Chinese diplomat Wu Hongbo was sworn in as the new United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) at the UN headquarters in New York on Monday.

The swearing-in ceremony was conducted by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, with Ban's senior management team.

Wu, born in 1952 in Shandong province in eastern China, was Chinese ambassador to Germany since 2009 and assistant foreign minister. He graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University and pursued his master's degree from Victoria University in New Zealand from 1978 to 1980.

Wu said one of the priorities in leading DESA is to help implement the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which include ending extreme poverty, halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education. All 193 UN member states have agreed to try to achieve these by 2015.

"What happens after 2015 remains a key question," said Wu, adding development issues were still the most pressing ones for the international community.

"One of the priorities on my work agenda, despite just taking office, is that I will lead my team to help implement the MDGs for the last three years before its deadline, and propose a framework for the follow-up of the post 2015 MDGs," Wu said.

Development issues had a different and broader meaning, and the MDGs and sustainable development goals can integrate into each other, Wu told a group of Chinese resident UN reporters after his swearing-in ceremony.

"Now it includes economic, social and environmental issues. Effectively dealing with issues will help build a better world for our future generations," he added.

The veteran diplomat also sees tough challenges ahead in solving these pressing issues.

"There are some big challenges to integrate the MDGs and sustainable development goals because the latter go far beyond the MDGs," said Wu.

"One thing we have to do is to make sure developing nations understand that the integration of the two will still protect both their interests and the interests of the least developed countries."

He said some developing countries may fear they will lose some of the assistance promised when the MDGs were set up.

Wu succeeds Chinese diplomat Sha Zukang who led the department since 2007. Sha recently chaired the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, where more than 190 countries agreed on a plan to achieve a set of sustainable development goals and to promote global "green economy".

Zhu Zhiqun, professor of political science and international relations at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, said Wu is "fully qualified and competent" for this role because of his diverse background serving as ambassador to both developed nations (Germany) and developing nations (the Philippines) in addition to working at China's foreign ministry.

"Wu's background and first-hand experience in development issues will be helpful for him as he leads UN efforts to implement the consensus-program plans reached at the Rio+20 development summit," Zhu said.

"Wu's appointment, though succeeding another Chinese, is significant and suggests that China will continue to have a voice at key international organizations as it becomes a major player in international politics and economics.

"In fact, the World Bank, the IMF, the World Health Organization and other international organizations are likely to have more Chinese faces at the top leadership level in the future."

Wu has more than 30 years of high-level experience, including close collaboration in international conferences with multilateral organizations, and has been involved in China's contribution to the implementation of the UN Conventions on Environment and Development, as well as China's report on its progress towards the MDGs.

He is expected to "play a key role in working with member states in formulating the UN Development Agenda beyond 2015", said a statement on the UN website after his appointment was announced in May.

Wu said it was quite a transition for him personally to shift from being a Chinese diplomat to an international civil servant serving the UN.

"In my previous jobs, all my colleagues were Chinese, but now I have colleagues from different parts of the world," he said.

"The goal of my work changes too. It changes from serving my country to serving the international community, which of course includes protecting the interests of China.

"There is no conflict between the two."

yuweizhang@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily 08/07/2012 page2)

At least nine people in Liaoning province, five in Hubei province and one in Yunnan province were confirmed dead in floods and mudslides triggered by rainstorms on Monday.

Six in Xiuyan county and three in Haicheng city were found dead, and four others remain missing after Typhoon Damrey swept through Northeast China's Liaoning during the weekend, flood control authorities said.

Floods trapped 201 construction workers in a tunnel of a high-speed railway in the province's Benxi about 9:40 am on Monday, said Ban Yue, a publicity official for the city's government.

The flood destroyed a bridge and blocked the workers' escape route, he said.

Benxi rescue crews managed to transfer all of the workers to safety within four hours, said Zhang Jingqi, a firefighter.

When China Daily reporters arrived at the scene, two dark-colored rivers were flowing quickly through the tunnel, and a temporary bridge was severely damaged.

Most of the construction workers returned to their tents after being rescued, while several others carried on with the construction work in safe areas.

"I never expected that they could be rescued within such a short time," said a Benxi resident named Zhang. "I thought it would take at least a day to transfer so many people."

The typhoon cut off electricity, paralyzed road traffic and damaged drinking water facilities in Xiuyan, leaving more than 110,000 people homeless.

Floods triggered by rainstorms in Dalian, Liaoning, retreated on Sunday night, as many residents in Chengzitan township tried to dry their clothes in the sun on Monday.

In Southwest China's Yunnan, a 92-year-old woman was found dead and a 82-year-old woman was missing in Eryuan county of the Dali Bai autonomous prefecture, where a mudslide occurred on Monday morning.

Forty villagers were injured by the mudslide and all were sent to hospital for treatment, Zhou Hongbing, a publicity official for Eryuan, said on Monday.

The mudslide initially trapped more than 200 people in the mountainous Fengyu and Liantie townships. The rescuers managed to save more than 80 as of Monday afternoon and authorities are still working to free the remaining trapped people, Zhou said.

Li Xiangyang, a resident of Fengyu, said that the rainy weather had lasted for nearly half a month.

"A loud noise from the valley behind my house woke me and my two children this morning," he said. "Mud poured down before I know what was happening."

The mudslide caused economic losses of more than 98 million yuan ($15 million) in Eryuan, with 193 hectares of farmland destroyed, 81 houses collapsed, 488 heads of livestock killed, 17 roads and eight bridges destroyed, and three power plants damaged, according to the county government.

As of 2 pm on Monday, at least five people had been confirmed dead and one remained missing due to heavy rain in Shiyan and Xiangyang in Central China's Hubei province, according to the provincial flood control headquarters.

More than 1,200 people were trapped by flood in Gucheng county of Xiangyang, said Xiao Haifeng, a firefighter.

Rescuers managed to transfer more than 830 people to safety and rescued 324 people from places surrounded by deep water by Monday afternoon.

The heavy rain collapsed 178 houses and destroyed 409 hectares of crops, the Xiangyang government said on Monday.

Zhang Xiaomin in Dalian contributed to this story.

Contact the writers at anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn and wuyong@chinadaily.com.cn

The country is faced with a tremendous burden from floods and other disasters due to frequent typhoons since mid-July, Chen Lei, minister of water resources, said on Monday.

"It is the first time that the country will have been hit by three typhoons one after another within seven days," he said in a statement posted on the ministry's website.

While the country is still dealing with the impact of typhoons Saola and Damrey that caused extensive damage over the weekend, typhoon Haikui is fast approaching, said Chen, who is also deputy commander-in-chief of the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

New tropical cyclones will be formed in the next two days, which may continue to challenge the country's flood control capacity.

Haikui strengthened into a fierce tropical storm on Sunday and further strengthened into a typhoon on Monday afternoon. It is approaching the coastal area of East China's Zhejiang province. The center of Haikui was in the ocean, about 580 kilometers southeast of Shanghai by 3 pm on Monday.

Heavy rainstorms brought by Haikui are expected to hit Shanghai and Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian and Jiangsu provinces in next three days, according to the China Meteorological Administration.

According to the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau, Haikui is moving northwestward at 15 kilometers an hour.

The bureau issued a blue typhoon alert on Monday.

Haikui is expected to move over the central and northern coastal areas of Zhejiang between midnight on Tuesday to noon on Wednesday, wind speed may reach 108 to 119 kilometers per hour as the center of the storm moves across the coast.

Shanghai is expected to be lashed by rainstorms brought by Haikui from Tuesday to Thursday, with heavy rains in some areas, said Yao Jianqun, deputy director of the Shanghai Central Meteorological Station.

Real-time weather information will be sent to residents via TV, radio, micro blogs and text messages.

The Shanghai Railway Bureau has decided to suspend the sale of train tickets of the Ningbo-Taizhou-Wenzhou Railway along the southeast coast on Wednesday in order to ensure the safety of passengers.

Tourism authorities in Zhoushan, Zhejiang, issued a notice on its micro blog, warning tourists to evacuate, and saying all sightseeing places will be temporarily closed.

The State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters sent four work teams on Monday to Shanghai and Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Jiangxi provinces to supervise flood control work.

Local authorities should step up inspections to prevent any potential typhoon inflicted damage to major facilities such as the chemical industry, nuclear power plants and railroads.

Contact the writers at jinzhu@chinadaily.com.cn and lixinzhu@chinadaily.com.cn

Nearly 560,000 online comments were made on the proposed amendments to the Labor Contract Law over the monthlong public suggestion period, according to the website of the National People's Congress. The number of comments sent by post is unavailable.

It is the highest number of comments that the top legislature has received on a legal revision, the second highest number received was 331,000 regarding the Budget Law.

It is not the first time since drafts of laws started to be published online in 2005 that the labor contract bill has attracted wide attention due to its effect on labor rights.

The draft labor contract law received nearly 190,000 public comments within a month in 2006 when the law was drafted, a record at the time.

Wang Xiaolong, a consultant with the Chinese Education, Science, Culture, Health and Sport Workers' Union, said such a large number of opinions collected showed labor outsourcing is overused and it should have been regulated earlier.

"In general, outsourced workers do not enjoy the same wages or social security benefits as regular workers who are doing the same jobs and they are often offered long-term posts rather than the temporary, supportive and substitute positions that the law demands for labor outsourcing," he said.

The law allows employment agencies to be established to provide companies with workers for temporary, supportive and substitute positions, and stipulates that outsourced workers should receive the same pay as those doing the same jobs for the same employers.

Unlike people employed directly by companies, outsourced workers have labor contracts with employment agencies. Those organizations pay the workers' wages and, in return for supplying the workers, charge employers commission and management fees.

There are more than 60 million outsourced workers in China, making up almost 20 percent of the urban workforce, according to a report released last year by the All-China Federation of Trade Unions.

State-owned enterprises and public institutions and industries, such as petrochemical, telecommunication, finance and banking companies, employ the most outsourced workers, the report said.

Wang said in many public hospitals, doctors, pharmacists and nurses are outsourced and in many universities, teachers, researchers and administrative staff are also outsourced.

"All those positions are so important that they should not be regarded as only supportive roles or temporary," he said.

Ye Jingyi, a labor law expert at Peking University, said although the draft defines the three types of positions for the first time, it is not specific enough, and could still leave loopholes for employer manipulation.

Temporary positions refer to jobs that last for no longer than six months; supportive positions refer to jobs that provide a supportive service to main posts; and substitute positions refer to vacancies left by regular workers who leave their jobs to take vacations or study full time, the draft stipulates.

"The definitions of the three types of positions are vague in the draft and what if employers make workers hold supportive and substitute posts for a long time?" she said.

"I think the draft should add a clause, which stipulates that supportive positions should not include those that cannot be separated from main posts.

"The draft should also stipulate that if outsourced workers remain in supportive or substitute positions longer than two or three years, employers should stop outsourcing them and directly employ them," she said.

Contact the writers at chenxin1@chinadaily.com.cn and zhaoyinan@chinadaily.com.cn

A draft amendment to the Budget Law, the latest attempt to shore up supervision on government spending, has apparently struck a chord with the public.

During a monthlong online campaign to solicit feedback on the proposed changes, the proposal received almost 331,000 comments and suggestions from about 20,000 members of the public, as of Sunday, according to the National People's Congress, the top legislature.

This is the second-largest number of comments received by a draft law since the practice of publishing drafts online to solicit opinions was introduced in 2005.

The largest number, 560,000 comments, was received by a Labor Contract Law draft amendment. A proposed amendment that would slash the tax burden levied on personal incomes elicited more than 230,000 comments last year.

Details about the comments directed at the Budget Law have not yet been released.

However, several analysts said such attention to the draft shows an unusual public interest in levies and expenses, as the government continues to harvest surplus revenue.

The amendment, if passed, would establish a set of requirements on budget making and enforcing, such as requiring governments to include all revenues and spending in annual budgets, making the budget public after it is approved by the people's congresses, and submitting budget adjustments for local legislature's review before making any fiscal changes. Many of the proposed requirements are unprecedented, and others improve existing obligations.

Liu Jianwen, a financial law professor at Peking University, said the draft makes progress in outlawing undeclared incomes and sets up a system to supervise all revenues and spending.

He said the amount of undeclared income has reduced significantly in recent years, especially since a regulation requiring governments to publicize information on spending was introduced in 2008.

"Ruling out undeclared funds can help reduce the possibility of randomly collecting fees. It can also prevent (officials using) private bank accounts and curb corruption," he said.

The annual amount of undeclared funds can reach 300 to 400 billion yuan ($47 billion to $63 billion), said Yang Zhengwu, a deputy to the NPC Standing Committee, during a session to discuss the draft in June.

Li Weiguang, a professor of government finance at Tianjin University of Finance and Economics, approved of some of the changes proposed in the draft, but said the proposal dodged the basic principle of budget making and implementation.

For instance, he said, although the draft requires government budgets and adjustments to be approved by legislatures before being carried out, it does not specify the procedures if legislatures decide not to approve the proposed budgets.

The authority of legislatures in reviewing and approving budgets, Li said, is the cornerstone of other measures in the draft law to regulate government income and spending.

The Budget Law, the country's fundamental law to regulate government spending, was first introduced in 1995, a year after China reformed its taxation system and drastically improved the fiscal power.

zhaoyinan@chinadaily.com.cn

As China continues to rack up gold medals in London, Beijing's fitness centers are also enjoying golden times.

Gyms across the capital have seen a spike in new members, with many residents inspired to get in shape by Olympic heroes such as badminton ace Lin Dan.

"Although the summer is a traditional peak season for fitness clubs, the number of new members in July was higher than last year," said Zhang Wei, who works in membership registration for Hosa Fitness in the Chaoyang district of Beijing. The fitness club has 86 centers nationwide, including Shanghai and Chengdu.

"Many people step into the fitness centers for a toned figure, thanks to the inspiring six-pack abs and toned figures of the athletes in the London Games," he said.

However, the marketing department of another fitness club in the capital, Tera Wellness Club, said it witnessed a year-on-year increase of new members of less than 10 percent in July.

Gao Feng, a salesman at Hosa, said he signs up most new members in spring, but added the sales performance last month was "impressive". According to the club, women account for more than half of the gym's members. Most of the women are in their 20s, 30s and 40s.

The enthusiasm of the new recruits, partly inspired by the Games, also provided inspiration for the clubs' marketing departments.

In addition to the annual membership dues during the Olympics, clubs across Beijing also come up with various promotions to attract customers.

"For those who came to register for a year, we give away film tickets, the amount of which was the number of gold medals the Chinese athletes won the day before," Zhang said.

Tera Wellness Club also gives out gifts such as T-shirts, sneakers and sports bottles.

The clubs also serve as a place for networking with like-minded people.

Many members came after work for a jog on the treadmill while watching the Games, said a marketing officer who gave her name as Wu at Nirvana Fitness and Spa, a high-end gym chain.

Jia Nan, 27, a Beijing resident, comes to the gym with his wife when time allows, to keep fit after his wedding.

"I used to play soccer during college, but after I started working and got married less than two years ago, I have had fewer chances of doing it, so I choose to go to the gym to keep fit," he said.

"We watch the Games live while lifting or exercising and talk it over with each other," he said.

"Some choose to watch the Games while walking and jogging," Wu at Nirvana said. "That's also the spirit of the Games."

The increasing membership at the gym and growing popularity of the fitness clubs is not a short-term effect of the London Games alone, said Zhang at Hosa. He believes the fitness craze will keep its momentum and bring considerable prospects to the business.

According to the marketing department of Hosa, to welcome the upcoming National Fitness Day on Aug 8, it will also come up with various promotion activities like free experience and lottery draws.

Sports events can always spark enthusiasm for fitness among the public, and it is necessary to seize the opportunity of the Olympics, as well as the National Games next year in Shenyang, Liaoning province, to further encourage more of the public to exercise, he said.

zhengxin@chinadaily.com.cn

Ningxia

Four poisoned to death at landfill

The bodies of four workers were pulled from a well on Saturday after the men were allegedly poisoned to death by toxic gas while working at a landfill in Northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region.

Zhang Lei, director of the Dawukou Landfill in the city of Shizuishan, conducted a routine check about noon on Saturday at an observation well. He reportedly discovered that something was wrong with a gas valve and entered the well with another worker to repair it, according to a statement from the city government issued on Sunday.

When the two did not return, two other workers went into the well around 4:30 pm. Local fighters later entered the well and found the bodies of the four men.

Anhui

Explosion claims three, injures four

Three people died and four others were injured in an explosion in Fengyang county, East China's Anhui province, on Saturday, local authorities said.

One person was killed after the blast occurred at 4 pm in a farmer's house, in Lingquan village of Fengyang county, on Saturday. More than 20 buildings were damaged by the blast. Two others died on the way to hospital, local media reported on Sunday.

A rescue team was sent to the village on Saturday and four slightly wounded were sent to No 123 hospital in Bengbu city, Anhui province. The cause of the explosion is still under investigation.

Guangdong

Official suspended for role in scandal

A discipline official in Zhongshan city of South China's Guangdong province has been suspended from his post for his role in a public servant exam fraud, the city's commission for discipline inspection said on Sunday.

Liang Guoying, a discipline official with Zhongshan Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security, is accused of helping his son change the score he received on a writing test for a public servant exam so his son would get the post, according to a statement from the city's commission for discipline inspection.

The statement said Liang's post was suspended and relevant officials will be punished for the fraud. The employment of Liang's son was canceled.

Ship container leaks toxic gas

A chemical container on an 80,000-ton cargo ship parked at Yantian Port in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, leaked toxic gas at around 8:38 am on Sunday, according to a Xinhua News Agency report.

Ten fire engines and 75 firemen were sent to the port and dropped 800 kg of dry ice to lower the temperature of the container from 70 C to 30 C. The container was then transported to a dangerous goods disposal area east of the port. The accident did not cause any casualties or damage to the environment, the report said.

The report said the cargo ship's registered country is Panama, and the goods belong to a trade company in Kunshan of Jiangsu province.

Beijing

Country clarifies land ownership

Ownership of about 78 percent of China's collectively-owned rural land had been clarified by the end of June in a government campaign to protect farmers' land rights, the country's land watchdog said on Sunday.

Local authorities should step up their efforts to certify ownership of all collectively-owned land in the countryside by the end of 2012 as planned, the Ministry of Land and Resources said in a statement on its website.

Vice-Minister Hu Cunzhi warned that authorities should not approve the expropriation or transfer of collectively-owned rural land that remains unidentified as of the end of this year.

Shanghai

Man arrested for killing agent

A 38-year-old man in Shanghai's Qingpu district has been arrested for allegedly killing his housing agent, Shanghai Evening Post reported on Sunday.

The man killed his agent because he regretted selling his house years ago when the price was only about one-sixth of current price, according to the report.

In 2004, the man, whose name was not revealed, sold his house for 450,000 yuan ($71,000) to a man who operated a precision instrument enterprise through an agent. Years later, the price of the house quintupled or sextupled, which made the man extremely upset, the report said.

In a rage, he killed the agent on May 11, the report said, citing procuratorate sources.

Nurse busted for running on debt

A nurse who run away after she failed to pay back a 365 million yuan ($57 million) loan was arrested in Shanghai in July, local media Modern Express reported on Sunday.

The nurse, surnamed Wang, previously worked at Taixing People's Hospital in Jiangsu province and became involved with an automobile decoration business and real estate investment.

She borrowed money at an extremely high interest rate to invest in real estate, but failed to pay back the loan in full, police said.

Hunan

Women sentenced for disrupting order

The mother of a forced prostitution victim in Central China's Hunan province was sentenced to 18 months of re-education through labor on Thursday for disrupting public order, police said on Sunday.

Two criminals were sentenced to death, four received life imprisonment and another received 15 years in jail, according to the ruling made by Hunan High People's Court on June 5.

Tang Hui, the girl's mother, protested the sentences, saying all of the convicts should be executed. Her protests severely disrupted public order and court proceedings, the Yongzhou public security bureau said in a statement on Sunday.

Xinhua-China Daily

Identified only as Luo, the boy died on July 23 in the city's Nanfang Hospital, where he was receiving treatment for a malignant brain tumor.

"From later that day to 8 the next morning, the hospital staff conducted operations to transplant his liver, kidneys and cornea into four patients, who are all now recovering very well," said Wang Yong, organ donation coordinator at the hospital.

The parents said the boy had said he wanted to donate his organs.

"When his parents told the hospital that they would like to donate his organs, we told them about organ donation policies, explaining, for instance, that money is not paid for organs," Wang said. "His mother's words impressed me. She said that she never thought about anything else. She just wanted her child to live on this way."

Luo is the 91st person to donate organs in Guangdong province since the province began taking part in a trial of a national organ donation system in April 2010, said Li Jindong, deputy director of the organ donation office of the Guangdong branch of the Red Cross Society of China.

"Since the start of the program, there have been 15 donations in 2010," Li said. "The number was 31 in 2011, and Guangdong had the most organ donations in the program for two consecutive years. There have been 45 donations this year so far."

To bring the supply of organs closer to meet the demand for them, the RCSC and the Ministry of Health started a trial donation program in 10 provinces and municipalities in March 2010 and later expanded it to include 16 places.

In the long run, the system is meant to establish a national system through which information on organ donations can be shared and donated organs can be allocated in a transparent manner.

Data from the RCSC show the system helped to arrange 343 donations from March 2010 to July 15, leading to transplants of 924 large organs such as hearts, livers, kidneys and lungs.

A staff worker at the organization, who declined to be identified, said Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces and Tianjin municipality had the largest number of donations among the 16 places in the system by June 30.

Guangdong, Zhejiang and Tianjin have also seen increases in donations in the past three years, according to their respective branches of the RCSC.

Cao Yanfang, who works for the organ donation office of the Zhejiang branch, said 44 people in Zhejiang have donated their organs since the start of the system.

"The province began the program in August 2010," Cao said. "We had two cases of donations from August to December that year. In 2011, we had 13 cases. This year we have had 29 cases so far."

Tianjin was among the first places to adopt the system, starting on March 2, 2010. An employee with the municipality's Red Cross, who declined to be named, said six donations took place there from March to December 2010. In 2011, the number increased to 11, and 13 donations took place in Tianjin in the first half of this year.

"By now, the number of donations this year has surpassed the entire number for last year," he said.

He said Tianjin worked with a television station last year to broadcast an advertisement encouraging organ donations. It also posted ads in subway stations and at hospitals.

"Through this work, the public now has a much better attitude toward organ donations," he said. "We find they are less hostile toward organ donations, and we have a better chance of obtaining permission to conduct organ donations from potential donors' families.

"Although we haven't yet achieved an ideal state of affairs, the past two years have made things better," he said.

Zhai Xiaomei, a professor at Peking Union Medical College's bioethics center, praised the work, saying: "Organ donation is noble and altruistic. We should encourage more people to accept it through advocacy."

Zhai said the trial program is progressing well and believed that the country will have a fair and transparent national system for organ donations in the near future.

Even so, the more than 300 donations that have taken place since the start of the system are still far from adequate to meet the demand for organs, Zhai said.

"Although members of the program have worked really hard and the number of donations is increasing in places such as Guangdong, Zhejiang and Tianjin, the figure is still too small compared with the number of people who are on the waiting list," she added. "A large number of donations is needed to support a donation system."

Contact the writers at wangqingyun@chinadaily.com.cn and liwenfang@chinadaily.com.cn

Experts called on Sunday for authorities to improve hospital supervision to prevent the trade and trafficking of human organs.

Police announced on Saturday that 137 suspects had been caught in the latest crackdown on human organ trafficking.

The investigation was conducted around the end of July by 18 provincial authorities who rescued 127 potential organ suppliers, according to a statement from the Ministry of Public Security.

In April, police in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, uncovered a gang suspected of organizing and trafficking in human organs with other "black agencies" in Beijing, Shandong and Anhui provinces, the statement said.

The gangs coordinated with each other and formed a large network for human organ sales, the ministry said.

The suspects illegally recruited suppliers over the Internet, facilitated the deals and made huge profits from the transactions, which endangered the health of the suppliers and placed a heavy financial burden on the recipients, the ministry added.

The 2011 amendments to China's Criminal Law introduced three clauses related to the illegal organ trade. Convicted offenders face prison terms of more than five years and fines, said Zeng Xinhua, a researcher in criminal law at Beijing Normal University.

Criminals convicted of "forced organ removal, forced organ donation or organ removal from juveniles" could face homicide charges under the law.

"We've always paid great attention to human organ sales, because organizing such a trade has greatly damaged the social order and people's health," said Zhao Qiming, deputy director of the criminal investigation bureau of the ministry.

Some experts said authorities have difficulty solving human organ trading cases.

"Some gangs get organs from people in great need of money and provide the organs to those who urgently want an organ transplant surgery," said Liu Tao, an associate professor specializing in criminal investigation with the Chinese People's Public Security University.

"These hidden trades can be conducted smoothly because both the buyers and sellers are willing to do the deal."

According to the Ministry of Health, about 1.5 million Chinese need organ transplants every year, but only around 10,000 transplants are performed annually due to a lack of donors.

The huge gap has led to a thriving illegal market for human organs, although the government has repeatedly pledged to improve regulations on organ transplants and increase the supply.

China's central government issued its first national level regulations on human organ transplants in 2007, banning organizations and individuals from trading human organs. But there are still some loopholes in the supervision of hospitals.

Liu said hospitals urgently need to establish a nationwide online database to share information on organ receivers and providers.

"In this way, the organ transplant system can be more transparent and the public can better supervise the hospitals' work," he added.

To increase the supply of legally harvested organs, Chinese health authorities are building an official network to facilitate organ donations.

Huang Jiefu, vice-minister of health, said in late March that because of a shortage of organ donations from the public, the majority of organs came from prisoners - with their consent - who had been executed.

Huang promised to change the situation in three to five years by promoting a reliable donor system and encouraging donations from the public.

caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn

Police have arrested more than 1,900 people suspected of making and selling fake medicine in a series of raids on underground production bases, the Ministry of Public Security said on Sunday.

The nationwide operation, which started on July 25 and involved 18,000 police officers in 31 provincial-level regions, has crushed 24 networks manufacturing counterfeit medical products worth 1.16 billion yuan ($182 million).

Police seized 205 million tablets designed to look like brand-name products for treating hypertension, diabetes, skin diseases and cancer, the ministry said.

Some medicines contained sibutramine, a chemical used to treat obesity that was banned by the State Food and Drug Administration in 2010 due to fears that it increases the risk of cardiovascular problems.

The suspects also put sedative and hallucinogenic chemicals into the tablets to deceive consumers into believing that the fake drugs had an effect.

Police also found bottles of normal saline solution labeled as a rabies vaccine.

The ministry said it has destroyed a large number of production sites and trade channels in the past two years.

However, the crime is "far from being rooted out, as such criminals have come up with new methods", the ministry said in its online statement.

The ministry also said it had found sham promotions of fake products on the Internet, television and magazines during the crackdown.

A ministry spokesperson warned that people should purchase medicines in hospitals and pharmacies who are trusted vendors of genuine products, and advised against buying medicines that do not have approved names and numbers distributed by the SFDA.

"The ministry welcomes reports on the manufacture and sale of fake drugs," read the ministry statement. "We will reward informers 500 to 50,000 yuan if the report is found to be true. We offer ample rewards to those who play an important role in cracking large gangs committing such crimes."

Li Zhongdong, a pharmacist at the Air Force General Hospital in Beijing, said the crime is likely to continue because of "the huge profits" it brings.

"Fake medicines are usually sold to small clinics and small pharmacies," Li said. "There are people who choose to seek medical help from these places, possibly because of lower prices or privacy concerns, which may increase their chances of getting such counterfeit products and their sales."

Li suggested buyers check with the online inquiry system at the SFDA to ensure the medicines they bought are genuine.

The system provides information such as the name and approval number of medicines whose production has been approved by the SFDA.

wangqingyun@chinadaily.com.cn

Gorilla Athletes Six-year-old gorilla Feijie (center), dressed as an Olympic athlete on Thursday, is seen with other gorillas in Xiangjiang Safari Park in Guangzhou, the capital of South China's Guangdong province. Photo by Liu Weiyong / China News Service

Sichuan

Two dead in natural-gas blast

The death toll from a gas blast on Thursday in Southwest China's Sichuan province rose to two after an injured person died in a hospital, local authorities said on Friday.

A 30-year-old man died at 8:50 pm on Thursday, following the death of a 44-year-old woman earlier that day, according to a statement issued by the Nanjiang county government.

The 24 injured were still receiving treatment at two local hospitals, and two of them were in critical condition.

The accident occurred at around 3 pm on Thursday on the second floor of an eight-story building belonging to the China Mobile branch in the county.

An initial investigation indicated that the blast was caused by a natural-gas leak in a kitchen.

Prolific robber keeps diary

A prolific robber who stole 88 motorbikes in five months had bad luck when he was stealing his 89th bike, the Chengdu Business Daily reported on Friday.

The alleged thief surnamed Zhang was caught red-handed in Pengzhou, Sichuan province, when he offered a tricycle driver five yuan (78 US cents) to help him carry away a locked motorcycle. The request caught the attention of a nearby policeman, the report said.

The paper said that when police searched Zhang's home, they also found an unusual diary where he had recorded a history of all the 88 motorbikes he had stolen and the prices he had sold them for.

Zhang was accused of theft and arrested, the paper said.

Heilongjiang

Tiger training program launched

Zoologists at a Northeast China breeding center announced on Friday the beginning of a wilderness training program for Siberian tigers.

Seven Siberian tigers are participating in the program and the figure is expected to rise to 11 by the end of the year, said sources with the Heilongjiang Siberian Tiger Garden, the world's largest breeding center for Siberian tigers.

Participating tigers must be cubs born within the breeding center, said chief engineer Liu Dan, adding that they will be sent to demarcated areas within the center's reserve accompanied by their mothers.

Hunan

Over 200 mine pits suspended

Authorities in Hunan province have suspended the production licenses of more than 200 coal-mine pits for safety reasons.

At a conference on preventing coal-mine gas outburst accidents held on Thursday, the provincial coal industry bureau released a list of 216 coal-mine pits, which failed to pass the inspection on gas outburst prevention.

All these pits are small in production scale, with annual production capacities of less than 90,000 tons each.

The bureau requested its lower-level branches to withhold licenses of relevant collieries by Aug 15 and supervise them on their correctional measures.

The inspection was put forward following two gas outburst accidents in early July in the province's Lianyuan city and Jiahe county that killed 10 people.

Hong Kong

CY Leung invites astronauts

Three astronauts, Jing Haipeng, Liu Wang and Liu Yang, who successfully completed China's first manned space docking mission, will arrive in Hong Kong next Friday for a four-day visit at the invitation of Hong Kong Chief Executive CY Leung.

The 40-member delegation comprises key commanders and designers of the manned space program, who contributed to the success of the docking mission between the Shenzhou IX spacecraft and the Tiangong-1 lab module.

Leung is glad ahead of the delegation's visit.

"The accomplishments of the Shenzhou IX mission have opened a new chapter in our country's aerospace history. The crew succeeded in the first manual space docking between an airship and a space laboratory, and had the first female astronaut in a China space mission", Leung said.

Zhejiang

Jiaxing plants colorful rice

Rice of different colors that creates text and graphics in the fields has attracted the attention of many in the farmland of the Xiangjiadang provincial agriculture zone on Aug 2, in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province.

The multicolored rice was successfully planted by the agricultural sciences authority of Xiuzhou district, Jiaxing city. For the first time, more than 30,000 square meters of experimental fields were cultivated at the agriculture zone.

The area will be expanded next year.

Jiangsu

Man perfects card throwing skills

Ye Tongxin, 50, can easily hit any close-range target, quick and hard, with a playing card.

Ye, who works at a bus company in Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu province, has spent 10 years practicing his card-throwing skills. After years of practice, his cards can easily hit an apple three meters away and slice 16 cucumbers in one minute, the Yangtze Evening News reported on Friday.

According to Ye, his cards can reach speeds of 100 meters per second.

Hainan

Rapist sentenced to death

A 21-year-old motorcycle driver surnamed Tan was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve - a penalty usually reduced to life in jail - for rapes at a local court in Sanya, South China's Hainan province, on Thursday, local media reported on Friday.

Tan drove female passengers to remote areas or followed women who were walking alone, the paper said.

For over half a year from November 2010 to 2011, Tan tried to rape 10 women. Only two of the 10 victims escaped. Police detained him on May 1, 2011.

Jiangxi

Research starts on freshwater lake

Chinese scientists started on Friday a research program on the country's largest freshwater lake to boost economic development in the region.

The program, the second in three decades, will bring scientists together from 30 institutes around the country to conduct research on the ecological, environmental and hydrological systems of Poyang Lake in East China's Jiangxi province, said Hu Zhenpeng, director of the program.

The three-year program at a cost of 10 million yuan ($1.59 million) will also look into the social economy of the lake region, Hu said.

Video: London's green spaces are being called into use as campsites, where international communities are developing.

Culture: Find the Peach Blossom Valley described by poet Tao Yuanming of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (AD 317-420), a mountain-encircled land laced with crystal-clear rivers and girded with bridges, whose inhabitants live a carefree life of peace and prosperity.

Hot words: Come and learn different ways of saying "break the record" in language tips.

Bilingual: L.A.'s chief technology officer sends e-mail imploring city workers to stop watching the Olympics online, fearing it could trigger a massive computer crash.

On China Forum

http://bbs.chinadaily.com.cn/

Discussion: What do you think of Chinese people?

Pictures: A 93-year-old bra maker

More than 2 million residents in East China's coastal regions were affected by two typhoons on Friday, and one person died in Shandong province, even as the tempests weakened to tropical storms after making landfall.

As of 10 am on Friday, Saola and Damrey had forced the evacuation of about 124,000 residents in Jiangsu province, 180,000 in Shandong province, 237,000 in Zhejiang province, and 173,000 in Fujian province, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

The two typhoons landed less than 10 hours apart on Thursday evening and Friday morning, according to the National Meteorological Center.

The storms brought torrential rain to Jiangsu and the southern coastal areas of Shandong early on Friday morning after Damrey landed in Jiangsu at about 9:30 pm on Thursday, the center said.

Similar weather hit Fujian and its neighboring provinces on Friday morning after Saola made landfall in Fuding city at 6:50 am, it said.

This was only the second time that China has braced for dual typhoons since 1949. Zhang Chang'an, deputy director of the typhoon and marine meteorology center of the China Meteorological Administration, said on Thursday that in 2006, Typhoon Bopha and Typhoon Saomai caused severe losses.

Witnesses to the storm described their terror.

"It's too scary! I never thought my house would collapse before my eyes,"said Shen Kaixuan, from Jufeng township of Rizhao, 347 kilometers away from Jinan, the capital of Shandong province.

The 21-year-old student told China Daily on Friday that he went to bed as usual on Thursday night because the rain was not very heavy.

Since Wednesday, five people in Taiwan have died, two remain missing and more than 16 have suffered injuries because of Typhoon Saola, according to the island's emergency operation center.

The Chinese mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits sent a letter of condolence to the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation on Friday over the devastation wrought by the typhoon.

The letter said the ARATS was "deeply concerned" about the death and injuries as well as property losses caused by the floods and mudslides on the island, and it asked SEF to convey its "sincere sympathy" to relevant authorities and affected people, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Premier Wen Jiabao called for intensifying flood-control efforts and ensuring the safety of the public amid recent severe flooding in several areas.

Wen made the remarks during a two-day tour of Henan and Hubei provinces, where he inspected local flood-control facilities and water-control projects, including Three Gorges Dam, Xinhua News Agency reported on Thursday.

He urged local authorities to ensure safety and conduct evacuations in a timely manner, adding that observatories and hydrologic monitoring stations should enhance monitoring and guard against possible disasters.

Local authorities need to improve the construction of infrastructure such as flood-control facilities and sewage networks, which he said have been overlooked in many cities.

He ordered local officials to draw up emergency response plans to minimize losses in the event of severe flooding.

The National Meteorological Center alerted local authorities to gear up their preparations for natural disasters such as floods, mudslides and landslides since heavy rainfall will lash more than 10 provinces and municipalities in coming days.

Chen Weifeng, mayor of Qinyu in Fujian province, said that although the typhoon has made landfall, the town will still be geared up to tackle the downpour and prevent marine staff and fishermen from going back to sea to ensure safety.

The command center of Fuzhou airport said 28 flights have been canceled because of strong winds.

Tourism in Fujian also took a toll, as individual tourists and tour groups have dropped because of Saola, said a manager surnamed Chen with Fujian Comfort Travel Co.

Trips to some coastal scenic spots have been canceled, Chen said.

But Gulangyu, a popular tourist destination in Xiamen, remained open on Friday afternoon as the city was barely affected, said an official with Gulangyu Management Committee.

The combined impact of Saola and Damrey will continue to dump rain on Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hebei, Liaoning, and Tianjin in the next two days, with the highest rainfall reaching 300 mm in parts of coastal regions in Fujian and Zhejiang, according to the China Meteorological Administration on Friday.

In Tianjin, a city that has rarely seen flooding in the past decade, self-protection became a hot topic among local residents since it was hit by the heavy rainfalls in July that flooded many downtown streets, vehicles and even houses.

"I am ready to go home when the weather changes. When the heavy rain comes, I would rather stay at home for safety than drive outside to make money," Wang Yongqiang, a 43-year-old taxi driver, said on Friday.

Meanwhile, the death toll from Beijing's devastating downpour on July 21 rose to 78 after another body was discovered, government authorities said on Friday.

The body of a 65-year-old man from neighboring Hebei province was retrieved from a pond near Dongguan village of Fangshan district, according to a statement issued by the Beijing municipal government on its official Sina Weibo micro blog, citing the city's floods control and drought relief office.

The statement also said one of the 11 unidentified bodies previously discovered had been identified.

Nearly two weeks ago, the Chinese capital received its heaviest rain in six decades. Average precipitation hit 170 mm, while a township in the suburban district of Fangshan recorded 460 mm of rainfall.

Wang Qian in Jinan contributed to this story.

Contact the writers at jinzhu@chinadaily.com.cn and sunli@chinadaily.com.cn

The capital welcomed more than 2.5 million tourists from overseas - including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan - in the first half of the year, an increase of 4.2 percent year-on-year.

However, the growth has slowed since the second quarter of the year and is expected to continue slowing down, according to the Beijing Tourism Development Committee.

"The capital will come up with more measures and policies to attract inbound tourists," Lu Yong, director of the committee, said at a meeting in Beijing on Friday.

Places of historical interest and scenic beauty have long been attractive for overseas tourists, according to the committee.

An official with the marketing office of the Badaling section of the Great Wall said that Badaling received about 320,000 overseas tourists in the first six months, up 6.7 percent over the same period of last year.

Most of the inbound tourists are from Asia, including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. Asian tourists make up 48.5 percent of all the people, a 1.9 percent year-on-year increase. Next are European tourists, accounting for 25.1 percent with a year-on-year increase of 8.4 percent, and American tourists, who account for 20.5 percent of the total, according to the committee.

However, even though inbound tourism has seen a year-on-year growth of 9.1 percent in the first quarter, the growth for the second quarter slowed to 1 percent, partly due to the slow recovery of the global economy and the budget deficit, debt and unemployment problems that are hitting many developed countries, the committee said in a report on Friday.

On the other hand, outbound tourism, thanks to the appreciation of the yuan and the promotion of foreign destinations, has outperformed its inbound counterpart, with more than 1.2 million outbound tourists in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 69.2 percent, according to the committee.

The committee said that the deceleration of inbound tourism might continue until the second half of the year.

To further boost the capital's inbound tourism, the city is likely to introduce a 72-hour window to explore the city without a visa, and other policies, according to the committee.

Kajiya Yoichi, an accountant now living in his native Japan, has always wanted to come back to China, where he spent years studying in Tsinghua University, to explore the ancient city again with his family.

However, the visa is a barrier for him.

"If the 72-hour-window is implemented, I bet many potential foreign tourists like me would love to give the city a tour," said the man in his 30s. "Three days would be enough for foreigners to explore the city."

A coordination group has been set up to facilitate the implementation of the policy, said the committee.

"The policy, once implemented, is expected to attract more tourists from abroad," said Lin Song, an officer at the public security bureau's exit-entry administration.

However, details of the upcoming policy were not yet revealed.

"It has been proved that the visa waiver for transit passengers could greatly benefit local inbound tourism, as many cities worldwide have implemented similar policies," said Jiang Yiyi, director of the China Tourism Academy's international tourism development institute. "A tight visa will only drive away potential foreign visitors."

The committee will also carry out more market promotion abroad to attract inbound tourists and make the capital known worldwide, especially in the emerging markets of Africa and the Middle East.

It was revealed that South Korea's Jeju Island has signed a memorandum in May with the Beijing Badaling section of the Great Wall to boost tourism development.

zhengxin@chinadaily.com.cn

In a bid to regain diminished public trust, the Red Cross Society of China has promised a series of reforms, including an online donation tracking system that is expected to be in place by year-end.

Zhao Baige, the society's executive vice-president, outlined the plans at a news conference in Beijing on Thursday.

The news conference follows the State Council's Tuesday release of guidelines on developing the country's Red Cross missions.

"The document, for the first time, clearly defines the nature, position, role, and responsibilities of the Red Cross in China today, which should be an open and transparent humanitarian organization, not just a fund-raising charity group," she said.

The guideline recognized the Red Cross as an indispensable auxiliary to the government in the humanitarian field, and as such, one that requires a favorable environment of law, policy, and public opinion.

"That's recognition and support from the government for the Red Cross, which previously suffered a credibility crisis," said Deng Guosheng, a professor specializing in philanthropic studies at the School of Public Policy and Management with the Tsinghua University in Beijing.

The Red Cross faced such questions of its credibility last year after Guo Meimei, who claimed to be a manager of a Red Cross-related organization, flaunted a lavish lifestyle over the Internet. That sparked mass speculation about possible corruption in the society.

Zhao called that incident a "growing pain" of the Red Cross, adding that the controversy has "somewhat prompted a top-down reform in the organization to address existing problems and gradually meet public expectations."

Creating transparency tops the reform agenda.

The Red Cross Society at various levels must provide information related to fundraising, financial management, tenders, procurement and distribution of donations. Donors and the public have the right to know the details, the guidelines said.

To facilitate that, an efficient, transparent and normative system of management, information and supervision, including a donation-tracking system, will be established within three to five years, Zhao said.

Furthermore, the system will be expanded to 80 percent of the provincial branches of the RCSC by the end of 2013 and later to more than 50 percent of the Red Cross organizations at the county level by the end of 2014, she added.

"It will help the RCSC improve its transparency with the functions of fundraising management, publicizing the use of funds, and risk warning in material management," she said.

The guidelines also outline a fund-management plan for the society.

The costs for carrying out humanitarian tasks supported by donations can be disbursed but must be publicly publicized, the guidelines said.

"That's in line with international practice, and we need an operation mechanism that correspond with both the socialist market-economy system and international humanitarian values to sustain our work," Zhao said.

A spokesman system will be introduced to better communicate with the public and help secure transparency, she added.

Deng, the Tsinghua University professor, praised the reforms but expressed concerns about their implementation.

"Regarding reform measures, particularly those on strengthening the society's management and supervision over its local branches, I don't think they have the incentive to do so, given that they are now funded by local governments," he said.

Zhao agreed, saying, "The way it has operated and practiced for so long might be a barrier to the reform."

Wang Rupeng, the society's secretary-general, said that in some areas, there is too much government interference into the local Red Cross's organizing mechanism, internal governance, and routine operation.

At more than 40 percent of the Chinese counties across the mainland, the Red Cross remains under local health departments, he said.

"The Red Cross should be allowed more independence to better carry out its tasks in the country," Deng said.

He expected that such a document issued by the State Council would help propel the new reforms, particularly at the local level.

shanjuan@chinadaily.com.cn

Zhao Baige, the executive vice-president of the Red Cross Society of China, pointed out at a news conference on Thursday that it was unreasonable and unacceptable for the Red Cross branch in Beijing to charge the families of flood victims to move corpses.

"Although the charge for transportation and treatment costs was approved by the Beijing municipal price-making authority and health bureau, that was still unreasonable given it was during a huge disaster, and we must find out a better way to improve the quality and level of our rescue services," said Zhao.

Chinese Internet users revealed that emergency buses from an RCSC-affiliated rescue center charged 620 yuan ($100) to help transfer the bodies of people who died during a severe rainstorm in Beijing on July 21, the heaviest rainstorm in six decades that left at least 77 residents dead in the capital.

The incident briefly stirred up heated public discussions on the Sina micro blog, with most of the netizens saying that the RCSC's behavior was hurting people's feelings.

"I highly doubt that the transportation cost is reasonable. The RCSC should be a life-saving model, not to extract harsh terms under emergency conditions," said an online writer using the name "Chengzhongcun 007".

Another writer who claimed to be lawyer said the charge was against humanity and the values of the Red Cross.

"This incident demonstrated existing problems in the RCSC's capacity building, and in essence it resembled the cases of toll stations on the highway continuing to levy charges and traffic police still giving tickets during the heavy rain," Zhao said.

Rescue centers should focus on boosting rescue capabilities and service levels rather than charging citizens during emergency situations, said Zhao, adding that the money has been refunded to the families.

Ji Jin contributed to this story

The National Audit Office's report, released on Thursday, concluded China has "basically" established a social security management system from 2005 to 2011.

The report inspected the operation of 18 security funds in 2,790 counties, 404 cities and 37 province-level regions over that period.

It also detected flaws in the management system and found 132 cases of malpractice concerning 300 suspects.

"Looking into the allocation of social security resources, the focus is on less-developed and rural regions," said the report.

"It makes efforts to shorten regional security gaps."

Since 2005, the central government has injected nearly 80 percent of its social security investment into central and western parts of China - where 53.8 percent of the Chinese population lives.

The investment in those regions rose 54.7 billion yuan ($8.6 billion) in 2005 to nearly 361 billion yuan in 2011, exceeding the growth rate of the national GDP.

At the same time, the investment in social security funds for farmers has grown substantially as well, the report said.

Financial subsidies for the new rural pension system increased from just over 1 billion yuan in 2009 to 35.2 billion yuan in 2011.

Meanwhile, subsidies for the new rural cooperative medical system surged from 542 million yuan in 2005 to 80.1 billion yuan in 2011.

Monthly allowances for low-income families in rural areas also grew 87 percent over the period.

Lu Quan, an expert with the social security research center at Renmin University of China, said taxation, which subsidizes the security funds, varies in places and therefore leads to security gaps regionally.

"For Central and West China, their abilities to make up losses of the funds are quite limited," said Lu.

"Injections from the central government together with increasing input in rural residents' pension and medical expenses have shown the government's determination to improve the livelihood of residents there."

Officials from the top audit authority said the audit aims to assess whether China's economic boom has been shared by its people and if the security system serves the people well.

Citing the report, Chen Taihui, head of the office's social security audit division, said China's social security system made a "historical breakthrough and has built itself a network that covers the largest number of people in the world".

"The audit result shows the funding scales of our social security have expanded constantly. The funds are generally safe and sound and operate steadily and with standards.

"The system effectively plays the roles well as a booster, buffer, stabilizer and safety network."

According to the report, the 18 social security funds had 2.84 trillion yuan of income and spent 2.11 trillion yuan in 2011.

Despite the strong financial standing and extensive coverage, the network has flaws too, as the report revealed.

The audit found local governments appropriated or illegally operated 1.73 billion yuan of the funds for other ends such as building stadiums, office buildings and buying cars.

A total of 1.85 billion yuan had been handed out to ineligible recipients or compensation claims.

Less standardized management of the funds in 392 counties, 96 cities and 13 province-level regions resulted in 42.7 billion yuan not being managed directly under designated fiscal accounts.

Officials of the National Audit Office added that in the wake of some high-profile court sentences on fund grafts, the funds have become a "high-tension line" that few dare to cross.

A court meted out a death sentence in July to Liu Baolu, former director of a social security fund in Gansu province, for embezzling 28 million yuan over 10 years.

Another official, Zhang Xun'an in Huainan, Anhui province, was put behind bars for 10 years for keeping pensions and subsidies that were paid to more than 50 pensioners who had died.

Contact the writers at wanghuazhong@chinadaily.com.cn and chenxin1@chinadaily.com.cn

Millions of fans following police micro blogs

Public security authorities are most influential of all the government departments with micro blogs on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter-like website, according to an analysis.

Authorities nationwide began signing up for Sina accounts two years ago, and there are now 25,866 official micro blogs, 8,583 of them administered by police authorities.

According to a new report by Sina, four public security micro blogs are on the list of the 10 government micro blogs with the most followers.

"The work done by public security authorities is closely tied to people's everyday lives," said Shan Xuegang, an expert on social media who worked on the analysis report. Shan is a researcher at the website of People's Daily, the Communist Party of China's flagship newspaper.

"That's why their micro blogs can get great attention and attract many followers."

During the heavy rainstorm and subsequent floods on July 21, Beijing police published constant updates on its micro blog about dangerous roads and the rescue efforts.

Zhao Feng, a publicity official at the city's public security bureau who manages the account, said he received hundreds of thousands messages from residents asking the police for help, as well as with tips about the places hardest hit by the downpour.

"We posted 59 times on Sina Weibo that night, hoping to explain traffic and rescue situation to the public," he said, adding that the 110 police hotline received more than 8,000 calls that night, causing a jam on the line.

But it was the micro blog that was able to send important information out and was not affected by the rain, helping residents and the police, Zhao said.

"We gave rescue information to different departments in our bureau, aiming to integrate police resources and give residents the help needed," he said.

Five police officers currently work on the bureau's micro blog, which was launched in August 2010 and now has almost 3.5 million followers.

"We often invite followers to face-to-face talks with us, hoping they can give us suggestions and understand more about our work," Zhao added.

Public security departments in other cities have also created their own ways to improve communication with residents and their effectiveness.

Sun Haidong, an officer responsible for the micro blog of the Jinan public security bureau in Shandong province, said the bureau has established a team of officers specialized in various fields to address followers' varying problems. "Although we have only four part-time officers to update the micro blog, we are able to solve problems in a timely manner," he said, adding they have invited senior police officers and experts on fire control and laws to join the group.

"We don't focus on the amount of followers. Instead, we focus more on solving residents' problems effectively," he said.

Unlike the Beijing and Jinan police micro blogs, which are run by police publicity officials, the Guangzhou police micro blog is operated by police officers in the central control room, through which it can directly mobilize officers to respond.

Meanwhile, 4,973 police officers nationwide use their private Sina Weibo accounts to interact with residents of their jurisdictions - these are about a quarter of the micro blogs used by Chinese public servants in their own names, the report said.

A total of 19,155 Chinese officials have their own micro blog accounts on Sina Weibo.

Luo Jian, 38, a police officer in Beijing's Fengtai district, has nearly 7,500 followers on the micro blog he began on Jan 8.

"I like to try new things," he said. "I found the micro blog popular and could broadcast widely, so I decided to get one to pass on safety information to residents.

"I post some regulations that might have something to do with residents' lives on the micro blog and hope my followers forward them, because that way, more people will know," he said.

However, Wang Yibo, a police officer who operates the Shanghai railway police's micro blog, said there is insufficient investment in the micro blog and sometimes updates have to wait until the next day because of a personnel shortage.

"If residents have emergencies to report, they'd be better off making a phone call to the police," Wang said, adding that people can say what exactly happened on phones, but the 140-word micro blog is too short to explain the situation clearly to the police.

caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn

While police micro blogs are booming, some government departments have also been diversifying their micro blogs to attract and serve residents.

The Ministry of Railways has been developing the interactive "Summer Holiday on Railways" via its micro blog. In cooperation with local museums and tourist attractions, it tells followers about outings they can make on their travels.

Meanwhile, the high people's court in Henan province gives live text reports about the judges' work and what is going on in the court. The initiative is intended to give the public a glance at law practitioners' work and put the court under tighter scrutiny.

Cao Yin

Top government micro blogs on Sina Weibo

(Based on number of comments, followers and forwarded posts.)

1. Shanghai government information office

2. Beijing public security bureau

3. Chengdu government information office

4. Shanghai railway police

5. Henan provincial public security department

6. Ministry of Foreign Affairs

7. Guangzhou public security bureau

8. Nanjing government information office

9. Shandong provincial tourism bureau

10. Shanghai Metro

Cao Yin

Fishermen in Hainan and Guangdong provinces have resumed operation after the annual fishing ban in the northern part of the South China Sea was lifted on Wednesday, said local fishery authorities.

The fishing ban started on May 16 and ended at midday on Wednesday. The ban is part of ongoing efforts to protect marine resources and promote environmental awareness among fishermen, Huang Zuoping, an official from the South China Sea fishery bureau under the Ministry of Agriculture, told China Daily.

In Yangjiang, a port city in western Guangdong province, more than 1,000 fishing boats headed out to sea on Wednesday for the first time since their forced two-and-a-half-month break, after Liu Kun, a deputy governor of Guangdong, announced the opening of the province's fishing festival.

From Wednesday, more than 14,000 fishing boats registered in Guangdong province will start their journey to the South China Sea to fish, Liu said.

In Hainan province, about 9,000 ships holding 35,611 fishermen affected by the ban are going to fish in the South China Sea, according to Hainan provincial fishery authorities.

Lin Lijin, captain of Qiong Sanya 11181, plans to start fishing offshore from a port in Sanya, Hainan, on Saturday.

"During the past two and a half months, small fish grew large. Every year we will have a harvest of 10 to 20 tons after the fishing ban is lifted. After September, we will fish near Beibu Gulf of Guangxi, and then go to the Xisha Islands in Sansha city," Lin told China Daily on Wednesday.

Lin's ship had just finished an ocean fishing operation in the Nansha Islands from July 12 to July 29 as part of a trial to develop the industry in Nansha, which has abundant fishing resources. Most of the area is excluded in the annual fishing ban.

According to fishery authorities in Hainan, the 18-day operation to Nansha marked the beginning of the province gradually moving from offshore fishing to ocean fishing.

Chen Yiping, who owns a 110-ton ship Qionghai 03889, started his ocean fishing operation on Wednesday afternoon in waters off the Xisha Islands from Tanmen port in Hainan province.

"Sailors in my ship prepared all the stuff for the operation in recent days. As the voyage is about one month long, we also stored enough vegetables and food," Chen said.

Popular sea products like lobsters and sea snails could be easily found in the Xisha Islands, and fish in the area are much larger than those in offshore areas, the captain said.

Chen said with more ships fishing because the ban is lifted, the price of sea products will drop in the short term.

With the establishment of Sansha city in July, Chen hopes more processing factories will be established in the new city, which could save fishermen time and money.

The fishing ban in the South China Sea, which has been in place since 1999, has been imposed for two and a half months since 2009, and covers areas north of the 12th parallel north, including Huangyan Island but excluding most of the Nansha Islands.

Fishermen who ignore the ban will face punishments such as fines, license revocations, confiscations and possible criminal charges, according to a statement issued by the fishery bureau under the Ministry of Agriculture. The fishing ban is also applicable to foreign ships.

According to Zheng Weiyi, director of Guangdong Administration of Ocean and Fisheries, none of the fishing boats in Guangdong broke any rules during the ban period.

And more than 20,000 law enforcement personnel and 4,000 enforcement vessels patrolled the Guangdong waters to prevent local fishermen from violating the fishing ban, Zheng said.

In East China's Fujian province, a fishing ban was also expected to end on Wednesday, but as the coast is expected to be battered by gales and rainstorms brought about by typhoon Saola from Wednesday to Sunday, the ban was extended in order to protect local fishermen, the fishery authorities of Fujian said.

Contact the writers at jinhaixing@chinadaily.com.cn and huangyiming@chinadaily.com.cn

Zheng Caixiong in Guangzhou contributed to this story.

Harrow will open its fourth international school in China's southwest city of Chengdu, while Juilliard has decided to open a branch of its music and arts focused school in the north coastal city of Tianjin.

"Harrow signed a strategic plan on July 26 with its local partner Sichuan Zhongde Century Real Estate Co to open an international franchise in Chengdu," said Huang Xingguo, director of the international exchange division at the Chengdu education bureau.

According to the plan, the school will accommodate students from nursery to high school.

Huang said the admission process will require prospective students to take an exam, and both students and parents will be interviewed and quizzed on Harrow's traditions.

Teachers will be hired globally.

Edward Lee, director of Business Development at Harrow International Education Management, confirmed to China Daily via e-mail that Harrow will be setting up an international school in Chengdu that is scheduled to start operation in the fall of 2014.

"We have been comparing Chengdu with Shanghai and Singapore and come to the conclusion that Chengdu offers wider and more promising prospects," Lee said.

Chengdu has three international schools, each with tuition costs of about 100,000 yuan ($15,700) a year. Huang said Harrow's tuition will not be any cheaper.

Huang said Chengdu is a good place to open an international school because the city has many high-income residents.

Harrow already has three international schools, two of which are in China with campuses in Beijing and Hong Kong.

Harrow School, established in 1572, is a well-known boys boarding school in London. It has produced many notable alumni, including seven former British prime ministers such as Winston Churchill, literary giants including Lord Byron, and has educated members of various royal families from across the globe.

Unlike the original London school, which caters exclusively for male boarders, Harrow international schools allow day students and female students.

Juilliard is another elite international school targeting China.

Juilliard, founded in 1905, is considered one of the best music, dance and drama schools in the world and has produced countless world-class musicians and performers.

Juilliard recently announced it signed a framework agreement on June 26 with local partners to establish an education institute operated by Juilliard in Tianjin.

"The institute will be the only site in the region where prospective students can audition for admission for Juilliard in New York," the statement said.

The institute will provide non-accredited music programs to students from 8 to 18 years old, but the programs that will be offered are still under discussion.

William Vanbergen, founder of BE Education, a Shanghai-based consultancy that helps to prepare students for overseas study, told China Daily it is a trend for international schools to open franchises locally.

Rupert Hoogewerf, founder of the Hurun Research Institute, also believes that franchises will bring more opportunities for local students.

Webb School in California, a top private secondary school in the United States, also has a strategic plan to open a franchise in China, according to Leo Marshall, director of admissions and financial aid.

However, other top international schools remain wary of franchises. Eton College in the UK, where Princes William and Harry attended, does not have plans to open an international branch, headmaster Tony Little said.

"Our philosophy is to bring British education to our boys, not an international one. Our managing factors includes boarding and all boys, which may hardly transfer to an international franchise," said Little, adding Eton would not be the same if it lost these characteristics.

Wang Xuming, director of the Language & Culture Press, also the former spokesman of Ministry of Education, said the trend presents a challenge to local schools.

"The launch of many international schools is a trigger for local schools to improve their education quality," Wang said.

Contact the writers at luowangshu@chinadaily.com.cn and huangzhiling@chinadaily.com.cn

More foreign youths are seeking internships in China as the country's economic growth remains robust and businesses become more open to foreign interns.

Katherine Harris, from Britain, is a university student majoring in risk management. She came to China in May and has just completed an internship as a research specialist at the Beijing-based British Chamber of Commerce in China.

"There are a lot of internship opportunities in China but in the UK and other European countries there aren't many," the 20-year-old said.

Harris' internship lasted for two months and she was paid 2,500 yuan ($394) each month.

"I plan to take another internship in the commerce or finance field in China during the summer vacation next year, and I also want to find a job in the country after my graduation," she said. "I'm quite interested in Chinese language and culture."

Katsuhiko Kayama, 23, from Japan, studies marketing in the United States. He is now working as an intern at Digital Jungle, a social media marketing company in Beijing.

"I was born in China but left when I was 6. I'm taking an internship here because on one hand, I want to seek my roots, and on the other, the industry is growing fast here. I really like the company I'm working for, and I hope I can stay and work here after my graduation next year," he said.

Peter Hao, executive director with UOutlook Education International, a Shanghai internship service company, said they have organized internships for 60 foreign youths from the United States and European, South Asian and South American countries this year.

"We expect more young people to seek internships in China over the next few months during the summer vacation. I'm sure the number of interns for the whole year will exceed that in last year," he said.

Hao said most people who seek internships in China are university students, and major in fields as diverse as engineering, biology, economics, finance and marketing.

Hao said, depending on what their field of study is, students seek different experiences. Engineering technology students want the chance to take part in project development, students majoring in public relations want to participate in designing and organizing activities, business students want to get involved in foreign trade.

He said his agency has connections with many organizations, including colleges in foreign countries and more than 100 privately run and foreign enterprises, non-governmental organizations and language training institutions in China.

Cao Enyu, business development manager of Getin2China Group, an internship service company in Beijing, said his company has introduced nearly 300 foreign interns to China this year and he believes that number will surpass 500 by the end of the year.

China's visa policy allows foreigners to stay a maximum of six months to complete an internship.

"We pick companies for candidates based on their majors and willingness and then arrange phone or online interviews. If the two sides reach an agreement, employers will send candidates an invitation to facilitate their visa procedure," said Cao.

Cao said candidates normally apply for an internship visa ranging from one to three months but they can prolong their internships with permission from both the employers and police authorities.

"What we can do is supervising visa expirations of foreign interns and helping them prolong their visa terms or change visa types in line with their requirements," said Lin Song, a publicity officer at the exit-entry administration of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau.

"They (foreign interns) must come to our office for their visa transaction. We'll collect their information when they come for the visa, and we'll remind them with text messages when their prolonged visa is about to expire," he said.

If foreign interns are offered a job, they have to change their visa type from internship to employment, otherwise they will be suspected of staying illegally in the country or being illegally employed, Lin said.

Cao said about 30 percent of interns are hired by the Chinese companies where they worked.

Meng Ling, a partner with Perfect Alliance CPA Partnership, a Shanghai accounting firm, said they have hired foreign interns ever since they opened for business in 2006.

Meng said the company currently has two foreign interns working as audit assistants, one from Singapore, the other from Britain.

"Foreign interns not only bring different cultures, they're also helpful in improving English communication in the office," he said. "We're impressed by their patience and carefulness, which is quite important for our work. And our staff members can learn those good qualities from them."

Meng said companies like his, whose clients are mainly foreign enterprises, always hire foreign interns.

Gu Lili, a manager with International Students Travel Exchange in Beijing, said they expect the numbers of foreign interns in China to continue to rise. Last year the company helped more than 100 students intern in China.

"As China sustains a quick economic growth and Western markets weaken, and Chinese enterprises become more open to the outside world, more foreigners will seek internships in China," she said.

Gu said one of the recruitment projects her company is promoting is a beer festival at a tourism resort in Beijing scheduled in August, which needs some 20 foreign interns to work as receptionists and waiters.

Cao Yin contributed to this story.

chenxin1@chinadaily.com.cn

Park Hye-ryoung said she hopes to find work in Shanghai after her graduation from Fudan University, but she wonders about her chances of getting a work visa.

"I know it's difficult to get a Z visa (work visa) in China," said the 24-year-old student from South Korea who will graduate next year.

"Work experience in a big financial institution in Shanghai will boost my career path," she said.

Park is one of many job-hunting foreigners. More than 27 percent of foreign students in universities in Shanghai hope to find employment in China after graduation, according to a recent survey, but most of them are worried about getting a work visa.

The survey was conducted by the culture and education commission under the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Jiu San Society, one of the eight non-Communist parties in China. Nearly 1,000 foreign students studying in local universities in 2010 were polled.

"We have seen not only a sharp rise in the number of students from Japan and South Korea who are trying to land a local job, but also many from Spain and Italy this year, which was very rare several years ago," said Cao Enyu, business development manager of Getin2China Group, a company in Beijing that helps foreigners get internships and work opportunities in China.

However, some visa requirements, such as at least two years of work experience, are stamping out new graduates' hopes of getting work visas.

Moe Moe Tun, a student from Myanmar who majors in journalism at Fudan University, said that years ago an alumnus returned to Myanmar after graduation and worked there for two years just to meet the job experience requirement. He finally returned to China.

Twenty-two-year-old Moe Moe Tun hopes she won't have to return home. "The journalism industry in my country is not so developed as it is in China. That's the main reason I want to stay here.

"Moreover, the salary (in Myanmar) doesn't compare with what's paid here," she said.

Under Chinese policies, a foreigner must have a job offer from an employer in China before a work visa can be issued.

Not all companies are qualified to hire foreign staff, said Xu Jie, a senior consultant at the international training center of Shanghai Foreign Service Co, a recruitment service provider for overseas businesses in Shanghai.

Qualified companies "must be registered in Shanghai and have assets registered in the city, and the amount of registered assets must meet a certain threshold," Xu said.

Many foreigners can tell painful stories about how frustrated they were when applying for work visa.

"I know foreign people working in China with multiple entry visas for tourists, which means they have to leave the country after 30 days and can't return for another 30 days," said Elyse Stone, who came to China from the United States in 2009.

"Actually, it's common in the expat community. Some companies that are without credentials to employ foreigners give them round-trip tickets to Hong Kong to avoid overstaying the duration of their tourist visas," said Stone, a marketing executive for SinoUnited Health, a physical therapy clinic in Shanghai.

In 2011, the country saw 20,000 cases of foreigners who had illegally entered, stayed or worked in China, according to the Ministry of Public Security. Most of the illegal employment were at language schools.

Marianne, a Frenchwoman who has a travel visa for China, works as a teacher in a language-training center in Shanghai.

"I know I'll be fined and deported if the police find out. My boss once asked me to hide in a storeroom when the police conducted a raid," she said.

Under Chinese regulations, employers may hire foreigners only when "no Chinese candidates are available".

"China has adequate human resources, and every country gives priority in employment to its own citizens," said Cheng Weiming, vice-chairman of the Jiu San Society's Shanghai committee.

However, some adjustments to the regulations would make everybody happy, he said, suggesting the government could issue a one-year work visa to foreigners who are badly needed in high-end industries but do not meet some of the requirements for a long-term work visa.

This will satiate employers' demand for foreign professionals and at the same time help those foreigners to gain the necessary qualifications for long-term work visas.

Shi Jing and Wang Xinwei in Shanghai contributed to this story.

zhouwenting@chinadaily.com.cn

"A surge has been observed in the number of cases that have been filed and heard in courts, at all levels, in the past two years," Miao Youshui, deputy director of the Second Criminal Tribunal under the Supreme People's Court, said at a news conference.

Courts across the country have seen 688 cases related to fake medicine in the first six months of this year, up nearly 70 percent on last year's total. The number of cases concerning fake medicine in 2011 rose by 275 percent on the 2010 figure, according to statistics provided by the court.

The number of food safety disputes has risen sharply.

Cases heard by courts stood at 330 at the end of June, nudging close to the entire total for 2011. The number of food safety disputes in 2011, in turn, saw a 216-percent increase on 2010.

Miao said one of the reasons that contributed to the increase was a more sharpened focus, both in legislation and judicial practice, on the issue.

China amended its Criminal Law in 2011 and introduced specific crimes relating to the manufacturing and dealing of substandard food and fake medicine. Prior to this, food and medicine issues were usually treated under general crime, like counterfeit production.

"The top legislature (the National People's Congress) has effectively lowered the requirement on what can constitute such a crime in the amendment, a move widely believed to account for the rising number of disputes," Miao said.

But legislation needs to be clarified further, especially regarding punishment, he added.

The judge said a judicial interpretation on this is likely to be introduced next year.

Wang Dingmian, former vice-chairman of the Guangdong Dairy Industry Association, said penalties for crimes involving food and medicine are "generally light", and those involved need to be punished more severely.

Miao said the top court is working on a judicial interpretation to standardize rulings.

The draft has been discussed and passed by the criminal committee of the court, although he did not indicate when the bylaw will come into effect.

The government's efforts have failed to uproot illegal activities involving food and drug safety even though the country has boosted a crackdown on such activities since an incident with contaminated milk in 2008. At the time, melamine-tainted milk killed six infants and left more than 290,000 others with kidney damage.

On Tuesday, six government officials in Xinchang county, in East China's Zhejiang province, were transferred for criminal investigation for suspicion of dereliction of duty. The officials are being accused of having turned a blind eye to quality testing. Authorities say that more than 900 out of 2,000 capsule producers in the region were found to have never tested their products for heavy metal contamination, while only 700 manufacturers were equipped with testing facilities.

Also on Tuesday, 12 officials in North China's Hebei province were fired, warned or forced to write a review due to their involvement in a case in April when industrial gelatin was used to make capsules.

Contact the writer at zhaoyinan@chinadaily.com.cn.

Thirteen people have been confirmed dead and 15 remain missing after a mudslide in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region on early Tuesday morning, the local government said.

The mudslide occurred at an iron ore mine in the Araltobe township of Xinyuan county, Ili Kazak autonomous prefecture, a spokesman for the prefecture's fire brigade said. The brigade received an emergency call around 1 am, he added.

Mud and debris buried 28 people, initially identified as 22 mine workers and six local residents who collect iron ore to sell, the spokesman said.

By Tuesday afternoon, seven bodies were recovered from the debris, which, according to China News Service, covered an area 500 meters by 60 meters and five to six meters deep.

Nine men, three women and a child were confirmed dead.

Rescuers were using sniffer dogs, life-detecting devices and excavators to find the missing.

"Twenty-two miners, mainly from Yunnan and Fujian provinces, and six local herders were buried in the accident," said Yan Qing, a local government official.

About 370 policemen, firefighters and government officials participated in the rescue work, with 20 front loaders and excavators and a life detector, Yan said.

The rescuers found 20 suitcases of TNT and 10 bags of detonators in a warehouse near the iron ore mine, which they moved to safer places, the China News Service report said.

The Ili fire brigade dispatched nine vehicles and 54 workers for the rescue mission. As they neared the scene of the mudslide, they had to carry their equipment because the roads were narrow and steep, according to the report.

The nearby mountains remained unstable and more mudslides were likely to occur at any time, according to the rescue crews.

Jiao Xinming, an official from Ili road management bureau, said the continuing rain and large area of the mudslide were making the rescue work more difficult.

The rescue efforts will continue, Jiao said, but more rain is expected in the coming days, adding to the danger.

Two typhoons will challenge the country's flood control capabilities in coming days, as many regions are now suffering from torrential rains and floods, authorities said.

Heavy rains brought by Saola, the ninth typhoon of the year, are expected to hit coastal areas in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces on Thursday or Friday accompanied by strong winds. The 10th typhoon, named Damrey, may affect Jiangsu and Shandong provinces on Friday, Chen Zhenlin, spokesman for the China Meteorological Administration, said on Tuesday.

The winds could reach 51 kilometers per second when the center of Saola passes the coastal areas, he added.

The two typhoons may cover more than 10 provinces in the country, according to the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters on Tuesday.

The headquarters urged its local branches to make full preparations to respond to possible disasters brought by the typhoons.

On Tuesday, the headquarters sent four work teams to affected provinces and cities, such as Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Shanghai, to prepare for potential damage caused by the typhoons.

"Some major rivers in China, such as the Haihe River, the Yellow River and the Huaihe River, have experienced severe floods in summer time over the past few decades because of the combined impact of typhoons and cold air," the headquarters said.

"Many local residents and government officials in North China do not have much experience in preventing disasters from typhoons. Also, providing timely protection to a great number of tourists stranded in coastal cities is another big challenge," it said.

Entering the flood season in June, the country saw an average precipitation volume of 232 millimeters as of Monday, about 11 percent more than the level in the same period since 1981, according to statistics from the meteorological administration.

"Global warming partially triggered the abnormally rainy summer this year," Sun Chenghu, senior engineer of the National Climate Center, said, adding that global warming increases the water content in the atmosphere and activates the cold and warm air movement.

The increasing moisture and active air movement caused frequent rainstorms this summer, he said.

For instance, Beijing is facing the wettest summer since 1999, according to the meteorological administration, with about 63 percent more rain in June and July than the average level from 1981 to 2010.

According to China Three Gorges Corp, water was released from the Three Gorges Dam at a rate of 43,700 cu m per second on Tuesday afternoon in an effort to reduce the flood risk on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.

Zhang Genxi, a local flood control official in Jingzhou, Hubei province, told China Daily on Tuesday that the city now is safe, but has been under great pressure to control floods for a long time.

The city, about 220 km from Wuhan, the provincial capital, is traversed by the Jingjiang River, a section of the Yangtze River, and has long been regarded as a key flood control region.

"Some river sections in Jingzhou have seen water level exceed the warning level since July when floods released from the Three Gorges Dam pushed them up," he said.

At present, more than 32,000 local residents and flood control officials are busy monitoring the flood situation day and night and are dealing with any disasters triggered by floods, he said.

Torrential rains in Southwest China's Yunnan province on Tuesday morning left 11 people missing, the provincial authorities said.

In the coming 10 days, rain belts will remain in the northern parts of the country with a maximum precipitation volume of 200 mm expected in parts of Liaoning and Inner Mongolia, Chen said.

Contact the writers at jinzhu@chinadaily.com.cn and wangqian@chinadaily.com.cn.

Police raided Qixingdao bar in Chaoyang district on July 18 and arrested 15 suspected prostitutes, including the four foreigners, according to a statement by the Public Security Management Corps under the Beijing Public Security Bureau on Tuesday.

Located in the basement of Huasheng International Mansion, an office building close to many embassies, the bar was closed on Tuesday. An employee of a warehouse next door who did not want to be identified said it will stay shut for two months.

A sign for the bar, written in Chinese and other languages, still hangs on a wall outside the building.

Ou Yang, a publicity officer for the Public Security Management Corps, said the arrests were part of a citywide campaign that started in April 2010 targeting entertainment venues that allow obscene shows or prostitution.

"During previous investigations, we found the bar (Qixingdao) was used by foreign prostitutes, and employees there also knew about the prostitution," he said. "Those foreigners could communicate with customers in gestures and simple Chinese to indicate that they were prostitutes.

"Some cars parked at the gates were used to take the foreigners and customers who made a deal in the bar to hotels or other places."

Ou did not disclose further information about the arrested women, including their nationalities.

A police officer stationed in Sanlitun, an area popular among foreigners for its bars and restaurants, said his office has assigned three officers to target prostitution since the campaign started.

"The officers investigate bars and entertainment venues randomly and also collect clues from venue owners or residents," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

As China has opened its door to the world, the capital has seen an influx of foreign sex workers to the point that it is now a serious problem, said Dai Peng, director of the criminal investigation department at Chinese People's Public Security University.

While some women are the victims of sex traffickers, others are working in the sex industry willingly because they can earn more money that way than in their own countries, he said. Many of the willing prostitutes are in China on student, tourist or temporary-worker visas.

"Meanwhile, prostitution has developed in a concealed way. People prefer to contact prostitutes through the Internet, which is difficult for police to investigate," he said.

Wang Hongjun, director of the university's public-security management research department, said that foreigners working as prostitutes happens not only in big cities like Beijing and Guangzhou, but also in smaller areas.

"The majority of foreign sex workers are from neighboring countries, such as Russia and Vietnam, and entertainment venues and hair salons are still the main places where the prostitution occurs," Wang said.

He spoke highly of the campaign on prostitution in the capital, but said the crackdown can solve the problem only on the surface, and it can't deal with the root causes.

Both Dai and Wang urged exit-entry administrations to make stricter checks of foreigners' backgrounds and why they want to come to China.

"After foreigners enter our country, police and administrators should pay more attention to their visa deadlines and urge them to update certificates if they want to stay longer," Dai said, adding that foreigners will get the same punishment as Chinese if they are found to be involved in prostitution.

Prostitution is illegal in China. People face an administrative detention of 15 days if found working as prostitutes. Employees of businesses involved in prostitution are obligated to report it.

However, Dai added, a thorny problem now is how to balance development of the entertainment business against the prostitution crackdown.

"After all, an entertainment venue's business will be affected if it is related to prostitution," Dai said.

In April 2010, police arrested more than 1,100 people who were allegedly engaged in prostitution and shut down many Beijing venues, including the Heaven Earth nightclub, the No 8 Club KTV and the Sunworld Dynasty Hotel KTV.

Li Yu contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn.

Actions of workers saved hundreds of people at flooded expressway

Cui Yongyuan, a famous anchorman from China Central Television, treated 154 migrant workers to dinner on Monday evening to show respect for their heroic behavior in rescuing about 200 people trapped in a torrential downpour.

All invited migrant workers, who work for a water treatment factory in the Fengtai district of Beijing, raced against time to transfer people stranded by floodwaters on an expressway when the heaviest rainfall in 61 years lashed Beijing on July 21.

More than 120 vehicles were submerged in a low-lying section of the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway in Fengtai that night.

When several drivers escaped from their cars and rushed to a nearby factory for help, Du Jinrong, leader of a construction team, knocked on his workmates' dorm doors.

The factory staff gave out clothes, food and bottled water to all people rescued and allowed them to rest in two meeting rooms or in the dormitory, Du said.

"Some of the rescued wanted to give us money as a reward but we refused. We did not help for money," Du said.

More than 180 people were stranded on the roofs of three buses in the inundated section of the expressway when the rescue team, equipped with buoys, ropes and flashlights, reached the site around 9 pm.

He Xuezhong, who has been working in Beijing for more than 17 years, joined the rescue work with his wife and 20-year-old son.

"I did not worry about my son's safety in that urgent moment although I knew that he can't swim," He said. "He can cope with the help of ropes and buoys."

