China Digest, March 14, 2013

GANSU

Output beats neighbours'

The province saw its annual gross domestic product increase by more than 12 per cent last year to 56 billion yuan (HK$69 billion), the Lanzhou Evening News reports. By comparison, most developed provinces in coastal areas saw only single-digit percentage increases in GDP last year.

Raid nets 32kg of heroin

Police in Lanzhou recently carried out their biggest drugs bust in the province for about 10 years, arresting five people and confiscating more than 32kg of heroin, Xinhua reports. Police started to investigate in August and learned that traffickers were bringing drugs to Gansu from Yunnan province.

GUANGDONG

Thousands of drivers fined

More than 8,300 drivers were cited and fined by traffic police in Shenzhen last year for failing to yield to people on pedestrian crossings, the Shenzhen Economic Daily reports. Drivers face fines of 500 yuan and risk losing three points off their driving licence.

Fishermen take yacht jobs

More than 70 former fishermen in Shenzhen have obtained a captain's licence to pilot yachts for the city's multi-millionaires since 2011, the Shenzhen Evening News reports. The city's maritime safety administration offers training to help local fishermen qualify for new professions. Yacht captains can earn at least 6,000 yuan a month.

GUIZHOU

Sex-slave case man held

A 44-year-old man, suspected of keeping a 17-year-old girl as a sex slave in an apartment in Shenzhen, Guangdong, was caught by police in Guiyang on Tuesday morning, The Southern Metropolis Daily reports. The woman escaped on February 28 after being kept in a cage for months.

Drunk driver's drug exposé

An intoxicated taxi driver led police to three drug dealers on Tuesday in Guiyang after being stopped for driving out of control and almost hitting other cars, Gog.com.cn reports. He gave police the dealers' address after they began questioning him.

HEILONGJIANG

'Cure-all' clinic is closed

An illegal clinic has been shut down in Harbin after it was discovered that the unlicensed doctor who owned it was giving the same prescription to all patients, regardless of what was ailing them, Dbw.cn reports. The man operated the clinic for three months and insisted the traditional Chinese medicine he prescribed cured most diseases.

18 still trapped in mine

Seven people were rescued, but 18 others remained trapped yesterday in a mine that flooded in Hegang city on Monday, Xinhua reports. A mudslide caused the flooding at the Zhenxing Coal Mine.

HUBEI

14 killed in coach plunge

Fourteen people died and nine others were injured when a double-decker sleeper coach plunged off the Jingzhou Yangtze River Bridge on Tuesday night, Jznews.com.cn reports. The coach was driving along the bridge at around 7pm when the driver lost control and the bus fell about 20 metres. A burst tyre was believed to have caused the accident.

Girl's beating goes viral

A video has gone viral online showing an older man, presumably in his 60s, beating up a young woman who would not give her seat to him on a bus in Zhengzhou on Sunday morning, Dahe.cn reports. The man grabbed the woman's hair, hit her and dragged her off the seat. It was unclear whether police were notified of the incident.

JIANGSU

Grief as pregnant cop dies

There has been an outpouring of grief online for a 26-year-old pregnant police officer in Wuxi who went into labour and died of haemorrhaging while driving herself to hospital on March 6, Jschina.com.cn reports. Her husband, also a police officer, was on duty so she said she would drive herself. The unborn child did not survive.

Coin find sparks rush

Dozens of people rushed to a subway construction site in Suzhou on Tuesday after a hoard of ancient coins was discovered, Jschina.com.cn reports. Some people brought metal detectors to search for the bronze coins, from the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Police said hundreds of coins were removed before the site was blocked off.

JIANGXI

Child-kidnap suspect held

A 40-year-old man was arrested in Fengcheng city after allegedly kidnapping the four-year-old son of his workmate in Shenzhen, about 770 kilometres away, The Southern Metropolis Daily reports. Police said the suspect, a migrant worker from Jiangxi , kidnapped the boy on Sunday morning, demanded 400,000 yuan in ransom and fled to Fengcheng with the child, who was rescued and reunited with his parents on Tuesday.

Airports set to double

The number of airports across Jiangxi will be doubled to eight by 2020, but the four current ones are struggling to earn enough money and will receive a combined 16 million yuan in subsidies, the Jiangnan City Daily reports. Yichun , Shangrao , Jinggangshan and Fuzhou are the sites for the planned airports.

SHANGHAI

Crying ex-girlfriend killed

A man was arrested on Monday after stabbing his grief-stricken ex-girlfriend to death outside the door of his home, the Xinmin Evening News reports. She had been coming to his flat for days and crying into the night.

No jail over mahjong death

A man has been given a light punishment for accidentally killing his wife during a quarrel, with a court in Jiading district sentencing him to a year in prison, but giving him a reprieve, Jfdaily.com reports. The fight occurred in October when the man became angry that his wife was playing too much mahjong. She died when he shoved her and she hit her head on a car.

ZHEJIANG

5 held over salon shooting

Five people have been arrested in connection with a shooting at a hair salon in Ningbo on Tuesday that killed one person and injured another, reports Zjol.com.cn Five men entered the salon in Beilun district and one opened fire in what police suspect was a business dispute.

Alert over patient's escape

A mentally disturbed patient with a violent past escaped from a Hangzhou psychiatric hospital on Tuesday, prompting school teachers to text warnings to parents, Zjol.com.cn reports.