The national observatory renewed its yellow storm alert Saturday morning as it expects heavy rain to continue sweeping across the country’s eastern and southern regions.

From Saturday to 8 a.m. Sunday, parts of Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan and Guizhou provinces will experience storms, with up to 140 millimeters of rain, the National Meteorological Center said.

The center warned that some of the above mentioned regions will likely see severe weather, such as thunder or hail, predicting hourly precipitation of up to 60 millimeters, or even over 80 millimeters per hour in some areas.

Local authorities should take emergency measures, suspend outdoor activities and guard against potential disasters including mountain floods and landslides, it said.

China has a four-tier color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue.

A level-four emergency response was initiated by China Meteorological Administration Friday evening, the lowest in the country’s four-grade emergency response system, which requires monitoring and timely reports.

Three suspects are in custody after industrial waste water containing 180 times the maximum safe level of zinc was discharged directly into a river in east China’s Zhejiang Province.

The three, detained on Wednesday, will be charged with polluting the environment, according to an environmental official in the city of Linhai Saturday.

A plant manufacturing tools for auto repair was found to be dumping unprocessed waste water into a waterway 50 meters away during an inspection in Linhai.

The inspectors said the waste water was a byproduct of metal polishing and surface treatment.

Excessive levels of zinc, bronze and nickel were detected in the water, and the zinc level was more than 180 times over the maximum allowed amount, said the official.

Police arrested the factory owner and two managers.H Like other parts of the country, Linhai City this year initiated the “river chief” system, with leading officials being the major responsible people in addressing water pollution.

Those convicted of polluting the environment can be sent to prison for up to seven years.

Torrential rain from Thursday to Friday has left two people dead and another missing in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, authorities said Saturday.

More than 108,000 residents of the districts of Hechuan, Beibei, Yubei and Tongliang were affected, with over 1,300 of them evacuated, the municipal flood control and disaster relief headquarters said in a statement.

More than 100 houses were destroyed and 5,200 hectares of crops were damaged, said the statement.

The municipal weather center issued a yellow alert for heavy rain 11 p.m. Friday, forecasting over 50 mm of rainfall on average in many parts of the municipality on Saturday.

China has a four-tier color-coded warning system for severe weather, with red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue.

BEIJING, June 10 (Xinhua) — The Chinese central government has appointed Xie Feng as commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, replacing Song Zhe, according to a decision announced on Saturday.

In 2016, Beijing’s population was 21.7 million, and the number of permanent residents in the six urban districts fell by 3 percent year on year. [Photo/Xinhua]

Beijing has made progress in cooperation with its neighbors and will act to restrict population growth.

Beijing officials met with the press on Friday to review progress made over the last three years in the integration of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei Province.

Liu Bozheng, deputy director of the office overseeing the integration, said Beijing will meet its annual targets of restricting population growth and moving non-capital functions away from the city.

This year, Beijing will continue to relocate wholesale markets, factories, universities and hospitals to suburban areas and Hebei, he said.

In 2016, Beijing’s population was 21.7 million, and the number of permanent residents in the six urban districts fell by 3 percent year on year, said Liu.

“The changes are unprecedented. Before, the mode of growth was to congregate resources, but now we must delegate and move out resources to achieve more planned and sustainable development,” he said.

From 2013 to 2016, Beijing closed 1,341 general manufacturing and polluting enterprises. This year, 372 manufacturers have already been relocated, 74.4 percent of the annual target.

Manufacturing and agriculture dropped by 72.75 percent and 26.42 percent, while, industries like finance, culture and technology grew as much as 22 percent.

“Industrial restructuring is the key. It is like pealing away the outer layers of a cabbage, and cooking its core, which is of better quality,” said Liu, with Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform.

This year, a total of 255 construction projects will get underway in Tongzhou, the subsidiary administrative center.

“We invited some of the world’s top designers to build Tongzhou, which covers 155 square kilometers,” said Liu.

By the end of this year, several government buildings will be finished and staff be ready to move.

Liu said Beijing will support Xiongan New Area. “Whatever Xiongan needs, Beijing will provide its support. The two wings of Tongzhou and Xiongan will develop in tandem,” said Liu.