Haikou in South China's Hainan Province plans to invite one overseas artist to perform in the city every month, a local official confirmed with the Global Times on Monday, adding that US rappers Cardi B and Travis Scott are the most likely candidates.

The cooperation project may be finalized in the near future, Ma Haotian, section chief of Haikou's Bureau of Tourism, Culture, Radio, Television, and Sports, told the Global Times. Previously, Wang Ke, director of the bureau, announced at a public meeting on Friday that rap stars, including Cardi B and Travis Scott, have been invited to perform in Haikou.

Wang further noted that this year, the bureau will intensify efforts to integrate culture and tourism with performing arts, sports, and exhibitions. Haikou will continue to attract concerts and music festivals featuring domestic and international stars such as the Chinese singer Dao Lang, Travis Scott, and Cardi B, as well as international sporting events, including beach sports, water sports, and the World Table Tennis Finals, official Hainan media outlet hinews.cn reported.

According to the Hainan Daily, Haikou has gained significant recognition with its strategy combining tourism with performing arts in recent years.

With the advantage of the free trade port, Haikou anchors the goal of a special performing arts capital, choosing to introduce international artists, international performing arts festivals, and exhibitions of differentiated development routes, according to the Hainan government.

Also, Haikou is located in the central region of Asia, with only one to two hours of flight to many countries in the region, benefiting from its advantageous geographical position, Wang said.

Highlighting Haikou's exceptional strengths in location and infrastructure, Wang noted that the city is well-positioned as a prime destination for large-scale performances.

When it comes to performance infrastructure, Haikou boasts two state-of-the-art venues capable of hosting large-scale performances and sporting events, with Wuyuan River Stadium able to accommodate up to 45,000 spectators.

According to the Hainan Daily, in the second half of 2024, renowned international artists and groups, including Kanye West, Charlie Puth, and the Philadelphia Orchestra, performed in Haikou.

On September 2024, Grammy Award-winning rapper Kanye West performed a sold-out show for his album series "Vultures" in Haikou. 

A spokesperson for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office on Wednesday thanked organizations, individuals, and enterprises in the Taiwan region for their donations and support following the 6.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Dingri county, Xigaze, Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region on January 7. 

In response to media inquiry on the assistance and compassion shown by the Taiwan society after the quake in Xizang, Chen Binhua, a spokesperson of the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office told media at a Wednesday briefing that various sectors and individuals in Taiwan have expressed their concern and condolences as well as offered support to the affected areas through various means. 

As of January 10, the Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises on the Mainland, along with Foxconn, Want Want China, Ting Hsin International Group, Uni-President, and other Taiwan enterprises had collectively donated over 32 million yuan（$4.36 million）,said Chen, noting that relevant groups, organizations, entertainers, and actors from the Taiwan region have also contributed by donating money and goods to the disaster-hit areas.

This once again demonstrates the deep bond and shared sentiment between compatriots across the Taiwan Straits, Chen said. 

We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to the relevant organizations and individuals in Taiwan, as well as to many Taiwan businesspeople and enterprises, for their care and assistance, Chen said.

A number of foreign hacker organizations have been utilizing malicious websites and overseas IP addresses to execute cyberattacks targeting China and other nations, according to China's national cybersecurity and information security information center on Monday. 

These malicious websites and IPs are linked to specific Trojan programs or their control endpoints. 

The types of cyberattacks include establishing botnets, phishing, stealing trade secrets and intellectual property, and infringing on citizens' personal information, presenting a serious risk to domestic networks and internet users in China. 

Some of these activities are suspected to constitute criminal offenses, the center said.

The locations of the relevant malicious websites and IPs mainly involve the US, the Netherlands, Singapore, Turkey, Mexico, Vietnam, and others, according to the center.

Of the listed malicious websites and IP addresses, two were traced to the US.

The center recommended maintaining heightened vigilance toward all documents and links received through social media platforms or email channels, with a particular focus on situations where the source is unknown or untrustworthy. Avoid trusting or opening such files without verification.

Timely updates to threat intelligence products or network security devices are essential to block access to the identified malicious websites and IP addresses, and also promptly report to relevant authorities and cooperate in conducting on-site investigations and technical tracing, the center said.

President Xi Jinping has ordered all-out rescue efforts to save lives and minimize casualties following a 6.8-magnitude earthquake that took a heavy toll after jolting a county in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region Tuesday morning.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made an important instruction, demanding utmost efforts to carry out search and rescue and provide medical treatment for the injured.

