China

BEIJING (AP) — China’s population shrank for the first time in decades last year as its birthrate plunged, official figures showed Tuesday, adding to pressure on leaders to keep the economy growing despite an aging workforce and at a time of rising tension with the U.S.

Despite the official numbers, some experts believe China’s population has been in decline for a few years — a dramatic turn in a country that once sought to control such growth through a one-child policy.

16 Jan 2023; MEMO: China's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Qin Gang, urged Israel on Sunday to stop its "incitement" in order to avoid escalation with the Palestinians, news agencies have reported.

In a joint press conference with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry in Cairo, the Chinese minister called on Israel to "stop incitements and provocations, and to refrain from taking uniliteral actions that could worsen the situation."

BEIJING (AP) — The World Health Organization has appealed to China to keep releasing information about its wave of COVID-19 infections after the government announced nearly 60,000 deaths since early December following weeks of complaints it was failing to tell the world what was happening.

BEIJING (AP) — China on Saturday reported nearly 60,000 deaths in people who had COVID-19 since early December following complaints it was failing to release data, and said the “emergency peak” of its latest surge appears to have passed.

The toll included 5,503 deaths due to respiratory failure caused by COVID-19 and 54,435 fatalities from other ailments combined with COVID-19 since Dec. 8, the National Health Commission announced. It said those “deaths related to COVID” occurred in hospitals, which left open the possibility more people also might have died at home.

BEIJING (AP) — China’s trade surplus swelled to a record $877.6 billion last year as exports rose despite weakening U.S. and European demand and anti-virus controls that temporarily shut down Shanghai and other industrial centers.

Exports increased 7% from a year earlier to $3.95 trillion, decelerating from 2021′s explosive 29.9% gain, customs data showed Friday. Imports edged up 1.1% to 2.7 trillion, cooling from the previous year’s 30.1% rise as economic growth slowed and consumer spending weakened.

BEIJING, Jan 12 (Reuters) - China strongly condemns the Kabul attack and hopes the Afghan government can protect citizens from all countries, including Chinese nationals, the Chinese foreign ministry said at a regular daily briefing on Thursday.

According to Reuters, a suicide bomber killed at least five people outside the Afghan foreign ministry on Wednesday, police said, and a nearby hospital said over 40 people were wounded.

BEIJING, Jan 12 (Reuters) - People in China worried on Thursday about spreading COVID-19 to aged relatives as they planned returns to their home towns for holidays that the World Health Organization warns could inflame a raging outbreak.

The Lunar New Year holiday, which officially starts on Jan. 21, comes after China last month abandoned a strict anti-virus regime of mass lockdowns that prompted widespread frustration and boiled over into historic protests.

BEIJING, Jan 11 (APP):Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral M Amjad Khan Niazi has said that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy was on its way to becoming one of the finest and leading navies after showing remarkable progress over the last two decades, including operating three aircraft carriers.

The Pakistan Navy was looking forward to strengthen its historic relationship with the PLA Navy and cooperate closely to promote peace and stability in the Indian Ocean region while preserving good order at sea, he added.

HONG KONG, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- All countries need to work together to address pressing global challenges and attain the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said here on Wednesday.

Ban made the remarks at the 2023 Asian Financial Forum inaugurated at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on Wednesday.

BEIJING (AP) — Wang Jian is anxious to get back to work teaching basketball to children now that China has lifted anti-COVID-19 restrictions. But his gym in the eastern city of Shenyang has been closed for a month because all its coaches are infected.