He Ming, his son, also took part in the rescue at about 9 pm on July 21 and saved a 9-year-old boy at 3 am who was grasping an iron fence so the current wouldn't sweep him away.

"I heard the boy saying 'I want my mom' but after I took him to a safe place, my workmate immediately took him to change his clothes, so I didn't know whether he found his mother until yesterday," he said.

About 60 people who were rescued visited the migrant workers on Sunday to express their gratitude and He Ming said he saw the boy and his mother there.

After a brief opening speech, Cui, the anchor, asked everyone at the dining hall for a minute of silence for people who died in the rainstorm.

Li Chuannan, a 23-year-old from Southwest China's Sichuan province, had to restrain himself when he saw spicy fish, an authentic Sichuan dish.

"The doctor told me that I should stay away from spicy food before my wound recovered, that's killing me," the young man said.

Li's right foot was scratched by iron when he rushed back and forth to save people trapped in the water.

"I couldn't believe it when I heard a few days ago that Cui Yongyuan was going to treat us to a dinner," Li said. "I often saw him on television, but never expected that I could meet him in real life, I like him because he is humorous and eloquent."

Cui responded to an online campaign at Sohu Weibo, a popular micro-blogging site, to take them out for dinner after he read about the life-saving stories.

The campaign, launched by three scholars in May, called for urban residents to treat migrant workers to dinner as a way to promote equality among different social groups and eliminate discrimination against manual workers.

Cui handed a pennant to Li, who was chosen as the representative of the migrant workers participating in the rescue work, with words saying "You offered a hand in an emergency, I drink a toast to show my respect".

Cui then toasted all the migrant workers who sat at 18 tables. He paid 14,400 yuan ($2,250) for the dinner, which was held in the Jingxi Nangong Hotel, a restaurant in Fengtai, 10 minutes drive from the workers' residence.

Yang Tuan, a social policy expert from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and another initiator of the campaign, attended the dinner party.

"The rainstorm removed the misunderstanding and the gap among people, and you (migrant workers) treated those stranded people as brothers and sisters," she said.

In addition to the migrant workers' heroism, Beijing residents have also been moved by the bravery of two young firefighters in the rescue operations following the heavy rain.

Shi Bingbing and Wu Tian, both 20, together with their two teammates, were sent to the section of the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway where a 900-meter section was submerged on July 22.

They were ordered to dive into the water to help rescuers get a whole picture of how many cars were inundated and if there were any people trapped.

"The situation there was very complicated, deep water and floating cars, you couldn't believe that you were at an expressway," said Shi, a deputy commander from the fire squad in Xiwengzhuang township.

The water was 6 meters at the deepest point and the average depth was 4 meters.

"It was too cold and dark to see clearly, so we had to fish for the vehicles one by one," Shi said, adding that they bumped against them occasionally.

After one hour, the other two teammates asked to dive in turn, but they refused.

"They are unfamiliar with the situation, and we don't have enough time (to take the shift)," he said, "We started diving at 3 pm and were asked to finish the search mission before night, leaving us only four hours."

The two finished the mission on schedule, reporting that 127 vehicles were inundated. Shi got eczema because the water was not clean and Wu got a fever.

Shi said he didn't tell his family after the mission though he lay in bed for days. "I don't want to make them worry about me".

Contact the writers at hedan@chinadaily.com.cn and zhengjinran@chinadaily.com.cn.

Scores of drivers whose automobiles were submerged in floodwaters on an expressway on July 21 have asked a highway company to pay them compensation.

The drivers went to Beijing Capital Highway Development Group, a State-owned enterprise in charge of the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway's construction and operation, on Friday to request compensation. They claimed the company should be responsible for the loss of their vehicles because its toll station created a traffic jam, causing many cars to become stuck on the flooded expressway.

A Capital Highway employee who did not want to be identified said on Monday that they reported a compensation plan to higher authorities last week but have not received a reply.

He declined to provide additional details about the plan and said the city flood control authority will soon publish relevant information.

Yu Yaping, head of the flood control authority's information office, said now is not the time to debate whether the drivers should be compensated because his office is still preparing to cope with new floods.

"The compensation is not our job. We're responsible for informing residents the time of future downpours and coordinating departments to prepare for floods," Yu said. "In other words, our role is more like a publisher, not an enforcement department to specifically solve the drivers' problems."

During the heavy rain, the toll station at the Nangangwa section of the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway collected tolls, causing a traffic jam, said Lu Hong, a businessman who was trapped on the expressway and participated in Friday's compensation request.

Lu, 49, said he paid about 200,000 yuan ($31,360) for his car two years ago, and now the engine is damaged beyond repair.

Lu said his insurance company has agreed to cover the damage, but he still wants the group to compensate him with a new car of equal value.

"The toll station forced me to slow down, and I witnessed the water flood my motor. Otherwise, I might have passed the section as quickly as I could."

A worker at the Zhaoxindian toll station declined to confirm whether they were told to stop charging drivers during the heavy rain.

"If the station had stopped collecting tolls and realized the risk for flooding, my car wouldn't be broken and the tragedy could have been avoided," Lu said, adding his car sat in floodwaters for three days.

Luo Jinfang, 50, a full-time bus driver who was also trapped on the expressway, said he was anxiously waiting for a reply from the company because his vehicle was his only source of income.

"The company should have checked the expressway's safety facilities when they realized the rain might bring danger," he said.

Luo's bus was carrying 47 passengers. "The company has the responsibility to pay for the loss of belongings that passengers left on my vehicle, such as luggage and laptops," he said.

"There's a contract between drivers and the company. As cars pass the highway, the group should provide safety services, while the drivers have an obligation to pay. So those poor drivers with submerged vehicles have a right to claim their damage from the company," said Tang Junfen, a lawyer from Jiazi Law Firm in Beijing.

However, the group can be exempted from paying for damage because the rain was an uncontrolled element, Tang said.

Contact the writer at caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn.

The Beijing meteorological center issued a blue alert for rainstorms on Monday night as the capital's areas experienced heavy rains.

The average precipitation in eastern Fangshan district, Daxing and Tongzhou districts and central areas of Beijing were expected to reach 30 mm, said the alert, issued at 7:35 pm.

The center had previously forecast heavy rain in the capital from Monday night to Tuesday.

The Ping'anli Subway Station was closed at 7:50 pm because of heavy rain, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport said on its micro blog.

The commission asked residents to be on guard.

Due to bad weather, 23 flights were delayed and 26 canceled at Beijing Capital International Airport as of 8 pm on Monday .

The capital has been hit by several downpours over the past 10 days, particularly on July 21, when the heaviest rainfall in six decades lashed Beijing, causing 77 deaths.

"As soon as the meteorological center issued the warning we broadcast it to residents," said Zhai Ruisheng, Party chief of Beicheying village in Fangshan district, on Monday, which was worst hit by the deluge on July 21.

"Village officials were also dispatched to inform every household and advise them to go to higher places in case the rainfall got worse."

After the deadly rainstorm on July 21, the local government of Beicheying erected dozens of tents on a school playground to house people whose homes were destroyed in the storm.

"On Sunday, we brought eight more tents for backup," said Gao Zhuang, a village official.

"The village mobilized people to stay alert outside the tents to monitor the rain at night," said Yang Qinglin, a Beicheying villager. Her house was nearly destroyed in a flood caused by rain on July 21.

"If the rain gets too heavy, we will move to the school building behind the tents," she said.

Chinese meteorological authorities use a four-tier color-coded weather warning system of "blue", "yellow", "orange" and "red", with "red" being the most severe.

On Monday, the National Meteorological Center issued a blue alert for a rainstorm. Heavy rain was expected to hit central and southern Shaanxi province, Shanxi province, central and southern Hebei province, central and southern Beijing, Tianjin, western Liaoning, northern Shandong and northern Henan, from 8 pm on Monday to 8 pm on Tuesday, it said.

Flooding caused by the rains has killed 11 people in Yulin, Shaanxi province.

Seven people were killed and three missing in Linxian county, Shanxi province, on Thursday and Friday after torrential rains dropped 197 mm of water within 3 hours.

Zheng Jinran in Beijing and Ma Lie in Xi'an contributed to this story.

Contact the writers at jinhaixing@chinadaily.com.cn and wangxiaodong@chinadaily.com.cn.

Resettlement in the Shennongjia forestry district has played a major role in preserving its pristine ecological system, while new settlers embrace a life relying on booming tourism in the region, officials said.

Forest coverage has increased to 88 percent since the district government banned logging in the region and encouraged people to move from reserves to nearby towns, said Luo Yongbin, director of the information office of the Shennongjia district government.

Shennongjia, in Central China's Hubei province, covers 3,200 square kilometers and has a population of 80,000. Its core region is the Shennongjia National Nature Reserve, which is recognized by the United Nations as a World Biosphere Reserve and is famous as home to the "wild man", allegedly a mysterious ape-man creature.

However, logging has dominated the local industry in the past decades, reducing forest coverage to 70 percent in the late 1990s. To protect the forest and its unique biodiversity, the Shennongjia government decided to ban logging of all natural forests in the region in 2000, said Luo.

By the end of last year some 10,000 residents had been relocated from their harsh environment, enabling them to have access to modern social services, said Luo.

"In recent years I've found that cases of logging or hunting wild animals are becoming rare," said Tang Yunjun, a ranger at the Yinyuhe station of the Shennongjia National Nature Reserve, who has worked in the station for six years.

"Now no one is living in the reserve anymore, and we can see the lands previously inhabited by villagers covered by forest again, and the forests are growing bigger year by year," he said.

Yang Minghua, in Muyu town, was among the first to move from the mountains 10 years ago.

"I grew crops, like corn and potatoes, and collected herbs to make a living then," he said. "The land in the mountains was not fertile, and yielded little. The total income could barely make ends meet for my family."

Encouraged by the local government, Yang moved to Muyu town in 2001 and built a new house there with a government subsidy of 5,000 yuan ($780) and compensation from the government for his lost land, which was later planted with trees.

"The well-preserved pristine environment and beautiful scenery attracted many tourists here, but there were not enough hotels in the small town," said Yang.

So Yang rented out several rooms of his house and later built more rooms to become a hostel manager.

"Now my 31 rooms can handle 60 tourists," he said. "Living in the town is much better than in the mountains. Life is much more comfortable."

Before the policy was carried out nearly the whole town was cutting down trees, producing wood products and selling them outside, said Luo.

"Many also survived by hunting and collecting herbs. However, such a traditional life style damaged the environment, and most people in Shennongjia lived in harsh conditions and were very poor.

"So we decided to develop low-pollution industries, such as tourism and hydropower, to help people out of poverty and protect the environment."

In the past few years, infrastructure such as roads and electricity has been improved, and several parks and new hotels have been built, said Luo. Last year, the total tourism revenue of the area reached 1 billion yuan, five times the figure of five years ago, and the number of tourists exceeded 1 million, according to government statistics.

"The place is so cool I don't have to turn on the air conditioner in July," said Li Jie, a retired teacher from Wuhan, Hubei province. She said she stayed in a hostel in Muyu town for a whole month last year and is going to spend another summer here.

Su Aoli, the owner of a hostel in town, said only several rooms of his four-story hostel were vacant in mid-July.

"I think I will renovate my hostel during the winter, when there are fewer tourists, as I found most tourists prefer expensive and more comfortable rooms. Money seems not to be a problem," she said.

However, while booming tourism relying on the well-preserved ecology brings benefits to some residents, some wish the government would work more on infrastructure.

Zheng Deming now lives in a three-room apartment in a resettlement area in Muyu town. Besides raising bees for honey, he sometimes does odd jobs and drives a taxi during summer, when the town is crowded with tourists.

"I planned to open a hostel to cater to the tourists like some other residents have done, but the road near my residence is poor," he said. "The government promised to repair the road but has not taken action yet."

In last year's work report, the government pledged to develop infrastructure and promote urbanization in the next few years. The first airport in the region is being built, and a new expressway is expected to be constructed soon.

However, some visitors also worried about the rapidly developing tourism.

"With so many new hotels being built, and so many scenic spots open to the public, I worry whether we will be able to enjoy such a beautiful natural scenery in 10 years," said Li Jie, the retired teacher.

Contact the writers at wangxiaodong@chinadaily.com.cn and zhoulihua@chinadaily.com.cn.

A promotional video for the Ministry of Railways that cost 18.5 million yuan ($2.90 million) to make has triggered a corruption investigation into a married couple who are ministry officials.

At least 7 million yuan that was invested in producing the video was alleged to have been used as illegal kickbacks, the Beijing-based newspaper Economic Information reported on Monday, citing sources from Beijing Xinshike Film and Culture Development Company - the company that produced the video.

Last month, the National Audit Office discovered that the ministry had spent 18.5 million yuan on the 5-minute video Chinese Railways without going through a public bidding process as required.

"The promotional video has failed to produce the desired effect and we urge the ministry to further probe into the problem," the office said in an annual audit report.

The video was made in 2009 and 2010 to highlight the development of China's railway system, according to the report.

It was played at the 7th World Congress on High-Speed Rail in Beijing in 2010.

Zhang Yimou, a famous Chinese filmmaker and director of the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening and closing ceremonies, faced public scrutiny after he was hired by the company to direct the video.

In an interview with zhongguowangshi.com, a news website of Xinhua News Agency, Zhang said he was hired by the company to give advice on artistic style for the video. In return, he accepted 2.5 million yuan in after-tax income as remuneration.

Although the video had a credit stating "Director: Zhang Yimou", Zhang said according to the contract he signed, his name should not have been listed on the video as director.

As for the comments from netizens that it was a boring and mediocre video, Zhang said he agreed with their criticisms. The authority wanted to highlight the achievements of the railway system in the video mostly through voice-overs, instead of images and stories, Zhang said.

Zhang said he later learned through online reports that the video cost 18.5 million to produce and that there was corruption involved.

"I was very surprised. I did not know about it. And I was not in control of this," he said. "But I think I should reflect on it. When facing similar situations in future, I will do more research to gain a clearer idea. I will shoulder more social responsibilities."

Zhang vowed to cooperate with authorities to dispose of the earnings.

Authorities working on the case launched an investigation early this month into Chen Yihan, deputy secretary-general of the federation of literary and art circles of the ministry, who was the former head of the ministry's publicity department.

An insider said inspectors found more than 10 million yuan in cash and at least nine property ownership certificates in Chen's home, Caixin.com reported.

But because authorities thought that Chen, a low-ranking official, could not have obtained such a large amount of money and property, authorities began investigating her husband, Liu Ruiyang, deputy director of the ministry's vehicle department.

Investigators allegedly found bank deposit books and prepaid shopping cards in Liu's office.

An investigation into the couple is ongoing.

Calls to the railway ministry's publicity department during office hours went unanswered on Monday.

"The short promotional video is by no means worthy of that much investment, which can almost produce an exquisite movie," said Ying Xiaoqiang, creative director of an advertising company in Hangzhou.

Zhu Lijia, a professor of public policy at Beijing's Chinese Academy of Governance, said the case once again proves that a loophole exists in the government's budget restraint system.

According to a notice from General Office of the State Council in 2010, government organizations must adopt the public tender method to purchase goods or services valued at more than 1.2 million yuan.

Xin Dingding contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at tanzongyang@chinadaily.com.cn.

A water discharge project was canceled in the coastal city of Qidong, Jiangsu province, because of strong protests from residents.

In the early hours of Saturday, thousands of people gathered in front of the government office and in adjacent streets to protest a water pipeline project, an investment of Japan's Oji Paper Group.

Zhang Jianxin, deputy mayor of Qidong, said on the city's website on Saturday that the project was still under evaluation and would be "suspended" if residents oppose it.

The government has formed a department to collect residents' complaints and suggestions, Zhang said.

Ding Dawei, Party chief of Nantong, which administers Qidong, said later on Saturday that the wastewater pipeline will be canceled permanently and that the public should trust the government.

Protesters dispersed after the government announced the cancelation of the project on television, the Internet and radio.

Qidong, a city of 1.12 million, is located on the north side of the Yangtze River, facing Shanghai across the river.

The pipeline would have discharged 150,000 tons of wastewater a day into Tanglu Port, one of the city's renowned fishing harbors about 100 kilometers from the Qingcaosha Reservoir, a source of Shanghai's drinking water, according to Zhang Zaifeng, director of Nantong's environmental monitoring center.

"We're afraid the project will severely affect Qidong's fishing industry," a resident who gave her name as Xiao said before the project was canceled. "More than 140,000 people in the city rely on the fishing industry. How can they make a living if the sea is polluted?"

Xiao said that since the construction of the paper factory in Nantong in 2007, Qidong residents kept expressing opposition to the wastewater pipeline.

Liu Weiyi, a 26-year-old resident, said during the protest on Saturday that local police had shown great patience, even when some people grabbed them by their hair and clothes.

Oji Paper denied that the pipeline would cause pollution.

"Our factory in Nantong adopts very strict water quality management measures. We release water after purification, and the water meets national standards," according to a statement on the Chinese website of the Oji Paper Group.

Zhang Zaifeng said that compared with the traditional papermaking industry, modern papermaking is much more environmentally friendly.

"The government of Nantong conducted studies three years ago and concluded that the influence of Oji Paper's wastewater would be very limited and could be totally under control."

"But we cannot be too cautious if it's connected with the health of our children and other family members," said the resident Liu. "We still worry about pollution and prefer that the pipeline is not built in our city."

Tang Jun, a social policy researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said: "It's positive and effective for the local government not to use the force and to cancel the project in a day".

Similar protests over environmental pollution have been reported in China recently, including one this month against the fallout from a copper alloy plant in Shifang, Southwest China's Sichuan province.

"Some local governments failed to release enough information about projects before construction began," Tang said. "They should let the public discuss the issues from the beginning so the public knows more about the projects, dispelling their concerns."

Tang also said that closing all possibly polluting manufacturing industries would improve the environment, but it's not practical.

"A large proportion of the country's population now works in manufacturing," he said.

Contact the writers at cangwei@chinadaily.com.cn and songwenwei@chinadaily.com.cn.

China launched its largest and most advanced patrol vessel Haixun 01 on Saturday in Wuhan, Hubei province, as the nation steps up efforts to protect its marine sovereignty and enhance rescue efficiency on its coastal waters.

The new flagship is the first patrol vessel capable of completing both maritime surveillance and rescue missions, according to a statement from the Shanghai Maritime Bureau, which will manage the ship.

The vessel is responsible for cruising on China's territorial waters, searching and saving lives at sea,investigating maritime disputes, monitoring oil spills and conducting emergency disposals, the statement said, adding the vessel can also tow ships and put out fires on other boats.

The 5,418-ton ship is 128.6 meters in length. It can sail at speeds of 37 km per hour, and has a maximum sailing distance of 18,520 km without refueling.

Helicopters can take off and land on platforms on board to get refueled or execute life-saving and searching tasks, Tang Gongjie, general manager of Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Co Ltd, the builder of the ship, was quoted as saying by Xinhua News Agency.

The ship can provide accommodation to as many as 200 people in sea accidents. It is equipped with devices to offer basic medical treatment and surgeries.

Haixun 01 is expected to be on duty by the end of the year, Xinhua reported.

The standard of China's maritime administration equipment will be greatly enhanced after Haixun 01 is put into service, benefiting the country in sea transport safety, maritime environment protection and safeguarding the nation's sovereignty, said Huang He, deputy head of the maritime bureau of the Transport Ministry.

As of May 2011, China had about 300 marine surveillance ships, including 30 ships weighing more than 1,000 tons, and 10 planes, including four helicopters, to monitor marine affairs.

There are two patrol vessels weighing more than 3,000 tons, Haixun 11 and Haixun 31, and a 1,500-ton patrol vessel, Haixun 21.

"The new move sent a strong signal to the outside world that China is attempting to conduct more surveillance in its own waters," said Ni Lexiong, an expert on maritime policy at the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law.

Ni said the building of large patrol vessels, instead of military ships, shows that the country aims to solve sea disputes with neighboring counties in a peaceful way.

Ni also said the move shows China is taking action to protect its legal rights as the number of sea disputes with other countries has surged recently.

"In the past, the patrol fleet, ocean inspection fleet and fishery administration fleet have been mainly comprised of old vessels decommissioned from the navy, but now we see more and more brand-new advanced ships being made and put into use."

Authorities at China Marine Surveillance, the country's marine supervisory administration, said in May that China is expected to build 36 inspection ships to join the surveillance fleet by 2013.

Contact the writer at tanzongyang@chinadaily.com.cn.

Gaokao, the all-important Chinese national college entrance examination, might become just one of the key admission criteria, as policymakers and educators advocate more rounded development of students.

Chinese universities should separate student enrollment from the gaokao, said Tan Songhua, who sits on the National Education Advisory Committee and is a key architect of the gaokao system.

"If we can separate the examination and recruitment processes, with the gaokao scores serving only as a reference for university administrators, colleges can set their own criteria for enrollment," he said.

In doing so, China will also be able to make the exam department more professional in providing test services, Tan told a group of teachers from China and the United States at a gathering in Beijing on July 23.

China holds the national exam once a year. Sixteen of the 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities use test papers provided by local education authorities, while others use a unified national exam.

After the exam, students' scores are sent to province-level education departments, which are in charge of scoring and distributing students' materials to colleges according to their rankings.

At present, the most important criterion for selecting students is the admission scores, but with the reform, the "glory of high scores" will recede, Tan said.

Tan also suggested a number of measures for the reform, including improving the uniformity of question difficulty of the exam, developing new channels for college admission, using variable criteria in the assessment of students, encouraging colleges to set individualized admission criteria and high-school principals to recommend outstanding students directly to college.

However, Tan conceded that while some pilot projects are already under way, full-scale changes will need time because China's gaokao is in the middle of reform and is still changing.

But the heads of some of China's finest high schools that produce the highest gaokao scores applaud his ideas.

"Competing for high-score holders is not what a world-class university should do, because it is not the students' score, but their academic achievement that makes a university outstanding," said Liu Changming, principal of Beijing No 4 High School.

"I do not want my students to regard exam scores as everything," said Zhang Zhimin, principal of Shanghai Gezhi High School, who also attended the seminar organized by the Ameson Education and Culture Exchange Foundation.

"I want them first to be healthy and virtuous, then concerned about school performance."

Contact the writer at chengyingqi@chinadaily.com.cn.

Shanghai's financial center has moved one step closer to its goal of building an "intelligent city" by offering free wifi services at 30 public venues.

Shanghai residents can now log onto "i-shanghai" to access free wireless at railway stations, ports, hospitals, exhibition centers and a number of popular scenic spots such as Xintiandi and Yuyuan Garden.

Users are able to enjoy two-hours of free Internet access every day.

The service is part of a program to turn Shanghai into an "intelligent city", and has been launched by the municipal government together with the country's three major telecom operators, China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom.

According to the plan, Shanghai will expand the WLAN services to 300 major public places across the city by the end of this year, covering public transportation hubs, parks, green belts, scenic spots, culture venues, waiting areas of hospitals, rest areas of commercial zones as well as the service areas of administration buildings.

The number of areas with free wifi will grow to 450 by the end of 2013, the municipal government said.

A report released by the China Internet Network Information Center on July 19 showed the number of Chinese people accessing the Internet via mobile devices had increased to a high of 388 million by the end of June. The total number of Chinese Web users stood at 538 million in the first half.

In Shanghai, the number of cell phone users surpassed 30 million by the end of June, with 5.6 million of them using 3G services.

There are 13,500 WLAN access points across the city, and Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Information said all the Internet-related indexes are leading the country.

Yet on Sunday, many residents approached by China Daily said they were either not aware of the free wifi services, or found the service unreliable and occasionally difficult to access.

"I happened to find the signal, tried to log on and succeeded," said Mei Xiaohao, who works near the city's Xintiandi, an affluent entertainment area in Shanghai. "The speed is satisfying."

But China Daily reporters found that not all parts of Xintiandi was covered by i-shanghai, and the signal could be very weak or even disappear outside the center of the area.

At the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center, there was no clear logo to inform the public of the free wifi, but the signal was much faster and more stable compared with Xintiandi, even enabling users to watch online videos.

Li Xiuhui contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at wangzhenghua@chinadaily.com.cn.

Water levels rise in major rivers; more rainfall is being forecast

China is facing considerable flood control challenges, after torrential rains simultaneously raised water levels on the Yellow and the Yangtze rivers, authorities have reported.

Water flow at the Wubu Hydrologic Station in Shaanxi province, for instance, reached 7,580 cubic meters per second at 8 am on Saturday, the second flood peak to hit the middle reaches of the Yellow River this year.

Flowing at the lower reaches of the river, the peak took the water level at the Longmen Hydrologic Station in Yulin above its warning level, the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said on Sunday.

And water at Wubu Hydrologic Station was reported to be flowing at a rate of 10,600 cu m per second at 1 pm on Friday, its highest level since 1989.

Some 40,800 residents in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces had to be relocated on Saturday because of the threat of flooding, the headquarters said.

On Sunday, the Hukou Waterfall Scenic Area in Shaanxi's Yichuan county reopened to the public, two days after an emergency closure on Friday due to the year's first flood peak to hit the Yellow River.

"Some visitors were allowed back in the morning, but they were not allowed to walk close to the waterfall for safety concerns," said a staff member named Song at the scenic area.

He said water levels at the upper reaches of the Hukou Waterfall are now being monitored full time.

According to China Three Gorges Corp, water was released from the Three Gorges Dam at a rate of 45,100 cu m per second on Sunday in an effort to reduce the flood risk on the upper reaches of the Yangtze.

"But controls will not be eased back any time soon, as rainfall is again expected on upper reaches of the Yangtze," the headquarters said.

On Sunday, part of Jiangxi province's Poyang Lake, China's largest freshwater lake, saw water levels exceed warning levels, as flooding on the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze raised heights.

The level at the lake's Xingzi Station had risen to 19.01 meters by 8 am on Sunday, its highest in two years, and 1cm above its official warning level, Tan Guoliang, head of the Jiangxi provincial hydrographic bureau, told Xinhua News Agency.

Also affected by rising water on the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze, levels at the Jiujiang section of the river in Jiangxi had risen to 19.54 meters by 8 am on Sunday, more than a meter higher than six months ago, and the water was still rising, he said.

Meanwhile, train services resumed on the flood-hit Nanjiang Railway in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region on Sunday morning.

Five trains operating on the line on Saturday were ordered to stop at the nearest station due to flooding and mudslides unleashed by continuous rain. No casualties were reported, the Urumqi railway bureau said on micro blog on Sunday.

Heavy rains and storms are again expected to hit most areas of the country from Sunday to Tuesday.

During the same period, torrential rain is being forecast specifically for central parts of Heilongjiang province, southeastern parts of Hebei province, and southern parts of Tianjin, bringing precipitation of up to 120 mm in some regions, according to the China Meteorological Administration.

At the other end of the scale, a heat wave is now being forecast for regions along the Yangtze, Huaihe and Hanjiang rivers, as well as Chongqing, with temperatures rising to 38 C from Sunday to Tuesday, it said.

Zheng Guoguang, director of the China Meteorological Administration, urged his department to ensure the accuracy of weather forecasts to minimize the damage brought by changes in the weather in coming days.

Meteorological monitoring in areas especially prone to flood and other weather disasters need to be strengthened, he said.

"North China will face changeable weather conditions in the near future, and the Haihe River basin is likely to see more challenges on flood control," he said at a working conference on Saturday.

"At present, relief work is still continuing in many regions after torrential rains hit in the past few weeks. Therefore, any weather change will have an impact on local relief work," he said.

The State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters has urged its branches in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia and Inner Mongolia to strengthen efforts on flood control.

Contact the writer at jinzhu@chinadaily.com.cn.

"The past four years was the most peaceful period in the progress of the cross-Straits relations, as both sides have sought common ground while shelving differences," said Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Jia stressed that as both sides of the Straits face common challenges in the flagging global economy, the mainland and Taiwan should lose no time to make use of complementary advantages to promote economic cooperation for mutual benefits and improve international competitiveness.

The top political adviser made the remarks at the opening ceremony for the 8th Cross-Straits Economic Trade and Culture Forum, which was held in Harbin, capital of Northeast China's Heilong jiang province on Saturday and Sunday.

The forum, which was originally proposed by the Communist Party of China and Taiwan's Kuomintang in 2006, has attracted more than 200 participants this year from Taiwan.

Participants were from the island's government officials, delegates of different political parties, scholars and representatives from the trade, financial, tourism, education, publishing, film and television industries. They have joined their mainland counterparts to discuss cross-Straits economic and trade cooperation as well as cultural and educational exchanges, the organizers said.

Wu Poh-hsiung, honorary chairman of the island's ruling Kuomintang, said at the forum that peaceful development is the right track that should be followed. Wu also said that the Kuomintang has always opposed "Taiwanese independence", adding that the "1992 Consensus" is the foundation for all cross-Straits negotiations.

Wu urged the Chinese mainland and Taiwan to quickly sign the cross-Straits investment protection agreement, which could help protect investors from both sides.

He also suggested the two sides set up the much-anticipated mechanism for the renminbi's settlement in cross-Straits trade for closer economic and financial partnership.

"The forum has improved the investment environment and helped expand business opportunities for Taiwan-funded companies," said Lin Bingsheng, chairman of Yon Ho Food Company, a Chinese fast-food restaurant chain with investments from Taiwan.

"The business model is usually more mature with commercial enterprises from Taiwan as they have long followed experiences of the developed countries, while the mainland has an ever-increasing consumer market. Both sides of the Straits are complementary in doing business, which benefits the people," he said at a sideline of the forum.

Lee Chien-sing, the former president of Taiwan's National Taipei University, who attended the forum for the eighth time, said the film and TV industries on both sides of the Straits see more opportunity in cooperation than competition.

He said Taiwan and the mainland should work together to create better film and television productions by combining advanced technologies with traditional cultural content.

Last year, there were more than 3,000 cultural exchange programs between the mainland and Taiwan, up 33 percent year-on-year, which involved about 12,000 people, Zhao Shaohua, vice-minister of the Ministry of Culture, said at the forum.

The two sides will negotiate additional framework agreements on cooperation in the culture industry, Zhao said.

Contact the writers at tanzongyang@chinadaily.com.cn and zhouhuiying@chinadaily.com.cn.

QFII rules relaxed to attract investment

China has eased its control on investments made by qualified foreign institutional investors, according to a revised QFII regulation released by the nation's securities regulator.

Compared with previous rules, the regulation published by the China Securities Regulatory Commission on Friday lowers the QFII threshold and allows QFIIs to invest in the nation's capital market through more than one securities dealer.

The regulation also allows QFIIs to invest in the interbank bond market and private placement bonds issued by small and medium-sized enterprises and hold up to a 30-percent stake in a listed company, up from the previous 20-percent stake cap.

Charges filed in death of UK's Heywood

Bogu Kailai and Zhang Xiaojun were recently charged with intentional homicide by the Hefei People's Procuratorate in East China's Anhui province, Xinhua News Agency reported on Thursday.

The city prosecutors filed the charges with the Hefei Intermediate People's Court.

Prosecutors have informed the two defendants and the family of the victim of their litigation rights, according to the Xinhua report.

Investigation results show that Bogu Kailai, one of the defendants, and her son had conflicts with British citizen Neil Heywood over financial interests. Worrying about "Neil Heywood's threat" to her son's safety, Bogu Kailai and Zhang Xiaojun poisoned Neil Heywood to death, Xinhua cited prosecutors as saying.

Bogu Kailai is the wife of Bo Xilai, former Party chief of Chongqing municipality and a former member of the Political Bureau of Communist Party of China Central Committee. Bo is under investigation by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

Hainan

Sansha military garrison established

The Ministry of National Defense on Thursday announced the appointment of major officers to the Sansha military garrison, saying China's military establishments in its own territory are irrelevant to other countries.

Senior Colonel Cai Xihong was appointed as the garrison's commander, and Senior Colonel Liao Chaoyi was appointed as the garrison's political commissar.

China on Tuesday officially established the city of Sansha on Yong xing Island in Hainan province, and a military garrison was also established. The new military garrison is responsible for defense mobilization, militia reserves, the relationship between the garrison and local government as well as guarding the city and disaster relief.

Yunnan

Serial killer sentenced to death

A man was sentenced to death on Saturday for killing 11 people in Southwest China's Yunnan province, according to a Kunming Intermediate People's Court ruling. Zhang Yongming, 57, was accused of fatally strangling 11 people in Jinning county from March 2008 to April 2012.

After the murders, Zhang used various means, including dismemberment, burning and burial, to destroy the evidence, the court said.

Zhang was given a death sentence with a two-year reprieve in 1979 for the crime of intentional homicide. He was released in September 1997 after receiving a number of sentence reductions, the ruling said.

Zhang did not show any remorse in court and refused to apologize to the relatives of the victims.

Zhejiang

China starts on power line in south

Construction on a west-to-east ultra-high voltage direct current (UHV DC) power transmission project kicked off in Zhejiang province on Saturday, marking the nation's latest efforts to ease power shortages in its eastern regions.

The project, funded by the State Grid Corporation of China, will transport about 40 billion kilowatt-hours of hydropower from Xiluodu Hydropower Station in Southwest China to Zhejiang annually after 2014. Starting in Yibin, Sichuan province, the 1,679-kilometer transmission line will traverse Guizhou, Jiangxi and Hunan provinces to reach Zhejiang's central city of Jinhua.

China Daily - Xinhua

Brazil

Rousseff says no layoffs after tax cut

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff demanded Friday that the industries benefitting from the recently renewed tax cuts do not fire employees.

The government has lately decided to resume a tax cut on domestic appliances and cars, and the president said she also plans to make cuts in other sectors.

"We give fiscal and financial incentives and we want something in return," she said. "We give incentives because we ensure jobs."

United States

Shooting suspect got psych care

A former University of Colorado graduate student accused of killing 12 people and wounding 58 others in a shooting rampage at a Denver-area movie theater last week had been under the care of a psychiatrist who was part of a campus threat-assessment team.

The disclosure came in court documents filed on Friday by lawyers for James Holmes, 24, who is accused of opening fire last Friday on a packed showing of the latest Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises, in the Denver suburb of Aurora.

Sergeant on trial for hazing soldier

A Chinese-American soldier in Afghanistan was forced to crawl about 50 yards (meters) as punishment while his superiors yelled and hurled rocks at him hours before he took his own life, a fellow soldier testified on Friday in a court-martial hearing.

Private Danny Chen killed himself by a gunshot in a guard tower in southern Afghanistan last October.

One of his superiors, Sergeant Adam Holcomb, is standing trial in Fort Bragg on allegations his physical mistreatment and racial harassment pushed Chen to commit suicide.

Holcomb, 30, has pleaded not guilty and faces nearly 18 years of confinement and a dishonorable discharge if convicted on charges that include negligent homicide.

Woman who lived with corpse charged

A woman who lived for months with the corpse of a companion was arraigned Friday on charges of cashing his pension and Social Security retirement checks.

Linda Chase, 71, appeared in court three weeks after police found the remains of Charles Zigler in a chair in the living room of their house in Jackson, Michigan.

Chase is not charged with any crimes related to Zigler's death or her failure to report it.

Cayman Islands

Tax on foreign workers eyed

Known as a tax haven for the mega rich around the world, the Cayman Islands is proposing the unthinkable: a direct tax on expatriates to help fix the budget woes of the British territory.

The proposal, called a "community enhancement fee" and unprecedented in the island's history, is effectively a 10-percent payroll tax on all foreign workers earning income over $24,000 in the Cayman Islands.

DPR Congo

UN urged to hunt rebels near border

The Democratic Republic of Congo said on Friday it wanted the mandate of UN peacekeepers strengthened so they could help to eliminate rebel groups in its lawless east, as called for by regional leaders seeking to end the nation's cycles of conflict.

The statement came after Britain joined the United States and the Netherlands as donors that have cut or suspended aid to Rwanda after a UN report said Kigali was backing rebels in fighting that has displaced 470,000 since April.

Rwanda has rejected the report, saying donors were acting on "flimsy evidence".

Thailand

4 soldiers slain by suspected rebels

Four Thai soldiers were shot to death at close range on Saturday in a brazen daylight attack carried out by suspected Muslim insurgents in Thailand's violence-prone south. Two soldiers were wounded.

A surveillance video shows pickup trucks tailing a pair of motorbikes that soldiers were riding as they returned from a military patrol to their base.

As the trucks pulled up alongside the motorbikes, armed men opened fire on the soldiers at close range and shot them dead. They then stole their victims' rifles, which they used to fire at another oncoming security vehicle before fleeing.

Nepal

14 killed by runaway jeep

Officials say a jeep has veered off a highway in Nepal, killing 14 people who were on their way to cremate the body of a relative. Two others were seriously injured.

District officials say the dead included 13 Nepali citizens and their Indian driver. The accident occurred on Saturday in Palpa district, 300 kilometers (185 miles), west of Katmandu, as the group was traveling to a pilgrimage spot to cremate the body.

Syria

'Big blast' rattles Homs overnight

Syria's TV said a big blast rocked central Homs province overnight on Friday. A large number of armed men were killed, and bodies of "terrorists" were piled up to portray them as victims of an army-led attack, the report said.

News Watch

A senior advisor to Iran's supreme leader said on Saturday that the negotiations between Iran and major powers (P5+1) over Teheran's nuclear program will continue until they produce constructive results.

Xinhua - Reuters

About 200 concertgoers at a theater in Ma'anshan, Anhui province, suddenly found themselves watching a film.

The movie was Mission: Impossible 3, and the band they were waiting for — Lexy's Lads Dixieland Band — had its own mission almost impossible trying to get from Beijing to Anhui on time for the performance.

The 12 Belgian musicians and their Chinese coordinator, Zuo Kemeng, were stuck in Beijing, battling the biggest deluge the capital had experienced in more than 60 years.

They had landed in the capital on the morning of July 21, and should have had enough time to arrive in Ma'anshan for their evening concert — their first stop in a 10-city tour of China.

From the airport they were to have taken a domestic transfer to Nanjing and connect to a coach that would take them to the theater. The musicians were all very excited and already discussing plans to return for another visit to enjoy the attractions at leisure.

Zuo, who runs a performing arts agency in Shanghai, realized there was trouble when the flight attendant woke her up while she was dozing on the plane to Nanjing. They were still on the runway. And it was pouring outside.

Passengers were asked to get off the plane as the airline had no idea when or if the flight would take off. About 50 flights had already been delayed and the terminal was crowded with passengers bumped off flights.

It was 12:55 pm, six hours before the performance.

Zuo immediately called the organizer of the concert in Ma'anshan, Sa Shibin, and after a quick discussion with band conductor Alex Steurs, they decided to take the train instead.

The next problem was to get their luggage back, and they had to wait for their turn as more than 100 irate passengers demanded their bags from the airline. For the band, they would not have been able to perform without their musical instruments or costumes.

As they waited, the band rehearsed, singing without music, and bringing a spot of unexpected sunshine to the chaotic airport where people were starting to shout for food, compensation, or reservation changes.

"It did look like a scene from the Titanic," recalls Steurs, smiling. "We never experienced such heavy rain in our lives, and the gloomy sky made the situation even worse."

Zuo was too busy to enjoy the music, and was scrambling to ask friends to help buy train tickets and find a car to ferry the band to the train station.

At 3 pm, the band finally claimed their luggage and rushed to find the vehicle they had reserved. As they came out of the terminal concourse, they were greeted by torrential rain but the car was nowhere to be found.

By the time they got on to the shuttle bus from the airport to Beijing South Station, everyone was soaking wet. It was past 3:30 pm and the bus could only travel at 60-70 km per hour along the very wet roads. Zuo called Sa again, and they started putting contingency measures in place.

At the Guangqumen overpass, the shuttle bus was stopped by rising flood waters and the band members had to get off, carry their luggage and look for the nearest subway station.

They did not know it then, but this was the same spot that claimed a life a few hours later when a driver caught in the floods was drowned in his car.

"I really could not remember which station we got to. I was too focused on how to transport the musicians and their instruments safely from the bus," Zuo says.

Battling rain and perspiration, the group ran into the subway station with everyone carrying about 20 kg of heavy brass instruments, books and wine bought at the airport. But no one complained.

They got on the train with two minutes to spare. It was 5 pm, and they would only arrive in Ma'anshan at 9:30 pm at the earliest.

When the musicians knew they would have no time to rest or prepare, they decided to clean up on the train, shaving or putting on contact lenses in the narrow cubicle restrooms on the train.

"We hurried as if we were about to meet a girlfriend we haven't seen in years," Steurs says.

In Ma'anshan, the organizers put up a billboard announcing the band's situation, and theater staff frantically called ticket holders to tell them of the delay. Another member of the staff took up position in the lobby, explaining to those who had arrived on time.

The audience was persuaded to pass the time watching Mission: Impossible 3, screened from a projector usually used for staff meetings.

Ten minutes to 10 pm, the rather bedraggled band finally arrived, and delighted theater staff rushed to relieve them of their luggage.

"They were all wet, but some still managed to joke that this was something historic," Yu Yangxue, director of the theater's marketing department recalls. "They could have cancelled the performance and no one would have blamed them, but they showed us what professionalism is."

The concert started at 10 pm, and the band shone on stage as they played to an audience of about 500. More than 80 percent of ticket holders had stayed for the show and no one left during the 90-minute performance.

"It was pretty late for the residents in this small city," Zuo says. "The fact that they came, stayed and gave us huge applause — that was so touching."

The musicians were equally touched. They had prepared six Chinese songs for the tour and were planning to play one or two in each city. At Ma'anshan, they played all six songs and the band members went down into the audience, greeting them.

"We love China. Most of the people we meet here are nice and helpful," Steurs says.

"We look forward to coming back."

By the time the concert ended, the musicians had had a 36-hour day, having left Amsterdam for Beijing on the afternoon of July 20. They had battled rain and delays, crowded airports, flooded highways and the biggest rains ever to hit Beijing in six decades.

David Shen, director of Holland's S&L Cultural Exchange Center and one of the concert's organizers, summed it up: "They showed great understanding and patience, we really appreciated their professionalism. Steurs kept saying 'The show must go on'."

And indeed it did.

Song Wenwei contributed to the story.

Contact the writers at liuw@chinadaily.com.cn and cangwei@chinadaily.com.cn.

Guo Jinlong, secretary of the Communist Party of China Beijing Municipal Committee, paid tribute to those who lost their lives in the disaster during a trip to Fangshan district, one of the worst hit by the storms.

"We must seriously reflect on these lessons and always bear them in mind," said Guo, who was elected secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee on July 3.

He pointed out that the disaster had delivered some "profound lessons and exposed many loopholes".

Acting Mayor Wang Anshun, who joined other city officials at a memorial ceremony to remember those killed in Fangshan, said he appreciated the public's criticism, and their concerns on the government's handling of the aftermath.

"The municipal government will seriously consider the criticisms raised, and increase its efforts to prevent such a tragedy from happening again," he said.

Latest updates on the storm's death toll has sparked growing public criticism. Municipal authorities reported a new figure of 77 deaths on Thursday evening, four days after first reporting 37 deaths.

Friday was the seventh day following the deaths. In Chinese tradition, the seventh day following death is a day to mourn and pray for the deceased.

Guo led city officials in several minutes' silence on the bank of the Juma River, where flooding caused heavy casualties, as well as considerable damage to property.

Rescuers retrieved 38 bodies in Fangshan, including that of an 8-month-old girl. Most of the victims had drowned.

The downpour, reportedly the heaviest rain to hit the city in six decades, unleashed a city-wide average of 170 mm of rainfall, with Fangshan receiving a record 460 mm of rain.

Qi Hong, head of the district, told municipal officials that conditions there remain chaotic.

Roads are blocked, supplies of electricity and water have yet to be restored and many people have been left homeless.

"Our primary job is to ensure that all the victims have shelter and sufficient food supplies," Qi said.

Guo and other officials dined together with flood refugees and construction workers in a temporary settlement in the village of Baidai.

Qi said the disaster affected 800,000 people in the district, as well as causing 2.26 billion yuan ($358 million) of damage.

Wang pledged that the city government will make every effort in directing relief work, including restoring water and power supplies, repairing roads, controlling possible disease outbreaks and preventing floods in the event of more downfalls.

City braced for more rain

Beijing issued fresh warnings of possible land damage on Friday afternoon, as the city braced itself for more heavy rain from Friday evening to Saturday.

The city's Bureau of Land and Resources and Meteorological Bureau jointly issued a yellow alert at 4:10 pm for possible mudslides and cave-ins in mountainous areas in the Pinggu, Huairou, Fangshan and Mentougou districts and Miyun county.

A yellow alert is the third-highest warning level in China's five-tier color-coded geological disaster warning system.

According to the latest meteorological data, Beijing will see showers and thunderstorms in some areas on Friday evening.

Xinhua

The Beijing Municipal Government Information Office has released a 24-hour public hotline (010-6201-4533) for those with information about missing victims, according to the official micro blog of the municipal government.

Seven days after the heaviest rain in more than six decades hit the capital, relatives and residents were still searching for those missing since the downpour. Meanwhile, the public security bureau is still trying to determine the identities of the 11 unidentified victims through DNA identification.

Those searching for missing relatives or friends are doing so through various channels, including messages on weibo, China's popular Twitter-like micro-blogging service, and by posting physical messages around the areas where the missing persons disappeared.

Wang Yang, a resident in his 30s from Beijing's Yanqing county, has put up posters and sent out fliers with a photo and information about his dad, a 61-year-old man who disappeared in the night of July 21 when the downpour hit the city.

Although many posters have been put up in the area where his dad might be, Wang has got no messages or information about his whereabouts.

Wang said his dad, who was going to take Bus 919 from Yanqing to downtown Beijing, was never heard from after 5 pm that day.

"I vividly remember he was wearing a gray T-shirt and black trousers, a gray cap and carrying a bag," said Wang. "That might be the last image I have of my dad."

Wang said he was not allowed to see the unidentified victims as they are already unidentifiable. However, the police said they are working on the DNA of the victims and will release the identities of them soon.

Wang and his mother have had their DNA extracted for comparison with the unidentified victims, and are still anxiously waiting for the results.

"It is a blow to the whole family indeed," said Wang. "However, as long as we have not heard from the police, we will keep looking for my father, through all means."

Also still missing is Yang Han, a 29-year-old from Fangshan district, who was swept away on July 25, according to his 51-year-old father, Yang Sumin.

The local police station has collected his son's DNA on Wednesday but the family hasn't received any feedback, according to Yang Sumin.

In the disaster-hit areas, volunteers are searching for those missing in the past few days.

"It's not clear whether or when we can find the missing victims in this area," Zhao Lijie, a publicity officer at Chengguan town of Fangshan district, told China Daily on Friday. "But we will not give up. Many local residents are voluntarily working together to find those missing in the past few days."

Meanwhile, the hunt for the missing continues.

Sitting on the a blue airbed while floating on a reservoir now filled with floating branches, animal carcasses and trash, 60-year-old Chen Baocun from Gushankou village of Fangshan district has been searching for his companion since July 21. The missing man, 61-year-old Cai Shoujiang, was swept away by the flood that hit the district, according to the Beijing News.

"I will do whatever I can to find him," said Chen. "He's too good a guy to leave us."

Cai was at the foot of the hill when the rainfall and the flood hit the village on July 21. Because of his poor hearing, Cai remained at the foot of the hill while the residents were asked to move to higher ground.

"One wave, and he's gone," Chen said.

Zheng Zhijie, Cai's sister-in-law, said that Cai left nothing but a notebook, about eight patched items of clothing and a ponytail, which Cai used to drive mosquitoes away from his paralyzed father, who is in his 90s.

Pan Anjun, deputy head of the municipal flood control and drought relief headquarters, said that although there have been no further reports of missing people, the headquarters will continue search efforts.

His words were echoed by Zhai Ruisheng, Party chief of the Beicheying village in Fengtai district, who said that no reports of missing people has been received recently, and the village is now working on clearing the streets and mending the local infrastructure while distributing relief materials to residents in the disaster areas.

Villager You Fengqi said, "We are now clearing the sludge stuck in the closets and clearing up the soaked quilts and clothes. It might take a month to get the village back in shape. The losses are just immeasurable."

Ji Jin contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at zhengxin@chinadaily.com.cn

Bogu Kailai and Zhang Xiaojun were recently charged with intentional homicide by the Hefei People's Procuratorate in East China's Anhui province, Xinhua News Agency reported on Thursday.

The city prosecutors filed the charges with the Hefei Intermediate People's Court.

Prosecutors have informed the two defendants and the family of the victim of their litigation rights during the investigation period, according to the Xinhua report.

They have interrogated Bogu Kailai and Zhang Xiaojun and heard the opinions of their lawyers.

Investigation results show that Bogu Kailai, one of the defendants, and her son had conflicts with the British citizen Neil Heywood over financial interests. Worrying about "Neil Heywood's threat" to her son's safety, Bogu Kailai and Zhang Xiaojun poisoned Neil Heywood to death, Xinhua cited prosecutors as saying.

The facts of the two defendants' crime are clear, and the evidence is irrefutable and substantial, prosecutors said, suggesting the two defendants should be charged with intentional homicide.

The Hefei Intermediate People's Court has received the case, and a trial date will be set.

Bogu Kailai is the wife of Bo Xilai, former Party chief of Southwest China's Chongqing municipality and a former member of the Political Bureau of Communist Party of China Central Committee.

In March Bo Xilai was replaced by Vice-Premier Zhang Dejiang as Party chief of Chongqing.

In April, the CPC Central Committee suspended Bo from his posts at the committee and its Political Bureau because "Bo is suspected of being involved in serious violations of discipline".

Bo is under investigation by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

HIV sufferers, considered at risk of transmitting the virus to others, will receive antiretroviral therapy upon testing positive, a senior health official revealed.

Up until now people who were HIV-positive in China only received free ART when their CD4 count - white cells that fight infection - fell below 350 cells per cubic millimeter.

Doctors are being instructed to prescribe the treatment upon diagnosis for patients in high-risk groups, including homosexual men, sex workers and couples where only one partner is infected.

"The new strategy will help prevent sufferers from developing full-blown AIDS," Wu Zunyou, director of the National Center for AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Disease Control and Prevention, said.

"Equally important, it will help reduce the possibility of secondary infections by lowering the viral load of sufferers with early medication," he said during the 2012 International AIDS Conference in Washington.

An international study last year found that a 96 percent reduction in transmission occurred when a HIV-positive partner began ART early.

A similar small-scale pilot program in China, targeting couples, has shown a 55 percent decrease in transmission among those where the HIV-positive party was on ART.

"Treatment as prevention is the biggest scientific revolution in HIV/AIDS response since the first antiretroviral drugs became available in 1996," said Elly Katabira, president of the International AIDS Society and the conference's chairwoman.

Wu said that this approach has been integrated into the treatment criteria in China.

Early treatment also helps curb drug resistance, according to Zhao Yan, deputy director of the AIDS treatment and care division of the center.

She said at least 46,000 sufferers on the Chinese mainland will be put on ART this year. Last year, about 45,000 began receiving ART, almost twice that of 2010.

China has an estimated 780,000 HIV sufferers and more than 150,000 are receiving ART, according to the government figures.

"To implement the new strategy, however, requires further scaled-up testing and early detection," Wu said.

More than 80 million HIV screenings were carried out last year, he said, but nearly 28 percent of newly diagnosed cases already had full-blown AIDS.

"That indicated that the HIV testing efforts should be better targeted, which is why they are being expanded," Zhao said.

Other challenges for implementation, she said, include relatively low awareness among doctors about early treatment, a lack of detailed guidelines to enforce the treatment as prevention strategy, and reluctance among sufferers to receive early ART, citing inconvenience and side effects.

To address the issue, the government will enhance education and strengthen mobilization efforts, particularly among civil societies, she said.

The ART drug regimen will also be optimized, she added, to facilitate and encourage early treatment.

Contact the writer at shanjuan@chinadaily.com.cn.

Families of people hurt or killed performing acts of heroism will receive help with their medical costs, living expenses and accommodation, as the government looks to build a safety net for Good Samaritans.

Experts say the measures, announced Thursday by the State Council, will help battle the "bystander effect" and encourage more people to assist others in times of need.

According to the new regulations, human resource departments will need to prioritize giving employment opportunities to people who have been rewarded by authorities for their heroism.

In addition, for those who lost their lives helping others, local governments or their employers should pay families subsidies, as well as provide favorable policies to ensure their children have access to education.

Heroes with low incomes will also be given priority if they are on the waiting list for affordable housing programs or State-sponsored house renovation programs.

Seven government agencies including the ministries of civil affairs and health will carry out the new regulations.

Sun Shaochi, vice-minister of civil affairs, said on Thursday that the policies will help relieve hardships for people who perform brave acts and their families, as well as encourage people to "do the right thing".

A news website in Zhejiang province in 2010 looked at 451 people who performed brave acts, and found that 93 of them lost their lives and 180 were injured when helping others. It also showed that 80 percent of those polled live in economic difficulty.

Li Junqing, a 57-year-old resident in Lishui, Zhejiang province, was among them, Today Morning Express reported.

Li lost vision in his left eye and had ribs broken by a street gang when he tried to help a young couple in 2005.

The report said more than 20 passers-by just stood there watching when the gang bullied the young couple, beat Li when he tried to intervene, and then ran away.

Without health insurance, Li had to pay 100,000 yuan ($15,700) in medical bills, most of which he borrowed from relatives.

Li lived in a rented apartment with his wife, surviving on a monthly income of 1,000 yuan.

William Valentina, a professor from the China Institute of Social Responsibility at Beijing Normal University, welcomed the move to reward people's selfless acts in helping others.

He argued that the new regulations will help to reduce the bystander effect when people see others in need of help but "they don't want to get involved, thinking that others will take care of it".

He said China can be called a harmonious society when every citizen takes individual social responsibility.

However, he stressed that the government should carefully check each case to prevent people doing good deeds only for the benefits.

Ge Daoshun, an expert of social policy with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said providing rewards for people's brave acts is necessary given that China's social security network is yet to be established.

The government should speed up perfecting the social security system, which should move forward from solving the survival issues of the poorest to protecting every citizen's basic welfare, he said.

Contact the writer at hedan@chinadaily.com.cn.

A Tianlian I-03 satellite was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province on Wednesday night, completing the country's first data relay satellite network.

The network will be crucial to the manned space program, which aims to build a space station around 2020, experts said.

The satellite was launched on a Long March 3C rocket at 11:43 pm, according to the center.

Developed by the China Academy of Space Technology, under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, the satellite will join two orbiting predecessors to boost the network.

The first data relay satellite, Tianlian I-01, was launched in April 2008, and the second was launched in July 2011.

The center said the third satellite is expected to improve network coverage of measurement and control services for China's manned spacecraft as well as the planned construction of future space labs and a space station.

Liu Jin, deputy chief designer of the Tianlian I satellite project, said that scientists from the manned space program used to rely on ground stations and ships to track and control spacecraft.

But these methods only allowed spacecraft to be tracked in just 15 percent of their orbit. For the other 85 percent, there was no communication between the spacecraft and the ground control, he said.

After the first two Tianlian I satellites were launched, coverage expanded to 70 percent.

In the latest manned space mission, the Shenzhou IX spacecraft and Tiangong-1 space lab module circled around the Earth every 90 minutes. Thanks to the two Tianlian I satellites, communication between Earth and orbiting craft can continue for more than 60 minutes in each circle, he said.

This, obviously, gave ground control more precise knowledge of the orbiting craft and the three astronauts, allowing it to provide better support, he said.

"It's crucial to China's manned space program," he said.

And after a space station is assembled in 2020, astronauts on long missions will be able to contact ground control at any time.

The network will also offer data relay services for medium and low-Earth orbits as well as measurement and control support for launches.

Wednesday's launch marked the 166th mission of China's Long March series of rockets.

Contact the writer at xindingding@chinadaily.com.cn.

Rainfall has battered Beijing's neighboring city of Tianjin, paralyzing traffic in downtown areas and submerging many roads, despite the city's precautionary measures.

The rain, which started on Wednesday evening, hit the northern part of the city the hardest. Dasi township in the suburban Xiqing district was the worst-affected area, receiving 34.5 centimeters of rain, according to the Tianjin Meteorological Bureau. The city received an average downfall of 14.7 cm.

Fearing a repeat of the mayhem experienced in the capital on Saturday, when the heaviest rain in more than six decades caused the deaths of at least 77 people, the Tianjin government was prepared for the predicted downpour.

According to Deng Fushun, director of the Tianjin Municipal Office of Civil Air Defense, the city practiced drills in the 16 districts and counties of the city on Wednesday to get ready for the emergency.

On Thursday the local fire prevention bureau sent 190 fire engines and 1,140 rescuers to help retrieve the vehicles and evacuate pedestrians stranded by the flood.

The rain has flooded many downtown streets, vehicles and even houses.

Dozens of vehicles were stranded on Baidi Road in Nankai district where many pedestrians had to walk in knee-deep water.

"The water in Xiangyang Street is waist deep," said Ma Lin, a resident in the district.

Cui Yang, from Hexi district in Tianjin, has failed to get the water out of his home, which flooded on Thursday.

"The water in my apartment has reached my knees," Cui said. "I have encountered a similar situation a few years ago and after all these years no local authorities have ever come to check the pipelines.

"In the next three hours, according to the latest weather report, we have to pack up and go to safer places," Cui said.

He Xu, an employee of DHL Express, was driving to his office in Beichen district of Tianjin at 9 am on Thursday when his car flooded.

"I have been bombarded with text messages from city authorities and online shopping companies warning of the downpour, but I did not expect the water would be this high," the 30-year-old said.

He said most workers were allowed to go home early on Thursday due to safety concerns and his company's services were suspended for a day.

Many restaurants in Tianjin closed due to flooding.

The subbranch of Go Believe on Nanjing Road, a famous brand of baozi (steamed stuffed bun), from Tianjin, flooded on Thursday morning but resumed business at about 12 pm when the water receded.

All 193 pumping stations in the city along with 24 temporary pumps, have been working, to prevent flooding, especially in low-lying areas and districts with poor drainage facilities, including Beichen district, Hongqiao district and Hebei district, the drainage department in Tianjin said.

The rain has also disrupted air traffic in the city.

Some 20 flights were canceled and 34 delayed. More than 5,000 passengers have been stranded at the airport because of the downpour.

The first flight, an incoming flight from Shanghai, landed in Tianjin after the rain subsided at 11:32 am and the first departing flight took off at 12:08 pm.

Railway transportation has not been affected, according to Jin Hua, a publicity officer at the Tianjin Railway Station.

The station has increased personnel to help the stranded passengers, said Jin.

According to the Tianjin Meteorological Bureau, because the heavy rainfall saturated soil in the mountains, it is important to be well prepared for possible geological disasters in the mountainous areas in the northern part of the city.

The downpour in the city has resulted in an economic loss of more than 140 million yuan ($22 million), with the direct economic loss in fields of agriculture reaching 137 million yuan.

Contact the writer at zhengxin@chinadaily.com.cn.

China has experienced a sharp rise in cybercrime and is seeing a new breed of Internet criminals as illegal sales of weapons and porn flourish online, a senior security official has said.

Gu Jianguo, director of network protection for the Ministry of Public Security, said cases of cybercrime have increased by an average of 30 percent each year since 2008.

Gu said authorities are seeing a new kind of criminal behavior in cyberspace, with an increase in the online sale of firearms and ammunition, wiretapping devices and fake professional certificates. Online gambling and pornography distribution are also on the rise.

"Traditional online crime, such as hackers stealing personal data, has gradually become less common," Gu said.

He said loopholes in supervision, low risks, big gains and hidden transaction channels were to blame for the increase in serious cybercrime.

"Crooks tend to consider the Internet as a safe and convenient haven where they can target victims," Gu said.

"Online crime, ranging from hackers invading government websites to the sale of illegal weapons, threatens social stability and information security," he said.

In May, authorities launched a campaign specifically targeting cybercrime.

The ministry said by the end of June police nationwide had uncovered 600 online criminal gangs, destroyed 500 illegal firearms factories that were selling their wares over the Internet and detained 10,000 suspects.

Police focusing on cybercrime removed 3.2 million pieces of illegal and harmful information from the Internet.

Between March and June, police investigated 5,600 cybercrime cases and cut 5,000 channels of communication such as e-mails and instant messenger accounts, being used by suspected criminals.

Police also investigated 2,600 public order violations, and issued administrative punishments to 3,000 people.

In the past two months, police across China uncovered 62 forums where firearms, explosives or pornography were being advertised for sale, including some run by popular websites such as chinanews.com and tianya.cn. Sites were either closed or ordered to make improvements within three months.

Gu said the cybercrime unit has worked together with other police units including criminal investigation, drug enforcement, economic crime and public security management units, to form a unified force.

Wang Xiaoyang, a senior police officer in network security and protection, said his team focuses on shutting down the illegal operators that provide criminals with their Internet connection.

"To fight cybercrime, authorities focused on illegal Internet service operators, which are believed to be the force behind many illegal websites," Wang said.

Gu conceded that authorities face challenges in tackling China's rampant cybercrime, "Some telecom operators simply don't check the legal qualifications of websites they host," Gu said.

According to the ministry, 83.5 percent of the illegal websites discovered were unregistered or falsely registered.

Gu said police will continue to crack down on online crime, and intensify the efforts to uncover illegal service units.

Contact the writers at zhangyan1@chinadaily.com.cn and xujingxi@chinadaily.com.cn.

Police in South China have detained a gang of hackers they believe are responsible for attacks on 185 government websites.

Police in Jieyang, Guangdong province, said the case is the biggest of its kind in recent years.

Suspects are accused of invading sites managed by authorities in 30 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions to help them to make and sell fake professional certificates.

"The gang tampered with official databases or added links to external databases so that if anyone checked up on the fake certificates, the client's name would appear," Chen Xiaoping, head of Jieyang police's cybercrime unit, said at a news conference.

"This caused great damage to the image of the government. Cracking the case has helped restore their reputation," said Xie Yaoqi, director of the public security bureau in Jieyang.

The city's office of personnel and examinations reported an attack on its website on Dec 8, after finding a link had been illegally added.

This led police to seven suspects selling fake certificates in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, and in Guangdong's Heyuan. This in turn led to the discovery of a network of connected hackers, certificate forgers, advertisers and personal data collectors scattered across at least 12 provinces.

As of July 12, police had arrested 165 people, confiscated more than 7,100 fake certificates and at least 10,000 fake seals, and are still hunting for more members of the gang.

The fake certificates were sold at between 4,000 and 10,000 yuan ($626 and $1,565), police said. The profits generated surpassed 300 million yuan.

Chen said 14 principal suspects were under the age of 30.

"They have a strong idea on how not to get caught," he said. "They used overseas servers and bank accounts of strangers, whose details were bought online."

One of the suspects, Luo Pangjie, who has admitted being a part of the gang, said he had been earning 3,000 to 5,000 yuan a month for transferring personal data to hackers since mid-2010 but he claimed he had no idea it was being used to sell fake professional certificates.

"It was easy money," the 24-year-old from the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region said during an interview with reporters at a detention house.

Xu Haibin from the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, who at 18 is the youngest suspect, admitted hacking government websites for 300 to 1,200 yuan a time, according to police.

Chen said hackers in the past attacked government websites to show off their skills but now do it to make money.

Cracking down cybercrime calls for efforts from not only the police, according to Xu Jianzhuo in the Ministry of Public Security's network security bureau.

"We need stricter supervision," he said. "We need laws and regulations to strengthen the obligations of Internet service providers to verify users' information.

"It's difficult to collect evidence for cybercrimes." Xu said real-name registration has not been genuinely put into practice. A user can still get registered with a fake name and someone else's ID number. The online service provider will not verify the name and the number.

While websites in Europe and the United States are required to maintain records of visits for 12 months, websites in China are only required to maintain records for 60 days, Xu said.

The large-scale hacking of government websites has also exposed the huge market for fake certificates in China. Jieyang police claimed that more than 30,000 people bought fake qualifications made by the gang, which specialized in certificates including medical care, financial services and architecture.

Contact the writers at xujingxi@chinadaily.com.cn and zhangyan1@chinadaily.com.cn.

The parents of Wang Hao, an intern at the No 1 Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University who was killed by a patient in March, are asking for 864,400 yuan ($135,000) in compensation from the defendant.

On Wednesday morning, the Harbin Intermediate People's Court in Heilongjiang province heard the case of an 18-year-old suspected of stabbing Wang to death and injuring three doctors at the hospital on March 23.

The local procuratorate, or prosecuting office, accused Li Mengnan of intentional homicide.

The court did not reach a verdict on Wednesday.

Li traveled from his home in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region to the hospital for treatment for his inflammation in his vertebrae on March 23. His grandfather accompanied him during the trip.

The doctor in the rheumatology department of the hospital told Li that Remicade, the medicine to treat the inflammation, would worsen his tuberculosis, and said Li should be treated for tuberculosis before taking the medication.

Li went back to the hospital that afternoon with a knife, and attacked Wang and his three colleagues, according to authorities.

The 28-year-old intern died after being stabbed in the neck. The forensic examination showed that Wang's jugular vein was severed and he bled to death.

The prosecutors have said Li should be punished lightly because he was under 18 when he did the attack.

Under Criminal Law, people older than 14 and under 18 should receive lighter punishments if they are convicted of a crime.

Li Fangping, a lawyer from a Beijing law firm, who defended Li Mengnan for free, said he hopes the court would consider the reason for his client's action.

According to a written statement provided by Li Fangping, Li Mengnan had been to the hospital several times to treat his inflammation and had once received Remicade injections, but these were stopped because of his tuberculosis.

"The hospital didn't tell Li that Remicade would have serious side effects when they gave him the injections, and thus worsened his tuberculosis," said Li Fangping. "On March 23, Li went to the hospital for the sixth time. The behavior of doctors caused him to become irritated, and that is why he killed and injured people."

Chen Zhihua, lawyer for Wang's parents, disputed Li's argument.

"This case is not about medical disputes. The hospital did nothing wrong," said Chen. "The defendant hasn't provided any valid evidence to prove the hospital's liability. What's more, whether the hospital did anything wrong should not be a factor in the criminal trial."

Chen said two other doctors wounded in the attack, Wang Yu and Zheng Yining, also sued Li.

Li stabbed Wang Yu through the right eye socket, causing serious injury. Zheng Yining's face, right ear and right arm were injured.

The total compensation claims reached more than 1.31 million yuan, according to dbw.cn, a Heilongjiang-based news portal.

Li Fangping said he was very sorry for Wang's parents and other victims, but Li Mengnan's family is financially challenged. "His father is serving a prison sentence, his mother left the family when he was 10 months old. He was raised by his grandfather. They don't have any savings and owe nearly 70,000 yuan in medical bills for his grandfather's cancer."

Chen said the court is expected to reach a verdict in two weeks.

Contact the writers at wangqingyun@chinadaily.com.cn and zhouhuiying@chinadaily.com.cn.

From January to April, the water quality of all sections along the eastern route's trunk canals increased to Grade III, the minimum standard for drinking water after necessary treatment, according to the State Council's Office of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project Commission.

Also, nearly 90 percent of monitored cross sections along the eastern route met mandatory water quality standards during the same period.

"For the eastern route, pollution control is the key to success as years of industrial pollution in the surrounding areas led to the extreme decline of local water quality," Shi Chunxian, an official on environmental protection of the SNWD project office, told China Daily.

The SNWD project, the world's largest water diversion project, is designed to take water from the massive Yangtze River in the south to meet demand in drought-prone cities in the north, via three water-diversion routes.

By 2013, the project's eastern route will transfer water from Jiangdu, Jiangsu province on the Yangtze River into Shandong province along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.

The SNWD project office has long been concerned about the contamination of water quality in the two provinces from the industrial boom, domestic sewage from rural areas and shipping on small wharves.

All of the 426 pollution prevention projects, with a total cost of 15.3 billion yuan ($2.4 billion), have been implemented to improve water quality on the eastern route, according to the SNWD project office.

"The pollution control tasks on the eastern route are the most formidable that I have ever seen," said Zhang Bo, head of the Shandong Environmental Protection Department.

The number of paper companies in Shandong was reduced by 70 percent from 2002 to 2010, while chemical oxygen demand, a major indicator used to measure water pollution, decreased by 62 percent, according to the department.

"But the closure of such a large number of companies has not caused an economic loss in the local paper industry. The current companies are highly competitive and have mostly adopted environmentally friendly technologies to curb pollution," Zhang said.

For example, paper output in Shandong in 2010 was 2.5 times larger than in 2002, he said.

Zhang said a comprehensive pollution control scheme that combines pollution management, wastewater recycling and biological environmental protection has been launched.

The recycled wastewater is now utilized for city afforestation, cleaning and agricultural irrigation, he said.

A 50- to 100-meter-wide green belt has been built around the Nansihu Reservoir in Shandong to prevent pollution.

The reservoir was once known for its severe pollution. But as of April, its water quality was close to Grade III - a dramatic improvement from "worse-than-Grade-V" in 2006, local official figures showed.

More than 200 species of birds dwell on the reservoir, while some fish that had disappeared for many years have returned.

A local resident surnamed He, who lives near a small wharf in Xuzhou, Jiangsu province, told China Daily that his quality of life has improved since the wharves closed.

"I used to close my windows to keep out the noise and coal cinder. But now those troubles are gone. A leisure square will be built soon at the original place of the wharves," he said.

"Many efforts will be made to curb pollution in rural areas in the future, such as building more small-scale sewage treatment plants to prevent any pollution incidents from occurring when the eastern route starts to supply water next year," said Guo Peng, an official in charge of environmental protection on the eastern route from the SNWD project office.

Vast amounts of water will be supplied to the country's arid northern regions within the next two years, when the first phase of the project's eastern and central routes is completed.

So far, 161.7 billion yuan, or 73 percent of its total investment, has been used, official figures showed.

Contact the writer at jinzhu@chinadaily.com.cn.

On Saturday, the 25-year-old man saved more than 170 people who had been trapped by floodwaters on a section of the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway.

"I got out of my car really quickly after I saw it was waterlogged and that the rain wasn't going to be stopping for a long time," said Liu, who works in Beijing's Changyang township, managing the affairs of people who lack residence permits. "I ran up to a patch of higher ground that happened to be next to that particular section, which is about 500 meters below the expressway's Nangangwa Bridge."

Before escaping from his car at about 7 pm, Liu had been driving to Beijing's central business district from his home in the city's Fangshan district.

"The section was in a depression and was jammed with traffic," he said. "Many of the cars there were waterlogged and many of the people were helpless. I didn't think twice. What I really wanted to do was to save more of them. So I shouted at some of the people I saw and asked them to climb onto their cars' roofs as quickly as possible.

"In the meantime, another five drivers escaped from their vehicles and they helped me find some things around that place that we could use in the rescue."

Fortunately for him, members of a construction team were working about 400 meters away from the bridge. Liu asked some of them to help.

"I told them how dangerous the section was and said it was a matter of life and death," he said. "Suddenly, about 200 of them agreed to join me and showed that they really were willing to help these stranded people."

As the rescuers ran to the inundated section of the expressway at 9 pm, carrying eight life buoys, two ropes and several flashlights, the downpour continued, unleashing swift currents.

By then, the water flooding the expressway section had risen up to the thighs of people who were standing on the roofs of vehicles, among which were three buses, Liu said.

"I tied one end of a rope to a tree that was up in a higher place and, with the other end and some life buoys, swam to the stranded vehicles."

The rescue did not go as smoothly as Liu had expected. Some of the trapped people snatched at his rope without awaiting their turns and refused to heed his instructions.

Liu told them he was a police officer, and said that older people, women and children should be the first to leave the dangerous section.

"I had to pretend I was a policeman," he said. "That was the only way to get these people, who were panicking, to pay attention and calm down."

Liu had once served in the army, an experience he found to be of great value on Saturday.

"I learned about rescuing people when I was a soldier," he said. "And I knew the most important thing for me to do was to first try to help the people who were weakest."

One of the men Liu rescued was in his 20s and had just undergone surgery in Beijing. When the disaster struck, he was on a bus with his grandmother, both on their way back to their home in Shanxi province.

"She at first wouldn't let me rescue the young guy and insisted on staying with her grandson," he said.

"I pushed a life buoy down onto the poor guy's body and asked a worker to help get him up to higher ground. I also tried to comfort the old woman by telling her everything would be all right."

Liu also rescued a pregnant woman and an elderly man who had suffered a cerebral thrombosis.

"Actually, I had no time to think about how dangerous these rescues were," Liu said. "All I knew was that I wanted to save more people."

He said he also made it a point to comfort people who were frightened and to try to maintain order.

When people stranded in the expressway section started trying to move to higher ground, workers were often there to guide them with the use of flashlights. Others escorted the recently rescued to a small yard used by the construction team.

"The workers even carried weak people to safety on their backs and gave us rooms to rest in," Liu said.

The work ended at about 2 am on Sunday when military and police crews from the city's center arrived at the expressway with food and drinks.

During the rescue, Liu's father tried to call him many times but couldn't get through until Sunday morning.

"I knew my family was worried about me," Liu said. "I left my phone in the yard so it wouldn't interfere in the rescue work."

Zhao Shan, 26, one of Liu's colleagues, was not surprised to learn that Liu had saved people on the expressway.

He said Liu's willingness to help others has a lot to do with his character and with the place he works.

"Liu is an outgoing and brave man who shoulders responsibility," Zhao said.

"He likes helping others. His work has him talking with all different sorts of people. That has helped to make him really good at communicating."

Yu Yaping, director of the municipal flood prevention authority's information office, praised Liu's rescue work and said now is a good time to teach people how to rescue themselves in disasters.

"After all, professionals need time to conduct rescues," he said.

"So it's essential to learn how to save their time by knowing how to rescue yourself."

Contact the writer at caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn.

China on Tuesday established the city of Sansha on Yongxing Island in the southernmost province of Hainan.

Sun Shaochi, vice-minister of civil affairs, announced the State Council's approval of the establishment of the city at a ceremony.

Luo Baoming, Party chief of Hainan province, said in a keynote speech that Sansha was established to administer the Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha islands and their surrounding waters in the South China Sea.

"The provincial government will be devoted to turning the city into an important base to safeguard China's sovereignty and serve marine resource development," he said.

He said the main task now is to build up political power in Sansha to ensure efficient administration.

A ceremony to mark the city's establishment began on Tuesday morning in a square in front of the city government's main building, located on Yongxing Island, a part of the Xisha Islands and the largest island in the area.

The national flag was hoisted while the national anthem played after the signboards of the Sansha city's government and the city's committee of the Communist Party of China were unveiled.

A military garrison was also established on Tuesday in the city.

Xiao Jie was elected on Monday the first mayor of the newly established city in the first session of the Sansha People's Congress held on Yongxing Island.

Xiao, 51, was head of the Hainan Provincial Agriculture Department.

Fu Zhuang, 56, former deputy director of the Hainan Provincial Civil Air Defense Office, was elected director of the Sansha People's Congress Standing Committee, the city's legislative body.

The legislative conference also elected three deputy mayors, head of the city's intermediate people's court and head of the city's procuratorate, or prosecuting office. It also elected another five members of the Sansha People's Congress Standing Committee.

"It's a great honor to be the first mayor of Sansha, and it's also a brand new mission, challenge and test for me," said Xiao.

The first Sansha government will be devoted to administrative management, economic development, people's livelihoods and environmental protection in the coming five years, Xiao said.

The deputies to the legislative body should make positive contributions to the management, development and protection of the islands as well as the sea waters surrounding Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha, said Fu.

Forty-five deputies to the Sansha People's Congress attended the session and cast their votes. The deputies were elected by about 1,100 residents from the Xisha, Nansha and Zhongsha islands on Saturday.

The State Council in June approved the establishment of Sansha, a prefecture-level city in Hainan province.

The Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao expressway reopened to traffic shortly before noon Tuesday after workers finished moving 81 vehicles that had been abandoned during Saturday's massive downpour.

Ten divers and hundreds of rescuers spent two days pulling submerged cars off the expressway in Beijing, rescuers said. A 900-meter-long section of the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao expressway was submerged in water 4 meters deep, the municipal government said. One lane heading out of the city was still closed on Tuesday.

Saturday's rainstorm, the worst to hit Beijing in 61 years, left 37 people dead and forced the evacuation of 77,325 others.

At a late-night meeting shortly before midnight Monday with high-ranking municipal officials, Beijing Mayor Guo Jinlong said top priorities are releasing the disaster death toll as quickly as possible, returning evacuated residents after roads and houses are repaired, and compiling a detailed estimate of the damage.

The municipal government has allocated 100 million yuan ($15.7 million) for a relief fund for those who were evacuated, families of those who died, and other affected households that are struggling financially because of the floods.

Donation centers under the Beijing Civil Affairs Bureau have sent 8.61 million yuan in relief goods to the worst-hit districts, including Fangshan, Tongzhou, Mentougou and Fengtai, said Huang Yong, an official from the donation center.

Summer clothes and blankets are in short supply. Residents are encouraged to donate unused ones because distribution teams on the field are ill-equipped to disinfect old clothes, he said.

