In This EditionChinese Premier Wen Jiabao starts an official visit to Iceland.

Chinese military experts say India's successful test launch of a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile may pose a threat to China.

Group of 20 industrial nations pledge over 400 billion dollars to boost the lending capacity of the International Monetary Fund.

And experts suggest that innovation is what Chinese enterprises need to stress on if they wish to close the gap between theirs and western companies.

Hot Issue ReportsPremier Wen's Visit to Europe Set to Improve China-EU CooperationChinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in Reykjavik on Friday, kicking off a two-day visit to Iceland, which is the first official visit by a Chinese premier to the island nation in 41 years. The Premier will also visit Sweden and Poland. Chinese officials and experts say China-EU cooperation has proved prosperous in spite of the European debt crisis. Su Yi has more.

During Premier Wen's visit,China will sign a series of cooperative pacts with related countries.

Last year, bilateral trade volume reached 560 billion US dollars. China is expected to become Europe's largest trade partner in the near future and vice versa.

Professor Feng Zhongping with the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, says that both China's 12th Five-Year Plan and the 2020 European Strategy emphasize the concept of green economy and sustainable development, thus setting a solid foundation for pragmatic cooperation.

"China is an important market, and Europe is advanced in regards to certain technologies. This makes the two parties interdependent and complementary. We can enhance the level of cooperation despite there being some competition. Actually, we are broadening our cooperation in the fields of development modes, intellectual property rights protection and so on."It will be the first visit by a Chinese Premier to Iceland in 41 years and the first by a Chinese Premier to Sweden in 28 years.

Chinese vice minister of Commerce, Jiang Yaoping says those countries that Premier Wen is set to visit have their own distinctiveness, especially the one in central and eastern Europe.

"Despite a number of negative effects caused by the current European debt crisis, central and eastern European countries are the rising markets. And we believe these negative effects are only temporary. They have preferable geographical locations, solid industrial foundations, qualified and cheap labor. There is huge potential in cooperation on transferring economic growth mode and upgrading industrial structure between China and central and eastern Europe."Analysts say Premier Wen will discuss the European debt crisis issue with European leaders and during the visit, the Chinese Premier will also attend a world-leading industrial expo in Germany.

For CRI, I am Su Yi.

China to Boost Cultural Exchanges with CanadaChina vows to deepen bilateral ties with Canada by boosting cultural exchanges between the two countries.

Li Changchun a member of the Standing Committee of the CPC, on a 4 day visit to Canada, says cultural exchange is the key to mutual understanding.

"People-to-people contact is the key to enhance mutual understanding between the two countries, and cultural exchange works to this end. I'm very happy to know that learning Chinese becomes so popular among young people here in Canada as the bilateral ties between the two countries strengthened."Li made the comments during the visit to the Confucius Institute of Carleton University in Ottawa.

Roseann O'Reilly Runte, president of Carleton University, says the institute will help business people gain a clear impression of China.

Military Experts: China & India to Find Common Grounds for DevelopmentChinese military experts say India's successful test launch of a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile has enhanced the country's nuclear deterrence power and may pose a threat to its neighbors, including China.

The missile has a range of 5,000 kilometers, encompassing the whole of Asia, 70 percent of Europe and other regions under its strike range.

Chinese military expert, Yin Zhuo suggests China and India should find ways of common development rather than being in competiting with their defense forces.

"India's nuclear weapons, which can cover all over China is indeed a direct threat to China's national security. Of course we need to strengthen our defense forces. But more importantly, as both China and India are BRICS countries and the development engine of the world's economy, we need to find our common interests for development. It is unwise for India to launch military confrontation against China."Ji Mingkui from Chinese National Defense University analyzed that the missile has put India among a select band of countries in the world to possess Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile technology. But he analyzed the United States may not tolerate India to expand its power in South Asia.

"The U.S. and his western allies took sanctions against India when it launched nuclear test before the 9.11 incident. After that, the US tolerated India's move out of its own strategic interests, the anti-terrorism need. But the US is still not willing to see India's nuclear strength keep on expanding."India is a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency but has not signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty or the Non-Proliferation Treaty. India has carried out two nuclear tests - in 1974 and 1998.

UN Mulls Expanding the MissionThe UN Security Council is now considering expanding its mission to Syria, on the request of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

The proposed mission would see observers put in 10 locations throughout Syria.

Ban Ki-moon is recommending 3-hundred observers for the mission.

"This is not a decision without risk. But I believe it can contribute to achieving a just peace and political settlement, reflecting the people's will in Syria."So far only an advance team is in Syria to monitor the fragile ceasefire.

IMF Receives Strong Commitment from G20G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors have pledged to contribute over 400 billion dollars to boost the lending capacity of the International Monetary Fund. The agreement was reached at the spring meetings of the IMF and the World Bank, which started Friday in Washington. CRI's Xiao Hong reports.

Mexico Finance Minister Jose Antonio Meade made the announcement at the ongoing Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Washington, the United States.

