News » China » US relaxes visa policies for Chinese applicants

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• US relaxes visa policies for Chinese applicants
• China dispatches fleet to patrol South China Sea
• Bus crash kills 6, injures 23 in C China
• Guangzhou to push forward officials' asset disclosure
• CNPC to share equities of ConocoPhillips' two projects
• Incumbent State Council holds final meeting
• Authorities crack 14,000 fake drug cases in 2012
• Fresh quake jolts SW China
• Returned products were samples: Coca-Cola
• Doctors' income, medical expenses links banned
• China's top micro blog site boasts 500m users
• Top Chinese legislator visits Macao
• Web China: Leadership fan blogs emerge
• China's top microblog site boasts 500 mln users
• Dog abuse arouses concern over lab animal welfare
• China to close over 5,000 non-coal mines in 2013
• Extravagant dining curbed by frugality call: MOC
• China reiterates opposition to Philippines' arbitration bid
• China Focus: China refutes cyber attack allegations
• Extravagant dining curbed by frugality call: MOC

US relaxes visa policies for Chinese applicants Posted: 20 Feb 2013 09:59 AM PST BEIJING - The United States will launch a new application policy for non-immigrant visa applicants from China, promising better customer service and lower costs, the Embassy of the United States in Beijing announced on Wednesday. The new policy, which will go into effect on March 16, offers greater convenience for applicants scheduling visa interviews, completing visa processing procedures and checking their visa status, US Ambassador to China Gary Locke said. Visa applicants will only have to pay a standard processing fee of about 160 US dollars for most non-immigrant visa categories, Locke said. Unlike the current policy, no additional fees will be charged for scheduling or changing visa interview appointments or returning applicants' passports, he said. Using the embassy's hotline to make appointments or ask questions relevant to the application process will also be free in three weeks. Applicants currently have to pay the visa processing fee in cash at China Citic Bank branches. The new policy offers the additional options of paying online with a Chinese debit card or a foreign credit card or paying at any China Citic Bank ATM. Internet-based services will also be supported by the new policy. Applicants can conduct visa interviews online and check for their day to be served or to pick up their passports. Once the new policy is in effect, passports can be collected at any of the 900 China Citic Bank branches across China. Currently, applicants can only collect their passports from the embassy or have them returned by mail. In the past year, the waiting time for an appointment had been reduced to an average of five days. The embassy has vowed to continue to improve efficiency in this regard. "The visas are government tools to ensure safe and orderly international travel. And what makes our work worthwhile is the deep and meaningful relationship between our two great peoples," Locke said. "It brings American and Chinese culture together and builds bridges of understanding between us." The new visa application system is just one part of the overall efforts to continually improve the US Embassy's services for Chinese tourists, Locke said. According to statistics from the US Department of Commerce, more than 650,000 Chinese tourists visited the US in the first half of 2012, marking a year-on-year increase of 46 percent. In 2012, the US Embassy in China processed more than 1.34 million non-immigrant visa applications, a 26-percent increase year on year and an almost 80-percent increase from 2011, Locke said.

China dispatches fleet to patrol South China Sea Posted: 20 Feb 2013 09:59 AM PST BEIJING - A fleet of Chinese marine surveillance ships departed from Guangzhou on Monday to carry out regular patrol missions in the South China Sea, according to the State Oceanic Administration (SOA). The fleet consists of the Haijian 84 and Haijian 72, an SOA statement issued on Wednesday said. The regular patrols are meant to safeguard the country's marine interests, it added. "Haijian" is the Chinese equivalent of "marine surveillance."

Bus crash kills 6, injures 23 in C China Posted: 20 Feb 2013 09:59 AM PST ZHENGZHOU - Six people died and 23 others were injured when a mid-sized bus overturned and fell into a river on Wednesday in central China's Henan Province, traffic police said. The accident occurred around 9:40 a.m. in Luanchuan County, some 300 km southwest of provincial capital of Zhengzhou, police said. Two people died on the spot, while four others died in the hospital after rescue efforts failed. A total of 34 people were aboard the bus, which had a loading capacity of 19, sources said. The injured have been sent to local hospitals and are in stable condition, sources said. An investigation into the cause of the accident is underway.

