Beijing

Xi to promote agriculture

President Xi Jinping vowed on Monday to promote agriculture as a new growth area in cooperation between China and Macedonia and to expand bilateral cooperation in sectors including education, culture, arts and traditional Chinese medicine. Xi made the remarks when he met his Macedonian counterpart, Gjorge Ivanov. Xi told Ivanov that China is willing to use the cooperation between it and Central and Eastern European countries to achieve further concrete results.

Funds to boost food security

The central government has allocated 600 million yuan ($98.4 million) to encourage food output and help boost China's food security, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday. The funds will go to five major agricultural provinces - Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Shandong, Anhui and Jiangxi - to subsidize food production and upgrade agricultural technology. The money will be used to encourage banks to increase lending to rural areas, to improve farming conditions and farmers' productivity.

Vice-premier to attend int'l fair

Vice-Premier Wang Yang will travel to Chengdu to attend the 14th Western China International Fair, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chun-ying said on Monday. Wang will also speak at the 6th Western China International Cooperation Forum in Chengdu. Foreign guests attending the fair include Australian Governor-General Quentin Bryce and Canadian Governor-General David Johnston, Hua said.

China Daily - Xinhua

(China Daily USA 10/22/2013 page6)