The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Xi Jinping

  • Eight killed in China’s plant explosion

    Eight killed in China’s plant explosion

    An explosion rocked a petrochemical plant in China’s eastern province of Shandong on Monday, killing eight people and injuring nine, state media and local government officials said.

    Deadly accidents are common at industrial plants in China, where anger is growing over lax standards after three decades of rapid economic growth marred by incidents ranging from mining disasters to factory fires.

    Monday’s blast took place about an hour after midnight, triggering fires at the loading area of Linyi Jinyu Petrochemical Co. Ltd. in the Linyi Lingang economic development zone, the state news agency said.

    The toll rose to eight, as authorities confirmed the deaths of seven people who had been reported missing, in addition to one death reported earlier, the local government said on its microblog.

    Authorities said that nine people were injured and the fires have been put out.

    The “responsible person” at the company that runs the plant has been detained, without giving details.

    In 2015, huge chemical explosions in the port city of Tianjin killed more than 170 people, prompting a vow by President Xi Jinping that the authorities would learn the lessons paid for in blood.

  • South Korea to attend China’s Silk Road summit amid rift

    South Korea has accepted invitation from China to attend the new Silk Road conference, days after new president took office in Seoul pledging to engage in discussions with Beijing to ease tension over U.S. anti-missile system.

    “Chinese President Xi Jinping extended the invitation to the Belt and Road conference in Beijing during a telephone call with new South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Moon’s spokesperson, Yoon Young-chan, told a briefing on Friday.

    Ties between South Korea and China, who are important trade partners, have been strained by Seoul’s decision to host a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) anti-missile system in response to a growing missile threat from North Korea.

    China has protested against the deployment saying the system’s powerful radar can probe deep into its territory, undermining is security, destabilising the regional security balance and doing little to deter North Korea.

    Leaders of 29 countries and senior officials from many more gather in Beijing on Sunday for to discuss Xi’s initiative to expand trade links between Asia, Africa and Europe through billions of dollars in infrastructure investment.

    However, not until Thursday, South Korea had not been invited.

    “Moon will send a delegation headed by Park Byeong-seug, a veteran member of parliament and a senior official of Moon’s liberal Democratic Party.

    “Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang, asked whether China could discuss other issues with Park like THAAD, said his visit was “mainly” to attend the Belt and Road forum.

    “During the telephone call, Moon told Xi that he “understands China’s interest in the THAAD deployment and its concerns”, Yoon said.

    Moon also spoke to Xi about the difficulties faced by some South Korean companies doing business in China facing discrimination in retaliation for the THAAD deployment.

    China denies it has done anything to hurt South Korean businesses.

    “Park, the Member of Parliament heading the delegation, has been mentioned in South Korean media as a strong candidate to be Moon’s special envoy to China.

    “The Belt and Road initiative has been used by Xi to help showcase China as an open economy, although many diplomats and business groups have been skeptical about China’s aims.

    “North Korea, which considers China its sole major diplomatic ally and economic benefactor, is also expected to send a delegation to the two-day meeting in Beijing,’’ the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

  • China/Africa trade investment ‘off to a flying start’ in 2017

    China’s trade with African countries rose nearly one-fifth in the first quarter from a year earlier, while its direct investment in the continent soared 64 percent, the Chinese commerce ministry said on Thursday.

    Sun Jiwen, spokesperson at the ministry said trade cooperation between China and Africa is “off to a flying start” in 2017, thanks to policy benefits from a cooperative framework laid down by the Chinese and African leaders in South Africa in 2015.

    China has a relationship with Africa which pre-dates its current resource-hungry economic boom.

    In previous decades, China’s Communist leaders supported national liberation movements and newly independent states across the continent.

    Chinese President Xi Jinping announced plans to plough 60 billion dollars into African development projects at a summit in Johannesburg in 2015, saying it would boost agriculture, build roads, ports and railways and cancel some debt.

    Sun said China’s total trade with Africa rose 16.8 per cent to 38.8 billion dollars in the first quarter, its first quarterly increase on a yearly basis since 2015.

    “That’s mainly thanks to a 46 per cent year-on-year jump in imports from Africa in the first quarter with agricultural imports rising 18 per cent, while Chinese exports recorded a smaller fall of one per cent from a year earlier,” Sun said.

    China’s non-financial direct investment to the continent also jumped 64 per cent in the quarter, as countries such as Djibouti, Senegal and South Africa all saw a more than 100 per cent rise in the quarter.

    China’s growing investment in the region is also likely to have been buoyed by its ambitious global trading strategy known as the Belt and Road Initiative, which appeared to be gaining traction recently, particularly in parts of East Africa where major infrastructure and defence projects are being built.

