Latest economic statistics showed that in the first two months of this year, China's industrial, services, consumption and investment indicators all experienced faster year-on-year growth. The National Bureau of Statistics said that economy has kicked off on a stable note this year.

Robots brewing coffee in parks, and drones zipping through the air to deliver packages - "AI+ consumption" is no longer a distant vision but a reality embedded in everyday life, transforming how people work and live. By bringing a futuristic touch to our daily life, artificial intelligence (AI) is unleashing the vast potential of consumption and driving the Chinese economy's high-quality growth in the new era.

At a factory in Nanchang, the capital of East China's Jiangxi Province, Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) glide methodically across the spotless floor, ferrying tools and parts to assemblers with precise timing. Overhead, vehicle frames advance along production lines, awaiting their final touches before shipping to domestic and international markets.

Wednesday marks the first anniversary of Ezhou Huahu International Airport to be approved to conduct international operations. As Asia's first all-cargo hub airport, it has launched 38 international freight routes, linking five continents through its expanding logistics network.

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Monday expressed his sorrow over the passing of renowned entrepreneur Lee Shau-kee, extended deepest condolences to his family, and spoke highly of Lee Shau-kee's contribution in economic development, education and social service sectors.

Lee Shau-kee, founder of Hong Kong's Henderson Land Development Company Limited, passes away on Monday at his age of 97 accompanied by his families, according to a statement published on the company's official website.

Chinese commercial space company Galactic Energy announced on Monday that it successfully deployed eight satellites into sun-synchronous orbits from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China's Gansu Province.

A branch of Mixue Group, one of China's largest tea drink chains, is under scrutiny after reportedly using leftover lemon and orange slices to prepare its signature beverages the next day in Yichang, central China's Hubei Province. Local market regulators pledged to inspect similar establishments across the region to prevent recurrence of such violations, according to media reports on Friday.

A Chinese research team has developed a silicon photonic integrated high-order mode multiplexer chip, enabling ultra-high-capacity on-chip optical data transmission, the Global Times learned from Fudan University on Thursday.

Over a dozen Chinese government departments, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), on Thursday issued a guideline to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) enhance their compliance awareness and strengthen compliance management.

China's autonomous driving start-up Pony.ai has officially launched its Robotaxi service connecting the Beijing South Railway Station with the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area (BDA), according to the company on Thursday.

Editor's Note: Since 2017, the Maldives has participated in the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which has already yielded fruitful results. At this year's two sessions, China vowed to strive for solid progress in pursuing high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. What does that mean for cooperation between China and BRI partners like the Maldives? What are the prospects for BRI cooperation in 2025 and beyond? Fazeel Najeeb (Fazeel), the Maldives' Ambassador to China, shared his perspectives with Global Times (GT) reporter Yin Yeping in this exclusive interview.

China plans to expand its institutional opening-up trial program at the nation's pilot free trade zones (FTZ), which is aimed to build transparent, stable and predictable institutional environment for all business entities including foreign-invested enterprises in China, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced.

Deputies to the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) take selfie with a foreign journalist in front of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 11, 2025. The 14th NPC held the closing meeting of its third session on Tuesday. Photo: VCG

NPC deputies from the delegation of South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region have put forward a motion to establish a China-ASEAN AI Innovation Cooperation Center in Guangxi during the two sessions in Beijing. It aims to foster a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future while driving high-quality economic and social development in Guangxi, the Guangxi Daily reported on Tuesday.

On a breezy Sunday afternoon along Shenzhen Bay, a sleek humanoid robot sporting metallic limbs and laser-focused sensors sprinted past joggers and cyclists, with its fluid strides mirroring a human athlete.

Amid another wave of high-tech frenzy that began this year, with the rise to fame of the likes of the DeepSeek chatbot and the UniTree humanoid robot, multiple national lawmakers and political advisors from various high-tech fields have noted the importance of applying high-tech in real-life industries and scenarios.

The "AI Plus" initiative has come under the spotlight at this year's annual sessions of China's national legislature and the top political advisory body, with some lawmakers from the home appliance sector sharing their insights and proposals during this year's two sessions.

