COPENHAGEN, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrived here Wednesday evening for the ongoing UN Climate Change Conference. Wen told reporters aboard his special plane that his attendance at the meeting aims to show the great importance the Chinese government and people attach to climate change and to assert their sincerity and determination to work with the international community to meet this global challenge. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (3rd, L) signs his autograph on the comment book of honored guests after he arrives at Copenhagen, capital of Denmark , on Dec. 16, 2009. Wen Jiabao arrived here Wednesday evening for the ongoing UN Climate Change Conference. The Copenhagen climate conference is now in its final and critical stage, Wen said, adding that he will closely communicate and coordinate with various parties and deliver a speech outlining China's stance on climate change. "I hope the meeting, with joint efforts made by various parties, will yield fair, reasonable, balanced and achievable results," he said. During his stay in the Danish capital, Wen is scheduled to meet with some foreign leaders on the sidelines of the climate summit. "Wen's trip to Copenhagen will inject a new momentum into the climate change talks and exert positive and important impacts for future international cooperation," Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Wang Guangya told a press conference on Dec. 10. The UN Climate Change Conference, which opened on Dec. 7, is to end Friday in Copenhagen. It aims to map out a comprehensive international arrangement for the fight against climate change over the period 2012-2020.
TAIPEI, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Kuomintang (KMT) Party won 12 county and city chief seats in Taiwan's local elections Saturday, while the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) landed four seats, voting results showed. The KMT won 289 county and city lawmaker seats whereas the DPP won 128. Candidates with no party affiliations and those who did not run in the election through political parties won 170 seats. The KMT also won a majority of 121 seats in the election of township chiefs, as opposed to the DPP's 34 seats. The voting, also known as "three-in-one elections," lasted from8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.
LANGFANG, Hebei Province, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- President Hu Jintao on Friday urged Party committees and governments at all levels to make issues related to agriculture, rural areas and farmers top priority of their agenda and called for increased investment in these areas. During a visit to villages in China's northern Hebei Province Friday, Hu called for efforts to develop modern agriculture by relying on the progress of science and technology and make sure that farmers have increasing incomes. The president said this year's No. 1 document of the CPC Central Committee will include a batch of new policies to support agricultural development. Hu spent time inquiring about the livelihood of local farmers and conveyed New Year greetings to them. Hu Jintao (C, front), Chinese President, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and chairman of the Central Military Commission, shakes hands with a family member of villager Zhang Futai during an inspection tour at a village of Liqizhuang Town, Sanhe City, north China's Hebei Province, on Jan. 1, 2010. Hu Jintao made the inspection tour in Sanhe City on Friday. At a vegetable greenhouse of Liqizhuang Township of Sanhe City, which is close to Beijing, Hu inquired about sales and market price of vegetables and incomes of local farmers. Hu urged local farmers to give full play to the area's geographic advantage and contribute to the development of local economy by raising the quantity and quality of vegetables. At a grain and oil enterprise, Hu called for intensified efforts to improve product quality and lower production cost so asto provide consumers with more quality edible oil with a low price. In another village of Liqizhuang Township, Hu encouraged village authorities to improve villagers' life quality by improving infrastructure and providing local people with more services. After being told that 74-year-old villager Zhang Futai and his wife had moved into a two-storey building from a house made of mud and stone, Hu said he was happy to see the farmers' living conditions being improved.
