BEIJING, May 2 (Xinhua) -- A delegation of the Communist Party of China (CPC) left here Saturday for official visits to Kenya, Eritrea, Ghana, Cape Verde and Norway. The delegation, led by Wang Jiarui, head of the International Department of CPC Central Committee, was invited by the three parties of Kenya's ruling coalition--Party of National Unity, Orange Democratic Movement and Orange Democratic Movement-Kenya, the People's Front for Democracy and Justice of Eritrea, African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde and Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs.
TOKYO, May 27 (Xinhua) -- China's Shanghai has donated 50,000 face masks to Osaka of Japan where a large number of new-flu infections is reported. The masks arrived at Osaka, Shanghai's "sister city" on Wednesday and will be distributed to local medial facilities in both Osaka city and Osaka prefecture. They are expected to ease the region's shortage of face masks due to the abrupt outbreak of A/H1N1 flu. Shanghai is the third Chinese city to donate masks to Japan. Earlier, northern city of Tianjin and the southern Guangdong Province also donated masks to their "sister" cities or prefectures in Japan, Kobe city and Hyogo Prefecture respectively. The number of new-flu infections in Japan came to 364 in 10 prefectures as of Wednesday afternoon, with Wakayama Prefecture joining other western Japan prefectures in reporting an outbreak. The newly confirmed infection in Wakayama city government is a male company employee in his late 20s. Earlier Wednesday, two children in central Japan's Shizuoka city also were confirmed infected with the flu.
VENICE, May 25 (Xinhua) -- China's top lawmaker Wu Bangguo left here for home on Sunday afternoon after concluding his three-nation Europe tour, which helped push his country's relations and cooperation with Europe. Wu is the first chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), top legislature of China, who has paid an official goodwill visit to Austria in 15 years and to Italy in 12 years. The Europe tour also took Wu to Russia. During the 11-day trip, Wu met with the heads of state and governments of the three European nations and held talks with their parliament leaders. Wu Bangguo (L front), chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) of China, is greeted upon his arrival in Moscow, capital of Russia, May 13, 2009. ENHANCING PARLIAMENTARY EXCHANGES Wu's visit greatly advanced friendly exchanges and cooperation between China's legislature NPC and the parliaments of the three nations. During the visit to Russia, Wu and Chairman of the Russian State Duma Boris Gryzlov jointly attended the third session of the cooperation committee between the NPC and the lower chamber of Russian parliament, or the State Duma. Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC), and Russia's State Duma Chairman Boris Gryzlov attend the third meeting of the cooperation committee between NPC and the Russian State Duma in Moscow, Russia, May 14, 2009.Wu said in a meeting with Gryzlov that development of the mechanism of regular exchanges between the parliaments of China and Russia has proved the unique advantage of inter-parliamentary exchanges. He said such exchanges has not only helped enhance friendship and deepen political trust between the two peoples, but also added new vigor to bilateral links by advancing trade and economic cooperation. "Today's situation of vigorous growth in China-Russia relations should be contributed to tireless pursuit of good neighborly friendship by the two peoples and the joint effort of their parliaments," Wu said. During the visit to Italy, Wu and Italian Senate President Renato Schifani signed here an agreement on establishing a regular exchange mechanism between the NPC and the Italian Senate. The agreement is the first of its kind ever reached between the parliaments of the two countries. Wu Bangguo (L, front), chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, shakes hands with Renato Schifani (R, front), the Senate speaker of Italy, after signing an agreement on bilateral exchange mechanism, in Rome, capital of Italy, May 20, 2009In a speech to international media after signing the agreement, Wu said the agreement will help establish a mechanism of regular exchanges between the parliaments of the two countries and add new vigor to the all-round strategic partnership between China and Italy. He noted that the two parliaments have carried out good cooperation, which consists an important part of bilateral relations. Schifani told reporters that he is glad to sign the strategic agreement between the two parliaments. He said Italy and China enjoy a sound relationship. During the visit to Austria, Wu met with Barbara Prammer, president of the Austrian National Council, and Harald Reisenberger, president of the Federal Council of Austria. Wu Bangguo (L front), chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, meets with Austrian National Council President Barbara Prammer (R front) in Vienna, capital of Austria, May 15, 2009Wu said during the meetings that parliamentary exchanges consist an important part of China-Austria relations. He said the close links between NPC and Austrian parliament has become a strong driving force for friendly relations between the countries. He hopes that the two sides should carry on this tradition of sound cooperation by pushing forward communications between political parties, local governments and peoples of the two countries. The two sides should promote practical cooperation in all fields so as to add new impetus to bilateral relations. Wu welcomes more and more Austrian parliamentarians, especially young parliamentarians to visit China. Reisenberger said parliament members from all parts of Austria wish to strengthen cooperation with the NPC in a bid to enhance people-to-people friendship, promote local communications and expand trade and economic cooperation. ADVANCING BILATERAL LINKS Wu's visit helped advanced relations between China and the three European nations. During the visit to Russia, Wu met with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev. Wu said the strategic partnership of cooperation between China and Russia is currently showing a momentum all-round and rapid growth, as high-level contact remains frequent. