BEIJING, July 25(ABC): China’s population has slowed significantly and is expected to start to shrink ahead of 2025, the state backed Global Times reported, citing a senior health official. Birth data released late on Sunday showed that the number of new births in 2021 was the lowest in decades in several provinces. The number of births in central Hunan province …

BEIJING, July 25(ABC): Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message on Sunday to Bajram Begaj on assuming the office as Albanian president. Xi pointed out that China and Albania enjoy profound traditional friendship, adding that in recent years, with the joint building of the Belt and Road and China-Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) cooperation as platforms, the two …

BEIJING, July 25(ABC): Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng on Sunday watched the launch of Wentian, the first lab module of the country’s space station, at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center. Han, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, extended warm greetings and congratulations to all those participating in …

XINING, July 25(ABC): Chinese scientists launched an expedition on Sunday in the headwater regions of the Yangtze and Lancang rivers in northwest China’s Qinghai Province, to investigate the regions’ water resources and ecological environment. The expedition will conduct scientific investigations into the water resources, river hydrology, water ecology, glaciers, soil erosion and permafrost of the regions, among other things, according …

BEIJING, July 25(ABC): China’s food industry saw stable expansion in terms of production and sales in the first half of the year (H1), data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed. The value-added industrial output of the agricultural and sideline food processing sector rose 3.3 percent year on year in the period, while that of the food manufacturing …

BEIJING, July 25(ABC): On Monday, China’s national observatory continued to issue an orange alert for high temperatures as intense heat waves linger in many regions of the country. During daylight hours on Monday, Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Chongqing, Hubei, and parts of Guizhou, Sichuan, Jiangsu, Anhui, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang are expected to experience temperatures of over 35 …

WEB DESK, July 25(ABC): China will fully respect privacy and protect personal information in using the digital yuan, state media quoted a senior central bank official as saying on Sunday, as Beijing encourages greater adoption of e-CNY. Limited anonymity is a key feature of the digital yuan, Mu Changchun, director-general of the central bank’s Digital Currency Research Institute said, noting …

BEIJING, July 24(ABC): China on Sunday launched the second of three modules to its permanent space station, in one of the final missions needed to complete the orbiting outpost by year’s end. A live feed on state broadcaster CCTV showed the 23-tonne Wentian (“Quest for the Heavens”) laboratory module launching on the back of China’s most powerful rocket, the Long …

BEIJING, July 23(ABC): Ten people were killed and seven injured Saturday after the collapse of a section of a mountain at a coal mine in China, state television channel CCTV reported. The accident took place around 11:15 am local time (0315 GMT) in the northwestern province of Gansu, said CCTV, adding that rescue operations are now over. Personnel were moving …

ISLAMABAD, Jul 23(ABC): The “China’s Grand Canal Overseas Tourism Promotion Season 2022” is officially launched and will continue until August 20. China Cultural Center in Pakistan will host the event online, where each day we will expose you to an intriguing program about China’s Grand Canal, including the promotion of local cultural and tourism projects, the screening of documentaries about …

CHIKANKATA, Jul 23(ABC): Zambia on Thursday signed with China two protocols on sanitary and phytosanitary export of soya bean meal and stevia leaves to the Asian country. The protocols were signed by Chinese Ambassador to Zambia Du Xiaohui and Zambia’s Minister of Agriculture Mtolo Phiri in the southern district of Chikankata in the presence of Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema who …

BEIJING, Jul 23(ABC): China and the Republic of Korea (ROK) have made “substantial progress” in the second phase of free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce said. The two sides have held nine rounds of formal negotiations so far, and recently reached a consensus on pushing forward follow-up negotiations, ministry spokesperson Shu Jueting told a …

BEIJING, Jul 23(ABC):Compared with the world’s major currencies, the Chinese currency renminbi (RMB), or the yuan, has posted a stable performance in value against the rising U.S. dollar so far this year, an official said. “In terms of the multilateral exchange rate, the RMB exchange rate index appreciated by 0.1 percent, indicating that the RMB remained stable against a basket …

