"The geographic information industry has entered a stage of fast development in recent years," said Cong Yuandong, secretary general of the China Association for Geographic Information System (GIS).

Contrasted with the booming industry, China was lacking in professionals with relevant GIS skills, Cong told Xinhua, without elaborating on how many were still needed.

China started to encourage study related to GIS, which integrates hardware, software, and data for capturing and managing geographically referenced information, in 1998 in higher education institutions. To date, nearly 200 universities had set up majors related to GIS, Cong said.

In response to the growing market, the China Association for GIS has been hosting an annual GIS software development contest with the Beijing branch of ESRI, a leading American company focused on GIS, since 2004. The contest is dedicated to spreading GIS technology and encouraging more professionals to join the field.

Cong said more than 1,800 students from 120 colleges and universities took part in the event last year alone.

Source: Xinhua ]]> http://www.lersus.com/output-of-geographic-information-industry-to-hit-100-bln-yuan-in-china-this-year/feed/ 0 http://www.lersus.com/full-text-report-on-the-work-of-the-government-2/ http://www.lersus.com/full-text-report-on-the-work-of-the-government-2/#comments Sun, 14 Mar 2010 13:16:00 +0000 admin http://www.lersus.com/full-text-report-on-the-work-of-the-government-2/ Read the Rest...

Over the last year, we mainly undertook the following work.

1. Strengthening and improving macro-control and promoting steady and rapid economic development. We carried out a proactive fiscal policy and a moderately easy monetary policy. We comprehensively implemented and constantly improved the package plan for addressing the global financial crisis. We significantly increased government spending, implemented structural tax reductions, rapidly increased supplies of money and credit, made our monetary policy more sustainable, and increased the amount of direct financing. We thus ensured funding for economic and social development, effectively boosted domestic demand, and quickly reversed the slowdown in economic growth.

We vigorously expanded consumer spending. Our policies to encourage consumption covered more areas, were stronger and benefited more people than ever before. The central government provided 45 billion yuan in subsidies for rural residents to purchase home appliances and motor vehicles, including motorbikes. Part of the subsidies also supported trading-in old motor vehicles and home appliances for new ones and purchasing agricultural machinery and tools. We halved the purchase tax on small-displacement automobiles. We reduced or exempted taxes on buying and selling homes to support the purchase of homes to be used as their owners\’ residences. Throughout the year 13.64 million motor vehicles were sold, an increase of 46.2%; commodity housing sales amounted to 937 million square meters, up 42.1%; and total retail sales of consumer goods increased 16.9% in real terms. Consumption played a much bigger role in fueling economic growth.

We promoted rapid growth in investment. We guided and stimulated non-government investment by means of well-leveraged government investment. We implemented a plan to invest an additional 4 trillion yuan over two years. In 2009, the central government\’s public investment was 924.3 billion yuan, 503.8 billion yuan more than in the previous year\’s budget. Of this, 44% was invested in low-income housing, projects to improve the wellbeing of rural residents, and social programs; 16% in independent innovation, restructuring, energy conservation, emissions reductions, and ecological improvement; 23% in major infrastructure projects; and 14% in post-Wenchuan earthquake recovery and reconstruction. Fixed asset investment increased 30.1% nationwide. We further improved the investment structure. Rapid investment growth effectively compensated for the shortfall created by shrinking external demand, strengthened weak links, and laid a solid foundation for long-term economic and social development.

We accelerated the post-Wenchuan earthquake recovery and reconstruction work. We have already invested 654.5 billion yuan, 65.5% of the total planned investment, in the worst hit areas. Thanks to the government\’s strong support, the selfless assistance of people throughout the country, and the hard work of residents of the earthquake area, the badly damaged areas have taken on a brand-new appearance, with new towns rising straight out of the ground, and villages brimming with vitality. All this fully reflects the boundless love of the Chinese nation and powerfully demonstrates the incomparable superiority of the socialist system.

2. Vigorously carrying out economic restructuring, and shoring up the foundation for long-term development. We closely integrated sustaining economic growth with economic restructuring, and moved more quickly to resolve structural problems limiting economic development.

