Safeguard Treasures

Controls on the export of antiques are to be tightened to protect the nation's treasures, according to a top cultural official.

Shan Jixiang, Director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, said recently that new rules to be introduced at the end of the year will prohibit the export of antiques that date before 1911-which marked the end of the rule of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

Current regulations prevent dealers and collectors from moving any items out of the country that date before 1795.

Shan said that when the new regulations come into effect, "many items in current circulation on the mainland will be stopped from flowing into the overseas market." The rules are being changed to improve the status of cultural heritage protection, he said.

A Farewell

The late Chinese Vice Premier Huang Ju, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, died of an illness at 2:03 a.m. on June 2 in Beijing at the age of 69.

An obituary issued by the central authorities called Huang "an excellent member of the CPC, a long-tested and faithful Communist fighter and an outstanding leader of the Party and the state."

His remains were cremated on June 5. Top leaders including President Hu Jintao paid their final respects and bid farewell to Huang at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery.

Pray for Rain

Continued droughts have left nearly 4 million people in southwest China's Sichuan Province short of drinking water.

Since early last month, Sichuan has witnessed a rise in rainfall. But due to the uneven distribution of rainfall and continued high temperatures, 46 cities, districts and counties in the province are suffering from drought, said Zuo Xiong, Deputy Director of Sichuan Weather Bureau.

A total of 3.988 million people and 4.46 million cattle have inadequate drinking water, and 116,000 people have to rely on water wagons to supply them with drinking water, he said.

Droughts are hampering farm production in the province as about 333,000 hectares of paddy fields are waiting for rain to plant rice, according to Zhao Shiyong, an agronomist in the province.

Diplomatic Success

The establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Costa Rica marks a brand-new stage in the development of bilateral relations, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Jiang Yu said on June 7. China and Costa Rica announced on the same day that they had agreed to establish diplomatic ties after the Latin American country agreed to break off official relations with Taiwan. Jiang also reiterated that China would like to establish and develop normal state relations with all the countries that have no diplomatic ties with China. "The Taiwan issue is the only obstacle standing between China and these countries in developing relations," the spokeswoman said, calling on those countries to make the correct choice. Costa Rica is the 169th country to establish diplomatic relations with China. An increasing number of countries have set up diplomatic ties with China, fully demonstrating that the "One-China" principle is widely accepted by the international community, she said.

New TOEIC Test

ETS (Educational Testing Service) will offer the new Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) to test takers in China on November 25, 2007, according to ETS and the Occupational Skill Testing Authority of China.

The new test, a redesigned version of the TOEIC, measures the everyday English skills of people working in an international business environment. It includes more authentic English-language reading and listening tasks and provides score users with more information about test takers' abilities.

The TOEIC Speaking and Writing Tests will be introduced in December 2007 to complement the listening and reading tests that premiered in China in 2002.

There will be no change in the test format, and test scores from past administrations remain valid and equivalent to the new test.