China

BEIJING, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- China's Shenzhou-13 taikonauts Zhai Zhigang and Wang Yaping, donning China-developed Feitian spacesuits, are conducting extravehicular activities (EVAs), the China Manned Space Agency said on Sunday evening.

Ye Guangfu stayed inside to support his crewmates to complete the operations.

The EVAs are underway and expected to last for six hours, according to the agency.

BEIJING (AP) — China’s exports remained strong in October, a positive sign for an economy trying to weather power shortages and COVID-19 outbreaks.

The country’s customs agency said Sunday that exports totaled $300.2 billion, up 27.1% from a year ago. That was down from a 28.1% increase in September but still healthy. Imports came in at $215.7 billion, a 20.6% rise.

HONG KONG, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Last month, several thousand Hong Kong university students, some of them under the watch of a CCTV camera, were the first to take compulsory courses on the territory’s national security law.

The content of the courses, some of which Reuters has seen exclusively, sets out the dangers of breaking the law, in one case demonstrating how a message in a chat group could be interpreted as a serious breach, punishable by up to life in prison.

BEIJING, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- China is smarter than the United States as China began to cope with its economic booms earlier than the latter did in the same situation, billionaire Charlie Munger, the vice chairman of the U.S. multinational conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, has said.

Munger told CNN in an interview that China "steps on a boom in the middle of it instead of waiting for the big bust," the CNN website reported on Wednesday. "Of course, I admire that. In that one respect, they are wiser than we are."

BEIJING, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese government spokesperson on Friday sent out a stern warning to "Taiwan independence" diehards saying such separatist elements are on the mainland's list and will be punished in accordance with the law.

Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, made the remarks in response to a media query regarding the punitive measures against stubborn secessionists.

BEIJING, Nov 3 (Reuters) - The World Economic Forum said on Wednesday that it is postponing its event planned for later this month in the Chinese city of Tianjin due to the outbreak of COVID-19 cases in the country, where new locally transmitted cases hit a near three-month high.

"Regretfully, due to the circumstances around the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and recent cases in major cities and provinces in China, the Annual Meeting of the New Champions will be rescheduled," the WEF said in an email to participants.

BEIJING, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson on Wednesday urged developed countries to intensify their efforts to fulfill their commitments to developing countries on climate change, to make due contributions to climate change response and global climate governance.

BEIJING, Nov 2 (APP): Pakistan Friendship Square, first of its kind in China, was inaugurated in Wuhan, Hubei province on Tuesday.

Pakistan Ambassador to China, Moin ul Haque and representatives of Hubei provincial government and Wuhan city jointly attended the inauguration ceremony.

Speaking on the occasion, Ambassador Haque said,”China-Pakistan Friendship Square reflects the great affinity and solidarity, deep love, trust and respect between our two countries and peoples.”

BEIJING, Nov 2 (APP): As many as five special flights of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) have transported 15 million doses of Sinovac vaccines from China to Pakistan during the last five days.

The special flights – PAK-6857, PAK-6858, PK-6856, PK-6852 and PK-6853 took off from Capital International Airport, Beijing to Islamabad between October 29 to November 2 with around 15 million doses of Sinovac vaccine to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, PIA Country Manager, Qadir Bux Sangi told APP here on Tuesday.

BEIJING, Nov 2 (Reuters) - China will not give up on its zero-tolerance policy towards local COVID-19 cases any time soon, some experts said, as the policy has allowed it to quickly quell local outbreaks, while the virus continues to spread outside its borders.

To stop local cases from turning into wider outbreaks, China has developed and continually refined its COVID-fighting arsenal -- including mass testing, targeted lockdowns and travel restrictions - even when those anti-COVID measures occasionally disrupted local economies.