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Official Xinhua News Agency News

29 Dec 2022

Russia and China Hold Naval Drills, Practice Submarine Capture

(Photo: Russian Defense Ministry)

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.

13 Sep 2022

Eastern China Ports at Standstill as Typhoon Muifa Closes In

(Image: U.S. Navy Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command)

Authorities in China's eastern province of Zhejiang ordered ships to return to port, told schools to close and evacuated tourists from nearby islands, as one of this year's strongest typhoons is set to make landfall on Wednesday.Typhoon Muifa intensified on Tuesday as it barreled towards the twin port cities of Ningbo and Zhoushan, which share the ranking of second-busiest port in China, in terms of cargo handled.State media said China's 12th cyclone of the year was expected to make landfall between the cities of Wenling and Zhoushan…

07 Aug 2020

Pentagon Chief Concerned About Beijing's Activity in South China Sea

Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper (DoD photo by Marvin Lynchard)

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper expressed concerns about Beijing’s “destabilizing” activity near Taiwan and the South China Sea in a call with Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe, the Pentagon said on Thursday, the first time the two are believed to have spoken since March.The call came as U.S.-China ties have rapidly deteriorated this year over a range of issues, including Beijing’s handling of the coronavirus, telecommunications equipment maker Huawei, China’s territorial…

24 Sep 2018

China Navy Ship Makes Maiden Visit to Venezuela

File photo: China's Peace Ark in 2014 (U.S. Navy photo by Shannon Renfroe)

A Chinese naval ship has traveled to Venezuela for the first time, following a visit by President Nicolas Maduro to Beijing this month, where he had been looking to gain China's support for the Latin American nation's struggling economy.The naval medical ship, known as the "Peace Ark", arrived on Saturday at the Venezuelan port of La Guaira for an eight-day period of "friendly visits" to the country, the official Xinhua news agency said on Sunday.Maduro, whose leftist government is under fire in Venezuela as the economy struggles with a fifth year of recession and hyperinflation…

08 Aug 2018

Chinese Exports Accelerate Even as Trade War Escalates

© krunja / Adobe Stock

China's exports surged more than expected in July despite U.S. duties and its closely watched surplus with the United States remained near record highs, as the world's two major economic powers ramp up a bitter dispute that some fear could derail global growth.In the latest move by President Donald Trump to put pressure on Beijing to negotiate trade concessions, Washington is set to begin collecting 25 percent tariffs on another $16 billion in Chinese goods on Aug. 23.In a statement on its official website late on Wednesday, China's commerce ministry criticised the U.S.

06 Jul 2018

U.S.-China Trade Battle Heats Up

https://magazines.marinelink.com/nwm/MaritimeProfessional/201805/

Dueling tariffs raise fears of long A U.S.-China trade fight resulting in duties on $34 billion worth of each other's imports was seen dragging on for a potentially prolonged period, as Washington and Beijing flexed their muscles with no sign of negotiations to ease tensions.Friday marked the start of the U.S. duties that were promptly met with retribution by China, as Beijing accused the United States of triggering the "largest-scale trade war."The escalating fight between the…

19 Jun 2018

CNOOC Developing New Deep Sea Gas Block in South China Sea

China's offshore oil and gas producer CNOOC has started developing a new gas field in the South China Sea, the official Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday.The Lingshui 17-2 gas field is the first deep sea gas block fully operated by a Chinese company, Xinhua said citing CNOOC officials.The deep sea project, which was discovered in 2014, is 150 km (94 miles) south of China's southern Hainan island, with an average operational depth of 1,500 metres, according to a Reuters report from that year.CNOOC is ready to start building a subsea level platform used for drilling, Xinhua said.(Reporting by Meng Meng and Aizhu Chen; Editing by Tom Hogue)

18 Jun 2018

Asian Shares, Oil Fall as US-China Trade Spat Escalates

© victor217 / Adobe Stock

Asian shares fell to a 2-1/2 week low on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump cranked up trade tensions by going ahead with tariffs on Chinese imports, prompting Beijing to immediately respond in kind.Fears of a global trade war added to pressure on oil prices, which extended Friday's big fall, while the dollar retreated from near 3-week highs against the safe haven yen.Spreadbetters suggested a subdued start for European shares, with FTSE futures off about 0.1 percent. U.S.

