Beijing

World economic crisis puts brakes on China's growth at 6.8 per cent

World economic crisis puts brakes on China's growth at 6.8 per cent Beijing  - China's economic growth fell to 6.8 per cent in the final
quarter of 2008, its slowest expansion since 2001, as the global
economic downturn hit China's exports, the national statistics bureau
said Thursday.

The year-on-year growth rate compared to 9-per-cent growth in the third quarter, the bureau said.

For all of 2008, China's economy expanded at a 9-per-cent pace,
reaching 30.07 trillion yuan (4.42 trillion dollars), the first time
since 2003 that it had not hit double digits.

China to modernize military while pursuing peaceful development

China, BeijingBeijing, Jan. 20 : China on Tuesday issued a White Paper on national defense, pledging to be committed to the peaceful development and advance its military modernization.

The paper for the first time unveiled China''s ambition to "basically accomplishing mechanization (of the military) and making major progress in informationization by 2020" and "realizing modernization by the mid-21st century."

China defends its rise in military spending

Beijing - China on Tuesday defended a sharp rise in military spending, saying the increase in its defence budget was necessary because of the military supremacy of other states, a need for modernization of its armed forces and because of the need to fight separatists at home.

China defends its rise in military spending In a white paper on China's National Defence in 2008, issued by the Information Office for the State Council, officials said China had an increasingly need to ensure social peace.

922 toy exporters shut down operations in South China in 2008

Beijing, Jan. 18 : Product recalls, rising production costs and the global financial crisis caused almost 1,000 Chinese toy exporters in just one province to shut down last year.

Young girl infected with bird flu in China

Young girl infected with bird flu in China Beijing  - A two-year-old girl has been infected with bird fly and is in a critical condition in China's northern Shanxi province, a health official of the provincial government confirmed Sunday, according to a report by the Chinese Xinhua news agency.

The girl is the second person infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus within a month in China.

Her health had deteriorated after she first fell ill on January 7, and she had been taken to the Shanxi hospital following initial treatment in a different hospital.

China plans olympic extravaganza for National Day

China FlagBeijing - The creative force behind the stunning opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympic Games, Zhang Yimou, will direct the country's 60th anniversary celebrations as well, officials said Wednesday.

The 57-year-old acclaimed filmmaker from Shaanxi has been assigned the task of organizing the once-in-a-decade National Day celebrations on October 1, state-run China Daily quoted a senior Beijing municipal official saying on condition of anonymity.

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