The 2023 Basketball Game for Foreigners commenced recently in Beijing. The game was co-organized by the Foreign Affairs Office of the People's Government of Beijing Municipality and the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports. 

Nearly 30 expatriates from 17 countries such as Japan, United States, Brazil, South Korea, Zambia, and other countries participated in the match.

The Mongolian Embassy in China, five universities including the University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB), and the Beijing-Japanese Club Basketball Association (Beijing 56°ers) formed eight teams to participate in the competition.

The event has been held for six consecutive years, with a high reputation among embassies and expatriates, and has so far seen more than 60 teams with about 1,400 expatriates in Beijing participate in the tournament, to an audience of 20,000 local and international spectators. 

This is the first time that this year's basketball tournament has been included in a Beijing-level social basketball activity, the Beijing Second Community Cup Basketball League Three-Person Basketball Tournament.

Zolboo Enkbold from the Mongolian Embassy in China expressed his excitement at participating in matches with all the teams, and commended the activity for being carefully organized with a warm atmosphere geared toward the enrichment of the cultural and sports lives of expatriates in Beijing.

Alexandre, a Mozambican student from the USTB, said it was his first time to participate in a three-player basketball tournament in Beijing, for which he was very happy, and he hoped to continue to actively participate in similar activities in the future.

Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, on Wednesday criticized the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities in Taiwan for jeopardizing the island's chip industry by catering to external forces. It comes amid growing concerns on the island about the future of the critical industry.

At a press briefing, Chen was asked to comment on a recent article about how the US' so-called CHIPS Act could hurt Taiwan's chip industry.

Chen pointed out that the article reflects serious concerns about the DPP authorities catering to external forces without any principle or bottom line, as well as concerns that Taiwan's key industries are being hollowed out, that core enterprises have been suppressed, and competitive advantages have been weakened.

"If Taiwan's economic autonomy in industrial development and its sway in the global production and supply chain are lost, how much 'family fortune' will it still have? In the end, it will only become an 'abandoned piece' instead of a 'chess piece,'" Chen said. "So the views of these industry experts are by no means alarmist."

The article was published jointly on February 26 by three leading figures in Taiwan's chip industry, cautioning that the US "CHIPS Act" could undermine Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) and strangle the island's semiconductor industry.

In the article, "How America's CHIPS Act hurts Taiwan," Burn Lin, former R&D vice president of TSMC, pointed out that "the US CHIPS Act is so poorly designed that it is likely to undercut Taiwan's TSMC, the world's leading semiconductor manufacturer, and leave the entire industry even more vulnerable than it already is."

The article, which was published by Project Syndicate, was also signed by many other experts from Taiwan and has sparked heated discussion in political and business circles in the island, with some pointing out that the DPP authorities are using semiconductor manufacturers like TSMC as a bargaining chip by forcing them to build factories abroad in order to attract external forces to "support Taiwan."

The so-called CHIPS and Science Act, which was approved by the administration of President Joe Biden on August 9, 2022, plans to hand out $52 billion in subsidies to lure semiconductor manufacturers to relocate to the US, with the aim of maintaining and advancing its scientific and technological edge.

Taiwan's semiconductor industry has become a key target for US officials and TSMC has been effectively coerced to step up building plants in the US.

Chinese officials have repeatedly slammed the protectionist US moves and crackdown measures in the chip industry, saying that US export controls and suppression of Chinese semiconductor companies are acts of economic bullying.

China's A-share market has seen a sustained rebound recently, with multiple overseas financial institutions voicing intentions to boost their holdings. Analysts suggest that the influx of foreign capital serves as a barometer, and they believe that concerted measures will keep driving economic growth and market recovery in 2024.

"Global funds are returning to China stocks," Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing Morgan Stanley analysts.

Outflows from Chinese equities slowed into the end of February and regional active managers started adding growth and technology stocks, analysts said.

