BEIJING - The People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, on Thursday asked its local offices to ensure cash supplies amid persistent snow to meet demand for the Spring Festival, which falls on February 7.Snow has disrupted transportation, making it hard to deliver cash to the branches.The central bank, in a circular, urged its local offices to help commercial banks in getting or storing cash.The heavy snow that has fallen since mid-January, the worst in 50 years in much of China, has paralyzed transportation, frozen the power grid and caused serious economic losses.It showed no signs of abating as forecasters warned of three more days of snow and sleet.
BEIJING -- China pledged to normalize life and production in snow-hit provinces as early as possible at an executive meeting here on Wednesday to make arrangements on the issue of rebuilding in these areas.Premier Wen Jiabao presided over the executive meeting of the State Council, China's Cabinet.The meeting marks a turning point of China shifting the focus of its efforts from disaster relief to reconstruction of the badly hit areas. The State Council spoke highly of the joint efforts made by civilians, troops and police to fight the snow-caused catastrophes.Currently, transport has returned to normal nationwide and damaged power supply and transmission networks are being repaired. In the affected areas, power supply for residential use has basically been restored, markets are stable and social order has been maintained, according to the meeting.The meeting warned local governments and departments concerned not to relax as in some areas power supply facilities were yet repaired. In addition, the transport of power-use coal was still difficult, large areas of croplands were completely destroyed and life is very hard for local people.The State Council asked local authorities to organize manpower, materials and funds to rebuild damaged infrastructure, restore industrial and agricultural production and normalize people's lives as early as possible while trying hard to minimize losses caused by the catastrophe.According to the meeting, power supply in the affected areas must be completely normalized by the end of March, while transport facilities, telecom networks and radio and TV broadcasting networks must be normalized as quickly as possible.The State Council also made detailed plans for restoring industrial and agricultural production in the affected areas, including the providing of crop seeds and food to affected farmers and in increasing coal, power and oil shipments to affected areas.According to the latest official statistics, snow-caused catastrophes have killed 107 and caused 111.1 billion yuan (US.4 billion) in direct financial loss.Altogether, 21 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have been affected. About 1.5 million people have been evacuated, and 1.93 million stranded passengers have been transported out.The extreme weather affected nearly 24.4 million hectares of farmland and 18.6 million hectares of forests.The State Forestry Administration has allocated a total of 34.3 million yuan (US.7 million) for subsidy to the worst-hit six provinces.The forestry administration also made plans to cut back relative taxes to relieve farmers and encourage production after the snow storms.The Ministry of Science and Technology has proposed to provide technology support for the snow stricken areas, to help with restoring industrial and agricultural production.Wan Gang, Minister of Science and Technology, said on a work conference here on Wednesday the ministry would closely monitor secondary disasters that might come along with the snow storm, send technicians to snow-hit areas to facilitate power grid reconstruction and agricultural production.He also said the ministry will strengthen the country's alarm system against natural disasters by granting more funds into research in related areas.The science ministry has already allocated 20 million yuan (US.73 million) to help with disaster relief, and have distributed science brochures compiled by the ministry to snow stricken areas.It also ordered relevant departments to monitor possible secondary disasters coming along with the low temperature, snow and freezing rain.In addition, the ministries of civil affairs and finance have allocated a total of 535 million yuan (US.79 million) in emergency funding to regions affected by the disaster.The two ministries have so far earmarked another 710 million yuan for needy urban and rural residents in seven of the worst-hit provinces and regions as temporary subsidies.
