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[ad_1] Scientists in China have discovered a new wild coronavirus with the same mutation as animals that are believed to have spread COVID-19, proving that Sars-CoV-2 was not created in a lab, Daily Mail reported. The new bat coronavirus possesses a furin cleavage site — a crucial element in COVID-19's effectiveness — which has been a topic of debate, with some experts claiming it could only have been acquired through lab experiments. The newly discovered TyRo-CoV-162275 virus, which is up to 98% identical to coronaviruses found in pangolins, — the animal long suspected of passing COVID-19 to humans — has been criticised for supporting the “lab leak theory” The theory suggests that COVID-19-like viruses emerge in the wild and pass between species, despite studies showing that wild coronaviruses can acquire the structure naturally. Dr Kristian Andersen, a top Danish infectious disease expert, shared the new study on X, formerly known as Twitter, where he wrote: “The scie...

[ad_1] Editor’s Note: A version of this story appeared in CNN’s Meanwhile in China newsletter, a three-times-a-week update exploring what you need to know about the country’s rise and how it impacts the world. Sign up here. Hong Kong CNN  —  The US Department of Energy’s assessment that Covid-19 most likely emerged due to a laboratory accident in China has reignited fierce debate and attention on the question of how the pandemic began. But the “low confidence” determination , made in a newly updated classified report, has raised more questions than answers, as the department has publicly provided no new evidence to back the claim. It’s also generated fierce pushback from China. “We urge the US to respect science and facts, stop politicizing this issue, stop its intelligence-led, politics-driven origins-tracing,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday. ...

[ad_1] A sign hangs outside the Shein warehouse in Whitestown, Indiana, on Nov. 29, 2023. Scott Olson | Getty Images The chair of a powerful House committee is drilling down on Shein's data privacy practices and its relationship with the Chinese Communist Party as the fast-fashion giant moves closer to a U.S. initial public offering .  Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Washington Republican who leads the House's Committee on Energy and Commerce, sent a letter to Shein on Wednesday asking about the user data it collects and the communications it has had with the Chinese government. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., who chairs the panel's Subcommittee on Innovation, Data and Commerce, co-signed the letter. The lawmakers sent similar missives to TikTok, Temu and Alibaba.  "Media reports indicate that Chinese-owned e-commerce marketplaces are increasingly popular in the western world. This is a serious risk for e-commerce, consumer safety, and people's data privacy and s...

[ad_1] Hong Kong CNN  —  China is planning to offer free fertility treatment to citizens under its national insurance scheme in a bid to reverse its plummeting birth rate. The National Healthcare Security Administration said on Friday it would extend its coverage to help shoulder the costs for families trying to conceive. It said the new coverage would include assisted reproductive technology (ART) techniques and also cover labor analgesia to ease pain in childbirth. The most commonly performed ART procedure is in vitro fertilization (IVF). The administration described China’s falling population as one of the biggest obstacles to national development and stressed it had already added ovulation-inducing drugs to its coverage, to help “reduce the burden of infertility.” The expanded coverage is part of a wider attempt by Chinese authorities to persuade more people t...

[ad_1] G-7 leaders stand together after the family photo. Picture Alliance | Picture Alliance | Getty Images Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in the Japan on Saturday to attend the Group of Seven (G-7) summit, giving him a rare chance to both drum up support from the world's rich democracies and sound out "Global South" leaders with long ties to Russia. The Ukrainian president's attendance at the G-7 summit in Hiroshima, the first city to suffer a nuclear attack, also put in sharp relief western concerns over the nuclear threat posed by Moscow. G-7 members — the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Canada — are grappling with the immense challenges posed by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and tensions with China, notably over Taiwan and economic security. Worried by the outsized role China now plays in supply chains in everything from semiconductors to critical minerals, the G-7 issued a communique that set out a common strategy tow...

[ad_1] European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen looks on during a press conference. John Thys | Afp | Getty Images An increasingly isolated Russia is now dependent on China for both its military and economic ends, the European Commission's president said Tuesday. Ursula von der Leyen said Russia was leaning more heavily on its eastern ally as it fails to achieve its objectives. "Russia is failing on strategic goals," von der Leyen said at the World Economic Forum  in Davos, Switzerland. "It is first and foremost a military failure," she said, noting that Ukraine had thus far retained its "freedom and independence" in its almost two-year war with Moscow. "Russia's failure is also economic," she continued, highlighting the impact sanctions have had in isolating the country from trade with Western allies. "Russia is now dependent on China," von der Leyen added. Ukraine, meanwhile, is "closer than ever" to j...

