MOSCOW, May 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo met with Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev on Thursday and the two sides pledged to enhance bilateral cooperation. Dai said the China-Russia relations enjoy good momentum as the two countries celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties. China, Dai said, is willing to work with Russia to boost mutual political trust, strengthen pragmatic cooperation and deepen strategic collaboration. He said China will join hands with Russia in dealing with the global financial crisis and push for a more just and rational international order. Patrushev, for his part, said the two countries now enjoy close strategic cooperation. Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo (R) shakes hands with Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev at Kremlin Palace in Moscow, capital of Russia, on May 28, 2009 In the context of the complex international situation, Patrushev said, Russia and China should reinforce cooperation in both bilateral and multilateral fields. The two also should enrich Russia-China relations and jointly tackle the global economic downturn and other challenges, he said. Chinese President Hu Jintao is expected to pay a state visit to Russia next month and attend summits of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Russia thinks highly of Hu's upcoming visit and his participation in the summits, Patrushev said. He said Moscow is willing to work with Beijing to ensure the success of the visit and the summits.
BEIJING, July 10 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced Friday that it will launch two more batches of electronic savings bonds of up to 50 billion yuan (7.32 billion U.S. dollars) since next week. According to the ministry, one batch of the e-savings bonds of 40 billion yuan has a term of three years, with a fixed annual interest rate of 3.73 percent. The other, the five-year e-savings bonds, is worth 10 billion yuan at a fixed annual interest rate of four percent. The two bonds will be issued from July 15 to 31, with interests to be calculated from July 15 and paid annually, said the ministry in a statement on its website. These bonds are open to only individual investors, the MOF said. Compared with other types of bonds, the e-savings bond is seen as more convenient for investors. For example, the interest can bepaid through direct deposit into the investor's account. This is the second time the ministry launches this kind of bond this year, with the first issuance of two batches of e-savings bonds in April. The ministry also said it would issue two batches of book-entry treasury bonds next week with a face value of 12.48 billion yuan and 12.65 billion yuan each. One with the face value of 12.48 billion yuan has a term of 91 days, and the issue price, set by competitive bidding, was 99.72 yuan for a face value of 100 yuan. In this sense, the annual yield will be 1.15 percent, the ministry said. The other has a term of 273 days, and the issue price was set at 99.077 yuan for 100 yuan, with an annual yield of 1.25 percent. The ministry said the book-entry T-bonds will be sold from July 13 to July 15. Trading of the bonds will begin July 17.
ANSHAN, Liaoning, June 16 (Xinhua) -- An official with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said Tuesday that the proposed alliance of Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton had a "strong monopolistic color" and Chinese firms would watch it closely and find ways to cope with it. Last year, China imported 440 million tonnes of iron ore, half of the world's total, so any slight market changes would affect Chinese steel makers. China's anti-monopoly law should apply in the proposed deal, said Chen Yanhai, head of the raw material department of MIIT at an industry meeting held in the northeastern city of Anshan, Liaoning Province. If the tie-up proved to be monopolistic, "we have to seek new policies and regulations to allow Chinese companies have a bigger say in iron ore pricing," said Chen without elaborating. Rio Tinto scrapped a proposed 19.5-billion-U.S.-dollar investment by Aluminum Corp. of China, or Chinalco, on June 5, and turned to rival BHP Billiton, which would pay Rio Tinto 5.8 billion U.S. dollars to set up a joint venture to run the iron ore resources of both companies in west Australia. On Monday, spokesman of the Ministry of Commerce Yao Jian said if the revenue of the joint venture reached "a certain amount," China's anti-monopoly law would apply. That law requires a company to get government approval before consolidation if its global revenue exceeds 10 billion yuan (1.47 billion U.S. dollars) and its revenue in China exceeds 2 billion yuan. An anti-monopoly review is also necessary if two or more parties in the company had more than 400 million yuan of revenue in China in the previous fiscal year. In the year ended 30 June, BHP Billiton's revenue in China was 11.7 billion U.S. dollars, while that for Rio Tinto was 10.8 billion U.S. dollars, according to the companies' websites. It was unclear what actions China would take if the case was determined to be covered by the Chinese anti-monopoly law. At the meeting Tuesday, Chen also said domestic steel makers should beef up technology and innovation to cut energy consumption and raise efficiency. Also, he said, China "should increase exploration of domestic mines to reduce reliance on imports."
