Xi Jinping News

China on Wednesday launched sea trials for the Fujian, its third and most advanced aircraft carrier, state media reported.The start of tests by the Chinese navy came nearly two years after the aircraft carrier was first unveiled in June 2022.The Fujian, entirely designed and built domestically, is larger and more advanced than the Shandong, commissioned in late 2019, and the Liaoning, which China bought second-hand from Ukraine in 1998.The development of the Fujian is part of a build-up central to President Xi Jinping's bid to make China the preeminent military power in the region…

China and Europe face a "slow motion train accident" as a rising tide of protectionism threatens to become a full trade war, the head of a European business lobby group warned on Wednesday, a day after Germany's chancellor conveyed European concerns to Beijing.Jens Eskelund, president of the European Chamber in China, said that while some worries about trade in both countries were legitimate, there was a risk of unproductive decoupling if European and Chinese leaders did not increase…

A resolution to end a dispute between Peru and China's Cosco Shipping could come as soon as this week to ensure a megaport will start operations as planned by the end of the year, Peru's Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzen said on Thursday.The Peruvian port authority said in Marchit hoped to annul its decision granting exclusivity of the port's operations to Cosco, citing an "administrative error."Cosco, which is investing $1.3 billion in the first stage of the terminal, has said the push affects the "security and legal stability of investments."On Thursday…

Fiji will strike a deal with Australia to upgrade ports and shipbuilding infrastructure, months after its prime minister said it was likely to partner with China on the project, the government of the Pacific Islands nation said on Thursday.Fiji's government said its cabinet had agreed to enter into a memorandum of understanding with Australia for the project, after Australia committed to financing."The revival of the shipbuilding industry in Fiji has been articulated as a key priority…

On Wednesday, Pakistani forces stopped an attack by militants with gunfire and bombs near the port of Gwadar, killing eight attackers and two soldiers.China has invested in the province of Balochistan, focusing on Gwadar and its resources.The militants used guns and bombs to attack a complex near the port, which holds government offices and forces, as per Saeed Ahmed Umrani, a government official.After setting off bombs, the militants fought and tried to enter the complex, according…

Pakistani security forces on Wednesday repulsed a gun and bomb attack by militants on a complex outside the strategic port of Gwadar, which killed all eight militants and two soldiers, officials said.China has invested heavily in the mineral-rich southwestern province of Balochistan, including developing Gwadar, despite a decades-long separatist insurgency.Armed with guns and bombs, the militants stormed the complex just outside the port that houses offices of government departments…

Unidentified gunmen opened fire at Pakistan's Gwadar port authority complex in its restive Balochistan province, Geo News reported on Wednesday.Two attackers were killed in retaliatory firing by security personnel, the TV channel said, adding that a blast preceded the firing.Gwadar’s deputy commissioner and police did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Gwadar is located near the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial oil shipping route in the Arabian Sea.The deep-water port…

China has called for an end to attacks on civilian vessels in the Red Sea that have dramatically widened the Hamas-Israel conflict and placed Beijing's commercial interests along the Suez Canal at risk.The Iran-backed Houthi militia from Yemen that seeks "Death to Israel" is challenging the ability of the world's biggest trading nation to defend billions in strategic investments in Egypt.Since President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi came to power in 2014, China has stepped up its investment and commercial activities along Egypt's Suez Canal…

Chinese state media unveiled new images of China's most advanced aircraft carrier yet, including next generation launch tracks that can catapult a wider range of aircraft from its deck.First shown to the public in June 2022, the Fujian was entirely designed and built domestically.Yet to conduct its first sea trials, the aircraft carrier is larger and technologically more advanced than the Shandong, commissioned in 2019, and the Liaoning, which China bought second-hand from Ukraine in 1998 and refitted domestically.On state television late on Tuesday…

Every day, nearly 60 fully loaded very large crude-oil carriers sail between the Persian Gulf and Chinese ports, carrying about half of the oil that powers the world's second-largest economy.As the vessels enter the South China Sea, they ply waters increasingly controlled by China's growing military, from the missile batteries and airfields at its bases on disputed islands to its stealthy Type 055 destroyers.But when crossing the Indian Ocean, joined by others headed to China from Africa and Brazil…

As tankers, car-carriers and other merchant vessels pass through the Malacca Strait, unlit fishing boats criss-cross the shipping lanes at night, making it one of the most challenging sea areas of the world to transit, even during peacetime.Should a major war ever come to Asia, those challenges could be magnified spectacularly, with hundreds of vessels abruptly leaving the international waters in the middle of the Strait for what they hope might be the relative safety of the national territorial waters of nearby neutral nations.The Strait – between Thailand…

