[中国日报].chinadaily_pdf_20080215.pdf

T H E N A T I O N A L E N G L I S H L A N G U A G E N E W S P A P E R RMB 1 5 F R IDAY F E BR UA RY 1 5 2 0 0 8 VOL 2 8 No 8674 w w w c h i n a d a i l y co m c n 2008 China Daily All Rights Reserved Olympics Page 3 Customs Page 3 HOTLINES NEWS 86 10 6491 8366 SUBSCRIPTION 86 10 6491 8763 ADVERTISEMENT 86 10 6491 8631 Work begins on restoration of farms rebuilding victims homes H O L I D A Y In this issue News 2 3 Business 4 International 5 6 Life 7 10 Sports 11 12 hotline 8621 95559 Out in the open An Afghan child walks outside his shelter at a refugee camp in Kabul yesterday Heavy snowfall accompanied by extremely cold weather have created havoc across Afghanistan in recent weeks Afghan authorities said more than 750 people have died since the start of winter and access to some remote districts has been cut Reuters Message mad Chinese say Hpy Nu Yr As millions fi ght the crowds to make their way back from family reunions after the Spring Festival break a quick er and less harrowing way to exchange New Year greetings is growing in popularity the short message service or SMS With cell phones now a ma jor mode of communication for the country s 539 million mobile phone subscribers sending festival greetings via SMS is emerging as the preferred choice The number of mes sages sent during this year s weeklong Spring Festival holiday hit a record 17 billion compared with 15 billion in the same period in 2005 fi gures from mobile phone operator China Mobile showed A recent online survey by IT company Tegic Communications also showed that close to 80 percent of respondents favored sending New Year greetings via SMS Jia Pinrong deputy director of the Public Relations and Public Opinion Institute of the Communication University of China said sending such greetings has become a fi x ture of the Chinese New Year Spring Festival with a his tory of at least 4 000 years is the country s most important festival for families to spend time together Initially popular only among tech savvy young sters sending SMS greet ings is now becoming an important fast low cost and convenient tool of communi cation for people of all ages Jia said Technology is also leaving its mark on Spring Festival customs in other ways Spielberg decision to quit regretful By Zhang Haizhou The government yesterday ex pressed regret over the decision by Hollywood movie director Steven Spielberg to quit as an artistic advisor to the Beijing Olympics The American announced his decision on Wednesday citing concerns over the humanitar ian crisis in Darfur which he linked to China We express regret for his decision Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said yesterday at a regular brief ing Responding to recent re marks by some Westerners linking China to Darfur Liu said China has noticed these or those discussions and moves on China s stance on Darfur It is understandable if some people do not understand the Chinese government s policy on Darfur he said But we can t accept that some people want to use this as an opportunity to link Darfur to China s Africa and Sudan policies and even to the Beijng Olympic Games Liu said China has been work ing with the United Nations to resolve the Darfur crisis China is also concerned about the humanitarian crisis there but we have been playing a positive and constructive role in promoting peace in Darfur China has so far offered 11 1 million in humanitarian aid to Sudan Liu said Chinese fi rms have also offered aid China National Electric Equipment Corporation has completed 18 small scale power plants in Darfur and two more are under construction In addition Beijing will send 315 engineering troops to the region 140 of which have al ready arrived Last year when Sudan and the UN differed over the deploy ment of hybrid peacekeeping forces China sent a special en voy several times to Khartoum to persuade the government to accept the UN resolution On the issue of Darfur empty rhetoric will not help Liu said What is more im portant is to do more things to help with the peace process there and alleviate the humani tarian crisis 1 25b slated for disaster relief By Xin Dingding The government will spend about 9 billion yuan 1 25 billion on helping people in snow hit areas get through their current difficulties and begin rebuilding As of Tuesday the worst winter weather for half a century has killed at least 107 people and caused direct economic loss estimated at 111 billion yuan Governments at all levels are currently making efforts to help the poor rebuild wrecked houses restore farms and en sure food supplies in affected areas senior offi cials said at a press conference yesterday in Beijing The central fi nance has allo cated 2 7 billion yuan to local governments and central gov ernment departments toward disaster relief It has also dispatched 6 3 billion yuan to help local gov ernments ease capital short ages due to the disaster As the situation develops we will also increase the intensity of such help Li Liguo a deputy minister of civil affairs said Agricultural production has also been severely affected by the snowstorms and we are faced with the arduous task of restoring production Zhang Yuxiang director of market and economic information at the Ministry of Agriculture said She said at least 69 million livestock froze to death and more than 30 percent of veg etables planted last winter have been destroyed On the whole the snow storms will have some impact on China s food prices but it will not be dramatic Assist ant Commerce Minister Huang Hai said Generally speaking there is no problem with supply now Prices have dropped from the early days of the disaster but due to trans port problems in remote areas prices of some goods are still high he said At present the price of grain is stable and the price of vegetables has fallen Only the prices of cooking oil and meat are likely to see mod erate rises partly because of the snowstorm he said As for exports the weather had no major impact apart from