East Asia Economy and Trade News, September 30, 2010

East Asia Economy and Trade News (东亚经贸新闻), published out of Changchun, Jilin Province, is actually a commercial daily, not a trade paper.

Today's big story is a gruesome multiple murder case in which a four-year-old boy, his mother, and both his grandmothers were found dead at their home in Gongzhuling. So the killer was Dad? the paper asks, and captions its bland front-page picture, "The murders took place inside this very yard."

The whereabouts of the father and paternal grandfather were unknown at press time.

The top headline is less sensational: the mandatory minimum down payment on a home purchase has been raised to 30% for all home buyers (previously, the 30% minimum applied only to homes larger than 90 sq. meters). The minimum is 50% in the case of a second home loan, and third home loans have been suspended for the time being.

Up in the corner is the news that Kim Jong Un, son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, has been named vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea.

And last, in the latest food scare, authorities in Shaanxi Province have found that more than 60% of the ginger sold on the market in the city of Xi'an has been smoked with sulfur to give it a fresher, more pleasing appearance.