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A national cruise ship tourism development zone in north China’s coastal city of Tianjin has received approval to be built.
The international cruise home port in Tianjin’s Binhai New District was put into operation in June 2010. Since then it has attracted the world’s three largest cruise liner companies—Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and Carnival Cruise Lines in the United States and Costa Cruise Lines in Italy. Official data showed that over the past two years， 85 international cruise ships have docked at the port. The number is likely to jump to 90 in 2013 alone.
Corruption Trials
Former Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun has been charged with bribery and abuse of power， authorities said on April 10.
According to the indictment issued by the Second Branch of the Beijing People’s Procuratorate， as a state functionary， Liu sought to benefit other parties by taking advantage of his position and accepted considerable amounts of financial incentives for doing so.
Liu， 60， became minister of railways in March 2003 and was sacked in February 2011.
He is accused of having received bribes worth more than 60 million yuan （$9.68 million）， reported Beijing Times.
On April 8， Huang Sheng， a former deputy governor of east China’s Shandong Province， stood trial on charges of accepting bribes.
According to the municipal people’s procuratorate， from the latter half of 1998 to August 2011， Huang abused his official positions as mayor and Party chief of Dezhou， as well as vice governor of Shandong， to obtain benefits for others in their business operations and promotions. He accepted bribes worth more than 12.23 million yuan （$1.97 million）， prosecutors said.
Transit Visas
Guangzhou in south China’s Guangdong Province is expected to become the third Chinese city to allow foreign visitors to transit for 72 hours without a visa， according to Tan Wangen， General Manager of China Southern Airlines.
“We are actively talking with the local airport and customs authorities to push the implementation of the visa-free transit policy as soon as possible，” Tan said.
Since January 1， travelers from 45 countries have been benefiting from 72-hour visa-free stays in Beijing and Shanghai. With the adoption of this policy， Shanghai has registered more than 1，000 foreign passengers transiting from its Hongqiao and Pudong airports without visas， the local immigration control authorities said. The number of inbound tourists to Beijing is expected to increase to 10 million within the next three years as a result of the policy， said the Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development.
“If the negotiations go smoothly， the policy will be implemented in Guangzhou within this year，” Tan told Xinhua News Agency.
Jobs for the Disabled
New progress has been made in the employment of the disabled， as China created new jobs for 329，000 disabled urbanites in 2012， according to a communique released on April 7.
As many as 299，000 handicapped urbanites received vocational training last year， while the number of vocational training bases inched up to 5，271 from 5，254 in 2011， said the communique， released by the China Disabled Persons’ Federation.
According to the federation， a total of 16，514 blind masseuses and 4，925 blind medical workers were trained in 2012， with 12，887 massage care institutions and 848 medical massage institutions located across the country.
The communique showed that about 3.25 million disabled urbanites joined in the country’s social pension insurance system for urban residents in 2012， accounting for 58.4 percent of the total disabled urban population.
In addition， about 13.34 million disabled people in rural areas were included in the new rural social endowment insurance system， making up 63.8 percent of the total disabled rural population， the communique said.
Ruins Excavated
Chinese authorities on April 9 announced the top 10 archaeological discoveries made in 2012. One of the year’s finds dates back as far as the Paleolithic era.
Among the most significant discoveries were the ruins of a small city， the largest of its kind in Neolithic China， discovered in northwest China’s Shaanxi Province.
Archaeologists said that the walls of the 4，000-year-old city are decorated with carved jade， indicating that the city was important in ancient Chinese civilization.
The discovery has provided new materials for the study of Chinese civilization and its development， experts said.
Other discoveries include Paleolithic ruins in central China’s Henan Province， the Neolithic Shunjiaji site in east China’s Jiangsu Province and Bronze Age ruins and tombs in west China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
All the discoveries are protected by local governments， said Tong Mingkang， deputy head of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage. About 100 archaeological sites are listed as key cultural relics under state protection and some of the sites have been opened to the public.
Islands Tour
Tourists will be able to visit the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea ahead of the forthcoming May Day holiday， said Tan Li， Executive Vice Governor of Hainan Province， on April 6.
