DAP: The breaking news in Cambodia: “Rescue effort for 24 trapped in China mine flood makes little progress” plus 9 more

JINAN, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Rescue work continued Tuesday for 24 workers trapped in an iron ore mine flood in east Shandong Province but little progress was made, the emergency rescue headquarters said in a press release.
The daunting challenge is pumping flood water saturated with sludge and slag from the pit, rescuers said.
Although the water level in the shaft was reduced by 1.5 meters Tuesday morning, rescuers said flood water was still gushing from underground.
Dozens of pumps, excavators and other heavy machines are being utilized at the site.
Water flooded the pit of Zhengdong Mining Co. in the Fangzi District of Weifang City at around 11 p.m. Sunday. The city government said 31 people were working underground and seven escaped.
Mine authorities said the workers were conducting maintenance in the pit when the accident occurred.
The mine, with a designed annual output of 100,000 tonnes, received a production permit in February 2009, and operation had been planned to begin this October.

HEFEI, June 12 (Xinhua) -- Chery Automobile Corporation Limited, a leading Chinese private automaker based in east Anhui Province, posted more-than-100-percent growth in its June exports against a market adjustment at home.
A company spokesperson said Tuesday that the company exported 16,578 vehicles last month, an increase of 105.9 percent from the same month a year earlier, and marks the company's biggest monthly sales since May 2008.
In the first half of this year, Chery Auto exported 71,827 vehicles, up 88.5 percent year-on-year.
Of the total, 25 percent, or 18,000 vehicles, went to Brazil, up 321 percent from the previous year's level.
The company maintained stable sales growth in its traditional overseas markets, such as Russia, Ukraine, Iran and Egypt.

investment; Fujian retail sales; Shanxi trade  
BEIJING, July 12 (Xinhua) -- The following are some China economic news items in brief.

JIANGSU IMPORTS LESS IRON SAND, CONCENTRATE
East China's Jiangsu Province bought 28.17 million metric tonnes of iron sand and concentrate from abroad in the first five months of this year, a decline of 6.7 percent from the same period of last year, according to the local customs house.
The arrivals were valued at 4.58 billion U.S. dollars, up 41.1 percent year-on-year. The average price went up 51.2 percent to 162.4 dollars per tonne.
Most of the imports came from Australia, Brazil and India.

NE CHINA REGIONS DWARF EASTERN COASTAL AREAS IN INVESTMENT GROWTH
Northeast China regions, namely Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning provinces, invested 637.9 billion yuan (96.7 billion U.S. dollars) in fixed assets in the first five months of this year, an increase of 29.7 percent year on year, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.
The growth rate was higher than the national average and also higher than that for the eastern coastal regions.
Liaoning led the three northeastern provinces with a fixed-assets investment of 443.4 billion yuan for the five-month period, up 30.9 percent year-on-year.

CHONGQING'S FOREIGN TRADE UP MORE THAN 80 PC
Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality generated 10 billion U.S. dollars in foreign trade in the first half of this year, a rise of more than 80 percent on the same period of last year, according to the local customs house.
Machinery and electronics accounted for 70 percent of the city's total exports.
IT (information technology) products, such as laptop computers, replaced motorcycle to become the city's top exports.

FUJIAN'S RETAIL SALES UP NEARLY 20 PC
East China's Fujian Province recorded 292.6 billion yuan in retail sales in the first half of this year, a rise of 18 percent on the same period of last year, according to the provincial bureau of statistics.
The growth rate was 0.7 percentage points lower than the year-earlier level.
The total retail sales included 267.9 billion yuan in urban areas, up 18.4 percent year-on-year, and 24.7 billion yuan in rural areas, up 13.3 percent.
Of the total, 35.4 billion yuan came from the catering sector, up 16 percent year-on-year, and 257.2 billion yuan from commodities retail sales, up 18.2 percent.