BEIJING, July 23(ABC): China’s centrally administered state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have seen steady growth in revenue and profit in the first half of 2022 despite downward pressure, the country’s top state-owned assets regulator said. The country’s central SOEs raked in 19.2 trillion yuan (about 2.84 trillion U.S. dollars) in combined revenue in the first six months, a 12-percent expansion from a …

BEIJING, July 21 (ABC): Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the World Youth Development Forum, which commenced Thursday in Beijing. The youth represent hope and are the architects of the future, Xi said in the letter, noting that China always regards young people as the driving force of social development, and encourages them to unleash their youthful …

SHENYANG, July 21(ABC): Senior Communist Party of China (CPC) official You Quan has urged efforts to prevent and defuse risks in the united front work and contribute to stable economic, social, and political environments. You, a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and head of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, made the …

BEIJING, July 21(ABC): The Chinese currency renminbi (RMB), or the yuan, has retained its position as the fifth most active currency for global payments by value in June 2022, with a share of 2.17 percent, said the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT). The value of RMB payments increased by 6.61 percent compared to May 2022, while in general, …

BEIJING, July 21(ABC): The overall operations of China’s small and medium-sized banks are stable and their risks are generally controllable, an official said Thursday. The country’s small and medium-sized banks handled non-performing loans worth 594.5 billion yuan (about 87.8 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of this year, up 118.4 billion yuan over the same period last year, Qi …

BEIJING, July 21 (ABC): At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, President Joko Widodo of the Republic of Indonesia will visit China from July 25 to 26, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying announced Thursday. In response to a question on the visit, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a press briefing Thursday that Widodo is the first foreign …

BEIJING, July 21 (ABC): China has fined ride-hailing giant Didi 8 billion yuan ($1.2 billion), regulators announced Thursday, concluding a year-long investigation into alleged data security violations. The probe found “conclusive evidence” that Didi had committed violations of an “egregious nature”, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said in a statement. It accused Didi of illegally storing the ID information …

HONG KONG, July 20(ABC): The traditional Chinese versions of three books of President Xi Jinping’s discourses on various subjects and one book on stories in the Party history shared by Xi debuted Wednesday at the Hong Kong Book Fair. Among the books, one comprises 50 pieces of Xi’s important works on the subject of running the country by the people; …

BEIJING, July 20(ABC): Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Sierra Leone’s counterpart, David John Francis, talked about bilateral ties in a phone conversation on Tuesday. In their talks, Francis, on behalf of his country, thanked the Chinese government and people for their valuable assistance to Sierra Leone’s economic and social development over the years, and since …

BEIJING, July 20(ABC): China’s hog supply in the second half (H2) of this year is guaranteed and hog prices will not grow continuously and substantially, an agricultural official said on Wednesday. “Overall, this round of hog price hikes were mainly caused by recovery-related and seasonal reasons,” Chen Guanghua, an official with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said at …

BEIJING, July 20 (ABC): The United States should immediately stop plundering Syria’s national resources, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said here Wednesday. Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a press conference when asked to comment on reports that U.S. occupation forces recently transferred oil stolen from Syria to the north of Iraq, with Syrian officials condemning the United States and …

BEIJING, Jul 20(ABC): China is expected to see stable grain production this year, despite challenges including rare autumn floods last year, sporadic resurgences of COVID-19 cases and drastic fluctuations in the global farm produce market, an agricultural official said Wednesday. “China is witnessing a sound grain production situation this year,” Liu Lihua, an official with the Ministry of Agriculture and …

TIANJIN, July 20(ABC): An international flight carrying 73 passengers departed on Tuesday from north China’s Tianjin Municipality for Osaka, Japan. The air route was the first international route resumed by Tianjin Airlines and the first direct route from the Chinese mainland to the Kansai region of Japan after the outbreak of COVID-19, the company said. The resumption of flights between …

BEIJING, July 20(ABC): China on Tuesday launched an inspection of law-based governance at the municipal and county levels. The inspection will focus on law-based government administration so as to accelerate the construction of rule-of-law governments and consolidate the foundation of the rule of law at the grassroots level. Inspection teams will be sent to eight provinces including Shanxi, Liaoning, Jiangsu …

