China details stance on continental shelf

The Chinese Permanent Mission to the UN has presented a note to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. In the note, China urges the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf not to review the joint submission of information by Malaysia and Vietnam. The two countries presented on Wednesday a joint submission to the UN on the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles.





TheChinesePermanentMissiontotheUNhaspresenteda
notetotheUNSecretary-GeneralBanKi-moon.Inthenote,
ChinaurgestheCommissionontheLimitsoftheContinental
Shelfnottoreviewthejointsubmissionofinformationby
MalaysiaandVietnam.

The Chinese government said in its note presented a day later that the submission by Malaysia and Vietnam infringes upon China's sovereignty and jurisdiction in the South China Sea. And China urges the UN commission not to consider the case in accordance with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and relevant UN rules.

Rediscovering China

Rediscovering China, a feature program of the English Service of China Central Television is the only weekly program on China to explore contemporary Chinese culture and social changes totally through foreigners eyes. All hosts on the show come from non-Chinese backgrounds.

Watching this program, you will witness the far reaching changes brought about by the historic opening up and reform policies introduced since the late 1970s; experience contrasts and diversities of many cultures; and discover the variety of new interests and lifestyle changes of the Chinese people in this fast moving 21st century.

With unique viewpoints and colorful revelations, Rediscovering China brings a portrait of New China to everyone with a healthy curiosity and questions about this acient and fabled land.

Rediscovering China is an exciting, insightful up to the minute bridge between East and West.

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E-mail: RediscoveringChina@ cctv.com

Cross-talk Veteran Li Wenhua Passed away

Chinese cross-talk veteran Li Wenhua died of a cancer-caused chronic pulmonary heart disease early Saturday morning at the age of 82.

FilephotoofLiWenhua[Photo:sina.com]

Li started his stage career in 1962 and become a household name in China in the early 1980s when he partnered with Jiang Kun.

However, he was diagnosed of laryngeal cancer in 1983 and underwent a throat surgery in 1985 which forced him out of performance.

He was awarded one of the top 10 comics in China in 1985.

China calls for joint efforts with EU against protectionism

Special Report:EU-China HED

BRUSSELS, May 7 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) and China should work together to ward off potential surge of protectionism amid the global economic slump, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan said on Thursday.





ChineseVicePremierWangQishan(L)shakes
handswithEuropeanUnionCommissionerfor
TradeCatherineAshtonpriortotheSecond
China-EUHighLevelEconomicandTradeDialog
attheEUheadquartersinBrussels,capital
ofBelgium,May7,2009.(Xinhua/WuWei)

"China and the EU should stand firm against any form of protectionism for the sake of a global economic recovery," Wang said in an opening remark at a high-level economic and trade dialogue between the EU and China, two major trading powers in the world.

The EU is now China's largest trading partner, while China is the second largest of the EU. Trade volume between them grew to 425.58 billion U.S. dollars in 2008, an increase of 19.5 percent over the previous year despite the impact of the financial crisis, according to figures from China's customs authorities.

Wang said the two sides have every reason to avoid protectionism, either for the urgent need to work out of the current crisis or due to the irreversible trend of globalization.

China bid to host FIBA 2014 World Championship

China aims to make a successful bid for the 2014 FIBA Men's World Championship. But international basketball's governing body is issuing a new challenge, by asking the bidding countries to help to find a sponsor for 2010 to 2014.

China is one of the three countries bidding for the tournament, together with Spain and Italy. Italy is one of the founding members of FIBA, and Spain won the 2006 world championship, so both countries are strong competitors for China.

The future sponsor will need to spend six-million Euros to support FIBA over five-years. That won't be an easy task during the current world economic downturn, and it is turning into one of the biggest issues ahead of the FIBA vote on May 23rd.

Sun Kanglin, director, Beijing municipal sports bureau, said, "Generally speaking, China should be able to walk out of the shadow of the economic downturn faster than other countries. But that doesn't mean no companies from our competitors' countries want to be the partner for FIBA. So the situation for us is not clear yet. We also face big difficulties on this issue."

Triple Olympic champion gymnast Yang retires

BEIJING, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Three-time Olympic champion of gymnastics Yang Wei, double Olympic gold medallist in the Beijing Games, confirmed his retirement on Thursday.

The 29-year-old spearheaded China to the men's team title and collected all-around individual to cap his prolific career. Yang was also a member in China's win of men's team in the Sydney Olympics. Before culminating in Beijing, Yang also won seven world titles and two Olympic silvers in an international career spanning13 years.

According to Yang, the injury forced him to retire and gave up hope of taking part in China's 11th National Games in October.

