Page 156 - China

China's EAM Wang Yi meets New Zealand counterpart to begin diplomatic tour

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his New Zealand counterpart Monday, as China's most senior diplomat began a tour of the country and Australia. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters greeted Wang in Wellington, New Zealand's capital. There have been some significant developments since we last met, not least a global pandemic that impacted both our countries," Peters said in his opening comments of their formal meeting at New Zealand's parliament house. Today is a valuable opportunity to reflect on the challenges and opportunities that are now before us. Wang is the highest-ranking Chinese politician to visit the country since his own previous visit in 2017. New Zealand has had strong economic ties with China in recent years, and was the first developed country to sign a bilateral free trade deal with Beijing in 2008. While in Wellington, Wang will also have brief meetings with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Trade Minister Todd McClay. China look

China shows signs of improvement, property sector is still in doldrums

China's manufacturing and investment improved in the first two months of the year, while weakness in the property sector weighed on the economy, the National Bureau of Statistics said Monday. The report said industrial output rose 7% from a year earlier in January-February, better than analysts had forecast. Spending on factories and equipment, known as fixed-asset investments, rose 4.2%. The real estate sector remained sluggish, with investment in real estate falling 9% in January-February compared to the same period a year earlier. The property market is still in a state of adjustment and transition but policies outlined at China's annual legislative session earlier this month will promote stable and healthy development," National Bureau of Statistics spokesperson Liu Aihua told reporters. During the National People's Congress meetings, China's leaders pledged to refine property sector policies, including increasing financing to developers and building more affordable housing. T

Global toy majors shifting focus from China to India, exports jumped 239%

Popular brands like Hasbro, Mattel, and Spin Master depend more on India for sourcing

Arunachal Pradesh 'inherent part of China's territory': Chinese military

The Chinese military has reiterated its claim over Arunachal Pradesh, calling the area an inherent part of China's territory", days after India rejected Beijing's objection to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the state. The Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang said that the southern part of Xizang (the Chinese name for Tibet) is an inherent part of China's territory, and Beijing "never acknowledges and firmly opposes" the so-called Arunachal Pradesh illegally established by India, official media here reported. Zhang made the remarks in response to India's enhancement of its military readiness through the Sela Tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh, according to a report posted on the Chinese Defence Ministry's website on Friday. China, which claims Arunachal Pradesh as South Tibet, routinely objects to Indian leaders' visits to the state to highlight its claims. Beijing has also named the area as Zangnan. India has repeatedly rejected China's territorial cla

China's nuclear missile force, army giving Xi sleepless nights: Here's why

Chinese President Xi Jinping purged two defence ministers within a matter of months last year as part of his widening programme to wipe out corruption within the country's armed forces

No additional budget to settle dues of Chinese power plants: Pak to IMF

Pakistan has assured the IMF that it does not plan to allocate an additional budget to settle the USD 1.8 billion dues of Chinese power plants built under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, as the new government scrambles to revive the sinking economy, according to a media report. An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team has been in Pakistan to complete the final review of the USD 3 billion Standby Agreement approved for the country last year before releasing the last tranche of USD 1.1 billion before the end of the programme next month. The team has met officials who are also interested in getting a fresh loan to keep the dollar-starved nation's economy afloat, The Express Tribune newspaper reported. The IMF inquired about the government's decision to allocate funds for the Chinese power plants over and above the budgeted amount of Rs 48 billion for this fiscal year, said the Ministry of Energy officials. They added that the IMF was informed there was no plan to approve ...

India abstains in UNGA on Pakistan's draft resolution on Islamophobia

India abstained in the UN General Assembly on a draft resolution introduced by Pakistan and co-sponsored by China on Islamophobia, asserting that the prevalence of religiophobia against Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and other faiths facing violence and discrimination must also be acknowledged rather than singling out just one religion. The 193-member General Assembly adopted the resolution Measures to combat Islamophobia', introduced by Pakistan on Friday, with 115 nations voting in favour, none against and 44 abstentions, including India, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Ukraine and the UK. India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj voiced condemnation of all acts motivated by anti-Semitism, Christianophobia and Islamophobia but asserted that it is crucial to acknowledge that such phobias extend beyond Abrahamic religions. Clear evidence shows that over decades, followers of non-Abrahamic religions have also been affected by religiophobia. This has led to the

