An editorial "US push leaves China no wiggle room" in the Global Times on Wednesday said that before Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's three-day visit to the US hyperbole about China's "militarization" of islands in the South China Sea was ramping up among US media.

The Washington Post said China may be building a new high-frequency radar system on Huayang Reef.

Chinese authorities have not confirmed the authenticity of the installation of the radar system.

"If it is real, we think China is in a legitimate position to conduct this move, even if it is for military purposes. China has the right to build radar systems on its own soil to discover and track possible threats -- a way to defend national security instead of an aggressive act. It has nothing to do with the more assertive militarization," said the daily.

It added that the "true examples of militarization can be found in Okinawa and Guam, which are heavily garrisoned by the US, whose projection of power can extend in a radius of thousands of kilometres".

"They serve Washington's military hegemony as pivots. China meanwhile only updates its facilities on these islands from anti-aircraft artillery to HQ-9 missiles, and from telescopes to radar. They are solely for defense."

It wondered that if Washington keeps regarding these normal upgrades and deployments of military forces as a threat, and sends warships to the West Pacific, "does it expect China to respond with our bare hands?"

"The US should show respect to China as a major power, recognizing its basic rights to grow in strength. The US should recalibrate its parameters while observing China," the editorial added.

The daily went on to say that it is "quite insulting that China, the second-largest economy, keeps being reprimanded by the US as it is deploying basic military facilities".

"If the US refuses to change its perspective, China has no alternative but to continue in this way in hopes that it will eventually force the US to change its mind."

It added that China should warn the US that more military installations will be set up in response to Washington's provocations.

"As an outsider, Washington is stirring choppy waters in the region, and framing China as a peace breaker.

"Actually, China's restraint, rationality and compliance with international laws are the major reason that the South China Sea can sustain peace through these years. What a mischievous Washington aims for is a strategic game with a rising China."

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Beijing, Feb 21 (IANS)

The fine ranges from $1,534 U.S. dollars) to $4,600, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

Detailed tasks will be set and divided by the regulatory institutions at provincial level according to local realities. Followed by institutions of city and county level, the provincial institutions are on the top of a three-tier regulatory body, reports Xinhua.

The institutions will oversee largely the corporations' enforcement of energy-saving laws, rules, regulations and relevant mandatory standards.

The measures will take effect starting from March 1 this year.

China has focused on mapping or revising standards in key industries in 2015, such as energy saving and environmental protection, said Tian Shihong, head of the national Standardization Administration in January.

The country rolled out 1,931 national standards last year, up 26.2 percent from the previous year, official data showed.

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Beijing, Feb 20 (IANS) China has notified interim management measures for duty-free shops at ports of entry, the media reported on Saturday.

The notice was jointly published by the finance and commerce ministry; General Administration of Customs; State Administration of Taxation and the China National Tourism Administration, the Global Times reported.

To meet domestic demand for foreign products, the State Council, China's cabinet, decided in April 2015 to reinstate and increase duty-free shops at ports of entry, according to the notice.

The total value of tax-free products purchased abroad and at duty-free shops together should be no more than 8,000 yuan ($1,227) for each Chinese citizen when returning to China via the listed ports.

Meanwhile, the upper limit for tax-free products bought overseas remains unchanged at 5,000 yuan for each citizen.

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Beijing, Feb 20 (IANS) China says it does not intend to militarise the Nansha Islands in the South China Sea, dismissing US accusations of raising tension in the region, the media reported on Saturday.

Hong Lei, a spokesman for China's foreign affairs ministry, said on Friday that demilitarisation in the region is not a matter for just a single country, the Global Times reported.

"There should not be double standards or multi-standards for demilitarisation in the South China Sea, and the process requires joint efforts from countries in the region and beyond," he said.

US State Department spokesman John Kirby on Thursday said that commercial satellite imagery suggested "very recent" placement of missiles on Yongxing Island that went against China's pledge not to militarize the South China Sea, Reuters reported.

In response to the accusation, Hong said the US is strengthening military deployment in the South China Sea and frequently sends military vessels or planes to conduct close-in reconnaissance against China.

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Beijing, Feb 18 (IANS) The Chinese military has claimed it was able to detect US F-22 stealth fighter jets, a media report said.

Several fighters from East China Sea Fleet patrolled around the Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) over the East China Sea after receiving orders that unidentified tracking occurred near the ADIZ on the morning of February 10, the People's Daily on Thursday quoted the PLA Daily as saying in a report.

The report said that helicopters from a carrier-based helicopter brigade along with the carrier patrolled around the area and missiles were placed on fighters on duty at nearby military airports which were prepared to take off for combat.

However, the report did not disclose which country the objects belong to or other relevant information.

Chinese military expert Yin Zhuo said that if the unidentified objects appearing near ADIZ over the East China Sea turned out to be F-22 from the US, it would be a good opportunity for China's military to practise its ability to find, identify and intercept stealth fighters.

