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Examining the events that impact and shape China and the rest of the world.
This is the Beijing Hour, one hour of news and information brought to you every weekday.
Now, here's your host, Shane Bigham with you on this Monday, March 17th, 2025.
You're listening to the Beijing Hour coming to you live from the Chinese Capitol.
Well, on today's program, China's economy shows steady growth through the first two months of the year.
The Houthi Group and Yemen's vowed retaliation after the latest U .S.
strikes against the militants.
Wall Street remains on edge over fears of a recession in the U .S.
economy. In business, sales numbers for new and used homes in major Chinese markets.
And today we have part 10 of the Yellow River mosaic series, telling stories of people whose lives are intertwined with the famous Chinese Waterway.
And today we look at the fishing industry in the mouth of the Yellow River.
Now check in the day's top stories.
China's economic performance remains steady in the first two months, driven by rapid growth in the industrial and service sectors.
Key indicators of the National Bureau of Statistics show that China's value added industrial output rose 5 .9 % and the service sector logged an annual growth of 5 .6%.
the private sector has grown by more than six percent.
Fu Lingue is a spokesperson for the National Stats Bureau.
On the demand side, with expansion of the trading policy and consumption during the Spring Festival, the market saw recovery in sales and service consumption.
The retail sales of consumer goods climbed 4 percent year on year in the first two months of 2025.
That's half a percentage faster than the growth rate of 2024.
Domestic tourist trips during the Spring Festival increased by 5 .9 % year -on -year.
The transaction volume of tourism service platforms increased by more than 20 % in January and February.
In the 2024 -2025 Snow and Ice Season, the cumulative number of visitors received by ski resorts nationwide increased by 22 .8 % year -on -year.
Chinese animated films have broken several box office records.
Retail sales of consumer goods climbed 4 percent.
That's half a percentage faster than the growth rate of a year earlier.
Domestic tourists' trips during Spring Festival increased by 5 .9 percent.
The transaction volume on tourism platforms increased by more than 20 percent in January and February.
In the 2024 -25 ice and snow season, the cumulative number of visitors at ski resorts nationwide increased by 22 .8 percent.
The Chinese animated films have broken several box office records.
Industrial Green Development is one of the highlights, with the new energy industry expanding.
The output of new energy vehicles grew by nearly 50 % in the first 2 months, while Automotive Lithium Batteries production rose by 37%.
Employment was generally stable, and new quality productive forces, including AI and quantum computing, continued to grow.
Overall consumption expanded significantly in the first two months.
Earlier, we spoke with Assistant Professor Shure Fan Chi from the School of Economics at Peking University and explained the reasons behind the growth of China's industrial and service sectors.
I think, actually, there are different reasons behind the growth for the industry sector and the service sector.
For the industrial sector, I think, it's mostly driven by the demand side.
So as we all know, especially for the past few years, China has very strong production capacity, but consumption was relatively weak.
But now for the first two months, we see that there is government subsidy to consumer demand.
So that means the domestic demand is actually picking up.
And also for the first two month, we have a relatively or generally stable global environment and then we also see a pickup in foreign demand.
But actually, the grossing export for the first two months was more than 3%.
So we see that as the demand side, that with the rise of the demand side, then we can also see growth in the industrial, because the supply is meant to meet the demand.
So that's for the gross in the industrial sector.
Plus, for the growth in the service sector, it's actually mostly driven by technology advancements.
investments. So to see that we see that the average growth for the sector service sector is like 5 .6%.
But the highest growth is witnessed in sectors in high tech industries, and in particular, information transmission and information technology.
So that means that recent technological investments in particular development in AI is very key to that growth.
I was sure fan sheet at Peking University, breaking out the latest economic figures for us.
China's announced a slew of measures to boost domestic consumption as the country moves to make domestic demand the main engine and anchor of economic growth.
The National Development and Reform Commission says the government is doubled subsidies for the consumer goods trade -in program from 150 billion UN last year to 300 billion UN.
The People's Bank of China's reaffirmed a moderately loose monetary policy to stimulate consumption.
Meantime, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security says China's job market remains stable in the first two months, and authorities announced a suite of measures to create more jobs.
Officials have highlighted that China remains the world's second -largest consumer market and the largest online retail market.
However, they added that consumer confidence is still recovering and some demands are still unmet.
Earlier Beijing released a detailed plan on special initiatives to boost consumer spending.
The plan aims to stimulate demand across the board and increase spending power by raising earnings and reducing financial burdens.
It emphasizes traditional sectors like housing and automobiles alongside emerging categories such as artificial intelligence, the low -altitude economy and silver tourism.
Zhuo Yunhan with the National Development and Reform Commission said these sectors are vital for the plan.
How to cultivate and enhance the growth points are significant factors that will affect the future development of the consumption market.
