People's Daily Tonight: Podcast News (4/16/Mon.)

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

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Chinese, Japanese foreign ministers meet on bilateral ties

China and Japan agree to further consolidate the momentum of improved bilateral ties.

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi says his visit to Japan comes in response to Japan's positive attitude towards China.

He says he hopes his visit becomes an important step for bilateral relationship to return to normal track.

For his part, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono says Japan eagerly expects and welcomes Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to Japan and the trilateral leaders' summit between China, Japan and South Korea.

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PLA Air Force activates J-10C fighter jet

China's new J-10C fighter jets have been put into service.

The Air Force says it marks an improvement in its combat capabilities and defense.

The J-10C is a third generation home-made fighter with multiple functions and is equipped with an avionics system.

It is also equipped with multiple advanced armament and is effective in land or sea combat.

A media report said last year that the J-10C is more streamlined than the J-10B to reduce drag.

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Macron says ready for talk to bring peace back to Syria

French President Emmanuel Macron says he prepares to talk to Russia and Iran to pave the way for inclusive political transition in war-torn Syria.

He calls the allied attack on Syria a legitimate retaliatory act after evidence proved that a chemical gas attack was used in Douma on April 7 which could be attributed to the Syrian government.

Breaking with the previous administration's policy which set the Syrian president's departure as a pre-condition to resolve the conflict, Macron had previously expressed willingness to speak with Bashar al-Assad to end the seven-year conflict.

However, he repeatedly warned the Syrian government that he would intervene militarily if alleged use of chemical arms would be proved.

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China first-quarter central government-owned firms' profits rise, debt levels ease

Good news for China's central government-owned firms: Their profits accelerated in the first quarter while debt fell from the beginning of the year.

Analysts say that could mean Beijing is having some success with revamping its state sector.

The strong profit numbers could give Beijing leeway to push forward corporate deleveraging reforms as it aims to make State-owned enterprises more profitable and responsive to the market.

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China to ban auctions of stolen cultural relics

China will release a list of cultural relics reportedly stolen from foreign countries, and will prohibit them from being auctioned if found in China. 

This move comes after Britain's Canterbury Auction Galleries sold a bronze Chinese water vessel for $581,000 earlier this week, despite strong opposition from Chinese authorities. 

China's cultural heritage administration says that while reclaiming the water vessel would be hard, there are still many other ancient relics that can be recovered through legal means. 

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Ex-FBI chief: Trump "morally unfit to be president"

Former FBI director James Comey says Donald Trump is "morally unfit to be president" and treats women like "pieces of meat".

Comey gave his first major television interview since he was fired by Trump last year.

He told ABC News that Trump lies constantly and may have obstructed justice.

Hours before the interview aired, the president went on the offensive, accusing Comey of "many lies”.

The Republican National Committee says Comey's publicity tour for his new book showed "his true higher loyalty is to himself.”

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NASA's new planet-hunter to seek closer, Earth-like worlds

And NASA is poised to launch a $337 million washing machine-sized spacecraft to vastly expand mankind's search for planets beyond our solar system.

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, is scheduled to be launched on Monday atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Its main goal over the next two years is to scan more than 200,000 of the brightest stars for signs of planets circling them, and causing a dip in brightness known as a transit.

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

(Produced by David Nye, Chen Lidan and Qiao Wai)