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China’s Health Ministry confirmed Tuesday a new A/H1N1 influenza case in central Hunan Province, bringing the total confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland to 12.

The patient is a 19-year-old male from Changsha, capital of Hunan. The provincial health department said he had been studying at an unidentified U.S. university.

The patient boarded Air China flight CA982 from New York at 4 a.m.(Beijing time) Thursday and arrived in Beijing at 6 p.m. (Beijing time).

On Friday, he took a taxi with his mother to the airport. They then boarded Air China flight CA1349 and arrived in Changsha at 1:40 p.m.

He developed a sore throat and cough Friday and was put under observation at the Changsha Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CCDCP) the following day. On Monday, his cough worsened and he was sent to the Public Health Treatment Center in Changsha, where he remained under quarantine.

CCDCP has located 56 Hunan residents who were on the CA1349 flight and urged health authorities of 23 regions to find the remaining 101 passengers.

The patient had close contact with 21 Hunan residents, including flight passengers and those he met after arrival in Hunan. Eighteen have been quarantined and three others are being sought.

The ministry noted that he was on the same plane with a 65-year-old man who had the fourth case of A/H1N1 reported in Beijing.

Beijing’s transit authority plans to improve ventilation in public buses and subway trains, in the wake of the report that the city’s fifth confirmed A/H1N1 flu patient, and the ninth on the mainland, had traveled by subway twice before he was quarantined.

The city began to disinfect all bus stations and public vehicles early this month.

Shanghai, which reported one confirmed case, has conducted onboard quarantine inspection on all incoming international flights.

(Xinhua News Agency May 26, 2009)

Chinese health departments said Thursday more people were put under quarantine while the two citizens who were confirmed to have contracted A/H1N1 this week were recovering swiftly.

Health authorities in east China’s Shandong Province put 30 people under home or hospital quarantine as of 2 p.m. Thursday to check for symptoms of A/H1N1 influenza, said the provincial health department at a news briefing held Thursday.

The 30 people, consisting of 27 passengers and three train service workers, were in close contact in a Beijing-Jinan train with a male resident of Shandong who health officials said Wednesday had tested positive for A/H1N1 flu. They didn’t show any symptoms of the disease.

The provincial health authorities are seeking the remainder 13 other passengers who were in the same car of train D41, from Beijing to the provincial capital of Jinan, Monday night.

After the man who was only identified by his family name as Lu was diagnosed, Shandong Province declared China’s first A/H1N1 flu health emergency at about 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Wang Suilian, vice governor of the eastern province, said Shandong declared the second-level health emergency, which will involve many departments coordinating to contain the disease and keep the public informed.

A health official surnamed Zhang said that the second-degree emergency declaration was the highest-level response available to provincial governments. A first-degree emergency declaration would be up to the central government.

Shandong’s flu case, the second known case on the Chinese mainland, involved a 19-year-old student surnamed Lu who arrived in Beijing from Canada May 8 in a flight labeled AC029 and traveled to Jinan three days later.

Lu was hospitalized Monday. Apart from a sore throat, Lu was recovering with a normal body temperature, and showed no other symptoms of discomfort such as headache, coughing or a runny nose Thursday, said Li Zhongjun, spokesman for Shandong Provincial Health Department.

Lu is in an isolation ward in the Jinan Hospital of Infectious Diseases.

According to Li, Lu is receiving antiviral medication — Tamiflu and traditional Chinese medicine — in accordance with suggestions given by medical experts from the Chinese Ministry of Health.

Apart from Lu, Shandong has not reported other new A/H1N1 flu suspected or confirmed cases.

Shandong health authorities said they had reached four of the 45 passengers who were in the same flight AC029 as Lu as of 2 p.m. Thursday. The four passengers were all quarantined and reported normal temperatures.

Search for other passengers in the flight is ongoing.

Zong Lin, chief of the disease control and prevention section of the Shandong Provincial Health Bureau, said health officials were sending text messages and running notices on TV to find the remaining passengers.

Health authorities in Hebei Province, a neighbor of Shandong, are also busy with seeking 22 passengers who reportedly were in the same train carriage as Lu but got off at stops inside Hebei or on the juncture of the two provinces before the train reached its final destination in Jinan. No progress has been reported in this front thus far.

