Chinese Story

Torch festival for the disabled

2008-09-01T19:39:00.002-07:00

Disabled people enjoyed an unprecedented gala as the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games torch passed through the capital of Hubei province yesterday.

More than 2,400 of Wuhan's 438,000 physically challenged people cheered the torch on its relay and enjoyed the accompanying performances.

Local authorities said it was the largest get-together for the disabled in the city.

"The torch relay is real festival for us and I feel extremely happy," one of the disabled spectators said, waving the national and Paralympic flags.

Sixty torchbearers, including 11 disabled persons, took part in the 3-km relay.

Wen Qing, the final torch bearer, said: "I hope disabled athletes carry forward the spirit and go all out to achieve good results in Beijing."

Wen, dubbed the "wheelchair princess", has won more than 50 wheelchair race medals at home and abroad over the past 15 years.

Seven Hubei athletes will take part in swimming, table tennis and track events in the Paralympics that starts on Sept 6.

The Wuhan city government has intensified its efforts to help the disabled. For example, it has created more than 10,000 jobs for the physically challenged over the past five years.

The Paralympic torch relay will cover 13,181 km in nine days and pass through 11 cities. It passed through Changsha, capital of Hunan province, along the "Ancient China" route yesterday.

The relay has two routes - "Modern China" and "Ancient China".

The "Modern China" route covers Shenzhen, Wuhan, Shanghai, Qingdao and Dalian. The "Ancient China" route includes Xi'an, Hohhot, Changsha, Nanjing and Luoyang.

Wuhan has a population of 8 million and is the economic and communications hub of central China. The local government has decided to raise the city's GDP from last year's 314 billion yuan to 1 trillion yuan in the next seven to eight years.

Source: China Daily

Beijing Olympic Boxing: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly (3)

2008-09-01T19:39:00.001-07:00

The Ugly

Honorably, I had a long conversation with Evander Holyfield in his hotel room here in Beijing, and the only topic we didn't touched, as it were, in the realm of boxing, was the ugly side of fighting, which he knows far better than anyone else.

Yet the next day, we put no effort on searching Holyfield's miserable experience in our memory. We see it in action.

Dzhakhon Kurbanov, a light heavyweight boxer from Tajikistan, was disqualified for biting his opponent, Yerkebulan Shynaliev from Kazakhstan, on the shoulder during their Olympic quarterfinals.

Holyfield was at the ringside. The American boxing legend, who travelled all the way to China, told me that he came here for the purpose of scouting the best Chinese boxing prospect for his promotional company.

He witnessed a load of Olympic boxing's best behaviors that night, including China's final gold medalist light flyweight Shiming Zou and light heavyweight Xiaoping Zhang.

However, the 1984 Olympic light heavyweight bronze medalist apparently won't be happy watching the scene that possibly would reminds him of the woeful moments when Mike Tyson infamously bit off a chunk of his ear 11 years ago, as he had already left the arena after watching China's light heavyweight Xiaoping Zhang triumph over Abdelhafid Benchabla of Algeria.

The dirty misdemeanor occurred with less than 20 seconds to go in the third round when Shynaliyev led the scorecard far ahead with 12-6. Feeling the frustration and desperation in the medal death match, the Mike Tyson mimic, who had been warned multiple times for shoving and holding during the fight, bit Shynaliyev on his shoulder during a clinch.

After the victim from Kazakhstan angrily showed the blood on his shoulder to the referee, the third night of the Olympic quarterfinals was put on an ugly final touch.

By People's Daily

Beijing Olympic Boxing: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

2008-09-01T19:38:00.002-07:00

Now the Beijing Olympics is already in the history book, and my life as an Olympic journalist has gone away with the passage of Beijing's hot air, both in and outside the ring. Everything seems to be back to normal, except for the memories lingering around my heart.

While still not getting used to life after the Games, I decided to ease my post-Olympic blues by reliving some of the good, the bad and the ugly moments of the 2008 Beijing Olympic boxing tournament.

【 The Good 】【 The Bad 】【 The Ugly 】
The Good

Striking Gold On Home Turf

On the hot afternoon of Aug 24, 2008 at the Beijing Workers' Gymnasium, China closed its 51-gold solo Olympic show with two golds, one silver and one bronze in the square ring.

The Eastern Dragon smashed the triopoly of Cuba, Russia and the United States, any of whom had ruled the tally table in boxing at every Olympics since 1942.

Cuba bagged eight total medals – four silvers, four bronzes, yet no golds. Russia leveled China in golds, but trailed by one silver on the table. The once towering United States ended up with no gold, no silver, but merely a single bronze.

Zou Shiming of China, left, won the light flyweight 48 kilogram Olympic boxing gold medal by defeating Serdamba Purevdorj of Mongolia in Beijing, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2008. Bronze medalists are Yampier Hernandez G of Cuba and Paddy Barnes of Ireland.
With two golds, one silver and one bronze, China emerged as the new king in the amateur boxing world.

Being the host nation can be a double-edged sword, as the expectation of performing on home soil is way above the norm and the pressure has to be measured against the boost from the local media, as witnessed by Chinese shooter Li Du's failure to win the first gold medal of the Games.

Yet, Chinese boxers not only lived up to the hype, but exceeded their high expectations.

China's light flyweight Shiming Zou launched the bonanza by winning in an unexpectedly easy fashion when the other finalist from Mongolian retired with a shoulder injury that had plagued him before the Games early in the second.

Two hours later, the biggest dark horse of the Olympic boxing tournament Chinese light heavyweight Xiaoping Zhang resumed Zou's remarkable feat, doubling the host nation's boxing golden tally by outpointing Kenny Egan 11-7.

Zhang Xiaoping of China celebrates after defeating Kenny Egan of Ireland in the men's light heavyweight 81 final boxing match to win the last gold medal for China at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2008. Bronze medalists are Tony Jeffries of Britain and Yerkebulan Shynaliyev of Kazakhstan seen at the right.
China's third finalist super heavyweight Zhilei Zhang was blocked from winning the third boxing gold medal for China by the talented Italian Roberto Cammarelle.

The 6'7" Chinese giant was no match against the 6'3" Italian little big man, who breezed into the final with an effortless knockout victory over Britain's Commonwealth title holder David Price and had the edges in hand speed, athletism and ring generalship.

Although being dominated from the sound of the opening bell and taking several crunching blows to the jaw, the valiant Zhang showed no signs of fear and demonstrated admirable resistance.

By the time the third round was over, the Italian super heavyweight world champion had taken an 11-3 lead.

That became 13-4 by the fourth before Cammarelle landed a vicious short left hook, which dropped the World Championships bronze medalist to his knees. The gallant Zhang beat the count, but the merciful referee waved off the bout, putting an end to Zhang's seemly endless punishment, and also putting China's finishing touches of its Olympic medals, the 100th, in Beijing.

The World Championships welterweight bronze medalist Hanati finished third again when he was awarded the bronze medal together with Korean Jungjoo Kim at the medal ceremony after the welterweight final, one hour before Zhilei Zhang concluded China's medal bonanza with a super heavyweight silver.

Last year in Chicago, nearly 600 boxers from more than a hundred countries participated in the 2007 World Boxing Championships, yet China stood out from the crowd by reaping one gold, four bronzes and seven "Olympic tickets," with nine out of eleven participants cruising to the eighth-finals and seven to the quarterfinals.

This year in Beijing, a total of 286 elite boxers from all round the sport's powerhouses gathered at the 2008 Olympic boxing arena, with the mighty Cuba standing in the way, China took a step further by winning two golds, one silver and one bronze with a historical six boxers make it into the quarterfinals, notwithstanding.

The sleeping boxing Giant is now awakening, and looks set to rule the roost for a long time to come.

Rose In Blossom

While China rang down the curtain on the Beijing Olympic Games with a history-making boxing boom, the 2012 Olympics' host nation Great Britain came back home with a full blossom in the sport as well.

Great Britain, known for its emblem - the rose, reaped its best medal haul in over half a century since Melbourne Olympics in 1956, with one gold and two bronzes.

Despite Britain's biggest gold medal hopeful Frankie Gavin's pre-game exit, due to the weight-making issues, James DeGale take over the torch to ignite his golden moment.

Although the draw put the British team in a dead group - Degale's path was hindered by the reigning Olympic champion Bakhiytar Artayev, while super heavyweight David Price had to confront the European super heavyweight champion Islam Timurziev in his opening fight, the British boxers performed more than creditably.

David Price and Light heavyweight Tony Jeffries both squeezed into the semifinals, while James DeGale danced his way to the final rivalry and brawled his way to the golden glory.

Will the gold medal dangling from DeGale's neck still shine in the London Olympics? Would the two bronzes turn into golds on their home soil? We'll see in four years' time.

Beijing Olympic Boxing: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly (2)

2008-09-01T19:38:00.001-07:00

The Bad

The Fall Of A Mighty Empire

Gone are the days when the U.S. built its mighty empire upon the boxing immortality by winning five gold medals on the land of Montreal 42 years ago.

Gone are the days when the king of the world completely dominated the ring by harvesting twelve medals, ten of which gold, in 1984 and eight shiny pieces of hardware four years after in Seoul.

Coming back from Beijing with no golds and no silvers, only one bronze, the team, billed as "the best U.S. Olympic Boxing Team since 1984", is not one of, but the worst in U.S. Olympic boxing history ever, as far as the end result goes. The 1948 team also won only one medal, but at least it was a silver.

First, it was the bantamweight Gary Russell Jr., one of the team's top medal contenders who collapsed and withdrew even before the Games had started.

It was reported that the former World Championships bronze medalist lost consciousness in his Olympic Village dormitory hours before missing the Olympic weigh-in, but Russell's father and personal coach Gary Russell Sr. told me here in Beijing that his son dropped out of the Olympics not because of the alleged weight problems, not because of dehydration, but because of some other unannounced reasons.

"Gary was treated with fluids by doctors at his dorm but was not hospitalized," Russell's father said.

The next big hopeful for the Olympic gold in the U.S. team to follow in Russell's footsteps is the flyweight world champion Rau'shee Warren.

Warren, the first U.S. boxer to compete in successive Olympics in more than 30 years, was eliminated in the first round after losing a razor-thin 8-9 decision against his old foe - the 2005 World Championships gold medalist South Korean Oksung Lee.

The last American world champion Demetrius Andrade also fell in the hands of a South Korean Jungjoo Kim, who went on to secure a bronze medal, in the quarterfinals. The 20-year-old prospect walked out of the ring even before the referee raised the winner's hand.

It was heavyweight Deontay Wilder, virtually an after-thought U.S. medal hopeful and the one with the least boxing experiences on the U.S. contingent, brought home with the United States' only hardware - a bronze.

He booked the only hardware for the former Mighty Empire with a 10-10 controversial tiebreaker victory over Morocco's Mohammed Arjaoui in the quarterfinals before losing his sluggish bout 1-7 to Russian Clemente Russo.

When I asked USA Olympic Defensive Boxing Coach Willy Price his feeling about Wilder's last outing in Beijing, the veteran handler said: "The guy liked to hold and hug that made Wilder unable to take advantage of his long arms. With less than three years boxing experience, he brought home an Olympic bronze medal. Well, I think that's quite an accomplishment."

Commenting on the U.S. boxing team's performance, Willy Price said with a rueful tone: "I had a higher expectation coming here. My expectation is that we're going to take home with a bunch of medals...We've gotta talk about it."

He went on to say: "I think every coach's relation with the athletes is just like the father and sons. We shouldn't take anything away from any athlete how hard they trained, especially within the last couple of years."

I reckon that the 2008 Olympic U.S. Boxing Team consists of the most talented boxers from all over the United States of America, and the amateur scoring system is not a major factor to their terrible performance because it applies to every boxer who gets involved and the U.S. team did well enough with the international style to grab two golds and managed to dispatch three other boxers into the quarterfinals at last year's World Amateur Boxing Championships.

The Americans have the best traditions passed down from such greats as Cassius Clay , Sugar Ray Leonard, George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Evander Holyfield, Roy Jones Jr. and Oscar De La Hoya, among others, and the best gyms, the finest nutrition coaches and the most gifted young prospects, why did they have a nightmare performance this time?

Forget about all the excuses - controversies, quirky scoring system, the dreadful amateur boxing styles...

Since the Golden Boy crowned his golden title in Barcelona 1992, the Mighty Empire has went into a major decline in the amateur boxing stage, grappling six medals in Atlanta 1996, four in Sydney 2000, three in Athens 2004 and one in Beijing at the freshly-concluded Olympic boxing tournament.

I believe the steady decline of U.S. amateur boxing should not be attributed to some particular coaches or boxers, but the entire U.S. amateur boxing program.

The USA Boxing needs to take a few more rounds to reexamine the system. Hopefully, heading into London, they would redeem themselves and restore their past golden glory.

Competing in sports gave me a life: Jordan's first Paralympics gold medalist

2008-09-01T19:37:00.003-07:00

"Competing in sports gave me a life," Maha Barghouti, Jordan's wheelchair table tennis ace who headed to Beijing for Paralympics, was quoted by local daily The Jordan Times on Sunday.

In Sydney 2000, Barghouti won the first Paralympic gold medal for Jordan. She was named Arab Athlete of the Year in 2001 and voted Jordan's top sports person of 2002.

Starting to play table tennis and athletics in 1986, Barghouti said: "Competing in sports gave me a life. And that's what I urge parents with disabled children to do."

"When any disabled person gains confidence and has the support of the family, they can easily convince others that they are not a burden," she added.

Jordan's Paralympic athletes headed to Beijing on Friday to take part in the 13th Paralympic Games which will be held September 6-17.

The kingdom's athletes will compete in table tennis, power lifting and athletics.

The first time Jordan's flag was hoisted during an Olympic event was at the 1996 Paralympics in Atlanta when Imad Gharbawi won a silver medal in the discus.

The crowning achievement was in Sydney 2000 when Barghouti won Jordan's first gold medal. Two medals were added in Athens 2004 when Jamil Shibli won silver in shot put while the women's table tennis team won bronze.

Source：Xinhua

Beijing Paralympic Torch Relay held in central China's Wuhan

2008-09-01T19:37:00.001-07:00

The Paralympic torch relay continued its journey in Wuhan on Sunday as the second leg of the "Modern China" route.

The opening ceremony started at about 8 a.m. at Wuhan Sports Center. Sixty torchbearers, including 11 disabled, ran in the three-kilometer-long relay.

The first runner, Cheng Yu, is a disabled former athlete from national team. She is the champion of women's team table tennis in Seoul 1988 Paralympic Games.

The torch was passed on in Wuhan economic and technological development zone, of which rapid economic growth has surpassed thirty percent in recent five years.

The cauldron was set ablaze in warm cheers by the final carrier Wen Qing, who was crowned as the "wheelchair princess" and won more than 50 medals on wheelchair racing in the worldwide games for handicapped during past 15 years.

This relay also became a grand festival of 438,000 disabled of the city. Splendid shows were later performed by the disabled, including the famous Chinese conductor Zhou Zhou, to display their consistent spirit and optimistic attitude on life.

More than 2,400 disabled were also invited to enjoy the performance and share the happiness of sacred flame relay. "The torch relay makes me feel the joys of festival," a disabled audience said.

To ensure the disabled fully enjoy the relay, the government has recruited more than 200 volunteers to provide them better services, such as accompanying the torchbearers to pass on the torch, serving all coming disabled food and water, and providing more convenient equipment.

With a population of more than eight million, Wuhan serves as the gateway to China's hinterlands in central China's Hubei province. As its outstanding geographic advantage, it is also nicknamed the "thoroughfare to nine provinces".

Yangtze and its biggest tributary Hanjiang River meet downtown Wuhan and cut the city into three parts of Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang.

With great economic development results in recent years, the city has become one of the new batch of economic reform experiment zones in China.

The Beijing Paralympic torch relay will cover 13,181 kilometers in nine days passing eleven torch relay cities which are selected from provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities of China.

The Paralympic torch relay was carried out along two routes, namely the route of "modern China" and the route of "ancient China". "Modern" route covers Shenzhen, Wuhan, Shanghai, Qingdao, Dalian and Beijing, the "ancient" has Xi'an, Hohhot, Changsha, Nanjing and Luoyang.

Source：Xinhua

"Wheelchair princess": torch relay makes my Paralympic dream come ture

2008-09-01T19:36:00.003-07:00

"The torch relay makes my Paralympic dream come true ," said Wen Qing, who was crowned as "wheelchair princess", also the last torchbearer in Beijing Paralympic Torch Relay Wuhan leg on Sunday.

As the forerunner of Chinese wheelchair racing sport, the 42-year-old Wen has won more than 50 medals in the worldwide games for handicapped in past 15 years. Until now, she has still held many records on wheelchair racing in Asia.

When Wen was one year old, she fell off the bed and broke her left leg. Later She became a worker in printing plant of Wuhan Iron and Steel Company, and began her glorious sports career from 1989.

Nevertheless, it is a regret for her not getting a medal in Paralympic Games. "When hearing that I was selected to be the Paralympic torchbearer, I was so excited and could not sleep overnight," she said.

Besides, her student Liu Wenjun who has won many golds of international weelchair marathon games, will also compete in four events of the Beijing Paralympic Games.

"I sincerely hope the sacred flame can illuminate her coming path and help her gain good results during the games," Wen said.

Source：Xinhua

Spanish Princess to attend opening ceremony of Beijing Paralympics

2008-09-01T19:36:00.001-07:00

Spanish Princess Infanta Elena will lead an official delegation to attend the opening ceremony of Beijing Paralympics on Sept. 6, Spanish Paralympic Committee said on Sunday.

Elena, who is also the honorary president of the CPE, will attend the ceremony with the Education, Social Policy and Sports Minister Mercedes Cabrera, CPE President Miguel Carballeda, and Mercedes Coghen, a representative from Madrid Olympic Games Biding Committee .

Most MOGBC leaders have been to Beijing for the 2008 Olympics, and have conducted publicity activities in the city for Madrid's bid for the 2016 Olympics. They are to travel back to Beijing with Coghen.

Spain will send a team of 232 people, including 133 athletes, to take part in 15 games of the Beijing Paralympics.

Source: Xinhua

Chinese wins table tennis title in Pyongyang

2008-09-01T19:35:00.001-07:00

Chinese Yan An won the men's singles gold medal at the 22nd Pyongyang International Table Tennis Invitation tournament on Monday.

Yan beat host player Jang Song Mah 4-3 in the final.

Chinese Li Xiaodan lost to host player Kim Jong 4-1 in the women's final.

Host paddlers Kim Chol Min/Kim Gok Bong and Kim Jong/Kim Hye Sung took the men's and women's doubles respectively.
The tournament attracted over 60 players from China, India, Mongolia and the host country.

