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Over 10 million students graduate from Chinese universities every year, straining an already crowded labour market. Yet the "micro drama" industry is emerging as a crucial lifeline for hundreds of thousands of young jobseekers: offering the chance to turn creativity into a stable pay cheque. The sector was estimated to directly generate about 690,000 jobs in 2025 – mostly for young people – and over 2 million positions when counting upstream and downstream roles, according to a recent report by Peking University's National School of Development. The emerging industry – whose dramas run just a few minutes per episode, with fast-paced storylines and frequent twists meant to capture eyeballs – has relatively low entry barriers and sustainable opportunities, particularly important given chronically high youth unemployment, the report's authors said. The national monthly output of micro dramas has stabilised at about 3,000, according to state-run news agency Xinhua, wi...

A child takes part in a parade during Chinese New Year celebrations, through the streets of the city center, in Mexico City, Mexico on February 07, 2026. Photo: VCG As the Spring Festival draws near, Chinese cultural elements are spreading at an accelerated pace across the globe. From a Chinese New Year parade in Paris led by a humanoid robot, to Spring Festival Gala promotional videos appearing in metro systems in major cities across Germany and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, fire-horse-themed artwork on trams in the Netherlands, a growing array of Chinese elements is being embraced abroad. With hashtags such as "Chinamaxxing" and "China travel" going viral on social media platforms, and several foreign leaders choosing to share videos of their China visit on social media platforms in early 2026, Chinese culture has gained renewed visibility internationally. The upcoming Chinese New Year, particularly the Year of the Horse, has become a key moment for cul...

SINGAPORE – Coordinating Minister for National Security K. Shanmugam visited China from Jan 31 to Feb 3, where he met his counterparts and reaffirmed the good working relationship between the agencies of both countries. In a statement on Feb 5, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said Mr Shanmugam met Secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission Chen Wenqing, as well as Chinese State Councillor and Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong while in Beijing. Mr Shanmugam, who is also Minister for Home Affairs, discussed with Mr Wang how Singapore and China could grow their cooperation in law enforcement, specifically in combating scams and drug traffick ing. They also agreed to step up regular exchanges to further strengthen relations. With Mr Chen, Mr Shanmugam also discussed ways for the two countries to strengthen cooperation in law enforcement, as well as in the legal and judicial fields. Mr Shanmugam also looked forward to the successful convening of the fif...

Do not turn that frown upside down. A horse plush toy has gone viral in China thanks to a serendipitous mistake by a factory worker.  The mouths on a batch of the toys were mistakenly sewn on the wrong way around, creating a small army of sad-faced "crying" toys that have captured hearts as a mascot for the Lunar New Year.  The horses were designed as happy-faced toys to mark the upcoming holiday on February 17, the start of the Year of the Horse in the Chinese zodiac. A customer who received the defective product decided to keep it, posted about it online, and from there, the "crying horse" found fame. A buyer uses their hand to estimate the size of a "crying horse" plush toy, Jan. 11, 2026, in Yiwu, Zhejiang, China. Dong Yixin/China News Service/VCG via Getty ...

SINGAPORE: The Philippines said on Friday (Feb 6) it will seek to accelerate long-running talks on a South China Sea code of conduct to a conclusion this year as chair of the ASEAN regional bloc. Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro told a forum in Singapore that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China will increase the pace of working group meetings to monthly gatherings from the current three-month intervals. The proposed code aims to guide conduct and prevent clashes over territorial disputes in the South China Sea. It has been under discussion for years, but the talks have stalled repeatedly over disagreements on its scope, enforcement and legal status. Four ASEAN members - Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam - have laid partial claims to the South China Sea. China claims the crucial waterway almost in its entirety despite an international ruling that its stance has no legal basis. Beijing and Manila have had a series of confrontations in the sea in recent y...

At the same time, the patients faced strict controls from the hospitals that required them to follow a daily schedule and move within designated areas, the report said, and failure to comply with rules led to physical abuse. The reporter said they had witnessed staff at multiple hospitals slapping the patients, hitting them with a water pipe and tying them to the bed. Some were kept in hospital for years, while contact with the outside world was cut off. One patient at a hospital in Yichang told the reporter they "felt like they were in prison". The report triggered a public backlash, with many questioning whether this was a common phenomenon across China and raised fears that hospitals were failing to treat those who needed it, while others were needlessly kept in hospital. Communist Party mouthpiece People's Daily called for an investigation, saying: "The hospitals treat the healthcare insurance fund as a cake to be taken and used as they plea se, converting p...

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MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping held a video call Wednesday to discuss the burgeoning economic cooperation between Moscow and Beijing and their relations with the United States. The Kremlin leader accepted an invitation to visit China twice this year. The call came amid a series of meetings between Xi and Western leaders who have sought to boost ties with China despite differences over the conflict in Ukraine. European leaders have pressed China for years to end its support for Russia even as Beijing has become the No. 1 trading partner for Moscow, which seeks relief from Western economic sanctions. "I would like to once again assure you of firm support for our shared efforts to ensure the sovereignty and security of our countries, our socio-economic welfare and the right to choose our own development path," Putin said in opening remarks that were broadcast by Russian state televisio...

BEIJING (AP) — Even as China's expansion of solar and wind power raced ahead in 2025, the Asian giant opened many more coal power plants than it had in recent years — raising concern about whether the world's largest emitter will reduce carbon emissions enough to limit climate change. More than 50 large coal units — individual boiler and turbine sets with generating capacity of 1 gigawatt or more — were commissioned in 2025, up from fewer than 20 a year over the previous decade, a research report released Tuesday said. Depending on energy use, 1 gigawatt can power from several hundred thousand to more than 2 million homes. Overall, China brought 78 gigawatts of new coal power capacity online, a sharp uptick from previous years, according to the joint report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, which studies air pollution and its impacts, and Global Energy Monitor, which develops databases tracking energy trends. "The scale of the buildout is staggering,...