These new forms and models of consumption can better meet people's needs for consumption upgrades and better stimulate people's enthusiasm for consumption.
They can not only provide new impetus for the current consumer market but also strong support for the continued growth of subsequent consumer markets.
Wang Wei is a research fellow with the National, or rather the Development Research Center of the State Council.
The consumption is now in the process of upgrading in terms of consumer content.
There is a shift toward transforming and upgrading the service industry.
This will inevitably lead to further adjustment of the industrial structure of our country, promote the development of the manufacturing industry to a higher end and promote the service industry to be more diversified.
For economic growth it is not only driven by demand but more importantly driven by industries.
Therefore we understand that the current consumption innovation is a strong internal driving force for high quality development.
China will accelerate new technologies and products, including autonomous driving, smart wearables, ultra -high -definition video, brain computer interfaces, robotics and 3D printing, to create new growth sectors.
The policymakers also want to further open up the Chinese market to foreign tourists, artists, and high end service providers, and artists from overseas.
China's artificial intelligence sector is driving transformation in the consumer industry chain with homegrown AI models and AI plus innovations accelerating breakthroughs in advanced manufacturing.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that high -tech production surged in the first two months of the year.
The manufacturing of integrated circuit wafers, in particular, rose over 19 % from a year earlier.
Industrial robots jumped 27%.
Bullet train units soared 64 % and civilian drones skyrocketed over 91%.
These leaps underscore AI's role in reshaping industrial efficiency and output.
A report released at the Chinese Humonoid Robot Industry Conference forecast that domestic humanoid robot markets this year will hit over 5 billion yuan.
And that's about 730 million U .S.
dollars. With more on China's plan to boost consumer spending, Jung Junfeng spoke with Chiu Chung, a fellow of the Belt and Road Research Center at Minxie University of China.
What sectors do you think will be the first ones to benefit from this boost?
We already heard about the double of subsidies to home appliances.
I, myself, benefited from this when I purchased a TV and a washing machine earlier this year.
So I guess this will be one of the sectors that will benefit first?
Oh, yes, indeed. Well, the trading policy has already been in position.
Actually, this is just an extension and a continuity from the last year.
Last year, we have probably covered more than one trillion worth of the durable product with the trading policies.
And I think the government has already seen a very positive sign and a great success from this policy.
So this year, we're going to continue and extend that.
So the estimation is that probably through the whole year, we're going to cover more than 3 trillion of the durable goods with a trading policy.
And that's going to be the major boost immediately for our GDP.
And also secondly, what we can see is from the fixed investment or the housing market.
It probably was, okay, hold on, wait for a minute.
Are people still going to buy their houses?
Well, yes, from our data will be seeing that the secondhand home and its policies has been really being improving in some major cities, actually the data for the turnovers and for the deals in some major cities has been going up ever since the end of the last year.
So I think people's enthusiasm and passion for a better living condition are still there.
once the government is subsidy wants the policies to improve the condition has been in position.
I think more people are willing to do so.
So probably we're going to welcome a small climax for that housing improvement.
And also the government's plan for improving the shanty towns in certain areas is also being in position.
So I think the housing market will definitely benefit from those policies in this year.
And also, thirdly, what we mentioned about just now is about the service sectors.
Like you just imagine, hospitality industry, tourism industry and the well, the old age caring industry as well as the healthcare industry.
And this is going to be the growth point for the service sector of this year.
People are paying a lot of attention and passion for the tourism for the culture expanding.
That's for sure we have already seen that for the past one year.
But I think old age caring and also the healthcare industry has become the new growth point has mentioned so many times within the top leadership document released by the two sessions, and also at the end of last year's Economic Work conferences.
So I think this area is actually somewhere we can count on to support this year's GDP growth and consumption.
That was Chuchiong at Minxu University of China.
Coming up, Yemen's Houthi group is vowing to retaliate against US attacks.
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Yemen's Houthi group says the United States has launched a new round of strikes, this time targeting the country's major port city of H Adam.
Al Houthi leader Abdul Malik Al Houthi earlier vowed retaliation following deadly attacks by U .S.
forces over the weekend.
We will meet escalation with escalation.
We will respond to the American enemy and its raids and its attacks with missile strikes by targeting its aircraft carriers, its warships, its ships.
It will be included in the ban, and yet we will still have options for escalation.
U .S. strikes on Saturday marked the first large military operation in the Middle East since Donald Trump returned to the White House.
The Houthi -run health ministry said over 50 people were killed.
The Houthis said they retaliated the day after by attacking the U .S.
aircraft carrier Harry S.
Truman with missiles and drones.
But a U .S. official said its warplanes destroyed the Houthi drones, none of which came close to the Truman.
Washington's threatened unrelenting strikes on the Yemeni militant group until the end of attacks on shipping.
