China begins new football coach search

(Source: CRIENGLISH.com)
July 25 - An official with the Chinese Football Association has revealed that the reshuffle of the national team and the selection of the new head coach, to replace Zhu Guanghu, is to commence soon.
In an interview with Goalchina.net, one of China's leading football websites, the official unveiled that the administration has received recommendations from various brokers, in which international football big names, including German Berti Vogts and Dutchman Ruud Gullit have been put forward.
The reputation, experience at international events, as well as a candidate's capability of adapting to Chinese conditions will be taken into consideration.
The winning candidate could be paid not less than 500-thousand US dollars per year, the official noted..
The watchdog will soon file its plan to the General Administration of Sports that has final say over the appointment.
A walking ticket for current head coach Zhu Guanghu, who was held responsible for China's early exit from the recent Asian Cup, is also on the agenda.
Earlier reports said former French striker Jean-Pierre Papin has acknowledged that he is also running for the post.

Liu Xiang's value reaches 80 mln yuan

Chinanews, Beijing, July 25 - Liu Xiang, the new pop idol of sports in China, is also one of the most valuable athletes in the country. Before the 2004 Olympics, Liu's commercial value was 350 thousand yuan, but now, the figure should be at least 80 million yuan.
Liu has become the faces of 5 famous brands. "Though I can't tell you how much Liu get exactly from these 5 brands, the average price should break 10 million yuan. In fact, different brands usually pay different amounts of money to ask Liu to be their face. Sometimes, the price is based on when the ads are broadcast, too," said Wang Dawei, who is in charge of commercial development at the Chinese Athletic Association.
It is estimated that each brand pays Liu some 14 million yuan to ask him to be its face. However, the figure might increase to 20 million yuan if Liu wins the title for the 120-m hurdle race in 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Acupuncture becomes popular worldwide

Chinanews, Guangzhou, July 24 - According to Nanfang Daily, acupuncture has become a very popular therapy in 140 countries and regions in the world nowadays.
The information was released by Fu Wenbing, the director of Guangdong Provincial Association of Acupuncture. In fact, many acupuncturists in the world are from Guangdong.
"Though it is still hard for Westerners to accept traditional Chinese herbal medicine, acupuncture has won widespread popularity in the Western countries," said Fu. Currently, acupuncture has become a regular course in many medical colleges and universities. In many developed countries, acupuncture has become a formal part of the social security system. For example, there are 100 thousand acupuncturists and massagists in Japan. In Tokyo alone, 29% of the population have acupuncture therapy experience. In Germany, more than 2 million people every year visits TCM clinics, 80% of them for acupuncture therapy.

Huaihe River enters critical period of flood control

Around 200 cargo ships were jammed in the approach channel at the Bengbu lock on the Huaihe River on Monday, due to high water levels along the waterway caused by floods further upstream. The Bengbu lock arranged the ships to anchor beside the gate, before the water level recedes under safe lines. [Photo: Xinhua]
July 25 - The water level of the swollen Huaihe River remains dangerously high and will probably rise again due to rain in the upper reaches of the river, local flood control authorities warned.
The water level at Wangjiaba, a key hydrological station of the river in Anhui, was 27.54 meters, or 0.04 meters higher than the warning line with downstream sections 0.8 to 1.4 meters higher than the warning line, according to the Anhui Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.
Moderate to heavy rain hit parts of Anhui and Henan provinces Monday and Tuesday, and was forecast to continue until Wednesday, which would cause the river's water to rise again and remain high for longer time, said an official with the headquarters.
About 660,000 people in Anhui have been displaced since July due to floods and landslides triggered by heavy rain.
Ten floodwater storage areas have been commissioned to ease the flood control pressure of the river, causing an evacuation of more than 10,000 people.
Officials said the flood control pressure will continue as the dikes face an increased risk of being breached after soaking in high water for more than 20 days.
Around 800,000 army troops and local residents have been working to reinforce the embankments of the river to prevent further flooding.

China to introduce high resolution tech to forecast weather

Chinanews, Beijing, July 25 – The State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping and the China Meteorological Administration (CMA)signed an agreement in Beijing Tuesday on the technological cooperation and information sharing of fundamental geographic information. With the agreement, CMA will be able to obtain fundamental geographic information with high resolution images. According to Zheng Guoguang, CMA director, the signing of the agreement will lay a solid foundation for China to forecast the weather with greater accuracy.
China is a country constantly hit by bad weathers such as typhoon, thunderstorm, drought, gale, hail, fog, haze, sandstorm, heat wave, and freeze. These natural disasters have greatly affected the country's economic development, ecological environment and the basic livings of the people. In recent years, as global warming takes effect, extreme weathers occur more frequently than before. It has thus become an important task, as Zheng said, for meteorological workers to study how to raise the accuracy of weather forecast and how to forecast the weather timely and with greater details, so as to reduce the damages caused by natural disasters and to protect people’s property and lives. Acquiring fundamental geographic information with high resolution remote sensed images will greatly help meteorological workers to achieve these goals, Zheng said.
At present, the spatial resolution for the polar orbit meteorological satellites and geostationary satellites has reached 1.1 kilometers and 1.25 kilometers, respectively. The geostationary satellites can send a picture to earth once every 15 minutes. The information gathered through high resolution remote sensed images, together with the fundamental geographic information (with a scale of 1:50,000) and the information gathered through underlying surface, will make it possible for China to provide a more detailed weather information to customers based on their specific demands.