Source: Xinhua

New Hamlet interpretation set for China debut

2008-09-01T19:34:00.006-07:00

For patrons of the arts, to see ornot to see will hardly be the question when 72-year-old Lin Zhaohua, a much-honored director, puts on a fresh interpretation of "Hamlet" this autumn.

Famed actor Pu Cunxin and Gao Yuanyuan, a rising actress, will play Hamlet and Ophelia respectively.

The play is scheduled to hit the stage on Oct. 21 at the Poly Theater in Beijing. It runs through Oct. 25.

Lin's version of the Shakespeare classic is one of the highlights of the third international theater festival opening on Oct. 10.

The gala is being hosted by China's National Theater Company tomark the 444th birthday of the famed British Bard.

Also in store are two other versions of Hamlet -- from Australia and Kazakhstan respectively. However, it is Lin's version that will undoubtedly be in the spotlight.

In 1990, he created a sensation by putting on "Hamlet." Thousands of people lined up for tickets outside the Beijing Film Academy theater in the dead of winter.

The success inspired him to revive the drama again in 1994. A year later, the play was invited to Japan and received huge accolades there.

Lin, who is also head of the theater research center at Beijing University, has been a pioneer of the country's theater scene since 1982 when his first play "Absolute Signal" debuted. He is reputed for his unique understanding of Hamlet.

His thinking is very much outside of the box as he switches the roles among Hamlet, Claudius and Polonius. His interpretation, which included a minimalist stage set, surprised audiences.

"Shakespeare's works are eternal not because what the works themselves do to us but because what we can do to the works," he said.

After the introduction of the reform and opening-up policy in 1978, many foreign classics, mainly from the West, were introduced to Chinese audiences. Many, however, were brought in without much digestion. Some scholars even had the tendency to worship the Western thoughts.

Lin's Hamlet was among the first staged efforts to reverse the trend. He took the initiative to experiment on the masterpiece by the famed British playwright.

He demonstrated what Chinese could do to expand the dimension of Western classics.

Lin's Hamlet will tour the country after the festival ends on Nov. 2.

In 1990, he crafted a Hamlet who was not a Danish prince, but instead a commoner who might be any of us. Now, some 18 years on, what will Lin do to outshine not only the two foreign Hamlets but also his previous versions? Undoubtedly, an anxious audiences awaits.

Source: Xinhua

Man gets death penalty for killing six police in Shanghai

2008-09-01T19:34:00.005-07:00

An unemployed Beijing man who killed six policemen and injured another four in a knife attack in Shanghai was sentenced to death at the Shanghai No.2 People's Intermediate Court on Monday.

Yang Jia, 28, stabbed a security guard at the police branch in Zhabei District and started a fire at its gate at about 9:40 a.m. on July.1.

He then forced his way into the building and attacked nine police officers, according to the prosecution. Six police officers died. Three others and the security guard were injured .

Yang was apprehended at the scene and confessed to the killings, the prosecution said.

The No. 2 division of the Shanghai Municipal People's Procuratorate alleged Yang guilty of premeditated murder on July 17.

The procuratorate said Yang was arrested by Shanghai police for riding an unlicensed bicycle on Oct. 15, 2007, and was interrogated.

Yang later sued the officers for 10,000 yuan in compensation for psychological damage. The claim was rejected by the local public security authority.

Source: Xinhua

Composer: Opera "Mulan" a blend of East and West

2008-09-01T19:34:00.003-07:00

Chinese opera "Mulan" won wide acclaim at its debut at the Vienna State Opera House on Saturday evening. Guan Xia, composer of "Mulan," attributed the success to artistic innovations the opera has gone through.

"'Mulan' adopts the approaches familiar to Western opera-lovers. There is no aesthetic gap for them to appreciate this Chinese opera," said Guan in an interview with Xinhua.

Based on Chinese folk opera, "Mulan" integrates the artistical ways of Western opera, said Guan, who is also director of the China National Symphony Orchestra .

"Mulan" is different from Chinese traditional folk opera, and it does not completely copy Western opera either, according to Guan.

"It integrates symphony, Western opera, musical opera, folk opera, drama and dancing with elements from Chinese folk music and Chinese national costume," said Guan.

"Mulan" is an integration of Chinese modern stage arts and Western traditional culture, making it a good example for Chinese national opera to be mounted on the international stage, Guan added.

"This is a successful experiment," he noted.

In retrospect, Guan said Western opera was introduced to China just 100 years ago.

Beginning in the late 1970s, Chinese opera entered a new phase of development when a series of popular operas like "Savage Land" and "The Daughter of the Party" were put on the stage.

Talking about the evolution of Chinese opera, Guan said there has been two approaches -- one is in favor of localization while the other is for direct adoption of Western opera.

Based on national music and folk opera, Chinese opera needs to be put to the international stage through renovations, according Guan.

"China's national operas have to go through another renovation before they are mounted on the international opera stage, that is, to renovate China's national opera in accordance with artistical rules of Western opera," Guan said.

"Mulan" sets a good example for China's national opera as it adopts Western style to show the charm of Chinese culture, according to Guan.

"It is a successful experiment for China's national opera to march onto the international stage," Guan added.

"Mulan" made its debut at the prestigious Vienna State Opera House, representing the "first step" for China's national opera to make its appearance on the European stage.

"This is a good start," Guan said.

Source: Xinhua

WHO: social inequality affects health

2008-09-01T19:34:00.001-07:00

According to an investigative report issued by the World Health Organization on August 28, social inequality affects the health of the world's population. It comes as a reminder to attach more importance to a fair distribution of wealth while developing the economy.

The report, named "Closing the Gap in one Generation," is the result of a three-year investigation by the World Health Organization's Commission on the Social Determinants of Health.

It reveals that "wealth is not necessarily a determinant." Some low-income and developing countries such as Cuba, Costa Rica, China and Sri Lanka have achieved good levels of health despite a relatively low national income. While the toxic combination of economics and politics causes large gaps in health among different countries and different regions in the same country, those gaps were caused by social inequality, not biological factors. And they appear among Northern European countries, most undeveloped countries, and different regions in Australia and Britain.

The report also reveals that although economic development has increased several countries'incomes in recent years, the increase in a nation's wealth does not necessarily improve the nation's health. If a fair distribution can not be attained, economic development could possibly aggravate social inequality.

By People's Daily Online

Death toll rises to 38 in SW China earthquake

2008-09-01T19:33:00.004-07:00

The death toll in Saturday's 6.1-magnitude quake in Sichuan and Yunnan has risen to 38, according to local authorities.

Huili County, the worst-hit region in Sichuan, registered five more deaths as of 8 a.m. Monday, raising the death toll to 32 in the province. A total of 321 people were injured in the county, statistics from the quake-relief headquarters showed.

The county reported 20 deaths before Monday.

The publicity department of Chuxiong Autonomous Prefecture of Yi Nationality, one of the quake-hit areas in Yunnan, said one more body was retrieved Sunday evening there, adding up the death toll to six in the province.

Firefighters dig, bare-handed, two bodies out of the debris in quake-hit Huili county in Sichuan Province August 31, 2008. Death toll from the 6.1-magnitude earthquake has risen to 38 in Sichuan and Yunnan, and more than 400 were injured.
Latest investigations showed that 195 people were injured in the prefecture, including 47 serious. More than 300,000 people were affected as houses of nearly 13,000 households were destroyed or damaged.

Nearly 3,700 people had moved to safe places with help from 1,100 police officers. More than 900 medical workers helped with first aid, disease control, medicine and equipment supply campaigns.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs announced Sunday night that the quake killed at least 32 people and destroyed some 258,000 houses after jolting parts of Sichuan and Yunnan.

A total of 467 were injured and about 152,000 people were evacuated, it said.

Areas affected by the quake were Panzhihua and Huili, both in Sichuan, and autonomous prefectures of Chuxiong Dali, Lijiang and Zhaotong cities, all in Yunnan Province. Kunming, capital of Yunnan, was also hit.

Most of the fatalities were in Huili, Chuxiong and Panzhihua, which sit on the southern end of the fault line of the May 12 quake that left more than 69,000 people dead and nearly 18,000 missing.

In Panzhihua along, five deaths and 132 injury cases were registered and more than 32,000 people were evacuated for safety concerns. More than 1,800 houses collapsed and nearly 100,000 others were shattered. Many bridges, roads and reservoirs were damaged, according to the disaster-relief headquarters.

In the quake zones, more than 300 aftershocks had been monitored as of Sunday afternoon, but the occurrence of tremors above 6.0-magnitude is unlikely in the next two weeks, a seismologist said.

Source: Xinhua

Loughborough University, the pioneer of sport technology

2008-09-01T19:33:00.003-07:00

Loughborough University is the UK's premier university for sports development and training. It has an unparalleled record of sporting excellence and some of the most celebrated names in sport have studied or trained at the Loughborough University. Today the University continues to nurture the sporting stars of the future - including athletes who will represent Great Britain in the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The sports technology research group has been active for over 20 years at the Loughborough University. It is regarded as one of the world's largest academic groups in sports technology and engineering, and works with many of the world's leading sporting goods brands including NIKE, ADIDAS as well as REEBOK.

Loughborough 's idea for sports technology is unique because it has a very strong tradition in sports and engineering. The university itself is medium-sized, and there are around 15,000 students, undergraduates and graduates on campus. It offers a wide range of course disciplines, but sports and engineering are definitely the university's top disciplines.

The project it works on is very diverse, ranging from athletic footwear to sports garments, from engineering to golf facilities. RespiVest, a garment for training breathing and is proven to enhance inspiratory muscle performance. Customised Footwear, a next generation apparel using cutting edge rapid manufacturing techniques to create footwear, is optimized for individual elite athlete and gives them a medal winning edge. EUROPASS, ADIDAS Football that is constructed out of 14 panels using revolutionary Thermal Bonding technology allows players exceptional ball control, just name a few.

There are around 50 staff within the University's Institute of Sports Technology, 6 to 7 of them are academica, 4 to 5 technicians, and the remain are the researchers, either postdoctoral researchers or Phd students.

One of the main areas for the research group is commercial and enterprises activity, developing new products for world's sports goods brands, which will also involve work with manufacturers. A lot of its work is in partnership with sporting goods brands, manufacturing overseas.

The University has a good understanding of relationships between major sporting goods brands and manufacturing factories. It works to provide innovation and research development. One of the objectives is to support high performance athletes who are preparing for the Olympics. A large number of athletes are training on campus, preparing for Beijing 2008, particularly in swimming, track and field athletics, martial art as well as judo.

The funding Loughborough University's research programme has received for the British athletes largely comes from UK Sport. There have been many Olympic competitors, world champions and world record holders from Loughborough University.

The Institue of Sport Technology is to assist these athletes in their training and preparation for the Olympics, which is very much dependent of the need of the athletes. Generally, it is related to instrumentation or monitoring, improvement of the instrument they use in training.

Loughborough University is the home to a number of sport governing bodies, like British Triathlon Association and British Volleyball Association are based here. University's campus also has a wide range of sport facilities, which are used by top athletes training in particular sports, not so much for competition, but it is really a high quality training area that helps elite sportsmen and sportswomen to realize their potential.

Source: Xinhua

All 3.4 mln students in May 12 quake zone to return to school

2008-09-01T19:33:00.001-07:00

All the 3.4 million students in the May 12 quake zone in southwest China's Sichuan Province will return to school on Monday, a provincial education official told a news briefing on Sunday.

About 33 percent of the students will resume classes in their former schools unaffected in the earthquake. Thirty-eight percent will attend classes in buildings that have been reinforced. Around 28.4 percent will study in prefabricated classrooms, according to Tu Wentao, the provincial education department head.

Nearly 20,000 students in the worst-hit areas would have to leave their home towns to seek schooling. About 11,000 will study in 16 other cities in Sichuan Province. The remaining will begin classes in 25 other provinces, including Guangdong and Shanghai, he said.

"We will not tolerate a single student dropping out of school because of the disaster and poverty."

The local governments was providing living allowances to those students, he added.

"I have learned how to surf the Internet. It's great to send e-mails to my peers in Beijing," said He Zhongchen, a grade three student at the Guanzhuang Middle School, in a computer room on Sunday.

In total, about 1,400 students began their new term in 53 prefabricated classrooms at the Qingchuan County school on Sunday morning. The school was funded by Procter and Gamble and computer maker Hewlett-Packard.

Source: Xinhua

China legislature member proposes free nursery school for one year

2008-09-01T19:32:00.003-07:00

Zhu Yongxin, a member to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress , China's top legislature, has called for nursery schools to be free for at least one year here on Sunday.

"The high fees of some nursery schools have burdened heavily on the parents," the Beijing News quoted him as saying. "Nursery school has become the weakest link of our education chain," said Zhu, also vice chairman of the China Association for Promoting Democracy, one of the country's eight non-communist parties.

In China, nursery schools usually enroll children between three and six years. But many children in rural areas, especially those in the western provinces, failed to enter either because there were no such schools available or because the high tuition deterred their parents.

Zhu's proposal echoed a report of Li Jianguo, vice chairman of the top legislative body, according to the paper.

The majority of the 15.9 million left-behind children in rural areas didn't attend nursery schools, said Li at the newly-concluded session of the top legislature from Sept. 25 to 29.

These children were left at home because their parents or parent were working in cities.

Li also urged governments to invest more in rural education andinstitutions to accommodate such children.

The Ministry of Education was currently working on a regulation to standardize the pricing of nursery schools, the paper said.

Source: Xinhua

China to produce world's fastest bullet train

2008-09-01T19:32:00.001-07:00

China will produce the world's fastest bullet train for the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway, a senior railway official has said.

Zhang Shuguang, deputy chief engineer with the Ministry of Railways, said the domestically developed train will run at 380 kph, the highest speed for any railway in the world.

The first intercity train between Beijng and Tianjin departs from Beijing South Railway Station for Tianjin, Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 1, 2008.China will produce the world's fastest bullet train for the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway, a senior railway official has said.
And if the project materializes, the travel time between the two metropolises will be cut from five to around four hours, enhancing the rail network's competitive edge against airlines, he said.

Previously, China planned to run trains at 350 kph on the 1,318-km Beijing-Shanghai line, the same speed as on the Beijing-Tianjin intercity passenger railway that opened a month ago.

And the travel time is estimated at five hours, about half of the current time. Manufacturing 380-kph trains in China is already possible in terms of technology, he said.

China has established a comprehensive system for bullet train manufacturing, including basic theory, design, manufacture, maintenance and appraisal, he said.

In the past few years, China has imported technology to manufacture 200-250 kph bullet trains from France, Japan and Canada, and German engineering giant Siemens agreed to transfer a full set of technology for manufacturing 350-kph trains.

Using Siemens' technology, Tangshan Railway Vehicles Co Ltd in Hebei province has started production of CRH-3, a jointly designed 350-kph train, and is expected to be able to manufacture 50 such trains by next year.

China has also fostered an experienced team through the previous six speed-up campaigns and the building of the nation's first high-speed railway between Beijing and Tianjin, he said.

"We have mastered core technologies in terms of manufacturing high-speed trains and made innovative achievements in the process," he said.

"It is possible that we can start to manufacture 380-kph trains in two years' time, and put them into service on the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway," he said.

Construction of the railway is progressing smoothly, according to He Huawu, the ministry's chief engineer.

It is likely that the high-speed line can be finished within four years, and become operational in 2012, one year ahead of schedule.

Source: China Daily

Senior CPC official meets Nepali Congress party delegation

2008-09-01T19:31:00.003-07:00

Wang Gang, a senior official of the Communist Party of China , on Monday met in Beijing with a delegation of the Nepali Congress party headed by its vice president, Prakash Man Singh.

In their talks in the Great Hall of the People, Wang noted that this was the first visit to China by the Nepali Congress party since Nepal became a republic in May.

Wang said the talks would play a positive role in promoting bilateral relations.

The CPC and the Nepali Congress party have kept up frequent exchanges and deepened their mutual understanding since the two parties forged official ties in 1992, said Wang, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and also vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Wang said the CPC highly appreciated the Nepali Congress party's friendly policy toward China and would like to enhance communication and cooperation with it to make further contributions to long-term and steady development of China-Nepal good neighborly partnership.

Wang also briefed Singh on China's economic and social development, the Beijing Olympics and other topics.

Singh said Nepal appreciated the assistance China has given to Nepal in the areas of infrastructure, health and other fields.

Prior to their visit to Beijing, Singh and his delegation had traveled to China's financial hub Shanghai.

Source:Xinhua

New school term put on hold in latest quake-hit Chinese regions

2008-09-01T19:31:00.001-07:00

Schooling in some southwestern regions hit by Saturday's earthquake was suspended for seven days on Monday, the start of a new term for the country's primary and middle schools.

The municipal government of Panzhihua, Sichuan Province, one of the hard-hit areas in the 6.1-magnitude tremor that killed at least 38 people in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, announced Monday that schools and kindergartens will not open for a further seven days.

"School buildings suffered damage. A strict safety overhaul will be held on all schools, and the new term will begin on Sept. 8," said the government.

There are nearly 500 kindergartens, primary and middle schools in Panzhihua, for 150,000 students, said Shen Zhiqiang, an official with the city's educational bureau.

Huili county, the worst-hit area reporting 25 deaths so far, postponed the school opening to Saturday as 20 percent of its school buildings were damaged, according to Li Meihua, head of the county's educational bureau.

The quake affected 153 of the 290 primary and middle schools in the county, causing damage to 2,520 school houses and incurring 140 million yuan in economic loss, Li said.

The local authorities were trying all out to repair destroyed facilities and establish tent schools for the new term and rearranging the timetable.

In Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Chuxiong, Yunnan, more than 18,800 students of 154 schools were not able to go to school after some 4,400 rooms in schools were destroyed or collapsed in the quake.

Some of them are expected to resume class in three days as workers are busy setting up tent schools or makeshift classrooms.

The prefecture reports about 420,000 school-aged children and more than 400,000 of them went to school Monday in unaffected areas.

The quake occurred Saturday afternoon, killing at least 38 people in Panzhihua and Huili in Sichuan and six others in the neighboring Yunnan so far.

Source:Xinhua

Tourists returning to China from Thailand as protests continue

2008-09-01T19:30:00.001-07:00

The first group of 15 Chinese tourists who were stranded on Thailand's Phuket Island after anti-government protests closed down the airport returned to China on Monday morning.

They arrived here at 6 a.m. after being trapped for two days. Protests closed down three airports in southern Thailand last week: Phuket, Hat Yai and Krabi. The airports re-opened on Sunday.

Chen Jianqiu, a manager with China International Travel Service, which arranged the tourists' trip to Phuket, said all members of the tour groups had returned to China, and tourists with other travel agencies were flying back as well.

