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A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson has refuted U.S. act of forcing small countries to pick sides.
Wang Wenbin made the remarks when commenting on U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to Sri Lanka.
Prior to his visit, it was reported that the United States might ask the south Asian nation to make choices on its relations with China.
The spokesperson says China and Sri Lanka are friendly neighbors.
"China and Sri Lanka are traditionally friendly neighbors. We have been developing bilateral relations based on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and conducting friendly cooperation based on equal-footed consultation and mutual benefit."
He also says the two countries will continue working with Sri Lanka to expand and deepen their bilateral relations, deliver benefits to the two peoples, and contribute to regional peace and stability.
A Chinese official says people's life expectancy in the country has risen to 77 years over the past five years.
National Health Commission deputy director Yu Xuejun says the main health indexes in China are generally better than the average of middle and high-income countries.
"Personal health spending as a proportion of total health expenditure has dropped to 28.4 percent. The coverage of basic medical insurance is above 95 percent. Centralized procurement and use of medicines has been promoted, and we have seen an average 52 percent decline in the prices of the medicines included in the procurement catalog."
The per capita subsidy for basic public health service was increased to 74 yuan, or 11 U.S dollars this year.
French President Emmanuel Macron has announced that France will go back into a nationwide COVID-19 lockdown for at least a month.
He says the lockdown will come into effect on Friday and will remain in place until December 1st.
"After exchanging with our European partners and weighing the good points and bad points, I've decided that we needed, starting from Friday, to again put in place the lockdown that had stopped the virus."
Under the new measures, people have to stay in their homes except to buy essential goods, seek medical attention or use their one-hour allocation of exercise.
Nigeria's former finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is proposed to become the new director-general of the World Trade Organization.
WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell says Okonjo-Iweala was proposed as the new head of the Geneva-based organization in a closed-door meeting.
"That candidate as recommended by chairman Walker is doctor Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria. Twenty-seven delegations took the floor, Nigeria took the floor twice. One delegation could not support the candidacy of doctor Ngozi and said they would continue to support South Korean minister Yoo. That delegation was the United States of America."
Since early October, Okonjo-Iweala had been facing off against the other female candidate, South Korea's Minister for Trade Yoo Myung-hee, in the final round of race to become the new director-general of WTO.
Hurricane Zeta is speeding toward Louisiana and intensifying, with landfall expected as Category 2 hurricane.
Life-threatening storm surge and strong winds were expected beginning midday Wednesday along the US Gulf Coast.
Zeta is projected to be a Category 2 hurricane sustaining winds of nearly 100 mph at landfall.
