BEIJING, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- More than 45 million people from both home and abroad have visited Tian'anmen Rostrum, a landmark structure in the heart of Chinese capital, in the past 21 years after it was opened to the public. "In 2009 alone, the rostrum received more than 2.16 million visitors," said Lin Bingkui, of the rostrum administration department. The rostrum, or the Gate of Heavenly Peace built in 1417, stands to the north of Tian'anmen Square and south of the renowned Forbidden City, the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) to the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912). It was on the Tian'anmen Rostrum where Chairman Mao Zedong formally proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China on Oct. 1, 1949. The rostrum was opened to the public for the first time on Jan.1, 1988. Thousands of tourists use the rostrum as a background while taking photos every day.
TAIPEI, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Chiang Pin-kung, chairman of Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), has called for calm response to the upcoming cross-Strait talks. The SEF and the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) plan to hold new round of talks in Taiwan's Taichung city on Dec. 22. Chiang said issues to be discussed during the talks included labor cooperation in the fishing industry, cooperation in inspection and quarantine of agricultural products and standard measurement authentication and avoidance of double taxation. Those issues were closely related to the health and benefits of people across the Strait, he said, adding that he hoped agreements could be reached to improve the foundation of cross-Strait relations. It is the fourth round of talks since the SEF and the ARATS resumed negotiations in June last year following a 10-year suspension.
OTTAWA, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- After four years in office, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will visit Beijing this week -- a trip many influential Canadians believe is long overdue. To gauge Canadians' views of the Prime Minister's trip to China, Xinhua recently interviewed leading Canadian academics, former politicians and other opinion shapers. A SIGNIFICANT TRIP All the interviewees agree that this is a very significant trip, for both China and Canada, given China's stature on the world stage continues to grow. "I think it is extremely important that China and Canada reenergize their relationship," David Emerson, Canada's former International Trade Minister, told Xinhua during a phone interview. He called the visit "an important milestone." Former Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Pierre S. Pettigrew said the delay in making the visit was a bad start but the prime minister was correcting his mistakes. "It took the prime minister a long time, almost four years in office before visiting China," he said. However, Barbara McDougall, Canada's former Secretary of State for External Affairs in the early 1990s, said the timing of the Prime Minister's visit was good. "I think it will be a comfortable and productive meeting," McDougall said. Peter Harder, President of the Canada-China Business Council, said it was an interesting moment for Harper's visit, given he was the chairman of the upcoming G8 and co-chairman of the G20 summits. Harder said the most important "deliverable" of this visit was that it took place. "Traditionally, China and Canada have had very good relations, and this goes back a long time," said Gregory Chin, who served in Canada's embassy in Beijing from 2004 to 2006. This is an opportune moment for Prime Minister Harper and Chinese leaders to strengthen their personal relationship. Jean Michel Laurin, Vice-President for Global Business Policy at Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, said he expected the PM's visit to help "Canadian companies and Chinese companies do more business." TRADE, CLIMATE CHANGE, ENERGY The observers said trade, climate change, and energy cooperation were likely to be among the major areas of discussion. Nevertheless, given the world economic turmoil since late last year, the state of the global economy would also be on the agenda of both leaders. "China has been leading Asia into economic recovery, and is becoming a more important partner to both the United States and Canada. The economy will certainly be the (most) important topic (during the visit)," said Pettigrew. Further fuelling these discussions of the economy is the fact that next summer, as Peter Harder noted, Canada will host two key international summits, the G8 and G20. China is an influential member of the G20. Dr. Alan Alexandroff at the University of Toronto said it would be important for Prime Minister Harper to ask for President Hu's views about what ought to be on the agenda at the G20, so Canadians could learn more about China's priorities and interests. THIS IS NOT A ONE-OFF VISIT One question that always hovers over trips such as Harper's is what evidence will observers weigh in order to judge whether the visit was successful? "No doubt, the Chinese leaders and the Canadian government will do everything they can to make this meeting successful," said Harder of the Canada China Business Council. "I hope they would commit to the idea that this is not a one-off visit but the first in a series of visits. The two leaders can instruct their ministers and government staff to enhance the Canada-China investment relationship." This could be a theme for further interactions and talks at future meetings. "If I were planning this trip, I wouldn't have high expectations in terms of particular accomplishments. I would have expectations about rebalancing bilateral relationships in a positive way, so that the two countries can work together on global issues," said McDougall, who used to hold a variety of ministerial level positions in Canadian government. Emerson said the meeting sent a signal that Canada and China were continuing to build on their friendship and partnership that had existed between the two countries for many years. He said: "Ties cooled down in recent years. And it's time to get back down to building up friendship again." In April, Canada's Minister of International Trade, Stockwell Day, announced that Canada would open new trade offices this year in Nanjing, Qingdao, Shenyang and Wuhan. China-Canada economic ties have evolved from small, simple-item commodity trade into an all-dimensional cooperation covering trade in commodity and services, capital flows and personnel exchanges. According to Chinese statistics, two-way trade increased more than 100 times from 150 million U.S. dollars in the early days of China-Canada diplomatic relations to 15.5 billion dollars in 2004.
