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MEXICO CITY, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping said here Tuesday that new efforts are needed to further promote China-Mexico economic and trade cooperation amid the current global financial crisis.     Xi, who is here for a three-day official visit to Mexico, made the call in a speech at a luncheon hosted by Chinese and Mexican entrepreneurs.     Xi hailed the rapid development of bilateral economic and trade cooperation, saying it plays an important role in China-Mexico ties and has brought tangible benefits to the people of both nations.     China and Mexico should make new efforts to maintain the good momentum of such cooperation in order to tackle the challenges brought by the ongoing financial crisis, he said.     To this end, Xi proposed promoting bilateral economic and trade cooperation from a strategic perspective, improving the service of both governments, promoting cooperation in key fields, bringing into full play the dominating role of enterprises, and expanding cooperation in world economic affairs.     Mexican Secretary of Foreign Relations Patricia Espinosa Cantellano said in her opening speech at the luncheon party that both Mexico and China are facing new challenges under the current financial situation, thus "solidarity and closer cooperation" are very important for the two countries.     She also called for more bilateral exchanges in all fields, "not only political and economical, but also social and civilian."     The luncheon party was held on the sideline of the 19th Plenary Meeting of the Mexico-China Business Committee, which was started here Tuesday and brought together representatives from big companies in Mexico and some 20 Chinese companies.     The meeting aims to boost bilateral investment and commercial exchanges between China and Mexico, according to Fernando Ruiz, technical director of the COMCE.     Ruiz said mutual investment between China and Mexico has large room for improvement.     "There are great opportunities for Chinese investors in Mexico in different sectors, like automobile, construction and energy."     In November, at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum held in Lima, Peru, Mexican President Felipe Calderon said China had offered great possibilities for his country as the global financial crisis unfolded.     Mexico registered an economic growth rate of only 1.8 percent in 2008, the second worst performance among Latin American countries after Haiti.     The United States was Mexico's largest exports destination, taking 89 percent of all its exports. But the ongoing crisis has forced the Mexican government to seek alternative markets.     In December, Mexico's Deputy Foreign Minister, Lourdes Aranda, said his country was concerned about its declining exports to the United States, and its ties with China "were very important."     According to data from the Chinese Commerce Ministry, commercial exchanges between China and Latin America grew 50.9 percent from January 2008 to January 2009.

BEIJING, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping has called for offices at all levels responsible for the research of the history of Communist Party of China (CPC) to play a more important role in improving the Party's ruling abilities.     Xi, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, made the remark at a meeting attended by officials in charge of the Party history research offices at the provincial level on Wednesday.     Xi urged the Party committees to provide financial and human resource support for those offices and encouraged Party history researchers to play stronger role in education among the Party members.     The Vice President said Party history research organs should take the opportunity in the year of 2009 when the People's Republic of China celebrates the 60th anniversary of founding.     Xi stressed that the offices should promote the Party's ruling abilities and solidify the CPC's status as the governing party.

BEIJING, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's lenders have been urged to be flexible and innovative concerning loan repayment from smaller firms.     The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) said Friday it is trying to help small firms facing financing difficulties by extending the loan period.     According to a notice sent to various lenders, banks and small firms could stipulate such terms in loan contracts which would allow the borrower to file a new request for a credit checkup before the loan is due.     If no problem is found, the borrower could directly extend the loan period without starting all over again by signing a new contract.     Extra conditions that come along with the extended loan period could be worked out by both sides through negotiations, the commission said.     However, the commission did not define which small firms would be entitled to such favorable policies.

