China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) has opened ten of its nuclear technology research facilities and testing platforms, including China's new-generation "artificial sun" Huanliu-3 (HL-3) tokamak, to the world for the first time. The move will further enhance China's influence in nuclear science and technology globally, injecting strong "nuclear power" into promoting win-win cooperation worldwide, the Global Times learned from CNNC at a press conference on March 19 in Beijing during the 17th China International Nuclear Industry Exhibition.
This batch of facilities also include the world's highest-energy compact proton cyclotron accelerator the Beijing Radioactive Ion-beam Facility (BRIF), one of the "world's six major neutron sources" China Advanced Research Reactor, the Beishan Underground Research Laboratory (Beishan URL) located 560 meters underground, and the Minjiang Test Reactor for medical isotope research, among others. Many of these facilities have reached world-class level and even lead the industry globally, showcasing the hard work of Chinese researchers and demonstrating the "hardcore strength" of China's nuclear industry innovation.
The HL-3 tokamak, China's largest and most advanced tokamak, is designed to support the operation of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) and the development of future fusion reactors.
The Beishan URL in Northwest China's Gansu Province, China, is the country's first large underground research facility used for the safe disposal of high-level radioactive waste. It is an important research facility for the International Atomic Energy Agency and the China Atomic Energy Authority, playing a crucial role in China's nuclear fuel closed-loop technology innovation system.
The BRIF, the only operational online isotope separation radioactive ion beam facility in Asia, can produce over 60 stable nuclear beams and 55 radioactive nuclear beams. It fills the technological gap in China's medium-energy high-current proton cyclotron accelerator and high-resolution isotope separator, reaching an advanced level internationally.
The BRIF conducts research in nuclear physics basics, nuclear physics applications, and nuclear data, promoting basic research and application transformation, achieving a number of high-level scientific achievements. Researchers from the facility have cooperated with teams from more than ten countries including Russia, the US, Germany, Japan, and Poland, attracting many top international scientists to come to China to conduct cutting-edge research.
The opening of these research facilities and testing platforms by China to the world is expected to promote the development of nuclear technology worldwide. Sumair N. Khan, Science and Technology Counselor at the Pakistani Embassy in China, told the Global Times that these open research facilities are crucial for developing countries, especially for countries like Pakistan. He highlighted the importance of facilities like China's advanced research reactor, micro-neutron source reactor, and nuclear environmental simulation facilities for Pakistan.
"Developing countries may not have the research conditions similar to China but are eager to utilize Chinese research facilities to train researchers and receive support for their research work," Zhang Libo, vice president of the China Institute of Atomic Energy, under CNNC, told the Global Times. He emphasized the importance of international cooperation in nuclear science and technology for mutual benefit and scientific progress.
Zhang also believes that CNNC's opening of nuclear technology-related research facilities and test platforms to the world will promote high-level international openness. He stated that by attracting international peers to utilize these facilities, China can understand the direction of international research, grasp the dynamics of global economic development, and integrate into the global research environment.
With final arrangements underway to hold a long-stalled trilateral leaders' meeting among China, Japan, and South Korea, experts noted that the cooperation among the three countries is of great importance to the economy and stability in East Asia and the countries should seize the opportunity to alleviate tensions and foster collaboration.
South Korea is in final consultations with China and Japan to hold a trilateral meeting of their leaders on May 26 and 27, according to South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday. An official at the ministry said that the three countries agreed to hold the meeting "at the earliest date convenient for all sides."
According to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida are expected to visit Seoul to meet with President Yoon Suk Yeol, as South Korea is the current rotating chair.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said during a regular press conference on April 11 that China attaches importance to the cooperation among China, Japan, and South Korea, and hopes that the three sides will jointly create conditions for the leaders' meeting. "We are ready to maintain communication with South Korea and Japan for the meeting's preparation," Mao said at that time.
