Global China kicked off a series of corporate branding exercises this autumn by co-hosting and sponsoring various international forums to further enhance the Group's image and profile. These corporate marketing events were unfolded on October 24, 2003, when the Group sponsored the Tourism Investment Forum ('TIF') in Macau SAR. Subsequent to TIF was the 2nd Boao Forum for Asia ('BFA'), held on November 2-3, 2003 in Boao, Hainan province of the PRC; followed by the 7th Annual CEO Forum in Hong Kong held on November 5-6, 2003. Upcoming event in December will be the 12th Annual Asia Leadership Forum in Shanghai. These events, highly hailed by policy makers and business leaders from all over the world, were organized by the Group's strategic partner, dnmStrategies, a notable event organizer, together with the media support of the Group's flagship newspapers Sing Tao Daily and The Standard.

Highlights of the above events are as follows:

The 7th Annual CEO Forum in Hong Kong - November 5-6, 2003

The 7th Annual CEO Forum, a BusinessWeek's flagship event, was successfully held on November 5-6, 2003 at Grand Hyatt Hong Kong with the theme focused on 'Leading the Borderless Corporation: Managing for Innovation and Inspiration'. Co-hosted by Global China and InvestHK, the forum attracted more than 600 business leaders and senior executives from around the world to participate in this interactive and insightful event, exchanging ideas with the panel speakers on emerging strategic priorities, innovative business practices and the evolving role of the chief executive.

Leading lights who took part in this respectable event included His Excellency Zeng Peiyan, Vice Premier of the State Council of the PRC; The Honorable Tung Chee Hwa, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR; The Honorable Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao, President of East Timor; The Honorable William Jefferson Clinton, Former President of the United States; The Honorable Bob Hawke, Former Prime Minister of Australia; The Honorable Fidel Ramos, Former President of the Philippines and The Right Honorable Mike Moore, Former Director-General, World Trade Organization and Former Prime Minister of New Zealand.

The event limelight fell on Bill Clinton, whose personal charisma and inspiring speech moved the hearts of all audiences.

News Clipping of CEO Forum: The Standard November5, 2003, The Standard November 6, 2003, The Standard November 8, 2003

The 2nd Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2003 ('BFA') in Hainan - November 2-3, 2003

In addition, Global China was also one of the forum sponsors of Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2003. BFA is a non-governmental, non-profit organization which aims to promote the development goals of Asian countries through greater regional economic integration.

To support the conference's long-term objective and its continuous development, the Group hosted one of the major seminars of BFA - 'Transformational Force of Media: Balancing Role and Responsibility'. The seminar, chaired by Chairman Mr. Ho Tsu Kwok, Charles and moderated by Mr. Riz Khan, former CNN 'Q&A' anchor and International Correspondent, opened the panel dialogue with five distinguished representatives from renowned media corporations including the Group's CEO Mr. Wong Wai Ming; Mr. Mark Clifford, Asia Regional Editor, BusinessWeek; Mr. Liu Binjie, Vice Minister for Press and Publication of the PRC; Mr. Phil Revzin, International Vice President, Dow Jones & Company and Mr. Wei Wenbin, Chairman, Hunan Broadcasting Group.

The panel speakers vigorously exchanged their viewpoints on pressing issues arising from the rapid development of China media industry. It was shared among the speakers that China media, which is currently undergoing revolutionary change following the opening up of the industry, would play a significant role comparable to that of the Western media in the near future. The cultural differences and ways to narrow the gap between the two were also reviewed during the discussion.

News Clipping of BFA: The Standard November 3, 2003 P.1, The Standard November 3, 2003 P.2, The Standard November3, 2003 P.3

Tourism Investment Forum ('TIF') in Macau - October 24, 2003

Sponsored by Global China, the TIF was a key event of the 8th Macau International Trade & Investment Fair which was held at the city's landmark, the Macau Tower Convention & Entertainment Centre. The Forum provided a platform for high-level interactions among government representatives, professionals and investors to share insights on the development of the tourism sector in Macau.

Details of TIF:
http://www.mif.com.mo/mif2003/en/main.htm

Global China's interim result for the six months from January 1 to June 30, 2003 ('Period') was announced on September 18, 2003. Despite the challenging business environment under the shadow of the war in Iraq and the outbreak of SARS, the Group was able to minimize the negative impact brought about by such unprecedented uncertainties. The Group reported profitability in its core media operations, registering a 10.9% growth in revenue to HK$430 million. Operating profit of media operations amounted to HK$0.8 million as compared with an operating loss of HK$1.5 million for the six months from January 1 to June 30, 2002 ('Previous Period').

The consolidated turnover of the Group recorded a mild drop of 4.6% from HK$591.7 million for the Previous Period to HK$564.8 million. Nonetheless, turnover actually rose 15% if contribution from the disposed commercial printing operation was excluded in the Previous Period.

Without taking into account of the financial impact from non-operating items, operating loss derived from recurrent activities narrowed substantially from HK$33.6 million to HK$21 million for the Period. Profit attributable to shareholders was HK$31.2 million. Earnings per share were HK1.71

After 38 years of continuous effort in the U.S. media market, Sing Tao Daily has finally been recognised by the most influential American press association for its excellence in news reporting. The Daily's New York Bureau won two awards and one honorable mention at the 2003 Independent Press Association - New York Ethnic and Community Press Awards.

With more than 100 entries well recognized by mainstream American, Sing Tao Daily is the first Chinese-language paper to win such awards.

