Govt cracks down to stop street blackmail and scamming

A slew of ministry-level departments, including those responsible for law enforcement, taxation, statistics and health have responded to matters of public concern.

Judicial moves made against fake accidents

Judicial officials underlined the country's commitment to cracking down on street blackmailing and scamming, particularly fake accidents, at a news conference on Wednesday to interpret a recently issued guideline targeting such illegal behaviors.

In recent years, street blackmailing and scams targeting drivers and cyclists have provoked great public concern after making headlines in local media across the country.

The guideline－issued by the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Ministry of Public Security on Sept 22－identifies and specifies several illegal acts, such as deliberately crashing a car to claim compensation, and outlines the corresponding punishments.

The guideline stipulates that people who deliberately cause traffic accidents or attempt to blackmail others by citing their violation of traffic laws－offenses under the related provisions in the Criminal Law－will be charged with the crime of extortion by blackmail.

Import Expo tax exemptions announced

China has announced a policy for import duty exemptions on foreign goods to be sold at the Third China International Import Expo from Nov 5 to 10 in Shanghai, according to a statement published on the website of the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday.

The statement, initially issued on Oct 12 by the ministry, the General Administration of Customs and the State Taxation Administration, said an "appropriate number" of exhibition products will be exempted from import tariffs and import value added tax.

In addition, consumption tax will be waived on the sale of a number of product categories, including machinery, medical equipment and artworks, according to the statement.

The quotas for products in each category will range from two to 12 items per exhibitor. Duty exemptions will also apply to goods in other categories on condition that sales do not exceed $20,000 per exhibitor, the statement said.

Consumer inflation eases, factory gate prices fall

A recent mild fall in food prices eased consumer inflation growth last month, while the decline in producer prices widened, according to data issued by the National Bureau of Statistics on Thursday.

Last month, the Consumer Price Index, a major benchmark of inflation, rose 1.7 percent from the same month last year, according to the bureau. The figure eased after a rise of 2.4 percent in August.

Dong Lijuan, a senior statistician with the bureau, attributed the easing of CPI growth to moderating prices of food, especially vegetables and pork.

Last month, food prices, which account for nearly one-third of the weighting in China's CPI, climbed 0.4 percent month-on-month, with the pace of growth slowing from 1.4 percent in August, data showed.

The country's Producer Price Index, which measures the cost of goods at the factory gate, fell 2.1 percent year-on-year, registering a slight decline from the 2 percent drop seen in August.

Dong said fluctuations in international crude oil prices and in the cost of downstream activities, such as refining, had ended the upward trend.

Urban hospitals assist over 800 poor counties

More than 1,000 major urban hospitals have delivered assistance to hospitals in over 800 poor counties during the period of the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20), official figures showed on Wednesday.

Major urban hospitals sent more than 80,000 medical professionals to support 1,172 hospitals in poor counties during the period of the plan as part of widespread efforts to mobilize health circles and other parts of society to assist in the battle to eradicate poverty.

Since the start of such assistance in 2016, China has seen a marked improvement in terms of services and management in county-level hospitals, according to Jiao Yahui, an official with the National Health Commission.

China will further incorporate the paired assistance into efforts to promote rural revitalization in the future, Jiao said.