Briefly

ZHEJIANG

6 confirmed dead in sponge factory fire

Six people have been confirmed dead in a fire that broke out at a factory in East China's Zhejiang province, local authorities said on Saturday. The fire broke out at around 4 pm on Friday at a sponge factory in Jiashan county. The person in charge of the company has been detained by police. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

SICHUAN

Protection of Sanxingdui ruins receives policy aid

A local regulation has taken effect in Sichuan province as part of efforts to ramp up protection of the Sanxingdui ruins site. The regulation stipulates that cultural relics protection should be prioritized in the management of the ruins, which date back more than 3,000 years, and that efforts should be made to balance relics protection and socioeconomic development. To avoid damage to cultural relics at the site, archaeological institutions should formulate protection plans and improve the management of related data, including texts and videos, according to the regulation.

INNER MONGOLIA

3.65b cubic meters of water diverted to lake

North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region has diverted 3.65 billion cubic meters of water from the Yellow River to a lake in a sandy area over the past 15 years, authorities said. The water supplementation project was launched in 2007 for Ulan Suhai Lake, the largest freshwater lake in the Yellow River basin, said Li Bin, deputy chief of the regional water resources department. The diverted water mostly came from the ice flood of the Yellow River that occurred during spring, when river ice melts. Located on the northern bank of the Yellow River in a desert and semi-desert area in Bayannuur, Ulan Suhai Lake has been dubbed the "pearl beyond the Great Wall". The lake covered about 293 square kilometers, and its water quality has improved in recent years.

HUNAN

Over 30 cultural relics discovered in Chenzhou

More than 30 cultural relics have been found in ancient tombs in Chenzhou, Hunan province, the provincial cultural relics and archaeology institute said on Sunday. Excavation work involving the ancient tomb cluster was conducted between June and July, and 11 tombs and the site of one building were found in the area. Chen Bin, head of the archaeological project, said that based on the shape of the tombs, the characteristics of the unearthed objects and the inscriptions on the bricks, archaeologists believed the tombs were from the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) to the Tang Dynasty (618-907), and the building site was constructed during the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220). Artifacts such as pottery, porcelain ware, bronze mirrors, copper hooks and agate beads have been unearthed.

Xinhua