BEIJING

High rice yield

The country expanded the acreage of super high-yield rice by almost 14 percent to 5.33 million hectares this year to produce more food for its growing population, an agricultural official said yesterday.

Zhang Fengtong, director of the science and education department of the Ministry of Agriculture, said the average yield of early super rice per hectare in Shanggao County in Jiangxi Province, was 7,297.5 kg, 948 kg more than non-super rice strains.

The super rice strains led to high yields and better economic returns for growers, said Zhang at a meeting on demonstration projects of super rice strains in Jiangxi.

Cultural resources

Cultural officials from 11 African countries yesterday visited the headquarters of the cultural information resources sharing project based in the National Library.

The project, jointly initiated by the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Finance in 2002, digitizes Chinese cultural resources and shares them nationwide via Internet, satellite transmission and discs.

The officials are visiting China as members of the 2007 African Cultural Visitors Program. Set up by the Ministry of Culture in 2006, it is a long-term program on cultural cooperation and personnel exchange between China and African countries.

LUXEMBOURG

Anti-dumping duties

The European Union approved a one-year extension of anti-dumping duties on imports of Chinese energy-saving light bulbs yesterday, despite protests from environmentalists and leading companies.

The continuation of duties of up to 66.1 percent on the bulbs was rubber-stamped by foreign ministers, the EU's Portuguese presidency said.

Environmental groups such as WWF have said the plan flies in the face of the bloc's attempts to save energy.

Xinhua - Agencies

(China Daily 10/16/2007 page2)