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BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday urged Australia to abandon ideological bias and provide an environment of fair competition for Chinese companies.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang made the remarks at a routine press briefing when asked to comment on media reports that Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne had reiterated keeping Chinese telecoms giant Huawei out of Australia's 5G network infrastructure even if the United States softens its stance on Huawei.

China expressed grave concern over this statement, Lu said.

BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The China-developed  MA700 turboprop aircraft has entered the trial-manufacturing and test phase, announced the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) Friday.

The first MA700 is expected to roll off the production line this September.

The MA700 is the third member of China's "Morden Ark(MA)" regional airplane family following the MA60 and MA600. The AVIC is striving to conduct the maiden flight by the end of 2019, said AVIC.

Hanoi, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The top leaders of Vietnam and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) agreed on Friday to facilitate high-level visits, and expand the exchange of all-level delegations via the party, state and mass organization channels, Vietnam News Agency reported.

BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- As the annual sessions of China's top legislative and advisory bodies approach, world experts look forward to a greater role of China in improving global governance.

William Jones, Washington bureau chief of the U.S. publication Executive Intelligence Review, praised China's contribution to tackling global issues and believed China's wisdom as well as its philosophy will further benefit the whole world.

Hanoi; March 1; GANASHAKTI  — North Korean foreign minister Ri Yong Ho called an impromptu press conference at midnight in Hà N?i following the disappointing end to the highly anticipated summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump.

Ri said during the two-day summit, the two countries’ leaders had held serious discussions.

RABAT, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Moroccan King Mohammed VI and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari vowed on Thursday to strengthen partnership, the Moroccan official MAP news agency reported.

The pledge was made during a telephone conversation between the two leaders following Buhari's re-election as Nigeria's president.

"The conversation was an opportunity to recall the willingness to strengthen the bilateral partnership on strategic projects conducted under the impetus of the two leaders," the report said.

HANOI, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) only proposed that the United States partially remove its sanctions against Pyongyang, said the country's foreign minister here early Friday.

"What we proposed was not the removal of all sanctions, but they are partial removal," said Ri Yong Ho at a press conference, adding the DPRK only asked for those sanctions impeding the livelihood of its people to be removed first.

Toronto, Feb 27; PTI/GANASHAKTI: Canada's flag carrier Air Canada Wednesday temporarily suspended its flights to India due to the closure of Pakistani airspace, amid escalating tensions between the two countries.

Pakistan Wednesday closed its airspace for commercial flights and suspended flight operations across major airports. India also closed nine airports in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab for civilian air traffic and the entire airspace north of New Delhi was vacated.

New Delhi, Feb 28 (PTI) Railways has cancelled the operations of the Indo-Pak Samjhauta Express on its side from Thursday, which senior officials said was due to "purely operational reasons" as Pakistan had suspended services from across the border.

A notification in this regard was issued here.

New Delhi, Feb 28 (PTI) The Union cabinet on Thursday approved the Kanpur and the Agra metro rail projects, a move to boost public transport connectivity in the two Uttar Pradesh cities.

According to the government, the Agra rail project will have two corridors, which will pass through heart of the city and will connect prominent tourist places like the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and Sikandra, as well as the interstate bus terminal, railway station, medical college and others.