IN BRIEF (Page 2)

Xi calls for new type of relations

China and the United States should explore a new type of relationship between major countries, President Xi Jinping said before his summit with US President Barack Obama.

Xi made the remarks during his meeting with US National Security Adviser Thomas Donilon, who was on a three-day visit to China to prepare for the summit, scheduled for June 7 and 8.

Xi said he and Obama will have comprehensive discussions on major strategic issues and expects "important positive results" from the talks.

The summit, set at the private Sunnylands estate of late publishing tycoon Walter Annenberg in southern California, will be the first meeting between the two leaders after Xi was elected president.

Pyongyang to heed Beijing, says envoy

Pyongyang is willing to take Beijing's advice to engage in dialogue on the Korean Peninsula issue, a visiting special envoy of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea top leader Kim Jong-un said on May 23.

The envoy said his country wants to focus on economic development and needs a peaceful external environment for that aim, adding that his visit aims to consolidate ties with Beijing.

The envoy, Director of the Korean People's Army's General Political Bureau Choe Ryong-hae, made the remarks during a meeting with Liu Yunshan, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.

Beijing "expects all parties involved to stick to the goal of peninsula denuclearization and keep maintaining peace and stability on the peninsula", Liu said, according to a statement issued by China after the meeting.

Investment

Li paves way for German investors

Premier Li Keqiang has vowed to create more opportunities for German investors in China and urged more Chinese enterprises to invest in Germany and the rest of Europe.

Preferential terms will be given to German investors in logistics, education and medical training sectors, Li said in Berlin. He was speaking on the last day of his visits to Germany, Switzerland, Pakistan and India.

China's focus has changed from large-scale investment in basic manufacturing to a large variety of modern services needed for the nation's unprecedented urbanization program.

Li chose Germany as his first stop in the European Union since taking office in March, aiming to expand mutual investment between China and Europe.

Ongoing industrialization, urbanization, the spread of information technology, and agricultural modernization in China will provide huge potential for investment from Germany and other countries, Li said.

Defense

Interest in new fighter jet soars

Numerous countries are interested in obtaining the fighter jet jointly developed by Pakistan and China, said a senior officer of the Pakistan air force.

"We've been receiving inquiries and expressions of interest for the JF-17 Thunder from many countries in the Middle East, Africa and even from South America," Sohail Gul Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, said on May 23.

The JF-17 Thunder - or the FC-1 Fierce Dragon as it is known in China, is a third-generation multipurpose combat jet co-developed by Aviation Industry Corp of China and the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, the leading aviation company in Pakistan, which is in charge of manufacturing and maintaining the Pakistan air force's aircraft.

Health

Experts issue warning over cinnabar use

Experts in traditional Chinese medicine are calling for caution over the use of some products that contain cinnabar, or mercury sulfide.

A Sina Weibo user verified as a doctor at Beijing's Jishuitan Hospital wrote that 86 prescriptions of medicine developed by Tongrentang, a leading TCM maker, contain cinnabar.

The mercury content in the chemical can build up in the human body over time and cause damage to organs, including the kidneys and the nervous system.

The controversy goes back to May 7, when health authorities in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region recalled a batch of Tongrentang medicine because it contained five times the mercury limit permitted in Hong Kong.

New tourist magnet springs up

Cuiheng village in Zhongshan, Guangdong province is often described as the birthplace of China's democratic revolution, and home of Sun Yat-sen, who led the 1911 Revolution against the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) to end thousands of years of imperial rule in China.

For decades, Sun's self-designed residence, a two-storey building with arches on the ground and top floors, has attracted countless visitors from around the world as part of the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Museum.

"Now we are developing the village into an important spiritual home for overseas Chinese who hold a special place for Sun in their hearts," said Xue Xiaofeng, Party chief of Zhongshan.

Construction of an international tourism town, with Sun's former residence at the center, began last year. The project marked the 100th anniversary of the 1911 Revolution.

The project will cover about 9 square kilometers and will cost about 13 billion yuan ($2.1 billion; 1.64 billion euros), sources at the city government said.

Pingtang telescope to channel investment

The world's largest and most sensitive single-aperture radio telescope, which is already under construction in a natural basin in Pingtang county, Guizhou province, is becoming part of a more ambitious business plan.

Local governments plans to invest 4.9 billion yuan ($799 million; 617 million euros) to build new towns around the telescope to develop astronomical tourism, China Daily learned during a forum at the 15th Annual Meeting of the China Association for Science and Technology. The meeting was held on May 25 in Guiyang, capital city of Guizhou province.

With such investment, Zhang expects the new astronomy tourism towns to bring a total economic return of 30 billion yuan in the coming years, with 60 percent coming directly from tourism.

South China Sea cruises begin to sell

Cruises to the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea began to sell at major travel agencies following a successful maiden voyage last month.

The political significance is much bigger than the economic benefits the cruises will bring tour operators, industry specialists said.

About 100 Chinese tourists embarked on a four-day voyage to Xisha on the Coconut Princess, the only cruise ship allowed to sail there, on April 28.

Another voyage was set to take place later this week, with about 150 passengers.

