China successfully saved Shennongjia

An undated photo shows some tourists pose for a picture at "Shennongjia".
Chinanews, Wuhan, July 24 - There is a "must-go" place in China called "Shennongjia", as it is one of the most important gene libraries in the world.
Shennongjia is located in Hubei Province. In the 1970s and 1980s, China had decided to develop the rich timber resource here. In mere ten years, the forest coverage rate in Shennongjia had greatly dropped by 11.6%, causing great ecological crises like flood, landslide, etc. In 1980, Wu Kong, a Chinese-Canadian, wrote a letter to Deng Xiaoping, then vice premier of China, suggesting that China should make Shennongjia a nature reserve through and through. At that time, some pessimistic prediction even went to the effect that Shennongjia would be dead in no more than 5 years.
However, Shennongjia has come out safe and sound. "It will be even better," said Wang Haitao, the Secretary of the Party Committee of the local forestry administration.
China made Shennongjia a nature reserve in 1986, since then, its protection was well on the way. In 1990, UNESCO put Shennongjia in its Man and the Biosphere Project. In 1992, the Global Environmental Facility of the World Bank selected Shennongjia as one of its permanent bio-diversity models in Asia.
Last April, when botanists from all around the world visited Shennongjia, many of them were impressed by its well-preserved bio-diversity, complete ecological system, and well-protected primeval forests.

An elaborate funeral for pet dog

Chinanews, Chengdu, July 24 - Lin, a professor in his late 30s, spent nearly 100 thousand yuan in an elaborate funeral for his pet dog last week in Chengdu, Sichuan Province.
Lin's wife passed away 5 years ago. As his children all live apart from him, Lin moved from Dalian to Chengdu three months ago.
He found a stray dog while taking a walk not long after he arrived in Chengdu. "It kept following me, and finally I decided to adpot it," said Lin.
However, the dog died three months later. "It brought me so much joy, just like a family member. I could hardly bear losing it. Holding a decent funeral for it was the only thing I could do in its memory," said Lin in tears.
"It is really crazy to spend so much money on burying a dog," said a local citizen, but many others said that they understood Lin's love for the dog.

UN rejects Taiwan membership application

Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangya has denounced the representatives of three countries, including the Solomon Islands, for submitting an application letter for UN membership, on behalf of Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian. He called the move an act of absurd splittism that China firmly opposes, at an interview on Monday, July 23, 2007 at the UN's headquarters in New York.
July 24 - China's UN Ambassador Wang Guangya has highly praised the UN's rejection of an application from the Taiwanese authorities for "joining the United Nations in the name of Taiwan."
Wang Guangya Monday told reporters that it was an absurd act for the representatives of three countries, including the Solomon Islands, to submit an application letter for UN membership, on behalf of Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian, to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon last Thursday.
The ambassador says the Chinese government firmly opposes this blatant attempt at splitting China, reiterating that articles of the UN Charter stipulate only a sovereign state can apply for a UN membership, and Taiwan is part of China. He added that Taiwan is ineligible to join the UN in any name or in any way.
Xinhua News Agency reports that a spokesperson from the UN secretariat confirmed on Monday that it had returned Chen Shui-bian's letter one day after it received it, according to UN's General Assembly Resolution 2758.
Wang Guangya says the immediate return of the letter helps guarantee the solemnity of the UN Charter as well as the authority of the UN.
The ambassador also expressed his belief that the Chinese government will continue to gain the support of the UN, and its member states, in the cause of maintaining China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Appointment of Beijing bishop set in motion

July 24 - The China Catholic Bishops College is to examine the recent election of Joseph Li Shan as Beijing Bishop, who would fill the vacancy left by the late Bishop Fu Tieshan if he is approved.
Fu, the former chairman of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association and Bishop of the Beijing Diocese, died of cancer in April.
Liu Bainian, vice-president of the association, told China Daily yesterday that the Catholic Bishops College has received notice of Li's election from the Beijing Diocese and is to vet his appointment in a coming conference.
Li was chosen by a group of Chinese priests, nuns and lay people last Monday in an election organized by the Beijing Diocese.
He won 74 out of the 93 votes to easily win over three other candidates in the election in accordance with the regulations of the China Catholic Bishops College and through democratic procedures, said sources with the Beijing Diocese.
"We will heed the voice of the majority. But we still need to check the voting process," said Liu.
Li will be ordained within three months if the bishops' conference approves his appointment.
Liu described Li, born and nurtured in a religious family, as a good candidate for the post.
"He is compassionate and loving."
Li, a 42-year-old priest at Beijing's St Joseph's Church in the capital's Wangfujing shopping area, graduated from the Chinese Catholic Academy of Theology and Philosophy. He was ordained by Bishop Fu as a priest in 1989.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association is to celebrate its 50th anniversary tomorrow in Beijing, where bishops from across the country will join in.

