Chinese President Xi Jinping has delivered a New Year address to domestic and overseas audience via China Radio International, China National Radio and China Central Television. 

"As the new year begins, let us also start anew. I'm delighted to extend New Year wishes to Chinese people of all ethnic groups, to compatriots in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Macao Special Administrative Region, Taiwan, and to overseas Chinese and friends all over the world! "

Xi Jinping says the year 2013 has been an extraordinary year for the Chinese nation and people. The government developed a comprehensive plan to deepen reforms, and laid out a grand blueprint for future development. 

"In 2014, we are expected to make new strides on the road of reform. We have advanced reforms with the fundamental purpose of making our nation stronger and more prosperous. We also aim to achieve a higher degree of impartiality and justice in society so that people can live a better life. "

The Chinese President says he wishes that the dreams of the Chinese people, and people from all countries, will come true.

 

China ready to further advance ties with U.S.: Chinese FM

China's foreign minister has been working the phones to help ring-in the New Year.

Wang Yi has placed phone calls to, among others, US Secretary of State John Kerry and South Korean foreign minister Yun Byung-se.

Speaking with Kerry, Wang Yi says China is willing to continue working to implement the concensus reached between President Xi Jinping and Barack Obama this past year in California.

China and the US today are officially marking 35-years of diplomatic ties.

Speaking with South Korea's foreign minister, Wang Yi and Yun Byung-se have discussed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's recent visit to the Yasukuni Shrine.

Both say their respective responses to the controversial visit are both just and legitimate.

 

More than 300,000 people celebrate 2014 new year in HK

More than 300-thousand people gathered at both sides of Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong to ring in the New Year last night.

The normal end-of-night daily light displays in the Harbour were replaced by a countdown, with tens-of-thousands counting down the countdown to midnight.

Heading into the new year, a number of those interviewed said they're concerned about the continued rise in the value of the Renminbi.

The Hong Kong dollar remains pegged to the US dollar, making exports from the city more expensive.

It's estimated that for every percent the Renminbi rises against the US dollar, exporters in Hong Kong are going to have to raise their prices 0.55-percent.

To remain compeditive, most exporters will have to absorb most of those costs themselves.

 

S. Korean ship catches fire in Mumbai, no casualty

No injuries have been reported following a fire on a cargo ship in the port of Mumbai.

The blaze broke out on the anchored ship around 9pm local time.

It only took about half-an-hour to put the blaze out.

The cause of the fire has been reportedly traced to a transformer explosion on the ship.

The Port of Mumbai was the scene of a deadly explosion in April which left 18 Indian sailors dead after their submarine erupted into flames.

 

Bangladesh court accepts homicide charge against factory owner, 12 others over deadly fire

The courts in Bangladesh have approved charges against 13 people connected to a deadly fire in a factory last year which left dozens dead.

The factory's owner and a dozen other officials have been part of a year-long probe.

In November of 2012, a factory caught fire, leaving 112 dead.

Workers at the facility allege the fire was intentionally set.

The garment factory produced clothes for, among other corporations, Wal-Mart.

The fire was eventually dwarfed in its scale of tragedy by the April collapse of an 8-story garment factory which left over 11-hundred dead.

These incidents have led to new questions about foreign companies roles in Bangladesh's garment industry.

Clothes-making is the main export sector in Bangladesh, pulling in some 22-billion US dollars a year.

It employs around 4-million people.

 

Gas poisoning kills 9 in SW China

9 people are dead following gas exposure in Guizhou.

The incident took place yesterday afternoon in the city of Bijie, which is located in the northwest of the province, in a remote area near the border with Yunnan and Sichuan.

Local authorities say liquified gas used to heat the home is the cause of the deaths.

The circumstances behind the gassing have not been revealed.

However, authorities say of the 9 dead, only 8 were found in the home.

 

Mainland tourist in Taiwan has bird flu

Another case of H7N9 bird flu has been discovered outside the mainland.

Authorities on Taiwan say an 86-year old man has been confirmed with the strain of the bird flu.

The elderly man travelled to the island from Jiangsu on December 17th.

He was hospitalized on December 24th.

So far none of the two-dozen others travelling with him have shown any symptoms.

This is the 2nd case of the H7N9 virus showing up on Taiwan.

The first one, also found in a mainland resident, showed up on Taiwan in April.