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	Chinese President Meets with British Prime Minister President Jiang Zemin, in his meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Beijing yesterday, said that China values the development of long-term and stable Sino-British friendly relations of cooperation and hopes that the two countries can contribute to the establishment of a peaceful, cooperative and prosperous new century. Jiang said that the smooth transfer of power of Hong Kong last year marked a new chapter in Sino-British relations and Blair's visit to China is the first by the British Prime Minister of a Labor Party government since the establishment of diplomatic relations. Jiang said he believes that Blair's visit will help push forward cooperation between the two countries in various areas. Blair said that the successful transfer of power of Hong Kong marked a new era in relations between Britain and China. His friendly exchanges of views on a broad range of issues with Chinese leaders has laid a good foundation for furthering bilateral relations, he said. Blair said that the Queen and the British people are looking forward to Jiang's state visit to Britain next year. Jiang expressed his thanks to Queen Elizabeth II for the invitation and asked Blair to convey his regards to the Queen.
	Jiang Zemin Makes an Inspection Tour of East China Chinese President Jiang Zemin urged China's more-developed coastal areas to attach greater importance to agriculture and rural work and further deepen rural reforms in a bid to accelerate the development of agricultural productive forces, build an advanced agricultural sector, and take the lead to modernize the country's agriculture. Jiang, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, made these remarks during a four-day inspection tour of east China's Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces and Shanghai Municipality which ended yesterday. The upcoming Third Plenum of the 15th CPC Central Committee will focus on implementing the strategic plan mapped out at the 15th CPC National Congress, Jiang said. It will sum up the experience of the country's rural reforms in the past two decades, and make decisions on further development of agriculture and rural work, he noted. "It is a longstanding and strategic principle to give priority to agriculture in economic development," he said. In his talks with local officials, Jiang also showed great interest in the development of small towns in rural areas. Developing village-based industries and small towns in the countryside is the only way forward for the country's 900 million rural residents, he said. China will adopt an even stricter policy for the protection of farmland. "This is a key State policy," he stressed. Photo: President Jiang Zemin inspects the rice in Kunshan City, Jiangsu Province.
	Hi-tech Ritual Atop Ancient Observatory Modern electronic networking instantly linked China with faraway Britain yesterday atop Beijing's Ancient Observatory, an epitomizing relic of China's past scientific glory. Visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Chinese Vice-Premier Li Lanqing each pressed a computer mouse and on a wide screen two markers, one reading "To China" and the other "To Britain," flicked, linking the China Education Research Network with the British Joint Academic Network. Prime Minister Blair told a ceremony marking the link-up that Britain and China have already formed a solid foundation for scientific, technological and educational cooperation, and that the two linked institutions have already established more than 700 partnerships. He announced on behalf of the British government that the British Science and Technology Office is planning to add 300,000 pounds sterling to bilateral education and scientific cooperation. Vice-Premier Li Lanqing said he considers British Prime Minister Blair's China visit "an important one" in bilateral ties and that it will go down in the annals of Sino-British relations for its significance.
	The ninth executive meeting of the State Council, which convened yesterday in Beijing, has examined and approved in principle the amended draft laws on highways and military service.
	Chinese Premier Visits CCTV Premier Zhu Rongji, in a meeting with reporters and editors at CCTV yesterday, said that media supervision is very important to building democracy and a legal system in China. He said that it is needed for correcting problems in government work, conveying the public voice to leaders, reinforcing unity, and doing better work. Zhu praised reporters and editors of the station's program "Focus Report" at the studio, saying that it gets better and better and is well-received by people nationwide. The Premier wrote the following words to the reporters and editors of the program: media supervision, voice of the people, reference for the government and vanguards in the reform. Zhu asked governments at all levels to understand and support media supervision and journalists nationwide to go deeper in their investigations and to make their reports helpful for more powerful supervision.
