New tariffs
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07/27/2001
Due to the special tariffs imposed by the State last month on imported Japanese vehicles, Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone has received no imports of Japanese automobiles. Under the new tariffs, a Japanese sedan which sells at 380,000 yuan (US$45,783) on the Chinese market will cost about 600,000 yuan (US$72,289). Between January and May this year, Shanghai Customs saw imports of 1,926 automobiles from Japan, valued at US$52.16 million. Electronics boost Pudong Customs have issued new policies to support the local microelectronics industry. A Customs spokesman said microelectronics enterprises will enjoy priority in declaring at Customs and they can complete the procedures on imported goods within two hours of declaration. Meanwhile, Customs will lose its right to inspect some goods, he said. Island highway Shanghai Dazhong Transportation has joined hands with Shanghai Yatong Co Ltd to set up Shanghai Chongming Traffic Investment Co Ltd as part of Chongming's overall development in the new century. The venture, with registered capital of 50 million yuan (US$6 million), will help Chongming, China's third largest island, build highways and container wharves. Its first investment of 15 million yuan (US$1.8 million) will be spent on purchasing a new high-speed ship that can carry 300 passengers and 20 vehicles. Monitor venture Shanghai-based Sony (China) Ltd is producing new monitors to compete with its rivals in the local market by launching a promotion campaign in the city. Rico Leung, computer display division manager of the company, said Sony's sales are growing rapidly since it began computer production in China in 1998. But it needs to redouble its efforts to expand its share of the Chinese market, he said. Even tail to Boeing The Shanghai Aircraft Factory will soon deliver its 100th even tail for Boeing 737-NG airplanes to the Boeing company. Boeing experts in Shanghai said even tails produced by the Chinese factory conform to international aviation quality control standards and are comparable with international advanced levels. Non-local interest The latest statistics show that total investment in Shanghai by non-local companies in the first six months of the year increased by 90 per cent compared with the same period last year. Other statistics from the Shanghai Bureau of Industry and Commerce indicate that 397 companies made 6.6 billion yuan (US$797.1 million) in investment, 30 per cent of which dealt with wholesale and retail business. Guangdong companies invested over 3 billion yuan (US$362.3 million), and their total sales volume exceeded 10 billion yuan (US$1.21 billion). Maxibit expansion Maxibit Worldwide AB, one of the largest portable exhibition stand producers in the world, has stepped up its market expansion in China with a product display and seminar in Shanghai last week. The company felt especially pleased about Beijing winning the Olympics 2008 bid because it provided all the portable stands and some other marketing media for the Beijing bidding team, according to Nils Julin, Maxibit's export manager. Maxibit has already set up joint venture operations in Shanghai and Beijing. Banks go public China will gradually restructure its State-owned commercial banks into shareholding banks and allow them to go public on domestic and foreign stock markets, a senior bank official said. Before they become public firms, it is essential that the State banks set up a profit-centered mechanism by reforming their corporate governance structure in accordance with provisions of the corporate law and the law on commercial banks. Belling chip base The Shanghai Belling Co Ltd started last Friday to build a chip production base in the Zhangjiang High-Tech Park. The production base, with a total investment of some 1.3 billion yuan (US$157 million), is scheduled to be put into operation in 2003 and will enable Shanghai Belling to produce 0.35-micron digital-analog integrated circuits. Wholesale JV China opened its wholesale industry to foreign investment for the first time, as it approved the country's first wholesale joint venture early last week. The joint venture between the Shanghai No 1 Department Store (Group) Co and Japan's Marubeni Corp has registered capital of 80 million yuan (US$9.66 million), with the Chinese side holding a 51 per cent stake and the Japanese side 49 per cent, according to sources from the Chinese side of the joint venture. Software award Suntec Software (Shanghai) Co Ltd announced that its visDa, a software product that helps companies and government agencies set up a comprehensive information platform, has been recognized by Microsoft Corp as "the Best Solution of the Year" in the enterprise resources planning (ERP) category in the Asia/South Pacific region. As one and the only winner of the award in the entire Great China region this year, visDa signals China's first software product that wins the Microsoft Worldwide Award.
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