People will be allowed to visit the islands on cruise tours， Tan said.
The Xisha Islands are a cluster of close to 40 islets， sandbanks and reefs.
According to Tan， cruise tours are the choice as hotels and other facilities to accommodate tourists are inadequate.
There is only one hotel with 56 rooms in the 2.13-square-km Yongxing Island， the largest island among the Xisha Islands group and home to the government offices of the city of Sansha. There is no fresh water and all supplies have to be transported from outside.
Sansha was established last June to administer more than 200 islets， sandbanks and reefs in the Xisha， Zhongsha and Nansha islands and 2 million square km of surrounding waters.
However， experts said that Sansha could only receive a small number of visitors due to its fragile environment.
Sportswear Lawsuit
China’s Qiaodan Sportswear Co. Ltd. has sued American basketball legend Michael Jordan for infringement on right of reputation and claimed$8 million compensation， Securities Daily reported on April 9.
The Quanzhou Court in southeast China’s Fujian Province received the file on March 29 and accepted the lawsuit on April 2， a suit which also asked Jordan to stop the infringement and apologize to the company.
Jordan announced that he had sued Qiaodan Sportswear for using his name and image illegally on February 23， 2012， requesting 50 million yuan （$8 million） compensation. The case was accepted by a Shanghai court but has not yet been heard.
Jordan’s announcement came just a week before Qiaodan Sportswear went public. The company’s initial public offering was suspended due to the suit.
The Chinese translation of Jordan’s name shares identical pronunciation with Qiaodan.
Riverhead Protection
The government will spend 1 billion yuan （$161 million） in 2013 to protect Sanjiangyuan， a region that serves as the source of China’s three biggest rivers—the Yangtze， Yellow and Lancang rivers. Pictured is Eling Lake， source of the Yellow River.
The money will be spent on afforestation， wetlands protection and the recovery of degraded grassland. 2013 will mark the final year of a nineyear ecological improvement program.
The region’s ecology has significantly deteriorated in recent years due to global warming and excessive herding， leading the government to initiate the 7.5-billion-yuan（$1.21 billion） program in 2005.
The international cruise home port in Tianjin’s Binhai New District was put into operation in June 2010. Since then it has attracted the world’s three largest cruise liner companies—Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and Carnival Cruise Lines in the United States and Costa Cruise Lines in Italy. Official data showed that over the past two years， 85 international cruise ships have docked at the port. The number is likely to jump to 90 in 2013 alone.
Corruption Trials
Former Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun has been charged with bribery and abuse of power， authorities said on April 10.
According to the indictment issued by the Second Branch of the Beijing People’s Procuratorate， as a state functionary， Liu sought to benefit other parties by taking advantage of his position and accepted considerable amounts of financial incentives for doing so.
Liu， 60， became minister of railways in March 2003 and was sacked in February 2011.
He is accused of having received bribes worth more than 60 million yuan （$9.68 million）， reported Beijing Times.
On April 8， Huang Sheng， a former deputy governor of east China’s Shandong Province， stood trial on charges of accepting bribes.
According to the municipal people’s procuratorate， from the latter half of 1998 to August 2011， Huang abused his official positions as mayor and Party chief of Dezhou， as well as vice governor of Shandong， to obtain benefits for others in their business operations and promotions. He accepted bribes worth more than 12.23 million yuan （$1.97 million）， prosecutors said.
Transit Visas
Guangzhou in south China’s Guangdong Province is expected to become the third Chinese city to allow foreign visitors to transit for 72 hours without a visa， according to Tan Wangen， General Manager of China Southern Airlines.
“We are actively talking with the local airport and customs authorities to push the implementation of the visa-free transit policy as soon as possible，” Tan said.
Since January 1， travelers from 45 countries have been benefiting from 72-hour visa-free stays in Beijing and Shanghai. With the adoption of this policy， Shanghai has registered more than 1，000 foreign passengers transiting from its Hongqiao and Pudong airports without visas， the local immigration control authorities said. The number of inbound tourists to Beijing is expected to increase to 10 million within the next three years as a result of the policy， said the Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development.
