BEIJING, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- China's government on Friday pledged to make every effort to ensure the safe release of the crew of a Chinese fishing boat seized by Somali pirates off east Africa. The Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying it was still assessing the situation and trying to obtain more information on the vessel, which was overrun late on Thursday. The ministry would work with organizations abroad to ensure the safe release of the crew, according to the statement. The vessel, owned by Tianjin Ocean Fishing Company, was hijacked by pirates armed with grenade launchers and automatic weapons off the coast of Kenya and was being held off the southern Somali port city of Kismanyu, according to reports on Friday. The 24 crew comprised 16 Chinese, one Japanese, three Filipinos and four Vietnamese, according to China's Ministry of Transport. A Somali pirate leader reportedly said all the crew members were "fine".
ASTANA, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrived here Wednesday evening, starting a three-day official visit to Kazakhstan at the invitation of Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov. Wen is scheduled to attend the 7th prime ministers' meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (R, front) is greeted by Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov upon his arrival at the airport in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan, Oct. 29, 2008. In a written statement upon his arrival at the airport, Wen spoke highly of the sound development of Sino-Kazakh relations since the two countries forged diplomatic ties 16 years ago. He said his current visit is aimed at promoting mutual understanding and trust between the two peoples, enhancing substantial bilateral cooperation in various fields, and pushing forward the development of the bilateral strategic partnership which was set up in 2005. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (R) is presented flowers upon his arrival at the airport in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan, Oct. 29, 2008.During the visit, Wen will have an in-depth exchange of views with Kazakh leaders on bilateral relations and other issues of common concern. He will also discuss the promotion of cooperation within the SCO with his counterparts from other SCO member states. The Chinese premier also expressed the belief that his visit would be a success given the efforts by both sides. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (R, front) is greeted upon his arrival at the airport in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan, Oct. 29, 2008.Kazakhstan is the second leg of Wen's two-nation tour which has already taken him to Russia where he held talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the 13th regular meeting between Chinese and Russian prime ministers, and met with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and parliament leaders. Wen and Putin also attended the third Sino-Russian economic and trade forum in Moscow. The two sides issued a joint communique Tuesday, and signed a series of cooperation agreements in such fields as economy, trade, science and technology, energy and culture.
BEIJING, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- Accountability became a vogue word in Chinese politics in 2008, highlighted by the resignation of the chief quality supervisor. Li Changjiang, former director of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, stepped down in September in the tainted milk scandal, days after the resignation of Shanxi Governor Meng Xuenong following a deadly landslide triggered by the collapse of an illegal mining dump. Many junior officials also swallowed the bitter pills of penalties and resignations. In early December, the director of the construction bureau of Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei Province, was removed from his post after six bureau officials were found gambling during work time. Officials were even punished for dozing in meetings, such as 12local officials in Shaanxi Province, who were reprimanded in June. "The accountability system has been taken to a new high, which reflects the method of administration as stipulated in the keynote report of the 17th Party congress," said Wu Zhongmin of the Party School of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee. "The party underlines the idea of people first, so it is not unusual that officials are punished after public interests are infringed," Wu said. Chinese media have used the word "storm" to describe the wave of cases in which officials were punished over accountability -- often indirect -- in accidents and scandals this year. Such events were rare in the past decade. In southwestern Yunnan Province, 864 officials have been punished so far this year, while at least 279 in the northeastern Jilin Province have been punished since last November. "A storm is powerful, and the accountability storm shows the country's determination to run the party and government properly," said Han Yu, professor in the Party School of the CPC Hebei Provincial Committee. The storm also shows the power of public opinion, Han added. "There should be someone held responsible for serious infringement of public interests." China activated the official accountability system during the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) crisis in 2003. More than1,000 officials, including then Health Minister Zhang Wenkang and Beijing Mayor Meng Xuenong, were ousted for attempts to cover up the epidemic or incompetence in SARS prevention and control. The system was later introduced at all levels of government, and more officials lost their jobs over major accidents or administrative errors. Just days before Li's resignation, President Hu Jintao, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, reprimanded "some officials" over work and food safety accidents this year. These accidents indicated that some cadres lacked a sense of responsibility and had loose governance, and some paid no attention to people's complaints and were even insensitive to life-threatening problems, Hu said. As early as in May, a father complained about tainted milk powder after his 13-year-old daughter developed kidney stones, and the Department of Health of Gansu Province in July received a report implying problematic milk powder produced by the Sanlu Group headquartered in Shijiazhuang city. However, the scandal was covered up until September. The Ministry of Health has said it was likely the contamination killed six babies. Another 294,000 infants suffered from urinary problems such as kidney stones. Premier Wen Jiabao said development of enterprises and the economy should not be achieved at the cost of lives and public health, and he vowed to punish officials for major incidents. Conditions could be tougher for officials in the future, as the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said in late December that authorities are drafting rules to intensify the accountability system.
