China had shown its commitment to developing clean energy through its strong support for an international alternative energy program, the head of the program’s China office said Wednesday.

The program, known as the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor or ITER, aims to emulate the power of the sun to provide limitless clean energy, Luo Delong told Xinhua during a telephone interview.

“China’s active participation in the international nuclear fusion project reflects the country’s determination to promote the development of clean energy,” Luo said.

“It is also in line with China’s long-term energy strategy,” Luo said.

In a bid to solve the energy shortage and maintain sustainable development, China is working to develop fossil energy and fission energy while vigorously seeking alternative energy sources, according to Luo.

Now it seemed ITER might be a reliable answer to the problem of energy in the long run, he said.

“I can give you an example: after ITER nuclear fusion, the deuterium extracted from one liter of sea water can produce as much energy as that of 300 liters of gasoline,” and fusion energy had huge potential, “because it uses the inexhaustible sea water as material,” he said.

Moreover, the ITER process won’t produce greenhouse gases or cause any pollutants such as high-radiation uranium waste, which made it an ideal energy source for both environmental protection and security, Luo said.

China had devoted a lot of effort and funds to the project, he said.

Luo said China had made great efforts in helping establish the organization and the country would inject about 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) to the project, about 10 percent of its total cost.

China would also undertake nearly 10 percent of the project, producing various components and transporting them to Cadarache, southern France, where the ITER’s reactor units would be constructed, he said.

On Wednesday, the ITER Council, the governing body of the ITER Organization, approved the baseline of overall schedule and costs for the project.

Representatives of the seven ITER members — China, the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States, attended the meeting in Cadarache.

The council said in a statement the ITER project, with a designed capacity to produce 500 megawatts (MW) of fusion power, had fixed a goal to achieve the first plasma in November 2019.

The ITER project was proposed in 1985 and research assessment and design work for an experimental reactor were begun in 1988.

A related ITER Agreement was signed in Paris in November 2006 by ministers from the seven ITER members, officially launching the project.

According to the ITER Agreement, the ITER project will last 35 years and require a total investment of up to 10 billion euros.

It is the second largest international science and engineering project behind the International Space Station, and is also the biggest international science and technology cooperation in which China has taken part so far.

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The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) Wednesday decided to impose an anti-dumping duty (AD) on the imports of Chinese electric blankets, according to reports from Washington.

USITC commissioners voted unanimously to slap duties on the imports, which include finished and unassembled woven electric blankets. The highest duty rate can reach 174.85 percent.

The move comes months after the US Department of Commerce determined to implement AD on imports of some $55.92-million woven electric blankets from China, saying that the country’s domestic electric blanket manufacturers are materially injured by the competitiveness of Chinese products.

Chinese exporters of eletric blankets have a profit rate of roughly 5 percent. If the new measure is indeed implemented, they (Chinese exporters) will be forced to withdraw from the American market, according to an industry insider.

The Sino-US trade relations have become of great importance ever since the financial crisis broke out. The Ministry of Commerce (MOC)said both nations need a better understanding of each other’s roles in the international trade market

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Legend Capital, a subsidiary of Legend Holdings Ltd, and owner of the Chinese giant IT brand Lenovo, has plans to branch out to the drug industry through an investment of 150 million yuan ($22.13 million) into the Yunnan Hongxiang Yixintang’s Drugstores.

The firm said that the money will be mainly used in structure optimization and store expansion.

But industry analysts don’t feel there is much room for optimism since unfavorable policies in the sector have forced some drugstores to exit the market, an industry insider said.

Chen Hao, managing director of Legend Capital, on the other hand dismisses all pessimism. He said that the firm’s strategy is to ‘first consider drugstores in small and middle cities’ since competition in first-tier cities is too fierce and profitability low.

As for Yibentang, the drugstore has the largest revenue and most networks in Yunnan Province. It covers Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou provinces and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and has more than 1,100 stores nationwide.

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