A record number of investment deals were signed during the four-day 20th China-ASEAN Expo held in Nanning, capital of South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, organizers announced at the closing ceremony on Tuesday.

The 20th China-ASEAN Expo, which concluded on Tuesday in Nanning, South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, saw record numbers of events, cooperation projects and investments. Nearly 2,000 businesses, up 18.2 percent from 2022, showcased their products at the expo. High-tech products such as intelligent equipment became a highlight at the expo. Particularly, Brunei's deal to purchase 30 Chinese big airplanes for more than $2 billion in total became the biggest one in the expo's 20-year history.

China can be a cooperation priority in anything to do with technology, said Vikrom Kromadit, chairman of the Thailand-China Business Council, as he noted that driven by the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), cooperation potential among China, Thailand and ASEAN will be further released.

A vibrant display of new-energy products ranging from batteries to electric vehicles (EVs) at the ongoing 20th China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning, South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, serves as a prime example of deepening cooperation between China and ASEAN member countries in the emerging field.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang hailed the close partnership between China and ASEAN at a key expo event on Sunday, saying the two parties have together created "miracles of economic development" over the past years, as he called for honesty and trustworthiness while forging stronger ties.

From coffee, durian and jackfruit to rice, the 20th China-ASEAN Expo, which opened on Saturday in Nanning, capital of South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is no doubt a dazzling array of tropical fruits and every kind of agricultural product you can think of.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang hailed the close partnership between China and ASEAN at a key expo event on Sunday, saying the two parties have been adhering to unity and self-reliance, shoring up peace and tranquility in the region despite global volatility, and they have created together miracles of economic development.

"For this surgery, we have prepared for more than half a year," Xiao Yuehai told the Global Times when talking about the first laparoscopic surgery carried out in Solomon Islands.

The shockwaves caused by the sudden release of Huawei's Mate 60 Pro series have persisted over the past week. As more details emerge, it becomes increasingly evident that a significant breakthrough has been achieved in China's domestic chipmaking technology – a progress that the US has been striving to prevent from through intensified sanctions over the past years.

The Netherlands' export controls on cutting-edge chipmaking tools officially take effect on Friday, a move that coincides with US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo's “productive” China visit, while Chinese netizens are getting excited over Huawei's new handset launch despite US curbs.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang expressed China's willingness to have more dialogues over trade issues when he met with US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo in Beijing on Tuesday, the second day of the US trade chief's China visit. Meanwhile, Li called for more concrete efforts from the US side to push forward the sound development of relations between China and the US, the world's two largest economies.

With groups of people waving goodbye, China's naval hospital ship the Ark Peace sailed from Honiara Harbor on Saturday morning after it successfully concluded its weeklong visit and dispensing medical services to the Solomon Islands. Similar to its arrival, the shores were filled with crowds bidding farewell, with their sentiments toward the hospital ship evidently profound. For them, the opportunity to receive medical treatment aboard the Ark Peace was a rare one.

Setting sail in early July, the Ark Peace was on its humanitarian medical mission, Mission Harmony 2023, to Kiribati, Tonga, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and East Timor. This marks the first time a Chinese naval vessel has visited Kiribati and the Solomon Islands. According to the original plan, the hospital ship docks at one port in each country, providing weeklong medical services free of charge to local people, personnel from Chinese institutions stationed in the country and other overseas Chinese.

​The Prime Minister of Solomon Islands said that he was 'moved' by the generous aid from a Chinese naval hospital ship, which is currently visiting the southern Pacific island nation and providing free medical services to the local people.

China on Thursday scathingly criticized the US government's move to ban new US investment in key technology industries in China, the latest attempt in Washington's relentless crackdown campaign against China. China has lodged stern representations with the US side and vowed to take necessary measures to safeguard its interests.

In the early morning on June 16, 2023, a Tanzania Airways flight TC403 touched down at Julius Nyerere International Airport after an over 11-hour journey. Passengers onboard might be unaware that in the underbelly of the plane stood a consignment of special "guests" – 16,500 chicks from Beijing.

China's first ultra-deepwater research drilling vessel, which can collect samples at depths of more than 10,000 meters, is under construction and set for 2024 delivery, according to Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding Co, the builder.

Standing atop Longxue Mountain, overlooking the sprawling 3.02 million square-meters Guangzhou Shipyard International Co (GSI) in Nansha, South China's Guangdong Province, the dry docks and piers present a bustling landscape.

How to lift a 3,000-ton ship to a height of 113 meters above the ground? An elevator located in Yichang, Central China's Hubei Province, can achieve that feat in just 40 minutes.

Chinese tech giant Huawei has launched a new AI model Pangu 3.0 during the Huawei Developer Conference 2023 on Friday, marking a fresh update of its self-developed large language model amid a global frenzy in ChatGPT rush - which is believed to be the latest frontier of AI race between China and the US.

Chinese new-energy vehicle (NEV) companies are expanding to Southeast Asian market at an unprecedented speed amid strengthened economic ties, increased political trust, and supported with a slew of preferential policies under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

On a recent raining day, workers at the SCO (Lianyungang) International Logistics Park in Lianyungang, a vibrant seaside city in East China's Jiangsu Province, busy themselves atop a striking red and yellow train.

How can a shipment of Kazakhstan ferrochrome alloy be transported to South Korea? The seemingly straightforward 14-day trip, now a regular choice for traders from both the two countries, involves a series of complex logistics arrangements.

Representatives from China and the US convened at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) China CEO Forum 2023 held in Beijing on Saturday, calling for collaborative efforts to promote prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region through the multilateral mechanism in light of the increasing challenges faced.

Amidst the current artificial intelligence (AI) boom triggered by ChatGPT that is sweeping the globe, leading scientists from across the world have again raised their concerns over the potential uncontrolled risks associated with the technology during an industry conference held in Beijing over the weekend.

Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, has called for a global cooperation in setting up the regulatory guardrails for powerful artificial intelligence (AI) systems at an industry forum held in Beijing on Saturday, noting that China can play a significant role with some of its "best AI talent in the world."

