WUHAN -- The rainstorm and floods have killed 68 people and 25 others were missing in central China's Hubei Province since the flood season began in June, according to local government. Another 402,200 people have been evacuated from affected areas, said Liu Hui, deputy head of the disaster relief office under the provincial civil affairs department at a press conference on Sunday afternoon. Hubei, which is also called "the province of thousands of lakes", has experienced six major rainstorms since June, which have triggered floods in more than 2,000 rivers, mountain torrents and landslides, causing an economic loss of more than 3,800 million yuan, said Liu. The central and local governments had allocated more than 90.5 million yuan of relief fund to the affected areas and all the evacuated people have been well accommodated, said Liu. "The evacuated residents have been arranged to live in tents, government buildings, schools or at their relatives and local governments have sent medical teams to treat the injured," said Liu. The official with the provincial flood control office warned local government of preparing for new floods as heavy rainstorms were said to hit Hubei from Tuesday to Friday. "Although the large rivers, like the Yangtze and the Hanjiang Rivers, remain calm so far, the water level of 2,000 rivers of smaller size have risen dramatically, posing a serious threat to the flood control in the counties where the dams are poorly maintained," said Guo Zhigao, deputy director of the provincial flood control office. In addition, most of the reservoirs in Hubei have used out its capacity and some were even reported with leakage and overflow, according to Guo. More than 90,000 people have been patrolling on the dams and around the reservoir and residents nearby have been asked to evacuated to safe places. (One U.S. dollar equals 7.6 yuan)
The central government has ordered coal firms to stop driving up prices and said they must honor their supply contracts with power plants in an effort to head off a power shortage.At the request of the National Development and Reform Commission, the China Coal Transportation and Distribution Association has threatened to cancel the license of any company that ignores the order to stabilize prices."Coal producers must strictly implement their contract prices for 2008 and must not take advantage of the current tight supply to raise prices as they like," the association said in a circular issued yesterday.Prices should be held at around the same level as at the end of last year, the circular said.The government is also banning all coal shipments other than those to power plants.The crackdown comes as the country faces a severe power shortage. Several power plants are struggling to secure the coal they need, while others are reducing their output rather than lose money as coal prices soar.Brownouts have already hit at least 13 provinces, and at its peak last week, nationwide demand outstripped supply by nearly 70 gigawatts, the People's Daily newspaper reported yesterday.About 80 percent of China's electricity is generated by burning coal.The crackdown on unsafe mines, high global demand, which pushed up prices and the cold snap that has closed roads and downed cables have added to the problem, an official from the State regulator said.
National guidelines on economically affordable housing were released on Friday night along with new State measures on housing for low-income families, which come into effect on Saturday.Economically affordable houses ought to be around 60 sq m per unit, said the guidelines jointly released by the Ministry of Construction, the National Development and Reform Commission, and five other ministries.It said eligible purchasers will "have limited property rights", and that the apartments can only be directly sold after five years.Moreover, the document limited fundraising for cooperative housing units to independent mining corporations on the outskirts of cities and enterprises with a significant number of employees with housing problems, while stressing that they must do so with their own properties.Eligible applicants of the Measure on Low-rent Housing Security, meanwhile, are no longer limited to city households with the lowest income, but will also include all lower-income urban families with housing issues.Government subsidies, the usual means of securing housing for these social groups, are to be gathered from rental fees on low-rent housing, credit risk reserves, housing provident funds, social donations and security funds. Local governments must also spend 10 per-cent of the local land-use fees on developing low-rent housing, said the measure, released by nine ministries on Monday.Because situations vary across the 656 cities that had adopted the mechanism as of October, the measure allows special funds to be allocated to central and western regions that find it financially difficult to support the construction of low-rent homes.Additionally, the construction area of these apartments, limited to 50 sq m per unit, should be granted preferential status on a stand-alone basis in land supply schemes and annual land-use applications.Months earlier, the central government urged local governments to reserve at least 70 percent of the land designated for residential construction for units under 90 sq m. But since the housing security system is expected to cover all low-income Chinese families by 2010, implementation of the new measure and relevant policies has a long way to go.Figures from the Ministry of Construction show that nearly 10 million households still live in a housing space, per capita, of less than 10 sq m. Up to the end of 2006, only 268,000 families, or 6.7 percent of all households living on a minimum allowance, and 2.7 percent of all low-income households in China, had benefited from low-rent housing policies.Despite a record 7.04 billion yuan (.52 million) of central government investment in low-income housing so far this year, 50 billion yuan is needed every year for the next five years to continue to broaden coverage, the People's Daily reported.To address the housing problems of urban low-income families, for example, Shanghai is to pour in a total of 2 billion yuan in providing 500,000 sq m of low-rent apartments by the end of this year, Shanghai's Jiefang Daily reported on Friday.The money will come from the 8.3 billion yuan coffers of the Shanghai public housing reserve fund.Cong Chen, a staffer at the Department of Policy and Regulation of Shanghai Provident Fund Management Center, confirmed the information.The project, launched last month, has already secured 150,000 sq m of land in Jiading, Baoshan and several other districts in Shanghai, 70 percent of which are completed flats.These flats are said to be lo-cated in areas with comparatively mature transportation and living facilities, such as metro stations and bus stops, for the convenience of low-income tenants, the Jiefang Daily said.
