Ray Van Eng (05/21/96)

For more than a hundred years, Shanghai and Hong Kong have been two of the most vibrant cities in China to have an active link with other nations in the world. With the advance of the global Internet, ties with the international community have become even more important for these two seaports along the Chinese coastline.

Recently, the Shanghai Posts and Telecommunications Administration (SPTA) is working with two U.S. based companies and the Asia Info Group, to implement one of the largest on-line information services in China.

As part of the Shanghai Information Infrastructure Project, the Shanghai On-line service will provide dial-up or dedicated Internet access, local and international news, travel and tourism related topics, yellow pages listings and business information to its subscribers.

Last year, the Asia Info Corp. has helped built the Chinanet, one of the world's largest Internet backbone that covers all of China. The Shanghai Online is an extension of their effort. The SPTA will invest about 25 million yuan for the first phase of the project which will be finished by July this year.

"Shanghai On-Line is the first and a very important part of the 'Shanghai Info Port' project," said Han Ying, PR manager for the Asia Info Beijing Computer Network Company (AIBCNC) which will provide technical installation services for the project.

Meanwhile, a Hong Kong based internet service provider wants to become the CompuServe of Asia by providing online information services to the business community both in Hong Kong and around the world.