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1. Doubt on whether work goal can be achieved

2. Property Market hits 12-year low

3. Tung's 10 projects to create 1,000 jobs

4. Business sector cut in new green line-up

5. Delta hub unveils dynamic new team

1. Doubt on whether work goal can be achieved
Felix Chan, SCMP 2 January 2003

The job creation programme could be left in limbo because of the government's desperation to curb the financial deficit, academics and unionists have warned.

In his 2001 policy address, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa said the administration would create 32,000 jobs, a figure since revised upwards to more than 34,000.

By the end of November, only 19,044 jobs had been created, leaving the government with more than 15,000 to find to keep its promise.

Jobs are generated from four public service sectors - works projects; the Housing Department's property management services; education, healthcare, welfare and others; and cleaning services.

The government has confirmed that it has 6,936 openings to be filled before the end of March, with the rest to be created on or after April 1.

But City University public and social administration professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung said policy contradictions in recent months had cast doubt on whether the target could be reached.

"On the one hand, the government is talking about the importance of the fiscal deficit and the need to tackle the problem urgently. On the other hand, it wants to provide more jobs and services without increasing expenditure.

"If the government is serious about cutting public expenditure, it should not continue encouraging departments to create more jobs, including temporary ones, because this won't help reduce the deficit," Professor Cheung said.

According to latest official figures, the deficit for the eight months up to November 30 was $70.8 billion.

HO Lok-Sang, director of Lingnan University's Centre for Public Policy Studies, said the job programme seemed to have paid off as the jobless rate fell from a high of 7.8 per cent in July to 7.1 per cent in November.

But Professor Ho warned that if less cost-effective public works Projects are put on hold - as the government has hinted - further recovery could be hampered.

Legislator Li Fung-ying, of the Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labour Unions, said the government was playing games.

"The public is not made aware of the fact that while new jobs, most of them of a temporary and part-time nature, are being created, permanent ones have rapidly disappeared through various voluntary exit programmes."

Ms Li feared if the government did make drastic public expenditure cutbacks, the rest of its job programme could be derailed.

The Economic Development and Labour Bureau said the programme would proceed according to its timetable.

2. Property Market hits 12-year low
Kenneth Ko, SCMP 2 January 2003

The value of property transactions fell to a 12-year low last year as a result of declining sales and prices, according to agents.

Provisional figures compiled separately by Centaline Property Agency and Midland Realty show that the total value of registered transactions in Hong Kong fell to about HK$186 billion.

The amount, the lowest since 1990, was 3.5 per cent down from 2001's HK$192.8 billion.

it marks the fifth consecutive year of contracting transaction values and is 79 per cent down on 1997's HK$868 billion record.

Midland said the average transaction value dropped to HK$2.16 million last year from HK$4.22 million in 1997.

Centaline research and marketing senior manager Wong Leung- sing said the contraction was not a surprise, citing the continuous de- crease in prices and fewer en bloc property sales.

"The decrease in transaction volumes was also a factor. The government's sales suspension of subsidised housing units, especially those under the Private Sector Participation Scheme, contributed to fewer overall property transactions," he said. "But developers managed to sell more residential units in the past year because the subsidised housing sales suspension pushed people to purchase in the private sector."

Mr Wong said developers sold nearly 28,000 new flats last year, compared with about 20,000 in 2001. But secondary residential sales failed to improve.

"The secondary home market was flat as people turned to primary sales amid the aggressive marketing and incentive offers by developers," he said.

While official transaction figures for December have yet to be released Centaline estimated that there were 6,070 deals last month.

it put the number of transactions last year at 86,000, the second lowest annual volume in the past 12 years - just slightly above the 85,744 recorded in 2000.

Midland executive director Victor Cheung Kam-shing said property prices had retreated to the levels of 1990 and 1991.

"Last year's transactions were dominated by sales of small to medium-sized flats, with proper- ties worth HK$3 million or less each accounting for 90 per cent of sales," he said. "The large supply in both primary and secondary markets put pressure on prices."

