Tag Archives: China

Eight people involved in stealing, selling and buying information of more than 200,000 newborns have been sentenced for infringing citizens’ personal information.

The Pudong New Area People’s Court said yesterday that the defendants included two former employees of the city’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The eight were sentenced from seven to 27 months, and were ordered to pay penalties ranging from 2,000 to 5,000 yuan (US$290 to US$730).

One of the accused, surnamed Han, 41, was working in the city-level Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and another surnamed Zhang, 50, was working for the district-level authority. In 2014, Zhang persuaded Han to steal information of newborns from the center’s database to help his friend promote infant health products, promising a commission fee.

From the beginning of 2014 to July last year, Han illegally downloaded the information from the system and sent the details to Zhang via e-mail twice a month. Each time information on about 5,000 newborns was given. Zhang then sold the information to another of the accused, surnamed Fan, who was in the infant health products business. According to the court, Han, Zhang and Fan stole personal information on more than 200,000 newborns.

Moreover, Fan sold more than 250,000 pieces of information to another of the defendants, surnamed Li, who sold on the information to two of the accused, surnamed Huang and Wang. All three were also involved in infant health products. Wang’s ex-driver, surnamed Wu, also stole information of more than 70,000 newborns.

All eight confessed their guilt to the court, returned their illegal income and paid the penalties imposed.

Shanghai is the highest of five Chinese mainland cities at No. 4 in the list of the world’s 30 most dynamic cities, according to the Global City Momentum Index released Thursday by real estate services provider JLL.

Beijing, Shenzhen, Hangzhou and Nanjing are the other four Chinese cities that appeared in the fourth annual list, ranking 15th, 22nd, 26th and 29th, respectively, according to the index, which monitors 134 major business hubs across the world and tracks the rate of change of a city’s economy and commercial real estate market.

The most dynamic cities are able to embrace technological change, absorb rapid population growth and strengthen global connectivity, JLL said.

“Shanghai has strong ambitions to continue its growth and explicitly aims to become a global center for both financial services and technological innovation,” said Joe Zhou, head of research for JLL China.

“For now, Shanghai’s real estate market remains one of the world’s most dynamic markets, with strong demand being driven by the growth of domestic firms.”

Asian cities made up half of the top 10, with Bangalore in India replacing London to take the top spot for the first time.

“Our research showed that the Asia-Pacific region is home to more than half of the globe’s 30 most dynamic cities and real estate markets, highlighting the rise of commercial cities such as Bangalore and Ho Chi Minh City as major hubs of commerce,” said Megan Walters, head of research for Asia Pacific at JLL.

China’s registered permanent urban residents rose to 41.2 percent of the total population in 2016, after easing of “hukou” (household registration) policy, the Ministry of Public Security announced Thursday. In 2015, only 39.9 percent of the populatio… read more

A man in northeastern China who stole 6 million yuan (US$874,000) after hijacking an armored bank truck he was driving said he carried out the heist to pay off his debts. Li Xuyi took four security guards hostage on Sept 7 using a “gunlike object” and… read more

A police investigation is underway into the theft of black swan eggs at a scenic spot over Spring Festival, which has left the Swan pair grief-stricken and unable to eat.

The eggs were taken from the breeding pair at the swan scenic spot of Mount Tai, east China’s Shandong province.

Staff members have reviewed security camera footage and said that two tourists may have been responsible for the theft.

Li Yaming, general manager of the swan breeding company in Taian city, told reporters that the swan eggs went missing on February 1. Keepers found that the black swan couple had left their nest, were making a lot of noise, and were being aggressive towards people coming too near to them.

“The two black swans were behaving very abnormally, and then the breeder found out that the five black swan eggs were all gone,” said Li Yaming.

Swans tend to stay in the nest during the incubation period. In general, male swans keep guard while female swans incubate the eggs. The thieves would have needed to wait for the swan couple to take a break before taking the eggs, said Li.

According to the staff at the scenic spot, unhatched eggs are useless to ordinary people. The eggs can’t be eaten nor can they be hatched. Also, the eggs could explode in hot weather. But even if they were returned by the thieves, the five missing eggs can no longer be hatched.

Swans are nationally protected animals, and as they are strictly monogamous, they are seen as a symbol of loyalty in love.

Incubating eggs for swans is a painful process. Female swans only produce 4-7 eggs every spring, and the time needed for the eggs to incubate is 36 days. Even with great care by swan couples, the survival rate of eggs is only 50 percent.