China's bank loans expanded at the slowest pace on record in February

The stock of aggregate financing - a broad measure of credit - expanded just 9%, also near a record low

Situation along LAC is stable but sensitive: Chief of Army Staff Pande

Pande said the army continuously modernises its weaponry, and upgrades its technology for precision targeting

China defence Budget: Concerns about low soldier readiness, morale dominate

Jump in Chinese defence Budget comes amid concerns in Beijing that its armed forces lack discipline after decades without real combat and a wide-ranging mission to eradicate military corruption

Apple reaches $490 mn settlement over CEO Tim Cook's China sales comments

It stemmed from Apple's unexpected announcement on Jan. 2, 2019 that the iPhone maker would slash its quarterly revenue forecast by up to $9 billion, blaming U.S.-China trade tensions

Donald Trump launched CIA covert influence operation against China

The CIA team promoted allegations that members of the ruling Communist Party were hiding ill-gotten money overseas

Niti Aayog bats for easy financing, e-commerce push to boost MSME exports

The report jointly prepared by Niti Aayog and the non-profit Foundation for Economic Development, said that India needs a NTN to ease compliance burdens for MSMEs

China deepens bilateral defence ties with Maldives, Sri Lanka and Nepal

On Tuesday, India rejected Chinese objections to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's weekend visit to Arunachal Pradesh in the eastern Himalayas, which China claims to be a part of southern Tibet

US passes bill that would lead to TikTok ban if Chinese owner doesn't sell

The House on Wednesday passed a bill that would lead to a nationwide ban of the popular video app TikTok if its China-based owner doesn't sell, as lawmakers acted on concerns that the company's current ownership structure is a national security threat. The bill, passed by a vote of 352-65, now goes to the Senate, where its prospects are unclear. TikTok, which has more than 150 million American users, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chinese technology firm ByteDance Ltd. The lawmakers contend that ByteDance is beholden to the Chinese government, which could demand access to the data of TikTok's consumers in the US any time it wants. The worry stems from a set of Chinese national security laws that compel organisations to assist with intelligence gathering. We have given TikTok a clear choice, said Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash. Separate from your parent company ByteDance, which is beholden to the CCP (the Chinese Communist Party), and remain operational in the United States, o

China says border issue with India does not represent entirety of ties

China on Wednesday said the Sino-India boundary issue does not represent the entirety of the bilateral ties and called for enhancing mutual trust between the two countries to avoid misunderstanding and misjudgement. India has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas. Bilateral ties nosedived significantly following the fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in more than four decades. Responding to questions on External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's remarks this week that the amassing of troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) has "not served either of us well", Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said, the boundary issue should be placed appropriately in the bilateral ties. China has stressed multiple times that the boundary question does not represent the entirety of the China-India relations which should be placed ...

New covid-19 variant JN.1 dominant in China, check symptoms and more

JN.1, a new COVID variant, has become dominant in China. A total of 6,653 cases were reported last month

Nobel literature laureate Mo Yan accused of insulting China's heroes

His writing won China's first Nobel Prize for Literature, but is it patriotic enough for Xi Jinping's China? That's the question at the center of a high-profile lawsuit now driving a debate about nationalism in China. Patriotic campaigns have become more common in recent years in China, as online nationalists attack journalists, writers or other public figures they say have offended the country's dignity, but it is unusual for a figure as prominent as Mo Yan to be targeted. Patriotic blogger Wu Wanzheng, who goes by Truth-Telling Mao Xinghuo online, sued under a law that carries civil penalties and, in some cases, criminal punishments for perceived offenses against China's heroes and martyrs. Wu claimed Mo's books have smeared the Chinese Communist Party's reputation, beautified enemy Japanese soldiers and insulted former revolutionary leader Mao Zedong. The lawsuit filed last month demands that the author apologize to all Chinese people, the country's martyrs and Mao, and pay dama

Xiaomi to deliver first batch of electric vehicles this month in China

The smartphone maker, China's fifth-largest, said in a Weibo post that 59 of its stores in 29 cities nationwide will take orders for its new Speed Ultra 7 (SU7) sedan

India embraces trade deals as cos look beyond China for alternatives

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is taking advantage of India's growing appeal as the world's fastest-growing major economy and an alternative to China for global supply chains