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Tehran, Feb 16 (IANS) First cargo train from China to Iran arrived in Tehran on Monday, indicating a milestone in reviving the "Silk Road", which has opened a new chapter of win-win cooperation between China and Iran.

The train, also referred to as Silk Road train, passed through Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to Iran, travelling a distance of 10,399 kms. It had left Yiwu city in east China's Zhejiang province on January 28, Xinhua reported.

This train was carrying dozens of cargo containers, according to the deputy of Iran's Road and Urbanism Minister Mohsen Pour-Aqaei, who made a welcome speech after the arrival of the cargo train at Tehran Train Station on Monday.

Ancient Silk Road trade route had served as an important bridge for East-West trade and brought a close link between the Chinese and Persian civilisations.

The "Belt and Road" initiative was raised by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, which refers to the New Silk Road Economic Belt, linking China with Europe through Central and Western Asia, and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, connecting China with Southeast Asian countries, Africa and Europe.

"To revive the Silk Road Economic Belt, the launch of the train is an important move, since about 700 kms of trip has been done per day," said Pour-Aqaei, who was present at the welcome ceremony of the train in Tehran's railway station.

"Compared to the sea voyage of the cargo ships from China's Shanghai city to Iran's Bandar Abbas port city, the travel time of the train was 30 days shorter," he said.

Pour-Aqaei, also the managing director of Iran's Railway Company, added that according to the plan, there would be one such trip from China to Iran every month.

The travel of cargo train from China to Iran is part of a Chinese initiative to revive the ancient Silk Road used by the traders to commute between Europe and East Asia.

Tehran will not be the final destination of these kinds of trains from China, the Iranian deputy minister said, adding that in the future, the train will reach Europe.

This will benefit Iran as the transit course for the cargo trains from the east Asia to Europe, he said.

Chinese ambassador to Iran Pang Sen said that as one of the cooperation projects after Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Iran, the cargo train is playing a important role to promote construction of the "Belt and Road" initiative.

Meanwhile, the railway line from Yiwu to Tehran provides the two countries an express and efficient cargo trade transportation method, Pang said, adding that the countries along the railway line will further upgrade rail technology with the aim to make its transportation ability faster and better.

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Beijing, Feb 15 (IANS) An official with China's top family planning authority refuted claims that newlyweds must pay a deposit before getting married to encourage couples to give birth to a second child, the media reported on Monday.

"The collection of a 'second-child deposit' is totally a rumour, and we have never issued such a policy," the official with the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) told the Global Times on Sunday.

"The NHFPC has not received any complaints about the collection of such deposits," added the official.

Some netizens said that local marriage registry offices were collecting 'second-child deposits' ranging from 1,000 yuan ($155) to 8,000 yuan. They claimed that the money would be returned after the family's second child is born.

Similar information about such "deposits" has been circulating on the internet since 2011.

Marriage registry offices in Liaoning, Shandong and Jiangsu provinces - which allegedly charged the 'second-child deposit' to newlyweds in 2016 - also also said the online claims are unfounded rumours.

China introduced its family planning policy in the 1970s. The policy was relaxed for the first time in 2013, allowing couples to have a second child if either parent was an only child.

China further relaxed the family planning policy in January 2016, allowing all couples to have a second child.

Population experts previously interpreted the move as a shift in the mindset from regarding population as a burden to encouraging childbearing as a way to tackle problems caused by a labour shortage and an aging society.

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Washington, Feb 11 (IANS) The US Supreme Court's surprise decision to halt President Barack Obama's climate change regulation could imperil the Paris accord and raise doubts in India and China about US commitments, according to the New York Times.

The Paris Agreement committing every country to combating climate change had as a cornerstone Obama's assurance that the US would carry out strong, legally sound policies to significantly cut carbon emissions, the influential US daily noted.

"But in the capitals of India and China, two of the world's largest polluters, climate change policy experts said the Supreme Court decision threw the American commitment into question, and possibly New Delhi's and Beijing's, too," it said.

"If the US Supreme Court actually declares the coal power plant rules stillborn, the chances of nurturing trust between countries would all but vanish," the Times cited Navroz K. Dubash, a senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi, as saying.

Inaction by the United States has long been the chief obstacle to meaningful global climate change agreements. India and China, in particular, resisted action absent a climate change policy in the United States, the Times noted.

The Supreme Court decision temporarily blocked the Obama administration's rule to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants.

On the basis of those rules, Obama had won agreements from China and India to enact their own pollution reduction plans, and helped push other countries into signing on to the Paris measure, the Times noted.

Over the past year, Obama worked closely with the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, to bring India to the table for the Paris deal.

Modi and many within India were resistant; the prime minister's top priority is to make cheap electricity available to the 300 million Indians who live without power, it said.

If the United States reneges on its commitments, "it really would strengthen the hand of those who say Paris was ineffective and a bad deal for India," Dubash was quoted as saying.