Japan's Fumio Kishida also expressed support for the upcoming three-way talks, telling a press conference on Saturday that coordination will continue for preparations for the meeting.
In another development, the foreign ministries of China and South Korea are in the final stages of coordinating the specific schedule for South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul's visit to China, ahead of the trilateral leaders' talks, media reported.
"The cooperation among China, Japan, and South Korea holds immense benefits not only for East Asia, but also for the international community," Lü Chao, a research fellow at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday.
Lü said that improving collaboration is in the interests of all parties involved, a common understanding among the three countries, especially in the economy. "It's also a gateway for building stronger consensus in other areas among the three countries," he said.
According to Japan Times, the three-way discussions are seen as covering six areas including people-to-people exchanges, economy and trade, public health, and peace and security, with outcome documents likely to be released. Bilateral talks may also take place.
The trilateral talks were last held in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province in December 2019. The prolonged suspension is a result of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as some political and diplomatic conflicts among the countries, such as the blockade of China in the high-tech field by South Korea and Japan, Lü noted.
If the trilateral meeting proceeds as planned, it will bring positive developments for East Asian countries and contribute to peace and stability in the region, experts said. However, they also warned that there are lingering political and diplomatic challenges to overcome, particularly as Japan and South Korea are actively joining the small circles led by the US to counter China.
Japan and South Korea should seize the opportunity presented by this meeting to alleviate the current diplomatic tensions among the three countries, Lü said, noting that economic cooperation could serve as a starting point for enhancing trust and fostering stronger relations.
"The three parties should work together to identify shared interests and reach consensus on important issues in order to promote productive discussions and foster increased cooperation across different sectors in the future," Lü noted.
In the Chinese science-fiction novel "The Three-Body Problem," Wallfacer Bill Hines and his wife develop the Mental Seal as part of his Wallfacer Project plan. The Mental Seal can directly imprint thoughts and beliefs on people's brains based on the theory of "brain quantum layer activity."
The fictional plot is increasingly becoming a real-life possibility as the research and application of brain-computer interfaces (BCI) technology improves rapidly around the world, which not only leads to renewed hope for the treatment of many diseases, but also offers the first possibility of increased longevity of a healthy person's consciousness, and even immorality.
The rapid development of BCI technology and concerns over how it might change relationships and interactions between humans and machines has also prompted increased vigilance and caution among global authorities regarding opening the free market door to the technology as there has not yet been an approved invasive BCI product on the market globally.
Aside from practical concerns over the various complex fields involved, potential damage to the human brain, the risk of personal information leakage, as well as ethical controversies, questions haunting the development of BCIs also expand further to metaphysical considerations like: What do BCIs mean for humanity? Would BCIs take control of human beings' brains? Would immortality become possible with BCIs and would we be still human if our bodies are merged with computers?
Rapid advancement
The BCI system refers to the creation of a new information exchange pathway between the brain and external devices. On one hand, it converts brain signals into machine-readable signals to achieve effective mechanical control. On the other hand, it converts external device signals into brain-readable signals to directly interface with the brain. From a technical perspective, the implementation of a BCI device can be invasive or non-invasive.
Wuhan-based Nuracom, in an interview with the Global Times, stated that the company's micro-needle has high reliability and stability in both mechanical and electrical characteristics, making it suitable for neural signal recording and neuron stimulation.
On August 25, Nuracom's ultra-high-density implantable BCI system was recognized by a panel of 11 top experts in China in science and technology, including Chinese Academy of Sciences academician Zhao Jizong and Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering Li Peigen. The expert group believes that the system is innovative, technologically advanced, has broad application prospects, is comparatively advanced in the on an international scale, and will promote the technological progress of China's brain-computer interfaces industry.
Nearly a month later, Neuralink, a BCI technology company founded by Elon Musk, announced that it had obtained approval from the reviewing independent institutional review board and their first hospital site was ready to begin recruitment for the first-in-human clinical trial for the company's fully-implantable, wireless BCI device.