Chinese Ambassador Xie Feng met with Under Secretary of the US Treasury Jay Shambaugh on Friday, during which the two had a “candid, in-depth and constructive” exchange of views on issues of mutual interest, read a statement on the official website of the Chinese Embassy to the US on Saturday.

Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, on Tuesday announced 11 regulations and industry initiatives regarding artificial intelligence generated content (AIGC), which shows that domestic platforms are taking a proactive step for the opening of “Pandora's box” as more players rush into ChatGPT-like services, observers said.

US regulators have taken over First Republic Bank and struck a deal to sell the bulk of its operations to JPMorgan in an attempt to “save” the troubled lender. It's the third mid-size bank in the US to fail in about two months, with concerns over a systemic contagion spreading further among investors.

Before US' Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen laid out the US economic priorities on China on Thursday, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said China and US commerce officials met in Beijing last week during which the two sides exchanged views on bilateral economic ties. The re-engagement of US and Chinese officials in certain areas such as business and climate could serve as an opportunity for the strained bilateral relations to turn into a positive direction, but Washington needs to show more sincerity for improving the ties, experts said.

Accusations of Chinese companies spying are not based on evidence, untrue and unfair, the Chinese Embassy in the Netherlands said in response to a Dutch intelligence service assessment that hyped “China threats” such as “commercial espionage and covert investments.”

China's cyberspace authority issued a content regulation draft for artificial intelligence (AI) on Tuesday, voicing clear support for innovation, promotion and application in AI algorithms and frameworks. Meanwhile, it called for efforts to ensure fair competition as domestic industry players have been intensively launching related services amid the worldwide ChatGPT frenzy.

China and France have vowed to enhance trade cooperation and provide a “non-discriminatory” environment in a slew of areas ranging from cosmetics and agriculture to energy in a joint statement released on Friday, a move experts hailed as a “new starting point” for the two nations amid global volatility, while also serving as a clear rejection of calls for “economic decoupling.”

Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei reported a net profit of 35.6 billion yuan ($5.18 billion) for 2022, a slump of 69 percent year-on-year, while rev-enue inched upwards by 0.9 percent to 642.3 billion yuan, a result company executives said is "in line with forecasts despite substantial pressures."

Japan's willingness to blindly follow the US as its pawn in technology containment toward China may cost it dearly, Chinese experts said on Friday.

Authorities in South China's Guangdong Province promoted policy supports to foreign investors at an event held in Guangzhou on Wednesday, offering strong incentives to major high-end manufacturing projects as the export hub leads China's industrial upgrading push.

China kicked off a yearlong campaign on Tuesday, themed “Invest in China,” a strong move to attract foreign investment and help foreign companies better understand China's opportunities, as the world's second-largest economy pursues wider opening-up amid rising external uncertainties.

The acquisitions of the failed Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Credit Suisse have temporarily eased fears of an imminent crisis in the West. However, economists worry that the turmoil could cause more potentially troublesome spillovers into the rest of the world, urging policymakers in the US and the EU to find out how the bank crisis started so as to avoid a repeat of 2008 financial crisis.

China will integrate deeper into global supply chains, establish an open and cooperative system, and further open up its manufacturing sector to counter combined challenges that threaten the global recovery, a senior official reassured a group of foreign business representatives on Monday.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday reiterated China's commitment to opening-up in a congratulatory letter to a high-level dialogue forum that saw the gathering of officials from international organizations, global executives, and economists, sending a strong signal to participants that the nation will continue to create new opportunities for a world that has been derailed by regional conflicts and disturbances.

The friendship between China and Russia has brought “opportunities and development” to Chinese enterprises, Zhou Liqun, president of the Union of Chinese Entrepreneurs in Russia, told the Global Times on Tuesday, saying that Chinese firms in Russia have confidence in the broad prospects of bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

China's aviation regulator released a report to disclose the latest progress on the China Eastern MU5735 crash probe on Monday, saying that a technical investigation team has carried out a great deal of work on the case including onsite inspection, personnel interviews and experimental analysis, but since the case is "very complicated and extremely rare," the investigation is still ongoing.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang held his first press conference as China's premier on Monday morning, during which he addressed various key issues concerning the Chinese economy, vowing to further stabilize growth, prices and employment, while making new progress on high-quality development, supporting private businesses and continuing to open up China's market to the world.

Many US companies still find the Chinese market an attractive investment destination, with a large majority of them saying they have no plans to relocate operations elsewhere, though increasing rivalry between the world's two largest economies casts shadows over bilateral ties, a survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in China (AmCham China) revealed Wednesday.

The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council unveiled guidelines for digital development in the world's second-largest economy on Monday, unfolding the blueprint and timeline for construction of a “digital China” through strengthening 5G and computing.

The headquarters of more than 10 multinational companies are coordinating with the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) to arrange business visits to China, including Apple, Pfizer and the Mercedes-Benz, MOFCOM spokesperson Shu Jueting told the Global Times during a press conference on Thursday.

China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs vowed on Tuesday to further expand the scope of pilot projects for the industrialization of genetically modified (GM) corn and soybeans, in what industry observers called a significant step to the legalization of GM crops in the world's second-largest economy amid efforts to bolster its food security.

It is hoped that the Canadian government can treat Chinese firms fairly, Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen said on Thursday, noting that though some "misunderstandings" remain, Canada and China have "extensive common interests, and common grounds are far greater than disagreements."

Chinese tech company Baidu is expected to launch a ChatGPT-style bot, named ERNIE Bot, which will open for public use in March, making it the first among its Chinese counterparts in joining a global race in the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot sector after OpenAI's ChatGPT prompted widespread attention.

The roaring comeback of the world's second-largest economy could contribute greatly to global growth in 2023 driven by a strong consumption rebound, said a senior official with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), noting that the impact of China's growth will be "clearly positive", and "particularly strong" in nations and areas where China has closer trade ties.

Foxconn's Zhengzhou plant in Central China's Henan Province, the largest manufacturing base for Apple's iPhone, has rapidly recovered and it achieved about 90 percent of its anticipated peak capacity in December, Foxconn confirmed to the Global Times on Tuesday.

