State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Meng  ianzhu inspects security preparations within the Expo site.

    BEIJING, April 6 — China’s Minister Public Security Meng Jianzhu yesterday inspected Shanghai’s preparation for Expo 2010 and visited security guards and volunteers at the Expo site. He came to Shanghai after visiting Expo-related security works in Shanghai’s neighboring cities, including Suzhou.

    Meng, who is also a state councilor, stressed that the city should work out more detailed and strict measures to ensure the security of the World Expo as there was only 27 days left before the event starts.

    Yesterday morning, he looked over security check points at the Expo site and inquired about police force deployment and emergency plans. He pointed out that the success of the security work lies in details. Security work within the Expo site was the vital part of the event, which includes license check, transport and logistic security, fire safety and emergency plans, he added.

    At the Nanmatou police station of Pudong New Area, Meng asked about the work to issue vehicle passes for automobiles entering Shanghai. He said that the application process should be as conveniently as possible for the public, and reduce impact on people’s daily life.

    Meng also visited Shanghai’s Hongqiao Transportation Hub. He inspected the information service centre, bus hubs, Metro entrance, the terminal of the Hongqiao Airport and the security check points in the airport. He said that the security work was a complicated task, involving various aspects of Shanghai’s management. The city had to fully integrate its resources to implement .

(Source: www.en.expo2010.cn)

 Beijing Pavilion is transformed into the Bird’s Nest.

    BEIJING, April 6 — Eighty large LED panels will transform the Beijing Pavilion structure into four iconic city buildings - the Temple of Heaven, the National Aquatics Center, better known as the Water Cube, the Bird’s Nest, and National Grand Theater.     

    Each transformation takes about 10 seconds, designers revealed yesterday.     

    Chinese director Zhang Yimou has finished filming a five-minute movie to be played in the Beijing Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo, a senior official of the Expo organizer said yesterday as construction and outfitting finished in the pavilion.     

    The film, about a foreign tourist’s one-day visit to Beijing, is in its final edit and will be sent to a 50-seat theater in the pavilion for testing early next week, said Xu Yuwei, vice chairman of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Beijing Sub-Council.     

    The movie will highlight many different sounds that the traveler hears in the city, including Beijing accents and Peking Opera. It will be played every 12 minutes.     

    The 600-square-meter pavilion in the joint-provincial building will showcase the city’s hosting of 2008 Beijing Olympics and the ceremony at the 60th anniversary of People’s Republic of China last October through videos and exhibits with the theme “Charming Capital.”

(Source: www.en.expo2010.cn)

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   ¡¡GUIYANG, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) — At least seven people were confirmed dead after a moderate earthquake jolted the juncture area of three counties in southwest China’s Guizhou Province Sunday, earthquake authorities said Monday.

    The quake, measuring 3.4 on the Richter scale struck at 5:37 p.m. Sunday, according to China Earthquake Administration.

    At least one person was missing and nine others injured, including two seriously, said the Anshun City Emergency Management Office. All the injured are receiving treatment at hospital.

    With a depth of about 7 km, the epicenter was detected at 25.6 degrees north latitude and 105.8 degrees east longitude in a juncture area between Guanling Buyi and Miao Autonomous County, Zhenning Buyi and Miao Autonomous County and Zhenfeng county, according to China Earthquake Administration.

    The quake triggered landslides at two sites, causing casualties, according to the administration.

    GUIYANG, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) — Three people were killed after a moderate earthquake measuring 4.0 on the Richter scale jolted southwest China’s Guizhou Province Sunday, local government said.

    URUMQI, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — Text messaging services began to resume Sunday for mobile phone users in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, six months after the July 5 riot in the regional capital of Urumqi.

    The services were “gradually” restored since midnight Sunday, said an official with the information office of the regional government.

    Local residents sent text messages to their family members and friends as soon as they got the news.

    The access for Xinjiang residents to two websites, namely xinhuanet.com and people.com.cn, were restored on Dec. 28, followed by access to another two portal websites, or sina.com.cn and sohu.com, on Jan. 10.

    Other services had also been resumed, including online banking, online securities trading, online student enrollment and text messages of weather forecast, the official said.

    Internet connection and mobile phone text messaging services were cut in some areas of Xinjiang after the deadly July 5 riot, in a move to quench the riot quickly and prevent violence from happening again.

    The move proved to be effective in dealing with the riot and maintaining stability of the region. However, it also brought inconveniences to people’s lives, the official said.

    CHANGSHA, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — China’s investment in water conservancy projects reached a record high of 142.7 billion yuan (20.9 billion U.S. dollars) in 2009, Minister of Water Resources Chen Lei said Sunday.

    The total spending more than doubled the investment of 65.54 billion yuan in 2008.

    Among last year’s spending, 63.7 billion yuan were from the central budget while the rest from provincial-level governments, Chen said.

    The massive investment last year had pushed forward maintenance and upgrading of 6,124 reservoirs around the country, and helped nearly 61 million people gain access to safe drinking water, said Chen.

    Between 2008 and 2009, the country added another 1.17 billion cubic meters in its water storing capacity and improved irrigation systems on 57.7 million mu (about 3.84 million hectares) of farmland, said Chen.

    In 2009 alone, another 3 million kilowatts were added to the installed capacity of rural hydro power plants, bringing the total capacity to 54 million kw. The annual power output exceeded 150 billion kilowatt-hours.