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Editor's note Official: Bridge Linking Beijing and Foreign Business Communities Development Smoother, Faster; Economic Structure Continued to Improve Foreign Banks Granted More Freedom in Currency Business Number

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"This is the best season for computer sales, but we want to bring more value to our products with services, while some companies are hot on price wars."

Chen Shaopeng, senior vice-president of Lenovo and president of Lenovo China, said on June 27 that the Chinese computer giant Lenovo Group aims to expand its presence in China by creating new market demand and building brands. It will visit with 100,000 customers to help assess their demands and solve their problems with Lenovo computers. The company will respond to customers' service demands within two hours and fix problems by the second calendar day in more than 1,250 cities in China.

"We hope that the United States will take concrete measures to relax or lift its restrictions on high-tech exports to China, to better address the imbalance of China–US trade."

Jiang Yu, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, urged the United States to ease or even abolish controls over exports of high-technology goods to China, following indications Washington is proposing to tighten such restrictions, at a regular press briefing on June 27.

"The US dollar has been overvalued and China's currency has been undervalued for a long time."

Nicholas Lardy, a senior fellow of the Washington-based Institute for International Economics, addressed a seminar in Beijing on June 22. He said he didn't think the renminbi's value was the most important factor influencing trade between the two nations, however he still urged China to appreciate the currency.

"The city is expecting visitors, whether home or abroad, to know more about her preparation work and to boost people's confidence in the Beijing 2008 Olympics."

Du Jiang, director of Beijing Tourism Administration, said at the opening ceremony of Beijing International Tourism Exposition on June 23 that Beijing Olympic venues are likely to be open to visitors later this year and Beijing doesn't plan to make any profits on opening the venues.

"The total investment needed for the country's pollution cleanup will be about 1.3 trillion yuan (US$163 billion) during the 11th Five-Year Programme (2006–2010) period, which is about 260 billion yuan (US$32.5 billion) every year."

Mao Rubai, director of the Environment and Resources Protection Committee of the National People's Congress, said that Beijing will spend 1.6 percent of gross domestic product annually over the next five years to clean up the nation's environment and prevent further degradation at a forum organised by the country's top environmental watchdog on June 18.

"I am very confident that we will come to a (positive) conclusion."

Richard Hausmann, chief executive of Siemens' operations in China, told Reuters in an interview, that the German industrial giant Siemens A.G. was confident a deal could be reached with China to extend a high-speed magnetic rail line.

"This is not just an agreement that looks at clothing and textiles but at much broader cooperation around trade."

South Africa and China signed a key pact to cushion the effects of Chinese textile imports as Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao began the highest level Chinese visit to the country in 50 years. Wen spoke with journalists in parliament where the deals were signed on June 22.