China China is one of the biggest countries in the world. It has an area of

about 9.6 million square kilometres which comprises about 6.5 per cent of

the world total land area. Its population of more than one billion accounts

for 23 per cent of the world's population. China is the world's oldest

continuous civilization. World Travel Organization predicts that by year

2020, China will become the number one travel destination in the world.

China is situated in the eastern part of Asia on the west coast of the

Pacific Ocean. It is the third largest country in the world (after Canada and

Russia). The distance from east to west measures over 5,200 kilometres

and from north to south, over 5,500 kilometres. When the sun shines

brightly over the Wusuli River in the east, the Pamir Plateau in the west is

in the very early morning. When blizzards wrap the north along the

Heilongjiang River in the winter, spring sowing is underway on Hainan

Island in the south.

China has a land border of 22,143.34 kilometres long and is bordered by

twelve countries: Korea in the east; Russian in the northeast and the

northwest; Mongolia in the north; India, Pakistan, Bhutan and Nepal in

part of the west and southwest; Burma, Laos and Vietnam in the south.

Beside a vast land area, there are also extensive neighbouring seas and

numerous islands. The coastline extends more than 14,500 kilometres.

Across the East China Sea to the east and South China Sea to the

southeast are Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia. More than

5,000 islands are scattered over China's vast territorial seas; the largest

being Taiwan and the second largest, Hainan. One territorial sea and three

neighbouring seas altogether constitute 4.73 million square kilometres.

Chinese culture

China Culture/Chinese Culture is among the worlds

oldest and most complicated. The location through

which the culture is dominant handles a huge

geographical region in eastern Asia with customs

and traditions varying significantly between towns,

metropolitan areas and provinces.

Calligraphy has traditionally been regarded as

China's highest form of visual art - to the point that a person's character

was judged by the elegance of their handwriting! Decorative calligraphy is

found all over China, in temples and adorning the walls of caves and the

sides of mountains and monuments. The basic tools of calligraphy - brush

and ink - are also the tools of Chinese painting, with line work and tone

the all-important components.

Despite the ravages of time, war and ideology, there's still a lot to see

architecturally. Traces of the past include the imperial structures of

Beijing, the colonial buildings of Shanghai, the occasional rural village and

Buddhist, Confucian and Taoist temples. Funerary art was already a

feature of Chinese culture in Neolithic times (9000-6000 BC), ranging from

ritual vessels and weapons to pottery figures, jade and sacrificial vessels

made of bronze. Earthenware production is almost as ancient, with the

world's first proto-porcelain being produced in China in the 6th century

AD, reaching its artistic peak under the Song rulers.

China's language is officially Mandarin, as spoken in Beijing. The

Chinese call it Putonghua. About 70% of the population speak Mandarin,

but that's just the tip of the linguistic iceberg. The country is awash with

dialects, and dialects within dialects - and few of them are mutually

intelligible. Of the seven major strains, Cantonese is the one most likely to

be spoken in your local Chinese takeaway. It's the lingua franca of

Guangdong, southern Guangxi, Hong Kong and (to an extent) Macau

which is the casino capital of China..

China's literary heritage is huge, but unfortunately its

untranslatability makes much of it inaccessible to Western readers.

Traditionally there are two forms, the classical (largely Confucian) and the

vernacular (such as the prose epics of the Ming dynasty). Chinese theatre

is also known as opera because of the important role played by music,

and has spawned such diverse arts as acrobatics, martial arts and stylised

dance. Many Western film-lovers are fans of Chinese cinema, with

releases enjoying success at film festivals and art-house cinemas.

Recently there has been an emergence of talented 'fifth-generation' post-

Cultural Revolution directors, including Zhang Yimou (Red Sorghum, Chen

Kaige (Farewell, My Concubine), Wu Ziniu and Tian Zhuangzhuang. Add to

them Hong Kong's East-meets-West action directors John Woo (Hard

Boiled) and Ringo Lam (Full Contact) and you have a full-fledged,

extremely successful film industry.

