IN BRIEF (Page 4)

Avoid deals too good to be true, tourists told

Tourists will be punished if they do not abide by contracts they sign with travel agencies that offer incredibly cheap tour packages, China's top tourism watchdog said on Sunday.

Trade talks pace must speed up, expert says

China must accelerate the negotiation pace of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and other regional free trade agreements, an expert said on Sunday, to be better able to confront any challenges posed by the United States-led Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Dutch expertise stoking soccer hopes

The Netherlands' renowned youth soccer training experts look set to help China produce its own future stars, with more Dutch coaches and junior programs to be imported to China.

Economists: Interest reforms let market decide

The moves of China's central bank to remove controls on deposit interest rates and lower the one-year benchmark interest rates on Friday are designed to let the market decide financing costs, marking a significant step in overall economic reform, experts said.

Taiwan's wartime resistance wins praise

Experts from across the Taiwan Straits and Hong Kong praised the role that Chinese compatriots in Taiwan played in the fight against Japanese invaders during the island's half-century as a Japanese colony, during a seminar commemorating the 70th anniversary of victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-45) and the recovery of Taiwan.

Program to boost medical benefits

When doctors told Ding Yazhen that she had late-stage breast cancer late last year, the 43-year old resident of Xiushan county in Chongqing was devastated, and wondered whether to begin an expensive course of chemotherapy after having surgery.

Measures to reduce rural poverty a growing success

In the past five years, Cheng Chunsheng, a tea planter from Wangwan village in Tongbai county, Henan province, has paid for his two children to complete college courses, and bought a car for business purposes. At the same time, the 48-year-old entrepreneur has expanded his tea-cultivation area tenfold from the 0.33 hectares he owned in 2011.

'Generation tech' looks to startups to boost employment options

Like many students, who skip classes they don't want to take, Pu Lei often decided to stay home and miss school. Unlike most of his peers, he spent the time developing a mobile application that allows students to swap classes and maintain good attendance records.

Thailand forecasts record visitors

A deadly bombing in August threatened to scuttle Thailand's economically crucial tourism industry, but officials are now forecasting more than 30 million visitors this year as arrivals from China swell.

Hot list

The number of Chinese visitors to Britain in the first six months of 2015 reached a record 90,000, according to figures from Visit Britain, a government-funded agency.

Looking ahead

Events and stories coming up in the next few days