BEIJING, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- Ruling parties of China and Japan on Thursday pledged to deepen trust and work together for a stronger strategic relationship of mutual benefit between the two countries. The pledge came out of a meeting between Chinese President Hu Jintao and Secretary General of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) Ichiro Ozawa in Beijing on Thursday afternoon. Ozawa is leading a delegation of 600-strong members, including 146 DPJ lawmakers from the upper and lower houses of the Japanese Diet, for a four-day visit in Beijing. Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) meets with Secretary General of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) Ichiro Ozawa in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 10, 2009. Ozawa led a delegation of 600-strong members for a four-day visit in Beijing The group is the first DPJ-led delegation to China since the DPJ came to power in September. Hu started the meeting by calling Ozawa "an old friend of the Chinese people who visited China many times and made important contribution to bilateral relations." Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) shakes hands with members of a delegation led by Ichiro Ozawa, secretary general of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 10, 2009.This was the third meeting in Beijing between Hu and Ozawa, who visited China in capacity of the DPJ leader in 2006 and 2007. "The Communist Party of China (CPC) attaches great importance to relations with DPJ and would like to work together to improve party-to-party exchange mechanism," said Hu, who is the general secretary of the CPC Central Committee. Hu called for concerted efforts to make the mechanism an important platform for the two ruling parties to hold dialogues, enhance trust, promote cooperation and seek common development in a bid to boost the sound and in-depth growth of bilateral relationship. Ozawa echoed Hu's views, saying the DPJ was committed to bolstering Japan-China ties and would continue to make best of the party-to-party exchange mechanism for a better strategic relationship of mutual benefit. On the broader China-Japan relations, Hu said the two countries had interacted actively and undergone a smooth transition since the DPJ became Japan's ruling party in September. Hu said he and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama reached important consensus on furthering the strategic relationship of mutual benefit and bringing the bilateral relationship to a new era. Stressing the principle and spirit of four political documents between the two countries, Hu said China would like to work more closely with Japan to properly address the sensitive issues between them and jointly tackle global challenges. Ozawa praised China's economic and social progress and its constructive role in international affairs. Ozawa said profound changes in the international arena offered a broad prospect for Japan and China to work together in all fronts. Prior to the two leaders' meeting, Hu and the Japanese delegation had their group photos taken at the Great Hall of the People in downtown Beijing. The delegation was the 16th one under the "Great Hall Program," a people-to-people exchange scheme initiated in 1989. The program has so far sent about 350 Japanese lawmakers and more than 2,000 representatives from various circles to visit China.
BEIJING, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- A report on the building of rural social security system was submitted Thursday to the ongoing session of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, for deliberation. Sun Wensheng, vice chairman of the NPC Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee, said steady progress had been made in the development of rural social security system when delivering the report at the session of the NPC Standing Committee. A total of 833 million rural residents, or 94 percent of the rural population, have joined the rural cooperative medical care system, up 2.5 percentage points from the beginning of this year, according to the report. The rural cooperative medical care system, a government initiative implemented in 2005 that intended to make health services more affordable for the rural poor, had alleviated illness-caused poverty among farmers, it said. The report said 320 counties, or 11.6 percent of the country's total, had been or would be approved to try a new rural social pension insurance system, which would benefit more than 15 million rural residents. Under the pension system, senior rural residents will receive a monthly ole-age pension of varying amounts, which will be set by government according to the local income standards. However, some local governments were financially challenged to implement the rural social security programs and only a relatively small percentage of migrant farmer workers were covered, Sun said. The report was the result of a nearly four-month investigation conducted by the NPC Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee. Initiated in September, the investigation covered 17 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions.
BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Premier Wen Jiabao Sunday urged the Chinese people remain aware of possible hardships and crises in the upcoming year and to work hard for a more promising future. Wen told Xinhua in an exclusive interview that the way ahead for the Chinese people would be "a bumpy road," but the nation had made transparent achievements in tackling the global economic downturn. "The Chinese people have gone through so many disasters. And one eminent tradition of our nationality is to be independent and indomitable without fear," he said. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao smiles during an exclusive interview with Xinhua News Agency at Ziguangge building inside Zhongnanhai, an office compound of the Chinese central authorities at the heart of Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 27, 2009 Wen said perseverance would lead to success and hoped all Chinese would make persistent efforts under the leadership of the Community Party of China and the central government. "China has a great deal of hope in its future," he said when asked to give his New Year message to all Chinese.
