TIBETAN FLYERS: Black-necked cranes fly in Lhundup County of Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, on December 5. Tibet has proved the environment for the crane, of which the number has increased in recent years (ZHANG XIAOHUA)

Disaster Aid

China's ministries of finance and civil affairs allocated 111 million yuan ($18 million) on December 5 to three regions as aid for residents affected by disasters.

The fund will be used for urgent resettlement, basic living needs and the reconstruction of houses in Jilin and Hainan provinces and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

A series of earthquakes with measured magnitudes over 5.0 hit the city of Songyuan in northeast China's Jilin in late October and November, leaving 12 people injured and causing extensive damage to buildings.

Five people in Hainan and two in Guangxi were killed after Typhoon Haiyan hit south China on November 10. Direct economic losses from the typhoon are estimated as being close to 4.5 billion yuan ($750 million).

The National Disaster Reduction Commission and the Ministry of Civil Affairs sent thousands of tents, quilts, coats and heaters to the three regions.

Water Project

A key section of China's water diversion project across arid Hebei Province has been completed, according to the construction committee.

The project is one of China's largest infrastructure projects and will take water from relatively water-rich southern regions to dryer areas in the northern part of the country, including Beijing.

The new section, spanning nearly 600 km, attracted investments of 42 billion yuan ($6.9 billion) and connects Beijing with Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei, and includes a portion near the port of Tianjin.

The new section is part of the first stage of construction for the middle of three routes of the south-to-north water diversion project. The whole route is expected to be completed by the end of the year and will supply water to 19 major cities and more than 100 smaller towns in north China starting in 2014.

Massacre Record

An encyclopedia recording the history of the Nanjing Massacre in 1937 is being compiled and is expected to be published next year, academics writing it announced on December 10.

The encyclopedia, featuring more than 18,000 entries so far, will reveal historical facts relating to the crimes committed by Japanese troops in Nanjing from late 1937 to early 1938, said Zhu Chengshan, curator of the Memorial Hall for the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders.

Experts from China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Philippines and Bangladesh have contributed to the compilation.

Japanese troops occupied Nanjing, then China's capital, on December 13, 1937, and carried out a six-week massacre. Chinese records show more than 300,000 people— most of them civilians—were brutally murdered and thousands of women were raped.

Pollution Fines

Governments in eight cities of northeast China's Liaoning Province have been fined a total of 54.2 million yuan ($8.9 million) for contributing to air pollution, the provincial department of environment protection said on December 10.

The fines, the first the provincial agency has imposed on lower-level governments, sends a clear message that the provincial government is becoming more serious about tackling air pollution.

The tough penalties come as a response to severely polluted air becoming a major source of complaints and frustration, as well as raising health concerns among urban residents.

The dense smog attracted wide attention again last week as it blanketed 100 cities across over half the country. Many rushed to buy face masks and air purifiers to ward it off, and primary and middle schools in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing were even forced to close for two days.