China's General Administration of Customs (GAC) announced on Friday that it has allowed, effective immediately, the import of Hungarian fresh cherries that meet relevant requirements.
It is part of the achievements during Chinese top leader's state visit to Hungary from Wednesday to Friday, during which the two sides have elevated ties to all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership and reached a number of deals in cooperation involving the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), finance, green development, agriculture, tourism and culture.
As China's imports of fresh cherries jump significantly, it is expected that Hungarian fresh cherries will gradually claim a foothold in the fast-growing Chinese market, an industry insider said.
Last year, China's cherry trade reached 351,200 tons, up 77.69 percent from the reading in 2019, data from Chinese research firm Zhiyan Consultancy showed. Among which, China imported 348,100 tons of fresh cherries. And the country roughly consumes 22.7 percent of the global cherry output in 2022, the world's largest market.
In addition to Hungary, about 11 countries and regions have also obtained quarantines access qualification for cherry exports to China to date, including Chile, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Argentina.
Observers also said the expanding agricultural trade could be a new growth point in driving the overall trade between China and Hungary, who are each other's major trading partners. Currently, China is Hungary's largest trading partner outside of Europe, while Hungary is one of China's main trading partners in the Central and Eastern European region. Hungary is also one of the Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) with the largest number of agricultural product export permits to China.
According to the joint statement on the establishment of an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era released by China and Hungary on Thursday, the two sides recognized the huge potential in agricultural cooperation between them and the sound progress made under the framework of the China-CEEC agricultural cooperation mechanism.
The two sides have vowed to utilize the China-Hungary high-level working group on agriculture and other mechanisms, in order to strengthen economic, trade and investment cooperation between agricultural enterprises of both sides, widen market access, promote the cooperation of "small and beautiful" projects, and strengthen cooperation in areas such as animal health and joint research and development of deep processing technologies for agricultural products.
China's GAC has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on animal and plant quarantine for import and export with Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture during the top leader's visit.
The bilateral trade volume between China and Hungary in 2023 reached $14.52 billion, an increase of 73 percent compared with that in 2013, according to the China-Hungary Investment and Cooperation Report.
Xu Feihong, the newly appointed Chinese ambassador to India, arrived in New Delhi on Friday. With the position vacant for 18 months, the arrival of a new ambassador presents a valuable opportunity for both countries to enhance communication, minimize misunderstandings, and reduce misjudgments, analysts said, noting that Xu's assumption of office is also a positive factor toward fostering the return of bilateral relations to a path of healthy and stable development.
Officials from the Protocol Division of Ministry of External Affairs of India, Dean of Diplomatic Corps, Ambassador of Eritrea to India H.E. Alem Tsehaye Woldemariam and Minister Ma Jia, Minister Wang Lei, Minister Counselor Chen Jianjun from the Chinese Embassy greeted Ambassador Xu and his wife Tan Yuxiu at the airport, according to a release from the Chinese Embassy in India.
Xu is the 17th Chinese ambassador to India. Since former ambassador Sun Weidong left his position, the post of Chinese ambassador to India has been vacant for 18 months, marking the longest vacancy since the restoration of mutual ambassadorial appointments between China and India in 1976.
The official WeChat account of the Chinese Embassy in India published Sun's farewell speech on October 25, 2022. On November 23 of the same year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website announced that Sun, in his capacity as Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, met with Mongolia's ambassador to China.
Xu is a veteran diplomat with experience in several countries. According to the website of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he has served as the deputy director-general of the Department of the European Affairs, the ambassador to Afghanistan, the deputy director-general of the Department of Personnel of the Foreign Ministry, the ambassador to Romania and director of the Department of Service for Foreign Ministry Home and Overseas Offices. From 2021 to 2023, he served as Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Xu's assumption of office as the Chinese ambassador to India has caught attention. Before departing for India, Xu told media about his top priority tasks after taking office, saying that he would adhere to the important consensus between the leaders of the two countries, reach out to friends from all walks of life in India, sincerely enhance mutual understanding and trust, make efforts to restore exchanges and cooperation in various fields, and create favorable conditions for the healthy and stable development of China-India relations. Ambassador Xu's selection from among senior officials of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs highlights China's significant commitment to bilateral relations, Qian Feng, director of the research department at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times on Friday.
Qian also noted that Ambassador Xu's assumption of office coincides with a crucial period in China-Indian relations. India is currently undergoing elections and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed a positive attitude toward China-Indian relations before the elections.
