bun, delicious shrimp wanton soup, crunchy red bean pastry and crispy double-side fried noodle. Nowadays the restaurant has created new crab meat dim-sum series and dishes, unique in snack preparations.

Specialty: crispy double-side fried noodles with shrimp, dumpling, eight-treasure rice pudding

Address: 805Nanjing Road (W.)

Tel: 021-625330404

Transportation: Bus 21, 17, 112, 921


Feng Yu Restaurant

Feng Yu Restaurant with black characters on orange board is not spacious buy snug. On an early morning of autumn or winter, you may hang on in here, serves with hot fried stuffed bun with chives plus fried tofu rice noodle soup. You can’t wait to use chopsticks. The white skin broken once bit, warm delicious soup and golden dough crusts are so luscious that you ignore the grease of buns. Inexpensive and tasty, Fengyu is fairly popular in Shanghai.

Specialty: fried stuffed bun, rice soup with fried tofu

Address: 41 Runjin Road (NO.2)

Tel: 021-53061742

Transportation: Metro Line 1 (Shaanxi Road (S) Station), Tourist Line 10, Bus 26, 945

Qiao Jia Shan Restaurant


Xian De Lai Restaurant serves the national favorite pork ribs fried with glutinous rice cake. Established at Lane 177, Xizang Road (S.) in 1921, it used to cater for low-end diners, hence the title "Xian De Lai" and "King or pork ribs". The name "Xian De Lai" implies "luscious, virtuous and prosperous". The pork ribs are made like fans, golden in color, delicious in taste and tender in texture. The rice cakes are white, smooth and chewy.

Specialty: pork ribs fried with glutinous rice cake

Address: 98 Yunnan Road (S.)

Tel: 021-63366108

Transportation: Bus 23, 123, 926, 980


Shen Da Cheng Restaurant

Shen Da Cheng Reataurant was set up in 6th year of Qing Dynasty Emperor Guang Xu (1875). The founder Shen Ajin combined the best of dim-sum and traditional snacks, careful in selecting row materials and meticulous in preparations. Reputed as "king of dim-sum in Shanghai", some popular specialties include longevity peach-shaped cake, osmanthus cake slices, sticky rice ball with red bean paste and glutinous rice dumpling in bamboo leaves. Shanghai-style dumplings in bamboo leaves retain the feature of being fragrant, chewy and tasty, and curry chicken dumpling, the first of its kind, was produced. A glutinous rice dumpling in bamboo leaves going with a bowl of wanton soup sell very well at Shen Da Cheng.

Specialty: sticky rice cake slices, glutinous rice with bean paste, spinach-dyed sticky rice ball with red bean paste

Address: 636 Nanjing Road (E.)

Tel: 021-63225615

Transportation: Metro Line 1 (People's Square Station), Tourist Line 10, Bus 19, 37


Cang Lang Ting

Cang Lang Ting is an old-brand restaurant among Suzhou-style noodle shops, features in chewy noodles and strong-flavored dressing. The pastries made are just as good as noodles. The specialties of "tri-color pasty" vary with the season. In winter and spring, they mainly sell crispy gingko cake and sweet New Year cake. Pure Brightness Festival is supplied eith Suzhou-style glutinous rice ball with red bean paste. In summer there are sticky rice ball with stie- fried meat fillings, square cake, Fu Ling cake with nuts, etc. Double-Nine cake is sold at the festical. Moon cake with fresh pork filling is a treat at Mid-Autumn Festival. Throughout the year Dingsheng (bound to win) cake, longevity fish noodle, shrimp noodle, Suzhou- style noodles and snacks.

Address: 1465 Fuxing Road (M)

Tel: 021-64372222

Transportation: Metro Line 1 (Changshu Road Station), Bus 02


Gong De Lin

Gong De Lin is the leading restaurant for "veggie food in the shape of meat dishes". The dishes are carefully selected, meticulously prepared and artistically presented. A variety of tasty and nutritional choices are goof foe health in all seasons. Gong De Lin's vegetarian buns and noodles are popular with diners. The vegetarian moon cakes have won the award "China’s best moon cake" and "famous Chinese pastry".

Specialty: vegetarian bun. Moon cake

Address: 445 Nanjing Road (W.)

Tel: 021-63270218

Transportation: Metro Line 2 (Nanjing Road (W) Station), Bus 20, 37, 112


Wu Fang Zhai Dim-sum Restaurant


Wu Fang Zhai Dim-sum Restaurant was established in 1958. The pastries are made with five recipe-made natural herbal fillings, namely, rose, osmanthus, pine, lotus (or mint), hence the name "Wu Fang Zhai" (literally "five fragrance restaurant"). They are varied in seasons such as glutinous rice ball with red bean paste in Pure Brightness Festival, pyramid shaped sticky rice dumpling in bamboo leaves, Double-Nine cake at the festival, eight treasure rice and sweet rice cake in Spring Festival. The "three sweetness", namely sweet taro, sweet potato and sweet rice-filled lotus roots are most sought-after in decades.

Specialty: glutinous rice dumpling in bamboo leaves, pastries and cakes

Address: 938 Pubei Road

Tel: 021-54198439

Transportation: Bus 43, 830

(Source: china.org.cn)

U.S. Senate approves derivatives rules

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April 22--A U.S. Senate panel on Wednesday advanced tougher bills on complex financial tools called derivatives on a 13-8 vote, media reports said Thursday.

The bill offered by Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., would also improve transparency of most derivative trades.

Lincoln's derivatives bill is expected to be incorporated into the broader regulatory legislation before it is taken up by the full Senate.

Derivatives are financial products -- such as corn futures or stock options whose values depend on the values of underlying investments. Companies use them to hedge against risks, such as interest rate swings or oil price spikes. Derivatives also became a vehicle for speculation and helped trigger the financial crisis.

Under Lincoln's bill and other Democratic proposals, companies such as AIG would be subject to closer regulation. They also would have to keep minimum levels of capital to protect against market downturns.All the major plans would require that most derivatives be settled in a centralized system and traded over exchanges.
What sets Lincoln's bill apart is a rule that would bar companies that receive federal guarantees, like insurance from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., from most derivatives activities.

(Agencies)




Backgrounder: Chronology of events since financial crisis began


BEIJING, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Group of 20 (G-20) summit, which opens Thursday in Pittsburgh, will focus on measures to deal with the global financial crisis. The summit will be the third gathering of G20 leaders since the crisis began a year ago.

The following is a chronology of major economic and financial events in the past year:



　　2008

Sept. 15, Lehman Brothers, the fourth largest investment bank, filed for bankruptcy protection while Merrill Lynch, the third largest investment bank, struck a buy-out deal with the Bank of America, marking the start of the financial tsunami that swept the world.

Sept. 20, the U.S. government proposed a 700-billion-U.S.-dollar bailout plan to address the devastating financial situation. The plan was signed by President George W. Bush on Oct. 3 after being approved by both the Senate and the House.

Early October, Iceland's three major banks declared bankruptcy in succession within two weeks, accompanied by a dive in stock prices and depreciation of the country's currency. The International Monetary Fund provided 6 billion U.S. dollars for the north European country to bolster its paralyzed financial system.

Nov. 9, the Chinese government announced a 585 billion U.S. dollars stimulus package to be rolled out over the next two years aiming at expanding domestic demand and promoting economic growth.

