Weekly News Roundup: Dispatches from the Silk Road Economic Belt

19th Party Congress: Overseas assets held by China SOEs exceed S$1.2t

The value of overseas assets held by China's centrally owned enterprises has exceeded 6 trillion yuan (S$1.2 trillion), with investments in more than 185 countries and regions, the state assets regulator said on Wednesday (Oct 18).China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are spearheading investment in infrastructure projects overseas along the ancient Silk Road land and sea trade routes, part of Beijing's signature Belt and Road Initiative.Firms owned by the central government have co-built 1,676 projects with countries along the Belt and Road, the state assets regulator said in a handout ahead of a news conference on the sidelines of the 19th Party Congress in Beijing. (Reuters)

China's CNPC imports first gas from Kazakhstan ahead of winter

Kazakhstan has started supplying gas to China via the Central-Asia China gas pipeline system for the first time, state-owned China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) said on Monday.Commercial gas volumes were sent across the Kazakh-Chinese border on Oct. 13, CNPC said on its website, part of a deal under which Kazakhstan has agreed to send 5 billion cubic meters of gas to China over one year. (Reuters)

Erik Prince Weighing Senate Bid While Tackling Xinjiang Security Challenge

Erik Prince, the former chief of the controversial private security firm Blackwater, is evidently mulling a run for a US Senate seat. At the same time, he is working with China’s government to provide security services in the restive western region of Xinjiang. The boundary between private business and governments has been eroding since the 1970s. Prince’s path clearly represents this process. While potentially wanting to shake up the political status quo in Washington, Prince also is supporting Beijing’s aim of establishing itself as a global economic and political power, and changing Eurasia’s geopolitical balance. (Eurasianet)

Gansu villages benefit from poverty alleviation policies since 18th CPC Congress

Over the past five years, poverty alleviation work has been a major focus of the Communist Party of China (CPC). In 2016, a total of 12.4 million rural people have been lifted out of poverty, and the central government has also promised to do the same for more than 10 million every year. China's experiences in fighting poverty can also be applied worldwide. One prime example is the introduction of industries into rural areas as a means of creating jobs and increasing household income. Global Times

700 China-Europe freight trains to depart Xinjiang in 2017

The year's 500th China-Europe freight train departed Thursday from NW China's Urumqi. 200 more expected. By October, more than 5,000 cargo train trips have been made between Chinese and European cities since the start of the direct rail freight services six years ago, according to China Railway Corporation.(Xinhua)

Attack on workers at key Pakistan port for Chinese project; 26 hurt
Unidentified men threw a grenade into a laborers' hostel in the Pakistani port of Gwadar wounding 26 of them, police said on Friday, in an attack likely to raise concern about security for the Pakistani section of China's "Belt and Road" initiative.There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, one of three on Thursday in the gas-rich southwestern province of Baluchistan, a key section of the plan
for energy and transport links connecting western China with the Middle East and Europe. (reuters)

Stop CPEC now: Baloch leaders to China

On the day the supreme body of the Communist Party of China met for its 19th Congress in Beijing, the Baloch leadership in exile issued a strong warning to China to stop the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPECBSE -4.45 %) or face on the ground consequences. (economictimes)

China Speeds Up Work On $2 Billion Project That India Has Objected To 

China plans to complete a $2 billion hydropower project in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir ahead of schedule, according to state-run media in Beijing.The Karot Hydropower Project is being built on the river Jhelum. Construction began last year. It will be owned by a Chinese firm for 30 years, after which it will be handed over to the Pakistan government.India has consistently opposed China's funding of projects in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir on the grounds that it violates India's territorial sovereignty. (ndtv)

Construction of Moscow-Kazan high-speed railway may be conducted in several stages: Russian Railways
Russian Railways said the China-backed plan to build a 770-kilometer high-speed railway between the Russian cities of Moscow and Kazan may proceed section by section over the weekend. Last week, Russian media reports suggested that Russia might opt to build only one section of the Moscow-Kazan high-speed railway first, from Moscow to Vladimir, a city 200 kilometers east of the Russian capital.Under the current plan, the construction of the Moscow-Vladimir section is proposed to take place under a concession scheme from 2018 to 2023, said Russian Railways, the Russian company behind the project, over the weekend in an e-mail sent to the Global Times. (Global Times)

CENTRAL ASIA 

Four nations meet to resume stalled Afghan peace talks in Oman

Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and the United States met in Oman on 16 October to try to find ways of reviving peace talks with Afghan Taliban militants, two officials in Pakistan’s foreign ministry said. But it was not clear if any Afghan Taliban had joined the talks, which have so far failed to restart a tentative process that collapsed in 2015. Reuters

EIB, Uzbekistan sign co-op agreement

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Uzbekistan have signed a framework agreement in Washington.The EIB will now be able to support public and private sector projects in such areas as public infrastructure, energy and energy efficiency and small business development, podrobno.uz reported. Uzbekistan is the fourth state in Central Asia cooperating with the EIB. Similar agreements have already been signed with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. These signatures were followed by financing in the amount of more than 700 million euros. (Azernews)

Observers see 'significant and numerous' problems at Kyrgyzstan vote
European observers said on Monday there were “numerous and significant procedural problems” during the count in Kyrgyzstan’s presidential vote, but praised the orderly transfer of power in the volatile ex-Soviet state. (Reuters)

Tajikistan announces official register of gay citizens

Authoritarian Tajikistan announced on Tuesday (Oct 17) it had drawn up a register of 367 allegedly gay citizens, suggesting they would be required to undergo testing to avoid "the spread of sexually-transmitted diseases". Details of the move was unveiled in Zakonnost, a newspaper published by Tajikistan's state prosecutor which said the official list of "gay and lesbian" citizens was compiled following research into the LGBT community. (AFP)

Warming Uzbek-Iranian Relations Worth Watching

A recent meeting of officials from Uzbekistan and Iran was a curious event. Central Asia has seen a reshuffling of relations over the past couple years, and improved relations between Tashkent and Tehran is one of the more intriguing developments.Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov led the Uzbek delegation that also included Foreign Trade Minister Elyor Ganiev and Uzbekneftegaz chief Alisher Sultanov. During their October 16-18 visit, members of the Uzbek delegation met with Iranian President Hassan Rohani, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, and Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh. (rferl)

As Tillerson heads to Pakistan, Islamabad wary of deepening U.S.-India ties

As U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson heads to Pakistan on Tuesday to pressure Islamabad to act over militants targeting Afghanistan from its soil, anxious Pakistanis may be equally interested in dissuading Washington’s deepening ties with India. (Reuters)