The "Golden Venture Special Report", which commemorated the tragedy which left 10 dead and 300 undocumented immigrants arrested in the United States, won the "Best Series'' and "Best Overall Design" awards.

In addition, the article titled "Chinese Immigrants Loathe to Seek Mental Health Help'' in Sing Tao Daily by Ms. Rong Xiaoqing was named an honorable mention of the "Best Features'' category.

The 2003 Independent Press Association - New York's awards are established to recognize excellence among journalists, photographers, graphic artists, editors and publishers of the ethnic and community press.

On the other hand, both Los Angeles and San Francisco Bureaus of Sing Tao Daily also won two awards in NCM Expo & Award 2003. The NCM is a nationwide association of over 600 ethnic media organizations in the United States to promote inter-ethnic editorial exchange.

Mr. Charles Ding, journalist of Sing Tao Daily - Los Angeles, was honored a runner-up under the category of "In depth reporting (In Language)" based on his article "Power Abuse vs. Conspiracy". Moreover, Ms. Yi Fen Lan of San Francisco Bureau won the 'Best Environmental Reporting Award' for her article "E-Waste Causes Increasingly More Damage to Eco-System".

'The recognition by these influential American press associations is crucial, as more attention will be paid to the Chinese-language press, especially Sing Tao Daily, in the future,' commented Mr. Timothy Jim, Managing Director of Sing Tao Overseas Operations.

TOP

Global China Media Services Limited ('GCMS'), the media service arm of the Group in the PRC, rolled out its print media distribution business in August with an initial focus on magazine distribution. According to the joint venture's Acting Business Development Director Ms.Agnes Lai, the company had started off with nationwide distribution rights for over 15 magazine titles this August. In October, a joint venture was formed with a local distributor in Guangzhou, which distributes close to 900 titles in the southern part of the country. Together, the company now handles a monthly distribution volume of over 3 million copies. 'We will continue to establish our distribution network in the major cities in the PRC through business acquisition or strategic collaboration with potential partners,' said Ms. Lai.

GCMS is a joint venture formed between Global China and the People's Daily Press to undertake distribution services for newspaper, magazine and book publishers. 'GCMS is the first foreign enterprise to enter this huge market,' added Ms. Lai. 'With our strength in media management and the know-how of the People's Daily Press, we are confident to develop a cost-effective and efficient distribution channel for local media operators and publishers to deliver their products to their targeted readers. We believe that a good delivery process will not only reduce unnecessary wastage but will also help enhance the core competencies of the products.'

Via the distribution network, GCMS will also provide first hand information to market players - a value added service which will help them better understand the fast changing market environment. 'In the long run, we hope that it will help expedite the development of the media industry in the PRC.' concluded Ms. Lai.

TOP

Following the launch of an online platform in July, the Group's content sales arm, GC Media Teamwork Limited ('GCMT') has been actively exploring the potential markets in Hong Kong and the PRC. Since September, GCMT has been appointed as the sole advertising agent of 'Life Express', a leading magazine in the PRC, as well as a subscriber magazine of China Mobile, 'Shijihong'. The company was invited to the Pingyao International Photography Festival 2003 in September and the 1st Shangdong Province Press Development Summit in October. The two events provided GCMT with a valuable opportunity to introduce its services to the publishers in the PRC and thus widening its customer's network.

While GCMT is expanding its Hong Kong market through delivering content sales services to reputable organizations and firms such as Hong Kong Trade Development Council, the People's Telephone and portals including ESD Life and Yahoo! HK, it also offers different media companies with tailor-made marketing solutions such as the promotion campaigns and the advertising sponsorship for the popular movies, Infernal Affairs II and III.

TOP

Sing Tao Publishing Limited ('STP'), the book publishing arm of the Group, joined hand with its business partner Modern Press, to participate in the 10th Beijing International Book Fair in September this year. The participation has enabled the publishing group to successfully penetrate into the PRC and international markets, and help further the future development of its copyright trading business. In addition, STP will also be exhibiting its genres of books in the upcoming Hong Kong Book Festival in December.

On the other hand, STP has officially launched its portal www.books.singtao.com and set up a STP Readers Club in August, providing its readers with latest information and subscription discounts. An online bookshop will be launched in December, readers from all over the world will be able to subscribe any books published by STP at their finger tips!

TOP

To further enhance the quality of human capital of Chinese enterprises, China HCM Company Limited ('Chinahcm') has organized a series of advanced-level management training workshops in Beijing. On October 23-24, the company invited Mr. Jack Wilner, one of the world's most successful sales experts, to conduct a workshop sharing his experiences on effective sales to representatives from different sectors spanning from pharmaceutical, real estates to information technology and food industry in the PRC.

The major topics of the session were based on Jack's popular book "Seven Secrets to Successful Sales Management", which was highly recommended by students of Harvard Business School as the best sales management guidebook. The author introduced unconventional yet effective ways of using 'brains sales' instead of those merely door-to-door sales techniques.

Good Jobs magazine - the recruitment magazine of the Group in Beijing, formed the 'Good Jobs Career Consultation Alliance' with Chinahr.com on October 14, 2003 with an aim of fostering the concept of career planning to job seekers, employers and employees in the PRC.

The Alliance is the first in the PRC to provide comprehensive career consultation, job guidance and human resources management. Several esteemed lecturers and experts were invited to the inauguration ceremony and issues related to the existing career planning industry and market trend were under review during the session. It was decided that the alliance would conduct regular talks and seminars, as well as indepth discussions on both research and case studies for market players and public. 'Good Jobs' will also serve as an interactive platform, inviting career consultants to have online dialogue with its readers.

TOP