The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that the second stage of an investigation into the origins of COVID-19 should include further studies in China and lab audits.In a closed-door briefing to member states, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus proposed five priorities for the next phase of the investigation.They included "audits of relevant laboratories and research institutions operating in the area of the initial human cases identified in December 2019", according to

“Over the past hundred years, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has united and led the Chinese people in writing the most magnificent chapter in the millennia-long history of the Chinese nation,” President Xi Jinping declared at the CPC’s centennial celebration, in a speech that emphasized the Party’s role in driving China’s success, including its economic rise. But the CPC’s economic record is actually mixed, and even those who recognize this often overlook that its successes and f

United States (US) politicians from both congressional parties are worried that China is overtaking America as the global leader in science and technology. In a rare display of bipartisanship, the normally gridlocked Senate passed a bill in early June to spend close to US$250 billion in the next decade to promote cutting-edge research.

Chinese vaccine producers Sinovac and Sinopharm have signed on to global vaccine sharing scheme COVAX, which aims to distribute vaccines to poorer countries.The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (Gavi) said it would make 110 million doses of the vaccines available as part of the scheme.COVAX has agreements with the manufacturers of 11 vaccines and plans to provide two billion doses across the world by early 2022.Both Sinopharm and Sinovac, which have been approved by the World Hea

This was supposed to be the Asian century, with the ascent of China being only one – albeit a major – part of the story.

Scuttled listings and share prices hammered by official threats: Beijing has launched a withering and very public assault on some of China's biggest tech names.The travails of ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing this week carried a cautionary tale for digital big hitters: what goes up, can come down...

From South Korea to Australia, authorities are struggling to contain the highly transmissible coronavirus strain that has caused a surge in UK, Europe and the United States (US). Countries throughout Asia Pacific – from South Korea to Australia – have been hit by a rise in coronavirus infections as the Delta variant threatens a new wave of the pandemic even in a region renowned for tackling the virus with a high degree of success.China reported 57 new coronavirus cases in the mainlan

Hong Kong's leader on Tuesday brushed off a warning by major tech companies including Google, Facebook and Twitter that they may quit the financial hub if authorities push ahead with a new privacy law.City authorities have unveiled plans to pass a new law targeting "doxxing" – the act of publishing someone's private details online so they can be harassed by others.But the broad wording of the proposed legislation has spooked major tech companies who fear they could be held

On 1 July, the Communist Party of China (CPC) celebrated its centenary anniversary.

Two astronauts conducted China's first tandem spacewalk on Sunday, working on the outside of their nation's new Tiangong station in orbit around Earth.Three Chinese astronauts blasted off in June, docking at the space station where they are to remain for three months in China's longest crewed mission to date.On Sunday morning, two of them exited the core module, said the China Manned Space Agency.The first, Liu Boming, was transported with help from a mechanical arm to a work s