China's National People's Congress starts in Beijing

China's annual National People's Congress started at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The key parliamentary meeting, attended by President Xi Jinping and thousands of delegates from around the country, kicked off to a rendition of the national anthem. The parliament is set to focus on a litany of economic and security challenges during the week-long conclave and will also set the military budget. The first order of business will be Premier Li Qiang's work report, at which he officially unveiled the GDP goal.

Indonesia's First High-Speed Railway Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway completes 2 million passenger trips

The Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway, the first of its kind in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, has completed 2 million passenger trips. This 142-kilometre-long rail line connects Jakarta, the national capital, and Bandung, the capital of West Java, opened to the public on 2nd October, 2023. This flagship project under the Belt and Road Initiative has been operating for 139 days. The railway's daily trips have been increased from 14 to 40 and the number of passenger seats has tripled from 8,400 to more than 24,000.