|
China |
|
，A fruitful year for
China's diplomacy in 2007
Japanese Prime
Minister Yasuo Fukuda is to start his first official visit to China
on Thursday afternoon as guest of Premier Wen Jiabao, concluding a
fruitful year for China's diplomatic endeavors. |
|
，National
theme years fuel momentum for Sino-Russian
cooperation
On the eve of New Year 2007, Chinese
President Hu Jintao expressed confidence in a message of greeting to
Russian President Vladimir Put in that the activities of the "Year
of China" in Russia would be a complete success. |
|
，China
addresses challenge of climate change
Write "climate change" in Chinese
characters into the web search bar of www.baidu.com and what comes
up? More than 3.7 million web pages devoted to the
subject. |
| Business |
，Top 10
catch phrases of Chinese economy in
2007
The expected
double-digit growth for a fifth consecutive year did not necessarily
mean the Chinese economy was free from disturbance. A glance through
the media catchwords of 2007 may offer a rough idea about the
critical issues China has been facing over the past
year. |
|
，Factbox:
Economic catchphrases across China for 2007
Chinese officials held a high-profile
meeting in Beijing on Dec. 3, to review economic
strategies for the next year. The primary concerns of Chinese people
with the future economy are reflected in the following
catchphrases. |
，China's
central SOEs set to get smaller in size, stronger in
competence
China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) reported a year of
prosperity. Annual profits were forecast to surge 30 percent to
nearly a trillion yuan (135.8 U.S. billion) this year, however, it
was evident many still had a long way to go to become
internationally competitive. |
|
，World
economy faces greater risks
The world economy has maintained rapid
growth in 2007 but will face greater risks in the coming year,
according to analysis of the latest World Economic Outlook from the
International Monetary Fund (IMF). |
|
，U.S.
economy jolted by subprime troubles
The U.S. economy this year was jolted by
a "quake", with its epicenter at the high-risk subprime mortgage
market and its aftermath expected to linger well into next
year. |
|
，Crude
oil to remain in high-price territory
Although crude oil prices have
temporarily given up conquering the 100-dollar threshold some 20
days before the year is drawing to a close, analysts here believe
oil prices will finally cross the 100-dollar mark before hovering
around the 90-dollar borderline for a while.
|
|
，Northern
Rock crisis sends shivers across Britain
Britain is a country which has long
prided itself on having one of the world's best regulated and
managed financial markets. However, the eruption of a banking crisis
in 2007 seems to have pricked the bubble. |
|
，Philippine economy grows fast amid political
noises
Despite endless "political noises"
haunting the country, the slowdown of the U.S. economy and the
surging oil prices in the international market, the Philippines is
getting a higher-than-expected economic growth in
2007. |
| Sports |
|
，Top 10 China sports news
stories in 2007
Following are the top 10 Chinese sports
stories in 2007 selected by the Xinhua News Agency on
Tuesday. |
|
，Prologue
already visible for China at 2008 Olympics
Like many of the post-80s generation from
China, Olympic champion Liu Xiang makes no bones of his intention of
earning more, but he prefers to leave nothing to chance in defending
his Olympic title next year. |
|
，China
determined to field clean Olympic squad
Sending a clean team to the Beijing
Olympic Games, China is facing a determined-to-win but difficult
battle. |
| World |
|
，Roundup: World leaders
hail achievements in 2007, look forward to
2008
BEIJING, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- World leaders have delivered
their New Year addresses, hailing the achievements in 2007 and
looking forward to 2008.
|
|
，Yearender: EU strengthening ties with U.S., Russia,
China and Africa
The year 2007 has witnessed a marked
development and changes in the EU's foreign relations, especially
with the United States, Russia, China and Africa. |
|
，Yearender: L.America sees
progress in integration, but problems lie
ahead
Latin America has witnessed significant
progress in its integration efforts in 2007 as the Bank of the South
was officially launched, but problems and difficulties still lie
ahead. |
|
，Yearender: Sarkozy breathes some new
life into France's foreign policy
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has
introduced some new changes to France's foreign policy,
characterized by "straightforwardness" and "pragmatism" - phrases
frequently used in his diplomatic encounters since he assumed office
in May. |
|
，Political activities,
terrorist attacks propel Pakistan
forward
The political
sentiment in Pakistan has stirred up by the presidential and
parliamentary elections in 2007, a year marked with a climax of
political activities as well as terrorist attacks.
