Top news of the week:

• China's GDP rises 4.8% year-on-year in Q1

  April 18, 2022

  National Bureau of Statistics announced on Monday that China’s economy grew by 4.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2022 compared with a year earlier, up from the 4 per cent growth seen in the fourth quarter of last year. Retail sales fell by 3.5 per cent in March from a year earlier, while industrial production grew by 5 per cent last month.

• Vice-premier stresses stabilizing industrial, supply chains

  April 19, 2022

  Vice-Premier Liu He underlined efforts to keep supply and industrial chains stable in a central level meeting which underscored a people-centered approach in related work and vowed to improve the working and living conditions of logistics employees and offer them financial support. The country will issue sufficient travel permits that can be recognized across the nation and make sure that nucleic acid test results within 48 hours can be used in different regions, according to the meeting.

• China's top legislature concludes standing committee session

  April 20, 2022

  The Standing Committee of the 13th National People’s Congress (NPC) concluded its 34th session. Lawmakers voted to adopt a law on futures and derivatives, a revised Vocational Education Law, and a decision to remove Wang Menghui from the post of minister of housing and urban-rural development. NPC also voted to pass three former heads of provinces as key NPC standing committee members in law, agriculture, and social stability.

• Xi Jinping delivers keynote speech at the 2022 Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference

  April 21, 2022

  Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a keynote speech via video at the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2022 on Thursday. During his speech, Xi proposed a “Glboal Security Initiative”, calling on the international community to reject a Cold War mentality, oppose unilateralism and say no to group politics and bloc confrontation.

• Shanghai to run major campaigns to achieve clearance of COVID-19 cases

  April 22, 2022

  Starting from April 22, Shanghai municipal government will apply “nine campaigns”, targeting to achieve zero transmission outside of controlled population. The campaigns will again lock down the entire city, with whole-population testing, comprehensive epidemiological investigation, and full-scale sanitation. By April 22, the latest statistics show that Shanghai’s daily increase of positive cases reached 2,634 confirmed with 15,861 asymptomatic, which both are new lows for the past ten days.