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (R) shakes hands with Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) of China, in Moscow, capital of Russia, May 13, 2009Wu said the high level of China-Russia partnership is fully reflected in such areas as frequent contact between top leaders of the two countries, the staging of "Russian Language Year" in China, the signing of an oil cooperation agreement between the two governments and the exchanges between the NPC and Russian parliament. Medvedev said Wu's visit to Russia reflects the momentum of fast growth in bilateral links. Under the current environment of international financial crisis, coordination between the parliament of the two countries will be conducive to advancing bilateral cooperation. In Austria, Wu met with Austrian President Heinz Fischer and Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister of Finance Josef Proll. Wu Bangguo (L), chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, meets with Austrian President Heinz Fischer in Vienna on May 15, 2009. Wu Bangguo arrived in Vienna on May 15 for a four-day official goodwill visit to Austria. During the meetings, Wu emphasized that China places great importance on developing relations with Austria. He said China is ready to expand friendly contact between the governments, parliaments and political parties of the two countries on a basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefits. Wu said the two countries should enhance mutual understanding and trust so as to deepen cooperation in various fields and carry out closer coordination and communication on international affairs. Fischer appreciates the responsible stance and measure that China has taken in addressing international financial crisis. He said the financial crisis has caused great impact on every country in the world and required joint effort of all countries in addressing it. On his tour to Italy, Wu met with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano and Premier Silvio Berlusconi. Wu Bangguo (L), chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, talks with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano in Rome, May 21, 2009. During the meetings, Wu said the economy of China and Italy are highly complementary to each other. He said the two sides enjoy a sound foundation of cooperation and great potential of expanding trade. Wu put forward three suggestions on expanding trade and economic cooperation between the two countries. Firstly, he said the two countries should strengthen cooperation between small- and medium-sized companies as a way to expand trade and mutual investment. He said the governments of the two countries should give a full play to their joint committees in a bid to support and facilitate cooperation between the companies. Wu Bangguo (L), chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, shakes hands with Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi in Rome, May 20, 2009.Secondly, Wu said the two countries should explore new areas of cooperation. Noting that China is working on economic restructuring and upgrading industries, Wu said the two sides share broad prospect in the development and utilization of new energy. Thirdly, Wu said the two sides should cooperate closely on staging the World Expo. Shanghai and Milan will respectively host the World Expo in 2010 and 2015. Wu expressed the belief that cooperation on this issue will become a new bright spot of China-Italy cooperation. PUSHING FORWARD PRACTICAL COOPERATION Wu's visit also helped strengthen practical cooperation in all fields between China and the three nations. During his visit to Italy, Wu met with Chinese entrepreneurs doing business in Europe. Wu said overseas Chinese companies should explore new ways to help China restructure its economy and upgrade its industries. Wu, as China's top legislator, made the remarks as he met here with Chinese entrepreneurs who invest and do business in Italy and Europe. Wu encourages the Chinese companies to expand their overseas market and explore new areas and channels of cooperation in other countries so as to make new contributions to China's cooperation with Italy and Europe. Against the background of international financial crisis, Chinese companies should enhance research and development capabilities and establish overseas marketing network through cooperation with foreign companies, Wu said. He hopes that Chinese companies should seized the opportunity of reshuffle of global industry to upgrade management and technology. He said Chinese companies should attach importance to fostering management talents with international experience. During the visit, Wu demonstrated great interest in upgrading high-tech cooperation between China and the European countries. He visited Vienna High-tech Zone on Saturday, inspecting an energy saving office building and a wind tunnel, which is believed to be the world's largest for testing locomotives and automobiles. The wind tunnel has undertaken tests and data gathering for locomotives used in city subway system in Shanghai. Wu also visited in Rome a research and development center under the Italian National Agency for New Technology, Energy and the Environment (ENEA) He inspected the high-temperature sole heat system for generating electricity at the R&D center. Wu said it is a global trend in the energy sector to develop new energy and renewable energy in a broad prospect of growth. He said the Chinese government places great importance on and actively promotes development and application of all kinds of renewable energy, including solar energy. He expressed the wish that research institutes and companies of the two countries should increase cooperation and investment in this respect so as to jointly exploit the renewable energy market. During the visit, both Wu and leaders of the three nations agreed that under the circumstances of international financial crisis, strengthening practical cooperation will not only help the countries to overcome current difficulties, but also help promote the recovery of world economy.
