HOME FOR BOOKWORMS The newly-built National Digital Library of China opens to
the public on September 9 in Beijing. The building covers 80,538 square meters
and can receive up to 8,000 people daily

Dangerous Cartoon Banned

Shanghai bookstores have removed a suicide-themed comic book from shelves after one student killed himself and several others tried to do so since the new semester began.

Meanwhile, books on psychological health for young people and suicide prevention are selling well.

Bookuu Book City, a subsidiary of the Zhejiang Xinhua Bookstore group, has banned the sale of The Book of Bunny Suicides by British cartoonist Andy Riley. The book is about a rabbit that comes up with various ways to kill itself.

On September 2 a 12-year-old boy who was a top student jumped to his death from his sixth-floor apartment, increasing concern among parents for their children's mental health.

No Mercy for Corruption

A total of 186 people had incurred Party disciplinary measures or administrative penalties as of August 29 for discipline violations in relief work after the May 12 earthquake in southwest China, according to a People's Daily report.

Sixteen were officials at or above the county level and 20 have been stripped of their posts, the newspaper quoted Ma Wen, Minister of Supervision, as saying.

Ma said the commission had dispatched five teams of inspectors to Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces to make sure that government departments and social organizations properly distributed relief funds, food, donations and subsidies.

Pandas Are Coming

The Chinese mainland is preparing to send two pandas to Taiwan soon, but their departure date has not yet been specified, a mainland official said on September 10 in Beijing.

Panda experts were finalizing preparations to send the animals to a Taiwan zoo, said State Council Taiwan Affairs Office Spokesman Li Weiyi.

The 4-year-old pandas, one of China's most endangered animal species, are currently at a panda-breeding base in Ya'an, west Sichuan Province.

Land for Land

China's land authority has adopted a policy ordering local governments to replenish any arable land that is allocated for non-farming purposes. The policy takes effect in 2009.