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Showing posts from January 21, 2019

China Economic Review

📌  _1. IMF warns China slowdown could damage “systemic financial stability”_The International Monetary Fund said that a larger-than-expected weakening in the world’s second-largest economy would pose risks to the global financial system, as the lending body lowered its 2019 forecast for economic growth worldwide, Caixin reports.
In the latest World Economic Outlook (WEO) report, the IMF projected that the world economy will grow by 3.5% this year, down from the previous 3.7% forecast. The initial forecast was 3.9% earlier in 2018.
The China growth forecast held at 6.2% in 2019, after being cut in October as effects of trade tensions and tighter financing conditions became clearer. This would be a notable drop from the 6.6% growth recorded for 2018, which was already the lowest annual pace since 1990.
“Concerns about the health of China’s economy can trigger abrupt, wide-reaching sell-offs in financial and commodity markets that place its trading partners, commodity exporters, and other …
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Senate calls for steps to preserve Gwadar’s demographic balance

Mumtaz AlviJanuary 22, 201ISLAMABAD: The Senate on Monday called on the government to take measures to preserve the demographic balance and ownership rights of local population of Gwadar and protect the same against the expected large scale migration into Gwadar in the wake of CPEC projects.The House, which met with its Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani in the chair, passed a unanimous resolution, moved by Senator Kauda Babar from Balochistan, urging the government to take certain steps in the wake of projects under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in Gwadar. It was a private members day on the opening day of the fresh session amid downpour.The resolution reads: “This House is of opinion that, while it is imperative to embrace opportunities of the 21st century brought about by the CPEC, it is equally important to safeguard the ownership and inherent rights of the people of Gwadar.“Keeping the development and protection of rights of the people of Gwadar in view, the House recommended that…
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India responds to China-Pakistan satellite launch with its own border surveillance satellites

PRABHJOTE GILLJAN 22, 2019, 09.23 AMGSLV-F11 prior to the successful launch of the GSAT-7A, ISRO's 39th communication satellite, on December 19, 2018ISROIndia’s apex space agency announced on January 17 that it will be launching a border surveillance satellite.The announcement comes six months after China and Pakistan launched the a satellite that will be able to monitor the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The CPEC runs through disputed land that both, India and Pakistan, claim belongs to them.India’s satellite will be able to send high-resolution imagery from its borders to help the border guarding forces communicate more efficiently.India’s discomfort of the friendship brewing between Pakistan and China was evident as it announced plans to launch border surveillance satellites. The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) announcement to launch a satellite that will pick up high-resolution imagery of its neighboring borders comes just six months after Pakistan launche…
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EU to invest €40mn in Balochistan water conservation projects

Web Desk On Jan 21, 2019ISLAMABAD: The European Union and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on Tuesday agreed to collaborate on Balochistan water conservation projects.This was told by EU Ambassador to Pakistan Jean-Francois Cautaian and IUCN Country Representative Mahmood Akhtar Cheema who called on Advisor to Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam in Islamabad.Under the agreement the European Union will provide 40 million Euros and the IUCN will provide technical and human resource assistance.The advisor briefed the delegation about the Ministry of Climate Change performance in environmental protection and conservation and apprised them the “Recharge Pakistan Project ” which aims at raising the under water table by conserving flood water in the right and left bank of Indus River reservoirs, that water could be utilised for domestic as well as horticulture purposes.Jean-Francois Cautaian contoured that in partnership with the IUCN, the EU will spons…
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Three dead as coal mine collapses in Duki

BY STAFF REPORT , (LAST UPDATED 11 HOURS AGO)DUKI: As many as three miners died in a coal mine mishap at Duki on Monday.As per details, a gas explosion occurred in a coal mine at Duki. As a result, three miners died and 19 others became unconscious.According to SHO Ibrar Hussain, one side of coal mine collapsed due to explosion and four miners were buried under debris.After the incident, local mine workers started rescue operations on self help basis. Two miners Abdul Ghani son of Speen, caste Samalzai, resident of Zabul, Afghanistan and Muhammad Umer, son of Abdul Shakoor, caste Samalzai and resident of Zabul, Afghanistan, who were busy in rescue operation, also died.The dead body of one of the four miners trapped under the debris, named Abdul Manan, son of Muhammad Essa, caste Malakhail and resident of Killi Zaman, was also later recovered.The victims included two real brothers and their uncle.The depth of coal mine was 1,700 feet and majority of miners working there belonged to Afg…
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26 killed in fire after bus-truck collision near Hub

Ismail SasoliUpdated January 21, 2019

Flames engulf the passenger coach and the tanker after the collision. — DawnNewsTVAt least 26 people were killed in a collision between a passenger coach and a truck carrying fuel in Hub tehsil of Balochistan's Lasbela district on Monday, officials said.The bus with more than 40 people on board was travelling to Panjgur from Karachi when it collided with the truck coming from the opposite direction.A huge fire broke out following the collision, reportedly because the truck was carrying Iranian diesel. Huge flames engulfed the coach and the truck and trapped those inside the two vehicles.“We have recovered 24 bodies from the vehicle. All of them were burned,” said Lasbela Deputy Commissioner Shabir Mengal. “The bus is very hot from the inside, we are taking out bodies slowly.”ARTICLE CONTINUES AFTER ADSSP Lasbela Agha Ramzan Ali also confirmed the crash and said a rescue operation was underway. Fronteir Corps, Levies and police personnel are tak…
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CHiNA: Party Watch Weekly Report

