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高校教师优秀团员事迹材料

BEIJING -- Chinese President Hu Jintao on Friday called for the expansion and deepening of cooperation with Japan and boosting of bilateral relations to a new level."The two sides should maintain friendly exchange at various levels, expand and deepen pragmatic cooperation, settle well bilateral disputes through dialogue and equal consultation and continue to expand the mutual benefit between the two nations in an effort to boost bilateral relations to a new level", Hu said.China's President Hu Jintao (R) meets with Ichiro Ozawa, president of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), who headed a 450-member Japanese delegation of the "Great Wall" Program at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, December 7, 2007. [Xinhua]Hu made his remarks in his meeting with Ichiro Ozawa, president of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) at the Great Hall of the People in downtown Beijing.He highlighted the recent growth momentum of bilateral relations, saying that the development of bilateral relations yielding from the joint efforts from the two sides was of great value.Hu added that the next year is the 30th anniversary of the signing of the peace and friendship agreement between China and Japan, which is a highly important year for the development of the bilateral relations.Ozawa, who heads a 450-member Japanese delegation, said that Japanese people highly appreciate China's commitment to the Japan-China relations, expressing his hope to seize the opportunity to boost mutual understanding and trust between the two peoples.The booming of a strong relationship between Japan and China not only serves the two nations, but is also vital to the stability and prosperity of Asia and the world at large, Ozawa told Hu. Prior to his meeting with Hu, Ozawa also met Wang Jiarui, head of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.The delegation of DPJ and the 15th "Great Wall" programme comprises 47 Japanese DPJ Dietmen and representatives from various circles of Japanese society.Former Japanese Prime Minister Tsutomu Hata is also with the delegation.During their stay in Beijing, President Hu will meet with the delegation. DPJ Dietmen will also attend a meeting of a regular exchange mechanism between DPJ and CPC.Initiated in 1989, the "Great Wall" Program, a people-to-people exchange scheme, has been participated by more than 200 Japanese Dietmen and 2,000 Japanese people from various social circles through visits to China.

China has been in the media spotlight for food safety recently, but it has gone all out to ensure that its food products are safe and to restore consumer confidence home and abroad.Its efforts seem to have accelerated with the publication of the first White Paper on food safety on August 17 and the naming of Vice-Premier Wu Yi as head of a high-profile panel on product quality and safety issues. That was followed by a series of efforts by government organs to tighten food safety measures.On August 31, the country's quality watchdog officially introduced the landmark recall system for unsafe food products and toys, making producers responsible for preventing and eliminating unsafe items.Food safety became a big concern in China after a series of food contamination cases were reported from across the country. Last November, the country's food safety watchdog found seven companies supplying red-yolk eggs that contained the dangerous Sudan Red dye, which is used in the leather and fabric industries but is banned from use in food products.The same month, three people were arrested in Shanghai for adding 3-4 grams of banned steroids to each ton of pig feed to increase the proportion of lean meat. The steroids, which prevent pigs from accumulating fat, can be harmful to humans. More than 300 people fell ill after eating meat from pigs that had been fed the steroids.Also last year, carcinogenic residues were found in turbots sold in Beijing and Shanghai markets. Even international fast food giant KFC was accused of adding the carcinogenic Sudan 1 dye to its roast chicken wings.Ministry of Health figures show that in the first half of this year, China reported 134 food poisoning cases, in which 4,457 people fell ill and 96 died.Food is China's biggest industry with last year's output estimated to be 2.4 trillion yuan (5.8 billion), according to the China National Food Industry Association.Bitter stories made the rounds after people fell victim to food poisoning. In June 2006, more than 130 people contracted parasitic diseases after eating undercooked snails in a restaurant. One of them was Yang Fangfang. His family, including his parents, wife and 18-month daughter, fell ill.The Beijing Health Bureau said the infection was caused because the food was not cooked properly and because the restaurant had failed to remove eel-worms in the snails.Although Yang survived, he still complains of pain, sometimes severe, in his lower body and stomach. A gourmet before the incident, Yang now regards food as a potential threat to his life.In overseas markets, substandard exports from China since March - from pet food, drugs, toothpastes and toys to aquatic products and tires - has sparked concern over "made-in-China" products. Diethylene glycol contaminated medicine exported from China was been blamed for dozens of deaths in Panama. Deaths of some dogs and cats in North