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President Xi Jinping says he has been very concerned about Yushu in Qinghai Province and is pleased to hear of its rapid development after the quake nearly 11 years ago.
The Chinese President made the remarks when he joined lawmakers from the Qinghai delegation at the annual session of the National People's Congress in Beijing.
On April 14, 2010, a 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck Yushu, flattening the plateau town of Gyegu and killing more than 2,600 people.
China's top political advisory body has held its second plenary meeting of the annual session.
Twelve members of the CPPCC National Committee spoke at the meeting.
Some of them talked about the country's efforts to eradicate poverty, saying more attention should be given to the grassroots, rural and underdeveloped areas.
Some stressed the importance of manufacturing, calling for innovation, and also urged the establishment of better industrial chains.
They also talked about continuous efforts to conduct scientific research on COVID-19 prevention and control.
A national political advisor says China should step up efforts to push high-quality development of its manufacturing sector and keep the sector's share in the economy stable.
Miao Wei is a former minister of industry and information technology.
He made the remarks when delivering a speech at a meeting of the fourth session of the 13th NPC.
He says it will take at least 30 years for the country to achieve the goal of becoming a strong nation in manufacturing.
Official data shows that China's secondary industry accounted for over 37 percent of the country's GDP in 2020, compared with 54.5 percent from the tertiary industry, mainly the service sector.
The secondary industry largely consists of the manufacturing, mining and construction sectors.
The head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention says China's recombinant protein COVID-19 vaccine is expected to be another "powerful weapon" in fighting the global pandemic.
Gao Fu says the vaccine has a simple production process, high output, and is easy to store and transport.
The recombinant protein vaccine is the third type of COVID-19 vaccine that China has provided to other countries, following inactivated vaccines and adenovirus vector vaccines.
Gao says the new vaccine can produce neutralizing antibodies for mutant COVID-19 strains found in South Africa, Britain and Brazil.
The new vaccine has been approved for use in Uzbekistan.
The United States and South Korea have reached an agreement on defense cost-sharing with increased contribution from South Korea.
The U.S. State Department says negotiators reached consensus on the proposed text of a Special Measures Agreement that will strengthen their alliance and shared defense.
Since 1991, South Korea has shared the upkeep cost for U.S. soldiers, including costs for South Korean civilians hired by the U.S. Forces Korea, construction of military installations, and logistics support.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has defended his government's proposed one percent pay rise for National Health Service staff.
"We've tried to give the NHS as much as we possibly can. And that means in addition to the 140 billion pounds annual money, we've got another 62 billion pounds we found to help support the NHS."
The government has been criticized for the one percent pay rise proposal and prompted talks of industrial action in the health profession.
Meantime, Johnson also responded to concerns over the risk of students returning to schools today.
He says the reopening is a big step towards lifting all restrictions and that he's hopeful that all will go according to plan.