Guangzhou to push forward officials' asset disclosure Posted: 20 Feb 2013 09:59 AM PST GUANGZHOU - Guangzhou will push forward a trial program for government officials' asset declaration and disclosure in the second half of March, an anti-graft official said Wednesday. Government officials in the south China mega-city's Nansha District will be required to declare not only their housing properties and automobiles, but also information regarding their overseas travels and the employment status of their spouses and sons and daughters, Mei Heqing, spokesman for the standing committee of the Guangzhou City Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China (CPC), told a press conference. "Asset disclosure is only a step in fighting corruption. It is not a cure-all," Mei said. "The fight against corruption also requires systematic measures such as information-sharing and credibility mechanisms," he added. Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, had previously announced that it would kick off the asset declaration and disclosure programs after the Spring Festival, which fell on February 10 this year. The move toward officials' asset declaration and disclosure is part of efforts made by the Chinese government in its anti-corruption drive.

CNPC to share equities of ConocoPhillips' two projects Posted: 20 Feb 2013 09:59 AM PST BEIJING - China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) will gain some parts of US ConocoPhillips' equities in west Australia, according to an agreement reached on Wednesday. CNPC, China's largest state-owned gas and oil producer, will share 20 percent equities of ConocoPhillips' project in Browse Basin of Australia and 29 percent equities of a project in Australia's Canning Basin. Meanwhile, the two sides agreed to co-research natural gas resources in China's Sichuan Basin. All the agreed cooperation needs further authorization of the governments and business partners.

Incumbent State Council holds final meeting Posted: 20 Feb 2013 09:59 AM PST BEIJING - The incumbent State Council, or the central government, held its final executive meeting on Wednesday, as this administration's term nears its end. Premier Wen Jiabao presided over the meeting that reiterated policies to tame the hot property market, a major source of public concern in recent years. The State Council has held a total of 234 executive meetings since it took office on March 19, 2008. It studied and discussed 611 topics, including how to combat the global financial crisis, improve people's livelihoods, deepen the reform and opening up and strengthen the government's ability to improve itself. All of these are prominent issues that have emerged amid China's economic and social development over the past five years. Zhang Liqun, an analyst with the Development Research Center of the State Council, said the country has stood up to all sorts of difficulties and challenges and made great achievements in the past five years. "The government's work has laid a solid foundation for the country's future reforms and development," Zhang said. Tackling the global financial crisis is the main theme tying together this government's work in the past five years. Between 2008 and 2009, when the global economy bottomed out, China also felt the pinch, as a slew of enterprises suspended production, thousands of migrant workers lost employment and all economic indicators dropped sharply. The State Council held a flurry of intensive meetings during that period. It convened twice on Nov 5, 2008, rolling out a package of 10 stimulus measures aimed at boosting domestic consumption and economic growth. Economic conditions have been extremely volatile both at home and abroad over the past five years. The State Council decided to hold an executive meeting every quarter to study the changes, in addition to other meetings scheduled when necessary. The timely responses proved effective. It only took half a year for China to reverse the country's economic downward trend. During the past five years, China's economy has maintained an average annual growth rate of 9 percent. Meanwhile, the country's gross domestic product (GDP) doubled from 26 trillion yuan ($4.14 trillion) to 52 trillion yuan to become the world's second-largest economy. Improving people's livelihoods has been at the center of the government's work during the past five years. Executive meetings focused on more than 100 topics, including housing, medical care, education, employment and social security. Previous Page 1 2 Next Page Previous Page 1 2 Next Page

Authorities crack 14,000 fake drug cases in 2012 Posted: 20 Feb 2013 06:36 AM PST BEIJING - The State Food and Drug Administration and the Ministry of Public Security jointly seized more than 20,000 suspects for making and selling counterfeit medicine last year. The suspects were involved in some 14,000 cases that amounted to more than 16 billion yuan ($2.56 billion) in value, according to a statement jointly released Wednesday by the two departments. Many cases involved transnational trade, as well as promotions and sales through television and the Internet. Twenty-eight companies were shut down and 228 suspects were arrested for making capsules and gelatin products containing excessive chromium last year, the statement said. "The main pattern for these counterfeit drug cases involves underground manufacturing, online advertisements and express delivery. Their criminal method is becoming more technology-driven, group-based and covert," the statement said. According to the statement, multiple administrative departments will intensify coordinated efforts to crack down on counterfeit drugs.

