A young life saved A rescuer carries a child away from the scene of a road cave-in on Tuesday in Harbin, Northeast China's Heilongjiang province. Two people died from their injuries and two others were hospitalized after they fell into a 10-meter-deep hole, local authorities said on Wednesday. Photo by Shang Zhe / for China Daily

Beijing

Unsafe drugs will be blacklisted

Regulations that will create a blacklist for manufacturers of unsafe medication will go into effect in October as part of nationwide efforts to enhance medical safety.

According to rules issued on Wednesday by the State Food and Drug Administration, information regarding the manufacturers and those found responsible for severe violations of relevant laws will be included in a blacklist that will be posted on government websites for public supervision.

The blacklist will include those involved in the production and sale of counterfeit or inferior drugs, as well as those who have produced uncertified medical equipment or who have caused accidents by producing substandard equipment, the regulations said.

Emergency flood alert activated

China's flood control authority on Wednesday initiated a Level IV emergency response to cope with possible flooding as Kai-Tak, the 13th tropical storm of the year, approaches the country's southern regions.

Kai-Tak was forecast to make landfall in coastal regions of Guangdong province on Wednesday night or Thursday morning, bringing heavy rains and gales to the country's southern parts, according to a statement on the website of the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

Local governments should closely monitor Kai-Tak, issue warnings in a timely manner and take all measures to ensure people's safety, according to the statement.

Crackdown on porn, illegal publications

Central authorities on Wednesday launched a two-month campaign to crack down on pornographic and illegal publications.

The campaign, jointly launched by the National Office Against Pornographic and Illegal Publications, General Administration of Press and Publication and the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, aims to solve a number of major cases, shut down websites carrying "harmful information" and detain offenders.

The three organs will conduct a thorough overhaul of the publishing industry before Sept 20 to ferret out sellers operating without licenses.

Wind power sector sees growth

China's wind-power sector has seen substantial growth, with the country's on-grid wind power capacity reaching over 50 gigawatts to date, the State Grid said on Wednesday.

The State Grid, China's largest utility company, said in a news release that on-grid wind power capacity under its distribution has reached 50.26 gigawatts as of this year, indicating an annual growth rate of 87 percent for the last six years.

Gansu

Wedding guests become ill

Guests at a wedding reception were hospitalized after they fell ill from suspected food poisoning in Northwest China's Gansu province, the local health authority said on Wednesday.

Twenty-four guests fell ill on Saturday, and as of Wednesday morning 14 people were still receiving treatment at the Second People's Hospital in Yuzhong county on the outskirts of Lanzhou, the provincial capital, the county's health administration said.

The patients suffered stomachaches and diarrhea after attending a wedding reception at a restaurant in Gancaodian township, in Yuzhong county, on Saturday, the authority said.

Guangdong

Former vice-mayor accused of bribery

The former vice-mayor of Zengcheng, a suburban city of Guangzhou, Guangdong province, will soon stand trial for bribery, sources with Guangzhou Intermediate People's Procuratorate said on Wednesday.

Liu Rongzhao, a native of Zengcheng, was detained last year. The 48-year-old, who was selected vice-mayor of Zengcheng in March 2010, was in charge of land resources, housing management and reconstruction of the old city.

An investigation has suggested Liu took 15 million yuan ($2.38 million) in bribes from 12 local property developers while examining and approving land and construction projects.

Shaanxi

Large office building criticized

The highway management administration in Shanyang county, Shaanxi province, has come under fire for building a 3,516-square-meter office building with 106 rooms for its 24 staff members after a netizen brought the case to light online last week.

According to Zhu Shengqiao, Party secretary of the road administration, the six-story office building for his 24-member administration was built with a superior awareness of its future development.

Zhu told Huashang Daily that although the administration currently has only 24 staff members, there are a number of temporary staff and workers in its conservation center. The building will also be used for technical training.

Shanghai

Chinese 'read 6 books a year'

The average Chinese person reads six books a year, far fewer than the average in Western countries, said an official at the annual Shanghai Book Fair, which opened on Wednesday.

Europeans and Americans get through 16 books annually, and the number is as high as 24 in northern European countries, according to Yan Xiaohong, deputy director of the General Administration of Press and Publication.

"Reading is the foundation of inheriting and developing a nation's culture. Although reading has been growing in China, it is still at odds with the history of our civilization," Yan said at the fair, which runs until Aug 21.

Macao

Space delegates bid farewell

The Tiangong-1/Shenzhou IX space delegation concluded its three-day visit to Macao and departed for Beijing on Wednesday. More than 300 citizens and students came to the airport to bid farewell to the astronauts.

During the three-day trip, the three astronauts - Jing Haipeng, Liu Wang and Liu Yang - and other delegation members attended various activities, gave public lectures and communicated with primary and secondary students.

China Daily-Xinhua

(China Daily 08/16/2012 page2)