Wang Wenbin News

China will no longer require a negative COVID-19 test result for incoming travelers, a milestone in its reopening to the rest of the world after an isolation that began with the country's borders closing in 2020

China will no longer require a negative Covid-19 test result for incoming travelers starting Wednesday, a milestone in its reopening to the rest of the world after a three-year isolation that began with the country's borders closing in March 2020.Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin announced the change at a briefing in Beijing on Monday. China in January expanded the list of countries that Chinese people can travel to and increased the number of international flights. Beijing ended its tough domestic «zero Covid» policy only in December, after years of draconian curbs that at times included full-city lockdowns and lengthy quarantines for people who were infected. The restrictions slowed the world's second-largest economy, leading to rising unemployment and occasional instances of unrest. As part of those measures, incoming travelers were required to isolate for weeks at government-designated hotels.

China is set to lift the requirement for incoming travelers to provide a negative COVID-19 test result starting Wednesday. This move marks a significant milestone in the country's efforts to ease the stringent virus-related restrictions that have been in place since early 2020. The announcement was made by Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin during a briefing on Monday.

A North Korean commercial flight has taken off from Beijing in a sign that Pyongyang is its opening its borders again after almost three years of severe COVID-19 restrictions

Representatives from the Indian and Chinese army met for Major General-level talks at DBO and Chushul on Friday to resolve the ongoing stand-off in eastern Ladakh. The development comes two days after the 19th round of India-China Corps Commander level meeting was concluded at the Chushul-Moldo border. News agency ANI quoted Defence sources to add that the Indian side was represented at the two locations by Major General PK Mishra and Major General Hariharan.

Line of Actual Control in the Western Sector. The 19th round of China-India Corps Commander Level Meeting was held at Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Indian side from August 13 to 14. A joint press release issued after the two-day talks did not indicate any immediate breakthrough in the disengagement of troops in the remaining friction points.

The comments come after a raft of recent figures that have stoked concerns over China's stuttering post-Covid recovery, and after US President Joe Biden said the country's mounting economic problems made it a «ticking time bomb». «After the smooth transition of the epidemic prevention and control, China's economic recovery is a wave-like development and a tortuous process, which will inevitably face difficulties and problems,» foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular press conference. «A number of Western politicians and media have hyped up the periodic problems in China's post-epidemic economic recovery process. But eventually, they will for sure be proven wrong,» he added. Retail sales, a key gauge of consumption, grew 2.5 percent year-on-year in July, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Tuesday, down from 3.1 percent in June and falling short of analyst expectations.

China on Monday asserted that its «ironclad friendship» with Islamabad will always remain «rock-firm and unbreakable» irrespective of any changes in the international landscape and the domestic situation in Pakistan, as it congratulates Anwarul Haq Kakar on his appointment as caretaker prime minister. Earlier in the day in Islamabad, 52-year-old Kakar, an ethnic Pushtun leader who is considered close to the powerful military, was sworn in as Pakistan's caretaker prime minister to head a neutral political set-up to run the cash-strapped country and conduct the next general elections.

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang has remained wholly out of the public eye for the past month, sparking intense debate about his whereabouts. His last public appearance was on June 25 for a meeting with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry in Beijing. While officials indicate that he missed the recent ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ meeting due to health reasons people have remained skeptical.

Washington Post report cited a statement from U.S. officials claiming Storm-0558 also breached unclassified email accounts linked to the U.S.

China has called accusations that a China-based hacking group breached government-linked email accounts “disinformation,” saying they were meant to divert attention from U.S. cyber activities

Germany has struck a compromise over a controversial move to allow a Chinese shipping group to buy a stake in a terminal at Hamburg port.