HONG KONG, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) — Total deposits with authorized institutions in Hong Kong went down two percent in July, with HK dollar deposits declining 5.9 percent and foreign currency deposits rising 2.8 percent, the Monetary Authority said in a report Friday.

    Hong Kong dollar demand and time deposits shrank, but savings deposits expanded, with renminbi deposits going up 0.9 percent to 27.9 billion RMB (3.67 billion U.S. dollars) at the end of July, accounting for around 1.2 percent of total foreign currency deposits, said the report.

    Total loans and advances contracted by 4.8 percent as the decrease in HK dollar loans exceeded the increase in foreign currency loans. Loans for use in Hong Kong declined by 6.0 percent whereas those for use outside Hong Kong grew by 2.2 percent.

    Decrease in HK dollar loans was faster than deposits, leading the HK dollar loan-to-deposit ratio down to 72.9 percent at the end of July.

    On a seasonally adjusted basis, HK dollar M1 declined by 3.1 percent in the month but increased by 12.1 percent on a year-on-year basis.

    Unadjusted Hong Kong dollar M2 and M3 both decreased by 5.5 percent during the month, although they went up 20.2 percent and 20.1 percent respectively from a year earlier.

    BEIJING, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) — Almost 40 percent of pollution control projects in the Songhua River basin listed in a State Council plan have been completed or are well underway, according to an environmental watchdog official.

    ”Eighty-four out of 222 pollution control projects approved by the State Council in August last year in a five-year plan for Songhua River pollution control, have been finished or are in the middle of construction,” said the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) official.

    A combined investment of about 13.4 billion yuan (1.76 billion U.S. dollars) is needed for the 222 projects, including treating industrial pollution sources and urban sewage and building recycling equipment, he said.

    Three northeastern provinces shut down 42 factories failing in pollution control in the Songhua River valley in the first six months, reducing the pollutant discharges by about 6,327 tons in terms of the chemical oxygen demand, the official said.

    Environmental authorities of China and Russia took samples from the Heilongjiang, Wusuli, Ergune and Suifen rivers and Xingkai Lake across the border for tests from June 10 to 25 and Aug. 14 to25 under the first joint operation since the two countries signed the Joint Monitoring Plan on Border Rivers in 2006.

    They would analyze the samples separately before exchanging data and comparing results at the end of next month, SEPA sources said.

    Experts will examine the chemical oxygen demand, contents of heavy metals, benzene, and pesticides, riverbed mud, and other indices to determine water quality. Both sides are required to operate the testing program for five years from 2007.

    Northeastern China’s Heilongjiang Province and Russia’s Khabarovsk have been conducting border river monitoring since 2002in an effort to ensure water quality and improve environmental protection.

    An accident at a chemical plant in northeastern China sent nitrobenzene and other chemicals into the Songhua River, the largest tributary of the Heilongjiang, in 2005.

    The contamination forced Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang Province, to temporarily stop water supplies to 3.8 million people.

    BEIJING, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) — Chinese shares continued its upward trend to close at all-time high on Friday as profitable half-year corporate earnings buoyed market sentiment.

    The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.99 percent to close at 5,218.8 points, the first time the index rises above 5,200 points.

    The smaller Shenzhen Component Index rose 1.21 percent, or 212.85 points, to end the day at 17,872.11 points.

    The combined turnover of the two bourses stood at 246.1 billion yuan (32.4 billion U.S. dollars) on Friday, slightly higher than 242.5 billion yuan (31.9 billion U.S. dollars) recorded a day earlier.

    Almost all companies listed on China’s two stock exchanges –1,471 out of 1,503 — recorded combined net profits of 319.1 billion yuan (42.2 billion U.S. dollars) for the first half of this year as shown in their interim reports, up 70.78 percent year-on-year, China Securities Journal reported on Friday.

    Deducting new offerings, these companies registered a weighted average earnings per share of 0.22 yuan for the first six months, as against the 0.134 yuan for the same period of last year.

    Airlines and Steel companies performed well, with Air China, one of the country’s leading airline companies, rose to the 10-percent daily limit to close at 19.2 yuan and An steel rose 3.37percent to end at 34.4 yuan.

    The Hushen 300 Index reflecting the performance of China’s Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges closed at 5,296.81 points on Friday, up 55.59 points, or 1.06 percent, from the previous close.

    BEIJING, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) — The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee has appointed Zhang Yunchuan as secretary of the CPC’s Hebei Provincial Committee.

    Before the nomination, Zhang was minister in charge of the State Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense.

    Zhang’s predecessor Bai Keming was appointed on Thursday as vice chairman of the Education, Science, Culture and Public Health Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s top legislature.

    GUIYANG, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) — One person is dead and five are missing after a gas burst at a coal mine in southwest China’s Guizhou Province on Friday, work safety officials said.

    The accident occurred at 12:30 p.m. at the Leijiashan coal mine in Zunyi county when 36 miners were working underground, of whom 30 managed to escape, according to the Guizhou Provincial Bureau of Work Safety.

    Rescuers found one body in the afternoon, but five miners were still missing, an official said.

    The coal mine was being expanded to increase capacity from 30,000 tons annually to 60,000 tons when the accident happened.

    An investigation into the cause of the accident is underway.

    BEIJING, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) — Beijing’s mooncake producers are hoping to revive the spirit of China’s traditional Mid-Autumn Festival by packaging their products in simple, environment-friendly, recycled paper.

    More than 40 stores have joined a municipal government campaign to sell mooncakes in simple packaging from Saturday, ahead of the festival that falls on Sept. 25 this year.

    The mooncakes would be wrapped in recycled paper and packaged in paper containers, said Liu Jian, a marketing official with Beijing municipal bureau of commerce.

    Leading producers, like Holiland, Guixiangcun and Weiduomei, are involved in the campaign.

    ”Customers can still buy mooncakes wrapped in expensive packages as gifts. We don’t expect they’ll want to change that right away. The recycled paper was introduced to promote the notion of environmental protection among consumers,” Liu said. However he could not specify the proportion of mooncakes to be wrapped in recycled paper.

    Holiland spokesman Li Xiaojun said, “At the request of government, we will provide an initial 5,000 boxes of mooncakes wrapped in recycled paper on Saturday, together with two other producers. But the total number this year will depend on the market response.”

    The simply-packaged moon cakes will be sold for 90 to 180 yuan (12 to 24 U.S. dollars) per box, depending on the quantity and quality, an average 10 percent lower than normal Beijing prices.

    ”As China’s prices have soared recently, the costs of raw materials to produce mooncakes has increased by 10 to 12 percent,” said Liu. Keeping the prices low would help stabilize commodity prices during the festival.

    China’s consumer price index, a key inflation indicator, rose by 3.5 percent in the first seven months, hitting 5.6 percent in July.

    The rise has been mainly driven by food price hikes, which soared by 8.6 percent from January to July and contributed to 80 percent of the overall inflation, according to earlier report.

    Liu hoped the packaging drive would help spread the concepts offrugality, rationality and health. “Luxurious packages not only distort the meaning of mooncakes, but are unnecessarily wasteful.”

    Mid-Autumn Festival, traditionally a time of family reunions, was designated an official festival in the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907). On the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, family members returned home and together ate mooncakes and watched the full moon.

    In the past decade, mooncakes — traditionally stuffed with sweet bean paste, egg yolks and nuts — have been packaged in extremely expensive and elaborate boxes made of wood, silk or even gold.

    In the last two years, the authorities have begun to discourage extravagance and waste in the sales of mooncakes.