No. 346, Dec 17(1)

Details on Sinosteel-Midwest Buyout
Cover story
Last week, Sinosteel bought the remaining shares in its Australian partner, Midwest Corp, in a pre-emptive block of a hostile takeover by Mitsubishi and a Murchison Metals. The Chinese steel giant is calling it a strategic, defensive maneuver.
Original article: [Chinese]

Monetary Measures Tighten, But Yuan Still Key
Cover Editorial
Various monetary measures introduced by the Chinese government have failed to yield desired results, partly because the root of the problem is not being tackled - the undervalue yuan.
Original article: [Chinese]

State-Owned Assets Law Being Finalized
News, page 3
After 15 years of drafting, China's State-Owned Assets Law is nearing completion and likely to be submitted to the National People's Congress for approval within the month. The section of the law that further clarifies the function of the state assets supervision agency has been one of the major points of debate up to now. The EO interviews one of the draftees.
Original article: [Chinese]

Li Yizhong's 70 Hours
News, page 6
An emotional Li Yizhong, head of the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety, spent 70 hours in Hongdong County, Shanxi province, leading a coal mine disaster rescue effort, consoling wounded mining workers and their families, and investigating the cause of the gas explosion that resulted in one hundred deaths.
Original article: [Chinese]

Hangzhou Integrates Basic Health Care
Nation, page 12
Officials hope that by integrating government agencies in Hangzhou on January 1st they will be able to improve basic health care.
Original article: [Chinese]

Changzhi's Conflicting Hats
Nation, page 9
Changzhi in Shanxi province is a severely polluted city entrenched with heavy industries. In 2004, it was listed by SEPA, China's environmental watchdog agency, as one of the nation's 113 environmental hotspots. If this is the case, why has it also been named "China's Top Ten Charming City" and "National Sanitary City"?
Original article: [Chinese]