1. Xi chairs CPC leadership meeting to discuss draft gov't work report
Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Friday chaired a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to discuss a draft government work report to be submitted by the State Council to the upcoming national legislative session for review.

2. China outlines key tasks to deepen rural reforms, advance rural revitalization
China unveiled its "No. 1 central document" for 2025 on Sunday, outlining priorities to deepen rural reforms further and solid steps to advance all-around rural revitalization.
The document consists of six parts covering six areas: ensuring the supply of grain and other important agricultural products, consolidating the achievements of poverty elimination, developing local industries, advancing rural construction, improving the rural governance system, and optimizing the rural resource allocation system.

3. China approves pilot operations in value-added telecom services run by 13 foreign firms
China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has issued approvals to the first batch of 13 foreign-invested enterprises in Beijing, Shanghai, Hainan and Shenzhen for pilot operations in value-added telecommunications services, marking another major step in the opening-up of China's information and communication sector.

4. China's first wholly foreign-owned tertiary general hospital starts service in Tianjin
The Perennial General Hospital Tianjin, China's first wholly foreign-owned, tertiary general hospital, opened to public service here on Wednesday.
This 500-bed hospital was built and owned by Singapore's Perennial Holdings Private Limited, with a total investment of about 1 billion yuan (about 138 million U.S. dollars), capable of comprehensive services including individualized medication.

5. China leads global effort with int'l standard for elderly-care robots
The International Electrotechnical Commission has released a global standard for elderly-care robots, designed to guide the healthy development of the elderly-care robotics industry.
The standard, led by China during its formulation, provides technical benchmarks for product design, manufacturing, testing, and certification of such robots.

6. Prototype of CR450 bullet train undergoes tests in Beijing
Prototypes of the CR450 bullet train, with a test speed of up to 450 kilometers per hour and an operational speed of 400 kilometers per hour, were debuted in Beijing recently.
The CR450 is significantly faster than the CR400 Fuxing high-speed trains currently in service, which operate at speeds of 350 kilometers per hour.

7. Evidence of beaches from ancient Martian ocean detected by Chinese rover
Ground-penetrating radar data obtained by China's Zhurong rover has revealed buried beneath the Martian surface evidence of what look like sandy beaches from the shoreline of a large ocean that may have existed long ago on the northern plains of Mars.
The radar images detected some 10-35 meters underground thick layers of material with properties similar to sand, all sloped in the same direction and at an angle similar to that of beaches on Earth just below the water where the sea meets the land.

8. Woman executed for abducting, trafficking 17 children
Yu Huaying, the criminal convicted of abducting and trafficking 17 children, was executed on Friday.
Yu was found to have abducted children from Guizhou, Chongqing and Yunnan along with her accomplices, and sold them for profit between 1993 and 2003. She was sentenced to death for the crime of child trafficking in a first-instance criminal judgment delivered on Oct. 25, 2024.

9. World's largest ice-and-snow park concludes with record-breaking 3.56 mln tourist visits
Harbin Ice-Snow World, the world's largest ice-and-snow theme park, officially closed its 26th edition on Wednesday evening in the city of Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, attracting a record-breaking 3.56 million tourist visits.
The 26th edition opened on Dec 21, 2024, and lasted 68 days. It is the edition with the largest scale in the park's history. Spanning over 1 million square meters, the edition utilized 300,000 cubic meters of ice and snow to create the attraction.

10. Murals add color to China's rural revitalization
The hit animated film "Ne Zha 2" has not only captivated audiences in cinemas but also inspired villages in China to create a massive mural, drawing visitors eager to snap photos and share images of the vibrant scene online.
The larger-than-life artwork, featuring the protagonist Ne Zha, his friend Ao Bing and other elements like a giant dragon head, is painted on the side of a rural home and has become a social media sensation.
