Beijing

Sun Yat-sen's birth anniversary marked

The National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference held a ceremony on Saturday to commemorate the 145th anniversary of the birth of Dr Sun Yat-sen, a revered revolutionary leader who played a pivotal role in overthrowing imperial rule in China.

Representatives from all walks of life attended the ceremony in Beijing's Zhongshan Park, and bowed three times in front of the Sun Yat-sen statue to show respect. The ceremony was presided over by Bai Lichen, vice-chairman of the committee.

New-energy cars to get free license plates

China is to lift restrictions on the issuance of new license plates for buyers of new-energy vehicles, a move aimed at putting more green vehicles on the country's roads.

According to a statement jointly issued on Friday by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and National Development and Reform Commission, new-energy cars will be exempt from the current license plate and traffic restrictions in some major cities.

Under a pilot plan, 25 Chinese cities - including Beijing, Shanghai, Dalian and Guangzhou - have been urged to encourage the purchase and use of environmentally friendly vehicles.

Three Gorges 'not cause' of climate change

A report released in Beijing on Friday said there is no scientific evidence that the Three Gorges Dam has caused change to the climate, nor is it to blame for meteorological disasters in recent years.

Research has shown that the radius around the dam within which environmental conditions have been impacted by the development is less than 20 km, said the report titled Green Book of Climate Change: Annual Report on Actions to Address Climate Change (2011), published by the Social Sciences Academic Press under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Tibet

380m yuan invested in farmland irrigation

China's Tibet autonomous region plans to invest a total of 380 million yuan ($59.9 million) to boost its farmland irrigation and water conservation infrastructure in the coming winter and spring, local authorities said on Saturday.

The total investment, an increase of 15 percent over the previous year, will be earmarked for projects including renovating facilities damaged by floods, building rural flood-control and drought-resistant facilities, and setting up farmland water conservation systems, according to Tibet's Water Resources Department.

Zhejiang

Railway project open to private lenders

Individual creditors have been given the green light to fund a multi-billion-yuan railway project in an eastern Chinese city where authorities undertook financial reforms for the city's huge informal private lending market, local officials said on Friday.

The municipal government of Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, has approved the construction of four railways with an estimated cost of 80 billion yuan ($12.6 billion). The company created to oversee the project's construction and operation will have half of it's total registered funding, or 7 billion yuan, covered by private lending.

Hong Kong

Almost 90,000 organ donations filed

Hong Kong has recorded more than 88,000 registrations at the Centralized Organ Donation Register as of the end of October 2011, according to the city's government news website on Saturday.

There are also about 300 organizations, including government departments, private companies and community groups, that have indicated their support for organ donation.

Hong Kong has seen a generally increasing trend in the rate of organ donation over the years, according to the data from the Hospital Authority of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government.

News watch

Twenty-two miners have been confirmed dead after a gas leak occurred in a coal mine in Southwest China's Yunnan province Thursday morning, rescue headquarters said on Saturday. Rescue teams took turns searching for another 21 miners who were still trapped as of Saturday afternoon.

Xinhua - China Daily

(China Daily 11/13/2011 page2)