Premier Wen Jiabao is calling for China and Germany to facilitate market access and investment and create a level playing field for businesses.

Wen Jiabao made the comments during a joint meeting with Chinese and German entrepreneurs along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Tianjin.

The premier says he hopes bilateral investment can expand in a sustainable and healthy manner.

 

Senior Chinese official meets Japanese vice FM

Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo has met with Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi to discuss bilateral ties.

Yamaguchi handed Dai a letter that Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda had written to Chinese President Hu Jintao.

China and Japan are currently involved in diplomatic disputes over the sovereignty of the Diaoyu Islands. 

On Thursday, Yamaguchi met with his Chinese counterpart Fu Ying .

The two exchanged ideas on bilateral relations and the situation concerning the Diaoyu Islands. 

Fu reiterated China's position, urging the Japanese side to handle issues in a discreet way and avoid undermining general China-Japan relations.

 

China calls for political dialogue to end Syrian crisis 

China says a political dialogue was the only and right way to solve the prolonged Syrian crisis.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said this during a telephone conversation with new U.N.-Arab League special envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi, who was appointed earlier this month to succeed Kofi Annan. 

Yang Jiechi said China is deeply concerned about the worsening situation in Syria and paid high attention to the humanitarian conditions in the Middle East country. 

He said the international community should stick to the principle of a political solution to the crisis, adding China would continue to work with the international community to push for a solution to the Syrian crisis.

 

NAM summit ends in Tehran, final documents stressing peace

The 16th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit has concluded in the Iranian capital of Tehran after the adoption of the outcome documents. 

The participants unanimously expressed their commitments to the principles and objectives of the NAM. 

They called for "fundamental changes" in global governance and collective management of the world as the precondition of establishing peace, and all of them expressed the call for avoiding conflicts in the world.

In the final documents, solidarity with the Palestinians has been emphasized as well.

 

10 injured as plane makes crash landing in E. Pakistan

At least 10 people have been injured when a plane made a crash landing at an airport in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore.

The accident occurred when a passenger plane of state-run Pakistan International Airline carrying around 35 people slipped away from the runway while landing due to rainy weather.

 

At least three die in new U.S. shooting 

At least three people died in a shooting Friday in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

The shooting occurred inside a Pathmark supermarket located in Old Bridge, a suburb about 40 km from the city of New York.

The shooter was believed to be among the dead. 

The latest incident follows a shootout in New York City on Aug. 24, in which a gunmen was killed and nine bystanders were wounded.

 

Death toll rises to 41 in Sichuan colliery blast 

Forty-one miners have been confirmed dead and five others are still unaccounted for after Wednesday's gas explosion in a coal mine in the southwestern province of Sichuan.

A total of 154 miners were working underground when the blast hit the coal mine in Panzhihua City.

107 of them have been rescued. 

The 49 injured miners are receiving medical treatment.

Provincial authorities have ordered a thorough probe and overhaul on coal mines and other hazardous businesses.

 

China welcomes WTO ruling on China-US e-payment dispute 

China says it welcomes a ruling by a World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute panel rejecting part of the accusations made by the United States against China's handling of electronic payments.

The dispute panel has passed a report that dismissed U.S. accusations that China UnionPay is the only service provider in the market, ruling that China has not barred foreign service providers from entering the Chinese market.

 

China's top legislature ends bimonthly session 

The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) -- China's top legislature -- has wrapped up its bimonthly session, passing two amendments on the Civil Procedure Law and a law on agro-technical popularization.

Set to take effect from Jan. 1, 2013, the amended Civil Procedure Law is believed to further streamline the way civil disputes are dealt with and promote social stability and harmony. 

The amendment to the Law on the Popularization of Agricultural Technology, to take effect from Jan. 1 next year, explicitly stipulates that the main principle for agro-technical popularization is to help the sustainable development of agriculture and the rural economy as well as to increase the income of farmers.