China

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets sank Thursday after Chinese manufacturing weakened and Russian shelling around Ukraine’s capital shook hopes of progress in peace talks.

Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo declined while Seoul gained. Oil fell more than $7 per barrel in New York but stayed above $100.

Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index fell 0.6% on Wednesday after U.S. economic growth was weaker than expected.

BEIJING (AP) — China’s manufacturing activity fell to a five-month low in March after most of Shanghai and two other industrial centers were shut down to fight coronavirus outbreaks, a survey showed Thursday.

The monthly purchasing managers’ index of the Chinese statistics agency and an industry group, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, fell to 49.5 from February’s 50.2 on a 100-point scale. Numbers below 50 show activity contracting.

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday issued strong backing for Afghanistan at a regional conference, while making no mention of human rights abuses by the country’s Taliban leaders.

Xi pledged China’s support in a message to a gathering of representatives from Afghanistan, China, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in a central Chinese city that spotlights Beijing’s aspirations to play a leading role in Afghanistan following the withdrawal of U.S. forces last August.

HUANGSHAN, (China) March 30 (APP): Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Wednesday said that Pakistan welcomed the international community’s continued engagement to advance the goals of a sovereign, stable and economically strong Afghanistan, contributing to the regional peace and stability.

The foreign minister reaffirmed Pakistan’s full support for a peaceful, stable and prosperous Afghanistan and highlighted areas of close collaboration including trade, movement of people, and connectivity.

BEIJING, March 30. /TASS/: China is warning against a new confrontation of camps in Asia and turning regional countries into the tools of major powers, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Wednesday at a meeting with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the Tunxi city of eastern China's Anhui province.

"We can’t allow the Cold War mentality to return to the Asian region," Wang Yi was cited as saying in a statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry. "It’s impossible to allow a repeat of camp confrontation in Asia."

BEIJING, March 30 (Reuters) - Moscow and Beijing are "more determined" to develop bilateral ties and boost cooperation, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Wednesday following a meeting in eastern China with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, amid the Ukraine crisis.

The two also condemned what they called illegal and counter- productive Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over its actions in Ukraine, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

BEIJING, March 30 (Xinhua) -- The China-Russia relationship consists of non-alliance, non-confrontation and not targeting any third party, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Wednesday.

Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a daily press briefing when asked about China-Russia relations.

"There is no ceiling for China-Russia cooperation, no ceiling for us to strive for peace, no ceiling for us to safeguard security and no ceiling for us to oppose hegemony," Wang said.  

Beijing, Mar 30 (PTI) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in China on Wednesday to take part in the third meeting of the foreign ministers of Afghanistan's neighbouring countries being organised by Beijing, amid the Ukraine crisis.

Lavrov arrived in Tunxi, east China's Anhui Province, for the third meeting of foreign ministers on Afghanistan, Russia's official news agency Tass reported on Wednesday.

BEIJING (AP) — As millions of people in Shanghai line up for coronavirus tests, authorities are promising tax refunds for shopkeepers in the closed-down metropolis and to keep the world’s busiest port functioning to limit disruption to industry and trade.

This week’s shutdown of most activity in China’s most populous city to contain virus outbreaks jolted global financial markets that already were on edge about Russia’s war on Ukraine, higher U.S. interest rates and a Chinese economic slowdown.

BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Tuesday warned the United States about backing the "Taiwan independence" forces under the pretext of "democracy," and the attempt to serve the strategy of using Taiwan to contain China will get nowhere.