We further strengthened the work related to agriculture, rural areas, and farmers. The central government used 725.3 billion yuan to support agriculture, rural areas, and farmers, an increase of 21.8%. We raised the minimum grain purchase prices by a large margin. We began implementation of the plan to increase grain production capacity by 50 million tons nationwide. We continued to improve living and working conditions in rural areas. We implemented rural drinking water safety projects that benefited 60.69 million people, increased the number of methane gas users by 5.1 million, built and upgraded 380,000 kilometers of roads and 266,000 kilometers of electric power lines and renovated 800,000 dilapidated houses in the countryside, and helped build permanent housing for 92,000 nomadic families. We also intensified our efforts to fight poverty. As a result, working and living conditions notably improved in poverty-stricken areas.

We intensified industrial restructuring. We formulated and implemented a plan for restructuring and invigorating ten key industries. We encouraged enterprises to accelerate technological upgrading, and provided 20 billion yuan to support 4,441 technological upgrading projects. Further progress was made in mergers and reorganization in key industries. We made great efforts to restrict excess production capacity and redundant development in some industries. We closed down 26.17 million kilowatts of small thermal power stations, and eliminated backward facilities with total production capacity of 16.91 million tons in the steelmaking industry, 21.13 million tons in the iron-smelting industry, 74.16 million tons in the cement industry, and 18.09 million tons in the coke industry. We accelerated the implementation of major national science and technology projects, and spent 151.2 billion yuan of central government funds on science and technology, an increase of 30%. We vigorously supported the widespread use of domestically innovated products, and the development of emerging industries such as clean energy and third-generation mobile communications. We vigorously strengthened infrastructure development; put 5,557 kilometers of newly built railway lines into operation; opened 4,719 kilometers of new expressways to traffic, accelerated urban rail development; and built, renovated or expanded 35 civil airports. We increased the installed power-generating capacity by 89.7 million kilowatts, began supplying gas through the western section of the second line of the project for shipping natural gas from west to east, accelerated construction on the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, and began reinforcing 6,183 dangerous reservoirs.

We made solid progress in conserving energy, reducing emissions and protecting the environment. We supported 2,983 key energy conservation and recycling projects through budgetary investment. We implemented a project to promote energy-efficient products for the benefit of the people, putting into use more than 5 million energy-saving air-conditioners and 150 million energy-efficient light bulbs. We continued to develop key ecological projects in the forestry industry, and completed the afforestation of 5.88 million hectares, thereby raising the percentage of land covered by forest to 20.36%. Through combined measures, we brought soil erosion on 48,000 square kilometers of land under control. We strengthened the prevention and treatment of water pollution in the key watersheds of the Huai, Hai, and Liao rivers and Tai, Chao, and Dianchi lakes, and improved the control of wastewater, gases and residues from industry. Over the first four years of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan period, energy consumption per unit of GDP fell 14.38 %, and chemical oxygen demand and sulfur dioxide emissions decreased 9.66% and 13.14% respectively. We made vigorous efforts to respond to climate change, and set forth our country\’s targets, policies and measures for controlling greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. We improved our weather forecasting and early warning, as well as earthquake monitoring, and constantly improved our disaster prevention and protection capabilities.

We took new steps in balancing development between regions. We thoroughly implemented the overall strategy for regional development, and formulated several major regional development plans and policies. The central and western regions and northeast China accelerated opening up and development, welcomed industries relocated from other parts of the country, and continuously strengthened their foundation for development. The eastern region accelerated restructuring and independent innovation, and the vitality of its economic development increased. A favorable situation emerged in which regional development was better distributed, structured and coordinated.
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]]> http://www.lersus.com/full-text-report-on-the-work-of-the-government-2/feed/ 0 http://www.lersus.com/cross-strait-agreements-on-fishing-farm-produce-product-quality-to-take-effect/ http://www.lersus.com/cross-strait-agreements-on-fishing-farm-produce-product-quality-to-take-effect/#comments Sun, 14 Mar 2010 13:14:00 +0000 admin http://www.lersus.com/cross-strait-agreements-on-fishing-farm-produce-product-quality-to-take-effect/ Read the Rest...

]]> Three agreements signed by Chinese mainland and Taiwan negotiators to cooperate in farm produce quarantine, employment of fishermen, and to deal with different product quality standards are to take effect on Sunday, mainland sources said Friday.

The three agreements were reached on Dec. 22 last year at talks between the mainland\’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) and Taiwan\’s Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), which handle cross-Strait issues on behalf of their respective authorities, according to the ARATS.

Under the pact on farm produce quarantine, the two sides agreed to address differences in food safety standards and set up a mechanism to cope with farm produce quarantine emergencies.

