Computer maker Lenovo ranked in at the top spot of environmental group Greenpeace's latest quarterly ranking of global electronics manufacturers. Once at the bottom of the list, Lenovo now leads the way in recycling industrial waste and taking steps on controlling toxic content, Greenpeace said.

"Given the growing mountains of e-waste in China -- both imported and domestically generated -- it is heartening to see a Chinese company taking the lead, and assuming responsibility at least for its own branded waste," said Iza Kruszewska, Greenpeace International's toxics campaigner, adding that "the challenge for the industry now is to see who will actually place greener products on the market."

Lenovo bought out IBM's personal computer division in 2004.

Apple, meanwhile, was placed at the bottom of the list of 14 companies.

China to Be World's Largest Consumer Market
Fifty-seven percent of the leaders of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Asian pacific region believe China will become the world's largest consumer market in 10 years, overtaking the United States.

According to the 2007 Asia Business Monitor published by United Parcel Service (UPS) in Shanghai Tuesday, 92 percent of the SME leaders list China as the market with greatest economic growth potential in 2007.

The survey shows 71 percent of the respondents believe Chinese SMEs will become more competitive and 74 percent of the respondents remain upbeat about the growth of trade volume within the Asian Pacific Region.

UPS Asia Business Monitor is conducted by Hong Kong-based market research firm TNS since 2005, targeting SMEs with no more than 250 employees and annual turnover of 500,000 to 10 million U.S. dollars. It aims to provide the latest insights of the changing opinions and attitudes of the business leaders of the region's SMEs.

UPS is a global logistics giant with its headquarter in Atlanta, the United States. It has set up more than 60 branches in the Chinese mainland.

Beijing Invites 10 Families for Olympic Tour

On April 9, the official website of the BEIJING 2008 Olympic Games, in cooperation with China Mobile, launched the "Olympic Families Tour Beijing" campaign, which will make it possible for ten families, five from China and five from the rest of the world, to tour Beijing and the co-host cities ahead of the Olympic Games.

For this initiative of BOCOG's Media and Communications Department, selection will take place via the Internet. The tour through Beijing and the co-host cities will begin on August 8, 2007.

The campaign will serve as an illustration of the Olympic theme slogan "One World One Dream". Families with a keen interest in the Beijing Olympics from China and abroad, after being invited through the Internet, are expected to remain in close contact in order to better understand each other's culture and enhance the friendship between the Chinese people and the other peoples of the world. At the same time, the campaign will provide foreigners with a unique opportunity to gain a first-hand understanding of Beijing and China, and to see how the 2008 Olympic Games are being prepared.

A bilingual, Chinese and English website will function as the main platform for the campaign, which will unfold in three successive stages: during phase 1, from April 9 to May 31, 100 families, 50 Chinese and 50 overseas, will be selected; during Stage 2, from June 1 to June 30, the top ten winning families will be picked for the tour, which will start during Stage 3, from July 1 to August 16.

In August 2007, on the occasion of the one-year countdown to the Beijing Olympic Games, the ten winning families will come to Beijing to start their tour.

The participants must be families with at least three members and register with the official website of the BEIJING 2008 Olympic Games. Meanwhile, the website users can establish blogs at Sohu.com, in which they can express their feelings and wishes for the Olympic Games and exchange their views on the Olympic spirit.

The family of a counselor of Polish Embassy to China are the first to apply in the launch ceremony.

The campaign receives strong support from Coca-Cola (China) and SOHU.com Inc., the official sponsor of Internet Content Service (ICS) for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

For more information of the campaign, please visit the official website of the BEIJING 2008 Olympic Games www.beijing2008.cn.

- updated 10 April 2007