Wednesday, October 15, 2008

More than 80% of urban Chinese minors are Internet users

A sampling survey released on Tuesday revealed about 85.6 percent of Chinese minors between nine and 16 were Internet users.

Released by China Youth Social Service Center , the survey found about 90 percent of minors living in cities had used the Internet, while the proportion in urban areas was 70 percent.

CYSSC, China Youth University for Political Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences jointly conducted the survey of 7,700 minors, as well as their parents and some teachers, in 10 major cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing from August to December 2007.

The survey was conducted amid reports that more and more Chinese minors were alleged Internet addicts which worried their parents and brought much problems to themselves.

According the survey, 82.6 percent of minors had their own blogs and more than 80 percent had taken Internet courses. More than half enjoyed online chatting and 71.9 percent used the Internet as a method to acquire news.

About 58 percent regarded entertainment as the main purpose to use the Internet and only 6 percent specified using the Web for communication and making new friends.

In addition, the survey found the minors had different favorite places to use the Internet.

For minors in rural areas, 35 percent chose Internet bars as the main place to get connected. For those living in cities, 76 percent preferred home and 10 percent Internet bars.

Source: Xinhua

Two killed in Shanghai crane collapse

Two operators were killed when a tower crane collapsed on Tuesday at a power plant in Shanghai, local work safety officials said.

The accident took place at 3:50 p.m. in the Shidongkou power plant, one of three key electricity bases for the financial hub, when the crane was being checked upon delivery.

On Monday, a bridge crane collapsed at a Shanghai dock and crashed down on two freighters below, seriously injuring the crane operator and causing damage to the vessels.

The work safety bureau of Baoshan District of Shanghai is investigating into the cause of Tuesday's accident.

Source: Xinhua

Chinese shares open sharply higher

Chinese share prices opened 3.16 percent higher on Tuesday to 2,139.07 points following rises in overseas markets sparked by global efforts to stem the financial crisis.

The Shanghai Composite Index opened at 2,139.07 points, up 3.16percent from the previous closing. The smaller Shenzhen Component Index opened at 6,772.38 points, up 3.06 percent.

Finance and mining sectors led the gains.

Share prices in other Asian markets also surged on Tuesday's opening.

Singapore shares were 5.04 percent higher in early trade on Tuesday. Philippine share prices opened 7.34 percent higher and Hong Kong share prices 5.1 percent higher. Share prices in the Republic of Korea opened 5.14 percent higher.

Chinese shares ended a weeklong decline and rebounded on Monday, as regional markets rallied after central banks around the world made bold moves to cope with the global financial crisis.

Following the announcements of European countries' cash infusion plans worth nearly 2 trillion U.S. dollars, the blue chip Dow Jones industrial average soared 936 points, or more than 11 percent, in its biggest one-day gain, on Monday.

Source:Xinhua

Chinese shares up 1.21% in morning session

Chinese shares ended 1.21 percent higher in the morning session on Tuesday following rises in overseas markets.

The Shanghai Composite Index closed at 2,098.66 points, up 25.09 points or 1.21 percent from the previous close.

The smaller Shenzhen Component Index ended at 6,684.34 points, up 112.76 points or 1.72 percent..

The property sector led the gains. Vanke rose 6.44 percent to 6.78 yuan. Poly Real Estate Group Co. was up 4.19 percent to 14.92yuan.

Dairy companies Yili and Bright soared by the daily limit of 10percent after making clarifications on losses over melamine-tainted products.

Banks and insurers maintained strong momentum at the opening but the price increases soon shrank. By noon, Bank of Communications went up 3.93 percent to 5.56 yuan. China Life rose 2.94 percent to 22.44 yuan and China Pacific Insurance Co. dropped slightly by 0.14 percent to 14.38 yuan.

The two major index opened more than 3 percent higher on Tuesday following rebounds in other major markets sparked by global efforts to stem the financial crisis.

Share prices in other Asian markets also surged on Tuesday.

Singapore shares were 5.04 percent higher in early trade on Tuesday. Philippine share prices opened 7.34 percent higher and Hong Kong share prices 5.1 percent higher. Share prices in the Republic of Korea opened 5.14 percent higher.

Chinese shares ended a weeklong decline and rebounded on Monday, as regional markets rallied after central banks around the world made bold moves to cope with the global financial crisis.

Following the announcements of European countries' cash infusion plans worth nearly 2 trillion U.S. dollars, the blue chip Dow Jones industrial average soared 936 points, or more than 11 percent, in its biggest one-day gain, on Monday.

Source:Xinhua

Internationally coherent actions urged as financial crisis threatens global economy

The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank concluded their annual meetings in Washington Monday, calling for internationally coherent and decisive actions to restore confidence in the global financial system and bolster economic growth.

WORLD ECONOMY TO SLOW SHARPLY

The world economy will slow down sharply this year and next, with the United States and some other advanced economies likely in recession already, reflecting mounting damages from the most dangerous shock in mature financial markets since the Great Depression in the 1930s.

