Related stories

Rocky Route to Business Success The First Step for New Business Thinking About Business in New Years Alexandre Fauvet talks about Business Beijing Rene S. Schmitt talks about Business Beijing

Statistics July 2004

Bill Gates on June 29 said Microsoft would spend even more of its US$6.8 billion annual research budget in China.

The length of railways in China will increase from the current 73,000 kilometres to 100,000 kilometres by 2020 and the multiplied and electrified trunk lines will increase by 50 percent, according to a July 1 Xinhua News Agency official statement.

Shanghai registered a record-high consumption of 13.66 million kilowatt hours of electricity at about 1:35 p.m. on July 2, which was 50,000-kilowatt hours more than the previous record high, according to the local power supply department.

Ninety-eight young scientists in China, who are working in 12 different subject areas, received national awards on June 28 for their academic achievements in research and development.

Six laws and regulations, including the Administrative Licensing Law and the revised Law on Foreign Trade, will take effect on June 1 in China, which experts say will help build a government under the rule of law and protect intellectual property rights in foreign trade. (See p. 14)

The Ministry of Education said recently that the employment rate of university graduates is expected to exceed 70 percent nationally by September.