Categories
Agriculture

China allows genetically modified soybeans

China decided to allow imports of genetically modified soybeans from the US. The move was widely seen as a goodwill gesture to trim the bilateral trade deficit between the two countries. The news was announced by a senior US official who said that China would offer life-long approval for imported US soybeans, worth US$2 billion […]

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Tech, Media & Telecom

Crackdown on illegal Internet gaming

China unveiled a new crackdown on its fast-growing illegal Internet gaming industry, which has adversely affected online game providers and developers. The crackdown is scheduled to begin on January 1, 2003. It is scheduled to last for three months. According to an estimate in the China Daily, the losses by legitimate gaming firms totaled around […]

Categories
Tech, Media & Telecom

Clinton withdraws China publishing rights

US-based publisher Simon & Schuster announced that it withdrew the rights to publish US Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's book of memoirs, "Living History". The decision was prompted by Chinese publisher Yilin's omission of Clinton's criticism's of the Chinese government in her book. Simon & Schuster canceled the contract after three months of fruitless negotiations.

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Consumer

Government expects to hit retail target

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said it expected retail sales would reach the targeted annual growth rate of 9% for 2003 despite the SARS crisis pulling the growth rate of retail sales to a low of 6.6% in the second quarter. In October retail sales grew 10.2% – the fastest pace in two years — […]

Categories
Economics & Trade

Chinese delegation buys US goods

A Chinese purchasing delegation committed to purchasing a total of US$2.4 billion worth of goods in the US. The delegation signed contracts worth US$320 million to import aluminum to China, as well as a series of contracts totaling US$500 million on China's import of fertilizers from the US and a set of contracts for US$1.59 […]