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Belt and Road: The nations

Belt and Road: The nations
The initiative spearheaded by the Chinese government and endorsed by President Xi Jinping in late 2013 aims to improve trade and economic integration across Asia, Europe, and Africa.
Chinese President Xi Jinping during his last Southeast Asian visit in December 2023, pictured being welcomed to Vietnam. Photo: AP
China-Asean relations

Exclusive | China woos the neighbours, with Xi said to be planning 3-country tour in April

The Chinese leader is expected to spend three days in Malaysia as well as visit Vietnam and Cambodia.

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US-China relations

Trump cut off aid to South Africa. Will it tilt the balance in China’s favour?

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Electric & new energy vehicles

Exclusive | Why does a Kazakh tycoon want to ride China’s electric vehicle wave?

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China-Africa relations

China and the chocolate factory: Ivory Coast investment helps secure cocoa beans

If tonnes of beans go to China instead of Europe or US, chocolate makers in those regions will feel the loss, expert says.

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China is investing in cocoa bean processing factories in Ivory Coast and Ghana, which control 60-70 per cent of the world’s cocoa bean production. Photo: AFP
Belt and Road Initiative

China-Pakistan ties: presidents to focus on terrorism and economy

Asif Ali Zardari will arrive in China on Tuesday and is expected to discuss with Xi Jinping safeguarding China’s presence in the region.

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Ukraine war

Russia’s overheated economy is squeezing one of its key China trading channels

Investment in Russia’s railways is to be slashed by nearly a third, complicating trade with China, state media reported.

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Belt and Road Initiative

Xi Jinping touts shared views with Brazil on Ukraine, other matters ahead of G20

Xi says six-point Ukraine framework gets ‘a positive response from the international community’, even though Zelensky has rejected it.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping is seen at the Apec Economic Cooperation forum summit in Lima on Saturday. Photo: Kyodo
Belt and Road Initiative

Brazil backs away from joining China’s belt and road but keeps funding door ajar

Beijing had hoped to make the initiative’s expansion a centrepiece of Xi Jinping’s visit to the country next month.

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China-Africa relations

Chinese cement firms look to growing African markets to make up for woes at home

Major cement producers see higher prices – and profits – in countries such as DRC, Mozambique and Ethiopia amid China’s property crisis.

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China-Africa relations

Chinese firm says US$900,000 of gold stolen in armed attack on mine in Ghana

Workers including Chinese citizens were injured in the robbery in April and suspects have been detained, according to Beijing Xiaocheng.

Chinese companies seeking to invest in minerals and resources have looked to Africa, but there are growing concerns over the security risks. Photo: Amy Nip
Belt and Road Initiative

China needs deterrent force to protect its expanding overseas interests: expert

Former PLA officer said worsening relations with the US and its allies have made the task more urgent.

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Chinese troops stationed at China’s only overseas base in Djibouti take part in Ivory Coast’s 64th anniversary of independence celebrations. Photo: Facebook/Chinese Embassy, Ivory Coast
US-China relations

Changes needed for US funding tool to compete with China’s belt and road: CEO

Head of US International Development Finance Corporation Scott Nathan calls on members of Congress to review the eligibility criteria for funding to help build partnerships, particularly in Latin America.

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China-Africa relations

Why China’s foreign minister still starts the year with a trip to Africa

The timing of the trips has remained consistent but their purpose has shifted since Qian Qichen started the convention in 1991.

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China-Afghanistan relations

Why China is wary of opening up Afghanistan’s new road to Xinjiang

Observers said the Taliban’s hopes that the completed project will become a link to China’s vast network are unlikely to be shared by Beijing.

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The exact location of Afghanistan’s Little Pamir Road has not been disclosed, but it is understood to reach the Chinese border via the narrow and barely accessible strip of land called the Wakhan Corridor. Photo: AFP
Belt and Road Initiative

Opinion | China’s belt and road success — Western narratives don’t do it justice

While a fuller assessment of this ambitious initiative will only be possible with time, its benefits so far cannot be denied. More importantly, the belt and road shows the rise of China has brought not colonial conquests or wars, but trade, tourism, infrastructure and economic growth.

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Illustration: Craig Stephens
Diplomacy

Vladimir Putin confirms he will meet Xi Jinping in Beijing next month

In St Petersburg, Russian president tells Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi he will attend Belt and Road Forum, saying the strategy ‘fully meets and coincides’ with Russia’s interests.

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Science

China-Italy nanotech helps repair Church of the Scalzi in Venice: paper

Research team studies nine different ways to consolidate marble stones with patented combination of methods used in church restoration project.

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China-Africa relations

China and Russia pursue Eritrea for its strategic location in Africa

Big powers consider Eritrea’s access to the Red Sea, Suez Canal and Persian Gulf waters and onwards to the Indian Ocean important.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) holds a welcome ceremony for Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki in Beijing on May 15, 2023 before their talks. Photo: Xinhua
China-Africa relations

China vows to aid Ethiopian recovery and boost ties with Kenya, Nigeria

China’s top diplomat makes a surprise stop in Addis Ababa and says Beijing is ‘willing to play a positive role in easing Ethiopia’s debt pressure’.

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China digital currency

China railway hub to use Belt and Road connectivity to promote digital yuan

Xuzhou will promote the use of the digital yuan in cross-border trade with Belt and Road countries using its connectivity via 18 regular cross-border railway lines to 21 countries in Europe and Asia.

Cambodia

Asian Angle | Why Cambodia has mixed feelings about China-built Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville road

Two Chinese-backed projects in Cambodia show some can be far more effective than others and it’s not always easy to win people over.

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The Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville road in Cambodia. The route, funded by China, has been giving a boost to the country’s economic growth and tourism development, opening in October for a one-month free trial. Photo: Xinhua
Indonesia

Indonesia’s China-built rail link chugs along despite overshooting budget

President Joko Widodo, who inspected a new railway station, said the project was 88.8 per cent complete and its commercial launch is expected in June 2023.

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Workers stand beside a high-speed train in Bandung, Indonesia, on Thursday. Photo: Reuters
China-Africa relations

Europe’s efforts to counter Russia and China in Africa falling flat

African leaders have expressed their disappointment at the lack of interest and apparent snubs from their European counterparts.

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Belt and Road Initiative

China’s rivalry with US ‘greatly affecting capital flows’ into Latin America

Rivalry between China and the US in the region is ‘greatly affecting capital flows’, but demand for projects under the Belt and Road Initiative remains, analysts say.

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Xinjiang

Could Xinjiang-Central Asia railway tilt regional power in China’s favour?

The China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway is likely to bring enormous economic benefits to Central Asia and western China, but it could also stoke geopolitical rivalry between Beijing, Moscow and Washington.

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After years of wrangling, construction is set to start on the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, which Chinese authorities hope will bring big economic benefits. Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen
Central Asia

Xi Jinping sends message of support to Kazakhstan president

Chinese leader says Beijing opposes any attempts by foreign forces to cause trouble and backs security crackdown.

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The unrest in Kazakhstan was triggered by protests over rising fuel prices. Photo: AP
China-Africa relations

How far will China go to protect Africa after Taliban took Afghanistan?

Groups such as Boko Haram in Nigeria and al-Shabab in Somalia may step up their insurgencies after the fall of the Afghan capital.

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Afghanistan

China starts anti-terror drill with Tajikistan amid Afghan spillover worries

The joint drills show mutual determination to combat terrorism and effectively respond to terrorist threats, China’s public security minister said

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