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China will roll out more measures to expand opening up and attract more foreign investment in 2025, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) on Wednesday. Efforts will be made to further ease market access, MOC official Li Yongjie told a press conference. She said that after China placed zero restrictions on foreign investment in its manufacturing sector last year, it will now advance the opening up of its services sector this year – particularly through pilot programs in the telecommunications, medical care and education fields. Regarding the optimization of the country’s business environment, Li pledged continued efforts to promote…

Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in Beijing on Wednesday. Noting that China and Sri Lanka enjoy a traditional friendship, Xi said since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries 68 years ago, China-Sri Lanka relations have always maintained healthy and stable development, setting an example of friendly coexistence and mutually beneficial cooperation between different countries. With the joint efforts of the two sides, the strategic cooperative partnership based on sincere mutual assistance and everlasting friendship between China and Sri Lanka has been further developed, Xi said. The high-quality Belt and…

BEIJING (Xinhua) :Chinese internet users on a popular social networking platform have noticed a sudden influx of foreign newcomers who claim to have migrated from TikTok due to concerns about a potential ban by the U.S. government within the week. On Xiaohongshu, a Chinese platform with combined features of Instagram and Pinterest, hashtags such as #TikTokRefugee have garnered hundreds of thousands of posts from accounts mostly registered in the United States. The surge in activity has propelled Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote abroad, to the top of the U.S. Apple app store download rankings within just a few days. TikTok,…

India’s star pacer Jasprit Bumrah has swiftly refuted reports claiming he had been prescribed bed rest due to an injury, amid growing speculation about his participation in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The 29-year-old paceman took to social media on January 15 to address the rumors, expressing his disbelief and labelling the news as “fake.” Bumrah, who had been instrumental in India’s victory during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 against Australia, sustained a back injury during the final Test of the series. The issue was primarily due to back spasms and swelling, which prompted concerns about his fitness for the…

ISLAMABAD :The Supreme Court’s seven-member constitutional bench, headed by Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, resumed hearings on Wednesday on an intra-court appeal challenging military courts’ trials of civilians. The bench included Justices Jamal Mandokhail, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Naeem Akhtar Afghan, Musarrat Hilali, Hassan Azhar Rizvi, and Shahid Bilal. During the proceedings, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail questioned why a constitutional amendment was necessary for trying terrorists in military courts. Defense Ministry counsel Khawaja Haris began his arguments by stating that the nature of a crime determined the trial forum. If a civilian’s crime was linked to the armed forces, the trial would fall…

RAWALPINDI : Security forces killed four terrorists in an intelligence based operation in general area of Spinwarm, North Waziristan. The Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the operation was conducted on night between January 14 and 15 on reported presence of terrorists. During conduct of the operation, own troops effectively engaged terrorists and killed four of them. Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the killed terrorists, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against the security forces as well as target killing of innocent civilians. “Sanitization operation is being carried out to eliminate any other kharji found in…

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan announced on Wednesday that his party would formally submit its demands in writing to the government’s negotiation team. Speaking outside a sessions court in the federal capital, Barrister Gohar emphasised the importance of genuine dialogue and said: “The third session of our negotiations with the government will take place tomorrow [and] we will submit our written demands”. “If the government engages with sincerity and seriousness, solutions to these issues can be found. Democracy and political stability require the release and relief of political prisoners [….] We hope this process will conclude…

Pakistan’s Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) has announced the launch of the country’s indigenous Electro-Optical (EO-1) Satellite from China’s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre on January 17. A major milestone in Pakistan’s space technology advancements, the EO-1 satellite will support natural resource management, disaster response, food security, and sustainable development. It offers applications in agriculture, urban planning, and environmental monitoring, including precision farming, urban infrastructure tracking, and disaster mitigation. This launch reflects Pakistan’s commitment to leveraging advanced space technology for economic growth and sustainable progress under its National Space Policy.

Acting Consul General of Pakistan in Guangzhou, Sardar Muhammad, urged Chinese businessmen to explore investment opportunities in Pakistan’s plastic industry at the Pakistan-China Plastic Industry B2B Investment Conference in Guangzhou. The event, attended by eight Pakistani and 44 Chinese companies both online and offline, facilitated numerous business meetings and resulted in the signing of eight MoUs. Participants praised the conference for fostering partnerships and opening new avenues for mutual growth.

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb announced Pakistan’s plan to debut yuan-denominated Panda bonds, aiming to raise $200-$250 million from Chinese investors within six to nine months. Speaking at the Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong, he emphasized the need to tap into Chinese capital markets to boost the economy’s export-led transformation. Amid improving economic indicators, including a three-year high in foreign reserves ($18.7 billion), record remittances ($3.1 billion in December), and a revised 3% GDP growth forecast for 2024-25, Aurangzeb highlighted the government’s efforts to stabilize the economy. These include broadening the tax base to achieve a 13.5% tax-to-GDP ratio, as…