BEIJING, May 6 (Xinhua) -- China and Portugal agreed here Wednesday to enhance friendly exchanges and cooperation. Top Chinese legislator Wu Bangguo and top Chinese political advisor Jia Qinglin met with Portuguese parliament speaker Jaime Gama on Wednesday. Wu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, spoke highly of China-Portugal relations and noted that China always conducted its ties with Portugal from a strategic, long-term perspective and is ready to advance their comprehensive strategic partnership. Wu Bangguo (R), chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, meets with Jaime Gama, speaker of Portugal's Assembly of the Republic (Parliament), at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, May 6, 2009 He called on the two countries to maintain the momentum of high-level contacts, forge stronger economic and trade ties, intensify personnel exchanges and strengthen consultation and coordination in international organizations. Gama, who is visiting China from May 5 to May 9 at the invitation of Wu, said that Portugal highly appreciated China's responsible attitude and effective policies adopted in tackling the world financial crisis and expressed the hope of furthering Portugal-China cooperation. Earlier Wednesday, Jia, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country's top advisory body, also met with Gama. Jia said the CPPCC hoped to enhance friendly relations with the Portuguese parliament and play an active role in promoting the development of bilateral relations. Gama said Portugal is willing to strengthen Portugal-China cooperation and exchanges in the fields of politics, economy, culture and science and technology.Jia Qinglin (R Front), chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, meets with Jaime Gama (L Front), speaker of Portugal's Assembly of the Republic (Parliament), at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, May 6, 2009.
GENEVA, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Close international cooperation is needed to fight all forms of racism and racial discrimination, which is the enemy of the whole human society, a senior Chinese diplomat said here on Wednesday. "China proposes that the international community work closely together to form a strong united front in the fight against racism," said Li Baodong, Chinese ambassador to the United Nations Office in Geneva, in an address to the ongoing Durban Review Conference. Governments should fully recognize the huge damage that racism has caused to various human rights, international security and human development, and pursue actively the policy of "zero tolerance" at both the national and international level, Li told more than 100 delegations participating at the anti-racism conference. The five-day conference, which opened on Monday, is a follow-up meeting to the World Conference against Racism held in Durban, South Africa in 2001. Delegates adopted by consensus a final anti-racism declaration on Tuesday despite the boycott of the meeting by quite a few Western countries, including the United States, citing concerns that the meeting could be used as a forum to criticize Israel. The atmosphere of the conference was also damaged on Monday after dozens of European delegates walked out of the conference room in protest to a speech made by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad which likened Israel to a racist regime. According to the Chinese ambassador, countries should enhance dialog and communications to resolve political differences and refrain from creating a breeding ground for hatred. It's of great significance that countries have gathered once again to deliberate on the issue of racism eight years after the holding of the first UN anti-racism conference, he said. Li also stressed the need to further enhance the effectiveness of various mechanisms established after the 2001 conference to address racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, with a view to achieving better synergy, coordination, coherence and complementarity in their work. In addition, he suggested a renewal or reinforcement of the international definition for racism, as many new forms of racism and racial discrimination are emerging along with the current global financial, food and energy crises as well as the threat of climate change. "The Chinese government is against all forms of racism, and it has been actively engaged in various international anti-racist activities," Li said. "With the opportunity provided by this conference, China is ready to work will all governments and the civil society to create a world free of discrimination, hatred, fear and prejudice," he added.
