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	President Jiang Zemin Meet with ROK President Kim Dae-jung Chinese President Jiang Zemin met on November 12 with Kim Dae-jung, president of the Republic of Korea (ROK) and noted the enormous potential for the further development of China-ROK relations. Jiang said that joint effort will raise friendship and cooperation between the two nations to a new plateau. The two leaders exchanged views and reached a broad consensus on bilateral relations and other issues of common concern. The Chinese president noted the remarkable development of bilateral relations since China and the ROK established diplomatic relations some six years ago. Jiang added that China is fully satisfied with the growth of bilateral relations. Kim said that the two countries have a long history of friendly exchanges. Kim reaffirmed that Taiwan is an inseparable part of China and stressed that the ROK strictly observes the "one China" policy. Jiang expressed appreciation for the ROK's adherence to the "one China" stance concerning the Taiwan issue. Jiang and Kim agreed that the two countries should establish a cooperative partnership geared to the 21st century. The two leaders agreed that the decision defined a framework and direction for the expanded development of Sino-ROK relations in the next century. Kim addressed issues involving the Korean Peninsula and noted that the ROK is working diligently to ensure peace and stability on the peninsula. Kim praised the positive role China has played in helping maintain peace and stability. The Chinese president stressed that China's basic principles involving affairs on the Korean Peninsula center on maintaining peace and stability in the region. China also welcomes improved ties between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and both the United States and Japan and the eventual realization of normalized relations. The two leaders also exchanged views concerning the Asian financial crisis. Chinese and ROK foreign affairs, economic and trade, railways and construction officials also held separate talks throughout the day.
	Li Ruihuan Inspects Fujian Province People's political consultative conferences at all levels should play their due role in building socialist democracy and contributing to the implementation of the general tasks of the CPC. Li Ruihuan, chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, made the remarks during an inspection tour of east China's Fujian Province from November 8-11. The CPPCC leader said it is the Communist Party which created the political consultative body and defined its nature, tasks and style of work. The consultative bodies at all levels should work actively and try their best to fulfill their jobs, but should not exceed their scope of responsibility and cause trouble, he noted. During his trip, Li visited local factories and development zones and urged local government officials to map out long-term programs for the development of cities as part of the effort to raise the living standards of the local people. Greater importance should also be attached to agriculture and rural reform because the vast majority of the Chinese people are living in the countryside, and the development of rural areas have a great impact on the development of the whole country, Li said.
	Vice-Premier Li Lanqing Meets with US Delegation Vice-Premier Li Lanqing met on November 12 with a North Carolina economic and trade delegation led by Governor James Hunt. Li briefed the delegation on China's current economic situation and expressed the hope that the two sides enhance mutual understanding and expand cooperation between enterprises in order to promote the development of economic and trade relations.
	China Supervision Society Meets in Beijing China's inspection and supervision departments should make greater contribution to the ongoing anti-corruption campaign. Wei Jianxing, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks while meeting with participants at the recent second congress of the China Supervision Society. Inspection and supervision departments should attach greater importance to theoretical study and summing-up of past experiences, he said. Wei urged the supervisors and inspectors to study Deng Xiaoping Theory and instructions from the CPC Central Committee with General Secretary Jiang Zemin at the core.
	Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Addresses Iraqi Issue Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhu Bangzao told a press conference in Beijing yesterday afternoon that China will continue to work toward a peaceful resolution to the current weapons inspection confrontation in Iraq. Zhu said that there is a danger of losing control and that the Chinese government is deeply concerned about that. "We have always held that problems arising during the weapons inspection in Iraq should be handled through political and diplomatic means, and we oppose the use of force," Zhu said. "We believe that Iraq should cooperate with the UN completely by strictly implementing the Security Council resolutions, and by honoring its obligations," he went on to say that China has repeatedly stated this to parties concerned including Iraq. Zhu said that yesterday morning, Assistant Foreign Minister Wang Guangya met with Iraq's Ambassador Bassam Salih Kubba and transmitted a letter from Vice-Premier Qian Qichen to Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz in the hope that Iraq can resume cooperation with the UN as soon as possible to avoid a further deterioration of the situation.