[ad_1] The Shein logo can be seen on a smartphone, while the Chinese online retailer's website is open on a laptop.  Monika Skolimowska | Picture Alliance | Getty Images China-founded e-commerce company Shein's hopes of going public in the United States are growing slimmer by the day, according to experts, as rising tensions between Beijing and the U.S. roil business and trade. The company, last valued at $66 billion, confidentially filed to go public in the U.S. in November. Since then, it has faced resistance as it tries to join the American retail sphere, including through numerous rejected attempts to become a member of the National Retail Federation, the industry's largest trade association, CNBC previously reported. The e-commerce upstart filed to go public while becoming a household name in the U.S. by offering low prices and a facility to offer new styles quickly. The company is poised to take major market share from U.S. retailers, particularly Gap , TJX C...

[ad_1] Hong Kong CNN  —  China will fully reopen borders with its special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao next week, in what is expected to be a major boost for the economies of the two cities. From Monday, travelers entering mainland China from Hong Kong or Macao will no longer need to provide proof of negative Covid tests, as long as they have not traveled abroad in the previous week, the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office said in a Friday statement . Daily quotas on the number of travelers will also be scrapped. The resumption of normal travel is expected to provide much support to the battered economies of the two cities. Hong Kong is a major international financial center, and, before the pandemic, Macao was the world’s casino capital. Hong Kong’s economy contracted last year, according to preliminary government data , shrinking by 3.5% com...

[ad_1] BEIJING: Chinese and Pakistani scientists are collaborating to develop biological control measures to enhance the quality and quantity of citrus fruit in Pakistan. A research centre was launched by the two countries in 2018 to jointly explore green and sustainable solutions to the growing prevalence of citrus diseases across the South Asian nation. Speaking to the China Economic Net, Professor Dr Qiu Baoli and Professor Dr Shaukat Ali, Director and Deputy Director of the China-Pakistan citrus pest management centre, said that while chemical measures could provide quick responses to citrus disease outbreaks, they also increased the resistance of pests against pesticides, posing grave environmental and health threats. The researchers told CEN that the centre, initiated by South China Agricultural University and Sargodha University, had undertaken four strands of research work to produce environmentally friendly solutions. The first line of research, Qiu and Ali noted, ...

[ad_1] Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) (C), chair of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, joins Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) (L) and Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) for a news conference following a GOP caucus meeting at the Republican National Committee offices on Capitol Hill on February 28, 2023 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images A group of lawmakers will travel to California to meet with tech and media executives, including Apple CEO Tim Cook and Disney CEO Bob Iger, to discuss China-related topics, CNBC has confirmed. Nearly a dozen lawmakers representing both parties on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party are set to make the three-day trip, led by Chair Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., a spokesperson for the committee told CNBC. Bloomberg and Axios previously reported details of the trip. The trip highlights how the committee's work could affect the tech and media i...

[ad_1] KARACHI: A high official of the United States has emphasised that the US and Pakistan have a “very strong” relationship and they have entered a new chapter of cooperation and development. In an interview with The Express Tribune, US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary and Deputy Assistant Secretary responsible for Pakistan, South and Central Asia, Elizabeth Horst, during her visit to Pakistan last week, said “the US-Pakistan relationship right now is very strong because it is just about...the US and Pakistan together, not through a regional lens, not through any other lens.” Responding to a question about the challenges faced by US investors in developing partnerships with Pakistan in the backdrop of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), she said the US had been in Pakistan just as long as China. “We have a long economic relationship with Pakistan.” She pointed out that Washington did not ask Pakistan to choose between the US and China, adding that there was room ...

[ad_1] Travelers from China will need to test negative for COVID-19 before boarding flights to the U.S. starting next week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday. The testing requirement will apply to travelers from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, and covers all passengers regardless of their nationality or vaccination status, the CDC said.  Americans should also "reconsider travel to China, Hong Kong, and Macau," the CDC now urges. In a  travel alert  published Wednesday, the agency cited "reports that the healthcare system is overwhelmed," along with the risk of new variants. Beyond masking while traveling in places like airports or planes, the CDC also recommends that Americans visiting China wear masks while indoors in public. The moves come amid a record wave of infections in China since it relaxed its "zero COVID" policy in early December. The Chinese government has ...

[ad_1] The first convoy of cargo trucks is on its way from China to Pakistan, as trade started between Pakistan and China under international road transport. Cross-border transportation of goods has for the first time started under the United Nations International Road Transport Convention in collaboration with National Logistics Corporation of Pakistan and CEVA Logistics, a well-known Chinese company. This important development took place on the occasion of the 10 anniversary of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project. A ceremony was held at Kashgar Yuanfang International Logistics Port Company for the official launch of the TIR service. The ceremony was attended by the representatives of NLC, Kashgar Customs, Municipal Committee officials, CEVA Logistics and Cross-Border E-Commerce Association. The speakers highlighted the importance of the TIR transport route from Kashgar to Islamabad and shed light on the future plans for transportation of goods under the TIR betwe...