Bao, the Chinese mainland’s first A/H1N1 flu case, who has been kept at Chengdu Infectious Diseases Hospital for isolation and medical treatment for five days in Sichuan Province, southwest China, is also recovering fast.

All 147 passengers who had been exposed to Bao on Northwest Airlines flight NW029 from Tokyo to Beijing, had been contacted by the Beijing Health Department, said the department Wednesday.

Tian Ming, vice president of Chengdu Infectious Diseases Hospital, said Thursday that the time for Bao to be discharged from the hospital was not decided yet.

“Though he shows normal temperature, eats normally, and is in good mood,” said Tian, “A/H1N1 flu is a new virus strain, the medical experts panel need to carry out a comprehensive review over Bao’s recovery before a specific date could be given for him to be discharged from the hospital.”

Tian disclosed that as of midday Thursday, 126 people who had contact with Bao had been put under quarantine at a local camp in Chengdu, while two other people who were said to be in the same flight with the confirmed A/H1N1 flu case in Shandong had also been quarantined. There are no reports of flu symptoms with them.

In the meantime, health authorities in China’s Shanxi and Henan provinces said Thursday they quarantined 16 people who had exposed to Bao or Lu.

Beijing Health Department said Thursday evening as of 5 p.m. Thursday the department had quarantined 426 people and 131 had been released while the other 286 are still under medical observation in four hotels.

Beijing launched three search campaigns to look for the people who contacted with the three cases in Hong Kong, Sichuan and Shandong.

The department said it had appointed 38 medical institutions, which have the capability to set up flu examinations centers in 96 hospitals to examine any suspect flu patients.

Thirteen people from Mexico and Canada were removed from quarantine from Beijing You’an Hospital on Thursday, said Li Ning, head of the hospital.

“We released them after the tests. The foreigners said the medical examinations were understandable,” Li said.

The panic caused by confirmation of the two A/H1N1 flu patients in China has helped boost sales of face masks and some traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with antiviral function, such as Banlangen, a kind of crystal powder made of a medicinal herb bearing the same name and commonly prescribed for treating the common cold in China.

Qiu Xiaolin, an administrative personnel with Tongrentang Pharmacy on Zongfu Road in Chengdu City, capital of Sichuan Province, said there had been long queues of local residents to buy antiviral TCM at his store each day since Monday.

“We now sell 2,000 boxes of Banlangen and 400 face masks each day, comparing 100 boxes of Banlangen and 20 face masks daily before Monday,” said Qiu, “No worry, we have reserved a good stock of those materials.”

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The Chinese mainland has reported its first confirmed infection of A/H1N1 Influenza. The case was found in Chengdu, capital of southwestern Sichuan province. Emergency measures are already in place.

Officials in Sichuan say the patient is a 30-year-old man. His condition is stable. Basic vital signs are normal.

The man is a native of Sichuan studying at a university in the US state of Missouri. On Thursday, flew from St. Louis to Tokyo. On Friday, he took flight NW029 from Tokyo and arrived at the Beijing International Airport early on Saturday. The same day, on flight 3U8882 to Chendgu, he developed a fever and other symptoms. He was met by his father and girlfriend, and the three took a taxi to hospital.

Authorities in Sichuan are stepping up efforts to locate everyone who’s had close contact with the man.

More than 130 of 150 passengers on the flight to Chengdu 3U8882 are under quarantine. Nearly 30 of 144 passengers on the flight from Tokyo are now under observation.

The Chinese Ministry of Health has dispatched a team of experts to Chengdu to guide prevention and control.

It’s also asked local health authorities to immediately send a virus specimen to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention for a second check

China would impose stringent checks on people entering the country by air, land and sea in an attempt to prevent influenza A(H1N1) from spreading to the country, the top quality supervisor said Saturday.

Anyone entering from places where the flu was reported should have their temperatures checked twice, said the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (GAQSIQ).

