Obama, Vietnam party boss hold landmark Oval Office talks

Yahoo – AFP, Jerome Cartillier, 8 July 2015

US President Barack Obama (R) and Vietnamese General Secretary Nguyen 

Phu Trong shake hands during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House

 in Washington, DC, July 7, 2015 (AFP Photo/Saul Loeb)

US President Barack Obama welcomed the leader of Vietnam's Communist Party on Tuesday to the White House for historic but "candid" talks marking two decades of rapprochement between the former enemies.

Nguyen Phu Trong is the first general secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party to visit the United States and the White House, and was given the rare honor of an Oval Office meeting -- usually reserved for heads of state and government.

Washington and Hanoi -- which ended their bitter war 40 years ago, and are marking the 20th anniversary of the formal normalization of relations -- are seeking stronger ties in the face of an increasingly assertive China.

Human rights protesters outside the 

White House during the meeting of the US

 President Barack Obama and the

Secretary General of the Communist Party

of Vietnam in Washington, DC on July 7,

2015 (AFP Photo/Mladen Antonov)

The two men, smiling and rather relaxed as they sat next to each other in the Oval Office after their highly symbolic talks, insisted on the progress made in the last two decades.

"Obviously there has been a difficult history," Obama said. "What we've seen is the emergence of a constructive relationship that is based on mutual respect."

The US president said trade ties, tensions in the South China Sea over Beijing's territorial claims and the thorny issue of human rights had been raised.

"We discussed candidly some of our differences around issues of human rights," Obama said, expressing confidence that any "tensions can be resolved in an effective fashion.

Trong described the talks as "cordial, constructive, positive and frank," and also qualified their talks on trade and rights as "candid."

Without explicitly referring to China, he raised concerns about recent activities in the South China Sea "that are not in accordance with international law."

Beijing has taken a more assertive stance on territorial claims in the South China Sea -- including deploying military equipment to the disputed Spratly Islands, claimed in part by Vietnam.

The South China Sea is home to strategically vital shipping lanes and is believed to be rich in oil and gas.

Obama -- who leaves office in 18 months -- said he looked forward to visiting Vietnam "sometime in the future," without offering a specific timetable.

'Nothing but promise'

The White House talks -- followed by a lunch hosted by Vice President Joe Biden, who said the future held "nothing but promise" for US-Vietnam ties -- have certainly sparked criticism.

Vietnamese Communist Party General 

Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong speaks 

before a luncheon at the US State

 Department on July 7, 2015 in 

Washington, DC (AFP Photo/

Brendan Smialowski)

A few hundred protesters rallied outside the White House, calling for expanded human rights in Vietnam -- an issue that has sparked concern among some American lawmakers about deepening ties.

Demonstrators carried signs with slogans like "Freedom of speech in Vietnam now" and called on Hanoi to release all political prisoners.

In an open letter to the president, nine Democratic and Republican members of Congress have complained that the invitation and warm welcome for Trong send the wrong message.

"This authoritarian one-party system is the root cause of the deplorable human rights situation in Vietnam," the letter said, calling for Obama to demand the release of Vietnamese political prisoners.

Beyond the rights question, another major issue on the table is trade. Obama is seeking to reach a 12-nation Pacific trade pact, known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, that would include Vietnam.

Republican Congressman Chris Smith, one of those who signed the letter, and others in Congress would like to see Vietnam excluded from the TPP until it makes progress on political rights.

"President Obama... still believes that trade will change Vietnam's behavior," Smith told AFP ahead of the visit.

"After Vietnam was given admission to the World Trade Organization in 2007, it ratcheted up repression; expecting a different result now is just plain unrealistic."

'Astounding' progress

John Sifton, an Asia specialist for Human Rights Watch, told AFP that not enough had changed in Vietnam to warrant an Oval Office sit-down.

