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Africa Weekly\News Digest

IN BRIEF (Page 2)

China Daily Africa | Updated: 2017-05-26 08:49

 IN BRIEF (Page 2)

Basketball superstar Yao Ming shakes hands with student Lin Wei of the Yangwan Center School in Wangjiang county, Anhui province. Yao's foundation launched on May 22 the Hope Primary School Basketball Season across the country. Games will take place in 477 schools in 21 provinces. Some 455 volunteers from 10 universities are preparing matches for the schools. Zou Hong / China Daily

Dives set for deep-sea mission

China's manned submersible, Jiaolong, conducted a dive in the Mariana Trench on May 23. Its mother ship, Xiangyanghong 09, set sail recently for the Yap and Mariana trenches, with 96 scientists and the Jiaolong aboard. The ship arrived at the Mariana Trench area on May 22 and started testing water temperature, salinity and depth. Ten dives are planned for the expedition. The first is expected to reach a depth of 4,800 meters and last about nine hours. With its two mechanical arms, the submersible will collect samples of seawater, sediment, deep-sea life and rocks.

Bike-share draft rules released

China released a draft guideline on May 22 to encourage and regulate the booming bike-sharing industry. It aims to solve problems like illegal parking, lack of clarity in company responsibilities, and the safety of users' deposits and personal information, the draft says. Public opinion is being solicited until June 5 on the draft, released by the Ministry of Transport and other agencies. The number of public bike user registrations has surpassed 100 million, according to the ministry.

Welsh singer's Chinese is noteworthy

Alec Loane, a Welsh folk singer, won first prize on May 20 in the Chinese Song UK contest, in which Britons who are not native speakers of the language belted out traditional songs in Mandarin and Cantonese. Loane impressed the judges with his lively performance and affectionate rendition of the Chinese love song The Moon Represents My Heart at a packed theater in Manchester. Loane, 58, says he was pleasantly surprised that his hobby, which he picked up while hanging out with friends from Hong Kong, eventually brought him plaudits, and the 3,000 ($3,900; 3,500 euros) prize. Ten contestants, from the United Kingdom, Italy and Switzerland, reached the final round of the Chinese Song UK contest, performing before an audience of about 1,000 at in Manchester.

Xiamen prepares for BRICS Summit

Xiamen, Fujian province, is ready to host the ninth BRICS Summit in September, the Party's top official in the city announced onMay 22. Pei Jinjia, Party chief of Xiamen, says the city will be able to provide a safe and comfortable venue for the summit of BRICS countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The summit will be held in the coastal city from Sept 3 to 5. It is the second BRICS summit to be held in China. The previous one was held in Sanya, Hainan province, in 2011.

Inspections of imported waste to rise

Legislators have vowed to increase supervision of government departments in charge of handling imported solid waste, aiming to protect the environment and ensure public health. The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress will conduct inspections to ensure that the law on the prevention of solid waste pollution is being enforced. The inspections, led by Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, will be conducted in 10 areas, including Tianjin, Jiangsu province and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. The inspections will last until the end of July, the committee said.

Captive panda twins healthy

A set of male panda twins were said to be healthy on May 22, one month after they were born, according to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. Born on April 24, the cubs are the first captive panda twins in 2017 worldwide, the base says. The mother, ZhiZhi, refused to feed her babies at first, but with the help of experts at the base, the mother finally accepted them.

Yangtze porpoises thrive in 2 reserves

The critically endangered Yangtze finless porpoise has seen steady growth in two protection reserves in Hubei province since 2015, and its population will exceed 100 by the end of this year, accounting for one-tenth of the total, reserve officials said on May 22. The Tian'ezhou Natural Reserve in Hubei province is home to 90 finless porpoises and is expected to welcome nine newborn calves this year, according to Zhang Zhenhua, head of the reserve. The reserve has worked to protect this species in China through establishing a successful model for other reserves, he says. In addition, the province's Hewangmiao Natural Reserve currently owns 12 porpoises, of which four were transferred from Poyang Lake in late March for better protection, and will see two calves born annually, according to Zhu Binting, head of the reserve.

Xi congratulates new Kuomintang leader

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, congratulated Wu Denyih on his election as new chairman of the Kuomintang on May 20. In his message to Wu, Xi said he hoped the two parties will keep the well-being of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits in mind, adhere to the 1992 Consensus and firmly oppose "Taiwan independence".Wu, in his reply to Xi's message, expressed gratitude for Xi's congratulations and said he expected the two parties will continue to consolidate the 1992 Consensus and promote the institutionalization of peace across the Taiwan Straits.

