Chinese county admits plagiarism after web users flag data filed by another 400km away
plagiarism in an official document and pledged to 'promptly correct' the offending sections in a rare admission of such misconduct.
This came after internet users flagged information almost identical to that filed by another county about 400km (250 miles) away in a neighbouring province.
In a news release on Tuesday, the government of Pingle county in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region said it had detected plagiarism in 'a limited number of paragraphs' in its 2023-2030 forest fire prevention plan.
Authorities checked the document after media reports of suspected plagiarism and found the claim was 'essentially true', the county government said on its official social media page.
'We'll promptly correct and reissue the document, strengthening review of official documentation,' it said.
Web users reported the suspected plagiarism after finding that descriptions and data used in a Pingle hydrology report were nearly identical to those for Anhua county in Hunan province next door, according to official news platform Jiupai News.
The Pingle bureau collaborated with a third-party company in preparing the document, and the hydrological data involved was provided by the contractor, Jiupai News reported, citing an unidentified county official involved in producing the plan.
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