The government has announced a project to repair 14 bridges damaged by Cyclone Ditwah across the Western, Sabaragamuwa, North Western, North Central, and Eastern provinces.

The People’s Republic of China has agreed to provide financial assistance for the initiative. 

The project will be carried out in two phases, with the first phase lasting 18 months to repair 9 bridges. China is expected to provide 7,929 million Renminbi for the repair work.

An agreement is to be signed between the Ministry of Transport, Highways and Urban Development and the Chinese government. 

The Cabinet has approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Transport, Highways and Urban Development, officially declaring the initiative a definite government project. (Newswire)

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Sri Lanka and China on Wednesday (15) formally exchanged certificates confirming the donation of school uniform cloth for the year 2027, at a ceremony held at the Ministry of Education.

The agreement was sealed between Chinese Ambassador Qi Zhenhong and Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education, Nalaka Kaluwewa, reaffirming bilateral cooperation in education support.

Under this project, the Government of China will donate 10.820 million meters of cloth, sufficient to meet the uniform requirements of approximately 4.18 million students across government schools, government‑aided schools, and approved pirivens, including student monks.

The event was attended by senior ministry officials and the Economic and Commercial Affairs Advisor of the Chinese Embassy. (Newswire)

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Global perceptions of the United States have taken a downturn, with fresh survey data showing China now viewed more positively than the U.S. across most of the 36 countries polled. 

According to a new study by the Pew Research Center, conducted between February and May 2026 among more than 42,000 adults worldwide, the findings reveal a striking shift: while confidence in U.S. leadership has eroded during President Donald Trump’s second term, views of China and its leader Xi Jinping have steadily improved. 

Global views of the United States worsened last year as President Donald Trump’s second term began, though most people still had a more positive opinion of the U.S. than China. This year, that is no longer the case. 

Views of China have improved in recent years while opinions of the U.S. have worsened, to the point where China is now seen more positively than the U.S. in most of the 36 countries surveyed.

Confidence in these countries’ respective leaders to do the right thing regarding world affairs has followed a similar pattern. In the latter half of Joe Biden’s presidency, confidence in him was higher than confidence in Chinese President Xi Jinping across most countries surveyed, though Biden’s rating declined in many places from 2023 to 2024.

During the first two years of Trump’s second term, ratings of the U.S. president worsened significantly. While many people still lack confidence in Xi, positive views of him have become more widespread, and more overall now say they have confidence in Xi than in Trump.

One area where the U.S. still gets higher ratings than China has to do with personal freedoms: More say the U.S. government respects the personal freedoms of its people than say the same of the Chinese government. Still, the gap has been narrowing – driven by large drops in the shares saying the U.S. government respects personal freedoms.

As China and the U.S. compete for influence around the world, we also examined how people in six Latin American countries see their foreign policy roles. People in these nations previously tended to see the U.S. as a more reliable partner than China, but several publics are now split. For more, read “How do views of the U.S. and China compare in Latin America? ”

In the sections below, we compare international public opinion on the U.S. and China, their leaders, their foreign policy roles and more. Results are based on surveys of 42,151 adults conducted Feb. 8-May 13, 2026.

Views of the U.S. and China

In most of the 36 countries surveyed, more people have a favorable view of China than of the U.S. The gap is especially large in several Asia-Pacific and Middle Eastern countries.

Americans’ nearest neighbors – Canadians and Mexicans – also view China more positively than the U.S.

The U.S. is viewed more positively than China in just six countries, including four in the Asia-Pacific region: India, Japan, the Philippines and South Korea.

Views of the U.S. and China over time

China being assessed more positively than the U.S. is a relatively recent shift in most countries surveyed. This reversal in favorability is often driven by shifting views of both superpowers: improving views of China coupled with worsening views of the U.S.

For example, a majority of Canadians (57%) had a positive view of the U.S. in 2023, while 14% viewed China positively. In 2025, Canadians were equally favorable toward the U.S. and China. Now, more Canadians have a favorable view of China (44%) than the U.S. (33%).

We see the same pattern in a number of other countries.

Confidence in Trump and Xi

Confidence in both Trump and Xi is generally low. But people in many of the 36 countries surveyed view Xi more favorably.

In European countries, for example, neither leader gets a majority-positive rating, but views of Xi tend to be more favorable than views of Trump. In Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom, Xi leads Trump by double digits, though his highest favorability rating is just 37%, from the U.K.

In several nations that neighbor China – India, the Philippines and Japan – Trump receives higher ratings than Xi. While South Koreans now view the two leaders similarly, this reflects a dramatic shift from last year, when that public was around twice as confident in Trump (33%) as in Xi (15%).

More say the U.S. respects the freedoms of its people than China, but that gap is shrinking

For more than a decade, we have asked people if they think the U.S. and Chinese governments respect the personal freedoms of their people. Our data has consistently shown a gap, with people more likely to say the U.S. government respects its people’s freedoms than to say the same of the Chinese government.

But this gap is shrinking, driven largely by the fact that people in nearly every country surveyed have become less likely to say the U.S. government respects its people’s personal freedoms since we last asked this question in 2021.

