Aerial photo taken on Aug. 16, 2019 shows scenery at a wetland park in Jingbian County of Yulin City, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. China will not relax its ecological and environmental protection in the next five years, Minister of Ecology and Environment Huang Runqiu said on the sidelines of the annual session of the national legislature. Ecological and environmental protection goals set for the 13th five-year plan period (2016-2020) are being accomplished in a smooth manner, Huang said, adding that seven of nine binding targets set for evaluating the protection work have been achieved, such as the emission control of major pollutants. According to an earlier report on environmental protection, the share of good air quality days in China's 337 cities at or above the prefecture level hit 82 percent in 2019, with 157 cities nationwide meeting the air quality standards. Improvement was also seen in nationwide rivers and lakes. The proportion of major rivers with a good water quality increased by 4.8 percentage points in 2019. Regarding lucid waters and lush mountains as invaluable assets, China has made new progress in advancing afforestation in recent years. Its forest coverage rate grew from about 8 percent in the early days of the People's Republic of China to nearly 23 percent in 2019. (Xinhua/Tao Ming)

Shangqiu in Central China's Henan Province is reportedly to have seen over a hundred children going to hospitals for nosebleeds suspected to be caused by pungent gas. Local authorities responded to the incident on Thursday, announcing the suspension of four enterprises that emitted the gas, and ordered free physical examination for all middle and primary school students near these enterprises. 

A video went viral in recent days that showed parents bringing their children to hospitals in Shangqiu for examination of unexpected nosebleeds. Some suggested that it may have been caused by nearby textile factories that emitted polluted gas. 

Shangqiu authorities said in a notice on Thursday that after examining the emission data of relevant enterprises, the four enterprises that failed to meet the standards were asked to suspend operation on May 18. 

The local government has also arranged free physical examinations for middle and primary school students in the nearby area, involving some 600 students.

As of Wednesday noon, 404 students have completed the examinations, among whom one has had nosebleeds and five were found with blood in their nasal cavity, while other indicators showed no abnormalities. Blood tests, chest X-rays, liver and kidney function tests returned no abnormal changes, the notice said. 

Relevant departments will keep checking on local residents' health, it added. 

A parent living in Xiayi of Shangqiu surnamed Chen told media that his 12-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter began having nosebleeds two years ago. According to Chen, sometimes the amount was so big that the bed and the floor were covered with blood. A number of kids in the neighborhood also showed similar symptoms.  

Global Times