IN BRIEF (Page 10)

Quake building standards

Beginning June 1, the high-rise buildings in Chongqing municipality will be reviewed to ensure they meet earthquake-resistant standards before preliminary design approval. Those that fail the review will not be allowed to start construction, according to the Chongqing municipal construction commission.

Four years ago, the main areas of the city eliminated the use of precast cement panels. Currently, most buildings are constructed with poured concrete at the construction site, which is safer.

Shenzhen arts industry

The output value of the arts and crafts industry in Shenzhen reached 39.97 billion yuan in 2007, accounting for 16 percent of China's total output value of the sector, according to figures released at a recent cultural industry fair held in the city.

As the country's main modern artwork producing area and major exporter, Shenzhen exported $3.13 billion worth of artwork last year, accounting for 21 percent of the country's total export value in the industry.

Qinghai weaving training

Western China's Qinghai province developed 390 woven carpet workshops by the end of 2007, offering job opportunities for 33,000 rural residents to help alleviate poverty.

People can master the skill of weaving carpets after three-month training. And they can work for eight months a year and earn 5,000 yuan, while farming and raising livestock.

The Qinghai provincial government began to develop the industry in 2003.

More drivers in Suzhou

Suzhou had 1.715 million automobiles by the end of April, ranking third after Beijing and Shanghai.

With improving living standards, the number of private passenger cars reached 243,000, which means about one out of 10 citizens possessed a private car.

The rapid growth of motor vehicles also drove the development of local automobiles maintenance service industry, with the annual output amounting to 3 billion yuan.

Farm insurance

The varieties of agriculture insurance products in Hainan province increased to 10 from seven last year, and the insurance coverage was expanded from last year's 16 counties to the whole province, with more than 1 million mu (66,667 hectares) insured.

The insurance covers planting, aquaculture and fishing industries, including staple agricultural products, agricultural property insurance and fishermen's life insurance, according to the official with local finance office.

New sewage plants

Liaoning province will build 99 sewage treatment plants this year to reduce pollution in Liaohe River.

Currently, the province has 24 sewage treatment plants and the treatment capacities are just half of the total sewage emissions. After completing the new projects, the increased daily treatment capacities will be 2.3 million tons.

Handicapped helped

Shanghai is taking measures to ensure handicapped people have easier access to telecom and information technology.

On May 17, the telecommunications and information society day, the Shanghai branch of China Mobile announced its new service for the handicapped, including automatic voice dial-up service and a reader for short text messages. The Shanghai branch of China Telecom provides favorable package service for the handicapped to reduce their communications costs.

Five-star dining

With the recent addition of a new five-star restaurant, there are now 12 five-star eateries in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

The province's first five-star restaurant was declared in 1993. According to incomplete statistics, eight more restaurants in the region are now in the process of applying for five-star status, or being built as five-star restaurants.

(China Daily 05/26/2008 page10)