"I just can not handle it now although my mind is still there to compete on at least for the national games," said Yang, who pondered to quit at the aftermath of Athens Olympic debacle.

"I think it's the time to retire and it would have been more reasonable to retire at the peak of my career after the Olympics. I'm happy I can stick to my training until now and finished top on the Beijing Olympics podium.

"I just wanted to end my career following flop in Athens out of concern of injury and my form, but my coach Huang Yubin persuaded me to hang on. I'm so eager to be part of the Beijing Olympic squad, so I said no to the thought of leaving finally," said Yang.

Click for more news in Sports Scene

Institutional investors become major stock market force

Institutional investors have overtaken individuals to become the major participants of China's stock markets, which is regarded as a sign of maturity for the domestic securities sector, Shanghai Securities News reported on Tuesday.

The paper quoted statistics from China Securities Depository and Clearing Corp as saying that as of the end of last year, institutional investors have held 54.62 percent of the market value of all tradable A shares, up 5.91 percentage points from a year earlier.

This is the first time the proportion has surpassed the landmark 50 percent level, as individual investors had long been the dominant force of stock markets in the past few years.

Stock values held by individual investors accounted for an overwhelming 69.87 percent at the end of 2005. But institutions' shares caught up in recent years, thanks to the rapid development of mutual funds and increasing social security investments.

Institutional investors in China's capital markets mainly include mutual funds, social security funds, qualified foreign institutional investors (QFII), corporate annuity funds, brokerage firms, companies and organizations. They are normally believed to be rational and professional market participants, and may serve as a market stabilizer in extreme conditions.

This flourish of institutional investors is a notable shift for domestic stock markets and suggests the securities sector is stepping toward maturity, the paper quoted market analysts as saying.

Recent increases in institutional proportion were also caused by unlocked shares previously held by institutions via share placement or split-share structure reform.

In 2005, China launched the widely-concerned split-share structure reform to transform the split equity ownership into a fully floated share structure. After certain lockup periods, a large part of stocks became tradable, and most of their shareholders joined new institutional forces in the markets.

Click for more news in Biz China>>

China pension fund posts net loss in 2008

China's national pension fund posted a net loss of more than 39 billion yuan last year, due to a sharp slump in the local stock market.

China'snationalpensionfundpostedanetlossofmorethan
39billionyuanlastyear,duetoasharpslumpinthelocal
stockmarket.

The National Council for Social Security Fund says the fund saw a negative profit ratio for the first time in eight years in 2008, while the average annual profit ratio was just under 9 percent.

The council reported that the loss was mainly due to the dramatic shrink in the A-share market last year. The council says it has insisted on the principles of long-term, valuable and responsible investments, and it will be more cautious when investing in the stock market.

The council is also pledging to adjust investment structures by gradually cutting spending on products with fixed-profit and expanding investment in equity funds.

Click for more news in Biz China

Yuan sets at 6.8232 against USD

China's central bank set the mid point of the yuan's exchange rate against the US dollar at 6.8232 on Wednesday. That's a rise from the rate of 6.8201 a day earlier.

It has appreciated 18.86 percent since it stopped its peg with the US dollar in July 2005.

Click for more news in Biz China

Xian has sky-high plans for sightseers

China's ancient capital Xi'an plans to offer visitors a bird's eye view of the city, officials said Wednesday.

For 50 million yuan ($7.15 million), China Aviation Industrial Base in Yanliang, an outlying district about 50 km from downtown Xi'an, plans to buy five to eight helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft that will fly tourists at altitudes of 200 meters to 3,000 m, said project manager Gao Liting.

A ride will last 30 minutes to two hours and will take sightseers over the sacred Daoist mountain Huashan, the mausoleum of the legendary Yellow Emperor and the Hukou Waterfalls in the Yellow River, he said. Tourists can also try parachute jumps, shoot videos and even do some flying.

Gao said the base was negotiating with potential investors, including foreign aircraft manufacturers, travel companies and domestic business owners who are interested in the project.

He said specific plans would be unveiled before the end of this year.

Part of the plan will include opening one of the country's leading aircraft makers, Xi'an Aircraft Industry Group, to tourists, said Jin Qiansheng, director of the Yanliang aviation base.

According to the developed countries' experience, more people choose to travel by air when per capita GDP exceeds $2,000; when the figure tops $4,000, there's a growing demand for private planes, said Jin.

He said China's aviation industry would therefore expect another boom when per capita GDP tops $4,000, presumably in 2012.

Click for more news in Biz China>>

Tolls on 2nd-tier roads in western provinces may continue

While 12 provinces in the country have eliminated tolls on second-tier roads, provinces in western China can make decisions based on their own specific conditions. The spokesman for the Ministry of Transportation explains the reasons.

