BEIJING, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) — China’s current account surplus hit 162.9 billion U.S. dollars in the first half, up from about 90 billion U.S. dollars in the same period of last year, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) announced on Wednesday.

    Meanwhile, the nation saw its capital and financial account surplus hit 90.2 billion U.S. dollars, more than doubling the 38.9-billion-U.S.-dollar surplus for the corresponding period of last year.

    An SAFE official attributed the surplus to high depositary rate which further widened the gap between deposits and investment and soaring fixed assets investment which boosted the country’s manufacturing capacity.

    ”China’s booming economy has consolidated foreign investors’ confidence which resulted in surging foreign direct investment into the country,” said an SAFE official.

    The official said strong demand in the international market and sluggish growth of domestic demand contributed to the rising surplus.

    In order to evade government’s policy to curb export by cutting rebate and adjusting tax, many manufacturers hurried to export more before the policy takes effect in the latter half of the year.

    Meanwhile, the country’s sizzling stock market and real estate industry brought in more capital, the spokesman said.

    Chinese financial institutions such as commercial banks cut down on their investment in foreign securities markets in response to yuan appreciation and the growing domestics credit demand, which reduced the outward capital flow.

    China will deepen reform in foreign exchange regulation, further lift restraints on capital outflow, strengthen the supervision of cross-border capital flow, and gradually make the yuan convertible under the capital account, said the spokesman.

    BEIJING, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) — A total of 220,000 cartons of 53 million counterfeited cigarettes, with a price value of 25 million yuan (about 3.33 million U.S. dollars), were destroyed Wednesday in Beijing.

    The public destruction was organized by the tobacco monopoly bureau of Fengtai District, in the southern suburbs of the Chinese capital.

    The counterfeited cigarettes were seized in 94 cases by the bureau from March to October this year, said the bureau director Liu Genpu, adding that 22 suspects involving in the cases were detained.

    The brands of the counterfeited cigarettes include “555″, “Hongtashan”, “Yuxi”, and “Zhonghua”.

    China is increasing its efforts to stub out production and sale of fake cigarettes to secure tax income and protect the consumers’ interests, according to the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA).

    Statistics from the STMA show that in the first half of this year, the country’s law enforcement agencies seized 4.12 billion counterfeit brand cigarettes.

    From January to June, China’s tobacco industry registered more than 200 billion yuan in pre-tax profits, up 26 percent on a year earlier, the statistics show.

    BEIJING, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) — The first-ever international forum on methane recovery and use was held in Beijing on Tuesday and Wednesday, in a bid to facilitate international cooperation on methane capture and use.

    The forum, “Methane to Markets Partnership Expo”, has drawn over 800 participants from 34 countries. Altogether 88 new methane projects were showcased on the two-day forum including 30 Chinese projects.

    Participants focused on the technologies of methane capture and use in four areas including agriculture, coal mining, landfill as well as oil and gas. They shared ideas and expertise on methane capture and use as well as project financing, and exchanged ideas about future cooperation in the four areas.

    The forum is co-sponsored by China’s National Development and Reform Commission and the U.S. Environmental Protection Administration.

    Methane is both the primary constituent of natural gas and a potent greenhouse gas (GHG) when released to the atmosphere. Capturing and using coal mine methane as a clean-burning energy source can reduce GHG emissions while bolstering mine productivity and security.

    China, as the world’s largest coal producer, has cooperated closely with the international community in coal mine methane recovery and utilization.

    Senior Chinese climate official Gao Guangsheng said the Chinese government has attached great importance to climate change and emission reduction, adding he believes the forum would actively promote technological and economic cooperation in the field of methane recovery and utilization.

    BEIJING, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) — Construction of a light rapid transit rail line connecting Beijing’s downtown and the city’s eastern economic-technological development area will start by the end of this year and is expected to be completed by 2010, a local government official said on Wednesday.

    The 23.8 km Yizhuang light rail line will begin at the Songjiazhuang station on the No. 5 subway line and end at the Yizhuang Railway Station in the eastern Yizhuang development area, according to Yuan Lihong, director of city planning bureau under the management committee of Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area.

    Fourteen stations, eight above ground and six underground, will be built along the light rail line.

    The light rail will run through the Yizhuang development area and four other districts in eastern and southern Beijing, providing a rapid transit system for the area, said Yuan.

    It will help boost the development of the eastern area as well as ease the traffic pressure on Beijing’s historic downtown, he said.

    The Beijing municipal government has approved a blueprint for the development of Yizhuang New Town, which will cover 100 sq km and provide homes for 700,000 people.

    The Yizhuang New Town, a booming economic and industrial zone, plays an important role in developing the eastern outskirts of Beijing and is expected to became a high-tech industrial center.

