China

UNITED NATIONS, April 10 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Wednesday called for a political solution to the Venezuela crisis and asked for the lifting of unilateral sanctions against the country.

"China calls on the Venezuelan government and opposition to seek a political solution through dialogue and consultations within the constitutional and legal framework," Ma Zhaoxu, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, told the Security Council.

BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- A total of 796 Chinese cultural relics arrived at Beijing International Airport at 6:54 a.m. Wednesday after an eight-hour flight from Italy.

The group of Chinese artifacts were first noticed by a unit of Carabinieri, or the national gendarmerie of Italy, on the local relics auction market in 2007, which was followed by a domestic judicial trial.

China's National Cultural Heritage Administration immediately contacted its Italian counterpart after hearing the news and started the repatriation of the relics.

BEIJING, April 11 (Xinhua) -- China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 2.3 percent year-on-year in March, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Thursday.

The increase was up from 1.5 percent in February.

Food prices climbed 4.1 percent year-on-year in March, up from 0.7 percent in February, yet on a month-on-month basis food prices went down 0.9 percent, the NBS said.

BRUSSELS, April 9 (Xinhua) -- China and the European Union (EU) on Tuesday reaffirmed in a joint statement the dynamic of their comprehensive strategic partnership, pledging to uphold multilateralism and oppose protectionism.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, President of the European Council Donald Tusk, and President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker met here on Tuesday for the 21st China-EU leaders' meeting and issued the statement.

9 Apr 2019; DW: A Hong Kong court on Tuesday found the top leaders of the "Umbrella Movement" guilty of conspiracy to commit public nuisance and incitement for their roles in the 2014 pro-democracy demonstrations.

The trial has sparked concerns about the erosion of political freedoms in the semi-autonomous Chinese city.

What we know so far:

AMMAN, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Li Chengwen, ambassador for China-Arab States Cooperation Forum Affairs of China's Foreign Ministry, refuted on Sunday the criticism that China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) will create so-called "debt trap" for some participating countries.

"China is trying to find mechanisms to avoid the 'debt trap,'" Li said during a session on the second day of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa 2019 held in the Dead Sea area of Jordan.

WASHINGTON, April 6 (Xinhua) -- China and the United States concluded here the ninth round of high-level economic and trade talks which ran from Wednesday to Friday.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chief of the Chinese side of the China-U.S. comprehensive economic dialogue, co-hosted the talks with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

6 Apr 2019; AFP: The Chinese chemical industry park where an explosion last month killed 78 people and left hundreds injured will be closed, authorities have said.

The blast in Yancheng city, eastern Jiangsu province, was one of the worst industrial accidents in the country in recent years, razing buildings nearby and blowing out the windows of surrounding homes. Authorities evacuated thousands of residents.

BEIJING, April 4 (Xinhua) -- China has released 13 new professions in order to keep pace with economic and technological development, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MHRSS).

BEIJING, April 4 (Xinhua) -- China pledges the implementation of large-scale tax cuts and fee reductions this year in a bid to further boost the vitality of market entities, increase urban and rural personal incomes and expand capacity for consumption.

The following are major moves China has taken since the start of the year, or are expected to take in 2019.