China is concerned about Japan's plan to join AUKUS and firmly opposes relevant countries cobbling together exclusive groupings, building bilateral or multilateral military alliances targeting China, creating division and confrontation and stoking bloc confrontation, a spokesperson from China's Ministry of National Defense (MND) said on Thursday. 

The remarks were made by Wu Qian, a spokesperson for the MND, in response to recent reports that Japan has officially announced it will join AUKUS, while Canada's Prime Minister is considering increasing submarine deployments and starting negotiations on joining AUKUS.

Wu said that China is gravely concerned. "We firmly oppose relevant countries cobbling together exclusive groupings, building bilateral or multilateral military alliances targeting China, creating division and confrontation and stoking bloc confrontation. The Asia-Pacific is a big stage for peace and development, not a wrestling ground for geopolitical competition," Wu noted. 

China is a cooperation partner for all countries, not a challenge to anyone. Disregarding the concerns of regional countries and the international community, the US, UK and Australia have continuously sent signals of AUKUS expansion, which have severely impacted peace and stability in the Asia Pacific. Many regional countries are deeply concerned about it, said Wu. 

Wu also responded to the US revamp of its military command in Japan, a move media said will form better coordination and increased deterrence against China. 

Wu said that the US-Japan alliance is a product of the Cold War and a bilateral arrangement that should not target third parties or disrupt regional peace and stability. Japan once took the wrong path of militarism, launching aggressive wars and committing serious crimes against humanity, causing profound disasters in the region and the world. Instead of reflecting seriously on its past actions, Japan is once again showing a dangerous trend of military expansion.

In recent times, the US and Japan have intensified military collusion, promoting camp confrontation and using the unfounded "China threat" rhetoric as an excuse to create targeted "small cliques." This goes against the trend of the times and will only make people see more clearly the harmful intentions of the US-Japan alliance toward regional peace and stability, said the spokesperson.

He said China urges relevant countries to stop creating confrontation and hostility, as it will only increase regional tensions and ultimately backfire on themselves.

China's Chang'e-7 mission has selected six intl payloads to carry onboard, based on scientific objectives and engineering feasibility, from seven countries and intl agencies including Egypt/Bahrain, Italy, Russia, Switzerland, Thailand, and the International Lunar Observatory Association.

China is very disappointed with the US decision, emphasizing that the urgency of accepting Palestine as a full member of the UN is now more apparent than ever. China will continue its efforts and play a constructive role to ensure that Palestine enjoys the same rights as all other UN member states, said China's permanent representative to the UN, following the US veto of Palestine's request for full UN membership.

The US stopped the UN from recognizing a Palestinian state by casting a veto in the Security Council on Thursday to deny Palestinians full membership of the world body, Reuters reported. 

It vetoed a draft resolution recommending to the 193-member UN General Assembly that "the State of Palestine be admitted to membership" of the UN. Britain and Switzerland abstained, while the remaining 12 council members voted yes, according to the media report.

"Today is a saddening day. The application for Palestine to become a full member of the UN was rejected due to a US veto, crushing the decades-long dreams of the Palestinian people. China is profoundly disappointed with the US decision," said Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the UN. 

Independence has been the enduring aspiration of the Palestinian people for generations, and becoming a full UN member is a crucial step in this historical process, Fu noted. 

Palestine submitted its application as early as 2011, but due to opposition from certain countries, action by the Security Council was postponed. 13 years have already been long enough, yet these countries still complain that there is not enough time and that action should not be rushed. This argument is insincere. "Now, more than ever, the urgency of accepting Palestine as a full member of the UN is apparent," Fu said. 

Deputy US Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood told the council that the US continues to strongly support a two-state solution. This vote does not reflect opposition to Palestinian statehood, but instead is an acknowledgment that it will only come from direct negotiations between the parties, according to the media report. 

Certain countries do not support Palestine's membership, claiming that it lacks the capacity to govern a state, a position we cannot agree with, the Chinese diplomat said. 

Over the past 13 years, there have been many changes in the situation in Palestine, the most fundamental being the continuous expansion of settlements in the West Bank, which increasingly compresses the living space of Palestine as a nation, eroding the foundation of the two-state solution. 

These countries turn a blind eye, adopting an attitude of tacit approval or even encouragement, and now they question Palestine's governance capabilities, which is nothing but a distortion of facts and logic, Fu said. 

