IN BRIEF (Page 4)

Chinese airlines seek to end pilot shortage

Major airlines in China have lowered recruitment thresholds and increased training budgets to lure more college students and graduates into their cockpits as a pilot shortage spreads across the country's booming aviation industry.

Vocational education brews up big dreams

Xing Junjie, a second-year student at Guangzhou Vocational School of Tourism and Business, earned a spot in this month's national finals of a coffee-making competition by placing second in a southern region preliminary in Guangzhou last month.

Ex-porter's company provides jobs

His lanky frame and poor eyesight probably made Liu Xiaoxiao, 55, the worst bangbang in Chongqing, but now he's known as the "general of the bangbang army".

Prosecutors: Students stalked before killing

A man accused of hacking two schoolboys to death in Shanghai in June appeared in court on Thursday on charges of intentional killing.

Painting helps boost Dong farmers' incomes

The bright colors and local themes of paintings by members of the Dong ethnic group in Sanjiang Dong autonomous county, in southern China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, have made them popular with tourists and collectors.

Lisbon school lifts profile of Chinese culture

Sara Loureiro Pinto, a Portuguese student at the University of Lisbon, attracted more than a few glances at the recent opening ceremony of a Confucius cultural exhibition held at the school. She wore a traditional red and black Chinese dress with beautiful embroidered lace.

Training in Portuguese emphasized by Macao

The Macao Special Administrative Region has attached "unprecedented" importance to cultivating people able to speak both Mandarin and Portuguese, language and culture scholars said.

Nation to bolster trade ties with Portugal

China is willing to work with Portugal to develop closer trade ties and expand cooperation in areas such as energy, finance, tourism, infrastructure and third-party markets, officials said.

Bilingual cooperation seen as hastening more contacts

Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries is seeing excellent development momentum, and enjoys bright prospects, experts said.

Hydropower operator looks to third-party opportunities

China Three Gorges Corp, which built and now operates the world's largest hydroelectric power plant - at Three Gorges Dam - is looking forward to further cooperation with Portugal to jointly tap the potential of third-party markets.

Investment in China welcomed

As China sincerely opens its market to all nations, it welcomes investment in China by companies in Panama and elsewhere, President Xi Jinping said on Monday.