GUANGXI

Hunan official accepts bribery charges

Xiang Lili, former vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of Hunan Provincial People's Congress, accepted the charge against him of taking bribes of nearly 67 million yuan ($9.5 million) during his trial on Thursday. He made use of his position to help others in land development, project promotion, enterprise reform and project contracting and accepted property in return from 2003 to 2019, according to the Liuzhou People's Procuratorate in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region on Thursday. The sentence will be given later.

INNER MONGOLIA

High-speed railway link in trial operation

The first high-speed railway linking Beijing and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region completed a trial operation without passengers on Wednesday. The China Railway Hohhot Group said a train arrived at the regional capital's Hohhot East Railway Station at 10:36 am after departing from Beijing North Railway Station to complete the trial run. The travel time between Hohhot and Beijing, about 500 kilometers apart, will be cut from over nine hours to two hours and 18 minutes.

SHAANXI

Boars infected by African swine fever

China confirmed a case of boars having contracted African swine fever in Shaanxi province on Wednesday. Of nine sampled dead boars, three from Foping county of Hanzhong city tested positive for the deadly virus, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said, citing reports from the China Animal Disease Control Center. Local authorities have initiated an emergency response to handle the infected boars. African swine fever is believed to infect only swine, and no humans or other species have thus far been infected.

GUIZHOU

4 detained in drug trafficking case

Police in Guizhou province have busted a cross-border drug trafficking case and apprehended four suspects, local police said on Thursday. Police in the city of Bijie learned in early November that drugs were being transported from overseas. After an investigation, police conducted an operation early this month and intercepted a vehicle at a toll gate in Qixingguan district. Four suspects were caught on the spot and 39 kilograms of drugs were confiscated.

QINGHAI

2 cliff paintings found in Tongtian River basin

Two cliff paintings featuring images of human faces and over 100 tower-shaped cliff paintings have been discovered in the Tongtian River basin in Qinghai province, local authorities said on Wednesday. They are engraved in a mountain located about 600 meters from the river in the source region of the Yangtze River in Yushu Tibetan autonomous prefecture. The age of these paintings has not yet been determined.