American policy experts cited by the Times agreed that the Supreme Court decision might be the first of many fractures in the deal.

"The honeymoon for Paris is now definitely over," said John Sterman, a professor of management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who attended the Paris talks.

"This pushback is not something that's unique to the United States," he added. "It's happening all over the developed world."

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Beijing, Feb 5 (IANS) China's internet watchdog said it banned hundreds of websites and thousands of accounts with illegal content including pornography, gambling and terrorism, the media reported on Friday.

The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) on Thursday said it has closed down more than 200 illegal websites and some 6,000 accounts from various social media platforms, the Global Times reported.

The banned websites included a platform for illegally trading firearms, some that fabricated rumours or distorted history, and those engaged in illegal recruitment of students with foreign education or fake degree certificates.

The CAC also banned user accounts fabricating information about the stock and property markets and those containing pornographic content or promoting the Nazi ideology.

The closed accounts came from Sina Weibo, Baidu Tieba community, Tencent QQ and WeChat platforms.

The CAC asked the public to inform them about illegal content and promised to reward those who provided useful tip-offs. As Spring Festival approaches, rumours about food safety, public health and transportation are on the rise.

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Washington, Feb 2 (PTI) The US has expressed concerns about the disappearance of five Hong Kong residents associated with a publisher involved in the production of books banned in China, saying it raises "serious questions" about Beijing's commitment to the territory's autonomy.

The five residents are associated with Mighty Current Media and the Causeway Bay Bookstore and have disappeared since October from mainland China or Thailand.

"We continue to follow closely the developments of these cases," State Department Spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

"These cases, including two involving individuals holding European passports, raise serious questions about China's commitment to Hong Kong's autonomy under the 'one country, two systems' framework as well as its respect for the protection of universal human rights and fundamental freedoms," he said.

Kirby urged China to clarify the current status of all five individuals and the circumstances surrounding their disappearances and to allow them to return to their homes.

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Amritsar: Canadian politician and the Premier of Ontario Kathleen Wynne being felicitated at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, on Jan 31, 2016. (Photo: IANS)

Amritsar, Jan 31 (IANS) Kathleen Wynne, the premier of Canada's Ontario province known for her support for gay rights, on Sunday offered prayers at the holiest of Sikh shrines Harmandar Sahib and was honoured by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.

Dressed in a firozi blue (turquoise) suit with her head covered with a dupatta (Punjabi-style stole), the premier was accompanied by SGPC officials as she entered the Golden Temple to offer prayers.

Kathleen's visit was preceded by a controversy over the SGPC taking a stand not to honour her with a 'siropa' (robe of honour) due to her views on same sex marriages, support for gay rights and being a lesbian herself.

SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar earlier said that the Canadian leader was welcome to offer prayers at the shrine but the SGPC would not honour her with a siropa due to her views on same sex marriages.

The SGPC maintained that the Sikh religion did not legitimise same sex marriages.

However, a major controversy was avoided as she was welcomed by SGPC officials, escorted to the SGPC information office, and presented with a gold-plated photo of the holy shrine.

SGPC officials and volunteers surrounded the Ontario premier from the moment she reached outside the shrine and escorted her till the sanctum sanctorum. She was shown all the important areas of the shrine.

Kathleen, in her note in the visitors' book, said she was humbled to visit the "beautiful sacred place".

She visited the 'Langar Hall' (community kitchen, the largest facility of its kind in the world), and briefly helped in cooking food.

A visibly happy Kathleen bowed down -- on her knees and head touching the ground -- after she walked down the entrance steps of the shrine onto the 'parkarma' (marbled walking path around the holy shrine pool).

The Ontario premier arrived here on Saturday evening amid tight security arrangements. She is on a 10-day business trip to India. She met leading businessmen and industrialists here on Saturday evening and Sunday.

Canada and its Ontario province have a strong Punjabi connection, with a number of parliamentarians in Canada and lawmakers in provinces there having strong Punjab links.

Canada's new defence minister Harjit Sajjan was born in Punjab's Hoshiarpur district.

With the presence of a strong Punjabi origin population, Canadian leaders have been coming to Punjab and offering prayers at Sikh shrines.

Then Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper visited the Golden Temple complex in November 2009 and Takht Keshgarh Sahib, birthplace of the 'Khalsa Panth' and the second most important Sikh shrine after the Golden Temple.

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Beijing, Jan 27 (IANS) China on Wednesday said it wanted the United Nations Security Council to take further actions and pass a new resolution on North Korea following its nuclear test earlier in January.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made the remarks after meeting US Secretary of State John Kerry, who is on a two-day visit to China, Xinhua reported.

"The new resolution should aim to bring the Korean peninsula nuclear issue back to the negotiating table, rather than stirring up tension or causing chaos on the peninsula," Wang said.

China is willing to maintain all-round and profound consultations with all the parties in a responsible way, including the US, Wang said.

