From: xu@hydra.maths.unsw.oz.au ()
Subject: CND-Global, January 12, 1993
Organization: school of Mathematics UNSW
Distribution: aus
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 10:33:08 GMT


               * * *  C h i n a   N e w s   D i g e s t  * * *

                                (News Global)

                         Tuesday, January 12, 1993


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1. News Brief (3 Items) ................................................  36
2. China to Select 10 More Enterprises to List More Stocks Overseas ..... 60
3. Hong Kong's 1997 Smooth Transition in Danger ......................... 39
4. China Sees Trade Surplus Continuing to Dip ........................... 28
============================================================================

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1. News Brief (3 Items) ................................................  36
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[DPA, 1/11/1993] BEIJING -- China will grant  foreigners mining and explora-
tion rights in future,  according  to the China  Daily newspaper.  Mining in
interior and  coastal areas  will be encouraged in  areas expected  to yield
gold,  diamonds,  tungsten,  tin, antimony, stibium or other rare materials.
Special incentives  including tax exemptions  and simplified procedures will
be available to foreign investors, it was announced at a five-day geological
conference. (Forwarded by: Wenfeng)
                                ___ ___ ___

[UPI, 1/9/1993] BEIJING -- Chinese President Yang Shangkun, hospitalized for
an  apparently minor illness, appeared on government television Sunday night
greeting  a visiting  leader  from  his hospital  bed in a clear  attempt to
dampen  rumors  he  is  seriously ill.  hospital  for a minor illness. He is
believed to be  suffering from a severe cold  or the flu and under treatment
in a military hospital. The state television on its Sunday evening newscast,
showed Yang greeting the chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Belarus, Staislav
Shushkevich,  in his  hospital  room as a military  guard stood by.  Clad in
striped pajamas and under a blanket on his hospital bed, Yang appeared alert
and in good spirits Sunday morning as he greeted Shushkevich,  but his brief
televised comments were inaudible. The television report showing Yang in the
hospital  was extremely  unusual and a clear  effort to quash speculation he
might be seriously ill. (Forwarded by: A CND Reader)
                                ___ ___ ___

[UPI, 1/11/1993] WASHINTGTON -- A three-year dispute between General  Motors
and  Taiwan  has been resolved, clearing the way for more exports of GM cars
to the island nation.  The end of the dispute was announced by Sen.  William
Roth,  R-Del.,  who was  informed  by GM President  and CEO  John  Smith and
Mou-Shih Ding,  Taiwan's  representative  in the United States.  Roth  said,
"This is great news for GM, helping to ensure fair trade with one of its key
markets." The agreement settled a dispute over the appropriate value  of the
company's  North  American  vehicles exported to Taiwan.  Roth said Taiwan's
actions had resulted in million of dollars in estimated duty  and  commodity
tax overcharges to GM.  Taiwan charged 30 percent per automobile for customs
duties and commodity taxes accounted for roughly 50 percent  of  the  landed
cost of GM vehicles making it difficult to export cars to Taiwan. (Forwarded
by: A CND Reader)

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2. China to Select 10 More Enterprises to List More Stocks Overseas ..... 60
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Forwarded by: A CND Reader
Source: UPI, 1/11/1993

BEIJING -- China plans to select 10 more enterprises this year for  authori-
zation  to  raise  funds  and  seek  stock  listings on foreign exchanges, a
state-run newspaper said Monday.

The China Daily reported the 10 "are to be chosen from  various  fields  and
will undergo  restructuring  before seeking  overseas listings."  The target
exchanges include New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, London and Zurich.

The Brilliance Automotive Co. last October became the first Chinese  company
to  be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. China has two domestic experi-
mental stock exchanges, in Shanghai and in the southern city of Shenzhen.

The China Daily said a 45-member overseas listing committee is being set  up
"to  continue  the  internationalization  of  China's enterprises" under the
country's market reform program.

"Overseas accounting and law firms and investment banks  will  cooperate  in
selecting  qualified  Chinese  candidates seeking overseas listings and help
them complete the reorganizing and packaging concerning law  and  accounting
practices," the newspaper said.

It said the government has earmarked about $175 million  to  assist  Chinese
companies in internationalization.

