Society

A special task force charged with wiping out corruption in this East China metropolis has been appointed a new leader.

Gu Guolin was installed as the head of the Shanghai Corruption Prevention Bureau on Thursday, said a statement released on the municipal authority's website.

Gu has been vice-secretary of the Party's Shanghai Disciplinary Inspection Committee and director of Shanghai Municipal Supervision Bureau.

The appointment came shortly after the arrest of former Putuo district chief Cai Zhiqiang, 45, on charges of taking "huge amounts" in bribes while working as deputy director of human resources under the Shanghai Personnel Bureau.

Culture authorities will soon have a better idea of the "top of the pops" than music producers thanks to a new content monitoring system for China's karaoke clubs.

The Ministry of Culture is nearing its goal of connecting tens of thousands of venues to its supervisory network, which restricts the songs customers can sing along with.

The system comes in the form of an interactive channel that can record which songs are most popular, as well as bar access to illegal and unlicensed material, said a ministry release sent to China Daily on Friday.

The system has also been touted as a way for karaoke bars to generate more revenue.

The ministry issued a notice to staff nationwide in May last year demanding the National Karaoke Contents Management Service System be installed in all KTV clubs by the end of 2009.

Competition between airlines and rail operators will further hot up on Saturday thanks to the launch of China's longest high-speed train link between Wuhan and Guangzhou.

The line stretches more than 1,000 km and will slash the travel time from Wuhan, Hubei province, to Guangzhou in Guangdong from 10 hours to just three.

Tickets for the service - which also stops at Changsha, capital of Hunan - went on sale at new stations in the three cities last weekend, with prices ranging from 780 yuan ($110) for first class to 490 yuan for second class, said a joint document released by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Railways.

The system comes in the form of an interactive channel that can record which songs are most popular, as well as bar access to illegal and unlicensed material, said a ministry release sent to China Daily on Friday.

The system has also been touted as a way for karaoke bars to generate more revenue.

The ministry issued a notice to staff nationwide in May last year demanding the National Karaoke Contents Management Service System be installed in all KTV clubs by the end of 2009.

More Chinese rich people join the trend to pursue American permanent residency by making investments in the United States. But they may be victimized by financial traps set up by domestic immigration agencies and foreign investment organizations, local expert warned.

Qi Lixin, chairman of Beijing Entry & Exit Service Association, said the number of applicants for the US EB-5 visa through investment almost doubled in 2009, from around 500 last year to over 1,000 this year. The main reasons for them to do so are to provide a better education environment for their children and to look for further business opportunities.

"Only people with personal assets of over 10 million yuan can afford investment immigration," Qi said.

The EB-5 visa for Immigrant Investors provides a method of obtaining a green card for foreign nationals who invest money in the United States. Applicants should invest at least $500,000 in certain investments or regional centers with high unemployment rates.

"There usually exists a hidden problem for EB-5 visa applicants. As far as I know, there are more than 70 US regional center programs attracting investors in China. They said they can return customer's money in five years' time," Qi said, "But if losses occur, which side can assure Chinese applicants to get their $500,000 back on time? The domestic agency, or foreign investment organization?"

Qi said in most contracts signed by investors and immigration agencies, there was no specific provision to prevent investors from being exposed to heavy losses.