THIS WEEK

THIS WEEK

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Concert at Royal Temple

performers from the philadelphia orchestra play an outdoor concert at the temple of heaven in beijing on May 30.

they came to beijing for the philadelphia orchestra Residency Week held in the National Center for the performing Arts (NCpA).From May 28 to June 3, the NCpA joined hands with the 112-yearold orchestra to hold an art festival. Aside from three concerts, a series of cultural exchange activities were held during the week.

the temple of heaven was the place where emperors came every winter solstice to worship heaven and to solemnly pray for a good harvest. it is seen as the most holy imperial temple in the capital.

the musicians from the orchestra visited the temple to experience the history and rich culture of “old beijing.” the group put on an excellent pop-up performance for crowds there.

“Irresponsible words and acts by the Japanese politicians will not only undermine their credibility,but also harm Japan’s international image.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin, commenting on Tokyo metropolitan government’s calls for fund-raising to buy some of the islets adjacent to the Diaoyu Islands in Beijing on May 31

“We welcome the Philippine Government to send their ambassador to Beijing as soon as possible, and we believe it will help strengthen communication between both sides through diplomatic channels.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin, welcoming newly appointed Philippine Ambassador to China, Sonia C. Brady, to take offi ce in a regular press brie fi ng in Beijing on May 28

“I appeal to him (Assad) to take bold steps now—not tomorrow,now—to create momentum for the implementation of the plan.”

Ko fi Annan, the UN special envoy to Syria, stressing the necessity of implementing his six-point peace plan in order to stem the violence after the mass killing in the Syrian town of Houla, at a press conference after meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus, Syria, on May 29

“Production may remain stopped for three to four months, and I learned this may cause a further 1-percent drop of gross domestic product.”

Giorgio Squinzi, head of Italy’s leading industrial association Con fi ndustria, saying that the 5.8-magnitude earthquake which hit central-northern Italy on May 29 would aggravate the current economic crisis, in an interview with a local media in Milan on May 30

EMERGENCY DRILLING Rescuers check a chemical transmission pipe in a simulated leakage scene during a drill held in Shanghai on May 28

Pianist’s New Post

China’s piano prodigy Li Yundi was hired on May 25 as deputy director of the newly-founded Piano Research Institute at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music, his alma mater. The director will be Dan Zhaoyi, Li’s piano teacher. Li was also enrolled as a visiting associate professor of the college on the same day. Li will set up a studio so that piano students can learn from him face to face.

Li, 30, was crowned the champion of the International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition in 2000, the youngest and first Chinese winner in the history of the competition. Dubbed as the “prince of the piano,” he is considered one of the best of today’s interpreters of Chopin’s music in China and is also regarded as sharing a similar temperament to Chopin.

Li has delivered lectures on the piano and Chinese culture at world famous universities, such as the University of Cambridge and Royal College of Music in London.

Urbanization Rate

China’s urbanization rate reached 51.3 percent at the end of 2011, according to a report released on May 29 by the China Association of Mayors (CAM).

The China Urban Development Report 2011 shows at the end of last year the country had 30 cities with a permanent population exceeding 8 million, and 13 cities with a population of more than 10 million.

With over half of China’s population now living in cities, experts said that the country should still improve conditions in its urban centers by paying more attention to people’s quality of life, the balance of urban and rural development, bene fi ts for migrant workers and protection of natural and cultural resources.

CAM was established in 1991 as approved by the State Council. It has organized experts and scholars to compile the annual China Urban Development Report since 2001.

‘.cn’ Domain Name

Individuals have been allowed to register the “.cn” domain name, according to a recently amended regulation on domain name registration of the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), the administrator of Chinese domain name.

The new regulation, which came into effect on May 29, states that any person or organization bearing civil liabilities independently can apply to register the domain.

“Individuals will become an important drive for the development of websites,” said Qi Lin, Assistant Director of the CNNIC. “Opening the .cn domain name to individuals will boost the openness and diversity of the Internet.”

Individual online shops can possess their own .cn domains that will help their brand operation, according to Qi.

Statistics from the CNNIC show China had around 2.3 million websites as of the end of 2011, up 20 percent year on year.

Compensation Standard

The amount of state compensation payable for infringement of citizens’ personal freedom is to be upped by 20.32 yuan ($3.19) to 162.65 yuan ($25.50) for each day of wrongful imprisonment or detention, said the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) on May 29.

