Information/Technology - 92. page

Zhang Xiangmu, Director of the Department of Industry Equipment, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology outlined five areas where China has to develop its equipment production industry further, Xinhua reported. The five areas are regulation, technology improvement, self-sufficiency in technology and equipment, the thrust into mergers and acquisitions, and new industry development. At present the targets for establishing new industries are energy-savings and new energy sources for automobiles, oceanic engineering equipment, general aircraft and regional aircraft, high-speed rail system equipment, and high-performance ship sectors.

Source: Xinhua, October 27, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2009-10/27/content_12342093.htm

On October 17, the 42nd Annual Conference of World Association of Newspapers (WAN) concluded in Chongqing. Wang Guoqing, the Division Chief of Newspapers and Periodicals at General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) of China, said that the mainland newspapers and periodicals’ landing overseas and cooperating with international media expanded the global influences of Chinese newspapers and Chinese culture.

At present, more than 60 periodicals from mainland China have copyright cooperation with international partners, with some publications landing outside China, including the China National Geography and ChinaNews magazine. The latter belongs to the official news agency China News Service (CNS).

Source: China News Service, October 18, 2009
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/gn/news/2009/10-18/1916255.shtml

Red Net, the Website for the Communist Party’s Hunan Province Committee and Hunan Provincial government, disclosed that Hunan will advance an Internet monitoring platform soon, as directed by the Ministry of Culture. The platform contains the traditional Internet Café monitoring software and a Hunan Culture Website, providing monitoring and servicing capabilities. This platform prevents users from accessing “harmful” information.

The provincial Cultural Inspection Team and municipal and county-level cultural inspection team will inspect Internet Cafés randomly and penalize businesses that haven’t installed, have stopped using or have removed the platform.

Source: Red Net, October 17, 2009
http://hn.rednet.cn/c/2009/10/17/1840624.htm

According to Xinhua, Liu Binjie, the director of the Press and Publication Administration recently signed administrative orders, No. 44, No. 45 and No. 46, announcing “The Management Methods on Journalist’ Licenses” (hereafter referred to as "the new ‘Methods’"); “Supplementary Provisions II regarding ‘The Management Methods on Foreign-Invested Distribution Companies of Books, Newspapers, & Magazines’”; and “Supplementary Provisions regarding ‘The Management Methods on the ‘Sino-Foreign Joint Distribution Companies of Audio-Video Products.’” The two supplementary regulations go into effect on October 1, 2009. The new “Methods” will become effective on October 15, 2009.

The new “Methods” have strengthened surveillance and regulation of journalists’ licenses. The Press and Publication Administration can suspend any journalist’s license if the journalist is under investigation by a relevant authority. 

Source: Xinhua, October 12, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/newmedia/2009-10/12/content_12214718.htm 

UUCall, the self-claimed #1 provider of IP phone service in China, went suddenly dead on October 9, 2009 and has not been revived. The company’s Website was also unavailable. UUCall recorded on Baidu that it was closed down on government orders. It was directed to temporarily stop its services to allow government inspection. Insiders suggest that the government discovered that some individuals were using the IP phones to pass on Xinjiang separatist messages.

Also, Google Docs, a document sharing service provided by Google, was suspended in China recently. Most of the people use it for work-related documents. Google Docs utilizes https protocol for file transferring. China’s Great Firewall (GFW) censorship engine is unable to monitor or apply its censorship to this protocol. Therefore, China blocked Google Docs.

Sources:
1. Radio Free Asia, October 12, 2009
http://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/China_internet-10122009112607.html?encoding=simplified
2. Radio Free Asia, October 13, 2009
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/wangluo-10132009095407.html

The Chinese General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) recently announced regulations on Internet games. All types of foreign investments are banned in this market. The ban includes indirect control or investment into domestic companies. Domestic companies importing games are also regulated. Service providers are required to submit the games to the authorities for approval first.

Source: Xinhua, October 10, 2009.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2009-10/10/content_12206841.htm

China recently published its 2009 Culture Blue Book: Report on the Development of Chinese Public Cultural Services.

The "Blue Book" concluded that there were major achievements in the following four public cultural service areas: the nation’s cultural industry spending reached 88.8 billion in 2008; the cultural system and policy were reformed and renovated; cultural soft power improved; cultural relic preservation reached a new level.

Source: People’s Daily, October 11, 2009
http://politics.people.com.cn/GB/1026/10171912.html

On October 8, Athens University of Economics held a grand opening ceremony for the Confucius Institute, a joint program with China’s University of International Business and Economics. This is the first Confucius Institute opened in Greece.

Source: Xinhua, October 9, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2009-10/09/content_12199193.htm