trade in some agricultural prod ucts and delayed shipments he said The Ministry of Agriculture has allocated 140 million yuan and taken other measures to help farmers get back on their feet The Ministry of Civil Af fairs has also begun work to make sure wrecked houses can be rebuilt before the end of June The Ministry of Health has sent 180 000 medical workers to the snow hit areas to counsel and treat victims and prevent diseases So far there has been no outbreak of major infectious diseases food poisoning incidents or other public health emergencies in the stricken areas The disaster has also sparked concern around the world As of Tuesday 84 foreign governments or top lead ers and eight international organizations and agencies had sent China messages of sympathy Donations in cash and kind so far total 1 19 bil lion yuan Meteorologists ill equipped to forecast bad weather By Zhu Qiwen Authorities were unable to accurately predict the recent weather conditions due to lack of equipment and an adequate forecast model the national meteorological agency has said We underestimated the duration and severity of the weather and failed to pre evaluate its impact on transport and the power sector China Meteorological Administration CMA spokeswoman Jiao Meiyan said The CMA had forecast all fi ve rain and snowstorms between Jan 10 and Feb 5 two to fi ve days in advance But it failed to alert the public to the extreme danger of the storms One reason why the weather department could not make precise forecasts is because many of the places most affected were located in mountainous areas where meteorological monitors are in short supply Duan Yihong deputy director of the National Meteorological Center said Another major problem is that China s numerical weather forecasts still fall far behind world standards Numerical weather fore casts based on calculations by high performance comput ers are a core part of modern weather bulletins China began to develop its own numerical forecast model less than a decade ago There is a 10 year gap between the Chinese model and advanced foreign models Duan said The extreme weather also made it a huge challenge for Chinese meteorologists It was increasingly diffi cult to forecast as low probability extreme weather is occurring more frequently Qiao Lin chief weather forecaster of the Central Meteorological Station said To enhance the country s defense against extreme weather China will begin to establish a monitoring and warning system Jiao said Steven Spielberg A woman sends a mobile phone mes sage on a Beijing street Liu Wei WTO steps to resolve tax dispute respected By Diao Ying China will act according to the rules offi cials said yesterday over a World Trade Organiza tion WTO dispute on car parts which some experts have said is unfair to the country China respects the proce dure of the WTO to solve the dispute Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said at a regular news briefi ng A WTO panel ruled on Wednesday that the country improperly taxes imported car parts at the same rate as fi nished vehicles The case initiated by the United States European Un ion and Canada is the fi rst time China has been the subject of a complaint that went all the way to the WTO s Dispute Settlement Body since joining the organiza tion in 2001 The Permanent Mission of China to the WTO said in a statement yesterday that China is investigating the initial WTO ruling It said China respects the WTO procedure but otherwise will not comment before the panel makes its fi nal decision China taxes imported auto parts at the same rate as com pleted automobiles if more than 60 percent of parts the fi nished vehicles are made from are imported The rules aim to prevent tax evasion by companies who im port whole cars as spare parts to avoid higher tariff rates offi cials from the Ministry of Commerce had said The US and EU fi led the case to the WTO in March 2006 complaining China s taxes on imports of foreign auto parts discouraged Chinese carmak ers from using them But analysts said the status quo will hardly change even if a sanction is imposed I don t think it will be a big help for them fi nancially even if China slashes its tariffs on parts as requested Liu Yuandong an analyst with CSM Worldwide an international industry con sultant was quoted by Reuters as saying Zhou Shijian a trade expert said China s regulation on car parts aims to prevent tariff evasion and is not to prejudice against foreign carmakers He said the WTO decision is unfair to China It could push China to re examine the rationality of WTO rules Mei Xinyu a Ministry of Commerce researcher said China is the world s sec ond largest vehicle market after the US Sales rose 22 percent last year to 8 8 mil lion units according to the China Association of Automo bile Manufacturers Roaming fees still too high An online poll has shown most people think cell phone roaming fees are still too high despite authorities cut ting them by an average of 63 percent Page 2 Quality standards for bathhouses The centuries old bathhouse culture will come under new regulations to ensure the industry maintains high qual ity standards The regulations are expected to be introduced in the fi rst half of this year Page 3 No Cold War revisit Putin Russian President Vladimir Putin says Russia is not interested in a return to the Cold War In his last annual news conference before leaving the Kremlin in May Putin struck a more conciliatory note Page 5 Braving the cold Guizhou villages are visited to see how people are rebuilding their lives after the snowstorms Page 7 Hawk eyed offi cials Video refereeing systems will be adopted in sports to ensure fairness The Olympian NEWS2 CHINA DAILY H O L I D A Y FRIDAY FEBRUARY 15 2008 36m plan to protect grottoes treasures LANZHOU The government has approved a 36 million protection scheme for the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes a World Heritage Site in Gansu province The plan approved by the National Development and Re form