On Tuesday, the capital called for public donations to support the 1.9 million people affected by the flooding. Dozens of charitable organizations in Beijing are seeking donations, and promising to use the money exclusively for disaster relief.

The government in Shifang, Sichuan province, has donated 1 million yuan.

Damage to vehicles has been staggering. The China Insurance Regulatory Commission Beijing Bureau said insurance companies in the capital had received 27,459 claims on vehicles that had been damaged by the floods, with total compensation claims projected to be 220 million yuan.

Meanwhile, the Railway Administration of Beijing sent more than 1,000 workers to repair waterlogged railway lines and several parts of the Beijing-Yuanping rail tracks covered by mudslides. The entire network resumed normal operations mid-Monday afternoon. Temporary passenger trains have been bringing to Beijing more than 12,000 people who were at tourist sites where transportation, telecommunications and electricity were cut.

Nationwide, torrential rains have ravaged 22 provincial-level regions since July 20, leaving 111 dead and another 47 missing, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said on Tuesday.

As of 2 pm Tuesday, natural disasters caused by the downpours have affected nearly 9.2 million people in 353 counties and forced the evacuation of nearly 1.18 million people, the ministry said in a statement.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at liyao@chinadaily.com.cn.

The Three Gorges Dam experienced a flood crest, the largest since it began storing water, between Tuesday night and early Wednesday, but flood control authorities promised the dam was safe.

The dam, the world's largest hydropower project, saw its biggest flood this year as water from the Yangtze River's upper reaches gushed at 71,200 cubic meters per second into the dam's reservoir at 8 pm on Tuesday, raising the water level to nearly 160 meters, according to China Three Gorges Corp.

The peak water level in the dam's reservoir increased from 157.34 meters at 2 pm, when water flow through it reached 70,000 cu m per second, it said.

In a major effort to reduce flooding on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, water was released at a rate of 43,000 cu m per second on Tuesday afternoon, it said.

The dam began to store water in 2003, when the maximum water level in its reservoir was 135 meters, and it became fully operational in 2010, when the maximum level increased to 175 meters.

In 2010, a great flood hit the Three Gorges Dam, raising the water level in the reservoir to 161.01 meters, according to the Changjiang (Yangtze River) Water Resources Commission.

The current flood crest represents the biggest challenge the dam has faced, but it poses no threat to the safety of the dam, Zhao Yunfa, deputy director of the China Three Gorges Corp's cascade dispatch center, told China Daily.

"In preparation for the surging flows of water, the dam has increased its water release from 38,000 cu m per second to 43,000 cu m per second since Saturday, leaving sufficient room to store water," he said.

Boat traffic in the area has been suspended. All of the Three Gorges' ship locks were closed on Monday night, forcing more than 700 vessels to drop anchor, the Changjiang (Yangtze River) Water Resources Commission said at a news conference on Tuesday.

The latest flood crest came after heavy rains hit upstream areas of the Yangtze River beginning on Friday.

Steady rains caused water levels in several rivers in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River to exceed warning levels, and the Cuntan section witnessed the most flooding since 1981, the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said on Tuesday.

By Tuesday, downpours had forced the evacuation of about 216,000 residents in Sichuan and Chongqing, it said.

The flood peak hit 11 districts of Southwest China's Chongqing municipality on Tuesday, causing a direct economic loss of 710 million yuan ($111 million), according to a statement from the municipal flood control and drought relief headquarters.

The flood peak is the largest experienced by the main urban area of the municipality since 1981, according to the flood control authority.

The flood submerged riverside roads and restaurants in the municipality's Yuzhong district, which is located close to the downtown area.

Although authorities issued alerts to local residents and business owners before the flood, the flood peak still caught many off guard.

"It has been many years since the water rose this high," said Zeng Kaicheng, who runs an automobile-repair plant beside the Yangtze River in the Yuzhong district.

Zeng said authorities alerted him in advance, but he thought the floodwater would not affect him.

By around 8 pm on Monday, Zeng realized the flood was larger than normal, but it was already too late. He loaded some household appliances into his car and left. By 9 pm, floodwaters had submerged his plant.

The sidewalks along the river in Yuzhong district were packed with desks, chairs and cooking utensils from riverside hotpot restaurants, the roofs of which were barely visible.

On Tuesday, tens of thousands of people flocked to Chaotianmen Square, where the Yangtze River and the Jialing River converge, for a view of the flood peak in the Yangtze River.

Contact the writer at jinzhu@chinadaily.com.cn.

A new national database has been hailed as a major step toward allowing couples on the Chinese mainland to get married where they live, rather than where they have their permanent residence.

Until now, couples had to register their nuptials in the place where they hold hukou, or permanent household registration.

However, the database, which went into operation at the end of last month, will make it possible for people, including migrant workers, to file the paperwork anywhere, Yu Jianliang, director of social affairs for the Ministry of Civil Affairs, said at a news conference in Beijing on Tuesday.

"That is our ultimate goal," he said, "but it takes time to amend the laws and regulations to realize that goal."

The national database will connect databases in 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and will store the marriage records of every citizen, which will help the government to better manage population information and prevent marital fraud, Yu said.

Starting this month, every marriage and divorce registered with civil affairs departments nationwide will be digitized and stored in the national database.

The civil affairs authorities will also speed up digitizing marriage status information of people whose marital information was recorded manually on paper on the Chinese mainland since 1949, Yu said.

The establishment of a national online database will effectively prevent marital fraud, said Jiang Yongping, a researcher at the Women's Studies Institute of China under the All-China Women's Federation.

In the past, the lack of a national database gave people a chance to conceal their marital status and illegally marry more than one person at the same time, Jiang said.

She said that this move will better protect women's rights, arguing that studies have showed that most of the time women are victims of bigamy in China.

"In addition, collecting and analyzing such information will help the government and other policymakers to better understand the characteristics of people's behaviors in marriage nowadays," said Ni Chunxia, director of the ministry's marriage registration division.

In the future, the ministry will share and exchange the marriage registration information with the courts, which handle about one-fifth of all divorce cases, and foreign affairs departments that register marriage for Chinese nationals married overseas, in order to keep the national database updated, Ni said.

Contact the writer at hedan@chinadaily.com.cn.

The 12 women, ranging in age from 19 years old to their early 30s, sang pop songs, read poetry and danced for hours outside the offices of Juren Education Technology Co in Haidian district.

An organizer of the event, who gave her name only as Li, said the demonstration's purpose was to raise awareness of the problems female job-seekers face.

"Discrimination takes place every recruitment season," said Li, a college student who traveled 20 hours from the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

"The problem has never been solved," she said. "I hope employers can hear our voices, ones from the grassroots."

The protesters targeted Juren Education because it is being sued for alleged sex discrimination.

A woman surnamed Cao, originally from Shanxi province, filed her case with Beijing's Haidian district court.

Cao claims a human resources employee at the company told her she had been rejected for an office assistant's job because it was a "man-only" position.

China Daily was unable to contact a court spokesperson on Tuesday.

Cao's allegations prompted Li to start a related online discussion group, which she said now has more than 100 members.

Zheng Churan , 23, a recent graduate of Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, sympathizes with Cao.

"I majored in sociology, giving me many opportunities to read data about sex discrimination in the workplace," she said.

"Boys in my class have found it much easier to get a job than the girls. Most boys got offers in winter, but girls are still waiting in April."

A human resources employee at Juren Education Technology Co who declined to reveal her name said she had no information about Cao's allegations.

A 33-year-old employee in the company's curriculum-development department who gave her name only as Wu said she believes everyone is treated equally during recruitment.

"As an education company, we do have more women than male workers," she said, adding that she started work with the company last year.

The head of the company was unavailable for comment.

Liu Xiaonan, an associate professor at China University of Political Science and Law, who specializes in labor discrimination, said the case could be the first lawsuit filed over job-recruitment sex discrimination since the Employment Promotion Law went into effect in China.

Liu said the demonstration will raise social awareness of the issue.

"The protest brings pressure on all employers, and reminds them to treat their employees equally," Liu said.

Contact the writer at luowangshu@chinadaily.com.cn.

Most scenic spots in Beijing got through the storm on Saturday unscathed, but rain continued to lash neighboring Hebei province, killing at least 17 people by Monday.

Meanwhile, the highway linking Beijing, Hong Kong and Macao remains blocked.

Some lamp poles, guardrails, signboards and parking lots were damaged by the worst storm in the capital in more than six decades, and the government is repairing them, Beijing tourism authorities said on Monday.

The worst-hit tourist sites included Shidu, Badachu Park and Tongzhou Grand Canal Forest Park, Yu Debin, deputy director of the Beijing Tourism Development Committee, said at a news conference on Monday.

Lu Yong, the committee's director, warned the public to stay away from undeveloped mountainous areas because Beijing might get another rainstorm on Wednesday.

"We will restore the warning and direction signs that were damaged by the storm as soon as possible, but we're also advising tourists not to go to dangerous places," Lu said.

Lu said the storm, which killed at least 37 people in the city, will not seriously hurt Beijing's tourism industry.

Liu Wenbo, director of the administrative office of Badaling special zone, where the famous Badaling section of the Great Wall stands, said "not fewer" tourists visited the scenic spot over the weekend than before.

"The rainfall here was not as serious as it was downtown," he said.

Famous downtown tourist sites, such as the Palace Museum, the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace, were not damaged by the torrential rainfall, according to the Beijing Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage.

China CYTS Tours Holding said its business in the capital was not affected because most of the scenic spots and routes are in the northern part of the city, where storm damage was not as bad as in the southern part.

A bus driver for a private transportation company in Hebei province that carries passengers from Beijing to Hebei's capital, Shijiazhuang, said no trips have been canceled or prices increased despite the rain.

However, he has to take a different route because the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway was still blocked on Monday. That was the only highway still flooded in Beijing, according to the committee.

"The detour adds an hour to the trip between the two cities," said the driver, named Fu.

The storm that hit Beijing on Saturday ravaged neighboring Hebei on Sunday and Monday.

At least 17 people have been confirmed dead and 21 missing in Hebei, the provincial civil affairs bureau said on Monday.

Eleven thousand tourists and 2,700 rural residents are still stranded in Laiyuan, Laishui and Yixian counties, as roads leading to rural tourists attractions remain blocked and telecommunications cut off.

The rain has brought floods and hail to 56 counties in Hebei, and nearly 160,000 people were evacuated over the weekend.

Hebei's Yesanpo tourist resort was one of the worst hit areas.

Thousands of tourists, who were short of water and cut off in traffic and communication, have been taken away from Yesanpo, according to the micro blog of Laishui county, where Yesanpo is located.

Contact the writer at zhengxin@chinadaily.com.cn.

Li Yaohong lost her entire family in a car accident in March. Now she could lose everything they left behind.

The 33-year-old is embroiled in a legal battle to claim the assets and savings her sister and brother-in-law had built up, a total of almost 3 million yuan ($470,000), before their tragic death in Heilongjiang province.

According to a loophole in the law, the sum will instead go into government coffers because Li's 6-year-old niece, who was traveling in the same car at the time of the accident, survived her parents by just a few hours.

"The inheritance process begins at death, so theoretically the little girl automatically inherited her parents' property when she was on the way to hospital," explained Shao Xiaoyan, Li's attorney.

China's Inheritance Law states that the only people eligible to inherit the assets of a person who dies without a will are the deceased's spouse, children, parents, siblings or grandparents. The list does not include aunts and uncles.

Property that cannot legally be claimed goes to the government, or the collective ownership that the deceased was a member of, which mostly occurs when a death occurs in a rural community.

"Being the dead couple's only child whose grandparents had already passed away, she (Li's niece) technically had no inheritors," Shao said, adding that her parents owned an apartment, a car, and had savings at the time of their death.

She said Li's case illustrates that the 27-year-old inheritance code no longer meets the needs of the socioeconomic situation of the country, a place without a tradition of making wills but with growing private property and nuclear families with only one child.

Both the Beijing High People's Court and the capital's civil affairs bureau were unable to provide data on how many disputes have arisen from people dying without wills.

Analysts said the lack of statistics indicated an unawareness of the emerging issue, which could one day deprive relatives of their legal property.

Lawmakers expect the issue to be addressed by the country's legislature this year.

The National People's Congress Standing Committee, China's top legislative body, has initiated the task to amend the law, said Wang Shengming, director of the Civil Law Office of the NPC Standing Committee Legislative Affairs Commission.

Liang Huixing, member of the NPC Law Committee and a civil law professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, submitted a proposed amendment to the Inheritance Law to the NPC in March.

Liang said he broadens the current 37 clauses to 90, and among other suggestions has urged the legislature to include more family members into the list of legal inheritors.

"We have more private property than before, but the family planning policy has made family trees much simpler. Many kids, especially in cities, don't even have a brother or sister," he said. He warned the clauses, if kept unchanged, will trigger more disputes in the future and result in an infringement on property rights.

Aside from increasing the number of legal inheritors, Liang has also proposed expanding the list of inheritable properties to include land use rights, insurance, shares and antiques collections.

He said the suggestions have been made in hope of plugging a loophole in the law, which lists inheritable objects as income, houses, forest, livestock, cultural objects, copyright and patent rights as well as other lawful property.

"The Chinese didn't have so many kind of property in the past when the law was legislated, and the list of inheritable properties should update along with socioeconomic change," he said.

Contact the writer at zhaoyinan@chinadaily.com.cn.

A Good Samaritan regulation has been placed on the legislative agenda to better protect those who lend a hand, the China Foundation for Justice and Courage said on Monday.

The Ministry of Public Security has submitted the draft for review by government departments and received support from the State Council Legislative Affairs Office, said Guo Yuying, secretary-general of the foundation.

Some cities such as Shenzhen have established Good Samaritan regulations, but Guo said a national regulation is needed because local governments apply different criteria to recognize and reward acts of bravery, Xinhua News Agency reported.

People who are badly injured or even disabled because of their heroic deeds are in particular need of legal protection and financial assistance. The General Office of the State Council will soon release a notice demanding greater efforts to help them, said Shuai Fugui, deputy-secretary-general of the foundation.

There are many cases where people are hurt or disabled while trying to help others and are left unable to work. More coordinated efforts are needed from multiple departments including civil affairs, finance and public securities to give these people financial support, Shuai said.

The new regulation should introduce uniform standards so that a Good Samaritan is recognized across the country and is entitled to adequate compensation and long-term assistance for severe cases, instead of a one-time award, said Guo Yanjun, a lawyer in Beijing.

Guo has been offering free legal services to Shi Fengxia, a widow who badly injured both her arms when she pushed two people out of the path of a falling window in Beijing's Xicheng district on March 29, 2010. The two people pushed to safety received minor injuries.

That act later brought Shi two certificates: one for being a Good Samaritan and the other for third degree disability. Despite about 90,000 yuan ($14,000) in compensation from the civil affairs office in Xicheng district, she had to rely on donations to receive treatment at a hospital in Beijing.

Without any other income, she returned to her native Xilin Gol League in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region and only goes back to Beijing occasionally for rehabilitation. Her 19-year-old son is going to college this year. Her sister and brother-in-law, both in their late 60s, take care of her.

Shi took the case to court, holding the tenant and the owner of the 17th-floor apartment from where the window fell responsible for the incident. As the tenant, surnamed Fan, denied any wrongdoing and the owner, Fan Juan, had been abroad, the case took an extraordinarily long time to resolve. In 2011 the court ruled the defendants pay 120,000 yuan in compensation to Shi.

In June, Shi received the first payment of 12,000 yuan, but the prospects of future payments at 3,000 yuan a month are uncertain.Back in Inner Mongolia, authorities in her hometown have denied her request for continued financial assistance because the incident occurred in Beijing, Guo said.

Good Samaritans like Shi should be encouraged to offer a helping hand and be given proper care when they can no longer work due to injury in their selfless rescue attempts, he said.

Guo said the legal procedures and compensation process for people like Shi should also be simplified, instead of letting them wait for months and sometimes even years for the case to settle.

Shi said she does not regret her heroic actions, but finds the process of asking for government assistance difficult.

"I don't regret saving other people. Because of my intervention, two lives did not perish before my eyes. I can sleep at night without nightmares," Shi said.

"I did not ask for too much. I just want some basic treatment when my condition worsens so that I won't be living in agony."

Contact the writer at liyao@chinadaily.com.cn.

An NGO that focuses on women's rights has urged authorities to look into allegations that several colleges have lowered their minimum entrance-exam scores only for boys.

In a letter to the Ministry of Education this month, Beijing Zhongze Women's Legal Counseling and Service Center argues that the practice allows schools to discriminate against female candidates.

"Many colleges, including prestigious ones, have set different admission grades based on gender without reasonable explanations," said lawyer Lu Xiaoquan, who was in charge of drafting the NGO's letter.

"It is more demanding for girls than boys, as they must get a higher grade in the national college entrance exam just to get accepted for the same major at the same school."

He said the letter, which was also addressed to the All-China Women's Federation, aims to raise awareness on this issue, and to demand a thorough investigation.

"A few universities claim the Ministry of Education had authorized them to set the admission grades based on gender," Lu said. "We hope for verification from the authorities."

Lu said the NGO has received no reply from the ministry or the federation.

According to the website of Beijing Foreign Studies University, the minimum admission score for girls in Beijing who apply as a German major at the university is 639, while for boys it is 598.

Renmin University of China, another prestigious college, has set a minimum admission score in the capital area in four language majors this year at 601 for boys but 614 for girls.

And this is not happening only in Beijing. According to the Education Examinations Authority of Guangdong province, many universities set different admission standards based on gender in 2012.

Li Xiangqian, director of admissions at Renmin University of China, told China Youth Daily that the purpose of lowering the boys' standards is to attract more male applicants.

"Otherwise, these majors will be left only to girls," he was quoted as saying.

However, Lu, of the Zhongze Women's Center, said there is no such benefit for girls in majors in which boys are the majority, such as mechanics.

Yuan Zhenguo, president of the National Institute of Education Sciences, disagrees that the issue is simply discrimination.

"It reflects the market demand," he said, adding that some jobs need men instead of women.

Zhou Haipeng, a recent graduate who majored in Arabic at Beijing Foreign Studies University, echoed the sentiment.

"Boys have an easier time getting a job in our major," the 22-year-old said, adding that the majority of his classmates end up working in companies related to the Arabic world.

However, Zhou said, in Arabic countries, many local people feel more comfortable working with men.

"Chinese companies respect the religion of their counterparts, who prefer male employees," said Zhou, who will start work soon at an international affairs office in the Guangdong provincial government.

Tan Songhua, a member of the State Education Counseling Committee, acknowledged that students are admitted with different grades in the same college entrance exam.

"The focus of the exam is memorizing, which girls are better at," Tan said.

Contact the writers at luowangshu@chinadaily.com.cn and chengyingqi@chinadaily.com.cn

Zhou Wa contributed to this story.

Experts have called for more professional training in dealing with emergencies for subway security check personnel after a deadly hostage situation in Beijing last week.

On Thursday night, a man held a female security check officer hostage at knife-point at exit B in Beijing's Line 10 Hujialou station. He was shot dead by a sharpshooter after police negotiated with him for more than 70 minutes, according to the Beijing Public Security Bureau.

On Sunday, a China Daily reporter found only two workers conducting security checks at exit B.

"Our job is still to observe passengers, asking those with bags to put their belongings through the X-ray machine," said a subway worker in his 20s who gave his name as Li. Both the workers said they had never heard about training for metro staff and that the work was the same as before.

The stationmaster declined to give details about the incident on Thursday and said no special changes had been made with the security check workers.

Wang Hongjun, director of public order administration research at the Chinese People's Public Security University, said on Sunday that young urban security workers in China get little training in dealing with emergencies.

"Security check training should be divided into two parts: how to distinguish dangerous articles and what measures should be taken when emergencies occur," Wang said, adding that not enough attention is given to the second part.

Most security check personnel are 20 to 30 years old, he said, and have insufficient experience to read passengers' expressions or behaviors.

"They've hardly had training in dealing with panicked passengers or negotiating with people who are violent or have bad intentions. It's a gap in subway management," he said.

"Meanwhile, subway security checks are a long-term, everyday event, not at all like those at major activities such as the Olympic Games and concerts," he said. "The latter require workers to pay attention only at a designated time and place; but the former may cause staff fatigue and inattention."

He said employees in foreign countries receive regular training and the training sessions are given in turns.

"When workers feel tired, they're sent to training classes, which not only helps alleviate the fatigue, it also improves their abilities," he added.

"We can't require each subway staff member to be active every day, but we should ensure that they are fully alert during the security checks," he said. "And the training content cannot be simple and repeated. Instead, it should absorb practical measures."

Zhang Zhuting, a professor at the Transport Management Institute under the Ministry of Transport, echoed Wang and said subway training has a long way to go because it needs sufficient investment from the government.

"Most subway workers are former college students without police knowledge, so big investment is needed if the government wants to train them," Zhang said, adding the huge workload must be a challenge for both trainees and trainers.

Chen Yang, 24, a student at Beijing Language and Culture University, who takes the subway every day, said she was not frightened by the hostage incident, but she worried about the staff's careless work.

"I've seen them chatting without monitoring the computer screen many times, which shows what's in passengers' bags, an important part of security check," she said, "It's very easy to let people carrying with dangerous weapons pass."

Contact the writers at caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn and zhengjinran@chinadaily.com.cn.

Shanghai police broke up an illegal banking network recently that involved 2 billion yuan ($314 million), local public security authorities said on Sunday.

The main suspect, identified only as Ge, 41, is accused of illegally making 2 million yuan in two years before he was detained, China Central Television reported, citing police.

The underground banking network had more than 20 accounts in Shanghai and Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Guangdong provinces, according to investigators from the economic crime investigation division of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau.

Ge, a Shanghai resident, had worked in a foreign bank for 15 years and accumulated clients in foreign trade, police said.

In 2010, he is alleged to have developed an illegal foreign exchange network, China National Radio reported.

Most of his clients are believed to have been mid-sized private trade companies that sought to illicitly convert foreign currency to RMB to evade taxes, according to China National Radio.

Police said they accidentally found out about the misdeeds while investigating another illegal banking case in December.

With cooperation from authorities in Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Guangdong, Shanghai police detained more than 20 people, including Ge, and froze the bank accounts, CCTV reported.

Underground banks are used mostly for money laundering and other illegal economic activities.

China's first law targeting money laundering took effect on Jan 1, 2007. The law demands financial and nonfinancial institutions to keep their clients' identity information and transaction records, and report large and suspect transactions.

Underground banking operations have disrupted China's foreign exchange management system and harmed the development of its banks, said Xia Weidong, deputy chief of the economic crime investigation division of Shanghai Public Security Bureau.

Since March, more than 240,000 economic crime cases have been filed and more than 140,000 suspects had been detained or prosecuted nationwide.

Contact the writer at jinhaixing@chinadaily.com.cn.

Foreigners are likely to find it easier to travel between Beijing and Tianjin, municipalities in North China, with the help of "expresspay cards" that were introduced on Saturday.

Foreign commuters can take the cards to special electronic sensors installed on turnstiles in railway stations and use them to buy tickets and check in for their trips. Before now, such travelers had to pay for their journeys either at ticket windows or online.

The cards were issued by the Ministry of Railways and Bank of China and were put into use on Saturday.

Foreigners with valid passports can apply for permission to use the plastic cards, which will be encoded with identifying information, and can be loaded with money in advance for buying tickets.

Applications for the cards can be submitted either to the Beijing Southern Railway Station or at five selected offices of the Bank of China in Beijing. The forms should be filled in with applicants' full names, passport numbers and telephone numbers. Travelers can call 95566 or 4008-368-368 for more information.

Robin Tsukada, a Japanese student at Tsinghua University whose parents live in Tianjin, said he has had trouble buying a ticket to Beijing, especially true on weekend evenings, when he tends to travel.

"Foreigners cannot buy tickets at automated ticket-selling machines," he said. "The machines don't recognize passports. And I can stand for hours at a window to get a single ticket during rush hour."

He said the cards will allow commuters to catch a train whenever they arrive at a railway station instead of restricting them to the train they bought the ticket for.

The high-speed trains that shuttle between Beijing and Tianjin, China's first intercity trains to travel at speeds of up to 300 km an hour, were introduced in 2008, just ahead of the Olympic Games. They take about 30 minutes to go from one city to the other.

About 200 trains travel the routes from 6:30 am to 11 pm daily. Even so, some passengers have to wait for hours before they can get a train on weekends and public holidays.

Besides the trains running between Beijing and Tianjin, travelers can also take the cards to the Ministry of Railways' sales website and ticket offices that have point-of-sale equipment to buy tickets for other routes.

Taiwan residents who have Mainland Travel Permit for Taiwan Residents can also apply for the cards.

Contact the writer at zhaoyinan@chinadaily.com.cn.

House prices rise in major Chinese cities

Twenty-five major Chinese cities saw a rebound in the price of new real estate projects in June, according to a report by the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday.

But of the 70 cities monitored by the bureau for real estate trends, 21 saw month-on-month price decreases of new homes in June and another 24 saw little change.

At the same time, 31 cities reported higher prices for established homes in June than in May.

In June, Beijing saw 0.3 percent month-on-month growth and both Shanghai and Guangzhou had 0.2 percent month-on-month growth in the price of new homes. Shenzhen in Guangdong province saw a 0.1 percent month-on-month decrease in this category.

The average price of new homes is still lower than last year, according to Ma Xiaoming, a senior statistician with the bureau.

And more than 80 percent of the surveyed cities reported year-on-year decreases of the average price of new and established homes.

China bans sales of mud snails

The Ministry of Health on Friday issued a ban on the sale of Nassariidae, small mud snails that have reportedly caused people to faint and vomit after eating them.

The snails mostly inhabit the southeastern coastal areas including Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong provinces. After eating them, people can feel the snails' poisonous effects within five minutes or up to four hours, according to the notice.

"Summer and autumn are high risk periods for Nassariidae poisoning. Food production and management companies are not allowed to purchase, process or sell these snails, and consumers should raise self-protection awareness and refrain from buying them," said the notice.

The poison, which comes from tetrodotoxin, a toxin usually found in pufferfish, has no known antidote, said the ministry.

Jiangsu

Over 50 aftershocks registered

A total of 53 aftershocks had been detected as of 7:30 am on Saturday after a 4.9-magnitude earthquake jolted East China's city of Yangzhou on Friday night, local officials said.

Most of the aftershocks were of a lower scale, with only four measuring between 3- to 4-magnitude, said Zhang Zhenya, deputy director and spokesman for the Jiangsu provincial earthquake bureau.

Seismic experts predict that a devastating earthquake is unlikely to occur, according to Zhang.

Friday's earthquake hit Yangzhou at 8:11 pm, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.

The quake left one person dead and another slightly injured as of Saturday noon, Zhang said.

An earthquake victim inspects damage at his shattered home. Jiang Nan / for China Daily

Sichuan

Rain-triggered flood hits major road

A torrential flood triggered by continuous rain has damaged parts of a major road in southwest China's Sichuan province, local authorities said on Saturday.

A 600-meter stretch of National Road 212 was destroyed around 6 am near the city of Guangyuan, halting traffic, said Liu Jiong, an official with the Guangyuan Transportation Bureau.

National Road 212 links Lanzhou, capital of Northwest China's Gansu province, with the municipality of Chongqing in the southwest.

No casualties have been reported so far, but local authorities estimated that the floods have caused direct economic losses of about 19 million yuan ($3 million).

Beijing / Shanghai

New iPad launched in China

The latest iPad made an uneventful launch in China after Apple Inc settled a lawsuit with a local company over ownership of the popular tablet computer's name.

A few dozen customers waited at Apple stores in Beijing and Shanghai on Friday. They were required to order iPads in advance online following a January incident in which people who wanted to buy the latest iPhone threw eggs and shouted at employees after managers canceled the opening of Apple's main Beijing store due to the large size of the crowd.

The Apple stores opened on time on Friday and there were no disruptions.

Apple cleared a potential legal hurdle to the release when it settled a dispute this month with a Chinese company, Proview Technologies, over ownership of the iPad name.

News Watch

Prep work begins on 2nd Beijing airport

A government official said on Friday that preparatory work is under way prior to government approval on the construction of a second airport in Beijing.

"The project to build a new airport in Beijing has not officially been approved by authorities. However, we aim to start construction as soon as possible," said Huang Min, director of the basic industries department under the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planning body.

China Daily - Xinhua - AP

Russia

Minister says defense cuts likely

Russia is likely to cut its defense spending in the next three years by about 20 percent, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Friday.

He said a decision on the cuts, representing about 200 billion rubles ($6.25 billion), was "likely" to be made soon.

Siluanov said his ministry had been trying to persuade the Defense Ministry to postpone the funding for some rearmament programs.

Russia's rearmament program, which was launched in 2008, envisaged spending 20 trillion rubles (about $680 billion) until 2020.

The 2012 defense budget is more than 880 billion rubles (about $28 billion).

Myanmar

1 dead, 10 missing after ferry sinks

Five university football players and their coach are among at least 10 people missing after a passenger ferry accident in northern Myanmar that left at one person dead.

The New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported on Saturday that 73 people were rescued in the accident in the Irrawaddy River in Kachin state.

People living along Myanmar's major rivers and in the vast southern delta region often travel and transport goods by boat because of the lower cost and the inaccessibility of many areas by road.

United States

Air Force rapist faces sentencing

An Air Force instructor convicted of raping a female recruit and sexually assaulting several others is due back in court on one of the nation's busiest training bases Saturday for the start of the sentencing phase of his court-martial.

Staff Sgt. Luis Walker, who faced the most serious charges in a sweeping sex scandal involving Lackland Air Force Base instructors, could be sentenced to up to life in prison and dishonorably discharged. A military jury convicted him Friday on all 28 counts he faced, including rape, aggravated sexual contact and multiple counts of aggravated sexual assault.

Bush will not attend convention

Former president George W. Bush will not attend the Republican convention next month, his office said on Friday, skipping Mitt Romney's expected coronation as the party's White House nominee.

Bush supports Romney and believes he would be a great president, "but he's still enjoying his time off the political stage and respectfully declined the invitation to go to Tampa," a spokesman said.

Bush has largely stayed out of politics and the public eye since leaving the White House in 2009 amid an economic crisis, an unpopular war in Iraq and growing budget deficits.

Japan

Under-reporting of radiation probed

Japan's health ministry said it would investigate reports that workers at the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant were urged by a subcontractor to place lead around radiation detection devices in order to stay under a safety threshold for exposure.

Japanese newspapers reported on Saturday that an executive from Build-Up, a subcontractor to the plant owner, told workers to cover the devices called dosimeters when working in high-radiation areas.

Indonesia

Fasting begins for Ramadan

Muslims have begun fasting for the start of the Ramadan holy month in Indonesia, Malaysia and elsewhere around Asia, but the somber occasion was marred in Thailand by two bomb blasts that killed one person and injured seven. Ramadan's start varies from Friday to Sunday because Muslim countries and groups use different ways of calculating when the new moon crescent is sighted.

Peru

Court trims ex-spy chief's sentence

Peru's Supreme Court has reduced the murder sentence of former spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos along with the sentences of 15 members of a military death squad also convicted in the killings of 25 people in 1991 and 1992.

President Ollanta Humala criticized Friday's decision and his justice minister, Juan Jimenez, called it "an embarrassment for the country."

News Watch

Hunt for ferry victims ends

Tanzanian authorities have halted rescue operations seeking missing passengers of an overloaded ferry that capsized this week. Government officials said on Saturday the final figures showed that 69 passengers died and that 77 were still missing - resulting in a total of 146 people now presumed dead.

Xinhua - Reuters

China will modify its model of cooperation with Africa to make infrastructure construction plans by subregion, instead of focusing only on individual countries.

Minister of Commerce Chen Deming made the remarks on Friday after a conference of China and 50 African nations.

"African countries are usually small ones, so infrastructure construction is often stopped at the borders," Chen told reporters.

"From now on, China will pay special attention to cooperation with African subregions. We will make overall plans on infrastructure construction in the subregions, taking the interconnection of roads, water, electricity and telecommunications networks into consideration and pushing forward bilateral cooperation in a market-driven way."

Ministers of foreign affairs and foreign economic cooperation from China and Africa attended the Fifth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

The ministerial conference has taken place every three years since 2000, when the forum was established.

During the two-day meeting, the delegates reviewed the implementation of tasks set in the last meeting in 2009 and explored new ways to deepen China-Africa relations and improve the forum's mechanism.

The forum also forged two documents at the meeting, including the Beijing declaration and an action plan for 2013-2015.

China and Africa prepared the cooperation documents for half a year, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told reporters after the ministerial conference.

"The conference conveyed a strong signal to the outside that China and Africa ... will unswervingly push forward solidarity and cooperation among developing economies," Yang said.

He also said that Beijing respects the right of Africa to choose its own partners. "Africa belongs to the African people. We respect them and hold very friendly emotions toward them," Yang said.

In fact, China's cooperation with Africa is not only helping the continent, but also inspiring other countries to cooperate with Africa, the foreign minister said.

President Hu Jintao announced at the opening ceremony of the conference on Thursday that Beijing will provide a $20 billion credit line to African countries over the next three years. This loan package is twice the amount of China's last pledge of aid to Africa in 2009.

He also said China will deepen cooperation on African security affairs and provide financial support in that regard, which experts said has been in line with trends on the African continent.

Other priorities of cooperation in the coming three years include expanding aid, supporting the African integration process and promoting civil exchanges.

"Yesterday we saw that China's promise (for the past three years) was delivered. The new program with the new strategic planning is very exciting, and Africa ... is expecting a lot from China," said Jean Ping, former chairman of the African Union Commission.

Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou told reporters after the conference on Friday that the priority areas in developing China-Africa relations "completely meet the expectation of African countries and African people".

Responding to criticism from Western countries that China is neo-colonizing Africa, Issoufou said neither Niger nor other African countries see it in that way.

"China and African relations are based on equality," he said.

lixiaokun@chinadaily.com.cn

It's a safe bet that most of the 200 or so countries competing in the London Olympics are already represented in the British capital, one of the world's most multicultural cities.

Yet one of London's oldest communities is trying not to get lost in the clamor.

Cockneys have been proud residents of London's East End for centuries - and they want to make sure the world knows it.

"I'm a Cockney and I'm proud to be one," said Lutfur Rahman, mayor of Tower Hamlets, an inner-city borough that stretches from the Tower of London, across the East End to the edge of the city's new Olympic Park.

Bangladesh-born and East End-bred, Rahman may not fit the traditional image of a Cockney, but he is calling for the Cockney dialect to be recognized as an official language of the borough, whose residents already speak 126 different tongues.

What is a Cockney?

Traditionally, a Cockney is anyone "born within the sound of Bow bells" - the bells of St Mary-le-Bow Church in the heart of medieval London. It's usually taken to mean a working-class native Londoner, or more specifically an east Londoner.

University of London linguist Sue Fox says the name comes from the Middle English for "cock's egg" - "a small, misshapen thing ... a misfit in society". A certain underdog combativeness has always been part of the Cockney character.

Cockneys speak in a distinctive accent, marked by elongated vowels and glottal stops - imagine the characters from the UK soap opera East Enders - and use a distinctive form of rhyming slang, in which "would you believe it?" becomes "would you Adam and Eve it?"

Cockney traditions flourished in the tightknit communities of the East End, but the area has been transformed since World War II, when thousands of homes were destroyed and thousands of people died in German bombings.

After the war, many East Enders moved further afield. The area, long a magnet for newcomers because of its proximity to the city's docks, now draws incomers from across Britain and around the world. Today's East End is a classic cultural mosaic, where traditional pubs sit alongside halal restaurants, art galleries and fruit and vegetable stalls. It's also a magnet for young people who come for jobs in London's traditional financial center, the City, and the new Canary Wharf business district nearby.

Pearly Kings

Tower Hamlets officials decided to do a bit of Cockney awareness-raising ahead of the Olympics, offering journalists traditional grub such as jellied eels and meat pies in an East End pub, in the company of so-called Cockney royalty, Pearly Kings and Queens.

These flamboyantly dressed figures, their black costumes covered in thousands of pearl buttons, are among the most recognizable Cockney symbols - Rahman called them "London's other royal family."

The "pearlies" have their origins a century ago in a street sweeper named Henry Croft, who adapted the button-festooned clothes worn by London costermongers - apple-sellers - to help draw attention to his charity fundraising. Today, pearlies across London don elaborately decorated hand-sewn outfits to raise money for charity.

Many pass their honorary Cockney titles on from parent to child. But they worry their traditions may soon be lost.

"We are dying out a bit," said Jimmy Jukes, the Pearly King of Bermondsey and Camberwell in south London. "Now London's a multicultural city, and people are bringing their own culture and their own way of life.

"We do try to bring new blood in, but a lot of people think we're just about fancy dress."

Changing Times

Some believe the distinctive Cockney brand of English is also in danger of dying out. In today's East End, the children of Somali and Bangladeshi immigrants speak with Cockney accents, but their slang is as likely to come from American jargon and Jamaican patois as Cockney argot.

Yet most Londoners recognize that "apples and pears" is rhyming slang for stairs or that "trouble and strife" means wife, even if they wouldn't use the expressions themselves.

Fox says trying to preserve the language is like trying to nail down water - it is always evolving.

"It has never been this pure linguistic variety," she said. "It is constantly in flux."

The area has changed, too, with long-term residents voicing the common bigcity complaints about atomization and anonymity.

"I can walk down this road - I've lived here 60 years - and I wouldn't know anyone," said John Proud, a lifelong East Ender. "It's the way of the world."

'Blitz Spirit'

But don't count the Cockneys out just yet. This is a community that's proud of its resilience. East Enders, after all, withstood the bulk of wartime bombing and personify Britain's "Blitz Spirit."

"We're pretty robust," said Vicky Groves, the 32-year-old Pearly Queen of Bow, an east London neighborhood. "Keep your chin up, keep on, muddle through."

And the ever-evolving Cockney language endures. A curry used to be widely known as a "ruby", short for Ruby Murray, a 1950s singer. The dish now has started to be known as an "Andy", after the tennis player.

A TV ad for potato chips bills it as the perfect snack "for when you're Hank Marvin" - or starvin'.

"I'm very proud to be a Cockney," said Groves, who has married into a family that boasts four generations of Pearly Kings and Queens. "It's where I'm from. It's who I am."

She hopes to share that culture with the world during the Games.

"All eyes are on London," she said. "I think it's great to be able to say we've got traditions that go back hundreds of years."

Associated Press

More radio interference is occurring during flights as planes and routes increase and more airports are built, a senior civil aviation management official said.

Small radio stations that illegally boost their signals are adding to the interference, an industry expert said.

Western regions in China report fewer radio-interference cases compared with other parts of the country, a division chief with the Civil Aviation Administration of China, who did not want to be identified, told China Daily on Friday.

"Radio interference can be dangerous because it could mean a temporary or longer connection outage between a plane and traffic management on the ground," said the official.

Zhao Yifei, a professor studying air traffic management at Civil Aviation University of China, said radio interference mainly comes from radio station signals.

Civil aviation radio has its fixed frequencies through which planes maintain contact with traffic management on the ground. But signal frequencies of the small radio stations are close to those used by civil aviation, and some radio stations, mostly small ones, interfere with aviation radio when they boost their signals without authorization, he said.

A recent case occurred on July 12, when the captain of a plane flying from the southwestern city of Chengdu in Sichuan province to Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei province, heard a pop song from a radio station at about 8 pm while talking to air-traffic management staff on the ground, the Wuhan Evening News reported.

On May 23, more than 10 flights were delayed in Guangzhou Baiyun airport in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong province, because of severe radio interference in Hubei airspace, according to the newspaper.

Hubei airspace has become the region most vulnerable to radio interference in central and southern China, said a publicity official from the province's air traffic management bureau.

"From January to June, 197 flights reported interference from radio signals while flying through Hubei airspace," said the official, who only gave his surname of Liu.

One pilot with two years of flying experience said he once experienced radio interference during a flight.

"I was en route from Beijing to a northeastern city last year, but when I was talking to the traffic management on the ground, I heard some broken conversations in my earphone," said the 27-year-old, who declined to give his name because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

"I'm not sure it was a radio program or a conversation between the captain of another plane and traffic management staff. The radio system returned to normal about half a minute later."

The pilot said each plane usually has two radio systems, and if one does not work, the pilot uses the other.

"If both of them had interference, we would have to find ways to get in touch with other planes nearby so as to help send our message to traffic management on the ground," the pilot said.

The official with the Civil Aviation Administration of China said it has two monitoring planes to detect radio interference.

"We will carry out regular inspections, once every two years in general, on nationwide airspace over airports so as to detect radio interference and eliminate it," she said.

Zhao Yifei, the professor, suggested more efficient regulation of radio stations in order to better ensure flight safety.

Contact the writers at chenxin1@chinadaily.com.cn and zhoulihua@chinadaily.com.cn.

While central government departments are busy releasing information about how many cars they maintain and how many overseas trips their officials made last year, a small town in Southwest China is setting an example by releasing details of every penny it spent.

The government of Baimiao township, in the Bazhou district of Bazhong, a city in Sichuan province, has posted detailed information on its monthly expenditures on both its bulletin board and its website, www.bzbmx.gov.cn, since January 2010.

Li Anguo, a farmer in Baimiao township, has found that a dwindling number of villagers gather in front of the bulletin board.

"There used to be hordes of villagers looking at the detailed information pertaining to what the township government spent on car fares, official banquets and travel expenses each month," the 67-year-old farmer said on Thursday. "The number of onlookers is on the decline now because posting the information on the bulletin board has become a monthly routine."

On the list of its expenditure last month, villagers could see that the township government spent 680 yuan ($110) on three meals to entertain officials from governments at higher levels, and on businessmen who were looking for business opportunities in Baimiao; and another 9,456 yuan on investment promotion in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, and in Shandong province. The names of people who approved and certified the meals and travel are on the list.

With the backing of leading officials in the Bazhong city government, Baimiao had its monthly expenditure publicized on the Internet two and a half years ago to ease public concern that the township government might spend government funds extravagantly.

"Thanks to public supervision, officials here have become more self-disciplined, and the township government can save between 30,000 and 40,000 yuan a year," said Zhang Yingshang, the township's Party secretary.

Zhang said the money saved has gone to poor families before the Spring Festival, to buy chickens and pigs for the poor to raise, and to improve the environment.

The township's 30 public servants got 210,000 yuan last year while the budget for this year is 260,000 yuan, he said.

The regular announcement on government spending has made the township well known by local businessmen who now consider the government to be clean.

"A total of 23 companies from Chengdu, Shanghai, Beijing and Guangdong and Shandong provinces have shown interests in investing here thanks to preferential investment promotion policies made by the Bazhong city government," Zhang said.

One such firm was a Chengdu-based company specializing in the extraction of medicinal components from honeysuckle. The firm set up a base in Baimiao late last year.

"Some 1,000 households are planting honeysuckle in Baimiao. And on average, each planter has earned more than 1,500 yuan by selling fresh honeysuckle to the base this year," said Tang Jitai, a farmer in Zhaoshan village of Baimiao.

His family of three have earned 33,000 yuan for selling honeysuckle this year. His son, a migrant worker, has come back to join him.

"With 10 villages and one neighborhood committee, Baimiao is home to 11,000 people whose annual average income was 3,393 yuan, according to the latest statistics conducted in 2009," Zhang said.

He said a daily average of 1,000 people click the Baimiao township government website. Many of them are locals working outside who want updates about news on their hometown.

A middle-aged native of Baimiao who had raised chickens in Beijing for six years went back to his hometown late last year to open a chicken farm after he heard that Baimiao has taken the lead in the country to make its expenditure transparent.

Trusting the township government, the man who only wanted to be identified as Xiang said: "I will increase the number of chickens in the farm from 50,000 to 500,000 in the next four to five years."

huangzhiling@chinadaily.com.cn

Ministerial-level authorities started on Thursday to release more information than they had before about how many cars they maintain and how many overseas business trips they sent officials on this past year.

The disclosures came amid public calls for more transparency in government accounting for the "three expenses": official vehicles, overseas trips and receptions.

Experts said the ministries' detailed releases can serve as examples for local governments, which tend to be more closed to public scrutiny.

Last year, most of the 98 ministerial-level authorities in China released general figures showing how much they had spent on the "three expenses". These were largely met with requests for information that better reflected reality.

On Thursday, at least 15 ministerial-level organizations again released data related to the three expenses, showing how many cars they have and how many delegations they have sent overseas.

The China Writers' Association, for instance, reported it spent 1.09 million yuan ($171,000) on receptions in 2011. It also received 10 visiting delegations consisting of 88 people that year.

The Ministry of Justice reported spending 4.14 million yuan on overseas trips in 2011. It said the trips were mainly undertaken to provide assistance in matters related to international justice, conduct negotiations over the transfer of criminals, prevent crime and promote cooperation.

The ministry said it sent 77 delegations, consisting of 167 people, on overseas business trips that year.

Meanwhile, the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's main economic-planning agency, said it spent 6.82 million yuan on official vehicles in 2011.

The money went toward the purchase of a car for 194,800 yuan, and maintaining 158 official vehicles, it said.

Operating those in 2011 cost 6.62 million yuan, or 41,900 yuan apiece.

The commission said the vehicles were used in the exchange of important documents, business trips in the city and supervision trips.

Some ministries disclosed information not only about themselves but also about divisions under them.

The Ministry of Water Resources, for example, said it and its 346 subordinate organizations spent 80.2 million yuan to operate 1,967 vehicles.

Lawmakers and legal experts praised the disclosures, saying they exhibited "significant progress".

They also expressed hope that local authorities will see the data releases as examples worth following.

"It shows a great change of attitude that so many ministries are taking this initiative and disclosing information," said Li Jingsong, a Beijing lawyer who wrote to 98 ministries last year to encourage them to reveal expense information. "They were really reluctant back then to do this.

"In ancient Chinese thinking, officials were supposed to be the parents of the people. They are now starting to understand, though, that they are servants of the people and that they have to report to the people."

Ye Qing, a deputy to the National People's Congress who has regularly called for reform in the use of official vehicles, also said the disclosures were more informative in 2012 than last year.

Both Ye and Li said the ministries' decision to release more data will push local governments to do the same.

"People can see how officials on the 10th floor are using their money," Li said. "Now they'll expect to know how officials on the first floor, the ones closest to them, are using it."

The State Council issued a directive in June asking governments above the county level to budget for the three expenses.

If officials are found to have mishandled the three expenses or to have used money from other budgets to pay for them, they can lose their positions, the directive said.

Contact the writer at wanghuazhong@chinadaily.com.cn

Chinese legislators are revising the Budget Law, which took effect in 1995 and currently does not require the government to release budget information to the public.

2009

The Ministry of Finance disclosed four lists of State-level budgets, including a breakdown of the State's revenues, for the first time after gaining approval from the National People's Congress.

2010

The number of budgets disclosed increased to 12, which included the central authorities' expenditures and a breakdown of transfer payments from central to local governments.

Meanwhile, 18 provincial-level regions released their budgets. Several provinces also released quarterly and monthly updates about their accounts.

2011

Almost all 98 ministry-level authorities disclosed their balance sheets, tables of financial transfer payments and spending on the "three expenses" - cars, official trips abroad and receptions.

2012

In the latest disclosures, more information about the "three expenses" has been provided, including the number of cars ministries maintain and the number of officials taking business trips abroad, as well as an explanation of how the authority plans its budget.

Within the next two years, all provincial-level governments will need to publicize their budgets and "three expenses" spending according to a State Council directive. They will also guide lower governments to follow suit in the future.

China Daily

He Qinghua, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference

Shark fin, bird's nest soup, caterpillar fungus and luxurious alcoholic beverages and cigarettes should be banned from official meals.

Zhang Yubiao, deputy to the National People's Congress and Party chief of Nanling village in Shenzhen, Guangdong province

Dining and touring excessively on public money should be included among criminal offences and made punishable by law.

Feng Pei'en, member of CPPCC National Committee and professor at Zhejiang University

An effective government disciplinary system, not punishment under criminal law, is enough to contain the 'three expenses'.

Wang Junfeng, member of CPPCC National Committee and chairman of the All-China Lawyers Association

As government spending on overseas trips, cars and banquets continues to make headlines, some observers are lobbying lawmakers to clarify the expenditures in the Budget Law.

Supporters said the inclusion of clear explanations will help with keeping a closer watch on the government's wallet.

Government spending on overseas trips, car purchases and maintenance, and receptions - collectively known as "three expenses" - has been questioned over the amounts involved and lack of transparency.

Central government departments spent 9.36 billion yuan ($1.47 billion) last year on the three expenses, and several ministries and departments have exceeded their approved budgets on the items, the Ministry of Finance said in a report in June.

But the report did not give a breakdown of the total cost, such as how many cars the government owns or other details of how the money was used.

Liu Jiayi, head of the National Audit Office, said the reason governments did not disclose many details is a lack of agreement among officials about what the three expenses are.

Although a regulation published in 2008 has required governments to release annual reports on the three expenses, China's Budget Law does not specifically put forward such a requirement or a request to cut the cost.

Shi Zhengwen, fiscal law professor at China University of Political Science and Law, said that because the three expenses are not clearly defined in the Budget Law, people hold various understandings of the phrase and of what should be included in the expenses.

He also said the lack of standards has enabled governments to put off their obligation to release details of spending on the three expenses and just release a general figure.

Shi said he has found hope in the latest regulation introduced by the State Council that is meant to improve government management and also address the issue of standardizing the definition of the three expenses.

The rules, due to take effect in October, are the country's first legal documents that ask governments above the county level to include spending on the three expenses in budgets. It asks governments to regularly publish the numbers and types of official vehicles, to set up guidelines for official receptions, and to limit the number of officials making overseas trips.

Ren Xiaolan, a professor at the Law School of Tianjin University of Finance and Economics, however, dismissed the idea of writing an explanation of the three expenses into the Budget Law, saying it would not be cost-effective.

"To clarify what constitutes the three expenses is important, but not necessarily in the Budget Law, since legislation can be very difficult and it usually takes a long time," she said.

Ren suggested instead to include the clarification in a lower-level regulation.

Contact the writer at zhaoyinan@chinadaily.com.cn

The first Chinese female astronaut, Liu Yang, captured the country's imagination when she took a trip to space in June and the nation is set to welcome a first female oceanaut in 2013.

China plans to recruit four to six oceanauts next year, and possibly the first female Chinese deep-sea explorer will be among them, as the male-only requirement is being lifted from the selection process, said Liu Feng, commander of the Jiaolong's 7,000-meter dive project.

The requirements for female and male oceanauts are the same and concern physical endurance and psychological strength, said Liu.

The National Deep Sea Center is working on new selection criteria, training program and assessment standards for future oceanauts, Xinhua News Agency quoted Liu Baohua, director of the center, as saying.

For female astronauts, the selection criteria are tough. They must, for instance, be married, for the influence space has on humans is still unknown. However, the marital status of potential female oceanauts will not matter, said Fu Wentao, one of the country's three oceanauts in the 7,000-meter dive project.

Liu Feng said women are often more cautious than men, which can be important in a deep-sea dive.

When a submersible, a vehicle similar to a submarine, reaches 200 meters below sea level, no sunlight can reach it and it becomes totally black outside. A cautious person is needed so they can be aware of any little changes in the dark, Liu Feng said.

However, women have to overcome many obstacles to become oceanauts, said Liu Xincheng, deputy director of the North China Sea Branch of State Oceanic Administration. Because the space in Jiaolong, China's manned submersible, is very small, only big enough for three people to sit together, going to the toilet can be difficult for women during a dive of more than 10 hours.

Fu, the 30-year-old oceanaut, took an empty bottle for long dives on the Jiaolong to urinate in. Bottles and paper nappies are used by oceanauts in a submersible instead of a toilet.

"It will be inconvenient for female oceanauts during long dives because there is no bathroom on board," Fu said.

Unlike the Shenzhou IX spacecraft, on which astronauts had separate sleeping areas and bathrooms, Jiaolong, which is 8.2 meters long and 3.4 meters high, only has enough space for three people to sit.

"From getting on board to coming out, you can stay in there for at least 12 hours, which poses great difficulties, physically and mentally," Fu said, adding that oceanauts do not drink water the night before a dive.

Cui Weicheng, deputy commander of the 7,000-meter dive project and Jiaolong co-designer, said a person's sex is not an obstacle for oceanaut selection, saying once on board, there are no men and women - just oceanauts and scientists. China now has three oceanauts - Ye Cong, Tang Jialing and Fu Wentao, all male.

In 2006, China began selecting oceanauts. The requirements are as tough as those for astronauts. An oceanaut must be familiar with the structure, equipment and control of a submersible. Until now oceanauts were required to be men, under 35 years of age and with a bachelor degree or above in shipbuilding, machinery or electronics. They also had to pass a rigorous physical exam.

As more oceanauts are expected to pursue a career in deep-sea diving, the country is also investing in new facilities for deep-sea exploration.

The construction of a new National Deep Sea Center is expected to begin in Qingdao, Shandong province, this year. With an estimated cost of 495 million yuan ($78 million), the center will provide technical support for the country's deep-sea exploration and development, said Liu Baohua, center director.

In June, China's manned submersible, Jiaolong, set a new national dive record after reaching 7,062 meters below sea level during its fifth dive into the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean.

In order to better use the submersible, Liu Feng said a 4,000-ton support ship will be built before 2015 and another manned submersible with a designed depth of 4,500 meters is also under construction.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at wangqian@chinadaily.com.cn

While the film director and explorer James Cameron was undertaking a 10,898-meter dive into the western Pacific Ocean in March, Fu Wentao, a 30-year-old man from Yueyang, Hunan province, was busy preparing for China's 7,000-meter dive project.

As one of three Chinese oceanauts, Fu said deep dives are the stuff of his dreams. On June 27, he had the opportunity to live them aboard the submersible vehicle Jiaolong.

Fu piloted Jiaolong to 7,062 meters below sea level - a record depth for China - taking it to the Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench. That dive made Fu one of 11 people in the world who have journeyed 7,000 meters under the sea.

"Although James Cameron went farther, we collected precious samples, surveyed the seabed and took videos and photographs of the amazing deep-sea world," Fu said.

And there were other differences.

The seabed Cameron reached consisted mostly of a bleak terrain. Fu's dive, in contrast, brought him into the midst of a colorful environment, one that was home to sea cucumbers that walked like caterpillars, flower-like polyps and species never seen before.

On dives to about 3,000 meters below sea level, observers have encountered sea cucumbers that were generally black in color. Below 5,000 meters, though, they tend to be transparent or milky white, Fu said.

At least 11 species were discovered on the 7,000-meter dive, according to Cui Weicheng, deputy commander of the project.

To lure life to the Jiaolong, Fu used a hand-like piece of equipment called a manipulator, which was installed on the vehicle's exterior. When fish meat was placed in its clutches and brandished about, the seemingly lifeless abyss surrounding the vessel would be suddenly invaded by transparent shrimps and fish.

Fu and the other crew members made video recordings of the animals for use in scientific research.

"They came out and moved the meat on their back like ants would, which was really lovely," Fu said.

Although Jiaolong shielded the oceanauts from exposure to the deep sea, conditions inside it were not always comfortable. In general, the temperature within vessel's hull can be expected to range from 38 C to 14 C on a deep dive.

Fu said he relished the opportunity to see the undersea world and knew he would be proud of being an oceanaut. Still, he said, he didn't go into the journey without recognizing its inherent dangers.

"I wrote a letter to my parents in case I died," he said. "My parents told me they couldn't sleep the entire time."

To take part in the project, Fu had to be at sea for six weeks. He returned to Qingdao, Shandong province, on Monday.

The 7,000-meter dive project went off more easily than a 5,000-meter project did last year. Six dives were conducted as part of the undertaking this year, reaching depths of 6,671, 6,965, 6,963, 7,020, 7,062 and 7,035 meters.

Fu said he clearly remembers a harrowing night during the 5,000-meter dive project. Rains and strong winds were battering the ocean, making it difficult for the crew aboard Xiangyanghong 09, Jiaolong's support ship, to see the submersible vessel. Only after nearly an hour of searching did they find it.

"Jiaolong was moving up and down like a volleyball floating on water," Fu said. "The other two pilots vomited because of the wild rocking."

He said the atmosphere inside the vessel was nerve-racking and cold, even colder than the deep sea.

He said he and the other oceanauts would have found it both physically and mentally taxing to be stranded all night at sea.

"We turned all of the vessel's lights upward to make it easier for Xiangyanghong 09 to find us and I got on the telecommunication equipment and began to sing songs with people in the support ship just to ease the tension," Fu said.

He said he sang a song whose words call on people to face life with bravery and the singing helped keep his courage up before he was rescued.

Looking forward to next year, Fu said he has two tasks to accomplish: Getting married and going to the South China Sea with his diving team to further study the deep sea.

Contact the writer at wangqian@chinadaily.com.cn

More than 21,000 ineligible families are living in affordable housing in 42 cities and counties, according to a report released on Wednesday.

The National Audit Office's report, which focuses on affordable-housing projects in 66 cities and counties, said 193,000 subsidized units, or 24.85 percent of all the samples taken, were built bigger than the standard size of affordable housing.

China plans to build 36 million affordable-housing units from 2011 to 2015, a plan partly aimed at cooling the property market.

But the report said flaws were found in the funding, construction and management of some projects.

"To some extent, funding and management of the construction projects were not standard and allocation and management of the houses were not strict enough," the report said.

From November to March, the office looked into 773,500 units in 66 cities and counties in 18 provincial-level regions. They were required by provincial governments to build 1.61 million units with 67.5 billion yuan ($10.6 billion) in 2011.

Among the units reviewed by the office, 5,479 households are allowed to live in the affordable units without having had their backgrounds or income checked.

Government regulations stipulate affordable-housing units cannot exceed 60 square meters and rented units cannot be larger than 50 sq m. However, the report said 193,000 units were built on average 26.52 sq m larger than the stipulated size.

The office found 803 projects, or 38.13 percent of those reviewed, in 46 cities and counties, did not comply with required procedures at several stages of their development, including survey, design, construction, supervision and bidding.

Gu Yunchang, vice-president of the China Real Estate Association, said the malpractices might be connected with the plan to drive forward the affordable-housing plan in a short period.

"When we put large amounts of resources and energy into the projects, we should place equal importance on supervising the implementation and quality of the project," Gu said. "We need to ensure favorable policies and designated funds for housing projects must not be abused."

A senior official with the housing and urban-rural development authority of Hebei province, told China Daily the auditors have been "extremely serious" in their accounting and her authority acknowledges the problems discovered.

But the official, who wished to remain anonymous, said the size of some units that are larger than allowed is due to design. She said although some units are slightly bigger, the average size of units in the building does not exceed the set limits.

Other malpractices were also pointed out in the report.

Part of the land allocated to 95 projects in the regions was misappropriated for commercial development such as building hotels and office buildings.

More than 2,800 units have been sold as commercial properties and 14,600 units were left unused for more than six months after construction.

Contact the writers at wanghuazhong@chinadaily.com.cn and zhengjinran@chinadaily.com.cn

A court in Zhejiang province on Wednesday sentenced a former official to two years in prison for taking bribes after accepting his confession as proof of guilt.

The verdict was widely observed because the confession, which the former official said had been given under torture, was rejected by another court during a first trial. That was believed to be the first time on the mainland a court rejected evidence deemed as being obtained through illegal means.

The Intermediate People's Court of Ningbo in Zhejiang province ruled Zhang Guoxi, a former official in the construction department of the government-run Donghu holiday resort, guilty of bribery. Zhang was sentenced to two years in prison and his illegal gains will be confiscated.

"The court found Zhang had taken advantage of his post and accepted 40,000 yuan ($6,300) in bribes," the court said in a statement after the ruling.

In March 2011, local prosecutors accused Zhang of embezzling up to 76,000 yuan from project bidders from 2005 to 2008, when he held a key post in the holiday resort.

The prosecutor's office produced a confession signed by Zhang at the first trial, in the Yinzhou District People's Court in Ningbo. Zhang, however, retracted his confession in court and said he was tortured into making it.

Judges from the district court ruled the confession invalid because it was "obtained without proper procedures".

The guilty verdict handed down by the court in April 2011 said Zhang had taken 6,000 yuan in bribes, but he was spared criminal punishment because of the small amount.

Prosecutors, who insisted on the legitimacy of the confession, appealed to the intermediate court and delivered supplementary evidence - the testimony of two people and video clips of the interrogation. Meanwhile, Zhang appealed the initial guilty verdict.

The intermediate court, after two hearings, ruled on Wednesday the supplementary evidence is sufficient to prove that Zhang's confession was legally obtained and could be used as evidence.

"Given that the evidence provided by prosecutors is valid and sufficient, the court made a finding that Zhang had taken bribes," the court said.

Si Weijiang, one of Zhang's lawyers, said his client is innocent and he will help him appeal.

The prosecutors of the case could not be reached for comment by press time.

Chen Guangzhong, a renowned criminal-procedure law professor at China University of Political Science and Law, said the first court's finding that Zhang's confession was invalid as evidence was a landmark ruling.

In China, defendants' claims that police or prosecutors illegally obtained evidence were often either ignored by courts or prosecutors were allowed to submit a statement clearing themselves, he said.

What the district court did has broken with the notion that "once a suspect is considered guilty, it doesn't matter whether the evidence to prove his guilt was obtained legally or not", he said.

In 2010, China published a regulation barring illegally obtained evidence in courts.

Forced confessions were outlawed in the latest revision of the country's Criminal Procedure Law.

The revision, passed in March, will take effect on Jan 1.

On Tuesday, the Supreme People's Procuratorate called on prosecutors at all levels to "faithfully" carry out the revised law and completely record the interrogations.

Contact the writer at zhaoyinan@chinadaily.com.cn

The move came after the central government asked the province to rein in government spending.

A statement released by the Guangdong government on Wednesday said spending on public vehicles, conferences, receptions, overseas trips and other administrative items will not be increased for an indefinite period.

The administrative budgets of the departments directly affiliated with the provincial government will be cut by 5 percent, starting from July 1 until the end of this year.

The provincial government has asked lower-level authorities to make savings plans.

The moves are aimed at stabilizing economic growth, promoting economic restructuring, balancing the budget and improving public well-being.

The statement said all savings will be spent on public well-being.

The provincial government will also suspend shows, exhibitions, parties, forums and anniversary celebrations that are held, or are sponsored by, the government.

There will also be stricter audits on fuel consumption and on the maintenance and insurance of public vehicles. The ban on the use of public vehicles for personal purposes has also been restated.

The provincial government will also promote teleconferencing and paperless offices and impose a freeze on new government office buildings and renovation projects in the second half of this year.

The growth in fiscal revenue fell short of expectation in Guangdong in the first half of this year amid slower economic growth.

The fiscal revenue of the province increased by 8.64 percent to about 299 billion yuan ($47 billion) in the first six months, but fiscal expenditure rose by 11.11 percent to nearly 286 billion yuan.

Fiscal revenue growth goal is set at 10 percent this year after surging 22.1 percent last year.

Guangdong's plan to rein in spending is in line with a national campaign.

Last week, the State Council issued a number of new regulations to curb government spending on vehicles, receptions and overseas trips. Overspending on these three items has become a focus of public criticism in recent years.

The new regulations stipulate that officials face removal from their posts if they are found to be overspending on these three key items.

Ma Kang, a Guangzhou retiree, said the provincial government's move is laudable.

"I'm fully for this move. Saving is easier than making money. Government spending on vehicles, overseas trips and receptions is so high that only a little saving there would be good for the people's well-being," Ma said.

However, Lin Jiang, dean of the public finance and taxation department at the Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, said the provincial government's efforts should produce some savings in the short term but the long-term benefits are difficult to judge.

The government has issued similar statements in the past, he said.

Lin said the government emphasized its thrifty measures recently because it is afraid of a fiscal deficit, but when the economy improves, the departments can become less diligent in exercising fiscal responsibility.

Contact the writer at liwenfang@chinadaily.com.cn 2012-07-19 08:06:43 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2012-07/19/content_15599564.htm

A water pipeline could be built between Fujian province's coastal city Xiamen and Taiwan's offshore Jinmen county, to solve the county's ongoing water supply shortage and quality problems, according to officials.

The announcement comes a week after a delegation from Jinmen led by Li Wo-shih, the magistrate of the county, visited Xiamen to study the city's reservoir and water treatment plant.

Zhang Canmin, deputy mayor of Xiamen, said there are two possible pipeline routes being looked at to transport the water between the two - one from Weitou village in Jinjiang to Jinmen, the other from Dadeng Island in Xiamen.

A Xiamen Water Group spokesman surnamed Chen told China Daily on Wednesday that the Dadeng-Jinmen route is being seen as the preferable option, because water supply there could be more plentiful, taken direct from the Jiulong River and Xiamen's Tingxi reservoir.

The plans for that route would mean water transported through a 30-kilometer pipeline, of which about 8 km would be underwater.

It could supply 25,000 tons of water per day initially and 60,000 tons eventually.

Jinmen is just a few kilometers from Xiamen. Due to the proximity, there are close economic and cultural ties between the two places.

Wang Teng-wei, president of Jinmen Waterworks, which is in charge of the offshore county's water supply, said it is expected to face a daily water shortage of 20,000 tons by 2016.

The southern part of the county currently relies on ground water, which has to be pumped to the surface, while the northern part, which uses lake water, also had a water supply problem due to limited rainfall, Wang said.

"As more people move to Jinmen, the demand for water grows and the water shortage has become severe," Wang told China Daily in a phone interview.

"We are very glad Xiamen could help us out, but further talks between authorities are still needed before the project is finalized," he said.

Contact the writer at sunli@chinadaily.com.cn

China has stepped up its efforts to display its sovereignty over the South China Sea, as the provincial legislature of Hainan on Tuesday ratified a motion to prepare for the first people's congress in the newly established Sansha city.

Experts said the move indicates that the building of the city's political power has been initiated.

The motion, approved by the Standing Committee of the Hainan Provincial People's Congress on Tuesday, suggested establishing an organizing committee for the legislative body of Sansha. Sansha became a prefecture-level city in June. It administers the Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha islands and their surrounding waters in the South China Sea.

The Sansha people's congress, the legislative body of the city, will have 60 seats with five-year terms, and its standing committee will have 15 members, according to an announcement from the Hainan Provincial People's Congress Standing Committee.

After it's established, the organizing committee will hold an election for the first congress of Sansha and convene the first plenary meeting of the congress.

During the first plenary meeting, 60 elected delegates will vote for heads of the city government, court and prosecuting office. The announcement did not say when an election of the government heads will take place.

Although China's Electoral Law states that the number of seats of a local people's congress is determined according to population and should have a minimum of 120 seats, the law also allows small cities with fewer than 50,000 people, such as Sansha, to set up a local congress with fewer than 120 seats.

The Xisha Islands, part of Sansha city, have about 3,500 permanent residents and a floating population of 25,000, according to finance.china.com.cn, an information portal under the State Council Information Office and the China International Publishing Group.

Zhao Zhongshe, director of the Department of Ocean and Fisheries of Hainan, told Xinhua News Agency that the founding of Sansha city will improve China's administration of the region and help coordinate efforts to develop the islands and protect the marine environment.

Hu Jinguang, vice-president of Renmin University of China's Law School, told Southern Metropolis Daily that lawmakers at the city's people's congress will be directly elected according to the law because of the city's small population.

"The congress may even enjoy more room for legislation for its special geographic position," he told the newspaper.

The State Council approved the establishment of Sansha in June, and the government seat of Sansha will be stationed on Yongxing Island in the Xisha Islands.

Sansha city administers more than 200 islets, sandbanks and reefs in Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha islands, covering 13 square kilometers in island area and 2 million sq km of water.

China said it first discovered and named the reefs, islets and surrounding waters of Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha islands. In 1959, it became the first country to set up an administrative office to exercise sovereignty over the area.

The new city government, compared to the administrative office, will be able to better administer the islands, according to an announcement from the Ministry of Civil Affairs in June.

Huang Yiming in Haikou contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at zhaoyinan@chinadaily.com.cn

Increasing numbers of private and foreign investors with money and technology will come to Yunnan province to unlock the area's rich reserves of minerals and energy sources, a senior official said.

"From 2010 to 2020, another 500 tons of gold and 200 billion cubic meters of shale gas are expected to be found," said Li Lianju, deputy director of the department of land resources of Yunnan province.

To accommodate the booming market for mine exploration, the department allocated nearly 100 mining experts to provide free technical support to qualified private investors who have good reputations and mining experience.

"Whoever invests in the mine exploration will get the profits," Li said.

If qualified private investors do not have enough money, they can apply for a mine-exploration fund from the department, and the profits will be divided according to the initial outlay of the private investor and the government.

Yunnan is just one part of a national strategic campaign started this year to encourage mine exploration and attract private investment.

Peng Qiming, director of the department of geological exploration of the Ministry of Land and Resources, told China Central Television in April the campaign will be conducted in 19 metallogenic regions, and aims to provide resources for China's sustainable economic development.

Beiya mine, where gold and other minerals are dug up in Heqing county in Yunnan, is just one of the main areas operated by the Yunnan Gold and Mineral Group and Asia Now Resources Corp, a Canadian mine exploration company.

Fu Degui, vice-president of the Yunnan Gold and Mineral Group, said the attractive conditions provided by authorities help distribute the risks of mineral exploration.

With the help of experienced experts, Beiya mine has detected more than 151 tons of gold and is expected to detect another 70 tons within 2012, Fu said.

He Zhonghua, deputy chief geologist of the Yunnan Gold and Mineral Group, said the provincial government provides technical support and has a mine exploration fund that can provide nearly 3 million yuan ($476,000) to the group, about 1 percent of the group's total investment in mine exploration.

"We are also a private investor in mine exploration," Fu said, adding authorities offer good opportunities for private investors across the country.

About 56 percent of China's mine exploration investments came from private investors in 2011, according to the Ministry of Land and Resources.

China's private investors are also going abroad to explore mines.

Li said after the economic crisis in 2008, more mining companies in Yunnan are taking part in mining projects in Australia, Canada, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Wang Min, vice-minister of land and resources, told the Economy and Nation Weekly magazine in June that China must find a multi-investment way to encourage mine exploration to reduce its dependence on foreign resources.

According to a national report released by the Ministry of Land and Resources, nearly 57 percent of the country's oil for consumption came from abroad last year and at least 70 percent of its copper was purchased from other countries.

According to an analysis of the existing recoverable and usable reserves of 45 minerals, the ministry forecast that 25 minerals will be in short supply by 2020. Of those, 11 are considered pillar minerals of the national economy.

Xu Shaoshi, minister of land and resources, has previously been quoted as saying that the supply of mineral resources will fall steadily behind China's demand for those materials in the coming 10 to 20 years, greatly taxing the country's mine exploration capacity.

In 2011, the State Council issued a national program of resource exploration, asking local governments to make great breakthroughs in mineral exploration within five years and establish the country's strategic resources reserve bases before 2020.

Besides attracting private capital, exploring deeper will bring potential energy and mineral resources reserves, said Lin Zong, researcher of the Development and Research Center of China Geological Survey.

"Generally we detect resources at a depth of about 500 meters. But in foreign countries, depths of 1,000 to 2,000 meters are very common," Lin said.

Contact the writer at wangqian@chinadaily.com.cn

Historians have urged for greater efforts to protect the western sections of the Great Wall in the wake of an official survey of the historic structure.

From July 6 and 12, the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the country's top political advisory body, arranged for experts to check the condition of the Wall in Gansu province, which holds an estimated 3,600 km of the total length of 21,196.18 km of Great Wall built in different dynasties.

The team visited 10 major sites in five cities, including Dingxi, Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiayuguan and Jiuquan.

They were alarmed at the condition of the Wall, built in the dynasties of Qin (221-206 BC), Han (206BC-220) and Ming (1368-1644).

Unlike eastern parts of the Great Wall in Beijing, Hebei and Liaoning, which were mostly constructed with stones and bricks, the sections in Gansu were built with tamped earth. After centuries of erosion from fierce wind and frequent sandstorms, they have become extremely fragile.

In Weiyuan county, some parts built in the Warring States Period (475-221BC) have been merged with surrounding cropland, while another 200-km-long section built in the Ming Dynasty in Dingxi city has suffered weather damage, collapse and biological damage over a long period.

"The Great Wall in Gansu is facing both natural and human damage," said Yang Huifu, head of the Gansu Bureau of Cultural Relics, adding that some of the wall has been swept away by torrential rain and heavy wind.

Yang said that in recent years, authorities have seen limited damage to the wall from humans, but that such problems remained in some areas.

The research group believes that while western sections of the Wall are less attractive to tourists, the structure and the cultural relics that continue to be unearthed alongside it must be preserved as crucial material for China's historical, geographical, political and cultural research.

Besides the problems with geography and weather, other problems the experts encountered with the preservation of the western Wall include a lack of research personnel and protective technology, according to Duan Qingbo, a researcher with Northwest University in Shaanxi province.

Duan said that the dozen researchers from Dunhuang Academy assigned with taking care of the remaining sections scattered in the province are not enough.

Meanwhile, the experts suggested that awareness must be raised among local residents, as well as tourism operators, of the need to protect cultural relics.

"The protection of the ancient Great Wall sections in western China is a difficult problem," Duan said, adding that new systems and all-around efforts from society are needed if it is to be successful.

Construction of the Great Wall, listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987, began during the reign of China's first emperor, Qin Shihuang (259-210BC), to keep out foreign invaders. It passes through 10 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in northern China, including Liaoning, Hebei, Tianjin, Beijing, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Ningxia, Gansu and Qinghai.

To combat increasingly rampant plagiarism in college, the Ministry of Education published a new draft regulation against academic fraud, but education experts doubt it will be effective.

On Monday, the Ministry of Education published an interim regulation against academic fraud on its website, and is soliciting opinions from July 16 to Aug 16. Comments and advice will be received at the ministry's e-mail address at fzb@moe.edu.cn.

According to the regulation, an applicant will be deemed ineligible for an academic degree if he or she is discovered hiring ghostwriters, plagiarizing, or being involved in any other form of academic fraud.

The regulation also requires colleges not to grant diplomas to those students within three years after they are caught cheating.

But some doubt the regulation will work.

"Although the ministry's intention to combat academic fraud is good, I highly doubt the regulation's feasibility," said Zhang Ming, a professor at Renmin University of China and an education columnist.

"First, the computer detection system will not find all the plagiarism because one can easily avoid detection by modifying the wording of what they copied from others, so we seldom use the computer system in practice," Zhang said.

"Second, those papers written by a ghostwriter are not likely to be found unless the ghostwriters report the situation themselves, which is unlikely," he said.

In recent years, more colleges have introduced computer software to detect academic fraud. The software compares contents of a student's paper to all published articles included in a database, and the college will allege that a student is cheating if 30 percent or more of the contents of his/her paper coincide with articles in the database.

According to a report on China National Radio, more than 60 colleges in Beijing had this kind of software in June, and about 550 colleges nationwide are using software developed by China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database, one of the most authoritative academic research databases in China.

But ghostwriting services apparently aim to beat the software.

"The price is 240 yuan ($37) for 1,000 characters, if you do not require the plagiarism rate. But it will be higher according to the plagiarism rate you require," said a staff member at a ghostwriting service surnamed Zhao, who refused to give her full name.

A China Daily reporter pretended to be a potential client of Zhao's agency, a website called Chengxin Lunwenwang, which literally means "the honest-thesis website."

A client pays half the cost upfront, and the rest after the paper passes the review.

"We can guarantee the quality. If the paper fails, we can even return the deposit," she said.

Also, Zhao said, the company can help clients publish their papers in academic journals, at a price from 1,300 yuan to 6,500 yuan per page.

In addition to ghostwriting services, fraud-detection software also sells well on the Internet. When you search the keywords "paper detection" on Taobao, a Chinese online marketplace, you will get 2,519 related results.

"Most people I know will check their paper before they hand it out, including me," said an undergraduate student surnamed Lin, from the Northeast Normal University who does not want to be identified.

"The legitimate software is too expensive more than 1,000 yuan but you only have to use it once. So some of us share the expense to buy the software, while others buy the service from the Internet," she said.

"The ministry's new regulation is good that at least the stricter regulation will make people think a postgraduate diploma really has some value.

"But my worry is that it is not quite possible to figure out which paper is written by a ghostwriter."

Contact the writers at chengyingqi@chinadaily.com.cn and wuyong@chinadaily.com.cn

Arguments between people in romantic relationships and marriages have contributed to a large number of recent murder and intentional injury cases, especially in rural areas where residents know little about the law, according to the courts.

More than half of the 60 intentional homicide cases accepted from 2007 to 2011 by courts in Huai'an, a city in Jiangsu province, were the result of marriage and love spats, according to a report published by the Huai'an Intermediate People's Court earlier this month.

In Xuzhou, Jiangsu province, marriage and love relationships were blamed for 11 out of the 20 murder cases that occurred in the first half of 2007, according to Li Juan, a judge from the Xuzhou Intermediate People's Court.

"We haven't revised the count for the years after that, but the figures remain high," she said.

Fan Zhenfeng, a judge in Huai'an's Hongze county who wrote the research report for Huai'an, said these cases are the source of great social harm and often impose hardships on families.

