Beijing

China's non-financial outbound direct investment (ODI) is likely to hit 1.12 trillion yuan ($161.19 billion) in 2016 and foreign direct investment into China will total 785 billion yuan, Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng said on Dec. 26. 

China's smoggiest city closed schools Dec. 21 as much of the country suffered its sixth day under an oppressive haze, sparking public anger about the slow response to the threat to children's health.

Since Dec. 16, a choking miasma has covered a large swathe of northeastern China, leaving more than 460 million gasping for breath.

China on Dec. 19 rejected U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's claim that it had "stolen" an American research drone, as state media said his diplomatic inexperience could spark a confrontation between the two nations.

Beijing's seizure of the marine probe in international waters in the South China Sea raised already heightened tensions between the world's two largest military powers.

BEIJING - The level of Sino-Serbian relations is at a historic high, and taking them to the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership is a great foundation for deepening the cooperation in all areas, FMs Wang Yi and Ivica Dacic said in Beijing Thursday.

BEIJING - The Belt and Road concept is a great development potential for Serbia, in particular in terms of infrastructure and boosting investment and overall trade, Serbian FM Ivica Dacic said in Beijing Thursday.

Beijing's city government ordered 1,200 factories near the Chinese capital, including a major oil refinery run by state oil giant Sinopec, to shut or cut output on Dec. 17 after authorities issued the highest possible air pollution alert. 

China will return an underwater U.S. drone seized by a naval vessel this week in the South China Sea, both countries said yesterday, but Beijing complained that Washington had been "hyping up" the incident. 

A Chinese naval vessel stole an American underwater drone while it was in international waters, the Pentagon said on Dec.16. 

The U.S. Navy ocean glider was collecting oceanographic data when it was seized by a Dalang Class Chinese ship 50 nautical miles northwest of Subic Bay in the Philippines, Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters. 

The level of Sino-Serbian relations is at a historic high, foreign ministers Wang Yi and Ivica Dacic said in Beijing on Thursday.

Taking them to the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership is a great foundation for deepening the cooperation in all areas, they said.

China should plan to take Taiwan by force and make swift preparations for a military incursion, a Communist party-controlled newspaper has said, after U.S. president-elect Donald Trump broke decades of diplomatic protocol in the region.