China's Heilongjiang responds to heavy snow

Heavy snowfall hitting parts of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province from Friday has disrupted road traffic and caused cold waves in affected areas, with local authorities responding swiftly by adopting effective measures.

Huma County in the Daxing'anling region of the province experienced blizzard on Friday night, and local authorities immediately activated emergency response plans to ensure safe transportation.

To cope with the continuous snowfall, the local meteorological department issued consecutive yellow warnings for road icing and blizzards, the third severest in China's four-tier weather warning system that is color-coded with red, orange, yellow and blue.

Huma County put in machines and personnel to clear the snow, and traffic police are deployed on key road sections to guide the traffic amid snow.

"We deployed 15 snowplows to continuously clear the roads and dispatched 12 trucks to haul the snow away, aiming at completing the snow-removing task as quickly as possible so residents can travel safely and smoothly," said Yu Deshui, deputy head of the urban construction service center of Huma County.

As of 17:00 Saturday, Huma County had seen a total of 6.2 millimeters of snowfall and a snow depth of 11 centimeters, reaching blizzard levels.

Heavy snowfall across Heihe City, Heilongjiang, activating the city's emergency plan. Heating, transport and other departments quickly coordinated to ensure travel safety and normal daily life for the local residents. For road safety, all long-distance coaches were suspended from Saturday morning; the railway station and airport stayed open, while restrictions were put on some expressways and others were closed.

The city's heating departments have inspected heating network to ensure that all exchange stations are operating at full capacity to keep homes warm.

"In response to this round of temperature drop, we put another coal-fired boiler into operation. With the newly-added heating unit, the supply water temperature can reach 85 degrees Celsius and the return water temperature can reach 45 degrees Celsius, which can raise the indoor temperature in users' homes by two degrees Celsius," said Tang Yuanbo, deputy head of the operation branch of Heihe Thermal Power Co., Ltd..

China's Heilongjiang responds to heavy snow

China has delivered tangible results since its accession to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) Agreement on Port State Measures (PSMA) one year ago, said scholars and industry insiders at an event marking the 10th anniversary of the PSMA's entry into force in Shanghai on Friday.

The agreement, which took effect in China in April last year, is the first binding international agreement to specifically target illegal fishing, by preventing vessels engaged in such fishing from using ports to land their catches.

At the anniversary event, attendees highlighted China's progress in implementing the treaty. "The first batch of 23 designated ports open to foreign-flagged fishing vessels has been identified, spanning eight provincial coastal areas including Tianjin," said Xia Liang, a professor from Shanghai Ocean University, when delivering a speech at the event.

In addition to the concrete measures, China has actively fulfilled its obligations under the agreement over the past year.

"By joining the PSMA and taking action, China has shown its responsibility and commitment as a responsible fishing nation. In fact, even before joining, China's distant-water fleet had already been following the conservation rules set by regional fisheries organizations," said Zhao Gang, executive vice president of the China Overseas Fisheries Association.

China's fishing industry has long embraced responsible and sustainable practices, while academic institutions are also contributing to these efforts, with Shanghai Ocean University now serving as the national contact point for the PSMA.

"By linking research teams, industry bodies, international organizations, and practitioners, we can move academic research from 'on the page' to 'in action,'" said the Shanghai Ocean University President Hu Wei.

The Chinese government deposited its instrument of accession to the PSMA to the FAO on March 17 last year, one month before its accession.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said previously that the accession represents China's action to practice true multilateralism, and demonstrates the concrete effort of China to advance global ocean governance and uphold international maritime order.

China delivers tangible results since accession to PSMA: experts