17/03/2019
SOFIA, March 16 (Xinhua) — China’s Jiangxi Province and Bulgaria’s Sofia Region signed here on Saturday a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Educational Cooperation, the Sofia Region said in a press release on its website.
The memorandum aims to encourage and support respective educational departments as well as colleges and universities to conduct exchanges and cooperation.
“In order to train talents needed in bilateral cooperation so as to enhance mutual understanding and promote friendly exchanges and cooperation, Jiangxi Province plans to offer scholarship of Jiangxi Provincial Government to five students of Sofia Region in the second half of 2019,” the memorandum said.
“The specific matters concerning five students from Sofia Region coming to Jiangxi to study will be facilitated and supported by departments of foreign affairs and education of the two sides,” it said.
The memorandum was also signed with a view of promoting bilateral friendly exchanges and cooperation so as to further push forward the consolidation and development of sister province/region relationship, it said.
Source: Xinhua
Posted in Bulgaria, China alert, education cooperation, Jiangxi Province, MoU, Sofia Region, Uncategorized |
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17/03/2019
GUANGZHOU, March 16 (Xinhua) — A 75,000 square-meter indoor ski resort will open in China’s warm south on June 15 amid the growing popularity of winter sports.
The ski park, located in Guangdong province’s capital Guangzhou, will be three times the size of the famous Ski Dubai and be able to accommodate over 3,000 customers at the same time, said Li Wanxiong, general manager of the project.
Li said the resort was building four ski slopes with different difficulty levels, with the longest one measuring 460 meters. The biggest vertical drop of the slopes will be 66 meters.
Tourists can also enjoy a variety of ice and snow activities, such as ice sculptures and bumper cars on ice, he added.
As the host of the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, China is seeing an explosive growth in winter tourism and sports.
About 197 million visits were made by Chinese travelers for ice and snow activities in the 2017-2018 winter, a year-on-year increase of 16 percent, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Last August, construction started on a 227,000-square-meter indoor ski resort in Shanghai and is expected to open in 2022.
Source: Xinhua
Posted in China alert, guangdong province, Guangzhou, indoor ski resort, Ski Dubai, Uncategorized |
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17/03/2019
- Class members must add more than 1,000 new contacts to make the grade
Students studying social media operations at one Chinese university must add more than 1,000 new contacts to pass the class. Photo: Shutterstock
A marketing course has become a popularity contest with a university in central China requiring students to add more than 1,000 contacts to their WeChat account to earn a pass, according to Chinese media reports.
Students enrolled in Henan University of Finance and Economics’ course on social media operations must add 1,001 new contacts to pass and 1,667 to get a distinction, Shanghai-based news site Thepaper.cn reported on Sunday.
The course, run by the university’s school of communications, teaches students about marketing and promotion on social media, particularly WeChat, China’s biggest social media network with more than 1 billion users.
The app, operated by Chinese internet giant Tencent, is a conduit for games, shopping, news, payments and personal posts.
Market for bogus WeChat accounts still alive and well despite crackdown on illegal practice
Many students complained about the requirement online, saying the number was too high and there was no way they could meet so many new people and add them to their WeChat accounts.
Responding to the complaints, the university said the requirement had an academic purpose and staff discussed the issue last week with students who had signed up for the course.
Source: SCMP
Posted in China alert, Chinese university, social media course, students, Uncategorized, WeChat |
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16/03/2019
BEIJING, March 15 (Xinhua) — Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi talked about high-level exchanges and issues of mutual concern with his French counterpart Jean Yves Le Drian over the phone on Friday.
The two sides agreed that China and France should strengthen their strategic communication and coordination, defend multilateralism, safeguard the tenets and principles of the UN Charter and jointly deal with the various global challenges in the face of the uncertainties in the international situation for the moment.
They also agreed to push forward the China-France comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level.
