China plans to slash $31b in railway

‘High-speed rail network development set to slow’     China may cut its investment in railway infrastructure this year by more than 200 billion yuan ($31 billion) following an earlier decision to slow down the…

Lingering spring drought hits central, south China

WUHAN – Although renowned as the “land of a thousand lakes”, central China’s Hubei province has been plagued by a lingering spring drought, which has impacted grain production and disrupted the area’s supply of drinking…

Mainland moms banned from giving birth in HK

Expectant mothers from the Chinese mainland will no longer be able to give birth in public hospitals in Hong Kong, the xinmin.cn reported yesterday. The Hospital Authority of Hong Kong (HAHK) has announced that from…

Economy threatened by aging demographic

BEIJING – China’s population is getting older, and that could have a major effect on the nation’s economic prosperity. The emergence of negative growth in the total working-age population, which some demographers predict will happen…

Chinese proficiency contest warms up Turin

by Marzia De Giuli TURIN, Italy, April 29 (Xinhua) — A particularly heated round of the “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students, celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, was held in Turin…