IN BRIEF (Page 4)

Jiangxi

12 dead, 3 missing as floods sweep province

Twelve people were killed and three were still missing after rain-triggered floods hit Jiangxi province last week, according to the latest figures released by local authorities on Saturday. Nearly 3 million residents have been affected, with 229,000 relocated and 120,000 in urgent need of aid, the Jiangxi emergency management bureau said. Since June 6, heavy rain has left 80 counties and districts in the province inundated. Direct economic losses were estimated at 8.8 billion yuan ($1.3 billion). The provincial authorities have sent relief materials to the disaster-hit areas to guarantee basic living needs of the people.

Beijing

Vessel finishes probe of Pacific seamounts

China's research vessel Kexue (Science) finished its investigation of seamounts in the west of the Pacific Ocean and started to travel back on Saturday evening. During the expedition, Discovery, a remotely operated vehicle aboard Kexue, made 19 dives and took more than 800 biological samples, including coral, sponges, shrimp and shellfish. "There are about 250 species in the collections, equaling the total species we collected in two expeditions in the past few years," said Xu Kuidong, the chief scientist on board. Kexue is scheduled to arrive in Xiamen, Fujian province, on June 23.

Shandong

Customs seizes 1 ton of dried sea horses

Customs officials in Qingdao, Shandong province, said on Friday they recently seized 1.28 metric tons of smuggled dried sea horses. In April, the officials received a tip about a local company smuggling dried sea horses by hiding them in horse skins shipped in containers from Peru. Customs launched two inspections in April and May that led to the confiscation of nearly half a million dried sea horses. Two suspects have since been arrested.

Xinhua

(China Daily Global 06/17/2019 page4)