China on Thursday reported an outbreak of monkeypox virus, specifically the Ib sub-branch, with four associated cases. The outbreak has been effectively controlled.
The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) announced on Thursday that China has recently discovered a monkeypox virus outbreak, caused by the Ib sub-branch, with the source traced to a foreign individual with a travel history in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Following the outbreak, a joint prevention and control mechanism was activated.
Four related cases were identified among close contacts, all of whom were infected after intimate contact. No infections have been found among the general population, and all affected individuals are receiving medical treatment and are under observation. The relevant cases primarily exhibit symptoms such as rashes and herpes, which are relatively mild.
The outbreak has been effectively controlled.
The CDC on Thursday also published a notice on its WeChat account, remind people to avoid close contact with monkeypox patients or individuals showing suspicious symptoms of monkeypox. The center said it is also important not to come into contact with wild or unknown rodents, as well as primates such as monkeys and apes.
The center said individuals from countries (or regions) where monkeypox is prevalent, who have been in contact with monkeypox patients or exhibit symptoms such as fever, rash, or lymphadenopathy, should report their status to customs upon entry into China.
Close contacts of individuals diagnosed with monkeypox should undergo health monitoring for 21 days under the guidance of disease control agencies, warned the center, advising that they should avoid close contact with others during this period and avoid donating blood.
The China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) has officially confirmed that a magnitude-4.6 earthquake occurred at 16:43 on Thursday in Jinfeng district of Yinchuan, the capital city of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in Northwest China (latitude 38.41°N, longitude 106.26°E).
After the earthquake in Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, the Earthquake Disaster Relief Headquarters of the State Council and China's Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM) activated an emergency response, dispatching a working group to the affected area to assist with relief efforts, according to CCTV news. Local fire and rescue teams deployed 105 personnel and 20 vehicles to assess conditions near the epicenter. Additionally, 440 personnel, 86 vehicles, and 13 rescue dogs from heavy and light rescue teams are on standby. So far, no casualties have been reported.
This is the second earthquake reported in the same day in Ningxia, with the first one occurring at 10:01 in the morning, located at 38.4 degrees north latitude and 106.22 degrees east longitude, according to Xinhua News Agency.
The public security bureau of Dujiangyan, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, said on Friday that two netizens have been legally transferred for prosecution for widely spreading rumors about giant pandas for profit, inciting netizens to resist international cooperation in giant panda conservation, defaming organizations and slandering relevant experts and professionals, according to a release on its official WeChat account.
According to the release, in March 2024, the local authorities received public reports about netizens who had widely disseminated rumors regarding giant pandas through short videos and livestreaming.
Upon investigation, it was discovered that since June 2023, the two suspects - a 56-year-old woman surnamed Bai from Xianyang, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, and a 40-year-old man surnamed Xu from the same region - had repeatedly fabricated and disseminated false information online, alleging that the Giant pandas Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, that returned to China from the US in November 2023, were being abused.
Bai and Xu had generated over 30,000 yuan ($4,110) in earnings from live broadcasts and raised more than 140,000 yuan from their followers, resulting in a total profit exceeding 170,000 yuan, said the release.
At the same time, they tarnished the reputations of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, the China Giant Panda Conservation and Research Center, and other organizations, defaming relevant experts and professionals while inciting netizens to oppose international cooperation in giant panda conservation, according to the local authorities.
Under the instigation of Bai and Xu, some individuals engaged in illegal activities frequently harassed several experts in the relevant fields through phone calls, abusive text messages, and offline disturbances. This severely impacted the experts' normal work and lives and significantly disrupted the working order of the relevant organizations, the release said.
The release also said some individuals conducted illegal activities such as repeatedly calling the government service hotline and the emergency hotline to file false complaints and reports, maliciously occupying public resources and severely disrupting the normal operations of emergency assistance by the relevant organizations.
The actions of Bai and Xu are suspected of violating relevant provisions of China's criminal law and they have been legally transferred for prosecution. The case is currently under further investigation, the local police said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday said Macao will surely open up new horizons for development and keep creating new glories, as long as the policy of "one country, two systems" is comprehensively, accurately and unwaveringly implemented.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks at a gathering celebrating the 25th anniversary of Macao's return to the motherland.
The US House of Representatives failed on Thursday to pass a new Republican spending bill after President-elect Donald Trump sank a bipartisan stopgap bill. A Chinese expert said the latest development again highlighted the confusion in US political parties, and the rising US debt, which is at the center of the bill, is the result of irresponsibility on the part of successive governments, which has also cast a shadow of uncertainty over the world economy.
