BEIJING, Jan. 20 – Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called for solid efforts to secure a good start to the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030).

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks at the opening of a study session at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee (National Academy of Governance) for principal officials at the provincial and ministerial level.

BEIJING: Beijing demanded on Tuesday that Afghanistan protect Chinese citizens after a bombing at a restaurant in Kabul killed at least seven people, including a Chinese man.

China, which shares a rugged 76-kilometre (47-mile) border with Afghanistan, has close ties with the Taliban government.

“China has made urgent representations with the Afghan side, demanding that the Afghan side spare no effort to treat the injured, further take effective measures to protect the safety of Chinese citizens,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a news conference.

Six Afghans were also killed in Monday’s explosion at the Chinese Noodle restaurant in central Kabul, city police spokesman Khalid Zadran said.

The blast was claimed by the regional branch of the Islamic State group, the SITE Intelligence Group reported, saying it was a suicide attack targeting Chinese nationals.

The Kabul police spokesman said the restaurant in the Shahr-e-Naw area mostly served Chinese Muslims.

Five Chinese nationals were also among the wounded, Beijing said, warning its citizens against travelling to Afghanistan.

“Chinese citizens and enterprises already in Afghanistan should enhance their awareness of prevention, strengthen security measures and evacuate high-risk areas as soon as possible,” Guo said.

Taliban officials have vowed to restore security to the country and are courting foreign investors to secure crucial revenue streams as foreign aid funding dries up.

Chinese business visitors have flocked to Afghanistan since the Taliban government took power in 2021 for the second time.

The following year, the Islamic State group claimed a deadly attack on a Kabul hotel popular with Chinese guests.

The death toll from an explosion at a steel factory in northern China rose to nine, state media said Tuesday, after dozens were also injured in the weekend blast.

One person was still unaccounted for as of midday Tuesday, Xinhua news agency said, citing local rescuers.

Early reports showed the explosion at Baogang United Steel plant in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region on Sunday originated from a 650-cubic-metre water and steam tank.

Xinhua previously said 84 people were taken to the hospital for treatment following the blast.

Footage on social media showed collapsed ceilings and rubble at the factory, huge plumes of smoke overhead, and fire engines at the scene.

Other videos showed an object being blasted into the sky as smoke billowed from the factory and a large, cylindrical hunk of metal that appeared to have come from the plant lying in the rubble of buildings.

Residents kilometres away reported that the explosion shook their homes and shattered windows.

Industrial accidents are common in China due to lax safety standards.

An explosion at a fireworks factory in Hunan province in central China in June killed nine people and injured 26 others.

In 2015, blasts at warehouses containing flammable chemicals in the port city of Tianjin killed more than 170 people and injured 700 others.

BEIJING, Jan. 16  – Chinese President Xi Jinping and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met on Friday for the second time in less than three months, in a bid to chart the course for bilateral ties that began to thaw last year.

The Xi-Carney meeting last October in Gyeongju, Republic of Korea, marked a turnaround of bilateral relationship, and placed it on a new trajectory of positive development. The two sides have had in-depth discussions on resuming and restarting cooperation across various fields, and achieved positive outcomes.

The healthy and stable development of China-Canada relations is in the common interests of the two countries and also conducive to world peace, stability, development and prosperity, Xi told Carney, who is on an official visit to China from Wednesday through Saturday, marking the first by a Canadian prime minister in eight years.

With a sense of responsibility for history, for the people and for the world, the two sides should advance the China-Canada new strategic partnership, steer their ties onto the track of sound, steady and sustainable development, and bring more benefits to both peoples, Xi said.

He said China and Canada should be partners of mutual respect, common development, mutual trust and collaboration.

He said that despite different national conditions, both countries should respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, respect the political systems and development paths they have chosen respectively, and adhere to the correct way of getting along with each other.

Xi said the essence of China-Canada economic and trade relations is mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, with both sides benefiting from cooperation. China’s high-quality development and high-level opening up will continue to provide new opportunities and expand new space for China-Canada cooperation.

Xi called on both sides to increase efforts to promote cooperation and reduce the negative list, thereby strengthening the bond of shared interests through deeper and broader cooperation.

Xi urged both sides to encourage exchanges and cooperation in education, culture, tourism, sports and sub-national areas, and facilitate two-way travel to entrench public support for strong ties.

