IN BRIEF (Page 2)

Xi: Battle against soil loss continues to be a priority

The high-level segment of the 13th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention to Combat Desertification was held in Ordos, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, from Sept 11 to 13. About 400 million people in 18 Chinese provinces were affected by desertification in the 1950s, according to the State Forestry Administration. A mass campaign against desertification started in 1956. In a congratulatory letter to the UN environmental meeting, President Xi Jinping said China will stick to its commitment to fight desertification and strengthen cooperation with all parties and international communities to make a better world. Vice-Premier Wang Yang, who attended the conference, said China will fulfill its commitment and achieve its sustainable development goals by 2030, with green building a crucial part of the country's effort to combat desertification.

Young tennis champ offers new hope

Wu Yibing, the 17-year-old second seed from Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, became China's first boys' Grand Slam singles champion by defeating Argentina's top-seeded Axel Geller 6-4, 6-4, on Sept 10. Before the victory, Wu's best Grand Slam run was in January, when he reached the Australian Open semifinals. He also reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals. In doubles, Wu joined with Hsu Yu-hsiou of Taiwan on Sept 9 to become the first all-Asian pair to capture the US Open boys' doubles crown, defeating Japan's Toru Horie and Yuta Shimizu 6-4, 5-7, 11-9.

Report: Getting top workers a problem

With high-end workers leaving and insufficient high-end foreign personnel, China lags behind the world in attracting an international workforce and urgently needs to take action to solve the problem, according to a recent report, Blue Book of Regional Talent. The report was published on Sept 11 by the Center for China and Globalization, a Beijing-based independent think tank, and the Institute of Development Studies at Southwestern University of Finance and Economics in Chengdu, Sichuan province. Meanwhile, the country is troubled by an outflow of talent. At least 35 million people from the Chinese mainland work overseas. Shanghai is the most competitive region in China in attracting high-end international workers. The municipality, however, only rates about 3.9 points in an evaluation index system with six parts, including the scale and structure for international workers, the policies for attracting more and the quality of life they expect.

2 admit writing against the State

Taiwan resident Lee Ming-che and Chinese mainland resident Peng Yuhua pleaded guilty on Sept 11 to subversion in a court in Hunan province. The two confessed to inciting subversion of State power by writing and spreading information that distorted facts and created hostility toward the Chinese government and political system on social media between 2012 and 2016, according to a statement by the province's Yueyang Intermediate People's Court. Lee, 42, testified that he had been misled by Western and Taiwan media and had an incorrect perception of development on the mainland. The indictment said Peng set up a chat group called liang'an lianshou - or "join hands across the Straits" - via QQ, an instant messaging tool, in May 2012. It featured attacks on the Chinese mainland's social system. Four months later, Peng invited Lee to the group after Lee shared some of the information Peng posted. Their lawyers requested lenient punishment because of the pair's good attitude in admitting the offense, and because both defendants expressed remorse.

Organ donation in China defended

Professor Wang Haibo spoke at the 14th Congress of the International Society for Organ Donation and Procurement against a rumor claiming that China secretly performs 100,000 organ transplants a year, equal to the combined total of the rest of the world. Wang said the rumor "insults the intelligence of transplant and medical professionals". China's new national system for organ donation and transplantation is based on Chinese cultural and societal norms, and is consistent with the World Health Organization's guiding principles and international standards, Wang told his colleagues from different countries. He said the 2007 human organ transplant regulation passed by the State Council had laid an important foundation for the development of a new system for organ donation and transplantation in China.

Future envisioned for Shanxi coal

The State Council, China's Cabinet, published guidelines on Sept 11 in support of the economic transformation of coal-rich Shanxi province and mapping the way forward. By 2020, the share of coal mining and processing as a proportion of the province's industrial output should see a decline, and the share of advanced coal production capacity should reach two-thirds of the total, the guideline said. Shanxi should raise its abilities to exploit coal in clean and efficient ways, and increase its clean energy supply, it said. The province should also develop new strategic sectors by 2020, raise capital for research and development and become a center for coal-based scientific and technological innovations and commercial applications, as well as a modern manufacturing base and tourism demonstration zone. Before 2030, the province should create a clean, safe and efficient modern energy system and accumulate experiences in reform that can be replicated elsewhere, the guideline said.

Reservoir sets storage record

Water stored at Miyun Reservoir, Beijing's largest, hit a 17-year high of 1.9 billion cubic meters on Sept 11, according to local authorities. The storage of the reservoir reached 1.7 billion cubic meters in June. Thanks to upstream rainfall and the South-to-North Water Diversion Project delivering water from Hubei province, storage exceeded 1.8 billion cu m in July and 1.9 billion cu m this month.

