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The Macao police have arrested two male suspects for alleged credit-card fraud, local media reported Thursday.

The Macao Post quoted police sources as saying that the duo, holding Hong Kong passports, used three fake cards going on a shopping spree in Macao earlier this week.

The pair, both at the age of 21, spent 18,000 Hong Kong dollars(2,250 US dollars) on gold necklaces and expensive jeans in two hours, according to the newspaper.

The two, reportedly having criminal records in Hong Kong, were apprehended after a shop cashier alerted police about their “suspicious behavior.”

Further investigations are underway.

Taiwan pop singer Lee-Hom Wang is to hold a solo concert in Beijing Capital Gymnasium
Lee-Hom Wang (China Daily/baidu)

on August 21. It will be his debut solo appearance in China’s capital.

Preparations are already underway. Fans expect Lee-Hom Wang to sing his own songs during the concert. And one lucky fan who was the first to buy a VIP ticket was invited to join Lee-Hom Wang at the press conference this week. The fan brought a special present for Lee-Hom Wang — a beautiful necklace, according to Wednesday’s China Daily.

Lee-Hom Wang has also invited his younger brother to join his music tour. He said, “My brother is still at college, it’ll be his first time to see me in concert. I am really happy about his coming, and I will take him to frontier areas like Tibet, Yunnan and Xinjiang. We can discuss music together, I think he’ll learn a lot.”

Another high point of the concert will be Lee-Hom Wang singing, with a handful of fans, the song “hand-in-hand”, which he composed with singer David Zee Tao.

A month after the death of Yves Saint Laurent, Christie’s is auctioning seven pieces of the legendary French fashion designer’s clothing and jewelry representing nearly every decade of his career.

The items at the July 2 auction include a 1958 cocktail dress for Dior and a 1970s Rive Gauche camel cable-knit sweater trimmed in fox fur similar to one Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis wore.

This photo provided by Christie’s auction house shows an Yves Saint Laurent for Dior evening dress from 1958 with an estimated selling price of 1,000-1,500 dollars. (Source: chinadaily.com.cn)
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“What’s exciting about the collection is that you see the progression of his career. He was a real style-setter,” said Christie’s couture specialist Laura Leyfer.

Saint Laurent died on June 1 at age 71. Considered one of the most influential designers of the 20th century, his creations - from pop-art print mini-dresses to peasant skirts and elegant pantsuits - endure to this day.

The cable-knit sweater - with a pre-sale estimate of 250 to 400 U.S. dollars - is a version of one Onassis was often photographed wearing, a style she owned in several colors, according to Christie’s auction catalog.

All of the items are in excellent condition and are relatively inexpensive because they aren’t new designs and have been worn, Leyfer said Friday. “That’s part of the appeal and it’s what makes it a collectible,” she said.

Another item for sale is a dusty pink layered tulle evening dress with metallic pink and silver embroidery, which Saint Laurent designed for Dior in 1958. It’s could fetch 1,000 to 1,500 dollars.

The costume jewelry includes a floral gold-tone metal and crystal stone necklace from 1990, estimated to sell for 1,000 to 1,500 dollars, and a hammered gilt-metal “ethnic” necklace from the 1970s that could bring 600 to 800 dollars.

The sale also includes pieces from other designers including Christian Lacroix, Thierry Mugler, Balenciaga and Gianni Versace.

While the global financial crisis is not directly affecting China’s financial sector, it has dampened the confidence of consumers who are trying to figure out what impact it will have on domestic jobs and exports.

Such lingering doubts have prompted many Chinese consumers to exercise much greater caution in spending on non-essential goods as they prefer to put money aside for possible rainy days ahead.

This cloud of consumer gloom is widely expected to hang over the economy for quite some time, despite the sharp rebound of stock markets around the world after global rescue packages were announced earlier this week.

“To tell the truth, I have no idea of the possible impact of the world financial crisis on our lives,” said Luo Li, a 42-year-old engineer in Shanghai. “But it sounds like something that is going to impact on everyone.”

Liu Fuyong, a veteran stock investor in Shanghai, is not going to wait to find out what difference it makes to his life. He has already stopped taking taxis to save money and has cut down on dining out.

Cao Shuai, 25, who works at an IT company in Shanghai, lamented that he can no longer count on his father to support his spendthrift lifestyle.