However, Mr Cheung was optimistic about prospects for this year and predicted transactions would rise 25 per cent to about 107,000 as the local economy and employment prospects improved.

The growth would be led by primary residential sales, with 40,000 new flats sold in the next 12 months.

"Developers' preferential payment and mortgage incentives will continue to attract buyers," he said.

Mr Wong also expected a rebound in market activity, with developers releasing more residential projects for sale this year following the government's recent property stimulus measures.

"The indefinite sales suspension of subsidised and public housing units means that people now have no choice but to go to the private sector," he said.

Mr Wong forecast that about 35,000 new flats would be absorbed by the market this area

Overall property transactions should be able to breach the 90,000 level this year, he said.

3. Tung's 10 projects to create 1,000 jobs
Jimmy Cheung, SCMP 2 January 2003

With open-air cafes and better cycling tracks, the government hopes to unite the community

Ten community-based projects, were unveiled yesterday in an attempt to boost consumption and foster social unity.

They include turning Western Market, a shopping centre for memorabilia, into the equivalent of London's Covent Garden shopping and entertainment district.

There will also be more open-air cafes, better cycling tracks, )pen-air bazaars and other heritage and leisure attractions in different districts.

Officials said the campaign would create 1,000 jobs.

Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa said yesterday he hoped the projects would stimulate the so-called local community economy and build a unified community.

He said: "This is the beginning of a new year. My wish is that the restructuring of the economy will continue slowly but will continue to bear fruit so that everyone in the community will begin to benefit.

"I also wish to see growing confidence in Hong Kong as we move forward through the years and that everybody will take on the challenge of restructuring and build a harmonious society."

He said after a visit to Sheung Wan that although each project was not large in scale, the cumulative economic and social benefits would be substantial.

The concept of developing a local community economy was first raised by Financial Secretary Antony Leung. Kam-chung in his first budget in March last year.

He has said activities linked to daily life, such as hairdressers, fitness clubs and beauty consultants, can create more jobs and promote domestic consumption.

The 10 projects, shortlisted from a pool of about 200, include turning Lau Fau Shan into a sea- food village and ecological tour- ism spot. A seaside cafe will be set up in Repulse Bay, a seaside walkway will link five beaches in Tuen Mun, and heritage sites in Kowloon City and Yau Ma Tei would undergo facelifts.

Secretary for Home Affairs Patrick, Ho Chi-ping said similar projects, including bazaars in Wong Tai Sin and Sheung Wan, the computer plaza in Shamshuipo and outdoor cafe in Sai Kung, had created 2,500 jobs.

He believed the new projects would stimulate the economy, help to promote the characteristics of different districts, and improve community links.

But he ruled out any subsidies, saying the government would only provide the infrastructure.

Legislator Lee Cheuk-yan of the Confederation of Trade Unions said flea markets and other small-scale businesses should not be a solution to the sluggish economy and unemployment.

"The number of jobs created is limited. It's only one of the many ways to ease unemployment temporary. Besides, if people's consumption power is still weak, it's not going to help," he said.

Chinese University marketing professor Leo Sin Yat-ming said there were too many flea markets in the SAR. "There may be more jobs in the short run, but the market is not going to be bigger in the end."

But Mr Tung dismissed such fears. "These projects feature the characteristics of the district and attract many visitors to the area, bringing more business to shops and restaurants in the vicinity.

"The Sheung Wan Gala Point is a good example. Since it started operations last October, some shops and restaurants in the vicinity have seen a significant in- crease in business turnover."

4. Business sector cut in new green line-up
Quinton Chan and Cheung Chi-fai, SCMP 2 January 2003

The business sector has virtually no presence on the new Advisory Council on the Environment to be announced tomorrow.

It is understood that the size of the council, which advises the government on green issues and examines environmental impact assessment reports on key infra- structure projects, will be cut from 23 to 14. Eleven members will not be reappointed while two newcomers will join the body.

The move is seen as an at- tempt by the government to change the body's focus to environmental protection, allowing the soon-to-be-formed Sustain- able Development Council to be- come the main forum for green issues among different parties.

