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.
BEIJING, July 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang on Thursday called for technical upgrades to enhance workplace safety and improve emergency rescue systems. When visiting an exhibition on workplace safety and emergency rescue equipment held by the State Administration of Work Safety, Zhang pointed out that workplace safety is closely related to the interests of the people and the country. China has kept increasing spending on technical improvements to better workplace safety with advanced equipment, which has played an important role in accident prevention and emergency rescue, he said. Zhang called for more efforts in technical innovation, scientific management, well-trained rescue teams, and improved emergency rescue systems to improve workplace safety.
SINGAPORE, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew met with visiting Chinese State Councilor Liu Yandong here on Saturday. During the meeting, Liu said that China-Singapore relations have developed rapidly, and cooperations in various fields between the two countries have made great achievements. She said that the friendly and mutually beneficial cooperations between the two countries have shown great foresight and have been advancing with times. "The Suzhou Industrial Park has set a successful example for economic and technological cooperations between China and foreign countries. The Tianjin Eco-City, construction of which started last year, unveiled a new chapter for bilateral cooperations in sustainable development and environmental protection fields. The bilateral trade and economy relations have entered a new stage with the China-Singapore Free Trade Agreement coming into effect this year," Liu said. Liu noted that the all-round development of the China-Singapore relationship is conducive to the two peoples and promoting prosperity and stability in the region. "Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, who is a key founder of the China-Singapore relationship, has devoted enduring effort for the friendship between the two countries." Liu said. China highly values its ties with Singapore, and is willing to push bilateral cooperations in all fields and of various levels into a new stage, Liu added. Lee Kuan Yew said that the strengthening of cooperation between the two countries is beneficial to both countries and their peoples. Singapore hopes that China will continue to prosper and develop, Lee said, adding that Singapore will join hands with China to boost bilateral relations. Liu also met on Saturday with officials of the Chinese Embassy in Singapore, and representatives of Chinese students and scholars in the city state. Liu started the three-day official visit to Singapore on Thursday at the invitation of the Singapore government. During her stay here, Liu also met with Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and witnessed the signing of a revised government-to-government Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on education cooperation between China and Singapore.
BEIJING, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Friday called for continued vigilance against the global pandemic of the A/H1N1 influenza and urged positive and scientific measures to cope with it. Wen made the comment at the executive meeting of the State Council, China's Cabinet. He underscored the importance of preventing and controlling the disease in public places such as schools and hospitals and called for intensified efforts in treating patients with serious symptoms so as to reduce the likelihood of fatalities. So far, there have been no deaths from the flu in China. Inspection and quarantine measures should be strengthened and reserves of flu-prevention and control materials must be secured, he said. Flu medicine and vaccines should be made and stored as scheduled and the role of traditional Chinese medicine in treating the disease should not be neglected, he added. He also asked local authorities to make prevention and control plans based on local conditions and formulate management measures on flu patients' medical expenses. The Premier has also championed the importance of health education and public opinion guidance in fighting against the disease.
BALI, Indonesia, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Details of a sizeable foreign currency reserve pool among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, China, Japan and South Korea (ASEAN+3) were finalized here on Sunday, two years after the initiative was first introduced to combat emergent financial problems. Finance ministers of the ASEAN+3 nations reached the agreement on all main components of regional reserve pool, known as Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization (CMIM), and it will be implemented before the end of this year. The agreement on the CMIM includes "the individual country's contribution, borrowing accessibility, and the surveillance mechanism," said a statement issued after the finance ministers' meeting. The total size of the CMIM is 120 billion U.S. dollars with the contribution portion between ASEAN and the Plus Three countries at20 percent versus 80 percent. China and Japan will each contribute 38.4 billion U.S. dollars to the pool, while South Korea will contribute 19.2 billion dollars. Among China's portion, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will contribute 4.2 billion U.S. dollars. "We welcome Hong Kong, China, to participate in the CMIM," said the statement. The CMIM is set up to "address short-term liquidity difficulties in the region and to supplement the existing international financial arrangements," the statement said. The ministers agreed to establish an independent regional surveillance unit to monitor and analyze regional economies and support CMIM decision-making. As a start, there would be an advisory panel of experts to work closely with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the ASEAN Secretariat. In the statement, the ministers also endorsed the establishment of the Credit Guarantee and Investment Mechanism (CGIM) as a trust fund of the ADB with an initial capital of 500 million U.S. dollars. It could be increased once the demand is fully met. "It's a welcoming step in coping with the crisis, and an important step to the financial architecture of the region and it will infuse confidence to the market," said ADB Managing Director General Rajat Nag after the meeting, referring to the finalization of the CMIM. Asked whether the CMIM is meant to replace the role International Monetary Fund plays in the region, he said the mechanism is only "good complement" to what IMF does. "Gladly, we don't have the situation like in the U.S. or Europe but it's better to be prepared. Once there is a need, we are able to present our concerns and there is facility there," said Philippine Finance Secretary Margarito B. Teves." It is a helpful matter for the market." "It's done, there would be no blocking stone toward the final implementation of reserve pool," said Thai finance minister Korn Chatikavanij.
