SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- A senior Syrian official underlined on Sunday the importance of cooperation with China, especially in the fields of agriculture and food security.Talking to Xinhua on the sidelines of a joint Afro-Arab ministerial meeting, Nabi Rasheed, an aide to the Syrian minister of agriculture, said his country pays much attention to cooperation with China on agriculture and food security and looks forward to more joint projects in this regard."Syria and China cooperate with each other in the long term through the exchange of delegations and training programs. A high- level Chinese delegation led by the agriculture minister has visited us recently, when we discussed opportunities and means to boost agricultural cooperation. Syria will also take part in the 2010 Shanghai EXPO," the Syrian official said.Rasheed who headed his country's delegation to the Joint Afro- Arab Ministerial Meeting on Agricultural Development and Food Security which kicked off on Sunday in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, said the current meeting has attached greater importance due to the drought which haunts many Arab and African countries and the global financial crisis.The recent food crisis caused the prices of many food stuff to ratchet up and the global financial crisis forced many countries to cut funds allocated to agricultural development, said the official."I hope the meeting will lay a concrete foundation stone for cooperation between Arab and African states at this vital stage," he said.The Syrian official added that the meetings aim to establish a common Arab-African strategy on agriculture and food security, pointing out that there is a plan to set up a follow-up, steering and coordination body along with a special fund to support the implementation of decisions to be sanctioned by the ministers.Rasheed added that his country has already taken tangible steps on food security, "Syria has successfully made food security years ago thanks to governmental policies and its support for the agricultural sector.""We have achieved this goal," he said, yet adding his country still faces challenges due to the recent drought which is the worst in 50 years.
BEIJING, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- Li Changchun, a senior leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC), on Tuesday urged to provide the country's blind people with easier access to braille publications, textbooks and library services.Li, a Standing Committee member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, made the comment when inspecting the China Braille Publishing House in Beijing.Li Changchun (C), member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China(CPC), looks at a braille book during his visit to the China Braille Publishing House in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 2, 2010He said the CPC Central Committee attached great importance to the well-being of China's handicapped population, including the blind people.He called for stepped-up efforts to provide the blind with better cultural products and services to satisfy their growing need.
BEIJING, March 19 (Xinhua) -- China's Vice Minister of Culture Zhao Shaohua and Australian Ambassador to China Geoff Raby Friday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on reciprocal years of culture (2010-2012) between China and Australia.The Year of Australian Culture in China, the opening ceremony of which is scheduled for June 8 in the National Center for the Performing Arts, lasts from June 2010 to June 2011.It will be a showcase of cooperation between China and Australia in the fields of art, music, performance, literature, film and other media.It will include an Australian aboriginal art exhibition held in the National Art Museum of China and art performances jointly produced by Chinese and Australian artists.As the first step, the National Museum of Australia and the National Art Museum of China Monday signed a memorandum of understanding to put arrangements in place for reciprocal touring exhibitions in China and Australia from 2010 to 2012 and facilitate future cultural exchanges.According to a joint statement released during the visit of China's Vice Premier Li Keqiang to Australia last year, the Year of Australian Culture in China is scheduled from 2010 to 2011, and the Year of Chinese Culture in Australia from 2011 to 2012.China's Ministry of Culture is actively preparing for the Year of Chinese Culture in Australia.
BEIJING, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Foreign-funded enterprises in China exported 494.4 billion U.S. dollars worth of machinery, electrical and electronic products in 2009.A document posted on the website of the General Administration of Customs (GAC) said the figure made up 69.3 percent of the country's total exports of such products in the past year.Exports of machinery, electrical and electronic products by privately-owned enterprises totalled 106.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2009, down 8.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the document.State-owned enterprises only exported 92.1 billion U.S. dollars worth of machinery, electrical and electronic products, accounting for 12.9 percent of the country's total machinery, electrical and electronic products last year.The GAC document also said the majority of the country's exports of machinery, electrical and electronic products fell into the category of processing and assembling trade.China's exports of machinery, electrical and electronic products in the category of processing and assembling trade totalled 466.4 billion U.S. dollars last year, making up 65.4 percent of the country's total exports of such products.The country exported 713.1 billion U.S. dollars worth of machinery, electrical and electronic products last year, down 13.4 percent year-on-year. The exports contributed 59.3 percent to China's total exports in 2009.The European Union (EU), the United States of America and Hong Kong were the three major destinations for the China mainland's exports of machinery, electrical and electronic products last year.China exported 1.2 trillion U.S. dollars worth of products last year, down 16 percent from 2008, replacing Germany as the world's largest exporter.
