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Presidential welcome for Silk Road student

President Xi Jinping welcomed about 200 youngsters from Kazakhstan to Beijing on June 24 as the university students began to retrace the ancient Silk Road, which has given the two countries centuries of close ties.

The students' visit is one of the cultural exchange programs that Xi has promoted since China devised a strategy to revitalize trade and personal ties between China, Central Asia and Europe, through which the ancient Silk Road ran about 2,000 years ago.

The young guests are from Nazarbayev University, where Xi made a speech on China's Central Asia strategy in September and proposed that China and Central Asian countries build an "economic belt along the Silk Road".

It is a trans-Eurasian project spanning from the Pacific Ocean to the Baltic Sea, inhabited by nearly 3 billion people and representing the largest market in the world.

Observers said the plan will revitalize Eurasia's inland civilizations, a development necessary for the stability and development of China's vast western region.

Foreigners caught for drug crimes increase

Drug offenses involving foreigners rose sharply last year, an official at the Ministry of Public Security says.

Most of the foreign drug trafficking suspects caught are Africans, said Liu Yuejin, director of the ministry's narcotics control bureau.

The ministry said police handled 1,491 drug-related crimes involving foreigners last year, a year-on-year increase of 15.4 percent. A total of 1,963 foreign drug suspects were arrested, an increase of 17.3 percent.

Police also confiscated 5.9 metric tons of drugs, an increase of 31 percent.

"Due to high market demand and the desire for profits, foreign drug gangs are active in southern China, including Guangdong and Yunnan provinces and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region," Liu said.

Factory output estimate shows stability

A manufacturing gauge for June has hit a seven-month high, indicating that progress has been made in stabilizing the world's second-largest economy thanks to modest policy measures, analysts said.

The preliminary reading of the HSBC/Markit Economics Purchasing Managers Index for the month was 50.8, the highest figure since November, compared with a final reading of 49.4 in May. A figure above 50 indicates expansion.

Economists said the index shows the economy has started to stabilize after Premier Li Keqiang said in London during a recent trip that it would not experience a hard landing.

"This month's improvement is consistent with data suggesting that the authorities' mini-stimulus is filtering through to the real economy," said Qu Hongbin, chief economist for China at HSBC.

The economy grew 7.4 percent in the first quarter, the lowest for 18 months, due to weak domestic and international demand. China has set a target of 7.5 percent for economic growth this year.

Hundreds held in terrorism blitz

Police in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region have destroyed an average of one terrorist cell a day in the past month, an official from the regional public security department said on June 23.

Thirty-two groups have been broken up and more than 380 people arrested since May 23, when a one-year anti-terrorism campaign began in Xinjiang.

A total of 264 explosive devices and 3.15 metric tons of materials for making explosives were seized.

The official said the crackdown had led to terrorists reaching the breaking point.

Wang Qianrong, deputy director of the Xinjiang Public Security Department, also said the most recent attack on June 21, on a police bureau in Yecheng, a county in southern Xinjiang's Kashgar prefecture, was a desperate move by the terrorists, who were under "high pressure" from the government.

Thirteen attackers were shot dead as they targeted the public security bureau with explosives. Three policemen were slightly injured but no civilians were hurt, the regional government's information office said.

'Reform needed' for vocational education

Skills-based vocational education is receiving unprecedented attention from the central government as China seeks to ensure high employment and improve the image of perceived "cheap" made-in-China products.

Premier Li Keqiang invited private investors and social enterprises on June 23 to play an important role in helping vocational training attain that goal.

Li made the remarks in his address to participants in the national vocational education meeting. The last such meeting was eight years ago.

"Reform is needed to promote vocational education, in which relations between the government and the market should be properly handled," Li said.

"In addition to the government, social entities, companies and private investors should take part in establishing more vocational training of different levels to integrate practical needs with teaching."

Chinese tourism sets records in South Korea

The number of Chinese tourists who visited South Korea reached a record high last year, when 4.32 million trips were made.

Chinese tourists are playing an increasingly significant role for the tourism market in South Korea, accounting for 35.5 percent of the country's inbound tourism market last year, the China Tourism Academy says.

That number is expected to increase this year, given that more travelers have been deterred from traveling to traditionally popular destinations such as Malaysia and Vietnam.

Lee Kang-wook, head of the international tourism research center of the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute, said the two countries should ease the visa application process to boost bilateral relations and improve the inbound tourism market of each country.

New map incorporates South China Sea

The official map of China, which previously included an inset to reflect its South China Sea territories, has been extended vertically to include the country's maritime areas in the main cartography.

The South China Sea territories are based on the country's nine-dash line, which covers the Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha island groups and surrounding waters of more than 2 million square kilometers.

