Chinese President Hu Jintao meets with German President Horst Koehler in Beijing, China, on Sept. 7, 2008. Horst Koehler attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games on Saturday night.
(Xinhua Photo)

    BEIJING, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Hu Jintao met here on Sunday with German President Horst Koehler, who attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing Paralympic Games on Saturday night.

    The meeting started with Hu welcoming his German counterpart to the Paralympic Games and extending congratulations to German athletes on their “excellent performance” at the Beijing Olympic Games.

    During the Aug. 8-24 Olympics, the German squad placed fifth on the gold medal table with 16 golds, and also grabbed 10 silvers and 15 bronzes.

    Hu also took the opportunity to thank the German government and people for their support and assistance during the blizzard disaster and the Sichuan earthquake that struck China in the first half of the year.

    Koehler said the Beijing Paralympics opening ceremony was superbly organized, and he was particularly impressed by Li Yue, a teenage amputee ballerina from the quake zone of Sichuan who performed at the ceremony.

    It is important to pay attention to the long-term impact of disasters, and help those affected people rebuild their faith in life in the reconstruction process, said the German leader.

    Both leaders agreed to further promote bilateral relations.

    ”The Sino-German relations have shown a sound momentum of development, thanks to concerted efforts by both sides,” Hu said.

    ”The Chinese side is ready to work with Germany to push for a long-term, stable and sound development of bilateral ties, on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, and through enhancing dialogue, promoting mutual trust, deepening cooperation and properly handling differences,” he added.

    Koehler responded that the German side attaches great importance to the cooperative relationship between the two countries, and would like to work with China for world peace and development through more exchanges and dialogues.

    BEIJING, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) — Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi met with his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki here on Saturday.

    Yang applauded Iran’s support to the Beijing Olympic Games and to the Beijing Paralympics.

    Mottaki, who came to accompany Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for the opening ceremony of the Beijing Paralympics, congratulated Yang on the successful Beijing Olympic Games and believed the Paralympics would also be wonderful.

    The two sides also exchanged views on China-Iran relations and other international and regional issues of common concern.

    Yang also met with his Micronesian counterpart Lorin Robert earlier on Saturday, who also came to attend the Paralympics opening.

    Yang and Robert discussed China-Micronesia relations and other issues of common concern.

    CHENGDU, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) — The death toll from a coal mine gas outburst in southwest China’s Sichuan Province rose to 13 with five still missing as a new body was found on Saturday, rescuers said.

    The incident occurred at 2:52 a.m. Friday in a mine in Jiuqing Town, Xingwen County. The Sichuan Provincial Work Safety Administration said 44 miners were underground at the time.

    Only 26 emerged safely from the pit after the accident.

    So far relatives of 13 dead miners have signed contracts with the mine and got compensation of 500,000 yuan (73,099 U.S. dollars) each.

    More than 100 rescuers are still searching at the site Saturday evening. They have dug out more than 200 tons of floated coal, accounting for one fifth of the predicted amount.

    The mine, belonging to the Jinhe Coal Mining Co., Ltd., has an annual production capacity of 90,000 tons.

    Thirteen people were trapped after a coal mine blast in north China’s Hebei Province on Friday morning. On Thursday, a mine explosion in northeastern Liaoning Province killed 27 people and injured six.

    HOHHOT, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) — Four people said to bear responsibility for an explosion at a fireworks plant that killed 15 people last month in north China have surrendered to police, local authorities said on Saturday.

    The legal representative, surnamed Xu, and three shareholders of the plant surrendered to police and were taken into custody.

    Another three people responsible in the explosion were arrested at the scene and police were searching for the final suspect, an Aohan Banner Public Security Bureau official said.

    The blast happened on the morning of Aug. 30 at the Xinxin Fireworks Plant in Sijiazi Township, Aohan Banner, Chifeng City.

    The accident happened because the plant and its staff engaged in serious violations of regulations and mixed ingredients for making fireworks inside the weighing room.

    by Xinhua writer Zhu Yifan

    BEIJING, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) — A dominant position in global exports has allowed more than 2,000 companies to establish themselves in cashmere manufacturing in China, but the industry is seeking to shift from reliance on exports to greater emphasis on domestic sales.