Vietnamese Communist Party General

 Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong (L) toasts

 before a luncheon with US Vice President

 Joe Biden at the US State Department 

on July 7, 2015 in Washington, DC

(AFP Photo/Brendan Smialowski)

He called on Obama "to raise the volume on the human rights concerns -- especially so if the two countries are planning to announce a new level in their diplomatic ties."

Part of taking it to the next level could be the lifting of a US ban on weapons sales, which Vietnam is keen to achieve.

In October, Washington announced the partial lifting of the ban, and authorized sales of maritime defense equipment to Vietnam. But current US laws bar the sale of lethal weapons to Hanoi.

The State Department official said that Washington wanted to see more progress on human rights before going any further.

On Wednesday, Trong was to meet with Senator John McCain, a onetime prisoner of war in Vietnam who hailed the "astounding" progress made in bilateral ties and called for further easing of the lethal weapons ban.

China emerges as potential savior for Greece

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2015-07-06

Premier Li Keqiang speaks at the 17th China-EU Summit in Brussels,
June 29, 2015. (Photo/Xinhua)

China has emerged as a possible savior for Greece after voters rejected an international bailout offer in Sunday's referendum, says the US-based Foreign Policy magazine.

Greece has become the first developed country in history to default on a loan from the International Monetary Fund after failing to make its US$1.73 billion repayment last week. The 61% "no" vote in the referendum has only added to the uncertainty over whether Greece will leave the eurozone.

Eyes have now turned to China, with its US$4 trillion in hard currency reserves and US$21 trillion in savings, to potentially pay off Greece's debt. Foreign Policy notes that China loaned some US$22 billion to Latin America last year, more than the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank combined.

There are many reasons why China might want to intervene to save Greece, the Foreign Policy piece said. Europe is China's largest trading partner, with overall economic interaction between the two sides reportedly totaling as much as €46 billion (US$51 billion). Coupled with a slowing Chinese economy and instability in stock markets, Beijing has plenty of incentives to bail out Athens.

Additionally, China is said to have expressed interest in having Greece serve as the Western terminus of its ambitious "Belt and Road" initiative to boost connectivity and cooperation among countries throughout Eurasia. Part of the initiative will likely be funded by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), of which Greece is not a member but a dozen or so other European nations are.

Another reason for Chinese intervention is the largest Greek port of Pireaus, for which the countries signed a US$5 billion cooperation deal last year. Athens has put the port up for sale and Chinese logistics company Cosco, which currently manages two container piers at Pireaus, is interested in acquiring a majority stake. The port was a key staging area for the Chinese evacuation of more than 30,000 of its citizens from Libya in 2011.

China has also exhibited a willingness to lend money to countries with poor ratings, the report said, noting that the country has loaned more than US$25 billion to economically or politically unstable nations like Venezuela, Argentina and Russia.

There remain substantial financial risks Beijing in underwriting a bailout for Greece, though the potential political gains could also be substantial, Foreign Policy said. If China manages to save Greece and maintain a stable eurozone, EU countries may be more willing to relax sanctions against China, especially export controls on technology or arms, or boost China's influence in Europe.

China's Laohucaijin.com suggests that Greece could conceivably receive a bailout from the AIIB, which is close to officially commencing operation, as opposed to the IMF. At the 17th China-EU Summit in Brussels last month, Premier Li Keqiang expressed a desire for Greece to remain in the eurozone, though it remains to be seen whether China would ultimately be willing to take the chance.

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Greek pensioner, Giorgos Chatzifotiadis, cries as he sits on the ground

outside a national bank branch in Thessaloniki on July 3, 2015 (AFP

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Dutch PM pushes for UN tribunal over Ukraine MH17 crash

Mark Rutte's government is lobbying for the creation of a UN tribunal, which would prosecute suspects in downing of the Malaysian plane, officials have said. Most of the 298 victims in last year's incident were Dutch.

Deutsche Welle, 3 July 2015

A UN tribunal would give "the best guarantee of cooperation from all countries" in seeking justice, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Friday. The news comes only a day after Malaysia announced it would file a draft resolution calling for such a tribunal to be established.

