There is only a 0.4-percent chance that Beijing will experience weather above 35 degrees centigrade during the 2008 Olympics in August, and the Beijing Meteorological Bureau has forecast that the average temperature is likely to be 24.9 degrees centigrade during the event.

Guo Liwen, head of the bureau's climate center, told Xinhua News Agency that records in the last 30 years showed that Beijing's average temperature in August has been 24.9 degrees centigrade, relatively genial weather for the athletes.

He noted that there is no need to worry about hot weather, adding that some foreign media have misquoted 29.8 degrees centigrade, the average highest temperature in August, as the average August Beijing temperature.

Only One Real Consensus

The truth that the Chinese mainland and Taiwan reached a consensus about relations across the Taiwan Straits in 1992 cannot be denied, said Fan Liqing, a spokeswoman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, at a recent press conference. She said the Taiwan authorities recently fabricated the so-called "2005 consensus," which twisted the facts.

The 1992 consensus saw both sides recognize that there is only one China, but agree to differ on its definition.

Major CPC Meeting

The Second Plenary Session of the 17th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) closed on February 27 with a pledge to deepen political reform.

Hu Jintao, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, delivered an important speech at the three-day session in Beijing. Participants included 204 members of the CPC Central Committee and 167 alternate members.

The session approved two lists of candidates for state leaders and leading members of the country's top political advisory body. The lists will be recommended to the presidiums of the upcoming first annual sessions of the 11th National People's Congress and the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, both in March.

Yao Ming-less Olympics

The best-known basketball player in China and Houston Rockets all-star center Yao Ming might lose the opportunity to play a home run at the Beijing Olympic Games because of a stress fracture in his left foot that will end his NBA season.

The Rockets said the six-time NBA all-star is expected to be sidelined for three to four months before full rehabilitation training. Yao said at a press conference after his injury, "If I cannot play for the Olympics, for my country this time, that would be the biggest loss in my career right now."

Jonas Kazlauskas, Lithuanian head coach of China's men's basketball team, said future preparation for the Olympic Games would emphasize cooperation and strategies without Yao.

Gala for SMEs

The Fifth Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Technology Conference and Fair will be held in Qingdao, a coastal city in east China's Shandong Province.

With the theme of "Technology Boosts Economy and Cooperation Creates the Future," the four-day event from May 30 to June 2 aims to help SMEs break existing bottlenecks in financing, innovation and marketing, said Ma Liqiang, Deputy Secretary of China's National Development and Reform Commission, a sponsor of the event.

According to Ma, the highlight of this year's event will be its technology and program exchanges on energy-saving and emission-control solutions and applications. Dialogue between SMEs in the Asia-Pacific region and the world's 500 largest companies ranked by Fortune magazine and exhibitions ranging from auto parts, construction materials, electronics and appliances to textiles and equipment will also be made available to participants.