BEIJING, July 31 (Xinhua) — Chinese share prices maintained their pep on Tuesday with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rising 0.68 percent, or 30.26 points, from the previous day, to close the daily trading at 4,471.03.

    The combined turnover of the nation’s two bourses declined slightly from 241.468 billion yuan on Monday to 236.165 billion yuan on Tuesday. (One U.S. dollar is equal to 7.57 yuan)

Chinese share prices hit new record high amid continued optimism 

    BEIJING, July 30 (Xinhua) — Chinese stocks broke new ground on Monday amid continued market optimism that is defying global slumps, with heavyweight blue chips leading the way. Full story

Chinese share prices fall slightly 

    BEIJING, July 24 (Xinhua)– China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A and B shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, closed at 4,210.33 points on Tuesday, down 0.07 percent or 3.03 points from the previous close.   Full story

Chinese share prices rise sharply with turnover increase

    BEIJING, July 23 (Xinhua) — Chinese share prices rose sharply on Monday with increased turnover, shrugging off an interest rate hike announced by the government last week to cool the economy. Full story

    XI’AN, July 31 (Xinhua) — A total of 21 people have now been confirmed dead and another 18 are still missing as a result of flooding in northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, triggered by heavy rain last Saturday.

    By Tuesday morning, the flood had affected 660,000 people in 16 counties and had forced the evacuation of 38,100, the provincial government said in a press release.

    Nearly 20,000 hectares of cropland was ruined and 9,000 houses collapsed when heavy rain hit the northern, central and southern parts of the province between Saturday and Monday, causing a direct economic loss of 568 million yuan (73 million U.S. dollars),it said.

    The rainstorms also disrupted traffic on the highway to Beijing and cut power supplies and communication in some counties.

    Precipitation totaled 295.7 mm in Danfeng county in the city of Shangluo, which suffered the most from the rainstorm.

    The provincial treasury has allocated 3.5 million yuan (450,000 U.S. dollars) of relief funds to the flood-hit areas.

    Natural disasters, including floods, landslides and lightning, have killed more than 700 people in China this year.

    In Shanxian county, central China’s Henan Province, 69 miners have been trapped for more than 50 hours since floods swamped a coal mine on Sunday morning.

    

Banks’ reserve rate raised again(File Photo)
Photo Gallery>>>

    BEIJING, July 31 — The central bank Monday raised the amount that lenders must hold in reserve by 0.5 percentage point for the sixth time this year.

    The increase in the banks’ reserve requirement ratio will take effect from August 15, the People’s Bank of China, the central bank, said in a statement on its website.

    The ratio will reach 12 percent for big lenders after the adjustment.

    The move is not surprising, analysts said, after the release of macroeconomic data for the first half of this year.

    ”It is aimed to control money supply,” said Zhu Baoliang, chief economist with the State Information Center (SIC).

    Boosted by ample liquidity, China registered gross domestic product growth of 11.5 percent for the first six months, during which fixed-asset investment rose by 25.9 percent. Lending grew by 16.5 percent year on year.

    The central government has vowed to prevent the economy from overheating; and the central bank said the hike in the reserve requirements was aimed at “strengthening management of liquidity in the banking system and control excessive growth in money supply and credit”.

    The broad measure of money supply, or M2, grew by 17.1 percent year on year in June, which was higher than the target of 16 percent set by the central bank for this year.

    The latest step follows the raising of benchmark interest rates by 0.27 percentage point on July 20 and cutting the tax on interest income from 20 percent to 5 percent in a coordinated move to reduce liquidity and stabilize the blistering economy.

    ”The liquidity situation has become more and more serious,” said Zhao Xijun, finance professor at Renmin University of China.

    The trade surplus jumped 83 percent to 112.5 billion U.S. dollars in the first six months while foreign exchange reserves swelled to 1.3 trillion dollars. The money supply, if not contained, will spill into the economy and lead to a pick-up in prices, including asset prices, and investment, said Zhao.

    The authorities can resort to issue of central bank bills and hikes in the reserve requirements to ease the problem, but they are not limitless, Zhao told China Daily.

    ”We cannot raise the ratio continually and it has a cap.”

    The 0.5 percentage point hike in the banks’ reserve requirement ratio is expected to absorb as much as 150 billion yuan (19.8 billion U.S. dollars). “It will play a role in reducing liquidity,” said SIC’s Zhu.

    But Renmin University’s Zhao said the country will ultimately need to reduce its foreign trade surplus.

    The government has started to reduce or remove export rebates for more than 2,800 products, effective from July 1, in an effort to dampen exports and narrow the trade surplus.

    Zhao also suggested that the corporate bond market be promoted so that enterprises can issue bonds more easily to raise capital.

    ”This will also help cut liquidity in the market.”

    Currently, the corporate bond market is estimated to account for only a very small slice of the capital market. “It is almost negligible,” Zhao said.

