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Fighter jets urged for developing nations

China could export a modern fighter jet to developing countries to take a bigger share of the international military aircraft market and boost its aviation industry, an expert has suggested.

"The FC-1 Fierce Dragon can meet the air defense tasks of most developing nations that can't afford more advanced, fifth-generation fighter jets," said Wang Ya'nan, deputy editor-in-chief of Aerospace Knowledge magazine.

"A lot of developing nations' air forces have neither stealth aircraft nor requirements to launch long-distance airstrikes. For them, the FC-1 is a very sensible choice because it is reasonably priced and has a relatively strong capability," he said.

The FC-1 Fierce Dragon is a fourth-generation, lightweight fighter jet developed by the Aviation Industry Corp of China with assistance from Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, the leading aviation company in Pakistan. The aircraft is called the JF-17 Thunder in Pakistan.

Subway probes reports of doctored food labels

US fast-food chain Subway is investigating media reports in China that workers at a Beijing outlet doctored food labels and used produce beyond its expiration date, a company spokeswoman said in Shanghai on Dec 29.

Chinese media reports from Dec 26 said workers at the outlet changed expiration and production dates on meats, drinks and vegetable produce to extend their use.

"Our headquarters here is now investigating the matter," the Subway spokeswoman said, adding that the company had not reached any conclusions.

"We want to investigate what caused the labeling issue and whether or not it was the action of a single franchised outlet," she said.

The issue highlights the difficulty companies face in controlling food quality and safety in supply chains and outlets in China.

Earlier this year, a food supplier in China for McDonald's and Yum Brands was embroiled in a scandal over workers allegedly tampering with expiration dates, hurting sales in the country.

Party has 'no room for factions'

There is no room for cliques and factions within the Communist Party of China, top leaders said on Dec 29 as they pledged to persist in their fight against corruption.

The Communist Party in the past year has waged a tough crackdown on corruption, which has won public approval, according to a statement issued after a meeting of highest-ranking officials presided over by President Xi Jinping.

Though rampant corruption and misconduct by officials have been curbed, the Party must realize that the anti-graft battle still faces grave challenges, the statement added.

"The Party has never allowed cliques and factions within it," it said. "In addition, those who still have a bad work style and take extravagant actions will be severely punished, and their leaders will be held accountable."

It urged the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, China's top anti-graft watchdog, to expand anti-corruption mechanisms and to launch more in-house inspections of local governments and state-owned enterprises.

Deals planned to recover illegal assets

China will strengthen financial intelligence exchanges with the United States and Australia to track corrupt Chinese officials' illegal assets and fight money laundering, a senior official from the Ministry of Justice said.

The People's Bank of China is in discussions with the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, a bureau under the US Treasury Department that monitors illegal financial transactions, said Zhang Xiaoming, deputy director-general of the ministry's legal assistance and foreign affairs department. Preparations are being made for a bilateral agreement to target assets that Chinese suspects hold overseas, Zhang said.

The central bank will sign a similar agreement with the Australian Financial Intelligence Unit, he said.

Experts call for real-time flight tracking

The global civil aviation industry should speed up the adoption of a real-time tracking system for passenger airliners to improve safety, experts suggested.

"Real-time tracking technology for civil airliners has been well-developed," said Zhao Yifei, a professor specializing in air traffic management at the Civil Aviation University of China. "It is very necessary for airliners to have such a system because it can enable the rapid location of a plane in case of emergencies

"Considering the fact that air traffic control authorities usually do not monitor flights that fly across an ocean because they are out of radar range, it is especially essential for long-distance, ocean-spanning flights to be equipped with real-time tracking instruments."

His remarks came as a multinational operation worked to locate a missing AirAsia jetliner carrying 162 people.

The plane, which disappeared over the Java Sea on Dec 28, was found to have crashed in the Java Sea. Bodies were being discovered and no survivors had been located.

Metro use drops as new fare hikes kick in

There was a slight drop in Beijing subway passenger numbers on Dec 29, the first day since fare prices rose, according to the municipal authority.

The number of passengers on the subway by 9 am declined by 5.2 percent to 1.57 million, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport said.

On Dec 28, when the price hike took effect, the drop in passengers was more noticeable. About 6.19 million people used the subway, a decline of 17.9 percent from Dec 21 totals. There were also 8.6 percent fewer passengers using buses on Dec 28, the commission said.

To make public transportation more comfortable for passengers, authorities need to do more than raise fares, including preferential policies for buses and other ground-level transit, an expert has suggested.

Beijing hiked the price of its public transportation tickets for the first time in seven years. The minimum metro price is now 3 yuan (48 cents), up from the flat rate of 2 yuan with unlimited transfers. Bus tickets now cost 2 yuan for up to 10 kilometers and rise by 1 yuan for every additional 5 km.

Govt targets 6% foreign trade growth next year

China has set a growth target for foreign trade at 6 percent for next year, down from about 7.5 percent in 2014.

Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng said on Dec 28 that the ministry's main tasks next year will be stabilizing external demand, improving the quality of high-end manufacturing and adjusting the industrial structure.

"As other developing economies such as India and Vietnam pose a greater challenge for Chinese businesses in developed markets, especially in the field of low-end manufacturing, exporters in China will be encouraged to develop new competitive edges through building brands, overseas acquisitions, better services, research centers and global sales networks," Gao said.

Ren Hongbin, executive vice-president of the Beijing-based Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, the ministry's think tank, said the move was timely considering the challenging external environment and growing efforts to expand domestic demand.

China's export growth slowed in November while imports unexpectedly contracted, raising pressure on government to introduce more stimulus measures.

Even though the country's exports rose by 4.7 percent year-on-year to $211.6 billion in November, the growth rate decelerated compared with October's 11.6 percent and 15.3 percent in September, according to the General Administration of Customs.

(China Daily European Weekly 01/02/2015 page2)