BEIJING, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Vice Premier Li Keqiang said on Tuesday China would continue to pursue a low birth rate while actively coping with problems such as sex ratio imbalance and the aging of population.Li made the remarks when inspecting the National Population and Family Planning Commission. Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang visits a laboratory of China Population Devolpment Research Center in Beijing, China, Jan. 19, 2010. Li Keqiang made an inspection tour to the population and family planning commission and affiliated research institutions on TuesdayChina still faced pressure from population growth and "new situations" had emerged in population structure as its industrialization and urbanization continued to proceed, Li said.Efforts were needed to achieve reasonable distribution and orderly flow of population, he said, adding population and family planning authorities should put people first and better serve people at grassroots communities. Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang visits a laboratory of the scientific research center of National Population and Family Planning Commission of China, in Beijing, China, Jan. 19, 2010. Li Keqiang made an inspection tour to the population and family planning commission and affiliated research institutions on TuesdayHe asked population and family planning authorities to provide better services for urban and rural residents, especially farmers and floating population.Official figures show the country's birth rate went down from more than 1.8 percent in 1978 to around 1.2 percent in 2007.China's family-planning policy was introduced in the 1970s to rein in its surging population by encouraging late marriages and late childbearing and limiting most urban couples to one child and most rural couples to two children.It's estimated that without the policy, the country's population would be 400 million more than the current 1.3 billion people, according to the National Population and Family Planning Commission. Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang shakes hands with personnels of the scientific research center of National Population and Family Planning Commission of China, in Beijing, China, Jan. 19, 2010. Li Keqiang made an inspection tour to the population and family planning commission and affiliated research institutions on Tuesday
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
北京知名seo公司
BEIJING, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- China should further step up efforts to implement the plan to adjust and reinvigorate some of the country's key industries, according to an executive meeting of the State Council held on Wednesday.The meeting was chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao.Progress has been made in 2009 for adjusting and promoting key industries, however the situation remained grave as weak global demand was still affecting China's economy and more efforts were needed to curb overcapacity in some industries, according to a statement released after the meeting.To combat the global economic downturn, China in 2009 adopted a massive plan to adjust and reinvigorate the country's ten key industries covering cars, steel, information technology, logistics, textile, nonferrous metal, equipment manufacturing, petrochemicals, shipbuilding as well as light industry.The implementation of the plan was a long-term task which should focus on the structure adjustment and development mode transformation of the ten industries, said the statement.Vigorous efforts should be made to expand domestic demand, optimize industrial layout, curb overcapacity, eliminate retrograde productivity, push company merger and restructuring, promote technology innovation and deepen reform to facilitate development mode change, it said.
BEIJING, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- China's top political advisor Jia Qinglin Sunday urged Beijing to transform its economic development pattern and improve people's livelihood.Beijing should foster more enterprises in high tech industry, build Zhongguancun, dubbed as China's "silicon valley", into in an innovation hub with global influence, said Jia, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), during his inspection in Beijing on Saturday and Sunday.Jia called on the Chinese capital to take positive steps to shape an eco-friendly and energy-saving industrial framework, growth pattern and consumption mode.In addition, the city should spend more efforts in solving problems in people's daily life, including housing, traffic, education, health care and social security, he said.Jia also met with local political advisors and representatives from all walks of life, calling on them to study major economic and social issues and contribute their talent to the scientific development and social harmony and stability.
HONG KONG, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- The relationship between the United States and China has been growing despite potential friction over trade and other issues, said Clark T. Randt Jr., former U.S. ambassador to China, at a lecture in Hong Kong on Friday.Randt said the potential trade friction, which should not be surprising given the dire economic situation and the upcoming mid- term elections in the United States, was more likely to come from the Congress rather than the administration.Randt, who had been U.S. ambassador to China from July 2001 to January 2009, said it was not surprising that the two countries should have disagreements given the differences in history, culture and the values."But the important thing is to keep in mind ... the awareness on both sides of the very important strategic interests we share," he added.The leaders in both Washington and Beijing understand that the two countries share strategic interests on many topics, Randt said, adding that he was "sure that the United States policy towards China has not changed.""More and more Americans are trying to know China, though the Chinese people still know the United States better than the Americans know China. There are currently 11,000 to 12,000 Americans studying in Beijing," he said.