China orders curbs on gov't departments' car use
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-11-24 11:38


China's State Council, or cabinet, has ordered all central government bodies to use "economic, energy-saving, environmentally friendly and domestically manufactured" automobiles and ban the private use of official cars.国家政务委员会，要求所有政府部门在使用车辆的时候遵循“经济、节能、环保和国内制造”原则，禁止公车私用。

"All units should tighten the regulation of cars and cut down the size of the fleet to a controlled scale. The number of automobiles should not be increased unless a new department is formed," said a circular issued earlier this week by the Government Office Administration of the State Council.

It said excess cars, or those violating pollution standards, should be removed from service by year-end.

The circular asked all officials to "strictly abide by" regulations on car use and be first movers in the use of domestic, low-emission, economic and manual-transmission cars.

"Except for special needs, all units, in principle, should not use off-road vehicles," it said.

The circular said departments could not purchase cars on their own without central government approval.

High-emission, heavy-pollution cars should be replaced before June 2008, the circular ordered.

Government departments were also told to use cars less often and more efficiently, use more public transport outside of Beijing, and avoid using official vehicles during festivals or large national events.

Official vehicles were not to be used in private business or leased for commercial purposes, the circular warned.

It also said that using seniority to gain the use of government cars owned by lower-level departments, or accepting vehicle donations from private enterprises, were both strictly banned.

The circular asked all departments to standardize driving rules to conserve gasoline, with a goal of cutting usage about 20 percent by the end of next year.

The tightening of the car regulations has stirred heated debate online.

A post at xinhuanet.com said the regulation should be "deepened into the grassroots level" and curtail the number of cars used at the local government level, where there was "rampant" use of official vehicles for private purposes.

"Detailed rules should ... specify the price range of official cars to reduce the overall cost and encourage the use of low-emission cars," another post says.

Most domestic-brand, low-emission cars are at the lower end of the price spectrum in China, the post said, adding that price restrictions could further curb "the harmful trend of more luxurious official saloon cars".

China publishes first moon picture taken by Chang'e I
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-11-26 10:03
New chapter in China's aerospace cause



Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao asserted in a passionate and inspiring speech on Monday that China has jointed the world's select few powers that have the capabilities to engage in deep-space exploration.

After unveiling the first picture of the moon surface taken by Chang'e I, China's first lunar probe, Wen said that the dream of the Chinese people of flying onto the Moon for more than 1,000 years had started to materialize.
Wen said that lunar probe was the third milestones in China's space exploration following the successes of man-made satellites and manned space flights.

The success, he said not only manifested China's rising national strength and technical innovation capability but also elevated the country's international status and cemented national cohesion.


"It showcases eloquently that the Chinese people have the will, the ambition and the capability to compose more gorgeous new chapters while ascending the science and technology summit," he said.

Citing a letter of an overseas Chinese, Wen said that the farther the China-made satellite fly, the higher would the overseas Chinese hold their heads.

[ 本帖最后由 apple 于 2007-11-26 15:07 编辑 ]

[ 本帖最后由 apple 于 2007-11-26 15:08 编辑 ]

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China AIDS rate slows, main transmission now sex
China AIDS rate slows, main transmission now sex
(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-11-29 16:58



Chen Zhu, China's Minister of Health speaks at a press conference in Beijing, November 29, 2007. [China.org.cn]新闻发布会

The rate of new HIV/AIDS infections in China is slowing and is now mainly being transmitted through sex, China's Health Minister Chen Zhu said on Thursday.

"At present, the AIDS epidemic in China is spreading at a slower rate," Chen told a news conference. "Sexual transmission is now the main route for the spread."

The country is estimated to have 50,000 new infections in 2007, down from 70,000 new cases in 2005, according to the minister, citing a joint report by the Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNAIDS two days before World AIDS Day on December 1.

Of the new infections, 44.7 percent will come from heterosexual transmission, 12.2 percent from men having sex with men, 42 percent from intravenous drug use, and 1.1 percent from mother-to-infant transmission, the report said.





By the end of October 2007, a total of 223,501 people had been officially reported to have contracted HIV, including 62,838 people with fully-blown AIDS, Chen said.

However, according to an estimate made by the Ministry, the WHO and UNAIDS, China will have as many as 700,000 people living with HIV/AIDS by the end of 2007, including 85,000 AIDS patients.

The difference between the estimated figures and the official figures is partly due to reluctance by individuals to come forward for treatment, the report said.

"China's HIV epidemic remains one of low prevalence overall,在中国的传播速度整体上处于一个比较低的水平， but with pockets of high infection among specific sub-populations但是在特定群体中的传染率较高," said the 38-page report.

Chen admitted that a number of core challenges remain, including the need for better advocacy and education, improved treatment and care, and more focused education and discrimination reduction.陈承认仍然有一系列的挑战存在，包括艾滋病全体对教育和民主权利的需要，治疗手段和护理方法的改进，更多的针对性的教育工作以及减少歧视。

The Chinese leadership was strengthening its commitment to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment at different levels of the government, he said.中国各级政府机构的领导阶层加强了对艾滋病的预防和治疗。

The amount spent in 2007 had risen to 944 million yuan (US$126 million), from 854 million yuan in 2006 (US$114 million), Chen noted.

He said more focus would to be put on traditionally marginalized groups传统道德所不能接纳的组织, like the gay community 同性恋者and drug users吸毒者, though he added condom use by prostitutes had risen from 14.7 percent in 2001 to 41.4 percent last year.

Over the past several years, the Chinese government has promised anonymous testing, free treatment for the poor and a ban on discrimination against people with the virus.在过去的数年里面，中国政府承诺对穷人感染者匿名检测、免费治疗，并且颁布了法律禁止歧视艾滋病者。