HONG KONG, July 12 (Xinhua) — Hang Seng China Enterprises Index on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange went up Thursday with 33.86 points, or 0.26 percent, to close the day’s trading at 13, 037.11.

    The H-shares index, initiated in August 1994 and readjusted on March 12, 2007, tracks the overall performance of 41 Chinese mainland state-owned enterprises listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

    Hang Seng China H-Financials Index went up 17.48 points, or 0.12 percent, to close at 15,188.76.

    The H-Financials Index, initiated on Nov. 27, 2006, tracks the performance of eight major banks and insurers of the Chinese mainland.

    Hang Seng China-Affiliated Corporations Index went up 90.66 points, or 2.12 percent, to close at 4,359.38.

    The index tracks the performance of 31 locally listed companies with a significant equity interest held by entities in the Chinese mainland.

    Hang Seng Mainland Composite Index moved up 29.67 points, or 0.72 percent, to close at 4,124.79.

    Introduced on Oct. 3, 2001 and readjusted on Sept. 11, 2006, Hang Seng Mainland Composite Index gauges the performance of 103 Hong Kong-listed companies with principal places of business in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland.

    HOHHOT, July 12 (Xinhua) — Bright lights, a red carpet and a large crowd of journalists. It was not a wedding for a Hollywood super star, but for the world’s tallest man Bao Xishun and his wife Xia Shujuan, who only reaches up to Bao’s elbow.

    ;Bao, who stands 2.36 meters and has been a bachelor for 56 years, and the 28-year-old bride Xia, who is 1.68 meters tall, held the wedding in Erdos, north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

    About one hundred Chinese and foreign journalists and more than500 guests attended the wedding.

    After offering a sacrifice to the gods at 8 a.m., Bao, wearing a blue silk robe and a bow and arrows slung across his back, led aparade of 99 young men and 49 horses to the bride’s yurt.

    He did not kowtow to his parents and parents-in-law at the ceremony because of his extraordinary height and an arthritic condition in his knees.

    He seemed a bit tired at the wedding after days of preparation for the ceremony and non-stop media interviews.

    A 2.8 by 2.2 meters wedding bed was ready for the couple, but their three-meter tall new residence is still under construction.

    The couple legally registered in Chifeng in March, just a month after they met each other. They are said to have felt comfortable with each other right from the first meeting.

    Bao began to look for a wife last year, receiving replies from more than 20 women in various provinces. He met some of them but none of the meetings was satisfactory.

    Bao was confirmed as the world’s tallest human being by the Guinness Book of World Records in 2005.

    Born in 1951, Bao has been living in a rural area near Chifeng City since he was a child. He reached his remarkable height naturally, not as a result of a medical condition.

    His growth was relatively normal until the age of 16, when a sudden growth spurt took him to his record height in just seven years.

    Late last year, Bao hit the news when he saved two dolphins in an ocean aquarium in northeast China by reaching in to their throats with his huge 1.06-meter arm and taking out pieces of plastic that the dolphins had swallowed and which were lodged in their stomachs.

    Before Bao intervened, vets had tried to surgically remove the plastic from the dolphins’ stomachs in vain.

    BEIJING, July 12 (Xinhua) — The six member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will stage a joint anti-terrorism drill from August 9 to 17, China’s Ministry of Defense announced here Thursday.

    The exercises, dubbed “Peace Mission 2007″, will be carried outin Chelyabinsk in Russia’s Ural Mountains region and in Urumqi, capital of northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

    All six SCO members — China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan — will take part.

    Altogether 1,600 soldiers from China’s army and air force — including airborne and logistic units — will take part in the drill, the ministry said in a press release.

    ”In the past, China mainly sent navy forces to bilateral and multilateral military exercises,” said Ou Yangwei, professor at the National Defense University.

    ”This is the first time China has sent airborne units to drills abroad,” Ou added. “More units will take part in joint military drills in the future.”

    The exercises will explore ways of combating terrorism, separatism and extremism.

    Heads of SCO member countries and their defense ministers will watch the joint military exercises, according to the ministry.

    ”The drill does not target other countries and does not involve interests of countries outside the SCO,” said the press release.

    ”The drill mainly aims to showcase the improved security coordination among SCO members, the reinforced anti-terror capability of SCO members, the improved Sino-Russian relationship and the modernizing of members’ armed forces,” said military expert Peng Guangqian.

    Peng, a researcher with the China’s Academy of Military Sciences, said the SCO members cover 60 percent of Eurasia and have one fourth of the world’s population.

    ”The stability and prosperity of the area is vital for world peace,” he said.

    In 2002, China began gradual participation in multilateral military exercises to broaden security cooperation with other countries.