He also urged efforts to prevent secondary disasters, properly resettle affected residents, and handle the aftermath effectively.

It is essential to strengthen earthquake monitoring and early warning, promptly allocate disaster relief supplies, expedite the repair of damaged infrastructure, ensure the basic needs of residents are met, and guarantee a safe and warm winter for all, Xi said.

In a Tuesday instruction, Premier Li Qiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, urged efforts to swiftly check the disaster situation and the extent of casualties, organize all-out search and rescue operations and minimize casualties.

He said as the quake-stricken area is located in a cold plateau region, every possible means must be employed to ensure the basic livelihood of the affected people and help them stay warm during the winter.

Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, led a team to the quake site to guide the rescue and relief efforts.

The Party secretary of Rongchang district, Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, Gao Hongbo, urged officials to lead, drive, and guide local consumption, hoping that every official will buy new clothes to embrace the upcoming Spring Festival and dine out with their families every weekend, The Paper reported on Wednesday.

Gao's remarks were made at the economic work conference held locally on Monday.

In the meeting, Gao said that it is necessary to stimulate consumption across various sectors and vigorously implement the "three major consumption initiatives," which refers to promoting consumption through policies, activities and new media platforms, The Paper said.

In detail, officials should focus on stabilizing bulk consumption through policy guidance, attract external consumption through cultural and sports activities, and stimulate local consumption through new media platforms, said Gao.

Gao also urged officials to actively participate in consumption by dining out and purchasing new clothes. "The average meal cost per person in the area is between 60 and 100 yuan (around $8 and $13). If 10,000 people spend that, it amounts to 1 million yuan in a week, which can support local small businesses," Gao said, according to the report.

Additionally, Gao also called on social organizations and private enterprises to provide employees with extra wages and bonuses before the Spring Festival, recognizing employees' hard work and diligence, if the employers can afford, as reported by The Paper.

China on Wednesday announced interim measures for the implementation of a flexible retirement system to enforce the previously adopted policy of incrementally raising the statutory retirement age, the Xinhua News Agency reported. The measures stipulated the procedures for applying for flexible retirement and the requirements for receiving basic pensions, among other details.

The measures were released to implement the decision on gradually raising the statutory retirement age adopted in September by Chinese lawmakers, according to a notice published by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee and the Ministry of Finance.

The decision, marking the first adjustment in the arrangement since the 1950s, said that starting from January 1, 2025, the statutory retirement age for men will be gradually raised from 60 to 63 in the course of 15 years, while that for women cadres will be raised from 55 to 58, and that for women blue-collar workers will be raised from 50 to 55, according to Xinhua.

"The retirement policy has been in place for a long time. After about 70 years, the population, economy and social situations in China have undergone earth-shaking changes. Therefore, the previous statutory retirement age is inconsistent with the current national conditions and future economic and social development," Yuan Xin, a vice president of the China Population Association and a professor at Nankai University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

In the next five to 10 years, China will rapidly enter a severely aging society, and the retirement reform will have positive significance for easing the burden of elderly care, improving the efficiency of human resources use and reducing the burden of the entire social and economic operation, Li Changan, a professor at the Academy of China Open Economy Studies at the University of International Business and Economics, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

The implementation of the flexible retirement system is an important part of the gradual delay of the statutory retirement age reform in China, which is conducive to adapting to the diversified needs of workers and meeting the needs of different working and living arrangements, persons in charge from the three departments said in a statement published on Wednesday.

"The interim measures clarified the flexible retirement procedures, rights and interests protection and other contents, and put forward requirements for optimizing social security handling services," read the statement.

Back in July, the resolution adopted at the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee revealed that in line with the principle of voluntary participation with appropriate flexibility, China will advance reform to gradually raise the statutory retirement age in a prudent and orderly manner.

Adhering to such a principle, employees can choose to retire early or late in a flexible way on the basis of the statutory retirement age specified in the decision, said the statement.

"A gradual extension of the statutory retirement age means that the scale of the labor force released in the short term is limited and the impact on the job market is small," Yuan said.

In terms of the influence on the labor market, Li noted that the total number of people implementing delayed retirement is relatively small compared with China's huge workforce of more than 740 million. "The difference between the jobs of the young and the old is obvious, which means the extension of the statutory retirement age will have very limited impact on young people," Li said.

"Extending the statutory retirement age is common in most countries, and many developed countries have raised it to over 65," Li said.

