About 1,700 pests detected during inspections in Nov

Chinese authorities stopped 1,697 types of harmful pests from entering the country during inspections of imported agricultural products in November, the country's quality inspection and quarantine authorities said on Thursday.

The administration inspected more than 36 million passengers entering or leaving China last month, an increase of 3.5 percent compared with the same period last year.

The harmful pests included 124 types of especially dangerous pests, authorities said.

Quarantine measures were also taken to prevent the spread of diseases and the relevant foreign countries were notified, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said in a news release on Thursday.

Separately, the administration said that 30 people died last month from 18 accidents related to the malfunction of special equipment such as lifts and cranes, a decrease of two fatalities compared with the same period last year.

The administration urged users of similar equipment to conduct thorough inspections ahead of the coming New Year and Spring Festival holidays.