China on yellow alert for blizzards

China's weather observatory on Sunday issued a yellow alert for heavy snow that is to hit the country's northeast provinces.

The National Meteorological Center (NMC) forecasted that heavy snow will freeze Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning provinces until Monday afternoon and some of the regions will see blizzards.

The NMC advised residents to stay indoors and asked local authorities to brace for the heavy snow.

China has a four-tier color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe weather, followed by orange, yellow and blue. 
[xinhuanet.com]
1/12/14

Beijing closes 6,900 wells to protect underground water (video:South-to-North Water Diversion Project)

Beijing will gradually shut down 6,900 urban wells in the next five years to protect groundwater and improve drinking water quality.

The wells provide 240 million cubic meters of water annually, one fourth of the Beijing's urban supply, said Zhang Ping, deputy head of the Beijing water authority.

Aging of facilities and poor management mean that the quality of water from wells cannot be guaranteed in some areas, resulting in a steady stream of complaints from citizens, said Zhang.

The middle route of the gigantic south-to-north water diversion project will soon come on-stream, bringing 1 billion cubic meters to Beijing each year from a reservoir on the Hanjiang River, making possible closure of the wells.

Since 1999, Beijing has used too much groundwater: about 6.5 billion cubic meters too much. Long-term overexploitation has led to environmental problems like subsidence. The water table in parts of Beijing has dropped 12.8 meters since 1998 and more than 1,300 sq km of land has subsided over 50 centimeters.
Sources: Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
22/11/14
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Related:

• Κίνα: Σχέδιο «Αντιστροφής» των Ποταμών για Ύδρευση των Ξηρών Περιοχών του Βορρά 

• VIDEO: China, Sending Water North

The Chinese government has embarked on a massive engineering project to transfer water from the wet south to the dry north.

 

Going green: Beijing, Washington strike landmark climate change deal

The world’s top carbon polluters – China and the United States – have reached a landmark agreement on greenhouse gas emissions, with both countries pledging to curb them by about a third by 2030.

Under the agreement, which was announced by President Obama and President Xi Jinping in Beijing, the United States pledges to reduce the level of its greenhouse gas emissions – based off 2005 levels – by 26 to 28 percent by the year 2025. Ultimately, the goal for American policy makers is to reduce emissions 80 percent by 2050.
For its part, China has pledged to stop its emissions from rising by 2030 – the first time the country has ever promised to reach such a goal. President Xi said that in order to successfully accomplish this, 20 percent of China's energy needs will come from alternative sources by 2030, such as solar power and wind energy. 

With world leaders preparing to meet in Paris in 2015 to discuss international plans to combat global warming, both the US and China hope their new deal will motivate other countries to follow suit and set ambitious goals for reducing greenhouse gases.
The White House said in a statement that China is embracing the “energy revolution,” which includes economic reforms and ways to deal with air pollution. 

China has signed onto providing an "additional 800-1,000 gigawatts of nuclear, wind, solar and other zero emission generation capacity by 2030, more than all the coal-fired power plants that exist in China today and close to total current electricity generation capacity in the United States,” according to the statement. 

While the deal was hailed by the White House, serious roadblocks remain, considering that Congress will be controlled by Republicans starting in 2015. Conservatives have generally criticized attempts to combat climate change, to the point that many do not acknowledge that it exists. An unnamed official told CNN, however, that President Obama was committed to the effort. 

"Congress may try to stop us, but we believe that with control of Congress changing hands we can proceed with the authority we already have,” the official said. "This is really the crusade of a narrow group of people who are politically motivated and have made this a cause celebre, but we believe we will be successful."
 
The announcement of the climate change deal follows several reports on agreements between the US and China around trade tariffs, military maneuvers, and easing travel visas.
As part of the trade deal, both sides agreed to get rid of $1 trillion worth of tariffs a year surrounding global sales of information and communications technology, such as GPS devices, medical equipment, and game consoles. 

