Cross-Cultural Familiarity - The People and Their Stories Xi Mentioned on Foreign Visits——Unforgettable Ruling

＂Amity between people holds the key to sound relations between states.＂ Chinese President Xi Jinping has reiterated this in his speeches at various foreign affairs activities. To elaborate, he often provides anecdotes of real people and their stories that demonstrate China＇s respect for other cultures and its sincere desire for peaceful coexistence. In this issue China Today interviewed some of the people and their families that Xi has mentioned. Their experiences highlight the growing friendly exchanges between Chinese people and people of other countries, and a developing and changing China.     

A BRIGHT FUTURE AHEAD

It has been more than half a century since the friendship between New China and African countries was forged. In the past decades, the peoples and governments of China and Africa have supported each other in their various endeavors, particularly in their common struggle for national independence, state sovereignty and economic development. During the past 50 years, China has attached great importance to     

Important Guarantee for The Basic Rights of Citizens——China's State compensation system

A common folk can sue an official? This was hardly possible in the past in China where the old feudalistic tradition dies hard. But this is really possible today when the common people cannot only sue officials and also get compensation if they are wronged. State compensation system It would be inevitable for government functionaries to cause damages to some citizens, legal persons or other organizations in the course of their management of the society. That is why China has established a State compensation system to compensate for the damages to citizens, legal persons and other organizations caused by government functionaries in exercising their power.     

Revised Budget Law——A Reflection of Transformation

THE revisions last August to China’s Budget Law were the first since it took effect in 1995.It has thus taken more than a decade to revise a law so important it has been dubbed the"Economic Constitution."Response to the Demand for Change China’s Budget Law was promulgated in 1994 and took effect in 1995.Over the ensuing two decades Chinese society has witnessed dramatic changes–in economic development,state governance,and also public opinion and understanding of the budget.Social progress     

LETTERS

Iam a regular reader of China Todaythanks to the Embassy of the Peo-ple's Republic of China in Nigeria.Ifeel I know China and its people fromreading your monthly magazine.It isinteresting,fascinating and informa-tive.I enjoy the recipes in the cookingcolumn and their related anecdotes.My country has a lot to learn fromChina and I hope that the cordial rela-tionship between our two peoples andgovernments will continue to go fromstrength to strength.I wish one day tovisit China and see you…     

Breaking New Ground

<正>Building on four decades of sustained relations,China and the EU are ready to further their partnership.At the 17th China-EU Summit in Brussels on June 29,Premier Li Keqiang and EU leaders vowed to promote col aboration in a host of new areas.At present,Sino-EU economic relations are at their best in history.The EU has been China’s largest trading partner for 11 consecutive years while China     

A Foreign Education in China

SINCE the first batch of foreign students - 33 eastern Europeans - came to Beijing to study in 1950,their number in China has seen a continuous increase.According to statistics from the Ministry of Education (MOE),China has welcomed a total of 1.69 million students from 190 countries and regions;currently there are nearly 240,000 foreign students in China.In November 2009 U.S.president Barack Obama announced on his visit to China that from 2010 to 2013 the U.S.would send 100,000 Americans to follow suit.     

China＇s ＂New Generation＂ of Olympic Champions

THERE is nothing shy about China＇s new generation of Olympic sportsmen. Born almost exclusively in the 1980s, the athletically gifted young men and women who will represent China at the 2008 Games are far more willing to open up to the public than their predecessors, and like 20-somethings everywhere, they are at home on the Internet, managing their own fan blogs and communicating with their peers online.Their uninhibited self-expression has attracted the attention of commercial advertisers, and occasionally some less welcome interest, and they are celebrated as China＇s ＂new generation＂ in sports circles, ready to take center stage in August before a world audience.     

Rocking ’N’ Rolling

正Since the first public performance of Nothing to My Name by Cui Jian in 1986,China’s rock’n’ rol scene has come a long way.Not long after China began its reform and opening up in the late 1970s,people in China,who had lived in a society largely cut off from the West, became increasingly exposed to Western popular culture.The then totally exotic rock music enabled people to look inward, explore their dreams, and showcase their personalities.With the social     

China's Progress in Poverty Reduction and Human Rights

正Poverty eradication is and always has been a goal and a basic right of all peoples in their pursuit of a happy life.Over the years,based on the prevailing national conditions,the Communist Party of China(CPC)and the Chinese government have remained committed to a development concept that puts people’s rights to subsistence and to development first.Committed to reducing and eliminating poverty,China has endeavored