6-20-20, At the highest altitude, the Lalin Railway Tibetan Yarlung Tsangpo River double-line bridge cast-in-place main girder was successfully completed. The Tibet-Mu-Yarlung Tsangpo River Double-Lane Special Bridge is located in Garcha County, Tibet Autonomous Region, spanning the Yarlung Tsangpo River. Totalling 525.1m, the main arch span of 430m, is the longest span of any concrete-filled steel pipe arch bridges in the world today. At present, the 47 tunnels of Lalin Railway are all connected, and the main structure of 120 bridges have been completed and are expected to be opened to traffic next year.
China charges two Canadians with spying
The Dandong procuratorate in East China’s Liaoning Province on Friday initiated a public prosecution of Canadian national Michael Spavor for stealing sensitive intelligence from China.
A branch court of People’s Procuratorate of Beijing Municipality has initiated a public prosecution of Michael John Kovrig, former Canadian diplomat, for stealing sensitive information from China.
Trudeau says he’s ‘disappointed’ after China charges two Canadians with spying https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-disappointed-spavor-kovrig-1.5619084 More disappointments coming.
China Eastern Airlines announced its “fly free weekend”
China Eastern Airlines announced its “fly free weekend” on Thurs, encouraging travel amid the COVID19 pandemic. Passengers can fly China Eastern and Shanghai Airlines for an “unlimited” amount of times to major Chinese cities on any weekend in 2020 with the ticket.The tickets are available on the China Eastern Airlines APP at a special price of 3,322 yuan ($469.61). Each passenger can only purchase a maximum of 10 tickets.
China’s e-commerce giant JD reported sales up 20% y-o-y,
China’s e-commerce giant reported sales of 239.2 billion yuan ($33.8 billion) since its “618” sales kicked off on Jun 1, up 20% y-o-y, despite the impact of COVID19.
JD.com (9618), China’s second-largest e-commerce company, was trading a premium of 6 percent in gray markets last night ahead of its Hong Kong market debut, meaning investors could make a paper gain of around HK$678 per lot.
The Nasdaq-listed company has raised HK$29.77 billion after pricing its secondary listing at HK$226 apiece. The retail portion of the deal was oversubscribed by 178 times, with more than 396,000 investors placing orders. That means retail investors who subscribed 40 board lots of new shares could allot one board lot at average.
All import trades from China to Turkey on Thursday were settled in renminbi
All import trades from China to Turkey on Thursday were settled in renminbi for the first time under a previous agreement with PBoC, according to the Turkish central bank on Friday.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke on the phone with his Indian counterpart, Foreign Minister Jaishankar
6-17-20, Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke on the phone with his Indian counterpart, Foreign Minister Jaishankar.
Wang Yi said that on the evening of June 15, the Indian frontline border guard forces brazenly broke the consensus reached at the two sides’ military chiefs’ meeting in the Galwan Valley. When the situation on the ground had already eased, they once again deliberately provoked and even violently attacked officers and soldiers of the Chinese side who were on their way to negotiate across the Line of Actual Control. This led to violent physical confrontations, resulting in injuries and deaths. This adventurous act by the Indian army is a serious violation of the agreements reached between the two countries on the border issue and a grave breach of the basic norms of international relations. Again, a strong protest to the Indian side. We demand that the Indian side conduct a thorough investigation into the matter, punish those responsible, strictly control the frontline troops and immediately cease all provocative actions. to ensure that such incidents do not recur. The Indian side must not misjudge the current situation and must not underestimate China’s firm will to safeguard its territorial sovereignty.