"Based on all insights, information and advice, we say this is by far the most-preferred route. We do have a back-up plan, but a UN tribunal is our best option," said Rutte, stating the official stance of his government in the Netherlands for the first time.

Flight MH17 was likely shot down over Ukraine battlefields last year, sparking international outrage. Authorities in Kyiv and the pro-Russian rebels still trade accusations on who might have fired the alleged missile which hit the civilian plane.

The incident, which killed 298, also raised the stakes in the stand-off between Russia and the West, with each supporting a narrative compatible with their own interests.

'More questions' than answers

The MH17 crash is being investigated by a team of international experts from the Netherlands, Australia, Malaysia, Ukraine and Belgium. Although no suspects have been named yet, the team recently announced it is looking into several people including potential "decision-makers as well as perpetrators."

On Thursday, a Russian aviation official criticized a draft report by the Dutch Safety Board, saying it "raises more questions than it gives answers." The confidential report was made available to representatives of Malaysia, Ukraine, the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, Australia and the Netherlands in early June.

Malaysian idea open to consideration

Russian representatives criticized the Malaysian initiative on Thursday, with Deputy Foreign Minister Gennadiy Gatilov calling it "not timely, and counterproductive." However, Russia did not raise formal objections after Malaysia presented its case in the UN Security Council.

"Our sense was that all council members, including Russia, were open to further consider the matter," said Malaysian diplomat Johan Ariff Abdul Razak.

dj/msh (AP, Reuters, AFP)

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Matthew message (Channelled by Suzanne Ward, Aug 3, 2014) - (MH17)

Obama to host head of Vietnam communist party

Yahoo – AFP, Andrew Beatty with Jerome Cartillier, 3 July 2015

Vietnam Communist Party's Secretary General Nguyen Phu Trong (pictured 

centre) will meet US President Barack Obama at the White House next week

(AFP Photo/Hoang Dinh Nam)

Washington (AFP) - The head of Vietnam's Communist Party will make a first-ever visit to the White House next week, meeting President Barack Obama on the 40th anniversary of the end of the war between the two nations.

The landmark trip underscores strengthening ties between the former wartime enemies amid regional maritime tensions involving China.

Nguyen Phu Trong will become the first General Secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party to visit the United States and the White House, diplomats and officials said.

US President Barack Obama will hold talks

 with Vietnam's communist leader to discuss

 ways of improving ties normalized 20 years

ago (AFP Photo/Saul Loeb)

Obama and Trong will hold talks Tuesday and discuss ways to improve ties that were normalized 20 years ago, the White House said Friday.

Trong -- who heads the ruling party but has no formal government position -- will be hosted in the Oval Office, an administration official said.

That is an uncommon honor for someone who is not the head of state or government.

"The president also welcomes the opportunity to discuss other issues, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership, human rights, and bilateral defense cooperation," the White House said in a statement.

Trong's visit will address economic integration and send a pointed message to Beijing, Vietnamese economist Bui Kien Thanh told AFP in Hanoi.

Vietnam is eager to attract investment and is part of ongoing negotiations over the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership, an American-led trade deal among a dozen Pacific nations.

The visit "is essential for Vietnam to project the image of closer ties with the US," Thanh said, but warned Hanoi should be careful of China's reaction.

"To live next door to a tiger is a very delicate situation," he added.

The TPP is a major Pacific regional trade accord being negotiated among 12 countries that do not include China. It is, in fact, meant to offset the growing economic might of China.

Soldiers dressed as Vietnam War era 

Vietcong soldiers march during a parade

 marking the 40th anniversary of the fall

 of Saigon, in Ho Chi Minh City on 

April 30, 2015 (AFP Photo/Hoang Dinh

 Nam)

It has been 40 years since Viet Cong fighters and the North Vietnamese army won control of South Vietnam, humiliating the world's pre-eminent superpower and ending a war that defined both nations.

Trong is getting VIP treatment even though he has no government role. He is the authoritarian country's most senior politician, although not the most powerful.

