MACAO, March 31 (Xinhua) — The Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM) Monday announced its preliminary estimate of Macao’s exchange reserves for February 2008, which stood at 108.9 billion patacas (13.6 billion U.S. dollars), a year-on-year increase of 41.7 percent.

    Compared with January this year, the SAR’s (Special Administrative Region) reserves grew by 2.6 percent in February, which also represented 23 times the currency in circulation in the same month, according to AMCM.

    In a previous Monetary and Financial Stability Review, AMCM has forecast that in the near future, the pataca is likely to edge down in association with lower exchange rates of the anchor currency in 2008, since the greenback will continue to show weakening signs, especially against the euro and the RMB.

    Macao adopts a linked exchange rate regime, under which the legal tender, pataca, is fixed to the Hong Kong dollar at a middle rate of one HK dollar to 1.03 pataca. Since the Hong Kong dollar is pegged to the greenback in a similar regime, the pataca is indirectly linked to the U.S. dollar.

    ”A weaker currency could raise imported inflation, while its positive effect on Macao’s export competitiveness would depend on its stimulating impact on domestic costs,” the AMCM review said.

    According to the 2008 SAR Government Budget, Macao’s fiscal balance would continue to register a surplus, on the basis of which the government was considering to establish a fiscal reserve system, in a bid to strengthen local fiscal discipline and help the SAR to weather any future economic downturn or challenge.

    GUANGZHOU, March 31 (Xinhua) — A south China court on Monday rescinded the life sentence given to a migrant worker who took 175,000 yuan (24,400 U.S. dollars) from a faulty ATM, instead jailing him for five years.

    The Intermediate People’s Court of Guangzhou in the southern Guangdong Province convicted Xu Ting of theft and fined him 20,000yuan, in addition to his jail term. It also demanded that Xu return his windfall to the bank.

    ”The judges reached their verdict taking into account the fact that Xu’s theft took place when there was something wrong with the ATM, so, compared with a premeditated crime, he didn’t have so much a malicious intention,” said Gan Zhengpei, a judge with the court, explaining why Xu’s sentence was reduced.

    ”Rather, Xu took advantage of the faulty ATM and stole the money using his bank card. Compared with monetary theft by violent means, his case is not so grave,” he judge said.

    Xu said that he would not appeal further, but his father said that he would appeal as he was “unsatisfied” with the verdict.

    Xu, a native of Linfen City in northern Shanxi Province, was working as a security guard in April 2006. When drawing cash from an ATM, he realized it only deducted 1 yuan from his account for each 1,000 yuan that he had withdrawn. He mentioned this to a friend surnamed Guo.

    Xu subsequently withdrew 175,000 yuan over 171 transactions while Guo took 18,000 yuan.

    Guo was jailed for a year after turning himself in. Xu eluded capture for a year before being apprehended and sentenced last year.

    The verdict in the 24-year-old Xu’s first trial sparked an outcry among the media and legal experts alike, with many saying that he didn’t deserve such severe punishment.

    The Intermediate People’s Court of Guangzhou was told by the Guangdong Provincial Higher People’s Court last month to rehear the case. It said the November ruling lacked evidence and some facts needed clarification.

    A retrial was conducted on Feb. 22 at the Intermediate People’s Court of Guangzhou when prosecutors insisted on charging Xu with stealing from a bank. His lawyers, however, protested that their client was not guilty.

    The court deferred its decision.

    In order to be present at Monday’s rehearing, Xu Cailiang, Xu’s father, flew into Guangzhou late on Sunday.

    ”What concerns me most is the term of the imprisonment, but I am confident they won’t sentence my son to life this time,” said the senior Xu before Monday’s trial. “The retrial itself suggested the previous ruling was not fair.”

Special report:   2008 Olympic Games 

    BEIJING, March 31 (Xinhua) — Beijing continued to see improved air quality ahead of the Olympic Games, with the first quarter of 2008 recording the largest number of blue sky days for any of the corresponding periods of the past nine years.

    A blue sky was seen on Monday when the city held the welcome ceremony for the Olympic flame and launch of the Olympic torch relay at Tian’anmen Square.

    The Olympic host city recorded 67 blue sky days in the first quarter, 12 more than in the corresponding period last year, said Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau vice director Du Shaozhong.

    ”The days with blue skies increased from 100 to 246 annually over the past 10 years, with the level of pollutants dropping drastically,” Du said. “Beijing is prepared in terms of air for the Olympic Games.”

    Beijing has spent more than 120 billion yuan (17.1 billion U.S. dollars) to contain air pollution since 1998. In the past two years, the city has expanded public transport, tested a temporary traffic ban and relocated polluting factories.

    Its neighboring municipality, Tianjin, and nearby provinces of Hebei, Shanxi and Shandong and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, are working with the capital to attain anti-pollution goals. These efforts include the closure of major pollution sources, getting obsolete taxis off the road and reconditioning gas stations to capture harmful chemicals.

    BEIJING, March 31 (Xinhua) — The People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, said on Monday that the country would continue with its tight monetary policy, which would be adjusted in response to changes in the domestic and world economies.