The mainland and Taiwan will inform each other of epidemic outbreaks related to farm produce and report regularly on safety problems found in farm produce exports and imports, such as toxic substances and harmful infestations.

They will also set up a system to trace farm produce quality across the Strait, which means Taiwan will assist mainland importers in investigating production and processing of farm produce and vice versa.

The agreement on the cooperation in standards measuring, inspection and certification was signed to facilitate economic and trade contacts and improve the safety and quality of trade products.

Under the agreement, both sides will work together on the establishment of common standards in key areas and construction of an information platform to share standards. Cooperation in legal measurements and information exchanges in measuring techniques and control will be strengthened.

They will set up a special working group separately to decide concrete plans and further cooperation, according to the agreement.

With the agreement on employment of fishermen, Taiwan fishing boat owners can hire people from the mainland to engage in offshore and deep-sea fishing and vice versa.

Crew members of the same rank on board the same fishing boats from both the mainland and Taiwan are entitled to the same pay and labor protection measures, according to the pact.

All the three agreements would take effect within 90 days of their signing, the two sides agreed.

Source: Xinhua ]]> http://www.lersus.com/cross-strait-agreements-on-fishing-farm-produce-product-quality-to-take-effect/feed/ 0 http://www.lersus.com/president-hu-calls-for-greater-development-in-chinas-west-5/ http://www.lersus.com/president-hu-calls-for-greater-development-in-chinas-west-5/#comments Sun, 14 Mar 2010 12:49:00 +0000 admin http://www.lersus.com/president-hu-calls-for-greater-development-in-chinas-west-5/ Read the Rest...

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Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) visits Shizuishan City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. Hu Jintao called for more efforts to promote social, economic development in the underdeveloped western areas of the country during his three-day visit to northwestern Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region from March 21 to 23. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)
Chinese President Hu Jintao has called for more efforts to promote social, economic development in the underdeveloped western areas of the country.

Hu made the call during his three-day visit to northwestern Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region from Sunday to Tuesday.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of China\’s campaign to develop the west.

Hu said the past decade witnessed a good beginning of and laid a solid foundation for the "West Development" drive and the next decade would be a crucial period for pushing forward the campaign.

To develop the west would remain one of the priorities in the 12th five-year plan starting 2011, during which the central government would provide more favorable policies and greater funds to western areas, Hu said.

He called for transforming the economic growth pattern, and improving people\’s livelihood, as he visited local factories, farms, renovated shanty-towns and new villages housing farmers that had migrated to from virtually uninhabitable areas.

In his visit to a successful company which manufactures rare metal products, Hu said the central government attached strategic importance to developing the new material industry. He called on companies to innovate technology, produce new products and implement new management practices.

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1) We will intensely promote the large-scale development of the western region. We will promptly formulate guidelines for thoroughly carrying out the strategy for large-scale development of the western region (2010-2019) and introduce plans for implementing them in a timely manner. We will continue to launch a number of key projects to develop infrastructure and improve people\’s well-being, build upon progress in returning farmland to forests, improve the policies for returning grazing land to grasslands, establish sound mechanisms to compensate for ecological damage and resource depletion, and carry out demonstration projects for ecological conservation. We will promptly formulate development plans for the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Zone and other areas. We will promote the development of experimental zones for developing and opening up major border cities and towns.

2) We will comprehensively revitalize northeast China and other old industrial bases. We will support mergers, reorganizations, technological upgrading and independent innovation in key enterprises and industries. We will foster and expand industries that can take advantage of local strengths, further promote sustainable development of resource-dependant cities, accelerate development of modern agriculture, and vigorously develop modern service industries such as tourism and logistics. We will energetically press ahead with development of the coastal economic belt in Liaoning Province and the Changchun-Jilin-Tumen development and opening up priority zone. We will formulate plans to protect the ecology of the forests in the Greater and Lesser Hinggan Mountains and transform their local economies.

3) We will effectively boost development of the central region. We will conscientiously implement the plan for energizing development of the region, formulate specific policies and measures to support its development, and draw up plans focusing on development of three different types of production bases and a system of integrated transportation hubs. We will speed up the formulation of development plans for specific areas, such as those to promote economic and social development in the Danjiangkou Reservoir area and its upper reaches. We will introduce and implement guidelines for encouraging industries to relocate to the central and western regions.