	The PLA, the Armed Police, and law-enforcement offices are no longer to be allowed any involvement in business activities. This decision was reached between the CPC Central Committee, the State Council, and the Central Military Commission at a two-day meeting ending yesterday. Vice-President Hu Jintao told the meeting the central authorities had taken this decision two months ago and that it had the wholehearted support of the whole Party, the military, and the people. The meeting was presided over by Wei Jianxing, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. The CPC Central Committee places great importance on this decision, Hu said. President Jiang Zemin had asked these groups to separate themselves from all businesses established by subsidiary units, he added. The State will ensure that all the expenditure necessary for the military, the Armed Police, and law-enforcement offices is provided, he said. Arrangements have been made to carry out the decision, Hu said. A thorough investigation of the situation and policies should be carried out, and programs worked out to provide a foundation for further work. If corruption is not dealt with fundamentally, the Party, the State, and the military will all be affected, and the country destroyed, he said. The work requires co-ordination, social and political stability, strict discipline, and strengthened leadership. Zhang Wannian, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, told the meeting that the military is the people's military under Party leadership and Party orders. The military and the Armed Police will put the interests of the Party and the people first and disengage themselves from their business activities, he said.
	Private Entrepreneurs Praised for Helping China's Flood Areas Li Ruihuan, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, encouraged private business people to make a greater contribution to China's charity work. Li made the remarks yesterday in Beijing in a meeting with private entrepreneurs who have aided flood-stricken areas. Li, also chairman of the National Committee of the CPPCC, praised them for doing charitable work. Local members of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce and private entrepreneurs have donated money and materials worth 850 million yuan since the flooding in China this summer.

	Anti-Flood Summing-up Meeting in Beijing Water Resources minister Niu Maosheng told a meeting summing up the anti-flood fight this summer that the devastating flood was unprecedented, the anti-flood fight was unprecedented and the post-flood reconstruction is unprecedented. The meeting was sponsored by 5 departments including the Publicity Ministry, the PLA General Political Department and the Beijing Party Committee. Over 1,300 people attended the meeting. Dealing with the severity of the flood, Liu, also second in command in fighting the flood, said that the flood affected 29 provinces, municipalities and municipalities under the direct jurisdiction of the central government; 25.78 million hectares of farmland had been flooded; and direct economic losses amounted to 248.4 billion yuan. The serious flood calamity, the minister said, has taught the Chinese people a lesson. 'We must learn things from this flood and pitch into post-flood water conservancy operation." He emphasized that water conservancy work should abide by the natural law and the economic law as well. Turning to the water resources issue in China, he added that China now is facing 3 great menaces - flood, draught and water shortage, and the worsening water environment. He called on the whole nation to have a correct understanding of China's state situation and the water situation and open up a new phase for water conservancy in the country.
	Improving Postal Networking Level Director of the State Post Administration Liu Liqing in an article printed in the People's Daily calls for making a great effort to lift the networking level of China's post service. Liu said that the postal route total 2.363 million km in China with 82,000 post offices of which 8,000 have been equipped with electronic gears. He added that international cooperation and exchange have been improving and business ties have been built with 145 countries and regions. China's post authorities have been actively participating in international activities, he noted. Turning to the postal operations in the future, he said that there are 5 tasks for the postal service in the country. 1. Improving services to meet demands from society; 2. Focusing on development, revving up postal construction and improving communication ability; 3. Taking reform as a driving force and building up managerial mechanism in tandem with postal development; 4. Taking the road of revitalizing the nation by science and technology. Using sophisticated technologies, improving the level and technological content of the postal networks. Stressing the construction of cargo transport networks and the comprehensive computer networks; 5. Making a great effort to train cross-century talents and other post personnel.
	Report meetings on the meritorious deeds of flood fighters stirred up strong repercussions among steel workers, university students and armed policemen on October 6 and 7. The meetings were held in the Capital Iron and Steel Workers, Beijing and Qinghua Universities and an armed police unit.
	Anti-Flood Women Commended A report meeting on the meritorious deeds of women in China fighting the floods was held in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on October 7. At the meeting, 94 outstanding women groups and 258 individual women were cited for their heroic performance in the fight against the unprecedented floods this summer. Peng Peiyun. President of the All-China Women's Federation, spoke at the meeting.

