China

BEIJING, Dec 22 (Reuters) - China "fully affirms" the work of Hong Kong's chief executive, Carrie Lam, and her government, Premier Li Keqiang has said, according to media in the Asian financial hub.

Lam is visiting Beijing this week to deliver an annual briefing to Chinese leaders.

Dec 25 (Reuters) - Xian in northwest China reported an increase in daily COVID-19 infections for Friday, and local companies curtailed activity as the country's latest COVID-19 hot spot entered its third day of lockdown.

The city of 13 million detected 75 domestically transmitted cases with confirmed symptoms for Friday, its highest daily count of the year and reversing the previous day's decline, official data showed on Saturday.

BEIJING, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said Friday Japan is hoped and urged to take concrete actions to honor its word on supporting each other in hosting the Olympics and on not politicizing sports.

BEIJING, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- China's Shenzhou-13 astronauts will conduct extravehicular activities (EVAs) for the second time on Sunday, announced the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

As planned, astronauts Zhai Zhigang and Ye Guangfu will conduct EVAs, with astronaut Wang Yaping staying inside to support her crewmates to complete the operations.

The three Chinese astronauts have been working and living in orbit since they were sent into space onboard the Shenzhou-13 spaceship and entered the combination of the country's space station on Oct. 16.

HONG KONG, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- Washington's anti-China policies have backfired spectacularly, hurting its own and its allies' interests, said an opinion piece published by Asia Times.

The United States has used unsubstantiated claims such as "genocide" and "forced labor" to impose sanctions, trade wars and other measures to "punish" China, while recruiting other countries to do the same, said the article on Wednesday.

BEIJING, Dec 24 (APP): A batch of 48 GEMC garbage trucks and sprinklers manufactured by Gansu Construction Investment Heavy Industry Technology Co Ltd (GCIHIT) were delivered from Lanzhou, Northwest China to Karachi.

This sanitation equipment is part of the Korangi end-to-end urban solid waste collection and transportation procurement project in Karachi.

Dec 23 (Reuters) - Three doses of Sinovac's CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine do not produce adequate levels of antibodies to fight the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, researchers from Hong Kong said in a statement.

Their analysis revealed Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was more effective, as a third dose of the shot administered after two doses of the same or China's Sinovac vaccine provided "protective levels" of antibody against Omicron.

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets rose Friday after Wall Street hit a new high as fears of the coronavirus’s omicron variant eased.

Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney advanced. Shanghai declined.

Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index rose 0.6% on Thursday in the last U.S. trading session before Christmas.

Investor anxiety has mounted as omicron spread but moderated after authorities said it might cause less severe illness. President Joe Biden called for more vaccinations and testing but announced no plans for travel restrictions.

BEIJING, Dec 23 (APP): Pakistan fruit exporters are expected to export more kinnows to the Chinese market next year as compared to only about 80 tons last year.

In the next year, we expect 15 to 20 containers of kinnow to be exported to China, quadrupling that of 2019 when we first exported to our iron brother, Muhammad Riaz, Manager of Exports, Imports, and Business Development, Al-Rafique Company, one of the largest Pakistani kinnow exporters to China told China Economic Net (CEN).

Dec 23 (Reuters) - Three doses of Sinovac's CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine do not produce adequate levels of antibodies to fight the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, researchers from Hong Kong said in a statement.

Their analysis revealed Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was more effective, as a third dose of the shot administered after two doses of the same or China's Sinovac vaccine provided "protective levels" of antibody against Omicron.