BEIJING

Warning about forged US notes

China's central bank, the People's Bank of China, said in a circular issued recently that forged notes of US dollars have entered China. It also warned against money laundering.

In the circular, the bank acknowledged that these forged notes, named "super US dollars" by the US executive department, were very hard to distinguish from genuine notes.

The bank asked all financial agencies to enhance their surveillance of US dollars in daily currency trades and step up anti-money laundering enforcement.

Permanent population hits 15m

Beijing's permanent population has reached 15.36 million, with the proportion of older people also on the rise. The city's citizens are much better educated than five years ago, according to the city's statistics bureau.

The capital's permanent population jumped by 1.54 million in the first five years of this century, with men outnumbering women by 200,000, Beijing News reported on Friday.

Women's health

Chinese women's health has declined slightly in the past decade, according to a report released by the China Women Research Institute.

"This is caused by the growing gender imbalance among newborns, the high death rate of baby girls, and the high death rate of pregnant women in some areas," said the Report on China Gender Equality and Women Development: 1995-2005.

Guangdong

First TV bank

The southern city of Shenzhen plans to launch the first TV bank in China, enabling users to make transactions using their TVs, said sources with Shenzhen Media Group.

The bank is expected to be operational by the end of June in the Guangdong Province city. With the bank, a customer can make payments and shop by pressing buttons on their remote control.

(China Daily 03/18/2006 page2)