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Chinese art theft from French museum

About 15 rare pieces of art have been stolen from the Chinese Museum of the Chateau de Fontainebleau, southeast of Paris.

They include a crown of the King of Siam, given to French Emperor Napoleon III during the king's visit to France in 1861, and a Chinese chimera in cloisonn enamel from the reign of Qianlong (1736-95) during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the French Culture Ministry said in a statement.

China gives Benin $69 million loan

China has given Benin a preferential loan of 40 billion CFA Francs ($69 million) to fund telecommunication infrastructure projects, diplomatic sources said Monday in Cotonou.

The agreement was signed on the same day in Cotonou between Benin's Foreign Minister and African Integration Prof. Nassirou Arifari Bako and China's ambassador to Benin, Diao Mingsheng.

"I understand the importance Benin's government places on construction of telecommunications infrastructures. And we hope the completion of this broadband project will enable the Beninese population who are not yet connected to get access to the Internet," the Chinese diplomat said, adding that his wish is to see the project completed as soon as possible.

"The Internet promotes social and economic development, and the signing of this agreement is meant to reinforce our cooperation relations," he added.

Benin's foreign minister said the signing of the agreement was another strong signal of China's willingness to continue supporting Benin's development process.

"This act comes at a time when Benin, just like other sub-regional countries, is migrating from analogue to digital broadcasting and it is an addition to numerous accomplishments in the fruitful and exemplary cooperation between Benin and China," Arifari Bako concluded.

China continues to support South Sudan peace process: envoy

China will continue to provide support to the South Sudan peace process toward resolving the long crisis in the world's newest nation, said La Yifan, Chinese ambassador to Ethiopia.

The final session of the South Sudan peace talks, mediated by the regional bloc the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, was launched on Monday in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa.

In his statement at the opening of the negotiations, La Yifan said China would continue to support the peace efforts being made towards resolving the crisis in South Sudan.

"China is an active promoter for peace and development in South Sudan. The Chinese government is always ready to play a positive and constructive role in the IGAD-led peace process," said the ambassador.

Sea levels 2nd highest on record

China's sea level rose 1.6 centimeters last year, the second highest on record, according to an annual government report.

The sea level was 11.1 cm higher than the average from 1975 to 1993, according to a report released by the State Oceanic Administration on Saturday. The record figure in 2012 was 12.2 cm higher.

Since 1980, the sea in China has risen an average of 3 mm a year, much higher than the world average, the report said.

Experts said the situation was caused by global warming, and the impact last year was more evident in the West Pacific Ocean, which includes China's coastal regions.

"But the rising sea level and the impact on our territory is not as bad as people have imagined. It is far from submerging most of our coastal areas," said SOA official Qu Tanzhou.

"It poses a more serious threat to island countries. Further research is needed to learn about the global impact of rising sea levels."

More than 70 percent of the world's population lives on coastal plains and 11 of the world's 15 largest cities are on the coast or estuaries.

Cybersecurity law 'makes perfect sense'

Beijing hit back on March 3 at criticism from United States President Barack Obama over a counter-terrorism law being considered by Chinese lawmakers.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said it makes perfect sense to protect information security using the country's own legislative system.

Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said implementing the nation's first counter-terrorism law is a "very necessary" requirement to combat terrorism and information leaks.

"We oppose any kind of cyber surveillance actions using information technology advantages.

"All countries are paying the highest attention to information security nowadays, and no one is in a position to criticize other countries' moves in protecting information safety," Hua said.

She was responding to comments by Obama that China should review the law to ensure smooth economic ties with the US.

China is likely to ask domestic and overseas information technology vendors to hand over critical information, such as encryption keys, passcodes and software source codes referencing the law.

US companies, including IBM, Oracle and Microsoft, have major concerns about submitting such data to the Chinese government.

They cite the significant business value of the information and say such a move may damage company credibility for some customers in the US.

The Obama administration fears China's tightening grip on information safety will harm the interests of US technology vendors that dominate the high-end IT market in China.

Anti-graft probe to double its efforts

The anti-corruption authority swore on March 3 to more than double its efforts to expand its investigation to cover all government offices and State-owned enterprises this year.

The pledge came just one day after it was announced that 14 army generals are being investigated for corruption.

Zhao Hongzhu, deputy head of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, also said new rules will be made by the end of June this year on disciplinary inspection, meaning investigation by special anti-graft officials.

Li Xiaohong, another senior CCDI official, said discipline inspection rounds are to be expanded and sped up in 2015. They will include up to 2,100 cities and counties, and 4,700 government offices and institutions.

