Briefly

Former inspector placed under probe

Liu Yanping, former head of the top anti-graft authority's discipline inspection and supervision office at the Ministry of National Security, is under investigation for suspected severe violations of Party discipline and State law. The probe is being conducted by the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission, according to a statement released on Saturday.

Global system planned for weather data

China is planning the construction of a new global system for gathering high-precision meteorological data based on the interpretation of signals beamed down from satellites, according to the Second Institute of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation. The "global occultation meteorological detection constellation" will measure the frequency, phase and amplitude of signals transmitted by navigation satellites, recording how they change after passing through the ionosphere and atmosphere. The resulting data will allow meteorologists to calculate the temperature, humidity and pressure of the atmosphere, as well as the ionospheric electron density. CASIC said the occultation detection technique is capable of providing uniformly distributed neutral atmosphere and ionosphere information around the globe.

Voluntary tree planting adds greenery to city

Beijingers taking part in voluntary tree planting activities have planted more than 210 million trees over the past 40-plus years, local authorities said Saturday. China designated March 12 as National Tree Planting Day in 1979. Liu Lili, an official with the Beijing Municipal Forestry and Parks Bureau, said that from 1980 to the end of last year, the forest coverage rate in Beijing increased from 12.8 percent to 44.6 percent, and the urban green coverage rate increased from 20 percent to 49 percent. Liu said Beijing has allocated 73 hectares of land for people to participate in voluntary tree planting activities this spring.

Xinhua