In a further sign China is looking beyond the pandemic toward a post-COVID era, new goals for the nation’s cruise ship industry, referred to as a “floating goldmine”, were put forward by five ministries in Guangzhou’s Nansha recently.

A WeChat article suggesting Australian beef & agricultural imports to China had been suspended caused concern among Aussie exporters. After further investigation, it turns out the account that posted the article is connected to a private business offering import/export services, while the post itself was likely clickbait to drum up business among Chinese importers.

Regulators in China have granted a domestic oral COVID19 alternative to Paxlovid conditional approval for clinical use, while the drug has been included in the national medical insurance scheme. The drug’s maker can produce 6.8 billion tablets/year, enough for 200 M people.

A woman has been left scarred after a terrifying experience at a Zhejiang escape room involving zombie actors & prop coffins. She’s seeking further compensation for scar-removal surgery. Plus, firefighters rescue a boy from the roof of an 8-story building in China’s Shenzhen.

Cervical cancer is the 4th most common cancer in women, & 99% of cases are linked to high-risk HPV infection, an extremely common virus, according to the WHO. From September, female students under 14 in Guangdong will be able to be vaccinated against HPV for free.

Signs are emerging that Indian students may soon be able to return to China for study. Wang Wenbin at a regular press conference said the first batch of students would return soon. Premier Li Keqiang also recently promised to relax restrictions on travel to China.

From beachside getaway to unforgettable trip for all the wrong reasons, 80,000 tourists are stranded in Sanya after the city went into lockdown. Some only learnt they had to stay in the city for 7 more days & get tested for COVID five times as they were taxiing down the runway

Hong Kong is slashing hotel quarantine periods down to just three days from Friday. COVID measures have hit the financial hub hard, but will this be enough to change its fortunes, & with a banking summit set for November, might quarantine be scrapped altogether before 2022’s end?