An explosion hit a petrochemical firm in east China’s Shandong Province Monday morning, casualties unknown, according to local authorities.

The explosion occurred at 1 a.m. Monday and triggered fires at the loading area of Linyi Jinyu Petrochemical Co. Ltd. in the Linyi Lingang Economic Development Zone. Casualties and economic losses remained unknown.

The investigation on the cause of the accident is underway.

The Chinese leadership has stressed the role of supervision in implementing reform on various occasions, especially at meetings of the Central Leading Group for Deepening Overall Reform.

In the public reports of all 35 meetings of the group, the word “implement” has appeared 219 times, and the word “supervision” showed up 69 times.

All departments and localities should attach greater importance to delivering reforms and devote more efforts to examining reform effects, President Xi Jinping said on April 18, 2017 during the 34th meeting of the leading group, which he heads.

“We need to gather enough people to strengthen the supervision force in order to supervise the implementation of major reform programs. Supervision goes wherever reform goes,” said Xi on the fifth meeting of the Central Leading Group for Deepening Overall Reform on Sept. 29, 2014.

Over the past three years, the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee has regarded supervision as a key part of work that should constantly be improved.

— During the group’s 21st meeting on Feb. 23, 2016, the leadership highlighted improved supervision and evaluation of reform, stressing that all departments should ensure plans are well documented, and any mistakes or deadline breaches are dealt with accordingly.

It noted that only truly effective reform will boost social and economic development and give people real benefits.

— On July 22, 2016, a report on supervision of reform efforts in all departments was approved at the 26th meeting of the leading group.

Supervision should target major reform tasks, progress and effectiveness. It should also supervise officials’ awareness of reform, their division of duties and work styles, said a statement issued after the meeting.

— On March 24, 2017, the leadership emphasized the importance of implementation, urging leading officials to keep in mind the overall situation while pushing forward with reform at the group’s 33rd meeting.

At the meeting, senior officials reported on the progress made in reforms in environmental protection, the judicial system, poverty relief, rural affairs, the Shanghai FTZ, state-owned enterprises and others.

Leading officials must refine the implementation process to ensure results, improve coordination between various reforms and focus on the most important and difficult issues, according to the meeting.

— At the group’s 34th meeting, the leadership stressed the role of supervision in implementing reform, demanding such work be carried out with a wider and deeper scope to detect and solve problems.

Authorities should review the results regarding major reforms and “intricate matters,” according to a statement issued after the meeting.

The group called for timely corrections to problems uncovered during supervision, and those found to be making insufficient efforts should be called to account.

Leading departments and local authorities were also ordered to regularly track reform implementation and report the effects.

A China shipbuilding firm on Saturday delivered the world’s first semi-submersible aquaculture support vessel to Norwegian fish farming company SalMar ASA.

The Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Group Co. Ltd. of the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation delivered the vessel at its dock in Qingdao in east China’s Shandong Province.

The vessel, 110 meters in diameter and 69 meters in total height, weighs 7,700 tonnes and can resist powerful typhoons of up to 36 meters per second in speed. It can accommodate water for farming 1.5 million fish while maintaining a death rate of less than 2 percent.

SalMar is one of the world’s largest companies for producing and processing salmon.

Yan Jun, deputy chief engineer of Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Group Co. Ltd., said the vessel is the world’s first fully automated aquaculture support vessel. Its smart aquaculture system can release fish fry and perform feeding, environmental monitoring, cleaning and removal of dead fish.

The ship maker signed a contract in April with SalMar to add another five of the smart aquaculture support vessels.

 Archaeologists have spent months excavating a lost temple that disappeared for nearly a millennium in downtown Chengdu, capital of southwest China’s Sichuan Province.

The Fugan Temple was a famous temple that lasted from the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420) to the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279).

Daoxuan, a famous Tang Dynasty (618-907) monk, once wrote that an official rite to pray for rain to end a persistent drought was held in front of the temple, and it rained as if the prayers had been heard in heaven.

The story was the record of how the temple got its name, Fugan, which means “perceive the blessing.”

Famous Tang Dynasty poet Liu Yuxi left a poem to commemorate the temple’s renovation, describing its heavenly appearance. The poem further noted the temple’s important role at that time.

However, the building was worn down during the later period of the Tang and Song dynasties, with all traces of the temple disappearing during wars.

Archaeologists unearthed more than 1,000 tablets inscribed with Buddhist scriptures and over 500 pieces of stone sculpture as well as glazed tiles with inscriptions.

“We have only excavated a part of the temple’s area, but already have a glimpse of its past glory,” said Yi Li, who led the excavation project.

He said they have found the temple’s foundation, ruins of surrounding buildings, wells, roads and ditches.

During the excavation, archaeologists found some 80 ancient tombs scattered near the temple, dating back to Shang and Zhou dynasties (1600-256 BC). In the temple’s surroundings, they have unearthed large amounts of household tools and utensils and building materials dating back to various periods from the Song to Ming dynasties.

Chengdu became an economic and cultural center in western China during the Sui and Tang dynasties. The temple’s discovery could greatly contribute to the study of the spread of Buddhism in China during that time, said Wang Yi, director of the Chengdu Cultural Relic Research Institute.

The BRICS Media Forum, to be held in Beijing from June 7 to 8, will be attended by the leaders of 25 media groups from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

The attendees will discuss topics including multimedia innovation for media development, as well as media outlets’ duty and social responsibility.

The forum next week aims to improve the high-end dialogue platform for the mainstream media of BRICS countries, as well as advance innovation and promote fairness and justice of international public opinion.

During the forum, there will be a BRICS Media Joint Photo Exhibition to show the development and cooperation achievements of BRICS.

Proposed by Xinhua, the forum is jointly organized by the mainstream media groups of BRICS countries.

China, which took over the BRICS presidency this year, will host the Ninth BRICS Summit in September in Xiamen, Fujian Province.