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Conservation efforts in Inner Mongolia have spurred the northern region's development and benefited the national capital, top regional officials said yesterday in Beijing.The autonomous region, which is known as a major source of the seasonal sandstorms that blanket Beijing, has "done what it could" to curb ecological deterioration, Yang Jing, chairman of the regional government, said."Protecting the environment has been listed as Inner Mongolia's most important infrastructure project," Yang told a press conference organized by the State Council Information Office yesterday to mark the region's 60th anniversary."The number of sandstorms has fallen significantly in recent years, which favorably influences the weather in Beijing and Tianjin. "Inner Mongolia, which is some 300 km north of Beijing, has long been thought of as the capital's backyard. However, the distance is not enough to protect Beijing from the wind-borne dust and sand that blow down from the region.Dust blown in from western Inner Mongolia blanketed Beijing nearly two months ago, lowering visibility to 4 km from 20 km the previous day.Inner Mongolia has spent some 20 billion yuan ($2.7 billion) on efforts to halt desertification in an area measuring 16.7 million hectares over the past five years. It has also increased its forest coverage to 17.6 percent of its total area from 14.8 percent in 1999, Yang said.At least 3 billion yuan was earmarked to implement the massive "Beijing-Tianjin windblown sand sources control project" in a bid to build a green ecological belt in northern China, according to regional government sources.The project involves 458,000 sq km of land, about 48 percent of which lies in Inner Mongolia."There are several sources of sand and dust (affecting Beijing) besides Inner Mongolia. We have done what we could on our part," Yang said.Chu Bo, secretary of the regional committee of the Communist Party of China, said yesterday that 70 percent of the region's livestock has been confined to enclosed pastures to reduce the grazing pressure on grasslands.In addition to returning farmland to forests and reclaiming overgrazed pastures, Inner Mongolia has encouraged traditional pastoral areas to develop alternative industries.Citing Erdos as a success story, Chu said the city would have plunged into an ecological vicious circle had it not built up secondary and tertiary industries.As a result, the city of 1.4 million people is expected to have a gross domestic product of 100 billion yuan ($13 billion) this year, a level of prosperity that can only be found in the country's coastal regions, Chu said.Inner Mongolia is home to China's largest grasslands. The region spans 1.18 million sq km, which is about twice the size of Ukraine.不算太长吧。

Mike Miller looking to fit in, stay healthy now that he's back again with the GrizzliesThe two-time NBA champion is being a bit humble.When he smoothly swishes 3-pointer after 3-pointer in training camp, the Grizzlies see more than just the outside threat they've lacked for so many years. Memphis believes they've acquired a veteran who can help them take that big step past the Western Conference finals."Mike Miller's going to be a huge addition being able to stretch the floor but also brings that championship experience," Grizzlies guard Mike Conley said of his new teammate.

Three Gorges Project The Three Gorges Reservoir has started to discharge water, to be prepared for the coming flood season of China's longest waterway, the Yangtze River. The reservoir is planned to discharge 2.7 billion cubic meters of water before June 10, when the water level is expected to drop to 144.5 meters, a fall of six meters from the previous level, said an engineer with the Three Gorges Project Development Corporation on Thursday. The water level marked 148.1 meters at 7 p.m. Thursday, said Yuan Jie, the engineer in charge of the discharge work. "As the flood season approaches, it is necessary for us to make preparations beforehand," said Yuan. Located where the Yangtze River's upper and middle reaches meet, the mammoth Three Gorges Project is said to be capable of holding back major floods on the country's longest river. Its reservoir is capable of holding 22.15 billion cubic meters of water when it attains a normal water level of 175 meters, according to the corporation. Launched in 1993, construction of the gigantic concrete structure of the Three Gorges dam was completed in May last year. The water level in the reservoir will eventually reach 175 meters in 2009, when the Three Gorges project is finally completed.

