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The National Population and Family Planning Commission will send 10 teams to 19 provincial-level administrative regions to inspect and ensure lawful enforcement of the family planning policy, said an online statement issued by the commission. It came after several family planning officials in Northwest China's Shaanxi province were punished for forcing a local woman who [...]

China's economic growth is expected to fall to 7.6 percent in the second quarter before rebounding to 8.2 percent three months later, Bank of China Ltd forecast in a quarterly report on Thursday. "Currently the economy is struggling at a dividing line between 'somewhat cold' and 'too cold'," said Zhou Jingtong, a senior economist at [...]

The astronauts bid their farewells on Thursday to the Tiangong-1 space lab module, their home for 10 days, and prepared to return home on Friday. They completed a manual undocking with Tiangong-1 on Thursday morning. The Shenzhou IX re-entry capsule is scheduled to return to Earth at around 10 am on Friday, Wu Ping, spokeswoman [...]

CHINA has begun "combat-ready patrols" in the South China Sea, the Defense Ministry said yesterday, the latest escalation in tensions over the potentially resource-rich area. Asked what China would do in response to Vietnamese air patrols over the Nansha Islands, ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng said China would "resolutely oppose any militarily provocative behavior." "In order [...]

China's biggest shipping companies are going head-to-head with the world's largest iron ore supplier in a battle over access to its ports. The controversy dates to 2007 when Brazilian miner Vale SA started mapping out plans for a fleet of super-sized ore carriers and complementary port facilities to serve Asian customers, mainly Chinese steelmakers. Vale's [...]

The central government said on Wednesday that it will encourage foreign investors to use China's currency to conduct trade settlements and investment in Hong Kong. The central government will also push forward joint ventures for stock exchanges in Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Shanghai, as well as introduce exchange-traded funds on both the Hong Kong and [...]