Six officers receive rank of general

President Hu Jintao conferred the rank of general on six senior military and police officers in Beijing on Monday.

The six officers are Du Jincai, deputy director of the General Political Department of the People's Liberation Army, Liu Yazhou, political commissar of the National Defense University of the PLA, Du Hengyan, political commissar of the Jinan Military Area Command, Tian Xiusi, political commissar of the Chengdu Military Area Command, Wang Jianping, commander of the Chinese People's Armed Police Force and Xu Yaoyuan, political commissar of the CPAPF.

Hu, who is also the chairman of the Central Military Commission, handed the certificates to the officers and congratulated them at a ceremony on Monday morning.

Most non-State firms have unions

Most non-State companies in China have set up labor unions, a trade union organization said on Monday.

About 3.44 million, or 82.73 percent, of private and foreign-funded companies in China had established labor unions as of the end of June, Wang Yupu, vice-president of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, said at a meeting on Monday.

In the first half of the year, 99.29 million, or 73 percent, of staff members in private companies joined labor unions, Wang said.

Wang said the labor unions have been working on promoting collective salary negotiations between companies and workers, with the number of companies signing collective wage contracts up 56.1 percent from 2010 to the current 1.74 million.

Suspect in fire on bus detained

Police have detained a man suspected of starting a fire on a bus in Beijing, according to city authorities.

No one was injured and the fire caused only light damage to the vehicle.

The blaze started at the back of a No 9 bus about 5:15 pm on Saturday as the bus passed the intersection of Jintai Road and Chaoyang North Road in Chaoyang district, according to a post on the micro blog of the city's public security bureau on Sunday.

Investigations are ongoing, but police say evidence suggests the fire was started deliberately.

The suspect was detained at 9:30 pm on Saturday, according to the micro blog post.

Guangdong

Legislative meeting shown online

Legislators in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong province, on Monday broadcast their meeting online for the first time in the city's history, local authorities said.

The fourth session of the Standing Committee of the 14th Guangzhou City People's Congress was held on Monday.

Chen Jianhua, Guangzhou's mayor, reported on the government's work for the first half of the year and introduced a work plan for the second half, which was broadcast on the website of the Guangzhou City People's Congress and several other local websites.

The broadcast will help citizens better understand the people's congress system and make the government's work more transparent, said Zhang Guifang, director of the Standing Committee of the Guangzhou City People's Congress.

Zhang said the Guangzhou City People's Congress plans to broadcast 15 such meetings on the Internet this year.

Qinghai

China's largest lake expanding

The surface area of China's largest lake has been expanding for eight years, according to scientific data.

Qinghai Lake, an inland saltwater lake in Northwest China's Qinghai province measured 4,354.28 square kilometers according to satellite data collected on July 19 and published on Sunday, said Zhou Bingrong, deputy chief of the provincial institute of meteorological sciences.

The figure was 14.58 sq km larger than that at the same time last year, and the largest in 12 years, he said.

Zhou's institute has been carrying out surveillance of the lake's surface area since 2001, when the lake was shrinking due to climate change and human activities.

"We have noticed an apparent increase of water since 2005, thanks to more rainfall and sustained environmental protection efforts," Zhou said.

Shandong

Hundreds fish for snappers in port

Hundreds of local residents of Qingdao, Shandong province, recently rushed to the city's port to fish for about 10,000 American red snappers that about 20 people dumped there, China National Radio reported on Monday.

According to the report, the 20 people, who said they are from Jilin province, bought about 10,000 American red snappers from a fish plant near the Jimiya Port for 500,000 yuan ($78,000).

Freeing captured animals is a Buddhist practice and is a tradition for many Chinese. The purpose of setting animals free is saving lives.

After the snappers were freed, hundreds of residents who heard the news rushed to the port to fish.

The biggest snapper caught by a resident weighs about 1.5 kilograms, report said.

Four dead in car crash

Four people died when a car collided with a tanker carrying dangerous chemicals on Monday morning in Zibo, East China's Shandong province, the city government said.

The two vehicles collided around 11 am on the corner of a road. The tanker exploded and caught fire.

The remains of four people were found at the scene of the accident, but they have not yet been identified. The cause of the accident is being investigated.

China Daily-Xinhua