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China's railway system handled a record high number of passenger trips during the first 10 months of its rule of this year.
That is according to data from China State Railway Group Company.
In the January to October period, the number of railway passenger trips totalled 395 billion across the country, up 64 per cent from a year earlier.
The railway operator said that since the beginning of this year, it has prioritised safe and orderly travel, while also working to meet the growing diversity of passenger demands.
For instance, it provided 2049 tourism-focused train services in the first 10 months up 28 year on year.
It also highlighted measures to make travel easier and more affordable, such as customised discounts for students, children and other key groups.
A high-speed freight rail line has recently been launched, connecting Wuhan, the capital of central China's Hubei Province, with Guangzhou in south China's Guangdong Province.
Trains on the line travel at speeds of up to 350 km per hour, enabling direct deliveries between the central China metropolis and the transportation hub in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
Zheng Ting, manager of the Hankou Station business department at China Railway Express Company, said The Wuhan to Guangzhou freight line will primarily serve time-sensitive goods such as fresh food, biomedicine and electronic products.
The trains feature specialised packaging and temperature monitoring systems to ensure products arrive in optimal condition.
Previously, several high-speed freight lines had been launched, including the Kunming to Chengdu, Zhengzhou to Chongqing and Nanchang to Shenzhen railway express services.
The launch of this new line is expected to facilitate the coordinated development of the central China region and the Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macau Greater Bay Area.
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Trade in agricultural and food products between China and ASEAN reached US513 billion in the first 10 months of this year, up 89 year-on-year.
That is according to China's General Administration of Customs.
The figures were announced during The 9th China-ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Cooperation, held in southwest China's Chongqing municipality.
Sun Meijun, head of China's General Administration of Customs, said that ASEAN has been China's largest trading partner for agri-food products for eight consecutive years and has remained for many years China's top export market and second largest import source for agri-food products.
Sun highlighted that since China established a goal in late 2021 to import US150 billion worth of high-quality agricultural products from ASEAN over the next five years, substantial progress has been made from 2022 through to October 2025.
China imported US$141.2 billion worth of products, achieving 94% of the target.
Economic and trade relations between China and ASEAN have remained robust.
Since 2022, the annual bilateral trade in goods has consistently exceeded US900 billion and hit a record US982 billion in 2024.
The growing trend is expected to continue this year, with trade volume rising 82 year on year in the first 10 months.
In the face of a challenging global trade environment, trade relations between China and ASEAN have shown strong resilience.
The recent signing of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 30 upgrade protocol, which includes enhancements to sanitary and phytosanitary measures and trade facilitation, is expected to further boost agri-food trade.
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An international bird watching event has recently taken place at the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve in Dongying in East China's Shandong Province, where bird watchers were thrilled by spectacles of flocks of wild birds skimming low over the water's surface.
Shahbaz Khan, director of the UNESCO Regional Office for East Asia, said at the opening ceremony of the bird-watching event that they celebrate China's growing leadership in biodiversity conservation, ecological civilisation and the creation of the national park.
Attending the third, following the Yellow River to the Sea, Yellow River Estuary International Bird Watching Season.
James Fitzsimmons, Senior Advisor of Global Protection Strategies of Nature Conservancy, emphasised that China's efforts in coastal wetland protection hold significant global importance.
He said that the Yellow River Delta is recognised globally as a critically important site for bird conservation, supporting both breeding populations and birds migrating along the East Asian Australasian Flyway.
Data from the National Forestry and Grassland Administration shows that four out of nine major migratory bird flyways worldwide pass through China, protecting bird habitats and migration routes.
China is crucial for the survival and reproduction of bird populations globally.
Wang Shufeng, vice-mayor of Dongying, told visitors that local authorities have actively promoted comprehensive ecological, resulting in the number of bird species rising from 187 to 374 in recent years, with over 6 million birds now breeding and resting in the area annually.
Fitzsimmons said that, compared to shorebirds in Australia, most of the migratory bird species in China are the same.
He praised the model that unites government authorities, local communities whose lives are intertwined with this land, dedicated research institutes and many other organizations, saying this synergistic approach is not just beneficial, it is essential.
Speaking at the ceremony, Wang Haizhong, president of the China Wetlands Association, said that China has set up over 2200 wetland protection areas, including 82 wetlands of international importance known as Ramsar sites, 80 nationally important wetlands and 22 international wetland cities.
With over 5333 million hectares of wetland areas under protection, China has created the largest wetland conservation system in Asia.
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Chinese scientists have made a major breakthrough in lunar science by analysing lunar samples brought back by the Chang'e 6 mission, providing a crucial scientific base for lunar research.
That is according to the China National Space Administration.
Researchers from Shandong University, the Institute of Geochemistry under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Yunnan University have, for the first time, discovered micron-sized hematite and magamite crystals formed by large impact events.