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BEIJING, Feb.2 (Xinhua) -- "The wheat grass gets so dry that it catches fire! I've never seen this in my whole life," said 50-year-old Wei Liuding in Baisha village, Muzhong County of North China's Henan Province.     Wang Hongwei, a farmer from Putaojia Village of Henan's Lankao County, grievingly held a grasp of wheat grass roots in his hand.     "All the wheat in my land is dying like this," he told a Xinhua reporter. Photo taken on Feb. 2, 2009 shows the droughty reservoir in Yiyang County of Luoyang city, central China's Henan ProvinceHenan, China's major grain producer, issued a red alert for drought Thursday. The provincial meteorological bureau said the drought is the worst since 1951. The drought have affected about 63 percent of the province's 78.9 million mu (5.26 million hectares) of wheat.     But Henan Province is not the only victim in thirsty northern China.     Anhui Province issued a red drought alert Sunday, forecasting a major drought that will plague more than 60 percent of the crops north of the Huaihe River is no rain is reported by next week.     Shanxi Province was put on orange drought alert on Jan. 21, as nearly one million people and 160,000 heads of livestock are facing water shortage.     Provinces such as Shaanxi, Shandong, Hebei and Jiangsu are also reeling from droughts.     According to the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters on Sunday, the droughts in northern China have affected about 145 million mu (9.67 million hectares) of crops, and have left 3.7 million people and 1.85 million livestock with poor access to drinking water.     Secretary of the office E Jingping said the headquarters sent four working teams to eight provinces to supervise the drought relief work.     The Ministry of Finance (MOF) has allocated 100 million yuan (14.6 million U.S. dollars) in emergency funding to help ease the drought.     E said about 1.38 billion yuan had been used to fund the relief work since the end of December. Some 74.60 million mu (4.97million hectares) of farmland have been irrigated, and drinking water shortages have been eased for about 500,000 people and 280,000 livestock.     The irrigation system in the drought area is under a crucial test. The water flow under Xiaolangdi Dam on the Yellow River reached 550 cubic meters per second as of 2 p.m. Saturday, to help soothe the drought in Henan Province.     "The water in my well is very deep today," Wei Liuding told Xinhua reporter Sunday.     "Although we were informed that the government's subsidies will be soon handed out to households, I decided not to merely rely on the government, and I am now irrigating the lands for four hours a day at my own expense."     But with a family of five, Wang Hongwei was more worried.     "Though we irrigate the lands now, the production will surely see a big drop. Like many other people in our village, I am thinking about doing odd jobs in the town to earn some extra cash."     Li Xin, an advocate for the income and rights of farmers and migrant workers who opened a company to sue false seed producers, said, "Even if the farmers go to towns and cities to work, their pays will wane as the financial crisis continues to loom."     Duan Aiming, head of the Irrigation Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Agriculture Sciences, said the current drought has "sound an alarm to the water resource utility in northern China".     "Much water is being wasted, because many mature irrigation technologies cannot be put into practice for lack of funds, and the input on irrigation infrastructure is not enough," said Duan.     "Only by a long-term improvement of the irrigation system can the government realize its goal of increasing the grain yield and the farmers' income," said Li.     In the first document of the year issued jointly by the State Council and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Sunday, local authorities were urged to take measures to avoid declining grain production, ensure the steady expansion of agriculture and rural stability.     "The foundation for securing steady and relatively fast economic growth is based upon agriculture; the toughest work of securing and improving people's livelihoods stays with farmers," it said.

