Photo taken on Jan. 16, 2008 shows British Foreign Secretary David Miliband. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Vice Mayor of southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality Tong Xiaoping signed a framework memorandum of understanding on the cooperation in promoting rural-urban integration.(Xinhua/Reuters File Photo)

    BEIJING, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) — British Foreign Secretary David Miliband left here Friday, concluding his six-day official visit to China.

    On his China trip, Miliband visited Hong Kong Special Administration Region, Shanghai, Chongqing and Beijing.

    While in Beijing, he met with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and held talks with Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.

    He met with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo Friday morning. The two discussed an extensive range of topics.

    Dai said China has made remarkable achievements since its reform and opening up 30 years ago.

    China would stick to the concepts of scientific, harmonious and peaceful development and commit itself to maintaining enduring peace and common prosperity of the world, he added.

    Miliband said in the era of globalization, both Britain and China had responsibilities of achieving development and stability and promoting peace, security and cooperation.

    Britain supported China’s development and would conduct exchanges and cooperation with China in governing country and managing state affairs, Miliband said.

    BEIJING, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) — China’s social security fund (SSF) has seen its assets increase sevenfold in the last six years to exceed 70 billion U.S. dollars by the end of 2007.

    The assets of the fund, which has been governed by a national council since 2000, were less than 10 billion U.S. dollars at the end of 2001, Council Chairman Dai Xianglong said at the 2008 Pension Fund International Seminar held on Thursday in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province.

    ”The management of the fund has been improved substantially for the past eight years and return on investment has been relatively good under proper risk control,” said Dai, adding that the annual investment yields on average were more than 11 percent.

    The assets mainly came from cash injections from government and capital and equity assets acquired from offloading state-owned shares.

    However, the fund is still far from needed. Wang Zongmin, vice-chairman of the council, said in 2006 that the fund assets had to reach 2 trillion yuan (282 billion U.S. dollars) so that its proceeds could patch up the gap of pension funds in the same year.

    The SSF began to invest overseas in late 2006 for more investment channels and lower risks. Its yield scored 29 percent in 2006.

    Under the interim regulations, overseas investment should account for no more than 20 percent of the total managed by the council.

    Yao Gang, vice-chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), told the seminar the CSRC would continue to raise the proportion of the social security and insurance funds that can be invested in the equity markets.

    A report issued by the securities regulator in January noted that, by the end of 2007, the social security fund only invests 0.81 percent of the total mainland market.

    ”Institutional investors like insurers, social security funds and corporate annuity saw insufficient investment in the stock market. Compared with developed markets, China’s Pension system still lags behind,” said the report.

    SHANGHAI, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) — China is considering charging fees on some of its traffic-congested urban roads, a senior construction official said.

    Fees could be charged on the basis of the frequency and intensity of vehicles’ road use to reduce people’s excessive dependence on cars, said Wang Fengwu, deputy director of Ministry of Construction’s urban construction department at a forum held on Thursday in Shanghai.

    ”We will learn the concept of properly allotting urban road space resource as advocated by international communities,” he said.

    Wang said the country would change the current vehicle-oriented practice of allotting road space into a traveler-oriented one with more space given to buses, bicycles and pedestrians.

    Currently, public transport only handles less than 10 percent of journeys in most Chinese cities.

    Wang said a limit which has been imposed or will possibly be in Chinese cities will cover cars owned by both families and government departments, companies and institutions.

    BEIJING, Feb. 29 — The banking regulator Thursday warned big lenders of the risks of lending to real estate developers and highly polluting or energy-intensive firms, ordering them to step up controls to prevent a rebound in bad loans.

    Despite a drop in their non-performing loan ratio in 2007, banks should not be complacent because they face stiff challenges ahead, Jiang Dingzhi, vice-chairman of the the China Banking Regulatory Commission, told executives from the big lenders.

    ”Banks should carefully implement the government’s macro control policies and effectively prevent various dangers,” he said.

    As well as singling out property developers and industries that consume a lot of energy and cause pollution, Jiang told banks to keep a close eye on manufacturers with obsolete plants and firms whose loans are guaranteed by local governments.