    The central bank has also raised interest rates thrice this year.

    (Source: China Daily)

    BEIJING, July 31 — Resumes for job applications are believed to be the biggest source of Internet privacy invasions.

    A survey of 300 people by 1010job.com, a city-based online human resources agent, revealed that 75 percent of the respondents complained that personal information from their resumes had landed in the hands of unauthorized companies.

    Insurance companies lead the list of the most unwanted recipients of this information, followed by real estate agents and investment companies.

    But the majority of the respondents (most of whom live in Shanghai) agreed that they did not mind if employment agencies or head hunters obtained the information.

    ”Insurance companies are really annoying. They keep calling my cell phone asking me to buy all sorts of insurance,” said Jiang Wenwen, a graduating college student.

    As a student, Jiang said that she had tried to restrict the amount of information she provided on the Web, except for the resumes she sent to employment agencies.

    ”My resume is probably the only way companies can get information about me,” she said.

    Jiang is not alone. More than half the respondents believed that online resumes were the source of the leaked information, although a quarter said that hard-copy resumes handed out at job fairs were also a likely source.

    A few suggested that employment agencies themselves sold the information to companies.

    In 2005, Xinhua News Agency discovered insurance companies buying university graduates’ resumes at job fairs for one yuan (13 U.S. cents) each.

    Last year, law makers began drafting laws to protect personal information, including the possibility that employers who carelessly discard resumes might face legal action.

    While most of the surveyed applicants wanted some protection of their privacy on the Internet, two-thirds agreed that it would be difficult to prevent personal information being leaked because of the demand for employment.

    (Source: Shanghai Daily)

    BEIJING, July 31 — Having problems with your husband or wife? Certified marriage counselors now offer free consultations through a 24-hour hotline.

    The hotline, 6605-0606, which opened on Sunday, received more than 20 calls by yesterday. Callers asked for suggestions on dealing with problems such as extramarital affairs and difficult relationships, as well as their child’s education.

    Eight volunteer marriage counselors will answer the phones. If people have complicated problems, the counselors will visit them to talk face to face. More counselors are expected to join the service, and a consulting center is expected to be set up in future, said officials of Shanghai Marriage Instructor Training Office, which organizes training courses for marriage.

    ”When they offer free consultations, the counselors, who have only had theoretical training, can accumulate practical experience,” said the office director, surnamed Kang.

    He said about 500 marriage counselors have obtained certificates from the All-China Women’s Federation since training started a year ago. Some have already begun practice in local communities.

    ”Almost every family will have conflicts in marriage. The duty of marriage counselors is to help couples to solve problems and avoid divorce as much as possible,” Kang said.

    According to statistics from the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau, about 37,000 couples divorced last year, a rise of 21.6 percent from the previous year.

    But many newly qualified marriage counselors still have to work part time to make ends meet. The profession is still new to China.

    ”I’m interested in studying marriage problems and offering my suggestions to others,” said a hotline counselor surnamed Huang, who works in a joint-venture company. “If marriage counselors have a better future, I’d consider working full time in the profession.”

    Xu Anqi, a marriage expert at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said local marriage counselors still need improvement. In some countries, marriage counselors are licensed only after 2,000 hours of practice and should master psychology, sociology, medical science and law.

    (Source: Shanghai Daily)

    SHANXIAN, Henan, July 31 (Xinhua) — Rescuers have sent 400 kilograms of milk through ventilation pipes to 69 miners who have been trapped for more than 50 hours in a flooded coal mine in central China’s Henan Province.

    They cleaned up the 800-meter-long ventilation pipes on Monday night and sent milk down the pit.

    Experts with the emergency rescue headquarters in Shanxian county said this would hopefully prolong the miners’ lives and give rescuers more time to eventually save them.

    Rescuers are working all-out to clean up the slush in the shaft and drain the flood water.

    An estimated 4,000 cubic meters of water poured into the shaft when flood triggered by rainstorm swamped the Zhijian coal mine at 8:40 a.m. on Sunday in Shanxian county of Sanmenxia city, about 200 kilometers west of Henan’s provincial capital Zhengzhou.

    By Tuesday morning, the rescuers had reduced the water level in the shaft by 0.7 meter.

    The rescuers have also maintained contact, through a fixed line phone in the pit, with the trapped miners.

    The miners said the area where they were trapped was dry and had electricity. No one reported any injuries, but they felt cold and hungry.

    Altogether 102 miners were working in the pit when the flood occurred. Only 33 of the miners managed to escape.

    The floodwater was said to have come from a nearby river.

    Hundreds of rescuers, including armed police, are struggling to prevent more water from entering the shaft, clearing away the silt, and providing ventilation and oxygen to the trapped miners.

    This state-owned mine was established in 1958. It was designed to produce 210,000 tons a year, but its actual annual output is 300,000 tons.