Spokeswoman of Shanghai Municipal Government Jiao Yang said on the press conference held on December 30 that year 2003 was a“Peak Year”and“Harvest Year”for Shanghai’s major and important projects. The construction of major and important projects has been finished as scheduled early this year. Below is the full script of spokeswoman Jiao Yang on the press conference of Shanghai Municipal Government.
Phoenix TV: There is one new suspected SARS case in Guangdong Province. Can you brief us about SARS prevention in Shanghai?
Jiao Yang: Shanghai Municipal Government and all relevant departments are highly alert to the SARS case in Taiwan and the suspected SARS case in Guangdong Province. You can see that public hygiene administrative departments have taken relevant measures accordingly. Starting from July this year, SARS prevention has entered a period of long-term regular administration. In the second half of this year, 160 SARS checking points have actually strengthened their supervision and have continued the daily report system with no new case reported so far. Such a system has played a very important role in the first half of this year and has thus been kept. CDC at the municipal and district level has also been supervising 24 hours a day to collect and analyze the latest development of SARS epidemic. CDC at the municipal level has also carried out anti-SARS rehearsal for several times so as be able to respond to SARS quickly. There are now three designated SARS treatment hospitals, 150 hospitals with fever clinic and 54 hospitals with quarantine observation room. Anti-SARS measures have been fully implemented in Shanghai and we are fully prepared as far as staff, equipment, SARS control signal, hospital layout, quarantine and sanitation are concerned. Anti-SARS campaign in the first half of the year has left us with much significant enlightenment. We will keep on our strict sanitation and quarantine measures in order to prevent infection from hospital sources. Medical and clinic institutions at various levels shall strengthen their administration on laboratory testing and step up efforts on bio-security. Cases in Taiwan and Singapore indicate that laboratory infection is one means of SARS spreading. Supervision and administration on the sampling, transportation, testing and storage of bio-samples of SARS shall be strengthened in Shanghai. Medical institutions that have no fever clinic, including those non-public or private clinics, shall transfer their fever patients, if any, to hospitals with fever clinics for treatment. We hope that citizens in Shanghai have a better sense of self-protection, keep their good living habits, such as washing hands from time to time and opening windows for ventilation. At the same time, SARS prevention at some important income ports shall be strengthened. Temperature shall be taken and Health Declaration Sheet shall be filled out so that early detection, early report, on-time control, sanitizing and preliminary warning are possible.
Eastday.com: A mechanism of“Projects proposed by citizens, carried out by responsible enterprises and evaluated by citizens”has come into being for projects of Shanghai Municipal Government. I would like to know that how do you collect the ten projects to be carried out next year from local citizens?
Jiao Yang: Let’s take the projects of next year for example. Approval of government projects of 2004, which is in the charge of the General Office of Shanghai Municipal Government, started as early as September this year. A special column has been established on the official web-site of Shanghai to collect ideas from local citizens. A total of 529 pieces of opinions and suggestions have been collected, covering various aspects, such as transportation, housing, environment protection and employment. There are also suggestions from local citizens about accelerating the development of Shanghai and about striking a balance between social and economic development. Officials from the General Office, together with other relevant departments, analyzed and sorted out these suggestions while at the same time, suggestions have been put forward by municipal people’s congress, committee of political consultative conference as well as community and neighborhood committees. These projects are approved on the basis of suggestions from various social sectors. These projects will also have to be discussed and approved on the general meetings of Shanghai Municipal Government. Right now, these projects for next year have already been approved and Mayor Han Zheng has already signed his approval. Next year, these projects will be formally launched.
STV News Channel: How many of the 10 government projects are the same with that put forward on the Internet? What are the social benefits of these major and important projects?
Jiao Yang: Before the final approval of these projects, 4000 one-to-one interviews in urban and rural areas of Shanghai have been carried out by a special interview team and more than 200 online interviews have been carried out. Relevant government departments have attached great importance to these suggestions on the Internet and they are being analyzed one by one.
Now comes your second question. There are a series of major and important projects each year, all of which will bring about significant changes to the city of Shanghai. These projects have a bearing on important state strategies and long-term development of Shanghai and will thus bring about obvious benefits for Shanghai’s urban construction. For example, such projects as bridges and tunnels over Huangpu River, inter-city railway, viaduct and expressways will certain ease up transportation difficulty and cross-Huangpu River difficulty. Other culture facility projects, such as museum, grand theatre and science museum, have improved the culture taste of the city, thus giving prominence to the strategy of developing our city through science and education. Infrastructure projects such as harbor, airport, power plant and waterworks have guaranteed the normal functioning and development of the city.
HK Takungpao: The construction of Yang Shan Harbor has scored great achievements this year. According to its plan, the first phase shall be finished in 2005. When will public bidding start? Recently, I found that there are fewer beggars on Shanghai’s subway line. Has the municipal government taken some measures to ensure a nice Spring Festival? Can you brief us about this? Also, I would like to know how many people have been relieved altogether?