Nuracom also said the company is conducting extensive preclinical research, including verification of product performance, safety and reliability tests, as well as extensive animal trials.
"We are collaborating with medical institutions to conduct in-depth research on relevant diseases, improve our products through these studies, and ultimately develop a comprehensive diagnosis and treatment plan to benefit patients. We have also conducted extensive preclinical research and actively laid out clinical trials and registration of medical devices, which will lead to the introduction of clinical diagnostic and treatment products to the market," the company said in a statement to the Global Times.
Neuralink's product implants electrodes one by one through a robotic insertion method and assembles them by soldering to an external device. The product also needs to transmit neural signals out to an external circuit board for A/D conversion before sending out digital signals.
By contrast, Nuracom's innovative on-site neural signal processing technology optimizes signal quality, improves signal decoding accuracy, and has stimulation precision. It can achieve a one-time implantation of 65,536-channel microneedles, solving the problems of the current single electrode implantation method, which is time-consuming and inefficient.
Nuracom said its BCI system not only has precise brainwave signal acquisition capabilities, but also enables reverse stimulation, providing researchers with more complex paradigms.
As leading companies enter the clinical stage, the BCI market is entering a critical period for market adoption. According to a report released by dongfangqb.com, a Chinese industry expert consulting service platform, the global BCI market was valued at $1.74 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach $3.3 billion by 2027.
The Chinese market for BCI devices is expected to have a significant amplification effect when combined with specific use cases. It is estimated that by 2040, the market size of BCI devices in China will reach 56 billion yuan ($7.66 billion), with a compound annual growth rate of 21 percent.
Among them, the research-grade device market is estimated to be 1.5 billion yuan, and the consumer-grade device market is estimated to be 54.5 billion yuan. The report predicts that the market for BCI devices in China could be valued at hundreds of billions in the future.
Broad potentials
The development of BCI technology has a history of nearly a century since the invention of the electroencephalogram (EEG) in 1924. Before Neuralink's technology debuted in the arena of public discourse in August 2020, multiple international teams had already conducted research on the application of BCIs, most of it in clinical medicine.
In 1978, American biomedical scientist William Dobelle implanted an array of 68 electrodes into the visual cortex of a blind patient, allowing the patient to perceive grayscale modulated dot matrix images within a limited field of view by connecting a camera.
In the 21st century, with the overall scientific and technological advancement, BCI technology has seen rapid growth. In 1998, American scientists implanted a BCI device into the brain of a patient who suffered a brainstem stroke, enabling the patient to control a computer cursor. In 2014, Juliano Pinto, a 28-year-old quadriplegic man, controlled an exoskeleton through a brain-computer interface and kicked the first ball of the World Cup opening ceremony in Brazil, marking a milestone in the development of brain-computer interface technology.
On August 23 this year, a new study was published in Nature demonstrating that BCIs can help restore speech for people who have lost the ability due to paralysis. The clinical trial participant - who can no longer use the muscles of her lips, tongue, larynx, and jaws to enunciate units of sound clearly - was able to generate 62 words per minute on a computer screen simply by attempting to speak. This is more than three times as fast as the previous record for assisted communication using implanted BCI devices and an approach toward the roughly 160-word-per-minute rate of natural conversation among English speakers.
BCIs technology is also used in research for the treatment of various psychological and neurological disorders. In 1997, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the first deep brain stimulation (DBS) device for the treatment of essential tremor. In 2002, the device was approved for the treatment of Parkinson's disease, the treatment of dystonia in 2003, and the treatment of epilepsy in 2018.
A switch between heaven and hell
The DBS technology is also the research foundation for the clinical research project on the use of BCI technology for treatment-resistant depression at the Ruijin Hospital, affiliated with the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine.
The principle of DBS involves implanting electrodes into specific neural circuits in the brain to regulate corresponding neural clusters through electrical stimulation for therapeutic purposes. However, in previous experiments in the use of DBS for the treatment of depression, once the surgery was completed and the electrodes were implanted in the patient's brain, the parameters of electrical stimulation could only be adjusted externally, and the signals of brain activity could not be transmitted outwards.
In other words, the communication between the brain and the machine was one-way, explained Sun Bomin, director of the Functional Neurosurgery Center at Ruijin Hospital and initiator of the clinical study of the use of BCI treatment for treatment-resistant depression, to the Global Times.
Research conducted at the Ruijin Hospital integrates BCI devices into DBS technology, which not only allows for external parameter adjustment but also enables continuous collection and export of deep brain activity data from patients, achieving true bidirectional information exchange. These data will help doctors to study the pathogenesis of depression and improve the effectiveness of precise stimulation for patients, Sun said. According to Sun, he and his team have made unprecedented discoveries in this clinical trial: The energy of a slow-wave frequency band in the gamma wave range in the brain is positively correlated with the symptoms of depressed patients, known as "biomarkers." This means that the patient's "good state" and "bad state" can be quantified into different waveforms. In future research, based on the performance of these "biomarkers," researchers can provide corresponding stimulation to patients to maintain a "good state", thereby achieving the desired therapeutic effect.
Data shows that using BCI technology to regulate the brain can lead to an average improvement of over 60 percent in postoperative depression symptoms, according to a report the hospital released in April.
For Wu Xiaotian, one of the volunteers in Sun's team's project, the device researchers put in his right chest is like a switch that can transport him from a "hell of depression" to a "heaven of happiness."
The device is connected to two electrodes, extending from the device to behind the ears, and then from the back of the brain to the front of the brain, passing through the nerve nuclei at the front of the brain. When the device sends electric currents and stimulates the nerves, the symptoms of depression are eased or made to disappear.
Every morning when I turn on the device, I feel like I am freed from the prison of depression, Wu said.
Some people have expressed concern that BCIs might become something akin to "spiritual opium" for these patients as they rely on the device for emotional regulation and quotidian function.
Sun dispelled such worry, explaining that "we implant BCIs in these patients to control their brains in order to cure their diseases. These recipients are patients who need such treatment. We would not implant these devices in healthy people, so there is no reason to worry."
Beyond controversies
Although Sun is seemingly clear on the aim of his research, concerns over how BCI technology might change relationships and interactions between humans and machines has prompted increased vigilance among global authorities.
It may still be too early for human beings to be able to answer questions above as it very likely would take years, even decades, before a mature implantable BCI product is available on the market, and an understanding of and discussions around the issue are also improving accordingly.
But human beings still have to seize the current opportunity to get current decisions right, experts have warned. Only as people deal with these concerns step by step, will we be able to approach a controllable future.
The impact caused by [technology] depends on its application scenarios. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the priority application areas of brain-machine interface technology that can have a beneficial impact on humans and focus on in-depth research and application, said scientists from Nuracom when asked about how to address ethical controversies surrounding brain-machine interface technology.
We believe that within the framework of law and ethics, brain-machine interfaces technology, in its application process, can reduce negative impacts and ultimately benefit humanity and society, the scientists stressed.
Some experts have urged that it is necessary to establish a sound ethical framework and moral guidelines for the behavior of brain-machine interfaces developers and users in practice, ensuring the legality and morality of the technology.
Some countries have been making such moves. In 2021, Chile became the first country to have enumerated specific brain-related rights in its constitution, establishing the rights to personal identity, free will, and mental privacy.
The 2021 yearly global cybersecurity report released by the Chinese public security authority also highlighted legal regulation of some rapidly advancing technologies such as quantum computing and BCIs.
Q: What’s your comment on the result of the election in the Taiwan region?
A: The spokesperson of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council has commented on the result of the election in China’s Taiwan region.