"He is the senior person in the Vietnamese leadership, and there was broad agreement that it made sense to treat the visit as a visit from the top leader of the country," a senior State Department official said.

"It's not a typical meeting for the president, certainly."

Josh Kurlantzick of the Council on Foreign Relations called the visit "significant," telling AFP: "It adds to the growing closeness between the US and Vietnam."

This year also marks the 20th anniversary of the re-establishment of diplomatic ties after a 19-year war that left a still unknown number of dead.

Deeper ties

The reconciling Cold War foes are now building deeper trade, military and political ties, spurred on by a desire to limit China's regional clout.

Beijing's more assertive stance on territorial claims in the South China Sea -- including deploying military equipment to the disputed Spratly Islands, claimed in part by Vietnam -- has only deepened the belief that Washington and Hanoi must work together.

Vietnamese ruling party leader Nguyen Phu Trong will be hosted in the Oval

 Office - an uncommon honor for someone who is not the head of state (AFP

Photo/Mandel Ngan)

The State Department official said the visit would seek to "add momentum in the relationship."

Trade, as well as the territorial dispute in the South China Sea, will be on the agenda, along with the thorny issue of human rights, the official said.

Vietnam is looking for a full lifting of the US ban on weapons sales, and is hoping to purchase surveillance equipment and patrol boats to help defend its waters.

Vietnamese military spending has increased dramatically in the last decade, by 130 percent since 2005, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

But current US laws bar the sale of lethal weapons to Hanoi, and there are concerns in Congress that arms

Saudi Prince Alwaleed pledges $32 bn fortune to charity

Yahoo – AFP, Ian Timberlake, 1 July 2015

Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal answers questions during a 2011 press

conference in Riyadh (AFP Photo/Fayez Nureldine)

Riyadh (AFP) - Saudi tycoon Prince Alwaleed bin Talal on Wednesday promised his entire $32 billion (28.8 billion euro) fortune to charitable projects in coming years, in one of the biggest ever such pledges.

The pledge is "maybe... the first such big announcement" of its kind in the region, and is modelled on a charity established by Microsoft founder Bill Gates in the United States, the prince told reporters.

Alwaleed said his charity "will help build bridges to foster cultural understanding, develop communities, empower women, enable youth, provide vital disaster relief and create a more tolerant and accepting world."

The money "will be allocated according to a well-devised plan throughout the coming years", he said, but stressed there was no time limit for the donation to be spent.

Alwaleed said he would head a board of trustees tasked with spending the funds, which would still be used after his death "for humanitarian projects and initiatives".

The 60-year-old magnate belongs to the Saudi royal family and is a nephew of king Abdullah, who died on January 23.

In the conservative Muslim kingdom, Alwaleed, who holds no government rank, is unusual for his high profile and periodic comments about economic issues.

"We are clearly in very close coordination with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation", which is already working with Alwaleed on a polio eradication project, he said.

"This is very much separate from my ownership in Kingdom Holding," and there should be no impact on the publicly listed company's share price, Alwaleed told reporters on the 66th-floor headquarters of the firm which he chairs.

'Dramatic and drastic'

But he said his charitable commitment would provide even more incentive for his business investments to be profitable.

As well as media stakes, Kingdom Holding has interests ranging from the Euro Disney theme park to Four Seasons hotels and Citigroup.

Alwaleed is constructing a tower in the Red Sea city of Jeddah that is to rise more than one kilometre (almost 3,300 feet) to be the world's tallest building.

Earlier this year, he opened a pan-Arab news channel in Bahrain but authorities there shut the station after less than 24 hours on air and a new home is being sought.

Alwaleed last week in Paris signed a letter of intent with France's CDC International Capital to create the first French-Saudi investment fund, worth up to $400 million.

A separate deal saw a French consortium and CDC IC invest about $150 million in Kingdom Holding.

Alwaleed told reporters he has already donated a total of $3.5 billion over more than 35 years through his Alwaleed Philanthropies.

The charity has distributed houses and provided electricity to isolated Saudi communities, while supporting other projects around the world.