Chinese think raising child is costly

Chinanews, Beijing, July 25 – In a recent survey, 86.3% of the respondents think that raising children is a financial burden. Among this group of people, 45.2% think it is a “quite heavy” financial burden. In addition, more women agree to this view than men, as the survey shows 49.1% of the women hold this view while only 41.7% of men think so, the China Youth Daily reported.
The survey was jointly conducted by the China Youth Daily Social Investigation Center and Qtick.com. Some 2,685 people participated in the survey.
“I once read a report which said that raising a child costs as much as 490,000 yuan in total,” said Ms. Jiang. Two years ago, when she was still not a mother yet, she was quite surprised to hear the news.
However, it becomes more and more evident that raising a child costs a lot. Parents have to pay for the tuition fees and living costs of their children; they have to spend money buying nutrients; in order to send their children to a good school, they have to pay a sum of money as sponsorships to the school. Sometimes, they will need to pay the fees charged for remedial courses, etc. As children's expenditure increases, parents have to allocate more and more of their family savings on child raising. In the survey, 59.0% of the respondents say they can not afford to have a baby because they cannot afford the related expenses.
So, it is quite normal that 58.1% of the respondents worry that they can not create a good living environment for children to grow up.
“Children are kind of luxury goods. Sometimes it might cost the parents a whole life in raising a child. If you are not sure you can let your child grow happily, then it's better not to have any children at all,” said Feifei, a web surfer.
Mr. Ma works in the media industry. “Ever since a baby is born, parents will have to devote a lot of efforts to its care. You wish that your child can receive a good education in a renowned school and it will be clever enough to pass the many examinations that schools give to them. However, before these dreams come true, parents have to devote a lot of efforts to the children. It is by no means an easy task to learn the parenting skills nowadays. In the past, when I was a child, raising children was as simple a task as giving enough food for them, nothing more.”
The survey result shows 39.3% of the respondents agree with Mr. Ma. To them, since children will face great competition in society when they grow up, parents are also put under tremendous pressure.
When asked “do you plan to have a child in future”, 65.1% of the respondents say “yes”, 25.5% of them say “probably so”, and only 1.6% of them give a definitely negative answer.
Some people describe a happy life as getting to know your future husband plus falling in love with him plus getting married plus having a child. Without a child, life won't be complete, a point that is agreed to by 78.5% of the respondents to the survey.

Pregnant women take photos in bikinis

Chinanews, Changchun, July 24 - More and more pregnant women in Jilin City, Jilin Province would like to make albums of photos, in which they all wear bikinis to show off their bellies.
Most of them also ask cosmeticians to paint various patterns on their bellies or adorn their bellies with various delicate decorations. Of course, all the paints are safe for the fetus. Sometimes, they even ask their husbands to paint on their bellies.
"These young pregnant women were born in the late 1970s or early 1980s, who highly appreciate life and fashion," said a photographer. His words well explains the popularity of bikini photo albums among pregnant women.

Shanghai netizens save 860 cats

Chinanews, Guangzhou, Jul. 25 – Shanghai netizens recently saved 860 cats, which would have been sent to Guangzhou to make food. Astonishingly, most of these cats are pets owned by ordinary citizens in Shanghai.
Duo Zirong, a netizen in Shanghai, leaned from the Internet that some people were packing cats onto 2 trucks. She called the police, and one truck escaped during the chaos. Other netizens came and found 860 cats in the truck.
All these cats were tiny and wore chaplets and small bells, which made netizens and the police think the cats were stolen from common citizens. They also learned that some cats stolen from Wuxi and Suzhou were also packed in Shanghai, to be destined be sent to Guangdong and Hainan provinces.
But the criminal suspects argued that the cats were for sale, that one cat could be sold in Guangdong at 14 yuan, and all cats in the truck could be sold at 20 thousand yuan in total. The police officers came and seized all 860 cats, and netizens helped to release all of them. A 52-year-old civil servant paid 5,000 yuan to the criminal suspects in compensation to for release of the cats.