According to the World Health Organization, 11 nations have reported influenza A(H1N1) cases: Mexico, the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Britain, Spain, Germany, Israel, Austria, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

People entering China from these areas must go through a separate channel upon arrival. The first check should be done at or before that point, while the second should be done at regular inspection channels.

People with temperature at or above 38 degrees Celsius must undergo further examination, and all arriving passengers and transportation staff must provide health information, the GAQSIQ said.

The administration ordered quarantine offices to conduct thorough sanitation of flights, ships and other vehicles, including waste.

Cargo and baggage on vehicles arriving from affected areas should also be examined

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Chinese authorities have shut down 162 Web sites that had been found providing pornographic and “lewd” content in their audio or video segments, according to a statement released by the country’s online watchdog Monday.

The blocked Web sites had not acquired permits to broadcast audio and video programs issued by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), said a statement issued by the Special Operation Office for Crackdown on online Porn and Lewd Content.

The Web sites include www.baigujing.com, www.bt990.com and other sites mainly based in Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong Provinces.

The Web sites added to a total of 341 audio and video sites that have been blocked by the SARFT and telecommunication authorities since Chinese government launched a nationwide campaign in January to sweep off pornographic and obscene contents on the Internet.

So far, more than a thousand of Web sites have been blocked by the authorities for distributing porn and other lewd materials in texts and pictures.

The SARFT also asked all Web sites not to post TV series online which had not been censored by the administration.

China’s Ministry of Commerce announced on Wednesday that it has rejected a bid by Coca-Cola to acquire China’s top juice maker Huiyuan, saying the takeover could stifle competition and harm the growth of small juice makers in China.

In a statement posted on its website on Wednesday, the ministry says it rejected the $2.4 billion bid in accordance with China’s Anti-Monopoly Law. This is the first offer rejected since China’s Anti-Monopoly Law took effect last August.

The ministry says in its statement that if the takeover went ahead, Coca-cola could use its dominant position in the carbonated soft drinks market to promote its fruit juices through tied selling. Consumers may eventually have fewer choices and be forced to accept higher prices. The deal would also harm the growth of small and medium-sized fruit juice makers in the country.

The ministry said that Coca-cola submitted plans to reduce the deal’s unfavorable effect on competition but the ministry was not convinced by the plans. It rejected the bid in accordance with Article 28 of China’s Anti-Monopoly Law.

Shares of Huiyuan were suspended from trading at 10:13 Wednesday morning in Hong Kong after slumping 19 percent following reports Coca-Cola may scrap its bid for Huiyuan.

China Huiyuan Juice Group Ltd. requested the suspension pending the release of an announcement relating to price sensitive information, the company said in a statement.

Coca-Cola proposed to purchase Huiyuan for a steep premium on Sept 3, 2008, marking the largest foreign takeover of a Chinese company. It submitted an application for anti-monopoly approval to the Ministry of Commerce in December.

The offer price of HK$ 17.92 billion is the US beverage giant’s most aggressive move in China since the company started its operations in the country in 1979.

The transaction has been closely monitored in China as the acquisition may have become the first major test case since the country’s anti-monopoly law took effect on August 1, 2008.

According to ACNielsen, Huiyuan controls over 40 percent of China’s pure juice market. Analysts say that as a long-established juice brand in China, Huiyuan is highly complementary to the Coca-Cola China business. They believe that since Coca-Cola dominates the Chinese diluted-juice market, it hopes to make inroads into the pure-juice sector.

Consumers across China will soon need to dial just one number to have their grievances addressed, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) has said.

The new number, 12315, refers to March 15, World Consumer Rights Day.

Local authorities should also enable 12315 to publish text messages to consumers, leading to a shift of focus from mediation to prevention, he said.

The 12315 short messaging service was first launched by Hefei, Anhui province. The idea caught on across the nation, with different numbers being used in different cities.

The bureau said it was keen to build a video information platform in suitable venues such as supermarkets and department stores, so that 12315 center can provide real time legal advice.

Moreover, the bureau expects the new 12315 service to attempt more interactive co-operation with local government, public security bureau, quality control administration of commodity prices and health bureau, in a bid to share information, inter-transfer cases, and combine executive efforts.

