13.9 m long dead whale on the beach in China

13.9米长的鲸鱼死在中国的海滩上.Local people look at a dead gray whale on the beach of Baiqing town in Pingtan county, East China's Fujian province, Nov 6, 2011. The 13.9-meter-long whale was found dead in the sea by local fishermen and then hauled onto the seashore on Saturday. 

13.9米长的鲸鱼死在中国的海滩上.13.9米长的鲸鱼死在中国的海滩上.Local people look at a dead gray whale on the beach of Baiqing town in Pingtan county, East China's Fujian province, Nov 6, 2011. The 13.9-meter-long whale was found dead in the sea by local fishermen and then hauled onto the seashore on Saturday. 

13.9米长的鲸鱼死在中国的海滩上.People measure the body of a dead gray whale on the beach of Baiqing town in Pingtan county, East China's Fujian province, Nov 6, 2011. The 13.9-meter-long whale was found dead in the sea by local fishermen and then hauled onto the seashore on Saturday. 

Hu called for efforts to promote economic growth, stability

胡锦涛要求努力促进经济增长，稳定.Chinese President Hu Jintao attends the Group of Twenty (G-20) summit in Cannes, France, Nov. 3, 2011.

胡锦涛要求努力促进经济增长，稳定.CANNES - Chinese President Hu Jintao on Thursday urged the world's major economies to work together to promote growth and financial stability.
"It is imperative that we stand on a higher plane, transcend differences on specific issues, move beyond short-term considerations, and jointly seek ways to overcome the crisis and sustain development," Hu told the Group of 20 (G20) summit here.
"At this critical moment, the G20 must work to address the key problems, boost market confidence, defuse risks and meet challenges and promote global economic growth and financial stability," said Hu.
As the premier forum for international economic cooperation, the G20 must continue to demonstrate the spirit of standing together in times of adversity and pursuing win-win cooperation, he said.
The Chinese president said "the current world economic situation deserves our high attention," cautioning the global recovery is fraught with instability and uncertainty and faces growing risks and challenges.
Some major economies are experiencing economic slowdown and some countries are facing acute sovereign debt problems, said Hu.
He also cited volatility in the international financial markets, and high inflationary pressure in emerging markets.
Hu put forward a five-point proposal on what G20 nations need to do to tide over the crisis.
First, the countries should ensure growth while paying attention to balance. Given the serious risks facing the global economy and continued market volatility, ensuring growth and promoting stability should be the top priority, he said.
"We should introduce new and strong measures to ensure that fiscal and monetary policies are fully implemented and that funding is channeled into the real economy to boost production and employment."
Second, the G20 nations should strengthen unity and send a strong signal to the world as there is widespread panic and acute lack of confidence in the markets, said Hu.
He urged G20 members to strengthen consultation and coordination, tackle sovereign debt risks, regulate cross-border capital flow, put the fluctuation of commodity prices under control, mitigate global inflationary pressure and make sure that the economic policies pursued by various countries do not offset each other.
Third, global economic governance should be improved through reform, Hu said.
The international financial crisis has highlighted the deficiencies in the global economic governance system, said Hu.
"Major efforts should be made to reform and improve the international monetary system, international trading system and commodity pricing mechanism," said the Chinese president.
He asked for continued reform of the International Monetary Fund, calling for the expansion of the use of the special drawing rights, reform of the IMF currency basket and the buildup of a new international reserve currency system.
He warned against trade protectionism and urged efforts to curb speculation so as to stabilize commodity prices and supply and demand.
Fourth, the countries should strive for progress through innovation, said Hu.
"Innovation is an inexhaustible source of human progress. To overcome the crisis, we need to make pioneering efforts," said Hu.
"We should improve and innovate our thinking, system and mode for advancing economic and social development, and strike a balance in such important relationships as those between government and market, labor and capital, production and consumption, and equity and efficiency."
Fifth, the G20 countries should help developing economies to grow, said Hu.
In the final analysis, the most serious bottleneck in world economic development is the inability of developing countries to achieve full development, said Hu
The imbalance between developed and developing countries has created a vicious circle where underdevelopment leads to backwardness and backwardness hinders development, thus hampering sustained and steady growth of the global economy, he said.
"We should continue to increase the voice of emerging markets and developing countries in global economic governance and create an enabling institutional environment for their development."
Hu pledged that his country will provide more help to other developing countries.
Between 2010 and 2012, China will provide Africa with 10 billion U.S. dollars in lending of a preferential nature, the bulk of which will go to infrastructure development, he said.
Between 2011 and 2015, China will build 200 infrastructure projects in clean energy and environmental protection in other developing countries, he announced.
China will give zero-tariff treatment to 97 percent of the tariff items of exports to China from the least developed countries that have diplomatic relations with China, he said.
The G20 summit, which began on Thursday, would concentrate on the promotion of strong, sustainable and balanced global economic growth, as well as global governance, development and financial regulation.
The G20 bloc, established in September 1999, was designed to bring together important industrialized and developing economies to discuss key issues concerning the global economy.

Some experts believe that the value of the yuan to rise, "reasonable"