The package failed by a vote of 174-235, leaving lawmakers just one day to approve new funding to avert a government shutdown. A prior bipartisan deal was scuttled after Trump and Elon Musk came out against it on Wednesday, according to a report by Reuters.
Thursday's unsuccessful bill largely resembled the earlier version that Musk and Trump had blasted. It would have extended government funding into March and provided $100 billion in disaster relief and suspended the debt. At Trump's urging, the new version would have suspended limits on the national debt for two years - a maneuver that would make it easier to pass the dramatic tax cuts he has promised, according to the report.
"The bill's failure again highlighted the confusion in US political parties. If the US government shuts down, Americans' daily lives and work may be affected, which is an irresponsible move," Zhou Mi, a senior research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Friday.
Government funding is due to expire at midnight on Friday. If lawmakers fail to extend that deadline, the US government will begin a partial shutdown that would interrupt funding for everything from border enforcement to national parks and cut off paychecks for more than 2 million federal workers. The US Transportation Security Administration warned that travelers during the busy holiday season could face long lines at airports, according to Reuters.
After the bill failed, Trump said in a post on Truth Social that "Congress must get rid of, or extend out to, perhaps, 2029, the ridiculous Debt Ceiling. Without this, we should never make a deal."
The debt limit - commonly called the debt ceiling - is the maximum amount of debt that the US Department of the Treasury can issue to the public or to other federal agencies. On December 16, 2021, lawmakers raised the debt limit by $2.5 trillion to a total of $31.4 trillion. On January 19, 2023, that limit was reached, and the US debt currently amounts to $36.17 trillion.
"Suspending US debt limits is at the center of the revised bill, and the debt issue has been politicized by factors such as the conflict between the Democratic and Republican parties," Zhou said.
The continually rising US debt has become a persistent problem for the US government, Zhou said, attributing it to successive US governments' irresponsibility, including a chronic inability to make ends meet.
The high cost of goods in the US due to tariffs has also affected people's purchasing willingness, resulting in more obvious constraints on the country's economy, he noted.
"The political incapacity of the US government in resolving huge debts is seriously eroding the country's credibility, which not only undermines the market's confidence in the US government and the dollar, but also drags down the development of the global economy," Zhou noted.
"In addition to affecting US debt holders, the exchange rate and financial market shocks for other countries are also of concern," the expert said.
The Philippine side, with US support and solicitation, has been stirring up troubles on many spots in the SouthChina Sea. From Ren'ai Jiao to Xianbin Jiao and from Houteng Jiao to Huangyan Dao, such repeated provocations have allowed the international community to see clearly who is undermining peace and stability in the South China Sea, and who is fabricating and spreading lies,Wu Qian, a spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, said on Friday.
Wu made the remarks in response to a question on the Philippine Coast Guard claiming that the Chinese side recently took "aggressive actions" toward Philippine fishing boats heading toward Houteng Jiao. It is also reported that several Philippine government vessels were stopped while trying to intrude into Huangyan Dao. The commander of the Philippine Navy said that they had formulated "Gray Zone" tactics to cope with the activities of Chinese boats operating in the South China Sea.
Wu said that wherever they go, whether transiting or re-supplying, the Philippine ships always have a full deck of reporters. The real issue, however, is never about who has more reporters, but who has more legitimacy.
The territories of the Philippines are defined by a series of international treaties, which do not include the Nansha Islands and Huangyan Dao. The Philippine side knows this fact very well. China's position is clear and consistent: more provocations lead to stronger countermeasures; should the Philippine side stubbornly follow the wrong path, China will never back down, Wu said.
The just-concluded Central Economic Work Conference has drawn warm responses from officials, entrepreneurs, as well as Chinese and foreign observers, boosting their confidence in China's economic operation. Global media outlets also attached great attention to the world's second-largest economy's latest policy stance, which has significant global implications.
The annual Central Economic Work Conference was held in Beijing from Wednesday to Thursday as Chinese leaders decided on priorities for the economic work in 2025, according to the Xinhua News Agency. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivered an important speech at the conference.
The meeting acknowledged the deepened adverse impact brought about by changes in the external environment and the many difficulties and challenges still facing the domestic economic operation, and pointed out that the supporting conditions and fundamental trend for the Chinese economy's long-term sound development remain unchanged.