“If the negotiations go smoothly， the policy will be implemented in Guangzhou within this year，” Tan told Xinhua News Agency.
Jobs for the Disabled
New progress has been made in the employment of the disabled， as China created new jobs for 329，000 disabled urbanites in 2012， according to a communique released on April 7.
As many as 299，000 handicapped urbanites received vocational training last year， while the number of vocational training bases inched up to 5，271 from 5，254 in 2011， said the communique， released by the China Disabled Persons’ Federation.
According to the federation， a total of 16，514 blind masseuses and 4，925 blind medical workers were trained in 2012， with 12，887 massage care institutions and 848 medical massage institutions located across the country.
The communique showed that about 3.25 million disabled urbanites joined in the country’s social pension insurance system for urban residents in 2012， accounting for 58.4 percent of the total disabled urban population.
In addition， about 13.34 million disabled people in rural areas were included in the new rural social endowment insurance system， making up 63.8 percent of the total disabled rural population， the communique said.
Ruins Excavated
Chinese authorities on April 9 announced the top 10 archaeological discoveries made in 2012. One of the year’s finds dates back as far as the Paleolithic era.
Among the most significant discoveries were the ruins of a small city， the largest of its kind in Neolithic China， discovered in northwest China’s Shaanxi Province.
Archaeologists said that the walls of the 4，000-year-old city are decorated with carved jade， indicating that the city was important in ancient Chinese civilization.
The discovery has provided new materials for the study of Chinese civilization and its development， experts said.
Other discoveries include Paleolithic ruins in central China’s Henan Province， the Neolithic Shunjiaji site in east China’s Jiangsu Province and Bronze Age ruins and tombs in west China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
All the discoveries are protected by local governments， said Tong Mingkang， deputy head of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage. About 100 archaeological sites are listed as key cultural relics under state protection and some of the sites have been opened to the public.
Islands Tour
Tourists will be able to visit the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea ahead of the forthcoming May Day holiday， said Tan Li， Executive Vice Governor of Hainan Province， on April 6.
People will be allowed to visit the islands on cruise tours， Tan said.
The Xisha Islands are a cluster of close to 40 islets， sandbanks and reefs.
According to Tan， cruise tours are the choice as hotels and other facilities to accommodate tourists are inadequate.
There is only one hotel with 56 rooms in the 2.13-square-km Yongxing Island， the largest island among the Xisha Islands group and home to the government offices of the city of Sansha. There is no fresh water and all supplies have to be transported from outside.
Sansha was established last June to administer more than 200 islets， sandbanks and reefs in the Xisha， Zhongsha and Nansha islands and 2 million square km of surrounding waters.
However， experts said that Sansha could only receive a small number of visitors due to its fragile environment.
Sportswear Lawsuit
China’s Qiaodan Sportswear Co. Ltd. has sued American basketball legend Michael Jordan for infringement on right of reputation and claimed$8 million compensation， Securities Daily reported on April 9.
The Quanzhou Court in southeast China’s Fujian Province received the file on March 29 and accepted the lawsuit on April 2， a suit which also asked Jordan to stop the infringement and apologize to the company.
Jordan announced that he had sued Qiaodan Sportswear for using his name and image illegally on February 23， 2012， requesting 50 million yuan （$8 million） compensation. The case was accepted by a Shanghai court but has not yet been heard.
Jordan’s announcement came just a week before Qiaodan Sportswear went public. The company’s initial public offering was suspended due to the suit.
The Chinese translation of Jordan’s name shares identical pronunciation with Qiaodan.
Riverhead Protection
The government will spend 1 billion yuan （$161 million） in 2013 to protect Sanjiangyuan， a region that serves as the source of China’s three biggest rivers—the Yangtze， Yellow and Lancang rivers. Pictured is Eling Lake， source of the Yellow River.
The money will be spent on afforestation， wetlands protection and the recovery of degraded grassland. 2013 will mark the final year of a nineyear ecological improvement program.
The region’s ecology has significantly deteriorated in recent years due to global warming and excessive herding， leading the government to initiate the 7.5-billion-yuan（$1.21 billion） program in 2005.