Society

Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates was in China on Saturday to raise awareness of the dangers of secondhand smoke in the country with the world's largest smoking population.

Gates is partnering with Robin Li, chief executive of Baidu Inc., which operates China's most popular search engine, in a foundation using traditional and online media to pinpoint the dangers of inhaling smoke from the cigarettes of others.

"Both (media) let people know about the damage of forced smoking and give some education about how in a very polite way they can ask people not to put them in that situation," Gates said at a news conference in Beijing.

Chinese President Hu Jintao said Friday that China is ready to work with all relevant parties to push for new progress in international anti-terrorism cooperation.

Hu made the remark in a written interview with reporters from Kazakhstan and Russia on the eve of his upcoming visit to Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine from June 12 to 20.

Hu said, with the joint efforts of the international community, positive progresses have been made in international anti-terrorism efforts and terrorists activities encountered a serious blow.

"But at the same time, we should see that the international anti-terrorism situation is still severe, and some terrorist organizations are still active," said Hu, adding there is still a long way to go in the fight against terrorism.

Two people were injured in a suspected revenge bombing at a government building in China, state media said Saturday, the second such attack attributed to disgruntled locals in recent weeks.

The detained suspect, a man surnamed Liu, allegedly set off the explosion in the northern city of Tianjin on Friday out of "revenge against society," Xinhua news agency reported.

Two people were slightly injured in the incident at a municipal government building in the Hexi district of Tianjin, a major city about 100 kilometres southwest of Beijing, the report said.

With the growth of the national economy and the continuous development of Chinese enterprises, more middle- and high-level professionals in China now prefer to work for domestic companies rather than foreign-owned enterprises, human resources experts said.

"Multinational companies have long been in a favorable position in the recruiting market due to their liberal reward and advanced management culture," said Chen Jiewei, senior consulting manager with China International Intellectech Corporation (CIIC), a Shanghai-based HR services company.

"But over the past five years, Chinese companies have been doing excellently and many of them have been listed abroad. They have demonstrated their competitive strength," Chen told China Daily, "Now they can offer salaries and bonus plans that are competitive with foreign companies, which makes them increasingly attractive for high-level management professionals."