Media representatives from 21 countries witnessed firsthand the development of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region during a nine-day tour from April 8 to 16.
The 26 representatives, hailing from participating countries of the initiative of the Silk Road Economic Belt, participated in seminars and visited the rapidly developing cities of Urumqi, Kashgar, and Korla for exchanges.
In Urumqi, the group visited the Xinjiang Islam Institute to learn about local efforts in religious belief, cultural integration, and multi-ethnic exchanges. In Kashgar, they celebrated Nowruz, or the Persian New Year, and explored the exhibition trade center for cross-border e-commerce imports and exports in the Kashgar Comprehensive Bonded Area, discovering its role as a vital gateway to the West.
"This has been a wonderful journey. When I return to Morocco, I will encourage my friends to visit Xinjiang. I've seen the real Xinjiang for myself, and it has changed my perspective. The reports in Western media do not align with the facts," said Bou Said, a columnist for Le Matin (Morocco).
In Korla, delegates visited a local kindergarten and several technological farms, engaging in discussions with locals and participating in forums and seminars.
The tour members said the experiences helped them gain an objective understanding of life in the region.
"I will present the real news to our audience, just as I witnessed it. Cities in Xinjiang are developing well," said Muhammad Riaz, director at the News channel control room of Pakistan Television Corporation Ltd.
Int'l reporters experience Xinjiang's development firsthand
Starting from May 1, Beijing and its neighbor Tianjin will make adjustment in their respective house-purchase policies aimed at easing home-buying restrictions and optimizing real-estate regulation according to two separate notices issued by the cities' municipal housing and urban-rural development commissions on Tuesday. Beijing on Tuesday eased home-purchase limits in areas outside the fifth ring road to address the housing demands of its residents.
Local families with the Beijing hukou (residence permit) can buy one additional commercial house outside the fifth ring road even if they already own two apartments in Beijing, the notice said.
Single adults with the Beijing hukou and those non-Beijing residents who have a record of paying social insurance or income tax for at least five consecutive years are allowed to purchase one more property outside the fifth ring road even if they already own one apartment in the city, said the notice.
On the same day, the municipal commission of housing and urban-rural development of Tianjin issued a notice aimed at further optimizing the city's real estate regulation.
The notice said that residents with the hukou of Beijing or Hebei Province and those who are working in the two regions can enjoy the same house-purchase policies as those with Tianjin hukou.
Additional policy adjustments were also made based on the situation of the real-estate market in Tianjin and the property-purchase needs of local residents.
The limit on residents with Tianjin hukou to buy new commodity housing of over 120 square meters was removed, and the number of houses owned by home buyers will be calculated on district basis in an effort to meet the demand for cross-district home purchase, said the notice.
The newly released notice also said that districts in Tianjin are encouraged to relieve residents' home-purchase burden through home-purchase subsidies and corporate group purchase discounts so as to meet their essential need for a home to live in and their different demands for better housing.
Beijing, Tianjin adjustment in house-purchase policies takes effect in May
