China’s manned submersible Jiaolong will conduct two dives in the Yap Trench on Sunday and Tuesday.

The upcoming dives will be the final dives of China’s 38th oceanic scientific expedition that started on Feb. 6, according to scientists on the ship.

Before reaching the Mariana Trench and the Yap Trench in June, Jiaolong had successfully completed two stages of operation in the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea.

Jiaolong descended to 6,488 meters in the Yap Trench on Friday, which was its 150th dive since August 2009.

Jiaolong reached its deepest point of 7,062 meters in the Mariana Trench in June 2012.

A Tibetan delegation of the National People’s Congress (NPC) of China has informed Japanese officials and friendly groups about the current situation in Tibet and called upon Japan to properly handle Tibet-related issues.

During a five-day visit that concluded on Saturday, the delegation met with former President of Japan’s House of Councilors and Chairman of Japan-China Friendship Center Satsuki Eda, Chief Secretary of Japan-China Parliamentary Friendship Association Yoshimasa Hayashi, as well as Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Shunsuke Takei.

Heading the Tibetan delegation, Duoji Ciren, member of the standing committee of the People’s Congress of Tibet Autonomous Region, said China has been sticking to the principle of developing bilateral relations with Japan based on the four political documents and the four-point principled agreement between the two countries and in the spirit of taking history as a mirror while looking forward to the future.

He stressed that Tibet-related issues concern China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, urging Japan to respect China’s core interests and major concerns on related issues and properly handle such issues.

Duoji also said Tibet has been developing fast since it was liberated over half a century ago, with the full support of the central government, help from the whole nation and efforts of all ethnic groups of Tibet.

Currently, Tibet is working toward the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects along with the whole nation, with all social undertakings thriving and people of all ethnic groups living and working in peace and contentment in the autonomous region, he added.

Eda, for his part, said it is important to maintain the friendship between the two countries as well as the two peoples. The Japanese parliament has established a regular exchange mechanism with the NPC, and the Japan-China Friendship Center has also invited Chinese youth to visit Japan on a regular basis to promote mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples.

Hayashi and Takei said the visit of the Tibetan delegation provided a good opportunity for the Japanese side to learn more about the situation in Tibet, and Japan is willing to deepen communication and cooperation with China in all areas so as to further improve bilateral ties.

The delegation also held seminars with Japanese scholars and overseas Chinese in Japan during the visit.

China has sent eight inspection groups to local governments and enterprises to make sure workplace safety-related problems will be discovered and eliminated, according to an official statement.

As the fourth batch of inspections by the Work Safety Committee of the State Council, the groups went to Inner Mongolia and Tibet autonomous regions; Shanghai municipality; provinces of Gansu, Hainan, Hubei and Qinghai; and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

The inspectors, who will pay random visits to local companies, are tasked to detect problems in work safety and promote the rectification, the committee said in a statement.

Local governments and departments will be held accountable if local checks failed to discover major work safety hazards in companies, or if local authorities did not punish companies after major problems had been detected, the committee said.

After the completion of the new inspections, the committee’s inspection tours since last year will have covered all the country’s provincial level regions, according to the statement.

Liu Yunshan, a senior leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC), has urged Party cadres at the grassroots level to do more in serving the people and advancing reform and development.

Liu, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks during an inspection in southeast China’s Fujian Province from Thursday to Saturday.

Liu visited various villages, communities and enterprises to learn about the progress made in the Party building at the grassroots level, where he asked the CPC members to learn from the example of Liao Junbo, a late official who had served in Fujian.

The CPC Central Committee on Tuesday decided to posthumously honor Liao as an “outstanding CPC member.” Liao died at the age of 48 in a traffic accident while heading to a meeting on March 18.

A statement of the CPC central leadership noted that Liao, vice mayor of Nanping City in Fujian, had worked wholeheartedly to lead local cadres and people in poverty-relief work, showing his loyalty to the Party and selfless devotion to duty.

Liao had also served as Party chief of Fujian’s Zhenghe County, where he pushed forward economic development that eventually helped more than 30,000 people shake off poverty within less than four years.

During the inspection tour, Liu held a seminar with some officials in Zhenghe county to discuss how to learn from Liao to better serve the people.

The Chinese mainland holds a positive and open attitude toward cross-Strait intercity exchanges with Taiwan as long as there is correct understanding of the nature of cross-Strait relations and city-to-city exchanges.

Ma Xiaoguang, spokesperson for the State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office, made the remarks Saturday in response to questions about an interview with Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je, who made remarks on the annual city forum between Shanghai and Taipei, as well as the mainland-Taiwan relations.

Ko had said he would work actively to facilitate the exchanges between Taipei and Shanghai as long as the exchanges benefit people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and are conducive to peaceful development across the strait.

Ma said the mainland had taken note of the reports of the interview. He said Shanghai and Taipei will take care of detailed arrangements for the annual city forum.