BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday attended a gathering in Beijing and extended Lunar New Year greetings to leaders from non-Communist parties and the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC), and personages without party affiliation.Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, called on non-Communist parties and personages to enhance their political identification with the CPC and socialism with Chinese characteristics.As socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, multi-party cooperation should take on a new look, Xi said, urging non-Communist parties and personages to improve their ideological consensus with the CPC and make new achievements in performing their duties.Senior officials Yu Zhengsheng, Wang Yang, Wang Huning and Han Zheng attended the gathering.Leaders from non-Communist parties and the ACFIC introduced their work and future work plans at the gathering.Stating that 2017 was of landmark significance for the development of the Party and the country, Xi stressed the significant achievements made by non-Communist parties and personages in upholding the authority of and the centralized, unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee.He also spoke of more than 150 proposals raised by non-Communist parties and personages, ranging from promoting the Belt and Road Initiative to bolstering the real economy.As 2018 marks the first year to implement the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress, Xi said this year is also crucial to secure a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and implement the country's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020).China will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the reform and opening up through deepening reform in a comprehensive manner, Xi said.He said that studying and implementing the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress is the primary political task for the whole CPC and all people, including those from non-Communist parties, the ACFIC, and those without party affiliation.Xi stressed that non-Communist parties should focus on the strategic plans of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era and offer insights and suggestions for the CPC Central Committee based on extensive research.Supervision from non-Communist parties over the poverty alleviation campaign is also encouraged, he said.Xi called on the non-Communist parties to enhance their work on theory, organizations and institutions to strengthen their ability in participating in the administration of state affairs. custom awareness wristbandssilicone bracelets custommontre homme bracelet siliconedual layer wristbandssmall silicone wristbands
Piglets are held in pens at a pig farm. [Photo/IC] China has lifted pig quarantines in most of the areas where outbreaks of African swine fever have been found, signaling a steady slowdown in the spread of the virus, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said on Tuesday. Since the first outbreak of the deadly pig disease was discovered in August in Northeast China's Liaoning province, 113 cases in 28 provincial-level regions have been confirmed by the ministry. Restrictions on the transport of pigs in 105 of those cases have been lifted. The ministry has imposed strict quarantine measures in affected areas and ramped up supervision of pig farms, transport businesses and the pork processing industry after the onset of the highly contagious viral disease. Humans are not affected. Yu Kangzhen, vice-minister of agriculture and rural affairs, said the spread of the virus has slowed because of measures imposed by the authorities, but added that it's difficult to wipe out the disease in the short term. In the latest case, which was discovered on March 12 in Linshui county of Guang'an, Sichuan province, a transport truck carrying 150 pigs, nine of them dead, was seized at a toll station. It was the second case in March after an outbreak that killed 20 pigs on a breeding farm in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region was confirmed on March 7. The next step, Yu said, is to maintain the momentum of the ongoing disease prevention and control measures and strengthen oversight over the slaughtering sector. On Friday, the ministry launched checks on slaughterhouses nationwide and ordered them to carry out self-inspections. Yu stressed the need to secure supplies of live pigs and pork products. The domestic output of live pigs in China has been declining since the second half of last year because of the disease, according to Yang Hanchun, a professor at the College of Veterinary Medicine of China Agricultural University. Yang predicted that the supply of pork products is likely to tighten in the third or fourth quarter of this year and lead to a price surge.
