Briefly

BEIJING

Teams sent to inspect cleanup in rural areas

The State Council has dispatched teams to 14 provincial regions to inspect the cleanup of the living environment in rural areas, according to a statement from the State Council released on Tuesday. The main focus of the inspection is rural toilets and the disposal of garbage and sewage, the statement said. Officials who fail to meet the set targets will be summoned for talks with the inspection teams.

Hog prices soften as production rebounds

Soaring hog prices in China are gradually softening with production expected to bottom out and government policy encouraging breeding. The national hog price came in at 33.6 yuan ($4.80) per kilogram on Nov 20, down 8.3 percent from a week earlier, according to the National Development and Reform Commission. At a news briefing last week, China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said hog production had basically bottomed out and begun to rebound.

HUNAN

'Internet celebrity' pleads guilty in court

Chen Jieren, a self-proclaimed internet celebrity, pleaded guilty to multiple charges during a trial on Tuesday, according to the Guiyang County People's Court in Hunan province. Prosecutors accused Chen of involvement in spreading rumors online; slandering government officials; engaging in illegal commercial activities; forced transactions in which he illegally benefited to the tune of 10.5 million yuan ($1.5 million); and giving bribes of 5.5 million yuan to officials of a hospital for pharmaceutical sales, the news release said. The court will announce a verdict at a later date.

HAINAN

91 arrested over telecom fraud

Police in Hainan have arrested 91 telecom and online fraud suspects who had swindled more than 3 million yuan ($430,000) in hundreds of cases since June. In early October, local police received a report from a victim who said he had been cheated out of more than 7,000 yuan involving a girl he met online. According to the police, the scammers, disguised as attractive girls, used social media to establish romantic relationships online. After winning the trust of victims, the swindlers asked them to play certain online games and deposit money for the suspects. After an investigation, police caught the 91 suspects on Nov 13, confiscating 124 computers and over 100 mobile phones.