一些专家认为人民币的价值上升，“合理”.CANNES, France - The renminbi is coming close to having a reasonable exchange rate, Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming said at the G20 summit.
Chen told reporters on Thursday that the yuan has risen by about 30 percent against the US dollar since 2005, and China's trade surpluses are declining when compared with the value of its gross domestic product.
In September, selling pressure appeared for the yuan, showing that the market perception of the currency is starting to change, Chen added.
The Chinese yuan closed at a record high against the dollar on Friday. Its reference rate was set at 6.3165 on Friday, the highest it has been since July 2005.
Chen said the eurozone troubles have not had a big effect on China's exports to that region, but said he expects that they will affect global trade more as time goes on.
The world and China have an interest in helping Europe overcome the difficulties, he said.
China will concentrate on importing more from Europe, Chen added.
China has long faced pressure from the US and other Western nations to allow the value of its yuan to float more freely, but it has refused to bow to those demands.
"The renminbi should appreciate in a controlled way," Yao Shujie, head of the UK-based University of Nottingham's school of Contemporary Chinese Studies.
China's economy still has many obstacles it must overcome if it is to grow more. Those include its shortage of energy, dependence on manufacturing and its production primarily of low-tech goods, Yao said.
"Rapid appreciation will hit exporters, and particularly medium-sized and small enterprises," Yao said.
Yao said world leaders should try to understand the difficulties that a rapid currency appreciation will impose on China and recognize that any harm done to the country's economy will harm the world as well.
"Allowing the currency to move at a faster pace is not the ultimate solution to China's core problems," said Simon Derrick, head of currency strategy at BNY Mellon, a New York-based investment management and investment services company.
"It therefore seems to me that these latest developments in monetary policy in the US and elsewhere only increase the pressure on China to pick up the pace of currency liberalization," Derrick said.
G20 leaders met in Cannes on Thursday and Friday to discuss Europe's work to deal with its debt crisis and revise their plans for rebalancing the world economy.
Global trade
Chen also published an article in the Daily Telegraph on Thursday, saying China is doing its part to rebalance global trade by stoking domestic demand and cutting import tariffs.
Chen wrote that other countries should not think that they can improve their domestic conditions by criticizing China's trade and currency arrangements and resorting to protectionism.
"Rather, they could negate our efforts to expand imports, crush global market confidence and cast a dark shadow over the recovery prospects of the world economy," Chen said.
As China takes steps to further open its economy, it is expected to bring in more than $1.7 trillion worth of imports this year and about $10 trillion during the next five years, Chen said.

Ministry of Railways promised to pay off construction debt

铁道部承诺会还清建设债务.BEIJING - To ensure construction continues on train line projects, the Ministry of Railways has promised to pay off some of its creditors before Nov 20.
The move, announced in a brief statement on Thursday night, is being seen as a positive signal by creditors, although some raised doubt over the proposed speed of the payments.
"With the support of relevant departments, (the ministry) has enhanced its fundraising efforts and will soon channel the money to project contractors," the statement read. It did not provide further details.
A Xinhua News Agency report this week cited sources as saying that the ministry is expected to soon receive at least 200 billion yuan ($31.5 billion) in fresh money from the central government.
CSR, the country's largest train manufacturer, said on Tuesday that it had received 6 billion yuan from the ministry, and added that it believes most of the total account of receivables will be paid before year-end.
On the same day, China CNR, another train manufacturer, said it had received 4.5 billion yuan.
Other companies, however, said they are still waiting for the ministry to allocate money.
Media reports said in mid-October that rail projects spanning 10,000 km have been suspended due to a shortage of money. Many migrant workers have not been paid for six months, while rail construction companies also owe big sums to cement and steel suppliers.
Analysts said the ministry has some 250 billion yuan of receivables to pay off.
According to official statistics, 36 listed companies closely involved in the high-speed rail sector, including CSR, China CNR and two major construction groups, have trade receivables of 249.1 billion yuan.
Wang Mengshu, deputy chief engineer at China Railway Tunnel Group, said: "The 200 billion yuan in financial support is only enough to pay off the receivables, but it is a good start."
However, he doubted whether the promised payments will be made by Nov 20.
"Railway enterprises have to submit reports to the ministry first, stating the account of receivables. The ministry will then assess these reports before allocating funds. The process will take at least one or two months," Wang said.
An insider at Angang Steel, which supplies steel for rail projects in Northeast China, agreed.
"It should take quite a while, as the money will be allocated from the ministry to railway construction companies and then to suppliers like us," said the insider, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
He said he expects demand and production to normalize early next year.
The ministry is under pressure as more than 10,000 km of railways is being rolled out across the country.
The latest audit report showed the ministry had 3.74 trillion yuan in total assets and 2.23 trillion yuan in debts by the end of September this year. The debt-to-asset ratio has risen to 59.6 percent, up from 57 percent by the end of last year.
Wang said the current way of investing in rails should be changed, as the ministry borrows from banks and sells bonds to gather money for construction.
"As a result, the ministry has to pay interest on bank loans and bonds sold," he said, adding the ministry pays 150 billion yuan in interest each year.
Rail construction companies also have to borrow to buy materials and pay workers before getting paid by the ministry. Forty railway companies pay interest of 20 billion yuan a year, he said.

Accused China of not solve the world economic crisis

指责中国并不能解决世界经济危机.BEIJING - Minister of Commerce Chen Deming on Friday stressed that China is doing its bit to rebalance global trade by expanding domestic demand and cutting import licenses and tariffs.
Chen's words came in an article published in the Daily Telegraph of the United Kingdom, saying attempts by some countries to bash China on trade and currency arrangements by politicizing economic issues and using trade protectionism won't help resolve their own domestic strife.
"Rather, they could negate our efforts to expand imports, crush global market confidence and cast a dark shadow over the recovery prospects of the world economy," Chen wrote in the article.
As China implements a more proactive strategy to open up its economy, its imports will exceed $1.7 trillion this year, and amount to roughly $10 trillion over the next five years, Chen said.
"We hope that other countries can adopt a longer-term vision and a more open mind-set, engage more in cooperation and partnership and less in the blame game, and join together to sail in the same boat through the current difficulties," he wrote.
The minister said China stands ready to work with other countries to strengthen dialogue and coordination on macro-economic controls, resist trade protectionism, disperse the haze cast by the global financial crisis, and promote a robust, sustainable and balanced world economy.
In the article, Chen recalled that since the outbreak of the international financial crisis, China has steered its macro-economic policies so as to expand domestic demand, stimulate imports while stabilizing exports, and promote balanced global trade.
According to Chen, China's imports soared by 23.3 percent between 2008 and 2010, creating $1 trillion market for the rest of the world. At the same time, its trade surplus shrank from nearly $300 billion in 2008 to $107.1 billion as of the first three quarters of 2011, decreasing as a percentage of GDP from 6.5 percent to 2.2 percent.
"In short, China has become an important factor in promoting balanced global trade growth and world economic recovery," he wrote.
He noted that China has phased out import licensing requirements for more than 800 tariff lines, and abolished customs duties on goods from 95 percent of the world's least-developed countries.
China is now the largest export market for Japan, Republic of Korea, southeast Asia, Brazil and South Africa. It is the second-largest export market for the European Union, and the third largest for the United States, according to Chen.
For many American and European businesses, it was orders coming from China that enabled them to restart production after the crisis hit, and put their employees back to work, Chen added.

