Recent torrents in southern China have left at least five people dead and resulted in direct economic losses of about 37 million yuan ($5.5 million), as some areas in the region were battered by two major storms in succession over two days.

A pedestrian braves heavy rain in Fuqing, Fujian province, on July 31, 2017. Tropical Storm Haitang made landfall in the city on Monday morning in the wake of Typhoon Nesat, which roared into the city on Sunday. The government has warned people about the potential of floods and landslides.[Photo/Xinhua]

Heavy rains since Friday, accompanied by high winds and hail in some areas, have affected 37,000 people in Hubei and Hunan provinces and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, inundating 2,200 hectares of farmland, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said on Monday.

The two storms, which landed on Sunday and Monday, may bring more losses to the southern part of the country, the meteorological observatory warned.

Tropical Storm Haitang, the 10th tropical cyclone this year, landed around 3 am on Monday in Fuqing, Fujian province. Packing winds up to 65 kilometers per hour, Haitang followed Typhoon Nesat, which swept into Fuqing at 6 am on Sunday, with winds of 119 km/h, according to the Fujian meteorological observatory.

Both a typhoon and a tropical storm are cyclones, but they fall in different meteorological classifications. A typhoon is more violent, with much higher wind speeds.

It was the third time since 1990 that two major storms have struck the province almost simultaneously. Since July 21, there have been six major storms, though it’s uncommon to see two make landfall in Fujian, the State meteorological observatory said.

The storms brought heavy rain to the province, with precipitation exceeding 50 millimeters in 64 counties, cities or districts over the past 24 hours as of 6 am on Monday. Precipitation reached 172.4 mm at Yunshan village in Yongtai county, the Fujian flood control and disaster relief headquarters said in a statement.

As of 5 pm Sunday, 216,000 people had been evacuated across the province, the headquarters said. The two storms have so far affected 26,200 people in Fujian, inundating 1,350 hectares of crops and causing direct economic losses estimated at 51 million yuan, the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said on Monday.

It also said Fujian evacuated 216,000 people who work on the sea or who live and work in the affected areas. Also, 1,294 fishing vessels returned to port to take shelter from the storms.

In neighboring Zhejiang province, local authorities evacuated 135,000 people, while 22,000 fishing boats left the high-risk areas.

Earlier, the headquarters dispatched nine teams to guide preparations for the two storms and the resulting floods.

As they approached the Chinese mainland, the two storms raked Taiwan. Nesat hit on Saturday evening in Taiwan’s Yilan county, and Haitang followed at 4:40 on Sunday in Pingtung. It was the first time in 50 years that dual tropical storms have struck the island almost simultaneously.

Most motorcycles made in China are expected to be preloaded with BeiDou navigation system by 2018, according to a meeting on the promotion of BeiDou on Monday.

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), more than 20 million motorcycles equipped with BeiDou are expected to be put on the market, over half of which will be aimed at overseas markets.

At the meeting, China’s 15 major motorcycle producers reached consensus on reaching these targets.

Promoting BeiDou for car networking usage will help improve traffic management, relieve congestion, cut down robbery and motivate energy saving and environmental protection, said Bo Yumin, chief engineer of the Certification and Accreditation Administration of the People’s Republic of China.

“BeiDou is ready for civic use. It will help to improve the efficiency of accident rescue, and reduce loss of life,” said Qiao Yueshan, deputy director of information technology department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

China launched the 23rd satellite last year for BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) to improve the stability of this self-developed navigation system, and prepare it for global coverage.

The Chinese army will step up the pace of improving its joint combat capabilities and “stand ready to fight and win at any time”, State Councilor and Minister of National Defense Chang Wanquan said on Monday.

Speaking about the cross-Straits situation, Chang said the People’s Liberation Army is “confident, capable and fully prepared to resolutely safeguard State sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

Chang made the remarks during a speech at a grand reception marking the 90 anniversary of the founding of the PLA, which falls on Tuesday.

President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of Central Military Commission, attended the reception along with other Party and State leaders.

The PLA has come a long way since its birth during the armed uprising in the city of Nanchang on August 1, 1927, when it had only 20,000 soldiers.

