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Here are today’s picks from our editors.

Xi stresses role of finance in serving real economy

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, underscored that China should deepen supply-side structural reform in the financial sector and strengthen the sector's ability to serve the real economy.

Xi made the remarks when presiding over a group study session of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau Friday afternoon.

The country should keep a fine balance between maintaining growth and forestalling risks and deal with risks in key areas in a targeted and effective manner, he said, adding that China should deepen opening-up of the financial sector.

The country should push for high-quality development of the sector with a focus on improving financial services and forestalling financial risks, he added. (Xinhua)

Trump meets with Chinese vice premier on trade talks

US President Donald Trump on Friday met with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He at the White House on bilateral ties and the ongoing bilateral trade talks.

Liu is in Washington DC for the seventh round of high-level economic and trade talks between the world's top two economies that started on Thursday. He is also visiting the United States as the special envoy of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Liu first conveyed Xi's message to Trump.

The Chinese president said he hopes the two sides would maintain the spirit of mutual respect and win-win cooperation, make further efforts and meet each other halfway, so as to reach a mutually beneficial and win-win agreement.

During his meeting with Trump, Liu said his ongoing visit to the United States as Xi's special envoy aims to further implement the consensuses reached by the two presidents, and to push for further progress in the trade talks.

Trump noted that the US-China relationship has been "very good" and that "great progress" is being made in the past two days of talks. (Xinhua)

Kim Jong-un leaves Pyongyang for Hanoi to meet Trump

The leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong-un left Pyongyang on Saturday for Vietnam, ahead of his second summit with US President Donald Trump, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The summit is scheduled for February 27 and 28 and Kim will travel at least two and a half days by train through China. He is expected to arrive in Vietnam on February 25.

It will be Kim's second face-to-face encounter with Trump following their first meeting in Singapore in June last year. (CGTN)

China issues plans to modernize education

Two development plans on China's education were made public Saturday, outlining blueprints for the sector's modernization and development by 2035.  

Eight goals were proposed in the education modernization plan 2035, which was released by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the State Council, highlighting the accessibility of quality education from pre-school to higher education stages, and from vocational training to special schooling for the disabled.

The five-year implementation plan covering the period from 2018 through 2022, released by the general offices of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, specified 10 key tasks in advancing education modernization, including requirements on the enhanced use of information technology. (Xinhua)

Gansu to build 3,000 km rural roads

Northwest China's Gansu Province will build 3,000 kilometers of new roads for rural areas in 2019, as part of the province's efforts to fight poverty.

The provincial government will also renovate and upgrade 2,271 kilometers of rural roads, according to the provincial transportation department.

Last year, Gansu built 3,858 new roads for rural villages and renovated 4,147 rural roads, with 606 more villages connected by roads for the first time, the department said. (Xinhua)

Chinese weightlifter Hou breaks world records to win golds at IWF World Cup

Chinese weightlifter Hou Zhihui won the women's 49kg division of International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Cup in South China with two new world records on Saturday.

The 22-year-old sealed the snatch win with her first attempt of 90kgs before she challenged the world record of 93kg with a good lift on the second attempt at 94kg. Hou added two more kilos for her last attempt at 96kg but couldn’t do it.

As silver medalist in the 49kg division at the 2018 IWF World Championships, Hou finished the clean and jerk competition at 116kg on her second attempt. With 210kg in total, Hou broke the world record in the overall 209kg. (Xinhua)

Thanks for listening and be sure to catch us tomorrow.

And now for the Question of the Day:

Algeria is a country on which continent?

(Answer: Africa.)

Today’s quote is from John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946).

" Ideas shape the course of history."

(Produced by Nancy Yan Xu, Ryan Yaoran Yu, Brian Lowe, and Da Hang. Music by Eugene Loner.)