Night view of Guangzhou, Guangdong province, July 20, 2017. [Photo/VCG] BEIJING - China has made substantial progress in integrating the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area into a vibrant world-class city cluster, officials said Thursday. Guangdong Province has set up a leading group and six specialized groups to push ahead with the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development, Lin Shaochun, executive vice governor of Guangdong Province, said at a press conference hosted by the State Council Information Office. Li Xi, secretary of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee, is the head of the leading group of Guangdong Province. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology has reached an agreement with Guangdong Province to build a campus in Guangzhou, capital of the province, according to Lin. Altogether, six Hong Kong colleges and universities have founded 72 scientific research institutions in Shenzhen, while Guangdong and Hong Kong has jointly subsidized 151 innovative programs. The infrastructure connectivity in the area has been significantly improved, said Lin, mentioning the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge as a model project of the Greater Bay Area. Guangdong Province has opened up 153 service sectors to Hong Kong and Macao, accounting for 95.6 percent of 160 service sectors listed by the World Trade Organization. For the first time, a Guangdong and Macao Cooperation Development Fund has been established, with the first batch of investment of 20 billion yuan (about $3 billion), Lin said. Guangdong has unveiled many facilitation measures for Hong Kong and Macao residents studying, investing and living in the province. For example, the number of colleges and universities that can enroll students from Hong Kong and Macao has risen to 50. China unveiled the outline development plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area last week, aiming to develop the region into a role model of high-quality development. The bay area consists of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Macao Special Administrative Region, as well as nine cities in Guangdong Province -- Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing. Covering 56,000 square kilometers, the bay area had a combined population of about 70 million at the end of 2017 and its gross domestic product reached around 10 trillion yuan in 2017. fuck cancer braceletevent wristbandsrubber band bracelets
Moon urges Washington to lower the threshold for discussionsThe White House said on Monday it would wait and see whether the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's hope for talks with the United States means it is serious about denuclearization, after Pyongyang said it was willing to hold talks with Washington.The White House said on Sunday in a statement that there will be a brighter path available for Pyongyang if it chooses denuclearization.In response, ROK President Moon Jae-in said on Monday that the US should lower the threshold for talks with the DPRK, while Pyongyang should in return show willingness toward denuclearization.There is a need for the United States to lower the threshold for talks with North Korea and North Korea should show it is willing to denuclearize. It's important the United States and North Korea sit down together quickly, Moon said, adding that the ROK hopes for constructive talks between the DPRK and the US.Earlier on Sunday, the ROK's presidential Blue House said that the DPRK high-ranking delegation led by its vice-chairman of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea Kim Yong-chol, had showed willingness to talk with the US after the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.Li Chengri, an expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the attitudes of the DPRK and the US to solve the Korean Peninsula nuclear crisis via dialogue came from the eagerness to take advantage of the mood for dialogue created by the Olympics.According to the ROK's Presidential Spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom, Moon said in a closed-door meeting with the DPRK delegation that dialogue between the DPRK and the US should be rapidly held to fundamentally resolve the Korean Peninsula issues and improve ties between the ROK and the DPRK.The DPRK delegation told Moon that Pyongyang shared his view that relations between the ROK and DPRK and those between the DPRK and the US should make progress together.Meanwhile, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said US President Donald Trump remains committed to achieving the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization in the peninsula and that his maximum pressure campaign against the DPRK must continue until it abandons its nuclear and missile programs.Sanders said the US, the ROK and the international community broadly agree that denuclearization must be the outcome of any dialogue with DPRK, and that its sanctions on the DPRK would continue.Washington announced on Friday it was imposing its largest package of sanctions to pressure the DPRK to give up its nuclear and missile programs.Wang Junsheng, an associate researcher at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the Washington's strategy of putting maximum pressure on the DPRK is hardly affected by the recent rapprochement, adding that the new sanctions will no doubt damage the DPRK's international recognition.Wang said China, the ROK, Russia and the international community as a whole have made continuously efforts to mediate and lower the tensions within the Korean Peninsula, both US and the DPRK should give up hostile attitudes and have talks to solve the issues peacefully.Xinhua contributed to this story.?