BEIJING, June 16 (Xinhua) -- For the first time in more than one year, China reduced its holding of U.S. Treasury bonds, and experts told Xinhua Tuesday that move reflected concern over the safety of U.S.-dollar-linked assets. Data from the U.S. Treasury showed China pared its stake in Treasury bonds by 4.4 billion U.S. dollars, to 763.5 billion U.S. dollars, as of the end of April compared with March. Tan Yaling, an expert at the China Institute for Financial Derivatives at Peking University, told Xinhua that the move might reflect activity by China's institutional investors. "It was a rather small amount compared with the holdings of more than 700 billion U.S. dollars." "It is unclear whether the reduction will continue because the amount is so small. But the cut signals caution of governments or institutions toward U.S. Treasury bonds," Zhang Bin, researcher with the Institute of World Economics and Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a government think tank, told Xinhua. He added that the weakening U.S. dollar posed a threat to the holdings of U.S. Treasury bonds. The U.S. government began to increase currency supply through purchases of Treasury bonds and other bonds in March, which raised concern among investors about the creditworthiness of U.S. Treasury bonds. The move also dented investor confidence in the U.S. dollar and dollar-linked assets. China, the biggest holder of U.S. Treasury bonds, is highly exposed. In March, Premier Wen Jiabao called on the United States "to guarantee the safety of China's assets." China is not the only nation that trimmed holdings of U.S. Treasury bonds in April: Japan, Russian and Brazil did likewise, to reduce their reliance on the U.S. dollar. However, Tan said that U.S. Treasury bonds were still a good investment choice. Hu Xiaolian, head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, said in March that U.S. Treasury bonds played a very important role in China's investment of its foreign exchange reserves. China would continue to buy the bonds while keeping an eye on fluctuations. Zhang said it would take months to see if China would lower its stake. Even so, any reduction would not be large, or international financial markets would be shaken, he said. Wang Yuanlong, researcher with the Bank of China, said the root of the problem was the years of trade surpluses, which created the huge amount of foreign exchange reserves in China. It left China's assets tethered to the U.S. dollar, he said. He said making the Renminbi a global currency would cut China's demand for the U.S. dollar and reduce its proportion in the trade surplus.
BEIJING, June 5 (Xinhua) -- China will continue its massive elimination of backward industrial facilities in 2009 to save energy and cut pollution in its bid to address climate change, the government said Friday. China aims to close down small coal-burning power stations with a total generating capacity of 15 million kilowatts, according to an action plan approved by a joint meeting of the national steering committee for responses to climate changes and the State Council steering committee for energy-saving and emission control Friday. China will continue to eliminate obsolete capacity in key industries, including 10 million tonnes in iron-making industry, 6million tonnes in steel industry, and 50 million tonnes in cement industry, said the plan examined at the meeting presided by Premier Wen Jiabao. The meeting decided to adopt more measures, including stricter energy efficiency and environmental assessments, to control the expansion of industries that consumed excessive energy and discharged pollutants. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (C) presides over a State Council meeting on Climate Change, Energy saving and Emission Reduction in Beijing, China, June 5, 2009. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei) The government also called for the promotion of recycling and the use of energy efficient products, including subsidizing purchases of energy-efficient air conditioners, refrigerators and lamps. Central and local governments would further increase investment in energy efficient projects. In 2009, such projects are expected to reduce energy consumption equal to 750 million tonnes of standard coal usage. New sewage treatment projects will treat 10 million cubic meters of waste water. The government would also publicize local government efforts to reduce energy consumption, improve supervision and enhance cooperation with international agencies to develop alternative energies and low-carbon technologies. The government has set a goal to reduce energy consumption per 10,000 yuan (1,464 U.S. dollars) of gross domestic product (GDP) by 20 percent from 2006 to 2010. In the three years to 2008, energy consumption per unit of GDP fell 10.1 percent, according to the State Council. That means saving 300 million tonnes of standard coal and cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 750 million tonnes. Emissions of sulfur dioxide in the same period fell 8.95 percent, and chemical oxygen demand (COD), a measure of water pollution, was down 6.61 percent.