America were attributed to tainted Chinese wheat gluten.Jing Luyan, 24, who works for a Beijing-based travel agency, says she trusts the government and the media for information on food safety issues."If they say I shouldn't eat something, then I stop immediately, it's as simple as that," Jing says. Many of her colleagues and friends do the same.Pressure from home and abroad prompted the Chinese government to acknowledge that the country's food and drug safety situation was not satisfactory and that enhanced supervision was needed. At a press conference in July, China's food and drug watchdog spokeswoman Yan Jiangying said: "As a developing country, China's food and drug supervision work began late and its foundations are weak. Therefore, the food and drug safety situation is not something we can be optimistic about".The press conference was held jointly by five major ministries in charge of food safety: the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Health, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and the State Food and Drug Administration.It was a rare attempt by the government to seriously address the issue, and it enumerated a series of measures to be taken. But it failed to offer a convincing mechanism for coordinating work among the five ministries, leaving the murky regulation of food safety unresolved.There have been worries over China's food safety supervision because at least five ministries are in charge of food safety and coordination among them is no easy job.Vice-Minister of Health Wang Longde went on the record as saying that new laws were needed to strengthen food safety supervision and the duties of relevant government agencies had to be coordinated. The government has stepped up efforts since then to address the issue to restore confidence in Chinese food products sold at home and abroad.China's first-ever White Paper on food safety published recently sets forth a series of achievements along with planned measures to improve food quality - from setting up a national food recall system to increasing exchanges with quality officials from other countries.Wu Yi's panel, meant to address the country's problems in food safety and product quality, partly dispelled people's concerns over lax supervision of food safety owing to too many regulators. Analysts say the newly set up panel, headed by Wu Yi, will improve supervision.The government, on its part, has started a four-month nationwide campaign to improve food safety and product quality. Wu describes the campaign as a "special battle" to ensure public health and uphold the reputation of Chinese products. The campaign will target farm produce, processed food, the catering sector, drugs, pork, imported and exported goods and products closely linked to human safety and health.Luo Yunbo, dean of the food science and nutritional engineering school of China Agricultural University, says the White Paper offers authoritative information on food safety, and the latest moves reflect the government's determination to improve product quality.The paper says the percentage of food products that passed quality inspections had risen steadily in recent years, up from 77.9 last year to 85.1 percent this year. As for small food processors, believed to be a major food safety threat in China, the paper says the country will prompt small-scale producers to form larger entities to ensure better food safety.Almost 80 percent of China's food producers operate in small workshops employing fewer than 10 workers. By the end of June, the government had weeded out 5,631 unqualified small producers, forced 8,814 to stop production and asked 5,385 to improve their standard.The number of small food producers will be halved by 2010, the quality supervision administration said after the country published its first-ever five-year plan on food safety in May. Also, the government wants to weed out all uncertified producers by 2012.The government is seriously addressing overseas concerns over Chinese food products. It has shut down the factory that supplied the tainted medicine to Panama, and two firms that exported contaminated wheat and corn protein, which ended up in pet food in the United States, killing a number of dogs and cats in North America.The country's top quality watchdog has announced that all major food exports produced from September 1 have to carry labels showing they have passed inspection to help stop illegal exports and bolster consumer confidence in the quality and safety of Chinese food products.The White Paper says the acceptance rate of Chinese foodstuffs exported to the European Union (EU) was 99.8 percent in the first half of this year, followed exports to the US (99.1 percent).Japanese quarantine authorities found Chinese food exports had the highest acceptance rate, 99.42 percent, followed by the EU (99.38 percent) and then the US (98.69 percent).But food safety cannot be improved greatly overnight, and people seem to differ on what they can do as individuals to bring about lasting change.Take Jing Luyan, for instance, who is fond of tasting different types of food, especially traditional Beijing snacks. But traditional snacks are usually cooked in shabby restaurants in small alleys."I believe that the most delicious food can hardly ever be found in swanky establishments with irreproachable hygienic conditions," says Jing.She has never fallen ill after eating at street corner stalls, she says.

