China

BEIJING, Feb 19 (APP): As global climate change is intensifying, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSDC) and Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF) are working together to establish a model through the study of the changes in climate characteristics and the corresponding changes in cotton and wheat production varieties, and to put forward breeding suggestions for climate change in the next 30-50 years.

Feb 19 (Reuters) - U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet can visit Xinjiang, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Saturday, but China does not welcome any investigation based on the presumption of guilt.

Bachelet has long sought access to the western Chinese region to investigate accusations of abuse against ethnic Uyghurs. The issue has strained ties between Beijing and the West, sparking accusations of genocide from Washington and a U.S.-led diplomatic boycott by some countries of the Winter Olympics in Beijing.

BEIJING, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Yutu-2 lunar rover of China's Chang'e-4 mission has discovered two macroscopic translucent glass globules during its exploration of the far side of the moon, which could potentially help reveal the moon's early impact history.

According to a study published in Science Bulletin, the Yutu-2 rover captured images of two translucent globules using its panoramic camera.

BEIJING, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- China's health authorities are rolling out sequential COVID-19 booster vaccinations following the approval of the State Council inter-agency task force for COVID-19 response, a health official said on Saturday.

According to the plan, people aged 18 and above who have received a full course of an inactivated vaccine can get a booster shot of a vaccine from one of several different technical lines, National Health Commission official Wu Liangyou said at a press conference.

BEIJING (AP) — The Chinese anti-corruption agency is investigating a former boss of one of the country’s three major state-owned phone carriers.

Li Guohua, formerly general manager of China Unicom, is suspected of “severe violations of discipline and law,” the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said in a one-sentence statement Friday, using the official term for corruption.

BEIJING, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- In seeking a political resolution of the Ukraine issue, nobody should put up a smokescreen of war and use it as leverage, or threaten others with sanctions and pressure, still less resort to the means of inciting bloc confrontation, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said Friday.

BEIJING, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- The postponement of the election for chief executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) was necessary, sensible and legitimate, the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council said on Friday.

HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam earlier on Friday announced that the election, originally scheduled for March 27, would be postponed to May 8 due to the COVID-19 epidemic.

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The United States labeling China's economic system as "non-market" has no grounds in terms of international economic and trade rules, and is entirely against the facts, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Thursday.

MOC spokesperson Gao Feng made the remarks at a press conference when commenting on a report by the Office of the United States Trade Representative, which claimed that the United States needs to seek new strategies and update its domestic trade tools to address China's "state-led, non-market policies and practices."

TAIYUAN, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Not long after metaverse became a buzzword in the tech world, generating hopes that it may unlock new potentials of the internet, the term has made its way into the industry policies of China's local governments.

As part of their economic planning for 2022, local decision-makers have vowed to further develop future industries, from metaverse and blockchain to artificial intelligence (AI) and extended reality, a move reflective of their growing desire to look to innovation as a key driver of growth.

NEW ECONOMIC MILESTONES

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The United States should reflect deeply on and address the problem of systemic racial discrimination and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of ethnic minorities, including people of Asian descent, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Thursday.

Spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a daily press briefing that both the so-called "China Initiative" and the anti-Asian words and deeds in the United States are manifestations of systemic racial discrimination and reflect deep-seated problems of the U.S. society.