Beijing

Premier underlines agriculture growth

Premier Li Keqiang stressed the importance of developing modern agriculture in his three-day research tour to the Yangtze River Delta region from Wednesday to Friday. While visiting a farm in Jiangsu province, he was pleased to see local farmers boosted grain output and income as they merged their fragmented land through transfers to develop farming. "To develop modern agriculture through the forms of joint partnership, family farms and farmer cooperatives is the big direction for China," Li said.

TV program conference opens

The 12th Beijing TV Program Exchange Conference opened on Sunday and attracted more than 300 television program production companies. About 490 domestic TV plays, 40 cartoon TV series, 63 documentaries and 23 new series produced by overseas companies were on display at the two-day conference, which is organized by Beijing Municipal Bureau of Radio, Film and Television and Huairou district.

Shandong

Two pilots die in fighter crash

Two People's Liberation Army air force pilots died when a Su-27 fighter crashed in waters off Rongcheng, Shandong province, on Sunday afternoon, according to the micro blog of China Central Television's news center. The Su-27 is a twin-engine fighter aircraft designed by Sukhoi. China purchased 76 Su-27 fighter jets from Russia before signing a production line transfer agreement with the country in 1998.

Gansu

Police officer held in sex probe

A senior police officer in Lanzhou, the provincial capital, has been arrested on suspicion of forced sex with underage girls, police said on Saturday. The former deputy chief of a subsidiary of the public security bureau in Chengguan district was expelled from the Party, dismissed from his post, and is under investigation.

Shanxi

4 charged over village flooding

Prosecutors have charged four people after subsidence at a reservoir dam flooded four villages and affected railways and highways in February. Two officials with the water resources bureau in Hongtong county and two people in charge of a reinforcement project at Quting Reservoir have been charged with dereliction of duty after revisions to the reinforcement plan.

Jilin

28 dead, 13 hurt in mine blast

Twenty-eight people were confirmed dead and 13 others injured in a coal mine gas blast late on Friday in Jilin province, authorities said on Saturday. Forty-one workers were trapped after the accident, which occurred at the State-owned Babao Coal Mine in Baishan city, said a spokesman for the provincial work safety bureau. Rescue work has been finished and the cause of the accident is under investigation.

Guangxi

15 saved after boat capsizes

Fifteen tourists were rescued and one is still missing after a boat capsized at a scenic spot, tourism authorities said. Rescuers are searching for a 64-year-old man from Taiwan who went missing on Saturday after the incident. Tourism authorities in Guilin have ordered scenic spots hit by heavy rain recently to stop tourist arrivals.

China Daily-Xinhua

(China Daily 04/01/2013 page2)