Chinese once associated tattoos with criminals and misfits; today, they are redrawing the lines around how they think about ink. The growth of China's emerging tattoo culture was evident by the more than 2,000 visitors who attended Saturday's opening of the country's largest tattoo gathering, Tattoo Show Convention 2007, which ends today. Attracting more than 100 artists from all over China and the world, the show at the Sanshang Art Beijing Gallery was intended as a platform for interaction among Chinese from around the country, their international counterparts and the public. "We hope to give them a platform so they can learn from each other," said Xiao Long, who founded the non-profit convention in 2001. Tattooed Chinese photographed each other's ink, while artists displayed their works and even tattooed visitors at their booths. German artist Frank Kassebaum, of Bremen, said he was surprised by what he saw. "Before I came here, I thought that China wasn't so far along in its tattoo culture, but from what I see here, I really think that, in 10 years, they'll be better than the United States, Japan and Europe," he said. "The boom in Japan was 10 years ago; now, the boom is here." Co-organizer Chris Wroblewski, of New York City, said one of the major purposes of the show was to educate Chinese to be prudent about getting tattoos. He said that during China's "Tattoo Renaissance", many shops were opening up, offering "mass production stuff" drawn by "artists who learned in two weeks and are just plowing needles into skin". He explained that as tattooing developed in China, there would be a proliferation of both "high art and low art". YZTattoo parlor model Qi Xuan, 26, said she believes the convention showcases the progress made by China's "high-art" tattoo artists. "In recent years, Chinese tattoo artists have become more skillful in design, technique and use of color," the Beijinger said. "Now, you can see more tattoo artists who can make very international designs. Because artists come to this show from every part of the country, we know what they are doing outside of Beijing." Wroblewski said that because Chinese tattooing was "still in its infancy", it often emulates the West. "But the Chinese are beginning to pick up on their roots and will start demanding more of their own culture." Student Wang Hao, of Beijing, said he came to the show because he was considering getting a tattoo and wanted to learn more about them. "I'd like to get a traditional Chinese tattoo, because I love China," the 22-year-old said.

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The late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping pledged to keep Hong Kong's three capitalistic characteristics - horse racing, dancing and stock exchanges - intact for at least 50 years after its return. Horse racing remains popular in Hong Kong, as shown in this file photo.Edmond TangThis pledge is being upheld as the Special Administrative Region marks the 10th anniversary of its return to the motherland. Today, more Chinese mainland residents are playing the Hong Kong stock markets, attending its horse races and visiting Lan Kwai Fong, Hong Kong's top entertainment center. For over a century, horseracing has thrilled Hong Kong people. Race days are held on most Wednesdays and weekends from September to June. During the season, many can be seen burying their heads in newspapers at teahouses studying the form of horses. "After Hong Kong's return, horse racing has not only been retained, but has grown with the support of the central government and Hong Kong people," said Kim K.W. Mak, executive director of the corporate development department of the Hong Kong Jockey Club. Mak said the jockey club is now striving to provide its best facilities for the coming 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. It will host the equestrian events. The club manages two racecourses - Happy Valley and Sha Tin - attracting more than 2 million racegoers each racing season. The club's betting turnover, exceeds HK.3 billion every fiscal year. It contributes 1.3 percent to GDP, and 10 percent of the government's tax revenue. It is also one of the 10 biggest employers in Hong Kong, employing more than 5,000 full-time workers and 20,000 part-time staff on race days. Hong Kong youngsters wave flags, hailing Premier Wen Jiabao's arrival to sign the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement in this file photo.Huo YanAs the largest charity organization in Hong Kong, the club was a major donor to the anti-SARS campaign in the spring of 2003. Today, the people of Hong Kong enjoy stability in every aspect of their lives. "We don't see any difference in our way of life after 1997," said Wong Yim-fat, a fishmonger in Hong Kong. "Though there have been hard times, we have come through it, believing things can only get better." Wong now plays the stock markets and has had some luck with the Hang Seng Index rising from 15,196 points in July 1997 to about 21,685 today. "Actually, as masters of our own society, we feel there is more freedom and opportunities following Hong Kong's return," Wong said. Wong said he is happy with his decision to remain in Hong Kong after its return and not seek to emigrate as some of his friends and relatives did. "Many of my friends who have emigrated have come back, after finding out that things have not changed," Wong said. Before 1997, many Hong Kong people were uncertain about its future and left for other countries. Official figures from Hong Kong Customs show that more than 300,000 people moved to America, Australia and Canada between 1990 and 1997. Ten years later, many returned because of Hong Kong's stability and prosperity. Renee Chu, an assistant computer officer at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, was one of those who left before 1997. Following her parent's wishes, Renee left for Australia in 1990 when she was still a middle school student. "At that time, they were concerned about Hong Kong's future and wanted us to receive a better education abroad," she told Xinhua News Agency in a recent interview. After graduating from university, Renee returned to Hong Kong in 2000 as it offered better job opportunities. Hong Kong was hit by an economic downturn and an