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- After a three-day visit to Saudi Arabia beginning Feb. 10, Chinese President Hu Jintao started an Africa tour aimed at enhancing China's friendship with developing countries in the region.     The trip, which took Hu to Mali, Senegal, Tanzania and Mauritius from Feb. 12 to 17, has given new impetus to the traditional friendship between China and Africa. Visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao (L) talks with Saudi Arabian King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz during their meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Feb. 10, 2009The time-honored friendship between China and Africa can be traced back to as early as the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), when Chinese navigator Zheng He traveled to the African continent during his seven epic voyages.     In the 1960s, when most African countries launched a wave of independence struggles, late Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai had also visited Africa to express his country's staunch support for its African brothers.     The fates of the Chinese and African peoples are closely interrelated as they share a similar history and similar developmental tasks, and the two sides have carried out various forms of cooperation based on the principles of equality and mutual benefit. Chinese President Hu Jintao (L) meets with Malian President Amadou Toumany Toure in Bamako, Mali, on Feb. 12, 2009"Every time I come, it's like coming back home," Hu said while delivering a key speech in the Tanzanian capital of Dar es Salaam on Monday.     So far, China has provided aid to the best of its ability to 53 African countries under the framework of "South-South cooperation," aiming to help the countries achieve independent development and socio-economic progress.     China-Africa relations entered a new stage of comprehensive development at the Beijing Summit of China-Africa Cooperation Forum in 2006, when they established a new type of strategic partnership featuring political equality and mutual trust, economic win-win cooperation and cultural exchanges. Visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao (L) meets with his Senegalese counterpart Abdoulaye Wade in Dakar, capital of Senegal, Feb. 13, 2009Hu's latest visit to Africa, his sixth in all and second since the Beijing Summit, opens a new chapter in the China-Africa friendship.     The tour also brings new opportunities to review the results of the China-Africa friendly cooperation.     The Chinese president announced an eight-measure policy designed to strengthen pragmatic cooperation with Africa at the Beijing Summit in November 2006. Several months later, he paid a visit to Africa, during which a series of cooperation agreements were signed with an aim to implement the policy. Visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao (L) meets with his Tanzanian counterpart Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Feb. 15, 2009Now in 2009, the concluding year for implementation of the package, the Chinese president visited Africa again to exchange views with the leaders of African countries on the fulfillment of the commitments made at the Beijing Summit.     During the visit, Hu also discussed with them the preparatory work for the fourth ministerial conference of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum later this year in an effort to enhance the China-Africa strategic partnership.     The swift and efficient implementation of the eight measures has brought tangible benefits, and the measures have thus been well received by the governments and people of Africa and the international community. Visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao (L) meets with Mauritian President Anerood Jugnauth in Port Louis, Mauritius, Feb. 17, 2009Chairman of the African Union (AU) Commission, Jean Ping, said in late January that China is Africa's key cooperative partner.     The AU chief also spoken highly of China's role in Africa's infrastructure development, saying "China has played a fundamental part in the improvement of infrastructure facilities across African countries."     The World Bank has said China has made major contributions to promoting the development of Africa, and expressed the hope that African countries would combine China's developmental experiences with their own national conditions.     Moreover, President Hu's trip this time brings new commitments for the future development of friendly and cooperative ties between China and Africa.     Countries around the world currently face grave challenges amid the ongoing global financial downturn, with the impact of the crisis spreading to emerging-market countries as well as developing nations.     Under such circumstances, Hu made a solemn pledge during his Africa tour that China will continue to implement its commitments made at the Beijing Summit in a timely and reliable manner, despite all the challenges his country faces in its own economic development.     China will by no means cut assistance to Africa, said Hu. Instead, it will do its best to continue to increase aid to the continent, offer debt relief to African countries, and expand trade and investment with them.     Hu's commitments were warmly applauded by the leaders of the African countries, who pledged to join hands with China in facing the impact of the financial crisis.     A Gabonese newspaper commented that China, which had pledged to honor its earlier commitments and not to reduce aid to Africa despite the economic pressure from the ongoing crisis, had indeed exercised the responsibilities of a big country.