While12provincesinthecountryhaveeliminatedtolls
onsecond-tierroads,provincesinwesternChinacanmake
decisionsbasedontheirownspecificconditions.

He Jianzhong, Spokesman of Ministry of Transportation said "With regard to technology, western regions still have a heavy task in road construction and development. Due to geographic and financial reasons, the western region is still not able to build highways on a large scale. Second-tier roads are still a major part of their road construction. If the toll charge for second-tier roads is eliminated, the region will have more financing difficulty."

Click for more news in Biz China>>

Interview: Building Asias own demand key to recovery

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

BALI, Indonesia, May 5 (Xinhua) -- Building up the demand of Asian countries, both domestic and intra-regional, is crucial to help Asia recover more quickly than the rest of the world, said Jong-Wha Lee, acting Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank(ADB) in an interview with Xinhua.

"Asian countries should do at least two things. One is to strengthen domestic demand and the other is to make big the regional demand, because this is very difficult time to rely on external demand for their source of growth," said Jong-Wha Lee on the sidelines of ADB's annual meeting ended Tuesday in Bali, Indonesia.

Export-reliant Asian economies are being hit hard by collapsing demand in the United States and Europe, as recession-hit consumers and companies cut back on spending.

ADB estimates that the crisis will keep more than 60 million people in developing Asia trapped in absolute poverty this year, and nearly 100 million more in 2010.

"Fortunately, Asian countries have more room to cut the policy rate, if the situation becomes deteriorating. Asian countries mobilize fiscal stimulus packages very actively, aggressively and very responsibly. So fiscal stimulus packages, especially like those adopted by China, (South) Korea and Japan would help to strengthen domestic demand," he said.

"China has been doing very well. Credit growth still maintains double-digit and actually is increasing. Fiscal stimulus was coming in," said Lee. "This time, China responded very quickly, earlier than other Asian countries and that's why we see some positive signs coming earlier than other countries."

In terms of boosting intra-regional demand, the economist called for cooperative efforts to do it simultaneously, mobilizing resources to build the regional demand.

Chinas temporary bans in line with WTO rules

Special Report:World tackles A/H1N1 flu

Click for more news in China Today

China has started temporary bans on the imports of pigs and pork products from some regions hit by the A-strain influenza. The Foreign Ministry says these measures are in line with WTO rules.





Chinahasstartedtemporarybansontheimports
ofpigsandporkproductsfromsomeregionshit
bytheA-straininfluenza.TheForeignMinistry
saysthesemeasuresareinlinewithWTOrules.

WTO rules allow for strict quarantine measures in emergencies.

As more A/H1-N1 infections are reported around the world, China has decided to temporarily ban pig and pork imports from some affected regions.

China Open seeks frames from Spain

BEIJING, May 6 -- Spanish tennis fans will have the chance to travel to China for the China Open in October thanks to an overseas promotion launched by tournament organizers last week.

A campaign - the Starry China Open, Charming Beijing picture exhibition - was launched last Monday inviting Spanish sports fans ahead of the Madrid Open to send their photographs from the Beijing Olympics or previous China Opens.

The two entrants with the best snaps will be invited to visit Beijing and watch the China Open.

An additional 10 people will receive a ticket to the Madrid Open and another 20 will each be sent a souvenir from the China Open. Winners will be announced at a promotion banquet on May 16 during the Madrid Open.

After five highly successful years, the China Open has grown to become a combination of a WTA Crown Pearl and ATP 500 tournament, making it Asia's premier competition and only second to the four grand slams, on the same level as the Madrid, Miami and Indian Wells ppens. The total prize money for the tournament has accordingly risen to 6,600,000 U.S. dollars from 1,100,000 U.S. dollars.

The event will be held at the Beijing Olympic National Tennis Center, the venue for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, from Oct 2-11.

Click for more news in Sports Scene

Wang Hao, Zhang Yining win singles gold at table tennis worlds

YOKOHAMA, Japan, May 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Wang Hao didn't "choke" this time as he ruined Wang Liqin's run for his fourth, or third straight, men's singles gold medal at the world table tennis championships here on Tuesday.

China'sWangHaokissesthetrophyintheawarding
ceremonyafterwinningoverhiscompatriotWang
Liqininthemen'ssinglesfinalmatchagainstat
theWorldTableTennisChampionshipsinYokohama,
Japan,onMay5,2009.WangHaowonthetitleafter
beatWangLiqin4-0inthefinal.(Xinhua/Ren
Zhenglai)

Twice Olympic champion Zhang Yining came back from two sets down to beat defending champion Guo Yue for the women's singles top honor.