The world's first C919 aircraft, and also China's first domestically-developed passenger jet, was delivered to China Eastern Airlines in Shanghai on Friday, and is expected to be put into commercial operation in the spring of 2023.

A discussion of shift to use Chinese yuan in China-Saudi oil settlement is increasingly rising recently amid an ongoing visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the country - the trip marks epoch-making milestone in China-Arab relation and also raises hopes for a more deepened energy tie for years to come.

The US Federal Reserve and a group of major financial institutions will launch a 12-week digital dollar pilot program, months after US lawmakers called for the government to join a digital-asset “space race” to compete with China – a frontrunner in promoting the use of the digital yuan both at home and abroad.

Economic connections between China and Indonesia, host of the ongoing G20 Summit, are set to be strengthened, underpinned by a shared vision between the two countries and a new pattern of bilateral relations driven by the "four wheels" - political, economic, cultural and maritime cooperation.

As the G20 Leaders' Summit, which is said to be the most difficult one, is set to kick off in the Indonesian resort island of Bali on Tuesday, the host country is striving to keep the focus of the crucial meeting on economic issues rather than geopolitical tensions, with the Indonesian President Joko Widodo waring against rivalry, while locals, including G20 volunteers, are calling for cooperation.

Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei is now eying a bigger "Harmony World" as its self-developed HarmonyOS has gradually "developed into a mature ecological base" after four years of development, company chairman Yu Chengdong said on Friday.

China's economic indicators beat forecast in August, withstanding the coronavirus, heatwaves and headwinds as recovery gains momentum

Strolling around the Junma Solar Power Station located in the Kubuqi Desert in Ordos, North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, it's hard for visitors to imagine that the area, now covered with blue solar panels and green vegetation, was once being totally barren and called the "sea of death".

Boarding the giant 300-meter long, 300,000-ton very large crude carrier （VLCC）docking at a bay in Northeast China's Dalian city, with machines humming, steels piling up across the 7.74 million square-meter production base, visitors can easily catch a glimpse of the shipbuilding prowess of the world's largest manufacturing hub in the busy scene.

Global investors will increase their holdings of Chinese assets in the second half of 2022, as the world's second-largest economy is expected to recover from challenges, backed by support policies from the government – a trend that will go against the headwinds of a global slowdown, an economist from Standard Chartered said on Wednesday.

The Chinese Embassy in Papua New Guinea has strongly refuted media reports claiming China's cooperation with PNG in the Ihu Special Economic Zone is aimed at building a military base, saying the report was “completely baseless and hype with ulterior motives.”

China will start to implement a set of regulations on security assessment of cross-border data transfers in September, the country's top cyberspace regulator announced on Thursday, as the country beefs up efforts to establish a data security protective screen against potential risks.

On July 1, the bustling Victoria Harbor will be illuminated with glittering lights, decorating every corner of the metropolis. Across the port stands Hong Kong's iconic modern skyscraper international financial center, where market trading operates 24/7. Looking down from the Lion Rock Hill, the Sham Chun River, which borders Shenzhen on the mainland, is flowing, and Hongkongers are in a joyful mood to mark a special day with eager anticipation for a brighter future.

China will remain a strategically important market for Wabtec, which has "absolutely no plans" of moving out, a representative from the US company said, noting that the firm has full confidence in the nation, while also seeing mass opportunities brought by the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

A predictable environment, tax cuts, simplified procedures and even a green channel for children to go to school, among other favorable and preferential policies, are the ways that China attracts global giants and how it has remained one of the top spots for investors in recent years, multinationals from Japan, Europe and the US told the Global Times at a major summit held in Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province on Tuesday.

China remains a strong force in global supply chains, despite temporary COVID-19 disruptions, intensified China-US competition and a reconstruction of the global division of labor, multinationals and industry representatives said at a major multinational summit on Monday.

As the US is facing the most serious inflation challenge in 40 years and extremely heavy economic pressure, it seems like Washington is looking to China for some hope, as US President Joe Biden recently told media he is seeking dialogue with China's top leader and is in the process of making his mind up on the tariff issue.

China's efforts in ensuring food security for its citizens and lessons in agricultural production and protection of the most vulnerable people are really important for other countries in Asia, an official from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) told the Global Times on Thursday, while warning that a food crisis in Sri Lanka may expand to more countries in the region.

In recent years, cooperation between China and Papua New Guinea (PNG) has seen rapid progress, especially after the South Pacific island nation became the first in the region to sign a MOU on the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with China. As Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi is visiting regional countries, including PNG, China's Ambassador to PNG Zeng Fanhua (Zeng) shared his views on the current China-PNG ties, future prospects for cooperation and external meddling with Global Times (GT) reporter Shen Weiduo.

For the vast South Pacific countries with abundant tropical resources but lack talent and technology to leverage these resources, external support in the sector is the most efficient way for nations in the region to see timely economic benefits - an effort China has been engaging for years and is now becoming one of pillars for cooperation with some nations in the region.

Shanghai reported 3.1 percent GDP growth in the first quarter of the year, a sharp decline from 17.6 percent last year, and also slower than the country's average of 4.8 percent as the coronavirus impact exerted pressure on the financial hub, and a leading growth engine of the world's second-largest economy, starting March.

China is capable of adapting to policy changes from the US Federal Reserve, and the Chinese currency will also maintain at a stable level despite recent volatility, an official from China's foreign exchange regulator said on Friday.

Many US businesses in China have reported rising bilateral tensions between China and the US as a top challenge, even as they remain confident in profit growth in China, calling on Washington to drop aggressive rhetoric and tit-for-tat actions and pursue communication, according to a survey published by the main US businesses group in China on Tuesday.

From broadcasting services and real-time weather forecasts, to timing and scoring during events, as well as transportation and medical services, China's 5G technology has been adopted in numerous aspects of the ongoing Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, which is said to be the first ever Winter Olympics with full 5G coverage.

