Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang (L, front) inspects the State Electricity Regulatory Commission in Beijing, Jan. 14, 2010. Li Keqiang inspected the State Electricity Regulatory Commission and the State Grid Corporation of China Thursday on power supply during winter.(Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

    BEIJING, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) — Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang has stressed that more efforts were needed to ensure stable energy supply, which should be regarded as a key task in regulating current economic operation.

    Li made the remarks Wednesday when inspecting the State Electricity Regulatory Commission and the State Grid Corporation of China on power supply during winter.

    He urged relative departments to help the grassroots relieve supply-demand strains in certain areas.

    Snow and temperature drops have hit much of China, and the demand for coal, power, gas and transportation soared sharply. The pressure from power consumption kept on climbing in winter, Li said.

    More efforts were needed to improve coal output and supply, optimize power production and management, ensure oil and gas supply and improve energy transmission, Li said.

Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang (2nd R) speaks at a conference when inspecting the State Electricity Regulatory Commission and the State Grid Corporation of China on power supply during winter in Beijing, Jan. 14, 2010.(Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

    BEIJING, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) — A senior Chinese leader on Thursday called on deepened reform of the press and publishing system to enhance the country’s international communication capacity.

    Li Changchun, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, made the remark in an instruction regarding the country’s press and publishing industry.

    On Thursday, a ceremony was held to honor 300 outstanding professionals in the press and publishing industry since the founding of New China.

    BEIJING, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) — China’s central government and Central Military Commission on Thursday jointly honored two units of the People’s Armed Police Force (PAPF) as outstanding examples.

    Premier Wen Jiabao of the State Council and Chairman Hu Jintao of the Central Military Commission issued a mandate to give Class I Merit Citation to the PAPF’s No. 8741 troop.

    The mandate does not reveal any detail of the troop but compliments it’s prominent contribution to the fulfillment of some important missions.

    The other mandate, also issued by Premier Wen and Chairman Hu, gives an honorary title “Hero Squadron of the Snowy Plateau” to a special service squadron of the PAPF’s Contingent in Tibet Autonomous Region.

    The PAPF is under the dual command of the State Council and the Central Military Commission.

    LANGFANG, Hebei, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) — Former Vice President of China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) Huang Songyou went on trail for taking bribes and graft in north China’s Hebei Province Thursday.

    Huang, 52, was accused of taking more than 3.9 million yuan (574,000 U.S. dollars) in bribes during 2005 to 2008 when he was SPC vice president, Langfang municipal procuratorate said.

    He was also accused of embezzling 1.2 million yuan in 1997 when he was president of the Zhanjiang municipal Intermediate People’s Court in south China’s Guangdong Province, according to the Langfang procuratorate.

    Huang, a native of Guangdong Province, became SPC vice president in 2002.

    BEIJING, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) — Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Dejiangon Wednesday called for more efforts to improve China’s civil aviation development in terms of safety, services and profits.

    China should always highlight transport safety among all aviation work, step up safety supervision and add more input in this aspect, said Zhang at a national meeting in Beijing.

    The civil aviation sector should carefully organize transport work to ensure safe and quality services this year, especially during the upcoming peak season around the Spring Festival, and for Shanghai’s World Expo and Guangzhou’s Asian Games later this year, Zhang said.

    BEIJING, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) — Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping Wednesday stressed the need for able Party officials at county and village levels for countryside development.

    Xi, who is also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks when meeting with the relatives of Shen Hao, former secretary of a village committee of the CPC, whom Xi described as setting up an ideal example for village officials.

    During his six years as the Secretary of the Xiaogang Village Committee of the CPC in east China’s Anhui Province, Shen led impoverished villagers to build roads, improve housing facilities and help increase villagers’ annual income from 2,300 yuan (337 U.S. dollars) to 6,600 yuan per capita.

    On Nov. 6, 2009, he died of heart attack at the age of 45.

    He was posthumously honored with the title of “national outstanding CPC member” and “the people’s civil servant.”

    Xi said Shen had left a great legacy as a modern CPC village cadre with his “loyalty and love, innovation and hard work.”

    He urged Party officials at county and village levels to learn from Shen and contribute to the building of the socialist new countryside.