The Indian Panorama

Tag: Shandong

  • China busts $770 million refined oil smuggling ring in massive swoop

    Beijing (TIP): China foiled criminals seeking to smuggle nearly 1 million tonnes of refined oil worth 5 billion yuan ($770 million), with officials seizing 11 ships and detaining 171 suspects in a sprawling swoop on Tuesday, customs authorities said. The operation, which saw customs officers from the port city of Ningbo join forces with local law enforcement and maritime police, spanned eight Chinese regions, including the coastal provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong and Fujian, the General Administration of Customs said in a statement.

    A total of 14 gangs were busted on Tuesday, the agency added. It was not immediately clear if the gangs were trying to smuggle the oil into or out of the country. China is Asia’s biggest refiner and consumer of oil products such as gasoline and diesel. Customs authorities described the swoop as “one of the most extensive operations” to combat refined oil smuggling along China’s southeast coast in recent years, in terms of area.

    Such smuggling disrupts the retail fuel market, brings serious safety hazards and causes pollution, it said, adding that smuggled refined oil was of inferior quality and had a sulphur content that greatly exceeded stipulated limits. The customs agency said it had launched a coordinated nationwide campaign against refined oil smuggling in August last year, focusing on hotspots like the Pearl River and Yangtze River Deltas and had recorded 170 cases involving products worth 5.4 billion yuan by the end of February. Reuters

  • Six killed in fire at gold mine in eastern China

    Shandong  (TIP): Six people were killed in a fire at a gold mine in eastern China’s Shandong province, state media reported on Wednesday, with the local government announcing a new campaign to shut down unsafe facilities following recent accidents. The fire occurred at around 6 a.m. local time (2200 GMT on Tuesday) during maintenance at the Caojiawa gold mine in the city of Zhaoyuan, the official Xinhua news agency reported, citing local authorities.

    Ten miners were trapped by the fire, Xinhua said, with four who were rescued sent to hospital for medical treatment. The fire was the second major incident at a Shandong gold mine in little over a month. In January, 11 workers trapped by an explosion at the Hushan mine were dramatically pulled out alive after spending two weeks underground. At least 10 miners were killed, however, prompting authorities to launch more safety inspections.

    The Shandong province emergency bureau said it would begin a “comprehensive and thorough” inspection programme lasting until the end of March to tackle safety risks at all its non-coal mines. Those that fail the inspection will be closed. (Reuters)