Two tornadoes wreaked havoc in eastern China, killing at least 10 people and injuring many. As per Chinese state media reports, the violent tornado hit China's Jiangsu province on Wednesday.

China weather officials step up heavy rains warnings

Three people died in eastern China after strong winds toppled a shipyard crane, the storms caused heavy damage across the country, including large areas of the farmland. Apart from the storms. hailstones further battered China's Jiangsu province, as it swept through multiple districts on Saturday. While much of the province also experienced torrential rain.

Three dead as hailstones & storms batter China | WION Climate Tracker

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-says-he-and-xi-jinping-will-sign-china-trade-deal-270340">China</a> warned earlier this week that a destructive pest that has threatened the country's grain output is expected to hit more crops across wider areas in 2020, including the key corn-growing region in the northeast.

The fall armyworm, first detected in China's <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/14-miners-dead-after-southwest-china-mine-blast-268614">southwestern province</a> of Yunnan in January this year, is expected to spread to the corn belt in the northeast next year, a government institute said in a report on Monday, citing the pest's reproduction patterns and high mobility.

"It is expected that in 2020, fall armyworm will be very severe and the situation will be extremely grave," according to the report by the National Agriculture Technology Extension Service Center (NATESC), an institute under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

The pest infested 16.88 million mu (1.13 million hectare) of land in 26 provinces and regions in 2019, NATESC said in the report. <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/drought-pests-could-force-india-to-grant-duty-free-corn-imports-197618">Fall armyworms</a>, which feast in large numbers on the leaves and stems of many plant species, including sorghum, corn and sugarcane, can't be eradicated and can infest and damage hundreds of hectares of crops in a single night.

China is the world's second-biggest corn consumer and producer. While 98.1 per cent&nbsp;of the land infested by <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/a-very-hungry-caterpillar-invades-asia-194892">fall armyworm</a> in 2019 was corn field not in the northeast, 19 other crops including wheat, ginger, sugarcane and sorghum were also hit, NATESC said in the report, published on its website.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/chinese-hospital-stops-single-woman-from-freezing-her-eggs-get-sued-270187">Beijing</a> warned earlier this year that armyworm was a severe threat to the country's food security and in May launched a campaign to "snatch grain from the insect's mouth".

With its arrival expected in the north early next year, the report warned of an increasing risk that armyworm will hit corn during its budding period, devastating young crops. In the absence of corn, the pest will turn to wheat in neighbouring areas.

Larva of the pest has already been found in 9,120 mu of wheat field in China since late September, in provinces including Shandong, Henan and Jiangsu, major growers of the grain in China, the world's top consumer and producer of wheat, according to the report.

First found in the Americas, fall armyworm has spread through Asia since it was detected in southern India late last year.

NATESC urged local authorities to inspect winter crops in their region, and include fall armyworm as a regular and major target for monitoring.

China warned earlier this week that a destructive pest that has threatened the country's grain output is expected to hit more crops across wider areas in 2020, including the key corn-growing region in the northeast.

China warned earlier this week that a destructive pest that has threatened the country's grain output is expected to hit more crops across wider areas in 2020, including the key corn-growing region in the northeast. The fall armyworm, first detected in China's southwestern province of Yunnan in January this year, is expected to spread to the corn belt in the northeast next year, a government institute said in a report on Monday, citing the pest's reproduction patterns and high mobility. "It is expected that in 2020, fall armyworm will be very severe and the situation will be extremely grave," according to the report by the National Agriculture Technology Extension Service Center (NATESC), an institute under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. The pest infested 16.88 million mu (1.13 million hectare) of land in 26 provinces and regions in 2019, NATESC said in the report. Fall armyworms, which feast in large numbers on the leaves and stems of many plant species, including sorghum, corn and sugarcane, can't be eradicated and can infest and damage hundreds of hectares of crops in a single night. China is the world's second-biggest corn consumer and producer. While 98.1 per cent of the land infested by fall armyworm in 2019 was corn field not in the northeast, 19 other crops including wheat, ginger, sugarcane and sorghum were also hit, NATESC said in the report, published on its website. Beijing warned earlier this year that armyworm was a severe threat to the country's food security and in May launched a campaign to "snatch grain from the insect's mouth". With its arrival expected in the north early next year, the report warned of an increasing risk that armyworm will hit corn during its budding period, devastating young crops. In the absence of corn, the pest will turn to wheat in neighbouring areas. Larva of the pest has already been found in 9,120 mu of wheat field in China since late September, in provinces including Shandong, Henan and Jiangsu, major growers of the grain in China, the world's top consumer and producer of wheat, according to the report. First found in the Americas, fall armyworm has spread through Asia since it was detected in southern India late last year. NATESC urged local authorities to inspect winter crops in their region, and include fall armyworm as a regular and major target for monitoring.

