BEIJING, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao Saturday stressed food and heating supply as cold snap has driven up vegetable prices and strained coal and gas supplies in north China. Wen urged local government to pay attention to the produce, transport and storage of vegetables when visiting a produce wholesale market in the suburbs of Beijing. "Only when food supply is enough and the prices are stable, will people feel at ease," said Wen. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, who is also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, talks with local residents at a supermarket during his inspection in Beijing, Jan. 16, 2010. Accompanied by Beijing's Party chief Liu Qi, Wen also went to a heating plant in Fengtai District and inquired about emergency response heating plan in case of extremely cold weather. He asked local officials to secure the power, gas and coal supply to Beijing and said that energy supply should follow the principle of civil use first and industrial use second. Wen also visited several ordinary Beijing families, who just moved into new houses with government subsidy. Beijing municipal government has rebuilt and repaired nearly 500,000-square-meter old houses for 23,000 households. The municipal government planed to solve housing problems for about 280,000 low-income families in three years.
SHANGHAI, Feb. 15 (Xinhua)-- The luxury ocean liner Queen Mary 2 arrived at the Port of Shanghai Monday afternoon, making its first port call in China since its maiden voyage in 2004.The world's reputed cruise carrying about 2,500 passengers and 1,200 crew arrived at the port at 1:30 p.m., and would stay for about 10 hours before leaving for Nagasaki, Japan.Queen Mary 2 was the largest luxury liner which ever made calls at the Port of Shanghai, marking the beginning of a peak of cruise arrivals at the host city of the 2010 World Expo.Shanghai immigration officers had flown to Hong Kong, the previous destination of the cruise, to ensure that all passengers on board could go through necessary customs procedures earlier."So visitors on the ship would have enough time to have a peek of Chinese Lunar New Year's celebration in Shanghai," an immigration official said.Queen Mary 2 is one of the world's largest, longest and most expensive luxury liners, which cost two years and one billion U.S. dollars to build.The ship is 345 meters long, 72 meters high, and 41 meters wide with a cruise speed of 30 knotsThe cruise is owned by the cruise line conglomerate Carnival Corporation.
BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping on Monday urged Party cadres to regard the well-being of the people always as a top priority in order to best achieve the governing purpose of the Party.Xi, also member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, and president of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks at the school's opening ceremony for spring semester.Xi said the Party officials should remember that serving the peole is a basic requirement for the CPC which seeks to apply fundamental Marxist theories to China's socialist cause and modernization drive.Xi called on Party officials to apply Marxist theories to analyzing and solving matters that arise during China's modernization drive in their study of the theoretical system of the socialism with Chinese characteristics.About 1,800 people, including Party officials attending the school's spring sememster and lecturers of the school, attended Monday's ceremony.
BEIJING, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- China's National Marine Forecasting Station on Tuesday issued an alarm on sea ice as it was developing fast off the country's eastern coast. In the following week, the floating chunks of ice could extend up to 90 nautical miles off the coast of Baohai Sea and 25 nautical miles in the northern Yellow Sea. The ice thickness could measure up to 40 cm, the station said. The station warned of threats to port infrastructure, transportation and maritime operations. Fishing boats are seen trapped by sea ice in Laizhou Bay, east China's Shandong Province, Jan. 12, 2010. The most severe icing situation in the past 30 years in the coast off Shandong Province continued to worsen amid cold snaps. Sea ice appeared last week along the coastline of the Bohai Sea and northern Yellow Sea as cold fronts pushed the temperature down to minus 10 degrees Celsius The worst sea ice in the past 30 years appeared from early Jan. along the coastline of the Bohai Sea and northern Yellow Sea as cold fronts pushed the temperature down to minus 10 degrees Celsius and below. Sea ice in the Liaodong Bay nearly doubled to 71 nautical miles Tuesday from 38 nautical miles on December 31. With another cold front expected this week, the sea ice along the coastline would further develop, the station said.
BEIJING, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 1.5 percent year on year in January 2010, the National Bureau of Statistics announced Thursday.Food prices went up 3.7 percent last month year on year, with non-food prices edging up 0.5 percent from a year earlier.The figure advanced 0.6 percent in November 2009, ending nine months of decline.