China's stock market is now highly attractive from a valuation standpoint, making A-shares particularly appealing, Zhu Liang, investment director of AllianceBernstein Fund Management Co, said in a note introducing the company's investment outlook in 2024.

China's listed companies are expected to maintain profit growth in 2024. It is estimated that the earnings per share of A-shares will increase about 17 percent this year. If valuation multiples remain unchanged, the profit growth suggests that the Chinese stock market should perform quite well, Zhu said.

Kinger Lau, chief China equity strategist at Goldman Sachs, and his team maintain a cautiously optimistic outlook on the Chinese stock market, anticipating that economic improvements will drive a rebound in corporate profits. Given that A-share valuations are currently at historic lows, the team maintains its "overweight" stance on A-shares, according to the company's 2024 investment outlook released via its official WeChat account in December 2023.

Goldman Sachs expects 10 percent profit growth for shares in the MSCI China Index and 11 percent profit growth for companies in the onshore CSI 300 Index in 2024.

Capital from the Middle East has continued to bet on Chinese assets, with investments spanning multiple popular sectors including new-energy vehicles, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, steel and more.

China-based E Fund Management and leading Saudi Arabian asset manager Riyad Capital have recently signed an agreement to exchange expertise and cooperate in local investment areas.

Analysts had previously expected that capital from the Middle East would increase its investment in the Chinese capital market, which could potentially bring an annual inflow of funds of about 20 billion yuan ($2.78 billion) to A-shares in the Chinese mainland and H-shares in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, according to financial publication stcn.com.

After hitting a low point of 2,635 on February 5, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rebounded and gained for eight straight days. It has remained above 3,000 points in recent trading sessions.

In February, A-shares reversed the trend of continuous net outflows of foreign capital seen in the previous six months. Northbound capital - overseas money flowing into China's A-share market via the Hong Kong stock exchange - increased holdings in the A-share market by a substantial 60.74 billion yuan, reaching a 13-month high.

The net buying volume of northbound capital in A-shares for the month already surpassed the total for the entire year of 2023, financial data provider Wind showed.

"The downturn in the A-share market last year deviated from China's normal economic fundamentals and the previous continuous net outflow of northbound capital was abnormal," Hu Qimu, a deputy secretary-general of the digital-real economies integration Forum 50, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Some foreign funds that engaged in malicious short-selling underestimated not only China's resolve to stabilize its capital market but also the resilience of its economy, Hu noted.

The underlying stability of the capital market should be enhanced, according to the Government Work Report submitted to the second session of the 14th National People's Congress on Tuesday.

This sets a clear direction for the reform and development of the capital market this year, addressing the concerns of all market participants, including investors, about the current state of the capital market, experts said.

Moreover, the People's Bank of China (PBC), the country's central bank, will continue to strengthen the connectivity between domestic and foreign financial markets, attracting more overseas investors to the country's markets, PBC Governor Pan Gongsheng said at a press conference on Wednesday.

As of the end of January, foreign investors had been net purchasers of Chinese bonds for 12 consecutive months, with cumulative net purchases of 1.8 trillion yuan, Pan said.

Looking at the global landscape, the US Federal Reserve is expected to start a rate-cutting cycle by the second half of this year, which is likely to provide support for the yuan's performance this year. It is estimated that foreign capital inflows into A-shares for 2024 could range from 100 billion to 200 billion yuan, Yang Delong, chief economist at Shenzhen-based First Seafront Fund Management Co, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

China's Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has vowed to strengthen international connectivity and global reach of its major airports, aiming to build world-class aviation enterprises and air hubs by 2050. 

CAAC will boost intercontinental connectivity and global influence of the airports in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, upgrading them into world-class aviation hubs, Han Jun, deputy administrator of CAAC, said on Wednesday. 

It is part of the administration's latest efforts to enhance transit efficiency, and streamline entry and exit process.

The CAAC will focus on elevating the capacities of major hubs in China, building international and regional hub airports in cities across China, and advancing development of air cargo hubs such as the Ezhou Huahu Airport in Ezhou, central China's Hubei Province.

