1. SMG Radio News Center: We are glad to see that the government working report mentions the progress of the investigation into the pension fund case. This reflects the city government’s resolution to boost transparency. Some investigation has been transferred to judicial system. I am wondering if there will be some hearings on the case which the media will be allowed to attend. The second question is that some SPC deputies said the investment in education, especially in compulsory education, is small, in terms of the overall GDP. Is there any measure to improve the issue? Thank you.

Jiao Yang: As for the first question, you have mentioned some investigation have been transferred to judicial system. The questions about the cases that have started in the judicial procedures are not those the city government spokesperson can answer here. The judicial authorities will assume their duties.

Cai Xuchu: I am responding the second question. According to the figures of the recent several years, Shanghai’s investment in education accounted for about four percent of the city’s GDP. The country’s target is also about four percent. So the level of Shanghai is not low. In addition, the city’s overall economy grew rapidly these years. The basis figure is also big. Therefore, it is not a low level that education expenditure accounts for four percent of GDP.

2. SMG Radio News Center: The first question is about the issue to open the proceeds and expenditure of car plate auctions to the public. The auction of car plate quota has been carried out for some time. Are there any statistics on the proceeds? The second question is that some political consultative conference members proposed to make all the public toilets in Shanghai free of charge. Now many shops and restaurants provide free toilets. I wonder if Shanghai will make free the charges in public toilets all over the city.

Jiao Yang: I once addressed the first question on a previous press conference. All the proceeds of the car plate quota auction are put into construction of public transport infrastructure. Now big projects should be audited. Audit agencies will also publish relevant information. So the use of the car plate auction proceeds will follow that procedure. As for the question if public toilets will be free of charge, I advise you to consult the authority in charge of those affairs.

3. Shanghai Education TV: You just now announced the modification of Shanghai’s regulation on science and technology awards. The reason is that the regulation has been out of date. Could you specify the motives?

Jiao Yang: The regulation was issued and enacted in 2001. It did contribute to the city’s scientific and technological research and development. But some parts of the regulation have been unable to meet today’s requirement. Some revision is necessary. There are mainly three aspects.

1) The setup of award was different from the national awards, making it difficult to apply for a national award. The city set up only a“scientific and technological progress award,”but the national awards have five categories, including natural sciences, technological invention and progress in science and technology. While accepting applications, the national awards usually consider the provincial-level award of the same category to be a requirement. So when the city’s projects took part in the national award assessment, we often encountered some problems.

2) The award could not fully cover scientific and technological careers. The regulation didn’t include work done to popularize science and technology. With the increased sense of scientific knowledge popularization and the issuing of laws on science and technology popularization, the career and science and technology innovation have been regarded as two basic aspects of progress in science and technology. The national awards have also taken science and technology popularization into account. So the city’s regulation will fail to keep up with the overall trend, if we don’t extend the award coverage.

3) The city’s award needs a mechanism to balance different subjects. The lack of a balance mechanism will make some hot subjects attract too many candidates, but some basic subjects have stayed away from the award for a long time. So it is necessary to improve the procedure of candidate appraisal. These adjustments will make it better able to serve Shanghai’s strategy to rejuvenate the city through science and education.

4. News Times: The report said that the effect of controls on the real estate market is becoming noticeable. I want to ask what the average housing price was last year. Thank you.

Pan Jianxin: Last year, Shanghai continued implementation of the macro-economic control policy and a series of measures, issued by the central government, to curb the real estate market. Generally speaking, the Shanghai real estate market was stable. The reporter asked about the average price. The price index can reflect the fluctuation in prices. In 2006, the overall index declined 1.3 percent from a year earlier. The level of residence was down 3.2 percent year on year. The average housing price is a result we used to get after making the total sales of residences divided by the sold space. The price includes different factors, such as location, structure and type. The average price of newly-built residences in Shanghai was 7,038 yuan per square meter last year, an increase of 340 yuan per square meter from a year before. The rise was for a variety of reasons. The major one is a decrease in sales of houses for planned selling, compared with 2005. The prices of houses for planned selling are usually lower than that of the houses sold in a market-oriented way. So the average price in 2006 reached 7,038 yuan. Thank you.

5. Youth Daily: My first question goes to the spokeswoman, about the revision of the science and technology award regulation. Are there any customized policies for different industries and institutions of different sizes or types? For instance, will small and medium-sized enterprises get some preferential policies? I want to ask Director Pan the second question. The press release didn’t say much about economic development in rural areas. It didn’t give many figures, either, to elaborate on the issue of education in suburban areas, especially in remote suburbs. We also cut the growth of disposable income of a countryside family to 0.4 of a percentage point last year from 1.1 percent a year ago. What is the reason? Is it because of the cancellation of related taxes?

