July 12 - Hong Kong actor and singer, Andy Lau, has been named the territory’s most famous person, ranked by an online poll run by China Central Television, CCTV.

Local tycoon Li Ka-shing took the second place, while martial arts movie legend Jackie Chan ranked third.

Famous Kungfu novel writer, Louis Cha or Jin Yong ranked 10th, while local cartoon star Mcdull surprisingly took the sixth place.

The poll began in early June and received more than 3,600 votes.

Meng Bin, a poll organizer, said judging criteria included the “general influence” of candidates such as their reputation and contribution to society.

Two bottlenose dolphins are swimming with children suffering from autism at Sea World in Xiaomeisha in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province,on Tuesday. (Photo: Shenzhendaily.com)

    BEIJING, July 12 — Two bottlenose dolphins began swimming with children suffering from autism at Sea World in Xiaomeisha on Tuesday, Wednesday’s Shenzhen Economic Daily reported.

    A 9-year-old girl from Luohu District and a 2-year-old boy from Chengdu, capital of Southwest China’s Sichuan Province were the first lucky children to swim with the two therapeutic dolphins that Sea World bought from Nanjing in May.

    Following a month’s training, the dolphins can now jump, dance, pull a boat, shake fins with and “kiss” their trainers, make noises and “count,” said Zhao Ganggui, vice manager of the marketing department of Sea World.

    The arrival of the two dolphins brings the total number of dolphins at the theme park’s aquarium to five. They will provide autism “treatment” to 12 children a month, said Dong Yan, a dolphin trainer. However, more than 1,500 children have signed up for the treatment. The theme park has arranged for more children from outside the city to swim with the dolphins in July and August, Dong said.

    Dolphins reportedly send out high-frequency ultrasonic waves of various lengths, which are said to be able to stimulate people’s central nervous system and have been proven to be effective when used to treat patients suffering from Down’s Syndrome, nervous system diseases and congenital autism.

    Sea World began swimming dolphins with autism patients in 2001, Zhao was quoted by the Daily report as saying. “We didn’t charge a penny until this year,” said Zhao. “Right now, patients only need to pay the cost of feeding the dolphins and trainers’ overtime.”

    A man surnamed Huang said he felt extremely excited Tuesday afternoon when his twin sons swam with the two dolphins. “We’ve waited for two years,” said Huang. “It’s finally our turn.”

    Zhao said that parents still need to take their children to hospitals or clinics for treatment. “Although swimming with dolphins has been proven to be effective, it is not an alternative treatment.”

    (Agencies)

    SINGAPORE, July 12 (Xinhua) — Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi left Singapore on Thursday morning, concluding her four-day visit.

    During her stay in Singapore, Wu co-chaired with her Singapore counterpart Wong Kan Seng the ninth meeting of the Joint Steering Committee of the Suzhou Industrial Park, a joint venture between the two governments, and the fourth Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation meeting.

    Both sides agreed to push forward the negotiations on FTA, which started last year and a fourth round will take place in September. They also tasked a committee to lead discussions for the eco-city project to build an environmentally friendly city in China by using Singapore’s sophisticated technologies and management.

    The other item high on the agenda of meetings was the Suzhou industrial park, the Sino-Singaporean cooperative project launched in 1994. They decided to optimize the second 10-year targets to be reached by 2014, aiming to promote the park as a high-tech, high value-added, leading model of industrial park in China.

    Wu Yi urged the two countries to strengthen cooperation in other fields, including modern services, energy conservation, environmental protection and urban construction sectors.

    She also called on the city state to actively participate in China’s regional development and further explore cooperation modality for going global together.

    The vice premier met with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.

    The leaders spoke highly of the smooth development of bilateral ties and effective cooperation in various fields since the two countries established their diplomatic ties in 1990.

    Wu also attended a gala lunch hosted by the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI), and addressed 500 local industry and commerce leaders, urging them to seize new opportunities that have opened up in China.

    She also witnessed the signing of five memorandums of understanding (MOUs) between the two countries, involving human resource, border health measures, urban environment and integrated utilization of urban water resources, as well as avoidance of double taxation agreement.

    Wu arrived here on Monday afternoon for her second visit to Singapore since 2005.

    BEIJING, July 12 — Mainland companies’ fervor for overseas listings has yet to cool despite stricter application processes and a government attempt to encourage more to list on the mainland, a market researcher said on Wednesday.

    But foreign venture capital and private equity firms in the long run need to consider establishing yuan-denominated funds and look at the A-share market to profit from the mainland companies in which they have invested.

