BEIJING, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) — Chinese scientists are warning that the country’s northeast breadbasket regions are in danger of losing their fertility because of soil erosion and degeneration.

    ”The northeast areas are the granary of the country. Soil erosion and degeneration will jeopardize the nation’s grain security,” said Zhang Xudong, a soil expert with the Shenyang-based Institute of Applied Ecology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

    China’s expanse of black soil, spanning Heilongjiang, Liaoning and Jilin provinces and part of Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, covers more than 35 million hectares. It is one of the three largest black soil areas in the world, along with similar land masses in Ukraine and the United States.

    Studies by the Northeast Institute of Geography and Agro-ecology under the CAS and the Heilongjiang provincial soil retention research institute show the thickness of the soil has dropped dramatically from more than 80 centimeters to less than 30 centimeters in the last 60 years.

    The density of organic substances in the soil has fallen from 12 percent in the 1940s to less than 2 percent, experts said, adding that about 85 percent of the soil is lacking sufficient nutrients.

    The crescent-shaped black soil belt is a leading commodity grain base in China, accounting for 30 percent of the country’s total grain output. Its yields feed 10 percent of the country’s population.

    However, excessive farming, overuse of fertilizers and relentless logging have caused erosion and degeneration of the soil quality.

    Soil erosion has adversely affected local ecology, resulting in more frequent droughts, floods and sandstorms, said Yan Baixing, a researcher with the Northeast Institute of Geography and Agro-ecology.

    The Heilongjiang Province has suffered spring droughts for 10 consecutive years. Soil became dust, blew away and became sediment in rivers and lakes, raising the river beds and increasing flood risks in the rainy season, Yan said.

    ”We need do everything to protect the soil from erosion and degeneration now. If we don’t take action now, history will be repeated,” Zhang said.

    Zhang referred to the “dust bowl” disasters which hit the United States in the 1930s, caused by decades of extensive farming that promoted erosion coupled with severe drought. The soils amassed in dark clouds, blackening sky and forcing the exodus of millions at the time.

    ”We can’t kill the goose that lays the eggs. The land must not be farmed in a destructive way,” said Zhang.

    Last week, China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) issued a plan aimed to rejuvenate the northeastern provinces. Protection of the black soil is an important part of their agenda.

    ”Protecting the soil doesn’t mean we have to cut more trees to develop arable land. What we need to do is to reinforce the irrigation facilities, and do everything we can to transform the low-yield crop fields into high-fertility land,” said Zhang Guobao, NDRC Vice Minister, at a press conference.

    Researchers said more ponds and reservoirs need to be built to restore soil moisture, and forest belts need to be in place to stabilize the soil. They are also encouraging farmers to leave manure and corn stalks in the field to increase nutrient content.

    More than 100 million tons of natural fertilizers like manure and corn stalks are produced every year in northeast China, Zhang Xudong said. If used effectively, they could enrich about 5 million hectares of low-yields cropland in five to 10 years, he added.

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    TIANJIN, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) — North China’s port city of Tianjin plans to set up 20 modern service industry clusters at the cost of 199 billion yuan (26 billion U.S. dollars) in three to five years to boost the sector’s development.

    The municipal government has set a goal for the service sector to account for 45 percent of the city’s gross domestic product by 2011.

    The priority will be put on boosting a high value-added modern service industry, including financial services, modern logistics, tourism, creative industries and service outsourcing, which are expected to provide more employment, said a spokesman for the municipal government.

    In the Tianjin International Trade and Shipping Service Cluster, which is under construction and will cover 128 hectares, customers can enjoy the services of custom clearance, shipping, supervision and control, and they rent offices and accommodation there.

    The service outsourcing park in Tianjin Economics and Technology Development Park, will realize annual sales of five billion to six billion yuan (650 million to 780 million dollars) on completion in 2011.

    The Binhai New Area of Tianjin, 120 km southeast of Beijing and covering 2,270 sq km, is the pilot reform base and the third economic engine in north China next to southern Shenzhen and eastern Shanghai’s Pudong.

    It is also home to eight functional zones under construction, including a high-tech zone, a port logistics zone, an airport logistics zone, a central business district and a resort area, said sources from the Administrative Committee of the Binhai New Area.

    The 10-square-km area of Tianjin Port, the largest bonded harbor area in northern China, will become an international free trade zone with focus on international distribution, global procurement and export processing when it is operational by the end of this year.

    The modern service industry played a key role in a nation’s economy and would boost China’s social and economic development in the next 10 years, said Professor Chang Xiuze, of the Macro-Economics Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission.

    However, China suffered a noticeable imbalance between traditional services, such as catering and trade, and the modern services, including information, logistics and financial industries, Chang said.

    In Beijing, the service sector accounted for 70 percent of the gross domestic product last year, the highest rate in the country, followed by Shanghai at 50.6 percent and Tianjin at 40 percent.

    BEIJING, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) — At the invitation of Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov, Chinese State councilor Chen Zhili will visit Russia from Sept. 1 to 8, Chinese Foreign Ministry announced here Monday.

    During the visit, Chen and Zhukov, who are both chairpersons of a China-Russia committee on humanitarian cooperation, will co-chair the eighth session of the committee, according to a press released from the ministry.