TOKYO - Japan's Supreme Court on Friday overturned a landmark ruling that had ordered a Japanese company to compensate Chinese who were forced to work as slave labourers during World War Two. It was the first ruling by Japan's top court on whether foreigners forcibly brought to Japan to work during and before World War Two had the right to compensation. A lower court had ordered Japanese construction firm Nishimatsu Construction Co. Ltd. to pay a total of 27.5 million yen (0,000) in compensation to a group of five Chinese for forcing them to labour in Japan during World War Two.
Visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (L) is greeted by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe upon his arrival at Abe's official residence in Tokyo April 11, 2007. Wen arrived in Japan on Wednesday. [Reuters]TOKYO: Premier Wen Jiabao and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe Wednesday agreed on concrete steps to build mutually beneficial strategic ties. Wen's three-day trip, the first by a Chinese premier in nearly seven years, comes six months after Abe went to Beijing to mend ties chilled by his predecessor Junichiro Koizumi, who repeatedly visited Yasukuni Shrine that honors Japan's war criminals of World War II. Yesterday, the two leaders declared their firm intention to move forward on rebuilding relations, signed agreements on energy and the environment and issued a joint statement that spelt out issues for cooperation. An environmental accord called for the two to work on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol on climate change by 2013. The other agreement committed the two nations to cooperate on developing energy resources and building nuclear power plants in China. In the joint statement, the two vowed to seek ways to jointly develop gas deposits in disputed waters, pursue the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and strengthen defense cooperation. During their talks, Wen said that the history issue is crucial for bilateral relations as it affects the national feeling of the Chinese people. It could be an obstacle to improved ties if not handled well, he added. He urged the Japanese leaders to face up to history and "open up good, forward-looking relations toward a beautiful future". Wen also reiterated China's position on the Taiwan question, hoping the Japanese side can realize the acute sensitivity of the issue and deal with it properly. Abe reiterated Japan's commitment to the principles enunciated in the three joint documents directing bilateral relations. On disputed waters in the East China Sea, the two sides agreed to speed up the negotiation process to seek a solution that is acceptable to both. The two sides pledged to make the area "a sea of peace, cooperation and friendship". Wen arrived in Tokyo just hours after the two countries signed an accord lifting Beijing's four-year ban on Japanese rice imports. China banned imports in 2003, claiming Japanese rice did not meet the requirements of its revised quarantine system. Wen is scheduled to address Japan's parliament today. He will also meet Emperor Akihito and co-chair an inaugural meeting with Abe on a high-level economic dialogue that will involve officials at the ministerial level and above. He will even join in a game of baseball - a popular sport in Japan - tomorrow with college students in western Japan before returning. Meanwhile, Abe accepted an invitation to visit China again this year. Though no timetable has been set, it is widely believed that he will visit in the autumn to attend the celebrations marking the 35th anniversary of the normalization of bilateral relations. His trip is seen as setting the stage for President Hu Jintao's first visit to Japan next year.
漳州矫正牙齿过程
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao delivers a keynote speech at a national meeting to honor 355 Chinese counties and cities as models in the work of "Shuangyong," in Beiing, on Jan. 4, 2008. Wen called for greater efforts to be made in the area of unity between the army and the government and between the army and the people. [Xinhua]Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Friday called for greater efforts to be made in the area of unity between the army and the government and between the army and the people.He issued the call at a national meeting to honor 355 Chinese counties and cities as models in the work of "Shuangyong.""Shuangyong" is a word used to convey the concept of mutual support, namely that "the government and the people support the military and give preferential treatment to the families of servicemen and martyrs, and the military supports the government and cherishes the people."Wen said: "It is of extreme importance to consolidate the solidarity between the military and the government and between the military and the people." He noted that doing so would safeguard the country's economic and social development and the building of a modernized armed force.Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao presents awards to representatives during a national meeting to honor 355 Chinese counties and cities as models in the work of "Shuangyong," in Beiing, on Jan. 4, 2008. [Xinhua]Wen said that "shuangyong" had long been a good tradition and a unique political advantage for the Party, army and people.It is an irrefutable truth that "so long as the army and people are united as one, they can defeat any enemy," the premier said.Wen asked Party organizations and governments at all levels to put this work high on their agenda, strengthen guidance at grassroots levels, and incorporate the concept of "putting people first" into practice.
