BEIJING, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) — Some parts of central and south China are facing power cuts and electricity rationing as soaring coal prices discourage power plants from producing at full capacity, heightening concerns that the country has to live with power shortages over the next few months.

The country’s power shortage may peak at 40 million kilowatts in the winter and spring as demand growth outpaces supply, the China Electricity Council said in a report.

The industry group said coal inventories in some power plants in the provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and Hunan are only able to hold up for seven days, while 17 provinces and cities, including Hunan, Hubei and Guizhou, may ration electricity to industrial users. Continue Reading

BEIJING, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) — China on Wednesday again voiced its opposition to the development of nuclear weapons in any Middle East country.

“China opposes nuclear proliferation and doesn’t approve of any Middle East country developing nuclear weapons,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at the daily press briefing.

Hong’s comments came one day after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in its latest report that credible evidence showed Iran has engaged in projects and experiments relevant to the development of nuclear weapons.
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BEIJING/XIAMEN, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) — China’s top independent bookstore chain is likely to reopen next year, but its closure in October prompted an outpouring of concern from readers and bookstore owners over the future of bookstores.

The Xiamen Cultural and Creative Industry Association set up a restructuring coordination group to seek investors and partners to revive the closed bookstore, a manager with the bookstore’s legislation affairs department surnamed Chen said Tuesday. Continue Reading

YANTAI, Shandong, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) — China will soon launch its fourth national survey on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) resources to secure the industry’s sustainable development, according to a senior health official.

The preparatory work has been completed and a pilot program for the survey will commence soon, covering Continue Reading

BEIJING, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) — Just like what China’s millions of homebuyers have long expected, a nationwide price cut in new home sales has finally begun, as increasing inventories and continued government curbs are pushing Chinese property developers to court more buyers.

China Vanke, the country’s largest real estate developer by market value, led the wave of sales by Continue Reading

JINAN, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) — Receiving a wedding invitation has become like receiving a bill for young people in China, as they are expected to give cash to the newlyweds.

Having attended more than five weddings in October alone, Chen Dongfang, whose monthly salary is 2,800 yuan (442 U.S. dollars), spent over 3,000 yuan as cash gifts for his friends.

“I could barely survive with my salary. Cash wedding gifts for friends’ weddings are burdensome,” said Chen, who graduated last year and now works at an interior design company in Shandong’s provincial capital of Jinan. Continue Reading

By Xinhua writer Shi Shouhe

JIUQUAN, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) — Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang, who supervised the Shenzhou-8 blastoff on site, said here Tuesday morning the successful launch signals one key step closer to a victory of China’s first space docking.

A modified Long March-2F rocket carried, starting from 5:58 a.m. Tuesday at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, the unmanned spacecraft into the orbit, which was live broadcast nationwide.

Shenzhou-8 is expected to dock, after a two-day flight, with Tiangong-1 or “the Heavenly Palace,” the Continue Reading

BEIJING, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) — A recent survey on Chinese millionaires shows that nearly half of them consider emigrating abroad and 14 percent have already emigrated or applied.

Forty-six percent of the 980 respondents said they intended to emigrate in the survey jointly conducted by the Hurun Research Institute and Bank of China from May to September. The survey findings have been published in the Private Banking White Paper 2011. Continue Reading

by Xinhua writers Lu Qiuping, Wang Fanfan, Meng Zhaoli

XIAMEN, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) — Although they have three children, 69-year-old Xia Xiuyun and her husband insist on living independently under their own roof, in the southeastern coastal city of Xiamen.

The retired couple are among the increasingly large numbers of “empty nesters” departing the Chinese tradition of reaching old age and moving to live with sons or daughters. While many in her position would have been expected to accept care from one or more of their family members, Xia and her husband are happy to live alone. “They are too busy with their jobs and their children, and we don’t want to disturb them,” Xia says of her immediate family. Continue Reading

SHIJIAZHUANG, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) — Chinese acrobatic troupes need to enlarge their domestic market and innovate their performances amid expectations that the art will help China extend its cultural influence, industry insiders said at an ongoing acrobatics carnival.

After a long depression, the domestic acrobatic industry is starting to expand, according to Bian Faji, president of the China Acrobats Association. The domestic market has fared better than overseas markets, which shrunk following the global economic downturn, Bian said Thursday at the 13th China Wuqiao International Acrobatics Carnival currently being held in the northern province of Hebei. Continue Reading

by Xinhua Writers Cheng Yunjie and Wu Zhi

BEIJING, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) — China’s Communist Party chiefs ended their annual policy meeting this week with a decision on cultural reforms as the world’s second largest economy seeks to maintain its culture amid globalization and enhance its soft power abroad. Continue Reading

NANNING, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) — China is working on an agreement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to settle trade in yuan, an official with China’s central bank said Saturday.

“It’s currently underway,” Jin Qi, assistant to the governor of the People’s Bank of China, told Xinhua when asked to comment on recent reports that China and ASEAN will sign a yuan-denominated trade settlement agreement. Continue Reading