This is People's Daily Tonight, your news source from China. 

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China-US trade talks make important progress for current stage

The latest round of China-US trade talks made important progress for the current stage, and the two sides had candid, specific and constructive discussions.

That’s according to the Chinese delegation.

They said the two sides discussed trade balance, technology transfer, protection of intellectual property rights, non-tariff barriers, the service sector, agriculture and enforcement mechanism, as well as certain issues of particular concern for the Chinese side.

They said Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer held candid, specific and constructive discussions. (Xinhua)

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January was officially Australia's hottest month on record 

Australia sweltered through its hottest month on record in January and the summer of extremes continued with wildfires razing the drought-parched south and flooding in expanses of the tropical north.

Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology confirmed the January record on Friday as parts of the northern hemisphere had record cold.

Australia’s scorching start to 2019 — in which the mean temperature across the country for the first time exceeded 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) — followed Australia’s third-hottest year on record. Only 2005 and 2013 were warmer than 2018, which ended with the hottest December on record. (AP)

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New Zealand protects post-Brexit trade quotas by all means: minister 

The New Zealand government said it is "leaving no stone unturned" to protect New Zealand's quota access into the EU and Britain post-Brexit.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern raised the issue with British Prime Minister Theresa May and EU leaders during her meetings in London and Brussels last week.

Other ministers and officials have raised this matter at every opportunity with EU and British leaders since the issue first emerged in late 2017. (Xinhua)

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Consumption the primary driver of China's economic growth for 5 years 

Consumption contributed 76.2 percent to China's economic growth, 18.6 percent higher than in 2017, and has been the top growth driver in China for five consecutive years, Gao Feng, spokesperson of China's Ministry of Commerce, told a press conference on Thursday.

Domestic trade value added stood at 11.7 trillion yuan ($1.75 trillion) in 2018, contributing around 13 percent to the GDP, with the proportion second only to manufacturing.

The total value of retail goods stood at 38.1 trillion yuan in 2018, up 9 percent from the previous year, maintaining steady growth, among which online retail sales of goods and products accounted for 18.4 percent, an increase of 3.4 percent year-on-year. Service consumption took up 44.2 percent of the average consumption of consumers, up 1.6 percent. (People’s Daily app)

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Chinese study on quantum communication wins Newcomb Cleveland Prize

The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi hit a six-month high against the US dollar in January.

The yuan strengthened to 6.7025 against the dollar Thursday, the highest level since last July, before sliding to 6.7081 on Friday.

Analysts attributed the strengthening renminbi to a weaker US dollar in January and market optimism in the external environment. (Xinhua)

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P5 agree to protect nuke treaty

China, as the host of the meeting in Beijing among the five nuclear weapon countries, said that it will continue to promote consensus-building among the major powers and replace confrontation with coordination, while Russia and the US failed to reach an agreement on the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.

The five recognized nuclear weapon states in the Treaty on the (NPT), China, Russia, the US, the UK and France (also the five permanent members of the UN Security Council), concluded their meeting, also known as the P5 Conference, in Beijing on Thursday.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang made the remarks urging coordination and strategic dialogue between nuclear weapon states after the P5 Conference at the daily routine press conference. (Global Times)

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Chinese yuan hits six-month high in January 

And a study on quantum communication made by Chinese scientists will receive the 2018 Newcomb Cleveland Prize.

The study laid the groundwork for ultra-secure communication networks of the future.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science announced Thursday that a team of 34 Chinese physicists led by Pan Jianwei from the University of Science and Technology of China had won the award. (Xinhua)

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And that’s People’s Daily Tonight. Thanks for joining us.

(Produced by David Nye and Qu Qiuyan)