1) Epic show depicts 100 years of the Communist Party of China

A two-hour-long art performance was held in Beijing to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The show recreated scenes from the CPC's history, featuring more than 10,000 performers, with 20,000 audience members. It depicted how the party was born, how it led the Chinese Revolution and highlighted some of its main achievements, from the founding of New China, the return of Hong Kong and eradicating extreme poverty to overcoming COVID-19.

The show ended with a message that the whole world can be built into what China calls a community with a shared future.

2) China achieves goal of 'moderately prosperous society'

"We have realized the first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects," China's President Xi Jinping said at a grand gathering at Tian'anmen Square in Beijing. 

Founded in July 1921 with just over 50 members, the CPC has grown into the world's largest political party with more than 95 million members.  

It had set two centenary goals – the second one is to build China into "a great modern socialist country in all respects" by the middle of the century to celebrate the centenary of the People's Republic of China.

3) Commemorative stamps issued to mark historic occasion

The anniversary, which has dominated the week in China, has also been marked by a new set of 20 stamps. 

They feature oil paintings that depict critical national events and moments over the past 100 years, ranging from the founding of the People's Republic of China to the eradication of extreme poverty, as well as buildings and sites of historical and cultural importance, such as the National Stadium.

4) China officially declared malaria-free by WHO

China has stamped out malaria – a mosquito-borne infectious disease – which affected more than 30 million people in the 1940s, killing hundreds a year. After a fourth year of zero cases, the World Health Organization certified the country "malaria-free" on Wednesday.

It took the Chinese government nearly 70 years of sustained efforts to wipe out the malaria parasite with the involvement of 13 ministries.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO, said: "Their success was hard-earned and came only after decades of targeted and sustained action. With this announcement, China joins the growing number of countries that are showing the world that a malaria-free future is a viable goal."

5) Scientist 'reinvents' potatoes to solve food shortages

Chinese scientists have developed a new type of potato – the Upotato – in a world-first application of genome-editing technologies.

The experiment, led by Huang Sanwen, a researcher with the Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen (AGIS) under the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), used genome design to transform potato breeding while also improving plant health and output by eliminating harmful mutations.

A trial of the "Upotato No 1" potato was conducted in southwest China's Yunnan Province in November. The output was found to be far beyond expectations this February with a yield "close to 3 tonnes per mu (about 45 tonnes per hectare), which equals to the yield of the best potato varieties in the region," Huang told CMG.

6) Have the elephants decided to go back home?

The herd of wandering elephants had spent more than a year trekking across China, but it appears they might have now decided that the grass isn't necessarily greener elsewhere and turned round.

Shen Qingzhong, a senior engineer from the Scientific Research Institute of the Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve, told CGTN that during the long migration, the herd had tried to avoid people and stayed in woodland areas most of the time, as they were probably afraid of getting hurt by people, especially with two calves.

He said elephants can think and they know how to make choices beneficial to them – and they had decided that a metropolis such as Kunming was definitely not a good choice. They may also have decided food availability might not be more plentiful where they were heading. 

Meanwhile, the male elephant that broke away from the herd is still stranded in Kunming and is getting further away from his family. By last Saturday, they were some 53 kilometers apart.

It's natural for an adult male elephant to separate from their group to seek mates for breeding, Shen said. The behavior is just like "a teenage boy in a rebellious phase," Shen added. 

7) Why astronauts need upper-body strength of gymnasts

Some of the most challenging tasks for the Chinese astronauts (taikonauts) are extravehicular activities, which require extraordinary upper-limb strength, according to Huang Weifen, chief designer of the astronaut system of China's manned space program.

Through extensive training on the ground, the taikonauts have gained upper-limb strength similar to a professional gymnast or kayaker, Huang said.

Before heading into space, their training included performing extravehicular operations in a water tank, which simulated the microgravity environment.

Tang Hongbo, the youngest member of the three-man crew, joked that he was so tired after the initial training sessions he could barely hold a pair of chopsticks!

8) 1,000-year-old Tang Dynasty bridge unearthed

Archaeologists have unearthed an ancient landmark bridge in Kaifeng City, in central China's Henan Province. The stone bridge has a deck measuring 30 meters in width, as broad as modern, eight-lane highway bridges. 

The bridge was built during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) and crossed the Bianhe River, a section of the Grand Canal, which is a vast waterway connecting the northern and southern parts of China. The bridge became a landmark structure in Kaifeng when the city served as the capital during the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127). 

The bridge survived six dynasties until it was buried by sediment from the flooding of the Yellow River in 1642. It was discovered by chance in 1984. The Henan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology initiated the excavation of the bridge in 2018.

9) Chinese man attempts to sail around Arctic Ocean

Circumnavigating the Arctic Ocean in about 116 days, covering about 15,000 nautical miles (roughly 27,000 kilometers). This is the goal of Chinese Captain Zhai Mo and his two crew members, who set sail for the coldest ocean from Shanghai on Wednesday.

If successful, Zhai and his team will be the first to complete such a mission.

"We will sail from Shanghai and pass through the waters of South Korea, Japan and via the Bering Sea, we'll head to Russia, Norway, Iceland, Canada, Alaska, then back to China via the Bering Strait," said Zhai.

"We have to time our arrival properly, for example, at the Bering Strait, because if the ice hasn't melted, it will be a waste of our food and water resources. We have to catch that window," he told CGTN.

10) The Chinese women shattering the glass ceiling

How does China fare in terms of women in senior business roles? Pretty well, but as with most countries there's still a way to go, with things such as a younger retirement age for women one of the issues highlighted as maybe having an impact. 

CGTN spoke to some of the successful women in senior executive roles about their experiences – including the computer games boss who is seeking to end stereotyping of female characters in games and reshaping some of them as the strongest warriors.

...And finally, we can't end our round-up without a bonus for all panda fans - watch this video of a cute panda playing with a basket.