BEIJING, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) — U.S. chief negotiator to the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue Christopher Hill said Sunday morning that the talks negotiators will discuss “a joint statement or a statement by the chair.”

    There will be a delegation heads’ meeting on Sunday morning to rehearse a draft document, Hill said.

    ”I don’t know if we will have a joint statement, I don’t know if we will have a statement by the chair,” he added, referring to a possible statement that the talks negotiators will possibly issue Sunday.

    ”I’m pretty confident that we know what the next steps will be, and we have an understanding that will take us through to the end of the year with respect to disablement and declaration,” he told reporters.

    The talks that involve China, the United States, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea, Russia and Japan, is scheduled to run from Thursday to Sunday.

    BEIJING, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) — More than 2,600 hotels across the country have been designated as the venues for Party and central government officials to stay during their official business trips and conferences.

    A meeting co-sponsored by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Ministry of Finance on Friday demanded that Party officials and officials and staffers of central government departments must stay in the designated hotels during their business trips, and prohibited them from transferring the accommodation fees to local governments.

    The meeting also forbids Party officials and central government staffers from demanding for services not included in the agreements reached with the hotels.

    China introduced new methods to improve management on official business trip and conference fees involving central government officials and staffers from Jan. 1 this year.

    The new methods require officials and staffers from the central government departments to stay in designated hotels and capped the accommodation fees. The move is widely acclaimed as a new step to fight corruption and help build a clean government.

(Source: Xinhua)SHANGHAI, Sept. 30 - China has shown its will to host the 2018 World Cup as Xie Yalong, Chinese Football Association’s (CFA) vice president made a positive statement on the FIFA press conference in Shanghai on Saturday, one day before the final match of the Women’s World Cup 2007.

It’s the first time that a senior official from the CFA made it clear on such an important occasion.

“We’ve noticed that FIFA president Mr Blatter’s compliment to China’s organizing ability and we highly appreciate that,” said Xie.

“The CFA has been keeping a positive attitude for hosting the Men’s World Cup. We’re now trying to study some details with FIFA with regards to the bidding process, and are making strong efforts to create good conditions to set a strong base for the bidding.”

“We are considering to hold a major men’s competition at a higher level after the Women’s Wolrd Cup. And we’ve held talks to officials from different cities on the bidding issue, seeking cooperation from them and will make some viable research and plan, and then submit these to higher officials for examination and approval.”

“The bidding process for 2018 will start in 2010, so we have enough time to get well-prepared for that.”

But the FIFA president Joseph S. Blatter, who also presented at the conference had a rather calm view before China’s ardor.

“The FIFA executive committee meeting will not decide whether the hosting rights of the 2014 World Cup go to Brazil or not until October 31,” said Blatter.

He clarified that the executive committee will also decide whether to continue the current rotation system among different continents for the bidding of the 2018 tournament on the meeting.

According to the rotation system, the 2018 World Cup will transfer to Oceania. And the most possible candidate Australia of the continent have joined the Asian Football Confederation, which creates some chance for China.

The FIFA head also sang high praise for China’s ability to hold world biggest sports events, he said: “China have the ability to hold the World Cup, China have all the technical, fundamental facilities.”

“The Women’s World Cup has proved China’s ability. Next year they will hold the Olympics, which have 28 events. And that will further prove their ability.”

After putting a little bit frustration on the Chinese enthusiasm, Blatter suggested that China bid for the World Cup, “Definitely it will be a good candidate.”

Blatter expressed his satisfaction with the organization of the Women’s World Cup 2007.

“I’m satisfied with the level of techniques, the quality of the matches, and the spirit of fair play. The 40,000 (attendance) on average is a tremendous success. In broadcast there are more than 200 televisions and radio stations to cover the tournament, it’s really a big, big success.”

    BEIJING, Sept. 30 — Price hikes and heavy traffic at popular tourism destinations are deterring more people in Shenzhen from traveling during the weeklong National Day holiday, which starts Monday.

