Weekly News Roundup: Dispatches from the Silk Road Economic Belt

China invested about $14.5B in BeltandRoad countries last year, 8.5% of the country's total overseas investment
Song Lihong, an inspector at the Comprehensive Department of the Ministry ofCommerce, said China has already signed agreements to cooperate with 14 countries stretchingfrom Asia to Europe. It has also built 56 trade parks in more than 20 countries. Last year, China's trade volume with countries along the Belt and Road reached 6.3 trillion yuan ($917 billion). A large number of infrastructure projects are either operating or underconstruction. (Xinhua)

Lanzhou moots diverting water from Baikal

Officials in China's arid northwest are thinking outside the box when it comes to suggesting solutions to the region's water problems. Urban planning authorities in Lanzhou, Northwest China's Gansu Province, have put together a proposal to divert water from the world's oldest and deepest freshwater body in Russia to alleviate local water shortages. The lake holds one-fifth of global surface fresh water. According to a statement from Lanzhou Urban & Rural Planning and Design Institute, since China has reached an agreement with Russia to construct a highway network and a gas pipeline, the institute is suggesting that it would not be too difficult to build a water pipeline from Lake Baikal. (GlobalTimes)

What Chinese Soft Power in the Middle East Reveals About Beijing’s Ambitions
Celebrations of the Chinese New Year late last month in many Arab countries showed the scale of China’s soft power in the Middle East, which is becoming an increasingly popular destination for Chinese tourists. The region is a testing ground for how soft power fits into China’s evolving economic agenda. (World Politics Review)

Faster train route links NW China logistics hub to Kazakhstan. Travel time shortened by almost 25% to 30 hours

A freight train on Saturday left a major logistics center in northwestern Chinese city of Urumqi for Kazakhstan's Almaty on a new route. Carrying auto parts, clothing, and household goods, the train crossed the China-Kazakhstan border at Xinjiang Autonomous Region's Horgos instead of Alataw Pass on the old route. Travel time between Urumqi and Almaty is shortened by almost 25 percent to 30 hours. Nan Jun, a manager with Urumqi Railway Bureau's international logistics company, said the new route also links countries like Iran and Turkey, beyond Central Asia. Xinjiang handled the passage of 223 freight trains from China to Europe last year and aims to more than double that figure to 500 in 2017. (Xinhua)

Cargo train services launched between China’s Xi'an, Uzbekistan, cutting delivery time from one month to 15-18 days
Cargo train services have begun between Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, and Uzbekistan. A train carrying 1,000 tonnes of cotton yarn in 41 carriages arrived on Friday at Xinzhu station in Xi'an from Tashkent, said an official with Xi'an railway bureau.

The new route has cut the delivery time from one month to 15 to 18 days. (Xinhua)

Top-10 major projects planned to be implemented in Kyrgyzstan by Chinese investments (Akipress)

China cotton growers fear cuts in vital subsidies

Chewing on mutton and sipping baiju -- a typical meal in China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region -- a group of weathered farmers eagerly discusses a familiar topic: the size of this season's cotton subsidy. "If there is no subsidy, it won't be possible to grow cotton," said Cheng Jinyu, who has been farming cotton for more than two decades. The neighbouring farmers nodded. Nikkei

Chinese city in restive Xinjiang offers huge rewards for anti-terror tips

Authorities in Xinjiang are offering 100 million yuan (US$14.5 million) in rewards for anti-terror tips, state media said, a policy that coincides with a dramatic rise in regional security spending. (Scmp)

China Cracks Down on Xinjiang's Christians in 'Anti-Terror' Campaign

Chinese authorities in the restive northwestern region of Xinjiang have banned all Christian activities not linked to state-approved churches, launching a regionwide crackdown on unofficial worship in the name of "anti-terrorism" measures, RFA has learned.Underground Catholic churches and Protestant house churches have been warned to halt all activity throughout the region, a religious affairs official confirmed on Thursday. (RFA)

Amazing China: In Kashgar, ancient trade route brews their cup of tea

Every morning at 9:30, 50-year-old teahouse owner Mamet Osman opens the door of Ostang Boi, and welcomes the day's first customers, most of whom are old folks, just like his ancestors did a century ago.Located in Kashgar City, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Ostang Boi is known for brewing various kinds of tea not only from across the country but also from worldwide, including fruit tea from Germany and Iran, and Turkish black tea. (Xinhua)

China believes domestic tourism can promote “ethnic unity”

YAKS graze on grassland near the turquoise waters of Karakul, a lake in the far western region of Xinjiang. Further south, towards the border with Pakistan, the imposing walls of a ruined hilltop fort at Tashkurgan mark a stop on the ancient Silk Road (see map). With such a rich landscape and history this region should be a magnet for Chinese tourists. Instead the area that accounts for more than one-sixth of China’s land mass is better known for violent unrest. The picturesque charms of the lake and fort can be enjoyed in near solitude. (TheEconomist)

