Hello, and welcome to this edition of CRI Roundup

The economic crisis is undoubtedly the most influential issue around the world this week. The People's Bank of China, the central bank in the country, lowered the deposit and lending rates by 0.27 percentage points.

Qing Yi, a senior researcher with the government's think tank, the 'Research Centre of China National Condition and Development', said the withholding tax levied on interest income should boost liquidity.

"I think this new method will further protect the interests of depositors. This is a fiscal policy issued by the State Council, which I believe will mostly stimulate the recovery of public consumption. After all, traditionally most Chinese people prefer to save their money in banks."

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The moves in China also echo the new financial rescue plans in other countries around the world.

The U.S. Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and four other central banks in Europe and Canada jointly cut interest rates by 0.5 percentage points.

Central banks in the United States, Europe and five other major banks around the globe, including those of Britain and China, have offered concerted rate cuts in the past week.

However, the joint efforts did not win back investors' pessimist moods.

In the United States, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson admitted that the government's 700 billion US dollar bailout plan would not be enough to save some American firms.

Paulson urged immediate implementation of the new regulations as the global financial markets strained further still.

"Challenges have made it clear that Congress was correct to take swift and bold action and that we have no time to waste in implementing the new law. We also know that getting it right is as important as getting it done quickly. We can, and we will, do both."

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Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund predicts the world economy will slow to around three percent in 2009.

Olivier Blanchard, the IMF's Chief Economist said it was not useful to use the word 'recession.'

"The world economy is facing a major downturn. While there's exceptional uncertainty at this point, our best forecast is world growth will be around 3 percent in 2009. Now that number might not sound so bad."

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Back to domestic news, the 17th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China convenes its third plenary session to discuss important changes in rural reform and development policies.
According to a statement issued after the session opening, a draft by the Central Committee decision on major issues concerning rural reform and development would be deliberated on at the four-day meeting.

The document said that based on the changing reality, advancing rural reform would be a key focus for the country. This would also lay the foundation for China's development strategy.

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Last week also saw some strong earthquakes in the west of the country. An earthquake measuring 6.6 degrees struck Tibet killing 10 people. And no casualties were reported in a 6.8-magnitude earthquake in northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous region.

The rescue work were timely carried out in the affected regions.

Meanwhile, a ceremony were held in Beijing to honor organizations and individuals who made major contributions to the relief work after the May 12th earthquake struck southwest China.

Chinese President Hu Jintao and other senior leaders attended the awards ceremony, which was presided over by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

Wen Jiabao also praised the rescue workers' heroic deeds at the start of the ceremony.

"The heroic deeds and touching stories have demonstrated fully the blood ties between the party, the central government and the common Chinese people."

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Nobel Prize also won wide attention in China as a Chinese origin scientist won one prize.

Roger Y. Tsien, related to famous Chinese rocket scientist, American scientists Martin Chalfie and Osamu Shimomura of Japan won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for their discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein, or GFP.

And that concludes this edition of CRI Roundup. If you have any comments or suggestions, or would like to listen to any of our other programs, you can visit our website at crienglish.com. I'm … in Beijing. Thank you for listening, and stay tuned for more on China Radio International.