The Houthis launched attacks on Israel and U .S.
affiliated ships in the Red Sea in late 2023 in support of Palestine.
In the meantime, U .S.
National Security Advisor Mike Walts also threatened to hold Iran fully accountable for funding the Houthi attacks on global shipping and U .S.
Navy ships. This was an overwhelming response that actually targeted multiple Houthi leaders and took them out and the difference here is one going after the Houthi leadership and two holding Iran responsible all options are always on the table with the president but Iran needs to hear him loud and clear it is completely unacceptable and it will be stopped the level of support that they've been providing the Houthis.
In response, the top commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard said the Houthis are responsible for their own decisions and warned that Iran will not hold back to retaliate if the US carries out its threats.
Tehran also condemned the deadly US airstrikes across Yemen, calling them a violation of international law.
China, Russia and the United Nations have called for restraint on military operations in the Red Sea.
For more on the situation on the ground, Ahab al -FNP was in Sanaa, examining the impact of the recent U .S.
airstrikes on the country.
American airstrikes targeted the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Saturday evening and into the early hours of Sunday morning, causing severe damage to businesses and homes.
Debris from the bombings was scattered across the streets and alleys.
As the smoke cleared, residents began clearing the rebel and recovering what was left of their belongings.
People were safe in their homes at dawn when the air -stress hit civilians.
They were injured people in hospitals and even those who were already sick panicked because of the bombing.
We have done nothing wrong.
We are in civilian areas not militarized.
The attacks caused injuries and deaths and children were terrified.
The American air strikes hit where we were safe in our homes.
But no matter what they strike us with, they will not scare the Yemenis.
We will respond to them in their own land.
The Ansarallah Group, also known as the Houthis, says its armed forces are ready to respond to the U .S.
strikes. In a statement, the group announced the targeting of civilians and civilian structures as a war crime.
The US airstrikes on Yemen are seen by the Americans as a preemptive move to control Yemen's position and stop its support for Gaza by blocking Israeli shipping.
But this escalation will increase tensions in the region — the Yemeni armored forces will respond, and source of attacks against Yemen will be targeted at the right time.
According to Yemen's Health Ministry, many of those killed and injured in Sana 'a and parts of Saada province in Yemen's North were women and children.
The impact of the American NBCO strikes in Sana 'a is unfolding.
The number of casualties are rising.
Air rescue teams are searching for survivors under the ramble.
As the air strikes continue in areas controlled by the Sana 'a government, concerns are growing about a worsening humanitarian situation amid reports of vital infrastructure being targeted.
That was Ehab al -Fandi assessing the damage caused by the U .S.
attacks on Yemen. And for more on the issue, we spoke to James Dorsey, adjunct senior fellow at Singapore's S Rajaratnam School of International Studies.
This was started unilaterally by Yemen because it wanted to support the Palestinians in Gaza.
It was not because of an attack on Yemeni territory.
The other thing to keep in mind is that the U .S.
strikes are pre -entery.
They're not retaliatory.
With other words, they are not in response to a Houthi attack, but they are in response to the Houthi threat to start, again, attacking shipping in the Red Sea, if Israel maintains its blockade of Gaza.
I think there's several reasons why Trump is doing this.
One is the don't mess with me principal.
Essentially, Trump's negotiating, and obviously his battlefield strategy is use a sledgehammer because that will then shape events and shape discussions.
A second reason is a message to Iran, given the US assertion that essentially the Houthis are an extension of Iran.
It's a message to the Gulf States.
Following the 2020 Iranian attack on Saudi oil facilities when the United States under Trump did not respond, it's a message to say, we are ready and we are responding.
And ultimately it increases US leverage and Trump's leverage over Israel, given that this This is a conflict that directly involves Israel and the US is responding to it.
That was James Dorsey in Singapore.
US President Donald Trump says he'll speak to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday as he pushes to end the Ukraine crisis.
On the ground Russia says its force has downed over 100 Ukrainian drones within 24 hours.
It also says it launched attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, including a military airport and drone storage warehouses.
meantime Ukraine says it repelled attacks from Russia in several locations.
Kivas just replaced the chief of the general staff of its armed forces.
Andrei Ganetov is now in charge.
Russian Ukraine have intensified aerial attacks on each other as the fate of a proposed ceasefire remains uncertain.
Dasha Chernyshova has details.
The fighting is ongoing and the Russian Ministry of Defense has confirmed that 31 drones from Ukraine have been shot down over the Russian regions.
No significant damage has been done to the residential infrastructure in several regions.
We are hearing about those injured.
In the Belgrade region, three people have been left injured, as well as in the Kursk region where three people, a woman and her two sons have been hospitalized with serious conditions as a result of the falling debris of one of those drones.
We understand that it is in the Kursk region where the Russian artists over the course of the past days and the Ministry of Defence has confirmed that at least two thousand Ukrainian troops have been hit over this time as Russia was pushing to liberate the settlements captured by the Ukrainian troops last August.
