Extreme weather will continue to challenge airline punctuality through August, after bad weather caused massive flight delays and cancellations in June, the civil aviation authority said on Tuesday. "In June, most regions experienced extreme weather conditions such as storms and heavy rain," said Zhang Chunzhi of the Civil Aviation Administration of China. "Five major airports, in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, which handle 40 percent of flights nationwide, had a combined 59 days of stormy weather and issued 92 massive flight delay and cancellation alerts." Weather was still the chief obstacle for flight punctuality in June, accounting for 65.81 percent of delays, she said. "There was more rain this June than in previous years. Extreme weather in some areas affected busy airports and flight routes. Take Beijing as an example, Beijing Capital International Airport had eight days of stormy weather in June, which caused 2,300 flight cancellations and more than 3,000 flight delays leaving Beijing." She added that stormy weather also affected air routes in the Yangtze River Delta region and Pearl River Delta region, causing massive delays and some cancellations in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Flight punctuality will face further challenges from bad weather in July and August, Zhang said. The China Meteorological Administration predicted temperatures will remain high in July and August, she said. "Northern China will have heat waves and periodic storms. Storms and typhoons will hit coastal areas in southern and eastern China," she said. The administration re--quires airlines, airports, the air traffic management bureau and regional civil aviation departments to take responsibility to improve the punctuality rate during the summer storm season. Storms often cause massive delays and cancellations, in which passengers get stuck at airports, causing chaotic scenes. Arriving flights cannot land, so they circle Beijing Capital International Airport, and some even return or land at other airports. After storms, airlines must apply to have flights rescheduled. Delayed and newly arranged flights then cause new delays. The CAAC's North China Regional Administration launched initiatives to cope with such weather challenges, reducing air traffic operational risks and improving efficiency. cheap rubber wristbandssilicone rubber bandscreate your own wristband24 wristbandscustom made rubber braceletsrubber bracelets cheap
Young cancer patients undergo infusions at Beijing Children's Hospital. The number of children with cancer in China had reached 220,000 by 2014. [Ren Fangyan/For China Daily] Imported drugs are no longer subject to tariffs and VAT has been slashed in efforts to make medication more affordable, as Wang Xiaodong reports. The cost of imported cancer drugs is expected to fall dramatically as a result of recent government measures, according to the National Health Commission. On May 1, import tariffs were lifted on 103 of the 138 antineoplastic drugs - which can prevent or slow the growth of tumors - available on the Chinese market, and the value added tax levied on them was also reduced significantly. Authorities will also adopt measures to lower costs, such as price negotiations with manufacturers, greater use of centralized government procurement and the inclusion of a wider range of antineoplastic drugs in the national healthcare insurance program, Zeng Yixin, vice-minister in charge of the commission, told a media briefing last month. The moves are aimed at reducing the heavy financial burden that inadequate medical insurance cover can impose on some cancer patients, especially as the disease is a major cause of poverty in rural areas, the commission said. A report published last month by the Cancer Hospital at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences showed that more than 3.8 million new cases are reported in China every year. Cancer has become the leading threat to people's lives and health because of a number of causes - including the aging population, industrialization and unhealthy lifestyles - and the incidence of the disease is rising, Zeng said. Although new, effective antineoplastic drugs are available, some patented drugs are extremely expensive, and that places a heavy financial burden on patients.
