SHENZHEN: The first group of doctors from Taiwan took the National Qualification Examination for Physicians on Friday, three months after the Ministry of Health announced their eligibility to sit the annual test. The 262 medics were all tested in South China's Guangdong Province: 137 in Guangzhou, 120 in Shenzhen and five in Zhuhai. Cheng Hsiao-wei, who runs a cosmetic surgery clinic in Taipei, said he was a little nervous at the start of the exam but soon calmed down. "We don't have to operate medical equipment or take an oral test in Taiwan," Cheng told reporters after leaving the exam room at Shenzhen People's Hospital. Friday's exam focused on clinical procedures. It will be followed by a written test on medical theory in September. "There are many opportunities ahead as more and more Taiwanese are moving to or doing business on the mainland," Cheng said. "Therefore, the demand for Taiwanese physicians is also on the rise. But before entering the mainland market, we have to become familiar with the environment and learn from our counterparts there." Thomas Lin, a 33-year-old physician with the Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taipei, said he hoped the mainland would open up further to Taiwanese doctors. "It will be more attractive if we are allowed to open private clinics on the mainland after acquiring our qualifications, just like our peers from Hong Kong," Lin told China Daily. The government recently allowed permanent Hong Kong residents, who have practiced as physicians for at least five years and acquired the appropriate qualifications, to open private clinics on the mainland. "I think mainland residents will also welcome the increased competition with the entry of Taiwanese private clinics, which could help improve physicians' performance and services," Lin said. Since April, Taiwanese doctors have been allowed to apply for a one-year work permit for the mainland. At the end of the 12 months they can apply for a renewal. Wang Liji, an official with the Ministry of Health, said the decision to open up the qualification exam to Taiwanese doctors will encourage the establishment of Taiwan-funded medical institutes and open a new channel for the exchange of healthcare expertise across the Straits.
The weakening global economic environment will slow down growth in Asia and the Pacific, too, this year, but China, India and Japan are expected to keep up the momentum in the region, says the Economic and Social Survey of Asia-Pacific 2007. The three economies contribute more than 60 percent of the region's GDP and close to 45 percent of its imports, creating considerable opportunities for the whole region, says the survey, to be released today by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). Developing economies in the region grew at 7.9 percent in 2006, up from 7.6 percent in 2005. But their economic growth is projected to slow down to 7.4 percent this year. The decline is mainly because of the unfavorable external environment, including the slowing down of the US economy and falling demand for electronics across the world, says UNESCAP Executive Secretary Kim Hak-Su in a recorded video on the commission's website. The survey shows investment continues to grow in China, while investment and consumption posted healthy gains in the two special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao. The survey, however, warns against several downside risks in the region, such as a possible oil price hike, abrupt cooling of the US housing market, vulnerability of the currency, global imbalances and reversal of the Japanese economy after its recovery. To ensure better long-term growth in the region, the survey suggests Asian economies monitor the vulnerability of the currency and boost domestic demand through private investment.
BEIJING - The Silk Street market in Beijing, popular among tourists for cheap goods, tarnished its reputation as authorities seized fake name-brand sneakers and sports wear in the latest raid at the market. Law enforcement workers on Saturday confiscated 553 shoes of pirated Nike, 408 counterfeit Adidas shoes and 160 fake sports suits of the two famous brands after inspecting 11 booths at the market. An official with the Chaoyang branch of the Beijing Administration of Industry and Commerce said they had dealt with dozens of cases of fake products in the shopping mall so far this year. But the selling of fake goods still exists, especially at weekends, according to the official. The official said they are keeping tight inspection on fake goods. The Silk Street market, or Xiushui market in the Chaoyang District, has been popular with overseas tourists who have flocked to buy counterfeit and knock-off luxury clothes and accessories since 1985. In March 2005, the outdoor market moved to a multi-story building next to the Xiushui Street.
If you fancy "chicken without sexual life", "husband and wife's lung slice" or even "bean curd made by a pock-marked woman" then you will have to look elsewhere."Spring chicken", "pork lungs in chili sauce" and "stir-fried tofu in hot sauce" are the correct translations of dishes at some Beijing restaurants, according to an initiative designed to help visitors navigate bilingual menus.Currently, odd translations of food served up in the capital's eateries are causing food for thought.The Beijing Speaks Foreign Languages Program, and the Beijing tourism administration, is about to change all that.The project is part of Beijing's municipal tourism administration's preparation for the Olympic Games next year, when at least 500,000 foreigners are expected to visit.Beginning March 2006, the translation project gathered a database of dishes and drinks from 3-star rated hotels and large restaurants. A draft list was put online at the end of last year seeking public feedback.Subsequently, a second draft added more than 400 common dishes at restaurants in Beijing's Houhai and Wangjing districts, where foreigners like to gather.The recent draft has been online since last Saturday, at www.bjenglish.com.cn and www.bjta.gov.cn.The finished draft is likely to be published in October, said an official with the Beijing Speaks Foreign Languages Program, quoted by the Beijing News.The final version will be published online and "recommended" to restaurants.Restaurants will not be forced by the government to use the suggested translations, the newspaper quoted an unnamed tourism administration official as saying.
