BEIJING, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) on Saturday said it expects an increase in grain output for the fifth consecutive year. The country has harvested nearly 80 percent of its autumn crops and expects 2008 to be a bumper year, the ministry stated. The State Grain Information Center earlier estimated that this year's grain output would reach 511.5 million tons, up 10 million tons from 2007. Farmers reap paddy rice in the field in Jiangzhuang village, Donghai county, east China's Jiangsu Province, Oct. 11, 2008. Large parts of China have witnessed crop harvest in this golden autumn.Higher grain production happened in spite of natural disasters and troubled domestic and international economic environments, the MOA noted. The output increase was attributed to government subsidies, pest control and more advance agricultural techniques, the ministry said. The central government allocated 102.86 billion yuan (15.1 billion U.S. dollars) in agriculture subsidies this year, doubling the money from 2007. Farmers reap paddy rice in the field in Jiangzhuang village, Donghai county, east China's Jiangsu Province, Oct. 11, 2008. Large parts of China have witnessed crop harvest in this golden autumn
HARBIN, July 24 (Xinhua) -- A senior Chinese official has called for carrying on ideological emancipation, persisting in the reform and opening-up policy, pushing forward scientific development and making new breakthroughs in promoting social harmony, to promote rapid and sound economic and social development. Li Changchun, a member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Political Bureau, made the call during an inspection tour in Heilongjiang Province from July 20-23, in the company of the provincial CPC chief Ji Bingxuan and governor Li Zhanshu. Li Changchun (L1), a member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Political Bureau, talks to staff at Donghu community during an inspection tour in Heilongjiang Province July 22, 2008He urged the northeastern province to seize the opportunity for industrial revival. Li visited villages, communities, factories and cultural organizations in the cities of Mohe, Heihe, Daqing and Harbin. In Mohe, the country's northeasternmost town, the official paid a visit to the Beiji (Polar) Village, where he learned that local villagers now have cable TV. He also visited Daqing, China's largest oil production base and Harbin, the provincial capital. Local governments should build more public cultural facilities, he said. He urged the province to deepen its cultural restructuring, support multi-talented professionals and develop cultural products with brand names that were recognized at home and abroad. In Daqing, Li also visited the memorial to Iron Man Wang Jinxi, an oil worker who devoted his life to the development of the petroleum industry. Daqing, a city built on the vast oil field, is known for the "Daqing Red Flag", a model set for all industries in the country by late leader Mao Zedong.
SHIJIAZHUANG, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- Babies were sick, hospitals crowded, consumers puzzled, senior officials sacked, farmers could not sell their milk, dairy firm employees had fears for future -- milk scandal affected the life of many Chinese but they were struggling through it. Ten-month-old Wang Tianhao left hospital after six days of treatment. His mother relieved from scary and worry. "I was so scared that I couldn't help crying on the first day he was taken into hospital," said the mother Jiang Aihua. The boy had drunk powdered milk containing banned chemical melamine made by Sanlu Group since he was born. Doctors found a stone of about 5mm in diameter in his kidney. "He is getting better," said Lou Yan, a doctor in charge. "It will take some time to wash the stone out of his body. But he does not need to take any more drugs, just needs to drink a lot of water." She asked Jiang to take her son back home and have an examination next month. In northern Hebei Province, center of the scandal, about 480 infant patients recovered and left for home by Monday noon while around 1,200 were still in hospital for observation. REBUILDING TRUST Another mother named Wang Lifang was at a loss on what to feed her baby daughter. Besides Sanlu, 22 other dairy firms were also found to produced tainted milk power later, including several domestic dairy giants. Some mothers turned to foreign brands for they lost trust on domestic firms. But Wang could not afford it with an annual family income of around 6,000 yuan (882 U.S. dollars). The price of foreign-made baby formula is three to four times of that for domestic products. Parents tried many substitutes such as fresh milk, soy milk or even rice soup for their babies. Some even stopped feeding any food with milk for their children. "I don't know what to do. I hope the government can give us a list of safe milk," she said. To set up trust among customers, many dairy firms involved in the scandal jointly signed a statement promising to produce safe milk and never let this happen again. Police arrested four suspects and had other 22 in custody while Tian Wenhua, former board chairwoman and general manager of Sanlu, was arrested as well. Several senior officials were dismissed from their posts including Wu Xianguo, the Communist Party chief of Shijiazhuang City, where Sanlu was based. On Monday, China's chief quality supervisor Li Changjiang resigned over milk scandal. SEARCHING BUYERS FOR SPLIT MILK On the wall of a milk station at Nantongye village, a slogan