Fujian Province in east China opened its first direct shipping route to Timor-Leste on Sunday, with the voyage taking only seven days, saving 15 days compared with the previous transshipment mode.
The move is expected to give a boost to trade between the world's second largest economy and the Southeast Asian country.
A cargo ship loaded with 1,357 tons of screw-thread steel bars, trucks and engineering vehicles left the Huajin Terminal of Quanzhou Port for Dili Port in Timor-Leste, marking the official launch of the fastest sea lane linking China with Timor-Leste.
According to Xiamen Customs which administers Quanzhou Customs, Quanzhou City's exports to the Belt and Road Initiative partner countries came in at 124.36 billion yuan (about 17 billion U.S. dollars) in 2024, up 5 percent year on year and accounting for 62.6 percent of its total foreign trade.
As of February 23, Quanzhou Port has opened 36 shipping routes for Belt and Road cooperation.
The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by China in 2013, aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe, Africa and beyond.
So far, more than 150 countries and over 30 international organizations have signed Belt and Road cooperation agreements, with the initiative extending from the Eurasian continent to Africa and Latin America.
China's Fujian opens first direct shipping route to Timor-Leste
Thriving sub-sectors such as creative design services, digital publication, and internet information services were the main drivers of steady growth of China's culture industries in the first quarter of 2025, showed the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Tuesday.
According to the NBS data, China's major enterprises in the culture and related industries reported 3.3939 trillion yuan (about 465.2 billion U.S. dollars) in combined operating revenue in the first three months, representing a year-on-year increase of 6.2 percent.
Notably, the operating revenue of companies in news information services, creative design services, and content creation and production rose by 10.5 percent, 8.6 percent, and 7.5 percent, respectively, from the same period in 2024.
New forms of cultural businesses logged rapid expansion in the first quarter, with the combined operating revenue reaching 1.4846 trillion yuan (about 203.5 billion U.S. dollars), or a year-on-year growth of 12.5 percent.
Businesses in sub-sectors such as smart entertainment drone manufacturing, digital publication, and internet advertising services led the way in expansion during the period, growing by 36.8 percent, 19.8 percent, and 16.4 percent, year on year, respectively.
In the first quarter, the combined profits of major enterprises in China's culture and related industries came in at 274.4 billion yuan (about 37.6 billion U.S. dollars), up by 29.1 percent from the same period of last year. The main drivers of profit growth included sub-sectors such as digital content services, internet information services, and internet cultural and entertainment platforms.
The NBS data came from a survey of cultural companies with annual revenue of more than 20 million yuan (about 2.74 million U.S. dollars) or those meeting other standards set by the agency.
Thriving sub-sectors drives growth of culture industries in Q1