The move was hailed as a “breakthrough” deal that could boost bilateral trade and create more jobs. However, before the deal goes forward, the agreement will have to be approved by the World Trade Organization (WTO).
http://rt.com/news/204615-china-us-climate-change-deal/
12/11/14
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Related:
 

• China and the US agreed on Wednesday to new greenhouse emissions targets with China setting a goal for its emissions to peak "around 2030."...

• China will destroy 5,000,000 cars this year to battle air pollution (Polluting vehicles to be scrapped)

• Air pollution champion: China burns more coal than rest of world combined

Putin, Xi Jinping sign mega gas deal on second gas supply route

President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have signed a memorandum of understanding on the so-called “western” gas supplies route to China. The agreement paves the way for a contract that would make China the biggest consumer of Russian gas.
Russia’s so-called “western” or "Altay" route would supply 30 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas a year to China.
The new supply line comes in addition to the “eastern” route, through the “Power of Siberia” pipeline, which will annually deliver 38 bcm of gas to China. Work on that pipeline route has already begun after a $400 billion deal was clinched in May. 


“After we have launched supplies via the “western route,” the volume of gas deliveries to China can exceed the current volumes of export to Europe,” Gazprom CEO Aleksey Miller told reporters, commenting on the deal. 

Speaking to journalists on the eve of his visit to Beijing, Putin was optimistic about prospects for the new gas deal with China.
“We have reached an understanding in principle concerning the opening of the western route,” Putin said. “We have already agreed on many technical and commercial aspects of this project, laying a good basis for reaching final arrangements.”
The “western” route deal is one of the 17 agreements signed at the Sunday meeting between Putin and Xi.
They also included a framework agreement between Gazprom and China’s CNPC on gas deliveries and a memorandum of understanding between Gazprom and another Chinese energy giant, CNOOC.
Gazprom and CNPC have also signed a preliminary agreement for China National Oil and Gas Exploration and Development to take a 10 percent stake in Russia's Vancorneft.
Among the business issues discussed by Putin and Xi at their fifth meeting this year was the possibility of payment in Chinese yuan, including for defense deals military, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov was cited as saying by RIA Novosti........http://rt.com/business/203679-china-russia-gas-deal/
9/11/14
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• China, Russia start construction of gas pipeline (the Sila Sibiri pipeline)

• Gazprom to receive $25 billion prepayment for gas supplies to China

• Putin praises Gazprom, CNPC deal on Russian gas for China

China's unmanned lunar orbiter returns home, first in nearly four decades

BEIJING, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- China succeeded Saturday in the world's first mission to the Moon and back in some 40 years, becoming the third nation to do so after the former Soviet Union and the United States.

The test lunar orbiter, nicknamed "Xiaofei" on Chinese social networks, landed in Siziwang Banner of China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region early Saturday morning.

Search teams have already recovered the orbiter at the designated landing area, about 500 kilometers away from Beijing.

The last documented mission of this kind was by the Soviet Union in the 1970s.

Launched Friday last week, the orbiter traversed 840,000 kilometers on its eight-day mission that saw it round the far side of the Moon and take some incredible pictures of Earth and Moon together.

The re-entry process began at around 6:13 a.m. Saturday morning, with the orbiter approaching Earth at a velocity of about 11.2 kilometers per second.

The high speed led to hefty friction between the orbiter and air and high temperatures on the craft's exterior, generating an ion sheath that cut off contact between ground command and the orbiter.

To help it slow down, the craft is designed to "bounce" off the edge of the atmosphere, before re-entering again. The process has been compared to a stone skipping across water, and can shorten the "braking distance" for the orbiter, according to Zhou Jianliang, chief engineer with the Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center.

"Really, this is like braking a car," said Zhou, "The faster you drive, the longer the distance you need to bring the car to a complete stop."

• The "bounce" was one of the biggest challenges of the mission, because the craft must enter the atmosphere at a very precise angle. An error of 0.2 degrees would have rendered the mission a failure.