In Sweden, for example, the percentage saying the U.S. respects personal freedoms has declined from 61% in 2021 to 27% today. There were similar drops of 25 percentage points or more in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, South Korea and Spain.

In many countries, this pairs with an increasing share who say China respects personal freedoms. For example, 11% of Australians hold this view, up 6 percentage points from 2021.

As a result, few now say that the U.S. and Chinese governments respect the personal freedoms of their people across the 36 countries surveyed this year. This is especially true in Europe and Latin America. In Mexico, for example, around a third (35%) say the Chinese government respects its people’s personal freedoms, while 20% say the same about the U.S. government. For more on how these views have changed in Latin America, see “How do views of the U.S. and China compare in Latin America?”

A few countries stand out for the difference they perceive between the U.S. and Chinese governments:

• 80% of Israelis say the U.S. respects the freedoms of its people, while just 15% say the same of China. Japan shows another sizable difference (61% vs. 6%).
• The gap is fairly large in the other direction in places including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where more say China respects personal freedoms than the U.S.

Views on how Chinese and U.S. foreign policy affect the world

Both Chinese and U.S. foreign policy have focused significantly on middle-income countries in recent years. China, for example, has close economic and security ties with Brazil and Peru, among other countries. And the 2025 U.S. National Security Strategy stressed the importance of countering China’s significant exports to Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

Given this dynamic, we asked additional questions about perceptions of American and Chinese foreign policy in the middle-income countries we surveyed – located across Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific.

People in 17 middle-income countries raise more concerns about the United States’ foreign policy than China’s. A median of 75% say that the U.S. interferes in the affairs of other countries a great deal or a fair amount, while 45% say the same of China. In nearly every country surveyed, more people see the U.S. as an interferer than China.

Similarly, people in many of these middle-income countries see China as a more reliable partner than the U.S. and are more likely to say China contributes to peace and stability around the world.

In South Africa, for example, 72% say China is a reliable partner to their country, while 46% say the same of the U.S. And South Africans are much more likely to say China (64%) accounts for the interests of countries like their own in making international policy decisions than they are to say the same of the U.S. (42%). Meanwhile, the share of South Africans saying China contributes to peace and stability around the world has increased from 47% in 2023 to 64% in 2026.

In some countries, views of China’s role in the world have not changed significantly over the last several years. But in Indonesia, the shares saying that the U.S. and China contribute to global peace and stability have both decreased since we last asked.

In several Latin American countries – Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Peru – similar shares describe the U.S. and China as reliable partners. The largest differences in perception of the two countries, in either direction, tend to be in the Asia-Pacific region. In Pakistan, for example, people are much more likely to say China is a reliable partner than the U.S. (84% vs. 36%). And in the Philippines, many more see the U.S. as a reliable partner than China (81% vs. 42%). (Newswire/ Pew Research Center)

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A former economic development official in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing was sentenced to death Monday for taking bribes worth $325 million over three decades.

Yang Youlin also was convicted of embezzlement, offering bribes, misappropriation of public funds, abuse of power and money laundering in one of the most dramatic corruption cases in recent years in terms of the sheer scale of the bribes involved.

He was investigated as part of President Xi Jinping’s long-running anti-corruption campaign that critics say has been used partly to remove Xi’s political rivals.

The bribes were paid to Yang in exchange for help with “undertaking projects, business operations, land grants and working capital,” the Changzhou Intermediate People’s Court said in a statement.

Yang “illegally accepted property and assets” worth more than 2.21 billion yuan ($325 million) from 1993 to 2023, the court said.

Yang delivered a final statement in court that “expressed his guilt and remorse,” the court in Jiangsu province said. In the photos released by the court, a gray-haired Yang is wearing a dark jacket and standing between two uniformed police officers. 

Public hearings for the case were held on two days in March and April, with more than 30 people attending, the court said.

It said Yang’s personal property would be seized and authorities would try to recover the full amount he received in bribes.

Yang was the latest official sentenced to death for corruption in recent years in China.

In 2021, Lai Xiaomin, a party secretary of a state-owned company, was sentenced to death and executed over crimes of accepting bribes, embezzlement and bigamy. In 2024, Li Jianping, a local official in Inner Mongolia, was executed after being found guilty of embezzlement and bribery. (AP)

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A self-exiled billionaire Chinese business tycoon once believed to be among China’s wealthiest men was sentenced on Monday (Jun 29) to 30 years in a US prison for a massive financial fraud that a federal judge said cost over 1,000 people worldwide hundreds of millions of dollars.

Guo Wengui, who fled China a decade ago and reinvented himself as a US-based Communist Party critic, was sentenced in a Manhattan courtroom packed with his supporters by Judge Analisa Torres. She said he “preyed on those seeking to bring democracy to China”, taking their money so he could live lavishly.

Before he was sentenced, Guo protested his treatment in jail, saying he was taken to the hospital early Monday. He disputed a prosecutor’s portrayal of him as a malingerer faking illness, saying he repeatedly vomited as he was returned to jail before being brought to court.

“When I came here, I said: ‘I have a tummy ache, I need to go to the bathroom, I don’t feel well,’” Guo said through an interpreter of his courthouse arrival. Later, Guo wiped his mouth repeatedly with a tissue.

