State media improve reporting

State media have improved reporting style to reject bureaucracy and formalism. The trend has been highlighted by changes in recent reports on top leaders' activities. A story by Xinhua News Agency on the meeting between Xi Jinping, China's top political leader, and former US president Jimmy Carter on Dec 13 contained fewer than 100 Chinese characters.

Fund benefits 15,000 children

A charity fund has benefited 15,749 orphans with AIDS and children in extreme poverty caused by the disease, its sponsor said on Sunday. The "Warm China 12.1" fund, started in 2008, provides an annual allowance of 1,000 yuan ($160) for each eligible child, said a statement from the All-China Women's Federation, a joint supervisor of the fund. The project has been expanded to more than 300 counties across China.

Taiwan residents urged to act

Yu Zhengsheng, a member of the Party's top leadership body, urged Taiwan residents living on the Chinese mainland to use their advantages to promote political trust and deepen exchanges across the Taiwan Straits. Yu was speaking at the opening ceremony of the All-China Taiwan Compatriots Congress in Beijing on Monday. Yu said Taiwan compatriots are an "important force" in the mainland's reform, modernization and the country's reunification.

Foot-and-mouth disease found

Foot-and-mouth disease has been confirmed in livestock in Jiangsu province, the Ministry of Agriculture said on Monday. Twelve pigs at a food company in Changzhou were infected with type O foot-and-mouth disease. Authorities have sealed off and sterilized the infected area, where 338 pigs were culled and safely disposed of to prevent the disease from spreading, the ministry said.

Time to replace old ID cards

China will halt the use of the first generation of resident identity cards next year, and residents nationwide are urged to replace their old cards with new ones before the new year. The first generation of the cards will be abolished on Jan 1, according to an amendment to the Resident Identity Cards Law, and public security bureaus are reminding residents to seize the last few days of this year to get their ID cards updated.

Zhejiang

African agriculture center set up

China's first research institution on African agriculture and forestry was launched in the province on Sunday. The Center for China-Africa Agriculture and Forestry Research was set up by the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan and Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University. It will focus on China-Africa investment and trade policies on agriculture and forestry, the management of bamboo resources, climate change strategies and technologies.

Liaoning

Hot spring and ski festival opens

The 2012 China Dalian International Hot Spring and Ski Festival kicked off on Dec 15 at Anbo town, a popular hot spring resort in Dalian, Liaoning province. The festival will run until the end of February 2013. Liaoning province is rich in hot spring resources. The provincial government is striving to make it "China's No 1 province for hot spring tourism".

Guangxi

Honored farmer arrested for fraud

A farmer who was once honored by the State Council has been arrested for fraud in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Nanguo Morning Post reported on Monday. Li Binzhen, from Yulin, was arrested in November because he was suspected of defrauding more than 10 million yuan ($1.58 million) from more than 30 people. Li became famous for farming and keeping pigs. Li got an award from the State Council for his performance in grain production in 2011.

Xinjiang

Forage sent to wild horses in winter

As the cold front pounds the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, 700 tons of forage have been sent to the Kala Maili Natural Reserve, home to the endangered Przewalski's horses. The horses have difficulties foraging with the thick snow on the grass, said Zhang Yanbao, a specialist at the natural reserve. Przewalski's horse population is slightly smaller than that of the giant pandas.

Henan

Four convicted for forced labor

Four people received jail sentences after they were found guilty of forcing nine people with learning disabilities to work in a brick factory in Henan province, local newspaper Orient Today reported on Monday. Wan Chengqun, general manager of the factory in Xiping county, was sentenced to three and a half years in jail, the county people's court said on Sunday. Three others were sentenced to two years in jail.

Shaanxi

Official dies after fall from building

An official in Yulin, Shaanxi province, died after falling from an office building on Sunday, the Huashang Daily reported on Monday. According to local authorities, Zhang Yinsheng, 50, was the director of the city's justice bureau. He fell from the bureau's office building on Sunday morning in the city's Yuyang district. Police said Zhang suffered from severe depression. Further investigations are under way.

Sichuan

Villager detained after setting fire

A farmer in Yibin, Sichuan province, was detained after he set a fire in an office building that led to the injury of two policemen there, Chengdu Commercial Daily reported on Monday. The man had a quarrel with a ship captain and suffered injuries to his eyes. The Yibin commerce bureau helped him get compensation of 3,000 yuan ($480), but he was not satisfied. He went to the bureau with a bottle of gasoline and started a fire on Friday.

Chengdu land officer investigated

A senior land official is being investigated on suspicion of serious violations of discipline. Mao Yixin has been under investigation since Sept 28 and is alleged to have links to a real estate project, Beijing News reported. Party disciplinary authorities said 38.7 million yuan ($6.23 million) in cash was found during a search at his home. Mao is director of land and resources for Xindu, an industrial district in Sichuan's provincial capital, Chengdu.

Shanghai

Center to focus on mental health

The country's first academic cooperative body that focuses on global mental health issues was launched in the city on Monday. The Collective Center for Global Mental Health was established by the Shanghai Mental Health Center and Emory University in the United States. It will work as a global platform in the field of mental health research and training, and promote the development of mental health in China. The center's first program will start with India.

China Daily - Xinhua