Source: Xinhua
Posted in China alert, France, Jean-Yves Le Drian, Uncategorized, Wang Yi |
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16/03/2019
UNITED NATIONS, March 15 (Xinhua) — A Chinese envoy said Friday that China is ready to continue to play a constructive role in South Sudan.
“China is ready to continue to play a constructive role in achieving peace, stability and development in South Sudan,” Wu Haitao, the charge d’affaires of China’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, told the Security Council after it adopted Resolution 2459 to extend the mandate of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
“Since its deployment, UNMISS has played an important role in maintaining peace and stability in South Sudan,” he said.
“The international community should continue to support the mission in carrying out its mandate,” Wu added.
He also noted that the international community, especially the Security Council, should fully acknowledge the importance of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan signed between the government and major oppositions last September.
“UNMISS should focus on facilitating the implementation of the agreement in order to help sustain the current positive momentum in South Sudan,” he added.
The Security Council on Friday extended the mandate of UNMISS for an additional year till March 15, 2020.
The resolution, drafted by the United States, received 14 votes in favor from the 15-member Security Council and one abstention from Russia.
Source: Xinhua
Posted in charge d'affaires of China's Permanent Mission to the United Nations, China alert, constructive role, South Sudan, Uncategorized, Wu Haitao |
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16/03/2019
BEIJING, March 15 (Xinhua) — The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and armed police force have been urged to study the spirit of the second session of the 13th National People’s Congress (NPC) and the spirit of the remarks made by President Xi Jinping during the session.
This is an important political task for the whole military, said a circular released Friday by the General Office of the Central Military Commission.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, stressed fulfilling the set targets and tasks of national defense and military development as scheduled, in the remarks he made while attending a plenary meeting of the PLA and armed police force delegation.
The circular called on the PLA and armed police force to have a clear understanding of new circumstances, new tasks and new demands in strengthening national defense and the armed forces, and intensify the sense of mission to achieve new progress in making the military strong.
The circular stressed studying the spirit of Xi’s remarks, and urged the PLA and armed police force to clearly understand the importance and urgency of implementing the 13th Five-Year Plan for military development, and go all out to carry out the plan so as to ensure that the set targets and tasks are fulfilled as scheduled.
The PLA and armed police force should have a deep understanding of the severe situation facing China’s security and development, improve military preparedness, actively support local economic and social development as well as ecological conservation and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests, the circular stressed.
Source: Xinhua
Posted in armed police, China alert, National People's Congress (NPC), PLA, Uncategorized |
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16/03/2019
A worker onloads cargo to the 2,000th China-Europe freight train heading to Krasnodar of Russia at the freight logistics center in Urumqi, capital of northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on March 15, 2019. Since its operation in 2016, trains running from the freight train logistics center in the regional capital reached 2,000. (Xinhua/Fu Xiaobo)
Posted in Ürümqi, China alert, Europe, freight trains, Uncategorized, Xinjiang |
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16/03/2019
- Technical team expected to go to Latin American country to discuss project reportedly worth up to US$8 billion
Argentina had hoped to announce an agreement on China-financed construction of Atucha III during a state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping after November’s G20 summit in Buenos Aires. Image: Handout
A delegation from China will visit Argentina this month to discuss the construction of a nuclear power plant, signalling possible progress in a deal that could increase Beijing’s deepening influence in the South American nation.
An Argentinian government source told Reuters this week the “technical team” from China would meet local suppliers about the long-stalled nuclear power plant project, reportedly worth up to US$8 billion.
Argentina had hoped to announce an agreement on China-financed construction of Atucha III, as it has been referred to in the past, during a state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping after November’s G20 summit in Buenos Aires.
But the deal failed to emerge then, and in January Argentina’s nuclear energy undersecretary, Julian Gadano, and the ambassador to China, Diego Guelar, met officials in Beijing for talks about the project, the government source said.
Argentina seeks new currency swap deal with China as Beijing pursues closer ties in Latin America
A second government source, in the foreign ministry, said talks about the nuclear plant with China were ongoing but added that there had been no “concrete progress” towards signing a deal.