"We hope people can learn lessons from these unfortunate acts and think twice about how they behave when they are in disputes," he said.

Among the criminal cases arising from marriage disputes, 40 percent were related to adulterous affairs, said Fan.

Zheng Lu, a 32-year-old man in Huai'an, shocked the country in September 2011 when he killed nine people after coming to suspect his wife was having an affair with his friend. Among the victims, who ranged in age from 6 to 72, was a woman pregnant with twins.

Zheng was sentenced to death.

"It's common for men from rural areas to work in cities and for couples in those places to be separated for most of the year," Fan said. "And that's a big contributor to these cases."

Such crimes are more rare in big cities.

Conflicts between couples in love and marriage were to blame in about 15 percent of the homicide cases heard by courts in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, from 2008 to 2011.

The number in Shanghai is even lower. District courts in the municipality said they did not notice anything unusual about the frequency with which love crimes had occurred there.

"In the past three years, only one intentional injury case happened as a result of a love dispute," said Yue Mingjing, a publicity officer from the Qingpu district court in Shanghai.

"A woman hired someone to attack her husband after finding he was having an extramarital affair."

Most of the cases happened in the countryside, the Huai'an report showed, and 24 of the 32 people convicted of these sorts of crimes in that city had only received the primary or junior high school education. Another three were illiterate.

Many judges said crimes tend to be more common among lovers and spouses in rural areas because people in such places tend to know little about the law.

"They are ignorant of what is illegal or criminal and of the consequences of their behavior," Fan said. "They are more likely to resort to violence to deal with these issues instead of going about it the proper way."

Some lawyers said rural residents' tight social circles have also contributed to the crimes being more common in the countryside.

Perpetrators and victims in murder cases usually have close relationships with each other, and rural people get along with their families and fellow villagers most of the time, according to Yi Shenghua, an attorney at the Yingke Law Firm in Beijing.

"No matter where cases of this kind happen, the way to prevent these sorts of misdeeds is to abstain from extramarital love and illicit cohabitation," he said.

Contact the writer at zhouwenting@chinadaily.com.cn.

According to local fishery authorities, the fishing activity, one of the largest in Hainan's history, will involve a 3,000-ton supply vessel and 29 fishing boats.

The fleet, organized voluntarily by fishermen, decided to move the fishing operation from waters near Yongshu Reef of the Nansha Islands to Zhubi Reef, about 110 nautical miles (203 kilometers) away, the operation's deputy commander, Liang Yapai, said on Monday.

Fishermen had already started fishing when the 30 boats arrived at Yongshu Reef on Sunday afternoon, 78 hours after they set sail on Thursday from a port in Sanya, Hainan.

Sailors in Qiong Sanya 72050, one of the 29 fishing boats, began to cast nets near the waters in Yongshu Reef on Sunday night. "The water flow in the area is not so good for fishing. We only caught about 1,000 kilograms of fish. But the fish are bigger than those we usually get near waters off Zhongsha Islands," said Zhang Guanfu, captain of the boat.

Fishermen can rest in the day and work at night, Zhang told China Daily.

Fishermen continued to try fishing near the waters off Yongshu Reef on Monday night and will move to Zhubi Reef under the escort of China Yuzheng 310, according to the deputy commander of the fleet Liang Yapai.

China Yuzheng 310, a fishery administration patrol ship, one of the most advanced in China, arrived at the area on Sunday to protect the activities of the fleet.

On Sunday afternoon, the patrol ship had helped the 30 boats successfully anchor along Yongshu Reef, according to captain Zhang.

The 30 boats were divided into six teams when fishing and the fleet had a chief commander, three deputy commanders and a control team that arranged and coordinated the operation of each team.

The control team was in the supply vessel Qiong Sanya F8168, which is the largest comprehensive supply ship in Hainan. It started to operate early this year with a volume of 3,000 tons, according to its captain, Lin Mouying.

The supply vessel provided oil, water and ice for the 29 boats and helped fishermen freeze the fish.

"Our schedule is fixed by the commanders in the supply vessel, and we follow the supply vessel during the fishing activities," said Liang Yajie, captain of Qiong Sanya 72055.

According to the deputy commander, Liang Yapai, the operation will run about 20 days. If the fleet were to encounter bad weathers such as a typhoon, the fleet would change the operation plan.

The fleet is expected to finish the operation before Aug 1, when the fishing ban in the north of the South China Sea will be lifted, Liang told China Daily.

The annual fishing ban, which has been in place since 1999, lasted from May 16 to Aug 1 this year, covering areas north of the 12th parallel north, including Huangyan Island but excluding most of the Nansha Islands.

Contact the writers at huangyiming@chinadaily.com.cn and jinhaixing@chinadaily.com.cn.

Zhang Hui has been struggling to find work for months but has been unable to turn her luck around in the job market.

A graduate with a master's degree from Shanghai International Studies University, the 24-year-old felt lost at sea after setting sail on the journey of her life.

"You have no idea how hard I tried to get a job," Zhang said. "It's really been a grueling summer for me."

Zhang is not the only one to find herself stuck without a job after obtaining a master's degrees.

Since 2009, graduates with master's degrees have seen their rate of employment decline. Holders of the degrees were employed at a lower rate than undergraduates, according to a Survey of Nationwide University Graduates Employment from 2009 to 2010, which was conducted by Peking University and the Ministry of Education.

"Why should we go to graduate school then?" Zhang said.

"I remember it being much easier to find a job three years ago, when I finished my undergraduate studies."

She said her friends who had gone straight to work from college were doing well.

Three years ago, Zhang had received an offer to work in the Shanghai media industry. That opportunity vanished, though, after she had a master's degree.

"I don't understand," Zhang said. "I am still the same person, only with more experience and a better degree. So why am I less employable?"

Zhao Yuehua, director of China University Students Career Guide, a biweekly journal published by the Ministry of Education, offered an explanation.

"This is a social change that has resulted from the demands and needs of our society," Zhao said. "The number of jobs that are available is increasing, but more students are being admitted (to graduate programs) as well."

The Ministry of Education said universities and similar institutions plan to recruit 584,000 graduate students in 2012, including 517,000 for master's degrees. In 2003, the number was 269,000, including 220,000 students pursuing master's degrees.

A retired associate professor specializing in aesthetics at University of Science and Technology Beijing, who declined to provide her full name, said graduate students have become far more common in the past 10 years.

Although poor health has driven her to retire from her full-time position, the professor still works with two master students.

"The number of students in our department is skyrocketing and sometimes one faculty member has to help many students," she said.

The professor said faculty members are overworked at times and pay less attention to students as a result.

"It puts the quality of education in danger," she said.

She said it's important that students in graduate-level courses study subjects tailored to their interests and even more important that they receive guidance from advisers.

"That's the reason for attending graduate school - it gives you an opportunity to talk to advisers individually instead of sitting in a lecture hall," she said.

"There are two reasons that more people are pursuing graduate degrees," Zhao said.

"First of all, if it's becoming more difficult for college graduates to find work, then they are looking to go to graduate school to postpone the pressure of job hunting."

Zhao also said more employers are requiring their employees to have graduate degrees.

"It puts schools in the difficult situation of having to deal with a flood of graduate students all of a sudden," Zhao said.

Zhao had some advice for students who are thinking about attending graduate school.

"It is important for graduate students to look up from their the textbooks and see the needs of society and get ready for them."

Contact the writer at luowangshu@chinadaily.com.cn.

A villager waters a donkey in Haiyuan county, Northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region. The region is finding ways to more efficiently use its sparse water supply. Ji Xiangzhao / Xinhua

A lack of water resources can be a make-or-break issue for a region's social and economic development. For officials, farmers and enterprises in parched areas, limited water supplies can be a frustrating and sometimes costly hurdle to overcome.

Authorities in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region say they have hit on a solution: transferring water rights for a price.

The plan consists of giving enterprises that need water the chance to invest in projects to improve irrigation channels that reduce water waste. The enterprises are then entitled to use the water saved for industrial production.

Mineral-rich Ningxia, in arid Northwest China, is surrounded on three sides by desert. Annual precipitation is usually under 300 millimeters, less than half the national average.

The Yellow River, which flows south to north through the region, gave residents hope for many years and made the region one of the four earliest irrigated areas in China during the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC).

However, unlimited use of water from the Yellow River came to an end in 1987 when the State Council released a plan to allocate the river's exploitable water resources. Ningxia was given a quota of 4 billion cu m from a total of 37 billion cu m.

Today, agriculture accounts for more than 91 percent of the region's water consumption, yet only 44 percent is used effectively.

In 2003, the autonomous region started looking at the option of transferring water rights to meet the growing demand among enterprises.

The policy was feasible because only 18 percent of the main channels and 24.4 percent of lateral channels were paved with flagstones, so a large amount of water was seeping into the soil.

Since 2003, three projects have been completed and 13 more are under way or in the planning stages.

Energy and chemical companies have invested more than 150 million yuan ($23.58 million) to update shabby irrigation channels, and so far 54 million cu m of water has been saved and transferred.

By the end of the second phase of the project in 2015, the regional government expects to see 494 million cu m of water saved.

"Although companies have to lay out large sums before they see any water, the abundant mineral resources in this region are an incentive," said Chen Ming, deputy head of the Water Resources Department at the Ministry of Water Resources.

Ningxia Jingneng Ningdong Electric Power Generation Co invested more than 31 million yuan in 2008 for an irrigation improvement project in return for an annual quota of 3.54 million cu m from the Yellow River for 25 years.

Using its own water-saving technology, the company needs only about 2 million cu m a year. The surplus can be used to expand production, said Zhang Yulin, the company's deputy general manager.

At the start of the project, the power company paid more than 8 yuan per cubic meter for the water rights transfer, much more than using tap water, "but that's the price we have to pay if we want to exploit resources here, because this region is just so short of water", Zhang said.

Guo Hao, deputy director of the Ningxia Water Resources Department, said the current price, 17 yuan per cubic meter, includes fees for construction, operation and maintenance, renovation and compensation.

The development of the pricing system, which included only the construction fee at first, corresponds with many experts' advice to take other costs into account.

"Compensation is given to farmers in case of dry years, when irrigation water is reduced to ensure supplies for industrial consumption," Guo said. "It's calculated by the farmers' income gap between wet and dry years."

He said about two-thirds of the water that used to sink into the soil has been saved because of the water rights transfer.

Meanwhile, a 2009 study by the Ministry of Water Resources' Yellow River Conservancy Commission found that the time need for irrigation has been reduced from 15 days to about six, saving farmers at least 270 yuan per hectare.

"We're coming up with new ideas to promote water rights transfers, such as management and technology measures, and adjustment of the crop mix," Guo said.

He and his colleagues are also taking precautions. A new national water-allocation plan will be released by the end of this year. No one knows yet whether the quota for Ningxia will be higher than in 1987, because the flow of the Yellow River is decreasing year by year.

When asked about the possibility of promoting the policy nationwide, Chen, of the Ministry of Water Resources, said certain conditions would have to be met.

"A shortage of surface water is the first," he said. "Another is that an area's mineral reserves have to be abundant to boost demand of industrial development that needs large amounts of water.

"Last but not least, regardless of the means, there has to be a high potential to save large quantities of water in the agricultural process."

Contact the writer at wuwencong@chinadaily.com.cn.

As a generous public steps up to donate funds directly to the victims in two high-profile tragedies, experts are warning that money given to individuals lacks accountability.

The stories of Liao Dan, a Beijing man who defrauded a hospital to cover his wife's medical fees, and Du Chuanwang, a teenager from East China's Shandong province, who was horrifically injured in a prank, have struck a chord with the public, which has donated large sums of cash to both, including directly into the bank account of the injured teenager's father.

Deng Guosheng, a professor specializing in philanthropic studies at the School of Public Policy and Management with the Beijing-based Tsinghua University, said direct donations lack supervision and in many cases donors' rights cannot be fully protected.

"Person-to-person donation is not charity but a behavior of giving, and the current laws in China do not spell out how the recipient should spend the money or when fundraising should be closed up," said Deng.

He said individuals were not legally responsible for making public the details of the funds they collected.

Wang Zhenyao, director of the One Foundation Philanthropy Research Institute at Beijing Normal University, agreed.

"The intervention of a professional charity is very important, as the charity organization can check whether the story is true, and once it decides to raise money for those in need, it starts to take responsibilities and is under the supervision of the government and the public," Wang said.

Liao, who is accused of cheating thousands of yuan in medical fees from Beijing Hospital to save his sick wife, handed over 172,000 yuan ($27,300) to the capital's Dongcheng District People's Court on Monday morning.

The 41-year-old allegedly swindled blood dialysis treatment fees by copying the hospital's seal and using it to make false receipts between 2007 and 2011, according to the district's prosecuting authority.

At last Wednesday's trial, a judge said Liao may receive a lighter sentence if he can repay the money, a gesture he has been able to make thanks to donations.

Sun Ying, a publicity officer at the court, confirmed Liao had returned the money, but said a verdict had not yet reached and any sentence will depend on the judge.

The 172,000 yuan Liao paid was donated by Chen Lihao, a member of Guangdong province's Zhuhai Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, who read Liao's story on Sina Weibo, a popular micro-blogging service.

While Liao was busy raising funds to pay back the money he defrauded, two micro-bloggers initiated an online donation campaign to help his wife.

The campaign, which is supported by China Social Assistance Foundation, had collected more than 420,000 yuan by 4:30 pm on Monday. The target is 500,000 yuan.

According to the campaign, all donations will be used for the blood dialysis treatment of Liao's wife.

Meanwhile, the story of 13-year-old Du Chuanwang has also grabbed the public's attention and money.

Du was seriously injured when two apprentices at an auto repair shop allegedly assaulted him with an air pump. Du was initially treated in a local hospital, but thanks to the help of a charity, was transferred to Bayi Children's Hospital in Beijing.

He is now in a stable condition but is still battling infections caused by dying tissue developing on his face and nose.

Angel Mom, a Beijing-based NGO focused on helping abandoned children and children with severe diseases, contacted Du's family after its staff members read a post about the boy's tragic experience on Sina Weibo, said Qiao Yu, who heads the medical aid department of the organization.

Angel Mom organized Du's transfer to Beijing on Thursday, and had raised about 660,000 yuan from donors nationwide as of Monday. As a charity affiliated with the China Charities Aid Foundation for Children, a public foundation in Beijing, Angel Mom is able to raise donations for Du via the foundation.

"We tried to close up the fundraising twice when the funds reached 100,000 yuan and 140,000 yuan respectively, but we still see more donations coming now," said Qiao.

Du's medical treatment has so far cost about 15,800 yuan in Beijing but the hospital has not revealed what the total cost will be, said Qiao.

If the donated money exceeds the sum needed for Du's medical fees, the organization will seek the opinions from donors to decide whether the rest can be given to the boy's family or used by the organization to help other children in need, he said.

Du Shehou, the boy's widowed father, said his son may need to spend half a year in hospital before he recovers.

With an annual income of only 5,000 yuan, the farmer made the details of his personal bank account public to receive donations after his son's accident.

"We have received donations of about 300,000 yuan in that personal account, which has been taken care of by my cousin, and I plan to use the money for my son's rehabilitation," Du Shehou said.

Contact the writers at hedan@chinadaily.com.cn and caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn.

Residents of Jingzhou, Hubei province, say Three Gorges Dam, which started to retain water in 2003, provides great protection from floods.

The city, about 220 km from Wuhan, the provincial capital, is traversed by the Jingjiang River, a section of the Yangtze River, and has been designated a flood control region.

Tang Changsi, 36, who lives near the Jingjiang River, has been through several floods, including one that killed 1,432 people in 1998.

Tang recalled that he and many residents set aside their work that year to help the government monitor the flooding day and night.

"The water always made an awful sound," he said. "Everyone was nervous and had no idea when the city might be in danger."

Even though flooding still occurs along the Jingjiang, Three Gorges Dam has greatly reduced it, Tang said.

"I keep on living a normal life when flood season comes every year," he said on Friday, a day after floodwaters on the Yangtze River crested for a second time this year. "Without the dam, I would most likely be on the riverbanks fighting the flood right now."

From 8 pm on Wednesday to 8 pm on Thursday, water flow through Three Gorges Dam had increased from 48,000 cubic meters per second to 56,000 cu m per second, raising the water level in the dam's reservoir by 1.45 meters, according to China Three Gorges Corp.

With the dam holding back the floodwaters, the river was flowing at 30,000 cu m per second in Jingzhou, posing little danger to the city, said Zhang Genxi, a flood control official.

On Friday, more than 10 swimmers could be seen in the Jingjiang River.

Analysts compared Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydroelectric project, to a water faucet that can be turned on and off to control flooding and irrigation along the Yangtze River.

The dam began to store water in 2003, when the maximum water level in its reservoir was 135 meters, and it became fully operational in 2010, when the maximum level increased to 175 meters.

So far, the largest flood to hit Three Gorges Dam sent water through at a rate of 70,000 cu m per second in 2010, raising the water level in the reservoir to 161.01 meters, according to the Changjiang (Yangtze River) Water Resources Commission.

"The dam project, which was seen as a way to control flooding on the Yangtze River, has successfully withstood several huge floods in recent years," Wei Shanzhong, deputy director of the commission, said on Thursday.

Three Gorges Dam's 32 generators began to operate fully on Friday.

"Its total energy output is expected to reach 540 million kilowatt hours per day, generating 135 million yuan ($21 million) worth of electricity," a worker at the Three Gorges Hydropower Plant, who declined to give his name, said on Friday.

Enough water will flow through to enable the plant to generate that much energy for a day or two, he said.

Meanwhile, continuous flooding in the past two weeks has made parts of the Yangtze River near the dam unnavigable for more than 500 cargo ships, Wei said.

"Smaller ships have been ordered to anchor at locks as a safety precaution while the dam discharges large amounts of water at peak flood times," he said. "The heat is making that really hard, though, on the people onboard those ships."

Contact the writer at jinzhu@chinadaily.com.cn

Chinese parents spooked by a series of food safety scandals are importing baby formula from overseas in a trend that is causing milk powder supplies to dwindle across the globe.

Paranoid parents are tapping into China's massive diaspora, asking family and friends living abroad to send milk powder and baby food. Those without international connections are paying courier services to buy and send the products to China.

But now Chinese expatriates in Britain and the United States say they are finding it increasingly difficult to find supplies to send home, and medical experts are warning there could be dangers in importing an unknown international product.

Zhou Ying, who lives in New York, said she is asked to bring baby formula every time she visits China.

"One time I brought 12 cans for my friend who just had a baby," she said. "I went to five stores to buy them because each store, such as CVS or Duane Reade (two chain pharmacies), only had two or three cans."

Demand is so high in some international cities with a high concentration of Chinese expatriates, that some retailers have started imposing limits on the number of cans customers can buy.

An online Chinese trader who wished only to be known as Ukbabee, told China Daily she sells 400 cans of baby powder a month. The 52-year-old's store is one of more than 1,500 on Taobao - a Chinese online marketplace - that sell imported milk powder.

But Ukbabee said her daughter, who lives in London, was finding it increasingly difficult to find supplies, with Tesco and Boots, two major British chain stores, introducing limits for customers.

"Supplies are always short. Sometimes, my daughter has to visit two supermarkets to buy just six cans," Ukbabee said.

In response to the growing demand, a number of mailing companies across the globe, particularly in the US, are offering to buy and send milk powder to China.

Fan, who declined to give her first name, is the manager of HC Express in Flushing, a Chinese community in the New York borough of Queens. She said her business has been growing steadily since opening in 2010.

"We provide a service for buying and mailing milk powder to Chinese customers," Fan said. "They just give an order by phone and we will ship them the product. "Although the cost of shipping has been rising, orders from China keep increasing."

Kevin Tan from AAE Express Soho, also in Flushing, said a large number of their orders from the Chinese mainland are for milk powder.

But some medical experts have expressed concern, saying foreign milk powder may not be suited to the Chinese diet.

Zhang Silai, former head of pediatrics at Beijing Hospital of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine, said there are many risks with imported milk powder, especially buying through traders who may send a product that has spent a long time in storage.

Zhang said milk powder produced and sold in foreign countries was developed to suit that marketplace, and may not be suitable for Chinese babies.

"I suggest parents buy brands sold in China because they have added some nutritional components suited to our eating habits and physical features," Zhang said.

"Milk powder sold in Japan has a lower portion of some omega-3 fatty acids because they eat a lot of seafood, but Chinese babies need it," she said.

Several large foreign companies that produce infant and toddler formula, including Nestle and Wyeth, have built factories in China to start production of milk powders for the domestic and foreign market.

Zhang said the increase in local production by multi-nationals could ease the demand for imported milk powder.

"Because Chinese parents can buy these brands in their local markets, the supplies for other countries will be increased," Zhang said.

The pediatrician said more should be done to encourage mothers to breast-feed.

"Companies should set up special rooms for working mothers to express their breast milk," Zhang said. "Breast milk is good for babies' health and will reduce the consumption of milk powder."

Wang Dingmian, former vice-chairman of the Guangdong Dairy Industry Association, said Chinese parents are highly dependant on milk powder and more should be done to encourage breast-feeding.

Contact the writers at zhengjinran@chinadaily.com.cn and jingshuw12@chinadailyusa.com

Du Chuanwang, a 13-year-old boy from Xiajin county, Shandong province, who was seriously injured in a prank with an air pump, is getting better.

Du was transferred from the intensive care unit to a single ward on Friday to allow his family better access to him and because his condition had improved.

"The ward is equipped with a monitor, an infusion pump and equipment to sterilize the air," Shen Li, co-founder of the Angel Mom foundation said at a news conference on Saturday.

The foundation is helping the boy and organized his transfer to a Beijing hospital.

But Du is still battling horrific injuries, with infections caused by dying tissue still developing on his face and nose.

"The infections are on the patient's face, mouth and alimentary tract. His heart, lungs, liver and kidneys all have problems at different levels," Shen said.

Du Shehou, the boy's father, told China Daily on Sunday that the infections were continuing to develop.

"It's worse than when he was hospitalized in Xiajin," Du Shehou said.

Shen said the hospital held a meeting on Friday to discuss Du's condition and decided the treatment should focus on cleaning and controlling infections and protecting the internal organs.

Li Yuan, also from Angel Mom, said Bayi Children's Hospital has agreed to update the foundation twice a day on Du's condition and allow them to release the information to the media.

Zhang Wenzhe, a public relations staff member of the hospital, declined to confirm this arrangement.

On Sunday Angel Mom posted a message online stating that the hospital tried to feed Du through a tube. His nasal bone, palate and part of his tongue are all infected.

Angel Mom has disclosed an itemized list of the more than 650,000 yuan ($102,000) of donations it has received for the boy.

The Xiajin people's procuratorate, the county's prosecuting authority, approved on Thursday the arrest of the two men alleged to have hurt Du, said Shi Chuanbin, a publicity official of Xiajin police.

Shi said the suspects are a man named Zhao, born in 1992, and a man name Chen, born in 1985.

The men, who were Du's co-workers in a garage, are alleged to have injured the boy with an air pump.

"According to the suspects' confession, the reason they did this was just because they wanted to play a prank on Du," said Shi. "The air pump was not inserted into Du's body."

Shi said the case is under investigation and the police will possibly talk to the boy to get his side of the story when his condition improves.

Contact the writer at wangqingyun@chinadaily.com.cn

Rail police student who saved man from train says he would do it again

A 20-year-old student who risked his life in an attempt to save a suicidal man from being hit by a train could lose both legs below the knee.

Li Boya is in stable condition at the Second Hospital of Qinhuangdao in Hebei province after undergoing surgery to save his right leg.

Li's lower left leg was amputated and his right foot damaged. Doctors are hopeful the right leg can be saved and have transplanted his left foot to the right leg so he will only need one artificial leg in the future. Good blood flow has been restored after the transplant.

"He is under close monitoring," said Zhang Xu, director of hand and foot surgery at the hospital. "Post-transplant infections are a big concern. It will take another week to have the final say on whether the transplant succeeded or not."

Li, soon to be in his second year at Railway Police College in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province, had been working as a summer intern at Qinhuangdao's Changli Railway Station.

About 5:40 pm on July 9, seconds before a train arrived, Li saw a man jump onto the tracks and ran to pull him up. Despite making an emergency stop, the train ran over Li, severing his right foot and his left leg below the knee.

"He needs a long time for the bones and tendons to recover. Some minor injuries may be spotted after his condition improves further and more examinations are done," Zhang said, adding that Li may be transferred to another hospital with better resources, probably in Beijing, when his condition is stable enough.

The hospital also sent a psychotherapist to help Li and his family cope with the traumatic experience.

"He is very strong and has a positive outlook," said Liu Wenming, the psychotherapist who has spent the past week at Li's bedside.

Li's parents arrived from Pingdingshan, Henan province, on July 10. According to a report by Beijing News, his mother, Yin Li, asked her son if he regretted what he did. Li responded he would still try to save others in similar circumstances.

The Beijing railway police authority has rewarded Li 200,000 yuan ($31,700) for his heroic act and promised him a job when he finishes his studies in Zhengzhou.

Li has also won much admiration and public sympathy for losing a leg at such a young age. There have been offers of donations for medical expenses, but Li's father, Li Song, posted a micro blog on July 13 saying the family did not need private donations.

Public security and railway authorities have instructed the family to provide Li good treatment, but it remains unclear to what extent he can recover, the father wrote on the micro blog.

The man who attempted suicide, Liu Shichen, 41, lay on the ground between the tracks and was hit on the head when the train passed. He has been unconscious in a hospital since the incident.

The reason for Liu's suicide attempt remains unknown. Railway police have contacted his family from Harbin, capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang province.

Contact the writer at liyao@chinadaily.com.cn

The Little Mermaid never got her man, as least not until the Disney version came along. Now two top artists have created a male counterpart for Hans Christian Andersen's best-loved character - a sculpture that's a little too real for some. Mike Peters reports.

He sits on a rock, a gleaming figure of fantasy in polished stainless steel, in a harbor just up the coast from Copenhagen.

And just as the capital's Little Mermaid statue has become an international tourist attraction, the city fathers of Helsingoer, Denmark, hope its brand-new sculpture named "Han" will bring more visitors to the site of the castle of Kronborg, the setting Shakespeare re-created as "Elsinore" when he wrote Hamlet.

The young male figure crafted by sculptors Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset perches languidly on his own steel rock, watching ships parade through the Oeresund Strait on their way to the Little Mermaid.

Elmgreen and Dragset, well known for artistic mischief, have employed a hydraulic mechanism that makes the eyes of the sculpture close for a split second once every hour - just one blink - before the statue becomes static once more.

There had been plenty of reaction, even before the sculpture's public unveiling on June 2. Han is a little too real for some, even in traditionally liberal Copenhagen, because he's, well, naked.

The ensuing fuss was a bit of a surprise to Han's creators.

"Art history is full of sculptures depicting the naked male body. It's only recently that this seems to provoke a few moralists," Elmgreen tells China Daily.

"It is a classic trick to use nakedness in order to avoid a particular dress code on the sculpture that would appear totally out of fashion after some years," he says. "If our sculpture would sit there in Adidas sweat pants, there would be a fair chance that people wouldn't understand what he was wearing in a decade or so."

The artists say they also wanted to show a masculine image that is less heroic and "macho".

"He can be softer, more poetic and freer" Elmgreen says. "We believe that this new masculine role can feel threatening to some mainly more mature men who were brought up with a totally different self-image."

Some critics say that's highfalutin language for a salacious sculpture, which they find so homoerotic they can't imagine why Han might be gazing down the coast toward the legendary mermaid.

Other naysayers complain that 3 million Danish kroner ($516,300) would have been better spent on a piece of art that celebrates the city's long legacy of shipbuilding.

Controversy has also sometimes dogged the much-loved Little Mermaid, who attracted 5 million visitors when she was displayed at Shanghai's Expo 2010 and merited a personal look-see from China's President Hu Jintao when he recently visited Denmark.

Inspired by a character in Andersen's 1837 fairy tale and a tourist attraction since her unveiling in 1913, the Little Mermaid is a 175-kg statue by Edvard Eriksen.

In the 1960s, the statue was upended, decapitated twice and lost an arm. More recent protesters have covered her bowed head with a Muslim headscarf. An icon of innocence and love, she had also been painted red, pink and green and had a sex toy attached to her wrist.

"Han ('Him' in Danish) is a very different sculpture," says Elmgreen. Han has no fish tail. That means that he, unlike the mermaid, is not a symbol for unhappy love and not being able to reach your dreams."

The artist says he and Dragset aren't fretting over criticism of their work. "It's always great if an art work suddenly can trigger a wider debate in society and the whole public starts to show interest," Elmgreen says.

The public has certainly done that.

"We love the Little Mermaid because she is a classic," says Torben Andersen, no relation to the 19th-century storyteller, who joined the crowd to see the new statue. "But where's the substance - what's real about this 'Han' guy sitting out there on a rock?"

His wife, Signe, looks at him in mock astonishment.

"Sweetie," she says, "Do you think the Little Mermaid is real?"

Contact the writer at michaelpeters@chinadaily.com.cn.

Why was a Chinese designer asked to create Hans Christian Andersen stamps for Denmark?

The project was just one part of a months-long cooperation between the postal systems of Denmark and China.

The Danes have a long tradition of quality stamp design and intaglio printing, a centuries-old technique in which steel plates are engraved to produce a stamp with raised outlines you can feel with your fingertip. The art and technology exchange has included special training for Chinese graphic designers, engravers and printing press operators.

That may sound like your grandpa's idea of making stamps, but the ever-hip Scandinavians are giving stamps like the fairy-tale set a very modern twist.

These colorful bits of paper are multi-media. The designs - and Andersen's own artwork - are inspired by traditional paper-cut craftsmanship. If you scan one of the new stamps with a smartphone, you will be able to see a video of a paper-cut artist making a smiling and happy image of Andersen.

Download the app "Post Denmark Intelligent Stamp" from App Store or Android Market, and enjoy the demonstration.

'The great thing about the Hans Christian Andersen stories is that you can read them as a child, then read them again many years later and get an entirely new appreciation," says the Odense Museum's publicist Mette Ganz. Because the stories resonate with both children and adults, she adds, they work as strong themes for kindergarten parties and corporate events alike.

But it isn't just the stories that look different over time: The man who wrote them has morphed astonishingly in the public eye since his 19th-century heyday.

You can see the mythmaking at work in a quick tour of the museum.

"From the beginning, Andersen was a political creation," says Ejnar Askgaard, curator and resident historian at the museum. "The story line was: He rose from poverty to be an establishment man with an exquisite circle of friends."

Built in 1908, the museum celebrates Andersen as a model of social mobility and meritocracy.

A grandiose memorial hall reflects "the top-hatted Andersen you see in logos and commemorative books", Askgaard says. "Half god, half hero." There are murals with scenes intended to depict Andersen's life, including one where a huge crowd has gathered to hear him speak from the window of his home on a cobblestone street just a block from the museum site. "That was actually painted from a photograph of a rally for Mussolini," he adds with a wry smile.

After World War II, there was a reaction in Europe against hero worship - "this was feared", Askgaard says. So Andersen is now seen as a gentle, old, friendly guy: quiet, harmless, a humanistic role model. "Visiting dignitaries (Nikita Kruschev, Josephine Baker, Indira Gandhi and Yuri Gagarin) have come to the museum to be photographed in that context," he says.

In real life he was more complicated, fascinating to no one more than Andersen himself, who wrote three different autobiographies - the first when he was about 30. If that seems presumptuous today, Askgaard says, "remember that people didn't live as long then, and often had achieved whatever success life would give them by 30." Mozart, he notes, was dead at 33.

Andersen was obsessed with death and his own mortality, a theme that underpins much of his writing. A successful writer abroad, he was enormously popular in Germany but didn't get the same recognition at home. Andersen found family matters difficult and married neither of the two women to whom he proposed. He is said to have died with a decades-old letter from one of the women he hopelessly loved in his coat's breast pocket.

Now totally in the public domain, especially in Denmark, the writer has been adopted as a symbol by groups from the gay to the gluten-allergic. "He's a black hole, you can put anything in," Askgaard says.

Getting a true read on the legendary storyteller was tough for Danish sculptor Bjoern Noergaard, who was commissioned to make the statue of Andersen that stands in Odense's main public square.

Noergaard, who regularly travels to China to teach master classes in art, pushed past the well-known noble and folksy images to create three intertwined figures that show a man tortured by human emotions.

"Not everyone was happy with this image," says the Odense Museum's Ganz. "But when the statue was dedicated, people lined up for hours to get a piece of the casting mold."

Entranced by fantasy and theater "where everything was made beautiful", Andersen left home at the age of 14, seeking the stage lights of Copenhagen. But his rural roots are mirrored in his work. While Germany's famous storytellers, the Grimm brothers, had to travel to the countryside to record the superstitions of life there, Andersen was rooted in that culture from birth.

"In that time and place," Askgaard says. "It was not so strange to talk to flowers or to believe you could communicate with animals." Today in the West, he says, "the surface of my skin is the border of my 'I', but back then your surroundings were part of you".

The great Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe said, "The firmament is the mirror of our souls." In such a context, the Andersen historian says, "Your 'I' has to be quite big."

Contact the writer at michaelpeters@chinadaily.com.cn

A Shanghai university professor savors the literary power of Hans Christian Andersen, Xu Junqian discovers.

Bright sunshine pours through the classroom windows and over the chairs where students sit in twos and threes. They are reading about Karen, the vain girl who eventually abandons her red shoes in one of Hans Christian Andersen's most famous fairy tales.

It's a likely scene at any primary school, where Chinese students have studied Andersen stories like The Red Shoes for decades. But these students regroup every Tuesday morning in a spacious classroom to study the stories at Shanghai Fudan University.

"We kicked off this course, Nordic Literature, as a kind of trial a couple of years ago," says Sun Jian, professor of the course and director of the Nordic Literature Research Institute at Fudan. "But overwhelming feedback and student demand have made it a regular choice on the curriculum."

It's no surprise that Andersen's fairy tales have been a major part of the course, about one-third of curriculum, Sun adds. The Ugly Duckling, The Little Mermaid, The Little Match Girl, and The Emperor's New Clothes are the most popular Andersen stories in China, appearing in text books as late as high school.

Sun meets about 50 students in this decade-old red-tiled school building. Coming from majors including computer science and business management, they come here to immerse themselves in a legendary storyteller's wild imagination.

An ugly duckling is transformed into a swan. A pair of red shoes bears a curse. The love of a little mermaid is unrewarded - the most popular story in the classroom.

"Most of the students are girls. As they are more emotionally sensitive and subtle, it's always a pleasure to listen to their interpretation of works like The Little Mermaid and The Ugly Duckling from perspectives like feminism and cross-culture study," says Sun.

"And students always tell me how different it is to read these fairy tales after they have grown up," he adds.

Guo Xiaohan, a former cultural and lifestyle journalist in Beijing and now a published author, believes fairy tales were not meant for kids from the start - at least not only for them.

Guo has just published her own fairy-tale book, Little Love, featuring stories of television and abandoned Converse sneakers, dedicated to her own child and millions of other kids growing up in today's "concrete forest".

"While parents would love to see their kids morally and literally educated through those 'good-will-be-rewarded-with-good' tales, authors like Andersen were simply expressing their innocence through a more childlike way," says Guo.

"And grown-up readers of these tales are, like the author, re-appreciating the world through the eyes of a kid," she added.

As adults, Sun says, students can appreciate the serious implications of the original texts, versus the happily-ever-after Disney versions.

Founded in 2007, the Nordic Literature Research Institute of Fudan University is the first and best-known organization focusing on that region's literature study in China. Sun's program is affiliated with the University of Southern Denmark in Odense, Andersen's hometown, and Sun will travel there this fall to explore further cooperation between the institutions.

Contact the writer at xujunqian@chinadaily.com.cn.

The three astronauts who went on the country's first manned space-docking mission last month said on Friday that they are in good health as they recuperate from their 13-day stay in space.

The trio made their first public appearance since returning to Earth on June 29. They have been under quarantine the last two weeks as they rested.

"They have adapted well to gravity on Earth. All physiological indicators are normal now," said Chen Shanguang, director of the Astronaut Center of China. "The weight they lost in space is being gained back. They are recovering well, as expected."

The three astronauts, including China's first female astronaut, Liu Yang, looked healthy in a meeting room of the astronauts' apartment building in a northern suburb of Beijing on Friday morning.

"We feel good ... like how we felt before we took off," said Jing Haipeng, commander of the crew.

Earlier research showed that human beings in weightlessness usually suffer fluid redistribution and bone and muscle loss. They usually lose weight and suffer orthostatic intolerance, which means they get dizzy when they try to stand up from a lying posture after they return to Earth.

Chen said the three astronauts were asked to take a good rest, and were treated with massage and traditional Chinese medicines, among other things, to help them recover.

They will get further rest at a sanatorium in the second half of this month, Chen said, adding that observation of their health will continue for another three months.

But the three astronauts all said they cannot wait to rejoin their colleagues and start preparation for the next manned mission, which is scheduled for next year.

Liu, the female astronaut, said she looks forward to returning to work and has no intention of making up for lost time.

Earlier media reports said the 34-year-old had no time for shopping or watching movies after being recruited as a reserve astronaut in 2010.

"Like other young women my age, I also liked shopping or going out for movies before I became a reserve astronaut. But in the past two years, I found the busy life preparing for the space mission is also a kind of happiness," she said.

Many people wondered about how she felt in space.

"Every minute in space, I felt like a fish that swims in water freely. Everything floats and flies because of the weightlessness. Compared with the Earth, it seems that everything in space has got a life," she said, adding that the beautiful image of Earth from space also impressed her.

"I enjoyed working and living in space. It will be the most valued memory of my life," she said.

Astronauts also gave high praise to the domestically developed spacecraft and rocket carrier, and look forward to sharing experiences with astronauts from other countries in the future.

The Shenzhou IX mission was the country's first manual space docking between the spacecraft and the orbiting Tiangong-1 space lab module, which was launched last year and has a planned lifespan of two years.

It is also the first time that Chinese astronauts had stayed at their "home" in space — the orbiting Tiangong-1 space lab module.

The mission's success showed that China has mastered the space rendezvous and docking technology, which will be necessary for building a space station that the country plans for the year 2020.

So far, China's manned space program has conducted 10 missions, including four manned missions. Eight Chinese astronauts have been to space, including Jing, who is the first one who has been on two missions.

Contact the writer at xindingding@chinadaily.com.cn

Clinton on Friday met Myanmar President Thein Sein in Cambodia at the ASEAN-US Business Forum, while US President Barack Obama announced on Wednesday that US companies will be allowed to do business in Myanmar in certain sectors, including oil and gas.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gives a speech during the second Friends of Lower Mekong Ministerial Meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Friday. Photo by Heng Sinith / Associated Press

After years of poor US-Myanmar relations since the late 1980s, the US tried to soften its stance toward Myanmar in 2011 and improved ties with the country in 2012.

Derek Mitchell, the first US ambassador to Myanmar in 22 years, took office in Yangon on Wednesday.

Experts and media said the US eyes opportunities the Southeast Asian countries will bring to its economic development and looks to increase its presence in the Asia-Pacific region, so it tried to improve ties with its nontraditional partners.

Southeast Asian countries such as Laos and Vietnam have great potential for economic development, although the countries still remain impoverished and will not have an impressive economic rise right away, said Yang Baoyun, an expert on Southeast Asian studies with Peking University.

"Proposing to increase its presence in the Asia-Pacific region, the US is looking for new partners in the region," said Yang, adding that Washington aims at getting political support from the Southeast Asian countries in return for economic cooperation and assistance.

Yang said Washington's invasion of the Southeast Asian countries established great influence with them, although the hostility of those countries toward the US remains because of the Vietnam War.

This influence also makes it easier for the US to be accepted by these countries and increase its presence in the region, he added.

The US hopes to benefit from the dynamic economic development of Southeast Asian countries, which are coming to the forefront of the world stage with their inexorable rise as global economic and political players, said Chen Qinghong, an expert on Southeast Asian studies with the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

On Wednesday, Clinton became the first US secretary of state to visit Laos in 57 years, on a trip focused on the damaging legacy of the Vietnam War.

During her visit to Laos, Clinton pledged to remove millions of unexploded bombs dropped during the war, which still threaten people's lives in the Southeast Asian country.

Clinton told The Associated Press that she and Laotian leaders "traced the arc of our relationship from addressing the tragic legacies of the past to finding a way to being partners of the future".

Southeast Asian countries such as Laos are keen to achieve more economic development to get rid of poverty and need aid from the outside for their economic growth, a fact recognized and made use of by the US, said Chen.

Before the visit to Laos, Clinton also visited Vietnam on Tuesday. US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta visited the country in June and agreed with the Vietnamese to expand defense cooperation.

zhouwa@chinadaily.com.cn

China on Friday dismissed accusations that it was responsible for the lack of a joint statement after a meeting between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

"China believes that at the meeting series of the ASEAN Regional Forum, parties involved exchanged ideas on East Asian regional cooperation and major regional and international issues," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said at a regular news briefing.

"China's views and positions on issues in various fields were well understood and received support from many countries," he said.

Foreign ministers from China and member states of ASEAN have been debating the language of a joint statement since Monday, in which some ASEAN members insisted on including content regarding the South China Sea.

The Philippines and the United States have called for a unified ASEAN to use its collective clout to press China.

However, Beijing insists on dealing with the countries concerned bilaterally and has criticized outside intervention.

The Philippines lambasted the failure at the end of the talks on Friday, blaming it on China.

It had insisted that the joint statement must include reference to its armed standoff with China last month over Huangyan Island in the South China Sea.

However, there is discord within ASEAN on this issue.

Hor Namhong, foreign minister of Cambodia, which holds the rotating ASEAN presidency, said he could "not accept that the joint statement has become hostage of the bilateral issue (between the Philippines and China)".

Thailand's Foreign Minister Surapong Towichukchaikul said at the East Asia Summit that there might be some sensitive issues and disputes in the region but the meeting will build up trust and confidence in the region to handle the situation.

During the summit this week, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi warned the Philippines that the use of warships in relation to Chinese fishermen in China's waters off the Huangyan Island has sparked a public outcry in China.

Several major industries of the Philippines, including tourism and fruit planting, were heavily hit after its territorial dispute with China escalated in April.

Beijing expects Manila to stop stirring up trouble, Yang said.

Zhang Jie, an expert on Asia-Pacific studies with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said despite the disputes at the ASEAN meetings this week, "the atmosphere has been easier than in 2010 and 2011", when the issue was also brought up.

"The US and ASEAN have adopted a much more friendly attitude toward China compared with the two previous meetings," Zhang said.

The US is a dialogue partner of the ASEAN as well as a member of the EAS and ASEAN Regional Forum.

Yang discussed the South China Sea issue, among others, with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the sidelines of the ASEAN meetings in Phnom Penh.

Clinton said that the US was committed to developing a positive, cooperative and comprehensive relationship with China.

Collectively, ASEAN has never taken sides on the South China Sea issue since the forum was set up in 1994, Zhang noted.

Liu said on Friday that amid the global economic turmoil, nations in the Asia-Pacific region should stand closer and join hands to explore growth opportunities within the region.

AFP and ANN contributed to this story.

lixiaokun@chinadaily.com.cn

In a tweet, Nick Symmonds, who will compete in the 800-meter run at the London Olympic Games, wrote: "Our Ralph Lauren outfits for the Olympic opening ceremonies were made in China. So, um, thanks China."

The uniforms for the opening ceremony are American red, white and blue. The berets, blazers and pants were designed by US label Ralph Lauren and made in China.

When ABC News reported the facts, the story sparked more than 6,500 comments on Yahoo News, where the reaction was mixed.

However, on Thursday, Republicans and Democrats railed against the US Olympic Committee's decision to dress the US team in Chinese-manufactured uniforms.

"I am so upset. I think the Olympic committee should be ashamed of themselves. I think they should be embarrassed," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told reporters at a Capitol Hill news conference.

"I think they should take all the uniforms, put them in a big pile and burn them, and start all over again."

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi told reporters at her weekly news conference that she's proud of the nation's Olympic athletes, but "they should be wearing uniforms that are made in America".

The committee defended their choice of manufacturers by sharing that they are privately funded and so rely on sponsorships for clothing and equipment.

"Unlike most Olympic teams around the world, the US Olympic team is privately funded and we're grateful for the support of our sponsors," committee spokesman Patrick Sandusky said in a statement.

"We're proud of our partnership with Ralph Lauren, an iconic American company, and excited to watch America's finest athletes compete at the upcoming Games in London."

On Twitter, Sandusky called the outrage over the made-in-China uniforms nonsense.

Ralph Lauren declined to comment on the criticism.

In fact, if anyone has something to be upset about, it's China, said the New York-based Brandchannel.com, noting that Nike, a US brand, unveiled uniforms for China's Olympic team for the London Games in June.

"Made in China" is a phrase US citizens know mainly as an indicator of pervasive offshore manufacturing. But increasingly it's being attached to products originating in China from US companies — and gaining acceptance in the West.

A recent survey by Li-Ning, a leading Chinese athletic footwear and apparel company, found that a growing number of consumers in the US are willing to buy products of Chinese origin.

Two consumer groups, those aged 18 to 25 and those with annual household incomes of more than $225,000, were most likely to regard Chinese brands favorably.

More than half of the survey respondents, according to Li-Ning, said they believe the quality of Chinese brands will measure up to US-branded goods in the next five years.

It's impossible for US citizens to completely stop using Chinese-manufactured goods, given the irreversible trend of globalization and increasing economic interdependency between the two sides, said Dong Manyuan, deputy director of the China Institute of International Studies.

Before a presidential election, Republicans and Democrats are accustomed to accusing China of taking US jobs, in order to lobby voters and divert attention from the country's own problems," he said. "But once elected, almost every president will conduct normal exchanges and practical cooperation with China," he added.

Many US fashion brands have survived by getting rid of high costs created by the labor-intensive textile industry and moving their production lines to Chinese factories with intensive, cheap labor.

According to the China National Textile and Apparel Council, China's textile and garment exports to the US, the European Union and Japan dropped 6.55 percent in the first quarter.

Contact the writers at chenjia@chinadailyusa.com and zhaoshengnan@chinadaily.com.cn.

A joint oceangoing fishing operation involving 30 boats set sail for the Nansha Islands in the South China Sea on Thursday from South China's Hainan province.

It is one of the largest fishing activities in Hainan's history, according to the local fishery authority.

Their destination for the 20-day fishing operation is near the waters of Yongshu Reef.

According to local fishery authorities, the fleet consists of a 3,000-ton supply vessel and 29 fishing boats.

Among them, 18 belong to the Sanya Haiyu Fishers' Association and 11 are from the Sanya Yufeng Fishers' Association. They will be divided into several teams when fishing.

The fleet has a chief commander, three deputy commanders and a control team that will arrange and coordinate the operation of each team, said Zhang Huazhong, director of the Sanya marine and fishery bureau.

Ships patrolling the waters around the Sansha area and related departments will be prepared to meet urgent situations for the fishery operation, he said.

"The vessels are totally different from the old ones. They have the Beidou Navigation System, and the sailors in the vessels are professional," Lu Guangxian, the captain of Qiong Sanya 72029, one of the 29 fishing vessels, told China Daily.

Every year the fishermen in Hainan organize a month-long fishing operation on their own, but this time the fishers' associations are involved.

"With the participation of the associations, we will be better organized and can support each other in an emergency. The operation is a trial of oceangoing fishing. The Nansha Islands have plenty of fish resources. If this time we have a good harvest, we will go to Nansha more frequently," said Zhang Guanfu, captain of Qiong Sanya 7250.

The waters around Sansha have a potential fishery volume of 5 million metric tons every year. But currently Hainan has only 80,000 tons of fishing production.

In late June, China established Sansha city to administer the three island groups of Nansha, Xisha and Zhongsha. The new city also covers the islands' surrounding waters.

China is considering setting up a legislative body in the newly established city. Sources said on Thursday that the Standing Committee of the Hainan Provincial People's Congress will deliberate on a motion to set up an organizing committee for the legislative body in Sansha.

The mainland received about 9.24 billion yuan ($1.45 billion) from overseas donors in 2011, 3.65 billion yuan less than the amount in 2010, said the Blue Book of Philanthropy, released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The total value of money and goods given to the charity sector on the mainland declined by about 18 percent, from 103.2 billion yuan in 2010 to 84.5 billion in 2011, the report said, citing statistics from the China Charity and Donation Information Center, an organization affiliated with the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Out of the total amount received, the share of overseas donations dropped from about 12.5 percent to 10.9 percent, said the report.

Hong Kong turned out to be the dominant source of overseas donations in 2011, accounting for 36 percent of overseas donations flowing into the mainland.

"Among more than 100,000 foreign companies and transnational enterprises, fewer than 100 companies' donations exceeded 1 million yuan, and the number that donated more than 10 million yuan is very small," said the report.

Liu Youping, deputy director of the center, who participated in writing and editing the report, said the global economic downturn forced some foreign companies to cut their spending on charity.

Given the growing economic power of China, some foreign enterprises adjusted their philanthropic strategy in order to help poorer countries, he said.

On the other hand, helping China to help the world is a possible alternative for many international donors or charity organizations.

"China has a lot of important skills, technology and financial resources for global development, so we don't see it as just helping China to help China, we see the potential that China has to offer," said an insider in an international charity foundation that focuses on health issues, including HIV/AIDS, who declined to be named.

The foundation has shifted its strategy to cooperating with its Chinese partners to develop cheap medicines that meet international standards for export. That way, more poor people around the world can afford them, he said.

Incomplete statistics show that apart from official aid, overseas donations from the Chinese mainland reached 561 million yuan last year, a slender rise of 2 percent on 2010, the report pointed out.

It added that Chinese companies donated about 408 million yuan abroad, comprising nearly 73 percent of China's total overseas donations.

Yang Tuan, a researcher specializing in social policy with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and co-editor of the report, stressed that those figures did not include China's donations to Japan's earthquake and tsunami survivors in 2011.

China donated about 900 million yuan to disaster-hit areas in Japan after the disaster in March 2011, Yang said, without citing the source of the statistics.

She said that by increasing its donations overseas, China showed it was assuming more global responsibility.

The report was released in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, as part of a three-day China Charity Fair that kicked off on Thursday.

About 260 NGOs, 140 companies and 100 charitable foundations gathered in Shenzhen to exchange views and seek opportunities for cooperation.

Philanthropy is at a burgeoning stage in China, with many challenges, said Li Liguo, minister of civil affairs, who delivered the keynote speech at the opening ceremony.

The government will continue perfecting laws and regulations on charity to enable charity organizations to fully participate in the development of education, science and other social issues.

Contact the writer at hedan@chinadaily.com.cn

The One Foundation, the charity founded by film star Jet Li, announced on Thursday the creation of a program to help the country's orphans and other children whose parents are absent.

Thursday's announcement came at the China Charity Fair in Shenzhen.

Chen Hongle, the foundation's project director, said the new program seeks to help the 573,000 orphans under 18 years old and 570,000 other children who have no parents raising them.

The other children include those who lost their fathers and whose mothers remarried but didn't keep them; and those whose parents are both in prison.

Chen said 86 percent of the affected 1.14 million children are in rural areas, with the majority being in western regions such as the Tibet autonomous region and Qinghai province.

Chen said the foundation will provide children who don't live in orphanages or welfare houses with a schoolbag, which they call a "warm bag", with stationery, daily necessities and an e-book reader. For children in orphanages or welfare houses, the program will concentrate on their mental health and will give psychological support and advice, especially to those 15 to 18 and about to look for work.

The One Foundation is also considering building a network of orphan-related social organizations to make the best use of resources.

Yang Peng, secretary-general of the foundation, announced that this year's "Race for Love" marathon, a charity event that has already taken place for three years, will be on Dec 16. Last year's race in Yantian district in Shenzhen attracted 6,986 people from 21 countries and regions and raised more than 2 million yuan ($313,700), with all the money going to a program for autistic children.

"This year, we will run for the orphans," said Yang.

One Foundation was founded in Beijing in 2007 as a private fund under the administration of the Red Cross Society of China. In January 2011, it moved to Shenzhen and became an independent public fund.

The charity focuses on children's welfare, natural-disaster relief and professional training on public-welfare management.

The foundation always attracts attention because of movie-star founder Li, as well as its board that includes top entrepreneurs in China such as Wang Shi, board chairman of China Vanke, who also showed up at Thursday's event; Ma Huateng, founder and chief executive of Tencent, and Ma Yun, chairman and chief executive of Alibaba Group.

According to Yang, the fund has always adopted advanced ways to make its charity transparent and professional, including having China Merchants Bank take custody of the charity's money and having accounting firms audit its assets and release annual reports. The foundation conducts research and consults with experts in related fields.

According to an annual report provided by Deloitte in end of May, the One Foundation received donations of 108 million yuan ($16.9 million) in 2011.

Contact the writer at huangyuli@chinadaily.com.cn

A 13-year-old boy in Dezhou city, Shandong province, who was seriously injured when two co-workers inserted a working air pump into his anus, was transferred to Beijing for further treatment on Thursday.

Du Chuanwang suffered damage to many of his organs. He was immediately sent to Xiajin County People's Hospital.

Ai Qingze, head of the hospital's intensive care unit, said the boy was in a serious condition. "The pressure inside his abdomen was so high that his legs turned purple. The surgeons immediately cut open his abdomen to let the gas out, and found that his small intestines were bleeding very badly."

Du underwent an operation to repair his intestines at the hospital. Ai said the air pressure damaged Du's liver, kidneys and stomach.

His face and nose also showed signs of necrosis, but Ai said the cause of the condition had not been determined. "We have suggested the patient's family transfer him to a better hospital, for as a county-level hospital our hospital doesn't have enough medical resources to treat him."

The incident occurred on June 30 while Du was working in a garage in Xiajin county, Dezhou. Police in Xiajin have detained the two workers suspecting of injuring Du.

"The two suspects surnamed Zhao and Chen severely injured Du by pressing him down and pumping air through his anus with an air pump," the police said on their Sina Weibo account on Thursday. "The case is under further investigation."

The two suspects are said to be in their 20s. Police called the incident a "prank".

Sun Shunchang, 27, who is from Xiajin but has lived in Beijing for more than a decade, visited Du in hospital and donated money to help with his medical expenses. He said the attack appeared to be more than just a prank. "Some media reported that they were just making a prank. But is it possible that two men in their 20s played this kind of prank on a teenager?"

Wang Xi, an anchor at Shandong-based Qilu TV, posted a micro blog on her Sina Weibo account on Wednesday asking for help for the boy. The message has been forwarded more than 300,000 times.

Angel Mom, a Beijing-based non-governmental organization that helps and raises money for disadvantaged children, saw the message and requested assistance from the Beijing Emergency Medical Center to transport the boy from Xiajin to the Bayi Children's Hospital in Beijing.

Du arrived at the Bayi Children's Hospital at 5 pm on Thursday in an ambulance sent by the Beijing Emergency Medical Center. He was immediately carried to the ICU.

Zhang Lei, a doctor at the center, accompanied Du during the trip to Beijing. "His vital signs are stable now," said Zhang. "But he needs more surgeries to repair his intestines and treatment to control an infection in his lung."

Du's father and three other relatives also accompanied him to Beijing.

According to Ai, the treatment Du received at the Xiajin hospital cost about 100,000 yuan ($15,700), 60,000 of which was paid for by the boss of the garage where Du worked.

Dong Qilu, Du's uncle, said the family has only managed to pay less than 20,000 yuan of the medical expenses.

Li Yuan, a counselor for Angel Mom, said the organization has received about 400,000 yuan in donations, while Wang Xi said Du's family has received 100,000 yuan in donations.

Li said the organization has suspended the donation drive. "The donations we have collected are enough to support this phase, where we will try our best to help him survive. We will open for another round of donations if it is needed."

Zhao Yinan contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at wangqingyun@chinadaily.com.cn

The Beijing Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau issued a directive on Wednesday calling on workers to "lower costs and tighten training disciplines to improve the orientation and effectiveness of training."

The directive said government agencies in the city must now disclose internally the goals, duration, schedule and costs of overseas trips for the purpose of training and development if the information is not classified.

A special audit system will be established with external auditors randomly examining bills and costs from overseas training trips.

Beijing government workers wishing to go overseas for training must now submit their itineraries for the approval of the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs.

The directive said the new measures will make it difficult for workers to exploit overseas trips because the itineraries must guarantee two-thirds of the time will be spent on classes, surveys or business practices.

The directive also sets limits on costs.

"Pocket money" will no longer be given for projects lasting less than 90 days, and the budget for miscellaneous expenses is set at $10 a day, regardless of the destination.

Accommodation costs, meal allowances and training fees will also get a set budget.

Workers attending training trips to the United States lasting less than 90 days will receive $80 for accommodation and $30 for meals.

For mid- to long-term trips, the budget will be set by the month, with workers able to receive an all-inclusive monthly budget of up to $800.

The directive is not the first time China's Central and local governments have attempted to reign in civil-servant spending amid growing public demand for more transparency.

Earlier this month it was revealed the urban management authority in Guangzhou spent 1.14 million yuan ($178,800) in 2010 on overseas training and survey trips. The excessive cost sparked public condemnation, and the trips were labeled a "tour around the world".

Last year the Beijing Municipal Commission of Population and Family Planning prompted controversy when it spent 1.18 million yuan on "learning international practices of population management".

Beijing-based independent lawyer Wang Xiaohui said there should be transparency in government spending.

"The public has the right to know and monitor how its money is spent," Wang said. "Such a system to prevent the misuse of public funds should have been established earlier."

A civil servant with the Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce, who does not want to be identified to "avoid trouble", said the directive would have a bigger impact on senior officials than on staff members.

"I seldom have the chance to go on overseas trips. The directive would make senior officials seriously calculate their budget on trips or face auditors' questions," she said.

She said the internal disclosure of training programs would allow staff members to know officials' whereabouts - information not previously freely available.

"But implementation of the directive matters most," she said.

Tan Yue, a logistic manger in Beijing, said she thought training programs should be publicized on authorities' websites so external monitoring can play an even greater part.

Since 2008 many provincial-level governments in China have attempted to control excessive spending on overseas business trips.

Authorities in Henan province have investigated and punished 61 officials, including 17 above county-level, in 13 cases since 2008, the Henan Legal Daily reported in February.

Contact the writer at wanghuazhong@chinadaily.com.cn

The number of private lending disputes involving large amounts of money in Zhejiang province has reached the peak in the last five years and is expected to increase until the end of the year, said a recent report by the Zhejiang High People's Court.

The report issued by the court on Tuesday showed that 58,037 private lending disputes involving nearly 28.4 billion yuan ($4.46 billion) were handled in the first two quarters by courts in the province.

The number of cases increased by about 27 percent and the amount related to the cases is up nearly 130 percent compared with the same period last year.

Almost half of all commercial lawsuits in the province in the last few years were private financing disputes, especially after 2008.Zhang Hengzhu, the chief judge of a civil court of the Zhejiang High People's Court, told the Legal Daily newspaper that the increase of the amount of private lending disputes is expected to continue this year.

Zhang added that private lending activities are quite popular among small and medium-sized businesses in the province but have uncontrollable risks, which easily lead to sudden cash-flow problems.

Wenzhou is China's hotbed of private capital. The city had the highest increase in private lending disputes in Zhejiang, up about 96 percent compared with the same time last year. The city is trying to recover from the tough period.

"Although the crisis had a negative impact on SMEs in the city, we've noticed that the majority of companies are recovering with more loans now being made available from banks," said Zhou Dewen, chairman of the Wenzhou SME Development Association.

Wenzhou was selected for a pilot project at the end of March after many local entrepreneurs failed to repay their debts and fled the city due to the sudden tightening of State-owned banks' loan lending policies for SMEs, which started in September.

During the credit crisis last year, about 100 businessmen in the city were reported to have disappeared, declared bankruptcy or committed suicide with debts exceeding 10 billion yuan.

Under the pilot project, the city suggested developing private-owned financial services, establishing village banks and rural financial agencies, and encouraged State-owned banks to lend to small businesses.

Wenzhou's private lending registration service center was one of the first moves of the pilot scheme. The center aims to channel private funds into the financial system.

Up to July 9, the center had offered more than 600 million yuan in credit to borrowers, a majority of which are small and micro businesses.

"About 90 percent of the borrowers are owners and shareholders of SMEs, which regularly need the money for their manufacturing-based production lines," said the center's Xu Zhiqian.

Xu added that the center is trying to assist the banks in providing SMEs in the city with sufficient funds to solve their financial problems.

Business owners agree, but see a slow recovery.

"The situation is slowly getting better with the support from the government and the service center. But we still need a long time to recover completely from the crisis," said Ye Jianqing, chairman of Wenzhou Zhenqing Optical Co Ltd.

Contact the writer at yuran@chinadaily.com.cn

The government has encouraged all State-run TV stations above the city level to provide programs with subtitles.

The policy came as part of regulations published by the General Office of the State Council on Wednesday, aiming to create a barrier-free environment for disabled people. The regulations will take effect on Aug 1.

Li Shujun, an 86-year-old resident in Chongqing who has hearing problems, cheered the policy.

Li loves to watch TV. "But her face almost touches on the screen when she watches TV," said Li's daughter, Han Zijing. "She said it is the only way to understand what's going on."

In the past, Li's daughter sometimes downloaded programs with subtitles for Li on the computer. "Then she can sit comfortably on a couch to watch the programs."

Han said that Li doesn't like to watch shows on the computer because she has to ask for help "instead of switching the TV on and sitting there".

"Luckily, there are many programs with subtitles now, which make things easier for my mom," the daughter said.

Han said her mother was "as happy as a little kid" after learning about the new policy.

Lu Xuejing, a professor at the School of Labor Economics of Capital University of Economics and Business, has praised the regulation, saying it showed that the awareness of caring for disabled people is enhanced.

"It will bring more convenience to people with hearing difficulties," she said, adding that not all TV stations were fully aware of the special need of this group in the past.

Yao Yao, a Fulbright research fellow at John F. Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University with expertise in communication, said it is a global practice to add subtitles in TV programs for the convenience of viewers.

Yao said that in the United States and the United Kingdom, there is a button on TV remote controls for subtitles, and viewers can choose to watch TV with or without subtitles.

Yao said metropolises like Beijing and Shanghai would be able to implement the regulation by Aug 1, but other remote cities will work toward the goal gradually.

"The subtitles will increase the accuracy of programs. For example, speakers talk in a colloquial style, which may easily cause misunderstandings," Yao said.

"China has various dialects, and the subtitles make it easier for audiences to understand the content accurately."

Wang Beiru, a director of Super Parent Club at Shanghai TV Station, said her program has already provided subtitles, adding that it is a requirement for recording programs.

"It gives everybody access to our show, including the ones with hearing difficulties," Wang said.

"It also helps audiences understand dialects," Wang said, but adding that it may be difficult to provide subtitles for live shows.

Yao, from Harvard, also said that a more detailed guidebook should be provided to TV stations to answer specific questions.

"For example, providing subtitles is still difficult for the satellite news gathering programs. Then questions like what kind of programs are required to have subtitles, or to what extent subtitles or captions are needed, will be answered," Yao said.

Contact the writer at luowangshu@chinadaily.com.cn

Guide dogs will be allowed in public places in China when a new regulation passed by the State Council takes effect on Aug 1.

The regulation aims to provide more convenient facilities and services for people with disabilities.

Chen Yan has been left blind from congenital cataracts, but the 39-year-old still leads a full life. She owns a piano store and will publish a book titled You Are My Eyes dedicated to her guide dog, Jenny, at the end of this month.

Jenny came into Chen's life in April 2011. Since then the 4-year-old black Labrador has accompanied Chen wherever she goes, from the supermarket to her piano store, or even her travels around China.

"I even ask for Jenny's opinion when I go shopping. 'Yes' sit, 'No' stand," Chen said.

But Chen has also experienced hostile reactions to her guide dog, with Jenny denied access to buses, subways, parks, tourist sites and hotels in cities including Beijing and Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province.

"Some cities have greater awareness about guide dogs, such as Fuzhou and Xiamen (in Fujian province). I only need to book hotels and flights in advance and explain to them I have Jenny with me," Chen said.

Chen hopes the new regulations will contain detailed rules regarding guide dog access. She said similar requirements allowing guide dogs in public places had been written into earlier government regulations but were poorly enforced.

Jenny is one of only eight guide dogs in Beijing. The total number in China is less than 40. Most of them are from the China Guide Dog Training Center in Dalian, Liaoning province.

Since 2006 the center has given 29 dogs to people with visual impairment. There are 70 dogs currently training to be guides.

Wang Lin, a 26-year-old veterinarian, joined the center in 2009 after she finished studies at Liaoning Medical University. Wang has trained six dogs that are now living in across China.

"Almost all the dogs sent from this center had some difficulties when their owners tried to take them on public transport," Wang said.

Betty, the most recent graduate of Wang's training, found a new home in April and is the first guide dog in Jinan, Shandong province. But it has not all been smooth sailing for Betty - several bus drivers refused to allow her on board. Chen Xin, Betty's owner, insisted on her right to have the same access to public services as people without guide dogs.

Wang, on behalf of the training center in Dalian, went to Jinan with a dog in May to help Chen and Betty. Zhu Weicheng from Zhejiang province also arrived with his guide dog, Feifei.

The three guide dog ambassadors met with officials, introduced the three dogs around Jinan, and spoke with people to raise public awareness.

"If Betty is rejected from buses, other people in Jinan will be afraid to apply for guide dogs later," Wang said.

At the Dalian center it takes a year to train a guide dog and costs up to 150,000 yuan ($23,600). The center relies largely on donations, Wang said.

The center has 12 trainers and is looking for more. But Wang said qualified applicants are in short supply as the charity needs to hire energetic young people who love dogs and are willing to accept modest pay.

The center hopes to receive more financial support from the government as the demand for guide dogs and trainers rises, Wang said.

The only other Chinese city that offers trained guide dogs is Shanghai.

Zhu Wenqi from the Shanghai Guide Dog Association said since 2007, they have trained and placed 16 dogs, and that number will reach 20 by the end of 2012.

Unlike the Dalian center, which hires its own dog trainers, the Shanghai association collaborates with a police dog training institute in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province, for breeding and training.

The association accepts applications from visually impaired Shanghai residents. There are currently 20 people waiting for guide dogs.

Zhu said the initial public reaction to guide dogs was quite negative. Some bus drivers avoided the dogs by stopping farther away or just driving past, and some supermarkets refused to let the dogs enter. About half of Shanghai's guide-dog owners are masseuses and some have complained that their workplaces do not allow the dogs.

But as public awareness improves, so is the public response to the dogs, Zhu said.

Yi Wenqin, director of the job center for disabled people in Shenyang, Liaoning, said guide dogs could help visually impaired people rebuild their self-esteem and integrate into society.

Yi hopes the new regulation will be properly implemented and give better protection to this disadvantaged group.

Wu Yong in Shenyang contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at liyao@chinadaily.com.cn

Doctors in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, began to provide free surgery on Wednesday to a group of Tibetan children with congenital heart disease.

The operations are part of a charity program launched in May by the China Charity Federation. Free surgery will be provided to Tibetan children with the disease, which can be fatal if untreated.

Five out of the first group of 30 children, ranging in age from 1 to 18 years old, successfully received the surgery on Wednesday at the General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Command of the People's Liberation Army, said Zhang Weida, director of the hospital's cardiothoracic surgery department.

"We have had a full understanding of their health condition. They will be as healthy as other children after the operations," said Zhang.

Of the five children, the youngest is only 1 year old, Zhang said.

"It took us nearly two hours to conduct the operation for the child. Fortunately, everything went smoothly," Zhang said.

Zhang and four other doctors from the hospital had traveled to the remote counties of Nagqu, Baingoin and Nyima in the Tibet autonomous region since June 29 to give free medical checks to more than 600 children.

"These children live in a very harsh natural condition. We are very impressed by their willingness to look for a better life," said Zhang.

In Baingoin county, Zhang drove more than 40 kilometers to visit Phuntsog Lhamo, a 10-year-old girl who has been living with her grandfather after her parents left her behind when she was only 6 years old.

"Her disease is not very serious. But it poses a great threat to her life if it is left untreated. So I decided to bring her to Guangzhou," Zhang said.

The girl, who was accompanied by her grandfather in the hospital, was among the first five to receive the surgery on Wednesday.

"In Tibetan, her name sounds like 'beautiful fairy.' She will gradually recover within 10 days and we wish she will become a true fairy," Zhang said.

Two hours after the surgery, the girl could speak a little after she was moved to an intensive care unit.

"I miss my parents. I wish to see them soon after the operation," she said.

In addition to the first group of 30 children, 85 more Tibetan children with congenital heart disease will come to Guangzhou for free treatment in the near future, Zhang aid.

In Beijing, nearly 150 children from Tibet with the disease have received the operation since May 17.

In addition to the nationwide charity program, the General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Command of the PLA in 2006 launched a similar project, in which more than 4,400 children from seven provinces and autonomous regions have successfully received operations for the congenital heart disease.

Most children with the disease can be as healthy as others if the operations are successful, Zhang said.

Tenzin Choden, an 11-year-old Tibetan boy who received an operation for the disease in Beijing in June, said he can play soccer now.

The boy now works as a volunteer with the children in Guangzhou, helping them communicate with doctors.

Contact the writer at qiuquanlin@chinadaily.com.cn

China's State Council issued a document on Wednesday to improve the domestic circulation of consumer goods and boost the development of supply chains.

Economists said that the document aimed to expand domestic consumption amid a slowdown in the world's second-largest economy mainly resulting from slowing growth in the country's exports and curbs on the real estate industry.

In the first quarter of this year, China's GDP growth rate slowed to a three-year low of 8.1 percent, because of weakening demand in global markets amid the deepening eurozone debt crisis.

Foreign trade grew 8 percent year-on-year in the first half of this year, missing the 10 percent growth goal set early this year.

The country's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) underlined that the major force for economic growth will be shifted from exports to domestic demand, especially domestic consumption.

"The supply-chain industry has developed into a fundamental and forerunner of the country's economic growth," Premier Wen Jiabao said during an executive meeting of the State Council on Wednesday.

But he added that low efficiency and high costs prevail in the industry.

"Efforts will be made to build up a modern network of supply chains. Commercial networks in rural areas will be increased. And channels will be established to improve the circulation of agricultural and industrial products between rural and urban areas," said the document.

Huo Jianguo, president of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, a think tank under the Ministry of Commerce, agreed.

"The main problem is that high costs in supply chains drive up prices. Reform will lower the costs and expand the domestic market, as well as boost domestic consumption.

"There are still too few supermarkets in rural areas, and there is great potential for home-appliance consumption," Huo said.

The government will also boost the development of e-commerce to facilitate the production and sale of agricultural products.

"In the long run, the establishment of e-commerce or online trading systems is of great significance to reform the country's supply chain because it will reduce supply-chain costs and boost consumption," Huo said.

Public facilities such as market stalls will be installed or improved. While the government will boost large supply-chain enterprises to form core competitiveness, small and medium-sized enterprises in supply chains, especially small and micro-enterprises, will be encouraged to develop professionally or with special characteristics, according to the document.

"Private capital is welcome in the supply-chain industry to break monopolies, and the use of foreign capital in the sector will be improved," said the document.

Expenses in supply chains will be pragmatically reduced and supportive measures will be increased. "In a certain period, land-use and property taxes will be exempted when establishing wholesale agricultural produce markets and farmers' markets in cities and towns," said the document.

"These measures are very important, but it will take some time for them to take effect. Also it requires other supportive measures, including fiscal support," Huo said.

Contact the writer at lijiabao@chinadaily.com.cn

The survey, conducted by the China Research Center on Aging, said those over 60 years old had 3.2 children on average in 2010, down from four in 2000.

The survey that polled about 20,000 respondents aged over 60 nationwide in 2010 also showed that nearly half of the seniors live in "empty-nest" families with children far away.

In terms of financial wellbeing, the poll showed that the income gap between urban and rural areas remains large for seniors. Urbanites lived with an average income of 17,900 yuan ($2,800) per capita per year and saved about 2,000 yuan.

However, their rural counterparts could barely make ends meet with a yearly income of about 4,750 yuan - effectively the same as living expenses.

One in five seniors in cities described their economic situation as "difficult" or "extremely difficult", the survey said, yet two in five in rural areas felt the same way.

The pension system covered about 35 percent of the senior population in rural areas, compared with 85 percent in cities, the survey said.

More than 52 percent of seniors in the countryside continued working after they reached 60. However, only 0.5 percent of their urban counterparts did.

Zhou Qifeng, a 68-year-old villager in Xinyang city in Central China's Henan province, sweats about 10 hours a day to feed pigs, and plant herbs, vegetable and rice to support his wife and three grandchildren.

Zhou and his wife receive about 1,300 yuan every year from the government after they joined the New Rural Pension System and they earn 2,000 yuan more from selling herbs.

"Although the money we make is far from enough, we don't want to ask our children for money. We know it's not easy for them to make a living in big cities," said Zhou.

China was home to nearly 123 million people aged over 65 in 2011, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

China's population is aging, with 13.7 percent of its population in 2011 older than 60, a rise of 0.4 percentage points compared with the previous year.

Supporting seniors in rural areas is and will continue to be a major challenge for Chinese society, said Fang Jiake, deputy director of Hetong Senior Citizens' Welfare Association, an NGO in Tianjin.

"Studies have shown that the rural population is aging faster than in urban China, and an estimated 60 percent of seniors live in rural areas," he said.

The social support system for seniors is yet to be established in rural areas, while tens of millions of left-behind seniors cannot rely on their migrant-worker children to take care of them, he said.

Guo Ping, an assistant research fellow from the China Research Center on Aging who participated in the survey, urged the government to improve the social security network for rural seniors.

"Currently, the government subsidy is too little to relieve the economic plight of rural seniors, but I believe the government will gradually enhance the insurance level," Guo said.

Three quarters of seniors said they suffered from chronic diseases and about 14 percent believe they need nursing services, the survey showed.

Only 11 percent of urban seniors said they want to spend the rest of their lives in nursing institutes, as did 12.5 percent of rural respondents.

Wu Yushao, vice-president of the China National Committee on Aging, said it is a global trend to facilitate home-based nursing services to enable healthy seniors to spend their lives in their original homes and communities.

Contact the writer at hedan@chinadaily.com.cn

Han Han, one of China's most-read bloggers, has launched what could be a lengthy legal battle to close Baidu's online library, which he claims has infringed on his copyright.

The lawsuit filed by the author against the Internet company had its first hearing at Haidian District People's Court in Beijing on Tuesday.

The court sat for more than four hours, but judges did not deliver a verdict, and neither the plaintiff nor defendant accepted the judges' mediation after the hearing ended.

In March 2011 more than 40 writers, including Han and novelist Jia Pingwa, signed a letter claiming Baidu supplied their works for free download on its online library, Wenku, without permission.

Baidu Wenku, launched in 2009, is an online platform allowing Web users to read, share, upload and download files, books and documents for free.

In July 2011, Han and several others established the Writers' Union, aiming to protect writers' online copyright. The blogger's case is the first the union has taken to court.

In the indictment read on Tuesday, Han accused the online database of having a large number of pirated works, adding that it failed to address the issue even after being informed of the violation.

The case involves three of Han's books. He is demanding Baidu pay 760,000 yuan ($120,000) in damages.

Han also wants Baidu to close its online library and publish an apology on its website's homepage for seven days, according to the indictment.

At the court, Wang Guohua, the attorney representing Han and the Writers' Union, said his client previously wrote an e-mail asking Baidu to remove his works from the site. However, they were still available for download after that e-mail.

Zhang Yongyi, Baidu's attorney from Beijing Dadi Law Firm, refuted Wang's claims and said the company eliminated all documents related to the writer and his three works after they received the first e-mail.

"We took notice of the links (to Han's books) provided by the plaintiff and deleted the content, as per our online anti-piracy policy," Zhang said. He added they could delete the books' links provided by the plaintiff but not all pirated books because the plaintiff did not give them the content of the authorized books.

Zhang, with other three Baidu lawyers, typed the name "Han Han" and the names of three books into their online library at the court, but the computer showed a blank website with a notice, saying what the users wanted could not be found on this database.

"Baidu has taken many measures to avoid damaging writers' copyright," Zhang said. "Besides the anti-piracy technical system, we've also put some obvious warnings on our websites to tell users not to upload unauthorized documents."

As an information database or online service, Baidu operators have no right to check a mass of uploaded works by Web users in line with China's laws or regulations, the lawyer said after the trial, adding the company is unable to know what kind of documents have infringed others' copyright.

"The writer can tell the company or complain about the online infringement by using our e-mail addresses at the bottom of our Wenku websites if he found some uploaded works that might damage his rights," Zhang said.

However, Wang Shuning, another of Han's lawyers, said Baidu should know some documents on its online library might have violated Han's works and should not shift its blame onto the writer.

"We'll insist that Baidu infringed Han's work indirectly," he said. Wang said closing the online library may be a better way to avoid similar violations in the future.