More than 300 Chinese tourists had been stranded on Phuket.

A tourist surnamed Wang said they were safe in Thailand and their time there wasn't much affected by the protest.

Travel agencies said they would be very cautious about sending travel groups to Thailand in the short term.

Source:Xinhua

Beijing rules out post-Games livability setback, despite challenges ahead

2008-09-01T19:29:00.002-07:00

As the Chinese capital hosts its second extravaganza, the Paralympics, less than a month after the Olympic Games, local authorities admit their promise of a "New Beijing, Great Olympics" is only half complete.

An implication of the slogan, barely noticed by the world since its proposal seven years ago, as deputy chief Tan Zhimin of the Beijing City Building Headquarter Office for 2008 revealed to Xinhua, was that the "Great Olympics" had been conceived as a way to lead to the "New Beijing."

"It is impossible and will not be allowed should the city go backward in livability because citizen expectations are already driven up by the Olympics and the demand for further social and economic development."

In 2005, Tan's office was entrusted by the Beijing Municipal government to orchestrate a city facelift. This involved coordinating more than 20 governmental departments in time for the sporting spectacular that was being hosted by the Chinese people for the first time.

Tan said the government would continue to explore and experience the inconveniences plaguing the public after the Olympics and work on the imperfections with circumspection.

Calling citizens "the source of city vitality," he said the goal of a more livable Beijing could not be realized without respecting the opinions of citizens.

From subsistence, entertainment, recreation to transport, a raft of issues needed to be tackled. These included air quality, transport, garbage and sewage disposal facilities, as well as green space and emergency shelters in case of severe natural disasters, he said.

Though detailed measures were yet to be released by the municipal government, Tan said the "New Beijing" theme would run through the tenure of the current government headed by mayor Guo Jinlong.

"We knew this is a long-term task. That's why we seek a permanent cure rather than symptomatic relief in preparations for the Olympics."

LESS RED TAPE

For deputy manager Lin Zhiwei of the environmental construction coordination department of the headquarter office, the charm of the Olympics is not in "its grandiosity" but "its parallel to force majeure."

As governments, both at the central and municipal levels, have summoned all resources available to honor the promise of a "Great Olympics," even grassroots governmental staffers were aware the Olympics-related work stood at the top of the daily agenda. "This has turned the Olympics into a giant impetus to end buck-passing culture and curb red-tape bureaucracy," Lin said.

On Yuegezhuang Bridge, across the Fourth Ring Road in western Beijing, the dangerous but frequent sight of hawkers moving between stopped automobiles to distribute advertising leaflets finally disappeared several months ahead of the Olympics.

Shadow boxing has long been played. The parapolice, responsible for illegal business on the streets, refused to handle it in the first place, arguing it happened on trunk roads where traffic police were posted.

Traffic police took over the enforcement only to bite their nails after failing to find any legal basis to penalize the hawkers. Recognizing some of these distributors of business cards,flyers, maps and driving accessories, among others, were minors, they kicked the ball to the civil service departments who acknowledged their duty to take care of those under-aged. But theyalso asserted their jurisdiction was confined only to relief stations.

The real reason behind the nonfeasance by the parapolice, Lin noted, was that enforcing laws on highways risked triggering car accidents, which might have injured or killed the hawkers and in turn, brought trouble to the law enforcers.

Following a field survey and mediation that took months, Lin and his team figured out a solution where police officers would remove the hawkers away from the traffic first. Parapolice would then step in to issue fines for adults or to escort minors to relief stations run by civil service agencies.

To cut red-tape bureaucracy, the headquarter office also drafted dozens of rules to tackle grey areas. These included highway leafleting and clarifying the duties of different departments in the city facelift, ranging from environmental protection, Hutong refurbishment, greening, street make-over to the setting of public facilities on sidewalks.

All approved by local legislatures, the rules have significantly slashed the administrative costs from "one case, one meeting," said Professor Wang Wei of the China National School of Administration. He foresaw a ripple effect from the Olympics on the country's governmental institution reform.

"After seven years of preparations, most governmental departments felt it a mission impossible to build the 'New Beijing' without support from other departments," Wang said. "They recognized the significance of cooperation and came to know the good of it."

Framed under the planned economy abandoned 30 years ago, the Chinese administrative managing system, though having undergone constant adjustment, was still being diagnosed as micro-managing the economy. There was low efficiency from overlapping responsibilities or power not being matched by responsibilities, and public services ridden by departmental interests.

Recognizing the headquarter office as a "test run" for the country's giant department organization reform at the local level, Professor Wang said if the Beijing Municipality had the guts to push forward the reform for a local government offering better and more efficient public services in seven to eight years, locals would reap a precious legacy from the Olympics.

MORE THAN FACE-CONCERNED

For first-time visitors to Beijing, what undoubtedly caught their eye was the gorgeous Olympic venues, such as the Bird's Nest National Stadium and raft of new high-rises. For locals and others familiar with the city, however, more subtle changes came from renovated airports and railway stations, shopping districts, roads to the Olympic Village and venues and residential buildings facing the streets.

Fully aware these projects had been interpreted as "face-saving projects" by the public, planner Tan admitted the Chinese were indeed face-concerned. "When it comes to the Olympic preparations and the building of a 'New Beijing,' however, it's more than a matter of face-saving."

Tan said the municipality hoped to use the Olympic opportunity to benefit local residents. In total, residents in 171 "villages" within Beijing's Fourth Ring Road moved out of the seedy areas and got better accommodations. This involved more than 6.97 million square meters and cost the government 15.5 billion yuan .

"We don't want the public to sacrifice for the Olympics, it's never our intention," he said.

Before the removal, it was a common sight for families of three generations to live under one crowded roof, with no shower at home and the restroom several minutes' walk away. Now, at new residences away from their former home site, the elders can use their own toilets while kids can read in their own bedrooms.

There were other residents who didn't need to move. In 600 hutongs or alleys inside the Second Ring Road, all apartments have been refurbished, the walls and doors renovated in the style of early last century. Even roads were repaved.

Song Xiulan who had been living in the Shoushuihe hutong in Xicheng District for more than 40 years couldn't recognize her home. Pointing at her apartment equipped with new kitchenware and floor, she said it was the Olympics that brought her the "good fortune."

"Look at the glowing faces of Beijingers on the streets. The vigor comes from the bottom of their heart and their confidence of their life getting better," said academic Wang. He identified the rising awareness of the public in city building and environment as another precious legacy of the Games.

Soon after the closure of the Olympics, more than 400,000 Beijingers joined an online discussion about whether to keep a pre-Games car ban. Nearly half supported a permanent car restriction -- an alternating odd-even license plate system from July 20. Others, mostly car owners, understandably opposed.

Another random survey released by the headquarter office revealed 21 percent of the 6,009 polled households were still unsatisfied with the city's livability in the second quarter, the lowest response since the survey was launched a year earlier.

They expected the government to solve problems such as construction noise at night, unlicensed businesses, illegitimate construction, open-air barbecues and leafleting. Garbage collection, street cleaning and public restroom maintenance, however, were viewed as "improving a lot."

"Without the participation and understanding of the citizens, the New Beijing dream would be utopia," Tan said. "The municipality should seize on the legacies left by the Olympics on its management system and the public to march forward."

Source:Xinhua

Shenzhen plans to build 6 new ports

2008-09-01T19:29:00.001-07:00

The southern city will accelerate its integration with Hong Kong with the construction of another six ports linking it with the special administrative region.

Cao Shaoye, director of Shenzhen Port Office, was quoted by Hong Kong-based newspaper Ta Kung Pao as saying that the scheme had received initial backing from the National Development and Reform Commission and concrete construction plans are under deliberation.

According to the newspaper, the six ports to be constructed are Liantang Port, Longhua Railway Port, Fujian Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Passengers Port, Dachan Gulf Harbor Port, Nan'ao Tourists Port and a port connecting the airports in Shenzhen and Hong Kong via an undersea tunnel. The ports will link Shenzhen and Hong Kong by land, sea and rail.

Meanwhile, Shenzhen will renew and expand Wenjindu Port in the wake of the work to renovate Huanggang Port.

Work at Wenjindu Port will be launched by the end of the year, with its planned capacity for customs clearance set at 3,000 vehicles and 30,000 passengers a day as compared to the present 1,100 vehicles and 9,000 passengers.

Huanggang Port, work on which started last March, is scheduled for completion in the first half of next year.

"With existing ports being expanded and new ports in service, the population flow will become seamless between Shenzhen and Hong Kong in the foreseeable future," added Li Yan, a deputy section director of Shenzhen Port Office.

According to Li, Shenzhen's long-term plan is to set up 20 ports linking it with Hong Kong. He did not disclose further information about the schedule for the construction of the additional ports.

Source: China Daily

China Union Pay, Singapore's DBS Bank sign deal to expand CUP card services

2008-09-01T19:28:00.001-07:00

China-based electronic payment operator China Union Pay and Singapore's DBS Bank signed a deal in Singapore on Monday, allowing 1.6 billion Chinese CUP cardholders the convenience of using their credit and debit cards at more retail outlets in Singapore.

With this strategic alliance, DBS said it can now offer the full suite of CUP card products and related services in markets it operates in, including China and Indonesia. This covers debit and credit card issuance, CUP card acceptance at DBS point-of sales terminals and CUP card acceptance for cash withdrawal at all DBS's ATMs regionally.

At present, CUP cardholders already can withdraw cash at more than 950 DBS ATMs in Singapore and Hong Kong through an initiative launched last April. CUP cars are also accepted at DBS POS terminals in Macao and Hong Kong.

Kicking of the DBS' CUP merchant card acceptance program here on Monday is Singapore's largest department store, Takashimaya Department Store, which is also one of Chinese tourists' favorite shopping destinations.

DBS said it would take some time for all its thousands current merchant partners in Singapore to sign up to the new CUP payment service.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Cai Jianbo, the Chinese electronic payment company's first executive vice president, said, "Through this collaboration with DBS, shopping and dining will nowbe much convenient for Chinese tourists, as well as the growing number of Chinese expatriates and students residing here."

Rajan Raju, managing director and head of consumer banking group of DBS, said, "The signing of this memorandum of understand underscores DBS's commitment to strengthen our product and service offerings to Chinese both at home and away. It reinforces our focus in Asia, especially Greater China, and leverages on our existing regional networks."

About 1.1 million Chinese tourists visited Singapore in 2007, a29 percent increase from 2005's number of 850,000. Their total spending increased by almost 50 percent over the same period to 934 million Singapore dollars last year.

Source:Xinhua

Chinese shares fall on corporate profit concern

2008-09-01T19:27:00.002-07:00

Chinese equities fell on Monday as the hopes of investors for market-boosting measures over the weekend failed to materialize and concerns about listed companies' profitability increased.

The Shanghai Composite Index was down 72.23 points, or 3.01 percent, to 2,325.14. The key index has tumbled more than 55 percent this year.

In Shenzhen, the market shed 3.99 percent, or 319.01 points, to close at 7,685.24. Aggregate turnover shrank to 43.3 billion yuan from 56.7 billion yuan the previous trading day.

Losses outnumbered gains by 673-141 in Shanghai and 613-74 in Shenzhen.

Source:Xinhua

Hong Kong's retail sales value grows 13.8% in July

2008-09-01T19:27:00.001-07:00

Total retail sales value in Hong Kong in July surged 13.8 percent to 24.2 billion HK dollars year on year, revealed the Census and Statistics Department's latest statistics released Monday.

After netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, the total retail sales volume rose by only 6.6 percent, according to the department.

The department said the stay-home effect and weaker inbound tourism during the Beijing Olympics may have affected the local retail market in August while an uncertain global economy and the less robust stock market also may have affected consumer sentiments.

However, the department said firm labor market conditions and the expected rebound in inbound tourism after the temporary fall- off should support the retail business.

Analyzed by type of retail outlet, the sales volume of electrical goods and photographic equipment led the growth by surging 22.2 percent from the same month of last year.

Electrical goods and photographic equipment's growth was followed by sales of motor vehicles and parts ; fuels ; furniture and fixtures ; miscellaneous consumer goods ; commodities in department stores ; miscellaneous consumer durable goods ; wearing apparel ; and footwear, allied products and other clothing accessories .

The sales volume of food, alcohol and tobacco dropped 3.1 percent year on year, while that of supermarket commodities fell 1. 4 percent. The sales volume of jewelry, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts also dipped 0.8 percent.

Taking the first seven months of 2008 together, total retail sales rose 15.6 percent in value or 8.9 percent in volume over a year earlier, according to the department.

Source:Xinhua

Slower 1H profit growth for listed Chinese firms

2008-09-01T19:26:00.002-07:00

The profit growth of China's listed companies dropped sharply in the first half, a result of economic slowdown and a weak domestic stock market.

China Securities News reported on Monday the sales revenue of the listed companies amounted to 5.65 trillion yuan in the January-June period, a rise of 27.98 percent year on year. The net profit totaled 553.3 billion yuan, up 16.04 percent compared with a year-earlier growth rate of 70 percent.

The newspaper cited figures generated from the interim statements released by 1,619 listed companies by Aug 30.

Analysts said profits were affected by an economic slowdown and a weak domestic stock market, while last year's results were boosted by a bullish equity market. The stock market has declined by more than half since its peak last fall.

The top-10 companies, including six financial heavyweights contributed 52.6 percent of the profits. Electronic, telecom and food and beverage enterprises experienced more than a 50 percent rise in earnings on average.

Companies in power supply, oil and gas, insurance, furniture and paper making were plagued by loss.

Operating cash flow of the companies contracted sharply as 631 companies saw negative inflow and 762 firms had a cash flow decline.

Operating cash flow per share dropped 45.45 percent to 0.3 yuan.

The nation saw a 10.4 percent rise of gross domestic product in the first half. This was 1.8 percentage points lower than the same period last year, amid slowing world economic activity and domestic policies intended to cool China's economy.

About 10 percent of the companies had yet to release interim reports. In addition, 580 listed firms forecast their performance growth for the first three quarters, with net profit predicted to total 107.35 billion yuan, 22.78 percent more than a year ago.

Source:Xinhua

Hong Kong stocks slump 1.67%

2008-09-01T19:26:00.001-07:00

Hong Kong stocks tracked Wall Street's huge losses on the weekend to close 1.67 percent lower on Monday.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 262.57 points, or 1.23 percent, to open at 20,999.32 and floated between the day's highest 21,21,031.08 and the day's lowest 20,844.15 before closing at 20,906.31.

Turnover fell sharply to 41.1 billion HK dollars from Friday's 63.44 billion HK dollars as market sentiment remained weak.

Among 43 components of the Hang Seng Index, declining shares outnumbered advancers 39 to 4.

Market heavyweight HSBC, which accounts for the largest weighting of the Hang Seng Index, lost 1.46 percent to 121.7 HK dollars, dragging the index by 50.22 points alone.

China Mobile, the largest stock measured by market capitalization, weakened 2.34 percent to 87.5 HK dollars, downing the index by 54.26 points.

Wharf, Hong Kong's largest property leasing company outperformed the entire market by adding 0.88 percent to 28.75 HK dollars. HK Electric, the city's utilities company, edged up 0.5 percent to 50 HK dollars. China's largest Internet and on-line gaming company Tecent and the country's largest alumina producer CHALCO were two other out performers, up 0.75 percent to 67.5 HK dollars and 1.14 percent to 7.1 HK dollars respectively.

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, the market's sole operator, dropped 1.96 percent to 100 HK dollars.

Local property companies in Hong Kong all fell on Monday. Cheung Kong, one of Hong Kong largest house developers controlled by tycoon Li Ka-shing, shed 0.89 percent to 111.2 HK dollars. SHK Property, the largest house developer in Hong Kong, lost 1.02 percent to 106.5 HK dollars. New World Development slumped 4.17 percent to 11.5 HK dollars. Sino Land weakened 2.32 percent to 13.5 HK dollars. Henderson Land dropped 1.58 percent to 46.75 HK dollars. Hang Lung Property fell 3.2 percent to 24.2 HK dollars.

China Enterprise Index, or H-shares composed of companies registered in the Chinese mainland, went down 225.55 points, or 1.93 percent, to 11,438.88 as stock markets in the Chinese mainland were still weak.

Energy companies were lower. PetroChina, or the country's largest oil producer, fell 1.59 percent to 9.88 HK dollars. Sinopec, Asia's largest oil refiner, went down 2.93 percent to 7.3HK dollars. CNOOC, China's largest offshore oil producer, dipped 0. 5 percent to 12 HK dollars.

China's banks and insurance companies listed in Hong Kong all retreated. ICBC, China's largest lender, slid 0.74 percent to 5.37HK dollars. Bank of China, the country's second largest bank, fell1.77 percent to 3.33 HK dollars. China Construction Bank lost 1.88percent to 6.28 HK dollars. Bank of Communications shed 1.65 percent to 8.92 HK dollars. China Merchants Bank weakened 1.71 percent to 25.95 HK dollars.

China Life, the country's largest insurer, also lost 2.01 percent to 29.25 HK dollars. Ping An, the second largest insurance company, moved down 1.21 percent to 57 HK dollars.

Source:Xinhua

Athletes get red-carpet welcomein village

2008-09-01T19:25:00.000-07:00

The Paralympic Village was opened formally on Saturday with the Chinese squad hoisting its flag and moving in.

The Paralympic Village, transformed from the Olympic Village, will play host to more than 7,000 athletes and officials from 148 countries and regions.

Special accessories and facilities have been added to the village to meet the needs of physically challenged athletes, Deng Yaping, village spokeswoman, said.

"Tactile and accessible pavements, as well as other facilities have been added to the village," Deng said.

"The dining tables have been lowered and the passageways enlarged to help provide better access to the athletes. And a wheelchair-traction service by golf carts has been introduced."

Some layouts in the village have been changed too. A part of the dining hall has been altered to keep wheelchairs and the Olympics Casual Diving Hall has been converted into a wheelchair and prosthetic repair center.

All the toilets have special seats, rolls of tissue and toilet paper and bigger trash bags.

About 30 wheelchair accessible coaches will carry the athletes around the venues, and more volunteers will be present to help the participants.

Athletes and officials have praised the facilities. "It's very nice. The apartments, the streets everything is good," said Rubicela Guzman, a Paralympian from Mexico.

Spread over 66 hectares, the village has 42 apartment buildings, a hospital, a bank, places of worship and many shops.

Advanced teams from more than 41 countries and regions had reached Beijing till Saturday.

Village Mayor Chen Zhili told the Chinese delegation: "Your arrival marks the official opening of the village, which is now ready to embrace athletes and officials from around the world."

The Chinese delegation, with 332 athletes and 215 officials, is the country's largest at the Paralympics.