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COPENHAGEN, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Thursday that the Copenhagen climate talks have reached the decisive moment and all parties should focus on consensus in a future-oriented manner and seek common grounds while shelving differences so as to bring hope to the world people. Wen made the remarks when he met British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on the sidelines of the UN-led talks being held here. Wen said many developed countries have tabled quantified emission reduction targets while some developing countries have also set up voluntary goals in curbing emissions, which represents new progress in international cooperation in tackling climate change. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (R) shakes hands with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in Copenhagen, Denmark, Dec. 17, 2009. The key to fighting climate change is to follow the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities," Wen said. Countries should deliver their commitments in earnest and enhance mutual trust instead of harboring mistrust or even confronting with each other, he added. China is always true in word and resolute in deed, Wen said, adding that the Chinese side will overcome difficulties to realize the goal of curbing greenhouse gas emissions. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (R) shakes hands with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Copenhagen, Denmark, Dec. 17, 2009.Wen also said China's work in this regard is open and transparent and is subject to the supervision of domestic laws and media, and China is willing to conduct international exchanges, dialogues and cooperation in information disclosure. Brown, Merkel and Hatoyama spoke highly of China's efforts in dealing with climate change and introduced their own countries' positions during the climate talks. They also expressed willingness to strengthen cooperation with China to strive for achieving positive results at the summit. Wen also attended a banquet hosted by Danish Queen Margrethe II for world leaders at the summit. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (front) arrives to attend the dinner hosted by Denmark's Queen Margrethe II in Copenhagen, Denmark, Dec. 17, 2009. The dinner was held to welcome the leaders attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference.
BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- China will never swerve from its carbon emission cut target despite all pressure and difficulties, said a senior official Thursday evening. Xie Zhenhua, vice minister in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner, made the remarks at a press conference. China's State Council, the Cabinet, announced Thursday that the country is going to reduce the intensity of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP in 2020 by 40 to 45 percent compared with the level of 2005. This is a "voluntary action" taken by the Chinese government "based on our own national conditions" and "is a major contribution to the global effort in tackling climate change," the State Council said. Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei also attended the press conference. "China made the emission cut target without financial and technological support from developed countries. This is not only for the country's own sustainable development, but also for the benefit of all the mankind," said He. However, China is still hoping developed countries would take actions as soon as possible, He said, adding that the Bali Road Map has set binding targets and actions on emission cut, investment and technology for developed countries. China faces huge pressure and special difficulties in controlling greenhouse gas emission, as the country has a large population and relatively low economic development level and is at a critical period to accelerate industrialization and urbanization, Xie said. "It demands great courage for the government to announce such a target," said Yu Jie, an official in charge of Climate Group's policy and research. The Climate Group is a British-based non-governmental environmental organization. As a developing country, China still faces various problems in both economic and social development, and it is not easy to make such a commitment, Yu said. The announcement of China's carbon emission target has broken one of the deadlocks challenging the upcoming Copenhagen summit, she said. It is also an answer to President Hu Jintao's promise at the September United Nations climate summit in New York that China would cut emission intensity by "a notable margin" by 2020 from the 2005 level. China's target is made after scientific research and calculations, combining the efforts to both tackle climate change and promote social and economic development, said Yao Yufang, professor at the Institute of Quantitative and Technical Economics under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). "Any party that asks China for higher cut is acting unreasonably." China can and will achieve the target if the country endeavors to improve energy efficiency, promote the development of renewable energy and optimize industrial structure, Yao said. "The country has set a specific quantitative target far beyond the Bali Road Map demands for developing countries, which reflects China's sincerity to make the Copenhagen summit successful and its commitment to tackle the climate change," said Pan Jiahua, director of the CASS Research Center for Urban Development and Environment. Li Gao, an NDRC official and a key climate change negotiator representing the Chinese government, said Tuesday: "We will try to make the summit successful and we will not accept that it ends with an empty and so-called political declaration."