EU probe threatens landmark China-Hungary rail project: Failure to follow 

EU procurement rules in a Chinese railway project that aims to link Belgrade and Budapest could become a setback for both China and Hungary’s economic and geopolitical ambitions in the region, experts say. The case also serves as a reminder for China about risks it needs to manage when building its new Silk Road trade routes from Asia to Europe and Africa. The Financial Times reported on 20 February that the European Commission was investigating the US$2.89bn Belgrade-Budapest rail project which has been agreed by Hungary, Serbia and China. (GBTimes)

Turkey abandons Chinese missiles, says it's ready to buy Russian
Senior Turkish officials say that Russia is now the leading contender in its seemingly never-ending competition to pick a multi-billion-dollar air defense system. The news will surely come as an annoyance to Turkey's NATO partners, which may be precisely the point, some analysts say.
To review: in 2013, Turkey surprised everyone by choosing a Chinese system for its multibillion dollar T-LORAMIDS air defense program, but after its NATO partners strongly objected, Ankara eventually abandoned the procurement and in 2015 announced that it would instead work on building the system in Turkey. (Eurasianet)

Russia Sells S-400 Complexes to China: Smart Move or a Mixed Blessing?
Russia’s S-400 Triumf (NATO classification: SA-21 Growler) air-defense weapons system appears to be generating ever greater interest among a number of potential customers around the world, including China, India, Turkey and Vietnam. For the time being, this fact is widely acclaimed in Russia. But how long will the positive excitement last?

Economic cooperation with Russia to expand

Bilateral trade between China and Russia will continue to increase in 2017 and both countries are beefing up efforts to strengthen strategic cooperation in sectors including energy resources, aerospace and cross-border infrastructure, a senior Chinese official noted on 21 February. "Economic and trade ties between China and Russia are a vital economic foundation of the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries, and with increasing practical cooperation, the prospects for bilateral ties are bright," Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng told the Global Times at a press conference in Beijing. China's investment into Russia has so far amounted to $42 billion, making China to be Russia's fourth-largest investment source country, according to Gao. (GlobalTimes)

Mystery deepens over Chinese forces in Afghanistan 

A mystery over recent sightings of Chinese military vehicles patrolling inside Afghanistan deepened last week as Beijing denied its troops were in Afghanistan but confirmed it was undertaking “joint counter-terrorism operations” with Kabul. Sample the FT’s top stories for a week You select the topic, we deliver the news. Select topic Enter email addressInvalid email Sign up By signing up you confirm that you have read and agree to the terms and conditions, cookie policy and privacy policy. The disclosure comes as China steps up its involvement with its western neighbour amid a gradual withdrawal by US forces from the war-ravaged country. (FT)

Afghanistan Struggles to Access China’s New Silk Road
A new railway between China and Afghanistan, part of Beijing’s Silk Road initiative to promote regional trade, has run into roadblocks in Uzbekistan, apparently over fears that it could also benefit terrorists. The first freight train on the Sino-Afghan Special Transportation Railway departed the Yangtze River port of Nantong on Aug. 25 and arrived in the Afghan river port of Hairatan two weeks later. Chinese state media said the cargo link would boost economic cooperation as the ancient caravan routes once did. (WSJ)


CENTRAL ASIA

Kyrgyzstan: Opposition Leader Arrested Over Claimed Corruption

Authorities in Kyrgyzstan are threatening to spark a political crisis with their shock arrest of a prominent opposition leader. Ata-Meken party leader Omurbek Tekebayev was held by police as soon as he flew into the capital, Bishkek, in the early hours of February 26. Dozens of his supporters demonstrated outside Manas airport and some were later detained. Large numbers of police with riot gear were deployed to the terminal to contain any possible outbtreaks of protest. As well as Tekebayev supporters, police at one stage also detained a reporter with RFE/RL's Kyrgyz service, Ulanbek Egizbaev, and a member of parliament with Ata-Meken, Kanybek Imanaliyev. (Eurasianet)

Kazakhstan Embarks on Constitutional Reform Amid Uncertain Times
Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev surprised his fellow citizens and international observers alike when he announced, on January 11, the establishment of a special commission to elaborate wide-ranging constitutional reform. It had been less than two months since Nazarbayev spoke to a group of Western journalists in Astana about his potential succession. At the time, the president joked that he would stay in power as long as his health permitted and for as long as he enjoyed the trust of the population, before inviting his foreign guests to come back for his next inauguration. (Jamestown Foundation)

Iran plans to buy Kazakh uranium ore, seek Russia help to make nuclear fuel
Iran plans to buy 950 tonnes of uranium ore from Kazakhstan over three years and expects to get Russian help in producing nuclear fuel, its top nuclear official said in remarks published on Saturday.
The acquisition would not violate Iran's landmark 2015 deal with world powers over its disputed nuclear program as the deal did not set limits on the Islamic Republic's supplies of uranium ore. The report by the Iranian Students' News Agency ISNA comes a day after the U.N. atomic watchdog said Iran's official stock of enriched uranium had fallen by half after large amounts stuck in pipes was recategorised as unrecoverable under a process agreed with the major powers. (Reuters)