Beijing

Xi: More open to criticism

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has urged the Communist Party of China to be more tolerant of criticism and receptive to the views of non-Communists. Xi made the remarks on Wednesday at a gathering convened to extend Lunar New Year's greetings to people from non-Communist parties, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce and those without party affiliations. "The CPC should be able to put up with sharp criticism, correct mistakes if it has committed them and avoid them if it has not," he said.

Hui to visit Europe to talk agriculture

Vice-Premier Hui Liangyu will visit Slovakia and Switzerland and attend meetings on agriculture in Rome from Feb 12-20, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said on Thursday. Hui will attend the 36th Governing Council of the International Fund for Agricultural Development in Rome and an agricultural cooperation round-table meeting between China and six European countries: Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Spain.

Ice alert issued in Liaodong Bay

More than 60 percent of Northeast China's Liaodong Bay is covered in floating ice, the National Marine Environmental Forecast Center said on Thursday. The center issued a yellow alert, saying that the ice's outer edge now measures 77 nautical miles in length, up 20 nautical miles from the previous day. The ice blanketed more than 19,000 square kilometers of sea area, or more than 64 percent of the bay's area.

China to tap more geothermal energy

China aims to provide geothermal energy of 50 million metric tons of coal equivalent annually by 2020, according to a guideline issued on Thursday. By 2015, geothermal energy will supply power of 20 million tons of coal equivalent annually, and a national information system on the energy will be in service, said the guideline, jointly issued by the National Energy Administration, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Land and Resources and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

Gansu

Fire destroys 92 homes in village

A fire destroyed 92 homes in a village in the Gannan Tibet autonomous prefecture on Wednesday night, local government sources said on Thursday. There were no casualties. The fire broke out in Heiduo village in Diebu county at around 8 pm and was put out Thursday morning.

GUIZHOUTermites infest 4,500 homes

Thousands of houses have been damaged by termites in Xingyi city, China News Service reported on Thursday. Since July, termites have been rampant in the city, damaging 4,500 houses and forcing the relocation of more than 1,700 people, the province's civil affairs department said. The termites caused losses of 34 million yuan ($5.45 million).

Shaanxi

Micro blog rings a bell

A micro blog, considered by netizens the most boring in China, suddenly found itself in the spotlight. The micro blog, Ancient City Bell Tower, created in October 2011, has a recording of a bell chiming to tell the time every two hours. A blogger accidentally found it on Jan 8 and wrote about it, which led to its discovery by thousands of Web users. Dang Jian, 31, a software engineer working in Xi'an, launched the micro blog with a colleague. They use it to test software.

Guangxi

Fugitive official caught in Vietnam

An alleged corrupt official from Hebei province, who fled to Vietnam in January, was caught by police on Tuesday. Song Jianzhong, former head of the land resources bureau of Mancheng county, was caught by police in Mong Cai city on Tuesday with his mistress, surnamed Ren, the China News Service reported. Anti-corruption authorities in Hebei said that Song allegedly took a 1.5 million yuan ($240,000) in bribes when he was the head of the land resources bureau from 2008 to 2011.

Zhejiang

Seven jailed over gelatin capsules

Seven people were sentenced to prison for producing and selling capsules made with industrial gelatin in Zhejiang province, Xinhua News Agency reported on Thursday. The seven added industrial gelatin to gelatin used for food or medicine when they ran factories making capsules for medical use between 2010 and 2012, according to the court in Xinchang county.

Tianjin

New area short of skilled workers

The Binhai New Area is short of skilled workers, including safety inspectors. The skills shortage covers areas including information technology, mechanics and textiles, according to website enorth.

China Daily - Xinhua

(China Daily 02/08/2013 page2)