High taxation

High taxation

Yet with Zhang's former colleagues headhunted to Singapore one after another, where they benefit from much lower income tax, it may only be a question of time before Zhang decides to follow suit.

High taxation in China is one of a number of factors that make Shanghai less attractive to prospective employees than Hong Kong and Singapore, Theleen said. Income tax in Shanghai can be as high as 45 percent, against a 15 percent maximum in Hong Kong and 20 percent in Singapore.

Shanghai authorities have long been considering preferential income tax policies of 25 percent maximum for financial professionals, but only at the very top management levels.

Aside from payment, a city's soft power is equally important if it wants to retain talented people at home, Zhang noted.

"If people are willing to come for money, they would be happy to leave for exactly the same reason. Along with the lower income taxes, Singapore and Hong Kong also provide better education opportunities, medical care system and social infrastructure," Zhang said. "With inflation and housing prices soaring in downtown Shanghai, the city no longer has an edge over other financial centers in terms of living expenses."

Theleen from ChinaVest agreed. "If you try to hire seasoned expatriates, you have to persuade the family. You need to bear in mind the schools, the living facilities, and the air pollution. In this regard, I believe Shanghai has taken proactive steps in building almost 30 international schools, which has a huge impact on attracting senior executives."

Most Americans still want US dominance in

Most Americans still want US dominance in

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Most Americans still think their country should play a dominant role in space exploration, a new poll showed on Thursday as the 30-year US space shuttle program came to an end.

The national survey released by CNN confirmed, however, that enthusiasm about the space race had declined considerably since the early 1960s and the glorious run-up to the Apollo Moon landings.

The poll was made public hours after Thursday's landing of space shuttle Atlantis, which drew a line under the end of the American shuttle program. This has raised widespread doubts about future US dominance in space.

According to the poll, half of all Americans believe the end of the shuttle program was bad for the United States, since it left the superpower with no immediate program to push ahead with human spaceflight.

Sixty-four percent of respondents said it was important for the United States to be ahead of Russia and other countries in space exploration.,wholesale gucci shoes, But only 38 percent ranked space leadership as "very important," down from 51 percent in a similar poll conducted in 1961,,Metalli Pewter 5812, CNN said.,UGG 30th Anniversary,

The latest poll was carried out by CNN/ORC International.

China, among other countries,,Mocler Boots, is making major investments in space. With the retirement of the American shuttles, the United States will now depend on Russia to ferry its astronauts to the International Space Station.

Three-quarters of participants in the telephone poll said they wanted the United States to develop a new spacecraft capable of carrying US astronauts back into space.

But at a time of dwindling government resources and concern about a permanent decline in the US economy, most of those polled said they would prefer that private enterprise rather than a government program develop the new spacecraft.

Critics of the US space shuttle program have often described it as a colossal waste of

'Harry Potter' works box office magic with highest-grossing opening of all time

'Harry Potter' works box office magic with highest-grossing opening

of all time

The eighth "Harry Potter" film flew into theaters this weekend and

cast a spell over fans worldwide, as the final movie about the boy

wizard had the highest-grossing opening of all time at the domestic

and international box office.

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" conjured an

unprecedented $168.6 million in the U.S. and Canada in just three

days, whizzing past the $158.4 million record set by 2008's "The

Dark Knight," according to an estimate by distributor Warner Bros.

The movie also had the biggest international debut ever, grossing a

magical $307 million overseas in 59 foreign countries.

The last installment in the massively popular franchise began

breaking box-office records only hours after it opened on Friday —

selling more tickets during post-midnight screenings than any other

movie in history, and then passing the milestone for all-time

highest single-day-gross with $92.1 million. The movie went on to

gross far more than any "Harry Potter" film has on its first

weekend in theaters. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1,"

released last November, previously held that record with $125

million in ticket sales upon its debut.

Abroad, the film topped the $236 million opening of "Harry Potter

and the Half-Blood Prince" by 30 percent. Not surprisingly, the

movie performed best in England, where author J.K. Rowling and the

film's major stars are from, collecting $36.6 million. The movie

also raked in a big number of ticket sales in Australia, Germany

and France. It will not open in China until next month.

