# Beijing
Latest news and articles about Beijing
Total: 17 articles found
Night Watchers of Beijing’s Spring Festival: How Fire Crews Keep a Megacity Safe While Families Reunite
Beijing firefighters forgo Spring Festival reunions to staff mobile posts and micro fire stations, maintaining strict rapid-response standards that have reduced true fire incidents despite rising call volume. Their mix of routine inspections, public education and decentralized preparedness keeps densely populated neighbourhoods safe during the holiday surge. The story highlights a governance model that relies on disciplined personnel and community-level resources, offering lessons for other megacities balancing celebration and urban safety.
Before the Lunar New Year, Beijing's Home-Help Market Booms — Yet Workers Remain Scarce
Ahead of the Lunar New Year, Beijing is seeing a surge in demand for domestic services that has driven up wages and exposed a shortage of workers. Platforms and provincial governments are stepping in with mass recruitment, training and subsidies to stabilise supply for the holiday peak.
China’s 70‑City Housing Data: Monthly Drops Narrow but Year‑on‑Year Slump Deepens
January 2026 housing data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics show month‑on‑month price declines across first, second and third‑tier cities have narrowed, but year‑on‑year drops remain substantial, particularly in resale markets. Shanghai bucks the national trend with annual gains in new‑home prices, highlighting persistent city‑level divergence.
China’s Urban Order Shifts: Beijing Hits New Milestone as Provincial Capitals Close the Gap
Beijing became the second mainland city to top RMB 5 trillion in 2025, while the top‑ten city framework stayed largely intact. Substantial movement occurred below the summit: provincial capitals strengthened, export‑dependent ports like Ningbo underperformed, and resource or legacy industrial cities proved volatile, highlighting the shift toward consumption, services and technological upgrading.
Beijing Defends 20‑Year Jail Term for Jimmy Lai as a Sovereign Judicial Matter
China’s Foreign Ministry has defended the 20‑year prison sentence of Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai as a domestic judicial matter and warned against foreign interference. The ruling underscores Beijing’s determination to enforce national security in the city and sharpens diplomatic tensions with Western governments while increasing political risk for businesses in Hong Kong.
Beijing Defends 20‑Year Jail Term for Jimmy Lai as Foreign Interference Claims Fly
China’s Foreign Ministry defended the 20‑year jail sentence for Hong Kong activist and media owner Jimmy Lai, calling criticism external interference and labeling Lai a disruptive, anti‑China figure. The ruling underscores Beijing’s tightened control over dissent in Hong Kong and will reverberate through diplomatic channels and local civil society.
Xi Meets Military Veterans at CMC New‑Year Gala, Reinforcing Party‑Army Bonds
President Xi Jinping attended a Central Military Commission New‑Year cultural performance for retired senior officers on Feb. 6, delivering greetings to veterans nationwide. The ceremony underlines Beijing’s use of ceremonial politics to reinforce party control over the military and to shore up loyalty among retired cadres.
Off-Season Rebound: China’s Big-City Second‑Hand Housing Market Warms Ahead of Spring
Second‑hand home sales in China’s four first‑tier cities have warmed in January despite the traditional off‑season, led by Beijing and Shanghai where transactions rose while listings fell. The rebound is concentrated in core districts and school‑district properties and reflects a mix of policy support, reduced asking inventories and recovering buyer confidence, though price recovery remains uneven and fragile.
Guarding the State’s Voice: Life at Xinhua’s No. 3 Sentinel
A human-interest profile of an armed policeman’s long watch at Xinhua’s No. 3 sentinel post illuminates how routine guard duty doubles as both practical security and symbolic protection of the state’s information apparatus. Small details—seasonal ginkgo leaves, a stray cat, and the proximity to national parades—show how personal sacrifice is woven into China’s public rituals.
Beijing Kindergarten Career Catwalk Celebrates a Chef and Sparks Conversation on the Dignity of Work
A Beijing kindergarten’s career-themed fashion show went viral after a child dressed as a chef received enthusiastic applause, prompting online praise that ‘every job deserves respect.’ The episode highlights a trend in Chinese early education to use role-play to teach vocational diversity, while also raising questions about pedagogy, social messaging and the commercialization of school events.
Beijing Accelerates EV Transition: Over 1.3m New-Energy Vehicles and Rapid Fleet Electrification
Beijing has surpassed 1.3 million new-energy vehicles and says over 80% of its car fleet are either NEVs or meet the National V emissions standard. The city is accelerating scrappage of older diesel trucks and buses, electrifying municipal fleets and expanding charging infrastructure, shifting both air-quality outcomes and market demand for EV makers and charging operators.
Beijing Joins Shanghai as China’s Second City to Top Rmb5 Trillion — A New Service‑Led Model Emerges
Beijing’s 2025 GDP reached Rmb5.21 trillion (about USD740 billion), making it the second Chinese city after Shanghai to cross the Rmb5 trillion threshold. The milestone reflects a service‑and‑innovation‑led growth model achieved under a policy of “reduced‑scale development,” positioning Beijing as a global economic actor comparable to many medium‑sized countries while presenting new strategic tradeoffs in openness, livability and high‑level transformation.