In Brief
Property tycoon faces prosecution
Shanghai will prosecute property tycoon Zhou Xiaodi for allegedly masterminding an attack on one of his partners, embezzling company assets and offering bribes, Caijing magazine reports. Zhou, chairman of the Zhou Group, was arrested and stripped of his membership of an advisory body to the government last November, 10 days after he had hired three men to attack Yin Minghua . Mr Yin was a minority shareholder of a joint property project, and Zhou wanted to retain his grip on the company. Mr Yin received severe brain injuries. Zhou, along with subordinate Xu Jiangang , allegedly embezzled more than 200 million yuan (HK$228 million) of company funds for personal use, such as repaying gambling debts. In 2001, Zhou won land-use rights in Sanlin, between Pudong and Minhang districts, which rose in value because of its proximity to the Expo 2010 site. He allegedly offered more than 1.6 million yuan in bribes for the development rights. Zhou, 52, was ranked 31st on a list of mainland philanthropists with donations of nearly 25 million yuan in 2006. Bill Savadove
Leak of chemicals forces residents to evacuate
More than 40 residents in Shanghai were poisoned by a gas leak at a chemical plant in the city's southeastern Fengxian district on Tuesday, Xinhua reported. Officials said chlorine hydride gas leaked at a chemical plant that had been closed for three years. Residents were evacuated or sent to hospital, but no deaths were reported. Last month, at least two people were taken to hospital after inhaling gas from a pesticide company in Pudong. Nine company bosses were sacked over the accident. Lilian Zhang
Sale of Siberian ginseng banned after three deaths
The government yesterday suspended the sale and use of ciwujia, or Siberian ginseng, a herbal injection made by a Heilongjiang pharmaceutical company after three patients who had been administered the drug died. The Ministry of Health and the State Food and Drug Administration said six patients in Yunnan province had reported a strong adverse reaction. Three of them died in hospital on Monday. Inspectors have been sent to investigate. Staff Reporter
