News & Reports 2010-11-06

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In This Edition

China and France ink major industrial deals worth some 23 billion US dollars at the start of a state visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao.

China reiterates 2 its demand that Japan take responsibility for the recent boat collision incident off the Diaoyu Islands in an effort to repair the dented 3 ties between the two countries.

Australian airline Qantas says the engine blow-out on its Airbus superjumbo was likely caused by material failure or faulty design.

And some American companies hope to attract Chinese people looking to acquire a green card to live in the United States at the ongoing 4 Beijing International Finance Expo.

Hot Issue Reports

China, France Sign Major Industrial Deals Worth 20 bln Dollars

China and France have signed major industrial deals worth some 23 billion US dollars at the start of a state visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao.

The agreements cover a wide range of areas, including nuclear energy, aviation, finance, energy efficiency, environmental protection, climate change and culture.

A Chinese aviation equipment company has signed an agreement with Airbus to buy 102 planes from the company for about 14 billion US dollars.

Meanwhile, French nuclear giant Areva says it has signed a contract to supply 3.5 billion dollars' worth of uranium to a Chinese power firm.

More agreements will be signed in Paris between China and France, including cooperation agreements on telecommunications.

During a meeting of the two presidents in Paris, Hu Jintao and Nicolas Sarkozy have agreed to further push forward the development of comprehensive strategic partnership 5 between China and France.

Hu Jintao outlines what progress has been made.

"The first is to respect each other and deepen our strategic cooperation stemming from common interest, and to respect each other's core interests and our important relations. The second is to promote bilateral 6 relations and promote it's long-term and stable development. Finally, to keep up with the current situation, we need to have creative and realistic cooperation."

Hu Jintao also points out two-way trade between China and France is expected to exceed 40 billion US dollars by the end of this year. The two sides have also pledged to double bilateral trade over the next five years.

For more on Hu Jintao's visit to France, CRI's Paul James earlier spoke 7 with Professor Feng Zhongping with the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

Feng Zhongping with the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

Chinese Vice 8 FM: Japan Must Take Responsibility to Repair Ties

The Chinese Foreign Ministry 9 says it's clear who is right and who is wrong in connection to the boat collision off the Diaoyu Islands, and is now urging Tokyo to take responsibility, in an effort to repair the dented ties between the two countries.

Japan is now investigating whether online video clips that appear to show a Chinese fishing boat colliding with Japanese patrol vessels 10 are authentic 11, a development that could snarl 12 efforts to mend ties.

Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai has been asked about the videos.

"I think the right and wrong of the incident itself are very clear. The facts are clear cut. If the Japanese side is really serious and sincere about overcoming the current difficulties in the Sino-Japan relationship and promoting the Sino-Japan strategic and mutually beneficial relations, then it should do everything in its power to avoid any obstruction 13."

Ties between China and Japan have been chilly 14 since September, after Japan detained the Chinese skipper of the boat near Diaoyu Islands.

Cuba Says All 68 Passengers Killed in Plane Crash; At Least 21 Dead in Karachi Charter Plane Crash

All 68 people on board an Aero Caribbean plane are dead, after it crashed in a mountainous area in central Cuba.

Authorities say 40 Cubans and 28 foreigners from 10 countries, mostly from Europe, were on board the turbopop. There were no Chinese nationals onboard.

Employees at Havana's airport are urging people there to remain calm.

"We must stay calm. We can't panic people. Well, that's the case until they authorize 15 us to give out the information."

The flight would have been one of the last leaving Santiago de Cuba for Havana ahead of Tropical Storm Tomas, which is on a track to pass between Cuba's eastern end and the western coast of Haiti.

Qantas Says Engine Blowout Not Related to Airline Maintenance

Australian airline Qantas says the engine blow-out on its Airbus superjumbo taking off from Singapore was likely caused by material failure or faulty design.

But Qantas CEO Alan Joyce says it's too early to say exactly what caused one of the A380's engines to fail, and says a thorough investigation 16 is now under way.

"This is an engine issue and the engines were maintained by Rolls-Royce since they've been installed on the aircraft as being one service on the engines that Rolls-Royce conducted on it. So, we believe that this is probably most likely a material failure or some sort of design issue that we're tracking through and trying to understand. We don't believe this is related to maintenance in any way.

