HEFEI, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu Tuesday urged efforts to fight pine wood nematode disease, which has caused severe damage to pine forests in several provinces. Strong measures and more funds must be used to curb the spread of the disease, Hui said. The disease, also known as pine wood cancer, can quickly kill huge numbers of trees. In China, the disease was first detected in1982 in eastern Jiangsu Province. According to a conference in Huangshan City in eastern Anhui Province held by the State Forestry Administration, the disease has spread to 14 provincial regions, killed more than 5 million mu(333,333 hectare) of pine forests and caused huge losses. Attendees at the conference agreed measures must be taken to stop the spread of the deadly disease by 2010 and reduce the area of affected forests 60 percent by 2030.
ROME, July 10 (Xinhua) -- China is set to become a global leader in the implementation of environmental-friendly policies and green technologies to tackle climate change, an Italian expert told Xinhua in a recent interview. For Stefano Pogutz, an environmental management professor at Bocconi University in Milan, China's green-policies investment plans are greater than those carried-out in the United States and in many other industrialized countries. "What China is doing to tackle global warming is impressive considering the density of Chinese population and the rapid economic growth model China is following," Pogutz said. Climate change is at the core of the G8 summit held in L'Aquila from Wednesday to Friday. Talks had focused on the need to forge anew post-Kyoto agreement and to increase research and investments in the green economy. The results of the G8 summit on climate change should pave the way to the United Nations meeting in Copenhagen in December, which aims at sealing a global deal to limit greenhouse gas emissions. According to the UN climate change framework agreement and the Kyoto protocol, China is not subject to mandatory emission cuts ofCO2. However, on its own China is already contributing to the fight against climate change through a series of initiatives aimed at curbing carbon emissions, such as lowering internal energy consumption levels and launching traffic and transportation monitoring schemes. "I don't agree with those who believe that China is responsible for global pollution," Pogutz said. "China is doing a lot, there's a direct public intervention on measures aimed at fighting climate change. The Chinese government has increased investments in technologies and infrastructures to boost energetic efficiency and cut CO2 emissions." Luca Labella, a China analyst with Rome's International Studies Center (Cesi), remembered the numerous local green projects implemented in China such as Shanghai's LPG buses and the rural towns' biomass-fueled. "China is open to climate change issues and solutions. However, in China climate change is not considered under a political perspective but a scientific one, focused on progress and research," he added. According to Pogutz, China is set to have a role of leadership in the use of renewable energies and other green technologies. "Today China is one of the greatest producer of solar panels and in the near future it could lead in the export of alternative energy technologies." But it's not only a matter of strategic investments in green technologies. China's contribution to the global fight against climate change largely depends as well on its human resources. "Almost all PhD students in the U.S. come from China," he added.
BEIJING, June 16 (Xinhua) -- China's political advisors were urged to brainstorm on economic development and offer suggestions as the nation copes with the impact of the global downturn. Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a political advisory body, made the call as the standing committee of the 11thCPPCC National Committee kicked off its sixth meeting Tuesday. Jia said maintaining steady, relatively fast economic development and safeguarding social stability and harmony were the foremost tasks facing the government. He called on the participants to focus their four-day discussions on these themes and make valuable suggestions. The sixth meeting of the Standing Committee of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) opens in Beijing, capital of China, on March 16, 2009. Vice Premier Li Keqiang briefed the meeting on the economic situation and China's economic and social development. He said with the central authority's decisive coping policies and the concerted efforts nationwide, China's economy was turning for the better. He nevertheless warned of a "complicated and zigzag" recovery process and difficulties ahead, citing the unpredictable world economy. Li also called for full implementation of the central authority's deployment in the next step of the economic work, and laid out directions including boosting domestic demand, accelerating industrial restructuring, developing new energy sources, furthering reform and opening up and raising living standards.
ZHENGZHOU, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang has urged economic restructuring to tap the growth potential as the nation copes with the impact of the global downturn. Li made the call during a four-day tour ending Saturday in central China's Henan Province. He said that with the concerted efforts nationwide, China's economy was turning for the better. He nevertheless warned of difficulties ahead citing the complicated world economy and called for confidence and more coping efforts. Visiting local companies, Li urged the remolding and upgrading of traditional industries and the development of new sectors including new energy, environmental protection, new and high-tech and modern services. Li's trip also highlighted the importance of agriculture and encouraged renovation and the development of modern agriculture. Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang (R), who is also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, talks to local residents of Mazhuang village, Qiaobei town, Yuanyang county, central China's Henan Province, June 19, 2009. Li Keqiang made a four-day tour in Henan Province that ended Saturday.
