China & US Sign Deals Worth of 12.4 Billion
The China-US Economic & Trade Cooperation Forum opened this morning in Phoenix, Arizona in the United States. Wu Bangguo, the chairman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People's Congress, was present at the opening ceremony and delivered a speech in which he urged for more cooperation between China and the United States in the fields of high-technology and clean energies. At the opening ceremony, the two sides signed a total of 41 co-operation projects which amounted to 12.4 billion USD.

Drought in GD Worsens
the latest announcement issued this afternoon (Sep 9th) by the Guangdong anti-drought & anti-flood headquarters indicated that a total of 1286 square kilometers of fields have been affected by the on-going drought in Guangdong. So far, 610,000 people and 54.37 million Yuan have been allocated to fight the drought.

20 Couples Wed at Beijing Road
Today is the 9th day of the 9th month, 2009, a day featuring 3 '9's and as "9" stands for eternity in Chinese culture, it is a date widely regarded as the luckiest day to get married during this entire century. Therefore at 9:39 this morning, a group wedding of 20 couples was held on Beijing Road. Our journalist Wang Jianping was at the wedding:
20 couples dressed in traditional Chinese wedding gowns walked down a red carpet and gave their solemn promise to their other halves. After the wedding, the 20 couples will set off for Paris for a honeymoon, but also serve as ambassadors to promote Chinese culture. Zhou Xiaomin, one of the 20 brides, said:
[recording] Today is a special day for us and our families. It's also important for Yuexiu District and Paris as we shall become "ambassadors" to build a bridge of friendship between the two places. We've made our promises and will keep them.