"At our Joint Meeting of the IMF and G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors today, we have reached agreement to enhance IMF resources for crisis prevention and resolution. This is the result of a broad international cooperative effort that includes a significant number of countries."IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde voiced her appreciation of the fresh commitment.

"We warmly welcome pledges by our members to increase IMF resources by over $430 billion, almost doubling our lending capacity. This signals the strong resolve of the international community to secure global financial stability and put the world economic recovery on a sounder footing."The increased resources will be used to build a global finance firewall for crisis prevention and resolution.

Analysts believe the latest commitment of the G20 countries will help stabilize the shaking markets in recent weeks in the wake of fresh urgency in the Eurozone.

Despite the efforts and IMF's forecast of improved global economic outlook, the recovery of global economy remains fragile. And Asia is likely to be the main driver of growth.

Anoop Singh, Director of IMF's Asia Pacific Department, says leading economic indicators for Asia have strengthened, and growth is gaining momentum, anchored by robust growth in China. But he also warned policymakers in the region to address fresh challenges on the horizon.

"Policymakers in the emerging Asia need to tackle challenges including overheating, mounting inflationary pressure and rebounding capital inflow, and they have policy instruments and space to deal with the challenges."He says China needs to continue with shifting its economic growth model and boost domestic consumption to keep strong growth in the future.

For CRI, this is Xiaohong, reporting from Washington.

Expert: Chinese Firms' Innovation Capacity to be ImprovedA total of 136 Chinese enterprises have been entered into the world's top 2000 list, released by Forbes Global 2000. China is still outnumbered by the US and Japan, ranking third in terms of the number of selected firms. However, experts are suggesting that Chinese enterprises should be looking to enhance their capacity to innovate if they wish to close the gap on American and Japanese companies.

Wei Tong has more.

There is an increase of 15 Chinese enterprises on the list compared with last year's result. Six firms have been on top 30, four of which are banks like China Construction Bank and Bank of China.

China is also this year's top profit center with 225 billion US dollars in profits of the 136 enterprises.

Zhang Wen, a senior research fellow from Chinese prestigious Qinghua University says in spite of the achievements, there is a long way to go for Chinese firms to enhance their capacity of innovation.

"As far as I am concerned, banks are not developing completely by its own innovation capacity. Some banks still largely rely on the support from the government and lack of initiatives and creativity. It is very hard to find innovative elements from the financial products provided by the banks since they are more or less the same. I suggest they have their own speciality products."A majority of enterprises on the top 2000 list are the state-owned ones mainly in oil, steel and power generation industries.

Zhang Wen added that China should further encourage the development of internet and telecommunication industry to enhance the global competitiveness of the relevant enterprises.

"The gaps between Chinese enterprises and their foreign peers are comparatively small in terms of the internet and telecommunication sector. China's internet equipment provides Huawei and ZTE are leading the world either in technology or in management. So we need to speed up the development in these fields."The Forbes Global 2000 are the biggest and most powerful listed companies in the world. The rankings are assessed by a range of business index, such as revenue, capital and profits.

For CRI, this is Wei Tong.

Businesses Expect Further Relaxation of Policy Controls over Tax Exemption ProgramOne year after Hainan launched a pilot program exempting tourists from paying tax in some of its stores, shopping revenues on the island resort have increased dramatically.

However, businesses and local officials point out that trade is still being handicapped by strict policy controls.... and many are pondering how much more could be achieved if those controls were to be further relaxed.

CRI's Robert Costelloe has more.

This time last year, the tourist city of Sanya became the first city in Hainan where tourists can shop duty-free.

The capital city Haikou followed just months later.

Duty-free shops in the two cities have seen a combined sales value of 1.8 billion yuan since the program started.

People purchase all kinds of commodities in these shops, among which the likes of Armani, Prada and Gucci are the most sought after.

"I'm here to buy Lanc?me cosmetics.""I've come to Hainan many times before; and every time I'm here, I'll visit these duty free shops."Duty-Free shopping in Hainan means that shoppers can buy products at a price 30 to 40% less than the price of the same goods in mainland shops.

Luo Chun Di is deputy manager of a duty free shop at the Haikou Meilan international airport.

Luo says there was a process of adaptation following the implementation of the complex rules.

When we first started, there were issues when the products went to customs to get checked and there were issues with what products we can put on the shelves. But as we have become familiar with the procedures, the process is getting smoother."For residents on the island, they can only enjoy such discounts once a year, while shoppers visiting from the outside can only make such purchases no more than twice each year.

Cheng Yuan is an official with the provincial taxation and revenue department.

"Whether we can expand the policy in terms of the number of items discounted, or the number of times shoppers can enjoy such discounts will depend on the evaluation from relative government departments. We are carefully examining all the details of the policy and its execution. But relaxing the controls further within the following year all depends on whether we can get permission."Hainan is the fourth tourism destination around the world to adopt a duty-free policy .

For CRI, I'm Robert Losteuoe.