We also hearing that the Russian Ministry of Defence has been evacuating people from the liberated settlements including from Souja and other settlements close to the Ukrainian border.
They also carried out their own attacks against the Ukrainian military infrastructure with the Russian Ministry of Defense confirming that the airfields' infrastructure has been hit in Ukraine, as well as the places where the Ukrainian side is producing and storing drones.
All that is taking place against the backdrop of indeed the intensive line diplomatic efforts to resolve this conflict.
That was Dasha Chernushova reporting.
Gaza's health ministry says Israeli airstrikes over the weekend killed over a dozen Palestinians.
This comes as negotiators are trying to shore up a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Israel says a delegation in Egypt to discuss a Gaza hostage deal with senior Egyptian officials.
Earlier at the talks in Doha, U .S.
Special Envoy Steve Whitcoff presented a new outline to extend the truce by weeks in exchange for Hamas releasing over a dozen more hostages.
Jonathan Raghav has more from Tel Aviv.
More hostage negotiations Paul?
Yes, but according to only according to the Whitkoff plan.
Now we know what the Whitkoff plan is all about.
It speaks of the release of 11 living hostages and 16 bodies remains of hostages.
All along we're speaking of 27 hostages altogether, nearly one half of the 59 remaining hostages.
This is the mandate for the Israeli delegation to discuss not any plan to move from the first phase to the second phase.
This is the decision that was given after the security meeting, the security cabinet met along with the delegation that returned from Qatar over the weekend.
So there is a mandate for the continuation of the negotiations, but only according to with cloth plant at least on the Israeli side.
The Israeli delegation has been given a mandate to continue with them.
That was Jonathan Raghav reporting.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo will send a delegation to Angola for talks aimed at resolving the spiraling conflict in the eastern part of the country.
Angola says it'll try to broker direct talks between the Congolese government and the M -23 rebels on Tuesday.
Chris Okamringa reports from Kinshasa.
There's no official communication from both sides.
but I spoke to a person who's close to the DRC government officials and he said that they welcome this ceasefire called by President Joao Lorenzo, and they hope that the M23 rebels will respect it this time around.
Both sides, you know, have been accusing each other of violating cease -fires that have been called before.
And, you know, this is not the first time it's happening.
The United States government, the Angolan president himself, the East African community and the southern African development community have all announced ceasefire since this conflict began in late 2021, but none of them has been respected so far, so we are waiting to see whether there will be a difference this time round.
The DRC government has acknowledged receiving this invitation, and they haven't explicitly stated whether they will send a team, but I spoke to an official who declined to be revealed.
He said that they have already put together a team of officials who will travel to Luanda, the capital of Angola, to attend these peace talks.
The M -23 rebels have issued a statement saying they have welcomed this initiative by the Angolan president, and that they will attend.
Fighting has been continuing in South Kiva province.
The rebels have been fighting near the city of Uvira, and just recently they captured an island known as Ijri.
They held a meeting there, and said that they will continue their advance to other parts of the DRC.
Congolese officials are saying look we're in a situation where we're trying to have peace talks to end this conflict but the rebels are continuing so they're telling the international community that this is a group of people who do not keep their word and cannot be trusted and that has kind of reinforced sentiments in Kinshasa and other parts of the DRC for the government not to hold talks with them.
That was Chris Okamringa reporting coming up Wall Street remains concerned about US tariff policies From north to south, east to west, people in China are chasing their dreams and leaving their mark.
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At 25 minutes past the hour, Wall Street is on edge as concerns mount over a potential recession, fueled by Washington's aggressive tariff policies under President Donald Trump.
Investor confidence has taken a hit, leading to sharp losses among the magnificent seven tech giants, including Apple, Amazon, and NVIDIA.
CNBC says these companies have collectively lost a whopping $2 .7 trillion U .S.
dollars in market value over the past three weeks.
These major engines of the U .S.
economy have all seen double -digit declines, with Tesla plunging over 50 % this year.
In the meantime, the NASDAQ, S &P 500, and Dow Jones remain under pressure each posting weeks of consecutive losses.
European brewers and distilleries are calling on the EU and the United States to settle their trade dispute.
It comes after US President Donald Trump threatened to introduce a 200 % tariff on alcohol imports from the continent A measure which experts believe could devastate the entire industry across Europe.
Rahul Patek spoke with Business Insiders to find out more.
From vineyards and distilleries right across Europe, the continent's wide -ranging alcohol industry is asking the same question.
How will they survive the latest round of tariffs from Donald Trump?
It comes after the US President threatened to impose a 200 % levy on alcohol imported from the European Union.
This came after the European Commission said it would introduce a 50 % surcharge on US whisky imports and other products.
