An aerial view of Yongxing Island, home to the government of Sansha, China's southernmost city. [Photo/Xinhua] Resolution sought after agency moved under Armed Police Force National lawmakers on Friday passed a resolution specifying the authority and responsibilities of the newly reshuffled China Coast Guard. The resolution, which serves as the legal basis for the Coast Guard, makes it clear that the force is tasked with cracking down on illegal activities at sea, safeguarding security and order of maritime operations, protecting the marine environment and ecosystems, regulating the fishing industry, and coordinating and training local governments' maritime law enforcement. It also lists responsibilities mentioned in current laws that now belong to multiple government departments but will be assigned to the Coast Guard. The resolution was adopted at the bimonthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the top legislature. General Wang Ning, commander of the Armed Police Force, said that existing rules on the Coast Guard's powers and responsibilities have become outdated. They need to be modified for the force to carry out maritime law enforcement operations with the move from the former State Oceanic Administration to the Armed Police Force, he said. The Coast Guard now has new command systems, operational mechanisms and coordination patterns, he said, while briefing the legislators about the draft resolution on Tuesday. In addition, some clauses in current laws and regulations pertaining to the Coast Guard have become inconsistent with the force's new status and missions, so amendments are necessary, he said. Amending multiple laws, however, usually takes a long time. Timely passage of a specific resolution on the Coast Guard's new authority and responsibilities was needed to grant a legal basis for the new force's operations, Wang said. The Coast Guard was established in July 2013 as a result of a government reorganization, merging several organs administered by separate government departments that independently conducted law enforcement operations on the sea, such as the maritime police under the public security authorities and anti-smuggling police under the General Administration of Customs. It was affiliated with the State Oceanic Administration but also took guidance and instructions from the Ministry of Public Security. In March, the central leadership issued a massive reform plan of many bodies of the Communist Party of China and the central government, which included the transfer of the Coast Guard to the Armed Police Force. The Coast Guard is now undertaking a host of reform measures arranged by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Central Military Commission, Wang said. The Armed Police Force itself was placed under the unified control of the CPC Central Committee and Central Military Commission as of January. Under the new command chain, Armed Police units take orders directly from the force's headquarters, which, likewise, follows directives from the Central Military Commission instead of instructions from both the commission and the State Council. Cao Yin contributed to this story. rubber wristbands custom cheapcustom wristbandscustom printed wristbandsrubber bracelets custom cheap
Workers test samples at an oil field in Aktobe, Kazakhstan. Ren Qi / China Daily A Chinese company is not only pumping 'black gold' and providing jobs, but also establishing community projects for locals, reports Ren Qi in Aktobe, Kazakhstan Editor's note: This is the ninth in a series of reports focusing on the development of the Belt and Road Initiative, China's proposed trading route linking Asia, Europe and Africa. Kazakhstan holds a special place in the history of Belt and Road Initiative, because President Xi Jinping proposed the ambitious initiative during a speech at Nazarbayev University in Astana, the Kazakh capital, in 2013. China has been working closely with Kazakhstan for about 20 years, mainly in the energy sector. That cooperation has expanded since the launch of the landmark project, which comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. Aktobe, in the west, is Kazakhstan's second-largest region but it has the lowest population density in the country, with just 2.6 people per square kilometer. It's also the location of a prime example of the strong links between the two nations: China National Petroleum Corp AktobeMunaiGas, known as CNPC AMG, Kazakhstan's fifth-largest oil and gas producer. In June 1997, China National Petroleum Corp, the nation's largest oil and gas producer and supplier, bought a 60.34 percent stake in the Kazakh company and obtained production licenses for three oil fields and a contract for an oil exploration block. The acquisition was the company's first investment in Central Asia, and the development of the Aktobe project is a prime example of China's oil and gas cooperation in Kazakhstan, said Bian Dezhi, general manager of CNPC Kazakhstan Corp, a subsidiary established to oversee operations. Later, CNPC was awarded four more oil and gas projects in the country, along with two exploration projects and the Kazakhstan-China crude oil pipeline, the Northwest oil pipeline, and phase two of the Kazakhstan-China gas pipeline. Construction of the 1,454-kilometer-long western section of the Kazakhstan-China gas pipeline was completed on April 14. According to the company, the pipeline can now carry more than 5 billion cubic meters a year from Kazakhstan to Chna. China is busy building the Silk Road Economic Belt throughout Central Asia, and we see these oil and natural gas pipelines as an 'energy Silk Road', said Bian Dezhi, general manager of CNPC Kazakhstan. CNPC now holds 89.17 percent of CNPC AMG, which produced more than 134 million metric tons of crude oil and 72.3 billion cu m of natural gas between 1997 and the end of last year, according to company data. Wang Junren, general manager of CNPC AMG, said the project has faced several challenges since it was established, including the 2008 global financial crisis and the drop in the price of oil between 2010 and 2015. However, thanks to a better energy cooperation environment, such as a higher oil price and positive policies introduced as part of the initiative, the development of CNPC AMG has jumped in the past two years, he said. The initiative is an updated version of China's international cooperation model, and the Silk Road Economic Belt is helping to raise the level of sustainable cooperation between China and Kazakhstan, he added. Wang Yanfeng, deputy chief engineer and head of field operations in Aktobe, said the company's employees have made many sacrifices to ensure the project's success. After working at the company's oil field in Daqing, Heilongjiang province, for seven years, Wang studied in Moscow from 2001 to 2003 to further his professional skills. After that, he moved to Kazakhstan. When I arrived in Aktobe, the company was in a critical situation because the price of oil had almost reached its lowest point and the business was really not smooth. Living and working conditions were also quite poor, he recalled. The hardest thing was traveling the 270 km between the oil field and the regional capital, also called Aktobe: The roads were bad, and there were deep potholes all the way to the field, so we had to ride in an open pickup truck for more than eight hours in winter. Acts of charity CNPC AMG has signed memorandums of understanding with the Aktobe regional government every year since 1997, and has donated more than $47 million to local charities. The company has spent more than $694 million to boost local amenities, including subsidizing medical services and building infrastructure, such as hospitals and cultural or religious venues, according to Yury Shikarev, deputy director of the general manager's office. In 2003, the company bought 80 apartments in downtown Aktobe city. It offered them to World War II veterans free of charge as part of celebrations to mark the 58th anniversary of the end of the war. We also spend $63,700 a year on newspaper subscriptions for the old soldiers, he said. Furthermore, we sponsored a Veterans' Day to commemorate them, which received positive feedback from local people. Xu Anping, deputy general manager of CNPC AMG, visits the apartments to meet with the veterans every year. For a company exploring natural resources in a foreign country, relations with local governments, and especially local communities, are very important, he said. Xu was one of the first Chinese workers to arrive in Aktobe in 1997. He said the CNPC management team understood the need for positive relations and immediately set about cultivating them. In the first year, CNPC AMG bought and renovated an old sanatorium. When the work had been completed, the company organized a three-month summer camp for the children of its Chinese and Kazakh employees. Now, our summer camp is one of the most famous in Aktobe, or even western Kazakhstan. It has become a fairytale land for the children of the region, Xu said, with pride. Contact the writer at [email protected]