Pyongyang's latest nuclear test violated the UN Security Council resolution and threatened the international nuclear non-proliferation system. Therefore, China has voiced its opposition against the move, he said.

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Beijing, Jan 27 (IANS) United States Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday reaffirmed the three Sino-US joint communiques and one-China policy during his talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

The US reaffirms the three communiques as the foundation of our policy, maintains the one-China policy and encourages cross-strait dialogue, Xinhua cited Kerry as saying.

The three communiques, signed in 1972, 1978 and 1982, laid down the basic principles for the two countries' relations. In them, the US government promised to support the one-China principle and not to support "Taiwan independence".

Taiwan is the core issue in China-US relations and the US should abide by the one-China policy, Wang Yi said.

"No matter what changes occur in Taiwan, the basic fact that both the mainland and Taiwan belong to one China is unchanged and will not change," Wang said.

Sticking to the 1992 Consensus and opposing "Taiwan independence" is an important prerequisite and political basis for peaceful development of cross-Strait relations, Wang said.

He urged the US to support the peaceful development of cross-Strait ties with concrete actions.

Kerry is on a two-day visit to Beijing from Tuesday to Wednesday at Wang's invitation.

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Beijing, Jan 27 (IANS) China is considering the construction of offshore nuclear power plants, but only under completely safe conditions, a senior nuclear official said on Wednesday.

The country will conduct a "careful and scientific" feasibility review before it makes the decision, Xinhua cited Xu Dazhe, director of China Atomic Energy Authority, as saying.

As a developing country, China has a large need for energy but is under environmental stress, he said, adding that the country must fully exploit its maritime resources.

Xu said China will stick to the safe and peaceful use of nuclear power and that the development of maritime resources in its waters will benefit people in the area.

Currently, China has 30 nuclear power generating units with a capacity of 28 million GW and another 24 units are under construction, all of which are on land.

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Beijing, Jan 27 (IANS) China will speed up the drafting of the nuclear safety law and atomic energy law, a white paper on its nuclear emergency preparedness said on Wednesday.

Since China started to build its first nuclear power plant in 1985, the country has made fast progress in the legislation of nuclear emergency response, said the document issued by the State Council Information Office, Xinhua news agency reported.

China adopted a regulation on the emergency management of nuclear accidents in 1993, the first in this area, and then the law on prevention and control of radioactive pollution. The law on emergency response covered nuclear accidents, the white paper said.

The state security law, revised in July 2015, reinforced regulation on nuclear emergencies.

Over the years, the country also set up a nuclear emergency management system with clear division of duty among the central government, provincial governments and nuclear power plants.

At the national level, the National Nuclear Accident Emergency Coordination Committee is made up of civilian departments and military and has a general office in charge of regular works.

Accordingly, governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities where nuclear power plants are located, set up nuclear emergency coordination departments and took charge of emergency response within their jurisdiction.

The central government has drawn up a national contingency plan while provincial governments and all nuclear power plants issued their own plans.

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Beijing, Jan 27 (IANS) China has urged the US to uphold the One China policy and handle the Taiwan issue carefully, an official said on Wednesday.

Ma Xiaogaung, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office (SCTAO), reiterated the points made by SCTAO head Zhang Zhijun during a meeting with visiting US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken on January 21, Xinhua reported.

Zhang told Blinken that cross-strait peace and stability is facing challenges and uncertainties due to the current changes on the island, according to Ma.

The US should stick to the one-China policy and the principles laid out in the three Sino-US joint communiques, respect the major concerns of the country and properly handle issues relating to Taiwan, Ma quoted Zhang as saying.

Zhang also told Blinken that the Taiwan policy has been consistent and clear and will not be changed by the result of the election on the island.

Tsai Ing-wen, chair of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), was elected the island's leader on January 16.

Zhang said peaceful development of cross-Strait relations, that the two sides have achieved by adhering to the 1992 Consensus and opposition to Taiwan independence over the years, should be cherished.

"We will continue to stick to 1992 Consensus, oppose Taiwan independence activities in any form and firmly safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity."

Ma also said the supporters of Taiwan independence will find no room across the world.

It is not realistic for Taiwan to sever economic cooperation with the mainland to expand its so-called "international cooperation space" and "such a thinking goes against the international community observing One China policy," said Ma.

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Beijing, Jan 22 (IANS) China is planning a supercomputer 1,000 times more powerful than its ground-breaking Tianhe-1A as it faces rising demand for next-generation computing.

Meng Xiangfei, head of the applications department of the National Supercomputer Centre, said on Friday that the centre will release a prototype in 2017 or 2018 of an "exascale" computer -- one capable of at least a billion calculations per second, Xinhua reported.

Exascale computing is considered the next frontier in the development of supercomputers.

Tianhe-1A was recognised as the world's fastest computing system in 2010. Though it has since been superseded by Tianhe-2, Tianhe-1A was being more widely used. Computer scientists are finding it challenging to run contemporary applications at their optimum on faster supercomputers.