read, "Want to become rich? Raise fewer kids but more cows." But villager Li Jufeng was planning to sell all the 13 cows his father raised. "My dad was hit in a traffic accident two days ago. We need money to pay for his medical cost," said the 32-year-old. "If we keep the cattle, we can sell the milk to nobody and we have to feed them." Dairy farmers at Nantongye village have long been suppliers of Sanlu, the biggest dairy producer in Hebei and nationwide. The company built five stations in the village to collect fresh milk. Since last Sunday it has stopped buying any milk from farmers as its plants were suspended from production. Villager Li Zhidong's 18 cows produce about 160 kg of milk a day. In the past week, she had a loss of 330 yuan (48.5 U.S. dollars) per day. It is now a good news for her that four dairy firms in Hebei have signed agreements with the provincial government to buy 2,500to 3,000 tonnes of milk formerly supplied of Sanlu, a government source told Xinhua. The local government is also negotiating with Beijing-based Sanyuan Group and Shanghai-based Bright Dairy for milk purchase. STAND TOGETHER THROUGH CRISIS Sanlu elected its new board chairman and general manager Zhang Zhenling on Sept. 18. He has apologized to the public on behalf of the company and promised to deal with the incident properly and lead the group through the crisis. Employees at the lowest level like Tian, a lady in her mid-thirties, were worried about their uncertain futures. "I have no idea what will happen," she said. She had worked for Sanlu for 12 years and it was her first job. "What if the company shuts down and I lose this job? I am not young and it will be hard to find a new one. I have aged parents to support and a son in primary school," she said. But most employees have stood with the company. Tian worked at the company from morning till night including weekends, helping set up booths, hand out notices and answer questions from customers. "What I can do now is to do my best," she said. "I hope Sanlu could pull through it. "
BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao said here on Friday that he hoped China and the European Union (EU) would enhance its dialogue and consultation to ensure the healthy and stable development of the China-EU all-round strategic partnership. Hu made the remarks in a meeting with EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. He said it was not only in line with both sides' fundamental interests, but also conducive to the peace, stability and development of the world to further cement and step up China-EU ties under current circumstances. Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) meets with the European Union Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso in Beijing, April 25, 2008 "I hope the two sides would keep high-level visits and enhance dialogue and consultation, increase understanding and recognition for the policy trends of each other," Hu told Barroso. Hailing the development of China-EU cooperation in recent years, Hu called to promote exchange and cooperation in various sectors, deepen coordination on key multilateral affairs and global issues, and properly handle and solve major concerns or disputes between the two. Barroso said maintaining robust EU-China ties were vital to both sides and the international society. It needed efforts from both China and the EU to safeguard international energy, finance, food safety and stability and solve global issues of climate change, sustainable development and terrorism, said the former Portuguese prime minister. He said the EU was committed to developing a strategic partnership with China and was willing to solve disputes through dialogue on the basis of mutual respect and constructive spirit. Barroso expressed appreciation for China's consistent support for the EU integrity, and wished the Beijing Olympics a success. Vice Premier Wang Qishan attended the meeting.
XIANGFEN, Shanxi, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Rescuers continued to search for the missing in last Monday's fatal mud-rock flow in north China's Shanxi Province that killed 254 people and injured 34 to date. No new bodies were found from 6 p.m. on Sunday to 6 p.m. on Monday. Rescuers were continuing to search in areas designated by the family members of the missing, according to Lian Zhendong, the rescue operation's chief. "We will not stop the rescue work in a short time," he said. "We will do our best to make the family members of the missing see their relatives." Rescue workers work on the ruins at the key spot of the mud-rock flow in Xiangfen County, Linfen City, north China's Shanxi Province, Sept. 15, 2008A rain-triggered mud-rock flow happened around 7:50 a.m. on Sept. 8 when the bank of a pond holding waste ore dregs burst at the Tashan Mine in Xiangfen County, Linfen City, destroying buildings, trade markets and residences lying about 500 meters downstream. The death toll has risen to 254, 151 of whom have been identified. The 34 injured, four seriously, were being treated in hospital. An initial investigation showed that factors leading to the accident included the production and building of the pond was in violation of regulations. The mine also lacked a security checkup, failed to implement the orders for straightening up operations, in addition to the loose supervision of concerned safety departments. The State Council, China's Cabinet, has ordered a nationwide safety check at similar production sites to root out hidden risks following the deadly accident.