The administration also plans to optimize resource allocation for airlines. CAAC also stressed the importance of improving operation efficiency of Chinese airports, airlines, and air traffic control, and aim to boost the overall transport capacity of aviation hubs with integrated transportation system.

Efforts will also be made to create a more convenient policy environment, by optimizing visa and immigration policies, as well as easing customs clearance.

Two C919 and three ARJ 21 jets, which were developed by Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC), debuted at the Singapore Airshow on Tuesday, using various formats and performances, COMAC said in a statement sent to the Global Times. 

On the sidelines of the Singapore Airshow, China's Tibet Airlines and COMAC signed a contract for 40 high-altitude C919 planes and 10 ARJ 21 orders. Henan Civil Aviation Development & Investment Group ordered six ARJ 21 planes including fire-fighting aircraft, medical use aircraft and emergency rescue aircraft, COMAC said in a separate statement sent to the Global Times.

International debut of China's home-developed planes, together with recent achievements in the high-end manufacturing sector, underscores the country's continuous efforts and determination in bolstering its high-tech development, which will significantly propel China's economic progress in 2024, observers said. 

The large-scale participation showcased China's strong confidence in its commercial aircraft. China is able to manufacture and start the market operation of domestic commercial aircraft, Wang Yanan, chief editor of Beijing-based Aerospace Knowledge magazine, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

The achievement is also a major progress in the international sense, since only a few countries can manufacture commercial aircraft, Wang said. 

Wang noted that the Singapore Airshow is an opportunity to demonstrate China's manufacturing strength in high-tech products, while China's participation also showcased the country's strong willingness to explore the international market.
The Singapore Airshow, which kicked off on Tuesday and lasts until Sunday, is the largest aviation event in Asia. 

The C919 large passenger jet, which can seat up to 192 passengers and fly up to 5,555 kilometers, is equipped with advanced aerodynamic design, propulsion systems and materials, leading to lower carbon emissions and higher fuel efficiency. 

A total of four C919 jets have been delivered and safely carried more than 110,000 passengers since the plane made its maiden commercial flight on May 28, 2023. Mass production and the development of the series are both going smoothly, per the COMAC statement.

This year will be a key period to speed up mass production and deliveries of the C919, and for COMAC to integrate the industry, supply and innovation chains for the airliner while expanding in the overseas market, Qi Qi, an independent market watcher, told the Global Times.

The ARJ21 has a passenger capacity of up to 97 and a maximum flight span of 3,700 kilometers. It has good takeoff and landing performances with crosswind resistance ability at high elevations and in high temperatures. 

Since the ARJ 21 was put into commercial operation in June 2016, a total of 127 jets have been delivered, and they have safely carried more than 11 million passengers. Among them, two planes are operated by Indonesia's TransNusa Airlines on four routes based in Jakarta to five cities, and they have transported more than 100,000 passengers, according to COMAC. 

In December 2023, the C919 and the ARJ21 made their first appearance in the Hong Kong Administrative Region, marking the first time for the C919 to leave the Chinese mainland.

China has achieved fruitful results in the high-end manufacturing sector amid its rapid development and upgrading, and the continuing momentum will help the nation retain its leading position in the global competition, Pan Helin, a professor at Zhejiang University's International Business School, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

The development of the high-end manufacturing sector will play a vital role for advancing China's economy this year, as it is a major representation of the new productive forces, Pan said. He added that the sector's development will also drive the development of related industry chains and create industrial agglomeration effects. 

China's first domestically produced large cruise ship, Adora Magic City, carried around 8,000 passengers in two separate voyages during the just-passed Spring Festival holidays, which is another vivid example of the country's manufacturing prowess. 

China has demonstrated its "strong momentum and broad prospects" in the development of new productive forces, the backbone of which are strategic emerging industries and industries of the future, Cai Wei, chief strategy officer of KPMG China Advisory, told the Xinhua News Agency in a recent interview. 

The share of strategic emerging industries, such as new energy, high-end equipment and biotechnology, in China's GDP surpassed 13 percent in 2022 from 7.6 percent in 2014, according to Cai. China plans to raise the level to 17 percent by 2025, per the Xinhua report.

The government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Wednesday clarified video clip about investment plan put forward by the HKSAR Chief Executive was done by artificial intelligence (AI), and called on the public to be aware of the scam content. 

The HKSAR government said the so-called remarks by the Chief Executive in the scam video were fictitious, and condemned those who have attempted deception under the name of the Chief Executive.

The government said the incident will be referred to police for further investigation, and noticed the public to be cautious regarding similar investment-related advertisements or promotional videos, verify the authenticity of the content, and keep personal information secure. 

The AI-generated scam clip circulated online plagiarized an interview between HKSAR Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu and a local journalist, and forged an investment video using AI, which promoted a claimed HK$60,000 ($7,674.45) of payback per week by investing HK$2,000, according to Hong Kong media, and another scam video showed "AI-created Elon Musk" also joined the investment plan. 

Local news site TVB News reported on Thursday that Hong Kong police have not received any reports of individuals being defrauded.

In January 2023, I took on a faculty position at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill. During my first semester, I taught a course on China and the global economy, which aimed to help MBA students from across the world gain a better understanding of China's evolving role in international business and technology affairs. The course went so well that I was asked to teach two sections for the MBA students in the fall and introduce an undergraduate version of the course.

Unfortunately, in August 2023, I resigned from my position at UNC due to irreconcilable differences regarding the university's discouraging approach to engagement with China. The top academic administrators at UNC simply believed that deepening engagement with China would put the integrity of the university's research system in jeopardy and pose unacceptable national security risks.

My problems began when I was invited to speak at the Zhongguancun Forum in Beijing in May 2023. To obtain university approval, I had to navigate through a bureaucratic gauntlet that involved a review of my intended trip by the university security office, the office dealing with export controls, the vice provost for global affairs, the university research office and the IT office.

I was told that I could not bring my university-supplied computer to China, nor could I log in to the university email system from China. According to university security officials, since China deploys telecommunications equipment from Huawei, which is not an approved US equipment supplier (for security reasons), I could not access the university IT system while in China. However, despite these restrictions, I was eventually granted approval to travel to China as a keynote speaker. In order to obtain this approval, I had to disclose the details of my invitation, the source of my ticket and local expenses, the content of my presentation, and the expected audience size of 2,500-3,000 people.

The myopic thinking of the administration went even further. In July, the Chinese embassy in DC contacted me to arrange a meeting in North Carolina for a small visiting group of three people from the public affairs section - not the military affairs section or even the science and technology section. The purpose of the meeting was to exchange ideas about the state of China-US relations. This is the type of meeting I had organized on many occasions during my three-plus decades as an academic in the US. There were to be no campus visits to labs or other research facilities, no media and no photos. The Chinese group requested that I invite five to six UNC faculty members who had previous engagements with China so that they could get a broad perspective of opinions about the problems and issues involved in cooperation and exchanges between the two countries.

The morning before the visit, however, I received an urgent call from the UNC Provost reprimanding me for organizing such meetings without top-tier approval from the university, even if the meeting was only to be held in the business school where I had my faculty appointment. While Kenan-Flagler Business School colleagues and administrators were extremely supportive of my activities with China, the same could not be said for the university administration. The provost subsequently sent me a strong written admonishment stating that my contract did not include inviting foreign diplomats to campus. The embassy visit did proceed as planned because there was not enough time to cancel it, but the actions that I seemed to provoke were totally inconsistent with the idea that UNC Chapel Hill is a true global university. 

The final straw in this downward spiral was a decision made by the university that there would be no university-sponsored student trips to China. For both undergraduate and graduate students in the business school, it has become common to participate in a two-to-three-week global immersion experience to highlight the fact that all business is international. Of course, given my four decades of connections in China, I wanted to bring one or two student groups to China to meet both Chinese and international business executives and local officials to learn about doing business in the world's second-largest economy. However, I was told that the university follows the US State Department rating system about country risk and since China was in the Category Three designation, it could not be an approved destination. Category Three means "Do not go if you do not need to go." To the best of my knowledge, no foreign student has ever been restricted from leaving China, but this remains US policy. Accordingly, no trips are recommended to the Chinese mainland or even Hong Kong due to recent developments regarding its national security policy.

For me, this way of approaching engagement with China represents narrow-minded thinking and ignores the reality of China's growing importance in world affairs. The US needs graduates who are knowledgeable about China from their on-the-ground experience - about Chinese culture, society, geography and politics. We also need a cohort of young people who speak Chinese to facilitate better communication. By restricting university interactions with China, UNC and many other public universities in the US are acting in ways that are detrimental to both the interests of the US and the possibility of mending fences with China.

The souring of China-US relations over the last several years has had an important shaping effect on international relations, and the tensions between the two countries have frequently become highly problematic. Nonetheless, we must face reality: There is no global problem out there whose meaningful solution will not require close China-US cooperation. In other words, we must find a better way to work together if there is to be any hope of effectively unraveling the plethora of growing transnational problems we face - climate change, global pandemics, food security, management of AI and water management, to name a few. Universities should be at the forefront of building bridges across borders and cultures, not knocking them down.

Moreover, universities, through the education and training they provide to our young people from across the world, are our best hope of overcoming ethnic and racial bias, socio-cultural misperception, and outdated perspectives that contain antiquated cold war thinking. Fortunately, some universities, especially the private ones in the US, have not succumbed to this type of obsolete thinking. In this regard, the proposal by Chinese President Xi Jinping in November 2023 for China to host 50,000 American students over five years represents a breath of fresh air. Of course, many details need to be worked out. Let us all hope that reason will prevail and that even universities such as UNC will allow their students to participate in this and other types of related education exchanges and cooperative projects between the two countries.

As Indonesian President Joko Widodo kicked off his visit to the Philippines with the South China Sea issue on the agenda, Chinese experts believe that as leader of a major country in the region, Widodo will try to talk some sense into his Filipino counterpart to stop instigating tensions in the South China Sea, and that the Code of Conduct cannot be reached without the consensus of all regional countries, which must include China.

After meeting with Widodo on Wednesday, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said they had a "fruitful and honest discussion" on regional events of mutual interests including developments in the South China Sea, media reported. 

However, the Indonesian side made no such mention of this, saying only that the two countries agreed to "expedite revision of joint border patrol and crossing agreements, also to strengthen the defense cooperation including on military hardware," the Strait Times reported on Wednesday. 

Ahead of Widodo's three-day visit to the Philippines, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said on Tuesday her country is "ready to work together with all ASEAN member states including the Philippines to finalize the [South China Sea] Code of Conduct as soon as possible," Reuters reported.

Widodo's trip to the Philippines demonstrates Indonesia's strong commitment to maintaining peace and stability in the region, Gu Xiaosong, dean of the ASEAN Research Institute of Hainan Tropical Ocean University, told the Global Times on Wednesday. 

Experts said that the Indonesian president's visit came at a time when the world is in tumult, with the US, Europe and the Middle East being all embroiled in turmoil, while the Philippines is still trying to stir up troubles in the South China Sea that may threaten the hard-won peace and stability in Southeast Asia. 

Indonesia understands the value of peace and the positive relations with China, Gu said, so Widodo will likely engage in talks with Marcos to urge the Philippines to abandon its attempt to seek external interference from countries like the US to try deterring China, as well as call for the formation of a code of conduct that is agreed upon by all regional countries, including China. 

Although China and ASEAN have been working on a South China Sea code of conduct for more than two decades, the Philippines claimed in November 2023 that it is pushing for a separate set of rules and regulations with its neighbors, excluding China.

Gu said Marcos' proposal is simply not possible because many ASEAN member countries would not come on board with a plan that will provoke China. "Most ASEAN members are friendly toward China, as time has proven that closer ties with China will greatly boost their economy, trade and investment and tourism."

Wu Shicun, president of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, warned that the Philippines' move is destructive to the unity and cohesion of ASEAN, which are of utmost importance, and could even lead to the division of ASEAN itself. 

Wu criticized the recent provocative actions by the Philippines as "naive" and "veering off track." He noted that China is not the only claimant in the South China Sea, but more importantly, a key player in the negotiations regarding the disputes, and without China's participation, the "code of conduct" has no meaning. 

Domestic operating systems (OS) are set for an explosive growth in 2024, as the sector's self-reliance efforts show effectiveness amid the intensified US crackdown, industry observers said, and the coming of the Internet of Everything era, where Chinese firms have an advantage, will bolster that trend.

Huawei's HarmonyOS will be one of the main OS to lead that growth, and it will take share away from foreign counterparts, they said.

According to a report by TechInsights, Huawei's HarmonyOS is projected to surpass Apple's iOS as the second-biggest OS in China. The report suggests that HarmonyOS is poised to achieve a milestone in 2024 with the commercial launch of the HarmonyOS NEXT, a revised version that is not compatible with Android.

Despite Huawei's previous challenges related to the supply constraints of the Kirin 9000s chipset, TechInsights anticipates a potential easing of these limitations in the coming months. This could lead to a solid recovery for Huawei in 2024, reshuffling the landscape of the Chinese smartphone OS market and challenging both Apple and Android manufacturers for their market shares.

"The past year was extraordinary and marked the beginning of native HarmonyOS applications. Today, on the first day of 2024, we are entering a crucial year for the comprehensive evolution of the HarmonyOS ecosystem," He Gang, chief operating officer of Huawei Consumer Business Group, said on Monday.

The Shenzhen-based telecoms giant launched HarmonyOS in August 2019, three months after Google stopped providing its suite of proprietary mobile software services to the company due to US sanctions.

Rather than being a replacement, the company stressed that the OS can also be deployed across multiple devices, including smartphones, computers and other electronic devices.

"The HarmonyOS was designed for the Internet of Everything era. It was launched earlier than expected in 2019 due to the US sanctions, but it also helped the OS gain an early foothold in the highly competitive domestic market," Ma Jihua, a veteran industry analyst and close follower of the company, told the Global Times on Thursday.

The ecosystem of HarmonyOS has gradually taken shape after years of development, spanning all walks of life including transportation, social networking, gaming, office productivity, shopping, lifestyle uses and education, Ma said.

In recent months, several major domestic internet companies and leading enterprises including financial technology giant Ant Group, e-commerce firm JD.com, video gaming giant NetEase and food delivery market leader Meituan have announced plans to build new versions of their mobile apps based on HarmonyOS.

On December 6, 2023, McDonald's China and Huawei reached a cooperation agreement, officially announcing that the McDonald's China app will adopt the HarmonyOS NEXT, making it one of the first global multinational chain restaurants to join the ecosystem, McDonald's China said in a statement it sent to the Global Times on Thursday.

Apart from Huawei's HarmonyOS, 2024 is poised to be a breakthrough period for the development of domestic OS in China, Zhang Hong, a Beijing-based industry analyst, told the Global Times on Thursday.

One of the main reasons for this development is that the intensified restrictions imposed by the US will accelerate the process of localization in China, placing a dual emphasis on security and development. This trend has spurred a concerted effort to reduce dependence on foreign technologies and foster the growth of Chinese alternatives, Zhang said.

Moreover, the rapid development and usage of smart devices in the nation is expected to enable Chinese companies to further outpace their global counterparts in the Internet of Everything era, Ma said.

Severe cold fronts have extended their grip over the majority of China, sending temperatures plunging below freezing and breaking historic extreme low records in multiple places, prompting authorities to deploy preventive arrangements to deal with possible extreme situations.