Chinese bank makes global finance foray

July 24 - In an unprecedented sortie into the global financial market, a State-owned bank has teamed up with an international partner to join Europe's most heated competition in a banking takeover.
Yesterday, China Development Bank (CDB) - the largest of the three policy banks specializing in government-sponsored domestic infrastructure investment - dramatically increased its international profile by announcing that it will buy up to 5 percent in London-based Barclays, Britain's third largest lender.
Barclays is trying to close a merger with ABN Amro, Europe's eighth largest bank in total assets.
In an official statement, CDB Governor Chen Yuan expressed "strong support" to the Barclays management's global strategy.
And that support is mainly in cash, John Studzinski, senior managing director of Blackstone - which is providing financial advisory services to CDB in its Barclays deal - told China Daily.
CDB's Barclays deal is the first time that a State-backed financial organization has become an active player in an international buyout of a large financial service network.
According to an announcement by CDB, it will join Temasek Holdings of Singapore to invest up to 13.4 billion euros ($18.5 billion) in Barclays through subscription of shares. And that, in turn, will provide additional capital for Barclays in its ongoing bid for Amsterdam-based ABN Amro.
After enlisting the two Asian supporters, Barclays made a simultaneous announcement revising its bid for ABN Amro, increasing the offer from an earlier 64 billion euros ($88.4 billion) up to 67.5 billion euros ($93.3 billion).
With the share issue to CDB and Temasek Holdings, Barclays also recast its bid for ABN Amro from an all-share offer to a cash-and-share deal, with cash making up 37 percent of the total.
CDB will initially subscribe 2.2 billion euros ($3.04 billion) of Barclays new ordinary shares, or a 3.1 percent stake of the private British bank. But if its bid for ABN Amro succeeds, according to the agreement, CDB will be able to subscribe a further 7.6 billion euros ($10.5 billion) of Barclays ordinary shares.
Sun Mingchun, vice-president and chief economist of Lehman Brothers Asia, saw it as "a very active move" by a Chinese financial firm in seeking overseas expansion.
"Unlike the embryonic State Investment Company's $3 billion subscription in Blackstone's shares in May, which is merely a financial investment aimed to balance the massive foreign exchange reserves, CDB's investment is an active move targeted at improving the bank's management and seeking overseas expansion," Sun said.
The offering of a 5 percent stake to CDB greatly strengthens links between Barclays and CDB, transforming their "strong longstanding relationship" into a "strategic partnership", noted Bob Diamond, president of Barclays.
Based on yesterday's agreement and a memorandum of understanding, Barclays will assist and advise CDB in its evolution into a commercially-operated financial institution.
CDB will also use Barclays Global Investors, a Barclays subsidiary in investment management, as one of its preferred asset mangers.
The link with CDB will in turn provide Barclays with improved access to the Chinese market.

Diamond import and export increased quickly

Chinanews, Shanghai, Jul. 24 – According to statistics provided by Shanghai Diamond Association, diamond import and export in China reached 443 million US dollars in the first six months of 2007, an increase of 195% compared with last year.
Statistics also show that export of China’s diamond reached 92 million US dollars, which also make a high record.
Statistics indicate China’s booming diamond market has attracted huge investment, and the measures for regulating the market launched by the central government have proved to be effective.

Instant noodles to join price hike

A customer with her kid chooses instant noodles at a supermarket in Beijing July 24. Chinese instant noodle brands decide to raise the prices of their products to alleviate burdens brought by the soaring cost of materials.
July 24 - Domestic instant noodle brands that are priced below 1 yuan, or 0.13 US dollars will on Thursday join a nationwide price hike, the result of the soaring cost of materials.
An official with the China Branch of the International Ramen Manufactures Association (IRMA), Meng Suhe, said the prices will on average be raised by 20 percent, and no highest than 40 percent.
This is the latest step of the burdened industry to ease the side effect brought about by rising costs. Leading instant noodle manufacturers, including Master Kong and President, last month raised the prices of their products.
The prices of brands sold above 1.5 yuan per bag were increased by 0.2 yuan, on average, back in June.
Sources close to the industry reveal that the sector has been severely affected by booming materials price hikes since last year.
The price of palm oil, a major ingredient that can account for 18 percent of noodle production costs, has risen to around 8,000 yuan per tonne, up from 4,200 yuan in 2006.

Shop selling planes opens in Hangzhou

Chinanews, Hangzhou, July 24 – China's first general aircraft selling shop opened in Hangzhou last Sunday, Dushikuaibao (City Express) reported.
General aircraft refers to aircraft such as helicopters, police planes, agricultural aircraft, and private planes. The shop in Hangzhou mainly sells helicopters and private planes.
The shop was jointly opened by Xi'an Yanliang National Aircraft Hi-tech Industrial Base (CAIB) and Zhejiang Tiandu Industrial Co., Ltd. The shop aims at selling aircraft to people in the Yangtze River Delta region. CAIB decided to open an aircraft 4S shop in Hangzhou because of the vigorous economy in the Yangtze River Delta region and the prosperous private economy and capital in Zhejiang.
Three exhibition rooms in the shop are now open to the public, covering a total area of 800 square meters. Three airplanes, all patrol plane series, are displayed in these exhibition rooms. The spare parts of these planes were made in France and the Xi'an Xijie Aircraft Maker assembled the spare parts after they were imported to China. The three planes can seat two people and are ideal for short-distance flights. One of them is a helicopter, one a fixed-wing patrol plane and one a delta-wing airplane.
In Zhejiang, the first businessman that owned a private airplane was Qiu Dedao, president of the Hangzhou Daoyuan Group, who bought a plane at 65 million yuan and later named it “Shouxiang No.1” . The plane can hold two pilots and six passengers. After taking off, the operational cost of the plane is 4,000 yuan an hour.
At present, most people that buy private planes are those who have a company of their own. In Zhejiang, there are more than ten private planes, while in China, less than 100 hundred people have their own private planes. In light of this, many people think that there is a promising future for China's private plane market, a market that is described as “an upcoming era of the general aircraft” by He Yong, president of the Zhejiang Tiandu Industrial Co., Ltd.