Shanghai Pudong Development Bank has opened a representative office in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region with the approval of the People's Bank of China and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. An official of the bank said the branch will enable it to offer more convenient financial and retail services to clients in the Hong Kong SAR and elsewhere.

Support for airline's expansion

The Bank of China is to provide financial support for a fleet expansion project of Shanghai Airlines before 2005, according an agreement signed on January 18. The bank will offer 2 billion yuan (about $240 million) in credit and $180 million in financial guarantee to the airline. Established in 1985 as the first regional airline company, Shanghai Airlines owns 23 Boeing passenger jets with 144,000 seats available every week.

Taiwan industrial parks

Shanghai will set up two industrial parks funded by companies from Taiwan Province this year. The two parks will each cover two to three square kms in the city's suburbs. The two parks will be the first to be built especially for Taiwan investors, who have shown much interest in doing business and living in Shanghai in recent years. By the end of November last year, the number of newly approved Taiwan-funded companies reached 352 in Shanghai, bringing $636 million of contractual investment. The figures represent a 65 per cent and 270 per cent annual increase, respectively.

BOC-Kodak credit plan

The Bank of China (BOC) signed documents with imaging giant Eastman Kodak on January 21, agreeing to provide businesses dealing in Kodak products with 100 million yuan ($12 million) in credit in a long-term BOC-K plan. The plan will benefit small and middle businessmen who plan to open conventional or digital Kodak Express shops. It was revealed at the signing ceremony that now there are over 7,000 Kodak Express outlets in over 700 cities across the country.

New coding system

A new coding system which presupposes little Chinese literacy and pre-training recently got national patency. Unlike previous Chinese input methods, the new coding method invented by Peng Tailu is free of any reliance on Chinese phonological systems, and is thereby of particular value to foreigners.

From Westin to Sheraton

The Westin Tai Ping Yang has been re-branded as Sheraton Grand Tai Ping Yang Hotel this month. Independently owned and operated by Pacific Shanghai HOtel Co Ltd, the hotel will remain under the Starwood umbrella.

Overseas-funded projects jump

Shanghai approved 4,458 overseas-funded projects in 2001, with contractual overseas investment hitting a record high of $7.37 billion, up 35.5 and 15.4 per cent, respectively, on a yearly basis. The total foreign capital actually used jumped 39 per cent, to $4.39 billion last year. Solely overseas-funded projects involved a combined contractual investment of $4.48 billion, accounting for 60.8 per cent of the city's total for 2001.

B-share market in boom

The B-share market in Shanghai has increased tremendously since China opened the B-share trade to domestic investors early last year. According to statistics from the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the Shanghai B-share market opened at 89.55 points at the beginning of 2001, and climbed straight to the year's highest of 241.61 points after the B-share market was opened to domestic investors. Closing at 171.53 points at the year end, the Shanghai B-share trade volume totalled at 283.254 billion yuan (about $34 billion) in 2001, surging more than seven times over the figure in 2000.

Saving deposit and loans double

Chinese-owned financial institutions in Shanghai saw 100 per cent increase in savings deposit and loans they had handled in 2001. The Shanghai Branch of the People's Bank of China, the central bank, said that the total deposits received by the financial institutions last year reached 181.2 billion yuan ($21.8 billion), and the loans provided amounted to 122.1 billion yuan ($14.7 billion), up 126 and 118 per cent, respectively, on a yearly basis.

Foreign trade volume up

Shanghai reported an 11.3-per cent growth in foreign trade volume last year, which exceeded $60 billion for the first time. According to the latest Customs statistics, Shanghai exported and imported $60.89 billion worth of goods last year with a trade deficit of $5.64 billion. The overall value of exports from Shanghai grew by 8.95 per cent over the previous year to $27.62 billion, while the total volume of imports was valued at $33.26 billion, up 13.3 per cent.

Baoshan Group buys WTC steel debris

The Baoshan Iron and Steel Company Group has bought 50,000 tons of steel debris from the World Trade Center destroyed by terrorists on September 11 last year.

A cargo vessel carrying the steel is due to reach Shanghai Port today, Beijing Youth Daily reported on Wednesday. The newspaper quoted sources from the conglomerate as saying that the steel debris was purchased for 120 US dollars per ton.The Shanghai-based conglomerate plans to feed most of the debris into a furnace to make new steel while keeping some to make commemorative items.

At least 400,000 tons of steel has been collected from the debris of the twin towers.

Shanghai licenses fireworks trading

Shanghai, one of the few big cities in China permitted to use fireworks in downtown areas, has recently introduced a licensing system for the trading of these products.

A spokesman with the Shanghai Municipal Firefighting Bureau said the move aims to regulate the market and reduce casualties caused by fireworks of poor quality. All fireworks traded must carry a tag saying "marketable" as required by the bureau, or they will be banned, the spokesman said.

Unlicensed trading of the products will also be banned, he added.

| frontpage | nation | business | HK\Taiwan | snapshots | focus |
| governmentinfo | economic insights | campus life | Shanghai today | metropolitan |