CHINA / National
Wen meets Blair for talks on trade, Iran, North Korea
(AP/chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2006-09-13 22:20
LONDON - British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao
focused on expanding trade
CHINA / Picture Stories
1,000 calls a day
By Zhang Nan (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2006-08-03 18:45
Li Yang, a dispatcher from the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Dispatch and Command
Center, spends at least 12 hours a day at work.
"After the Qinghai-Tibet Railway launched July 1, I've gotten used to
such a busy life," he told chinadaily.com.cn in an interview conducted on
August 2. "I receive about 1,000 dispatch telephone calls from train
drivers every day."
Qinghai-Tibet Railway dispatchers are receiving calls from train drivers.
From left to right: Li Yang, Yang Baizong and Xia Shengyan.
[chinadaily.com.cn]
As the Qinghai-Tibet Railway opens to traffic, the Dispatch and Command
Center located in Xining City, Qinghai Province, has become the heart of
the railway, and work there is calm but tense, busy but orderly.
Li Yang, Xia Shengyan and Yang Baizong are on the same dispatch team.
They say after the Golmud-Lhasa section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway
opened on July 1, the dispatch office has been extremely busy. They work
in three shifts, 12 hours per shift. During the course of interview, they
would receive one call every few minutes from train conductors on the
Qinghai-Tibet line. According to Li, every day they field at least 1,000
calls asking for information on station entry, leaving, parking,
departing and a host of other things.
Six passenger trains and two cargo trains run the new railway daily.
Since there has been no labor increase in the command and dispatch
office, the current employees have to work hard under a great deal of
pressure to ensure that everything goes well. "This work requires a great
sense of responsibility, and that's my job," said Li.
"I have not had the chance to take the train on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway
yet, but the opportunity will definitely come," he added.
The Dispatching and Commanding Board of Qinghai-Tibet Railway.
[chinadaily.com.cn/Xiao Huaiyuan]
The Qinghai-Tibet Railway is 1,956 kilometers long, with 960 km of the
track located 4,000 meters above sea level and the highest point at 5,072
meters. It stretches from Xining, the capital of Qinghai Province, to
Lhasa, in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR).
The railway is the world's highest and longest plateau railroad and also
the first railway connecting the (TAR) with the rest of China.
Most Commented/Read Stories in 48 Hours
Today's Top News
� WB: China's economy likely to slow down
� Shrine visit challenges justice
� Regulations on online video mulled
� SOEs to get stock incentive plan
� Hu urges to study Jiang's works
Top China News
� Fixed-asset investment growth drops 0.8% from Jan-Jul
� China to regulate Internet video
� Pollution, overfishing destroying E. China Sea fishery
� New official appointed to manage Taiwan affairs
� Industrial output up 16.7 percent in July
Alibaba is the largest B2B marketplace in the world. Source model ship,
wooden puzzle, one-piece toilet, RC hovercraft, photo album, prom dress,
pocket bike, Vaginal Speculum, Samurai Sword, String Panty and PVC Pipe.
Learn Chinese, Chinese Online Class
between their countries Wednesday in talks
that also took up thorny issues including Iranian and North Korean
nuclear programs and the Middle East.
Both men also said they had discussed cooperation on climate change and
the need to secure world energy supplies. Blair believes it is crucial to
bring China and its quickly spiraling demand for fuel into international
efforts to fight global warming.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair (R) shakes hands with his Chinese
counterpart Wen Jiabao at 10 Downing Street in London September 13, 2006.
China's open policy to foreign media and financial information agencies
remains unchanged and the government will protect their freedom and
rights, Wen said on Wednesday. [Reuters]
Wen and Blair gave no details of their talks on North Korea and Iran and
a Blair spokesman would not comment.
China, a key player in international efforts to pressure Tehran to halt
uranium enrichment, has resisted US-led efforts to move quickly to UN
sanctions as punishment for its refusal to do so. Wen has appealed to the
international community to use diplomacy, rather than force, to resolve
the standoff.
Beijing is also central to hopes of persuading that country to abandon
its nuclear weapons program.
Blair said he and Wen had discussed human rights and thanked the Chinese
leader for his frankness on the subject. He said Wen's openness about
China's vision of its future "augurs very, very well."
The leaders lavished praise on one another and Wen said the relationship
between both countries was stronger than ever. Blair and Wen predicted
continued expansion of trade ties.
Three business deals were announced as part of the visit, including Air
China's US$800 million (euro630 million) agreement to buy Trent 1000
engines for 15 Boeing 787 jets.
British Gas signed contracts with the China National Offshore Oil Corp.
for exploration in the South China Sea and the engineering group Arup won
an agreement to develop a design for the new Yunnan Kunming International
Airport in southern China.
1 2
Most Commented/Read Stories in 48 Hours
Today's Top News
� RMB gains before US Treasury Secretary's visit
� More peacekeepers head to Lebanon
� 75th anniversary of invasion marked
� Man rejects first penis transplant
� Female space tourist blasts off
Top China News
� PBOC: 'Significant progress' made in currency reforms
� China, US agree to further strengthen bilateral ties
� IMF agrees to increase China's voting power
� China blasts US accusation on religious freedom
� China to better help LDSs out of poverty
Alibaba is the largest B2B marketplace in the world. Source model ship,
wooden puzzle, one-piece toilet, RC hovercraft, photo album, prom dress,
pocket bike, Vaginal Speculum, Samurai Sword, String Panty and PVC Pipe.
Learn Chinese