Wu Yanhua, vice director of China's State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, said the successful test mission has gathered a lot of experimental data and laid a solid foundation for future missions.`.......................http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2014-11/01/c_133757831.htm
1/11/14

China approves new railway in Tibet

China has approved construction of a railway linking Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region to Nyingchi in its east, local authorities said Friday.

According to the plan approved by the National Development and Reform Commission, the Lhasa to Nyingchi section of the Sichuan-Tibet railway runs 402 km from Nyingchi to Xierong, a stop on the Lhasa-Xigaze line.

The 32-km section from Xierong to Lhasa will be electrified.

The new Tibet line was one of three rail lines approved by the country's top economic planning body. The other two are from Ordos in the northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to Ji'an in the eastern Jiangxi Province, and from Datong in the northern Shanxi Province to Zhangjiakou in neighboring Hebei Province. The total investment of the three is 250 billion yuan (40 billion US dollars).

The Tibet project will cost 36.6 billion yuan and take seven years to complete. Sate-owned China Railway Corporation will build and operate the line.

The designed speed for passenger trains will be 160 km per hour. The line will have a cargo capacity of 10 million tonnes per year.

"The Lhasa to Nyingchi railway section is conducive to improving the regional road network and transportation capacity to better integrate Tibet with other parts of China," said Yang Yulin, a Tibet railway official.

After completion, the Sichuan-Tibet railway will form a ring with the Qinghai-Tibet railway, which will bring more economic benefit, according to Wang Daiyuan with the Tibet Academy of Social Sciences.

Transport has long been a bottleneck for tourism in Tibet. More tourists will be able to visit Tibet via the Sichuan-Tibet railway, said Wang.

The Qinghai-Tibet railway began operations in 2006, introducing railway transportation into Tibet for the first time in history. The railway links Xining, capital of Qinghai Province, with Lhasa.

In August, a 251 km railway line linked Lhasa and Xigaze, the second city in the region.

Tourist arrivals in Tibet reached 12.9 million last year from 1.8 million in 2005. The region's gross domestic product reached 80 billion yuan in 2013, compared with 34 billion yuan in 2006.

Lines connecting Xigaze with Yadong, Jilung and Nyalam border ports are being planned.
 Source: Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
31/10/14
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Related:

• China accelerates tourism development in Tibet 

• Double threat for Tibet (Climate change and human development are jeopardizing the plateau’s fragile environment.)

• Tibet's intangible heritage well-protected, says official

• China to upgrade transport infrastructures in Tibet (will also build more airports in Tibet)

China bans private clubs in historical sites

The Chinese government on Monday issued a ban on private clubs in historical buildings and parks....

Establishing private clubs in such public places is an encroachment upon the common good, and has long been criticized by society, according to the regulation released by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and other departments.

The rule clarifies the definition of historical buildings, ranging from nationwide culture relic protection sites to martyr memorial facilities and religious places.


According to the ban, private clubs include the provision of board and lodging, gyms and entertainment venues.

A national campaign will be launched to clear up such private clubs in historical buildings and parks, said the regulation which will go into effect on Nov. 1, 2014.
Sources: Xinhua  - globaltimes.cn
27/10/14
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Related:

• Central and Southwest China: Concern for ancient buildings after floods

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A line in the sand: Workers plant a web of shrubs in the desert to halt the advancing of sand dunes

Xinjiang, in Northwest China, is home to the country's biggest deserts. Fighting desertification is a constant for cities deep in the region, to avoid the fate of being buried like the ancient Loulan civilization more than 1,600 years ago.

The town of Qiemo, in the middle of the Taklimakan Desert, China's largest, has been fighting against the sand dunes pushing towards it. On the other side of the Qarqan River, the sand dunes are only two kilometers away at the nearest point. Three times in the town's history, the river running through it was diverted by shifting desert sands................the article and more images to...(Global Times)
23/10/14

China: Largest seismic alert network developed

China has built the world's largest earthquake early warning network with over 5,000 earthquake early warning stations that cover large areas of China's main seismic zones, the China News Service reported on Monday.

