A greener China is coming (or something)! Over the weekend, the State Council issued regulations that it says will strengthen the ways it assesses the environmental impact of new projects. Environmental impact assessments will be required after a project is first approved. There will also be a continuing review to ensure that these projects are on track or are revised if they aren't complying with rules on limiting pollution. While provincial projects must be evaluated by State Council level authorities, city-level project reviews will be conducted by local environmental officials. Oof, not that we don't trust local politico or anything (okay, we don't), but anybody want to place bets on the percentage of environmentally unfriendly projects that will still get the green light? Source: WSJ more ›

• Chinese sex toy market explodes [Sydney Morning Herald] "VIDEO: Chinese sex toy manufacturer, Sweet Secret, trains sales staff ahead of the opening of its first Beijing store."
• More Chinese Astronauts Prefer Volvos [Wired] "Four pioneers in Chinese space exploration have made it their mission to purchase Volvo S80L sedans. That’s one small step for man, one giant sedan for the garage. After returning safely from the Shenzhou 7 space mission, taikonauts Yang Liwei, Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng purchased matching luxury cars. According to Volvo Cars China, the quartet decided on the Chinese-exclusive S80L for three reasons: the car is safe, built locally, and the “brand image expresses premiumness and is not ostentatious.”"
• Don't Mess With China's Kids [Forbes] "Given China's habit of punishing individuals who protest against the government, it takes a lot of courage-or rage-for comrades to come forward. What gets Chinese people out in the streets demonstrating every time? Forcing parents to abide by a one-child policy, and then letting someone kill the one child to save a buck."

• Oop! Que Jingde, a high-level town government official who was a major shareholder in the Minhang building that collapsed, has now been arrested for corruption. [Shanghai Daily]
• The United Nations Environment Programme has taken stock of Shanghai's environmental efforts and said that the city has actually made strides in "greening" itself. [UN News]
• Morgan Stanley has sold The Exchange, a 52-story office and retail tower in Jing'an, to SOHO China Ltd. for $358.5 million. For those of you who are interested, only 30% of the building's space is currently rented. [AP

Heavy polluting, high-emission vehicles - those that can't meet China's lowest level of National Emission Standards - are now banned from downtown Shanghai in an effort to create better air quality in time for the Expo. There are about 200,000 of these cars and trucks in the city and they generate about 50% of all vehicular emissions while accounting for only 14% the total of local vehicles. Violators will be fined 200RMB and lose two points off their license. The city started banning high-emission cars from the Inner Ring Road area in 2006. The new ban extends to the Middle Ring Road - including lanes on the Yan'an, North-South and Humin highways. more ›

China has always attached great importance to climate change and other countries should make more efforts to jointly protect the earth, Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo said in L'Aquila, Italy on Thursday. more ›