Experts from the U.N.'s health agency are examining whether the H7N9 bird flu virus is spreading among humans, after a cluster of cases among relatives, but downplayed fears of a pandemic Friday.

China on Thursday vehemently denied media reports of a seemingly banal tale that has spread like wildfire on the web — that President Xi Jinping took a taxi in Beijing.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in China rose marginally in the first quarter, the government announced on Thursday, led by Japanese, EU and U.S. companies after declining last year.

China and Japan stepped up spending last year in renewable energy but overall global investment declined due to economic and policy uncertainties in the West, a study said Wednesday.

China is investigating the possibility of human-to-human transmission of a new strain of bird flu that has killed 17 people and is examining “family clusters” of people infected with the virus, a top health official was quoted as saying.

The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that a number of people who have tested positive for a new strain of bird flu in China have had no history of contact with poultry, adding to the mystery about the virus that has killed 16 people to date.

A 7-year-old girl who contracted the deadly H7N9 strain of bird flu was to leave a Beijing hospital on Wednesday, staff said, as the death toll from the virus in China remained at 16.

China faces “multiple and complicated” threats in the Asia-Pacific region but will put defending itself “above all else,” a defense ministry report said Tuesday.

Photos of 10 dead sparrows on a Chinese pavement which went viral on social media and drew a swift official response show how hard covering up a bird flu outbreak would be in the Internet age.

A new case of bird flu in China's capital, a 4-year-old boy who displayed no symptoms, is adding to the unknowns about the latest outbreak that has caused 61 confirmed cases and 14 deaths.