Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao left for Pakistan on Friday for a three-day visit aimed at boosting trade and investment by finalizing 20 billion dollars worth of deals. Accompanied by a huge business delegation, Premier Wen will be the first Chinese head of government to visit the nuclear-armed country in the last five years. According to [...]
Posts Tagged ‘xinhua news agency’
Chinese Premier Jiabao heads to Pakistan to boost trade
December 17th, 2010 |
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Asia Power says normal services resumed at AnSheng Hydropower station in Gansu
September 6th, 2010 |
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Asia Power says the AnSheng Hydropower station in Gansu, China, resumed operations on Saturday.
In an announcement dated Aug 10, Asia Power said the hydropower station would be closed for about three weeks due to floods.
According to the Xinhua News Agency, the flooding in the Zhouqu county is gradually subsiding. The rescuers have finished draining the barrier lake, which was formed after the blockage of the Bailong River by a mudslide.
Chinese mine accidents kill at least 30
July 18th, 2010 |
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Accidents in three mines in China have killed at least 30 people and left 13 miners trapped. The official Xinhua news agency says all 28 workers in a mine in northwestern Shaanxi province died when an underground cable caught fire on Saturday night.
Survival strategy movies to be shown to Haiti quake victims
April 3rd, 2010 |
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More than 70,000 people in quake-hit Haiti capital Port-au-Prince and nearby cities will be shown free movies on survival strategies, a media report said Saturday.
Under a programme launched in 2005 which aims at sharing cinematic experience with communities devastated by poverty or natural disasters, the Mexican government will show 11 films free of charge in [...]
14 militants killed in Pakistan
March 24th, 2010 |
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At least 14 militants were killed and 17 injured in a clash with security forces in northwest Pakistan’s tribal area Wednesday.
Security forces backed by helicopters launched a ground-and-air assault in Orakzai tribal agency, Xinhua news agency reported. A security personnel was injured.
Security forces are searching the country’s restive northwest, believed to be the centre for [...]
Google.cn is now Google.com.hk, China says promise violated
March 23rd, 2010 |
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Google has “violated its written promise” and is “totally wrong” for stopping the censoring of its Chinese language search engine results and blaming China for alleged hacker attacks, a government official said Tuesday morning as the internet giant moved its search engine site to Hong Kong.
The official in charge of the internet bureau under the [...]
Fifteen dead, 114 trapped after China mine blast
November 21st, 2009 |
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A gas explosion at a mine in northeast China early Saturday killed 15 workers and left 114 trapped, state-run China Central Television (CCTV) said. The incident happened at about 2:30 am (1830 GMT Friday) at a mine in Heilongjiang province, Xinhua news agency said, quoting the provincial
Bus plunges into valley in north China killing 13, injuring 41
October 31st, 2009 |
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China’s state news agency says 13 people have been killed and 41 injured after a bus plunged into a valley along a mountainous road in northern Shanxi province. The official Xinhua News Agency said on Saturday that 10 passengers were killed on the spot and three others died on the way to
Three Chinese coal miners rescued after eight days underground
October 25th, 2009 |
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Chinese rescuers have found three coal miners alive after being trapped underground for eight days after a shaft collapsed. The official Xinhua News Agency said the men were rescued Sunday from the pit of a coal mine in northern Shaanxi province. It said they are now in hospital in a stable
China sentences six to death over Xinjiang riots
October 13th, 2009 |
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A Chinese court in the restive far western region of Xinjiang on Monday sentenced six people to death for murder and other crimes committed during ethnic rioting in July in which almost 200 people were killed.
It was not immediately clear from the brief report by the official Xinhua news agency if any of the [...]
Food poisoning sickens 76 students, teachers in northern China kindergarten
September 29th, 2009 |
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State media have reported that 76 students and teachers have fallen ill from food poisoning at a kindergarten in northern China. The official Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday that the students and teachers showed symptoms of fever and vomiting after lunching at the Elfin Kindergarten in Inner
Death toll in China mine blast rises to 35
September 8th, 2009 |
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The death toll from a coal mine gas explosion in central China’s Henan Province on Tuesday has climbed to 35 with 44 trapped underground. A total of 93 people were working in the pit when the accident happened, 14 of whom managed to escape, Xinhua news agency reported.
