ECB announces combined new measures to fight downturns

FRANKFURT, May 7 (Xinhua) -- The European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday renewed its efforts to fight against economic downturns, with combined measures including cutting its key interest rate to a new low and buying up bonds, surprising most market players.

RATE CUT

The ECB cut its key interest rate by 25 basis points to a record-low 1 percent on Thursday.

ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet told reporters after the ratecut this was not necessarily the lowest point of the cycle, which has slashed the main refinancing rate by 325 basis points since October.

The ECB said the rate cut is due to the fact that the inflation threat to the eurozone continue easing, while the recession deepens.

According to the International Monetary Fund, the 16-nation economy will shrink 4.2 percent this year, more than the projected2.8 percent contraction in the United States and 4.1 percent in the United Kingdom.

Inflation was 0.6 percent in April. The ECB, which aims to keep the rate just below 2 percent, said the figure may drop below zero in 2009.

Gold edges lower as unexpected job data ease economic worries

CHICAGO, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Gold futures on the COMEX Division of the New York Mercantile Exchange ended slightly lower on Friday after gaining for 4 straight sessions this week, as the economy concerns were further mollified by better-than-expected job data. Silver and platinum fell, too.

Gold price for June delivery dropped 60 cents, or 0.5 percent, to settle at 914.90 U.S. dollars an ounce.

The Labor Department released on Friday that nonfarm payrolls fell 539,000 in April, the smallest decline since last October and well below economists' expectations of 610,000. However, the country's unemployment rate rose by 0.4 percent to 8.9 percent, the highest level since 1983.

The slowing pace of layoffs for April reflected an easing in the massive job destruction during the previous five months despite the higher jobless rate, which is considered to be another sign the economy is bottoming out and recovering gradually, limiting gold's appeal as an asset to hedge the recession risk.

However, worries over inflation helped keep the precious metal loss limited especially after the European Central Bank announced on Thursday to cut its interest rate by 0.25 points to a record low level of 1 percent and the Bank of England also plans to step up efforts to increase the money supply to shore up the economy.

A much weaker dollar was another supportive factor to gold. By the end of gold floor trading time, the rate against euro plummeted more than 2 cents to 1.3594 dollars, the lowest level since March 26.

July silver finished at 13.955 dollars per ounce, down 7.5 cents. July platinum lost 10.20 dollars to 1,147.10 dollars an ounce.

Beijingers opt for suburban travel in shortened May Day holiday

BEIJING, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Tourism promotion has resulted in a travel boom in Beijing over the just-concluded Labor Day holiday, as the city recorded 3.7 million visitors from May 1 to 3, a rise of 22.7 percent year on year, according to local tourism authority Monday.

The municipal tourism bureau figures showed that tourism revenue totaled 1.24 billion yuan, up 32 percent from the year-earlier level.

The bureau said that the number of Beijingers traveling within the city rose by 24.5 percent year on year to 1.67 million in the three-day holiday. They spent 420 million yuan (62 million U.S. dollars) for travel.

The bureau said it launched a program to promote the city's new scenic spots, travels to its suburban areas and other tourism activities in neighboring regions during the holiday period, which attracted increasing tourists. Beijing's suburban areas received 1.14 million local tourists during the holiday, according to the bureau.

People only had three days off, and concerns over Influenza A/H1N1 and of savings amid the financial crisis made many people cautious to choose long travels, said Tian Ling, a manager of China Youth Travel Services.

She said that the agency mapped its recommended routes to suburban scenic spots and self-driving tours.

Chinese workers had seven days off, instead of the current three days, during the May Day holiday, before a new holiday system kicked last year.

Beijing was also one of the most popular tourist destinations for tourists from other parts of the country in the holiday, when more than 890,000 tourists from elsewhere of China visited the city, according to the tourist bureau.

The bureau said the per-capita tourist spending increased by 12.5 percent year on year even for Beijing local tourists during the holiday because of increased travel cost.

Junlinshengshi, a tourist agency, said the price of the city travel surged by about 30 percent for group tours.

Shanghai draws big crowds on May Day

BEIJING, May 4 -- More than 2.45 million tourists came to the city during the May Day holiday, about 20,000 more than last year, said the Shanghai Tourism Administration.

Suburban areas were the most popular travel destinations for locals. Scenic spots in Jinshan, Nanhui, Jiading and Qingpu districts all welcomed 11 to 23 percent more visitors than last May Day holiday, the administration said.

Downtown, Century Park and the Oriental Pearl TV Tower were the most popular destinations, officials said.

However, numbers were down at the Shanghai Sightseeing Bus Center, which saw about 30 percent less customers than last year's May Day holiday. Officials blamed the gloomy weather on Saturday and the economic downturn.

According to Ctrip.com, China's major online travel company, Shanghai was the most popular travel destinations on China's mainland for the holiday, followed by Beijing. The company said the ranking was made according to the amount of airline tickets sold and hotel rooms booked.

During the three-day holiday, the city's entry and exit authority served more than 158,000 tourists, up 7.1 percent from a year ago.

More than 2,700 tourists departed from Pudong International Airport between 7am and 8:30am on May 1, according to Pudong's entry and exit authority.

More than 60 percent of outbound tourists over the entire holiday visited Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Taiwan lifted its daily cap on the number of mainland tourists visiting the island from 3,000 to 7,200 before the May Day holiday.

The number of inbound tourists, including foreigners and citizens of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, increased 9 percent from a year ago.

As several major roads linking Pudong airport are under renovation, some passengers missed their flights due to traffic jams. On each of the three days, there were nearly 50 passengers who missed flights from Terminal 1 of Pudong airport.

Meanwhile, Shanghai Railway Administration, which oversees railway stations across the Yangtze River Delta region, handled more than 1.27 million passengers on May 1, up 12.9 percent, or 146,000 people, from a year ago.

The administration's railway stations in Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Hefei and Changzhou set record highs for passenger numbers, officials said. The two major railway stations in Shanghai handled 257,000 passengers on May 1, while Suzhou's figure was 96,000. About 120,000 passengers launched their trips from railway stations in Nanjing on the same day. Meanwhile, 110,000 passengers set off from stations in Hangzhou.

Shanghai Railway Station on Sunday handled 240,000 passengers returning to the city from Yangtze River Delta region cities such as Nanjing, Hangzhou and Wuxi.