Nov. 15, the first G-20 financial summit was held in Washington D.C. The participating countries reached consensus on a variety of issues, including stepping up international coordination to combat the crisis and reform the global financial system.

Nov. 25, the United States pledged another 800 billion U.S. dollars to loosen the credit market for house purchases and small business loans.

Dec. 11, Bernard Madoff, a Wall Street financier, was arrested on charges of fraud. Madoff, who also was a former Nasdaq chairman, for 20 years conducted the biggest ever Ponzi scheme and cheated investors out of more than 50 billion U.S. dollars. Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison on June 29, 2009.



2009

Early 2009, Eastern European nations saw severe capital flight and a sharp drop in exports amid downturns in their western neighbors. The International Monetary Fund provided at least 52 billion U.S. dollars to Hungary, Serbia, Latvia and Ukraine.

Feb. 4, U.S. President Barack Obama placed a 500,000-U.S.-dollar cap on the salaries of financial executives whose companies would receive bailout money from the American government.

Feb. 17, Obama signed a 787-billion-U.S.-dollar stimulus package in hopes of invigorating the U.S. economy through government investment and tax cuts.

March 12-13, tax havens, including Switzerland, Andorra, Liechtenstein, and Belgium agreed to loosen their confidentiality rules to cooperate with other nations on cracking down cross-border tax evasion.

Mid March, large AIG executive bonuses were revealed, angering the U.S. public. Obama ordered the Treasury Department to prevent the 165 million U.S. dollars from being paid. The executives returned part of their bonuses under the pressure of public reprimand.

March 23, the U.S. government announced a "toxic asset plan" that would form public-private partnerships to help cleanse banks of up to 1 trillion U.S. dollars in toxic assets.

April 2, the G-20 leaders held their second summit to address the global economic woes in London. The participants agreed to provide up to 1.1 trillion U.S. dollars to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank as well as to tighten monitoring of financial activities.

June 1, General Motors filed for bankruptcy protection in order to restructure its assets. The U.S government would be holding 60 percent of the new General Motors' shares after the protection process.

July 17-19, the U.S. government announced a comprehensive reform plan on financial monitoring in hopes of reviving confidence in the American financial system. The EU leaders also passed a reform plan aimed at establishing a pan-Europe financial monitoring system.

Moody's downgrades Toyota's credit rating, profit concerns over product quality

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In this file photo taken on April 1, 2010, a Toyota Sienna is presented during the media preview of the New York Iternational Auto Show at Javits center in New York, the United States. Toyota Motor Corp. said on Monday it will pay the 16.375 million U.S. dollars fine for its huge acceleration recalls, but denied violating any U.S. law. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)


TOKYO, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The international ratings agency Moody's Investors Service said Thursday it has downgraded its credit rating for Toyota Motor Corp. because of concerns over product quality weakening the firm's capacity to repay long-term debt.

Moody's downgraded Toyota and its subsidiaries' rating to Aa2 from Aa1 saying that the beleaguered automaker's profits may suffer following its recent vehicle recalls.

''The rating action reflects the ongoing low level of profitability evident at Toyota,'' said Tadashi Usui, Moody's Vice President.

"Its product quality and recall challenges -- largely centered in the US -- have created significant uncertainty over whether it can maintain the pricing power it has historically achieved over its rivals," he added.

Usui also highlighted the fact that Toyota's profitability will certainly be impacted by costly litigation fees associated with the recalls and combined with market expectations for sluggish sales in the auto sector this year said that Toyota's operating profit would be below "that appropriate for its rating level until 2012 at the earliest and possibly beyond."

Earlier this week Toyota agreed to pay a 16.4 million U.S. dollar fine for hiding, for at least four months, accelerator pedal defects blamed in more than 50 deaths in the U.S.

Additionally Toyota has recently widened a recall of two sports utility vehicles -- the Lexus GX 460 and some models of the Land Cruiser Prado -- to 34,000 units worldwide to reduce the risk of potential rollover accidents when cornering at high speeds.

Shanghai Basic Facts

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>> History of Shanghai

Origin of "Hu" and "Shen"

Shanghai is called in Chinese "Hu" for short and "Shen" as a nickname. About 6,000 years ago, the western part of today's Shanghai dried up into land and its eastern part became a piece of land about 2,000 years ago. During the Spring-Autumn and Warring States Periods (770-221 BC), this area was once the feoff of Huang Xie, the Chun Shen Governor of the State of Chu.
So, "Shen" comes from the title of the governor. During the Jin Dynasty (4th-5th centuries), fishermen living along the Songjiang River (today's Suzhou Creek) and the coast of the East China Sea created a fishing tool called "Hu." By combining the name of the fishing tool and the then term for estuary of big rivers, they coined a Chinese character "Hu" to name the place as it sits at the mouth of the Yangtze River, the longest river in China.

Founding of the City

Shanghai began as Huating County, an administrative district established in 751 AD. The county, located in an area known today as Songjiang District, had its boundary reaching today's Hongkou District in the north, Xiasha in the east and the coast in the south. In 991 AD, Shanghai Town was set up in the county.


During the 1260-1274 period, the town evolved into an important trading port and in 1292, the then central government approved the establishment of Shanghai County in this area, which has been widely deemed as the official beginning of the city of Shanghai.

Modern Age

In the 16th century (or the middle period of the Ming Dynasty), Shanghai became the national center of textile & handicraft industry. In 1685, Shanghai set up its first customs office. After the Opium War in the mid-19th century, Shanghai served as a major trading port and gateway to inland China. With invasion of the big powers from across the world, Shanghai was then turned into a semi-feudal and semi-colonial city for about 100 year. On May 27, 1949, Shanghai was liberated by the People's Liberation Army of the Communist Party of China from the Kuomingtang rule and began to write its chapter in the history of the development of New China.

Historic Transformation

Shanghai has undergone a historic transformation since its liberation on May 27, 1949. In the past more than 50 years, fundamental changes have taken place in this once semi-feudal and semi-colonial city.


Particularly, since the Chinese government adopted the reform and opening policy in 1978, Shanghai has witnessed marked progresses in its social and economic development, thanks to the distinctive strategies adopted by the city government applicable to the advancement of a megalopolis like Shanghai.

Today, Shanghai is the largest economic and transportation center in China. It also enjoys a reputation as a famed historical city in the country. Now, the city is striving to turn itself into one of the economic, financial, trade and transportation centers in the world. It also aims to lead the country in building a well-off society and in achieving the initial modernization.

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>> Urban Construction

Investment in Urban Construction

The city has made breakthroughs in the construction of hub-oriented, functional and networked infrastructures. For the 2001-2006 period, Shanghai invested 438.275 billion yuan in its urban construction projects, accounting for 25.5% of the total fixed assets investment in the period. The progress in the city's infrastructure network has contributed greatly to further improving its investment environment, opening further to the outside world and enhance its comprehensive function.

Investment in Urban Construction

The city has made breakthroughs in the construction of hub-oriented, functional and networked infrastructures. For the 2001-2006 period, Shanghai invested 438.275 billion yuan in its urban construction projects, accounting for 25.5% of the total fixed assets investment in the period. The progress in the city's infrastructure network has contributed greatly to further improving its investment environment, opening further to the outside world and enhance its comprehensive function.

