Wastewater treatment plants fined $3.3 million

Hebei province has fined six wastewater treatment plants nearly 20.48 million yuan ($3.3 million) for discharging excessive pollutants.

Shaanxi police crack online animal trafficking network

Forest police in Shangluo, Shaanxi province, have cracked a network that has been trafficking wild animals, reptiles and amphibians online, the biggest such operation ever reported in China, the authorities said.

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Online system to crack down on fake IDs

China is to establish an online system to manage lost and stolen identification cards in order to curb the use of fake ID cards to commit crimes, according to the Ministry of Public Security on Tuesday.

Tough laws to limit tobacco, milk ads

Lawmakers are considering introducing tough new restrictions on advertisements for tobacco and baby milk formula powders.

Official investigated over desert pollution

An official in charge of environmental protection is being investigated after a company was allowed to pollute the desert with untreated sewage in Gansu province, according to the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

Warehouse sealed after rice quality questioned

Grain authorities have sealed 25,000 metric tons of rice at a warehouse in Liaoning province after it was reported to have bought old rice that it then sold to rice merchants as fresh rice.

Death and glory in the mountains

On April 4, the day before the national Tomb Sweeping Festival, Yang Guoqing stowed two coffins in the trunk of his car and took a 20-minute drive to the hills near his home.

PLA teams win over hearts

In September, when the Sierra Leone-China Friendship Hospital was virtually deserted after the death of an Ebola patient, Li Jin and his colleagues transformed the hospital into a special unit for treating patients with the potentially deadly disease.

New public transit line taps cheaper, quieter technology

Construction has started on a new public transportation line in Beijing that promises to be cheaper to build and run - and less noisy - than subways.

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Carvers in Lushan bid to recover from quake

Two years after being hit by a magnitude-7.0 earthquake, Lushan county in Sichuan province is striving to recover its root carving industry in an effort to preserve the traditional art form and boost the local economy.