05 Jun 2018

China Busts Gangs Smuggling Scrap Steel

©Jean-Bernard Nadeau / Adobe Stock

Customs in China's southeastern Fujian province broke up five gangs smuggling scrap steel in a late-night operation on Monday, the official Xinhua news agency reported.A total of 28 criminal suspects were held in Xiamen, Quanzhou and other cities in the coordinated operation, in which 3,237 tonnes of scrap steel was seized.The gangs had been buying the scrap in China, the world's biggest steel producer, since 2017 and sending it to Southeast Asian countries, Xinhua said.Amount of scrap smuggled was put at around 50,000 tonnes, worth some 78 million yuan ($12.2 million), as gangs sought to cash

12 Jan 2018

Burning Tanker Drifts into Japan's Economic Zone

(Photo: NIOC)

A stricken Iranian oil tanker continued exploding on Friday, hampering rescue efforts, Chinese state media reported, as Japan's Coast Guard said the ship drifted away from the Chinese coast and into Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The ship, which has been ablaze for almost a week since it collided with another vessel on Saturday night in the East China Sea, was about 286 km (178 miles) northwest of Sokkozaki on the island of Amami Oshima as of 0700 GMT on Friday, the Japan Coast Guard said in a statement.

28 Jun 2017

China Launches New Class of Naval Destroyer

China's military on Wednesday launched a new type of domestically-built destroyer, state media said, the latest addition to the country's rapidly expanding navy. The 10,000-tonne warship was launched at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai, the official Xinhua news agency said, making it the first of the People's Liberation Army Navy's "new generation" destroyers. "It is equipped with new air defence, anti-missile, anti-ship and anti-submarine weapons," Xinhua said, without giving further details. The state-run Global Times newspaper said the ship was believed to be the first Type 055 destroyer, which is considered to be a successor class to the smaller Type 052D guided missile destroyers. China is still producing the latter and commissioned one, the Xining, in January.

29 Jan 2017

Boat with 28 Chinese tourists missing off Malaysia

A boat carrying 31 people, including 28 Chinese tourists, is missing off the coast of Borneo, Malaysian maritime authorities said on Sunday. The boat left Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Malaysia's eastern Sabah state, at about 9 a.m. (0100 GMT) on Saturday bound for the popular tourist spot of Mengalum island, officials said. It was reported missing at about 9.50 p.m. after failing to arrive at the island and a search operation was launched soon after, Sabah and Labuan Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) deputy director Rahim Ramli said. Bad weather was hampering the search effort, which covers an area of about 400 nautical square miles. "We are looking at strong winds and choppy waters," he said.

31 Dec 2016

China coal province to Cut pollution by 20 pct by 2020

One of China's top coal-producing provinces has vowed to slash its level of fine particle pollution by one-fifth by 2020, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday, citing the provincial government. China has adopted various measures from policing barbeques to halting industrial production in efforts to ease the yearly winter haze that hit the country earlier this month leaving cities veiled in foul-smelling smog. China's northern Shanxi province aims to increase the proportion of days per year with good air quality to 75.4 percent, the agency said. The move comes after concentrations of PM2.5, fine particulate matter, in a major northern Chinese city exceeded a World Health Organisation guideline by 100 times in December.

31 Dec 2016

China's Ying Kou Port Group chairman sentenced to 14 years for bribery

The chairman of China's Ying Kou Port Group was sentenced to 14 years in prison for accepting around 26.8 million yuan ($3.86 million) in bribes, said the official Xinhua news agency on Saturday. President Xi Jinping has waged a widespread campaign to wipe out systemic corruption since he came to power in late 2012. Since 2002 Gao Baoyu, who was also the party secretary of Ying Kou, abused his position by accepting bribes for appointments, the agency said. The verdict, handed down by a court in the northern city of Anshan, was not appealed. Ying Kou and Gao could not be immediately reached for comment. On Friday, China's state prosecutor formally accused former deputy head of China's Taiwan Affairs Office Gong Qinggai with bribery and abuse of power, setting the stage for his trial.

20 Oct 2016

Naptha Tanker Explodes at Southern China Port

An oil tanker carrying 3,400 tonnes of naphtha exploded during discharge at a southern Chinese port on Thursday and one person on board was missing, official Xinhua news agency reported. The rescue team said explosions occurred in the engine room as the tanker was discharging at Dongfang port in China's southernmost island province of Hainan. Reporting by Chen Aizhu

03 Jul 2016

Vietnam Urges "Fair" Ruling from Court Handling S. China Sea Case

Vietnam has called for an international tribunal in The Hague to deliver a "fair and objective" ruling in an arbitration case lodged by the Philippines that challenges China's expansive claims in the South China Sea. In a carefully worded statement two days after the court announced July 12 as the verdict date, Vietnam's foreign ministry said it hoped the ruling would provide a basis for peacefully resolving rows. Vietnam is not a direct party to the case but stands to gain if the verdict favours Manila. Like the Philippines, it is also at odds with China, although it is wary not to push too far against a major trade partner. "Vietnam has always been observing the development of the case and wants the arbitration court to deliver a fair and objective decision…