The Advisory Council on the Environment has blocked some major infrastructure projects, including the controversial Lok Ma railway that would have cut across the bird haven in Long valley in Sheung Shui.

In the new line-up, council chairman Peter Wong Hong-yuen will be replaced by Chinese University geography professor Lam Kin-5he, who chaired the body's environmental impact assess- merit subcommittee.

Daniel Cheng Man-chung from the Federation of Hong Kong Industries and Barrie Cook from the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce will not be reappointed.

Eye surgeon Dennis Lam Shun-chiu and Hospital Authority I chairman Leong Che-hung are also excluded. The two new members are Antiquities Advisory at Board chairman David Lung s Ping-yee and Chinese University a community and family medicine professor Wong Tze-wai.

May Ng Fong Siu-mei, Friends of the Earth director and a member of the Advisory Council on the Environment, said the body would become a "core think-tank" on green issues

A spokeswoman for the Environment, Transport and Works Department said the new line-up was a good mixture. She said the council's terms of reference :a would not change.

5. Delta hub unveils dynamic new team
Leu Siew Ying in Guangzhou, SCMP 1 January 2003

Guangzhou announces a series of ambitious goals, with its top leaders set to forge closer links with Hong Kong

Guangzhou has greeted the new year by unveiling a dynamic new leadership and announcing ambitious goals to double the city's per capita gross domestic product by the end of the decade.

The city's Eighth Communist Party Congress, which closed on Monday, elected a new and expanded standing committee featuring better-educated and younger members.

Executive Vice-Mayor Zhang Guangning, who is a member of the committee led by city party secretary and Mayor Lin Shusen, is widely seen as the strongest candidate to succeed Mr Lin as the next mayor. Mr Lin will remain party secretary.

Mr Zhang was appointed a deputy party secretary, along with Zhu Zhengzhong, Su Zhijia and Zhang Guifang, 50, who is also a vice-mayor.

The new leaders are expected to forge closer links with Hong Kong as an infusion of investment from the SAR will continue to play a key role in the city's drive to compete with Shanghai and Shenzhen in becoming the mainland's premier metropolis.

Mr Su, 49, is the director of the city's Communist Party Organisation Department.
Mr Zhang's appointment as a deputy party secretary and his ranking as the first deputy in the official media indicates that he is in line to take over from Mr Lin when the 10th Guangzhou People's Congress convenes on January 13, analysts say.

"it looks that way if we go by convention," said Li Jiangtao, a party delegate and deputy director of the Guangzhou Academy of Social Sciences.

Mr Zhang's possible promotion is also supported by the election of another vice-mayor Fujian native Lin Yuanhe, 52, to the standing committee.

While it is possible for Guangzhou to have more than one executive vice-mayor, Mr Zhang - who had been party secretary and managing director of Guangzhou Iron and Steel Group Co. before becoming vice-mayor in 1996 - appears to be the front-runner to take over the helm of the city.

During the past year Mr Zhang has worked tirelessly on Lin Shusen's pet Nansha island project, which is aimed at restoring Guangzhou's glory as a major sea port. The project is backed by Hong Kong tycoon Henry Fok Ying-tung and a number of Hong Kong universities.

Analysts said the line-up indicated that Lin Shusen had put in place people he trusted to ensure that Guangzhou maintained its lead over the rest of the country.

Meanwhile, the party forecast that the city's GDP would grow at a rate of 12 per cent this year. The growth rate for 2002 is expected to reach 12.6 per cent, higher than the 12 per cent target set at the start of the year.

The party secretary said the city had set a target of raising its per capita GDP to US$10,000 (HK,$77,800) by 2010, soon after Shanghai announced a similar target. Guangzhou's per capita GDP is now US$5,000.

By 2020, Guangzhou's per capita GDP would have doubled again to reach the level of developed countries, Mr Lin said.

The party's emphasis on technological development was also underlined by the election to the standing committee of Ling Weixian, 48, director of the Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone.