Military helicopter Z-20 makes its first flight

The nation's most advanced military helicopter, the Z-20, made its maiden flight at an airport in northeastern China on Monday, a report on the military channel of sina.com said. It has similarities to the US Army's Black Hawk helicopter, and will improve the PLA's air assault capability significantly, the report said.

APEC-related projects to be ready by June

The government work report in Beijing's Huairou district, which will host a 2014 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum meeting, said that all projects related to the meeting will be completed before the end of June. Meanwhile, the Clean Air Action Plan and the APEC Conference Atmospheric Pollution Control Program will be fully implemented, including the realization of a 10 percent reduction in the annual average concentration of PM2.5.

Renmin University halts independent recruitment

Renmin University is to suspend independent recruitment of students for a year to improve and standardize its admissions process, Beijing Morning Post reported. In November, Cai Rongsheng, head of admissions at the university, was investigated for his role in a scandal that involved selling places there for high prices.

Robbery suspect brought back to capital

A 25-year-old man suspected of robbing a guest of 20,000 yuan ($3,300) with a toy gun at a five-star hotel on Wednesday was sent back to Beijing under police escort on Sunday, Beijing News reported. The suspect, surnamed Chen, fled to Thailand and Malaysia after the incident.

Actor denies spending charity cash on property

Former actor Li Yapeng has denied spending money, that he collected from a charity foundation on real estate, and said the results of an investigation by the Ministry of Civil Affairs will be released within 15 days. He was reacting on Sunday to an Internet user who accused him of divorcing Faye Wong because she would not go along with his scheme.

Garment market poised for a move

A large wholesale clothing market is expected to move to Hebei province in 2014 to help ease heavy traffic in the capital, China Business Journal reported. Chen Gang, deputy mayor of Beijing, said Beijing and the province have reached a framework agreement to move the market to Hebei. Located near Beijing Zoo, the market was built in the 1980s.

'Weather' most-searched word on Internet

The most popular search word among Chinese Internet users in 2013 did not concern celebrities or fashion, but a more down-to-earth subject, according to one list of popular searches. Weather was the No 1 search word on the Top 10 list of Baidu, the largest search engine in China. Other hot words on the list included 'Taobao', 'Baidu' and 'QQ'.

Chinese scientist named to Singapore post

Wang Kewei has been elected vice-chairman of the Singapore-based Asia-Pacific Network of Science and Technology Centers, the first Chinese citizen to occupy the post, Science and Technology Daily reported on Sunday. Wang, director of the Guangdong Research Institute of Science Museums, has been promoting the internationalization and innovation of Chinese science museums, the report said.

Zhejiang

Companies make a date with losses

Estimates show that enterprises that make calendars in Yiwu will see losses of more than 100 million yuan ($16.5 million) this year due to a sharp decline in demand, Beijing News reported. The declining market follows a ban on buying gifts with public funds issued by the central government in October.

Tianjin

Move to limit autos won't take effect

The municipal traffic authority said on Monday it will not limit cars on the roads according to their license plate numbers because the city's environmental administration announced the restriction too late on Sunday, Xinhua News Agency reported. The environmental authority said on Sunday evening that cars would be restricted according to the last digit of the plate number, as heavy smog is expected in the city in coming days, the report said.

Guangdong

Controversy spurs movie of life story

Guo Meimei, who triggered controversy after posting pictures online of her extravagant lifestyle and falsely claiming to be general manager of a company called Red Cross Commerce, will invest in, direct and appear in the movie I'm Guo Meimei, being shot in Shenzhen. Guo said the movie will depict her life from when she was 17 years old and explain why she used the Red Cross name. Although the Red Cross Society of China denied any links with Guo, its credibility was damaged and public donations fell.

Son, 2, helps parents hit 6m yuan jackpot

A young couple won a lottery jackpot of 6.28 million yuan ($1.03 million) after their 2-year-old son accidentally and randomly pressed a computer keyboard to choose the numbers for them in Guangzhou. The couple, both born in the 1980s, went to the city's lottery ticket center to cash in their winning ticket on Sunday, Guangzhou's Information Times reported.

Rules on official's foreign visits introduced

New rules and regulations that allow Guangdong's Party chief and governor to visit foreign countries and regions no more than once a year have been introduced by the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, Nanfang Daily reported. Provincial-level officials will not be allowed to make more than two overseas trips, or trips more than once every two years, when they are in office.

Sichuan

Transformers robots lure young to museum

Forty robots from the movie Transformers are on display at Nan'an Library in Yibin and are proving immensely popular with children, Western China Metropolis Daily reported. The robots are all made from waste auto parts, with the heaviest robot mor than 1,000 kg and 3 meters high. The lightest weights just a few kg.

Gansu

Investment clears the air in Lanzhou

Lanzhou had enjoyed 292 days of good air quality this year by the end of last week, the provincial department of environmental protection said. Air quality in Lanzhou had failed to meet State requirements for many years, but the target of more than 80 percent of good air quality days has been reached this year. More than 1.89 billion yuan ($311 million) has been invested to fight air pollution this year, officials said.

Endangered sea eagle found in reserve

A white-tailed sea eagle was found in a national nature reserve in Dunhuang on Dec 15, the Gansu-based Lanzhou Morning Post reported. The eagle, 80 cm long and in good condition, was the first of its kind found at the reserve since it was established. The white-tailed sea eagle was listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2012.

Henan

Ex-convict proposes compensation sum

A former prisoner has asked for compensation of 1.47 million yuan ($242,000) after he was wrongly detained for more than 10 years, Legal Evening News reported on Monday. Li Huailiang, a villager in the province, was granted compensation of 980,000 yuan by Pingdingshan Intermediate People's Court on Wednesday, but he and his family said this was lower than they expected, the report said.

Yunnan

December cold chills coffee harvest prospects

More than 20,000 hectares of coffee crops in the province are estimated to have been affected by low temperatures in mid-December, with more than 3,300 hectares not harvested and resulting in losses that could reach 300 million yuan ($49 million), Spring City Evening News reported on Monday.

Shandong

Student dies after running in smog

A boarding school student in Dezhou suddenly fell while running in smoggy weather during a physical education class on Dec 16 and later died in a hospital. The child's parents said they believe that strenuous outdoor exercise in such conditions caused the death, but the school said it had not been told to suspend classes.

Xinhua - China Daily