What is even more unacceptable is that these countries also question whether Palestine meets the qualifications for UN membership as outlined in the UN Charter, implying doubts about Palestine's commitment to peace, Fu noted. 

Such accusations are excessively harsh and amount to "pouring salt on the wounds of the Palestinian people," who suffer under occupation—an enormous insult, he said. If opposing Palestine's membership for political reasons, it would be more honest to state this directly rather than using excuses to inflict further harm on the Palestinian people.

The Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas, sharply criticized the US veto, saying in a statement that it was "unfair, immoral, and unjustified, and defies the will of the international community, which strongly supports the State of Palestine obtaining full membership in the UN," CNN reported. 

The right of the Palestinian people to statehood is an inalienable national right, beyond dispute and not for trade. Insisting that direct negotiations between Israel and Palestine are a precondition, and claiming that UN membership for Palestine can only be the result of negotiations, are putting the cart before the horse, Fu said. 

As Israel increasingly rejects the two-state solution, admitting Palestine as a full member state of the UN would provide it with equal status to Israel and help facilitate the resumption of negotiations. All countries genuinely supporting the two-state solution should not oppose Palestine's full membership in the UN, the Chinese diplomat said. 

"We believe that one day, Palestine will enjoy the same rights as all other UN member states, living peacefully alongside Israel as a neighbor. Both the Palestinian and Israeli people will lead secure and happy lives. To hasten this day, China will continue its unremitting efforts and play a constructive role," Fu said. 

"History and the peoples of the world will remember this regressive action by the US," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Friday commenting on the US veto. 

Despite the US veto, the urgent regional demand for an immediate ceasefire cannot be denied, the basic needs of Gazan civilians for humanitarian aid cannot be denied, and the international community's widespread desire for a just and lasting resolution of the Palestinian issue cannot be denied, the spokesperson said. 

Lin further stated that the international community should fully implement the relevant resolutions of the UN General Assembly and Security Council, fully respect the will of the Palestinian people, return to the correct track of the two-state solution, and promptly establish an independent  Palestinian state. 

Only in this way can peaceful coexistence between Palestine and Israel be achieved, harmony between the Arab and Jewish peoples be fostered, and lasting peace in the Middle East be realized, the spokesperson added. 

China has always stood on the side of peace, justice, and conscience in the Palestinian issue. We firmly support Palestine becoming a full member of the UN and will continue to work with relevant parties to quell the fires in Gaza at an early date, alleviate the humanitarian situation, promote the implementation of the two-state solution, and play a constructive role, the spokesperson added. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called on both China and Germany to view and develop bilateral relations from a long-term and strategic perspective, and work together to inject greater stability and certainty into the world. Xi made the remarks during a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who concluded his three-day China visit in Beijing after leading a grand delegation to Chongqing and Shanghai.

Against the backdrop of the EU's subsidy accusations on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) and wind turbines, and the US-initiated "overcapacity" hype, Xi called for viewing the production capacity issue objectively and dialectically. The two leaders also had an in-depth exchange of views on the crisis in Ukraine and other international and regional issues of mutual interest, the Xinhua News Agency reported. 

On Tuesday, Xi and Scholz also took a stroll around the grounds of Diaoyutai State Guesthouse amid the mild breeze in the verdant spring, according to media reports. 

A friendly atmosphere could be felt throughout Scholz's visit, during which he visited German companies' China plants and had exchanges with students at Tongji University in Shanghai, an institute founded by a German doctor a century ago which has close cooperation with Germany. 

Scholz's full and extensive schedule and his remarks on some sensitive topics showed that the German Chancellor has maintained a strategic balance amid pressure from other parties like the EU and the US, said Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at the Renmin University of China. 

Always regarding Germany and the EU as partners, China can provide the certainty Germany is in urgent need of as three uncertainties - the Ukraine crisis, US presidential elections and the European Parliament elections, are lingering, Wang told the Global Times on Tuesday.

The positive results of the visit are beyond the expectations of some observers, and Wang also sees the leaders' meeting and Scholz's visit as injecting valuable and much needed positivity into turbulent China-EU relations.

When a populist wind seems to be growing stronger within the EU, leading to biased and combative opinions on China, it is hoped that Germany, after an in-depth engagement with China, will continue to lead the rational voices inside the EU, analysts said. 