Jiao Yang: Let me ask the first question first. The reporter’s question is in connection with today’s press conference, but it belongs to another category. Today we are talking about the methods used to honor scientific and technological accomplishments. But your concerns are about small and medium-sized enterprises, and how to make them more fruitful. As for the award, there is a single standard. That is if the accomplishment has reached a domestically sophisticated level or a globally advanced level. We encourage enterprises of diverse types, including small and medium-sized private companies, to participate in scientific and technological innovation. The city government has its encouragement policies in this aspect. At a press conference last year, we invited two senior officials from the development and reform commission and the science commission to introduce 36 policies to encourage progress and innovation in science and technology. Now the authorities are drafting detailed rules of each policy, as required by the city government.

Pan Jianxin: I am responding the second question. Following the city’s guideline to step up construction of a new countryside and a new suburban area, the authorities have taken many measures. In 2006, development in the countryside was focused on infrastructure construction. Also, there were some policies for social careers, especially education and health. Those directly affecting rural residents were aimed at raising farmers’income and to extend the social security coverage to more farmers and rural residents. As it is a big issue, I advise you to consult our statistics communiquéfor specific data after the meeting. If that is not enough, you can contact us again.

The growth of disposable income of rural residents reached a record high last year.

6. Eastday.com: I have two questions. The Spring Festival travel season began several days ago. There were many travelers every day queuing at big ticket selling facilities, such as the ticketing center of the Shanghai South Railway Station. I wonder if there are any specific measures relevant government agencies will take to improve services during the peak travel season. The second question is what measures the government will take to ensure supplies for the markets during the Spring Festival holiday, as well as food safety.

Jiao Yang: The first question is about the Spring Festival travel season, which is a media focus these days. This year’s travel peak is still a challenge to the city. Travelers, including those by air and by sea, are expected to make about 25 million inter-provincial trips in Shanghai during the period, an increase of nine percent from last year’s 22.87 million. The daily volume of the traffic within the city will be about 12.5 million, up six percent from last year. As of yesterday, the city handled about 1.72 million inter-provincial travelers in the first three days of the travel period. With the Spring Festival approaching, many travelers will take coaches. Highways will be busier. Long-haul buses are also expected to handle a record passenger volume.

The city government attaches great importance to the work to cope with the travel season, requiring relevant authorities to expedite ticket purchase and let migrant workers enjoy their travel. The city’s authorities have implemented measures in four aspects to satisfy the requirement.

One is to provide better service. In particular to facilitate travelers’purchase of tickets, the authorities have rolled out many steps. In the railway, the Shanghai Railway Station, the Shanghai South Railway Station and all the city’s train ticket selling outlets can pre-sell tickets 11 days ahead of departure. The ticketing outlets are connected by a network, allowing travelers to go to a nearby outlet. The office in charge of the Spring Festival travel season also requires railway ticketing outlets to make timely updates of ticket information through the media or other channels in order to stop travelers lining up for unavailable tickets. The spokesman for the Ministry of Railways has also talked about the difficulty in buying a home ticket. I noticed he thought the gap between the capacity of the railway system and the demand for travel was a major reason. So media should timely update ticket information to avoid unnecessary queues. Meanwhile, authorities in Zhabei and Xuhui districts have added waiting areas at their ticket selling facilities, allowing buyers to wait indoors. The Shanghai Railway Station also opened four windows for travelers wanting return tickets, diverting these people from the queues of buyers to increase the efficiency of ticket selling.

As well, the united ticket sales building set up a sales booth for long-haul bus tickets, allowing people to buy train and coach tickets at the same place.

The second measure is to fully tap the potential of road transport, easing the traffic pressure on railways. Coach stations and transport companies are making efforts to help divert passengers from trains.

As of yesterday, more than 400,000 long-haul bus tickets have been pre-sold. And among those sold are more than 40,000 tickets for each day of February 14, 15 and 16. Tickets on some long and medium-distance routes have been sold out. Without compromising normal capacity, Shanghai will also increase capacity. Originally, we expected to add 7,000 extra services. Stations and operators are still tapping their potential. Industry administrative authorities will also make it easier for passenger transport companies to add extra services. Meanwhile, the city has demanded that more than 20 medium and large operators set aside some vehicles and drivers. In case of any unexpected incidents during the busiest days of the travel season, the authorities can mobilize about 100 stand-by coaches to help cope.

The third is to improve traffic within the city. The emphasis is on better connections between buses, taxis and the Metro with railway, highway, airway and waterway traffic hubs. Twelve special bus lines for the Spring Festival should be fully utilized to transport travelers, especially at the two airports–Pudong and Hongqiao–and two railway stations–Shanghai Railway Station and Shanghai South Railway Station.

The fourth measure is to ensure safety. One aspect covers the safety of operation and another is fire control and public security in stations.

Public security authorities have launched a crackdown on ticket scalpers at stations, airport and wharves. Traffic police also began to track down overloading of buses.

Lastly, we hope the media can give some guidance to the public. As ticket prices will not rise during the Spring Festival from this year, many migrant workers needn’t hurry to get home. After statistics, the office in charge of the Spring Festival travel season found it obvious that a number of migrant workers in Shanghai have delayed their plans to go home. We also advise travelers to try their best to avoid the peak period–from February 10 to 16. We hope migrant workers can make use of the information to schedule their trips, helping them have nice, safe travel.