200,000 evacuated as typhoon nears

More than 200,000 people have been evacuated from Fujian and Zhejiang provinces as of Sept 13 as Talim, the region's 18th typhoon of the year, moves rapidly toward China's southeast coast. The provincial meteorological department of Fujian forecast that Talim would intensify into a super typhoon with wind speeds of 180 to 200 kilometers per hour.

Yuan dips as controls relaxed

The yuan weakened on Sept 12 for the first time in two weeks after the central bank relaxed capital controls on Sept 11. Analysts said the Chinese currency will see more two-way fluctuations in coming months. The People's Bank of China set the yuan's daily reference rate at 6.5277 per US dollar on Sept 12, down by 0.43 percent from Sept 11. It was the first time the rate had been set lower day-on-day in 11 trading sessions and marked the sharpest downward adjustment since Jan 9. The monetary authority allows the yuan to rise or fall by a maximum of 2 percent on either side of the reference rate. The weakening of the yuan came after it was reported on Sept 11 that the central bank had eliminated the rule requiring banks to set aside a 20 percent deposit on forward sales of foreign exchange, which was imposed in 2015 to thwart capital outflows.

President greets 14 new envoys

President Xi Jinping received credentials presented by 14 new ambassadors to China at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Sept 13. He also called on them to contribute to enhancing their countries' friendship with China. The 14 included Saidov Bakhtiyor of Uzbekistan, Baba Ahmad Jidda of Nigeria, Everardus Kronenburg of the Netherlands and Francisco Escobar of Panama. Xi welcomed the ambassadors and asked them to convey his sincere greetings and good wishes to their leaders and people. The president said the Chinese government will provide facilities and support for the ambassadors' work, and he called on them to contribute to strengthening their nations' friendly relations with China and promoting the development of bilateral ties.

Xi, Brunei sultan discuss cooperation

Infrastructure, health and defense affairs were among highlights of cooperative documents signed following the meeting on Sept 13 between President Xi Jinping and Brunei's visiting Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah. During the meeting, Xi said the two countries should reinforce exchanges of governing experiences, find synergies in their development strategies and promote pragmatic cooperation in various fields. Both countries should strengthen cooperation in areas such as infrastructure construction, energy, halal food, agriculture, fisheries and digital economy, he said. Hassanal, who is both the sultan and prime minister, said his country supports the China-led Belt and Road Initiative and will continue honoring the one-China policy. Brunei welcomes Chinese enterprises making investments and developing business, he said, and the country is ready for more high-level contacts with China and expansion of cultural exchanges.

Diplomats mapping out US president's trip

Top diplomats in Beijing and Washington vowed that the two countries will work together to ensure US President Donald Trump's first state visit to China yields "fruitful results", according to a statement released by the Foreign Ministry on Sept 13. In his meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Washington on Sept 12, State Councilor Yang Jiechi said China is ready to work with the United States on the details. Trump is likely to visit China in November, when he also is set to attend the US-ASEAN summit and the East Asia summit in the Philippines, as well as the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vietnam, Reuters reported.

Guidance issued for quality of products

China will improve legislation to promote product quality and establish a system that subjects producers and sellers of substandard goods to punitive compensation measures. Guidance released on Sept 12 by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, China's Cabinet, urged governments at all levels to make "utmost efforts" to improve the quality of all products made in China to address supply shortages of midrange and high-end goods and services. The outline also set targets for the quality of smart and user-friendly products and a leap ahead in the international competitiveness of Chinese brands by 2020.

PLA Navy gets new commissar

China has appointed the former chief of the general office of the Central Military Commission as the new political commissar of the People's Liberation Army Navy, media reports said. Lieutenant General Qin Shengxiang appeared on Sept 13 in his new role at a ceremony in Qingdao, Shandong province, to send off a Navy flotilla for military exercises with Russia, CCTV reported. Qin, 60, had been chief of the general office of the commission since December 2012.

Green barrier aims to protect water

China has built a greenbelt along the canals and pipelines of its South-to-North Water Diversion Project to help ensure water quality. The middle route of the project has carried 9.5 billion cubic meters of water annually through canals and pipes from Danjiangkou Reservoir in Hubei province to the provinces of Henan and Hebei, as well as to Beijing and Tianjin, since 2014. The office of the South-to-North project construction committee said on Sept 13 that to ensure water safety it had created shelter forests covering 636 hectares and stretching 197 kilometers along the canals and pipelines.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 09/15/2017 page2)