Calls for an extended Gaza ceasefire have intensified at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) amid relentless attacks and soaring casualties in the enclave.
On Thursday, the UNSC convened an opening meeting on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and called on Israel to halt all settlement activities in Palestinian territories, including Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem.
This marks the third UNSC meeting this week on the escalating crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The discussions come in the wake of Israel’s decision to break the ceasefire with Hamas. Over the past several days, Israeli airstrikes have killed hundreds of Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, while Hamas has retaliated by firing rockets into Israel.
During the meeting, China reiterated its call for restraint, emphasizing that resuming hostilities is not a viable strategy to recover hostages and only leads to further loss of life.
Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the UN, stressed that Gaza must not be used as a battleground for political agendas. He stressed that civilian lives should never be sacrificed for political calculations and called for the realization of a durable and lasting ceasefire in the region.
Israel insists that the resumption of attacks was due to Hamas's refusal to release hostages under the ceasefire agreement, an accusation Hamas has denied. The United States backed Israel's claims during the council meeting, emphasizing that the hostages must be freed.
The UN has urged the Security Council to use its mandated powers to enforce the ceasefire in Gaza and called for the hostages to be released.
"We must work collectively to establish a political framework that outlines tangible, irreversible, and time-bound steps. The occupation must end as rapidly as possible. A viable two-State solution - Israel and Palestine, of which Gaza is an integral part, living side-by-side in peace and security, on the basis of United Nations resolutions, previous agreements, and international law, with Jerusalem as the capital of both States is long overdue," said Sigrid Kaag, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process.
Int'l pressure mounts on UN Security Council amid Gaza ceasefire collapse
The deepening integration of sci-tech innovation and industrial innovation emerged as a key focus for potential cooperation among global business leaders at the China Development Forum 2025 held in Beijing on Sunday and Monday.
Speaking at the forum, Li Lecheng, Party secretary of the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, highlighted China's steadfast implementation of the innovation-driven development strategy.
Currently, the number of foreign-invested enterprises established in China has surpassed 1.2 million, with foreign investments spanning 31 major categories and 548 subcategories within the country's manufacturing sector.
"Promoting the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation is not a solo performance by China, but a chorus by the world. China has a complete industrial system, rich application scenarios, a super-large-scale market and a large number of talents, which provides a broad cooperation space for international industrial scientific and technological innovation," Li said.
Notably, beyond production, establishing research and development centers in China to collaborate with domestic enterprises on tackling key technical challenges has increasingly become a growing trend among foreign investors.
British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca signed a landmark agreement on Friday to invest 2.5 billion U.S. dollars in Beijing over the next five years. Under the agreement, AstraZeneca will establish a global strategic research and development center in Beijing, its sixth worldwide and second in China after one in Shanghai. The new center, equipped with an advanced artificial intelligence and data science laboratory, will accelerate early-stage drug research and clinical development.
"The reason we want to invest in China is because of the explosion of innovation that is happening in the country. As we work with those companies, we invest, of course, but we also invest in bringing our own capabilities, our own skills. We are investing in the life science physical ecosystem in Beijing, for instance, where we are actually going to help smaller startup companies come up with new products, training people who will actually be able to create economic growth," said AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot.
The economic transformation led by innovation has also brought new opportunities for foreign-funded enterprises.
"We invest in high quality growth, we invest in innovating, and we invest in cooperating with our good Chinese partners. It's a journey that has just started right now, but it also is an area where we need to work close together," said Kim Fausing, president and CEO of Danfoss, a global market leader in heating and cooling.
China integrating innovation with industrial progress resonates with global business leaders
