Weekly News Roundup: Dispatches from the Silk Road Economic Belt

Xinjiang offers stable jobs for poor people
State-owned enterprises in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region will provide more than 10,000 jobs to poor residents in two southern prefectures. Nearly 80,000 people in Kashgar and Hotan prefectures, which face pressure to eradicate poverty as part of a national campaign, have applied for the vacancies, according to the regional human resources and social security department. The applicants, aged between 18 and 45, should be able to use Mandarin and have basic working skills. Couples are welcomed.

Why the Communist Party has created a new bureau for Xinjiang

The ruling Communist Party of China has created a new bureau to improve intelligence and policy coordination in Xinjiang, the vast western region that has been placed under what many see as increasing police surveillance and intrusive social control. The new bureau for Xinjiang, an area larger than France, Spain and Germany combined in northwest China, has been placed under the Central United Front Work Department, a party organ whose main duty is to court elites outside the party to ensure of their political loyalty. SCMP

Xinjiang reports robust foreign trade growth in Q1

The foreign trade of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region surpassed 4.8 billion US dollars in Q1, up more than 65 percent year-on-year. Exports during the period reached 4.1 billion US dollars, expanding 64.5 percent from a year ago, and imports increased 72.4 percent, according to Urumqi customs. Xinjiang's trade with Russia, Mongolia, Pakistan and five Central Asian countries along the Belt and Road accounted for more than 66 percent of the region's foreign trade. Its trade with Kazakhstan was nearly doubled the number in Q1 last year. (Global Times)

Ancient border city gets glimpse of prosperity under ‘B&R’ initiativeThe remote city of Horgos in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region was once little more than a small stop for merchant caravans on the ancient Silk Road. Centuries later, China intends to resurrect the city's past by making it a major outpost along the Silk Road Economic Belt, part of the country's "One Belt and One Road" initiative. The city, located on the China-Kazakhstan border, has benefited from the association. Rapid development fueled by infrastructure investment has transformed the city, creating new opportunities for its residents. Today, freight trains carrying Chinese-made goods such as clothing, electronics and construction materials run by way of Horgos from Lianyungang, Jiangsu to Central Asia. A highway connecting Lianyungang and Horgos opened in 2014. (Global Times)

China has a 'vested interest' in the resolution of Kashmir dispute: Chinese daily

China's state-run daily Global Times in a column published on Monday highlighted Beijing's "vested interest" in the resolution of the Kashmir dispute between Pakistan and India due to its massive investment in the One Belt, One Road initiative in the region. The column says that although China has "always adhered to the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries," it can no long turn a "deaf ear to the demands of Chinese enterprises in protecting their overseas investments." (Dawn)

Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev will pay his first state visit to China in mid-May

Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev will pay his first state visit to China in mid-May, the official Jahon information agency reported. The forthcoming visit should open a new page in the relations between the two countries. As the Uzbek First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Javlon Vahabov said, the anticipated outcomes of the visit can be judged by a remarkable package of documents projected to be inked in China. The program of the visit includes negotiations with Chinese President Xi Jinping, members of the State Council of China, and chiefs of leading enterprises and major financial and economic bodies of China, Vahabov said. . According to the Ministry of Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan, in 2016 the trade turnover between the two countries amounted to more than $4.7 billion. In the first quarter of 2017, the figure stood at $1.2 billion. Today, Uzbekistan is home to 704 enterprises with Chinese investments, including 88 with 100% Chinese capital.(The Times of Central Asia)

China Developing New High-Speed Trains for Export
China is developing new high-speed trains with a maximum speed of 400 kilometers per hour with an eye on exporting them to countries taking part in the One Belt, One Road initiative. The trains will incorporate new materials such as carbon fiber and aluminum alloys to reduce weight and increase efficiency, the official China Daily reported, citing an engineer at a unit of the country’s top railway vehicle maker, China Railway Rolling Stock Corp. The trains should be ready by 2020 to help build out the country’s high-speed rail network, the world’s largest, Bloomberg reported Wednesday (Caixin)

Capital markets to support the B&R: government official

A government official said on Friday that qualified enterprises are encouraged to seek a listing on China's A-share markets in order to meet the cash needs of major projects under the One Belt and One Road (B&R) initiative. The government should leverage domestic and overseas markets and encourage local firms to raise funds from offshore markets in order to invest in the B&R initiative, Fang Xinghai, vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, was quoted as saying by a report from cs.com.cn on Friday. (Global Times)

Xi Jinping's pet project will have some successes but its ultimate goal could be a stretch too far

My own view is that the BRI will unquestionably live up to some of its expectations. It is financed by a $40 billion Silk Road Fund, backed by the China Investment Corporation, China's sovereign wealth fund, China's three policy development banks and the State Administration for Foreign Exchange. Yet, away from the marketing pitch, we do not really know the main purpose of the BRI. In terms of potential size, it is much bigger than the U.S. Marshall Plan at the end of World War II, which amounted to about $130 billion in today's money. But this begs the key question: is the BRI a Eurasian economic development project? Or is it primarily a Chinese foreign policy and international relations project designed mainly to benefit China? (Nikkei)

