China

BEIJING (AP) — The remains of former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang are to be cremated on Thursday, with flags around the country to be flown at half-staff to mourn the official who helped guide the world’s second-largest economy for a decade.

Li died Friday of a heart attack at 68. Mourners gathered at his childhood home in the city of Hefei in an apparently spontaneous outpouring of grief seen by some as a rebuke of state leader and head of the ruling Communist Party Xi Jinping.

BEIJING, Oct 29 (APP): Pakistan National Pavilion at the Sichuan Agriculture Expo in Chengdu has introduced the famous touristic sites in Pakistan and displayed a number of the agricultural goods produced by the country.

More than a dozen Pakistani companies displayed their agricultural products here. The Pavilion attracted great interest from the participants attending the Expo.

Pakistan’s Ambassador to China, Moin ul Haque, inaugurated the Pavilion.

27 October 2023; MEMO: China, on Friday, refused to give a clear response to whether Beijing will hold talks with the Palestinian Resistance group, Hamas, Anadolu Agency reports.

"China is in communication with all parties concerned in the Palestinian issue" said Mao Ning, spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

BEIJING, Oct 27 (APP): Amid a mounting death toll and expanding humanitarian crisis in the Israel-Palestine conflict, Zhai Jun, Special Envoy of the Chinese Government on Middle East issues, visited Saudi Arabia to advance China’s efforts to cool down the situation.

Zhai told Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed Al-Khuraiji during his visit to the country that the current situation between Palestine and Israel was grim.

HONG KONG (AP) — The sudden death of China’s former second-ranking leader, Li Keqiang, has shocked many people in the country, with tributes offered up to the ex-official who promised market-oriented reforms but was politically sidelined.

Li, who died early Friday of a heart attack, was China’s top economic official for a decade, helping navigate the world’s second-largest economy through challenges such as rising political, economic and military tensions with the United States and the COVID-19 pandemic.

BEIJING, Oct 26 (Reuters) - The youngest-ever crew of Chinese astronauts departed for China's space station on Thursday, paving the way for a new generation of "taikonauts" to advance the country's space ambitions in the future.

The spacecraft Shenzhou-17, or "Divine Vessel", and its three passengers lifted off atop a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China.

Leading the six-month mission was former air force pilot Tang Hongbo, 48, who was on the first crewed mission to the space station in 2021.

HONG KONG, Oct 25 (Reuters) - China has launched its first nuclear-powered guided missile submarines, according to the Pentagon's latest report on China's military - giving it land and sea attack options once the sole province of U.S. and Russian vessels.

The Pentagon report, published Oct. 20, marks the first apparent confirmation that modified submarines seen in Chinese shipyards over the last 18 months are Type 093B guided missile submarines.

BEIJING, October 24. /TASS/: Chinese President Xi Jinping has signed a decree to dismiss Defense Minister Li Shangfu, China’s central television has said.

Presidential decree No. 14 says Li has been removed from the posts of a member of the State Council of the People's Republic of China and Minister of National Defense in accordance with a decision made during the sixth session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on October 24, 2023, the broadcaster said. The appointment of a new minister has not yet been announced.

BEIJING, Oct 23 (APP):: China will continue to support all efforts conducive to promoting dialogue and restoring peace and do its part in implementing the two-state solution and striving for a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian question, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said on Monday.

BEIJING, Oct 22 (APP): China has urged an immediate halt to military operations in the Gaza Strip that further aggravate the situation and the opening of humanitarian relief channels, a Chinese envoy said at a summit held in Cairo on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The international community should be objective, impartial and practical in promoting a comprehensive, just and permanent solution to the Palestinian issue as early as possible, Special Envoy of the Chinese Government on the Middle East Issue Zhai Jun said at the summit, CGTN reported on Sunday.