	Guangxi Steps Up Reform of State-Owned Enterprises The Party committee and government of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region have made the decision: regarding predicament as an opportunity and the deepening of reform and invigoration of state-owned enterprises as a major "pragmatic project" following the 15th National Congress of the Party, grasping this work tightly, solidly and effectively. While focusing on the readjustment of the relation of production and firing the enthusiasm of the people by transforming the operational mechanism, they devote their main efforts to reorganizing the elements of productive forces centered on products and product quality, so as to bring about scientific combination and allocation, they also pay attention to the optimization and construction of leading bodies, thereby achieving the best economic results. Statistics from the Statistical Bureau show the following initial results gained in the reform of state-owned enterprises over the past five months: the production and marketing rate of finished industrial products rose from less than 80 percent in the first quarter to 100 percent for four straight months from June; large and medium-sized state-owned enterprises saw a 7.7 percent growth rate of output value in the first three quarters, bringing about an added value of over 10 percent; the growth rate of profits made by the 96 key enterprises under the main supervision and control of the autonomous region increased 50 percent over the same period of the previous year. In commenting on this, Our Editor says that on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the founding of the autonomous region, Guangxi's great effort to effectively reform state-owned enterprises represents the "pragmatic project" for implementing the spirit of the Party's 15th National Congress, and an effective move to create a better future for the autonomous region.
	Tibet Registers a 14 Percent Increase in Taxation Taxation departments of the Tibet Autonomous Region have incessantly stepped up checking and improving service quality, this effort has promoted the steady growth of tax revenues and economic development of the region. Statistics indicate that from January to October, the region registered tax income of more than 470 million yuan, fulfilling 91 percent of the annual task, a 14 percent increase over last year's same period. Xi'an Records a 13 Percent Tax Increase Thanks to the efforts made by financial and tax departments to enforce strict collection and management of taxation and intensify checking, the city's tax revenues have increased steadily. By the end of October, the city's financial revenue had hit 2.76 billion yuan, up 17.6 percent compared with a year earlier; local tax revenue reached 2.02 billion yuan, up 13.7 percent over the same period of the preceding year.
	Jiangsu Intensifies Tax Collection and Management Means As a result of the effective collecting and managing means adopted by local taxation departments of Jiangsu Province, the province's revenue from individual income tax had climbed from 0.28 billion yuan in 1994 to 1.53 billion yuan last year. The province collected 1.5 billion yuan of taxes in the first 10 months of this year, reaching last year's level. Individual income tax has comprised 14 percent of local industrial and commercial tax revenue.

	A full page is devoted to Mr. Joseph E. Stiglitz's address entitled the Second-Generation Strategies for Reform for China, given at Peking University on July 20, 1998. Mr. Stiglitz is senior vice-president and chief economist of the World Bank.

	Hong Kong Gang Ringleader Sentenced to Death Cheung Tze Keung, ringleader of a 36-member gang which committed a series of felonies in Hong Kong and the mainland, was sentenced to death Guangzhou this morning by the Intermediate People's Court of Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province. Cheung was also deprived of his political rights all his life. In a public announcement of its first instance verdict, the court also sentenced Chan Chi-ho, Ma Shangzhong, Liang Hui and Chin Hon-sau, all convicted as principal criminals, to death, with their political rights deprived all their lives. Chu Yuk-sing and Li Wan were sentenced to death with a two-year suspension, while Cai Zhijie and 28 other defendants were sentenced to life or set-term imprisonment. The defendants were charged with crimes of illegal trading in and transport of explosives, smuggling of firearms and ammunition, kidnapping, robbery, illegal trading in guns and ammunition, illegal possession of guns and ammunition, and concealing stolen goods. Cheung and the 35 other defendants -- 18 are Hong Kong residents and the rest are mainland residents -- were all arrested on the Chinese mainland. The crimes of which they were accused were mostly cross-regional, committed in both Hong Kong and the mainland, with a few committed solely in the mainland. According to Article 24 of China's Criminal Procedural Law, mainland judicial organs have jurisdiction over this case.The Guangzhou City Intermediate People's Court decided to set up a collegial panel to openly try the case on October 20 after reviewing the legal proceedings in this case, instituted by the Guangzhou City People's Procuratorate. The court acted strictly in accordance with the stipulations of the Criminal Procedural Law of China, and guaranteed the procedural rights of Cheung and other defendants according to law. Along with sending copies of the indictments to the defendants within the legally-prescribed time, informing them of the time of the court hearing and making a public announcement of the hearing, the court also assigned three lawyers from the local legal assistance center to defend the two defendants who were without counsels. The defendants' family members and people from various walks of life attended the hearing, and 60 lawyers were present in the court to serve as defence counsels for the 36 defendants. During the open trial, the court fully heard the accusations of the prosecutors and the defense arguments for the defendants. On the basis of material and written evidence, witness testimony, confessions and apologies from the defendants, and the conclusions of legal appraisals, all verified by investigation, the court finally established the criminal facts concerning Cheung