China

BEIJING, May 22 (APP): Executive member of the Asia and Pacific Seed Association and General Manager of Wuhan Qingfa Hesheng Seed Company, Zhu Xiaobo said that the hybrid canola variety developed by her company has been planted in Pakistan about 10,000 hectares of land, covering around 6000 households.

In the next three to five years, we expect it to expand to over 40,000 hectares and provide more, healthier edible oil to Pakistani people, she told China Economic Net (CEN) in an interview.

SHANGHAI, May 20 (Reuters) - After teaching for three years at an international school in Shanghai, Michael is preparing to break his contract and leave, worn down by stringent measures against the coronavirus.

Following two years of nearly-shut borders, onerous health checks and quarantine norms, a decision at the beginning of April to lock down China’s commercial centre proved the last straw for the 35-year-old.

BEIJING, May 20 (Xinhua) -- The State Council, China's cabinet, decided at a meeting Friday to appoint John Lee as the sixth-term chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

Lee will assume office on July 1, 2022.

Premier Li Keqiang presided over the meeting and signed a State Council decree on the appointment.

Lee won the chief executive election on May 8.

BEIJING (AP) — China is holding military exercises in the disputed South China Sea coinciding with U.S. President Joe Biden’s visits to South Korea and Japan that are largely focused on countering the perceived threat from Beijing.

The Maritime Safety Administration office in the southern island province of Hainan said the drills began Thursday and will continue through Monday.

BEIJING (AP) — Global stock markets rose Friday after Wall Street fell closer to bear territory, China cut a key interest rate and Japanese inflation edged higher.

London opened higher while Frankfurt retreated. Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney gained. Oil prices declined.

BEIJING (AP) — The locked-down Chinese metropolis of Shanghai will reopen four of its 20 subway lines Sunday as it slowly eases pandemic restrictions that have kept most residents in their housing complexes for more than six weeks.

The city will also restart 273 bus lines connecting major urban centers, airports, train stations and hospitals as it resumes cross-district public transit, Yu Fulin, director of the Shanghai Transport Commission, said at a daily pandemic briefing Thursday.

BEIJING, May 18 (APP): The foreign ministers of BRICS countries will hold a meeting via video link on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday.

Addressing his regular press briefing here, he said, BRICS (acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) enjoys global influence as a cooperation mechanism of emerging markets and developing countries.

BEIJING, May 17 (APP): The Kashmir issue is the core obstacle to the normalization of relations between India and Pakistan and to peace and stability in the South Asian Sub-continent, Cheng Xizhong, Visiting Professor of Southwest University of Political Science and Law said on Tuesday.

India changed the status of Kashmir on August 5, 2019, which further complicated the Kashmir issue. Therefore, the key to normalizing India-Pakistan relations is for India to take the initiative to immediately restore the original status of Kashmir, he said in a statement.

BEIJING, May 17 (APP): Pakistani Pine nuts exports to China in the first three months of this year achieved a historical figure of $25.13 million, according to the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC).

Data showed that in the first three months of 2022, China imported 2,299.21 tons of Pakistani pine nuts and was one of the main destinations of Pakistani pine nuts.

Overall, China has imported 7,780.32 tons of pine nuts around the world valued at $57.05 million, of which 44.04% by value and 29.55% weight is from Pakistan.

BEIJING (AP) — China’s factory and consumer activity fell even more than expected in April under anti-virus controls, official data showed Monday, but a Cabinet official said the economy is reviving as anti-virus curbs ease and its commercial capital of Shanghai reopens.