Politics

A cluster of cities in the central China province of Hunan has been designated the country's first experimental zone for energy-saving and environment programs according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). The cities of Changsha, Zhuzhou, Xiangtan, and Wuhan were chosen because they are part of China's industrial heartland, and a lack of resources and environmental pollution have impeded their development.

Whatever the outcome of UN-led climate talks in Indonesia, China will stick to its energy-saving and pollution control program. Xie Zhenhua, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said the government had commissioned a manual on ways to cut emissions and save energy as part of its efforts to transform the everyday lives of Chinese people. If every Chinese person took one hour a day to follow the suggestions of the manual, Xie said, the country would save the energy equivalent of 200 million tons of coal a year, or 450 million tons in carbon emissions.

Overseas banks have seen their business steadily expanding in China since last December, when the country fully opened its banking sector to foreign competitors, a senior official with the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) said Tuesday. Total assets of overseas banks in China had hit 153.9 billion US dollars by the end of October, up 41 percent from the same month last year. By the end of October, more than 90 overseas banks had operations on the Chinese mainland, running about 230 branches. In addition, there were three joint-venture banks.

China will pull thousands of pesticides from the shelves to help improve food safety, according to the Agriculture Ministry. Chinese farmers are often bewildered by the country's under-regulated pesticides market, with some 23,000 products sold under 16,000 names. Right now there are more than 1,700 in common use, but there is a kaleidoscope of product names that a lot of people don't know.