Eight rescued after fishing boat catches fire in south China

Eight crew members were rescued Friday after a fire broke out on their fishing boat off the coast of Shanwei City, south China's Guangdong Province.

With strong winds fueling the flames and complicating rescue efforts at sea, coast guard officers en route to the scene coordinated remotely with nearby fishing boats, directing them to rush to the area and help evacuate the stranded crew.

All eight crew members had already been safely transferred to passing fishing boats without injury ahead of the rescuers' arrival.

Law enforcement officers assessed the fire, sea conditions, and the state of the burning boat before deploying onboard firefighting equipment. The blaze was subsequently brought under control and completely extinguished.

An investigation into the cause of the fire is currently underway.

China Media Group (CMG), the country's flagship broadcaster, has launched its 2027 Brand Strengthening China Project in Beijing, aiming to build a national platform for trusted brand data and provide reliable brand information services for the public.

The event held on Saturday unveiled 118 creative and innovative projects planned for 2027, developed by 13 CMG program centers.

The event also introduced a national brand trustworthy corpus platform, which is scheduled to go online on Jan 1 next year.

Drawing on CMG's global leading media resources and communication networks, the platform will provide government departments, industry organizations, businesses, and the public with scientific, authoritative, traceable and sustainable brand information services.

A service plan on AI communication for the 2027 Brand Strengthening China Project, a campaign to boost consumption, an initiative to support rural revitalization and other related activities were also announced at the event.