Key Urban Construction Projects

According to its overall urban development plans and goals, the city has sped up the key urban construction projects through scientific coordination. It has already completed landmark projects, including the bridges over the Huangpu River, tunnels, elevated roads, expressways, subways, international airports, and Yangshan Deep-water Port. In 2006, Shanghai invested 64.195 billion yuan into key urban construction projects. In the year, the city



Donghai Bridge

The first long cross-sea bridge in China links up the Yangshan Deep-water Port with Luchao Port in Nanhui District. The bridge spans 32.5 kilometers, with six vehicle lanes in two ways and emergency parking areas. It is 31.5 meters wide, and the designed vehicle speed is 80 kilometers per hour. The bridge started operation in late 2005.

Pudong International Airport

The Pudong International Airport, at about the mid-point of the Europe- America aviation route, has been one of the world's major aviation hubs. It is about 30 kilometers away from the city's downtown. The airport terminal building looks like a super seagull spreading its wings. The first phase of the airport has a 4E runway 4,000 meters long and 60 meters wide, a parking space of 800,000 square meters that can hold 76 planes at a time. The second phase includes a runway 4,000 meters long and 60 meters wide, a terminal building with a floor area of 800,000 square meters and four runways. When all the projects are completed, the airport can handle 80 million passengers and 5 million tons of cargo a year.

Shanghai Southern Railway Station

Located in Caohejing of Xuhui District, the station is the southern gate of Shanghai in the city's railway hub plan and links Shanghai to other parts of the country and functions as a transit hub for local commuters. The roof of the main building at the station takes the shape of a flying disk, and the planned floor area of the facility is about 600,000 square meters. The project includes the station proper and support facilities, station kiosks and relevant development projects, a square and support urban infrastructure projects, and a project for handling transit mail. The station started operation in 2006.

Cross-river Projects

Before the 1990s, residents hand to take ferry to travel across the Huangpu River as there was neither bridge nor tunnel linking the two parts of Shanghai separated by the river. Since the government adopted the opening and reform policy for Pudong, six bridges, namely Nanpu, Yangpu, Xupu, Lupu, Fengpu and Songpu, and six crossriver tunnels, namely, Out Ring Rd, Xiangyin Rd, Dalian Rd, Yan'an Rd E., Fuxing Rd E. and Dapu Rd, have been completed.

Nanpu Bridge It is the first bridge Shanghai built across the Huangpu River. The 8,346-meter-long bridge has an under-clearance of 46 meters, thus allowing ships with a tonnage of 55,000 to pass under it. As a cablestayed bridge, its main bridge is 846 meters long and 30.35 meters wide, divided into six lanes. The approaches have a combined length of 7,500 meters and the West Shanghai spiral approach is 3,754 meters long. The bridge opened to traffic on December 1, 1991.

Yangpu Bridge

Located 11 kilometers downstream, this is a sister bridge of the Nanpu Bridge. The two bridges act as two wings to help the Inner-Ring Road to fly across the Huangpu River. Also a cable-stayed bridge, the Yangpu Bridge is 7,658 meters long with a 602-meterwide main arch. The bridge opened to traffic in October 1993.

Lupu Bridge

It was named"world's No. 1 arch bridge"for the 10 records the projects set. The whole- steel structure is recognized as"world No. 1 steel bridge". With a total length of 8.7 kilometers, the bridge starts

from Luban Road in Puxi, spans the Huangpu River and reaches Jiyang Road in Pudong. Its main arch, spanning 750 meters, flies across the river. The main bridge has six traffic lanes. The bridge's under-clearance reaches 46 meters and it provides a water navigation lane of 340 meters wide. The bridge opened to traffic in 2003.

Dalian Road Tunnel

It parallels with the second phase of the Pearl Line Light Rail. The tunnel has four traffic lanes going two ways and each lane is 3.75 meters wide. The lane above-clearance is 4.5 meters. It is designed for a speed of 40 kilometers per hour. The tunnel, with a total length of 2.5 kilometers, opened to traffic in 2003.

Fuxing Road E. Tunnel

It is the world's first double-deck tunnel in operation. The tunnel has six lanes. The 3-meter-wide, two-lane upper deck is designed for cars and has height limit of 2.4 meters. The lower deck has a 3.5-meter-wide drive lane and a 2.5-meter-wide emergency lane, with a height limit of 3.8 meters. The speedlimit is 40 kilometers per hour. With a total length of 2,785 meters, the tunnel opened to traffic in 2004.

Xiangyin Road Tunnel

With the biggest diameter among China's cross-river highway tunnel, it will link with the planned Shanghai-Chongming-Jiangsu crossriver tunnel. The northern part of the project totals 2,597 meters, and the south section 2,606 meters. The tunnel has four two-way lanes in two pipes with a designed speed limit at 80 kilometers per hour. It opened to traffic in 2005.

Rail Network

An urban rail network has taken its initial shape since the 1990s when Shanghai began to build a modern metropolitan road system. By the end of 2006, the city had built five subway lines and a maglev line, covering a total of 169.36 kilometers and transporting 1.8 million passengers a day. By 2010 when Shanghai hosts the World Expo, the city will have 11 subway lines, with a total length of 400 kilometers, transporting more than 5 million passengers a day.

Subways

With a total length of 33.89 kilometers, the Metro Line 1 goes from Xinzhuang to the crossing of Taihe Rd and Out Ring Road, with 26 stops and a speed limit of 80 kilometers per hour. The Metro Line 2 is the east-west artery of the rail network. With a total length of 27.03 kilometers, it goes from the Hongqiao Airport to Longdong Rd E. in Pudong. The Metro Line 3 is the country's first elevated metro line. It extends 25 kilometers from Shanghai Southern Railway Station to Jiangyang Rd N. in the northeast. The Metro Line 4 covers 22 kilometers, with 17 stops, including 9 that it shares with Metro Line 3. The 17.2-kilometer Metro Line 5 joins Line 1 at Xinzhuang.

Exemplary Maglev Line

It is the first commercial maglev line in the world. It is also the first maglev line in China designed for transportation, sightseeing and tour trips. It connects Pudong International Airport with the expressways entering the downtown. With a total length of 30 kilometers, the maglev train has a designed speed limit of 430 kilometers per hour. The whole trip takes seven minutes. It started operation in December 2002.

Elevated Highways

The city's network of elevated roads consists of the Elevated Inner-Ring Road, the Elevated South-North

Road, and the Elevated Yan'an Road. The 48-kilometer Elevated Inner-Ring Road goes along the circular Zhongshan Road and links up the two sides along the Huangpu River through the Nanpu Bridge and the Yangpu Bridge. The Elevated South-North Road, with six lanes, goes across the city center, covering a total length of 8.45 kilometers. The Elevated Yan'an Road starts from the Zhongshan Road E1 in the east and reaches the Hongqiao Airport in the west. With a total length of 14.8 kilometers,it connects with the other two elevated roads to form anelevated road network in the city center.

Expressways

With a combined length of 560 kilometers, the city's expressway network now allows people to enter the network within 15 minutes, switch to any expressway within 30 minutes and arrive at any spot on the network within 60 minutes. This is the so-called"153060"target of the city's expressway network development. A number of expressways or sections, such as the Shanghai section of the Hu-Hang Expressway, the Shanghai section of the Hu-Ning Expressway, the Hu-Qing-Ping Expressway, the Tong-San National Expressway and the Hu-Lu Expressway, have all been completed and open to traffic.

Environment Protection and Rectification

Shanghai has made remarkable progress in pollution control and environment protection. In 2006, the city invested 31.085 billion yuan, or more than 3% of the city's GDP, into environmental protection projects. The effective control of discharged pollutants helped the city's good air quality to reach 88.8%. The city treated 71% of its sewage.