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BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao met with visiting Qatar Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Hamad Bin Jasim Bin Jabir Al-Thani here on Thursday. The two sides agreed to step up bilateral friendly and cooperative relations. Wen hailed the development of bilateral ties on the basis of respect, equality and mutual benefits over the past 20 years since the two countries established diplomatic ties. He expressed China's appreciation of Qatar's adherence to the one-China policy. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (front, L) and Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Hamad Bin Jasim Bin Jabir Al-Thani (front, R) inspect the guard of honor at the welcoming ceremony in Beijing, capital of China, April 10, 2008. Wen noted that breakthroughs had been made in energy cooperation between China and Qatar, which also brought along collaboration in relevant industries. The advantages of economic complementarity of both countries were transforming into real results, he added. Wen said all countries, regardless of size, could make contributions to world peace and development. China attached great importance to developing relations with Qatar and was ready to maintain high-level exchanges and promote mutual trust with the country. He proposed the two countries focus on cooperation in energy and infrastructure, encourage bilateral investments and expand trade scale, strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the areas of culture, education, aviation and tourism, as well as increase coordination in international and regional affairs. Sheikh Hamad said Qatar had always adhered to the one-China policy and believed the country would host a successful Olympic Games. Qatar was willing to make joint efforts with China to develop strategic friendly and cooperative relations, he said, adding Qatar would promote cooperation with China in energy, aviation and investment. Qatar also supported China's efforts in its collective cooperation with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the prime minister said. After the meeting, the two leaders attended a signing ceremony of a series agreements concerning energy, culture and education. The Qatari prime minister arrived in Beijing on April 6, kicking off his visit to China. He will also attend the Boao Forum for Asia on April 12.
BEIJING, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- President Hu Jintao on Wednesday urged China to carry on the spirit of unity, courage, "people first" and scientific thinking that characterized the May 12 earthquake relief effort. At a ceremony in Beijing's Great Hall of the People to honor outstanding organizations and individuals for their contributions to the rescue and relief work, Hu said the spirit should be promoted among the Communist Party of China (CPC) members and the public. This would help advance the sound and rapid economic and social development. He said that in face of the major disaster, the CPC Central Committee had listed quake relief as the most important and urgent task for the Party and country as soon as possible. Quake relief headquarters under the State Council had been set up and a system to coordinate the military and local governments had been established to mobilize the nation to advance the quake relief and reconstruction. "We organized the fastest quake relief work with the most people mobilized in China's history, saved as many as possible lives and minimized the losses from the disaster," Hu said. The 8.0-magnitude quake was the most destructive one since the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, with more than 30,000 aftershocks, affecting 500,000 square km over more than 10 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, including Gansu, Shaanxi and Chongqing. It was felt in 417 counties, 4,667 townships and 48,810 villages. It left 69,227 dead with 17,923 still missing. About 15.1 million people were displaced, Hu said. Direct losses exceeded 845.1 billion yuan (124 billion U.S. dollars) as infrastructure was destroyed and industrial and agricultural production was affected, causing major environmental damage. Party committees, governments, grassroots cadres and the people in quake-hit regions had responded quickly to the devastating quake, making the utmost effort to help themselves and others. Hu praised the 146,000 troops, armed police, reservists and police which had been mobilized for the anti-quake work, describing them as the "main force" and "commandoes." Chinese President Hu Jintao and other Chinese Party and state leaders including Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, He Guoqiang and Zhou Yongkang meet with representatives of the organizations and individuals who made major contributions to the relief work after the May 12 earthquake before the ceremony honoring organizations and individuals for their contributions to relief work after the May 12 earthquake struck southwest China, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Oct. 8, 2008OUTSTANDING INDIVIDUALS, ORGANIZATIONS HONORED Hu, also the CPC Central Committee general secretary and Central Military Commission chairman, and other senior officials, presented awards to soldiers, police, grassroots cadres, teachers, medical workers, journalists, construction workers and volunteers, among others. A total of 319 governmental organs, Party committees, businesses and hospitals, as well as 522 individuals were honored at the ceremony attended by about 6,000 people