If finalised, the nuclear plant would be one of the biggest projects financed in Argentina by China, which has become a key trading partner for the South American country and its biggest non-institutional lender.
Source: SCMP
Posted in Argentina, China alert, delegation, nuclear power plant, stalled talks, Uncategorized |
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16/03/2019
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – BMW AG (BMWG.DE) and Mercedes-Benz said on Saturday they will lower their prices in China, after the government announced it will reduce the country’s value-added tax (VAT) starting on April 1.
The German automobile companies each published posts on Chinese social media announcing immediate price cuts for several models. The discounts come as China endures a shrinking market for automobiles as the economy slows.
BMW said it would reduce prices for both domestically produced and imported models, including the locally-made BMW 3 series and BMW 5 series, along with the BMW X5 and BMW 7 import models. The BMW 320Li M model will sell for a suggested retail price of 339,800 yuan ($50,620), a drop of 10,000 yuan from its original price.
The reductions mark the company’s “active response to the national VAT adjustment notice,” BMW said in a post on WeChat, China’s popular messaging app.
Daimler AG-owned (DAIGn.DE) Mercedes-Benz announced similar price cuts on a range of its cars, also effective immediately, in advance of the upcoming VAT drop. The cuts shown on its social media page range from 10,000 yuan to 40,000 yuan on select models.
On March 5, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced that China will cut VAT across a range of industries, with the tax set to drop in the manufacturing sector from 16 percent to 13 percent and in the transport sector from 10 percent to 9 percent.
The carmakers’ cuts come as China’s automobile industry faces a major slowdown. In 2018, China’s car market shrank 5.8 percent, marking its first contraction in over two decades.
Policymakers have introduced a range of policies to stimulate demand for cars. In January, China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said it would loosen restrictions on the second-hand car market and provide subsidies to boost purchases in rural areas.
Source: Reuters
Posted in BMW, China alert, lower prices, Mercedes-Benz, Uncategorized, VAT drop |
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16/03/2019
BEIJING (Reuters) – China said on Friday it was willing to have more discussions with all parties concerned including India on blacklisting the head of Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which claimed responsibility for the attack on an Indian paramilitary convoy in disputed Kashmir in February.
China prevented a U.N. Security Council committee on Wednesday from blacklisting JeM founder Masood Azhar.
India said it was disappointed at the block, which sparked calls for boycotts of Chinese products on domestic social media, while the United States said it was counter to a goal it shared with China of achieving regional peace and stability.
In a statement faxed to Reuters late on Friday, China’s Foreign Ministry reiterated that the “technical hold” on the blacklisting was to give more time for the committee to have further consultations and study on the issue.
China hopes the committee’s actions can “benefit reducing the tense situation and protect regional stability”, the ministry said, responding to a Reuters question on the boycott calls in India.
“China is willing to strengthen communication with all parties, including India, to appropriately handle this issue,” it added, without elaborating.
The United States, Britain and France had asked the Security Council’s Islamic State and al Qaeda sanctions committee to subject Azhar to an arms embargo, travel ban and asset freeze. The 15-member committee operates by consensus.
China had previously prevented the sanctions committee from sanctioning Azhar in 2016 and 2017.
The Feb. 14 attack that killed at least 40 paramilitary police was the deadliest in Kashmir’s 30-year-long insurgency, escalating tension between the nuclear-armed neighbours, which said they shot down each other’s fighter jets late last month.
Western powers could also blacklist Azhar by adopting a Security Council resolution, which needs nine votes in favour and no vetoes by Russia, China, the United States, Britain or France.
Blacklisted by the U.N. Security Council in 2001, JeM is a primarily anti-India group that forged ties with al Qaeda.
Source: Reuters
Posted in blacklisting, China alert, hold more talks, India alert, Kashmir attacker, Uncategorized |
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CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon 