China underscores innovation, land management for sustained rural growth

The first policy document of 2012 from the central government here in China has been released, and deals again this time with Agriculture.
The policy statement is pressing the need for more scientific and technological development in the agriculture sector to address problems in rural areas.
As part of the policy document, the central authorities are planning to continue expanding the budget for the agriculture sector this year. More fixed-asset investment is also expected to be directed towards the sector.

China to give further support to small, micro-sized firms

The State Council is now pressing the need for more small and micro-sized enterprises.
The central authorities here in China are earmarking 15 billion yuan to establish a development fund for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Part of the money is going to go toward trying to help small businesses get listed on the stock markets.
This move follows a decision in October to raise the tax threshold for small firms and forgive banks' stamp tax on lending contracts with small firms for three years.
Small- and medium-sized enterprises create about 80 percent of the country's jobs.
However, they usually have difficulty securing bank loans, as Chinese banks prefer to lend to larger companies, especially state-owned enterprises.

Iranian oil and European financial crisis top the agenda of Merkel's upcoming China visit

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is set to pay a three-day official visit to China starting from today.
During her time here, Merkel will meet with Chinese president Hu Jintao and premier Wen Jiabao.
The Iranian oil embargo and the European financial crisis are expected to top Merkel's agenda.
The German Chancellor is widely expected to try to encourage Beijing to reduce its imports of Iranian oil.
She is also expected to try to win the confidence of Chinese leaders and investors in the stability of the euro zone.

China-EU year of intercultural dialogue opens in Brussels

The European Union and China have opened their year of intercultural dialogue in Brussels, aimed to enhance mutual understanding and cultural cooperation.
Chinese Culture Minister Cai Wu says political, economic and cultural exchanges serve as the three pillars of the China-Europe relations.
Androulla Vassiliou, EU Commissioner in charge of cultural affairs, says Europe is ready to work with China to enhance understanding between the two peoples, and to contribute to maintaining and promoting the diversity of world culture.
China has previously launched the cultural year in countries including France and Italy.

Egyptfootball violence kills over 70

埃及足球騷亂致使70人死亡

A clash between rival football fans in the Egyptian city of Port Said has left at least 73 people dead and over 150 others injured.
The match Wednesday night pitted one of Egypt's most successful clubs against a local team which degenerated into a violent mele, with TV footage showing fans running onto the field and chasing down players.
Egyptian officials are describing it as the worst disaster in the country's football history.

UN Security Council members discuss draft resolution on Syria

聯合國安全理事會成員討論敘利亞決議草案

The UN Security Council is continuing to meet behind closed doors to discuss an Arab- European draft resolution on Syria.
The closed-door meeting comes a day after an open council heard a briefing from the Arab League, which is calling for "rapid and decisive action" from the Security Council to address the current situation in Syria.
Arab states, Britain, France and Germany have jointly drawn up the draft, which calls on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to surrender power to his deputy so that an election can be held.
However, Russia, a veto-wielding council member, is voicing strong opposition to the draft.
The Security Council is expected to hold a vote on the Arab League draft by the end of this week.

Iran voices hope for restarting nuclear talks with world powers in near future

伊朗希望在不久的將來重新開始與世界大國談判

Iranis voicing hope to restart nuclear talks with world powers in the near future.
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi says preparatory work has been done to go ahead with nuclear talks, and consultations are underway to take the next steps.
Salehi says his country is ready to resume negotiations with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany. He has also announced Tehran will soon send a letter to the six world powers to express its readiness for talks. Nuclear talks held in Istanbul in January of last year between Iran and the G5+1 failed to reach any agreement. Tehran had rejected any notion of suspending enrichment in exchange for trade and technology benefits. The suspension of uranium enrichment is called for by several UN Security Council resolutions passed since 2006.

Facebook unveils stock market flotation plans

Facebook揭曉公司上市計劃

The world's largest social networking site, Facebook, has announced its plans to go public.
Facebook says it's hoping to raise 5 billion US dollars.
That's only about half of what many analysts expected.
Despite this, the Facebook IPO is still expected to be the biggest public sale of shares by an internet company.
Facebook filed its intention to float with the Securities and Exchange Commission after the US stock markets closed.
The filing revealed that Facebook had revenues of 3.7 billion USD in 2011, and that founder Mark Zuckerberg owns 28.4 percent of the company.
Facebook currently boasts around 800 million users.