    Chen will also attend activities of the “Year of China” in Russia, the press release added.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (L) holds the welcoming ceremony for German Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) in Beijing, China, Aug. 27, 2007. (Xinhua Photo/Huang Jingwen)

    BEIJING, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) — Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday that the Chinese government would cooperate closely with Germany to prevent computer hackers operating across international boundaries.

    Wen was responding to a reporter’s question concerning a reported Chinese hacker’s attack on the computer networks of the German government.

    ”The Chinese government attaches great importance to the hacker attack on the German government networks,” Wen said, adding China would take “determined” and “forceful” measures to combat hacker activities.

    Wen held official talks with Merkel for an hour on Monday morning in the Great Hall of the People, in which they agreed to list the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) as an important topic for bilateral strategic dialogue.

    ”IPR protection is not only a issue between countries, but also a requirement for China itself in its development,” Wen said.

    He vowed to take all efficient measures, especially legal measures, to punish IPR violators.

    Merkel said she believed China had set up a sound legal base for IPR protection, while calling on specific measures to fulfill the policies.

    Wen also pledged China would shoulder its obligations in fighting climate change and was committed to improving energy efficiency.

    Regarding climate change as a common challenge for the international community, Wen said China stuck to a strategy of sustainable development and had achieved remarkable progress in tackling climate change and improving the ecological environment.

    The Chinese government has announced its first national action plan to respond to climate change and set the goal of reducing energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product by 20 percent and major pollutant discharges by 10 percent by the end of 2010, Wen said.

    ”It will be extremely difficult to reach these targets, but we have already shown our determination,” Wen told Merkel, adding China had a much tougher task than Germany.

    Merkel said Germany was willing to step up cooperation with China on the issue of climate change. She called on all countries to stick to the fundamental principle of “common but differentiated responsibility”, under the framework of the United Nations, and work together to tackle climate change issue.

    Wen introduced Chinese government’s policy and measures on controlling the quality of Chinese products and food safety.

    He said the Chinese government attaches great importance to the quality and food safety issue.

    He said the Chinese government has continuously perfected its legal system and quality standard system, and strengthened law enforcement and supervision in this regard.

    Noting that the quality of China-exported goods is basically fine, Wen said China has always treated the quality issue with a responsible attitude. However, it stands opposed to trade protectionism and discrimination against Chinese products.

    He said the Chinese side will strengthen cooperation with the German side to cope with the issues as it is a challenge facing all countries.

    Merkel agreed that the two sides will conduct exchanges and cooperation in this area.

    During the talks, Wen positively evaluated the sound growth of Sino-German relations and said the Chinese government pays great attention to its relations with Germany and takes Germany as an important strategic partner.

    China sincerely hopes for a long-term, healthy and steady development of bilateral ties, said Wen.

    He said bilateral mutual interests have been increasing and China is fully confident in the future growth of bilateral ties.

    Wen proposed for more contacts between leaders of the two sides, strengthening cooperation in energy and environmental protection, more two-way investment, and more cultural exchanges.

    Merkel said Germany hopes that China will have a better development, voicing that China’s development is conducive to Germany and the world at large.

    She said Germany is expecting further constructive dialogues and cooperation with China so as to jointly cope with the problems and challenges in the current world.

    She reiterated Germany’s one-China policy and echoed with Wen’s proposal for the development of bilateral ties.

    After the talks, Wen and Merkel attended a signing ceremony for bilateral cooperative documents including two framework agreements on the establishment of two working groups in the fields of environmental protection and energy.

    Merkel arrived in Beijing on Sunday on her second official visit to China as German chancellor.

    During her four-day visit, Merkel will also meet Chinese President Hu Jintao and top legislator Wu Bangguo.

    BEIJING, Aug. 27 — Some 25,800 people attended Saturday’s job fair for white-collar workers, vying for about 20,000 job vacancies offered by 320 enterprises, yesterday’s Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported.

    Nearly 15 percent of the employers at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center were among the world’s top 500 companies, including Sony, Hitachi and Emerson. The rest included famous domestic companies including Lenovo, Huawei and ZTE, the Daily report said. The participating companies represented sectors ranging from electronics and telecoms to logistics and bio-engineering.

    The average annual salary on offer was 50,000 yuan (6,579 U.S. dollars). “Since the start of this year, our employees have seen a 10 percent increase in their salary,” said a woman surnamed Zhang with the human resources department of a Shenzhen-based software company.

    Software and mechanical engineers were still the most sought-after employees, the Daily report said. Some companies still failed to find the right people among the attendees even after offering an annual salary of more than 100,000 yuan.

    (Source: Shenzhen Daily)

    SHANGHAI, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) — A Chinese passenger plane deviated from its runway when it was taxiing on Vancouver airport before takeoff on Monday morning, Beijing time, and 140 passengers on board were evacuated safely, the Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines said.

    An A340-300 airplane of the company was bound to fly from Vancouver to Shanghai at 5:50 a.m. Monday Beijing time (2:50 p.m. Sunday local time), but deviated from the runway and its left tyres taxied onto the lawn, the company’s headquarters said in a press release.

    The plane was receiving a safety check and its 140 passengers were arranged lodging at local hotels, it said, adding the incident had not affected other flights at Vancouver airport.