NINGBO, Zhejiang, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- A senior official has called for unity among people living on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to promote the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations.Jia Qinglin, member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Political Bureau, made the call during his meeting with James Soong, chairman of the Taiwan-based People First Party and Yok Mu-ming, chairman of the New Party Saturday in Ningbo of east Zhejiang Province. Jia praised Soong and his party for firmly opposing "Taiwan independence", safeguarding the interests of people from both sides of the strait and those of the Chinese nation, and promoting cross-Strait cooperation. Jia Qinglin (R), member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), meets with People First Party Chairman James Soong in Ningbo, east China's Zhejiang Province, on Nov. 7, 2009 Jia, also chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said that the cross-Strait relations have recorded much progress in the past year, and the mainland will continue to promote the all-round development of the ties and work for the well-being of people on both sides. The Chinese nation is facing the bright prospect of its great rejuvenation, and people on both sides should seize and make full use of such a historical opportunity, work together with one heart and grasp the future of cross-Strait relations in their own hands, he said. Obstacles and disruptions will not stop the cross-Strait relations from moving forward in the peaceful direction, he said. Jia said to promote the development of cross-Strait ties, people on both sides should work on more practical issues, he said, citing the discussion of cross-Strait cooperation in agriculture and fishery. Jia Qinglin (R), member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), shakes hands with People First Party Chairman James Soong during their meeting in Ningbo, east China's Zhejiang Province, on Nov. 7, 2009He said work benefiting people on both sides should be done as much as possible and all forces supporting the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations and all friends opposing "Taiwan independence" and adhering to the one-China principle should be united. Soong said Taiwan is inalienable territory of China and Taiwan people form an inseparable part of the Chinese nation. People on both sides should have broader and deeper exchanges to increase mutual understanding and achieve more common ground. He pledged that the People First Party will continue to actively promote the cross-Strait relations. Yok Mu-ming said the mainland and Taiwan should increase technical exchanges and industrial cooperation on agriculture and fishery to create an "economic miracle" for the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations.
BEIJING, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Premium of China's insurance companies hit 1.02 trillion yuan (149.6 billion U.S. dollars) in the first 11 months of this year, up 11.65 percent from a year earlier, according to the China Insurance Regulatory Commission Thursday. The year would be the first year that China's insurance premiums exceeded 1 trillion yuan, data from the commission showed. From January to November, premium of property insurance rose 22.28 percent year on year to 264.02 billion yuan, and that of life insurance was 757.66 billion yuan, an annual increase of 8.37percent. The commission said the country's insurance firms were expected to eye combined profits at 46.09 billion yuan in the first 11 months, an increase of 57.45 billion yuan over the same period of last year. Profits of the country's insurers nationwide was about 26.1 billion yuan in the first half, up 98 percent, the commission said in July.
