China Railway Group announced the commencement of high-speed sleeper train services linking #Beijing and #Shanghai with Hong Kong on June 15. Non-high-speed train routes between Beijing, Shanghai, and #HongKong will be replaced by high-speed services, enabling overnight travel. Travel time between Beijing and Hong Kong will be approximately 12 hours, and between Shanghai and Hong Kong about 11 hours.

2️⃣ *China is deploying dozens of ships in its biggest maritime mobilisation around Taiwan* in years, Taipei has said, after Beijing voiced fury at President Lai Ching-te's recent visit to the United States. 🇹🇼 🇨🇳 *Taiwanese forces were on high alert* in anticipation of *Beijing's People's Liberation Army (PLA) staging war games* in response to Lai's US stopovers and call with Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson. Taiwan's defence ministry said *the number of Chinese ships in the waters around the island exceeded Beijing's maritime response* to then US House speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taipei in 2022, which was the largest-ever war games. *Nearly 90 Chinese naval and coast guard ships were currently in waters* along the so-called first island chain, which links Okinawa, Taiwan and the Philippines, a senior Taiwanese security official told AFP.

US President *Joe Biden and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will attend the first day of an Asia-Pacific leaders' summit* ahead of a face-to-face meeting under a cloud of diplomatic uncertainty cast by Donald Trump's election victory. 🇺🇸 🇨🇳 *Biden and Xi are due to hold talks Saturday,* in what a US administration official said will *probably be the last meeting between the sitting leaders of the world's largest economies* before Trump is sworn in in January. With the *Republican president-elect having signaled a confrontational approach to Beijing* for his second term, the bilateral meeting will be a closely watched affair. *Xi and Biden arrived in Lima on Thursday along with other world leaders* for a two-day heads-of-state meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) grouping.

Speaking on Saturday at the meeting held at his hotel in Lima, the Chinese president said Beijing's goal of a stable relationship with Washington would remain unchanged. "China is ready to work with the new US administration to maintain communication, expand cooperation and manage differences," Xi said.

INSIDER | News | Politics | USA: The White House opposes Spain, Norway, and Ireland's decision to recognize the Palestinian state A spokesperson for the National Security Council told CNN that Biden believes 'a Palestinian state should be established through direct negotiations between the parties, not through unilateral recognition.' INSIDER 👉🏼 Subscribe ❗️Taiwan has deployed aircraft and placed troops on high alert, according to the country's Ministry of Defense The Taiwanese Ministry of Defense stated that Beijing's provocations pose a threat to regional peace and stability. Additionally, the ministry emphasized that while the island nation does not seek conflict, it will not hesitate to respond if necessary. INSIDER 👉🏼 Subscribe

US President *Joe Biden and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will attend the first day of an Asia-Pacific leaders' summit* ahead of a face-to-face meeting under a cloud of diplomatic uncertainty cast by Donald Trump's election victory. 🇺🇸 🇨🇳 *Biden and Xi are due to hold talks Saturday,* in what a US administration official said will *probably be the last meeting between the sitting leaders of the world's largest economies* before Trump is sworn in in January. With the *Republican president-elect having signaled a confrontational approach to Beijing* for his second term, the bilateral meeting will be a closely watched affair. *Xi and Biden arrived in Lima on Thursday along with other world leaders* for a two-day heads-of-state meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) grouping.

*Chinese lawmakers* have agreed to raise the local government debt ceiling by $840 billion, *opening up new funds for its ailing economy* . 🇨🇳 The move would raise _"the local government debt limit by six trillion yuan, which will be used to replace existing hidden debts, freeing up space for local governments to better develop the economy and protect people's livelihood,"_ *state broadcaster CCTV* said. 🇺🇸 The stimulus package comes as *Beijing eyes the possibility of intensified trade tensions with the United States* , after president-elect Donald Trump vowed to slap punishing tariffs on Chinese goods. 💰 Observers say Beijing could seek to cushion that trade blow with *a long-awaited "bazooka stimulus" for the economy* .

3️⃣ *EU countries have given a definitive green light to hefty additional tariffs on electric cars made in China,* despite strong opposition led by Germany and fears it will spark a trade war with Beijing. 🇪🇺 🇨🇳 *The European Commission* -- which provisionally approved the step in June after an inquiry found Beijing's state aid to auto manufacturers was unfair -- *now has free rein to impose steep tariffs for five years from the end of October.* 🚗🔌 *Ten member states including France, Italy and Poland supported imposing the tariffs of up to 35.3%,* coming on top of existing duties of 10%, several European diplomats told AFP. *Only five including Germany and Hungary voted against,* while 12 abstained including Spain and Sweden.

Due to the deforestation of the forests in North China, over one million tons of sands blows into Beijing from the Gobi desert. It sometimes causes the sky to turn yellow.

𝐓𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐛𝐮 𝐀𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐈𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭 President Bola Tinubu arrived in Beijing, China, on Sunday for a state visit. He will also be attending the 9th Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit themed “Joining Hands to Advance Modernisation and Build High-Level China-Africa Community with Shared Future." Continue reading: https://punchng.com/video-tinubu-arrives-in-china-for-state-visit/