Tze-keung and the other defendants as follows: In September 1997, defendants Cheung Tze-keung, Chin Hon-sau, and Lau Ting-fan plotted to buy explosives. With Cheung's funding, they bought 818.483 kilograms of dynamite, 2,000 blasting caps, and a 750-meter-long fuse in the city of Shanwei, Guangdong Province, and then smuggled the explosives into Hong Kong. During May and June of 1995, defendant Chan Chi-ho asked his accomplices to smuggle into Hong Kong 25.4 kilograms of dynamite which he had illegally purchased in Haifeng County, Guangdong. In 1991 and 1996, defendant Cheung Tze-keung and the other defendants smuggled into Hong Kong guns and ammunition they had illegally bought in the mainland. After plotting in the cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Dongguan, defendant Cheung Tze-keung and his accomplices kidnapped three persons in Hong Kong whose surnames were Li, Lam, and Kwok, and extorted 1.638 billion HK dollars in ransom money in May 1996 and September 1997, respectively. From the end of 1994 to early 1995, defendants Chan Chi-ho, Ma Shangzhong, Liang Hui, Cai Zhijie, Yu Hanjun, Huang Yi and others stole a bill of lading for steel, which belonged to a Tianjin company, in Shenzhen and sold 277.39 tons of the steel. The victim, whose surname was Li, was killed during the theft. In June 1991 and March 1992, carrying guns and bullets illegally purchased in the mainland, defendants Chan Chi-ho, Ma Shangzhong, Chu Yuk-sing and Li Wan twice robbed gold stores in Hong Kong. They had conspired several times in Guangzhou and Shenzhen before committing the robberies, and they got away with gold worth 7.421 million HK dollars from the robbery of seven different stores. Also, in 1990 and 1991, Chan Chi-ho and his accomplices illegally bought guns and ammunition in the mainland, smuggled them to Shenzhen, and hid them in the residence of defendant Luo Yueying. The court determined that defendant Cheung Tze-keung had played the role of organizer, planner and director of the joint crimes of illegally purchasing and selling explosives, smuggling arms and ammunition, and kidnapping, and thus should be regarded as the principal criminal; Chan Chi-ho, Ma Shangzhong and Liang Hui carried guns while committing the joint crime of robbery, which involved an extremely large amount of money and property and led to the death of one victim, and thus should all be regarded as principals; the amount of explosives bought and sold by Chin Hon-sau was extremely large, and Chin played a major role in this serious case, so he should also be regarded as a principal criminal; Chu Yuk-sing and Li Wan are also principals, since they were involved in stealing an extremely large amount of money and property under serious circumstances. In accordance with Article 26 of the Criminal Law, these aforementioned principal criminals should be punished for all the crimes they either participated in or organized and directed. As for Cai Zhijie and 28 other defendants, they should receive due punishment in accordance with the facts, circumstances and consequences of the crimes they committed respectively, and for their roles in the joint crimes. Because defendant Chen Huiguang spontaneously confessed to some of his crimes, and Cheung Chi-fung and Hon Fat rendered some meritorious service, they can receive mitigated punishment according to law. Based on the stipulations of Article 12 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, the Guangzhou Municipal Intermediate People's Court, in accordance with the Criminal Law and its 1979 version, as well as with the Supplementary Stipulations On Punishing The Crime of Smuggling and the Decision To Severely Punish Criminals Seriously Harming Public Security adopted by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, delivered its first instance verdict as follows: Cheung was sentenced to death and deprivation of political rights for the rest of his life for crimes of illegal trading in explosives, smuggling of arms and ammunition, and kidnapping. The court also decided to confiscate his property worth 662.1 million RMB yuan. Chan was sentenced to death and deprivation of political rights for the rest of his life for crimes of robbery, smuggling of arms and ammunition, kidnapping, illegal transport of explosives, illegal trading in guns and ammunition and illegal possession of guns and ammunition. The court also decided to confiscate his property worth 295.64 million RMB yuan. Ma was sentenced to death and deprivation of political rights for the rest of his life for crimes of robbery, smuggling of arms and ammunition, illegal trading in guns and ammunition and theft. The court also decided to confiscate his property worth 150,000 RMB yuan. Liang was sentenced to death and permanent deprivation of political rights for crimes of robbery, kidnapping, and smuggling arms and ammunition. The court also decided to confiscate Liang's property worth 3.75 million RMB yuan. Chin was sentenced to death and permanent deprivation of political rights for the crime of illegal trading of explosives. Chu was sentenced to death with a two-year suspension and permanent deprivation of political rights for crimes of robbery, kidnapping, and smuggling of arms and ammunition. The court also decided to confiscate his property worth 75.53 million RMB yuan. Li was sentenced to death with a two-year suspension and permanent deprivation of political rights for crimes of robbery, kidnapping, and smuggling of arms and ammunition. The court also decided to confiscate his property worth 75.44 million RMB yuan. Cai Zhijie and 28 other defendants were respectively sentenced to life imprisonment, fixed-term imprisonment and confiscation of their properties. According to relevant stipulations in the Criminal ProceduralLaw, the defendants, if they disagree with the verdict, can lodge an appeal to the Higher People's Court of Guangdong Province within ten days after they receive the written judgment. Meanwhile, since in this case the death sentence has been given after the first instance, even if the defendants lodge no appeal, the verdict will be submitted to the Higher People's Court of Guangdong Province for re-examination as required by law. Family members of the defendants and people from various circles of society observed the public announcement of the judgment on November 12.
