MACAO - The election of the sixth Legislative Assembly of China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) wrapped up early on Monday morning, with more than half of the eligible voters casting their ballots, Macao SAR's legislative election management committee said. A total of 174,872 eligible voters cast their votes for the 14 directly-elected seats, with the turnout rate reaching 57.22 percent, up by 2.2 percentage points compared with the previous election, according to the preliminary data by the committee. Meanwhile, a total of 5,500 eligible voters cast their ballots for the 12 indirectly-elected seats, with the turnout rate reaching 91 percent, the data showed. The preliminary results showed that 14 candidates won the directly-elected seats, and 12 won the indirectly-elected seats. After receiving the audited vote counting of direct and indirect election, the SAR chief executive will appoint another seven seats, adding the total seat number of the sixth Legislative Assembly to 33. This year's legislative election has been held smoothly and orderly, and was carried out in accordance with the Basic Law and the Law of Legislative Election of the Macao SAR, president of the legislative election management committee Tong Hio Fong told reporters after the polling wrapped up. After the preliminary results was announced, the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Macao said in a statement that it congratulates on the smooth progress of the sixth legislative election in Macao SAR and the sixth term of the Legislative Assembly. According to the Basic Law of the Macao SAR, the Legislative Assembly shall be the legislature of the SAR, and also an important part of Macao SAR's political mechanism, the statement said. A total of 186 candidates from 24 groups ran for the 14 directly-elected seats, while 15 candidates from five vocational groups ran for the 12 indirectly-elected seats. In line with the Basic Law, the new legislature is composed of 33 seats including 14 directly-elected seats, 12 indirectly-elected seats, and seven others which will be appointed by the SAR chief executive. The term of office of the sixth Legislative Assembly is four years, which will start in October 2017. custom silicone wristbands ukwoven wristbandsadjustable wristbandsjordan wristbandflash drive wristband
President Xi Jinping (L) is welcomed by his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev when attending the opening ceremony of the Expo 2017 in Astana, Kazakhstan, June 9, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua] ASTANA - Chinese President Xi Jinping's ongoing visit to Kazakhstan has won growing support for the Belt and Road Initiative and a historic enlargement of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Xi arrived here Wednesday for a state visit to Kazakhstan, the 17th meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State and the opening ceremony of the Expo 2017 Astana. Speaking to reporters after the SCO annual summit on Friday, Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Li Huilai said the fruitful results of the summit will help SCO member states to address threats and challenges, and are important for them to achieve development and revitalization. Upgrading Belt and Road building The Belt and Road Initiative, first proposed by Xi in 2013 in Kazakhstan, comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, with the aim of building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes. Four years later, when Xi returned to Astana, the initiative has developed from a proposal to actions, and from a concept to practice, generating business opportunities, new jobs and hopes for countries and peoples involved. The Chinese president and leaders attending the SCO summit have pledged to carry out extensive cooperation under the Belt and Road framework, further align their respective development strategies, pooling each other's resources and sharing economic and social benefits. In a press communique released after the summit, leaders of the SCO countries spoke highly of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held by China in Beijing on May 14 to 15, saying that they stand ready to jointly implement the forum's consensus. During a meeting with Spanish King Felipe VI on Friday, Xi said that China welcomes Spain's participation in the building of the Belt and Road Initiative, adding that they should make full use of the China-Europe freight train from the eastern Chinese city of Yiwu to the Spanish capital of Madrid. China and Tajikistan are also mulling more high-end, innovative and diversified cooperation within the Belt and Road Initiative. The expanding and evolving of the initiative demonstrated the openness and inclusiveness China has advocated, said Wang Yiwei, Director of Institute of International Affairs at Renmin University of China. The Belt and Road (Initiative) essentially answers the call of the mankind for development. It is the need of most countries in the world, where supply capacity is far from enough to meet the growing need for public goods, Wang said.
