the title sponsor at this year’s 2011 FIA Formula One World Championship race held in Shanghai on April 15–17. The deal, signed for an unspecified amount, gives Formula One a welcome boost amid slumping attendance figures for the race’s Chinese leg. Last year’s race in Shanghai attracted 155,000 spectators, down from 260,000 in the 2004 inaugural year. In 2009, China Petroleum & Chemical Corp.(Sinopec) ended its contract with Formula One management, citing a decrease in race attendance. In 2004, the state-owned energy giant, which is Asia’s biggest oil refiner, signed a three-year title sponsorship deal with Formula One for an annual cost of US$20 million.
Shanghai raises minimum wage Many of Shanghai’s workers are set to enjoy a wage hike beginning April 1. According to new city wage laws, the minimum monthly wage will increase to RMB1,280 (US$195), up 14%. The minimum hourly wage will also increase
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from RMB9 to RMB11 and applies to all employees in the city, including migrant workers. Mayor Han Zheng, following through on an earlier promise, wanted a minimum wage increase to help offset the rising cost of living in Shanghai, especially soaring food prices. The government hopes the increases will lead to higher domestic consumption, as China rebalances its economic growth model to rely less on exports. Shanghai is one of four Chinese cities or provinces to increase its minimum wage this year.
Wi-Fi coverage added to phone booths Shanghai residents can now surf the web or check their e-mail at 500 telephone booths-turned-Wi-Fi hot spots across the downtown area, including such popular locations as Yu Garden and People’s Square. By using their Wi-Fi enabled laptop, iPad or mobile device, users can connect to the Internet within a 50 squaremeter radius at booths marked with a Wi-
APRIL 2011
Fi sign. The city upgraded the booths soon after the Spring Festival and rolled out the service on March 15th, giving new life to the antiquated telephone booth. Users are charged RMB0.03 per minute for the service and are offered download speeds up to two Mbps, or about 10 times faster than a 3G connection.
Metro coverage to expand Shanghai Metro officials announced work is under way to add three new subway lines and extend an additional line. Workers are laying more than 500 kilometers of track for the system’s latest expansion round to build Metro lines 12, 13 and 16, which are planned to have 32, 14 and 13 stations, respectively. When fully complete by 2014, the city will have a total of 14 subway lines on what is already the world’s longest subway system at over 1,400 km in length. The city also will add 21 km of track to extend both ends of Line 11 by 13 stops, spreading into the southernmost part of Pudong.