Trade between China and the US soared by 28.7 percent year-on-year in US dollar terms in 2021, amounting to a staggering number of $755.6 billion, and US trade deficit with China further widened, Chinese customs data showed on Friday, maintaining strong growth momentum even with additional tariffs in place and bruising political tensions casting shadows on bilateral ties.

"Do not fall victim to this sensitive political environment," a Canadian trade representative in China said on Tuesday, slamming a poll conducted in November that suggested that three in five Canadians believe the country should reduce its reliance on China for trade.

Chinese telecom giant Huawei is taking actions ranging from issuing debts to a management overhaul, as the company continues to cope with lingering challenges such as the US' crackdown and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Nearly two years ago in January 2020, China signed what is termed "phase-one" agreement with the US in the hope of ending the 22-month-old US-initiated trade deadlock, defusing a costly trade war, giving relief to businesses and reassuring the global economy.

China's tech giant Huawei, under a US crackdown for more than two years, launched new products ranging from smartphones, watches, smart eyewear and laptops to the HarmonyOS Smart Cockpit during a high-profile event in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province on Thursday.

On December 11, 2001, China welcomed a watershed moment, becoming a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), marking its firm determination to further intertwine into the global economy with concessions and commitment made after rare but tough 15-year negotiations.

Chinese customs and other sources told the Global Times on Wednesday that Lithuanian products had never been removed from China's customs list as claimed by some companies from the Baltic country. But industry insiders warned of potential risks posed by Lithuania's provocation against China.

Canadian Ambassador to China Dominic Barton's resignation was seen by Chinese observers as coming amid growing domestic criticism for his stand of developing positive ties with China and pressure from the US, and observers said that the premise for improving China-Canada ties was that Canada abandons its political bias against China and drops any potential thought of following the US' "diplomatic boycott" of the Beijing Winter Olympics.

President Xi Jinping announced on Monday several major initiatives to boost economic cooperation between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), including striving to import $150 billion worth of agricultural products from ASEAN countries over the next five years, offering additional financial assistance to the bloc's economic recovery and anti-epidemic efforts, as well as providing advanced technology.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden have started a virtual meeting on Tuesday morning, where senior economic officials from both sides are also attending, suggesting that trade and economic topics will likely be covered at the closely watched meeting.

Ahead of a virtual meeting between Chinese and US top leaders, some senior US officials hinted at lifting tariffs in resolving the trade dispute between the world's two largest economies.

Chinese analysts on Thursday cautioned that the US may continue to pose uncertainties and risks to China-Canada bilateral ties, and they called on Ottawa to refrain from blindly following Washington in its attempt to contain China, as Chinese and Canadian officials seek to improve bilateral ties after the biggest hurdle has been removed with Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou's return to China.

Chinese and Canadian officials on Wednesday struck a rare positive tone on the prospect of the bilateral relationship after nearly three years of diplomatic tension, saying that the biggest hurdle for bilateral ties has been removed after the safe return of Meng Wanzhou to China several weeks ago.

"Black technology," brainstorming lectures, programming labs, free drinks and snacks, decorative balloons, and music festivals... the 2021 Huawei Developer Conference (HDC), also its biggest event each year held in the warm southern city of Dongguan over the weekend, makes it hard for me to imagine that the company is still struggling and suffering major setbacks under US sanctions.

Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei launched an updated version of its self-developed operating system (OS), the HarmonyOS 3.0 for developers on Friday, putting the firm on the fast track to shake off reliance on Google's Android, while also paving the way of recovering from a hobbled handset business amid US sanctions.

Huawei's chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou arrived at the Shenzhen Baoan Airport Saturday night after a 13-hour flight from Vancouver after she was freed by the US and Canadian authorities that found her not guilty, with no punishment in fraud charges.

When many Chinese woke up Saturday morning surprisingly learning that the return of Huawei's Meng Wanzhou to China became a reality, some said it was the best news in quite a while.

Huawei's Meng Wanzhou reached a landmark deal with the US Justice Department on Friday that will allow her to return to China, under which the senior executive of the Chinese company has not pleaded guilty. It marks the end of Meng's nearly three-year detention in Canada, and may help ease the frozen China-Canada tie and frictions between China and the US, experts said.

Huawei will focus on the two operating systems, namely the HarmonyOS and openEuler at the same time, both will be open source, in an effort to solve the domestic stranglehold problem of lacking its own operating system in basic technology, Huawei's rotating chairman Eric Xu Zhijun told reporters at a roundtable interview on Friday.

The COVID-19 test kits produced by major Chinese manufacturers still have high accuracy in detecting mutant strains, several producers said, in response to rising public concerns that whether the mutant strains such as Delta will affect reliability.

The Blagoveshchensk-Heihe highway bridge, the first highway bridge connecting China and Russia across the Heilongjiang River, is ready to open to traffic, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Thursday, marking the completion of another key cross-border infrastructure project that could pave the way for a closer economic bond between the two countries.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu He on Monday vowed unchanged and firm support to the country's private sector, a sign from the top of reassurance to businesses, clarified misinterpretations, and also fought back at foreign smearing of China's tightened regulatory measures over a range of sectors.

As August 26 marks the 1,000th day since Chinese citizen Meng Wanzhou was arbitrarily and illegally detained by Canadian government at the request of the US government, Chinese diplomats and experts once again urged the Trudeau administration to quickly correct its mistake of serving as Washington's willing accomplice that has dragged China-Canada relations to freezing point and cast a shadow over future prospects not only in politics but also in trade and business.

On July 1, China declared that it has reached its first centenary development goal - building a moderately prosperous society, or xiaokang, in all respects and is marching in confident strides toward the second centennial goal of building the nation into a great modern socialist country. To decipher what that means in the context of where China is now and where it's heading, the Global Times is publishing a series of multimedia products about the achievements under the xiaokang goal in various aspects. This piece focuses on how the Communist Party of China [CPC] led the entire Chinese nation to a victory in the battle against extreme poverty, how it strives to sustain such a hard-fought achievement, and where it's headed next.

