Briefs | Global bay areas to grow closer

An international forum for major global bay areas on Friday launched a new cooperation platform to exchange resources and development ideas. The Global Bay Areas Cooperation Council (GBACC) will serve as a bridge to assemble resources of the world’s top bay areas and help them to address global challenges by working toward coordinated development. The forum was dedicated to exchanges and cooperation between China’s recently established Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area and bay areas in other countries, namely the San Francisco Bay Area, New York Bay Area and Tokyo Bay Area.

China urges UK to ‘stop interfering’

China has urged the United Kingdom to respect China’s sovereignty and stop interfering in Hong Kong’s affairs. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang made the remarks after the U.K. government released its latest six-monthly report on Hong Kong. “We urge the U.K. to face the reality that Hong Kong has returned to China for 22 years, respect China’s sovereignty, stop releasing relevant reports, and stop interfering in Hong Kong’s affairs,” Geng said at a press briefing. It is undeniable that the “one country, two systems” policy has been successful, he said. “Hong Kong’s affairs have been entirely China’s internal affairs since July 1, 1997. The British side has no right to make irresponsible remarks or interfere with any excuses,” Geng said.

Shenzhen launches liver diseases research institute

A liver disease research institute has been established in Shenzhen, integrating research resources in the Greater Bay Area, said the city’s health commission. The Shenzhen institute aims to carry out comprehensive clinical diagnosis, treatment and scientific research of liver diseases, improve the diagnosis and treatment, establish an information resource bank and sample library of common liver diseases, and carry out innovative research on the diagnosis and treatment of liver diseases. Statistics from the World Health Organization show that nearly 55 percent of the world-wide patients with liver cancer came from China in 2012.