NEW YORK, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- In her first major policy speech as U.S. secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday attached great importance to developing stronger relations and having closer cooperation with Asian countries, in particular China.     Addressing an audience at Asia Society New York Headquarters on the eve of her four-nation Asian trip scheduled to start on Sunday, the first foreign visit since she was sworn in on Jan. 21, Clinton said that Washington is committed to a new era of diplomacy and development in which Washington will use "smart power" to work with historic allies and emerging nations to find regional and global solutions to common global problems.     "In making my first trip as secretary of state to Asia, I hope to signal that we need strong partners across the Pacific, just as we need strong partners across the Atlantic," she noted, calling Asia "a contributor to global culture, a global economic power, and a region of vital importance to the United States today and into our future."     The secretary of state's destinations include Japan, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea and China.     The United States and the Asian countries need to support and help each other in dealing with the gravest global threats today, which include financial instability and economic dislocation, terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, food security and health emergencies, climate change and energy vulnerability, stateless criminal cartels and human exploitation, said Clinton.     While giving the audience a brief rundown of the key issues she will be addressing during her Asian tour next week, Clinton devoted much of the time to the U.S.-China relations.     The United States doesn't see China on the rise as an adversary, said Clinton. To the contrary, the Obama administration believes that the United States and China can "benefit from and contribute to each other's successes."     Washington also believes it is "in our interest" to work harder to build on areas of common concerns and shared opportunities with China, she added.     "You know very well how important China is and how essential it is that we have a positive cooperative relationship," said the top U.S. diplomat. "It is vital to peace and prosperity not only in the Asia-Pacific region but worldwide."     "Our mutual economic engagement with China was evident during the economic growth of the past two decades, it is even clearer now at economic hard times and in the array of global challenges we face from nuclear security to climate change to pandemic disease and so much else," she noted.     "Even with our differences, the United States will remain committed to pursuing a positive relationship with China, one that we believe is essential to America's future peace, progress and prosperity," she stressed.     Citing an ancient Chinese saying that "When you are in a common boat, you need to cross the river peacefully together," Clinton said that she believes the ancient Chinese wisdom must continue to guide both countries today.     The secretary of state announced that the two sides will resume mid-level military-to-military discussions later this month.     "And we look forward to further improved relations across the Taiwan Strait," she added.     She also revealed that during her stay in Beijing, she would discuss with the Chinese leaders on the structure of broadening dialogue between the two sides, on the basis of the Strategic Economic Dialogue from the previous administration.     Speaking of her first stop in Japan, Clinton said that the United States' security alliance with Japan, which will be 50 years old next year, "has been and must remain unshakable."     "We anticipate an even stronger partnership with Japan that helps preserve the peace and stability of Asia and increasingly focuses on global challenges ...," she added.     The United States and Indonesia now "have an opportunity for stronger partnership in education, energy and food security," stated Clinton, adding that the two sides are committed to pursuing such a partnership with a concrete agenda during her visit to the Southeast Asian nation.     Calling the Republic of Korea "one of our staunchest historic allies," Clinton said that the two countries are committed to expanding trade in a manner that benefits both, and "we will work together to that end."     "So I will leave for Asia Sunday with a firm commitment to working very hard with our partners across the Pacific," she concluded in her nearly-half-hour speech.     The secretary of state also took the opportunity to offer peace to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in exchange for the latter's complete abandonment of its nuclear project.     The Obama administration is committed to working through the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue and normalizing relations with the DPRK, if the latter totally abandons its nuclear weapons program, she said.     If the DPRK is prepared to "completely and verifiably" abandon its nuclear program, the Obama administration will be willing to normalize bilateral relations with the country, she noted, adding that Washington will also assist Pyongyang in meeting its energy and other economic needs if that happens.     In her speech, Clinton also underlined Washington's endorsement of "open and fair trade," in an apparent attempt to soothe many countries' concerns that the ongoing global financial crisis may lead to a fresh round of trade protectionism, particularly in the developed countries.     "(In the face of the financial crisis,) we cannot respond with a race to erect trade and other barriers. We must remain committed to a system of open and fair trade," she stated.     The U.S. Congress' push for a "Buy America" provision in the massive economic stimulus package proposed by the Obama administration has recently invited concerns from major trading partners of the United States, including Europe, Canada and Japan.

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CHANGSHA, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang on Monday called for faster construction of affordable housing.     "In the affordable housing projects lie the immediate interests of the people, especially low-income families," said Li at a working conference on the issue in Changsha, capital of the central Hunan Province.     He said affordable homes could increase investment and stimulate consumption, and were an important measure to deal with the global financial crisis and to maintain economic growth.     The government has pledged that 7.5 million affordable homes will be provided in cities, and 2.4 million in forest districts, reclamation areas, and coal-mining regions by the end of 2011. This year, 2.6 million urban and 800,000 rural homes would be built. Another 800,000 rural homes in poor condition will be renovated.

BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- China said it would raise benchmark retail prices of gasoline and diesel by 290 yuan (42.46 U.S. dollars) per tonne and 180 yuan per tonne, respectively, as of midnight Tuesday.     It is the second oil price adjustment this year. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner, cut benchmark pump prices of gasoline and diesel by 140 yuan and 160 yuan per tonne, or 2 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively, on Jan. 14.     Experts said more frequent price adjustments show China can respond more quickly to international oil price changes after a new pricing mechanism took effect Jan. 1, 2009. The combined photo taken on Mar. 24, 2009 shows the price boards before (top) and after (bottom) the adjustment, in Beijing, China. China said it would raise benchmark retail prices of gasoline and diesel by 290 yuan (42.46 U.S. dollars) per tonne and 180 yuan per tonne, respectively, as of midnight Tuesday.    Oil price fell to 53.10 U.S. dollars a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Tuesday. On the previous trading day, it settled at 53.80 U.S. dollars a barrel, the highest price since Dec. 1.     Under the new mechanism, China's domestic prices are to be "indirectly linked" to global crude prices "in a controlled manner."     "The 'indirect link' would be based upon average global crude prices, while taking into account domestic production costs, taxation, and 'appropriate profits' of oil producers," deputy director of the pricing department of the NDRC, Xu Kuning, said.     Government-set fuel prices were previously changed infrequently.     As a result, either Chinese drivers ended up paying more than those in other countries when crude prices dropped, or domestic refineries suffered huge losses when crude prices surged.     Last Dec. 18, when the international crude price dropped from a record 147 U.S. dollars a barrel to less than 40 U.S. dollars, the NDRC announced a move to cut pump prices by 900 yuan and 1,100 yuan per tonne for gasoline and diesel, respectively.     The new pricing mechanism was announced the following day and took effect at the beginning of this year.     In Tuesday's notice to raise pump prices, the NDRC urged the two state-owned oil producers, PetroChina and Sinopec, to increase oil production to meet demands.     It also urged local pricing regulators to strengthen supervision over oil prices and crack down on any price violations.     China's crude oil output reached 190 million tonnes in 2008, up2.3 percent year-on-year, the highest growth in three years, according to the China Petroleum and Chemical Association.     Imports of crude oil rose 9.6 percent year-on-year to 179 million tonnes last year, which accounted for 48 percent of total crude oil demand.

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BEIJING, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping's just-concluded Latin American and European tour has strengthened bilateral ties, broadened consensus and boosted cooperation with these countries, a senior Chinese official said Monday.     Xi's two-week trip to Mexico, Jamaica, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil and Malta, as well as Fiji, where he made a transit stop, was pragmatic and fruitful, said Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Li Jinzhang.     SIGNIFICANT VISIT WITH FAR-REACHING IMPACT     Xi's visit to Latin America was a major Chinese diplomatic move since President Hu Jintao's trip to the region last year, said Li.     Last November, Hu traveled to Latin America for a visit that produced a broad consensus on forming a partnership of all-round cooperation with the region on the basis of equality, mutual benefit and common development. Earlier, China issued its first policy paper on Latin America and the Caribbean.     During his visit to the five Latin American nations, Xi further clarified China's policies on Latin America and stressed that China is ready to join hands with Latin American nations to further enhance cooperation and elevate China-Latin America relations to a new high, Li said.     In a speech at a seminar attended by Chinese and Venezuelan entrepreneurs, Xi raised a five-point proposal on strengthening the all-round cooperation for common development between China and Latin American nations amid the current global economic landscape.     