Elon Musk suffered double blows in one day. In addition to Tesla's stock sell-off, his social media platform X (formerly Twitter) faced a massive cyberattack on Monday US local time. According to a Chinese cybersecurity firm, the attack was attributed to the same main botnet that targeted Chinese AI start-up DeepSeek during the Spring Festival in late January.

Spectators explore kids' bicycles at the 19th International Bicycles, Baby Strollers and Toys Fair in Pingxiang county, North China's Hebei Province, on March 9, 2025. The three-day exhibition covered 55,000 square meters, with more than 1,500 enterprises showing their products. Photo: VCG

Tianjin Port in North China's Tianjin Municipality has announced to a new plan to expand its annual container throughput capacity to 35 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) by 2035. This represents a significant leap from its 2024 volume of 22 million TEUs and underscores the port's commitment to becoming an international hub and a key coastal port.

Multiple Chinese universities have recently announced plans to expand enrollment, prioritizing national strategic needs. An expert noted on Sunday that talent is the driving force behind the development of new quality productive forces and will provide a solid foundation for China to secure an advantage in the growing international competition.

As China's artificial intelligence (AI) technology advances rapidly, large language models (LLMs) are a "double-edged sword," bringing both efficiency gains and challenges that should be viewed rationally, a well-known Chinese entrepreneur told Global Times on the sidelines of the ongoing "two sessions."

Entering 2025, China's science and technology sector has shown a strong momentum of rapid development, demonstrated by DeepSeek's breakthrough in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) large language models, the growing intelligence shown by UniTree Robotics' humanoid robots, and the global sensation sparked by China's sixth-generation fighters.

China unveiled its overall macroeconomic policy orientations and arrangements for economic development in 2025 during the annual two sessions ongoing in Beijing. The GDP growth target, deficit-to-GDP ratio, consumer price index, and other key indicators announced in the Government Work Report serve as important benchmarks for assessments of the Chinese economy, sparking widespread discussion domestically and internationally.

The 2025 Government Work Report submitted on Wednesday to the National People's Congress (NPC) for deliberation has reinforced the country's commitment to sticking to high-level opening-up.

Following the DeepSeek buzz, China's new artificial intelligence (AI) agent Manus has captured global attention immediately after its recent preview launch, with its reported ability to independently think, plan, and execute complex tasks, delivering complete results.

China's 2025 Government Work Report has underlined the need to promote the safe and sound development of commercial space, the low-altitude economy, and other emerging industries. This was the second mention of commercial space in the Government Work Report, according to media reports, and industry insiders project more satellite internet technology will be deployed this year, steadily fueling the industry's expansion.

Lin Long'an, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, proposed to further promote the cross-border e-commerce development of South China's Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) based on local industrial advantages as well as assistance with artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.

During this year's National Two Sessions, Lü Hongbing, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country's top political advisory body, who is also supervisor general of the All-China Lawyers Association, has focused on legislative issues related to generative artificial intelligence (AI).

Chinese electric vehicle (EV) giant BYD said on Tuesday that it raised HK$43.5 billion ($5.6 billion) in a share sale, making it the largest share offering in the Hong Kong stock market in the past four years.

The governance of artificial intelligence (AI) comes under spotlight at China's 2025 two sessions as the NPC deputies and the CPPCC members advocate for cracking down on illegal activities by using AI tools, in a bid to stop disinformation.

China's economic fundamentals are stable, with many advantages, strong resilience and great potential, despite changes in internal and external environments and some challenges in economic operations, said Liu Jieyi, spokesperson for the third session of the 14th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, China's top political advisory body, at a press conference on the session on Monday, one day before its annual session.

Journalists work at a press conference on the third session of the 14th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, on March 3, 2025. China's top political advisory body, the CPPCC National Committee, will hold its annual session from March 4 to 10 in Beijing. Photo: VCG

China's semiconductor industry is experiencing a surge in demand as businesses across the nation accelerate their adoption of cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI), a Chinese national political advisor told the Global Times in a recent interview.

