Mother Dong Shanshan cries after being reunited with her baby boy who was abducted from hospital. [Photo/Xinhua]

The chief and deputy chief officer of the Fuping County Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, whose doctors were allegedly involved in trafficking newborn babies were also removed, as well as the chairman of the labor union in charge of nursing at the hospital.

The hospital's involvement in trafficking newborns was exposed recently when a couple became suspicious and reported one of its gynecologist called Zhang Shuxia to the police on July 20.

The couple alleged that Zhang, deputy director of the hospital's maternity department, took their newborn baby boy away after she claimed the kid suffered from syphilis and hepatitis B transmitted from the mother and would not survive.

The couple was suspicious as the mother was free of both diseases, and several prenatal checkups during her pregnancy showed she and her fetuses were normal.

Zhang, deputy director of the hospital's maternity department, has been detained on suspicion of human trafficking.

The hospital's involvement in children trafficking is still being investigated as the county police confirmed on Wednesday that the parents of 10 children delivered at Fuping Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital have reported their babies were also taken away by Zhang.

Lou Qinjian, provincial governor of Shaanxi, pledged on Thursday a thorough investigation and a strong will to bring those to justice.

Two newborn twin baby girls and a baby boy alleged sold by Zhang to human traffickers have been rescued.

Nearly 15,000 kilograms of meat from pigs who died from disease ended up in canteens and supermarkets in the capital for one year until residents reported concerns to health watchdogs, Beijing Times reported.

CALLIGRAPHY DIPLOMACY

Qin Baozhong, deputy director-general of the Chinese troops in the Peace Mission 2013 China-Russia joint military drill, teaches Russians soldiers Chinese calligraphy skills in Chelyabinsk, Russia, Aug 7, 2013.

PRETTY FACE DILEMMA

Known for their straight-forward speaking, top of China's Baidu search this week is picture of a "fat girl" with a pretty face. The picture was uploaded by a photographer who was soliciting people's opinions on whether to chase the girl as she weighed 100 kilograms.

OFFICIAL AXED

Another former senior official's downfall dominates Chinese media. Liu Tienan, the former vice-minister of the National Development and Reform Commission has been expelled from the Party. He was exposed to have 25 bank accounts with 19 million Australian Dollars ($17 million) and 25 rare diamonds.

DRIVING DOG

A dog driving a little car is a hot topic on Sina Weibo. The pooch even applied the brakes when crossing a road.

REPORTER EXPELLED

A reporter who first exposed a primary school headmaster in Wanning, Hainan province, who assaulted six girls from his school, has resigned. The reporter Yang Qiongwen has been pressured by local authorities to leave working in the media in Hainan province. (people.com.cn)

BEASTLY STONES

Stone beasts which are frequently seen in front of government office buildings do not only waste money but also leave a bad impression to the masses, Beijing News reported.

However, violations have not been eliminated, according to the statement, which added that the State Council, or China's cabinet, will work with relevant authorities to intensify supervision and investigate problems related to the implementation of the regulation.

The regulation, announced by Li at his press debut as premier in March, includes a halt to new government building construction and a reduction in spending on both government employees and official receptions, vehicles and overseas trips.

Party bans extravagance, bureaucracyThe Party's ruling authority has ordered senior officials to reject "extravagance, formalism and bureaucracy" in a list of eight new requirements.

CPC's mass line campaignCPC launched a year-long "mass line" education campaign in a bid to strengthen Party-people relations. "The regulation is a solemn promise that the new government made to society with concrete measures to advance the building of a clean government," the statement said, adding that spending on government buildings has largely been contained.

Since March, local governments have issued their own regulations to reduce new government building construction, including stopping approvals for the construction, expansion, restoration and purchase of new government offices and training centers.

All new projects approved after the new government was installed must be stopped, while problems with projects approved prior to March should be promptly rectified, it said.

To expose and handle violations swiftly, some local authorities have set up inspection organs and formulated regulations concerning government information transparency, as well as the petitioning and reporting systems.

Moreover, central authorities have strengthened management over funds used by central government departments, as well as carried out strict audits and final accounting in order to rein in spending.

The General Office of the State Council organized an inspection in May and published information concerning the violations uncovered during the inspection in July.

The cost of supporting the employees of government departments and government-funded institutions has been strictly managed, the statement said.

The central government has set caps for the number of government-supported personnel that can be employed by local administrative agencies, the government said, adding that the caps have largely been observed.

In recent months, central and local governments have worked to control their total number of staff and improve the efficiency of their current staff, the statement said.

No new employees will be added to government departments that are already overstaffed and measures have been taken to deal with "freeloaders" in government agencies and government-funded organizations, the statement said.

