Nation notes that Russia has interest in peace talks, foreign minister says China has noted that Russia signaled interest in dialogue and agreed to resume the implementation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday. China will continue holding an objective and fair position and playing a constructive role in promoting peace talks on the Ukraine issue, Wang said when meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the 17th G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia. Wang, a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, elaborated on China's position on the issue, saying that "the four points" and "the four things" proposed by President Xi Jinping are the country's fundamental guidelines for addressing the issue. In March, Xi proposed "the four points" in a virtual meeting with leaders of France and Germany about what must be done soon after the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis. During his talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in this month, Xi put forward "the four things" that the international community must do together on the crisis. Wang said China has noted that Moscow has recently reiterated its long-standing position that nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought, which has shown Russia's rational and responsible attitude. At the meeting, Wang expressed China's willingness to work with Russia to coordinate high-level exchanges and exchanges in various fields, deepen practical cooperation and facilitate exchanges of personnel. He also stressed that China would resolutely advance a multipolar world, support democracy in international relations, and uphold the international system with the United Nations at its core, together with Russia and other like-minded countries. Lavrov, for his part, said Russia always maintains an open attitude toward dialogue and negotiation on the Ukraine issue. Russia will join forces with China to further...

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden said there “need not be a new Cold War” between the U.S. and China, following a three-hour summit meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Indonesia on Monday. Biden also said, “I don’t think there’s any imminent attempt by China to invade Taiwan,” despite escalating rhetoric and aggressive military moves by the People’s Republic of China in the Taiwan Straits. Biden and his counterpart held the much-anticipated meeting at the G-20 summit of economically developed nations in Bali. Biden said he and Xi spoke frankly, and they agreed to send diplomats and cabinet members from their administrations to meet with one another in person to resolve pressing issues. Although they have spoken five times by videoconference, the meeting was the first one Biden and Xi have held face-to-face since the U.S. president was elected in 2020. The personal dynamic between the two men was friendly, with Biden putting an arm around Xi at the outset and saying, “It’s just great to see you.” It remains to be seen, however, whether the summit will produce a genuine shift in relations between Washington and Beijing, its biggest strategic competitor and long-term military adversary. Beijing’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the conversation was “in-depth, candid and constructive” in a statement afterwards. The two leaders reached “important common understandings,” the ministry said, and they were prepared now “to take concrete actions to put China-U.S. relations back on the track of steady development.” A tense rivalry Tensions between the two nations have been slowly escalating for decades, but they skyrocketed after former President Donald Trump launched a protectionist trade war with China. Since taking office in 2021, Biden has done little to reverse Trump’s trade policies. Instead, he has added a new layer to U.S.-China hostilities by framing American foreign policy as a zero-sum contest between the American commitment to human rights and free...

China and the United States are in communication about a meeting between President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden in Bali, Indonesia. [Photo/IC] The Foreign Ministry confirmed on Thursday that China and the United States are in communication about a meeting between President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden in Bali, Indonesia. The confirmation came after Indonesian President Joko Widodo told reporters on Tuesday that both the Chinese and the US presidents will attend the Group of 20 Summit in Bali next week. Speaking at a regular news conference on Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said that China takes seriously the US' proposal of setting up a meeting between the two heads of state in Bali, and that the two sides are engaging each other on this. Biden said that he expected to discuss a number of issues with Xi in Bali, including trade and guardrails for bilateral relations to avoid conflict. Speaking at a White House news conference on Wednesday, Biden said: "What I want to do with him when we talk is lay out what each of our red lines are, understand what he believes to be in the critical national interests of China, what I know to be the critical interests of the United States, and to determine whether or not they conflict with one another. And if they do, how to resolve it and how to work it out." Biden also said he was not willing to make any fundamental concessions when he meets with Xi. In response, Zhao said that the US should work to meet China halfway, properly handle its differences with China, advance mutually beneficial cooperation, and avoid misunderstanding and misjudgment to push for the bilateral ties to return to the right track of healthy and steady growth. A possible face-to-face meeting of the two presidents is highly anticipated as China-US relations have plunged into a free fall in recent years, with the Biden administration's first National Security Strategy released last month singling China out as "America's...

The Fifth China International Import Expo (CIIE) opened in Shanghai on Nov. 4, shortly after the successful closing of the 20th CPC National Congress. The CIIE is China's major import marketplace for world exporters and manufacturers and also a significant platform showing China's adherence to opening up to the outside world, fostering world cooperation and upholding globalization and true multilateralism. Xi encouraged multinationals to expand globally for better accessibility and auspicious opportunities. President Xi Jinping's speech to the fifth China International Import Expo embodies China's unswerving pursuit of high-standard opening-up and its efforts to facilitate world trade and drive global innovation, according to multinational business executives. This has deepened investment confidence and pointed to thriving business opportunities, they said. Xi emphasized that the CIIE's purpose is to expand China's opening-up and turn the country's vast market into enormous opportunities for the world. Bruno Chevot, president of French food and beverage company Danone for China, North Asia and Oceania, said that Xi's remarks sent a clear signal that China will continue to open its door wider to foreign companies and that the country is taking concrete steps to broaden market access. "It is very important because it's really helping us to build our future strategic plan and make sure that we create the condition to contribute to the Chinese market and further strengthen our commitment to long-term development in the country," Chevot said. Speaking via video link at the opening ceremony of the expo on Friday, Xi reaffirmed China's pledge to enable various nations to share opportunities in its vast market. He also highlighted the need to remain committed to openness to meet development challenges, foster synergy for cooperation, build innovation momentum and deliver benefits to all. "We should steadily advance economic globalization, enhance every country's dynamism...

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) says the past eight years are on track to be the warmest on record, fuelled by ever-rising greenhouse gas concentrations and accumulated heat. Provisional estimates of ‘State of the Global Climate in 2022” report, released on Monday in Sharm El-Sheikh during COP27, says extreme heatwaves, drought and devastating flooding have affected millions and cost billions this year. The global average temperature in 2022 is estimated to be about 1.15 [1.02 to 1.28] degrees Celsius above the 1850-1900 average. The years 2015 to 2022 are likely to be the eight warmest ones on record. La Nina conditions have dominated since late 2020 and are expected to continue until the end of 2022. Continuing La Nina has kept global temperatures relatively low for the past two years, albeit higher than the last significant La Nina in 2011, the report says. Report says heatwaves, drought, floods have affected millions, cost billions this year WMO Secretary General Prof Petteri Taalas said that “the greater the warming, the worse the impacts. We have such high levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere now that the lower 1.5°C of the Paris Agreement is barely within reach”. “It’s already too late for many glaciers and the melting will continue for hundreds if not thousands of years, with major implications for water security. The rate of sea level rise has doubled in the past 30 years. Although we still measure this in terms of millimetres per year, it adds up to half to one meter per century and that is a long-term and major threat to many millions of coastal dwellers and low-lying states,” he said. “All too often, those least responsible for climate change suffer most — as we have seen with the terrible flooding in Pakistan and deadly, long-running drought in the Horn of Africa. But even well-prepared societies this year have been ravaged by extremes — as seen by the protracted heat waves and drought in large parts of Europe and southern China,”...