BEIJING, March. 4 (Xinhua) -- Anti-corruption authorities of the Chinese government and the Communist Party of China (CPC) have been ordered to make sweeping investigations of all major state-funded construction projects begun since 2008.The order was issued at a conference on Thursday on cleaning up the construction sector in 2010.The investigations would cover the bidding and tendering processes, land use rights, construction quality and transparency of the entire process, said He Yong, deputy secretary of the CPC's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the CPC's anti-graft body, at the meeting.He, also head of the national team to stop corruption in construction projects, said 2010 would be a crucial year in stepping up the fight against corruption and misconduct in the construction sector.He warned anti-corruption authorities to take the investigations seriously."Those who are merely going through the motions will be held accountable," He said, according to a statement issued after the conference.The fight against corruption and misconduct in the construction sector would contribute to steady and relatively fast economic growth, he said.Since the initiation of a nationwide two-year campaign against the corruption and misconduct in construction sector in July last year, the country's discipline inspection authorities had investigated 5,803 cases linked to the construction sector, and had penalized 3,374 people, said the statement.
BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- China's February consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, is still within normal range, although the figure surged higher than expected last month.CPI rose 2.7 percent year on year in February, 1.2 percentage points higher than January, driven by a 6.2 percent rise in food prices, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Thursday.Yang Ziqiang, head of the People's Bank of China's Jinan bureau, said the hefty rise is because the Lunar New Year holiday fell in February this year, but in January last year.The Lunar New Year holiday, or Spring Festival, is the most important traditional festival in China for family reunion. People usually spend a lot on food, alcohol, cigarettes and gifts during the period.Yang, also a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, made the sidelines of the ongoing NPC session.China targets a rise of consumer price of around three percent this year, says a government work report delivered by Premier Wen Jiabao at the parliament's annual session on March 5.Yang said severe inflation is unlikely to emerge this year, as market supply still outweighs demand, and government regulation on the real estate industry will help stabilize prices.But he cautioned against the consistent commodity price increases, as the international crude oil prices rebounded to above 80 U.S. dollars a barrel.Li Daokui, a financial professor with the Tsinghua University, said CPI rise exceeds the current one-year deposit interest rate, or 2.25 percent, which will enhance the expectation of interest rate rise.China's CPI ended nine months of decline in November last year, when it rose 0.6 percent, as the economy picked up thanks to the government's stimulus package.However, the unprecedented bank loans last year together with runaway housing prices pushed up fears for inflation and asset bubbles, posing a policy dilemma for the government to balance between sufficient economic growth and containing potential overheating.
BEIJING, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie Friday said the work of border and coastal defense must be enhanced for national interests.Defending China's sovereignty, territorial security and maritime interests should be a top mission of the country's border and coastal defense work, Liang said at a national meeting on border and coastal defense.The work of border and coastal defense should also contribute to improved relations with neighboring countries and social and economic development in border areas, he said.Senior Chinese leaders including President Hu Jintao (1st L, front), Premier Wen Jiabao (2nd L, front), Li Changchun (3rd L, front) and Zhou Yongkang (4th L, front) meet with delegates of a national meeting on border and coastal defense, in Beijing, China, Jan. 29, 2010.Senior Chinese leaders including President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao, Li Changchun and Zhou Yongkang met with delegates and took photo with them before the meeting.The delegates included representatives of a national committee for border and coastal defense, military regions, border or coastal provinces, and border police authorities
WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- China remains the largest foreign holder of U.S. Treasury securities as at the end of December, the U.S. media reported on Saturday.The report quoted the new government data as saying that China held 894.8 billion dollars in Treasury securities at the end of December, more than 755 billion dollars that had been previously estimated.But the new report also showed China trimmed its holdings of U. S. debt by 34.2 billion U.S. dollars in December.The U.S. Treasury reported on Feb. 16 that Japan surpassed China as the largest holder of U.S. Treasury securities in December. But the new estimate said Japan, now back in second place, held 765.7 billion dollars in December.Japan had been the largest holder of U.S. Treasury securities until China gained that distinction in 2008."Purchase of Treasuries by China would reflect only purchases by an entity in China from an entity based in the U.S.," Stone & McCarthy Research Associates said in a recent client note."The Data would not pick up purchases done on behalf of Chinese investors by dealers in the U.K or Hong Kong, for example, nor would it pick up purchases of Treasuries by investors in China from investors based outside of the U.S.," it added.China defended its move to reduce its holdings of U.S. Treasury securities, saying the United States should take steps to promote confidence in U.S. dollar .Last week, when responding to questions on China's sale of U.S. Treasury securities in December, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said the issue should be viewed from two perspectives.He said on the one hand, China always followed the principle of "ensuring safety, liquidity and good value" in managing its foreign exchange reserve. And when it came to how much and when China buys the bonds, the decision should be made taking into account the market and China's need, so as to realize rational deployment of China's foreign exchange property, he said.And on the other hand, the United States should take concrete steps to beef up the international market's confidence in the U.S. dollar, Qin said.The way to view the issue was similar to doing business, he said.
BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The Bank of China (BOC) plans to issue new Hong Kong-listed H shares, about 20 percent of its current H shares, as soon as possible, said BOC Board Chairman Xiao Gang Thursday.But the BOC had to wait for approvals from shareholders and securities regulators on the mainland and in Hong Kong, Xiao said.The BOC, China's third largest bank by market value, in January declared it would sell no more than 40 billion yuan (5.86 billion U.S. dollars) of bonds convertible to A shares to improve capital adequacy.The BOC currently had no acquisition plans in China or overseas, Xiao said.The biggest credit risks lied in the local governments' financing units and the BOC was tightening loans to these units, he said.
BEIJING, March 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman Thursday said the U.S.- China relationship is mature and stable enough to weather differences between the two countries.Huntsman made the remarks in his speech, "2010: The Year of Decision," at the prestigious Tsinghua University in Beijing.The ambassador thought 2010 would be "the most important year in the history of the Sino-U.S. relations," as the two sides had to take action and make real progress on pressing global challenges like economic recovery and climate change.The China-U.S relationship had a good start after President Obama took office last year.However, U.S arms sales to Taiwan and U.S leaders' meetings with the ** Lama posed problems."I've seen enough ups and downs to know that the recent turbulence we've experienced is part of a natural cycle. Our relationship is mature and stable enough to weather our differences," said Huntsman in his half-hour speech.Huntsman said he was confident the two countries would work through their differences through dialogue, and they would be able to get on with the global challenges."Together we can lay the foundation for another 30 years of economic growth and stability in our countries, and in the world," he said."I am convinced that blue skies are already on the horizon," he said.He expected the bilateral relationship would regain the "high cruising altitude" of last year by the opening of the Shanghai World Expo in May.He was also confident the two sides would make real progress on the global challenges when they met for the second round of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (SED) and when Chinese President Hu Jintao visited the United States this year.
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BEIJING, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- China and Switzerland held their first study meeting on the feasibility of a Free Trade Area (FTA) in Beijing on Thursday, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said in a statement on its website.The meeting will continue until Friday, the department of international trade and economic affairs of the MOC told Xinhua.According to MOC statistics, bilateral trade between China and Switzerland topped 11.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2008.Although the two-way trade volume dropped slightly on account of the global economic downturn in 2009, the decline rate was small.Official figures also show that Switzerland is China's ninth largest European trade partner, while China is Switzerland's fourth largest global trade partner.
BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- A senior leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Monday called on film industry workers to accelerate its development with innovation and new and high technologies.Li Changchun, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, made the call in an instruction for a video conference on the film industry.Li said the film sector had been thriving and the competitiveness of homegrown films had been enhanced in recent years.He called for high quality films that sold in cinemas to increase the influence of Chinese culture.State Councilor Liu Yandong, who chaired Monday's meeting, stressed non-public film companies should be supported and governments at all levels should facilitate the development of the industry.
