A snow leopard, an endangered species under first-class state protection, has been released back into its natural habitat following special care in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
The adult snow leopard was previously captured after wandering into a herder's sheep pen in Wensu County.
Then it was safely transferred to a temporary care station where veterinarians and researchers from the Tomur Peak National Nature Reserve and the Eco-Bridge Continental, a Beijing-based nature conservation NGO, gave it a thorough physical checkup.
With the animal confirmed to be in good condition, the team wore it a satellite tracking collar and returned it to its original territory on Tuesday afternoon.
"Through the real-time satellite data transmitted by the collar, we can monitor the snow leopard's range of movement and intensity of its activity, so as to predict some of its behavior," said Liu Yixuan, a researcher with the Eco-Bridge Continental.
Snow leopards typically live in alpine zones between 3,000 and 5,000 meters above sea level. Thanks to strengthened conservation efforts in recent years, the snow leopard population in Xinjiang's Tianshan Mountains has shown promising signs of steady recovery.
Rescued snow leopard released back into wild in Xinjiang
China's two major power grid operators -- the State Grid Corporation of China (State Grid) and China Southern Power Grid (CSG) -- reported a surge in investment in the first quarter of 2026, underscoring efforts to strengthen infrastructure construction and support high-quality socioeconomic development in China.
The State Grid said it completed fixed-asset investment worth 129 billion yuan (about 18.77 billion U.S. dollars) in the first three months of this year, up 37 percent the corresponding period of the previous year. The spending has driven more than 250 billion yuan (36 billion U.S. dollars) of investment across the wider industrial chain.
Key projects such as the Panxi ultra-high-voltage (UHV) alternating current (AC) line and the Anhui-Hubei back-to-back direct current (DC) project have seen ground broken for their construction, while several west-to-east power transmission projects have been upgraded.
Investment in connecting renewable energy generation to the grid was reported to have exceeded 10 billion yuan (1.45 billion U.S. dollars) from January to March, a year-on-year rise of more than 50 percent.
The CSG also reported robust growth in investment in the three-month period, with fixed-asset investment reaching 38.45 billion yuan (5.58 billion U.S. dollars), up about 50 percent from a year earlier.
Among its achievements, the company completed and commissioned 80 key projects, including the 220 kV cross-sea power grid interconnection project, which was officially put into operation on March 20. The project ended years of grid isolation on the Weizhou Island in south China by linking it to the main power system of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
The construction of 17 other major energy projects, including one linking the power grid of the Xizang Autonomous Region in southwest China with that of Guangdong Province in south China, is advancing rapidly. These projects are expected to bolster regional industries, the maritime economy, digital collaboration and the transition to green energy.
"By accelerating major project construction, investment during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030) is expected to approach 1 trillion yuan (145 billion U.S. dollars), driving a further 2 trillion yuan (290 billion U.S. dollars) of investment across upstream and downstream industries," said Dong Yanle, deputy general manager of the Engineering Construction Department under the China Southern Power Grid.
China ramps up power grid investment in January-March to boost growth