This discovery reveals a previously unknown oxidation reaction mechanism on the Moon.
It provides direct sample evidence supporting the origin of magnetic anomalies around the South Pole Aitken Basin.
Researchers identified hematite and magamite in the lunar samples and confirmed the lattice structures and unique characteristics of primary lunar hematite grains using multiple techniques.
These findings were published in the journal Science Advances.
Since the beginning of human lunar exploration, the Moon has been considered a generally reduced body with critical evidence of oxidation processes, particularly high-valence iron oxides like hematite extremely scarce or absent.
The study proposes that hematite formation may be closely related to significant impact events in lunar history.
The intermediate products of the reaction during impact events include magnetic magnetite and macamite, which could be the mineral carriers responsible for the magnetic anomalies observed at the northern rim of the South Pole-Aitken Basin by previous remote sensing missions.
The research provides the first ground truth on strongly oxidised materials such as hematite on the lunar surface within an overall reduced context, shedding new light on the Moon's redox conditions and the origin of its magnetic anomalies.
In 2024, Chang'e 6 made history by bringing 1,935.3 grams of lunar far-side samples back to Earth.
These samples were collected from the South Pole Aitken Basin, the largest, deepest and oldest basin on the Moon.
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Dogs have been humanity's loyal companions for millennia, and a new study of ancient canine DNA reveals just how deeply intertwined their histories are with ours.
An international team led by Chinese scientists has found that canine companions have been faithfully following human migrations across Eurasia for nearly 10000 years.
They analysed 73 ancient dog genomes, including 17 newly sequenced individuals, sampled from East Asia to the West Eurasian steppe.
Among them are ancient domestic dogs from northern China, marking the first time that their genomes have been obtained.
According to the study published in the journal Science, both the Northeast Asian ancestry in Chinese dogs and the Western ancestry in steppe dogs mirror human migrations.
Neolithic steppe dogs can be traced to Eastern European hunter-gatherers.
According to Sasha Vinieri, the magazine's editor, the research has also found that in some cases, especially where particular working or physical traits were valuable, such as in the Arctic, dogs were likely traded among populations.
The study not only confirms the millennia-old bond between humans and dogs, but also mirrors the ancient connectivity of civilizations.
The researchers said that such an approach can be applied to horses cattle, sheep and other livestock, further illuminating their roles in human history.
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That is the end of this edition of Special English.
To recap, I'm going to read two of the news items again at normal speed.
Please listen carefully.
China's railway system handled a record high number of passenger trips during the first ten months of this year.
That is according to data from China State Railway Group Company.
In the January to October period, the number of railway passenger trips totaled 395 billion across the country, up 64 from a year earlier.
The railway operator said that since the beginning of this year, it has prioritised safe and orderly travel, while also working to meet the growing diversity of passenger demands.
For instance, it provided 2049 tourism-focused train services in the first 10 months up 28 year-on-year.
It also highlighted measures to make travel easier and more affordable – such as customised discounts for students, children and other key groups.
An international bird-watching event has recently taken place at the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve in Dongying in East China's Shandong Province, where birdwatchers were thrilled by spectacles of flocks of wild birds skimming low over the water's surface.
Shahbaz Khan, director of UNESCO's Regional Office for East Asia, said at the opening ceremony of the birdwatching event that they celebrate China's growing leadership in biodiversity conservation, ecological civilisation and the creation of the national park.
Attending the third Following the Yellow River to the Sea event, Yellow River Estuary International Birdwatching Season.
James Fitzsimmons, Senior Advisor of Global Protection Strategies of Nature Conservancy, emphasised that China's efforts in coastal wetland protection hold significant global importance.
He said that the Yellow River Delta is recognised globally as a critically important site for bird conservation, supporting both breeding populations and birds migrating along the East Asian-Australasian flyway.
Data from the National Forestry and Grassland Administration shows that four out of nine major migratory bird flyways worldwide pass through China.
Protecting bird habitats and migration routes in China is crucial for the survival and reproduction of bird populations globally.
Wang Shufeng, vice-mayor of Dongying, told visitors that local authorities have actively promoted comprehensive ecological governance, resulting in the number of bird species rising from 187 to 374 in recent years, with over 6 million birds now breeding and resting in the area annually.
Fitzsimmons said that, compared to shorebirds in Australia, most of the migratory bird species in China are the same.
He praised the model that unites government authorities, local communities whose lives are intertwined with this land, dedicated research institutes and many other organisations, saying this synergistic approach is not just beneficial, it is essential.
Speaking at the ceremony, Wang Haizhong said, President of the China Wetlands Association, said that China has set up over 2200 wetland protection areas, including 82 wetlands of international importance known as Ramsar sites, 80 nationally important wetlands and 22 international wetland cities.
With over 5333 million hectares of wetland areas under protection, China has created the largest wetland conservation system in Asia.
That is the end of today's programme.
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