A commemorative wall with the inscription of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, in Chinese and English, was also unveiled on Saturday.

The convention was unanimously approved by delegates of the 192 UN members two years ago, and became effective from May 3 this year.

All athletes, officials and visitors to the village can sign their names on the wall, which will be retained as a legacy of the Beijing Paralympic Games.

Source: China Daily

Feature: "Mulan" blooms in Vienna State Opera House

2008-09-01T19:24:00.001-07:00

When the curtain rose at the prestigious Vienna State Opera House on Saturday evening, blooming magnolia flowers allured the eyes of all the 2,000 viewers, who immediately indulged themselves into the legend of a Chinese girl called Mulan living some 1,500 years ago.

As one of the world's most famous opera houses, it staged " Mulan," a made-in-China opera which is based on the legend, for its European debut.

Mulan, by its literal meaning, is the magnolia flower in Chinese. With the explanation in German at the small LCD screen at the seats, local audience are aware of links between Magnolia flowers and Mulan, the heroine, and they were drawn to the fate ofthe girl.

"Tsiek tsiek and again tsiek tsiek, Mulan weaves, facing the door," members of the Vienna Imperial Philharmonic Choir sang the "Ode of Mulan" in chorus, unveiling the prelude to the four-act opera.

Mulan, played by celebrated Chinese folk singer Peng Liyuan, emerged at the center of the stage in the costume of a girl at home but then changed into a military uniform after she decided tojoin the army in place of her ailing father in the country's anti-intruder efforts.

When Mulan waved good-bye to her parents in tears, some audience also wept, including a gentleman sitting close to the Xinhua reporter.

Mulan and General Liu Shuang, the hero who was played by renowned tenor Dai Yuqiang, fell into love after Mulan revealed her real identity, vowing to pursue their joint aspirations for peace.

The opera thus reached its climax when Magnolia flowers were blooming again at the stage, which drew thunderous applause from the audience.

Performers had to give several curtain calls amid the thunderous applause to extend their thanks to the audience.

Mulan's legendary story and the Chinese artists' marvelous performance have impressed the local audience and struck a sympathetic chord from them.

Andrzej Guzial, a Polish diplomat, was moved by Mulan's story. Though he had never heard about the story before, he said "I love it."

"This is an excellent work," said Vienna-based musician Peter Woells, clapping his hands with no intention to stop.

"Mulan is an old Chinese legend, but the opera interprets the legend in a brand new style, which is very successful," Woells said.

As Saturday is his wife's birthday, Woells said that watching such "excellent work" with his wife was an "excellent birthday gift" for her.

As "Mulan" adopts a new style by integrating traditional Chinese music, songs, dance with symphony and choir, it fascinatedmany local opera lovers.

In a written address, Austrian Culture Minister Claudia Schmied said "Mulan" would significantly enrich the musical life in the Vienna State Opera and Vienna at large.

"Mulan" sets a milestone as this is the first time for a Chinese opera to stage at the Vienna State Opera House, one of top three opera houses in the world, said some Chinese critics.

Source: Xinhua

Paralympic licensed products to fill Beijing store shelves

2008-09-01T19:22:00.001-07:00

According to reports, since the end of the Olympic Games, Beijing has been preparing to welcome a new batch of athletes and tourists, and will launch many kinds of Paralympic-related information manuals. All licensed product stores will be full of commodities with the theme of the Paralympic Games.

Currently, many domestic and overseas customers are flocking to the flagship Olympic Licensed Product Store in Wangfujing Street to buy the goods. Wang Jian, general manager of this store predicted that as the Paralympic Games approach, customers will further increase. He said that "around the opening of the Paralympics in September, 70 percent of goods will be on the shelves."

According to reports, Paralympics licensed products come in more than 10 categories, including clothing, toys, pens and mugs. These commodities will remain on sale until March 2009.

The main souvenir of this year's Paralympic Games will be various models and textured mascots - "Fu Niu Lele."

By People's Daily Online

Cross-strait charter flights 90% full on weekends

2008-09-01T19:21:00.001-07:00

The Taiwan civil aviation administration recently announced that the load of the eighth week of cross-strait passenger charter flights rose significantly. The average load from both sides brokethrough 90% for the first time, reaching 92%. The load on airlines from mainland was 92.5 percent; and the Taiwan airlines load reached 91.6 percent.

Director of the Taiwan civil aviation administration Li Longwen said that businesses from both sides of the strait hope to expand the number of weekend charter flights, destinations and routes and to achieve a "straight channel鈥�flight route.

By People's Daily Online

Senior CPC official meets Nepali guests

2008-09-01T19:20:00.000-07:00

The Communist Party of China will devote efforts to make China and Nepal be good friends and neighbors forever, said the senior CPC official Wang Jiarui in Beijing on Monday.

Wang, head of the International Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks in a meeting with the delegation of the Nepali Congress.

He said the CPC will make efforts to enhance exchanges between the two countries' political parties, and to push forward the state-to-state relations.

Prakash Man Singh, head of the delegation and vice president of the Nepali Congress, said the Nepali Congress cherished the friendship with the CPC, and would work with the CPC to boost the two countries' bilateral relations.

Singh extended heartfelt congratulations on the Beijing Olympics' success, saying the Nepali people felt proud of the glory won by the brotherly Chinese people.

Wang also elaborated the Chinese government's position on Tibet-related issues, and Singh reaffirmed the Nepali Congress would always adhere to the one-China policy.

Source:Xinhua

Maoming constructs nation's third 20 million-ton refinery

2008-09-01T19:19:00.002-07:00

The Maoming Petrochemical 20 million-ton refinery expansion project recently was approved by the State Development and Reform Commission, according to the Guangdong Maoming Petroleum & Chemical Corporation.

This is the third approved 20 million-ton oil refining project in China following Dalian Petrochemical, Zhenhai Refinery, and it is among the Top 10 key projects in Guangdong Province. After the completion of the project, Maoming Petrochemical's refining capacity will rise from 13.5 million tons to 25.5 million tons; and can mass produce clean oil products which are currently in shortage. This is essential for alleviating the tense oil supply situation and stimulating regional economic development in Southwest China and Guangdong province.

By People's Daily Online

Interview: Former Dutch ambassador says resurgent China well on way to becoming major world power

2008-09-01T19:19:00.001-07:00

Thirty years of reform and opening-up has put China on the world map and the country is well on its way to becoming an important world power, former Dutch ambassador to China Dirk Jan van den Berg told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Van den Berg, who returned to the Netherlands in February after a two-and-a-half-year tenure in China, said opening-up has enabled the Chinese to lead a better life and benefited world consumers. But development has taken a heavy toll on the environment, which will remain a predominant issue in China for a long time, he added.

OPENING-UP A SUCCESS

Three decades of reform and opening-up has changed China fundamentally, Van den Berg said, adding that the statistics are testimony to a success story.

"Hundreds of millions of Chinese have been lifted from poverty and taken along the road of development. This is not just in the cities but also in rural areas. I think you can consider that a big success," he said.

Van den Berg, who is now president of the Delft University of Technology's executive board, believes that the majority of Chinese have profited from the opening-up policies.

"Ask the Chinese themselves, 90 or even 99 percent would say their lives have improved in the past 30 years," he said.

China's gain in prosperity is also good for the rest of the world, the former ambassador said.

"Imagine that China is still closed off from the world, with a quite strained capacity to produce enough food for the Chinese people, we would be facing a completely different situation, perhaps a much more difficult one."

Van den Berg is optimistic about China's economic prospects and cites its potential in terms of consumer power.

"Although China is now very dependent on what's happening in other parts of the world, in 10 years' time the picture will look different. China's economy will also depend very much on what's happening domestically," he said.

"Once income levels rise in China, you will see an increasing level of national consumption, and that will make a major impact on the Chinese economy."

In that sense, China's economy still has a lot of opportunity to continue its growth, Van den Berg said. He predicts that China will maintain its high growth rates for many years to come.

THE PRICE OF PROSPERITY

Even as China enjoys its new-found wealth, prosperity has not come without a price. One negative effect is the serious damage to the environment.

Environmental concerns have become dominant issues in China and need to be addressed urgently, said Van den Berg.

He commended the Chinese authorities for being open about the problem and giving it priority on the policy agenda.

"But the government management system in China will have to be strengthened to ensure that Beijing's pragmatic policies are implemented in the provinces," he said.

While the measures put into place by China before and during the Olympic Games have brought back blue skies for a short while, Van den Berg does not think they represent a long-term solution.

"China needs to implement measures that will address structural issues," he advised.

Another problem is the uneven distribution of wealth. "The growing income gap among people could increase tension in society, and could nourish wrong developments in terms of crime," Van den Berg warned.

CHINA'S SUCCESS BENEFITS NETHERLANDS

Chinese products are well received in the Netherlands as in other parts of the world. "We are profiting from the fact that China is economically so successful," Van den Berg said.

The port of Rotterdam, the so-called "gateway to Europe," has benefited immensely from the surging trade between China and Europe.

Dutch companies such as Royal Dutch Shell and Philips are among the biggest investors in China. Ordinary Dutch people also benefit from China's links to the world as Chinese imports have kept down the price of consumer products on the Dutch market for years.

Although Chinese goods sparked talks about dumping in some European countries, Van den Berg does not believe closing the markets to Chinese products would help.

He said the Netherlands is willing to work with China and engage in dialogue, rather than turn its back on the Asian giant.

OPEN SOCIETY

When he set foot in China for the first time in 2005, Van den Berg had expected a tightly controlled society where people are not allowed to discuss politics and are afraid to speak their minds.

But to his great surprise, many things could be talked about openly in China, including the government's rights and wrongs.

"Chinese society is much more open and transparent than we expected," he said. "Chinese people talk a lot with each other. There are actually very few secrets in China."

Van den Berg was also impressed by the friendliness of the Chinese. "They are very understanding and easy to approach. I didn't feel any antagonism because of my appearance," he said.

Although he did not speak Chinese, he seldom had problem communicating with people there.

"Once you are trying to communicate with someone, always someone else pops up who speaks English, and the conversation is saved," he said, smiling

In recent years, more and more Dutch companies have set up shops in China. Not only are big companies like Akzo Nobel successful in China, many small and medium-sized firms are also doing well in the country.

"Of course you have to use your brains and be realistic about business opportunities in China," Van den Berg said. "But overall China is a less complicated market than countries like India."

In his opinion, despite a major difference in cultural background, the Dutch and the Chinese have similar mindsets when it comes to business. Either side is very direct, focused on what the business is and able to make decisions.

"So basically what you see is that Chinese and Dutch businessmen do understand each other quite well," he said.

Source:Xinhua

Vice premier: China to pursue "strategic, long-term" ties with Germany

2008-09-01T19:18:00.002-07:00

China values relations with Germany and will, together with Germany, promote the relationship from a "strategic, long-term perspective," said Vice Premier Li Keqiang on Monday.

Li told German Federal Minister of Finance Peer Steinbrueck that China and Germany had enjoyed fruitful cooperation since establishing diplomatic ties 36 years ago.

The vice premier said China's economy had undergone challenges and tests but still showed "stable and rapid development."

He said China would push forward the reform and opening-up drive, speed up the transformation of the mode of development and raise living standards.

Steinbrueck congratulated China on the successful Beijing Olympic Games, saying Germany attached importance to relations with China and would continue to enhance the relationship.

Source:Xinhua

Traffic expected to resume soon on blocked Sichuan-Tibet highway

2008-09-01T19:18:00.001-07:00

Traffic is expected to resume on Tuesday afternoon if weather improves on the mudflow-blocked highway between southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region and Sichuan Province, said repair workers.

More than 100 motor vehicles are still stranded by the mudflow as of Monday. Chen Falin, an armed police officer in charge of the repair work, said about 10,000 cubic meters of mud and rocks had to be removed to resume traffic.

The section of the highway, 10 meters above a river at Pailonggou in Nyingchi Prefecture, was damaged on Saturday by mudflow caused by heavy rainfall.

More than 20 armed police had repaired 30 meters of the damaged part and evacuated 109 vehicles and 267 people. But the repair work was hampered by fresh landslides caused by continuous rainfall.

August is a rainy season in the area, and rainfall has increased by 30 percent in the first half of this year over normal.

Source:Xinhua

China May quake death toll remains unchanged at 69,226

2008-09-01T19:17:00.002-07:00

The death toll from the May 12 earthquake in Sichuan Province and its neighboring region remains unchanged at 69,226 as of Monday noon, according to a statement released by the State Council Information Office.

The number of people listed as missing and injured still stood at 17,923 and 374,643 respectively.

As of Monday noon, a total of 1,486,407 survivors had been relocated.

Among the 96,544 who had been hospitalized for injuries, 93,035 have been discharged, the statement said.

Government spending on relief and reconstruction had reached 67.17 billion yuan , including 59.8 billion yuan from the central budget and 7.35 billion yuan from the local budget.

According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, domestic and foreign donations had exceeded 59.31 billion yuan in cash and goods by Monday noon. Of this, 25.31 billion yuan had been forwarded to quake-hit areas.

About 1.58 million tents, 4.87 million quilts, 14.1 million garments, 3.5 million tonnes of fuel and 7.47 million tonnes of coal had been sent to the quake-hit areas, it said.

As of Sunday, relief workers had built 671,200 temporary houses and another 2,200 were being installed.

Between Thursday noon and Monday noon, 691 aftershocks at or below magnitude 3.9 were monitored in the quake zone, while no aftershock at or above 4.0 magnitude were reported, according to the China Earthquake Administration. A total of 27,256 aftershocks had been detected since May 12.

The 6.1-magnitude quake that occurred at the juncture of Renhe District in Panzhihua and Huili County in Yi Autonomous Prefectureof Liangshan, Sichuan at 4:30 p.m. Saturday was not an aftershock of the May quake, according to experts.

The statement said 430,924 tonnes of grain and 9,886 tonnes of edible oil have been allocated to the quake zones from central reserves as of Sunday. It also said that 128,062 of the 138,960 businesses damaged had reopened.

By Monday noon, 5,315 large-scale enterprises with annual revenue above 5 million yuan had resumed operation. Production at another 330 companies of the same scale was still suspended, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said.

Of the 48,276 km of ruptured water supply pipelines, 45,166 km had been restored as of Monday noon, according to the statement.

As of Monday noon, 185,881 survivors had found jobs outside of the area, while another 685,281 were employed in their home towns.

Source:Xinhua

Ruling parties of China, Vietnam to share governing experience

2008-09-01T19:17:00.001-07:00

Senior officials of the ruling parties of China and Vietnam on Monday proposed further sharing of their experience in national and party governance.

Li Yuanchao, head of the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, met with Tran Luu Hai, deputy head of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee, in the Great Hall of the People.

Li reviewed China's increasingly stronger cooperation with Vietnam in recent years, citing the fact that Chinese President Hu Jintao and General Secretary of the CPV Central Committee, Nong Duc Manh, reached a consensus on developing a comprehensive strategic partnership.

"The ruling parties should share more experience on national and party governance under the framework of party-to-party exchanges," Li said.

Echoing Li's view, Tran hailed the traditional friendship forged by the older leaders in the past century.

He said Vietnam would like to work more closely with China to bring the comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level.

Tran and his delegation will leave China on Tuesday.

Source:Xinhua

At least 5 dead after torrential rain in central China's Hubei

2008-09-01T19:15:00.001-07:00

At least five people were killed and three others were missing after four consecutive days of torrential rain in central China's Hubei Province.

The heaviest rain to hit the province this year has so far affected more than 5 million people in 43 counties, damaged 4,841 houses and resulted in a direct economic loss of 1.978 billion yuan , the Ministry of Civil Affairs said here on Monday.

The ministry initiated a grade-4 emergency response at 4:30 p.m. and sent a work group to the province to help with relief work.

Source:Xinhua

Visiting China's Olympic gold medalists drive Macao nuts

2008-09-01T19:12:00.004-07:00

Although being delayed for half an hour, the arrival of China's Olympic gold medalists here Sunday night still drew loud cheers from Macao people and tourists.

The delegation led by China's sports chief Liu Peng finished their Hong Kong visit and came to Macao by sea this evening. They were greeted at the Outer Harbor by Chui Sai On, secretary for social affairs and culture of the Special Administrative Region , and other officials.

Since this is a rare chance that almost all of China's gold medalists came to Macao for visit, the SAR government arranged 450local middle-school teenagers, each waving flags of the SAR and the nation, to line up in the departure hall of the Outer Harbor welcoming the visiting delegation.

Many local citizens and tourists, who were desperate to see themedalists, came to the Harbor more than one hour earlier than the arrival of the delegation. They said it was worth the long waiting, given the medalists' great attraction to them.

Ms. Lin, a tourist who came from China's Zhejiang province, considered herself "a lucky one". She said, "I originally came here for traveling, but as soon as I heard they were coming, I shorten my sightseeing and rushed here to wait for them."

The delegation, including 63 gold medalists from the Beijing Olympic Games, will meet with the SAR's Chief Executive Ho Hau Wahlater today. They will also attend a series of activities in the city, including a gala show to be held Monday night, and will takea short tour of the city that is known to the world for its casinos.

The delegation will finish their visit here and leave for the mainland Tuesday.

Source: Xinhua

300 Chinese tourists stranded in Phuket

2008-09-01T19:12:00.003-07:00

More than 300 Chinese tourists have been stranded in Phuket since Friday because anti-government protesters have forced the suspension of services at the Thai island's airport.

Demonstrators demanding the ouster of the Samak Sundaravej government have disrupted services at other Thai airports, too.

A Chinese embassy official in Bangkok said yesterday that efforts were being made to help the Chinese nationals return home. "Some of the Chinese tourists have already left Phuket by bus, and they will fly home from Bangkok," he said.

The Foreign Ministry issued a statement yesterday, saying it had asked the Thai government to ensure the safety of the Chinese tourists and arrange for their return flights as soon as possible.

About 15,000 passengers are stranded on the island resort since anti-government protesters took over the airport on Friday and forced the cancellation of nearly 120 flights a day.

Wu Jiaoli, public relations manager of Ctrip.com, a leading online hotel- and ticket-booking agent in China, said 50 of its customers were stranded in Phuket.

The company, however, has arranged for a bus to carry them to Bangkok and asked China Eastern Airlines to arrange for their return trip.

A stranded Beijing tourist surnamed Hou said she was running out of money and that her plane ticket had expired. "I am very worried But we are safe because the protesters are friendly to Chinese tourists."

She said her group reached Phuket on Aug 24 and was scheduled to return home on Friday. But protesters took over the airport on Thursday, when railway workers too joined the protests paralyzing train services on many routes.

A Chinese tour group's woman member, surnamed Wang, said only one plane carrying some Western tourists had been able to fly out of Phuket since Friday following negotiations between protesters and airport officials.