BEIJING, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Natural disasters killed 88,928 people in China last year, according to a report released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs. The number is the highest since 1976, when the 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Tangshan City in north China's Hebei Province and killed more than 242,000 people, according to the report on the statistics of the country's civil affairs in 2008. In addition, a total of 480 million people were affected by natural disasters, with direct financial losses of 1.175 trillion yuan (about 173 billion U.S. dollars). In 2008, major natural disasters were frequent in China, with the unexpected strike of snows in the south and the devastating May 12 earthquake in Sichuan Province, the ministry said in the report. The 8.0-magnitude earthquake left more than 87,000 people dead or missing and more than 374,640 injured in Sichuan and neighboring provinces. Before that, the blizzards that struck much of central and southern China in early 2008 left 129 people dead and losses reached 151.65 billion yuan, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
BRUSSELS, May 7 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) and China should work together to ward off potential surge of protectionism amid the global economic slump, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan said on Thursday. "China and the EU should stand firm against any form of protectionism for the sake of a global economic recovery," Wang said in an opening remark at a high-level economic and trade dialogue between the EU and China, two major trading powers in the world. The EU is now China's largest trading partner, while China is the second largest of the EU. Trade volume between them grew to 425.58 billion U.S. dollars in 2008, an increase of 19.5 percent over the previous year despite the impact of the financial crisis, according to figures from China's customs authorities. Wang said the two sides have every reason to avoid protectionism, either for the urgent need to work out of the current crisis or due to the irreversible trend of globalization. Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan (C), Chinese Minister of Commerce Chen Deming (L) and Minister of Finance Xie Xuren attend the Second China-European Union High Level Economic and Trade Dialog at the EU headquarters in Brussels, capital of Belgium, May 7, 2009He warned that protectionism, featuring the pursuit of benefits for one country at the expense of others, would in the end protect nobody, but lead to retaliation and make the crisis even worse, which has been proved by the history. The world economy paid a heavy price for the prevalence of trade protectionism during the Great Depression in the 1930s, which resulted in the contraction of global trade by two thirds. As the world economy plunged into its first-ever recession since the Second World War in the wake of the financial crisis, there is an increasing risk that more governments would resort to protectionist measures. For the EU, there has been more frequent use of anti-dumping measures against Chinese products, which is a major concern of the Chinese side. Wang urged the EU to take full account of China's concern and make real efforts to remove trade and investment barriers, adding the economies of China and the EU have much to offer each other and the two-way trade holds a huge potential. Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan speaks during the Second China-European Union High Level Economic and Trade Dialog at the EU headquarters in Brussels, capital of Belgium, May 7, 2009. He in particular called on the EU to relax restrictions on the transfer of advanced green technology to China so as to promote sustainable development. "The EU has an edge in new energy, energy-efficient building and waste recycling. There is a vast market in China for those green investments," Wang said. For the Chinese part, Wang said China will continue to send buying missions to Europe and encourage Chinese companies to increase procurement and imports from the continent as a concrete move to boost trade with the EU in the difficult times. In February, a big delegation of Chinese companies visited Germany, Switzerland, Spain and Britain. They struck 13.6-billion-dollar deals with their European counterparts. EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton, who co-chaired the two-day dialogue with Wang, said the 27-nation bloc would remain committed to free trade. "We stand by our commitments to free trade and resist call of protectionism," Ashton said, adding everyone would benefit from further opening up. Ashton said the EU and China, as two key players in the world economy, should work together to meet global challenges, including a global free trade agenda. "What we do have an impact on the global economy. We have common interest to maintain openness, especially moving forward the Doha Round of world trade talks," she said. Her view was echoed by Wang, who called for joint efforts with the EU to help the world economy recover. "The urgent task now is to take decisive measures to kick-start the world economy," Wang said. "The EU is the world's largest economy, while China is the largest developing country. The economic and financial situation in the EU and China has a direct impact on the world economic recovery and financial stability." The high-level economic and trade dialogue, which is held annually between the EU and China, kicked off in Brussels on Thursday. The two-dialogue brought together key policy makers from both sides, including Wang and EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton. A further eight EU Commissioners and a total of 12 Chinese ministers or vice-ministers are participating in the far-reaching talks, which cover a series of topics, such as trade, investment, small and medium-sized companies, customs cooperation, sustainable development, product safety and intellectual property rights. It is the second time that the EU and China hold the high-level economic and trade dialogue, which was agreed at a Sino-EU summit in November 2007. The first meeting was held in Beijing in April 2008.
