Overseas students help with holiday deliveries

Residents of some of China's biggest cities expecting parcels over the weeklong Spring Festival holiday may be surprised to see who one retail giant has hired to help out.

A thirst for change

From dirty laundry to tainted wells, the strain on China's water resources is being felt nationwide after years of industrialization have left the country high and dry.

A new life for ancient waterway

The Nanming River, which was heavily polluted just four years ago, will embrace a new lease on life next year when it becomes a tourism hot spot, indicating the success of long-running efforts to control water pollution, according to officials and experts.

Plumbers work overtime to repair water meters

A city maintenance worker's hands - swollen, scarred, bruised and bandaged - reflect the rush to repair the thousands of water meters and pipes that broke during a cold snap that brought the lowest temperatures in three decades to Shanghai.

Around China

A man in Chongqing municipality said he intends to sue his wife and daughter after they failed to visit him when he was hospitalized for a stroke and they did not pay his medical bills.

Drones to keep an eye on big cats

Jilin province is planning a series of measures to protect endangered Siberian tigers and Amur leopards, some of which inhabit territory along China's border with Russia, according to a provincial forestry official.

Employers squeezed by social security

Easing companies' social security payment obligations would reduce business costs and encourage hiring, according to experts who have studied the issue.

Experts cast doubt on tax cut rationale

China's tax system is a burden on companies and should be reformed, Liang Jianzhang, economist and co-founder of online travel service Ctrip.com argued at a recent symposium held at Tsinghua University.

App use for public fees to cover more cities

Residents in more than 70 percent of Chinese cities will soon be able to use popular smartphone apps to pay their taxes and electricity bills, tech consultancy Gartner predicted in its latest report.

IN BRIEF (Page 4)

Support lacking for car ban plan

A controversial proposal to ban half of Beijing's vehicles from the roads on alternate days during the winter would only be a stopgap measure, experts have warned.

Capital to increase parking fees to relieve clogged roads

Beijing will significantly increase fees for roadside parking in its central areas to ease vehicle congestion, traffic authorities said on Wednesday.