Key clues to what happened, and why, will likely come from the debris 17 that was scattered 18 across Batam island in Indonesia when the blowout happened.

Qantas' fleet of six A380s remain grounded.

But the airline says checks will be finished within 24 to 48 hours, and if no problems are found, the planes will be put back into service.

Economists 19 warn of importing inflation into China

Economists are warning that China is running the risk of importing inflation if speculative 20 capital keeps flowing into the market.

The warning comes after the US Federal Reserve announced a 600-billion-U.S.-dollar purchase of government bonds by the end of June.

6th Beijing International Finance Expo Kicks off

Today marks the start of the Sixth International Finance Expo at Beijing's huge Exhibition Centre in the west of the city. The event is one of the most prestigious 21 economic conferences in the country, and has attracted thousands of visitors. As such, we sent our Dominic Swire into the lion's den 1.

UN report shows significant progress in human development

An annual UN report indicates that China and many other developing countries have made great strides in human development over the past four decades. But as CRI"s Su Yi reports, there is still a lot of work left to be done here in China, especially when it comes to combating the inequality that has developed along side the country's fast economic growth.

Guangzhou Asian Games Go Low-carbon

Organizers of the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou are now advocating a low-carbon event, by exploring various ways to the conserve 22 energy and reduce emissions 23.

To curtail 24 energy consumption and pollution, the city has cut the number of newly-built venues 25 to 12, with the remaining 41 either renovated 26 or expanded from existing sites.

The Games will also provide free bicycle rental 27 services and replace the bulk of their gas-powered vehicles with battery powered ones. That move is expected to reduce emmissions by some 40-percent.

Yin Jie is a spokesperson for the Athletes Village.

"We've adopted many new technologies, mostly out of a green purpose. For example, we bundled telephone lines, electronic communication lines and other wires into one ditch when designing the wiring for the Asian Games City. Besides, we have installed a rain-water recycle system. The water can be used to sprinkle over the flowers and flush the toilet."

Guangzhou has also upgraded 90% of its public buses, which are now running on clean fuel technology.

The Asian Games start next Friday and run to the 27th.

Dozens die in new Mount Merapi eruption 28 in Indonesia

At least 54 people have been killed in the latest eruption of Indonesia's Mount Merapi volcano - more than doubling the death toll 29 since it became active again last week.

Dozens of others are being treated for burns and respiratory problems, after a gas cloud hit villages with even greater force than the previous eruptions 30.

Over 100 people have now been killed by Merapi.

Volcanologist Sukhyar explains what's happening with the volcano.

"Merapi's activity is significantly increasing and it still continues. We can see clearly the magma supply inside Mount Merapi is not stopping. It has produced more, adding to the volume and pressure. We know that the magma supply in Merapi has not stopped. As pressure builds up in its magma chamber 31, Merapi ejects volcanic 32 materials. This is what is happening now."

An estimated 75,000 more people have been evacuated 33 from the area.

Indonesia's President has announced that the government will buy all the cattle from farmers in the affected 34 villages to keep people from going back to their homes during the crisis.

From the Yangtze Evening News: The management company of a landmark 35 building in Nanjing now says the signs of the building sinking are "normal."

The comments from the company which runs the Nanjing International Exhibition Center come after people online posted photos of big gaps between the building's concrete base and the ground.

The online posting of the pictures has drawn 36 a lot of criticism of the management company, with people saying the company isn't maintaining the building properly.

However, the company argues the gap is the result of the building's natural subsidence, which is inevitable 37, given that the center was built more than 10 years ago.

From the China Youth Daily: More than 70 percent of people polled now consider most entertainment programs on Chinese TV are not suitable for children.

Accordingly, half of the nearly 2,200 people polled in the survey by the newspaper and sina-dot-com say they believe the programs have a negative influence on young people.

Many of those surveyed also say the content on TV and Internet does little to help children form correct values and personalities 38.

Many perceive a risk that their children will be affected by sexual images and vulgar language in the TV programs. Others are concerned about the obvious worship of money in many programs.