Falling commodity prices big challenge for poor countries

Almost three years into the sharp drop of global commodity prices, economic conditions have become very difficult for many of the world's 60 poorest countries - a group the International Monetary Fund refers to as "low-income developing countries" (LIDCs).

US welcome to join Belt and Road Initiative

At a forum held in New York on Monday, China's Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai invited Washington to join the Beijing-proposed Belt and Road Initiative.

Short pain for long-term gain

The Shanghai Composite Index fell 43.62 points, or 1.37 percent, to close at 3,129.53 on Monday, the sharpest drop in more than four months, amid damped market sentiments following a series of tightened measures by regulators.

Plan to support tourist towns must not spark speculation

ON APRIL 1, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development together with China Construction Bank jointly issued a notice on providing financial support to promote the development of "small towns with their own characteristics". Beijing News comments:

Chokehold should be on big polluters

DURING THE LATEST ROUND OF INSPECTIONS by the central environmental protection authorities, the local governments in Beijing, and Puyang in Central China's Henan province were found to have shut down service providers ranging from supermarkets to breakfast restaurants that contribute little to airborne pollution, instead of tracking down the heavy polluters. West China Metropolis Daily commented on Monday:

Lazy official puts people's lives at risk

AN OFFICIAL in Poyang county water conservancy bureau in East China's Jiangxi province refused to deal with a dangerous bridge in a remote mountain village with the excuse that he did not have a government car, and so was unable to get to the site. Legal Daily comments.

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Initiative promotes 'go global' policy

Editor's note: Three researchers share their views with China Daily's Cui Shoufeng on the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation scheduled for May 14 and 15 in Beijing, which will be attended by 28 heads of state and government leaders. Excerpts follow:

'Buying American' and losing America

US President Donald Trump recently signed the "Buy American, Hire American" executive order, which seeks to crack down on fraud and abuse of the skilled worker (H-1B) visa program. And at the headquarters of Snap-on, a tool company in Kenosha, Wisconsin, he signed the second part of the order, which calls for US government agencies to give preference to domestically produced goods and for a 220-day study of US trade agreements that grant foreign companies the right to be treated as domestic companies.

Creating a future for small rural schools

Hengshui High School of North China's Hebei province, known for its large size and success in preparing students for the national college entrance examination (gaokao), recently set up a branch in Zhejiang province, stirring up a heated debate on school sizes and choices. As the big, super schools grow and small rural schools face closure and consolidation, one wonders if such a change means social progress.

Bilateral mechanism can help deepen trust with Australia

International relations experts more or less agree that while Barack Obama was the US president there was strategic mutual distrust between China and the United States largely because of the latter's strategic "pivot" to Asia strategy, which was actually intended at containing China's rise.

Misjudgment of situation biggest risk to peninsula

If the risks surrounding the Korean Peninsula were perceived to be dangerously high, it was because of the fear that anything could happen at any time in the tense standoff that had developed between Washington and Pyongyang.