China

Businesses from Central and Eastern European Countries and beyond have been eyeing a key commerce and trade expo being held this week in eastern China's port city of Ningbo with a view to strengthening economic ties with China and greater opportunities.

Xi Jinping called on China and Central Asia to "fully unleash" their potential in trade, economic and infrastructure cooperation Friday, as he wrapped up a landmark summit with heads of state from the strategically vital region.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will host a Central Asian summit on Thursday, seeking to build regional influence as G7 leaders hold a rival gathering in Japan.

Held in the ancient Chinese city of Xi'an, the historic eastern end of the Silk Road that linked China to Europe through Central Asia, this week's summit is of "milestone significance", Beijing has said.

China's economic data for April missed expectations last month, official figures showed yesterday, as low demand and high youth unemployment led to a patchy recovery after lifting strict COVID rules.    

Retail sales - a key indicator of domestic consumer activity -- grew 18.4 percent on-year, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed.    

President Xi Jinping will host a two-day summit with the leaders of five Central Asian nations next week, Beijing said on Monday, as China moves to increase its influence in the region.

Leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are expected to attend the China-Central Asia Summit from May 18 to 19, said China's foreign ministry.

China's manufacturing activity contracted in April, official figures showed yesterday, due to slack global demand and a slow domestic recovery after lifting COVID-related curbs.    

China's cooperation with Europe and other countries is as "unlimited" as its ties with Russia, the Chinese ambassador to the EU said, expressing confidence in China's neutrality with regard to Ukraine, Reuters reported.

China's foreign minister stepped up threats Friday against the self-governing island of Taiwan, saying any who go against Beijing's demand to exert control over the island are "playing with fire."

Despite the cancellation years ago of China's harsh, Mao-era restriction on families to a single child, and even after more recent incentives urging families to have more children, China's population is steadily shrinking - a momentous shift that will soon leave India as the world's most populous nation and have broad rippling effects both domestically and globally.

In the middle of this year, India is expected to become the most populous country in the world and overtake China in terms of population by almost 3 million people, Reuters and BTA reported, referring to a UN report published today.