Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

Tehran, IRNA – Spokesperson of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Wang Wenbin has announced that Beijing is against the imposition of any unilateral and illegal sanction on Iran.

According to fmprc.gov.cn, the Chinese spokesperson reacted to the new round of sanctions on Iranian individuals and entities by the European Union a day after the condemnation of the act by Permanent Representative of Iran to the United Nations Amir Saeed Iravani.

HANOI, Oct 22 (NNN-VNA) – Vietnamese President, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, and UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, agreed yesterday, to continue to strengthen multilateralism, with the United Nations playing a central role, amid unpredictable developments in the world, and regional political and security issues.

The two sides held talks in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, as part of activities during Guterres’ two-day official visit to Vietnam, according to a statement released on the Vietnamese government portal, yesterday.

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Oct 22 (NNN-ANN) – Brunei’s property price recorded a year-on-year drop of 0.9 percent, in the second quarter this year, the country’s central bank said, yesterday.

According to the latest statistics from the Brunei Darussalam Central Bank, the Brunei Darussalam Residential Property Price Index (RPPI) was at 93.1 in the second quarter, a year-on-year decrease of 0.9 percent.

Based on banks’ mortgage data, there were 130 transactions for private residential properties in the second quarter, a 4.8 percent increase compared to the first quarter.

VIENTIANE, Oct 22 (NNN-KPL) – The Lao government is scheduled to resume the annual That Luang Festival, so as to boost economic recovery and preserve the country’s cultural traditions, after it was cancelled for the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Lao authorities are inviting businesses from China, Thailand and Vietnam, to take part in a trade fair, which will take place on Nov 4-8, on the sidelines of the That Luang Festival in the Lao capital, Vientiane.

JAKARTA, Oct 22 (NNN-ANTARA) – Seven countries from the Group of 20 (G20), sought to collaborate in distributing pharmaceutical research centres and manufacturers to poor countries in the southern hemisphere, Indonesian Health Ministry’s spokesperson, Siti Nadia Tarmizi said, yesterday.

Argentina, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and South Africa, agreed to bring up the plan to the 2nd Health Ministers Meeting, that would be held in Indonesia’s Bali on Oct 27-28, this year, Tarmizi said. They called on the other G20 members to join the collaboration.

BEIJING/HONG KONG, Oct 22 (Reuters) - China's central bank chief Yi Gang is likely to step down after he was dropped from an elite body of the ruling Communist Party, with a former central banker a leading contender to succeed him, sources close to the central bank said.

The potential retirement in early 2023 of Yi, 64, has been the subject of intense speculation as he nears the official retirement age of 65 for minister-level officials. Some policy insiders and advisers had suggested Yi's tenure might be extended, as was the case with his predecessor, Zhou Xiaochuan.

BEIJING, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and three other members of the elite Politburo Standing Committee of the ruling Communist Party were excluded from the newly elected Central Committee on Saturday.

More than 2,000 delegates to a once-every-five-years party congress in Beijing elected a 205-person Central Committee as well as 171 alternate members.

Li Keqiang, 67, Li Zhanshu, 72, Wang Yang, 67, and Han Zheng, 68 - members of the current seven-person Standing Committee - were excluded from the new Central Committee.

BEIJING, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Chinese former President Hu Jintao was unexpectedly escorted out of the closing ceremony of a congress of the ruling Communist Party on Saturday.

Hu, 79, Xi Jinping's immediate predecessor, was seated to the left of Xi. He was led off the stage of the main auditorium of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing by two stewards, a Reuters witness at the congress said.

BEIJING, Oct 21 (APP): Pakistan and China have agreed to launch three new corridors, including the China-Pakistan Digital Corridor that would help enhance cooperation in different fields of Information Technology (IT), said Pakistan Ambassador to China, Moin ul Haque.

Pakistan has a rich repertoire of talent and human resources in different fields of science and technology and IT-based science and technology have become very important for Pakistan.

SIEM REAP, Oct 21 (NNN-AKP) – At least 9,065 families, living in illegal structures in the 401-square-km Angkor Archaeological Park, have so far volunteered to resettle at new designated areas, Cambodian Prime Minister, Samdech Techo Hun Sen, said today.

The relocated sites are situated in the Run Ta Ek eco-village in Banteay Srei district, and the Pak Sneng area in Angkor Thom district, outside the Angkor park.