BEIJING -- The success story of China's Shenzhen Special Economic Zone (SEZ) boosts the confidence of Chinese people and the international community in reform and opening up, overseas experts have said.

Hailing Shenzhen's development over the past 40 years as "a miracle in the world development history," Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday encouraged China's SEZs to advance reform and opening up at a higher starting point and make greater contributions to building China into a great modern socialist country. (China-Shenzhen-Reform)

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NANJING -- East China's Jiangsu Province, a major export-oriented economic powerhouse in the country, saw its foreign trade bounce back to a positive growth of 0.8 percent in the first three quarters of 2020, customs authorities said Saturday.

The province's total foreign trade volume reached 3.23 trillion yuan (about 481.5 billion U.S. dollars) in the January-September period, according to Nanjing customs. (China-Foreign Trade-Positive Growth)

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BEIJING -- Economic cooperation between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been strong and resilient, with huge potential, said Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday.

Wang made the remarks in an exclusive interview with Xinhua after he held talks last week with Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Indonesian president's special envoy, and Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin in southwest China's Yunnan Province, and upon wrapping up his Southeast Asia tour, which has taken him to Cambodia, Malaysia, Laos, Thailand and Singapore. (Chinese FM-ASEAN-Visits)

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WASHINGTON -- The U.S. federal budget deficit soared to a record 3.1 trillion dollars in the fiscal year 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted massive fiscal stimulus and caused tax revenue to fall, official data showed Friday.

Budget deficit for the fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, was 2.1 trillion dollars higher than that of the prior year, according to the final budget results for fiscal year 2020 jointly released by U.S. Treasury Department and White House Office of Management and Budget. (US-Deficit-Debt-COVID 19)

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SAO PAULO -- Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro inaugurated on Friday the world's first commercial-scale biogas factory that will use byproducts from sugarcane-based ethanol production in Guariba, Sao Paulo state.

In his speech, the president talked about government incentives for agribusinesses in Brazil as well as the factory itself, which will produce biogas from the waste leftover from sugarcane-based ethanol production. (Brazil-Biogas Factory)