广州排名优化
BEIJING, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- China will take 10 major steps to stimulate domestic consumption and growth as it turns to an "active" fiscal policy and "moderately easy" monetary policy, an executive meeting of the State Council said on Sunday. Here are the 10 major steps: -- Housing: Building more affordable and low-rent housing and speeding the clearing of slums. A pilot program to rebuild rural housing will expand. Nomads will be encouraged to settle down. -- Rural infrastructure: Speeding up rural infrastructure construction. Roads and power grids in the countryside will be improved, and efforts will be stepped up to spread the use of methane and to ensure drinking water safety. This part of the plan also involves expediting the North-South water diversion project. Risky reservoirs will be reinforced. Water conservation in large-scale irrigation areas will be strengthened. Poverty relief efforts will be increased. -- Transportation: Accelerating the expansion of the transport network. That includes more dedicated passenger rail links and coal routes. Trunk railways will be extended and more airports will be built in western areas. Urban power grids will be upgraded. -- Health and education: Beefing up the health and medical service by improving the grass roots medical system. Accelerating the development of the cultural and education sectors and junior high school construction in rural western and central areas. More special education and cultural facilities. -- Environment: Improving environmental protection by enhancing the construction of sewage and rubbish treatment facilities and preventing water pollution in key areas. Accelerating green belt and natural forest planting programs. Increasing support for energy conservation and pollution-control projects. -- Industry: Enhancing innovation and industrial restructuring and supporting the development of the high-tech and service industries. -- Disaster rebuilding: Speeding reconstruction in the areas hit by the May 12 earthquake. -- Incomes: Raising average incomes in rural and urban areas. Raising next year's minimum grain purchase and farm subsidies. Increasing subsidies for low-income urban residents. Increasing pension funds for enterprise employees and allowances for those receiving special services. -- Taxes: Extending reforms in value-added tax rules to all industries, which could cut the tax corporate burden by 120 billion yuan (about 17.6 billion U.S. dollars). Technological upgrading will be encouraged. -- Finance: Enhancing financial support to maintain economic growth. Removing loan quotas on commercial lenders. Appropriately increasing bank credit for priority projects, rural areas, smaller enterprises, technical innovation and industrial rationalization through mergers and acquisitions. These 10 moves are expected to have positive effects on cement, iron and steel producers amid a boom in infrastructure investment. Commercial lenders will benefit as loan ceilings are abolished, and medium-sized and small companies are likely to benefit from preferential policies.
Li Changchun, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, has a photo taken with the performers after watching the gala, which was held in Beijing on Thursday night to mark the 30th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up. BEIJING, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- A gala was held here on Thursday night to mark the 30th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up by presenting the songs popular through the past three decades in the country. Li Changchun, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, watched the performances with the audience. A group of renowned singers sang the songs while poems were recited to remind people of landmark events and achievements in the past three decades. The audience responded with thundering applause.
BEIJING, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- China's economy is in good shape despite the changing economic environment, and it will maintain stable and relatively fast growth, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) chief Ma Jiantang told Xinhua on Sunday. "The fundamentals of China's economy remain unchanged despite the changing world economic environment," the new NBS director said. "We should be confident about the country's economic outlook." The world's fastest economic growth rate, successful commodity price controls, increasing foreign exchange reserves and good employment rates were the factors to support the economic fundamentals, said Ma. The consumer price index (CPI), the main gauge of inflation, eased to 4.6 percent in September from the same period last year. It hit a 12-year high of 8.7 percent in February. The country's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 9.9 percent in the first three quarters, 2.3 percentage points down from the same period last year. The slowdown was a result of combined effects, including the global financial crisis, the world economic downturn and severe domestic natural disasters, Ma said. However, he said, "We should be confident about the country's economic outlook." The country had rich resource reserves, great market potential, vigorous enterprises and the government had strong macro-control abilities. The government had made a series of macro-economic policy adjustments against the changing economic environment, which would guarantee a steady and sound economic development, he said.
SHANGHAI, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- A senior Chinese leader has urged Shanghai, the country's major economic hub, to use the global financial crisis as a driving force to pursue economic restructuring. Jia Qinglin (C), chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Political Bureau, visits Shanghai Electric Nuclear Power Equipment Co. Ltd., in Shanghai, east China, on Dec. 20, 2008. Jia Qinglin paid a visit to Shanghai from Dec. 19 to Dec. 21. Shanghai should focus on developing equipment manufacturing, modern logistics, financial services, electronic commerce, culture innovations and capsulation, said Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), during his trip to Shanghai from Dec. 19-21 . Shanghai should try to establish a new advantage in competition and make use of its advantage of having a strong power in science and technology, said Jia. The city should center its economic growth on increasing domestic demands while trying every means to maintain a stable growth in export, the CPPCC leader said. During his stay in the city, Jia visited an exhibition on the 2010 Shanghai World Expo and studied the construction of the expo zone, with company of Shanghai Party Chief Yu Zhengsheng and Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng. He urged the city to do a good job in preparations for the world expo. Jia Qinglin (R), chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Political Bureau, talks to an employee at SAIC Motor Passenger Vehicle Company on in Shanghai, China, on Dec. 20, 2008. Jia Qinglin paid a visit to Shanghai from Dec. 19 to Dec. 21. He also visited several industrial development zones and research institutions, to see how local companies are operating with the impacts of the global financial crisis. In talks with local officials, Jia attached priority to finding out ways to help the country's economy develop in a stable and relatively fast way, under the current complicated international and domestic situation. "We must unify our thinking and action to the analysis and judgment of the Central Authorities as well as the arrangements made by the Central Authorities," said Jia, who is also a member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Political Bureau. Jia talked with company employees and ordinary citizens, inquiring into their life and listening to their complaints and demands. He called for a pro-active employment policy. During his visit, the top political advisor visited leading officials of the Municipal Committee of the CPPCC, the Municipal United Front Department, and local branches of non-communist parties and the Municipal Federation of Industry and Commerce. He urged them to play roles as "think tank" for the government and a channel to convey people's concern to the government.