Extracts. Premier Zhu Calls for Fulfilling Tasks for 2001 Premier Zhu Rongji has called for efforts to fulfill all tasks set for 2001, in order to ensure a good beginning for the implementation of the Tenth Five-year Plan (2001-2005) and make a solid first step towards China's modernization in the new century. Zhu made the call during an inspection tour in Chongqing Municipality, southwest China, on January 4-8. During his stay, the premier studied issues concerning rural economy, reform of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and social security. Zhu said fulfillment of the tasks calls for an enterprising spirit and down-to-earth work style. The strengthening of agriculture and increase of farmers' incomes are the top priorities of this year's economic work, the premier said. Other priorities include deepening the SOE reform, perfecting the social security system, continuing with the pro-active fiscal policy, and standardizing and rectifying the market order. China will push ahead reforms of its grain marketing mechanism, rural fee to taxes, and rural finance, Zhu said. Zhu pledged to further deepen SOE reforms and improve the social security system, urging to consolidate the progress made in pulling most of China's large- and medium-sized SOEs out of difficulties. China has basically achieved its SOE reform goals toturn most loss-making large SOEs into profit within three years. Pension-holders from state-owned enterprises must be paid timely and completely, while efforts should be made to ensure the basic life of the unemployed and poor families in cities, he said. The premier encouraged the laid-off workers from state-owned enterprises to find jobs in labor markets. On the issue of resettling local people affected by the massive Three Gorges Dam Project, Zhu pledged increased openness and transparency and crackdown on corruption cases involving the project. Chongqing should take the opportunity of the government-advocated strategy to develop China's underdeveloped western areas and utilize its economic role as a major city in the southwest, the premier said. **** Chinese Children in 20th Century Published A monumental book titled "Chinese Children in the 20th Century" hit the book stores on the eve of the 21st century. The publisher, the Guangdong-based New Century Publishing House, is a leader in this field as the book is one of the first to deal with the issue of Chinese children in a systematic manner, according to local experts. The book, containing two million Chinese characters and over 2, 000 entries, describes the development of Chinese children in the past 100 years. The Chinese Youth and Children Research Center organized dozens of Chinese scholars and experts to complete the history book in the past three years. **** Armed Ethnic Albanian Terrorists Arrested in Kosovo Nine ethnic Albanian terrorists were arrested at the border between Kosovo and the Serbian "security zone" by the international peace-keeping force late Saturday, according to the Tanjug news agency. These terrorists with a large quantity of armament were captured by the patrolling British peace-keeping soldiers at about 9 p.m. Saturday night when they were trying to trespass into Kosovo through the "security zone" in Southern Serbia, the spokesman of the international peace-keeping force quartered in Kosovo was quoted as saying in a bulletin released Sunday in the Kosovo capital of Pristina. **** China's Fishery Output Value to Top 250 Billion Yuan in Five years The output value of China's fishery sector is expected to reach 250 billion yuan in 2005, with the per-capita output to reach 34-kilograms, up from the present 32.4 kilograms, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. China's fishery output in 2000 about 42.7 million tons, valued at around 170 billion yuan, said Yang Jian, director of the Fishery Bureau under the Ministry. The sector shall follow a sustainable growth pattern in the next ten years to increase the per-capita output by 10-kilogram in 2010, he added. The country faces the challenge of protecting its fishery resources and water environment, threatened by over-fishing and pollution, he noted. In 2000, about 60,000 fishing boats were found in illegal operation and another 50,000 fishing boats without licenses. They accounted for 40 percent of the total fishing boats. China will tighten control on the number of fishing boats and fishing quota this year and continue the "zero growth" fishing plan adopted two years ago, so as to protect fishery resources, Yang said. **** Iranian President Praises Partnership with China Iranian President Praises Partnership with China ------------------------------------------------------------------------Iran ian President Mohammad Khatami said in Tehran Sunday, January 7, that it proved to be a right decision for Iran to choose China as a partner of enhancing cooperation. At a meeting with visiting Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao, Khatami said Iran and China, two ancient countries known for their great civilizations, have a long history of friendly exchanges between them, pointing out that they still share a lot of common interests today. Since the Islamic revolution in 1979, Khatami said, Iran has been seeking to develop friendly relations with other countries in the world. Tehran is pleased to see that the consensus in favor of developing Iran-China cooperation reached between leaders of the two countries is being materialized step by step, the president said. Hu recalled that during Khatami's visit to China in June last year, the top leaders of the two countries agreed that China and Iran should further their relations for the sake of peace and development. The top leaders also reached consensus on cooperation in various fields. Hu said his on-going visit is just designed to see the agreement points materialized and level of cooperation improved. On the notion of dialog between civilizations which was initiated by Khatami, Hu said it will be conducive to the deepening of mutual understanding and cementing friendship and cooperation among peoples in the world. The diversity of the world civilizations should be recognized and dialog and exchanges between civilizations should be encouraged, Hu pointed out. In another meeting with Iranian Vice President Mohammad Hashemi earlier Sunday, Hu said the two countries should further expand their economic and trade cooperation, particularly in the areas of transportation, energy and telecommunications. Both Hu and Hashemi, who is the chairman of the Iranian side of the two countries' joint commission on economic and trade affairs, highlighted the importance of the commission in boosting the Sino-Iranian economic and trade cooperation, adding they are confident of closer economic and trade ties between the two countries. Hu is on the third day of his five-day visit to Iran. He is scheduled to leave for the central historic city of Isfahan Monday. China, Iran Have Many Things in Common Vice President Hu Jintao said Sunday that China and Iran share common views on many ssues and should strengthen cooperation in regional and international affairs. At the meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi, Hu said diplomats of the two countries should particularly conduct improved coordination in international organizations like the United Nations, so as to make a joint contribution to the promotion of peace and development of the world. He pointed out that the two countries share many things in common when they both face the same task of developing their respective economies and need a peaceful and stable international environment. The two countries have common views on the establishment of a fair and just international political and economic order, the building of a multi-polar world, the coexistence of different civilizations, and the safeguard of the interests of the developing countries. Kharazi said Hu's visit has yielded a lot of results and will serve to strongly push forward the bilateral cooperation. He said the Iranian Foreign Ministry is willing to keep close contact and cooperation with their Chinese counterpart so as to make contribution to the peace and stability of the region and the world as a whole. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
