President Jiang Zemin yesterday met separately with Gaston Flosse, chairman of the government of French Polynesia, Jeff Immelt, chairman and chief executive officer of General Electric and Lee Scott, president and chief executive officer of the Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

He said that China welcomes US companies to invest or launch co-operative projects in China, and encourages its own companies to go abroad seeking advanced technologies and management expertise.

Zhu meets king

China will strongly support and assist Cambodia's hosting of next month's leaders meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Greater Mekong Subregion, said Premier Zhu Rongji.

Zhu said that hosting the leaders meeting between ASEAN and China, Japan and the Republic of Korea and the leaders meeting of the Greater Mekong Subregion will help Cambodia raise its international status and its influence in the region. He made these remarks during a meeting with the King of the Kingdom of Cambodia Norodom Sihanouk and Queen Norodom Monineath Sihanouk who are about to leave China for home.

SHANGHAI

Schools on Web

The Ministry of Education (MOE) has aligned with the integrated circuits supplier AMD to develop the China Education and Research Network, a nationwide academic network. In order to implement the ministry's plan of connecting all primary and high schools to the network, China Basic Education Software Ltd (CBE), which is affiliated with the MOE, signed a joint venture agreement with AMD to develop three types of hardware platforms ?a Student Personal Computer (PC), a Teacher PC and a Classroom Server.

KAMPALA

Chinese film festival held

A four-day Chinese film festival kicked off on Monday at the National Theatre of Uganda in the country's capital of Kampala, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of Sino-Ugandan diplomatic relations.

The film festival, put on by the Chinese Embassy in conjunction with the Uganda National Theatre, is one of a series of events to be held to mark the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Minister of State for Information Basoga Nsadhu said at the opening ceremony that China and Uganda have from the outset enjoyed a good relationship. Mutual culture exchanges between the two have played an important role in promoting this association.

Nsadhu said he hoped one day to see China helping Ugandan artists make their own films.

For his part, Chinese Ambassador Li Qiangmin said: "China and Uganda have been supporting and helping each other in their national construction and international affairs," adding "Bilateral co-operation in the field of culture exchange has been developing in leaps and bounds over the years."

SHANGHAI

Herbal cancer medicine approval close

Selected Vegetables, a compound Chinese herbal medicine for treating cancer, recently won approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the implementation of the final phase of clinical trials.

If these prove successful the medicine is set to enter the American market within three years, local medical sources revealed earlier this month.

The medicine, made from natural Chinese herbs and vegetables, has been proven to be non-toxic and has "few side effects."

ZHENGZHOU

Factory fire causes huge losses

A paper-making factory in Zhumadian, in Central China's Henan Province, caught fire on Monday, with flames spreading through 10 workshops and three huge stacks of wheat straw, causing at least 1 million yuan (US$120,500) in direct economic losses.

Fortunately, there have been no reports of casualties so far.

The blaze was started by a short circuit in the wiring of a straw feed motor at 10:35 am, according to the factory staff.

They immediately cut the electricity, but their efforts to put out the fire were hindered by a strong wind, and one of the stacks of wheat straw was quickly set ablaze.

Fanned by the wind the flames soon reached workshops on the east side of the mill and two other stacks of wheat straw.

By 3 pm the fire had gutted the straw feed machine, 10 workshops and 300,000 kilograms of wheat straw.

More than 70 firefighters were called in and 10 water trucks were sent to the scene to fight the blaze, according to a local newspaper report.

A local source estimated that it would take about 30 hours to completely put out the fire.

BEIJING

Smart socks hit market

A brand-new sock made of photo-electric fibre, which is efficient in absorbing heat energy and light, was recently put on the market by a private sock producer in East China.

The Naier Sock Company in Zhejiang Province said the affect of the special fibre will be to not only strengthen the wearer's feet, but keep both legs and feet in good condition.

Award for insurance firm

The China Association of Quality Promotion yesterday gave an award to the China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co Ltd for its high-quality service, describing it as a model company.

The award came after the association carried out several months of checks and supervision of the company's service. The firm was the only one in China's financial and insurance sector to receive the accolade.

Air carrier joins hotel group

The nation's leading airline Air China yesterday entered into a global partnership with the world-renowned Marriott hotel group.

Their agreement will allow members of the Air China Companion Frequent Flyer Programme the chance to earn an Air China reward flight, if they stay at any Marriott hotel either in China or elsewhere in the world.

The Marriott group has some 2,100 hotels worldwide.