BEIJING, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) — A list of Chinese companies paying the highest taxes in the nation shows that the state-owned companies are still the biggest taxpayers in China.

    It also reveals an imbalance between different geographical regions.

    According to a ranking released Saturday by the State Administration of Taxation and China Taxation Magazine, companies in eastern China pay the most taxes.

    Of 2007’s top 500 tax-paying companies, 359 are located in the highly developed east.

    Only 83 are headquartered in central China and 58 come from thewest. These areas have fewer companies and are less developed.

    Analysis of the list showed state-owned enterprises paid the most taxes in China. Three hundred and five state-owned companies made the list. They paid 89.75 percent of the total taxes collected by the top ranked 500 companies.

    By industry, manufacturing enterprises contributed the most taxes, specifically chemical companies. China National Petroleum Corporation and China Petrochemical Corporation took the top two positions on the list.

    ”Major taxation contributors still concentrated in heavy chemical industries such as oil and coal, which suggested that China’s economic development relies too much on manufacturing and resource consumption,” said Zhang Musheng, head of the China Taxation Magazine.

    Despite rapid growth of the national economy, China is still weak in service and technology-oriented industries, said Zhang.

    GUIYANG, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) — Seven people died and 22 others were injured after a truck turned over on a highway in southwest China’s Guizhou Province Saturday, local authorities said.

    The accident happened around 7 a.m. near a village in Hezhang County.

    The Guizhou Provincial Work Safety Administration said a Dong Feng open-bed truck was making a turn when it flipped over.

    Six people were instantly killed. Another person died after emergency treatment.

    The injured, including six people in serious condition, are being treated at two hospitals in the county.

    A total of 45 people were aboard the truck when it flipped over. It had no license plate.

    The truck’s driver, Chen Tianchao, also a local farmer, fled after the accident.

    No other vehicles were involved.

    XINING, Oct.11 (Xinhua) — Muslim food business leaders in China are pledging product safety and vowing to follow their religious teachings in food production.

    200 Muslim food business leaders made that declaration while attending an ongoing international trade fair in the northwest Chinese city of Xining.

    This is the latest move by the country’s food industry to self-regulate after a series of safety scandals.

    ”The recent Sanlu baby milk powder safety incident severely endangered consumer’s health and damaged the international image of Chinese food businesses,” Wang Zhanhe, general manager of the restaurant chain, Little Sheep Group Ltd., said while reading out the Chinese Muslim Food Industry Declaration on Quality and Credibility on behalf of manufacturers at the fair.

    ”We will strictly abide by the laws and regulations of China and other countries in the world, implement the halal standard, and create a safe and reliable halal food market,” the declaration said.

    ”The declaration reiterated the social morality that an enterprise must have,” said Chawalit Na Muangtoun, representative of Thailand’s Chia Tai Group and president of the company’s subsidiary in north China’s Hebei Province.

    ”At Chia Tai Group, we believe in the concept of using morality to direct production and sales,” he said.

    Chawalit said food enterprises should lose money rather than make it immorally.

    Members of foreign business delegations voiced appreciation for the food safety declaration.

    ”We hope these goals can be done by all the halal companies and all the dairy companies in China,” said Kamarul Arifin Ab. Gani, agriculture counselor of Malaysia Embassy. “Every company should follow the declaration.”

    Shahzad Hussain Rana, commercial counselor of the Pakistan Consulate General, said products made in China can be found almostevery where in his country.

    ”Mistakes might happen, but I think China is a very responsible country and the control of quality is good for protecting the people,” Rana said.

    The China (Qinghai) International Halal Food and Product Fair is one the most important halal fairs in the world. More than 400 international business people, experts and officials from 26 countries and regions attended the fair this year.

    LHASA, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) — An aftershock measuring 4.0 on the Richter scale jolted Damxung County in southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region early Saturday morning.

    Local authorities said, no casualties have been reported.

    The tremor was also felt in Lhasa, the regional capital of Tibet, causing dozens of citizens to rush outdoors at 5:18 a.m..

    ”The aftershock further enlarged cracks in buildings caused by Monday’s earthquake in the county. We are now investigating losses,” said a spokesman with the Tibet Autonomous Regional Seismological Bureau.

    Also Saturday, a 4.0-magnitude quake shook an uninhabited area between Gerze County and Zhongba County in western Tibet at 4:08 a.m, the spokesman said.

    The epicenter was about 81 km south of the Gerze county seat. No property losses had been reported.

    Damxung, 82 km north of Lhasa, was struck by a 6.6-magnitude quake and a 5.2-magnitude aftershock on Monday. At least 10 people were killed. It was hit by another aftershock measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale Wednesday.

Tibetan school boys take part in a basketball match in a Primary School of Gedar Township in Damxung County, an outer county of Lhasa, capital of southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, Oct. 10, 2008. (Xinhua Photo)

    BEIJING, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) — Construction authorities in west China’s Tibet and Xinjiang regions are inspecting the integrity of public buildings after two strong earthquakes shook the remote areas last weekend.

    Schools, hospitals, shopping malls, coach stations and railway stations in the Tibet regional capital of Lhasa and prefectures of Xigaze and Shannan will be assessed for damages and stability, said Wang Yalin, deputy director of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Construction Department.

    ”If an unstable building is found, construction experts will tell relevant government departments to reinforce the building or take other measures,” he said.

    A 6.6-magnitude quake hit Damxung County, 82 km north of Lhasa, Oct. 6. Ten people were killed and 34 others injured, mainly women, children and the elderly.

    In a high school in Shannan, one teenager was killed and 15 others injured in a stampede that occurred while the students evacuated during the quake.

    At least 147 houses were toppled.

    A separate 6.8-magnitude quake struck Oct. 5 in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

    Construction authorities there have also started inspecting schools, kindergartens, hospitals and other public buildings. More than 700 houses suffered structural damage; four collapsed. No casualties were reported.

    ”Unstable buildings will be consolidated or stopped from being used,” said Li Jianxin, director of the Xinjiang Autonomous Regional Construction Department.

4.0-magnitude aftershock shakes county near Lhasa

    LHASA, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) — An aftershock measuring 4.0 on the Richter scale jolted Damxung County in southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region early Saturday morning.

    Local authorities said, no casualties have been reported. Full story

470,000 Tibetan herds people in Sichuan to move into brick houses

    CHENGDU, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) — The government of southwest China’s Sichuan Province plans to help 470,000 Tibetan herds people in the region to settle down in permanent brick houses in the next four years.

    The provincial government will input 5 billion yuan (735 million U.S. dollars) into the project to build new houses and villages as well as primary schools, clinics, offices and other public service infrastructure in the villages. Full story

    CHENGDU, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) — The government of southwest China’s Sichuan Province plans to help 470,000 Tibetan herds people in the region to settle down in permanent brick houses in the next four years.

    The provincial government will input 5 billion yuan (735 million U.S. dollars) into the project to build new houses and villages as well as primary schools, clinics, offices and other public service infrastructure in the villages.

    Local authorities will also invite industrial businesses to design and manufacture special tents and other living products tailored to the needs of high and cold areas for the herds people, in a bid to provide a “modern life” in their nomadic life, according to a provincial government meeting held on Friday.

    Statistics show that among the total 533,000 herds people in Sichuan, 219,000 still have no fixed residences and 254,000 are living in shanty houses.

    Similar housing projects have also been carried out in the neighboring Tibet Autonomous Region and northwestern provinces of Qinghai and Gansu, in a hope to improve the living conditions and public services for the nomadic Tibetan communities.