The Chengdu Institute of Care-life, a prominent seismology research institute in Sichuan Province, announced Monday that with the support of the central government, including the Ministry of Science, and the Science and Technology Department of Sichuan Province, 5,010 earthquake early warning stations have been built across 25 provincial-level regions, allowing the monitoring of nearly 2 million square kilometers, home to around 650 million people.

The network covers 80 percent of China's more densely populated seismically active regions including Southwest China's Yunnan Province and Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

Wang Tun, director of the institute, told the Global Times that the system has been tested by thousands of earthquakes, of which 18 were destructive.

"Our system has never misinformed us or missed any earthquakes since the project launched in 2011. We successfully detected the 2013 Lushan earthquake, the 2014 Ludian and Yutian earthquakes and every other earthquake that has occurred this year," he said

People can use their mobile phones to download an application that warns if an earthquake is about to occur. Once the system detects an earthquake, it will immediately send out alerts, Wang said.

"When an earthquake occurs, people located within 50 kilometers of the epicenter will be given an alert about 10 seconds prior to the quake. Even if you are not within the affected area, you can still receive notifications about the earthquake including its location, magnitude and time of occurrence," Wang added.

There have been academic studies that claim an alert sent out three seconds before an earthquake can reduce casualties by 14 percent. An alert 10 seconds prior can reduce casualties by 39 percent while an alert that comes 20 seconds before a disaster can reduce 63 percent of casualties.

Wang, however, said that many people are not familiar with the earthquake early warning system and therefore it is the government's responsibility to increase public awareness of these alerts.

"There are only 1 million people using the early warning services, less than one percent of the 650 million people in areas covered by our network," he explained.
By Agatha Yuen Source:Global Times  
21/10/14

Fracking: China's 2015 shale gas output to hit 6.5 bln cubic meters

BEIJING, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's shale gas output will likely hit 6.5 billion cubic meters next year, up from an estimated output between 1 billion and 1.5 billion cubic meters this year, vice director of the National Energy Administration Zhang Yuqing predicted.

Shale gas production in recent years has seen leapfrog development since the country started to survey and explore the energy source in 2009, Zhang said at a workshop held in Beijing on Friday.
The output surge has come with increasing use of natural gas in China. Government data showed that domestic natural gas output hit 117.1 billion cubic meters in 2013, up 9.5 percent year on year. However, the production was short of demand. Total natural gas consumption stood at 167.5 billion cubic meters, up 10 percent year on year.

The country must rely on imports to make up for the supply shortage. Currently, 30 percent of the natural gas China consumes is imported.

Shale gas is an important unconventional source of natural gas. So far the reserves being invested in for exploration have hit 130 billion cubic meters in the country, Zhang said.

[xinhuanet.com]

18/10/14

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Related:

• New Evidence Links Earthquakes to Fracking...

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• US Using Diesel in Fracking Poses Health Threat

• FEATURE: As climate talks heat up, experts debate if natural gas, fracking will turn ‘brown’ economies ‘green’

• University of Colorado Boulder Scientists Link 10,800-Foot-Deep Fracking Wastewater Well to More Than 200 Earthquakes

• Europe focuses on shale gas amid Ukraine crisis. -Exploration of S.G. in the EU as a tool to further diversify its energy supply

Guangzhou using invasive species against mosquito-borne fever

Southern Chinese authorities' introduction of an invasive fish species to combat a surge in dengue fever has sparked fears that the practice will break the environmental balance.

The water bureau in Guangzhou Municipality, China's third-largest city, has reacted to the mosquito-borne disease by adding mosquitofish to "controllable static waters." While the fish are named for their diet of mosquito larvae, they are also known for harming indigenous species worldwide.

Professors of environmental studies at local universities including the the renowned Sun Yat-Sen University have cautioned against the move.

