The Communist Party of China (CPC) is going to amend the Party Constitution in its upcoming 17th national congress scheduled for October 15, to "reflect the scientific concept of development" and other major theoretical developments, announced at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

The key political catch phrase since the 16th CPC Central Committee in 2002 has been people-centered development that is comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable, which was put forward in October 2003.

It refers to coordinated development between urban and rural areas, among different regions, between economic and social development, between the development of man and nature, and between domestic development and opening up to the outside world.

China-ASEAN Pageant Expanded

The Fourth China-Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Expo will be held on October 28-31 in Nanning, capital city of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. This year's expo sets port cooperation as its main focus and will co-sponsor the China-ASEAN Port Development and Cooperation Forum with the Ministry of Communications of China.

A total of 3,300 international standard booths will be set up at the expo this year, which have all been booked. By September 1, ASEAN countries had confirmed reservations for 1,126 booths. Besides Viet Nam and Malaysia, which will occupy a whole exhibition hall each, this year, Thailand, Indonesia and Myanmar will join the ranks.

International Vocational Accreditation Introduced

The Occupational Skill Testing Authority of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security signed an agreement with City & Guilds, the UK-based vocational accreditation body, which will train and grant qualifications to 70,000 vocational workers in China over the next two years.

The contract with China's leading government vocational skills accreditation authority will allow City & Guilds to provide Chinese students with a range of its International Vocational Qualifications in Chinese. They cover retailing, telecommunication systems, international tourism and hospitality and catering, areas where China is experiencing a severe shortage of qualified professionals.

Anti-corruption in Non-governmental Agencies

The newly established National Bureau of Corruption Prevention (NBCP) aims to address the lack of preventive policies against corruption in private companies and non-governmental agencies, the NBCP head said.

"Corruption not only occurs in government departments but also in companies and non-governmental organizations. No specific department was responsible for drawing up preventive policies for them and monitoring their implementation until the NBCP was set up," said Ma Wen, the NBCP head and also Minister of Supervision, on September 18.

The NBCP will work out guidelines on corruption prevention for companies and public undertakings, help trade organizations develop a self-disciplined system, put forward policies guarding against commercial bribery and initiate publicity campaigns on corruption prevention.

First Chinese Commander for UN

Chinese Major General Zhao Jingmin took office in Western Sahara's capital Laayoun as force commander of the UN mission for the referendum in the former Spanish colony (MINURSO) on September 17.

Zhao, who succeeded General Kurt Mosgaard of Denmark, is the first Chinese officer to be appointed by the UN as a peacekeeping force commander since the country began participating in UN peacekeeping missions 17 years ago.

From 1996 to 1997 Zhao served as a liaison officer with the UN Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission. He also served in MINURSO as a military observer from September 1991 to June 1992.

In 1991, the UN peacekeeping force, MINURSO, was set up to monitor the ceasefire between the two sides and organize a referendum on the future of Western Sahara. However, the referendum has been delayed due to serious disagreements between the warring parties and the mandate of MINURSO has been renewed repeatedly.