Mars, the crew on the ground after 520 days of isolation.

火星船员在地面经过了520天的隔离.Wang Yue (R3) from China waves after he left the mock spaceship with other Mars500 experiment crew members, Moscow, November 4, 2011. 

火星船员在地面经过了520天的隔离.MOSCOW - Pale-faced but smiling, the crew of a long-duration isolation study emerged bleary-eyed to a flood of daylight and applause on Friday after 520 days locked away in windowless, cramped cells to simulate the length of a journey to Mars.
The $15 million Mars500 experiment aims to answer one of the big unknowns of deep-space travel: Could people stay healthy and sane during more than six months rocketing to the Red Planet?
In a study set to recreate the psychological strain of a real Mars mission as closely as possible, the six male volunteers will briefly embrace friends and family before being ushered directly into a three-day quarantine period.
Clothed in blue jumpsuits, the would-be astronauts from Europe, Russia and China flashed waves to onlookers as the heavy metal door was shut on their home of the last 17 months in a 550-cubic-metre mock spaceship at a Moscow research institute.
"It's really, really great to see you all again, rather heartwarming," said shaky and red-eyed Diego Urbina, an Italian-Colombian participant.
"On this mission we've achieved the longest isolation ever so that humankind can go to a distant but reachable planet."
Psychologists fear a return to the noise and activity of ordinary life will come as a shock.
"Time seems to have flown by since we closed the hatch last year. But how time really felt to the crew we'll soon know. Probably we'll have a very big difference of opinion," said Igor Ushakov, head of the Russian Institute for Biomedical Problems, which runs the "spaceship".
The crew were firmly anchored by gravity, despite the pretence of long months shuttling through space. But that did not stop them from feeling thousands of miles from home.
"I really felt a physical distance between our crew and the people in Mission Control. My reason knows that they're just 20 m (65 ft) away from us but my mind can't accept it," Frenchman Romain Charles wrote to Reuters on the eve of his return.
The men have fed on rations like those of real astronauts, rarely showered, taken daily urine and blood samples all while under constant, 24-hour surveillance in all but toilets -- earning the study comparisons to a reality TV show.
More than 100 different experiments crowded in on the Mars500 project, with researchers of every stripe interested in scrutinising the men. Halfway through, three crew members even donned 32-kg (70-pound) spacesuits to clomp about in a dark, sand-filled room pretending to imitate the surface of Mars.
A previous 420-day experiment ended in drunken disaster in 2000, when two participants got into a fistfight and a third tried to forcibly kiss a female crew member.
Space officials say technology is still decades away from being able to protect astronauts from cosmic radiation, land them at least 35 million miles (56 million km) across the solar system and bring them home again.
But Charles said flying to Mars is "the next logical step for human expansion".
"If any catastrophic threat is targeting the Earth, we should be able to seek for a safe haven in another celestial body."
What advice would he give real Marsonauts to survive the monotony? "Always stay busy" and "don't forget your e-book reader!" Charles said.

火星船员在地面经过了520天的隔离.Wang Yue from China waves after he left the mock spaceship with other Mars500 experiment crew members, Moscow, November 4, 2011. 

火星船员在地面经过了520天的隔离.A picture taken on November 4, 2011 shows Mars500 experiment crew members, shortly after they left the mock spaceship in Moscow.

China will expand the aerospace industry in 10 years

中国将在10年内扩大航天工业.BEIJING - China's space industry will develop quickly over the next 10 years as the country pushes ahead with its space programs after its first space docking on Thursday.
Lab modules, a space station and 10 to 20 spaceships will be launched into space over the next 10 years, the Shanghai Securities News said Friday, but did not reveal its source.
The country will spend around 300 billion yuan ($47.47 billion) in manufacturing those spacecraft, according to the newspaper.
There are 20 or so space voyages being planned in China, the newspaper reported, citing Wu Ping, spokeswoman of China's manned space program. The spaceflights will shore up demand for spacecraft manufacturing and launch services.
Space infrastructure has been included as one of China's strategic new industries which the government plans to foster over the next five years.
China started its three-stage manned space program in 1992.
In the first stage the country sent the astronaut, Yang Liwei, into space as part of the Shenzhou-5 mission in 2003. It was the first time for China to send a person into space.
Also as part of the initial stage, two astronauts conducted extravehicular activities during the Shenzhou-7 mission in 2008.
Now during the second stage China is focusing on space docking.
It achieved its first space docking in wee hours of Thursday when Tiangong-1 and Shenzhou-8 connected in space.
The next significant events will be the launching of Shenzhou-9 and -10, and one of the missions will be manned.
China will complete the second stage after it establishes its own space lab around 2016, Wu said.
In the third stage, China plans to develop and launch multiple space modules, with a goal of assembling a 60-tonne manned space station in 2020.
"The successful docking means China will enter a phase of massive production of spacecraft. The space economy is about to take off,"   according to Dongxing Securities.

Docking space for the future in preparation for manned missions

太空对接是为未来的载人飞行任务的做准备.A screen in the Beijing Aerospace Control Center displays a simulation of the Shenzhou VIII spacecraft docking with Tiangong-1 space module on Thursday.

