Erinome: Hello dear friends! Welcome back to our daily news chat. I'm Erinome, and with me is Enceladus. Let's check out the latest news together today!
Enceladus: Hi everyone! So many interesting things happened lately. Let's start with the first one—New Year holiday travel!
Erinome: Right! The New Year holiday just ended. It says the total number of people traveling across regions in China is expected to be 590 million. Oh wow, that's a big number! And it's 19.5% higher than last year.
Enceladus: 590 million? That's like almost half of China's population moving around! People must have really enjoyed their holidays, haha.
Erinome: Next, let's talk about house prices. The China Index Academy reported that in December 2025, new house prices in 100 cities went up by 2.58% compared to last year. But second-hand house prices? Oh no, they dropped by 8.36%.
Enceladus: Oh, that's a big difference! New houses up, old ones down. Maybe more people are buying new houses now?
Erinome: Maybe! And good news for people with mortgages—starting January 1st, both provident fund and commercial loan interest rates are下调 (xiàdiào, lowered) together. So their monthly payments will be less. That's a nice "减负礼包" (jiǎnfù lǐbāo,减负 means reduce burden,礼包 means gift package), right?
Enceladus: That's great! Less stress for homeowners. Moving on to health news—last year, China approved 76 new innovative drugs. And the overseas授权 (shòuquán, authorization) value broke 100 billion US dollars! That's a new record.
Erinome: Wow, that's amazing! Chinese medicine innovation is getting better and better.
Enceladus: Then space news! In 2025, China's space launches reached 92 times—another record! And Chang'e-7 is expected to launch in August this year. It will go to the Moon's south pole to look for water.
Erinome: Oh, so cool! I hope they find water there. That would be a big step for space exploration.
Enceladus: Now a funny but sad news—A female boss promised the Yongzhou team that if they won the championship, each player would get a car. But she didn't keep it. Then the Yongzhou government said the company had trouble keeping the promise, so they accepted the company adding a 100,000 yuan reward instead.
Erinome: Haha, that's a let-down for the team. But at least there's some reward.
Enceladus: Last news—Mexico had a 6.5-magnitude earthquake. It killed 2 people and injured 12. Many buildings were damaged. The president's press conference was even interrupted, and there have been over a thousand aftershocks.
Erinome: Oh no, that's so sad. I hope everyone there stays safe.
Enceladus: Yeah, natural disasters are scary. Okay, that's all for today's news. Thanks for listening, everyone!
Erinome: Let's talk again next time. Bye!
Enceladus: Bye!
