HK unveils first five-year plan for economic and social development

The 23rd China-ASEAN Expo is underway in Nanning, featuring an artificial intelligence marketplace boasting over 500 consumer AI products, alongside the first ever ASEAN demand zone (01:10). Fighting intensifies in Yemen, with Saudi airstrikes targeting three provinces and Houthi forces downing a Saudi jet (19:49). The US Federal Reserve has raised its target federal funds rate by 25 basis points to 3.75 to 4 percent, its first rate hike since July 2023 (37:23).

Hong Kong has unveiled its first five-year plan for economic and social development, with a focus on integrating finance with technology and innovation (01:06). China has opened a canal creating a shortcut from its landlocked southwest to the coast and overseas markets, particularly among ASEAN members (06:53). A building sheltering Palestinian families displaced by the Israeli war on Gaza has collapsed, causing casualties (13:19).

Authorities say China's national economy remained steady in August, powered by innovation and high-quality growth (01:09). Hostilities between Yemen's Houthi group and Saudi Arabia continue, with mounting pressure on Riyadh over how to respond to the group's rapid advances along the Red Sea coast (08:23). Participants at the 13th Xiangshan Forum in Beijing are discussing how to build consensus on stability and advance security governance, with special emphasis on voices from the Global South (17:55).

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi says President Xi Jinping's attendance at the BRICS summit in India was of strategic significance for steering the high-quality development for greater BRICS cooperation (01:10). The Houthi group in Yemen says Saudi Arabia has launched 58 airstrikes across six provinces of the country, following Houthi drone and missile attacks on a military base in southern Saudi Arabia near the Yemeni border (07:50). China pledges to prioritize health development and deepen the reform of the medical and health system during the next five years (20:27).

The Chinese president and other leaders of the world's emerging economies will focus on key global and economic issues at the 18th BRICS Summit in India on the weekend (01:07). The Houthi group in Yemen has seized the coastal city of Mokha, close to another crucial shipping lane on the Red Sea (10:47). A report on global services trade development released at the China International Fair for Trade in Services in Beijing shows services trade has increasingly become a key engine driving economic growth (17:51).

Iran and the US have traded the biggest wave of attacks on shipping since the six-month old conflict began (01:05). This year's China International Fair for Trade in Services is underway in Beijing, where service providers focus on helping businesses navigate the challenges of going global (10:31). Foreign travel to China continued to pick up in the first eight months of the year, with foreign nationals making over 61 million trips across China's borders during the period (32:58).

Iran says it has launched missiles toward US targets in Jordan in retaliation for US attacks on five Iranian crude oil tankers (01:03). The 2026 China International Fair for Trade in Services, under the theme "Global Services, Shared Prosperity," has opened in Beijing, providing the latest trends shaping China's services trade (09:20). China's price levels continued their moderate recovery in August, reflecting sustained improvement in domestic demand under supportive policy measures (36:41).

Canada's retaliatory tariffs on about 20 billion US dollars of US goods have taken effect, targeting a broad range of imports (01:07). Iran says talks with Oman on a temporary route for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz have reached the final stage (09:26). China's monthly imports and exports saw double-digit gains for a fourth month in August (36:27).

Foreign media reporters have visited the disaster zone to see the impact and rescue efforts in China's Xizang Autonomous Region in the aftermath of a devastating mudslide along the China-Nepal border (01:01). Iran says it will announce a restricted zone outside the Strait of Hormuz in the coming days and place any ship attempting to transit through the area on its sanctions list (08:53). The far-right Alternative for Germany party has secured a historic victory in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt (18:42).

The Iranian army says its forces have struck US military bases in the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait with missiles and drones, in retaliation for US attacks earlier this week (01:01). Rescue operations continue in Gyirong Port on the China-Nepal border after a devastating mudslide struck the area last week, with power supply restored to the core area (09:58). UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warns that the world has entered a "danger zone of extreme weather" as the impacts of El Nino start to be felt globally (17:02).