At the regular press conference on May 25, Shanghai Municipal Government representative Jiao Yang answered reporters' questions.

1. Shanghai Oriental Television Station: You have just mentioned that Shanghai would levy heavy-pollutant disposable charges on plastic film bags. Do you mean local residents will pay such fees in the future? Does the local car plate auction policy break the national road traffic safety laws? It is said that such policy will be cancelled. Do you have any comments?

Jiao Yang: The local environmental and sanitation reform plan has been approved and currently concrete detailed rules are being established, including the disposable fee collection on heavy-pollutants. We will inform the media as soon as the rules are in place.
As to your second question, Shanghai will stick to implementing the national road traffic safety laws and the regulations passed by the Shanghai People's Congress. The car plate auction in Shanghai is only "for a certain period" to control the number of vehicles on the road and alleviate congestion, and the auction policy is always being perfected. With local traffic improving, different ways will be adopted in the city. The existing auction policy, sticking to principals of openness, fairness and justice, is a market-oriented way to allocate local deficient resources.

2. Shanghai Morning Post: It is said that road bonds would be issued in July. Is it one of the ways adopted by local government? If it is, when will it be carried out? You haven't told us the timetable for collecting garbage disposable fees. Can you tell me when? What's the fee standard for disposing of residents' garbage? When will the city begin to levy such fees?

Jiao Yang: I haven't got relevant information on road bonds and currently no changes will take place. By the end of June, local environmental and health public units will be transformed into enterprises and by 2005, the city government will gradually adopt a public bidding system on sourcing, and will completely implement the system by 2006. As to the living garbage of residents, the general reform plan has been decided, and currently certain departments are drawing up concrete measures. The measures will be carried out once the government approves the plan, and when local residents will be charged on such fees should depend on the progress of the reforms.

3. Eastday: What impacts is the global poverty reduction conference likely to have on local traffic? What Chinese cases included in the conference?

Jiao Yang: There are 54 cases in the conference. One is a Shanghai case - Shanghai helps Yunnan Province out of poverty and outstanding achievements made in the province. The other seven Chinese cases: 1. China has made great achievements in its poverty-reduction project for domestic farmers from 1994 to 2000; 2. China established a supply chain in dairy product industry - New Hope Group; 3. China transforms system, improves investment environment and reduce poverty: different modes between the south of Jiangsu Province (including Wuxi, Suzhou and Changzhou) and Wenzhou; 4. China popularizes nine-year compulsory education and conducts poverty reduction project in the countryside; 5. China carries out a management project on Loess Plateau valley; 6. water-supply and sanitation situation in the Chinese country-side: expand services to poverty-stricken population; 7. China's infrastructure, growth and poverty-reduction.

The Shanghai government has recognized the possible impacts that the global poverty-reduction conference will have on local residents, so we have made full preparations for local traffic and security, focusing on minimizing the impacts on local residents' normal work and lives. For example, most deputies are accommodated in Pudong and the conference site is also in Pudong to reduce the traffic flows between Pudong and Puxi. If the city adopts certain measures that will affect the operations of enterprises and residents' lives, local media authority will have a close contact with public security department to let enterprises and residents be well informed to make early preparations. However, possible inconveniences will be brought to citizens despite government efforts. You know that Shanghai holding such international conferences can help improve the global reputation of both China and Shanghai, so it is beneficial to enhance local economic and social development. During the previous international conferences, Shanghai citizens, as hosts, have shown their good moral quality, and we need local residents' understanding, support and cooperation for the possible inconvenience during this time's conference.

4. Phoenix TV: Not long ago, part of the Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport collapsed. The architect of the French airport is the same one who designed Shanghai's Pudong International Airport and the Pudong arts center, which is still under construction. My question is, will Shanghai organize a safety and quality check to the projects in response to the collapse? Shanghai held an air defense drill on May 20. Since relationships between the Mainland and Taiwan are getting strained, will it have any influence on Shanghai? And how has Shanghai prepared to react to these influences?

