Watchdog stops fake products

China's quality authorities have handled 54,200 cases of infringement of intellectual property rights and the production and sale of fake products in the first nine months of the year.

The value of the products involved was 3.14 billion yuan ($498 million), Li Yuanping, spokesman for the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, said at a news briefing on Tuesday.

Substandard food imports blocked

Authorities uncovered 169 batches of substandard imported food in September, according to figures released by China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine on Tuesday.

Unqualified food additives, product quality and microorganisms were the major problems found with the imports, which came from 31 countries or regions, the administration said.

The food covered 14 categories, mainly dairy-related products, pastry, biscuits and beverages, said the administration's spokesman, Li Yuanping.

Special-equipment accidents kill 12

Accidents involving special equipment, such as elevators and boilers, claimed 12 lives and injured six people in China last month, a government official said on Tuesday.

The death toll was one fewer than in the same period last year, said Li Yuanping, spokesman of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, at a news briefing.

Li said the causes of such accidents included illegal operation, lack of safety awareness and unspecified safety management responsibilities.

30m students in vocational schools

China has more than 30 million students studying at vocational schools, and 72.65 million people who have graduated from such schools over the past 10 years, according to a report issued by the Ministry of Education.

According to a report on the development of vocational education, the employment rate for graduates of secondary vocational schools has been greater than 95 percent for the last six years, while the employment rate for graduates of advanced schools has reached 87 percent.

Nearly half prefer long holidays

Nearly half of the people who participated in an online survey opposed a proposal to replace China's long holidays with annual paid leave.

The survey by China Youth Daily, which polled some 3,900 Internet users, showed that 46 percent of the respondents believe that it's "not practical" to cancel long holidays and replace them with paid leave.

Half of the people polled said that they do not enjoy paid leave from their workplaces at the moment.

Guangdong

Gang jailed over illegal mining

The head of a criminal gang was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for intentionally inflicting injuries and conducting illegal mining in the city of Shaoguan, Guangdong province, on Monday.

Pan Guangjuan was also deprived of his political rights for life and fined 150,000 yuan ($24,000), according to the verdict passed by Shaoguan Intermediate People's Court.

Pan and his gang members were found to be illegally mining rare earth in the mountains of Yaotian township of Xinfeng county under the administration of Shaoguan from November 2011 to February.

Reporter covering accident attacked

A reporter's arm was broken when he was attacked on Monday while covering a fatal industrial accident in Guangzhou's Baiyun district.

Zhu Chunyu from Guangzhou's Southern Television said he had also received death threats from the person in charge of the construction site.

Zhu and other reporters arrived at the site after a worker was killed and another seriously injured after falling from a 10-meter-high shed in Baiyun at about 11 am on Monday.

Guangxi

Typhoon leaves 70 boats missing

Typhoon Son-Tinh has brought strong winds and heavy rain to South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region since Sunday. The typhoon sank six boats and caused another 70 boats to disappear on a China-Vietnam border river, police said on Tuesday.

No casualties have been reported, said a spokesman with the public security bureau of the city of Fangchenggang.

Yunnan

Charity raises funds for children

A charity founded by a US citizen to offer treatment to children with congenital heart diseases in Southwest China's Yunnan province has received a donation of 2 million yuan ($320,000).

Robert Detrano, founder of China California Heart Watch, which has successfully helped more than 100 children with congenital heart diseases, received the donation from the China Overseas-Educated Scholars Development Foundation on Monday at a ceremony in Beijing.

Han Qide, vice-chairman of the National People's Congress, praised Detrano in a speech for his charity work and the boundless love he has extended to Chinese people.

China Daily-Xinhua