He only briefly addressed the criminal case, defending his intentions by saying in reference to the Chinese Communist Party: “The reason I came to the US was to destroy the CCP.”

The judge, in sentencing him, read snippets of letters she received from victims who described losing their life savings and feeling severely anxious and shamed and having family members turn on them for their poor investment choice.

Torres said Guo “takes no responsibility for his actions and instead insists incredibly his conduct caused no loss and harmed no one”. She said he “has called upon supporters to harass and intimidate those who dare to speak out against him”.

The judge ordered Guo to forfeit US$889 million in restitution.

Wei Chen, a victim who testified at trial, told Torres that Guo’s fraud “destroyed my life” and that of her family.

As Guo left the courtroom after the sentencing, supporters applauded and shouted toward him.

Before his arrest and detention without bail three years ago, Guo grew so close to conservative political strategist Steve Bannon that they announced a joint initiative to overthrow the Chinese government in 2020. He lived in a luxury apartment overlooking Central Park and had joined President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Florida golf club. 

Prosecutors had requested he serve at least 30 years in prison, saying his “astonishing” fraud from 2018 to 2023 “destroyed hundreds of lives” and left “a wreckage of victims and families who have been devastated financially, emotionally, and psychologically”.

Prosecutors said in court papers that his ill-gotten riches fueled “a lifestyle of extraordinary excess and indulgence, a gilded life of mansions, yachts, race cars, designer clothes and luxury furnishings”.

Guo was convicted of nine of 12 criminal charges during a seven-week trial that prosecutors said showcased his deception of thousands of investors in bogus deals that enabled Guo’s lavish lifestyle.

In a court filing, Guo’s lawyers wrote that he was the victim of the Chinese Communist Party’s “grand, pervasive, and life-threatening” pursuit of him. They alleged that the party recruited elites in US business, entertainment and politics to conspire against him.

They said in presentence court papers that a lengthy prison term would only validate China’s smear campaign and “embolden further efforts to eliminate Chinese dissidents from public life” while defendants in similar cases received prison terms of two to four years.

The lawyers noted that a court probation officer wrote to the sentencing judge that Guo, also known as Miles Guo and Ho Wan Kwok, had scars and disfigurements from physical torture he endured in China and subsequent surgeries he underwent from 1993 to 2022 to repair the injuries.

Defence lawyers said Guo’s wealth grew as his family became the largest shareholder of China’s largest publicly traded securities company, but he became a target of Chinese government officials as he exposed them as corrupt. Eventually, the lawyers wrote, Guo moved to Hong Kong, London and then New York in 2017.

Chinese authorities accused him of rape, kidnapping, bribery and other crimes, but Guo said those allegations were false.

Prosecutors say Guo convinced hundreds of thousands of people to invest more than US$1 billion, total, in entities he controlled, including his media company, GTV Media Group Inc., and his so-called Himalaya Farm Alliance and the Himalaya Exchange.

Guo, the government alleged in presentence court papers, was “entirely unrepentant” for his crimes after he took advantage of lax US asylum laws to flourish in America. (CNA, AP)

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A Sri Lankan Parliamentary delegation returned to Colombo last week (05) after successfully completing a workshop in the People’s Republic of China, focused on governance, development, and parliamentary diplomacy.

Led by Deputy Minister of Mass Media Kaushalya Ariyarathna, the delegation participated in the programme organized by the International Cooperation Center of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) from 26 May to 04 June 2026.

During the visit, members attended sessions conducted by senior Chinese academics, researchers, and officials on China’s governance framework, development strategy, democratic consultation mechanisms, and national policy direction.

The delegation also visited key national institutions, including the National People’s Congress Conference Hall and the Great Hall of the People, and joined a reception hosted by the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Beijing on 29 May to mark International Tea Day, showcasing Sri Lanka’s tea heritage.

The programme continued in Shenzhen and Guangzhou, where the delegation observed projects in smart infrastructure, advanced technology, communications, agriculture, and new energy industries.

According to a Parliament statement, the workshop provided a valuable platform for parliamentary diplomacy, institutional exchange, and knowledge‑sharing, further strengthening the longstanding friendly relations between Sri Lanka and China. (Newswire)

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Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development Wasantha Samarasinghe held a highly productive bilateral discussion with Wang Yubo, Governor of Yunnan Province, China, focusing on strengthening Sri Lanka–China trade and investment relations. 

According to the Ministry of Trade, the talks centered on strengthening bilateral trade relations and expanding cooperation across key sectors.

The discussion focused on Sri Lanka’s presence at the 10th South Asian Expo, which has grown significantly, with around 100 companies showcasing Ceylon tea, gems, spices, and apparel, underscoring the country’s export potential.

Both sides further discussed studying Yunnan’s specialized trade facilitation programmes, with the aim of adapting them to benefit Sri Lankan exporters and enhance their competitiveness.

Governor Wang reaffirmed Yunnan’s strong commitment to supporting Sri Lanka’s trade expansion and capacity‑building initiatives.