"The best solution to the dengue problem is to improve the overall environment. Introducing foreign species must be meticulous. The impacts must be controlled," said Li Yanliang, chairman of the National Aquatic Wildlife Conservation Association.

Although the bureau said limiting the number of mosquitofish would ensure that the environment is not affected, it told Xinhua it did not know how many of the fish it had thrown into Guangzhou waters.

Local media reported one district in Guangzhou received more than 54,000 mosquitofish.

Guangzhou has seen a rise in dengue fever cases since September, with over 27,000 cases reported. 
Source:Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
15/10/14
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• WHO Warns of Climate Change Dangers, Calls for Stronger Actions

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• Una especie invasora destruye hasta el 95% de la biodiversidad en el Atlántico

• Securing crop biodiversity is key to feeding world’s growing population – UN study

• Εισβολή γιγαντιαίας ασιατικής γαρίδας στα αμερικανικά ύδατα. -Tρέφεται με μικρότερες γαρίδες, κάβουρες και μύδια. 

• Η ΕΕ κατά των «ειδών-εισβολέων». -Σημαντικότερη απειλή για τη βιοποικιλότητα μετά την ανθρώπινη επέμβαση στο φυσικό περιβάλλον.

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• Invasive alien species: "The damage and costs continue to increase"

• Συναγερμός για την εισβολή τοξικών λαγοκέφαλων στις ελληνικές θάλασσες

Orange typhoon alert issued in China. (Typhoon Vongfong generates giant waves)

China's marine forecast station on Sunday issued an orange alert as a powerful typhoon generates giant waves.

Waves up to nine meters have been seen in the East China Sea under the influence of the typhoon Vongfong and a strong cold front coming from west China, said the station.

According to the forecast, waves up to 10 meters high will form in the East China Sea and the Diaoyu Islands will see waves as high as six meters on Sunday night and Monday.

Waves will be seen off the coast of Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Fujian, Shanghai, Liaoning, Hebei, Tianjin and Shandong, the center said, warning vessels operating in the waters to take precautions.

China has a four-tier color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue.
Sources:  Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
12/10/14
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Related:

• Le niveau d’alerte orange a été déclenché en Chine en raison de l’approche du typhon Vonfong de régions côtières du pays....

• Powerful Typhoon Vongfong churned towards Japan on Saturday (Oct 11), injuring at least a dozen people as it pounded the southern Okinawan islands with ferocious winds and driving rain....

• Super Typhoon Vongfong, World's Strongest Cyclone of 2014; Dangerous Threat to Okinawa, Japan This Weekend (FORECAST)

Severe air pollution hits North China, government issues orange alert

The latest wave of severe air pollution continued to smother China's northern regions including Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and Henan provinces on Thursday, and is likely to last until Saturday. 

The National Meteorological Center (NMC) upgraded northern China's smog alert from yellow to orange on Thursday afternoon. Most northern regions were severely affected. The NMC forecast that Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei Province will all suffer from dense smog that could bring visibility down to less than 200 meters in some places on Friday, NMC said on its website.


The smog, which first hit Henan Province on Tuesday, was said to be the worst in northern China since July.

According to Beijing's contingency plans, outdoor sport events and school activities should be cancelled while an orange alert is in effect and it is suggested that residents wear masks while outside and wash faces afterwards.

Some cities in Hebei Province, such as Langfang and Handan, began to limit the number of vehicles on the road by prohibiting cars with certain license plate numbers from being driven, in an attempt to curb air pollution.

• Two thirds of Henan's cities have been shrouded by air pollution for several days this month, and the Department of Environmental Protection of Henan Province attributed the smog to farmers burning straw in their fields, which helps crops grow, the Guangming Daily reported.

However, environmentalists do not buy the explanation offered by Henan's government.

"The occurrence of the smog is by no means an accident," Du Shaozhong, former deputy director of Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau, told the Global Times.

China's current industrial production methods that rely heavily on traditional, polluting energy sources and vehicle exhaust fumes should be blamed for causing the smog, Du said.