Smiling Hu joins CPC delegates in discussionSource: Xinhuanet | 10-17-2007 08:47Special Report: 17th CPC National Congress Hu Jintao joins a panel discussion with delegates of Jiangsu province on Tuesday. He listens to the delegates talk about social and economic development in the rich eastern province, and discuss his report delivered at the start of the Party congress on Monday. (Xinhua Photo) BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Hu Jintao took a commoner's approach on Tuesday while he joined the Jiangsu delegation to the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) to listen to the delegates talk about social and economic development in the rich eastern province, and discuss his report delivered at the start of the Party congress on Monday. Jiangsu's Party chief Li Yuanchao and other officials praised the country's past five years as "having maintained sustainable, fast, coordinated and healthy development" and "having improved the lives of ordinary people", citing the province's own growth in the meantime. Hu urged the province to fully exploit its advantages and take the lead in transforming the mode of economic growth in accordance with the Scientific Outlook on Development. "We stress sound and rapid development, better quality, efficiency and an enlightened approach to development that results in expanded production, a better life and sound ecological and environmental conditions," he said. Delegate Wu Renbao, former Party chief of Huaxi Village, China's richest, spoke highly of the Party congress. "The report is comprehensible to ordinary farmers," he said. "I would like to keep working although I'm old," 79-year-old Wu said. Hearing that, Hu Jintao was the first to applaud with a broad smile. Chen Qiuyan, who cleans the sewage treatment system in Xuzhou City, was excited about her second meeting with Hu. "We will carefully study and put into practice the essence of the congress," she said. Hu visited Chen and her colleagues during a visit to Jiangsu in 1996. "Please forward my best regards to your colleagues," said Hu. "I hope your working and living conditions have improved with the past decade's economic growth and hope you'll do an even better job," Hu said with a gentle voice. Toward the end of the two-hour discussion, Hu said that the report he made on behalf of the 16th CPC Central Committee is a product of democracy and crystallizes the collective wisdom of the entire Party and all the Chinese people. After deliberations and revisions at the Party congress, the report will become a political proclamation and action plan to guide the Party in uniting all the Chinese people to seek better development along the path of building socialism with Chinese characteristics, Hu said. Editor:Du Xiaodan

周杰伦the pre-orders for Jay Chou's upcoming album,Capricorn(魔杰座）, have already broken the record set by last album, On the Run(我很忙）.The album's hit song(主打歌）,Fragrant Rice(稻香），for which Chou wrote the lyrics and music himself, has been a sensation since it premiered worldwide on Sept 22.姚明By far the most popular and recognizable Chinese athlete in the world, Yao Ming has virtually created a new persona for Chinese sports.Although he is with the Houston Rockets in America's National Basketball Association, he maintains strong links in China, participating reguarly in events and charitable activities. He also led the Olympic basketball team.刘翔Among Chinese athletes, Liu is a close second to Yao Ming. He set a world record win at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and two years later, beat his own record.TOYOTAToyota Motor's iQ, a compact fuel-efficient four-seater car, is displayed at a new-car-release exhibition at the Makuhari Messe convention center near Tokyo, Oct. 15, 2008. The newly designed vehicle measuring 2.985 meters in length, 1.68 meters in width and 1.50 meters in height. It will be launched in Japan on Nov. 20 and in Europe in 2009.章子怡 这个你可以随意压缩一下 BEIJING, Oct. 15 -- For those who can't wait to see Zhang Ziyi and Leon Lai in "Mei Lanfang," check out this preview - a promotional music video for the film, starring both stars. The song "You Feel My Love" and its music video were released Tuesday, roughly two months ahead of the release of the much-anticipated biopic of Peking opera legend Mei Lanfang, Sina.com.cn reports. Leon Lai, who plays Mei Lanfang and has been a pop singer himself, directed and produced the video. "For a long time, I couldn't take the film off my mind," Lai said. No stranger to singing, this however is Zhang Ziyi's first music video of her own music. The actress, who plays Mei Lanfang's fellow singer Meng Xiaodong, said the video took her back to the days of shooting the film. "The character is one of my favorite," Zhang said, calling the love between Meng and Mei her "most impressive on-screen romance." Shooting of "Mei Lanfang," the latest work directed by the Golden Palm-winning Chen Kaige, was finished in February. It is currently in post-production.