    Since then, the Chinese armed forces has held 17 military exercises with foreign armed forces including the other five SCO members, Pakistan, India, France, Britain, Australia, Thailand, and the United States.

    Set up in Shanghai on June 15, 2001, the SCO aims to strengthen mutual trust and good-neighborly and friendly relations among member states, encourage further effective cooperation in various fields, jointly ensure regional peace, security and stability.

    BEIJING, July 12 (Xinhua) — China on Thursday said the voices of developing nations should be heard when appointing the new chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

    ”When it comes to naming the IMF head, the concerns and demands of the developing countries should be fully accommodated,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a regular briefing.

    Qin’s comments came after the European Union on Tuesday decided to back former French Finance Minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn to head the financial institution.

    Current IMF chief Rodrigo Rato announced last month that he would step down in October for personal reasons, ending his five-year term two years early.

    Qin said China would study the EU’s decision and consult with other IMF members on the choice of the chief.

    Europeans and Americans have traditionally carved up the top jobs in world finance between them, with the IMF traditionally led by a European, and its sister organization, the World Bank, headed by an American, under a so-called gentleman’s deal.

    The World Bank last month unanimously approved former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick as its new president.

    Both institutions have been under increasing pressure to give more say to other members and developing countries about issues such as the choice of their respective leaders.

    BEIJING, July 12 (Xinhua) — The chief delegates to the Six Party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue are to meet in Beijing on July 18 and 19, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang announced on Thursday.

    ”The delegates will discuss issues related to the initial actions for denuclearization and explore arrangements of steps that will follow,” Qin said.

    Describing the issue as “complicated”, Qin said it involved the normalization of ties between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Japan, economic and energy cooperation, and the establishment of a mechanism for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

    ”The systematic program calls for all parties involved to hold dialogue with mutual respect and each party’s concerns to be considered,” he said.

    The two-day meeting will be the first for the chief negotiators of China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United States, and Republic of Korea (ROK), Russia and Japan since the last round of talks went into recess in late March.

    At the Six Party talks in February, Pyongyang pledged to shut down the Yongbyon reactor within 60 days in exchange for 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil or equivalent aid.

    However, the denuclearization process was held up when the DPRK insisted that 25 million U.S. dollars in funds frozen by the United States at the Banco Delta Asia in Macao first be returned.

    After a long round of shuttle diplomacy, the funds were unfrozen and transferred to a Russian bank where the DPRK has accounts on June 25.

    A delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was then invited to visit Pyongyang and reached a consensus with the DPRK on the verification procedure of the reactor shutdown.

    The June visit was the U.N. watchdog’s first to the DPRK since late 2002, when the country expelled IAEA nuclear inspectors and later withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

    IAEA inspectors are due to arrive in the DPRK on Saturday to verify the shutdown and sealing of the Yongbyon nuclear facilities.

    The DPRK on July 6 said it would suspend the operation of its nuclear facilities on receipt of the promised aid, in its first announcement on when it will shut down the Yongbyon facilities.

    The ROK dispatched the first shipment of 6,200 tons of heavy fuel oil to DPRK on Thursday in accordance with the February agreement.

    ”The current momentum of the nuclear talks is turning positive and this should be welcomed and carried forward by all parties,” Qin said, adding each party should honor its promises to push forward the process.

    BEIJING, July 12 (Xinhua) — A condom trademark named after telecommunications giant China Unicom has been approved by the Chinese government’s trademark office.

    Shenzhen-based Yelaixiang Adult Products Ltd applied for the trademark of “Liantong”, the same two Chinese characters as part of the Chinese name of the second largest mobile phone service provider in China, Zhongguo Liantong.

    Unlike other big names, China Unicom has shown indifference to the registration and has voiced no objection.

    Last year, several trademark applications were turned down for their relationship with several large companies or celebrities, including attempts to register China Central Television for condoms and the name of Chinese NBA player Yao Ming as a brand of female sanitary towels.

    ”We don’t care because we are in the telecommunications business and they are making condoms,” said an official with China Unicom on condition of anonymity.

    ”It’s very possible a small company hopes to increase its influence by linking themselves with big company,” he said. “They can use the two characters but they can’t use all the four,” he stressed.

    Liu Bo, the general manager of Yelaixiang, denied his company had attempted to use the trademark to increase its marketing power.

    ”We just think it’s a good name so we are using it,” he said.

    Liu said the company submitted the trademark application in October 2004 and was finally awarded the license recently.

    Ma Xiang, the head of the trademark committee of the Beijing Lawyer Association, explained that the Chinese characters of China Unicom’s Chinese name were normal words that could be registered by anyone.

    ”The trade mark has no special connection with China Unicom’s products or service and this is the main reason its registration has been successful,” Ma explained.