Official arrested

A FORMER director with the procurement office of the city government has been arrested for alleged corruption, according to the Shenzhen Municipal Procuratorate. The arrest of Duan Chuanrao came half a month after he was probed for disciplinary violations. He was accused of taking a large unspecified amount of money in bribes during his service at the procurement office. He has been expelled from the Party. No other details were available.

App-based toll lanes

TWO more Shenzhen expressways have designated a lane at their tollgates for drivers using an app instead of cash or the conventional ETC (electronic toll collection) to pay the toll. On Tuesday, Shenzhen Expressway Co. Ltd. designated a lane at the tollgates along the Shenzhen section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Riverside Expressway and Meiguan Expressway for app-based toll payment.

Car owners need to download the Shenzhen E-transport app, which went online June 27, and tie their car’s license plate number to their bank accounts in order to pay the tolls with the app. Tollgates along the two above-mentioned expressways, as well as Jihe Expressway, will automatically recognize the license plate number and deduct the toll from the driver’s bank account when the vehicle exits the expressways.

Ferry tickets

RESIDENTS are now able to buy tickets for the Yantian-Nan’ao ferry on the official WeChat account of Shenzhen Oceanus Group, the operator of the ferry, or the websites of Ctrip and other online travel agencies. The fare for a single-trip is 50 yuan (US$7.35) per person for economy class and 70 yuan for business class. A 50-percent discount will be offered to children and seniors over 60 years old. The ferry service between Yantian Port and Nan’ao Shuangyong Wharf has been well-received by residents since it was launched half a month ago.

E-commerce in SZ

SHENZHEN has over 360,000 e-commerce companies as of the first half of 2018, of which over 80,000 were registered on local e-commerce platforms, according to the city’s market and supervision commission.

However, an increase in online scams has become a serious problem. The commission received over 50,000 complaints last year, and 1,842 cases were filed for further investigation leading to fines totaling over 10 million yuan.