He said he announced his pledge now, after years of preparation, to institutionalise the process "so they can continue after my lifetime".

Flanked by his son Prince Khaled and daughter Princess Reem, he said they will be president and vice-president of the charity after he dies.

"I believe that a person should take dramatic and drastic decisions at his peak," Alwaleed said, proclaiming himself to be in good shape.

"I'm very healthy, enough to bike every day three hours," he said. "I assure you my health is good."

Tim Cook is one of many high-profile business people in the US, including

 Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Warren Buffet, in giving at least 50% of their

wealth to charity. Photograph: Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

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Thai crackdown on rogue fishing as fears grow over EU ban

Yahoo – AFP, Preeti Jha, 1 July 2015

Migrant workers sort fish in a port in Mahachai on the outskirts of Bangkok (AFP

Photo/Nicolas Asfouri)

Mahachai (Thailand) (AFP) - A belated Thai clampdown on illegal fishing is forcing unlicensed vessels ashore, threatening to paralyse a key industry as the kingdom desperately tries to avoid a European Union ban on exports worth $1 billion a year.

Barrels of fish packed in ice are usually rolled off boats at a bustling port in Samut Sakhon, a coastal province near Bangkok, by Myanmar and Cambodia migrant workers who prop up the world's third largest seafood producer.

A migrant worker sits on a fishing boat

 in a port in Mahachai on the outskirts of

Bangkok (AFP Photo/Nicolas Asfouri)

But many will sit idle from Wednesday, say their Thai employers, who have failed to obtain necessary fishing permits under a raft of new government rules aimed at cleaning up the shadowy industry.

Next to buckets of red snapper destined to become fish balls for the local market and fishmeal to rear shrimp marked for Europe, a Thai vessel owner says there are "too many rules and too little time".

"We will have to keep paying bills with no income," said the worried 59-year-old, who withheld his name, as he prepares to cease operations until he can meet the conditions for a new permit.

The Wednesday deadline to register boats with authorities and acquire permits under revised standards, including installing equipment such as tracking devices, comes after the European Union threatened to ban fish imports from the kingdom unless it combats illegal fishing.

In April Brussels issued Thailand with a "yellow card" for inadequate fisheries monitoring, controls and punishment, warning that a "red card" and eventual import ban would follow if it failed to improve within six months.

The spectre of losing $1 billion in European sales is a shortfall the ruling military can ill-afford in an already sluggish economy.

Thailand saw only 0.3 percent growth in the first quarter and exports have been slowing in part, says the World Bank, due to an erosion in competitiveness.

Aphisit Techanitisawad, president of The Thai Overseas Fisheries Association, estimates around 3,000 fishing vessels nationwide will forsake the seas from Wednesday.

A worker checks canned fish at the 

Anusorn Group factory in Tasai, on the

 outskirts of Bangkok (AFP Photo/

Nicolas Asfouri)

"About 80 percent of all the fishermen, they're coming back to shore" to seek permits, he told AFP at his fisheries factory in Samut Sakhon.

Thailand's image battered

A recent shortage in fresh fish has already seen his workers stop processing crab sticks for French export, instead focussing on canning sardines and mackerel from frozen supplies for the Myanmar and Cambodian markets.

A labour ministry spokeswoman said around 80,000 migrants were working in Thai fisheries since the deadline for compulsory migrant registrations closed Tuesday.

Aphisit thinks the government could have imposed a more lenient timeframe for changes.

But premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha has remained adamant the industry has been left unchecked for too long.

"Don't put any more pressure on government," he said when asked about rising anger within the fishing industry.

"If we don't pass these measures a 200 billion baht ($6 billion) industry could be wiped out so everybody should cooperate," he said.

Thailand's image has been battered in recent years by a series of fishing abuse allegations from prominent rights groups of ships using slave and child labour as well as trafficking victims.