outbreak of SARS after 1997, but that did not stop the Chu family from returning. "There are always good and bad times for a place," Renee said. "My parents return to Australia from time to time," Renee said, "but their stays have become shorter. They now spend more time in Hong Kong and the mainland." Most Hong Kong people were able to gain residency abroad because of their technological skills and investments. While Hong Kong has retained its attraction for locals, it has also lured more people to its shores. Official statistics show that the number of overseas people in Hong Kong - Indians, Filipinos and British - account for 71,000 out of a population of 6.9 million. The culture of tolerance can be seen in the busy streets. There are restaurants and shops from all nations. "Hong Kong is really a very tolerant and free-spirited city. The cultural tolerance and perfect mixture is reflected in the diversity of our international visitors," said B.C. Lo, vice-president of public affairs, Hong Kong Disneyland. Hong Kong, however, has undergone some subtle changes too. This is evident in the choice of passport. Ten years after Hong Kong's return to the motherland, many Hong Kong people have abandoned their British National (Overseas) or BNO passports in favor of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) passport. According to Hong Kong Immigration Department sources, in the past 10 years, as many as 4 million, or 60 percent of Hong Kong's population of permanent residents, have applied for HKSAR passports, and the number is growing. The HKSAR government has managed to obtain visa-free access to as many as 134 countries or regions. BNO passports enjoyed visa-free access to only 114 countries. The passports are still valid. The safety ensured by Chinese embassies and consulates as well as a sense of nationalism have also been key factors in the popularity of HKSAR passports. Wong Yim-fat is of those who think HKSAR passports are not only more convenient, but also offer consular or embassy protection from the Chinese government in times of distress. "While holding a BNO passport, you felt like a second-class citizen," Wong said. "But a HKSAR passport gives you all the privilege that a Chinese citizen enjoys." According to Lu Xinhua, commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the HKSAR, not only Hongkongers have enjoyed an uplift in their international status, but also the HKSAR government. During the past 10 years, the HKSAR government has joined more than 50 international, intra-government organizations and 200 international treaties with the proper identity of Hong Kong, China. "Under the Basic Law, we have tried our best to help exchanges between the HKSAR government and the international community, in order to forge its long-term prosperity and stability," Lu said.

China's trade in goods will surpass .1 trillion in 2007, a 20 percent year-on-year increase, the Ministry of Commerce said in a report Thursday. Trade will increase in a fast yet stable manner as China optimizes economic structure, improves efficiency and lowers energy consumption, said the report, which is based on a review of China's foreign trade in 2006 and the first quarter of 2007. China's total import and export volume amounted to .76 trillion in 2006, up 23.8 percent year-on-year. China remains the third-largest country in the world by trade volume, according to the report released by the China Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, a research body under the Ministry of Commerce. The domestic and foreign trade environment and the macro-control policy have contributed to the rapid increase, the report said. The trade surplus continued to grow, reaching 7.5 billion in 2006, according to the report. Exports of machinery and electronic products and hi-tech products increased 28.8 percent and 29 percent respectively in 2006. Imports of primary products reached 7.1 billion, up 26.7 percent, while imports of machinery and electronic products increased faster than the previous year, up 22.1 percent. General trade - imports and exports of goods by enterprises in China with import-export rights - increased at a rate of 26 percent, 5.1 percentage points higher than last year, while the increase of processing trade slowed. Exports of privately owned enterprises surpassed State-owned enterprises for the first time, up 43.6 percent. The trade volume of private enterprises was up by 36.3 percent, while the trade volume of foreign-invested enterprises increased by 23.3 percent, faster than State-owned enterprises. Trade with foreign invested enterprises took in 58.9 percent of the total trade. Trade with the European Union, United States and Japan continued to grow, as did trade with emerging markets, including India, Brazil, and South Africa. Trade volume in the first quarter of 2007 reached to 7.7 billion, up 23.2 percent, while the trade surplus nearly doubled to .4 billion from the same time last year. Trade in goods increased by 27.4 percent from January to April, faster than processing trade. Gov't to raise export taxesChina will raise export taxes by 5 to 10 percent on a range of products, including steel, aiming to slow the country's export boom and ease the country's trade surplus, government sources said yesterday. Beijing also plans to further reduce tax rebates on some exports, including some basic materials and textiles. It would remove import taxes on coal and reduce import taxes on other raw materials, according to officials from three government bodies - the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Commerce, and the State Administration of Taxation. "The plan has already been established basically," said a source in Beijing, noting that the changes could go into effect as early as June 1. China's exports of steel products hit a record 7.16 tons in April, as mills and traders raced to beat a change in export policy that took effect on April 15. China removed export rebates on most types of steel products while reducing the rebate on more value-added products to 5 percent. A proposal to raise the export taxes on steel billet and other semi-finished products to 20 percent has been discussed since early May, but has not yet been approved by the central government, a source said.

