China in the News: Jazz, Desertification, Pandas and a Bad Film

In August 2026, several stories about China appeared in the news. NYO Jazz brought music and a new generation of Americans to China, while COP17 highlighted China's achievements in combating desertification. A new giant panda cub sparked a China-South Korea joint naming vote, and the animated film "Niu Lai" became a mega-hit in China because it is so bad. AFP also fact-checked posts that falsely linked a year-old flooding video to the lingering impact of a typhoon in eastern China.