Commission includes the construction of a digital display hall that can accommodate 800 visitors and facilities for con solidation erosion prevention security and visitor services the Gansu provincial cultural heritage bureau said Around 70 percent of the money will come from the central government and the rest from the province The 1 600 year old Mogao Grottoes boast more than 2 000 colored sculptures and 45 000 sq m of frescoes The site was given World Heritage status in 1987 Wang Xudong vice president of the Dunhuang Academy which protects and researches the grottoes said The new fa cilities are designed to reduce the amount of time visitors spend inside the grottoes Experts have said the vapors and carbon dioxide exhaled by visitors cause damage to the frescoes and sculptures About 1 000 years ago dur ing the Sui and Tang dynasties Dunhuang was a major trade hub on the Silk Road It also became an important religious center The sculptures and mu rals found in the grottoes have Buddhist Islamic and Tibetan infl uences About 550 000 domestic and overseas tourists visited the site last year up from about 200 000 in 1998 The small grottoes are often packed with visitors and that poses a severe threat to the preservation of the frescoes and sculptures Wang said Xinhua Airbus confi dent of mainland orders HONG KONG Airbus has be gun taking orders from Chinese customers on the mainland and is expecting more this year a senior member of the aviation giant s management team said on Wednesday David Velupillai marketing director of Airbus executive and private aviation depart ment said China has been leading the world in economic growth in recent years and this is driving the expansion of the air travel sector He said Airbus was expect ing the mainland Hong Kong and Macao to account for 15 of the 75 orders it expects to get from the Asia Pacific region this year The potential economic downturn might affect Airbus performance in the United States but not globally as emerging markets were grow ing he said Francois Chazelle who heads Airbus executive and private aviation team confi rmed the company had received orders from the mainland which he said was a sign the potential of the growing economy in private aviation was being unleashed However he said it was diffi cult to predict the exact number of orders Airbus would get from the mainland as some came via agents in Hong Kong Airbus builds three families of corporate jetliners the A320 A330 340 350 and the superjumbo A380 all of which have been in service for less than 20 years The company said it last year passed the milestone of 100 sales of its ACJ family which comprises the A318 Elite Airbus Corporate Jetliner and A320 Prestige An Asian customer that the manufacturer declined to name has placed an order for the VIP confi gured Airbus A350 the newest member of its VIP wide bodies series It was the second order for the jet with the fi rst coming from a Hong Kong based bil lionaire last year Velupillai said Airbus has been in talks with several potential buyers of its business version of the superjumbo A380 which received its fi rst order last year from Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Abdulaziz of the Saudi royal family Xinhua No happy ring to roaming call fee cuts Most people think charges still too high online survey fi nds A move to cut domestic mobile phone roaming service charges has apparently failed to satisfy the public according to an online poll Most respondents said the proposed charges were still too high The Ministry of Information Industry and National Develop ment and Reform Commission announced the new charges on Wednesday With effect from March 1 domestic mobile phone users will be charged a maximum 0 6 yuan 8 cents per minute for making calls outside their local service area and 0 4 yuan per minute for receiving them This means that the country s 539 million mobile subscribers will be able to enjoy price cuts ranging from 54 percent to 73 percent from next month or no later than May 1 The new charges however appear to have failed to satisfy most consumers who want the roaming charges to be completely scrapped An online survey conducted yesterday by S one of the country s most popular news portals showed that nearly 85 percent of the 50 000 respondents regarded the roam ing fees still too high Just 1 2 percent said they were low enough while 14 6 per cent considered them to be rea sonable The move to cut charges follows increasing com plaints that the telecom indus try is reaping huge profi ts at the expense of phone users Last month a public hear ing was held to discuss two proposed plans on cutting charges It was attended by five consumers including one from Beijing as well as representatives from service providers experts scholars and government offi cials This plan announced on Wednesday is based on one discussed at the hearing which proposed a charge of 0 7 yuan per minute for making calls and 0 3 yuan for receiving them ac cording to the two ministries Service providers said some users actually enjoy free in coming calls depending on the packages offered The providers said the fees are based on the extra costs incurred when calls have to be transferred from one operator to another Experts however said new technologies had lowered costs and some argued that roaming calls actually incur no extra costs for operators China Daily Xinhua Welcome back Dozens of taxis wait for passengers to emerge from Beijing railway station yesterday Millions of people have been gradually making their way back to the capital after their Spring Festival jaunts around the country Wu Changqing Service providers said some users actually enjoy free incoming calls HOLIDAYSPECIAL3FRIDAY FEBRUARY 15 2008 CHINA DAILY New rules designed to improve standards of service hygiene H O L I D A Y February 15 16 WEATHER Central Meteorological Observatory Changsha 14 3 57 37 8 6 46 42 Dali 15 0 59 32 14 2 57 35 Fuzhou 15 4 59 39 13 5 55 41 Guiyang 13 3 55 37 9 4 48 39 Hangzhou 9 2 48