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To: John Rieman who wrote (33244)	5/17/1998 3:52:00 PM
From: CPAMarty	Respond to of 50808

China rejects devaluation A senior Chinese official repeated that China will not devalue its currency, although he admitted devaluations of other currencies in the region have put ''some pressure'' on China's exports. ''The renminbi will not devalue, and there's no need to devalue it,'' said Li Fuxiang, deputy director general of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. ''The renminbi will not devalue in 1998.'' Li said the devaluations last year in Asia ''would present some pressure on our exports.'' But he noted that China's exports remained strong in the first quarter and said China has taken measures to ensure it ''will be able to relieve the pressure.'' Keeping the yuan stable ''will help the early recovery of Southeast and South Asia countries,'' Li said. investors.com

To: John Rieman who wrote (33244)	5/18/1998 9:53:00 AM
From: BillyG	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 50808

60 million cable TV users in China. The technology is "competitive" with western CATV systems. nikkeibp.asiabiztech.com China Cable TV Users Hit 60 Million May 18, 1998 (BEIJING) -- Cable TV is expanding as one of the three major electronic information sources in China, with the total number of users approaching 60 million. Cable TV networks cover all the cities in the country. Coastal cities, such as Shanghai and Guangzhou, have also developed two-way CATV networks. China plans to devote more resources to the development of CATV network in the next eight years. It will expand the scale of the country's CATV network as a trunk line of the national information superhighway. At present, China's CATV network has a transmitting speed of 750 MB/sec. An officer from the U.S.-based Scientific Atlanta said that China's CATV network is as competitive as its western counterparts in terms of technology and equipment. Scientific Atlanta is competing with other CATV manufacturers, including General Instrument and Phillips, for the China market, which is being propelled by the strong interest of users, advertising companies, enterprises and local governments. According to an officer of the China International Enterprise Cooperative Corp., many telecommunications companies, such as GPT of Britain, Nokia of Finland and Alcatel of France, jumped into the CATV arena for the first time this year. (Xinhua News Agency)

To: John Rieman who wrote (33244)	5/18/1998 4:13:00 PM
From: DiViT	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

Shinco DVD...... INTERVIEW-China's Shinco shines on VCD popularity 03:44 a.m. May 18, 1998 Eastern By Bill Savadove SHANGHAI, May 18 (Reuters) - China's biggest maker of video compact disc (VCD) players, Shinco Electronic Group Co, is riding a wave of popularity for the format and looking to new products to outshine competitors, general manager Qin Zhishang said. ''The VCD player industry has developed for three years in China,'' Qin said in a recent interview. ''In general, the market is extremely good.'' China has leap-frogged the video age with the support of a vast illegal industry which produces pirated VCDs allowing viewers to see foreign blockbusters for less than the cost of a cinema ticket. The popularity of the format saw 250 producers churn out 15 million VCD players in 1997 with production expected to reach 50 million units this year -- around four times actual demand, official media have said. Shinco towers over the competition with a reputation for making players that can accept poor quality discs and project them with clarity, company officials said. But Qin said Beijing was taking measures to prevent violations of intellectual property rights. ''In three years, China has quickly started to produce its own genuine VCDs,'' he said. Shinco, a former township enterprise based in Chanzhou city in eastern Jiangsu province, produced 2.45 million VCD players and registered pre-tax profits of 150 million yuan ($18.07 million) last year, officials said. Fierce competition and a public chiding for the industry from Premier Zhu Rongji for over-capacity had caused Shinco to look to new products to stay on top, they said. ''Central government leaders think the VCD player industry is chaotic,'' Qin said. ''We think this view is right, but every industry has a lot of participants when it begins. After a period of time, some are superseded by competition,'' he said. A fierce price war had caused the average profit margin of VCD player producers to shrink to eight percent in 1997 from 13 percent in 1996, official media have said. Qin said Shinco's cooperation with foreign companies for technology, its big scope of production and diversification into the next generation of products -- digital video discs (DVD) -- gave the firm a competitive advantage. ''In the past three years of development, we have reserved some funds and put them into new equipment for the next generation of products, such as DVD,'' he said. Although DVDs were relatively expensive, the higher picture quality would attract more discerning consumers, Qin said. ''VCD will quickly be replaced by DVD,'' he said. ''Shinco has put a lot of investment into the DVD product.'' The company plans to roll out a DVD player in the fourth quarter of this year priced between 2,000 yuan and 3,000 yuan ($241-$361). Qin said Shinco was also planning to list on the Shanghai stock exchange within the next two years after restructuring into a shareholding company. infoseek.com