CHINA, EU TO BOOST STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP

China and the European Union reaffirmed their goal of concluding talks on the bilateral investment agreement before year's end and agreed to bolster cooperation on green development and the digital sector during a leaders' meeting on Monday.

The meeting, held via video link, was co-chaired by President Xi Jinping, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The two sides agreed to accelerate talks on the investment agreement. Negotiating teams have had 31 rounds of talks on the agreement since negotiations were launched in 2014.

China and the EU will establish a high-level dialogue on the environment and climate and work together in the digital sector to build green and digital cooperative partnerships, according to a decision at the meeting.

In his remarks at the meeting, Xi underlined the need for the two sides to unwaveringly pursue the healthy and steady growth of the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership while adhering to the principles of peaceful coexistence, openness and cooperation, multilateralism as well as dialogue and consultation.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the profound changes unseen in a century, and mankind is standing at a new crossroads, he said.

China and the EU, as important trading and investment partners should enhance the coordination of macro policies and come up with more measures to unleash more cooperative opportunities, Xi said.

With China proposing a global data security initiative, Xi said it is his hope that the EU will work with China to promote the creation of standards and rules on the governance of the global digital economy.

He said China has been closely following the recent moves made by the EU in the areas of 5G, examination of foreign investment, government procurement and competition policies, and he hopes the EU will maintain the openness of its trade and investment markets and create an open, fair and nondiscriminatory business environment to ensure the legitimate interests of Chinese firms.

Xi underlined the importance of enhanced bilateral cooperation on the research and development of COVID-19 vaccines and making them global public goods that are beneficial and available for all, especially people in developing countries.

He also stressed that the issues involving the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region are in essence matters regarding the defense of China's national sovereignty, security and unity and the protection of rights for the people to live safe and happy lives.

Beijing will resolutely oppose any individual or forces trying to instigate instability, division or chaos in the country, and firmly object to the intervention in China's internal affairs by any country, he added. As for human rights, China will not accept lectures from other countries and will object to the practice of double standards, he said.

The leaders also announced the signing of a bilateral agreement on geographical indications on food products. The agreement was hailed by the council of the EU as "the first significant bilateral trade agreement signed between the EU and China".

CHINA'S INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT UP 5.6% IN AUGUST

China's economy continued to recover in August from the damages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic as key economic data pointed to a stabilizing trend, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday.

China's industrial output expanded by 5.6 percent on a yearly basis in August, faster than the growth rate of the previous month by 0.8 percentage point.

The country's retail sales returned to growth for the first time this year, rising 0.5 percent year-on-year in August, according to the NBS.

Fixed-asset investment including those in manufacturing, infrastructure and property sectors grew by 4.18 percent in August from the previous month. From January to August, fixed-asset investment fell by 0.3 percent year-on-year, narrowing from the 1.6 percent drop in the first seven months.

YUNNAN CITY REPORTS TWO NEW INFECTIONS

Ruili city in Yunnan province has locked down all border villages and blocked cross-border movement after two imported COVID-19 cases from Myanmar were confirmed over the weekend.

According to a notice released by the city's epidemic control command center on Sunday, the number of residents in bordering villages and their movement should be clearly recorded. Any cross-border visits to family members or friends are now prohibited.

The local government has also stepped up efforts to crack down on illegal crossings and to persuade illegal immigrants to return. Those who violate the rule will be handled by local public security, the notice said.

A citywide screening campaign that targets illegal immigrants in particular will be rolled out to identify hidden risks of the virus' spread and strengthening awareness about disease control measures.

Meetings will be reduced and large gatherings, including the city's live broadcasts and trading activities for jade and jewelry, will be halted, the notice said.

All weddings will be delayed, and funerals will be held in a simple manner, it added.

Mask-wearing will be mandatory in all public spaces, including supermarkets, hotels and workplaces. A variety of virus control policies, such as taking temperatures, conducting disinfections and presenting health codes will also be strengthened.

The Yunnan Provincial Health Commission reported two new confirmed imported cases on Sunday.

Both are from Myanmar and arrived in Ruili recently. One was identified as an imported asymptomatic case on Saturday and reclassified as a confirmed case on Sunday.

The two patients are now receiving treatment at a hospital, and all close contacts have been placed under medical observation.

As of Sunday, there were seven imported confirmed cases in Yunnan, including one in critical condition. Five asymptomatic cases are under isolation.

Ruili's epidemic control command center also released a notice on Saturday, saying that a residential block will be placed under lockdown starting at 6 pm that day, in response to the detection of a suspected case in it. No residents or vehicles are allowed to leave, it said.

Another notice released around the same time said that residents in a residential block nearby should abide by home-based isolation requirements as of 6 pm that day.

China has reported no new locally transmitted cases for 29 consecutive days as of Sunday, but there is a steady number of new imported cases found in arrivals on a daily basis.

On Sunday, the Chinese mainland reported 10 new confirmed cases, all travelers from overseas.

While airline passengers arriving in the country will be managed in a closed-off loop to stem potential risks of the virus' spread, border control officers said previously that regions with land crossings are more susceptible to new infections from overseas as some illegal immigrants may take advantage of small and hidden alleys.

NEW HOME PRICES POST STEADY GROWTH

New home prices rose at a slightly faster monthly pace in August in China as the sector continued to recover on the back of resurgent consumer demand, according to official data released on Monday.

Industry experts said, though the peak season for real estate sales has arrived in China, prices may not see too much of upward fluctuations as the tightening measures will help keep prices under control, experts said.

Led by Huizhou in Guangdong province, 59 of the 70 cities tracked by the National Bureau of Statistics reported a growth in new home prices in August, same as that of July. Overall, the 70 Chinese cities reported a 0.6 percent growth in new home prices on a monthly basis and by 4.7 percent on a yearly basis.