With its uses including oil exploration data management, animation and video effects, biomedical data processing and high-end equipment manufacturing, Tianhe-1A's capacity is being stretched, said Meng.

It is carrying out more than 1,400 computing tasks and serving about 1,000 users per day.

The exascale computer will be wholly independently developed by the National Supercomputer Center, according to Meng.

About a seventh of Tianhe-1A's CPU chips are Chinese.

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(151225) -- BEIJING, Dec. 25, 2015 (Xinhua) -- A cyclist takes photos of the smog-shrouded Palace Museum turret in Beijing, Dec. 25, 2015. An orange alarm has been issued to alert smog and air pollution by local meteorological bureau in Beijing on Friday morning. (Xinhua/Wu Wei) (wf)

Beijing, Jan 22 (IANS) Beijing may keep half the city's cars off the roads during the coldest months of the year when coal-fired municipal heating tends to cause a lot of smog.

Lawmakers attending the plenary session of the People's Congress and Political Consultative Conference on Thursday and Friday hope that cutting vehicle emissions can help battle air pollution, Xinhua reported.

The measures would be applied during the "winter heating season" from around mid-November to mid-March, said Li Shixiang, vice mayor of Beijing.

Vehicle emissions account for 31 percent of the city's smog sources, according to the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau.

Current traffic rules, based on license plate numbers, take about a fifth of vehicles off the roads each weekday.

Beijing enforces odd-even plate number restrictions during severe smog and also for big international events such as the 2008 Olympics and the APEC summit in 2014.

"Beijing wants to improve its smog warning mechanism and refine traffic restriction measures to make them more effective," said a spokesperson for the Beijing Municipal Transportation Commission, without specifying what measures would be used.

There are 5.6 million vehicles registered in Beijing.

Last month, traffic authorities revealed that Beijing was likely to try a congestion charge for road users, prompting a heated debate.

In response to public misgivings, Li said no timetable had been set and promised no abrupt implementation of the rule.

Beijing has rolled out various policies to improve air quality, such as cutting back on coal use and phasing out outmoded vehicles.

According to a report delivered to the municipal legislature on Friday by Mayor Wang Anshun, the average density of PM2.5, airborne particles smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter, in Beijing last year fell by 15.8 percent compared to 2012.

In the past five years, the city has cut coal use by nearly 14 million tonnes and weeded out 1.8 million outdated vehicles.

Beijing aims for a year-on-year drop of five percent in its average PM2.5 reading in 2016.

The city government has promised to remove 200,000 high-emission vehicles from the roads and promote the use of clean energy in 400 villages this year.

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Beijing, Jan 8 (IANS)

"The purpose of the research and test is to support the formulation of global 5G standards and boost the development of the telecom industry," said Cao Shumin, head of a 5G R&D team under the MIIT on Thursday.

Research and test work will be completed by 2018 and domestic telecom service providers will try to commercialise the 5G technology in the following two years.

"China has made progress in the research of some key areas regarding 5G technology," said MIIT chief engineer Zhang Feng.

China has more than 905 million mobile internet users and about 380 million are 4G users.

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Beijing, Jan 7 (IANS) China's environmental protection has begun emergency radiation monitoring following North Korea's nuclear test, a media reported on Thursday.

North Korea announced on Wednesday that it had tested a hydrogen bomb, Xinhua news agency reported.

It resulted in a 4.9-magnitude earthquake with an epicentre less than 100 km from the country's nearest border with China.

As of 1.00 p.m. on Wednesday, readings from 25 monitoring stations in the border areas were between 65 and 95 nGy/h, which is within the normal range.

The ministry said it will conduct both automatic reading and human sampling and analysis and report the readings "in a timely manner".

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Beijing, Jan 6 (IANS) As an increasing number of couples, many past their reproductive prime, seeking to have a second child under China's new two-child policy, are facing challenges including poor sperm quality, the media reported on Wednesday.

According to official estimates, 60 percent of the couples who are newly eligible for a second baby are 35 years of age and above, and many of them are visiting fertility specialists for advice or assistance, the China Daily reported.

Physician Long Wen, who works for the fertility centre of Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University in Hubei province, said that more than half of his male patients had "substandard" sperm quality.

Long said he usually sees about 80 visitors a day, and that his check involves sperm quantity and quality in the semen.

The revelation came as China's State Council issued a resolution on Tuesday on implementing the universal two-child policy and improving family planning services to carry out the new law.

The resolution stipulates that the past family planning policy, which limited most Chinese couples to one child, was in line with the nation's practical situation at the time. It calls for streamlining the administrative procedures related to reproduction and optimising the distribution of public services and resources, such as child and maternity healthcare, child nursing, primary and middle schools and related social welfare programmes.