"We must face up to the difficulties, strengthen our confidence, and strive to transform all positive factors into actual achievements in development," the meeting said.
The important speech delivered by Xi has instilled fresh confidence into the conference participants, as officials expressed resolve to fulfill the goals and tasks in the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) with high quality and lay a solid foundation for a good start to the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), according to Xinhua News Agency.
Warm response
Representatives from Chinese companies paid close attention to the key meeting, as it outlined a number of key tasks for 2025, including efforts to vigorously boost consumption, improve investment efficiency, and expand domestic demand on all fronts.
Zhou Hongyi, founder and chairman of 360 Security Technology, told the Global Times on Friday that the top meeting's emphasis on innovation-driven growth portends more supportive policies and efforts to improve the business environment in the tech sector, and his company will seek to seize the opportunities in the new era to contribute more to the high-quality development of the Chinese economy by achieving constant innovation and industrial application and promoting the fusion of tech and industries.
Zhou Mi, a senior research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, noted that China will in the next phase spend more effort on improving its investment environment based on the meeting's guidelines.
"The meeting called for efforts to be made to expand the pilot programs in opening up such fields as telecom, healthcare and education, and stabilize foreign investment… it means there will be more stability when it comes to attracting foreign investment, as it is also a common aspiration for global companies doing business in China," Zhou told the Global Times on Friday, noting that the priority given to further boosting consumption also reflected policymakers' considerations on both the domestic and external fronts.
Tao Wang, chief China economist with UBS Investment Bank, told the Global Times on Friday that the Central Economic Work Conference prioritized "stabilizing growth" and emphasized boosting domestic demand with more proactive macro policies, with "reviving household consumption" listed as a key task.
"The meeting set a much more supportive macro policy tone to stabilize growth, while more details are still set to be revealed later," Wang said, noting that the government explicitly called for cutting reserve requirement ratio and policy rates.
Zou Lan, an official with the People's Bank of China, said that the moderately loose monetary policy tone-setting sends a very strong signal, intensifying the continuity and effectiveness of policies, and is set to boost investor confidence, shore up consumption willingness and further invigorate the activeness of market entities, promoting the real economy to develop in a virtuous cycle, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
The Ministry of Commerce announced on Friday that the policy-backed trade-in programs for consumer goods has lifted sales revenues of related products by 1 trillion yuan ($137.45 billion) as of Friday, including the sale of 5.2 million cars, over 49 million home appliance products and 900,000 electric bikes.
Boon for global growth
The meeting with vital implications for world economy was closely watched by world media.
Bloomberg, in a report, said Chinese policymakers made "lifting consumption vigorously" and stimulating overall domestic demand their top priority, which happens "only the second time in at least a decade."
The New York Times highlighted China's emphasis on borrowing more and cutting interest rates in a bid to bolster growth and analyzed that the statements suggest a "willingness by Beijing to take more aggressive steps to increase spending."
The South China Morning Post noted that the meeting calls for making space for the private sector and increasing fiscal deficit and pledging more spending to keep demand high.
Maya Majueran, director of Belt and Road Initiative Sri Lanka (BRISL), a Sri Lanka-based organization that specializes in BRI cooperation, told the Global Times on Friday that despite facing numerous domestic and international challenges, supportive policies including a more proactive fiscal policy and a moderately loose monetary stance are expected to support stable and sustained economic growth and this creates a favorable opportunity for developing countries to boost their exports to the world's second-largest economy, with continued growth and influence.
Incremental policies, rolled out in September, have raised expectations of China's economic outlook and boosted market confidence, with a number of foreign financial institutions making positive remarks.
The economy is likely to maintain the momentum, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing a forecast by a group of economists.
During a meeting on Tuesday in Beijing with heads of major international economic organizations, who came to attend the "1+10" dialogue, Xi said that China has full confidence in achieving this year's economic growth target and will continue to play its role as the biggest engine of world economic growth.
The rise of the Global South represents a shift toward a more balanced and inclusive international system, Evandro Menezes de Carvalho, a law professor at Fluminense Federal University in Brazil, said in a video address during the Global Times Annual Conference 2025, themed "Moving forward in Partnership: Resonance of Values between China and the World," which took place in Beijing on Saturday.
In his address,Carvalho pointed out that the Global South's growing influence helps balance the traditional dominance of Western powers in institutions like the UN, the IMF, and the World Bank.
