Beijing

Education expense reaches 2.2 trillion

Public expenditure on education in China reached 2.2 trillion yuan ($357 billion) in 2012, accounting for 4 percent of its GDP, the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday. Of the total, 378.1 billion yuan was pooled from the central government's budget, an increase of 15.7 percent year on year, a ministry statement said. The rest was sourced from local government budgets.

Natural disasters leave 268 dead

Natural disasters nationwide in April claimed 268 lives and left 21 people missing, according to a statement jointly released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the National Commission for Disaster Reduction on Wednesday. Disasters affected more than 52.7 million people and forced 942,000 people to evacuate to safer places, the statement said. The disasters caused economic losses of 37 billion yuan.

Readers unsatisfied with Web literature

More than 80 percent of Chinese people have read books online, but many said the quality of literature offered is not satisfying, according to a survey released on Wednesday. An online survey by the China Youth Daily and published in the newspaper on Wednesday said 88.8 percent of respondents said they have read novels online.

Factories punished over pollution

The nation's environmental watchdog punished 15 factories, as well as companies in two industrial parks, in the first quarter of the year for violations that resulted in water or air pollution. The factories either had their production suspended, were given a deadline to correct their practices or ordered to move their projects to other places and compensate those affected, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said on Wednesday.

Hong Kong

Chief executive meets governor

Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying on Wednesday held talks with visiting Governor of Yunnan province Li Jiheng in Hong Kong. They said they will enhance cooperation and strengthen economic and trade relations between the two jurisdictions.

Xinhua

(China Daily 05/09/2013 page2)