Laos warmly greets Xi in first state visit

China and Laos agreed to jointly build the Belt and Road and enhance cooperation on multiple issues, including agriculture, during President Xi Jinping's state visit on Nov 13. Xi and Laotian President Bounnhang Vorachith witnessed the signing of 16 documents to enhance collaboration in areas such as finance, trade, infrastructure and people-to-people exchanges. Xi, who was given an enthusiastic reception in the Laotian capital of Vientiane, is on his first state visit to Laos since becoming president in March 2013, as well as his first visit since becoming general secretary of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee in late 2012. The two countries agreed to connect the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative with the Laotian strategy of making a landlocked nation into a country with many connections.

Talks on South China Sea code of conduct to begin

China and member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations said on Nov 13 they would begin talks on details of a code of conduct in the South China Sea. Premier Li Keqiang made the proposal at the 20th China-ASEAN (10+1) leaders' meeting in Manila, the Foreign Ministry said. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, ASEAN's rotating chairman this year, said the organization agreed to start the talks on the code of conduct, presidential spokesman Harry Roque told the Philippine Daily Inquirer. At the meeting, ASEAN countries responded positively to the start of negotiations, according to a Chinese news release after the meeting. The meeting was attended by all government leaders of the 10 member countries of the regional organization.

Death penalty urged for suspect in Japan

Jiang Qiulian, the mother of Jiang Ge, 24, who was found dead with multiple stab wounds in the corridor of her Tokyo apartment on Nov 3 last year, said in her micro blog that she went to Japan on Nov 4 with the aim of building public support for the death penalty for the suspect, Chen Shifeng. Four activities to drum up support were held in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district on Nov 11 and 12, while an online petition to collect signatures - set to end on Nov 30 - continues, according to her post. The case will be publicly heard on Dec 11 in Tokyo. Under Japanese law, people can be sentenced to death only if they are found guilty of "very serious" crimes - but in this case, there was just one death, which may not meet the standard in Japan, according to Inoue Aki, an assistant and interpreter for a lawyer who represents the mother.

Expertise on dialysis for children shared online

Children's Hospital at Fudan University in Shanghai announced on Nov 13 the establishment of an international exchange school for automatic peritoneal dialysis for children with kidney problems. Peritoneal dialysis is a way to remove waste from the blood when the kidneys fail. Through a live internet broadcast, more than 30 doctors and nurses specializing in pediatric kidney diseases from Hong Kong and Taiwan as well as Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia participated in the school's first training course, which was launched to promote best APD practices in countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative. In addition, 80 pediatricians from 22 medical centers in 18 provincial-level regions on the Chinese mainland attended the course in person. Experts from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, joined by others from Canada, shared their experience with APD for children and the diagnosis and treatment of dialysis-related peritonitis.

New rules set for military officials

The Central Military Commission has issued a guideline on benefits for military officials with a rank of major general, rear admiral or above, to strictly implement the requirements outlined at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China Central Television reported on Nov 13. The benefits cover the use of office buildings, housing, use of public vehicles, personnel assignments and medical care. The regulations will take effect on Jan 1.

Gene bank to set up research base

Genome sequencer BGI has reached agreement with Wuhan, Hubei province, to build an agriculture research and training center. Mei Yonghong, director of the China National Gene-Bank and chair of BGI Agriculture Group, said that as part of the BGI healthy town project, Wuhan would host branches of the gene bank and agriculture center. Run by BGI, the national gene bank began operations in September 2016.

Square dancing gets new regulation

China's sports governing body issued a new regulation on Nov 13 to manage public spaces for square dancing, with the aim of improving the image of the popular exercise. With debates over square dancers in public areas often making headlines, the General Administration of Sport of China released a regulation addressing the issue of land management for the dancing, which has drawn massive participation among the country's elderly. It is estimated that more than 120 million Chinese are regular participants in square dancing. Adding to the administration's first guideline issued in 2015, the new measure urges regional government agencies to better plan and supervise the use of public exercise venues, parks and open spaces in urban areas for dancing and other forms of exercise, along with other leisure activities.

