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Shanghai market hits three-year high

Chinese stocks rose for the third consecutive day to a new high in 43 months, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index reaching 2899.46 points or gaining 4.31 percent at close on Dec 4.

In the rally, 55 A-shares, including 17 from securities companies, have hit the 10 percent daily-rise ceiling.

The new peak was led by financial and petrochemical companies, mainly influenced by boosted market liquidity after the central bank cut interest rates.

The Shenzhen Component Index rose 4 percent and returned to above 10,000 after 21 months.

The total transaction volume in the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets has reached more than 880 billion yuan ($142.98 billion)

Database established to track fugitives

China is establishing a database of corrupt officials who have fled overseas, the Ministry of Public Security said on Dec 2.

The move comes as more than 150 economic fugitives turned themselves before the Dec 1 deadline under the Fox Hunt 2014 campaign, which would grant lenient punishment, the ministry said.

The campaign, launched in July, is aimed at catching economic fugitives abroad and confiscating their illegal assets.

On Oct 10, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Public Security, the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Supreme People's Court issued a joint statement urging economic fugitives to return to China and confess to their crimes.

The statement said those who surrender and return to China voluntarily before Dec 1 would receive lighter punishments.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, Chinese police had brought back 335 suspected economic fugitives to stand trial by Nov 30. The authorities captured 181 of them, and 154 turned themselves in. Police also confiscated their illegal assets.

Occupy Central founders surrender

Two academics and a pastor who conceived the "Occupy Central" campaign in Hong Kong turned themselves in on Dec 3.

Legal experts in the city said the men may face multiple charges and five-year prison terms if convicted.

Benny Tai Yiu-ting, a law professor at the University of Hong Kong, put forward the idea of an occupation protest on January 2013. He was soon joined by Chan Kin-man, a Chinese University of Hong Kong sociologist, and the Reverend Chu Yiu-ming.

After midnight on Sept 28, the three founders of the campaign called for protesters to assemble to launch the "Occupy Central" movement. It blockaded a road about 12 hours later outside government headquarters.

More than nine weeks later, the three men told reporters that they would surrender on Dec 3. They admitted to wrongdoings in relation to the regulation covering public meetings or gatherings stipulated under Hong Kong's public order ordinance.

Orbiter continues moon mission

China's lunar orbiter continues to undergo tests in space after the return capsule landed on Earth, preparing for a future moon landing by the Chang'e 5.

When the return capsule of the lunar orbiter separated from the service module and landed in Siziwang Banner of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region on Nov 1, the service module continued its mission to the moon, arriving at Lagrangian Point L2 on Nov 29 an orbiting position of neutral gravity near the side of the moon farthest from the sun.

"To take maximum advantage of the capacity of the service module to test relevant technologies for Chang'e 5, we are conducting a series of experiments on the service module, including circling the Lagrangian Point L2 and carrying equipment for experiments in orbit," said Pei Zhaoyu, deputy director of the China National Space Administration.

The module carries equipment including GPS, a high-resolution camera and a star sensor.

Pei said the test could validate technologies for Chang'e 5.

The camera can observe areas where Chang'e 5 will take samples. "These possible results can strengthen our confidence for the landing of Chang'e 5," Pei said.

China to boost UN fight against Ebola by $6m

China donated $6 million (4.8 million euros) on Dec 2 to the United Nations' fund for combating the outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa.

It will also increase the number of Chinese medical workers in affected countries to 1,000 over the next few months.

The donation will be used to support the UN's mission to build up health service networks and collaborative projects with a number of national and local governments. Some of the cash will finance work being carried out by private contractors to improve sanitary conditions in West Africa.

Assistant Minister of Commerce Zhang Xiangchen said China's financial support is designed to provide a flexible response during a critical period.

China has donated $19 million through the UN Development Program to a number of African nations since the outbreak began.

The money has helped not only Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, the three countries where the virus is most rampant, but also neighboring states including Ghana, Mali, Togo, Benin, the Republic of Congo and Nigeria.

Beijing tightens rules for airports

The Beijing government has issued new airport rules that aim to stem the growing number of conflicts between passengers and airlines.

The rules forbid entering an airport-controlled area without an airport pass, entering a taxiway, forcibly boarding and occupying an aircraft, climbing over and destroying airports' protective fencing and other acts that threaten air transport safety and disturb airport order.

The list was part of a series of administrative measures at Beijing civil airports issued by the city's legal affairs office.

The measures will take effect on Jan 1. The measures also entrust airport management to implement administrative punishments for illegal actions.

China's high hopes to climate change talks

China hopes that climate change talks in Lima, Peru, attended by more than 190 countries, will lead to an agreement in Paris next year that reflects common but differentiated responsibilities and fairness.

The two-week Lima conference will be a key step toward a successful outcome in Paris, said Su Wei, China's chief climate negotiator and director-general of the Climate Change Department under the National Development and Reform Commission, in Lima on Dec 1.

The Chinese government hopes those involved can accelerate pre-2020 actions.

Developed countries should contribute ambitious emissions reductions before 2020 and provide financing, technology transfer and capacity building as promised to developing countries, Su said.

China, Malaysia to build maritime training hub

Malaysia, in collaboration with China, plans to develop a maritime training hub for the ASEAN region.

Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said Malaysia has offered its Maritime Training Institute for the hub.

"The governments of Malaysia and China are discussing the mechanism of the collaboration, including the hosting of regional programs," he said in a statement from Mandalay, Myanmar, on Dec 1.

Liow issued the statement after meeting his Chinese counterpart, Yang Chuantang, on the sidelines of the 20th ASEAN Transport Ministers Meeting.

Liow said the cooperation, aimed at making the most of collective resources, would benefit other ASEAN members.

He said China had in the past provided technical assistance and numerous capacity-building programs to ASEAN, particularly in the training of seafarers.

To reciprocate, Malaysia has offered the maritime institute to collaborate with Chinese experts to develop a training hub for the region, Liow said.

He also announced that the Qinzhou Port in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region has become a sister port of Kuantan as a mark of close cooperation between the two countries.

(China Daily Africa Weekly  12/05/2014 page2)