Alex Ritson

China's high-speed rail system has just passed a major landmark.

It now has a network spanning more than 50,000 kilometres.

It actually claims to have more high-speed track than every other country put together.

The milestone was reached with a new line between Xi'an, home to the terracotta warriors, and Yan'an, where Chairman Mao had his revolutionary base.

Our reporter, Mickey Bristow, told me the country's entire high-speed rail track

has been laid in less than 20 years.

It's taken 20 years to build nothing, hasn't it?

Yeah, you say the best.

You've travelled on some of these trains.

Mickey Bristow.

You may think that TV adverts putting women in the kitchen are a thing of the past, but new industry research suggests stereotypes in marketing are remarkably resilient.

The British agency Canter examined the top 1,400 global ads

in 2025 and found they're increasingly portraying women in regressive roles, although there are some adverts that show people in more progressive situations, including one in India about a washing powder.

Here's Lynne Deeson from Canter.

We're seeing a drop in the proportion of adverts that feature women in non-traditional roles this year versus last year.

So it was 8% in 2024 and that's now halved down to 4% of ads this year.

You know, to an extent, culture does vary a lot across the globe and there are specific places where you have to make sure you're getting that right.

But I think progressive marketing, when you portray people positively, it works everywhere in the world.

When you show stereotypes, they do alienate audiences and they reduce relatability.

And that meaningful connection, seeing yourself or people like you or people who you aspire to be like in advertising is really key from an effectiveness point of view.