His father’s textile business has fallen on hard times due to dwindling overseas orders. To make matters worse, the family still has a large debt to pay on their new apartment.

As a result, Cao has given up the personal trainer he hired every week, and buying luxury products is no longer an option. He has also had to wave goodbye to coffee at Starbucks, which he used to frequent twice or three times a week.

The fact that fears of worsening economic times ahead is prompting people like Liu and Cao to cut back is having a noticeable effect across many industries - from housing and luxury sales to catering and even tourism.

Due to a combination of falling sales and waning consumer confidence, property transactions in China’s major cities hit a record low over the recent National Day holiday as more and more potential homebuyers adopted a wait-and-see attitude.

Many potential buyers believe there is room for further price adjustment and that it is too risky to invest in the property market given the instability of the global economy.

Zhu Dongsheng, who works at Gongxiao Real Estate in Shanghai, is feeling the pressure. He hasn’t sold a single apartment in the past two months.

“I don’t think there will be any immediate signs of recovery in the property market in the next one or two years,” said Hui Jianqiang, a researcher at E-house China R&D Institute.

And following on from the 6 percent slump in car sales across the nation in August, automobile dealers in China continued to experience bad times through September and October.

Li Yuefei, regional manager of the Chang’an Ford sales company in Shanghai, said the global financial crisis has worsened the already bleak outlook for China’s automobile industry.

“Daunted by their losses in the stock and property markets, consumers are obviously holding back with their purchase plans,” said Li.

“They fear that the situation may get worse next year, as the full impact of the global recession has yet to be felt in China.”

The situation is just as grim at jewelry and accessory stores. Miao Xiaoli, a consultant at the Japanese-owned Jewelry Studio, which sells high-end rings and necklaces, said sales fell 10 percent in September and October, which used to be the peak season for jewelry stores.

“It’s not that there are fewer customers coming, they are just spending less,” said Miao. High-end restaurant chains are also feeling the pinch. Shen Yi, manager of Lapis Roma, an Italian restaurant and bar on Shanghai’s Huaihai Road, said sales have plunged 50 percent in the past few months.

“With the decline of the stock market and the profit squeeze suffered by many small and medium-sized companies, it will take a while for China’s domestic consumption to absorb shortfalls in exports,” said Wang Depei, director of Forecast Think Tank in Shanghai.

KPMG’s recent Asia retail report also predicted that during the remainder of 2008, shopping will slow down in the Asia-Pacific due to inflationary pressures and the knock-on effect of the global credit crunch.

However, the gloom is not universal. According to Kathy Xu, Capital Today’s managing director in Shanghai, many retail companies in which it has a stake have reported strong growth momentum.

Jingdong Shopping Center, an online retailer of digital products and electrical appliances, expects its sales to more than triple by the end of this year.

A periodic comet, 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann, will make another close approach to earth in mid-May, and people are likely to be able to see it with their naked eye, a Chinese scientist said.

The major part of Comet 73P, whose appearance resembles a dandelion, is expected to be 10 million kilometers from the earth, on May 12, said Wang Sichao, a researcher with the Purple Mountain Observatory under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The comet, discovered by A. Schwassmann and A. A. Wachmann of Germany’s Hamburg Observatory on May 2, 1930, had split into three fragments on its last return in 1995.

Latest observations show that the comet has split into 40 fragments, which will pass above the earth in the form of a pearl necklace in mid-May, Wang said. Enditem

A high-tech DNA bank has opened in Beijing providing inheritance tests for families and cell testing for children.

The managers of the bank said there had been steady demand for its services since it was founded. One married couple asked for DNA charts to inset into identical necklaces as a love keepsake. DNA charts can also be used to prevent future diseases in children.

So far 400 clients have had a DNA inventory, at a cost of 600 yuan or 72 USD per year, and have received a guarantee of confidentiality from the bank.

A gang of 13, who allegedly carried out more than 160 robberies in seven provinces over a three-year period, has been arrested in Taihe county, Anhui province.

Police said gang members riding motorcycles would attack mostly women, snatching their handbags and then riding off.

Since September 2005, the gang had robbed cash, necklaces, and mobile phones.

The total value was put at about 600,000 yuan ($88,000).