1. China calls for Sudan, South Sudan to stop conflict immediately

April 19, 2012. By Xinhua.

China expressed "grim concern" for the escalation of conflicts between Sudan and South Sudan, and has again called for the two sides to immediately end such conflicts, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said Thursday.

Liu said during a regular press briefing that China has called for the two countries to respect each other's sovereignty. He asked the two sides to keep both the long-term and general situations in mind and maintain maximum calmness and restraint, enhance mutual trust, actively cooperate with the mediation efforts of the international community and resume negotiations and dialogue as soon as possible. Liu said the two countries should work to ease the situation at an early date.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2012-04/19/c_131538289.htm

2. China, South Sudan vow to promote ties

April 24, 2012. By Xinhua.

Chinese President Hu Jintao held talks with South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit on Tuesday afternoon in Beijing, agreeing to expand cooperation and advance friendly ties.

Hu said bilateral relations have had a good start although it hasn't been a long time since the two sides forged diplomatic ties, which feature increased bilateral exchanges and steady development of cooperation.

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Kiir also praised China's assistance for South Sudan, adding that its people bear friendly sentiments toward Chinese people.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2012-04/24/c_131548533.htm

3. China 'picking up the pieces' in Africa

April 27, 2012. By Andrew Moody and Zhong Nan: China Daily.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi insists China is now coming to the rescue of Africa after a failed Western ideology of the past three decades has let the continent down.

He said the so-called Washington Consensus that aimed to liberalize the economies of developing countries had demonstrably failed and the Chinese were now picking up the pieces.

Zenawi, who was speaking from his expansive office complex near the center of Addis Ababa, said China's investment in Africa was transforming the economic fortunes of the continent.

http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2012-04/27/content_15160096.htm

4. Chinese companies bring jobs to Africa

April 22, 2012. By Matthew Rusling: Xinhua

A major Chinese shoe manufacturer, Hua Jian, started a factory in Ethiopia just a few months ago, with a plan to invest 2 billion U.S. dollars and create 100,000 local jobs over the next decade.

We want Ethiopian employees who came from poor backgrounds to use the company as a platform to fulfill their dreams and to help them out of poverty," said Helen Hai, vice president of Hua Jian Industrial Holdings, during a panel discussion here on Saturday at the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

Many of the company's workers in China came from poor backgrounds, harboring similar humble and grateful feelings with its African workers, she said.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/indepth/2012-04/22/c_131543407.htm

5. China installs largest optical telescope in Antarctica

April 23, 2012. By Xinhua

China has finished installing and testing the AST3-1 Antarctic Survey Telescope in Antarctica, researchers from China's 28th Antarctic scientific expedition team said Wednesday.

The AST3-1 is China's first domestically produced automatic unmanned telescope, capable of conducting surveys of supernovae and other extrasolar bodies.

"It's 4.5 meters tall, making it the largest optical telescope in Antarctica," said Li Zhengyang, a member of the scientific expedition team.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2012-04/18/c_131536268.htm