Xi meets parties' new leaders

China's top political leader Xi Jinping has vowed to insist on the multi-party cooperation system and support non-communist parties' role in political supervision. Xi made the remarks while meeting the new leaderships of China's eight non-communist parties and the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce on Monday and Tuesday. China will unswervingly insist on and improve multi-party cooperation and the political consultation system under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, supporting the non-communist parties to fully exert their advantages while participating in State affairs, Xi said.

30,000 convicted for IPR crimes

Chinese courts have convicted 29,852 people of crimes relating to intellectual property rights since 2008, Chief Justice Wang Shengjun said on Tuesday. By June 2012, courts had received 20,596 IPR-related criminal cases and concluded 19,691. In the same time frame, 180,213 civil law suits were completed, including 5,670 involving foreign parties, according to Wang, who is also president of the Supreme People's Court.

Top court releases interpretation

China's top court released a judicial interpretation on Monday of the amended Criminal Procedure Law to help courts better adapt to the revised law and ensure defendants' rights. Criminal Procedural Law was amended in March to include the phrase "respecting and protecting human rights" in the law's first chapter. The revised law stresses protecting suspects and defendants from "illegal restriction, detention and arrest".

Pressure mounts over arable land

China's land watchdog is facing increasing pressure to protect the country's fragile arable land and mineral resources, a senior official said. Minister of Land and Resources Xu Shaoshi told a session of the nation's top legislative body in Beijing on Tuesday there is still a gap between land supply and demand due to rapid economic development, leading to disputes over rural land seizures.

Student fitness to be monitored

China will monitor the fitness of schoolchildren nationwide from 2013 in a bid to boost students' health, Minister of Education Yuan Guiren said on Monday. The monitoring will be conducted by a third-party and the results will be released to the students' parents, Yuan said at a meeting on sports in schools.

Help for vagrant children pledged

The government has vowed to ensure that vagrant children return to school by strengthening cooperation between government departments, according the Ministry of Civil Affairs on Tuesday. The ministry has led a multi-departmental campaign to send vagrant children home. As a result, the number of vagrant children is declining, according to statistics released by the ministry.

Rain, snow to hit southern China

Rain and snow will sweep across southern China in the coming three days, weather authorities said on Tuesday. Strong precipitation is expected to hit the eastern part of Southwest China, the Yellow and the Huaihe river valleys and areas south of the Yangtze River from Tuesday to Thursday, the National Meteorological Center said in a statement. Moderate to heavy snow will fall on parts of those regions.

Yanqing launches welfare community

About 200 households in Beijing's Yanqing county have moved into their new homes in the county's first social-welfare community this year, Beijing Daily reported on Tuesday. Thirty-seven households enjoy rental apartments, and 164 households bought low-priced apartments in the community, which a variety of facilities and educational resources.

Shanghai

Fast track to open for small cases

Shanghai Higher People's Court announced a set of rules on Tuesday that will require courts in the city to introduce a fast track system to deal with civil cases involving disputed amounts of less than 15,000 yuan ($2,400). Under the new rules, civil cases that are on a fast track may be concluded within three days instead of the current standard of up to six months.

Shandong

Poultry farms closed in probe

China's agriculture authority said on Tuesday that it has shut down poultry farms in Shandong province where animals were given excessive amounts of antibiotics, pledging to step-up checks on poultry farmers. Last week, media reported that some poultry farmers had given their chickens excessive amounts of antibiotics to help them survive in overcrowded chicken houses.

Shaanxi

Noodles checked after poisoning

A total of 39,227 packets of Yuzhu brand instant noodles have been quarantined in Shaanxi province after eight students displayed symptoms of food poisoning after eating the noodles, Huashang Daily reported. According to the newspaper, eight girls from the Hongxin Primary School in Zhouzhi county had shown symptoms of food poisoning on Friday.

Anhui

Inn fire in Hefei kills 3 students

Three university students were killed and two more injured after a fire ripped through a small hotel early on Tuesday morning in Anhui province, police said. The fire broke out in a barbershop on the ground floor of a building in Feixi Road in the provincial capital of Hefei about 3:30 am. It then spread to the Chenguang Inn on the second floor.

Guangdong

Official dismissed over affair

A government official in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province, has been removed from his post, after an investigation by local disciplinary authorities into an extramarital affair. Deng Wengao, deputy secretary-general of the Zhanjiang city government, was found to have kept a mistress. He also has more than one child, according to the local disciplinary authorities.

China Daily - Xinhua