Hefei Party chief under investigation

Fei Gaoyun, a member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China Anhui Provincial Committee and Party chief of Hefei, is under investigation for suspected serious violations of Party discipline and law, China's top anti-graft authorities said on Wednesday. Fei, 55, a native of Jiangsu province, began his career in August 1993. Before moving to Anhui, he held several positions in Jiangsu, including Party chief of Changzhou in 2017. He later served as vice-governor, secretary of the provincial political and legal affairs commission, and executive vice-governor of Jiangsu. In 2019, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection launched an investigation into Fei for negligence related to a deadly chemical plant explosion in Yancheng, Jiangsu, when he was serving as vice-governor. Fei became executive vice-governor of Anhui in 2023 and was appointed Party chief of Hefei in 2025.

Tianzhou 9 prepares for Earth reentry

The Tianzhou 9 cargo spacecraft departed from the Tiangong space station on Wednesday afternoon and is set to return to Earth soon, according to the China Manned Space Agency. The agency said in a brief release that the robotic craft undocked from the Tiangong at 4:34 pm and entered solo-flight mode. It is programmed to descend into the atmosphere in the coming days, it added. During the atmospheric reentry process guided by ground controllers, most of the spaceship will burn up, and a small amount of debris is expected to fall into secure areas in the sea, the agency noted. The Tianzhou 9 robotic cargo ship was launched in July from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province. As the 17th spaceship, and the eighth cargo craft connected with Tiangong, Tianzhou 9 delivered propellants, science payloads and necessities for the astronauts.