Jiao Yang: The Yang Shan Harbor project has been progressing smoothly, some big projects of which has been carried out according to the original plan. As to when public bidding will start, I think the project commanding headquarters has to decide according to the actual progress of the project.
Recently, in order to safeguard the normal social life and transportation order in Shanghai, Public Security Bureau of Inter-city Railways and Administrative and Law-enforcement Departments of Inter-city Railway Transportation have carried out a specific campaign to deal with newsstand and vendors without license and other illegal activities such as begging by force and handing out un-welcomed advertisements. With such a campaign, the public security situation in inter-city railway areas has been obviously improved. This is not a campaign carried out only for the Spring Festival. It is a long-term campaign carried out to safeguard normal social and transportation order.
According to the latest information that the Spokesperson Working Group got from relevant departments, a total of 3485 people have been relieved from August 1 to noon today.
Deutsch Radio Association: As planned, January 1 will see the official operation of the maglev train. Both Chinese and Germany government have attached great importance to this project. Why isn’t there an official ceremony as has been expected for the official function of the train? Has China’s interest in maglev train decreased?
Jiao Yang: Thanks for your concern of this project. Leaders of the two countries have really followed and attached importance to the maglev train projects. Shanghai citizens have paid a lot of attention to the project as well. Generally speaking, the project has been progressing smoothly since the very beginning. I don’t know what you have noticed, but actually a lot of major and important projects don’t have launching ceremony, including the outer ring road projects. I think this shows the practical working style of Shanghai. As far as we know, this project has been functioning normally according to the original plan.
East Radio Shanghai: We know that right now, passengers have to e taken of their fever and have to fill out a Health Report at the airport when they flight to and from Shanghai. However, passengers in the railway station only have their temperatures taken. Since the discovery of another suspected SARS case in Guangdong Province, screening measures in Beijing are much more strict. All the passengers coming in and out of the railway stations will have their temperatures taken. Does the Shanghai Municipal Government plan to launch stricter examining measures in important entry and exist ports?
Jiao Yang: We follow closely SARS cases both in and outside China everyday. Reports are being issued by the Department of Public Health everyday. Under such a situation, all relevant departments have carried out SARS prevention measures according to our SARS prevention plans. Stricter measures will be taken if the situation goes worse.
Shanghai Daily: Statistics from relevant departments of Shanghai Municipality shows that the transaction of future houses accounts for 16% of the total transfer, haven’t reached the international caution line yet. How will the government launch restriction measures on the transaction of future houses are launched, if any? Are the transaction banned even if the real-estate developers agree? My second question is that with the increase of private cars, traffic jam is becoming serious. Now motor license can be changed for a car license plate. Will this further burden the traffic? Are there any new measures to deal with traffic jam?
Jiao Yang: I have already briefed you about the transfer of future houses in our previous press conference. Recent transaction indicates that real-estate market of Shanghai has maintained a healthy momentum of development. Transactions of newly-built commodity houses and finished commodity houses continue to increase. Right now, the transaction of future houses accounts for only 2 or 3% percent of the total transaction of pre-sale commodity houses for the same period. A lot of these houses are purchased for investment and speculation. As you mentioned, 16% of the houses are purchased for speculation and the number is on the increase, close to the international acknowledged caution line. In order to implement the principle of“Circular on Promoting a Sustained and Healthy Development of Real-Estate Market”promulgated by the State Council as well as the general requirements of Shanghai Municipal Government to control the soar of commodity house prices, to optimize real-estate market structure and to increase the overall supply of low and medium price commodity houses, we have continued our research on measures to ban the transaction of future houses. Our purpose is that commodity house price increase corresponds to GDP growth and the increase of disposable household income.
Your second question about the relationship between traffic jam and private cars is controversial, different people holds different opinions. 2002 White Paper of Shanghai Urban Transportation has set out the principle of controlling the total number of automobiles in downtown Shanghai and developing small automobiles step by step. According to the White Paper, downtown Shanghai has limited space and large population. Thus, three polices, namely, giving priority to public transportation, differentiate various transportation areas and striking a coordinated development of road and vehicles, have been put forward. Many of our policies indicate that we give priority to vehicles for public transportation. Private cars can be increased step by step so long as the overall number of vehicles remains unchanged. Taking into consideration development, consumption, road and environment protection factors, we will strictly control the licensing of public vehicles, further regulate the auction market for private cars. We will continue our control of licensing of new automobile in downtown and encourage private cars step by step.
Jie Fang Daily: Usually, price of license plate for cars is relatively low in December. But this year, the price is unusually high. How do you view the price of license plate for cars next year? At what price level, will the municipal government take measures to control the price?
Jiao Yang: Price of car license plate is determined by market supply and demand. It shall not be controlled by the government, nor shall it be deliberately driven up by certain individuals. Generally speaking, the municipal government will provide a healthy environment. Vehicle flux in downtown city shall be controlled, priority shall be given to certain means of transportation and adjustment and control shall be rendered under certain circumstances. We can hardly predict the actual price of car license plate for next year. However, we will follow its development.