China's northeast cornbelt likely to be hit by fall armyworm in 2020: Reports

China's agriculture ministry said on Monday it will carry out checks on local veterinary authorities in 10 provinces as it tries to slow the ongoing spread of the deadly African swine fever virus.

The investigations come after China's cabinet said earlier this month there were deficiencies in the country's efforts to control and prevent the disease, which has reached every province of the country and is still spreading, almost a year after the first outbreak.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/china-vows-to-tackle-dead-pig-scam-amid-swine-fever-epidemic-235318">China is the world's largest pork consumer </a>and its massive hog herd has been decimated by the disease. African swine fever kills almost all pigs it infects but does not harm people. There is no vaccine or cure.

But many outbreaks are not being reported, farmers have told Reuters, with local officials in some provinces unwilling to verify or report the disease.

Vice agriculture minister Yu Kangzhen said recently the ministry was looking into reports of underreporting. He also said some places lacked the people and money to prevent and control the disease.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in a statement online that it will evaluate the veterinary agencies from two sample counties in the following provinces and regions: Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, Henan, Anhui, Guangxi, Fujian, Sichuan, Yunnan and Shaanxi.

One county must be a place where there has recently been an outbreak of the disease, and it should be compared with another county, ideally administered by the same city or in the same area, where the disease has not occurred, it said.

The evaluations will be completed by Oct. 31 and a report on the findings will be submitted to the ministry by Dec. 31.

"This is what is needed. At a national level and even provincial level, the policies were okay, but there were shortcomings in the way they were translated. And that's something that needs to be worked out to stop this disease," said Dirk Pfeiffer, a professor of veterinary epidemiology at the City University of Hong Kong.

He added however that it remained to be seen what the results of the evaluations would be and whether there would be any measurable impact on the disease in the short-term.

The ministry said earlier on Monday that the country's hog herd had shrunk 25.8 per cent in June from a year ago, with the number of sows down 26.7 per cent.

Live hog prices have increased sharply since June and are pushing up pork prices and consumer inflation.&nbsp;

China's agriculture ministry said on Monday it will carry out checks on local veterinary authorities in 10 provinces as it tries to slow the ongoing spread of the deadly African swine fever virus.

China's agriculture ministry said on Monday it will carry out checks on local veterinary authorities in 10 provinces as it tries to slow the ongoing spread of the deadly African swine fever virus. The investigations come after China's cabinet said earlier this month there were deficiencies in the country's efforts to control and prevent the disease, which has reached every province of the country and is still spreading, almost a year after the first outbreak. China is the world's largest pork consumer and its massive hog herd has been decimated by the disease. African swine fever kills almost all pigs it infects but does not harm people. There is no vaccine or cure. But many outbreaks are not being reported, farmers have told Reuters, with local officials in some provinces unwilling to verify or report the disease. Vice agriculture minister Yu Kangzhen said recently the ministry was looking into reports of underreporting. He also said some places lacked the people and money to prevent and control the disease. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in a statement online that it will evaluate the veterinary agencies from two sample counties in the following provinces and regions: Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, Henan, Anhui, Guangxi, Fujian, Sichuan, Yunnan and Shaanxi. One county must be a place where there has recently been an outbreak of the disease, and it should be compared with another county, ideally administered by the same city or in the same area, where the disease has not occurred, it said. The evaluations will be completed by Oct. 31 and a report on the findings will be submitted to the ministry by Dec. 31. "This is what is needed. At a national level and even provincial level, the policies were okay, but there were shortcomings in the way they were translated. And that's something that needs to be worked out to stop this disease," said Dirk Pfeiffer, a professor of veterinary epidemiology at the City University of Hong Kong. He added however that it remained to be seen what the results of the evaluations would be and whether there would be any measurable impact on the disease in the short-term. The ministry said earlier on Monday that the country's hog herd had shrunk 25.8 per cent in June from a year ago, with the number of sows down 26.7 per cent. Live hog prices have increased sharply since June and are pushing up pork prices and consumer inflation.

China to investigate local authorities' efforts to control African swine fever

Police have detained six more suspects linked to a <a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.wionews.com/world/six-dead-30-injured-in-china-chemical-plant-blast-official-204681&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=0ahUKEwjBz_6Ug8_hAhVIi3AKHfv2DP0QFggFMAA&amp;client=internal-uds-cse&amp;cx=006054055338965708568:09spwrlibei&amp;usg=AOvVaw0AXJlU7FMtj4UpbJFCVJeb">chemical plant blast</a> in eastern China last month which killed 78 and left hundreds injured, local authorities said.