	HK not to Interfere in Mainland's Judicial Proceedings A senior Hong Kong official said in Hong Kong Thursday that Hong Kong would not interfere with the judicial proceedings in the Chinese mainland. In response to the sentences passed on Cheung Tze Keung and 17 other Hong Kong residents by the Guangzhou Municipal Intermediate People's Court Thursday, Secretary for Security Regina Ip said: "This is not the first time Hong Kong residents are convicted and sentenced outside Hong Kong." She noted that as these persons were tried in the mainland for offenses committed there under the mainland laws, the mainland's laws regarding criminal offenses applied. The persons convicted had the right to appeal against the conviction and the sentence and they might lodge their appeal to the Guangdong Provincial Higher People's Court within 10 days, she said. "We respect the independence of the judicial systems of other jurisdictions. Likewise, we would not interfere with the judicial proceedings in the mainland," she said. She stressed that these Hong Kong people were tried in the mainland under the mainland's criminal law. "There is no question of the mainland interfering with Hong Kong's jurisdiction. Hong Kong people's faith in the independence of our judicial system should not be eroded," she said. Cheung Tze Keung, ringleader of a 36-member gang which committed a series of felonies in Hong Kong and Chinese mainland, was sentenced to death Thursday morning by the Intermediate People's Court of Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong province. The defendants were charged with crimes of illegal trading in and transport of explosives, smuggling of firearms and ammunition, kidnapping, robbery, illegal trading in guns and ammunition, illegal possession of guns and ammunition, and concealing stolen goods.

	Sun Yat-sen's Birthday Commemorated A variety of activities were held yesterday in many parts of China to mark the 132nd birthday of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, a forerunner of the Chinese revolution. In Beijing, the CPPCC National Committee held a solemn ceremony at Zhongshan Park west of Tiananmen Square. Zhu Guangya, on behalf of the National Committee of the CPPCC, He Luli, on behalf of the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang, Liu Yandong, on behalf of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, and Liu Jingmin, on behalf of the municipal government of Beijing, placed baskets of flowers before a portrait of Sun. In Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu Province, more than 200 people from all walks of life paid homage to Sun's mausoleum. In Shanghai, China's leading economic center, commemorations were held at Sun's former residence. In Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, more than 200 people, representing all circles of society, held a ceremony to mark Sun's birthday at the Memorial Hall of the Wuchang Uprising. Along with these activities, a fund partly managed by the Soong Ching Ling Foundation which was set up in the name of Sun's late widow, was established at Soong's former residence in Beijing to advance cultural, educational and welfare undertakings for children. The fund's first donation was 2,500 pairs of school desks and chairs to 5,000 primary school pupils in the flood-damaged Hukou and Jiujiang counties in Jiangxi Province.
	Ding Guangen Visits Exhibition on Late Chinese President Ding Guangen, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, paid a visit to the current exhibition marking the centennial birth anniversary of late President Liu Shaoqi in Beijing yesterday. The exhibition, which opened on October 23 and will last through November 28, is jointly sponsored by several central departments and Beijing's Municipal CPC Committee. On display are more than 210 photos and 300 other items documenting the life of the veteran revolutionary.