The sum is equal to the average daily income of Chinese urbanites in 2011, according to a SPC statement.

The SPC made the adjustment based on fi gures released the same day by the National Bureau of Statistics.

The State Compensation Law stipulates,“If freedom of a citizen is infringed, compensatory payment for each day shall be assessed in accordance with the state average daily pay of staff and workers in the previous year.”

China’s ‘Green Cards’

OFFSHORE DiE-OFF A woman collects dead abalones in pingtan County, Fujian province, on May 29. Red tide killed more than 550 million abalones, worth 220 million yuan ($34.50 million),in the region as of May 29

A total of 852 foreigners have applied for“green cards” in Beijing since 2004, and 721 had been approved for the permits that grant them permanent resident status as of May 26,2012, said Beijing’s police authorities.

Foreigners who obtain the permanent residence permits can freely enter and exit China without any additional visa procedures,according to the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau.

The Ministry of Public Security said that 4,752 foreigners had received permanent residence permits in China by the end of 2011.

Water Pollution

Underground water in 57 percent of monitoring sites across Chinese cities has been found to be polluted or extremely polluted,reported theEconomic Information Daily, a newspaper run by Xinhua News Agency, on May 28, quoting fi gures from the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP).

The MEP statistics also suggest that 298 million rural residents do not have access to safe drinking water.

In the fi rst half of last year, of the seven main water systems in China, only Yangtze and Pearl rivers had good water quality, and the Haihe River in north China was heavily polluted, with the others all moderately polluted, according to the MEP.

To address poor water quality, the MEP has decided to beef up protection of water sources. According to the MEP, no construction projects will be allowed in water source regions unless they had set aside specific protection areas subject to the ministry’s monitoring, or they had passed water quality examinations.

For the Children

The Ministry of Health will speed up the establishment of a nationwide monitoring system for child injuries, said a senior of fi cial on May 29.

The system will collect and release information including child deaths and disabilities due to traf fi c accidents, drowning, poisoning or other kinds of injuries, said Yan Jun, a division director with the ministry’s Disease Prevention and Control Bureau.

Yan said that the ministry has run a pilot project in 127 hospitals across the country since 2005 that records patients’ injuries.

The system will also be part of the ministry’s measures to protect children from injuries, she added.

The World Health Organization estimated that in China about 365,000 children under the age of 5 die annually, among which 10 percent die from injuries.

Electrical Waste Processing

The Ministry of Finance said on May 30 that China would start amassing a special fund from July this year to subsidize the cost of dealing with waste electrical and electronic appliances.

The fund will be paid by domestic producers and importers of electrical and electronic appliances, according to a regulation jointly issued by the ministry and five other departments.

The fund’s establishment aims to promote comprehensive utilization of resources and encourage energy conservation and environmental protection, it said.

Under the regulation, the collection and subsidy criteria vary for different appliances.For example, it will collect 13 yuan ($2.04)from producers for each TV set, but offer a subsidy of 85 yuan ($13.33) for the treatment of each abandoned TV set.

As a major manufacturer and consumer of electrical and electronic appliances, at the end of 2011, Chinese people owned around 520 million TV sets, 300 million fridges, 330 million air-conditioners, 320 million washing machines and 300 million computers. Tens of millions of the items are disposed of each year and require processing, according to the ministry.

A FUN FAiR A visitor poses for a photo with two cosplayers at the Eighth China (Changchun)international Comics and Animation Exhibition,which kicked off on May 30 in Changchun, Jilin province

ARt FoR tRADE A woman from Qinghai province makes a Tangka at the First China beijing international Fair for trade in Services(CiFtiS) on May 28. Tangka is a tibetan silk painting with embroidery, ususally depicting a buddhist deity, famous scene or mandala

oUt to SEA Fishing boats berth at the fi shing port of Shanghai’s Changxing island.The fi shing port will be built into Shanghai’s only national fi rstgrade fi shing port

Boosting Private Investment

China is making all-out efforts to encourage private investment in more heavily statecontrolled and monopolized sectors amid concerns that its economy might slow further in the coming months.

Since China’s transport, railway and health ministries issued guidelines in April to permit private capital to enter those sectors,the banking sector and state-owned enterprises have joined the drive.

