Eight people have been confirmed dead and 11 others were injured after a 5.5-magnitude earthquake jolted Taxkorgan County in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region at 5:58 a.m. Thursday.

Witnesses said frequent tremors have been felt after the quake.

The search and rescue work is underway.

The injured people have been sent to hospital for treatment.

The epicenter, with a depth of about 8.0 km, was monitored at 37.58 degrees north latitude and 75.25 degrees east longitude in the southeast part of the Pamir Plateau.

Taxkorgan, some 1,250 kilometers from Urumqi, capital of the region, borders Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

President Xi Jinping, who is also chairman of the Central Military Commission, has signed a decree that will release a regulation on military legislation.

The regulation, which took effect Monday, defines the rules for establishing military laws and regulations as well as the drafting of standard documents.

The regulation standardizes the formulation of military laws and regulations, spanning the drafting, submission, modification and issuance stages.

In addition, it regulates the review and compilation of records, and suggests measures to improve the management system for documents.

Jiaolong, China’s manned submersible, conducted its ninth and final dive in the South China Sea Wednesday.

Jiaolong stayed underwater for nine and a half hours in its ninth dive in the second stage of China’s 38th ocean scientific expedition, which will last until May 13.

The maximum depth of the dive was 1,897 meters in the Puyuan Seamount.

Three crew in the submersible brought back samples of seawater from near the seabed, sediment, high-definition photographs and video footage.

The 38th oceanic scientific expedition started on Feb. 6. Jiaolong completed a dive in the northwestern Indian Ocean earlier this year in the mission’s first stage. It will also conduct surveys in the Yap Trench and the Mariana Trench in the third stage.

Named after a mythical dragon, Jiaolong reached its deepest depth of 7,062 meters in the Mariana Trench in June 2012.

China Wednesday released an update on the cases of 40 corruption fugitives on the Interpol red list who have either voluntarily returned or been extradited to China, including two spared from prosecution.

As of Monday, 15 returnees had already been sentenced to terms of up to life in prison, according to a statement from the office in charge of fugitive repatriation and asset recovery under the central anti-corruption coordination group.

The cases of another nine fugitives have been accepted by courts, but no sentence has yet been given.

Another 13 cases are still under investigation or awaiting review, including the case of Yang Xiuzhu, the No. 1 most wanted on the red notice list, according to the office.

One case was withdrawn in late 2015 after prosecutors confirmed the death of the suspect, Gu Zhenfang, in Thailand.

Among the 15 fugitives already convicted is Li Huabo, a former local finance official in east China’s Jiangxi Province, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in January.

Li’s illicit gains worth 4.83 million yuan (700,000 U.S. dollars) were returned and 5.5 million Singapore dollars (4 million U.S. dollars) was confiscated.

Li, who fled the country in January 2011, remained in Singapore until he was repatriated in May 2015.

In a separate case, Fu Yaobo and Zhang Qingzhao were sentenced to life imprisonment for bribery and embezzlement in August last year.

Zhang Dawei was exempted from criminal prosecution in November 2016 because Zhang had confessed his crime and returned all his illegal gains voluntarily.

Two of the fugitives, Zhu Zhenyu and Zhang Liping, were spared prosecution because Zhu was an accessary to the crime and turned himself in voluntarily, while Zhang’s offense involving falsifying value added tax invoices was minor.

The handling of these cases reflects China’s policy for the fugitive hunt, namely offering leniency to those who voluntarily return to China while meting out harsh penalties for those who are brought to justice after being arrested, the statement said.

The Interpol red notice of 100 Chinese corruption fugitives was released in April 2015.

As a move to close a loophole in China’s renewed anti-corruption drive, which in the past mainly targeted domestic corruption and left out those who have fled the country, China has launched operations such as “Sky Net” and “Fox Hunt” in recent years, focusing mainly on corruption fugitives and assets recovery overseas.

China Wednesday released an update on the cases of 40 corruption fugitives on the Interpol red list who have either voluntarily returned or been extradited to China, including two spared from prosecution.

As of Monday, 15 returnees had already been sentenced to terms of up to life in prison, according to a statement from the office in charge of fugitive repatriation and asset recovery under the central anti-corruption coordination group.

The cases of another nine fugitives have been accepted by courts, but no sentence has yet been given.

Another 13 cases are still under investigation or awaiting review, including the case of Yang Xiuzhu, the No. 1 most wanted on the red notice list, according to the office.

One case was withdrawn in late 2015 after prosecutors confirmed the death of the suspect, Gu Zhenfang, in Thailand.

Among the 15 fugitives already convicted is Li Huabo, a former local finance official in east China’s Jiangxi Province, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in January.

Li’s illicit gains worth 4.83 million yuan (700,000 U.S. dollars) were returned and 5.5 million Singapore dollars (4 million U.S. dollars) was confiscated.

Li, who fled the country in January 2011, remained in Singapore until he was repatriated in May 2015.

In a separate case, Fu Yaobo and Zhang Qingzhao were sentenced to life imprisonment for bribery and embezzlement in August last year.

Zhang Dawei was exempted from criminal prosecution in November 2016 because Zhang had confessed his crime and returned all his illegal gains voluntarily.

Two of the fugitives, Zhu Zhenyu and Zhang Liping, were spared prosecution because Zhu was an accessary to the crime and turned himself in voluntarily, while Zhang’s offense involving falsifying value added tax invoices was minor.

The handling of these cases reflects China’s policy for the fugitive hunt, namely offering leniency to those who voluntarily return to China while meting out harsh penalties for those who are brought to justice after being arrested, the statement said.

The Interpol red notice of 100 Chinese corruption fugitives was released in April 2015.

As a move to close a loophole in China’s renewed anti-corruption drive, which in the past mainly targeted domestic corruption and left out those who have fled the country, China has launched operations such as “Sky Net” and “Fox Hunt” in recent years, focusing mainly on corruption fugitives and assets recovery overseas.