New SZ Metro lines

    The first phase of Metro Line 2 and the elevated part of Metro Line 3 opened on Dec. 28, bringing city Metro rail length to 90 kilometers and beginning the formation of the city Metro network.

    The first phase of Metro Line 2, between Window of the World and Chiwan, Shekou, operates between 7:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. with trains departing at 10-minute intervals.

    Metro Line 3 from Shuanglong Station in Longgang and Caopu in Luohu District run between 8:30 a.m. and 9 p.m., at 10-minute intervals in rush hours between 8:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. and 15-minute intervals during off-peak hours.

    Freezing rain

    All expressways in Guizhou Province were closed Sunday as freezing rain left 300 people stranded.

    The local government had dispatched 175 emergency vehicles and 1,520 personnel since Saturday afternoon to help people in the freezing rain.

    In the 24 hours to 8 a.m. Sunday, freezing rain had lashed 62 counties and cities in Guizhou.

    Rare earth exports cut

    China cut the first batch of rare earth export quotas for next year by more than one-10th, in the face of a threat by the United States to complain to the World Trade Organization over the export limits.

    China produces about 97 percent of rare earth elements, which are used worldwide in high technology, clean energy and other products .

    The decision to cut export quotas and raise tariffs has inflamed trade ties with the United States, European Union and Japan in particular.

    Workshop blast

    Five people were killed and eight others injured on Thursday in an explosion in a pharmaceutical workshop in Yunnan Province.

    The blast happened at around 10 a.m. in Guandu District of Kunming, the provincial capital.

    The workshop belonged to Quanxin Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd.

    The cause of the explosion was being investigated.

    (SD-Agencies)