Flags are to be kept at half-mast and all public amusements will be suspended for three days from Monday as China begins an official mourning period for victims of the May 12 earthquake.

The State Council, the Cabinet, on Sunday ordered a nationwide display of respect for the dead. The Olympic torch relay will also be suspended from Monday to Wednesday till May 22, the Olympic organizing committee said.

Jonathan King says that Beijing is often seen as the cultural city with Shanghai touted as more of a commercial entity.

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BEIJING (AFP) — There was no champagne, no music, and just a few young women in traditional dresses.

The low-key ceremony that marked the launch of China Investment Corp. this weekend could reflect the cautious manner in which Beijing intends to unleash the largest fund in history onto the world's financial markets.

The much-anticipated corporation will be in charge of 200 billion dollars -- nearly one-sixth the nation's enormous forex reserves -- but it will not flaunt its wealth, observers said.

"HARRY Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," the fifth film adaptation in JK Rowling's boy wizard series, is expected to hit Chinese movie screens in July after it got the green light from the country's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television.

But it's not clear whether China will be one of the countries to participate in the global premiere, which has been set for July 13, Chongqing Morning Post reported today.

"The administration has hardly made any cuts to the film," said an insider.