A court has upheld the life imprisonment sentence handed down to the former secretary of Shanghai's sacked Party chief Chen Liangyu, Caijing magazine said on its website on Friday.The Jilin Provincial High People's Court rejected the appeal of 43-year-old Qin Yu despite his insistence he deserved a lesser sentence.Qin argued that as well as freely confessing his involvement in the 3.7 billion yuan (2 million) social security fund embezzlement scandal, he provided a lot of information to aid the investigation, which toppled his boss Chen Liangyu.The high court, however, was unconvinced, and on Thursday upheld the life sentence verdict reached by the Changchun Intermediate People' Court on September 25 this year, the report said.Before becoming Chen's secretary in 1995, Qin worked as a university professor.He was made head of the Baoshan district government shortly before the investigation into the social security fund scandal officially began in July 2006.At his first trial, Qin was found guilty of taking bribes totaling 6.8 million yuan from Zhang Rongkun, the former chairman of the Feidian Investment Company.Zhang was the first person to be arrested in the scandal, which was exposed more than a year ago.It later brought down several high-ranking officials including the former Shanghai Party chief, Chen.He is the highest-ranking Party official to be axed in more than a decade.Zhang's case is still pending.Meanwhile, in an unrelated case, on Thursday, Wang Chengming, the former chairman of Shanghai Electric Group Co and former president of Shanghai SVA (Group) Co Ltd, was given the death penalty with a reprieve for his involvement in collective embezzlement and taking bribes.While he was president of Shanghai SVA, Wang and two other senior business executives, Yan Jinbao and Lu Tianming, pocketed more than 300 million yuan from illegal land transfer deals in Shanghai, a statement by the Changchun Intermediate People's Court said.Yan was sentenced to life imprisonment and Lu was given 15 years, the Caijing website said.Xinhua contributed to the story
The first national-level association of Taiwan-funded enterprises held its inaugural ceremony in Beijing yesterday - a move which experts say will help boost cross-Straits economic integration and peace. "Taiwan business people are all over the mainland now," said Chang Han-wen, the newly-elected chairman of the Association of Taiwanese-invested Enterprises on the Mainland. According to conservative estimates, there are at least 1 million Taiwan business people on the mainland. The national-level association, comprising heads of Taiwan enterprise associations and representatives of Taiwan enterprises on the mainland, aims to serve the island's enterprises, protect their legal rights, boost relations with the ministries in Beijing and strengthen communication with mainland firms. Chen Yunlin, head of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said the island has chalked up a huge trade surplus with the mainland and its trade with the mainland has become an indispensable driving force of Taiwan's economy. "The mainland market provides huge potential for the expansion and industrial upgrading of Taiwan enterprises," he said. Xu Shiquan, vice-chairman of the National Society of Taiwan Studies, said that the establishment of the association coincides with the mushrooming of Taiwan-funded enterprises on the mainland. "Besides their number and scale, more and more Taiwan enterprises are keen to upgrade their industrial structure into the hi-tech sector," he said. "Though they usually forge local associations, faster expansion and a larger scale require a higher level of coordination," he said. Feng Bangyan, director of the Institute of Taiwan Economy at Jinan University in Guangzhou, said the association, which brings together many business heavyweights, would definitely pressure Taiwan authorities to grant more freedom for economic growth. "The secessionists forces on the island can't hinder the ever-increasing economic bonds linking the two sides across the Straits," he said.
The average pork price has dropped to 12.61 yuan this week, 9.61 percent lower than the peak price on August 9, said China's economic planner after pork prices nearly doubled in the past eight months due to short supply and mounting production costs.The prices have seen a consecutive drop for the eighth week, down by 3.45 percent from the end of August, as the piglets raised since May and June grew ready for the market to add to the pork supply.Pigs daily butchered in 36 major cities have increased by 12.6 percent from August, and the supply is expected to keep rising, said the National Development and Reform Commission.But the Ministry of Commerce said the decline in the pork prices would probably stop as demand surges during the ongoing National Day holiday and feedstuff prices stay high.The soaring pork prices is a major contributor to the general food price hikes that drive up the consumer price index to a 6.5 percent increase in August.