Future of mobile phones, pagers called boundless

Prospects for China's mobile telecommunication sector were described as "boundless" at a seminar held last week. The number of mobile telecommunication subscribers is expected to reach 10 million by 2000 along with 50 million pager carriers that year, said an official with the China United Communication Corp. Mobile phone users have grown from 20,000 in 1990 to 1.57 million last year. Last January, the national roaming network was formed and subscribers are expected to surpass 3 million by the end of this year. Pager carriers have jumped from 430,000 in 1990 to 24 million so far. Besides public use, the networks i various industries such as railways, petroleum exploration, public security and power construction will widely use mobile telecommunication equipment in the coming years, said an official with the Ministry of Electronics Industry. (CD Business Weekly, December 10 -16, 1995)

Chinese Authorities Tightens Customs to Control High-tech Pornography

A mother's letter to the Chinese government complaining about the pornographic video found in her 16-year-old son's computer has set off another wave of movement to sweep pornographic products in China, this time, in high-tech forms. Rueter cited the China Daily as saying that the customs authorities in China have issued an emergency call to tighten up inspections on 11 major costal and boarder customs stations aimed to halt illegal imports of pornographic products, including CD-ROMs, laser discs and video compact discs. These major customs were reported to have been equipped with X-ray scanners, multimedia personal computers and even video-game players, according to China Daily. The focus of the inspections includes traveller's luggages, mail deliveries, imported cargoes, and belongings of ship's crews. In the first 11 months of 1995, over 560,000 pornographic products, including 37,000 in electronic forms, were confiscated by customs officials, which represents a 69 percent increase than the same period in 1994, according to Reuter. (12/27/95)

Mad Cow Disease Boosted Beef Export Business in China, Beef Quality Still a Concern

According to China Daily, mad cow disease in Britain had helped China's beef exports to increase nearly 50 percent in the first 10 months of 1996, which made a total of 22,131.7 tonnes, Reuters reported. The figure indicated a greater demands from Southeast Asia and Hong Kong, YANG Zhenghai of the Ministry of Agriculture animal husbandry department was quoted as saying. China Daily pointed out that low quality of the exported beef continues to be a concern which has hintered the business, Reuter reported.(31/12/96)

China to Inspect Foreign Firms Annually

Beginning this year, foreign firms, including those run by investors from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau, will be inspected annually by the Chinese government, according to AFP. There are seven government departments involved. They are the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, the State Economic and Trade Commission, the Finance Ministry, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, the State Taxation Administration, and the General Administration of Customs. According to the Xinhua News Agency, the inspections "intended to improve and standardize China's investment environment", AFP reported.(1/1/97)

Farm Vehicle Sale Record High in 1996

China's annual sale of farm vehicles reached a record high last year, surpassing car sale to private city dwellers significantly, UPI reported from Beijing on Thursday. The figure of farm vehicle sale for last year was about 2.4 million units, an 80 percent increase from 28,000 units in 1983, and an increase in average up to every 90 farmers per unit in use by accumulation. Rural purchases had focused on cheap, primitive vehicles, pricing below 10,000 yuan. On the other hand, automobile sale last year was only 1.5 million units, with total only some 50,000 licensed private car owners. The Academy of Agricultural Mechanization Sciences is currently in cooperation with state-owned vehicle producers to form new marketing policy. An expert optimistically predicted that the active market of farm vehicle will be followed by an expanding of car sale soon, as having been shown earlier this century in North America and Europe. ( 01/04/97 )

Internet Users to Double with Easier On-line Accesses

The number of Internet users in China is expected to double in 1997 with improved communication networks and lowered access fees, UPI reported from Beijing citing the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications Monday. The Ministry hopes to increase on-line users by 150,000 with a 30 percent increase in revenues, equaling $20.5 billion. The ambitious projection is backed by a promised wider telephone coverage and aggressive recruiting measures. Last year, China spent $11.8 billion on telecom projects, constructed or improved 31 ground satellite stations, enabling its mobile telephone service to cover more than 261 cities. [ 01/06/97]