Paul Beck (center), Managing Director of the World Horticultural Expo, or Floriade 2012, at the opening of the Chinese Garden in Venlo, the Netherlands, on April 4. The garden was built with the Humble Administrator Garden in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, one of China’s most famous ancient gardens, as the prototype. Covering an area of 1,500 square meters, it was the biggest theme exhibit area at the Floriade.
　　Opened on the same day, the Floriade 2012 will run six months, with the theme of integrating into nature and changing the quality of life. The Floriade is held every 10 years in the Netherlands. This year, the event will showcase the gardening arts of 35 countries and is expected to receive around 2 million visitors.
　　“China encourages capital flow, especially through the goingout policy. So enterprises and other businesses now have more overseas investment. There may be further deregulation to allow Chinese enterprises and residents to invest overseas more easily.”
　　Zhou Xiaochuan, Governor of the People’s Bank of China, saying China might further loosen its controls on overseas investment in the future to facilitate Chinese enterprises and residents to invest overseas, on the sideline of the Boao Forum for Asia on April 3
　　“Any hasty move about the Syrian issue creating a power vacuum in Syria could have serious detrimental consequences for the region. We are hopeful about Annan’s mission in Syria and we think the support of Turkey, Arab states and the United Nations to his mission can help settle the Syrian issue.”
　　Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi, in a media interview on April 4
　　“Britain’s economy is still facing huge challenges and the recovery is much too slow. Britain has the potential to recover, but to achieve that the government has to set businesses free to grow.”
　　John Longworth, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce, on April 3
　　“Exports are better than expected, suggesting the United States and EU economies are recovering.”
　　Cai Jin, Vice Chairman of the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, commenting on the continuous increase of China’s Purchasing Managers Index, which jumped to 53.1 percent in March, 2.1 percentage points higher than a month earlier