BEIJING, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — While the Chinese rescue team is doing its mission in Haiti, more personnel and materials are ready to back up the rescue and medical aid in the quake-hit country, according to the China Earthquake Administration (CEA) Sunday.

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    Miao Chonggang, vice director of the CEA’s department for disaster relief and emergency aid, said the department is keeping close contact with the rescue team at the front and can send more supports immediately if required.

   
  After more than 60 hours of search and rescue work, the China International Search and Rescue Team had finished its mission in the quake-destroyed United Nation headquarters in Haiti, according to the CEA.

    The team, arriving in Port-au-Prince at 2 a.m. local time on Jan. 14, started working in cooperation with peacekeeping forces from Brazil and Nepal and rescue teams from the United States and France.

    They had retrieved the bodies of some United Nations officials, including UN chief in Haiti Hedi Annabi, Luiz Da Costa, Deputy Special Representative of the UN general secretary in Haiti, as well as eight Chinese police officers.

    The team also set up a medical assistance station to offer treatment for patients pulled out of debris and medical support to medical and security personnel.

    The team will continue search and rescue work in other parts of Haiti according to the arrangements of the UN’s coordination center, the CEA said.



China active in disaster relief in quake-hit Haiti

    BEIJING, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — China has been engaged in a flurry of efforts to help Haitians and Chinese nationals after the Caribbean island country Haiti was battered by a devastating earthquake on Tuesday.

    Immediately after the quake was reported, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao ordered related Chinese departments to be prepared for assistance. Full story

Chinese rescuers provide much-needed medical assistance in Haiti 

    BEIJING, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) — Being the only foreign rescue team to run medical-aid stations in quake-ravaged Haiti, Chinese rescuers are giving quake victims what they desperately need: medical assistance, team members told Xinhua via phone Saturday.

    The China International Search and Rescue Team, arriving in Port-au-Prince at 2 a.m. local time on Jan. 14, opened the first medical assistance station at 8 p.m. the next day, said captain Hou Shike. Full story
China confirms death of all 8 Chinese police officers in Haiti quake

Chinese peacekeeping police salute to a vehicle carrying the last body of their buried colleague in Port-au-Prince, capital of Haiti, on Jan. 16, 2010. The bodies of all eight Chinese police officers who were buried during the Haiti quake had been found as of early Sunday morning Beijing time, the Ministry of Public Security said. (Xinhua/Yuan Man)

    BEIJING, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — The bodies of all eight Chinese police officers buried under a collapsed building in the Haiti quake had been found as of early Sunday morning Beijing time, the Ministry of Public Security said.

    The first body was found at 4:30 p.m. Jan. 16 Beijing time after more than 80 hours of search and rescue work, and the other seven were retrieved from 10:42 p.m. to 3:56 a.m. Jan. 17 under the joint efforts of the Chinese rescue team, the Chinese peacekeeping force in Haiti and several foreign rescue teams, the ministry’s emergency response work team announced Sunday. Full story
China’s rescue team finds one Chinese body in Haiti 

Chinese rescuers observe a moment of silence to pay last respects to a dead Chinese colleague in quake-hit Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, on Jan. 16, 2010. Chinese rescue team found one dead Chinese body from the rubbles Saturday.(Xinhua/Yuan Man)

    PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) — A Chinese body had been found among the rubble of a building here destroyed by Haiti’s massive earthquake, Chinese rescue team leader Huang Jianfa said here early Saturday morning.

    The body was found at 03:30 a.m. local time (0830 GMT) among the ruins of the collapsed building of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). Full story

China’s relief materials leave for quake-hit Haiti

   BEIJING, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) — A Boeing-747 jumbo jet carrying 90 tonnes of Chinese government’s emergency humanitarian relief materials took off from Beijing Capital International Airport to quake-hit Haiti at 12:22 p.m. on Saturday.

