Billions invested in water project

Northeast China's Heilongjiang province plans to invest 4.68 billion yuan ($737 million) in water conservation projects by next spring, local authority said on Monday.

The local government will start construction on about 8.65 million farmland irrigation and water conservation projects, repair 349 flood-damaged projects, clean up 7,856 kilometers of water channels, and consolidate 490 kilometers of dikes and 97 reservoirs, according to a plan released by the Water Resources Bureau of Heilongjiang.

Yunnan

Armed escort to patrol rivers

China will send an armed escort to accompany vessels cruising on the Lancang River and Mekong River.

The government has purchased five merchant ships for the task and is refitting them. Those ships will join with ships sent by three countries - Myanmar, Thailand and Laos.

China will also set up a water-security force under the administration of Xishuangbanna, Yunnan province, to patrol the waterways with the other countries. The force is expected to include more than 1,000 people.

Jiangsu

PLA establishes artillery academy

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has established a new artillery school in Nanjing, capital of east Jiangsu province, to train modern artillery officers and soldiers. The new military school, the PLA's Nanjing Artillery Academy, is being formed through the merger of a PLA artillery command academy in Hebei province and an artillery school in Nanjing.

Both schools have cultivated more than 120,000 officers for the PLA's artillery and air defense forces. The new artillery academy will offer training courses to both enlisted personnel and officers and offer training on the use of anti-tank missiles, Major General Zhang Shude, superintendent of the academy, said on Monday.

Beijing

Functional foods eyed for safety

Chinese authorities announced on Sunday stepped-up regulations over the quality and safety of functional foods, in the country's latest efforts to address public concerns on health safety.

Functional foods are those which have had an ingredient added to improve its functions, for example, through better health or to fight a disease. China will strictly follow the application procedures for entries into the functional food market. Companies with false filing information will be denied access and blacklisted.

China Daily - Xinhua

(China Daily 11/08/2011 page2)