But just how big can the numbers get? Did the franchise's die-hard

fans all rush out to see the final "Potter" movie on its first

weekend, or will they continue to show up in the coming weeks for

repeat viewings? "Deathly Hallows Part 1" grossed a powerful $955

million worldwide in 2010, and Dan Fellman, president of domestic

distribution for Warner Bros., said he thinks that the last film's

momentum will propel it past the $1 billion mark at the global box

office.

"We had the most successful franchise in the history of the motion

picture business and we had a huge fan base. We also got fantastic

reviews," Fellman said. "That all enables us to expand our

footprint. We are going to be around for a long time."

Those who saw the film did love it

Those who saw the film did love it, giving it an average grade of A, according to market research film CinemaScore. "Deathly Hallows Part 2," also the best-reviewed film of the series, appealed to a broad audience, though the crowd was somewhat more female (54 percent) than male (46 percent). Folks of all ages saw the movie: 28 percent of the crowd was younger than 18, while 20 percent was between the ages of 45 and 49. The film was also the first in the franchise to be released in 3-D, and about 43 percent of the audience watched it in that format.

"Avatar," the highest-grossing film in the history of the box office, grossed $2.8 billion worldwide in 2009 — a record "Deathly Hallows Part 2" likely won't come close to touching. The majority of the audience who saw the James Cameron film watched it in 3-D, but "Potter" fans do not appear to be as eager to purchase a pricier ticket to do the same.

"To expect this 'Potter' movie to do 'Avatar' numbers isn't realistic when none of the other 'Potter' films have done over a billion dollars worldwide," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box office division for Hollywood.com. "Certainly this is going to be the 'Potter' film that gets over a billion dollars. And only eight films have ever earned over a billion dollars at the worldwide box office."

The final "Potter," Dergarabedian believes, does have a viable shot of becoming the third highest-grossing film of all time, behind "Avatar" and "Titanic," which made $1.8 billion globally in 1997. Unlike those movies, however, "Harry Potter" has a host of ancillary marketing opportunities, including theme parks and video games that will continue to make money for Warner Bros. outside of the film franchise for years to come.

Interestingly, a bulk of the U.S. business for "Deathly Hallows Part 2" came from Salt Lake City. Utah's Megaplex Theaters at Jordan Commons sold more tickets to the final "Potter" film than any other theater in the country with $360,400 in receipts. Theaters in New York and San Francisco followed behind, but the fifth highest-grossing theater was also in Salt Lake.

At Jordan Commons

At Jordan Commons, all 17 of the theater's screens were playing "Harry Potter" at midnight on Friday. Tickets for the film were selling out so rapidly online in the weeks leading up to the film's debut that the theater decided to show the movie virtually nonstop for the first 24 hours of the movie's release. The cinema also ran marathon screenings of previous "Harry Potter" installments before "Deathly Hallows Part 2" premiered and sold V.I.P. ticket packages that allowed certain patrons to sip on Butterbeer and participate in costume contests.

The headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of course, is headquartered in Salt Lake City. And Jeffrey Roy Holland, a Mormon senior apostle, appears to be a "Potter" supporter, having referred to Rowling's books in public addresses.

"Utah clearly has some avid 'Harry Potter' fans," said Jeff Whipple, marketing director for Megaplex theaters. "We hear from a lot of families that were reading the books together, and we had multiple generations come out to see the film together. The LDS church embraces that kind of activity."

Meanwhile, the only film brave enough to open opposite the "Harry Potter" juggernaut this weekend was "Winnie the Pooh," Disney's attempt to reintroduce the iconic honey-loving bear to modern audiences. But the hand-drawn animated film, rated G, mustered only $8 million in ticket sales.

Those who saw "Pooh" — an audience dominated by families, which accounted for 85 percent of those who saw the movie — liked it, giving it an average grade of A-minus. Disney, which spent about $30 million to produce the movie, can only hope that the strong grade will help "Pooh" hold up well in the coming weeks as the "Harry Potter" buzz begins to fade.