Officials already covered more than 1,200 cities and counties, and 700 offices and institutions in 2013 and 2014.

The anti-corruption investigators' workload is heavy, and the CCDI is ready to improve its method and speed up its actions, Li said. These action plans were announced by CCDI in response to President Xi Jinping's recent call for comprehensive rule of law and comprehensive regulation of the Party with strict discipline.

US to lower 2015 China reinvestments

Members of the American Chamber of Commerce in South China have reduced their reinvestment budgets for this year by 9.3 percent.

Based on an annual survey by the chamber, the members cite concerns about regulatory changes, protectionist policies, transparency and unequal treatment.

The survey found that reinvestment budgets for the coming three years dropped by 16.9 percent.

This suggests "increased uncertainty in the medium term", although the companies view the Chinese market's growth trends as highly positive, according to the survey, released on March 2.

It covered 275 randomly selected member companies of the chamber. The chamber members account for nearly 40 percent of all Sino-US business, trade and investment.

Twenty-four percent of multinationals that had each budgeted to reinvest $250 million or more last year either deferred or called off their investments, the survey found.

It is the first time in 10 years that the report has been compiled that companies have recorded less reinvestment than originally budgeted.

Lake water cleanup a work in progress

The water quality of China's third-largest freshwater lake has greatly improved since a massive algae bloom broke out in 2007, but pollution management remains a major problem, according to environmental protection authorities.

Zhang Limin, deputy director of the General Office of Taihu Lake Water Pollution Prevention and Control in Jiangsu province, said that compared with 2013, the number of blue-green algae blooms and the algae density in the lake both dropped last year.

According to the general office, all nine water sources and the waterworks it investigated last year provided water with quality that met or exceeded the national standard. A total of 700 million tons of water was supplied to Jiangsu and neighboring provinces during the year.

In 2007, a massive outbreak of blue-green algae, which mostly resulted from the excessive runoff from agricultural fertilizers and household cleaning chemicals, threatened tap water supplies to 2 million residents in lakeside Wuxi.

Pollution at Taihu Lake has attracted much attention since then because of the lake's location, its size and the 40 million people who live within its watershed. The lake covers 2,428 square kilometers and is located in the densely populated Yangtze River Delta.

China expected to become more proactive

Continuing weakness in industrial activity is forcing the Chinese government to adopt more aggressive policies to accelerate growth and increase employment, economists said.

The weekend announcement by the People's Bank of China of a second interest rate cut in less than four months coincided with the release of the Purchasing Managers Index for February, which edged slightly upward from a 28-month low of 49.8 in January to 49.9.

Beijing may be more proactive through the first half of the year to spend more on government-led investment projects and provide more incentives to private investors and consumers, economists said.

February's PMI was still below the median of 50, an indication that the manufacturing industry is still contracting.

The output sub-index slipped to 51.4 from 51.7 in January, meaning slower production growth, while the employment sub-index dropped to 47.8 from 47.9, the lowest level since March 2013, indicating fewer new jobs were available.

Reserves expanded to protect panda habitats

China will continue its efforts to protect giant pandas by expanding nature reserves and forbidding all kinds of construction and development in their habitats and surrounding areas.

The State Forestry Administration, China's wildlife watchdog, released results of a national survey on giant pandas on Feb 28. Despite an increase in both population and habitat area, the survey said economic development remains a threat to the preservation of the rare animal.

The survey said habitat fragmentation is the major factor threatening the survival of giant pandas. Due to geographic isolation and human intervention, the wild population is fragmented into 33 isolated populations. Twenty-four of those have fewer than 100 pandas and are at high risk.

The major disturbances in the habitats of wild giant pandas include 319 hydropower plants, 1,339 kilometers of road and 268.7 kilometers of high-voltage transmission lines.

New procurement rules aim to curb corruption

A new regulation designed to prevent misconduct by those involved in government procurement took effect on March 1.

The new regulation supplements the provisions of the 2003 Government Procurement Law and is intended to ensure that procurement is carried out in a transparent manner under effective supervision, according to a statement by the State Council's Legislative Affairs Office.

The total value of government procurement exceeded 1.6 trillion yuan ($255 billion, about 230 billion euros) in 2013, up from 100 billion yuan in 2002, before the law was passed, the office said.

"Problems that have occurred in government procurement activities, such as excessive spending and the purchase of substandard products, have aroused public concern in recent years," the statement said.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 03/06/2015 page2)