Business

ISMAILIA, Egypt, April 10 (Xinhua) -- "Guo Moruo Cultural Week" kicked off on Wednesday at the Confucius Institute of Suez Canal University in Ismailia in northeastern Egypt.

The second "Guo Moruo" Chinese Modern Poetry Reading Competition, which is the highlight of the event, was held right after the opening ceremony.

The contesting students came from the Chinese Cultural Center in Cairo and the Confucius institutes and language colleges of nine universities nationwide, including the universities of Cairo, Ain Shams, Al-Azhar, Suez Canal and Fayoum.

ZAGREB, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said Wednesday that the two countries will enhance cultural and tourism cooperation.

Li and Plenkovic made the remarks when speaking at the opening ceremony of the Year of Tourism between China and Croatia.

Congratulating the two countries on jointly holding such an event for the first time, Li said both China and Croatia enjoy long history and rich and colorful culture, and picturesque natural scenery.

BEIJING, April 11 (Xinhua) -- China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 2.3 percent year-on-year in March, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Thursday.

The increase was up from 1.5 percent in February.

Food prices climbed 4.1 percent year-on-year in March, up from 0.7 percent in February, yet on a month-on-month basis food prices went down 0.9 percent, the NBS said.

Moscow, April 10, IRNA – The trilateral meeting of the heads of international and foreign policy commissions of Iran, Russia and Turkey parliaments started work in here in Russian State Duma on Wednesday.

Hailakandi (Assam), Apr 9 (PTI) The axiom that people cannot resist the lure of discounts has reached a new level in Hailakandi district of Assam where people are going to get concessions on a range of products and services if they vote on the polling day - April 18.

Following an appeal by the District Election Officer Keerthi Jalli, various business houses of this south Assam district are offering discounts on jewellery, food and hospitality, and medicines.

10 Apr 2019; AFP: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called a full meeting Wednesday of a top committee of the ruling Workers' Party to address what he described as the "prevailing tense situation", state media reported.

The gathering of the Central Committee comes after Kim's Hanoi summit with US President Donald Trump broke up without agreement in February, and as South Korean President Moon Jae-in flies to Washington for talks with the US leader.

9 Apr 2019; DW: Pharmaceutical and agriculture giant Bayer confirmed on Tuesday that they would be slashing about 4,500 jobs in Germany, affecting 1 in 7 members of its workforce in the country.

The company had already announced in December that it would cut 12,000 jobs internationally. The number revealed on Tuesday indicated that its German workers, who had already protested the cuts last year, will bear the biggest brunt of the losses proportionally.

CANBERRA, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Australia's aviation authority has granted approval for drone delivery system to take to the skies in the nation's capital city Canberra.

Project Wing, a venture of Google's parent company Alphabet, was on Tuesday given the green light to begin full operations in Canberra by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA).

It comes after an 18-month trial of using drones to deliver food, drinks and medication in the Canberra suburb of Bonython was deemed successful.

NEW YORK, April 9 (Xinhua) -- U.S.-listed Chinese stocks are appealing to investors as Wall Street chases after companies that do business in an economy with sustained growth, an experienced trader at the New York Stock Exchange said Tuesday.

"Most people here in the United States are very interested in Chinese growth. It's been a story that's enamored U.S. investors for a long time," said Mark Otto, who has been trading Chinese stocks for more than a decade during his 25-year experience at the New York Stock Exchange, in an interview with Xinhua.

BRUSSELS, April 9 (Xinhua) -- China and the European Union (EU) on Tuesday reaffirmed in a joint statement the dynamic of their comprehensive strategic partnership, pledging to uphold multilateralism and oppose protectionism.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, President of the European Council Donald Tusk, and President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker met here on Tuesday for the 21st China-EU leaders' meeting and issued the statement.