BEIJING, June 12 (Xinhua) -- The Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Han Seung Soo described Friday the rapid growth of bilateral ties with China as "unprecedented". "We have witnessed over five million ROK and Chinese people visit each other's country and the two-way trade volume expand 26 times bigger during the 17 years since ROK and China forged a diplomatic relationship", Han said. Han made the remarks in an interview with Xinhua on the sideline of a spring conference of the Institute of International Finance in Beijing. He said being neighbors, cultural similarity and friendship between the two peoples offered a solid foundation for the two nations to foster ties. China and the ROK agreed to upgrade their "comprehensive and cooperative partnership" to "strategic cooperative partnership" in May, 2008 during the ROK president Lee Myung-bak's first visit to China. Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Han Seung-soo (R) receives interview by a journalist from Xinhua News Agency in Beijing, capital of China, June 12, 2009. "We can see profound changes take place in almost all the fields of bilateral cooperation since then, especially in trade and economy, culture, education and youth exchange," Han said. He also recalled President Lee's visit last May to Dujiangyan, a city in Sichuan Province severely damaged by an 8.0-magnitude quake. "The ROK people were so concerned and feel deep sympathy about those who lost theirs lives or families in the disaster," Han said. He told Xinhua that the schoolboy Wei Yuehao who was held in the arms by President Lee during his visit to the quake zone was invited last month to the Cheong Wa DAE, the ROK presidential office "as a commemoration". Han said the ROK was severely hit by the financial turmoil and the ROK government, in a bid for the economic recovery, has come up with policies to stimulate domestic demand, step up financial investment and expand employment opportunity, which had worked. Han said China was the biggest trade partner and exporting market to the ROK, and he expressed his appreciation for the measures that China adopted to curb the effects of the financial crisis, noting that it would be a "win-win" solution if the two nations could work together to tackle the crisis. The prime minister also called on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to abandon its nuclear test scheme and return to the six-party talks to address the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula at an early date. On May 25, the DPRK announced it has "successfully conducted one more underground nuclear test," which Pyongyang said has demonstrated its "defensive nuclear deterrent." After the test, it also fired some short-range missiles. "The status of a non-nuclear peninsula is not only a must for the peace and stability on the peninsula, but also for that of East Asia and the world," Han said, expressing his hope that China, which chairs the six-party talks, could continue to play its positive and constructive role. Launched in 2003, the six-party talks grouped China, DPRK, ROK, the United States, Russia and Japan. The talks have been stalled since the top negotiators last met in Beijing last December.
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ASHGABAT, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang said here late Tuesday that China and Turkmenistan have enjoyed healthy and steady development in bilateral relations since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1992. Li made the remarks in a written speech at the Ashgabat airport after arriving in the Central Asian country for a three-day official visit. Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang (L) is greeted by Turkmenistan's Deputy Prime Minister Tachberdy Tagiyev upon his arrival at the airport of Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, June 23, 2009.The friendship and cooperation between China and Turkmenistan had witnessed healthy and steady development in the past 17 years, adding that bilateral cooperation in different areas had been increasingly enhanced and yielded meaningful results, he said. Li noted that China and Turkmenistan have supported each other on critical issues, worked closely in multi-lateral areas and made positive contributions to regional peace, stability and common development. Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang (R) is greeted upon his arrival at the airport of Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, June 23, 2009. Turkmenistan is the first leg of Li's three-nation tour that will also take him to Finland and Uzbekistan. During his stay in Turkmenistan, Li will hold talks with Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, which will focus on bilateral relations and cooperation in economy, energy and other areas between the two countries. Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang (L) is greeted by Turkmenistan's Deputy Prime Minister Tachberdy Tagiyev (R) upon his arrival at the airport of Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, June 23, 2009.
MOSCOW, June 1 (Xinhua) -- The BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) are able to realize rapid economic growth after the current financial crisis tides over, said Chinese and Russian experts during a Beijing-Moscow televised conference on Monday. The emerging economies, represented by the BRIC countries, are playing a stabilizing role amid the ongoing crisis, said Chen Fengying, director of the Institute of World Economy Studies in China's Institute of Contemporary International Relations. Chen said the BRIC countries, which could contribute much more to the global economic growth this year, may further lead the world economy in a post-crisis era, should they realize the industrial restructuring and the transition of economic growth patterns. Judging from macroeconomic indicators such as international balances, scales of debt and deficit, the BRIC countries may weather through the financial crisis earlier than the major developed countries, said Lev Frainkman, an expert from Russia's Institute for the Economy in Transition. These countries also have ample reserve funds to implement their anti-crisis measures, said Frainkman. The BRIC summit scheduled to be held in mid-June in Yekaterinburg, Russia, has displayed BRIC countries' cooperative willingness to jointly ward off the crisis, said Sergei Alexashenko, director of Macroeconomic Studies at Russia's Higher School of Economics. BRIC countries may integrate respective resources to seek cooperation in aircraft manufacture and software development, he added. Li Yongquan, deputy director of the Euro-Asian Social Development Research Institute at China's Development Research of the State Council, said of all the bilateral and multilateral cooperation within the framework of the BRIC countries, he particularly expects a great prospect for China-Russia cooperation. Li suggested China and Russia further exploit cooperative potentials in four spheres such as technologies, natural resources, human resources and marketing.
BEIJING, June 29 (Xinhua) -- China raised gasoline and diesel prices by 600 yuan (about 87.8 U.S. dollars) per tonne, starting zero o'clock Tuesday. The increase raised the price for gasoline by about 0.45 yuan per liter, or 8.6 percent, and the price of diesel by about 0.51 yuan per liter, or 9.6 percent, said the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in a statement on its Web site. It was the third oil price adjustment this year. On May 31, the NDRC raised the pump prices of gasoline and diesel by 400 yuan per tonne, or 7 percent and 8 percent, respectively. The adjustment was in response to "recent international oil price fluctuation" under the country's new fuel pricing mechanism, as international crude prices kept rising, said the statement. According to the new mechanism, China's domestic prices are to be "indirectly linked" to global crude prices "in a controlled manner." Under the pricing mechanism, China would consider changing benchmark retail prices of oil products when the international crude price rises or falls by a daily average of 4 percent over 22working days in a row. Oil prices settled at 69.16 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Friday, registering a 4.2 percent rise from the price of 66.31 dollars a barrel when the last adjustment took place on May 31.