GROWING WITHOUT EARTH A vegetable cultivation exhibition in Shouguang, Shandong Province, showcases hi-tech farming, such as soilless gardening (ZHU ZHENG)

Fatal Negligence

China has meted out punishment to 113 people deemed responsible for a catastrophic landslide in north China last year that killed at least 277 people, a top work safety official said recently. The disaster prompt ed Shanxi Governor Meng Xuenong to resign.

Among the total, 51 were transferred to judicial organs for criminal charges and 62 received disciplinary penalties, said Luo Lin, head of the State Administration of Work Safety.

The collapse of an unlicensed iron-ore-dregs retaining pond triggered a massive landslide on September 8 in coal-rich Shanxi Province's Xiangfen County. The torrent of mud and mining waste buried an outdoor market near a village of more than 1,000 residents .

Investigations found the collapse was due to negligence. The tailingdumping pond was built in violation of regulations and had almost no safety inspections.

Stronger Stimulus

The Chinese Government is expected to launch its third batch of stimulus investments in large domestic projects in the second quarter to further boost its economy, the China Securities Journal reported on April 21.

The Central Government has so far cashed in a combined 230 billion yuan ($33.8 billion) of its 4-trillion-yuan ($586 billion) stimulus package announced last November to bolster the slowing economy.

The journal article said the second-quarter investment might be much larger than the previous two, as the government hopes to consolidate foundations with more investment for the economic recovery. The report also said new money would continue to be poured into projects that could benefit people's livelihoods, such as the health and education sectors, big infrastructure projects and housing for low-income earners.

Spending Spree

A Chinese mainland autonomous region will send a large buying group to Taiwan in May to purchase $160 million worth of products, local officials said.

The buying group, consisting of more than 100 businesses from the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, will be sent to Taiwan along with a delegation of 1,000 people to the Fifth Conference on Guangxi-Taiwan Economic and Trade Cooperation scheduled for May 22, said the regional government Chairman Ma Biao in talks with the visiting Vice Chairman of the Kuomintang, Chiang Hsiao-yen.

Going West

The government will repay school fees or bank loans for college graduates willing to work in remote and poverty-stricken areas of the country's less developed central and western regions, according to a notice released jointly by the Finance and Education ministries.

The notice said graduates need to work for at least three years in grassroots areas at the county level, such as in town or county government administrations, primary or middle schools, farms, veterinarian stations and coal mines.

Those eligible need to have yearly repayment amounts less than 6,000 yuan ($882), the notice added.

Student applicants will sign a service contract with the school and government before graduation. If they want to terminate the contract, they should apply to the school for permission.