Beijing

Former bank VP kicked out of Party

Yang Kun, former vice-president of the Agricultural Bank of China, has been expelled from the Communist Party of China and removed from public office. The CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said it had investigated Yang for serious disciplinary violations. The investigation showed that he used his position to obtain benefits for people in return for large bribes. Yang's case has been handed over to judicial authorities.

Six measurement centers to be built

China will build six national centers for industrial measurement and tests as part of a national plan to boost the development of metrological services. The centers will cover key areas, including high-tech, emerging and national defense industries, and will allow metrological technology to boost industrial development, Pu Changcheng, deputy director of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, said on Monday at an event in Beijing to mark World Metrology Day.

Kitchen benefits 450,000 students

A project to diversify meals at rural school cafeterias has benefited 450,000 students in China, according to the China Youth Development Foundation. In recent years, enrollment has increased at some rural schools, and the students' need for safe, nutritionally balanced meals cannot be guaranteed because of a lack of proper kitchen equipment, the foundation Secretary-General Tu Meng said on Monday. Hope Kitchen was launched in 2009 to improve cafeterias through donated kitchen equipment.

Survey: Airlines' punctuality poor

Despite the efforts of airlines and civil aviation authorities to improve on-time performance, the punctuality of flights made by Chinese airlines is still unsatisfactory, a government survey shows. A total of 630,000 flights of Chinese airlines in 2012 failed to take off or land on schedule, accounting for 25.2 percent of the total 2.5 million flights, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China's annual industry report of 2012. The rate in 2011 was 22.8 percent.

Jiangsu

Power firms fined for filing false info

Seven power companies in Jiangsu province are facing tens of millions of yuan in fines for filing false information or improper supervision of their emission systems. The province's Environmental Protection Department announced on Sunday that the seven companies filed false statistics on sulfide emissions or failed to monitor the operations of their respective desulfurization facilities.

Jiangxi

Tallest Buddha statue finished

The construction of the world's tallest statue of Amitabha, the supreme Buddha in Buddhism, was completed in Jiujiang on Sunday, Jiangxi province, according to China Youth Daily. The statue cost 1 billion yuan ($162 million) and used 48 kg of gold for gilding. Construction funds came from disciples and philanthropists around the world.

Yunnan

Kunming subway opens first lines

Kunming, a city of 7.26 million people in Yunnan province, opened its first two subway lines on Monday. Each line has 12 stations and passes through a 22-km tunnel constructed on the plateau at an altitude of 1,891 meters. Ticket prices range from 2 yuan (33 cents) to 5 yuan depending on distance traveled. In 2010, Kunming began the construction of its subway and more lines are planned.

Zhejiang

Wrongly jailed men get compensation

The Zhejiang Provincial High People's Court announced on Monday that it has awarded compensation of 2.21 million yuan ($360,000) to two men who were wrongly convicted of murder and imprisoned for 10 years. Zhang Gaoping and Zhang Hui, who were acquitted by the court on March 26, will each receive 655,730 yuan for their 3,596 days in prison and 450,000 yuan for mental distress. In October 2004, the two men were convicted of raping and killing a 17-year-old girl in Hangzhou in May 2003. The verdict was appealed in March as new evidence, ruling them out as suspects, came to light.

Shaanxi

Policeman held over fatal accident

A policeman was detained for drunken driving leading to the death of a motorcyclist, according to press reports on Monday. The 32-year-old man from Ningqiang county public security bureau in Shaanxi Province was driving a car while intoxicated without a vehicle license in the early morning of May 5. He hit a motorcycle driven by a local resident surnamed Zhou, who was seriously injured and died on Saturday.

Hubei

Poultry industry shows signs of rally

Agricultural officials ate poultry products at an ongoing national animal husbandry expo to boost public confidence in poultry products, as bird flu concerns are starting to disappear. Several officials, including Li Xirong, head of the China Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Station and Wang Zongli, deputy head of the Agriculture Ministry's Animal Husbandry Department, ate poultry at the China Animal Husbandry Expo held in Wuhan, Hubei province, on Sunday. Wang said the spread of the H7N9 bird flu has dealt a hard blow to China's poultry industry, but also prompted an industry reshuffle.

Tibet

Govt launches wildlife survey

A wildlife field survey is under way in the Tibet autonomous region, the regional forestry department said on Monday. The four-year survey will result in the creation of a database on wildlife living in the region and a comprehensive evaluation of the region's wildlife resources, technical director Liu Wulin said. The survey will focus on the distribution, habitats and populations of wildlife in Tibet, as well as include habitat protection and wildlife breeding.

China Daily - Xinhua

(China Daily 05/21/2013 page2)