Supply chain  

During the Tuesday meeting, Xi noted that the industrial and supply chains of China and Germany are deeply intertwined and the markets of the two countries are highly interdependent. The mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Germany is not a "risk," but a guarantee for the stability of bilateral relations and an opportunity for the future, Xi said.

The two countries have huge potential for win-win cooperation in both traditional fields such as machinery manufacturing and automobiles and emerging fields including green transformation and digital artificial intelligence, Xi noted.

The two sides should carry forward the distinctive characteristics of mutual benefit and win-win outcomes and achieve mutual success, Xi said, adding that China's exports of electric vehicles, lithium batteries and photovoltaic products have not only enriched global supply and alleviated global inflationary pressure, but also contributed greatly to the global response to climate change and to a green and low-carbon transformation.

Noting that both China and Germany depend heavily on industry and support free trade and economic globalization, Xi said the two sides should be vigilant against rising protectionism, look at the issue of production capacity objectively and dialectically from a market-oriented and global perspective, adhere to economic principles and foster further cooperation, Xinhua reported.

For his part, Scholz said that through his visit in the past days, he was impressed by China's development achievements and the close, sound cooperation between German and Chinese companies. 

Germany is willing to continue to strengthen the relationship with China, deepen bilateral dialogue and cooperation in various fields, promote people-to-people exchanges in such areas as education and culture, which is important for both countries and the world at large, he said. 

Germany opposes protectionism and supports free trade. As an important member of the EU, Germany is willing to play an active role in promoting the good development of EU-China relations, Scholz said.

On Tuesday, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and the German chancellor jointly attended the Symposium of the China-Germany Economic Advisory Committee in Beijing with about 20 entrepreneurs from the two countries. 

Li stressed that the Chinese government is willing to work with the German government to provide more policy support to make cooperation between the two sides smoother and more efficient, and to promote the sustained, stable and healthy development of economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.

Germany has been China's largest trading partner in Europe for 49 consecutive years, while China has been Germany's largest global trading partner for eight consecutive years. 

Sun Yanhong, a senior research fellow at the Institute of European Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday that the grand delegation fully demonstrates the great importance Germany attaches to China. 

In regard to the thorny EV issue, Wang said that Scholz, after visiting Chinese plants, could better understand that the competitiveness of the Chinese EV industry does not come from "subsidies," but infrastructure, affordable energy and technological innovation. 

Imposing punitive tariffs would be lose-lose; China and Germany should focus on how make the cake bigger rather than how to cut it, said He Weiwen, a senior fellow from the Center for China and Globalization. "If China and Germany can cooperate on the EV sector, that is to say realizing benign competition, it would stimulate the sluggish global economy." 

Sun underlined the potential in cooperation on green transformation in a broader sense, such as AI and self-driving, and smart manufacturing.   

As the world's second- and third-largest economies, China and Germany have a global responsibility to smoothen cooperation and contribute to the stability of global supply and industrial chains, Sun said.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder of Germany-based political and economic think tank the Schiller Institute, told the Global Times in an earlier interview that for an export economy like Germany, it would be "suicidal" to follow these calls for "de-risking."

Promoting peace

Amid major geopolitical tensions and flashpoints, analysts stressed that although China and Germany have different systems, cultures and ideologies, their communication and coordination are crucial for retaining geopolitical stability to the utmost and promoting global peace. 

On the lingering Ukraine crisis which has brought Europe heavy losses, Xi proposed four principles to prevent crisis from spiraling out of control and to restore peace at an early date. 

"First, we should prioritize the upholding of peace and stability and refrain from seeking selfish gains. Second, we should cool down the situation and not add fuel to the fire. Third, we need to create conditions for the restoration of peace and refrain from further exacerbating tensions. Fourth, we should reduce the negative impact on the world economy and refrain from undermining the stability of global industrial and supply chains," Xi said. 

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said Tuesday that China and Germany are committed to upholding the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, including the maintenance of sovereignty and territorial integrity. This is the necessary foundation for a sustainable security architecture and should be respected. 

China and Germany encourage and support efforts to seek a political solution for peace in Ukraine and are willing to maintain close and active communication on the upcoming high-level meeting in Switzerland and other relevant international events in the future, Lin said.  

China and Germany jointly call for: opposition to the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons; opposition to attacks on nuclear power plants and other peaceful nuclear facilities; proper resolution of international food security issues, contributing to ensuring global food security without hindering food production and exports; compliance with international humanitarian law, protection of civilians, early mutual release of prisoners of war, and respect for the basic rights of prisoners of war, the spokesperson noted. 

