10 big things about China you should not miss (Dec. 14- Dec.20)

1.China launches island-wide special customs operations in Hainan FTP

The Hainan Free Trade Port has begun islandwide special customs operations on Thursday, the Hainan provincial government said, a milestone in efforts to position the island province as China's gateway to the world.

The reform is part of broader efforts to expand opening-up policies, with Hainan positioned as a testing ground for institutional measures linking China with overseas markets.

Wang Changlin, deputy head of China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said the islandwide customs operation is a landmark project of Hainan Free Trade Port construction and an important step toward opening up, carrying milestone significance.

2.China grants market access to first batch of L3 autonomous driving models

China has approved market access for its first batch of Level 3 autonomous driving passenger vehicles, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said Monday, a milestone in the commercial rollout of conditionally automated driving technology.

The approval covers two vehicle models come from separate domestic automakers.

One, a battery-electric sedan produced by a Chongqing-based manufacturer, supports autonomous driving at speeds of up to 50 kilometers per hour within a single lane on highways and urban expressways under congested traffic conditions. The function is currently limited to approved road sections in Chongqing.

The other model, developed by a Beijing-based automaker, is another battery-electric sedan. It enables autonomous driving at speeds of up to 80 kilometers per hour within a single lane on highways and urban expressways, and is currently authorized for use only on designated roads in Beijing.

3.China strongly condemns U.S. plan to sell massive advanced weapons Taiwan：FM

China firmly opposes and strongly condemns the U.S. plan to sell massive advanced weapons to China's Taiwan region, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun at a press conference on Thursday.

According to media reports, the U.S. has announced a package of arms sales to Taiwan worth up to $11 billion, making it one of the largest sales.

In response, Guo said this move grossly violates the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiqués, infringes on China's sovereignty, security and territorial integrity, undermines peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and sends a gravely wrong signal to "Taiwan independence" separatist forces.

4.China, U.S. anti-drug agencies jointly crack down on cocaine smuggling

Law enforcement agencies from China and the United States have cooperated in cracking a major cocaine smuggling case, Chinese police authorities said Tuesday.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, acting on intelligence provided by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), China's anti-drug authorities seized 430 kilograms of smuggled cocaine from a suspicious international shipping container at Yantian Port in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province on Nov. 26.

Further investigation into the case is currently underway.

5.Chinese Embassy in Cambodia urges nationals to leave border areas amid Cambodia–Thailand tensions

The Chinese Embassy in Cambodia on Wednesday urged Chinese nationals near the Cambodia–Thailand border to move to safer areas, citing ongoing tensions, and advised those elsewhere in the country to avoid travel to the border region for now.

The Cambodian Ministry of Defense said Monday that the Thai military expanded airstrikes into Siem Reap province, striking an area near a camp for displaced civilians at about 10 a.m. local time, according to Xinhua News Agency.

In case of emergency, individuals should contact local police immediately and seek assistance from the Chinese Embassy, it stated.

To fully leverage information technology in providing better consular protection and services, the Embassy encourages all Chinese nationals in Cambodia to actively download the "China Consular" App or register via its WeChat mini-program to participate in the "Overseas Citizen Registration."

6.25 held accountable over fatal school fire in central China's Henan

Authorities have held 25 people accountable following an investigation into a fatal fire at a school in central China's Henan Province that killed 13 people, according to an official report released Wednesday.

On Jan. 29, 2024, a fire broke out at a dormitory of Yingcai School in Fangcheng County, Nanyang City, causing 13 deaths and four injuries.

Following the accident, a probe was launched involving on-site inspections, inquiries, forensic identification, video analysis, and simulation experiments.

A court hearing will soon be held for three school personnel charged with the crime of causing a major accident involving educational facilities.

7.Guangzhou customs uncovers major case of smuggling pregnant women's blood samples

The Anti-Smuggling Bureau of Guangzhou Customs mobilized 265 police officers and successfully dismantled two criminal gangs engaged in smuggling blood samples from pregnant women overseas, with over 100,000 such samples involved.

Investigations carried out in Guangzhou, Foshan, and Shenzhen, all in Guangdong Province, showed that the case involved victims from 23 provinces across China, with illicit profits exceeding 30 million yuan (about $211.26 million). This made it the largest and most extensive of its kind cracked by the bureau in recent years.

8.Massive undersea gold deposit discovered in East China

A huge undersea gold deposit, the largest in Asia, has been discovered in Yantai, East China's Shandong Province, recently, according to the local municipality.

The new deposit is located north of Sanshan Island in Laizhou City, with identified cumulative gold resource reserves exceeding 3,900 metric tons. This accounts for about 26% of the national total, ranking first in terms of resource reserves and production in China.

In November 2023, the Shandong Provincial Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources identified one quarter of the country's gold reserves.

9.Twin giant pandas set to return to China from Japan as public bids reluctant farewell

Crowds gathered Tuesday at Tokyo's Ueno Zoological Gardens to see giant panda twins Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei ahead of their planned return to China in late January.

The zoo said it began restricting access to the panda enclosure Tuesday, with long lines forming more than an hour before opening. Visitors were admitted in batches, each given about one minute to view the animals. The zoo estimates about 178,000 visitors will attend between Dec. 16 and the final viewing day on Jan. 25.

 

 

10.World's largest ice-snow theme park opens in Harbin

The world's largest ice-and-snow theme park, the 27th edition of the Harbin Ice-Snow World, opened on Wednesday in Harbin, known as China's "Ice City" and the capital of Heilongjiang. A total of 400,000 cubic meters of ice and snow were used to bring this year's theme, "Ice and Snow, Fairy Tale World," to life.