People's Daily Tonight: Podcast News (4/17/Tue.)

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

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China posts better-than-expected 6.8% growth in Q1

China posts better-than-expected 6.8 percent growth in the first quarter.

The country’s GDP reached $3.2 trillion in the first three months of 2018.

That’s up 6.8 percent from the same time last year.

The growth rate has stayed within the range of 6.7 percent to 6.9 percent for 11 quarters, with the jobless rate and inflation remaining stable.

Data shows China’s foreign trade has become more balanced since the start of the year.

Import growth is outpacing exports and the trade surplus  is narrowing.

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China to lift foreign ownership limits on automobile, shipbuilding, airplane manufacturing

China will phase out share-holding limits for foreign investors in the automobile, shipbuilding and airplane manufacturing sectors.

Share-holding limits for special-purpose vehicles and new energy vehicles will be scrapped for foreign investors in 2018, while those for commercial vehicles and passenger vehicles will be lifted in 2020 and 2022 respectively. 

The limits will also be lifted on shipbuilding processes.

This includes design, manufacturing and repair, and on the production of airplanes.

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Syria retracts report on missile attack: state media

Syrian air defenses intercept several missiles targeting two airbases after midnight.

This comes in the wake of a US-British-French missile strike in the capital Damascus and in Homs last Saturday.

The latest attacks come in retaliation for the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government in Douma on April 7.

Syria says most of the six missiles were intercepted by Syrian air defenses.

A report says three other missiles were intercepted before reaching their targets.

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5 oil and gas fields with 100 million tons of storage found in Qinghai

Five oil and gas fields with 100 million tons of storage were found in Qinghai Province with 10-year efforts by scientific and technologic workers of the Qinghai oilfield.

The oil field is located in the northern part of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, which is one of the highest elevations and most complex geological conditions in the world.

The discovery will increase China’s proven oil and gas reserves to 460 million tons and increase oil and gas production to 7.38 million tons from 4.19 million tons.

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Names of Imperial Japanese Army's Unit 731 disclosed

The National Archives of Japan has revealed the names and addresses of 3,607 members of a notorious germ warfare organization of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.

The list from Unit 731 includes the names and ranks as well as personal information of surgeons, engineers, nurses and combat medics.

The list was originally blacked out when requests on disclosure were raised in 2015.

It was finally declassified in January after a year of negotiations.

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NYT, New Yorker win Pulitzer for #MeToo reporting

The Pulitzer Prize for public service was awarded to the New York Times and The New Yorker for their explosive reporting that brought down Harvey Weinstein and spawned a cultural watershed on the issue of sexual harassment.

Since the Times and New Yorker articles last October, more than 100 women have publicly accused the producer of misconduct ranging from sexual harassment to rape, sparking the MeToo movement that has seen a string of influential men lose their jobs and reputation.

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Chinese enterprises help provide electricity in Myanmar

And the Myanmar government is developing power development programs to achieve its national target by 2030.

The programs include hydropower, gas-fired power, wind power, and solar power generation.

As the largest foreign source of Myanmar's power industry, China is cooperating with Myanmar to resolve its power shortage as early as possible.

Myanmar has rich electric power resources and natural gas reserves.

However, only a third of its population has access to electric power.

More than 60 percent of the country cannot be consistently supplied with electricity.

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

(Produced by David Nye, Jiang Zhuqing and Qiaowai)