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By admin, 2010/03/14 08:23

At least two people died Saturday with more trapped in a highway pileup involving at least eight vehicles in northeast China\’s Liaoning Province, local traffic police said.

The two killed people were in a sedan, which collided with a truck and exploded in flames, said a traffic officer on site.

The accident occurred Saturday noon on the Huludao City section of a highway linking Beijing and Shenyang City, capital of Liaoning.

Rescuers are working to get the trapped people out of the truck.

Several vehicles are also on fire. About six fire engines are trying to put out the flames.

Exact number of casualties was not immediately known, the policeman said.

The highway was closed after the accident. A 10-km-long line of vehicles have jammed the road for more than an hour.

Police are investigating the cause of the accident.

Source: Xinhua

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By admin, 2010/03/14 08:22

China on Tuesday again called for more diplomatic efforts to pursue proper settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue.

"Now all parties concerned should strive for more time and space for a long-term, comprehensive and proper solution to this issue," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang at a regular news briefing.

China\’s position on this issue was clear, Qin said, noting that China would safeguard the international nuclear non-proliferation system and peace, security and stability in the Middle East.

"Therefore we maintain seeking proper resolution of the Iran nuclear issue through peaceful dialogue and diplomatic means," said Qin.

The West accuses Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian program, but Iran insists its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes.

The U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday said her country could not accept a nuclear-armed Iran and would prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

According to Clinton, the United States was working with its partners in the United Nations on new Security Council sanctions "that will show Iran\’s leaders that there are real consequences for their intransigence, that the only choice is to live up to their international obligations."

During Clinton\’s visit to Russia last week, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the possibility of imposing reasonable sanctions on Iran had not been excluded, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday.

China expressed deep concerns over heating up of the Iranian nuclear issue, said spokesman Qin Gang.

"We are not only making communication with the United States, but also maintaining contacts with Russia and all other parties concerned," Qin said.

Source: Xinhua

http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2010-03/24/nw.D110000renmrb_20100324_7-03.htm?div=-1

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By admin, 2010/03/14 08:21

Western media recently claimed that China\’s investment environment is worsening, citing Google\’s threat to withdraw from China as evidence for the claim.

The incident has not caused any changes in China\’s investment environment. Instead, it can only affect Google\’s development in China. When it was allowed into the country four years ago, Google promises to abide by information censorship in line with Chinese laws and regulations. But now, Google has suddenly broken its promises and accused China having a deteriorating investment environment just because its demands were rejected. Google\’s practice is irrational.

Google once hyped the online attacks by Chinese hackers by linking it with the Chinese government. However, the company has not presented any clear evidence to support its accusation so far. Hackers are a major feature of the Internet age and China is also a victim of online attacks. What is Google trying to accomplish by associating online attacks with the Chinese government?

Google is not a model for foreign-funded enterprises. By the end of 2009, China\’s foreign direct investment totaled 1 trillion U.S. dollars, while Google had only invested tens of millions in China. On the other hand, there are 660,000 foreign-funded enterprises in China and 480 of the world\’s top 500 enterprises have entered China.

China\’s state leaders and government officials have expressed China\’s willingness to adhere to the road of reform and opening up. Investment from foreign enterprises has brought win-win situations in China. On one hand, foreign enterprises can contribute to China\’s economic development by bringing funds, technologies and advanced management philosophies to China. On the other hand, these enterprises can reap much higher profits in the Chinese market than in any other market in the world. As a developing country, China has been opening its door to foreign enterprises.

The claim that China\’s investment environment is deteriorating has not been echoed among the China-based branches of foreign enterprises, including the branches of American enterprises. Foreign enterprises that are really seeking business development are quite clear as to what treatments they are entitled to in China. For example, many multinationals have encountered large setbacks in the U.S. and Europe since the international financial crisis broke out in 2008. Some of them have even suffered heavy losses while others are on the verge of bankruptcy. However, they still reap high profits in China. Some foreign enterprises use profits reaped from the Chinese market to make up for their losses.

