Central China's city of Liuyang, dubbed the "hometown of fireworks," staged a special edition of its Saturday night fireworks show on Dec 28 to celebrate the upcoming New Year.
Since 2023, the city has been routinely holding fireworks shows on Saturdays to boost tourism, attracting over 5 million spectators so far. Over 100,000 spectators gathered for the end-of-the-year special at Liuyang's Sky Theater on Saturday.
The hour-long spectacle of creativity and brilliance lit up the night sky with over 10,000 fireworks that reached heights of over 300 meters. The show also used 1,000 drones to launch 1,800 blue fireworks in midair to mimic a meteor shower.
For a special feature in the last show of the year, organizers collected 2,025 wishes and launched them to the sky with 2,025 lantern shape fireworks, wishing people a happy New Year in 2025.
Liuyang has been actively developing its fireworks industry in recent years, introducing new standards for fireworks products, emphasizing environmental performance and innovation. LiuYang has pioneered the development of eco-friendly fireworks, aiming to reduce the environmental impact of the industry while maintaining the stunning visual effects that have made the city famous.
China's 'hometown of fireworks' stages end-of-year special show
The European Central Bank (ECB) announced on Thursday that it would slash key interest rates by 25 basis points in a bid to wind down the restrictive monetary policy.
Effective from March 12, the interest rates on the deposit facility, the main refinancing operations and the marginal lending facility will be decreased to 2.50 percent, 2.65 percent and 2.90 percent respectively, said the central bank in a statement.
The disinflation process is well on track, with headline inflation averaging 2.3 percent in 2025, 1.9 percent in 2026 and 2.0 percent in 2027, the ECB said.
The decision to keep on cutting rates came at a time when the economy in the eurozone is facing increasing uncertainties.
In its latest edition of the staff projections on Thursday, the ECB lowered its forecast for economic growth in the eurozone to 0.9 percent for 2025, 1.2 percent for 2026 and 1.3 percent for 2027.
This marks a downward revision from the ECB's forecast in December last year, which had projected 1.1 percent growth in 2025 and 1.4 percent in 2026, while the 2027 outlook remains unchanged.
The ECB attributed the weaker growth outlook for 2025 and 2026 to declining exports and sluggish investment, citing high trade policy uncertainty and broader economic instability as key factors.
ECB cuts interest rates by 25 basis points
