DESTROYER WUHAN, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese naval fleet en route to the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia for an escort mission against pirates completed its first replenishment at sea Tuesday. The fleet, two destroyers and a supply ship, has entered the Indian Ocean after a four-day voyage which set sail from China's southernmost island province of Hainan. In the afternoon, the supply ship Weishanhu successfully refueled the two destroyers Wuhan and Haikou with several hundred tons of oil, an operation that an official for fleet support described as "highly efficient." The fleet will cruise for about 10 days before arriving in the Gulf of Aden to join a multinational patrol in one of the world's busiest sea lanes endangered by surging piracy. The recent pirate attack on a Chinese fishing vessel has raised great concern of the Chinese government and people. Statistics showed that some 1,265 Chinese commercial vessels have passed through the gulf so far this year and seven have been attacked. The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions calling on all countries and regions to help patrol the gulf and waters off Somalia since June. The latest resolution authorized countries to take all necessary measures in Somalia, including in its airspace to stop the pirates. A helicopter of the Chinese naval fleet attends a landing exercise at night on Dec. 28, 2008, while the Chinese naval fleet heads for the Gulf of Aden. The Chinese naval fleet including two destroyers and a supply ship set off on Dec. 26 for waters off Somalia for an escort mission against piracy
BEIJING, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, studied the implementation of the Law on Labor Contract and the Law on Compulsory Education Thursday at a plenary session. The legislative session was attended by Wu Bangguo, chairman of the NPC National Committee, and presided over by Chen Zhili, vice chairwoman of the NPC Standing Committee. The third plenary session of the sixth session of the 11th Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress(NPC) is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on Dec. 25, 2008. Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the NPC, attended the session. Lu Yongxiang, vice chairman of the top legislature, read a report at the session on the practice of the Law on Compulsory Education, which was put into force in 1986 with an overall revision in 2006. The top legislature checked the implementation of the law in 2007 and 2008, respectively. Over the past two years, Lu said, the law has entered the stage of an overall popularization throughout the country as it has been fully supported by the state finance and the policy of free compulsory education has been achieved. But there have been difficulties for the implementation of the law in rural areas, including the lack of funds and quality teachers and the existence of safety problems for school buildings and management in the countryside. Hua Jianmin, vice chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, made a report on the implementation of the Law on Labor Contract, which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2008. The top legislature checked the practice of the law from mid-September to mid-October, he said. According to Hua, the implementation of the new law is good in general as the number of labor contracts signed has witnessed a remarkable rise this year and the rights of transient workers from rural areas have been better protected. However, the practice of the law has met new problems since October, when the impacts of the current global financial crisis spread and the growth of world economy slowed down, he said. Hua urged that more efforts should be made to publicize the law, so as to better implement it and give greater attention to the protection of laborers' rights. At the session, the lawmakers also heard reports on the handling of 462proposals and 6,279 pieces of suggestions, comments and criticisms from NPC deputies during the First Session of the Eleventh NPC in March 2008. Meanwhile, the meeting heard reports on the amendments of the Law on Earthquake Relief and the Patent Law. The NPC Law Committee suggested that the top legislature approve the two amended laws. It also heard a report on Wu's recent visit to five African nations and the Commission of the African Union.