She said members of a tour group from Zhejiang province were forced to sleep in the open on Saturday because they had run out of money.

China International Travel Service said three of its tour groups comprising 50 people had been stranded in Phuket, and it was trying to arrange for their return.

Source: China Daily

Second cross-Strait direct sea route between Xiamen, Jinmen opens

2008-09-01T19:12:00.001-07:00

The second cross-Strait direct sea route between Xiamen in Chinese mainland's Fujian Province and Taiwan's Jinmen County opened on Sunday, cutting travel time from 80 minutes to 25 minutes.

In total, 236 tourists departed Jinmen's Shuitou port, only 9.7 nautical miles from Xiamen's newly-built Wutong port, at noon.

Eight ships from two Taiwan companies and two Xiamen companies are operating on the route. The ships leave at noon and 2 p.m. from Xiamen daily.

Jinmen would invest 10.9 billion new Taiwan dollars to build three new ports to cater for the increasing number of tourists, said Ni Zhentu, a Jinmen port official, at the opening ceremony.

The first Xiamen-Jinmen route between Heping port and Shuitou port had transported more than 2.44 million passengers since beginning operation in January 2001.

Source: Xinhua

Death toll from magnitude-6.1 quake jumps to 32 in SW China

2008-09-01T19:11:00.009-07:00

The 6.1-magnitude quake that jolted southwest China's Sichuan and Yunnan provinces on Saturday has killed 32 people, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Sichuan reported 27 deaths and the other five were in Yunnan, the ministry said Sunday night.

The quake that occurred at 4:30 p.m Saturday also injured more than 400 people.

The epicenter was at the juncture of Renhe District in Panzhihua and Huili County in Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Liangshan, Sichuan. It was at a depth of 10 km, the China Earthquake Administration said.

QUAKE IMPACT AND DAMAGE

Areas affected by the quake were Panzhihua and Huili, both in Sichuan, and Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Chuxiong, Bai Autonomous Prefecture of Dali, Lijiang and Zhaotong cities, all in Yunnan Province. Kunming, the Yunnan capital, was also hit.

Most of the fatalities, however, were in Huili, Chuxiong and Panzhihua. All the three areas are on the southern end of the fault line of the May 12 quake that left more than 69,000 people dead and nearly 18,000 missing.

Another 6.0-plus magnitude quake, however, was not expected in the area in the next two weeks, said Liu Jie, chief forecaster of the Beijing-based Chinese Seismographic Information Center, on Saturday.

More than 300 aftershocks were also monitored in the quake zone as of 5 a.m. on Sunday, according to the national earthquake networks.

The networks monitored an aftershock of 5.6 magnitude in the same area of Saturday's quake at 4:31 p.m. on Sunday.

Panzhihua City Quake Control and Relief Headquarters on Sunday confirmed more than 70,000 people in the city were affected by the quake. In addition, more than 32,000 people were displaced.

In total, 38,425 residences suffered damage in the quake, of which 363 homes were toppled. Seven reservoirs, 22 highways and three bridges were also damaged.

The Panzhihua education authority said cracks were found on the buildings of more than 100 schools, of which 66 were in Renhe, a hard-hit district in the city.

"I am afraid these schools will not open for the new semester starting on Monday," said Shen Zhiqiang, an official with the Panzhihua City bureau of education.

"The figure might go up, as damages in some primary schools based in remote mountainous villages were not reported yet due to inconvenient transport conditions," Shen said.

Further south, 600,000 people in five regions of Yunnan were affected by the quake. This included five deaths, more than 170 injured people and the destruction of 130,00 residences, said a Yunnan Provincial Bureau of Civil Affairs source.

The worst hit was Chuxiong where the five deaths were recorded. Destroyed were 111,448 homes, 656 school buildings and 213 buildings totaling 65,554 square meters of floor space. The direct economic loss was put at 500 million yuan , according to the office for the quake control and relief headquarters of Chuxiong.

RELIEF OPERATION

On Saturday, China Earthquake Administration launched a level-three emergency response and dispatched an on-site working team to offer assistance after the quake struck.

In addition, the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs began a level-four emergency response mechanism at 5 p.m.. The civil affairs departments in Panzhihua and Yunnan began a class-three emergency response to cope with the aftermath of the quake.

Panzhihua government officials rushed to the quake zone to direct relief efforts. Relief materials, including water, food and300 tents, as well as emergency financial aid of 5 million yuan, were sent to the quake-affected areas.

More than 2,000 people in Huili were mobilized to join the relief operation that was hampered by heavy rain late on Saturday and early Sunday.

In total, 1,200 tents, together with about 10 tons of food and water were sent to quake zones in Huili, according to Huang Ling, the Huili County Government deputy chief.

On Sunday, Sichuan Provincial Weather Observatory issued a forecast saying the weather in the coming week would be overcast with showers or thunder showers, making the relief effort difficult.

The Yunnan Provincial Bureau of Civil Affairs said it had already sent relief materials including 3,200 tents, 1,000 cotton-padded quilts and 25 tons of rice to quake zones in the province. Chuxiong Prefecture had also allocated 350,000 yuan for disaster relief.

The Jet Li One Foundation, initiated by Chinese film star Jet Li, earmarked 2.5 million yuan and donated materials worth 250,000 yuan on Sunday to the affected areas in the two provinces.

RESUMPTION OF DISRUPTED SERVICES

Traffic on the north-south rail line from Chengdu, the Sichuan capital, to Kunming, which runs all the way through the quake zone, was disrupted temporarily on Saturday and resumed on Sunday.

Some stops on the 1,100 km rail line were damaged, which led to the cancellation of three freight trains, a Kunming Railways Administration source said.

"Resumption of this railway service will guarantee the delivery of relief materials to the quake zone centered on Panzhihua," saida Kunming Railways Administration official.

　 Source: Xinhua

Nation sets sights on rail record

2008-09-01T19:11:00.007-07:00

China will produce the world's fastest bullet train for the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway, a senior railway official has said.

Zhang Shuguang, deputy chief engineer with the Ministry of Railways, said the domestically developed train will run at 380 kph, the highest speed for any railway in the world.

And if the project materializes, the travel time between the two metropolises will be cut from five to around four hours, enhancing the rail network's competitive edge against airlines, he said.

Previously, China planned to run trains at 350 kph on the 1,318-km Beijing-Shanghai line, the same speed as on the Beijing-Tianjin intercity passenger railway that opened a month ago.

And the travel time is estimated at five hours, about half of the current time. Manufacturing 380-kph trains in China is already possible in terms of technology, he said.

China has established a comprehensive system for bullet train manufacturing, including basic theory, design, manufacture, maintenance and appraisal, he said.

In the past few years, China has imported technology to manufacture 200-250 kph bullet trains from France, Japan and Canada, and German engineering giant Siemens agreed to transfer a full set of technology for manufacturing 350-kph trains.

Using Siemens' technology, Tangshan Railway Vehicles Co Ltd in Hebei province has started production of CRH-3, a jointly designed 350-kph train, and is expected to be able to manufacture 50 such trains by next year.

China has also fostered an experienced team through the previous six speed-up campaigns and the building of the nation's first high-speed railway between Beijing and Tianjin, he said.

"We have mastered core technologies in terms of manufacturing high-speed trains and made innovative achievements in the process," he said.

"It is possible that we can start to manufacture 380-kph trains in two years' time, and put them into service on the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway," he said.

Construction of the railway is progressing smoothly, according to He Huawu, the ministry's chief engineer.

It is likely that the high-speed line can be finished within four years, and become operational in 2012, one year ahead of schedule.

Source: China Daily

Panda gives birth to cub

2008-09-01T19:11:00.005-07:00

The Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base in Sichuan province announced that 11-year-old panda Lun Lun gave birth to a cub in Zoo Atlanta in the United States at 10:11 am Beijing time yesterday.

It was her second birth since the base and the US zoo launched an international panda breeding program in 1999. Lun Lun gave birth to Mei Lan at the zoo in Sept 2006.

Her second cub is the only giant panda born so far in the US in 2008, said Dennis Kelly, Zoo Atlanta's president and CEO.

The zoo is continuing to monitor Lun Lun closely for a possible second birth.

Twin births take place nearly 50 percent of the time with giant pandas.

A second cub could arrive as much as 12 to 24 hours after the first, according to Zhang Zhihe, chief of the base.

Lun Lun is caring for her cub, which is about the size of a human hand.

The zoo's veterinary team will conduct the cub's first checkup when it is deemed possible to do so without disrupting maternal care.

The zoo's animal management and veterinary teams, joined by Yang Kuixing, an official from the Chengdu base, will continue round-the-clock monitoring of the mother and cub, Kelly said.

Lun Lun and the cub's 11-year-old father Yang Yang are from the Chengdu base.

They arrived at Zoo Atlanta in 1999 on a 10-year loan from the Chinese government.

The couple's arrival was highly significant, said Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin.

Atlanta was the first city in the United States to receive pandas on loan from China, Franklin said.

She said she often took her grandson to the zoo to see the pandas, and that the panda's staple food, bamboo, grows in her backyard.

The pandas have boosted tourism in Atlanta and helped put the city on the map, Franklin said.

"The pandas have served as a bridge between Chengdu and Atlanta," she said.

"More and more young people are starting to learn more about China and Chengdu. As far as I know, many of them have been to Chengdu or are planning to visit Chengdu," Franklin added.

Due to human activities and environmental degradation, the pandas' natural habitat has been shrinking, with only 1,500 left in the world.

Chengdu is home to the world's only giant panda breeding and research base built in a large city.

The base is home to 80 pandas, according to deputy chief Tan Hongming.

Source: China Daily

China's continuing telecom investment causes waste

2008-09-01T19:11:00.003-07:00

Continuing investment was a major problem in the nation's telecom sector as much waste had been caused by under-utilized cables and other infrastructure, China Times reported on Saturday.

The Beijing-based newspaper cited auditor-general Liu Jiayi reporting on Wednesday to the fourth session of the Standing Committee of the 11th National People's Congress, the country's top legislature.

He said the telecom sector had experienced huge growth in both network scale and capacity since the industry's reform and restructuring that started in 2002; repeated investment had dragged down performance.

According to the National Audit Office , more than 1.12 trillion yuan was spent on the construction of basic facilities between 2002 and 2006. However, only one-third of the telecom cables were used.

In addition, more money was required to maintain all the cables, whether it was those being used at present or those getting laid.

Amid increasing mobile users and dropping fixed-line subscribers, China Telecom and China Netcom, the country's main fixed-line service providers, spent a total of 50.8 billion yuan in expanding the fixed-line network in the same period, according to the NAO.

"The wasted investment in telecommunications could have built several Three Gorges Dams," said Yang Xianzu, the former chairman of the board of China Unicom, the country's distant number two mobile service provider to China Mobile.

The country is in the process of an industry-wide restructuring in which China Telecom, China Mobile and New Unicom would compete against each other, each with fixed line and mobile services.

But some experts warned repeated investment was not less likely to happen as statistics showed the restructured China Mobile and China Telecom would each spend between 50 billion yuan to 60 billion yuan in infrastructure building in the next three years.

In answer to such a problem, some experts suggested the country should separate the network and infrastructure building and as sign it to an independent organization, while telecom services would be open for competition.

Source: Xinhua

Ministry: Death toll of China fresh quake rises to 32

2008-09-01T19:11:00.001-07:00

The 6.1-magnitude earthquake that jolted southwest China's Sichuan and Yunnan provinces on Saturday had killed 32 people and destroyed some 258,000 houses as of 11 p.m. on Sunday, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Sichuan reported 27 deaths and the others were in Yunnan. A total of 467 were injured, the ministry said, citing figures from the civil affairs departments of the two provinces.

About 152,000 people were evacuated to safe places.

Source: Xinhua

Cambodian Senate president leaves for China visit

2008-09-01T19:10:00.002-07:00

Cambodian Senate President Chea Sim left Phnom Penh on Monday for China on an official visit.

Chea Sim was seen off by some government officials and Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Zhang Jinfeng at the Phnom Penh International Airport.

At the invitation of Jia Qinglin, Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Chea Sim will pay a five-day visit to China, a press release said.

During his stay in China, Chea Sim is scheduled to meet with Chinese leaders, aiming to promote friendship and cooperation between the two countries, it said.

Source: Xinhua

Shanghai lowers registered capital threshold for transnational regional headquarters

2008-09-01T19:10:00.001-07:00

The "Regulations of Shanghai Municipality on Encouraging Transnational Companies to Establish Their Regional Headquarters" were issued to the public recently. According to the new regulations, the registered capital threshold of transnational companies setting up their regional headquarters in Shanghai decreased from 30 million to 10 million U.S. dollars.

Shanghai attaches great importance to optimizing the investment environment in order to attract more multinational companies to set up their regional headquarters in Shanghai and provide corporations with facilities for their development in the city.

By now, 206 regional headquarters of multinational companies are located in Shanghai. Shanghai has become one of the cities with the most regional headquarters of multinational companies in China's mainland.

By People's Daily Online

China place 2nd at Pyongyang int'l table tennis invitation

2008-09-01T19:09:00.002-07:00

Chinese men and women teams both finished second at the group matches of the 22nd Pyongyang international table tennis invitation tournament on Saturday.

DPRK men and women teams defeated their Chinese counterparts which fielded in their second string national teams, with two three-to-ones.

The tournament opened on Thursday and was due to close on Monday.

Source:Xinhua

Paralympic torch relay run in Shenzhen

2008-09-01T19:09:00.001-07:00

Paralympic torch relay took place in Shenzhen, one of the five Special Economic Zones in China, on Saturday.

The opening ceremony started at 8:00 a.m. local time on the top of Lotus Mountain, where the bronze statuary of Deng Xiaoping, the late Chinese leader, is located.

Against a stunning skyline, 70 torchbearers ran in the city relay which was started at the mountain top by Liu Hong, 2006 Asian Games race walk champion.

Then the relay moved into a theme park named "Splendid China-Folk Village". Song Zhuoping, 53, who is with Guangdong Disabled Persons' Federation, ran in the third leg and passed the torch to Liang Zuoyi, 50, who also has a disability and had been teaching himself for years before getting a diploma from Sun Yat-Sen University.

The last torchbearer was Shen Jianping, a photographer who has only one arm. He lit the cauldron at 9:40 a.m. to end the relay.

The Paralympic torch relay was carried out along two routes, namely the route of "modern China" and the route of "ancient China".

"Modern" route covers Shenzhen, Wuhan, Shanghai, Qingdao, Dalian and Beijing, the "ancient" has Xi'an, Hohhot, Changsha, Nanjing and Luoyang.

Source:Xinhua

Chinese mainland's Olympic gold medallists impress HK people with dazzling sports skills

2008-09-01T19:08:00.006-07:00

The visiting Chinese gold medallists displayed their superb sports skills again in Hong Kong on Saturday morning, whose performance impressed over 5,000 Hong Kong spectators face to face as well as tens of thousands of viewers through TV live broadcasts.

The enthusiasm for the Olympic Games was rekindled in Hong Kong as Chinese mainland's Olympic gold medallists on Saturday made their appearances and met the public. As part of their visit to Hong Kong, the delegation of Chinese mainland's Olympic gold medallists put on demonstrations of table tennis, badminton, diving and gymnastics.

China's gold medal winners Cheng Fei and Yang Yilin perform during a demonstration in Hong Kong, August 30, 2008. Chinese gold medallists are visiting Hong Kong for three days to demonstrate their skills.
More than 5,000 people watched their performance at the four venues of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of Hong Kong government, while tens of thousands of viewers watched the TV live broadcasts at home or elsewhere.

The gold medallists also had exchanges with young Hong Kong athletes. Some of the participants, selected by drawing lots, took part in the sports-for-fun sessions with the medallists in table tennis, badminton and gymnastics.

China's Olympic gold medallists arrived in Hong Kong on Friday, kicking off their three-day visit to the city.

"I hope the Hong Kong public can use this opportunity to share the joy and pride of their country," Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's Chief Executive Donald Tsang said.

The delegation, including 63 gold medallists from the Beijing Olympic Games, took part in the flag-raising ceremony at the Golden Bauhinia Square on Saturday morning.

After the sports demonstration, the delegation met the public at a Gala Show at the Hong Kong Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The delegation will leave for Macao on Sunday afternoon after visiting Disneyland and the Ocean Park, two of Hong Kong's famous theme parks.

Source:Xinhua

Bolt still untouchable on track

2008-09-01T19:08:00.005-07:00

Triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt confirmed his domination of the sprints on Friday with a comfortable 100 meters victory at the Weltklasse Golden League meeting in Zurich, Switzerland.

The 22-year-old Jamaican, who set world records in winning the 100, 200 and 4x100 relay in Beijing, finished Friday's race in 9.83 seconds, 0.16 seconds clear of America's double Olympic bronze medalist Walter Dix.

After taking silver behind Bolt at the Olympics, Trinidad & Tobago's Richard Thompson had to settle for third place in Zurich, a further 10th of a second behind Dix.

"It was good, but my start was not too good," said Bolt. "I concentrated on winning and as I'm starting to get a cold I was not able to think about any faster time."

Fellow Olympic champion and world record holder Dayron Robles was also able to back up his stunning 110 hurdles performance in Beijing.

The 21-year-old Cuban ran neck and neck with Olympic bronze medal winner David Oliver before ducking his head at the line to finish in 12.97 seconds, 0.01 seconds ahead of the American.

Kenyan teenager Pamela Jelimo continued her fantastic season, following up her Olympic gold medal in the 800 by setting the year's best time of one minute 54.01 seconds.

Jelimo, 18, kept well on track for a share of the Golden League's US$1 million jackpot awarded to athletes who win their event at all six of the season's meetings.

"There's still one race to go for the jackpot and the world record is closer now, too, though I'm not sure I can do it this year," she said.

With only next Friday's Golden League meeting in Brussels remaining, Jelimo faces competition for the main prize only from Croatian high jumper Blanka Vlasic.

After being denied the gold medal in Beijing by surprise Olympic champion Tia Hellebaut of Belgium, Vlasic struck back impressively in Zurich.

Overcoming some nervy moments to clear 1.98 meters at her third attempt, the world champion then kept her jackpot hopes alive with the only successful clearance at 2.01.

Americans Jeremy Wariner and LoLo Jones were among the others fighting back from Olympic disappointment.

Wariner set his best time of the year to win the 400 in 43.82 seconds, 0.61 seconds ahead of compatriot and Olympic gold medalist LaShawn Merritt.

Jones, seventh in the Beijing 100 hurdles after hitting the ninth hurdle while leading, cruised in 12.56 seconds.