Urban Greening

By the end of 2006, the city's areas of parks and greenbelts amounted to 30,600 hectares. Of the total, 13,300 hectares were public green areas. The average per capita green area reached 11.5 square meters in the city and the green area coverage reached 37.7% of the city's total territory. In recent years, the city had built a great many large green areas, including the Yanzhong Greenbelt, Taipingqiao Greenbelt, Huangxing Park, Daning Greenbelt, the Xujiahui Park, the third phase of the People's Square Park, the third phase of the Xujiahui Park, Yanhong Greenbelt, Expo Forest, and the first phase of Riverside Forest Park.

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>> Population

Due to constant inflow of people from other parts ofthe country, the population in Shanghai keeps growing.

When Shanghai was turned into a city, it only had a population of less than 100,000. By the time Shanghai was liberated in 1949, the figure stood at only 5.2 million. By the end of 2006, however, the city's permanent residents had grown to 13.681 million, or 1% of China's population. In 2006, an average 2,157 permanent residents lived on each square kilometer of the city. The population of long-term residents reached 18.15 million, including 4.67 million immigrants.

Natural Changes

Shanghai is the first provincial area in China to have reported a negative population growth rate. The city has registered a negative population growth rate for 14 con- secutive years since 1993. In 2006, the city's population of permanent residents saw a birth rate at 0.6%, mortality rate at 0.72% and natural growth rate at -0.12%.

Age Structure

The city has seen a rising population of senior citizens. A sample survey of 1% of the city population in 2006 reveals that 8.9% of the city's permanent residents, or 1.58 million, are aged 0 -- 14; 79.1%, or 14.08 million are aged 15 -- 64; 11.9%, or 2.12 million aged 65 and above. Compared with the fifth national census in 2000, the proportion of those aged 0 -- 14 in the city population dropped 3.4 percentage points, while that of those aged 65 and above rose by 0.5 percentage points.

Life Expectancy

The life expectancy of Shanghai's population has kept rising. In 2006, the average life expectancy stood at 80.97 years -- 78.67 for males and 82.29 for females, about the level in Western countries.

Education Level

The overall education level of Shanghai's population has been steadily improving. According to the sample

survey of the 1% of the city population in 2006, 18.1% of the city's population aged six and above had a collegeequivalent education and above, 6.7 percentage points more than in 2000 when the fifth national census was conducted. Those with senior high school education accounted for 24.8% of the local population, up 1 percentage point while residents with primary and junior middle school education accounted for 51.6%, a drop of 6.3 percentage points. In 2006, 99.9 percent of school-age children attended the nine-year obligatory education, 99 percent of junior middle school graduates entered senior high schools, and 81.7 percent of graduates of senior high school enrolled into colleges.

List of top 10 "green cars" released

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LOS ANGELES, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Kelley Blue Book, the United States' largest automotive vehicle valuation company, on Tuesday released a ranking to the top 10 "green cars" for 2010.

The top 10 "green cars" are Toyota Prius, Honda Insight, Ford Fusion Hybrid, Volkswagen Golf TDI, MINI Cooper, Ford Escape hybrid, Honda Fit, BMW 335d, Toyota Highlander hybrid and Chevrolet Tahoe hybrid.

The top 10 "green cars" must be fuel efficient for their class, and have relatively low carbon emissions, said Kelley Blue Book.

The annual rankings, timed to coincide with Earth Day on April 22, ranged from small cars -- efficient getting 51 miles per gallon (about 82 kilometers) -- to SUV hybrids capable of towing 5, 200 pounds at 22 miles (about 35 kilometers) per gallon.

"From conventional gasoline-powered fuel sippers to hybrids to diesels, we think car shoppers will be impressed with the variety in vehicle types and sizes, as well as the vast array of various technologies, available on the market for the green-minded consumer today, as showcased in our Top 10 Green Cars of 2010 list, " said Jack Nerad, executive editorial director for Kelley Blue Book.

Kelley Blue Book, based in Irvine, near Los Angeles, is a resource for prices, values and reviews on new cars and used cars.

Interview: "Shanghai Expo will be a huge success" -- Danish Odense Pavilion project manager

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COPENHAGEN, April 19 (Xinhua) -- The preparation for the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai is so perfect and the world fair will be a huge success, said Helle Thylkjaer, project manager for Denmark's Odense Pavilion in the expo's Urban Best Practice Area (UBPA).

"I have seen all the preparations, I think the expo will be a huge success. I invite all the Chinese people to come visit us at the UBPA section," Thylkjaer said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

Thylkjaer said the preparation work in Shanghai is very impressive. "I have been visiting the city every two months for about two years to follow the preparation, and now I think the whole city is ready for the opening."

"I think the most important part is making an expo with a theme, because then you can collect all the knowledge from all over the world, and look at it in one place, and get inspired for the things you can do in the future," Thylkjaer said. "I hope that everyone will visit the expo and learn from it, and I hope all of us get wiser on how to build better and longer living cities."

The unique cycling culture of Odense, the birthplace of famous Danish fairytale writer Hans Christian Andersen, has made the city a favorite selection for the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, she said.

For the first time ever, Denmark will be represented by both a national pavilion and an urban pavilion at a world fair. Out of a total of 113 applicants, Odense was one of 55 selected for participation. The title of the Odense Pavilion is set as The Revival of the Bicycle and the pavilion was selected for participation on the basis of the project: Odense Cycle City.

The city will show examples of Denmark's unique cycling culture from Andersen's birthplace at "The Revival of the Bicycle" pavilion with an area of 500 square meters and a 150-meter-long cycling track.

The exhibition will describe the life of contemporary residents of the City of Fairy Tales, with individual stories, and deliberate choices about cycling, intelligent solutions in the areas of safety, exercise and health, combined with the tale on Danish quality, design and technology.

"We had a four-year plan about seven years ago, to promote the use of a bicycle instead of cars, and other kinds of traffic. We make new bicycle path and lanes, we make it easier to use the bike, we make a bicycle-riding trip faster than the one made by driving a car, he said.

He added, "And we made a lot of restrictions for the car use in the cities. We made a lot of campaign to encourage children to go to school by bike, and make the roads to the school much safer. We taught people the benefits of exercise, and why it was good to ride the bike instead of driving a car," she said.

"Within the new mobility plan, we will have fewer cars, more public transport, more bicycles and pedestrians. Not a total ban of cars in the city, of course, but in the inner city, the inner ring, there will be fewer cars," she said.

According to the official website of the World Expo 2010, in the Odense exhibition area, a demonstrative bicycle lane will be built with related traffic control devices installed properly to simulate traffic control.

Odense is expected to provide a modest number of bicycles as traffic tools in the UBPA. Then, visitors may tour the site by bike and experience the environment-friendly bicycle ride.

Odense will also demonstrate its contributions in promoting bicycle riding. According to the preliminary planning scheme, a series of bicycle-related themes will be showcased outdoors, such as urban environmental planning, new technology, new life style, development in tourism, public health and safety, and environmental protection.

The layout of the exhibition area looks much like the shape of "Sunny face" described in an Andersen fairy tale. The most advanced interactive technology will be used to enhance the sense of participation and experience in the exhibition.

