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.
Government to survey commercial framework
HOW many commercial enterprises are there in Shanghai? What is the city's commercial structure?
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.
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.
‘Waixiao' houses cheaper
By Tao Yungang
THE price gap between properties available for sale to local people and those accessible to foreigners is closing fast. Since the modification of property laws in 1989, the market has been split in two - "waixiao" property for sale to domestic and overseas buyers, and "neixiao" for sale to Shanghainese residents only. Traditionally, land prices for waixiao properties were 30 per cent more than neixiao which also tended to be pre-furbished for expatriates' convenience. At that time, buyers were usually from Taiwan, Hong Kong or Southeast Asia, who in turn let their houses or apartments to Westerners coming to work in Shanghai. The Asian financial crisis and the over-supply of property in Shanghai, however, meant that there was less demand for properties at the top end of the market. Average levels of rent have also continued to fall over the past two years. The overall rental index went down by 2.8 per cent and 3.6 per cent in the prime sector in the third quarter of 1999, according to the latest figures from Jones Lang LaSalle Market Research Analysis. With the pressure of price sensitive demand and the liquidity concerns of developers, some developers of waixiao properties changed their focus to both overseas and local buyers, though the major market is still a tenant's market.
Copyright 2000 by Shanghai Star. All rights reserved.