Source:Xinhua

Beijing Paralympic torch relay in Hohhot

2008-09-01T19:08:00.003-07:00

Torchbearer Wei Yanling lights for the next trochbearer Ma Wei during the 2008 Beijing Paralympic torch relay in Hohhot, capital city of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Aug. 30, 2008.

Torchbearer Chen Guoyi runs with the torch during the Beijing 2008 Paralympic torch relay in Hohhot, capital city of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Aug. 30, 2008.
Torchbearer Wang Xiaoqian holds the torch on wheelchair during the Beijing 2008 Paralympic torch relay in Hohhot, capital city of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Aug. 30, 2008.
Torchbearer Chen Guifeng runs with the torch during the Beijing 2008 Paralympic torch relay in Hohhot, capital city of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Aug. 30, 2008.

Chinese gold medallists demonstrate skills in Hong Kong

2008-09-01T19:08:00.001-07:00

China's gold medal winners Yu Yang and Du Jing perform during a demonstration in Hong Kong, August 30, 2008.

China's gold medal winner Yang Wei performs during a demonstration in Hong Kong, August 30, 2008. Chinese gold medallists are visiting Hong Kong for three days to demonstrate their skills.
China's gold medal winners Cheng Fei and Yang Yilin perform during a demonstration in Hong Kong, August 30, 2008. Chinese gold medallists are visiting Hong Kong for three days to demonstrate their skills.

Remains of Hua Guofeng cremated

2008-09-01T19:07:00.004-07:00

Hua Guofeng, a former leader of the Communist Party of China , was cremated at Beijing's Babaoshan cemetery on Sunday.

President and Communist Party of China Central Committee General Secretary Hu Jintao and his predecessor, Jiang Zemin, sent their condolences on his passing.

In addition to Hu, the other members of the Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, He Guoqiang and Zhou Yongkang, also sent condolences.

Chinese President and Communist Party of China Central Committee General Secretary Hu Jintao condoles with family members of deceased former CPC leader Hua Guofeng during a farewell ceremony held at the Babaoshan cemetary in Beijing, China, Aug. 31, 2008. The remains of Hua Guofeng was cremated at the Babaoshan cemetery in Beijing on Sunday. Hu Jintao, Hu's predecessor Jiang Zemin and other members of the Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau showed their condolences at the ceremony.
Hua was called in the official obituary "an outstanding CPC member, a long-tested and loyal Communist fighter and a proletarian revolutionary who once held important leading posts in the CPC and the government."

Hua died of illness at 12:50 p.m. on Aug. 20 in Beijing at 87.

Born in 1921 to a tannery worker's family in Jiaocheng County of northern Shanxi Province, he was originally given the name Shu Zhu. He later changed it to Hua Guofeng after joining the war against Japanese aggression in 1938. The same year, he joined the CPC.

After being sent back by the Party to his hometown, Hua led the local resistance movement against the Japanese and later the Kuomintang army. In 1949, he moved to central Hunan Province with the People's Liberation Army and worked as a local official until 1971.

Former Chinese President Jiang Zemin condoles with family members of deceased former CPC leader Hua Guofeng during a farewell ceremony held at the Babaoshan cemetary in Beijing, China, Aug. 31, 2008.
During his stay in Hunan, Hua performed well in improving local agriculture and rural development. Then Chinese leader Mao Zedong had said he was "an honest man that did not lie."

Hua was promoted to the State Council in 1971 and was elected as a member of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau in 1973, when he was assigned to take charge of agriculture development under the leadership of then Premier Zhou Enlai. Two years later he was appointed vice premier and minister of public security.

Following Zhou's death on Jan. 8, 1976, Hua took his place to lead the Cabinet. He had also effectively handled the rescue and relief work in the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that leveled Tangshan City in the northern Hebei Province on July 28 the same year.

On Sept. 9, Mao passed away. In the following months, Hua played a critical role in crushing the "Gang of Four," a political group that had put the country in chaos during the Cultural Revolution . Its core members, including Mao's widow Jiang Qing, were arrested and jailed.

During his four years as the chairman of the CPC Central Committee and Central Military Commission, Hua worked with other senior Party leaders to restore the country's political and economic life and started correcting cases of officials who were wronged during the Cultural Revolution.

He resigned from his posts in June 1981 and stayed as the CPC Central Committee vice chairman and a member of the Standing Committee of CPC Central Committee Political Bureau until September 1982.

Hua was a member of the ninth to 15th CPC Central Committees and a member of the Standing Committees of the 10th and 11th CPC Central Committee Political Bureaus. He was also a special delegate to both the CPC 16th and 17th National Congress.

"In his 70 years working for the revolution, Hua had been loyal to Communism, loved the Party and people, always put the Party's cause first and devoted his whole life to independence and liberation of the Chinese people as well as construction of socialism," said an official statement.

"He never bothered what he personally got or lost ... always putting the interests of the Party and people first."

Angolan president speaks highly of China-built railway line on trial operation

2008-09-01T19:07:00.003-07:00

Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos has spoken highly of China-built Malanje-Luanda railway in trial operation during his inspection tour to the line at the weekend.

Speaking to over 20,000 local people welcoming him, he recognized the hardworking spirit of the Chinese workers who helped more than 4,000 local laborers and expressed his satisfaction with the high-quality of the line.

The 479-km-long railway line is ok and the passenger train is beautiful, he said, adding that the operation of the line is of key strategic to the country's economic development, especially boosting markets both in coastal areas and inland regions.

After inspecting a passenger train entering into the Malanje Railway Station, the president told the crowd of Chinese workers who manage the line and the station in Chinese "Xiexie, Xiexie ."

The president, accompanied by First Lady Anna Paula dos Santos, also enquired the Chinese railway managerial personnel about the performance and function of the six-carriage passenger train which is in trial operation.

The Malanje-Luanda railway line with a contractual value of 355 million U.S. dollars is so far the largest infrastructural project China has contracted in Angola.

There are 16 stations along the line starting from the provincial capital Malanje in the north and running through four provinces of Malanje, Kuanza Norte, Bengo and Luanda and before it terminates in the Angolan capital Luanda, also a seaport city in Angola.

China-made passenger train runs into Malanje Railway Station during the China-rebuilt Malanje-Luanda Railway trial-reopening ceremony in Angola, Aug. 30, 2008. Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos attended the ceremony on Saturday. With 16 stations along the 479-km-long line, the Malanje-Luanda Railway runs through four provinces including Malanje, Kuanza Norte, Bengo and Luanda and terminates in Angola's capital Luanda.
It took three years for China Railway 20th Bureau to instruct some 4,300 local workers to complete the project which consists of laying 264-km-long new rails, revamping 215-km-long existing rails and constructing 16 railway stations, 16 steel and reinforced concrete bridges and over 200 culverts.

Also accompanying the president to inspect the railway line include Vieira Dias Kopelipa, director of the Office for National Reconstruction, Augusto da Silva Tomas, minister of Transportation and Manuel Gourgel, director of the Malanje-Luanda Railway Administration and Chinese officials of China Railway 20th Bureau.

Source: Xinhua

China intensifies check on imported Canadian meat after listeria outbreak

2008-09-01T19:07:00.001-07:00

Chinese authorities have stepped up inspection and quarantine measures on meat products imported from a Canadian company involved in a fatal bacterial outbreak, said China's quality watchdog on Sunday.

Nine people in Canada had been confirmed of dying from listeriosis caused by contaminated meat products of Maple Leaf Foods, Canada's biggest food company, as of Friday, according to Canadian health officials.

The company's Toronto plant 97B, where the pollution happened, had never sold products to China or obtained licenses to, while Canada had halted China-bound exports from the company's other related facilities, said the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine in a statement.

"We would closely watch the situation and take timely measures to keep the tainted products out for the safety of Chinese consumers," said the administration.

The Canadian company has closed down its Toronto factory and issued a recall of more than 270 products after a consumer died from eating its tainted cooked meat on Aug. 20.

According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, there were 29 confirmed cases of the outbreak strain in the country and 35 cases under investigation as of Friday.

Listeriosis can cause flu-like symptoms, such as a stiff neck, headache, nausea and fever. Pregnant women, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems are at greatest risk of being infected.

Source: Xinhua

Fifteen dead in N China fireworks plant blast

2008-09-01T19:06:00.000-07:00

Authorities in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Sunday confirmed 15 people died and six were injured in an explosion at a fireworks plant on Saturday.

The accident was the worst amid a series of explosions since October 2005 in this township of Sijizi, Aohan Banner in Chifeng City.

The blast happened at about 10:13 a.m. on Saturday at the Xinxin Fireworks Plant in Sijiazi Township of Aohan Banner, killing 13 workers instantly and injuring six others, two seriously. It also destroyed about 50 workshops, a regional work safety bureau spokesman said.

Twenty-two workers at the site escaped unhurt.

The impact of the explosion was obvious. The corns in the field were all blown down, and the windows of many houses were shattered.

More than a full day after the explosion, smoke could still be seen belching from the remains of the plant, coupled with sporadic blasts of fireworks buried in the debris, according to local police.

Early on Sunday, rescuers found two more bodies in the debris, according to firefighters from Chifeng, a city in eastern Inner Mongolia, who participated in the rescue.

Fourteen of the dead, aged 25 to 68, were locals. The other wasfrom Chaoyang, a city in neighboring Liaoning Province. Of the dead, 11 were women.

A preliminary investigation found the blast occurred when some of the 43 workers were mixing ingredients for making fireworks inside the workshop.

The blast led to new rounds of explosions of oxidizers and reducing agents stored inside the weighing workshop, which triggered completed fireworks or semi-finished products kept in other workshops to explode.

The fatal accident was caused because the firework plant and its workers seriously violated relevant regulations and operation rules, the spokesman said.

Two shareholders in the fireworks plant were placed under police surveillance.

Aohan, with a history of 100 years in fireworks manufacturing, has been diligently trying for years to build itself into the biggest center for production and marketing of fireworks in north China.

Sijiazi township, for instance, previously had 80 fireworks manufacturing businesses at its peak. It kept 43 of them after diverse rounds of rectifying measures in the past two years. The existing works were capable of churning out 300 million yuan in output value annually.

Repeated accidents, however, caused by factors such as lax supervision and serious violations of regulations had earned Aohan nothing but a place on the blacklists kept by government departments, including the State Administration of Work Safety.

Source: Xinhua

Two Chinese engineers missing in NW Pakistan

2008-09-01T19:03:00.003-07:00

Two Chinese engineers had been missing since Friday in northwestern Pakistan and search and rescue work was under way, an official from the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad said on Sunday.

The two Chinese engineers from Zhongxing Telecommunication Equipment Company in Pakistan were found missing on Friday when they went to check the company's equipment in Lower Dir district of North West Frontier Province.

The ZTE has lost contact with the engineers since Friday and there is no clue about their whereabouts. A Pakistani driver and a Pakistani security guard, who were traveling with the two engineers, were also missing, said the official.

Source:Xinhua

NPC delegation leaves for visits to 3 European countries

2008-09-01T19:03:00.001-07:00

A delegation of the National People's Congress of China left Beijing on Sunday for a goodwill visit to Switzerland and Denmark from Aug. 31 to Sept. 12.

The delegation, headed by Wang Zhaoguo, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the NPC, China's top legislature, is visiting at the invitation of the parliaments of the two countries.

The delegation, at the invitation of the Russian Federation Council, the upper house of the parliament, will also attend the fifth Baikal Economic Forum , which will be held in Russia from Sept. 8-11.

Source:Xinhua

Death toll from magnitude-6.1 quake rises to 25 in SW China

2008-09-01T19:02:00.008-07:00

One more death was reported in Huili, a hard-hit county in Saturday's 6.1-magnitude quake, as of 11 a.m. on Sunday, bringing the death toll of the quake to 25.

Saturday's quake also left 192 people injured, and three more people missing in Huili, which falls under jurisdiction of Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Liangshan, a neighbor of Panzhihua City, the epicenter of Saturday's quake, according to Huili County Headquarters of Quake Control and Relief.

No other details are available for the newly found death at the moment.

Residents gather around campfire to evade earthquake in Yinlu Village, Datian Town, Renhe District of Panzhihua City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, August 31, 2008. Twenty-two people were dead after an earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale hit Panzhihua City on Saturday. As of 9 p.m., 17 people were reported dead and about 100 others injured in Sichuan, and five people dead and 35 others injured in neighboring Yunnan Province. The quake struck the juncture of Renhe District of Panzhihua and Huili County of the Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Liangshan at 4:30 p.m.
The quake struck the juncture of Renhe District in Panzhihua and Huili County in Liangshan prefecture at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. The epicenter was about 50 km southeast of downtown Panzhihua, at 26.2 degrees north latitude and 101.9 degrees east longitude and at a depth of 10 km, according to the China Earthquake Administration.

IMPACT AND DAMAGES CAUSED BY QUAKE

Areas affected by Saturday's quake are Panzhihua, Huili of Liangshan, both of which are in Sichuan, and Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Chuxiong, Bai Autonomous Prefecture of Dali, Zhaotong City, all in Yunnan Province, and Kunming, the provincial capital of Yunnan.

But most of the fatalities were found in Huili, followed by Chuxiong and Panzhihua. All the three areas -- Huili, Chuxiong and Panzhihua, are found to be on the southern end of the fault line of the May 12 earthquake which left 69,226 people dead, and 17,923 missing and 374,643 others injured.

More than 300 aftershocks were also monitored in the quake zone as of 5 a.m. on Sunday following Saturday's quake, according to Chinese earthquake networks.

The office for emergency response of Panzhihua City said preliminary investigations showed three people were killed and 65 more injured in the 6.1-magnitude quake, alongside destruction of 27,686 residences and plenty of other infrastructure.

Jing Peilang, an official with quake control and relief of Panzhihua City, warned that because of destruction of school buildings, more than 40 primary and middle schools in Panzhihua could not open the new semester which normally starts on Monday.

Local authorities in Panzhihua are making further assessment ofthe impact of the quake.

Southward, some 440,000 people in four regions of Yunnan, a neighbor of Sichuan, were affected by Saturday's quake, including five deaths, 108 injuries, coupled with destruction of 130,00 residences, said a source from the Yunnan Provincial Bureau of Civil Affairs.

The worst hit was Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Chuxiong, where all the five deaths were found, and the direct economic losses were placed at 500 million yuan, according to the office for the quake control and relief headquarters of Chuxiong.

China Earthquake Administration launched a III-class emergency response and dispatched an on-site working team to offer assistance on the same day when 6.1-magnitude quake struck on Saturday.

In the meantime, Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs also started a IV-level emergency response mechanism at 5 p.m. on Saturday. Andcivil affairs departments in Panzhihua of Sichuan and Yunnan began III-class emergency response to cope with the aftermath of the quake.

Party and government authorities of Panzhihua rushed to the quake zone to direct relief efforts. Relief materials, including drinkable waters, food and 300 tents, as well as emergency financial allocation of five million yuan were sent to the quake-affected areas.

More than 2,000 people in Huili were mobilized to join the relief operation which was hampered by heavy rains between late Saturday and early Sunday. A total of 1,200 tents, together with about 10 tons of food and drinking water were sent to quake zones in Huili, according to Huang Ling, deputy chief of Huili County Government.

Yunnan Provincial Bureau of Civil Affairs said it had already sent relief materials, including 3,2000 tents, 1,000 cotton-padded quilts, and 25 tons of rice to quake zones in the province. Chuxiong Prefecture also allocated 350,000 yuan for disaster relief.

Source:Xinhua

Mainland takes largest share of Taiwan's trade surplus

2008-09-01T19:02:00.007-07:00

The Chinese mainland was Taiwan's biggest export market in the first half, accounting for almost a third of the island's exports, according to the island's trade bureau.

Taiwan's trade surplus with the mainland in the first half amounted to 24.4 billion U.S. dollars, up 21.7 percent from the first half last year and the highest level in four years, the bureau said in a report.

The bureau predicted the annual trade surplus would hit a new high.

The first-half cross-Strait trade volume reached 56.76 U.S. billion dollars, a 22.1 percent rise.

The mainland's exports to Taiwan reached 16.18 billion U.S. dollars, up 23.1 percent, while imports from Taiwan totaled 40.58 billion U.S. dollars, up 21.7 percent.

The mainland accounted for 30.2 percent of Taiwan's gross exports, a 0.9 percent increase, indicating "the island's increasingly high dependence on cross-Strait trade", the report said.

The report also showed the mainland's exports in July increased by 27 percent, bucking a global economic downturn.

Source:Xinhua

China's Top 500 Enterprises catching up with global giants

2008-09-01T19:02:00.005-07:00

The country's top 500 giants are narrowing gap with foreign counterparts, but they still lag behind, the China Enterprise Confederation announced in its release of the 2008 Top 500 Chinese enterprises list on Saturday.

According to the report, the total revenue of the top 500 Chinese enterprises reached 2.99 trillion U.S. dollars , profits 188.4 billion U.S. dollars and assets 8.17 trillion U.S. dollars.

2008 Top 500 China Enterprises Release Conference and Corporations Summit was held in Yinchuan, Aug. 30, 2008.

Revenues were equivalent to 12.67 percent of the global top 500, profits equaled 11.85 percent and assets 7.79 percent, compared with 10.7 percent, 6.5 percent and 7.8 percent respectively last year.

Analysts said the growing proportion of revenue and profits indicated that Chinese companies had become more competitive and profitable.

Confederation deputy president Li Jianming said the country's growing economy had benefited these enterprises in spite of price hikes for oil and other materials.

He also said private enterprises had grown more robust and capable of taking in advanced technology and management from world giants. They accounted for about a fifth of the country's top 500 enterprises.

In addition, their rising investment in research and development and their emphasis on exploring the domestic market increased competition. The growth rate of net profits of the country's top 500 was 19 times faster than that of the world's top500.

However, another confederation deputy president Wang Jiming said Chinese enterprises still fell behind in innovation, investment in research and development, and the ability to operate internationally. It would take a long time to catch up.

Only 39 enterprises reported overseas sales income of more than 30 percent of the total revenue. Research and development spending accounted for only 1.32 percent of their total revenue, compared with the international average of 3 percent to 5 percent.

Poor supply chain management also lagged behind. Logistics coststill accounted for much of the total output, twice that of the world average. Haier and Huawei were among the few enterprises that paid adequate attention to supply chain management.

Sinopec Corp, Asia's top oil refiner, retained top spot for the fourth straight year on the Top 500 Chinese Enterprises list with its business revenue exceeding 1.2 trillion yuan, , the China Enterprise Confederation said on Saturday.

The oil giant was followed by the State Grid and PetroChina Company.

The top 500 companies paid taxes of 1.74 trillion yuan, accounting for 35.2 percent of the national tax revenue.

Baosteel Group Co. and China FAW Corporation and Hongfujin Precision Industry Co. held the top three positions in manufacturing sector.

