Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted some 5,000 delegates from across the globe at a Belt and Road Forum in Beijing last week to discuss his signature infrastructure project, which began in 2013 to rebuild ancient trading routes across Eurasia. This year's gathering eschewed the ...
Xi tells summit that China's 'Belt and Road' initiative must be green and sustainable
China's "Belt and Road" initiative must be green and sustainable, President Xi Jinping said at the opening of a summit on his grand plan on Friday, adding that the massive infrastructure and trade plan should result in "high quality" growth for everyone. Xi's plan to ...
Asian Development Bank sees growth in continent's developing countries slowing to 5.7% in 2019
The Asian Development Bank said Wednesday that growth in developing Asia will slow to 5.7 percent this year, down from 5.9 percent in 2018, due to slowing global demand and persistent trade tensions. In its Asian Development Outlook 2019 report, the bank said growth in ...
Japan targets more coordination with firms and NGOs to get most out of development aid
Japan will join with private companies and nongovernmental organizations to make more efficient and effective use of official development assistance, one of Tokyo's key diplomatic pillars, according to a white paper released by the Foreign Ministry on Friday. The annual report on development cooperation reflects ...
Spies and satellites: Analyzing North Korea's economy isn't easy
As informal markets and budding entrepreneurs rise to fill more of the void left by failed state-owned enterprises in North Korea, analysts outside the notoriously secretive country are finding it even more tricky to measure its economy. That is the message from Cho Tae-hyoung, the ...
Nature-short Bangkok debates whether to turn 'last' big green space into park or mall
The fate of a large green space in the middle of one of the world's most built-up cities is pitting communities and conservationists against developers and cash-strapped authorities — a type of battle that is increasingly common in Asia. The Makkasan area in central Bangkok, ...
With the G20 facing numerous challenges, do the summit's engagement groups have the answers?
In the run-up to the Group of Twenty Leaders’ Summit in Osaka in late June, several related meetings of what are known as engagement groups are scheduled to take place in Tokyo and around the country. One of the more influential engagement groups is ...
Hong Kong's government says it needs to build billions of dollars' worth of artificial islands to give the city's glittering skyline room to grow, but critics say developers are hoarding unused land that could solve the problem. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam estimates the ...
Brazil's 'Chicago Oldies' team aims to revive Pinochet-era economic playbook
Brazil's new Economy Minister Paulo Guedes worked in Chile 40 years ago after earning his doctorate at the University of Chicago, giving him a front-row seat to dictator Augusto Pinochet's economic shock treatment. Even as Pinochet's authoritarian regime left a brutal human rights legacy — ...
Will future mega-cities be a marvel or a mess? Look at New Delhi
Focus Jill Ward The effects of unbridled urbanization are inescapable in India's capital city. Smog blankets landmarks such as India Gate in winter and delays flights at the airport due to poor visibility. Traffic jams are part of the daily routine. Slums abut New Delhi's luxury ...
Hundreds of millions of children and adults in Asia's rapidly expanding cities are undernourished, and will remain so without "inclusive, sustainable and nutrition-sensitive" urban planning, United Nations officials said Friday. The Asia-Pacific region has the world's highest rate of urbanization and is home to more ...
Japan to discontinue development assistance projects for China: Taro Kono
The government has decided to end its 40-year official development assistance projects as the need for aid has receded with the growth of the Chinese economy.
