BEIJING, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) — China is investigating its two telecommunications giants, China Telecom and China Unicom, over their suspected monopolistic practices in the broadband access business, the country’s top economic planner said Wednesday.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC)’s probe into the two operators is the first anti-monopoly case involving large enterprises since China implemented its first anti-monopoly law in 2008. Continue Reading

TOP STORIES

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

BEIJING, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) — China’s national fiscal revenue rose 16.9 percent in October from a year earlier to 918.83 billion yuan (145.38 billion U.S. dollars), the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday.

BEIJING, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) — The Chinese fishing boat and sailors detained in Japan were released and sailed directly back to China after paying a fine, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Wednesday.

BEIJING, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) — China’s Yinghuo-1 Mars orbiter was successfully launched on Wednesday morning from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, a Russian-leased launch site in Kazakhstan, Chinese authorities said.

FINANCE & BUSINESS

by Xinhua Writers Ji Shaoting, Wang Wen and Liang Saiyu

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.

WENZHOU, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) — The eastern city of Wenzhou announced Wednesday that it has launched a series of financial reforms to help tackle the debt crisis of local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

BEIJING, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) — China is investigating its two telecommunications giants, China Telecom and China Unicom, over their suspected monopolistic practices in the broadband access business, the country’s top economic planner said Wednesday.

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.

BEIJING, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) — China’s fixed-asset investments rose 24.9 percent year-on-year in the first 10 months of the year to 24.13 trillion yuan (3.8 trillion U.S.dollars), the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Wednesday.

BEIJING, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) — China’s industrial value-added output grew 13.2 percent year-on-year in October, down from September’s 13.8-percent growth, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Wednesday.

BEIJING, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) — China’s retail sales jumped 17.2 percent year-on-year to reach 1.65 trillion yuan (about 262.6 billion U.S. dollars) in October, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Wednesday.

BEIJING, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) — China’s consumer prices increased 5.5 percent in October from a year earlier, weakening from 6.1 percent in September, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Wednesday.

BEIJING, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) — China urges Japan to protect the lawful rights and interests of the recently detained Chinese sailors and to resolve the issue properly as soon as possible, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Tuesday.

Hong Lei, the spokesman, said at a daily press briefing that China has noticed the relevant reports and the issue is under investigation. Continue Reading

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BEIJING, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) — China urges Japan to protect the lawful rights and interests of the recently detained Chinese sailors and to resolve the issue properly as soon as possible, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Tuesday.

BEIJING, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) — Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping on Monday vowed to further cooperate with Britain as next year marks the 40th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties Continue Reading

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BEIJING, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Hu Jintao will attend the 19th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Meeting to be held in Hawaii from Nov. 10 to 14, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei announced here on Monday.

FINANCE & BUSINESS

By Xinhua Writer Zhou Erjie

BEIJING, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) — A Chinese Long March 2F carrier rocket hurled Shenzhou-8 into orbit a week ago. Two days later, the unmanned spacecraft linked up with the Tiangong-1 module, accomplishing China’s first space docking.

BEIJING, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) — China’s real estate tycoon Pan Shiyi on Sunday joined a growing group of media and public intellectuals to call for using tighter monitoring standards to rein in Beijing’s notorious air pollution.

BEIJING, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) — China’s annual consumption of crude steel is expected to reach 750 million tonnes by 2015, according to the industry’s five-year plan issued Monday.

BEIJING, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) — A grand gathering was held Monday morning to celebrate the 80th founding anniversary of the Xinhua News Agency.

BEIJING, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) — Chinese authorities announced on Sunday stepped up regulations over the quality and safety of functional foods, in the country’s latest efforts to address public concerns on health safety.

China will strictly follow the application procedures for entries into the functional food market. Continue Reading

SANMENXIA, Henan, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) — Eight workers have been confirmed dead, while rescuers are working to lift the rest 45 trapped miners, after a rock burst at a central Chinese coal mine, rescue headquarters said Saturday morning.

The headquarter corrected the previous calculation after finding four more miners dead and another one rescued and sent to hospital earlier. Continue Reading

ZHENGZHOU, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) — Two people were confirmed dead and 59 others trapped underground after a rock burst occurred in a coal mine in central China’s Henan Province Thursday evening, local work safety authorities announced early Friday morning.

The accident happened around 7:45 p.m. in Qianqiu Coal Mine in the city of Sanmenxia, the Henan Administration of Work Safety said.

The coal mine belongs to Yima Coal Group, a major state-owned coal enterprise in Henan.

BEIJING, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) — Two Chinese spacecraft accomplished the country’s first space docking procedure early Thursday, silently coupling in space more than 343 km above Earth’s surface.

Nearly two days after it was launched, the unmanned spacecraft Shenzhou-8 docked with space lab module Tiangong-1 at 1:36 a.m., marking another great leap for China’s space program.

The success of the docking procedure makes China the third country in the world, after the United States and Russia, to master the technique, moving the country one step closer to establishing its own space station. Continue Reading

BEIJING, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) — China’s Ministry of Health Wednesday publicized the country’s first national standard for food nutrition labeling, which is set to take effect Jan. 1, 2013.

Bearing a standard code of GB28050-2011, the new regulation provides that food package labels will have to spell out food’s nutritional information, including levels of energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate and sodium. Continue Reading

BEIJING, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) — Shenzhou-8 spacecraft is ready to dock with Tiangong-1 space lab module after five swing-bys after its launch in early Tuesday morning, a command and control center said Wednesday.

The unmanned spacecraft, controlled and guided by the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center, arrived, at 5:05 p.m., at somewhere in space 52 km down behind the target modular orbiter, preparing for China’s first space docking mission on a low earth orbit.

GUIYANG, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) — Seven people have been confirmed dead and over 200 others injured in an explosion in southwest China’s Guizhou Province Tuesday, local authorities said.

The accident happened at about 11:30 a.m., when two cargo trucks loaded with about 70 metric tons of explosives exploded in front of a motor vehicle testing station in the city of Fuquan, about 100 km from Guizhou’s capital of Guiyang, according to the local rescue headquarters.

Windows were shattered in nearby houses, and cars parked near the site were severely damaged. A nearby grain warehouse was seriously damaged as well.

A witness told Xinhua that the testing station was destroyed and a neighboring five-story residential building was severely damaged. Continue Reading