The average wedding cost in urban China hits a record of 560,000 yuan (US,572), and young couples are heavily depending on parents' financial aids to pave the way for their marriages, reported the Jiefang Daily Friday.2006 China Wedding Expo was held at Beijing Exhibition Center from August 11-13. Various wedding photos and other related wedding outfits had been exhibited during the expo. [CRI]The 560,000 yuan is based on some 60,000 valid questionnaires of a recent survey conducted by the Committee of China Wedding Expo.According the survey, the wedding related expense, honeymoon, new house and car are prime contributors to the soaring marriage cost in the urban area. The wedding related cost, including wedding picture, dress, ceremony, feast, jewelry is 139,557 yuan in average. The average costs of honeymoon and a new car are 9,227 yuan and 94,800 yuan respectively. Housing expense fuels the marriage cost by adding 308,600 yuan in average. According to the survey, 81.6 per cent of young couples' marriages are funded by their parents. No matter parents finance some of it, half of it or all of it. "Parents are the young couple's first-choice sponsor of their luxurious wedding," said Liao Junguo, the director of the data center of China Wedding Expo. "I am willing to give my boy a hand as it is a tradition of Chinese parents to take care of their children's wedding," a senior surnamed Zhang said. The skyrocketing marriage cost in urban area put many engaged couples in an awkward position when it comes to the question of getting married. Love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage, but the carriage nowadays is loaded with money.
SINGAPORE: China and the United States plan to set up a defense hotline aimed at improving military relations, a top Chinese general said over the weekend. Zhang Qinsheng, deputy chief of the general staff of the People's Liberation Army, made the remarks at the plenary session of a three-day security summit known as the Shangri-La Dialogue. He said the issue of the hotline between the Chinese military and the US Defense Department would be settled when he visits the United States in September for the ninth Sino-US defense talks. Zhang also told the summit that China's defense budget is authentic. As the Chinese military gradually modernizes, some have raised questions over "military transparency", and voiced suspicions on China's defense budget. So it is necessary to clarify the matter, Zhang said. "In China, defense budgeting must follow a set of strict legal procedures, and the published budget is true and authentic," he said. He added that the increased proportion of the defense budget is mostly used to make up for inflation, improve the welfare of military personnel and logistics support. "Given the multiple security threats, the geo-political environment, the size of the territory, and per-capita expense, the Chinese defense expenditure is small by any yardstick," he added. He stressed that "China is gradually making progress in military transparency following the principles of trust, responsibility, security and equality". The annual Shangri-La Dialogue, named after the Singapore hotel at which the event has been held since its launch in 2002, and organized by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, opened on Friday. It gathered defense ministers and top officials from 26 countries and regions in the Asia-Pacific region and Europe to address major regional security issues and defense cooperation. Also at the meeting, the US and China turned down the heat on a dispute over Beijing's military build-up, with US Defence Secretary Robert Gates expressing optimism about future relations. Gates downplayed past US rhetoric on China's military might. "As we gain experience in dealing with each other, relationships can be forged that will build trust over time," Gates said. China Daily - Agencies
BEIJING -- China is likely to become the world's second largest consumer market by 2015, said a report released by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).Chinese shoppers select the luxury Louis Vuitton luggage at the first franchise store in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province, July 25, 2007. [newsphoto]The report is based on a survey of 4,258 consumers in 13 Chinese cities from February to March 2007. According to the report, Chinese consumers are experiencing unprecedented wealth growth which is 3 to 5 times faster than developed countries in the past 50 years. Most Chinese consumers plan to spend more in near future to fulfill their family dreams."The past decade of rapid economic growth has brought prosperity but also uncertainty, resulting in a highly complex consumer market with diverse consumer attitudes," said Hubert Hsu, senior partner and managing director of BCG, at a press conference in Beijing."Capturing the next wave of consumer growth in China will involve developing deep consumer insights and creating marketing differentiation," said Hsu.The report said there are significant generational differences in terms of spending attitude among Chinese consumers. The strong interest in trading up, which means spending more money for more expensive products, was driven up by consumers' increasing desire for better goods and services and rising concern over safety and quality of cheap products.Chinese consumers put more faith in brand names compared with the US consumers and they believe good brand represents quality, safety, effectiveness and durability, said Hsu.Despite strong trading up desires, Chinese consumers continue to "treasure hunt" - make deliberate trade-offs to maximize "value" of their budgets. They use similar strategies for treasure hunting as their counterparts in other countries except several unusual tactics such as group purchase for volume discount, said the report.The report suggested global suppliers in China should establish strong, branded relationships with China's treasure-hunting consumers, provide the kinds of products that appeal to practical concerns and emotional needs, and be willing to customize their offerings to meet the needs of a geographically diverse population.While the retailers must make sure the categories they carry are the ones that treasure-hunting consumers will seek and focus on a product's technical and emotional benefits, said the report.