In an interview with Newsweek in April, Modi said that "we need to urgently address the prolonged situation on our borders so that the abnormality in our bilateral interactions can be put behind us." He also noted that stable and peaceful relations between India and China are important for not just the two countries but the entire region and world.
After the Galwan Valley conflict of June 2020, tensions between China and India escalated, and the China-India bilateral relations, which have been influenced by border conflicts, have remained at a relatively low level with multiple destabilizing factors. However, despite ongoing differences, the two countries have maintained dialogue and cooperation mechanisms, including talks between militaries and border negotiations, to prevent confrontations, analysts said.
Ambassador Xu's coming to India will help enhance communication between China and India, reducing misunderstandings and miscalculations, and promote the bilateral relations back to a track of healthy and stable development, said Qian, also urging India to seize the opportunity to work with China and jointly improve bilateral relations.
Chinese researchers have discovered a new species of impatiens in southwest China's Guizhou Province and named it Impatiens beipanjiangensis.
The yellow flowers are described in a paper published in a recent edition of the journal PhytoKeys.
The species is named after the Beipanjiang River Basin in Panzhou City, where a team of botanists first found the specimen in October 2019 during a field survey, said Xu Jian, a member of the team and a researcher with the Guizhou Botanical Garden.
Botanists have so far located about 5,100 plants of the species mostly in the humid valley environment 1,300-1,500 meters above sea level.
The new species, which flowers in October and November, is similar to some other impatiens species in morphology but has significant differences in its sepals, pollen, seed, and other traits, according to researchers.
As the defense chiefs of the US, Australia, Japan and the Philippines are set to meet again in early May in a meeting that is believed to focus on South China Sea issues, Chinese analysts warned on Sunday the quadrilateral clique is unsustainable and bound to show cracks and divisions as their moves will ultimately lead to a deterioration of the Philippines' strategic security environment.
According to Japanese media outlet The Mainichi Shimbun, Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said Friday he is set to hold a meeting with his counterparts from the US, Australia and the Philippines in Hawaii during his visit from May 2 to 4, citing "China's increasing maritime assertiveness" in the Asia-Pacific region.
It will be the second quadrilateral gathering of those defense ministers since June 2023, when the defense chiefs held a meeting in Singapore on the fringes of the annual Asia Security Conference known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, The Mainichi Shimbun reported.
During his regular Friday press conference, Kihara said they will share their understanding of the regional security environment and common challenges, along with discussing measures to improve collaboration among the four countries.
The US Naval Institute (USNI) News reported on Friday that Kihara and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles and Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro are likely to discuss next steps following the joint patrol in the South China Sea earlier this month.
On April 7, the four countries carried out their first full-scale joint naval exercises in the South China Sea, which analysts said was a highly defiant and aggressive muscle-flexing move against China amid the rising tensions between Beijing and Manila.
Chinese analysts predict that during the upcoming quadrilateral defense talks, the main discussions are likely to cover plans for future joint exercises, training, rotational deployment of troops and short-term deployments in the region, with a focus on the South China Sea.
The US is clearly trying to rally its allies - Japan and Australia - to support the Philippines, encourage the Philippines to engage in more military provocations in the South China Sea, exacerbate the complexity of the regional situation, and then find excuses to strengthen the military presence of the US, Japan and Australia in the South China Sea, Wei Dongxu, a Beijing-based military expert and media commentator, told the Global Times on Sunday.
Wei warned that the involvement of external countries and forces in South China Sea issues will only further complicate the situation in the region, and flaunting their military power will not only affect normal regional cooperation but may also lead to conflicts.
But those provocative moves will ultimately lead to a deterioration of the Philippines' strategic security environment. Once the Philippines realizes this, this military clique is bound to show cracks and divisions, Wei said.
It is believed that the Japanese defense minister will voice a tough message on the issues during his visit to Hawaii.
The Mainichi Shimbun, citing government officials, revealed that Kihara is also arranging bilateral and trilateral talks with Austin and Marles.
Within the framework of the "Indo-Pacific Strategy," the US wants to maximize the use of Japan's military forces as a pawn. Therefore, regarding South China Sea issues, Japan's subsequent military actions will become more proactive, more aggressive and may involve more provocations, Wei believes.
Following in the military footsteps of the US, Japan's flaunting of military power and strengthening of its military presence, especially in the hot spots within the South China Sea, will undoubtedly lead to increased distrust from its neighboring countries, Wei said. He also warned that Japan's expanding military ambitions will further exacerbate the escalation of hot-button issues.
China is concerned about Japan's plan to join AUKUS and firmly opposes relevant countries cobbling together exclusive groupings, building bilateral or multilateral military alliances targeting China, creating division and confrontation and stoking bloc confrontation, a spokesperson from China's Ministry of National Defense (MND) said on Thursday.