太空对接是为未来的载人飞行任务的做准备.BEIJING - China successfully accomplished its first space-docking mission on Thursday, marking a milestone for its long-term manned space program.
Nearly two days after it was launched, the Shenzhou VIII spacecraft docked with the Tiangong-1, or "Heavenly Palace", space module at 1:36 am, some 343 kilometers above the Earth, Wu Ping, spokeswoman for China's manned space program told a news conference in Beijing.
But Wu stressed this is just an "initial" success, as the spacecraft still have to prove they can complete a 12-day flight under Tiangong-1's control and then separate smoothly.
Zhou Jianping, chief designer of the manned space program, however, was over the moon at the success of the first docking procedure.
"This will make it possible for China to carry out space exploration on a larger scale," Zhou said, adding that more than 20 manned space flights are planned from 2012 to 2020 and China now has the basic technology and capacity to construct a space station.
According to the control center, telemetry sensors on the Shenzhou VIII spacecraft took over from ground control at 11:08 pm on Wednesday and guided it to the tail of the Tiangong-1 module, which was launched on Sept 29.
After two hours and 20 minutes, the Shenzhou VIII was within centimeters of Tiangong-1. In the following eight minutes, the docking mechanisms on the vessels completed the procedure of capturing, buffering and locking.
Spokeswoman Wu said the two vessels will try a second docking after separating on Nov 14, in order to find out whether repeated docking might affect the docking mechanism's performance.
The second docking will be carried out in sunlight, unlike the first one, which was done in the shadow of the sun to avoid sunlight interfering with the telemetry devices, she said.
All of the components in the docking mechanism, as well as 600 onboard instruments, were designed and manufactured by Chinese firms, mostly State-owned enterprises, said Wu.
Pang Zhihao, deputy editor-in-chief of Space International, said the flight control of a docked assembly and undocking are not as simple as they might sound.
"Before docking, Tiangong-1 was orbiting without a burden. Now it carries an 8-ton spacecraft and is controlling the spacecraft's 13 sub-systems such as its attitude, temperature and energy," he said.
The Mir space station, operated from 1986 to 2001, at first by the Soviet Union and then by Russia, once had problems with its attitude control, and had to continuously adjust the attitude to stay in orbit, he said.
The undocking procedure is also risky, and spacecraft designers have prepared contingency plans, including using explosive devices to blow off the hooks if they fail to unlock, he said.
With Thursday's successful docking, China became the third country to master the technique independently, but Pang warned that mastering the technology is not the same as having mature technology.
China plans to conduct two similar docking exercises in 2012, with at least one expected to carry astronauts, in preparation for the proposed launch of a space lab by 2016 and the building of a space station by 2020.

REPORTER'S LOG  AN BAIJIE
Breathtaking "kiss" in space
The excitement and tension are becoming palpable in the Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Wednesday night as the Shenzhou VIII spacecraft and Tiangong-1 space lab module come together to complete their "kiss".
The control center, which is located in Beijing's suburban Changping district, is heavily guarded. When I arrived, my car was stopped in front of the center's gate by a People's Liberation Army (PLA) guard and I was asked to present my permission for admittance. PLA soldiers are deployed along the roads to the command building.
On entering the command building my bag is put through an X-ray scanner and I am given a thorough body check, just like the security procedures at an airport. After the security check I am told to put on a pair of plastic shoe covers.
There are three different color passes for the control center. People with red passes have top priority and at most times they can enter the command hall. My pass is green, which means I must stay at the news center, a room with two televisions broadcasting CCTV live reports and a large LED screen showing a real-time image of the command hall.
Fortunately, I can hear the sound from the command hall through the loudspeakers installed in the news center and I can sense the growing excitement.
On the LED screen showing the command hall, I can see interior and exterior images of the Shenzhou VIII spacecraft.
A traditional Chinese decorative knot is swinging slightly inside the spacecraft, which seems to ease the tension in the command hall to some extent.
Instructions from the loudspeakers become more frequent on Thursday morning just after 1 am, when the Shenzhou VIII deploys its docking device. The operators in the command hall become more concentrated as the countdown draws near, and their voices become more exited as the Shenzhou VIII and Tiangong-1 close to less than 30 meters. Everyone else has their eyes glued to the screen and is holding their breath.
Then everyone starts applauding when the Shenzhou VIII and Tiangong-1 have "physical contact" at about 1.28 am.
At 1:43 am, Chang Wanquan, chief commander of China's manned space program, announces the country's first space dock between the Shenzhou VIII spacecraft and Tiangong-1 space lab module was successful.
In the news center, newspaper reporters are beating frantic tattoos on the keyboards of their laptops, and radio reporters are busy making phone calls in low voices for live broadcast.
"It's just like a couple of lovers walking hand in hand in space," a radio reporter broadcasts.

China's new icebreaker sea, in order to improve polar research.

中国新的破冰船下海，以改善极地研究.State Oceanic Administration and Tianjin municipal government staff on Thursday see icebreaker Xuelong off the Tianjin Port as it began a 157-day expedition to the Antarctic.

中国新的破冰船下海，以改善极地研究.Upgrade of the old vessel, Xuelong, is on the cards: Officials
TIANJIN - As China's new icebreaker readies to set sail in 2014, the country might conduct expeditions to the North Pole every year in the near future, a senior official said.
The new icebreaker will improve China's capability in polar research, joining the older icebreaker, Xuelong, on China's Arctic and Antarctic research vessel, Li Yuansheng, deputy director of the Polar Research Institute of China and leader of the 28th Antarctic research expedition, told China Daily.
Li and his team started China's 28th Antarctic research expedition from Tianjin on Thursday.
Having only one icebreaker has always been a disadvantage in conducting the country's polar expeditions, especially when it comes to exploring the Arctic.
Qu Tanzhou, director of the Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration, confirmed at an earlier news conference that although China has carried out 27 Antarctic expeditions since 1984, there have been only four Arctic expeditions, as Xuelong used to be China's only icebreaker.
The new icebreaker will greatly enhance the scientific research ability in future polar expeditions, especially in the ocean area, Qu added.
China plans to launch five Antarctic research expeditions and three Arctic expeditions from this year until 2015. Compared with Arctic expeditions since 1999, the country's North Pole expedition plan during the period of the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) has dramatically increased.
Apparently the coming debut of the icebreaker will play an important role in accelerating China's pace in exploring the North Pole.
The new icebreaker with an estimated investment of 1.25 billion yuan ($2 million) can push through sea ice of more than 1.5-meter depth with 0.2-meter snow covering and its cruising radius reached 20,000 nautical miles, Li said.
After setting sail, the new icebreaker will conduct scientific research in ocean exploration and Xuelong will focus on delivering supplies, scientific research equipment and people to the polar stations, he added.
Qu said the new icebreaker will attract foreign scientists to participate in China's polar scientific research, strengthening China's capabilities in polar research expeditions.
"More icebreakers will be built in the long term," Qu said.