The country's campaign to improve product quality and food safety has yielded very good results, Vice-Premier Wu Yi said in Weifang, Shandong Province, October 26, 2007. [Newsphoto]Weifang - The country's campaign to improve product quality and food safety has yielded very good results, Vice-Premier Wu Yi said on Friday.Despite that she urged: "We have to win this special war against poor product quality and supervision, enabling our people to eat without fear."Wu said the government has raised its investment in agriculture, especially in pesticide supervision and fertilizers management and to prevent fake products from entering the sector.Besides, authorities will strengthen supervision and inspection on vegetables and other food products in major cities, bringing all wholesale markets within the authorities' monitoring system.Officials are already monitoring all wholesale markets for agricultural products in 676 medium- and large-sized cities, Minister of Agriculture Sun Zhengcai said.Latest data suggest 94 percent vegetables and 95 percent aquatic products in cities have pesticide residue below the danger level.Also, more than 97.4 per cent of the pigs are slaughtered in registered abattoirs. The authorities closed down 602 illegal and 4,051 slaughterhouses in the first half of this year alone.Concerns over Chinese products safety prompted the government to formed a cabinet-level panel on food safety and quality control under the vice-premier in August.Eight categories of products are under the panel's scanner, including pork, drugs, agricultural products, processed food, toys and electric wires. The "special war" is aimed at improving product quality in four months.At a meeting in Weifang, Shandong Province, Wu lauded the province's advanced practice in product quality and food security management."Shandong's experience in standardized plantation of vegetables, aquatic products and some other agricultural products has been proved effective and worth promoting nationwide," Wu said.It brings irrigation and the condition of cultivable areas, particularly where chemicals are used, under a quality control system, which will be overseen by local officials, Shandong Governor Jiang Daming said.The province has taken the lead in the country to set up internationally recognized systems of quality standards, quality testing, attestation and supervision, securing a high standard of food quality from every link of production, processing and transportation.And more than 400,000 people in the province have attended into food safety education training sessions since August.
A former top official from Beijing is facing prosecution for taking bribes from property developers, advertising companies and other businesses, a local newspaper reported Thursday.Zhou Liangluo, 46, former head of Haidian district, the city's thriving university and hi-tech hub, received bribes totaling 16 million yuan (.2 million) from 10 businesses and individuals, the Beijing Times reported.Caijing magazine said on its website last month that Zhou was apparently uncovered when authorities were investigating Liu Zhihua - the former vice-mayor of Beijing - for alleged corruption and finding out that a real estate developer Liu Jun had been bribing the two.However, there is so far no evidence proving the alleged links.Investigators last month handed Zhou's case to a city court for trial.His wife, Lu Xiaodan, also faces charges of taking more than 8 million yuan in bribes, the paper said.Beijing has enjoyed an influx of investment over recent years, partly spurred by its preparations to host the Olympics Games.Zhou's posts in Haidian, and before that in Chaoyang district, gave him a big say over lucrative projects.The report did not say when Zhou and Lu are to be tried or how they are expected to plead to the possible charges.
In the latest move by some countries to construct new embassies or give their missions in Beijing a makeover, the Australian embassy will spend million refurbishing its already elegant building, the Australian ambassador announced Tuesday.The refurbishment will cover much of the embassy's high-traffic areas and incorporate all four levels of the Chancery building.A new 2,500-sq m annex building will also be constructed on the site, the ambassador added.The project will begin immediately after the 2008 Olympics and is scheduled for completion in 2010.Geoff Raby, the Australian ambassador to China, said the number of embassy staff had increased to 190 resident Australian diplomats and their families and 120 Chinese staff.He recalled there were about 32 Australian staff and 60 Chinese employees when construction of the embassy was completed in 1992, making it one of more iconic buildings in Beijing."The Australian embassy in China is one of our biggest embassies in the world," Raby said.It is a sign that Australia attaches more importance to its relations with China, the ambassador said.Woods Bagot, a global studio specializing design and consulting that operates in Australia, Asia, the Middle East and Europe, will implement the project with Chinese local design institute UAD and multinational engineers Arup."The (Australian) government demanded new thinking for a new diplomatic era in China," Jason Marriott, managing principal of Woods Bagot, said.The Australian embassy is located in the second diplomatic neighborhood on Dongzhimenwai Street.The first diplomatic neighborhood is near Jianguomenwai and a third one is north to Liangmahe.The United States has plans for a new embassy project in the third diplomatic neighborhood after Republic of Korea and Malaysia finish their new buildings.Wang Fan, a researcher of international relations with China Foreign Affairs University, said the embassy building and renovation boom symbolized how important China was to foreign countries' diplomatic strategies.
