LITTLE LEAGUE: Children from 10 kindergartens in Yantai, Shandong Province, take part in the World Cup for Kids competition on June 11 to celebrate the approaching World Cup football tournament in Brazil (SHEN JIZHONG)

No Blood Diamonds

China will continue to combat blood diamond trading, an official said on June 10.

Wei Chuanzhong, Deputy Director of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), made the remarks at a meeting of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) in Shanghai.

Wei is incumbent chair of the Kimberley Process, a joint government, industry and social initiative to stem the flow of blood diamonds, also known as conflict diamonds, which are used to finance wars.

The scheme imposes extensive requirements on its members to enable them to certify shipments of rough diamonds as "conflict-free" and prevent blood diamonds from entering legitimate trade.

Wei said at the meeting that the AQSIQ has set up a team to safeguard the implementation of the scheme.

China is now the world's second largest diamond consumer and fourth largest rough diamond trader.

From 2003 when the Kimberley Process was established to 2013, China's ports inspected 53,400 batches of rough diamonds worth $36.6 billion in accordance with the KPCS.

Copyright Protection

China is considering raising penalties for copyright infringement, according to a draft amendment published on June 6.

The draft amendment to the Copyright Law will see miscreants face fines worth five times their illegal gains, or up to 250,000 yuan ($40,175) when the exact sum cannot be established. Previously fines were three times the profit or 100,000 yuan ($16,070).

The draft document was published by the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council, the nation's cabinet, to solicit public feedback, which should be submitted before July 5.