China

BEIJING, March 4 (Xinhua) -- The China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO) announced Monday that the core module of the country's space station, the Long March-5B carrier rocket and its payloads will be sent to the launch site in the second half of this year, to make preparations for the space station missions.

China is scheduled to complete the construction of the space station around 2022. It will be the country's space lab in long-term stable in-orbit operation.

BEIJING, March 5 (Xinhua) -- China will reduce the tax burdens and social insurance contributions of enterprises by nearly 2 trillion yuan (about 298 billion U.S. dollars) this year, according to a government work report delivered Tuesday by Premier Li Keqiang at the opening meeting of the annual legislative session.

"We will introduce both general-benefit and structural tax cuts, focusing primarily on reducing tax burdens on the manufacturing sector and on small and micro businesses," Li said.

BEIJING, March 4. /TASS/. China supports Russia’s initiative to act as a diplomatic intermediary between India and Pakistan to de-escalate the situation between the countries, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang said at Monday’s briefing.

"We welcome any measures that will help support peace and stability in the region, as well as improve the situation," he said in response to the corresponding question.

ZHENGZHOU, March 2 (Xinhua) -- China added a new route to its China-Europe freight train service, as a freight train made its maiden trip from Zhengzhou for Liege in Belgium on Saturday.

The service exclusive for cross-border e-commerce is the first of its kind departing from the capital of central China's Henan Province.

According to Zhengzhou International Hub Development and Construction Co. Ltd., it is the first freight line in the country to operate under customs surveillance code "9610" for cross-border e-commerce.

BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday urged Australia to abandon ideological bias and provide an environment of fair competition for Chinese companies.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang made the remarks at a routine press briefing when asked to comment on media reports that Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne had reiterated keeping Chinese telecoms giant Huawei out of Australia's 5G network infrastructure even if the United States softens its stance on Huawei.

China expressed grave concern over this statement, Lu said.

BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The China-developed  MA700 turboprop aircraft has entered the trial-manufacturing and test phase, announced the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) Friday.

The first MA700 is expected to roll off the production line this September.

The MA700 is the third member of China's "Morden Ark(MA)" regional airplane family following the MA60 and MA600. The AVIC is striving to conduct the maiden flight by the end of 2019, said AVIC.

BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- As the annual sessions of China's top legislative and advisory bodies approach, world experts look forward to a greater role of China in improving global governance.

William Jones, Washington bureau chief of the U.S. publication Executive Intelligence Review, praised China's contribution to tackling global issues and believed China's wisdom as well as its philosophy will further benefit the whole world.

Beijing, Feb 28 (AP) The wife of a prominent Chinese human rights lawyer says he has disappeared on the day of his scheduled release from prison.

Jin Bianling says her husband Jiang Tianyong's whereabouts Thursday are unknown. She says supporters arrived at his jailhouse in central Henan province only to be told that he had already been picked up and taken away by unknown individuals.

HANGZHOU, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday vowed to enhance strategic communication and promote cooperation within the meeting of the foreign ministers of China, Russia and India (RIC).

The ministers made the remarks during their meeting on the sidelines of the 16th trilateral meeting of RIC foreign ministers in Wuzhen of east China's Zhejiang Province.

LHASA, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government will invest 300 million yuan (44.9 million U.S. dollars) in the next 10 years in its greatest efforts of protection and utilization of ancient documents in the Potala Palace, a World Heritage site in Lhasa, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region.

At present, a total of nearly 40,000 books of precious ancient documents in Chinese, Tibetan, Manchu, Mongolian and Sanskrit are preserved in the Potala Palace, said the management office of the Potala Palace Monday.