	ROK President: Cooperative Partnership Helps Peace, Stability President of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Kim Dae Jung said in Beijing yesterday that the cooperative partnership ROK and China have agreed to forge will help maintain peace, stability and economic growth in Northeast Asia. During an earlier talk with Chinese President Jiang Zemin, the two sides agreed to strive for the establishment of a cooperative partnership for the 21st century, Kim said in a speech delivered to approximately 700 students and teachers at Peking University. "This would mean that the two sides will further expand their cooperation from mainly economic sectors to all other fields," he said. His talks with the Chinese president was their seventh summit since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1992.
	Price levels declines According to figures released by the State Development Planning Commission and the State Statistics Bureau, China's price level continued dropping in October. The October retail price index (RPI) dropped 0.3 percent from the September level, and 2.9 percent in the period from last year. The consumer price index (CPI) also slipped 0.3 percent from the previous month, and 1.1 percent on an annual basis. The January--October period recorded a 2.5-percent drop in RPI, and a 0.7-percent decline in CPI.
	Push ahead with Forestal Construction; Improve Ecological Environment Prompted by this summer's floods, China has officially unveiled an ambitious cross-century forestry rehabilitation plan to reduce soil erosion, alleviate the threat of annual floods and clean up the country's two longest flood-prone rivers. Wang Zhibao, director of the State Forestry Administration, told a press conference on November 12 in Beijing that he hoped "by the middle of the next century, the Yangtze can be clearer and the Yellow River less yellow." Both rivers are infamous for their murky waters, caused by soil erosion along their banks. The Yellow River has not run clear for centuries. River silt and uncontrolled logging were two of the main causes of China's devastating summer floods, which killed more than 3,600 people and caused a record 248.4 billion yuan (US$29 billion) in direct economic losses. China adopted a series of strategic measures for forestry development after the floods, such as slapping a ban on all logging along the upper reaches of the Yellow and Yangtze rivers, Wang said. By 2000, all logging in China's natural and primeval forests will be halted in selected key protected zones, mostly on the upper reaches of China's largest rivers. Severe measures were implemented months ago in some of these zones. These measures include a halt to the issue of felling quotas, the closure of timber trading markets, sealing up cutting tools and the establishment of checkpoints to ensure logging operations are brought to an end. These measures will affect some 1 million loggers working for 135 State-run forest enterprises in 17 provinces. " Many of the workers affected by the ban will be shifted to environmental protection and reforestation work, with some of them working in diverse forest-related businesses," Wang promised. The ban is expected to reduce China's annual timber output by more than 40 per cent to about 15 million cubic metres by 2000, Wang said. In this way, he said, initial rehabilitation of China's natural forest resources could take place by 2010. Instead of cutting down its resources as in the past, China will carry out timber production by planting trees and managing planted forestry resources. "Neither the needs of the domestic timber market nor the import of timber products will be affected by halting logging in natural forests and reducing timber production," Wang stated. China can meet the domestic need for timber by developing fast-growing, high-yield timber forests and industrial raw materials forests, and intensifying the cultivation of low-yield forests, Wang said. These are not the only alternatives, Wang said. China intends to make up any reduction in the supply of domestic timber by developing bamboo forests and new varieties of commercial forests, and speeding up the transformation of commercial forests from extensive to intensive management by an intensified scientific approach and technical innovations in seeds and seedlings." From now on, Wang said, top priority in forestry development will be given to ecological forestry and the protection and conservation of forest resources. While strengthening forestry industries, China will also promote the integrated development of mountainous areas, which cover nearly 70 per cent of China's total land area and contain most of its forest resources, he added.

	Chinese-S.Korean Committee Discusses Industrial Cooperation The China-ROK Industrial Cooperation Committee met for the fourth time in Beijing on November 12 and agreed to set up an industrialized technology group on high definition televisions, program controlled switchboards, and civil aviation technology. An industrial policy group and an energy and resources cooperation group were also set up. China and the Republic of Korea (ROK) reached an agreement on cooperation between non-government sectors and on studying comparative industrial developments. They also decided the next committee meeting will be held in ROK in 1999. China and ROK had cooperated on 9,870 projects by the end of 1997, involving 13.2 billion U.S. dollars worth of funds, of which 5.8 billion actually used. The ROK ranks sixth on the list of countries and regions that have investment in China and it accounts for 2.6 percent of all the overseas capital China has used. The committee's two chairmen are Sheng Huaren, Chinese Minister in charge of the State Economic and Trade Commission, and Park Tae-young, South Korean Industry and Resources Minister.