小程序排名优化
SHANGHAI, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Top Chinese political advisor Jia Qinglin on Sunday mourned the death of Dong Yinchu, honorary chairman of the China Zhi Gong Party central committee, who died of illness on Tuesday at the age of 95. Jia, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), attended Dong's funeral in Shanghai with Yu Zhengsheng, Communist Party chief of the city, and expressed condolences to Dong's family. Jia Qinglin (1st R), chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), shakes hands with a relative of Dong Yinchu during Dong's funeral in Shanghai, east China, June 28, 2009 Dong was a well-known leader of patriotic overseas Chinese and served as chairman of the ninth and tenth central committees of the Zhi Gong Party, a non-communist party in China. "The close friend of the Communist Party of China" was also a vice chairman of the eighth National Committee of the CPPCC. President Hu Jintao, former president Jiang Zemin, and other leaders including Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping,Li Keqiang, He Guoqiang and Zhou Yongkang also sent condolences to Dong's family.
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.
CHENGDU, May 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu called on Thursday Asian and European countries to improve their disaster prevention and relief abilities through cooperation and sharing of information. Hui made the remark at an Asia-Europe workshop on cooperation and capacity building in disaster prevention and relief, held in Chengdu, capital of southwest Sichuan Province. Hui said natural disasters are common challenges facing the whole mankind, and cooperation between Asian and European countries in disaster relief not only has an important bearing on the economic development and livelihood of the people, but also on the sustainable development of the mankind. "Asian and European countries should further enhance exchange and cooperation in monitoring and forecast of disasters, as well as emergency response and relief efforts," said Hui, who also suggested building of a cooperation mechanism and information sharing, that would serve the improvement of disaster prevention and relief abilities of all countries. China had frequent natural disasters and would share its experience in coping with disasters with other countries, Hui said. He said China would continue to provide support and aid within its ability to the capacity building in disaster relief for other developing countries. On the country's disaster prevention and relief capacity building, Hui said, China would further improve its monitoring of natural disasters and emergency rescue system, raise anti-disaster standards for buildings and increase public awareness of disasters and push for international cooperation in disaster relief. The vice premier expressed China's appreciation for international help and support to the country's disaster relief and quake relief after the 8.0-magnitude earthquake that struck Wenchuan of Sichuan on May 12, 2008.
BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Former Chinese Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan on Saturday called for the whole world to work together to seek reforms in financial supervision, boost economic restructuring and build a green economy. The present financial crisis has revealed deep-rooted structural imbalance within the traditional economy and developing pattern, and the world should focus on solving such issues in the post-crisis era, he told Xinhua during an exclusive interview at the Global Think Tank Summit. The international community should jointly improve the global financial supervision system with generally-accepted regulatory standards to monitor and intervene on possible systematic risks as early as possible, Zeng said. The international currency system should be reformed into a steady, foreseeable and diversified one, and it is necessary to set supervision on the financial stability of nations of major reserve currencies, he told Xinhua. It would take a long time to carry out the global economic restructuring and solve the imbalances between consumption and savings, he said, adding that such a move needs efforts from both developed countries and developing ones. Zeng called on developed countries to help developing countries by improving their external environment for economic development, as developing countries have already become the biggest victims of the present crisis. Zeng also called for more international cooperation in building a green economy, as developing countries need technical and financial support from developed countries to avoid wasting resources and destroying the environment while seeking economic revival. The summit, which concluded on Saturday, is organized by the China Center for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE), a non-governmental research and consulting organization created this March, with Zeng as its director. The three-day summit had attracted over 900 scholars, experts and business leaders from all over the world, including former President of the European Commission Romano Prodi and former Secretary of State of the United States Henry Kissinger