The remarks were made by Wu Qian, a spokesperson for the MND, in response to recent reports that Japan has officially announced it will join AUKUS, while Canada's Prime Minister is considering increasing submarine deployments and starting negotiations on joining AUKUS.
Wu said that China is gravely concerned. "We firmly oppose relevant countries cobbling together exclusive groupings, building bilateral or multilateral military alliances targeting China, creating division and confrontation and stoking bloc confrontation. The Asia-Pacific is a big stage for peace and development, not a wrestling ground for geopolitical competition," Wu noted.
China is a cooperation partner for all countries, not a challenge to anyone. Disregarding the concerns of regional countries and the international community, the US, UK and Australia have continuously sent signals of AUKUS expansion, which have severely impacted peace and stability in the Asia Pacific. Many regional countries are deeply concerned about it, said Wu.
Wu also responded to the US revamp of its military command in Japan, a move media said will form better coordination and increased deterrence against China.
Wu said that the US-Japan alliance is a product of the Cold War and a bilateral arrangement that should not target third parties or disrupt regional peace and stability. Japan once took the wrong path of militarism, launching aggressive wars and committing serious crimes against humanity, causing profound disasters in the region and the world. Instead of reflecting seriously on its past actions, Japan is once again showing a dangerous trend of military expansion.
In recent times, the US and Japan have intensified military collusion, promoting camp confrontation and using the unfounded "China threat" rhetoric as an excuse to create targeted "small cliques." This goes against the trend of the times and will only make people see more clearly the harmful intentions of the US-Japan alliance toward regional peace and stability, said the spokesperson.
He said China urges relevant countries to stop creating confrontation and hostility, as it will only increase regional tensions and ultimately backfire on themselves.
China's Chang'e-7 mission has selected six intl payloads to carry onboard, based on scientific objectives and engineering feasibility, from seven countries and intl agencies including Egypt/Bahrain, Italy, Russia, Switzerland, Thailand, and the International Lunar Observatory Association.
China is very disappointed with the US decision, emphasizing that the urgency of accepting Palestine as a full member of the UN is now more apparent than ever. China will continue its efforts and play a constructive role to ensure that Palestine enjoys the same rights as all other UN member states, said China's permanent representative to the UN, following the US veto of Palestine's request for full UN membership.
The US stopped the UN from recognizing a Palestinian state by casting a veto in the Security Council on Thursday to deny Palestinians full membership of the world body, Reuters reported.
It vetoed a draft resolution recommending to the 193-member UN General Assembly that "the State of Palestine be admitted to membership" of the UN. Britain and Switzerland abstained, while the remaining 12 council members voted yes, according to the media report.
"Today is a saddening day. The application for Palestine to become a full member of the UN was rejected due to a US veto, crushing the decades-long dreams of the Palestinian people. China is profoundly disappointed with the US decision," said Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the UN.
Independence has been the enduring aspiration of the Palestinian people for generations, and becoming a full UN member is a crucial step in this historical process, Fu noted.
Palestine submitted its application as early as 2011, but due to opposition from certain countries, action by the Security Council was postponed. 13 years have already been long enough, yet these countries still complain that there is not enough time and that action should not be rushed. This argument is insincere. "Now, more than ever, the urgency of accepting Palestine as a full member of the UN is apparent," Fu said.
Deputy US Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood told the council that the US continues to strongly support a two-state solution. This vote does not reflect opposition to Palestinian statehood, but instead is an acknowledgment that it will only come from direct negotiations between the parties, according to the media report.
Certain countries do not support Palestine's membership, claiming that it lacks the capacity to govern a state, a position we cannot agree with, the Chinese diplomat said.
Over the past 13 years, there have been many changes in the situation in Palestine, the most fundamental being the continuous expansion of settlements in the West Bank, which increasingly compresses the living space of Palestine as a nation, eroding the foundation of the two-state solution.
These countries turn a blind eye, adopting an attitude of tacit approval or even encouragement, and now they question Palestine's governance capabilities, which is nothing but a distortion of facts and logic, Fu said.
What is even more unacceptable is that these countries also question whether Palestine meets the qualifications for UN membership as outlined in the UN Charter, implying doubts about Palestine's commitment to peace, Fu noted.
Such accusations are excessively harsh and amount to "pouring salt on the wounds of the Palestinian people," who suffer under occupation—an enormous insult, he said. If opposing Palestine's membership for political reasons, it would be more honest to state this directly rather than using excuses to inflict further harm on the Palestinian people.
The Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas, sharply criticized the US veto, saying in a statement that it was "unfair, immoral, and unjustified, and defies the will of the international community, which strongly supports the State of Palestine obtaining full membership in the UN," CNN reported.
The right of the Palestinian people to statehood is an inalienable national right, beyond dispute and not for trade. Insisting that direct negotiations between Israel and Palestine are a precondition, and claiming that UN membership for Palestine can only be the result of negotiations, are putting the cart before the horse, Fu said.
As Israel increasingly rejects the two-state solution, admitting Palestine as a full member state of the UN would provide it with equal status to Israel and help facilitate the resumption of negotiations. All countries genuinely supporting the two-state solution should not oppose Palestine's full membership in the UN, the Chinese diplomat said.
"We believe that one day, Palestine will enjoy the same rights as all other UN member states, living peacefully alongside Israel as a neighbor. Both the Palestinian and Israeli people will lead secure and happy lives. To hasten this day, China will continue its unremitting efforts and play a constructive role," Fu said.
"History and the peoples of the world will remember this regressive action by the US," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Friday commenting on the US veto.
Despite the US veto, the urgent regional demand for an immediate ceasefire cannot be denied, the basic needs of Gazan civilians for humanitarian aid cannot be denied, and the international community's widespread desire for a just and lasting resolution of the Palestinian issue cannot be denied, the spokesperson said.
Lin further stated that the international community should fully implement the relevant resolutions of the UN General Assembly and Security Council, fully respect the will of the Palestinian people, return to the correct track of the two-state solution, and promptly establish an independent Palestinian state.
Only in this way can peaceful coexistence between Palestine and Israel be achieved, harmony between the Arab and Jewish peoples be fostered, and lasting peace in the Middle East be realized, the spokesperson added.
China has always stood on the side of peace, justice, and conscience in the Palestinian issue. We firmly support Palestine becoming a full member of the UN and will continue to work with relevant parties to quell the fires in Gaza at an early date, alleviate the humanitarian situation, promote the implementation of the two-state solution, and play a constructive role, the spokesperson added.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called on both China and Germany to view and develop bilateral relations from a long-term and strategic perspective, and work together to inject greater stability and certainty into the world. Xi made the remarks during a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who concluded his three-day China visit in Beijing after leading a grand delegation to Chongqing and Shanghai.
Against the backdrop of the EU's subsidy accusations on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) and wind turbines, and the US-initiated "overcapacity" hype, Xi called for viewing the production capacity issue objectively and dialectically. The two leaders also had an in-depth exchange of views on the crisis in Ukraine and other international and regional issues of mutual interest, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
On Tuesday, Xi and Scholz also took a stroll around the grounds of Diaoyutai State Guesthouse amid the mild breeze in the verdant spring, according to media reports.
A friendly atmosphere could be felt throughout Scholz's visit, during which he visited German companies' China plants and had exchanges with students at Tongji University in Shanghai, an institute founded by a German doctor a century ago which has close cooperation with Germany.
Scholz's full and extensive schedule and his remarks on some sensitive topics showed that the German Chancellor has maintained a strategic balance amid pressure from other parties like the EU and the US, said Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at the Renmin University of China.
Always regarding Germany and the EU as partners, China can provide the certainty Germany is in urgent need of as three uncertainties - the Ukraine crisis, US presidential elections and the European Parliament elections, are lingering, Wang told the Global Times on Tuesday.
The positive results of the visit are beyond the expectations of some observers, and Wang also sees the leaders' meeting and Scholz's visit as injecting valuable and much needed positivity into turbulent China-EU relations.
When a populist wind seems to be growing stronger within the EU, leading to biased and combative opinions on China, it is hoped that Germany, after an in-depth engagement with China, will continue to lead the rational voices inside the EU, analysts said.
Supply chain
During the Tuesday meeting, Xi noted that the industrial and supply chains of China and Germany are deeply intertwined and the markets of the two countries are highly interdependent. The mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Germany is not a "risk," but a guarantee for the stability of bilateral relations and an opportunity for the future, Xi said.
The two countries have huge potential for win-win cooperation in both traditional fields such as machinery manufacturing and automobiles and emerging fields including green transformation and digital artificial intelligence, Xi noted.
The two sides should carry forward the distinctive characteristics of mutual benefit and win-win outcomes and achieve mutual success, Xi said, adding that China's exports of electric vehicles, lithium batteries and photovoltaic products have not only enriched global supply and alleviated global inflationary pressure, but also contributed greatly to the global response to climate change and to a green and low-carbon transformation.