That had been in response to American tariffs on European steel and aluminium.
This complicated tit -for -tat trade war leaves many fearing that they will pay the price.
When we saw this announcement, at first we thought it was ridiculous.
Then we said, but he is capable of doing so.
Then we said, no. It's not possible.
Because it would make us all die.
and we represent the art of living the French way.
We are soft power, Americans love us." The Americans are fond of French wines, with the US one of the most important markets for the European alcohol industry.
In 2024, the US imported just over 14 .3 billion dollars worth of wine, beers and spirits.
European alcohol producers say the American market will be impossible to replace.
Many are annoyed that they are being dragged into a dispute that had nothing to do with the drinks industry believing the EU was wrong to target U .S.
whiskey. We're extremely concerned by the announcement, not only of the threat of 200 percent tariffs on alcoholic beverages from Europe, from President Trump, but also the inclusion of U .S.
whiskey and other U .S.
spirits in the retaliatory list of the EU in response to the completely unrelated trade disputes on stone aluminum.
European winemakers say if the trade war continues some companies will not survive.
For the ones that do, exploring other markets like Asia and Africa will be key.
But for winemakers like Florence Cotton, many are still hoping Trump will step back from his 200 % tariff threat.
When you see what he tells to people in his book, he says that you have to strike very, very hard and then you have to negotiate.
That was a rahoula attack on the potentially crippling effects of Donald Trump's restrictive trade measures on Europe's alcohol industry.
Checking the forecast to hit the break in Beijing is down to minus two Monday evening.
It will be sunny in 14 tomorrow.
Nanshung is down to 6 degrees and then sunny in 19.
Elsewhere in Asia, Islamabad is down to 11 this evening, it's cloudy in 27 on Tuesday.
Vientiane is down to 21 degrees.
That's followed by overcast skies in 29.
Prompens at 24 this evening, then a slight rainfall in 34.
In Africa, Nairobi is getting a slight rain and 27 degrees on Tuesday, compatolis down to 20, then a slight rain in 25.
It's time for a short break.
So far this hour China's economy shows steady growth through the first two months of the year.
The Houthi group in Yemen's vowed retaliation after the latest U .S.
strikes against the militants.
Wall Street remains on edge over fears of recession in the US economy.
Shane Biggen with you, stay with us here on The Beijing Hour.
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They are Big big Examining the events that impact and shape China and the rest of the world This is the Beijing hour one hour of news and information brought to you every weekday now Here's your home Shane bigger with you on this Monday still to come in business sales numbers for new and used homes in major Chinese markets and today we have part 10 of the Yellow River mosaic series telling stories of people whose lives are intertwined with that famous Chinese waterway.
To contact us you can email radio at CGTN .com or follow our x -account at CGTN radio.
But first of all, a check of the day's headline news.
China's economy is off to a good start with the industrial added value measurement increasing by 5 .9 % in the first two months.
Figures from the National Bureau statistics also show that retail sales increased by 4%.
Goods exports rose by 3 .4%.
US President Donald Trump says he'll speak to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Tuesday as he pushes to end the Ukraine crisis.
On the ground, Russia says his forces shot down over 100 Ukrainian drones within 24 hours.
It also says it launched attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, including a military airport and drone storage warehouses.
Meantime, Ukraine says it's repelled attacks from Russia in several locations.
North Korea has condemned the Group of Seven over a statement on the country's nuclear program.
The denunciation came after G7 Foreign Ministers made the statement from Canada.
They demanded North Korea abandon its nuclear weapons and any other weapons of mass destruction as well as its ballistic missile programs.
North Korea expressed concern over the statement, saying the country will never tolerate any encroachment upon its sovereignty or internal affairs.
It also described the G7 as the root cause of a global nuclear crisis.
At least 59 people have died after a fire tore through a nightclub in North Macedonia on Sunday.
The pre -dawn blaze left more than 150 others injured, including some in critical condition.
There are reports of a stampede.
Hispanic people tried to escape from the crowd of building which was holding a live concert.
One witness described the efforts at the scene.
There weren't enough emergency vehicles and people and their personal cars took some of the victims to the hospitals.
There was chaos in the streets.
Some people were heading to the hospitals and others were coming to find their loved ones.
The young people were in a panic and the parents were crying and screaming.
Authorities believe the blaze was sparked by pyrotechnic effects that ignited the venue's sealing material and the flames and thick smoke spread quickly.
The government has pledged a thorough investigation.
The Czech Republic is sending a 10 -member medical team to North Macedonia in response to that deadly fire.
Tornadoes, high winds, and dust storms have killed at least 40 people across parts of the United States.
National Weather Service meteorologists warn that the main threat will be the winds but there's the possibility of more tornadoes.
A military drone and a helicopter have crashed at an army airfield in South Korea.
India. The airfield is around 30 kilometres north of Seoul.