Chinese cuisine is justifiably famous, memorably diverse - and

generally not for the squeamish. The Chinese themselves like to say

they'll eat anything with four legs except a table. For the most part,

however, it's a case of doing ingenious things with a limited number of

basic ingredients. The cuisine can be divided into four regional categories:

Beijing/Mandarin and Shandong (with steamed bread and noodles as

staples), Cantonese and Chaozhou (lightly cooked meats and vegetables),

Shanghainese (the home of 'red cooking' and wuxi spare ribs) and Sichuan

(spicy, with lots of chilli). Tea is the most common non-alcoholic beverage

on sale, although Coca-Cola (both original and bogus) is making inroads,

while beer is by far the most popular alcoholic drink. 'Wine' is a loose term

which can cover oxidised and herb-soaked concoctions, rice wine and

wine containing lizards, bees or pickled snakes. Another favourite is mao-

tai, a spirit made from sorghum which smells like rubbing alcohol and

makes a good substitute for petrol or paint thinner.

1.Chinese Festivals and Holidays

 January 1st This day is not celebrated as much as it is in other parts of

the world because it is overshadowed by the Chinese New Year (Lunar

Festival).

Spring Festival - Chinese New Year

In year 2000, it starts on 5th of February,

which is the 4697th Chinese year.

Chinese believe that the first king of

China was King Yellow (he was not the

first emperor of China who completed the Great Wall). King Yellow

became a king in 2697 B.C. , therefore year 2000 is the 4697th Chinese

year.

The Chinese New Year is now popularly known as the Spring Festival

because it starts from the Beginning of Spring (the first of the twenty-four

terms in coordination with the changes of Nature). Its origin is too old to

be traced. Several explanations are hanging around. All agree, however,

that the word Nian, which in modern Chinese solely means "year", was

originally the name of a monster beast that started to prey on people the

night before the beginning of a new year (We are talking about the new year in

terms of the Chinese calendar).

One legend goes that the beast Nian had a very big

mouth that would swallow a great many people with

one bite. People were very scared. One day, an old

man came to their rescue, offering to subdue Nian. To

Nian he said, "I hear say that you are very capable, but

can you swallow the other beasts of prey on earth

instead of people who are by no means of your worthy opponents?" So,

swallow it did many of the beasts of prey on earth that also harassed

people and their domestic animals from time to time.

After that, the old man disappeared riding the beast Nian. He turned out

to be an immortal god. Now that Nian is gone and other beasts of prey are

also scared into forests, people begin to enjoy their peaceful life. Before

the old man left, he had told people to put up red paper decorations on

their windows and doors at each year's end to scare away Nian in case it

sneaked back again, because red is the colour the beast feared the most.

From then on, the tradition of observing the conquest of Nian is carried on

from generation to generation. The term "Guo Nian", which may mean

"Survive the Nian”, becomes today "Celebrate the (New) Year" as the

word "guo" in Chinese having both the meaning of "pass-over" and

"observe". The custom of putting up red paper and firing fire-crackers to

scare away Nian should it have a chance to run loose is still around.

However, people today have long forgotten why they are doing all this,

except that they feel the color and the sound add to the excitement of the

celebration.

The biggest and most celebrated festival in China and south east Asia.

New Year's Eve dinner is the most important event when the whole family

is present. Special foods are served and more meat than the usual is

prepared. Fireworks will break the night, scaring the demons and bad luck

away. Pictures of the Door Gods will be posted on the outside door with

couples limned in bright red. Folk art poster, paper cutting and lucky

wordings on bright red paper will be posted on the wall and windows.

The Lantern Festival

15th of 1st month of Chinese Calendar

It marks the end of the Chinese New Year Season, always 15 days after Lunar New Year Day. Lantern exhibits, lion and dragon dances, and eating Tang Yuan (ball-shaped boiled sweet rice dumplings with delicious stuffings) are events today. It is very much celebrated in the rural areas by farmers.

The Eve of the New Year is very carefully observed. Supper is a feast, with all members coming together. One of the most popular courses is jiaozi, dumplings boiled in water. "Jiaozi" in Chinese literally mean "sleep together and have sons", a long-lost good wish for a family. After dinner, it is time for the whole family to sit up for the night while having fun playing cards or board games or watching TV programs dedicated to the ocassion. Every light is supposed to be kept on the whole night. At midnight, the whole sky will be lit up by fireworks and firecrackers make everywhere

seem like a war zone. People's excitement reaches its zenith.