Fresh quake jolts SW China Posted: 20 Feb 2013 06:36 AM PST KUNMING - A 4.8-magnitude earthquake jolted Southwest China's Yunnan province Wednesday afternoon, damaging nearly 1,000 houses and affecting the lives of more than 5,000 local residents. The earthquake hit Mojiang Hani autonomous county at 1:01 pm with its epicenter 5 km deep, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center. People in Mojiang county said they felt the earthquake strongly. One said he saw the television set and water dispenser shaking on the second floor of his office building when the quake occurred, and he and his colleagues immediately ran out of the building. The county's publicity authorities said the quake toppled 10 houses and damaged 880 others, affecting 5,016 people. The earthquake came shortly after a string of tremors have hit south and southwest China over the past two days. A 4.9-magnitude quake, which occurred at 10:46 am Tuesday with an epicenter 6 km deep, toppled 72 houses and damaged 949 others in Yunnan's Qiaojia county. Eight people were injured, including two people who are in serious condition. Neighboring Sichuan province was also hit by two earthquakes with magnitudes of 4.5 and 4.7 on Tuesday. In addition, a 4.1-magnitude quake hit South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region early Wednesday morning, but no casualties were reported. On Tuesday, a seismic official with the China Earthquake Administration said China is planning to build a national earthquake monitoring and warning system in five years. While the system would never be able to forecast an earthquake, it could detect quakes and notify people within seconds before seismic waves actually hit them, said the official who requested anonymity The project has been filed with the country's top economic planner for approval and includes the establishment of some 5,000 stations across the country with 2 billion yuan ($320.4 million) in funds, according to the official.

Returned products were samples: Coca-Cola Posted: 20 Feb 2013 06:36 AM PST The two batches of beverages imported by Coca-Cola in China that were disposed or returned by Chinese quality authorities in November were only samples, and they had nothing to do with its products sold in China, Coca-Cola Greater China said on Wednesday. "The beverages were very small in amount and were intended to be used only for experiments and research and development of new products," said Kathy Wang, a spokeswoman for Coca-Cola Greater China. Five kg of condensed fruit and vegetable juice imported by the company from the US were found with citric acid - a violation of regulations - and disposed by the quality supervision and inspection authorities in November, according to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine. Another 14 kg of tea beverages imported by the company from Taiwan was returned for lack of certificates, according to the administration. None of the products entered domestic market, the administration said. Related Stories: Coca-Cola demands probe into fungicide rumor

Doctors' income, medical expenses links banned Posted: 20 Feb 2013 06:36 AM PST BEIJING - The Chinese government on Wednesday released a guideline on its basic medicine system that forbids hospitals from linking doctors' incomes with their patients' medicine and medical exam expenses. Some hospitals link doctors' pay with revenues earned through medication sales and exam fees, creating greater economic burdens for patients. The guideline, released by the health reform office under the State Council, or the central government, is intended to consolidate and improve the basic medicine system and offer solutions for problems related to local-level health care reform. The guideline calls for efforts to teach medical staff to use basic medicine properly, as well as encourages non-governmental local medical institutions to use medications that are on the basic medicine list. According to the guideline, income distribution should be tilted toward medical workers who are on the frontline of medical practice or are in key positions, as well as toward those who have made outstanding contributions in the field. "The new guideline aims to reinforce and improve various policies based on implementation results seen over the past few years," said Sun Zhigang, head of the office. According to Sun, the office conducted local inspections and solicited opinions from various medical officials and experts in order to draft the guideline. The guideline stresses that a government funding system must be secured to keep local medical institutions up and running, with enough equipment and personnel capabilities to match their service scope and quality. "On one hand, we must cultivate enough talent for local medical institutions and ensure their normal operation; on the other, their medical services should gradually adopt a more information technology-based mode," Sun said. According to Sun, ensuring the interests of village doctors is a key aspect of the guideline, which also aims to improve their working conditions and solve issues concerning their pensions and professional risks. While encouraging medical institutions at the village level to shoulder some 40 percent of local medical service burdens, the guideline urges punishment for village doctors who abuse medical resources or unreasonably prescribe drugs to patients. Local health and medical institutions that seek to earn greater profits by prescribing basic medicines will also be punished, the guideline says. In addition, the guideline also calls for quality inspections for basic medicine and the implementation of electronic monitoring during the medication production process. It also asks for inspection results to be released to the public regularly. The health reform office has urged province-level governments to draft concrete measures to help medical workers adjust to the new guideline.

