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Nation vows transit support for Europe

China is contemplating a fresh investment drive into Central and Eastern Europe to place its relations with Europe on a firmer footing.

Premier Li Keqiang, in Slovenia on the first visit of a Chinese premier to a Balkan country in 28 years, offered cooperation opportunities in infrastructure, finance and energy as he talked one-on-one with some of the government leaders and senior officials from the 16 Central and Eastern European countries on Dec 16.

"China is willing to take part in developing the Port of Koper, in Slovenia, as well as other infrastructure and nuclear energy upgrading projects in the country, with our advantage in high cost-efficiency," Li said during his meeting with Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar in Belgrade.

Cerar said Slovenia would like to transform the Port of Koper, located in the northern part of the Adriatic Sea, connecting markets of Central and Southeast Europe with the Mediterranean Sea, into the gateway for Chinese commodities going into Europe and to expand Slovenia's exports to China.

Li's meetings with other leaders in the region, from Latvia, Montenegro, the Czech Republic, Bosnia, Romania and Slovakia, featured a similar message, in which both sides proposed more transportation and energy cooperation.

Greenland Group starts NY housing project

Chinese property developer Greenland Holding Group has broken ground for a project that could be the largest real estate development in New York in 20 years.

Greenland USA said on Dec 15 that it is developing an affordable housing project in downtown Brooklyn with its US partner Forest City Ratner Companies.

The 18-story project at 535 Carlton Ave will include 298 units "100 percent affordable" for low-, moderate- and middle-income households, according to Greenland Forest City Partners.

The affordable housing plan is part of the multitower Pacific Park Brooklyn project, which was previously known as Atlantic Yards. Greenland Group said it would invest $4.9 billion (3.9 billion euros).

With revenue of $41 billion last year, Shanghai-based Greenland is one of China's largest conglomerates, focusing on energy, finance and real estate.

The developer entered the US market in 2013 as doubts hit the cooling market at home. After investing $1 billion in the Los Angeles Metropolis project in July, it took a major stake in the Pacific Park project in October 2013.

Businesswoman gets 20 years, $404m fine

A former billionaire accused of bribing the ex-railways minister to obtain business illegally was sentenced to 20 years in prison and fined 2.5 billion yuan ($404 million; 323 billion euros) on Dec 16.

Beijing No 2 Intermediate People's Court first sentenced Ding Yuxin, the former chairwoman of Boyou Investment Management Corp, to 15 years for offering bribes. It then gave her another 15-year sentence for operating business illegally, according to a statement released by the court.

After combining the punishments for the two offenses, the court finally decided to sentence her to 20 years, fine her and confiscate her personal property worth 20 million yuan, the court said.

Ding, 59, who is from Shanxi province and whose original name is Ding Shumiao, was detained in 2011 and stood trial in September last year.

Liu Zhijun, the former railways minister, helped Ding earn a huge amount from 2004 to 2011 and Ding offered him 49 million yuan in bribes to express her thanks, the statement said. Liu was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve in July 2013 for corruption and abuse of power.

Graft watchdog steps up SOE probes

The top anti-graft watchdog will intensify its efforts to uncover corruption in state-owned enterprises.

More than 70 senior directors from such companies have been investigated for suspected graft since January, said a senior official from the Party's Central Commission of Discipline Inspection.

SOEs' operations are closely linked to national economic security, and corruption causes huge losses and seriously threatens the rule of the Party, said Hao Mingjin, vice-minister of supervision under the CCDI.

"Some SOE directors have allegedly colluded with foreign forces to trade national assets in return for huge bribes, and we will fight such cases resolutely," he added.

He said that since January, the CCDI has been collecting and classifying information provided by the public while carrying out inspections of SOEs to gather leads.

China, Germany to tackle cyberattacks

China and Germany can still cooperate further to tackle cyberterrorism and other challenges posed by new media, according to media officials from the two countries attending the fourth China-Germany Media Dialogue on Dec 16.

At the opening ceremony, Cai Mingzhao, minister of the State Council Information Office, said China and Germany should enhance cooperation in media technologies and apply new Internet technologies to empower media influence and promote cybersecurity.

Cai said Chinese media has developed considerably since the reform and opening-up, as traditional media have been strengthened and new media has developed at a fast pace.

"The China-Germany all-around strategic partnership brought new opportunities to media cooperation between the two countries," he said, calling on the two sides to deepen collaboration in journalism, communications technology, media management and operations to promote understanding between the two peoples.

Chinese media have accelerated the merger of traditional and new media, including websites, micro-blogging and mobile terminals.

Beijing wins OK for new international airport

The central government has approved the construction plan for a new international airport in Beijing that will enable the capital to handle 72 million more passengers each year.

The project will involve investment of almost 80 billion yuan ($13.1 billion) and take about five years to complete, the National Development and Reform Commission said.

It will be located 46 kilometers south of Tian'anmen Square in Daxing district, and is expected to become operational in 2018.

The airport is designed to handle 2 million metric tons of cargo and 620,000 passenger flights on an annual basis, the commission said. It will include 150 parking aprons for passenger jets, 24 parking aprons for cargo aircraft, 14 maintenance areas as well as a terminal building with a floor area of 700,000 square meters.

State-owned Capital Airports Holding, the Northern China Regional Air Traffic Management Bureau under the Civil Aviation Administration of China and the China National Aviation Fuel Group will undertake the construction.

The civil aviation administration will provide 18 billion yuan to fund the project, while Capital Airports Holding will invest 6 billion yuan. The rest of the investment will come from bank loans and private capital, according to the commission.

Executed man cleared of rape, murder

A court in northern China cleared a man on Dec 15 of the rape and murder of a woman in a public toilet 18 years after he was executed for the crimes.

Inner Mongolia High People's Court overturned the conviction of Hugjiltu, who was 18 when he was sentenced to death and executed for the crimes.

Zhao Jianping, vice-president of the court, arrived at Hugjiltu's home with a retrial judgment, apologizing for the mistake and announcing that the executed man was innocent.

Giving 30,000 yuan ($4,500; 3,900 euros) to the family, Zhao promised them that further compensation would be provided.

(China Daily European Weekly 12/19/2014 page2)