News in Brief

CHINESE MEDIA

Chinese Vaccine against Omicron Variants to Undergo Clinical Trials

A Chinese inactivated vaccine against Omicron variants was approved for clinical trials by the National Medical Products Administration on April 26.

The vaccine,developed by the China National Biotec Group affiliated with Sinopharm,has been under research since December 2021,the company said.

Preliminary tests,such as safety evaluation in animals and immunogenicity research,showed that the vaccine can produce high neutralizing antibody titer against various variants including Omicron,it said.

In the clinical trials,a randomized,double-blind and cohort study method will be adopted among people aged 18 and above that have inoculated two or three doses of COVID-19 vaccines to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of the inactivated vaccine.

Philippine President Duterte to Skip US-ASEAN Summit

Philippine President Rodrigo Dutertehas refused the invitation of U.S.President Joe Biden to attend the summit between the United States and ASEAN in May.

In a taped meeting with some members of the Cabinet aired on April 27,Duterte said he received an invitation to attend an ASEAN“dialogue”with Biden,but there would be a newly elected Philippine president and the next administration may not like any“agreement”or“commitment”to be discussed in the meeting.

On May 9,Filipinos will elect a new president to succeed Duterte,whose six-year term ends in June.The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs has not issued an official statement on who will attend the summit.Duterte never visited the United States during his term in office.

China’s Trade with RCEP Members Sustains Steady Growth

Trade between China and members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership(RCEP)has seen steady growth since the trade agreement took effect at the beginning of this year,the latest official data showed.

According to the General Administration of Customs,China’s trade with the other 14 member states expanded 6.9 percent year on year to 2.86 trillion yuan (about US$ 448.6 billion) in the first quarter of 2022,accounting for 30.4 percent of China’s total foreign trade value.

The free trade pact initially entered into force for 10 members on January 1,2022.Up to now,the agreement is effective for 12 of its 15 signing members.

Construction of China-aided Educational Facility Starts in Lao Capital

The construction of a China-aided educational facility projectat the Lao Institute of Posts and Telecommunications has started in the Lao capital Vientiane.

The Chinese Ambassador to Laos Jiang Zaidong and Boviengkham Vongdara,Lao Minister of Technology and Communications,attended the groundbreaking ceremony held on April 25.

The project includes the construction of a teaching building,with a total construction area of about 5,500 square meters.The five-story building accommodates classrooms,laboratories and libraries,among others.

Jiang said in his speech at the groundbreaking ceremony that China will continue to help Laos in the education sector,serving the economic and social development of Laos and the cooperation between the two countries.

China-Singapore International Commercial Dispute Resolution Conference Held in Xiamen

The second China-Singapore International Commercial Dispute Resolution Conferencekicked off on April 7 in Xiamen,east China’s Fujian Province.

Themed“development and future of international commercial dispute resolution,”the event aimed to help build a fairer and more equitable dispute resolution mechanism through sharing expertise and communication.

The conference,held online and offline,has attracted over 100,000 online viewers.

Cui Yonghui,Party chief of Xiamen,said in his opening speech that Singapore is experienced in international commercial dispute resolution and can offer helpful lessons.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and Singapore's Ministry of Law.An expert team will be established for regular exchanges over dispute resolution between the two countries.

VOICES

“The global economy is under severe stress.Many developing countries are reeling from the crippling effects of an uneven recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and the ticking time bomb of the climate crisis.”

—UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammedsaid that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) need an urgent rescue at the opening of the 2022 ECOSOC Financing for Development Forum on April 25

“COVID has accelerated structural changes in the global economy,particularly digital and sustainability.We should harness these as new sources of growth.”

—Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies Heng Swee Keatsaid at the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2022 Panel Session -Prime Minister’s Office Singapore on April 20

“An answer must be found to the anger and disagreements that led many of our compatriots to vote for the extreme right.It will be my responsibility and that of those around me.”

