BLAST INTO SPACE: The remote-sensing satellite, Yaogan X, is sent into space aboard a Long March 4C carrier rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi Province on August 10 (SHANG CHUNYA)

Supporting Harvest

China's Central Government has urged greater efforts to ensure this year's grain output, a government statement said on August 11.

A string of policies has been rolled out in support of autumn grain production, said the State Council, China's cabinet, in the statement released following an executive meeting chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao.

Autumn grain production is crucial for China to meet its annual output target. It accounts for 70 percent of total production.

The Ministry of Finance will also allocate 1.1 billion yuan ($162.4 million) to subsidize purchases of fertilizer and pesticides.

Wen urged greater efforts to restore production in disaster-hit regions, after flood damage to large swathes of farmland in recent months.

China's summer grain output declined 0.3 percent year on year to 123.1 million tons this year, the first drop in seven years, said the National Bureau of Statistics.

Caution on Warrants

Prosecutors will have to obtain approval from a higher-level procuratorate before they order arrest warrants for suspects accused of defamation, officials of China's Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said on August 7.

The move came only days after police of Suichang County in Zhejiang Province canceled a warrant for Qiu Ziming, a reporter from the Economic Observer, who was accused of defamation by a publicly listed company.

The quality of handling criminal cases is the "lifeline" of the work in investigating, supervising and examining the police applications to arrest persons implicated in a crime, the SPP said.

Closures Ordered

China's industry chiefs have warned more than 2,000 companies to close obsolete production facilities within two months or face cuts in credit and a suspension of government approvals.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has set the deadline at the end of September for firms to shut down outdated facilities in a move to cut overcapacity and raise the level of economic growth.

The government order involves 2,087 companies, says a document released by the ministry on August 8.

The order covers 18 industries: iron, steel, coke, iron alloys, calcium carbide, electrolytic aluminum, copper smelting, lead smelting, zinc smelting, cement, paper-making, glass, ethanol, monosodium glutamate, citric acid, leather-making, printing and dying, and chemical fibers.

The greatest numbers of facilities ordered to close are in the cement, paper-making and iron sectors.

Health Priorities

China's Ministry of Health said on August 10 hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD), inoculation against measles and the construction of a mental health network are the priorities for its annual disease prevention plan.

Ministry spokesman Deng Haihua said in Beijing the ministry will closely supervise work in the three areas.

HFMD broke out in China in 2008 and the outbreak reached its peak this year. In June alone, 343,100 children were diagnosed with HFMD, double the number of the same period of last year, and 179 died from the disease.

In June, 5,815 cases of measles were reported and one case resulted in death.

This year's spate of violent assaults on school children and suicides by factory workers has raised concern about China's mental health network.

Apart from disease prevention and control, the ministry also vowed to promote rural health services as another major task.