Emergency humanitarian aid cargo is seen before being loaded on a plane at the Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, Jan. 16, 2010. A Boeing-747 jumbo jet carrying 90 tonnes of Chinese government’s emergency humanitarian aid cargo took off from Beijing Capital International Airport to quake-hit Haiti at around 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, according to the Ministry of Commerce. (Xinhua/Chen Jianli)

    The 13 million yuan (1.9 million U.S. dollars) quake-relief materials, including tents, stretchers, food, medicines, clothing and water purification equipment, is China’s first batch of relief material to the Caribbean country. Full story

Chinese FM offers deep sympathy to victims in quake-hit Haiti 

    TOKYO, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) — Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechion Saturday extended condolences and deep sympathy to families of the victims in quake-hit Haiti.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, is interviewed by Xinhua News Agency and China Central Television (CCTV) in Tokyo, capital of Japan, Jan. 16, 2010. Yang is in Japan for the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC). (Xinhua/Ren Zhenglai)

 
    “We feel great regret over the heavy casualties and enormous damage to properties caused by the major earthquakes in Haiti,” said Yang in an interview with Xinhua and China Central Television(CCTV). Full story
Chances slim for survival of 8 Chinese officers in Haiti 

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) — Hopes of survival are dwindling for eight Chinese police officers trapped under rubble in Port-au-Prince, chief of the Chinese rescue team said Friday.

  The Chinese rescue team was doing everything possible to speed up the search for the officers, hoping that miracles could happen, Huang Jianfa told Xinhua. Full story

Rescue continues for 8 Chinese police officers buried under Haitian quake debris

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) — Chinese rescuers were still looking for eight Chinese police officers buried under the debris of the devastating Haitian quake, a Chinese official said on Friday.

Chinese peacekeepers work on the remains of a building in Port-au-Prince, capital of Haiti, Jan. 15, 2010. (Xinhua/Xing Guangli)

    A Chinese rescue team of over 60 members had been dispatched from home, and the Chinese peacekeeping police in Haiti were looking for the eight police officers buried under the local UN building, said Wang Shuping, Chinese business representative in Haiti. Full story

Special Report: Strong Quake Rocks Haiti

     TOKYO, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechimet Sunday with his Japanese counterpart Katsuya Okada on further promotion of China-Japan relations on the sidelines of the 4th foreign ministers’ meeting of the Forum for an East Asia-Latin America Cooperation ( FEALAC).

    During the talks, Yang said that leaders of both nations have met on several occasions and reached a series of consensus over further deepening bilateral strategic and mutually beneficial relations since the Democratic Party of Japan came to power.

    China is ready to work with Japan, in the spirit of the consensus, take favorable opportunities to make fresh headway in advancing the strategic and mutually beneficial relations, said Yang.

    The Chinese foreign minister said the two sides need to keep high-level exchanges, conduct dialogue and facilitate coordination in fiscal, financial and macroeconomic policies, and promote cooperation in green economy as well as on major international issues such as the financial crisis and climate change.

    Okada, for his part, said that the Japanese government is willing to keep high-level exchanges with China, boost Japan-Chinahigh-level economic dialogue and cooperation, and facilitate communication and coordination on such issues as climate change.

    Also on Sunday, Yang held talks with South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan, saying China-South Korea relations continue to maintain favorable momentum.

    Yang said that in the new year China will work with South Koreain a joint effort to make fresh progress in the development of bilateral ties.

    Yu said that South Korea attaches great importance to its relations with China, and is willing to keep high-level exchanges and promote cooperation in various areas.

    The Chinese foreign minister arrived Friday to attend the 4th FEALAC foreign ministers’ meeting starting Saturday.

    The two-day meeting discussed such issues as environment and sustainable development, economic and financial crisis, and social inclusion such as reducing disparities and issued a joint document “Tokyo Declaration” at the end of the meeting.

    Initiated in 1999, the forum is an international framework consisting of 34 countries including 16 countries in Asia and 18 in Latin America, with the purpose of strengthening cooperative relations in a wide variety of areas between Asia and Latin America. 

    By Han Mo, Liu Xiang

    BERLIN, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — As climate change poses a great challgenge to China’s agricultural sector, the government and farmers should tackle it in a scientific and systematic way, Chinese Vice Minister of Agriculture Niu Dun said in an interview with Xinhua.

    Climate change has posed great threats to the traditional farming sector, and extreme weather events, such as droughts, floods, hailstorm, tropical storms, have ruined harvests far more often than before, Niu said.

    He was in Berlin to attend the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture, held during the 75th International Green Week in Berlin, the world’s largest agricultural and food fair.

    ”The destructive power of climate change has reminded us of theneed to view the issue with a multi-dimensional perspective,” he said. “We should tackle the challenges by renewing the agricultural system and continuously developing the country’s economy.”