	Reports on the Meritorious Deeds of Four Representatives of Anti-Flood Heroes Are Published Under the Banner Bearing the Words 'Learning From and Carrying Forward the Anti-Flood Spirit' on Page 3 of Today's People's Daily. They are: (1) Bao Shitou, deputy secretary of the Sumu township Party committee and head of Sumu Township in Jalaid Banner, Xinggan League, Inner Mongolia; (2) Zhang Songling, deputy mayor of Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province; (3) Li Jinwen, head of the general fire brigade of Hubei provincial public security department; and (4) Dong Guanglin, director of the Anhui provincial Yangtze River Course Administration. The reports are written by Our Staff Reporters Liu Liangming, Zeng Kun, Dong Wei, Cui Shixin and Zhu Sixiong. Pictures are taken by Our Photographers Li Ge, Jiang Duo and Zhou Yinjie

	Leaders of Central Committees of Various Democratic Parties Go to Xibaipo for Visit and Study Entrusted by the CPC Central Committee, the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, organized new leaders of the central committees of various democratic parties to Xibaipo, the seat of the CPC Central Committee in the past for visit and study from October 5 to 7, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the response to the CPC's 'May 1' Slogans by the various democratic parties, and held commemorative activities featuring 'boarding on the same storm-tossed boat, and breaking new grounds for the future'. Fifty years ago, with a view to mobilizing people in various strata nationwide to fulfill the glorious mission of founding a new China, the Communist Party of China (CPC) issued slogans to mark the 'May 1' Labor Day. The slogans gained enthusiastic response from various democratic parties and democrats without party affiliation, they published declarations, circular telegrams and statements, and accepted invitation to go to liberated areas to discuss with the CPC matters of vital importance concerning national construction.
	China Attaches Great Importance to People's Civil and Political Rights Zhu Muzhi, president of the Chinese Society of Human Rights Studies, answered questions raised by correspondents on the situation regarding the Chinese people's civil and political rights. The questions include Zhu's comments on the Chinese government's signing of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, his views on the situation wherein the Chinese people enjoy civil and political rights, on the relationship between China's economic development and political democracy, and on how to further promote these rights, and the society's plan for promoting civil and political rights.
	Zhu Rongji Bids Farewell to Tony Blair Premier Zhu Rongji said a cordial good-bye to visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Zhu said Blair's Beijing visit is fruitful. Blair said his current visit is successful for it has enhanced mutual understanding and promoted cooperation.
	Prime Minister Tony Blair Attends Seminar Visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair attended the seminar on 'Reform of State-Owned Enterprises: Experiences of China and Britain' held yesterday in Beijing. In his speech Blair expressed the hope for closer cooperation between Britain and China and for a joint solution to the issue regarding reform of state-owned businesses. Li Tieying, president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said in his speech that the seminar has provided scholars, government departments and enterprises of China and Britain with a good opportunity for wide-ranging exchange and discussion, in order to enhance mutual understanding and friendship and promote the in-depth development of relationship between the two countries.
	A New Era Has Come for Britain-China Relationship At a dinner party given in his honor by the British Chamber of Commerce, visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair said that Britain and China have started a new era for bilateral ties. He highly praised China for keeping the Renminbi from devaluing. He disclosed that to overcome the financial crisis, Britain and China have reached a common view on wide-ranging issues. Experts and finance ministers of the two countries will meet next month to further discuss this issue. 'China can make still greater contribution to this,' Blair added.
	Supreme People's Court Publishes Results of the Trial of Three Smuggle Cases Judgments on the three smuggle cases involving Guangdong's Zou Weiquan, Wen Guobin and Zhou Shaoquan were pronounced locally yesterday. Zou Weiquan and Chen Baoquan who committed the crime of smuggling ordinary goods and articles and whose case was particularly serious were already executed. In the trial of smuggle cases, people's courts at various levels took a firm attitude, tough measures and dared to use the severest means of punishment according to law. This was announced at the news briefing held by the Supreme People's Court on sternly cracking down on smuggling crimes. Zou Weiquan and Chen Baoquan had, since February 1990, smuggled goods, such as cars and household electric appliances, 17 times, with the smuggled goods worth more than 38 million yuan and evaded payable taxes valued at over 16 million yuan. On the basis of reviewing the case, the Supreme People's Court affirmed that Zou and Chen were the arch criminals in the case, and ruled that death punishment be meted out to them. This report was accompanied by a commentary which says, the fact that the Supreme People's Court published the results of the trial of the three smuggle cases fully demonstrates the determination of judicial organs to resolutely punish smuggling crimes. Severely attacking smuggling crimes provides an important guarantee for bringing about sustained, rapid and sound development of the national economy and promoting the smooth progress of reform, opening up and the modernization drive.
