Chinese satellite to orbit Mars in 2009

A Chinese satellite is expected to orbit Mars in 2009, thanks to an agreement the country signed with Russia on Monday.

During President Hu Jintao's current visit to Moscow, the two countries agreed to stage a joint unmanned mission to the red planet and one of its moons in two years, the China National Space Administration said Tuesday in Beijing.

The agreement represents a "milestone" in the history of space cooperation between the two neighbors, the agency said in a statement.

"It indicates the two sides have taken a key step forward to working together on a large space program."

According to the agreement, a micro-satellite developed by China will be launched along with "Phobos Explorer", the Russia spacecraft, atop a Russian rocket in 2009.

A timetable was not mentioned, but earlier Russian reports said the launch window for the 10-11 month voyage to Phobos, a Martian moon, will be October 2009.

Phobos became a satellite of Mars millions of years ago, so studying material from the asteroid will give scientists information on the origins of the solar system and of Earth, the Russian news agency RIA Novosti cited Russian Academy of Sciences member Mikhail Marov as saying.

After entering Mars' orbit, the Chinese micro-satellite will be detached from the Russian spacecraft, and probe the Martian space environment, according to the statement.

The "Phobos Explorer" spacecraft, with some equipment developed by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, will land on the Martian moon and return to Earth with soil samples.

Monday's agreement was signed by the China National Space Administration head Sun Laiyan and the Russian Federal Space Agency chief Anatoly Perminov and witnessed by the two countries' presidents.

Last year, the Russian space chief revealed that his country would work "closely" with China on lunar exploration.

Youriy Nosenko, deputy chief of the Russian space agency, told a press conference in Beijing last November that Russia regards China as a "partner" in space exploration, and the two sides have shown interest in a lunar project.

China has started a three-stage moon exploration project, including sending a lunar orbiter some time this year, followed by a soft landing in 2012 and the return of lunar samples in another five years.

President Hu arrives in Moscow for visit

China's President Hu Jintao (R) waves after his arrival at the Vnukovo II airport in Moscow March 26, 2007. [Reuters]

MOSCOW -- Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived in Moscow on Monday for a three-day state visit, during which he will attend events marking "the Year of China in Russia."

During his visit, Hu is expected to meet with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, and other Russian leaders, to exchange views on the further development of the Sino-Russian strategic partnership of cooperation, according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry official.

They will also discuss important regional and world issues, the official said.

On Monday evening, Hu will attend the opening ceremony of "the Year of China in Russia," which is aimed at deepening friendship, enhancing cooperation and promoting the China-Russia strategic partnership.

Chinese and Russian leaders agreed to stage "the Year of China in Russia" this year during President Hu's visit to Russia in July 2005. "The Year of Russia in China" was marked last year.

Hu will also visit a Chinese national exhibition, one of the 200 events planned throughout "the Year of China in Russia."

The exhibition will be the biggest comprehensive show China has held outside the country in almost three decades, Yu Guangzhou, vice minister of commerce, told a news conference in Moscow last month.

China-Russia relations maintained a good momentum for vigorous development over the past year, marked by frequent exchanges of high-level visits and effective functioning of various consultation and cooperation mechanisms between the two neighbors.

Russia is now China's eighth-largest trading partner, while China is Russia's fourth-largest. The volume of China-Russia trade reached a record high of US$33.4 billion in 2006, up 15 percent over the previous year.

China's President Hu Jintao waves as he leaves a plane upon his arrival at the Vnukovo II airport in Moscow March 26, 2007. [Reuters]

China's President Hu Jintao waves after arriving at the Vnukovo II airport in Moscow March 26, 2007. [Reuters]

China's President Hu Jintao (2nd R) inspects the guard of honour after his arrival at the Vnukovo II airport in Moscow March 26, 2007. [Reuters]

Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong

Chinese actress Fan Bingbing arrives for the Asian Film Awards as part of the Entertainment Expo Hong Kong in Hong Kong March 20, 2007. [Reuters]

Hong Kong actor Tony Leung arrives for the Asian Film Awards as part of the Entertainment Expo Hong Kong in Hong Kong March 20, 2007. [Reuters]