China's door will only open wider to the world‌, with measures including continuously expanding institutional opening-up and deepening reforms in foreign trade, foreign investment and outward investment, while the country will persistently advance the Global Development Initiative and promote economic globalization toward greater openness, inclusiveness, benefit-sharing and balanced development‌, Liu Jieyi, spokesperson for the third session of the 14th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, said at a press conference ahead of the session on Monday.

China's tea drink maker Mixue Group saw its shares jump 43.21 percent on the first day of trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Monday, with its market value exceeding HK$100 billion ($12.86 billion).

Economic and trade exchanges between China and Japan are of great significance to the development of bilateral relations, said Japanese business representatives when attending a meeting in Tokyo, Japan on Monday, and they further expressed a willingness to deepen pragmatic cooperation with the Chinese side.

University graduates talk with recruiters at a national-level joint recruitment event in Urumqi, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on March 2, 2025. A total of 517 enterprises and institutions from within and outside the region offered 13,500 job positions, covering fields such as manufacturing, chemical engineering, finance and internet technology.

Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek sent another shockwave through the AI industry over the weekend, as the firm claimed a theoretical cost-profit ratio of 545 percent per day for its popular AI models.

A 324-kilogram shipment of fresh New Zealand kiwiberries arrived at Shanghai's airport recently after an 11-hour flight. It swiftly cleared customs following inspection, making it the first batch of kiwiberry imports into China, according to an online post from the Embassy of China in New Zealand on Sunday.

A number of Chinese tech companies, including Huawei and ZTE, have confirmed that they will attend the upcoming Mobile World Congress (MWC) Barcelona 2025, where they will showcase their cutting-edge innovations ranging from artificial intelligence (AI) to 5G and the Internet of Things.

A number of new forces in Chinese car production, especially makers of electric vehicles (EVs), are flexing their muscles to release new products to grab more market share, with innovation featuring smart driving and artificial intelligence (AI).

China's AG600 large amphibious aircraft on Friday completed all of its prior-certification flight test subjects, a key step toward achieving its airworthiness certification target, announced the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC).

More than 200 Chinese enterprises participated in business trips to countries including Kazakhstan, Germany and South Africa within half a month since the end of the Spring Festival, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), the organizer of the trips, said on Thursday.

A number of foreign infant formula brands scored a win in the Chinese market in 2024, with some recording double-digit growth.

An artificial intelligence (AI)-powered translation device, developed by Shenzhen-based tech start-up LAiPIC.AI, provided "zero-latency" translation services at the Shenzhen two sessions, marking the country's first government-level AI large model simultaneous interpretation software in service, the Global Times learned from the company on Wednesday.

Financial Secretary of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Paul Chan Mo-po delivered the 2025-26 Budget on Wednesday, aiming to enhance Hong Kong's role as a "super connector" under the framework of "One Country, Two Systems."

The Hurun China 500 Most Valuable Private Companies in 2024 was released on Tuesday, with high-tech firms making up the majority of the list, epitomizing China's rapid advancement in technology innovation.

Starbucks announced on Monday that the company is laying off 1,100 corporate employees by Tuesday morning and eliminate hundreds of open roles.

The 2025 Spring Festival travel rush, or chunyun in Chinese, wrapped up on Saturday, with a record high of 9.02 billion passenger trips seen in the 40-day period - 510 million by rail, 90.2 million by air, and 7.17 billion by car. The largest cyclical human migration is a manifestation of the immense vitality of China as well as the Chinese people's growing confidence in the nation's future.

In mid-January, a giant container vessel from Europe docked at Qingdao Port, East China's Shandong Province, marking the official launch of the port's first BRI shipping lane, linking Shandong with the Mediterranean countries.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government will double down on its fiscal consolidation strategy in the budget for the new financial year to be released on Wednesday, HKSAR Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po wrote in a blog post published on Sunday.

China's 40-day Spring Festival travel rush has concluded with a record-breaking number of inter-regional trips, according to official data on Sunday.

The 2025 Global Developer Conference (GDC) concluded on Sunday in Shanghai, where large models and calls for open source became highlights and industry practitioners expressed expectation for rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) agents in 2025.