The meeting concluded with an agreement to further deepen business‑to‑business (B2B) ties and strengthen investment cooperation, paving the way for enhanced economic engagement between Sri Lanka and China. (Newswire)

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, addressing an event marking the International Day for Dialogue among Civilizations via video on Monday, urged nations to strengthen understanding and mutual trust through dialogue, stressing the need for unity and consensus in the face of global challenges.

He outlined a four‑pronged approach proposed by China to advance inter‑civilization dialogue, emphasizing mutual respect and inclusiveness, people‑oriented exchanges to foster friendship, inheritance and innovation of traditional cultures empowered by technology, and improved mechanisms for dialogue through platforms such as the UN Alliance of Civilizations and UNESCO.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, called on all sides to promote unity and seek consensus through exchanges, and continuously consolidate the popular and cultural foundation for building a community with a shared future for humanity in the face of unprecedented challenges.

Wang highlighted that China proposes a four-pronged approach to promoting dialogue among civilizations.

He said, firstly, that all sides should adhere to mutual respect and promote harmonious coexistence among different civilizations, calling for championing equality, mutual learning, dialogue and inclusiveness among civilizations.

Secondly, all sides should abide by a people-oriented approach and lay a solid foundation for exchanges among civilizations, Wang said, adding that efforts should be made to promote mutual understanding and friendship among people of all countries and ensure that the fruits of mutual learning among civilizations benefit the people more extensively and directly.

China is willing to enhance dialogue among civilizations with all countries and deepen exchanges of experience in state governance, in order to jointly solve the problems of the times and work together to broaden the path of world modernization, Wang added.

Thirdly, Wang called for endeavors in inheritance and innovation of traditional culture to enhance the driving force of civilization and progress, noting that China will assist all countries in achieving creative transformation and innovative development of their outstanding traditional cultures.

He also appealed for fully exploiting technological dividends such as artificial intelligence and social media, to empower exchanges, mutual learning, inheritance and innovation among civilizations, and promote the common prosperity of human civilization.

Fourthly, Wang said all sides should adhere to exchanges and mutual learning and improve the mechanism for dialogue among civilizations.

China supports further leveraging platforms including the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the Forum of Ancient Civilizations to enable them to play an important role in inter-civilization dialogue, he added. (Newswire)

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Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in North Korea on Monday, China’s state media reported, for a two-day state visit that marks his first trip to Pyongyang in nearly seven years as Beijing looks to reinforce ties with its traditional ally that has increasingly been growing intimate with Russia.

Xi landed in Pyongyang earlier in the day at the invitation of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, China’s Xinhua News Agency reported. He was accompanied by his wife, Peng Liyuan, Cai Qi, director of the general office of the Communist Party’s central committee, and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

News footage aired by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV showed Kim and his wife, Ri Sol-ju, personally welcoming Xi and Peng at the airport in Pyongyang.

The two leaders shook hands after Xi descended from the aircraft, while North Korean children presented bouquets to the Chinese president and his wife.

A red carpet had been laid out at the airport ahead of Xi’s arrival, and large national flags of North Korea and China were displayed on the terminal building.

According to Xinhua News Agency, Xi attended a welcome ceremony held at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang.

Talks are expected to follow later in the day and are widely expected to cover economic ties and Korean Peninsula issues, as well as ways to coordinate among Pyongyang, Beijing and Moscow.

Across Pyongyang, portraits of Xi and flags of both nations lined the streets in preparation for the visit, according to Chinese media reports. Banners in Korean and Chinese celebrating the two countries’ traditional friendship were also on display throughout the capital.

In a separate dispatch, China’s Xinhua News Agency unveiled footage of a group of reporters travelling to Pyongyang from Dandong in China’s Liaoning Province on a train that resumed service earlier in the year.

Xi last travelled to Pyongyang on June 20-21, 2019, his first state visit to Pyongyang since taking office in late 2012.

The two leaders most recently met in September, when Kim travelled to Beijing for China’s Victory Day celebrations, standing alongside Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a military parade.

Kim has made five trips to Beijing to meet Xi since coming to power after the death of his father, Kim Jong-il, in December 2011.

Xi’s upcoming North Korea trip carries symbolic weight. This year marks the 65th anniversary of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance between Pyongyang and Beijing, giving both sides added reasons to reaffirm their alliance and deepen economic ties.

The occasion also comes amid growing ties between Pyongyang and Moscow. Last month, North Korean troops marched for the first time alongside Russian forces in Moscow’s Victory Day parade, which commemorates the Soviet Union’s victory over Germany in World War II.

Pyongyang, meanwhile, has made no effort to soften its military posture ahead of Xi’s arrival.

On Sunday, Kim’s sister Kim Yo-Jong declared the country’s nuclear status absolutely irreversible, calling it a “line of no retreat.”

Last week, the North Korean leader inspected what Pyongyang described as a newly launched nuclear materials production facility, vowing to exponentially expand the country’s arsenal. Kim also watched a naval destroyer’s navigation test and called for strengthening the country’s nuclear deterrent.

For Beijing, the visit could serve as a chance to reaffirm its influence over the Korean Peninsula. It follows Xi’s separate summits with U.S. President Donald Trump and Putin in Beijing last month, and his attendance at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea in October.

