Photo: Illegal villa built on top of a Beijing apartment building
Source: Beijing Times

August 13, 2013
Translated by Tian Shaohui and Pang Lei

Most news websites this morning competed to have the best photo of a controversial building perched a top a Beijing apartment complex. According to today's reports, Beijing authorities have given the owner 15 days to destroy the illegal structure (Global Times).

Many websites also linked to news about the early release from prison of a truck driver who ran over and killed a village official in 2010. The incident dominated internet debate that year and highlighted growing publicly scepticism in official announcements (SCMP).

Keep reading below for translated digests of some of the other stories being reported by mainland Chinese media outlets today.

Shanghai Stock Index Hits 2 Month High After Release of July Data
Beijing News
Shanghai Composite Index increased by almost 2.4% yesterday, closing at 2,101 points, a two-month high. Analysts said that macroeconomic data released on Friday encouraged investors, especially the fact that fixed assets investment increased by more than 20%, exceeding market expectations.
Original article: [Chinese]

4 Trillion Yuan to be Invested in Developing Light Rail and Trams
21st Century Business Herald
Chongqing, Zhuhai and 32 other cities have approved plans to develop urban rail systems which could reach a total length of over 6,000 kilometers. The ambitious plans will require 4 trillion yuan of investment over the coming 7 years. The Economic Observer also ran a story on the big push to develop tram lines in major cities in this week's paper. Zhao Jian (赵坚), a professor at Beijing Jiaotong University's School of Economic Management (北交大经管学院), said it was unclear how heavily indebted local government would finance the projects.
Original article: [Chinese]

Shanghai Gold Retailers Fined for Price Fixing
Beijing Daily
Laofengxiang (老凤祥) and four other Shanghai-based gold retailing companies were fined tens of million of yuan by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) after an investigation revealed that they had been engaging in price fixing. The Shanghai Gold & Jewellery Trade Association (上海黄金饰品行业协会) was also fined 500,000 thousand yuan. This is the second major fine handed out by Chinese regulators for violations of the country's Anti-monopoly Law this month. Last week, the NDRC fined six dairy companies hundreds of millions of yuan for fixing the price of baby formula.
Original article: [Chinese]

Li Ning Registers 1.84 Billion yuan Loss in First Half of 2013
Beijing News
Li Ning, one of China's best known sporting brands, released results for the first half of the year yesterday, registering a loss of 1.84 billion yuan over the six month period. The company announced that they had shut down 400 stores in the first six months of the year. The company said that the most difficult phase has now passed and losses were less than last year when the company registered losses of almost 2 billion yuan.
Original article: [Chinese]