Taiwan leader in typhoon apology
August 15th, 2009 |
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President Ma Ying-jeou of Taiwan has apologised for the slow official response to Typhoon Morakot.
"We could have done better and we could have been faster," he told reporters one week after the typhoon struck.
Hundreds of people are still trapped by mudslides and floods. Thousands of troops have been sent to help rescue them and provide shelter.
The official death toll has is now above 120. Mr Ma said earlier in the week that it could exceed 500.
See map of affected area‘Very sorry’
"We could have done better and we could have been faster. But we weren’t better and we weren’t faster," President Ma told reporters in Nantou county, one of the areas hit by the typhoon, the AFP news agency reports.
In pictures: Taiwan devastation ‘Devil’ typhoon’s impact
"Of course we are very sorry."
Troops have been struggling across shattered roads and collapsed bridges to reach stranded communities.
Critics say the authorities were too slow to realise the magnitude of the emergency, while some of those stranded have said they have received no help for days and have been short of food and water.
Many have been waiting for days at the rescue operation centre in Qishan for news of relatives missing since the typhoon struck.
Officials says rescue teams have been hampered by sustained rains in the centre and south of the island and a badly damaged road network which means many villages can only be accessed by air.
Many of the worst-affected villages are inhabited by aborigines, who farm the mountainous terrain.
Thousands more people are believed to be stranded in remote settlements elsewhere in southern and central Taiwan.
The government has requested from foreign countries prefabricated buildings to help house those left homeless by the flooding and supplies of disinfectant, to try to prevent the spread of disease.
In China, which claims sovereignty over Taiwan, companies and charities have raised more than 100m yuan ($14.6m) in donations, the official Xinhua news agency has reported.
TAIWAN’S WORST-AFFECTED AREAS- Qishan - rescue operation centre established here, thousands of troops drafted in to help.
- Liukuei - 200 people awaiting rescue from hot spring resort as of Thursday, with another 700 survivors in the area.
- Hsinfa - 32 people reported dead, survivors pulled to safety using ropes thrown across river.
- Hsiaolin – hundreds feared dead following mudslides the morning after Taiwan’s Father’s Day.
- Taoyuan - residents told to run to higher ground as embankment holding back lake gave way.
Are you in the region Have you been affected by the typhoons and the landslides Send us your comments and experiences using the form below.
Send your pictures to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to +44 7725 100 100. If you have a large file you can upload here.
At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Deadly storms sweep eastern Asia
August 10th, 2009 |
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Nearly one-million people have been evacuated from the coastal regions of China as Typhoon Morakot blew in.
Winds of up 119km/h (74mph) destroyed houses and flooded farmland, before it weakened to a tropical storm.
Flights were cancelled and fishing boats recalled to shore. A small boy died when a building collapsed.
Meanwhile, in Japan nine people are reported dead in floods and landslides after Typhoon Etau brought heavy rain to the west of the country.
Eight people died in Hyogo prefecture, including one man whose car was swept away by a swollen river, and another died in neighbouring Okayama prefecture.
Another 10 people are missing.
‘Treetops visible’
Chinese state media said that the sky turned completely dark in Beibi, Fujian, when Typhoon Morakot made landfall on Sunday morning.
Trees were uprooted as high winds and heavy rain lashed the coast, and more than 2,000 houses are reported to have collapsed.
Some 473,000 residents of Zhejiang province were evacuated before the typhoon struck, as well as 480,000 from Fujian, Xinhua news agency said.
In Zhejiang’s Wenzhou City a four year-old child was killed when a house collapsed. Dozens of roads were said to be flooded and the city’s airport was closed.
Rescuers used dinghies to reach worst-hit areas; in one area only the tops of trees were said to be showing above the floodwater.
Taiwan devastation
Earlier, Morakot dumped 250cm of rain on Taiwan as it crossed the island, washing away bridges and roads.