中国新的破冰船下海，以改善极地研究.China's new icebreaker sea, in order to improve polar research.

50 workers trapped underground, four people were killed.

50名工人被困井下,4人死亡.Rescue workers unload a truck in the rain in Yima, Henan province, Nov 4, 2011, after a rock burst at Qianqiu Coal Mine killed four miners and trapped 57 others.

50名工人被困井下,4人死亡.SANMENXIA, Henan - Rescuers are lifting seven injured miners to the surface from a coal mine in central China's Henan province after a rock burst Thursday killed four and trapped another 50, local rescue headquarters said Friday.
Six of them had sustained minor injuries, and the other one had been seriously injured when rescuers located them 510 meters underground Friday morning. They will be rushed to hospital as soon as they reach the ground, the rescue headquarters said.
The accident happened at around 7:45 pm in the Qianqiu Coal Mine in the city of Sanmenxia, the Henan Administration of Work Safety said in a statement.
A total of 75 miners were working in the shaft at the time of the accident, of whom 14 managed to escape, the administration said.
The shaft is about 760-meters deep and the rock burst blocked off the shaft at a depth of about 480 meters, which has hampered ongoing rescue efforts, according to the rescue headquarters.
A 2.9-magnitude earthquake hit the city of Sanmenxia at about 7:18 pm Thursday, and the rock burst was later reported from the shaft in the Qianqiu Coal Mine, according to the rescue headquarters.
The coal mine, with an annual production capacity of 2.1 million tonnes, belongs to Yima Coal Group, a major state-owned coal enterprise in Henan.

50名工人被困井下,4人死亡.Rescue workers prepare to go underground to search for miners trapped in Qianqiu Coal Mine in Yima, Henan province, Nov 4, 2011.

50名工人被困井下,4人死亡.Ambulances stand by outside the coal mine in Yima, Henan province, on Nov 4, 2011. 

Hospital apology, miscarriage of justice "dead babies"

医院表示歉意,错判“死婴”.Huang Zuote, director of the Nanhai Red Cross Hospital, apologizes to the baby's mother Liu Dongmei in Foshan, South China's Guangdong province on Nov 4, 2011.

医院表示歉意,错判“死婴”.An investigation is underway after a new-born baby pronounced dead by hospital staff was later found alive in a plastic bag. Four medical workers have been suspended in South China's Guangdong province for mistakenly diagnosing a stillbirth and disposing of a baby that was alive, according to reports. The incident happened on Oct 26 at the Nanhai Red Cross Hospital in Foshan city. Liu Dongmei, who was eight months pregnant, was rushed to hospital with internal bleeding and stomach pain. During the emergency birth the baby was born, but was believed not be breathing or crying and the skin had turned purple. The nurses assumed the baby was dead before bagging and discarding it in a restroom. A nurse told the father Wang Haizhang the dead baby was a boy. But thirty minutes later other family members found the baby boy alive in the restroom. The baby is still receiving treatment at the hospital. 

医院表示歉意,错判“死婴”.The baby, who was pronounced dead by hospital staff and dumped in a plastic bag, is alive in intensive care on Nov 4, 2011.

医院表示歉意,错判“死婴”.Officials with the health bureau of Nanhai district hold a news conference in Foshan, South China’s Guangdong province, Nov 3, 2011. The bureau said it asked the Red Cross Hospital of Nanhai District to suspend the staff members.

China Soong Ching Ling statue production

中国制作宋庆龄雕像.A 24-meter stone statue of Soong Ching Ling (1893-1981) is going up in Zhengzhou, capital of Central China's Henan province, on Nov 3, 2011. Soong Ching Ling is former vice-president of China and wife of Sun Yat-sen, the leader of the 1911 Revolution that toppled the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), China's last dynasty. The statue's base is designed as a meeting hall with an area of 800 square meters and construction is expected to be completed by the end of this month, according to construction workers. One of the workers said the statue belongs to the Henan Provincial Soong Ching Ling Foundation. 

中国制作宋庆龄雕像.A 24-meter stone statue of Soong Ching Ling is going up in Zhengzhou, capital of Central China's Henan province, on Nov 3, 2011.

Hu Jintao met Sarkozy at the G20 summit

胡锦涛，萨科齐会面在G20峰会.Chinese President Hu Jintao (L) shakes hands with his French counterpart Nicholas Sarkozy during their meeting in Cannes, France, Nov 2, 2011.

胡锦涛，萨科齐会面在G20峰会.CANNES, France - Chinese President Hu Jintao met his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy in Cannes on Wednesday ahead of a Group of 20 summit.
The two leaders exchanged views on bilateral ties and other issues of common concern, including the Cannes summit scheduled for Thursday and Friday.
The development of China-France relations has maintained good momentum recently. President Hu paid a state visit to France in November last year and met Sarkozy in March and August this year when the French president traveled to China.

胡锦涛，萨科齐会面在G20峰会.Chinese President Hu Jintao (L) shakes hands with his French counterpart Nicholas Sarkozy during their meeting in Cannes, France, Nov 2, 2011.

Korean people demonstrated against the free trade agreement with the United States

韩国人民游行示威,抗议与美国的自由贸易协定.Riot police attempt to arrest protesters (R) trying to enter the National Assembly during a rally against the South Korea-US free trade agreement (FTA) talks in Seoul Nov 3, 2011. Thousands of protesters including farmers, unionised workers and university students took part in the rally. South Korea's parliament was locked down on Thursday amid a deepening political standoff over the ruling Grand National Party's push to wrapup a free trade deal with the United States in the face of bitter liberal opposition.

