IN BRIEF

Beijing

High temperatures increase pollution

Environmental and meteorological authorities warned people on Thursday to take precautionary measures against pollution resulting from recent high temperatures. The heat in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province since Tuesday has made the dispersion of pollutants difficult and created favorable conditions for the generation of ozone. Moderate air pollution will hit the region from Thursday to Friday, and there will be heavy air pollution in some areas for a short time, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said.

23,500 cars are found substandard

About 23,500 imported automobiles, valued at $2.39 billion, were found to be substandard during inspections in 2016, a year-on-year increase of nearly 154 percent, according to China's top consumer quality watchdog at a news conference on Thursday. Moreover, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine issued recalls on 118 batches of defective imported vehicles last year - a record of nearly 1.75 million automobiles.

Zhejiang

Ex-official gets 4 years for graft

Zhao Shaolin, a former senior official in Jiangsu province, was sentenced by a court to four years in prison on Thursday for graft and illegally purchasing foreign exchange. Zhao, a former member of the standing committee of the Communist Party of China Jiangsu provincial committee, was found guilty of seeking benefits for his son's real estate business, and offered bribes totaling almost 4.45 million yuan ($645,700) from 2007 to 2014, according to the Intermediate People's Court in Ningbo, where the case was heard.

Jiangsu

Artwork to mark Nanjing Massacre

Around 100 graphic art posters created by international designers will be displayed at an exhibition to commemorate the Nanjing Massacre, the Memorial Hall for the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre announced on Wednesday. The International Poster Biennale Exhibition for Peace Nanjing is part of the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre, in which an estimated 300,000 Chinese were killed by Japanese soldiers on Dec 13, 1937. The submission process runs until Oct 15.

Jilin

381 students are sickened by water

A total of 381 students from a private school were hospitalized after drinking bacteria-tainted water, authorities said on Thursday. The students, from No 2 Experimental School in Fuyu, experienced vomiting, diarrhea and fever on Tuesday, according to the city government. Medical staff later found that the school's filtered water supply contained excessive bacteria. By 5 pm on Thursday, 125 students had been discharged from the hospital.