The city of Qingdao in East China's Shandong Province, where 12 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in a latest outbreak, announced that it received over 4.47 million passenger trips during the National Day holidays in early October, prompting concerns of epidemic spread, but locals and experts assured the public that the risk of wider spread of infections is low.

The outbreak in Qingdao has a certain risk of spreading, public health experts reached by the Global Times warned, as a large number of tourists had been to the tourist city during the holidays, but the scope of spread should be limited and confined to people who had connection with the Qingdao Chest Hospital.

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.

Green consumption is becoming a new trend in China as more and more Chinese people advocate the new consumption philosophy featuring environmental-friendly, low-carbon, healthy and safe consumption.

New energy vehicles, and household supplies, such as energy-efficient light bulbs and water conserving toilets, are increasingly popular among Chinese consumers. Meanwhile, the Chinese people tend to order smaller-portion dishes in restaurants and try not to use disposable tableware.

China had administered nearly 82.85 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine as of Tuesday as it prepares a campaign to vaccinate its entire population, the State Council's Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism said on Wednesday.

More than 100 million doses of domestically made vaccine have been delivered in China and overseas, and they have proved safe and effective, it added.

Nearly 235.98 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered across China as of Tuesday, the National Health Commission said Wednesday.

As China accelerates its vaccination pace, the Global Times found that six cities - Beijing, four cities in South China's Hainan Province, and Dalian in Northeast China's Liaoning Province - have a first-dose coverage rate above 80 percent, touching the threshold for herd immunity. In Southwest China's Yunnan Province, 25 land border ports have also achieved the goal.

Fresh data for Shanghai, and some major cities in South China's Guangdong and Central China's Hubei provinces, show first-dose vaccination rates close to or exceeding 70 percent. They are soon to reach herd immunity when people get their second doses as scheduled, observers said on Wednesday.