in china, until recently, it was extremely difficult for single women to have children. last year the government said health insurance should cover the cost of giving birth for single mothers, and that they should also get paid maternity leave. despite widespread conservative cultural attitudes, a shift is under way especially in the big cities where more unmarried women are choosing to continue their pregnancies. as our correspondent stephen mcdonell reports from south east china. two month old hung hung is being raised by his mother and grandmother. it s a lifestyle still frowned on by many, especially in rural areas or smaller towns where beliefs are more conservative. attitudes are definitely changing towards single mothers in china, but mainly only in the big cities. this mother said she was lucky
despite widespread conservative cultural attitudes, a shift is underway 7 especially in the big cities 7 where more unmarried women are choosing to continue their pregnancies. as our correspondent stephen mcdonell reports from south east china. two month old hung hung is being raised by his mother and grandmother. it s a lifestyle still frowned on by many, especially in rural areas or smaller towns where beliefs are more conservative. attitudes are definitely changing towards single mothers in china, but mainly only in the big cities. this mother said she was lucky to have moved to shanghai to run a business. translation: i m grateful l for the tolerance of shanghai. i m from rural hunan, an area which will have a lot of discrimination against me as a single mum. she became a single mother after her boyfriend s family rejected his choice of bride
china and the united states have agreed to keep working on improving relations. the agreement was announced during a visit to beijing by the us secretary of state , antony blinken. he s been meeting president xi , in what s been billed as highly symbolic meeting, as our correspondent stephen mcdonell reports. good afternoon. first a handshake, then a meeting which carried great hopes. that collapsing superpower relations could be restored or at least stabilised. at the great hall of the people, china s leader told the us secretary of state they owed it to the world to try and get along. translation: state to state interactions should always be based on mutual respect and sincerity. i hope that through this visit, mr secretary, you will make more positive contributions to stabilising china us relations. because china us relations have been so toxic, even modest progress is being celebrated. i would expect additional
fellow mps. this report found that he deliberately misled them as well as misleading the committee that was investigating him. china and the united states have agreed to keep working on improving relations. the agreement was announced during a visit to beijing by the us secretary of state , antony blinken. he s been meeting president xi , in what s been billed as highly symbolic meeting , as our correspondent stephen mcdonell reports. good afternoon. first a handshake, then a meeting which carried great hopes. that collapsing superpower relations could be restored or at least stabilised. at the great hall of the people, china s leader told the us secretary of state they owed it to the world to try and get along. translation: state to state interactions should always be based on mutual respect and sincerity. i hope that through this visit, mr secretary, you will make more positive contributions
to china now, which is attempting an economic bounceback after three years of covid restrictions. its citizens are enjoying the freedom to go out and spend money after the government abandoned its zero covid policy at the end of last year. economic growth, as well as a big increase in military spending, were key themes at the country s once a year parliamentary session. but its annual congress has also been used by president xi jinping to further consolidate his power. our china correspondent stephen mcdonell reports. the message to this mass gathering was that the government has a plan for post pandemic recovery especially after president xi jinping s standing took a hit from strict anti covid measures. people s livelihoods were hurt by three years of restrictions on their movements, yet the premier defended the party s handling of covid. translation: we overcame difficulties. we succeeded in maintaining an overall stable economic