SHANGHAI

Talent quest

GIVEN its large number of universities, Shanghai has become one of the most attractive talent bases in China, with delegations from other cities arriving continuously in the city seeking new graduates. Guangzhou has a package of favourable terms to attract talented young Shanghai graduates including cash rewards from the provincial government to those with medical degrees who will move to Guangzhou. The government will also help spouses of graduates to find jobs in Guangzhou.

Safe-sex ignorance

ONLY 16 per cent of women of child-bearing age in the city know that condoms can prevent AIDS. Though the usage of condoms has grown from 9.49 per cent in 1996 to 12.38 per cent this year, the situation is far from ideal, say experts. Drug taking is still the main way the AIDS virus is transmitted, accounting for 61.6 per cent of the total. The proportion of those infected through sexual activities has grown from 9 per cent the previous year to 17 per cent this year.

Feet lost after binge

A WOMAN worker in a factory in Jiading District lost her feet while in a deep sleep after a drinking binge last Saturday night. A cleaner who noticed a strong smell of burning flesh when passing the woman's dormitory on Sunday morning found the room full of smoke and the woman badly burnt. The victim, surnamed Yang, 39, had fallen asleep with a heater burning below her bed. She was taken to hospital where doctors had to amputate her feet and she also suffered burns to her legs.

Phoney beggars

DRESSING in student uniforms has become a popular way for beggars to make more money in the city. A local citizen surnamed Chen claimed that he had seen one woman beggar in her 30s, kneeling on the footpath wearing a student's uniform and with her student certificate next to her knees. Several middle-aged people, apparently collaborators, would throw some money from time to time to the woman which then attracted passers-by to add some of their own money.

Property sales freeze

THE city will further restrict speculation that is heating up the real estate market by forbidding the transfer of properties that are under construction. Shanghai will continue to encourage home seekers who want to live in the properties they are buying but will ban the sale of apartments or houses before they are completed.

Off-season cut rates

RATES in star-rated hotels in the city are expected to drop by between 40 and 70 per cent as the New Year approaches, according to the Shanghai Evening Post. Most of the star-rated hotels began launching lower rates from the beginning of December. The Okura Garden Hotel has offered more favourable rates from December 20 to February 29 when the standard room rate drops to US$105 with breakfast and no service charge is included. The Renaissance Yangtze Shanghai Hotel will also cut its rates by more than half from December 20 to January 4 and January 17 to February 1.

Taking aim at Taiwanese

THE magazine, Emigrate to Shanghai, published by the Oriental Economy Magazine Office, celebrated the 2nd anniversary of its publication on December 3 by improving its coverage aimed at Taiwanese living in the city. Editor-in-chief Michael Zhang said the monthly magazine now has a circulation of about 70,000 copies, with 60 per cent selling in Shanghai and 40 per cent overseas.

Big year for Siemens

THE German company Siemens China Co Ltd has announced that sales in the financial year ending September 30 amounted to 30.1 billion yuan (US$3.64 billion), an increase of 8 per cent over the previous year. The company said new orders rose by 9 per cent to 31.3 billion yuan (US$3.78 billion). Siemens also reported that its total long-term investment in China stood at 5.4 billion yuan (US$652 million), an increase of almost 8 per cent on the previous year.

SVW's export drive

SHANGHAI Volkswagen has announced plans to export at least 600 Polo compact cars to Australia annually over the next five years. The cars will be sold on the Australian market at the same price as in China - from 113,800 yuan to 144,800 yuan (US$13,700 - US$17,500). The Polo exports to Australia are expected to advance SVW's expansion into other overseas markets.

Luxury villas

THE Regency Park, a luxury villa project, has been 90 per cent subscribed by clients from Shanghai and overseas. Developed by the Shanghai Helian Property Development Co, a subsidiary of Cheung Kong and Hutchison Whampoa, the Regency Park is considered the only low density luxury residence area near Pudong's Century Park.

BEIJING

Dow Chemical chief

DOW Chemical, which is moving ahead with aggressive plans to expand its business from downstream to upstream chemical products in the China market, has announced the election of Andrew Liveris, 49, Business Group President, Performance Chemicals, as President and Chief Operating Officer (COO). Liveris' 27-year Dow career has spanned manufacturing, sales, marketing, new business development and management, working in Australia, Thailand, Hong Kong and the US.

Seasonal cheer

THE problem of delayed wages, long troubling migrant workers, has now been raised to the top of the agenda by the Beijing government, which plans to clear all old debts in the next three years, according to the Xinjing Newspaper. A hotline has also been established to help protect the rights of migrant workers in Beijing.

LIAONING

Crime explosion

TWO people were killed and 17 injured in an explosion that occurred near a savings bank in Haicheng, of Northeast China's Liaoning Province. According to Chinanews.com, the explosion resulted from an attempt to rob a security van took place at around 8:00am, when two bank staff left the vehicle carrying a bag filled with money on their way into the bank. The driver immediately drove the vehicle away which helped to ensure the safety of the money. A man who was trying to escape aroused the attention of the police who quickly arrived at the scene. They found the man still in possession of a remote control for the dynamite.

SHAANXI

What a relief!

THE first star-rated public toilet has been opened in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi Province. According to the Xi'an Evening News, this modern structure attracted lots of visitors.

Built in two storeys, the first floor of the public toilet is specially designed for the physically disabled. Great attention to human nature has been embodied in the toilet. Children have their own washing pools and babies can be rested in cradles.

HENAN

Flawed defence

LI Kuisheng, the former director of the Qingtian Law Firm in Zhengzhou, has been sentenced to 12 years jail and fined 10,000 yuan (US$1,215), according to the Yingyang procuratorate. The Zhengzhou Daily reported that the 45-year-old defence lawyer was suspected of fabricating evidence and accepting bribes and was arrested in December 1998.

WORLD

EU anti-Semitism study

VIENNA - The World Jewish Congress this week made public a disputed anti-Semitism report kept under wraps by the European Union. The WJC accused the EU of not facing up to anti-Jewish sentiment among Muslim immigrants in Europe. The WJC and Jewish community organizations in the 15-nation EU put the report on their Web sites even though it has not been released by the EU's European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC), which commissioned the study.

(Agencies via Xinhua)