Our editors will be looking ahead today to these developing stories ...
Early read on Hong Kong Book Fair
The Trade Development Council will hold a press preview of the Hong Kong Book Fair on the eve of the opening of the annual event tomorrow. Organisers expect the attendance at this year's fair to match at least last year's record of 920,000 visitors. The fair has attracted more than 520 exhibitors from 18 countries, with digital and English-language exhibitors expanding 38 per cent and 50 per cent respectively. The fair runs from tomorrow to Tuesday at the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai.
Sino-Russian border island opens to visitors
Part of a Sino-Russian border island, Heixiazi in northeastern Heilongjiang province, will open to tourists tomorrow on a trial basis. Russia officially returned parts of contested islands to China in 2008. Border demarcation had been a sensitive issue, with tensions almost leading to armed conflict between China and the then-Soviet Union in 1969. But since Russia handed back about half the island, Heixiazi has been seen as a symbol of a new spirit of economic co-operation between the two countries.
Chinese leaders welcome Cameroon's president
Cameroon's President Paul Biya starts a three-day state visit to China tomorrow. Guo Boxiong , vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, said in April that China would like to bring military relations with Cameroon to a new stage. A document from the US embassy in the capital of Cameroon, Yaounde, leaked last year said China's commercial ties with the country were growing and drawing 'increasing suspicion' among locals of Beijing's engagement.