BEIJING, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao made five proposals on promoting Sino-U.S. relations and tackling delicate issues of common concern while meeting with visiting U.S. President Barack Obama in Beijing Tuesday. Obama, who is in Beijing for a four-day state visit to China, agreed with Hu on the proposals, reiterating that the United States does not seek to contain China's rise and that he welcomes China as a "strong, prosperous and successful member of the community of nations." FURTHER STRATEGIC MUTUAL TRUST Hu called on the two countries to continue to increase strategic mutual trust with prerequisite of respect for each other's core interests and major concerns. He hailed Obama's statement that the United States sticks to the one-China policy and hoped that the United States would "properly handle" the Taiwan issue and forbid "Tibet independence" and "East Turkistan" forces from using U.S. territory to cover their anti-China separatist activities. In Hu's words, China and the United States should not be opponents, but partners that trust each other and cooperate sincerely. "The development of China is an opportunity for all nations, including the United States," Hu said. "It is not a challenge, let alone a threat." MAINTAIN EXCHANGES AT ALL LEVELS Hu said China and the United States should maintain different levels of communication and consultation on major issues in a timely manner through different channels, including exchange of visits, talks and meetings on multilateral occasions. The two countries should further substantiate the results of the first round of Sino-U.S. Strategic Economic Dialogue and start soon to prepare for the second round of talks in Beijing next summer, Hu said, calling the dialogue an important platform to enhance exchanges and cooperation between the two countries. STEP UP MACRO CONTROL It is "necessary" for China and the United States to step up cooperation on coordinating macro economic and financial policies, pushing forward reforms in the international financial system and improving global economic governance structure, Hu said. He also raised the issue of trade frictions, voicing hope that the United States would loosen restrictions on its export of hi-tech products to China as soon as possible, while recognizing China's market economy status and facilitating expansion of trade and investment cooperation. "Under the current circumstances," Hu said, "the two countries should more resolutely oppose and resist trade protectionism in any form." ADVANCE EXCHANGES, COOPERATION IN VARIOUS AREAS The other areas proposed by Hu for further cooperation between China and the United States include infrastructure, climate change and clean energy, and exchange of students. He said China is willing to work with the United States on space exploration and construction of high-speed railways. The two sides should take the launch of the joint clean energy research center as a turning point and deepen cooperation on energy saving, emissions reduction, renewable energy and treatment of environmental pollution, Hu said. China is also willing to increase counter-terrorism cooperation with the United Stats on a basis of mutual benefit and hold dialogues with the United States on issues of human rights and religions based on the principle of equality, mutual respect and non-interference with each other's internal affairs, said Hu. WORK TOGETHER TO MEET GLOBAL, REGIONAL CHALLENGES Hu proposed that the two countries should continue to work together on global and regional hot issues in light of the benefit gained in recent years by cooperating on climate change, nuclear non-proliferation, crackdown on transnational crimes, disaster relief and prevention and treatment of contagious diseases.
CHENGDU, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- A senior Chinese official has urged designated provinces and municipalities to contribute more to the reconstruction work in quake-hit areas in the southwestern Sichuan Province. Zhou Yongkang, a Standing Committee member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks during an inspection to Sichuan on Jan. 2-4. Zhou Yongkang (L Front), a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, visits students at Shuimo High School in Wenchuan County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Jan. 4, 2010. Zhou Yongkang made an inspection tour in Sichuan Province on Jan. 2-4. After the Wenchuan earthquake, the central government issued a policy designating each of the 18 provinces and municipalities, including Shandong, Guangdong, Beijing and Shanghai, to help rebuild one hard-hit county in Sichuan. Zhou Yongkang (3rd L), a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, talks with residents at Qianjin Village in Anxian County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Jan. 3, 2010. Zhou Yongkang made an inspection tour in Sichuan Province on Jan. 2-4. "After the quake, all designated provinces and municipalities moved quickly to send money and personnel for the reconstruction of infrastructure and projects concerning local people's livelihood. They have made significant contribution," Zhou said. Zhou visited officials and workers from the eastern Shandong Province, who were there to help with the reconstruction at the new seat of Beichuan County, and urged them to build a new county with ethnic characteristics and modern elements. While visiting Yingxiu Town in the Wenchuan County, Zhou told local officials to focus on the livelihood of local residents during reconstruction. The quake on May 12 in 2008, measuring 8.0 on the Richter Scale and up to 11 in terms of intensity, left nearly 80,000 people dead or missing and millions homeless.