BEIJING, Feb.25 (Xinhua) -- China's energy consumption per 10,000 yuan (about 1464.1 U.S.dollars) of gross domestic product (GDP) dropped 2.2 percent in 2009, China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said here Thursday.Preliminary estimates indicate that the total amount of energy consumption last year stood at 3.1 billion tonnes of standard coal equivalent, up 6.3 percent compared to the 2008 level, according to a report released on the NBS website Thursday.The report did not reveal the exact amount of energy consumed per 10,000 yuan of GDP, but the figure for 2008 was 1.10 tonnes of standard coal, according to a previous NBS report.China's water consumption per 10,000 yuan of GDP totalled 209.3 cubic meters in 2009, down 7.6 percent from a year earlier. Water consumption per 10,000 yuan of industrial output was 116.4 cubic meters in the same period, down 8.2 percent from 2008, said the report.The report also showed that China consumed 3.02 billion tonnes of coal, 380 million tonnes of crude oil, 88.7 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 3,697.3 billion kilowatt hours of electric power in 2009, up 9.2 percent, 7.1 percent, 9.1 percent and 6.2 percent year-on-year, respectively.China has been making efforts to raise energy efficiency by eliminating high energy-consuming equipment and introducing energy-saving technologies, said the previous NBS report.Energy consumption per 10,000 yuan of GDP was down 1.79 percent year-on-year in 2006, 4.04 percent in 2007, and 4.59 percent in 2008, according to NBS.
HONG KONG, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong signed an agreement with Brunei for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to income taxes, the HK Special Administrative Region government said on Saturday.According to an official news release, Financial Secretary John Tsang signed the deal with Brunei Second Minister of Finance Abdul Rahman Ibrahim on Saturday during his visit to the southeast Asian country.This was the sixth comprehensive agreement for the avoidance of double taxation concluded by Hong Kong.It will eliminate double taxation instances encountered by Hong Kong and Bruneian investors, and bring about tax savings and certainty in tax liabilities in connection with cross-border economic activities.It is also believed to help foster closer economic and trade links between the two places, and provide added incentives for Brunei's enterprises to do business or invest in Hong Kong.Profits of Hong Kong trading companies doing business through a permanent establishment in Brunei may be taxed in both places if the income is Hong Kong sourced. Under the agreement, double taxation is avoided in that any Brunei tax paid by the companies can be deducted from the tax payable in Hong Kong.
SHANGHAI, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- China's top political advisor Jia Qinglin Friday asked Shanghai, the economic center of the country, to upgrade its growth pattern through technology innovation and environmental protection.In a working tour in Shanghai, Jia, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said the city should use the upcoming World Expo as a "historical chance" to readjust its growth model and strive for stable and relatively fast economic growth. Jia Qinglin (front), chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, inspects the control center of Yangtze River Bridge-tunnel in Shanghai municipality of east China, Jan. 22, 2010The city on Thursday held the 100-day countdown for the six-month-long mega event.Jia stressed the importance of industrial upgrading, brand marketing, research and development during visits to a shipbuilding factory of the China State Shipbuilding Corporation and the Shanghai Zhenhua Port Machinery Co. Ltd.. Jia Qinglin (front L), chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, inspects Shanghai Zhenhua Port Machinery Corp., in Shanghai municipality of east China, Jan. 22, 2010.
BEIJING, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- China's central bank asked the nation's lenders to increase loans for rural development as farmers and rural business still had limited access to financing.Banks should issue more microloans to farmers to foster rural industries and urbanization, Liu Shiyu, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, said at a meeting on rural financing service on Sunday."More efforts should be made to encourage financial institutions to offer rural financing services and participate in rural financial market," he said.Rural credit cooperatives should speed up corporate restructuring and play a leading role in rural financial market, Liu said.He also urged efforts to establish more village banks, microcredit companies and new types of financial institutions.Poor access to fund, as one of the reasons, has long kept China's rural development left behind the urban modernization.The situation has not been significantly improved despite repeated calls by government, as banks are relunctant to lend for lack of collaterals.By the end of September 2009, rural loans increased 29.1 percent year on year to 8.8 trillion yuan (1.29 trillion U.S. dollars), 8.3 percentage points higher than a year earlier
BEIJING, March 14 (Xinhua) -- China's parliament, the National People's Congress (NPC), adopted here Sunday the amendment to the Electoral Law, which grants equal representation in legislative bodies to rural and urban people.Lawmakers applauded after NPC Standing Committee Chairman Wu Bangguo announced that the amendment was approved with 2,747 votes from the 2,909 NPC deputies present at the closing meeting.The amendment is regarded as part of China's efforts to narrow the urban-rural gap. It requires "both rural and urban areas adopt the same ratio of deputies to the represented population in elections of people's congress deputies."Wang Zhaoguo, vice chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, said the law provides legal guarantees for elections of deputies to people's congresses, the country's fundamental political system, as well as citizens' right to vote and the right to stand for election.The Third Session of the 11th National People's Congress holds its closing meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, March 14, 2010.After the last amendment in 1995, the law stipulated that each rural deputy represented a population four times that of an urban deputy. Critics said this could be interpreted as "farmers only enjoy a quarter of the suffrage of their urban counterparts."Before the amendment in 1995, the difference was eight times."Such stipulations were absolutely necessary and conformed with China's political system and the particular situation at that time," Wang said.According to the 1953 national census, the urban population made up only about 13 percent. The rural population was much more than that of cities at that time and an equal ratio of rural and urban representation would have meant an excessive number of rural deputies.With rapid urbanization and rural economic development, the proportion of urban population increased to 46.6 percent last year, he said, adding people's congresses at all levels have gone through many terms of elections, accumulating abundant experience."The time is right for equal representation," which is conducive to expand democracy, he said.Wang said the amendment ensures "equal representation among people, regions and ethnic groups."The amendment adds stipulations such as "organizing more face-to-face contacts between candidates and electors to allow deputy candidates to introduce themselves and answer voters' questions."It says the setup of polling stations, convening election congress and the management of mobile polling boxes should be further standardized and improved.It also suggests to set up "confidential polling booths" to root out bribery in elections.Violence, threats, corruption and other acts that disrupts elections should be investigated and punished, it says.The number of deputies to the NPC is limited within 3,000, and the distribution of the NPC deputies is decided by the NPC Standing Committee, according to the law
