Newsletter No. 56

CUH KN EWS L E T T E R base of these institutions; and $192.8 mi l l i on for 371 selected research proposals submitted by the academic and research personnel in the seven institutions. A research project to create a computerized database of the entire body of extant traditional Chinese texts of the Wei-Jin and the Northern and Southern Dynasties proposed by Prof. D. C. Lau and Dr. F. C. Chen of the University's Institute of Chinese Studies has been granted $2.1 million, the highest allocation figure this year for a single project. The 91 CUHK proposals fall into nine different areas: administrative, business and social studies (17); arts and languages (4); biological sciences (11); computer science, information technology and mathematics (17); education (2); electrical and electronic engineering (10); medicine (13); physical sciences (12); and pure mathematics (5). Further details about these projects will be given in the August issue of the CUHK Newsletter. The Research Committee of the University has announced that applications for RGC research grants for 1995-96 are now invited. The internal deadline is 5th September 1994. Details and application forms are obtainable from the Research Administration Office (Ext. 7865). Expert Analysis of US Trade Policy The United States had not taken any protectionist trade step under the Clinton administration, said Dr. C. F. Bergsten, director of the Institute f or I n t e r na t i onal Economics at Washington D. C ., in a public lecture entitled T he Trade Policy of the United States Towards East Asia and the World'. According to Dr. Bergsten, it was the United States who took the initiative to liberalize and globalize the world trading system in 1993. Congressional ratification of the NAFTA, the Seattle Summit, and the successful conclusion of the Uruguay round of negotiation in the GATT were all efforts in this direction. While there had been disputes with Japan and China in early 1994, by June trade negotiations with Japan had restarted, and President Clinton had decided to continue the Most Favoured Nation treatment for China and delink the trade and human rights issues. Dr. Bergsten believed that this policy to open markets through multilateral, regional, and bilateral mechanisms wou ld continue and that Asian countries would play a crucial role in future trade talks. He also hoped to see China rejoin the GATT very soon and contribute its share towards global trade liberalization. Dr. Bergsten is also chairman of the Competitiveness Po l i cy Council which advises the US President and Congress on issues pertaining to the competitiveness of the American economy. He was invited by the University's MBA Programmes to talk about US trade policy in the seventh L i & Fung Lecture on Commerce and Industry held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on 1st June 1994. The L i & Fung Lecture Programme was first established in 1981 under the auspices of the M BA Programmes and is sponsored by the L i & Fung Group of Companies. Centre for Financial Research on China Established A Centre for Financial Research on China (CFRC) was recently established under the Asia-Pacific Institute of Business to launch research on China's financial markets and to provide related consultancy services. It will also promote interaction among academics and practitioners in the field and serve as a clearinghouse for data on financial markets in China. One of the centre's immediate plans is the creation of a Financial Markets Database to support academic and applied research. The database will consist of two parts: the 'China & Hong Kong Stock Market Database' which records daily stock trading figures, financial and accounting statistics, and publicly-listed companies in China and Hong Kong; and the ' Ch i na & Hong Kong Financial Derivatives Database' which contains data on futures, options and mutual funds in China and Hong Kong. The centre w i l l also promote interdisciplinary, comparative and applied research on the capital markets in the area, publish research findings, develop consultancy and training programmes for the securities industries in China and Hong Kong, and organize international conferences. NO.56JULY 1994 2

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