On April 3, 2006, Xiao Yang, the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s court, states that the Supreme People’s Court will issue a series of key judicial explanations relating to the nation’s economy and social justice this year.

China’s landmark property law was adopted on March 16 after taking 13 years to wind its way through the legislative process.

The law, which is the first law that equally protects both state and private properties, will come into force on Oct.1 this year.

China had already seen an increase in the number of cases involving property disputes in recent year, and the number of such cases will rise greatly without doubts.

Some articles of the property law are so vague that courts will have difficulty applying the law, therefore, relevant judicial interpretations will be delivered at an appropriate time to ensure that courts around the country fully understand the 247 articles in the law.

According to State Council, foreign investors are able to get market access for such sectors as telecommunications, railways and civil aviation which are by far largely State-owned now.
China has made a target to establish an open, fair and rule-based market access system which urges local governments and departments to encourage foreign investment and improves the legal framework in the service sector.

According to a document from the Cabinet on March 28, no domain should be off-limits as long as the law does not forbid the entry of non – State investors.

The service sector is important for China as it makes efforts to change its economic growth pattern and reduce consumption of energy and resources and create jobs.

Achieving the aforesaid targets needs a long time in China, but now, as one of the steps, the State Council urged more input into sectors oriented toward people’s livelihood, such as real estate, non-State nursing homes for the aged, and culture.

According to Xinhua reports, the Qingdao Port Group is lining up an initial public offering for this year in either Hong Kong or on mainland China to finance its container terminal expansion goals.

In recent years, China’s port sector are going to enlarge their scale and throw their attention into the stock market. More port operators in China have been seeking listing in either Hong Kong or in the mainland, including such famous ports as the Shanghai Port Group, Dalian Port and Xiamen Port.

It’s said that the Qingdao Port has been mulling over the proposal to launch an IPO for a very long time and has established a dedicated team to work out the details of the plan.

Experts expect the proposed IPO will enable the Qingdao Port Group to expand its business through promoting its brand name with the ultimate goal of becoming a major terminal operator in the Bohai Rim, or even the whole country.

On April 5, 2007, McDonld’s Corp and Yum Brands Inc’s KFC violates labor laws by underpaying part-time workers and are urged to correct wrongdoing and pay compensation.

McDonald’s Corp pays part-timers 4 yuan (52 cents) and KFC pays 4.70 yuan. per hour in Guangzhou, where there is a minimum wage of 7.5 yuan, according to the New Express,

The relevant administrative department will start investigations at restaurant chains in other Chinese cities for possible rule breaches.

International companies in China are increasingly being publicly criticized over ethical issues. Last year, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, were criticized strongly because the company didn’t allow the employees in China to unionize to lower costs.

The relevant administrative department expresses that they will fight uncompromisingly to protect workers’ rights. All companies in China, regardless of size and ownership, must abide by local laws and regulations.

At present, according to the Shanghai Securities News report, China is discussing the decrease of tariff rebates on exports of high purity refined zinc.

By far, the five percent tax rebates are levied on exports of zinc of 99.995 purity which can be delivered on the London Metal Exchange. The policy of cutting the tariff tax rebates are waiting for the approval from the State Council, or the Cabinet. The concrete date when this policy will be implemented are unknown yet.