—Emmanuel Macronsaid in his victory speech after he defeated Marine Le Pen in the presidential election on April 24,vowing to unite divided France.Macron’s win makes him the first French president in two decades to win a second term

3.6 %

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on April 19 slashed global growth forecast for 2022 to3.6 percentamid the Russia-Ukraine conflict,0.8 percentage pointslower than the January projection,according to its newly released World Economic Outlook report.The Ukraine crisis unfolds while the global economy is“on a mending path”but has not yet fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic,the report said,noting that global economic prospects have worsened“significantly”since the forecast in January.

US$400 billion

The trade between China and the five Mekong countries hit almostUS$400 billionin 2021,up23 percentyear on year.The figures were disclosed at the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Week 2022,which opened on April 7.In 2016,the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC)mechanism was launched by six countries—China,Cambodia,Laos,Myanmar,Thailand and Vietnam.The LMC mechanism has since become a landmark cooperation model in the region and continuously injected vitality into regional development.

70 %

Generation Z,which refers to people born in the mid-1990s to the early 2010s,are now dominating China’s digital reading market,as70 percentof the nation’s more than500 milliondigital readers are younger than 26 years old,according to the 2021 China Digital Reading report released by China Audio-video and Digital Publishing Association on April 23.About 45 percent of digital readers in China are aged between 19 and 25,and about27 percentof them are under the age of 18.

ASEAN MEDIA

VNAApril 21,2022

Laos Makes Solid Progress Towards Carbon Neutrality

The Asian Development Outlook 2022 released by Asian Development Bank (ADB) recently noted that Laos has made solid progress towards achieving its nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement.The government is committed to further promoting renewable energy and investments in low-carbon sectors to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

According to the report,strong foreign private investment inflows are expected to support the development and supply of low-carbon electricity and grid connectivity in Laos for export markets.It cited as examples plans on wind farm investments of 1.6 gigawatts,including a 600-megawatt Monsoon Wind project that will export energy to Vietnam.The report also mentioned the Lao government’s plan to increase the share of solar power in its energy mix to almost 25 percent by 2025,from under 1 percent at present.

Bangkok PostApril 27,2022

Finance Ministry Cuts 2022 GDP Outlook Over Ukraine War

The Finance Ministry reduced its 2022 economic growth forecast to 3.5% on April 27 from a previous forecast of 4.0%,due to the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on global growth and inflation.

However,the economy will still be supported by higher domestic spending and a recovery in tourism,as well as exports,Pornchai Theeravet,head of the Fiscal Policy Office,told a news conference.

The ministry now expects exports will rise 6.0% this year,up from the 3.6% previously projected,he said.

The tourism-dependent country is on track to receive 6.1 million foreign visitors this year,but below the 7 million projected earlier due partly to the impact of the Ukraine conflict on Russian tourist numbers and China’s travel restrictions.

TheJakartaPostApril 27,2022

Indonesia Widens Export Ban to Include Crude and Refined Palm Oil

Indonesia widened the scope of its export ban on raw materials for cooking oil to include crude and refined palm oil,among other products,its chief economic minister said on April 27,just hours before the restriction comes into force.

The announcement was a reversal of the minister’s statement a day earlier,in which he had said the export ban would only cover refined,bleached,and deodorized(RBD) palm olein.

President Joko Widodo said in a separate statement that people’s need for affordable food trumped revenue concerns for now.“Once domestic needs have been met,of course I will lift the export ban because I know the country needs taxes,the country needs foreign exchange,the country needs a trade balance surplus,but meeting the people’s basic needs is a more important priority,”he said.

The StarApril 28,2022

Job Market Buoyed by Reopening of Economy

Malaysia’s labour market experienced a gradual recovery in 2021,buoyed by the progressive reopening of the economy and resumption of social activities,according to the Statistics Department.

Chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the continuous resumption of economic activities with longer business hours,coupled with permission for social activities and inter-state travel had significantly contributed in stimulating Malaysia’s economic performance.

“Employed persons recorded a total of 15.1 million persons in 2021,rising 0.7% as compared to the previous year,”said Mohd Uzir.

“The employment-to-population ratio,improved by 0.1 percentage points year-on-year,registering a ratio of 65.4%.”A major composition of employed persons in Malaysia comprised individuals in the“semi-skilled occupation”category,which accounted for more than half (57.7%) of the total employed persons in 2021 or equivalent to 8.7 million persons.