"Home prices have remained largely stable with marginal growth. Most of the local governments have been strictly following the central government's directive that housing is for living in and not for speculation and taking timely steps to ensure that the long-term mechanisms are effective," said Kong Peng, chief statistician of the NBS.

Tight curbs on home prices in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, had an overflow effect and partly drove up home prices in the nearby Huizhou city, said Yan Yuejin, director of Shanghai-based E-house China Research and Development Institution. Yinchuan, capital of Ningxia Hui autonomous region, saw the biggest growth in new home prices on a yearly basis among the 70 major cities tracked by the NBS.

New home prices of the four benchmark first-tier cities rose by 0.6 percent on a monthly basis, with Guangzhou posting a growth of 0.9 percent, followed by Beijing and Shanghai at 0.6 percent, and Shenzhen with 0.5 percent, compared with the levels seen in July. On a yearly basis, the four top-tier cities saw a 3.9 percent growth in new home prices, according to NBS data.

In the pre-owned home market, Guangzhou saw the highest growth in transaction prices of 1.7 percent among the four top-tier cities. It was followed by Shenzhen with 1.1 percent, Shanghai at 0.8 percent and Beijing with 0.7 percent.

Forty-seven of the 70 cities reported growth in pre-owned home transaction prices, two more than the previous month.

CROSS-BORDER RAIL TUNNEL LINKS CHINA WITH LAOS

Despite geographical obstacles, construction of the cross-border tunnel on the China-Laos Railway was completed on Sunday, laying a solid foundation for the full operation of the whole line, according to local authorities.

Dubbed the "friendship tunnel", the key project of the railway stretched 9.59 kilometers, with 7.17 kilometers in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan province, and 2.42 kilometers on the Lao section, according to the China Railway Kunming Group.

However, with the fractured rock mass, water-induced softening in clay-rich sandstone and poor self-stability, the complex geological situation created huge difficulties for construction and safety control, said Luo Hengfu, project manager of the China Railway No 2 Engineering Group.

"Mudstone and sandstone are very water-softened and can easily cause collapse and deformation during construction," he said, adding that the company came up with targeted measures to ensure safety while speeding up construction thanks to the concerted efforts of more than 1,200 Chinese and Lao workers.

The company has also scaled up technical research on rock salt, which is high corrosive to roads, concrete and metal, and adopted world-class technologies to shield the railway from saltwater erosion, he said.

Liu Juncheng, of the China railway group, noted that the completion of the high-risk tunnel marks a significant step forward in the construction of the China-Laos project.

So far, 80 tunnels have been finished on the Yuxi-Mohan section of the Chinese part of the railway. Track-laying and construction of stations have also been in full swing, he added.

Built with the full application of Chinese management and technical standards, the 1,000-plus kilometer railway will run from Kunming, Yunnan's provincial capital, to Vientiane, capital of Laos, with an operating speed of 160 km per hour.

The railway serves as a strategic docking project between the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and Laos' strategy to transform from a landlocked country to a land-linked hub, which will boost the regional economy and bring tremendous benefits to the people in the two countries.

The electrified passenger and cargo railway, which started construction in December 2016, is scheduled to be completed and opened to traffic at the end of 2021. The railway will reduce the travel time between Kunming and Vientiane to half a day.

CHINA'S SECOND SEA-BASED SPACE LAUNCH PLACES 9 SATELLITES IN ORBIT

China launched a Long March 11 solid-propellant carrier rocket from a ship in the Yellow Sea on Tuesday morning, sending nine satellites into orbit in the nation's second sea-based launch mission.

The Long March 11-HY2 — the 10th member of the Long March 11 family — blasted off at 9:22 am from the Debo 3, a self-propelled deck barge that was modified for the mission.

About 13 minutes later, after traveling 535 kilometers, it deployed nine Jilin 1 high-resolution Earth-observation satellites — three to take videos and six to take photographs — in sun-synchronous orbits.

Each of the satellites, developed by Changguang Satellite Technology in Changchun, Jilin province, weighs about 42 kilograms. They will provide remote-sensing services to users in fields such as agriculture, forestry, land resources and environmental protection.

The Debo 3 belongs to the salvage bureau in Yantai, Shandong province. It is 159.6 meters long and 38.8 meters wide and has a carrying capacity of 20,500 metric tons. The ship is electrically propelled, with a maximum speed of 22.2 kilometers per hour.

The entire flight was controlled and monitored by engineers on board a support ship anchored several kilometers from the Debo 3. Spectators, including reporters and invited guests, were on board a large passenger liner nearby.

The mission helped to optimize seaborne launch procedures and improve the safety and reliability of such operations, laying a foundation for frequent sea-based launches in the future, said Jin Xin, the rocket's deputy project manager.

Peng Kunya, the rocket's chief designer, said the sea area used in Tuesday's launch can be used in future missions to lift satellites into sun-synchronous orbits, adding that the advantages of sea-based launches — higher efficiency, flexibility and safety — will attract more clients.

Designed and built by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, the Long March 11 is the only solid-fuel rocket in the Long March family, the pillar of China's space programs.

It is 20.8 meters long, has a diameter of 2 meters and a liftoff weight of 58 tons. The academy says it can place satellites in low-Earth orbits or sun-synchronous orbits.

It made its debut flight in September 2015 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China's Gobi Desert.

The 10 Long March 11 launches to date — eight land-based and two sea-based — have placed 51 satellites in orbit.

The rocket's first ship-based launch took place in the Yellow Sea in June last year and sent seven satellites into orbit.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things. - Peter F Drucker