Yu Guofu, a lawyer specializing in online infringement cases at Shengfeng Law Firm in Beijing, said the focus of the case should be the writer's copyright, not how to regulate the operation of the online library.

"Companies such as Baidu just provide a service or platform for residents, which means it's hard for operators to check each uploaded work's authorization," he said, adding the plaintiff cannot say Baidu infringed his copyright.

Rui Songyan, a senior judge specializing in intellectual property-rights cases at Beijing No 1 Intermediate People's Court, said that the core problem of similar cases for plaintiffs is how to prove that commercial websites publish works with bad intentions.

Under current laws, in China as well as other countries, there is no law to require online service companies to check works before they are uploaded, Rui said.

"We can't exaggerate an individual case, saying writers suffer major damage or companies are the victims," she said. "After all, it still needs time and cases to find a right balance between writers and online service companies."

Contact the writer at caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn

A 1-kilometer stretch of the Quxi River in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, turned white on Monday as emulsion leaked into the tributary from a nearby chemical factory.

The emulsion was not toxic, but environmental experts said the discharge damaged the river.

"The pollutant was identified as natural emulsion, and the factory related (to the case) was shut down temporarily for further investigation," said Dai Dongpeng, a senior officer of the environmental protection bureau in Ouhai district, where the polluted river is located.

The leak occurred on Sunday evening after a liquid-transportation pipeline of natural emulsion ruptured at the Dashulin Trading Co, a local chemical-products supplier.

"About 200 kilograms of emulsion had flowed into the river before we noticed, which was too late," said Dashulin owner Zhang Jianhua.

Zhang added that the natural emulsion, which he had bought from Hainan province, was totally natural and not toxic.

A temporary dam was quickly built on Monday to prevent further water pollution in the river.

"The milk-white natural emulsion contained no biochemical toxicity, but it polluted the river and brought inconvenience to the daily life of local residents," Dai said.

Dai added that Zhang's company hadn't applied for the environmental approvals for setting up the transportation pipeline of natural emulsion, and his factory cannot be reopened until he submits the application.

He also said that the company that caused the incident will be fined.

Environmental experts said the incident had damaged the quality of water by turning it white.

"Even if the pollution source is the natural emulsion, which is not toxic at all, the clarity of natural water has been destroyed, as the suspended solids in the river was definitely over the standard," said Wu Jun, a professor at the School of Environment at Nanjing University.

Wu added that setting up the temporary dam to stop the flow of polluted water is the quickest way to prevent the expansion of the pollution, and the polluted water should be drained immediately for treatment.

By early Tuesday, the polluted water in the river had been pumped out and transformed to local sewage-treatment plants for further examination and treatment.

Shao Chenfang contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at yuran@chinadaily.com.cn

Xian Weixiong, director of the Guangzhou commission of transport, said that a lottery embodies the principle of fairness, while public auctions can help those who really want to buy their cars get the license plates.

"Funds raised from auctioning license plates will only be used to develop the city's public transport system," Xian said on Tuesday.

Guangzhou, Guangdong's provincial capital, will grant no more than 10,000 new car license plates a month starting in July.

"In the coming months, we will auction off 5,000 car license plates and have a lottery for another 5,000 every month," Xian said.

"The city's relevant departments have learned from Beijing and Shanghai's experience," said Xian, who is also vice-chairman of the Guangzhou Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Beijing, which started limiting car registrations in 2011, allowed 240,000 vehicles to be registered last year via monthly lotteries. Shanghai introduced a public auction system to grant new license plates in 1994.

Zheng Fenming, director of the Institute of Modernization Strategies under the Guangdong Academy of Social Sciences, said relevant departments should increase the number of car license plates granted via public auctions to increase the costs of owning a car.

"Those who are not rich enough should not be so eager to buy cars," Zheng said.

He added that limiting car registrations can only partly help the city tackle its traffic problems.

"In the long run, the authorities should make greater efforts to further improve the city's traffic facilities and raise management skills to ease the city's heavy traffic jams," he said.

Zheng urged the city to collect more congestion fees and further increase parking fees in busy areas to help reduce the number of vehicles on its roads.

"Also, the number of government and company cars should be reduced, while public buses and cabs should be increased to decongest Guangzhou's clogged roads," Zheng said.

Meanwhile, more large-scale parking places should be built in suburban areas for vehicles from outside the city, he added.

But Han Zhipeng, a member of the Guangzhou Committee of the Chinese People's Political and Consultative Conference, said he opposes increasing the number of car plates for public auctions.

"Why should the rich, or those who really want to buy their cars, have to pay more to be granted car license plates via auctions?" he said.

He suggested that only 30 percent of the license plates should be granted via public auctions, while the remaining 70 percent should be granted through a lottery to ensure the process is fair.

Han said he is in favor of limiting car purchases to help decongest traffic on roads in Guangzhou, which saw an annual growth of 19 percent in the number of vehicles registered in the last five years.

"More than 1,000 cars used to be registered every day in Guangzhou before July," he said.

Han said that limiting car registrations is an effective way to ease traffic jams.

Meanwhile, Xian said the vehicle registration limits were in response to the rapid growth in the number of cars in recent years.

Heavy traffic is hampering the economy's growth, worsened air pollution and antagonized many local drivers and residents.

Congested traffic has reduced the average driving speed to less than 20 kilometers per hour on more than 27 percent of the major roads and streets.

Xian said Guangzhou also plans to prioritize "green" public transportation systems by increasing the number of buses and further improving subway services in the coming months.

He added that his commission will open new bus routes and increase the number of buses to better serve local residents and tourists.

According to data from the local traffic police, Guangzhou - which has a population of more than 16 million - had more than 2.4 million vehicles registered by the end of May.

An average of 3.3 cars have to compete for or share a parking place due to a shortage of parking places.

Contact the writer at zhengcaixiong@chinadaily.com.cn

Gay rights campaigners have welcomed the move to allow lesbians to donate blood as experts questioned if keeping the ban on homosexual men was effective in ensuring the safety of supplies.

From July 1 a blood donation ban lasting for more than 10 years on homosexuals was lifted for lesbians because of their low risk of HIV, according to the revised version of blood donor health requirements.

Under requirements issued in 2001, all homosexuals were prohibited from giving blood.

However, under the revisions, gay men are still barred together with drug addicts and people with multiple sexual partners.

In China, all potential blood donors have to fill in health declaration forms and undergo health checks before donation.

In the form people are supposed to reveal their sexual orientation.

"It's understandable to keep the ban on gay men, which is in line with international practices, but its real effect is highly questionable," said Zhang Beichuan, one of China's leading scholars on gay and lesbian issues. "It's hard to verify if a donor is gay or not, as people can lie on forms."

Xiao Dong, who heads an organization committed to controlling HIV/AIDS among the gay community in Beijing, said the virus did not discriminate.

"Given that straight people might also be involved in unsafe sex and thus at risk of HIV/AIDS, the ban should apply to them as well, rather than exclusively for a certain group like gays.

"I've donated blood more than 10 times and never revealed my sexual orientation," Xiao, an openly gay man, told China Daily on Tuesday.

But he also said that some homosexual men still go for HIV screening at blood donation points as they do not know about the free voluntary testing services that are available.

Some homosexuals who were worried about seeing people they know and revealing their sexual orientation might also turn to blood donation for HIV screenings, he said.

Usually within a week of giving blood donors get a message telling them if their donated blood passed health checks, including HIV screening, for clinical uses or not.

Zhang said because of the nature of their sexual contact, gay men are at greater risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.

The Ministry of Health said about 3 percent of Chinese men who have sex with other men are HIV positive, a percentage far higher than the average for the entire population, which stands at about 0.057 percent.

"Some gay men go to donate blood and in truth just want the HIV screening provided by blood banks, which poses challenges to blood supply safety," Zhang said.

He suggested better health education and HIV intervention among the gay population to address the problem.

"There should be more social tolerance toward this group, because without discrimination they are more likely to go to the government-run HIV testing clinics," Zhang said.

He welcomed the lifting of the ban on lesbians, saying that it reflects rising awareness.

A 35-year-old lesbian in Shandong province, who did not want to be identified, said she welcomed the change in regulations.

"It does encourage us to contribute to society by donating blood, particularly when many parts of the country are suffering blood shortages," she said.

In 2009 about 540 lesbians on the Chinese mainland signed a petition urging health authorities to remove the discriminatory ban.

Under the new health requirements, criminal penalties for people who donate infected blood in malicious revenge on society are clearly spelled out.

Also, the recommended donor age limit has been extended by five years to 60, effective July 1.

In 2011, Minister of Health Chen Zhu, then 58, pulled up his sleeves donating blood to encourage the public to follow his example.

Worldwide, some countries set the limit at 65 years old.

Contact the writer at shanjuan@chinadaily.com.cn

Chinese workers are among the least likely in Asia to say their jobs are ideal, despite China having one of the region's lowest unemployment rates, a report by an international research company has found.

A survey conducted by management consultancy Gallup Inc in 2011, the results of which were released last week, has found only 49 percent of Chinese workers think their job is the "ideal" one for them.

Compared with Chinese workers, only Vietnamese workers are less satisfied with their work, with a mere 48 percent saying they have the ideal job, putting them in last place for job satisfaction on a list of 22 Asian economies.

The survey found job expectation in China remains high, despite figures from the National Bureau of Statistics showing the unemployment rate in China's urban areas in 2011 was 4.1 percent.

"These findings suggest that providing an adequate number of jobs in China alone is not enough to fulfill the career expectations of its workforce, or to sustain and grow a productive labor pool," said the report.

"This likely means that many Chinese workers will not be looking for just any job, but for a great job - one that offers a good workplace where they can use their unique talents," it said.

Concerns have been raised about the high expectations of Chinese job seekers, with several recent incidents highlighting the extreme pressures placed on well-educated students with master's degrees or doctorates unable to find work.

In October 2009, a graduate student who had been unemployed for over a year jumped off a building of China West Normal University with his degree certificate in his arms. He died on the scene.

Du Hanqi, a psychologist with MindCare Counseling Service in Beijing, said job seekers' views of value have changed as the market becomes increasingly competitive in the fast-growing economy.

"Years ago, people were willing to build their career gradually from a low starting point," Du said.

The psychologist said increased peer pressure meant graduates were looking for high-powered jobs without working their way up the career ladder.

The Gallup report is based on face-to-face and telephone interviews with 4,220 adults in China and approximately 1,000 adults in every other economy.

On the top of the list of Asian countries with high job satisfaction was Laos, where 90 percent of people say they have the ideal job.

Laos is followed by the Philippines, where 81 percent of people think they have the ideal job. And in Nepal the figure is 80 percent.

Labor experts said a relatively small sample pool was used in the survey and the results were questionable, and 49 percent could still be seen as a positive rate of job satisfaction.

Zhang Yi, an expert from the Institute of Population and Labor Economics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said different cultural backgrounds in different economies at various stages of development make the figures less comparable. He said to assess job satisfaction, many factors must be considered.

"Half of our 700 million working people feeling their job is ideal is still a positive number," he said.

Liu Junsheng, a senior researcher at the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, said people from Laos and Nepal would have limited job choices and were therefore more likely to feel their job was ideal than in China where there was more choice.

Contact the writer at wanghuazhong@chinadaily.com.cn

For years, deep in an underground European laboratory, Chinese physicists have been contributing to one of the most ambitious scientific experiments ever attempted - a search for the missing link at the beginning of the universe.

"How do we seize Higgs boson?" said Chen Guoming, a researcher at the Institute of High Energy Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"We copy the starting moment of the universe."

Chen was one of 3,000 scientists from 175 universities or research institutions in 38 countries and regions who have spent several years re-creating mini Big Bangs in a 100-meter underground laboratory on the French-Swiss border in an attempt to find the elusive particle.

Better known as the "God particle", it is the crucial link that could explain why other elementary particles have mass.

Last week, in a major scientific breakthrough, scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, better known as CERN, announced they had found a particle consistent with the Higgs boson, an announcement greeted with great fanfare in the scientific community across the globe.

CERN conducted two major experiments focused on finding the Higgs boson - CMS and ATLAS. Thirty scientific researchers from China, representing the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Peking University, took part in the search for the particle.

On July 4, CERN announced the CMS and ATLAS experiments had observed a new particle that was consistent with the Higgs particle.

"It's hard not to get excited by these results," said CERN Research Director Sergio Bertolucci.

"We stated last year that in 2012 we would either find a new Higgs-like particle or exclude the existence of the Standard Model Higgs. With all the necessary caution, it looks to me that we are at a branching point: the observation of this new particle indicates the path for the future toward a more detailed understanding of what we're seeing in the data."

The Higgs boson is named after British physicist Peter Higgs who, along with others, proposed the mechanism that suggested such a particle existed in 1964 - a theory ridiculed by some of the most respected minds of the time.

Stephen Hawking even bet another renowned physicist, Gordon Kane of the University of Michigan, $100 that the Higgs particle would not be found.

"It seems I have just lost $100," Hawking was quoted saying in London newspaper The Daily Telegraph following CERN's breakthrough.

Last week, Higgs, 83, traveled to Switzerland to witness the landmark announcement. The octogenarian was visibly moved as the presentation finished to tumultuous applause from a wildly excited audience, some of whom had waited overnight to secure their seats.

Choking back tears, Higgs paid tribute to the scientists who worked on the project.

"I would like to add my congratulations to everyone involved in this achievement. It's really an incredible thing that it's happened in my lifetime," Higgs said.

The CMS program cost about 500 million Swiss francs ($511.47 million), of which China contributed 1 percent.

China built the Resistive Plate Chamber, one-third of the Cathoed Strip Chamber, and supplied materials to help build part of a device called an electromagnetic calorimeter.

The experiment was carried out in the $511 million Large Hadron Collider, a huge device mainly made up of a 27 km ring of powerful magnets. Protons are placed into the collider and made to speed up before crashing together. Particle detectors in the machine read the data.

"Let's assume that you have two crystal balls, both composed of some inner structures you do not know. If you clash the two, they break apart into pieces, and then you can see what is in it," Chen said.

"That is like what we did on Large Hadron Collider, only it is much more difficult," he said.

"Actually the chance of finding Higgs boson is so rare that you could have 1 trillion collisions and you get one Higgs boson."

One barrier faced by the scientists was that the collision produced other particles called hadron and quantum photon. The scientists had to find a way to distinguish the particles from each other in order to find the Higgs boson.

"Chinese scientists found a unique method to distinguish the two particles, which was better than the solution of any other team. So our method was used for this and helped find the hint of Higgs boson," Chen said.

CERN is not the first group of scientists to search for the Higgs boson.

Before the Large Hadron Collider was switched on in 2008, the Tevatron in the United States was the most powerful collider in the world and in its final years of operation, raced to catch the first glimpse of the Higgs boson.

Although Tevatron was closed in 2011 due to budget constraints, the scientists involved in that project announced in March they had found evidence of a new fundamental particle that had a mass that fit in with predictions for the Higgs boson and was similar to experimental evidence announced by the Swiss-based scientists in December.

Contact the writer at chengyingqi@chinadaily.com.cn

Officials face removal from their posts if they are found overspending on vehicles, receptions and overseas trips, according to new regulation released on Monday.

The regulation issued by the State Council are the first legal documents that ask authorities above county level to include spending on the three items in budgets. The rules will take effect from Oct 1.

The regulation is the latest in a series of moves the central government has taken in recent years to promote transparency and fight abuse of taxpayers' money amid public complaints.

Liu Jiayi, head of the National Audit Office, said earlier that the "three expenses" concept, as it is known, is still not clear among government officials. Also, many ministries and their affiliates have spent more than allowed on those items.

According to the regulation, anyone who overspends on the items or misappropriates funds from other budget items to cover them will be demoted or even removed from their posts in the case of "serious" violations.

The same punishment will be applied to other misconduct, such as retaining more official vehicles than the allowed quota, spending more than allowed on cars and interior decoration, and building luxurious office facilities.

Governments will have to regularly publish numbers and categories of official vehicles, according to the regulation.

It also asks governments above county level to set up a system, standards and cost ranges for official receptions.

Government authorities should also make available the goals and schedules of overseas trips and limit the number of people in the delegations and the duration of the trips, the regulation said.

Experts and legislators said the regulation might be a "deterrent" to overspending if strictly carried out.

Ye Qing, a deputy to the National People's Congress, who has proposed reforms on car use by officials to the top legislative body over the past years, said that "the regulation promotes transparency and has many important measures".

Ye said he is especially impressed that the regulation defines the Government Offices Administration of the State Council and local governments as responsible parties - which were absent in the past - to monitor the expenses.

Meanwhile, he expects the regulation to be more specific so that it can be more easily implemented. For example, it should define what are "serious" violations, under which officials will be removed from their posts, he said.

Responding to Premier Wen Jiabao's call to not increase expenditure on the three items last year, ministries and many provincial-level governments disclosed their spending on the items last year. They are now required to provide more detailed information, including the number of vehicles they have and the number of officials traveling abroad.

Wenzhou's government in Zhejiang province is part of a pilot project that stipulates that official meals should not exceed 60 yuan ($9.50) per person. Expensive food - such as shark fin, abalone and drinks like Moutai - are banned from the menus.

Besides limiting spending on cars, receptions and overseas trips, the regulation stipulates that spending on conferences should be well managed and videoconferences should be encouraged to save costs.

"As younger people are taking up government posts, they will better adapt to (new technology) and choose cheaper ways to communicate in China," said Hao Mingwei, a sales manager with Polycom, a provider of videoconference devices in China.

Contact the writer at wanghuazhong@chinadaily.com.cn

A train conductor in Henan province said he was beaten by angry passengers after the train he was on was delayed for about eight hours in a rainstorm on Sunday.

Si Quansheng, 42, a conductor on a train that runs between Henan's Zhengzhou and Anhui province's Hefei, fell onto the floor of a railway platform and suffered a head injury after being pushed by passengers in Ningling county, in Henan's Shangqiu city, on Sunday morning.

Four places near the Shangqiu Railway Station were seriously affected by the heavy rain that fell from Saturday night to Sunday morning, leaving more than 10 trains delayed, the Zhengzhou railway bureau said on its Sina micro blog.

Si told China Daily on Monday that the weather had made traveling dangerous and that the train had therefore stopped at a station near Ningling.

"The train stopped at about 3 am on Sunday morning, and we had to open the door of the train to let the passengers get off at about 4 am," he said. "It was too hot in the carriages, where there was no air conditioning at all."

Passengers aboard the train asked the crew to let in some fresh air. But one half of the window panes were fixed in place, allowing them to be only halfway opened. In protest, several passengers began smashing the glass, Si said.

Si said several asked him when the train would restart but he could not give an exact time. His ambiguous answers made the passengers impatient. They surrounded Si, arguing with him and striking him with their fists.

"I was pushed down to the ground by a middle-aged man and my head was hurt after it hit a cement pillar on the platform," Si said.

To prevent the conflict from spiraling out of control, Si said he simply endured the attack without calling the police.

"It's understandable that passengers got angry and impatient after being left in the hot carriage for hours," he said.

The train was scheduled to arrive at the Hefei Railway Station at 6:40 am. It instead got to the city at about 3 pm, said Chen Youhui, director of the publicity department of the Zhengzhou railway bureau.

Chen said officials from the railway bureau plan to visit the conductor and praise him for being patient with the angry passengers.

A similar case occurred on a train running in the opposite direction on the same day. Passengers on the Hefei-Zhengzhou line smashed windows after they were forced to stop at a station in East China's Anhui province and stay there for hours.

Ren Hongbing, a photographer who was on the Hefei-Zhengzhou train on Sunday, said the temperature on the train became unbearably high.

"Some children started to vomit after the train had been stopped for hours, and lots of men had stripped off their shirts," he said.

"The doors and windows of the train were locked out of safety concerns."

Ren said the train crew refused to open the windows.

"The indifference of some crew members infuriated the passengers and many of them started to smash the windows using emergency hammers that were on the train," he said.

Seeing the windows smashed, the crew opened the doors of the train and let the passengers get off, Ren said.

The train arrived in Zhengzhou at about 5:30 pm on Sunday, nine hours behind schedule.

The rainstorm has also delayed at least 13 trains in the East China's Shandong province. Some of their journeys were postponed for more than 14 hours, according to a report from the Jinan-based Life Daily.

Heavy rains are expected to continue falling on central and northern China, increasing the likelihood of natural disasters such as floods, landslides and mudslides, according to an alert released by the National Meteorological Center at 6 pm on Monday.

To deal with massive train delays, the Beijing West Railway Station has opened three spare waiting rooms to provide resting places for passengers, according to a report by the Legal Mirror.

Passengers whose trains have been delayed can receive full refunds of the money they paid for tickets. By Monday morning, the Beijing West Railway Station had refunded the money spent on 2,000 tickets, the report said.

Zhang Leilong and Liu Hua contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn

Premier Wen Jiabao has called for more aggressive efforts to preset and fine-tune economic policies, as the world's second-largest economy still faces huge downward pressure.

Speaking during an inspection tour of East China's Jiangsu province from Friday to Sunday, Wen said the economy is running at a generally stable pace, but there are still challenges.

The government should "preset and fine-tune its policies in a more aggressive manner", while sticking to pro-active and prudent monetary policies, he said.

Wen said attention should be paid to improving structural tax reduction measures and resolving structural problems between credit supply and demand and to make government policies more targeted, forward-looking and effective.

At a meeting held in Nanjing, provincial capital of Jiangsu, on Sunday, Wen said the government made a timely shift to pro-growth measures in April, and those policies are now working, with the economy moving toward stabilized growth, albeit at a slower pace.

Domestic demand continues to act as a major driver of the nation's growth, which is still within the targeted range, he told the gathering of top officials from Liaoning, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and Guangdong provinces.

While stressing the role of domestic demand in future growth, Wen said the government should earnestly implement consumption-boosting measures adopted recently to help drive growth.

Stabilizing investment currently plays a key role in expanding domestic demand and maintaining growth, the premier said, adding that investment should be made in accordance with the national medium and long-term development program and serve the needs of urbanization, economic restructuring and people's well-being.

Dragged down by lackluster external demand and government efforts to cool inflation, China's GDP growth slowed to an almost three-year low of 8.1 percent in the first quarter.

To buoy the economy China has adopted a string of pro-growth measures, including lowering banks' reserve ratio to boost lending, subsidizing energy-saving household electrical appliances and speeding up approval for major construction projects.

In its latest move, the central bank cut the benchmark interest rate two times in a month, in a bid to inject liquidity into the market.

During two meetings with more than 30 entrepreneurs and association heads on Saturday, Wen called for enterprises to step up innovation to cope with shrinking exports and rising production costs.

Miu Han'gen, head of Chinese textile manufacturer Jiangsu Shenghong Group, said the biggest challenge for textile companies currently is falling overseas demand, and suggested a tax reduction to relieve pressure.

Wen said structural tax reduction should be directed to boost innovation, and the government will implement active fiscal policies to support enterprises.

He said government efforts to maintain growth are not short-term responses, and the work will be combined with the nation's restructuring and reform, to foster technology improvement and eliminate antiquated production.

Wen also urged enterprises to explore markets in regions such as the Southeast Asia, Central Asia and South Asia, to diversify trade partners.

Xinhua in Nanjing

Eight miners were pulled to safety on Sunday after 16 were trapped underground for more than three days in a flooded colliery in Central China.

Rescuers continued to work around the clock to save those who were still missing.

More than 1,000 rescuers, doctors and nurses were organized to work in several shifts to rescue the miners, said a publicity official in Hunan province's Leiyang city.

The accident happened on Wednesday at the Qielichong Coal Mine in Sandu township, Leiyang, causing sixteen of the 40 people working in the pit to be trapped.

Three workers were pulled out of the pit safely at 1:42 am on Sunday. China Central Television footage showed the miners, their eyes covered with thick cloth, being carried on stretchers and rushed to ambulances waiting at the site.

The fourth was out of the mine by 10:40 am and four others were rescued later in the afternoon.

The survivors have been sent to the hospital while the mine owner, Liu Yaping, has been placed in police custody, according to Xinhua News Agency.

The managers of the mine failed to report the accident immediately, causing the rescue efforts to be delayed by about 12 hours, Xinhua said.

A flooding accident in an illegally run coal mine in the same city killed 13 people on June 20, 2011. Four officials, including Sandu township's former Party chief, received prison terms after they were accused of dereliction of duty, corruption and other offenses.

In a separate accident also in Hunan, seven miners were killed in a gas outburst on Sunday.

The accident occurred at about 6:45 am at the Xiangzhong Coal Mine in the city of Lianyuan, the city government said in a press release. Thirty-nine miners managed to escape. Further investigation into the cause of the accident is under way, Xinhua reported.

"We have seen two coal mine accidents happen in the same province within such a short period of time," said an official from Hunan province's coal mine safety administration, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

"I think the authority will take strong measures to prevent more of these sorts of accidents from happening."

"There are many small, old coal mines in Leiyang and Lianyuan cities, making them prone to accidents," said an official from State Administration of Work Safety.

Contact the writers at wangxiaodong@chinadaily.com.cn and fengzhiwei@chinadaily.com.cn

Zhi Yun and Wen Xinzheng contributed to this story.

Experts have called on authorities to release up-to-date and detailed information about a shopping mall that caught fire in Tianjin at the end of June, rather than simply announce a death toll.

The fire engulfed the five-story Laide Shopping Mall in Jixian county, in the northern part of the port city on the afternoon of June 30, killing 10 people and injuring another 16, according to a statement published by Tianjin municipal government.

Authorities did not release new information about the blaze until Friday, when a death list was posted to an official micro blog.

The municipal government then listed the names of the 10 victims and confirmed that all of them were women whose ages ranged from 25 to 44.

On Saturday the municipal police said no one else who was in the mall when the accident occurred is missing.

The police announced on Sunday the fire was caused by the power cord of an air conditioner short circuiting on the first floor of the building, which lit nearby inflammables.

As the government was releasing the information, reports about the accident's death toll were circulating on the Internet.

Wang Li, a friend of Yang Saiqun, one of the victims, said the death toll had confused her and she hoped the government would release more details about the fire.

"I don't believe the big numbers that are being circulated online," the 25-year-old said. "But the lack of official information has given me a lot of room to make guesses."

Shen Yang, a professor specializing in information management from Wuhan University, said on Sunday that Tianjin authorities' reaction to the case has not allayed the public's greatest concerns.

"Until Friday, the municipal government had only published three messages about the fire on its micro blog and used a lot of vague words to explain what had happened," Shen said.

A lack of details led to confusion among the public, he said.

The professor said he approved of the way authorities in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, handled a case in which three people were killed when a drunk driver drove a sports car into two taxis on May 26.

The accident gave rise to questions from the public and prompted the police to hold four news conferences to offer answers.

"The Shenzhen police published information that was not only timely but also detailed and avoided unnecessary misunderstandings," he said. "Meanwhile, the authority has held a series of press conferences to clear the air and given itself a good image in dealing with the fatal accident."

"Publishing information in a timely fashion is just the first step," said Yu Guoming, a journalism professor at Renmin University of China.

Cheng Manli, a media professor at Peking University, echoed Yu, saying regulations on the release of official information in China are short of details and carry few, if any, practical punishments.

"There is no specific punishment for officials who don't release information in a timely manner, as emergencies happen, which gives them opportunities to hide the truth," she said.

Contact the writers at caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn and lixiang2@chinadaily.com.cn

The case of a sanitation worker who was refused free drinking water at a bank in East China has prompted an outpouring of public sympathy and sparked calls to introduce measures to better protect this disadvantaged social group.

Chen Caixiang, a sanitation worker in Changxing county, Huzhou, Zhejiang province, went into a local branch of the Agricultural Bank of China on July 1 to use its water cooler but was turned away by a bank employee.

The City Express newspaper reported that Chen, 62, was collecting water when a bank employee pushed her away, telling the elderly woman he took precedence in use of the water cooler.

"I felt somewhat ashamed and waited beside him until he had finished," Chen told The City Express.

But after getting his own water, the employee refused to allow Chen to use the water cooler, threatening to call police if she insisted on taking water. Chen said she was "dragged out and driven away from the bank's gate".

The sanitation worker later filed a complaint to the bank about the incident. When the matter was reported in local media, it sparked public outrage, and prompted harsh online criticism of the bank's apparent indifference and lack of respect toward the disadvantaged group.

"They are making money from the public but declined to share plain drinking water with a sanitation worker, where is their conscience?" a netizen commented on the news website sina.com.cn.

The bank has said its branch director and security guard paid a visit to Chen on Friday and apologized for their actions. Chen said she accepted their apology.

The bank said it has penalized the staff involved.

The bank has also promised that from Friday all its branches will provide free water coolers and welcome all outdoor laborers to take shelter at the bank over the summer, when they will be provided with products for sunstroke prevention.

The incident has prompted a large number of individuals, businesses and organizations across the country to open up their homes and businesses to sanitation workers seeking shelter from the summer heat.

More than 100 businesses in Changxing plan to set up free water stations for sanitation workers.

In Shandong province, more than 6,000 sports lottery shops are open to sanitation workers to use as rest areas.

The city of Xuchang, Henan province, has selected 43 companies as resting areas for sanitation workers this summer and is enlisting more to provide free water, towels and other products to help them battle the extreme heat.

As China's pace of urbanization increased in recent years, so did the number of sanitation workers.

It is estimated there are around 20,000 sanitation workers in each of the country's large cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, and thousands in China's medium-sized cities.

But on Sunday, sanitation workers in Shanghai said society does not respect workers who labor eight hours a day, seven days a week to earn a meager 2,000 to 3,000 yuan ($314 to 471) per month.

Wang Shipeng, a native of Anhui province, said a shady tree is where sanitation workers like him seek shelter from the sweltering summer.

"During our eight-hour work day we are not allowed to be seated for more than 10 minutes during a break and we are told to keep alert to garbage on the street at all times," said the 46-year-old who was hired by Huangpu district government to clean a road near People's Square.

"A resting place with air-conditioning or a fan is a luxurious dream," he said, adding that even the outdoor resting spot has to be designated by his company. "It's just there with a mark under that telegraph pole," he told reporters.

Han Chun, a sanitation worker in Shanghai's financial center, said he had experienced extreme temperatures during his two years on the job.

"It's like sauna and there is just nowhere to escape from the heat during hot days," Han said.

The 42-year-old Anhui native said discrimination against the disadvantaged group was common.

"Many drivers swear at you as they drive past because they think some cleaners block their way, " Han said.

Wu Danli contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at wangzhenghua@chinadaily.com.cn

Eight mainland tourists injured in a tour bus accident in northern Taiwan's Hsinchu city were still receiving medical treatment on Sunday, including four who remained in a serious condition, doctors said.

The bus, carrying 37 tourists and a tour guide from the mainland, as well as a local guide and a driver, overturned at about 11:30 am on Saturday on a highway that runs from Taipei to Taichung. The crash killed the driver immediately and injured all others on board.

The survivors were sent to hospitals in Hsinchu and the adjacent Miaoli county.

The tour group, composed of teachers and their relatives from a high school in Harbin, capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, were on the second day of an eight-day tour of Taiwan when the accident occurred.

The Heilongjiang tourism administration said in a statement that the lives of those injured were not in danger and that many of the passengers who suffered slight wounds have already left the hospital.

At the time of the crash, the tour bus was traveling from Taipei to the Sun Moon Lake scenic spot in Nantou. For unknown reasons, it started to shake uncontrollably and eventually rolled onto its side in a southbound lane of the highway, according to Taiwan media reports.

Police said the cause of the accident is under investigation. Various reports said the bus had rolled over after its rear-left tire had blown out.

At a news conference on Saturday, the bus company said the driver had been deemed to be of sound mind and body before the accident. As for the bus involved in the crash, it had been bought within the past three years and had recently passed a vehicle inspection.

"The most urgent thing is to save the wounded and deal with their needs after the accident," said Ji Zhelong, deputy manager of Harbin Railway International Travel Service, which organized the trip. The agency is one of three travel agencies in Heilongjiang authorized to be in the business of arranging trips to Taiwan.

Zhang Hong, an official from the Heilongjiang tourism administration, said the general manager of the travel agency, the head of the high school in Harbin and several relatives of those who were injured will fly to Taiwan on Monday to help arrange various matters that have arisen from the accident.

"A green channel will be specifically created to provide the fastest and most convenient service for them to go to Taiwan," said Duan Yunfeng, an official with the exit and entry administration of the public security bureau of Harbin.

An official from the Taiwan branch of the Association for Tourism Exchange Across the Taiwan Straits told Xinhua News Agency that the association will work closely with Taiwan authorities in the rescue work.

"The bus accident, although a single case, will once again underscore public concerns about travel safety in Taiwan and more or less affect the market," said Yu Xiaoqing, deputy manager of the Taiwan-bound tourism business of the Beijing-based China Travel Service.

Large road accidents that kill mainland tourists have occurred from time to time in Taiwan this year.

Last month, a vehicle carrying 26 mainland tourists veered into a roadside ditch when traveling in central Taiwan's mountainous Alishan scenic area, injuring 13 people.

In February, a bus accident in Hualien, a county on Taiwan's east coast, killed a woman from the mainland involved in a Peking opera exchange program and injured 31 people.

"Limited by the island's special natural and geographical conditions, some of the mountain areas or coastal regions will be dangerous for tourists, especially in bad weather," Yu said.

The mainland is now the largest source of tourists to Taiwan. More than 1.26 million tourists from the mainland visited the island last year.

Contact the writers at tanzongyang@chinadaily.com.cn and zhouhuiying@chinadaily.com.cn

Premier Wen Jiabao said on Saturday that the government will resolutely implement real estate market regulation and commit itself for the long-term to curbing speculation, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Wen said housing market regulation is still at a critical stage and remains a tough task when he visited Changzhou, in East China's Jiangsu province, for inspection and fact-finding on Saturday, Xinhua said.

Housing prices must revert to reasonable levels and must be sustained there, said Wen.

In June, newly developed homes in some major cities saw rising prices, raising concerns and fears that a new price surge would come despite government attempts to strengthen price controls, including restrictions on home purchases, higher down payments and the introduction of property taxes.

According to a report released on July 2 by the China Index Academy, new home average prices in China rose for the first time in 10 months in June as the government adjusted its monetary policies to boost the nation's economy by lowering benchmark interest rates in June. The academy is one of the largest research organizations that specialize in property information in China.

House prices rose by 0.05 percent from May, reaching 8,688 yuan ($1,400) per square meter in June.

The median new-home price in 100 monitored cities around China climbed to 5,750 yuan per square meter, a 0.88 percent month-on-month increase, according to the report. Month-on-month comparisons show that the average price of new homes in 10 monitored major cities in China grew in June.

In Shanghai and Beijing, the average price of 10 monitored properties hit 15,429 yuan per sq m, a 0.75 percent month-on-month increase.

After years of hard work, property regulation has borne some fruit. However, bad information in the marketplace is making residents fear prices will rebound, Wen said.

The premier asked for work to prevent misleading information that would alarm consumers and urged sticking to the differentiated mortgage policy and other restrictive purchase rules.

Wen also urged relevant departments to accelerate the construction of affordable housing and make it sustainable.

Housing price in the next half of 2012 may not rebound soon, given economic conditions and controls by the government, according to Jim Yip, director of the investment department at DTZ China, a leading international property services firm.

Xinhua contributed to the story.

wuyiyao@chinadaily.com.cn

China calls for all nations to abandon the old "zero-sum" mentality and work together to tackle challenges in regional security and strive for world peace, Vice-President Xi Jinping said at a forum in Beijing on Saturday.

"Faced with complicated and multiple security challenges, no country can easily stay out without being affected, or achieve so-called absolute security single-handedly," Xi told the audience at the opening ceremony of World Peace Forum 2012, the first non-official high-level forum on international security held in the country.

All nations in the world should be cooperative, innovative and responsible and make joint efforts in pursuit of a win-win situation, he said.

Xi proposed that international security should be achieved through upholding the following principles: common development, equality, mutual trust, dialogue and cooperation, and innovation in security on the world stage.

The forum, being held at Tsinghua University from Saturday to Sunday, was also attended by many former foreign leaders - such as Yukio Hatoyama, former Japanese prime minister; Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, former Malaysian prime minister; and Dominique de Villepin, former French prime minister - as well as diplomats in Beijing.

Saying his country was inspired by the valuable ideas and theories of the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping as well as China's fast growth in recent decades, Alan Garcia Perez, the former president of Peru, praised China's dedication to maintaining the security and global peace, as well as its economic performance that helped it grow to be the "engine" of the world economy in the current global economic downturn at the moment.

During his speech, Xi said China is pursuing development characterized by peace, openness and cooperation, and that "practice has proved that China has become an active participant and constructive force in contributing to the international system." China will keep adhering to the path of peaceful development and will not seek hegemony even when it becomes more developed in the future, Xi said.

China pledges to continue to properly handle the conflicts and frictions with relevant countries in the Asia-Pacific region, maintaining the region's peace and stability with other countries, on the basis of safeguarding the country's sovereignty, safety and territorial integrity, he said.

The country will stick to the policy of "building friendship and partnership with neighboring countries" and to ensure regional peace and stability so as to create a favorable condition for regional development that is win-win for all parties, he added.

Dialogue and negotiation are better options to solve the regional disputes than conflicts or military means, according to Malaysia's Badawi, referring to the escalated tensions in the South China Sea recently.

China's position on South China Sea has been "clear and consistent", according to Wu Shicun, president of Hainan-based National Institute of South China Sea Studies.

"Setting aside disputes and embarking on joint development is the most effective way to solve the issue," he said.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

qinzhongwei@chinadaily.com.cn

Beijing

Relics compilation list completed

The Palace Museum has completed a compilation of its 1.8 million collections after a 10-year project.

The collections, accounting for about 42 percent of the country's most valued cultural relics, will be available to view online by early 2013, museum staff said at a news conference on Friday. The museum is also planning to build an entrance at the Donghua Gate, allowing visitors to get on the city wall to see the imperial architectural complex.

Capsule makers lack basic testing

During an investigation following a crisis in April involving chromium-tainted capsules, officials found that out of nearly 2,000 capsule producers, more than 900 had never tested their products for heavy metal contamination, Yin Li, director of the State Food and Drug Administration, said on Friday.

Also, only 700 manufacturers had equipped themselves with heavy metal testing facilities.

Those without testing facilities and professional testing workers will be closed by October, he said.

Despite its status as a top pharmaceutical ingredient exporter worldwide, China's own drugs industry is weak. Almost all of the commonly used medicines and medical devices at large hospitals are imported.

Tianjin

Fire victims' names released

An investigation team in North China's Tianjin municipality on Friday released a list with the names of 10 people who died in a fire in a mall in Jixian county on June 30.

The move came after rumors that the death toll was much higher than official numbers.

Nine of the 10 people were staff members of the mall, while the other person was a customer. All the corpses have been claimed by the families, according to the investigation team.

Jilin

Former provincial leader expelled

Tian Xueren, former vice-governor of Northeast China's Jilin province, was expelled from the Communist Party of China and dismissed from all his posts for "severe disciplinary and law violations," said the Party's disciplinary watchdog on Friday.

Tian, who was also Party chief and board chairman of the Bank of Jilin, was found to have used his position to seek profits for others and taking "a huge amount of bribes and cash gifts," the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said. His illegal gains have been confiscated and the case will be referred to prosecutors, according to the statement.

1.1 ton 'King Pig' dies in Zhejiang

A 9-year-old pig dubbed "King Pig" by locals in East China's Zhejiang province because he weighed 1.1 tons died on June 28.

Locals held a funeral for the pig in a temple, local media reported. They also built a life-size statue of the animal on the pig's burial site, which is expected to become a tourist attraction.

The pig's owner, Gao Shengtuo, 82, bought the animal in 2003. Gao sent the pig to Lianfeng Temple in 2008 where he attracted numerous tourists. Farmer detained for planting opium

A farmer in Suichang county, Zhejiang province, was reported by his son to the police after illegally planting opium poppies at home, the China News Service reported.

The villager, surnamed Lei, lives in the county's Hanhui village, and has a Chinese herbal medicine business.

In late June, Lei's son found that some opium poppies had been planted on the roof of their house and asked his father about the plants. Lei said that he had obtained the seeds from a stranger two months ago and had planted them at home to use in herbal medicine. The son reported the case to the police.

Police found that Lei had planted 317 opium poppies and detained him for 10 days.

Chongqing

Fraud suspected after man dies

The family of a man who died on Wednesday from a sudden illness thought the calls to alert them were not real.

He Xingquan, 74, died after taking a bus to a hospital in Chongqing, but when Tang Guiyuan, the bus driver, and the police called the only four numbers stored in his cell phone, all the contacts thought the calls were from swindlers.

He Xiuqin, the man's niece, didn't believe the calls were real until she saw a multimedia message - a photo of her uncle in a hospital bed. She then called Chongqing police asking for information.

The telephone number was similar to numbers reported by media as part of a telephone scam, she said.

Shanghai

Woman steals baby to marry

A woman in Shanghai stole a baby and said that he was the son she had with her boyfriend in order to persuade the boyfriend's parents to agree to a marriage, the Shanghai Morning Post reported.

The woman, surnamed Yang, worked in a local factory.

The boyfriend's parents refused to let her marry the man and said they would only agree if she had a baby with their son. Yang told the parents that she had given birth to a boy and kidnapped a 10-month baby from her boss' family at the factory.

Jiangsu

Motorist takes 5 hours to donate

A man in Gaoyou, Jiangsu province, rode his motorcycle for five hours to donate blood to a boy suffering from leukemia, the Shanghai Morning Post reported.

Gu Weijun, the owner of a hair salon in Gaoyou, got a message on July 1 from a volunteer blood donors association saying that a child less than 2 years old needed blood. He then rode his motorcycle for about 330 kilometers to Shanghai to donate blood to the child on July 2. Since 2004, Gu has donated more than 1,600 ml of blood.

China Daily Xinhua

Million yuan

A young man surnamed Zhu in East China's Jiangsu province received a 256 million yuan ($40 million) sports lottery jackpot on June 27 in Nanjing, the largest ever in China for the sports lottery, news portal Sina.com reported on Thursday.

The man and his wife, both wearing sunglasses, took home nearly 206 million yuan after taxes and donated 5 million yuan to Project Hope.

Zhu's age, occupation and hometown were not revealed.

Highlights from Chinadaily.com.cn

Special coverage: Paris Haute Couture 2012-13 Fall/Winter

Photos: In Dimen, a village of the Dong ethnic group in Southwest China's Guizhou province, some of the buildings and culture have been preserved for more than 700 years.

Video: Extreme weather hit the United States this week. Fires are burning and heavy rain is flooding cities. It sounds horrible, but could the weather get any worse? Let's check in with a weatherman from Virginia.

Bilingual: From the quirks and quacks to pole huggers and door blockers, let's talk about the most annoying subway train pet peeves you've encountered.

Hot words: Herd instinct, also called herd behavior, refers to the tendency for people to make the same decisions others make. In other words, people like to do what everyone else is doing. Somehow, they believe acting alone is riskier.

On China Forum

http://bbs.chinadaily.com.cn/

Pictures: Waiting has become a typical life state in China, reflecting a real and unique Chinese community.

Police have pledged to boost efforts to fight child trafficking after an operation that rescued 181 children and arrested 802 suspects.

Chen Shiqu, director of the Ministry of Public Security's anti-human trafficking office, said police have stopped child trafficking from increasing, but the practice is still prominent in some regions.

"We have zero tolerance when it comes to child trafficking and will make the utmost efforts to make sure that every trafficker is caught," Chen said on Friday.

In the raid carried out on Monday, more than 10,000 police officers, under the ministry's command, launched operations simultaneously, catching the suspects and rescuing the children in 15 provinces including Hebei, Shandong, Sichuan, Henan, Fujian and Yunnan, according to a statement released on Friday.

Two child trafficking gangs were smashed, Chen said, and all the rescued children were sent to welfare homes.

Shao Zhongyuan - listed as a top-level fugitive for allegedly being involved in a gang that trafficked more than 100 children - was arrested during the raid in Zaozhuang, a city in East China's Shandong province, the statement said.

In December, four suspects were caught trafficking four children in Luohe, Henan province, when police were inspecting a long-distance bus going from Shenzhen, in Guangdong province, to Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei province.

The suspects led the police to a major child trafficking gang, headed by Li Shichun and Hou Enzhuo.

In April, police in Xingtai, Hebei province, tracked down another child trafficking gang, headed by Yang Xuehua and Ji Xiaofang, who trafficked children using a private gynecological clinic in Pingxiang county. Local police said they had noticed that pregnant women from other places and children were often coming in and out of the clinic.

The clinic's owner, Guo Yanfang, confessed to the police on Tuesday that she began to help Yang and Ji's child-trafficking ring in 2008 and that she was mainly responsible for finding out the gender of unborn babies and seeking buyers, according to the Beijing News.

Yang and Ji, both from Southwest China's Sichuan province, brought pregnant women from Sichuan to Xingtai. The babies were sold locally or to neighboring provinces, the report said.

The two suspects were also involved with three other similar clinics in Xingtai.

The suspects confessed that the babies' genders and the mothers' appearance would result in different prices and they also introduced a bidding mechanism in order to earn more money, the report said.

Yang could get 6,000 to 8,000 yuan ($940 to $1,300) for trafficking a child. Guo could get 2,000 to 5,000 yuan for successfully introducing a buyer, while a pregnant woman could receive 30,000 to 50,000 yuan, police were quoted as saying by the report.

The ministry listed the two trafficking gangs as special cases that had to be dealt with in February and May. With the efforts of local police, the ministry found Li Shichun and his gang were trafficking children from Yunnan to Hebei, Fujian and Henan via Guangdong, while Yang Xuehua's gang was trafficking children from Southwest China's Sichuan to places such as Hebei and Shandong.

As of Thursday, all major suspects, including the four gang leaders, had been caught, the ministry's statement said.

On Friday, Chen Shiqu said the ministry will also strengthen cooperation with non-governmental organizations to launch a crackdown on child trafficking.

Baobei Huijia, or Baby Back Home, a Jilin-based voluntary group in Northeast China that helps search for missing children and offers support to parents across China, is an organization that the ministry wants to works with.

Zhang Baoyan, founder of the non-governmental group, which has more than 20,000 volunteers nationwide, said they've provided more than 1,000 messages involving both missing children and parents' calls for help to the ministry since 2009.

"Our staff members communicate with police officers every day about missing children's clues and also provide the parents' DNA information to help missing children find their parents," she said.

chenxin1@chinadaily.com.cn

Mainland police transfer suspect in fatal shooting of dance hall manager

A Taiwan fugitive who allegedly shot a man to death and escaped to the mainland was handed over to Taiwan police on Thursday.

Yu Chao-tsung left Nanning, capital of South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, at 5:10 pm and arrived in Taipei around 8 pm, the Ministry of Public Security said.

More than 10 police officers from Guangxi and four policemen from Taiwan participated in the handover, Li Huagang, a publicity officer of the autonomous region's public security bureau, told China Daily.

Authorities checked Yu's belongings, including a laptop and four mobile phones, during the handover and changed his handcuffs, Li said.

"Yu remained cool and said nothing when our two police officers held him," Li said, adding that the handover lasted around 20 minutes.

The 52-year-old is accused of fatally shooting a dancing hall manager in Taiwan's southern Pingtung county on Jan 6, according to a statement from the ministry.

In April, Yu escaped to Fuzhou, capital of Fujian province, after illegally crossing the Taiwan Straits by ship from New Taipei City, and took a bus to Nanning to hide, the statement said.

The ministry asked police in Nanning to apprehend Yu as soon as possible because they feared he could be a danger to others, the police authority said.

On June 7, police found Yu hiding on Jinan Road in the city and arrested him, the authority said.

Yu is not the first suspect to be transferred to Taiwan by mainland police, the statement said. Two Taiwan fugitives were handed over to their hometown authorities in June.

In April 2009, police on the mainland and Taiwan signed an agreement on legal cooperation and cracking down on crime. So far, more than 190 Taiwan suspects have been sent back, the statement said.

In May, law enforcement officials from the mainland and Taiwan seized 482 people suspected of participating in a major telecom scam with the help of police in six countries, Xinhua News Agency reported.

"We'll stay in touch with Taiwan police, hoping to enhance cross-Straits judicial cooperation and provide a safe environment for residents," said a senior police officer of the ministry, who declined to be identified.

Dai Peng, director of criminal investigation at Chinese People's Public Security University, said even though there have already been many achievements, cross-Straits police cooperation is just a start.

"There is still room for improvement in cross-Straits legal cooperation, although the two areas have differences in laws and regulations," he said, adding the cooperation can help build trust between the mainland and Taiwan.

The professor said Yu's escape also reflected a loophole in exit-entry management. He suggested police from the two areas exchange more information.

Wu Ming'an, a criminal law professor at China University of Political Science and Law, echoed Dai's comments and said the punishments the suspects receive will depend on the laws in Taiwan.

"The cooperation is based on two different legal areas, which means the mainland cannot intervene in the judicial work of Taiwan after those suspects are sent back," he said.

Contact the writers at caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn and huangfeifei@chinadaily.com.cn

Huo Yan in Nanning contributed to this story.

This year's highest flood crest hit the Yangtze River, China's longest waterway, on Thursday, posing a challenge to flood control and hindering navigation for ships and boats along the river.

The water volume flowing into the Three Gorges Dam increased to 54,500 cubic meters per second on Thursday from 46,000 cu m per second on Wednesday, increasing the dam's water level by 2 meters, according to data released by the China Three Gorges Corporation.

Wang Rujun, director of the Yangtze River Maritime Safety Administration, said the dam will gradually discharge more water to adjust levels in the upper and lower reaches, and the waterway watchdog is preparing to safeguard ship security by issuing an alarm for the coming floods.

According to the latest weather forecast released by the National Meteorological Center, parts of central and eastern China are expected to be hit by continuous rainstorms in the coming week.

Chen Lei, minister of water resources, told a national conference on flood control on Wednesday that with heavy rainfalls expected along the Yangtze, local authorities should minimize damage through the timely release of information and proper adjustment of water discharges in dams and reservoirs.

The Ministry of Land and Resources also warned local authorities to prepare for possible geological disasters triggered by torrential rains before August.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs activated its lowest-level emergency response plan on Thursday to address the floods in Sichuan province, where 13 people died and one was reported missing due to continuous rainstorms since June 29, according to the agency.

The Sichuan provincial civil affairs department said more than 4.6 million people have been affected by downpours in the province, with rainfalls damaging about 37,000 houses.

"Heavy rain affected 52 townships with more than 130,000 people (in Wanyuan city). It inundated two-thirds of the urban areas. Some 70,000 urban residents were relocated. It cut off all the highways, and more than 40 townships were inaccessible," said Cai Shiquan, chief of the emergency response office in Wanyuan of Sichuan.

Deafening sirens were heard on Wednesday as water from the nearby Miaogou River found its way into the city center, rushing into the first floors of houses and covering many cars.

"Fortunately we had moved our valuables to the third floor after we received a government warning about a possible rainstorm several days ago," Yu Longhai, a restaurant owner on the city's Taiping Road, said.

In Tongnan county, Chongqing, nearly 8,000 people living near the Qiongjiang River were evacuated, according to figures from the county's information and press bureau.

The flood submerged trees and buildings in Ciqikou, an ancient town in Chongqing, forcing locals to leave their homes.

Wu Mengyuan, a restaurant owner in Ciqikou, said in her experience, the water will recede within three or four days and then rise again.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, between the continuous rainfalls since June 20 and the mudslides in Sichuan province since June 29, at least 63 people have been killed and 42 are missing. More than 10 million people have been affected across the country.

Zhou Lihua in Wuhan, Huang Zhiling in Chengdu and Xu Wei in Chongqing contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at wangqian@chinadaily.com.cn

Graduating students from three prestigious universities were urged by their university presidents in recent days to resist material temptations and strive for spiritual excellence.

The presidents of Fudan, Peking and Tsinghua universities gave separate but eerily similar speeches to the class of 2012, who are about to step out into the wide world.

Each urged their graduates to persist in their ideals despite the prevailing utilitarianism of society.

At Fudan University in Shanghai, President Yang Yuliang warned outgoing students about the darkness and complications ahead of them, encouraging them to live like a "candle at midnight" to light up their own and others' lives.

"As we are inspired by the first docking mission of a Chinese manned spacecraft, we are equally deflated by corruption, rights infringement, food safety issues and unemployment rates," Yang said in his address to graduates on June 26. "However, an undesirable environment is never an excuse for you to be a coward ... since it is always more constructive to light a candle instead of cursing the darkness.

"One day you may encounter an elite member of society who hands you a card that lists a dazzling roll of academic and official titles. These people fit into society with flexibility, resourcefulness and a deep understanding of the rules, both explicit and hidden. But they are driven only by personal interests. They are egoists."

Zhu Jisong, professor of English at Fudan, said the speech was a direct hit to the lack of human spirit, which is the most important but last lesson schools and society pass down to students.

"Take our department as an example. Only two out of 49 undergraduates this year have completely read a work of William Shakespeare, who is top of the reading list," Zhu said. "Meanwhile, subjects like business English and English-Chinese interpretation, which are seen to help earn big money, are gaining momentum."

Zhou Qifeng, president of Peking University, struck a similar tone in his speech to graduates when he urged them to adhere to the truth and remain undaunted by people with power and influence.

"Life never goes smoothly ... there are ups and downs, there are victories and defeats. The pursuit of truth and adherence to independent thought are always worth remembering," he said on Wednesday.

At nearby Tsinghua University, President Chen Jining also spoke about life lessons.

"We hone our skills over rounds of competitions, during which some may mistakenly take the most difficult aims as the most valuable ones."

"Care not about if you can walk faster on an ordinary road, care about if you can walk steadfastly on a piece of unknown wasteland. Only in this way can you see the landscape that never unfolds to others."

Xu Junqian in Shanghai contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at zhaoyinan@chinadaily.com.cn

China is stepping up efforts to crack down on widespread prescription drug abuse that is leading to rising levels of antibiotic resistance across the country.

In the latest move to tackle the problem, the Ministry of Health has launched a nationwide surveillance system to document cases of antibiotic-resistant bacteria at 1,349 large public hospitals across the mainland.

There will also be closer monitoring of the system that keeps track of doctors' prescriptions of antibiotics at public hospitals.

And tough new regulations to control the clinical use of antibiotics will take effect on Aug 1.

The moves come days after the World Health Organization weighed in on the growing threat from worldwide antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea. In a statement, the WHO warned that millions of people with gonorrhea could be at risk of running out of treatment options unless urgent action is taken.

Several countries, including Australia, France, Japan, Norway and Sweden, have reported cases of resistance to cephalosporin antibiotics - the last treatment option against the sexually-transmitted disease.

"Antibiotic resistance has no borders, and curbing its misuse is a responsibility shared by all," said Zhao Minggang, deputy director of the department of medical administration under the ministry.

"The ministry's latest initiative will help health authorities to accurately track the use of antibiotic drugs in real time and detect potential cases of antibiotic resistance as soon as possible to better guide clinical drug use in general."

Zhao said it usually takes 10 years to develop new antibiotics, but bacterial resistance develops within two years, largely due to antibiotic abuse.

The ministry estimates that an average of 138 grams of antibiotics are used per person on the mainland each year, nearly 10 times the amount in the United States.

Seventy percent of inpatients and 50 percent of outpatients have prescriptions for antibiotics, according to the ministry.

"Without intervention, there may come a time when there are no effective antibiotics left," Zhao said.

Xiao Yonghong, an expert with the Institute of Clinical Pharmacology at Peking University, said at least 80 percent of the antibiotics used on the mainland are not necessary.

"This drives up medicine costs for the patients and the country," Xiao said. "This helps speed up the development of germs resistant to antibiotics, which might cost lives and jeopardize human safety and health."

Xiao said antibiotic resistance is now widespread on the Chinese mainland but the types of antibiotics, and the severity of the issue, vary regionally.

Research has shown each year deaths related to antibiotic abuse total 80,000 on the Chinese mainland and cost 80 billion yuan ($13 billion) of the medical budget.

The ministry has now introduced a series of measures, including regulations many have said are the most stringent yet, to regulate the clinical use of antibiotics, which now account for 74 percent of total medicine usage, about 20 to 50 percent more than in Western countries.

The regulation will take effect on Aug 1.

It will restrict the amount of antibiotics allowed to be prescribed.

It will specify the amount of antibiotics that can be purchased and prescribed by hospitals specializing in stomatology, psychosis, oncology, pediatrics, gynecology and obstetrics.

Hospitals graded at the top level, three A, are only allowed to purchase 50 types of antibiotics, and hospitals at level two are only permitted 35 different kinds of drugs.

The regulation also stipulates that less than 60 percent of inpatients are allowed to take antibiotics, and no more than 20 percent of outpatients are allowed an antibiotic prescription.

"At present, a majority of large hospitals couldn't meet that target," said Lin Shaobin, deputy director of Fuzhou Second Hospital.

He said overprescription of antibiotics was largely related to the longtime clinical habits of doctors and hospitals' dependence on drug sales for income.

He said surgeons tend to rely heavily on antibiotics to avert postoperative infections.

Zhao Ping, former president of the Cancer Institute and Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, said he agreed with strict management of antibiotic uses, which could also help hospital authorities better regulate prescriptions involving antibiotics.

He said that at his hospital, graded three A, 40 kinds of antibiotics could meet all clinical demands.

But he conceded it would take time because overprescription is common at Chinese hospitals due to the clinical habits of the doctors.

Under the new regulations doctors will be limited or deprived of their right to prescribe antibiotics if they are found improperly prescribing large amounts of drugs more than three times.

"Hospitals will also be punished for that, and we'll also beef up monitoring to strictly implement the regulation," Zhao Minggang said.

Xiao said he appreciated the firm stance by the ministry and urged patients to play a role in the process as well.

"For a long time, many Chinese people have wrongly taken antibiotics as a panacea," he said. Even without seeing a doctor, many Chinese people will buy antibiotics for something as simple as a sore throat.

Antibiotics are widely available at drugstores without prescriptions, Xiao said. He urged drug authorities to close that loophole.

Huo Jian, a 30-year-old website editor in Beijing, said she was concerned ordinary antibiotics may not be effective.

"For a long time, we took antibiotics via intravenous drips. Will it work if we now shift to oral pills?" she said.

Xiao said Huo's comments demonstrated a common misunderstanding.

"Cheap antibiotics taken orally also work well to kill bacteria if prescribed properly. People should follow doctors' advice for antibiotic use," he said.

Contact the writer at shanjuan@chinadaily.com.cn

The State Council pledged on Tuesday to solve food safety issues in three years, but effective supervision and punishment of those breaking the law is the key to accomplish the ambitious target, analysts said.

"China's food industry still has many safety risks and illegal actions happen often," said a statement released on Tuesday by the State Council.

The government will launch a crackdown on food plants and individuals endangering food safety to significantly improve the situation in three years, the statement said.

Also, the country will establish a better regulation mechanism, legal and standards systems, as well as technical support systems, to improve the overall food safety management level in about five years, according to the statement.

"Major food safety problems are mainly related to production issues, such as the use of illegal additives and illegal food processing in small plants," said food safety expert Dong Jinshi, executive vice-president of the International Food Packaging Association in Beijing.

Food safety has become a major concern for Chinese consumers after a string of cases surfaced, including melamine-tainted baby formula products and pork contaminated with clenbuterol.

According to the State Council statement, food safety will become a measure of local governments' performance in their annual assessments. A database of food companies' safety records will also be established. Blacklisted companies' names will be made public and the companies will be punished.

Local quality authorities must also prevent expired food products from returning to the market, while consumers will get cash rewards for exposing substandard food products, the statement said.

Li Chang'an, a public policy professor at the Beijing-based University of International Business and Economics, said that some local officials have been held responsible for severe food scandals in the past few years.

"But this is the first time that the country will launch long-term measures, which explicitly stipulate that officials will be accountable for food safety issues," he said.

However, analysts are worried that the measures in the statement will not be easily implemented because they lack details on officials' responsibilities and punishments.

"Safety problems with milk and the use of illegal additives in milk still exist after the melamine-tainted milk scandal in 2008," said Wang Dingmian, former vice-chairman of the Guangdong Dairy Industry Association.

"Punishment for food companies and officials with illegal operations in the food sector are always too light, which is the main reason for the prevalence of the food scandals," he said.

In 2011, several food safety scandals were exposed, including restaurants serving food cooked with "gutter oil" - illegal cooking oil recycled from kitchen waste, decomposed animal fat and organs from slaughterhouses.

"Many local government officials are only concerned with economic development. When food accidents happen, some of them just try to conceal them," Li said.

Contact the writer at jinzhu@chinadaily.com.cn

Guo Wenyue (not her real name) is tormented by the memory of the most painful time of her life.

In 2005, her husband was diagnosed with terminal nasal cancer, and the entire family entered a nightmare.

"I knew there was no hope of his recovery, and I was told by doctors to halt the treatment. But we still wanted to try anything that could possibly extend his life, even just for one more day," the 59-year-old said.

"After a number of rounds of chemotherapy, he passed away in extreme pain. And I was totally worn down after that," she said.

Guo spent more than 100,000 yuan ($15,900), almost all her savings on her husband's treatment.

"There is such anguish," Guo said, because she often thinks of her husband's look in great distress and pain in his last days.

"If I could have made things different, I would have seen that he left the world in a more peaceful way," she said.

Like Guo, many families need to make such a bitter decision - giving up aggressive treatment to turn to end-of-life counseling and care.

"It can be so scary when people hear that they have to give up, even if they're told 20 times that hospice care has a lot to offer," said Huang Weiping, founder of Shanghai Hand in Hand Life Care Developing Center.

Earlier this year, Shanghai announced plans to provide hospice care for dying cancer patients.

Under the plans, each of Shanghai's 18 districts and counties will have a community health center providing palliative care. Each community will have a special ward with 10 beds for dying cancer patients. These wards are expected to open at the end of the month.

"So far we have finished the decoration work on the ward, shower room and visiting room," said a worker surnamed Xu from Siping Community Health Service Center in Yangpu district.

"The next step will be to train the nursing staff," she told China Daily on Wednesday.

These hospices are trying to change public opinion about the service they offer.

Rose pink curtains, floral patterns printed on the walls and colorful paper garlands hanging along the corridors those are some of the decorations at the hospice care ward in the Linfen Community Health Service Center in Shanghai to build a pleasant atmosphere.

The Linfen Community Health Service Center, founded in 1995, is one of the country's first hospitals to provide hospice care for dying cancer patients.

"Last week, five patients here passed away," said Chen Qi, a nurse at the center. Patients are expected to live no more than 90 days. Last year, more than 100 spent their last few days there.

"What we can do is to provide care in their final days of life to try to help them die with dignity and rest in peace," Chen said.

Hospice care offers a comprehensive program for patients who are dealing with a life-threatening illness in the last months or days of life. Unlike traditional medical care, hospices focus on keeping patients comfortable rather than curing them. The care involves the patients and their families. Professional staff members trained in dealing with the issues terminally ill patients and their families face try to meet their spiritual, emotional and physical needs.

But to many people, like Guo, the idea of a hospice is still new.

"In China, people's unfamiliarity with hospices prevents them from deciding to stop the treatment for the illness and turn to hospice care," said Huang Weiping, founder of Shanghai Hand in Hand Life Care Developing Center.

"Because of the lack of understanding, hospice care in China lags far behind that in Western countries," he added.

But the situation is improving in many parts of the country, Huang said.

Shanghai is taking the lead in promoting hospices. In-patients in the community health centers receive free pain medication and also get monthly 2,000 yuan medical subsidies - those who spend their last days at home receive 1,000 yuan subsidies.

A big problem in the sector, however, is the shortage of professionals, including social workers, and volunteers who provide the care.

According to the Shanghai Municipal Health Bureau, 36,000 people a year die of cancer, and 70 percent of terminally ill cancer patients need hospice care.

"We only have five doctors and eight nurses, which means we don't have enough hands to take care of each patient," nurse Chen said. "A large part of the care is provided by social workers and volunteers."

In China, most hospice social workers and volunteers come from community organizations or universities.

At Hand in Hand, only a small number of volunteers choose to stay or work regularly.

"Many volunteers have come and gone. Over the past four years, we have had more than 400 registered volunteers, but only 20 percent stay," Huang said.

At Shouwang student association in Shanghai Jiao Tong University, many members quit hospice volunteer work after just a few visits, student volunteer Wang Hang said.

"Terminally ill patients are often filled with depression, anxiety and fear. Such negative emotions can influence your emotions," said student Zhang Xing as he recalled his first visit to a terminally ill cancer patient, a woman in her 70s, in a ward one year ago.

"She talked a lot. All about the essence of life. Most of the time I could do nothing but listen to her. I knew I couldn't cure her disease, but I could stay with her, which in a way might ease her pain," he said.

"Hospice care is systematic work that needs the concerted efforts of governments, hospitals, schools and social organizations," said Shi Yongxing, executive deputy director of the research department at the Chinese Association For Life Care, and an expert who has long been working on policy research in the field of hospice and elderly care.

"In China, that type of effort has not been established," Shi said.

The absence of the legal framework also impedes the development of hospice care.

"Hospice care in China is developing very slowly. So far, there are no regulating guidelines," said Luo Jilan, secretary-general of Chinese Association for Life Care.

"Because it lacks a supporting policy, hospice care is mainly carried out at grassroots community hospitals, which must be self-financed and that impedes improvement in the care. Meanwhile, medical insurance doesn't cover hospice care," she said.

The government should recognize the advantages hospice care offers and establish a complete system to develop it which can better balance the medical personnel and resources between hospitals and hospices, Huang said.

Contact the writer at wanghongyi@chinadaily.com.cn

At least 240 people, mainly children younger than 5 years old, have died from hand, foot and mouth disease from January to May as China enters a peak season of the epidemic, the Ministry of Health has said.

The peak will last until October but the infection commonly seen among toddlers can be easily prevented and treated with early detection and intervention, said Xiao Donglou, a division director of the ministry's disease prevention and control bureau.

According to official statistics the infection claimed more than 240 lives on the mainland in the first five months of the year.

The epidemic appeared to hit harder this year in terms of scale and severity, Xiao said.

From January to June last year, 132 deaths were reported.

An official tally showed China reported nearly 1.62 million HFMD cases in 2011, including 509 deaths.

"The infection is expected to maintain a relatively high prevalence this year and children attending nurseries, kindergartens and elementary schools are most vulnerable to the disease," he said.

In response, the ministry has devised clinical guidelines to help with a timely diagnosis and proper treatment of HFMD particularly at grassroots-level health institutions.

The ministry has distributed information and training materials, mainly at kindergartens, to help better track the infection and get timely medical intervention. Kindergartens and elementary schools are required to increase monitoring and preventive measures by carrying out morning checks and routine disinfection.

Kindergartens must report any HFMD cases upon detection to local health authorities to help avert the risk of secondary infections. Kindergartens with outbreaks could be closed temporarily.

Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of the Beijing Center for Diseases Control and Prevention, told China Daily several kindergartens in the capital had been temporarily closed after outbreaks were detected.

The capital has reported three deaths, all children under 5, from the infection, she said.

"All of them were diagnosed at the late stage and sent to private small clinics and their deaths could have been avoided," she told China Daily.

According to medical experts, children younger than 3 are at the greatest risk of HFMD and the infection usually starts with a light fever followed by blisters and ulcers in the mouth and rashes on the hands and feet.

The virus spreads via the digestive and respiratory systems and through close contact.

Zhao Min, a sales manager in Beijing, said she has received manuals on HFMD prevention and intervention from the kindergarten her 3-year-old son attends.

"Starting in May, I began to regularly disinfect his toys and keep him away from crowded public places like the shopping mall," she said.

There is no vaccine to specifically target the infection so good hygiene practices should be applied to prevent the disease, Pang said. Adults could get infected but usually show no symptoms.

Contact the writer at shanjuan@chinadaily.com.cn

The case has been reported to the police, according to the Southern Metropolis Daily on Wednesday.

The website, Tongqijiayuan, which literally means homeland of gays' wives, was established in July 2011 by Yao Lifen, a woman in Shaanxi province who had divorced her gay husband.

On June 12, a statement aimed at "disclosing fraud at the home of gay men's wives" was published on a blog and accused Yao and her new boyfriend, An Yao, of committing fraud.

It said that Yao and An charged wives who had asked to join their online chat group a roughly 1,000 yuan deposit each and charged every volunteer who wanted to joined the group for a 2,000 yuan deposit.

The statement also said the website would help wives ascertain their husband's sexual orientations and obtain divorces.

"They charged from 3,000 to 6,500 yuan for the service ... they charged tens of thousands of yuan at the most ... but the service didn't give you any practical help," the statement said. "They dragged their feet when wives asked them to return the money ... and threatened to expose these women as being the wives of gay men."

The statement also accused Yao and An of asking the website's registered users to give money to the website, which was struggling with financial difficulties but they never disclosed how they used the money they had collected.

People who wanted to join the online chat group were required to fill out a form, which was then used in a research project led by Zhang Beichuan, a professor at Qingdao University, also an expert on HIV/AIDS and advocating gay men's rights, the statement said.

The website was out of service on Wednesday.

Yao pledged to rectify the situation.

"Now I can only try my best to find out in private what the truth is and give you all an explanation as soon as possible," she said.

China Daily tried to talk to Yao but she did not answer phone calls. In a text message, she wrote that she was saddened that the media had conducted an expose of her work place and that the publicity had greatly affected her life and work.

Zhang Beichuan said the matter is very complicated and that he feels sorry for Yao.

"She's made a great effort to set up and maintain the website, which did help gay men's wives talk to one another, share information and obtain mental counseling services," Zhang said over the phone on Wednesday.

"And as far as I know, it was Yao herself who reported the case to the local police and who was merely being deceived by her boyfriend," Zhang said.

The website is reported to have about 3,800 registered members.

"The sheer number of members shows that such a vulnerable group had relatively few resources and channels that they could use to connect to and help one another," Zhang said.

In recent years, the government and public have paid much more attention to the gay population and provided more support to it. But little has been done for the wives of gay men, he said.

Among the gay population, "many say they are feeling pressured by the burgeoning advocacy that is taking place for the rights of gay men's wives," he said.

He estimated that 16 million women are married to gay men in the country.

"Amid the traditional family values that hold sway in China, about 90 percent of homosexual men choose to get married," he said.

Contact the writers at wangqingyun@chinadaily.com.cn and shanjuan@chinadaily.com.cn

Learning to write the Chinese characters for "love" and "happiness" in a Beijing classroom was the first activity for a group of American families on a cultural tour of China on Tuesday.

But this was not a typical tour group, although the parents may have been born and raised in the United States, their children were born in China, before being adopted to be raised on the other side of the world.

Thomas Shuo Fahnle, 10, learned Chinese calligraphy and paper cutting with great interest at the cultural class, accompanied by his adoptive father David Charles Fahnle.

The boy, wearing a hearing aid, dipped his brush into black ink and then painted on blank paper following the teacher's instructions.

However, for the first three years' of his life, he could not hear at all, said his 58-year-old adoptive father.

The boy had being fostered by a child welfare institute in Beijing until he turned three when the single father adopted him in 2005. After seven surgeries he can now hear from both ears.

"I have been a teacher of deaf children for 36 years and I know this is the area I really know something about," Fahnle said. "When I chose him, I knew his medical history and knew what I could do both educationally and medically to help him to hear and improve his academic skills, and at the same time give him a caring and loving home."

Thomas kept showing his father his "masterpieces" from the class and received compliments and encouraging words in return.

The harmonious scene made it difficult to imagine he greeted his father "with violence" at their first meeting.

"I look so different from you guys (Chinese), so when I first visited him in the orphanage and tried to hold him in my arms, he cried and he spat at me and he tried to bite me. It took a while for him to trust me and get confident around me," Fahnle said.

He said he understood the boy's panicked reaction as he had been taken care of by different nursing staff as a baby and because there are many babies in an orphanage, "he never knew who he could call mom or dad, he never had his own toys, and nothing really was his".

"I believe the Chinese orphanage system has done wonderfully in delivering a nursing service but that cannot replace parenting," he said.

Fahnle said while it was difficult at first, the boy adapted to his new life in the US after a couple of months.

Some 130 American families with 200 adopted Chinese children are scheduled to spend three days in Beijing. Activities include a cultural class in the China Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption, which is in charge of overseas adoption affairs, visiting tourist attractions such as the Temple of Heaven and the Great Wall, and taking a bite of famous Peking Duck.

The group will then travel to three popular tourism cities of Xi'an, Chengdu and Guilin. The Chinese government will cover their travel expenses in China.

Some families also plan to visit the child welfare institutes where the adopted children used to live.

Cheryl Bonfils-Rasmussen from Texas said she plans to take her two daughters Mei Li, 9, and Ying Li, 6, to visit their Chinese "hometowns". The two girls were adopted from child welfare institutes in East China's Jiangsu province and Southwest China's Chongqing municipality.

Bonfils-Rasmussen said she was upfront to her daughters about their history and both of them feel curious about their past in China.

The mother also encourages her daughters to study Chinese language and culture in their daily life.

"They are very proud of their Chinese background. They perform Chinese dances at school at New Year festivals and other cultural events and when teachers want to talk about Chinese culture, they often ask the girls to participate and share their cultural heritage with the classroom."

Overseas families have adopted more than 100,000 Chinese children since the 1990s, according to the statistics from the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

"This tour is helpful to improve these children's confidence, because it made them feel the love of their motherland although their birth parents abandoned them for certain reasons," said Lily Nie, the founder and CEO of the Chinese Children Adoption International, a Colorado-based agency.

Zhang Shifeng, director of the China Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption said this kind of tour also gives the Chinese authorities a chance to see if the children adopted from China have been taken care of by their adoptive families.

Contact the writer at hedan@chinadaily.com.cn

Beijing's new Party chief Guo Jinlong said on Tuesday the new leadership of the capital's municipal Party committee will make every effort to serve the people by solving the most concerning problems related to public welfare.

"The standing committee must at all times and under all circumstances adhere to the Party's mass line, and regard the people's interests as the starting point and goal of all our work," said Guo, who became the municipality's new Party secretary in a decision announced at the end of the 11th Beijing Municipal Party Congress.

Guo, 64, has been the city's mayor since 2008. He has replaced Liu Qi, 69, as the capital city's top official.

Wang Anshun and Ji Lin were appointed as deputy Party chiefs of Beijing, while a total of 13 people were appointed as members of the standing committee.

Guo told reporters that the municipal Party committee will be persistent in the reform progress and will continue to solve problems regarding employment, housing, education, medical care, social security, environment and transportation, which were the top concerns of the people in Beijing.

He also emphasized that members of the standing committee must always be honest and remain uncorrupted.

The leadership reshuffle in the capital city means the 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities on the mainland have all completed changeovers of local Party committees before the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China later this year.

The capital city also released a blueprint of its future development during the municipal Party congress.

Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform Deputy Director and Spokesman Zhao Lei said the capital's authorities will unveil a new three-year plan to develop the southern part of the city before the end of this year.

Zhao said the southern part of Beijing has undergone rapid growth over the past three years. Total investment in fixed assets in the three southern districts, Fengtai, Fangshan and Daxing, last year was more than 1.5 times that in three districts in the north - Haidian, Changping and Chaoyang.

He also said the figure increased by 68 percent compared with that in 2008.

Zhao said in the next three years the southern parts of the city will shift their development path from a government-sponsored economy to one that is market-driven. The region will focus more on improving its public service standards than infrastructure construction.

High-end industry, such as the installation of rail tracks, a green belt zone along the Yongding River, medical care and education will all be enhanced.

The details of the new plan will be disclosed later this year, Zhao said.

Moreover, a regional development plan for the capital's economy was being drafted to link the capital city with neighboring Tianjin municipality and Hebei province for closer cooperation, Zhao said.

Han Jie, spokesman of the Beijing municipal finance bureau, said on Monday that last year the city had invested more than 70 percent of the local government revenue in fields that improve public welfare, such as education, employment, social security, medical care, environment protection and transportation.

Contact the writer at tanzonggyang@chinadaily.com.cn

US attorneys acting on behalf of 30 fishermen in Shandong province filed a lawsuit against ConocoPhillips in the Southern District Court of Texas on Monday (Tuesday, Beijing time).

The move is the latest attempt by people affected by oil spills in Bohai Bay in June last year to win compensation from the US company allegedly responsible for the disaster.

Three firms - Bilek Law Firm LLP in Houston, Smith Stag LLC in New Orleans, and Jones, Swanson, Huddell & Garrison LLC, also in New Orleans - have been preparing the class action since last year.

"The reason we have filed the suit is to obtain compensation for our fishermen clients, who have been denied a hearing in China. We want to make sure that ConocoPhillips does more than merely take public responsibility but actually pays fair compensation to those that have been injured," Thomas Bilek of Bilek Law Firm LLP in Houston, told China Daily in a phone interview.

Although the case can be "uncertain and long", he said it had a good chance of success.

According to an e-mail response to China Daily on Tuesday morning, Stuart Smith with Smith Stag LLC said: "It was in the US where executives for ConocoPhillips made many of the decisions that led to the environmental carnage in Bohai Bay. We are bringing the case in Houston, where ConocoPhillips is headquartered."

