China

JIUQUAN, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- The combination of the Shenzhou-13 manned spaceship and a Long March-2F carrier rocket has been transferred to the launching area, and the spaceship will be launched in the near future at an appropriate time, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said Thursday.

The facilities and equipment at the launch site are in good condition, and various pre-launch function checks and joint tests will be carried out as planned, said the CMSA. 

BEIJING (AP) — In a relationship as fraught as America’s and China’s, just an agreement that talks were productive was a sign of progress.

Nine months into Joe Biden’s presidency, the two sides finally appear to be trying to ease tensions that date from the Trump administration — though U.S. complaints about Chinese policies on trade, Taiwan and other issues are little diminished.

BEIJING, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, will meet with U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Zurich, Switzerland, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson announced on Wednesday.

Yang, also director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, will meet with Sullivan "according to the consensus reached by Chinese and U.S. heads-of-state on Sept. 10 in their phone call and as agreed upon by China and the United States," said Hua Chunying.

BEIJING, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The United States should stop supporting "Taiwan independence" separatist forces and take concrete actions to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Monday.

Spokesperson Hua Chunying made the remarks in response to a query about a relevant statement issued by U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price.

BEIJING (AP) — A mid-size Chinese real estate developer failed to make a $205.7 million payment due to bondholders Tuesday, adding to the industry’s financial strain as one of China’s biggest developers tries to avoid defaulting on billions of dollars of debt.

Fantasia Holdings Group announced it missed the payment in a statement issued through the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. It gave no explanation but said it had asked for trading of Fantasia shares to be suspended.

HONG KONG, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.2 jolted 80 km ESE of Amahai, Indonesia at 14:28:46 GMT on Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The epicenter, with a depth of 31.83 km, was initially determined to be at 3.6847 degrees south latitude and 129.5576 degrees east longitude.

HARBIN, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Pan Lili, a community worker in China's Suihua City, Heilongjiang Province, is working through her National Day holiday from Oct. 1 to 7.

Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province has recently seen another COVID-19 outbreak. On Sept. 21, the provincial capital Harbin reported its first recent case of COVID-19, which was subsequently identified as the Delta variant.

By Saturday, there were 83 local cases in Heilongjiang Province, the provincial health commission said.

BEIJING, Sept 3 (APP): Kabul International Airport was now fully operational for international flights after technical problems were resolved, China Media Group said on Sunday, citing the Afghanistan Civil Aviation Authority (ACAA).

Domestic flights in Afghanistan have already taken off and landed at Kabul airport, and it was now ready for international flights to resume normally, said the ACAA.

Letters had been sent to neighboring countries and the international community asking them to resume flights at Kabul airport, ACAA spokesperson Mohammad Naeem Salehi confirmed.

BEIJING, Sept 3 (APP): After a cooperation to deal with the pandemic, Pakistan and China should also accelerate the building of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative.

The 10th Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) meeting of CPEC has been held, and a new IT working group has been established, which will bolster CPEC.

The success of CPEC will effectively enhance Pakistan’s comprehensive national strength and international status, according to an article published by Global Times.

BEIJING, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- China's service trade went up 9.4 percent year on year to top 3.27 trillion yuan (about 504.21 billion U.S. dollars) in the first eight months of the year, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said on Sunday.

Of the total, service exports reached approximately 1.55 trillion yuan, up 25.3 percent year on year, and service imports stood at 1.72 trillion yuan, down 1.8 percent year on year.