Fearing COVID cases and possible lockdowns, China's local governments and humming factories are offering a slew of incentives to persuade workers not to go home for the Lunar New Year holiday in February.

Brunei's Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah met with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi here Thursday (Jan. 14), and both sides pledged to carry on a joint fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and promote bilateral cooperation in all areas to a new high.

Authorities in north China's Tianjin Municipality are tracing ice cream contaminated with coronavirus after three samples tested positive for the virus.

China will respond with a welcoming gesture if the new United States administration returns to multilateralism, though the practice of advancing a faked multilateralism would only lead the world to new divisions and conflicts, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has encouraged Howard Schultz, Starbucks Corporation's chairman emeritus, and the company to continue to play a positive role in advancing China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation and bilateral ties. In a reply letter to Schultz on Jan. 6, Xi stressed that under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the 1.4 billion Chinese people have made long-term and arduous efforts to build a moderately prosperous society in all respects and pursue socialist modernization.

Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca on Wednesday (Jan. 13) received the Chinese COVID-19 Sinovac vaccine along with Turkey's advisory science council members, one day before the nationwide vaccination begins.

An international expert team from the World Health Organization arrived in China on Thursday to conduct joint scientific research with Chinese scientists on the origin of the novel coronavirus.

The Chinese mainland on Wednesday (Jan. 13) recorded 138 new COVID-19 cases – 124 local transmissions and 14 from overseas, the National Health Commission said on Thursday. The domestic cases were reported in northern and northeastern China: 81 in Hebei Province and 43 in Heilongjiang Province.

Chinese and Brazilian experts cautioned against misinterpretation of the 50.4 percent efficacy rating from the Brazilian trial of CoronaVac, a COVID-19 vaccine candidate made by China's Sinovac Biotech. They said the figure only describes the protection rate under the most stringent conditions, many of which were not included in similar studies done by other vaccine developers.

China will expand the target population for COVID-19 vaccination to include elderly people aged over 60 years old, a health official said Wednesday (Jan. 13).

The Brazilian partner of the Sinovac vaccine, Instituto Butantan, said on Tuesday (Jan. 12) the Chinese COVID-19 vaccine has an overall efficacy of 50.38%, which meets the World Health Organization's standard.

The Chinese mainland on Tuesday (Jan. 12) recorded 115 new COVID-19 cases – 107 local transmissions and eight from overseas, the National Health Commission said on Wednesday.

China is using a combination of measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 amid the latest resurgence of the virus in Beijing and provinces including Hebei, Liaoning, and Heilongjiang.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot of Chicago, the third largest city in the United States, has encouraged residents of all backgrounds and ages to join in the abundant and vibrant festivities of the Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on Feb. 12 this year.

The cost of U.S. tariffs on China has far exceeded any benefits derived from them, so the incoming administration in Washington should roll them back, a major American business group said on Monday (Jan. 11) as the United States' trade chief advised President-elect Joe Biden to retain the punitive measures on China.