Seven bodies were recovered from a Chinese fishing vessel that capsized in the central Indian Ocean, according to state media on Monday, days after China President Xi Jinping ordered an all-out search to rescue and recover missing crew members.Several countries, including Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, the Maldives, and the Philippines, joined in rescue efforts for 39 missing crew members after the Chinese distant-water fishing vessel "Lupeng Yuanyu 028" capsized early last Tuesday…

China's ambassador to Australia urged Canberra on Thursday to step up its rescue efforts to help locate the 39 missing crew members on board a Chinese shipping boat that capsized in the Indian Ocean early this week.President Xi Jinping has ordered that all efforts be made to search for the missing crew, which includes 17 Chinese nationals, 17 Indonesians and five from the Philippines, state media reported on Wednesday."This is within Australia's search and rescue area ... we wish…

A Chinese fishing vessel with 39 crew members on board has capsized in the Indian ocean and President Xi Jinping has ordered that all efforts be made to search for survivors, state media reported on Wednesday.The distant-water fishing vessel Lupeng Yuanyu 028, owned by Penglai Jinglu Fishery Co Ltd based in Shandong province, capsized early on Tuesday, state-run CCTV reported.The 39 people on board - 17 Chinese crew members, 17 Indonesians and five from the Philippines - were missing, CCTV said.Xi said all efforts should be made for the rescue and early warning alerts of safety risks would be

When China sailed one of its two active aircraft carriers, the Shandong, east of Taiwan last month as part of military drills surrounding the island, it was showcasing a capability that it has yet to master and could take years to perfect.As Beijing modernizes its military, its formidable missile forces and other naval vessels, such as cutting-edge cruisers, are posing a concern for the U.S. and its allies. But it could be more than a decade before China can mount a credible carrier threat far from its shores…

Russia, China and Iran have completed three-way naval exercises in the Arabian Sea that included artillery fire at targets on the sea and in the air, the Russian defence ministry said on Saturday.The exercises, off the Iranian port of Chabahar, took place as Russian President Vladimir Putin prepares to host his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Moscow for a three-day state visit starting on Monday.Russia has continued to stage military exercises with partners, especially China, despite the strain on its armed forces from the year-long war in Ukraine, where it has failed to achieve any major ad

The Philippine Coast Guard has stepped up its presence in the disputed South China Sea by deploying additional vessels and conducting more sorties and overflights to protect maritime territory and the country's fishermen, its chief said on Monday.Beijing's sweeping claims of sovereignty over the waterway have drawn repeated complaints from Manila, which has ramped up its rhetoric against reported Chinese construction activities and the "swarming" of Chinese vessels in the resource-rich waterway."We're making sure that the presence of coast guard vessels is felt by the fishermen in the area…

Russia remained China's second-largest source of crude oil in 2022, following repeat top supplier Saudi Arabia, as Chinese refiners snapped up low-cost Russian barrels while Western countries shunned them after the Ukraine crisis.China's crude oil imports from Russia jumped 8% in 2022 from a year earlier to 86.25 million tonnes, equivalent to 1.72 million barrels per day (bpd), data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Friday.Russian crude has been trading in widening discounts to global oil benchmarks following Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine…

At least four Chinese-owned supertankers are shipping Russian Urals crude to China, according to trading sources and tracking data, as Moscow seeks vessels for exports after a G7 oil price cap restricted the use of Western cargo services and insurance.China, the world's top oil importer, has continued buying Russian oil despite Western sanctions, after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping launched what they called a no-limit partnership before the war in Ukraine.The sources said a fifth supertanker…

China and the Philippines have agreed to set up a direct communications channel between their foreign ministries on the South China Sea to handle disputes peacefully, they said on Thursday.Their agreement, which contained 14 elements aimed at cooling security tensions and boosting economic cooperation, comes as they strive to mend a relationship hurt after the Philippines won a 2016 arbitral ruling that invalidated China's expansive claims in the South China Sea.The Philippines…

China is ready to resume oil and gas talks and manage maritime issues "cordially" with the Philippines, China President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday, according to Chinese state television.Xi was speaking to his Philippines counterpart Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who was on a three-day visit to Beijing.Beijing's territorial claims in the South China Sea, which is rich in oil, gas, and fish and where about $3 trillion in ship-borne trade passes annually, had been a source of tension between it and some Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines.

Russia and China have completed naval drills in the East China Sea, after a week of joint exercises which included practicing how to capture an enemy submarine with depth charges and firing artillery at a warship, Russia's defense ministry said.The Dec.

China is making fast inroads in the market for newbuild liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers as local and foreign shipowners turn to its shipbuilders for the specialty vessels because long dominant yards in South Korea are fully booked. Three Chinese shipyards - only one of them having experience building large LNG tankers - won nearly 30% of this year's record orders for 163 new gas carriers, claiming ground in a sector where South Korea usually captures most of the business.