CHANGSHA -- China will spend 16.5 billion yuan to protect and restore its wetlands during the 11th five-year-plan period (2006-2010). Addressing a recent forum on the Yangtze River held in Changsha, the capital of Central China's Hunan Province, Zhu Lieke, deputy head of the State Forestry Administration, said China has made an inventory of 173 wetlands, most of which are in northeast China and the Yangtze River Valley. Thirty of the country's wetlands are listed in the international wetland catalogue, and one third of them are situated along the Yangtze. "Phenomena such as the rapid drop in the number of lakes and fast shrinkage in lake area got worse as China's economy tears through resources," said Zhu, who warned that wetlands in the Yangtze River Valley face uNPRecedented ecological threats. "The problems that plague wetlands in the Yangtze River Valley include pollution, ecological degradation and dwindling water resources," said Zhu. "The protection of our wetlands is urgent." The 6,300-km-long Yangtze, the country's longest, originates in the Tanggula Range on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and passes through Qinghai, Tibet, Sichuan, Yunnan, Chongqing, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui, Jiangsu and Shanghai before emptying into the East China Sea. Wetlands in the Yangtze River Valley include salty plateau lakes and plateau marshlands, the galaxy of lakes on the middle reaches of the Yangtze, and the coastal wetland near Chongming Island at the estuary of the river. Dongting Lake, which flows into the Yangtze River and also serves as an important wetland, for instance, is shockingly polluted. Marine life has been decimated and people are catching a disease called schistosomiasis -- caught by swimming or wading in water where there are parasitic worms. The water area of Dongting Lake has shrunk from 4,350 sq km in 1949 to present 2,625 sq km as a result of silting and land reclamation for farming. According to Zhu, the country has already launched three programs to protect the wetlands in the Yangtze River Valley, including the national program for conservation of wildlife, plants and nature reserves, and the program to protect the Sanjiangyuan wetland in Qinghai Province. But much remains to be done.
Rescuers take a rest outside a flooded coal mine in Xintai City, East China's Shandong Province, Aug. 18, 2007. One hundred and seventy-two miners were trapped in a flooded coal mine in Xintai, authoritative sources said on Saturday morning. [Xinhua]XINTAI, Shandong Province -- One hundred and seventy-two miners were trapped in a flooded coal mine in east China's Shandong province, authoritative sources said on Saturday morning.The flooding occurred at around 2:30 p.m. Friday in the coal mine of Huayuan Mining Co. Ltd (formerly known as Zhangzhuang coalmine) in Xintai City, about 150 kilometers south of Jinan, Shandong's capital.A total of 756 miners were working underground at the time of the flooding and 584 managed to escape after the accident, Xu Qinyu, general manager of the company said on Saturday morning.Downpours hit the area Friday with a precipitation of 205 millimeters, triggering flash flood and a 50-meter breach of a levee of the Wen river in the region.Floodwater from the Wen river swamped the coal mine via an old shaft. A 100-millimeter rainfall Saturday night worsened the flooding situation. The rain ended around 7 a.m. Saturday.By 8:50 a.m., the working places under the mine have been all inundated, according to the rescue headquarters.Wang Ziqi, director of the Shandong coal mine safety administration, said the trapped miners had only slim chances of survival.Most of the trapped people were from rural areas in Tai'an City and surrounding areas, said Wang Junmin, vice governor of Shandong.About 2,000 Chinese People's Liberation Army troops, armed police and miners have closed up a 30-meter section of the breached levee of the Wen river by midday Saturday.The closure of the breach is crucial to the rescue efforts and it will stop water from continuing to flow into the mine, according to rescuers.In a separate accident in Xintai, nine people were trapped in the Minggong coal mine after it flooded because of the rainstorms.Ninety-five people were working underground when the accident happened. Eight-six have been lifted alive. Rescue work is underway.Li Yizhong, director of the Administration of Work Safety and Zhao Tiechui, director of the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety, have rushed to the site to oversee rescue efforts.The work safety watchdog issued on Saturday an emergency notice urging coal mines to draw lessons from the Huayuan mine accident and immediately take preventive measures against rainstorm-triggered floods.Huayuan Mining Co. Ltd is a licensed enterprise with an annual capacity of 750,000 tons.Rescuers prepare to install the drain pipes outside the flooded coal mine in Xintai City, East China's Shandong Province, Aug. 18, 2007. One hundred and seventy-two miners were trapped in the flooded coal mine, authoritative sources said on Saturday morning. [Xinhua]Rescuers work outside the flooded coal mine in Xintai City, East China's Shandong Province, Aug. 18, 2007. One hundred and seventy-two miners were trapped in the flooded coal mine, authoritative sources said on Saturday morning. [Xinhua]
BEIJING -- The Chinese government on Sunday promulgated a revised decree to strike the activities of driving up prices through hoarding or cheating.The revision was made on the basis of regulations passed in 1999 and amended in February 2006 by the State Council.The new decree, effective as of Sunday, raises the maximum fine to 1 million yuan(US,000), which almost triples the sum in the old regulations, for those who manipulate market prices and ignore the prices advised by the government under emergencies.Commercial associations which deliberately spread rumors on price information can be fined at a maximum of 500,000 yuan. Those who severely violate the decree may have their legal certificates revoked.The State Council and local governments can set profit ratios or price ceilings for key items of goods and services when prices rise too sharp, according to the decree.
