Medical staff gives first aid to Wu, who fell down at Xiamen International Half-Marathon, Dec 10, 2016.[Photo/Sina Weibo]

The first case related to the death of an unregistered runner in China has been heard by a local court in Xiamen, Fujian province, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The runner, surnamed Wu, died after crossing the finish line in the Xiamen International Half-Marathon in December.

An investigation found that Wu was not registered to race, but had procured a number bib from a woman surnamed Li. In January, Wu’s wife, surnamed Liang, fed a lawsuit against both the half-marathon organizers and Li, seeking 1.23 million yuan ($180,000) in compensation.

The Xiamen’s Haicang District People’s Court accepted the case.

The increasing popularity of running in China has produced a second-hand trade in bibs allowing those that miss out on the lottery to buy a place in a race.

The court must decide whether the organizer should be blamed for a lack of supervision during the race, whether Li’s behavior should be treated as goodwill or not, and whether there was a causal link between her behavior and Wu’s death.

According to Liang, the organizer should take responsibility for her husband’s death as the running number Wu began with an “F” for “female”, a clear indication that it was not his bib. She also argued Li bears some responsibility because marathon running requires real name registration and privately trading number bibs is not allowed.

The organizer insists they are not liable for compensation as Wu’s death was unpredictable.

The organizer reportedly paid Wu’s family 100,000 yuan earlier for humanitarian purposes.

Three judges and four jurors presided over the hearing and are yet to hand down their judgement.

The judgment will set a precedent for other sports lawsuits.

China’s State Council published a guideline Thursday to improve the management of the government websites.

To establish a clean, innovative and service-oriented government ruled by law, websites should be open, clear, informative and convenient for the public, said the document issued by the general office of the State Council.

According to the guideline, ministries of the State Council and government offices above county level should each have one official website.

The guideline also stressed Internet security, urging government offices to set up stable, reliable and safe websites by having online security warning systems and emergency response systems.

China on Thursday rejected a review of key developments in Hong Kong by the U.S. State Department.

“We express strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to that document and the irresponsible remarks by the United States,” foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said Thursday at a daily press briefing.

Hua said that Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China. Hong Kong affairs fall within China’s domestic affairs and no country has any right to intervene, she said.

She urged the United States to be prudent in its words and actions on affairs concerning Hong Kong.

It is undeniable that the principle of “one country, two systems” and the Basic Law have been comprehensively implemented, and Hong Kong residents have enjoyed their rights and freedoms in accordance with the law since Hong Kong’s return to the motherland, according to Hua.

“The Chinese government’s resolve to implement ‘one country, two systems’ and ‘Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong’ with a high degree of autonomy is unwavering, and will not be changed,” she said.

Customs authorities in Xiamen, a city on China’s east coast, announced on Thursday that they had seized 700 bottles of bear bile.

A male passenger took a flight from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to Xiamen, the customs authorities said in a statement. Customs inspectors used X-ray machines on his luggage and suspected it contained a large number of small bottles.

Inspectors found 100 bottles of bear bile from the man’s luggage. Based on his report, another 600 of vials were found from the luggage of his companion. Each bottle contained one milliliter of the bile.

According to Chinese law, passengers must obtain certified documents if they wish to carry bear parts through customs. Smuggling is subject to legal punishment of fines or even imprisonment.

China is working on reusable launch vehicles and has achieved progress in some key areas, a carrier rocket official said Thursday.

The processes under development include parachute-landing and propulsion-landing, said Lu Yu, director of Science and Technology Committee of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) at the Global Space Exploration Conference (GLEX 2017).

Reusable lift-body launchers will be developed in three stages — rocket-engine partial reusable vehicle, rocket-engine full reusable vehicle and combined cycle-engine reusable vehicle, said Lu.

The Long March carrier rockets still have room for improvement, Lu said, adding that the CALT is developing a heavy-lift launch vehicle with a payload of 140 tonnes to low Earth orbit and 50 tonnes to lunar transfer orbit.

The heavy-lift carrier rocket is currently called the Long March-9, and it should be sent into space by 2030, he said.

According to Lu, a low-cost commercial medium launch vehicle, the Long March-8. is under development, and based on the Long March-8, a new high-orbit medium launch vehicle should be designed to improve the Long March series and enhance competitiveness.

Since China’s space transportation system started in 1960s, a total of 17 types of launch vehicles have been developed. As of May 2017, Long March series carrier rockets have conducted 246 flights with a success rate of 96 percent, fulfilling missions including the launch of manned spacecraft, a moon rover and the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System.

Lu said that China has carried out international space transportation cooperation through piggyback- and commercial-satellite launches and in-orbit delivery.

As of present, the Long March series have finished 55 international launches, sending 64 payloads into orbit for more than 20 countries and regions.

China will also enhance cooperation by renting foreign launch sites to improve launch flexibility, building international launch sites at equatorial regions, and developing sea-based launch platforms with other countries, he said.