TUESDAY JANUARY 18 2000      PUBLISHED BY CHINA DAILY
                                                           BUSINESS

2000 IT forum on the way
A HIGH-profile gathering of IT users and industry leaders will be held in Shanghai in the middle of the year.

Before you settle down to business here...
ARRIVING in Shanghai can be a little disorienting, even for a tourist.

Somerset confident in housing market
SINGAPOREAN property developers are still showing strong interest in the local market though the city has many empty houses.

Rumous quashed, IDD access to stay
SHANGHAI's chief telecommunications operators have denied rumours they are set to ban all IDD business for new mobile phone users in the local market.

Emery offers you quick delivery
LOOKING for somebody for a jumbo delivery to the US? Contact Emery Worldwide, which recently expanded its guaranteed "Gold Priority Express" service for shipments from Shanghai to 48 states in the United States, plus Puerto Rico, Canada, and major points in Mexico.

Robin Smith: from movie child to top business woman
ROBIN Smith grew up as a Hollywood movie child.

Seek future card users
IN the 21st century, cash payment will be replaced by bank card payment, a senior Visa Inter-national executive said last week.

Website bids to be good medical guide
JUST one click, you might be interviewing with a psychologist in Shanghai, or a traditional Chinese doctor in Guangzhou.

Higher prices, larger capacity for cargo
SERVICES bound for the United States are expected to have more cargo this year thanks to the economic recovery in Asia.

GDP target 9%
THE city government is striving for a 9 per cent increase in GDP growth in 2000. The city achieved a 10.2 per cent increase in GDP growth in 1999, halting the decline in the GDP growth rate for the first year since 1992, said Li Liangyuan, director of Shanghai Planning Committee. The services industry achieved an over 20 billion yuan ($2.4 billion) increase over 1998. At the end of 1999, exports to Asia, the former major export destination for Shanghai, recovered, with those to Japan increasing by 16.8 per cent and those to ASEAN countries increasing by 36.5 per cent. Contracted foreign investment in Shanghai as a whole decreased by 29.8 per cent to $4.1 billion, while investment in fixed assets began to recover in 1999.

‘Waixiao' houses cheaper
THE price gap between properties available for sale to local people and those accessible to foreigners is closing fast.

New Apple products on market
APPLE Computer International Co, one of the earliest and largest computer manufacturers in the world, announced the launch of two of its new series of PC products.

Government to survey commercial framework
By Xu Xiaomin

HOW many commercial enterprises are there in Shanghai? What is the city's commercial structure?

To answer these questions, Shanghai Municipal Commercial Commission has launched a general survey, the largest of its kind ever, into the city's commercial enterprises.

The commission hopes all enterprises involved will respond openly and honestly to the survey.

The survey involves State-owned, private and foreign-invested enterprises engaging in retail, wholesale, service, restaurants and logistics.

In 1991, the city launched such a survey. "But after nine years, with the fast development of the city's commerce, some basic information we have mastered has changed a lot," said Zhou Qiang, an official with the commission.

The latest and most complete figures covering business, sales volume, market structure and commercial equipment will be collated to help the government formulate a new development plan in the new century.

A special computer network will be set up to save all data.

Copyright 2000 by Shanghai Star. All rights reserved.