December 20, 2025 – China Headlines

Story gist: China’s Central Economic Work Conference emphasized strengthening internal capabilities to address external challenges. It outlined ‘five musts’ for conducting next year’s economic work.

Bias summary: Left-leaning outlets like Xinhua frame the conference around official directives to ‘bitterly practice inner skills’ against external threats, stressing adherence to ‘five musts.’ Center outlets like Sina highlight positive economic indicators outperforming expectations. Right-leaning coverage is absent, leaving critical or alternative economic perspectives unrepresented.

Story gist: Shanghai is accelerating construction of a sci-tech innovation highland with global influence. Initiatives promote science integration in communities, evolving from experimental fields to symbiotic ecosystems in streets and alleys.

Bias summary: Left-leaning People’s Daily frames the story grandly with official language on global ambitions. Center Shanghai Science and Technology Daily emphasizes grassroots embedding via metaphors like ‘seeds rooting in streets.’ Right-leaning outlets absent, omitting skeptical views on state-led innovation costs or efficacy.

Story gist: US Senator Marco Rubio stated the US will not impose a peace plan. Europe will participate for the first time in a new round of US-Ukraine talks in Miami, as Ukrainian President Zelensky acknowledged worsening frontline conditions.

Bias summary: Left-leaning (Xinhua) emphasizes US-EU-Ukraine consultations starting amid Zelensky’s admission of increasingly difficult frontlines, highlighting Ukrainian setbacks. Center (RFI) neutrally reports Rubio’s no-imposition stance and Europe’s debut in Miami talks. Right-leaning coverage absent, omitting potential emphasis on peace enforcement or criticism of prolonged conflict.

Story gist: Experts discussed paths for Hainan Free Trade Port construction after customs enclosure. On the first day post-enclosure, Sanya duty-free sales reached 1.18 billion yuan.

Bias summary: Left-leaning outlets frame the story positively, portraying Hainan as a leading gateway for China’s new-era opening-up via visual learning features. Center outlets emphasize factual economic performance, highlighting first-day duty-free sales data. Right-leaning outlets focus on expert discussions of post-enclosure construction paths, stressing debate without promotional emphasis or sales metrics.