As the case of Huawei's Meng Wanzhou enters its final stage after two years of legal wrangling, a Canadian judge on Thursday appeared skeptical of the arguments made by prosecutors, questioning the validity of the case by the US against Meng, a court hearing note acquired by the Global Times showed.

As veteran German leader Angela Merkel plans to step down in a few weeks, the future of the massive China-Germany economic and trade relationship could enter a period of uncertainty with very different views and rhetoric coming out from German politicians about the direction of Berlin's China policies.

After issuing a warning to US firms over the “risks” of doing business in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), the US government has taken a step further and sought to pressure businesses to leave the city, in a fresh attempt to sow chaos in the city and interfere in China's internal affairs, a source close to the matter told the Global Times on Monday.

China's exports to countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (B&R) have surged by 25.3 percent on a yearly basis in the first seven months this year, as Chinese experts praised trade with the B&R Initiative regions as a "stabilizer" of China's trade exchanges despite external challenges including the coronavirus.

Swedish telecom behemoth Ericsson scored poorly in a recent 5G radio tender in China, which is linked to the Swedish government's arbitrary crackdown on Huawei and other Chinese firms, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei told the Global Times on Sunday that Google's switch to the AAB format, also known as Android App Bundles, will neither affect the experience of HarmonyOS users nor slow the development of the OS as some media reports have speculated.

A leading Chinese gene company BGI Group told the Global Times on Thursday that it has never provided data from its non-invasive prenatal test (NIPT) to Chinese authorities and the prenatal tests were not developed in partnership with China's military and it strictly adheres to national and international requirements on data privacy. The company was responding to Reuters' report which it calls "factually incorrect."

As investment pours into the cash-burning chip sector amid China's all-out efforts to become independent and counter the US threat, domestic semiconductor companies that specialize in artificial intelligence (AI) are among the first to see major progress.

China's overseas vaccine program, known as the "spring sprout" program, that aims to ensure its nationals across the globe receive vaccines timely, is also supporting China-assisted projects and Chinese firms' operations abroad, some business representatives told the Global Times.

Swedish court has on Tuesday decided to uphold a ban on Huawei selling 5G network equipment in the country; the move, a purely politicized decision without any facts and evidence base, will not only delay global 5G progress as Huawei is a major contributor, but may also put the fate of Ericsson in danger, analysts said.

Honor, the smartphone brand sold by Huawei after the US imposed a chip ban last year, officially launched its 50 series on Wednesday. The premium smartphone line is also its first phone series powered by Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 778G 5G chip.

Chinese scientists have set a new world record of achieving a plasma temperature of 120 million degrees Celsius for a period of 101 seconds in the latest experiment on Friday, a key step toward the test running of a fusion reactor.

While the US is racking its brain to rally against China and cracking down on China's tech rise, Chinese high-tech firms are now reaching a “silent consensus” and speeding up efforts to break reliance on the country, and drive localization efforts along the industrial chain from chips, operating system and supercomputers to robots.

From dancing robots and 5G appliances, to solutions for smart factories and logistics, "intelligent transformation" was the key word during the ongoing fifth World Intelligence Congress (WIC) in North China's Tianjin Municipality on Thursday.

The semiconductor intellectual property (IP) sector in China is growing rapidly by the day, with tens of thousands of chip design companies striving for self-reliance amid an ever-escalating China-US tech rivalry and lingering US crackdown. But they still face challenges, including the lack of top talent, analysts say.

With two giant statues towering over the front door and a main building in the shape of terraces, the China National GeneBank (CNGB) is no doubt an iconic landmark in Shenzhen, the rising southern Chinese metropolis that's filled with skyscrapers and is ready to emerge as a new Oriental “silicon valley” in the eyes of many.

Commenting on Huawei's exclusion from Sweden's 5G rollout and the fate of Ericsson in China, Chinese Ambassador to Sweden Gui Congyou urged Sweden to stop politicizing Huawei's 5G equipment and said that Ericsson's situation in China will be decided by the Chinese market and consumers.

Sales of luosifen rice noodles, a local specialty in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, have skyrocketed across the country after Chinese President Xi Jinping praised the rapidly growing industry on Monday.

The China-US relationship is likely to be competitive in many domains, which may mean some level of strategic decoupling, said Henry Paulson, former US treasury secretary, who made the comments on Tuesday at the China-US Entrepreneurs Symposium, a sideline event of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA).

Chinese COVID-19 vaccine producers such as Sinovac and CanSinoBIO are mulling technology transfers to other countries to help address the global vaccine inequity issue, company executives said at the 2021 Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) on Tuesday.

Institutional reform is crucial for the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), with unified laws, tax policies and free exchanges of people and goods, city heads and experts said at a discussion panel about the GBA's development at the Boao Forum for Asia.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the world's largest trade deal signed by China and 14 other economies in November 2020, is facing challenges as comprehensive China-US competition has taken shape, officials and experts said at a seminar during the 2021 Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) on Monday.

Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies Co launched a series of intelligent car components and solutions including 4D imaging radar on Sunday, another foray into the vehicle sector that analysts said could help it offset the impact of the US' suppression of its mobile business – and perhaps also enable the company to rival industry giants like Tesla.

The 2021 Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) kicked off in Boao, a coastal resort in South China's Hainan Province on Sunday. In the post-COVID19 era, attendees' anticipation for the conference, also the first international forum comprising mostly offline conferences this year, includes not only helping Asian countries shore up confidence in accelerating economic growth, but also taking it as an international exchange forum that has a global impact.

China's foreign trade volume surged by 29.2 percent year-on-year to reach 8.47 trillion yuan ($1.29 trillion) in the first quarter of 2021, getting off a robust start for the year despite the world is still grappling with the cloud of a global coronavirus outbreak resurgence.

Chinese technology giant Huawei said its revenue and net profits both grew in 2020 and met targets, despite losses inflicted by the US government's blacklisting on its traditionally strong businesses.

Driving all the way to the east from city center of Yinchuan, capital city in Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, on the eastern banks of the Yellow River, millions of midnight blue solar panels that stretch to the horizon would suddenly come into view on the slopes of gullies, like a blue ocean.

