In late January 2025, nine Chinese cities, including Dali in Yunnan Province, Lhasa in Xizang Autonomous Region, Fuzhou in Fujian Province and Yueyang in Hunan Province, were designated as international wetland cities at the 64th meeting of the Standing Committee of the Ramsar Convention, which was held in Gland, Switzerland. Currently, there are 74 accredited wetland cities around the world, with 22 of them in China. The picture taken on Aug. 4, 2024 shows a wetland park in Heqing County, Dali, Yunnan Province. 

Six significant archaeological sites in China were named the top new discoveries in 2024, announced on Feb. 19, 2025, at an archaeological forum hosted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. These include the Dadong paleolithic site in Jilin Province, the Xiatang neolithic site in Zhejiang Province, the Wuwangdun Tomb in Anhui Province, the Siwa site in Gansu Province, the Zhouyuan site in Shaanxi Province, and the Jingdezhen ceramic industry sites in Jiangxi Province. This picture taken on Feb. 20, 2025 shows the Xiatang neolithic site in Zhejiang Province. 

According to China South-to-North Water Diversion Co., Ltd., the eastern and middle routes of China's South-to-North Water Diversion Project have benefited more than 176 million people. The project has transferred over 70 billion cubic meters of water to the drought-prone north via the eastern and middle routes. Metropolises like Beijing and Tianjin have relied on the project as a major water source. The picture taken on Aug. 1, 2024 shows the Taocha Canal Head of the middle route of the project in Xichuan County of Nanyang, central China's Henan Province. 

China has become the world's second most influential soft power nation after the United States, according to the sixth annual Global Soft Power Index released in London by Brand Finance on Feb. 20, 2025. The report shows that China surpassed Britain to claim second place with a score of 72.8 out of 100, marking its highestever ranking. The picture taken on Feb. 16, 2025 shows a foreign tourist at the Tian'anmen Square in Beijing.