Briefly

Qin to attend Lanting Forum in Shanghai

State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang will attend the opening ceremony of the Lanting Forum on Chinese Modernization and the World in Shanghai on Friday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said. Qin will deliver a keynote speech at the forum, which will host foreign dignitaries, scholars, business leaders, foreign diplomatic envoys and representatives of international organizations in China. The forum will cover topics including the new development of China, better global governance, closer people-to-people exchanges and pursuing high-standard opening-up.

Ethnic groups from Taiwan visit Beijing

A 21-member delegation of ethnic minorities from Taiwan visited Beijing from Tuesday to Thursday to get a better understanding of the ethnic cultures of the Chinese nation and exchange views with relevant parties on the development of relations across the Taiwan Strait as well as on exchanges and cooperation between ethnic minorities from the two sides. Compatriots from ethnic minorities in Taiwan are indispensable members of the big family of the Chinese nation, said Song Tao, head of both the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, when meeting with the delegation on Wednesday. They have a glorious tradition of loving the country and their homeland and have made important contributions to the development of cross-Strait relations and the reunification of the motherland, he said.

Ex-official pleads guilty to bribery

Sun Guoxiang, former deputy head of the Standing Committee of Liaoning Provincial People's Congress, pleaded guilty to taking 97.6 million yuan ($14 million) in bribes at the Langfang Intermediate People's Court in Hebei province on Thursday. Sun confessed to his crimes in court. Prosecutors from the Langfang procuratorate said that from 2008 to 2018, Sun profited from his positions, including as Party chief and mayor of Liaoning's Panjin city, by assisting enterprises in obtaining bank loans and special funds via convenient conditions gained from his power and position and acts of other government officials. The sentencing will be carried out at a later date.

China Daily - Xinhua