Page 187 - China

Xi Jinping's $1 trillion 'project of the century' faces uncertain future

As the Chinese statesman opens the third Belt and Road Forum this week, the future of his brainchild looks uncertain

Leaders from emerging economies visiting China for 'Belt and Road' forum

A stream of leaders of emerging market countries are arriving in Beijing for a meeting organised by the Chinese government that will mark the 10th anniversary of its Belt and Road Initiative. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed landed in Beijing on Monday, following Chilean President Gabriel Boric and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Sunday night. Under the initiative, a signature policy of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Chinese companies have built ports, roads, railways, power plants around the world in a bid to boost trade and economic growth. But the massive Chinese development loans that funded the projects have also burdened some poorer countries with heavy debts. Others leaders from Africa, Southeast Asia, Central Asia and the Mideast will attend the Belt and Road Forum, whose main day is on Wednesday. Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to attend, as are representatives of the Taliban government in Afghanistan.

Chinese President Xi's Silicon Valley of the East faces slowdown woes

The country's economic slowdown, driven in part by tensions with the US and a slumping property market, is now starting to weigh on the project

Multilateral action needed to fight economic coercion by China: Report

Former Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop at the Ditchley conference, stressed the importance of major powers' taking joint action to fight its pressure

Speciality Restaurants to focus on oriental cuisine for expansion

Cloud kitchens, which expanded quickly during the pandemic, will continue to grow

China, Pak to ink key agreements under CPEC during caretaker PM's visit

China and Pakistan will ink significant agreements regarding motorways and highways during caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar's four-day visit to Beijing starting Monday, according to a media report on Sunday. The agreements would be signed under the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) programme, Dawn newspaper reported. Kakar would travel to Beijing on October 16 to participate in the Third Belt and Road Forum (BRF) for International Cooperation' from October 17 to 18. The prime minister will attend the opening ceremony of the BRF and address the high-level forum entitled 'Connectivity in an Open Global Economy', the PM office said in a post on X on Saturday. A significant Memorandum of Understanding scheduled to be signed is related to the establishment of a modern Highway Research and Training Centre (HRTC) with China's assistance, the paper said. The project will prominently take centre stage during the prime minister's discussion with the Chinese .

Adani's new mega port at Vizhinjam can lure world's biggest ships to India

Located near the southernmost tip of the country, the Vizhinjam transshipment container port will allow India to grab a bigger slice of the international maritime trade currently dominated by China

China's inflation data shows economy in doldrums despite trade improvement

China's economy remains in the doldrums, data released Friday showed, with prices due to slack demand from consumers and businesses. Consumer prices remained flat in September compared with a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said, while wholesale prices fell 2.5 per cent. Exports and imports also fell last month as demand fell in overseas markets. The faltering recovery of the world's second largest economy from the shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic is dragging on regional and global growth, though economists have said the worst might have passed. Trade ticked up slightly from the month before and manufacturing is showing signs of improvement. Earlier this week, the International Monetary Fund cut growth forecasts for China, predicting economic growth of 5 per cent this year and 4.2 per cent in 2024, down slightly from its forecasts in July. The IMF attributed its downward revision to weaker consumer confidence, subdued global demand and a crisis in the property sector

Vivo created "elaborate" network of firms to cheat authorities: ED

The probe agency also said that employees of Vivo and its Indian affiliates concealed their employment with the Chinese firm when seeking visas

Vivo PMLA case: Court extends ED custody of accused by three days

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday sought extension of the custody of four people arrested in a money laundering case against Chinese smart phone maker Vivo, including the managing director of Lava International mobile company and a Chinese national, by 10 days. Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala had on October 10 sent the accused to ED's custody for three days. The four accused- Hari Om Rai, the MD of Lava International company, Chinese national Guangwen alias Andrew Kuang, and Chartered Accountants Nitin Garg and Rajan Malik- were produced in the court on Friday on expiry of their custody. The prosecution sought extension of their custody so they could be interrogated further. It said they had to be confronted with 13 witnesses and digital data from multiple devices had to be extracted. The defence counsel opposed the agency's plea, claiming the ED was engaging in "flagrant violation of procedures". The court is expected to pass an order on ED's applicatio