    According to a circular on the PBOC website, the regular first-quarter monetary policy committee meeting decided that the economic and financial situations were stable.

    The consumer price index (CPI) increased by 8.7 percent year-on-year in February, the biggest jump in nearly 12 years and well above the annual target of 4.8 percent set by the central government for 2008.

    Domestically, the country faced pressure from a resurgence in fixed asset investment, excessive credit supply and liquidity, according to the central bank.

    As the credit crisis deepened, the uncertainties and risks of the global economy were on the rise, said the committee.

    Credit preference would be given to relatively weak sectors including agriculture, employment, education and small and medium-sized enterprises.

    The central bank will continue improving the exchange rate regime “in a pro-active, manageable and and gradual manner” while allowing the market to play a bigger role in determining the rate. It would also introduce more flexibility to the renminbi exchange rate and keep it stable at a reasonable and balanced level, said the central bank.

    Reform of the foreign exchange management regime should also be improved, said the committee.

Chinese shares close 3% lower on dampened sentiment 

    BEIJING, March 31 (Xinhua) — Chinese shares slumped 3 percent on Monday after securities regulators failed investors’ expectation that they might introduce stimulus measures.

    The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index shed 107.43 points from the previous close to 3,472.71. The Shenzhen Component Index fell 390.71 points, or 2.85 percent to 13,302.14. Full story

9 Chinese provinces see GDP exceed 1 tln yuan in 2007

    BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) — Nine Chinese provincial-level regions saw their GDP exceed one trillion yuan (141 billion U.S. dollars) last year, with growth rates much higher than the national average, according to local government reports to the country’s top statistics agency.

    The nine regions, including eight provinces and Shanghai, accounted for 66 percent of China’s GDP last year, according to Xinhua calculations based on figures on the website of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Full story

    HONG KONG, March 31 (Xinhua) — Hang Seng China Enterprises Index on Hong Kong Stock Exchange went down Monday with 349.23 points, or 2.81 percent lower, to close the day’s trading at 12, 083.30.

    The H-shares index, initiated in August 1994 and readjusted on Sept. 10, 2007, tracks the overall performance of 43 Chinese mainland state-owned enterprises listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

    Hang Seng China H-Financials Index moved down 465.54 points, or3.07 percent, to close at 14,711.61.

    The H-Financials Index, initiated on Nov. 27, 2006, readjusted on Sept. 10, tracks the performance of nine major banks and insurers of the Chinese mainland.

    Hang Seng China-Affiliated Corporations Index moved down 87.10 points, or 1.68 percent, to close at 5,087.58.

    The index tracks the performance of 31 locally listed companies with a significant equity interest held by entities in the Chinese mainland.

    Hang Seng Mainland Composite Index went down 86.35 points, or 2. 03 percent, to close at 4,157.57.

    Introduced on Oct. 3, 2001 and readjusted on Sept. 11, 2006, Hang Seng Mainland Composite Index gauges the performance of 103 Hong Kong-listed companies with principal places of business in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland.

    HONG KONG, March 31 (Xinhua) — Hong Kong stocks closed lower Monday on profit taking and a weak performance in the Chinese mainland stock market, with the benchmark Hang Seng index down 436.75 points to close at 22,849.20 .

    Hang Seng Index opened at 22,997.04 and fluctuated between 22,700.84 and 23,077.84 during the session. Turnover shrank to 74.50 billion HK dollars (9.58 billion U.S. dollars) from 98 billion HK dollars on Friday.

    The Hang Seng Index’s 2,177-point rising streak in the previous four trading sessions was snapped as investors were disappointed over the lack of pro-market policies in Chinese mainland.

    Market participants had expected China’s securities regulator to announce the timeline for the launch of stock index futures over the weekend, but it didn’t.

    The Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks both A and B shares, fell 3 percent to 3,472.21 as a result. Local analysts said in the absence of any immediate ‘feel-good’ factors, the Hong Kong market will likely trade in a tight range this week.

    Index heavyweight China Mobile fell 2.1 percent to 115.80 HK dollars after rising 2.5 percent Friday. HSBC dipped 0.86 percent to 126.7 HK dollars from Friday’s 127.9 HK dollars.

    Property counters were lower on recent news flow of lower transaction prices in the market. Cheung Kong declined 1.3 percent to 110.5 HK dollars. New World knocked down 0.9 percent to 18.86 HK dollars. SHKP was 1.3 percent lower at 121.4 HK dollars.

    On mainland telecom stocks side, China Unicom was down 3.19 percent, Netcom down 0.89 percent and China Telecom down 4.69 percent after posting a 12.9-percent annual net profit decrease for last year.

    On mainland insurers side, China Life, Ping An and PICC P&C slid 4.29 percent, 3.25 percent and 5.89 percent, respectively, to 26.75 HK dollars, 55.15 HK dollars and 7.03 HK dollars.

    The six mainland banking stocks went down across the board. CCB, ICBC, Bank of China, Bankcomm, CM Bank and CITIC Bank shed 2.35 percent to 3.29 percent.

    On oil stocks side, PetroChina, CNOOC and Sinopec Corp trimmed2.35 percent to 3.2 percent. (One U.S. dollar = 7.777 HK dollars)