A Review of China's Car Industry in Past 5 Years

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Peng Dan has now accustomed himself to driving his new beloved 1.8 liter Ford Focus on the wandering roads of Southwestern China's Chongqing Municipality.

Ford Focus models are manufactured in China under a joint venture between Chang'an Group and America's Ford Motor Company. Peng said that he was keeping an eye on the car when it came on to the market in September last year.

As a well-paid white-collar worker in the IT industry, Peng is one of the few fortunate Chinese that have enough money to buy a car. "If it were 10 years ago, I would not consider buying a car," he explained.

Peng bought his Focus in September this year for 130,000 RMB yuan (around US$16,000), but only after the price had fallen by 3,000 yuan.

Along with Peng, most Chinese people would not buy cars in the 1990s, when an old-fashioned Volkswagen Santana (which came on to the market in the late 1970s) cost more than Peng's Focus. Now, however, you can buy a new Santana with a much-improved performance for almost half of the 1990s price.

The major turning point that resulted in this dramatic fall in car prices in China took place only five to six years ago, when the country joined the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Decreasing car prices enable more and more Chinese people like Peng, especially some newly rich, to enjoy a lifestyle that they once could only experience in western movies and advertisements.

China was a founding member of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trades (GATT) in 1947, but withdrew 3 years later in 1950. Since 1986, China focused its efforts on returning to the GATT. However, by 1995, when the WTO came into existence and replaced the GATT, China had not achieved its goal and had missed the opportunity to become a founding member of the new organization.

Obstacles were swept away after China and the United States signed a bilateral agreement on China's entry to the WTO in November of 1999. After that, the process accelerated.

Two years later, during the fourth WTO ministerial conference in Doha, Qatar, a decision on the accession of China into the WTO was made and China eagerly signed the protocol. Finally, on the 11th December 2001, after fifteen years of trying, China officially became the 143rd member of the WTO.

As one of the commitments to the WTO, China's average tariff level has dropped down from 15 percent in 2001 to just under 10 percent in 2006. In terms of the tariff on automobiles, the drop is more significant.

The most recent decrease of the tariff on imported vehicles occurred in July this year, down from 28 percent to 25 percent. In 2001, the tariff on automobiles was as high as 80 percent to 100 percent. Thus, by the middle of this year, China had fully implemented its WTO commitments to tariff decreases in the automobile industry.

Furthermore, some trade barriers in the car industry, as well as an import license system, have been abolished so as to stimulate a growth in imports.

Statistics from Chinese Customs show that China's vehicle and vehicle parts imports have experienced a rapid increase since WTO accession, from US$4 billion in 2001 to almost US$16 billion in the first three quarters of 2006.

One reason for the sharp increase in imported vehicles is that they are much cheaper than before. For example, the price of a Mercedes Benz S600 fell by 1.1 million RMB yuan in 2002. Other luxury cars, such as BMW's and Audi's, were about 15 percent-20 percent cheaper in 2003 than those sold before WTO accession.

Pointing to other benefits of imported vehicles, Li Huanxin, a General Motors dealer commented that, "Besides the decline of price, imported cars are of higher quality". Li Huanxin was speaking at the Beijing Automobile Show, which took place two weeks ago.

In the automobile show, top grade imported cars wowed most of the crowd, including some of Beijing's super-rich. Cars with sky-high prices on display, such as Bentley's, Ferrari's and Rolls Royce's, were marked as "sold out."

Li said that cheaper imported vehicles also compel domestic carmakers to lower their products' prices. In 2002, one year after WTO accession, carmakers lowered their prices 29 times over the space of 12 months and China's car market experienced a "blowout." A year later, in 2003, they lowered their prices 60 times.

"Now you can buy a homemade Buick with 160,000 RMB yuan, which would cost more than 200,000 yuan five years ago", said Li.

Clearly knowing that his Ford Focus would be cheaper in the future, Peng admitted that he was eager to get on the road. He said that, "The price is always on the decline, but I cannot keep waiting. I want to enjoy a lifestyle on wheels."

Li the dealer, however, said that the most remarkable change was that the threshold for having a car had been lowered.

"The government and companies were once our major customers, but now increasing numbers of householders buy our cars. Furthermore, young people have become a major consumption force", said Li, who bought a Buick Sail made by Shanghai General Motors (GM), two years ago at the age of 26.

Almost all of the international car giants, such as Toyota, Honda, GM, Volkswagen, and Ford have increased their investment in China with a number of joint ventures being set up. The cheaper prices that result from these joint ventures are enabling more and more Chinese people to afford cars.

Consequently, vehicle production in China has rapidly increased. According to the China Association of Automobiles Manufacturers (CAAM), the vehicle output of China in 2005 was almost 6 million, making it the third largest car-making country in the world, only after the United States and Japan.

Commenting on the pros and cons of joint ventures, Prof. Hu Shuhua with Wuhan University of Technology stated that, "Cooperation with foreign car companies brings capital and technologies, but also leads to over-dependence on foreign technologies, and inadequate capacities for independent innovations." Prof. Hu is somewhat an expert in this field, as he is also head of the National Automotive Innovation Program's research group, under the auspices of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

After achieving WTO status, the Chinese media along with some domestic experts prophesized doom, and their concerns now seem to have been well-founded. Without a tariff barrier, and with their joint ventures in China, foreign-branded cars now hold almost 70 percent of the domestic market share.

Cars with foreign brands are now running all around the country, but ironically most of them are made in China. Some sections of the audience at the Beijing Automobile Show expressed a strong interest in these Chinese manufactured foreign cars.

The Economic Observer recently commented that China's car industry had gained a domestic market, but had lost its international competitive strength.

In the traditional car industry, small scale implies low productivity and poor competition. During 2001, the total vehicle output of China accounted for only one fourth of that of GM, and only four enterprises had an output capacity of more than 200,000 per year.

Finding themselves in such a predicament, domestic carmakers have started to try and find ways to take the bull by its horns and tackle the challenge of competition head-on. One benefit of the joint ventures is that they offer the benefits of agglomeration economies, in that they are constantly expanding their own capacities and acquiring new knowledge from the partnership.

For instance, with the know-how learned from its long-term partners GM and Volkswagen, Shanghai Automobiles Industry Corporation (SAIC) launched its first self-branded car, the Roewe 750. A new car named Besturn made by First Auto Works, one of China's largest carmakers, also benefits from technologies used in the Mazda 6.

Chang'an Group have also introduced a series of self-branded cars recently, a salesman representing Chang'an at the Beijing Automobile Show commented that, "We have strengthened capabilities for independent R&D, as we've sensed the brutal competition." Asking to remain anonymous, the Chang'an salesman's comment on his company's experience post-WTO accession is representative of that of most of the domestic car manufacturers.

Nowadays, a number of Chinese-branded cars, such as Chery, Geely, and Brilliance, are known throughout the country. Their market share is still small, however, it is on the rise, from 25 percent last year to 30 percent in the first five months this year.

"Homemade cars are now better in quality and technology than before", said Li Huanxin, who has worked as a car dealer for five years and had clearly witnessed radical changes in Chinese car industry. He attributed this change to the benefits of operating alongside foreign car manufacturers, in that they offer an opportunity to make money in join ventures instead of facing a battle of David and Goliath.

Statistics show that China exported around 127,000 vehicles over the 19 years from 1980 to 1998, while nearly 173,000 were exported just in 2005. Thus, the Chinese car industry has made its impact on the global market, albeit mostly in Africa, the Middle East and some economically less developed areas.

