China

15 Mar 2023; MEMO: China, Iran and Russia will hold five-day trilateral naval drills in the Gulf of Oman as of Wednesday, Beijing said, Anadolu News Agency reports.

The trilateral maritime exercises, Security Belt-2023, will conclude on Sunday, China's Defence Ministry said in a statement.

Militaries from Beijing, Moscow and Tehran have held several joint exercises, so far.

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets rebounded Wednesday after Wall Street stabilized following sharp declines for bank stocks and U.S. inflation eased but stayed high.

Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney advanced. Oil prices regained some of the previous day’s sharp losses.

Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index rose Tuesday as bank stocks recovered some of their losses caused by worries customers might pull out deposits following the collapse of two U.S. lenders.

HONG KONG (AP) — China will reopen its borders to tourists and resume issuing all visas Wednesday after a three-year halt during the pandemic as it sought to boost its tourism and economy.

China is one of the last major countries to reopen its borders to tourists. The announcement Tuesday came after it declared a “decisive victory” over COVID-19 in February.

All types of visas will resume from Wednesday. Visa-free entry also will resume at destinations such as Hainan Island as well as for cruise ships entering Shanghai that had no visa requirement before COVID-19.

BEIJING, Mar 13 (APP): China’s Ministry of Commerce welcomed the first batch of information officials who participated in the 14-day seminar on China’s poverty alleviation practices under the Global Development Initiative.

The seminar, hosted by the Academy for International Business Officials (AIBO), Ministry of Commerce, China, is one of the five seminars that took place from February 22 to March 7, wherein a total of nearly 200 officials from 27 countries across the globe took part.

BEIJING (AP) — An agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia to re-establish diplomatic relations has cast China in a leading role in Middle Eastern politics — a part previously reserved for longtime global heavyweights like the U.S. and Russia. It’s another sign that China’s diplomatic clout is growing to match its economic footprint.

Under strongman leader Xi Jinping, Chinese diplomacy has become known for angry outbursts against the West, threats against Taiwan, aggressive moves in the South China Sea and a refusal to condemn Russia over Ukraine.

BEJIING (AP) — President Xi Jinping called Monday for China to play a bigger role in managing global affairs after Beijing scored a diplomatic coup as the host of talks that produced an agreement by Saudi Arabia and Iran to reopen diplomatic relations.

Xi gave no details of the ruling Communist Party’s plans in a speech to China’s ceremonial legislature. But Beijing has been increasingly assertive since he took power in 2012 and called for changes in the International Monetary Fund and other entities it says fail to reflect the desires of developing countries.

BEIJING, Mar 12 (APP): As one of the key enterprises participating in the construction of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), POWERCHINA has been active in various fields such as energy, electricity, water management, and infrastructure investment in Pakistan since it entered the Pakistani market as early as 1987.

HONG KONG, March 12 (Reuters) - China stock investors, already disillusioned by Beijing's lower-than-expected economic growth target for the year, will be further disheartened by the shock collapse of U.S. lender SVB Financial Group, market participants said.

China's CSI300 Index (.CSI300) dropped 4% last week, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng (.HSI) tumbled 6%, as China's moderate GDP growth target of around 5% for 2023 - set during the annual session of the rubber-stamp parliament - dashed hopes for a big stimulus.

BEIJING (AP) — China on Sunday reappointed Yi Gang as head of the central bank in an effort to reassure entrepreneurs and financial markets by showing continuity at the top while other economic officials change during a period of uncertainty in the world’s second-largest economy.

Yi, whose official title is governor of the People’s Bank of China, plays no role in making monetary policy, unlike his counterparts in other major economies. His official duties lie in “implementing monetary policy,” or carrying out decisions made by a policymaking body whose membership is a secret.

BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong and Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong on Friday sent congratulations to General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chinese President Xi Jinping, warmly congratulating him on his election as president of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and chairman of the Central Military Commission of the PRC.