TOP STORIES:
BEIJING, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) — The A/H1N1 flu outbreak topped the list of the “Voice of Emerging Powers: 2009 Globe Top Ten News Events”, released here Saturday by the Globe Magazine, affiliated to the Xinhua News Agency.
BEIJING, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) — China will make unswerving efforts and work jointly with the international community for the completion of the Bali Roadmap negotiations at the Mexico climate talks next year, a senior official said Saturday.
WUHAN, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) — The Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed railway with the world’s fastest train journey at a 350-km-per-hour designed speed, started operation Saturday.
Two passenger trains rolled out the Wuhan Railway Station and Guangzhou North Railway Station at about 9 a.m. and reached the terminals within three hours, compared with the previous 10 and a half hours.
BEIJING, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) — China’s top legislature appointed Saturday a former governor of an agricultural province as the new agricultural minister.
The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), or the top legislature, voted to appoint Han Changfu, former governor of northeastern Jilin Province, as the agricultural minister.
BEIJING, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) — China’s top legislature adopted Saturday an amendment to the renewable energy law to require electricity grid companies to buy all the power produced by renewable energy generators.
LHASA, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) — Nepali Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal arrived here Saturday afternoon, kicking off a six-day visit to China at the invitation of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
BUSINESS & FINANCE
BEIJING, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) — China’s electrified railway mileage has surpassed 30,000 kilometers, ranking the second in the world, said the China CREC Railway Electrification Bureau Group (CCREBG) on Saturday.
BEIJING, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) — Exploration work in the eastern region of north China’s Hebei Province shows potential iron ore reserves in this area is estimated to top 10 billion tonnes, the China Metallurgical Geology Bureau (CMGB) said Saturday.
BEIJING, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) — Wuhan Iron and Steel Group (Wugang), China’s third-largest steel maker, plans to increase production by 24 percent next year as demand recovers amid the reviving economy, China Daily reported Saturday citing the company’s statement.
FEATURES:
BEIJING, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) — When Zhang Zhikui was appointed as the spokesman for Chongqing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau three years ago, he tried to dodge the media.
But after undertaking training and working for three years, Zhang said, “I am now willing to work with the media.”
Chongqing, the city he works in, tops the ranking of provincial governments’ capacity in dealing with the netizens’ opinions for the third quarter of 2009, a survey conducted by People’s Daily Online shows.
BEIJING, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) — China revised its 2008 gross domestic product (GDP) to 4.52 trillion U.S. dollars at the average exchange rate of 2008, narrowing the gap with Japan, the world’s second largest economy with a GDP of 4.9 trillion U.S. dollars for the same year.
The revision resulted from China’s second economic census which raised the country’s 2008 economic growth rate to 9.6 percent from 9 percent.