Against this backdrop, Xi is expected to arrive in Pyongyang with a clearer picture of where the major powers stand on Korean Peninsula affairs, offering a potential opening to restart the stalled diplomacy among Pyongyang, Washington and Seoul. (Korea Times/ Yonhap)

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China and Sri Lanka have intensified joint law enforcement efforts to combat cross‑border online gambling and telecom fraud, crimes that authorities warn are increasingly spreading across Asia and beyond.

The Chinese Embassy in Colombo said both countries are working closely to dismantle scam centers and fraud networks that have relocated to Sri Lanka from other parts of Southeast Asia. The Embassy noted that such operations often intertwine with human trafficking and other serious crimes, posing grave risks to public security and social stability.

China’s position on cross‑border gambling remains firm: Chinese capital is prohibited from investing in overseas casinos, citizens are barred from operating them, and foreign casinos are forbidden from soliciting Chinese nationals. The Embassy stressed that gambling “almost invariably leads to financial ruin,” with tens of thousands of Chinese citizens suffering losses and harm. Recent amendments to China’s Criminal Law have criminalized cross‑border gambling activities.

The Embassy pointed out that Sri Lankan authorities have carried out multiple raids in recent months, dismantling gambling and fraud dens and arresting suspects from several countries. Several Chinese nationals involved in fraud‑related crimes have been handed over to Chinese authorities, producing what officials described as a strong deterrent effect.

The Chinese Embassy praised the efforts of Sri Lanka’s ministries of Foreign Affairs, Finance, and Public Security, particularly immigration and police officials, for their cooperation. It warned that without firm and immediate measures, the spread of illegal gambling and fraud could damage Sri Lanka’s international image, undermine social stability, and harm the safety and security of its people.

China has already conducted similar law enforcement cooperation with countries including Spain, the UAE, Myanmar, and Cambodia, leading to arrests and repatriations of overseas fraud suspects. It has also proposed the creation of an international alliance against telecom and online fraud to coordinate global efforts, it said. 

Going forward, China pledged to actively implement the Global Security Initiative and Global Civilization Initiative, while continuing to deepen law enforcement and security cooperation with Sri Lanka. 

The Embassy said these efforts aim to safeguard lives and property, protect financial security, and build a “clean, safe, and beautiful Sri Lanka,” while contributing to a new global framework for combating transnational crime. (Newswire)

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Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit North Korea on Jun 8 and 9, state news agency Xinhua said on Friday (Jun 5), in his first overseas trip of the year.

“At the invitation of Kim Jong Un … Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee and President of the People’s Republic of China, will pay a state visit to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea from June 8 to 9,” Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said.

Xi’s visit follows his recent meetings in Beijing with both United States President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in May.

Confirmation of his trip comes after the prospect had surfaced in recent weeks, following media reports and sightings of a Chinese delegation in Pyongyang.

Analysts previously told CNA that Xi’s visit to Pyongyang would signal Beijing’s intent to recalibrate influence over North Korea and the wider Korean Peninsula.

Xi last visited North Korea in 2019, where he met with North Korean leader Kim and received full military honours.

Meanwhile, Kim visited China last September to attend a military parade that marked the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. He met with Xi during the visit. (CNA)

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Food sellers on Chinese delivery platforms must have physical shopfronts and indicate if they do not offer dine-in services under new rules unveiled on June 1 to stamp out “ghost” takeout merchants.

Fierce competition among food delivery apps has led to the spread of “ghost” merchants that lack dine-in premises and are accused of unsanitary conditions and bypassing food safety regulations while posing as regular restaurants online.

They often operate out of residential buildings and use rented business licenses or fake details to get listed on the delivery platforms.

The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) fined seven major e-commerce platforms a total of 3.6 billion yuan ($679.6 million) in April for violations mostly related to ghost deliveries.

The new regulations compel delivery platforms to review their listed merchants at least once every six months to ensure they are legitimate and have the correct business licenses, shifting more onus for food safety onto the apps.

Merchants on food delivery platforms must now have physical shopfronts and label themselves if they do not offer dine-in services, according to the SAMR’s new rules.

Platforms will now also face fines of between one and 10 times their annual revenue for violations if they involve the platform’s leadership, were deliberate, and are judged to be serious. 

Merchants, on the other hand, face maximum penalties of 200,000 yuan if they flout the rules.

Some merchants, labelled “transparent kitchens” on the platforms, have begun offering live broadcasts from their premises to allay consumer fears about food preparation conditions.

Taobao, which operates one of China’s largest food delivery platforms, will boost the in-app visibility of merchants that implement “transparent kitchens”, a representative for the platform told communist party media outlet Guangming Daily on June 1.

“Food delivery platforms… cannot simply collect commission without taking responsibility, and cannot only focus on traffic while neglecting quality,” the SAMR’s Director of Food Safety, Sun Huichuan, was quoted on June 1 as saying by state news agency Xinhua.

“Food delivery platforms must truly assume the primary responsibility of being ‘gatekeepers’ of food safety in the food delivery industry,” Sun said. (Straits Times/ AFP)

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Sri Lanka Customs officers at Katunayake Airport (BIA) have intercepted 14 Chinese nationals attempting to smuggle foreign cigarettes valued at Rs. 20,730,000 into the country.