Meanwhile, Long said that less than 30 percent of the males aged 40 and older who consulted him had quality sperm. Those working in the fields of information technology and the media were most susceptible to low quality, mainly due to lifestyles of little exercise, sitting for long periods, a heavy workload and smoking, he said.

The number of those consulting him who want a second baby has increased substantially after the policy change, and half of the mare at least 40 years old, Long said.

Those 35 or older are at elevated risk of infertility and pregnancy complications, medical experts warned, saying that the reproductive prime is from ages 24 to 28.

Qin Lang, a physician at the Reproductive Medical Center of the West China Second University Hospital in Chengdu, Sichuan province, said that among all the couples age 30 and older who consulted him, more than half of the men had substandard sperm quality.

Despite the lack of a national survey on sperm quality, China has seen an increasing reproduction problem, with the infertile population exceeding 50 million. Half involve infertile husbands with low sperm quality, according to official estimates.

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Beijing, Jan 6 (IANS) China's first lawsuit on same-sex marriage rights has been accepted by a local court in Changsha, Hunan Province, marking a milestone for LGBT rights in the country, the media reported on Wednesday.

Plaintiff Sun Wenlin (pseudonym), a gay man, told the Global Times that the court accepted his suit against a civil affairs bureau in Furong district for not accepting his marriage registration application.

Sun filed the case on December 16, 2015, after his marriage registration application was turned down by an official who said that only "one man and one woman" can be registered as married.

Sun claimed that local police also visited his home after he filed the case, which has gained a high profile and has been hailed by many LGBT - lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender - activists online.

"The officer kept emphasising that it is important to have a child to carry on one's family name, but I can't abide by people imposing their values on me," Sun added.

"The original text of the Marriage Law does not say one man and one woman, but a husband and a wife. I personally believe that this term refers not only to heterosexual couples but also to same-sex couples," he said.

The court is expected to hand down a ruling on the case within six months.

China has legalised LGBT since 1997. Transsexuals are allowed to change legal gender, but only after sex reassignment surgery.

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Beijing, Jan 5 (IANS) China on Tuesday stopped requiring couples to apply for official approval before having a first or second child, following the end of the one-child policy.

The move, which came into effect immediately, was announced by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, Xinhua news agency reported.

They said the approval system will be replaced by birth registrations for couples' first and second children.

All Chinese couples have been allowed to have two children since January 1, after the national legislature amended its family planning policy in late December.

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Beijing, Jan 5 (IANS) A winter festival featuring all things related to ice and snow opened in Harbin, the capital of China's Heilongjiang province, on Tuesday.

The three-month long festival boasts of more than 100 ice and snow events, covering tourism, culture, trade, sports and fashion, Xinhua news agency reported.

In addition to an ice-themed fun fair and ice sculptures, visitors can participate in a parade, enjoy winter fishing, get married in or take a dip in the hot springs.

The festival is spread out over 800,000 sq.metres and contains more than 330,000 cubic metres of snow and ice.

This year's festival will feature a 51-metre tall crown of ice and snow, the tallest and heaviest structure of its kind, officials said.

LED lights line the streets, lakes and parks, creating a welcoming, festive atmosphere in Harbin.

More than 100 foreign artists will compete in the ice sculpture and LED lighting design competitions.

Ice, Snow Festival Opens in China

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Beijing, Jan 5 (IANS) A newly-built airfield on a disputed island in the South China Sea will help ensure flight and navigation safety for airplanes and ships in the area and greatly improve the ability of marine salvagers, a Chinese official has said.

China has finished building the airfield on Yongshu Jiao in the Nansha Islands and conducted a test flight which has received widespread criticism, the Global Times reported.

The South China Sea has long been a very important seaway connecting China and the rest of the world, as well as a sea corridor between the Pacific and the Indian Ocean, said Pan Wei, chief engineer of China Rescue and Salvage under the transport ministry on Monday.

"The severe shortage of navigation safety facilities, emergency rescue forces and equipment to deal with oil spills in the South China Sea has impeded the navigation security and economic and social development in the area," Pan said.

The lighthouses on Huayang and Chigua reefs, which went into operation in October 2015, have filled a gap in civil navigation facilities and significantly improved navigation safety in the South China Sea, the official said.

"The lighthouses provide vessels from various countries with sailing directions, safety information, emergency assistance and other public services, reducing navigation risks and marine accidents," Pan said.

China will continue promoting the building of emergency response and rescue facilities in an effort to shoulder the international obligations of search and rescue operations, marine environmental protection, disaster prevention and reduction, and navigation safety in the South China Sea, the official said.

The airfield on Yongshu Jiao of China's Nansha Islands will enhance the navigation safety in the busy sea lane.

Nearly 40 percent of global trade is carried through the South China Sea, which sees the passage of at least 40,000 ships annually.

The airfield on Yongshu Jiao will significantly reduce the travel time from the Chinese mainland to Nansha Islands, changing the old reliance on vessels for transportation and rescue.