BEIJING, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- President Hu Jintao held a telephone conversation with his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on bilateral ties Thursday, with both sides expressing willingness to promote cooperation.The Chinese president said China-Brazil relations have been deepening in a comprehensive way, marked by frequent exchange of visits between their leaders and political mutual trust.The Brazilian president's state visit to China last year brought the two countries' strategic partnership to a new level as the two sides reached consensus over a broad range of major issues, Hu said.The two countries have agreed to map out a joint action plan, he said, adding that exchanges and cooperation in various fields have seen new momentum and the two sides have maintained close coordination and cooperation in international and regional affairs.China-Brazil cooperation enjoys solid political foundation and broad prospect for development, Hu said.He said further development of their strategic partnership is in the fundamental interests of both countries and is their common aspiration. It is also conducive to world peace and common development, he said.He also said China highly values its relations with Brazil and is ready to work with the Brazilians to further promote strategic partnership between the two countries.On cooperation between the BRIC nations -- Brazil, Russia, India and China, Hu said the four countries share the same or similar opinions on many global issues and have great potential in bilateral and multilateral cooperation.China attaches great importance to the cooperation platform of BRIC countries and is willing to strengthen communication and cooperation with Brazil, Russia and India, he said.Hu emphasized China and Brazil are both members of the BASIC countries and share extensive consensus on the issue of climate change. Through qualitative coordination and cooperation, both countries have played an important role in the climate summit held in Copenhagen not long ago.He said China would like to further enhance communication and coordination with Brazil as well as G77 countries to preserve and promote the interests of developing nations so that to facilitate a positive outcome of the climate summit to be held in Mexico this year and to keep on contributing constructively to the international cooperation on climate change.Lula extended his greetings to President Hu and the Chinese people on the coming Chinese Spring Festival, adding that Brazil has prioritized the development of the relations with China and he is glad to see a smooth pragmatic progress in various fields between the two sides.He said that Brazil is willing to strengthen cooperation with China in fields like energy, aviation and infrastructure. Brazil would like to work with China on a stronger cooperation among the BRIC countries.He added that during the U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen, along with a number of other countries, Brazil and China cooperated closely and played an active role in making the conference successful.Brazil is willing to continue working with China on a successful climate summit in Mexico, Lula said.
石河子祛鱼尾纹
BEIJING, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- The decision of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, to increase the deposit reserve requirement ratio has drawn worldwide attention and fluctuations in global markets. The PBOC decided on Tuesday to raise the deposit reserve requirement ratio by 0.5 percentage points as of Jan. 18, which analysts translated as a move to manage inflationary expectations and avoid a recurrence of the lending boom. This was the first time that the PBOC adjusted the ratio of deposit that lenders are required to set aside since the end of 2008 and the first increase for the ratio since June 2008. The PBOC cut the bank reserve requirement ratio four times in the second half of 2008 to stimulate growth as the global financial crisis started to weigh on the economy. The adjustment of the reserve requirement ratio, without changing benchmark interest rates, indicated the central bank was targeting inflationary expectations instead of inflation, said Zhao Qingming, a senior researcher at the China Construction Bank. Ma Jun, chief economist with Deutsche Bank (Great China), said that the rise in the reserve requirement ratio has ended the expansionary monetary policy and started a tightening cycle. Global markets took a hit after the Chinese attempt to cool the world's fastest-growing major economy. Chinese equities saw their sharpest dip in seven weeks on Wednesday after the central bank asked lenders to set aside more reserves as record bank lending last year ignited fears of inflation and asset bubbles. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index went down 3.09 percent, or 101.31points, to close at 3,172.66 points. The Shenzhen Component Index lost 2.73 percent, or 364.69 points, to close at 13,016.56 points. Hong Kong stocks shed 578.04 points, or 2.59 percent, to close at 21,748.60 on Wednesday. The Hong Kong market was also dragged by overnight losses on the United States markets. The benchmark Hang Seng Index opened down 1.42 percent and widened its losses to 2.24 percent by lunch break, and further to 2.59 percent by market close. South Korea's financial markets on Tuesday reacted as the Chinese central bank raised the deposit reserve requirement ratio, with the stock markets and foreign exchange rate plunging from the last close. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ) jointly marked a plunge of 27.23 points and 3.65 points, respectively, from the last close. The report from China also affected the foreign exchange market, with the local currency also sliding against the U.S. dollar by 1.9 won. The New Zealand share market also fell on Wednesday after the Chinese move. The share market closed 0.43 percent lower with the benchmark NZSX-50 down 14.1 points at 3,276.2. Canadian stocks fell for the second day, weighed down by a metal and mining sector that was hit by the Chinese central bank's decision to cool economic growth. The S&P/TSX Composite Index declined 126.94 points, or 1.06 percent, to 11,820.18 on Tuesday. Earlier the index shed 173 points to 11, 774, the lowest level this year. U.S. stocks retreated Tuesday, with S&P falling for the first time in 2010, as disappointing Alcoa fourth-quarter results and rising U.S. trade deficit cooled optimism for a strong earnings season and a sustainable economic recovery. Crude tumbled the most in five weeks on concerns that demand from China, the world's second-largest oil consumer, will wane as the government moves to curb lending. Benchmark crude for February delivery fell 1.73 dollars to settle at 80.79 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It's the first time this year a barrel has closed below 81 dollars a barrel. Meanwhile, analysts widely hold that the Chinese central bank's decision is to cast only a short-term, instead of mid-term, stroke on the domestic stock market, as the impact would largely be psychological. Zhuang Jian, a senior economist with the Asian Development Bank, said the adjustment did not indicate a shift in the moderately easy monetary policy, but was an effort to control the pace of lending. Through the reserve requirement ratio increase, the central bank intended to call for balanced lending at commercial banks, which would support economic growth while avoiding higher inflationary expectations, Zhuang said.
BEIJING, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- China's regulation on the Internet industry is in line with the laws and should be free from unjustifiable interferences, a Chinese government official said here Sunday.A spokesperson with China's State Council Information Office told Xinhua in an exclusive interview, that China is regulating the Internet legally to build a more reliable, helpful information network that is beneficial to economic and social development.Such regulation, the spokesperson said, are based on laws and regulations such as the Constitution, the Law on the Protection of Minors, and the Decision on Internet Safety pass by the National People's Congress Standing Committee.Online information which incites subversion of state power, violence and terrorism or includes pornographic contents are explicitly prohibited in the laws and regulations, the spokesperson said.China has full justification to deal with these illegal and harmful online contents, the spokesperson said.This has nothing to do with the claims of "restrictions on Internet freedom", the spokesperson stressed.Different countries have different conditions and realities, thus they are regulating the Internet in different ways, the spokesperson said.China's regulation on the Internet industry is proved to be suitable for China's national conditions and in line with common practices in most countries as well, the spokesperson said.China is willing to cooperate and exchange opinions on issues about Internet development and management wit other countries, but opposes firmly to any defiance of Chinese laws, or intervening Chinese domestic affairs under the pretence of "Internet management" regardless of the truth, the spokesperson said.According to the spokesperson, as of the end of 2009, the number of netizens in China reached 384 million, and websites topped 3.68 million.China has millions of online forums and more than 200 million blogs, and every day, there are more than four million new blog entries posted online, the spokesperson said.Chinese netizens' right to express opinions within the law is well protected, and their opinions are given full consideration by the government in policy making process, the spokesperson said.
BEIJING, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has pledged fresh measures to fight offensive content transmitted by mobile phones and websites.China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom, the country's three mobile carriers, have been required to examine the quality of their business partners, Thursday's China Daily reported Thursday.The MIIT also asked the Internet service providers to supervise the content of websites and close irregular websites.Operators of pornographic websites had been evading supervision from authorities through technical tactics including frequently switching domain names and IP addresses, the paper quoted a report on PC World's online edition as saying.The authorities will introduce a blacklist and the design of content-filtering technology to help network operators stem obscene content from reappearing.The measures aimed to protect the healthy growth of the next generation and clean the social environment, the MIIT said in statement.
BEIJING, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Bank of China (BOC) board has agreed to sell up to 40 billion yuan (5.86 billion U.S. dollars) of bonds convertible to A shares to improve capital adequacy.The proposal will be turned into the first temporary shareholders' meeting in 2010, which will be held on March 19, for approval.Excluding issuance costs, the proceeds from the issuance of the six-year convertible bonds will be used to replenish the bank's capital base and working capital and to lift its capital adequacy ratio, according to the BOC, the third largest lender by market value in China.The BOC has been implementing positive financial policies and relatively loose monetary policies since 2009.The BOC capital adequacy ratio stood at 11.63 percent and the core capital adequacy ratio at 9.37 percent by the end of September 2009.