The Taiwan question is China’s internal affair. Whatever changes take place in Taiwan, the basic fact that there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is part of China will not change; the Chinese government’s position of upholding the one-China principle and opposing “Taiwan independence” separatism, “two Chinas” and “one China, one Taiwan” will not change; and the international community’s prevailing consensus on upholding the one-China principle and long-standing and overwhelming adherence to this principle will not change. The one-China principle is the solid anchor for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. We believe that the international community will continue to adhere to the one-China principle, and understand and support the Chinese people’s just cause of opposing “Taiwan independence” separatist activities and striving to achieve national reunification.
In the aftermath of the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake, oil leakage from the affected equipment at the Shika Nuclear Power Plant (Shika plant) in the most-affected central Japanese prefecture of Ishikawa was over five times higher than initially disclosed, arousing another wave of doubts and concerns among public and insiders over the safety of the nuclear power plants in the quake-prone Japanese areas.
Although Hokuriku Electric Power Company (HEPCO), the operator of the Shika plant, claimed that the leaked oil has no negative effects and external radiation levels remain unaffected, insiders on Tuesday questioned the company's credibility and transparency considering no evidence of their claims has been provided to the public.
Also, they worry that the damages caused by the Noto quakes at nuclear power plant could be worse than initially disclosed. Many are worried that the Shika plant will be a repeat disaster of the Fukushima nuclear incident.
The Shika plant, located 65 kilometers from the epicenter, has already reported temporary power outages, oil leaks at transformers and water spill-over from nuclear fuel pools.
HEPCO said in the latest statement published on Tuesday that "there was no damage to the [nuclear power] equipment that would pose a safety issue. Additionally, there are no changes in the readings from the monitoring posts installed at the [nuclear] power plant, and there is no impact of radioactivity on the outside world." But it failed to provide relevant specific data and a report of the incident.
Earlier this week, HEPCO stated that due to the earthquake's impact, two external power supply transformers for Units 1 and 2 at the Shika plant were damaged. One transformer for Unit 2 was reported to have leaked approximately 3,500 liters of oil, rendering a portion of the external power supply system inoperable, according to the Xinhua News Agency on Saturday.
However, the company admitted on Friday that the actual oil leakage amounted to as much as 19,800 liters, and the timeline for repairing the external power supply system remains uncertain.
Multiple Japanese media outlets reported that the company is recovering the leaked oil.
Another transformer for Unit 2 at the plant has been found to have leaked approximately 100 liters of oil, HEPCO added.
Moreover, there have been reports of ground subsidence around the reactor building of Unit 1, though the company assured that these conditions will not impact the safety of the Shika plant.
However, local media reported that there were "explosion sounds and a burning smell" near the transformer for Unit 2 at the plant. The power company explained that these were the sounds of the automatic fire suppression system.
Given the stained history of mistakes, concealment and deception made by certain Japanese electric power companies including the Tokyo Electric Power Company, the public seem to have lost trust in these companies.
The HEPCO claimed the leaked oil was used for insulation and cooling and has no negative health and environmental impact. However, whether the oil has been contaminated by the nuclear radioactive substances, whether the oil leakage would affect the operation of nuclear power plant and cause radiation leakage, and whether the HEPCO has fully recovered the leaked oil from the sea remain unclear, said law professor Chang Yen-chiang, who is also the executive director of the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea Research Institute at Dalian Maritime University.
Chang told the Global Times on Tuesday if HEPCO fails to fully recover the leaked oil in time and prevent it from spreading and polluting the maritime environment, the company may be in violation of the "Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter 1972", the "London Convention" for short, and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
If there is a similar situation between this Shika plant and Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, what is most worrying is the potential dumping of contaminated water from Shika plant as the contaminated water could be dumped directly into the Sea of Japan, reaching the coast of China. Given that the Sea of Japan is a semi-enclosed sea, the self-purification capacity of such sea is much weaker than that of an open ocean. So once the contaminated water is discharged, the radioactive contamination will last longer in and around the sea, according to Chang.
