Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao (left) and DPRK's leader Kim Jong-un wave to the crowd during a military parade at Kim Il-sung Square marking the 60th anniversary of the Korean War armistice in Pyongyang on July 27. Ed Jones / for China Daily

Diplomacy

VP calls for peace during DPRK visit

Vice-President Li Yuanchao on July 26 called for regional peace during a visit to a cemetery near Pyongyang where Chinese soldiers who died in the Korean War are buried.

Li went on a four-day visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Korean War (1950-53) armistice. Observers said the visit presented an opportunity for the two nations to reflect on the war and build upon their strong ties.

"The aim of our commemorations for the 60th anniversary of the Korean War armistice is to face the future, better maintain peace and stability on the Peninsula and seek regional prosperity and growth," Li said.

He is the highest-ranking Chinese official to visit Pyongyang since DPRK leader Kim Jong-un took office in late 2011. Li's visit comes two months after Kim sent a special envoy to Beijing to deliver a handwritten letter from Kim.

According to the DPRK's official Korean Central News Agency, Li told Kim on July 26 that his delegation has a mission to "preserve and glorify through future generations (their) blood-sealed" friendship.

Environment

Trillions to be spent on pollution

The central government will spend more than 3 trillion yuan ($489.3 billion; 368.9 billion euros) to enhance air and water pollution prevention and treatment, officials told an environmental protection industry forum on July 28.

The government will back an airborne-pollution prevention and control action plan, which will be released soon, with 1.7 trillion yuan in funding, said Wang Tao, an official with the pollution prevention department under the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

Wang added that an estimated 2 trillion yuan will be spent to improve monitoring of drinking water sources and to control poisonous contaminants, as required by a water pollution prevention and control action plan in the works.

In addition, the ministry is drafting a national standard for surface water quality, according to Zhao Yingmin, director of the ministry's science, technology and standards department.

Shantytown renovation project in Beijing

The Beijing municipal government has announced a five-year plan to renovate shantytowns inside Beijing's Fourth Ring Road.

The urban renovation project will involve 500 billion yuan ($81.5 billion) of investment over the next five years. According to the plan, more than 230,000 households will be affected in various ways, ranging from renovations of individual homes to the complete re-ordering of communities.

Eventually, the renovation project will be extended to include comprehensive improvements in old communities, urban villages and rural-urban fringe zones, according to an announcement from the Beijing Municipal Committee of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

The five-year plan for areas within the Fourth Ring Road will involve 527 projects, 83 of which are to be completed in the first year, the committee said.

The project aims to improve quality of life for residents while boosting the economy, according to Chen Gang, deputy mayor of Beijing.

"The living area per family in the downtown area is about 20 square meters, lower than the average of 29 sq m for other areas, so the renovation will enlarge their living space," he said.

Business

Half of SOEs' profits to come from abroad

Half of central government State-owned enterprises' profits will come from their overseas operations in the next five years, compared with less than 38 percent at present, according to the State-owned assets watchdog.

The target can be achieved through better allocation of resources, choice of market, brand-building and industrial upgrading, rather than asset acquisitions, experts say.

"We will focus on the structure of corporate profits when we evaluate central SOEs' international operations in the next few years," said Liu Nanchang, director of the performance evaluation bureau of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

The SOEs' international networks and business scale will also be key criteria in the assessment, he added.

Forty-four central SOEs are listed on the Fortune Global 500 in 2013, with China Petrochemical Corp, China National Petroleum Corp and State Grid Corp in the top 10.

The Fortune Global 500 is an annual ranking of the top 500 corporations worldwide, measured by revenue. It is compiled and published by Fortune magazine.

Legal

Families of crash victims to sue Asiana

The families of the three girls killed in the Asiana Airlines jetliner crash in San Francisco on July 6 have retained a US law firm to claim compensation from the airline.

A notice appeared on the website of Kreindler & Kreindler LLP on July 29 saying the firm has been retained by the families of the three students "and US and foreign passengers who suffered serious personal injuries" in the crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214.

"The firm is vigorously investigating all potential contributing causes of the crash," the notice read. The firm's home page states it has a "well-earned" reputation in dealing with aviation accident litigation, and has offices in New York, Boston and Los Angeles.

Of 307 people onboard including crew at the time of the crash, Wang Linjia, Ye Mengyuan and Liu Yipeng, died in and after the crash. They were all students of Jiangshan Middle School. Another 182 passengers were injured.

Bo Xilai indicted for corrupt practices

Bo Xilai, former Party chief of Chongqing, has been charged with taking bribes, embezzlement and abuse of power, according to the Jinan People's Procuratorate in Shandong province.

Bo's indictment was delivered to Jinan Intermediate People's Court on July 25.

According to the indictment, Bo abused his position as a civil servant to seek benefit for others and accepted bribes in the form of property and large sums of money.

He embezzled a large amount of public money and abused his power, seriously harming the interests of the State and people, the document said.

Bo has been informed of his legal rights and interviewed by prosecutors. His defending counsel has delivered its opinion, prosecutors said.

The CPC Central Committee announced in April 2012 it had suspended Bo's membership of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau and the CPC Central Committee because he was suspected of being involved in serious disciplinary violations.

Government

Audit targets local government debt

The National Audit Office declared on July 28 that it will start a nationwide assessment of local government liabilities, which will address concerns about rising debt from over-ambitious development projects.

The announcement was made following Chinese media reports that the State Council had made the audit campaign one of its "urgent" tasks, and that all government auditors are being given crash training so they can start the audit as early as next week.

Their work is expected to update China's local government debt figures, which stood at 10.7 trillion yuan ($1.75 trillion; 1.32 trillion euros) by the end of 2010.

By comparison, China's GDP was close to 52 trillion yuan in 2012.

An estimate by the International Monetary Fund last month put China's total government liability, including government-led infrastructure development projects, in excess of 45 percent of the country's GDP.

Experts said the new audit aims to reveal mounting risks from rising local government debt, which has sparked fears of a hard landing for the economy amid a continuous slowdown.

( China Daily European Weekly 08/02/2013 page2)