All provincial and municipal authorities must act on findings of investigations of serious workplace accidents occurred since 2005, the State Council's work safety committee office ordered Monday.A check on the local investigations and whether the parties responsible were accordingly dealt with "must be instantly organized" and reported to the office by work safety departments before January 15, said the document, released on the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) website at www.chinasafety.gov.cn.Such reports should include the latest updates on every investigation, whether each case was closed within a reasonable time, and reports on the financial, Party, administrative as well as legal punishments of all the parties involved, the document stated.These will act as a direct response to the tardy progress seen in the investigations of accidents in some areas, the document stated.Nepotism at the local government level has hindered bringing "people responsible for workplace accidents to justice", SAWS director Li Yizhong had earlier said.For example, five people found responsible for a coal mine blast that killed 171 in Heilongjiang Province in November 2005 were jailed only last Saturday. The men were reportedly detained by local police in December 2005 but were released on bail nine months later.The five were arrested again last month, after Li visited the site of the accident and learnt of the case's progress.A notorious and unauthorized coal mine in Chenzhou, Hunan Province, has been making the headlines for its harsh treatment of workers and attempts to cover up accidents. But the mine's chief, Huang Shengfu, reportedly managed to stay in the clear and bought himself out of any legal liability, reported the Oriental Outlook magazine.Eight respective probes into the mine by the central and provincial disciplinary committees as of last month all returned no clear results, the document stated.SAWS said on Sunday that there were about 457,000 workplace accidents reported from January to November this year, representing a decrease of 22.4 percent year-on-year. The number of accident deaths also dropped to 88,923, a year-on-year decrease of 14 percent.During the past 11 months, a total of 83 serious accidents, each of which 10 or more people were killed, claimed a total of 1,380 lives, SAWS reported.

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A senior central bank official has rejected calls for a quicker increase in the flexibility of the renminbi exchange rate, saying the currency's role in rectifying global economic imbalances should not be exaggerated. Hu Xiaolian, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, said more attention should instead be paid to growing protectionism to safeguard the health of the world economy, according to a central bank statement and Xinhua. She was speaking in Washington on Saturday at a conference during the semi-annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. The meetings are a venue for key financial officials of the two institutions' member countries to discuss global economic issues. Officials and economists at the IMF, which has a mandate to safeguard the global economy and render advice to member countries, said that Beijing should pursue a more flexible exchange rate, for the sake of both the Chinese economy and a more balanced global economy. However, China did not seem to see the advice as being appropriate. "The fund... should respect its member countries' core interests and actual economic fundamentals," Hu was quoted as saying. "Biased advice would damage the fund's role in safeguarding global economic and financial stability." In July 2005, China abandoned the renminbi's decade-old peg to the US dollar and let the currency appreciate by 2.1 per cent. Since then, it has gained almost another 5 percent against the dollar. However, there has been a persistent international chorus, led by the United States, arguing that China has not been moving quick enough in letting its currency rise. US lawmakers have said that the country's trade deficit was partly caused by what they believed an undervalued Chinese currency. Chinese officials say the yuan's flexibility would gradually increase but argue that radical steps would generate shocks in the Chinese economy which could spread to the rest of the world. "The IMF... should attach significance to stability of domestic economies (of member countries) when observing their contribution to outside stability," Hu said. She said the IMF should strengthen surveillance over the soundness of economic policies of countries whose currencies are used as major instruments in other countries' foreign exchange reserves. She was clearly referring to the US, whose low savings rate, and fiscal and trade deficits are agreed to be a key cause for global economic imbalances. Hu also called attention to what is seen as a rising protectionist sentiment, which has been causing troubles for China's exporters. "We call on all countries to harness the opportunities created by globalization... and resolutely oppose protectionism," she said.