The islands, including Dongsha, Nansha and Zhongsha, are 330 kilometers southeast of South China's Hainan province.

Trade

Sino-Swiss free-trade agreement signed

Switzerland and China signed a memorandum of understanding at the conclusion of free-trade talks on May 24 during Premier Li Keqiang's visit to Bern, in what business leaders called a landmark deal.

The signing means Switzerland will soon become the first country in continental Europe and the first of the world's top 20 economies to reach such an agreement with China.

The deal covers goods and services, environmental protection, intellectual property protection, market competition and labor protection.

Li said under the agreement tariffs for agricultural products, precision instruments and industrial goods will be cut soon.

He said he wishes to "send a powerful message to the rest of the world" through the agreement that China rejects trade and investment protectionism, and embraces trade liberalization and facilitation.

Switzerland was the first European nation Li had visited after becoming premier in March.

Environment

Beijing to shut coal-fired boilers

Beijing has vowed to eliminate most coal-fired boilers in the city center by the end of 2015 to reduce pollution from fine particulate matter, especially during the heating season.

After reducing coal use by 700,000 metric tons last year, the capital plans to cut another 1.4 million tons this year and use no more than 21.5 million tons, according to the 2013 coal consumption reduction plan issued by the city's Environmental Protection Bureau and Commission of Development and Reform.

The capital used 26.35 million tons of coal in 2010, the environmental bureau said.

Calls for stronger pollution law

Environmental experts are calling for a newly amended version of the nation's Atmospheric Pollution Prevention Act to have greater teeth to curb serious atmospheric pollution.

A proposed amendment to the law with tougher punishments and detailed measures on air pollution emergencies to prevent and control atmospheric pollution has gained a great deal of support from experts.

Chai Fahe, vice-president of the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, called for the revision of the law to be accelerated as this would help to reduce the thick haze in many urban areas.

"It is possible that the amended law may come out by the end of the year," Chai said at a sustainable energy forum in Beijing on Monday.

The law was last updated 13 years ago and it is time to come up with stricter control mechanisms and adopt stricter legislation, he said.

Society

Migrant workers without legal cover

Fewer than half of all migrant workers across China signed contracts with their employers last year, and analysts say the situation is likely to continue.

Part of the reasons that many migrant workers are reluctant to sign contracts is that if they did, their salaries would be reduced by about 42 percent to pay for their social security including pensions and insurance, which they cannot get back if they leave the city where they work, experts said.

Only 43.9 percent of those workers signed contracts, little changed from the previous year.

The country's migrant workforce reached 262.61 million in 2012, a year-on-year increase of 3.9 percent, a report published by the National Bureau of Statistics said on May 27.

HIV tests not required for educators

AIDS and HIV tests have been removed from the draft list of health standards for teaching candidates in Guangdong province.

"That indicates that AIDS patients and HIV carriers will be able to become teachers when they pass qualification examinations for teachers in Guangdong starting in September, when the new standards come into effect," according to the revised draft of health standards published on May 27.

The province now bars HIV carriers and AIDS patients from teaching positions.

Legal experts and residents have criticized the health standards as they discriminate against HIV carriers and AIDS patients.

Guangdong is expected to become the first region on the mainland to stop mandatory HIV and AIDS tests for teaching candidates.

Officials told to give up their VIP cards

China's top anti-graft official Wang Qishan on May 27 urged disciplinary and supervisory staff to return all membership cards gifted by others.

The chief of the Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said during a video conference the campaign aims to send a signal to the Party and society that anti-graft officials are taking action to improve their working style as required by the new leadership in December.

The country's top leaders have required officials to reduce meetings, condense paperwork, minimize traffic disruption during official visits and exercise frugality.

Wang is asking anti-corruption officials to return before June 20 all membership cards they have received as gifts.

"Although membership cards are small objects, they reflect a big problem in working style," he said.

China celebrates being green

The size of nature reserves in China reached almost 15 percent of the country's total land area by the end of 2012, exceeding the global average of 12 percent.

Li Ganjie, vice-minister of environmental protection, announced the figure at a celebration of the 2013 International Day for Biological Diversity on May 22.

The figure has grown from 6.9 percent in 1993 to 14.9 percent now. The number of national-level nature reserves has increased from 77 to 363, highlighting the achievements the Chinese government has made to promote biodiversity since the country signed the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity 20 years ago.

"Setting up nature reserves is seen as the core measure in biodiversity conservation to prevent the current loss of species and habitats," said Zhang Shigang, country coordinator of the United Nations Environment Program China.

Food

Mutton found to contain duck meat

Beijing's food safety and quality watchdog has responded to media reports that duck meat was found in mutton for sale in a local wholesale market, Beijing News reported on May 27.

The largest mutton and beef wholesale market, Xinfadi, in South Beijing's Fengtai district, was reported to have sold mutton mixed with duck meat.

The average price of sliced mutton is 56 yuan ($9.15; 7.09 euros) a kilogram. However, when sold to hot pot restaurants, the price went down to 20 yuan a kilogram.

Tests showed that the seller mixed the duck meat with mutton, the report said.

China Daily

(China Daily Africa Weekly 05/31/2013 page2)