World's largest healthcare system

China has established the world's largest healthcare system, enabling over 90 percent of its households to reach the nearest healthcare facility within 15 minutes, according to a think tank report released on Friday. The report was titled "The Critical Stage toward Basically Realizing Chinese Modernization — Strategic Blueprint for China's Economic and Social Development in the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) Period". It noted that China has ensured and improved people's well-being through development, with high-quality medical resources increasingly extended to community-level and rural institutions while promoting more balanced regional distribution.

Yuan strengthens against greenback

The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, strengthened 29 pips to 7.0836 against the US dollar on Friday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System. In China's spot foreign exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by 2 percent from the central parity rate each trading day. The central parity rate of the yuan against the US dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day.

Railway operators optimize service

Chinese rail operators are taking multiple measures to enhance the travel experience for passengers. As the railway hub of a World Cultural Heritage site, Pingyao Ancient City Station in North China's Shanxi province has been busy upgrading its service culture. By integrating service from the heart into every detail of their daily work, employees have created a truly welcoming travel atmosphere for passengers. Within the waiting room, a "Memory of the Ancient City" check-in wall has become a popular hit by integrating railway service and urban scenes of the thousand-year-old city. Staff members also undergo Putonghua and English language training so they can help as many different passengers as possible.

Land port handles more freight trains

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), the number of China-Europe freight trains passing through Ereenhot Port, the largest land port between China and Mongolia, has exceeded 15,000, according to Hohhot Customs in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region. As the sole transit port for the "middle corridor" of the China-Europe freight train network, Ereenhot now operates 74 routes connecting over 140 cities and stations across Asia and Europe. Customs said that the export structure has been optimized, with high-value goods such as automobiles, machinery and electronics accounting for more than 40 percent of shipments. In the first three quarters of this year, the number of inbound and outbound China-Europe freight trains reached 2,904, a year-on-year increase of 11.4 percent, the Customs data showed.

Xinhua - China Daily