The explosion in Jiangsu province's Yancheng city last month was one of the worst industrial accidents in the country in recent years and led to the closure of the plant.

Six employees from the Jiangsu Tianjiayi Chemical company, whose plant was involved in the blast, have "major responsibilities" in relation to the incident, the Yancheng government said Saturday in a brief statement on its official Twitter-like Weibo account.

It said that "criminal coercive measures" have been taken against them -- a vague term which indicates detention, arrest or being put under temporary house arrest until police complete investigations, according to an explanation on the Chinese parliament's website.

Three others had also earlier been detained in connection with the blast. The statement added that measures will also be taken against Jiangsu Tianjiayi Chemical, as well as its controlling shareholder, the Jiangsu Nijiaxiang Group.

The March 21 explosion razed an industrial park and blew out the windows of surrounding homes.

The company, with 195 employees, was established in 2007 and mainly produces raw chemical materials including anisole, a highly flammable compound.

It has a history of violating environmental regulations, according to online records from Yancheng city's environment and ecology bureau.

In 2015 and 2017, the firm was fined for breaking rules on solid and water waste management. Deadly industrial accidents are common in China, where safety regulations are often poorly enforced.

In November, a gas leak at a plant in the northern Chinese city of Zhangjiakou -- which will host the 2022 Winter Olympics -- killed 24 people and injured 21 others.

In 2015, China saw one of its worst industrial accidents when giant chemical blasts in the northern port city of Tianjin killed at least 165 people.

Police have detained six more suspects linked to a chemical plant blast in eastern China last month which killed 78 and left hundreds injured, local authorities said.

Police have detained six more suspects linked to a chemical plant blast in eastern China last month which killed 78 and left hundreds injured, local authorities said. The explosion in Jiangsu province's Yancheng city last month was one of the worst industrial accidents in the country in recent years and led to the closure of the plant. Six employees from the Jiangsu Tianjiayi Chemical company, whose plant was involved in the blast, have "major responsibilities" in relation to the incident, the Yancheng government said Saturday in a brief statement on its official Twitter-like Weibo account. It said that "criminal coercive measures" have been taken against them -- a vague term which indicates detention, arrest or being put under temporary house arrest until police complete investigations, according to an explanation on the Chinese parliament's website. Three others had also earlier been detained in connection with the blast. The statement added that measures will also be taken against Jiangsu Tianjiayi Chemical, as well as its controlling shareholder, the Jiangsu Nijiaxiang Group. The March 21 explosion razed an industrial park and blew out the windows of surrounding homes. The company, with 195 employees, was established in 2007 and mainly produces raw chemical materials including anisole, a highly flammable compound. It has a history of violating environmental regulations, according to online records from Yancheng city's environment and ecology bureau. In 2015 and 2017, the firm was fined for breaking rules on solid and water waste management. Deadly industrial accidents are common in China, where safety regulations are often poorly enforced. In November, a gas leak at a plant in the northern Chinese city of Zhangjiakou -- which will host the 2022 Winter Olympics -- killed 24 people and injured 21 others. In 2015, China saw one of its worst industrial accidents when giant chemical blasts in the northern port city of Tianjin killed at least 165 people.

Six more suspects linked to China chemical plant blast held

China will launch a tax evasion investigation into the country's film and television industry, the tax bureau said in a statement posted on its official website on Sunday.

Some of the country's most famous actors have been accused of signing so called "yin-yang" contracts - one contract setting out agreed payment terms and the second one with a lower figure for the tax authorities to avoid payment of tax.

China's cinema market is worth $8.6 billion.

The State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has asked local bureaus in the southern province of Jiangsu, among others, to carry out investigations.

"If violations of tax laws and rules are found, they will be dealt with in accordance with the law," said the SAT.

Some of the country's most famous actors have been accused of signing so called 'yin-yang' contracts - one contract setting out agreed payment terms and a second one with a lower figure for the tax authorities to avoid payment of tax

China will launch a tax evasion investigation into the country's film and television industry, the tax bureau said in a statement posted on its official website on Sunday. Some of the country's most famous actors have been accused of signing so called "yin-yang" contracts - one contract setting out agreed payment terms and the second one with a lower figure for the tax authorities to avoid payment of tax. China's cinema market is worth $8.6 billion. The State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has asked local bureaus in the southern province of Jiangsu, among others, to carry out investigations. "If violations of tax laws and rules are found, they will be dealt with in accordance with the law," said the SAT.

China launches tax evasion probe into film, TV industry

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