    Highlighting the risks of real estate lending, figures from the Shanghai banking regulator show 2 billion yuan in property loans went sour in 2007, twice as much as in 2006.

    More than one quarter of the new loans extended by domestic banks in Shanghai last year went to real estate, and by the end of 2007 the sector accounted for about 32 percent of their outstanding loans, the 21st Century Herald reported.

    (Source: China Daily)

    BEIJING, Feb. 29 — Honesty, ethics and fairness are more important than financial performance for chief executives, a global survey has found.

    Public relations agency Ketchum polled 2,750 “influential people” in 11 countries including China to gauge trust in corporations and their chief executives.

    Ketchum defines influential people as the 10 to 15 percent of the population who initiate change in their community or society, not including government officials.

    Those polled in China and the developed nations of Europe and the United States shared similar expectations about the role of a corporate leader extending beyond financial performance and crisis communication.

    The survey found employee relations and communications are the areas CEOs need to improve on the most.

    ”Ketchum’s global survey clearly defines Chinese influential people’s expectations on both corporations and CEOs in the current phase of China’s economic transition,” Chris Liu, partner and executive vice-president of Ketchum Greater China, said.

    ”The results show that in China’s rapidly changing environment, employees want to know where their companies are going. Corporations and company leaders are expected to fulfill ethical responsibilities toward employees, communities and the environment.”

    Chinese respondents said CEOs need to champion employees, be creative, visionary and strategic to build and maintain their businesses.

    Philanthropy, aggression and ethics were also highlighted as necessary qualities for CEOs.

    Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing topped the list of most-admired CEOs in China. Nearly 30 percent of Chinese respondents voted for Li. Warren Buffett trailed with 9 percent of the vote.

    Generating profits, creating shareholder value and innovation were the only areas where corporations met respondents’ expectations.

    Across the board, respondents said corporations should be environmentally aware, honest, ethical and put people - employees, consumers and communities - ahead of profit.

    But corporations often fail to meet those expectations, according to the survey.

    The gap between expectation and reality was particularly pronounced for ethics. Chinese respondents said ethical standards are as important as compensating employees fairly.

    The majority of respondents, or 70 percent, said CEOs should invest in research and development. Respondents also said CEOs should invest in higher pay (31 percent), lower consumer prices (32 percent) and environment-friendly technology (33 percent).

    But 71 percent of Chinese respondents said the scale of CEO salaries is a significant concern.

    More than 80 percent of Chinese respondents said they believe the job of CEO is getting harder due to increased public scrutiny and demanding shareholders.

    But 70 percent said they would still welcome the opportunity to be a CEO of a large corporation. Respondents in developed countries, however, said CEO pay is too high and considered the position undesirable.

    In China, trust in media, government and large corporations is significantly higher than in the UK, the US, Canada and Germany.

    China was the only nation that ranked government among its most trusted institutions. No country surveyed put corporations at the top of the trusted list.

    ”Integrating social and environmental benefits with business profitability has become a popular strategy for corporations in China,” Liu said.

    ”The survey shows that Chinese influential people want to hear less about the economy and more about what company leaders should do for society and the environment. The call for corporate social responsibility in China is therefore steadily escalating.”

    (Source: China Daily)

    BEIJING, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) — The Chinese side stands firmly opposed to a U.S. Congress resolution on “supporting Taiwan’s democratic election”, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang here Friday.

    Qin made the remarks in response to a question on the resolution passed on Feb. 27 by the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives of the U.S. Congress.

    Qin said the resolution, which was passed in disregard of China’s representations, went against the one-China policy and sent a wrong signal to Chen Shui-bian, and the Chinese side stands firmly opposed to it.

    He said the Chinese side requests the U.S. Congress to see clearly the complexity and sensitivity of the current situation across the Taiwan Strait, as well as the secessionist nature of the Taiwan authorities.

    The Chinese side also requests the U.S. Congress to take measures to remove the negative impact brought about by the above-mentioned resolution and stop sending any wrong signals to the “Taiwan independence” secessionist forces, added Qin.