China is willing to enhance communication and coordination with Canada within the frameworks of the United Nations (UN), the G20 and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation to jointly address global challenges, Xi said.

Carney noted that with a long history of friendly engagement and strong economic complementarity, Canada and China enjoy extensive common interests and opportunities.

Canada wishes to build with China a new strategic partnership that is strong and enduring so as to deliver greater benefits to the two peoples, Carney said.

The Canadian side reaffirms its adherence to the one-China policy and its commitment to working with China in the spirit of mutual respect and partnership to expand and strengthen cooperation in economy and trade, energy, agriculture, finance, education, climate change, and others, he said.

Carney said multilateralism underpins global security and stability, and the Global Governance Initiative put forward by President Xi is important.

Facing a fast-changing and turbulent world, Canada would like to intensify multilateral coordination with China to uphold multilateralism and the authority of the UN and to promote international peace and stability, he added.

During Carney’s visit, both sides issued a joint statement of the China-Canada leaders’ meeting, and signed multiple cooperation documents covering trade, customs, energy, construction, culture, and public security.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang held talks with Carney on Thursday. Li said China welcomes more Canadian companies to invest in China and hopes that Canada will provide a fair and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese enterprises investing in the country.

Wang Wen, dean of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at the Renmin University of China, said the new Canadian government’s endeavor to mend bilateral ties reflects the pragmatic and rational approach of its new leadership.

Restoring stable bilateral relations will not only enhance political mutual trust but also bring exchanges in economy, trade, culture and other fields back on track, benefiting the people of both countries, Wang said.

BEIJING, Jan. 20 – Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday congratulated Faustin-Archange Touadera on his reelection as president of the Central African Republic.

In his message, Xi noted that in recent years, China and the Central African Republic have continued to deepen political mutual trust.

The two sides have also firmly supported each other on issues involving their core interests and major concerns, and steadily advanced exchanges and cooperation across various fields, he added.

Xi said that he attached great importance to the development of China-Central African Republic relations.

He expressed readiness to work with President Touadera to actively implement the outcomes of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, and to push ahead with the continuous upgrading of the two countries’ strategic partnership, so as to deliver greater benefits to the peoples of both countries.

HARBIN, Jan. 19 – Despite the biting minus 20 degrees Celsius cold on the century-old Central Street in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, Thai tourist Nattapong Somchai stamped his feet to keep warm yet happily embraced a local tradition by trying a classic ice cream bar.

“This is absolutely amazing,” he said with unconcealed excitement. “There are not only exquisite ice sculptures but also European-style architecture and Western cuisine. The blend of Eastern and Western charm is truly captivating.”

Recently, tourists from Southeast Asian countries like Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia have been flocking to Harbin, hailed as China’s “Ice City,” with unprecedented enthusiasm.

Guo Chunguang, general manager of a local travel agency in Harbin, stated that since the start of this winter, there has been strong demand for direct charter flights from Bangkok to Harbin, and the agency has already received over 3,000 Thai tourists.

Han Yuanjun, a researcher at the China Tourism Academy, analyzed that the hot climate and the scarcity of ice and snow resources in Southeast Asia are prompting an increasing number of tourists in the region to travel to northeast China in search of unique experiences.

Since the start of this year, high-altitude scenic spots across the southwestern Chinese provinces of Yunnan, Sichuan and Guizhou, which boast abundant snow-capped mountains and proximity to Southeast Asia, have also seen a surge in inbound tourists from the region.

On Jan. 1 alone, more than 3,000 travelers from Vietnam entered China via Hekou in Yunnan. Many then boarded high-speed trains bound for Jiaozi Snow Mountain in Kunming, the provincial capital, eager to experience snow.

“It rarely snows in Vietnam. With the New Year holiday, many Vietnamese are eager to see snow in China,” Vietnamese tour guide Nong Thuy Duong said.

According to a report released last year by China’s General Administration of Sport, the country’s ice-and-snow economy has experienced leapfrog growth in recent years. The sector’s scale expanded from 364.7 billion yuan (about 52 billion U.S. dollars) in 2016 to 980 billion yuan in 2024, with an average annual growth rate exceeding 21 percent.