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, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Railway and highway stations and airports across China have seen increasing passenger flow since Thursday as millions of Chinese are returning to work or study when the week-long Spring Festival holiday draws to an end, transport authorities said Friday.The four railway stations in Beijing, one of the popular destinations for job hunters, received 150,000 passengers Thursday and the number is expected to sharply increase Friday, the last day of the seven-day Chinese Lunar New Year holiday, Beijing Railways Bureau said in a press release.Most of the passengers are tourists, migrant workers and students whose travel time was less than ten hours.Long-distance travelers are expected to arrive Friday, bringing pressure on downtown traffic, according to the bureau.People queue up to buy tickets at a railway station in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, on Feb. 18, 2010. Coach and railway terminals in major Chinese cities are bracing for a fresh travel rush, as millions of festival travelers set foot on return trips to city work after the week-long Spring Festival holidayThe authorities of Beijing Railway Station and Beijing West Railway Station arranged 18 pairs of additional trains to cope with the travel peak, it said.Public transport authority of Beijing has mobilized more buses to ensure passengers can leave railway stations as quickly as possible. People queue up to buy tickets at a railway station in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, on Feb. 18, 2010. Coach and railway terminals in major Chinese cities are bracing for a fresh travel rush, as millions of festival travelers set foot on return trips to city work after the week-long Spring Festival holidayThe ticket hall of Shijiazhuang Railway Station in the capital of Hebei Province that neighbors Beijing was crammed by anxious passengers Friday, when more than 52,000 people are expected to travel by train.Wang Aishu, waiting for getting onboard a train, was at ease holding a ticket he bought six days ago."I knew there will be a travel peak so I bought a ticket as soon as I arrived at the station on the eve of the Spring Festival," said Wang, who was heading for Dongguan City in Guangguang Province to work.The station mobilized 60 officers to help passengers and maintain order.Trains carried away 373,400 people from Hubei Province in central China Thursday, up 20.5 percent as against the same day last year. The volume is expected to rise Friday and Saturday, according to the Railways Bureau of Wuhan, the provincial capital.The railway station of Hefei, capital of Anhui Province in east China, has sent off about 30,000 passengers every day since Thursday to the major destinations of Beijing, Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, and some other big cities.The station set up 50 ticket booths, including 20 additional ones, to meet the booming demand for departure.The railway station of Nanning, capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in south China, will see 34,000 passengers leaving for other regions Friday, up 17 percent as against that of Thursday.However, a passenger surnamed Huang failed to get a ticket to his workplace of Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province."Tickets are sold out, only those for training leaving after Feb. 25 are available," said Huang, carrying heavy luggage.The country's railways served about 5.44 million passengers nationwide on Thursday, an increase of 12.5 percent over the same day last year, according to the Ministry of Railways (MOR) Friday.The ministry said the number of long-distance travelers increased markedly as more people decided to make an earlier return trip to avoid the traffic boom, and the volume is expected to peak on Friday and Saturday.About 210 million passengers will travel during the 40-day rush period beginning January 30, a 9.5 percent rise compared with a year earlier, MOR had estimated.During the holiday period, 1,972.5 pairs of passenger trains were put into use every day on average, an increase of 156 pairs compared with the same period last year.The trains served with an average daily transport capacity of 5.57 million people, an increase of 430,000 people compared with the same period last year, according to the ministry.In Shandong Province, volume of coach passengers also kept increasing in the past few days.More than 90,000 people are expected to take coach Friday to leave Jinan, the provincial capital, said Zhu Mi, media officer with the city's long-distance coach station.The station is able to handle a maximum volume of 100,000 passengers a day, he said."I left home at 6 a.m. to catch the bus, but every coach has been fully loaded," said a migrant worker who planned to seek job in Guangzhou.Shenzhen, a popular workplace for migrant workers in Guangdong, has seen an increasing number of air passengers over the past several days. More than 45,000 passengers arrived in the city on Thursday and 47,000 others are coming, the airport authority said.The Lunar New Year fell on Feb. 14 this year and is an important traditional festival of family reunions.