The issue has been a major obstacle to China-Germany and China-EU relations, causing political mistrust, therefore Sun believes that President Xi's proposals can better dispel misunderstandings on China's stance and consolidate the common ground, particularly not using nuclear weapons. 

High energy prices due to the crisis could continue to drag the German economy while a possible return of Donald Trump to the US presidency could lead to new tension in the transatlantic relationship, analysts said. The urgent task is to minimize the impact of geopolitical tensions and uncertainties, not seeding more confrontation or hostility, they said. 

Xi and Scholz on Tuesday also exchanged views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and other international and regional issues of common concern.  

Scholz said that Germany is willing to enhance communication and coordination with China, jointly address global challenges such as climate change, and is committed to upholding the multilateral international order, promoting world peace and development, and opposes confrontation.

The US has dispatched its top diplomats for East Asia to China, which analysts see as a move to test China's reactions after it elevated defense relations with Japan and Philippines amid escalating tension in the South China Sea.

According to US Department of State, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink will visit China from Sunday to Tuesday. He will be joined by National Security Council Senior Director for China and Taiwan Affairs Sarah Beran.

The two will meet with Chinese officials as part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication and to responsibly manage competition, according to the US state department.

Kritenbrink's trip comes days after the first-ever trilateral summit between the US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr in Washington on Thursday US local time.

The three leaders vowed to enhance military ties, and their joint statement termed China's actions to safeguard its sovereignty as "a dangerous and aggressive behavior" in the South China Sea, and as "attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by force or coercion in the East China Sea," according to media reports.

Reiterating the US' "ironclad" defense commitments to the two Asian countries, Biden said any attack on Philippine aircraft, vessels or armed forces in the South China Sea will invoke our Mutual Defense Treaty against the backdrop of escalating China-Philippine row, CNN reported.

Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Sunday that the US, after a series of provocative actions targeting China, aims to observe China's reactions and potential countermeasures. If China responds strongly, the US "may restrain itself" to some extent.

Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that the US is well aware of China's military capabilities in the Western Pacific, and it will not carry out any substantive acts, otherwise it will incur unbearable consequences.

Observers underlined US hypocrisy in its communication with China, particularly on security issues. The US provokes first and when China responds, it makes a "crisis management" gesture as if it were China's fault to have not tolerated those provocations.

The Taiwan question is also on Kritenbrink's agenda. As May 20 approaches when the new regional leader is about to be sworn in, the US does not want "troubles beyond US control" across the Taiwan Straits and seeks to communicate with China in this regard, Li said.

The US is also dreaming of China's assistance and smooth coordination to relieve the US from the pressures of dealing with the lingering Russia-Ukraine crisis and the Middle East conflicts, Li said, but Washington's "ultimate motivation is to better compete with China."

When the US is the actual culprit behind many of the conflicts and crises, its attempts to mediate and de-escalate the situations are very much deceptive gestures, experts said.

Analysts warn that the US should not have any illusions that China could compromise on its core interests and sovereignty.

"China is always open to dialogue with the US on issues of shared concern, but the dialogue should be based on an equal footing and mutual respect, and the promises made between the two sides should be fulfilled," Li said.

US media earlier reported that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is about to visit China, without specifying the dates. It is believed that Kritenbrink's trip also aims to communicate with China on arrangements for Blinken's trip, and pave the way for more constructive talks.

But before Blinken's visit happens, nothing can be ruled out, Li said, citing the postponement of Blinken's visit for months in 2023 due to the balloon incident.

Former chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang party Ma Ying-jeou returned to the island of Taiwan on Thursday after having led a delegation of young people from Taiwan on an 11-day visit to the mainland. Analysts said that while the mainland has shown positive signs to promote the cross-Straits peace and development, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities are purposely misinterpreting the goodwill of the mainland to reject reunification. People in Taiwan should be cautioned against the DPP's such acts, they said.

At theTaoyuan airport in Taipei, Ma told reporters that his visit to the mainland allowed Taiwan's youth to deeply understand Chinese history and culture. He said that although Taiwan and the mainland have different political systems, as well as different perspectives and values, we are all descendants of the Yan and Huang emperors, according to a report from Taiwan's news outlet und.com.