Party Watch Weekly Report 2|14 1.12.2019-1.18.2019
By David Gitter, Julia Bowie, Brock Erdahl, James Gannon, Ann Listerud, and Sandy Lu
Browser VersionHighlightsQiushi released the speech Xi Jinping gave to the Politburo’s November meeting, which discussed prioritizing political correctness in the selection and promotion of Party leaders. He told the gathering that “creating a contingent of loyal, clean, and responsible cadres,” is crucial to the longevity of CCP rule (see Senior Leaders section). The Organization Department held a national meeting in Beijing this week where Organization Department Head Chen Xi stressed many of the same points (see Organization Work section).At the Central Conference on Political and Legal Work, Xi Jinping stressed “adherence to the Party’s absolute leadership over political and legal work” (see Senior Leaders section).
Wang Yang laid out the priorities for united front work in 2019 at the National United Front Ministers Conference (see United Front W…
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Chinese firms concerned over Gwadar Master Plan approval delay.

https://www-dawn-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.dawn.com/news/amp/1458803Chinese firms concerned over Gwadar Master Plan approval delayBEHRAM BALOCHGWADAR: Chinese companies, which prepared the Gwadar Master Plan Smart City, have expressed concern over delay in its approval by the federal government.Sources said that the Gwadar Master Plan Smart City was prepared by China Communication Construction Company Limited and Fourth Harbour Engineering Investigation at a cost of Rs521 million, including a Chinese grant of Rs425m and Rs91m provided by the government of Pakistan.The sources said the companies had started work on the master plan in August 2017 and completed it in December 2018 and forwarded the plan to the federal government for approval, but it has not been approved so far.“The plan is with the steering committee of the planning and development department,” a senior official told Dawn in Gwadar.The governing body of the Gwadar Development Authority had already approved the pl…
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This week’s top Belt and Road news

Belt and Road AdvisoryOur BRI Briefing summarizes and analyzes key news related to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) over the last week.

This week’s top Belt and Road news

Trump and Kim to meet at the end of the month: DonaldTrump is to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for a second summit by the end of February, the White House says. The announcement came afterMr Trump met top North Korean negotiator Kim Yong-chol at the White House.

China’s foreign trade hits historic high in 2018: China's foreign trade hits historic high in 2018. Exports in 2018 grew well (almost 10% compared with about 8% in 2017) while imports grew the same as in 2017 (15.8%). The trade surplus with the US was the highest ever ($323bn)

Inward FDI into China grows by 3% in 2018: Foreign Direct Investment into China grew 3% in 2018 to reach $135bn, a slowdown versus 2017 (+5%) and 2016 (+7%). However, Minister Zhong of MOFCOM said this still reflected progress given global FDI had fallen by 40% in 2018.

Pentagon…
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Indian Muslims: A Valuable Prize for Regional Rivals

BESA.ORG

By Dr. James M. DorseyJanuary 21, 2019Inside a mosque in Kashmir, photo via Wikimedia Commons
BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,069, January 21, 2018EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The hearts and minds of Indian Muslims would be a valuable prize for Saudi Arabia and Turkey as they vie for leadership of the Muslim world. This is particularly true in the wake of the October 2 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, which catapulted the rivalry to center stage.When President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently declared that Turkey was “the only country that can lead the Muslim world,” he probably wasn’t only thinking of Middle Eastern and other Islamic states such as Pakistan and Bangladesh. There is growing evidence that Indian Muslims, the Islamic world’s fourth-largest community after Indonesia and the South Asian states, is on Erdoğan’s radar.Erdoğan’s interest in Indian Muslims highlights the flip side of a shared Turkish and Indian experience: the rise of r…
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Talking to the Taliban: challenges for Kabul

BYHabiba Ashna , Prateek Joshi21 January 2019 12:00Afghanistan’s upcoming presidential elections are due in July and there are, at best, contradictory signals about progress on the negotiations with the Taliban.Despite 2018 being one of the most violent years in Afghanistan’s post 9/11 history, last year also increased hopes on the possibility of getting the Taliban to the table for talks.The historic three-day ceasefire in June, the Taliban’s agreement to enter into talks with Washington, and the Moscow conference held in November, together convinced the international community of the Taliban’s openness to engage in a potential solution.However, the divergent goals and bargaining capacities of the stakeholders risk giving greater leverage to the Taliban. While on the one hand, Moscow and Tehran’s closeness with the Taliban contribute to the latter’s assertiveness, the trajectory of Washington’s talks with the Taliban this year signal that the Americans might be only interested in a g…
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CHINA: GDP – the right number to watch

TRIVIUM CHINAGDP – the right number to watch
China released Q4 and annual GDP data this morning.As expected, the numbers showed that China’s economy continued to slow in Q4.The headlines:2018 official real GDP growth came in at 6.6% – the slowest pace of growth since 2009.Q4 GDP came in at 6.4% – in line with market expectations, down from 6.5% growth in Q3, and the third consecutive quarterly deceleration.2018 Nominal GDP growth came in at 9.7% – down from 10.4% in 2017, but still solid.Nominal Q4 GDP growth, however, came in at 8.1% – down from 9.6% in Q3 and the slowest expansion since Q3 2016.That put the Q4 GDP deflator at just 1.7% – the lowest deflator since Q3 2016. Get smart: China's GDP numbers are untrustworthy, but they do give clues as to the overall direction in which the country is headed.Get smarter: The real GDP numbers get all the headlines, but it’s the nominal numbers that give a better indication of the true state of the economy.The bottom line: The economic sl…
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