China's population policy is emerging as a key part of its economic strategy as Beijing rolls out its most wide-ranging push to boost a flagging birth rate, with official population data due on January 19 set to show a fourth consecutive annual drop.

While Africa has emerged as a hub for China’s newest physical infrastructure, the report finds some of Beijing’s deepest space partnerships are in Latin America, including Venezuela and Argentina — developments with direct implications for U.S. security interests closer to home.

But that thickened a hazardous smog, which cloaked Beijing every winter. In 2017 the government banned coal burning and started installing gas heaters instead. The plan (combined with other measures,

China and Canada signed six initial cooperation agreements on Thursday during Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's visit to Beijing, covering areas including energy, crime, culture, forestry and food safety.

The French professor was charged with letting a Chinese delegation access sensitive sites in a suspected espionage case.