China's top micro blog site boasts 500m users Posted: 20 Feb 2013 06:36 AM PST BEIJING - Sina Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, had attracted over 500 million users by the end of 2012, a year-on-year increase of 74 percent, Sina Corp announced on Wednesday. Sina Weibo's active daily users have exceeded 46.2 million, the company said. The site's revenues totaled $66 million in 2012, of which 23 percent came from surging income from value-added services. The other 77 percent came from advertising, the revenues of which exceeded $50 million. The company plans to further improve its user experience and expand its services while veering its focus to mobile Internet, said Cao Guowei, CEO and president of Sina. Some 75 percent of Sina Weibo's active users log in using mobile devices. Sina also issued financial reports for the last quarter and full fiscal year of 2012 on Wednesday, showing that its net revenues hit $529.3 million with a year-on-year increase of 10 percent.

Top Chinese legislator visits Macao Posted: 20 Feb 2013 06:36 AM PST Wu Bangguo (R), chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, shakes hands with Chui Sai On, chief executive of the Macao Special Administration Region, Feb 20, 2013. Wu will attend the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the promulgation of Macao's Basic Law. [Photo/Xinhua] MACAO - Top legislator Wu Bangguo arrived in Macao on Wednesday for a three-day visit to mark the 20th anniversary of the promulgation of the Macao Basic Law. Wu, who is chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, is scheduled to deliver a keynote speech, attend celebration activities and meet with Chui Sai On, chief executive of the Macao Special Administration Region. The Macao Basic Law was promulgated on March 31, 1993 and took effect on Dec 20, 1999, when the government of the People's Republic of China resumed exercising sovereignty over Macao. It has acted as the cornerstone of the region's political and legal systems. Wu Bangguo (L), chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, arrives in the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR), Feb 20, 2013. [Photo/Xinhua]

Web China: Leadership fan blogs emerge Posted: 20 Feb 2013 05:29 AM PST A Xi Jinping-centric microblog wowed netizens early this month by releasing information on the Chinese leader's inspection tour of Gansu Province even before official media reports emerged.

China's top microblog site boasts 500 mln users Posted: 20 Feb 2013 04:43 AM PST Sina Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, had attracted over 500 million users by the end of 2012, a year-on-year increase of 74 percent, Sina Corp. announced on Wednesday.

Dog abuse arouses concern over lab animal welfare Posted: 20 Feb 2013 03:41 AM PST A recent set of online photographs depicting two mistreated laboratory dogs have prompted concerns over laboratory animal welfare in China.

China to close over 5,000 non-coal mines in 2013 Posted: 20 Feb 2013 03:40 AM PST China's safety watchdog said Wednesday it will suspend or shut down operations in over 5,000 non-coal mines that do not meet safety standards this year.

Extravagant dining curbed by frugality call: MOC Posted: 20 Feb 2013 03:04 AM PST A slew of high-end restaurants and luxury wine brands have reported drastic sales declines amid a government frugality campaign that has swept across China, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Wednesday.

China reiterates opposition to Philippines' arbitration bid Posted: 20 Feb 2013 03:39 AM PST China on Wednesday reiterated its opposition to the Philippines' taking the South China Sea dispute to an Arbitral Tribunal under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

China Focus: China refutes cyber attack allegations Posted: 20 Feb 2013 03:37 AM PST China on Wednesday refuted allegations of hacking activities as groundless, calling for international cooperation to fight cyber crime rather than criticize each other in an irresponsible way.

Extravagant dining curbed by frugality call: MOC Posted: 20 Feb 2013 03:31 AM PST A slew of high-end restaurants and luxury wine brands have reported drastic sales declines amid a government frugality campaign that has swept across China, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Wednesday.

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