    According to Beijing-based Zero2IPO Group, 21 mainland companies launched overseas initial public offerings (IPOs) in the second quarter, compared with 14 in the previous quarter and 21 a year ago.

    Money raised totaled $11.50 billion compared with $2.06 billion in the first quarter and $12.61 billion a year ago. That is an indication overseas IPOs remain brisk, said ZeroIPO founder and CEO Garvin Ni.

    Mainland companies earlier formed offshore firms in which foreign investors could invest and then be listed overseas. A revised regulation issued last September requires that the formation of such offshore companies must be approved by the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM).

    None has so far secured a MOFCOM approval, a sign that the government wants more domestic companies to choose to list on the mainland instead of in overseas bourses.

    Ni said many private companies already completed their restructuring plans before the revised regulation was issued, so that they have eventually managed to launch overseas IPOs.

    As well, intensifying competition among overseas bourses to attract mainland companies also boosted overseas listings.

    Yet overseas venture capitalists and private equity firms could have difficulty cashing in on overseas listings because the process could become lengthy and complicated due to the new rules.

    But an exit from an A-share listing could pose an even bigger risk than an overseas listing for venture and private equity firms, said Neil N. Shen, founding managing partner of Sequoia Capital China, noting that rules for a mainland listing are unfamiliar to many foreign investors.

    Lingering regulatory uncertainty and volatility in domestic stock markets are also baffling foreign investors, according to Tina Ju, managing partner of KPCB China and Kevin Wang, founder of Natixis Private Equity Asia.

    Zero2IPO’s Ni suggested venture and private equity firms launch yuan-denominated funds, partnering with local companies to avoid risks brought by the revised regulation.

    ”It’s time to raise renminbi (yuan-denominated) funds to exit an investment from the A-share market,” he said.

    (Source: China Daily)

Chinanews, Beijing, July 12 ¨C The world’s first cloned rabbit, which was produced with the body cells of an embryonic rabbit, passed the molecular biological test held in the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) on Tuesday.

The cloning experiment was done by Li Shangang, a PhD holder at the National Center for Molecular Genetics and Breeding of Animals at the Institute of Veterinary Sciences, CAAS.

In the cloning experiment, Professor Li selected the back skin cells of an embryonic rabbit that had grown in the mother rabbit’s stomach for 20 days and cultivated them into fibroblast cell lines. He then used the fibroblast cell lines as the donor cell, which was then injected into a rabbit’s oocyte that had been applied with enucleation method through electric devices. Finally, the scientist transferred the modified cell into the parent rabbit’s fallopian tube. On February 12, a cloned rabbit was produced. So far, the cloned rabbit has survived for more than four months now.

    BEIJING, July 12 – The Jilin provincial bureau of public security is investigating an alleged private equity scam on the Internet to swindle money amounting to a reported 7 million yuan out of investors.

    The suspect, identified as 35-year-old Wang Xiujie, has been placed under police custody. He allegedly posted stock tips in his blog, which is said to have attracted a large fan following, with many offering money totaling about 7 million yuan to invest in the stock market on their behalf.

    Little did these stock enthusiasts know that Wang was unemployed and has never had any real experience or qualification as an investment advisor.

    By setting up QQ groups on the Internet, a chatting terminal installed on computers, Wang recruited many “members” across several cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Jinan and Chengdu by the time police got a whiff of the scam. His blog, http://www.dtdg777.blog.163.com, was still online when the paper went to print.

    According to China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) regulations, individuals or agents can’t operate securities businesses unless approved by the commission.

    CSRC’s Jilin bureau is helping the Jilin provincial bureau of public security in the ongoing probe.

    The Jilin provincial bureau of public security spokesman, surnamed Zhang, only said the investigation is in progress, refusing to elaborate.

    Song Yixin, secretary-general of the Shanghai Municipal Law Society and senior partner of Shanghai Wenda Law Firm, said: “Operating advisory business services without any form of industry certification is generally considered an irregular practice.”

    He said he believed such irregular private equity funds, if allowed to proliferate, will seriously undermine the credibility and disrupt the orderly operation of China’s capital market.

    Song said more efforts should be made to further educate investors to warn them of possible investment scams. Such awareness drives are particularly necessary at a time when more and more people are being drawn to the booming stock market without any basic knowledge about shares.

    ”Individual investors, especially those just testing the waters in stocks, should ask for advice from professional analysts and traders who work at registered investment companies,” Song said.

    (Source: China Daily)