Chinese President Xi Jinping presided Monday over the creation of five new military regions, part of the streamlining of the 2.3 million-member People's Liberation Army while also signaling his firm control over the armed forces.

China accused the United States on Monday of seeking maritime hegemony in the name of freedom of navigation after a U.S. Navy destroyer sailed within 12 nautical miles of a disputed island in the South China Sea.

The US deployment of a navy vessel to the South China Sea in waters close to disputed islands in the archipelago claimed by Beijing has been viewed as being 'intrusive' in a commentary by the state-run Xinhua news agency. It has accused Washington of 'threatening the sovereignty of other countries and challenging the international order' by sending a navy vessel 'without China's authorisation'.

Chinese passengers will be able to transit Taiwan and fly to a third destination starting Monday, signalling a step toward greater transportation links between the two political rivals.

China strongly condemned the United States after a U.S. warship deliberately sailed near one of the Beijing-controlled islands in the hotly contested South China Sea to exercise freedom of navigation and challenge China's vast sea claims.

President Xi Jinping on Wednesday urged the United States to work with China to find solutions to more global issues and develop bilateral ties.

The United States and China sparred Wednesday on how to deal with North Korea's latest nuclear weapons test and ease rising tensions over territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

New UN resolution on North Korea should not provoke aggravation of the situation on the Korean Peninsula, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Wednesday at a joint press conference with US State Secretary John Kerry.

For all the hand wringing over China’s economic slowdown, the employment picture has so far remained immune to tumbling stocks, a sliding currency and waning industrial growth.

Falling growth in the world’s second largest economy has concerned investors and roiled financial markets so far this year, along with falling oil prices, but China’s Vice President Li Yuanchao put a positive spin on his country’s lowest growth in a quarter of a century in a speech at the World Economic Forum on Thursday.