11.   Chinese officials recently informed G.M. that Beijing had authorized the partner selection, two Western executives familiar with the project said.

12.   Each has lost enough money to have provoked merger discussions between the two, according to executives familiar with the companies.

13.   Executives familiar with ABC said the network was negotiating with Starwave, a designer of Web sites, to create an elaborate online service for ABC News.

14.   Executives familiar with Seagram said the company might bring in a partner to defray the cost of buying out Viacom.

15.   Executives familiar with the Manhattan retailing scene said Simon and Sumitomo may not have the luxury to be choosy about Sears.

16.   Executives familiar with the story said they were under the impression that the newspaper had received a copy of the script much earlier and had raised no objections.

17.   Executives familiar with the talks said that Fuchs wanted Goldberg out of his job by Labor Day.

18.   Executives familiar with Viacom said that Biondi had become isolated since the Paramount and Blockbuster mergers, while Dauman and Dooley have assumed more powerful roles.

19.   Executives familiar with the situation said New Line was on the verge of shifting the rights to Showtime, the premium cable channel owned by Viacom Inc.

20.   Executives of Apple Computer and IBM are close to agreeing on a common personal computer standard, industry executives familiar with the discussions said.