File photo shows Kuomintang Honorary Chairman Lien Chan leaves Peking University with his wife Lien Fang-yu during their visit in Beijing in 2014. [Photo/China Daily] The upcoming visit of Lien Chan, former chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang in Taiwan, to Beijing next week shows a gesture to ease tensions across the Taiwan Straits, a scholar said on Friday. Lien will lead a delegation to visit the mainland from July 12 to 14, An Fengshan, spokesman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, announced on Friday. Following the stop in Beijing, the delegation will visit Liaoning, Jilin and Zhejiang provinces, he said. Lien is also chairman of a foundation on cross-Straits peaceful development. According to Taiwan media, the delegation has about 50 powerful figures from the island, including Terry Guo, founder and chairman of Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer and major suppler for Apple. Lien's visit comes amid rising tension between the mainland and Taiwan, as Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen has failed to recognize the 1992 Consensus, which embodies the one-China principle, and her right-hand man, the island's executive head Lai Ching-te, publicly called himself a Taiwan independence worker. Scholars have noted that Tsai's recent behavior, such as calling on the international community to constrain the Chinese mainland, courting foreign support and creating hostility among people from the mainland and Taiwan, will enhance confrontation in cross-Straits relations. Wang Hailiang, a Taiwan studies researcher at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said Lien's coming visit is more likely a symbolic gesture that shows Lien's stance to help ease the tension between the mainland and Taiwan. But Lien is no longer the leader of the KMT and the impact of his visit may be limited, Wang said. Lien, who retired as KMT chairman in August 2005, has been an important figure in the history of the relationship between the Communist Party of China and KMT, and in the history of cross-Straits relations. In April 2005, as then KMT leader, he visited the Chinese mainland and met Hu Jintao, then general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, breaking the ice that had existed for half a century. It was the first meeting for leaders of the two parties since 1949. After that, Lien visited the mainland a dozen times, and met general secretary of the CPC Central Committee Xi Jinping in 2013, 2014 and 2015. cheap silicone wristbandsrubber wristbandsbracelet maker onlinewellies and wristbands 2017custom rubber bandsjordan wristband
Shared cars are parked in Beijing. [Photo/VCG] City governments and private property managers have been encouraged to cut parking fees and even allocate free spaces for shared cars as a way to promote the nascent business. Similar to the model used for shared bikes, motorists can now rent cars parked in public areas simply by scanning a QR code using a smartphone app. Last year, dozens of car-sharing enterprises operated more than 26,000 vehicles in China, according to consultancy firm Roland Berger, which estimates the number will hit 600,000 by 2025. To help the sector flourish, local authorities should ease parking charges, while shopping malls, residential communities and other areas should set aside spaces for these vehicles, according to a central government guideline released on Tuesday. Car-sharing companies also were urged to improve their services online and offline, as well as to use new energy vehicles, with charging facilities installed close to designated parking areas. The guideline, which covers the entire car rental industry, was issued by the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. It aims to protect customers' rights, improve car rental services and traffic networks, and promote the industry's healthy development. The car rental business has been well-developed in China for a long time. However, along with the innovation of technology and services, the guideline also solves some of the difficulties of the car-sharing business, said Li Yanxia, an associate researcher of the China Academy of Transportation Sciences. She said the national guideline encourages city authorities to draw up more detailed plans based on local conditions. Since the first car rental companies established in China in 1989, the industry has grown to more than 6,300 companies, according to the Transport Ministry. The number has increased by 20 percent each year. But 93 percent of car rental companies own fewer than 50 cars. The market leaders, such as Shenzhou Zuche and eHi, account for 20 percent of the market, figures from the ministry show. Unlike traditional car rental services, car-sharing services take advantage of modern technologies such as GPS and mobile internet. Such services improve user experience and offer an alternative for urban commuting, easing growing demand for private cars and parking space, the guideline said. [email protected]
