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Communications to be beefed up

The Chinese mainland and Taiwan agreed on Feb 11 to establish a liaison mechanism in their first formal meeting since 1949.

The agreement was reached after Zhang Zhijun, head of the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, held a landmark dialogue with visiting Taiwan mainland affairs chief Wang Yu-chi in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province.

The mechanism will aim at tackling major divergences and facilitating all-round development of cross-Straits relations.

However, it will not replace existing communication channels such as the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits and Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation.

Xi pledges continued help to Afghanistan

China is willing to offer continued assistance for Afghanistan's peaceful reconstruction, especially in personnel training, and will encourage Chinese companies to invest in Afghanistan, President Xi Jinping says.

Xi also urged Kabul to create a safe environment for bilateral cooperation.

Xi made the remarks in Sochi, Russia, while meeting his Afghan counterpart, Hamid Karzai. The two were in the city for the opening of the Winter Olympics.

Xi said China attaches great importance to its relations with Afghanistan and stands ready to maintain high-level exchanges and promote communication and cooperation between the two countries to improve bilateral ties.

China is ready to strengthen cooperation with Afghanistan in fighting the "three evil forces" of separatism, extremism and terrorism, as well as transnational crime, Xi said.

China will unswervingly support Afghanistan's efforts in safeguarding national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and back an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned national reconciliation process, he said.

During Olympics visit, Xi gives report on ties

President Xi Jinping said Beijing's relationship with Moscow will maintain its excellent momentum and his trip to Russia "marks a good start" to diplomatic relations in the new year.

Xi returned to Beijing on Feb 8 after a three-day visit that included attending the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Sochi.

"I am very satisfied with what has been achieved in the Sino-Russian relationship," Xi said in an interview with Rossiya TV. Talking of his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Xi said they agreed to "unswervingly support each other on issues concerning the core interests of either side".

The visit mapped out a strategy for the relationship this year, and the combination of diplomacy and sports is "an innovative move in Chinese diplomacy", Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.

During the interview, Xi also gave an update on China's reform and opening-up, and talked about his hobbies, such as reading and watching sports.

Province clamps down on prostitution

Authorities in Guangdong province are to launch a three-month crackdown on the sex industry across the province after media outlets recently uncovered rampant prostitution in massage parlors and hotels in Dongguan.

Li Chunsheng, vice-governor of Guangdong and director of Guangdong Public Security Department, said in a televised news conference on Feb 10 that all entertainment venues involved in organizing sexual services will be targeted.

"Local police officers found protecting the sex industry or who organize sexual services will be severely punished," Li said.

The crackdown came after China Central Television reported that the sex industry was flourishing in Dongguan, an entertainment hub in the Pearl River Delta region.

Zimbabwe gets $23m grant from China

Zimbabwe on Feb 11 received a $23.3 million grant from China to finance infrastructure construction in rural areas.

Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa and Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe Lin Lin signed the deal in Harare, the capital of the southern African country.

Chinamasa said the grant will be earmarked for the construction of clinics, and primary and secondary schools in resettled areas acquired under the land reform program.

The two governments agreed that while they were working toward the conclusion of a comprehensive financial package within the next three months, the Chinese embassy would continue providing support for other programs and projects.

Kenyan leader praises closer ties with China

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta praised the cordial relations existing between the East African nation and China.

Speaking in Nairobi on Feb 11, when he received credentials from several envoys including newly appointed Chinese Ambassador to Kenya Liu Xianfa, Kenyatta expressed appreciation for the beneficial cooperation between the two countries.

"We cherish the spirit of mutual respect between our two countries and the strong cultural, social and economic ties that we have shared for a long time," he said.

Speaking after presenting his credentials, Liu noted that President Kenyatta's visit to China last August added impetus to a strong partnership.

"In the 51 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, our two countries have had frequent high-level exchanges, deepening political trust, fruitful economic cooperation and closer people-to-people and cultural exchanges," Liu said.

China Daily-Xinhua

(China Daily Africa Weekly 02/14/2014 page2)