Li described Xi's visit to Latin America as a follow-up action to push forward China's relations with the region.     The Chinese vice president's visit came before the Group of 20 summit scheduled for April in London to address the ongoing global financial crisis, Li noted.     During the trip, Xi called for a long-term perspective in planning and confidence building and urged a combination of promoting bilateral cooperation and ensuring the steady and sustained growth of China's economy. As a result, the visit has yielded remarkable results and a far-reaching political impact, Linoted.     Xi's visit highlighted China's efforts to work with these countries to tackle the financial downturn and turn the crisis into an opportunity, Li said.     Xi's trip brought him to mostly developing countries. During his visit, Xi stressed the need for developing countries to work together in tiding over the financial crisis, he said.     Xi and leaders of these countries reached broad consensus on joint efforts to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals, tackle the challenges and seek common development, he added.     During Xi's visit, the governments and enterprises from these countries voiced their willingness to cooperate with China and welcomed China to trade with and invest in their countries and join them in exploitation of energy and natural resources and infrastructure construction. 　　VISIT TO GET ACROSS CHINA'S POLICIES ON KEY ISSUES     Xi's visit spanned three continents and two oceans. In every stop, Xi explained China's positions on key issues such as the international situation, the financial crisis, the upcoming G20 summit in London, the Doha round of trade talks as well as UN reforms.     He had in-depth exchanges of views with leaders of the host countries on enhancing cooperation and jointly tiding over the economic difficulties.     Leaders of the seven countries spoke highly of China's role in stabilizing the global economic and financial situation and promoting world peace and development.     Mexican and Brazilian leaders expressed readiness to beef up cooperation with China in international organizations and multilateral mechanisms and work together for a more fair and rational new international order, deal with financial crisis and win a greater say for the developing countries.     Colombian and Jamaican leaders appreciated China's contributions to stabilizing the world economy, saying the steady and relatively fast growth of China's economy will help other countries overcome financial crisis at an early date.     Xi also reiterated China's stance on the Taiwan and Tibet issues. The host countries all reaffirmed their adherence to the one-China policy.     The Chinese vice president welcomed the countries to participate in the Shanghai World Expo in 2010 and was given favorable responses by all. 　　FRUITFUL VISIT PACKED WITH SUBSTANTIAL ACTIVITIES     During his tour, Xi attended nearly 80 meetings, seminars, and other activities and held talks with leaders of the seven countries, exchanging views with them on bilateral ties as well as major international and regional issues of common concern.     He also witnessed the signing of over 60 cooperation documents in economy, finance, energy and mining, agriculture, infrastructure, high-tech and culture.     Xi held wide-ranging contacts with leaders of parliaments, political parties, regional leaders, and people from the media and academic communities.     Xi unveiled the first Confucius Institute in the Caribbean region, and broke ground for the Montego Bay Convention Center, a cooperation project by China and Jamaica.     Xi's visit uplifted China's relations with the seven countries, expanded their political mutual trust and strategic consensus, and deepened pragmatic cooperation, Li said. 　　BROAD PROSPECTS FOR FURTHER COOPERATION     Under the new consensus reached during Xi's visit, China and these countries will strengthen cooperation in trade, finance, energy and mining, agriculture, infrastructure construction, high-tech and culture.     The consensus laid a solid foundation for China and these countries to draw on each other's strength and achieve mutual benefit and win-win progress, Li said.     China and these countries are geographically far apart and have different social and cultural traditions, but their people have expressed an earnest wish to enhance friendship. Xi's visit served to push bilateral ties further forward, Li added.

