China will try to develop “a powerful home market” to help offset external uncertainties next year, the country’s top leadership agreed on Thursday, roughly two weeks into a 90-day truce in the trade war with the United States. The Politburo, the country’s highest decision-making body, said China still had a “strategic window of opportunity” and […] Read more
China has stopped requiring local governments to work on the “Made in China 2025” strategy, the latest directive issued by the central Chinese government to local authorities showed, in a clear sign that Beijing is toning down a policy that has become a centrepiece of its rivalry with the US. However, China will continue to […] Read more
Worshippers of a prominent Protestant unofficial church in southwest China have vowed to keep meeting for religious services despite an ongoing crackdown and members’ claims of abuse in police custody. More than 100 Protestant Christians from the Early Rain Covenant Church – one of China’s few openly operating unofficial house churches – were snatched from […] Read more
Members of the Chinese Communist Party are receiving “Happy Birthday” cards from their party branch, not on their actual birthday but on each anniversary of them joining the party. The practice has gained popularity in the past two years since Xi Jinping, the president and party chief, vowed to strengthen the party’s control over China. […] Read more
The rise in emergency charges at Hong Kong’s public hospitals has failed to cut queues and waiting times for urgent cases, despite a drop in the total number of patients, according to new figures. But the Hospital Authority said it had no plans to further increase the charge, which grew from HK$100 to HK$180 in […] Read more
Chinese President Xi Jinping told visiting North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho on Friday that Washington and Pyongyang should address each others’ concerns and make progress to rid the Korean peninsula of nuclear weapons. Ri’s visit to Beijing came just days after Xi held talks with US President Donald Trump in Argentina, where North Korea […] Read more
French authorities are bracing for the possibility of more riots and violence at planned anti-government protests this weekend. The government is deploying tens of thousands of police and security forces across the country, while in Paris, museums, theatres and shops announced they would close on Saturday as a precaution – including the iconic Eiffel Tower. Police unions and […] Read more
Portugal’s decision to sign a memorandum of understanding with China on its “Belt and Road Initiative” is likely to fuel concerns within the European Union about Beijing’s efforts to extend its geopolitical influence in the region, analysts said. The formal agreement, which was signed on Wednesday during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Lisbon, came […] Read more
Nearly 350,000 cadres have been disciplined by the ruling Communist Party’s anti-corruption watchdog in the six years since President Xi Jinping’s crackdown on extravagance began. That means more than 2 per cent of cadres – there were 12.5 million of them directly working for the party and the government in 2016, according to the statistics […] Read more
Chinese President Xi Jinping has said Portugal’s geographical location offers “advantages” and pressed it to formally join Beijing’s “Belt and Road Initiative” during his visit to Lisbon, but the southern European country has so far joined Spain in stopping short of signing up. Xi told Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa that China wanted to […] Read more
