Plans to introduce 2.5-day weekends across China in a bid to encourage tourism and spending to aid the coronavirus-hit economy have been met with mixed reactions.At least half a dozen provinces have so far encouraged companies to give staff an extended weekend, but only a few cities have responded with detailed plans.China’s retail sales plunged by 11.4 per cent from a year earlier in the first half of the year, while the tourism sector has also been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak as well…

Chinese researchers working in the United States have developed a method that their research university has claimed could open the door to dramatically shortening the time needed to test for Covid-19.The new approach – developed by researchers at Virginia Tech and known as biosensing – could allow test results to be obtained within minutes of taking samples, the university claimed, as health officials and scientists continue to seek fast and accurate detection of the disease.The mainstream…

Guangdong’s Communist Party chief visited the southern city of Shenzhen on Tuesday to check on the coronavirus situation, as neighbouring Hong Kong grapples with a third wave of infections.Li Xi urged officials at the Shenzhen Bay border crossing to help curb the spread of the virus from Hong Kong and said they had a “high political responsibility” to take a coordinated response to the pandemic, according to Shenzhen Satellite TV.The Guangdong party secretary also visited a Shenzhen hotel where…

An Ethiopian Airlines cargo plane burst into flames at Shanghai Pudong International Airport on Wednesday as it was preparing for a flight to South America.The “B777 freighter aircraft … caught fire while loading cargo at Pudong Shanghai airport”, the carrier said in a statement, adding that “all ground staff and flying crew are safe”.The incident happened as the Boeing 777 was loading up for a scheduled flight to Sao Paulo in Brazil and onwards to the Chilean capital Santiago.The state-owned…