Society

David Tian, a 26-year-old Beijinger, usually arrives at his office earlier than he is supposed to. He looks around to confirm he is the only one, and then switches on his computer. A slight smirk appears on his face.

Half an hour later, when Tian is completely glued to the computer screen, two of his colleagues rush to his desk, screaming: "You took my fish again! Give me one of yours."

Tian laughs as he clicks the "send present" button of a popular online game called Fishing.

"This game has given me and my colleagues a lot of things to talk about," Tian says.

Like Tian, there are tens of millions of people who regularly play games on social networks in China, mirroring Internet users' growing need to communicate and entertain through the Web.

China will link compulsory automobile liability insurance rates with drink-driving records, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) said Thursday.

The scheme, which will come into effect from March 1, 2010, will penalize drunk drivers and raise drivers' safety awareness, a statement on the CIRC's official website said, citing a notice jointly issued by the CIRC and the Ministry of Public Security (MPS).

The notice said the new scheme will be executed on a local basis, with punishment varying according to location.

An appreciation of the Chinese yuan will help US economic growth but it will not solve problems in its own economy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief economist said Monday.

A 20 percent appreciation of the yuan, formally known as renminbi or RMB, along with a similar currency appreciation by other emerging Asian economic entities may lead to an increase of about 1 percent of the US gross domestic product, Olivier Blanchard said, basing the prediction on an IMF model.

"This would be good news for US growth but this is clearly not enough by itself to sustain growth in the United States," the IMF chief economist told Xinhua News Agency.

The yuan exchange rate with the US dollar has long been a target of criticism in the US and some European countries.

But Blanchard took a different view.

Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo broke Russia's 46-year stranglehold on the Olympics figure skating pairs event on Monday night (yesterday Beijing time) with a mesmerizing performance.

The husband-and-wife duo earned a record combined total of 216.57 points to capture China's first title in the discipline.

It took the veteran figure skating pair 18 years to finally realize their Winter Olympic gold dream at their possibly last Games show at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

The duo came out of retirement for a fourth attempt at winning their sport's top prize and achieved their goal in spectacular style, earning a standing ovation from cheering fans.