Businesses in the Taihu Lake area will have to pay heavy fees to discharge pollution into the lake and nearby waterways this year, officials from the Jiangsu environmental protection bureau said Thursday.

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda Sunday afternoon wrapped up his four-day China tour, which was seen as a "herald of spring" for China-Japan ties, after paying respect to Confucius in the ancient philosopher's hometown. 

The visit to China was "very substantial and meaningful," Fukuda said in an interview at the airport before leaving Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong Province.

BEIJING -- The construction of China's first third-generation nuclear plant, the Sanmen power plant, is set to begin in March, the State Nuclear Power Technology Company (SNPTC) said Thursday.

Wang Binghua, SNPTC's chairman of the board, said the plant in east China's Zhejiang Province was expected to generate power by August 2013. It would also become the world's first AP1000 nuclear plant.

The Chinese mainland has been the second largest source of foreign students at Harvard University for the past seven years, said the prestigious US university.

Among 3,913 international students from 141 countries studying at the university for the 2007-08 academic year, 400, or 10.22 percent, are from the Chinese mainland, second only to 489 Canadians, the Harvard International Office said.