    The Chinese government would help farmers, herdsmen and fishermen create a sustainable mode of production by applying new technologies with lower costs and lower emissions, Niu said.

    ”The government will intensify investment of agricultural infrastructure and projects and impart more scientific knowledge and climate-friendly concepts to farmers,” the vice-minister said.

    ”We want to build a comprehensive service system in the rural areas to offer multi-facet assistance to agriculture, such as providing peasants with quality seeds, machinery and advanced technologies,” he said.

    All these could help cut down losses caused by climate change and improve rural living standards, Niu said.

    Despite unfavorable weather conditions and the international financial crisis, China’s total grain yield was expected to hit a record high of 530.8 billion kg in 2009, the sixth consecutive year of growth. The per capita annual net income of Chinese farmers has exceeded 5,000 yuan (735 U.S. dollars), up more than 6percent from 2008, according to the latest data.

    At the forum, Niu rejected accusations that China blocked a deal last month at the Copenhagen climate change conference. “China has set the new target of cutting carbon dioxide emissions per unit of the GDP by 40-45 percent by 2020 from the 2005 level,”he told 50-plus foreign agriculture ministers.

    ”Above all, it was not conditional or linked with commitments by any other countries,” he said.

    Under the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities in addressing climate change, “China has demonstrated its highly responsible attitude towards the international community and future generations,” the Chinese official said.

    Some 1,600 exhibitors from 56 countries were taking part in the10-day annual fair, showcasing their best farm produce, livestock,farm machines, garden tools and newly-developed technologies.

    Niu told Xinhua that attending the forum offered a chance to “broaden our vision about new trends of modern agriculture.”

    BEIJING, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — Property trading in Beijing in the first two weeks of this year slumped, following a string of government moves to curb soaring real estate prices.

    Beijing property transaction management authority said on its website Friday that sales of future delivery residential apartments during Jan. 1 to Jan. 13 were down 63.9 percent month on month to 3,031 units, compared with 8,397 units in the first half of December.

    Those for second-hand homes also plunged 73.3 percent to 4,800 units, according to data from the website.

    The relatively small transaction volume was largely due to a strong wait-and-see mood from the buyers, in response to the government’s efforts to deflate property bubbles, said Gao Shan, vice general manager of the Beijing-based Comprehensive Real Estate Service Corporation.

    The central government has taken a series of measures, including trimming loans, intensifying land supply and market monitoring, and ending tax rebates on property transaction, to prevent home prices from further soaring since the previous month.

    Chinese home prices began to pick up from February last year, and hit a 18-month high in December.

    Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed housing prices in the country’s 70 large and medium-sized cities rose 7.8 percent in December 2009 from a year earlier.

    BEIJING, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — China’s adverse drug reaction (ADR) monitoring center received more than 630,000 reports of such cases in 2009, according to the State Food and Drug Administration(SFDA).

    Of the total, some 94,000 are reports of new or severe adverse reactions, the SFDA said, without giving the number of ADR cases in the previous years for comparison.

    ADR is an unwanted or negative consequence sometimes associated with the use of medications. China set up its ADR reporting system in 2001 to warn pharmaceutical factories, medical institutions and the society in a timely manner.

    According to the SFDA, it revised the manuals for more than 10 kinds of drugs in 2009 to ensure reasonable and safe use

    Since October 2008, China has recalled a series of herbal injections which might cause adverse reactions.

    In March last year, China banned a pain-killing injection product following a report from the Guangdong Provincial Health Department saying that 13 patients reported symptoms of shivering and fever after taking the product with a brand name of Xiangdan.

    SHANGHAI, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — Net profit in Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., China’s biggest steel marker, declined 11 percent year-on-year to 5.75 billion yuan (842 million U.S. dollars) in 2009.

    Its total revenue stood at 148.3 billion yuan last year, down 25.95 percent from a year earlier, said the Shanghai-based company in an annual business report filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange Saturday, without giving reasons for the losses.

    China’s steel product prices underwent frequent fluctuations last year, against the backdrop that the world economic recession reduced steel demand both at home and abroad.

    The composite price index, a major gauge of the country’s steel price, declined to 107.2 points at the end of December, 72.7 percentage points lower compared with its 179.9 points peak on Aug. 5.