In a separate development, the state-run China News Service reported  Monday
that  the  Shenzhen  branch  of the People's Bank of China has announced the
bank will "officially retreat" from  bond  and  securities  management  this
year.

It quoted the local bank president, Wang  Xiyi,  as  saying  supervision  of
securities management in Shenzhen will be turned over to a municipal securi-
ties management council.

Poor management and corruption in the sale of stock applications last August
led to rioting in Shenzhen.

Meanwhile, the overseas edition of the  state-run  People's  Daily  reported
that  government  officials have  completed  the third  draft of  a proposed
national securities law.

The law is to stress "fairness, justice, openness and  high  efficiency"  as
well as "protection of the legal rights of investors," the newspaper said.

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3. Hong Kong's 1997 Smooth Transition in Danger ......................... 39
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Forwarded by: Deming
Source: Reuter, 1/10/1993

NEW YORK -- The escalating war of words between  Hong  Kong  Governor  Chris
Patten and  Beijing over 1995  legislative  elections in the  British colony
endangers a smooth transition to Chinese  control,  Zhang Junsheng  has told
Newsweek magazine.

Zhang, vice director of China's Xinhua news agency branch in Hong  Kong,  is
quoted in an interview with Newsweek magazine's international edition, to be
published on Monday, as saying Patten's proposals  for  the  1995  elections
violate the Sino-British agreement of 1984 on a basic law for the colony.

The news agency Xinhua acts as  China's  defacto  consulate  in  Hong  Kong.
Newsweek made a copy of the magazine available to Reuters on Sunday.

If Patten does not back down, said the Xinhua official, "that  means  he  is
bent  on  undermining  the  political  convergence and smooth transition and
undermining the friendly cooperation between the Chinese and British  sides.
...And Sino-British cooperation on the question of Hong Kong will have great
difficulties."

Zhang  said  Patten's  releasing his  proposals  without  consultation  with
Beijing  violated  the  letter  and spirit  of the 1984  Sino-British  Joint
Declaration.

Zhang said Patten "pays no regard  to  the  agreement  reached  by  the  two
governments  and even the commitment by the government of his country on the
question of convergence." He said it was difficult to see how Beijing  could
compromise with Patten if he did not abandon his proposals.

"The debate we are having with the British is not  whether  Hong  Kong  will
practice democracy," said Zhang, "but rather where understandings and agree-
ments between the two governments should be observed, whether  there  should
be convergence and whether there should be a smooth transition."

Zhang said the Beijing-Patten dispute should  have  no  bearing  on  China's
most-favoured-nation  ties with the United States. "Our view is that MFN has
never been a favour but a mutually beneficial trade tie."

Patten and his deputy Sir David Ford recently expressed  hope  that  Beijing
would  accept the verdict  of Hong Kong's  Legislative Council  on political
reform later this year.

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4. China Sees Trade Surplus Continuing to Dip ........................... 28
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Forwarded by: A CND Reader
Source: UPI, 1/8/1993

BEIJING -- The decline in China's trade surplus in 1992  may  also  continue
this year as the robust domestic economy increases the nation's appetite for
imports and restrains export growth, a state-run newspaper reported Sunday.

Liu Xiangdong, director of  policy  and  development  for  the  Ministry  of
Foreign  Economic  Relations  and Trade, told the China Daily that officials
believe the country's economic boom will sustain higher growth  for  imports
than for exports.

The trade ministry announced Thursday that imports rose 26.4 percent in 1992
to  $80.6  billion, while exports increased 18.3 percent to $85 billion. The
overall trade surplus of $4.4 billion was cut by  nearly  half  from  1991's
surplus.

The figures are deceptive because China generally does not include  billions
of  dollars  in  exports  through  Hong  Kong  in  its  trade  figures.  The
discrepancy has been key to  a  growing  dispute  over  China's  huge  trade
surplus with the United States.

"The growth of imports will continue to outstrip that of exports  this  year
due to a strong national economy," Liu said.

"The export of massive raw materials can also be expected to decline because
of a construction boom at home," he said.

The newspaper  also  pointed to  the unrealistic,  government-fixed  foreign
exchange  rate for  the Chinese  currency,  the emergence of  regional trade
blocs and the expected economic recovery in developed countries as  possible
factors restraining Chinese exports.

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