In a move apparently timed to strike a tough tone ahead of a key dialogue on Thursday, the US government took a couple of moves against Chinese telecommunication companies, continuing a Trump-era crackdown on Chinese firms that has drawn ire in Beijing.

Huawei said on Tuesday that it will start to charge royalties to 5G smartphone makers using its patented 5G technology, which will provide a “reasonable percentage royalty rate” of the handset's selling price, with per unit royalty cap at $2.50.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Thursday addressed a series of challenges in various areas of the country's economic and social development, including great uncertainties for growth, mounting pressure on employment and weaknesses in fundamental research, striking a sobering note over potential risks for the world's second-largest economy even as it remains on a world-leading robust recovery path.

Yet another Chinese company looked set to be kicked out of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Tuesday due to last-ditch efforts by then outgoing US President Donald Trump to push for a so-called China-US decoupling, as newly installed US President Joe Biden has made no effort to reverse those mutually destructive policies, dimming the prospect of even a certain degree of de-escalation in China-US ties which are at their lowest point in decades.

The Biden administration is not getting tougher on the bilateral relationship, while to the contrary, people can expect some more “normalized and more traditional measures of diplomacy,” chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China (AmCham China) told the Global Times during an online press conference on Tuesday.

China is planning to create 11 million jobs in 2021, a jump from the 9 million in 2020, which analysts said suggests that the country's job policy will steer toward the post-pandemic era as the COVID-19 situation in the world's second-largest economy is firmly contained.

Huawei launched the new foldable MateX2 handset series on Monday, continuing its ambition in the high-end phone segment, following reports that the Chinese technology company is in talks to sell its premium smartphone brands due to an extreme chip shortage.

Chinese genomics firm BGI Group refuted Western media accusations that it has deep links to the Chinese military, as Chinese experts said it is malicious speculation and would do nothing more than hamper the US' domestic mass nucleic acid testing program as BGI is a major provider of COVID-19 testing kits.

Huawei has no plans to sell its mobile phone business, the company told the Global Times on Monday, in response to media reports saying that Huawei is in talks to sell premium smartphone brands P and Mate series.

Honor released its new V40 smartphone series on Friday, its first new handset product after the budget phone brand was sold by parent firm Huawei in November last year amid the US' chip ban.

China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose by 0.2 percent in December year-on-year, compared with November's 0.5-percent drop, and the full-year 2020 rise was 2.5 percent, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday.

As more Chinese provinces and cities have released tightened travel guidelines, some of which are intended to dissuade migrant workers from returning to their hometowns during the upcoming Spring Festival, industry insiders and experts expect that this year's chunyun travel rush, which is normally the world's largest human migration, will be affected by the current epidemic control measures, following the latest coronavirus resurgence in northern regions, and that it will weigh on the first-quarter economic performance.

China's agriculture ministry again stressed the importance of ensuring food security on Thursday, vowing to make ensuring grain production a top priority and a major political task in the next year.

Huawei launched a new variety of S-series Smart Screen, and a vehicle-mounted smart screen carrying the updated Harmony operating system (OS) on Monday, representing another major step towards building a complete ecosystem based on its own operating system.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) foreign ministers will hold a virtual session on Wednesday, with the attendance of non-NATO colleagues, to address a rising China that has become a "full-spectrum systemic rival," for which analysts warned China to get prepared for possible coercion from the organization and its non-member partners although NATO's influence and relevance have been declining.

Two years ago, nobody would imagine how the arrest of Huawei's chief executive officer Meng Wanzhou would change the course of relationship between Canada and China - one of its largest trading partners - putting Ottawa into an extremely difficult situation. It has ever since become a real test of political wisdom for Justin Trudeau, who was urged to take Canberra's predicament with China as a lesson, observers said.

China's soybean imports from the US surged almost 200 percent year-on-year in October as the phase-one trade deal moved forward, experts said. The rise also reflected a lower base last year when the two countries were in the middle of an intense trade fight.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has attended a series of multilateral events in the last days, and put forward China's comprehensive solutions to global challenges, including approaches to fight COVID-19 pandemic, ways to facilitate global economic recovery, and methods to cap carbon emissions to protect the planet's environment.

The G20 is expected to endorse a plan to extend a debt-servicing moratorium for poor and highly indebted economies in the developing world by six months to mid-2021, said a draft G20 communique, as the coronavirus pandemic has hit the most vulnerable nations in the world hardest.

China has taken the spotlight at one of the biggest diplomatic and economic platforms in the Asia-Pacific region, as Chinese President Xi Jinping used a keynote speech on Thursday to highlight China's "major strategic achievement" in fighting the COVID-19, and called on the region to choose openness over seclusion - all while the US, which has traditionally played a leadership role on such occasions, has remained noticeably silent amid a confluence of domestic crises.

It was a symbolic day when the Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies – the world's second-largest smartphone vendor – finally decided to strip off its subsidiary phone brand Honor, which has greatly contributed to the development of Huawei's consumer business. This difficult decision was interpreted by Chinese industry insiders as intensified warning shot for the whole industry in face of US-initiated tech war.

Huawei officially announced the divestment of smartphone sub-brand Honor on Tuesday, and although details such as the value of the sale haven't been revealed, industry insiders said the independent phone maker will largely maintain the structure and operations it had under Huawei.

Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies will soon announce it will sell-off its sub brand Honor, considered a critical move in easing the impacts of the US' chipset ban and ensuring its sales as well as supply chain remain afloat, some analysts said.

The signing of the landmark Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) can no doubt improve the trade environment between China and Australia, but it may not be enough to mend bilateral ties, which are at rock bottom with no sign of recovery, due to Canberra's irrational attacks on China and discriminatory measures against Chinese investment, analysts said.

Mass-scale 5G deployment in Huawei's major overseas target markets has already started, said Yang Chaobin, president of Huawei's 5G Product Line, on Friday when asked by the Global Times how the company's 5G overseas business is going, noting that its 5G revenue in overseas markets has maintained rapid growth despite coronavirus-related impacts.

