Hong Kong - Smuggled goods worth nearly 2 million US dollars were seized in a joint operation mounted by police and marine officers in Hong Kong, police said Saturday.

Mobiles phones and computer parts packed in 11 boxes were being loaded from speedboats when police moved in during a surveillance operation in Sai Kung area in the New Territories.

The smugglers abandoned the goods and sped off in the boats. However, one of the boat owners was later arrested.

Senior Inspector Roger Mak said the syndicate was thought to be well-organized and sophisticated.

Beijing  - Chinese real-estate magnate Huang Junqin has followed his younger brother and billionaire businessman Huang Guangyu in being accused of "economic crimes," state media reported Saturday, citing police.

Huang Junqin, founder and chief executive of the Beijing Towercrest Group Ltd, was detained Wednesday, Beijing police said.

His brother - one of the country's wealthiest people as head of Gome Electrical Appliances, China's largest consumer electronics chain - was detained a week earlier for questioning.

The investigations relate to manipulation of share prices last year of a Shanghai pharmaceutical company run by Huang Junqin, the Caijing business magazine quoted unidentified sources as saying.

Beijing  - The family of a Chinese scientist and businessman convicted of spying for Taiwan expressed shock and outrage at his execution and charged the Chinese government with keeping it "in the dark."

Wo Weihan, 60, was executed Friday after being convicted in 2007 following a closed trial in which he had been charged with passing secret Chinese military data to Taiwan.

His daughters, who both are Austrian citizens, said in a statement that they were promised one last meeting with their father Friday but, as they tried to see him, were informed he had been executed.

Beijing - China's first internally developed regional jet, the ARJ21-700, completed its maiden test flight on Friday in Shanghai, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Unveiled last December, the 90-set aircraft named "Xiang Feng" or "Flying Phoenix" landed safely after an hour's flight, Xinhua said on its website.

"The jet was normal and the flight was smooth," said one of the three pilots aboard the jet which has a maximum flight range of 3,700 kilometresand maximum altitude of
11,900 metres.

During the maiden flight the ARJ21-700 flew at only 900 metres.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong shares rose for the fourth consecutive day Thursday, gaining 2.5 per cent, on optimism that the worst may be over.

The blue-chip Hang Seng Index closed 336 points up at 13,888 points and ending the week 9.2 per cent higher than it started.

Turnover was 42.3 billion Hong Kong dollars (5.4 billion US dollars).

Analysts attributed the gains to optimism that December may be a better month following the announcement of another US bailout plan to boost consumer spending. The rally was also influenced by rate cuts announced by Beijing.

Beijing - Gome electronics retail chain appointed Chen Xiao as acting chairman on Friday, a day after Beijing police confirmed that billionaire chairman Huang Guangyu was under investigation for "economic crimes," the official Xinhua news agency reported,

Also on Friday, the company said that its chief financial officer, Zhou Yafei, was under police investigation. It said it had appointed an acting financial officer.