Two books of Iris Chang’s “The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II” are displayed at a reading room of the San Francisco WWII Pacific War Memorial Hall in US. Photo: Wu Xiaoling / Xinhua
Beijing Voices Support for Venezuela’s Sovereignty Amidst US Naval Blockade With 11 Warships and 15,000 Troops
On 17 December, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil, reaffirming Beijing’s opposition to unilateral coercion and its support for Venezuela’s sovereignty. The call came as the United States deployed 11 warships and 15,000 troops near Venezuelan waters, an action described by international law experts as an ‘act of war’ and violating the UN Charter. China remains Venezuela’s main economic partner, purchasing around 80–85% of its oil exports and holding approximately US $20 billion in Venezuelan debt.
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Former Japan Self-Defence Forces Chief Sanctioned for Taiwan Political Adviser Role
On 15 December, China’s Foreign Ministry imposed sanctions under the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law on Japan’s former Self-Defense Forces chief of staff (2012–2014), who became Taiwan’s first foreign ex-military adviser in March. Measures include asset freezes, entry bans, and prohibitions on transactions. Beijing cited alleged collusion with “separatist forces,” amid rising tensions after Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae’s November remark that the Taiwan conflict could pose Japan’s “existential crisis.”
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Yiwu’s Basic Medical Insurance Reaches 10,000 Foreign Participants, China’s Only County-Level Pilot Extending Coverage to Flexible Employment Workers
On 17 December, a Russian woman became Yiwu’s 10,000th foreign participant in basic medical insurance, part of China’s only county-level pilot allowing foreigners with two-year residence permits to enroll as flexible employment workers. Since 2019, participants have used the insurance 95,400 times, with expenditures totaling 24 million yuan (US $3.4 million). The program decouples social welfare from citizenship, demonstrating an innovative model for inclusive healthcare.
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Six Ministries Release Service Outsourcing Action Plan Targeting 2030 Industrial Upgrade Through AI and Automation
On 16 December, six Chinese ministries released an action plan to develop the country’s service outsourcing industry by 2030, focusing on cultivating competitive firms and innovation clusters. The business process outsourcing market is projected to grow from US $196.8 billion to US $383.8 billion at an annual rate of 12%. With leadership in AI and robotics, including two million industrial robots and US $125 billion in AI investment, China aims to challenge the traditional outsourcing dominance of India and the Philippines, aligning technological advancement with industrial modernization.
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11-Point Policy Package Intensifies Financial Support to Boost Consumption as Household Spending Lags Global Average
On 14 December, three Chinese ministries jointly released an 11-point policy package to strengthen coordination between business and finance aimed at boosting consumption. Measures expand consumer credit to green, health, digital, and AI+ sectors, while deploying digital yuan smart contracts for targeted subsidies. With household consumption at 40% of GDP (well below the global average of 56.5%) and savings rates at 43.4%, the policy follows the Central Economic Work Conference’s directive to make stimulating consumption China’s top economic priority in 2025.
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Heilongjiang Province Achieves Record Grain Harvest of 82 Million Tonnes in 22nd Consecutive Year of Growth, Maintaining National Leadership
China’s 2025 grain output reached 714.88 million tonnes, increasing 1.2% year-on-year, with Heilongjiang contributing 39.7 billion jin (19.85 billion kg) of the national increase – 23.6% of the total gain; the province’s agricultural modernisation, driven by 99.8% mechanisation and 70.8% science and technology contribution, demonstrates state-led agricultural development’s effectiveness amid global food insecurity affecting 1.4 million people facing catastrophic conditions.
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Xizang Achieves 99% Clean Energy Generation With Solar Projects at World’s Highest Altitudes and Largest Scale
Xizang’s clean energy installations exceeded 10,000 megawatts by September 2025, achieving over 99% renewable generation – the highest proportion among China’s provincial grids; the region now hosts the world’s largest solar plant under construction on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (610 square kilometres) and the highest-altitude photovoltaic station (5,046–5,228 metres), improving electricity access for over 100,000 rural households as China’s national carbon emissions declined 1% year-on-year in the first half of 2025.
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Record 83 Orbital Launches Achieved in 2025 With Three Rockets Launched in 19 Hours, Surpassing Previous Year by 22%
China’s aerospace sector set a new national pace record in 2025 with 83 orbital launches, a 22% increase from 2024’s 68 missions. Over a remarkable 19-hour period on 8–9 December, three Long March rockets – a Long March 6A, Long March 4B, and Long March 3B – lifted off from separate spaceports, underscoring accelerating operational cadence and expanding satellite deployment. The surge reflects growth in China’s commercial space market, projected at around 2.5 trillion yuan (US $357 billion), and advances in reusable launch technology and satellite systems. Pan Jianwei’s contributions to quantum communications, including the Micius satellite program, were honored with the Tengchong Science Prize for scientific innovation.
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First L3 Autonomous Driving Permits Granted to Changan and BAIC, Marking Shift to Commercial Application
On 15 December, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) issued conditional permits for Changan’s Deepal SL03 and BAIC’s Arcfox Alpha S6 to operate Level 3 autonomous driving on designated routes in Chongqing and Beijing. This makes China the third economy, after Germany (2021) and Japan (2021), to commercialise conditional automated driving under a framework where manufacturers assume accident liability. Analysts project that, with these developments, China could become the world’s largest autonomous driving market by 2030.
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88th Anniversary of Nanjing Massacre Marked with 24 Remaining Survivors and 38 International Memory Inheritors
On 13 December, China observed the 88th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre, which killed approximately 300,000 people in 1937. With eight survivors passing away in 2025, only 24 witnesses remain. The national memorial ceremony also formalised a memory inheritor system, recognising 38 Chinese and international figures, including descendants of rescuers John Rabe and Richard Brady. Despite this remembrance, Japanese history textbooks continue to downplay the massacre in footnotes, and official statements from Tokyo still avoid using its formal name.
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