This month, twin blasts at a container-storage station in the Chinese port city of Tianjin killed 121 people, according to the latest figure reported by the official Xinhua News Agency. In all, 640 remain hospitalized, the agency said. The cause of that disaster is still under investigation. In the wake of the explosions, more than 100 chemical companies across seven provinces were told to shut down or suspend operations because of safety violations, Reuters reported.