Both central and local governments have cut their spending on  government employees and official receptions, vehicles and overseas trips this year, according to the statement.

Such spending by central government departments has dropped 1.6 percent year on year so far this year, with planned spending on receptions down 4.3 percent from 2012, it said.

Information on official receptions has been digitized for better supervision.

Budget disclosures show cuts in provincial spending

China starts 5-year ban on new govt buildings

An anonymous whistle-blower on Thursday told the 21st Century Business Herald newspaper that Sanofi staff paid about 1.69 million yuan ($276,000) in bribes to 503 doctors at 79 hospitals in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Guangzhou in November 2007. The company also allegedly bribed 43 doctors at five hospitals in Beijing in the form of cash payments and gifts each month from May to October in 2007.

The allegations come after four Chinese executives from British drug firm GlaxoSmithKline were detained last month for suspected bribery and tax-related violations. China's top economic planner is currently investigating 60 foreign and domestic pharmaceutical companies over their prices.

British drugmaker AstraZeneca and Belgian drugmaker UCB recently admitted they are being investigated by Chinese authorities.

The 21st Century Business Herald, based in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, surmised that the whistle-blower worked in Sanofi-Aventi's upper management in China based on the nature of the content provided to the publication.

The whistle-blower said the bribes were given in the name of research spending and would only give the name "Pei Gen" to the newspaper.

"Sanofi is confident in our business operations in China and committed to conducting its business globally with integrity. We are determined to respect the ethical principles governing our activities and are committed to abiding by the laws and regulations that apply in each country where we operate. We have zero tolerance to any unethical practice," the company said. "At this time, it would be premature to comment on events that may have occurred in 2007."

The National Health and Family Planning Commission recently passed a plan to fight what it called inappropriate behavior in selling medicine. Li Bin, head of the commission, stressed in July that medical reform is needed to combat bribery in an industry where many Chinese hospitals rely on the sale of medicine.

Currently, the central government sets a pricing standard for medical services provided by public hospitals. Many experts believe the policy keeps the price of services at an artificially low level and puts pressure on hospitals and doctors to sell more medicine and possibly accept bribes.

In 2012, Beijing introduced new regulations on public hospitals to emphasize quality medical services and discourage hospitals and doctors from relying on the number of prescriptions they dole out.

As part of the reform, some hospitals are required to sell medicine at cost, but they are allowed to charge 42 yuan to 100 yuan in consultation fees (health insurance companies are required to reimburse the 40 yuan to the patient). Before the reforms, a consultation would cost between 5 yuan to 14 yuan.

But Niu Zhengqian, deputy director of the Chinese Pharmaceutical Enterprises Association, said the key to preventing doctors from excessively prescribing medicine lies in changing the way the healthcare insurance industry pays hospitals.

"Currently the public healthcare insurance sector pays hospitals based on each item of the service they provide, encouraging them to choose more expensive items, from which doctors can get more illegal kickbacks," Niu said.

An advanced payment system is also effective, said Wang Hongzhi, a healthcare industry consultant. With this plan, a local government healthcare agency pays a hospital a specified amount of money to cover healthcare fees. If there is a surplus, the hospital pockets it; if there is a deficit, it must share the costs with the local agency.

"If the market is more competitive and there are more private healthcare providers, that will also help solve problems in the industry," Niu said.

Fuping County Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital in this photo taken on Aug 4, 2013. [Photo/Xinhua]

XI'AN -  Police in Northwest China's Shaanxi province have rescued two twin newborn baby girls who were allegedly sold to human traffickers by a doctor.

The twins, who were born in early July to a woman surnamed Wang in Fuping county, were rescued from neighboring Shanxi province and eastern Shandong province respectively, said the Shaanxi provincial government on Thursday.

On Sunday, police rescued a newborn boy, also allegedly sold to human traffickers by the same doctor, who is surnamed Zhang and worked in Fuping County Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital.

Three newborns have thus far been rescued in the hospital scandal.

As of Thursday, police have received reports of 55 similar cases from local citizens, including 26 cases in which Zhang was allegedly involved. Police have launched investigations into five of the reported cases.

Zhang has been detained on suspicion of human trafficking.

A baby rescued by police from an infant trafficking in central China's Henan province is safe with his parents at the Fuping County Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital in Fuping, Shaanxi province, on Aug 4, 2013. [Photo/Xinhua]

In the first rescued baby case, Zhang allegedly obtained the infant by falsely claiming that the child had congenital diseases, convincing the mother to abandon treatment and allow the doctor to handle the baby.

The mother, a woman surnamed Dong, later realized that her baby might have been abducted and reported the incident to police on July 20.

Lou Qinjian, provincial governor of Shaanxi, on Thursday called the case "vile" and caused "extremely bad" social impact.