BEIJING, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- China's Education Ministry on Sunday warned students considering studying overseas against Australian schools run by the GEOS group after more than 40 Chinese students were left stranded with the group's collapse.More than 2,300 students in GEOS group schools across Australia were affected after the college closures. The schools were scattered across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Cairns.GEOS is a Japanese company which owns hundreds of colleges around the world. The GEOS group has run out of money for its Australian colleges,according to Australian media reports.Chinese embassies and consulates in Australia are negotiating with local authorities to settle the issue to safeguard students' legitimate rights.The Education Ministry has drawn up a recommendation list of nearly 15,000 schools in 33 countries worldwide on its website. The recommended schools are relatively trustworthy and reliable.Australia has been a preferred destination for overseas education for Indian and Chinese students.The Australian Bureau of Statistics said the number of Chinese student enrollments was 146,000 by June 2009, up an average annual 16 percent over the past six years.
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BEIJING, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao on Wednesday accepted credentials presented respectively by the ambassadors to China from Barbados, Britain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and the Philippines.The five new ambassadors are Lloyd Erskine Sandiford from Barbados, Sebastian Wood from Britain, Amel Kovacevic from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Oliver Shambevski from Macedonia, and Francisco L. Benedicto from the Philippines.
BEIJING, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Premier Wen Jiabao Friday called for the mainland and Taiwan to enhance mutual political trust and strengthen the political foundation for a peaceful relationship.The mainland and Taiwan should uphold the principle that the two sides belong to one and the same China, Wen said in the government work report at the annual session of the National People's Congress, the top legislature.Wen hailed the progress made in mainland-Taiwan relations during the past year, saying that continuous improvement has brought real benefits to the people.Ties across the Taiwan Strait have warmed up in recent years, with the realization of direct air and sea transport links and postal services.The two sides are also negotiating about an economic pact, the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), which aims at normalizing trade and investment links.Wen said in the report that a unique economic cooperation mechanism would be established through negotiating and signing the ECFA.In an online chat with Internet users on Saturday, Wen said the mainland is willing to make concessions when negotiating."The reason is very simple: Taiwan compatriots are our brothers," he said.
BEIJING, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Work place accidents in China reversed an upward trend and declined steadily over the past few years because of efforts to remove potential dangers, a senior trade union official said here Tuesday.Workplace accidents decreased 8.4 percent in 2009 from a year earlier, while work-related deaths dropped 8.8 percent, Zhang Mingqi, vice chairman of the All China Federation of Trade Unions, said at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People's Conference, the country's top legislature.Zhang Mingqi, deputy president of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, answers questions during a press conference on the function of Chinese trade unions during the transformation of the pattern of economic development held on the sidelines of the Third Session of the 11th National People's Congress in Beijing, China, March 9, 2010Last year, the administration hired more than 100 civilian inspectors to help improve work safety. It also stepped up efforts to eliminate potential dangers at work places and enhance training to improve awareness of workers' safety.
ISLAMABAD, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Saturday wished China and the Chinese people a lucky traditional new year, hoping the bilateral relations between Pakistan and China will be further strengthened.In an interview with Xinhua, the prime minister said the friendship between the two countries is time-tested and long- standing, and the cooperations are multi-dimensional."Our friendship is now entering into many years and I wish this new year will add more strength to our relation," Gilani said.The prime minister said Pakistan and China have been cooperating in economy, defense, agriculture, culture, education and many other fields, including infrastructure and energy sector as well.He said Pakistan wants to have more exchange of culture, youth, parliamentary delegation, and more people-to-people contact between the two countries."The governments may come and go, but the love and affection between the two countries will remain forever," said the prime minister.Referring to China's role in international summits, Gilani said China plays an extremely important role in the world economy. He said Pakistan supports China on all international forums, on climate change, on inter-parliamentary unions and on Asia-Europe cooperation.In the global economic recession, Gilani said he appreciates what China has done to stabilize the economy and to help other troubled economies. He said Pakistan is grateful for China's timely assistance."China is performing really well and we wish them good luck in the coming new year," said Gilani, adding that he has been impressed by the tremendous development in China and the Chinese students who can speak fluent Urdu, the national language of Pakistan.Talking about the forthcoming Shanghai World Expo, the prime minister said it is a great opportunity for China to showcase its development, culture, tradition, history and local products and a good chance for Pakistan and China to better mutual understanding.As to the recent London summit on Afghanistan, Gilani said Pakistan wants to maintain good relations with the neighboring country and it will focus on the fight against extremism and terrorism to help bring in the stability of Afghanistan.Expressing his passion for architecture and gardening, the prime minister said he would have become an interior designer or an architect if he is not a politician.