Briefly

BEIJING

627,000 officials punished last year

A total of 627,000 Chinese officials, including 36 at the provincial and ministerial level, were penalized for violating discipline of the Communist Party of China and laws in 2021, according to the country's top anti-graft body. Disciplinary and supervisory authorities across the country received more than 3.86 million public tips and initiated investigations into 631,000 cases during the year, the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission said in a statement on Friday. Those punished also included 3,024 at the prefecture level and 25,000 at the county level, the statement read.

Xueersi ordered to suspend tutoring

The Xueersi School tutoring company has been ordered to suspend courses after it organized academic tutoring for high school students during the winter break, a notice said on Thursday. The office of the double reduction work group in Beijing's Xicheng district made the order public after receiving complaints, and found that Xueersi was in serious violation of government guidelines on reducing excessive academic workloads. The company has been told to rectify its behavior within a set time-frame. The term "double reduction" refers to reducing the homework and tutoring burden of primary and middle school students.

Gaofen satellite begins formal operations

The Gaofen High-resolution Multi-mode Satellite has finished its in-orbit trial run and begun formal operations, according to the China National Space Administration. On Friday, the administration said that the Earth-observation satellite had worked well during its 18-month trial run and will begin to serve its users, among them the Natural Resources, Emergency Management, Agriculture and Rural Affairs ministries. It carries onboard a domestically developed high-resolution multi-mode imager that can provide remote-sensing images and data to a number of public sectors and businesses including natural resource surveying, disaster relief, agriculture and urban construction.

HAINAN

Long March rocket arrives at launch site

A second Long March 8 carrier rocket arrived at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province on Friday morning, according to the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology. It was carried in pieces to the center by ship from Tianjin, a northern coastal municipality and home to the launch vehicle's manufacturing complex. The rocket will be reassembled at the center and undergo final tests before blasting off in late February or early March. The Long March 8, the youngest member of China's Long March rocket family, conducted its maiden flight in December 2020 at Wenchang.

Xinhua - China Daily