BEIJING, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- A severe drought over the past months has left 7.5 million people and more than 4 million head of livestock without adequate drinking water in two southwestern Chinese provinces, local authorities said Tuesday.In addition, the long dry spell has threatened reservoirs and affected millions of hectares of crop land and forests in Yunnan and Guizhou Provinces, according to the local drought relief authorities.Yunnan has been experiencing the worst drought in six decades since last autumn due to lack of rainfall and high temperatures. People of Dawen Village of Donglan Township load barrels of water by horses in Donglan County, southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Feb. 23, 2010. A severe drought since August in 2009 has been continuing here at presentAlmost 6 million people and 3.6 million head of livestock are facing drinking water shortages in Yunnan."The drought would bring grave losses to industrial and agricultural production, and increase risks of forest fires," Qin Guangrong, governor of Yunnan, told a drought relief meeting Tuesday.If the drought continues, the number of people hit by drinking water shortages in Yunnan would rise to 7.92 million in March, 9.51 million in April and 10.14 million in May, he said.In addition, more crop land would be affected and grain production would be greatly reduced, he said.Authorities in the two provinces have allocated special funds, and dispatched relief personnel and water trucks to the drought-stricken areas. Huang Naibi gets water at a water supplying site in Donglan County, southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Feb. 23, 2010. A severe drought since August in 2009 has been continuing here at present
JINAN, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese vocational school said Monday it has got bored with the repeated reports carried by the New York Times insisting that it was a source of the Google cyber attacks."The reports are too boring, simply unfounded and politically orientated," Li Zixiang, Party chief of the privately-run Lanxiang Vocational School (Lanxiang) in east China's Shandong Province, told Xinhua."We really do not want to read such reports again. If the reporter still has doubts, I invite him to come to our school to talk with us personally," he said.The New York Times has filed two reports recently claiming the cyber attacks on Google and other American firms last year have been traced to Shanghai Jiaotong University (SJTU) and Lanxiang.Google said last month that it might pull out of the Chinese market, citing it services had been hacked by sources originating in China and that it disagreed with some Chinese government policies.In the latest report, the New York Times insisted that Lanxiang had ties with the Chinese military as it was founded on land donated by the army and had sent graduates to join the army."We had indeed used abandoned barracks for teaching venues when our school was founded in 1984, but the barracks were not a 'donation' because we must pay rent regularly for it," Li said."We have already moved out of the old barracks and built our own new teaching buildings," he said.Currently, Lanxiang has more than 20,000 students learning vocational skills such as cooking, auto repair and hairdressing."Like any other country, our school graduates can join the army if they so wish. But you cannot say a school has a military background just because some of its graduates are servicemen," Li said.
BEIJING, March 5 (Xinhua) -- President Hu Jintao and other Chinese leaders on Friday joined deputies to the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, in deliberating the government work report, calling for efforts to facilitate the transformation of the pattern of economic development.The NPC kicked off its annual session Friday morning as about 3,000 deputies from across the country heard and deliberated the government work report delivered by Premier Wen Jiabao.BALANCED, COORDINATED AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTWhen joining NPC deputies from the eastern province of Jiangsu in a panel discussion on Premier Wen's report, President Hu called for efforts toward balanced, coordinated and sustainable development in the transformation of its economic growth pattern. Chinese President Hu Jintao (C) talks with deputies to the Third Session of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC) from east China's Jiangsu Province, in Beijing, capital of China, March 5, 2010. Hu Jintao joined in the panel discussion of Jiangsu delegation in deliberating the government work report by Premier Wen Jiabao on the opening day of the Third Session of the 11th NPCHu said efforts should be made to cultivate new pillar industries and industries with features and advantages, and achieve the coordinated development of the first, second and third industries.The country needs to develop more core and key technologies to support its transformation of the economic growth pattern and the economic restructuring, Hu told the lawmakers.He called for the establishment of a market-oriented technological innovation system, in which enterprises play the leading role and which combines the efforts of enterprises, learning and research institutes.He said higher education and research institutes should play a more important role in scientific and technological innovation.The President also stressed the coordination of industrialization, urbanization, and agricultural modernization, so that the agricultural sector could be boosted by the industrial sector, while the rural areas could benefit from the urban areas.He said authorities should facilitate balanced allocation of public resources and the free flow of production factors between urban and rural areas.Hu pointed out that China is currently facing both opportunities and challenges at the same time, but the opportunities outweigh challenges.He urged officials in Jiangsu Province to push forward independent innovation, promote urban-rural integration of economic and social development, and deepen the reform and opening-up drive.
