China Weekly (December 2-6)

1. Xi sends congratulatory letter to the Conference on Understanding China

Understanding China 2024 conference opens in Guangzhou on December 3, 2024 (Photo: Chen Jimin / China News Service)

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday sent a congratulatory letter to the 2024 Conference for Understanding China (Guangzhou), which was held in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province.

Xi said in the letter that to understand China, one must understand China's efforts to further deepen reform comprehensively to advance Chinese modernization.

2. China sanctions US companies and executives for arms sales to the Taiwan region

The Taiwan Strait (Photo: Courtesy of Fujian Maritime Safety Administration)

China has decided to impose countermeasures against 13 US military companies and six senior US leaders for arms sales to the Taiwan region, according to an order issued by the Foreign Ministry on Thursday.

The United States recently approved a $385 million arms sale to Taiwan, which seriously violates the one-China principle and the three Sino-US joint communiqués, interferes in China's internal affairs and undermines China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

3. China-Europe freight train makes 100,000th trip in Duisburg, Germany

China-Europe freight train X8083 arrives in Duisburg, Germany, December 3, 2024 (Photo: Ma Xiuxiu/China News Service)

China-Europe freight train X8083 arrived in Duisburg, Germany on Tuesday morning, marking the 100,000th such journey.

China-Europe freight trains provide an affordable, efficient and round-the-clock logistics solution for trade between Asia and Europe, significantly boosting the industrial transformation and socio-economic development of cities along the route. the route, said Chang Haitao, acting consul general of China in Dusseldorf, during a welcome ceremony held at the Duisburg terminal.

4. China-Laos railway celebrates third anniversary, boosting bilateral economy along route

A high-speed train runs on the Laotian section of the China-Laos railway line, December 1, 2024 (Photo: Yang Yongquan/China News Service)

The China-Laos Railway, which celebrates its third anniversary on Tuesday, transported 350,000 tons of fruits and vegetables, strengthening agricultural trade between China and ASEAN countries.

Spanning 1,035 kilometers, it extends from the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming to the Laotian capital Vientiane, boosting the regional economy along the way.

5. UNESCO lists China’s “Spring Festival” as an intangible cultural heritage

Chinese people usually paste Spring Festival couplets on both sides of a door to express wishes and greetings for the New Year. (Photo: Zhai Yujia / Chinese News Service)

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced on Wednesday the addition of the Spring Festival, a social practice of the Chinese people celebrating the traditional New Year, to the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of humanity.

To date, China has 44 items inscribed on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage, ranking it first in the world.

6. The famous novelist devoted to love ends her life at 86

Photo by Chiung Yao

Famous Chinese novelist Chiung Yao (pen name) ended her life on Wednesday at the age of 86 in Taiwan, southeast China, concluding a life devoted to love and literature.

Love has always been the essence of his novels. In his stories of pure romance, love knows no limits: its presence is everything. Under her pseudonym, she became a household name in the 1960s.

7. China launches third batch of 18 communications satellites

A modified Long March-6 carrier rocket carrying a new group of satellites takes off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province, Dec. 5, 2024. (Photo by Guo Houze/Xinhua)

China launched 18 communications satellites from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi Province on Thursday afternoon, deploying the third batch of space assets in the Spacesail constellation into orbit.

Developed by Shanghai-based satellite company Spacesail, the plate-shaped satellites were carried by a Long March 6A rocket that blasted off at 12:41 p.m. and quickly arrived in its predefined orbit.

8. Chinese scientists discover the most complete genome of the Tibetan antelope

Tibetan antelope in the Changtang Grassland in Xizang Autonomous Region, southwest China (Photo: Jiang Feibo / China News Service)

Chinese scientists have successfully assembled a chromosomal genome of the Tibetan antelope, the most accurate, complete and continuous of its kind to date.

“The results will not only deepen our understanding of the evolutionary mechanisms of species, but also facilitate the study of the adaptability of other plateau species,” said Zhang Tongzuo, a researcher at the Northwest Institute of Biology. of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

9. Hong Kong to exhibit 2,500 panda sculptures

A welcome ceremony of the panda-themed exhibition Panda Go!, the city's largest panda-themed exhibition, takes place at Hong Kong International Airport, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, on December 2, 2024. (Photo: Chen Yongnuo/China Press Service)

A total of 2,500 giant panda sculptures will welcome residents and tourists from Saturday in Hong Kong.

The exhibits highlight Hong Kong's strategy of leveraging pandas to boost its economy as the city strives to regain its status as a top tourist destination in Asia.

10. Investigation team set up after Shenzhen construction site collapse

Rescue vehicles are on their way to the collapse site in Shenzhen, December 5, 2024. (Photo: Chen Jimin /China News Service)

An investigation team has been set up in southern China's Guangdong province following a collapse at a railway construction site in the city of Shenzhen that left 13 workers missing, officials said. local authorities.

The construction site collapse occurred around 11 p.m. Wednesday on a section of the Shenzhen-Jiangmen railway in the city's Bao'an district, according to the provincial emergency management department.