China

Fiame said currently there are no rapid testing kits for Covid-19 for the community's use.

China has stepped in to assist and will supply Covid-19 rapid testing kits.

The prime minister also pointed out three PCR tests of frontline workers, which all yielded negative results, means the virus has not leaked out into the community.

A woman, only identified as Ms Wang, posted on Chinese social media platform WeChat last week that she had got locked down with her date after visiting his house for a meal.

In the post, she said that she had recently returned to the city of Zhengzhou from Guangzhou ahead of the Lunar New Year.

"I'm getting quite old, so my parents arranged more than 10 blind dates for me," she said in this post. She wrote that her fifth date had said "he was good at cooking, and invited me to his house so he could cook a meal".

Xi'an is at the epicentre of China's current Covid outbreak, and authorities have enacted drastic measures.

All 13 million residents are confined to their homes and cannot leave to buy food or supplies.

Authorities are hoping to eliminate the outbreak before Lunar New Year and the Winter Olympics in Beijing next month.

The situation in Xi'an has led to heightened tensions, with many taking to social media in recent days to complain.

During a recent meeting of the China-Pacific Island Countries Fishery Cooperation and Development Forum, held in Guangzhou, China, Ma Youxiang, the deputy minister of fisheries at China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said China stands ready to cooperate on finding solutions to problems related to illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, proposing the establishment of an “intergovernmental multilateral fishery consultation mechanism.”

The US, UK, Australia and Canada will not send government representatives to the Games because of concerns over China's human rights record.

This includes widespread allegations of abuse against the Uyghur minority group.

France, host of the next Summer Games, said it would not join the boycott.

The Winter Olympics are set to take place in Beijing in February.

"The United States, Britain and Australia have used the Olympics platform for political manipulation," Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson at the Chinese foreign ministry, said.

The firm has come under intense pressure since its US debut in July.

Within days of the initial public offering (IPO) Beijing announced a crackdown on technology companies listing overseas.

Earlier on Thursday the US market watchdog unveiled tough new rules for Chinese firms that list in America.

"Following careful research, the company will immediately start delisting on the New York stock exchange and start preparations for listing in Hong Kong," the company said on its account on Weibo, China's Twitter-like microblogging network.

No reason was given for the notice from the Ministry of Commerce, but it came amid ongoing coronavirus lockdowns and concerns over vegetable supplies after unusually heavy rain damaged crops.

The ministry also asked local authorities to keep supply chains running smoothly and prices stable.

State media later sought to quell concerns amid reports of panic buying.

"As soon as this news came out, all the old people near me went crazy, panic buying in the supermarket," one user wrote on the Chinese social media site Weibo.

The sewing machines that included five over locker machines are valued at $25,000,.

The items were presented to the committee by the Ambassador of China to Samoa, Chao Xiaoliang.

Ambassador Xiaoliang said, "In the ongoing fight against COVID-19 pandemic, the world sees numerous female medical and epidemic control workers, community workers and volunteers braving danger and working around the clock, having fought at the front line of the battle and promoted the social development.”

Wang made the remarks at the first China-Pacific Island Countries Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Beijing via video link.

He said the bilateral relationship between China and the Pacific Island countries has shown a good development momentum, and the comprehensive strategic partnership has continued to deepen.

Relations between the two sides are based on mutual respect and equity, Wang said.

In a brief ceremony inside the empty stadium that hosted the first modern Olympics in 1896, Beijing Games vice president Yu Zaiqing fired up a small red lantern from the flame lit on Sunday in ancient Olympia, site of the ancient Games.

The lantern will arrive in the Chinese capital later today, kicking off a domestic torch relay that ends with the Games opening ceremony on Feb. 4 as Beijing becomes the first city to host both Summer and Winter Olympics.