At least three people died in some of the worst flooding for 50 years.
In one incident, an entire hotel – empty at the time – was swept away by the waters.
At least three people were known to have died – a woman whose car went into a ditch and two men who drowned.
Thirty-one others were reported missing, Taiwan’s Disaster Relief Centre said. Among them were a group reportedly washed away from a make-shift shelter in Kaohsiung in the south.
At least 10,000 people were trapped in three coastal towns, a local official in the southern county of Pingtung said.
In Chihpen, one of Taiwan’s most famous hot spring resorts, a hotel collapsed after flood waters undermined its foundations.
Morakot – which means emerald in Thai – has also contributed to heavy rains in the Philippines. At least 10 people were killed in flooding and landslides in the north.
Typhoons are frequent in the region between July and September.
Are you on China’s south-eastern coast How is Typhoon Morakot affecting you Send us your comments and experiences using the form below.
Send your pictures to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to +44 7725 100 100. If you have a large file you can upload here.
At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
China lifts blockade on plague-hit town
August 9th, 2009 |
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China has ended a quarantine blockade around a remote northwestern town hit by pneumonic plague, Xinhua news agency reported late on Saturday. The outbreak of the highly infectious disease killed three villagers around Ziketan Town in Qinghai province, Xinhua reported. But with no new
Train of glory – Chinese bride wears 2.2km wedding dress
August 7th, 2009 |
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A Chinese bride has attempted to break the world record for the longest wedding dress by walking down the aisle in a 2,162m-long (7,083ft) gown.
Lin Rong’s dress was made for her by her husband-to-be, Zhao Peng, and his family in eastern Jilin province.
It took their 200 wedding guests three hours to unroll the fabric and decorate the train with 9,999 silk roses.
Mr Zhao’s mother said she knew her son was trying to express his love, but she thought the dress was a waste of money.
"I do not want a cliche wedding parade or banquet," China’s Xinhua news agency quoted Mr Zhao as saying.
So instead, he decided he would use his nuptials to challenge the current wedding dress world record of 1,579m (5,180ft), set in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, on 1 April 2009.
Mr Zhao enlisted most of his family to pitch in with his idea, bringing materials, choosing patterns, making silk roses and stitching on jewels on the day, Xinhua said.
His aunt, who conveniently is a dressmaker, had agreed to make the design.
Romantic gesture
And Mr Zhao’s feat did not end once he had tied the knot.
After the event, he cut the dress down to 1,984.1022m, to represent his bride’s date of birth, and added 608 crystals, one for every day they had dated.
Mr Zhao said he had submitted his attempt to Guinness World Records in London and would also be sending video footage.
"Both the length of the dress and the number of silk roses pinned on the wedding dress can make history," he said, but added that it did not matter to him whether he was successful or not.
The whole effort cost Mr Zhao about 40,000 yuan ($5,800; £3,470), but his schoolteacher bride was reported to have "laughed and cried at the romantic gesture".
Mr Zhao’s mother appeared less impressed.
"It is a waste of money in my opinion," she told Xinhua.
"Though I understand that he wants to show his love on the big day."
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Beijing airport ex-head executed
August 7th, 2009 |
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The former head of the state-firm that owns Beijing airport has been executed following his conviction on corruption charges, state media have reported.
Li Peiying was found guilty of bribery and embezzlement totalling nearly $16m (£11m), Xinhua news agency said.
The death sentence is usually reserved for violent crimes but is occasionally used for cases of major fraud.
China executes more people than any other country but last month the Supreme Court said fewer would be held.
Li was executed in Jinan, capital of the eastern province of Shandong, after the Supreme People’s Court upheld a lower court’s rejection of his appeal.
He was head of the state-owned Capital Airports Holdings, which has 30 airports across China, from 1995-2003, Xinhua said.
His execution follows that of two business people on Thursday, convicted of defrauding investors of more than $120m.
