Around China

Gansu

Coverup attempt in fatal accident

Mine owners tried to cover up an accident that left four people dead and five injured, a local work safety watchdog confirmed on Thursday. The accident occurred on Jan 2 at the Jinyuan Coal Mine in the Yugur autonomous county in Gansu province, sources said. Mine owners attempted to hide the incident, but a whistle-blower tipped off work safety authorities on Wednesday.

Anhui

Six die, four hurt in head-on collision

Six people were killed and four injured in a traffic accident on Wednesday. The accident occurred at about 6 pm when two cars, each carrying five people, collided head-on at a junction in the Binghu new area in Hefei, the provincial capital. The four injured victims are being treated in hospital.

Man faces charges in insurance scam

The son of a former finance official in Hefei, East China, appeared before Hefei Intermediate People's Court on Wednesday on charges relating to a 142 million yuan ($22.8 million) insurance scam. Guo Qiang, 31, is accused of swindling 27 people since 2009. Prosecutors said he pleaded guilty, the Xin'an Evening News reported.

Jilin

Rangers help animals in winter

More than 100 rangers on Changbai Mountain are feeding wild animals to help them survive the winter, the Changbai Mountain Protection and Development Zone said. The local government has set up 90 feeding sites for large wild animals, and 200 sites for wild birds.

Hainan

Stranded tourists rescued from sea

Twenty-four tourists who had been adrift in a boat on the South China Sea for four days were rescued on Thursday, Guangzhou Daily reported. The tourists had rented a boat and sailed to Chenhang Island in the South China Sea. But the boat was unable to get close to the island because of rough seas and strong winds. After receiving the call for help on Thursday, the Nanhai Rescue Bureau of the Ministry of Transport sent rescue ship Nanhaijiu 115, to their aid. The tourists are expected to arrive at Hainan province on Friday.

Yunnan

Serial killer executed

Serial killer Zhang Yongming, 57, who strangled 11 people in Yunnan province, was executed on Thursday, sources at Kunming Intermediate People's Court said. Zhang was sentenced to death in July 2012 for killing his victims in Jinning from March 2008 to April 2012.

Beijing

Escalators not working in subway

The Beijing Subway's Line 6, which opened on Dec 30, has been criticized, as its escalators are not working yet. Passengers have to use long flights of stairs to reach platforms, the Beijing Morning Post reported on Thursday.

2,494 officials investigated

Procuratorial agencies nationwide investigated 2,494 officials at county level or above in the first 11 months of last year for work-related violations. During this time, agencies investigated 33,331 cases of officials' criminal violations related to their performance at work, a year-on-year increase of 5.4 percent, according to a document issued at a national conference attended by procuratorial chiefs on Thursday.

Association offers aid for 7,000 women

China's largest women's association offered legal aid to more than 7,000 applicants in 2012, according to new figures. The majority of the cases involved domestic violence, and marriage and family disputes, according to Song Xiuyan, vice-president of the All-China Women's Federation. The association also received and handled about 15,000 petitions and calls from women across the country last year, Song said at a conference on Thursday.

Foundation helps 1.87m poor people

China's largest NGO on poverty alleviation helped 1.87 million people last year, according to an annual report released on Thursday. The China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation raised 273 million yuan ($43.8 million) from 152,700 individual donors and 7,027 companies. The projects the foundation carried out included building new dormitories for students in poverty-stricken areas, providing medical care for pregnant women, disaster relief and giving micro-finance to farmers.

Sichuan

Tourism brings in 2.57 trillion yuan

Tourism revenues in China are expected to top 2.57 trillion yuan ($407.94 billion) in 2012, up 14 percent year-on-year, the country's tourism chief said on Thursday. Domestic tourism markets reported 2.22 trillion yuan in revenue in 2012, up 15 percent year-on-year, and 2.9 billion domestic trips, up 10 percent year-on-year, said Shao Qiwei, head of the National Tourism Administration, in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province.

Shandong

Official dismissed over photos

An official who was found to have several mistresses, has been dismissed from his post and expelled from the Communist Party of China in Liaocheng, Shandong province. Du Zeyong, the former labor union director in the city, was exposed on Dec 26 when a whistleblower, claiming to be his mistress, posted intimate photos of Du with different women on a micro blog.

Jiangsu

Bigamist put behind bars

A man from Jiangsu province who married six times has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for bigamy. The sentence was handed down at Shanghai Pudong New Area People's Court. Fu Xinzhen, a court official, said the 47-year-old defendant was the groom at six weddings in Beijing, Shanghai and his hometown in Jiangsu. Three of the marriages were registered. The six women gave birth to seven children, ranging in ages from 2 to 23.

China Daily-Xinhua