2007-11-24 CRI Roundup

Hello and welcome to this edition of on Saturday, November 24. I'm Zheng Chenguang in Beijing.

Let's take a look at some of the major events that have happened in China and around the globe during the past week.

Chinese premier initiates new proposals to strengthen China-ASEAN ties

ASEAN members sign charter to pave the way for closer integration.

And British Prime Minister apologizes for data loss.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has attended the 11th the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-China Summit in Singapore on Tuesday.

The Premier initiated new proposals to strengthen the strategic partnership between China and ASEAN and reiterated China's support for the integration of the ASEAN community.

The Chinese Premier pledged to increase road, railway, airlines and information telecommunications links to meet the demand of growing business ties between China and ASEAN members.

Heads of state or government of the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations gathering at their annual summit in Singapore have signed the ASEAN Charter.

The document will transform ASEAN into a more effective and rules-based and rules-bound organization, and pave the way for ASEAN's closer integration.

The 55-article Charter is expected to serve as a legal and institutional framework, as well as an inspiration for ASEAN to meet future challenges and opportunities.

The Charter shall be subject to ratification by all ASEAN member states in accordance with their respective internal procedures.

Speaking at a routine briefing in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao gave the country's reaction.

"China congratulates the signing of the ASEAN Charter. Meanwhile, we believe that under the Charter, ASEAN will continuously advance its integration through building an ASEAN community, to further peace, progress and prosperity in the region and world. China supports the ASEAN integration process and would like to provide assistance."

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has tried to reassure Britons that their personal details are safe after one of the biggest security breaches in the country's history--that's the loss of two computer disks containing details about almost half the population.

Gordon Brown leaves No. 10 Downing Street as he prepares to address Prime Minister's Question's in the House of Commons. [Photo: AFP]

"I profoundly regret and apologize for the inconvenience and worries that have been caused to millions of families that receive child benefits. When mistakes that happen in enforcing procedures we have a duty to do everything that we can to protect the public."

Experts said the loss left millions of people exposed to identity theft and bank fraud.

The disks bearing addresses, bank account numbers and other details of about 25 million people, almost half the British population, were popped into internal government mail and never arrived.

Officials said the disks were password protected but the information on them was not encrypted.

Technology experts said it revealed fundamental flaws in the government's plan to keep more and more information about citizens on centralized databases.

China's central bank has launched an inter-bank payment transaction scheme allowing account holders to move small amounts between different banks.

The scheme took effect on Monday and will first involve 14 banks in Beijing.

After signing contracts with banks and getting a 12-digit payment code, people can deposit, withdraw or transfer small sums of money at any branch of the participating banks.

Account holders need to pay certain fees for such transactions, and the charges vary.

For instance, the Bank of China and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China each charge one percent of the transacted sum.

China Merchants Bank charges 0.1 percent for transactions in the same city and 0.5 percent in different cities.

And that concludes this edition of "". Remember, if you have any comments or suggestions, or would like to listen to any of our programs online, you can visit our website at: . I'm Zheng Chenguang in Beijing. Thanks for listening. Stay tuned for more on China Radio International.