According to Pan, the airfield will also provide more convenient transportation for the residents on the islands and the personnel who are safeguarding the islands and reefs.

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Beijing, Jan 5 (IANS) China’s plan to raise the retirement age may be put into action in 2016, but details still remain under discussion, the media reported on Tuesday.

China's ministry of human resources and social security (MHRS) will submit the plan to authorities for approval this year, and simultaneously solicit public opinions on the matter, the People's Daily reported.

The present retirement age is 60 and the potential for a higher retirement age has sparked debate since it was first proposed.

Many academics believe it is necessary for the country to raise the retirement age in order to cope with the ageing population and labour shortage.

However, the details for implementation are still in discussion. Experts debate whether it is better to adopt a one-size-fits-all approach or more flexible measures.

A report released by the Chinese Academy of Social Science found that if the retirement age was raised by one year every four years starting from 2020, China’s working population could be maintained at 450 million by 2050.

Raising the retirement age will also improve the operation of the pension fund since paying members will increase, the report said.

However, some experts believe that the plan should include some flexible measures. For instance, people could choose to retire earlier or later, but their retirement age would be linked with a pension. That way, those who pay more can also get more after retirement.

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Washington, Jan 4 (PTI)

"We are aware of reports that China has conducted civilian test flights at Fiery Cross Reef. We are concerned that these test flights have exacerbated tensions and are inconsistent with the region's commitments to exercise restraint from actions that could complicate or escalate disputes," the Pentagon said.

The US, it said, encourages all claimants to actively reduce tensions by refraining from unilateral actions that undermine regional stability and to take steps to create space for meaningful diplomatic solutions.

"This development underscores the pressing need for claimants to publicly commit to a reciprocal halt to further land reclamation, construction of new facilities and militarisation of disputed features, and the need for China and ASEAN to expeditiously conclude a Code of Conduct," the Pentagon said.

China for the first time landed a plane on an artificial island it has built in a contested part of the strategic South China Sea, prompting Vietnam to accuse Beijing of "serious infringement" of its sovereignty.

Yesterday, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China conducted a "test flight" to check whether the newly-built airfield facilities met the standards for civil aviation. There were, however, no details given about when it was conducted.

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Beijing, Jan 4 (IANS) China is considering the establishment of its first counter-terrorism college in Xi'an, the capital city of Shaanxi province, a media report said on Monday.

The college, affiliated to the Northwest University of Politics and Law, will offer counter-terrorism courses to undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as doctoral students to foster highly specialised expertise in the counter-terrorism field, China Radio International reported.

The recruitment will be nationwide and law undergraduates are preferred. Preparations are reportedly underway.

China's top legislature adopted the country's first counter-terrorism law earlier last month and the law came into effect on January 1.

As one of the top law schools in China, the Northwest University of Politics and Law leads the country's counter-terrorism study.

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Beijing, Jan 4 (IANS) China is considering the introduction of medical insurance fees for retirees, a media report said on Monday.

In an article for Seeking the Truth, the official Communist Party's magazine, Finance Minister Lou Jiwei said the government should look at the option as a way to tackle rising pressure on the national health system.

Unlike most countries, retirees in China are not required to pay health insurance, the China Daily reported.

By the end of 2014, about 283 million Chinese were included in the so-called employee medical insurance programme, according to the ministry of human resources and social security.

The national insurance system currently has a surplus of 673.2 billion yuan ($103 billion), a figure that has continued to rise in recent years, from 495 billion yuan in 2012 and 579 billion in 2013.

Yet experts warn that China's rapidly ageing society means a deficit will occur if expenditure keeps rising at the current pace.

"In the West, the biggest threat to national health insurance systems is an aging population. But in China, besides that factor, pressure also comes from the fact reimbursement levels need to be increased-and that means retirees need to contribute," said Lin Shuanglin, director of the China Centre for Public Finance at Peking University.

However, asking pensioners to pay insurance fees will likely face public opposition.

The finance minister's comments have already been sharply criticised online.

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Tokyo, Jan 4 (IANS) Japan has expressed grave concern over China carrying out a test flight to a runway on an island in a disputed part of the South China Sea, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said on Monday.

Vietnam on Saturday protested China's test flight to the airfield on Fiery Cross Reef. A Vietnamese government spokesman said the airfield was built illegally. Vietnam is one of the claimants over the disputed Spratly Islands.

China rejected the protest, saying it will not accept the accusation, public broadcaster NHK reported.

Kishida called the flight an "action to unilaterally change the status quo".

He suggested it was an attempt to further make a fait accompli of China's reclamation of disputed areas.

Kishida called on China to refrain from such acts, saying that they do not contribute to a peaceful resolution of the dispute.

Kishida said China's large-scale rapid reclamation and construction of bases in the waters are a matter of concern common to the international community.

He said Japan will continue to deal with the issue in cooperation with the international community to protect the open and free seas.