The government is to increase the level of pensions and housing subsidies for poor families in a bid to bridge the widening income gap. A State Council meeting chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday pledged to increase pensions for more than 40 million retirees from State-owned enterprises over the next three years. The government has already raised their pensions in the past three years by an average of 8 percent a year. But the cabinet considers the present pension level "still quite low". It said the increases over the next three years would exceed the rises made between 2005 and 2007 to "further ease social tensions caused by the income gap". The move is aimed at helping retired senior technology professionals and those who now get a relatively low pension. The cabinet ordered local governments to make sure this year's pensions are paid by the end of the month. While pledging to regularize pension increases, the cabinet also called for the development of other forms of pension rather than solely relying on the budget. It mentioned commercial and enterprise-funded insurance schemes. The average pension of enterprise employees is about 750 yuan (0) per month - the minimum salary set for developed cities, including Beijing. "With my pension, I can just about make ends meet. Consumer prices have kept on rising in the first half of this year," a 72-year-old retiree said. The cabinet also endorsed a plan to provide affordable housing to urban low-income groups. The policy aims to provide rent subsidies or low-rent housing for those who cannot afford commercial housing in the cities. By pledging to set aside more funding and land for the construction and acquisition of such housing, the government hopes to provide low-rent housing for all low-income urban residents - not just the poorest - by the end of 2010. The government aims to achieve this goal through multi-channels - construction, purchases, renovation and donations. "With the country's economic boom, it's time to share the pie with all levels of society," Chen Liangwen, an economic researcher with Peking University, said.
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CHENGDU - About 3.8 trillion cubic meters of natural gas deposits have been discovered in southwest China's Sichuan Basin, with verified exploitable reserves topping 600 billion cubic meters. The reserves were discovered in Dazhou, a gas-rich city in Sichuan Province. By 2010, the newly found deposits will raise the city's gas output to 24 billion cubic meters and sulphur to more than 4.3 million tons, according to a Dazhou official at the on-going Western China International Economy-Trade Fair on Saturday. China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the country's biggest oil and gas producer, and Sinopec Corporation, China's largest refiner, plan to build five purification plants in Dazhou and are expected to purify a total of 74 million cubic meters of natural gas a day by 2010. Dazhou City, located in eastern Sichuan, covers an area of 16,600 square kilometers with a population of 6.46 million.
At the end of a dusty narrow path cutting through a stretch of cornfields on the outskirts of Qingyang, an obscure town in Henan Province, looms a 3-hectare ground dotted with green tents, armored cars and bulldozers. Over the past three months, 315 Chinese engineering troops have gone through the rigors of tough day-night training here. And in a month from now, they will travel more than 8,000 km to Darfur in Sudan to be part of a special UN peacekeeping mission.Commander of UN Mission in Sudan Lieutenant General Jasbir Singh Lidder (L) hands over Unit Citations to Chinese peacekeepers for their excellent performance at the base of the Chinese peacekeeping troops on September 12, 2007. [Xinhua]The first international group of peacekeepers to be deployed in Darfur will build barracks, roads and bridges, and dig wells, which form the key to the accession of more UN peacekeepers to the region. The drills the engineering troops, with the UN's blue berets, perform in front a group of reporters from home and abroad show what they are capable of. In about 10 minutes, bulldozers and road-rollers smoothen a potholed path and soldiers use bare hands to move a 40-meter stretch of steel bridge into place over a ditch. In less than that time, another squad builds a cabin with prefabricated aluminum walls and a "UN" symbol on its side. On show, too, are impressive wrestling and battlefield aid performances."The engineering unit is manned by sturdy, versatile soldiers, mainly from the Jinan Military Area," says Lieutenant Colonel Dai Shaoan, deputy director of the Ministry of National Defense's peacekeeping affairs office. "They have wide experience in building roads and bridges and are fully competent for the mission."The Chinese troops are part of the "Annan Plan", a three-phased approach proposed by former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan to end the Darfur crisis. The plan calls for deploying a joint UN-African Union (AU) peacekeeping force in the 500,000-square-km arid Darfur region, plagued by conflicts over limited resources. Their deployment has been made possible after a hard-won diplomatic tug-of-war.Dai says the UN invited China in April to dispatch a multi-functional engineering unit to Dafur. Four months later, the world body requested that the unit be dispatched in early October."We are doing the preparatory jobs in line with the prescribed timetable to guarantee smooth implementation of the peacekeeping operation," says engineering unit head Shangguan Linhong.The force comprises three engineering platoons, a platoon each of well-diggers and 40 guards, a small hospital unit, 145 vehicles including excavators, bulldozers, road-rollers, power generators and armored personnel carriers, Shangguan says. All the vehicles are "brand new" from domestic companies and have undergone strict tests in line with UN standards.Since its formation in mid-June, the engineering unit has attended intensive courses, from emergency aid to simulating heat in Darfur and from studying UN regulations to getting to know Sudanese culture. "Everyone in our unit can communicate in English to a certain extent," Shangguan says.The UN raised the alarm on Darfur in 2003, and began looking for a lasting resolution to the ethnic