Experts expect drought to last until May

Higher temperatures and low rainfall are forecast for those regions this month and next, the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said on Tuesday.

By Tuesday, about 6.61 million people, mainly in Yunnan, Gansu, Henan, Sichuan and Hubei provinces, did not have adequate drinking water because of the drought, which has also affected 7.3 million hectares of farmland, the agency said.

“At present, the drought in the whole country is light compared with previous years,” said Zhang Xu, an official at the agency, at a news conference in Beijing. “But it is severe in some provinces, such as Yunnan and Sichuan.”

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Jin Zhu via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/L-R5z3f8LBw/

Hong Kong’s retail sales up 22.7 pct in February

The value of Hong Kong’s total retail sales in February 2013, provisionally estimated at 41.4 billion HK dollars (about 5.34 billion U.S. dollars), grew 22.7 percent over a year earlier, the city’s Census and Statistics Department said on Tuesday.

After netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, the volume of total retail sales increased by 21.9 percent in February 2013 compared with a year earlier.

The revised estimate of the value of total retail sales in January 2013, at 47.7 billion HK dollars, increased by 10.5 percent over January 2012, while the volume of total retail sales increased by 10.4 percent.

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English.news.cn via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/nPumji1aXCE/

Business on mainland attracts Taiwan

More help for people from island to travel, work and start enterprises

Even though only a few customers go to Xiao Huang-biao’s food stand each day, the Taiwan native does not regret coming to the Chinese mainland to seek his fortune.

Xiao, 52, arrived on the mainland from his hometown of Kaohsiung five years ago. In 2012, he opened a snack stand selling southern Taiwan food in Pingtan county, Fujian province, where his wife comes from.

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An Baijie via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/200_Io5L_Sw/

Chinese to streamline gov’t by strengthening industry associations

China will improve the nation’s industry associations in an effort to streamline government agencies and readjust governments’ roles, the Ministry of Civil Affairs announced on Tuesday.

The ministry is going to further decouple industry associations from government agencies to which they were previously affiliated and bring into full play their roles in market regulation.

It will also launch a campaign to boost the self-discipline and social credibility of industry associations.

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English.news.cn via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/N35mZI9vxM4/

China confirms 4 more cases of H7N9 bird flu

FOUR people in eastern Jiangsu Province have been confirmed as being infected with the lesser-known H7N9 bird flu, bringing the total number of infections in the country to seven.

The four, from four cities in Jiangsu, are in a critical condition and under emergency treatment, the provincial health bureau said in a statement yesterday.

The four were confirmed as having H7N9 avian influenza by an expert team summoned by the provincial health bureau, based on clinical observations, laboratory tests and epidemiological surveys, the statement said.

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Xinhua/Shanghai Daily via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/NYNTLXIH8rs/

China Conflicted on Its Stance Toward the North

The unusually robust U.S. measures to North Korea’s latest threats have complicated the response of China’s new leadership to Pyongyang.

Many observers see evidence that the leadership is increasingly frustrated by the failure of its North Korea policy, and concerned about the prospects of another military clash on its border, analysts say. But those concerns are still outweighed by military commanders’ desire to maintain Pyongyang as a strategic buffer against the U.S.—a desire that has intensified as a result of the U.S. “pivot” toward Asia.

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Jeremy Page, Wall Street Journal via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/Z2mmbMk7aXg/

Could China and Japan see a spring thaw in relations?

The first shoots of a possible spring thaw in China’s relations with Japan are sprouting after more than six frosty months of a territorial dispute that has pushed the two Asian neighbors to the brink of military confrontation.

In reciprocal, though unofficial, gestures, cultural envoys from both sides are exchanging visits this month in a resumption of such ties that could herald a relaxation of diplomatic tensions, observers here say.

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Peter Ford, Christian Science Monitor via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/tppHk2aB0sU/