Last week, our neighboring Zhejiang Province shut down two 125MW generating coal-firing power plant units which had been in operation for 18 years. According to Huaneng Changxing Power Plant, the units did not comply with energy efficiency requirements. Replacing them will be two more efficient (if still, unfortunately, coal-fired) 600MW units. more ›

• China database to track children [BBC] "China is setting up a DNA database to help trace missing children, as the authorities struggle to tackle people trafficking. By the end of the month, a network of more than 200 DNA centres is due to be set up. Thousands of children in China are stolen or sold each year."
• More on Beijing doping: cyclist, runner, walker join list [LA Times] "Five down, one to go." On the list of athletes at the Beijing Olympics who doped: German cycler Stefan Schumacher, Croation 800-meter runner Vanja Persic and Greek race walker Athania Tsoumeleka.
• China announces regulations for financial information in settlement with US, Europe [AP] "Beijing announced rules that ease controls on foreign financial information providers Thursday under an agreement with the U.S., Europe and Canada, but said those already operating in China must apply for permission to continue. The rules eliminate a requirement that foreign providers must work through a Chinese agent and reduce the amount of information they must disclose about their operations."

Soon, the neon lights of the Bund may run off electricity sent to Shanghai all the way from the Mongolian north. more ›

Multimedia enterprise China Green has been using some very well produced short films to document China's ongoing environmental issues. In this one, they take a look at Sohota Electric, a small Guangdong firm that has been making a big profit helping the country's various giants (including CCTV) retrofit their offices to become energy efficient. Considering that reports by China’s Ministry of Construction have deemed all buildings constructed before 2000 energy inefficient, it looks like Sohota will have a lot of work on their hands in the near future. more ›