China’s State Council has published a medium and long-term plan to prevent and treat chronic diseases in the next five to 10 years.

The plan, made public on Tuesday, aims to improve people’s health, lower the onset risks of high-risk populations, and improve the patient quality of life.

The plan made lowering the premature mortality of major chronic diseases a core target, saying that by 2020 and 2025 the premature mortality rate of cardiovascular disease, as well as cancer and chronic respiratory diseases among the groups aged between 30 and 70 will drop by 10 percent and 20 percent, respectively, compared with 2015.

The plan put forward eight areas to be improved, including health education, standard diagnosis and treatment, health insurance and aid policies.

China has extended penalty restrictions against people who default on their court orders, keeping them from traveling by plane, applying for loans and credit cards, or getting promoted.

“There has been 6.73 million defaulters on the Supreme People’s Court’s (SPC) blacklist,” said Meng Xiang, chief of the SPC’s enforcement bureau.

So far, 6.15 million people who defaulted have been restricted from purchasing plane tickets and 2.22 million barred from travelling by high-speed train, which are usually more expensive.

The SPC has cooperated with airlines and railway companies from December last year to bar those who default from purchasing tickets, based on ID card information and their passports, according to Meng.

Previously, the ban was only based on ID card numbers, and many bought tickets with their passports to circumvent the ban.

“In addition, the SPC signed memos with 44 units including the National Development and Reform Commission to share information of defaulters in order to extend penalty restrictions,” Meng said.

Altogether 71,000 people who defaulted have been restricted from serving as corporate representatives and executives, according to SPC figures.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, a major commercial bank, has rejected more than 550,000 loan and credit card applications from people who have defaulted.

“The courts include government staff, members of local legislative and political advisory bodies, and Communist Party of China congress delegates on its blacklist, with some receiving punishment including expulsion and demotion,” Meng said, without disclosing exact figures.

The deterrent is effective, and nearly 1 million defaulters have voluntarily fulfilled their court orders.

The State Council has sent teams to inspect why some migrant workers are experiencing delays in wage payment, according to a news release on Monday night.

Inspections will focus on the construction sector, especially those involved in government-invested projects, and urge full payment for migrant workers each month.

Malicious delays will be investigated and punished while channels for migrant workers’ complaints should be opened, such as portal websites and the “12333” hotline.

These teams also will check out the progress of establishing a long-term mechanism to comprehensively tackle delayed wages, with a focus on establishing a blacklist of violators with full public disclosure.

Provincial-level governments are required to take full charge while city and county governments carry out specific measures to ensure punctual payments for migrant workers.

The government should put forward a long-term solution to protect the rights of migrant workers and ensure they are paid on time, Premier Li Keqiang told a State Council executive meeting on Feb 3. It’s a significant part of the government’s proactive employment policy, he added.

Wage delays have often been burdening China’s 280 million migrant workers who travel from rural areas to cities for better-paid opportunities.

In late January, a 47-year-old farmer Gan Yongrong complained about wage delays to the premier during his visit to Ludian county in Southwest China’s Yunnan province. Gan’s earned wages of 50,000 yuan ($7,352) had been delayed for two years.

“This is the responsibility of companies and the government. Legal rights of migrant workers must be protected,” the premier told local officials on site.

Eight people have been confirmed dead and three are missing after a blast hit a coal mine in central China’s Hunan province on Tuesday.

The incident occurred at 1.37 am at the Zubao mine in Lianyuan, located 190 kilometres from the province capital Changsha, local authorities said.

A total of 29 people were working underground when the incident took place, with 18 people rescued, according to a statement from China’s national safety regulator, the State Administration of Work Safety.

One person is injured and three people remained unaccounted for, Yang Guangrong the vice governor of Hunan who headed the rescue work said.

The cause of the blast has not been identified but the site is considered a “high gas mine”.

The mine is owned by Tengfei Coal Mine Co. Ltd in Doulishan township in Lianyuan.

A student left an apology letter and 311 yuan (US$45) to the owner of a car that the boy hit accidentally with his electric scooter. The owner of the car, who was not there when his car was damaged, was so impressed by the student’s honesty that he has donated 10,000 yuan to go toward that student’s future tuition, reported dahe.com on Sunday.

Teenager Chen Yifan is a student from Xinmi city, Henan province. At the beginning of February, he accidentally hit a BMW car while he was riding an electric scooter.

Chen’s letter to the driver contained an apology for the damage done to the car, and explained that the money he was leaving was all that he had, as he was a student and his only income was from a part-time job.

After finding the apology letter, Xue Zhanmin, the car’s owner, said he found no need to blame the boy for the accident. “The boy is honest and kind as he took the responsibility and made the compensation. We should praise such behavior,” said Xue.

Xue Zhanmin contacted the boy’s family with the help of local police on February 11. He gave the money back to the boy and offered to financially help the boy finish his studies. The boy’s mother learned of the incident and offered to make the full compensation, which was 13,000 yuan but this was refused by Xue.

On Sunday, Xue sent 10,000 yuan as a donation to cover the boy’s tuition fees. Chen Yifan expressed gratitude but refused the money. After persuasion from the local police and staff members, Chen’s family finally accepted this donation that is full of love and care.