大理下关好的妇科医院
BEIJING -- China's first lunar probe Chang'e-1 will fly to the moon orbit with no more orbital corrections, a scientist told Xinhua on Saturday.Tang Geshi, a scientist with the Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC), said that the center will order the satellite to apply the first break at about 10:00 on Monday with no more planned orbital corrections.BACC carried out an orbital correction of Chang'e-1 on Friday, about nine days after its launch. "The correction has made the satellite run accurately in the transforming orbit heading to the moon, and another correction planned on November 4 will be unnecessary," Tang said.The Chang'e-1 lunar probe has been flying at a speed of 500-meter per second to the space where the moon's gravity could capture it.It has completed four orbital transforms and one halfway correction and is expected to enter the moon orbit on November 5.China's first lunar probe, Chang'e-1, named after a fairy-tale Chinese goddess who flew to the moon, blasted off on a Long March 3A carrier rocket on Oct. 24 from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwestern Sichuan Province.
The country's fast-developing tourism industry is expected to boost the hotel sector, a senior official has said.About 200,000 new hotels, resorts and guesthouses are likely to be built by 2015, head of China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) Shao Qiwei said on Thursday.Addressing a seminar on domestic and international hotels' groups, he said the new structures will include about 10,000 star-rated hotels. The number of five-star hotels in the country is expected to rise from 361 to 500."The World Tourism Organization has forecast that China will grow into a huge tourism market, and have 100 million each of inbound and outbound visitors and 2.8 billion domestic tourists by 2015," he said.The booming tourism market has created the need for new hotels and other infrastructure facilities, he said.The Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts plan to open five new facilities in the country this year, and at least 13 more in big cities such Beijing, Shanghai and Xi'an in the near future, the general manager of Traders Hotel at China World Trade Center in Beijing, Xin Tao, said.In fact, the group plans to open at least 40 new hotels in the country by 2011."The Olympic Games has brought us unlimited business opportunities and the increase of leisure, as well as business, travel in China will add to the appeal of hotel operators," she said.Investment from home and abroad into hotels will hit 340 billion yuan (.14 billion) between 2006 and 2010, the CNTA has forecast.The hotel sector was one of the first to be opened up in China, with Jianguo Hotel in Beijing being the first foreign-invested hotel to be approved by the State Council in 1979.Since then, 67 hotel brands of 41 international groups have entered the country and are managing 516 hotels at present, according to CNTA statistics.The hotel business has been expanding over the past three decades, and by the end of last year there were more than 14,000 star-rated hotels, 100 times more than in 1978.
China's disciplinary watchdog posthumously stripped a former senior political adviser of his membership in the Communist Party of China for leading a "dissolute lifestyle and serious violations of Party discipline." Song Pingshun, former chairman of the Tianjin Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, an advisory body to the parliament in the northern port city of Tianjin, was discovered dead on June 3. A police investigation determined he had committed suicide. The CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection decided to take the rare step of posthumous expulsion after finding that Song had "abused his public power to seek benefits for his mistress, seriously violating CPC discipline." "Song, morally degenerate, kept a mistress and helped her obtain money through illegal means," the discipline watchdog said. Song, 61, a native of northern China's Hebei Province, became the top political adviser in Tianjin, a booming municipality directly under the central government, in March 2006. He had also served as vice mayor, police chief and secretary of the Tianjin CPC Political Science and Law Commission, which is in charge of the city's police and legal sectors. The CPC expelled 21,120 members last year for breaking its rules, mainly for taking bribes. Corruption remains a serious problem in China, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee earlier warned Party members. More than 1,000 Chinese officials above the county level were punished for corruption during the first five months of this year, up 2.4 percent from the same period last year. More than 64 percent of the total involved "serious cases" in which officials took more than 50,000 yuan (US,600) in bribes or embezzled more than 100,000 yuan in public funds.
Beijing - China is turning the site of a prison camp run by Japanese forces during World War Two into a war museum, the Xinhua news agency said on Sunday. More than 2,000 prisoners from the United States, Britain, the Netherlands and Australia were imprisoned at the camp in Shenyang, a Manchurian city formerly known as Mukden, between November 1942 and August 1945. More than one in 10 of them died, Xinhua said. Many Chinese believe Japan has yet to apologize properly for its invasion and occupation of China in the years leading up to and during the war. The 54 million yuan (US million) museum in Shenyang will include a two-storey brick building, three bungalows and a water tower, all original camp buildings in the Dadong district, Xinhua said. Two walls in a square will be inscribed with the names of the prisoners of war. China has a museum in Nanjing commemorating the slaughter of the citizens of that city, formerly known as Nanking, by invading Japanese troops 70 years ago. Nanjing has become the focal point for Japanese ultra-nationalists who dispute the Chinese estimate that 300,000 died or even that any massacre occurred. An Allied tribunal after the war put the death toll at about 142,000 men, women and children.