	Photo by Our Photographer Feng Jie: Qingdao customs severely attack illegal smuggling activities along the coast of Shandong Province. In the past five years, the local customs department has uncovered more than 100 major cases and retrieved huge amounts of economic losses for the country, thus making enormous contribution to maintaining normal import and export order in Shandong trading port. The picture shows anti-contraband personnel ready to set out.
	A Spokesman for the Ministry of Public Security announced on October 6 that with approval from the State Council, China has another five counties and one district to be opened to foreigners. They are Guizhou Province's Yuqing, Changshun, Huishui, Dejiang, and Tujia Autonomous County of Yanhe, and the Wanshan Special Zone. So far, China has opened and is opening 1,336 regions to foreigners.
	The Social-Cultural Group, the Legal Group and the Administrative Group of the Preparatory Committee for the Macao Special Administrative Region respectively held the fifth sessions.
	Jamaican Prime Minister Arrives Jamaican Prime Minister Percival Patterson arrived in Beijing yesterday evening for a six-day official visit to China, at the invitation of Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji. This is Patterson's first China trip since he assumed his current post six years ago.

	Educational Funds Built-up The Ministry of Education and the State Statistical Bureau jointly released earlier a statistical report on the use of the national educational funds in 1997. This report indicated that the total expenditure in 1997 was 253.173 billion yuan, an increase of 11.91 per cent compared to 226.234 billion in 1996. Of which the state financial educational expenditure was 186.254 billion yuan, up 11.42 per cent over 167.170 billion in 1996. The monitoring of the national educational funds expenditure in 1997 indicated that governments at all levels have put premium on education according to the Educational Law and the gross input has increased. But the growth rate of the educational funds in the national budget was still slower than that of the regular financial revenue, which was against the Educational Law. The ratio of the educational expenditure to the financial expenditure declined a little in 1997 compared with1996. Some provinces and municipalities have failed to meet the requirements in the Educational Law for several years.
	Plants Near Extinction Find Home in Qingling Huoditan Forestry Center for Education and Experiment, which is in Ningshan County, Shaanxi Province, has become the largest base in Northwest China for the protection of plants on the verge of extinction. This Center has exploited and protected local abundant plant resources for a long time. They collected near-extinction plants and cultivated them in the forest areas. Much attention has been paid by this center to forestry science and more than 10 grand awards have been gained at home and broad. Specialists, scholars and students from Japan and Germany also come to this center to study and collect specimens.
	Photo: Look, How Happy These Children Are! Having known earlier that some students in the flooded areas couldn't go to school, the Goudong School in Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, immediately sent three cars to a heavily damaged area in Yongxiu County, Jiangxi Province and accepted 50 students in financial difficulties into this School free of charge.
	Protection of Children's Rights and Interests Urged A symposium on enhancing legal consciousness and protecting children's rights and interests was convened at the Chinese Children Center in Beijing on October 7. It was called jointly by the State Council Working Committee for Women and Children and China's Women. A survey on public consciousness shows that the Chinese general public have some knowledge of children's rights and interests, but there still existed difference in the understanding of the grown-ups and children in this regard. Around 60 people including government officials, legal and educational specialists and newsmen attended this symposium.
	Symposium on Art Convened A three-day international symposium on fine arts education for the 21th century was held at Beijing Capital Normal University on October 7. More than 130 delegates from home and broad attended this symposium. The reform and development of fine arts education was discussed. It was the first international symposium on fine arts education called by the Chinese educational departments. In this symposium, Chinese and foreign attendants exchanged views on fine arts education in their countries.