Could turn more protectionist if trade deficit isn't reduced: EU to China

The European Union's top foreign policy official warned Friday that public sentiment in Europe could turn more protectionist if the region's trade deficit with China is not reduced. Josep Borrell, the EU high representative for foreign affairs, called for improved access for European companies that want to export to or invest in China. He said that political leaders in Europe could face pressure from voters to disengage from the world's second-largest economy. And we don't want to disengage and much less, much less, to decouple from China, Borrell said in a speech at Peking University, one of China's top schools. The EU trade deficit with China topped USD 17 billion in September, bringing the total for the first nine months of the year to USD 170 billion, according to Chinese trade figures released Friday. Borrell, who held talks later Friday with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, is the latest EU official to visit China as the two sides lay the groundwork for a leaders summit late

Israeli embassy staffer stabbed in China, admitted to hospital: Report

The attack on the Israeli embassy staffer has further strained relations between Israel and China

Canon begins selling new chip machines to rival world's best by ASML

Canon's machinery may also add a new front in the US-China trade war, as the import of EUV machines into China is prohibited by trade sanctions

S Korea says it expressed concern to China for sending North escapees back

South Korea on Friday said it had expressed its concerns to China after assessing that it recently returned a large number of North Koreans, including escapees, back to their homeland. Koo Byoungsam, spokesperson of South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said Seoul did not have information on the exact number of North Koreans repatriated from northeast China or how many of them were escapees, medical patients or criminals. His comments followed several media reports based on activist sources that alleged China recently returned hundreds of escapees back to North Korea where they would face the risk of persecution and harsh treatment. It appears to be true that a large number of North Koreans were repatriated to North Korea from China's three northeastern provinces, Koo said. (Our) government's position is that there should be no circumstances in which North Koreans living abroad would be forcibly repatriated back home against their will. Koo said Se

India still far from replacing China as global growth engine, says HSBC

HSBC expects the gap between the two economies to continue to widen in the foreseeable future, expanding to $17.5 trillion by 2028, based on IMF forecasts

China's consumer inflation rate flatlines in Sept amid precarious recovery

Core CPI - which strips out volatile food and energy costs - rose 0.8%, same as August. Producer prices fell 2.5%, moderating slightly from the prior month's decline

Simple authorisation process likely for imports of IT products from Nov 1

The government is likely to put in place a simple import authorisation procedure and not a licensing process for inbound shipments of laptops, tablets and computers from November 1, according to sources. However, they said the commerce ministry is awaiting a final word on the issue from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). The government in August imposed import restrictions on laptops and computers (including tablet computers) with a view to boost domestic manufacturing and cut imports from countries like China. As per the notification of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), the restrictions will come into force from November 1. While the IT hardware product industry comes under MeitY, the DGFT notifies decisions with regard to import/export of a product. Following this notification, IT hardware industry had flagged concerns. "It will be more in the nature of an import management system where people will be issued an authorisation. It will

Taiwan watching Hamas-Israel war for lessons as it faces intimidation

Taiwan is closely watching the war in the Middle East sparked by the unprecedented attack on Israel by Hamas militants from Gaza for lessons amid what the self-governing island says is a campaign of intimidation and threats by China. Hamas staged a stunning and massive incursion into Israel last weekend, killing hundreds in Israel and dragging dozens into Gaza as hostages. In retaliation, Israel's increasingly destructive airstrikes in Gaza have flattened entire city blocks. The latest conflict, which has claimed at least 2,400 lives on both sides, is expected to escalate. Taiwanese Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said on Thursday that the Hamas-Israel war "blew up so suddenly, prompting Taiwan to up its ability to forecast possible threats. We've established a working group to study and ... reinforce the importance of collecting intelligence, he said ahead of a meeting of the legislature. China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory, has conducted increasingly large milita

Israeli ambassador urges China to talk with Iran, stop escalation

While Tehran is a known backer of Hamas, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has denied his country was involved in the strike

Sri Lanka confirms major debt deal with China for its economic recovery

The Sri Lankan government has confirmed that it has concluded a preliminary deal with China on the restructuring of its debts to Beijing, seen as a "big step" in the cash-strapped country's economic recovery. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Ministry of Finance said The Government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is pleased to announce that it has reached an agreement on the key principles and indicative terms of a debt treatment with the Export-Import Bank of China. China holds about 52 per cent of Sri Lanka's USD 46 billion external credit. The agreement in principle covers approximately USD 4.2 billion of outstanding debt, it said adding that it constitutes a key step towards restoring Sri Lanka's long-term debt sustainability and will pave the way to a prompt economic recovery. The terms of the restructuring agreed upon will provide the space for Sri Lanka to implement its reform agenda. The government has expressed hope that it should also facilitate .