Senior Chinese diplomat holds phone talks with Blinken

Senior Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi has had a conversation on the phone with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Yang reaffirmed China's commitment to non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation in developing Sino-U.S. relations.

He urged the U.S. side to abide by the one-China principle and properly handle matters related to Taiwan question.

Yang also called for embracing multilateralism based on the UN charter and international law.

China calls for multilateral disarmament

The Chinese foreign minister has said the international community should uphold multilateralism in promoting arms control, disarmament and nonproliferation.

Addressing the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva via video link, Wang Yi called for efforts to seek common, universal and lasting security.

Wang said the world should be committed to win-win cooperation and reject the Cold-War mentality and zero-sum game mindset.

He noted efforts should be made to strengthen the authority and effectiveness of the multilateral disarmament framework with the UN at the core and discard exceptionalism and double standards.

China's consumption heats up in May

The Commerce Ministry said China saw an apparent warm-up in consumption last month, boosted by a nationwide month-long consumption promotion campaign.

The trade volume of goods and services in the country reached over 4.8 trillion yuan in May, up nearly 23 percent year on year.

Over 200,000 enterprises have participated in the campaign, which started on May 1.

Cambodia honors Chinese medical experts

Cambodia has honored the members of a Chinese medical expert team who helped fight COVID-19 in the Southeast Asian country.

The medics received their awards at a ceremony held in Beijing.

Mexican public schools reopen

Mexico's COVID-19 vaccination campaign is giving priority to teachers.

The country's public schools are finally beginning to reopen after closing for one year owing to the pandemic.

Authorities are counting on China's CanSino vaccine to help restore normalcy to the country's education sector.

French biosecurity expert dismisses Wuhan lab leak theory

A French biosecurity expert has dismissed the theory that COVID-19 escaped from a lab in Wuhan.

Gabriel Gras supervised the construction and accreditation of the biosafety level 4 laboratory of the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

The virology researcher stresses that he has "no doubt" about the safety of the lab.

Over 845 million vaccine doses administered across China

Authorities say over 845 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered across China.

The National Health Commission also says China has approved inactivated COVID-19 vaccines for emergency use in children aged between three and seventeen.

Mainland ready to help Taiwan on vaccination

The Chinese mainland has expressed willingness to do its best to help Taiwan compatriots on COVID-19 vaccination.

The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council says Taiwan compatriots who fly to the mainland on civilian passenger flights can get inoculated here on voluntary basis, as long as they meet vaccination requirements and abide by pandemic control rules for inbound travels.

Around 62,000 Taiwan compatriots have been vaccinated on the mainland as of May 31.