|
，Global powers' relations hit mixed
weather in 2007
Relations between the United States, Russia and the
European Union hit mixed weather in 2007 when the world's major
powers interacted in both agreement and dispute to pursue their
national interests, analysts said. |
，International
community mobilizing to fight climate
change
The international
community in 2007 mobilized to fight the daunting challenge of
global climate change, and has moved forward from awareness of the
critical issue to negotiations and actions to face it.
|
|
，Thailand
totters back on track, uncertainty remains
As the year 2007 draws near the end,
political parties in Thailand are gearing up with the last
campaigning efforts for the general election on Dec.
23. |
|
，Opposite
directions of world's two nuclear issues
In 2007, two major issues concerning the
international community's nuclear non-proliferation efforts have
been the focus of global attention. |
|
，Peace
process in Sudan advances on tortuous road
The chance of realizing a comprehensive
peace in the conflict-torn western Sudanese region of Darfur is
still slim in spite of government efforts on talks with rebel groups
while another crisis between Khartoum and southern Sudan remains
unsolved. |
|
，Yearender: Thorny disputes
strain Russian-Western relations in
2007
The year of 2007 has witnessed strained
relations between Russia and the West caused by disputes over the
U.S. missile defense plan in eastern Europe, Russia's withdrawal
from the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty, and Kosovo's
status. |
|
，Africa
more self-dependent, closer to outside world in
2007
After many years of internal strife and
economic underdevelopment, Africa is looking set to claim its
rightful place on the world stage. |
|
，Afghan reconstruction in
progress despite rising Taliban
militancy
Six years after the fall of the Taliban
regime, post-war Afghanistan saw its reconstruction work steadily on
track in 2007 despite various security problems arising from
mounting Taliban insurgency. |
|
，Japan
sees a year of political turbulence
Political situation in Japan has been
rather turbulent in the year 2007 and the unrest culminated in the
July defeat of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in the
upper house election. |
|
，Jordan
steps up mediation efforts to propel Mideast peace
process
Jordan, an active and enthusiastic
mediator in the Middle East, has been stepping up its efforts in the
year of 2007, trying to propel the regional peace, particularly the
Palestinian-Israeli talks. |
|
，Brown's
bid to reshape British security policy
After waiting 10 years, Gordon Brown
finally took over the British premiership from Tony Blair on June
27, 2007. And one of the new prime minister's key challenges has
been the poisoned chalice of security issues handed to him by his
predecessor. |
|
，Mongolia growing more
active on int'l stage
Mongolia appeared to bask in the
diplomatic limelight in the outgoing 2007, as top leaders of the
landlocked country traveled around the globe for high-profile
meetings with world leaders. |
|
，2007 marks accelerated,
intensified prelude to U.S. presidential
race
The year of 2007 turned out to be an
accelerated and intensified prelude to the U.S. presidential
election next year, which is expected to be the most fluid and
dramatic among such races in many decades. |
|
，Germany
seeks global sway on climate change
Germany has spared no efforts in trying
to secure a reversal of climate change while seeking global clout
over one of the most pressing issues in human history.
|
|
，Israeli
carrot and stick approach leads to talks rather than
solution
Offering Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas the carrot and Islamic Hamas the stick features Israeli
diplomatic efforts towards the Palestinians at large in the Year
2007. |
|
，Hamas'
Gaza takeover impels Israel, Abbas to speed final-status
negotiations
Hamas movement's takeover of the Gaza
Strip from the long-dominant Fatah movement led by moderate
President Mahmoud Abbas in mid-June has impelled Israel and Abbas to
speed final-status negotiations. |
|
，Iraq's
reconciliation remains on rocks
With the dropout of a slew of
ministers and delay of critical legislations, Iraq's bumpy political
process is still on the rocks, which would put the recently improved
security into harm's way once more. |
|
，Tension
remains along Turkish-Iraqi border
Tension remains along the Turkish-Iraqi
border though a possibility of Turkey's cross-border military
operation against the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) seems to
be decreasing while Ankara expects more cooperation from the United
States. |
