China Digest
More than 5.12 million vehicles were officially registered in the capital by the end of last month, up nearly 50 per cent from 3.5 million at the end of 2008, the reports. The actual number of cars on Beijing roads is much higher, however, as many vehicles are registered outside the capital, such as in Hebei province.
Police arrested or detained more than 30,000 people in the first eight months of this year - a 5.2 per cent increase over the same period last year, the reports. The suspects were connected to about 60,000 criminal cases, including murders, kidnappings, drug trafficking and economic crimes. A total of 1,100 suspects were linked to 500 street muggings.
A 17-year-old boy was recently sentenced to three years in jail and fined 1,000 yuan (HK$1,200) for using a fake gun to rob a woman of 72 yuan at an ATM in Lanzhou, the reports. The mugging occurred in December, and the teenager said he was mimicking similar robberies in movies and on television.
At least 116 people died in road accidents across the province this year, a 10 per cent increase over the same period last year, China News Service reports. Authorities have ordered random safety checks on vehicles to reduce the number of accidents, such as catching drink drivers and ensuring that vehicles are not overloaded.
Four people were sentenced to between seven and 11 years in jail and fined a total of 900,000 yuan by a court in Dongguan on Monday for manufacturing more than 6.6 million substandard cigarettes at a workshop in Hengli town between March and May, the reports. The cigarettes, which had no brand name, were valued at 3.3 million yuan. The workshop has been shut but the boss is still at large.
Guangzhou will invest 300 million yuan this year to improve facilities at the city's 1,500 kindergartens, the reports. The investment total is 100 million yuan more than what was spent last year, and the city now has 350,000 children enrolled in kindergarten.
A 53-year-old man in a village in Xinxiang city has not cut his finger nails for 12 years, and they have grown to about 12cm long, the reports. He cleans the nails carefully with a small brush, and before he goes to bed every night he soaks them in warm water for 30 minutes and applies oil to keep them from breaking. Some women have even approached him for tips on how to properly care for long nails.
A town in Xinyang spent 30 million yuan to build a 10-storey government building, covering 8,000 square metres, for only 200 civil servants, China News Service reports. The party boss of Minggang town was also found to have a 200 square metre office and a private lift. The town made only 82.6 million yuan in revenue last year.
A least one person died and eight were injured when the driver of a van lost control and collided head-on with another van in downtown Wuhan on Monday morning, the reports. One person was critically injured in the accident, and police were still investigating how the driver lost control.
A young man was killed with a knife outside an entertainment venue in Changsha at around 11pm on Monday night, the reports.
A Changsha real estate developer has vowed to invest 4.2 billion yuan to build the world's tallest skyscraper in the city, the reports. It would be 838 metres tall, or 10 metres taller than the record holder: the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Officials confirmed that an environmental impact study was under way for the project, which many have criticised, saying it would consume too much energy.
People with postgraduate degrees are having a harder time finding work than those with college diplomas, the reports. More than 92 per cent of 247,000 people who earned college degrees this year have a job, but only 81 per cent of the province's postgraduates this year found work. Jiangsu education officials said that with manufacturing a key industry, there was high demand for technicians, who do not need postgraduate degrees.
Eight new subway lines will start operating in Nanjing by 2015, increasing the number of lines from two to 10, China National Radio reports. The city will have more than 300 kilometres of subway lines after the expansion. More than 1.2 billion passengers have taken the city's metro since 2005.
Fifty university students in Shaanxi took part in month-long summer internships with the provincial government. Authorities said it resembled one offered by the White House in the US, the reports. The interns were selected after three face-to-face interviews and a background check on their families.
Hangzhou police have seized almost 6,500 motorbikes since January because they were not properly licensed, China News Service reports. Police are cracking down on the number of motorbikes and drivers without licences. On Sunday, a man, 18, died in a drink-driving accident when his unlicensed scooter crashed into a stone barrier.
