Beijing

Chinese President Xi Jinping said China and the United States have made progress on a number of issues during meetings with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Beijing, AFP reports.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank "serves China's interest" and Beijing wields "undue" influence over what is supposed to be a multilateral organisation, a former executive told AFP yesterday after resigning.

In the wake of his resignation, Canada's Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced Ottawa would "immediately halt all government-led activity at the Bank".

More than 30 Chinese warplanes entered Taiwan's air defence zone over the course of about six hours, the island's defence ministry said Thursday, a sharp ramp-up in single-day incursions by China's military.

China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its territory and has vowed to take it one day -- by force if necessary.

Elon Musk and China's industry minister discussed ways to develop new energy vehicles yesterday, a day after the Tesla CEO flew into Beijing and declared he wanted to expand his business in the world's second largest economy.

The mercurial billionaire, one of the world's richest men, is on his first trip to China in more than three years.

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.

Beijing fined a Chinese comedy studio around $2 million Wednesday for a joke that compared China's military to stray dogs, a reminder of the ever-narrowing confines of expression under the country's leader, Xi Jinping.

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.

Pavel stated that Beijing benefits from prolonging the war.
The president's statements came to the Czech Republic as China tries to position itself as a peacemaker in Ukraine.
While most Western allies have been skeptical of China as a peace mediator, some countries such as France insist that China could play a major role in peace talks.

An investigation was launched today after a fire engulfed a hospital in the Chinese capital, Beijing, killing 21 people, state media said.

In return, he brought with him a handful of orders for French industry, writes Alexander Gerlach.