This is People’s Daily Tonight, your news source from China.
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World Bank places China in top 10 most improved list for the second consecutive year, jumping 15 places
China was among 10 of the most improved countries in terms of ease of doing business.
That’s according to the latest World Bank list.
It ranks 31st, a jump from 46th last year and 78th in 2017.
A World Bank official says China has undertaken substantial efforts to improve the domestic business climate for small and medium-size enterprises, and maintained an active pace of reforms. (CGTN)
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China to host 2021 FIFA Club World Cup
FIFA announced that China will host the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup on Thursday in Shanghai.
Soccer's world governing body made the announcement following a FIFA Council meeting in Shanghai.
The event will be held from June 17 to July 4, 2021. (CGTN, Xinhua)
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US defense secretary denies US troops withdrawn from Syria to stay in Iraq
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper denied that US troops withdrawn from neighboring Syria would stay in Iraq.
Esper said the US is "committed to supporting Iraq and respect its national sovereignty, and asserts its desire to strengthen relations between the two countries.”
The US and Iraq also discussed the bilateral relations, highlighting continued cooperation in confronting the Islamic State militant group. (Xinhua)
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China’s 5th C919 jet completes first test flight
A new prototype of China’s domestically built passenger plane completed its first test flight after touching down in East China’s Shanghai on Thursday.
The jet took off from Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport and flew about one-and-a-half hours, becoming the fifth prototype of China’s C919 narrow-body jet to enter the test stage.
The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac), the plane’s developer, said the fifth jet focuses on tests involving severe weather conditions like high temperatures and extreme coldness. (People’s Daily app)
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Horror in Britain as 39 found dead in truck
Britain launched a major murder investigation after 39 dead bodies were found Wednesday in a refrigerated truck.
The incident has once again put the spotlight on the shadowy human trafficking business.
Essex Police force said their initial priority was to try to identify the victims, thought at this stage to be 38 adults and one teenager.
The truck driver, a 25-year-old man from Northern Ireland, has been arrested on suspicion of murder and remained in custody.
The corpses were found in a truck container at an industrial park in Grays, east of London. (AFP)
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Tesla shares rev higher after update on profits, China
Tesla shares raced higher in after-hours trading Wednesday following the company's announcement that its factory in China had started production and quarterly financial results that beat expectations.
Shares in Tesla climbed more than 20 percent after the electric carmaker, which had been expected to post a loss, reported a profit of $143 million on revenue of $5.4 billion in the third quarter ending September 30.
Tesla said it is producing vehicles "on a trial basis" at its Gigafactory in Shanghai, which will help boost global production and sales.
Tesla chief executive Elon Musk was optimistic that the Shanghai factory could begin cranking out Model Y vehicles by the middle of next year, and believed the new model has the potential to be a huge seller. (AFP)
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Shanghai and Beijing top China's resident disposable income list
And Shanghai and Beijing rank highest in per capita disposable income.
China’s National Statistics Bureau said both cities exceeded 50,000 yuan in the first three quarters.
Seven other provincial level regions also outperformed the national average.
These were Zhejiang, Tianjin, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Fujian, Shandong and Liaoning.
China's average per capita disposable income was 22,882 yuan. (People’s Daily)
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And that's People's Daily Tonight. Thanks for joining us.
(Produced by David Nye and Yang Yang)