At least 43 people have died and 150 injured in a 5.7 magnitude earthquake that hit the border area of southwest China's Yunnan and Guizhou provinces.

Most victims were from Yiliang County in Yunnan, the epicenter. No casualties have been reported in Guizhou.

More than 100,000 people have been evacuated in Yunnan.

Over than 20,000 houses were damaged or collapsed in the quake

Authorities in Yunnan have already sent work teams to the quake-hit area and the civil affairs department is transporting thousands of tents, quilts and coats to the area.

 

 

Chinese President meets Russia's Putin

 

Chinese President Hu Jintao has met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Coopoeration forum in Russia.

This is their second meeting in three months, following Putin's visit to China in May.

Hu Jintao also had separate meetings with Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang and Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.

At the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting slated for the weekend, President Hu and leaders of other APEC members will discuss trade and investment liberalization, regional economic integration, food security as well as cooperation in fostering innovative growth.

 

 

China, US conduct maritime rescue exercise

 

China Maritime Safety Administration and the US Coast Guard have successfully completed two days of search and rescue exercises in Hawaii.

The exercises began with a table top discussion to start a dialogue between the two agencies which share a common mission of protecting life at sea.

China's Haixun 31 and its helicopter aircrews joined the drill.

The US Coast Guard says the exercise served as a building block toward a cooperative partnership concerning maritime search and rescue as well as environmental protection measures.

 

 

Obama accepts Democratic Party's presidential nomination

 

U.S. President Barack Obama has formally accepted the Democratic Party's presidential nomination for a second term.

During the prime time speech at the Democratic National Convention, Obama stressed that under his first term the nation is "moving forward."

Organizers of the convention said nearly 6,000 delegates attended the three-day convention in Charlotte, the largest city of North Carolina.

The Democrats hope the three-day convention would generate a renewed enthusiasm for Obama's re-election bid and help him win North Carolina.

 

 

S. Korea offers humanitarian assistant to flood-hit DPRK

 

South Korea has offered to send aid to the flood-stricken North Korea and is awaiting a response.

Unification minister Yu Woo-ik says South Korea recently expressed its intention to help its northern neighbor recover from droughts, heavy rains and typhoons

While the two Koreas still remain sharply at odds over deadly border clashes in 2010, the offer could lead to the first aid shipment to the North in two years.

North Korea's state media have reported that the recent flooding left some 170 people dead and 400 missing.

 

 

S. Korea stages defense drills near disputed islets

 

South Korea has staged drills in waters near a set of islets at the center of a brewing diplomatic row with Japan.

The one-day joint defense drill, joined by the Navy and the Coast Guard, was aimed at deterring foreigners from trespassing into South Korea's territorial waters.

The exercise, launched in 1986, came amid a reignited dispute over the sparsely inhabited Dokdo islets, called Takeshima in Japan.

South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak's high-profile visit to the islands last month drew strong protest from Japan, which subsequently proposed taking the issue to the International Court of Justice.

 

 

LNA to become economic growth engine of northwest China

 

Lanzhou New Area, China's fifth national special economic development zone, is set to become a growth engine to boost the economic development of the country's northwest region.

Lanzhou New Area was approved by the State Council in August.

It is also the first state-level new development area in the northwest of China.

This marks the country's latest effort to accelerate development of the western regions.

LNA has already attracted 90 investment projects, with a total volume of nearly 71 billion yuan.

The area's GDP is expected to reach 50 billion yuan by 2015.

 

 

Chinese provinces: GM rice test on children lacks approval

 

Authorities from Hunan and Zhejiang provinces say they did not issue approval for the time and location of a controversial human experiment of genetically-modified rice.

National authorities are now investigating whether dozens of children in Hunan were used as test subjects in a U.S.-China joint research project in 2008 that included Genetically Modified food Golden Rice.

Currently, there is still no consensus on whether or not Genetically Modified food is harmful to the human body.