President Xi Jinping (3rd L, front) receives a calligraphy work by a girl with the Chinese character "Fu", meaning blessings, while visiting a community activity room in Donghu District of Nanchang City, east China's Jiangxi Province, Feb. 3, 2016.

General Secretary Xi Jinping of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, also Chinese president, paid a visit to east China's Jiangxi Province from February 1 to 3, just ahead of the Spring Festival, or Chinese Lunar New Year.

Top leaders traditionally visit ordinary people in both urban and rural areas ahead of this most important holiday for Chinese people. Xi visited Gansu Province and areas of Beijing in 2013, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in 2014 and Shaanxi Province in 2015.

The three-day tour covered the cities of Ji'an, Jinggangshan and Nanchang, where the president toured villages, enterprises, schools, local communities, revolutionary base museums, as well as military units, extending holiday greetings to all Chinese citizens. [More]

President Xi Jinping (R, front) shakes hands with staff members at the control room of China Central Television (CCTV) in Beijing, on Feb. 19, 2016.

General Secretary Xi Jinping of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, also Chinese president, visited the country's three leading media providers on February 19 and urged them to strictly follow the leadership of the Party.

In the morning, Xi visited the People's Daily, the flagship newspaper of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Xinhua News Agency, the state news agency, and China Central Television (CCTV), the country's national broadcaster.

In the afternoon, Xi presided over a symposium on the Party's media work. Liu Yunshan, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, accompanied Xi on the media tour and also attended the symposium. [More]

Premier Li Keqiang (1st R) attends a seminar with foreign experts working in China, in Beijing, Feb. 5, 2016.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang pledged China will continue to deepen reforms by streamlining administration, delegating powers, improving regulation and providing better services.

"This will trigger market vitality and ingenuity, and will create a level playing field for all market players," said Li during discussions with foreign experts working in China at the Great Hall of the People on February 5.

Li extended New Year greetings to foreign experts and their families, as well as sincere thanks to friends from other countries given support to China's reform, opening-up and modernization drive. [More]

The orchestra of the Duan Village Primary School in northern China's Hebei Province puts on a performance on Sept.13, 2014, the first day of the school term. [File photo]

The provincial people's congress of Anhui ended on Feb. 21, concluding all local legislative and political consultative sessions in China. That means the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, known as the "two sessions," are imminent.

Analysts say that local hot topics are often closely connected with those deliberations at the national level. The following is a roundup of highlights from the work reports of the 31 provinces (or municipalities and autonomous regions). [More]

Weight training

China's economic indicators put up a mixed performance in January, with FDI and inflation growth showing recovery signs.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) continued to grow steadily in January. Excluding investment in the financial sector, it rose 3.2 percent year on year to US$14.07 billion, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC).

Investment in the burgeoning service sector accounted for 67.6 percent of total inflow, while that in the high-tech service industry more than doubled to 7.2 billion yuan (US$1.1 billion). [More]

Guan Dong during a diving exercise. [File photo]

The annual "Touching China" award ceremony held on Feb. 14 honored 10 Chinese inspirational role models in 2015, including Guan Dong, a rescue diver who was awarded for his outstanding contribution to the search and rescue mission following the Eastern Star disaster.

Guan, born in 1990, works in the diving and rescue team at the Naval University of Engineering in Wuhan City, Hubei Province in central China. After the cruise ship Eastern Star capsized on the Yangtze River on June 1 last year, he rescued two passengers and gave his own diving equipment to help a stranded person rise to the surface. Without his equipment, Guan was almost swept away by the current, but finally managed to surface, with his eyes bloodshot and nose bleeding. [More]

The English edition of a book of President Xi Jinping's quotations with accompanying commentary was launched in New Delhi on Jan. 10, on the sidelines of the 24th World Book Fair in the Indian capital.

The book, entitled "Xi Jinping Wit and Vision – Selected Quotations and Commentary", highlighted keywords in the president's major speeches since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and illustrated their implied meanings and theoretical value. [More]

Supply-side reform:

The goal of reform on the supply-side (supply and production) is to unleash productivity and maintain a competitive edge.

( More>> )

Coordinated Development for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region:

Coordinated development for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region aims at orderly relocating all non-essential functions from Beijing, the national capital, to neighboring locations. ( More>> )

Feb. 4: Li makes inspection tour to Ningxia

Premier Li Keqiang urged efforts to upgrade traditional industries and make them more competitive through technological innovation during an inspection tour to northwest China's Ningxia.

Feb.6: Chinese, US presidents hold phone conversation

President Xi Jinping held a telephone conversation with his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama, during which the two leaders exchanged Lunar New Year greetings.

Chinese, South Korean presidents talk relations on phone

President Xi Jinping and his South Korean counterpart Park Geun-hye agreed to keep making efforts to jointly promote China-South Korea ties to a new high.

Feb. 19: Australia urged to be impartial on South China Sea disputes

Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi urged Australia to be impartial on territorial disputes in the South China Sea in his meeting with visiting Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.

Feb 24: Xi urges implementation of reforms

President Xi Jinping ordered officials at all levels to implement reform measures and address lingering problems to ensure the reform drive is successful.

Feb. 25: Chinese Foreign Minister visits US

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has met with US President Obama in Washington. Wang is in Washington for his first US visit of the year.