YANLING, Hunan, May 20 (Xinhua) — One body of the 20 victims killed in the central China tunnel explosion Saturday has been retrieved, rescuers told Xinhua in the wee hours of Sunday.

When the blast occurred, a total of 24 people were working at the Bamianshan tunnel, which is being built for the Yanling-Rucheng expressway, in Yanling county of Zhuzhou city, Hunan Province.

Four of them were pulled out, including one in critical conditions and another slightly injured, the Hunan provincial transport …

BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) — Chinese shares rebounded Thursday after falling for four consecutive days, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 1.39 percent to 2,378.89 points.

The Shenzhen Component Index edged up 1.64 percent to 10,079.48 points.

Combined turnover on the two bourses rose to 145.46 billion yuan (23 billion U.S. dollars) from 134.8 billion yuan the previous day.

Gainers outnumbered losers by 829 to 91 in Shanghai, and …

GUANGZHOU, May 16 (Xinhua) — A two-and-a half month fishing ban began at noon on Wednesday in most parts of the South China Sea, marking efforts to rehabilitate marine resources, according to fishery authorities.

The Hainan provincial marine and fishing department said all 8,994 locally-registered fishing vessels have been moored, affecting 35,611 people.

The annual fishing ban, which has been in place since 1999, will last from May 16 to …

HOHHOT, May 14 (Xinhua) — At least four people were confirmed dead and 36 others were injured after a coach collided with a truck in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region early Monday morning.

The fire department in Huade County said both of the vehicles rolled over after the collision at 1 a.m. Monday. The truck driver and two passengers on the sleeper coach died on the spot.

Rescuers sent 37 injured people to hospital. One of them died in hospital after …

BEIJING, (Xinhua) — China’s Producer Price Index (PPI), a main gauge of inflation at the wholesale level, fell 0.7 percent in April from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Friday.

The data marked another month of year-on-year decline after China’s PPI saw a drop in March for the first time since December 2009, NBS data showed.

On a month-on-month basis, the country’s PPI in April grew 0.2 percent, the …

BEIJING, (Xinhua) — China’s stock index futures opened lower on Friday as the market closely monitored the April inflation data released the same day.

The contract for settlement in May, the most actively traded, fell 5 points, to open at 2,660.2

The contract for settlement in June dipped 5.2 points to open at 2,666.2. The contract for settlement in September fell 3.6 points, to open at 2,697, while the contract for settlement in December lost 4.4 points to open at 2,731.2.

The stock-index …

BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua) — China’s auto sales dropped from the previous year in the first four months of 2012, as the slowing economy, the removal of subsidies and high fuel prices deterred buyers.

Total auto sales fell 1.33 percent year on year to 6.42 million units from January to April, while output rose 0.47 percent year on year to 6.43 million units, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said Wednesday.

The country’s auto industry showed a trend of recovery in …

BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua) — Chinese shares closed sharply lower Wednesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 40.3 points, or 1.65 percent, to 2,408.59, its largest daily decline in six weeks.

The Shenzhen Component Index tumbled 2.19 percent, or 230.1 points, to close at 10,294.58.

Combined turnover on the two bourses totalled 179.2 billion yuan (28.44 billion U.S. dollars).

Losers outnumbered gainers by 794 to 126 in Shanghai, while losers outnumbered gainers by 1,173 to 238 in Shenzhen.

The sharp decline was triggered …

image from @Astro_Soichi

TIANJIN.- May 6 (Xinhua) — A “supermoon” appeared in the sky on Sunday, when the natural satellite of Earth was at its biggest and brightest this year.
In many places of China, the public enjoyed seeing a much bigger and brighter moon than usual.
The moon’s distance from Earth varies between approximately 350,000 km and 400,000 km due …

BEIJING, May 5 (Xinhua) — China will train 8,000 doctors in rural areas to prevent and treat diabetes, covering 279 counties in nine provinces, the Chinese Diabetes Society (CDS) under the Chinese Medical Association said Friday.

The year-long program will allow doctors to receive both face-to-face and remote online training in the provinces of Jiangsu, Hebei, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Sichuan, Yunnan, Shandong and Henan, the CDS said.

A CDS survey …