Editor’s note: The year 2023 has been marked by a range of events with profound implications for China and the rest of the world, including the Beijing-brokered rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the expansion of BRICS membership, the significant Belt and Road Initiative forum, and the historic China-US summit. The China Daily editorials have closely followed these developments, providing in-depth analyses of both domestic and international affairs. With the New Year just around the corner, we present selected quotations from the top 10 most-viewed editorials.

1.Balloon incident