Chinese prosecutors will strengthen supervision over officials whose dereliction of duty has caused unsafe work conditions, an official from the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) told Xinhua News Agency on April 27.

Prosecutors will target malpractice by officials that leads to major accidents or the postponement of rescue operations, the unnamed official with the SPP's Duty Dereliction and Rights Infringement Bureau said.

Priorities will include supervision of the transportation of dangerous chemicals, natural gas and oil, infrastructure construction, the environment, and food safety. Officials who cover up, delay or give false information about work safety accidents, or instruct others to do so, will be punished severely, according to the SPP official.

SPP statistics show that from 2008 to 2013, nearly 5,500 officials were investigated or prosecuted for dereliction of duty in more than 4,000 cases. Prosecutors have recovered economic losses worth more than 2 billion yuan ($320 million).

Beijing Treaty

China's top legislature ratified the Beijing Treaty on audiovisual performances on April 24, a document overseen by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

During its bimonthly session, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress ratified the treaty, which was submitted by the State Council, China's cabinet.

Approved in June 2012 at a WIPO Diplomatic Conference in Beijing, the 30-article treaty is expected to protect the rights of film actors and other performers.

The treaty stipulates that contracting parties shall provide enforcement to ensure effective action against infringement on intellectual property rights covered by the treaty as well as remedies to deter further infringements.

Sturgeon Reserve

A nature reserve will be set up to protect Chinese sturgeons, a threatened species of fish, at the Yangtze River estuary in Shanghai, authorities announced on April 24.

The reserve, to be located in Yingdong Village in Chongming County, will cover an area of about 55,900 square meters, according to the Shanghai Agriculture Committee (SAC).

The conservation zone will include laboratory buildings, fish rescue facilities, an outdoor fishpond and an artificial purification system for wetland water. Construction will begin in May, the SAC said.

The reserve is expected to help sturgeons as well as other endangered aquatic animals survive and breed. It will also contribute to scientific research.

Believed to have lived at the same time as dinosaurs, acipenser sinensis, the Chinese sturgeon, has existed for more than 140 million years. The fish, sometimes called "aquatic pandas," is listed as a wild creature under state protection.