Yuan echoed Li by saying that extending retirement age is a common practice in the international community to deal with aging problem. 

"Most developed countries are still pursuing further reforms on retirement extension. The basic principles to be followed include gradualism, combination with life span, setting transition period, flexibility and voluntariness, incentive mechanism and gender parity, which are worth learning," said Yuan.

Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Dai Bing paid a visit to South Korea's Deputy Foreign Minister Chung Byung-won on Friday. The two sides had an in-depth exchange of views on China-South Korea relations and other issues of mutual concern, according to a release from the Chinese Embassy in South Korea.

They agreed on strengthening communication, enhancing understanding, and promoting cooperation to jointly advance the healthy, stable, and positive development of China-South Korea strategic cooperative partnership, according to the release. 

Dai was China's former deputy permanent representative to the United Nations (UN). He arrived in Seoul on December 27, 2024 to assume his new post as Chinese ambassador to South Korea, according to the embassy. 

China's National Disease Control and Prevention Administration on Friday said it is conducting a pilot program to actively monitor cases of pneumonia of unknown causes, with plans for gradual nationwide implementation following necessary refinements.

Lei Zhenglong, head of the administration's prevention department, announced at a Friday press conference, where he summarized progress in building an intelligent, multi-point trigger system for monitoring and providing early warnings of infectious diseases.

In response to newly emerging infectious diseases, a reporting directory for pathogenic microorganisms is being developed, which will clarify laboratory reporting procedures and processes for verification and handling by disease control agencies, Lei said. 

This laboratory network includes not only the laboratories of disease control agencies but also those of medical and health institutions, third-party testing agencies, universities and research institutes, as well as laboratories from other relevant departments, the official said. 

In addition, the disease monitoring channels have been expanded. 

The administration has optimized the network reporting system for infectious diseases to monitor acute respiratory infectious diseases, including COVID-19 and influenza, at 1,041 sentinel hospitals across all cities and representative counties, according to Lei. 

Additionally, some of these sentinel hospitals have been selected to monitor various common respiratory pathogens. The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention releases multi-pathogen monitoring results to the public on a weekly basis and provides health advisories. 

Lei also said that through various monitoring channels, including vector-borne diseases, urban sewage, global infectious disease information, and public sentiment, China has enhanced the sensitivity and accuracy of its infectious disease monitoring systems.

Lei also said China has established regional infectious disease monitoring, early warning, and emergency command information platforms, which have been initially established in some regions such as Beijing and East China's Zhejiang Province.

To ensure effective data integration related to infectious diseases between medical institutions and disease control agencies, the national intelligent monitoring and early warning software for infectious diseases has been deployed in public medical institutions at the secondary level and above across the country. As of now, the integration deployment rate has reached 71 percent. 

Additionally, new technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence have been utilized to enhance the automatic analysis and early warning capabilities of infectious disease data, according to Lei.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will deliver a New Year's message to ring in 2025 at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed on Friday the long-term adherence to "one country, two systems" as Macao celebrates a quarter-century of transformative success since its return to the motherland.

At a televised ceremony held in a major sports stadium in Macao, Xi swore in Sam Hou Fai, a 62-year-old former senior judge, as the sixth-term chief executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR). Sam's team of principal officials for the SAR government was also sworn in before Xi.

After the inauguration, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, addressed an audience of over 1,000 people in the stadium.

Xi stated that great achievements of Macao since its return have proven to the world that "one country, two systems" has prominent institutional strengths and tremendous vitality.

Macao and its neighbor Hong Kong are China's two SARs governed under the "one country, two systems" policy since China resumed the exercise of sovereignty over them following long periods of Portuguese and British rule. The policy allows them to maintain their capitalist systems and ways of life within socialist China.

Xi said "one country, two systems" is a good policy that helps maintain long-term prosperity and stability in Hong Kong and Macao, a good policy that serves the noble cause of building a stronger country and achieving national rejuvenation, and a good policy that helps realize peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation between different social systems.

The values of peace, inclusiveness, openness and sharing that are embodied in the policy are shared by China and the rest of the world, and deserve to be jointly safeguarded, he added.

Delivering a brief speech at the airport after arriving in the city Wednesday, Xi called Macao "a pearl on the palm" of the motherland.

Xi on Thursday visited the Macau University of Science and Technology. He also inspected the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, praising it for bolstering Macao's economic diversification.