China RoundUp May 26

• Source: The Global Times
• [07:42 May 26 2009]
• Comments

Disasters claim almost 89,000 lives last year

Natural disasters including earthquakes and blizzards killed 88,928 people last year, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said in a report published Friday.

The largest contributor to the figures was the May 12 earthquake that left more than 87,000 people dead or missing and 374,640 injured. The blizzards that struck central and southern China early last year left 129 people dead and caused 152 billion yuan's ($22.4 billion) worth of damage.

The annual death toll was the highest since 1976, when a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Tangshan, Hebei Province, and killed more than 242,000 people, the report said.

Hainan official sacked for taking bribes

An official in charge of State-owned assets supervision in Hainan Province has been fired and expelled from the Communist Party of China for taking bribes, the Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday.

The disciplinary commission of the CPC Hainan provincial committee said that while working as general manager of the Hainan Tourist Corporation between 1996 and 2008, Wang Junwu, 49, took bribes totaling 9.5 million yuan ($1.4 million). He was arrested on March 13 and will face criminal charges.

Wang also “seriously violated other disciplines,” the commission said without elaborating.

Water levels down 31% in Yellow River

The volume of water flowing in the Yellow River between July and May was 29.3 billion cubic meters, 31 percent less than the average for the period, Li Guoying, deputy chief of the Yellow River Flood Prevention and Drought Relief Headquarters, said Sunday.

From late May through June, the volume is forecast to be 4 billion cubic meters, 25 percent less than the average, he said at a conference in Jinan, Shandong Province.

Water shortages are severe in the Yellow River drainage area, he said.

Stop smoking, stay clean, keep flu at bay

Smokers should quit the habit in light of the A (H1N1) influenza outbreak, a spokesman for Hong Kong Department of Health said yesterday.

“Research shows that there is a higher risk of influenza infection among smokers than non-smokers,” he said.

“Also, the mortality rate of influenza among smokers is higher than that of non-smokers.”

Adopting a healthy lifestyle and maintaining good personal hygiene are also effective ways to prevent the flu, he said.