ZHENGZHOU, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) — The death toll from a coal mine accident in central China’s Henan Province rises to nine after rescuers find another two bodies Tuesday.

    Gas leaked at the No. 6 mine shaft, owned by the state-owned Hebi Coal Industry (Group) Corp. Ltd., in Hebi City Monday night.

    Forty-four miners were working underground when the gas leaked. Thirty-three managed to escape, 11 others were trapped.

    Rescuers found seven bodies early Tuesday and also pulled out two miners who were alive.

    Later in the day, two more bodies were found ending the search.

    Local work safety authorities are investigating the cause of the accident.

    The Hebi Coal Industry (Group) Corp. Ltd. reports an annual coal output capacity of 7 million tons. Its No. 6 mine shaft can produce 1.2 million tons of coal each year.

   ¡¡BEIJING, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) — China will take multiple steps to combat the falling price of cotton, according to National Development and Reform Committee (NDRC), the country’s top economy planner.

    Market statistics showed that the purchase price of standard cotton averaged 12,553 yuan per tonne (1,838 U.S. dollars) on Tuesday. That is 68 yuan lower than the previous trading day.

    The figure was down 677 yuan or 5.1 percent from the same trading period last year.

    ”Both short-term and long-term measures are needed to stabilize the price of cotton, so as to protect the nation’s cotton production as well as the interests of farmers,” said NDRC’s tradeand commerce official Ma Zhanping at a cotton forum on Monday.

    According to Ma, the country will encourage commercial banks and rural credit institutions to provide more loans to fund cotton purchases.

    China is also expected to purchase more cotton and put it in a state reserve in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in hopes of slowing down falling cotton prices.

    Xinjiang is China’s largest cotton producer. Its output accounts for 36 percent of the country’s total cotton in 2007.

    As of August 2008, state departments had purchased 65,800 tonnes of cotton.

    Ma said the country was also working on a plan to strengthen financial support for farmers, which could include subsidies.

    ”The textile industry has been suffering from shrinking global market demand. By giving subsidies to farmers, we could support the cotton industry while avoiding putting more pressures on textile and garment manufacturers,” said Ma.

Backgrounder: U.S. Financial Crisis 

    BEIJING, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) — China’s government says state-owned enterprises (SOEs) should exercise prudence when investing in 2009 to prevent financial crisis as the global economy teeters on the brink of collapse.

    The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) made the request in a circular issued late Monday. It’s the first time SOEs have been asked to be cautious about investment budgets in stock markets and futures markets.

    Shanghai Securities Journal believed the statement was a signal that SOEs would cut back on investment specifically in securities markets.

    Li Feng, a senior analyst with China Galaxy Securities, said SOEs invested hundreds of billions yuan in securities markets, which is less than 10 percent of the overall volume.

    Feng said, fewer SOE investments would not have much impact on the securities market.

    According to the circular, SOEs should also seek long-term balance between funds used for operation and investment.

    Guaranteeing stable capital supply and preventing financial risks are among the government’s top concerns for the coming year.

    Turbulence in domestic and international economic environments has led to rising uncertainties for SOEs. Enterprises don’t know how much to budget for things like energy, raw materials and labor.

    Meanwhile, financing is more difficult for businesses due to a tight monetary policy.

    In the first half of 2008, SOE profits were down 10.3 percent year on year to 425.6 billion yuan (62.3 billion U.S. dollars) despite a double-digit growth of sales revenue.

    In the circular, SASAC ordered 147 SOEs, under its supervision, to map out fiscal budget reports for 2009.

    ”Centrally-administered SOEs should strive to increase revenue and reduce expenditure. Try every means to cut budgets in cost and expenditures,” said the notice.

    SOEs with shrinking profits were prohibited from a budget increase.

    The SASAC demanded SOEs submit budget reports before Jan. 31, 2009. Those reports should cover operations of all in-house units, subsidiaries both at home and abroad, institutions and construction projects under SOEs’ administration.