    China’s trade relations with African countries are often dominated by big natural resource deals, triggering criticism from some quarters that China is only interested in the continent’s mineral and energy wealth

    Africans broadly see China as a healthy counterbalance to Western influence but, as ties mature, there are growing calls from policymakers and economists for more balanced trade relations.

  • Chinese president pledges $60b for Africa’s development

    Chinese president pledges $60b for Africa’s development

    China’s President Xi Jinping told African presidents on Friday at a summit that his country would provide $60 billion to fund development on the continent, outlining the Asian economic giant wanted to build a relationship of equals.

    Xi, who is co-chairing the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation where several African heads of state were attending, outlined a broad 10-point development plan driven by China, Reuters reported.

    “To ensure the successful implementation of these 10 cooperation plans, China decides to provide a total of $60 billion dollars of funding support,” the Chinese leader said.

  • Buhari, Xi Jinping to discuss railway, power at South Africa forum

    Buhari, Xi Jinping to discuss railway, power at South Africa forum

    President Muhammadu Buhari will be in South Africa on Thursday to participate in the Forum on China/Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) taking place in Johannesburg, from December 4-5.

    At the forum, President Buhari will follow up his discussion with the Chinese leader during last month’s United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York.

    President Buhari had indicated to Mr. Xi Jinping, at the bilateral meeting in New York that he wanted China to re-commence stalled rail projects under new terms that would see China providing nearly all the financing required.

    Of particular interest is the coastal railway project stretching for 1,402 kilometers linking Lagos in the South West with Calabar in the South-South, a project that is expected to be financed with $12 billion Chinese loan and create about 200,000 jobs.

    Another rail project that will be up for renegotiation is the $8.3bn Lagos-Kano standard gauge modernization project, of which only a segment, Kaduna-Abuja, has reached completion stage.

    President Buhari, according to a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, is also expected to discuss how to remove all obstacles in the way of the 3,050MW Mambila Power Station, a strategic project that was conceived in 1982 but is yet to take off.

    The Chinese President had informed President Buhari about his country’s willingness to finance the project through a special loan agreement.

    The President, who will be accompanied on the trip by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyema; Minister of Transportation, Chubuike Amaechi and the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah, will return to Abuja on December 5.

     

     

  • Hong Kong democracy protesters seek National Day boost

    Hong Kong democracy protesters seek National Day boost

    Thousands more people have been joining pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, ahead of what organisers hope will be the largest day of protests so far.

    Tens of thousands of people have been blocking parts of the city for days.

    They are demanding that China withdraw plans to vet candidates for the next leadership election in 2017.

    Current leader CY Leung has urged the protesters to go home, and Chinese President Xi Jinping has reaffirmed Beijing’s influence on the territory.

    Mr Xi told party leaders in Beijing that his government would “unswervingly implement the guidelines of ‘one country, two systems’ and the Basic Law, and steadfastly safeguard the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong and Macau”.

    Heavy rain in Honk Kong late on Tuesday failed to dampen the protesters’ enthusiasm

    CY Leung has appealed to protesters to go home – but many say they are there for the long haul

    The streets were relatively quiet on Tuesday but thousands flocked the protest camps as night fell.

    The demonstrators – who include students, supporters of the Occupy Central group and others angered by the police response – said they were confident that they would step up the protests for Wednesday’s National Day holiday, which marks the anniversary of the founding of Communist China.

    “I think there will be a massive turnout, over 100,000 people tonight and leading into National Day,” Occupy Central activist Ed Chin told AFP news agency.

    “We are not afraid of riot police…. We will not leave until Leung Chun-ying resigns,’’ student leader Lester Shum told the crowd.

    The protests began at the weekend, and police responded with tear gas and pepper spray. Police later withdrew and protesters have remained calm.

    “We want a real vote” is the chant heard in the heart of Hong Kong, which the protesters have renamed Democracy Square. A crowd many thousands-strong stretched in every direction, using their mobile phones to create a sea of dancing light.

    It is the third night of protests and the demonstrators were exhilarated by facing down riot police. In a show of civic pride, many had spent the day sorting rubbish.

    Others painted democracy slogans on the umbrellas that protected them from police pepper spray on Sunday and that have now become the motif for their movement.

    China’s National Day is a test of strength that all sides will be watching closely. If the numbers on the street allow the protesters to say they have won the hearts and minds of the general public, Beijing will have to start thinking of a way to end this which avoids either loss of face or violence.

     

     

    Hong Kong has a population of 7.2m and though there are many thousaonds of people on the streets, the degree of overall support for the protesters is unclear.