Taiwan's youth should set aside ideological differences and recognize the historical and cultural connections between Taiwan island and the mainland. These connections cannot be severed by politics. Ma said he believes that people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, as Chinese, can resolve disputes peacefully as long as there is a common political foundation - the 1992 Consensus, which allows for continued dialogue between the two sides.

When Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, met with Ma in Beijing on Wednesday, Xi also noted that people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits are all Chinese and the distance of the Straits cannot sever the bond of kinship between the compatriots.

Jack Chang, a young man from Taiwan who now lives in the mainland, said that the mainland's goodwill can be seen and felt throughout Ma's trip. And more young people in the island would be encouraged to come to study or work in the mainland.

"I have confidence in the cross-Straits exchanges," Chang told the Global Times, noting that the DPP's deceitful tactics to manipulate the public and to fool the people are crumbling.

Aside from the DPP-led green camp and "Taiwan independence" separatists, the Taiwan society, in general, took note of the mainland's goodwill and positive attitude overtures to ease cross-Straits tensions and promote exchanges between the two sides during Ma's trip, Wang Wu-lang, secretary-general of the Cross-Straits Peace Forum, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Wang noted that Xi's remarks made when meeting Ma was heartfelt and sincere, highlighting his concern and goodwill toward compatriots in Taiwan. Xi's great cares about the recent earthquake in Hualien also deeply touched the people in Taiwan.

Some analysts said that as the cross-Straits situation continues to escalate due to the DPP's rejecting reunification stance, Ma led a delegation of Taiwan youth to visit the mainland and emphasized the historical and cultural connections between Taiwan and the mainland throughout his trip. This showed that the connection between the mainland and Taiwan cannot severed by the DPP's political "de-Sinicization" moves.

Some of the DPP politicians' rhetoric, responding to Ma's remarks in the mainland, did not represent the concerns of the majority of the people in Taiwan. Wang said that the majority of the people in the island fear that the DPP's "Taiwan independence" separatist stance may lead the island to wars, and what the people desire for is normal exchanges across the Straits as well as peace and stability.

Aside from showing goodwill, the mainland also sent clear message to compatriots in Taiwan, calling on them to jointly safeguard the common homeland of the Chinese nation, to advance toward the historical direction of peaceful reunification and national unity, while opposing the separatist activities of "Taiwan independence" and external interference, said Wang.

Supporters of peace in Taiwan and those advocating for increased cross-Straits exchanges also support Ma's visit to the mainland. They recognize that only through communication can misunderstandings be dispelled and tensions diffused. Those who criticized Ma's trip have their own political calculations, said Shaw Chong-hai, an honorary professor of Macao Polytechnic University, and former dean of the College of Social Sciences of the Chinese Culture University in Taiwan.

Shaw told the Global Times on Thursday that people-to-people exchanges, especially among the youth, has always been important in promoting cross-Straits ties. Shaw also expressed hopes for more young people in Taiwan to pay a visit to the mainland and see the fast and prosperous developments of the mainland cities with their own eyes.

Echoing Shaw's sentiments, Wang also noted that although the DPP authorities remain steadfast in their stance of rejecting reunification, efforts demonstrated by Ma's trip to accumulate positive momentum to promote peaceful development of cross-Straits relations are strong and well defended.

China's health authority issued a guidance on preventing pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough or 100-day cough, on Tuesday, while the disease has reportedly been surging in many countries and regions across the world.  

Pertussis is an acute respiratory infectious disease caused by Bordetella pertussis. It is highly infectious, mainly spread through respiratory droplets, while recovery tends to take a long while. It is one of the most common childhood diseases and also one of the major causes of infant and young child mortality worldwide, according to a post released by the Chinese National Disease Control and Prevention Administration on its social media account. 

Vaccination is the most economical and effective way to prevent pertussis, and is important in reducing the severity and mortality after pertussis infection, the post noted, citing Zheng Hui, an expert from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China's CDC).  

Zheng urged Chinese parents to get their children vaccinated against pertussis as soon as possible. "The protective antibodies obtained through natural recovery or vaccine immunity against pertussis cannot last a lifetime. With time, the protective effect of antibodies will decrease, so pertussis can occur in people of all ages, with infants and young children at higher risk. The younger the child, the higher the risk of complications and severe illness," he explained.

China included the vaccine protecting against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTP3) into the national immunization program in 1978. 

Since then the reported incidence rate of pertussis had decreased by about 900 times by 2013, according to the Science and Technology Daily. 

