Art panels are seen on a facade of the APEC Haus building in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, August 10, 2018.[Photo/Agencies] PORT MORESBY - Chinese President Xi Jinping's upcoming state visit to Papua New Guinea (PNG) offers a historic opportunity for bilateral relations, said Xue Bing, China's ambassador to the largest and most populous Pacific island state. According to Xue, PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill has made developing relations with China a diplomatic priority. An important partner of China in the region, PNG is the first Pacific island country to sign up to the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Xi's state visit, the first to the country by a Chinese president since the two sides established diplomatic relations in 1976, will further promote the bilateral strategic partnership and South-South cooperation, Xue said. China is ready to expand bilateral exchanges and cooperation in the areas of trade, investment, production capacity and education within the BRI framework to help PNG achieve sustainable development and realize common development in this region, Xue told Xinhua in a recent interview. During his visit, which starts Thursday, Xi is also scheduled to attend the 26th Economic Leaders' Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and meet on the sidelines with the leaders of Pacific island countries that have diplomatic ties with China. The strategic partnership featuring mutual trust and common development between China and Pacific island countries conforms to the trend of the times, and China is ready to work with all Pacific island countries to build a community with shared future for mankind, said the Chinese diplomat. Reviewing the China-PNG friendship, Xue said bilateral ties have been defined by equality, mutual benefit and mutual political trust. He spoke highly of the island country's adherence to the one-China policy and close high-level exchanges with China. With PNG being rich in natural resources and China having strengths in capital, technology and market, the two economies are complementary and have great potential for cooperation, Xue said. PNG is a major trading partner of China in the region. Official data showed bilateral trade in 2017 amounted to 2.836 billion U.S. dollars, up 24.4 percent year on year, with a surplus on the PNG side. At the same time, PNG has attracted the highest amount of Chinese investment in the region, with an estimated 3.04 billion dollars in direct investment as of October 2018. About 40 Chinese companies are now operating in the country, creating a large number of local jobs. The two countries have also witnessed increasingly close people-to-people exchanges and growing military, law enforcement and inter-party ties, Xue said, citing the visits in 2014 and 2018 by Chinese naval hospital ship Peace Ark on medical service missions. Xi's trip, said the ambassador, will be a success with far-reaching influence on the development of China's relations with PNG and other Pacific island countries. personalized bracelets for girlfriendpurple rubber braceletsilicone bracelets customimprinted rubber braceletspersonalized sports bracelets
China introduced a set of standards on human embryonic stem cells on Tuesday to regulate related clinical research and experiments, Xinhua News Agency reported. The standards, issued by the Chinese Society of Cell Biology, are the first of their kind in the country. They detail the basic qualities of human embryonic stem cells, technical guidelines for quality control and requirements for product usage and circulation. Stem cell treatment has emerged as a beacon of hope for patients with complicated and severe diseases, including leukemia, liver failure and diabetes. Increasing demand from patients has accelerated clinical efforts devoted to stem cell research and trials. In recent years, about 35 clinical research projects using stem cells have been approved, experts said at the launch event for the standards, which was held in Beijing. Wu Zhaohui, a senior official with the China Medicinal Biotechnology Association, said quality control is challenging for stem cell products because of the large variety of stem cells and their stark differences. Zhou Qi, director of the Institute of Zoology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said, The standards are expected to play a key role in promoting uniform practice, protecting the rights of trial participants, overseeing industry development and advancing clinical treatment. In 2016, the Chinese Society of Cell Biology formed a team of experts to help draft standards on stem cells. General requirements for stem cells were released by the organization in 2017, which encompassed issues in categorization, ethical codes, quality control and inspection, as well as waste disposal.
