What's news

China and Brazil launch new era of ties

China signed deals worth billions of dollars with Brazil on May 19, putting its economic influence in Latin America on a firmer footing.

The agreements will help Latin America's largest economy to battle a fifth straight year of poor growth and spiraling inflation.

Premier Li Keqiang and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff watched the signing ceremony after several hours of talks in Brasilia that touched on a wide range of topics including trade, industrial cooperation and climate change.

"I would like to strengthen exchanges with Brazil based on mutual understanding and the win-win principle," Li said. "China-Brazil ties have benefited both peoples."

In addition, Beijing passed on tips about holding the Olympic Games with the next host country.

Under the agreements, the two countries will encourage collaboration in industrial production, helping Brazil to improve its sagging infrastructure before the Games in Rio de Janeiro next year. Two-way trade will be upgraded away from the current focus on resources to a more comprehensive, balanced pattern.

Air pollution main complaint to hotline

The public submitted 1,463 pollution reports through a telephone hotline last year, and most were related to air pollution, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said on May 19.

Five provinces in central and eastern China - Guangdong, Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu and Shandong - accounted for the highest number of reports, with 43 percent of the total nationwide. Henanranked No 1, the ministry said.

Nearly 78 percent of the pollution complaints were confirmed and addressed, said the annual report on the environmental hotline, published on May 19.

Polluting companies were given deadlines to rectify problems in 465 cases and environmental protection bureaus shut down polluters in 133 cases.

In Beijing on May 19, Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli said regional collaboration in curbing air pollution in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region has achieved great success in reducing pollutants. PM2.5 levels were cut by 20 percent year-on-year in the first four months, he said.

High-spending officials pay for ill discipline

The disciplinary watchdog of the Communist Party of China says it uncovered 2,508 cases of anti-graft rule violations last month, an increase of 1,931 cases from March.

In all, 3,238 people were punished, including 1,849 who received Party or administrative punishments, said the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, noting increases in both categories from the previous month.

The violations included illegal subsidies, lavish spending at weddings and funerals, and spending public funds on banquets. Running private errands in official cars, of which there were 802 cases, was the most frequent breach. In the first four months of the year, disciplinary organizations at all levels punished 10,125 people for violating anti-graft rules.

Disabled get help with college entrance exam

China is increasing its assistance for people with disabilities taking the national college entrance examination, or gaokao.

Examining bodies across the country should offer reasonable accommodations to test-takers who have disabilities on the basis of their specific needs, according to regulations released by the Ministry of Education and the China Disabled Persons' Federation.

Starting this year, test-takers with disabilities can enter examination halls ahead of time, and the halls will have specialized staff, such as sign language interpreters, in place to offer assistance.

"The regulations were released to ensure that people with disabilities can have convenient and equal access to the exams," the ministry said.

Last year marked the first time that blind and visually impaired people were officially allowed to take the gaokao, with the ministry releasing a notice stipulating that examining bodies should provide necessary assistance and tools to enable such people to take the test.

This year, the stipulations were extended to cover the needs of more people with disabilities.

China's earthquake help appreciated

China has helped Nepal in disaster relief and rescue operations since the earthquake on April 25 and its aftershocks that left nearly 9,000 people dead, and the country looks forward to more help from China during its reconstruction, one of the country's leading politicians said.

K. P. Sharma Oli, chairman of Nepal's second-largest party, the CPN-UML, said from his residence: "In such a situation, when all of Nepal was in crisis, in trouble, in sorrow, China supported us with rescue teams, medical teams and relief materials."

Chinese rescuers had saved the lives of people buried under debris, and "that is very precious and very important", he said.

The earthquake and ensuing aftershocks destroyed or damaged tens of thousands of houses, including Oli's office.

Oli, who was elected party chairman last July, said Nepal has also asked China to help rebuild houses and schools.

Xi stresses the role of non-Party elites

President Xi Jinping has asked authorities to befriend and recruit more non-Communist Party of China intellectuals and representatives, stressing their role in economic development and in cleansing the Internet.

High value should be placed on intellectuals in new economic and social organizations, and they should exert their roles in development. Students abroad should also be encouraged to return home to serve the country in various ways, the president said.

Uniting non-CPC intellectuals is strategically important work in realizing the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation, Xi said at a meeting on May 20 in Beijing.

He called for officials to improve their work and learn to make friends with non-CPC intellectuals in "doing ideological work".

Proportion of smokers has fallen

Tobacco control efforts have led to a fall in the proportion of Beijing's population who smoke over the past six years, according to a survey released on May 20, less than two weeks before the capital's toughest restrictions yet come into force.

The smoking rate among people ages 15 and above was 23.4 percent last year, 4 percentage points lower than in 2008. This means there were 4.19 million smokers in Beijing in 2014, according to the study.

The survey covered 8,484 people and was conducted in 2,548 public areas and workplaces, 314 restaurants and 100 communities between May and December last year. It was organized by the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention and Capital Medical University.

Chinese visitors to top spending in NZ by 2021

China is forecast to lead a 48 percent surge in tourist spending in New Zealand by 2021, according to a report released on May 18.

International visitor spending is projected to reach 11.1 billion NZ$ ($8.25 billion; 7.41 billion euros) by that year, up from 7.44 billion New Zealand dollars last year, according to a report from New Zealand's Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

Visitor arrivals are also expected to increase from 2.85 million last year, growing by 4 percent a year to 3.75 million in 2021.

While Australia was New Zealand's largest visitor market with more than 1.2 million visitors last year, China is expected to outstrip all other traditional markets by 2021, Michael Bird, the ministry's general manager of institutions and system performance, said in a statement.