The suspects, all identified as business employees, arrived at 1:30 am today (28) and were stopped at the Green Channel arrival terminal during a targeted inspection.

A thorough examination of their baggage revealed 691 cartons of foreign cigarettes (138,200 sticks) concealed inside 14 pieces of luggage.

Customs officials confirmed that the contraband has been forfeited under existing regulations, and further investigations are underway. (Newswire)

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China launched its Shenzhou-23 mission on Sunday (May 24), which will see a Chinese astronaut spend a full year in orbit for the first time, a crucial step in Beijing’s ambition to send humans to the Moon by 2030.

The Long March 2-F rocket blasted off in a cloud of flames and smoke on time at 11.08 pm from the Jiuquan launch centre in China’s northwestern Gobi Desert, video from state broadcaster CCTV showed.

The spacecraft separated from the rocket around 10 minutes later and entered orbit, the Chinese space agency (CMSA) said on social media.

“The astronauts are in good condition, and the launch has been a complete success,” it added.

Payload specialist Li Jiaying, a former Hong Kong police inspector, will be the first astronaut from the city to take part in a Chinese space mission. 

The other crew members are commander Zhu Yangzhu and pilot Zhang Yuanzhi, both from the People’s Liberation Army’s astronaut division. 

CHINA, US SET SIGHTS ON MOON

One of the three is to stay on the Tiangong space station for a year, one of the longest space missions ever, but short of the 14-1/2 month record set by a Russian cosmonaut in 1995. That astronaut will be decided later, depending on the progress of the mission, the China Manned Space Agency said on Saturday.

China has sent astronauts to its space station almost a dozen times, but this launch comes amid an accelerating race to the moon with the US, which has warned about what it alleges are Beijing’s plans to colonise and mine lunar territory and resources.

Beijing has strongly rejected these claims.

NASA is seeking to achieve a crewed moon landing in 2028, two years ahead of China. The US aims to establish a long-term lunar presence as a stepping stone to eventual human exploration of Mars.

In April, four NASA astronauts made a historic trip around the moon as part of the Artemis II mission, flying farther from Earth than anyone before in the world’s first crewed lunar mission in half a century.

On Friday, Elon Musk’s SpaceX made a largely successful, uncrewed test flight of its next-generation Starship rocket, which is designed to enable more frequent Starlink satellite launches and to send future NASA missions to the moon.

China, with less than four years until its 2030 deadline, faces a tall order of developing entirely new hardware and software specific to its lunar mission, proving it is mission-ready. That will ensure its astronauts, used to the relative safety of Tiangong in low-Earth orbit, can safely make the riskier transition to the moon’s surface.

China’s Shenzhou missions have been sending trios of astronauts to the station for six-month stays since 2021. The Chinese space agency is training two Pakistani astronauts, one of whom could join an expected mission to Tiangong this year on a short-duration basis.

GOAL OF PERMANENT LUNAR BASE BY 2035

The previous mission, Shenzhou-22, was launched ahead of schedule in November to return three Chinese astronauts to Earth after their Shenzhou-20 vessel was damaged by space debris in orbit.

China has only sent robots to the moon, but its successive Shenzhou missions highlight the country’s rapidly improving space capabilities. In June 2024, China became the first country to recover lunar samples from the moon’s far side, using robots.

A successful crewed landing before 2030 would boost China’s plans to establish a permanent base on the moon by 2035 with Russia.

The Chinese lunar programme’s chief scientist, Wu Weiren, has said Beijing’s public timeline is intentionally conservative.

Over the past year, Beijing has been carrying out safety tests of hardware developed for the 2030 mission, including heavy-lift Long March-10 rockets, the Mengzhou spacecraft and the Lanyue lunar lander.

The Shenzhou-23 flight will execute the first autonomous rapid rendezvous and docking procedure with the core module of Tiangong in preparation for the 2030 mission, which hinges on an automated lunar-orbit rendezvous between the Mengzhou capsule and the Lanyue lander.

Scientists will also study the physiological effects of radiation exposure, bone density loss and psychological stress in space for the extended duration of the Shenzhou-23 mission.

Beijing is conducting the world’s first human “artificial embryo” experiment in space, having sent samples of human stem cells to the Shenzhou-22 crew on the Tiangong this month, state media reported. The experiment is intended to study the long-term residence, survival and reproduction of human beings in space. (CNA)

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A meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin has started in Beijing, Chinese state media report.

Xi welcomed Putin to the Chinese capital on Wednesday, shaking hands with the Russian leader outside the Great Hall of the People before their talks, video by Russian media showed.

Before entering the Great Hall, Putin and Xi walked down a red carpet, rolled out to greet the Russian leader, and stood as a military band played both their countries’ national anthems.

Putin began the talks by hailing the “strong, positive” momentum in cooperation between Russia and China, according to Russian media.

“Even amid unfavourable external factors, our cooperation and economic cooperation is showing strong, positive momentum,” Putin told Xi.

Addressing Putin, Xi lauded the “unyielding relationship” between China and Russia.

“We have been able to continuously deepen our political mutual trust and strategic coordination with a resilience that remains unyielding despite trials and tribulations,” Xi told Putin, according to China’s Xinhua news agency.