    Statistics from the municipal holiday administration office showed that the number of people who have signed up for domestic package tours has dropped by 7.26 percent compared to the same period last year, the Daily Sunshine reported Thursday, adding that around 58,800 people had signed up for domestic package tours as of Wednesday.

    However, flight tickets to popular domestic tourism destinations such as Sanya, Guilin, Chengdu, Kunming and Lijiang were in high demand, with 90 percent of the tickets leaving Shenzhen on Sunday and Monday sold.

    More people are choosing not to join tour groups organized by travel agencies for a more flexible time schedule.

    ”Traveling with an organized group during such a busy week is really tiring as the schedule is fixed in advance, which usually means a number of compromises. It’s not easy to travel with a large group as different people have different ideas,” said a woman who declined to give her name. She is traveling to Yunnan on Sunday.

    ”Travel groups usually go to the same tourist spots which are usually packed. But if I travel on my own or with some friends who share the same idea, we will be able to avoid the crowds by going to less touristy places, which are just as beautiful,” the woman said.

    Many Shenzheners are also traveling back to their hometown for the holiday, the office was quoted as saying.

    Rail tickets to Xi’an, Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuhan, Hefei and Changsha on Sunday have all sold out.

    The office, which operates during the three Golden Week holidays to monitor tour package quality and handle complaints, forecasts more than 55,000 people will visit Shenzhen on package tours during the holiday, around the same number as last year.     

    (Source: Shenzhen Daily)

    CAIRO, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) — Egyptian Culture Minister Farouq Hosni on Saturday hailed China’s great achievements in social and economic sectors and expected more bilateral cooperation in the economic and cultural fields.

    Hosni made the remarks while addressing the opening ceremony ofa photo exhibition, “Chinese people’s life through camera,” held in Cairo Opera House.

    He noted that the exhibition shows the Chinese people’s new life and a rapidly-changing China, where the social and economic achievements are attracting worldwide attention.

    ”Egypt and China are both with long and brilliant culture and history,” Hosni said, adding that Egypt welcomes more Chinese cultural and economic activities and expects more Egyptian-Chinese cooperation in the economic and cultural fields.

    While touring the photo exhibition, Hosni told Xinhua that the exhibition is wonderful and he is keen on learning more about China through the exhibition.

    For his part, Chinese ambassador to Egypt Wu Sike said in a speech that more and more Egyptian friends are observing the great changes in china and the status of the Chinese people’s life.

    ”The exhibition is another effort to boost the bilateral exchange and cooperation, which provides a good platform for the Egyptian public to know more about China and the Chinese people’s life,” the Chinese ambassador noted.

    The photo exhibition is aimed at reflecting the social and economic development in China and the life, work, leisure and entertainment of the ordinary people. It also highlights the 5,000-year Chinese civilization and the harmony among ethnic groups in China.

    The exhibition, which will last until Oct. 9, comprises about 160 photos taken by Chinese and oversea photographers.

    NEW YORK, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) — Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on Saturday urged Japan to abide by its pledge and properly handle the Taiwan question.

    During a meeting here with his Japanese counterpart, Masahiko Komura, on the sidelines of the 62nd session of the United Nations General Assembly, Yang expressed appreciation that Japan does not support Taiwan’s attempt to “join” the United Nations, hoping that the Japanese side would adhere to its pledge and properly handle the Taiwan question.

    Yang noted that Sept. 29, 2007, Saturday, marked the 35th anniversary of the establishment of Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations, and major headway has been made in bilateral ties in various areas.

    He said that the two countries should redouble their efforts to maintain exchange of high-level visits and cooperation in fields like culture and sports so as to further improve and develop bilateral ties.

    Komura, for his part, said the new Japanese government highly values its strategic relationship of mutual benefit with China, and hopes the two sides would maintain high-level exchanges so that more improvement can be achieved in Japan-China relations.

    He said there has been no change in Japan’s stance on the Taiwan question as stated in the Japan-China Joint Statement, and that Japan does not support Taiwan’s “joining” the United Nations.

    On Saturday, Yang also met with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, and the two had an in-depth exchange of views on bilateral ties, China-Europe relations, the Iranian nuclear issue, Darfur, and the situation in Myanmar.