Multiple Chinese cities including Dongguan in South China's Guangdong Province have recently announced a number of policies to stabilize employment and manufacturing around the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays (which falls from February 10-17) in order to ensure a strong economic start and sustained recovery in 2024.
Dongguan will offer subsidies worth 300 yuan ($42) to every worker outside Guangdong that will return to their positions at key enterprises in the city from February 12-17, while 200 yuan in subsidies will be provided for those willing to return to their posts from February 18-20, according to a circular on local government website.
In addition, enterprises in the city will get subsidies of up to 300,000 yuan for new hiring from February 10 to March 9. The city is offering a series of targeted policies to ensure manufacturing production in enterprises above the designated scale, services firms enhancing effectiveness, and enterprises attending exhibitions, among others.
Quanzhou in East China's Fujian Province and Yongkang in East China's Zhejiang Province have recently announced similar measures to encourage enterprises to expand employment and increase output for a good start in 2024.
Among the measures, enterprises in Quanzhou will receive subsidies of 1,000 yuan per worker, capped at 200,000 yuan in total, if they have taken active measures to stabilize workforce and maintain continuous production in February.
The moves came as local governments are ramping up efforts to implement pro-growth policy measures to kickstart the country's economic recovery in 2024 following the tone-setting Central Economic Work Conference in December 2023.
On the first working day of 2024, Han Wenxiu, executive deputy director of the office of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs, wrote in an article published in the People's Daily that China's economic recovery and long-term improvement remain unchanged, calling for the implementation of policies that would help stabilize expectations, promote growth and boost employment.
"Currently, the Chinese economy is experiencing comprehensive, full-loaded recovery across many sectors. The economy is expected to be better than foreign financial institutions' forecast in 2024, and may reach 5 percent growth," Cao Heping, a professor from Peking University, told the Global Times.
He said the governments should step up credit support in 2024 in order to ensure reasonable and ample liquidity to meet the needs of real economy.
Chinese figure skater Liu Xinyu decides to withdraw from the Cup of China ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating due to a Mycoplasma pneumonia (MP) infection.
He posted a statement Saturday on Chinese media platform Sina Weibo, saying "I'm so sorry for pulling out of the 2023 Cup of China. I haven't fully recovered from the infection and I will come back to China next week for further examination and treatment. I hope to see you guys soon at the race."
Liu alleged that while he was infected by the MP for two weeks at the Skate Canada International, he continued to train while he took his medication. "But I didn't recover physically from the competition, it was probably more intense for my heart, and after the competition I had symptoms of heart pain, and I was struggling to breathe, and my morning pulse was around 120," he said.
"Although I don't want to pull out of the competition and I have been trying to train every day, my heart can't take the intensity of the practice. So, I decided to withdraw from until my health had improved," said the statement.
After hearing his statement, numerous netizens expressed their concern and wished him a quick recovery.
"The body is the most important thing. We'll wait for you to recover. See you at the next one and rest well," one user said on Weibo.
"No worries. Take care," read one comment on Weibo.
His skating partner, Wang Shiyue, also took to Weibo "It is a pity to have to pull out of this competition. I hope Liu will be on the mend soon and I hope to see you all very soon."
Liu Xinyu with his partner Wang Shiyue, is the 2017 Asian Winter Games champion, 2018 CS Asian Open champion, 2015 Toruń Cup champion, and four-time Chinese national champions (2015, 2018, 2019, 2020). They competed in the final segment at four World Championships.
The official account of 2023 Cup of China ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating published the statement later on Weibo about the ice dancing pair Liu Xinyu and Wang Shiyue pulled out of the competition due to health reasons. They will be replaced by another Chinese pair, Shi Shang and Wu Nan.
The Cup of China ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating will be held at the Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, which runs from November 10 to 12. It will captivate more than 60 athletes from 10 countries and regions and they will participate in four disciplines: men's singles, women's singles, pairs, and ice dance, the organizing committee said.