4) We will energetically support the eastern region in taking the lead in development. We will effectively implement existing development plans, policies and measures for key areas, including the Pearl River Delta area, and quickly formulate and implement development plans for the Yangtze Delta area, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area and the economic zone in Fujian Province on the west coast of the Taiwan Straits. We will work on the guidelines for promoting development of the marine economy. We will energetically encourage the eastern region to make innovations in systems and mechanisms, and optimize and upgrade industries so that it can participate in international competition and cooperation in all areas.

5) We will increase regional cooperation. We will strengthen overall planning and coordination in areas such as development planning, industrial distribution, infrastructure development, ecological improvement, environmental protection and public services, in order to promote both division of labor and cooperation between regions so that they complement each other better. We will intensify efforts to support development of the old revolutionary areas, ethnic minority areas, border areas and poor areas, and increase government spending and improve basic public services there. We will increase support to ethnic groups with small populations. We will continue to implement the program to develop border areas and improve people\’s lives there. We will work hard to ensure the eastern and central regions provide assistance to designated areas with financial difficulties in the western region. We will accelerate development of the development priority zones.

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[color=#000080\']REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 2009 PLAN FOR

[color=#000080\']NATIONAL ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

[color=#000080\']AND ON THE 2010 DRAFT PLAN FOR

[color=#000080\']NATIONAL ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Third Session of the Eleventh National People\’s Congress
March 5, 2010

National Development and Reform Commission

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Former senior inspector Guo Jingyi, 44, is alleged to have accepted bribes valued at 7.65 million yuan (1.12 million U.S. dollars) — 6 million yuan in cash and 1.65 million yuan in properties, a court official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Guo entered the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, predecessor of the Ministry of Commerce, in 1986 when he graduated from the law school of the Peking University.

In 2002, Guo was appointed deputy head of the ministry\’s treaty and law department. The ministry was renamed in 2003.

Guo was detained by police in October 2008, when he was acting as an MOC inspector.

Prosecutors alleged Guo took bribes of more than 6 million yuan and in return helped a Beijing company, named Beijing Capital, get approval to set up a foreign-funded firm.

Guo is also alleged to have bought a villa from a property company under Beijing Capital at a 50-percent discount in return for his help. Prosecutors believed the deal profited Guo by 1.23 million yuan, but they did not detail how Guo get the remaining 420,000-yuan in properties.

The hearing was held at the Beijing No.2 Intermediate People\’s Court, said the official, who declined to reveal when a decision would be handed down.

Source: Xinhua

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Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu (2nd L), also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council Working Committee on Disability chairman, addresses a committee work conference in Beijing, capital of China, on April 2, 2010. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)
Chinese Vice Premier
Hui Liangyu
Friday pledged more government efforts to enhance social security and social services for the country\’s 83 million people with disabilities.

"Building the two systems of social security and social services should be the focus of our work for the disabled," he said at a conference in Beijing.

He urged authorities to give priority to solving the most-complained and urgent problems of the disabled people and work hard to provide institutional guarantee for their lives and career development.

He told authorities to draw up programs to help the disabled in the coming five years.

He also said the government should step up efforts to draw up regulations on barrier-free access to public facilities, disability prevention and rehabilitation of the disabled.

Source: Xinhua

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In response to a question whether the pact will be signed in June, Yang Yi, a spokesman of the State Council\’s Taiwan Affairs Office, told a regular press conference that the two sides should work together "towards this target."

But when the pact would be signed depends on the progress of talks between the two sides, he said.

Experts from the two sides held the first round of talks in Beijing on Jan. 26. to prepare for formal discussions on the ECFA between the mainland\’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) and Taiwan\’s Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF).

The two sides are still discussing the date of the second round of expert discussions, Yang said.

Premier Wen Jiabao told a press conference on March 14 that the negotiation and signature of the ECFA should be based on equal consultation, mutual benefit and taking account of both sides\’ concerns.

"Wen\’s remarks have reaffirmed our consistent stand and indicated our goodwill," Yang said.

The ECFA aims at institutionalizing economic cooperation across the Taiwan Strait.

The pact will cover major economic activities across the Taiwan Strait, including market access for commodity trade and service trade, rules of origin, an early harvest program, trade remedies, dispute settlement issues, investment and economic cooperation.

"Studies done by the mainland and Taiwan research institutions showed that the ECFA will help both sides\’ economic development," Yang said.

Yang confirmed that Vice Commerce Minister Jiang Zengwei will visit Taiwan this month to participate in a cross-Strait trade event.

But he refused to comment on whether Jiang\’s visit is related to the ECFA talks.

Source: Xinhua

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