Leisure Travel Plan to Be Launched
The leisure travel plan aimed at boosting tourism in Guangdong will formally be launched next Saturday (Feb. 21). Information provided by the Guangdong Tourism Bureau said this plan is of great significance for the tourism industry, as it advocates study tours, business tours, outings for the elderly and paid annual leave for employees.

GD to Control Government Expenditure whilst Investing More to Improve People's Life
Delegates attending the Guangdong Provincial People's Congress, which opened this morning (Feb 13), will be examining and discussing tomorrow the government's budget report for 2009. A draft report indicates that Guangdong, the country's top economic powerhouse, is forecasting an 8.5 percent GDP growth this year, less than last year's 10.1 percent. Director of the congress's budget surveillance office Huangping commented on the draft report in an interview with our journalist Chen Hongyan:
Huang pointed out that, as the largest province in terms of GDP, Guangdong will face tough times in 2009 as it has been greatly affected by the global financial crisis. The government has been very prudent whilst drafting this year's budget:
government expenditure is only planned to rise 6% year, lower than the GDP growth target of 8.5%, which is rare in our history. The province's financial income will be tight and strictly controlled.
Huang added that the government will take measures to control governmental expenditures and use more money to improve people's livelihood. 
the government has put forward a 5 "zero"growth policy for expenditures, that concerns conference, overseas trips and office costs.

Herbal Tea Sale Ambitious to Overtake Coco Cola
During a government meeting yesterday (Feb. 12) on expanding Guangdong's domestic demand, the director of Guangdong's Food Industry Association, Zhang Junxiu, urged the government to allocate funds to support Guangdong's herbal tea industry in becoming the world's largest drink industry. He stated that on the global market, sales of Guangdong's herbal tea are expected to reach 120 million tons next year, therefore overtaking Coco Cola, to become the largest drink provider in the world. In addition, the number of herbal tea shops is likely to top 20,000, exceeding Starbuck's coffee shops.