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Beijing, Jan 2 (IANS) The first nuclear power plant located in one of China's ethnic autonomous regions has begun commercial operations of its first reactor, the media reported on Saturday.

The No.1 reactor of the Fangchenggang Nuclear Power Plant in Guangxi Zhuang region can supply 24 million kilowatt-hours of electricity a day, catering to the needs of a medium-sized city, said Gong Guangchen, the plant's spokesperson said on Friday.

Based on the domestically developed CPR-1000, the No.1 reactor began generating power in October 2015. The plant's No. 2 reactor is expected to begin operating in the second half of 2016, the Global Times quoted Gong as saying.

The two reactors are expected to contribute 8 billion yuan ($1.2 billion) to the local GDP and create 64,000 new jobs annually. They will also cut coal burning by 4.82 million tonnes and carbon dioxide emissions by about 11.9 million tonnes every year.

China has seen rapid nuclear power growth in recent years, but it suspended approval of new programmes after Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. Construction projects did not resume until 2014.

China currently has operating capacity of 25.5 million kilowatts and aims to raise installed nuclear power to 58 million kilowatts by 2020 in order to reduce pollution from coal-burning generators and deliver on its promise to reduce carbon emissions.

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Beijing, Dec 27 (IANS) China's top legislature on Sunday adopted the country's first bill against domestic violence in a landmark move to bring silent abuse victims under legal protection.

The legislation was approved by a landslide majority at the end of a week-long bimonthly session of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The country prohibits any form of domestic violence," said the new law, which formally defines domestic violence and streamlines the process for obtaining restraining orders -- measures long advocated by anti-domestic abuse groups.

Domestic violence is defined as physical, psychological and other harm inflicted by family members with beatings, restraint or forcible limits on physical liberty, recurring invectives and verbal threats listed as examples.

An earlier draft, submitted in August this year, included only physical abuse, but many lawmakers have since argued that the definition was too narrow.

According to the new bill, victims and those in immediate danger can file for a personal protection order that the court must grant or deny within 72 hours. In urgent cases, decisions must be made within 24 hours.

Police, women's federations and social service organs, in addition to close relatives, would all be able to apply for orders for those with no or limited civil capacity or those who cannot do so themselves as a result of physical force or threats.

Once the order is granted, courts may prohibit the abuser from harassing, stalking or contacting the applicant and his or her close relatives, order the abuser to move out of the home, or adopt various other measures to protect the applicant.

Should the abuser violate the protection order, they may be fined up to 1,000 yuan, detained for up to 15 days or face criminal charges in serious offences.

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Lahore: Prime Minister Narendra Modi being received by the Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif, at Lahore, Pakistan on Dec 25, 2015. (Photo: IANS/PIB)

Beijing, Dec 26 (IANS) China on Saturday welcomed the meeting between Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, saying it will help promote peace in South Asia.

"The Chinese side welcomes the latest development in the Pakistan-India relationship," foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said.

On Friday, Modi stopped in Pakistan on his way to New Delhi from a visit to Afghanistan. During Modi's surprise visit, the two prime ministers met at Sharif's residence.

It was Modi's first visit to Pakistan and the first by an Indian prime minister in more than a decade.

Lu said Pakistan and India were important countries in South Asia, and the improvement of their relationship would be significant to regional peace, stability and development.

"As the common neighbour and friend of both Pakistan and India, China is happy to see and will support, as always, Pakistan and India to enhance mutual trust and achieve common development through continuous dialogue," said the spokesman.

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Beijing, Dec 21 (IANS) Chinese lawmakers consider amending the family planning law to advocate couples having two children amid efforts to counter shrinkage of the work force and ageing population.

"The State advocates one couple can give birth to two children," Xinhua cited a draft amendment submitted for review at the bi-monthly session of the National People's Congress Standing Committee which opened on Monday.

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Beijing, Dec 20 (IANS) China urged the US to stop provocative actions following the flight of two B-52 bombers over the area near China's Nansha islands.

"China takes the incident seriously and has lodged solemn representation with the US," Xinhua quoted Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei as saying on Saturday.

Two US bombers flew into the airspace near an island and reef of the Nansha Islands early on December 10.

Pentagon said the flight might have strayed off course due to weather and an investigation had been launched.

Hong said Chinese Defence Ministry responded to the incident early on Saturday. The Chinese military kept strict surveillance and remained on high alert for US bombers' flight on December 10, and warned and expelled the bombers, he said.

According to Hong, the US said it would investigate the incident.

It must be stressed that China has always respected and safeguarded every country's flight and navigation freedom around the world in line with international laws, Hong said.

"But we never allow anyone to infringe upon China's sovereignty and undermine China's security interests with the excuse of flight and navigation freedom," the spokesperson said.

"We once again urge the United States to seriously reflect upon and correct its mistakes, take effective measures to prevent similar dangerous and provocative actions, and stop any move that may undermine China's sovereignty and security interests and affect the peace and stability of South China Sea," Hong said.

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