The Chinese leader also addressed the US-Israel war on Iran, telling his Russian counterpart that further conflict was “inadvisable” and a ceasefire was necessary.

“A comprehensive ceasefire is of utmost urgency, resuming hostilities is even more inadvisable and maintaining negotiations is particularly important,” Xi said, according to Xinhua.

In a video address released before meeting Xi, Putin said Russia and China were prepared to cooperate with each other on the “core interests ‌of ⁠the two countries, including the protection of sovereignty and national unity”, the Reuters news agency reports.

Both countries are actively expanding ⁠ties in economy, politics and defence, Putin said, adding that “a close” and “strategic” connection between Moscow and Beijing ⁠was playing “a stabilising role” in global relations.

“We are not aligning against anyone, but working ⁠for the cause of peace and universal prosperity,” Putin said.

Putin is being accompanied by a large delegation of Russian businesspeople and government leaders, and the Kremlin has announced that the two leaders will sign some 40 different agreements, covering everything from the economy and tourism to education. (Al Jazeera)

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Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping wrapped up critical talks on Friday, claiming important progress in stabilising US-China relations even as deep differences persist between the world’s two biggest powers. 

Xi welcomed Trump at his official residence, Zhongnanhai, on Friday for the final talks of the summit before the US leader returned to Washington.

Over tea and lunch, Trump and Xi, with top aides and translators in attendance, huddled for nearly three hours of talks before the US leader completed his three-day visit to China.

“It’s been really a great couple of days,” Trump told reporters as he sat with Xi before the start of their meeting with aides.

Xi, for his part, called it a “milestone” visit.

“We have established a new bilateral relationship, or rather a constructive, strategic, stable relationship,” he said.

Trump said he had made “fantastic trade deals” with Xi but gave no further details.

“Hopefully our relationship with China will be stronger and better than ever before,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding that Xi had congratulated him “on so many tremendous successes in such a short period of time”.

The talks have yet to deliver any major economic breakthroughs, with Trump primarily focused on securing deals in the agriculture, aviation and artificial intelligence sectors.

The summit, so far, has mainly been aimed at stabilising the relationship between the US and China and maintaining a fragile truce agreed on at the end of last year.

In October, Washington agreed to lower tariffs on all Chinese goods, while Beijing agreed to pause its restrictions on rare earths exports.

Besides trade, the two leaders did seem to make some progress on the topic of the Iran war.

Xi told Trump that Beijing wants to help negotiate an end to the war and reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. China’s heavy reliance on Iranian oil could help it influence Tehran into making a deal with Washington.

According to the White House, “the two sides agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open to support the free flow of energy”.

Trump added that China reassured it would not provide Iran with military equipment.

Meanwhile, Taiwan has emerged as one of the most divisive topics on the agenda, with Xi warning the US that disagreements over the self-governed island—which China claims as its own—could lead to clashes or conflict.

In December, Washington approved an $11 billion arms package to Taiwan, which it has not yet moved forward with delivering.

On Thursday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned it would be a “terrible mistake” for China to take Taiwan by force. (Euronews)

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Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with visiting U.S. President Donald Trump at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday.

Transformation not seen in a century is accelerating across the globe, and the international situation is fluid and turbulent, said Xi.

“Can China and the United States overcome the Thucydides Trap and create a new paradigm of major-country relations? Can we meet global challenges together and provide greater stability for the world? Can we build a bright future together for our bilateral relations in the interest of the well-being of the two peoples and the future of humanity? These are the questions vital to history, to the world and to the people,” said Xi.

They are the questions of the times that the leaders of major countries need to answer together, he added.

“I look forward to working together with you to set the course and steer the giant ship of China-U.S. relations, so as to make 2026 a historic, landmark year that opens up a new chapter in China-U.S. relations,” he said.

“I have agreed with President Trump on a new vision of building a constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability,” Xi said.

The new vision will provide strategic guidance for bilateral relations over the next three years and beyond, and should be welcomed by the people of both countries as well as the international community, he said.

The “constructive strategic stability” should be a positive stability with cooperation as the mainstay, a sound stability with moderate competition, a constant stability with manageable differences, and an enduring stability with promises of peace, Xi said.

The building of a constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability should not be a mere slogan, but concrete action taken by both sides toward the same goal, he added.

China-U.S. economic ties are mutually beneficial and win-win in nature, said Xi. “Where disagreements and frictions exist, equal-footed consultation is the only right choice,” he said.

Xi revealed that the economic and trade teams of the two countries produced “generally balanced and positive outcomes” in the latest round of bilateral trade talks on Wednesday.

“This is good news for the people of the two countries and the world,” he said, calling on the two sides to sustain the good momentum that they have worked hard to create.

Noting that China will only open its door wider, Xi said American companies are deeply involved in China’s reform and opening up, and the U.S. side is welcome to enhance mutually beneficial cooperation.

“The two sides should implement the important consensus we have reached, and make better use of communication channels in the political, diplomatic and military-to-military fields,” Xi said.

The two countries should also expand exchanges and cooperation in areas such as the economy and trade, health, agriculture, tourism, people-to-people ties and law enforcement, he added.