Du called on the public and government to work together to change the production methods, to supervise emissions and to curb smoke produced by restaurants.

"Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei will never see blue skies if we do not deal with pollution caused by vehicles, burning coal and various industries," Du said.
[By Zhang Hui Source:Global Times]
9-10/10/14
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• China will destroy 5,000,000 cars this year to battle air pollution (Polluting vehicles to be scrapped)

• Air pollution champion: China burns more coal than rest of world combined

• Measures taken to tackle heavy air pollution in N. China

• Beijing issues rare air pollution alert

Rare fish fries released into Yellow River to repair ecosystem

Photo: news.xinhuanet.com

Over 7 million rare fish fry have been released into the upper reaches of the Yellow River, China's second largest, since 2009 to help to repair its ecosystem, said local fishery authorities.

Qinghai Province in northwest China, where the Yellow River and Yangtze River originate, plans to release about 900,000 rare, captive-bred, native fish this year to replenish stocks, said Wang Guojie, deputy chief of the province's fishery environment supervision office.

The Ministry of Agriculture, in charge of fishery affairs, announced in 2007 that one third of the 150 fish species in the Yellow River were believed to be extinct due to human encroachment and low rainfall.

Over fishing, dumping and hydropower projects degraded the environment and led to a shrinking fish population. In Qinghai, 22 fish species are native and most of them are only found on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau.

"Fish grow much more slowly on the plateau than at low altitude, due to cold weather. Plateau fish, living at around 4,000 meters above the sea level, are extremely resistant to cold, but only add an average of half kilogram in weight every ten years," said Wang.

Once the stocks are damaged, it's hard to restore quickly, he said.

"Our survey shows a rise in fish stocks in some key areas over the past five years, meaning the released fry have adapted well," said the official.

Qinghai has plans to build more fish farms and expand the project's release area.

(To stay up to date with the latest China news, follow XHNews on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/XHNews and Xinhua News Agency on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/XinhuaNewsAgency.)
Sources: Xinhua  - globaltimes.cn
3/10/14
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China accelerates tourism development in Tibet

Tourism authorities have been working to make southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region a major destination, a senior tourism official said Friday.

"Tibet is the last classic treasure on the map, with its religious mystery, sound environment and many historic sites," Du Jiang, deputy director of China National Tourism Administration (CNTA), told Xinhua in an interview.

Compared with other regions in China, Tibet has plenty of space to develop, given its rich and relatively untapped tourist resources, Du said

Tibet received 12.91 million domestic and overseas tourists last year, up 22 percent from the previous year, according to CNTA data.

The influx of tourists brought Tibet 16.5 billion yuan (2.7 billion US dollars) of revenue in 2013, or more than one-fifth of the local economy.

Du stressed that tourism authorities and local governments will strike a balance between development and ecological protection. 
Sources: Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
26/9/14
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Related:

• Double threat for Tibet (Climate change and human development are jeopardizing the plateau’s fragile environment.)

• Tibet's intangible heritage well-protected, says official

• China to upgrade transport infrastructures in Tibet (will also build more airports in Tibet)

• Tibetans enjoy splashing fun on bathing festival

Three Gorges Dam authority makes admission free for domestic tourists

Starting Thursday, Chinese tourists will be able to visit the Three Gorges Dam, the country's largest hydropower project, free of charge, announced the China Three Gorges Corporation and Yichang government in Hubei Province at a press conference Wednesday.

This scenic spot will be free to all Chinese tourists, including residents from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, while foreign visitors still need to pay 105 yuan ($17) for a ticket.

The maximum daily number of tourists will be restricted to 40,000. The dam currently receives an average of 1.8 million tourists every year, reported the Xinhua News Agency.

Chinese visitors can either make a reservation online or use their ID cards for admission on the spot.

"This decision's aim is to let more Chinese people learn about the project and witness the great achievements China has made since the reform and opening-up," said Sha Xianhua, a deputy general manager of the China Three Gorges Corporation. 

