Tibet Autonomous Region is planning to invest 30 billion yuan ($4.9 billion) in an afforestation project along six major rivers in the region, a forestry official announced on August 29.

The project will focus on lands suitable for afforestation along Yarlung Zangbo, Ngulchu, Lhasa, Nyangchu, Nyakchu and Sengye Khabap rivers, said Lei Guilong, head of Tibet's Forestry Department.

The project will start from 2014 and is expected to be completed by 2030. It will help conserve soil and water resources, as well as prevent sandstorms in these areas, Lei said.

Translation Contest

A translation contest of contemporary works in the Chinese language was launched on September 2.

Organizers of the China International Translation Contest 2013 have chosen 30 award-winning pieces of contemporary Chinese short stories from renowned writers including Nobel Prize winner Mo Yan.

Participants are required to choose one of the 30 stories to translate into English, French, Russian, Spanish or Arabic and submit their works before February 28, 2014.

Organizers said both individual translators and group efforts are welcome to take part.

The top prize for each language will be $5,000.

Patient Database

The National Health and Family Planning Commission issued on August 29 a document on managing patients suffering illnesses such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, persistent delusional disorder and paranoid schizophrenia. They are among the six categories of severe mental disturbance in the country's first Mental Health Law that took effect in May.

Patients and those who harm others should be recorded in the national mental illness information administration system, the document said.

The hospital should record the patient in the national system, or submit a written report to a county-level mental illness prevention and treatment agency, within 10 days after the patient is discharged from hospital, it said.

China had more than 100 million people with some form of mental disorder in 2009, including 16 million suffering severe mental illnesses, according to latest figures from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Safe Water

China will ensure the safety of drinking water by the year 2015 in rural areas, where it still remains inaccessible to more than 100 million people, a senior official said on August 29.

By the end of this year, 63 percent of rural residents will have access to safe drinking water, said Li Guoying, Vice Minister of Water Resources.

The government had allocated more than 179 billion yuan ($29.25 billion) for safe drinking water projects from 2005 to 2012, Li said.