Welcome to Guangdong Today, this is Edward Welsh.

One of the most risky professions in the world is being a United Nations peace keeper. Thousands have been killed on mission since records began in 1948. Since 2000, China has dispatched 893 policemen to seven United Nations peace-keeping regions. In today's focus we'll cover a story on Zhang zhengui, a United Nations peacekeeping policeman from Guangzhou.

"when you're on a mission, you stand for your nation. Everything you do represents the image of your country. That urged us on to be the best in any case."
Before we hear the peace-keeping experience of Zhang, let's first take a look at the "News of the Week" from around Guangdong.

Welcome to News of the week. First the headlines:


Top Leaders Discuss to Boost Economic Development
Top party and government leaders gathered at the 5th plenary session of the tenth Guangdong CPC Committee on Thursday (July 16) and Friday to review the province's economic performance in the first half year and draft out plans for the next 6 months. Reports delivered at the conference show that Guangdong's economy resumed a stable and relatively fast development pace. Guangdong will work to enhance its industrial transfer and upgrade and take measures to boost the foreign trade.

Foreign Trade Shows sign of Recovery
Guangdong's foreign trade revenue recorded 49.38 billion USD in June, a 15% drop compared to the same period last year. Respectively, exports were down by 18% and imports down by 10.8%. However, compared to May, June performances have recorded a dramatic rise, with exports rising 7.4% and imports 1.8%. The figures of both total foreign trade, and imports or exports taken alone have all risen to their highest monthly level so far this year. Analysts believe that this indicates that Guangdong's foreign trade is gradually picking-up after months in dire straits.

Canton Fair to Maintain its Size
The China Import and Export Fair, the largest trade event in the country, won't decrease in size next session despite the global financial crisis. During a conference recently, Deputy Minister of Commerce Zhongshan revealed that the autumn session of the Canton Fair will keep its 55,000 booths and should open between October 15 and November 4. Once again, the fair will be held in 3 phases, but this time there will only be 3 days in between each phase. Zhongshan said that, as of July 10th, the fair's official website had received nearly 85,000 applications from exhibitors, far more than the venue can even hold. He pledged to encourage more buyers to attend the fair whilst improving the services offered to the guests, as he believes the 4th quarter will be a critical moment for China's foreign trade.

Guangdong's Financial Industries See Increased Added Value
According to the Guangdong Finance Office, so far this year, major financial industries and markets have seen healthy indexes despite the global financial crisis. Statistics showed that in the first quarter of 2009, Guangdong's value-added financial industries' have reached over 52 billion Yuan, up 17% year on year whilst taking up 6.8% of the total GDP and 14.2% of added value in the tertiary sector.