Mobile news rings the changes for residents

Thousands of people have signed up to a newly-launched mobile phone version newspaper.

    The southern city's dominant media group, Shenzhen Press Group, had already notched up 7,680 subscribers by 4 pm yesterday after setting up the service on Monday.

    It was launched in conjunction with the Shenzhen branch of China Mobile, the nation's largest mobile phone operator.

    Sun Weinan, editor-in-chief of the new mobile newspaper, told China Daily he believed the number of subscribers could reach about 4 million by the time the free trial operation ended at the end of March.

    "Of the 10 million China Mobile users in Shenzhen, about 8 million users are able to access the MMS (multi-media messaging) service. We optimistically hope at least half of these users can try the mobile newspaper service," said Sun.

    The mobile newspaper is sent to subscribers daily at about 8:30 am by MMS. It offers a range of news, including politics, business and technology, culture, entertainment and sports and current affairs.

    As well as stories taken from the major newspapers under the media group, a team of reporters and editors will work throughout the night to ensure the messages sent to mobile phones carry the latest news.

    Sun said: "That's the part that the traditional newspapers cannot cover, but the mobile newspaper readers can exclusively enjoy."

    Subscribers can even interact with editors and other readers by messaging their comments.

    The newspaper "publisher" hopes to eventually upgrade the service so that users can receive the latest weather forecasts, city traffic updates, job vacancies and shopping discounts.

    Subscriber Yan Min, a public relations worker, said the new service was very convenient and informative.

    "It helps me to go through the news and find the one I think most interesting, which I can read in more details in the actual newspaper," she said.

    However, she added she was undecided on whether she would continue to subscribe to the service when charges are introduced from April 1.

    China Mobile will charge 8 yuan (US$0.99) for the monthly subscriber and 1 yuan for each article.

    Tang Li, a journalist with local newspaper Shenzhen Daily, said the service would be more helpful if it could send out the latest news throughout the day. "It would be ideal, but the costs must be very high to do that," she said.

    Since the country's first mobile newspaper was launched by China Mobile and Nanfang Daily, a leading newspaper in South China's Guangdong Province, last July, the new service is becoming more popular nationwide.

   
(Source: China Daily)

GM may overtake VW as top foreign car seller in China
   General Motors (GM) may have unseated Volkswagen (VW) as the top foreign seller in China in 2005, outpacing its European rival as well as overall sales growth in the world's third-largest vehicle market.

    The U.S. automaker posted a 35 percent rise in China sales to 665,390 vehicles in 2005, exceeding the combined 564,300 units sold by Volkswagen's two Chinese joint ventures.

    However, an exact comparison was difficult because of differences in the way the companies report sales. GM figures include sales from a commercial vehicle joint venture that markets a local brand while VW figures do not include imports.

    Analysts said a more diversified slate of vehicles had helped GM, which has been gaining on Volkswagen in China for years. The improved sales growth provides much-needed momentum for the beleaguered U.S. automaker, which has been losing market share in its home market.

    “GM has a more diversified product portfolio in China,” said Jia Xinguang, chief analyst with China National Automotive Industry Consulting. “That helped to pump up sales even when market growth was slowing.”

    By comparison, European carmakers have opted for more streamlined portfolios, analysts said.

    They said VW’s commitment to two separate car ventures have also pushed up operational costs and made it less responsive to market needs.

    Sales at its flagship joint venture with top Chinese carmaker Shanghai Automotive Industry alone fell 19 percent to 287,000 units last year, an executive at the venture said.

    “VW in China is pretty much like a husband with two wives,” said analyst Zhang Xin with Guotai Junan Securities, describing the awkward situation with the two joint ventures.

    Still, car sales throughout the nation have been slowing. Analysts said total sales last year were expected to have grown just 10 to 15 percent, matching the growth of 2004 but well off the doubling seen in 2003, due in part to the government’s crackdown on easy auto credit to help cool an overheating Chinese economy. Enditem

(Source: Shenzhen Daily/Agencies)

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6 killed as tribals clash with police in E. India
 
   At least six persons, including a policeman, were killed and four critically injured in a clash between tribals and policemen Monday at the Tata Steel Company in Kalinganagar of Jajpur district, Orissa in east India.

    The tribals clashed with the police over the construction of a boundary wall in the Kalinga Nagar industrial complex, according to Indo-Asian News Service.

    Armed with bows and arrows, about 500 tribals rushed to the site of the Tata Steel Company. While the construction work was in full swing and about 150 policemen guarded the site, the irate tribals first attacked the policemen and killed a havildar, a senior district police official said, adding, the incident occurred at about 11 am.

    Five unidentified tribals died when the policemen opened fire in self-defense.

    The five tribals and policemen died on the spot. Several people from both sides have sustained injuries.

    The situation is tense and about 300 policemen have been deployed at the site to prevent the situation from deteriorating, the official said.

    At least 20 persons including the district deputy superintendent of police and a magistrate sustained injuries in two different clashes between the police and tribals when the company was trying to undertake some civil works in the same complex on October 7 and May 9 last year.
 

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