Into the wild A volunteer from Shenyang Raptor Rescue Center in Liaoning province releases a hawk back into the wild on Saturday. Three raptors, saved by the center after they ate poisonous food, were released. Photo by Yang Qing / Xinhua

Beijing

Efforts to combat IPR infringement

Vice-Premier Wang Qishan on Friday called for greater efforts to fight copyright infringement and counterfeit products. Wang, also a member of China's top political authority, stressed that the crackdown on intellectual copyright infringement and counterfeit products is an important task that concerns the people's immediate interests, and it should be intensified in the long term.

More help to major poor regions

Vice-Premier Hui Liangyu on Friday pledged greater efforts to support developments in poverty-stricken regions. At a teleconference of the State Council, China's cabinet, on poverty alleviation, Hui announced the launch of poverty-fighting plans for five major zones, including mountainous areas in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Hebei, Shanxi, Hunan and Jiangxi provinces among others.

Crackdown on shoddy fireworks

Police on Sunday vowed to step up efforts against substandard fireworks as Spring Festival, China's biggest holiday, approaches. Producers and distributors will be inspected nationwide in a bid to prevent substandard products from entering the market, as well as stop illegal production of fireworks, a Ministry of Public Security statement said. Police will also step up patrols during the Spring Festival holiday, which begins on Feb 10.

R&D spending to top 1 trillion yuan

China's spending on research and development in 2012 is expected to surpass 1 trillion yuan ($160.8 billion) as the country is pushing for a more innovation-driven economy, according to official statistics released Saturday. The expenditure will bring the proportion of R&D funds in the country's GDP to 2 percent, Minister of Science and Technology Wan Gang said at a national science and technology work conference. Businesses invested the most in R&D, accounting for 74 percent of the total.

Farm produce output grows

Farm produce output in China witnessed growth last year, boosted by vegetable, meat and sugar production, the Ministry of Agriculture said on Saturday. A total of 135 million tons of sugar crops were produced in 2012, up 7.8 percent year-on-year. Vegetable output increased 3.4 percent from the 2011 level to a record a high of 702 million tons. Meat output gained 5.4 percent to 82.21 million tons, the output of eggs climbed 1.8 percent to 28.61 million tons, and milk output increased 2.3 percent to 37.44 million tons.

Workplace deaths down for 5 years

Workplace accidents and deaths have dropped for five consecutive years, a government official said on Friday. Deaths resulting from workplace accidents dropped 4.7 percent year-on-year in 2012, while the number of workplace accidents shrank 3.1 percent, said Yang Dongliang, head of the State Administration of Work Safety. Over the past five years, deaths from workplace accidents dropped 29.1 percent in total and the number of workplace accidents declined by 33.4 percent.

Pharmaceutical exports survey

China's drug safety watchdog on Friday ordered a survey of exports of active pharmaceutical ingredients by the country's chemical pharmaceutical manufacturers. The State Food and Drug Administration said firms need to report names, license numbers and major export destinations of their API, and whether they have got a European certificate for good manufacturing practice.

China Unicom's 3G users hit 76.46m

China Unicom, the country's second-largest mobile operator by subscribers, said in its latest report that it added 3.13 million 3G subscribers in December, bringing its total 3G users to 76.46 million. The carrier's 2G subscribers totaled 163 million as of the end of December, a decrease of 36,000 from November, according to the report filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

23rd James Bond film hits China

The 23rd official James Bond film, Skyfall, will debut in China on Monday, centering on a plot involving Bond, intelligence chief M and former MI6 operative Raoul Silva. The lengthiest 007 film, it tells of Bond's investigation into an attack on MI6, according to the China Film Group Corp, Skyfall's importer.

Guangxi

2 dead, 3 injured in road accident

Two people were killed and another three injured in a seven-vehicle pileup on Sunday morning in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, local police said. At about 4:30 am, a truck carrying bananas turned over on a section of Guangzhou-Kunming Expressway in Baise city and caused a pileup on the road, killing two. The accident also caused a traffic jam.

Xinjiang

Foreign trade volume grows

Foreign trade in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region grew 10.3 percent year-on-year in 2012, reaching $25.17 billion. Statistics released by Urumqi Customs showed Xinjiang exported $19.34 billion worth of goods in 2012, up 15 percent from a year earlier. It imported $5.82 billion worth of goods, dropping 2.8 percent year on year. The top three exported goods were clothes, electromechanical equipment and shoes.

Liaoning

Petitioner sues for hospital admission

A court has begun to hear a case in which a farmer petitioner is suing a number of government departments in an eastern city for allegedly forcing him into a psychiatric hospital. Liu Gang, who ran a pig farm in Linyi, Shandong province, claims he was taken to the city's asylum and transferred to a hospital's mental health section on Sept 19, 2008, according to the court in Beizhen, Liaoning province. At the time he was trying to file a complaint about the sudden deaths of his pigs following epidemic control measures by local authorities. Liu is a native of Beizhen.

US

Chinese stage New Year show

Overseas Chinese staged a show in Houston, Texas, on Saturday night to celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year in February. The show, titled Embracing Spring, featured songs, dances, Chinese musical performances, Chinese martial arts and other programs presented by about 180 performers from more than 50 local Chinese organizations, schools and performing groups.

China Daily-Xinhua