Rescuers rush to assist the injured early on Saturday morning when a leak broke out at Lianfeng Reservoir in Urumqi. Jin Jian / for China Daily

Beijing

Thousands arrested for property crimes

A total of 6,743 people have been apprehended for suspected involvement in property-related crimes since Jan 17, according to the Ministry of Public Security on Friday. A total of 846 gangs were broken up as part of the arrests. The ministry said that 21,014 cases of robbery, theft and telecom fraud were uncovered and 8.1 million yuan ($1.3 million) has been retrieved.

Investors confident in stock market

China's investor confidence index rose 24.36 percent month on month to stand at 62.8 in January, according to a recent survey. China Securities Investor Protection Fund Corporation on Friday said the monthly index in January was the highest it has been since April 2011, based on a survey carried out among 4,483 investors from Jan 1-28. Some 50 percent of those surveyed said China's favorable economic situation would buoy the stock market. But investors were cautious about the international economic and financial situations.

Shanghai

New mayor pledges to listen

The future municipal government of Shanghai will focus on listening to requests from the public and move forward with making progress wisely, the newly appointed Mayor of Shanghai Yang Xiong, along with eight deputy mayors said after the closing ceremony of the Fourteenth Shanghai Municipal People's Congress on Saturday. Yang, 59, was previously named acting mayor of Shanghai in December.

Taiyuan

Top cop sacked for hiding son's crime

The police chief of Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi province, has been dismissed from his post because he covered up his son's drunk-driving offense. The decision was made on Friday at a session of the 13th Taiyuan Municipal People's Congress, the local legislature, which appointed Liu Suiji to replace Li Yali as the city's police chief. Li had already been placed on probation within the Communist Party of China for one year. A video showing Li's son, Li Zhengyuan, beating up a police officer after being stopped for a traffic violation went viral after it was posted to Chinese social media sites on Oct 28.

Urumqi

Reservoir leak results in casualties

A reservoir leak in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region has left one dead and more than a dozen injured, rescuers said on Saturday. Lianfeng Reservoir in Kaziwan village, located about 25 km from Urumqi, the region's capital, began to lose water around 6:10 am, sources with the reservoir administration said. Water gushed out and flowed into a nearby village, blocking traffic and flooding some local houses. The point of the leak has since expanded to a break of about 10 meters along the dam, according to Xinhua.

Jinan

Toll unknown in chemical-plant blast

A blast occurred at a chemical plant in Shandong province on Saturday, but the number of casualties is unknown. The blast occurred at about 11 am at Yongxin Chemical Plant in Boxing county, located about 150 km northeast of the provincial capital Jinan, sources with the local government said. Initial investigations indicated that a chimney exploded at the plant, which mainly handles petrochemical production.

News Watch

Sleet, snow to hit most of country

A fresh cold snap will bring rain and snow to most parts of China in the next three days, the China Meteorological Administration forecast on Saturday. Snow or sleet will hit Northeast and North China through Tuesday, and the Tibet autonomous region's southwest area will see heavy snow from Monday to Wednesday, the agency said.

Xinhua

(China Daily 02/03/2013 page2)