According to analysts, Google\’s rivals will quickly fill the vacancy once it formally withdraws from China. Some IT giants such as Microsoft and Hewlett Packard have expressed their interests in the Chinese market and have voiced their willingness to expand their presence here.

Qin Gang, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that Google\’s withdrawal from China is only one isolated measure taken by one foreign enterprise, and it will not affect China\’s investment environment, nor can it change the reality that most foreign-funded enterprises have been operating smoothly and reaping high profits in the Chinese market.

By People\’s Daily Online

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By admin, 2010/03/14 08:20

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said Tuesday that the conduct of the Rio Tinto trial did not violate China\’s consular agreements with Australia.

The trial of four employees of the mining giant Rio Tinto Group, including Australian national Stern Hu and his three Chinese colleagues who were charged with bribery and stealing commercial secrets, opened in Shanghai Monday.

"The pre-condition of China\’s consular agreements with Australia is the respect of China\’s sovereign rights of justice," Qin told a regular press conference in response to a question that Australian diplomats were excluded from the trial.

Chinese authorities arrested the four Rio Tinto employees last year. The Number One branch of the Shanghai Municipal People\’s Procuratorate charged them with bribery and obtaining commercial secrets in February.

Chinese related departments\’ handling of the case was in line with Chinese laws and regulations, and was not against China\’s consular agreements with Australia, Qin said.

"In fact, China maintained constant contact with Australia over the case and passed on related information to Australia," Qin said.

Source: Xinhua

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By admin, 2010/03/14 07:59

With only less than five weeks to go for the opening of World Expo in Shanghai, Germany unveiled the theme for Germany pavilion, "Balancity," at a press conference on March 23 in Beijing.

Speaking at the conference, Dietmar Schmitz, Commissioner General from the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, said the World Expo gave each exhibitor an opportunity to present its country\’s particular expertise, and Germany would present itself as a world leader of innovation at the expo.

The Shanghai Expo 2010 is the largest world exhibition ever, and Germany’s pavilion is also the biggest one in history. With a total investment of 500 million euros, the pavilion presents all the visitors with fascination, and strikes a balance between renewal and conservation, modernity and tradition, urban and nature as well as work and leisure.

The pavilion is located close to the Lupo Bridge and adjacent to European neighbors such as France, Switzerland and Poland. It is estimated that some 45,000 people will visit the "Balancity" each day. That is to say over eight million visitors will come to the pavilion throughout the half-year event, or about one out of ten of the total visitors.

A group of 450 staff will be in the "Balancity" to take care of all the visitors, and additionally, some 250 hostesses and hosts will serve the guests with typical German cuisines, such as fish dishes from the country\’s north, Sauerbraten from the Rhine region, Nurembery sausages and Bavarian pork knuckles.

Dr. Michael Schaefer, German ambassador to China, said at the conference that the world expo holds the same importance as the Olympics and the World Cup. The theme of German pavilion at the Shanghai Expo aims to seek social and ecological development. He said he believes that the pavilion, a place where the country\’s expertise would be demonstrated, would be a hot attraction for the visitors.

May 19 will be German Day at the Shanghai Expo. German President Horst Kohler will attend the celebration and other activities at the "Balancity."

By People\’s Daily Online

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By admin, 2010/03/14 07:58

China said here Tuesday that the United Nations should continue to lead in solving the financing difficulty of the international development process.

Speaking at the UN high-level dialogue on financing for development, Li Baodong, permanent representative of Chinese Mission to the UN, said as the most representative and authoritative international organization, the UN should "continue to play a leadership role in financing for development, and facilitate the establishment of extensive partnerships among governments and all sectors of the society to ensure the coordination and coherence of the relevant international policies. "

"The world economy is now moving slowly out of deep decline, and has embarked on a more obvious upward trajectory," Li said. " Developing countries, hit hardest by this financial crisis, are faced with shortage of resources, degradation of development environment and other difficulties."

He proposed that countries should galvanize political will, mobilize international resources and push for implementation of the Monterrey Consensus and Doha Declaration on Financing for Development.