There is perhaps no better time to savor the charm of Tian'anmen Square than during the week-long National Day holiday.Two girls pose with small national flags on Tian'anmen Square September 30, 2007, the eve of the week-long National Day holiday. [Xinhua] Stretching in front of the Forbidden City, it is ablaze with the color of 400,000 pots of flowers in full bloom.This year's major events can be seen at the city's center. Looking east are scale models of the Acropolis in Athens, the Great Wall, and a 9.8-meter Olympic torch, which represents the torch relay from Greece to China.To the south can be seen models of the Temple of Heaven and major scenes marking key events in the history of the Communist Party of China (CPC) to welcome the 17th National Congress of the CPC which starts on October 15.A big fountain sprouts water as high as 60 meters in the middle of the square surrounded by a bed of flowers."The square is always the best place to experience the festive atmosphere of the National Day," Deng Chuanmei, 48, a visitor from Jiangsu Province, said.Wei Liqing, a Beijing resident, said she has taken photos and videos at the square every National Day holiday since 1992. "I want to record the pace and growth of our country," she said.Work on the decorations and flower displays started about 25 days ago, and was carried out at night to avoid disrupting tourists and traffic, Zhou Jianping, an official with the Beijing gardening and forestation bureau, said.He said this year's decorations include 130 kinds of flowers, of which more than 20 will also be on display during the next year's Olympic Games. If weather permits, the flowers will be shown until the end of the month.The national flag raising ceremony will also be a major attraction. At dawn today, an estimated 200,000 people will gather at Tian'anmen Square to watch the event.The capital's tourism administration bureau has predicted that about 1.7 million people will visit the capital during the seven-day holiday.
厦门搜索引擎优化排名
BEIJING -- One in four Chinese Internet users has a blog, with the activity especially popular among students and young office staff, said a report on blog development in China released on Wednesday.China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) surveyed 1,862 Internet users in late November. Extrapolating from this group, CNNIC calculated that 47 million Chinese have blogged, more than one fourth of the 180 million people who have surfed the net in China. But many blogs have gone blank: only a persistent 36 percent kept their sites updated.Although small compared with the 1.3 billion population of China, the active blogger population has doubled almost every year. China's first blog appeared in 2002; registered blog spaces exceeded 33 million in 2006A large proportion of Chinese bloggers are assumed to be students, as the survey showed that more than 30 percent of them earned less than 500 yuan (US.5) each month or had no income at all. About 23 percent earned 1,500 to 3,000 yuan, which is the monthly entry-level salary of many white-collar employees in China.
Wu Bangguo,chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress,delivers a speech during the seminar marking the 10th anniversary of implementing the Basic Law in Beijing June 6, 2007. [Reuters]The central government will continue to support Hong Kong in developing a democratic system that suits its conditions, but any reform must be gradual and in accordance with the Basic Law, top legislator Wu Bangguo said yesterday in Beijing. Wu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the top legislature, made the remarks at a seminar marking the 10th anniversary of implementing the Basic Law. The Basic Law is the constitutional document for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR). It enshrines the key concepts of "one country, two systems", "Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong" and "a high degree of autonomy". Wu said events have proved, and will continue to prove, that the principle of "one country, two systems" is workable and feasible and the Basic Law is a sound law able to withstand the test of time. He emphasized that Hong Kong must uphold State sovereignty and ensure prosperity and stability while enjoying a high degree of autonomy. Being an SAR directly under the central government, "Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy is not intrinsic, but authorized by the central government". "It only has as much power as authorized by the central government. There is no so-called residual power." But Wu said the central government will never interfere in affairs within the purview of the autonomy of the SAR. Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang said at the seminar that the SAR has retained its international features, rule by law and various kinds of freedoms guaranteed by the Basic Law after its return to the motherland. "With State care and assistance, we have strived to display our unique advantages and made significant achievements widely recognized by the international community," Tsang said. The Basic Law has laid a solid foundation for Hong Kong's economic and social development and the improvement of people's livelihood, he added. Former secretary of justice Elsie Leung added that to achieve the ultimate goal of universal suffrage, and maintain prosperity and stability in Hong Kong, it is necessary to have a clear understanding of the relationship between the central government and Hong KongLeung said Hong Kong has made gradual progress in democracy in accordance with the Basic Law over the years. Since its return to the motherland in 1997, the number of members in the Election Committee, which elects the chief executive, has grown from 400 to 800; and they are from different social strata and sectors. In the Legislative Council, the number of directly elected seats has also increased from one-third in the first term to half in the third term. The Basic Law itself is a result of broad participation of Hong Kong citizens as well, Wu said, pointing out that 23 of the 59 members of the drafting committee were from Hong Kong. The full text of the draft law was made public twice for public comments. Different social strata, sectors and groups in Hong Kong came up with nearly 80,000 comments and proposals. "In other words, each and every article of the Basic Law represents the broad consensus of Hong Kong society," Wu said.