However, the incidence rate has been on the rise since 2014. This year, the trend of sharp increase is even more pronounced with the total number of pertussis cases in January and February reaching 32,380, nearly 23 times higher than the same period in 2023 and close to the total number of cases for the entire previous year. There were also 13 deaths from the disease reported in the two months, according to data released by China's CDC.

Besides China, spiking pertussis cases have also observed in many other countries and regions across the world.

According to a report from the South China Morning Post on Tuesday, the number of whooping cough cases recorded in the first three months of 2024 in the Philippines was 30 times that of the same period in 2023, when the health department tallied just 28 infections. The climbing infections have led to at least 49 deaths among young children in the Philippines this year. 

Pertussis has also been spreading across Europe in recent months, according to Politico. In 2023, a total of 853 cases were recorded in England. In February of this year alone, there were 913 cases, Politico said citing the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). The figures reportedly constitute the biggest outbreak of whooping cough in England in at least 10 years.

The current European hotspot is Croatia, which reported 6,261 cases in the first two and a half months of this year, according to Politico. 

In 2022, there were more than 62,500 cases of pertussis globally and nearly 39,000 cases were reported in the Western Pacific Region, according to the World Health Organization.

The reasons for the increasing incidence of pertussis include weakening of vaccine immunity over time, according to Chinese experts. They called for improvement of pertussis monitoring systems, promotion of pertussis vaccine research and development and optimization of immunization strategies.

The DTP vaccine includes whole-cell and acellular vaccines, which have undergone three generations of processes. The earliest whole-cell process used inactivated bacteria, which had good efficacy but caused strong reactions after vaccination. Starting in 2007, China gradually implemented the strategy of replacing whole-cell DTP vaccines with acellular DTP combination vaccines, completing the full replacement by 2012, Tao Lina, an expert on Chinese vaccine industry, told the Global Times on Tuesday. 

Currently, the acellular DTP vaccine widely used in China is a co-purified process vaccine, which belongs to the second generation of pertussis vaccines. However, the effective antigen components cannot be accurately quantified, and production and quality control faces challenges. In contrast, the DTP vaccines applied in developed countries are all third-generation component pertussis vaccines, with higher technical requirements and vaccine costs. The main manufacturers are Sanofi Pasteur and GlaxoSmithKline, according to Tao.

As to the optimization of the country's immunization strategy, Tao said that one adjustment that can be made is to advance the first dose from 3 months to 2 months of age.

Several Chinese vaccine companies have been reportedly investing in developing third-generation DTP vaccines, including Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products, Hualan Vaccine Inc and CanSino Biotech.

According to an announcement released by CanSino on August 14, 2023, their acellular DTP vaccine for infants and young children has started Phase III clinical trials and completed the enrollment of the first subject. In addition, the company is also developing a vaccine for adolescents and adults, which was officially approved for clinical trials in June 2023.

Hualan Vaccine's 2023 annual report also revealed that their acellular DTP vaccine has entered clinical trials, with Phase III clinical trials expected to begin in 2024.

During the Qingming Festival, a total of 5.189 million passenger trips were recorded across Chinese border ports, an increase of 69.6 percent year-on-year. Among them, foreigners made 500,000 passenger trips, marking a significant increase of 163.2 percent compared to last year amid a series of measures to facilitate entry of foreign nationals.

According to China's National Immigration Administration (NIA) on Sunday, during the Qingming Festival holidays, a total of 5.189 million passenger trips were recorded across Chinese border ports, at an average of 1.73 million trips per day.

Among them, residents from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan made 2.267 million passenger trips, an increase of 35.9 percent compared to the same period last year.

According to the NIA, in response to the influx of Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan residents returning hometown to honor their ancestors, special inspection channels were established to facilitate their entry and exit during the holidays.

According to China Central Television (CCTV), during the Qingming Festival holidays, multiple entry and exit ports in Hong Kong experienced a peak in the number of people passing through, with many Hong Kong residents choosing to travel to mainland.

From March 28 to April 4, there have been over 7.8 million entries and exits in Hong Kong, with an average of approximately 980,000 entries and exits per day, a 46 percent increase compared to the same period last year. On the day of the Qingming Festival, which falls on April 4 this year, over 1.01 million passenger trips were recorded through Hong Kong, an increase of about 52 percent compared to last year, with around 70 percent being Hong Kong residents, according to CCTV.