韩国人民游行示威,抗议与美国的自由贸易协定.A protester tries to march towards the National Assembly as riot police use water cannons to disperse the rally against the South Korea-US free trade agreement (FTA) talks in Seoul Nov 3, 2011. The red banner reads: "Block the South Korea-US FTA!"

韩国人民游行示威,抗议与美国的自由贸易协定.Riot police use water cannons to disperse protesters trying to march towards the National Assembly during a rally against the South Korea-US free trade agreement (FTA) talks in Seoul Nov 3, 2011. 

China announced the first successful docking in space

中国宣布首次太空对接成功.In this video grab taken from the China Central Television on Nov 3, 2011, a 3D animation of China's Shenzhou-8 spacecraft docking with Tiangong-1 space lab module is shown on a screen at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center in Beijing, capital of China, Nov 3, 2011.

中国宣布首次太空对接成功.BEIJING - Two Chinese spacecraft accomplished the country's first space docking procedure early Thursday, silently coupling in space more than 343 km above Earth's surface.
Nearly two days after it was launched, the unmanned spacecraft Shenzhou-8 docked with space lab module Tiangong-1 at 1:36 am, marking another great leap for China's space program.
The success of the docking procedure makes China the third country in the world, after the United States and Russia, to master the technique, moving the country one step closer to establishing its own space station.

中国宣布首次太空对接成功.A video grab taken from the China Central Television on Nov 3, 2011 shows the Shenzhou-8 spacecraft docking with the Tiangong-1 space lab module.

中国宣布首次太空对接成功.President Hu Jintao, who is in France for the G-20 summit, sent a congratulatory message on the success of the country's first-ever space docking.
"Breakthroughs in and acquisition of space docking technologies are vital to the three-phase development strategy of our manned space program," Hu said in the message.
Hu said he wishes all the program participants to try all out to fulfill a complete success of the whole mission after the smooth docking.
Other leaders, including Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, He Guoqiang and Zhou Yongkang, who are Standing Committee members of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, watched the mission at the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center.
China is now equipped with the basic technology and capacity required for the construction of a space station, said Zhou Jianping, chief designer of China's manned space program.
"This will make it possible for China to carry out space exploration on a larger scale," he said.
"The capability increases China's ability to act independently in space, as well as its ability to cooperate with others," said Gregory Kulacki, senior analyst and China project manager at the global security program of the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit scientific advocacy group based in the United States.
"China's pursuit of an original solution to space docking, that is based on their understanding of the experience of other nations, could lead to innovations or experiences other space-faring nations could find useful," Kulacki said.
The world's first space docking was achieved in 1966, when the manned US spacecraft Gemini 8 docked with an unmanned Agena Target Vehicle.
Forty-five years later, the maneuver remains a technological challenge. Many of mankind's 300-plus attempts have been met with difficulties or resulted in failure.
"To link up two vehicles traveling at 7.8 km per second in orbit, with a margin of error of no more than 20 centimeters, is like 'finding a needle in a haystack'," Zhou said.
The Shenzhou-8 and Tiangong-1 will separate after flying together for 12 days. After that a second docking procedure will be conducted.
Rendezvous and docking, essential to exploring space beyond Earth's orbit, create the possibility of building space stations, resupplying them, transferring astronauts and rescuing them.
Without this key know-how, exploration of the moon and beyond requires carrier rockets with significant amounts of thrust. China does not currently possess rockets of this magnitude.
Shenzhou-8 and Tiangong-1 both weigh about 8 metric tons, well within the delivery capacity of the Long March 2F rocket. A permanent orbiting space station is designed to be as heavy as 60 metric tons, with docking ports accommodating both manned and freight space vehicles.
The interior of both the Shenzhou-8 and Tiangong-1 is an actual environment in which astronauts can live and work. After the Shenzhou-8 tests, the Tiangong-1 will remain a target orbiter for more docking procedures in 2012 by the Shenzhou-9 and -10 spacecraft, at least one of which will be manned to conduct manual docking.
Although the Shenzhou-8 is unmanned, it is equipped with devices to record images and data that will help China make improvements to its spacecraft design and astronaut training.
Two female astronauts are now believed to be on the active duty roster for future Shenzhou missions, said Chen Shanguang, director of the Astronaut Center of China (ACC).
"We must assess both male and female astronauts to verify if human beings can live in space, as there are huge differences between men and women in spite of their common generalities," Chen said.
"Space exploration activities would be incomplete without the participation of female astronauts," Chen said.
The Chinese spacecraft also feature collaborative space experiments under the framework of a Chinese-German science and technology cooperation.
German scientists designed bio-incubators for the experiments, while their Chinese counterparts were in charge of the development of control equipment, China's manned space program spokeswoman Wu Ping said.

Fuquan - Guizhou Province, six truck exploded after the closure of schools

福泉-贵州,卡车爆炸后后六个学校停课.Xiong Yuanyuan, an 8-year-old girl injured when two trucks carrying dynamite exploded, receives treatment in the No 1 People's Hospital in Fuquan city of Guizhou province on Wednesday. She was walking out of her school gates when the blast occurred.

