It's been a busy week, with several newsmakers emerging to catch people's attention. Some of them were appointed to important positions, one was a top winner with big signed deals; some were disgraced with big bribery scandals, and some were finally settled with jail sentences.
Winners
Three scholars to advise central bank
China's central bank announced on March 29 it added three new academic members - Zhou Qiren, Xia Bin and Li Daokui - to its monetary policy committee. The three prominent Chinese economists will replace Fan Gang, the only academic member of the monetary policy committee.
Li Daokui, born in 1965, is director of the Center for China in the World Economy at the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University. [China Daily] 
Xia Bin, born in 1951, is director of the Financial Research Institute of the Development Research Center of the State Council. He was vice-president of the central bank s finance research center and president of the Exchange Department of the China Securities Regulatory Commission. [China Daily] 
Zhou Qiren, born in 1950, is head of the China Center for Economic Research at Peking University. He has a PhD and an MA from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a BA from Renmin University of China. [China Daily]
Geely's Li to go global with Volvo deal
Li Shufu, chairman of Zhejiang Geely Group Holding Co Ltd, celebrated the company's agreement for taking over Swedish luxury brand Volvo on Tuesday. The deal made Li a global business celebrity overnight.
Li, a self-made entrepreneur who built Geely from nothing into the country's 10th-biggest car maker in less than two decades, now faces an uphill journey in returning Ford Motor's prestigious but loss-making Volvo brand to profitability.
But he also has an equally big opportunity to use the foreign brand to ramp up sales in the world's largest car market.
Losers
Banker's bribery trial gets two female celebrities in trouble
Two female celebrities and a large amount of money were the star attractions in Tuesday's bribery trial of Wang Yi, former vice-president of State-run China Development Bank.
Wang, who stood trial at the Beijing No 1 Intermediate People's Court, pleaded guilty to the charge of accepting bribes of more than 11.96 million yuan ($1.76 million), and confessed that he "used his power and his influence to make profit for others and himself".
Surprisingly, it was disclosed that two famous female celebrities - movie star Zhao Wei, and the anchor of China Central Television, Liu Fangfei, were involved in the case.
Wang, 54, had an impressive career path before he was investigated for possible corruption. He graduated from the history department of Peking University in 1984. At the age of 39, he became vice-chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission and he was vice-president of China Development Bank from 1999 to 2008, when he was investigated and removed from his post.
Rio's Hu gets 10 years in jail
Four employees of British-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto were sentenced on Monday to jail terms ranging from seven to 14 years for taking bribes and stealing commercial secrets.
The Shanghai No 1 Intermediate People's Court sentenced Stern Hu, an Australian national who headed Rio's iron ore operations in China, to seven years in prison for taking bribes, and five years for stealing commercial secrets. However, he will serve 10 years, the court said. Hu was also fined 1 million yuan ($146,000).
The other three defendants, all Chinese nationals - Liu Caikui, Ge Minqiang and Wang Yong - were sentenced to seven, eight and 14 years behind bars, respectively.