Migrant workers at work in a port in 

Mahachai, on the outskirts of Bangkok

(AFP Photo/Nicolas Asfouri)

And last year the US downgraded the kingdom to its lowest ranking on human trafficking, a designation that can trigger sanctions.

Bangkok is desperate to improve its standing, while sanctions have not yet been imposed, laying out new measures including a ban on fishing workers under 18 in the months since. The latest Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report is due for imminent publication.

Observers say that while the latest threat of an EU ban has triggered a renewed sense of urgency in authorities, rushed actions will fail to combat illegal fishing in the long-term.

Improving "monitoring, control and surveillance" will help to tackle longstanding problems of pirate fishing, slavery and trafficking in Thailand's fisheries industry, said Daniel Murphy, a Bangkok-based campaigner for the Environmental Justice Foundation.

But by rapidly regulating the neglected sector the government "risks regularising more vessels than Thailand's exhausted waters can support as well a significant number of vessels which have spent years openly flouting fishing laws", he said.

In this handout photograph released by Indonesia’s Ministry of Fishery on

 April 8, 2015, hundreds of rescued foreign fishermen mostly from Myanmar and

Thailand are gathered during an operation at the private Indonesian fishing firm

 Pusaka Benjina Resources located in remote Benjina island of Maluku

province. (AFP Photo/Ugeng Nugroho/Ministry of Fishery)

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A fisherman formerly held in slave-like conditions by a Thai-owned fishing firm in

Benjina, Maluku, shows evidence of abuse. (Antara Foto/Humas Kementerian

Kelautan)

Beijing considering investment platform to aid EU recovery

Want China Times, Xinhua 2015-06-30

Li Keqiang gives a press conference at the EU-China Summit in
Brussels, June 30. (Photo/CNS)

China's premier, Li Keqiang, said Monday that China is considering to kick start a China-EU investment platform to support Europe's economic revival.

Addressing the opening ceremony of an European Union(EU)-China business summit, the visiting Chinese premier said his country is willing to interface with the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI), a €315 billion (US$350 billion) investment plan initiated by President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker for resuscitating Europe's economy and in particular building large infrastructure.

Seeing the China-EU relationship as one of the most important, stable and constructive relationships in the world, Li proposed to combine China's comparative advantages in production capacity and equipment manufacturing with the advanced technology of European economies.

He called on the two sides to join hands in exploring third-party markets with cooperation in priority areas such as equipment manufacturing.

China and the EU should carry out more advanced financial cooperation in a bid to meet the demand of industrial investments, said Li.

China, he added, will expand its purchase of bonds issued by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and improve the Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (RQFII) system.

In addition, Li encouraged bigger roles of other investment and financing arrangements in the revitalization of the European economy, including the China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Representatives of the 57 prospective founding countries of the AIIB signed Monday in Beijing an agreement that outlines the framework and management structure for the multilateral financial institution.

Under the initiatives of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, a Silk Road Fund has been set up by China for improving infrastructure connectivity between Asia and Europe.

The fund, said Li, would be used for cooperating with Europe in high-tech development, infrastructure construction and financial services.

The latest European investment plan in the coming three years aims to, as explained by the EIB, revive investment in strategic projects around Europe to ensure that money reaches the real economy.

The premier also urged the two sides to further liberalize trade and investment and properly handle trade frictions, voicing his confidence of bilateral trade exceeding US$1 trillion by 2020.

In response to the Greek debt issue, Li said in a meeting with European Parliament president Martin Schulz that China, as a firm supporter of the European integration process, is always a responsible long-term holder of European bonds and expects an adequate solution to the Greek debt issue.

Expansive monetary policies are not quite enough for stimulating the sluggish economy, the Chinese premier said, encouraging both China and the EU to adopt structural reforms and enhance international production capacity cooperation so as to revitalize the real economy.

Noting that people-to-people exchanges have become an important pillar of the China-EU cooperation, Li urged the two sides to give full play to the high-level dialogue mechanism and make the China-EU year of intercultural dialogue a success.