Through four consecutive years of overseas promotional campaigns for ice and snow tourism, China has expanded its international market presence and achieved targeted outreach for its winter tourism brand in Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia and Vietnam. Data shows that there has been a significant increase in Southeast Asian tourists visiting ice and snow destinations in Harbin, Jilin, another province in northeast China, and Sichuan.

According to Tang Chengcai, professor at the School of Tourism Sciences, Beijing International Studies University, this growth is no longer a mere increase in visitor numbers but reflects the deep integration of China’s ice and snow industry chain with the global tourism consumption market. It has fostered a new international ecosystem that spans product development, cultural exchanges and service trade, Tang added.

China’s optimized visa-free transit policies have also reduced travel barriers for Southeast Asian visitors. “It used to be expensive to get a visa, but now it’s so easy. You can just buy a ticket and travel around China. The visa-free policy is really a great move,” said Yanti, a tourist from Singapore.

Industry insiders point to a prominent trend as Southeast Asian tourists in China move beyond ice and snow tourism to seek deeper cultural experiences, with “living like a local” growing in popularity.

At Harbin’s Zhaolin Park, home to a six-decade-old ice lantern garden party, Thai tourist Siriporn Wannarat took photos with her child in front of ice sculptures and wandered through an ice maze. “What moved me the most is that the park is open for free here. We can take a walk after dinner and feel the pulse of the city. That’s what real life is about,” she said.

Han with the China Tourism Academy noted that Southeast Asian tourists have a strong interest in Chinese culture, and they are naturally drawn to the unique local customs, winter fishing and ice sculpture art in northeast China.

Pan Jie, a Harbin-based tour guide, has also observed that Thai tourists’ itineraries are expanding beyond the city to include Yabuli’s professional ski resorts, the snow-blanketed forests of Snow Town, and folk-tradition villages across northeast China.

The influx of Southeast Asian visitors is setting higher standards for the internationalization of China’s ice and snow industry. Local authorities in the country are rolling out targeted service upgrades.

Chengdu Tianfu International Airport in Sichuan provincial capital has established a dedicated payment assistance center for inbound travelers, while the city now allows direct use of foreign bank cards on public transit. Major tourist sites across the province now feature AI-powered multilingual translation screens and on-site currency exchange kiosks, ensuring a seamless and stress-free journey.

Harbin Taiping International Airport has launched four new international routes to Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, increasing its weekly passenger flights from 87 to 118.

Ports such as Heihe and Suifenhe in Heilongjiang have implemented measures like deploying bilingual police officers for guidance and dynamically adjusting inspection lanes to ensure efficient clearance for travelers.

According to statistics from the Heilongjiang provincial exit and entry frontier inspection station, from Jan. 1 to 13, the number of inbound and outbound passengers at ports in the province reached 122,000, marking a 37-percent increase compared to the same period last year.

“I really like Snow Town. It’s so beautiful here, and I enjoy experiencing the feeling of cold here,” said a Vietnamese tourist visiting Heilongjiang for the first time, adding that the English translations in the scenic area and the helpful local people made him feel at ease.

Experts suggest that there is still room for improvement in the service quality, market regulation and internationalization of commercial facilities in China’s ice and snow tourism destinations. For example, deeper development could focus on the dining preferences and accommodation habits of Southeast Asian tourists, along with further enhancements to indoor entertainment facilities and the expansion of ice and snow consumption scenarios.

Foreign tourists board K7041, a train themed on folk culture of northeast China, at Harbin Railway Station in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, Jan. 19, 2026. Recently, tourists from Southeast Asian countries have been flocking to Harbin, hailed as China’s “Ice City,” with unprecedented enthusiasm.

A tourist from Malaysia (L) experiences painting techniques of Elunchun nationality on K7041, a train themed on folk culture of northeast China, in northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, Jan. 19, 2026. Recently, tourists from Southeast Asian countries have been flocking to Harbin, hailed as China’s “Ice City,” with unprecedented enthusiasm.

Foreign tourists pose for photos on K7041, a train themed on folk culture of northeast China, in northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, Jan. 19, 2026. Recently, tourists from Southeast Asian countries have been flocking to Harbin, hailed as China’s “Ice City,” with unprecedented enthusiasm.

Foreign tourists experience a sledge on K7041, a train themed on folk culture of northeast China, in northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, Jan. 19, 2026. Recently, tourists from Southeast Asian countries have been flocking to Harbin, hailed as China’s “Ice City,” with unprecedented enthusiasm.