Joint anti-terrorism exercises of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), dubbed "Peace Mission 2007," were launched in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on August 9, and later moved to the Urals Mountain city Chelyabinsk. The Chinese command was stationed in a Russian military base used for the antiterrorism drill.

The six member countries of the SCO-China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan-all sent troops for the drill.

About 6,500 troops and 80 aircraft are expected to take part in the drill, including 2,000 troops and 36 aircraft from Russia.

Some of the 1,600 Chinese troops began training at the Chebarkul range after they arrived at the military base on August 3.

No baby ban

Chinese universities and colleges are no longer allowed to kick out married students who get pregnant or give birth, according to a statement posted on the website of the country's family planning regulator on August 3.

However, pregnant students are encouraged to suspend their studies to ensure they stay healthy, said the joint statement by China's National Population and Family Planning Commission and Ministry of Education.

And universities and colleges must strengthen education on family planning policy and sexual knowledge, including contraception, the statement said.

Under Chinese law, women can marry at 20 and men at 22. Students were forbidden to marry until a new regulation on higher education took effect in September 2005.

Curbing Price Hikes

Chinese local pricing authorities have been told to crack down on food producers and sellers that attempt to raise food prices to an unreasonable level, said sources with the National Development and Reform Commission on August 6.

Describing the nationwide campaign as a major political task, the top economic planning agency urged pricing departments at all levels to work hard to stabilize the food market.

The move comes in the wake of recent food price hikes that have pushed the consumer price index, the country's inflation rate, above the government's target of 3 percent for four consecutive months.

The campaign, mainly targeting food manufacturers, wholesale and retail firms, will overhaul the prices for daily foods like grain, cooking oil, meat, poultry, eggs and milk.

Summer Camps for Web Addicts

Forty youngsters addicted to the Internet will participate in the first summer camp in China to help online addicts get back to normal.

The 10-day camp, which is recruiting participants from Shanghai, will open at the end of August.

To be considered for the experimental program, potential campers aged 14 to 22 can visit the site with their parents to take a psychological test and speak with professional counselors for evaluation.

According to a research by Shanghai's youth affairs office, those seriously addicted to the Web should receive medical help, but this rarely happens. A low level of Internet addiction is believed to exist in more than 10 percent of Shanghai youngsters.