Briefly

Holiday records 302m rail passenger trips

China's railways handled 302 million passenger trips during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day travel rush, up 24.6 percent year-on-year, with daily passenger numbers reaching a record high. The 16-day travel period ran from Sept 23 to Oct 8, according to China State Railway Group, the national railway operator. Passenger trips peaked at 25.20 million on Oct 1, when a record 14,885 passenger trains operated. Demand was strong for tourism, family visits and leisure travel, as well as the transport of holiday goods, according to the company's transport department, noting that the two festivals fell close together this year. Railways operated an average of 13,300 passenger trains a day during the travel period, an increase of 3.3 percent year-on-year.

CPC expels ex-head of national arts academy

Lian Ji, former head of the Chinese National Academy of Arts, has been expelled from the Communist Party of China for serious violations of Party disciplines and national laws, China's top anti-corruption watchdogs announced on Friday. The announcement was disclosed online by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Commission of Supervision. The commissions said that they expelled Lian from the CPC because he had seriously breached Party rules, constituted severe duty-related violations and allegedly committed the crime of bribery. While confiscating his illicit gains, the commissions added that his suspected criminal offenses and related assets have been transferred to prosecutors for further review and investigation.

Xizang ex-legislator dismissed from Party

Ding Yexian, former deputy head of the standing committee of the Xizang autonomous region people's congress, has been expelled from the Communist Party of China for serious disciplinary violations and illegal behavior, China's top anti-corruption watchdogs announced on Friday. The announcement was disclosed online by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Commission of Supervision. The commissions said that they decided to expel Ding from the CPC because he had seriously breached the Party rules, constituted severe duty violations and allegedly committed the crime of bribery. His illicit gains were confiscated, and his suspected criminal offenses and related assets have been transferred to prosecutors for further review and investigation, the commissions added.

CHINA DAILY