Loss of soldiers in Galwan deeply disturbing and painful https://zeenews.india.com/india/loss-of-soldiers-in-galwan-deeply-disturbing-and-painful-rajnath-singh-after-20-army-personnel-martyred-in-india-china-clash-2290419.html
‘China did not enter our territory, no posts taken’: Modi at all-party meet on Ladakh clash
6-19-20 Exactly as the Chinese claim. https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/chinese-troops-did-not-enter-our-territory-says-pm-modi-at-all-party-meeting-on-ladakh-standoff/story-QGgGUyL3sVRYB7mp3Y8bBI.html
Soldiers’ deaths ‘won’t be in vain,’ Modi says 6-17-20 But they were. https://hk.appledaily.com/us/20200617/KIZXFL5SSQFNWNWFMOIJCBZKYI/
Ladakh Cong councillor booked over ‘seditious phone conversation’6-20-20 This guy is so eager to get a war started. https://indianexpress.com/article/india/ladakh-po
‘No restrictions on using firearms’: India gives soldiers freedom 6-21-20 https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/no-restrictions-on-firearms-india-gives-soldiers-freedom-along-lac-in-extraordinary-times/story-pCcFAcSAkMRschq50Tom1L.html
Oh you look so tough.
China successfully sent Gaofen 9-03, into orbit
China successfully sent another high-resolution remote sensing satellite, the Gaofen 9-03, into designated orbit on Wednesday via a Long March-2D carrier rocket from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China’s Gansu Province. Together with the new Earth observation satellite Gaofen 9-03, a new IoT satellite named Hede-5 and ZDPS-3A, a new technology experimental satellite developed by Zhejiang University, were also sent into space during the Wednesday launch.
ASEAN Overtakes EU to Become China’s Top Trading Partner Not US, not EU
ASEAN Overtakes EU to Become China’s Top Trading Partner Not US, not EU
ASEAN overtook the EU as China’s largest trading partner in the first quarter of 2020.
This has been attributed to the extended lockdown measures within the EU and that the bloc will regain its position after the pandemic subsides.
Electronics, in particular, integrated circuits, have been a major contributor to the Q1 numbers, with China importing US$14.9 billion dollars’ worth over the three months.
In a post-pandemic economy, it is expected that the ASEAN bloc and China will strengthen their regional trade and become the engine of global growth.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) became China’s largest trading partner in the first three months of 2020, surpassing both the EU and the United States.
During this period, ASEAN-China trade increased by 6 percent year-on-year to US$140 billion and accounting for 15 percent of China’s total trade volume. This comes as the country’s traditional, largest trading partner, the EU, has been on lockdown. China’s imports from Vietnam and Indonesia rose by 24 and 13 percent year-on-year, respectively, highlighting the increasingly integrated supply chains between the two regions.
ASEAN had already become China’s second largest trading partner in 2019 with trade valued at US$644 billion, overtaking the US amid friction between the world’s largest economies. To offset the impact of the trade war, China looked to other regions to fill the gap, most notably ASEAN nations.
Analysts, however, expect the EU to regain its top position as China’s largest trading partner as the virus fades considering some 20 percent of the bloc’s total imports come from China.
Electronics pushes ASEAN trade to the top
Electronics have been a major contributor to the Q1 numbers, with China importing US$14.9 billion worth of integrated circuits from ASEAN countries, up by 25 percent in the previous year. This includes chip capacitors, microprocessor chips, and analog-to-digital converters; China exported some US$6 billion worth of integrated circuits to ASEAN.
With the increasing economic uncertainties caused by the US-China trade war, many Japanese and South Korean companies began transferring production to ASEAN, attracted by lower-wage structures as well as improving infrastructure and legal environment. These businesses have established integrated circuit factories in Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand, which in turn have been able to cater to the demand of the Chinese market.
These new production hubs do not mean the entire industrial chain has shifted to ASEAN, rather they have become an extension of the industrial chain in China. Many of these factories still require raw materials, equipment, expertise, and technology from China, and many are also dependent on Chinese consumers as their primary markets.
Can ASEAN retain its position?
When the pandemic resides, the EU is expected to regain its position as China’s largest trading partner.
Yet, as China slowly returns to pre-COVID-19 production levels, the country’s demand for mining products will benefit major producers in ASEAN, such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Laos. Other sectors set to benefit from the resumption of China’s manufacturing are the region’s semiconductor and electronics industries, spurred by the development of 5G technology and the textiles and garment industry.
