Minister pledges to deepen reforms

The nation's top economic planning body promised to deepen reforms this year focusing on economic transformation, improving people's livelihood, promoting social justice and stimulating the market. Xu Shaoshi, minister of the National Reform and Development Commission, made the remarks at a two-day national meeting on economic reform, which began in Beijing on Thursday.

TCM services to be promoted

The Ministry of Commerce and State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine will join hands to promote traditional Chinese medicine services to the entire world, the two departments declared on Thursday. Some key TCM enterprises will be selected and offered preferential policies, for example, financial support to participate in overseas exhibitions, applications for international certification and overseas investments.

Tibet

Health insurance for tourists

Tourists in Tibet can buy insurance to cover medical bills for altitude sickness and receive emergency aid services beginning in late May, the Tibet Tourism Bureau and Tibet branch of the China Life Insurance Co said. The insurance costs 100 yuan ($16.30) and is valid for 15 days. Its benefits include 20,000 yuan compensation for medical bills, and 680,000 yuan in emergency-aid services.

Foot-and-mouth disease confirmed

The Ministry of Agriculture announced on Thursday that foot-and-mouth disease infections have been confirmed in cattle in the Tibet autonomous region. Eight cattle started showing signs of the disease on May 24 in a village near the regional capital of Lhasa. Authorities have sealed off and sterilized the infected area, where 70 cattle have been killed and safely disposed of, the ministry.

Jiangsu

Manhunt after acid attack on boy

Police in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, are hunting for a man who they believe poured acid on a boy and disfigured him on Thursday. Police are offering a 10,000 yuan ($1,600) reward for information leading to the capture of Cai Shilin, 51. Cai is suspected of pouring acid on an 11-year-old Chalu Primary School fourth-grader as the boy went to school in the morning. The boy is in the intensive care unit of Nanjing Children's Hospital. Police say Cai attacked the boy after breaking up with his divorced mother.

Guangdong

Manual to help protect girls

The women's federation in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, plans to distribute more than 10,000 "anti-wolves manuals". The manuals look at the menace of sex pests and offenders and shows women and girls how best to cope with the threat, according to a statement from the federation on its website. The manual came about after 2,506 women and girls reported that they had been victims of assaults and harassment in the southern metropolis in the past three years.

Zhejiang

Father of pipe baby 'not found'

Police said that they have not found the father of the baby who was abandoned in a sewage pipe in Zhejiang on May 25. An officer at the Pujiang county police station denied on Thursday a rumor that the boy's father had been found. The officer said that the boy's mother, a 22-year-old woman, is in hospital for further treatment. The mother's parents said they were quite willing to bring up the boy on their own. The baby left the hospital Wednesday evening in the care of his relatives.

Justice 18 years after murder

The Jiaxing Intermediate People's Court of Zhejiang province ruled on Thursday that Xiang Shengyuan be given a two-year suspended death sentence, 18 years after the crime was committed, Legal Daily reported. In March and August of 1995, two taxi drivers were robbed and killed in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. Five men were found guilty and jailed but Hangzhou police found later that Xiang's fingerprints matched those at the crime scene. The five men have been declared innocent.

Foreign fishermen get employment

Nine foreign fishermen have been approved for employment by the Zhejiang provincial government. The group, five from the Philippines and four from Indonesia, received permits to work for the Zhejiang Industrial Group Co, a fishing and seafood manufacturer based in Zhoushan Islands. It is the first time that China has approved working permits for foreign fishermen.

Xinhua - China Daily