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"The point is not how often we go through Chang'an Avenue but that we are finally treated on par with big-car drivers."
Zhu Chuanxin, a driver of a 0.8-litre Alto, who lives in the southern suburbs of Beijing, commented after the government began allowing drivers of small-engine cars to zip along Beijing's swankiest avenue and the city's two busiest expressways. The government lifted its long-time ban on small-displacement cars on April 1.

"The purpose of the law is to safeguard the legal rights and interests of labourers."

Rui Lixin, deputy director with the legal affairs department of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, said of the latest draft of a law designed to bring ordinary workers under the protection of labour contracts at a press conference in Beijing on March 20.

"From a long-term point of view, we have this intention, but in the near term we have no concrete plans."
Zhang Jianguo, the president of the Bank of Communications (BoCom), told a financial forum on March 20 in Beijing that BoCom, which lists shares in Hong Kong, has no plans imminent plans to sell shares on mainland exchanges so long as current limits on foreign investors remains in place.

"And hopefully, in the very near future, we can see Chinese players ranked among the world's top 10, while wearing Li-Ning shirts."
Brad Drewett, the former Australian professional player and ATP regional CEO, who brought the ATP Masters Cup, the world's governing body for professional men's tennis, to China, said while discussing a partnership contract with Chinese sporting goods giant Li-Ning Sports Good Corporation on March 17.

"Consumers have a right to learn the truth before they pay for certain services…"
Following crackdowns on hidden prices in various commercial promotions since the beginning of this year, the National Development and Reform Commission said it will launch a two-month campaign against the practice next month, China Daily reported on March 21, Li Lei, an official from the price supervision office under the commission, said.

"In the past five years, we have enjoyed average double-digit, like-for-like growth and we continue to see double-digits as a trend in our forecast for our next five years."
David Wei, president of B&Q China, addressed reporters at an academic event at a Shanghai university on March 21. The do-it-yourself chain B&Q, part of Britain's top home-improvement retailer Kingfisher, expects same store sales in China to grow at a double-digit rates over the next five years.

"With the successful implementation of the plans, CAS will be among the world's top-five research bodies in terms of innovative research output by 2010 and in the world's top three by 2020."
Lu Yongxiang, the president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, said that the CAS will concentrate its efforts on 40 key research areas in the coming 15 years to help China's ambitious plan of becoming an "innovative nation."

"To maintain the current low birth rate, the family planning policy must not change."
Zhang Weiqing, minister in charge of the National Population and Family Planning Commission, said during an online interview via the commission's Web site. China will not change its family planning policy because it is facing its fourth baby boom in 50 years.

"US$1 billion was paid in but we have spent some US$750 million."
Jack Ma, Alibaba CEO, said at a search engine conference in Nanjing. Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba.com has spent three-fourths of the?US$1 billion in cash that Yahoo! paid for its 40 percent stake in Alibaba last summer. The money was spent on research and development and other projects.

"We are now more than just a policy bank."
Chen Yuan, governor of the China Development Bank (CDB), said that the bank will strengthen operations in development financing to fuel the continuous growth of the national economy, on March 22.

"This expansion is an important next step for us to enhance our global product innovation and to support our business growth in China and around the world."
Michael Dell, chairman of Dell Computer Corporation, said in a statement that the world's leading producer of personal computers plans to create 200 new jobs and ramp up investment in China because of strong sales growth.