The third China International Import Expo (CIIE), the largest in-person global trade event amid the pandemic so far this year, ended in Shanghai on Tuesday with a turnover of $72.62 billion, an increase of 2.1 percent over last year's - proof of China's ability to fulfill its opening-up promise despite headwinds, and this remarkable result also injects confidence in global businesses still struggling from the pandemic's impact.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) may seek the central government's support in strengthening its finances and transport between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland when the global financial hub's economy was battered by social unrest and then by the coronavirus, Chinese analysts said on HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam's ongoing mainland visit from Tuesday to Saturday.

The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee released Tuesday the full text of proposals for mapping out a blueprint for China's development in the next 15 years, on which the top leader said the CPC Central Committee will announce the achievement of building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects after a systematic assessment and review in the first half of 2021.

The first commercially grown US rice has been unloaded at China's ports despite disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the fraying of China-US ties, signifying the determination of Beijing to implement the phase one trade deal and the key role that interdependent trade ties have been playing as a stabilizer, experts said.

About 66 percent of Chinese consumers will buy domestic brands during the upcoming Singles' Day online shopping festival starting November 11, and the majority of them cite "patriotism" as a primary reason, a survey from AlixPartners, a global consulting firm, showed on Wednesday.

When a sudden coronavirus outbreak almost halted the Chinese economy late January, few people expected the "normal day" could come so soon. China's GDP is estimated to grow above 5 percent in the third quarter of the year, and a much faster pace in the fourth quarter. It's a sign that the world's second-largest economy is further back on track while others were still in trouble, according to economists and agencies ahead of an official announcement on Monday of third quarter economic figures.

With a new blueprint laid out by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Shenzhen, the southern city that has been viewed as a paragon of China's economic miracle over the past 40 years, is now embarking on another historic mission - to lead the country's process of socialist modernization, build a new pattern to deepen reform, and expand opening-up on all fronts.

Ahead of a key meeting that will determine China's development path in the next five years, Chinese economists predicted that the country's policymakers will downplay the country's GDP growth target in its new economic plan, keeping it at a lower level of around 5 percent, or even scrap the specific target since the world's second-largest economy is set to drop the quantity-oriented growth model and focus on structural and quality optimization in the face of what could be the "toughest years" ahead.

As the pandemic situation still casts a shadow in many countries and regions around the world, China quietly welcomes its eight-day National Day holidays starting from Thursday. The country's tourism industry is more than thrilled to see what they believe could be the "busiest ever" holiday season since COVID-19 outbreak, as travelers in the world's largest outbound-travel source market all flocked back and may further empower China's consumption and economic rebound in the post-epidemic era.

China will resolutely take actions to prevent TikTok and its technologies from falling into the US' hands to protect its national security and the interests of its enterprises, experts said on Sunday, as a hearing continues as of press time in the US over whether the US government's TikTok ban will be halted.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's reported rejection of a full Huawei ban can serve as a demonstration for other EU countries in dealing with the Chinese tech giant, and it can also consolidate ties between China and Germany and pave the way for deeper cooperation, Chinese analysts said.

Huawei has yet to see any adverse impact on its global 5G business from the US “Clean Network” initiative, and hopes that the industry would introduce “rational standards” for 5G rather than defined by a single administration or politician, a senior executive from Huawei told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Huawei has enough chip stock for its bases stations, including those for 5G base stations, while for mobile chips, it is still looking for ways, Guo Ping, Huawei's rotating chairman, said on Wednesday, adding that the firm, which has strong chip design capability, is also willing to help reliable chip manufacturing firms since "to help them is also to help itself."

While some people are still wondering about the fate of Huawei, the Chinese tech giant which has been just cut from almost all chip supplies under a US chip ban effective from September 15, doesn't seem to be as worried as expected and has presented its next vision to the world – use all its technological strength to empower its partners in the industrial chain become stronger in the upcoming ICT era.

US chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) has reportedly obtained a license from the US government to supply chips to Huawei, which may signal that Washington is easing restrictions on the Chinese tech giant and may issue licenses to more Huawei suppliers in the near future.

Wearing a mask, eating separately, checking your temperature, frequently using disinfectant and notices which read "epidemic-control is our responsibility" being posted here and there in the Lenovo's factory in Wuhan which employs more than 10,000 workers. Life in the capital city of Central China's Hubei Province, the hardest-hit city during the early COVID-19 outbreak in the country, is no longer the same.

By improving factory automation, coordinating global resources, using a complete local industrial chain, and organizing cargo charters to ensure shipments, Chinese manufacturers are keeping up with global demand when their counterparts in other parts of the world are still hampered by the pandemic.

New evidence Huawei has provided to a Canadian court shows how HSBC, the London-headquartered multinational bank, conspired with the US Department of Justice to set a “political trap” for Huawei and gave false testimony to the court, documents unveiled on Friday showed.

The US is seeking to further escalate its crackdown on Chinese technology companies, as a new report from a US senator called on the Trump administration to take further measures against China's technological rise, in what Chinese analysts call an attempt to abuse and preserve its global hegemony in the field of technology through bullying tactics.

India's homegrown 5G solution, announced by the country's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, is unlikely to be entirely a domestic effort, Chinese telecom analysts said Monday.

China on Wednesday harshly criticized the UK's decision to ban Huawei from the UK's 5G development, painting London as an accomplice in the US' politically driven crackdown on the Chinese telecom giant based on fabricated "national security risks," and vowed to take "all necessary" measures to protect the legitimate interests and rights of Chinese businesses.

After lining up for two hours to register for an online stock account last week, Wang Liu, a Beijing-based white-collar worker, was more than thrilled to buy her first ever share. She chose to invest in a duty-free company whose share price has almost doubled since mid-June this year.

The UK's move to ban Huawei may further sour strained China-UK political ties, largely reduce personnel exchanges, and most likely prompt Beijing to take reciprocal measures against London's discriminatory policy, Chinese observers said.

