LUXURY FASHION: Models take to the catwalk at the opening ceremony of the China Fashion Art Show in Beijing on March 30 (JIN LIANGKUAI)

Spacecraft Ready

China's newest manned spacecraft, Shenzhou-10, arrived in Jiuquan, northwest China's Gansu Province, on March 31 after passing pre-delivery tests. It will blast off in early June, reported Xinhua News Agency.

The vessel's carrier rocket is undergoing various pre-delivery preparations, Xinhua said. The mission will carry three astronauts and dock with the Tiangong-1 orbital lab module.

Tiangong-1 was sent into space in September 2011. It docked with the Shenzhou-8 unmanned spacecraft in November 2011 and the manned Shenzhou-9 in June last year.

The mission will, for the first time, see astronauts deliver a science lecture to young people from space. New experiments will be conducted in orbit.

China has launched four unmanned and five manned Shenzhou spacecraft and the unmanned Tiangong-1 space module since starting its manned space exploration program in 1992.

Deadly Flu

Health institutions in China have been ordered to step up monitoring of H7N9 bird flu after the total number of infections in the country reached seven.

On March 31, the first three human infections of the H7N9 bird flu strain were reported. The two in Shanghai died and the one from Anhui Province is in critical condition and under treatment in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, said the National Health and Family Planning Commission of China.

Four more patients from four cities in Jiangsu are in critical condition and under emergency treatment, the Jiangsu Provincial Health Bureau said on April 2.

A Chinese expert team is working to study the toxicity and human-infection capacity of the virus.

The virus shows no signs of being highly contagious among humans, according to clinical observation of the patients' close contacts.

There is no vaccine against the H7N9 bird flu virus.

Cabinet's Rules

New detailed working rules of the State Council, China's cabinet, were published on March 28 to push for the establishment of a clean and efficient service-oriented government.

Adopted at the first full meeting of the State Council on March 20, the 58-article document highlights a series of rules designed to regulate the practices of provincial-level governments, ministries, commissions, and departments directly under the State Council.

The State Council should promote the transparency of government affairs and improve information release systems to make sure that the government exercises its power openly and transparently, according to the document.

Rural Poverty Relief

The Ministry of Finance said on March 29 that its spending on poverty relief in rural areas for 2012 surged 31.9 percent from a year earlier to 299.6 billion yuan ($48 billion).

The funds were used to enhance agricultural production, improve people's living standards and support education, health care and social security, the ministry said.

In December 2011, China released a guideline for rural poverty relief and development during the 2011-20 period in an effort to accelerate the development of the impoverished.