Sep 4, 2013
Translated by Tian Shaohui Pang Lei

Top headlines on China's major news sites today included coverage of Xi Jinping\'s trip to Central Asia, details of family dispute which resulted in a young boy having his eyes gouged out and reports about the debate in the U.S. over whether to launch military action against Syria.

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

China to Clarify Ownership of Rural Collective Construction Land Ahead of Party Congress
China Securities Journal
China is working on clarifying the ownership of rural collective construction land (农村集体建设用地) and the process may be completed before the meeting of the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Party Congress in November, according to a report in today's China Securities Journal. After the session, the reform of land system will be further promoted but within the existing legal framework. According to many local governments, insufficient supply of land has a large adverse impact on their industrial transformation, urban development and fiscal revenue. Therefore, turning to rural collective land for development space is one of the few choices available. Under existing policies, rural collective land normally must first be transfered to the government before it can be auctioned off. This practice delivers revenue to the local government, but farmers hardly get any benefit from giving up their land use rights.
Original article: [Chinese]

Survey: Vast Majority Oppose Plans to Push Back Age at Which Retirees Receive Pension
Securities Daily
According to a survey of 25,311 people conducted by China Youth Daily, over 94 percent of respondents don't want China to delay the age at which retirees can receive their pensions. Researchers from Tsinghua University recently put forward a plan for the reform of China's pension system that would delay the payment of pensions to female retirees.
Original article: [Chinese]

Shanghai Free Trade Zone to be Officially Established this Month
Xinhua News Agency
The Shanghai Free Trade Zone will be officially established on Sept 27, according to Xinhua News Agency. Ai Bojun (艾宝俊), the vice mayor of Shanghai, will take up the role of director of the free trade zone's management committee. This committee will be put at a vice-ministry level and assisted by a vice premier from the central government.
Original article: [Chinese]

MIIT Launches Crackdown on Rare Earth Industry
Economic Information Daily
A new crackdown aimed at cleaning up China's rare earth industry has been launched by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). Rare earth enterprises which engage in illegal activities will be added to a blacklist and overhauled by local administrative departments, according to MIIT. Altogether the ministry will examine the business operations of 1,594 rare earth firms around China
Original article: [Chinese]

Jiang Jiemin Case Linked to Bo Xilai
21st Century Business Herald
Jiang Jiemin (蒋洁敏), the now former director of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Assessment Commission (SASAC) who also once served as chairman of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), is currently being investigated by the Communist Party's anti-corruption agency. According to a report in today's 21st Century Business Herald, the investigation into Jiang was initiated in March this year after Wang Daofu (王道富), another executive from CNPC currently under investigation, implicated him. The report also says that Jiang Jiemin helped Bo Xilai (薄熙来), the former party secretary of Chongqing who is currently awaiting a verdict following a high-profile corruption trial last month, improve his political performance by expanding oil refining projects when Bo took up posts in Liaoning province and Chongqing.  
Original article: [Chinese]

GSK's Case: 100,000 yuan for Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce
Beijing Times
A Chinese police investigation into drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has discovered that alleged bribery of doctors in China was coordinated by the British company and was not the work of individual employees. GSK, the multinational drug company embroiled in an ongoing bribery scandal in China, paid millions of yuan to government officials, heads of hundreds of hospitals, chief doctors and the Pharmaceutical Profession Association, according to statements made by high-level officials from the company. An official from the Chaoyang Branch of Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce (北京朝阳工商分局) is also being investigated in relation to efforts to head off an earlier probe into the company through "crisis public relations management" (危机公关), according to the Changsha public security authorities.  
Original article: [Chinese]