Photo: Authorities attempt to disarm a man who stabbed six people at a local Family Planning Bureau in southern China
Source: Sina
July 23, 2013
Translated by Tian Shaohui and Pang Lei
Stories that got top billing on China's major web portals on Wednesday morning include a directive from the central government to halt the building of new office buildings over the coming 5 years. (Xinhua)
There's also plenty of speculation about the possible motives of a 33 year-old man who killed two people and injured another four during a knife attack at a family planning agency in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region yesterday morning. (Global Times)
Also many websites are linking to an investigative report published in today's Beijing News about the rise in disputes related to "grey lending" in Shenmu County in Shaanxi province - which was also the site of a recent "mass incident" (Xinhua and Global Times)
Keep reading below for a translated digests of some of the other stories being reported by mainland Chinese media outlets today.
Central Bank: No Ban on Loans to Industries with Over Capacity
Beijing Times
Readers of yesterday's morning wrap would have seen the report that regulatory agencies had issued a internal directive that strictly prohibited the issuance of new loans to industries with over capacity, including coal, cement, steel, textiles (synthetic fiber), electrolytic aluminum and smelting iron. Yesterday, China's Central Bank responded to the report by denying that it had issued any rules about halting loans to such industries. The bank did say that industries with over capacity problems will be treated differently so as to resolve existing problems.
Original article: [Chinese]
Former Party Chief of Maoming Handed Suspended Death Sentence
Southern Daily
Luo Yinguo (羅蔭國), the former party chief of Guangdong's Maoming city (茂名市), was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve on charges of accepting bribes and possessing a huge amount of property the source of which could not properly be accounted for. Over 64 other officials were involved in this case and bribes of tens of millions of yuan. Since last April, 24 provincial-level officials and 218 county officials in Maoming City have been probed as part of an investigation into a massive corruption scandal.
Original article: [Chinese]
No More New Buildings for Party and Government for Next Five Years
Beijing News
The Chinese Communist Party and China's State Council have jointly issued a directive that calls for an across-the-board halt to the construction of new government buildings, training centers or hotels in the coming five years. Party and government organizations at all levels will be required to make sure that their office buildings meet the official standards, according to the notification which was jointly released by the General Office of CPC Central Commission and the General Office of the State Council. Officials will be required to vacate any buildings that exceeds the standards. This notification is the first limit on new government buildings since 1988.
Original article: [Chinese]
Nine Municipal Leaders Summoned for Talks with Land Supervision Office
Economic Information Daily
Nine top leaders of prefecture-level municipal governments were collectively asked to "have a chat" (約談) with the National Land Supervision Office (國家土地總督察辦公室) this year, according to a report in today's Economic Information Daily. Leaders responsible for unlawful land expropriation or poor land planning, were ordered to meet with central land officials. Officials from cities such as Handan (邯鄲市) in Hebei, Tieling (鐵嶺市) in Liaoning and Huainan (淮南市) in Anhui were all summoned by the central ministry. These leaders are asked to talk about their land management and land use in various parts. The Land Supervision Office operates under the authority of the Ministry of Land and Resources (國土資源部) and has the power to supervise land problems at a local government level.
Original article: [Chinese]
Is Yiwu China's Richest City?
Beijing Times
Yiwu (義烏), a city in the center of Eastern China's Zhejiang province, is the richest prefecture-level city in China, according to a list assembled by Forbes China. The annual per-capita disposable income of Yiwu exceeds 40 thousand yuan. All of the cities that made it into the top 10 of Forbes' list are in either Zhejiang or Jiangsu province.
Original article: [Chinese]