High cost-effectiveness and diverse choices are important reasons why many Hong Kong residents choose to travel north during the holidays, while continuous innovation in customs policies and increasingly improved transportation infrastructure also provide more conveniences for traveling to mainland.

Some Hong Kong residents said that they have been frequently traveling to mainland for shopping during the holidays, finding cities such as Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province better value for money and offering excellent service, with smooth customs clearance and convenient entry and exit procedures. Hong Kong residents are full of confidence in the development of the Greater Bay Area, they said.

The NIA revealed that mainland residents made a total of 2.422 million passenger trips through Chinese border ports, marking an increase of 101.7 percent compared to the previous year. Additionally, 500,000 foreigners passed through the country's border, reflecting a 163.2 percent increase over the same period last year.

The remarkable growth in the number of foreigners arriving in China after a series of measures facilitating entries of foreign nationals were conducted. On March 1, the People's Bank of China (PBC) announced measures to guide Chinese payment platforms to increase the single transaction limit for foreign nationals using mobile payment services from $1,000 to $5,000 and the annual transaction limit from $10,000 to $50,000, as part of efforts to enhance payment convenience.

China's leading payment platforms Alipay and Weixin Pay have also introduced a series of measures to improve payment services for foreign nationals. Major Chinese cities like Beijing and Shanghai have stepped up efforts to improve means of payment for foreign travelers, a move to promote inbound tourism and high-level opening-up.

In January, the NIA announced that foreign nationals can enjoy 24-hour direct transit without undergoing border check procedures at nine major airports in cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Xiamen, and Guangzhou, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Additionally, multiple-entry visas are available for foreigners, while the application requirements for visa documents have been streamlined for foreigners visiting the country, according to the NIA.

The Chinese meteorological authority issued an orange alert for severe convective weather on Tuesday, marking the first such alert since 2013. It stated that many regions in the country are expected to experience thunderstorms, strong winds, hail, or heavy rainfall from Tuesday to Wednesday, with wind speeds potentially reaching level 12 in some areas.

According to China's National Meteorological Center (NMC), the orange alert for severe convective weather was issued at 6 pm on Tuesday. This marks the first orange alert for severe convective weather since 2013 and the first time that the highest level of warning for this type of weather condition has been issued since the establishment of meteorological disaster warning standards by the NMC.

The meteorological authority said that from Tuesday evening to Wednesday evening, some areas in provinces and regions including Anhui, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Hubei, Hunan and Jiangxi will experience thunderstorms or hail with wind speeds exceeding level 10. In some areas, wind speeds may reach 12 or above, with hailstones exceeding 20 millimeters in diameter.

Additionally, some areas in Jiangsu, Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guizhou and Guangxi are expected to experience short-term heavy rainfall, with hourly rainfall amounts ranging from 30 to 50 millimeters, and locally exceeding 70 millimeters.

The NMC reminded the public to limit outdoor activities during windy weather. It is advised to steer clear of narrow and lengthy pathways surrounded by tall buildings if one must go out, as the wind intensity tends to escalate in such areas, posing a risk to pedestrians.

People should also stay away from loosely installed billboards, withered street trees, and residential buildings cluttered with debris to prevent accidents caused by falling objects from heights, the NMC said. Besides, people should wear masks, scarves, and other dust-proof items to prevent damage to the eyes and respiratory system from sand and dust stirred up by strong winds.

Starting from Saturday, thunderstorms, strong winds, or hail have been reported in various areas in the southern part of China, with extreme severe convective weather occurring in Nanchang, East China's Jiangxi Province, amid record-breaking wind levels.

The meteorological observatory in Nanchang on Tuesday afternoon issued a red alert for hailstone, saying that some areas of the city are expected to experience severe hail weather, while thunderstorms, strong winds, and heavy rain warnings are also in effect simultaneously. The meteorological authority called on the public to suspend all outdoor activities.

Due to the severe hailstorms and strong convective weather on Tuesday, a house collapsed in Honggutan district in Nanchang, trapping people inside. After receiving the report, the local fire department dispatched seven rescue vehicles and 50 rescue personnel to the scene. As of now, all trapped individuals have been rescued, and a total of 11 people were injured, who have been sent to the hospital for treatment.

According to the NMC, as extreme strong convective weather occurred in Nanchang on Sunday, 13 local meteorological observation stations registered record wind breakthroughs and lightning 2,783 times. More than half of the city's meteorological stations observed winds exceeding level eight. Four people in Nanchang died and more than 10 were injured on Sunday due to the extreme strong convective weather, according to media reports.

