Focus

Measuring young Chinese bodies to help the country's clothes makers.

Measuring the Young

The China National Institute of Standardization is carrying out a study of the body measurements of more than 25,000 young people aged from four to 17. More than 170 data items will be produced to meet demands from sectors producing clothing, leather goods, furniture and sportswear. Those involved in the transportation, architecture and education sectors would also have an interest in the data. The study will be completed by the end of this year, and the statistics will be used for the formulation of five national standards, including the Chinese Young People's Clothing Size Standards.

Chinese language courses are becoming more and more popular overseas.

China to Offer Language Scholarships

As interest in the Chinese language heats up around the world, the Chinese government is working to establish a five-year “China-EU Exchange Student Scholarship Project,” which will from 2007 provide 100 scholarships a year to students from EU members. The project is aimed at encouraging more European students to study the Chinese language. Statistics show that there are now more than 2,500 colleges and universities in 100 countries and regions around the world offering Chinese language learning to 30 million students. The language has been formally included in the education system of a dozen countries and regions, including the UK, Thailand and Indonesia. In Japan and South Korea, the number of Chinese learners exceeds 1 million, and interest is growing in Latin America, the Middle East and Africa too.

Long River Press Celebrates Its Fourth Birthday

The first Chinese publishing group established in the United States, Long River Press, recently celebrated its fourth birthday. Founded in 2002, Long River is a joint venture between the Beijing-based China International Publishing Group and the Hong Kong-based Sino-United Publishing (Holdings) Ltd. The independent press publishes books on all kinds of aspects of China, including its language, culture, art, history, society, economy and politics. It is fast becoming the most authoritative organization that publishes China-related topics in the United States. In 2004, it started to publish books written in English, in addition to its many translated works.

China to Introduce Overseas Academic Talents

The Chinese Ministry of Education and the Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs are jointly working on a project to introduce some 1,000 academicians, scholars and researchers from the world's top 100 universities and research organizations to 100 disciplinary innovation bases on Chinese campuses. The project is aimed at enabling and encouraging Chinese scholars to take a leading position in their respective fields. Each base will accommodate 10 overseas talents currently employed by a suitable institution, including one leading professional in the field. The disciplinary leading masters should be aged under 70 (excepting Nobel Prize winners) and willing to work in China for at least one month a year. Other academic talents should be aged under 50 and willing to work in China for an accumulated three months a year. The project will cover all of the participants' costs, including travel, remuneration, housing and medical expenses.

China to Help Build Africa’s Grand Inga Dam?

After its success in building the Three Gorges Dam, the China Three Gorges Project Corporation is in negotiations to take on Africa's Grand Inga Dam construction project. The Grand Inga Dam project involves the construction of a 40,000MW hydraulic dam in Inga, 225 kilometers from Kinshasa, capital of Congo (Kinshasa), and in the lower reaches of the Congo River. When completed, it will generate twice the power of the Three Gorges Dam, or enough to meet all of Africa's power demand. The Three Gorges Project Corporation is currently in negotiations with a company jointly established by the South African Electricity Company, Congo (Kinshasa), Angola, Botswana, and Namibia.

The remaking of the popular TV drama starts off another round of "Red Mansions fever."

A Dream of Red Mansions to Be Remade

Beijing Television Station (BTV), together with three other film and TV companies, are to remake the classic TV drama, A Dream of Red Mansions . The drama is based on the namesake novel by renowned 18 th century Chinese writer Cao Xueqin, which is one of the country's four literary masterpieces. The original screen adaptation has been broadcast on Chinese TV since 1986. The remake is to include 50 episodes, and will be broadcast before the 2008 Beijing Games. BTV says it will be the most expensive Chinese drama ever made, and it will select all of the major actors from a special national contest. The selection process will last until June 2007, and shooting is expected to begin in the second half of next year.

A Hani ethnic minority celebration.

Ethnic DNA Gene Bank Established

The first Chinese DNA Gene Bank for China's 55 ethnic minority nationalities was established recently in southwest China's Yunnan University. Researchers spent four years visiting 16 provinces and autonomous regions to gather more than 8,000 DNA samples from members of ethnic minority groups. In Honghe and Dali prefectures in Yunnan, they collected for research purposes 6,000 blood samples containing four hereditary diseases common among the Yi and Hani peoples. In recent years, Chinese scientists and researchers have used DNA in various studies on the origin of Chinese ethnic minorities and their hereditary diseases. Their work is of great significance to the protection and research of human genes.