• March 2, 2001

BEIJING (Reuters) - China arrested a woman this week for selling expensive advertising space in a non-existent "special edition" magazine to mark the annual session of parliament, the China Police Daily reported Friday.

Yuan Lijun, 32, was arrested Wednesday for setting up a bogus office under the name of China's state-run Xinhua news agency and charging companies 18,000 yuan ($2,175) to advertise in a magazine, it said.

She had set up a bank account and faxed offers to about 1,000 Chinese companies promising the special magazine would be sent to more than 2,900 members of the National People's Congress (NPC) and a similar number from an NPC advisory body, the newspaper said.

Yuan, who had already received some advertisements and payments, was caught when a puzzled Xinhua employee called police after receiving numerous phone calls from companies.

The NPC convenes its 2001 plenum from Monday until March 15.