The UK's decision over Huawei, which could take the form of a ban on the Chinese equipment maker's involvement in the country's 5G construction, could add a heavy burden to its struggling economy amid the pandemic and further strain bilateral political ties at a highly sensitive moment, Chinese observers said.

Beijing's latest COVID-19 outbreak was caused by a virus strain from Europe, and transmitted through multiple exposure methods; for example, contaminated environments and goods, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Chinese CDC) said on Friday.

Chinese chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC)'s fast-track listing and fundraising at Shanghai's Sci-Tech Innovation Board will not only accelerate the industry leader's research and development ability, but also mark the beginning of the fast development era of the country's semiconductors.

The UK, a country with massive untold interests in Hong Kong and wants to retain its colonial influence in the city as much as possible, is now acting tough against China's national security law for its Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). Chinese analysts said on Monday that the actions of the UK are more of a bluff since they can't harm China, but will only damage itself.

Some fresh salmon products are returning to the shelves after health authorities clarified that there is no evidence suggesting salmon is a direct host or intermediate carrier of the virus which causes COVID-19. However, insiders said that given public confidence in salmon products has taken a knock after the outbreak of the coronavirus at Xinfadi wholesale market in Beijing's Fengtai district, it will take at least another three months for the market to return to normal.

A strict customs inspection over imported food products will continue for a while at China's ports as more cluster infection cases are emerging in food processing and packaging plants abroad.

Sales of integrated circuits in Shanghai, one of the Chinese cities with the most complete and mature semiconductor industry chains, grew 38.7 percent year-on-year from January to May, a welcome jump amid the headwinds of the coronavirus, official data showed.

Tighter rules and stepped-up scrutiny of food imports are steps China is taking to curb a resurgence of COVID-19, rather than an excuse to target any specific country for a political reason as some Canadian exporters have claimed, Chinese experts said, urging exporters to respect the nation's rules if they want to make profits in China.

The US, which has abused the so-called long-arm jurisdiction power to arbitrarily crack down on any third party, such as Huawei, and forced others to be an “accomplice” during its hegemonic game, is increasingly becoming a major troublemaker for other countries and the world business order, sources said, adding that those who yield to the US, like HSBC, and unwisely choose sides also need to be blamed and should not claim innocence.

Faced with growing controversy over the legal battle with Chinese technology giant Huawei and a lingering ambiguous attitude toward Hong Kong's national security law, multinational bank HSBC has been under tremendous pressure in recent days.

The rise of anti-China sentiment in India is due to Indian nationalists' attempt to deliberately smear and defame China, Chinese analysts said, noting that calls to boycott Chinese products are likely to fail as these items, which have become pervasive in Indian daily life, are difficult to replace.

Legal experts are cautiously optimistic toward a key ruling over Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou's case set to be released on Wednesday, noting that Meng is “highly likely” to be freed from a purely legal perspective if Canada truly has the judicial system completely independent from any political influence, as it always boasts.

Global semiconductor centers will accelerate their shift toward China, with top-down support for domestic firms and the urgent demand for self-reliance and de-Americanization of China's chip sector in the face of the US chip block on Huawei, industry insiders said.

With the Two Sessions - a major event on China's political calendar -- opening next week in Beijing - what rate policymakers will pick for this year's GDP growth target, and whether they will set one at all, is drawing close scrutiny amid the global coronavirus pandemic that has put the world economy in the intensive care unit.

The Chinese film industry, which has taken a big hit from the COVID-19 pandemic during the past four months, began to return to normal as the country on Friday announced a reopening of theaters in an orderly manner.

While China, the world's second largest economy, has gradually returned to normal as the COVID-19 epidemic has subsided in the country and it has offered a helping hand to overseas markets by donating and exporting medical supplies to combat the pandemic, the Trump administration is wracking their brains seeking ways to redirect its own mismanagement of the coronavirus spread toward China as if things are not bad enough in the US.

Chinese companies are unlikely to hunt for acquisition deals overseas amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and they will be cautious about foreign investment as the outbreak has added difficulties to valuing target companies and assessing their businesses, industry insiders say.

Beijing's Xicheng district will issue digital vouchers worth 150 million yuan ($21.2 million) in the three months starting from Wednesday, the first district in the Chinese capital to do so, in a bid to unleash local residents' pent-up demand and to speed up the recovery of an economy battered by COVID-19.

Negotiations over the China-EU bilateral investment treaty (BIT) are back on track and are expected to move forward rapidly, as the common goal of economic restoration and mitigating the effect of an unreliable US government has drawn the two closer, experts said.

Consumer prices in China have stayed high in recent months and further increases are likely because of the global coronavirus pandemic, possibly leading to stagflation amid downward pressure on the world's second-largest economy, experts warned.

More local authorities in China have been scaling up efforts to distribute digital vouchers in recent days, a move economists said could not only inject fresh momentum to the country's yet-to-recover offline businesses, but could also rapidly stimulate the consumption demand of local residents – who are still reluctant to spend outside, though the domestic virus situation has abated.

Nationwide efforts to restart the coronavirus-battered Chinese economy seem to have proceeded by fits and starts amid an explosion in confirmed cases in Europe and the US, with authorities and industry insiders voicing concerns over the plight of life services providers, exporters as well as small and micro businesses.

China is set to roll out more stimulus to drive a slowing world economy after the G20 conference, where all countries vowed to coordinate in the face of the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese economists said.

Orders for 2020 reelection flags and caps for US President Donald Trump have seen a huge decline in China's factories since March, a sign that he may be losing some popularity among US voters amid the COVID-19 health crisis - as trade records of Chinese exporters are believed by many to be an indicator of US elections.

Under the most optimistic scenario, China's economic activity will fully rebound in the second half of the year, as vigilance against imported coronavirus infections has complicated arrangements to get the economy quickly back in motion.

Cinemas in China are seeing signs of reopening after being closed for almost two months amid the COVID-19 outbreak, but a limited film supply and the public's reluctance to attend movies before the virus vanishes might still halve the full-year revenue for the domestic box office.