Briefs, December 18, 2012

Beijing has ordered county-level public hospitals to stop borrowing money after an audit showed some took on too much debt while upgrading facilities, according to an emergency notice distributed this month. The National Development and Reform Commission, the finance and health ministries, and the China Banking Regulatory Commission asked banks to stop issuing new loans and reduce lines of credit to all county hospitals. The contents of the document were confirmed by three people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified because the order has not been made public. Bloomberg

Prominent rocket scientist Tu Shou'e died on Saturday in Beijing, China News Service reported. He was 95. Tu, a native of Zhejiang , is often referred to as the chief engineer of the country's intercontinental ballistic missiles. He was also the designer of Dongfeng missiles and served as an adviser on the building of the Long March rockets. Staff Reporter

Chen Min'er is being nominated as the next governor of Guizhou , replacing Zhao Kezhi , the website of CCTV reported. Chen spent most of his political career in Zhejiang province , where he was vice-governor from 2007 to 2012, before he became Guizhou vice-party secretary in January. The nomination precedes Chen's appointment. Staff Reporter