conflict. The Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) was signed in May 2006, thanks to intensive diplomatic and political efforts of the UN, AU and other partners. It took more than one year after that to persuade the Sudanese authorities to accept the UN-AU "hybrid" peacekeeping force.President Hu Jintao met with his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir in Beijing last November and in Khartoum in February, and asked him to be flexible in his stance over Darfur and ensure that humanitarian aid was distributed properly among the refugees. In March, when Sudan and the UN differed over the implementation of the Annan Plan, China sent a special envoy several times to Khartoum to persuade the government to accept the UN resolution."I think the Sudanese government heeded China's advice," China's special representative for Darfur Liu Guijin said at a press conference in early July. Sudan agreed in June to have the "hybrid" force in Darfur after intense diplomatic efforts of the UN and the international community. Besides, China offered million in humanitarian aid to Sudan, with the last installment leaving Tianjin last month.The latest situation in Darfur is a mixture of good and bad. The UN says the mortality rate in the region is now below the emergency level because of the massive humanitarian efforts of the last four years. Also, malnutrition has been halved from mid-2004, when the crisis reached its peak.But in June, the UN Environment Programme reported an "unprecedented" long-term climate change in northern Darfur, saying its impacts are closely linked to the conflict.This is a real challenge for the Chinese engineering troops, but they are not unnecessarily perturbed. In fact, they are ready to overcome all obstacles on the road to peace."The challenges ahead of our peacekeeping troops are obvious," says Dai. Poor living conditions, lack of proper infrastructure and complex security situations are the obvious challenges. "But our army has a glorious tradition of being hard-working, particularly combat-worthy and of playing a contributory role."Major Ma, an officer with the engineering troops, says Chinese soldiers see the UN peacekeeping operation as a glorious opportunity. "Implementing a mission so far from the country and being part of the efforts to maintain peace in the world is a unique experience."All the soldiers in the battalion which Ma used to serve in the Jinan Military Area had applied to be part of the engineering unit for Darfur, and they included 18-year-old recruits, he says, and they had the full support of their families.But is Ma worried about the dangers in Darfur? The major says: "What we think of most is how to do a nice job. Danger and difficulties are normal for servicemen."China's peacekeepers till nowSince dispatching five military observers to the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) in 1990, China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) has sent 8,095 military personnel to 17 UN peacekeeping missions. Altogether, 1,648 Chinese officers and soldiers are serving in 10 UN missions and the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations today.Lieutenant Colonel Dai Shaoan, deputy director of the Ministry of National Defense's peacekeeping affairs office, says China will participate only in those peacekeeping missions that are in line with the UN Charter, which means those operations overseen by the UN Security Council.China has contributed peacekeepers in the shape of engineers and medical and transport units. It has not sent any combat troops for peacekeeping operations.But Dai says China has a "positive" attitude towards sending combat troops for future UN peacekeeping operations.
China kicked off an annual rural work conference in Beijing on Saturday to map out the country's strategies and policies for agricultural and rural development in 2008.China's rural development will continue to be one of the areas that top the government's agenda in the coming year, as stressed at the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) concluded in October.A recent CPC meeting urged continuing to modernize the agricultural sector to close the gap between urban areas and relatively underdeveloped rural regions in the coming year.The meeting called on to boost infrastructure constructions in rural areas, promote the steady development of agriculture, increase the income of farmers, ensure the basic supply of farm produce and improve the livelihood of rural population.It asked to establish a long-term mechanism for boosting the agriculture sector, continue to increase government investment on agriculture, give more support to the agricultural sector and boost grain production in 2008.Experts believed balancing inflation curbs and steady price hikes of farm produce for the good of farmers would be a key challenge for the Chinese government next year.Farm produce such as grain, meat and cooking oil, were major factors behind this year's soaring inflation.The Chinese government had pledged to modernize the agricultural industry and invest more money in the country's vast rural areas at the annual conference last year.The Party and government had annually devoted its first work document to rural development four times since 2004 to draw up a variety of preferential policies to support the rural sector. The move indicated that rural development was a top concern of the central government.This year's rural work conference is scheduled to last two days.
The Bank of Communications (BoCom), China's fifth largest lender, said its net profit reached20.3 billion yuan (2.86 billion U.S. dollars) in 2007, up 65 percent from 2006. By the end of 2007, total assets of BoCom stood at 2.1 trillion yuan, up 22.7 percent from a year earlier, according to its 2007 annual report released on Wednesday. Net interest rate income rose 36 percent to 54.1 billion yuan and fee income from credit card sales and asset management products surged 137 percent to 7.1 billion yuan. The Shanghai-based bank and HSBC Holdings Plc., which holds a roughly 19 percent stake in BoCom, are preparing to establish a credit card company and a pension fund company, according to the report. BoCom, which listed on the Hong Kong stock market in 2005, returned to the mainland's A share market in April last year. Its shares rose 2.77 percent to 10.39 yuan in Shanghai on Wednesday.