More than 3,000 villagers have backed pleas for mercy for an elderly couple who killed their drug-addicted son, the reports. The pair killed Zhong Linlin during a disagreement one evening when he asked them for money to fund his drug habit. When his mother refused, Zhong became violent before trying to leave the house, but his father stopped him and his mother hit him with a wooden bat. A joint letter to the judicial authorities by some of the villagers said that Zhong had been a violent drug addict for more than a decade, and that the couple's actions were aimed at trying to save their five-year-old grandchild.

A young woman has been detained on suspicion of defrauding an online shopping website by buying luxury goods and then returning fake ones in their place,

Uber Technologies, the American taxi service app, is partnering with Shanghai-based China Yongda Automobiles Services to expand its reach in China, reports. Under the new deal, Yongda will provide discounts on new cars, finance, and aftersales services to companies and drivers who work for Uber.

One woman has been killed and one seriously injured in a knife attack in Chunhua county, Xinhua reports. The attacker, a local farmer, killed his sister-in-law and injured his brother-in-law's wife before committing suicide. The injured woman was described as being in a critical condition. Police said they were still investigating, according to the report.

The Communist Party boss of Wulongzhen in Huoqiu, Luan , has died from excessive alcohol consumption, reports. The party secretary died following a dinner with 19 lower-level party cadres in which 16 bottles of were consumed in just a few hours. Xiao went home that night and died in bed. The judicial authorities were investigating all of the officials involved in the dinner.

Li Shaobai, an author born in Anhui and China's leading authority on historical films, has died at age 84, China Radio International reports. Li was a pioneer in Chinese film-related projects, a teacher for many film enthusiasts and the author of a series of books titled He also oversaw work in feature films that covered Chinese history.

A man who was freed from prison after serving eight years on death row is appealing against the amount of compensation he was offered, reports. The Intermediate People's Court in Fuzhou offered Nian Bin, 39, 1.14 million yuan (HK$1.44 million) in compensation, but Nian is appealing in the hope of being granted 15 million yuan. "I was innocent but was repeatedly sentenced to death," Nian said. Nian had been arrested after his neighbour's children died from food poisoning.

A man has been detained on suspicion of stealing jewellery worth more than 1 million yuan, reports. The man was found in possession of 72 pieces of jewellery including necklaces, pendants and diamond rings. Police said the man had stolen the items from a car in Fuzhou. He fled to Shanghai after the crime.

Hundreds of workers from a clothing factory have protested in front of a local government building in Dongguan following the disappearance of their manager, Xinhua reports. The workers had returned from their Lunar New Year holiday and found the factory gates locked and their equipment gone. The manager of the factory was nowhere to be seen. The protesters have asked the government to pay their salaries, insurance, and redundancy payments.

A woman from Dongguan threatened to jump to her death because no one celebrated her birthday, Xinhua reports. Neighbours saw the woman, 20, stepping onto the window ledge of her 19th-floor flat. She told the police that she was disappointed because her family was not with her on her 20th birthday. Police spoke to the woman for four hours before she agreed to come down off the ledge, the report said.