Diplomatic pouch: With Mike Peters

The EU delegation to China says all flights between, into and out of EU airports are included in the EU's Emissions Trading System under legislation in force since 2009.

"With ambitious fuel efficiency improvements," the EU website says aviation emissions are still projected to be 300-700 percent higher than 2005 levels by 2050. "Emissions trades are the most cost-efficient way for aviation to contribute to achieving Europe's climate change goals. All major airlines, including Chinese airlines, are complying with reporting rules for flights to and from the EU and applying for free allocations," it says. The website says growth in aviation emissions will be offset more significantly "in other sectors and through the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism in which China has a leading position." Flights to and from China would account for less than 3 percent of total aviation emissions covered by the EU system, the report says.

Italian Ambassador Attilio Massimo Iannucci expects the ongoing renovations of the Beijing embassy's offices and garden to be complete in time to welcome Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini when he arrives for an official visit July 19.

Iannucci, who arrived last December to take up his new assignment, said he would aim to change Chinese people's traditional image of Italy during his stay in China, while improving bilateral and diplomatic ties at the same time. He said there are 4.5 million small and medium-sized enterprises in Italy meaning almost one out of 11 Italian inhabitants are doing their own business. "It is a pity to see the difficulties faced by these creative but tiny companies when they try to make contacts with Chinese enterprises," he said. "They have no large presence (of them) in China because they're too small to risk their capital in China. Therefore, promoting partnership (between Italy and China) in the small and medium-sized enterprises sector would be on the top of my agenda."

The embassy of Norway has welcomed the touring grunge rockers of Tripod for their first tour of the Middle Kingdom. Having "made a name for themselves in the Trondheim music scene with their massive sound and hard-hitting riffs", the band shares much in common with US grunge pioneers Alice in Chains. They perform July 17 at the Golden Beach Music Festival in Qingdao and move on for concerts in Shanghai, Nanjing, Zhengzhou and Xinxiang before ending their tour in Beijing July 24.

The Swedish Institute and the Swedish General Consulate celebrated the first birthday of the official website Sweden.cn with a party in Beijing on July 2. The Swedish pop band Kite performed before moving on to Nanjing, Changsha, Wuhan and Shanghai for a week-long tour. Party guests got to learn more about Sweden, enjoy Swedish snacks and participate in a quiz to compete for great prizes.

In more news, the Swedish embassy's newsletter said Heyrobics will be offered every Sunday at 5 pm in Beijing's Chaoyang Park. The free exercise program comes with "great instructors and great music".

The UK, US, France, Russia and China (P5) agreed to work together on new confidence building disarmament initiatives when they met in Paris on June 30 - July 1. The British embassy website said the initiatives include a working group on nuclear weapons terminology and a UK-hosted P5 expert-level meeting to discuss lessons learned from the UK's work with Norway on the verification of nuclear warhead dismantlement.

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