Morning News

April 16, 2026, Thursday, Lunar February 29, Good morning!

1. The Ministry of Finance will issue RMB 155 billion in government bonds in Hong Kong in April.

2. The North Sea Fleet, the South China Sea Fleet, and the East China Sea Fleet announced: activities that open ships to the public require advance reservations and registration through official platforms, and attendees must enter on time.

3. The People’s Bank of China and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange: will raise the leverage ratio for banks’ overseas loans, increase the ceiling for overseas loan balances, and optimize the management requirements for loans made through indirect channels.

4. Guangdong will use new technologies such as drones and AI recognition to continue cracking down on illegal activities involving electric motorcycles.

5. The Department of Elderly Services of the Ministry of Civil Affairs has organized the drafting of two mandatory national standards, including the Basic Standards for Nursing and Care Institutions and the Criteria for Judging Major Accident Hazards in Nursing and Care Institutions; the two standards are now open to public comment.

6. Poppy flowers are currently blooming at Wuhan Botanical Garden. The park’s response: it is “operating in compliance,” and it is used for drug-abuse prevention and science popularization.

7. Soft Science has officially released the 2026 Soft Science China University Rankings. Tsinghua University, Peking University, and Zhejiang University have continued to top the country’s top three list for 12 consecutive years. Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Fudan University rank among the top five nationwide.

8. Police in Zhongshan, Guangdong, have solved a case involving falsified environmental impact assessments: 76 people were arrested, and more than 1,000 falsified documents were seized. At a research institute in Inner Mongolia, an “academician” certificate can be obtained for 1,200 yuan; a staff member said: this was the institute’s first time doing it. The institute leadership felt it was inappropriate and has already halted it.

9. The National Forestry and Grassland Administration: Changshan and Four Girls’ Mountain have been awarded the title of World Geopark. With this, the number of World Geoparks in China has increased to 51.

10. The United States will refund more than RMB 1 trillion in tariffs, and the process will officially begin on April 20.

11. Canada, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and 10 other countries issued a joint statement: calling for the immediate cessation of all hostile actions in Lebanon; following the conclusion of trilateral talks among Lebanon, Israel, and the U.S., they agreed to officially kick off direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel.

12. Japan’s National Tourism Organization: in March, the number of Chinese tourists traveling to Japan fell sharply year-on-year by 55.9%, to only 291,000 people.