Donna Xue, spokeswoman for ConocoPhillips China, said her office did not have any knowledge of the lawsuit and declined to comment further before she could contact the company's headquarters in the United States.

The 30 Shandong fishermen are the first group and another 470 have already signed contracts with the three US law firms that are filing the lawsuit against ConocoPhillips, Jia Fangyi, a lawyer at Great Wall Law Firm in China, told reporters in Beijing on Monday.

Jia acts as a bridge between Chinese fishermen and US law firms.

Jia said the estimated direct economic losses caused by the oil leak for the 500 Shandong fishermen were about 870 million yuan ($137 million), and more fishermen near Bohai Bay are contacting him for legal help, which may push the number represented by the three US law firms to more than 2,000.

"All the contacted fishermen will get free legal service from the three US law firms," Jia added.

Jia filed lawsuits against companies allegedly responsible for the oil leak in Bohai Bay to courts in Shandong, Hainan and Tianjin last year. All were rejected.

US courts carry the principle of long-arm jurisdiction, which refers to the ability of local courts to exercise jurisdiction over out-of-state defendants.

It means that in this case the US court can decide to hear the case, even though it didn't occur in the US, Jia explained.

"It is a hard and long fight and we will fight to the end," Jia said.

In April, ConocoPhillips China, the operator of the Penglai 19-3 oilfield where the leaks occurred, agreed with the government to set up a 1.1 billion yuan fund based on estimated damages, in addition to the earlier 1 billion yuan compensation fund for the affected fishermen in Hebei and Liaoning provinces.

China National Offshore Oil Corporation, its Chinese partner, will also pay another 600 million yuan.

But no money was allocated to the other affected areas such as Shandong and Tianjin.

Jiang Xuping, a 50-year-old fisherman in Laizhou, Shandong, said the incident caused him to lose more than 1 million yuan last year, and after selling his ship he is still in debt for 50,000 yuan.

"We need an answer," Jiang said. Because there are no fish in Laizhou Bay, he left his hometown for Rizhao, also in Shandong.

In June 2011, Penglai 19-3 experienced two unrelated leaks, with initial estimates indicating that about 115 cubic meters of oil were released into the sea and 416 cu m of mineral oil mud were released onto the seabed, according to the US company.

A State Oceanic Administration report in November said the leaks polluted an area of about 6,200 square kilometers (nearly nine times the size of Singapore), including 870 square kilometers that were severely polluted.

Wang Jingshu in New York contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at wangqian@chinadaily.com.cn

Ice cream, cool drinks and treatment for colds were all in hot demand as the sizzling weather continued in eastern and southern parts of China on Tuesday.

East China's Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces saw scorching temperatures of up to 38 C. The heat wave also continued in Shanghai on Tuesday, where the temperature hovered around 36 C after three days of rising temperatures.

The persistent heat since the weekend has caused a sudden increase in people seeking medical treatment, mainly for severe colds, hospitals said.

Ruijin Hospital, which is affiliated with the School of Medicine of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, reported a 20 percent increase in the number of patients receiving medicines intravenously, largely owing to the numbers of people with severe colds, in the past few days.

Nurses from Shuguang Hospital in Shanghai's Huangpu district said they saw a similar trend.

Li Jianyun, an office worker, came to Shuguang Hospital to get an injection during her lunch break. She attributed her illness to the wide difference between indoor and outdoor temperatures.

Few people welcome the sweltering weather, but for beverage and ice cream sellers it's a golden opportunity.

"Beverages and ice cream sales tripled in the past few days," said Li Bo, owner of a grocery store in the municipality's bustling Xujiahui shopping area. Mineral water and other beverages were sold out in the vending machines in Xujiahui subway station on Tuesday afternoon.

Temperatures will remain higher than 35 C for another week, according to Shanghai Meteorological Bureau, and are expected to peak at 38 C on Wednesday and Thursday.

In Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, where temperatures climbed above 35 C for the past five days, a spray cooling system was put in use on Monday at a bus station on Lingyin Road to help waiting commuters cool off.

The pure water spray is more than 5 degrees cooler than the air, according to the Hangzhou Public Transport Group, which developed the system.

Forecasters at the National Meteorological Center said the heat wave will linger in eastern and southern parts of China for a few more days.

Contact the writer at zhouwenting@chinadaily.com.cn

Everyone is familiar with the vending machine that spits out a can of coke or a bag of Skittles.

However, if you like cold, hard cash better than the cold, hard candy, here is another dispenser you might be interested in - the Reverse Vending Machine, which rewards users coins in exchange for their empty plastic bottles.

Ten such machines, the size of big refrigerators, have appeared at major subways and bus stops within the Fourth Ring Road of the capital since the end of July, turning trash into treasure while encouraging the public to recycle and sort garbage.

Two thousand of them will be in place within the next two years, including 80 at colleges and universities, shopping malls, communities and office buildings, according to Chang Tao, director of INCOM, the producer of the machines.

"You get rewarded for recycling," said Chang. "People can also have the money donated if they wish."

The process starts with consumers casting their empties in the dispensers' feed unit. Plastic containers are identified by an imaging camera, compacted to less than one-third of the size and sorted into a built-in bin. The users can then get their monetary reward by scanning their metro card to the machine.

Better behavior

Widespread use of the vending machines could greatly encourage the public to sort trash and save natural resources, said experts.

"Despite the government's efforts in encouraging trash sorting, it has been poorly conducted in the city," said Chen Liwen, researcher with the Green Beagle, an environmental protection organization in the capital. "However, with monetary incentives, I guess the public will feel more motivated to do so."

When the machine is filled with bottles, its data center will inform the company's head office, located in the capital's Shunyi district. Nearby packing stations will send workers to have them collected, packed and sent to the headquarters.

The data center can also identify other sorts of trash besides plastic bottles, such as waste paper, and spit them out, Chang said.

When the pilot project is working well in the capital, the company will further expand its service in the economically developed cities, including Shanghai, Suzhou, Wuxi and Hangzhou, and later nationwide.

Chang said the service will also cover other items, such as tin cans, to turn more trash into treasure and take full advantage of the natural resources.

Better treatment

Most beverage bottles are made of PET, or polyethylene terephthalate, that can be recycled, maintaining its value and reducing the waste going to landfills, to make new bottles.

According to Mao Da, an expert in solid-waste management at Beijing Normal University, PET, which is also used in pharmaceutical products, is one of the most valuable of the some 40 plastics.

"Many governments and waste collection agencies worldwide encourage people to separate the waste PET bottles from other plastic waste, so it can be collected and made into bottles again," he said. "It loses its recyclable value if made into clothes or even non-food containers, like basins, though many workshops in Zhejiang province are doing that for profit," he said.

According to Chang, unlike the small workshops, which transfer the plastic bottles into clothes and bags, all the plastic bottles they get will be made into bottles again.

"It definitely makes more profit to turn the bottles into clothes, yet it is a waste of resources, and a drop in the long-term value of it, since the clothes will take 100 years to degrade," said Chang. "Turning the waste plastic bottles into new bottles shows respect to nature."

People believe they have the waste recycled as long as the empty bottles are handed to scavengers, which Chang said is not necessarily true.

Of the 20-some tons of waste bottles produced in the capital annually, Chang said, only about 3 to 5 tons end up in Chang's recycling station - most of the rest ends up in small workshops.

Besides wasting resources, the underground workshops are seriously polluting the environment, Mao said.

To reduce cost, the illegal workshops simply clean the bottles with groundwater and discharge the polluted water onto the ground, polluting the soil.

Chang said even in the capital, there are some 300 such workshops around the Sixth Ring Road.

"The land around the workshops has turned barren from the alkaline water they discharge into the ground without neutralizing treatment," said Chang. "No residents around the workshops dare to drink the local water for fear of poisoning.

"They are doing more than devaluing the resources," he said.

According to Chang, the capital has a very progressive attitude toward recycling, and the technology, once popularized, will greatly encourage people to recycle at or around shopping malls, subways or by the roadside.

Jobs replaced

According to Mao, China, unlike other countries, has continued to rely on scavengers for waste recycling and resource utilization, and the State-run recycling stations are gradually disappearing from the country.

"The scavengers have greatly eased the nation's task in trash disposal," he said.

However, despite their contribution, he believes the junkmen are driven by profit, and their recycling work sometimes pollutes and wastes resources, he said.

Chang agrees. "Many empty bottles we collected from individual scavengers are filled with stones or dirty water, to increase the weight for extra profit," he said. "Replacing them with the intelligent machine will ensure a sufficient supply of empty bottles of higher quality."

But worries arise over how to deal with the unemployment of people who make their living collecting copper wire and coke cans, because they will be replaced by machines.

According to Chen, there are some 200,000 scavengers in the city and the development of the machines could suddenly cost them their incomes and possibly even result in social disorder.

However, Ren Lianhai, a professor at Beijing Technology and Business University's environmental science and engineering department, said the possibility of social unrest is low.

"This is a very flexible group of people," he said. "Besides, to deploy the machines nationwide will require time, which will be long enough for them to find a new job or go to another city for the waste."

Ren said there are for the moment labor shortages in a number of fields in the city.

"The machines have been put to use in some countries for years, like Brazil and Japan," he said. "It would be beneficial for the country's recycling economy in the long run."

Contact the writer at zhengxin@chinadaily.com.cn

Wang Chen (left), minister of the State Council Information Office, and Charlie Lee, director of Lee Kum Kee Co Ltd, show a calligraphy work donated to the Experience China event by Lu Yongliang, a Chinese master chef, in Tokyo on Monday. Xu Jingxing / China Daily

An old idiom states that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach - and perhaps food could also help the bond between countries.

Delicious food and a piano recital by the highly acclaimed Chinese pianist Yundi Li opened the Experience China event in Japan on Monday, aiming to bring the two countries closer together.

Organized by China's State Council Information Office, the event runs until July 13.

It will include a photo exhibition, a ceremony to present Chinese books to Tokyo's Soka University, a fashion show, and the eighth Beijing-Tokyo Forum, which finishes on Tuesday.

A group of Chinese journalists are also visiting Japan to gain a better understanding of the island country.

"The event is expected to serve as a window through which Japanese people can see a whole picture of China that is separated from their country only by a narrow strip of water," Wang Chen, minister of the State Council Information Office, said at the event's opening ceremony.

"I hope that the event will help build the bridge to enhance the good feelings and mutual understanding between the two peoples," Wang said.

Wang said the event would help Japanese people understand China's desire to seek cooperation, peace and development.

The event is one of the 433 programs China and Japan are scheduled to hold this year to commemorate the 40th anniversary of normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries, said Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi, Japan's parliamentary senior vice-minister for foreign affairs.

"The number is much bigger than that for commemorating the 35th anniversary," Yamaguchi said.

Seiichi Kondo, commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan, said China and Japan can learn from each other thanks to friendly exchanges for thousands of years, despite the setbacks in the 19th and 20th centuries.

As the world's second and third-largest economies, China and Japan can achieve greater progress if they cooperate, Kondo said.

Since 1999, the State Council Information Office has launched the Experience China events in many parts of the world including Germany, the United States, Brazil, Russia and South Africa. They are expected to promote China in more countries, showing that it is a modern and open nation that adheres to peaceful development and has diverse cultures.

Chinese master chefs gave a live demonstration of culinary skill at the ceremony - hoping to whet Japanese people's appetites - and perhaps open the way to their heart.

Contact the writer at caihong@chinadaily.com.cn

Zhao Qizheng, director of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference

"Currently the international and regional structure is undergoing profound changes, while both China and Japan, as well as their relations, are at an important period in the transformation of development patterns. China is thinking about how to deal with international society in an open, tolerant and harmonious way as a responsible major country. Japan also needs to think about how to deal with its emerging neighbor."

Cheng Yonghua,Chinese ambassador to Japan

"Now it is not a difficult time for bilateral relations, but a fantastic time for China and Japan to develop investment and trade relations. Economic and trade links are major drivers of bilateral relations. Respect and mutual trust are fundamental preconditions for cooperation."

Wei Jianguo, former vice-minister of commerce and secretary-general of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges

"There is a joke in Japan that it is not the dog biting its tail but the tail making the dog spin around. We should never allow such a situation to happen between Japan and China. The major things we have in common should not be overshadowed by our minor differences."

Yasuo Fukuda, former Japanese prime minister

"We have come to an important period in which Japan, the United States and China should carry out a joint dialogue. As Japanese foreign minister, I would like to take such an initiative."

Koichiro Gemba, Japanese foreign minister

But don't be too pessimistic. When we look at the outlook for the China-Japan economic and trade relations, things are much positive. At the two-day eighth Beijing-Tokyo Forum, which began on Monday, almost all the participants from the two countries, including the current and former government officials and corporate managers, reached a consensus that China and Japan need to join hands, especially at a time when the European debt crisis is deepening, and that the opportunities for future cooperation is immense.

China Daily talked to some of them about why and how the two Asian economies could cooperate in the future, the following is the list of questions and their answers.

Q1

What is the significance of strengthening the economic and trade cooperation between China and Japan amid the European debt crisis?

Q2

How can the China-Japan-South Korea FTA mechanism improve the economic and trade cooperation in the region?

Q3

What measures can be taken by the two countries' governments to facilitate the economic and trade cooperation, especially to boost the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises?

Sun Zhenyu

Former chinese ambassador to wto and chairman with the China Society for World Trade Organization Studies

A1

China and Japan are both important trade partners for the European Union, and the two neighbors face the same challenges when the eurozone suffers poor economic growth.

We two countries have a responsibility to help the EU out of the debt crisis, which needs us to work together and seek efficient methods to solve the problems.

It is in the interest of both China and Japan to reduce the risks from the European crisis by improving bilateral trade relations and preventing trade protectionism.

Increasing the bailout fund for the EU through the IMF framework is one of the most significant ways. Japan promised to inject $60 billion into the pool and China agreed to add $43 billion - a good example of the cooperation between the two countries.

A2

Now, the economic integration of China, Japan and South Korea is seeing unprecedented good opportunities, and this requires these three economies to further open up markets and facilitate trade cooperation.

It is time to accelerate the negotiation of a free trade area among the three countries, because their total GDP reached 19.6 percent of the global economy and the exports were 18.5 percent of the world's total in 2010.

The China-Japan free trade area can add about $46.7 billion to Japan's exports annually, and it lifts Japan's GDP by 0.66 percent. The FTA mechanism is a supplement to the multilateral trading system, not a replacement.

A3

China is expected to continually open the capital market and promote the internationalization of renminbi, which can support the direct investment and industrial cooperation between the two countries.

China can learn from the fiscal policies of the Japanese government, to structurally reform tax policies and support the development of small and medium-sized companies, especially in the high-tech, energy conservation and environmental protection sectors.

Akira Kojima

Member of Board of Trustees of the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies

A1

Although the debt crisis is confined to Europe, the global economic system has changed. So the Asian economy must modify the economic growth model, instead of depending on the United States and Europe.

Asian economies, including China and Japan, must cooperate with each other to expand the Asian market.

A2

The two nations could develop cooperation in a wide range of sectors, infrastructure in particular. They could jointly develop harbors and airports across Asia, and by doing that, they could expand the network in Asia and in doing so grow the Asian economy.

We all know that the three nations of China, Japan and South Korea are discussing a trilateral free trade agreement. An FTA is necessary and a steppingstone to expanding the Asian market.

A3

We know that many European nations had expanding debt and the bubble burst. So the debt crisis broke out, and the banking system is suffering.

The Asia-Pacific region has money, and the money is here, so we can use the money at hand, instead of borrowing from the non-Asian banks.

China and Japan need to conduct more exchanges in the capital and bond markets. The two governments have taken steps toward that, but more measures are needed.

Wei Jiafu

Chairman of the board of China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company

A1

It is the time for China and Japan to tackle the crisis together, as every participant in economic globalization cannot avoid the shocks from the indebted eurozone, even in the Asian region that saw the world's fastest economic growth in the past few years.

Our two countries have different competitive power in exported products, which can satisfy market demand in Asia if we achieve the regional economic integration with developing the trade relationship.

A2

The launch of China-Japan-South Korea FTA is a significant opportunity to exert the huge market potential in Asia with such a large population. It is expected that economic growth, supported by the free trade mechanism, may maintain a higher rate than the world's average level.

This requires that we further develop the trade market by stimulating domestic consumption, aiming to achieve economic balance in the region and sustainable development.

More specifically, accelerating harbor integration based on cooperative constructions in East Asia can improve the efficiency and reduce costs of multilateral trade in the area.

A3

China and Japan have common goals and interests in the area of "green economy", which is expected to be the new industrial growth hot spot in the coming years.

The two neighbors need to build the information-sharing mechanism and work together to establish the international standards in this industry, because that is likely to be the new engine of the economic growth in East Asia.

As China is further opening up the capital market, more private funds owned by the small business will participate in the cross-border investments and help strengthen the financial cooperation between the two countries.

Toshiro Mutoh

Chairman of Daiwa Institute of Research and former vice-president of the Bank of Japan

A1

This downside risk aroused by the European crisis is challenging its trade with both China and Japan, and we two countries should work together to save the EU, for example by raising bailout money through the International Monetary Fund.

The eurozone crisis provides more room for cooperation between China and Japan. We can expect more policies between the two governments to improve economic and trade cooperation, because thus will benefit both countries.

A2

I agree with China about the cooperation of the FTA. At the same time, we have the agenda to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership. China may think that the FTA is enough for the time being, but Japan also has interest to trade with countries such as Australia and the United States.

I don't think the two mechanisms - FTA and TPP - contradict each other. And the negotiation of the FTA will be accelerated, because we will solve the disputes together.

A3

We have truly realized the importance of direct transaction between renminbi and the Japanese yen since last month, and we are trying to promote the bond market in the Chinese currency. Besides, there are other cooperation agendas in the financial sector to strengthen the cooperation between the two countries, such as the Chiang Mai Initiative, a multilateral currency swap arrangement among the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, China, Japan, and South Korea.

There will be more exchanges of opinion between Japan and China to promote small and medium-sized businesses, such as for the improvement of the supply chain system, or financial institutions assisting them. In addition, to bring about and share merger and acquisitions experiences can promote their operations.

Wang Yiming

Vice-president of the Academy of Macroeconomic Research of the National Development and Reform Commission

A1

The continued fermentation of the European debt crisis and the uncertainty of the US economic recovery have seriously affected China and Japan's exports because the two largest Asian economies greatly rely on the outside markets and resources.

The growth rate of China's whole-year exports is likely to decrease by 10 percentage points from a year earlier, which may drag down the GDP by about 1 percentage point.

The situation requires the two neighbors to bolster their economic and trade relations to reduce the impact of the international financial turbulence, as well as the price fluctuations of crude oil and minerals, amid the broadened European depression.

A2

The economic and trade cooperation between China and Japan continued to develop although the global financial crisis cooled the regional growth in Asia. The trade value between the two countries has been growing on average by 10 percent annually during the past five years.

As a Japanese media source said earlier, the recovery of the Japanese economy depends to some extent on the growth of exports to China. The domestic demand expansion policies of China, as well as the accelerated investment into the country's central and western regions, can provide commercial opportunities for Japan.

The broader China-Japan economic and trade relationships can increase market demand in East Asia and then boost global business amid the lackluster environment.

The China-Japan-South Korea FTA will be the world's third-largest trade center after the EU and North American free trade areas, which can help to stabilize political relations between the three countries.

A3

China and Japan can jointly invest in European infrastructure construction projects and emerging industry, combining Japan's mature overseas investment experience and Chinese companies' "go out" strategy with large capital, which can also facilitate the expansion of small-scale business in both countries.

Direct investment in the eurozone is a better choice to help the debt-stricken countries recover than investing in the sovereign bonds under the European Financial Stability Facility framework.

As Japan has developed technology in strategic emerging industries and China has the aim of developing those sectors, such as the new-energy industry, there is broad room for cooperation between the two neighbors.

Former high-level military officers and prominent scholars from China and Japan have called on Beijing and Tokyo to stop the "endless" dispute over the Diaoyu Islands that is muddying relations between the world's second- and third-largest economies.

"Don't talk anymore about who owns the islands ... We should prevent military collisions at sea, set up hot lines and build mutual trust," former Japanese defense minister Shigeru Ishiba said at the sub-conference for security affairs at the eighth Beijing-Tokyo Forum on Monday.

The former minister also suggested the Japanese government send the Japanese Coast Guard, not the Japan Self-Defense Forces, to handle possible accidents in the disputed waters.

The meeting brought together some of the most famous former military officers and scholars on security affairs from both sides of China-Japan studies.

Fierce discussion on the territorial dispute over the Diaoyu Islands dominated the four-hour meeting.

The conference room was packed with public and media.

Ties between Beijing and Tokyo were tested in the autumn of 2010 when a Chinese trawler collided with patrol boats from the Japanese Coast Guard in waters near the Diaoyu Islands. China later froze bilateral high-level exchanges and some military ones.

The hostility was reignited again this year when the governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara, said in April that his city prefecture was negotiating with the "owner" of the islands in the hope of "buying them by the end of this year" and started raising money for the proposal.

An annual survey on China-Japan relations sponsored by China Daily and Japan's Genron NPO found last month that the confrontation over the Diaoyu Islands is among the top three reasons behind Chinese and Japanese people's negative feelings toward each other.

"Some international issues are being domesticated now," said Huang Xingyuan, secretary-general of the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs, referring to Ishihara actions.

"We should not allow some right-wing figures who tried to play up the issue to dominate and kidnap China-Japan relations," Huang said. He suggested the two nations skip over the sensitive issue while they have still not figured out a solution.

Li Wei, head of the Institute of Japanese Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the key problem was that Japan does not even admit the existence of the territorial dispute on the Diaoyu Islands.

"We should have dialogue on that, though I cannot predict the outcome. Still, I believe we have many solutions to try. Mr Deng Xiaoping (late Chinese leader) said 40 years ago that we should leave the problem to the next generation who will have greater wisdom. We should believe in our next generation that they will have the wisdom to settle the problem," said Kazuhiko Togo, director of the Institute for World Affairs at Kyoto Sangyo University.

Rear Admiral Yang Yi, former director of the Institute for Strategic Studies at the People's Liberation Army National Defense University, said he was glad that none of the guests supported resorting to military power.

"It would be a disaster to both sides and should be ruled off the table," Yang said, adding he is worried about accidental conflicts in the disputed waters. He suggested both sides act to control the situation immediately if such an incident came to pass.

"China and Japan are two civilizations that have interacted with each other for several thousand years. Who can imagine France and Germany, which fought with each other 50 years ago, are now the two engines of the integration of Europe? It is possible that China and Japan will also be the two engines of an 'Asian Union' in another 50 years and by then there will be no need to identify the territory."

Noboru Yamaguchi, a professor at the National Defense Academy of Japan, said the Japanese government should strictly control its citizens stepping on the islands to avoid inflaming the situation.

Other methods the experts suggested to control risks ranged from establishing a buffer zone in the waters and joint patrols, to direct contact between maritime law enforcement agencies and dialogue between the two armed forces.

"And we should think about joint exploration of the region if possible. One day politicians of the two nations will have the courage to do that," said Wu Jinan, a senior researcher with the Shanghai Institute for International Studies.

Contact the writer at lixiaokun@chinadaily.com.cn

A key gauge of manufacturing fell to a seven-month low of 50.2 in June, compounding concerns over further slowing of the world's second-largest economy.

The Purchasing Managers' Index registered a second month of decline, down from 50.4 in May, and also hit its lowest level since November, a report on the website of the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing showed on Sunday.

Any reading below 50 indicates contraction, above expansion.

"The falling index suggests that the economy still faces downward pressure," said Cai Jin, vice-chairman of the federation.

But Cai also said that the fall in the June PMI may be cyclical as June is traditionally lower than May.

And "the extent of the decrease this year is the smallest in years, which means that the economy is building a foundation for stable growth", he said.

Zhang Liqun, researcher with the Research and Development Center at the State Council, also said growth will stabilize.

Other indicators support this, Zhang said, including expanding domestic consumption.

However, there are still many factors hitting production and it will take some time for manufacturing to turn the corner, he said.

A series of sub-indexes suggested that weakening external demand is taking its toll on output.

The New Export Orders index again fell below the critical 50 level to 47.5. Its fall of 2.9 points marked its largest drop since December. However, an output index standing at 52, expanding, indicates that producers have to deal with increasing pressure from inventories piling up.

On top of this, a key gauge of imports, the Inputs Prices Index, declined significantly by 3.6 points, easing inflation pressure but also sounding an alert on possible deflation, the federation report warned.

The downward trend of the official PMI was in line with the HSBC China Flash PMI, which gave an earlier glimpse of domestic output. The HSBC reading at 48.1 also retreated in June, though it reflected an eighth straight month of contraction.

Official PMI data covers 820 enterprises, including State-owned and large enterprises, while HSBC's poll includes around 400 small and medium-sized companies.

Economists estimate that economic growth may plunge below 8 percent in the second quarter on weakening manufacturing activity.

Lian Ping, chief economist at the Bank of Communications, said he expected GDP growth in the second quarter to be around 7.8 percent, and the figure is likely to pick up in the third quarter.

Shen Jianguang, chief economist at Mizuho Securities Asian Co, said the authorities may have to employ more easing measures to offset a faster-than-expected economic slowdown.

In the latest moves to spur investment and growth, the People's Bank of China cut the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points last month following a reduction of 0.5 percentage point for the bank reserve requirement ratio in May.

Shen predicted that the central bank will cut interest rates again this year, and lower the bank reserve requirement, to inject liquidity due to declining foreign investment and a narrowing trade surplus.

The Consumer Price Index in June, a key gauge of inflation, may fall to 2.3 percent which will allow more room for easing monetary policies, Shen said.

However, Lian said the annual inflation rate may still be above 3 percent and that could rule out more interest rate cuts.

"Economic growth will not see a significant slowdown, as it may take some time for the cut in June to kick in," he said, adding that growth will stay above 8 percent.

Manufacturing sectors involved in transport have seen growth, according to the report, as have sectors involved in real estate.

Pressure has been clearly felt by manufacturers in Wenzhou, an exporting hub.

Zhang Beilei, the owner of Wenzhou Gaotian Shoe Co Ltd said that the number of orders for May was 10 percent lower than the same period last year.

"I guess there is nothing else to do, just to wait and see," he said.

Chen Jianzhong, the chairman of Jiangsu Xiake Color Spinning Co Ltd, said textile and apparel exports had increased by just 0.5 percent in 2011.

Contact the writers at weitian@chinadaily.com.cn and yuran@chinadaily.com.cn

Last year, 28.1 million mainland tourists visited Hong Kong - 67 percent of the total number of visitors, said Greg So, secretary for commerce and economic development for the special administrative region's government.

The mainland has become the largest source of tourists for Hong Kong, he said, and the number of tourists to the city is growing.

"With the opening of our harbor for cruise ships next year, we expect to offer more choices for mainland tourists," he said.

Joseph Tung, executive director of the Hong Kong Travel Industry Council, said he believes the city's flourishing tourism industry should thank the central government's rescue moves in 2003 when Hong Kong was "nearly dead" because of the SARS outbreak.

"Nobody came to visit Hong Kong then. Other countries were also afraid that Hong Kong tourists going out would spread the disease. We were really worried," he said.

When the central government decided to allow mainland tourists from some cities to visit Hong Kong without joining tour groups in July 2003, it immediately boosted tourism.

In August 2003, more than 946,000 mainland tourists visited Hong Kong, an increase of 43 percent over the same period of the previous year, according to the council.

The influence of mainland tourists on the city has been overwhelming. More people in the city's travel and retail industries have learned to speak Mandarin.

"Even when we go shopping, the salesperson, unable to tell us from mainland tourists, would speak to us in Mandarin, instead of Cantonese," said Greg So, joking that he learned Mandarin partly during shopping.

But along with the growing number of tourists, there are also a growing number of conflicts.

In 2010, Chen Youming, 65, former player of the national ping-pong team, had a heart attack and died when he was forced to shop by an unlicensed tour guide in Hong Kong.

Last year, another tour guide got involved in verbal and physical conflicts with three mainland tourists. Reports said that the tour guide led the 33-member group to a jewelry store, but none of the group bought anything during the two-hour stay. The tour guide began snarling at them.

Also last year, a video showing a mainland woman and a few Hong Kong residents arguing on the subway went viral online. The woman had let her child eat on the subway, which is not allowed in Hong Kong. The video triggered a heated discussion online.

Media comments said that the rising number of conflicts is a new trend. But Tung said these incidents are just isolated cases.

The council is doing its best to regulate the industry and tour guides to prevent incidents such as these from tarnishing Hong Kong's image, he said.

At least seven tour guides have had their licenses suspended, he said. The travel agency that hired the unlicensed tour guide who forced Chen Youming to shop lost its business license, Tung said.

Hotlines have been opened to record tourists' complaints. The number of complaints has dropped by 40 percent in the first five months of this year compared with the same period last year, he said.

Tung said he hopes the central government will allow citizens of more mainland cities to visit Hong Kong without joining tour groups.

Currently, citizens of 49 mainland cities can go to Hong Kong without joining tour groups.

Contact the writer at xindingding@chinadaily.com.cn

At 7 am it is already broad daylight in the city of Shenzhen and the air is pungent with the smell of animal waste. Wearing his blue uniform, Zeng Hui gets into a small control room, opens a barrier, and begins to release waiting vans.

Zeng is the customs officer of Wenjindu Port, which operates under Shenzhen customs. It is the most important and the only land route pass for agricultural products provided to Hong Kong from the mainland. More than 80 percent of such agricultural products go through this port.

In 2011 pigs delivered through the port made up 95 percent of Hong Kong's market demand and the cows 100 percent, prompting Wenjindu to be called the city's "green lifeline".

Zeng has worked at the port since 1982. The 47-year old from Shaoguan in Guangdong province has witnessed many changes at the port over the past 20 years.

"When I came to customs, a van needed half an hour to finish all the procedures and then it got passed through. Now it takes only five seconds," he said.

He said customs makes great efforts to cut the release time of vans passing through the port. In previous years, agricultural enterprises needed to declare each shipment of their product to customs, but in 1987 a new system was adopted to allow agricultural enterprises to declare all their products on a monthly basis. This measure cut the average waiting time from half an hour to two minutes.

In May 2011, customs adopted a new system to allow agricultural enterprises to declare their products online. If they do this before they reach the port, their vans get automatically released.

"Most of the vans get directly passed within seconds under this system. The system alarms when there are inspection instructions from our risk department and it also sends a few random instructions. Only at these occasions we would stop the van and inspect it," Zeng said.

An incident on Sept 30 last year impressed Zeng. It was raining heavily and the water disrupted the computer system.

"The system failed to work, and the vans were lined up for at least 5 or 6 kilometers that day, and the wind and rain continued. All the staff of our department come out to release them and we worked until midnight," he said. "We have to make sure the products get to Hong Kong, otherwise the agricultural products prices in Hong Kong will soar."

Zeng said in the 1980s many agricultural products were still carried to Hong Kong by the "three express trains" - daily trains which left from Shanghai, Wuhan and Zhengzhou. However, in the 1990s as highway transportation developed, Wenjindu Port replaced the three trains.

But the wheel of history never stops. Wenjindu Port, located in the city center, now faces a new destiny.

The Shenzhen government plans to shift Wenjindu's main function to passenger inspection and transfer the agricultural product inspection to Liantang Port, a new port to be built by 2018.

"By that time I will have retired, but I guess if the port does shift, I will feel it is a bit of a pity and a bit of a loss," he said.

Contact the writer at huangyuli@chinadaily.com.cn

A new law will give refugees who come to China the right to stay in the country.

The National People's Congress Standing Committee approved an Exit and Entry Administration Law on Saturday will allow refugees to stay in China after obtaining an ID card from public security authorities. Asylum seekers will also be allowed to use a temporary ID card to stay in the country while their refugee status is under examination.

The new law combines two existing laws that pertain to exiting and entering the country and to foreigners. The old laws will expire when the new one takes effect on July 1, 2013.

China is now a party to two international refugee pacts - the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol. Even so, its Legislation Law states that international protocols will only be in force if they are written into domestic laws.

The new law will fill a legal vacuum and is expected to give rise to more administrative and legislative provisions meant to protect the rights and safety of refugees in China, said Liu Guofu, an immigration law expert at the Beijing Institute of Technology.

Asylum seekers are often treated as illegal foreign residents in China. Because they often flee their home countries in haste, their documents are incomplete and China has no legislative means of separating the management of refugees from regular foreign visitors, Liu said.

Liu said refugee protection entails having government agencies cooperate with one another and even with international organizations, making it difficult.

Although China has no offices formally charged with taking care of refugees, the Ministry of Public Security is generally responsible for matters pertaining to status recognition, and repatriation and civil affairs authorities should attend to refugee resettlement, Liu said.

Insiders who spoke to China Daily on condition of anonymity said the Ministry of Civil Affairs has set up a team under the department of international cooperation to deal with the increasing number of people coming to the country to seek asylum. The office is working on a draft regulation that will take parts of the international conventions that China has agreed to and write them into domestic laws.

In the absence of national legislation on refugees, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' Beijing office has found itself responsible for examining the status of people who seek asylum in China.

The office was established in 1980 and has helped resettle about 300,000 refugees who fled to China following the Sino-Vietnamese border conflicts in late 1970s. These refugees and their children, referred to as "Indochinese refugees", have been living in the country ever since and are considered to be assimilated into Chinese society.

Refugees recognized by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR, can stay in China temporarily until they find a long-term solution to their quandary, such as returning voluntarily to their country of origin when it is safe to do so or being resettled to a third country with the organization's help.

Giuseppe de Vincentiis, UNHCR's regional representative for China and Mongolia, said his office receives from 100 to 150 applications from asylum seekers every year, mostly coming from Somalia, Iraq and Pakistan.

"There has been a noticeably mobile Somali population around the globe in recent years, a result of ongoing domestic wars," he said. "And the case is the same in China."

He said large numbers of Iraqis are seeking asylum for similar reasons.

De Vincentiis said Beijing, Hubei and Guangdong provinces have received the largest number of refugees.

De Vincentiis said he welcomes the Chinese authorities' work to regularize the status of refugees.

Having the designation of illegal foreign resident bars a person from employment or from receiving social welfare, he said.

"I hope the latest stipulation will help make refugees' lives in China easier, allowing them to take language and vocational training during their stay," he said. "Many refugees are talented or are specialists in certain fields, and they can be of great use to China if they are treated fairly."

The new Exit and Entry Administration Law will include several measures meant both to attract talented foreigners to China and to curb illegal entries and employment.

China has welcomed a rocketing number of foreign visitors since opening up its borders in the late 1970s. From January to September 2011, 260 million arrivals and departures took place in the country, according to the Ministry of Public Security and foreign affairs. The figure for 1980 was 12.1 million.

Beijing, whose population of foreigners with residence permits only lags behind Shanghai's, was home to nearly 120,000 foreigners at the end of 2011, according the Ministry of Public Security.

Contact the writer at zhaoyinan@chinadaily.com.cn

41 injured, 22,000 residents affected

An earthquake measuring 6.6 magnitude jolted Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region at 5:07 am on Saturday, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.

The epicenter was monitored at 43.4 degrees north latitude and 84.8 degrees east longitude, a mountainous area along the border of Hejing and Xinyuan counties. The focus, the point of rupture in the Earth itself, was a mere 7 km down.

Local authorities said the quake has affected 22,000 residents, and falling objects have injured at least 41 people including one heavily wounded. As of Saturday afternoon no deaths were reported; investigation of injuries and property damage from the quake is still under way.

A large number of residential houses were toppled or damaged in Xinyuan county, and hundreds of cattle were killed when their sheds collapsed, said a statement from the government of the Ili Kazak autonomous prefecture, which administers Xinyuan.

Railway authorities suspended 32 passenger and freight trains in Xinjiang for safety reasons. Service resumed at around 10:45 am on Saturday, after thorough safety checks along the routes, said the Urumqi Railway Bureau.

Traffic on Highway 217 was interrupted after cave-ins and landslides were reported after the quake. About 120 people and a number of vehicles were stranded. The CENC declared a level-three emergency following the quake and local authorities sent workers and organized rescue teams into affected areas.

Also, the National Committee for Disaster Reduction and the Ministry of Civil Affairs have urgently allocated and transported 2,500 tents, 12,500 quilts and 12,500 coats to Xinjiang. Gao Guomin, driver at the Hehe Mining Plant, which is located about 20 km northwest of the epicenter at Gongnaisi Forestry Center, described his experiences to China Daily as "the most horrible time in his life".

"In the first round of shakes, I heard big rumblings. A few minutes later, a second round of bigger shakes came. I wasn't expecting it and it lasted for about 30 seconds. The walls swung back and forth. My whole body felt like it was out of control," said the 46-year-old man, who lived at the ground floor of a four-story resident house for workers of the mining plant.

"It's just unbelievable - just the sheer power," Gao added.

At about 5:30 am, Gao and two of his colleagues decided to escape to Hejing county, which is 200 km away from the plant. They took nearly six hours to get to the county, as they repeatedly encountered cave-ins and rolling stones.

There are more than 1,000 people working at the plant. "Every one is OK, except a young man who had his foot injured by a falling teacup in the quake," according to Gao.

Some residents living in Xinyuan county reported that household electricity was cut off after the quake. Zhan Yong, resident of neighboring Gongliu county, said he and his families were shaken out of bed by the quake.

The earthquake was felt strongly by residents living in Urumqi, the regional capital of Xinjiang. Cable TV signals were impaired and some furniture shook drastically. Citizens stayed outdoors after feeling the quake, worrying about the aftershocks.

At 5:50 am, at least 100 people and a number of cars were waiting at the gate of the Children's Park at downtown Urumqi, which opened at 6 am.

Some complained about the density of residential houses and the lack of open spaces in their living area.

"If the buildings collapsed, we have no outdoor place where we can escape. That's why we come to the spacious park," said Li Yang, an Urumqi resident.

By Saturday noon, 189 aftershocks had occurred. The strongest one was measured at magnitude 4.2, said the CENC.

Experts said the quake-hit region, located about 3,500 meters above sea level, has been geologically active in history. Two earthquakes measuring more than 7 on the Richter scale have jolted the region since 1900.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

shaowei@chinadaily.com.cn

Former vice-mayor's resignation accepted

Former vice-mayor of Chongqing municipality Wang Lijun has resigned as a deputy to the National People's Congress, the nation's top legislature, the NPC Standing Committee said on Saturday.

The resignation was approved by the Standing Committee of the People's Congress in Chongqing municipality on Tuesday, according to the top legislature's announcement.

Following the approval, Wang will lose the shield of legal protection as a lawmaker, which exempted him from being arrested or tried, according to China's Law on Deputies to the National People's Congress and to the Local People's Congresses at various levels.

Wang was removed from the post of vice-mayor by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in March.

Tianjin

7 dead in commercial mall fire

Seven people were killed on Saturday afternoon in a fire that broke out in a commercial mall in North China's Tianjin municipality.

The fire started around 4 pm in the Laide Commercial Mall in the Jixian county of Tianjin, rescue officials said. As of 8 pm the fire was under control.

Sichuan

7 killed in SW China landslide

Seven people were killed in a landslide that hit a highway in Southwest China's Sichuan province on Thursday afternoon, local authorities said on Saturday.

The landslide happened at about 3 pm on Thursday on a provincial highway in Miansha township of Mianning county, the county government said in a statement.

Rescuers pulled seven bodies from the debris as of noon Friday and have confirmed the identities of the deceased, the statement said. Rescuers are now working to clear the highway and allow traffic to resume.

Mongolia

Alliance opposed to foreign miners

A left-wing alliance hostile to foreign mining has won more than a fifth of the votes in Mongolia's parliamentary elections, according to a preliminary tally on Saturday, making it a potential coalition partner in the next government.

Led by the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, the alliance could hold the balance of power in a new parliament after gaining more than 22 percent of votes cast on Thursday, the country's elections commission said.

The MPRP's "justice coalition", headed by controversial ex-president Nambar Enkhbayar, campaigned on a "resource nationalist" platform, calling for the renegotiation of a 2009 agreement that granted 66 percent of the giant Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold deposit to Canada's Ivanhoe Mines. It also wants to keep the coveted Tavan Tolgoi coal project in Mongolian hands.

Germany

Parliament approves EU bailout fund

Germany's parliament resoundingly approved the euro zone's permanent bailout plan and new budget rules on Friday, but legal hurdles remain and Chancellor Angela Merkel's concessions to eurozone partners Italy and Spain may make those harder to overcome.

The outcome of the vote was never seriously in doubt after opposition parties agreed to back the budget rules, or "fiscal compact", in return for growth and job creation measures. Merkel needed their support to get a required two-thirds majority.

United States

Dangerous heat suspected in deaths

Temperatures in the triple digits were causing misery in the eastern and southern United States on Friday, with both Columbia, South Carolina and Nashville, Tennessee reaching all-time records of 109 degrees Fahrenheit (42.8 C). The heat is suspected to have caused the deaths of three young children.

Union workers at the power company Con Edison threatened to go on strike at midnight Saturday, when a collective bargaining agreement expires, which could leave the company shorthanded to deal with power outages as residents crank up air conditioning.

News Watch

Kenyan security forces on Saturday scoured border regions with war-torn Somalia in the hunt for armed kidnappers who seized four foreign-aid workers from Dadaab, the world's largest refugee camp. The two men and two women, who work with the Norwegian Refugee Council, come from Canada, Norway, Pakistan and the Philippines. A Kenyan driver was killed and two others were wounded during Friday's attack.

Xinhua - Reuters - Agence France-Presse

At least 20 people were killed and another 27 injured in explosions triggered by solvent oil that leaked from a rear-ended tanker truck in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, on Friday morning.

The solvent oil flowed down to the drain under on the Nangang section of a flyover along the Yanjiang Expressway, then caught fire and burned buildings and a container yard.

The accident between two trucks happened at 4:30 am, according to the Guangzhou city government. The tanker truck was carrying 40 metric tons of solvent oil.

Most of the people killed were sleeping in a wood product market under the flyover, according to those who escaped from the fire.

The drivers of the trucks were not killed, according to witnesses. Both trucks are registered in Hunan province.

Twenty-nine fire engines and 185 firefighters were dispatched to extinguish the fire and to rescue injured people. It took four hours to put out the fire, which covered more than 2,000 square meters, according to the Yangcheng Evening News.

After an on-the-spot meeting to arrange the rescue and investigation, Guangzhou Party chief Wan Qingliang comforted the injured and their relatives in hospital while Mayor Chen Jianhua stayed at the blast scene to lead subsequent work.

According to the city government, the accident had not polluted the air and water in the adjacent area.

Luo Zhenzu, the 50-year-old owner of a wood processing workshop about 400 meters from the blast scene, managed to escape with his four family members.

"I was awakened by two loud bangs at about 5:05 am and saw the big fires. I grabbed my 8-month-old grandson into my arms, then awoke other family members and rushed out of the house," Luo recalled.

His son, Luo Pan, said he became panicky when finding his quilt was on fire. He ran away with only his underpants on, leaving all the valuables - computer, mobile phone, about 80,000 yuan ($12,560) in cash - behind in the house.

"I don't know from whom I can claim compensation. The local government hasn't sent people to help us settle down yet," the 18-year-old said. He had been waiting outside the blockade for eight hours when he talked to China Daily.

According to Luo Pan, there were about 80 small wood processing factories in the market under the flyover. He estimated that about 20 were burned down in the explosion.

"Most of the buildings were built with bamboo. We can't afford steel because we have been forced by the urban management officers to move from one place to another," said Luo Pan, admitting that none of the factories has a business license.

He added that most of the approximately 200 people working and living in the market come from Longhui village in the Shaoyang city of Hunan province.

Gu Chunhua, a truck driver, was made dizzy by the smell of the leaked oil when he drove by the area before 5 am.

"My truck stopped because my engine went off," Gu recalled. "I sensed something wrong from the unpleasant smell so I escaped from the truck at once."

"The explosion went off about 10 minutes after I ran away, and I was blown to the ground and grazed my arm," said Gu.

According to Guangzhou Daily, at least three motorcycles and six light-duty trucks were burned down to their frames in the explosion.

Luo Pan said the explosion might have been triggered by the first of the three motorcycles ahead of Gu's truck.

"One of my neighbors told me that she saw the explosion starting from where the motorcycle stopped. The oil on the ground might be ignited when the motorcycle driver tried to restart the engine," he said.

An unknown number of traffic police officers were handling the traffic accident on the flyover before the explosions, Gu said. Whether the officers were injured by the blast remains unknown.

The section of the highway affected by the accident was sealed off and road experts were organized to test its safety.

Zheng Erqi contributed to this story.

Contact the writers at liwenfang@chinadaily.com.cn and xujingxi@chinadaily.com.cn

Air crew and passengers on Friday foiled the attempted hijacking of an aircraft with 101 people on board in China's northwestern Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, local police said. Eleven people were injured in the incident.

Six people, all males, tried to hijack Tianjin Airlines' flight GS7554 just 10 minutes after it took off from the Hotan Airport at 12:25 pm en route to the regional capital Urumqi, said officials from the regional public security department.

Two flight police officers were seriously injured, and two attendants and seven passengers were slightly injured in a fight with the hijackers, police said.

The plane then flew back and landed at Hotan Airport. The six suspects are now in police custody, local authorities said.

Police have not revealed whether the hijackers took firearms or weapons on board.

An employee at the Hotan Airport, who wished to remain anonymous, told China Daily that security checks would be conducted on the plane.

The Civil Aviation Administration said on late Friday it will commend the injured crewmembers and police officers for their bravery, and will reward the passengers who assisted in subduing the hijackers.

The thwarted attempt has frayed nerves at other airports in Xinjiang.

Workers at Kashgar Airport told China Daily that the number of airport security guards had doubled, and strict security checks were being carried out.

Passengers were asked to remove their shoes and open carry-on baggage for security checks at the airport.

Though police officers were ordered to remain alert, the atmosphere and operations at Urumqi Diwopu International Airport remained normal.

The hijacking attempt took place just days before the third anniversary of the July 5, 2009, riots in Urumqi, in which 197 people were killed and 1,700 injured.

On March 7, 2008, a 19-year-old Uygur woman attempted a terrorist attack on a China Southern Airlines flight that left Urumqi for Beijing. The attempt was foiled.

Xu Wei in Chongqing contributed to this story.

Contact the writers at shaowei@chinadaily.com.cn

In recent years, there has been a string of major outbreaks of animal diseases worldwide, including China, such as foot-and-mouth disease, bird flu, and blue-ear disease, a highly pathogenic disease that can be fatal for pigs.

"No severe safety incidents have been registered for agricultural products supplied by the mainland to Hong Kong since the 1997 handover, due to the mainland's strict quality monitoring system," said Huang Guansheng, director of the department of supervision of animals and plants quarantine under the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

The monitoring system, set up by the top quality watchdog, covers the whole food chain, tracing agricultural products from the field in the mainland to the table in Hong Kong, Huang said.

"The safety rate of the food supplied by the mainland to Hong Kong is now 99.999 percent, so high that few countries and regions in the world have it," York Chow, Hong Kong's food and health chief, was quoted by the Guangzhou Daily as saying on Sunday.

Analysts believe that the shrinking local agriculture sector in Hong Kong is the main factor behind the gradual increase of food supplies from the mainland in recent years.

Most meat and vegetables in Hong Kong come from the mainland, said Chow, without providing specific figures.

Live pigs, cattle, sheep, birds, aquatic animals and fruit are some of the major agricultural products imported from the mainland, according to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

"To ensure food safety, trade between the mainland and Hong Kong is only open to qualified suppliers registered with the administration," Huang said.

Since 2002, products exported to Hong Kong have been tested for about 44 varieties of banned and restricted drugs, as well as 47 kinds of toxic and harmful substances.

Yuen Cheung, president of the Hong Kong Imported Vegetables Wholesale Merchants Association, told China Central Television in January that vegetables from the mainland are abundant in quantity and cheap in price.

At the wet markets, retailers rarely state the origins of vegetables unless they were grown in Hong Kong. Local pork is so rare that consumers just assume that the pigs were imported from the mainland.

A Hong Kong resident surnamed Wong said that she doesn't care about the origin of the products and simply picks those with the best appearance.

"But it's true that mainland vegetables are cheaper than the local ones," she said.

"Also, I'm cautious about pesticide residue. I know they have quarantine inspections, but there is always the possibility that some things fall through the cracks," she said.

Authorities said that the future supply of agricultural products to Hong Kong might be endangered by the current shrinking profits for mainland suppliers.

"With the price of animal feed rising steadily in recent years, the livestock market in the mainland has seen constant high prices. But there are almost no increases in Hong Kong, which made many suppliers lose their interest," Huang said.

The administration has introduced a series of supportive measures to encourage suppliers trading with Hong Kong, he said.

Contact the writers at jinzhu@chinadaily.com.cn and kahon@chinadailyhk.com

Astronauts (from left to right) Liu Wang, Jing Haipeng and Liu Yang enjoy the Earth's atmosphere after leaving the Shenzhou IX capsule on Friday. Photos by Wu Yunsheng / for China Daily

Woman may be on next year's manned mission, Xin Dingding and Wang Qian report.

The grasslands of Inner Mongolia can by no means be called big when compared with outer space.

But they surely are when compared with the tiny capsule holding China's three astronauts, including its first female one, which returned to Earth on Friday morning.

The return capsule of the Shenzhou IX mission landed in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region at 10:03 am as planned.

On the vast grasslands, as the astronauts were removed from the capsule to have their first earthly breath in nearly two weeks, China's first manned space docking mission was declared a success.

"The result is satisfactory, the process is perfect, and the mission will bear fruit," Wang Zhaoyao, director of China Manned Space Agency, said at a news conference on Friday.

Jing Haipeng, commander of the Shenzhou IX crew, was the first to come out of the capsule, followed by Liu Wang and woman astronaut Liu Yang.

Sitting in chairs, they were carried into ambulance helicopters where they underwent physical examinations and had their first meal in eight hours. They arrived in Beijing in the afternoon.

Over the past 13 days, they have conducted an automatic docking and a manual space docking between Shenzhou IX and the orbiting Tiangong-1 space lab module.

They also conducted a string of scientific experiments that will help understand how to better protect astronauts' health in long-duration missions.

Premier Wen Jiabao congratulated the astronauts, aerospace scientists and all working staff in a message on behalf of the central government at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center.

"The rendezvous and docking ... marks a significant breakthrough in China's space docking technology. It also marks decisive progress in fulfilling the second strategic target of China's manned space program," he said.

According to the plan, the program's second strategic target includes mastering three basic technologies of manned spaceflight and building a space lab that is manned for a short term. Realization of the target will lay the groundwork for building a space station around 2020.

Wang said that through the past 10 missions, which have cost nearly 39 billion yuan ($6.13 billion), China has mastered the three basic technologies of manned spaceflight - the technology to transport human beings between space and Earth, extravehicular activity technology, and space rendezvous and docking technology.

"In the following missions of building a space lab and a space station, we are willing to carry out technical cooperation with other countries and regions," he said.

Opportunities for cooperation include jointly designing the space lab and the space station, and developing relevant equipment, he said.

Cooperation in space is also welcomed, he said, adding that other countries are welcome to carry out joint experiments aboard the country's future space station.

There are also possibilities of exchanges and cooperation in astronaut selection and training, joint flights and space medical research, he said.

"China's manned space program is open and transparent," he said.

"We will respond positively to the initiatives of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, and share with other countries our technological achievements and application results," he said.

China started its manned space program in 1992. Since then, nine spacecraft and one space lab module have been launched.

Including the Shenzhou IX mission, a total of four flights were manned, and eight astronauts have traveled to space.

Next year, China will launch another spacecraft, Shenzhou X, to dock with Tiangong-1 to repeatedly test the space docking technology, Wu Ping, spokeswoman for the manned space program, said on Sunday.

Chen Shanguang, director of the Astronaut Center of China, said on Friday that the crew of Shenzhou X is likely to include a female astronaut, too.

"Though it still awaits a decision by the program commanders ... I believe that as the manned space program moves on, more and more women will join in the mission," he said.

Contact the writers at xindingding@chinadaily.com.cn and wangqian@chinadaily.com.cn

Soldiers of the People's Liberation Army pose for photographs at the Stanley barracks in Hong Kong earlier this month. Edmond Tang / China Daily

The People's Liberation Army troops had been at the garrison for a month, following the return of Hong Kong to China on July 1, 1997, and many residents expected them to have a high-profile presence.

"I told the official that the reason we were invisible was because we only leave the base when necessary, to not disturb residents," Zhang said ahead of the 15th anniversary of the handover.

This is a policy that stayed unchanged for 15 years.

The garrison, which has roughly 8,000 troops spread over battalions of infantry, engineers, airborne staff and navy personnel, is housed in several bases across the special administrative region.

Due to some differences between the mainland and Hong Kong, which the United Kingdom controlled for more than a century, and the "one country, two systems" policy, PLA troops stationed adhere to stricter rules than those in other parts of China.

"We have to be committed to strict discipline to gain the trust of Hong Kong citizens," said Zhang, who heads the garrison's infantry division.

Liang Yuejia, deputy director of the garrison's political department, explained that there was a lot of suspicion among residents at first that soldiers would get involved in local affairs, such as reacting to street protests.

"But we didn't. Unless the protesters illegally entered our barracks or threatened our lives, we did not resort to contacting the police," he said, adding that they respected such activities according to local regulations.

Even when anti-communist literature was thrown over the walls or staff received harassing calls from political groups, officials said they did not react.

That policy of noninterference has over the years helped the garrison gain a good image among residents.

A poll of 1,006 people by the University of Hong Kong last year found that only about 2 percent of those polled had a negative opinion about the garrison.

"Developing a good relationship with citizens has been the key," said Lieutenant General Zhang Shibo, commander of the garrison. "I think that mission has been accomplished."

Major Wu Qiong, a battalion commander with the garrison's communication station, added: "Before 2000, Hong Kong citizens usually kept their distance. But after years of interaction, many now often say hello. I guess that's because they are aware of our decent style of working and strict discipline."

Increasing openness

Compared with the "invisibility" of the early years, the garrison has greatly increased its openness to the outside world in recent years.

Besides regular training and exercises for army personnel, officials have also been promoting links between Hong Kong and the mainland through various activities, said Lieutenant General Zhang Shibo.

The troops have actively participated in public activities, such as planting more than 50,000 trees, donating 2.5 million milliliters of blood and helping more than 2,600 elderly people and children in care homes.

The garrison has also opened its barracks 23 times to visitors, receiving around 469,000 local people, and held summer camps for children.

The last open day, on May 1, attracted 37,000 visitors, far more than the 28,000 expected and extra free admission tickets had to be distributed. Some people waited in line overnight to get a ticket.

During the open days, guests can view the military facilities and watch soldiers perform combat skills and motorcycling stunts, including drills by the first female special forces of the PLA army.

"One of the reasons why we are gaining increasing recognition in Hong Kong is that the openness of the barracks provides local people with an opportunity to know more about us, as well as a platform for us to serve them," said Lieutenant General Wang Zengbo, political commissar of the garrison.

The activities organized by the garrison also present the PLA, the Communist Party of China and the mainland to Hong Kong residents in a proper way, Wang said. "Their national identity and patriotism have greatly increased," he said.

The garrison has organized seven military summer camps for around 1,200 local teenagers, six exchange activities with 1,600 students from 12 local universities and a military camp for college students. The troops also visited the University of Hong Kong for the first time in 2011 and talked with students.

A total of 215 teenagers participated in the military summer camp in 2011, and the number is expected to reach 260 this year.

"Despite the increase, every school can only send one student, while dozens of others actually want to come, so we'll continue enlarging the camp's scale in future," said Wang.

Tung Chee-hwa, former chief executive of Hong Kong, said the camps influence many families and hundreds of people even though there are only about 200 participants every year, and they also would influence the participants' whole life even they only last for 15 days.

In 2010, Hong Kong saw an upsurge of young people wanting to enlist in the military. Most of the 4,000 local young people who signed up for enlisting participated in the garrison's exchange activities and military camps.

The summaries written by military camp participants revealed that the 15-day interaction with the garrison provided them with a chance to learn more about the troops, socialism, the Communist Party of China, as well as the strength of the PLA and China, Wang said.

Boosting defenses

With the garrison enjoying a good image in Hong Kong, Zhang Shibo said the focus has shifted from public relations to bolstering military defense.

The mission of the garrison is mainly to exercise China's sovereignty over Hong Kong, safeguard social stability and provide disaster relief and defense campaigns. However, military training is also a priority.

"Since 2007, we have invested millions to upgrade our army's equipment, navy and air force," said the garrison's commander.

Based on Hong Kong's strategic features, the PLA garrison added a special forces unit, an armored battalion and a chemical defense battalion. It has also been equipped with reconnaissance planes, armed helicopters and air defense missiles.

Soldiers receive regular training. More than 20 drills were held in Hong Kong over the past 15 years.

"We aim to test our basic military strength, commanding and organizing capabilities through joint drills," Zhang Shibo said.

The infantry brigade, the garrison's pillar force, has ranked at the top for three years in the military competitions in the adjacent PLA Guangzhou Military Area Command, which has the administrative control of the garrison.

Speaking of the possible challenges the garrison faces, Brigadier Zhang Jie said the garrison "needs to be prepared to tackle possible regional conflicts at all times".

Yu Daimin in Hong Kong contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at zhaoshengnan@chinadaily.com.cn

The initiative aims to further promote mutual investment and financial cooperation between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, Wang told media in Hong Kong.

The initiative will cover offshore yuan loans, trade and investment financing, mid-to-long-term bonds development and other financial business, the city's public service broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong reported, citing government officials.

The National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planner, and Qianhai administration bureau was due to hold a news conference to announce specific measures of the initiative.

The current account and capital account are two primary components of a country's balance of payments.

As the latter is not yet fully convertible in China, the trial initiative in the special development zone is also being viewed as testing the water toward further opening up the capital account in the territory.

Nicholas Kwan, regional head of research from Standard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong, said as the Qianhai pilot scheme is a joint effort of several government departments, including the central bank, tax department, commerce department and the customs, the scheme is likely to be carried forward in a prudent manner.

"The Qianhai initiative has been proposed for a while but it has been waiting for specific policies to be decided. Policy implementations in the special development zone will be gradual so as not to lose control," said Kwan.

China has been partially relaxing its capital account regulations through reforming its exchange rate formation mechanism.

Yuan bonds popular

The Ministry of Finance will continue to issue yuan-denominated bonds and enlarge the yuan bond issuance size gradually in Hong Kong to cement the city's offshore yuan financial center status, Vice-Minister of Finance Li Yong said in Hong Kong on Thursday.

Speaking at a ceremony to mark the ministry's fourth batch of yuan bond issuance, Li said that the high-quality Chinese sovereign bonds are becoming increasingly popular among international institutional investors like central banks, endowment and pension funds.

"This also reflects the country's increasing economic strength as these institutions are willing to absorb Chinese sovereign bonds into their investment portfolios," he said.

"In the first five months of 2012, yuan bond issuance registered 40 percent growth compared to a year ago," said Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang at the Thursday ceremony.

"Since June 2007, (the) yuan bond issuance size in the city amounted to 220 billion yuan, reflecting the local offshore yuan debt market's buoyant development."

In the fourth batch of yuan bond issuance, the Ministry of Finance will issue 23 billion yuan, the highest amount since the first yuan bonds were issued in the city in 2009. The 2012 issuance amount is 15 percent higher than in 2011, and nearly 4 times higher than in 2009.

Of the total 23 billion yuan amount, 15.5 billion will be allocated to institutional investors, 2 billion yuan to other central banks and the remaining 5.5 billion will be allocated to retail investors.

The ministry's statement said that institutional investors had applied for 58.6 billion yuan in total, which represented a 3.79 times over-subscription.

A total of five overseas central banks have applied for 3.06 billion yuan, which is 1.53 times over-subscribed.

The ministry is expected to start the retail investor applications on Friday. Its statement added that the coupon interest of the bond's retail tranches will be 2.38 percent.

Securities cooperation

The central government has unveiled some new policies aimed at boosting cooperation between Hong Kong and the mainland in the securities sector.

Beijing will support eligible financial institutions in Hong Kong to set up joint-venture securities companies, fund management companies as well as futures companies on the mainland, spokesman Wang Zhongwei said on Thursday.

The central government will also encourage cooperation between the two sides in the commodities futures market to take advantage of each other's comparative advantages.

The government will support the listing of qualified mainland companies on the Hong Kong stock exchange, said Wang, adding that it will facilitate fundraising activities of small and medium-sized mainland companies in the overseas markets.

Mainland financial institutions will also be encouraged to set up captive insurance companies (insuring risks of their group or parent company) in Hong Kong to improve the risk management mechanism, added Wang.

To facilitate Hong Kong investment in the mainland capital market, Beijing also plans to lower the threshold for Hong Kong financial institutions to invest in the mainland's stock and bond markets under the qualified foreign institutional investor project.

Contact the writers at litao@chinadailyhk.com

Visitors appreciate a sculpture at an exhibition integrated in the 2012 Beijing Forum on the Sustainable Development of Cities, which started on Wednesday. Chen Ming / for China Daily

"As the major cultural center of the country, the capital should continuously play an exemplary role of a city of advanced culture with worldwide influence," he said during the 2012 Beijing Forum on Sustainable Development of Cities held on Wednesday.

Mayors and senior officials from 25 cities around the world gathered in Beijing to share experiences and explore feasible solutions for the sustainable development of cities.

The cultural and creative industries is playing an increasing role in boosting the city's economy and the development of the industry should be placed in a very prominent position, he said.

According to the Beijing Cultural and Creative Industry Promotion Center, the added value of Beijing's cultural and creative industry has experienced sustained growth since 2005, hitting 194 billion yuan ($30.5 billion) in 2011.

Software, Internet and computer service account for the biggest share, some 38.4 percent, followed by meetings and exhibitions that contribute 12.1 percent, and press and publishing taking up 8.2 percent, according to Mei Song, director of the center.

"Culture is always the inexhaustible driving force for the development of city," he said.

The number of people working in the industry reached 882,000, a year-on-year increase of 7.7 percent.

"More and more foreign investment is eyeing the cultural and creative industry in the city, with a total of 3,069 foreign investment projects contracted from 2006 to 2011," he said.

"The government places the development of the industry in a very prominent position, which will greatly boost its growth together with the cultural resources of the city," he said.

According to the center, the capital has come up with a special fund for the industry to reward enterprises with outstanding contribution to cultural products and services exports.

Commercial banks are also encouraged to give priority to loans needed by enterprises within the industry to export products and services.

"In addition, many platforms have been built and markets developed, including the China Beijing International Cultural and Creative Industry Expo, Beijing International Film Festival and Beijing International Comic Animation Week," he said.

The city now organizes more than 100 overseas cultural activities every year, he said.

However, despite the increasing contribution of the cultural and creative industries to the city's economy and its leading position nationwide, the capital still has great potential to be tapped, one expert says.

According to Meng Haidong, secretary-general of the Beijing Cultural Development Foundation, without world-renowned brands and enterprises, Beijing still needs to make its cultural and creative products accepted and recognized by the market.

"The capital should further increase its share of cultural products and services in the international cultural market and further increase its influence worldwide," he said.

The cultural and creative industries helps boost the soft power and comprehensive competitive power, and Beijing should turn itself into a culture metropolis and a platform for Chinese culture to go global, he said.

Contact the writer at zhengxin@chinadaily.com.cn

The National Population and Family Planning Commission will send 10 teams to 19 provincial-level administrative regions to inspect and ensure lawful enforcement of the family planning policy, said an online statement issued by the commission.

It came after several family planning officials in Northwest China's Shaanxi province were punished for forcing a local woman who was seven months pregnant to have an abortion.

After being exposed online, the forced abortion, which is prohibited by family planning regulations, kindled public anger.

The coming inspection is aimed at guaranteeing the lawful enforcement of the policy by correcting some problems that occur when grassroots officers enforce the policy, said the statement released on Wednesday.

Wang Xia, minister of the commission, said on Tuesday the implementation of family planning policies is directly related to people's interests, and the slightest error may cause a negative impact and tarnish the image of the country.

She urged inspection officers to find and solve problems of policy enforcement, particularly at the grassroots level.

Zhang Jian, information chief of the commission, told China Daily on Thursday that results of the inspection would be publicized after it is finished.

Lu Jiehua, a sociology professor at Peking University, urged the commission to release more details about the inspection and invite a third party to supervise and participate in the process.

Despite achievement in policy implementation in past decades, there have still been sporadic cases involving illegal enforcement like the forced abortion, he noted.

"Most of these happened in rural and poor areas," he said.

To correct the situation, the inspection is expected to help prevent "brutal law enforcement and administrative power from intruding on people's rights", according to the statement.

On June 2, Feng Jianmei in Ankang city of Shaanxi province was forced to terminate her pregnancy of seven months.

According to a statement by the Ankang government published on its website on Tuesday, Feng, 23, was found to be pregnant with a second child in March, but she failed to provide government documents permitting her to give birth to a second child.

"On June 2, Feng was taken to Zhenping County Hospital and underwent a procedure to terminate pregnancy," the statement said.

The statement also said that local family planning authorities required Feng and her family to submit a 40,000 yuan ($6,300) deposit, which would be returned to her after she received official permission to give birth, "but Feng and her family didn't answer the request".

Feng's family later posted a picture online of her and her aborted baby in bed in the hospital, which ignited public anger.

The Ankang city government has punished seven officials in Zhenping county by administrative measures or depriving them of their posts.

Contact the writers at shanjuan@chinadaily.com.cn and wangqingyun@chinadaily.com.cn

China will strengthen the measures it uses to recover corrupt officials' illicit assets transferred abroad and demand other countries freeze such assets to cut off the officials' means for living overseas, a member of the supreme procuratorate said on Wednesday.

The official, from the anti-corruption bureau of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, made the remarks on the sidelines of the fourth seminar of the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities, which concluded on Thursday.

The official, who declined to be named, said China has prevented a large amount of illicit assets from being transferred abroad by coordinating with other countries and regions.

However, there is an obstacle to the work, as procuratorates can only seal, freeze or seize illicit assets involving crimes committed while working for the public for a limited period of time, instead of permanently confiscating them, if the suspects are still at large or have escaped custody.

Political and legal differences, less effective cooperation between authorities and the limited capability of law enforcers are the main obstacles hindering the fight against the cross-border transfer of illegal assets, said Vincent Cheng Yang, a Chinese-Canadian who is a professor in international law at the University of Saint Joseph in Macao. "The biggest problem facing China and some Western countries, such as the US and Canada, in the field of mutual legal assistance is the Chinese corrupt officials who fled there and their transferred illegal assets," he said.

Once they are exposed, these officials immediately escape to Western countries with a tourist visa and seek refugee status due to legal system differences and a lack of bilateral extradition treaties, he said.

"It's so difficult for the Chinese judicial organs to recover and return the illegal funds sent aboard," said Zhao Jianwei, chief prosecutor of Dalian people's procuratorate in Northeast China's Liaoning province.

"We didn't have the judicial power to recover the property transferred," he said.

In 2011, Chinese prosecuting authorities arrested 1,631 corrupt officials who fled to other countries and seized billions in illegal funds, according to statistics from the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

Lai Changxing, one of China's most notorious fugitives, serves as an example. In May, Lai was convicted of smuggling and offering bribes and sentenced to life imprisonment after spending 12 years on the run in Canada.

According to the court's verdict, Lai launched companies in Hong Kong and Xiamen in 1991, and between 1995 and 1999 Lai's group smuggled cigarettes, cars, petroleum, cooking oil, chemicals, equipment and other goods through Xiamen Customs. The smuggled goods and taxes that Lai evaded were valued at nearly 40 billion yuan ($6 billion).

In 1999, when his scheme was exposed, Lai fled to Canada, which doesn't have an extradition treaty with China, on a tourist visa and sought refugee status.

"Although the court made a decision to recover all of his illegal gains, there's a long way to go," said Vincent Cheng Yang, who has been closed following Lai's case. "Actually, we still don't know how much illegal funds Lai brought abroad, including Canada, and whether it will be returned, or how to handle these assets."

Lai was extradited in July, when the federal court in Canada rejected Lai's appeal to suspend the repatriation order and repatriated him to China to face trial, ending a 12-year effort by Chinese judicial authorities.

"Lai's successful return to China opens the door for further judicial cooperation between China and Canada in the fugitives' pursuit field, but the Canadian side didn't give a definite answer as to the cooperation to recover transferred illegal assets," he said.

"Moreover, the Canadian government just temporarily froze more than C$ 1 million ($975,000) kept in Lai's Canadian bank account, and several rulings made by the Canadian court only focused on his personal repatriation, rather than the return of illegal funds," he said.

Nguyen Hoa Binh, general prosecutor of the Supreme People's Prosecution Office of Vietnam, said there is a need to develop a "unified and comprehensive legal framework" for asset recovery.

"This legal framework must be feasible and flexible to bridge the gaps between national legal systems, which appear to be an obstacle impeding cooperation," he said.

The unnamed official from the Supreme People's Procuratorate said the efforts to retrieve illegal assets will get a shot in the arm after the amendment to the Criminal Procedural Law takes effect on Jan 1.

The amendment to the Criminal Procedural Law, which was endorsed in March at the fifth session of the 11th National People's Congress, stipulates that procuratorates can submit to the courts to confiscate the illicit assets of officials suspected of corruption if the suspects are missing or dead.

Procuratorates can also apply to the courts to confiscate illicit assets overseas. After making a ruling of confiscation, the courts can require other countries to recognize and implement China's judgment.

The official said the major destination countries for China's runaway corrupt officials, such as the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, all recognize the criminal ruling of confiscation. The practice has also been endorsed by the United Nations Convention against Corruption.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at zhangyan1@chinadaily.com.cn

A court in Beijing on Wednesday started hearing a case against a woman who allegedly cheated 58 million yuan ($9 million) from several people, including former Olympic champions.

The woman is said to be the girlfriend of one of the athletes.

Wang Ti, a resident of Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning province, allegedly cheated 27 people, including Yang Wei and Yang Yun, former Olympic gymnastics champions, according to a lawyer representing three of the victims.

Gao Zhihai, an official at the information office of the Beijing No 2 Intermediate People's Court, said on Wednesday that the judges started hearing the case on Tuesday morning.

He declined to provide further details because the case is still under way.

Tang Junfen - a lawyer from Beijing-based Jia Zi law firm who is representing three of the victims - said that Wang is accused of fraud. The woman allegedly cheated the sports celebrities between 2008 and 2011.

Wang met Xiao Qin - a national team gymnast who won a pommel horse championship at the Beijing Olympic Games - at a wedding ceremony after she came to the capital in 2008. The two then started a relationship, Tang said.

The 31-year-old woman rented an apartment in Beijing, but told others she owned the property, Tang added.

"She pretended to be the daughter of high-level officials and told the athletes that she could use her status to buy low-priced property," the lawyer said.

"But in fact Wang's cheap properties were all rental apartments that she sought across the city," she said.

Zhu Shuangshuang, another suspect in the case, who used to be a broker for Yang Wei and Yang Yun, was also charged with fraud. Zhu is accused of introducing buyers to Wang, the lawyer said.

"Zhu denied the accusation in court, and said she was also a victim," Tang said.

Tang said that among the deceived people, Li Xiang, a man who ran a barber shop in the city, was allegedly defrauded of the largest sum - about 5.9 million yuan.

Some of the victims were suspicious after failing to get property ownership certificates after giving money to Wang and Zhu, and they then turned to the police, said the lawyer.

The two suspects were arrested on May 6, 2011.

The lawyer added that Wang said she gave about 20 million yuan to Xiao and spent some money on luxury cars.

Prosecuting authorities on Wednesday refused to reveal more information about the case.

Wang's ex-husband is Wang Sheng, a player for the Dalian Shide soccer team, and the couple did not divorce until 2011, according to Tang.

"Wang and Xiao lived together before the woman ended her marriage and she did not say in court what the relationship is between Xiao and her," Tang said.

If convicted, Wang may face a life sentence because the involved sum is believed to be far more than 500,000 yuan, said Wang Xing, a Beijing lawyer at the Hui Cheng law firm, who specializes in criminal cases. He added that the suspect's properties would also be confiscated if she is convicted.

Contact the writer at caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn

Despite regulations and rules, domestic movies and TV series are still flooded with smoking-related scenes that could have a negative impact on the public, particularly the young, according to an annual review of smoking scenes in films and television series.

The review by the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control released on Wednesday said that compared with 2010, the number and length of smoking scenes in movies last year have surged.

Among 40 domestically produced movies shown last year, 28 had smoking scenes, according to the review.

Each movie averaged more than 17 such scenes and each smoking scene lasted nearly 2.5 minutes on average.

Notably, 12 movies, mainly romance and comedies, had no smoking at all.

The Piano in a Factory was given the "dirty ashtray award".

In the 107-minute movie, 95 scenes had smoking, lasting for 28.3 minutes altogether, according to the review.

Of the 30 TV series reviewed, 29 had smoking scenes. The 1,539 scenes lasted more than 135 minutes.

Each TV soap opera averaged 51 such scenes lasting 4.5 minutes, the review said.

"Smoking scenes in popular movies and TV series had a causal relation with youths beginning to smoke, so they should be better regulated," said Xu Guihua, executive vice-president of the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control.

Huang Jiefu, vice-minister of health and head of the association, said movies and TV series should convey good and healthy lifestyles to the public.

However, "some movies and TV episodes showed the smoking scenes of many great figures like State leaders," he said.

The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television in February 2011 ordered that film and TV series makers restrict smoking scenes and ban shots showing tobacco brands or minors in scenes with others lighting up.

"That's not well implemented," Xu said.

The more young people see such scenes the more likely they are to start smoking, warned Xu.

A previous survey conducted by the association found that nearly one of four students aged between 12 and 14 had tried smoking.

Nearly 16 percent of middle school students light a cigarette regularly, it said.

"Chinese teenagers appeared to start smoking at a younger age than before and smoking scenes in movies and TV soaps surely play a role," Xu noted.

She urged movie and TV series producers to raise anti-smoking awareness and abide by regulations.

China has more than 300 million smokers on the mainland and at least 1.2 million people die from smoking-related diseases each year, accounting for one-fifth of the world's total, statistics from the World Health Organization showed.

Also, 740 million suffer from passive smoking, nearly 49 percent of whom are aged 15 to 19 years old.

Contact the writer at shanjuan@chinadaily.com.cn

Vice-President Xi Jinping, accompanied by Hong Kong Chief Executive-Elect Leung Chun-ying, talks with Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang at the National Museum of China in Beijing on Wednesday. The museum is featuring an exhibition celebrating Hong Kong's achievements in the past 15 years. Sheng Jiapeng / China News Service

The central government said on Wednesday that it will encourage foreign investors to use China's currency to conduct trade settlements and investment in Hong Kong.

The central government will also push forward joint ventures for stock exchanges in Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Shanghai, as well as introduce exchange-traded funds on both the Hong Kong and mainland stock markets.

The moves are part of a package of policies for Hong Kong ahead of the 15th anniversary of its return to China on July 1.

The development of Hong Kong's offshore yuan businesses accelerated rapidly last year, as the total yuan trade settlement value in Hong Kong increased more than four times over 2010, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said in a document released in late February.

As a prime platform for offshore yuan trade settlement, Hong Kong's banks handled a record 1.91 trillion yuan ($300 billion) in such trade last year, up 419 percent from 369.2 billion yuan a year earlier, said the city's de facto central bank.

In 2011, China's trade settled in yuan amounted to 2.08 trillion yuan, which was about 9 percent of the country's total imports and exports for the year, according to the People's Bank of China.

ETFs to get welcome

Meanwhile, the long-awaited issue of ETFs that track Hong Kong shares and those that are linked to A-shares are widely expected with an initial quota of 20 billion yuan each.

Analysts said that they don't believe the ETFs will be able to boost stock markets single-handedly. They said the move is more of a policy signal rather than a decisive factor for the markets.

Tse Kwok-leung, head of economics and policy research at Bank of China (Hong Kong), said he doesn't see the introduction of new ETFs stimulating the stock markets. The current stock market downturn is a result of a weak global economy, said Tse, adding that the recovery of the stock market needed to be backed by the recovery of the real economy.

But Tse believes investors from both the mainland and Hong Kong will be very interested in the approaching ETFs, "as they will provide a direct access to each other's bourse for stock trading".

Tse said although the actual initial scale of the ETFs is yet to be unveiled, the cooperation in financial markets between mainland and Hong Kong has always been step-by-step, and the scale will be expanded gradually.

The ETFs are expected to get a warm welcome by investors.

Ronald Wan, honorary chair professor at the Renmin University of China, also believes that Hong Kong branches of mainland brokerages will share the quota of A-share tracking ETFs. "They will have certain advantages in developing yuan-denominated products, due to their background," he said.

As for the joint ventures for stock exchanges in Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Shanghai, Chen Daofu, an economist at the State Council's Development Research Center, believes the collaboration could be in the areas of risk management, product design and trading system operation, which can change the current competition into a cooperative relationship.

