介绍:
Chinese premier calls on Malaysian business leaders to contribute to ties
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has encouraged Malaysian business leaders to grasp the opportunity to make fresh contributions to the growth of bilateral ties.
Premier Li is referring to a new deal sealed between China and ASEAN to upgrade their free trade area.
He also says China and Malaysia could build a platform to promote cooperation among their small- and medium-sized enterprises.
The Malaysian business leaders expressed interest to participate in the linking of China's Belt and Road Initiative and Malaysia's development strategies.
They also expressed hopes for an early conclusion of negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a proposed collective FTA between ASEAN and six countries with which the bloc has individual FTAs: Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.
Chinese FM confirms Li, Abe's brief talk
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has confirmed a brief conversation has been held between Premier Li Keqiang and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Malaysia.
Li and Abe talked on the sidelines of a series of annual leaders' meetings on East Asia cooperation.
According to Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei, Premier Li said the two countries have witnessed improvement of ties recently, but the improved momentum is still fragile.
He said improvement to the bilateral ties depends on whether Japan can seriously honor its commitments.
Li urged Japan to do more to contribute to cementing mutual understanding and improving ties.
China rolls out consumption-boosting measures
Chinese authorities have announced several new measures to boost domestic consumption.
The plan involves increasing imports, making it easier for overseas shoppers to claim tax refunds, and expanding the number of cities where 72-hour visa-free stays are permitted.
The government says these measures aim to stabilize the country's struggling economy. In terms of imports, authorities are looking to bring in more advanced equipment and daily consumer goods.
RMB's inclusion in IMF SDR basket would be credit positive: Moody's
A report from Moody's says the inclusion of the Chinese currency in the International Monetary Fund Special Drawing Rights basket would be "credit positive" for China.
It also says the inclusion would support market-oriented reform, including gradual liberalization of the capital account.
Moody's adds that the move would also encourage broader use of the RMB in cross-border trade, portfolio investment, and debt issuance.
On November 13, head of the IMF Christine Lagarde issued a statement that IMF staff had proposed including the RMB in its SDR, an international reserve asset with value based on a currency basket that currently includes the U.S. dollar, the euro, the Japanese yen and the British pound.
The IMF will decide on the matter in a meeting on November 30.
11 cities set up union to protect intangible cultural heritage along Yangtze
Several cities situated along China's longest river have signed a cooperative agreement to protect intangible cultural heritage.
The agreement establishes the Yangtze River Intangible Cultural Heritage Union. The deal was signed in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province.
Cities that have signed the document include Shanghai, Chongqing, Kunming, and Nanjing.
The 11 cities have agreed to exchange experience on heritage protection, promote the cultivation of talent, cooperate on research, and boost the integration of cultural heritage with local industries.
Britain announces 270-bln-dollar defense program to defeat modern security threats
British Prime Minister David Cameron has announced one of the biggest ever defense spending programs in the UK, worth 270 billion U.S. dollars, in response to increasing threats posed by terror groups.
Cameron made the announcement on Monday, saying the new money will be spent on defense equipment and support over the next decade.
The plan includes the recruitment of 10,000 military personnel who will make up two new strike brigades, each 5,000 strong, for rapid deployment missions.
There will also be nine new Boeing P8 maritime patrol aircraft and an 18-billion-U.S.-dollar increase in the equipment budget.
Putin arrives in Tehran for talks on energy, Syria
Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Tehran for a visit.
The Syria crisis and energy cooperation between Russia and Iran are expected to be high on the agenda of Putin's visit.
During his stay, Putin will attend the 3rd summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum and meet with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani.
The GECF is a gathering of the world's leading gas producers aimed at strengthening coordination and collaboration. The first summit was held in Qatar in 2011.
Iraq suspends some domestic flights over Russian air operations on Syria
Iraqi authorities have suspended all flights between Baghdad and the northern cities of Arbil and Sulaimaniyah for two days due to Russian missiles and bombers crossing to neighboring Syria.
The Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority said on Monday that this decision was made to "protect travelers because of the crossing of cruise missiles and bombers in the northern part of Iraq launched from around the Caspian Sea".
Russian airstrikes on targets inside Syria has been going on since late September.
U.S. military helicopter crash kills 2 in S. Korea
A U.S. military helicopter crashed in South Korea on Monday, killing two pilots.
The Apache helicopter crashed at around 6:20 p.m. local time in the eastern province of Gangwon.
The helicopter caught fire while falling and was completely destroyed.
The police, military and firefighting authorities are investigating the cause of the crash.
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