Very early the next morning, children greet their parents and receive their presents in terms of cash wrapped up in red paper packages from them. Then, the family start out to say greetings from door to door, first their relatives and then their neighbors. It is a great time for reconciliation. Old grudges are very easily cast away during the greetings. The air is permeated with warmth and friendliness. During and several days following the New Year's day, people are visiting each other, with a great deal of exchange of gifs. The New Year atmosphere is brought to an anti-climax fifteen days away where the Festival of Lanterns sets in. It is an occasion of lantern shows and folk dances everywhere. One typical food is the Tang Yuan, another kind of dumplings made of sweet rice rolled into balls and stuffed with either sweet or spicy fillings.

The Lantern Festival marks the end of the New Year season and afterwards life becomes daily routines once again. This description is based upon the recollection of my own experience. Customs of observing the New Year vary from place to place, considering that China is a big country not only geographically, but also demographically and ethnically. Yet, the spirit underlying the diverse celebrations of the Chinese New Year is the same: a sincere wish of peace and happiness for the family members and friends.

Women's Day

March 8 International Women's Day

Women employees will get a whole or an half paid day-off on the day.

Chinese Qing Ming

5th of 3rd Month of Chinese Calender Qing Ming

A day when people visit cemeteries to pay respect to their departed ancestors.

Water Splashing Festival

Mid April Chinese Calender

The most important festival of the year for the Dai people in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province. A festival that washes away the demons of the old year and

welcomes the joy of the new.

May 1 Labour Day

Employees will enjoy a paid day-off. Celebration parties in parks took place as parades on the day.

May 4th Chinese Youth Day

Commemorating the 1919 student demonstration against foreign aggression.

Dragon Boat Festival

5th of 5th Month of Chinese Calender

It is in memory of a great patriot poet of the State of Chu during the warring States period (475-221 B.C.), Qu Yuan who drowned himself to protest his emperor who gave in to the bully State of Chin. To avoid the fish to consume his body, people of Chin launched their boats and threw rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves into the river where he was drowned to feed the fish. People today still eat the bamboo-leaf rice dumplings (zong zi). Teams of dragon boats, similar to long canoes, train for weeks for the contests in this day, not only in China, but also in other Asian countries with Chinese populations.

Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival

15th of 8th month of Chinese Calender Mid-Autumn Festival

This is a festival for people who love to admire the full moon, while the moon on this day is the fullest and largest to the eye. The whole family gather together, feasting in good wine, fruits, nuts and cakes.

As in most ethnic holidays, there are legends to honour. The most popular legend for this holiday is traced to the year 2000 B.C. This is the story of Hou Yih, an officer of the imperial guards.

One day, ten suns suddenly appeared in the sky. The emperor, greatly perturbed and fearful that this occurrence presaged some great evil to his people, ordered Hou Yih, an expert archer, to shoot nine of the suns out of the sky. The great skills with which Hou Yih accomplished this feat

impressed the Goddess of the Western Heaven.

Since Hou Yih was also a talented architect, the Goddess commissioned him to build her a palace made of multicoloured jade. His work so pleased the Goddess that she rewarded him with the possibility of everlasting life. She gave him the elixir of immortality in the form of a pill. He was not to swallow the pill until he had undergone a year of prayer and fasting. Hou took the pill home and hid it.

Hou's wife was a divinely beautiful woman named Chang Oh. One day she discovered the hidden pill and she swallowed it. The resulting punishment was immediate and Chang Oh found herself airborne, bound for eternal banishment on the moon. As she soared upwards, her husband, Hou Yih, desperately tried to follow but was swept back to earth by a typhoon. Chang Oh's divine beauty enhanced the brilliance of the moon with her own radiance. Now, Chinese people gather each Moon Festival to admire her.

Nadam Fair

July / August Nadam Fair

A seven-day Mongolian festival featuring horseback riding, archery and wrestling.

National Day

October 1

It is the anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. Employees enjoy two paid-

2. China Language

These two characters read Hua Xia, another name for China

People often have the impression that Chinese characters are extremely difficult to learn. In fact, if you were to attempt to learn how to write Chinese characters, you would find that they are not nearly as difficult as you may have imagined. And they certainly qualify as forming one of the most fascinating, beautiful, logical and scientifically constructed writing systems in the world. Each stroke has its own special significance. If you are familiar with the principles governing the composition of Chinese characters, you will find it very easy to remember even the most complicated looking character and never miss a stroke.