Ticket prices for the dam have been controversial in recent years as they increased from 30 yuan to 105 yuan.

The corporation officially responded in a document delivered to the media in the press conference, saying that "since the construction of the dam was at a critical point in previous years, we were unable to fulfill tourists' demand in consideration of their safety. "

"This move will bring an end to years of disputes and can also stimulate the local tourism industry," Liu Simin, a tourism expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

However, Liu said it would not set a precedent for other popular scenic spots, since ticket revenue from such sites typically goes into local governments' pockets, and local authorities are disinclined to give up revenue sources in an age of squeezed budgets.

The designated scenic area around the dam, a 5A-Class tourism destination, has been a backbone of the local tourism industry since 2007, according to the dam corporation's official website. 
By Cao Siqi Source: Global Times 
25-26/9/14
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• Yangtze River sees highest flood peak of the year, Three Gorges Dam reservoir reaching 48,000 cubic meters per second on Sunday

• World ‘biggest hydroelectric dam’ for Congo

• Dam shame - Global Times

Night flight operations in N. Philippine airport halted due to typhoon damage

Night flight operations in an international airport in northern Philippines have been suspended after its runway was partly damaged by tropical storm Fung-Wong (local name Mario), the state aviation agency said Monday.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said that it has informed the airline operators that arrival and departure of their aircraft were temporarily halted from sunset to sunrise at the Laoag International Airport in Ilocos Norte province.
It cited the breakdown of the airport's runway edge light after the heavy rains spawned by Fung-Wong inundated the runway, grounding electrical connections.

"Airlines are only allowed to operate during day time from 6 a. m. to 6 p.m. until the grounded portion of runway are fixed," CAAP said.

Technical personnel were already deployed in the area to fix the problem, it added.

As of Monday, Fung-Wong has left 11 people dead, 12 injured and two missing.

• Of the 258,976 families affected in 1,126 villages in 27 provinces in northern part of the Philippines, including Metro Manila, 30,266 families or 129,676 individuals were being assisted at 324 evacuation centers.

Sources: Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
22/9/14
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Related:

• Powerful Storm Blows Through Taiwan, Hits China 

• Death toll in Typhoon Fung-Wong climbs to 7 in Philippines. (A total 118,839 families or 530,438 persons were affected by the storm)

• The tropical storm Fung-Wong which begun in Philippines earlier this week causing heavy flooding and five deaths is expected to hit Taiwan by Monday, according to the Central Weather Bureau in Taiwan....

Powerful Storm Blows Through Taiwan, Hits China

Taiwan has begun cleanup efforts after Tropical Storm Fung-Wong pounded the island with massive downpours, while China braced for the onslaught of the upgraded Typhoon Fung-Wong.

The powerful storm arrived in Taiwan Sunday, pounding the north and south of the island but causing only limited damage. It blew into the South China Sea Monday morning, leaving at least one person dead and four injured.
East China's Zhejiang Province faced a strengthened storm as Fung-Wong made landfall Monday afternoon.

Authorities say more than 157,000 people have been evacuated from coastal areas.

Fung-Wong, which means "phoenix" in Chinese, caused severe damage when it moved through the Philippines Friday and Saturday, killing at least five people.http://www.voanews.com/content/powerful-storm-blows-through-taiwan-hits-china/2457819.html
22/9/14
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Related:

• Death toll in Typhoon Fung-Wong climbs to 7 in Philippines. (A total 118,839 families or 530,438 persons were affected by the storm)

• The tropical storm Fung-Wong which begun in Philippines earlier this week causing heavy flooding and five deaths is expected to hit Taiwan by Monday, according to the Central Weather Bureau in Taiwan....

China-built Danube bridge in Serbia to be up and running on time

The bridge spanning the Danube river, which is being built by a Chinese company in Belgrade, capital of Serbia, was to be completed in December as expected, Serbian deputy Prime Minister Zorana Mihajlovic said on Tuesday.