In a joint poll by Sina.com and Beijing News, 2,437 people were asked what the biggest stumbling block was in the way of protecting consumers’ rights; to which 60.1 percent said the process was hideous and complex, 51.3 percent said the cost was too high.

“The future amendment of consumers’ rights protection should establish an adequate compensation system,” said Wu Gaohan, deputy secretary-general of the China Consumers’ Association (CCA), referring directly to the problem of legal costs overshooting the money received as compensation.

The poll also shows that 58.2 percent people are disappointed with the inadequate achievement of consumer rights protection agencies, 41.3 percent think there aren’t enough conduits to lodge a complaint.

Statistics from CCA showed that the consumer goods attracting the highest number of complaints last year were mobile phones (69,050 cases), garments (35,651 cases) and shoes (35,374 cases).

The first floor of the department store selling foreign trade products as part of the exhibition in Beijing was bustling with people on Friday looking for deals at the various counters selling textiles, porcelain, bags, photo frames etc.

And for those who did buy something it was worth it. Many like Zeng queued up for nearly half an hour to buy a yogurt maker.

Others like Gao and his wife bought electronic watches for 60 yuan last week and intended to buy another one this week. “The export goods are of good quality, and not that expensive,” said Gao. He commuted one and a half hours by bus from southern Beijing, to the Jinyuan New Yansha Mall, where the export fair is being held.

The fair is the second stage of the month-long foreign goods trade fair being organized by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce to introduce export-oriented producers to the domestic market. The first stage opened last week, and revenue on the first day itself was more than 100,000 yuan, said a report from Reference News.

A salesman who declined to be named said producers of export-oriented products should have a clear understanding of domestic sales channels, but some foreign trade companies still lack experience in this area, including after-sales service and logistics.

The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce is considering introducing more fairs like this, said Chen Zexing, deputy director of the bureau

More than 800 overseas journalists are covering the two annual sessions of China’s top legislature and the country’s top advisory body. Many of them focus on the economy and social welfare.

Before the NPC opening, Olga Danasiichuk, from the National News Agency of the Ukraine, told CRI that the theme of her report this time would be ‘economics’. “This is the main priority. We are all waiting for the speech by Mr. Wen (Chinese Premier), What is he proposing and what will be the outcome of this (stimulus) package that was adopted in November last year? Are there any results so far? I’m focusing on economics mostly,” says Danasiichuk.

Having been in China for eight years and having covered many NPC & CPPCC sessions, Marije Vlaskamp, a correspondent from RTI in the Netherlands, says she will pay more attention to China’s measures to tackle the financial crisis, “we are all looking at what’s happening in China because the Chinese economy has a huge influence on European countries, especially my country, which is like one of the main economic import and export hubs through the Port of Rotterdam. So anything happening to the export and import situation world wide is also influencing our Dutch economy.”

And as the National People’s Congress kicked off on March 5 and Premier Wen’s government report was released, it certainly has put China in the world spotlight.

For Melissa Chan, a reporter from Aljazeera English, this is her third time to cover the annual sessions. Interested in China’s stimulus package policy, she says she was impressed by this year’s government work report, “Usually the speech discusses many different issues in China. This year, it is the same, but there is a lot of focus on the economy, almost everything. That is mentioned indirectly or directly linked to the economy, which I think that is sort of emphasis we haven’t seen before.”

And Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen, the ambassador of Denmark, said he was particularly impressed by two messages in the report, “the first one is that, apart from the important efforts to maintain high growth in China, reform and opening-up is continuing in all areas. And I think that is one very important message that the present economic circumstances are not an argument for slowing down but rather an argument for accelerating changes. Secondly, I know that the great emphasis on environmental issues, such as climate change, I think that is important also, not just for China but also for the rest of the world.”

Foreign media are also looking forward to the Premier’s press conference on the last day of the annual sessions where they will have a chance to ask further questions. Ben O’Hara Byrne from the Global National of Canada says he is interested in how the money invested can be effectively used to solve social issues.

He said, “At the end of the day, I think the important question for him right now is that, with all the money that’s being spent and all the money they are planning on spending, how are they actually going to create jobs? How they can they make sure they find the steps that people need, such as the migrant workers?”