Beijing

Civil behaviour: Civil servants who are caught in 14 categories of misbehavior that escape administrative punishment will have to apologize, according to a Beijing local personnel bureau.

The new policy is set to target major complaints against civil servants - their impatience in dealing with the public; and leaving their posts early.

Residents who are treated poorly can complain about their unhappy experiences to the local government, the personnel bureau or the supervision bureau.

Civil servants involved will be punished for their wrongdoings and the government will send the feedback to complainants.

Civil servants against whom there are complaints will lose their promotion chances for the year.

Shenzhen

New projects: Shenzhen city plans to invest about 250 billion yuan (US$30 billion) to construct more than 200 new projects, according to the city's development and planning bureau.

The projects involves such sectors as port construction, highways and road building, electronics, subway construction, and high-tech and social welfare projects.

The city also proposes to set up a database of potentially important projects, and the system can help guide, select and complete such projects.

Moreover, the city plans to grasp the golden opportunity to make full use of CEPA (Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement) with Hong Kong and start a series of trans-regional projects involving infrastructures, high-tech parks, and a modern service industry.

In the 10th Five-year Plan Period (2001-2005), the city plans to maintain annual fixed-asset investment of about 80-100 billion yuan (US$9.6-12 billion).

Qingdao

Sea-water flush: Residents of Qingdao will use seawater to flush their toilets in the near future.

An area of 800,000 square meters in Laoshan District of the coastal city in Shandong Province will be plumbed with seawater pipes later this year because of shortage of fresh water.

The Institute of Desalination and Comprehensive Utilization of Seawater under the State Oceanic Administration has made breakthroughs in seawater purification, disinfection and biochemical treatment, and specified standards for water quality and draining, paving the way to use seawater in toilets.

Hebei Province

Individual travel: North China's Hebei Province is to invest about 10 million yuan (US$1.2 million) to establish a service system to help tourists who drive by themselves to tourism destinations, according to the provincial government.

The system will include establishing 734 signs along the side of main roads and highways in the province, giving out free maps to drivers at toll-stations and providing information about tourism spots and shopping on websites.

The new move to promote tourism in the province is targeting at the increase in China's private car owners, who like to go on so-called DIY tours instead of travel groups.

(HK Edition 08/19/2003 page1)