November

8

Chinese Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai and U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman sign a memorandum on trade in textiles and apparel in London after seven rounds of tough talks. The deal, inked after five months of talks, allows China's exports of most clothing and textile categories to the United States to grow at 10-15 percent in 2006, 12.5-16 percent in 2007 and 15-17 percent in 2008.

11

Beijing unveils a set of five mascots for the 2008 Olympic Games.

13

An explosion in a chemical plant in northeast China’s Jilin Province spews cancer-causing benzene into the Songhuajiang River. The water pollution incident disrupted water supplies for millions of people and affected local economic development. Xie Zhenhua, Minister of the State Environmental Protection Administration, resigned bearing due responsibility.

20

President Hu Jintao puts forward five proposals for promoting Sino-U.S. constructive and cooperative ties in his talks with visiting U.S. President George W. Bush in Beijing. Hu’s suggestions are: The momentum of high-level exchanges between the two countries should be maintained; China and the United States should make joint efforts to create favorable conditions for further trade and economic cooperation; the two countries should step up their mutually beneficial cooperation in the energy sector and strengthen consultation on energy strategies; intensified joint efforts should be made for cooperation in the fight against terrorism, non-proliferation and the prevention and control of bird flu; and the two countries should increase cultural exchanges and explore ways to establish a mechanism for dialogue and consultation on bilateral cultural cooperation.

20

The Animal Epidemic Emergency Regulations are promulgated and become effective the same day. In the event of a major animal epidemic, the regulations stipulate, the concerned government at provincial level and veterinary authorities should report the outbreak to the State Council within four hours. Any act of delay or failure to report an outbreak, or a concealing of the real situation, will be severely dealt with.

22

The State Food and Drug Administration approves a homemade human bird flu vaccine for clinical tests, a major progress in China's efforts to prevent a possible pandemic flu. The vaccine is developed from the NIBRG-14 virus strain recommended and provided by the World Health Organization.