Describing China as a strong and reliable partner of the EU, Juncker said the two sides should build up a stronger partnership of mutual benefit in face of the current international financial crises and other global challenges.

The EU is willing to strengthen cooperation with China in infrastructure building and inter-connectivity, he said, adding that it welcomes more Chinese companies to invest in Europe.

Li arrived in Brussels Sunday for the 17th China-EU leaders' meeting. During his visit, China and the EU issued a document to outline their future cooperation priorities and a statement on climate change, and signed several cooperation deals on regional policies, intellectual property rights protection, customs and technological innovation.

The EU has been China's largest trading partner for 11 years while China has been the EU's second largest trading partner for 12 years. Two-way trade exceeded US$600 billion in 2014.

After the Brussels trip, Li traveled to Paris later Monday for an official visit to France.

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Beijing to earmark RMB500bn for Belt and Road aviation projects

Beijing to earmark RMB500bn for Belt and Road aviation projects

Want Chine Times, Staff Reporter 2015-06-30

Lanzhou Zhongchuan International Airport in Gansu province. (Photo/Xinhua)

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) will earmark up to 500 billion yuan (US$80 billion) for 193 large and medium aviation development projects by the end of this year to improve air connectivity with economies covered by the government's "Belt and Road" initiatives, Guangzhou's 21st Century Business Herald reports, citing CAAC director Li Jiaxiang.

At the opening session of the China Civil Aviation Development Forum held June 24-25 in Beijing, Li said that in addition to enhancing the development of international aviation hubs in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, the government will move to build regional air hubs in Xi'an, Urumqi, Nanning, Kunming and Xiamen in line with the Belt and Road plans. There are now a total of 15 new airports under construction or set to be built in provinces or regions along the New Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, in addition to another 28 airports under expansion, Li added.

The 500 billion yuan civil aviation investment for 2015 represents a drastic increase over the corresponding figures of 68.77 billion yuan (US$11.06 billion) in 2011, 146.46 billion yuan (US$23.57 billion) in 2012, and 145.22 billion yuan (US$23.37 billion) in 2013, due mainly to a total budget of 200 billion yuan (US$32.19 billion) to support 51 strategic investment projects directly serving the Belt and Road initiatives, including airports, airlines and air traffic control facilities, according to CAAC statistics.

Although Li didn't reveal details of how the huge investment fund will be used, the paper said that construction of new airports and the expansion of existing airports will account for the lion's share of the investment fund. This year, the National Development and Reform Commission has approved a budget of 80 billion yuan (US$12.87 billion) for a new airport in Beijing, Beijing Daxing International Airport, and another 69.2 billion yuan (US$9.52 billion) for a new international airport in Chengdu in Sichuan province. These two projects will account for 30% of the 500 billion yuan budget.

In addition, airports in Guangzhou, Chongqing, Haikou, Xi'an, Lanzhou, Changsha and Qingdao are undertaking expansion projects each costing billions of yuan, mainly for the construction of new runways or new terminal buildings, the paper said.

Construction of new minor regional airports is also underway, including in Shache and Ruoqiang in Xinjiang autonomous region, Wudalianchi in Helongjiang province, Ulanqab in Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Longnan in Gansu province, Renhuai in Guizhou province, Lancang in Yunnan province, and Guoluo in Qinghai province, estimated to cost over 10 billion yuan (US$1.6 billion) in total.

Besides fueling investment in aviation infrastructure projects, the Belt and Road initiatives will also expand business opportunities for the aviation industry, according to Li. He said that China now boasts the world's second-largest air transportation system, as it has 52 airlines, 202 airports and 533 international flight routes linking 48 cities in China, laying a solid foundation for the country's aviation industry to further internationalize.

CAAC statistics indicated that China's international airline firms launched 131 new international routes in 2014 and plan to add 83 more this summer and autumn. On another front, countries along the Belt and Road initiatives will open 24 new flight routes to China this year, with four countries to operate flights to China for the first time ever.

Li Keqiang gives a press conference at the EU-China Summit in

Brussels, June 30. (Photo/CNS)

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