Nation to contain soil pollution

The State Council, China's cabinet, publicized a circular on soil pollution on Monday that sets out a plan to contain the increasingly severe problem by 2015. The circular ordered that a thorough survey into soil conditions be conducted by 2015 and a system be established to rigorously protect arable land and land where drinking water originates.

17% of fireworks substandard

About 17 percent of the fireworks and firecrackers being sold ahead of the Chinese New Year fail to meet quality standards, the top quality watchdog said on Monday. The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said at a news conference that it sampled 300 batches of products made by 201 companies.

6% of imported goods inferior

More than 6 percent of imported goods inspected by China's quality authorities failed to meet standards last year, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said on Monday. Last year, the quality watchdog conducted inspection and quarantine actions on 4.5 million batches of imported goods valued at $952 billion.

Provinces warned of fire risks

Chinese authorities issued an orange alert for forest fires on Monday in the southwestern provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan, which have received unusually scarce rainfall this month. The national forest fire prevention headquarters under the State Forestry Administration said the two provinces have had little rainfall and above-average temperatures since the beginning of January.

Aviation prepares for travel peak

Beijing Capital International Airport reminded passengers to arrive early for flights during the Spring Festival travel rush, which started on Saturday. The travel peak at the airport will be on Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Feb 15, said Wang Hanlin, assistant general manager of the airport's operation control center. The airport will handle an average of 220,000 passengers a day during the period, with the peak days seeing some 244,000 passengers daily.

Design for second airport begins

Design for a second civil airport in Beijing has begun, Beijing Times reported on Monday. Although the final plan for the design has not yet been decided, concepts such as green energy and environmental protection will be feature in the new airport, Zhu Xiaodi, head of the Beijing Institute of Architectural Design, said.

Migrant workers honored for rescue

A group of migrant workers has been awarded the title of "righteous people of 2012", according to a selection result released on Sunday. In a massive downpour that battered Beijing on July 21, about 150 migrant workers used lifebuoys and ropes to rescue people stranded on a flooded highway in the city.

Hunan

1 dead, 4 missing in oil tank blast

One person has died and four others are missing after an oil storage tank exploded in Hunan province on Monday, local authorities said. Five other people were injured in the explosion. The blast occurred at about 10:45 am in the yard of a residential building under construction in Qingshui village, Xiangtan city, according to sources with the publicity department of Yuetang district, which administers the village.

Shanghai

Corruption heads job-related crimes

Corruption cases represented 91.3 percent of all job-related crimes in Shanghai from 2008 to 2012, a member of the city's political advisory body said on Monday. "Based on our research, a total of 1,941 people in 1,658 cases were found guilty of corruption by the city's prosecuting bodies, from 2008 to 2012," said Li Fenhua.

Guangdong

Adviser calls for more adoptions

A political adviser to Guangdong province suggested individuals, especially those who have lost their only child, be encouraged to adopt orphans. There are about 615,000 orphans in China, with about 100,000 cared for by the government, Luo Huohuo told the ongoing annual session of the Guangdong committee of China's political advisory body, as reported by Guangzhou Daily.

Customs dog finds heroin shipment

A drug detection dog sniffed out an air parcel with 1.48 kg of heroin, according to Guangzhou Customs. It is the largest amount of heroin detected by a dog at the customs authorities, according to a statement on Monday. The parcel, containing a steel pipe and plastic parts, came from a country in Southeast Asia.

Chongqing

20,000 yuan up for grabs

A young man, in a moment of madness, threw about 20,000 yuan ($3,200) around a railway station in Chongqing on Wednesday, Chongqing Morning Post reported on Sunday. Hundreds of 100-yuan banknotes were scattered around the waiting room at Qianjiang Railway Station at about 8 pm. Passengers were scrambling for the money, when police rushed to the scene. Officers sealed the room and retrieved all 19,040 yuan within 10 minutes.

China Daily-Xinhua