and broadcast live nationwide. Five of the recipients were awarded posthumously for dying in the line of duty, including 23-year-old teacher Gou Xiaochao. Gou was in a classroom at Yong'an Village's primary school in Tongjiang County, Sichuan Province, when the whole building began shaking violently at 2:28 p.m. on May 12. Realizing it was a strong earthquake, he herded the shocked students out of the building. His actions saved dozens of schoolchildren before he was buried in hail of concrete and bricks. He died on the way to hospital, only 10 days after getting married. Policewoman Jiang Min is another heroine whose story is now known all over China. She lost 10 family members, including her two-year-old daughter and her mother, when the quake almost leveled her hometown, Beichuan County. Despite her tremendous grief, Jiang kept helping others affected in the quake. Hu Jintao said the May earthquake was "a great test of Chinese will, courage and strength, as well as the Party's ruling capability." "The relief work showed the great strength of the CPC and the socialist state, the great strength of the 1.3 billion Chinese people, the great strength of the reform and opening up, and the great strength of socialism with Chinese characteristics," he said. During his speech, Hu suggested people who attended the ceremony stand in silent tribute for compatriots who died in the quake and the martyrs who sacrificed themselves in the relief work. RECONSTRUCTION NOW A MAJOR FOCUS Hu said the anti-quake work had again proved China's system of socialism had great vitality for development with the advantage of "concentrating strength on big events." This proved people are the real driving force for the country's development. In addition, it proved the army is the "iron great wall" to protect the people and proved the CPC's core leadership role in developing socialism with Chinese characteristics. "We have gained precious experience in dealing with emergencies and combating major natural disasters," Hu said. Hu said the Sichuan quake caused huge loss of life and property and damaged economic and social development. The quake relief work had tested and demonstrated the great achievement of the last 30 years of reform and opening up. He stressed to fully implement the rebuilding policies after the disaster to build happy new homes for the quake-affected people, solving the problems concerned with their livelihood. Reconstruction should be scientifically planned and carried out step by step. "We should realize the goal of 'homes and jobs for each household, social security for everyone, improvement to local infrastructure, development of the economy and improvement to the environment,'" he said. People's basic living conditions and public service facilities should be resumed first and the working conditions should be resumed as soon as possible. "Currently, we should help the people get through the winter season safely." Hu urged the quake-affected people to work hard and other regions to provide support to the rebuilding. In addition to Hu, Chinese Party and state leaders including Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, He Guoqiang and Zhou Yongkang, and about 6,000 people attended the ceremony. Premier Wen, who presided over the ceremony, said the outlines and policies of the rebuilding would be well implemented
BEIJING, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Vice Premier Li Keqiang has urged officials and workers at the section of the Three Gorges in southwest China to ensure safety and quality for the project as the flood season draws near. The member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China Central Committee Political Bureau made the remark at a meeting here on Thursday by the Office of the State Council Three Gorges Project Construction Committee. The Three Gorges Dam started discharging water earlier this month to lower the water level in the reservoir after excessive rainfall upstream. The discharge would continue as more heavy rain was expected on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Flood is discharged from the Three Gorges Reservoir through the dam in Yinchang, central China's Hubei Province, July 5, 2008. "The project is now entering the key post-construction phase. Meanwhile, the flood season is coming and our safety task is very arduous," said Li after hearing reports on the project by teams of experts, the Ministry of Land and Resources and other organizations, among them. Li stressed the evacuation and relocation of people living in the dam section was a long-term mission. Related organizations should see to their basic life requirements and employment by fulfilling policies on supporting migrants and training them for professional skills. The world's largest dam, 2,309 meters long and 185 meters high, is expected to help minimize damage caused by floods that might occur only once every 1,000 years. In addition, Li urged to build an ecological protection area around the dam to prevent water pollution, soil loss and mud-sand silting. He said the section of the Three Gorges Dam should be built as an ecological barrier for the Yangtze. The 22.5 billion U.S. dollar project was launched in 1993. Its 26 turbo-generators is designed to produce 85 billion kwh of electricity annually after their installation is completed at yearend. According to the office, more than 1.24 million people had been relocated and the project was going smoothly in terms of the local economic society development, environment construction and geologic disaster prevention.