Economy Conference

China concluded the three-day annual Central Economic Work Conference on December 10, 2008, in Beijing with a pledge to maintain stable, healthy growth in 2009 through domestic demand expansion and economic restructuring.

President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao addressed the meeting, which is held once a year to set the tone for economic development during the next year. In 2009, China will enhance and improve macroeconomic control efforts and carry out an active fiscal policy, as well as a moderately easy monetary policy, the central authorities decided. In this regard, expenditures in public areas will be “substantially increased” and those in major areas should be guaranteed.

China-US Dialogue

China and the United States began their fifth strategic economic dialogue (SED) in Beijing amid the deepening global financial crisis and a transitional phase in the US government.

Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan and the US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson co-chaired the dialogue on December 4 as special representatives of Chinese President Hu Jintao and US President George W. Bush.

Economic Measures

“The pressure on the economy is increasing and this month’s indicators show a faster declining tendency,” said Zhang Ping, minister of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), on November 27, 2008, at a press conference in Beijing. “But the government will take effective steps to increase domestic demand and create more jobs.” We must take forceful and effective measures to curb excessive slowdown of the economy, he added.

Science Satellite

On December 1, 2008, China launched the Yaogan IV satellite from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu Province.

The satellite will be used for scientific research, surveying of land resources, crop yield estimates and disaster prevention and relief, according to its chief developer, the China Academy of Space Technology.

The satellite lifted off aboard a Long March-2D carrier rocket. This was the 113th launch of China’s Long March series of rockets.

Pandas Prepare

Giant pandas Tuantuan and Yuanyuan are preparing to journey to Taiwan from the Bifengxia Base of the Chinese Giant Panda Research and Protection Center in Ya’an County, southwest China’s Sichuan Province. A gift from the mainland to Taiwan, the panda pair is expected to leave for the Mucha Zoo in Taipei in around the first of the year, though the exact date was yet to be finalized.

Shenzhou Welcome

On December 7, 2008, the Shenzhou VII Manned Space Mission delegation was warmly greeted by some 30,000 Hong Kong citizens waving national flags and flags of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) in Hong Kong Stadium.

The three astronauts, Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng, who jointly carried out China’s historic maiden spacewalk, and other members of the delegation arrived in Hong Kong for a four-day visit.

A part of the visit, the “Hong Kong Welcomes the Delegation of Shenzhou-7 Manned Space Mission Variety Show” began at 3:30 p.m. local time. The astronauts also met with local citizens in a series of welcoming activities held by the HKSAR government, and also attended a university forum on the historic space walk.

Ethnic Art

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of southwest China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the Museum of Nationalities in Nanning featured an exhibit of more than 30,000 works of art created by 12 different ethnic groups in the region.