Franciacorta and Lake Iseo, among the most picturesque and spectacular areas of Northern Italy, host the eight accommodations of PNGROUP, a hospitality management firm that operates with constant attention to detail and a pursuit of quality to achieve national excellence marked by top-tier professionalism. The four strategic areas of activity — MICE (Meeting Incentive Congress Events), weddings, hotels, and restaurants — have recently been enriched by the openings of two new hotel establishments on Lake Garda and in Folgarida.

China's investigations into certain pork and dairy products from the EU are being conducted in accordance with relevant laws and WTO regulations, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Thursday.

One of the excellences of Italian hospitality presents many new features in 2025.

The total number of foreign-funded enterprises in China is still rising, despite some multinationals entering and exiting the market, an official from the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Thursday, emphasizing that China continues to be highly attractive for foreign investment.

Following 24 months of construction, China on Thursday officially delivered the world's first offshore floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) equipped with a marine carbon capture and storage (CCS) system in Shanghai's Changxing Island, China Media Group (CMG) reported, highlighting its role as a new solution for global carbon emission control and reduction.

Chinese tourists are returning to Italy. After a brief pause due to the pandemic and the post-pandemic period, tourists are once again flocking to the "Bel Paese," although they represent a new type of traveler compared with the recent past. They are certainly younger, as the contribution from Gen Z has tripled.

On September 26, 2024, the first direct non-stop flight between Venice and Shanghai took off. It promises to transport 70,000 passengers between the two countries in the first year, according to estimates from Save, the operator of Venice Marco Polo Airport, Italy's third intercontinental hub, and China Eastern Airlines, which operates the flight.

China's "Tien Kung" humanoid robot has achieved a world-first by climbing 134 outdoor stairs, reaching the summit of the Haizi Wall Park in Beijing. This marks the first time a humanoid robot has demonstrated such advanced mobility in a complex outdoor environment.

China has unveiled an action plan to boost full-chain development of the new-energy storage manufacturing industry, aiming to expand leading enterprises by 2027, enhance innovation and competitiveness, and achieve high-end, intelligent and green industry growth.

A group of US tourists has departed from Los Angles to embark on a first-ever themed trip to China's Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), during which they will experience a "technologically advanced, safe and open, and vibrant and beautiful" China firsthand, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday.

Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) startup DeepSeek has generated global excitement in the tech community across the world with its launch of the open-source model R1, prompting a reassessment of China's AI capability, the market value of Chinese entrepreneurs, and the nation's rapidly evolving technology sector.

The Buzios7 project of the Buzios oilfield in Brazil ¬- the world's largest deepwater oil field, in which China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) has participated and holds an interest, was put into operation on Saturday local time. The project is an important milestone of the deepening pragmatic cooperation between China and Brazil, Chinanews.com reported on Sunday.

Alpha Lau, the director-general of investment promotion at Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK), will commence her official visit to Tokyo and Seoul on Monday to promote Hong Kong's latest business opportunities, according to an official press release on Sunday.

Chinese automakers are making significant strides in their global expansion, with Chinese brands attracting a multitude of attention at the Indonesia International Motor Show and some companies reporting robust sales in overseas markets.

A worker checks the equipment at a textile workshop in Yangzhuang village, Huaibei, East China's Anhui Province, on February 14, 2025. Given the abundant local labor resources, the government of Huaibei introduced labor-intensive enterprises into rural areas, generating more job opportunities and optimizing employment. Photo: VCG

China has issued a new document aimed at leveraging the functions and advantages of arbitration system, to create a first-class business environment characterized by market orientation, rule of law, and internationalization, and support the high-quality development of the Greater Bay Area (GBA).

TikTok returned to Apple and Google app stores for downloading on Thursday (US time). This follows assurances in a letter from US Attorney General Pam Bondi that a ban would not immediately be enforced, as Bloomberg reported on Friday.

China and Europe have solid foundations and vast potential for auto industry cooperation, and China welcomes European automakers, including Mercedes-Benz, to expand investment in China and deepen their presence in the Chinese market, Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao said during a video call on Friday with Ola Källenius, president of the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) and chairman of Mercedes-Benz.

