| New ISO President
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(XINHUA) |
Zhang Xiaogang, Chairman of the World Steel Association and a member of the China Standardization Expert Committee, was elected president of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in St. Petersburg, Russia, on September 21. He is the first Chinese to assume the post.
Founded in 1947, the ISO is the largest and most authoritative international standard-setting body. By the end of 2012, the ISO had developed and published about 20,000 standards, which have played an important role in world economy and trade.
Desertification Fighter
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(XINHUA) |
Wang Wenbiao, Chairman of Elion Resources Group in China, was awarded the Global Drylands Champions award by the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Windhoek, Namibia, on September 23.
The award is a UNCCD initiative that recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to leadership in sustainable land management, especially across the drylands.
Wang has spent the last 25 years in combating desertification in the Hobq Desert of China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, turning more than 5,000 square km into green land, an equivalent of 1.43 percent of global desertified areas.
"Although early education centers can no doubt teach some skills to children, good development depends on learning within the family."
Liu Yan, an expert researching preschool education at Beijing Normal University, commenting on Chinese parental predilections for early educational centers, on September 19
"The move shows the Party and Central Government are determined to further improve and root out official extravagance rather than making empty promises."
Wu Hui, an associate professor of governance at the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, in response to a new regulation on spending for official conferences aimed at streamlining government work and curbing extravagance
"Not only should the gates of courts be opened, but more media for judicial publicity should be created and utilized."
Zhou Qiang, President of the Supreme People's Court, in response to the growing use of social media by Chinese courts, such as the use of Weibo, a Twitter-like micro-blogging service, to post details of Bo Xilai's trial by the Jinan Intermediate People's Court in Shandong Province
"Xinjiang should be established as a western port for China's foreign trade given the fact that it is located at what has been an important merchant route, the 'Silk Road,' since ancient times."
Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, at the fourth national work conference on "pairing assistance" projects to support Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region development, which was held in Beijing on September 23-24 | 