While celebrating its booming car market, China has also set its goal for the future. China's high-ranking officials are now paying increasing attention to Chinese branded cars.

Chinese-branded cars and independent capacities for R&D have also gained priority in the government's 11th "five-year development program."

Accession to the WTO has helped to develop China's car market, but there is still a long way ahead. After several years of hiding in the wings of their foreign counterparts, Chinese car manufacturers now seem to be adapting their capabilities for direct competition with these car giants in an open market.

(Xinhua News Agency December 11, 2006)

Ambassador: China Has Implemented WTO Obligations

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China has made great efforts to faithfully implement its obligations in the World Trade Organization (WTO) since it joined the body five years ago, Chinese Ambassador to the WTO Sun Zhenyu has said.

Since 2001, China has reviewed more than 2,000 trade-related laws and regulations, abolishing over 700 of them and amending others to bring them into full compliance with its commitments, Sun told Xinhua ahead of the five year anniversary of China's WTO entry, which falls on Monday.

China's average tariff for industrial goods was lowered from 14.8 percent before its WTO accession to 9.1 percent in 2005, and the tariff for agricultural products was down from 23.2 percent to15.35 percent, Sun said.

China has also opened up nine service sectors and 102 sub-sectors to the committed levels, which are much higher than the average levels committed by developing members. Those sub-sectors include banking, insurance, distribution, telecoms, legal service, accounting, etc..

Sun added that China had also made huge efforts to enhance protection of intellectual property rights. China's patent fee and other related payments are increasing dramatically on annual basis, reaching US$4.5 billion last year.

Sun admitted that China, as a young WTO member, still had room to improve in implementing its WTO obligations.

But he noted that all WTO members, including the US and the EU, need to improve their performance, and the US and EU should not measure China's performance with standards that exceed China's commitments and capacity.

Sun said as five years passing by, China might face more challenges as a WTO member.

The passing of the five-year "transitional period" means China's overall market opening will be uplifted to a new level, and China will have a more important role to play in the WTO, he said.

China's influence on world economy and world trade would grow further, which would be seen as a challenge as well as an opportunity for developed countries, he said.

Sun predicted that the US and EU might take more trade protectionist measures against China and trade disputes involving China might increase.

He said China would also face more pressure in the Doha Round of trade talks, as WTO members might demand China further open its markets. He also mentioned challenges in the fields of agriculture, finance and energy.

To face the new challenges, China must resolutely continue its reform and opening policy, play an active and constructive role in the WTO and work to improve and enhance the multi-lateral trade system, Sun said.

The ambassador said China would also further cooperation with other developing countries, and continue to provide aid to least developed countries and other poor countries.

Besides, China should try to expand domestic consumption, improve its regulation on exports, increase imports, and reduce trade surplus with major trading partners, he added.

(Xinhua News Agency December 11, 2006)



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China Has Made Remarkable Progress in Economic Opening

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China has made remarkable progress in opening its economy since it joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) five years ago, former US Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky told Xinhua recently in an exclusive interview.

"China's implementation of WTO commitments has in general been good, though there are several areas of concerns expressed by the US, the EU and others," said Barshefsky, one of the architects of China's WTO agreement in 2001.

"Most notably, with respect to intellectual property protection (IPR), with respect to services market opening, China is still completing its commitments under the WTO," she said.

These two areas, IPR and services, are very important, she said, adding that "there are quite visible signs of China's implementation of its WTO commitments."

In view of its economic size, it is increasingly important for China to do everything it can to implement fully its WTO commitments, Barshefsky said, but she also thought "as a general matter, China has made quite remarkable progress in opening its economy, in welcoming imports and in inviting foreign investments."

The fact that China has remade its economy as a spur to global growth should not be ignored, she said.

Mentioning China's "very rapid, very substantial, very consistent" economic development, Barshefsky said "China is no longer a bystander in the world economy."

"It has become an important hub in the global economy and as such it takes on responsibilities beyond merely its own economic development," she added.

Barshefsky said that China has actively assisted the management of global economy and played an important role in policy making alongside the European Union, the United States, Japan and others.

When asked about trade disputes between China and the US and the EU, Barshefsky said that she is "very much in favor of negotiation."

"I am not in the position to say whether China or the US fully explored all possible negotiated solutions, or whether China or Europe fully explored all possible negotiated solutions. I certainly hope all sides did, because that would take out better outcomes for everybody."

"Trade sanctions often do not solve problems, but sometimes mutual cooperation can. So, every opportunity always has to be given to try to find the negotiated solution before any further steps are taken," noted the chief trade negotiator and principal trade policy maker for the Untied States from 1997 to 2001.

About Doha round global trade talks, Barshefsky said that "it will be good to see Doha conclude in a positive way. All countries have to be flexible."

Talking about the agriculture disputes between developed and developing countries, the trade expert said that subsidies by the US and Europe to agriculture must come down substantially. Export subsides should be eliminated and domestic subsidies should be cut very dramatically.

"Unless that happens, the trade effect for poorer countries will not be particularly significant at all. And that will be an unfortunate outcome for something called 'the development round'," she said.

Recalling the negotiation for China's entry into the WTO, Barshefsky said that "China is a very, very tough negotiating partner."

"China and the US share a very important common characteristic, and that is we are practical people," she said.

Because both the Chinese people and American people share this common characteristic, she said, "we were often able to overcome differences, even political differences, by simply coming up with a practical solution that benefited both sides."

"I think the Chinese side particularly excelled at this, but the US side did as well. So, even on complicated issues, we could find a situation to come to agreement, and that really led to the kind of historic outcome that was achieved," she said.

Barshefsky mentioned that "trade is the foundation of the US-China relationship. It causes friction, of course, but also great benefits for both countries."

"I think the challenge for the US and China is to learn how to cooperate in a meaningful way," said the former US top trade official.

Now a Senior International Partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, Barshefsky said that the famous law company represents many, many American companies and European and Japanese companies investing in China.

"We are very actively involved in China," she said.

(Xinhua News Agency December 7, 2006)

China Refutes 'Transparency' Claim on Subsidies

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Claims that the Chinese government's report to the World Trade Organization (WTO) on subsidies lacked transparency were refuted by officials on Thursday.

A Ministry of Commerce (MoC) official said China had met all the WTO obligations on subsidies in line with its accession to the organization. The government had been gathering information on subsidy policy.

However, a Ministry of Finance official said difficulties existed in obtaining accurate and complete information.

The European Union (EU) and the United States (US) claim China's report on industry subsidies, which has been evaluated for the first time by the Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, lacks transparency.

The MoC said the charge would "dampen" the evaluation made by the committee.

MoC spokesman Chong Quan said the US and EU were also criticized for their delay in notifying their agriculture subsidies and pointed out that the data of both was last updated in 2001.

Chong said China has made determined efforts in subsidies policy notification.

The report which was submitted to the committee in April includes 78 government policies and measures. He said the inclusion of items didn't mean the government had made a decision on them but it was done on transparency grounds. .

(Xinhua News Agency November 3, 2006)

Security Industry Permitted to Accept Foreign Investment

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In 2007 foreign investment will be permitted in China's security services industry which meets a commitment to the World Trade Organization (WTO), said a senior official yesterday.

The industry, currently solely funded and operated by public security departments, will be open to private investors from home and abroad, said Ma Weiya, deputy director of the public order regulation department under the Ministry of Public Security.