30 Jun 2016

Beijing Slams South China Sea Court Proceedings

Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling set for July 12. An international court said it would deliver a hotly anticipated ruling in the Philippines' case against China over the South China Sea on July 12, drawing an immediate rebuke from Beijing, which rejects the tribunal's jurisdiction. The United States, which is a close ally of the Philippines and is concerned about China's expansive South China Sea claims, reiterated its backing for The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration and urged a peaceful resolution of the dispute. Manila is contesting China's historical claim to about 90 percent of the South China Sea, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

29 Jun 2016

China Slams South China Sea Case as Court Set to Rule

An international court said on Wednesday it would deliver a hotly anticipated ruling in the Philippines' case against China over the South China Sea on July 12, drawing an immediate rebuke from Beijing, which rejects the tribunal's jurisdiction. The United States, which is a close ally of the Philippines and is concerned about China's expansive South China Sea claims, reiterated its backing for The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration and urged a peaceful resolution of the dispute. Manila is contesting China's historical claim to about 90 percent of the South China Sea, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. Several Southeast Asian states have overlapping claims in the sea and the dispute has sparked concerns of a military confrontation that could disrupt global trade.

24 Feb 2016

China: Media Ignores Other Claimants' S.China Sea Weaponry

China on Wednesday complained the media were ignoring radars and weapons deployed by other claimants in the South China Sea, and unfairly targeting China, following reports of its deployment of fighter jets and radars in the disputed waterway. Over the past week or so China has been reported to have deployed advanced missiles, fighters and radar equipment on islands in the South China Sea, especially on Woody Island in the Paracels. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying reiterated that as far as China was concerned, there was no dispute over ownership of the Paracels, and so China could deploy what it wanted on its territory without reproach.

26 Feb 2016

China Adopts Deep Sea Exploration Law

China on Friday adopted a new law on deep sea exploration, state media said, the country's latest move to cement its status as a seagoing power. President Xi Jinping is reforming the military and investing in submarines and aircraft carriers, as China's navy becomes more assertive in its territorial disputes in the East and South China Seas. The new law will "protect the rightful interests of Chinese citizens and organisations in their search for resources and in deep sea surveys," the official Xinhua news agency said after China's top legislature passed the measure. "Exploration and development should be peaceful and cooperative, in addition to protecting the maritime environment and safeguarding the common interests of mankind," it added.

02 Apr 2016

China Braces for "Severe" Flooding on Yangtze River

Severe floods are expected on China's Yangtze River this year due to a strong El Nino weather pattern, state media said, raising the risk of deaths and damage to property and crops along the country's longest waterway. The El Nino conditions are the strongest since records collection began in 1951, and resemble a 1998 weather pattern that flooded the river and killed thousands, the official Xinhua news agency said on Friday, citing vice minister of water resources, Liu Ning. "Precipitation in the upper, middle and lower reaches of the river is forecast to be as much as 80 percent more than normal from May to August," Xinhua said. Some Yangtze tributaries had already begun flooding and the flood control and drought relief situation was "extremely severe"…

05 May 2016

China's CNOOC Expands Fujian LNG Terminal

China's biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) importer CNOOC has started building two storage tanks at a receiving terminal in Fujian province for the super-chilled fuel, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The new tanks are part of a plan to increase the receiving capacity at the terminal in the southeast coastal province to 6.3 million tonnes a year, Xinhua said. The tanks are each able to store 160,000 m3 of LNG are part of a $3.7 billion in LNG projects that the Fujian government plans for the province to supply city gas to Fuxhou, Putian, Quanzhour, Xiamen and Zangzhou. CNOOC imported 13 million tons of LNG last year, accounting for nearly 70 percent of the total intake in the world's third-largest LNG importer.

10 Oct 2015

China Completes lighthouses construction in disputed South China Sea

China has completed the construction of two lighthouses in the disputed South China Sea, the official Xinhua news agency reported, as tensions in the region mount over Beijing's maritime ambitions. A completion ceremony was held for the lighthouses on Huayang Reef and Chigua Reef in the Spratly islands, Xinhua said late on Friday. The United States and the Philippines have opposed the construction. China claims most of the energy-rich South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year, and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have overlapping claims. China said on Friday it would not stand for violations of its territorial waters in the name of freedom of navigation…