"Chinese visitors are staying longer and spending more, and we expect this trend to continue.

"Our tourism forecasts predict that China will be New Zealand's largest market in terms of expenditure within the next seven years," said Bird.

Role for India seen in Internet Plus policy

With their global knowledge and innovation experience, India's information technology companies could play an important role in the implementation of the Internet Plus policy being promoted by the Chinese government, says Pavel Naiya, an analyst at Counterpoint Technology, a market research firm.

The policy aims at integrating mobile Internet, cloud computing and big data with modern manufacturing to encourage the development of several fast-growing industries, including e-commerce and Internet banking.

The state's promotion of IT infrastructure is expected to provide new market opportunities for both foreign and domestic technology companies.

The new policy framework for IT development could also generate further cooperation between local and foreign companies.

PBOC allays fears over bond swap plan

The 1 trillion yuan ($161 billion; 145 billion euros) debt-for-bond swap plan will not involve massive liquidity injections into the financial market, and the central bank remains confident about its success, a top official said.

Pan Gongsheng, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, the central bank, confirmed the widely reported plan at a news conference, ending speculation on how the central bank would manage the unwieldy bond sale. The comment also put to rest fears that the PBOC may resort to massive liquidity injections through the Chinese form of quantitative easing.

Earlier reports said the Ministry of Finance, the PBOC and the China Banking Regulatory Commission have jointly issued a landmark document that establishes detailed measures for promoting bond issues by local governments. At the center of the plan is a requirement that banks have to accept a minimum amount of bond placements, as defined by their pro rata share of the issuing local government's total debt to be swapped.

Aviation industry to standardize hardware

The Chinese aviation industry has begun to improve its standards for fasteners used on civil aircraft, a move essential to the country's ambitious efforts to export jetliners, industry insiders said.

While China has spared no effort to develop its large C919 jetliner, the ARJ21 regional jet and MA-700 turboprop as it aspires to a bigger share of the global aircraft market, a single screw could foil everything, said Wu Guangquan, chairman of AVIC International Holding Corp, a subsidiary of Aviation Industry Corp of China.

"We must have airworthiness certifications from the United States' Federal Aviation Administration and European Aviation Safety Agency if we want to sell our civil aircraft in Western markets," he said. "One of the major problems in the overseas certification process is the absence of unified standards for fasteners."

Owner to send back preserved monk relic

The Dutch owner of a 1,000-year-old Buddha statue containing a mummified monk has said he will return the artifact to China within a month.

Oscar van Overeem, an architect, said the statue will be enshrined in a temple near Yangchun, Fujian province. He bought the relic for 40,000 Dutch guilders ($20,500; 18,400 euros) in 1996 from a collector in Amsterdam who had acquired it in Hong Kong.

Residents in Yangchun say the statue may be one that was stolen from the village in 1995, although van Overeem said he has proof that it did not come from there.

Talks over the return of the relic have begun, and the date of its arrival has yet to be agreed upon, he said.

Pilot court projects test reform proposals

China continues to push forward with judicial reforms aimed at standardizing systems, regulations and court procedures across the country.

Efforts include pilot court projects in several provinces, field investigations and the formation of special teams and consultative committees. National political advisers have proposed new regulations and released more detailed guidelines aimed at making the pilot courts more effective.

In July, the central authorities authorized Shanghai and several provinces, including Jilin, Guangdong and Qinghai, to conduct pilot projects. This year, another 11 provinces were added to the list. Committee members conducted field investigations at several pilot courts, including in Shanghai and Shenzhen, Guangdong province, in April.

The first batch of pilot courts have made some progress, but they also have exposed the need for improvements, said Li Yuefeng, a member of the social and legal committee under the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Diversity vital in exports to China

Brazil should expand its exports of processed food to diversify the mix of goods sold to China, said Jose Vicente Lessa, consul general of Brazil in Guangzhou, Guangdong province.

Soybeans, iron ore and oil products account for 79 percent of Brazil's exports to China. "We should not focus on primary products," Lessa said.

Brazil also exports sugar, leather, meat, soy oil, paper pulp and airplanes. Its main imports from China include machinery, electrical materials, integrated circuits, chemicals, plastics and cars.

Trade between Brazil and China more than doubled to $83 billion (74.6 billion euros) between 2009 and 2013. It dipped slightly last year, partly because of the economic downturn in Brazil, but it has since rebounded, he said.

Brazil is the world's largest producer and exporter of coffee, sugar and orange juice, the largest meat exporter and the second-largest producer and exporter of soy products, as well as a major grower of corn.

Foreign airlines under scrutiny

A program has been launched to tighten safety assessment and supervision of foreign airlines operating in China, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said on May 20. The move comes after frequent air accidents worldwide in recent years. Some airlines' substandard operations pose huge safety risks, the administration said. To date, 156 foreign carriers have been cleared to operate in China, running 374,000 flights last year.

Fishing ban objection by Vietnam dismissed

China has rejected an objection by Vietnam to a temporary fishing ban in the South China Sea imposed by Beijing, saying the move is aimed at protecting marine resources in an area under China's jurisdiction.

China announced the temporary ban on fishing in parts of the sea between May 16 and Aug 1.

"This is China's international responsibility and obligation," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters at a daily media briefing.

Vietnam, which also claims part of the area, said in a statement posted on its foreign ministry website that the ban violates international law and Vietnam's sovereignty and jurisdiction.

Luo Yongkun, a researcher of Southeast Asian studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said, "People will agree that the move respects nature and is obviously good for the protection of fishery resources, thus benefiting countries in the region, including Vietnam.

(China Daily European Weekly 05/22/2015 page2)