Beijing

Bus cleaner put to death for murder

Wang Jianguo, a former bus cleaner, has been sentenced to death by Beijing No 2 Intermediate People's Court for killing a 7-year-old girl. On July 4, 2011, Wang attempted to sexually assault the girl. After the girl threatened to report the offense, Wang beat her to death with a hammer. Wang has also served four years in prison for arson.

Wang reigns as top name

"Wang" is the most popular surname in China, with 95 million Wangs across the country, according to a study released on Sunday by the China Fuxi Cultural Research Association. The surname is followed in popularity by "Li" and then "Zhang". Twenty-one percent of the country's population has one of the three surnames, according to the study.

SME development index climbs

An index measuring the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises in China continued to climb in the first quarter amid the strengthening economic recovery, according to data from an industry association.

The SME development index and the profit index for the first three months both gained 4.4 points to 95.2 and 76.7, respectively, the China Association of Small and Medium Enterprises said.

Experts urge to improve treatment

Medical experts have called for strengthened emergency treatment, aiming to further standardize diagnosis and treatment procedures. Experts made the call on Sunday at a three-day seminar on emergency medicine that kicked off on Friday. The seminar was attended by more than 3,000 domestic and international experts, scholars and hospital representatives. Emergency medicine has witnessed rapid development over the past three decades, but irregularities during treatment have troubled the public, experts said.

Yunnan

Top official calls for anti-drought action

Vice-Premier Wang Yang has called for increased efforts to ensure basic water supplies in drought-plagued Yunnan province. During a three-day visit to the province from Friday to Sunday, Wang went to several hard-hit counties, where he stressed that the most pressing task is to ensure drinking water for residents. He asked local authorities to use drought-resistant technology to guide farmers in agricultural production, as well as guard against possible forest fires.

Qinghai

Reconstruction to be completed

Reconstruction of the quake-hit Yushu Tibetan autonomous prefecture in Qinghai province will be completed this year, a local official announced on Sunday. Wang Yong, deputy head of the prefecture, made the announcement at a news conference held on the third anniversary of the magnitude-7.1 earthquake that struck the area three years ago. Wang said 1,248 reconstruction projects had been launched by the end of March.

Hubei

Income gap widening: survey

A survey has shown that the wealth gap among different regions and industries in China is widening, with nearly 50 percent of the gaps resulting from rural-urban disparities. The survey, which was conducted by the Income Distribution Research Center affiliated with the Zhongnan University of Economic and Law, showed that the wealth gap among rural residents is expanding. A green book published on Wednesday by Social Sciences Academic Press suggested that incomes for rural Chinese grew faster than those of their urban counterparts for the past three years.

Xinjiang

Auto accident kills 6, injures 1

Six people were killed and one injured in a two-vehicle wreck on Sunday in the Bortala Mongolian autonomous prefecture, according to local authorities. A truck rear-ended a pickup truck at around 10 am on a section of highway that links the city of Lianyungang in Jiangsu province and Khorgos in Xinjiang, killing six people in the pickup, the prefectural information office said.

Guizhou

3 dead, 7 hurt in brewery collapse

Three people were killed and seven others injured in a building collapse on Saturday in Guizhou province, local authorities said on Sunday. The accident occurred around 6 pm in a brewery in Er'he township of Renhuai city when a retaining wall of a workshop under construction collapsed, according to the local government. Rescue work ended on early Sunday.

China Daily-Xinhua

(China Daily 04/15/2013 page2)