Contact the writers at litao@chinadailyhk.com, sophiehe@chinadailyhk.com and chenjia@chinadaily.com.cn

In 1995, Fortune magazine famously predicted the death of Hong Kong.

"The naked truth about Hong Kong's future can be summed up in two words: It's over," read its cover story by Louis Kraar in June of that year. He concluded by saying the world would soon be "mourning the death of what had once been one of the world's great business cities".

Twelve years later, the magazine, which is based in the United States, admitted that, frankly, it had got it wrong.

Along with many international financial experts, Fortune acknowledged that, after the handover of Hong Kong by the British to the Chinese central government on July 1, 1997, the area not only survived, it thrived.

"Things are even better now," said Peng Qinghua, director of the liaison office of the central government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, in a recent interview ahead of the 15th anniversary of the handover.

He said the progress that has taken place over the past 15 years proves the strong vitality of the "one country, two systems" arrangement.

To maintain Hong Kong's prosperity, the central government has been adhering to the Basic Law, as well as to promises to maintain its social and economic systems, while its legal system has basically remained unchanged, he said.

"Today's economic achievement is the result of Hong Kong people's ability to take opportunities, as well as their flexibility and diligence," Peng said. "However, it couldn't have been done without strong support from the motherland, too."

When the region's economy hit lowest point in 2003, under the influence of the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis and the SARS outbreak, the central government came to the rescue.

The Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, a free trade agreement, was signed in 2003 to give Hong Kong enterprises greater access and lower tariffs to mainland markets than companies from other regions.

Mainland tourists in a number of cities were also allowed to visit Hong Kong without joining tour groups, which gave the local economy a shot in the arm.

In recent years, the central government also took actions to solidify Hong Kong's status as a world financial center, by encouraging mainland enterprises to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and supporting Hong Kong to develop offshore yuan businesses.

Large transport infrastructure was also extended to the island city, such as the bridge linking Hong Kong, Macao and Zhuhai, and the high-speed railways connecting Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

Last year, Vice-Premier Li Keqiang announced more favorable policies to support Hong Kong's development. Peng stressed that these favorable policies should not be interpreted simply as gifts from the mainland to Hong Kong.

"The central government is determined to safeguard Hong Kong's long-term prosperity and stability, which is also the demand of the whole country. The measures will bring mutual benefit," he said.

Hong Kong now plays an indispensable role in the country's reform and opening-up, he said.

Hong Kong is the mainland's largest source of foreign direct investment, its fifth-largest trading partner and third-largest export market. And its roles are ever expanding, he said.

Though there have been a few small frictions in tourism and obstetrics service between people of the two sides, "they are not the mainstream in the two sides' relationship", he said.

Peng said these frictions are unavoidable considering the number of mainland visitors to Hong Kong. In 2011, 28.1 million mainland tourists, four times the size of Hong Kong's permanent population, visited the city.

He also pointed out that people from the two sides live in different legal and social systems and have various ways of living and cultures.

"There's no need to make a fuss about it. Conflicts between locals and outsiders occur in other places and times," he said. "We should see that these conflicts are not common between the two sides ... and Hong Kong compatriots have developed a growing national identity with the country in the past years," he said.

In the past few years, mainlanders have received donations from Hong Kong people, which he said is clear evidence of the two sides' kindred affection.

Both sides need to respect their differences and strengthen communications in order to solve problems, he said.

"A deepened cooperation between the mainland and Hong Kong is an inevitable trend and won't be changed by a few individual incidents," he said.

Contact the writer at xindingding@chinadaily.com.cn

Hong Kong financial institutions will be allowed to establish consumer finance companies in Guangdong province through a pilot program in the Pearl River Delta, the central government said, according to a Xinhua News Agency statement on Wednesday.

The plan will also promote coordination among airports, harbors and train systems in the Pearl River Delta, including Hong Kong.

"Allowing Hong Kong financial institutions to establish consumer finance companies in Guangdong may provide business opportunities for local financial institutions to tap the huge mainland consumer finance market, as local players have a competitive edge in using proficient marketing techniques," said Terence Chong, executive director of the Institute of Global Economics and Finance.

"I envisage that the cross-border yuan lending pilot scheme can be kick-started shortly to realize Hong Kong-Guangdong financial cooperation," Chong added.

The central government has promoted economic cooperation across the border through a framework agreement signed in April 2010. The framework covered nine areas of cooperation, including infrastructure, manufacturing and education.

The framework envisioned that Guangdong and Hong Kong can formulate an advanced manufacturing and modern service industry base through leveraging Hong Kong's advantages in the service industry and Guangdong's niches in manufacturing.

It also aimed to elevate economic cooperation by concentrating on the development of high-end service industries.

The State Council in 2010 approved the construction of the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone through the development of high-end financial, logistics, information technology and professional services industries in the Qianhai area, a 15-square-kilometer special development zone in Shenzhen.

The National Development and Reform Commission said last week that the various pilot economic measures involving the Qianhai area are expected to get the State Council's approval very soon.

Contact the writer at Oswald@chinadailyhk.com

The central government on Wednesday announced a SERIES of policies to boost economic and cultural ties between Hong Kong and the mainland. HERE ARE THE HIGH POINTS:

Finance:

The central government will push forward joint ventures for stock exchanges in Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Shanghai, as well as issue bourse-traded funds listed on both the Hong Kong and mainland stock markets.

The central government will encourage foreign investors to use China's currency, the yuan, to conduct trade settlements and investment in Hong Kong.

Improving the variety of offshore yuan-based services in Hong Kong and facilitating long-term investment from Hong Kong in the mainland's capital market.

Trade and commerce:

The mainland will sign another appendix agreement to the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement with Hong Kong, the statement said.

The central government will encourage mainland and Hong Kong enterprises to invest abroad together and promote coordination among airports, harbors and train systems in the Pearl River Delta, including Hong Kong.

The central government will also ease restrictions on small businesses run by Hong Kong residents on the mainland, allowing them to expand their offices and hire more staff.

Education, science and technology:

Exchanges between students and faculty from Hong Kong and mainland universities will be expanded, and Hong Kong colleges are welcome to set up educational institutions in Guangdong.

Youth centers will be set up in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, two major cities in Guangdong, to facilitate exchanges with Hong Kong, while a creative industry park will be built in Shenzhen to help local creative workers start their careers.

Hong Kong scientists and engineers will be encouraged to take part in national scientific research projects.

National key laboratories will start a new round of selecting partner labs from Hong Kong to conduct cooperative research projects.

Tourism:

Tourists traveling to Taiwan as part of package tours from Hong Kong will be able to continue traveling to Japan or the Republic of Korea using the same passenger ships they took to Taiwan.

Hong Kong-Guangdong cooperation:

Hong Kong financial institutions will be allowed to set up consumer finance companies in Guangdong, while more efforts will be made to promote investment and financial cooperation between Hong Kong and Shenzhen.

Financial cooperation between Hong Kong and Guangdong will be enhanced through a pilot financial reform program to be implemented in the Pearl River Delta.

Xinhua

Premier Wen Jiabao meets Chilean President Sebastian Pinera during a banquet at La Moneda, the presidential palace, in Santiago on Monday. Jose Manuel De La Maza / Presidencia De Chile Via Agence France-Presse

Andes Resort International sounds like the kind of place where Premier Wen Jiabao would be staying on his current trip to South America. But the property is a mere hour's drive from central Beijing, and there are more surprises when you get there.

The nation of Chile makes most people think of mines and wines - industries that represent the bulk its business with China and other countries. But on this suburban site in Jixian county, Tianjin, 23 hectares devoted to growing grapes and fruit trees present a fresh opportunity for trade.

Chile is a major producer of fruits and vegetables, and the demonstration farm on the resort grounds is a showcase for Chile's produce.

Thanks to a free trade agreement negotiated in 2006, Chilean fruit sales are expanding rapidly in China, says Nicolas Serrano Rolin, director of the Trade Commission Office of Chile in Guangzhou, Guangdong province.

The largest fresh fruit exporter in the Southern Hemisphere, Chile ranks behind only Thailand in fruit exports to China and No 1 in grapes, cherries, plums and apples, Rolin said. Total fruit sales surged 80 percent year-on-year to $441 million last year.

Most imported Chilean fruits are distributed from the Guangzhou Jiangnan Fruits and Vegetables Wholesale Market to major cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Dalian, said Lin Yetao, a public relations manager of the market. Lin said Chilean fruit accounts for about 20 percent of the imported fruit his company handles.

Lin credits the growth to the free trade agreement - which cut duties on Chilean imports and made the country's fruits more cost-effective - and to the ever-increasing purchasing power of Chinese consumers. Plus, he notes, Chile is in the Southern Hemisphere, so it's harvesting and shipping fruits when they are not in season in China.

The demonstration farm, meanwhile, adds another dimension to the relationship, proving a chance to share Chile's fruit-farming expertise with China as the demand for fresh and safe food rises.

"The farming cultures are very different," said Alamiro Morales Mil, a Chilean agronomist who was recently in the apricot fields thinning the young fruits. Since there were a lot of visitors on this day, Morales was working in traditional costume: a flat-brim hat, colorful vest and ornate boots. He was plucking two of every three small green fruits off the branch, rolling them off his palm into a trash bag - a practice that makes his local work crew wince.

"Farmers here have traditions that were born in hard times," he said. "For them, the more grapes on a vine, the more plums on a tree, the better. The idea that you can add value by thinning, so the fruits that remain get all of the tree's energy, is pretty new here."

It takes a while, he said, to convince people that having fewer fruits that are bigger, sweeter and better shaped adds value that newly affluent Chinese will pay for. "The market decides," he added. "When imported fruits command good prices here, the Chinese growers want to get a piece of that business. And they should."

The learning isn't all one-way.

"When we came here, our Chinese growers were surprised and amused when we had top of the line arbors shipped over here for trellising the grapes," said Luis Schmidt Montes, Chile's ambassador to China. "They asked us what we were going to do with those, and when we explained, they all said 'Bu hao!' (No good!) very loudly."

The site isn't too far from Shandong province, China's coastal agricultural zone that is temperate enough to expose grape vines to winter weather. But the northern part of Tianjin gets kissed with -20 C and chilly winds. Here, the vines must be planted at an angle so they can be covered with soil during the coldest months, the way they protect vines in the blustery climates of Gansu and Xinjiang.

"We still have those arbors," Schmidt said with a chuckle, "as a monument to our foolishness."

That miscalculation aside, the Chileans offer a lot of expertise. "Table grapes represent 42 percent of our agricultural exports," Schmidt said.

Schmidt himself has been ready since the 1990s, when he was president of Chile's top agribusiness group. A man who speaks with a lot of energy and passion, Schmidt couldn't generate the same level of enthusiasm from the agriculture ministries in Beijing or Santiago. Finally, he decided he needed some "show and tell", and he urged both countries to collaborate on a demonstration fruit farm that would show Chinese farmers how they could meet the country's growing demand as well as showcase Chile's best produce.

"My agriculture minister at the time just looked at me and shook his head," Schmidt said, shaking his own head with a grin.

"He said, 'We have $100 million in trade with China, and 99 percent of that is in copper, in mining. And you want to make a farm? You are foolish!'"

However, after the Jixian site on the edge of Tianjin was settled on, Schmidt's "crazy" idea began to blossom. Today there is a five-star hotel, conference center, golf course and an "ecology garden" on the site - not to mention a row of huge replicas of the famous stone heads of Easter Island. Schmidt also made a winning pitch to acquire Chile's pavilion from the Shanghai Expo 2010 site after that world fair was over.

The resulting complex represents both the changes in that coastal area - more tourism, less farming - and Chile's determination to get noticed. The hotel and meeting rooms are usually booked to capacity.

Schmidt loves to take groups out to see the project, boisterously testing the exercise equipment in the hotel's health club, pouring wine for guests and leading after-dinner songs. Fresh fruit may be good business, but under his wing it seems to be a lot of fun, too.

Li Wenfang and Shu Meng in Guangzhou contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at michaelpeters@chinadaily.com.cn

The South American Common Market, or Mercosur, is an economic and political agreement among Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.

It was founded in 1991 by the Treaty of Asuncion, which was signed on March 26, 1991, in the capital city of Paraguay and amended by the 1994 Protocol of Ouro Preto.

It promotes free trade to allow the fluid movement of goods, people and currency. It officially started operation on Jan 1, 1995, and is now a full customs union.

Mercosur is a component of the continuing process of South American integration. It has followed the approach of the European Union but, with an area of 12 million square kilometers, it is four times bigger. The bloc's combined market encompasses more than 270 million people and accounts for more than three-quarters of the economic activity on the continent.

In 1985, Argentine president Raul Alfonsin and Brazilian president Jose Sarney signed the Argentina-Brazil Integration and Economics Cooperation Program, or PICE, which served as the starting point of Mercosur and proposed the Gaucho as a currency for regional trade.

In December 2004, the presidential summit agreed to the founding of the Mercosur Parliament, which should have 18 representatives from each country by 2010, regardless of population.

Mercosur is actively developing relations with major countries and organizations around the world. It signed a framework agreement on regional cooperation with the EU in December 1995 and decided to set up a transcontinental free trade zone in 2005.

It has also established dialogue or cooperation mechanism with China, Japan, Russia and the Republic of Korea.

In October 1997, a Mercosur delegation headed by ambassador Aispirosa of Uruguay, then the rotating presidency, paid a visit to China and held the first dialogue with the Chinese side.

Since then, both sides have held regular dialogues on political and economic relations and international issues of common interest.

In June 2004, Martin Redrado, then deputy foreign minister of Argentina, the rotating presidency of Mercosur, headed a delegation to China and held the fifth dialogue with Zhou Wenzhong, China's then vice-foreign minister, in Beijing. Both sides exchanged views on negotiations of free trade between China and Mercosur and decided to start the feasibility research.

China may further cooperate with earthquake-prone Chile in quake damage prevention, the country's earthquake watchdog said.

Because the two countries, though distant geographically, are both threatened by the high risk of earthquakes, cooperation in earthquake prevention will benefit both, the China Earthquake Administration told China Daily.

It added that the cooperation will further prompt China's cooperation with South America.

An international cooperation plan on earthquake prevention and disaster relief released by the administration in April said introducing foreign earthquake experts, technologies and equipment will enhance China's capacity in earthquake prevention and disaster relief.

Before 2015, China plans to send about 150 young earthquake scholars and scientists to study in other countries to improve the country's earthquake prevention capacity, according to the plan.

The plan emphasized that cooperation with Chile should be strengthened and China should learn from Chile's regulations and laws involving earthquake prevention.

Chile is situated on one of the world's most active fault lines and through experience has developed many technologies to minimize the impact of earthquakes.

In February 2010, Chile was struck by a massive magnitude-8.8 earthquake, one of the strongest in recorded history, which rattled much of the country's south central coast, killing more than 500 people.

Chen Yong, a professor at the Institute of Geophysics under the administration, said compared with the death toll of about 70,000 people in the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, Chile did well in minimizing the death toll and damage.

The strict earthquake standards on Chile's buildings were crucial in reducing the effects of the quake, with only one tall building collapsing, he said in an article on the China Earthquake Administration's website.

In 2001, the China Earthquake Administration signed a cooperation framework with the National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research of Chile on strengthening technological and scientific exchanges on earthquake prevention.

Zhang Xiaodong, deputy director of the China Earthquake Networks Center, said about 20 earthquakes above magnitude 5 hit China every year, including four above magnitude 6.

On May 12, 2008, a magnitude-8 earthquake hit Sichuan province, a mountainous region in Southwest China, killing about 70,000 people and leaving more than 18,000 missing.

The latest earthquake hit the border of Yunnan and Sichuan provinces on Sunday, killing at least four people and leaving 128 injured as of Tuesday, according to the Yunnan department of civil affairs.

Contact the writer at wangqian@chinadaily.com.cn

Sino-Chilean trade is expected to hit $35 billion this year, boosted by China's increasing imports and a comprehensive free trade agreement between the two countries.

In 2011, bilateral trade exceeded $29 billion, up 17 percent year-on-year and accounting for one-fifth of Chile's total foreign trade volume.

"Thanks to a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement between the two countries, bilateral trade has been increasing quickly in recent years," said Shao Yingjun, Chinese commercial counselor to Chile, adding that Chile has become China's second-largest trading partner in Latin America.

Wang Shouwen, director of the Commerce Ministry's Department of Foreign Trade, said China will strive to increase imports from countries that have signed trade agreements with it.

In 2005, China and Chile signed an FTA, enabling more than 6,000 kinds of Chinese export goods to enjoy zero tariffs.

In 2008, the preferential exports value from China to Chile reached $8.4 billion, accounting for 90 percent of China's total exports to the country.

Chile was the first South American country to set up diplomatic ties with China, and the first Latin American country to reach a bilateral accord with China on China's entry into the WTO, to recognize China's full market economy status and to sign an FTA with China.

"The two countries have realized common development and mutual benefit under a comprehensive FTA," Shao said.

China's exports to Chile range from mechanical equipment, telecommunication and home appliances to costumes, toys, shoes and transportation equipment. China mainly imports copper, paper, wood and fish from Chile.

In recent years, imports of red wine, seaweed and fruit from Chile have also been increasing rapidly.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at baochang@chinadaily.com.cn

The severely polluted sea area surged to 44,000 square kilometers in China in 2011 from 25,000 sq km in 2003, according to China's 2011 marine environment report released on Monday by the State Oceanic Administration.

Li Xiaoming, director of the department of marine environment protection at the administration, blamed overdevelopment in the coastal area for the country's worsening water quality.

"Just one number can tell you how serious this is. More than 80 percent of the coastline in Bohai Bay has been crowded by factories and buildings," Li said.

The construction of offshore projects across the country represented about 110 billion yuan ($17.46 billion) in 2011, approximate 15 percent year-on-year increase, according to the data.

As coastal development has become a new growth area in China's economy, offshore development and coastal construction are threatening the country's marine environment.

A Bohai Bay oil spill in June 2011 polluted a 6,200-sq-km water area, about nine times the size of Singapore. The report said that a year after the oil spill, the environmental impact of the incident still exists. Some marine experts warned that it will take about 30 years for the bay to recover.

Many scholars and experts have also expressed concern over the worsening marine environment and the new round of marine exploration and development during the country's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15).

Ma Chaode, project manager of the United National Development Program, said that local governments must find an effective way of balancing economic development and environment protection.

Feng Jinan, chief engineer of the Guangdong Administration of Ocean and Fisheries, said that methods for protecting marine ecosystems are still under study. He believes that a way to both protect the environment and guarantee economic development will be worked out. But before that, slowing down development is needed, he added.

The statistics from the State Oceanic Administration show that nearly 83 percent of the country's coastline has a fragile ecosystem, while coastal areas contribute to 70 percent of the country's GDP.

"It's a hard choice for the authorities to make, between environment and economy," Ma said.

In 2011, China's oceanic sector saw an annual growth of more than 10 percent, reaching about 4.6 trillion yuan.

wangqian@chinadaily.com.cn

Guangdong

Officials removed for taking bribes

The former director of a county finance bureau was removed from his post for getting kickbacks while playing and gambling on mahjong.

Zhu Hanjun, former director of the finance bureau of Wuhua county, Meizhou city, Guangdong province, and seven other officials, including his wife, were caught gambling on June 16 by police, who found 81,500 yuan ($12,800) at the site, New News Express reported on Monday.

The eight were fined 500 yuan each and removed from their posts on June 22.

Zhu, who had been at his post for eight years, played mahjong as a way of taking kickbacks for allocating funds to lower-level departments, reported Guangzhou-based New News Express, citing unidentified sources.

Shaanxi

11th century BC bronze ware found

Some 21 pieces of bronze ware several millennia old were found in a royal tomb on June 22 as workers were digging the foundation for a building.

Cultural heritage authorities said it was the most important discovery in 30 years in tomb archeology from the late Shang Dynasty (c.16th century-11th century BC) and early Western Zhou Dynasty (c.11th century-771 BC).

The tomb, in a village in Baoji, Shaanxi province in Northwest China, is now the site of an excavation by archeologists.

According to the Shaanxi Provincial Administration of Cultural Heritage, archaeologists have so far found 21 bronze wares and a chariot in the tomb, which was 4.3 meters long, 3.6 meters wide and 2.4 meters below ground.

Beijing

1,300 corruption cases since 2008

Beijing's top prosecuting authority said on Monday that it dealt with 1,300 cases related to bribery and corruption from 2008 to 2011.

Of the 1,545 people prosecuted by the courts, 818 were convicted.

The number of cases involving more than 1 million yuan ($157,000) reached 271, while 940 were defined as major cases in regards to the amounts of money and the status of those involved.

In addition to investigations by authorities, many clues have also come through calls, letters and the Internet, said Li Jinsheng, deputy chief procurator of the authority.

In the past four years, prosecutors in the capital received nearly 18,000 reports from residents, according to statistics from the authority.

China to better protect seafarers

China will increase international cooperation to safeguard the rights and interests of its 650,000 seafarers, said top seafarer officials in Shanghai on June 25.

"China will provide better security for its seafarers through international communication, and speed up the preparation work to ratify the Maritime Labor Convention established in 2006," said Xu Zuyuan, vice-minister of transport, at the second China Seafarer Conference hosted in Shanghai.

The conference was held on the Day of the Seafarer, which was set up in 2010 by the International Maritime Organization to pay tribute to seafarers all over the world for their contribution to international seaborne trade. It falls on June 25 every year.

Liaoning

Naval exchange program hosted

Eighteen naval midshipmen from nine countries, including Australia, Germany and Italy, arrived in Dalian on June 24 to attend the Second International Naval Midshipmen Week.

Together with 34 counterparts from the Dalian their Naval Academy, they will study and train as a common squadron in the academy.

"This is not only an opportunity to know China's navy and Chinese people, but also an opportunity to get to know the officers and midshipmen from other countries. Mutual understanding will lead to a more stable world," said Simone Ceotti from Italy's Livorno Naval Academy.

From Monday to Friday, they will attend classes, have discussions, participate in the training and match of sampan and sailing boats, and undergo physical training. During the weekend, they will enjoy views of Dalian before leaving the port city in Northeast China's Liaoning province.

Zhejiang

Speeder's driving license revoked

A man who recently drove his Aston Martin sports car at 258 kilometers an hour was intercepted by traffic police in Shanghai.

He had been spotted in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, on Friday, on a section of highway with a 120 km/h speed limit.

The 22-year-old driver and his 25-year-old friend, driver of an accompanying Mercedes-Benz sports car, which was driving at 235 km/h, were heading for the 2012 Super Club Challenge sports car festival held from Friday to Monday in Shanghai.

Hubei

Drought leaves 800,000 thirsty

A drought that has lasted since June 1 has left 813,000 people short of drinking water in Central China's Hubei province, the provincial drought relief headquarters said on Monday.

By Sunday, 31 cities or counties in the province have been affected by the drought, and 280,000 hectares of crops withered and 165,000 livestock were short of water, according to the Hubei drought relief headquarters.

Water reserves in Hubei's reservoirs currently total just 11 billion cubic meters, 22 percent less than last year. A total of 964 rivers and 141 reservoirs have dried up completely, the headquarters said.

China Daily - Xinhua

Chile is eager to boost bilateral investment and trade of agricultural products with China to diversify bilateral economic cooperation, Chilean Ambassador to China Luis Schmidt said in an exclusive interview with China Daily.

Schmidt has started contacting senior officials from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Agriculture, in preparation for Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to Chile, which was to begin late on Monday.

China and Chile established diplomatic relations in 1970, making Chile the first South American country to form diplomatic ties with China.

The ambassador said the relationship is a "long tradition" and very strong in trade cooperation. "But we want to elevate it with this visit," he said.

In 2011, China was Chile's largest export market and second-largest import source. China is also one of Chile's major sources of trade surplus, according to an annual report from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.

Statistics provided by Chilean customs show that China-Chile bilateral trade in 2011 reached $29.03 billion, a year-on-year increase of 17.4 percent.

The China-Chile bilateral free trade agreement was signed in 2005, and Schmidt said the FTA has proved a success.

"At the beginning of the negotiation of the FTA, a lot of people in my country were very afraid about that, because they feared that the textile, shoes and plastic industries would disappear with the signing of the agreement," Schmidt said.

In the first two years of the FTA, bilateral trade witnessed a year-on-year increase of 59 and 33 percent respectively, according to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.

"I hope we can finally obtain the good result (and) our leaders announce that we have reached an agreement in the case of investment for the FTA," he said.

Since January 2009, both countries have made rounds of negotiations on investment for the bilateral free trade zone.

Copper, minerals and paper pulp topped Chile's exports to China in 2011 and the first quarter this year, and Schmidt said Chile is now placing its food sectors, including fresh fruits, wine and salmon, among its top priorities to promote in China.

"During Chinese New Year, 60 percent of our total cherry production is selling in China, because you like it a lot during that time," Schmidt said, adding that with the exports growing, the price declined and benefited the Chinese public.

Chile is one of the biggest producers of blueberries in the world, and both countries signed an agreement in March to boost blueberry imports from Chile to lower the price in China, the ambassador said.

Along with their Chilean counterparts, Chinese agriculture authorities have agreed to introduce China's techniques into Chile and set up farms in the country, Schmidt said.

zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn

After spending a season with Chinese Super League club Guangzhou Evergrande, Dario Conca says he would like to provide assistance to South American players interested in playing in China.

"Chinese soccer is growing. The Chinese league has developed a very healthy momentum over the years, especially this season," Conca said.

After being voted the best player in Brazil in 2009 while playing for Fluminense, Conca signed a three-and-half-year transfer contract worth $10 million - a record at the time in the Chinese league - with Guangzhou Evergrande in July 2011.

"With more investment and imports of more international star players, the level of the Chinese league has improved a lot. And I would like to bring more players from South America to China," he said.

The Argentine international played a key role in helping Guangzhou Evergrande claim the title last season with 25 appearances and 16 goals.

Conca continued his superb performance this season both in the Chinese domestic league and the AFC Champions League.

In the latest CSL match, Conca scored the last goal for Guangzhou Evergrande, helping the team beat Liaoning Hongyuan 3-0 on Saturday.

Conca said that more imports would help further boost soccer development in China.

"Importing international star players and coaches is of great importance to shorten the gap in soccer development between China and other countries," he said.

Guangzhou Evergrande has five South American players - Conca, Brazil's Gabriel Cleo, Luiz Muriqui and Paulo Marcos and the recently signed Lucas Barrios from Paraguay, a former striker with Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund.

Conca said he had played an important role in the club's move to hire the Paraguayan international.

"Before he came, I told him a lot about China - the city and the team. I wanted him to know more about how soccer is developing in China. And I think it may have helped him make the decision to play in China," he said.

Conca, who now lives with his wife and son in Guangzhou, the capital city of South China's Guangdong province, believes that Barrios' arrival is positive.

"We have the same language, the same culture and the same lifestyle," he added.

Speaking about his life in Guangzhou, Conca said that he spends a lot of time at home with his son.

"I spend most of my time with my family, especially since my son was born here in March. I rarely go out with my friends from Argentina and Brazil. Some of them run barbecue restaurants in Guangzhou," he said.

Conca said that his family has got accustomed to life in Guangzhou and that he is trying to find a balance between work and family life.

"At the start, I found it hard, but my translator and driver helped me a lot. I am happy living here," he said.

After training and playing, Conca watches sports programs on Chinese TV channels.

"I like some Chinese sports. I am now also playing golf and I know there are some quite nice golf courses here," he said.

More intl players

This season, a number of South American internationals have moved to the Chinese league. The latest import was Colombian midfielder Giovanni Moreno, from Argentina's Racing Club to Shanghai Shenhua.

On Saturday, the Shanghai-based club announced a two-year deal with the option for a further two with Moreno, 25. That was shortly after it announced another big import, that of Cote d'Ivoire striker Didier Drogba from English Premier club Chelsea on Wednesday.

qiuquanlin@chinadaily.com.cn

The trip by Premier Wen Jiabao to Latin American countries is another clear indication that the close ties between the two will gather new steam, especially in trade and investment.

China and Latin America have both experienced high growth in the past decade and seen their trade and investment advance on a fast track.

In 2011, China's trade with Latin America jumped 31.5 percent over the previous year to $241.5 billion, making China the third-largest trade partner for the region after the United States and the European Union. China has become the largest trade partner for Brazil and Chile and the second-largest trade partner for Argentina, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela.

China also made a $10.1 billion non-financial investment in Latin America in 2011, making the region the second-largest destination for Chinese foreign direct investment. This has brought China's total non-financial investment in the region to $54 billion. In addition, China has signed free trade agreements with Chile, Peru and Costa Rica.

There is great trade potential for Latin America and Asia, particularly China, according to a joint report titled Shaping the Future of the Asia-Latin America and the Caribbean Relationship, released in April by the Asian Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank Institute and the Inter-American Development Bank.

IDB President Luis Moreno predicted last month that China may become the largest trade partner with Latin America within five years.

Shelly Shetty, director of Latin America Sovereigns at New York-based Fitch Ratings, said that the boom in China over the last decade has meant really good things for Latin America.

"Countries which export to China, such as Brazil, Chile, Peru and Uruguay and countries which receive China's loans, such as Venezuela and Ecuador, have clearly benefited," she said.

She said investment from China and increased trade have not only boosted growth in Latin America, but also helped strengthen the fiscal capacity of Latin American nations.

But she also said the effect has been uneven across the region. "It's great for resource-rich countries. It has been negative for countries which basically have to import food and soil and for countries which are competing with China in a third market, primarily in the United States," Shetty said at a seminar on Asia and Latin America held at the New York-based Asia Society.

Ann Lee, a senior fellow at the think tank Demos, said unlike the US, which has lent money to Latin America with conditions for human rights and democracy, China's lending with favorable rates in exchange for commodities and not interfering with Latin American countries' affairs has really resonated with a lot of countries there.

Lee, the author of What the US Can Learn from China, believes Latin American countries can learn from China's Five-Year Plans. "(Chinese and Latin American) trade reflects competitive advantages of the respective countries and other structural issues within Latin America that make it difficult for them to transfer away from its reliance on natural resources as an export. Long term, Latin America should develop other capabilities to avoid the infamous Dutch disease," Lee told China Daily.

So far, raw materials account for some 60 percent of Latin America's exports to China. But increasingly, Chinese manufacturing companies, such as telecom giants Huawei and ZTC, have poured investment across Latin America.

Chinese companies have also been building up their image across the region as good corporate citizens. During the recent Rio+20, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, in Rio de Janeiro, Fu Chengyu, chairman of China Petrochemical Corp, discussed a corporate social responsibility report for Sinopec Brazil. The company has invested more than $12 billion in Brazil.

Zhang Mingde, professor of diplomatic policy at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, described the China-Latin America relationship as founded on mutual respect and interests. "China's growth in investment and trade in Latin America is organized entirely around the principles of cooperation, mutual benefit and common development," he wrote recently in an article.

chenweihua@chinadaily.com.cn

Premier Wen Jiabao reviews the guard of honor upon his arrival Buenos Aires on Saturday. Wen is in Argentina for a three-day visit to further strengthen bilateral ties and cooperation. Zhang Duo / Xinhua

Countries will sign agreements on agricultural cooperation

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in Argentina on Saturday, the third stop of his multination visit to South America, which is set to boost economic ties with the continent.

In a written statement issued upon his arrival, Wen said China always views and develops ties with Argentina in a strategic and long-term manner. He pledged to strengthen the mutually beneficial cooperation.

Wen's three-day trip is the first visit by a Chinese premier to the country in 27 years and is of special significance for the 40th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties, which began in February 1972.

He was scheduled to meet with Cristina Fernandez, president of the host country, to review the development of bilateral ties in all fields.

Yin Hengmin, China's ambassador to Argentina, told reporters earlier that strengthening agricultural cooperation is one of the hot topics of discussion between the leaders of the two countries, as Argentina is the world's major agriculture exporter and China is a main importer of Argentina's soybeans and soybean oil.

The volume of bilateral agricultural trade reached $5 billion last year, accounting for one-third of bilateral trade volume, he said, adding that the two countries will sign three agricultural cooperation agreements during Wen's visit, according to a Xinhua News Agency report.

He said Latin American countries, including Argentina, have attached great importance to relations with China in recent years. The trade volume between China and Latin America reached $200 billion in 2011 with more Chinese investment in Latin America, he added.

There is a lot more potential to be tapped in the bilateral relations between China and Argentina, Chen Yuanting, a Latin American studies expert with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told China Daily.

"Despite 40 years' achievements made by China and Argentina, there are still great opportunities in fields such as politics, economy and culture exchanges," Chen said.

"The bilateral political ties enjoy a sound momentum, but I don't think economic and trade cooperation between the two countries has grown equally to match their economic size and the practical market demand."

Chen said tensions have also arisen in investment and trade due to Argentina's protectionist measures, from which China has suffered the most.

"China and Argentina have established a strategic partnership, but the two nations have not yet set up a mechanism for strategic dialogues," Chen said, adding that more should be done to strengthen bilateral ties.

"Argentine experts view China's economic growth as an opportunity because their economy can benefit and it will help balance the influence of regional power like Brazil," Chen said.

Visit to Uruguay

Before flying to Argentina, Wen met on Saturday morning with Uruguayan Vice-President Danilo Astori and President of the Chamber of Representatives Jorge Orrico. He called for the growth of bilateral trade in both volume and diversification.

During Wen's 24-hour visit to the country, the first by a Chinese premier since Beijing and Montevideo established diplomatic ties in 1988, the two countries released a joint statement and signed a series of cooperation agreements in the fields of the economy, technology, agriculture and quality surveillance.

During the talks with Uruguayan President Jose Mujica, Wen expressed China's interest in investing in a deepwater port project in the eastern region of the country. According to Diego Canepa, spokesman for Mujica, a Uruguayan delegation will visit China in the next three months to discuss the project with potential investors.

Contact the writers at qinjize@chinadaily.com.cn and wangchenyan@chinadaily.com.cn.

On a recent spring evening, guests at a garden party hosted by Uruguayan meat and wine producers sighed with pleasure as chefs at a Beijing hotel grilled savory bites of beef strip loin, rib-eye steak, lamb shoulder and French-cut rack of lamb.

Now Ambassador Rosario Portell said she hopes to capitalize on that high-profile event and showcase her country's meat industry as Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in Montevideo for a visit last week.

"Uruguay has been participating at the SIAL Fair in Shanghai - the biggest and most important food and beverage fair in Asia - for several years," she told China Daily. Immediately after the Beijing reception, she headed to this year's SIAL in Shanghai with a business delegation that included the leaders of the National Meat Institute of Uruguay. "We were exhibiting high-quality foodstuffs - wine, chocolate, olive oil - and specifically a strong presence and promotion of the beef sector."

Portell is confident that China is a ready market for Uruguay's meats. The country has already increased its sales of high-value beef cuts in China by a factor of 10 in the past three years, finding a niche in a market traditionally dominated by Australia and New Zealand.

"Three years ago, the market was negligible, with some sales of offal," said Fernando Perez Abella, vice-president of the meat institute. "Today it is at 8 or 9 percent of our exports and is equivalent to Israel, one of our traditional destinations."

Last year, Uruguay exported 11,610 tons of meat worth $43 million, he said, noting that China has already become the seventh-largest buyer in volume and No 12 in price. But as more affluent consumers in China demand more quality, he said, top-grade meats can command a premium price here.

Portell said her country has a special edge at a time when concerns about food safety are high.

"Uruguay is a country in the world with 100 percent cattle traceability," she said. The beef and lamb her guests were sampling in Beijing came from animals that were grass-fed, free range, with no hormones or antibiotics by law.

"Our beef is good for a low-fat diet because of the natural way the cattle are raised," she said. "And because they feed on natural pastures, the beef contains four times more Omega-3 and vitamin E than conventional steaks."

Portell, by the way, is putting her mouth where her money is. She's sending the embassy's Chinese chef, Tim Ding, to Montevideo for special training in preparing the country's particular types of meats.

Beef consumption in China still lags far behind pork and chicken, though middle-class tastes for Western food options have pushed consumption to about 4.5 kilograms per person each year. Pork consumption is about 37 kg per person annually, so analysts on both sides of the world see potential for growth. Like other South American countries, Uruguay produces more food than it needs to feed its people, so meat has become a key export market. Perez Alba said his country limits meat exports to about 200,000 tons, but of very high quality. That focus has made Russia a major buyer of Uruguayan beef, and Portell sees that marketing model working in China, too.

Perez Abella said that the strategy has been so successful that the meat institute plans to open a permanent representative office in Asia, and it might be in Beijing. Because the market is so important, a regional office will make the distance easier to deal with, he said.

michaelpeters@chinadaily.com.cn

Chinese supermarkets have been booming in Argentina, where Chinese nationals are well assimilated into the local society.

More than 130,000 Chinese live in Argentina and have contributed to building this country of immigrants, said Mario Enrique Quinteros, Argentina's deputy consul general in Guangzhou, Guangdong province.

"There is strong integration" of Chinese into the local communities, Quinteros told China Daily.

About 3,000 supermarkets are run by Chinese in the South American country, which retail about 30 percent of supermarket products in the country, Quinteros said, citing Chamber of Chinese Supermarkets in Argentina.

Most of the Chinese supermarkets are in residential areas, selling mainly locally produced food and daily necessities. These businesses have become part of the residents' daily lives and contributed to the local economy.

Yan Xiudeng, the owner of a Chinese supermarket in a suburb of Buenos Aires, worried before the store opened in 2000 that it would lose business from competition with local grocery stores and supermarkets.

"Over the more than 10 years since we opened, the cleanliness of our store, cheap prices and good service have created a stable customer base for my supermarket," Yan told Xinhua News Agency.

Yan's other secret of success is to make friends with residents and policemen and to help the poor from time to time.

In Argentina's 2001 economic crisis, many stores were broken into, but Yan's market was unscathed with robbers passing it by, possibly because of the help they used to receive from Yan.

"The Chinese supermarkets provide job opportunities to local people and can help poor local customers," according to a statement on the website of the Chamber of Convenience Stores and Supermarkets Owned by Chinese Residents in the greater Buenos Aires area.

Li Wenfang in Guangzhou contributed to this story.

Chengguangjin@chinadaily.com.cn

A wine company has been dedicated to promoting Argentine wine culture, taking an intoxicating approach to enable people to better understand the Latin American country.

Uniwines International, in Fuzhou, capital of Fujian province, has been hosting a series of wine-tasting events since the end of last year.

The company organized its first wine tasting in December in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, inviting about 30 key figures in the country's wine industry, ranging from vintners to wine connoisseurs.

The event, named Tango on the Tongue, featured a wide selection from Argentina's prestigious wineries, such as Luigi Bosca and Santa Julia, a live tango performance and a PowerPoint presentation on the history of wine drinking and the wine-growing regions in Argentina.

Chen Yiran, a staff member of the company's Guangzhou branch who was in charge of organizing the tasting, said the company is in a good position to hold such activity.

Its founders are Chinese businessmen who have been living in Argentina for a long time, and they know about Argentine wine and have connections with Argentine wineries, Chen said.

"The thing is, when Chinese people talk about Argentina, which is one of the five largest wine producers in the world, they always think simply of the land of the tango, beef and soccer," Chen said.

"Wines are also an important treasure Argentina boasts, but our people know little about it, so the company wants to hold a wine tasting to introduce the wine culture," Chen added.

Chen said the reason Guangzhou was the chosen location is because the bosses have plenty of resources there and gained full support from the Consulate General of the Argentine Republic in the city.

"The company won't hold a tasting along the lines of 'I like it-I don't like it'. Rather, it wanted to build a bridge to fill the gap in familiarity with Argentina's wines," Chen said.

So another highlight of the first tasting was the discussion about the establishment of a China-Argentina Wine Culture Association.

Chen said the outline of the establishment has been completed, but its exact date requires further discussion.

She said such activity could help the business, but she insisted the cultural exchange prioritizes the agenda and all the events are free of charge.

The company later contributed to the Guangzhou leg of Malbec World Day, an international celebration dedicated entirely to one of Argentina's most emblematic grapes on April 17.

Huang Yiran, a wine critic, said the activities created a vivid picture of Argentine wine for wine buffs and ordinary people alike.

Uniwines' Chen said the company will hold similar events later this year.

"Currently, the participants are mainly those who are in the wine industry and wine lovers. In the future, we hope to extend the event to a larger scale by attracting a lot more wine people," Chen said.

The company will also consider inviting Argentine wine producers and holding wine-tasting events in other metropolises such as Beijing and Shanghai, she said.

sunli@chinadaily.com.cn

Beijing

Hu to visit HK for anniversary celebrations

President Hu Jintao will visit Hong Kong Friday to Sunday to attend the ceremony marking the 15th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland, according to a statement released on Sunday.

Hu, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, will be present at the inauguration of the fourth Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, to be held at the anniversary ceremony, the statement said.

Cross-Straits deal almost finished

A senior mainland official confirmed on Sunday that the consultation of the long-awaited cross-Straits investment protection agreement is almost finished.

Major concerns from both sides have been fully presented and carefully addressed in the talks, Wang Yi, director of the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, said at an event in Beijing.

Negotiators from the two sides are still discussing the last few details related to the wording of the agreement, he said.

"This will be an agreement fully reflecting the reality across the Straits," he said. "I believe the agreement, if signed, will effectively speed up the follow-up talks of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement and benefit people on both sides, especially Taiwan people."

Guangxi

Torrential rains claim at least 6

Torrential rains have left at least six people dead in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region over the past three days, local authorities said on Sunday.

Floods triggered by the rainstorms have affected more than 450,000 people, destroyed some 1,000 houses and inundated almost 17,000 hectares of cropland, a spokesman with the Guangxi Regional Department of Civil Affairs said.

Direct economic losses were estimated at 128 million yuan ($20.3 million), he said.

Local authorities have launched relief operations, he said.

Local meteorological authorities forecast more heavy rainfall to hit parts of Guangxi on Monday.

Tibet

Landslide-triggered lake traps 300

A landslide has blocked a river and led to the buildup of large bodies of water flooding a mountainous highway in Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region, cutting off traffic and trapping more than 300 travelers, local authorities said on Sunday.

The landslide hit the highway linking Tibet with neighboring Sichuan province on late Saturday afternoon, a spokesman with the traffic authorities in Markam county in eastern Tibet said.

The barrier lake is 150 meters long, 60 meters wide and 30 meters deep, the spokesman said.

More than 100 vehicles have been trapped by the lake on the lower section of the mountainous highway, he said.

Local authorities have dispatched emergency crews to defuse the threat of the lake and arrange the transfer of the trapped travelers, he said.

But continuous heavy rainfall has added difficulties to the operation, he said.

No casualties or property losses have been reported.

Fujian

1 missing after Dragon Boat capsizes

One person remained missing after a dragon boat capsized during a competition in Fujian province to mark the traditional Dragon Boat Festival on Saturday.

Thirty-seven crew members fell into the Minjiang River at 1:30 pm after their dragon boat capsized in turbulent water under a bridge in Nanping, according to witnesses and local officials.

Most of the crew swam to a downstream barge and were pulled onto the boat, but one man was reported missing after the rescue, an official from the city's fire control department said.

The official said the water level in the river had surged due to the heavy rain in the region.

Authorities in Nanping stopped the competition after the accident, and the search for the missing man is ongoing.

Dragon boat races and eating rice dumplings are two activities widely observed in China during the Dragon Boat Festival, which falls on the fifth day on the fifth month on the Chinese lunar calendar.

Shanghai

Mathematician Gu Chaohao dies at 87

The renowned Chinese mathematician Gu Chaohao passed away in Shanghai on Sunday.

Gu was born in 1926 in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province. He received his doctorate in physics and mathematics from Moscow State University in 1959 and was a former vice-president of Fudan University and a former president of the University of Science and Technology of China.

Gu won the nation's top science and technology award in 2009 for his contribution to the country's space development.

He was honored for his "important contributions" to differential geometry, partial differential equations and mathematical physics, three subdisciplines of modern mathematics.

China Daily - Xinhua

Highlights from chinadaily.com.cn

Slideshow: Dragon boat racing events were held across China to mark Duanwu Festival.

Video: Tim Baker and his wife co-founded Shepherd's Field Children's Village in 2003 and have cared for more than 4,000 orphans, paid for more than 3,000 operations and facilitated about 900 adoptions.

Culture: Discover the unique traditions behind Manchu hairstyle and headwear: elegant and magnificent, natural and graceful.

Buzzword: Black-hole resorts, remote destinations where cell phones, the Internet, televisions and even alarm clocks are frowned on.

On China Forum

http://bbs.chinadaily.com.cn/

Activity: This week's smartphone challenge is take a picture of something funny.

Guerrilla, sportsman, prisoner and president, these words seem unrelated, but they can all be used to describe Jose Alberto Mujica.

The 77-year old Uruguayan president and former guerrilla leader has had a special affection for China since he met Chairman Mao Zedong in Beijing in 1962.

The meeting took place in Mao's study in Zhongnanhai, the headquarters of the central government and the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

Mujica recalled that it was the same place Mao met then US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger a decade later.

"Mao showed great confidence and respect toward national liberation movements in Latin America, and he believed that we would eventually win," Mujica was quoted as saying by Changjiang Daily.

"Mao's words were sincere and earnest. I will never forget that," he said.

Mujica said he began to read the works of Mao and Confucius after his China visit in a bid to understand China and its culture.

He added that China, with its rapid economic growth, has become the focus of global attention.

After 14 years in prison, Mujica was released in 1985, and returned to political life.

He won the Uruguayan presidency in 2009, and took office in the following year.

Mujica attaches great importance to Sino-Uruguayan ties because he knows China is very important for Uruguay's development, analysts said.

"Mujica is a practical politician. He advocates building good relations with every major country in the world," said Chen Yuanting, an expert on Latin American studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Like many other Latin American leaders, Mujica comes from the grassroots and is very popular, Chen said.

Manual docking on Sunday

A manual docking will be conducted between the Shenzhou-9 manned spacecraft and the orbiting Tiangong-1 lab module around noon on Sunday, according to a spokesperson for China's manned space program.

A manual docking is considered a major step forward in the manned space program to build a space station around 2020, in time for the likely retirement of the International Space Station.

An automatic docking of the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft and the orbiting Tiangong-1 lab module was completed around 2 pm on Monday.

Yunnan

Name attracts more visitors

Visitor numbers to southwestern Yunnan province's Shangri-La county have grown six times since it was renamed in 2001, according to local authorities.

"The county received more than 6 million Chinese and foreign tourists last year. In 2002, the figure was about 1 million," said Liu Zhiguang, head of the county's tourism bureau.

Shangri-La was a fictional place described in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by British author James Hilton. Hilton describes Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley enclosed in the western end of the Kunlun Mountains.

Various places in China claimed the title of Shangri-la and Zhongdian county won the competition. In 2001, the county was officially renamed Shangri-La to attract tourists.

Guangxi

Women rescued from gang

Eleven kidnapped Vietnamese women were rescued by police in a crackdown on a prostitution ring in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, local police said on Saturday.

Police in Dongxing, a city near the frontier with Vietnam, transferred the suspected leader of the ring, a Vietnamese national named Vi, to police in Mong Cai, Vietnam, on Friday. Two kidnapped women were also transferred and another nine Vietnamese women will be returned soon.

Police from Nanning public security bureau captured the suspect in a beauty salon in the city's Hengxian county on June 12, and 11 women who were kidnapped and forced into prostitution were rescued.

Tibet

400m yuan to be invested

More than 400 million yuan ($63.5 million) has been earmarked to develop tourism in southeastern Tibet by Guangdong provincial government as partner assistance.

Nyingchi prefecture in southeastern Tibet, with abundant virgin forests, mountains, rivers and pastures, has "potential golden tourism resources", a partner assistance official in Tibet said on Saturday.

The Guangdong provincial government has designated four counties in Nyingchi prefecture to develop.

Xinhua - China Daily

Hebei and Liaoning first to get share of 1b yuan compensation fund

Environmental authorities have mapped out a three-year plan for the restoration of Bohai Bay, which was severely damaged by oil spills last year, China's ocean watchdog said Thursday.

According to a statement by the State Oceanic Administration, the Ministry of Agriculture aims to rebuild the area's fishery industry by 2015, including putting about 3.4 billion aquatic animals into the bay.

The agency also announced that money from a 1 billion yuan ($157 million) compensation fund has already been allocated to Hebei and Liaoning provinces to be used to help fishermen affected by the leaks from the Penglai 19-3 oilfield.

ConocoPhillips China, the operator of the oilfield, has also agreed with the government to set up another 1.1 billion yuan fund based on estimated damages.

The company, based in the United States, and its Chinese partner, China National Offshore Oil Corporation, will also jointly pay another 600 million yuan.

The money will go toward Bohai Bay's marine environment recovery, construction and protection, the statement said.

ConocoPhillips China confirmed the agreement and said the company places the highest priority on its commitment to the country, and it looks forward to continuing operations in China.

In June 2011, Penglai 19-3 oilfield experienced two unrelated leaks, with initial estimates indicating that about 723 barrels (115 cubic meters) of oil were released into the sea and 2,620 barrels (416.45 cubic meters) of mineral oil mud were released onto the seabed, according to the US company.

A State Oceanic Administration investigation report in November said the leaks polluted an area of about 6,200 square kilometers (nearly nine times the size of Singapore), including 870 square kilometers that were severely polluted.

The contamination killed large amounts of aquatic animals and led to a growing abnormality in the water, the report said.

Although progress is being made in dealing with the impact of the leaks, legal experts said restoration and compensation efforts should be more transparent.

Zhou Ke, a professor on environment law at Renmin University of China, said the incident had damaged the interests of not only the government, but also the people.

"More public voices should be heard before the compensation agreement is completed," he said.

In August, the State Oceanic Administration said that a lawsuit would be filed against the companies responsible for the leaks. However, Zhou said that the agreement between authorities and ConocoPhillips China means legal action appears unlikely.

Filing a lawsuit could make the investigation and damage assessment process more transparent, he added.

Wang Yamin, an associate professor at Shandong University's marine college, also suggested that an independent, third-party assessment on the environmental impact should be carried out.

wangqian@chinadaily.com.cn

The family of a 7-year-old girl who suffered severe brain trauma when she attempted to protect her mother from an attacker has appealed for help to cover her medical bills.

Wang Yan has been in a coma since April 21 when she was hit on the head with a spade.

According to police and relatives, the girl had been walking with her mother in Zhangli village, Anhui province, when a man suddenly attacked them. Her 47-year-old mother was hit in the head with the spade before Wang threw herself in the way, resulting in her injuries.

Wang's mother died at the scene, while the girl suffered severe trauma to her brain and brain stem, as well as multiple skull fractures.

Zhangli police detained a suspect identified as Shi Chao on the day of the attack, but said the case is still under investigation. Shi is suspected of having a mental illness, they said.

"My sister suffered respiratory failure two hours after the tragedy and could only be taken off the ventilator 10 days later," said Wang's 22-year-old brother Wang Yongma, who added that he spent his entire savings - 70,000 yuan ($11,000) - to pay for the first 45 days of treatment.

The girl was originally admitted to Huainan Xinhua Hospital in Anhui, but medics there said they were unable to cope, so she was transferred to Shanghai Blue Cross Brain Hospital on June 3.

Surgeons operated on Wang Yan on June 13 to reduce a build up of water on the brain.

"Her vital signs are stable, but the condition is far from substantially improved," Zhou Kexiang, the attending physician, said on Friday. "She has just been transferred from intensive care to an ordinary ward, and her physiological responses indicate signs of recovery, but we can't say she is out of danger yet."

Although in a coma, the patient is responding to sounds and pain, he said.

"Clapping or calling her name will make her eyes follow the sound, and she cried and shouted when I inserted the gastric tube," added nurse Sheng Yu. "I can sense a strong desire to survive."

Zhou said the top priority is for Wang Yan to regain consciousness.

"We're trying to wake her and aid the recovery of her brain functions with drugs. A lasting coma may lead to deterioration or complications in other body systems," he said.

Wang Yongma and his 62-year-old father have stayed at the girl's bedside every day. However, their biggest concern is paying for further treatment.

The father underwent surgery for advanced esophageal cancer last year, which had already put the family in debt. The brother did not finish junior high school and been doing odd jobs since he was 17 years old.

To continue paying for her treatment, the family said it has raised 8,000 yuan by selling everything at home.

After media reports on the girl's bravery, scores of Shanghai residents have visited her and made donations. A middle-aged woman dropped in on Friday afternoon and left 1,000 yuan without revealing her name, the brother said.

"We're really grateful to these kind-hearted people, but the doctors have told us we might need 300,000 yuan for future treatment," he said. "I don't want to beg, but I do hope my sister can survive."

zhouwenting @chinadaily.com.cn

Sub samples deep delights

Jiaolong, China's manned submersible, reached a depth of 6,963 meters in its third test on Friday, as part of preparations for its attempt at diving 7,000 meters in the Mariana Trench, the State Oceanic Administration said.

The diving team collected samples of water, mud and deep-sea creatures found below 6,900 meters, including sea cucumber and shrimp.

The vessel reached depths of 6,671 meters and 6,965 meters in the first two test dives, China Central Television reported, with its 76 functions tested.

Jiaolong is likely to attempt the 7,000-meter target in its next dive on Monday, the submersible's chief designer Xu Qinan told China Daily.

Henan

Worker detained over porn video

Police have detained a man surnamed Li for 15 days after he screened a pornographic film in public.

A screen mounted on the side of a building in downtown Pingdingshan, Henan province, began to display the footage at about 7 pm on Tuesday. The film lasted almost 20 minutes and sparked outrage online, local media reported.

The screen belongs to a furniture store in the building. Police posted a message on their official micro blog on Wednesday to say that an employee surnamed Li had played the porn video on a computer linked to the screen, resulting in the public display.

Chongqing

Party congress elects chief

Vice-Premier Zhang Dejiang, who was appointed to replace Bo Xilai as Party secretary of Chongqing in March, was on Friday officially elected to the position by the municipality's Party congress.

Huang Qifan, mayor of Chongqing, and Zhang Xuan, who served as president of the city's high court from 2002 to 2007, were also elected as deputy Party secretaries, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Bo, who is suspected of being involved in serious discipline violations, saw his membership in the Communist Party of China Central Committee Political Bureau and the CPC Central Committee suspended this year.

Guangdong

Foreigner held over cab raids

Police have arrested a foreigner suspected of robbing taxi drivers at knifepoint in Foshan, Guangdong province, officials said on Friday.

Six raids on cabbies were reported in the city between June 12 and 17. Victims told police that their assailants were two "dark-skinned foreigners".

The robbers, who were described as tall and masculine, usually attacked taxi drivers at night, threatening them with knives and taking cash and cell phones, police said, adding that they had made off with about 11,000 yuan ($1,730).

Police did not reveal the nationality of the detained suspect, although local media reports stated he is a 33-year-old Nigerian.

China Daily - Xinhua

Huge industrial and commercial benefits seen in space and deep-sea programs

China has just expanded its horizons, high in the sky and deep in the sea, with two scientific achievements. The country's submersible Jiaolong traveled to a record depth of 6,965 meters on June 19 and its fourth manned spacecraft, Shenzhou IX, was launched on June 16 to pave the way for a future space station.

Those scientific feats will help the country promote economic and industrial development and create more opportunities for international cooperation that will benefit the world, scientists and experts say.

"The advanced technologies in China's big projects such as Shenzhou IX and Jiaolong will bring the Chinese economy to a new level with unlimited economies of scale, and make it much more capable of contributing to world peace and global economic development," says Du Hui, a professor at the People's Liberation Army Naval Academy in Dalian.

Deep-diving technology development, especially for the development of deep-sea resources, is of great significance, he says. There are many deep-sea mineral resources that have immense scientific and economic value, and a treasure trove of research for marine scientists worldwide, Du says.

"Jiaolong descended nearly 7 kilometers, so China's manned deep-submergence technologies are capable of undertaking activity over nearly 99.8 percent of the world's oceans, which means reaching much richer oil and gas resources more cheaply."

China is the world's second-largest oil consumer, importing 253.78 million metric tons, at a cost of about $196.66 billion (155.05 billion euros) last year. That volume was 6 percent more than the year before, and the price rose 45.3 percent year-on-year, the General Administration of Customs reported in January.

Du says more than 70 percent of the world's oil and gas is obtained in the ocean, and about 1 trillion barrels of oil reserves can be found in deep waters.

Offshore oil resources will be an important source of crude oil production growth in the future, and more than half of global oil and gas production and reserves will come from the ocean.

"The economic impact will be significant," he says.

"Many technological breakthroughs in Jiaolong can also be adopted by civilian deep-submergence programs. A few related industries, such as shipbuilding and supporting equipment industries, will also get a fillip from advanced technologies and the development of China's deep-submergence programs."

Developed countries such as the United States and Britain have led the world in deep-sea exploration for decades, but China's technologies are close to the most advanced.

"Multinational collaboration in deep-sea exploration is common," Du says. "With this successful dive China will get the chance to cooperate with other countries to carry out more offshore projects."

China's feats in space are also likely to have economic spin-offs. Shenzhou IX has reached the latest major milestone on China's way toward building a permanent space station by the end of the decade.

At the forefront of the space achievements have been the country's first female astronaut, Liu Yang, and the successful completion of the space rendezvous and docking with the Tiangong-1 module now orbiting Earth. All these have lit a fuse that will ignite huge business potential.

"Space development requires huge investment, but the projects also come out with high returns," says Yang Yuguan of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp.

"China's investment in the space is far behind that of the US and Russia."

Every dollar invested in space will eventually bring a six-fold return, Yang says. Some international experts say the return on investment can even double that.

In November Chinese media quoted Zhou Jianping, chief engineer of the manned space program, as saying NASA had a budget of about $18 billion each year since 2009, while China had spent a lot less, about 35 billion yuan ($5.5 billion; 4.3 billion euros), over the past 20 years, on its manned space program.

Following the rendezvous between Shenzhou IX and the Tiangong-1 module the three astronauts are due to stay in space for 13 days. Tests and experiments they do will be in preparation for China's building a space station in the near future.

"A space station has a significant economic impact," Yang says. "For example, with it Chinese will be able to explore rare resources in the asteroid belt, and carry out sophisticated laboratory experiments.

"Investment in space programs also invigorates many related industrial chains such as the radar industry and the materials industry."

The vast range of equipment needed to build and launch the Shenzhou spacecraft would spur development in China's basic equipment industries, Yang says.

"Our satellite telecommunications and satellite navigation will also be improved through manned spaceflight systems, which will better be able to service our automobile industries in the future."

Zhang Yuhan, a scientist with the Center for Space Science and Applied Research at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, says everything the astronauts on Shenzhou are using has been developed by Chinese scientists, including their clothing, food, fitness equipment and other daily necessities.

"Our technologies may still be behind those of the US and Russia, but what we make is attractive to many countries. We are capable of helping them with space transport and scientific experiments."

Seventeen life-science experiments were conducted in space on the unmanned Shenzhou VIII last year.

In building space laboratories and space stations, China will continue with international exchanges based on mutual respect, mutual gain, transparency and opening-up, Xinhua News Agency quoted Wu Ping, spokeswoman for China's manned space program, as saying.

China is the third country to set up a program for selecting and training astronauts, after the US and Russia, Xinhua said, and the country will offer such training to other countries, especially developing nations.

zhaoyanrong@chinadaily.com.cn

Wu Guanzhong is now considered one of the most influential Chinese artists of the 20th century, but he didn't always enjoy such standing.

During the "cultural revolution" (1966-76), his Western training in oil painting served as a mark against Wu, but it was his return to a Chinese medium in the late 1970s that truly elevated his work. As China opened up to the world and many of its artists turned to the West for inspiration, Wu gravitated to a traditional ink-and-brush style, albeit with a Western twist by using bright colors and playful abstraction.

Now, some of Wu's remarkable pieces are on display at the Asia Society in New York. The exhibition is the result of a fouryear collaboration between the organization and the Shanghai Art Museum, to which the artist donated most of his work before his death in 2010.

Revolutionary Ink: The Paintings of Wu Guanzhong, which runs through Aug 5, is the first US retrospective of the artist's work, with a focus on pieces created between the late 1970s and 2004.

"My father's journey as an artist was always about finding the perfect merger between Eastern art and Western art," the artist's son Wu Keyu said in an interview with China Daily. "In his works he tried to represent not only traditional Chinese painting, but he also tried to inject Western ideas and creativity into a Chinese medium."

In remarks at the Asia Society last week, his son described Wu's desire for acceptance in the West.

"He very much wanted to be appreciated and recognized from the Western point of view and perspective," Wu Keyu said. "So this is truly an opportunity. I think that this exhibition is the kind of platform he himself would have been proud in which to showcase his works." Melissa Chiu, director of the Asia Society Museum and co-curator of the exhibition, worked with Wu before his death.

"I had the opportunity to meet him, and I know that he was so proud to have his first ever exhibition in New York," she said in prepared remarks at the opening. "He was very interested in being able to present his works in New York, a cultural capital of the world. And we were of course very interested in him, because he was an artist with an interesting life trajectory."

Calling Wu "one of the most respected and revered artists in China today," Chiu added: "As the title of the exhibition suggests, he really did energize this traditional medium. He had such mastery and he was able to paint on a large scale. His use of bright colors is something that stands in contrast to what we would normally see in traditional ink paintings. And his subject matter - he focused on abstraction, so I think that this focus on wanting to portray a psychological or emotional condition is quite remarkable for an ink painter."

The exhibition was an unusually close "curatorial partnership" between the Asia Society and the Shanghai museum, Chiu said, contrasting it with shows in which a US museum borrows objects from a Chinese cultural institution and produces the event on its own.

Teng Junjie, artistic director of the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture, also spoke at the Asia Society.

"Culture can be genuinely outstanding for its quality, and for that reason I admire the art of Wu Guanzhong," he said. Teng was accompanied by two Shanghai Art Museum officials�Cexecutive director Li Lei and curator Lu Huan.

The exhibition is split into three sections: Landscape, consisting of paintings from the late 1980s and 1990s, depicting scenes of nature in both vertical and horizontal format; Architecture, in which Wu painted grand homes, towns and other manmade structures; and Abstraction, an area the artist delved into during his later years, mostly after 1990.

The artist once wrote: "I want to express the transformations in space and time that occur in my mind. The many forms I see with my eyes inspire the unpredictable transformations that I haven't yet seen."

Of his move into ink-andbrush painting, he wrote: "I used Eastern rhythms in the absorption of Western form and color, like a snake swallowing an elephant. Sometimes I felt I couldn't gulp it all down and I switched to using [Chinese] ink. As of today in my explorations I still shift between oil and ink.

"Oil paint and ink are two blades of the same pair of scissors used to cut the pattern for a whole new suit. To nationalize oil painting and to modernize Chinese painting: In my view these are two sides of the same face."

Wu Keyu recalled that his father dissuaded him from pursuing art, because at the time Chinese artists faced a discouraging atmosphere, he said.

"But my father was extremely passionate about art, and his life was about his work," the son said. "That passion never

stopped. And fortunately for him, he lived into a time when China changed, society changed and people's perspectives on art changed. He eventually got the positive support he needed, and he went from someone who was not acknowledged to someone who was respected nationwide for his work.

"I hope that audiences will see his passion and his perseverance through the works on display. I know that New Yorkers will really enjoy the exhibition."

kdawson@chinadailyusa.com

The modern perception of China as more copycat than innovator is belied by a check of game-changing Chinese inventions through the centuries - the compass, gunpowder, papermaking and the printing arts.

A new exhibition at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art surveys the last of these, particularly its transformative power in disseminating information.

The Printed Image in China, 8th-21st Century features over 140 printed images created through a technique that first spread in China around AD 700 as a tool for reproducing Buddhist texts.

"China is the country with the longest print history in the world," British Museum curator Clarissa von Spee told China Daily. "It's just amazing the scope and continuous practice of printing there. I am hoping that this exhibition will help people understand how important printing was to world culture in general.

"In fact, China actually has a remarkable history of inventions and artistic creativity," she said.

Mike Hearn, curator of Asian art at the Metropolitan Museum, speculates that China's lack of exposure to other nations led to stunted progress after its initial flurry of innovation.

"I think that in the West you had a number of competing cultures vying for colonial control, or warfare or shipping control, and that competitive environment was less present in China because it was already the largest nation-state in the world for much of its history," he said.

"There wasn't that sense of international competition that fueled the Renaissance and Enlightenment in Europe."

The Met show, which runs through July 29, traces the spread of printmaking, first through the use of woodblock printing and later using Western techniques of engraving and lithography. A number of wooden blocks used for printing are also on display.

Most of the exhibition comes from the British Museum, which is widely recognized as having the world's most comprehensive print collection.

"To collect something like this to this extent is to truly reflect on the evolution of the craft and art form," Hearn told China Daily. "The British Museum has conscientiously built their collection to understand how printing has evolved and how it reflected the changing priorities of society over time. For me, it's one of the most exciting exhibits we've ever had because of the quality and comprehensiveness. We really get a sense of this artistic medium's evolution over a thousand years."

The venerable London institution's extensive holdings are the product of its founder's foresight. Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753) began collecting prints during his lifetime, not necessarily for their artistic value but due to his interest in botany, religion and culture, Hearn said.

The collection is unusual, as most Western museums have prioritized painting and sculpture, von Spee explained.

"Printing has always been a bit undervalued, and in China you can say the same," she said. "Printed images were never considered artistic; they were considered functional."

Of course, in the beginning the invention of carved woodblocks to propagate Buddhist texts was practical, a means of eliminating scribal error and reducing the time needed for labor-intensive hand-copying. A number of those religious prints are on display in the first of eight rooms in the Met's exhibition, which is organized by theme and chronology (reflecting the evolving function of print over time). As a result, the prints move in purpose from religious and didactic to a form of pop culture and eventually to serving a purely artistic purpose.

Although color woodblock printing is most often associated with Japan, the technique originated in China and spread outward later, Hearn said. The exhibition includes examples of Japanese prints that were clearly inspired by earlier Chinese work. Later, when outside work filtered back into China, Chinese printmakers were also inspired.

In fact, this cross-pollination of influences was a major factor in the development of printmaking, Hearn said.

For example, the Qing Dynasty Emperor Kangxi (1654-1722) commissioned Jesuit missionaries to create copperplate engravings of his summer palace. Chinese artists first painted the scenes, and Western artists translated the paintings into engravings in the Western style. In 1724 the Italian Jesuit priest Matteo Ripa brought those engravings back to London, where a man named William Kent saw them. Kent eventually became the most important advocate of naturalistic landscapes in British gardening, an influence heavily shaped by his exposure to the Chinese garden engravings, Hearn said.

"That was one of the important vehicles of the Enlightenment, when this idea of naturalistic landscapes was introduced in Europe," Hearn said.

In the 18th century, Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799) commissioned Jesuit priests to design European-style gardens at his palace, which were also depicted in Western-style engravings at the time.

Another set of engravings included in the Met show depicts various historical battles, commissioned by Qianlong. The early engravings employ Western-style depiction, but the final one in the series is a beautifully rendered Asian style representation scene that echoes classic Chinese painting.

"It's really exciting to see how the technology of printing was influenced by cross-cultural mixing," he said. "I think the Europeans were influenced by Chinese content, and the Chinese were influenced by Western techniques."

Later prints in the exhibition include modern cigarette advertisements and Soviet-inspired depictions of farmers toiling in the field. In the 1920s a revival of woodblock printing was fueled by a desire to communicate social values, Hearn said.

The exhibition also features a variety of contemporary prints, featuring scenes of modern life in China.

Despite printmaking's long history, the contemporary art market has failed to discover the form, Hearn said. But he is optimistic that Chinese artists will revive it.

Von Spee agreed. "I think that in the long run, we will rediscover printing as an artistic medium."

kdawson@chinadailyusa.com

A senior Chinese official warned of significant hurdles his country faces in trying to move to cleaner forms of energy and called for global cooperation in the effort.

"As a developing country with a population of 1.3 billion, of which 122 million people live below the poverty line, China has to tackle severe challenges in its transition to a green economy," Wang Weizhong, vice-minister of science and technology, said Wednesday at a side event coinciding with the official start of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, known as Rio+20.

Wang said a relatively weak technology base and limited capability in research and development constrain China's green development, along with a lack of core technologies for transforming traditional industries and huge socioeconomic imbalances among different Chinese regions and between urban and rural areas.

"Protecting the environment, eliminating poverty and stimulating growth in ecologically vulnerable areas of the western region are particularly formidable," said Wang. He headed China's administrative office for Agenda 21 from 1998 to 2006. Agenda 21 was the action plan for sustainable development adopted at the first UN "Earth Summit" in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.

The vice-minister pointed out that with a low income per capita, average consumers in China have limited spending power to buy environmentally friendly goods, which typically cost more. "This is an obstacle we can't ignore in promoting green consumption," Wang said.

But he said China will stay on the path of green development despite these difficulties, citing the binding targets set in the country's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) for environmental protection, energy conservation and emission reduction.

During the five years, China's energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product is expected to be reduced by 16 percent, while the volume of emissions of major pollutants is to be cut dramatically.

Wang said the Chinese government has decided to slow economic growth to 7 percent annually in order to promote a green transformation. However, he expressed hope that the world at large will build up collaboration toward that goal.

"Developed countries should encourage technology transfer in accordance with their commitments, and strengthen technical assistance and R&D cooperation for developing countries, so as to help the latter's green transition," said Wang, who is a water resources expert by profession.

Veerle Vandeweerd, director of the UN Development Programme's Environment and Energy Group, praised China's efforts in promoting sustainable development and a green economy.

Like many, she described China's 12th Five-Year Plan as the "Green Plan" and "one of the most ambitious to date in terms of environment, energy and climate change and focusing on the quality of growth".

The UNDP will continue to work closely with China on sustainable development, said Vandeweerd. "In China today, we see that political will is strong and rising. We need to help the world to transit to a new society, a new economy, a world more in harmony with nature. China is leading the way and UNDP is there to help," the Belgian scientist and veteran UN environmental official said.

Her agency has worked with China in a range of areas, including rapid urbanization, technological innovation and South-South cooperation, which builds on Chinese success in lifting more than 600 million people out of poverty over the past 30 years.

"We are charting the way to a post-consumption society," Vandeweerd said. "Charting this way will not be easy."

China, with one-fifth of the world's population, understands this all too well, she said. "A global unsustainable world means an unsustainable China; an unsustainable China means a global unsustainable world. So simple the mutual dependency has become."

chenweihua@chinadaily.com.cn

The intermittent drizzle in Rio de Janeiro added a poetic touch on Wednesday to the China Pavilion that wouldn't otherwise be felt beneath a sun-filled azure sky in South America's most visited city.

The distinctly Chinese structure is unlike any other pavilion, large or small, in Athletes Park, a 10-minute walk from the RioCentro convention hall that is the main venue for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development - also known as Rio+20.

After visiting, Ruben Ngwenya of South Africa said he was impressed by the fine-looking pavilion.

"It was a very good pavilion and also with good technology," Brazilian Tiago Rodrigues de Borros told China Daily after he exited.

Just behind him, atop the arched entrance were two golden characters spelling "China". Against a red background, the color combination symbolized fortune and good luck according to Chinese tradition.

On the two sides was a couplet written by poet Lu You of China's Southern Song Dynasty more than 800 years ago: "Where hills bend, streams wind and the pathway seems to end / Past dark willows and flowers in bloom, lies another village."

It might have been a surprise to some of the 6,000 visitors who have entered the pavilion since it opened on June 13. In a space of 370 square meters, miniature landscapes with flowing water and hills dot two corners of the pavilion, colorful paper butterflies fluttering high. There is much in red: lanterns, Chinese-art knots and wooden screens. Even the guest book is in Chinese red.

Wen Bugao, head of the China Pavilion and an official of the National Development and Planning Commission, said the design incorporates traditional Chinese philosophy about perennial harmony between man and nature. "The design of the garden, with hills, water and other elements, deeply embeds Chinese culture," he explained.

He said visitors have fallen in love with the pavilion and have been impressed by China's progress in sustainable development, as shown on programs playing on several TV monitors and depicted on more than a dozen display boards. In addition, thousands of gifts and leaflets - about China's Agenda 21 (the UN sustainable-development action plan from the 1992 Rio "Earth Summit"), poverty reduction, water and energy conservation, employment promotion, social security and management of ocean resources - have been snapped up by visitors.

Visitors' affection was evident in the pavilion guest book, with the comment "I love China" being most common. "Congratulations, everything is beautiful," a visitor named Julia wrote.

Rodrigues, of Brazil, said he was disappointed that the gift caps, featuring a fan propelled by two small solar panels, had run out by the time he arrived, but three other women came for tiles emblazoned with Chinese culture, art and images of sustainable development.

The pavilion has become livelier since it began hosting a series of side events last week featuring China's sustainable development.

Speakers on Wednesday included top Chinese government and United Nations environmental officials, academics and civil-society leaders. On Thursday and Friday, talks will feature China's challenges and efforts in desertification, poverty reduction, sustainable forestry and a low-carbon economy.

chenweihua@chinadaily.com.cn

Spain and China have long enjoyed mutual trust and support, economic complementarity and beneficial cooperation as well as close, fruitful exchanges at the cultural and person-to-person levels, Hu said on Wednesday.

Next year marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of Sino-Spanish diplomatic ties, and China is willing to work with Spain to enhance their comprehensive strategic partnership and better serve the interests of both countries and their people, the Chinese president told Juan Carlos.

The king, saying he has always been a good friend of the Chinese people, expressed hope that both countries will use the anniversary to strengthen exchanges and cooperation, raising the bilateral relationship to a new level.

In a meeting earlier on Wednesday with Spain's deputy prime minister, Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, Hu said China supports efforts by the European Union and other parties to resolve the eurozone debt crisis.

The president also expressed the view that Europe has the power and wisdom to overcome difficulties caused by the crisis and to achieve economic recovery and growth.

Saenz thanked China for its support of Spain and Europe during the crisis. She said maintaining European unity benefits the world, as well as development of China's relationship with the continent.

The Spanish minister told reporters afterward that her meeting with Hu helped reinforce bilateral cooperation "that could be very positive for Spain in important areas, such as increasing our exports and the possibilities for greater Chinese investment in Spain, and mutual cooperation in policies supporting growth and employment".

Saenz didn't respond to a question about possible purchases by China of Spanish government bonds.

Beijing has expressed concern about the ongoing sovereign-debt crisis of some countries in the eurozone, a top destination for Chinese exports.

Hu said that at the summit in Los Cabos, Mexico, G20 leaders agreed that the group must now focus on maintaining growth, increasing jobs and promoting stability.

The bloc's members vowed to continue to uphold the spirit of unity and win-win cooperation to strengthen coordination on macroeconomic policies and work for strong, sustainable and balanced growth of the global economy, Hu said.

Hu said Chinese-Spanish ties are at their best in history and that the two countries should enhance mutual trust, and expand trade and economic cooperation. The president also urged an increase of people-to-people exchanges and stronger cooperation on international affairs.

Saenz said Spain and China share the same views on many major issues. Her country, she said, is ready to maintain high-level contact with China and to expand cooperation in trade, investment, science, technology, new energy sources, tourism and culture.

Hu was scheduled to return to Beijing on Thursday.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

wujiao@chinadaily.com.cn

British Prime Minister David Cameron and other world leaders wait for the beginning of the first session of the G20 Summit in Los Cabos, Mexico, on Monday. Andres Stapff / Reuters

The G20 is showing its support for eurozone countries, said analysts, while G20 members from Europe vowed to work on concrete steps to combat the debt crises.

European nations will take all necessary measures to safeguard the integrity and stability of the eurozone, improve the functioning of financial markets and break the feedback loop between sovereign debts and banks, according to the statement released at the end of the summit in the Mexican resort of Los Cabos on Tuesday.

The leaders welcomed Spain's plan to shore up its banking system and the EU's support for Spain's authority to restructure its finances. Leaders said they will work with the next Greek government to ensure Greece remains on the path of reform and sustainability within the eurozone, though no details were laid out.

World leaders concentrated on the urgent debt crises in the eurozone countries and tried to find solutions during the summit, as the monetary union is facing the possibility of collapse due to debt problems.

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde hailed the EU's measures to combat the debt crises, saying the seeds of a pan-European recovery plan were planted, according to Reuters.

"It doesn't matter if it takes a long time, it has got to be done well," she was quoted as saying, adding that immediate measures and longer-term ones must be pursued in parallel.

G20 leaders now are waiting for an EU summit next week at which European officials say they will launch the long process of deeper integration, starting with a push for a banking union, with the aim of finalizing a broad plan by December, Reuters said.

The general statement sets out a positive political signal to the eurozone countries, said Qu Xing, an expert on international politics and economics and also the president of the China Institute of International Studies.

Compared with previous G20 communiques, the statement this time includes concrete measures for the eurozone countries to overcome their debt crises, said Qu.

Zhang Yuyan, an expert on global politics and economics with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said countries need to reform macroeconomic policies and give up some of their fiscal sovereignty to solve the debt crises in the eurozone.

Outside the eurozone, developed and developing countries are facing the challenges of a bad economic situation.

