The decision of the National People's Congress (NPC), the top legislature of China, to improve the electoral system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) has won wide support from the 1.4 billion Chinese people, including Hong Kong compatriots.

However, a very few countries in the west recently issued statements to smear the NPC decision, which trampled on international laws and basic norms governing international relations and came as blatant interference in China's internal affairs.

China is ringing in the Year of the Ox, a new beginning of great significance for both the Chinese people and the Communist Party of China (CPC) that has led the whole nation to overcome many challenges, including COVID-19. The new year will also be defined by the "three cattle spirit."

The term first appeared in Chinese President Xi Jinping's speech at a New Year's gathering late last December held in Beijing by the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. It was later repeated in his Spring Festival greetings to all Chinese on behalf of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Wednesday.

The ancient Huang Ju Irrigation Project, located in southeast China's Fujian province, has started to supply water once again, having been put into operations in early May.

The project, with a history of more than 1,400 years, was named after its designer Huang Ju, an official of the Sui Dynasty (581-618). The system comprises two canals and could provide water to a total land area of more than 20,000 mu (1,333 hectares) when it was first put into practical use in ancient China. It was the most advanced irrigation project constructed during the Sui Dynasty.

Fun cultural phenomena during the pandemic: unbearable imps, humble brags and the young Tibetan star

During the first months of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced people to stay indoors as much as possible. In certain cities which were recognized by health authorities as high-risk areas, quarantine and home-isolation were imposed on citizens to avoid unnecessary contact.

Fly to the Moon: China’s lunar probe and tech advancement during the pandemic

For centuries, Chinese people have been making endless efforts to explore the secrets of the moon. For the past few decades, China has designed and developed many satellites and spaceships for exploring the moon, but it is in December, when China’s Chang’e-5 probe retrieved 1,731 g of lunar soil and rock samples to earth, that has caught the world’s attention. It was China’s first sample-return mission and the first lunar sample-return mission since the former Soviet Union’s Luna 24 in 1976. By completing the mission, China became the third country to successfully obtain samples returned from the moon after the United States and the former Soviet Union.

Complete mission impossible: elimination of extreme poverty & building a moderately prosperous society in all respects

In the face of compounded challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, a teetering global economy and other dire planetary, such as climate changes, have raised a question to the Chinese authorities: can the country keep its promise to eradicate extreme poverty by the end of 2020?

Chinese people are about to usher in the Year of the Ox, starting from Feb. 12, 2021, and lasting until Jan. 31, 2022. Why is 2021 the year of the Ox? What does the ox mean for Chinese people? And what is the spirit of the ox? Keep reading below to find the answers.

The Ox and Twelve Chinese Zodiacs

As an essential part of Chinese folk culture, the Twelve Chinese Zodiacs, a classification system based on the Chinese lunar calendar, assigns an animal and its reputed attributes to each year in a repeating 12-year cycle. These twelve animal signs are the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig.

 Opening a book decorated with simple pictures and written in the Tibetan language, Tatse introduces his latest work to readers.

"This book is called 'My First Tibetan Alphabet Book,' and it teaches children the Tibetan language through pictures," said Tatse, 33.

The municipal government of Beijing plans to invest about 1 billion yuan (around 153 million U.S. dollars) in funds this year to help improve education in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Benign interactions between China and the U.S. in climate governance are highly anticipated as humanity is faced with mounting global climate change challenges and climate governance has entered a crucial stage.

Climate change concerns the welfare of people around the world and mankind’s future. Various parties need to jointly address the issue with ambition and determination.

A 7.6-kilometer-long elevated bicycle path in Xiamen, east China’s Fujian province, has brought great convenience to commuters while witnessing the city’s endeavors to promote green and low-carbon means of transport.

Lai Tingsi, a citizen in Huli district of Xiamen, is one of the commuters who have benefited a lot from the bikeway. The bikeway is also China’s first bicycle path built in the air and the longest elevated bike lane in the world.

Lai lives three kilometers away from where she works. Although the commute to work may not be long, it still distressed her.

Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven richest countries are finally having their first in-person meeting in two years in London, and apparently U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will not miss out on this opportunity to peddle his "China threat" conspiracy.

According to media reports, ministers from those like-minded countries joined a Tuesday morning session dedicated entirely to China, during which, with apparent maneuvering and guidance from the United States, they concluded by accusing China of being "coercive."

 China's film authorities will continue to crack down on film copyright infringement to maintain the sound development of the film industry, said a statement issued on the website of the China Film Administration (CFA) on Wednesday.

The statement was released in response to the recent rise in copyright-infringing short videos, such as those featuring synopses of films.

China has issued its first batch of forest carbon credit stamps in Sanming City, east China's Fujian Province, in a move to use market mechanisms to reduce carbon emissions.

Forest carbon credits are permits for companies to emit a certain amount of carbon dioxide. They are converted from added forest areas and the amount of carbon they can capture. The first five stamps issued on Tuesday in Sanming offer forest owners credits for 29,715 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

Foreign ministers of China, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh on Tuesday agreed to deepen cooperation as South Asian countries are facing a new wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosted a video conference with his five counterparts, discussing efforts to consolidate anti-coronavirus cooperation including vaccine supply, to boost post-epidemic economic recovery, and to maintain sound international environment for the development of all countries.

The State Council Information Office held a news conference on the outcome of the seventh national population census on Tuesday. Here are the highlights:

 - Chinese mainland registers a population of 1.41 billion, with an annual growth rate of 0.53 percent in the past decade, down from 0.57 percent recorded from 2000 to 2010.

China has seen a surge in interest among young consumers in domestic brands and products that incorporate traditional Chinese style and culture over the past few years, according to an industrial report.

Chinese people's interest in domestic products soared by 528 percent compared with 10 years ago, said a report jointly released by Internet giant Baidu and an institute under People.cn.

China's monthly box office revenue hit a record of 12.2 billion yuan (1.88 billion U.S. dollars) in February, marking the highest-grossing month the country has ever seen.

The figure surpassed the previous monthly record of 11.16 billion yuan for February 2019.

-- Although there is yet a clear definition, experts believe that industries of the future share the features of boasting leading-edge technologies and the prospect of explosive growth.

-- In the coming 15 years, China will implement a number of forward-looking and strategic major national science and technology projects in the frontline fields of artificial intelligence, quantum information, integrated circuits, life and health, brain science, breeding, aerospace science and technology, and deep Earth and ocean exploration.

-- The development of future industries will accelerate China's transformation to an intelligent economy and the country's evolution to high-quality growth, ushering in the next long boom cycle, experts said

China has been making continuous efforts to protect copyrights for online literature, including introducing a revised copyright law and increasing the awareness of industry players toward copyright protections.

Last year, China's top legislature adopted the latest amendment to the country's copyright law, which will come into force on June 1, 2021, and is expected to ensure the better protection of online literature copyrights.