Ecological civilization

The country has released a guideline on deepening the reform of the country’s ecological compensation mechanism to speed up the building of ecological civilization.

The guideline, jointly released by the general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, details measures for the country to realize long-term ecological compensation goals set for 2025 and 2035. By 2025, an ecological compensation mechanism that is aligned with economic and social development should be basically built up. The classified compensation system targeting ecological elements such as rivers, natural forests and wetlands, and the comprehensive compensation system that features fiscal support will be improved.

COVID resurgence

Fujian Province reported 22 locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases and 13 local asymptomatic carriers on Sunday, the provincial health commission said on Monday.

The confirmed cases are in the cities of Xiamen, Quanzhou and Putian, and the new asymptomatic carriers are in Putian. The First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University in Xiamen was put on lockdown on early Monday after a logistics staff member tested positive. The case was detected during a routine screening, and outpatient and emergency medical services have been suspended, the hospital said in a statement.

Cooperation zones

Guangdong Province will team up with the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions (SARs) to build Hengqin and Qianhai cooperation zones with high standards, promote the zones’ implementation of major policies, projects and reforms, and ensure the realization of blueprints made by the Central authorities.

At a news conference organized by the Guangdong Provincial Government Information Office on Friday, Governor Ma Xingrui said the province is formulating overall plans for the two zones’ development and will introduce more reform measures and expedite the construction of a new system for open economy to give the two cooperation zones full experimentation as the window of opening up.

Death penalty

Lao Rongzhi, who killed seven people and committed other crimes before going on the run for about 20 years, was sentenced to death by a court in Jiangxi Province on Thursday.

Born in 1974, Lao was convicted of intentional homicide, kidnapping and robbery and was sentenced by the Nanchang Intermediate People’s Court. The court also stripped her of her political rights and ordered that all her personal property be confiscated. Lao said she would appeal the ruling. According to the court, Lao and her ex-boyfriend Fa Ziying worked together while committing the crimes from 1996 to 1999. Lao sought targets at entertainment venues, and Fa was responsible for committing violence against them. (SD-Agencies)