GUANGZHOU: Having a good job is pretty important to many women - that is unless they can find a wealthy husband to look after them.A recent survey of women in Guangdong Province revealed that almost half would rather prefer marry a rich man than get a good job.At 45.2 percent, the figure is 8.9 percent higher than the country's average.The survey showed many women are still very conservative in the province that borders Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, according to an official from Guangdong Provincial Women's Federation.The federation conducted the "Survey and Analysis on the Social Gender Concepts in Guangdong Province" early this year."A large percentage of local women still have the traditional idea of relying on their husbands after they have married," said the official who did not want to be named yesterday.Women who are less educated have a stronger desire to marry rich men and rely on their husbands, she added.Chen Wenqi, a local white collar worker, however, said she would refuse to rely on her future husband.Chen said she would never marry a rich man who she did not love at all."Men and women should be equal both at work and at home and wives should not rely much on their husbands if they have the ability to work," Chen told China Daily yesterday.The 27-year-old works for a local foreign-funded logistics company.The survey also revealed the number of rural women who said a rich husband was better than having a good job, was 11.7 percent more than their urban counterparts."The tendency of independence often goes against the economic and social status of the women," Wang Xiongjun, a sociology PhD student at Peking University, said."The more you can support yourself with a decent life, the less you are willing to depend on others, even your spouse."And 75.1 percent of the Cantonese women said they would continue to work even after they married rich husbands.The figure is also nearly 13 percent lower than the country's average.Most of the local women agreed that husbands should focus their efforts on work and social events while wives must spend much of their time on family and housework.More than 40 percent of women said being good looking was more beneficial to finding a good job, then having ability.On the sex issue, men are slightly more lenient than women when it comes to forgiving infidelity. About 47.5 percent of women said they would excuse their husbands for being unfaithful once, compared to 50.3 percent of men.
The Chinese-African People's Friendship Association (CAPFA) will nominate 10 Africans Who Have Deeply Moved Chinese People next month, in a moved aimed at cementing civilian diplomacy between the two sides.The 10 candidates are expected to be unveiled at the next Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FCAC) late next year.Chen Haosu"CAPFA's recognition will benefit both peoples by enhancing mutual understanding and trust," Chen Haosu, president of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, said.The awards will go to Africans "who have made great contributions to bilateral ties", Wang Tong, an representative of the CAPFA, said, adding that the association is identifying criteria of eligible candidates.The first round of nominations will involve all 131 councilors of the CAPFA, Liu Hongmin, also from the association, said."Our councilors include big Chinese entrepreneurs such as Huawei Technologies and ZTE, among others," he said. "They are the most suitable to put forward nominees because of their significant investments in Africa."Liu said the 10 winners will be just one part of the second China-Africa Friendship Award. The other part will be the 10 Chinese Who Have Deeply Moved the African People. This will be the second time such awards have been givenThe first 10 winners - which included doctors, journalists, scholars and politicians - were announced in Beijing during the FCAC in November 2006."These awards reflect sincere friendship and intense people-to-people communication, though China and Africa are distant from each other," Dai Yan, a former councilor in Ghana, said."But both peoples still have a long way to go to truly understand each other because of cultural differences," he said. More African people have traveled to China as bilateral ties have developed over the past years.The number of Africans coming to Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, has increased by 30 percent every year since 2003. Most of these newcomers are traders.The city now has about 20,000 African residents, Huang Shiding, of the Guangzhou Academy of Social Sciences, estimated.Beyond the world of business, "500-600 African students are studying in universities and colleges in Beijing," Wang said.Meanwhile, on the other side of the globe, a growing number of Chinese people have settled down in Africa.In one reflection of the impact they are making, people in Nigeria crowned tribal chieftains from China in 2001 and 2007.