BEIJING, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- Early and heavy snow storms in north China have killed 32 people, destroyed nearly 300,000 hectares of winter crops, and caused nearly 7 billion yuan (about one billion US dollars) of direct economic losses as of 2 p.m. Sunday, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs. The death toll did not include those who died in snow-caused traffic accidents, the ministry said. Ten died in Hebei Province, 12 died in Henan Province, and others in provinces of Shanxi, Shandong and Shaanxi. As of 2 p.m. Sunday, more than 9.6 million people were affectedly snow storms, and 166,000 people had been evacuated from their homes or stranded vehicles jammed on the roads. More than 15,000 buildings collapsed, the ministry said. Heavy snow storms began to fall on Monday in northern and central Chinese provinces, including Hebei, Shanxi, Henan, Shandong, Hubei and Shaanxi, and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. Beijing also experienced heavy snow, but no deaths have been reported so far.
江苏副高职称评审公示时间
BEIJING, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- China and the United States have agreed to continue dialogue and cooperation in macroeconomic and financial policies as the recovery of the global economy remains unsteady, Chinese President Hu Jintao told the press here on Tuesday after his talks with visiting U.S. President Barack Obama. Hu said he and President Obama exchanged views on the current global financial situation and held that given the positive signs of the recovering global economy, the foundation of it was far from solid. "We both agreed to properly handle trade frictions between the two countries through negotiations on an equal basis, and to make concerted efforts to boost bilateral trade and economic ties in a healthy and steady way," said Hu. "I stressed to President Obama that under the current situation, both China and the United States should oppose and resist protectionism in all forms in an even stronger stand," he said.
JINAN, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- China's Yanzhou Coal Mining Co. Ltd. has got an official approval to take over Australian coal mining company Felix Resources, according to the company's bulletin on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Friday. The deal involving 3.3 billion Australian dollars (3 billion U.S. dollars) in a contractual agreement reached by the two companies in August would be the largest of its kind between Chinese and Australian firms. Yanzhou Coal said in the bulletin that the National Commission of Development and Reform has approved the company's bid to take over 100 percent of the stake in Felix. The company said that after the takeover of Felix, it would obtain an approved coal reserve of 1.5 billion tons in Australia. Its annual coal output in Australia is expected to exceed 10 million tons, accounting for one third of the company's production in China. Yanzhou Coal, headquartered in east China's Shandong Province, is listed on stock exchanges in Hong Kong, New York and Shanghai. It owns Austar Coal Mine in Australia, and mines in north China's Shanxi Province and Shandong Province, according to information on the company's website.
BEIJING, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan met here Friday with his Uzbekistan counterpart Elyar Ganiev, pledging to promote the healthy and sustainable development of economic and trade ties. Wang conveyed congratulation on the success of the eighth session of the China-Uzbekistan Economic and Trade Cooperation Committee. He said since the two countries forged diplomatic ties, high-level exchanges were frequent and the cooperation in such areas as economic and trade, energy and security were ever expanding. Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan (R) meets with his Uzbekistani counterpart Elyar Ganiev in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 4, 2009 He called on governments of both sides to actively create conditions for exchanges and cooperation between entrepreneurs and people of various walks of life of the two countries and strengthen energy resource cooperation as well as cooperation outside the resource field. Ganiev spoke positively of the development of Sino-Uzbek relations. He said Uzbekistan was willing to further enhance cooperation with China in various areas.
CHENGDU, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- China will send two giant pandas to Australia Friday for a cooperative research program. The four-year-old male panda "Wang Wang" and three-year-old female panda "Fu Ni" will stay in Australia for 10 years, said Zhang Hemin, chief of the Wolong Nature Reserve Administration in southwest China's Sichuan Province. "Wang Wang", which means "net" in Chinese, is 119 kg and "Fu Ni", which means "lucky girl", is 90 kg. They were quarantined on Oct. 21 for their trip to Australia. "Wang Wang" and "Fu Ni" were transferred to the Bifengxia Giant Panda Breeding Center in Ya'an City after the Wolong Giant Panda Protection and Research Center where they were living were destroyed in the May 12 massive earthquake in 2008. The Australian side had sent veterinaries and feeders of the two pandas to China for training. It had also set up a 10 hectares bamboo planting base, Zhang said. The two pandas will receive a body check Tuesday before their departure. China and Australia made an agreement in 2007 on the cooperative research. Giant pandas, known for being sexually inactive, are among the world's most endangered animals due to shrinking habitat. There are about 1,590 pandas living in China's wild, mostly in Sichuan and the northwestern provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu.