China has launched a number of missions to pave way for its expected 2018 lunar landing and 2020 Mars mission [Xinhua]
China says it expects to land a probe on the far side of the moon by 2018.
According to a White Paper – China’s Space Activities in 2016 – released by the State Council Information Office on Tuesday, the Chang’e-4 lunar probe will “conduct in situ and roving detection and relay communications at earth-moon L2 point”.
The rise in industrial profits coupled with the uptick in activity in China’s manufacturing sector in recent months shows that economic growth is on target, experts say [Xinhua]
China’s National Bureau of Statistics revealed on Tuesday that the country’s largest industrial firms registered an uptick in profits in November.
The NBS said that the profits of companies with an annual revenue above 20 million yuan ($2.87 million) rose 14.5 per cent year-on-year in November.
This is a rise from 9.8 per cent year-on-year in October.
The latest J-31, now called the FC-31, is a much improved version from that [above] which first debuted four years ago [Xinhua]
China on Monday tested the latest version of its FC-31 Gyrfalcon stealth fighter jet, state media reported citing aviation sources.
The prototype is the newest version of the J-31, first unveiled four years ago, which reportedly took to the skies for the first time on Friday in Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning province.
The Russian navy found the wreckage of the missing military Tu-154 aircraft in the Black Sea, Defense Ministry authorities said Sunday [Xinhua]
President Vladimir Putin has sent his condolences to the families and friends of the TU-154 crash in the Black Sea near Sochi, Russia.
The TU-154 military transport disappeared shortly after take off around dawn Moscow time. It was carrying 92 passengers and crew; among them were journalists and army choir musicians flying to the Syrian port of Latakia to celebrate the new year with Russian servicemen in Syria.
The resolution, which was initially tabled by Egypt but withdrawn under pressure from President-elect Donald Trump, passed 14-0 after it found sponsorship in Malaysia, New Zealand, Senegal and Venezuela [Xinhua]
In what is likely the last major US foreign policy action taken by the outgoing Obama administration, the US on Friday abstained rather than veto a UN Security Council resolution critical of Israel’s illegal settlement program.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) and Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende hope to renegotiate a free trade deal [Xinhua]
Chinese PM Li Keqiang and Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende announced this week that their countries would be normalizing bilateral ties, after meeting for talks in Beijing.
Ties between the two countries have been icy for the past six years, after the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Liu Xiaobo, a dissident Chinese writer who was jailed for “inciting subversion of state power”, according to Beijing authorities.
WADA has alleged that 1,000 Russian athletes were involved in doping in the 2012 and 2014 Olympics [Xinhua]
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) President Craig Reedie told Russian state news outlet RT earlier this week that the country is “working well” on cracking down on doping.
“You can’t do this progress overnight. This is step, by step, by step,” Reedie said.
“We’ve told them what they have to do. It’s up to them to do it. And I want them to do it as quickly as they can,” he added.
BRICS leaders at the 8th BRICS Summit in Goa, India on 16 October 2016 [Image: BRICS2016]China has inked an agreement with the New development bank set up by the BRICS approving a 525 million yuan loan for a solar power project in the country, an official statement said on Wednesday.
The new lender announced a 525 million yuan loan for the Shanghai Lingang Distributed Solar Power Project. This is the Bank’s first project in China, a solar photovoltaic power plant with total capacity of 100 MW to be built in Lingang Industrial Area of Shanghai.
Tens of thousands of civilians have streamed out of former battle zones in search of safety and security in Aleppo [Xinhua]
Russia, Iran and Turkey have on Tuesday agreed on a “joint declaration” on finding a speedy resolution to the conflict in Syria, following a meeting between all three countries’ foreign ministers in Moscow.
“Turkish-Russian-Iranian cooperation ensures the evacuation of civilians and armed groups from eastern Aleppo,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, adding that he hoped the evacuations of civilians would end in a couple of days.