SHANXI'S FOREIGN TRADE UP NEARLY 30 PC
North China's Shanxi Province generated 5.99 billion U.S. dollars in foreign trade in the first five months of this year, a rise of 29.7 percent on the same period of last year, according to the local customs house.
The total included 2.26 billion U.S. dollars of exports, up 35.6 percent year-on-year, and 3.73 billion dollars of imports, up 26.4 percent.

HANGZHOU, July 12 (Xinhua) -- A toddler who miraculously survived a fall from her 10th-floor home in east China's Zhejiang Province woke from a coma Tuesday and called for her mom and dad, her doctor said.
The two-year-old girl, nicknamed Niu Niu, had been unconscious after she fell out the window of her home near Hangzhou on July 2.
"Her eyes opened slightly this morning, and she called out to her mom and dad when they entered the ward," said Dr. Zhang Chenmei at Zhejiang Provincial Children's Hospital.
Zhang also observed the child made eye contact with her parents during their 30-minute meeting.
"She seems conscious again, but the left side of her body remains numb," the doctor said.
Niu Niu survived the high-rise fall after a neighbor tried to catch her and prevented the child from hitting ground at full force.
Niu Niu was in critical condition with serious internal injuries when she was sent to hospital.
"Now that her heartbeat, blood pressure and pulse are all normal, we can assume she's out of danger," the doctor said.
Wu Juping, the neighbor who saved Niu Niu and mother of a seven-month-old boy, suffered a fracture of her left arm in her heroic effort.

WUHAN, July 12 (Xinhua) -- At least 12 people were killed Tuesday in a warehouse fire in Wuhan, capital of central Hubei Province, according to a government source.
Firefighters have just put out the fire that started at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday.
Eight people were rescued from the fire and rushed to the hospital, witnesses said. Conditions of the people are not known at this time.
Police have cordoned off the area and are searching for victims.
A spokesman with the fire brigade said most of the people were trapped on the second-floor of the multi-story warehouse after the fire broke out, and the fire sprawled over an area of 1,000 square meters.
Wuhan's party chief Ruan Chengfa and mayor Tang Liangzhi were at the fire scene to oversee the fire fighting and rescue work Tuesday morning.
The warehouse, located in an industrial park in Wuhan's economic and technological development zone, is rented by a latex firm. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

BEIJING, July 12 (Xinhua) -- China has accomplished various goals set by the National Human Rights Action Plan (2009-2010), which demonstrates that the country's human rights record and its people's livelihoods have improved, a senior official said on Tuesday.
Wang Chen, director of the State Council Information Office (SCIO), made the remarks at an assessment meeting of the action plan, attended by more than 200 people, including officials of state organs and representatives of mass organizations, nongovernmental organizations and research institutions.
He said that by the end of 2010, all measures stipulated in the action plan had been put into practice, with all the goals achieved and tasks fulfilled in due time.
"Of these, 35 percent of the binding targets and over 50 percent of the targets concerning people's livelihoods were met ahead of time," Wang said.
With the compilation and implementation of the action plan, citizens' awareness of human rights has been remarkably enhanced, and the people's overall living standard has been markedly improved with the progress made in the national economy and social development, he said.
"The fulfillment of all targets and tasks in the action plan as scheduled shows that the cause of human rights in China has entered a new stage," Wang said.
At Tuesday's meeting, officials of ministries of foreign affairs, human resources and social security, the Supreme People's Court, the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, and the China Disabled Persons' Federation made speeches on their respective implementation of the action plan.
A county head of southwestern Sichuan Province talked about the reconstruction of his county, which was devastated by a deadly earthquake in May 2008, and cited the benefits the county has received through implementation of the action plan.
A full text of the assessment report will be published soon.
The SCIO published the human rights action plan in April 2009, which was China's first national plan on human rights and serves as a policy document for advancing China's human rights.