"The new map gives readers a direct impression about the country's territories," Lei Yixun, chief editor of Hunan Maps Press, the publisher, told Xinhua News Agency on June 24.

There is no special distinction in China's territorial land and water areas that justify an inset, so the new map was simply extended vertically to include the maritime areas, he said.

Xinhua reported that the National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation authorized the new map.

Landmark Taiwan trip bolsters Straits links

The mainland's chief Taiwan affairs official began a four-day trip to the island on June 25 by greeting people in the Minnan dialect, a major local language.

Zhang Zhijun, the first such official to visit the island since 1949, also said: "It took me only three hours to fly from Beijing to Taipei. However, it has taken 65 years for cross-Straits ties to take this step."

People from both sides have benefited from peaceful development in recent years, he said.

Zhang said cross-Straits ties should be boosted continuously despite the many challenges.

He made the remarks during a meeting with Wang Yu-chi, director of Taiwan's "Mainland Affairs Council". It is the second meeting between the two this year, following one held on the mainland in February.

Crackdown on Web terrorism material

Anti-terrorism experts said the crackdown on terrorist-linked video and audio content on the Internet must intensify, as such information has fueled the spread of religious extremism and terrorist attacks in China.

Video and audio files put out on the Internet by the East Turkistan Islamic Movement have risen sharply, from 32 files in 2012 to 109 last year. In the first three months of this year, the terrorist group put out 36 such files.

Terrorist attacks in China also rose sharply last year, and the video and audio files are a direct cause of the increase, security analysts said.

The State Internet Information Office has asked Web companies to eliminate terrorism-related content. More than 30 enterprises, including Internet giant Sina and video platform Youku, also signed an agreement on improving oversight of online information.

Lawyers tapped in transnational cases

More Chinese lawyers will be promoted as legal advisers in state-owned companies for transnational business, amid concerns over national and economic security, a senior officer of the All-China Lawyers Association says.

Most state-owned companies have been hiring foreign lawyers and accountants for cross-border lawsuits or transnational transactions, which can potentially compromise national economic security, said Wang Junfeng, director of the association.

"We will encourage more senior lawyers at the national level to serve as counsels and represent some transnational litigation, especially for the 50 major state-owned enterprises, including China National Petroleum Corporation and State Grid Corporation of China."

New medical center responds to demand

An innovative medical center in one of the capital's new towns will attract domestic and international investors amid growing demand for quality medical services, a development figure said.

The Beijing International Medical Center, in Tongzhou district, will cover 15 square kilometers and host non-government-funded medical institutes like those from the private sector.

World-leading medical and nursing services will be available and research and teaching facilities, said Han Xiaofang, a member of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform.

Efforts to preserve old canal stepped up

When the Grand Canal, the world's longest artificial waterway, was inscribed on the World Heritage list at UNESCO's 38th session of the World Heritage Committee on June 22 in Doha, Qatar, excitement stirred among the Chinese delegation.

The earliest work on the canal can be traced to the 6th century BC, and the canal was first connected as a whole in the 7th century AD. The length of the canal and its tributaries is about 3,000 kilometers. Of that total, 1,011 km of the canal, a part that passes through 35 cities and includes 58 historical sites, has been designated for the World Heritage list.

Jiang Shili, deputy head of the application office for World Heritage, said the southern part of this important communication channel connecting northern and southern China in ancient times still functions well today and is considered a special heritage because it is "alive".

School curriculum put to the test

Shanghai will undertake an experiment to raise its standards of education by adopting a trial international curriculum at some high schools.

Twenty-one high schools, 11 public and 10 private, will take part in the program, the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission says. The schools will offer 18 levels of international courses, such as A-level (general certificate of advanced education), AP (advanced placement) and IBDP (international baccalaureate diploma program).

"The trial implementation of international courses will absorb the best practices from overseas and help deepen curriculum reform in the city's schools," said Yin Houqing, an official with the education commission.

Brazil offers China a winning pass

World Cup host Brazil is offering to help China achieve the goal of developing football into a truly national sport, the head of Brazil's Sports Ministry says.

"Brazil is willing to provide all kinds of support for China to help it get into the World Cup finals and even win the tournament one day," Aldo Rebelo said.

In 2011, China and Brazil teamed up in a number of agreements to strengthen Chinese football.

"Through the sports ministries of China and Brazil, the two countries have engaged in in-depth cooperation," Rebelo said.

A key to developing soccer in China is to cultivate interest among the public and make the sport part of daily life, he said.

This may take time, but the first thing to do is to provide facilities for children to play soccer, regardless of whether they are in cities or villages, he said.

China Daily-Xinhua

(China Daily European Weekly 06/27/2014 page2)