Society

China's tennis legend Li Na made history again at the French Open, beating Maria Sharapova of Russia 6-4, 7-5 here on Thursday to roar into the women's singles final.

Li, 28, became the first Chinese woman to enter the French Open singles final. She had already made history twice at the French Open as the first Chinese lady to advance to quarterfinals and semifinals.

Today's final berth ensured Li Na, world No. 7, to rise to at least No. 5 on the WTA rankings.

Beijing's daily license plate restrictions are to be extended to include bad weather conditions, major events and festivals, according to a municipal work plan released on Tuesday.

Depending on the day of the week, licence plates ending in certain numbers are banned from the roads, a congestion-busting policy that was first applied during the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

"Almost half of the cars disappeared from the roads during the Games," said veteran taxi driver Dou Keying. "Yet, it was unfair to private car owners. Why should the government allow them to buy cars but ban them from driving them?"

Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday called for efforts to develop medical services in rural areas and expand health insurance coverage.

Efforts should be made to reform county-level hospitals and ensure that low-income patients benefit from the country's healthcare reforms, Li told health officials at a meeting on healthcare reform, over which he presided.

In an effort to make the country's medical service "equitable" and "convenient," Li urged health authorities to train more doctors, expand the coverage of the country's essential medicine system and ensure that outpatient services are accessible in villages.

China began to ban production of baby bottles made of polycarbonate or containing Bisphenol A (BPA) on June 1, the country's quality watch dog said.

Agencies of quality and technology supervision at all levels should withdraw and cancel the certificates of polycarbonate baby bottle producers, said the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) in an online statement.

The announcement was made according to the ban released by six ministries including Ministry of Health, the statement said.