In the post-pandemic period, there will be efforts for greater regional trade integration among the ASEAN+3 (ASEAN+ China, Japan, and South Korea) economies, particularly as a counterweight against the rise of protectionism policies, and make these economies more resilient to volatility shocks.
This will be further supported by the finalization of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) free trade agreement (FTA) later in 2020.
The proposed FTA will link the ASEAN members and China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand (India withdrew from the agreement), in what is expected to be the world’s largest FTA, encompassing 3.4 billion people and one-third of global GDP. (Australia and India is at war with China, so FTA not likely)
Increasing market access, reduction in tariffs, and the opportunity to facilitate small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in ASEAN to integrate regional supply chains will make products from ASEAN more competitive and position the bloc as a key player of global growth, after the pandemic.
Advice for overseas Chinese firms in hostile climate
Alongside the growth of China’s export-oriented economy, expanding overseas investment has become an important way for enterprises to participate in international economic cooperation, as well as remaining an internal requirement for firms developing internationally.
However, with the rise of international trade protectionism in recent years, particularly affected by China-US trade frictions, Chinese firms are facing increasing disadvantages in the global investment environment.
The EU is considering expanding its censorship toward foreign takeovers, Reuters recently reported. This has been seen as an attempt to deter Chinese buyers from mergers and acquisitions in more industries in Europe. US President Donald Trump has also issued a presidential memorandum calling for tougher accounting scrutiny of US-listed Chinese companies, arguing that Chinese companies have taken advantage of US financial markets but refused to comply with US regulatory standards. The US Senate earlier also passed the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, aiming to tighten regulations on US-listed foreign firms.
Under the guise of protecting American investors, the US actually intends to restrict Chinese companies’ participation in US financial activities by limiting them from going public in US stock markets, and ultimately aims to suppress China’s economic development.
The global capital market is a vital economic foundation for Western countries, and it was fairness, legislation and marketization that facilitated the rapid growth of the global capital market. Any move for political or discriminatory purposes would damage the market drastically and would be doomed to backfire. As COVID-19 continues to ravage the US, will Washington continue and make new conflicts in its capital markets, and blindly ignore market risks and its difficult position on the road to economic recovery?
Under such complex and changing circumstances, Chinese firms should not only attach importance to risks, but should develop dauntlessly with stronger capacities. That is the only way companies will be able to acquire a more solid stance.
For starters, Chinese firms need to closely follow changes in the international market to adjust their business strategies accordingly, paying great attention to compliance-related work and strictly abiding by local laws and regulations, so as to build a good image of Chinese companies based on principles of transparency and honesty.
Next, firms need to further shore up internal administration, putting rules in place. Employee quality and ability needs to be enhanced to adapt to complicated business environments and strict regulatory requirements.
Also, it is important for firms to learn local laws and culture – particularly those related to their business – and maintain fair communication with related regulatory institutions. They also need to remain on high alert to deal with any emergency situations that may arise.
In the meantime, governmental departments on both sides need to enhance communications. Chinese-related departments should accept and urge Chinese firms to strictly follow reasonable rules and regulations, and for unreasonable claims which go against market rules, governmental departments are responsible for opening negotiations to protect Chinese firms’ legitimate rights and interests overseas.
Chinese firms also need to actively expand cooperation with Europe against the backdrop of persisting China-US trade conflict. As all countries are currently facing severe economic difficulties, China and the EU should break through the obstacles of bilateral cooperation through win-win cooperation, accelerate negotiations on the China-EU bilateral investment treaty, and expand the space for China’s export-oriented economic development.
China to build 600k 5G base stations in 2020
China is expected to build more than 600,000 5G base stations by the end of the year, and the shipment of 5G smartphones will reach 180 million units, said an official with the country’s top information technology watchdog on Saturday.
As 5G are going mainstream in China, the country embarks on a 10-year long march of developing 6G technologies. But industry analysts said China needs to overcome its shortcomings in chip and operating systems in order to take the lead in next-generation information technology.