IN BRIEF (Page 2)

Premier Wen Jiabao chats with students of the University of Nottingham Ningbo, China's first Sino-foreign campus, on April 8. Wen paid a visit to the university when he was inspecting the economic situation in Zhejiang province. Yao Dawei / Xinhua

Education

Premier visits Sino-foreign campus

Premier Wen Jiabao encouraged Chinese students to seize opportunities at college to equip themselves with the spirit of innovation and creativity, when he paid a two-hour visit to the University of Nottingham Ningbo, in East China's Zhejiang province, on April 8.

University of Nottingham Ningbo is the country's first Sino-foreign campus, launched in 2004. Currently, around 5,000 home and international students are studying at the university.

Wen said the university has a global perspective in setting its curricula that try to match demands of China and the world. "Studying at such an international college, you (students) should better develop a world view."

Nick Miles, the university's provost and CEO, took Wen's visit as a sign of "acknowledgement that we are contributing to education in China in a positive way".

Export

EU to outlaw TCM herbal treatment

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) herbal treatments will be outlawed in European Union (EU) countries starting in May, in a move that is likely to cost the industry $500 million (346.8 million euros) a year and put about 100,000 practitioners out of work.

Under the EU legislation, named the Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive, all traditional herbal medicines that have not received official approval will be pulled off store shelves. So far, none of the TCM products sold within the EU have been approved.

The European market consumes about one quarter of the total TCM exports from China, according to statistics from China's State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Industry

Test for coal-mine refuge a success

A team of 80 coal miners and support staff finished a 48-hour stay inside an underground refuge chamber in a coal mine in North China's Shanxi province on April 10, marking the country's first manned test of a refuge chamber for underground coal mines.

The refuge chamber was tested in the Changcun Coalmine, which belongs to the State-owned Lu'an Group in Changzhi city, Shanxi province, and is considered the most advanced coal-mine refuge in China.

The test chamber is equipped with devices that provide oxygen, electricity and telecommunications and has a permanent borehole that allows air, fresh water and food to be lowered down from above ground. The shelter, which measures 39 meters by 3.5 meters by 3.05 meters, is large enough to keep up to 100 miners alive for 96 hours after a coal-mine disaster.

Ipr

Counterfeit goods hit by raids

Chinese police have seized 14,185 suspects in the past five months in an ongoing campaign to halt the production and sale of counterfeit goods, including software, wine, drugs and suitcases bearing the names of global luxury brands.

These suspects were allegedly involved in more than 8,000 cases of intellectual property rights violations, according to figures revealed on April 12 by the Ministry of Public Security.

Since November, the ministry's campaign codenamed "Bright Sword" primarily targeted eight sectors including fake international brands, fake food and drugs, pirated film and television works as well as organized crime.

Food

Nestle insists products are safe

Nestle China released an announcement on April 12, saying its products are "absolutely safe for consumption", in response to earlier reports that cast doubt on the company's infant foods and alleged they contained toxic metals.

The announcement said Nestle products mentioned in the reports are neither produced nor sold in China. Nestle baby food produced and sold in China is in full compliance with China's regulations and standards, it said.

An authoritative toxic test on baby food conducted by researchers in Sweden said products, including rice porridge, produced by a range of well-known baby food manufacturerss, including Nestle and Organix, may increase infants' exposure to arsenic by up to 50 times compared to breast feeding. The exposure, the paper said, increases the chance of contracting cancer.

Development

Govt offers rights to 176 islands

The State Oceanic Administration released a list of the first 176 uninhabited islands the public will be allowed to develop on April 12, and said more islands will be added to the list later.

After an auction, the right to use the islands up to 50 years can be sold to domestic and foreign companies, organizations and persons that meet certain qualifications, said Lu Caixia, the administration's director of the Island Management Office.

Applicants must hand in plans showing how much of the land that they want rights to is to be covered with plants, how they plan to dispose of garbage and treat sewage and how far any buildings they put up will be from the coastline.

China Daily