No casualties have been reported.
Recent polls show approval ratings for Japanese prime minister Shigeru Ishiba's government have dropped sharply, following controversy over his decision to distribute gift vouchers to rookie lawmakers.
The prime minister is under fire for handing out vouchers, each worth 1000 yen, roughly 670 US dollars, to 15 new members of the ruling Liberal Democratic party.
The scandal adds to a string of corruption allegations that have plagued the LDP, which has governed Japan almost continuously since 1955.
Ishiba's predecessor was forced out over a kickback scandal, and public trust in the party has continued to erode.
Ishiba called a snap election in October after taking office.
Voters, already frustrated with corruption and rising inflation, delivered a stinging rebuke.
The LDP coalition lost its majority in parliament's lower house, marking its worst election result in 15 years.
NASA says two astronauts stranded at the International Space Station since June will return to Earth on Tuesday.
Suny Williams and Butch Wilmore will board SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft.
They've been stuck in space due to technical problems for Boeing's Starliner, which took them to the ISS.
Their fellow Crew 9 astronauts are also preparing to leave the ISS following the arrival of Crew 10 to the Orbital Laboratory.
NASA and SpaceX met on Sunday to assess weather and splashdown conditions off of Florida's coast for the return of the astronauts.
This is Shane Bingham in the Chinese Capital.
Coming up in business, sales numbers for new and used homes in major Chinese cities.
The Beijing hour, your window on China and the rest of the world.
35 past the hour and turning to business.
Here's Wang Zihang.
Thank you, Shane. Stock market on the Chinese mainland closed mixed on Monday.
the Shanghai composite was up nearly 0 .2 % while the Xinjiang component lost almost 0 .2%.
Stocks of forestry and real estate led the gainers.
Elsewhere in China, the Hong Kong stock market also handed higher which the Hang Seng index up nearly 0 .8%.
Meantime stocks in Japan also saw significant gains with the Nikkei up over 0 .9%.
Officials' data shows the commercial home prices dipped steadily in China's 70 large and medium -sized cities in February amid a spring festival sales off -season and other vectors.
Prices of new homes in first -tier cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou increased a tenth of 1 % from a year ago.
In second -tier cities, prices of new homes stayed flat while prices of resold homes dropped 0 .4%.
Ethiopian officials and experts say the Chinese -built Ethiopian Djibouti Railway has streamlined the country's logistics sector, serving as a crucial artery for trade.
The transport minister says the over 750 -kilometre railway is injecting much -needed momentum system into their national ambition of modernizing the transport and logistics sectors and transforming trade.
The company says, A electrified railway is first becoming a preferred mode of transport for businesses engaged in import -export trade, contributing to the socioeconomic development of both countries.
The company has unveiled a platform to connect importers and exporters with seamless logistics solutions from inland shipping to ports in Djibouti and global destinations.
Its new capabilities include multinational operations, customs clearance and documentation services.
Since launch in 2018, the railway has continued to develop its freight market and expanded service offerings including cold chain transport, commuter trains and automobile transportation.
A business delegation led by the Chang 'e the Council for the Promotion of International Trade has paid a visit to Austria.
It is the first large -scale Chinese delegation to visit the country since the formation of the new Austrian government.
Businesses from both sides had exchanges on industries including automobiles, agriculture, and food processing.
The Council says China is ready to work with all parties to enhance economic and trade cooperation and promote the stability and a smooth flow of global supply chains.
Representatives of the Austrian business community expressed willingness to strengthen cooperation with the Chinese business community and jointly oppose trade protectionism.
And finally, the United States has turned to several European countries for egg import amid a severe shortage and soaring prices at home.
The Danish Exos association says United States has sent a written request for eggs and they are currently assessing their export potential for the next sixth month.
Sweden's largest egg producer, Kron Egg, says Europe is also grappling with an egg shortage and will prioritize supplying the European market.
According to the Finnish Poetry Association, the number of eggs Finland can export is so insufficient to address the act shortages in the United States.
The Act produces central union in Turkey as the country plans to export 420 million eggs to the United States this year.
US egg prices have continued to surge due to a shortage of egg -laying hands amid an outbreak of avian influenza, adding continued pressure on inflation.
According to the U .S.
of labour statistics, egg prices have shot up over 10 % in the last month, and nearly 59 % from a year ago.
Thank you very much, that was Wang Zihang with Business.
You're listening to The Beijing Hour.
Just ahead, we have Part 10 of the Yellow River Mosaic series, telling stories of people whose lives are intertwined with the famous Chinese Waterway.
It's a small fishing village of over 100 households.
We live where the Yellow River meets the sea, it's rich in marine resources.
We didn't go home last night because we got few clams.
So we remained on the sea for more catches.
In one year, we even made a total of 900 ,000 here.
No one is debt free here if they live on fishing.