福泉-贵州,卡车爆炸后后六个学校停课.FUQUAN, Guizhou - Eight people have been confirmed dead and 218 are being treated in hospital following the explosion of two trucks carrying dynamite in Southwest China's Guizhou province on Tuesday, according to officials.
The latest victim died in a hospital in Guizhou's Fuquan city late on Tuesday and nine people are still in a critical condition.
Due to safety concerns, the Fuquan education bureau suspended classes for more than 6,000 students until inspectors have checked the six schools they attend. Classes may resume on Thursday if the schools are given the all clear.
More than 50 students and seven teachers were injured in the accident.
Investigators found that the two trucks, which exploded on Tuesday while stopped at a repair garage near Machangping town in Guizhou province, had detoured an expressway checkpoint set up for overloaded vehicles, Huang Kangsheng, vice-governor of the province, said on Wednesday at a meeting to coordinate the investigation.
Before the blast the drivers had planned to transfer the explosives to smaller trucks, because heavily loaded vehicles are forbidden from entering the central districts of Guiyang, capital city of Guizhou.
However, there is no evidence to suggest that the two trucks were overloaded.
The two vehicles, owned by a transport company based in Fuquan, had each been contracted to transport 36 tons of dynamite to warehouses belonging to the Guizhou Lianhe Civilian Explosive Materials Co Ltd, which is based in Guiyang, Huang said.
The trucks and drivers had licenses to transport explosives, according to a report filed to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Wednesday by the supplier of the explosives Hunan Nanling Civilian Blasting Equipment Co Ltd, which is based in Guizhou's neighboring Hunan province.
The report did not mention which party should be held accountable for the blast.
However, Yang Huilin, a manager of the warehouse company, said the supplier of the explosives should be held responsible, as it had chosen the carrier.
The blast on Tuesday wreaked havoc on the town, aside from the garage where the trucks exploded, the blast destroyed a nearby tollgate, two granaries, and shattered the windows of buildings within a radius of 3 kilometers.
A total of 20,000 local residents were affected by the blast and the homes of at least 70 households were declared unsafe for people to live in.

In 2020, China will build a manned space station

中国将在2020年左右建立载人空间站.BEIJING- China will complete the second step of its three-phase development strategy for its manned space program by establishing its own space lab around 2016, a spokeswoman for China's manned space program said Thursday.
Spokeswoman Wu Ping made the remarks at a press conference here after the country's unmanned spacecraft Shenzhou-8 and the space lab module Tiangong-1 successfully docked with each other at 1:36 am Thursday.
China will establish a manned space station around 2020, Wu said.
China's spacecraft will conduct two more space docking missions in 2012. After that, the nation will begin to build a space lab and space station.
China's unmanned spacecraft Shenzhou-8 and its space lab module Tiangong-1 rendezvoused early Thursday, successfully completing the country's first-ever space docking.
Shenzhou-8 and Tiangong-1 will fly together for about 12 days and then conduct the second space docking at an appropriate time.
Through more than 10 years of efforts, China has made breakthroughs in key technologies and formed a set of design, production and experiment systems for the spacecraft's space docking, Wu said.

Hu Jintao stressed the importance of the euro's stability

胡锦涛强调欧元稳定的重要性.A security cordon has been thrown up around the French resort of Cannes as world leaders arrive for a critical summit amid pessimism about the global economy.

胡锦涛强调欧元稳定的重要性.CANNES, France - China wants eurozone stability, President Hu Jintao said in an interview published on Wednesday ahead of the G20 summit in the French city of Cannes.
China "sincerely wishes to see stability in the eurozone and the euro", Hu told the French newspaper Le Figaro.
The president also called on G20 leaders to "send a clear message of solidarity" and give priority to economic growth in the face of global economic challenges.
With both the US and EU burdened by heavy debt and a bleak economic outlook, China finds itself under the spotlight to help stabilize the global economy and tackle the eurozone debt crisis. But China is also cautious amid domestic pressure and an ever-changing global economy.
Chinese business officials and experts have repeatedly said that the EU needs to reform its financial institutions before the debt crisis can be tackled.
According to the Le Figaro report, Hu said G20 leaders should strive to "strengthen the coordination of macroeconomic policies (and) press ahead with the reform of the global monetary and financial system".
Hu met with Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), on Wednesday in Cannes.
The two discussed the global economy, the reform of the international monetary system and the role of the IMF, a foreign ministry official said, without elaborating on details.
Hu's meeting with Lagarde, his first official meeting in Cannes, was interpreted by some Western observers as being solely a discussion on helping to rescue the eurozone.
Yet Chinese diplomats said its timing was purely coincidental and the meeting concentrated on China-IMF cooperation.
EU debt
The September unemployment rate in the eurozone has recorded a fifth consecutive monthly rise to reach 10.2 percent, a eurozone record. October growth figures for the EU service and manufacturing sectors experienced their largest drop in two years, with the market confidence index the lowest since 2009.
European leaders had agreed at the end of October to a $1.4 trillion rescue fund to stop the debt crisis in Greece from bleeding into other shaky eurozone economies.
The governing council of the European Central Bank will meet on Thursday to announce a fresh round of measures to help the fragile banking sector.
Yet stock markets have been rattled over the last two days by the Greek prime minister's decision to hold a referendum on the proposed bailout.
The G20 summit in Cannes, according to Thomas Klau, head of the Paris bureau of the European Council on Foreign Relations, has already, in all probability, been "transmuted into yet another eurozone crisis summit" entrusted with restoring its collective credibility.
Europe is looking to China to foot part of the rescue bill, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF). Yet China has legitimate concerns about getting too involved and is seeking fuller operational details. Besides, buying more eurozone debt is not on the G20 agenda.
Hu is scheduled to meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy late on Wednesday night, the first bilateral meeting Sarkozy has planned for his G20 schedule.
It has also been reported that the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) will meet ahead of the G20 summit to agree a consensus.
Analysts said Hu's remarks convey confidence in the coming summit, as growing global economies also serve the interests of China.
Wang Yizhou, a scholar with the School of International Studies at Peking University, said China's help to the EU might not be limited to buying bonds.
It could be in the form of tariff reduction and enhancing trade, Wang said.
"Given that China is facing slowing economic growth, whatever it agrees cannot be at the expense of its own economy," said Wang Yiming, deputy director of the Institute of Macroeconomics at the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
Maintaining robust growth itself has been a major contribution to the global economy, Wang said.
Economic restructuring and boosting domestic consumption is, for now, the best help that China can offer the global economy, Wang Yiming said.
Experts also said that the IMF remains a reasonable channel for China to extend its help in stabilizing the world economy.
"I don't think that China should provide money to other channels, for example, the EFSF," said TJ Bond, a senior economist at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch, who believes that China can work with the existing international financial institutions, such as the IMF, to help the European countries.
Because of the lack of details that leave critical questions unanswered, China should not hurry into the buyers list of the EFSF, said Wang Haifeng, director of the International Cooperation Center affiliated to the NDRC.