Lou said police will step up efforts to make a thorough probe into the scandal and those who are held responsible will be dealt with strictly.

Related stories about Fuping baby trafficking case:

China vows to severely punish newborn traffickers

Baby returned to parents after being trafficked

Abducted baby back with family

More accuse doctor of baby trafficking

The increasing interest from the Chinese in US real estate is also creating new business opportunities.

Jason Chen, chairman of Shenzhen World Union Properties Consultancy Co Ltd, a listed company that provides real estate consulting services in China, sees it as something of a trend.

"So the idea is to team up with local agents in the US — even smaller ones (compared with the size of World Union) — to serve the growing number of Chinese buyers here," said Chen, who recently attended a business forum in New York to make new business connections.

"That is the trend now," said Chen, adding he has visited New York three times this year and has a few agencies in mind.

World Union employs some 15,000 people across China who broker all kinds of properties. With a market share of 3 percent, it sold some 300,000 apartments across China last year and made profits that allowed him to look beyond the home market, Chen said.

"We won't really operate solo here (in New York) and this won't be money-making in the beginning, but we see this as a trend that is still developing and we want to be part of it," he said. "We just need to find a trustworthy partner and feed them with our Chinese client source list."

Chen's plan is echoed by industry leaders in the US real estate market who call it a way to "bridge a gap".

"In various So Cal (Southern California) communities, we've experienced an upward trend in Chinese buyers purchasing our homes and the majority of those are not local Chinese buyers, but those coming from China," said Brian Harrelson, a senior project manager in the Southern California division office of Toll Brothers, a US luxury home builder.

As part of their business strategy to attract more Chinese buyers, Toll Brothers has teamed up with realtors for joint events to provide more buyer services, including reimbursing homebuyers' international airfares on their Fly-and-Buy program.

"There are a lot of agents in China, so we're thinking how we can empower them by providing supporting information in Mandarin and developing relationships between the local and Chinese agents so they work together," said Harrelson.

"If we can bridge that gap, there will be more potential buyers in the pool, rather than just what we see domestically," he said.

Chinese buyers accounted for 18 percent of the $68.2 billion that foreigners spent on residential properties in the US during the 12 months ending March 31, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Chinese shoppers are known for being cash buyers and for buying more expensive homes than other foreign buyers, spending a median price of $425,000, almost double the median of what other foreign buyers pay.

In California, the Chinese are the third-largest foreign buyers of real estate, after Mexicans and Filipinos, according to Realtor.org.

"The growing number of international buyers in Los Angeles has been an ongoing trend," said Sally Forster Jones, an agent with Coldwell Banker International in Los Angeles.

"More and more of the high-end deals are going to international buyers, many of which are coming from China. This is a growing market so it makes sense to do everything possible to tap into the needs of this demographic," said Jones.

"I think the willingness of local and international real estate agencies to work together can bring positive results," said Jones. "We are living in a global marketplace and real estate is a very collaborative business where connections are everything."

In New York, Chinese are second only to wealthy Dominicans in purchasing homes.

"It's clear that wealthy Chinese are looking for good investments and NYC real estate is especially appealing to them, so it's nice to have brokers working together to connect those dots, especially when there are language barriers," said Todd Dumaresq, a marketing manager with Toll Brothers City Living in New York.

In late June, US developer Tishman Speyer and China's largest residential developer China Vanke Co Ltd broke ground on a joint venture to build 655 luxury condominiums on the San Francisco waterfront.

Vanke is one of World Union's clients in China, so, according to Chen, it makes sense for them to follow their big client to the US.

Liu Tienan, then deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, speaks during a press conference in Beijing in this Jan 8, 2012 file photo. [Photo/Icpress]

BEIJING -- Former deputy chief of China's top economic planning body Liu Tienan has been expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) and removed from public office for discipline and law violations, according to a statement released by the CPC's discipline watchdog Thursday.

The CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection(CCDI) said it has found Liu, former deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, "took advantage of his position to seek profits for others, and both Liu and his family accepted huge amount of money and property."

Liu has been found to "seek benefits for his relatives' businesses by breaking relevant regulations, accept cash and gifts". He was also "morally degenerate", reads the CCDI statement.

Liu's illicit gains have been confiscated. His expulsion from the CPC has been endorsed by the CPC Central Committee and his removal from public office has been endorsed by the State Council, according to the CCDI.

Liu's alleged actions constitute serious crimes and disciplinary offenses, the statement said, adding his case will be transferred to judicial organs.

Born in October 1954, Liu has served as a deputy chief of the NDRC since 2008.

Liu was dismissed from his post for suspected involvement in serious disciplinary violations in May.