"The opening is essential to a rapidly growing industry and also meets our WTO commitment," he said during yesterday's first Beijing International Security Forum. .

The security service industry includes bodyguards, transportation protection, residential and office security and electronic equipment.

Ma explained that China's first regulation on the security service industry, likely to be issued in the first half of next year, would spell out specific requirements for private investors.

"In principle foreign investors will be allowed to set up joint-venture security companies in China," Ma said. "But certain areas such as armed escort services will remain closed." He said no country would unconditionally open this specialist field as it was closely related to state and social security.

Ministry figures show that since the opening of China's first security service company in 1984 in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, the country now has approximately 2,300 companies with 1.3 million staff.

Ma said the regulation would change the existing policy where only public security departments were allowed to open security service companies and make it more market-oriented.

"In the initial stages of the industry it was necessary to have a centralized management authority," he said. "But now it's time to open the market and turn public security departments from operators to regulators."

The regulation will spell out specific criteria for grading security companies and staff. Credit records will also be set up for those involved.

Mo Jihong, a researcher with the National Institute of Law under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the policy change would be beneficial to ensuring a healthy market. "Without monopolization the market will become more competitive and customers are likely to enjoy better services," he said.

The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and 2010 Shanghai Expo are considered as two prime opportunities for the rapidly expanding industry.

Gao Yu, deputy director of the Beijing Public Security Bureau, said at the forum that security staff would be an essential addition to police in protecting the Olympic Games. They'd be responsible for safeguarding sports venues, maintaining public order and checking credentials during the event.

A special training program has been launched for 740,000 security staff in Beijing to improve their professional skills and knowledge before the Games.

(China Daily September 21, 2006)

Agricultural Tarrifs Reduction Hurts Chinese Farmers

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China's Minister of Agriculture has stressed the strain on the country's agricultural industry that would be caused by further reduction of farming tariffs during talks with visiting director general of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Pascal Lamy.



"China's agricultural industry would not be able to cope if its farm produce market is thrown open over a short period of time. Countries participating in the Doha talks have to consider the realities new WTO members like China face," said Minister Du Qinglin on Tuesday, in response to Lamy's urge for China to play a greater role in reviving the stalled trade talks.



Lamy has asked China to strengthen talks with the six key trade powers, namely European Union (EU), Japan, Australia, India, Brazil and the United States, and play a constructive role within the G20 group of emerging market nations and the G33 group of developing nations, said sources with the Ministry's Press Office.



Du is the third Chinese senior official to exchange views with Lamy on the Doha talks since Monday, following Commerce Minister Bo Xilai and Premier Wen Jiabao.



The Chinese government has urged the EU and the United States to take the lead in making substantial concessions over farm tariffs and subsidy reduction.



Du said that China had honored its WTO commitment that it agreed five years ago. Farm produce imports have been growing at an annual rate of 26.94 percent on the average, he noted. "We have revised laws and regulations which are inconsistent with the WTO rules. Export subsidies for farm produce have all been removed and farming tariffs have been slashed," Du said. He stressed that these revisions had already had a negative effect on the domestic farming industry. "The prices of local farm produce have been driven down by the influx of foreign imports. Rural households who cultivate land for subsistence face rising pressure," he said. "As time goes on, the impact will be much more noticeable."



Du assured Lamy that China would stick to the policy of opening up but proceed in a "solid and moderate manner".



(Xinhua News Agency September 6, 2006)

China Good on WTO Commitments

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China has comprehensively and fully implemented the extensive commitments it made when it joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, according to Vice Commerce Minister Yi Xiaozhun at the WTO's first trade policy review of China on Wednesday.



China's average tariffs on industrial goods was lowered from pre-WTO levels of 14.8 percent to 9.1 percent by 2005, and during the same period, tariffs on agricultural products were down from 23.2 percent to 15.3 percent, Yi said.



He added that China had become a relatively low-tariff member within the WTO, and China had also completely phased out quantitative import restrictions in compliance with its commitments.



Yi was speaking to WTO members at the global trade organization's first trade policy review of China. The review is one of the basic functions of the WTO, which aims to improve the transparency of members' trade policies.



According to Yi, China has also opened up 10 service sectors and 100 sub-sectors as per its commitments. Sub-sectors include banking, insurance, distribution, telecoms, legal service, and accounting.



In addition, China's trade-related laws, regulations and rules have been extensively reviewed and brought into full compliance with its commitments on accession.



China has also made tremendous efforts in intellectual property rights (IPR) protection, which Yi said was a global issue, a challenge faced by even developed member states.



"In only 20 years, a complete legislative and enforcement system for IPR protection has been put in place in China, and public awareness of IPR protection has been dramatically raised," Yi stressed.



He said since its WTO entry, all of China's IPR-related laws and regulations had been amended to conform to the Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement. Further, it continues to intensify its IPR enforcement efforts.



(Xinhua News Agency April 20, 2006)

WTO Report Addresses Trade Surplus

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While friction between China and the US continues over their large trade imbalance, the World Trade Organization (WTO) addressed the gap in its first review of China's trade policy since the nation joined the global body at the end of 2001.



According to the WTO, China's surplus with the US and the EU is a structural issue and partially reflects Asia's current trade composition.



A report is due to be published officially in April but was released by the WTO Secretariat on Friday.



The Chinese mainland's trade surplus with both the US and the EU has been pushed up as a result of production and exports by investors from Taiwan, South Korea and Japan.



Taiwan enjoyed a trade surplus of US$58 billion with the Chinese mainland last year, topping all economies in the world including South Korea, which posted a surplus of US$42 billion with China in the same year to become the No 2 surplus earner. Japan was in third place with US$16.5 billion, according to the report.



Mei Xinyu, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said that to some extent, China has been a scapegoat for the trade imbalance problem. He said the report gave a fair picture of China's role in global trade and for years, the sources of both China's trade surplus and deficit have become relatively stable.



China suffers from a huge deficit in trade with East Asian countries and regions and major energy and raw materials producers. Meanwhile, China has enjoyed great trade surpluses with the US, the EU and non-oil exporters.



"As those economies shift their exports to the Chinese mainland through investment, their previous trade friction with the US and the EU has been eased. The mainland has begun to bear the brunt of trade pressure," Mei said.



China's ballooning export trade over the past three years has caused concern among other WTO member countries over whether China's foreign trade systems and policies are in line with international trade regulations and whether China has delivered on its promises to the world upon its WTO accession, according to the report.



Song Hong, a trade expert from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the EU and the US are used to finding faults with China and, when trade imbalance happens, they are skeptical as to whether it is fully opening its markets or complying with WTO promises.



"But, in fact, it's a problem born of globalization," said Song.



About 60 to 80 percent of China's export value is generated by foreign-invested enterprises. Much of the country's growing exports come from enterprises owned by cross-national companies, including many based in the US, he said.



The trade imbalance between China and the US is a structural problem in international, rather than bilateral, trade. He suggested that if the US wants to find the cause of its growing trade deficit, it should check with of its major trade partners.



(China Daily March 21, 2006)

Average Tariff Level Drops to 9.9%

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China's average tariff level has dropped to 9.9 percent in 2005 as the country is earnestly fulfilling its commitments to the World Trade Organization (WTO), according to figures released by the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM).

The average tariff on industrial products dropped to 9.3 percent as against 14.8 percent in 2000, and that for agricultural products was 15.3 percent as against 23.2 percent in 2000, the MOFCOM said.

