POLITICAL ISSUES
IRAN
1. Iran, China vow to further enhance cooperation
Bangkok, Sunday, 9 October 2016
Iran and China agreed to upgrade bilateral relations to "Comprehensive Strategic Partnership" and expressed their willingness to strengthen their mutual cooperation.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

IRAQ
2. Iraq's operation to liberate Mosul receives international support amid humanitarian concerns
Beijing, Wednesday, 19 October 2016
China has expressed its support for the recent launch of a major offensive by the Iraqi Forces to liberate the city of Mosul, which has been the last major stronghold of Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said "China supports the Iraqi government's efforts to maintain national stability and fight terrorism. China hopes for national security and stability in Iraq at an early date".
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

ISRAEL
3. Israel China Agreement on Visa Policy
Beijing, Sunday, 9 October 2016
The Israeli Embassy had announced the Ten-Year Visa agreement between China and Israel would become valid on 11 November 2016 and this would allow Chinese visitors to stay in Israel for 90 consecutive days with multiple entries.
Source: Global Times, Beijing

LEBANON
4. China backs Lebanon to pursue stability and sound development
Beirut, Wednesday, 12 October 2016
The Chinese ambassador to Lebanon, Wang Kejian after meeting with director of Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) Laure Sleiman hoped that Lebanon comes out of the crisis and gains back stability and peace, so that political life would be back on track.
Source: Global Times, Beijing

ECONOMIC ISSUES
EGYPT
5. China's Yuan global push to facilitate Chinese investments in Egypt
Beijing, Sunday, 9 October 2016
Egyptian experts suggest that the recent inclusion of Chinese Yuan’s in the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s Special Drawing Rights (SDR) basket would facilitate investments in Egypt.
Source: Global Times, Beijing

UAE
6. China biggest Dubai trade partner in H1 2016
Dubai, Saturday, 8 October 2016
According to the Dubai Customs, China is Dubai's primary trading partner in the first half of 2016 with a bilateral trade worth US$21.52 billion. At present the UAE has 4,200 Chinese firms, 249 trade agencies and 5,451 Chinese trade brands.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

MISCELLANEOUS
EGYPT
7. Use of Chinese balm in Egypt
United States, Thursday, 13 October 2016
The use of Chinese balm for Chinese travellers in Egypt has become a trend and has been welcomed also by Egyptians. The Chinese brings the balm tins to give as tips while the request for such balms can also be seen among Egyptians.
Source: China Daily, Beijing

8. Monks from China perform Kung Fu in Cairo
Beijing, Thursday, 27 October 2016
Buddhist Monks from China performs Kung Fu at a show in Cairo as part of the 2016 China-Egypt Cultural Year jointly launched by China and Egypt.
Source: Global Times

COMPILED BY MINAKSHI SARDAR

Minakshi Sardar is a Doctoral candidate at School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.  Email

As part of its editorial policy, the MEI@ND standardizes spelling and date formats, to make the text uniformly accessible and stylistically consistent. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views/positions of the MEI@ND. Editor, MEI@ND: P R Kumaraswamy