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Beijing, New Delhi to expand partnership

The development and revitalization of China and India is an inevitable historical trend, which is also conducive to a more peaceful, harmonious and balanced world, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said during a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.

China is willing to work with India to grasp the opportunity to increase mutual trust, expand cooperation and foster a closer development partnership, Wang said.

Wang also met with Indian President Pranab Mukherjee.

As the special envoy of President Xi Jinping, Wang started his two-day visit to India with talks with his new Indian counterpart, Sushma Swaraj. India called the talks a "productive and substantive" step toward stronger relations between the two neighbors.

Abe 'an obstacle' to better relations

Grassroots exchanges between China and Japan have shown significant signs of improvement, observers said, but they warned that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's conduct has been a major obstacle to any improvement in ties.

Relations have been buffeted since Japan seized a Chinese fishing boat near China's Diaoyu Islands in 2010.

Public opinion reflected the downturn in relations with 90 percent of people surveyed in each country expressing negative opinions about the other nation - a record low - according to a poll last year by China Daily and the Japanese nonprofit organization Genron NPO. However, more than 70 percent of those surveyed also acknowledged that bilateral relations are "important".

Several groups of Japanese politicians and business leaders visited China earlier this year and Tang Jiaxuan, former state councilor in charge of foreign affairs, visited Japan recently to attend forums.

S. Asia pact to bring mutual benefits

China and Bangladesh pledged to push for early agreement on an economic corridor that will benefit at least 3 billion people in four countries.

Premier Li Keqiang said China encourages businesses to open joint-venture companies in Bangladesh, and the government is willing to cooperate with Bangladesh in science and technology, agriculture, marine development and disaster prevention.

China said it would set up a hybrid rice laboratory in Bangladesh.

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, on her third visit to China as prime minister, said that China has always been a reliable partner for her country and has contributed greatly to its development.

China raised the idea of building a Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor during Li's visit to India last year. The countries established an inter-governmental system to help boost economic cooperation in December.

Xi: innovation key for development

President Xi Jinping encouraged scientists in China to rely on innovation to achieve major breakthroughs in key technologies and to serve the country's development.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 17th conference of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the 12th conference of the Chinese Academy of Engineering at the Great Hall of the People, Xi said scientific and technological innovation is the key to China's future progress.

"Scientific and technological innovation serves as the strategic foundation for improving productivity and overall national strength, and it must be positioned as the core to China's overall development," Xi said.

The CAS and CAE conference, held every two years, is a major event for the two highest academic institutes for science, technology and engineering.

Graduates starting businesses on rise

The percentage of Chinese college graduates choosing to start their own businesses has risen for three consecutive years, a survey shows.

It also found that the average monthly salary of self-employed graduates is higher than for those who are not self-employed.

Of the college students who graduated in 2013, 2.3 percent started their own business, higher than the figure for 2012 (2 percent), 2011 (1.6 percent) and 2010 (1.5 percent).

This is according to the 2014 Chinese College Graduates' Employment Annual Report, released by MyCOS, an education consulting and research institute in Beijing.

The survey polled 268,000 graduates from 28 provinces and regions.

Air China links Beijing, Washington

Air China launched its first direct flight linking the capitals of China and the United States on June 10 in a deal that analysts said reflects huge business potential.

The 13-hour route, which flies four times a week, became Air China's sixth direct route to the US.

"We are pleased to link two of the world's greatest capital cities with our new service, providing greater connectivity to promote bilateral trade, commerce and tourism between our two destinations," said Wang Yinxiang, vice-chairman of Air China.

The new route is definitely the right choice for the Chinese national carrier, as Washington is an important destination for Chinese visitors, said Zhou Shijia, a senior researcher at the Center for US-China Relations at Tsinghua University.

Chinese navy leaves Angola after tour

The 16th escort fleet of the Chinese navy ended a three-day visit to Angola on June 7, leaving Luanda for Namibia, as part of an eight-country African tour.

The missile frigate Yancheng, the flagship of the fleet, led the frigate Luoyang and supply ship Taihu out of harbor.

The Chinese Ambassador to Luanda Gao Kexiang, Military Attache Xu Xiaosong, representatives of the Angolan navy, and hundreds of Chinese expatriates in Angola bid farewell from the quayside.