The 2025 Asian Winter Games concluded on Friday in the "ice city" Harbin, capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. The sporting gala, showcasing the city's ice and snow appeal, highlighted the increasing international connectivity of China's northeastern region with the outside world under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) framework, facilitated by the region's advanced railway network, a Chinese expert told the Global Times on Thursday.

TikTok returned to Apple and Google app stores for downloading on Thursday (US time). This follows assurances in a letter from US Attorney General Pam Bondi that a ban would not immediately be enforced, as Bloomberg reported on Friday.

Global visits to China's domestically developed third-generation superconducting quantum computer, Origin Wukong, have surpassed 20 million, with the majority of international access coming from users in the US.

China has always believed that the development of relations between countries should not be directed against any third party, instead it should be conducive to promoting friendly and cooperative relations among countries, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Thursday.

US auto giant Tesla held a ceremony on Tuesday to mark the launch of the production of its Megapack energy storage plant in Shanghai's Lingang New Area, the company told the Global Times on Tuesday, describing the development as a new example of “Tesla speed” in China, following the success of its Gigafactory already in operation in Shanghai.

Chinese battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology Co (CATL) formally applied for a listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Tuesday evening, as the company seeks to further expand its overseas operations, according to a document CATL sent to the Global Times on Tuesday.

US carmaker Tesla's new Megafactory in Shanghai, dedicated to manufacturing its energy-storage batteries Megapacks, launched production on Tuesday, marking a significant expansion of the company's presence in China.

After China's economy achieved the 5 percent year-on-year growth target in 2024 despite facing significant challenges, some major macroeconomic consensus points started to emerge in early 2025.

China's retail market during the 2025 Spring Festival holiday was exceptionally vibrant. From the boom in ice and snow related tourism, record-breaking box office revenues, to the surge in home appliance trade-ins, the bustling consumption has reflected Chinese people's relentless pursuit of a better life, while helping boost global economic recovery.

As the Year of the Snake comes, a refreshing breeze has ushered in the much-anticipated 8-day-long Spring Festival holiday, bringing with it new hopes and aspirations for many in China.

German optics giant Zeiss announced on Thursday that it will purchase land in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone to build an integrated campus for Zeiss Greater China headquarters in 2025, adding to a growing number of foreign companies that have announced plans to expand investment in the Chinese market.

Toyota Motor Corp will launch a wholly-owned company in Shanghai, the company said in a press release on Wednesday, marking another key milestone in China's auto industry as the Japanese carmaker becomes the latest foreign motor vehicle producer to make such a move, following Tesla.

The construction of Tesla's Shanghai Megapack energy storage plant was completed at the end of 2024 after just seven months of work, and the US tech giant is planning to launch a commissioning ceremony in the factory on February 11, the Shanghai Securities News reported on Wednesday.

China's box office revenue during the 8-day-long Spring Festival holiday reached a record 9.51 billion yuan, with nationwide movie attendance hitting an all-time high of 187 million people, setting new records for the Spring Festival season, data from China Film Administration showed on Wednesday.

China's 2025 Spring Festival holidays sparked a gold purchase rush among consumers, even as the price of spot gold hit a record of $2,830 per ounce on Tuesday. This indicates vibrant consumption during the holidays as well as consumers' confidence in domestic development, according a Chinese expert.

The just-concluded eight-day Chinese Spring Festival holidays witnessed a wide range of artificial intelligence (AI) products and services, from AI-powered temple fairs to robot performances. The stunning shows underscored both the rapid development and widespread application of AI in China, a Chinese expert said on Tuesday.

China announced on Tuesday the inclusion of two US enterprises - clothing company PVH Group and biotechnology company Illumina, Inc - to the Unreliable Entity List, in order to safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM).

China's necessary countermeasures against the US' imposition of a 10 percent additional tariff on Chinese imports under the pretext of the fentanyl issue are fully justified and reasonable, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in the US said on Tuesday, while urging Washington to address its fentanyl crisis rationally rather than resorting to arbitrary tariff increases.

Cooperation is a key driver of innovation, and weakening the strong commercial and trade relationships between nations will lead to self-defeating results, a Chinese expert told the Global Times on Saturday following the first meeting between US President Donald Trump and the CEO of Nvidia Jensen Huang at the White House.