International Photographers in China for Start of ExhibitionThis weekend sees the start of the Caochangdi international photography exhibition in and around Beijing's 798 art district.

Dominic Swire recently visited to get a taste of what to expect.

Workers prepare an art gallery for an international photography festival in the northeast of Beijing.

"My name's Brian Griffin, I'm a photographer from England. The reason I'm playing a part in this festival is that I was invited by the director of the Arles Festival in the South of France, which is the biggest and most important photo festival in the world and he was asked to contribute towards this festival with a photographer and I was fortunate enough to be the chosen one. ""This environment here is world class, really. It's extraordinary, this gallery, it's probably the finest photographic gallery in the world, near as damn it. The architecture, the design, the light."The Caochangdi photography festival works in collaboration with the Arles Festival in France, which has a history of over 40 years.

"My name is Jillian Schultz. I'm the International Programming Director here at the 3 Shadows photography art centre and I'm also helping to organize the Caochangdi Photo Spring Festival.""This is our third year, we began in 2010. And each year we've seen more participation both internationally and domestically. So I feel like at the beginning of our project we were dealing with a lot of photographers coming from Arles to Beijing and now there's a lot of interest in photography springing up in Beijing itself and in terms of photography the scene itself in China, the 3 Shadows annual photography award is a great indicator as well. This year there were over 350 applicants which is the largest number that we've ever seen."Stefen Chow from Singapore is another photographer showing work at Caochangdi. He lives in Beijing and says the city helps his inspiration.

"I think in Beijing right now you really do have a lot of opportunities and a lot of ideas because living in Beijing you see a lot of issues around you and I think the whole melting pot of history, modernity, politics, and the world's spotlight on Beijing really makes it interesting to be living here and experiencing that."The festival will show around 30 exhibitions in various galleries across Beijing. It runs until the end of May.

For CRI, I'm Dominic Swire.

China DailyThe newspaper is reporting that major tourism cities around the world will be providing services designated for Chinese travelers in the near future.

The services could include road signs and introductions written in Chinese as well as emergency treatment for tourists.

Up until now, it hasn't been easy for Chinese tourists to travel abroad because in many tourist cities, signs and instructions are mainly written in English, French and Spanish.

To overcome the language barrier, many tourists chose to travel with agencies.

One woman who's been traveling around the world for the past two years, says travelling with tour groups means all she does is hop off tourist buses to take pictures or use the washroom and then hop back on for the next destination.

China's tourism administration has predicted that the number of outbound trips from the country this year is likely to exceed 78 million.

And during the recent economic recession, a number of countries including the US have relaxed visa application criteria for Chinese tourists making travel more accessible.

Shanghai DailyThe newspaper is reporting that hundreds of alumni of Wuhan University of Technology in Hubei province have tricked the university into granting them degrees by faking qualifications.

It's being said that many of the alumni are now high-level cadres.

The report says the students faked their education experience, bachelor's degrees and entry test scores to win master's degrees from the uni, and some students even faked their work experience to meet the requirement of certain programs.

The students involved are now working in the local tax bureau, banks and other public sectors.

A media report says that the university's regional campus in Hebei province has admitted that some master's degrees were issued to students without admission qualification.

The report also shows that the son of the Uni's vice president has been given a bachelor's degree, without any record of graduation.

An official with the university says the academic board has launched an investigation and punishment might be imposed on the students and faculty members involved.

ReutersReuters is reporting that Starbucks will stop using a natural, US government-approved coloring made from crushed beetles in its strawberry flavoring by June.

Apparently the move comes after growing concerns of the vegetarian customers.

Starbucks has been using the extract in its strawberry frappuccinos and smoothies, as well as some deserts like raspberry swirl cake.

The extract is a commonly used food coloring approved by the US Food and Drug administration.

A blogger started an online petition earlier this year to pressure Starbucks to stop the practice as vegetarian customers might be unaware of what the extract is actually made from.

Starbucks says it will use a natural tomato-based extract to replace the crushed beetles.

The TelegraphThe newspaper is reporting that research conducted by Oxford University shows that women tend to pursue the man they desire with phone calls and texts until they give in to a romantic relationship.

Though after a couple are married the phone contact tends to die down.

The study looked at the phone records of more than three million Britons to see who they called or texted the most.

The results suggest that women call their spouse more than any other person until their children are of childbearing age.

By contrast, men call their spouse most often for the first seven years of their relationship, then begin contacting their friends more frequently instead.

The researchers are saying it's the first strong evidence that romantic relationships are driven by women.

Market UpdateU.S. stocks ended mixed on Friday as the Dow and the S&P 500 were boosted by solid earnings while the Nasdaq was weighed down by the continuous sell-off in Apple shares.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.5 percent to 13,029. The Standard & Poor's 500 was up 0.1 percent to 1,379. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.2 percent to 3,000.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 gained 0.5 percent to 5772. Frankfurt's DAX rose 1.2 percent to 6750. CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.5 percent to 3189.