The reporter also raised a question about supplies for holiday markets. It is an issue people are always concerned with, prior to a holiday. The city government also thinks much of it, as it is about the most tangible interest of citizens. Our target is to guarantee market supplies and to guarantee food safety. The two“guarantees”will be realized in three aspects.

1) Ensure the supplies for the holiday market. Major agricultural products and food suppliers have arranged their work, including procurement, processing, transport and sale, according to market demands during the Spring Festival. Currently, the food market is stable and supplies are ample.

2) Continue a good job in monitoring the food prices to maintain a steady market. The city’s food supply mainly consists of local production, imports from other provinces, daily storage and procurement for emergencies. The city will prepare some emergency plans. At present, price monitoring has three tasks. One is to closely monitor price fluctuations for edible oil, pork, flour and the derivative products of flour. The second is to keep an eye on supply and demand in the market. The third is to monitor price changes for staple agricultural products in domestic and international markets.

3) Tangibly ensure the food safety. One is to step up efforts to prevent bird flu. The city has three live chicken wholesale markets and 461 live chicken retail outlets and they are required to strictly follow the city’s regulations, including suspending business and sterilizing on a regular basis. The second is the prevention of the Norovirus. The authorities will strengthen inspection and monitoring of the circulation of water food. The third is to accelerate the construction of a system to trace safety information in the course of food circulation. An information management system will help ensure food safety in the city’s standardized food bazaars, giving citizens more reliable market supplies in the holiday.

7. Wenhui Daily: Director Pan, could you elaborate on the figures of Shanghai’s housing prices?

Pan Jianxin: Generally speaking, the real estate market in Shanghai is stable, which is in line with the central government’s macro-control policies. Let me give more details. One is that the growth of investment in real estate declined in 2006. The city’s investment in real estate development in 2006 was 127.559 billion yuan, an on-year rise of 2.3 percent. But the growth pace was 3.8 percentage points lower than a year earlier. Real estate investment accounted for 32.5 percent of the overall investment, down 2.7 percentage points from a year ago.

The second is about sales. Last year, 30.25 million square meters of new houses were sold, falling 4.2 percent year-on-year. New residences were 26.15 million square meters, down 8.1 percent. The major reason for the decrease was also a decline of more than two million square meters in houses for planned selling from 2005. Otherwise, the sales of new houses sold in a market-oriented way in 2006 were almost same. According to the statistics by the real estate trading center, the city sold 20.05 million square meters of new residences for market-oriented sale in 2006. It was 19.95 million square meters in 2005. There was no big difference in these two years.

The third is that the housing prices were stable. I spelt out that part just now.

One more thing, by the end of 2006, 22,397 families had been covered by the budget home policy, an increase of 4,323 from a year ago. Thank you.

8. Xinhua news agency: The materials say the social security system keeps on improving. Could you disclose the specific amounts of different social funds, such as pension funds and corporate annuities as well as medical care insurance? Thank you.

Pan Jianxin: Sorry, we haven’t got this material ready. If you need, we can look them up after the conference.

9. Nihon Keizai Shimbun: We know Shanghai’s total GDP last year. The first question is how much the per capita GDP was, and how much it rose from 2005. The second question is if there was any change in foreign investment, in terms of countries. For example, if the investment from the United States gained or if Japan’s dropped.

Pan Jianxin: I here can provide two figures for Shanghai’s per capita GDP in 2006. One is the figure calculated by the National Bureau of Statistics. Based on the residents living in the city for more than six months, the per capita GDP was 57,310 yuan, or US$7,189. The exchange rate was the annual average. This is also the date most quoted domestically. The other figure is based on the international standard. It is the one used to compare with overseas cities. The per capita GDP, based on the residents living in the city for more than a year, was 59,710 yuan, or US$7,490. These two figures tell us Shanghai’s per capita GDP has exceeded US$7,000. Thank you.

Cai Xuchu: The Japanese reporter raised a question about Shanghai’s foreign investment. Shanghai basically maintained the momentum of growth last year, as in the recent several years. The service industry did quite a good job in adsorbing foreign investment. The total value of foreign investment contracts in the third industry rose 33.5 percent last year in Shanghai, accounting for 67 percent of the total. The proportion was 14.1 percentage points higher than a year ago.

Also, the reporter mentioned the change in terms of countries. Basically, there was no big difference. There are two figures about foreign investment. One is for the contracted foreign investment. In 2006, Hong Kong still ranked first, followed by British Virgin Islands. The third was Japan, from which the contracted foreign investment totaled US$1.582 billion last year, up 35.9 percent from a year earlier. The other figure is for the investment already in place. The ranking of nations is also similar to the previous one. The first was Hong Kong; the second British Virgin Islands; the third Japan. In 2006, funds put in place from Japan were US$832 million. The growth moderated, compared with a year ago. Thank you.

Jiao Yang: Today’s press conference is over. Thank you to all reporters.