SHANGHAI: A revised rule that forces shipping companies to shoulder the cost of cleaning up pollution from maritime accidents, such as oil spills, in China's waters, is likely to take effect next year, if not sooner, a senior official with China Maritime Safety Administration (MSA) said Wednesday.If the revised regulation is approved by the State Council, companies such as Sinopec, PetroChina and the China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) will be required to contribute to a special compensation and clean-up fund, Liu Gongcheng, executive director of China MSA, said.Liu told a press conference prior to the 2007 Shanghai International Maritime Forum, which kicked off Wednesday, the fund will boost the country's emergency response capabilities to maritime pollution disasters.The official declined to say how big the fund could be.The rules also include a scheme asking all ships using its seawaters to purchase insurance.Liu said the mechanism, already in the pipeline for two years, is one of China MSA's measures to handle possible oil spill pollution, as the ocean environment faces greater pressure with increased shipping traffic, including oil cargo ships to and from China's coast.Figures showed more than 90 percent of China's oil imports - 145 million tons last year - is transported by sea. Some 163,000 tankers of all sizes sailed into and out of China's ports last year, an average of 446 every day."The size of oil tankers is also getting bigger, up to 300,000 tons, which has added to the risk," Liu said. "If only 1 percent of the oil is spilled, we will be confronted with a catastrophe."Oil spills can wreak havoc on sea life, fishing and tourism. They cost millions of yuan to clean up and even more in compensation and damages, he said.The oil spill from the tanker Prestige, which sank off Spain in November 2002, leaked 77,000 tons of oil that caused several billion dollars worth of damage.In the past year, there have been several oil spills in domestic seawaters that involved 500 to 600 tons of oil, but didn't cause serious pollution due to emergency response, Liu said.Losses caused by ships using international waters can be covered by insurance in accordance with international conventions.However China urgently needs a mechanism to cover the costs many small- and medium-sized ship owners cannot afford."It is not fair to let the clean-up companies shoulder the cost, so the compensation fund can be especially useful in that situation," he said.The administration is continuing to invest in facilities and enhance China's emergency response capabilities.

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BRUSSELS -- The European Commission is set to propose an end to the five-year anti-dumping duties on Chinese energy-saving lightbulbs, a spokesman said on Thursday. A group of trade experts at the European Union's executive body have been debating whether to drop the anti-dumping duties for several months as the trade defense measure against lightbulbs made in China was introduced for five years in 2001. Peter Power, a spokesman for EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, said a majority of specialists support the end to the anti-dumping duties as the five-year period has expired. "The outcome of the discussions puts the commission in a position to proceed with a formal proposal to end the duties," he said. Some European bulb makers have been pressing had for a renewal of the duties for another five years, but the measure was criticized by environmentalists as unjustified in EU's fight against global warming. EU member states will give a final say to the issue, based on the commission's proposal. The 27-nation bloc has launched a review of its trade defense policy, notably anti-duping measures. As an increasing number of EU companies now invest in China, the EU wants to have a second thought on whether such measures would hurt its own interests.

US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson arrived in Xining in northwest China last night, kicking off a four-day visit to China. US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, pictured June 2007, arrived in China on Sunday. [AFP]He is due to visit local environmental protection programs in Qinghai Province, home to Qinghai Lake, the largest salt water lake in China. He will also visit rural households in the remote province on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, dubbed the "roof of the world." Paulson, who heads to Beijing on Monday, will meet with government officials to discuss the US-China Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) launched last year.The forum covers a range of economic and environmental issues, but the issue at the forefront is China's yuan, which is seen by lawmakers in the United States as grossly undervalued. Last week the Senate Finance Committee overwhelmingly approved a bill requiring the Treasury to identify nations with "fundamentally misaligned" currencies, potentially opening the door to economic sanctions against Beijing. But Paulson said Friday that lawmakers were sending the wrong message by threatening to punish Beijing."We would like to see the Chinese move and show more flexibility," he said.Paulson will also hold talks with President Hu over tensions arising from China's swollen trade surplus and other issues. The secretary also is to meet Vice Premier Wu Yi, who leads the Chinese side of the dialogue. The last formal meeting of the economic dialogue in May ended with no progress. Since then, China has announced measures to rein in surging export growth. It repealed rebates of value-added taxes on more than 2,000 types of goods ranging from cement to plastic products in June. Last week, the government said it would limit the growth of its "processing trade," a big but low-profit segment of the economy that imports components and exports finished goods.Paulson was due to leave China on Wednesday.