Thematic art exhibition on "Eight Great Prose Masters" opens in Beijing

A thematic art exhibition on the "Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and the Song Dynasties" opened at the China National Academy of Painting in Beijing on Monday.

The exhibition, organized by the China National Academy of Painting and China Media Group (CMG), will last till Aug 7.

The exhibited art works draw inspiration from the portrayals and famous writings of the literary giants of the Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties, which were presented in CMG's large cultural program "Biographies of Masters: the Eight Great Masters of the Tang and the Song Dynasties".

Over 170 pieces of art, including traditional Chinese paintings, oil paintings, and sculptures, are on display.

"The Eight Great Prose Masters" encompasses two luminaries from the Tang Dynasty, Liu Zongyuan and Han Yu, as well as six notable figures from the Song Dynasty: Ouyang Xiu, Wang Anshi, Zeng Gong, Su Xun and his sons Su Shi and Su Zhe.

Thematic art exhibition on "Eight Great Prose Masters" opens in Beijing

China's outstanding aggregate social financing -- the total amount of financing to the real economy -- reached 442.12 trillion yuan (about 63.4 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of 2025, up 8.3 percent year on year, central bank data showed on Thursday.

The country's aggregate social financing stood at 35.6 trillion yuan (about 5.1 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2025, up by 3.34 trillion yuan (about 479 billion U.S. dollars) from the year 2024, said the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the country's central bank.

According to the data, the M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, increased 8.5 percent year on year to 340.29 trillion yuan (about 48.8 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of December.

In addition, outstanding yuan loans stood at 271.91 trillion yuan (about 39 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of 2025, up 6.4 percent year on year.

China's aggregate social financing maintains high growth in 2025