Beijing

Rape suspect's mother applies for open trial

The mother of Li Tianyi, a 17-year-old who was charged with gang rape, has applied for an open trial, Lan He, an attorney for Li's family, said on his micro blog on Sunday. Meng Ge, Li's mother, submitted the application to the Beijing Haidian District People's Court on Saturday. Li, the son of Li Shuangjiang, a famous singer in the People's Liberation Army, is accused of participating in a gang rape with four other suspects in February.

Measures proposed to help small businesses

China should develop community-based financial institutions to solve small businesses' financing difficulties, said Tang Min, deputy secretary general of China Development Research Foundation. The nation's financial reform could achieve a breakthrough by allowing private investors to establish community-based financial institutions, but regulations should be set to restrict these institutions to primarily lend to local customers, Tang said at Sunday's China Financial Innovation and Development Summit, co-hosted by Investment Association of China, the Finance School of the University of International Business and Economics, and IronFX, a well-established global financial services group.

Record land supply for real estate reported

Nationwide land supply for real estate development in the first half of this year increased by 38.8 percent year-on-year and reached a historical high of 82,400 hectares, according to the latest data by the Ministry of Land and Resources. Land used for commercial real estate development increased by 42.8 percent year-on-year to 27,000 hectares, and the residential land increased by 36.9 percent to 55,300 hectares. The first half of 2012 saw land used for commercial real estate development increase by 4.4 percent and residential land use decrease by 27.7 percent.

More cooperation in hepatitis B battle seen

A World Health Organization official has said he hopes that the WHO will cooperate further with China in hepatitis B prevention and control. Dr Michael O'Leary, the WHO representative in China, said on Sunday that such cooperation may include vaccination for at-risk adults and better affordable anti-viral treatment for the needy. O'Leary's comments came after a recent report by the organization on WHO members' efforts against viral hepatitis that acknowledged China's success in this regard.

Shandong

Chemical plantfire extinguished

A fire that raged at a chemical plant in Liaocheng for about 11 hours was extinguished on Sunday morning. No casualties or toxic gas leaks have been reported, local authorities said. The fire started at 4:45 pm on Saturday at the Luxi Chemical Plant, which produces refined chemicals such as sulfuric acid and chemical fertilizer. It was extinguished at around 3:35 am on Sunday, firefighters said.

Fish freed to rehabilitate Bohai Sea

Fishery authorities in Shandong province will spend 150 million yuan ($24.5 million) this year to cultivate and release fish into the Bohai Sea. Pollution and overfishing have resulted in a severe decline in fishery resources in the area. Wang Shouxin, head of the provincial marine and fishery bureau, said the provincial government has spent 780 million yuan since 2005 to release fish and sustain fishery resources. In addition to fish, the freed species also include prawns, jellyfish and clams.

Flight forced to return after engine problem

A flight from Qingdao to Wenzhou was forced to return because of an engine problem on Friday. According to a report by Metropolitan Express in Hangzhou, the flight took off from Tianjin at 8:27 am for Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, after a stop in Qingdao, Shandong province. Twenty-five minutes into the flight, the plane was forced to return to the Qingdao airport because of mechanical problems in the left engine, which was spotted by a passenger on board. All 160 passengers received 300 yuan ($49) in compensation for the delay, the report said.

Hebei

3 released after H7N9 medical observation

Three people who had been under medical observation after being in close contact with a woman infected with the H7N9 virus have been cleared by health authorities in Langfang, Hebei province, Beijing News reported on Sunday. The three people under medical observation showed no symptoms. The woman, surnamed Zhang, 61, of Langfang, tested positive for the H7N9 virus on July 20. She has been in critical condition since she was hospitalized at Chaoyang Hospital in Beijing on July 18.

Shanghai

Man gets 23 fake100 yuan notes

Twenty-three out of 30 100 yuan notes a man withdrew from an ATM in Shanghai were counterfeit, the city's Dragon TV reported on Sunday. The man withdrew 3,000 yuan ($489.30) from an ATM in Minhang district on July 15. He did not discover that the notes were counterfeit until he tried to use one five days later. Among the 23 counterfeit notes, 11 are of the number C1F9605157, and the other 12 had the number C2F8605156.

Hunan

One-third of paternity tests negative

More than 35 percent of paternity tests taken at Hengyang Central Hospital in Hunan province showed no father-son blood relations, local news portal rednet.cn reported on Sunday, quoting a hospital doctor. The result was based on about 100 tests taken between January and July last year.

Guangdong

Post-quake pandas go to zoo in Guangzhou

The first twin pandas born after the disastrous 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan province started their new life in a zoo in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, on Saturday. Yangcheng Evening News in Guangzhou reported that the two female pandas, Wen Li and Ya Li, celebrated their fourth birthday on July 19 this year. Their parents survived the earthquake and gave birth to them in the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in 2009.

Sichuan

'Giant Panda Channel' to go online soon

Beginning in August, Internet users around the world will be able to watch live round-the-clock broadcasts of giant pandas in Sichuan province, the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding announced on Sunday. Twenty-eight high-definition video cameras have been installed in the base to record the daily activities of more than 80 giant pandas there, sources with the base said. Visitors to the "Giant Panda Channel," or ipanda.com, will be able to choose from six feeds.

Yunnan

Pipeline starts to deliver gas

A Myanmar section of the Myanmar-China natural gas pipeline was inaugurated in northern Myanmar's Mandalay on Sunday and started to deliver gas to China. At about 4:12 pm local time, Myanmar Vice-President U Nyan Tun, Energy Ministers U Than Htay and U Zeya Aung, Chinese Ambassador to Myanmar Yang Houlan and a South Korean representative jointly pushed the commissioning button. The pipeline is part of the Myanmar-China Oil and Gas Pipeline project, which also includes construction of a crude oil pipeline.

China Daily - Xinhua

(China Daily USA 07/29/2013 page3)