A total of 58 suspects in a cross-border telecom scam were brought back to Chengdu in southwest China from Indonesia by air Thursday.

Suspects in a cross-border scam are brought back to Chengdu, Sichuan Province, from Indonesia by air on August 3, 2017. [Photo: Chinanews.com]

Victims in Meishan city, Sichuan Province were swindled out of over 6 million yuan (900,000 U.S. dollars) by a series of phone and wire frauds on May 24.

On June 23, police arrested seven suspects making fake phone cards and credit cards in Chengdu and southeast China’s Xiamen, and seized over 1.3 million yuan.

Interrogation led police to a gang of accomplices in Indonesia. Two teams of police officers went to Indonesia in June and July.

With the support of the local police, 68 suspects of two groups were rounded up in Bali and Surabaya, of whom 58 were brought back to China Thursday.

On July 27, an unrelated group of 17 telecom fraud suspects in a separate case were brought back from Cambodia.

A condom producer in Guangdong province is taking legal action against the Guinness World Records in a bid to retain the title of world’s thinnest prophylactic manufacturer.

Guangzhou Daming United Rubber Products Limited has taken Guinness World Records to court in Beijing after its product was deleted, even though it had previously been verified.

Guinness World Records verified the company’s aoni condom, which has an average thickness of 0.036 milimeters, as the world’s thinnest in 2013.

But the defendant deleted the record due to new internal regulations and rules it introduced in 2015.

Li Xubo, legal officer from Guangzhou Daming United Rubber Products Limited, said Guinness should not use the regulations and rules which were introduced in 2015 to delete previously verfied records.

“Guinness, which modified its rules at will, has run counter to the basic business ethics and the principle of good faith,” Li said.

Beijing Chaoyang district people’s court has yet to hand down its decision after two public hearings took place in July.

China released a list of industries that need to obtain licenses before discharging pollutants Thursday.

The list specified the deadlines for stationary sources of pollution in 82 industries to get licenses and named sectors to be focal points of management in a statement by the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

Thermal power stations and paper-making enterprises were among the first required to operate with the permits, with more than 5,100 licenses already issued.

From the second half of this year, 13 industries including the steel and chemical sectors must apply for the permits. All 82 industries should have licenses by 2020.

By issuing the licenses, environmental authorities will specify the location and number of pollutant discharge outlets for companies, the method and direction of discharge, as well as set ceilings on the variety, concentration and amount of pollutants.

Companies in breach of the policy may face fines up to 1 million yuan (about 150,000 U.S. dollars) or the suspension of operations. Actions that hamper supervision, such as the damaging of monitoring devices and failing to keep original monitoring records, will also be punished.

China is fighting pollution and environmental degradation after decades of growth left the country with problems such as smog and contaminated soil.

The central government has been stepping up supervision of environmental violations while setting detailed tasks to clean up polluted air, water and soil.

China had about 702,000 social organizations as of the end of 2016, according to data released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs Thursday.

The organizations include 336,000 social groups and associations, 5,559 foundations and 361,000 private non-enterprise organizations.

As of the end of last year, social organizations nationwide had over 7.63 million employees, up by 3.9 percent from the previous year.

In 2016 authorities investigated 2,363 cases of social organization-related violations, closing illegal organizations in 16 cases and handing down punishments in 2,347 cases, it said.

In China, private non-enterprise organizations generally include schools, hospitals, elderly-care centers and museums.

A 23-year-old giant panda has delivered twins in southwest China’s Sichuan Province, becoming the oldest panda to ever give birth, a breeding center said Thursday.

The age of 23 for giant pandas is equal to 80 years for a human.

The mother, Haizi, gave birth to a 175-gram female and a 123.1-gram male on July 30 at Shenshuping protection base in Wolong National Nature Reserve, according to the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Center.

Haizi became pregnant after mating with a panda called Yibao in April.

To take care of the senior pregnant panda, the center allocated a special vet and breeder and tailored a breeding program for her, said Li Desheng, a panda zoologist with the center.

Haizi also delivered a pair of twins when she was 19 years old.

As of Thursday, 21 panda cubs had been born in the center this year, including seven pairs of twins.

Summer is the peak season for giant panda reproduction.