News Briefing for July 24. China launched its first independent mission to Mars to showcase its ambition to explore deep space and as a progressive step to earn a place in the global space exploration community. Meanwhile, back down here on Earth, many countries are looking to penetrate the massive Chinese market, and a Japanese lifestyle store called Loft is one of them. The stores will arrive in major Chinese cities over the next few years and will bring more competition to their rivals Muji and MINISO.