People's enthusiasm of purchasing tickets ran high. The pairs package for free skating is the most popular. This year tickets cost from 120 yuan ($16.44) to 880 yuan ($129), pre-sale tickets went on sale on August 28, an organizer at the press conference for the 2023 Cup of China said.
As November kicks in, Hollywood is gearing up for an intensive release period with four major films set to hit Chinese theaters, which film critics said could bring strong support for the home stretch of the annual box office both in China and North America.
Shi Wenxue, a film critic based in Beijing, told the Global Times on Thursday that November and early December is usually the "Hollywood month" in the Chinese film market as a lot of Hollywood films tend to be released during the period, aiming to set the stage for the New Year film period.
"After the global pandemic crisis, it is good to see the return of Hollywood movies. Their release would undoubtedly help to improve the annual box office of the world's two largest film markets - China and the US," he said, adding that The Marvels might get the most attention among Chinese moviegoers due to its well-known characters.
The superhero movie is set to premiere in the Chinese mainland on Friday, the same day as in North America.
Brie Larson, an Oscar-winning actress, reprises her role as Captain Marvel, showcasing her formidable powers in a universe-spanning adventure. The film introduces new characters for a thrilling cosmic escapade. Early reviews for the film are mixed, with a 58 percent freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 50-point composite score on Metacritic.
Then on November 17, Lionsgate's The Hunger Games: Songbird and The Snake will have its global premiere. Adapted from the immensely popular book series, the film is directed by Francis Lawrence, who also directed The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.
Disney's new film, Wish, will debut on November 22 in North America and November 24 in the Chinese mainland. Dubbed by Chinese actress Liu Yifei and actor Yu Shi, the animated feature follows the story of Asha, a determined and resilient girl.
December 8 will see the release of Wonka, the prequel to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Focusing on Willy Wonka's youth, the film narrates his adventures leading up to becoming the head of the chocolate factory. Hollywood heartthrob Timothee Chalamet takes on the lead role, adding a fresh allure to Wonka's character. Behind the scenes, the film boasts a stellar team, with producer David Heyman, known for the Harry Potter series, and Paul King, director of the Paddington series, at the helm.
So far this year, the Chinese box office has grossed 49.68 billion yuan ($6.82 billion), and has surpassed the level from 2020 to 2022, when the global pandemic hit cinemas hard.
"It would be ideal if the annual box office in China could achieve 50 billion yuan," Shi said.
A special campaign to control the dengue virus was launched in Pakistan as health workers in Peshawar, the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, have been engaged in fumigating to remove mosquitoes from public spaces.
At least 155 new cases of mosquito-borne dengue fever have been reported from the South Asian country's eastern Punjab province during the last 24 hours, officials said on Wednesday.
The opening ceremony of the 8th Chile Week in Beijing kicked off on Monday. About 200 people attended the ceremony, including Chinese and Chilean representatives from associations, importers and exporters, and media.
Afterward, the annual China-Chile Business Council Meeting was successfully held, at which the President of Chile, Gabriel Boric, encouraged Chinese and Chilean enterprises to enhance understanding and communication, with hopes that more Chinese enterprises make their debut in Chile to research the opportunities and invest in the country.
The Beijing leg of Chile Week boasted both online and offline sessions to showcase Chilean products. Many Chilean enterprises had their high-quality products on display for audiences during the offline business networking "encuentro."
During the livestream broadcast on Douyin, a Chile Week live special sale was held to allow Chinese friends unable to be present offline to buy Chilean goods.
Chile Week is an annual event that serves as a platform for exchanges and interaction between China and Chile on all fronts, as well as an excellent opportunity to strengthen ties between the two countries in agribusiness, seafood, mining, energy, and other strategic sectors.
The first leg of the 8th Chile Week was inaugurated in Shenzhen on October 14, followed by the Chengdu stop on October 15, and the Shanghai leg from Thursday to Friday.
