Officials and businesses on both sides on the Sino-Burmese border are involved in a trail of environmental crime that threatens to wipe out one of the world’s remaining biodiversity hotspots in Burma’s northern Kachin State, according to a report by London-based NGO, Global Witness.

China Watch an electronic, English language news service that reports on development issues of global significance, was launched late last week by the Washington DC-based Worldwatch Institute.

One hundred and eight Chinese women, including numerous NGO activists, have been selected for inclusion in a joint nomination for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) has been lobbying the government of China to oppose Japanese proposals, put to the International Whaling Commission (IWC), to increase “scientific” whaling and to resume commercial whaling.

Around half of all legal emigrants from China to OECD countries are university graduates but, far from amounting to a 'brain drain,' the emigration benefits China by boosting international trade and stimulating higher education in China, according to a World Bank study by a leading economist.

China’s changing role in the international community was underlined by a USD 20 million pledge it made in March to set up a new Poverty Alleviation Fund for economic and social development in Asia. The Fund, to be administered by the Asian Development Bank, is the first of its kind to be financed by a developing country.

A recent working paper published by the World Bank suggests that although foreign direct investment (FDI) from OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries can raise environmental standards, investment from overseas Chinese sources, which accounts for almost 70% of mainland FDI, lags seriously behind.

The UNDP yesterday unveiled details of a USD 1 million 'Silk Road Regional Programme' (SRRP) aimed at regenerating the economic vitality of the ancient trading and transportation route linking East and West.

In a bid to strengthen working links between Japanese and Chinese NGOs during the twilight phase of Japanese aid to China, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) plans to hold a China-Japan NGO Conference this May.

As many as 300 international non government organisations support development projects in China, with a combined investment of around USD 200 million per year, according to a directory of international NGOs published today by China Development Brief.