China yesterday vowed to punish “diehard” Taiwan politicians, saying it would ban several from visiting the mainland, as tensions between Beijing and Taipei spiked to their highest level in years. 

Highways and school playgrounds in Beijing were closed yesterday due to heavy pollution, as China ramps up coal production and faces scrutiny of its environmental record at make-or-break international climate talks. 

China’s online censors Thursday scrubbed out a tennis star’s reported allegations that a powerful politician sexually assaulted her, the first time that the #MeToo movement has reached the highest echelons of the ruling Communist Party.

Beijing lashed out against a US intelligence review into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic yesterday, calling it “political and false” while urging Washington to “stop attacking” China.

Chinese telecom giant Huawei said Friday its revenue plunged by a third in the first three quarters of the year, as it continued to struggle under US sanctions that have hit its smartphone sales.

Six years ago, nearly every country in the world set targets for reducing their carbon emissions -- but the sum total of their pledges fell far short of what was needed to keep the planet from dangerously overheating.

China has submitted a revised plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions before the end of this current decade, but critics say the country that produces 27 percent of global emissions has failed to go further and demonstrate leadership at a critical moment for the planet.

Top US General Mark Milley has called China’s recent hypersonic missile test “very close” to a Sputnik moment.

Reuters, Shanghai

Chinese authorities have told Evergrande founder Xu Jiayin, once the country’s richest man, to use his personal wealth to alleviate the embattled company’s debt crisis, according to media reports.

China yesterday insisted that Taiwan had no right to join the United Nations, after the United States ratcheted up tensions with a call for the democratic island to have greater involvement in the world body.

Bottled water, vaccine development, short video platform TikTok and electric vehicle technology propelled the big earners on China's rich list this year, as embattled property moguls and others facing regulatory scrutiny slipped down the rankings.

Children as young as 3 will start receiving Covid-19 vaccines in China, where 76% of the population has been fully vaccinated and authorities are maintaining a zero-tolerance policy toward outbreaks.

China is set to expand pilot property tax reforms, state media reported, as the government battles real estate speculation in the world’s second-biggest economy.

China Evergrande Group said on Sunday it had resumed work on more than 10 projects in six cities including Shenzhen - a statement that comes after it appeared to avert default with a last-minute bond coupon payment last week.

China has passed an education law that seeks to cut the “twin pressures” of homework and off-site tutoring in core subjects, the official Xinhua news agency said on Saturday.

China has given complete doses of Covid-19 vaccines to about 75.6% of its population as of Oct. 23, National Health Commission

China has given complete doses of COVID-19 vaccines to about 75.6 percent of its population as of Oct. 23, National Health Commission spokesperson Mi Feng said on Sunday.

China has passed an education law that seeks to cut the "twin pressures" of homework and off-site tutoring in core subjects, the official Xinhua news agency said on Saturday.

China's foreign ministry urged the United States on Friday to avoid sending any wrong signals to proponents of Taiwanese independence, after President Joe Biden said the United States would come to the Chinese-claimed island's defence.