end manufacturing, finance, sharing economy, medical care and elderly care indust
hinese ‘can help Notre Dame revival’stunned France wou
hina can lend a helping hand in the rebuilding of Paris’s Notre Dam
e Cathedral, whose spire and roof were destroyed by the huge fire that engulfed the 8
50-year-old Gothic building on Monday evening, said a historian from Cambridge University.
Alan Macfarlane, a historian and professor emeritus at King’s College, said that give
n China’s widely acknowledged engineering and construction expertise, “it would be a very appreciated gesture if the pe
ople of China offered their help in whatever way the French thought appropriate to rebuild a symbol for all of our world”.
“The Chinese have built the largest airport in the world, a far larger job than rebuilding
Notre Dame, in less than three years,” Macfarlane said. “They could be of immense help.”
President Xi Jinping sent a message of support to French President E
mmanuel Macron on Tuesday, expressing sincere condolences to all French people.
Its partial loss is a terrible blow to a proud country
and to the world more widely,” said Macfarlane, the King’s College historian.
A woman identified only as Marie, who has lived in Paris for 20 years, said: “This is a monument b
uilding that belongs to the story of Paris, to the story of France. … Notre Dame is our story, our culture, our spirit.”
An experiment conducted by Chinese and US scientists on improving monkeys’ cognitive function has been
found to follow international animal rights standards, according to the Chinese research institute.
The study implanted 11 rhesus macaque monkeys with copies of the human MCP
H1 gene, which scientists believe is crucial for humans’ brain development and evolution.
The project is led by researchers from the Kunming Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Acade
my of Sciences, who are working with researchers from the University of North Carolina.
In 2017 the institute’s bioethics review committee
n evaluated and approved the experiment before applying for National Natural Scie
nce Foundation of China funds, with the project gaining the foundation’s support.
“Experimenting on nonhuman primate models to research the brain’s cognitive function, de
velopment and related diseases have great scientific and medical values,” the statement said.
“For research purposes, there are precedents of scientists implanting human genes int
o lab animals such as mice, rats, and macaque monkeys, and these researchers have made great con
tributions to understanding life, disease mechanisms and clinical drug development.”
In 2008 US scientists implanted macaque monkeys with Huntington’s disease to further understand the condition and possib
ly identify a new form of treatment, with the project’s findings published in the journal Nature.
In 2009 Japanese scientists created the world’s first transgenic primates
and bred monkeys with a gene that made the animals’ skin glow a fluorescent green.
Most of the ivory was hidden in an abandoned factory
by the smugglers, Sun said. Busts were made in several locations, which were not disclosed. The case is still under investigation.
Since early this year, 182 smuggling cases involving endangered species have been investigated, the administration said on Monday.
More than 500 tons of endangered animals and animal products were seized, 8.48 t
ons of which was ivory tusks or products made of ivory. In those cases, 171 suspects were detained.
The Chinese government suspended imports of ivory and all ivor
y products in 2015 and ended commercial processing and sale of ivory at the end of 2017.
The ban has had significant positive effects, with fewer people purchasing ivory, according to a report j
ointly released last year by the World Wildlife Fund and TRAFFIC, an NGO that tracks the global trade in wild animals.
“We will strengthen our anti-smuggling efforts, continuing to work with international organizations and depart
ments and allowing no tolerance of those illegal activities,” said Hu Wei, deputy director of the administration.
Innovation links with Japan encouragedForeign Minis
Premier Li Keqiang called on China and Japan to boost cooperation in innovation to see more pra
gmatic outcomes, and to further work together in areas including finance, third-party markets and tourism.
The two countries should also create a fair and unbiased business environment for each other’s en
terprises, Li said in a meeting with visiting Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono in Beijing on Monday.
The meeting came after a China-Japan high-level economic dialogue,
co-chaired on Sunday by State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Kono. The dia
logue, also attended by ministers of agriculture, industry, commerce and environ
mental protection from both countries, was also the first to be held in China between the two nations since 2010.
Li congratulated attendees on the successful hosting of the dialogue in his opening remarks, noting that bilateral relation
s are back on the right track and have seen new progress thanks to joint efforts of the two sides starting last year.
On the basis of the four China-Japan political documen
s and in the spirit of seeing history as a mirror as well as facing the future, the two nations sho
uld continue to work toward the long-term, healthy and stable development of bilateral relations, he said.
As major economies in the world, China and Japan both support free trade and obey WTO rules, Li said.
He also welcomed Japanese businesses to expand investment in China
as the country will continue to unwaveringly deepen reform and expand opening-up.
China stands ready to move forward with talks with Japan and other rel
ated parties to further the negotiations regarding the Regional Comprehensive Econo
mic Partnership as well as the China-Japan-Republic of Korea Free Trade Agreement, he said.
Li also voiced China’s support for Japan’s hosting of the G20 Summit, which is slated this year
to be held in Osaka, and he hoped it would inject fresh impetus into global economic growth.
Kono expressed his appreciation for efforts made by the Chinese premier in helping return bilateral relations to the right track.
Lu made the remarks in response to recent media repo
reports that India decided not to send a delegation to the second Belt and Road Forum for Internati
onal Cooperation later this month in Beijing. The reports said the initiative undermines the South Asia
n nation’s sovereignty via the BRI-related China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
Lu said that, “If this decision about whether to participate in building the Belt and Road
was possibly made through a misunderstanding”, China firmly and sincerely advances the constr
uction of the Belt and Road on the basis of consultation and contribution for shared benefits.
He added that the initiative is open to all parties that are inter
ested in and willing to join in win-win cooperation.
It will not exclude any party, he said, adding that China is willin
g to wait if relevant parties need more time to consider their participation.
Analysts guessing over central bank’s next move
Debates on whether the central bank needs to further ease monetary policy or not are continuing amo
ng analysts, with their emphasis on guessing the next liquidity injection through reducing banks’ reserved deposits.
Supporters of monetary easing expect that another cut in the re
serve requirement ratio (RRR) may come no later than this week, as a liquidity shorta
ge may occur after commercial banks pay back 366.5 billion yuan ($54.65 billion) to the central bank on Wedn
esday. That amount of interbank lending was conducted previously under the medium-term lending facilities (MLF) scheme.
Opponents, however, contend that the current liquidity is sufficient, and any further ea
sing will fuel inflation risks, especially as Chinese economy has started its upcycle.
The central bank’s monetary policy committee held the first quarter’s regular meeting on Friday.
The members achieved a consensus to continue the counter-cyclical measures and stren
gthen coordination between monetary and fiscal policies. Policy fine-tuning should be at the proper time, to prev
ent risks with the priority of stabilizing growth, according to a statement after the meeting.
“Essentially, it depends on the growth of money sup
pply (M2),” said Sheng Songcheng, a central bank adviser and a former director of the central bank’s statistics department.
