Michelin sells safe driving
GLOBAL tyre maker Michelin Group has launched a programme aimed at educating student drivers about the correlation between tyre maintanence and road safety.
Suzhou Creek renewal aids seller
A DEVELOPER of Tianding Garden, located at Suzhou Road West, is expecting better sales of the residential property with the official launch of the revamping project of Suzhou Creek by local government.
Live the e-life at downtown property
HONG Kong-based Shui On Properties Ltd and Shanghai Zhonghong Group, developers of Ruihong Xincheng residential estate, have teamed up with IBM to provide multimedia e-living infrastructure.
Banks unload bad loans
THE establishment of China Orient Asset Management Co (COAMC) last month, has brought to four the State-owned national asset management firms since last April, when China Xinda Asset Management Co - the first national asset management firm - made its business debut in Beijing.
Eastday debut a smash
MORE than 50,000 Internet users bombarded Eastday.com within minutes of its launch on May 28, all trying to be among the first batch of registered users, said staff with the new website.
Dow Corning to expand westwards
CHINA'S entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) will be a tremendous business opportunity for Dow Corning to strengthen its presence in the market that has one quarter of the world's consumers, a senior manager of the US-based global silicon material giant said.
Trains for metro, light rails arrive
NEW metro trains to be used on Metro Line 2 and the elevated light track under construction have arrived in Shanghai from Germany.
US helps export index stay buoyant
THE composite index for China's export containers was reported at 1,179.02 points yesterday, up 1.8 per cent last week.
GM leads the way with more choice in cars
WITH the new GM e-concept car, driving is about much more than getting from A to B.
Local dotcoms up in arms about tactics
By Xiao Zeng
PORTALS in China say the launch of the government-funded Eastday.com website has not adversely affected their membership or visitor numbers. There had been speculation that the new mega site which is the largest news portal in Shanghai would sound the death knell for smaller news coverage sites in China's competition-intense portal market. But some portals are concerned that Eastday.com may use unfair tactics to promote itself with government muscle behind it. Staff at some big portals were already complaining about unfair treatment on May 28, the day Eastday.com was launched. They said the major newspapers in Shanghai refused to carry their advertisements in the first few days after Eastday.com was launched. "It is too early to say what kind of effect Eastday.com will have on our business," said Dong Yanyi, who works at Sohu.com's Shanghai branch, one of China's largest private-funded portals. Experts say competition will intensify with the addition of Eastday.com and this may threaten the existence of privately-funded portals. Xu Min from Netease.com, another big portal in China, said competition is acute but there is room for lots of portals, both private and government-backed, in the market. "Besides offering news, portals can also develop other kinds of services like on-line communities, on-line shopping, interactive health and study services. Survival depends on establishing brand name services that are better than those of other websites," said Xu. But some portals are calling for fair play in China's cyberspace. "In welcoming Eastday.com, traditional media are cutting reports on other portals and also denying them ad space. It is unfair," said the representative of a private portal who asked not to be identified. "We are not afraid of competition, but the point is that we need a level playing field," she said.
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