The move came in line with other recent measures announced by the Central Government to open state-controlled and monopolized sectors wider to private investment,in a bid to stimulate tepid economic growth.

Detailed rules concerning private investment in more monopolized industries, such as electricity, oil and natural gas are currently being drafted, said an of fi cial with the National Development and Reform Commission.

Direct Yuan-Yen Trading

Direct trading of the Chinese currency against the Japanese yen kicked off on June 1, both in Shanghai and Tokyo, bringing the yuan one step closer to becoming a truly global currency.

The trading marks the fi rst time for China to allow a major currency other than the U.S.dollar to be traded directly against the yuan.

As part of efforts by China and Japan to strengthen cooperation in developing the financial market, the move serves as an important means of promoting direct yuan-yen trading, the People’s Bank of China said in a statement on its website.

The central parity rate of the yuan against the yen will be based on the average price of offers made by registered dealers before the opening of the market each business day.

Largest Consumer Market

China is expected to become the world’s largest consumer market in 2015, said Chen Deming, Minister of Commerce.

Retail sales will surpass $5 trillion in 2015 amid an accelerated urbanization rate and the rise of residents’ incomes, Chen said at the opening ceremony of the first Beijing International Fair for Trade in Service.

Demand for home services, education and training, medical care, fi nancing, technology and tourism is booming, he said.

Former Minister Expelled

Liu Zhijun, China’s former railway minister, was expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) for serious violation of Party discipline in late May, according to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection(CCDI) of the CPC, the party’s disciplinary watchdog.

Liu had been under investigation since February 2011, when he was removed from his position. An investigation by the CCDI found Liu used his position to seek substantial illegal interests for Ding Yuxin, Chairman of Beijing Boyou Investment Management Corp., a move which caused great economic losses of the country and negative social influence. The CCDI also discovered Liu had taken a huge amount of bribes and bore major responsibility for severe corruption in the railway system.His illegal gains were confiscated.

It is suspected that some of Liu’s disciplinary violations may have included criminal acts, so his case will also be turned over to judicial system.

After assuming the post of railway minister in 2003, Liu was responsible for the multibillion-dollar investment in China’s railway network and construction of high-speed lines.

RMB Currency Futures

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd.(HKEx) received approval from the Securities and Futures Commission on May 28 to offer renminbi currency futures.

The plan will be introduced in the third quarter of 2012. HKEx renminbi currency futures will be the fi rst exchange-traded currency futures settled in renminbi. They will require delivery of U.S. dollars by the seller and payment of the fi nal settlement value in renminbi by the buyer upon maturity.

Contracts will be quoted in renminbi per U.S. dollar and margined in renminbi, with the trading and settlement fees charged in renminbi. The final settlement price of the contracts will be based on the spot fi xing published by the Treasury Market Association at 11:15 am on the last trading day.

Train Tech Export

A Chinese electric locomotive manufacturer has delivered the electric traction system, the network control system and traction motor of electric bullet trains to Georgia, according to a statement issued by the Zhuzhou Institute of China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock Corp. Ltd.

The delivery signaled that China has become an exporter of such core technology.

The company designed and produced the exported traction transmission system and the network control system, regarded as the “heart and brain” of electric multiple units, or multicar electric bullet trains.

The locomotives will be used in bullet trains traveling at a speed of 120 km per hour between Georgian cities in the mountainous Caucasus region, according to the statement.

NEW bRiDgE Vehicles run on the Dingziwan Cross-Sea bridge in Shandong province.in service starting from May 28, the 4.7-km bridge will boost traf fi c between Haiyang of Yantai and Jimo of Qingdao

EGYPT

Farouk Sultan (center), chief of the Egyptian higher presidential Election Commission, announces the results of the fi rst round of Egypt’s presidential election in Cairo on May 28. the results showed the Muslim brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi and ex-prime Minister Ahmed Sha fi q will enter the run-off vote slated for June 16 and 17

INDONESIA

Lindsay June Sandiford covers her face as customs personnel display evidence at a customs of fi ce on the Bali Island on May 28. The 55-year-old British woman could face the death penalty after indonesian authorities found 4.8 kg of cocaine in her luggage

LITHUANIA

people participate in a soap bubble gathering in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on May 28

SYRIA

Syrians demonstrate in binnish on May 26 after a massacre in houla in central Syria killed 108 people, including 32 children

XINHUA/AFP