BEIJING, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislature approved the Food Safety Law on Saturday, providing a legal basis for the government to strengthen food safety control "from the production line to the dining table."     The law, which goes into effect on June 1, 2009, will enhance monitoring and supervision, toughen safety standards, recall substandard products and severely punish offenders. The National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee gave the green light to the intensively-debated draft law at the last day of a four-day legislative session, following a spate of food scandals which triggered vehement calls for overhauling China's current monitoring system. Wu Bangguo (C), chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), presides over the concluding meeting of the 7th meeting of the 11th NPC Standing Committee in Beijing, on Feb. 28, 2009. The NPC Standing Committee, China's top legislature, concluded its four-day session on Saturday, after approving the food safety law, an amendment to the criminal law and the revised insurance law.    Winning 158 out of 165 votes, the law said the State Council, or Cabinet, would set up a state-level food safety commission to oversee the entire food monitoring system, whose lack of efficiency has long been blamed for repeated scandals.     The departments of health, agriculture, quality supervision, industry and commerce administration will shoulder different responsibilities.     These would include risk evaluation, the making and implementation of safety standards, and the monitoring of about 500,000 food companies across China, as well as circulation sector.     The law draft had been revised several times since it was submitted to the NPC Standing Committee for the first reading in December 2007.     It had been expected to be voted by lawmakers last October, but the voting was postponed for further revision following the tainted dairy products scandal last September, in which at least six babies died and 290,000 others were poisoned.     "It actually took us five years to draft this law since the State Council first made legislative recommendations in July 2004.It has undergone intensive consideration, because it is so vital to every person," Xin Chunying, deputy director of the NPC Standing Committee's Legislative Affairs Commission, said at a press briefing after the law was adopted.     She said although China had certain food quality control systems in place for many years, lots of loopholes emerged in past years, mainly due to varied standards, lack of sense of social responsibility among some business people, too lenient punishment on violators and weakness in testing and monitoring work.     China has a food hygiene law, which took effect in 1995, to regulate issues of food safety, but many lawmakers said it was too outdated to meet the need of practice.     For example, the law is far from being adequate in addressing the problem of pesticide residue in foodstuff.     According to the new law, China will set up compulsory standards on food safety, covering a wide range from the use of additives to safety and nutrition labels.     The law stipulates a ban on all chemicals and materials other than authorized additives in food production, saying that "only those items proved to be safe and necessary in food production are allowed to be listed as food additives."     Health authorities are responsible for assessing and approving food additives and regulating their usage.     Food producers must only use food additives and their usage previously approved by authorities, on penalty of closure or revocation of production licenses in serious cases, according to the law.     In the tainted dairy products scandal, melamine, often used in the manufacture of plastics, was added to substandard or diluted milk to make protein levels appear higher than they actually were.     "Melamine had never been allowed to be used as food additive in China. Now the law makes an even clearer and stricter ban on it," Xin said.     She said the compulsory system to recall substandard food, as written in the law, would also be effective in curbing food-related health risks.     Producers of edible farm products are required to abide by food safety standards when using pesticide, fertilizer, growth regulators, veterinary drugs, feedstuff and feed additives. They must also keep farming or breeding records.     Offenders can face maximum fines which would be 10 times the value of sold products, compared with five times at present.     If businesses are found producing or selling a substandard foodstuff, consumers can ask for financial compensation which is 10 times the price of the product. That's in addition to compensation for the harm the product causes to the consumer.     For those whose food production licenses are revoked due to illegal conducts, they will be banned from doing food business in the following five years.     "This is a big step to increase penalties on law violators," Xin said.     Another highlight of the law is that celebrities can share responsibility for advertising for food products that are found to be unsafe.     The law says all organizations and individuals who recommend substandard food products in ads will face joint liability for damages incurred.     This has been a hot topic in China where film stars, singers and celebrities are often paid to appear in ads of food products.     "The provisions were added out of concern over fake advertisements, which contained misleading information. Many of the advertisements featured celebrities," said Liu Xirong, vice chairman of the NPC Law Committee.     Several Chinese celebrities had advertised for products of the Sanlu Group, a company at the epicenter of the tainted dairy product scandal. They were vehemently criticized after thousands of babies were poisoned by the Sanlu formula.     Many people posted online demands for them to apologize to and compensate families of the sickened babies. But others argued that it was unfair to blame the celebrities as Sanlu had legal documents to prove its products safe.     On tonic food, a booming industry with an estimated annual output value of 100 billion yuan (14.62 billion U.S. dollars) in China, the law prohibits any claims related to prevention or cure of illness on the product's label and instruction leaflets.