BEIJING, Jan.24 (Xinhua) -- China's top economic planner said Saturday it would raise the minimum state purchasing prices for rice in major rice-producing areas by as much as 16.9 percent this year. The move was aimed at protecting farmers' interests, keeping grain prices stable and boosting grain output as grain growers had experienced higher costs since last year, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). The state purchasing prices for japonica rice will rise 15.9 percent to 1900 yuan (280 U.S. dollars) per ton this year, according to the NDRC. In addition, prices for early and late indica rice will be 16.9percent and 16.5 percent higher respectively to 1800 yuan and 1840yuan per ton. It was the biggest increase in grain purchasing prices since 2004, said Ding Jie, an official with the NDRC's price department. In 2004, China started the practice of buying grains from farmers at a state-set minimum price when market prices drop below the protective price level in order to encourage grain production. Saturday's announcement came before Chinese farmers kick off the spring planting season, as the government tried to prevent the grain growers' enthusiasm from being eroded by higher costs of fertilizers and other production materials. Statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture show December fertilizer prices, except urea, rose more than 20 percent from a year earlier. Diesel for farm use was 5.8 percent higher year-on-year. The NDRC already hiked the minimum purchasing price for wheat by as much as 15.3 percent starting this year. It raised the purchasing prices for wheat and rice twice last year. With a population of more than 1.3 billion, China relies mainly on domestic production for food and targets grain output of more than 540 million tons by 2020. China's grain output rose 5.4 percent year-on-year to a record 528.5 million tons in 2008, official data show. State-owned enterprises purchased 170 million tons of grains from farmers in 2008, said Nie Zhenbang, director of the State Administration of Grain, earlier this month. That move, together with higher purchasing prices, resulted in a revenue increase of more than 50 billion yuan (7.4 billion U.S. dollars) for the whole country's farmers, said Nie.
TAIPEI, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- The United Daily News, one of the biggest newspapers in Taiwan, said in an editorial on Friday that the six proposals put forward by Hu Jintao on the cross-Straits relationship are "positive" and "explicit". The editorial said that people in Taiwan mostly hold positive opinions about the six proposals, made by General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee Hu Jintao on New Year's Eve, and see goodwill and understanding in them. It noted that in Hu's address, he shows understanding that "Taiwan consciousness" does not equal to "Taiwan independence consciousness". In addition, Hu also said the mainland is willing to discuss with Taiwan "proper and reasonable arrangements" for Taiwan's participation in activities of international organizations as long as such activity does not create a scenario of "two Chinas" or "one China and one Taiwan." Chinese President Hu Jintao addresses a ceremony commemorating the 30th anniversary of the announcement of Message to Compatriots in Taiwan, held in Beijing, capital of China, on Dec. 31, 2008. The Chinese mainland commemorated the 30th anniversary of the announcement of Message to Compatriots in Taiwan here Wednesday with a ceremony. Hu made the six proposals on promoting the peaceful development of the cross-Straits relationship in his speech to commemorate the30th anniversary of the mainland's "Message to Compatriots in Taiwan." He called for increased communication and exchange in all areas and said the mainland would actively respond to any constructive proposals that would boost the peaceful development of the cross-Straits relationship. Hu said the two sides could step up contacts and exchanges on military issues "at an appropriate time" and discuss establishing a mechanism to boost mutual trust on military security.
BEIJING, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- Agreements on direct flights and shipping, signed on Tuesday in Taipei, are drawing strong interest from airlines and shipping companies from the mainland and Taiwan. "Regular charter flights, instead of flights only weekends and festivals, were our long-term expectations," said Liu Shaoyong, the general manager of mainland-based China Southern Airlines. "Direct air routes are very good for our business." A flight from the mainland to Taiwan via Hong Kong under the current arrangement takes two hours and 42 minutes and burns 16 tonnes of fuel. Under the new arrangement, flights will take 69 minutes and burn 7.3 tonnes of fuel. "Less travel time and expense benefits both passengers and airlines," Liu said. Wei Hsing-Hsiung, chairman of the board of Taiwan-based China Airlines, was glad to see the number of passenger charter flights increase from 36 on weekends to 108 a week. "We have profits of about 1.5 million U.S. dollars from weekend charter flights. The figure is likely to reach 5 million dollars due to more flights, while the cost might