	Brighter Prospects for Sino-UK Relations Tremendous progress has been made in the Sino-UK relations since last year. Two-way trade registered a 14 percent increase. There is great potential for cooperation between the two countries as they share common interests in many areas ranging from terrorism to nuclear proliferation; from international crime to global poverty; and from climate change to drugs. Blair's visit to China will surely push forward the Sino-UK relations, which is facing a good prospect.
	Albright: Substantial Progress Made in Peace Talks US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said on October 6 that substantial progress has been made during an extended trilateral meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian National Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat. Albright announced at a news conference after four hours of talks with the two leaders that Netanyahu and Arafat will go to Washington for a summit with U.S. President Bill Clinton on October 15 in order to complete a deal. She described her meeting with Netanyahu and Arafat as "very important and very productive," and said "very significant and substantial progress" has been made on various issues including further Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank, security, and the Gaza airport. The progress in these areas enables the sides to be in a better position to finalize an agreement when the Washington summit is held, she said.
	Indonesian Women Volunteer Investigators Threatened Indonesian Women Volunteer Investigators said in a news conference on October 6 that they had been threatened frequently by phone calls and mails while investigating the rape cases during the mid-May riots. Their movements were also closely watched on and they even found a hand grenade at their office in Jakarta, according to a leader of the investigators . The Indonesian government established a joint fact-finding team in July to investigate the rape cases. On September 21 the team confirmed in a report to the Indonesian government that rapes did occur. But Minister of Defense and Security Wiranto denied that. The Joint Fact-Finding Team decided to deliver a final report to the government by the end of October.

	The Annual Meeting of IMF and World Bank Opens The annual meeting of the IMF and the World Bank opened on October 6 in Washington. IMF chief Michel Camedssus pointed out in the opening session that strong measure should be taken immediately to avoid a global economic recession. He said the industrialized countries should take the lead to speed up the world economy and the IMF must "adapt to the new world". World Bank governor James Wolfensohn stressed the importance of political stability and social justice. He said the financial stability would not be realized without these two factors. American president Bill Clinton also made a speech on the opening ceremony, urging major developed countries to take decisive actions to tackle the current financial crisis.
	Dai Xianglong Calls For Cooperation to Stop Crisis Creeping People's Bank of China Governor Dai Xianglong called for world cooperation to stop the financial crisis from creeping during his speech in the annual meeting of the IMF and the World Bank on October 10 in Washington. Dai attributed the financial crisis to the serious lagging of the international monetary system and international cooperation behind the process of economic globalization and monetary integration.
	"The Fourth Media" An article describes the news on the Internet as "the fourth media". Referring to the Starr Report on the Internet, the article says that at least 247 million people had read the report on the first day it was released. The Internet surely carries more information than the traditional mass media such as newspapers, TVs and radios. But the Internet news needs certain rules. There is a long way to go before it becomes a real "fourth media".

	Marlboro China Cup International Bridge Championships to Open in Beijing The 3rd Marlboro China Cup International Bridge Championships is to take place in Beijing on October 11-17. Teams of world stars, Europe, North America and Chinese National Team are to compete in the event. Well-known players from home and abroad are also invited to the open double competition. The total value of prizes will be US$80,000. CCTV Sports Channel will televise live the event at 21:30 on October 13 and 14. Fans can also watch it on the Chinese Bridge Network.
	Beijing Guo'an an Sichuan Quanxing made no score and ended with a draw on October 7 at the make-up match for the 23rd round of the Marlboro Chinese Football League Division A.
	Guangdong Hongyuan beat Zhejiang Wanma 96-82 and won the cup at the 1998 Chinese Basketball Association Cup Club Championship on October 7. The event lasted nearly one month with 36 matches.
	Chinese Football Association (CFA) requires that the league venues and clubs should make efforts in ensuring the smooth going of league matches from start to finish. Referring to the 23rd round of the Division A and the 20th round of Division B, Director Ma Kejian of the CFA Professional Department spoke highly of Shanghai Hangxing, Xiamen Yuanhua, Guangdong Hongyuan, Dalian Wanda and Guangzhou Apollo for persistent efforts in the ending period.

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