China Trade Information

Beijing will double daytime parking fees in downtown areas from April 1 in order to curb traffic congestion, said the municipal planning authority Tuesday.

The municipal committee of development and reform issued the notice on its website, stating the highest parking fees would be 10 yuan ($1.46) per hour in 13 zones, including shopping districts, railway stations and central business districts.

The new rule also allowed toll collectors to raise the roadside parking fee to 15 yuan per hour on cars that park for more than an hour, said a spokesman with the committee. Read the rest of this entry »

The Hong Kong National Geopark offers visitors a refreshing experience in addition to Hong Kong’s glittering metropolitan life, Hong Kong Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Rita Lau said on Saturday.

During a visit to the High Island Geo Trail with Japanese Consul-General Shigekazu Sato on Saturday, Lau said Hong Kong is endowed with a rich variety of natural scenic spots with unique characteristics and amazing beauty.

She said the green tourism promotion drive will attract more visitors to explore the richness of Hong Kong’s geopark, hiking trails and outlying islands. Read the rest of this entry »

It is no exaggeration that the first 10 guests I met at the Burj Al Arab Hotel in Dubai were all Chinese. I was in the lobby of what is regarded as the world’s first seven-star hotel on a sunny morning last month just as a band of tourists from Jilin province checked out. They were all snapping away with cameras to capture reminders of their stay.

“It’s pretty cheap to travel to Dubai after the credit crisis. We each paid just 10,800 yuan ($1,600) for a five-day trip and stayed in a top hotel,” said a woman in her 40s surnamed Li who was with the group.

The United Arab Emirates has become a popular destination for Chinese tourists, with many attracted to Dubai, arguably the most glamorous of the seven emirates. Analysts told me they expect the city to see unprecedented numbers during the Lunar New Year holiday next month. Read the rest of this entry »

Ctrip.com International Ltd, an online travel service provider, plans to invest $88 million to acquire a 90 percent stake in a travel service unit of Wing On Travel (Holdings) Limited of Hong Kong, the company said in a statement yesterday.

Ctrip hopes to strengthen its market position in Hong Kong through the acquisition of the tourism unit of Wing On, which has been offering travel-related services for more than 40 years.

The investment by the NASDAQ-listed company will be subject to several factors, including approval from the shareholders of Wing On Travel. Read the rest of this entry »

With a few clicks, Beijingers will be able to get an electric ticket sent to their mobile phones that will let them visit one of the capital’s top 32 tourist attractions during Spring Festival.

The city’s tourism authority is planning to distribute 300,000 free e-tickets via its official website.

The big give-away will begin Feb 12.

Applicants will need to visit the website, fill in personal information, including their cell phone number and choose their three preferred tourist attractions. Read the rest of this entry »

An official with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said it has no plan to launch a real name registration policy for mobile phone users in Beijing in April, Wednesday’s National Business Daily reported.

Earlier reports said the ministry will require new mobile phone users in Beijing to register their names with their numbers beginning in April. The current unregistered users will complete the registrations within the coming three to four years.

Wang Lijian, an official from the information department of the ministry, denied the report. In addition, China Unicom, China Mobile and China Telcom all said they have not received such notice from the authorities, according to National Business Daily. Read the rest of this entry »