BEIJING

New channel launched

Beijing International (www.ebeijing.gov.cn), the information exchange and service providing platform for foreigners in Beijing, launched a new channel - Beijing Famous Brand - last week, in a bid to make it easier for the foreign businesses to know more about outstanding local enterprises and help local companies enter the international market.

Meanwhile, Beijing Telecom is promoting global telecommunication solution services for multinationals in the capital, involving online video conferences, calling and professional linking services, which will all be offered by Beijing Telecom.

Environmental protection

Beijing launched the Cleaner Biological Environment and Health Safety Project last week in order to promote the development and expansion of firms engaged in environmental protection.

Government departments will issue a series of policies to encourage private investors to invest in the environmental protection market.

Beijing Jiangchuan Weiye Technological Development Co Ltd became the first environmental protection enterprise to get the health safety certificate authorized by the municipal government.

FUZHOU

Fujian GDP up

The gross domestic product of East China's Fujian Province rose by 11.4 per cent last year to 522.9 billion yuan (US$63 billion), the fastest growth since 1998, local authorities said.

Fixed asset investments totalled 150 billion yuan (US$18 billion), up 22 per cent from a year earlier.

BERLIN

German economy up

German Economy Minister Wolfgang Clement said yesterday he expected economic growth in Germany to pick up further in 2005 after recovering this year from the slight decline in growth seen in 2003.

Speaking on a discussion programme on German television, Clement said the government was sticking to its forecast that the economy will grow this year between 1.5 and 2.0 per cent after shrinking by 0.1 per cent in 2003.

TOKYO

Profits, expenditure boost

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said yesterday that Japan's economy is steadily recovering with improving corporate profits and rising capital expenditure.

"The government will work together with the Bank of Japan to overcome deflation and invigorate the economy while accelerating... reform," he said in a speech at the start of an ordinary session of Japan's parliament. Koizumi said there are signs the decline may be halting.

Bankruptcy rate falls

The number of Japanese corporations that went bankrupt fell in 2003 for the first time in four years. This, along with rising land prices in some areas and stock market gains, suggest the economy could be picking up, an independent research firm said yesterday.

Bankruptcies fell 14.6 per cent from the previous year, to 16,624 cases, Teikoku Databank said. Total debt owed by the firms that went under fell 14.4 per cent to 11.77 trillion yen (US$110.4 billion), down for the third consecutive year, Teikoku said.

Renesas IPO appointment

Renesas Technology Corp, the world's biggest microcontroller maker, has appointed Goldman Sachs and Daiwa SMBC to manage an initial public offering (IPO) this year, a market source said yesterday.

The source said the size of the offering may rival that of NEC Electronics, which raised US$1.3 billion in Japan's largest IPO of 2003, although this was under different market conditions.

Hitachi Ltd and Mitsubishi Electric Corp merged the bulk of their chip-making operations in April to form Renesas, creating the world's third-largest chip maker behind Intel Corp and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.

WASHINGTON

Microsoft antitrust effort

Microsoft Corp agreed to take further steps to help rivals compete after antitrust enforcers complained a key piece of their landmark settlement with the company is not living up to expectations.

Microsoft said it would make it simpler and easier for competitors to license the computer code needed to make server software work properly with its Windows operating system. This is the third time it has done so under the 2002 settlement.

The changes could be helpful to companies such as Sun Microsystems Inc.

 

(China Daily 01/20/2004 page10)