Briefly

NINGXIA

2 dead, 6 injured in forest fire in Guyuan

Two people died and six were injured in a forest fire in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, local authorities said on Sunday. The fire broke out at around 12 am on Saturday on a barren hill in Machang village in the city of Guyuan, the regional emergency management department said. By 4:40 pm Saturday, the fire had scorched around 33.3 hectares of land. An initial investigation revealed the fire was caused by people visiting a grave on the hill. It is a Chinese tradition to pay tribute to late friends and family by burning fake paper money and other possessions. The fire had been put out by 8:10 am Sunday.

BEIJING

Marriage numbers fall 12.2% amid pandemic

The number of couples who tied the knot last year declined 12.2 percent year-on-year to 8.13 million amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to figures released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs. That is 1.13 million fewer marriages than a year earlier, according to the figures, which were published late last month on the ministry's website. It was the lowest number of marriages since the bench mark embarked on a downward spiral in 2013. More than 633,000 couples married in Guangdong province, making it the top contributor across the nation. The ministry said 3.73 million couples divorced last year, compared with 4.04 million in 2019. Henan province topped the nation with some 217,000 divorces last year, followed by Sichuan, Jiangsu, Guangdong and Shandong provinces, it said.

Billions allocated to improve education

China allocated 931.6 billion yuan ($143.7 billion) to advance the balanced development of compulsory education during the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) period, the Ministry of Finance said. The country distributed 587.7 billion yuan under the urban and rural compulsory educational expenditure assurance mechanism over the past five years. Last year, about 154 million students receiving compulsory education were exempt from tuition fees and other charges at school, while 25 million students from poor families were offered living subsidies.

Xinhua - China Daily