At the mouth of the Yellow River we get a glimpse of how people's lives have been changing in places where fishing is still very much alive against the backdrop of a world of digital transformation.
Stay tuned to episode 10 of our twelve -part series the Yellow River Mosaic, a life at sea.
It's 41 past and you're listening to the Beijing Hour and we continue with our Multimedia series The Yellow River Mosaic.
A Hongguang New Village is one of a dozen settlements located at the mouth of the Yellow River.
In this episode, we get a glimpse of how lives have been changing in places where fishing is still very much alive against the backdrop of a world of digital transformation.
Here's Wu Jia with part 10, A Life at Sea.
July 20, 2023, Hongguang new village at the mouth of the Yellow River, Shandong Province.
Originating on the plateau in northwest China and running eastward for more than 5 ,400 kilometers, ...the Yellow River the country's second longest river...
...enters the sea by the city of Dongyu.
Honggong village is one of a dozen villages...
...scattered around the estuary.
Fishermen from neighbouring counties have settled here...
...since the 1980s...
...and have preserved their traditional ways of living.
Looking extremely exhausted...
A young woman was sitting by the cockpit of a boat.
Her hair, face, hands and clothes all covered in mud.
She's yie tien wen.
Hi, I'm Xiaoyu. I was born in 1989.
I've been fishing for 15 years.
I'm her husband, Wang Daojing.
I'm one year for senior.
I dropped out of school at 14 team and have since been working on the boat.
My parents -in -law gave us a fishing boat when we got married in 2009.
We started to go fishing together since then.
Over the years, we have switched from the small boat to a large one and then back to the small boat.
We had worked hard and saved up some money, but now we have to rely on this small boat to pet our dad.
I feel really bad because my wife has to suffer all the hardships with me.
It's okay. We're young, there will be bread, and there will be milk.
Are you crying? Xiaoye paused, turned to her husband and reached out to wipe away his tears.
At that point, she couldn't help but burst into tears herself.
The couple hugged each other.
After a one hour drive from downtown Dongying, I arrived at Honggong New Village on a sweater in afternoon.
We're allowed to go jellyfishing starting from today for a few days.
We've been waiting for more than two months." All the containers will be filled with jellyfish tonight.
In Dongying, fishing is banned from May to August to prevent overfishing and protect the ecosystem.
system. In July, however, the ban is usually lifted for several days, for jellyfish.
We had 15 days to catch jellyfish this year.
Each boat has at least five to six workers on board, but we've hired just one temp worker.
After picking up some clothes, and saying goodbye to her one -year -old son, she all year hurried off to buy vegetables to prepare for their days on the sea.
My husband just called and said the template is vegetarian.
Grabbing some groceries from the store, Xiaoyue asked the shop owner to put them on a slate so that she would pay for them when she's back.
Then, she rushed to her car.
I'll miss my son's badly.
I cannot bear to see kids parting with their parents when they go to work in cities and leave their children in the care of grandparents.
Driving down the road, Xiao Yoo tried to cover up emotions with laughing as rows of White Houses in the rear mirror faded into the distance.
I cannot bring my son with me.
It's time to make money.
For short of hands, as we've hired just one worker, it will be terribly busy.
Nearly 200 boats are docked at the wharf.
Most of them are identical wooden boats of 15 meters long and 5 meters wide, just like Xiao Ye's.
A dozen anchors weighing 40 kilograms each lie at the front of the boat, motors on the stern.
A fridge stands beneath the cockpit and is filled with ice, steamed bread, veggies, meat and drinking water.
Sometimes, we could load 10 ,000 kilograms of jellyfish onto the boat in three hours.
You've got to collect the catches every 2 -3 hours, or they would be swept away by the One -town Jing, Xiaoyue's husband, set the tide flows in ebs every six hours, and they try to make full use of them.
At times, it would work 36 hours continuously.
As a result of years of rough life on the sea, barley eggs are common among the fishing folks.
Many of us suffer from arthritis in different parts of the body.
My shoulders hurt. Arthritis affects my knees.
They can be so itchy at night that it feels like worms are crawling in there.
I have to get up and run for a while to relieve the discomfort.
I cannot stand up after sitting for a while.
All three of us have pains both in our shoulders and knees.
I asked Wang Daojing whether he could hold on to the traditional way of living.
What else can I do?
I received little education nor do I have special skills.
After that stilled attempt, I don't have the courage to take risks anymore.
Wang answered with a hint of wistfulness in his eyes, earlier living on the sea has made him look older than his age.
That failed attempt, he mentioned, refers to replacing their small boat with an expensive big one when their fellow villagers competed to do so a decade ago.
We had been using the small wooden boat my parents -in -law made for us.
Back in 2014, many young people in the village bought large vessels and expected to earn more money.