Chengdu to build sci-fi paradise

Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, plans to invest 12 billion yuan ($1.8 billion; 1.5 billion euros; ￡1.38 billion) to build a science fiction paradise. China Science Fiction Town will be a production base for science fiction films and television programs, and an incubator for science fiction writing. It will create between 6,000 and 8,000 jobs and attract 12 million visitors a year, said Luo Qiang, mayor of the city. He made the remarks on Nov 11 during the three-day 2017 China Science Fiction Conference, which concluded on Nov 12. The conference drew 200 participants from home and abroad.

China publishes its first land cover atlas

China published its first land cover atlas on Nov 15, according to the Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, which is associated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The Land Cover Atlas of the People's Republic of China, in both Chinese and English, provides a comprehensive look at land-surface conditions across the country and records the status in 1990, 2000 and 2010, a period of rapid economic growth. Land cover refers to the observable natural and artificial objects on the surface of the Earth.

SMEs in China, Germany to work together

Small and medium-sized enterprises from China and Germany issued a joint declaration to launch collaboration during the two-day "Hidden Champions" summit Taicang, Jiangsu province on Nov 9 and 10. Taicang is known as "German enterprises' second home in China", as 280 German SMEs have opened branches or factories there, creating 40 billion yuan ($6 billion; 5.1 billion euros; ￡4.6 billion) in annual industrial output. The declaration said that in order to strengthen ties between China and Germany, more efforts should be made to deepen cooperation of SMEs from the two nations.

Coal gives way to technology

In a bid to make its air cleaner, Beijing has been eliminating coal-fired boilers and upgrading gas-fired boilers to make use of nitrogen combustion technology. The city has eliminated 4,453 coal-fired boilers for heating 13,259 metric tons of water per hour this year, the city's environmental protection bureau said. At the same time, improvements have been made to 7,000 gas boilers, so less nitrogen oxide will be produced. As a result, the city has managed to cut more than 10,000 tons of nitrogen oxide, 3 million tons of coal, 5,500 tons of smoke and 6,600 tons of sulfur dioxide this year.

New submersible passes safety test

China's new manned submersible has passed a key safety test. The submersible, named Shenhai Yongshi (Deep Sea Warrior), can reach a depth of 4,500 meters. The development of the submersible, which was led by the No 702 Institute of China Shipbuilding Industry Corp, took eight years and involved more than 90 Chinese organizations and companies. Another manned submersible, Jiaolong, is currently in service. It set a record by diving to a depth of 7,062 meters in the Mariana Trench south of Japan in June 2012.

Don't neglect public interest, courts told

Chinese courts have been ordered to increase their efforts to handle public-interest lawsuits brought by prosecuting authorities, after a successful pilot program was rolled out nationwide. The two-year pilot program, which started in July 2015 after approval by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the top legislature, gave prosecutors the power to sue poorly performing government departments and business agencies. The idea was to improve compliance with the law by administrators and factories. "In the test period, more civil and administrative cases were brought by prosecuting authorities, which has contributed a lot to pushing government departments to do their jobs and effectively protect the public interest," Jiang Bixin, vice-president of the Supreme People's Court, said on Nov 14.

Nanjing to remove poplar trees

Nanjing, Jiangsu province, is planning to remove most of its 10,000 poplar trees to reduce the number of catkins, or flower pods, which can be a major irritation in springtime. The poplars will be replaced with other varieties that are easier to manage, the city government said. It will take about three years to remove all the poplars across the city, including in the downtown area and along freeways, according to Qi Peiwen, an official at the Nanjing gardening and greening bureau.

Robust economy slows in October

China's economic activity moderated in October as data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Nov 14, but the country's overall economic strength remains robust and is on track to achieve whole-year growth targets, an NBS official said. Industrial production grew by 6.2 percent year-on-year in October, missing analysts' forecast of 6.3 percent and falling by 0.4 percentage point from last month, according to the NBS. Fixed-asset investment also saw weaker growth of 7.3 percent year-on-year in the first 10 months of this year, compared with 7.5 percent during the first nine months. The property sector cooled, as investment growth eased to 7.8 percent year-on-year in the first 10 months while retail sales growth moderated to 10 percent year-on-year in October.

(China Daily European Weekly 11/17/2017 page2)