Regarding the Taiwan question, Xi stressed that it is the most important issue in China-U.S. relations.

If it is handled properly, the bilateral relationship will enjoy overall stability. 

Otherwise, the two countries will have clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy, Xi said, urging the U.S. side to exercise extra caution in handling the Taiwan question.

Safeguarding cross-Strait peace and stability is the biggest common denominator between China and the United States, Xi said, emphasizing that “Taiwan independence” and cross-Strait peace are as irreconcilable as fire and water.

Trump said it was a great honor to pay a state visit to China, calling Xi a great leader and China a great country. “I have tremendous respect for President Xi and the Chinese people,” Trump said.

Trump expressed his willingness to work with Xi to strengthen communication and cooperation, properly handle differences, make bilateral relations better than ever before and embrace a fantastic future.

The United States and China are the most important and most powerful countries in the world, and the two presidents can “do a lot of big and good things for the two countries and the world,” he said.

Trump encouraged representatives of the U.S. business community to expand cooperation with China.

The two presidents exchanged views on major international and regional issues, such as the Middle East situation, the Ukraine crisis, and the Korean Peninsula.

They also agreed to support each other in hosting a successful APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting and G20 Summit this year. (Xinhua)

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Forty‑nine Chinese and Malaysian nationals arrested in Colpetty for staying without valid visa permits, were remanded until May 15 by the Fort Magistrate’s Court yesterday (13).

The group was taken into custody by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) during a raid in the Colpetty area recently.

The Police said the individuals had entered Sri Lanka from Cambodia on tourist visas but were found residing without proper authorization.

Following their court appearance, the suspects were remanded. (Newswire)

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US President Donald Trump told Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday that the two nations would have a “fantastic future together”.

“It’s an honour to be with you. It’s an honour to be your friend, and the relationship between China and the USA is going to be better than ever before,” Trump told Xi as they met for talks in Beijing.

Xi, on his end, told Trump that the two superpowers should be “partners and not rivals”.

“A stable China-US relationship is a boon for the world. Cooperation benefits both sides, while confrontation harms both. We should be partners and not rivals,” Xi said.

Trump was greeted by Xi on the red carpet at the Great Hall of the People, where the two shook hands and a grand reception took place. 

A Chinese military band played the two national anthems as cannons fired, before the two leaders walked past a row of military honour guards and children waving flowers and small American and Chinese flags, chanting “welcome, welcome”.

Xi also shook the hands of several other US officials, including US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

After the ceremonial welcome, the two leaders entered the Great Hall of the People to begin bilateral talks.

Trump arrived in Beijing for a two-day summit, where the two nations are expected to discuss their fragile trade relationship, the Iran war and Taiwan.

Topics of trade, the Iran war and Taiwan are on top of the agenda

The president is seeking to sign deals with China to buy more agricultural products and aircraft, saying he’ll be talking with Xi about trade “more than anything else”.

Trump’s trade war with Beijing has sent US-China trade into a freefall and forced companies on both sides of the Pacific to regroup.

The US leader also said he would have a “long talk” with Xi about Iran, which sells most of its US-sanctioned oil to China. Trump is expected to encourage China to push Tehran to make a deal with Washington, even though the US leader insisted that he doesn’t think the US “needs any help with Iran” from Beijing.

Meanwhile, Xi is expected to bring up Washington’s decision to sell weapons to Taiwan, a self-governed island that China claims as its own and says must come under its control.

In December, the US announced large-scale arms sales to Taiwan, valued at more than $10 billion (€8.6 billion), but it has not yet moved forward with the delivery.

Trump and Xi are trying to stabilise their relationship during their meeting in Beijing, which lasts from the 13th to the 15th of May.

The visit to Beijing marks the first by a US president since 2017, when Trump last visited along with his wife Melania Trump, who did not accompany Trump this time.

The US leader was also accompanied by several top CEO’s on his state visit, including Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, Tesla’s Elon Musk, Tim Cook of Apple, as well as other executives from Meta, Visa, JPMorgan Chase, Boeing, Cargill, and more.

Also on the agenda is a visit to the historic Temple of Heaven, a World Heritage site where China’s emperors once prayed for good harvest, and a state banquet at the hall in the evening. (Euronews)

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US President Donald Trump has just landed in Beijing, China, for two days of high-stakes talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

President Trump landed to an arrival ceremony replete with the pomp and pageantry the US president is known to appreciate.

In a show of the importance of the trip, China’s leader Xi Jinping has dispatched a high-level official to lead the welcome delegation — Chinese Vice President Han Zheng.

Han is widely seen as Xi’s envoy for diplomatic events and last year attended Trump’s presidential inauguration. He is a retired member of the Politburo Standing Committee, the Chinese Communist Party’s top-most decision making body.

Other officials on the ground include US Ambassador to China David Perdue, his counterpart Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng, and China’s executive vice minister of foreign affairs, Ma Zhaoxu, according to the White House.

The US president will also be met by 300 Chinese youth in matching blue and white uniforms who marched along the tarmac holding Chinese flags, along with a military honor guard and a military band.

Xi will formally welcome Trump on Thursday morning local time. (CNN)

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