South Korean actress Lim Su-jeong (L) and actor Jung Ji-Hoon, also known as Rain, arrive for the Asian Film Awards as part of the Entertainment Expo Hong Kong in Hong Kong March 20, 2007. [Reuters]

Hong Kong actor Andy Lau arrives for the Asian Film Awards as part of the Entertainment Expo Hong Kong in Hong Kong March 20, 2007. [Reuters]

Taiwan actor Chang Chen arrives for the Asian Film Awards as part of the Entertainment Expo Hong Kong in Hong Kong March 20, 2007. [Reuters]

Hong Kong actresses and members of the pop group "Twins" Gillian Chung (L) and Charlene Choi arrive for the Asian Film Awards as part of the Entertainment Expo Hong Kong in Hong Kong March 20, 2007. [Reuters]

Hong Kong actress Maggie Q arrives for the Asian Film Awards as part of the Entertainment Expo Hong Kong in Hong Kong March 20, 2007. [Reuters]

2 Chinese workers abducted in Nigeria

Gunmen have kidnapped two Chinese men and a Nigerian man working for a local company in the southeastern state of Anambra, police said on Monday.

This report was also confirmed by the Chinese Foreign Ministry on March 20, saying the Chinese side is trying to verify the matter and negotiate with the Nigerian side.

The ministry urges the Nigerian side to do its utmost to rescue the workers.

The Chinese were the first foreigners kidnapped outside of Nigeria's oil heartland in the southern Niger Delta.

The men were abducted from their workplace in the industrial town of Nnewi on Saturday, March 17 raising concerns a spate of hostage-taking in the Niger Delta may be spreading to other parts of Nigeria.

Police said they were yet to establish who the kidnappers were and what their demands might be.

"The two Chinese nationals and one Nigerian were kidnapped at the place where they were working. We are investigating the matter," a police spokesman said by telephone from the state capital Awka.

He said the police suspect a separatist group operating in the southeastern region may be behind kidnappings the men from the premises of the Innoson Group of Companies Ltd.

New measure adopted to cool stock market

Regulators, worried about by China's red-hot stock market fever, are taking a new measure to cool it by banning listed firms, flush with new share sale proceeds, from investing it in securities.

The listed companies are also banned from buying derivatives and convertible bonds with the proceeds, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, China's stock market watchdog, said in a statement seen on its website on Tuesday.

The regulator said it will monitor companies more closely. Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said at a press conference in Beijing on Friday that his administration wants to see to a healthy stock market in China. He promised closer look into companies' books.

"Companies should not directly or indirectly use newly acquired funds to buy stocks or derivatives or convertible company bonds," the regulator said in a statement. Firms must use the proceeds from share sales for the intended purposes, it said.

If the enterprises intend to spend more than 10 percent of the raised capital on items that the share sale was not originally aimed at funding, they must get board approval and arrange an online shareholder vote, it said.

"Regulators are concerned that proceeds are fueling the stock market frenzy," said a securities fund manager in Shanghai.

Beijing wants to curb speculation in the real estate and stock markets to break boom-bust cycles fueled by 33.5 trillion yuan (US$4.3 trillion) of household and corporate deposits. The speculative activity has driven equity prices up by around 150 percent in the last 15 months.

China's central bank, the People's Bank of China, announced over the weekend that it was raising interest rates by 27 basic points, but it has failed to damp the feverish stock market, which rose both Monday and Tuesday.

The frenzy has prompted officials to repeatedly warn that a major bubble had formed and that investors, especially inexperienced retail punters, stood to lose everything if the markets crashed.

On February 27, investors got a strong taste of the kind of volatility that worries regulators when China's key Shanghai index slumped nearly nine percent in its steepest one-day fall in 10 years. Prices have since recovered and surged to new record highs.

In another step aimed at dampening the frenzy, banking regulators have moved to investigate a sudden spike in consumer loans believed to be fuelling the market speculation.

The China Banking Regulatory Commission ordered in January that commercial banks recall property loans suspected of being used instead to speculate in the nation's red-hot stock markets.