According to the IMF's latest projections, the global economy, which grew by 5 percent last year, will lose a considerable speed, slowing to 3.9 percent in 2008 and weakening even more to just 3 percent, the worst showing since 2002, next year.

In the United States, the epicenter of the financial meltdown, the economy is projected to moderate from last year's 2 percent to just 0.1 percent in 2009, the worst showing since 1991.

The U.S. economy is now slowing fast and "is likely to contract in the current quarter and into early 2009," said the IMF in its semi-annual World Economic Outlook report. Contraction in two straight quarters meets a classic definition of recession.

The IMF also forecast a "significant slowdown" in activity across western Europe and that growth in Japan will cool to 0.7 percent this year from 2.1 percent in 2007.

"The major advanced economies are already in or close to recession," said the IMF.

Meanwhile, growth in emerging and developing economies is expected to decelerate, falling somewhat below trend during the second half of 2008 and early 2009.

"With a recession now looking increasingly likely, the key questions are, how deep will the downturn be, when will a recovery get under way and how strong will it be," the IMF noted.

INTERNATIONALLY COHERENT ACTIONS URGED AND BEING TAKEN

While the crisis, sparked by the U.S. subprime home loan collapse, is affecting the main advanced economies most acutely, emerging and developing countries are not immune from the global financial stress.

And with the credit markets frozen, the financial crisis is now spreading into the wider economy.

This extraordinary situation was a focus of attention at the annual meetings of the two international financial institutions.

Realizing from experiences in the past months that individual or unilateral actions alone can not stem the crisis from deteriorating, top financial officials from both developed and developing world put international cooperation top priority to restore financial and economic stability.

"The international community should make correct judgment on the situation and strengthen cooperation to jointly maintain world economic stability," said Li Yong, Chinese vice finance minister.

At same time, actions are being taken.

Leaders of the 15 eurozone nations agreed in Paris Sunday on a joint strategy to bolster market confidence by underwriting inter-bank loans and safeguarding financial institutions from collapse.

Last Friday, the Group of Seven major rich countries announced a plan of action to jointly fight the crisis, pledging "to continue working together to stabilize financial markets and restore the flow of credit, to support global economic growth."

In a rare coordinated move, the U.S. Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and four other major central banks from around the world slashed interest rates last Wednesday in an attempt to prevent the financial crisis from becoming a global economic meltdown.

AVOIDING HUMAN CRISIS WHILE BATTLING FINANCIAL CRISIS

As the financial crisis threatens to undo economic progress made by developing countries, the international community has been urged not to forget problems faced by developing countries, the poorest ones in particular, while rich nations focus on their own problems.

At the meetings, officials from developing countries pointed out that the plight of poor countries has been "largely forgotten" even though their recent development gains are at risk as the crisis bites.

"The developing countries will suffer for no fault of theirs. They did not cause the contagion. Many are not well-equipped to face the consequences," Indian Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram told the Development Committee of the IMF and the World Bank.

"The large surge in food and energy prices, and an associated rise in inflation, present major policy challenges for most countries, further compounded by the uncertain global conditions as the financial crisis unfolds," an update for the Development Committee also said.

In this regard, IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn warned last Saturday that it would be a mistake to forget the other crisis of soaring food prices and aid cutbacks faced by developing countries.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick also called for more attention to be paid to vulnerable countries in the world.

"Some 28 countries are already fiscally highly vulnerable from the twin shocks of food and fuel," he said last Thursday. "Currently, these countries, on average, are set to receive no increase in project and program aid."

Some 44 million additional people will suffer from malnutrition this year as a result of high food prices, the World Bank estimated. Zoellick urged major advanced countries to increase their aid, fulfilling the commitments they have made.

"We cannot let a financial crisis become a human crisis," the president stressed.

Source:Xinhua

Shanghai Pudong Bank forecasts 150% profit growth in first 3 quarters

Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, partly owned by Citigroup Inc., forecast unaudited net profit will surge about 150 percent year-on-year in the first three quarters of 2008.

In a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Tuesday, the mid-sized bank attributed profits to larger capital, wider interest rate margins, greater fee income and lower corporate income tax.

Net income in the first nine months last year was 3.923 billion yuan , or 0.90 yuan per share.

The bank is slated to report third quarter results on Oct. 30.

Shanghai Pudong Development Bank rose 3.92 percent to 14.06 yuan on Tuesday morning in Shanghai after the earnings forecast.

Source:Xinhua

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

BOC-RBS partnership to maintain

The Bank of China announced Monday Oct. 13 that it would continue its strategic partnership with the Royal Bank of Scotland which is hit hard by the financial crisis and will be partly nationalized.

Holding 8.25 percent of BOC shares, RBS is the largest foreign shareholder of Bank of China. Wang Zhaowen, spokesperson of BOC, said that Bank of China had noticed the British government's initiative of injecting 37 billion pounds into the three biggest banks. RBS will get 20 billion and the remaining 17 billion will go to HBOS and Lloyds TSB.

Wang said the cooperation between BOC and RBS had achieved good results since 2005 when RBS became the strategic partner of BOC. The spokesperson added that BOC would like to work with RBS to push the strategic partnership forward.

By People's Daily Online