Many Global South countries are experiencing rapid economic growth, which diversifies global economic leadership beyond Western economies. Initiatives like the BRICS Plus and the establishment of alternative financial mechanisms like the New Development Bank, reduce reliance on Western-dominated systems and promote development tailored to regional needs, Carvalho said.
The professor noted that a multipolar world dilutes hegemonic tendencies and promotes a system where multiple voices and perspectives shape international policies.
"By championing non-alignment and cooperation among diverse nations, the Global South fosters a more inclusive global order that reflects the interests of a broader range of states," he said.
The successful launch of Macao Science-1 satellites, the first space science satellite program jointly developed by the Chinese mainland and Macao, owes much to the strong support of scientists and engineers from the mainland, Zhang Keke, chief scientist of the program and vice president of Macao University of Science and Technology, told the Global Times in an exclusive interview.
"It is a successful example of leveraging the advantages of the 'one country, two systems' policy to jointly achieve technological breakthroughs," Zhang said, while revealing that on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Macao's return to the motherland, the Macao Science-2 satellite project has also been approved by the Macao Special Administration Regional (SAR) government.
As the establishment of a "global high-precision geomagnetic constellation" has been included in the recently released national-level development program for medium- to long-term space science from 2024 to 2050, it can be expected that Macao's influence in the international space science and technology field will continue to grow in the future, said Zhang, who is also the director of the Macao Institute of Space Technology and Applications.
The People's Daily reported on December 9 that the Macao Science-1 satellite science team recently released China's first WM³ 4D Earth magnetic field model, which fully leverages the high-precision geomagnetic data collected by the satellite, expected to significantly improve Earth science and geomagnetic navigation. It can be applied to scientific research in Earth's deep interior, oceans, and Earth space, as well as in aerospace, maritime navigation, resource exploration, and intelligent devices.
Zhang told the Global Times that the current version of the real-time Earth magnetic field model is built on the high-precision magnetic field data from the Macao Science-1 satellites and other effective geomagnetic data. As China's first self-controlled real-time Earth magnetic field model, it holds significant scientific and practical value and represents a major advancement in the scientific research and applications of the satellite project.
Zhang added that the data collected by the Macao Science-1 satellites will grow, with algorithms undergoing continuous refinement. The team plans to release updated versions of the real-time Earth magnetic field model in the future.
The study of Earth's magnetic field is key to human survival, Zhang said. The sun constantly emits high-energy particles that hurtle toward Earth at high speeds. Earth's magnetic field serves as a protective shield, shielding the planet from these particles. Without it, life as we know it would be impossible, he said.
China launched the Macao Science-1 satellites on May 21, 2023, with a Long March-2C carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
According to the China National Space Administration (CNSA), Macao Science-1 project is the first jointly developed space science satellite program by the Chinese mainland and Macao. It is also the first scientific exploration satellite designed to study the geomagnetic field and South Atlantic Anomaly, Xinhua said.
"After more than a year in orbit, the 'Macao Science-1' satellite has completed 8,000 Earth orbits, operating smoothly, collecting extensive high-precision data," Zhang said. "Scientists and engineers from countries including the US, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain are using this data for research and applications in fields such as Earth's deep interior, ocean science, and Earth space science."
According to the CNSA, the Macao Science-1 satellite program has signed cooperative research agreements with 18 countries including the US, the UK and France, positioning it as a "golden calling card" showcasing Macau's cutting-edge high-tech capabilities.
"Due to the great success of the Macao Science-1 satellite, our team is now working on the planning of Macao Science-2," Zhang Keke shared. "If all goes well, the 'Macao Science-2' satellite is scheduled to be launched in late 2026 or early 2027."
When asked why it is necessary to launch the Macao Science-2, Zhang explained, "Macao Science-1 can only conduct observations, analyses, and data measurements in low-latitude regions, but it excludes polar regions. To achieve full global coverage and to enhance measurements of Earth's magnetic field and spatial data, it is essential to launch the Macao Science-2 satellite."
The Macao Science-2 program will also consist of two satellites. If successfully launched, they will form a satellite constellation with Macao Science-1 satellites. This four-satellite constellation will facilitate networked observations to deliver precise global data on Earth's magnetic field and space weather. It will be the world's first ideal constellation combining polar orbit and low-inclination satellites, offering detailed 3D observations of Earth's magnetic field and space weather.