Besides, the international society should strengthen coordination of macro-economic policies, accommodate the interests of various parties, and promote balanced growth of the world economy.

Efforts should also be made on promoting further opening of the market, said Li, urging firmly opposition against trade protectionism, to improve global governance and effectively increase the representation and voice of developing countries.

China attaches great importance to development, Li said. "We have laid out a development strategy that is suited to our national conditions, and compatible with the MDGs and other international developments goals," he said.

China has achieved ahead of schedule the goals of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, providing universal primary education, lowering children mortality rate, and preventing and curing malaria, he added.

He stressed that China\’s assistance to other countries will not be compromised by the impact of the financial crisis, adding that China will continue to do what it can to help other developing countries within the framework of South-South cooperation.

"China will continue to be actively engaged in the implementation of the Monterrey Consensus and the Doha Declaration on Financing for Development, and make contribution to international cooperation for development," Li said.

Source: Xinhua

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By admin, 2010/03/14 07:57

The 11th China International Nuclear Industry Exhibition has opened in Beijing.  (Photo Source: CCTV.com)
As the top industry event, the exhibition showcases the latest nuclear technology and products from around the world. China\’s own technology is the highlight of the exhibition.

The Exhibition has four pavilions, covering nearly 10 thousand square meters. Over 200 nuclear enterprises from 15 countries and regions are participating in the event, including France, America and Russia. The booming nuclear technology in China is in the spotlight.

Pan Jiahong, Secretary General, Chinese Nuclear Society, said, "There are a lot of technology highlights. A new technology invented by China National Nuclear Corporation increases the efficiency of fuel by 70 percent. It can extend the duration of uranium resources by a large margin. It\’s remarkable progress."

The 11th China International Nuclear Industry Exhibition has opened in Beijing.  (Photo Source: CCTV.com)
Another innovation from State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation can increase the current power capacity limit to 1400 megawatts, up 12 percent.

Yu Zusheng, expert, State Nuclear Power Technology Corp., said, "It has all the advantages of its predecessor, but with a larger power capacity. The cost of construction is even lower. It also has high security."

The exhibition has the theme of green nuclear energy and a low carbon future, aiming to reshape China\’s energy structure, and reduce emissions.

Source: CCTV.com

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By admin, 2010/03/14 07:56

The Buildings Department approved 23 building plans in February, including 13 on Hong Kong Island, six in Kowloon and four in the New Territories, according to local government website on Wednesday.

Of the approved plans, 17 were for apartment and apartment or commercial developments, four were for commercial developments, one was for factory and industrial developments and one was for community services developments.

In the same month, consent was given for work to start on 16 building projects that, when completed, will provide 205,670 square meters of gross floor area for domestic use, involving 2, 031 units, and 45,380 square meters of gross floor area for non- domestic use.

The declared cost of the new buildings completed in February totaled about 3.8 billion HK dollars. (7.8 HK dollars = 1 U.S. dollar)

Source: Xinhua

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By admin, 2010/03/14 07:56

Chinese mining experts are still unable to control a water flowing into a coal mine where 32 workers were killed in a flooding accident on March 1 in north China\’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

"Large pumping machines have been working day in and day out pumping water out of the Luotuoshan mine at 3,850 cubic meters per hour since the accident. However, the amount of water in the mine remains at 100,000 cubic meters," said Hu Weiyue, a coal science expert.

By Wednesday, more than 1.06 million cubic meters of water had been pumped out from the flooded mine, he said.

Hu said workers had met the so-call "underground current", or Ordovician limestone water, which came from Ordovician geological structure formed 400 million to 500 million years ago.

"It is very rare to see Ordovician water outbursts in arid northwest China regions. Actually, it is the first time that we have seen such a large scale Ordovician water inrush in the region," said Hu, who is also deputy director of the Xi\’an Research Institute of the China Academy of Coal Science.

The rescue work, the country\’s largest coal mine rescue mobilization, took 14 days and involved 40 professional rescue teams comprising 20,384 people, said Hu.