The earliest known examples of Chinese written characters in their developed form are carved into tortoise shells and ox bones. The majority of these characters are pictographs. Archaeologists and epigraphers of various countries have learned that most early writing systems went through a pictographic stage, as did the Egyptian hieroglyphics. Most writing systems, however, eventually developed a phonetic alphabet to represent the sounds of spoken language rather than visual images perceived in the physical world.

Chinese is the only major writing system of the world that continued its pictograph-based development without interruption and that is still in general modern use. But not all Chinese characters are simply impressionistic sketches of concrete objects. Chinese characters incorporate meaning and sound as well as visual image into a coherent whole.

In traditional etymology, Chinese characters are classified into six different methods of character composition and use these six categories are called the Liu Shu.

The Liu Shu categories are:

(1)pictographs xiang xing; (2)ideographs ji shi; (3)compound ideographs hui yi; (4)compounds with both phonetic and

meaning elements xing sheng; (5)characters which are assigned a

new written form to better reflect a changed pronunciation quan qu;

(6)characters used to represent a homophone or near-homophone that are unrelated in meaning to the new word they represent jia jie.

There is a theoretical total of almost 50,000 written Chinese characters; only about 5,000 of these are frequently used. Among these 5,000, if you learn about 200 key words that are most often repeated in daily use, then you can say you know Chinese. Really learning to read and write Chinese is not nearly so formidable a task at all.

Dialects

Because there has long been a single method for writing Chinese and a

common literary and cultural history, a tradition has grown up of referring

to the eight main varieties of speech in China as dialects'. But in fact, they

are as different from each other (mainly in pronunciation and vocabulary)

as French or Spanish is from Italian, the dialects of the southeast being

linguistically the furthest apart. The mutual unintelligibility of the varieties

is the main ground for referring to them as separate languages. However,

it must also be recognized that each variety consists of a large number of

dialects, many of which may themselves be referred to as languages. The

boundaries between one so-called language and the next are not always

easy to define.

The Chinese refer to themselves and their language, in any of the forms

below, as Han - a name which derives from the Han dynasty (202 BC-AD

220). Han Chinese is thus to be distinguished from the non-Han minority

languages used in China. There are over 50 of these languages (such as

Tibetan, Russian, Uighur, Kazakh, Mongolian, and Korean), spoken by

around 6% of the population.

100% Han Chinese and some non-Han minority Chinese write and read

the same Chinese, unlike the situation with dialects in China.

3. The Education System in China

The education system in China is somewhat different than we are used to

in the western world and we will in this article guide you through the

various steps that is the Chinese school.

Every Chinese has a nine year long compulsory education which consists

of six years in Junior school and three years in Middle school. After you’ve

completed these levels you have the possibility to attend High school or,

alternatively, an occupational training. A good score on a national

entrance exam is required if one wishes to go on with higher learning’s.

The better results, the better are the possibilities to get accepted at a

prestigious university.

Higher learning’s

Degree of Bachelor

The Degree of Bachelor stretches over a period of five to six years. More

than half of the studies consist of mandatory courses even though the

students of today, compared to 10-20 years ago, have greater possibilities

to themselves combine courses to create their own education.

Combinations of English, economics and technology are for example very

popular. You can still though sense a touch of the “old China” as many

students take part in ideological courses which are meant to create a

national identity.

Second Bachelor

Post finishing their Bachelor studies, the students have the possibility to

deepen themselves by taking a new course related to their first Degree of

Bachelor. These studies usually last for two years.

Degree of Master

Students can also deepen their Degree of Bachelor and obtain a Masters.

This is only possible at around 500 universities – put this is relation to the

fact that China has a population of over 1 billion. The Degree of Master

lasts between two and three years and mainly consists of composing and

upholding an essay.

To get accepted to this education it takes that the student passes an

English test as well as tests in politics and political science – this can vary

a bit depending on the intentions of the student.

Education undergoing changes as well

Just as the economy of China is undergoing changes so is the education.

Nowadays, there are more and more universities that are not directly

governed by the Ministry of Education and universities themselves have a

chance to steer the course content and teaching materials, etc.

Private educations are also allowed even though there are very few

private institutions. On the whole, the Chinese education system is

attempting to meet the needs of the labor market – which we know is

constantly changing.