China swept all the gold and silver medals in the eight-day championships, leaving only three bronzes to be split up by the Hong Kong team, South Korea and host Japan.

It was China's fourth, or third straight clean-sweep of the world championship golds. The overwhelming success made Chinese table tennis boss more worried than joyous.

"I am concerned about the future of table tennis," said Cai Zhenhua, chairman of the Chinese Table Tennis Association (CTTA). "I hope not only does China enjoy table tennis, but also the whole world."

China: Through the Lens of John Thomson

China: Through the Lens of John Thomson is a historic photographic exhibition consisting of 150 images taken in China between 1868 and 1872. The exhibition includes a wide variety of images, themes and locations in China from Beijing to Fujian and Guangdong, portraying landscapes, people, architecture and street scenes. This is the first exhibition devoted to the Scottish photographer's Chinese images.

The couple sit close together, but the husband looks away. In traditional China, it was improper for a couple to face one another.

The Manchu bride was dressed gorgeously for her wedding, but she looked dull with a melancholy expression in her eyes.

Thomson's photographs on China captured people from all social strata - from wealthy businessmen to street peddlers, from imperial court officials to underground antique dealers, from heavy laborers to religious monks.

What marked Thomson's work out was his desire to present a faithful account of China and its people. He wanted to show his audience the human aspects of life in China through his extensive record of everyday street scenes, images that were rarely captured by other photographers of the time.

In another picture, Thomson captured the sorry inmates of a hospital where orphaned girls were offered for free to supposedly respectable families.

Click for more news in Culture Express

Coming Attractions: Apr.27th - May 4th

Next is our weekly pick of entertainment options in major Chinese cities. We will introduce you to some of the best films, plays, concerts that are sure to leave you spoilt for choice during your leisure time. So why not start marking your calendar, if films and shows are your cup of tea.

"Iron Man" to be released

A model oil worker famous in China during the 1960s has been portrayed in a recent big screen production. The biopic will be released across China during the May Day holiday.

Revolving around the career and life of model oil worker Wang Jinxi, the film tells the story of a group of oil workers in 1960s China who dedicated all their efforts and enthusiasm into the country's oil exploration. The film also chronicles China's oil industry over the past five decades. It was shot at the Tarim oil field in northwest China as well as at the Daqing oil field in the northeast.

Director Yin Li says he hopes his film reflects part of the huge changes in the country after the establishment of the People's Republic of China. And he added that it is a gift to the motherland on it's sixtieth anniversary.

Click for more news in Culture Express

Beijing ancient temples

For last week's China Cool segment, we introduced you to three temples in Beijing: Zhihua, Tianning and the Lamma temple. In today's edition of China Cool, we continue to take you around some other famous ancient temples in the capital.

Fa Yuan Temple

FaYuanTempleboastsahistorygoingback1300years.

Fa Yuan Temple boasts a history going back 1300 years. It is located in a quiet hutong in the southern part of Beijing. Trees and flowers in the temple grounds are also ancient. They include a pine tree planted during the Yuan dynasty, and a pair of Begonias planted by emperor Qianlong in the Qing dynasty.

FaYuanTempleboastsahistorygoingback1300years.

Seven main buildings as well as six courtyards are arranged from south to north. The main buildings include the Gate of Temple, Bell and Drum towers, Heavenly King Hall, the Hall of Great Compassion and Sutra Hall. Fa Yuan Temple is also home to China 's Buddhist Academy, and the Buddhist Books and Culture Relics Museum of China. It is a key place for nurturing young Buddhist disciples and scholars, and for the research of Buddhist culture.

Taiwan writer Li Ao published a novel called "Fayuan Temple", and it earned him a nomination for the Nobel Prize for Literature. This is another attraction for believers and visitors from far and wide.

Tennis legends set for China stop

Eight former tennis greats will visit Chengdu, capital city of southwestern China's Sichuan Province, later this year.

Chengdu will welcome Grand Slam champions, including John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg and Michael Chang, in early November. They will take part in the inaugural Chengdu Open during their stay.

The event will mark Borg's first playing appearance in China in 30 years, and their visit will be a boost to Chengdu as it continues its recovery from last year's devastating earthquake.

Bjorn Borg, 11-time Grand Slam Champion,said, "I'm very delighted to come back to China. It's always nice to come to different countries and come to new countries. I'm looking forward to that. This time, I will be visiting Chengdu. I've never been there, so I'm looking forward to that. Home of the giant panda, so that will be of great interest to me to enjoy and to have time to see the giant panda."

Dialogue 09/04/29 Japan PM visits China; Obama marks 100 days in office

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