Around China

Guizhou

Reward offer aids environment

The government of Guiyang, capital of Guizhou province, is offering a reward up to 2,000 yuan ($321) to people who report illegal activities that harm the environment. A new policy listed 16 illegal activities that harm the environment, including pumping emissions underground. The policy is designed to make the enforcement of environmental protection more effective and boost the public's enthusiasm for helping supervise illegal activities.

Eight cities and counties in China were criticized by two ministries for failing to protect historical and cultural legacies, which resulted in serious damage, according to a notice jointly issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and State Administration of Cultural Heritage. Authorities in Yueyang, Hunan province, one of the eight cities and counties, said they will establish a special supervising team and boost funding to protect the city's cultural heritage.

Night food stalls will be banned from selling cold dishes to ensure food safety, according to a regulation scheduled to take effect on April 1. Such food stalls should be located at least 200 meters away from primary or middle schools, according to the regulation issued by Beijing Municipal Health Bureau on Friday. Other places, such as construction sites and vocational schools, are also banned from supplying cold dishes, according to the regulation.

Quality authorities prevented 240 batches of imported food and seven batches of cosmetics that failed to meet quality standards from entering the domestic market in January, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said. The products include some famous international brands, such as cakes imported by Ikea from Sweden that contained excessive levels of coliform bacteria, the administration said on Saturday. All of the products were returned or thrown away.

Temperatures in central and eastern China are expected to gradually increase over the next three days as the strong cold front that recently swept the country has weakened. The National Meteorological Center made the forecast on Sunday and said rain and snow are expected in the south and northwest of the country.

China's light industry saw double-digit growth in total output, exports and profits in 2012, the country's major economic policy maker said on Sunday. The National Development and Reform Commission attributed the rapid growth partly to strong demand from the country's consumer goods sectors, especially agricultural product processing, food manufacturing and beverages.

Around 6,000 livestock have been killed on the border areas of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region as a result of a recent surge in wolves, causing a direct economic loss of almost 9 million yuan ($1.45 million), Xinhua News Agency reported on Sunday. The wolves in the middle and east border areas of Inner Mongolia are attacking livestock to survive the cold, snowy winter. Local authorities have set up a compensation fund of 8.7 million yuan.

The death toll from a coal mine fire in North China rose to 12 after one of the two missing miners was confirmed dead, local government said on Sunday. All 12 miners died due to carbon monoxide poisoning after a fan caught fire under the Aijiagou coal mine in Huailai county, Hebei province. Rescuers are still searching for the last missing miner. The accident occurred at 8 pm on Thursday.

A direct air route linking Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is expected to open next month, authorities said on Saturday. According to the agreement signed on Saturday by the Tourism Ministry of Malaysia and the tourism bureau of Hubei province, charter flights will be available between the two cities starting on April 4, with two round trips per week, on Thursday and Sunday.

A 20-day overhaul has begun on the north ship dock of the Three Gorges Dam, the first stoppage in transport services for the world's largest hydropower project since it began operations 10 years ago. The overhaul began on Saturday and is expected to restore the project's designed capacity. According to facility rules, some important parts of key machinery have reached the end of their useful life spans.

Seven people have been confirmed dead after 2,000 cubic meters of sulfuric acid leaked in Liaoning province on Friday afternoon, local authorities said on Sunday. Rescue efforts ended on Sunday in Fangshen village, Jianping county, where a sulfuric acid tank suddenly ruptured at 3 pm on Friday. Local environmental protection authorities said the water quality and air near the site were normal. The cause of the leak remains unclear.