■ IPR
Beijing tightens patent law
China plans to adjust its patent law to better meet its WTO obligations, boost innovation and safeguard economic security, state media reported yesterday. Research on an amendment to the Patent Law began earlier this year, with proposed changes to be disclosed by the national legislature next year, the state-run newspaper China Daily quoted Tian Lipu (田力普), commissioner of the State Intellectual Property Office, as saying. "I hope the amendment can be completed by 2008," Tian said. China joined the WTO in 2001 with pledges to open its own markets and fight commercial piracy that costs Western companies an estimated US$16 billion in lost sales each year.
■ BEVERAGES
Kirin boosts China presence
Japan's Kirin Brewery said yesterday that it would invest about US$84 million to build a cutting-edge factory in China and take other measures to boost business in the world's biggest beer market. Kirin will turn Zhuhai Kirin President Brewery, a joint venture with a Taiwanese firm, into a wholly-owned subsidiary by purchasing the 40 percent stake held by the partner, the Japanese firm said. Kirin will also start building a second plant in Zhuhai, China, for completion in June 2007. The new Zhuhai factory alone is estimated to cost &$165;6.6 billion (US$55.5 million). The new plant will aim to produce 200 million liters of beer a year initially, double the production of the existing plant, and increase capacity to 400 million liters in the future. Products from the new plant will be shipped not just to the Zhuhai delta area but also to northern China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Philippines, the company said.
GET TO SAFETY: Authorities were scrambling to evacuate nearly 700 people in Hualien County to prepare for overflow from a natural dam formed by a previous typhoon Typhoon Podul yesterday intensified and accelerated as it neared Taiwan, with the impact expected to be felt overnight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, while the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration announced that schools and government offices in most areas of southern and eastern Taiwan would be closed today. The affected regions are Tainan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi City, and Yunlin, Chiayi, Pingtung, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as the outlying Penghu County. As of 10pm last night, the storm was about 370km east-southeast of Taitung County, moving west-northwest at 27kph, CWA data showed. With a radius of 120km, Podul is carrying maximum sustained
Tropical Storm Podul strengthened into a typhoon at 8pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with a sea warning to be issued late last night or early this morning. As of 8pm, the typhoon was 1,020km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving west at 23kph. The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA said. Based on the tropical storm’s trajectory, a land warning could be issued any time from midday today, it added. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said Podul is a fast-moving storm that is forecast to bring its heaviest rainfall and strongest
TRAJECTORY: The severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday, and would influence the nation to varying degrees, a forecaster said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it would likely issue a sea warning for Tropical Storm Podul tomorrow morning and a land warning that evening at the earliest. CWA forecaster Lin Ting-yi (林定宜) said the severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving west at 21kph and packing sustained winds of 108kph and gusts of up to 136.8kph, the CWA said. Lin said that the tropical storm was about 1,710km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, with two possible trajectories over the next one
TALKS CONTINUE: Although an agreement has not been reached with Washington, lowering the tariff from 32 percent to 20 percent is still progress, the vice premier said Taiwan would strive for a better US tariff rate in negotiations, with the goal being not just lowering the current 20-percent tariff rate, but also securing an exemption from tariff stacking, Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) said yesterday. Cheng made the remarks at a news conference at the Executive Yuan explaining the new US tariffs and the government’s plans for supporting affected industries. US President Donald Trump on July 31 announced a new tariff rate of 20 percent on Taiwan’s exports to the US starting on Thursday last week, and the Office of Trade Negotiations on Friday confirmed that it
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