    The Erdos Group, the top cashmere manufacturer in China, has reduced its original export plan from 4.5 million garments to 2.5 million this year. It will invest 800 million yuan (almost 118 million U.S. dollars) in the domestic market over five years to set up 100 flagship shops.

    Xinjiang Tianshan Wool Tex Stock Co., Ltd. for the first time combined its international and domestic order fairs into one event and held it in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Autonomous Region, hoping to boost domestic sales to equal its exports.

    The industry is shifting focus because of a paradox. It’s ramped up production capacity and dominates the world market, but it has a weak position in negotiating prices with foreign dealers.

    China supplies more than 75 percent of the world’s cashmere and90 percent of the high-quality goat cashmere, according to the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce & Animal By-Products.

    After more than 20 years of development, China’s cashmere production and manufacturing system can turn out 40 million items annually. Last year, it exported 20.37 million cashmere garments, worth 623 million U.S. dollars.

    The country has shifted from a major exporter of cashmere raw material to a production base for finished products, Bian Zhenhu, vice-president of the Chamber, told a summit of major cashmere makers in July.

    But many entrepreneurs found that being dominant in resources as well as manufacturing didn’t translate into a strong position in the international market.

    The value of the expensive material, dubbed “soft gold,” has not been reflected in export prices. The average export price of a cashmere garment was only 30.58 U.S. dollars in 2007. A stronger Chinese currency helped push the average price up to 32.5 U.S. dollars in the early months of this year.

    Erdos Group sold 4.6 million cashmere garments last year with export revenue of 1.1 billion yuan — but a profit of only 10 million yuan.

    Compared with the global market, the domestic market is looking better to the industry.

    ”The profit margin is less than 10 percent in the export-oriented processing trade but could be kept at about 40 percent to 50 percent for domestic sales,” said Chen Tao, chairman of Beijing Snow-Lotus Cashmere Co., Ltd.

    ”A simple calculation shows that a cashmere garment sold in the domestic market would bring the manufacturer a profit four times larger than if exported,” said Chen.

    However, analysts said the domestic market might not be large enough to take up all the products that would once have been exported. And inflation has undercut many consumers’ willingness to buy expensive luxury goods.

    Domestic sales of cashmere and wool sweaters rose only 4.3 percent during the first four months of this year, while garment sales generally grew 15.2 percent.

    The industry must shift from quantity to a strategic emphasis on higher value-added and branding, and many companies have already done so, said Bian. The industry would only achieve stable growth with strong brand identities.

    BEIJING, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) — Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu on Saturday sent a congratulatory letter to the team that put two small disaster-monitoring satellites into orbit.

    ”My heartfelt thanks and profound respect go to all the researchers, scientists and staff who participated in the research and launch work of the satellites,” read the letter.

A rocket carrying two environment-monitoring satellites is fired from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi Province, north China, Sept. 6, 2008. The two satellites will be used to monitor the environment and help reduce natural disasters. (Xinhua/Wang Yongji)

    Hui, who is also chairman of the national disaster reduction committee, said the satellites would provide an important channel for China to monitor, forecast and assess natural disasters and help disaster relief work.

    He also called for more efforts to ensure the smooth operation and use of the satellites. Efforts should be made to fully use their disaster forecasting and monitoring functions, he said.

    China launched the two small satellites from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north Shanxi Province on Saturday morning. At about 12:16 p.m., the satellites went into orbit.

    The move was a part of the country’s efforts to create a satellite constellation with four optical satellites and four synthetic aperture radar satellites running in space at the same time.

    The constellation, once completed, would enable China to have dynamic, all-weather and round-the-clock monitoring service for natural disasters and ecological environment.

    The satellites were also expected to provide quick assessments of damage to guide rescue and reconstruction work.

    Small satellites, or miniaturized satellites, are artificial satellites of low weights and small sizes, usually under 1000 kg. Small satellites are designed to reduce the cost as they requires smaller and cheaper launch vehicles and can sometimes launched in multiples.

China launches two natural disaster monitoring satellites

    TAIYUAN, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) — China launched two satellites to monitor the environment and natural disasters at 11:25 a.m. here on Saturday.

The two satellites, launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi Province and carried by a Long March 2C rocket, were expected to enhance the country’s capacity to forecast natural disasters, according to Bai Zhaoguang, a leading scientist and designer of the satellites. Full story