The scorching heatwave intensified in China on Thursday, expanding to more areas across the country as it relentlessly engulfed multiple regions.
Large parts of the country including Sichuan, Anhui, and Hubei provinces are enduring temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius.
Temperatures on Wednesday reached 35 to 39 degrees Celsius across northern China, regions between the Yellow River and the Huaihe River, the Jianghan Plain, parts of regions between the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River, northern areas south of the Yangtze River, and the Sichuan Basin, with temperature in eastern Sichuan hitting over 40 degrees Celsius.
Wuxi County in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality recorded the highest temperatures in the municipality, exceeding 42 degrees Celsius.
Surging water demand caused shortages in high-altitude villages, prompting the local government to dispatch water trucks to meet water demand.
While southern regions bake under extreme heat, northern areas are also affected.
In Beijing, tourists even cut visits short as temperatures soar.
"We shortened our Forbidden City tour to just two hours. We couldn’t even finish touring the main palaces due to the heat. Coming from Jiangsu Province, we have found that the weather in Beijing is even hotter than that in Changzhou," said a tourist from Changzhou City of Jiangsu Province.
According to the National Meteorological Center, the heatwave will shift to areas south of the Yangtze River, southern China on Thursday, with prolonged extreme heat persisting in areas south of the Yangtze River.
Nanchang City, the provincial capital of east China's Jiangxi, will see persistent highs and overnight lows of 28 to 29 degrees Celsius till this weekend.
Southern regions, after recent rains, will face escalating heat from Thursday.
Fuzhou City, the capital of east China's Fujian Province, will endure seven days in a row of 35 to 37 degrees Celsius with high humidity, just like in a sauna-like environment.
Authorities have urged the public to take heatstroke precautions amid the high temperatures.
Scorching heatwave grips multiple regions across China
The disciplinary body of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has called for reinforced anti-corruption efforts during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030).
The call was made in a communique adopted at the fifth plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), held from Monday to Wednesday in Beijing.
Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, attended the session and delivered an important speech.
The plenary session reviewed the discipline inspection and supervision work during 2025 and assigned tasks for 2026. It adopted a work report delivered by Li Xi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the CCDI, on behalf of the Standing Committee of the CCDI.
The session unanimously agreed to take guidance from Xi's important speech, persistently strengthen political oversight, and remain steadfast in improving conduct, enforcing discipline, and combating corruption.
It was noted at the session that in 2025, the top disciplinary body investigated, punished, and publicly exposed typical cases of discipline violations, to further promote improved work conduct and foster new practices across the Party.
Efforts were intensified to address corruption in key sectors such as finance, state-owned enterprises, energy, firefighting, tobacco, pharmaceuticals, higher education, and sports.
Campaigns were deepened to tackle misconduct and corruption that occurred at people's doorsteps. Reform of the discipline inspection and supervision system was also advanced in greater depth.
The session stressed that as China advances into the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the CPC faces fresh imperatives in advancing full and rigorous Party self-governance and must take more forceful and effective measures to eradicate the breeding ground and conditions for corruption.
The session emphasized the necessity of strengthening political oversight to support the achievement of the period's objectives and tasks. It called for taking strict actions against behavior in disregard of the rules, opportunism, sectarianism, a silo mentality, and unprincipled nice-guyism.
The session also urged improving long-term mechanisms to refine codes of conduct, while ramping up efforts to combat corruption in high-priority sectors. It further mandated tough scrutiny and punishment for collusion between officials and businessmen.
In addition, the session demanded more standardized and law-based discipline inspection and supervision work.
Party and state leaders including Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi attended the session.
CPC calls for reinforced anti-corruption efforts during 15th Five-Year Plan period