"The global economy remains vulnerable, with a negative impact on the everyday lives of people all over the world, affecting jobs, trade, development and the environment", said the statement from G20 leaders.

According to the declaration, G20 endorses urgently combating unemployment through appropriate labor market measures and fostering the creation of decent work and quality jobs, particularly for youth and other vulnerable groups, who have been severely hit by the economic crisis.

"We also commit to intensify our efforts to strengthen cooperation in education, skills development and training policies, including internship and on-the-job training, which support a successful school-to-work transition," said the statement.

Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told reporters that Hu's presence at the G20 Summit helped the global community to reach a consensus and lift confidence in the global economy.

It has also proved that China is a responsible player when it comes to development and cooperation, he said.

Yang added that Hu's presence at successive G20 summits since 2008 has played a constructive role in pushing for the stabilization and recovery of the world economy.

The leaders said that "strong, sustainable and balanced growth remains the top priority of the G20".

"All G20 members will take the necessary actions to strengthen global growth and restore confidence", with advanced economies keeping the pace of their fiscal rebalancing appropriate for growth recovery.

"Should economic conditions deteriorate significantly further, those countries with sufficient fiscal space stand ready to coordinate and implement discretionary fiscal actions to support domestic demand, as appropriate."

Euro Area Action on Banking Union

The eurozone members of the G20 - Germany, France and Italy - pledged to "take all necessary policy measures to safeguard the integrity and stability" of the eurozone. They declared their intention to strengthen eurozone integration, including moving toward a eurozone banking union that would include banking supervision, a mechanism for winding up failing banks and eurozone-wide insurance for bank deposits.

Prices

With monetary policy loose throughout much of the G20, the group said it aims to maintain price stability without harming economic recovery, mentioning specifically energy and commodity prices. "G20 members will remain vigilant of the evolution of oil prices and will stand ready to carry out additional actions as needed," they said. They praised member and global oil power Saudi Arabia for being ready to boost production to ensure adequate supply.

Global Rebalancing

The group acknowledged progress on rebalancing heavily skewed global trade, noting that countries with large current account surpluses had moved to increase domestic demand, while those with deficits had acted to boost national savings. China's move to allow renminbi, its currency, to trade based more on market forces was welcomed specifically.

Spillover Impacts

Leaders said they will try to minimize the negative impact of their policies on other countries. They recognized that high volatility of capital flows and disorderly exchange rate movements "have adverse implications for economic and financial stability".

Protectionsm

G20 leaders said they are "deeply concerned" about rising instances of protectionism around the world. "We are firmly committed to open trade and investment, expanding markets and resisting protectionism in all its forms, which are necessary conditions for sustained global economic recovery, jobs and development."

Agence France-Presse

China urged the world's major economies to increase trade openness in order to revive the global economy, as world leaders reached a consensus on further countering protectionism in a last-minute deal during the G20 Summit on Wednesday.

In the final communique of the summit, which was held in the Mexican resort city of Los Cabos, leaders pledged not to put up new trade barriers until late 2014, extending their previous pledge by a year, in a move to boost global growth.

At last year's summit, which was held in France, G20 members had vowed to oppose trade protectionism.

At this year's summit, Brazil, Argentina and South Africa resisted extending the trade pledge beyond its current termination date at the end of 2013, while other countries wanted to extend it to 2015, Reuters reported.

"Based on a common commitment against trade protectionism, countries, especially major economies, should open their markets, reduce high tariffs and enact fair competition to facilitate international trade," said He Weiwen, co-director of the China-US-EU Study Center of the China Association for International Trade.

In a speech delivered at the G20 Summit, President Hu Jintao called for a resolution to establish a free, open and fair global trade environment and opposed all kinds of protectionism.

"Efforts must be made to ensure open and inclusive bilateral and regional trade, and to safeguard the multi-lateral trade system," Hu said.

He said that G20 members should promote the steady recovery of the world economy, deepen reform of the international system, promote the healthy growth of international trade, promote development and advocate sustainable development.

"China has taken a series of concrete measures to increase trade openness and oppose trade protectionism, in terms of government purchases, imports increase and tariff reduction," He said.

In March, the State Council announced cuts on import duties on selected energy products and raw materials, as well as consumer goods, to boost purchases globally.

Vice-Premier Li Keqiang said earlier this month that China will import $10 trillion worth of goods and services in the five years ending 2015.

"Boosting imports is China's active effort on trade opening, which contributes a lot to anti-protectionism activities and is significant for the global economic recovery," said Huo Jianguo, director of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce.

Last year, China's imports reached $1.74 trillion, accounting for 9 percent of global figures, according to the ministry. The amount is expected to grow about $100 billion annually.

China is currently the world's largest exporter and second-biggest importer, playing a crucial role in global trade.

But China has also been the biggest victim of international trade frictions for 17 consecutive years. In 2009, there were 116 trade remedy investigations into Chinese goods, accounting for 43 percent of the total global number. China has also seen repeated trade frictions regarding intellectual property rights.

According to He, the current economic recession also results in high unemployment in developed countries, and in trade frictions that affect trade openness and facilitation.

The European Union's plans to tax international airlines under its Emissions Trading Scheme represent the bloc's protectionist attitude, and could trigger disputes or even a trade war within the industry, He said.

"The EU is supposed to take a global and comprehensive measure to tackle the issue," He added.

Chen Deming, minister of commerce, said during the G20 Summit that trade protectionism is gaining ground, hindering the global economic recovery.

"Trade protectionism not only cannot boost the gloomy global economy, but also will hurt local economies. Major economies should be against trade protectionism to maintain an open and fair trade environment," Chen said.

Contact the writer at baochang@chinadaily.com.cn

Vice-Premier Li Keqiang said on Monday that China should carry out reform to push forward economic structural adjustment, make use of scientific and technological innovation and develop new industries, in a bid to promote the stable and fast economic development in the long term.

Li was speaking during a visit to the Institute of Semiconductors under the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, where he observed the research centers of semiconductor lighting and semiconductor integration technology.

Li said countries across the globe have attached importance to the new generation of industries including information technology and new material, and the technology and industry in the world are breeding a new phase of revolutionary breakthrough. He stressed that China should accelerate the development of new industries and formulate new growth points, so it will not lag behind in the great technological change in the world.

After hearing that China's new semiconductor products may help save 100 billion kilowatt-hours of power annually by 2015, Li said that energy resources and the environment are among the largest bottlenecks of China's development, and saving energy and improving efficiency are the key to solving the difficulties. China has huge potential in the green development market, which could provide vast space for the development of related industries, he said.

Li also said the institutional innovation is indispensable for the innovation in science and technology.

The vice-premier said that enterprises are the main entities for innovation, and research institutes and businesses should work closely together to advance the application of new technology.

President Hu Jintao (second right), Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff (left), Russian President Vladimir Putin (second left), Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (center) and South African President Jacob Zuma pose for a picture after a BRICS leaders' meeting in Los Cabos on Monday. The leaders are in Los Cabos, Mexico, for the G20 Summit. Lan Hongguang / Xinhua

Leaders of the five-member group -Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - also said BRICS is "willing to make a contribution" to increase the International Monetary Fund's ability to rescue troubled economies.

President Hu Jintao joined his counterparts from other BRICS nations on Monday morning in the Mexican resort city Los Cabos ahead of the start of the G20 Summit.

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the leaders discussed the currency swap and foreign-exchange reserve pool ideas and tasked their finance ministers and central bank chiefs to implement them.

Swap arrangements, which allow nations' central banks to lend to each other money to keep markets liquid, and the pooling of foreign-exchange reserves are contingency measures aimed at containing crises such as the one roiling the eurozone, analysts said.

Zhang Yuyan, director of the Institute of World Economics and Politics affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the new mechanisms established by the emerging markets themselves, who "know their current conditions and demands much better".

Amid the global economic slowdown, the pooling of foreign-exchange reserves will help BRICS countries to fight the lack of market liquidity, beef up their immunity to financial crises and boost global confidence, Zhang said.

Contributions to this "virtual" bailout fund, as Brazil's Finance Minister Guido Mantega put it, would be tied to the size of each BRICS member's currency reserves, he said.

The five leaders also discussed BRICS' participation in replenishing the IMF's lending capital.

Hu said the G20 should encourage and support the eurozone countries' adoption of fiscal controls and spending cuts as efforts to improve confidence in world markets.

The leaders also urged the IMF to carry out promised reforms of its quota and governance systems.

Mexico, which was hosting the G20 Summit on Monday and Tuesday, has said it will use the meeting to press the world's largest economies to increase IMF resources and build the fund's capacity to intervene in the European debt crisis.

A boost in IMF funding makes sense and gives emerging economies such as China a greater role, according to Yukon Huang, senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a former World Bank country director for China.

"Support for a larger IMF role solves several problems. Any solution involving the IMF represents a more collective and coordinated approach and is thus less politically driven and more sustainable since it implies that the right policy actions have been agreed on," Huang told China Daily.

"And if the increased liquidity is not enough, then proposals such as a currency swap and pooling of reserves provide other options. These measures were supported by China as well as affected countries during the Asian financial crisis 15 years ago to provide assurance that additional resources could be available if needed," he said.

The BRICS now boast about 42 percent of the world's population and more than a quarter of its land. According to IMF estimates, the five had a combined nominal gross domestic product of $13.6 trillion in 2011, about 19.5 percent of the global total.

Since 2010, more than 50 percent of global growth has come from the BRICS, and it has become an important force in easing the international financial and economic crisis, driving regional and global economic growth.

Contact the writers at wujiao@chinadaily.com.cn and atung@chinadailyusa.com.

Zhang Yunbi in Beijing contributed to this story.

At a meeting billed as B20 - coinciding with a gathering of heads of state from the G20 industrialized and developing countries - more than 300 businesspeople began two days of discussion on issues including food and security, green growth, employment, and trade and investment. Their goal is to draft recommendations for the G20 to consider during the government leaders' meeting on Monday and Tuesday in the same Mexican resort of Los Cabos.

"What really counts at the end of the day is the real economy - that's people's jobs, how people consume, and global trade and investment," said Victor Fung, chairman of Hong Kong-based Li & Fung Group, which has subsidiaries engaged in trading, logistics, distribution and retailing.

Fung, who co-leads a B20 task force on the subject, has been advocating for the past two such peripheral meetings to make trade and investment a permanent item on the G20's agenda. Trade liberalization will boost the global economy without countries printing money or taking on more debt, he said.

"Trade and investment is at the heart of the real economy globally, and what we must do here is to see how the business community can build on it," said Fung, adding that G20 leaders should focus more on investments that can generate growth despite the bleak economic picture.

"Trade and investment are not separable - they are two sides of the same coin," said Fung. He believes a multilateral trade system should be set up to govern the movements of foreign direct investment.

"Today, if you take China as an example, it is both an investor and a taker of investments. Even the US, as a big investor, is very much looking for foreign direct investments."

Fung suggested there be more pragmatic ways to achieve trade agreements, a reference to the World Trade Organization's principle of "single undertaking," meaning participants have to accept or reject the outcome of multiple negotiations in a single package rather than selecting among them.

This approach of "nothing is agreed until everything is agreed" needs flexibility in today's economy, Fung insisted. "That rule is very difficult to apply today" and stands in the way of the WTO's resuming its long-stalled round of negotiations begun in Doha, Qatar, in late 2001.

The Doha round was intended to lower trade barriers among different countries but have been deadlocked due to disputes between and among developed and developing countries on issues involving industrial tariffs, services and non-tariff impediments such as agricultural subsidies provided to European and US farmers.

Although G20 leaders at their 2010 summit in Seoul called for bringing the Doha round to "a successful, ambitious, comprehensive and balanced conclusion", the talks remain stalled.

On Monday, Fung said: "If we simply start implementing the trade facilitation part of Doha negotiations, it will result in a reduction of the cost of doing international trade from 10 percent to 5 percent."

His B20 task force on trade and investment has also been pushing the G20 to recognize the harmful effects on the global economy from trade protectionism. "There is a tendency for protectionism to rise, hence we must focus on how we can hold the line on protectionism," Fung said.

The Open Markets Index, which monitors countries' openness to trade and investment, set up by the International Chamber of Commerce, showed that most G20 countries fall behind except for Germany, which ranked 19th. The G20, which represents over 80 percent of the world's total economic output, as a group ranked average out of 75 countries for its openness to trade.

Contact the writer at yuweizhang@chinadailyusa.com

China and France will continue to develop bilateral ties, as President Hu Jintao met with French President Francois Hollande on Monday for the first time since the latter took office last month.

Analysts said the already well-developed Sino-French relations have a promising future and are not likely to go through major changes with the new Socialist president in office.

In the one-hour meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, Hu said China and France as permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and major world economies shoulder important responsibilities under the complex world situation.

Hu called on the two countries to handle their relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, while consolidating cooperation in the nuclear energy and airplane manufacturing sectors, and pushing for a balanced development of bilateral trade.

China is willing to join France in pushing China-France ties, and to promote world peace and prosperity, said Hu.

Hollande, who was elected French president in May, said the two countries share the same stance on many key issues as both of them favor multi-polarization of the world.

The new French government will be unswervingly committed to developing France-China ties, and will strengthen strategic dialogue with China while enlarging cooperation in trade, investment, energy and aviation, according to Hollande.

Sun Yan, an expert on French studies with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said China and France have kept good relations in political and economic areas, which will not likely have major changes with the new president in office.

"As a Socialist, Hollande may have his own opinions different from his predecessors on certain issues. But the general picture of the Sino-French relationship will not change," Sun told China Daily.

Sun noted that the two countries have kept close cooperation in many areas and France has leading technologies.

Sino-French bilateral trade reached $53 billion in 2011, a year-on-year increase of 17 percent.

Contact the writers at wujiao@chinadaily.com.cn and chengguangjin@chinadaily.com.cn

China able to explore 99% of the ocean floor, say scientists

Chinese scientists collected the world's deepest undersea samples on Tuesday, proving the country's ability to reach nearly all the seabed on Earth.

China's submersible Jiaolong descended to a new depth of 6,965 meters in an 11-hour dive in the Mariana Trench, the State Oceanic Administration said.

"We collected samples of deep sea water, deposits and creatures, and recorded video and took photographs," Tang Jialing, one of the three pilots in the vehicle, told China Central Television on Tuesday, adding that the deep sea environment is unimaginably beautiful.

"I feel confident of reaching a depth of 7,000 meters because Jiaolong worked very well in the (Tuesday) dive," Tang said, smiling.

It was the second dive for the vehicle, with another four scheduled to achieve the country's first 7,000-meter dive.

Xu Qinan, the submersible's chief designer, told China Daily that it was still undecided whether the craft would try for 7,000 meters in the third dive.

Though the dive was 35 meters short of the target, China National Radio quoted on-site scientists as saying Tuesday's accomplishment means China is capable of exploring 99 percent of the ocean floor.

Compared with the first, 6,671-meter dive on Friday, Tuesday's dive took much longer, to test problems detected in the first dive, Peng Lisheng, an official of the China Ocean Mineral Resources Research and Development Association, told China Daily.

Cui Weicheng, deputy commander-general of the diving team, said the second dive was much more important than the first because it had to solve all the problems detected in the previous dive and test the craft's safety.

According to Xinhua News Agency, four machine problems were detected in the first dive and a leaky oil pipe postponed the scheduled second dive on Monday.

"Besides testing the safety, our diving team finished all scheduled tasks, such as collecting samples and measuring the seabed," Peng said.

Cui said Jiaolong is not only a submersible, but also a platform for scientists.

"If Jiaolong succeeds in the 7,000-meter dive, the vessel will play an important role in future scientific research and mineral exploration in the deep sea," said Tao Chunhui, professor of the Second Institute of Oceanography and chief scientist on the Chinese scientific research ship Dayang Yihao, or Ocean No 1.

Jiaolong, which is 8.2 meters long and 3.4 meters high, weighs nearly 22 tons.

It will be used in the exploration and development of marine resources, according to the State Oceanic Administration.

In 2011, China became the first country approved by the International Seabed Authority to look for polymetallic sulphide deposits, a recently discovered mineral source, in the Southwest Indian Ridge, a tectonic plate boundary on the floor of the Indian Ocean.

Contact the writer at wangqian@chinadaily.com.cn

China's president reiterates confidence in EU recovery from financial crisis

China will continue to support Europe's work to stabilize its economy and will join the global effort in solving Europe's debt issue, President Hu Jintao said Monday while meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The two leaders met Monday morning prior to the opening of the G20 Summit that afternoon.

During the meeting, Merkel briefed Hu on the latest developments in the European economic and financial crisis and laid out what the European Union's responses will be.

Hu stressed that China supports the continent's efforts in promoting integration and stabilizing the euro.

A united and prosperous Europe serves the interests of the world, including China, Hu said, reaffirming Beijing's confidence that Europe has the wisdom and ability to overcome its difficulties.

China has offered a variety of aid to Europe within its power since the start of the eurozone debt crisis and China will continue to back the EU's efforts to achieve economic recovery and growth. Hu added that China will work with the glboal community to help solve the crisis.

Merkel responded by saying that European countries appreciate China's confidence in the continent and its support for European integration.

She also noted that a steady, robust Chinese economy is important to the global economic recovery.

Hu said China and Germany are important and cooperative partners who share vast common interests.

Hu noted that two countries have coordinated and communicated well on key global and regional issues in multilateral frameworks such as the G20 and said that he was glad to see constant progress in bilateral ties.

He also urged the two nations to advance collaboration between enterprises in each country at the domestic level.

China's president, against the backdrop of a complex and volatile international situation and a sluggish world economy, said the promotion of mutual political trust and bilateral cooperation between China and Germany not only helps bolster steady economic growth in both countries, but is also conducive to China-Europe cooperation and a global economic recovery.

Merkel described Germany and China as close partners, saying their cooperation has been fruitful.

Merkel said she is looking forward to a new round of intergovernmental talks between the two this year and hopes that two-way investment and business cooperation will be achieved.

Hu is also expected to meet with France's President Francois Hollande and US President Barack Obama on Tuesday.

wujiao@chinadaily.com.cn

At a meeting billed as B20 - coinciding with a gathering of heads of state from the Group of 20 industrialized and developing countries - more than 300 businesspeople began two days of discussion on issues including food and security, "green" growth, employment, and trade and investment. Their goal is to draft recommendations for the G20 to consider when during the government leaders' meeting Monday and Tuesday in the same Mexican resort of Los Cabos.

"What really counts at the end of the day is the real economy - that's people's jobs, how people consume, and global trade and investment," said Victor Fung, chairman of Hong Kong-based Li & Fung Group, which has subsidiaries engaged in trading, logistics, distribution and retailing.

Fung, who co-leads a B20 task force on the subject, has been advocating for the past two such peripheral meetings to make trade and investment a "permanent" item on the G20's agenda. Trade liberalization will boost the global economy without countries printing money or taking on more debt, he said.

"Trade and investment is at the heart of the real economy globally, and what we must do here is to see how the business community can build on it," said Fung, adding that G20 leaders should focus more on investments that can generate growth despite the bleak economic picture.

"Trade and investment are not separable - they are two sides of the same coin," said Fung. He believes a "multilateral trade system" should be set up to govern the movements of foreign direct investment, or FDI.

"Today if you take China as an example, it is both an investor and a taker of investments. Even the US, as a big investor, is very much looking for foreign direct investments."

The World Trade Organization, he said, should consider expanding its remit to include investment or create a parallel organization that would monitor FDI activity.

Fung suggested there be more "pragmatic" ways to achieve trade agreements, a reference to the WTO's principle of "single undertaking," meaning participants have to accept or reject the outcome of multiple negotiations in a single package rather than selecting among them.

This approach of "nothing is agreed until everything is agreed" needs flexibility in today's economy, Fung insisted. "That rule is very difficult to apply today" and stands in the way of the WTO's resuming its long-stalled round of negotiations begun in Doha, Qatar, in late 2001.

The Doha round was intended to lower trade barriers among different countries but have been deadlocked due to disputes between and among developed and developing countries on issues involving industrial tariffs, services, intellectual property and non-tariff impediments such as agricultural subsidies provided to European and US farmers.

Although G20 leaders at their 2010 summit in Seoul called for bringing the Doha round to "a successful, ambitious, comprehensive and balanced conclusion", the talks remain stalled.

On Monday, Fung said: "If we simply start implementing the trade facilitation part of Doha negotiations, it will result in a reduction of a cost of doing international trade from 10 percent to 5 percent."

His B20 task force on trade and investment has also been pushing the G20 to recognize the harmful effects on the global economy from trade protectionism. "There is a tendency for protectionism to rise, hence we must focus on how we can hold the line on protectionism," Fung said.

The Open Markets Index, which monitors countries' openness to trade and investment, set up by the International Chamber of Commerce, showed that most G20 countries fall behind except for Germany, which ranked 19th. The G20, which represents over 80 percent of the world's total economic output, as a group ranked average out of 75 countries for its openness to trade.

WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy recently warned that recent trade-protection measures have reduced world trade by 1 percent to 2 percent. Attending the B20 summit on Monday, Lamy said trade issues require political commitment from all involved.

yuweizhang@chinadailyusa.com

President Hu Jintao said the world economy, although on the path to recovery, still faces instability and uncertainty, as he met on Sunday with his Mexican counterpart Felipe Calderon, host of the two-day G20 summit.

China hopes the G20 members will stick together in difficult times and pursue mutually beneficial cooperation, and will be committed to ensuring growth, stability and employment, injecting new impetus into the group, said Hu at the meeting in the Mexican resort of Los Cabos.

"China is ready to work with Mexico to push for active results from the summit," Hu said.

Calderon said Mexico attaches importance to the role that China plays in the G20, and he hopes to strengthen cooperation with China to ensure progress is made at the summit, and jointly preserve the interests of the emerging economies and developing countries.

At the G20 summit on Monday and Tuesday, the G20 leaders will discuss the world economic situation, strengthening the financial system, development and trade issues.

At the seventh G20 summit, Hu is expected to expand on China's stance regarding key issues.

Hu has participated in the previous six meetings.

At his meeting with Calderon, Hu said that China and Mexico can tap the potential in mutual investment and improve cooperation in tourism, agriculture and science, while strengthening coordination on key world issues to preserve the common interests of the developing countries.

Calderon said China has played an important role in world peace and stability, and Mexico is ready to improve cooperation and coordination with China on world affairs.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Mexico. The countries have maintained close exchanges since they forged diplomatic ties in 1972, and particularly since they established a strategic partnership in 2003.

China is a major trading partner of Mexico. Bilateral trade volume reached $33 billion in 2011, an increase of 34 percent over the previous year.

The two countries have also maintained favorable communication and coordination on international and regional affairs.

Hu also met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on Sunday to strengthen bilateral and Sino-African ties. Mexico invited Ethiopia and some other non-G20 members to the meeting.

Hu was expected to meet leaders from Germany, France and the United States during the next two days on the sidelines of the summit.

Since heads of states and governments of G20 members met for the first time in Washington in 2008 to work out an action plan to prevent the global economy from collapsing, leaders of the G20 members have met five other times.

Hu said during his meeting with Meles that the G20 should take note of the unbalanced development of the North and the South, and recognize the contribution made by developing countries to the world economy and their reasonable demands.

Meles said China is an important partner for Africa and African countries hope to share and learn from the development experience of China.

Africa welcomes more investment from China, and is prepared to strengthen cooperation in manufacturing and infrastructure construction, said Meles.

He also said Ethiopia and Africa are ready to increase cooperation with China on issues including global economic development and climate change to maintain the common interests of developing countries.

Contact the writer at wujiao@chinadaily.com.cn

Experts are calling for more efforts to reduce trade frictions that have emerged in the current sluggish economic climate while emphasizing China's contribution to fixing the trade imbalance.

For the first time since the World Trade Organization started monitoring the protectionist reaction to the financial crisis in 2008, Director-General Pascal Lamy told an informal meeting of ambassadors of delegations to the WTO on June 7 that the rise in trade restrictions is now "alarming", and the accumulation of these trade restrictions is now a serious concern.

The implementation of new measures potentially restricting trade has remained unabated over the past seven months, and this has been further aggravated by the slow pace reforms of existing measures, Lamy said.

"It is a natural phenomenon that major economies take protectionist measures during a global economic slowdown. But the underlying reason is the domestic political situation and employment. The increased trade frictions this year are closely related to the simultaneous elections in major economies," said Zhang Yuyan, director of the Institute of World Economics and Politics affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"China's fast development in the past decades has left it frequently targeted in trade frictions though China has made great efforts in reducing the trade surplus, the major reason for trade disputes," Zhang said.

During the first four months of 2010, developing countries initiated the largest number of new investigations. China was the country most targeted by these initiations, according to a WTO report reviewing trade-related developments from Nov 1, 2009, to mid-May 2010.

Chinese exports received 69 trade investigations in 2011, involving an export value of as much as $5.9 billion, according to Li Yizhong, head of the China Federation of Industrial Economics.

"Chinese exporters now need to enhance core competitiveness. Most of our exporters are still labor or resource-intensive ones, and only about 10 percent have proprietary intellectual property rights," Li said.

Chen Fengying, director of the Institute of World Economic Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said China now has the full ground to fight the investigations under WTO rules.

China is expected to receive market economy status in 2016, which will reduce the trade frictions against it, according to Chen.

"China's trade surplus may account for less than 2 percent as a share of GDP this year, and the near future will see a balanced trade in the world's second-largest economy," Zhang said.

"More efforts should be given to advance and promote free trade, which is the fundamental way for world benefits. Each participant can gain from free trade," Zhang said.

Zhang called for major economies to jointly establish a new methodology for calculating the trade surplus because some exports are merely processed or assembled in China, and the current statistical method did not reflect the full picture.

"The establishment of regional free trade agreements will be another effective way to reduce trade frictions when the Doha Development Agenda negotiations cannot make breakthrough in the short term," Zhang said.

China kicked off FTA negotiations with the Republic of Korea in early May, and a free trade agreement involving China, Japan and the ROK is expected to start in November during the East Asia Summit.

Contact the writer at lijiabao@chinadaily.com.cn

International headhunters are being called in to work alongside officials on the government's talent import programs as they seek the best talent from around the world to work in China's top industry sectors.

China started a recruitment program of global experts in 2008, aiming at attracting about 2,000 overseas professionals to the country's key innovative projects, key subjects and laboratories, high-tech industrial parks and State-owned enterprises and financial institutions.

The One Thousand Foreign Experts Project, which the government launched late last year, plans to invite 500 to 1,000 high-end non-Chinese foreign professionals from other countries over the next decade to help promote innovation and scientific research.

Besides those, each province, municipality and autonomous region has started their own plans to introduce overseas professionals to help with local development.

Overseas professionals recruited by the programs will be entitled to financial subsidies and favorable visa, taxation and wage, residence, medical care and insurance policies.

The 'One Thousand' project, for example, awards each foreign professional a subsidy of up to 1 million yuan ($157,000) from the central government and scientific researchers can get a 3 million to 5 million yuan research allowance.

One international company now working closely on the initiatives is US-based Silk Road, whose co-founder Chauncey Kupferschmid told China Daily at an overseas talent introduction forum in Beijing on Monday that interest in the Chinese market is high.

"It's a big interest for headhunters to tap into that market. I think it's a continual challenge on everyone's part to brand and sell the message the country provides to global talent."

Kupferschmid said the Chinese government has given a clear message to global candidates that it is not only about opportunities for the high-end professionals themselves, but also about opportunities for their family and children, and about lifestyle.

"It is more than just a job," he said. "They ask, 'can I be successful and can my family be happy here in China?'"

Kupferschmid said his company with more than 3,000 clients in 75 countries - has already had candid discussions with Chinese authorities and will continue to look for ways to create partnerships to help introduce ideal professionals to China.

Xiong Zhixue is general manager of China Services International, a subordinate organization of State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs and is one of the key government bodies overseeing the talent introduction programs.

"We are exploring ways to cooperate with international headhunters who have a large number of global talent sources to help with our programs," said Xiong, who added that the organization is planning to host more meetings and seminars to let international headhunters get a better understanding of China's talent needs and thus to finally find the right talent.

Kupferschmid from SilkRoad said the message he received from the Chinese government is that the country needs high-end professionals in almost every industry, but that healthcare is one of the most urgent.

"Like in every country, there is a shortage of healthcare professionals, doctors and nurses.

"China is an aging society, and taking care of an aging society demands everything related to healthcare from pharmacy to rehabilitation and long-term living facilities," he said.

"I would suggest that healthcare stands out as an industry that really presents a global challenge for having the best talent to fulfill their roles."

Kupferschmid also suggested he's been using social media sites such as weibo in China and Facebook and Twitter overseas to promote the programs and catch candidates' eyes.

Caleb Baker, managing director with recruitment managed services of outsourcer Talent2's Asia Pacific office, added that it would also be bringing all its "intellectual property and experience" to help the government.

"It's a big step for us because we were mainly working in multinational sector for China business," he said.

Talent2's hires about 8500 overseas professionals a year into China, he said.

Zhang Ke, a country manager with First Advantage, a US-based provider of employment background screening services, added that it's targeting general and high-end professionals.

Contact the writer at chenxin1@chinadaily.com.cn

Chinese auditors have uncovered 237 million yuan ($37 million) of funds misappropriated in six projects that used foreign loans and assistance, the National Audit Office announced on Monday.

The frauds were detected in an audit conducted last year on 99 government projects that had received loans and assistance from international organizations and banking institutions such as the World Bank, Asia Development Bank, the United Nations Development Program and Department for International Development of the United Kingdom.

The report said the audited projects include agriculture, energy, transportation and urban construction. Among them, 20 used foreign loans and 79 were projects by foreign organizations.

The report also found substandard bidding and a lack of supervision involving about 650 million yuan in 18 of the projects.

As of the end of 2010, these projects had taken foreign capital worth 34.5 billion yuan.

The total planned investment for these 99 projects was more than 424 billion yuan, according to the office.

China's office of the UK Department for International Development, whose projects for tuberculosis treatment, rural medical care and water resources have been found to have auditing problems, confirmed that they received the report from the office last year.

China Daily's request for the office to comment on the auditing report and its possible influence went unanswered.

The report said the World Bank sponsors 46 projects that have been audited.

In a statement released by the National Audit Office, the office said the management and implementation of foreign-related projects are generally standard, especially in the use of funds from overseas organizations.

The statement said that in recent years three kinds of problems are found in the projects with foreign funds and assistance: capital misappropriation, poor supervision and management, as well as substandard accounting.

It said most of the problems have been corrected, and individuals who have broken the law will be subject to criminal punishment.

The National Audit Office also released a report on Monday, in which misappropriation of 128 million yuan in 34 environmental protection projects with foreign loans and assistance was detected.

Contact the writer at zhaoyinan@chinadaily.com.cn

President Hu Jintao shakes hands with a Mexican official upon arrival at the airport in Los Cabos on Saturday for the G20 summit, which will be held on Monday and Tuesday. Lan Hongguang / Xinhua

Amid increasing global economic uncertainty, economic growth and stability will be a priority for China at the upcoming Mexico Los Cabos G20 summit, renowned Chinese researchers and economists have said.

"China will call on global leaders to put economic growth on top of their agendas, particularly balanced growth," said Qu Xing, president of the China Institute of International Studies.

"I think President Hu Jintao will stress the foremost importance of 'stabilizing growth', as the extent of the eurozone's sovereign debt crisis has proved much more serious than previous estimates indicated, and the US' economic growth remains lackluster," said Chen Dongxiao, vice-president of the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies.

China hopes the summit will buoy the confidence of European countries, and supports eurozone countries to take effective measures to overcome their difficulties, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Wednesday.

The summit comes at a critical time when both developed and emerging countries are losing steam.

Brazil saw growth drop sharply in the first quarter and India - after a decade of near 9 percent growth - saw its rate fall to less than 6 percent.

Although global leaders should be able to reach a consensus on key principles such as economic growth and boosting employment, a huge gap remains on the specific approaches to address those issues, Qu said.

"Economic conditions vary from country to country. Some stress austerity, while others seek more liquidity to boost their economies. So it is very important for them to coordinate well," Chen said.

Besides economic growth, analysts expect more pressure on the delayed reform of financial institutions.

"The 2010 Seoul summit reached an agreement on a 6 percent voting quota transfer from developed countries to developing countries in the International Monetary Fund. But since then the progress has been strained," Chen said. "We will see more pressure on the implementation issue."

Brazil has already announced it may cap its contribution to a planned funding increase for the IMF fund unless there are firm promises to give emerging markets more say at the international table.

As the world's second-largest economy, China's growth provides an anchor during this time of crisis, experts said.

China has vigorously stimulated its domestic consumption and reduced its reliance on exports, which has greatly contributed to the global economic rebalancing, Qu said.

As of 2011, the share of China's trade surplus to its GDP had slumped for four consecutive years, and final consumption contributed 51.6 percent of GDP, statistics show.

President Hu has called for "balanced, sustainable and inclusive growth" and voiced opposition to protectionism at almost all of the previous six G20 summits.

Global leaders are expected to raise a variety of issues at the summit. Analysts believe that US President Barack Obama will probably utilize the venue in Los Cabos to press the Europeans to do more, for fear that the troubles in Europe will further drag down growth in the United States and ultimately affect his chances for re-election.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in an address to parliament before leaving for Mexico, said Europe's lingering sovereign debt crisis will likely dominate the summit.

Chen said the spotlight will likely be on the woes in the EU as it is posing a lasting and severe threat to the world's economy.

Although markets are still deeply skeptical about the EU's ability to come up with a concrete solution, experts said people should have rational expectations.

"Whether the summit will be a success is up to how much we expect," Qu said. "There are other platforms to address the technical things. In this platform, it is important for leaders to reaffirm their stances."

Contact the writer at zhengyangpeng@chinadaily.com.cn

The global economic recovery and growth will be the most pressing topics at the G20 summit in Los Cabos, Mexico, on Monday and Tuesday, overshadowed by an election in Greece and mounting worries about Spain and Italy.

The world's biggest economies must commit to a strong Europe and could agree to further bolster the International Monetary Fund's ability to contain fallout from Europe's debt crisis, G20 summit host President Felipe Calderon of Mexico said on Saturday.

"Even though we don't expect to reach specific agreements on Europe ... I want to see language and promises which are much more oriented to a new, stronger Europe, a Europe of the 21st century," Calderon told international news agencies.

Greece's elections on Sunday could help decide whether the country will remain in the eurozone, battling a debt crisis that has dragged on for two and a half years. Calderon said it was important to be prepared for any scenario in terms of the result.

Calderon said it would be impossible to solve all of Europe's problems at the G20, but he added the region was on the right track.

In April, G20 countries pledged at least $430 billion in new loans to the IMF so it could help countries hit hardest by the debt crisis. But emerging market powers have not yet said what amounts they will contribute.

"I estimate that it could be a bigger capitalization than the preliminary agreement reached in Washington, which will be finalized here, but I don't want to speculate how much," Calderon said, adding it was "a pity" that Canada and the United States were not chipping in.

China highlighted its expectations that the upcoming summit will facilitate the formation of a fair, inclusive and orderly international financial system and deepen international financial governance reform, Deputy Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai said on June 11.

"All member states should implement the International Monetary Fund quota and governance reform plan that were agreed upon last year and increase the representation and voice of the emerging economies," Cui said.

Chen Dongxiao, vice-president of the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said China is playing a greater role in promoting international financial reform, given the current circumstances.

"It is an election year in the United States and many European countries. As policy uncertainty rises, political willingness in those economies to promote IMF and monetary system reforms is getting weaker."

In recent years, the G20 has been working to solve some structural, long-term problems, such as reforming the IMF quota, regulating financial institutions and developing a global economic system that is more tolerant and inclusive.

The reform of the international financial system should still be the priority, since IMF reform, which was proposed in 2009, has not yet been fully implemented, said Chen.

Zhu Jun, deputy head of the People's Bank of China's international department, said earlier that China will "not be absent" from plans to add $430 billion in funds to the IMF.

But any capital input should be primarily based on a country's voting power in the institution, and further reform of the fund should include a greater say for emerging economies, Zhu said.

Li Ruogu, chairman and president of the Export-Import Bank of China, said the G20 must come up with specific programs to improve the current dollar-centric international monetary system.

"If we just say what should be changed but never come up with specific plans, it won't work. The G20 must create a working group to put forward specific proposals to leaders," Li said, adding that changes to the IMF's special drawing rights system might be a feasible method.

The SDR is an international reserve asset, created by the IMF in 1969, to support the expansion of international trade. It is a unit of account derived from the values of the dollar, yen, pound and euro.

Economists and officials have urged the IMF to include the currencies of emerging economies, such as the yuan, in the SDR basket, as they play an increasingly important role in the global economy.

US President Barack Obama wants to emerge from Mexico with signs that the European players at the table, led by Germany, are moving on their own agenda. That means pursuing a banking union to match the monetary union linking the eurozone, taking steps to keep borrowing costs down in the weakest nations and injecting life into economies with growth plans involving public money.

As US Treasury Undersecretary Lael Brainard put it, the focus in Mexico will be about "ensuring our European partners are escalating their response" to stabilizing the situation.

Outgoing World Bank President Robert Zoellick will warn the G20 summit that Europe risks sparking a financial meltdown that would have desperate consequences for developing countries, he told the British newspaper The Observer.

"Europe may be able to muddle through, but the risk is rising," the 58-year-old American said.

"There could be a Lehman moment if things are not properly handled."

The 2008 collapse of the US financial services firm Lehman Brothers - one of Wall Street's most prestigious firms - after its risky bets on the US housing market soured, sparked global financial panic.

The head of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development warned G20 members on Saturday they may need to deploy "overwhelming force" to confront Europe's sovereign debt crisis.

Speaking in Los Cabos ahead of the G20 summit, OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria said the eurozone's response to the trouble had not been adequately coordinated.

"Europe has the means, the institutions, the vigor and the power ... but its will has not been transmitted in the correct way, because of the problems in the governance of its institutions," he warned at a news conference.

European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in a joint letter to the leaders of EU members that "we should deliver a strong and credible message on growth at the Los Cabos summit".

Contact the writers at wangxiaotian@chinadaily.com.cn and chengguangjin@chinadaily.com.cn.

AFP, Reuters and AP contributed to this story.

November 2008

President Hu Jintao's speech entitled "Concerted efforts to tide over the difficulties"

Key points:

Giving a profound analysis of the root causes of the financial crisis and calling on the international community to strengthen economic coordination and deepen international financial regulation.

Coming up with the direction and principles of international financial reform, namely, insisting on the direction of building of a fair, just, inclusive and orderly new international financial order, and adhering to the principle of comprehensiveness, balance, progressiveness and effectiveness.

Putting forward four points on the implementation of reform measures: first, to strengthen international cooperation in financial regulation, improve the international regulatory system; second, to promote the reform of international financial organizations, to improve the representation of developing countries in international financial organizations; third, to encourage regional financial cooperation and give full play to the role of regional fund rescue mechanisms; fourth, improve the international monetary system, and steadily promote the diversification of the international monetary system.

2. London summit

April 2009

President Hu's speech entitled "Cooperation in the same boat"

Key points:

Giving a comprehensive introduction to initiatives taken by the Chinese government in response to the international financial crisis, expounding the Chinese government's views on the international financial crisis and the reform of international financial institutions, with China's emphasis on strengthening financial regulation, opposing protectionism and giving attention to the interests of developing countries.

Calling on the international community "to restore world economic growth in case of a serious recession; to oppose all forms of protectionism and maintain an open and free trade and investment environment; to speed up reform and reshape the international financial order".

3. Pittsburgh Summit

September 2009

President Hu's speech entitled "Best efforts to promote the growth, and to promote balanced development"

Key points:

Committing "to stimulating economic growth unswervingly to push forward the international financial system reform unswervingly and to promote balanced economic development unswervingly".

Putting forward a series of specific policies and proposals to urge the G20 member states to maintain the intensity of the stimulus package and major reserve currency issuing countries to take into account the external impact of their monetary policy as well as domestic impact.

4. Toronto summit

June 2010

President Hu's speech entitled "Work together to create a better future"

Key points:

Calling for a profound understanding of the seriousness and complexity of the profound impact of the deepening of the international financial crisis.

Urging for efforts to accelerate the building of a fair, just, inclusive and orderly international financial order, promote an open and free global trading system, promote the self-development capabilities of developing countries and to push the world economy to enter a strong, sustainable and balanced growth trajectory as soon as possible.

Putting forward three proposals: first, the G20 should transfer from a crisis-coping mechanism to a main platform for promoting international economic cooperation; second, we should accelerate the establishment of fair, equitable, inclusive and orderly international financial order; third, to promote an open and free global trading system.

5. Seoul summit

November 2010

President Hu's speech entitled "Redouble efforts to promote development"

Key points:

Putting forward a four-point proposal. First, to improve the framework and promote cooperation and development. Second, to promote open trade and coordinated development. Third, to improve the financial system, promote stability and development. Fourth, narrowing the development gap and promoting balanced development.

Stressing that as the vulnerability and imbalances of the world economic recovery have emerged, we should adopt a responsible attitude to make persistent efforts to promote strong, sustainable and balanced growth.

6. Cannes summit

November 2011

President Hu's speech entitled "Jointly promote growth and cooperation, and seek a win-win result"

Key points:

Putting forward five-point proposals: first, take into account the growth while mind balance; second, seek win-win cooperation; third, to improve the governance through reform; fourth, to move forward through innovation; fifth, to promote prosperity through development.

President Hu Jintao pledged to further the China-Denmark comprehensive strategic partnership, and said he believed that Europe would overcome the current debt crisis during his meeting with Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt in Copenhagen on Saturday.

Hu told the Danish prime minister that his visit to Denmark, the first by a Chinese head of state since the two countries established diplomatic ties 62 years ago, was "an embodiment of the high attention we attach to China-Denmark relations".

Hu said China and Denmark, with their comprehensive strategic partnership, have seen an ever stronger political mutual trust, fruitful economic and trade cooperation, as well as close exchanges in the cultural, technological and educational sectors, and have maintained good communication and coordination in the United Nations and other multilateral bodies on international affairs.

The Chinese president said the smooth development of China-Denmark relations has proved that as long as the two countries treat each other as equals on the basis of mutual respect and win-win results, and respect their core interests, major concerns and the choice of their social systems and development paths, they could enjoy a long-term, sound and steady development of bilateral ties.

China believes that Europe has the wisdom and ability to overcome temporary difficulties and achieve economic recovery and growth, Hu said.

China will continue to work together with international community to help European countries to solve debt problems, he added.

Hu said he hopes that Denmark, an important member of the European Union, will play an active role in boosting Chinese relations with the continent.

Thorning-Schmidt said the EU appreciates China for its efforts together with that of the international community to confront the debt crisis.

She added that Denmark will continue to work on developing an even closer cooperative partnership between the EU and China.

The two leaders' schedule included a signing ceremony of 11 cooperation documents in such areas as energy, culture, trade and investment.

The documents also include the memorandum of understanding on establishing a China-Denmark renewable energy partnership.

"China is willing to strengthen cooperation with Denmark on important global issues such as climate change and development aid," Hu said.

Thorning-Schmidt said Hu's visit is another milestone in Sino-Danish relations, laying a solid foundation for the long-term.

The prime minister noted that despite the unstable world economy, China has maintained its economic growth momentum, which is important not only to Denmark, but also the whole world.

Denmark is a world leader in wind energy, meeting roughly a quarter of its electricity needs with wind. It is the home to the world's biggest wind turbine manufacturer.

According to an energy plan adopted by Denmark this year, wind power is expected to account for half of the country's electricity demand by 2020, with renewable energy accounting for about 35 percent of total energy demand.

Meeting the queen

The Danish royal couple of Queen Margrethe II and Prince Consort Henrik threw a lavish reception for Hu and his wife, Liu Yongqing, on Friday evening, attended by hundreds of celebrities in the country.

Hu said he appreciated the efforts that the queen and her family had made for China-Denmark relations.

Denmark was one of the first Western countries to establish diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China after it was founded in 1949. The royal couple paid a visit to China in 1979, the queen becoming the first leader from a Nordic country to visit the nation.

Hu on Friday also joined Queen Margrethe II on the royal yacht Dannebrog to tour the Copenhagen harbor, which features a variety of green developments.

From Denmark, Hu travelled on Saturday to Los Cabos, Mexico, for a G20 summit, which will address pressing issues affecting global economic recovery.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at wujiao@chinadaily.com.cn

Frank Jensen, the lord mayor of Denmark's capital city, spent the last week looking forward to Friday night's state dinner for President Hu Jintao. But the food and handshake at Queen Margrethe II's summer palace, he hoped, was just the beginning of a new relationship with China.

Jensen said he will be heading for Beijing later this month to finalize a sister-city agreement with the Chinese capital. While some cities collect sister-city relationships like postcards, it's a rarity for Copenhagen, whose officials have historically preferred to network from within organizations such as the C40. That group of the world's largest cities includes 20 percent of the global GDP.

"I look forward to visiting Beijing," Jensen told China Daily last week. "The sister city agreement is the first long-term agreement that Copenhagen makes in many years, and I am very honored that Beijing pays such great attention to Copenhagen."

Jensen said both cities have a mutual interest in cooperating to enhance sustainable urban development, such as efficient use and supply of water.

One way Copenhagen has capitalized on this idea in recent years: the Harbor Baths, a recreation area that revitalized a once-shabby waterfront district. Now on a summer's day, the water park teems with kids diving off the piers and adults who sunbathe or swim as their fancy takes them. Merchants have followed the people there. Classic old buildings have been renovated, and hip galleries, cafes and restaurants cluster around that part of the harbor. A blue sky sparkles over the inviting water, and a boat taxi takes commuters up the inlet to busy new commercial centers where parking is at a premium.

"The investments we have made within the area of sustainable urban development in Copenhagen have solved problems with pollution, improved the quality of life and generated economic growth," Jensen said. "I look forward to sharing our innovative green solutions with the city of Beijing."

One of those green solutions is an old one: The bicycle. Bike culture has a long history here, getting a lot of new media attention during the climate change summit of 2009. Jensen gets to work on two wheels every day. So do Crown Prince Frederik and the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker.

The Danish embassy in Beijing has aggressively promoted bicycles at its public events for many months. Ambassador Friis Arne Petersen, now in the Danish capital for President Hu Jintao's state visit, said recently that bicycles are old friends for residents of Beijing and Copenhagen. "They have always been part of our lives as transportation, not recreation," he said recently while hosting a "climate race" in the Sanlitun area of China's capital. "In today's world, where we try to reduce our carbon footprint, bicycles can have a bigger part to play than ever."

In Copenhagen late last month, Jensen unveiled what the city called a "holistic vision" to achieve its goal to be carbon-neutral by 2025. The ambitious plan would reduce CO2 by transferring energy production away from coal and toward biomass, wind and solar - all of which Denmark has been a global leader - while also reducing consumption and improving energy efficiency in transportation, housing, heating and industry.

The targets include a 20 percent reduction in heat use, a 10-percent reduction in household electricity use and a 20-percent reduction in electricity use by businesses. That will cost the city about 2.7 billion kroner ($458 million) - including 600 million kroner for improvements in the cycling infrastructure. It will also require additional private investment of at least 20 billion kroner, the city estimated.

"The investments will ensure jobs now," Jensen told the media in late May, "and the new solutions will be an opportunity to create economic growth".

michaelpeters@chinadaily.com.cn

"Copenhagen is such an amazing city. It provides almost all of the beautiful things one can expect in life," said Tao, who traveled to Denmark in 2011.

"All of the tourist attractions, such as the canal tour, the castles and the Tivoli Gardens, never failed to meet my expectations."

Bai Jiang, manager of European-bound travel business for China Travel Service, said: "Denmark has always been one of the top tourism destinations for its alluring fairy-tale atmosphere.

"The travel service sees a 10 percent increase in the number of Chinese tourists traveling to Denmark every year," Bai said.

In 2004, China granted Denmark approved destination status, which allowed Chinese citizens to travel to the country in tour groups.

"Denmark's leisurely way of life also attracts visitors," said Shang Xiaojun, director of the Scandinavian Tourist Board's travel service department. "Many Chinese people said that they enjoyed the peaceful and environmentally friendly life there."

According to Qianinfo Economic Research - one of China's professional economic information research agencies - in the first 10 months of 2011, more than 75,000 Chinese tourists visited Denmark, up 20 percent compared with the same period in the previous year.

However, Bai said that Chinese people are more familiar with attractions in Western Europe, so promoting Denmark's places of interest is necessary.

"We've noticed that many Chinese visitors just spent one or two days exploring the capital city," said Shang. "Now we are cooperating with traditional media, micro blogs and travel agencies to promote other beautiful Danish cities and characteristic scenery."

Bai suggested that the visa policy to go to the country should be eased, to attract more Chinese visitors.

"If Denmark could put forward a policy similar to what the United States did earlier this year, the number of Chinese tourists going to the country would increase greatly."

In January 2012, the US adopted a new tourism-boosting initiative allowing Chinese tourists to enjoy an upgraded visa service.

He also suggested that more flights should be provided during Denmark's tourism season, which is from June to September.

"Due to its climate, most Chinese tourists choose to travel to Denmark in those four months, but sometimes flight capacity cannot meet the demand."

Contact the writers at cangwei@chinadaily.com.cn and songwenwei@chinadaily.com.cn.

Xu Yi, the head of a section at COWI China, a Danish environmental consulting company in Beijing, still feels she is at school after working for more than five years.

"The project I do right now is exactly the same as I did at school in Denmark," the 30-year-old said, showing satisfaction with her overseas studies.

When Xu went to Copenhagen for her master's degree in 2004, she was fresh out of Zhejiang University, one of the prestigious universities in China.

"They (Danish education) provided me practical skills to solve problems, rather than working on questions in textbooks," the environmental engineering graduate said.

Xu is the one of a growing number of Chinese students studying in Denmark.

In the 2000-01 academic year, there were only 216 Chinese students studying full degrees in Denmark. That had risen to almost 1,200 students in 2009-2010, according to the Danish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Higher Education.

Chinese students in Denmark not only gain knowledge from universities, but also contribute to, or will contribute to, the local society.

A prediction from the Danish Chamber of Commerce in 2009 said that Denmark will face a severe shortage of educated workers in the coming years due to the sparse population.

The gap will reach 30,000 in the labor market in 2030, and social science and engineering graduates will be in high demand.

According to the Ministry of Education website, China had about 30 million students receiving education in higher institutes in 2009, arguably the biggest human capital market.

After gaining her master's degree from the Technical University of Denmark, Xu found a job there. "It is not that hard to find a job here, at least half of my Chinese friends got job offers after graduation," she said.

In September 2011, the Innovation Center Denmark launched the Sino-Danish Network in China, aiming to promote Danish study and career opportunities to Chinese students and professionals.

"Denmark has a green card policy that allows graduates who have not yet gained job offers to stay one to three years, depending on students' background, such as schools, majors, etc. It increases Chinese students' employment opportunities in Denmark," said Wang Lulu, head of the consulting department at the Beijing branch of Studyadviser, a cultural and educational exchange company between Northern Europe and Asia, especially China.

"Students in Denmark have many internship opportunities, preparing for job hunting in the future," said Wang, adding that Denmark has high quality education, with a few top prestigious universities and high-ranking business schools.

"The high quality of life is also attractive," she said.

luowangshu@chinadaily.com.cn

The draft action plan for the coming global sustainable development summit, the Rio+20, remains unfinished as the final preparatory meeting wrapped up Friday evening.

After three days of negotiations, there is consensus only on 28 percent of the document, Nikhil Seth, head of the Rio+20 Secretariat, told reporters in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil before the closing of the final round negotiations.

Brazil will take on the coordination and shepherd the draft through informal consultations that began on Saturday. The formal high-level segment of the conference begins June 20.

"Transparency and openness of the consultation process will be prioritized," said Seth.

Principles agreed to at the Earth Summit 20 years ago must be reaffirmed in the action document, the Chinese delegation said on Friday.

The principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" has become a sticking point for some developed countries and the European Union proposed to delete the terms in the draft document. "The bloc of the Group of 77 and China firmly request to reaffirm the principles stated in the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development," La Yijun, a representative of the Chinese delegation said on the sidelines of the meeting on Friday.

La urged all sides to adopt a sense of urgency and a spirit of compromise and flexibility.

Sustainable development has been highly valued by the Chinese government, he said, and the nation will continue to work to push forward the process.

The definition of "green economy" is another issue at the meeting. Green economy is a pathway to sustainable development, La said, but it must be considered in the context of poverty eradication and not as an excuse for trade protectionism.

Developed countries need to help developing countries establish green economies by providing funds, technology and market access, but their commitment has been weak, said La.

Luiz Alberto Figueiredo, Brazil's ambassador at the talks, said that with only days left before leaders convene, only essential issues will be discussed "so we can reach a text as soon as possible." The deadline for these consultations is June 19, but Figueiredo said Brazil intended to wrap up discussions earlier.

"The final negotiations have gone almost nowhere since they began on Tuesday. It is developing countries and the world's poorest people who have the most to lose from a weak outcome at Rio+20," said Stephen Hale, an official of Oxfam International, a non-governmental organization.

Brazil has achieved progress in addressing poverty and inequality at home, he said, urging Brazil to take the leadership to persuade countries to match the urgency of the challenge.

lanlan@chinadaily.com.cn

13 buried in construction site collapse

Thirteen people were buried after a building under construction collapsed in East China's Zhejiang province on Saturday morning, according to an announcement by local authorities.

The accident happened at 10:24 am at a construction site in the Jiaxing Port and Development Zone in the city of Jiaxing, said the local fire department. Twelve of the 13 people have been saved from the debris and rushed to a local hospital.

Guangxi

Pile-up on highway kills 4, injures 6

Four people were killed and another six injured in a six-vehicle pile-up on a national highway in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region on Saturday afternoon, according to an announcement by local authorities.

The accident occurred at around 1 pm on a section of the No 210 National Highway in Nandan county in the city of Hechi when a truck which was followed by four sedans overturned and collided with another truck coming from the opposite direction, said local traffic police.

Beijing

372 million to take summer trains

China's Ministry of Railways predicted on Saturday that the country's railways will transport 372 million passengers during the summer travel season this year.

The number of rail passenger trips during the summer season, which starts on July 1 and lasts until Aug 31, is expected to be 21.65 million more than in the equivalent period in 2011, according to a statement posted on the ministry's website.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi crown prince Nayef has died

Crown Prince Nayef, the hardline interior minister who spearheaded Saudi Arabia's fierce crackdown crushing al-Qaida's branch in the country after the 9/11 attacks in the United States and then rose to become next in line to the throne, has died. He was in his late 70s.

Nayef's death unexpectedly reopens the question of succession in this crucial US ally and oil powerhouse for the second time in less than a year. The 88-year-old King Abdullah has now outlived two designated successors, despite ailments of his own. Now a new crown prince must be chosen from among his brothers and half-brothers, all the sons of Saudi Arabia's founder, Abdul-Aziz.

Japan

2 reactor restarts OK'd, more seen

Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda told Kansai Electric Power to restart two reactors at the Oi nuclear power plant in the Fukui prefecture, in a bid to head off a summer energy crunch, local media reported on Saturday. The decision, despite public concerns over safety after the big earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima plant, could open the door to more restarts among Japan's 50 nuclear power reactors.

Iraq

Thousands gather for Shiite memorial

Tens of thousands of pilgrims packed northern Baghdad on Saturday morning for the peak of commemorations of the death of a revered Shiite imam, amid tight security measures after a wave of attacks killed 72.

A religious leader told the story of Musa Kadhim, who died in 799 and is said to have been poisoned, while people in the crowd wept at the shrine.

News Watch

Afghan police backed by NATO-led troops killed 18 armed anti-government militants and arrested eight others in 24 hours across the country, the Interior Ministry said in a press release on Saturday.

It did not say if there were any casualties on the security forces.

China Daily - Xinhua - AFP

"Made in China" is a phrase Americans know mainly as an indicator of pervasive offshore manufacturing. But increasingly it's being attached to products originating in China from domestic companies - and gaining acceptance in the West.

A recent survey by Li-Ning, a leading Chinese athletic footwear and apparel company, found that a growing number of consumers in the United States are willing to buy products of Chinese origin.

Li-Ning Co, which was founded by 1984 Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Li Ning, set out in 2011 to launch a sportswear line in the US. The Beijing-based company partnered with Acquity Group, an e-commerce and marketing consultant, to help expand its US consumer base.

They came up with Digital Li-Ning, a joint venture with a $10 million investment that entailed the launch of an online retail site, www.Li-Ning.com, and development of a new apparel collection for the US market. Digital Li-Ning is based in Chicago.

According to the study, there has been a significant shift in US consumers' perception of Chinese brands over the past five years. About 62 percent of Americans said they were more likely to purchase products from Chinese companies today than they were in 2007.

Two consumer groups, those aged 18 to 25 years old and those with annual household incomes of over $225,000, were most likely to regard Chinese brands favorably.

"The openness among the young and upper-income groups is a key part of our strategy, as it provides an opportunity for us to tap into these markets and tailor our products to fit their needs," said Craig Heisner, Li-Ning's vice-president of sales, marketing and merchandising.

More than half of the survey respondents, according to Li-Ning, said they believe the quality of Chinese brands will measure up to US-branded goods in the next five years.

Electronics had the highest favorability rating among categories of Chinese products, with appliance manufacturer Haier and PC maker Lenovo the best-known companies.

Li-Ning was particularly encouraged by young people's positive perception of Chinese brands. It is "a positive indicator that our brand strategy is right on target", Heisner said.

"We know they are more open to our digital-only approach and prefer to interact with companies via digital channels," he said. "The same opportunity lies with the more affluent market, as the survey results indicate they are more familiar with Chinese culture and products, making them more open to what Li-Ning has to offer."

Shaynah Kowitz, 28, said her assessment of a product was based on its quality, not where it was made.

"One Chinese brand may be of good quality, another Chinese brand may not be," she told China Daily. "I don't judge a brand by its country. I think Chinese brands will, over time, gain recognition in the US. Most products we have are made in China anyway."

Dana Sease, 25, said she visited China with her family about two years ago, and they were happy with the Chinese products they bought there.

"I think Chinese products will gain more recognition over time. The Chinese economy is doing very well," she said.

Ann Lee, a China expert based in New York, said she wasn't surprised by the results of the Li-Ning study.

"The perception that products made by Chinese companies are of poor quality is not just limited to Americans - Europeans think that way, too. They worry about counterfeit products," said Lee, who is a senior fellow at Demos, a left-leaning think tank, as well as an instructor at New York University and author of the recent book What the US Can Learn From China.

"The older generation has that notion, and it's harder to change their mind. Younger people who don't have that mindset are more receptive toward Chinese products," she said.

"Over time, Americans should be more open as Chinese products continue to improve."

Still, China lacks a "Top 100" global brand, said Crocker Coulson, president of CCG Investor Relations, which advises many Chinese companies.

"China remains a 'hidden dragon' in that respect," he said. "Brands can only be earned over time. You've got to build relationships with the media, financial markets and government. All these have to be synchronized in delivering the message."

Chinese companies are trying to learn from Western giants such as Procter & Gamble Co about brand-building, according to Eric Schmidt, founder and president of China Entrepreneurs, a Beijing consulting firm.

"People think of China as a manufacturing base. They don't understand the quality of Chinese products and brands. Over the next 10 years, things will change because Chinese companies learn so fast. They will be able to absorb those marketing skills," said Schmidt.

atung@chinadailyusa.com

China's foreign direct investment inflow stopped its slowdown in May, with an increase of 0.05 percent year on year, signaling foreign investors' growing confidence in the world's second-largest economy.

FDI in China rose to $9.23 billion in May, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce on Friday.

For the first five months of the year, FDI inflow dropped 1.91 percent from a year earlier to $47.11 billion.

"FDI inflow has rebounded from a six-month consecutive fall since November, meaning that foreign investors are regaining their confidence in the Chinese market," said He Weiwen, co-director at the China-US-EU Study Center of the China Association of International Trade.

FDI is a gauge of the health of the external economy. China has been the largest FDI destination among developing economies for years.

China's FDI grew 10 percent to a record high of $116 billion last year, while foreign capital flowing into central and western China increased 14 percent and 28 percent during the same period.

However, due to global economic woes and the ongoing European debt crisis, China's FDI inflow consecutively dropped since November - the longest period of continuous decline since the global financial crisis started.

In April, FDI decreased by 0.7 percent from a year earlier to $8.4 billion.

Chen Jian, vice-minister of commerce, said earlier that the decline of the FDI inflow will not be a long-term tendency.

"FDI was affected by weak external economic conditions and gloomy global economic development," Chen said.

"However, China should take active measures to confront the growth slowdown of the FDI, as the global economy continues to cool down," Chen added.

A report from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development showed that the global FDI scale this year was expected to be $1.6 trillion, 6.7 percent higher than last year.

The annual increase is 10.3 percentage points lower than the growth last year. According to the report, the slower growth results from the sluggish global economic situation and the capital reimbursements of developed economies, as they try to revive their manufacturing industries.

"China's FDI inflow may begin to see stable growth starting this month, as foreign investors recognize the prosperity of the Chinese economy after the government implemented a series of measures to stimulate the domestic economy," He Weiwen said.

"The slowdown of the US and EU investment in the Chinese market will gradually ease in the second half of this year," He added.

When visiting China in March, Siemens CEO Peter Loscher said that the German industrial giant would continue to increase its investment in China's central and western regions in the coming years.

"We see great opportunities for green business and energy-efficiency projects in those regions which are both tailored to our company's target and China's Five-Year Plan," he said.

China launched new FDI guidelines last year, encouraging foreign companies to invest in the central and western regions, as well as in the high-end manufacturing, high-tech and service sectors.

For the first four months of the year, FDI from the EU slumped by 27.9 percent to $1.9 billion from a year earlier.

baochang@chinadaily.com.cn

Cooperation in renewable energy and innovation will become a new engine for growth for Sino-Danish relations, Danish Ambassador to China Friis Arne Petersen said.

While China and Denmark have had normal cooperation in economics and trade for more than 30 years, the two countries also need new cooperation in fields such as energy efficiency, renewable energy development, water treatment and health policies, Petersen said.

Petersen made the remarks in an exclusive interview with China Daily before President Hu Jintao's state visit to Denmark from Thursday to Saturday.

"China's new emphasis in the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) on sustainable development, energy and environment are extremely attractive seen from our perspective. We believe it is the right way to go for China," Petersen said.

The ambassador said that during the visit government agencies and companies from the two countries will sign more than 10 important agreements. The government of China's northeast city of Anshan in Liaoning province has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Danfoss, a Danish temperature-control systems manufacturer, and COWI, a consulting firm in engineering and planning.

According to the agreement, Danfoss and COWI will implement the first district heating system fully designed with Danish standards in Anshan, to help the city cut energy consumption, reduce CO2 emissions and reach an energy efficiency level higher than today's Copenhagen.

Leaders from both companies see the agreement as a "win-win deal for the Denmark-China relationship", and said there will be more projects.

Denmark plays a leading role in energy application, saving and management, areas in which China could learn a lot, said Zhen Jianguo, former Chinese ambassador to Denmark.

Zhao Junjie, an expert on European studies with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Sino-Danish cooperation in green energy and protection of the environment will be "the engine for the bilateral ties".

Petersen said there are also some other ways to improve traditional Sino-Denmark cooperation, such as the agreement on reforming double taxation.

"The agreement will better fit the modern realities and business between Denmark and China," Petersen said.

The agreement will also enhance the economic, cultural and people-to-people interactions between the two countries, said Petersen, adding that Denmark expects to see a large number of agreements.

The cooperation between China and Denmark is "easy" and "successful" and "the friendship and cooperation are really growing", he said.

"We have had difficult times, but we are always able to learn from the difficult times and become more mature and make the bilateral ties continue to move on," Petersen said.

As the rotating chair country in the European Union, Denmark expects that China can further increase economic interaction in investment, trade and government procurement, and urges EU countries struggling with the debt crisis to take responsibility for their domestic fiscal situations.

Zhen said other European countries will also benefit from Denmark's cooperation with New China.

The Sino-Danish relationship has a long history. The two countries have had diplomatic relations for 62 years, and Denmark was one of the first Western countries to build diplomatic relations with China.

In September 1979, Denmark's Queen Margrethe II paid a state visit to China, becoming the first Danish head of state to visit China.

The Danish royal family officially launched the Mandarin version of its official website to honor Hu's state as well as to show the country's bond with China.

The top page features a slide show of pictures, including a photo of the queen and the president, and another of the queen and her husband Prince Consort Henrik.

Zhang Yunbi contributed to this story.

zhouwa@chinadaily.com.cn

The recent high frequency of visits by top Chinese leaders to Europe signals China's willingness to strengthen dialogue with European countries amid the deepening eurozone crisis, experts said on Thursday.

President Hu Jintao began a state visit to Denmark on Thursday, which is expected to stimulate bilateral ties and cooperation between China and European countries.

"The high frequency of visits to the West, including smaller countries like Sweden and Denmark, is a welcome priority from China's senior officials as it indicates the openness for dialogue and priorities of China's policymakers," said Dennis Pamlin, a Sweden-based director of the 21st New Frontiers and adviser of the China Climate Change Communication Center of Renmin University of China.

In April, Premier Wen Jiabao visited Iceland, Germany, Sweden and Poland. That was followed by high-level visits to Europe by Vice-Premier Li Keqiang and top legislator Wu Bangguo in May.

The high frequency of visits shows the concerns of top Chinese leaders over the economic development of Europe, which is closely tied to China's own economy, said Gu Junli, an expert on European studies with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"Whether the ongoing debt crisis in Europe could be effectively contained and resolved will have a significant impact on China as Europe is a major partner of Beijing in terms of trade and investment," Gu said.

Premier Wen has stressed the importance of helping Europe get through its debt crisis as China has a high stake in Europe because it is a major export market and source of technology for China.

"The visits of Chinese top leaders to Europe sent a strong message of China's willingness to strengthen dialogue over an effective resolution of the eurozone crisis," Gu said.

During the visits, Chinese leaders signed several major economic deals with their European counterparts, aiming to expand bilateral trade and investment opportunities.

One way to further enhance positive dialogue is to explore ways to establish a limited number of strategic projects, including a joint technology initiative and cultural exchange between China and Europe, Pamlin said.

"China could for example establish joint technology development initiatives with Europe for solutions to the world's most pressing problems," he said.

Pamlin noted that cultural and education exchanges among the younger generation is also important to strengthen ties between China and Europe.

"This would help build bridges and increase cultural understanding. This could also dramatically increase the knowledge of spoken and written Chinese among a new generation in the West," he said.

Li Xiang in Paris contributed to this story.

fujing@chinadaily.com.cn

A recent survey by Li-Ning, a leading Chinese athletic footwear and apparel company, found that a growing number of US consumers are willing to buy Chineseorigin products.

Li-Ning Co, which was founded by 1984 Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Li Ning, set out in 2011 to launch a sportswear line in the United States. The Beijing-based company partnered with Acquity Group, an e-commerce and marketing consultant, to help expand its US consumer base.

They came up with Digital Li-Ning, a joint venture with a $10 million investment that entailed the launch of an online retail site, www.Li-Ning.com, and development of a new apparel collection for the US market. Digital Li-Ning is based in Chicago.

According to the study, there has been a significant shift in US consumers' perception of Chinese brands over the past five years. About 62 percent of Americans said they're more likely to purchase products from Chinese companies today than they were in 2007.

Two consumer groups, "Millennials" from 18 to 25 years old and those with annual household income of over $225,000, were most likely to regard Chinese brands favorably.

"The openness among Millennials and upper-income levels is a key part of our strategy, as it provides an opportunity for us to tap into these markets and tailor our products to fit their needs," said Craig Heisner, Li-Ning's vice-president of sales, marketing and merchandising.

More than half of the survey respondents, according to Li-Ning, said they believe the quality of Chinese brands will measure up to US-branded goods in the next five years.

Electronics had the highest favorability rating among categories of Chinese products, with appliance manufacturer Haier and PC maker Lenovo the best-known companies.

Li-Ning was particularly encouraged by Millennials' positive perception toward Chinese brands. It is "a positive indicator that our brand strategy is right on target," Heisner said.

"As digital natives, we know they are more open to our digital-only approach and prefer to interact with companies via digital channels," he said. "The same opportunity lies with the more-affluent market, as the survey results indicate they are more familiar with Chinese culture and products, making them more open to what Li-Ning has to offer."

Shaynah Kowitz, 28, said her assessment of a product is based on its quality, not where it was made.

"One Chinese brand may be of good quality, another Chinese brand may not be," she told China Daily. "I don't judge a brand from its country. I think Chinese brands will, over time, gain recognition in the US. Most products we have are made in China anyway."

Dana Sease, 25, said she visited China with her family about two years ago, and they were happy with the Chinese products they bought there.

"I think Chinese products will gain more recognition over time The Chinese economy is doing very well," she said.

Ann Lee, a China expert based in New York, said she wasn't surprised by the results of the Li-Ning study.

"The perception that products made by Chinese companies are of poor quality is not just limited to Americans - Europeans think that way too. They worry about counterfeit products," said Lee, who is a senior fellow at Demos, a left-leaning think tank, instructor at New York University and author of the recent book What the US Can Learn From China.

"The older generation has that notion, and it's harder to change their mind. Younger people who don't have that mindset are more receptive toward Chinese products," she said.

"Over time, Americans should be more open as Chinese products continue to improve."

Still, China lacks a "Top 100" global brand, said Crocker Coulson, president of CCG Investor Relations, which advises many Chinese companies.

"China remains a 'hidden dragon' in that respect," he said. "Brands can only be earned over time. You've got to build relationships with the media, financial markets and government. All these have to be synchronized in delivering the message."

Chinese companies are trying to learn from Western giants such as Procter & Gamble Co about brand-building, according to Eric Schmidt, founder and president of China Entrepreneurs, a Beijing consulting firm.

"People think of China as a manufacturing base. They don't understand the quality of Chinese products and brands. Over the next 10 years, things will change because Chinese companies learn so fast. They will be able to absorb those marketing skills," said Schmidt.

atung@chinadailyusa.com

Bilateral trade expected to meet demand for clean technologies

President Hu Jintao arrived in Copenhagen on Thursday night for the beginning of his first state visit to Denmark, amid positive reactions from Chinese and Danish media.

At Copenhagen's Kastrup International Airport, Hu said he is looking forward to in-depth discussions with Danish leaders on strengthening all-round cooperation between the two countries and on other issues of mutual interest.

He added that he also expects to have extensive contact with representatives of a variety of sectors in Denmark in order to take the Sino-Danish comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level.

"It gives me great pleasure to pay a state visit to Denmark at the invitation of Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II," Hu said.

"I wish to convey the cordial greetings and best wishes of the Chinese people to the people of Denmark."

During the visit, Thursday to Saturday, Hu will meet with the queen and with Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

The two countries will sign agreements on mutual investments, tariffs, energy, environmental protection, agriculture, education and culture, Song said, adding that people-to-people exchanges and cooperation will also be boosted.

This is the first time in the 62-year history of the People's Republic of China that a Chinese head-of-state has visited the Nordic country, and the visit has generated numerous reports in Chinese and Danish media.

Hu three-day tour is expected to usher in a new era of bilateral ties. The activities scheduled with Danish politicians, entrepreneurs and citizens reflect the strong desire on both countries to lift their ties to a new level, Xinhua News Agency reported on Thursday.

Trade between the countries will expand because the trip will further match China's strong demand for clean technologies and green solutions with the rising interest among Danish entrepreneurs to tap into the markets of emerging economies, Xinhua said.

The news agency quoted Denmark's Queen Margrethe II as saying that she and her husband are very much looking forward to Hu's visit and that she has been pleased to be able to promote Denmark in China.

Hu's visit is a sign of China's desire to increase strategic coordination and pragmatic cooperation with European countries, and it will raise Sino-European ties to a new high, China Radio International said on its website.

Like Chinese media, Danish media has devoted great attention to Hu's visit ever since the Danish news agency Ritzau broke the news on June 5.

Denmark's English-language newspaper The Copenhagen Post published a series of stories covering the date of the visit, the outlook of Hu's meeting with Danish leaders and businesses' reaction to the visit.

"I am greatly looking forward to the historic visit of President Hu Jintao," the Post quoted Thorning-Schmidt as saying.

"China's role in the development of large parts of the world has grown rapidly in recent years. Both Denmark and China have much to gain by a closer relationship, and I look forward to discussing how we can further strengthen the depth and breadth of our strategic partnership."

Hu's visit will pave the way for more high-level visits from both countries and is important on a symbolic level, regardless of what they achieve in specific agreements, the Post quoted Professor Kjeld Erik Broedsgaard of the Asia Research Center at Copenhagen Business School as saying.

The visit establishes a good foundation for creating a number of new cooperative agreements between Denmark and China. It is of great importance for Denmark and especially Danish business, the Danish-Chinese Business Forum said on its website.

The visit has been closely followed by Danish media including Ritzau, DR News and Boersen.dk, and was featured on news updates on the country's radio and TV channels.

The positive media reaction toward Hu's visit indicates the sound diplomatic atmosphere between the two countries, said Zhao Junjie, an expert on European studies with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The high attention given the visit by the media shows the expectation of strategic cooperation between the two countries, Zhao added.

China will help solve the European debt crisis through various channels and firmly supports the euro and EU integration, said Vice-Premier Li Keqiang as the crisis worsens with Spain's borrowing costs hitting record highs on Thursday.

Li made the remarks when meeting visiting Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Didier Reyners at Zhongnanhai, the central government compound.

"China firmly supports the euro and EU integration, and will go on joining hands with the international community to solve the European debt crisis through various channels," Li told Reyners, according to a press release from the Foreign Ministry.

"China believes the EU is capable of having member nations reach consensus and that they will make efforts to stabilize the financial situation, promote growth and employment and properly handle the debt issue," Li said.

Reyners told Li that Belgium is willing to play an active role in pushing forward China's relations with Europe. The two leaders last met in May.

The Belgian is the longest-serving minister of finance in the EU, and warned on May 25 that central banks and companies would be making a grave error if they were not preparing for Greece to leave the eurozone.

"There is no organized discussion at the European level as to what we do (if Greece leaves). If central banks and companies are not preparing for the scenario, that would be a grave professional error," he told the European American Press Club in Paris.

"The situation in the eurozone is very serious. With problems emerging in Spain, hopes for other countries of saving Greece have further faded," said Zhang Jianxiong, an expert on European studies with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"Li's remarks reflect Beijing's attitude at the moment - it does not want to see the eurozone come apart and will help in its own way."

"It's the responsibility of a major country. The EU is China's largest trading partner. The deteriorated financial situation there will overshadow China's exports and its economic growth," Zhang said.

Reyners arrived in Beijing on Wednesday for a four-day visit. He also met Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi earlier on Thursday.

He is scheduled to meet Vice-Minister of the National Development and Reform Commission Xie Zhenhua and key Chinese business leaders on Friday.

On Friday, the deputy prime minister will also give a keynote speech on the eurozone at a seminar gathering business people and economic experts, and address the China Global Outbound Investment Summit.

lixiaokun@chinadaily.com.cn

Naval forces of the United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea will conduct a two-day joint drill next week in the waters south of the Korean Peninsula, raising concerns over regional stability.

The two-day drill, scheduled to start on Thursday in waters off the ROK's southern island of Jeju, will involve training in search and rescue operations and maritime interdiction operations, the ROK Defense Ministry said on Thursday.

Destroyers and anti-submarine helicopters will be mobilized for what officials call an exercise "of a humanitarian nature", the ministry said.

This is the first time that Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force troops have conducted a drill in related waters with the US and ROK naval forces.

Japan's military personnel have participated in joint US-ROK maneuvers as observers.

The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington, based at the port of Yokosuka in Japan, is expected to take part in the drill, Kyodo News Agency said.

The Pentagon said the drill will focus on "improving interoperability and communications" to facilitate "cooperative disaster relief and maritime security activities" in the future.

The three countries "will conduct this exercise beyond the territorial waters of any coastal nation", it added.

But the joint operation is also intended to pressure Pyongyang to refrain from escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Japan's Jiji Press news agency said.

In addition to the DPRK, Kyodo said the exercise is also aimed at reining in China.

Beijing on Thursday also responded to the planned drill.

"China believes the international community, especially countries in the Asia-Pacific region, should contribute more to ensuring the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula as well as the Northeast Asia region, not making things worse," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said.

Analysts said the drill is primarily aimed at boosting military coordination to handle the situation on the Korean Peninsula in case of emergencies, and will also help beef up Washington's military presence in the region.

The drill comes in the wake of Washington's new strategic focus the Asia Pacific region, and the drill will "further strengthen the US' leading status in the Peninsula situation", said Zheng Hao, a commentator with Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV.

Seoul and Washington are set to launch a separate, three-day drill on June 23 in waters off the west coast of the Korean Peninsula, Xinhua said.

In another development, the top diplomats and defense chiefs of Washington and Seoul on Thursday discussed how to strengthen their alliance and cope with the threat posed by Pyongyang.

Xinhua and AP contributed to this story.

zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn