POLITICAL ISSUES

IRAN

Iran and China to boost their military relations

Beijing, Tuesday, 12 December 2017

China has expressed its willingness to strengthen relation with Iran and boost military cooperation. Chinese Defence Minister Chang Wanquan said, “Under the new circumstances, China-Iran cooperation faces an important opportunity, and China is willing to cooperate with Iran to make new contribution to bilateral ties.” Source  Xinhua, Beijing

IRAQ

China extends support to Iraq

Beijing, Monday, 11 December 2017

China expressed its support to the Iraqi Government in safeguarding national stability and advancing economic recovery. China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang stated, “China hopes Iraq can achieve national stability and development at an early date.” Source:  Xinhua, Beijing

MOROCCO

China-Morocco to mark 60^th anniversary of their Diplomatic relations

Beijing, Wednesday, 20 December 2017

Chinese top legislature Zhang Dejiang met with Hakim Benchamach, Speaker of Morocco’s House of Advisor’s and expressed China’s willingness to deepen co-operation and boost bilateral ties. Source: Xinhua, Beijing

ECONOMIC ISSUES

EGYPT

Egyptian Firms to participate in 2018 Stone Fair in China

Cairo, Thursday, 28 December 2017

An International Stone Fair will be hosted by China in 2018, with around 28 marble companies as participants. Walid Gamal al-Din, Chairman of the Export Council for Building Materials China said, “The Xiamen International Stone Fair is one of the biggest fairs for stones in the world and it displays the latest techniques in this field”. Source:  Xinhua, Beijing

ISRAEL

China-Israel to boost cooperation in trade and technology

Jerusalem, Saturday, 2 December 2017

China and Israel held discussions on boosting bi-lateral cooperation in areas of trade, technology and e-commerce. The third round of negotiation on China-Israel Free Trade Area (FTA) led by Wang Shouwen, China’s Vice Commerce Minister and Roey Fisher, Israel’s Deputy Minister of economy and industry, concluded recently and discussed issues like customs procedures, sanitary and phytosanitary measures. Source:  Xinhua, Beijing

MOROCCO

China’s BYD to build car factory in Morocco

Rabat, Saturday, 9 December 2017

Morocco and Chinese BYD electric vehicle signed an agreement to open factory in Morocco to build battery-powered cars. It would be built in the new Mohamed VI tangier Tech City covering an area of 50 hectares and is expected to employ around 2,500 people. Source:  Xinhua, Beijing

China, Morocco trade week opens in Casablanca

Rabat, Wednesday 20 December 2017

Chinese Group MIE Events hosted a three-day event in Casablanca bringing Moroccan businesspersons with Chinese Companies to promote exchange of trade and business relations. Source:  Xinhua, Beijing

MULTILATERAL

China to host Israel-Palestine Peace Symposium

Beijing, Friday, 15 December 2017

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said that China would host a symposium in Beijing on 21-22 December, concerning the peace advocates of Israel and Palestine. Nabil Shaath, Foreign Affairs advisor to the Palestinian President and Hilik Bar, Deputy Speaker of the Knesset would lead the delegation and the aim of the symposium is to offer a common platform for better communication and promote peace. Source: Xinhua, Beijing

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