GUANGZHOU, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Six people have received jail terms ranging from nine months to three and a half years over last month's unrest in a city in Guangdong Province, a local court said in a statement Tuesday.
The People's Court of Zengcheng City handed down the jail terms on Monday.
Li Zhonghuang, who was accused of destroying three police vehicles during the unrest in the town of Xintang on June 11, was sentenced to three and a half years.
Li led a group who threw stones and set vehicles on fire, according to the court document.
He was convicted on the charges of creating disturbances and destroying public property.
Four others were convicted on the same charges.
Kang Chuan, who smashed and overturned several police vehicles during the unrest near a shopping center in town, was sentenced to two and a half years.
Yang Fajun and Ran Qinghua, who threw stones at and smashed vehicles on a main highway in Xintang following the unrest, were sentenced to two years.
Ou Lin, who attempted to set parked cars on fire but was stopped by police, received a nine-month jail term.
Another suspect, Zhao Jiufu, was sentenced to two years for obstructing official affairs.
Zhao threw stones at police who were attempting to maintain order during the unrest. When a police officer tried to grab him, Zhao bit him on the stomach.
The defendants all confessed their crimes and pleaded guilty during the trial, the court document said.
Local police said last week altogether 11 suspects involved in the unrest were charged.
Several officials, including the secretary of Communist Party of China (CPC) Committee of Xintang, where the unrest occurred, and the town chief, had also been removed from their posts.
On June 10, a pregnant migrant woman and her husband from the southwestern Sichuan Province were involved in a dispute with a security personnel surnamed Lu.
Lu asked the couple to move their stall in front of a supermarket in Dadun Village of Xintang.
Irritated by the row, more than 100 migrant workers gathered in front of the supermarket for two days. Some of them hurled bottles and bricks at government officials and police vehicles.
They later marched toward the nearby Dadun public security station, damaging several police vehicles and private cars with rocks on their way.
Su Zhijia, deputy secretary of CPC committee of Guangzhou City, said the incident was triggered by mounting anger among migrant workers.
Su said public services for migrant workers needed to be improved to avoid further unrest.

WUHAN, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Fire fighters have just put out a warehouse fire which started at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province.
Eight people were rescued from the fire and rushed to the hospital, witnesses said. Conditions of the people were not immediately known.
Police have cordoned off the area, and started searching for victims.
Previously, sources with the fire department said a dozen people including two children might have been trapped in the fire.
The warehouse, located in an industrial park in Wuhan's economic and technological development zone, is rented by a latex firm. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

BEIJING, July 12 (Xinhua) -- China's central bank said some reports that the country's local government financing vehicles owe 14 trillion yuan (2.15 trillion U.S. dollars) are groundless, reiterating that risks from the financing vehicles are manageable.
The figure of 14 trillion yuan is incorrect and the risks associated with local government debts are controllable, the People's Bank of China said in a statement on its website late Monday.  
A government report said that the financing vehicles' debts generally accounted for less than 30 percent of local outstanding loans. China's outstanding loans stood at 47 trillion yuan at the end of last year.
Some analysts inferred that the country's local government financing vehicles had run up debts of 14 trillion yuan, 30 percent of the national debt.
However, the central bank said the proportion of the financing vehicles' debts in local outstanding loans was well below 30 percent in most regions.
The National Audit Office estimated that local governments borrowed a total of 10.7 trillion yuan by the end of last year.
The state auditor said on Monday that it has never underestimated or omitted the country's local government debt burden.

BEIJING, July 12 (Xinhua) -- China's foreign exchange reserves rose 30.3 percent year-on-year to hit 3.1975 trillion U.S. dollars by the end of June, the People's Bank of China (PBOC), or the central bank, said Tuesday.
Funds outstanding for foreign exchange in financial institutions increased 277.33 billion yuan (42.83 billion U.S. dollars) over the May to June period to hit 24.67 trillion yuan, said the PBOC in an online statement.
Foreign exchange reserves stood at 3.166 trillion U.S. dollars and 3.1458 trillion U.S. dollars by the end of May and April, respectively, according to the statement.