Lan Yi, spokesman of the rescue headquarters, declared the rescue efforts ended on March 14, as no signs of life had been detected during the two-week rescue.

Cao Anya, director of the Inner Mongolia Coal Mine Production Safety Bureau, said the accident was a warning for coal mining workers to review studies of the hydrogeological structure in the region.

He said an investigation by the bureau found the threat of Ordovician water could affect 32 mines in the western area of Inner Mongolia.

Professor Hu said workers were trying to seal the 400-meter deep flooded mine with a mixture of cement, rubble and water-glass. However, the mixture had no obvious effect on blocking the water inrush.

Rescue headquarters spokesman Lan Yi said workers hoped to seal the mine pit by April 4 with 50 million cubic meters of prepared sealing materials. By Wednesday, a fifth of the materials had been put in.

"Filling a flooded coal mine is still a conundrum worldwide. We cannot be sure whether the current effort can solve the problem," he said.

Inner Mongolia is China\’s coal heartland. Its verified coal deposits of 732 billion tonnes is much greater than the 250 billion tonnes in Shanxi Province, China\’s biggest producer of the fossil fuel.

Its coal output hit 600 million tonnes in 2009. The output is projected to be about 700 million tonnes in 2010.

The Luotuoshan Coal Mine is owned by Wuhai Energy Co. Ltd. under Shenhua Group Corp. Ltd., the country\’s largest coal producer.

Construction of the mine started in 2006. It is designed to produce 1.5 million tonnes of coal a year.

Source: Xinhua

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By admin, 2010/03/14 07:36

China will continue using diplomatic means, instead of sanctions, to deal with the Iran nuclear standoff, Chinese analysts said, refuting foreign media reports that Beijing might adopt a tough posture toward Teheran.

A report by news agency Reuters on Tuesday indicated that China and Russia were pressing Iran to change its stance on the nuclear question.

The report quoted several unnamed UN Security Council diplomats of Western nations as saying that the envoys of the two countries had, earlier this month, urged Teheran to accept a fresh UN offer on atomic fuel. In the report, Western diplomats said they viewed the move as signifying the two powers were now getting tougher (on Iran).

China and Russia had indicated that their position on fresh sanctions would depend on Iran\’s response to their formal diplomatic approach, the report quoted an unidentified diplomat as saying.

This was a strategy described to be "anything from a gentle expression of displeasure to an angry protest," Reuters reported.

However, China or Russia were not signaling any actual change of attitude on this issue, Chinese experts said.

"We have to make sure our interests are protected; we won\’t make any major shift in our stance. These are China\’s two principles," said Hua Liming, a former Chinese ambassador to Iran.

Hua said it would take months before talks converge on the implementation of fresh sanctions and that there was still room for compromise.

Zan Tao, an expert on Middle East studies at the Peking University, said Iran was strategically significant in China\’s foreign policy. "Iran has good relations with Beijing," he said, citing stable oil trade as one example of cordial relations between the two countries.

China is seemingly under intense international pressure due to its reluctance to agree on fresh sanctions against Teheran. But Beijing would not succumb to the pressure, Zan said. The US has used Iran as a political bargaining chip, Hua said.

When it comes to talks, China prefers such occasions to be presided by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) rather than the US-dominated United Nations, he said.

"The US is exploiting this issue to contain China\’s economic interest in the Gulf. It is more of a political rather than a technical problem," Zhang Xiaodong, deputy chief of the Chinese Association for Middle East Studies, told China Daily.

Experts also said Russia was not leaning to any side to protect its own interests. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said last week that Iran was letting the opportunity for normal cooperation slip away, Reuters reported.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had also reportedly expressed the possibility of supporting moves toward fresh sanctions to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"Iran is played as a token between the two powers, but Russia\’s words will not add any pressure on us," Hua said. Russia\’s flip-flop was more to do with a US plan to develop anti-missile systems in Europe, which it regards as a threat, he said.

Zhang said Iran was also to blame for not having solved the issue earlier. "In the end, China may have to give up its vote, but that will result in huge losses (for the nation)," Zhang added.

Source: China Daily