CGTN头条新闻2022 国家主席出席北京2022年冬奥会开幕式（在线收听）

Chinese president attends opening ceremony of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics

Chinese president attends opening ceremony of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics

Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

The program is divided into 15 segments including the parade of athletes and the lighting of the Olympic flame.

Xi says meeting with Putin will inject more vitality into China-Russia relations

Chinese President Xi Jinping says his meeting on Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin will inject more vitality into China-Russia relations.

The presidents met in Beijing ahead of the opening ceremony of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

The Chinese leader recalled his attendance at the opening ceremony of the Sochi Olympics in Russia in 2014 when they agreed to meet again eight years later in Beijing.

He says Putin's visit has realized their "get-together for the Winter Olympics."

The Chinese President expressed his willingness to jointly carry forward the Olympic spirit with Putin and friends from across the world.

The Beijing Games are now officially underway.

IMF chief calls for policy agility, global cooperation to navigate economic "obstacle course"

The managing director of the International Monetary Fund has called for more policy agility and global cooperation to navigate an economic "obstacle course" amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kristalina Georgieva says there are "three main obstacles" on the path to the global recovery - the pandemic, rising inflation and high levels of debt.

Georgieva points out policy actions should be calibrated to each country's specific circumstances.

Georgieva's remarks came after the IMF last week projected the global economy to grow by 4.4 percent in 2022, down 0.5 points from the forecast in October.

The IMF chief also stressed the importance of global cooperation as the world economy recovers from the pandemic.

Tonga extends nationwide lockdown due to new COVID-19 case

With one more COVID-19 case being reported in Tonga on Friday, the South Pacific island nation extended the nationwide lockdown for another 48 hours, until 6 p.m. local time on Sunday.

The Tongan Prime Minister announced the extension, saying that limited services, including shops, ATMs, gas stations, bread shops, and roadside food vendors, are allowed to operate from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time on Saturday.

A news website in Tonga reported that checkpoints have been set up to ensure public compliance with the measures.

The island nation started a 48-hour nationwide lockdown from 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

Currently, 97 percent of Tonga's eligible population has received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 87 percent is fully vaccinated.

South Korea to extend tightened social-distancing rules for two more weeks

South Korea has decided to extend the tightened social-distancing rules for two more weeks amid the spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant.

The nation-wide guidelines say the maximum number of people allowed for private gatherings remains at six.

Restaurants, cafes and karaoke bars, as well as facilities for indoor sports and nighttime entertainment, are permitted to open until nine p.m.

The business hour of cinemas, concert halls, Internet cafes and massage parlors is restricted to ten p.m.

A vaccine pass program allowing fully vaccinated people to enter crowded facilities is also in place in a series of public venues.

South Korea has so far reported over 930-thousand COVID-19 cases.

Dragon boat racing back in Sydney for Spring Festival celebrations

Dragon boat racing will be back in Sydney on the weekend as Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations are underway.

Over 1200 paddlers will compete in 72 races held at Darling Harbor from tomorrow to Sunday.

The race has been suspended since 2020 due to COVID-19.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore says the event provides a good chance to attract people to the city and support local business.

The dragon boat event in the Australian city is the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere.

China Energy continues leading world in wind power capacity

China Energy Investment Corporation continues to lead the world in terms of installed capacity of wind power.

By the end of last year, installed capacity had reached 50 gigawatts.

During the period, the installed capacity of photovoltaic power surged over four times from a year earlier to stand at 8.6 gigawatts.

Meanwhile, China Energy started constructing new energy projects last year, with capacity of nearly 20 gigawatts.

China ranks 2nd as home to start-ups with high-growth potential

The Hurun Global Gazelle Index list for 2021 shows that China ranked second globally as home to 171 "gazelle companies," or start-ups with high-growth potential.

Gazelle companies refer to those start-ups founded in the 2000s, worth over 500 million U.S. dollars and not yet listed on a public exchange.

These companies are also most likely to become "unicorns" valued at over a billion U.S. dollars within three years.

Globally, 525 unicorn companies are on the list.

The United States tops the list with 201 gazelle companies.