Russia welcomes direct investment from China in an effort to expand bilateral cooperation on trade and finance, a Russian official said Friday.

Vladimir Milovidov, head of the Federal Financial Markets Service said at a meeting with Li Hui, the Chinese ambassador to Russia, that China has successfully responded to the impact of the global financial crisis and attained internationally known achievements.

Russia highly appreciates China’s policies on financial market supervision and is willing to share its experience with China on this field, Milovidov said.

Russia also welcomes direct investment from China to promote bilateral cooperation on trade and finance, he said.

Li noted that the leaders of both countries have remarked that China-Russia relations are at an all-time high and that bilateral ties increased to a new level in 2010.

Li valued the official launch of ruble-yuan trading in Russia’s Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange on Dec 15, saying it marked another stage of bilateral financial cooperation.

China hopes to further promote cooperation with Russia on trade and finance, boost mutual investment and achieve more in pragmatic cooperation, Li said.

Li said the cooperation will lay a solid substantial foundation to the overall promotion of the China-Russia strategic partnership of coordination.

In November, trading in yuan-ruble had already begun in China’s Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Learn Chinese, Learn mandarin, Learning Materials, Mandarin audio lessons, Chinese writing lessons, Chinese vocabulary lists, About Chinese characters, News in Chinese, Go to China, Travel to China, Study in China, Teach in China, Dictionaries, Learn Chinese Painting, Your name in Chinese, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese songs, Chinese proverbs, Chinese poetry, Chinese tattoo, HSK, HSK exam, Chinese Exam Preparation, China Business, China Travel, Mandarin Phrasebook, Chinese editor, Pinyin editor, China Travel, Travel to Beijing

China ranks third in the world for its prolific output of film and television productions, a senior media official said.

Wang Taihua, director of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), said in a recent interview that more than 500 films were produced in China in 2010, receiving a world ranking of third place for the size of its output, which is estimated to have earned a record 10 billion yuan ($1.47 billion) in box office takings.

Many of the films have been well received by the critics as well as popular with audiences, Wang said, citing Feng Xiaogang’s Aftershock as an example.

The film, which relates the story of a mother and daughter rebuilding their relationship 32 years after they became separated in the aftermath of the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, was the highest-grossing domestic film in 2010, raking in more than 600 million yuan.

China currently has more than 1,800 cinemas featuring 5,690 screens, Wang said. Although there are fewer than in the United States, where there are nearly 6,000 cinemas with 40,000 screens, an average of three new screens were built per day in China in 2010 to meet demand for the country’s booming film industry.

In rural areas, where there are few modern cinema complexes, the SARFT has helped local governments organize free film screenings for farmers since 1998.

“In 2009, attendance at the 7.8 million screenings totaled about 1.8 billion,” Wang said. “Basically, every village now screens a film once a month.”

As for the small screen, China has produced the most episodes of television dramas in the world, he said, quoting a survey that shows 80 percent of the viewing audience prefers to watch domestic TV series, preferably those that are locally made.

The animation industry has also grown considerably, with production increasing from 40,000 to 170,000 minutes between 2005 and 2009, he said, adding that the government has prohibited animations produced overseas from being broadcast on TV between 5 pm and 9 pm every night to protect the domestic market.

To give an indication of China’s increasing international influence, Wang said CCTV, the largest TV network in the country, currently has six foreign language channels with 160 million viewers across the world. China Radio International also now broadcasts its news programs in 61 languages.

Looking to the future, over the next five years Wang would like to see greater integration between TV, radio and telecommunication networks, in order for richer content and more convenient platforms to become available to audiences.

Learn Chinese, Learn mandarin, Learning Materials, Mandarin audio lessons, Chinese writing lessons, Chinese vocabulary lists, About Chinese characters, News in Chinese, Go to China, Travel to China, Study in China, Teach in China, Dictionaries, Learn Chinese Painting, Your name in Chinese, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese songs, Chinese proverbs, Chinese poetry, Chinese tattoo, HSK, HSK exam, Chinese Exam Preparation, China Business, China Travel, Mandarin Phrasebook, Chinese editor, Pinyin editor, China Travel, Travel to Beijing

The capital’s transport authorities said they received three times the monthly quota for new car license plate applications in the first two days of the year, as the city has adopted measures restricting plate issuances to ease traffic.

The website for applications, www.bjhjyd.gov.cn, had received nearly 60,000 online submissions as of 11 am on Sunday. Authorities said the number exceeded expectations.

Applicants are competing for the first 20,000 plates to be issued through a lottery system in January.

Beijing had decided to issue only 240,000 new license plates this year- that is one-third of 2010′s total – to ease gridlock. Individual automobile buyers will receive a monthly average of 88 percent, or 17,600, of the plates.

The new measures stipulate a driver may only register one car.

Eligible individuals include local residency permit (hukou) holders and foreigners who have lived in the city for at least a year. Residents without Beijing hukou must provide proof they have paid social security fees and income taxes for five consecutive years.

Anyone who provides false information will be banned from applying for three years and must assume legal responsibility, the application website said.

Upon submitting their applications, candidates receive a code, and their qualifications will be examined. Qualification results will be released on Jan 25, the day before the lottery. Individuals can also apply at transport departments’ application offices from Jan 4.

Residents can apply anytime before midnight on Jan 8.

“I finished the online application around 2 am on Saturday,” Beijing resident Wu Bin told China Daily.

“Although I know thousands of people will compete for the very limited number of new car license plates, I still want to try my luck or I’ll have no chance at all.”

Individuals can apply once a month. Those who do not win the lottery will automatically be included in the following month’s draw, the measures said.

As for the remaining 12 percent of the quota, 2 percent will be available for commercial use while 10 percent will go to companies and government institutions. Enterprises can apply once every two months, the rules said. Lottery winners may not transfer their registration rights to others.

“The ban on transferring registration opportunities will effectively deter speculation, in which scalpers sell them for high prices,” independent analyst Jia Xinguang told China Daily.

Beijing’s congestion has worsened in recent years. There were 4.8 million vehicles on the capital’s roads as of Dec 29, which was 700,000 more than at the beginning of 2010. There were only 2.6 million vehicles in 2005, government figures showed.

A global survey conducted by IBM last year found Beijing was tied with Mexico City for the “world’s worst commute”.

The car registration restrictions may be good news for frustrated drivers but not for dealers.

Li Hao, a sales manager for Chinese automaker Chery, said he had not sold a car since Dec 24, when the rules took effect.

“We definitely won’t make money this year,” Li said. His showroom was empty except for a few bored-seeming sales assistants and a handful of customers finalizing earlier purchases.

“Our income and sales will definitely drop, and I’m worried about my own income and job,” Li said. “Every salesperson is thinking about this problem.”

Beijing authorities announced on Dec 23 that any car sold after that date would not be granted a license plate until Jan 1, when car buyers could apply for registration.

Learn Chinese, Learn mandarin, Learning Materials, Mandarin audio lessons, Chinese writing lessons, Chinese vocabulary lists, About Chinese characters, News in Chinese, Go to China, Travel to China, Study in China, Teach in China, Dictionaries, Learn Chinese Painting, Your name in Chinese, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese songs, Chinese proverbs, Chinese poetry, Chinese tattoo, HSK, HSK exam, Chinese Exam Preparation, China Business, China Travel, Mandarin Phrasebook, Chinese editor, Pinyin editor, China Travel, Travel to Beijing