Rea-Estate Times: What are the areas covered in the Reconstruction Project of 30 old residential areas? What will be done?
Jiao Yang: Reconstruction of old residential areas has been a persistent task of municipal government in recent years. I have no detailed figures about the actual area covered in the 30 projects for next year. Relevant departments can provide you with the information.
HK Wen Hui Daily: Next year, a total of 3 million square meters of low and medium price commodity houses will be finished. What about the square meters of such houses finished this year? Also, low and medium price commodity house is different from relocating house for major and important projects. Are there any overlapping?
Jiao Yang: Low and medium price commodity houses are mainly used as relocation houses for major and important projects. These houses are built to ensure the actually benefit of relocated residents and to push the construction of these major and important projects. The construction of such houses is an important measure of Shanghai Municipal Government. It is guided by the government and carried out according to its policies. Various enterprises have also been cooperating in the construction of such houses. They have cut their profits and have accelerated the construction. Last year, projects for 1 million square meters of low and medium price commodities houses have started and a total of 1.02 million square meters of such commodities houses have been finished and have been purchased by 13,000 families that are relocated due to the construction of inter-city railway, downtown greenbelts, middle ring road as well as Huangpu River Bank Area Development. This year, construction of another 3 million square meters of low and medium price relocating commodity houses have started, firstly to meet the demand of families relocated due to major and important projects. There will be more such houses on the market next year.
Oriental Morning Post: It has been reported recently that the crowed situation of Hu-Min Viaduct is caused by the design. Has this issue been taken into consideration during the planning of relevant departments of Shanghai Municipality? Will there be measures to be taken? Is there a procedure of approving major and important projects? What are the major and important projects next year?
Jiao Yang: The reason of traffic jam on the second phase of Hu-Min Viaduct has been analyzed by Public Security and Transportation Department during one interview. To deal with such a situation, relevant departments of Shanghai Municipality have carried out on-spot administration. Vehicle flux on the second phase of Hu-Min Viaduct is not stable when the road has just been finished. We will keep on with our observation and testing. Administration measures to redirect and restrict vehicles will be released after further observation and analysis of the vehicle flux. Emergency measures have already been taken so that the situation has been greatly improved today. You can follow the situation closely and we will help you with your follow-up.
Now, I will answer your second question of procedures of approving a major and important project. Relevant bureaus and offices of Shanghai Municipality will submit the projects to authoritative departments of Shanghai Municipal Government for approval. The authoritative department shall check and evaluate the project according to the overall situation of such projects. When the major and important project has been preliminary approved by the authoritative departments, it shall be submitted on the general meetings of Shanghai Municipal Government for discussion and approval. The project shall then be submitted to Municipal People’s Congress for final approval. I have already briefed you about our plan for major projects for next year. The detailed projects are being checked and approved right now.
China Daily: My question is about major and important projects. Just now you mentioned that there was a total investment of 55.3 billion RMB. I would like to know, how much percent of this money is used on infrastructure, urban transportation and environment protection? Why will the number of such projects be cut next year? Are there any new measures of investment of financing?
Jiao Yang: Your question about how much percent of the investment is for major and important projects is a relatively professional one. Actually, officials from the Office of Major and important projects are here today. I am sure they can give you’re the answer.
Total number of such projects is cut mainly because it has been suggested that some projects in competitive that are influenced by the market shall not be included. At the same time, priority shall be given to urban infrastructure projects that requires big investment, social projects that are closely related with the daily life of citizens as well as state-encouraged industrial projects that are closely related with Shanghai’s urban and economic development. When the total number is cut, priority can be given to key projects, their investment and constructions can thus be assured.
Radio Shanghai News Channel: As we know, before the construction of second phase of Hu-Min Viaduct, several supplementary plans have been put forward by the Department of Urban Planning. But none of these plans have been adopted, resulted in the crowded situation on the viaduct now. How shall we avoid such situations in the future urban construction?
Jiao Yang: I won’t be discussing the specific case today. Generally speaking, there are two principles that we adhere to during Shanghai’s urban construction and development. One is development in a scientific manner. That is to say, we need a development that is comprehensive, coordinated, balanced and scientific. Economic and social development as well as resource and environment development shall be carried out in a scientific manner so that they are in harmony with economy and society. The second principle is that planning comes first. Major and important projects shall be carried out strictly according to the general Shanghai urban planning.
Shanghai Weekly: What measures have Shanghai government taken after the outbreak of BSE(made cow disease) in United States?
Jiao Yang: Relevant Examination and Quarantine Department has received information about made cow disease and has been following, analyzing and supervising it. Strict measures have also been taken, as you can see on various medias. You can rest assured that all the food on the market now are reliable.
This is the last press conference of this year. I would like to take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt gratitude to all of you, who, as journalists, have been supporting and cooperating the press conference of Shanghai Municipal government. I would also like to thank all my colleagues of Press Office. I would like to wish all of you and your family a happy new year. Wish you good health and all the best in the coming new year!