BEIJING

More people receiving flu shots this year

Beijing has seen a major rise in people receiving the flu vaccine this year, a news briefing on epidemic prevention and control was told on Saturday. Over 2.4 million flu vaccine doses had been given as of Friday, up 38 percent compared with the total number last year, data released at the briefing showed. The number of influenza shots received by primary and secondary school students increased by 27 percent, while the number received by elderly people rose 17 percent, said Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Over 152,000 unfrugal officials punished

More than 152,000 Chinese officials were punished for violating frugality rules in the first 10 months of this year, according to statistics released by the top anti-graft bodies. The officials were involved in over 105,000 cases, the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission said. The punished officials included 530 at the prefecture or equivalent level and 8,416 at the county or equivalent level. Authorities investigated over 42,000 cases of hedonism and extravagant conduct, such as giving or accepting gifts, misusing public funds for banquets and awarding unauthorized allowances or bonuses, with about 59,000 officials punished.

YUNNAN

Hundreds of rare storks seen at reserve

More than 400 black storks have appeared in the Napahai Lake nature reserve this year, as the southbound birds stop over in Yunnan province, local authorities said Friday. A Class A protected animal in China, the black stork population is estimated at around 1,000 nationwide. The wetland of the Napahai Lake nature reserve has become China's major shelter for the rare birds to stop over during their wintering, the reserve's management and protection bureau said.

HEBEI

Great Wall culture park projects planned

A number of key national and provincial-level projects have been formulated to build a Great Wall-themed national culture park, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism said. Forty-five projects with a total investment of 28.74 billion yuan ($4.39 billion) have been proposed for the sections of the Great Wall in Hebei province, according to data released at a meeting in Qinhuangdao, Hebei. At the meeting, Hu Heping, minister of culture and tourism, urged greater efforts in promoting the preservation of the Great Wall.

Xinhua