BEIJING, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- China has dispatched inspectors to 16 provinces to urge local authorities to thoroughly investigate cases concerning food safety, the government's latest move against a string of reportedly resurfacing melamine-tainted milk products after a nationwide crackdown in 2008.Any law-breaking concerning food safety will be severely dealt with, an official with the National Food Safety Rectification Office led by Health Minister Chen Zhu said here Tuesday.The unnamed official said the office recently dispatched eight teams of inspectors. The official did not give details on the total number of inspectors involved or their identities.Milk powder laced with melamine that should have been destroyed has been used, local authorities discovered.Media reports said melamine-tainted dairy products have resurfaced in several Chinese provinces.Melamine is an industrial compound which can give a false positive on protein tests and cause kidney stones. Melamine-contaminated milk products left at least six children dead and 300,000 sickened in 2008."These cases reveal that the toxic milk powder recalled in 2008 was not completely destroyed and is now illegally reused for new products," the official said.In December 2009, three people from the Shanghai Panda Dairy Company were prosecuted on suspicion of producing and selling melamine-tainted milk powder. Local police said all the company's products had been recalled and that there was no harm to consumers.Another three people from the Shaanxi Jinqiao Dairy Co. Ltd. in northwest Shaanxi Province had also been detained by police over suspected tainted milk powder sales before its products reached retail stores.Food safety issues have became particularly sensitive in China after the 2008 milk scandal. The government has intensified supervision of food safety with new laws and regulations, including the Food Safety Law that took effect on June 1, 2009. Nationwide checks of food safety have also been increased.The official said food safety was a global issue, one that existed in both developing and developed countries.Improving food safety standards is a long-term tough task for China, the official added.
BEIJING, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- China's labor unions had played an irreplaceable and unique role in boosting stable economic development and employment stability, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping said here Thursday.The Chinese government attached great importance to the role of labor unions in China's economic and political arenas and supported labor unions to better safeguard workers' legitimate rights and interests, Xi said.Xi made the remarks in his speech at the opening ceremony of an international forum on economic globalization and trade unions in Beijing.Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping addresses the opening ceremony of an international forum on economic globalization and trade unions in Beijing, China, Feb. 25, 2010As a developing country with 1.3 billion people, China should take both its industrialization and creating enough jobs for people into consideration and make comprehensive and balanced plans, Xi said.
共青城市全封闭初中学校在哪儿
BEIJING, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao Tuesday invited more talented foreigners to work in China, saying the country will improve services for them. Wen made the remarks at a meeting with more than 20 representatives of foreign experts, who have helped in China's social progress.Wen said China pays equal attention to attracting both investment and talented personnel, while utilizing science and technology to achieve sustainable development. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (L) shakes hands with a foreign expert at a meeting with more than 20 representatives of foreign experts, who have helped in China's social progress, in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 9, 2010This calls for an active flow of talented foreigners to China to help with the nation's modernization drive, the premier said.He urged related organs to improve policy and service level for all the foreign experts coming to work in China. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (R) meets with more than 20 representatives of foreign experts, who have helped in China's social progress, in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 9, 2010Isabel Crook, a 95-year-old Canadian expert in English teaching, gave her views on the key role that can be played by strong, vibrant rural communities.She suggested the government reevaluate the current practice of closing primary schools in small villages and concentrating them in larger villages.Other representatives of talented foreigners working in China, including Daniel Jospeh Dudek, a U.S. expert in environmental protection area, and Jean Dorey, a French expert in the education sector, offered suggestions to the Chinese government for tackling environmental challenges and boosting cooperation in the education sector.Wen listened attentively to their remarks and exchanged views.Wen also extended festival greetings to all foreign experts and international friends working in China, as well as to their families. He expressed gratitude for their contributions to China's development.