    GUANGZHOU, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) — Chinese companies have chosen the Canton Fair, China’s largest trade show, to restore the battered image of “Made-in-China” after a series of product safety incidents attracted critical headlines across the world this summer.

    The fair, which finished on Tuesday in the southern city of Guangzhou, was slated as a “perfect” chance for Chinese companies to restore buyers’ confidence after scandals involving the export of lead-contaminated toys, substandard toothpaste and pet foods.

    The U.S. toy maker, Mattel Inc., has staged several high-profile recalls of China-made products, 87 percent of which were found to have loose magnets — a design defect from Mattel itself — and 13 percent of which contained excessive lead.

    ”Although Chinese producers are not the only one to be blamed here, We are paying heavy prices. The effect is severe, and serious lessons need to be drawn,” said Ju Jianwei, manager of the Jiangsu Overseas Group Co., Ltd, a state-owned trade and investment company in east China.

    The Canton Fair gained 37.45 billion U.S. dollars in value of orders placed, a 2.9 percent rise compared with the previous session.

    Steve Barek, President and CEO of the Florida-based Micro flock Textile Group Corporation, who had been to 12 sessions of the trade show, said he believed the product safety issues were sporadic, and most Chinese products are still favored over others for desired quality at the lowest prices.

    There was growth in some categories, but noticeably the value of toy orders dropped by 10.7 percent to 900 million U.S. dollars compared with the previous session.

    Industry analysts said the drop was mainly attributed to waning confidence in China-made toys. Chinese Customs figures also show September’s toy export slipped 2.88 percent from August.

    ” We are trying to expel doubts and fears. We are doing more now, with tougher material control and stricter standard manufacturing procedures and more tests,” said Zhang Chenhua, deputy general manager of Goodlin Toys Co., Ltd, a Shanghai-based toy exporter.

    ”At the same time, foreign technological standards are getting higher and more stringent. We really need to gear up for that and prove to the world that we are responsible companies and our products are still reliable,” Zhang said.

    Like Zhang, many Chinese companies are seeking to walk out of the shadows cast by the spate of product safety incidents.

    ”The recent food safety scare brought a lot of pressure, but we are doing everything to make sure no hitches happen to our products,” said Zhang Jin, deputy general manager of Jiangsu Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Import and Export Group Corp, at the fair.

    Zhang said his company had just got a “sizeable” order with a British supermarket at the fair, and that proves “we have been doing the right thing”.

    The trade show itself has also been tougher on product quality rules for participants, vowing to kick out or even revoke participation qualifications for companies found with product quality glitches.

    Chinese government has committed itself to better product safety. It introduced a landmark recall system this summer, launched a four-month-long nationwide product quality campaign, and offered intensive training courses to domestic toy manufacturers.

    Deng Xuqi, deputy director of the Guangdong Provincial Quarantine and Inspection Bureau, announced on Wednesday that the province has just wound up a month-long campaign specifically targeted on toys and food for exports.

    Guangdong alone manufactures about 70 percent of the total Chinese toys made for export.

    A 100-member team dispatched by the bureau discovered problems including substandard paint and loose parts in toys, after inspecting more than 2,000 local exporters.

    The bureau said it has withdrawn production licenses from 423 toy makers, suspended the licenses of 341 toy companies, and ordered 690 others to improve their working practices.

    Meanwhile, the bureau revoked the licenses of 160 food suppliers and exporters in the province. About 200 others have been ordered to suspend operation until they have cleaned up their act.

    BEIJING, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) — Chief U.S. negotiator to the six-party talks Christopher Hill on Wednesday said the declaration process of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) nuclear programs would begin within the next two weeks.

    Hill, also U.S. assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs, made the remarks before a working dinner with the DPRK representatives.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill speaks to journalists upon his arrival at a hotel in Beijing October 30,2007. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

    He said he held a meeting with the DPRK’s Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan on Wednesday morning, during which the two sides focused on the review of various issues, especially on the disablement issue and how they would progress the way ahead till the end of the year.

    Hill said he and Kim did discuss the date, how to and to whom the DPRK would hand out the declaration of its nuclear facilities and he also talked about the scope of disabling and some other technicalities.

    Hill noted that the U.S and DPRK negotiators also talked about the work in 2008 when they would get into the next phase of irreversible disablement, the procedures for taking the DPRK off the blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism, when to have a meeting to discuss financial issue such as giving the DPRK access to international financial markets, and general concerns about proliferation.

    Hill said he and Kim held lengthy discussions on the issue of the abduction of Japanese nationals and he hoped the DPRK would make progress on this issue.

    Hill told reporters that on Wednesday afternoon, he met with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei and exchanged possible dates for a ministerial meeting among the parties to the six-party talks.

    The six-party talks, initiated in 2003 and aimed at resolving the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, involve China, the DPRK, the United States, the Republic of Korea, Russia and Japan.