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April 13th, 2012:

Shenzhen sewage outlets pollute sea

http://www.china.org.cn/environment/2012-03/30/content_25024342.htm

All nine sewage outlets of the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen discharged excessive amounts of pollutants last year, deteriorating the quality of seawater around the bustling city that borders Hong Kong to the south, a government report said Thursday.

The amount of chemicals like ammonia and phosphate were found to have exceeded discharge limits at all of Shenzhen’s sewage outlets, said the report conducted by the city’s maritime bureau.

Water samples collected by the bureau also failed in the chemical oxygen demand test, usually taken to measure the amount of organic compounds in water, the report said.

The report did not provide causes for the sewage pollution.

It said red tides occurred four times last year in the sea around Shenzhen, spreading over an area of 57 square kilometers.

The seawater off Shenzhen’s west coast was “seriously polluted,” the report said, rating it on the bottom of the four-level national sea water quality index, which means the water is not fit for swimming, water sports, aquatic farming or industrial uses that come in close contact with human consumption.

Over the past three decades, Shenzhen, which currently has a population of 10 million, has developed from a fishing village to one of China’s most economically vibrant cities. The city’s growth was bolstered by government’s special pro-development policies for it and its geographic proximity to Hong Kong and export-oriented industries clustered in the Pearl River Delta region.

Hong Kong’s Hactl Q1 air cargo traffic down 2.5 pct y/r, -0.7 pct in March

Fri Apr 13, 2012 6:57am EDT  http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/13/hongkong-aircargo-idUSL3E7LR2L520120413

HONG KONG, April 13 (Reuters) – Hong Kong Air Cargo

Terminals Ltd (Hactl) said on Friday its cargo traffic fell 2.5

percent in the first quarter from the same period a year ago, as

the global economy slowed.

It handled a total of 633,935 tonnes of cargo in the January

to March period, with exports and imports decreasing 1.7 percent

and 13.3 percent, respectively, from a year earlier.

Hactl is a major air cargo player in Hong Kong, which is a

re-export centre for trade between Asia and the rest of the

world. It handles about 70 percent of the cargo traffic of Hong

Kong’s international airport.

A breakdown of air cargo handled by Hactl in March and the

first quarter of 2012:

March 2012             Jan-Mar 2012

Tonnage     Yr/Yr       Tonnage      Yr/Yr

(tonnes)  growth (pct)   (tonnes)  growth (pct)

Export           137,598      +0.4       329,418       -1.7

Import            57,630     -10.0       151,986      -13.3

Transshipment     58,543      +7.7       152,531       +9.1

————————————————————–

Total            253,771      -0.7       633,935       -2.5

“We have progressively closed the gap which opened up during

2011, when we experienced a fall to as much as 12 percent below

the previous year’s strong performance in May 2011,” Lilian

Chan, Hactl’s executive director, said in a statement.

“We remain hopeful but cautious. Important markets in Europe

and the USA are still unsettled,” Chan said.

Hactl’s shareholders are Jardine, Matheson & Co Ltd,

Hutchison Whampoa Ltd’s unit Hutchison Port Holdings

Ltd, the Wharf (Holdings) Ltd and China National

Aviation Corporation (Group) Ltd.

(Reporting by Christina Lo; Editing by Kim Coghill)