China Repeats West's Mistakes in Pakistan

Decades of foreign support have only further entrenched the military at the center of not just Pakistan’s state, but its economy and society.Pakistan is noisy and disputatious enough to make Chinese planners wonder whether the army might not make a better partner than the civilian government or the private sector. Already, CPEC has exacerbated civil-military disputes in a country that saw its first peaceful democratic transfer of power only a few years ago. Military organizations have begun much of the corridor’s work, especially road-building. CPEC was at the top of the agenda when Pakistan’s army chief visited Beijing last month. And the army has cited the task of securing the corridor as an excuse to raise an entire new division of nine battalions and six “civil wings.” (Bloomberg)

Credit Suisse Says China Belt-Road Plan May Top $500 Billion
China could pour more than half a trillion dollars into its Belt and Road Initiative, and the push for greater global influence looks even more promising with U.S. President Donald Trump pulling back from engagement, according to Credit Suisse Group AG.The plan could funnel investments worth $313 billion to $502 billion into 62 Belt-Road countries over the next five years, Hong Kong-based analyst Shen Hu wrote in a report Tuesday. In Africa, China may may make additional investments of as much as $79 billion in 13 countries, she said. Most funds may flow into India, Russia, Indonesia, Iran, Egypt, the Philippines and Pakistan, Shen and other analysts said. (Bloomberg)

China stresses security needs for new Silk Road initiative

China's ambitious initiative to generate economic prosperity by building a new Silk Road will depend on the countries involved ensuring strong security, the country's top policemen said, ahead of a summit to discuss President Xi Jinping's pet project.Speaking at a security dialogue on the new Silk Road, domestic security chief Meng Jianzhu said the plan could only advance if there is a secure and stable environment, the Public Security Ministry said late on Thursday.(Strait Times)

City on the edge of Gobi Desert is China’s smartest

At the end of March, it was estimated that more than 500 mainland cities, including 95 per cent of provincial capitals and 83 per cent of designated prefecture-level cities, are set to be transformed into smart cities. The size of this initiative likely dwarfs any similar undertaking around the world. Leading this ambitious effort is the city of Yinchuan (銀川), a community of two million people on the western end of the Great Wall of China near the Gobi Desert in Ningxia. (Scmp

China faces resistance to a cherished theme of its foreign policy

The scheme is running into three linked problems. First, it is unclear what its priorities are, or who is running it. “We haven’t really come up with a specific goal,” says Zou Tongxuan of Beijing International Studies University. Every province has its own belt-and-road investment plan. So do hundreds of state-owned firms. The government’s strong backing has helped to get many projects up and running faster than might have happened otherwise (Mr Xi first began to talk about the idea only in 2013). But no one is in day-to-day charge, so thousands of financially dubious schemes have the imprimatur of a belt-and-road project. (Economist)


One Silk Road, one dream
Uzbek young man Munisov Zarkamol lived in Samarkand, a 3,000-year-old city nicknamed the "Pearl of the Orient" on the ancient Silk Road.From childhood, Zarkamol has been obsessed with China and the Chinese culture thanks to his mother. After studying day and night for almost a decade, he got enrolled at Samarkand State Institute of Foreign Languages in 2011 and chose the Chinese language as his major.The learning process was not easy. Zarkamol remembered that he couldn't tell the difference between two Chinese characters with similar sounds in his first listening class. However, after years of patient tutoring by his Chinese teachers, he managed to conquer the language obstacles one by one.(Xinhua)

CENTRAL ASIA

In Central Asia, Strategic Partnerships Growing Ascendant
It takes three separate diplomatic efforts for three countries to sign three bilateral strategic partnership agreements. That is exactly what happened over the past four years in Central Asia: first Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan signed a strategic partnership in June 2013; then Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan concluded one during Uzbekistani President Shavkat Mirziyaev’s first foreign trip to Turkmenistan on March 6, 2017; and a little over a month later, the latest agreement was signed between Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan (Tengri News, June 14, 2013; Gazeta.uz, March 6, 2017; Tengri News, April 18). Cumulatively, these two-way agreements have led to the emergence of a Central Asian strategic triangle—a first for the region (Kun.uz, April 22). What exactly does it mean for these countries to have elevated their cooperation to the strategic level, and why did they take such a step at this time? (Jamestown Foundation)

Trump to Cut Foreign Aid Budgets, Opening South and Central Asia’s Door to Chinese Influence
It looks like U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s plan to reduce the foreign aid budget will come at a cost to his administration’s other aims in South and Central Asia.Some of the cuts come as no surprise as they target programs, like climate change, that the president came into office determined to roll back. But others will undermine stated administration priorities, such as regional counterterrorism and cooperation with India.The proposed budget will end funding completely for four strategically located countries in this region, and shrink health funding by half region-wide. The proposed budget will also eliminate two categories of aid, one known as Development Assistance and one called Assistance for Europe, Eurasia, and Central Asia (AEECA), instead using the Economic Support Fund (ESF) category as a preferred vehicle for the countries in which U.S. aid will continue. (Cfr)

Turkmenistan: Death and Corruption at the Top of the Tree

Occupying high office in Turkmenistan is never a comfortable affair, but this has been an especially bad week. On May 3, the 51-year old deputy prime minister for industry Batyr Ereshov suddenly dropped dead from unknown causes. The following day, the president fired General Prosecutor Amanmyrat Halliyev and another ten more junior prosecutors amid accusations that they were taking bribes. Ereshov’s sudden death has sparked much murmuring and gossip. He was one of Turkmenistan’s more visible political figures and had never appeared superficially to be in any ill-health. But official media did not dwell on the causes of death, limiting themselves instead to dry obituaries listing his achievements. (Eurasianet)