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BEIJING, May 19 (Xinhua) -- The 11th China-European Union (EU) summit, after being postponed from December in France due to well-known reasons, will be held on Wednesday in the Czech capital of Prague. The resumption within half a year shows that China and the EU can endure all kinds of difficulties and tests, and shows the common desire of both sides to consolidate and develop the bilateral relationship, and indicates that the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership is at a new historical threshold. At the beginning of China's Lunar New Year, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao made a "journey of confidence" to the EU headquarters and four European countries, which hugely promoted the two sides' confidence of cooperation. During his visit, Wen agreed with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso that enhanced China-EU cooperation bears significance for the world and the China-EU summit would be held as soon as possible in 2009. Besides, as the relationship between China and France gradually improved, conditions for the summit were ripe. The upcoming summit will take place when the international situation is much different from earlier in the year. The global financial crisis has caused damage to the real economy, and A/H1N1influenza is posing a challenge to both China and Europe. In this scenario, Premier Wen's attendance at the summit not only demonstrates China attaching great importance to the China-Incomprehensive strategic partnership, but also China's determination and sincerity to join hands with the EU to deal with global issues such as the financial crisis. The summit will also help stabilize the China-EU relationship and strengthen its favorable trend of development. The twists and turns in China-EU relations last year provided an opportunity for reflection. As a high-level EU official said at a recent seminar, China and the EU should seek common ground while reserving differences under the comprehensive strategic partnership, which does not demand identical ideas from both sides. It will be a wise choice for both sides to respect the core interests of each other and deal properly with differences, compared with which, the China-EU cooperation is definitely the mainstream. China and the EU attach great importance to each other in their strategic considerations. Both sides have common economic interests and have a broad range of global issues to cooperate on. Therefore, a healthy and stable relationship serves the core interests of both sides. Leaders from both sides need to strengthen dialogue and exchange of contacts from a global strategic perspective on the basis of equality and mutual respect. In the face of the ongoing global financial crisis, the Prague China-EU summit is expected to push forward bilateral trade and economic cooperation which remains a key element of the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership. Last year, the bilateral trade volume exceeded 400 billion U.S. dollars for the first time. The EU remains China's biggest trade partner and largest export market. Recently, the EU became China's largest source of imports while China remains the EU's second largest trade partner. China's steadily growing market presents great opportunities for European enterprises. However, since the beginning of this year, China-EU trade has been increasingly affected by the financial meltdown. Both sides are facing a key task to strengthen trade and economic cooperation and join hands to tide over the crisis. Sound cooperation between China and Europe, including participation in each other's stimulus plans, will help both sides fight trade and investment protectionism, boost confidence, and promote early recovery of the global economy. In December, the UN Climate Chance Conference will be held in the Danish capital of Copenhagen and various parties are still negotiating on a final deal. The Prague summit will help China and Europe to better understand each other's position on the issue and carry out practical cooperation. In fact, China and the EU have huge potential in cooperating in the fight against climate change. Both sides may expand cooperation in developing new energy and energy saving technologies, promoting a low-carbon economy, and making environment-friendly industries new economic growth sectors. There is a famous Chinese saying: people should see and tackle their issues from a long-term perspective with an open eye. Since 1975, China-EU ties have been upgraded from the constructive partnership to the comprehensive partnership to the current comprehensive strategic partnership which was established in 2003.This triple-jump process indicates that China-Europe relations are deepening with increasing global strategic significance. It is believed that the 11th China-EU summit, which has not come easily, will push forward China-EU ties to a new phase of development.