While experts reminded the public to take preventive measures to protect themselves as well as livestock as some places recorded temperatures below -40 C, they also assured the public there was no need to panic since China has strong capability to cope with extreme weather emergencies.

The past weekend was the coldest in the latter part of the year for a vast area of the country, with 23 provincial capital cities seeing record low temperatures since November, according to weather.com.cn.

The temperature difference between the highs and lows recorded at meteorological stations across China reached 76 C on Saturday, with the highest temperature of 31.8 C recorded in Baoting in South China's Hainan Province and the lowest of -44.2 C recorded in Tulihe township of Yakeshi city in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

A total of 30 national-level meteorological stations in multiple provinces and cities such as Hebei, Shanxi, Beijing, Tianjin and Liaoning, recorded historic extreme low temperatures for December on Sunday morning, with five stations in Shanxi, Hebei and Liaoning seeing new records since their establishment.

On Sunday, China's capital Beijing also suffered the coldest day of the winter season at -15.5 C. It was the third lowest temperature for the period since 1951, when China started collecting complete and continuous meteorological observation data.

As of 8 am in Beijing, 14 of 20 national meteorological stations saw new records for extreme low temperatures for mid-December.

Over the past few days, snowfalls have swept through the Taklimakan Desert, China's largest desert, in the Tarim Basin in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, covering the sand dunes under a "white coat."

Temperatures in some places in South China's Guangdong Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region plunged 12 to 16 C in one day, leading to freezing rain and roads.

Affected by heavy snow, on Thursday evening, a subway train along the Changping Line in Beijing collided with the rear of a preceding train that had made an emergency stop, resulting in a separation of carriages, according to the preliminary investigation into the accident. A total of 102 people suffered fractures with no fatalities, authorities said on Friday.

In the wake of the accident, the national commission for disaster prevention, reduction and relief in a notification on Sunday urged authorities to strengthen patrols and control of key road sections, inspections of subways, overpasses, underpasses, and roads prone to freezing and accidents to effectively prevent accidents.

Ma Jun, director of the Beijing-based Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, said that these cold waves have caused a vast area of snowfall, which will have a huge impact on the buildings, traffic and other infrastructure facilities that may affect the normal production and life orders in cities. Besides this, the snow can reflect sunlight and further slower warming during the day.

Especially in areas with extreme cold weather, such as in Inner Mongolia and Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province where temperatures below -40 C have been recorded, great caution should be taken to keep people and livestock warm and prevent damage from freezing, Ma told the Global Times on Sunday.

Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing, who is also director of the national commission for disaster prevention, reduction and relief, has required related departments to hold "red-line thinking" and "extreme thinking" to address possible extreme situations.

In a separate notification on Sunday, the commission called for all-out effort to be deployed to prevent and respond to low-temperature, rain, snow and freezing disasters. It emphasized that departments should establish complete emergency command systems to combat extreme weather, strengthen monitoring, warning, and analysis of weather patterns.

The commission said that there is an emergency dispatching mechanism for various energy sources to complement each other and carry out cross-provincial and cross-regional energy dispatching to ensure a steady and orderly supply and demand of energy across the country.

While the impact of this round of cold fronts has basically concluded, a new wave is predicted to sweep from the north toward the south from Monday to Wednesday that will affect the middle and eastern parts of the country, keeping the temperatures in the majority of the country at low levels next week, according to the China's National Meteorological Center (NMC).

It is expected that the lowest temperatures in Beijing will remain below -14 C through Thursday and that temperatures will remain below freezing throughout the following two weeks.

In Northeast China's Jilin Province, it is expected that temperatures in the eastern part of the province, the majority of Tonghua city, Baishan city, and Changbai Mountain National Nature Reserve will drop to -32 C, with some parts in the province even dropping to -35 C on Sunday and Monday.

Besides snow storms, the NMC has also forecast rainfall in multiple places, including the northern part of the Xinjiang region, the Jianghuai and Jiangnan regions and southern China.