Mental-health drug body established

An academic research body on psychotropic drugs has been established at the Shanghai Mental Health Center to promote the development and innovation of psychotropic drugs in China.

The research body, China Academic Research Organization of Psychotropic, the first of its kind in the country, is part of China's development plan for the 2011-15 period in the field of psychotropic drug development and innovation.

With leading psychiatric experts and teams across the country, China AROP will work with the country's psychiatric hospitals, research institutes and organizations to establish a network for clinical trials of new drugs, and to provide a full range of academic support for innovative drugs.

Teachers must pass assessments

Shanghai will take the lead in China to raise the qualifications of teachers.

Primary and middle school teachers will have to pass an assessment once every five years to retain their jobs, under a program launched by the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission.

Currently, teachers in China can retain teachers' certificates until retirement after passing the entry tests, unless they resign or are fired.

Inner Mongolia

Worker suspected in milk crime

An employee of Mengniu Dairy Co has been arrested for allegedly falsifying the production date on milk that was about to expire and then selling it, the company said on Tuesday.

Media outlets have reported that Wang Sunfu, sales manager for Mengniu in Yiwu in Zhejiang province, bought thousands of boxes of Mengniu milk that were about to expire at 22 yuan ($3.5) a box. He then altered the production dates and sold them for 42 yuan.

Another man, Zhao Baofeng, has also been arrested in relation to the crime. Zhao's connection to Mengniu is unknown.

Xinjiang

2012 Taklimakan Rally scheduled

The 2012 Taklimakan Rally kicks off this week in Urumqi, the capital of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, offering a carnival for professional and amateur racers alike.

The rally is an annual off-road endurance race, with most of its track winding through dunes, mud and rocks.

This year's rally will last for 11 days, cover 4,000 km, and span north and east through Xinjiang. The new course has eight stages, first going north through Karamay and Altay, then east to Turpan. More than 170 vehicles from 60 teams will attend the rally.

Tibet

Foot-and-mouth disease reported

Foot-and-mouth disease infections have been confirmed in livestock in Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region, the Ministry of Agriculture announced Thursday.

A total of 123 live head of cattle and 108 pigs at a village in Bomi county, Nyingchi prefecture, showed symptoms associated with foot-and-mouth disease, according to the ministry.

The National Foot-and-Mouth Disease Reference Laboratory on Thursday confirmed that the livestock were infected with Type O foot-and-mouth disease after testing samples collected at the farm, the ministry said.

China Daily-Xinhua