Xi oversaw and addressed a grand military parade on Sunday marking the 90th anniversary at the Zhurihe Training Base in North China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

On Tuesday morning, Xi will attend a grand ceremony in Beijing commemorating the 90th anniversary and deliver a speech.

Led by Xi, the PLA has been advancing reform and technological upgrade and boosting training and combat readiness, Chang said.

Through this it has achieved thorough restructuring and has greatly enhanced its combat effectiveness, he added.

The military will press ahead with reforms and staunchly focus on winning in combat and training for readiness, Chang said.

Speaking of the cross-Straits situation, Chang said adherence to the 1992 Consensus and opposition to Taiwan independence constitute the political foundation of peace and development of cross-Straits relations.

Any form of secessionist attempt by anyone at any time would surely be opposed by the whole Chinese people and nation, he added.

Noting the Chinese military’s role as a contributor to world peace, he said the PLA facilitates global development and supports international order.

As of June, the Chinese military had participated in 24 UN peacekeeping missions, sending 31,000 personnel, 13 of whom lost their lives on duty.

Chang said the PLA is ready to further strengthen exchanges and cooperation with foreign militaries and jointly make greater contributions to world peace and the common development.

Since 2008, the PLA Navy has dispatched 26 escort task force groups, including more than 70 ships for escort missions in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia.

Huang Hong, one of China’s most wanted fugitives, has returned to China and turned herself in to the police, the anti-corruption authority said Monday.

Huang, 50, a former accountant at the Beijing office of the Haomen Group from north China’s Hebei Province, fled to the United States in May 1998 after being accused of misappropriation of public funds, according to a statement released by the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

In April 2015, Interpol issued a “red notice” of 100 corruption fugitives wanted by China. Many of the fugitives were former government staff or employees of state-owned enterprises.

Huang is the 43rd on the list to have returned.

On Saturday, Ren Biao, former “actual controlling shareholder” of Daluo energy supplies company in east China’s Jiangsu Province, turned himself in after fleeing to the Caribbean nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis in January 2014.

Ren has been accused of fraudulently obtaining loans and fabricating financial bills.

A 9-day-old infant died but before she passed away she donated her kidneys, saving another child’s life, in Kunming, capital of Southwest China’s Yunnan Province, on July 26, Kunming-based City Times reported.

The report said the infant donor became the youngest donor in the province’s history.

The infant’s mother, surnamed Zuo, suffered from placental abruption and gave birth to the female baby on July 17.

The newborn had severe asphyxia and was in deep coma. Despite rescue efforts, she was diagnosed as brain dead on the seventh day of her birth.

Parents decide to donate the baby’s organs

She was the second child of her family. Her parents were looking forward to her birth. Her grieving father asked whether the baby can leave something in this world.

“Though my child had a short life, I hope her organs can save other children’s life,” said the father. “If so, I and her mother will be grateful.”

Entrusted by the infant’s mother, the father signed documents to permit the donation.

“The family experienced such a blow but thought to help others. We are deeply moved,” said Li Ke, a staff member of the Red Cross Society of China, who witnessed the signing ceremony.

The organ harvest operation is difficult

After an evaluation, the infant’s kidneys were deemed qualified to be donated. The infant was sent to the operation room for kidney harvest at 10 am of July 26.

Medical staff removed the respirator from the infant after a moment of silence. Her heart stopped beating.

“The newborn’s organs were very small. Her blood vessel and ureter were very thin,” said Zhao Yongheng, the surgeon, adding that the thin blood vessels are easy to snap.

If the vessel breaks, the organ will be useless, Zhao said. Eventually, the operation harvested two kidneys.

An 8-month-old receives a kidney

Two kidneys were assigned to two patients in Wuhan, Central China’s Hubei Province, via China Organ Transplant Response System and were transferred right after they were harvested.

One kidney was too small to be transplanted to the potential receiver.

Another kidney was transplanted to an 8-month-old patient. “The kidney matched the patient well and started to play its role,” said surgeon Zhao Yongheng,

China banned transplants of organs from executed prisoners in January 2015, so voluntary donations have been the only source of organs since then.

Data from China Organ Transplant Response System show that since China launched the system in 2010, about 10,000 people have donated vital organs upon their death as of the end of 2016.