    Some residents fear the demonstrations could affect relations with Beijing or hit the economy of the financial hub.  Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997 under a formula that guarantees liberties not seen on the mainland, including freedom of speech and the right to protest.

    Beijing ruled last month that Hong Kong people could elect their next leader in 2017, but the choice of candidates would be restricted to two or three people who must be approved by the majority of a pro-Beijing committee – meaning the Chinese government can effectively screen candidates.

    The protests are seen as a direct challenge to Beijing’s grip on the territory’s politics.

    Analysts say Communist Party leaders are worried that calls for democracy could spread to cities on the mainland.

    News of the protests is being heavily censored in mainland China. Media have blamed “radical opposition forces” for stirring up trouble.

     

  • China’s President signs Venezuela oil deal

    China’s President signs Venezuela oil deal

    Chinese President Xi Jinping has signed a series of oil and mineral deals with Venezuela.

    They include a $4bn (£2.34bn) credit line in return for Venezuelan crude and other products.

    The agreements came on the latest stop of a four-country visit to Latin America.

    Mr Xi has already signed key deals in Argentina and Brazil. He has now departed from Venezuela and will visit Cuba next.

    In Argentina the Chinese leader agreed to an $11bn currency swap providing much needed money for the government of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

    Argentina has been locked out of the international capital markets since a default in 2001.

    Mr Xi also helped launch a new development bank alongside the other emerging powers of the Brics group – Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa – at a summit in Brazil.

    The new bank is intended to create an alternative to the Western-dominated World Bank.

    Chinese trade with Latin America has grown rapidly. It is now the second-largest trading partner in Argentina and Cuba, and has been Brazil’s largest since 2009.

    China is the second-largest market for Venezuelan oil after the United States.

    Analysts say the underlying purpose of the visit has been to secure more natural resources from Latin American countries to fuel China’s long term economic expansion.

    The Chinese president is now on his way to Cuba where he will meet President Raul Castro.

  • Nigeria, China sign agreements

    President Goodluck Jonathan and President Xi Jinping of China Wednesday in Beijing presided over the signing of five agreements to boost financial, trade, economic, technical and cultural relations between Nigeria and China.

    The agreements which were signed after bilateral talks between the two leaders and their delegations include the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Financial Cooperation In Support of Nigeria’s Economic Development and a Preferential Buyer Credit Agreement for Nigeria’s Four Airports Expansion Project.

    Others were a new Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation between Nigeria and China, an Agreement on Mutual Visa Exemption for holders of diplomatic and official passports from both countries and an Agreement for the Prevention of the Theft, Illicit Import and Export of Cultural Property.

    Speaking before the commencement of the talks, President Jonathan thanked President Jinping and the people of China for the warm reception accorded him and the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan since their arrival in Beijing yesterday.

    The President assured President Jinping that the Federal Government is fully committed to sustaining and developing the strategic partnership between Nigeria and China for the mutual benefit of the two countries and their people.

    He said that in spite of the many positive developments in bilateral relations between the countries in recent years, there was still ample scope for increased trade and direct investment from China in Nigeria.

    President Jinping assured President Jonathan that China will continue to work with Nigeria in all possible areas in furtherance of the development agenda of both countries.

  • President Jonathan in Beijin

    President Jonathan in Beijin

  • China confirms Li Keqiang as premier

    China confirms Li Keqiang as premier

    China’s leaders have named Li Keqiang premier, placing him at the helm of the world’s second-largest economy.

    Mr. Li, who already holds the number two spot in the Communist Party, takes over from Wen Jiabao.

    Mr. Li was elected for a five-year term but, like his predecessor, would be expected to spend a decade in office, BBC reports.

    On Thursday, Xi Jinping was confirmed by legislators as the new president, completing the transition of power from Hu Jintao.

    Li Keqiang’s widely-signalled elevation was confirmed by 3,000 legislators at the National People’s Congress, the annual parliament session, in Beijing. He received 2,940 votes to three, with six abstentions.

    As premier, he will oversee a large portfolio of domestic affairs, managing economic challenges, environmental woes and China’s urbanisation drive.

    The appointments seal the shift from one generation of leaders to the next. A raft of vice-premiers and state councillors will be named on Saturday, before the NPC closes on Sunday.

    Mr. Li, 57, who is seen as close to outgoing leader Hu Jintao, speaks fluent English and has a PhD in economics.

    He has called for a more streamlined government, eliminating some ministries while boosting the size of others.

    The son of a local official in Anhui province, he became China’s youngest provincial governor when he was tasked to run Henan.