fall by 20 percent as the route is shorter," he said. The new agreement only opened one direct air route, between Shanghai and Taipei. Xiamen, the coastal city in southeastern Fujian Province directly opposite to Taiwan, was not included. Mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) President Chen Yunlin(R) and Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung attend the symposia on industry and shipping in Taipei, southeast China's Taiwan Province, Nov. 5, 2008. They attended two symposia, one on industry and shipping and the other on finance, that were held against the backdrop of international financial crisis and struggling world economy in Taipei on Wednesday"We are expecting more air routes," said Yang Guanghua, general manager of Xiamen Airlines. The flight distance between Xiamen and Taipei will be one third shorter than at present and the flying time will be about half, he said. The two sides said in the agreement that they are going to negotiate another route linking the southern part of Taiwan with the mainland. To cope with increasing flights, Yang's company plans to use 10more passenger planes next year, he said. Taiwan's senior economic official Shih Yen-shiang told the local daily China Times on Wednesday that he estimated every direct trip across the Strait could save companies 300,000 New Taiwan dollars (about 9,000 U.S. dollars). "Based on 4,000 trips a year, 1.2 billion dollars will be saved," he said. Under the new agreement, the mainland and Taiwan will exempt each other's shipping firms from business and income taxes. For the container divisions of Taiwan's three leading shipping lines -- Evergreen Marine, Wan Hai Lines and Yang Ming Group -- 60percent could be related to the mainland. Tax cuts will save each 2 to 3 billion NT dollars, another local newspaper, the Commercial Times, said. Ningbo of eastern Zhejiang Province was one of the 63 ports that the mainland opened to Taiwan ships. "The most direct effect will be increasing cargo volume," said Tong Mengda, chief economist of Ningbo Port Holding. "The voyage to Taiwan has been cut from 25 hours to ten. This is good for both shipping companies and ports."
安康hcg一天翻倍一点多是多少
BEIJING, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Four U.S. ambassadors in Beijing on Sunday eyed a continued China policy under the Obama administration. "I am optimistic that U.S-China ties will continue to improve and remain steady in the years ahead. In fact, they are getting better," former U.S. ambassador to China James Sasser told reporters on the sidelines of a reception marking the 30th anniversary of China-U.S. diplomatic relations. Sasser was one of about 200 personages from the two countries attending Sunday's reception, held in the U.S. new embassy in Beijing. Sasser, who served as ambassador from 1996 to 1999, said he didn't see "significant tensions" in current bilateral relations and believed there would be more improvements in the years ahead. Echoing Sasser's view, another former U.S. ambassador to Beijing Winston Lord said, "Overall, the American policy with China will remain essentially the same under the Obama administration." "If you look at what Obama has been saying about U.S.-China relations, look at what type of people he has been appointing to key foreign policy positions, these suggest great continuity," said Lord, who was one-time aide to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and part of the U.S. delegation during Richard Nixon's ground-breaking visit to China in 1972. "We had 7 presidents since President Nixon, both democratics and republicans. All of them have pursued essentially the same policy with respect to China," said Lord, who served as ambassador to China between 1985and 1989. "It doesn't mean we won't have problems. But I think interests are much bigger than our problems," he said. Stapleton Roy, who served as ambassador in Beijing from 1991 to 1996, said the Obama administration would continue to cooperate with China. "There are so many issues the two countries have to deal with in the world. The have to work together." Looking to the future, Roy said the most serious issue the two countries have to deal with is the economic crisis. He called for the two countries to work more closely and take concerted actions. "In 1979, who among us would have thought that 30 years later the United States and China would be meeting regularly on regional hot spots in third countries or they would be working together to deal with the world financial crisis," current U.S. Ambassador in Beijing Clark Randt told the reception. As a metric of the development of bilateral relations, Randt said there were 36 Americans working in the U.S. embassy in Beijing in 1979. "In October 2008, when we moved to this new building, we had a staff of 1,100, the second biggest U.S. embassy in the world," Randt said. "The new embassy itself was a tangible expression to the importance of the development of U.S.-China relations, the most important bilateral relationship in the world." As the world gets more complicated, Randt said interdependence and complementariness between the two countries would become even more important and the relationship would continue to get better.
UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government is actively promoting the relief of tension in Gaza, and China is ready to work with the international community to bring all the parties concerned back to the negotiation table at an early date in a bid to achieve the peaceful, just and durable settlement to the Palestinian-Israeli issue, a Chinese envoy said here Tuesday. Zhang Yesui, the Chinese permanent representative to the United Nations, made the statement as he was speaking at the closed-door meeting of the UN Security Council on the Gaza conflict, which has left more than 900 Palestinians killed and 4,000 others injured. Zhang told the Security Council that the Chinese special envoy on the Middle East issue, Sun Bigan, began his visit to Egypt, Israel and Palestine on Sunday for mediation for peace in the region. China is gravely concerned about the growing escalation of tension in Gaza, and it is regrettable to see that the new Security Council resolution, adopted last Thursday to call for an immediate, durable and fully respected ceasefire, went unheeded by warring parties, he said. At present, the top priority is to achieve the full implementation of the UN truce resolution -- the immediate ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, a halt to the firing of rockets into Israel by the armed Palestinian faction, and unimpeded access of Gaza to the humanitarian relief goods, he said. At the Tuesday council meeting, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon briefed 15 council members on his upcoming visit to the Middle East, which will take him to Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Turkey, Lebanon, Syria and Kuwait.
BEIJING, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Four U.S. ambassadors in Beijing on Sunday eyed a continued China policy under the Obama administration. "I am optimistic that U.S-China ties will continue to improve and remain steady in the years ahead. In fact, they are getting better," former U.S. ambassador to China James Sasser told reporters on the sidelines of a reception marking the 30th anniversary of China-U.S. diplomatic relations. Sasser was one of about 200 personages from the two countries attending Sunday's reception, held in the U.S. new embassy in Beijing. Sasser, who served as ambassador from 1996 to 1999, said he didn't see "significant tensions" in current bilateral relations and believed there would be more improvements in the years ahead. Echoing Sasser's view, another former U.S. ambassador to Beijing Winston Lord said, "Overall, the American policy with China will remain essentially the same under the Obama administration." "If you look at what Obama has been saying about U.S.-China relations, look at what type of people he has been appointing to key foreign policy positions, these suggest great continuity," said Lord, who was one-time aide to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and part of the U.S. delegation during Richard Nixon's ground-breaking visit to China in 1972. "We had 7 presidents since President Nixon, both democratics and republicans. All of them have pursued essentially the same policy with respect to China," said Lord, who served as ambassador to China between 1985and 1989. "It doesn't mean we won't have problems. But I think interests are much bigger than our problems," he said. Stapleton Roy, who served as ambassador in Beijing from 1991 to 1996, said the Obama administration would continue to cooperate with China. "There are so many issues the two countries have to deal with in the world. The have to work together." Looking to the future, Roy said the most serious issue the two countries have to deal with is the economic crisis. He called for the two countries to work more closely and take concerted actions. "In 1979, who among us would have thought that 30 years later the United States and China would be meeting regularly on regional hot spots in third countries or they would be working together to deal with the world financial crisis," current U.S. Ambassador in Beijing Clark Randt told the reception. As a metric of the development of bilateral relations, Randt said there were 36 Americans working in the U.S. embassy in Beijing in 1979. "In October 2008, when we moved to this new building, we had a staff of 1,100, the second biggest U.S. embassy in the world," Randt said. "The new embassy itself was a tangible expression to the importance of the development of U.S.-China relations, the most important bilateral relationship in the world." As the world gets more complicated, Randt said interdependence and complementariness between the two countries would become even more important and the relationship would continue to get better.
KUNMING, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- The learning and implementation of the Scientific Outlook on Development among Party members and cadres should be emphasized to boost economic development, said Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping on Thursday during his inspection tour to southwestern Yunnan Province. Xi said local officials should exercise the Scientific Outlook on Development while facing challenges as a result of the global financial crisis. Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping (2nd R) talks with a woman at a tea garden in the Simao District of Pu'er City, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Nov. 18, 2008. Xi Jinping made an inspection in Yunnan Province on Nov. 17-20"In this way, we can change risks into opportunities," said Xi, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee. He urged local governments to implement the central government's policies and make sure to complete this year's economic growth goal. Xi also asked local officials to pay attention to ecological development and environmental protection while advancing economic growth.