GD CPPCC Members in Beijing for the 3rd Plenary Session of the 11th CPPCC
The 3rd Plenary Session of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) will commence at 3 p.m. on March 3rd in Beijing. Guangdong's delegation of members flew to Beijing this morning (March 1st). Hot topics such as education reforms, the economy, environmental protection, health care reforms and issues related to agriculture will be the focuses of the meeting.

Winter Olympic Games Close with China Won the 7th Place
The 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games closed on Sunday evening local time, that was at 9:30 a.m. Beijing Time this morning. The figure skater Zhao Hongbo who won a gold medal at the Games was chosen to be the flag-bearer for the Chinese delegation at the closing ceremony. China made an historic breakthrough during the games, claiming five gold medals, two silvers and four bronzes, sharing the seventh place at the medal tally with Sweden. The 22nd Olympic Winter Games will be held in Sochi, Russia in 2014.

Guangdong's GDP in 2008 exceeds Saudi Arabia
According to a Report on the Overall Competitiveness of China's Provincial ¨Clevel Economy from 2008 to 2009, Guangdong's GDP in 2008 exceeded that of Saudi Arabia, Argentina and South Africa, and taken alone could reach the 16th place among the G20 nations. This latest bluebook also points out that apart from Guangdong, the GDP of Jiangsu, Shandong and Zhejiang have also surpassed some G20 and the average GDP of Shanghai would even place the city in the 12th position.

Norweigian Consul General Advocates Low-Carbon Life Style
In response to the theme of the Shanghai 2010 world expo commencing in May, Mr. Tormod Endresen, the Norwegian Consul General in Guangzhou is trying out different means of transportation to get to work this week in an effort to explore low-carbon urban lifestyles. This morning I talked to Mr. Tornod about his project:
At 7:45 this morning, Mr. Endresen set out from home on Binjiang Donglu, Haizhu District, riding his bike down Guangzhou Dadao and on the new bicycle lanes on Tianhebei road. It took him just over half to reach his office in Citic Plaza, so how did he feel about his first bicycle trip to work?
"Mr. Endresen reminded us that there are about 300 to 400 new cars in Guangzhou everyday. As for a low-carbon lifestyle, Mr. Endresen hopes more people use public transportation instead of their private vehicles"

"Mr. Endresen will take the metro, the taxi, buses and roller blades to get to work this week and shall share his impressions of this on the official blog of the Norwegian Consulate."