WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) — U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte on Monday congratulated the People’s Republic of China over her 59th birthday and spoke highly of China’s achievements.

    ”China is a magnificent country with many achievements,” he said at a reception at the new chancery of the Chinese Embassy to the United States here to celebrate the 59th anniversary of the founding of the New China.

    Negroponte said he was impressed by China’s recent accomplishments, including the hosting of the Beijing Olympics and the Shenzhou-7 manned space mission, and he expects China to make new success continuously.

    The senior official said the U.S.-China relationship has “come a long way” during the past three decades and two nations have broadened and deepened relations at all levels.

    He noted that U.S. President George W. Bush met his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao at several occasions during the past year, and enjoyed a very good time in Beijing when he attended Olympics there this summer.

    ”Now the two countries not only talk about major international issues, but also jointly solve many problems,” said Negroponte.

    The U.S. government is looking forward to more cooperation with China, he added.

    U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor James Jeffrey also lauded China’s achievements in his speech.

    China’s Ambassador to the United States Zhou Wenzhong said he is looking forward to the upcoming 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States.

    He told U.S. guests that as long as both sides always bear in mind their strategic and long-term interests, abide by the three Joint Communiques, respect each other’s central interests, increase exchanges, dialogues and cooperation, handle differences appropriately, “we have every reason to expect an even better China-U.S. relationship in the future.”

    Some 500 representatives from the U.S. government, the Congress, international organizations and foreign diplomatic missions attend the reception.

    TAIYUAN, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) — The coal-rich Shanxi Province in north China will reduce its number of coal mines in the next two years as a way to improve mining safety, the provincial government said.

    Currently, Shanxi has 2,840 coal mines. That number will be reduced to 1,414 mines by 2010.

    Even though there will be fewer mines, the provincial government still plans an annual coal output of 942 million tons.

    The shutdown plan aims at boosting work safety at mines and reducing exploitation.

    Shanxi provincial government said it will encourage mergers and acquisitions in the coal mining industry. The goal is to have two or three mining giants produce more than 100 million tons of coal per year and three to five companies that will produce more than 50 million tons per year, so that 75 percent of the coal output is churned out by major groups.

    Shanxi accounts for one third of China’s coal output. However, accidents have been frequent in small and sometimes illegal mines.

    MANILA, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) — China’s development over the past 59 years has been “truly impressive” and the country is more and more engaged with Asia and the rest of the world in pursuit of peace, progress and prosperity, a Philippine official said on Monday.

    China’s transformation since Oct. 1, 1949 has been truly impressive, said Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alberto G. Romulo on the occasion of the 59th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

    ”Barely two days ago, the world witnessed China’s first successful space walk from its own space craft, Shengzhou-7,” said the Secretary of Foreign Affairs.

    The Shenzhou-7 manned spacecraft that carried three taikonauts blasted off Thursday evening and flew 68 hours in space which included a spacewalk on Saturday.

    ”Shenzhou-7’s return to earth within the last 24 hours heralds a new phase in scientific exploration and accomplishment for China,” he added.

    ”And just last month, in August, the world watched in awe at the showcase of a different-kind one that celebrated friendly competition and human achievements: The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics,” Romulo said.

    The 2008 Summer Olympic Games was a major international multi-sport event that took place in China’s capital city of Beijing from Aug. 8 to Aug. 24, 2008. A total of 10,500 athletes competed in 302 events in 28 sports.

    ”With its ‘Opening-up’ policy (launched) 30 years ago, China has evolved into a global economic power that is deepening its engagement with Asia and the rest of the world in pursuit of greater peace, progress and prosperity,” Romulo said.

    The Philippines’ relations with China have grown “parallel with China’s comprehensive national strength,” said the Secretary of Foreign Affairs.

    ”During President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s term, we have achieved tremendous progress in many areas,” Romulo said.

    ”The frequent high-level exchanges and contacts between our leaders have deepened mutual trust and confidence,” he said.

    Meanwhile, China is now the Philippines’ third largest trading partner and for the first seven months this year, the trade volume between the two countries has reached 18.4 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 10.8 percent compared with that of the same period in 2007, according to data from the two governments.

    ”We are now reaping the fruits manifested by the encouraging growth in our bilateral trade and investments,” Romulo said.

    Besides, the bilateral relations have deepened and grown in terms of defense and military cooperation, science and technology, agriculture, education, and culture, said the Secretary of Foreign Affairs.

    ”With our close historic ties as the anchor, I am confident that we can expect more years of cooperative and fruitful relations between the Filipino and Chinese people,” he added. 

    FUZHOU/HANGZHOU, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) — Typhoon Jangmi, downgraded to strong tropical storm Monday afternoon, is expected to bypass China’s coast in the night, but it will still bring strong winds and heavy rains to some areas.

    Jangmi, which slammed into Taiwan Sunday afternoon, left two people dead and forced the closure of schools, offices and financial markets before moving to the Chinese mainland early on Monday.

    It was thought to land in northern Fujian Province late Monday afternoon or night. Authorities in Fujian and the neighboring Zhejiang Province have evacuated more than 500,000 people and called some 80,000 boats to harbor.

    But the typhoon weakened into strong tropical storm and changed its course to the northeast Monday afternoon, and it will not likely make landfall in the mainland, meteorologists said.

    Yet it will still bring strong winds of up to 126 km per hour as well as heavy rains in the two provinces and Shanghai in east China.

    The Fujian Provincial Observatory predicted rainy and cloudy days in the province in the next two days. While meteorologists in Zhejiang said heavy rains will stop by Tuesday morning, but strong winds will last till Tuesday night.

    The Shanghai Municipal Observatory also forecast winds of up to88 km per hour in the coastal areas from Monday night to Tuesday.

    Jangmi came on the heels of Hagupit, the 14th strong typhoon of this year. It landed in the southern Guangdong Province last Wednesday.

    Hagupit left China on Thursday and moved into Vietnam, after killing at least 17 people.

    BEIJING, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) — A newly conducted geological survey has found more than 3,000 underground rivers with a total length of 14,000 kilometers in southwest China’s rock desert areas.

    A latest report released by the China Geological Survey showed that these underground rivers collect water from a combined area of 300,000 square kilometers, with an annual runoff of 47 billion cubic meters, equivalent to that of the Yellow River, the country’s second longest river.

    These underground rivers account for 70 percent of the total underground water in the rock desert areas, which is a valuable resource for future development, the report said.

    China’s rock deserts are mainly in the karst erosion areas in southwestern provinces of Guizhou and Yunnan and the southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. In these areas, surface water easily leaks through the carbonate terrane, leaving the land dry and leading to rock desertification.

    The report suggested the government adopt more effective ways to stop the expanding of rock desert areas.

    KUNMING, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) — A coal and gas outburst left six miners dead in southwest China’s Yunnan Province on Monday, local authorities said.

    The accident happened at about 3:30 p.m. at the Xiaowuqie Coal Mine in the Zhaxi Township of Weixin County, a county government spokesman said, providing no further details.

    It was not immediately known how many people were working in the shaft when the accident took place.

    Outburst is a phenomenon characterized by ejection of gas and coal from the solid face into the mine, where the gas is a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide.

    Investigation into the accident is underway.