The State Grid Corp. of China, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China Mobile ranked the top three in the service sector.

Source:Xinhua

Yuan falls on talk state to limit gains

2008-09-01T19:02:00.003-07:00

The yuan had its first monthly loss against the United States dollar since May 2006 on speculation weaker global demand will prompt the government to limit currency gains to protect exporters. Government bonds rose.

Slower growth worldwide will weigh on China's exports in the second half of 2008, Vice Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng said on Thursday. The yuan's 6.6-percent gain in the first half, which almost matched the advance for the whole of 2007, crimped profits at exporters and cooled sales abroad.

"It's obvious that the government is adjusting the pace of yuan appreciation against the dollar to make sure it won't do more harm to exports," Liu Dongliang, a foreign-exchange analyst in Shenzhen at China Merchants Bank Co, the country's sixth-largest lender, told Bloomberg News. "Most foreign trade transactions are settled in dollars."

The yuan fell 0.05 percent this month to 6.8350 per US dollar as of 5:30pm in Shanghai, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System. It weakened 0.11 percent yesterday, halting three days of gains.

China's exports may increase in the second half at the same pace as in the first six months of the year, Gao said in Beijing on Thursday. Overseas shipments rose 21.8 percent in the first half of 2008, slower than the 27.6 percent growth a year earlier.

The yuan is allowed to trade by up to 0.5 percent against the greenback either side of a daily reference rate, which was set at 6.8345 per US dollar yesterday.

China will start annual checks on how well domestic and foreign banks implement rules on foreign-currency controls, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, the country's top currency regulator, said in a statement on its Website yesterday.

The government approved new foreign-currency controls on August 6 to tighten monitoring of cross-border capital payments and deter "illegal" inflows that seek to profit from the yuan's one-way appreciation.

Source:Xinhua

London considers holding 2012 Olympic ceremonies across city

2008-09-01T19:02:00.001-07:00

British Olympics organizers are considering holding the opening and closing ceremonies of the London 2012 Games across the capital rather than just in the main Olympic Stadium, the Independent newspaper reported on Saturday.

"We don't want to try to emulate Beijing," said Tessa Jowell, Minister for the Olympics. "What we want is new ways of thinking about the opening ceremony."

Organizers are considering to get different parts of London taking part in the ceremony, with "citizens feeling they're intimately involved," she revealed to the paper.

According to Jowell, a ticketing system similar to that employed at Wimbledon is being considered. At the All England Club, tennis fans who leave the courts before the end of play are encouraged to hand back their tickets, which are then sold on at heavily discounted rates.

Jowell said she was very impressed by what she saw in Beijing. "In terms of great organization, fantastic facilities, and a welcoming attitude and pride among the people, Beijing was superb."

"But there are things we can and will do better," she insisted, pledging to make London Olympics more accessible by minimizing empty seats in stadiums. In addition, volunteers will be better trained to give "a more clearly defined role."

London is also planning to use certain innovations as ways of generating a party atmosphere in the run-up to the Games. The Mayor's office may keep the Tube network running all night during the Games. Museums and galleries could potentially be kept open until midnight.

Source:Xinhua

Somali pirates seize another Malaysian ship

2008-09-01T19:01:00.000-07:00

A regional maritime official said Saturday that Somali gunmen have hijacked another Malaysian ship off the coast of the Horn of African nation in the latest attacks on the world's most dangerous waters.

Andrew Mwangura, the east African coordinator of Seafarers Assistance Program , told Xinhua that the Malaysian vessel was seized on Friday night but could not confirm the name of the vessel and the nationalities of the crew members aboard.

"The Somali gunmen seized another Malaysian cargo ship off the coast but I have not established how many crew members were aboard and their nationalities," Mwangura told Xinhua by telephone.

"The cargo ship was hijacked on Friday night. We still don't know the owners of the ship but we believe it's a Malaysian bulk carrier," he added by telephone from Kenya's coastal city of Mombasa.

The global maritime body says at least 30 ships have been hijacked off the coast of the Horn of Africa nation so far this year.

A record four ships were seized in 48 hours last week and the frequency of piracy attacks has been especially high in the past month.

Since late July, Japanese, Nigerian, and Thai ships have all been hijacked by Somali pirates seeking ransoms.

According to Mwangura, currently Somali gunmen are holding captive MV Stella Maris, MV Thor Star, MT Yengeoa Ocean, MT Bunga Melati Dua, MT Irene, BBC Trinidad and Iranian bulk carrier MV Iran Deyat.

Iran's DEYANAT, a 44,468 dwt bulk carrier laden with 40,000 tons of iron ore en route from China to the Netherlands, was attacked by pirates last week.

Piracy has long been a problem in the Gulf of Aden, where one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, connecting the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, passes by lawless Somalia, which has been without an effective central government since 1991.

The attackers are usually armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades and travel in small, fast speedboats that can be towed more than 100 miles offshore by larger vessels to lie in wait.

Somalia's 3,300-kilometer coastline is considered one of the world's most dangerous stretches of water because of piracy.

Source:Xinhua

Chinese opera "Mulan" debuts in Vienna

2008-09-01T18:58:00.001-07:00

The eyes of audience were glued to the stage all through and thunderous applause erupted at the end of the debut of "Mulan," a Chinese opera, in the Vienna State Opera House.

This is the first time for a made-in-China opera to stage at the famed opera house in the Austrian capital, which is widely considered a sacred arena for musicians from all over the world.

"Mulan is an old Chinese legend, but the opera interprets the legend in a brand new style, which is very successful," said Peter Woells, a local musician who watched the opera.

The Vienna State Opera House was packed with audience Saturday as "Mulan," a Chinese opera, made its debut here and won warm applause.
As Saturday is his wife's birthday, Woells told Xinhua that watching such "excellent work" with his wife is an "excellent birthday gift" for her.

In a written address, Austrian Culture Minister Claudia Schmied said "Mulan" would significantly enrich the musical life in the Vienna State Opera and Vienna at large.

"Mulan" was first staged in Beijing in 2004, and in September of the following year it was performed in New York.

"Mulan" is based on a legendary story about a young girl named Mulan who lived in China some 1,500 years ago. In order to retain the family honor, Mulan replaced her ailing father to join the army in disguise as a gentleman and saved her country from the intruder.

While putting together various forms of performance such as symphony, musical, theater and dance, it also blended into the element of China's folk music, singing technique, national costume and martial art, which helped create vivid artistic images on the stage from different angles and perspectives.

Peng Liyuan, a celebrated Chinese folk singer, played the leading role of heroine Mulan, while internationally renowned tenor Dai Yuqiang acted as General Liu Shuang, the hero.

The prestigious Vienna Symphony Orchestra provided the musical accompaniment for the opera. And the vocal support was assumed by the Vienna Imperial Philharmonic Choir.

Apart from prelude, the opera consists of four acts, eulogizing Mulan's courage and her love for peace.

After the performance, Austrian Federal Commission for Opera Houses and the Vienna State Opera House conferred Certificate of Honor on Peng Liyuan and Guan Xia, composer of "Mulan", respectively for their achievements. Dai Yuqiang was also awarded with a wooden medal by the Vienna State Opera House.

The Vienna State Opera House, together with La Scala Opera House in Milan of Italy and The Metropolitan Opera House in New York of the United States, are ranked as the world's top three opera houses.

Source:Xinhua

4, 000 visitors flock to world's 3rd-tallest building on 1st public opening day

2008-09-01T18:57:00.006-07:00

A total of 4, 000 visitors, natives and foreigners, flocked to the Shanghai World Financial Center on its first opening day to have a sightseeing on Saturday, the Oriental Morning Post reported.

The Thursday-inaugurated Center stands aloof at 492 meters in the city's Pudong District, and is so far the biggest skyscraper in Chinese mainland and the third-tallest in the world after Burj Dubai and Taipei 101.

Chen Yin, a 46-year-old local man, said he was the first one to arrive at the Center at 6 in the morning, though the open time started at 2 p.m.

This middle-aged man said he had heard of the opening news and was fully prepared.

Photo taken on Aug. 26, 2008 shows a view of the 100th floor of the Shanghai World Financial Center in Shanghai, east China. The 101-storey, 492-meter-tall building will be opened to the public on Aug. 30.
As a local, Chen had many firsts in his life in Shanghai. He was the first to visit the city-iconic Oriental Pearl TV Tower Revolving Restaurant, the first passenger of the city's No.1 Subway Line, and the first to visit the Shanghai Museum after it was open free to the public.

Around 800 people were already waiting in the hugely long queue at around 2 p.m when the museum was open, but only 88 people were allowed in once at a time.

The people were taken by elevators to the observatory at a daunting height of around 500 meters in the air.

The building had 101 floors above ground and three floors underground. The 94th to 100th floors were an observatory for sightseeing, according to its builder, the Shanghai Construction Group.

According to the Post report, the first 2, 008 visitors were given badge souvenirs.

Source:Xinhua

Launch of "five-star" Beijing-Lhasa train postponed indefinitely

2008-09-01T18:57:00.005-07:00

The launch of a "five-star" tourist train service from Beijing to Tibet set for Monday has been called off indefinitely, the operator announced on Saturday.

A senior engineer of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Corporation said he had received no notice that the tourist train would begin running in September.

He also denied the service would be as "luxurious" as some media reported. Some reports had speculated that the "luxury train" would be reserved for overseas tourists.

"There is no detailed schedule yet, but I can confirm it won't start in September," said Li Shunping, chief engineer of the company.

QTRC announced through the media in March that the train, with carriages on a par with a five-star hotel, would be launched on Sept. 1.

Zhu Mingrui, QTRC general manager who made the announcement, said the train would accommodate just 96 passengers. The fare would be about 20 times the normal price and also more expensive than a flight between Beijing and Lhasa.

No reason for the delay was given by QTRC, which is based in Xining, capital of Qinghai Province neighboring Tibet.

Some local media speculated the delivery time of the carriages could be a factor.

The carriage manufacturer, Bombardier Sifang Power, based in east China's Shandong Province, told the Qingdao Morning Post on Aug. 21 that the carriages would be delivered in February as scheduled. The company had not been informed that the service would be operating in September.

The newspaper report said the train would have 12 passenger cars, two dining cars and a sightseeing car. Each passenger car would have four 20-square-meter suites with double beds and bathing facilities.

Wang Yongping, a spokesman of the Ministry of Railways, wrote in his personal blog saying the train should be called a sightseeing train, rather than a luxury train.

"The biggest difference between the train and other trains would be the special sightseeing car, where commodious windows and comfortable chairs allowed passengers a better view of the scenery," he said in the blog.

The train would serve travelers from home and from abroad, he wrote.

The 1,956-kilometer Qinghai-Tibet section of the rail line, running from Xining to Lhasa, which started operation in July 2006, was Tibet's first rail link with the outside world.

Source:Xinhua

5.3-Magnitude quake jolts Xinjiang

2008-09-01T18:57:00.003-07:00

An earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale hit Hejing County, Bayingolin Autonomous Prefecture of Mongolian Nationality in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Saturday evening.

The quake struck at 8:46 p.m. . The epicenter wasat 42.7 degrees north and 83.9 degrees east, and at a depth of 10 km, in the sparsely-inhabited Tianshan Mountains, according to theregional seismograph network.

Nearby counties and Korla City all felt the tremor.

No casualties were reported. Residents in Hejing County said "the intensity was not strong."

The local authorities had begun inspecting the damaged houses. Experts and technicians from Xinjiang and Korla earthquake bureaus were heading for the affected areas.

Source:Xinhua

Four dead, three missing after rainstorm hits central China

2008-09-01T18:57:00.001-07:00

Torrential rains had been slashing central China's Hubei Province since Thursday, leaving four people dead and three others missing.

The rain affected the life of 4.07 million people and destroyed crops in 35 counties across the province, a spokesman of the provincial civil affairs department said on Saturday

Several landslides, triggered by downpours, took place in Ziguiand Xingshan counties.

In some counties, rain water had poured into the houses of urban residents.

The provincial government had sent 100 tents to Zigui. Three working teams were heading for the worst-stricken areas to assist disaster relief efforts.

Source:Xinhua

22 dead after magnitude-6.1 quake jolts Sichuan Province

2008-09-01T18:56:00.002-07:00

Twenty-two people were dead after an earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale hit Panzhihua City in southwest China on Saturday.

As of 9 p.m., 17 people were reported dead and about 100 others injured in Sichuan, and five people dead and 35 others injured in neighboring Yunnan Province.

The quake struck the juncture of Renhe District of Panzhihua and Huili County of Liangshan Prefecture at 4:30 p.m. . The epicenter was about 50 km southeast of downtown Panzhihua, at 26.2 degrees north and 101.9 degrees east and at a depth of 10 km, the National Seismograph Network Center said.

Photo taken on Aug. 31 shows a house in Renhe District of Panzhihua City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, is damaged in an earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale that hits Panzhihua Aug. 30, 2008.
In Panzhihua, a 54-year-old man was killed in debris in Miyi County and another person was killed Yanbian County. Nearly 1,000 houses were destroyed and cracks appeared in walls of more than 400 houses.

In the affected counties of Liangshan Prefecture, 86 people were injured, and many houses were destroyed or in dangerous conditions. The number of people buried in the ruins were not immediately available.

The quake also affected Chuxiong Prefecture in Yunnan Province, leaving five people dead and 26 others were injured, 11 severely, as of 8:30 p.m., said Mengfu, a prefecture government official.

The casualties in Yunnan were reported in Yongren, Yuanmou, Wuding and Dayao counties, in which four deaths were in Yuanmou, about 55 km from the epicenter, and another in Yongren, about 30 km from the epicenter.

"Locals in the county rushed out into the open. Cracks appeared on house walls and many windows were broken," said Zheng Zhouwei, a local legislator in Yongren.

Yunan's capital, Kunming, about 150 km from the epicenter, and Sichuan's capital of Chengdu both felt the tremor.

Another above magnitude-6 quake was not expected in the stricken area in the next two weeks, said Liu Jie, an expert at the National Seismograph Network Center.

The China Earthquake Administration initiated a level-three disaster control emergency response for the quake and required thelocal earthquake bureaus to step up efforts for quake monitoring and loss evaluation.

Working teams and seismic experts from China Earthquake Administration, and Sichuan and Yunnan provincial earthquake bureaus were heading for the stricken area.

The Yunnan provincial civil affairs bureau and the Yunnan Red Cross Society had sent a total of 3,400 tents and 2,000 quilts to the stricken area for disaster relief.

Heavy rain and rugged terrain greatly hampered the rescue efforts.

Due to poor communication, detailed casualties were still under calculation.

An average 118 people live on one sq km in the quake-stricken area.

Source:Xinhua

Transport suspended on Sichuan-Tibet highway due to mudflow

2008-09-01T18:56:00.001-07:00

A section of the highway between southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region and Sichuan Province was blocked by mudflow on Saturday. Transportation was suspended due to that.

The section, at Lizhi County of Linzhi Prefecture in Tibet, was damaged by mudflow caused by heavy rainfall, said Sun Hongjun, an armed police officer in charge of the repair work.

August was a rainy season in Tibet, and rainfall there increased by 30 percent in the first half compared with that of the normal level in the past years. This brought risks to the road and transportation.

Repair work is expected to be finished in about a week.

Source:Xinhua

China's Arctic expedition team starts research in 87 degree north latitude

2008-09-01T18:55:00.001-07:00

China's third Arctic expedition team started research operations in 87 degree north latitude, the northernmost part of the Arctica that the research team has ever arrived.

The scientific expedition team's helicopter landed on a large piece of a floating ice after an 87-minute flight.

The scientists took pictures and videos from the helicopter for further research.

Zhang Haisheng, chief scientist of China's third Arctic expedition team, said it was the first time that China has carried out research at such a high latitude, which showed China's improving ability in Arctic research.

The Arctic sea ice melting as a result of global warming helps the team successfully get deeper into this area and carry out a comprehensive study on the polar environment, he added.

Zhang also said the team has conducted a series of research activities in the Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean on oceanography, sea ice, and atmospheric subjects.

During the expedition from Shanghai on July 11, the team collected lots of data and samples, and achieved preliminary results, such as the discovery of salinity reduction in some Arctic sea areas, circulation anomalies and atmospheric circulation fluctuation, he said.

Further research will be carried out based on those data and samples by which the scientists hope to find answers to the influence of the global climate change and the response of the north pole to such changes, Zhang added.

Source:Xinhua

Beijingers vexed on keeping car ban

2008-09-01T18:54:00.008-07:00

More than 400,000 Beijingers have joined an online discussion about whether to keep a pre-Games car ban.

Nearly half of them supported a permanent car restriction -- an alternating odd-even license plate system from July 20. While the others, mostly car owners, opposed.

GREEN LEGACY

Clear air, clean water and safe food, among all other good things, left local residents with not only an "exceptional" Olympics but a keen concern about the Games' "green legacy" which featured blue skies.

"I support a long-term car restriction. We have made some mistakes in the past. Now we should correct them and return blue skies to our children," wrote a netizen named He Luzhu in the forum on www.ynet.com, the portal site of Beijing Youth Daily.

Air pollution and jammed traffic emerged key problems in 2001 for Beijing's bid to play host the 2008 Summer Olympics, said Sun Daguang, vice secretary of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Bid Committee.

The host city's seven-year efforts to minimize pollution were highlighted by the relocation of a gigantic steel company, and the car ban that rested nearly 2 million, or one third of the city's vehicles, as taxis, buses and other public-service vehicles were exempt.

"The sky was high and blue during the Olympics. It's so much better than those foggy days," said a repair worker surnamed He, who took 4 to 5 hours every day riding a bicycle to visit his clients.

PAIN EASER OR PERMANENT CURE

People who opposed a long-term car ban argued it was a pain easer rather than a permanent cure.

"Only after the government makes great progress on improving public transportation should we discuss whether to keep the car ban. I love blue skies very much. But I had to drive a car because I could not stand packing in a bus for six hours a day," said an anonymous netizen.

Official statistics showed the city's roads were extending at an annual rate of 3 percent while the number of vehicles was increasing at about 15 percent per year.

"When cars run at low speeds in traffic jams, they emit way more pollutants and usually consume more oil," said Hao Jiming, a member of Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Many people who had expressed annoyance over giving up their cars for blue skies are intensely scared of returning to days of choking smog and rush-hour congestion when the restrictions end after the Paralympics.

The Beijing traffic authorities have admitted receiving many submissions from car owners, saying they were comfortable with the odd-even number system and hoping it would last.

The city would continue to improve its public transport service by expanding transport networks while keeping fares low after the Olympics, said Zhou Zhengyu, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Committee of Communications.

"We aim to create a more convenient and comfortable environment for people traveling in the city," he said.