Stepmother news proved to be untrue

Chinanews, Nanchang, July 25 - The most widely concerned news about an evil stepmother abusing her daughter had aroused great wrath among the public. However, police in Poyang County, Jiangxi, where the story occurred, recently announced that the news, which had stirred so much anger and sympathy in society, had finally proved to be untrue.
Chen Caishi, a woman in Poyang County, was recently condemned by media as the most evil woman in China, because she had reportedly abused her six-year-old stepdaughter, causing the young kid to vomit blood and break her backbone. The small child also suffered from urinary incontinence and was on the verge of death. Without confirming the facts, some web users and news media reported the news online with big headlines like "the world's most evil stepmother hit her child causing the latter to vomit blood."
Under great social pressure, police in Poyang County visited the six-year-old girl, Xiaohui, her stepmother, her father, teachers, classmates and the family's neighbors. They also consulted doctors about the girl's wounds. After careful investigation, police finally concluded that the stepmother, Chen Caishi, had not abused her stepdaughter and the wounds on the girl's body was initially caused by the girl herself when she once carelessly fell down to the ground.
Chen Caishi, who once knelt down to beg reporters to correct the news, can now sign with relief. At one time, she even attempted to commit suicide as she could not tolerate the heavy social pressure—thousands of people attacked the innocent woman in reports by using the most malicious words, making the woman nearly collapse.
All this originated from a TV interview with Xiao Hui, who said, in front of the public, that her stepmother had beaten her severely and that she "was a monster." However, through investigation, police found that Xiao Hui's stepmother actually treated her nicely. The doctor's diagnosis showed that Xiao Hui suffered from haemophilia and her broken backbone was caused by serious pathological changes, not by hitting. As she suffered from haemophilia, she could very easily get bruises on the body.
As everything becomes clear now, those web users, who once severely criticized the stepmother, have now begun to blame media for making up stories. According to some web users, it was merely news speculation, something similar to the fake news of "paper stuffed buns" that once spread like wildfire.
The incident might stir heated discussion about online violence and fake news. It might also prompt the public's review about many Chinese people's fixed evil image of stepmothers.

"Taiwan independence" provocation doomed to fail

(Source: Xinhua)
July 25 - China on Tuesday branded Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian a "schemer" for his attempt to push Taiwan into the United Nations, saying that "Taiwan independence" activities are doomed to fail.
The Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council made the remarks in a statement following the UN rejection of Taiwan authorities' application to join the United Nations under the name of Taiwan.
A spokesperson for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Monday the UN Office of Legal Affairs had rejected the application for UN membership by Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian, which was conveyed by the permanent representatives of two member states, according to a statement issued on the UN's Chinese-language website
The spokesperson said the decision was made in keeping with resolution 2758 of the UN General Assembly, which determined that the United Nations abides by the one-China policy.
The rejection proved "the international community recognizes that there is only one China and Taiwan is part of China", the statement issued by the two Chinese offices said.
"The secessionist move of applying for UN membership under the name of Taiwan will not change the fact that Taiwan is part of China, nor will it change Taiwan's international status," the statement said.
The statement said any issue involving China's sovereignty and territorial integrity must be determined by China's 1.3 billion people. "This is an issue of basic principle and we leave no room for compromise.
"We remain committed to pushing cross-Strait relations toward peace and stability, but we are also prepared to curb all adventures aimed at 'Taiwan independence'," the statement said, adding China would never allow Taiwan secessionists to separate Taiwan from China under any name or with any means.
The Taiwan authorities under Chen Shui-bian must shoulder serious consequences if they continued to turn a deaf ear to the warnings and denouncements of the international community and recklessly moved for "Taiwan independence", the statement said.
Taiwan authorities on July 19 sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, raising an application for "joining the UN in the name of Taiwan.
The application to join the UN and another move for a UN membership referendum were secessionist schemes pushed by the Taiwan authorities under Chen Shui-bian, the statement said.
After failing to win support for the moves, Chen was forced to say they would not change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait and were not against his "four nos" promise -- no declaration of "Taiwan independence," no reference of the "two states" in the constitution, no change of the province's name and no referendum on "Taiwan independence".
However, in the UN application Chen had asked his subordinates to claim that Taiwan was an independent sovereign state and had never been a part of China, the statement said.
All Chen's activities proved he attempted to change the fact that Taiwan is part of China, the statement said.
"With 2008 Taiwan leadership election coming, Chen continues his secessionist provocation for the sake of himself and his party, regardless of the interests of 23 million Taiwan compatriots," the statement said. "Chen is a complete schemer and saboteur who would not hesitate to sacrifice peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the Asia-Pacific region."