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HELSINKI, June 25 (Xinhua) -- China and Finland on Thursday agreed to push for closer economic cooperation to tackle the ongoing global financial crisis. Visiting Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang unveiled broad measures to work together with Finland to fight the global financial crisis after meeting with Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen. Li and Vanhanen joined a signing ceremony of several government and business agreements between the two sides, under which Li said China would purchase Finland's advanced environment-friendly technologies. China would also send a large group of entrepreneurs to Finland within two weeks to make major purchases of Finnish goods, according to Li. Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang (1st R) holds talks with Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen in Helsinki, June 25, 2009 The two governments also planned to hold talks in August on reducing double-taxing to facilitate bilateral trade and investment activities. Li said these measures were major fruits of his visit to Finland, adding that the measures reflected the shared political will between China and Finland to push for closer cooperation in tackling the financial crisis and opposing protectionism. Vanhanen said that the Finnish government and the Finnish people, battered by the ongoing financial crisis, were looking forward to seeing the large group of Chinese entrepreneurs in Finland. The Finnish leader stressed that the Sino-Finnish relations had always been solid and strong, adding that the two sides were getting increasingly closer as they took effective measures to deepen bilateral cooperation in all fields. Vanhanen said the 2010 World Expo to be held in Shanghai, China was a good opportunity for promoting the Sino-Finnish relations, and that Finnish companies would actively participate in the event. He promised that Finland would continue to play a constructive role in promoting China-EU relations and pushing for the lifting of an EU arms sales ban on China as soon as possible. Vanhanen reiterated that the Finnish government would firmly adhere to the one-China policy. During their talks, Li highlighted several key points in developing the Sino-Finnish relations. He said China and Finland should attach strategic importance to their relations, further expand mutually beneficial economic cooperation, and create new areas for cooperation in culture and education.
BEIJING, May 3 (Xinhua) -- China developed a new diagnostic reagent to test for A/H1N1 flu virus in pigs and the new method could provide test results in five hours, the Ministry of Agriculture said Sunday. The ministry has organized experts soon after the outbreak of A/H1N1 to develop new diagnostic reagents to test for A/H1N1 virus. The method could also provide references for the virus in humans, the ministry said. The ministry has urged local branches to strengthen efforts on the storage and management of emergency materials for the influenza A/H1N1 prevention and control.
BEIJING, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Friday called for continued vigilance against the global pandemic of the A/H1N1 influenza and urged positive and scientific measures to cope with it. Wen made the comment at the executive meeting of the State Council, China's Cabinet. He underscored the importance of preventing and controlling the disease in public places such as schools and hospitals and called for intensified efforts in treating patients with serious symptoms so as to reduce the likelihood of fatalities. So far, there have been no deaths from the flu in China. Inspection and quarantine measures should be strengthened and reserves of flu-prevention and control materials must be secured, he said. Flu medicine and vaccines should be made and stored as scheduled and the role of traditional Chinese medicine in treating the disease should not be neglected, he added. He also asked local authorities to make prevention and control plans based on local conditions and formulate management measures on flu patients' medical expenses. The Premier has also championed the importance of health education and public opinion guidance in fighting against the disease.
BEIJING, April 28 (Xinhua) -- China Tuesday called for new initiatives to boost the China-France comprehensive strategic partnership. The call was made during a meeting between Chinese President Hu Jintao and former French President Jacques Chirac, who is in Beijing at the invitation of the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs. Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) meets with Former French President Jacques Chirac at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, April 28, 2009. Hu praised Chirac, on his ninth visit to China, as an old friend of the Chinese people for his contribution to the China-France friendship. "The Chinese people will never forget this," Hu was quote as saying by a press release from Chinese Foreign Ministry. Hu said the consolidation of ties, especially in the context of the international financial crisis, would help tackle the crisis and be conducive to promoting long-term peace, stability and prosperity. "I hope the two countries and two peoples can make joint efforts to advance the development of bilateral strategic partnership," Hu said. Chirac highlighted the achievements of China in its development, calling the development "a positive factor" in world prosperity, according to the press release. China ranked as a world power through its own efforts, Chirac said, and its peaceful development was helpful to maintaining stability and prosperity.