Six websites based in Beijing jointly launch an anti-misinformation platform on August 1 (LI MINGFANG)

Combating Online Defamation

The Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate issued a judicial interpretation on September 9 regarding convicting and sentencing for offenders who spread false rumors online that defame, blackmail or provoke.

Internet users sharing false information that is defamatory or harms national interests face up to three years in prison if their posts are viewed more than 5,000 times or forwarded more than 500 times, according to the document.

Rescuers walk through debris to reach isolated areas after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Lushan County, Sichuan Province, on April 20 (CHEN XIE)

Major Earthquake

A 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Lushan County, Sichuan Province, on April 20, leaving at least 196 dead and 11,470 injured.

On July 15, the Chinese Government released a post-quake reconstruction plan for an area of 10,706 square km that was severely hit, with 1.15 million living there benefiting.

The government has estimated that reconstruction efforts could cost up to 86 billion yuan ($13.9 billion) over the next three years.

Staff members from the Guangdong Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau take blood samples from chickens for inspection in Guangzhou on April 16 to ensure the safety of poultry supplied to Hong Kong and Macao after an earlier outbreak of the H7N9 influenza (LIU DAWEI)

Fatal Virus

Since the world's first three cases of human infection with H7N9 avian influenza were confirmed by China's health authority on March 31, the Chinese mainland had reported a total of 143 human infections by December 18, resulting in 45 deaths.

An influenza A virus, H7N9 normally circulates among birds.

No mutation of H7N9 bird flu has been monitored yet and transmission from animals remains the only way in which humans have caught the virus, said Yao Hongwen, a spokesman for the National Health and Family Planning Commission, on December 10.

Airborne Threat Precautions

The Ministry of National Defense issued a statement on November 23 revealing the establishment of China's first air defense identification zone (ADIZ), which extends over the East China Sea.

Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said that the Chinese Government has followed common international practices in the establishment of the East China Sea ADIZ, with aims at protecting its state sovereignty and territorial and airspace security, and maintaining flying orders. He added that the zone has no particular target and will not affect the freedom of flight in relevant airspace.

Yang said that China will set up other ADIZs at the appropriate moment after necessary preparations are completed.