Chinese president exchanges congratulations with San Marino's leaders on 50th anniversary of ties

Chinese President Xi Jinping has exchanged congratulatory messages with captains regent of San Marino on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

The Chinese president says he is willing to work with Gian Carlo Venturini and Marco Nicolini to take the 50th anniversary as an opportunity to deepen bilateral and international cooperation and ensure that China-San Marino friendship be carried on from generation to generation.

The San Marino leaders expressed their confidence that commemorating the anniversary will bring new opportunities for the two countries to develop bilateral relations and cooperation in various fields.

China International Consumer Products Expo helps with global recovery

The first China International Consumer Products Expo is being held from May 7 to 10 Hainan Province. 

Zhao Ying reports from its capital Haikou.

Activities under China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue suspended

China has decided to indefinitely suspend all activities under the framework of the China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue.

An official statement says the move comes after some Australian Commonwealth Government officials launched a series of measures to disrupt the normal exchanges and cooperation between China and Australia.

Record holiday box office mirrors Chinese movie market recovery

China's box office revenue during the May Day holiday hit a record high of nearly 1.67 billion yuan, about 258 million U.S. dollars.

The latest gains follow the market's robust growth this year that started with record-high New Year's Day earnings, bringing the box office total since the beginning of this year to approximately 22.3 billion yuan.

Movie theaters across China over the five-day period saw a total of more than 44 million moviegoers.

Domestic titles contributed more than 96 percent of the holiday ticket sales.

G7 vows to take collective action to address global challenges

The Group of Seven has underscored a need for a common stance to tackle global threats such as COVID-19 and climate change. 

Foreign ministers from the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan met in-person for the first time in more than two years and committed to financially supporting the COVAX vaccine program. 

They are also looking for opportunities to work with China to promote regional and global peace, security and prosperity. 

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab says that G7 countries are looking for a "constructive, calibrated approach" to China.

France widens COVID vaccine rollout to 16-17 year olds at high risk of major illness

France has decided to expand its COVID-19 vaccine rollout to people aged 16-17 who could face a high risk of a major illness from the virus. 

The country's health ministry said this category of 16-17 year olds will be allowed to get the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID vaccine. 

The two-dose Pfizer vaccine has earlier been approved for children aged 12 to 15 in Canada.

SpaceX successfully lands Starship rocket

SpaceX has successfully landed its prototype Starship rocket at its fifth attempt. 

The rocket took off from Boca Chica in southern Texas, reached an altitude of 10 kilometers and performed a series of maneuvers, including a horizontal descent called a "belly flop."

All four previous prototypes exploded either before, during or after landing. 

SpaceX plans to carry crew inside Starship for missions to Mars. The company eventually aims to combine Starship with a rocket and create a fully reusable system to explore the solar system.

China mulls sending spacecraft to the edge of the solar system

Chinese scientists are evaluating the feasibility of a project to send spacecraft to the edge of the solar system. 

The spacecraft will cover a distance that is about 100 times that of the astronomical unit, which is the distance between the sun and the Earth. 

The project aims to carry out scientific exploration and experiments at the edge of the solar system, a region about 15 billion kilometers from Earth.