BEIJING, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- A total of 53.36 million Mu (about 3.56 million hectares) of crops in China had been affected by severe drought by Saturday, said the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters. The drought, mostly in China's southwestern provinces including Yunnan and Guizhou, had damaged crops and caused water shortage to both people and livestock.In Yunnan, the worst drought-stricken province, up to 31.48 million Mu of crops had been affected, with 11.53 million Mu seriously damaged and 6.16 million Mu destroyed. About 5.97 million people and 3.59 million livestock are suffering from water shortage.A farmer walks on the cracking bottom of a pond in Shilin County, southwest China's Kunming City, Feb. 2, 2010The drought had also started to affect China's northern regions, as several northern provinces had not seen rainfall for nearly 40 days with signs of drought showing up in farmlands.The Office urged authorities in drought-hit areas to step up efforts in fighting drought and ensure water supply for people and agricultural uses.It would also seek financial support from the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance to ensure water supply and improve irrigation facilities for the drought-stricken population, said the Office.About 640 million yuan (93.7 million U.S.dollars) had been allocated with 8.95 million people and 150,000 water trucks mobilized to fight the drought as of Saturday, watering 8.14 million Mu of crops and providing temporary water supply to 6.76 million people and 3.33 million livestock, data from the Office showed. A villager is waiting for water supply in Changkou County, southwest China's Kunming City, Feb. 2, 2010.
BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The producer price index (PPI), a major measure of inflation at the wholesale level, rose 5.4 percent in February from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced Thursday.It quickened from 4.3 percent in January this year, and 1.7 percent in December 2009, when the figure posted the first monthly rise since December 2008.
BEIJING, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- China on Saturday decided to suspend scheduled visits between the Chinese and U.S. armed forces, in response to Washington's plan to sell a package of arms worth about 6.4 billion U.S. dollars to Taiwan. "We made the decision out of considerations on the severe harm of the U.S. arms sales to Taiwan," said Defense Ministry spokesman Huang Xueping in a statement.The U.S. government on Friday announced the plans to sell a package of arms to Taiwan, which include Patriot missiles, Black Hawk helicopters and minesweepers. China immediately expressed strong indignation about the sale after the U.S. government notified the U.S. Congress of the plans.Qian Lihua, director of the Defense Ministry's Foreign Affairs Office, on Saturday summoned the defense attache of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing to lodge a stern protest."The Chinese military expresses grave indignation and strongly condemns such a move to grossly interfere into China's internal affairs and harm China's national security interests," Qian said in a press release of the office.Taiwan issue is related to China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and concerns China's core interests."The U.S. arms sales to Taiwan gravely violates the three joint communiques between China and the United States, and seriously endangers China's national security and harms China's reunification course," Qian said.The U.S. such move also constitutes severe violation of the agreements reached by the top leaders of both sides on the China-U.S. relations in the new situation, he said.It runs counter to the principles of the joint statement issued during U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to China in November last year, said Qian.The U.S. plan will definitely bring about serious negative impact on the relations between the two countries and militaries, and will to the end severely undermine the interests of the United States itself, he noted.The United States have reiterated in many occasions that it will adhere to the one-China policy, abide by the three joint communiques and support the peaceful development of relations across the Taiwan Straits."However, the United States now takes faithless action to sell arms to Taiwan again," Qian said such plans severely poison the political foundation of the relations between the two militaries, and produce grave obstacles to military exchanges between the two sides.Qian urged the United States to respect China's core interests and concerns, take practical actions to abide by its solemn commitments on Taiwan issue, withdraw its arms sales items to Taiwan, and stop military links with Taiwan, in order not to create further damage to the relations between the two countries and the two militaries and to the peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits."We reserve the right of taking further actions," he noted.According to Huang, the spokesman, "such a move is gravely against especially the 'Aug. 17' communique signed in 1982."The U.S. side states in the Communique that "it does not seek to carry out a long-term policy of arms sales to Taiwan" and "intends to reduce gradually its sales of arms to Taiwan, leading over a period of time to a final resolution.""We will never give in or compromise in this issue," the statement quoted Huang as saying, noting that the Chinese military will firmly fight against any move to destroy China's national sovereignty security and territorial integrity.