Mihajlovic said that the 1.5-km-long bridge will be open for traffic in December 2014, while in October 2015 the whole project including 21 km of access roads will be completed.

The bridge connects the Belgrade city municipalities of Zemun and Borca over the Danube is being built by the Chinese company, China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC).

Zhang Xiaoyuan, general director of the company's branch in Serbia, said that the works started in 2010 and "have advanced as planned so far, and the cooperation with Serbian government, city of Belgrade and the planners that worked on this project was excellent."

Li Manchang, Chinese ambassador to Serbia, expressed certainty that the bridge will be finished on time, adding that the "economic cooperation between Serbia and China will prove to be even more successful in the future." 
Sources: Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
3/9/14
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• Chinese-built bridge in Serbia to open this year

China, Russia start construction of gas pipeline (the Sila Sibiri pipeline)

China and Russia on Monday started the construction of a joint natural gas pipeline in Russia's eastern Siberia, in implementation of a natural gas supply contract signed between the two countries.

Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli and Russian President Vladimir Putin jointly witnessed the welding of the first roll of pipes on the Russian part of the China-Russia East Route natural gas pipeline in Yakutsk, the capital city of Russia's Sakha (Yakutia) Republic.

At a start-of-construction ceremony at the Us-Khatyn field in the outskirt of Yakutsk, Zhang and Putin were joined by people from both countries as live video signals from the Chayandin gas field some 1,000 km away was displayed on huge screens.

The Chayandin and Kovyktin gas fields in eastern Siberia will become major sources of supply when the pipeline begins to pump natural gas to China in 2018.

The start of construction of the Russian part of the China-Russia East Route natural gas pipeline signifies a major step forward in implementing the consensus reached between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Putin.

During their meeting in Shanghai in May this year, the presidents witnessed the signing of a number of land-breaking contracts between companies of the two countries, including gas supplies and an annual supply of 3 million tons of liquified natural gas.

The Russian part of the joint-venture pipeline, which starts at the Kovyktin and the Chayandin gas fields, will extend through existing pipelines in eastern Siberia and end in the Far East port city of Vladivostok.

The China-Russia East Route natural gas pipeline will be jointly built by China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Gazprom of Russia, with the latter responsible for building the part within Russian borders.

The Russian part of the pipeline, officially named "the Power of Siberia" pipeline, has a designed capacity of transmitting 61 billion cubic meters of natural gas every year.

According to a CNPC-Gazprom contract, the Russian side will export 38 billion cubic meters of gas to China through the pipeline every year for a 30-year period starting from 2018.

Fast growing energy cooperation has become a core ingredient of China-Russia comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and has helped advance it into a new era of development. In addition to the East Route gas pipeline, the two countries are in negotiations on the construction of the West Route gas pipeline.

Under the CNPC-Gazprom agreement, the Russian side will export 70 billion cubic meters of natural gas to China every year upon completion of both the East- and West-Route gas pipelines.

The two sides have also jointly built and put into operation a China-Russia oil pipeline in the Far East. In 2013, China imported 24.35 million tons of crude oil, 27.28 million tons of coal and 3.5 billion kwh of power from Russia.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said earlier this year that Russia has the capacity of tripling or quadrupling the current volume of electricity and coal exports to China.

The CNPC and Russia's oil giant Rosneft will build a joint-venture oil refinery in Tianjin in north China, which will be able to process 16 million tons of crude oil every year.

In the field of nuclear energy, the China-Russia joint venture Tianwan nuclear power plant in east China already has two reactors put into trial operation, and the other two are under construction.

Xi and Putin have agreed to "establish a comprehensive energy cooperation partnership" during their meeting in May, Gazprom Chairman of the Board of Directors Alexey Miller said Saturday.

"We are making all-out effort to implement the consensus reached between President Putin and President Xi Jinping," Miller said.
Xinhua -   china.org.cn
1/9/14
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