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Eleven Chinese fishermen, whose boat capsized after a collision with a cargo ship from the Republic of Korea (ROK) in the East China Sea on Tuesday, had returned to Qingdao, east China’s Shandong Province safely aboard a Chinese marine patrol vessel.

The fishing-boat named “Zhe Xiang Yu 23069″, capsized in the East China Sea after having collided with a ROK cargo ship at around 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, and 16 fishermen on board escaped to their raft and were stranded there, said Geng Ning, an official with the the provincial marine administration Friday

“We were sleeping when our boat was struck, so we didn’t have time to put on our clothes and we rushed to the raft. Our fishing-boat sank about half an hour later.” said Cao Jinhui, a fisherman on board.

“Five of us were taken to the ROK cargo ship and the remaining ones got to another fishing-boat nearby, but we were extremely cold as we only had a few clothes on.” Cao said.

Marine Patrol 11, the largest marine patrol ship of China, got the message about 8:00 p.m. Tuesday and tried its best to get the stranded fishermen aboard after a 15-hour sail at full speed, Geng Ning said.

The five fishermen rescued by the ROK cargo ship headed for the Republic of Korea to deal with the aftermath, and the eleven men, who arrived in Qingdao, would help with an investigation by the local marine administration, according to Geng.

More than 2,000 newly recruited police officers have completed a one-month training course and begun working in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to beef up local security.

The 2,360 new recruits, consisting of new graduates and decommissioned soldiers, will serve alongside special police officers seconded from other provinces for the first four weeks, by the end of which they are expected to patrol independently.

They are the first of a planned 5,000-strong “special police” force to tighten security and combat crimes in Xinjiang, said Fu Qiang, a senior official in charge of political and legislative affairs.

They were recruited after a strict screening procedure, which included written exams, interviews and physical fitness tests, he said.

A month-long intensive training, aimed at enhancing their ability to combat tough climate, as well as cope with high tensions and physical pains, ended Thursday.

Fu said the new recruits would be employed by the Xinjiang Regional Public Security Bureau, and their areas of operation would cover the whole region.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Friday that some officials are “divorced from reality and the masses,” and are “excessively formalistic and bureaucratic.”

In his work report to the National People’s Congress (NPC), the country’s parliament, Wen said some areas are prone to corruption and some officials give too little consideration to carrying out official duties in line with the law.

He said the government’s work still “fell considerably short of public expectations.”

“The transformation of government functions is incomplete; there is too much government interference in the micro-economy, and public administration and services are relatively weak,” Wen said.

Efforts should be made to create conditions for the people to criticize and oversee the government, Wen told nearly 3,000 NPC deputies attending the parliament’s annual full session.

“Let the news media fully play their oversight role,” Wen said.

He said the government is to ensure the people live a happier life “with more dignity” and to make the society fairer and more harmonious.

He said efforts should be made to focus on transforming government functions, deepening reform of the administrative system and working hard to make the government devoted to service.

Wen said the government will earnestly deal with serious infringements on public interests related to enterprises’ conversion to a stockholding system, land expropriation, housing demolition and resident relocation, environmental protection, labor disputes, and legal and litigation issues.

The Hong Kong-Taiwan Economic and Cultural Co-operation Promotion Council will soon be established for both sides to discuss collaboration possibilities, said Hong Kong Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Stephen Lam on Friday.

Speaking at the Hong Kong International Airport on Friday before departing for Taichung City of Taiwan, Lam told reporters once the body is established, Taiwan will form the Taiwan-Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Co-operation Council.

Lam said that the move will provide a platform for the authorities on both sides to conduct discussions and explore possibilities for co-operation in public policy matters and other spheres which are of mutual concern and interest.

Hong Kong Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Rita Lau is joining Lam on the trip, which will promote Hong Kong tourism and explore possibilities in Hong Kong-Taichung co- operation.

The Third Session of the 11th National People’s Congress (NPC) opens at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 5, 2010. [Xinhua]

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao Friday warned the nation still faces “a very complex situation” after it went through “the most difficult year” in 2009 for the country’s economic development since the new millennium.

In his work report to the National People’s Congress (NPC), the country’s parliament, Wen set this year’s economic growth target at “about 8 percent.”

China’s economy expanded 8.7 percent in 2009, staging a faster-than-expected recovery after being hit by the worst global financial crisis in decades thanks to a raft of stimulus measures.

To achieve “sound development,” the government needs to guide all sectors to focus on transforming economic growth pattern and restructuring economy, he said.

Wen acknowledged that 2010 is a “crucial year” for continuing to combat the global financial crisis, maintaining “steady and rapid” economic development, and accelerating the transformation of growth pattern.

It is also an important year for achieving all the targets of the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010) and laying a solid development foundation for the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015), he said.

“Although this year’s development environment may be better than last year’s, we still face a very complex situation,” Wen told nearly 3,000 NPC deputies gathering at the Great Hall of the People in downtown Beijing.

Other key economic and social targets this year included creating more than 9 million jobs in cities, keeping urban registered unemployment rate under 4.6 percent and keeping the rise in consumer prices at about 3 percent.

Wen said “the foundation for economic turnaround becomes stronger” but he reminded the turnaround “should not be interpreted as a fundamental economic improvement.”

Listing key government tasks for the year, Wen said the government will continue to implement a proactive fiscal policy and a moderately easy monetary policy, and continue to implement the stimulus package.

The stimulus package, initiated in late 2008 to combat the global financial crisis, included a 4-trillion yuan (585.5 billion U.S. dollars) two-year investment.

A kindergarten teacher admitted Thursday pricking 63 “disobedient” children in her class with an empty syringe in court in southwest China’s Yunnan Province.

The trial of Sun Qiqi, a teacher with the Xihu Nursery, was held at the Jianshui County People’s Court.

Sun was charged with endangering public security by dangerous methods, according to a court statement. No verdict was given Thursday.

Sun confessed to pricking 63 children on their hands, buttocks and feet with an empty syringe to make them “behave.” “As a medical graduate, she should have known her acts could cause the spread of infections,” said the statement.

In a health checkup conducted by the local health authorities, all the victims tested negative for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV.

An expert report said Sun suffered from a personality disorder, but she should take responsibility for her actions.

The parents of the children have demanded Sun pay 1.8 million yuan (264,000 U.S.dollars) in compensation.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao vowed Friday to enhance rational income distribution system as it is an “important manifestation of social fairness and justice” and a major way out for boosting domestic demand and narrowing income gap.

“We will not only make the ‘pie’ of social wealth bigger by developing the economy, but also distribute it well on the basis of a rational income distribution system,” Wen told the annual parliament session in his government work report.

The government will promptly formulate policies and measures to adjust the distribution of national income, and gradually increase the proportion of income individuals receive from the distribution of national income and the proportion of the primary distribution of income that goes to wages and salaries, Wen said.

The role of fiscal and taxation policies in adjusting the primary and secondary distribution of income should be strengthened “to create conditions for more people to earn income from property,” Wen said.

China has successfully put into orbit another remote-sensing satellite, “Yaogan IX” at 12:55 p.m.(Beijing Time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern Gansu Province, according to a statement from the center Friday.

The satellite was sent into space aboard a Long March 4C carrier rocket and would be used to conduct scientific experiment, carry out surveys on land resources, forecast grain output and help with natural disaster-reduction and prevention endeavor, it said.

Its predecessor, “Yaogan VIII,” was launched from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern Shanxi Province last December.