■ Bill on Chinese books drafted
Chinese publishers will be permitted to conduct copyright authorization and transfer deals if their publications are approved to be displayed at book fairs in Taiwan, according to a revised draft bill prepared by the Government Information Office.
Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Vice Chairman You Ying-lung (游盈隆) made the remarks after the council passed the draft bill yesterday.
You said that under the revision, magazines, books, audio publications, movies, pretaped programs and radio and TV programs from China will be able to be displayed in Taiwan after getting approval and that they will be permitted to conduct copyright authorization and transfer deals during the exhibition period.
In addition, the application period for the items from China for exhibition in Taiwan will be shortened from the present two months in advance to one month, he added.
■ Money supply rises fast
Taiwan's money supply grew last month at the fastest pace this year, the central bank said.
M2, the broadest measure of the nation's money supply, rose 6.52 percent from a year earlier after increasing 6.51 percent in July, the central bank said yesterday in a statement in Taipei. That's the biggest gain since December.
M1A, which tracks net currency in circulation plus checking accounts and passbook deposits, expanded 7.8 percent last month after increasing 7 percent in July, the central bank said.
M1B, which excludes time deposits and foreign-currency deposits included in M2, rose 7.6 percent last month after expanding 7.7 percent the previous month.
■ Oil firm to resume production
Chinese Petroleum Corp (中油), the nation's state-owned oil refiner, plans to this week resume production at a petrochemical plant damaged by fire after completing repairs and an inspection by regulators.
"If things go smoothly, production will return to normal in three or four days," Chuang Po-hsiung (莊博雄), head of the Taipei-based company's petrochemical division, said by telephone yesterday. "We're ready and starting to test major equipment."
A fire broke out at Chinese Petroleum's No. 3 naphtha cracker on July 1 while the company was restarting the plant in Kaohsiung following maintenance. The company has delayed resuming production at least twice awaiting government inspection.
Asian prices of ethylene, an ingredient in plastics, food wrapping and electrical insulation, have risen more than 50 percent since the plant was shut late May. The refiner cut its petrochemical supply by as much as 20 percent because of the stoppage.
■ ViewSonic may increase orders
ViewSonic Corp may increase its purchases from Taiwan by 50 percent next year, the Economic Daily News reported, citing Ho Heng-chun (何恆春), the Asian Pacific chief of the company.
ViewSonic is buying 8 million display monitors and 300,000 liquid-crystal display televisions from Taiwan this year, the Taipei-based newspaper said, citing Ho. No information on the value of the orders was reported.
ViewSonic is also planning to move its global merchandising center to Taiwan, the newspaper said. The report didn't say where the center is located now. Closely held ViewSonic, which provides visual technology products, is based in Walnut, California.
■ NT dollar falls
The New Taiwan dollar declined against the US dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday, losing NT$0.101 to close at NT$33.274.
A total of US$676 million changed hands during the day's trading.
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