Red Cross urged to have spokesperson

The Red Cross Society of China should have its own spokesperson to disclose information in a timely manner, the central government said.

The State Council issued a reform guidance for the Red Cross Society of China on July 10, which was posted on the central government's website on Tuesday.

In it, the State Council asked authorities at provincial and ministry levels to straighten out relations with the Red Cross Society of China so that the latter can play a bigger role in humanitarian aid.

"The Red Cross Society should establish and improve its spokesperson system in order to disclose information to the public in a way that is timely, comprehensive, true and precise", said the reform guidance, which required governments at provincial levels to improve the information disclosure of local Red Cross branches.

The guidance also suggested establishing an audit system for the Red Cross Society of China to strengthen the inspection of how the donations are used.

Police chiefs complete training

The Ministry of Public Security said on Tuesday that more than 1,400 county- and city-level police chiefs who have been appointed since 2010 have finished their training.

The police chiefs were trained in three groups successively in Beijing from June 26 to Tuesday, according to the ministry.

Public Security Minister and State Councilor Meng Jianzhu said on Tuesday at the closing session of the training program that the police should improve their work in grassroots areas and innovate in order to maintain national security and social stability.

The police chiefs should also enhance their sense of urgency and responsibility, clarify their job-related goals and intensify measures to achieve these goals, he said.

17,000 grads to serve in W China

A total of 17,000 graduates will be sent to western China to conduct volunteer work and hold positions at the community level, according to a statement from a symposium held by the Central Committee of the China Communist Youth League on Tuesday.

To date, 170,000 graduates in 10 groups have volunteered for one to three years in communities in central and western China under a plan established in 2003 by government bodies including the ministries of education and finance.

Fourteen groups, or more than 6,500 young volunteers, have been sent to teach in poverty-stricken areas for one year since a first group of volunteer teachers was dispatched in 1999.

According to the symposium, 429 graduates were selected from China's leading universities as "excellent contributors to the western regions", and they will serve in various positions in government offices and enterprises in the western regions.

Qinghai

7 dead in truck, pickup collision

Seven people died and 12 others were injured when a heavy truck collided head-on with a pickup truck early on Tuesday in Northwest China's Qinghai province.

The two vehicles crashed at 4 am near Da Qaidam township, Haixi Mongol-Tibetan autonomous prefecture, on National Highway No 315, which runs from Xining to Kashgar, the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, a provincial traffic police officer said.

Four people were in the cab of the large truck, and the pickup was carrying five in the crew cab and 13 on the truck bed, the police officer said.

Seven people died at the scene, and the 12 seriously injured were rushed to hospital, he said.

Lake protection plan adopted

China has approved a conservation program for an inland plateau lake in Qinghai province, local environmental protection authorities said on Tuesday.

Under the program, approved this month by the ministries of environmental protection and finance, 430 million yuan ($68.3 million) will be invested over three years to protect the environment of the Keluke Lake on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the provincial environmental protection department said in a statement on Tuesday.

The 57.4-square-kilometer lake in the northeast of the Qaidam Basin, Haixi Mongol-Tibetan autonomous prefecture, is the only freshwater lake in an ethnic group prefecture and is a major water conservation area in Qinghai, the statement said.

It has been dubbed "Lovers' Lake" because birds migrate there in spring and summer to reproduce.

Local industrial development, population growth in the Qaidam area and overfishing in recent years have polluted the water and caused wetland degradation.

Hebei

State Council approves New Area

The State Council on Monday approved the establishment of the Caofeidian New Area in Hebei province.

The zone is a 4.59-square kilometer area slated for high-end services and the advanced equipment manufacturing industry, said a statement on the website of the Caofeidian New Area.

Preferential policies from the central and the provincial government for the zone will promote high-tech industries with high added value, high taxation-generating potential and comprehensive logistics.

The zone - the first in the province - is now open to investment. A total of 18 projects are already inked with investments of 3.5 billion yuan ($553.3 million) and 17 projects with a total investment of 4 billion yuan are being negotiated.

The zone neighbors Beijing and Tianjin and will radiate its influence to the northeast, north and northwest areas.

Anhui

25 sentenced for illegal abortion

Twenty-five people in East China's Anhui province have been sentenced to prison or put under surveillance for administering illegal fetal gender tests and abortions, a local court announced on Tuesday.

The court in the Shushan district of the city of Hefei on Monday held a public trial for the suspects, including Liu Caiyun and Wu Chunhong, who were charged with illegally conducting birth control-related medical operations.

Liu was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison and ordered to pay a fine of 150,000 yuan ($23,800), and Wu was sentenced to two years and three months in prison and fined 100,000 yuan.

Liu and Wu were apprehended on Nov 17 while they were conducting abortions for three women.

A subsequent investigation revealed that 23 other people were involved with the pair, marking the largest illegal abortion case to emerge in the province in recent years.

The group offered gender tests and abortions to nearly 100 pregnant women over the last three years, raking in large amounts of money, the court said.

China Daily - Xinhua