Du Yimin and Si Chaxian "seriously damaged the country’s financial regulatory order and social stability", the Supreme People’s Court ruled.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Chinese factory poisons hundreds
August 3rd, 2009 |
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Hundreds of residents near a Chinese chemical plant have been found to have high levels of a dangerous metal in their bodies, after a series of leaks.
Thirty-three of them were admitted to hospitals in Hunan province over the weekend with cadmium poisoning, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Production at the Changsha Xianghe plant in Liuyang stopped earlier this year, shortly before two people died.
Cadmium can damage the liver, kidneys, lungs, nervous system and brain.
Compounds containing the highly toxic metal, which is used in batteries, are also carcinogenic.
Officials suspended
Medical tests were carried out on nearly 3,000 residents of Zhentou township over the weekend following a protest on Thursday, involving about 1,000 people.
CADMIUM- Carcinogenic chemical used in batteries
- Can cause liver and kidney damage and bone disease
- Affects central nervous and immune systems
Xinhua said people had been seeking a government investigation of the plant since 2007, but that the local authorities had failed to act.
They had complained deadly pollutants were frequently being discharged illegally into water that irrigated their fields, it added.
The plant, which produced zinc sulphate, was eventually shut down in April.
But two people who lived nearby died in May and June. Autopsies found high levels of cadmium in their bodies, causing widespread panic among their neighbours.
Following last week’s protest, the plant was closed "forever", its director detained and two officials from the municipal environmental protection bureau were suspended, Xinhua said.
The authorities would also compensate villagers for tainted farm produce and livestock which had to be destroyed, it added.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Xinjiang arrests ‘now over 1,500′
August 3rd, 2009 |
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Chinese police have recently arrested 319 people for last month’s violence in Xinjiang, according to state media.
This brings the total number of people detained over the riots to more than 1,500, although it is unclear how many people have since been released.
The violence between ethnic Uighurs and Han Chinese left almost 200 dead.
Meanwhile, Beijing has claimed that relatives of exiled Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer have written letters criticising her over the riots.
Beijing has repeatedly blamed Mrs Kadeer – the head of the World Uighur Congress – for triggering the violence, a claim she vehemently denies.
A spokesman for the congress said the letters were fake.
Simmering unrest
The violence in Xinjiang was the worst ethnic unrest in China for decades.
It began on 5 July during a protest over a brawl in southern China in which two Uighurs were killed.
The government says 197 people died in the ensuing violence, and more than 1,700 were injured.
The government says most of the dead were Han Chinese, but the World Uighur Congress claims many Uighurs also were killed.
The 319 people who have been detained recently are in addition to 253 detentions last week and more than 1,000 before that, according to Xinhua news agency.
The most recent arrests came as a result of a call for information from the public, Xinhua said.
In the aftermath of the riots, local media published a list of wanted men and urged people to turn in suspects who were still at large.
It is unclear what proportion of those detained are Uighur or Han, or if any of them have been since charged or released.
Children’s letter
As head of the World Uighur Congress, Mrs Kadeer is often accused by China of fomenting unrest in Xinjiang, and has been blamed for orchestrating the July riots.
According to Chinese media, Mrs Kadeer’s son Khahar and daughter Roxingul, as well as her younger brother Memet, have written letters condemning their mother over the unrest.
"Because of you, many innocent people of all ethnic groups lost their lives in Urumqi on 5 July, with huge damage to property, shops and vehicles," Xinhua quotes one letter as saying.
"We want a stable and safe life… Please think about the happiness of us and your grandchildren. Don’t destroy our happy life here. Don’t follow the provocation from some people in other countries."
It is difficult to independently authenticate the letters, but Dilxat Raxit, a spokesman for the World Uighur Congress based in Germany, quickly rejected them as fakes.
"It’s not possible that one of her family members would write such a letter," he told reporters.
Five of Mrs Kadeer’s 11 children still live in Xinjiang, and according to human rights groups they have experienced many forms of harassment because of their mother.
Her eldest son, Khahar, was reportedly fined and forced to liquidate his mother’s business and two other sons have been given jail terms – one for tax evasion, the other for "secessionist" activities.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.