13 dead in bus accident

Thirteen people were killed, eight injured and two are missing after a tourist bus plunged into a ravine in north Taiwan's Hsinchu county on Sunday afternoon, local reports said. The injured, including one person who is in a serious condition, were taken to a nearby hospital, the local station TVBS News quoted the Hsinchu county fire bureau as saying. Local authorities are investigating the cause of the accident.

Shandong

9 missing after fishing boat sinks

One person has been rescued and nine others remain missing after a fishing boat sank on Saturday in waters off Shandong province, local maritime authorities said on Sunday. The boat, Lurongyu-0911, sank on Saturday about 60 sea miles east of Weihai due to strong gales and high waves, the Shandong Maritime Safety Administration said. Eleven vessels, rescue cargo and fishing ships, were organized for search efforts, which continued on Sunday afternoon.

New Zealand

Senior leader visits New Zealand

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key met with visiting Chinese State Councilor Liu Yandong on Sunday. Liu arrived in Auckland on Sunday for a three-day official visit to New Zealand to discuss cooperation in science and innovation as well as education. Liu travelled to New Zealand after visiting Cambodia. She will leave for Australia on Tuesday.

Beijing

Democratic League congress opens

The 11th National Congress of the China Democratic League, one of the country's non-communist parties, opened in Beijing on Sunday. Zhang Gaoli, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the top ruling body, met with the delegates to the congress and read a letter from the CPC Central Committee, hailing the patriotic, revolutionary and glorious history of the CDL founded over 70 years ago.

Red Cross sets up supervisory panel

The Red Cross Society of China set up a public committee on Friday to help supervise issues such as donation collection and use. The committee comprises volunteers with backgrounds in law, medicine and finance, according to the society. The society is working to regain public trust, which suffered a blow in 2011 when a woman who claimed to be an official of the society, showed off her lavish lifestyle in micro-blog posts.

Xinjiang

Police chief fired over allegations

A police chief in Northwest China was dismissed after allegations emerged he promoted sisters he was sexually involved with. Qi Fang, director of public security bureau of Usu county in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, was being investigated for alleged discipline violations, a local Party official said on Saturday, according to Tianshannet, a website run by the Xinjiang government. Qi allegedly gave his two mistresses posts and used public money to rent an expensive apartment for them, Beijing News reported.

Anhui

Tourists surnamed Zhu travel for free

Nearly 1,000 tourists whose surname is Zhu have visited scenic sites in Anhui province's Fengyang county for free since local authorities launched a promotion on Dec 1, granting free entry to the sites to anyone surnamed Zhu, China National Radio reported on Sunday. Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder and emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), was born in a village of the county. To boost tourism in the winter low season, local authorities decided to allow people who share the same family name with the Chinese emperor to visit local tourist sites for free.

Conference paid for by attendees

Attendees of a conference at a five-star hotel in Anhui province have paid for the get-together from their own pockets, according to a statement posted on the official micro blog of the Wuhu city government on Friday. The statement is a response to questions from netizens' as to why the meeting - attended by officials from the local procuratorate, public security, court and traffic police authorities - is being held at a luxury five-star hotel in Huangshan Mountain, a famous scenic spot in the province.

Gansu

School closed after teacher injures boy

An unlicensed kindergarten in Gansu province was closed on Saturday after a female teacher kicked a 5-year-old boy, injuring his genitals. Honghuanglan Kindergarten in Lanzhou was shut down because it was unlicensed and had unqualified teachers and substandard facilities, the education bureau said. More than 80 students will be transferred to nearby kindergartens, Western Economic Daily reported on Sunday. Police detained the teacher on Thursday.

Henan

9 killed in central China road crash

Nine people were killed after a coach carrying at least 34 passengers collided with another vehicle and crashed into a roadside pond in Henan province on Sunday, a government spokesman said. Two of the people injured remain in a critical condition, while 23 of the others are not in life-threatening danger, a spokesman for the county government of Minquan said, citing hospital sources. The accident occurred at 11 am on Sunday in Minquan.

Guangdong

Anti-corruption event a first

An event in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, marking International Anti-Corruption Day was the first of its kind in China. Leaders from enterprises, social institutions and industry associations vowed to adhere to the principle of anti-corruption at the event on Sunday. An exhibition of anti-corruption achievements of the Guangzhou city government was also held. Wang Xiaoling, Guangzhou's discipline inspection chief, called for the public to report corruption and participate in the anti-corruption campaign.

Jiangsu

Public servants to get insurance

From January 2013, all public servants in 13 major cities in Jiangsu province will be included in the social medical insurance system, which means their government-run free healthcare services will be canceled, according to a report of Yangtze Evening News. The free healthcare system for public servants will be canceled in Nanjing, capital of the province in January, the last of the 13 cities administrated by the provincial government to introduce the reform.

Zhejiang

2 killed, 17 hurt in factory explosions

Two separate factory explosions in East China left two people dead and 17 injured, authorities said on Sunday. One person was killed and seven injured in an explosion on Saturday evening at the Yuanli Metal Products in Quzhou, Zhejiang province, local authorities said. At noon on Saturday, a blast in the Anhui Hongsifang Holding chemical plant in Hefei, Anhui province, killed one person and injured 10, authorities said. A company manager said six other workers had been exposed to toxic gas and were sent to hospitals for observation.

China Daily - Xinhua