China News Digest 6

The following has been making headlines in China:

1.China's economy grew 10.3 percent last year, up from 9.2 percent in 2009, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced Thursday.

Gross domestic product (GDP) hit 39.8 trillion yuan ($6.05 trillion) last year, up 10.3 percent year on year calculating at comparable prices, Ma Jiantang, director of the NBS, told a press conference Thursday.


2.China and the United States on Wednesday agreed on $45 billion in US export deals and to give US companies greater access to China's $88 billion-plus government contracts market at the start of President Hu Jintao's four-day state visit.White House officials said the agreements included a $19 billion contract to buy 200 Boeing aircraft for delivery between 2011 and 2013.
The White House also announced deals in various stages of development involving Honeywell, Caterpillar, Westinghouse Electric, a unit of Japan's Toshiba Corp, and other companies. The announcements served to underscore the theme of economic cooperation struck by Hu and Obama.


3.The Chinese government has allocated 98.6 billion yuan ($15 billion) for farmers nationwide in a bid to maintain steady grain output and boost farmers' incomes.
The bulk of the funding - 83.5 billion yuan - is to be used in the purchasing of farm machinery such as equipment to plant seeds and reapers.
The remainder, 15.1 billion yuan, would subsidize farmers in growing crops such as rice, corn, and cotton, according to a statement released Thursday by the Ministry of Finance.
The move came as most northern Chinese regions, plagued by a months-long drought, will continue to see cold and dry weather in the next 10 days, the National Meteorological Center forecast Wednesday.

The drought has affected some 4 million hectares of crops and left about 2.2 million people short of drinking water, according to the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters on Monday.


4.China on Thursday urged India to properly handle issues related to the detention of three Chinese nationals by Indian Police, said Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hong Lei.
Hong made the remarks in response to a question on China's reaction on the issue.
He said three Chinese tourists recently strayed into Indian territory from Nepal when travelling at the Nepalese-Indian border and were detained by Indian Police.

The Chinese embassy in India are contacting Indian Police for further information, and asking the Indian side to properly deal with the issue, said Hong.

Hong told reports that the three Chinese tourists were spies or had engaged in money laundering were groundless.

Indian police said Wednesday they had arrested three Chinese nationals on Monday in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.


5.India Wednesday said that it is likely to ink defense contracts worth 460 billion rupees (about $10 billion) in the next five to 10 years.

"In the 11th Plan, the value of offsets contracts is likely to be more than 100 billion rupees. In addition, (offsets worth) 48. 18 billion rupees are at the contract negotiation and 315 billion rupees are at other stages," Indian Minister of State for Defense M.M. Pallam Raju said in the national capital.

Stating that offsets provide an opportunity for small and medium enterprises to emerge as suppliers for Indian defense companies and earn a significant revenue, he said 12 offsets contracts worth 99.43 billion rupees have been signed which have benefitted 85 public and private sector companies.

The minister said that the country is looking to procure an increased number of platforms such as unmanned aerial vehicles, Airborne Early Warning Systems, refuelling tankers, battle tanks and missile systems.


6.The Chinese State Council will give away 10.4 billion yuan ($1.58 billion) to help low-income families enjoy Spring Festival, the www.gov.cn reported Wednesday.

The decision to issue the Spring Festival allowances was made at a meeting of the State Council on Jan 19 chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao.

The allowances will be classified into three categories. Low income urban residents entitled to basic living allowances will be given 150 yuan ($22.77) per person. Rural residents receiving subsistence allowances, as well as the elderly, disabled and teenagers who can't work and have no income or family, will be given 100 yuan ($15.18) per person.


7.

The following are highlights of Chinese President Hu Jintao's activities in the United States Wednesday, the second day of his state visit to the country.

-- President Hu attend an official welcome ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House. During the ceremony, Hu said his state visit is aimed at increasing mutual trust, enhancing friendship, deepening cooperation and pushing forward the positive, cooperative and comprehensive China-U.S. relationship for the 21st century.

Hu told his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama that both countries "share broad common interests and important common responsibilities" and should adopt a long-term perspective and seek common ground while reserving differences.

-- Later, President Hu held talks with Obamba at the White House and made a five-point proposal for enhancing bilateral ties.

He said firstly the two sides should develop a political relationship of equality, mutual trust and seeking common ground while reserving differences.

Secondly, Hu said both sides should deepen their comprehensive, cooperative, mutually beneficial and win-win economic ties.

China and the U.S. should jointly meet challenges through global cooperation, further their friendship with the extensive involvement of both peoples, establish a high-level contact pattern featuring in-depth communication and candid dialogue, He said.

Both leaders expressed their dedication to developing a cooperative partnership based on mutual respect and mutual benefit. They also mapped out major directions for bilateral ties as well as key areas to deepen cooperation.

-- At a joint press conference with Obama, Hu said China and the United States have agreed to further boost their bilateral relationship toward a cooperative partnership based on mutual respect and mutal benefit for the benefit of the whole world.

He said the two sides "should firmly adhere to the right direction," respecting each other's core interests and handling their relations with a long-term perspective, which will enable both countries to make greater contributions to world peace and development.

Hu stressed that Beijing and Washington "share expanding common interests and shoulder increasing common responsibilities."

Accordingly, the two sides have agreed to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in economy, trade, environment, education, science and technology, non-proliferation and counter-terrorism among many other fields, he added.

Hu put forward a three-point proposal for both countries to better work together to tackle global problems: to keep up the in-the-same-boat spirit of cooperation, to increase communication and coordination and to respect and accommodate each other's interests and concerns.


8. China surpassed South Korea to become the world's largest shipbuilder in 2010 in terms of shipbuilding capacity and new orders, according to recently released statistics from China's Ministry of Industry and Information.

The statistics show that from January to December 2010, China's shipyards finished building 65.6 million deadweight tons, an increase of 54.6 percent year on year. They received new orders exceeding 75 million deadweight tons, nearly triple the amount of a year earlier.

The great development of the shipbuilding industry in recent years can be mostly attributed to the increasing capacity requirements due to economic growth, said an expert from the economic research center of China's shipbuilding industry.