Typhoon damage

TYPHOON Ewiniar has caused nearly 300 million yuan (US$47 million) of damage in Guangdong Province, provincial insurance regulatory authorities said yesterday.

So far, insurance companies have received 39,000 claims related to the typhoon, with an initially assessed damage value of 290 million yuan, said a statement issued by the Guangdong Bureau of China Insurance Regulatory Commission.

The loss in Shenzhen, the second-largest city in the province, is not included in the figures.

Five people were killed in landslides triggered by the typhoon in Xinxing County of Guangdong.

Dredger on trial

CHINA started sea trials Friday of Asia’s largest and most advanced cutter-suction dredger, which is expected to become a mighty “island-maker.”

The Tiankun set sail from a shipyard at Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industry’s Qidong Marine Engineering in Jiangsu Province’s Qidong, where it was built and berthed, for a three-day sea trial off Zhoushan Archipelago, according to Zhang Xiaofeng, chief designer of the ship at the Marine Design and Research Institute in Shanghai, a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corp.

The trial is set to verify and examine the ship’s power and propulsion systems, he told the China Daily from on board the Tiankun.

More airports for Tibet

TIBET plans to build three new airports to promote tourism and economic growth.

The airports will be in Shannan, Xigaze and Ali, according to the regional government and the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

Construction of the three airports, all above the altitude of 3,900 meters, should begin in 2019.