TUESDAY APRIL 18 2000      PUBLISHED BY CHINA DAILY
                                                           CITY NEWS

Policy benefits aliens
A NEW policy adopted since early March this year regarding granting residence status to overseas Chinese and foreigners is benefiting a growing number of people.

May Day spending spree looks in the offing
INTERNATIONAL Labour Day will be celebrated with a week's holiday from May 1 to 7.

Visit strengthens ties with Haifa
MAYOR Xu Kuangdi expressed his desire for furthering mutual ties while meeting with Amram Mitzna, mayor of Haifa, one of Shanghai's sister cities.

Urban air slightly polluted
SHANGHAI's air quality deteriorated last week from the previous week, according to a report from the Shanghai Environmental Monitoring Centre.

US movie star Arnie back for fund-raising
ARNOLD Schwarzenegger, an international film star as well as the spokesperson for Special Olympics International, will lead a delegation to visit China in May to help raise money for and awareness of the Special Olympics China.

Sheraton returns after two years
TWO years after its withdrawal from Shanghai's hotel market, the Sheraton Hotel Group has returned to Shanghai with the declaration of an agreement on Friday with two partners to establish a "Four Points Hotel" in Pudong.

Innovation contest kicked off at Jinmao
ORIGINAL ideas, innovations and inventions are invited for a "555 Inspirations" contest in search of progressive plans for social contribution. Five winners will be selected in July when the competition ends.

Ex-husband sets fire to marital home
A MAN was recently arrested for starting a fire in his ex-wife's house to vent his spite after she refused to let him stay the night, according to the Zhabei District Procuratorate.

Beware of thieves posing as friends
INGRATITUDE of several persons shown towards the kindness of their relatives or friends will result in their punishment.

Man gets 10 yrs for stabbing prostitute
A LOCAL farmer was recently sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment by Minhang District Court for stabbing a prostitute.

May Day, May Day calling all shoppers
MAY days will be soon upon us. And it is May days or May daze. The annual May Day (May 1) holiday is to be celebrated, not by just one day of rest, but as I am told, by a sybaritic seven days off in Shanghai. I still struggle to get my Western mind around the East's system of awarding holidays and how one day can become, like loaves and fishes, seven. Maybe, it is coming from crabby cultures where the day off was fought for tooth and nail over years of union militancy. All this will be of vicarious interest

Fengshui fears foil telegraph
IN the present Internet and information age, it is interesting to look back to the time of the telegraph before modern com-munications.

Competition too hot in the ice cream market
ICE cream makers face a market meltdown in the coming summer.

Brief

Hi-tech mover
PUDONG New Area today will usher in Shanghai's first major international conference this year with United Nations officials and foreign scholars attending to discuss business incubation and technology innovation.

Singapore's leader hails Pudong's development
By Victor Wan

MUNICIPAL Party Secretary Huang Ju and Mayor Xu Kuangdi met with visiting Singaporean Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong over the weekend.

In meeting with Goh on Sunday, Party Secretary Huang expressed his satisfaction with economic co-operation between Shanghai and Singapore in recent years and expressed his hope that future co-operation could be extended to other fields. Goh voiced his admiration for the changes that have taken place in Pudong.

"I'm impressed by the development in Pudong since my last visit. In retrospect, I wish that we had been involved in the development of Pudong," Goh said.

He said the members of his delegation were encouraged by the contacts they had made in their China visit this time.

Mayor Xu extended his welcome to the visiting guest on Saturday evening and talked to him and his delegation about the problems and challenges facing Shanghai and future plans for the city.

Xu said China's expected accession to the World Trade Organization will expose the domestic auto, financial, and communications sectors to greater challenges, but competition could result in lowered costs, improved efficiency, and sharpen their competitive edge.

Goh and his delegation arrived in Shanghai from Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province, on Saturday and flew to Hong Kong on Sunday.

Copyright 2000 by Shanghai Star. All rights reserved.