China's Commercial Hub Shanghai Says Ready for Y2K

Updated 2:10 AM ET December 8, 1999

By Bill Savadove

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Shanghai is largely prepared for the Y2K bug, but there could still be some hitches when China's commercial hub enters the millennium, city officials said on Wednesday.

"The overall situation for Shanghai solving the year 2000 computer problem is good," said Zhang Qibiao, vice chairman of the Shanghai Science and Technology Commission.

"We can't say there will definitely be no problems, but our technical renovation work is done," he told a news conference.

Shanghai had prepared 97 percent of the city's computers and embedded systems by the end of October with 99.6 percent of the systems of "key" organizations ready, Zhang said.

He said the city spent more than two billion yuan ($242 million) to prepare for the potentially disabling problem for computers programmed to read only the last two digits of the year, which could crash by confusing 2000 with 1900.

"We want to let the state and the people of Shanghai feel at ease," Zhang said.

NUMBER OF SECTORS READY

Public utilities, telecommunications and the aviation sector were all prepared for Y2K, he said.

An aviation official said equipment at the new Shanghai Pudong International Airport was Y2K compliant, while systems at the city's old Hongqiao Airport had passed tests.

Flights would continue as normal from December 31 to January 1 and a top official of Shanghai's China Eastern Airlines would make a "trans-millennium flight," said Feng Shou, a Shanghai Airport Group official.

The financial sector, including banking and securities, had started work on the Y2K problem relatively early and was also ready, Zhang said.

Shanghai banks were not expecting a rush for cash as the use of credit cards and electronic banking was not widespread in China, he said.

A number of banks had carried out tests and made contingency plans, including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, Construction Bank of China, Bank of Communications and the Pudong Development Bank.

The Shanghai stock exchange, one of China's two bourses, had finished preparing its computer systems for Y2K, Zhang said.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission, the market watchdog, has already announced that the nation's stock and futures exchanges will halt business on December 31 and resume trading on January 4.

Shanghai had contacted nearby provinces about their preparations for Y2K, especially in the areas of transport and communications, which could affect the city.

Zhou Ximin, director of the Shanghai Year 2000 Problem Working Committee, said eastern coastal provinces were well prepared, but there was "uneven development" in the interior.

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Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), December 08, 1999