During the visit, Commander of the task force Li Pengcheng met with Luanda city officials, and senior officers of the Angolan navy. Staff members of the fleet visited Angolan navy warships and exchanged expertise with their counterparts.

Li said the Chinese sailors received a warm reception from the Angolan navy and local people. He added that the visit had helped promote mutual trust and understanding between the two navies, and that he expected to cooperate with the Angolan navy on peace keeping and international security activities in the future.

Countries hold joint naval drills

Chinese and Namibian warships conducted their first joint naval drill off Namibia's coastal town of Walvis Bay on June 10.

Yancheng and Luoyang, two missile frigates, and a helicopter from the 16th Escort Task Force of the Chinese navy, took part in the joint exercise, alongside a Namibian navy vessel.

Despite strong Atlantic winds, the two navies practiced fleet formation and communication smoothly after dispatching officers to each other's bridges.

The successful joint exercise ended around 4pm, as the Chinese helicopter landed safely back on the deck of the Yancheng.

Li Pengcheng, commander of the Chinese fleet, praised the performances of both navies and said the operation represented the start of enhanced understanding and friendship between the two armed forces.

The Chinese fleet is on an eight-country African tour, after taking part in escort missions off the Gulf of Aden, and in the waters off Somalia, which saw them involved in protecting over 5,500 ships from various nations. The fleet leaves for South Africa on June 13.

Big data may help battle flu outbreaks

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention is working with online search giant Baidu to tap its huge user database to help forecast flu outbreaks.

Gao Fu, deputy director of the center, said a data-crunching prediction tool might be available as early as this year to track flu outbreaks nationwide.

"Big data will play a major role in safeguarding and improving public health."

The tool is expected to provide the public with estimated flu epidemic levels and help boost prevention measures as well as aid authorities with more targeted responses, said Lai Shengjie, a researcher at the center's infection prevention and control department.

Export recovery good sign for economy

China's exports continued to recover in May amid improving demand in developed countries, which analysts believe will ease concerns over a slowdown and help stabilize growth.

Exports increased by 7 percent in May from a year earlier, outpacing the 0.9 percent increase in April and 6.6 percent drop in March. However, imports in May declined 1.6 percent year-on-year, compared with 0.8 percent growth in April and an 11.3 percent slump in March, the General Administration of Customs said.

"The May export performance implies a consolidation compared with the underlying momentum in April," said Louis Kuijs, chief economist in China at Royal Bank of Scotland, in a note.

Economic growth eased to 7.4 percent in the first quarter, below the government's target of 7.5 percent for this year. But recent data have suggested a stabilizing trend. The purchasing managers index, a key indicator of economic performance, increased to 50.8 in May from 50.4 in April.

Hanoi urged to 'stop all disruptions'

Using frogmen, fishing nets and floating objects, and ramming boats hundreds of times, Vietnam escalated its harassment of China over Beijing's oil drilling in the South China Sea, an unusually long statement from the Foreign Ministry indicated.

Beijing stressed the importance of its relationship and communication with Hanoi in the statement, but experts warned that Hanoi will continue such provocations to cater to the country's swelling nationalism and seek sympathy from the international community.

"As of 5 pm on June 7, there were as many as 63 Vietnamese vessels in the area at the peak, attempting to break through China's cordon and ramming Chinese government ships a total of 1,416 times," the ministry said.

More super-rich look to move abroad

The passion shown by China's super-rich for settling down abroad and obtaining overseas passports has reached a record high, a report said.

The proportion of Chinese high net worth individuals with personal wealth of at least 6 million yuan ($960,000) who expressed willingness to emigrate has risen to 64 percent from 60 percent a year ago, it said.

The Immigration and Chinese High Net Worth Individuals 2014 white paper was co-released by the Hurun Report and immigration agency Visas Consulting Group.

Of those who have emigrated or are applying to do so, 66 percent said they would consider obtaining a foreign passport after moving abroad.

This finding emerges from the survey of 141 Chinese super-rich with an average personal wealth of 42 million yuan.

It was described as "quite surprising" by Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of the Hurun Report, who said it showed that China was becoming "more international".

China Daily-Xinhua

(China Daily Africa Weekly 06/13/2014 page2)