4. National Flag, National Emblem and National

Anthem

The national flag of the PRC is a red rectangle emblazoned with five

stars.

The red of the flag symbolizes revolution; the stars are yellow so that they

will stand out brightly against the red ground. The larger star represents

the CPC and the four smaller ones, the Chinese people. This expresses the

great unity of the Chinese people under the leadership of the CPC.

The national emblem of the PRC features Tiananmen Gate beneath the

five shining stars, encircled by ears of grain and with a cogwheel at the

bottom. The ears of grain, stars, Tiananmen and cogwheel are gold; the

field within the circle is red, as are the ribbons festooning the bottom of

the circle. These two colors traditionally represent auspiciousness and

happiness.

Tiananmen symbolizes the unyielding spirit of the Chinese people in their

fight against imperialism and feudalism; the cogwheel and ears of grain

represent the working class and the peasantry, respectively; the five

stars, as above, stand for the great unity of the Chinese people under the

leadership of the CPC.

The national anthem was written in 1935, with lyrics by the noted poet

Tian Han and music by the famous composer Nie Er. The lyrics are as

follows:

Arise, ye who refuse to be slaves;

With our very flesh and blood

Let us build our new Great Wall!

The peoples of China are at their most critical time,

Everybody must roar defiance.

Arise! Arise! Arise!

Millions of hearts with one mind,

Brave the enemy's gunfire,

March on!

Brave the enemy's gunfire,

March on! March on! March on, on!

This song, originally named March of the Volunteers, was the theme song

of the film, Sons and Daughters in a Time of Storm. The film tells the story

of those who went to the front to fight the Japanese invaders in northeast

China in the 1930s, when the fate of the nation was hanging in the

balance.

Moving and powerful, the March of the Volunteers gave voice to the

Chinese people's determination to sacrifice themselves for national

liberation, expressing China's admirable tradition of courage, resolution

and unity in fighting foreign aggression. It was for this reason that the

CPPCC on September 27, 1949 decided to adopt the song as the

provisional national anthem of the PRC, and the NPC on December 4,

1982 officially decided to adopt the song as the national anthem of the

PRC.

5. Climate

China has a marked continental monsoonal climate characterized by

great variety. Northerly winds prevail in winter, while southerly winds

reign in summer. The four seasons are quite distinct. The rainy season

coincides with the hot season. From September to April the following year,

the dry and cold winter monsoons from Siberia and Mongolia in the north

gradually become weak as they reach the southern part of the country,

resulting in cold and dry winters and great differences in temperature. The

summer monsoons last from April to September.

The warm and moist summer monsoons from the oceans bring abundant

rainfall and high temperatures, with little difference in temperature

between the south and the north. China's complex and varied climate

results in a great variety of temperature belts, and dry and moist zones. In

terms of temperature, the nation can be sectored from south to north into

equatorial, tropical, sub-tropical, warm-temperate, temperate, and cold-

temperate zones; in terms of moisture, it can be sectored from southeast

to northwest into humid (32 percent of land area), semi-humid (15

percent), semi-arid (22 percent) and arid zones (31 percent).

6. Fauna and Flora

China is one of the countries with the greatest diversity of wildlife in

the world. There are more than 4,400 species of vertebrates, more than

10 percent of the world's total. There are nearly 500 animal species, 1,189

species of birds, more than 320 species of reptiles and 210 species of

amphibians. Wildlife peculiar to China includes such well-known animals

as the giant panda, golden-haired monkey, South China tiger, brown-

eared pheasant, white-flag dolphin, Chinese alligator and red-crowned

crane, totaling more than 100 species. The giant panda is an especially

attractive sight. Heavily built, it has a docile disposition, and is delightfully

adorable. The 1.2-m-tall red-crowned crane is a snow-white migratory

bird. A distinctive patch of red skin tops its grey-brown head, hence its

name. The white-flag dolphin is one of only two species of freshwater

whale in the world. In 1980, a male white-flag dolphin was caught for the

first time in the Yangtze River, which aroused great interest among

dolphin researchers worldwide.