Into a "crisis of confidence", the Chinese Red Cross is still a "leader"

陷入“信任危机”，中国红十字会依然是"领袖".TIANJIN - Representatives of the international Red Cross on Wednesday came out in support of the scandal-hit Red Cross Society of China, calling it a model from which the world can learn.
The group was hailed for involving youngsters and for spreading the international humanitarian law, as well as the spirit of humanity, universal fraternity and devotion.
"It's amazing that China has set up so many Red Cross organizations in schools and universities," said Nicolle Lafleur from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
"I'm glad to see many schools in China have offered training courses about first aid and disaster response," she said at the society's National Youth Work Conference in Tianjin.
Despite a series of accusations, the international groups said China remains the "world leader" in carrying out humanitarian work, especially spreading the mission among the young.
According to the China Red Cross, 53,248 organizations have been set up on campuses so far, accounting for 12.6 percent of all schools in China.
Besides the 90,000 members volunteering for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and last year's Shanghai Expo, many members organized first-aid teams on campus to provide emergency services when their peers are in need.
"Devotion and universal fraternity is more than a slogan here in China," said Lafleur. "It's all about deeds."
Sukhdave Singh, regional adviser for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Asia, also highly appreciated China's efforts in promoting international humanitarian law, especially among students.
"Many schools in China have included the course of international humanitarian law into the curriculum as mandatory or selective courses," said Singh. "Students are shown documentaries or cartoons to further understand the law."
Singh also mentioned that in China, as well as some other countries, members of the Red Cross are usually more capable in team management and leadership, and easily stand out when hunting for a job after graduation.
"Companies like those devoted staff, a spirit of the Red Cross," said Singh.
Following a spate of criticism that arose over a donation scandal in which a 20-year-old woman called Guo Meimei boasted on her micro blog about her wealth and close connections to the China Red Cross, the society has again drawn intense criticism.
Parents from several big cities, including Shenyang, Jinan and Xi'an, complained that their children were forced to pay about 5 yuan (70 cents) a year for membership in the Red Cross organizations in school.
In response to the public's doubts, China Red Cross officials on Wednesday said the complaints were an "alert" to the management of their activities, and they would rely on more self-supervision in the future, adding that public monitoring is welcome.

Wealthy Chinese are keen to immigrants

中国富人，都开始热衷移民.Wealthy Chinese are keen to immigrants

中国富人，都开始热衷移民.SHANGHAI - About 60 percent of the rich Chinese people, each of whom has a net asset of at least 60 million yuan ($9.44 million), said they intended to migrate from China, a report has found.
About 14 percent of them have either already migrated from China or have applied for migration.
The three most favored destinations by the Chinese rich are the United States, Canada and Singapore. The US is the first choice of some 40 percent of the people interviewed, according to a white paper jointly released by Hurun Report and the Bank of China (BOC) on Saturday.
According to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the number of Chinese applicants for investment immigration has exceeded applications from any other country or region.
Last year, the USCIS issued 772 EB-5 visas, meant for investor immigrants, to Chinese people. They account for 41 percent of the total EB-5 visas issued by the agency.
"Among all the destinations in terms of investment immigration, the US always outstands all other options as the country does not impose any quota," said Jiao Lingyan, a client executive of the investment immigration department of the Beijing-based GlobeImmi International Education Consultation Co.
"The minimum amount required for investment immigration to the US is $500,000. But it should be noted that this applies to investments in projects recommended by authorities in the US. People considering these projects should take into account that they may not make profits," Jiao said.
"It is worth noting that the minimum amount for investment immigration will be raised in the coming years, because the number of rich people in China is rapidly growing," she said.
Among the 980 people interviewed by Hurun Report and the BOC, one-third said they have assets overseas, which on an average account for 19 percent of their total assets.
While 32 percent of the interviewees said they have invested overseas with a view to immigrate, half of them said they did so mainly for the sake of their children's education.
Zhang Yuehui, a Beijing-based immigration expert, said children's education is also the top concern among those who want to immigrate.
"A growing number of parents in China have realized that children growing up in the examination-oriented education system in China will find it hard to compete in an increasingly globalized world," Zhang said.
Wang Lilan, 38, a mother of two who immigrated to Australia from her home province of Fujian two years ago, was one of those parents.
"My 12-year-old elder daughter used to do her homework very late into the night. But here in Australia, she does quite a lot practical assignment, in a playful way. And she has more spare time to do the things she likes," Wang said.
"I feel very delighted to see my children having fun while studying," Wang said.
Chinese immigrants are also getting younger, with the largest group aged between 25 and 30, compared to the 40-45 age group in the past, Zhang said.

Young couple ready to embrace life in the US
by Yu Ran
SHANGHAI - Having decided to move to Los Angeles with her husband, expecting mother, Xu Cong, 25, has been busy preparing the immigration documents and plans to leave for the United States in December.
"I've discussed our future with my husband and we reached the conclusion that if we want to provide better education to our children and have more career choices for ourselves, immigration is the best solution," said Xu who studied in Britain for five years from 2003 to 2008.
They come under a category different from investment immigration, where applicants have to invest at least $500,000 in a targeted employment area to get a visa. Xu and her husband said they chose to register their own trading company by putting at least $800,000 as the starting fund.
According to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, targeted employment area refers to a high-unemployment or rural area in the US. The minimum qualifying investment in such cases is $500,000.
Xu's company will import gloves from China to the US and export water purifier and medical devices from the US to other countries.
In accordance with the rules set by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, Xu also needs to create or preserve at least 10 full-time jobs for qualifying US workers within two years.
"The whole process of preparation is more complicated than we thought, especially we have to write the detailed business plans for the company on how to make enough profits," she said.
Xu and her husband decided to move their date of arrival in the US forward, from March next year to December this year, to make sure that their baby will be born in the US.
"My children will receive better education and we will work for our company in the US Our parents will also be able to move to the US and live with us," said Xu.