    BEIJING, Oct. 14, (Xinhua) — Capital Airports Holding Company (CAH), the mother company of Beijing Capital International Airport, will host the 15th World Routes Development Forum next year.

    It will be the first time the worldwide aviation forum will be held in China, taking place from Sept. 13 to 15, 2009.

    CAH general manager Zhang Zhizhong said the forum will be beneficial for the company’s Asia-Pacific international hub plan, as well as its global promotion and branding.

    World Routes Development Forum is a networking event for the airline industry. It is estimated that more than 2,000 delegates from airports, airlines and industry suppliers will attend the forum next year.

    HONG KONG, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) — European governments’ commitments to recapitalize banks fueled sharp gains on Asian bourses Tuesday, leading Hong Kong shares to close 3.19 percent higher.

Residents wait at a bus stop before an electronic board displaying Hang Seng Index in south China’s Hong Kong on Oct. 14, 2008.  (Xinhua Photo)

    Building on the previous session’s 10 percent rally, the blue-chip Hang Seng Index rose 520.72 points, or 3.19 percent, to 16,832.88 after trading between 16,615.01 and 17,141.05 during the session.

    Turnover moved up to 81.66 billion HK dollars (10.53 billion U.S. dollars) from Monday’s 72.59 billion HK dollars (9.32 billion U.S. dollars).

    With the news that European governments pledged to spend tens of billions of pounds and euros on stakes in struggling banks and offer hundreds of billions more in guarantees aimed at helping banks borrow the money they need to do business, the Dow Jones Industrial Average raised 936.42 points, or 11.08 percent, to 9387.61 on Monday, its biggest points gain ever. Asian stock markets also rose sharply Tuesday.

    But traders and analysts said profit-taking would likely erode the local market’s gains in the near term as the global financial turmoil isn’t over.

    The Hang Seng Index trimmed its gains in the afternoon, fallingfrom an intraday high of 17,141.05, after China shares ended down on profit-taking and concerns about the U.S. market outlook. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index finished 2.7 percent lower at 2017.32.

    Sun Hung Kai Properties rose 11 percent to 74.00 HK dollars after a 14 percent rise Monday. It had dropped 50 percent between Aug. 29 and Friday. Henderson Land ended 8.1 percent higher at 30.00 HK dollars, following a 16 percent rise in the previous session.

    Confidence slowly regained on banks, as Bank of China rose 3.15percent to 2.86 HK dollars, ICBC moved up 3.04 percent to 4.28 HK dollars. But Hang Seng Bank moved up 1.09 percent to 119 HK dollars.

    China Overseas gained 13 percent to 9.60 HK dollars, having dropped 17 percent since the start of September. Heavyweight China Mobile rose 2.9 percent to 76.95 HK dollars on expectations of robust third-quarter results due late October.

    Higher oil prices boosted upstream oil companies. CNOOC rose 14percent to 7.17 HK dollars and PetroChina gained 3 percent to 6.9 HK dollars.

    Cheung Kong rose 5.30 percent to 77.4 HK dollars, while Cathy Pacific moved up 3.96 percent to 10.6 HK dollars. China Shenhua rose 11.97 percent to 15.20 HK dollars and China Life rose 1.92 percent to 26.00 HK dollars.

    BEIJING, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) — More than 66.74 million Chinese migrant workers, people who come from rural areas and land jobs in cities, became trade union members, said the All-China Federation of Trade Unions on Tuesday.

    The federation estimated there are 210 million migrant workers nationwide with the country’s rural population of 900 million.

    The total number of trade union members increased from 123 million in 2003 to 209 million by the end of June this year, said the federation.

    This means China has the highest number of trade union members in the world. As membership rises, so does the protection of legitimate rights for unionists, said the federation.

    The majority of the mainland’s multinational companies on the Fortune 500 list are unionized. Some 3,768 of their corporate entities, or 82 percent of the total, had established trade unions by the end of September.

    The federation is set to hold its 15th national congress meeting from Oct. 17 to 21 in Beijing.

    A total of 1,800 deputies and 289 special deputies from 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, as well as 29 guests from Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, will participate.