China's imports have witnessed a rapid growth in recent years as tariffs have kept dropping from an average of 15.6 percent in 2000, and almost all pledged tariff cuts had been made by yearend 2005, according to the MOFCOM.

Meanwhile, China also lifted most licensing requirements and import quotas on schedule, said the ministry, adding that China will only maintain import licensing restrictions on controlled chemical products, such as chemicals which can be easily turned into narcotics and ozonosphere-consuming materials.

(Xinhua News Agency January 28, 2006)

China's Diplomacy: Pursuing Balance to Reach Harmony

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Chinese President Hu Jintao made a speech on China's new foreign policy of building a harmonious world at the United Nations Summit marking the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the world body. His words received wide approval and the policy is thought fruitful in 2005.

The policy helped to lift China's international status, fundamentally because of its pursuit of balance. That is, to balance national development against international responsibilities, economic benefits against political and security interests, relations with world powers against those with various countries, and reform against the maintenance of world order.

We should build a harmonious world by aiming at "performing great deeds". Although a developing country, China is a rising big nation. Change in international environment casts a direct impact on China's rise, and the country will suffer from its negative effects if she doesn't take the initiative to push it towards a more harmonious direction. Such a pro-active approach will benefit both the international environment of China and the advancement of the whole world.

In the spirit of "performing great deeds" China has decided to take responsibilities of a big nation. During his meeting with President Bush, President Hu said explicitly that the China-US cooperation will be on global scale. The year 2005 marks the most frequent Chinese participation in UN peacekeeping missions. At the UN Summit President Hu promised debt cut to the Third World, the biggest slash over years.

We should build a harmonious world by taking the overall national interest as a starting point. Both national and international interests are multi-faceted, and different interest claims can clash. For example, globalization can raise economic efficiency, but also worsen the wealth gap and interest conflicts at home and abroad.

In building a harmonious world, we must give equal attention to political, security and economic interests, and refrain from developing economy at the cost of political and security benefits. The enlarging world economic scale is fuelling conflicts in energy, resource, market, talent, international rules and so on. The WTO conference and anti-WTO demonstration serves a classic example. Clashes between developed and developing countries, transnationals and SMEs, the rich and the poor are being sharpened at each passing day. To build a harmonious world, we must, on top of economic interests, give due consideration to political interests such as China's image, influence and status on the international arena.

We should build a harmonious world by following the policy of a greater neighborhood diplomacy. To the end of a harmonious world we must maintain friendly ties with as many countries as possible, so we should avoid sacrificing relations with other countries for the sake of stable Sino-US ties.

The United States, as the world only superpower, comes into strategic interest conflicts with many a country in maintaining her world dominance. By frequent visits to Europe and Russia this year, Chinese leaders effectively raised the importance of China-EU and China-Russia ties so as to strike a balance in relations with the three parties of the United States, EU and Russia.

China also increased visits to other developing countries this year to achieve a relative balance between policies towards developed and developing countries. In regional policy, China worked hard to score a balance between neighbors and countries from other regions such as Latin America and Africa.

We should build a harmonious world in the principle of gradualness. In proposing such a long-term objective, China has no intention to reach it in one step. China fully understands the difficulty in constructing a harmonious world under anarchy, so she stressed on safeguarding UN authority and conducting necessary reforms.

To reshape the world order is a permanent task, and as time changes the old international order is for sure to be replaced by a new one. To ensure peace and order during such a course, China believes that reforms should be carried out in a measured, cautious way based on the current world order, so that the reforms can benefit the greatest majority of world countries.

(People's Daily December 28, 2005)

Shopping Areas Getting Help to Boost Post-WTO Trade

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Hong Kong's government announced yesterday that it would introduce a series of initiatives to encourage visitors and consumers to the shopping areas of Causeway Bay and Wanchai to help local shops resume normal business after the WTO Ministerial Conference

Chief Executive Donald Tsang visited the area on Tuesday afternoon to commend businesspeople for their tolerance and cooperation in the face of inconvenience and disruptions during the weeklong conference.

The WTO meeting, mainly held in Wanchai, did not bring in much business to the area and nearby Causeway Bay, and many shops actually lost business because of anti-WTO demonstrations, according to Xinhua News Agency today.

Tsang promised that the government would soon take measures to boost business in the area.

He said, "I understand that businesspeople in Wanchai and Causeway Bay were affected during the conference and some of them could not operate."

The measures will include a free shuttle bus service connecting Wanchai and Causeway Bay and terminating at Golden Bauhinia Square, a fare discount of HK$2 to Octopus cardholders exiting Wanchai and Causeway Bay Stations and arranging Santa Claus appearances along the streets.

(Xinhua News Agency December 21, 2005)

China Improves Int'l Trade Rules for Rural Development

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Four years after its accession to the World Trade Organization, China is striving to play an active role in improving international trade rules to protect its vulnerable agriculture, among others.



"We've set the target of building a socialist new countryside, which aims to raise the efficiency of agriculture and the income of 900 million farmers," said Chinese Vice-Minister of Agriculture Niu Dun at the sixth Ministerial Conference, which ended on Sunday.



The "new countryside" policy, advocated by the Communist Party of China, is expected to activate the country's rural market and speed up social and economic building-up there, which lags far behind the booming urban areas.



"To do so, we have to turn our eyes to the international market in the process of globalization," Niu said.



China has fulfilled its commitments to the international trade regime and witnessed soaring trade of agricultural products, which hit US$51 billion in 2004, up 84 percent as against 2001 when it joined the WTO.



China also cut its overall agricultural tariff from 54 percent to 15.3 percent, which is expected to drop further to 15.2 percent in 2006. In contrast, the world's average agricultural tariff stands at 62 percent.



"Not a single member in the WTO history has made such a huge cut in such a short period of time, even the developed members," said Chinese Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai, who is in Hong Kong attending the WTO conference.



However, Chinese agriculture suffers from its own disadvantages, such as small size, poor infrastructure, lack of technology and investment, as well as foreign subsidies and unfair world trade system, which slowed down the growth of its farmers' income.



Though Chinese agricultural officials knew very well that the country had made extensive promises to open its market to the rest of the world, especially in the agricultural sector, they were still shocked by the first agricultural trade deficit in 2004, which hit US$5.5 billion.



"Part of the deficit was caused by foreign export subsidies, which lowered the prices of agricultural products such as grain, cotton and bean," said Cheng Guoqiang, a research fellow with the State Council Development and Research Center.



The United States, the world largest cotton exporter, offered more than US$3 billion of subsidy for cotton exports. Oxfam Group, a Hong Kong-based non-governmental organization, said that the subsidy drove 720,000 Chinese cotton farmers out of work.



The European Union's subsidies for sugar exports reduce the per capita annual income of Chinese sugar growers by 300 yuan (about US$38). The per capita income of Chinese farmers was 2,900 yuan (about US$363) in 2004.



Meanwhile, Chinese exports of such high-quality agricultural products as vegetables, aquatic and livestock products were kept out by tariffs or non-tariff trade barriers.



"Chinese farmers will feel more pressure on the international market, where agricultural trade is distorted by subsidies or trade barriers," Niu said, adding that such an unfair situation must be changed in the process of the WTO trade talks.



Niu said China will make the most of the domestic support measures permitted by WTO rules to improve the efficiency and competitive edge of its agriculture.



(Xinhua News Agency December 19, 2005)