China has some of the most abundant plant life in the world. There are

more than 32,000 species of higher plants, and almost all the major plants

that grow in the northern hemisphere's frigid, temperate and tropical

zones are represented in China. In addition, there are more than 7,000

species of woody plants, including 2,800 tree species. The met sequoia,

Chinese cypress, Cathay tree, China fir, golden larch, Taiwan fir, Fujian

cypress, dove-tree, encomia and camplotheca acuminata are found only

in China. The met sequoia, a tall species of arbour, is considered as one of

the oldest and rarest plants in the world. The golden larch, one of only five

species of rare garden trees in the world, grow in the mountain areas in

the Yangtze River valley. Its coin-shaped leaves on short branches are

green in spring and summer, turning yellow in autumn. China is home to

more than 2,000 species of edible plants and 3,000 species of medicinal

plants. Ginseng from the Chinghai Mountains, safflowers from Tibet,

Chinese wolfberry from Ningxia and not ginseng from Yunnan and Huizhou

are particularly well-known Chinese herbal medicines. There is a wide

variety of flowering plants. A flower indigenous to China, the elegant and

graceful peony is treasured as the "colon of the nation and the scent of

heaven." Three famous species of flowers--the azalea, fairy primrose and

rough gentian--grow in southwest China. During the flowering period,

mountain slopes covered with flowers in a riot of colours form a delightful

contrast with undulating ridges and peaks.

In a concerted effort to protect the nation's zoological and botanical

resources, and save species close to extinction, China has established

1.146 nature reserves to protect forests and wildlife, with a total area of

88.13 million ha. The 15 nature reserves in China, namely, Sichuan's

Wolong and Jiuzhaigou, Jilin's Changbai Mountains, Guangdong's Dinghu

Mountains, Guizhou's Fanjing Mountains, Fujian's Wuyi Mountains, Hubei's

Shennongjia, Inner Mongolia's Xilingol, Xinjiang's Mt. Bogda, Yunnan's

Xishuangbanna, Jiangsu's Yancheng, Zhejiang's Tianmu Mountains Nanji

and Islands Guizhou's Maolan and Heilongjiang's Fenglin, have joined the

"International People and Bio-sphere Protection Network." Heilongjiang's

Zhalong, Jilin's Xianghai, Hunan's Dongting Lake, Jiangxi's Poyang Lake,

Qinghai's Bird Island, Hainan's Dongzhai Harbor and Hong Kong's Mai Po

have been included in the listing of the world's important wetlands.

7. Cooperation and Political Consultation 

China is a country of many peoples and many political parties. Before

the state adopts important measures or makes decisions on issues having

a bearing on the national economy and the people's livelihood, the CPC,

as the party in power, consults with representatives of all ethnic groups,

political parties and non-Party personages, and all other social sectors, in

order to reach a common understanding. This system of multi-party

cooperation and political consultation led by the CPC is a basic political

system in China.Multi-party cooperation and political consultation take

two principal forms: (1) The Chinese People's Political Consultative

Conference (CPPCC); (2) consultative conferences and forums participated

in by non-Communist parties and unaffiliated democrats at the invitation

of the CPC Central Committee and local Party committees. The CPPCC is

neither a state organ, nor an ordinary mass organization. It is a widely

representative, patriotic united front organization of the Chinese people,

first established in September 1949. The CPPCC has a national committee

and local committees established in the provinces, autonomous regions,

municipalities directly under the Central Government and counties (cities).

The CPPCC consists of representatives of the CPC, the non-Communist

parties, unaffiliated individuals, people's organizations, ethnic minorities

and other social strata, compatriots from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao,

returned overseas Chinese, and specially invited individuals. The

committees at various levels hold plenary sessions once a year. When the

committee is not in session, special activities for the committee members

are organized, including inspection tours of various localities. Consultative

discussions are held on significant issues relating to major state policies,

important local affairs, the people's livelihood and united front work.

Democratic supervision is exercised over the work of state organs and the

fulfilment of the Constitution and laws through the offering of opinions,

proposals and criticisms. When the people's congresses are convened,

CPPCC committee members are invited to attend and fully air their views.

The current chairman of the CPPCC National Committee is Li Ruthann.

Once a year, the leaders of the CPC Central Committee invite the leaders

of the non-Communist parties and representatives of non-Party democrats

to meetings for consultation; forums are held every other month. The

former focus on major state policies; the latter on information exchanges,

reception of policy proposals and discussion of certain special issues.