IN BRIEF (Page 2)

Ties with Iran to be upgraded

China and Iran agreed on Sept 15 to start reconciliation for the establishment of a bilateral strategic partnership, at a time when China is expected to play a bigger role in boosting Iran's development.

Following talks between Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif on Sept 15 morning, the two top diplomats confirmed at a news conference that there are plans to upgrade the relationship.

The July signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action over Iran's nuclear program was a landmark event for the Middle Eastern country, which has long suffered from sanctions.

Zarif told reporters that China is a friend indeed, and that "when Iran has had a difficult time", Chinese companies have maintained collaboration, adding that Iran is ready to "embark on more strategic cooperation with China".

Eight regions chosen as innovation zones

China aims to build a long-term mechanism that could spur innovation and drive economic growth.

The State Council has chosen eight regions, including the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei cluster, Shanghai, and Guangdong province as pilot zones to carry out trials on innovation and reform.

Li Pumin, spokesman for the National Development and Reform Commission, told a news conference on Sept 15 that these regions have been asked to map out detailed proposals for innovation reform in the fourth quarter.

The regions have been asked to build a long-term mechanism for promoting innovation and making breakthroughs in promoting fair competition, intellectual property, scientific achievement and financial innovation, Li said.

Experiments will be carried out in these regions next year, and the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Science and Technology will evaluate the performance. Successful measures will duplicated or promoted nationwide, Li said.

US rebuked over hacking remarks

Beijing has rejected accusations Washington leveled against China on hacking, with a Foreign Ministry spokesman calling them groundless.

"Cybersecurity should be a point of collaboration between China and the United States, instead of the source of friction," Hong Lei said at a news conference in Beijing.

The remarks came after a top US intelligence official said Chinese hackers continue to carry out "low-to moderate-level cyberattacks" that target US interests, ranging from national security information to sensitive economic data and intellectual property.

James Clapper, director of national intelligence, told the US Congress on Sept 10 that Washington should beef up efforts to raise the cost and risk for Chinese cyberespionage.

High-risk sites near Disney park to close

More than 150 companies near the Shanghai Disney Resort that pose a pollution threat have been ordered to close by the end of next year by city authorities.

Most of the 153 enterprises have high pollution risks, high energy consumption but low productivity in industries that include machining, metalware production, printing, plastics production and chemical engineering.

This is according to an announcement on the website of the Shanghai Commission of Economy and Information Technology.

"Seventy-nine businesses will be shut down in the first half of next year and the rest will be closed by the end of next year in an effort to make the zone better serve the needs of Disneyland as well as the Shanghai International Tourism and Resorts Zone," the announcement said.

Museum crowds wait six hours to see scroll

The appearance of a rare artistic treasure in Beijingresulted in crowds waiting in line for six hours at the Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City.

The crowds were eager to see Along the River During the Qingming Festival, the best-known scroll painting in Chinese art history, at the Hall of Martial Valor. The work is sometimes referred to as China's Mona Lisa.

The scroll by Zhang Zeduan (1085-1145), 24.8 centimeters wide and 5.29 meters long, depicts a flourishing landscape in Bianjing, today known as Kaifeng in Henan province.

Faced with its huge popularity, the Palace Museum said it would organize another exhibition of the work in 2020, the 600th anniversary of the Forbidden City.

Former mystery site celebrates nuclear past

An architectural complex that occupies 6,000 square meters on a mountainside in Huairou district of Beijing has long been a mystery for nearby residents.

Called the Beijing College of Mining and Technology, the facility was not for students. In fact, it was scientists who started moving in before the buildings were completed. Soldiers guarded laboratory equipment delivered to the site.

Now, 61 years after China exploded its first atomic bomb, the Chinese Academy of Sciences has declassified the site, a secret rocket development center and laboratory where China's pioneering scientists once developed satellites and nuclear bombs.

"The bombs and satellites were significant milestones in our country's development and are the pride of the whole nation," said Cao Xiaoye, deputy secretary-general of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, at the opening ceremony of a new memorial hall on the old experimental site.

China proposes fund to link with ASEAN

China will set up a special fund for Internet and telecommunications infrastructure to link China and Association of Southeast Asian Nations members, said Lu Wei, minister of the State Council's Cyberspace Administration of China.

Lu made the remarks on Sept 13 during the China-ASEAN Information Harbor Forum in Nanning, capital of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, to discuss building IT infrastructure to connect China and Southeast Asia.

Lu said the fund will boost technology levels in the region and promote the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

Under China's plan, a center for the China-ASEAN Information Harbor will be set up in Nanning, consisting of 34 projects worth 20.9 billion yuan ($3.3 billion; 2.9 billion euros).

Rising cancer rate drives prevention plan

Health officials seeking to curb the country's fast increasing cancer rate are implementing a three-year nationwide plan that expands cancer screening, registration and prevention while reducing smoking.

Cancer has become a major public health problem, with about 2 million people dying of cancer every year and more than 3 million new cases reported, the National Health and Family Planning Commission said.

"The prevention of cancer cannot be achieved in a short time," said Chen Wanqing, director of the National Central Cancer Registry, which the commission established to track cases in 2002.

"We are working on a medium-and long-term plan now, and that plan will provide profound guidance."

China's aging population, environmental pollution and unhealthy lifestyles have helped drive up the incidence of cancer in recent years.

The plan seeks to better protect people's health by improving cancer prevention, standardizing the country's cancer registration system and expanding cancer screening and early detection to increase five-year survival rates.

(China Daily European Weekly 09/18/2015 page2)