	Explore Modern Management Education The China-Europe International Business School(CEIBS) will enroll EMBA in Beijing next year. This school is located in the Minhang school region of Shanghai Jiaotong University. As a long-term cooperative project between the Chinese government and EU, it was founded on November 8, 1994. Now it is the largest and highest-level management education institute between China and foreign countries. As the only educational institute jointly sponsored by China and foreign countries that has a status of a legal person, this school has successfully probed into the development of modern management education. First, it has widely been engaged in international exchanges and cooperation with foreign countries in line with the tendency of economic globalization. Students can "Study abroad" at home. Second, the mechanism for running the school aims to develop the economy in China. Third, innovative senior business executives are to be trained.
	Waiting for Leonid Shower With the approaching of a meteor storm in Leonid, lots of amateur observers in the city of Changchun, the best observing site for the storm, are getting ready to have a view of the wonder with naked eyes or through telescopes. The meteor storm happens in every November in Leonid. The big ones happen every 34 years, of which the latest one happened in 1966.

	Chinese Ambassador Urges US to Correct Mistakes Chinese ambassador to US Li Zhaoxing pointed out on November 11 that it was completely wrong that the US government had sent Energy Secretary Bill Richardson to visit Taiwan recently and allowed the Dalai Lama to visit the US and meet with US leaders. Li reiterated that the US should correct its mistakes immediately to maintain the improvement and development of the Sino-US relations with concrete actions.
	* US Orders Major Military Buildup Against Iraq * Saddam Chairs Military Meeting on US Threat * Annan Suspends North Africa Tour Over Iraq * Arabian Countries Call for Peaceful Solution to Iraqi Crisis
	Photo: The 80th anniversary of the end of the First World War is marked in Paris on November 11.
	CPPCC Donations to Singapore for Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall Project On the occasion of the 132nd anniversary of the birth of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, great precursor of the Chinese democratic revolution, the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) has sent donations worth 1 million yuan to Singapore for the renovation and expansion project of Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall located in a century-old park. Entrusted by the CPPCC National Committee, Chen Baoliu, Chinese ambassador to Singapore, transmitted the donations to president of the Singapore-based Chinese General Chamber of Commerce. During his lifetime, Dr. Sun went to Singapore at least eight times to publicize and plan the revolution and lived in the above-mentioned park at least three times. In 1994, the Singapore government formally listed the park as a historical site of the country.

	The direct foreign investments attracted by the Asia-Pacific region this year will maintain the level of 1997 though this region has been attacked by the financial crisis, according to a report issued by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. East Asian countries have tided over the most difficulty period of the economic crisis and their economy will recover in 1999, a specialist of the World Bank made the remarks while he delivered a speech in Stockholm on the East Asia financial crisis.
	Economic News of East Asia The Philippines government will further promote its market-oriented economic reform to avoid any possible financial risks. The IMF has agreed to provide a package financial aid of US$1.34 billion to the Philippines. The Singaporean government has published the proposal for its general objective and strategic measures for enhancing its economic competitiveness in the coming 10 years. The ROK's economic growth rates may be 2.3 percent in 1999.
	EU Urges US To Avoid a Banana War European Commission President Jacques Santer, in his letter sent to US President Bill Clinton Tuesday, warned that proposed US sanctions against the EU have broken its promise to the WTO.

	Cuba Wins World Women's Volleyball Championship Defending champion Cuba overpowered China in straight sets in the final to claim the title of the women's World Volleyball Championship, which closed in Osaka on November 12. China was defeated by the Cuban team 15-4, 16-14, 15-12, but took the second place, which met its target. The final ranks are : 1. Cuba 2. China 3. Russia 4. Brazil 5. Italy 6. Croatia 7. Netherlands 8. Japan
	China Aims at Top 8 for Men's Volleyball Championship The 14th World Men's Volleyball Championship opens in Japan on November 13. China will meet Ukraine, Czech and the Netherlands. Wang Jiawei, head coach of the Chinese team, said the team's goal is to enter top 8.
	Women Weightlifters From Mainland and Taiwan Compete at World Championships Intense games were played between the women weightlifters from both sides of the Straits at the World Weightlifting Championships in Lahti, Finland, on November 11. Kuo Ping-Chun of Chinese Taibei won the title of the women's 58 kilograms class, Song Zhijuan of the mainland finished second. Similarly, Chen Jui-lien of Chinese Taibei took the first place in the women's 63 kilograms class, and Shi Lihua of the mainland won the runner-up.

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