Jaguar aid talks with British government near collapse

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

LONDON, May 6 (Xinhua) -- Jaguar Land Rover, a British automobile brand owned by India's Tata Group, will either have to cut its jobs and investment or turn to its parent company for help, as talks between the carmaker and the British government on financial support are nearing a collapse.

The carmaker received what it was told was a final offer from the business department on Friday, which it has not formally rejected, but is understood to feel that the tough conditions demanded in return for guaranteeing a loan are unacceptable, according to a BBC report late Wednesday.

If no financial help is provided, jobs and important investment could be cut, the report said.

The government is understood to want a right to veto management decisions, appoint its own chairman and have a say in any future redundancies at the company which employs 14,500 people.

Jaguar is said to have viewed the proposal as backdoor nationalization -- and is minded to turn the offer down.

The dispute centers on financial support from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and conditions the UK government is imposing in return for guaranteeing the loan.

At the heart of the dispute is the degree of control the UK government would be given in return for putting taxpayers money at risk by guaranteeing the EIB loan, the BBC said.

A spokesperson for the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) insisted the government was "prepared to help, although not on any terms."

Reconstruction brief at press conference

Special Report:One Year after 5.12 Quake

The Sichuan provincial government has briefed reporters in Chengdu on the current reconstruction work going on a year after the May 12th earthquake.





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inChengduonthecurrentreconstructionworkgoingona
yearaftertheMay12thearthquake.

A government spokesman said the rebuilding of rural houses is expected to be finished by the end of September, while the rebuilding of urban homes will be completed by next May.

He noted the rebuilding of 99 percent of basic public service facilities, including clinics and hospitals across the province, will be completed in two years. He said the government has already helped nearly 1.3 million quake-affected people find new jobs.

In addition, he said the government has pledged to have 95 percent of students back in school buildings, rather than temporary structures, by the end of this year. The spokesman said 5,335 students were dead or missing from last year's earthquake.

Chinese Vice Premier urged enterprises to contribute to industrial growth

TIANJIN, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang urged enterprises to contribute to industrial growth by bringing central government's guidance of boosting domestic demand into full play.

Zhang made the remark during his visit to 13 enterprises in the machinery, light industry, petrochemical, textile, auto and other sectors as well as ports, in Tianjin Municipality from May 7 to 8.

Zhang said positive signs had been seen in the country's industrial sector, but there were still challenges ahead.

He underscored firm implementation of the central government policy to ensure economic growth, boost domestic demand and enhance industrial upgrading.

He encouraged enterprises to seek to produce products that would meet market needs and expand both domestic and international markets.

Enterprises should improve their management and push forward innovation and structural adjustment, he said.

Bernanke rules out new round of massive financial bailouts in U.S.

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

WASHINGTON, May 5 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke Tuesday ruled out the possibility of a massive new round of bailouts to save the U.S. banking giants.

I've looked at many of the banks and I believe that many of them will be able to meet their capital needs without further government capital, Bernanke told the Congress' Joint Economic Committee.

Media reported that about half of the 19 largest U.S. banks will be told to raise more capital after being stress tested by the government.

Citigroup, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase are reported to be among those who will have to boost their reserves.

The U.S. government will release the details of the stress tests on Thursday.

Moreover, Bernanke told the Congress that the U.S. economy will begin to rebound later this year but the recovery will probably be slower than usual.

We continue to expect economic activity to bottom out, then to turn up later this year, said the U.S. central bank chief.

But he also warned that even after a recovery gets under way, the rate of growth of real economic activity is likely to remain below its longer-run potential for a while.

We expect that the recovery will only gradually gain momentum and that economic slack will diminish slowly, he said. In particular, businesses are likely to be cautious about hiring, implying that the unemployment rate could remain high for a time, even after economic growth resumes.

The U.S. economy shrank at an annual rate of 6.1 percent in the first quarter of 2009, slightly smaller than the 6.3 percent drop in the previous quarter.

The worse-than-expected decline marked the third straight quarter of contraction for the world's biggest economy and signaled little improvement in a deep recession.

Looking ahead, many analysts were predicting the U.S. economy would shrink less in the current April-June period as the government's stimulus begins to take hold.

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HK hopes understanding from quarantined guests

Special Report:World tackles A/H1N1 flu

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In Hong Kong, there are no signs that the A/H1N1 virus has spread. With government quarantine and precautionary measures in place, the lives of most residents are returning to normal. On Tuesday, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Donald Tsang, expressed his hope for understanding from the guests isolated inside the Metro Park hotel.

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KongchiefexecutiveDonaldTsanghasconfirmedthatthe
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Shanghaihastestedpositiveforthevirus.

Over three hundred guests and hotel staffs have been isolated for five days. A Mexican guest had tested positive for A/H1N1 on Friday.

The Hong Kong government asked for patience and promised to help the guests with whatever they need.