The meteorological bureau in Jiangxi Province on Tuesday initiated a level IV emergency response to cope with the expected strong winds and hail, as some areas will experience heavy rain and thunderstorms with wind speeds of around level 10.

Meteorological experts noted that the recent high temperatures and active warm and humid air currents in the southern region have accumulated enough energy. When they meet cold air from the north, it can easily lead to the development of strong convective weather.

According to Weather China website, severe convective weather is the most difficult type of weather to forecast, as it comes quickly and is extremely destructive. In May 2020, East China's Shandong Province suffered three rounds of wind and hail disasters, affecting 13 cities and 867,000 people. Nearly 100,000 hectares of wheat and fruit crops such as apples and cherries in the fruiting period were also affected, resulting in direct economic losses of 3.9 billion yuan ($0.54 billion).

As the Qingming Festival approaches, the national meteorological authorities said on Tuesday that most of the northern regions are expected to have sunny weather during the holidays, while the southern regions will still see heavy rainfall, with some areas also experiencing short periods of heavy precipitation, thunderstorms, strong winds, hail and other severe convective weather. Attention should be paid to preventing secondary disasters that may be caused by continuous rainfall, according to media reports.

China's latest population growth has become clear after local regions released their population data, with South China's Guangdong remaining the leading province in terms of growth for six consecutive years.

At the end of 2023, the permanent population of Guangdong was 127.06 million, an increase of 490,000 from the end of the previous year and the annual number of births was 1.03 million, with a birth rate of 8.12 per mille, according to the recent-released statistical bulletin on Guangdong's economic and social development in 2023. 

Starting from 2019, Guangdong has been the only province to see annual births surpass 1 million for four consecutive years, while it has remained the leading province in terms of birth rate for six consecutive years. 

Data also shows that the province's permanent urban population was 95.83 million, accounting for 75.42 percent of the permanent population (urbanization rate), an increase of 0.63 percentage points from the previous year. The number of deaths was 680,000, with a death rate of 5.36 per mille; the natural population growth was 350,000, with a natural growth rate of 2.76 per mille.

Niu Fengrui, a researcher from Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday that it is an inevitable trend for the population to spontaneously migrate to areas with fast economic growth, more employment opportunities, high income levels and vitality.

Driven by the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and the economic development of the Yangtze River Delta, Guangdong succeeds in being a pioneer for vitality, Niu noted. 

East China's Shandong, the second most populous province, saw its permanent population decline by nearly 400,000 in 2023, with the decline being more pronounced among provinces that have published data. Besides Shangdong, Southwest China's Chongqing and Sichuan, which have shown impressive economic growth rates in recent years, have seen a shift from positive to negative population growth. In 2023, the resident population of Chongqing and Sichuan decreased by 219,100 and 60,000, respectively.

The data for the traditionally populous provinces in the central part of China - Henan, Hunan, Anhui, Hubei, Jiangxi and Shanxi - show negative growths for all six's resident population in 2023, with decreases of 570,000 people, 360,000 people, 60,000 people, 60,000 people, 129,700 people and 153,600 people, respectively. 

Yuan Xin, a deputy head of the Population Association of China and demographer from Nankai University in Tianjin Municipality, said these provinces are traditionally labor export provinces. After the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, labor exports saw an obvious rise. 

The provinces with positive population growth, including Zhejiang, Hainan and Jiangsu, continued to expand, while Guizhou was the only province in the central and western regions to maintain positive growth. 

At the end of 2023, Zhejiang's permanent population was 66.27 million, an increase of 500,000 compared with 65.77 million at the end of 2022. This increase ranks first in the country.

Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin reversed the trend toward population loss in 2023, with permanent resident growth rates going from negative to positive.

Despite both implementing relevant population control measures, Beijing and Shanghai are among the metropolises in China that still possess a natural attraction for the labor forces. With the gradual normalization of pandemic prevention and control, population mobility is returning to a market-based trend, leading to a large influx of labor forces back into Beijing and Shanghai, Niu noted. 

Additionally, against the backdrop of the competition for high-end talents between Beijing and Shanghai, high-end talents have the conditions and willingness to carry their families with them when relocating, which stimulated the population growth in both cities.

Niu said that in the coming period of time, the proportion of urban population will continue to increase, just like the proportion of population in regional centers, while the population of other non-regional centers may decline.