China

HONG KONG, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- One year after the introduction of the national security law in Hong Kong, the international financial hub has retained, if not enhanced, its global appeal with the restoration of a peaceful business environment.

COMPETITIVE AS BEFORE

Hong Kong remains a competitive and attractive financial center, Nicolas Aguzin, chief executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX), has said.

BEIJING, July 31 (APP): Chinese vaccine producers are conducting tests against Delta variant on their products, companies officials said during the Business Dialogue on Vaccine Cooperation, hosted by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Yang Xiaoming, Chairman of Sinopharm China National Biotec Group, a Sinopharm subsidiary, told the Global Times that the company is conducting neutralization tests on the Delta variant with serum of vaccine recipients and is ramping up the development of vaccines targeting the four dominating variants: Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta.

BEIJING, July 31 (APP): Despite the unexpected shock from the COVID-19 Pandemic, Pakistan has elevated one place to the 5th in infrastructure development, against the trend of an overall decline in the South Asia region.

According to the annual report on the Development of Belt and Road Infrastructure Development Index (2021), 71 countries were covered in the report, including 63 nations involved in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and eight Portuguese-speaking countries.

BEIJING, July 30 (APP): Pakistan could overtake India in trade with China in just eight years, even though its trade volume with China was only one-fifth of India’s in 2020, a Pakistan diplomat said.

In 2020, bilateral trade between China and Pakistan stood at $17.49 billion while between China and India it was $77.7 billion.

BEIJING, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Trade between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has skyrocketed by 85 times since the two sides established their dialogue relations 30 years ago, official data showed.

China has remained ASEAN's largest trading partner for 12 consecutive years, said Ren Hongbin, assistant minister of commerce. In 2020, ASEAN also became China's largest trading partner.

HONG KONG (AP) — A pro-democracy protester was sentenced Friday to nine years in prison in the closely watched first prosecution under Hong Kong’s national security law as the ruling Communist Party tightens control over the territory.

Tong Ying-kit, 24, was convicted of inciting secession and terrorism for driving his motorcycle into a group of police officers at a July 1, 2020, rally. He carried a flag bearing the banned slogan, “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times.”

BEIJING, July 29 (APP): Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe held a meeting with Pakistan’s Defence Minister Pervez Khattak to exchange views on bilateral and military to military relations.

During the meeting held on the sidelines of the 18th meeting of the Council of Ministers of Defense of Shanghai Cooperation (SCO) Member States held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, the two sides also discussed international and regional situation as well as counter-terrorism cooperation, according to China Military Online here on Thursday.

JIUQUAN, July 29 (Xinhua) -- China successfully launched the Tianhui I-04 satellite from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at noon on Thursday.

The satellite was launched by a Long March-2D rocket at 12:01 p.m. (Beijing Time), and then successfully entered the planned orbit.

This was the 381st flight mission of the Long March rocket series. 

HONG KONG (AP) — A lawyer for the first person convicted under Hong Kong’s national security law asked Thursday for no more than 10 years in prison instead of the possible life sentence faced by the former restaurant waiter in a closely watched case as China’s ruling Communist Party tries to crush a pro-democracy movement.

BEIJING (AP) — China’s new ambassador to the United States outlined the challenges the two countries face in what has become an increasingly competitive and contentious relationship, while refraining from any criticism in short remarks after arriving to take up his new post.

“China and the United States are entering a new round of mutual exploration, understanding and adaptation, trying to find a way to get along with each other in the new era,” Qin Gang said in remarks posted by the Chinese Embassy in Washington after his arrival Wednesday.