Shandong Province on east China’s seaboard will get 1.09 billion cubic meters of more water from the mighty Yangtze River via the country’s massive water diversion project, authorities announced Thursday.

The eastern route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project will carry water from the Yangtze River through canals and pump stations to Shandong. The diversion work for the 2017-2018 period started Thursday, and is scheduled to be completed by May 2018, according to the South-to-North Water Diversion Office under the State Council.

Shandong has already received a total of 2 billion cubic meters of water through the project.

The project, one of the country’s largest infrastructure schemes, is designed to take water from the humid south to the arid north. Water flows northward via three routes of the massive water diversion project — eastern, central, and western.

Apart from Shandong, the project has transferred 10 billion cubic meters of water to areas including Beijing and Tianjin, benefiting some 53.1 million people, earlier data from the office showed.

A total of 775 million Chinese college and vocational school students received financial help in the past 10 years, according to the Ministry of Education.

The number of students who were subsidized rose from 51.6 million in 2007 to 91.3 million in 2016, representing an average annual increase of 6.55 percent, the ministry published the figures on its website early this week.

The total volume of financial aid reached 1 trillion yuan (about 159 billion U.S. dollars) during the past decade, with the number at 41.6 billion for 2007 and 168.9 billion for 2016, an average growth of 16.84 percent year on year, the ministry said.

It also said that government funding always played a leading role in aid. The figure topped 726 billion yuan over the years, accounting for 68.87 percent of the total.

In May 2007, the State Council issued a document establishing a system of financial aid to college and vocational school students from poor families. It was the first comprehensive and systematic plan on student financial aid.

The aid comes in forms such as tuition fee exemptions, living allowances, scholarships and student loans.

In the past decade, China has created 40 policies and documents on financial help for students, with 29 aid programs, the ministry said.

Currently, financial help is available to students from pre-school kindergartens to post-graduate studies, from public to private schools, and for all families in poverty, the ministry said.

The Chinese government has released draft rules on elderly care institutions to standardize practices and services.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs rules will be online for public consultation until Nov. 12.

The draft requires nursing homes to provide telecommunications services, including but are not limited to telephone and the Internet. If residents have problems with telecommunications services, institutions should provide professional staff to help them.

Staff should treat the elderly with politeness and patience, keeping the private information of residents and visitors confidential. The environment and facilities must be safe and protect resident privacy, the draft said.

Outsourcing services should be commissioned to qualified organizations, and withdrawal systems established.

Nursing homes should make public service programs and charging standards, and set out rules for addressing complaints. Complaints should be responded within 10 working days.

The draft also requires nursing homes to offer hospice services. Hospice services providers should receive training before offering services.

China had more than 230.8 million people aged 60 or above at the end of 2016, 16.7 percent of the total population, according to a report released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

By international standards, a country or region is considered an “aging society” when the number of people aged 60 or above reaches 10 percent or more.

The country had 140,000 nursing homes holding a total of more than 7.3 million beds at the end of 2016, with a year-on-year increase of 20.7 percent and 8.6 percent respectively. However, there are only 31.6 beds for every 1,000 senior citizens.

China’s homegrown regional jetliner, the ARJ21-700, has successfully completed its trial flight on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, demonstrating its ability to fly safely at high elevations.

The regional jetliner travelled along several air routes in Qinghai Province over the course of five days last week, according to Qinghai Airport Co., Ltd.

The test included an engine-start ground test at the high altitude airport, flight performance verification testing and take-off and landing tests.

“The successful trial flight shows that the ARJ21-700 is able to fly along air routes in the region at around 3,000 meters above sea level,” said Wu Zhaowei from the test verification division of the ARJ21 program department of the Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (COMAC).

ARJ21-700, produced by COMAC, is a jet with 78 to 90 seats and a flight range of 2,225 to 3,700 km. It mainly serves China’s central and western cities.

The number of passenger planes that can be used in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is limited due to thin air and complicated terrain and climate.

“If the ARJ21-700 enters the market, rural residents there will be able to travel more quickly at a cheaper price,” said Meng Jun, a staff member with the Qinghai Airport Co.

In July this year, COMAC obtained a production license from the General Administration of Civil Aviation, which means it can mass produce the ARJ21-700.

Its first aircraft was delivered to Chengdu Airlines in late 2015. It has so far transported more than 20,000 passengers and received 433 orders from 20 clients.

Disciplinary authorities have investigated 440 officials at or above provincial or corps level for corruption over the past five years as the Communist Party of China (CPC) pledges sweeping victory over the threat to the Party, an official said Thursday.

Among them, 43 members and alternate members of the CPC Central Committee, as well as nine members of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), were investigated, said Yang Xiaodu, deputy secretary of the CCDI, at a press conference on the sidelines of the 19th CPC National Congress.

Five years ago, the CPC leadership launched a high-profile anti-corruption campaign, which has led to the downfall of a number of high-level officials, known as “tigers,” and lower-level “flies” who serve at the grassroots level.

Among the “tigers” felled in the campaign were Zhou Yongkang, Bo Xilai, Guo Boxiong, Xu Caihou, Sun Zhengcai and Ling Jihua.

Yang said more than 8,900 city level officials and over 63,000 county level officials were punished during that period.

A total of 278,000 grassroots Party members and officials were also punished, he said.

China is working with the international community to hunt corruption suspects who had fled overseas, leading to the capture of 3,453 fugitives, Yang said.

Among the top 100 fugitives listed on an Interpol red notice, 48 have been arrested, he said.