Daily News April 2, 2014

Environment and Health

Xinhua Insight: China halts logging in NE forests to restore ecosystem, Xinhua

Chinese forestry authorities on Tuesday shut down commercial logging in two major forests in the northeastern-most part of the country in a bid to help restore the ecosystem.

After Protests, City Tries to Ease Fear of Chemical Plant, NY Times

Government officials met with popular local bloggers in a town in China’s southeastern Guangdong Province that has been hit by days of protest over plans to build a petrochemical plant.

Related:

Protest-hit China city says no plant without public support, Reuters

Truth behind Maoming PX protest remains unclear, Want China Times

US, China and EU agree to cooperate on UN climate treaty, RTCC

High-level meetings at the EU see world’s three largest emitters agree to strengthen discussions on 2015 Paris treaty.

Trade

China Considers More Electric-Car Incentives, Official Says, business week

China may exempt electric-car buyers from paying purchase taxes as part of expanded state measures to bolster sales of such vehicles after past incentives failed to spur demand, Vice Premier Ma Kai said.

Crops, Poultry, Dairy and Food Security

With Cofco Acquisitions, China Builds Food Supply Chain, WSJ

Chinese state-owned grain trader Cofco Corp.’s back-to-back purchases of controlling stakes in two global agricultural commodities traders signal a maturing food security strategy for the PRC.

Hook, line and stinker, Global Times

The annual moratorium, which extends for the entire length of the river and began in 2002, hopes to restore fish resources in the Yangtze River, whose aquatic ecosystem is on the verge of collapse. The ban also applies to the river's tributaries.

Hainan's delayed announcement of illegal GM crops causes concern, Want China Times

The delayed announcement by southern China's Hainan province regarding the discovery of illegal planting of genetically modified corn and cotton has triggered public concerns about how information relating to GM food is disclosed, the English-language China Daily reported on Wednesday.

Related:

Illegal GM food raises concerns, Shanghai Daily

Taiwan will not import US pork with ractopamine: COA, Want China Times

Taiwan will insist on barring imports of US pork containing the leanness-enhancing drug ractopamine, the Council of Agriculture said Tuesday.