BEIJING, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Wednesday China's economy is at a critical moment as it begins to recover "steadily". Wen told an executive meeting of the State Council, China's Cabinet, that economic performance had started to show positive changes, favorable factors were increasing, the overall situation had stabilized and was moving upwards. He said the government should continue a pro-active fiscal policy and moderately relaxed monetary policy. Investment growth kept accelerating, consumption maintained a rapid and steady increase, and domestic demand played a stronger role in boosting economic growth, said Wen. Agricultural and industrial production grew, and regional coordinated development was making progress, said Wen. The financial market was stable, and investor confidence stronger. Urban employment kept rising, and reconstruction of areas affected by last year's May 12 earthquake was speeding up, said Wen. Government measures to fight the global economic crisis proved correct and effective, and should continue to be implemented and improved according to the changing situation, he said. But it should also be noted that the foundation for economic recovery was not stable and many uncertainties remained, said Wen, citing sluggish exports, the fiscal deficit and trade protectionism. Wen called for clear-headed judgment and readiness for difficulties and complexities that might occur in the long term. He urged local governments to further promote economic restructuring, guarantee the stable development of agriculture, encourage technological innovation and work to enhance energy conservation and environmental protection. Comprehensive efforts should be made to boost domestic demand to power economic growth, Wen said, singling out such measures as subsidies for home appliances and automobiles in rural areas. Housing consumption should be properly guided and the stable, healthy development of the property market should be ensured, said Wen, adding that tourism, entertainment and cultural consumption should be developed. Central government-invested programs should be carefully carried out, while private investment should be expanded, said Wen. He also highlighted the importance of the coordinated development of urban and rural areas, called for the further deepening of reform and opening up and the building of social insurance systems.
BEIJING, May 17 -- Shanghai will step up efforts to lure more talent, beef up development of its legal system and improve its credit database as part of efforts to develop a global financial center, Vice Mayor Tu Guangshao said Saturday. The city will also enable financial markets and institutions to play an important role in financial innovation and make the Pudong New Area a pioneer for financial reforms, Tu told the Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai. "To realize our goals, we need a combination of forces," said Tu. "We need guidance and support from the central government in terms of rules' drafting and coordination. We also need financial markets and companies to make contributions." From left: Xu Xiaonian, professor of CEIBS, Hu Zuliu, chairman of Goldman Sachs China, Xie Guozhong, board member of Rosetta Stone Advisors, Ha Jiming, chief economist of China International Capital Corp and Wang Qing, chief economist of Morgan Stanley China discuss issues at the Lujiazui Forum Saturday Shanghai must have "breakthrough and innovation" in its measures to attract financial talents, the most important element in building the city into an international financial hub, Tu said. The city should also have a solid financial legal system and the municipal government is working to improve the arbitrary, hearing and verdict processes of financial cases, according to Tu. He added that local government will cooperate with the People's Bank of China to improve the city's credit environment. One focus will be the establishment of a credit ratings system for small- and medium-sized enterprises to facilitate fundraising, Tu said. Xu Lin, Party Secretary of Pudong New Area, told the forum the district will shore up its preparation for financial innovation, including establishing an over-the-counter equity exchange for start-up technology firms. Pudong will also trial programs to settle cross-border trade using the yuan and to set up consumer finance companies to fund people's purchases of durables such as home appliances and electronics. Xu also noted that Pudong will fast track the development of financial services for the shipping industry as China pursues building Shanghai into an international financial and shipping hub by 2020. "The district will encourage capital from various sources to help innovation and upgrade industry," Xu said. "More credit support will be given to small companies in terms of innovation." Financial experts attending the two-day Lujiazui Forum, which ended Saturday, called on the city to take more measures to retain talent and financial institutions. "The major European and US markets are reshuffling after the crisis and it has created a good opportunity for Shanghai to lay a sound basis and infrastructure for rising as an international financial center," said Laura Cha, deputy chairman of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. "We should learn lessons from them and avoid the mistakes they have made." Shanghai is still lagging behind in terms of financial talent both in quality and quantity, she added. She suggested shoring up the city's financial high education sector and rotating financial talents to develop more overseas experience.
HAIKOU, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Premier Wen Jiabao said that the infrastructure in south China's Hainan Province should be improved to make tourism a pillar of the island's economy. Wen made the remarks during a weekend visit. Developing tourism amid the global downturn would do much to boost economic growth and employment and expand domestic consumption, he said. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (Front, R) holds a baby's hand during a visit to Benli village in Haikou, south China's Hainan Province April 19, 2009. Wen was on an inspection tour on the island province from April 18 to 19 More effort should be made to improve tourism services, build scenic sites and attract more domestic and foreign tourists. He said the tropical province should accelerate development of modern service industry and high-efficient tropical agriculture. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (Front, C) talks with workers on a farm in Chengmai county, south China's Hainan Province, April 19, 2009. Wen was on an inspection tour on the island province from April 18 to 19Wen also encouraged local enterprises to tap into the overseas market while expanding domestically. Hainan became a province in 1988 and later was designated a special economic zone. Last year, the island hosted 18.4 million tourists, reaping 17.1 billion yuan (2.5 billion U.S. dollars).