Actor Awarded

(XINHUA)

Hong Kong actor Chow Yun-fat was granted the Outstanding Contribution Award at the 15th Shanghai International Film Festival on June 16. Chow was honored for his contribution to the Chinese film industry.

Chow, 57, is best known in Asia for his collaboration with filmmaker John Woo in heroic bloodshed genre films A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, and Hard Boiled. In 1995, Chow first appeared in Hollywood films and his popularity has since grown in the West. His international breakthrough came after starring in Ang Lee's Kungfu movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000).

Chow has won three Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Actor and two Golden Horse Awards for Best Actor in Taiwan.

Home Prices Drop

New home prices in major cities fell again in May as the country continues its campaign to regulate the real estate market.

In May, 43 cities out of a statistical pool of 70 major cities saw drops in new home prices from April, while new home prices in 21 cities remained the same, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

Six cities saw slight increases of less than 0.2 percent in new home prices in May.

New home prices in 55 cities out of 70 saw year-on-year decline in May, expanding from 46 in April. Prices in 15 cities saw year-on-year increases by less than 1.4 percent in May, compared with 23 cities in April.

Merger Approved

Yanzhou Coal Mining Co. based in east China's Shandong Province said on June 19 that an Australian court had approved Yancoal Australia Ltd.'s merger with Australia's Gloucester Coal Ltd.

In a statement filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, Yanzhou Coal Mining said the Victorian Supreme Court had approved the proposed merger.

The approval came after Chinese authorities, Australia's Finance Ministry, Australian Securities Exchange and Gloucester shareholders all gave the go-ahead to the deal.

Shares of the merged company will be traded on the Australian Securities Exchange at the end of June.

Under the terms of the merger, Yanzhou Coal Mining will hold 78 percent of the new company, while Gloucester Coal's shareholders are set to receive 639 million Australian dollars ($637.4 million) in cash and a 22-percent stake in the new entity.

Rare Earth Stance

China on June 20 issued a white paper on its rare earth industry, the first of its kind in the country, as the world's largest rare earth producer strives to better protect the valuable resources.

The white paper, titled Situation and Policies of China's Rare Earth Industry, was released by the Information Office of the State Council.

The publication of the white paper was aimed at giving the international community a better understanding of China's rare earth industry and policies.

China will implement stricter environmental standards for rare earth exploitation while continuing to regulate the mining, production and export of the valuable resources, according to the document.

Entering Power Sector

China on June 19 issued a guideline to green light the entry of private capital into the country's state-dominated power sector, marking the latest move to increase the economy's efficiency and bolster growth.

The guideline, issued by the State Electricity Regulatory Commission, gave specific policies regarding the sector's market access, supervision of fair power coordination, renewable energy network access and price reforms.

The move came after a number of state-run sectors, including the railway, transport and finance sectors, published similar guidelines to encourage the participation of private capital.

Fair treatment will be given to all enterprises, according to the guideline, stating that power infrastructure companies owned by private investors will be granted operation certificates.

Private investment currently accounts for less than 3 percent of the power sector's total investment, said Lin Boqiang, head of the Energy Economic Research Center of Xiamen University.

Anti-Dumping Probe

The Ministry of Commerce said that it has started reviewing anti-dumping measures on sulfamethoxazole (SMZ), an antibiotic imported from India. The review will evaluate the possibilities for dumping and damages if the tariffs are lifted.

The review started on June 15 at the request of applications submitted by domestic industry players on March 30 and will be finished within 12 months.

The ministry slapped five-year anti-dumping duties ranging from 10.1 percent to 37.7 percent on SMZ imports from India on June 15, 2007, after finding that the imports hurt the interests of domestic producers.

During the review period, China will continue to impose anti-dumping duties on SMZ imports from India.

R&D Center

Deutsche Telekom, the largest telecommunications company in Europe, announced the establishment of its first China-based global development center on June 16.

The development center, located in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, will focus on the development of core technology, including vehicle telematics, cloud computing and air traffic tech.

The center, costing an investment of 40 million euros ($52 million), is expected to employ 1,000 workers by 2014, according to a spokesmen of the center.

Deutsche Telekom, the fourth largest telecom operator in the world, has also established development centers in Brazil and Mexico.