China, Vietnam fight human-trafficking

China and Vietnam will expand intelligence sharing and case investigations in the fight against rampant cross-border trafficking of women, a senior Ministry of Public Security official says. The ministry has said that the number of such cases dropped slightly last year, thanks to the two countries' intensified efforts, but it did not release details. Chinese and Vietnamese police have agreed to promptly exchange information and clues and to conduct joint investigations in their efforts to smash major human trafficking rings.

Vaccine for HPV wins approval

Pharmaceutical company Merck recently won approval from the China Food and Drug Administration to sell its human papillomavirus vaccine, Gardasil, to help women fight cervical cancer. Developed by the US-based company in 2006, the vaccine has proved effective in protecting against the virus, better known as HPV, the chief cause of cervical cancer. The virus is found in almost all cervical cancer cases. Gardasil is the first HPV vaccine in the world and the second to be licensed for use in China. In July, Cervarix, an HPV vaccine developed by pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, received approval to be sold on the Chinese mainland after almost 10 years of seeking approval.

Nations meet to discuss Antarctica

China called for better understanding, protection and development of Antarctica as it hosted the start of the 40th Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting on May 23. The southernmost continent should be developed in a peaceful manner, and countries involved should increase their political trust and shared responsibility, Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli said in the opening ceremony of the meeting in Beijing. On May 22, China published its first white paper, China's Antarctic Programs, on its Antarctic explorations, pledging to boost its capabilities in the exploration and study of the continent. The paper says China will build a new permanent station and advanced icebreakers, develop aerial capability for surveying transportation, and design scientific apparatus for the Antarctic environment.

Further easing set for foreign investment

A revised version of the Catalog for the Guidance of Foreign Investment Industries was approved on May 23 at the meeting of the Communist Party of China Central Committee's Central Leading Group for Deepening Overall Reform. China will ease restrictions on foreign investment, including a further opening-up in sectors such as services, manufacturing and mining, according to a news release issued after the meeting. The country should press ahead with opening up priority areas by expanding the use of negative lists. Negative lists are those where foreign investment is not permitted - other areas are understood to be open to investment.

Hangzhou buses first to all use mobile pay

Hangzhou Public Transportation Group announced on May 23 that it will have mobile payment terminals in its 5,000 downtown buses by the end of June and in the remaining 3,000 buses in outlying districts by the end of December. This means that mobile payment will be accepted on all public buses in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, by year's end, making the city the first in China to do so on all its buses and consolidating its reputation as a mobile application pioneer.

Seoul urged to 'pull thorn' that hurts ties

Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged Seoul to work with Beijing to "pull out the thorn" hurting their relations amid the two nations' efforts to improve ties jeopardized by the deployment of a US missile defense system. The Republic of Korea's new government, led by President Moon Jae-in, dispatched a special envoy to visit China immediately after Moon took office, which Wang says showed the country's desire to improve ties with China.

Better ways to tell China's stories sought

China's political advisers on May 23 discussed ways to tell Chinese stories better to promote Chinese culture. Members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee said during a consultation session that China should be confident about its culture as it tells its stories to the world. Yu Zhengsheng, chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, presided over the session.

TV, movie deal-makers descend on China

The MIP China Hangzhou International Content Summit, the first event marking the Cannes-based MIP's expansion into Asia, was held in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, from May 23 to 25. Forty Chinese companies had one-on-one meetings with 40 foreign players to talk about potential movie collaborations, and offered a series of forums discussing new trends. More than 350 studio executives and industry insiders from 19 countries and regions, including the United States, France, the United Kingdom, India and Singapore, participated in Hangzhou. MIP stands for Marche International des Programmes de Communication.

30 satellites set for launch by end of 2020

China will launch about 30 satellites before the end of 2020 for its domestically developed Beidou Navigation Satellite System, according to Ran Chengqi, director of the China Satellite Navigation Office, at the Eighth China Satellite Navigation Conference, which opened in Shanghai on May 23.Most of the new satellites to be launched during the coming three and a half years will be third-generation Beidou satellites, he added. More than 3,000 officials, experts and company representatives from China, the United States, Russia and other nations, as well as international organizations took part in the three-day industry conference, one of the largest in the field.

Book collects Xi's remarks on military

A book of selected remarks by President Xi Jinping on national defense and building a strong army has been published, military authorities say. The book includes 67 of Xi's statements made between November 2012 and April this year. Xi is also chairman of the Central Military Commission. The book was published by the People's Liberation Army Publishing House. Upon approval by the commission, it will be distributed to officers at the regimental level and above.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 05/26/2017 page2)

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