Noting that both China and Germany depend heavily on industry and support free trade and economic globalization, Xi said the two sides should be vigilant against rising protectionism, look at the issue of production capacity objectively and dialectically from a market-oriented and global perspective, adhere to economic principles and foster further cooperation, Xinhua reported.
For his part, Scholz said that through his visit in the past days, he was impressed by China's development achievements and the close, sound cooperation between German and Chinese companies.
Germany is willing to continue to strengthen the relationship with China, deepen bilateral dialogue and cooperation in various fields, promote people-to-people exchanges in such areas as education and culture, which is important for both countries and the world at large, he said.
Germany opposes protectionism and supports free trade. As an important member of the EU, Germany is willing to play an active role in promoting the good development of EU-China relations, Scholz said.
On Tuesday, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and the German chancellor jointly attended the Symposium of the China-Germany Economic Advisory Committee in Beijing with about 20 entrepreneurs from the two countries.
Li stressed that the Chinese government is willing to work with the German government to provide more policy support to make cooperation between the two sides smoother and more efficient, and to promote the sustained, stable and healthy development of economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.
Germany has been China's largest trading partner in Europe for 49 consecutive years, while China has been Germany's largest global trading partner for eight consecutive years.
Sun Yanhong, a senior research fellow at the Institute of European Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday that the grand delegation fully demonstrates the great importance Germany attaches to China.
In regard to the thorny EV issue, Wang said that Scholz, after visiting Chinese plants, could better understand that the competitiveness of the Chinese EV industry does not come from "subsidies," but infrastructure, affordable energy and technological innovation.
Imposing punitive tariffs would be lose-lose; China and Germany should focus on how make the cake bigger rather than how to cut it, said He Weiwen, a senior fellow from the Center for China and Globalization. "If China and Germany can cooperate on the EV sector, that is to say realizing benign competition, it would stimulate the sluggish global economy."
Sun underlined the potential in cooperation on green transformation in a broader sense, such as AI and self-driving, and smart manufacturing.
As the world's second- and third-largest economies, China and Germany have a global responsibility to smoothen cooperation and contribute to the stability of global supply and industrial chains, Sun said.
Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder of Germany-based political and economic think tank the Schiller Institute, told the Global Times in an earlier interview that for an export economy like Germany, it would be "suicidal" to follow these calls for "de-risking."
Promoting peace
Amid major geopolitical tensions and flashpoints, analysts stressed that although China and Germany have different systems, cultures and ideologies, their communication and coordination are crucial for retaining geopolitical stability to the utmost and promoting global peace.
On the lingering Ukraine crisis which has brought Europe heavy losses, Xi proposed four principles to prevent crisis from spiraling out of control and to restore peace at an early date.
"First, we should prioritize the upholding of peace and stability and refrain from seeking selfish gains. Second, we should cool down the situation and not add fuel to the fire. Third, we need to create conditions for the restoration of peace and refrain from further exacerbating tensions. Fourth, we should reduce the negative impact on the world economy and refrain from undermining the stability of global industrial and supply chains," Xi said.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said Tuesday that China and Germany are committed to upholding the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, including the maintenance of sovereignty and territorial integrity. This is the necessary foundation for a sustainable security architecture and should be respected.
China and Germany encourage and support efforts to seek a political solution for peace in Ukraine and are willing to maintain close and active communication on the upcoming high-level meeting in Switzerland and other relevant international events in the future, Lin said.
China and Germany jointly call for: opposition to the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons; opposition to attacks on nuclear power plants and other peaceful nuclear facilities; proper resolution of international food security issues, contributing to ensuring global food security without hindering food production and exports; compliance with international humanitarian law, protection of civilians, early mutual release of prisoners of war, and respect for the basic rights of prisoners of war, the spokesperson noted.
The issue has been a major obstacle to China-Germany and China-EU relations, causing political mistrust, therefore Sun believes that President Xi's proposals can better dispel misunderstandings on China's stance and consolidate the common ground, particularly not using nuclear weapons.
High energy prices due to the crisis could continue to drag the German economy while a possible return of Donald Trump to the US presidency could lead to new tension in the transatlantic relationship, analysts said. The urgent task is to minimize the impact of geopolitical tensions and uncertainties, not seeding more confrontation or hostility, they said.
Xi and Scholz on Tuesday also exchanged views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and other international and regional issues of common concern.
Scholz said that Germany is willing to enhance communication and coordination with China, jointly address global challenges such as climate change, and is committed to upholding the multilateral international order, promoting world peace and development, and opposes confrontation.