BEIJING, July 20(ABC): China’s government warned on Tuesday it would take “forceful measures” if U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, after the Financial Timessaid she would go to the Chinese-claimed island next month. Pelosi and her delegation will also visit Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore, and spend time in Hawaii at the headquarters of U.S. Indo-Pacific command, …

BEIJING, July 19(ABC): China’s benchmark prices for spot interbank gold transactions were higher Tuesday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System. The benchmark price for gold of 99.95 percent pure or above stood at 373.43 yuan (about 55.36 U.S. dollars) per gram, up 1.41 yuan from the previous trading day, while that for gold of 99.99 percent pure or …

BEIJING, Jul 19(ABC): Chinese Vice Premier Liu He on Monday called for efforts to boost industrial vitalization and innovation-driven development in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Liu, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks in a written speech at the “Silk Road Academician Forum: Promote Innovation and High …

BEIJING, Jul 19 (ABC): China plans to build 600,000 5G base stations across the country this year, bringing the total number to over two million, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said. The country currently has 1.85 million 5G base stations, of which 300,000 were built in the second quarter of this year, said Wang Peng from the …

BEIJING, July 18(ABC): Beijing began issuing coupons worth a total of 100 million yuan (14.82 million U.S. dollars) on Monday to spur catering consumption, according to the municipal commerce bureau. Funded by the government and platform enterprises that provide catering services, the promotional campaign is expected to cover more than 70,000 restaurants, the bureau said. The first batch of restaurant …

CHENGDU, July 18 (ABC): Paleontologists have confirmed that marks noticed by a diner in the yard of a restaurant in southwest China’s Sichuan Province are dinosaur footprints dating back to the early Cretaceous period. On July 10, Ou Hongtao was dining in a restaurant in the city of Leshan and noticed some special dents on the ground in the yard …

BEIJING, July 18 (ABC): A Chinese observer has pointed out that it will take some time for China and India to figure out a solution of border issues that both sides can accept. The border issue, if unsettled, will always be a source of risk for the normal development of bilateral relations, Qian Feng, Director of the Research Department of …

BEIJING, July 18(ABC): The Chinese government has allocated 468 million yuan (about 69.5 million U.S. dollars) for the repair work of water conservancy projects damaged by floods and earthquakes. The fund has been allocated to 10 provincial-level regions such as south China’s Guangdong to boost efforts in flood prevention, according to the Ministry of Water Resources. Since the flood season …

PHNOM PENH, July 18(ABC): The value of imports and exports passing through the Chinese-invested Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone (SSEZ) in Cambodia reached 1.37 billion U.S. dollars in the first half of 2022, up 38 percent year on year, said an operator’s report on Monday. Situated in the southwestern coastal province of Preah Sihanouk, the SSEZ is the country’s largest industrial …

NINGBO, July 18(ABC): Seven people were confirmed dead after strong winds hit a dock in Ningbo City, east China’s Zhejiang Province, leaving a boat and gangway capsized, local authorities said on Monday. At around 12:33 p.m. Sunday, gusts of up to 117 kph struck the dock in the city’s Fenghua District. A total of 16 people fell into the water.

CHENGDU, July 17(ABC): Six people were killed and 12 were reported missing by 7 a.m. Sunday, after rainstorm-triggered mountain torrents hit southwest China’s Sichuan Province, local authorities have said. From 8 p.m. Friday to 8 a.m. Saturday, heavy rains pelted the Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County, affecting 13 townships and approximately 22,300 people, with precipitation of up to 110 millimeters. The …

BELGRADE, July 17(ABC): China’s Hainan Airlines launched direct flights from China to Serbia on Saturday, as a welcome ceremony was held at the Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport. “We will be able to attract even more tourists and businessmen from China, which will bring China even closer to Serbia,” said Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who attended the ceremony with several officials. …

URUMQI, July 17(ABC): Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, recently inspected the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwestern China and visited officials and the general public of different ethnic groups. Xi stressed efforts to resolutely implement the CPC Central Committee’s decisions, and fully …