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Schemes Being Solicited for Chinese Cultural Symbolic City

The planned Chinese Cultural Symbolic City has begun soliciting designs and planning schemes from around the world, and submissions will be accepted from March 1 to September 1, 2008. Located in Jining, hometown of Confucius in Shandong Province, the 300-square-kilometer city, which boasts a number of heritage sites related to the sage, aims to showcase traditional Chinese culture. There are currently over 200 Confucius Institutes broadcasting Chinese culture around the world, and Jining plans to transform itself into a “holy city” of Oriental culture.

Beijing to Begin Second Airport Construction Before 2010

The construction of a second airport to service Beijing will begin before 2010, according to the Plan for Commercial Airports in China, issued recently by the Civil Aviation Administration. The location has not yet been decided, but it will most likely be to the south or southeast of the city. The blueprint noted that there will be 190 airports in China by the end of the decade, meaning that for 75 percent of Chinas counties, an airport will be only one-and-half hours away at most. Meanwhile, the percentage of Chinas population with access to air services will increase from 61 to 78 percent. In another development, the China Big Aircraft Company will soon be inaugurated in Shanghai. With a capital investment of RMB 20 billion, it will design and develop large jetliners weighing more than 100 tons and capable of seating at least 150 passengers. Research and development are expected to take five to 10 years before production can start.

Central Bank Implements Tighter Monetary Policy

The Peoples Bank of China announced on March 25 that its ratio of reserves to deposits will be increased to 15.5 percent, up 0.5 percent over themost recent figure. It is the 12th rise in the ratio since early 2007. The central bank aims to carry out a stringent monetary policy, strengthen the liquidity management of the banking system, and guarantee a normal increase of financial credit. It is also considering another possible hike in interest rates. Six hikes were implemented in 2007. With the last rise, the benchmark for the one-year deposit rate was increased from 2.79 to 4.14 percent, and the loan rate from 6.39 to 7.47 percent. The central banks governor, Zhou Xiaochun, has said there is still room for further increases.

Eight in 10 Believe Chinese Employees Treated Unfairly by Foreign Companies

The Guangdong Information Research Center recently conducted a survey focusing on 70 multinational corporations operating in Pearl River Delta cities such as Guangzhou and Shenzhen, and other big cities likeBeijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou, and the results reveal a geat deal of discontent on the part of Chinese consumers. Topping the list are high prices, a lack of product defect information and warning labels in Chinese, locating polluting industries in China, and refusing to compensate Chinese consumers on the basis of Chinese laws and regulations. When asked what advantages foreign companies enjoyed over domestic producers, 57.74 percent ofrespondents said brand promotion and marketing, 36.37 percent said handling customer complaints, and 33.43 percent said observing business ethics. Among all respondents, 81.29 percent believed that discrimination against Chinese employees was common in international companies.

Qinghai Investment and Trade Fair Opens in May

The four-day Qinghai Investment and Trade Fair is set to open on May 5in Xining, capital of Qinghai Province. Key cooperation projects include traditional Chinese medicines, Tibetan medicines, handmade Tibetan carpets, agricultural products, stockbreeding technologies and bio-technology. Located in the northeast of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Qinghai Province remains unpolluted. It possesses unique animal and plant resources, such as the Chinese caterpillar fungus, the sea buckthorn and the yak. A tulip festival will also be held at the same time. The flower was introduced to Qinghai in 1989, and quickly became a part of the plateaus landscape. Local tourism has boomed since the inauguration of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, and tours of Qinghai Lake have also brought the area international renown. In 2007, Qinghai received over 10 million tourists, and a luxurious tour express from Xining to Lhasa is expected to go into service in August.