The Latest Breaking News from Thomas Peter

China reported a slight decline in new COVID-19 cases on Saturday as numerous cities battled outbreaks, and as restaurants and other businesses in Beijing shut after authorities urged people to stay home over the weekend.

Several Chinese cities began cutting routine community COVID-19 testing on Monday, days after China announced an easing of some of its heavy-handed coronavirus measures, sparking worry in some communities as nationwide cases continued to rise.

Here are key quotes from President Xi Jinping's speech on Sunday opening the 20th congress of China's ruling Communist Party, a week-long event where he is widely expected to win a third leadership term and cement his place as the country's most powerful ruler since Mao Zedong.

China's 20th Communist Party Congress kicks off on Sunday, with Xi Jinping widely expected to clinch his third five-year stint in charge - a mandate that would secure his stature as the country's most powerful ruler since founding leader Mao Zedong.

When Xi Jinping left China for the first time in more than two years to visit Central Asia last month, his entourage included a familiar face from domestic trips.

A thousand days since the World Health Organization (WHO) was told of a "viral pneumonia" in central China, many countries have returned to pre-COVID-19 life. Not so China itself - in cities big or small, routine PCR testing is the new normal.

After a record heatwave parched large areas of the Yangtze basin, Chinese provinces are planning to spend billions of dollars on new water infrastructure as they try to fend off the growing impact of extreme weather on agriculture and hydropower.

(Refiles Aug 27 story with correct byline format, no changes to text)

As China's record heatwave starts to subside, farmers are assessing the damage caused by a prolonged drought and the government is urging them to replant or switch crops where they can.