The car ban might be a cure for congestions but not necessarily the best one, said Yang Kaizhong, an economist from Peking University.

He argued there were a variety of methods such as charging for causing congestion and raising parking fees which proved effective in some foreign countries.

WHAT'S AHEAD

For local government, challenges remained mainly in two aspects.

One was how to effectively restrict vehicles owned by governments and state companies, and develop shuttle bus schemes as alternatives. Some people had suggested to mark those "official" vehicles with distinctive signs to differentiate them from private cars.

The other was to maintain the prolonged subway service hours and increased trains and buses, and meanwhile continue building more roads.

For citizens, the biggest challenge could be the transformation of ideas. Driving a car would probably save one some time but it would cause many other problems that would do harm to the mass. People would eventually understand their individual interests were not in conflict with public ones.

Last but not least, the car owners would have to overcome the impulse to drive, which, some say, would be a test for them who were usually labeled China's "middle class".

Source:Xinhua

Ministerial-level Tibetan official dies of illness

2008-09-01T18:54:00.007-07:00

Rinzin Wanggyai, who was a ministerial-level official and had served as the Party chief of a township in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, died of illness in the regional capital Lhasa on Aug. 25. He was 74.

Rinzin Wanggyai served as the secretary of the Lhunze County's Nyaimai Township Committee of the Communist Party of China . He had also been an alternate member of the 10th Central Committee of the CPC, and a member of the Standing Committee of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Committee of the CPC.

But he had served at the post of the Party chief of the Nyaimai Township for the longest period of time.

Rinzin Wanggyai, a native of Nyaimai, was a serf of a major serf owner in the township before the peaceful liberation of Tibetin 1951.

Tibet carried out democratic reforms in 1959, which turned serfs, accounting for 95 percent of the total population in region at that time, into masters of their own destiny.

After the democratic reforms, Rinzin Wanggyai became chairman of the farmers' association in Nyaimai. He joined the CPC in 1962 and served as the Party chief of Nyaimai Township.

He concentrated on fulfilling a range of major tasks, including leading locals to reclaim land from wilderness 4,200 meters above the sea level into farmland and developing education.

Today, all school-age children in the township are studying in schools. In contrast, only 25 people were literate in the township more than five decades ago, all of whom were nobles or lamas.

In 2007, the per capita annual income of farmers in the township of 2,304 people reached 3,800 yuan .

Source:Xinhua

Death toll from magnitude-6.1 quake rises to 24 in SW China

2008-09-01T18:54:00.005-07:00

Local authorities in southwest China's Sichuan and Yunnan provinces on Sunday renewed the death toll of the Saturday's 6.1-magnitude quake from 22 to 24.

Sixteen deaths were reported in Huili, a county in Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Liangshan, Sichuan Province, and three deaths in Panzhihua City, also in Sichuan, and five other deaths in Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Chuxiong in Yunnan.

The quake struck the juncture of Renhe District in Panzhihua and Huili County in Liangshan prefecture at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. The epicenter was about 50 km southeast of downtown Panzhihua, at 26.2 degrees north latitude and 101.9 degrees east longitude and at a depth of 10 km, according to the China Earthquake Administration.

Residents gather on a tractor to evade earthquake in Bailagu Village, Pingdi Town, Renhe District of Panzhihua City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, August 31, 2008. Twenty-two people were dead after an earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale hit Panzhihua City on Saturday. As of 9 p.m., 17 people were reported dead and about 100 others injured in Sichuan, and five people dead and 35 others injured in neighboring Yunnan Province. The quake struck the juncture of Renhe District of Panzhihua and Huili County of Liangshan Prefecture at 4:30 p.m. .
Nearly 400 people were injured in the quake, which also destroyed plenty of residences, and other infrastructure in the quake zone.

An emergency vehicle of Panzhihua Telecommunication Bureau runs to Pingdi Town for a rush repair in Renhe District of Panzhihua City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, August 31, 2008. Twenty-two people were dead after an earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale hit Panzhihua City happened at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. As of 9 p.m., 17 people were reported dead and about 100 others injured in Sichuan, and five people dead and 35 others injured in neighboring Yunnan Province.

Source:Xinhua

Chinese economist Wu clears espionage rumor

2008-09-01T18:54:00.003-07:00

Wu Jing Lian, a Chinese economist and senior researcher with the Development Research Center of the State Council told in an interview with China News Agency that some reports of him working as U.S. spy was pure rumor.

DRC, which Wu is working for, on Friday had also publicly issued a notice on its website www.drc.gov.cn, saying reports of Wu's espionage was not justified and that Wu's life and work was normal, in response to some people's care and concerns for him.

Previously, some overseas media had reported Wu was arrested on suspicious spying work, reported the China News Agency on Friday.

Wu had returned to his Beijing apartment from a meeting in northern city Tianjin on Aug. 29, and said he was shocked at such windy rumors, the agency reported.

As a well-known economist and academic heavyweight in the eyes of the media, Wu was as much recognized as he was talked about for his often bold and sharp argumentations.

The 78-year-old economist had been visiting scholars in prestigious universities such as Yale, Standford and MIT in the United States during the 1980s and 1990s.

Source:Xinhua

Senior Chinese leader urges better service, security work for Paralympics

2008-09-01T18:54:00.001-07:00

Senior Communist Party of China official Zhou Yongkang Friday called for better services and security work for next month's Paralympic Games during an inspection of Beijing South Railway station.

Zhou, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, on Friday toured facilities for the disabled at the station such as lanes for the blind and special lifts.

"We should spare no efforts in providing the best service and maintaining security for the Paralympics," Zhou said.

Zhou then took the Beijing-Tianjin intercity express to the industrial city of Tianjin.

Zhou Yongkang , member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, visits a community service center in Nankai district, north China's Tianjin Municipality, during his inspection tour in Tianjin on Aug. 29. 2008.
He inspected restrooms for the disabled on the train, stressing that the disabled should be respected, well cared for and better served.

Zhou said the Paralympics should lead to nationwide improvements for services for the disabled.

In Tianjin, he inspected a community in Nankai District, the Letters and Calls Reception Office in Hebei District and listened to a report on the city's social and economic development and social stability.

Zhou stressed that all security sectors shall continue efforts to maintain social stability and public order during the Paralympics, which will be held from Sept. 6 to 17.

Source:Xinhua

Senior Chinese leader urges new development in Heilongjiang

2008-09-01T18:53:00.004-07:00

Top Chinese political advisor Jia Qinglin on Saturday urged new social and economic development in northeast China's Heilongjiang province, in accordance with the country's strategy to revitalize the old industrial base.

Jia, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference , made the requirement during an inspection tour of Heilongjiang from Aug. 26 to 30. He visited local farms, enterprises and research institutes.

He said Heilongjiang, the country's largest production base of commodity grain, should make more efforts on grain production, by further increasing agricultural input and infrastructure construction.

Jia Qinglin , chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference , visits a farm in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 29, 2008, during his inspection tour in Heilongjiang from Aug. 26 to 30.
In addition, the province should promote the development of agricultural science and technology, and further arouse farmers' initiatives for farming.

Meanwhile, Heilongjiang, as one of China's important industrial bases, should invigorate its equipment manufacturing industry, to make more contributions to the country's industrialization and national defense.

Jia Qinglin , chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference , visits the Harbin Boiler Company in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 29, 2008, during his inspection tour in Heilongjiang from Aug. 26 to 30.
Jia, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, showed great concerns on local ethnic minorities' lives, saying the government should continue to help them lead harmonious and happy lives.

Source:Xinhua

Chinese vice premier urges efforts to boost development in Inner Mongolia

2008-09-01T18:53:00.003-07:00

Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang on Saturday called for more efforts to promote sound and fast growth in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made an inspection tour of the region from Aug. 28 to 30. He visited factories, markets, pastoral areas and residential districts in Hohhot, Manzhouli and Ordos.

He said Inner Mongolia should develop economy with local characteristics, boost the development of modern agriculture and animal husbandry, and rationally develop and utilize mineral resources.

Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang visits a herdsmen's family in the Ordos grassland in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Aug. 29, 2008, during his inspection tour in Inner Mongolia from Aug. 28 to 30.
The region, one of China's important energy bases, should increase its energy supply with a highlight on the production security as well. Meanwhile, it should promote the development of recycling economy, and continue implementing energy saving and emission reducing policies.

Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang talks to a shopkeeper at a shopping center in the border city of Manzhouli in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Aug. 28, 2008, during his inspection tour in Inner Mongolia from Aug. 28 to 30.
He pointed out the eastern part of Inner Mongolia was a region of vast land area and great marketing potential. It should seize the opportunities to further strengthen its economic power.

He further stressed that, Inner Mongolia, the important ecological shelter for China's northern region, should pay more attention on ecological development and environmental protection.

During the visit, Li showed great concern on people's livelihood. He called for greater efforts to raise urban and rural people's income through various channels, and better solve people's housing and medical care problems, to further improve their lives.

Source:Xinhua

Forum to help Chinese SMEs

2008-09-01T18:53:00.001-07:00

As the Chinese economy continues to grow at a rapid rate, factors affecting the global economy continue to leave unanswered questions for Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises.

"We hope some answers and solutions can be found in the Global Chinese Financial Forum Dalian Conference scheduled from Oct 30 to Nov 1 in the coastal city of Liaoning province," said Joe Tai, president of ChineseWorldNet.com Inc, one of the conference's organizers.

"We hope the GCFF Dalian conference will help the provinces in Northeast China develop in opening-up to the outside world, adopting international practices, and attracting more venture capital and private equity," said Tai.

Comprising keynote symposium, capital market section, and financial-related section, the conference will invite many famous investment gurus and financial experts to give comments on the hottest issues in finance and economy of both the global and Chinese market in 2008 and 2009, said Tai.

The capital market section, which includes four or five sub-forums and nearly 1,500 matching meetings between institutions and enterprises, is expected to attract about 10,000 attendees.

In the financial-related section, exhibitors of financial products and service providers will introduce their products to the Chinese investors. The attendees can gain up-to-the-minute knowledge on the financing concepts and the potential financing fields.

Chen Tiecheng, deputy director of the small and medium-sized enterprises department of Liaoning, said Liaoning's SMEs will benefit from the Dalian conference.

"The local government in Liaoning supports the development of SMEs. In addition, they face great opportunities like the restructuring of the old industrial bases of Northeast China," said Chen.

Source:Xinhua

China's top aluminum producer first half net profit down 65.56%

2008-09-01T18:52:00.003-07:00

Aluminum Corporation of China Ltd., the country's largest producer of primary aluminum, posted a 65.56-percent drop in its first-half net profit, which stood at 2.4 billion yuan , the company reported late on Friday.

Half-year revenue totaled 3.5 billion yuan, down 64.08 percent year on year. The earnings per share were 0.18 yuan, down 68.33 percent from a year earlier, according to its interim report.

The soaring price of imported materials, freight and energy pushed up costs, and declining sales crippled overall profits. In addition, the severe winter weather at the beginning of the year hurt the company's production and sales, said Liu Shuwei, director of Chinese enterprise research center at the Central University of Finance and Economics.

In the first half, the company's alumina sector experienced a drop in sales and sales prices due to increased use for itself and weakening trade. Revenue of the sector was 16.4 billion yuan, down 9.66 percent from the same period last year. Sales were 2.54 million tonnes, 460,000 tonnes down from the first half of last year.

The weakening performance also applied to the electrolytic aluminium sector, which saw revenue fall by 2.07 billion yuan to 29.5 billion yuan. Sales in the first six months stood at 1.35 million tonnes, 58,300 tonnes less than the first half of last year.

Source:Xinhua

Jordan calls for more Chinese investments

2008-09-01T18:52:00.001-07:00

Jordan's business community Saturday called for more Chinese investments in the kingdom, official news agency Petra reported.

"The private sector seeks to have advanced relations with China and is working to attract Chinese investments into the kingdom," president of the Jordan Chamber of Commerce Haider Murad said when meeting a delegation from the Chinese Bank for Development.

The president said he hopes more Chinese projects could be set up in Jordan.

Murad also called for increasing Chinese imports from Jordan, mainly potash, sodium, phosphate, fertilizers, medicine, cosmetics and food stuffs.

Jordan's imports from China stood at 1.298 billion U.S. dollars, while its exports amounted to 72 million dollars, making China one of Jordan's main trade partners.

The Jordan Chamber of Commerce is a nonprofit organization which provides umbrella for 15 chambers of commerce located in the major cities and districts of the country.

Source:Xinhua

Somali delegation commends China, Beijing Olympic Games

2008-09-01T18:51:00.004-07:00

Although the Somali delegation to the Beijing Summer Olympic Games concluded last week came back to the country unnoticed just like they went out but the athletes as well as the officials say that both China and the Games left them with a lasting impressions.

"We have been received warmly by China and its people as we arrived in the capital Beijing which has changed significantly since I have been there last time," Aden Haji Yabarow, vice President of Somali Olympic Committee, told Xinhua in Mogadishu.

Yabarow, who had been to China a number of times before, said the changes he saw this time round was "unbelievable", saying the country has undergone tremendous transformation in every sphere.

Speaking about the organization of the Games, he said that he had never seen anything like it before and predicts that the pageantry at display at the Beijing Games may not be repeated for decades to come.

"The elaborate representation of scenes from Chinese history, culture and traditions as well as the rich display of traditional Chinese costumes, the fireworks, the magnificent sports venues and all the rest were things unmatched by anything I have seen in the last few Olympic Games I have been to," Yabarow said, "and I do not think we will see them in the coming decades."

Somali Olympic Committee, locally known by its Somali acronym GOS, managed to send two young athletes to represent Somalia at the Games despite 18 years of civil strife that Somalia endured.

But although the athletes did not win medals they were proud that their country was present at the Games and the national flag was raised at the Games.

Abdinasir Saeed, one of the two athletes, said he was happy Somalia was not left out, adding that it meant a lot to him to have the national Somali flag among those of more than 200 countries and regions from around the world.

"It is a great feeling to see your country's flag flying among the others and we have achieved a lot considering what our country has been through for two decades"

Saeed said that he was very impressed by the Chinese people who he describes as polite, civilized, and friendly.

"We were really welcomed by the Chinese people everywhere we went during our stay in China. We were received by the smiling faces of the Chinese people who are really courteous," Saeed noted," they are helpful welcoming and civilized".

Sead, who has never been outside Africa, said he was also stunned by the sheer beauty of the capital which he said, was magical and sophisticated.

Samia Yusuf, a young woman in her teens, was the only female athlete at the Games from the war-torn Horn of African country of Somalia.

She says she enjoyed a lot during her stay in Beijing Games saying she very much liked the Opening and the Closing ceremonies in particular.

"The music, the different performances, the fireworks and the Chinese local costumes were all very fabulous," Samia told Xinhua, "I have never seen anything like it".

Source:Xinhua

Seven dead after magnitude-6.1 quake jolts Sichuan Province

2008-09-01T18:51:00.003-07:00

Seven people were dead after an earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale hit Panzhihua City in southwest China on Saturday.

One person was killed in Miyi County and another was confirmed to have died when a house collapsed in Zhongchang Township of Lihui County, Sichuan Province.

Five people died in Chuxiong Autonomous Prefecture of Yi Nationality in neighboring Yunnan Province, where 26 were injured, 11 severely, as of 8:30 p.m., said Mengfu, a prefecture government official.

The casualties in Yunnan were reported in Yongren, Yuanmou, Wuding and Dayao counties, in which four deaths were in Yuanmou and another in Yongren.

The quake struck at 4:30 p.m. . The epicenter was about 50 km southeast of downtown Panzhihua, at 26.2 degrees north and 101.9 degrees east and at a depth of 10 km, the National Seismograph Network Center said.

All the affected counties in Sichuan and Yunnan reported damaged houses.

No casualties or damaged houses were reported in the urban area of Panzhihua.

"Locals in the county rushed out into the open. Cracks appearedon house walls and many windows were broken," said Zheng Zhouwei, a local legislator in Yongren.

Yunan's capital, Kunming, about 300 km from the epicenter, and Sichuan's capital of Chengdu also felt the tremor. Many residents were staying outside after the quake.

Source:Xinhua

Beijing's Olympic venues to become part of public life

2008-09-01T18:51:00.001-07:00

Beijing is seeking ways to make better use of the 12 new venues built for the Olympics, with plans to host major international sporting and cultural events.

The spectacular stadiums are expected to become part of the public life of Beijing residents and visitors, as concerts, football games, and U.S. NBA basketball games.

"The Bird's Nest will remain the same as when the track and field competitions were staged during the Olympics," said Li Jianyi, general manager of its operator, a consortium led by state-owned investment group CITIC.

The stadium would mainly host large sports events as well as entertainment events like pop concerts, he said.

It had become home to the Beijing Guoan Football Club, and a sports broker was in talks to invite Real Madrid to play there.

Hotels, restaurants, supermarkets, and shopping malls would also be erected in the second-phase construction, according to the developers. Such commercial facilities would account for about 35 percent of the total area on completion.

The Water Cube, which saw 24 new world records and the U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps snatching eight gold medals, would probably turn into the largest aquatic recreation center in Beijing.

Kang Wei, president of the National Aquatics Center Company Ltd, which runs the venue, said 6,000 makeshift seats, of the total 17,000, would be removed to make room for an artificial surf beach and other recreational and training facilities.

Areas for recreation had been designed to be about five times that of the competition area, Kang said.

The construction of recreational facilities was expected to begin after the Spring Festival in 2009, and finish in about a year.

The Wukesong Indoor Stadium would become the NBA's first facility in the country, hosting NBA China basketball games, said Zhao Yan, president of the Wukesong Sports and Culture Center.

Both the NBA China and the U.S. entertainment giant AEG were strategic partners of the Center, Zhao said.

The latter, which owns dozens of sports venues worldwide, would manage the stadium, including marketing of the facility and organization of large pop concerts, sports events and other entertainment events.

The first pop concert has been scheduled for Oct. 3, followed by NBA games and demonstration matches featuring NBA stars in the same month, and almost 100 sports events or performances have been planned throughout 2009 at the cube-shaped stadium in west Beijing.

Renovation of the National Convention Center, the fencing venue, will start at the end of October to turn the facility into a conference centre. It's expected to be in use in the second half in 2009.

Apartments at both the Media Village and the Olympic Village will be sold. The Media Village is expected to be ready for owners to move in at the end of the year, with 80 percent of apartments already sold.

The Olympic Village will be ready in the first half of next year, and 70 percent were sold before the Games.

Beijing Vice Mayor Chen Gang said public interests and environmental protection were as important as economic interests in post-Games use of Olympic venues.

Source:Xinhua

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2008-08-05T02:01:00.000-07:00

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