We followed suit, sold our small boat and bought a big one, spending all our savings and taking a loan from the bank.
It cost us 500 ,000 yuan and was twice as large as the previous boat.
However, fishing is an unpredictable business and suffered big losses almost every year, ever after.
We lost one million yuan over four years.
But did they make some good money at a certain point?
In one year, we even made a total of ₹900 ,000, yet we still could not make ends meet.
Fishing nets, temp workers, diesel fields, all cost money.
Workers' salaries are big expense.
They work for us, and it's unfair to hold back their wages at the end of the year.
So we went to the bank to take out more loans.
We even resorted to loan sharks out of desperation.
60 -year -old Wang Yuejiau, Xiaoye's father -in -law and a veteran fisherman, said he objected to their decision to buy the bigger boat from the very beginning.
Larger boats generate more expenses, and we didn't have the experience of running larger boats.
Besides, the ocean is not an inexhaustible resource.
The catches have been reducing.
His son, Wang Daojing, added that their fish catch nowadays was only half of that of his father's time.
In the end, 80 percent of the villagers who switched to larger boats ended up deep in debt, including my two sons.
Some villages even took a big loan of 4 to 5 million yuan.
No one living on fishing in the village is free from debt.
Weaving a fishing net with two other women, a fellow visitor added at a seafood store by the harbor.
I noticed there was nothing on sale in the store after months of fishing ban.
All of my three sons are in debt.
The eldest one sold his apartment in the city to pay the bills.
There will be no going always.
After going back to the small boat, all our earnings in the following years were used to pay the interest.
It was several hundred thousand Yuan each year.
Despite her busy schedule, Xiaoyu managed to learn new things in her spare time.
She created a TikTok account and has started to share her fishing life and sell her catches to her 83 ,000 followers.
She has accumulated over one million likes.
My followers would buy half of our catches at retail price, we sell the rest to dealers.
At first my husband was against me making videos, saying that people would gossip and we should focus on fishing, but my father in law has been very supportive.
It turned out to be pretty successful.
Hongguang New Village is one of the last three villages still clinging to the traditional way of living at the mouth of the Yellow River.
Village head Dongai Lian said they don't have farm land.
Fishing is the main source for living here.
Dong Ying is a young city, established in the early 1980s.
Its land area has been increasing, as the Yellow River deposits large amounts of sediment as it flows past.
However, the soil is highly saline and not arable.
All you'll see around the estuary are patches of wheat, ponds and salt marshes.
Taking out the fishing ban period and freezing winter days, we can work on the sea for five months every year.
The cost of fish nets, labour and boat maintenance increases year -on -year.
If they get lucky, each worker could make 100 ,000 yen annually.
Labor cost is really high.
700 yen a day. Mostly only my husband and I are on our boat.
We work on the sea for one to ten days each time.
It depends. If the weather allows and the fish are active we stay longer.
But the yields vary.
When the catches are not satisfactory, they also choose to work longer for more.
very few women of my age go fishing nowadays .
i am the superwoman hello ,".
can you pick me up tomorrow, mom school is over in the morning Xiaolin's teenage boy came from his school.
Daddy and I are going out to the sea, schoolboy.
But we just have a two -day break.
When will you be back?
We'll be on the sea for three or five days, or maybe longer.
The high tide arrived, a fleet of over 100 boats sailed into the sunrise.
Fireworks were 80KKK Xiaoyu picked up her mobile phone and began to film on the boat for her Tik Tok followers.
She told me her family has already paid back three quarters of their debt.
If everything goes well, all the rest will be paid off in two years.
That was a life at sea from our multimedia series The Yellow River Mosaic.
You can also visit Radio .cgtn .com for more videos and photos from this series.
58 passed the hour.
Checking the forecast before we go for the day.
Beijing is down to minus two on Monday evening.
It'll be sunny and 14 tomorrow.
Man chunks down to six, then sunny conditions and 19.
Elsewhere in Asia, – Islamabad's down to 11 overnight, cloudy and 27 on Tuesday, – Vientiane's 21 this evening, then overcast in 29, – Phnom Penh's down to 24, then a slight rainfall in 34.
– In Africa, Nairobi will get a slight rainfall, then 27 degrees on Tuesday, – Kampala is at 20 overnight, then some rainfall in 25, – Juba's down to 26, then some rainfall in 40.
– Finally, Toshiyanya poured Villa 24 this evening, then a slight rain in 31, Up here we'll get a slight rainfall Tuesday and 30 degrees Celsius.
And that's it for this edition of the Beijing Hour, making news today in China's economy shows, steady growth through the first couple of months of the year.
The Huking Group and Yemen's bad retaliation after the latest U .S.
strikes against those militants.
On behalf of the staff, this is Shane Bigim in the Chinese capital.
Hope you'll join us for the next edition of the Beijing Hour and open a window to the world together.
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