Xiaomi unveils Mi 12 smartphones

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi on Tuesday released its latest flagship series, the Mi 12 and Mi 12 Pro, with the fully revamped Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip.

The company's founder and CEO Lei Jun said on Weibo a week ago that they have "formally set Apple as the target" in the high-end smartphone market.

Another Tianhui satellite launched

China successfully sent a Tianhui-4 satellite into orbit from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gansu Province. 

The satellite was launched atop a Long March-2D carrier rocket at 7:13 p.m. local time. The flight marked the 404th launch of the Long March series carrier rockets.

Giant 17th century distillery unearthed

After more than four months of archaeological excavation, the ruins of an ancient large-scale distillery have been unearthed in Hengshui City, Hebei province in north China.

According to archaeologists, the distillery site dates back to the late Ming (1368-1644) and early Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.

Virus supervising groups to ensure a healthy holiday

China's State Council has established 15 working groups of supervisors to inspect epidemic prevention and control across the country during the New Year and Spring Festival to ensure a healthy and peaceful holiday, said Mi Feng, spokesperson for the National Health Commission on Wednesday.

Beijing sets air quality record for first 11 months of 2021

Beijing saw the reading for a major air-pollution index fall to the lowest level in the January-November period since records began in 2013, authorities said. 

The city's average concentration of PM2.5 was 33 micrograms per cubic meter in the first 11 months of the year. It is also the lowest in 28 cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and neighboring provinces, Yu Jianhua, deputy director of the Beijing municipal ecology and environment bureau, told a press briefing Tuesday.

World's first very large ethane carrier (VLEC) delivered in Shanghai

Capable of shipping 99,000 cubic meters of liquefied gas across the Pacific Ocean, the world's first very large ethane carrier (VLEC), "Pacific Ineos Belstaff," was named and delivered by Chinese shipbuilder Jiangnan Shipyard Group in Shanghai on Tuesday.

More than 9 million fresh college graduates in 2021

The number of fresh college graduates in China this year hit 9.09 million, the Ministry of Education said at a press conference on Tuesday. 

The number increased by 350,000 on a year-on-year basis, according to the ministry. The overall employment landscape has remained stable this year as a result of concerted efforts from all parties, the ministry added.

Full foreign ownership allowed in passenger vehicle manufacturing

China will remove the foreign ownership limits in passenger vehicle manufacturing starting January 1, 2022.

The rules restricting a foreign company from establishing more than two joint ventures producing similar vehicles in the country will also be removed, according to a negative list released on Monday, signaling that the sector will be completely open to foreign investors.

China's industrial profits grow 9% year-on-year in November

China's industrial profits in November grew by 9 percent compared with a year earlier and slower than the previous month, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Monday.

The growth slowed from the 24.6-percent gain reported in October, making the profits of China's major industrial firms 805.96 billion yuan ($126.51 billion) in November.