Jiao Yang: The investigation into the cause of the collapse of the Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport is still underway, and no final conclusion is offered so far. The Shanghai government employs a quality-tracking system for the construction of key infrastructure projects rather than conducting shock checks after an incident like you have mentioned. It's true that the same French designer of the Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport designed the Pudong International Airport and the Oriental Arts Center. However, apart from design, architecture is a systematic process, which is completed by workers from various areas, including structures, equipment and construction. The Pudong International Airport was completed and started service in September 1999. In August 2000, its overall quality was evaluated as excellent by national inspectors. The airport is built according to Ministry construction standards and Shanghai's local technical regulations. The quality of the construction was ensured because the entire project was completed under close quality monitoring.

Shanghai has launched routine air defense drills in the past. It's not a regional practice but adopted by many key cities around the globe.

5. Nihon Keizai Shimbun: The Standing Committee of the Shanghai People's Congress has adjusted the positions of Mr. Jiang Sixian and Mr. Du Jiahao. What positions do they hold?

Jiao Yang: Mr. Jiang Sixian is standing member of CPC Shanghai Committee and Organization Minister of CPC Shanghai Committee. Mr. Du Jiahao is standing member of CPC Shanghai Committee and Party Secretary of Pudong New Area. After the changes, they will not hold their previous positions.

6. Reuters: When will the results of Zhou Zhengyi's case be published?

Jiao Yang: Shanghai No.1 Intermediary People's Court started a public hearing May 18 2004 into the alleged stock fraud and false capital registration case of Zhou Zhengyi and his Shanghai Nongkai Development (Group) Co Ltd. The case is still going on. I think the appropriate department will publish the results as soon s they become available.

7. Oriental Morning Post: You said just now that the Shanghai government is taking on some periodical practice to solve the city's traffic problems. Beijing is also in a traffic jeopardy. Recently, the local officials admitted that the problem lies in some urban planning made years ago. So is there any problem in Shanghai's traffic plan? If so, will the plan be adjusted?
Secondly, how is the city's garbage disposition capacity? What's the current situation?

Jiao Yang: First, I'd elucidate that the current traffic problems are not caused by faulty urban plans or constructions. They're the results of Shanghai's rapid development. In recent years, the city's effort in traffic way construction is obvious. Yet the amount of vehicles on roads is soaring even faster. So it's not the mistake of Shanghai's urban planning. It's because the construction speed didn't catch up with the growing number of automobiles.
On the issue of garbage disposition, we take on three disposing methods: burying, burning and complex disposition. Last year, the city produced a total of 6.45 million tons of garbage. 600,000 tons among them were recycled and reused. Excluding that, the garbage disposed last year was 5.85 million tons, or 16,000 tons daily. Of them, 2.33 million tons (40%) were buried, 0.33 million tons (5.6%) were burnt, 0.18 million tons (3%) underwent complex disposition, and the rest more than half of the garbage were only simply disposed.
From the above figures you learn that Shanghai doesn't have a high garbage disposing capacity. The city has two garbage burning plants, each burring 1000 tons of garbage daily, and another burying plant of 5,000 daily capacity. Disposition facility in the two burring plants are standard, while that in the burying one won't be up to the standard until its forth phase construction finish in April 2005.

8. News Times: As you just mentioned, half of the garbage in Shanghai were "simply disposed". What does this "simply" mean exactly? You also mentioned that the city will introduce overseas invested and private-ran companies in the garbage disposition industry. So will the overseas firms be treated equally with its domestic peers?

Jiao Yang: Simple disposition means the garbage are discharged and stacked in the garbage dump without any treatment. This practice is quite incoherent with Shanghai's metropolis status.
Sure that domestic and overseas firms will be treated equally. There are already several joint-ventures in the garbage disposing industry. For instance, a garbage plant in Jiangqiao is managed by a French company; the forth phase of Old Harbor plant acquired 60 percent funds from overseas; and in another burning plant in Yiqiao, half of the plant's share were transferred to an Italian firm recently. We welcome various forms of capital to participate in building garbage disposing facilities, as well as the public sanitation service and garbage transportation. The government will hold bidding for related projects and purchasing, and the market will be totally opened in 2006 at earliest.