China to be "exhibition nation"

Chinanews, Shenzhen, Jul. 25 – China’s exhibition industry earns for it 14 billion yuan every year, and its indirect production value amounts to 120 billion yuan every year.
The exhibition industry had developed rapidly from the 1990s to 2006, and 4,000 exhibitions and fairs are held in China every year. Most of these exhibitions are held in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Other cities like Dalian, Changchun, Qingdao, Nanjing and Suzhou also have held some more exhibitions in recent years.
Currently China has some 200 exhibition centers, covering a total area of 2 million square meters. Officials reveal that another 1 million square meters of exhibition areas will be built in the near future.
Former president of the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry predicted that the scale of China’s exhibition centers would surpass Germany as the World’s largest “exhibition nation”.
Experts suggest that main international exhibition companies have established their branches in China, which means Chinese exhibition market is being more and more important.

Yuan hits new record high against USD

BEIJING, July 25 - China's currency, the yuan, hit a new high against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, according to the Chinese Foreign Exchange Trading System.
The central parity rate of the yuan, also known as Renminbi (RMB), stood at 7.5596 yuan to the U.S. dollar, up 129 basis points from Tuesday's 7.5725 yuan to one dollar.
It is the 54th time that the yuan's value hit a record this year, and also the highest rate since the yuan was revalued by 2.1 percent from 8.28 yuan in July 2005.
The yuan has climbed 2,491 basis points from 7.8087 on the last trading day of 2006, and the value of the yuan has increased by 7.28 percent since the country discontinued the yuan's peg to the dollar.
Analysts said the quicker pace of yuan's appreciation was closely related to the central bank's announcement to raise the benchmark interest rates last Friday.
The yuan is also under pressure of further appreciation with U.S. Treasury Secretary Paulson's visit to China at the end of this week, as the flexibility of the yuan will be the focus of the discussion between the two sides.
The yuan's value has been fluctuating within a small range after it breached the 7.57 mark on July 16. It lost 83 basis points on Tuesday.
Tan Yaling, a research analyst with the Bank of China earlier warned the continued yuan revaluation in a single direction may adversely affect the country's economic and financial security.
Some economists are worried that persistent anticipation of yuan's appreciation would attract more speculative fund into the country and worsen the excessive liquidity problem faced by the Chinese government.
On Wednesday, the central parity rate of RMB against the euro went up 352 basis points from Tuesday's figure to stand at 10.4368, while yuan's value against the Japanese yen gained 240 basis points to 6.3031 yuan against 100 yen.

Private aircraft to be popular in China

Chinanews, Beijing, July 25 - "There is a huge demand for private aircraft in China," said Li Shurong, a financial analyst. "Thus a great many capable pilots and technicians, and related regulations will also be needed to guarantee the healthy development of the industry."
On July 22, the first private aircraft shop was opened in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, with mainly planes and helicopters in its major stock. Currently, there are more than 10 private planes in Zhejiang Province, while the national figure is no more than 100.
"It is normal to witness the booming of private aircraft, as nowadays a helicopter is no more expensive than a BMW. However, we don't have related laws and regulations, thus many enterprises are still biding their time," added Li.
Currently, many enterprises have already enjoyed the convenience of private aircraft. It requires about 2 weeks to apply for the opening of a private airline, which is quite acceptable.
According to the latest data, there are 200 Chinese with private aircraft driving licences, including owners of small and medium-sized enterprises, ordinary workers and college students.

Hotels to witness large price rise during Olympics

Chinanews, Beijing, July 25 - How high will the hotel price go during the Olympic Games next year? How many hotels have received reservations for the Olympic Games now? In an attempt to find answers to these questions, the Beijing News recently carried out a survey about hotel reservation for the Olympic Games. Of the 37 hotels covered in the survey, 54.1% have not launched the hotel reservation services for the Olympic Games. 17 hotels have launched such service. Their prices of guest rooms for the Olympic Games could be as high as 7 times the current price.
The 37 hotels included in the survey were randomly selected from the list of star-rated hotels published by the Beijing Tourism Administration website and some were chosen from hotels in society. In return, the Beijing News got 37 answer sheets. The result shows that low-rated hotels will witness the highest price rise during Olympic Games.
Among the 17 hotels that have launched hotel reservation services for the Olympic Games, 6 claim that the guest rooms in their hotels have already been fully booked at that time. For 5 hotels, the price of their guest rooms during the Olympic Games will be 7 times as much as the current price. For 7 other hotels, the price of their guest rooms will increase by less than 5 times during the Olympic Games. 6 hotels refuse to disclose the price of their guest rooms for the Olympic Games.
Of the two hotels whose price will increase by 5 times during Olympic Games, one is a three-star hotel and the other is a two-star hotel. The former hotel said they had just been rated as a three-star hotel and the standard price for a guest room in this hotel now stands at 240 yuan per night, while during the Olympic Games, the price of the same room might soar to 2,000 yuan per night. The other hotel said they now only accept reservations from companies. Reservation service for individuals will not be available until early August. Currently, the lowest price for a normal guest room is 408 yuan per night while the price of guest rooms for companies that have made reservations is 320 US dollars (2,560 yuan)per night.