“So China and Pakistan are willing to look at with Afghanistan, on the basis of win-win, mutually beneficial principles, using an appropriate means to extend the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to Afghanistan,” the agency quotes Wang as saying.

Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have been strained since Pakistan's independence in 1947 with China trying to promote talks between the parties. In recent years, the task has been even more complicated as Afghanistan accused its neighbor of supporting Taliban insurgents fighting the US-backed government in Kabul to restrict India's influence in the country. Pakistan has denied the allegations.

It is important for Afghanistan to join the inter-connectivity initiatives as it is a vital necessity to improve its people’s lives, according to Wang Yi, who said Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to mend their uneasy relations.

“The successful implementation of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects will serve as a model for enhancing connectivity and cooperation through similar projects with neighboring countries, including Afghanistan, Iran and with Central and West Asia,” said Pakistani Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif.

The Indian authorities are reportedly wary of the project due to its long-time row with Pakistan over Kashmir. New Delhi sees Pakistan-administered Kashmir as its own territory. However, the plan has nothing to do with territorial disputes, according to Wang.

Beijing has been looking to bring Kabul and Islamabad together, partly because of rising concerns over the potential expansion of Islamist militancy from Pakistan and Afghanistan to the Chinese far-western region of Xinjiang, which is engulfed in a separatist conflict.

The Special Envoy Ambassador will manage efforts from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Finance, and will join the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, being responsible for signing multilateral tax treaties and introducing standards to eliminate tax evasion measures such as base erosion and profit shifting.

Under the three-year-arrangement with IMF, Government decided to increase income taxes of individuals with a monthly salary of more than MNT1.5 million progressively to 15, 20, 25 percent. “This is a huge blow to mining workers who do labor-intensive work at night”, said Kh.Buyanjargal, head of MTUEGMW.

“Average salary of a mining worker is MNT 2.3 million. This includes field allowances, overtime wages and a bonus for non-standard working conditions. What’s more, we spend 8 months away from our homes and families. For these reasons we can not accept the increase on income tax.”

G.Bayarmaa, Head of Labor Union at Oyutolgoi company said, “The revised law on Personal Income Tax involves 80 percent of employees working in mining industry (37,256 people) , 46 percent of employees working in energy industry (7,360 people). Developed countries like USA and Germany have progressive tax policies that distinguish between single workers and workers with families. For example, US mining worker that has a family pays 15 percent income tax. Our authorities trying to make all workers pay high taxes. Instead, they should seek other ways to improve the economy, like cutting redundant costs.” 
O.Onon

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $58.52 a barrel at 0650 GMT, up 5 cents from their last settlement.

Brent crude futures LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $65.25 a barrel, unchanged from their last close, but near the $65.83 per barrel briefly on Dec. 12 - the highest since June 2015.

Trading activity was extremely low on Tuesday due to the ongoing Christmas holiday in many countries.

Brent has risen by 47 percent since mid-2017. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the Middle East-dominated producer club, and Russia - the world’s single biggest oil producer - have been withholding output in order to tighten the market and prop up prices.

The agreement to cut started last January and is set to cover all of 2018.

Jabar al-Luaibi, oil minister of OPEC-member Iraq, said on Monday there would be a balance between supply and demand by the first quarter of 2018, leading to a boost in oil prices.

“During the first quarter of next year there will be more balance between supply and demand, which will reflect positively on improving global oil prices,” he said.

The production cuts come amid healthy global demand, which many analysts expect to hit 100 million barrels per day (bpd) for the first time at some point next year or in 2019.

Jeffrey Halley of futures brokerage Oanda in Singapore said oil prices were “making slow but steady gains on optimism about the global economy in 2018”.

Potentially keeping a lid on prices is the expected return of the Forties pipeline system in the North Sea, which can supply up to 450,000 bpd of crude underpinning Brent futures.

The pipeline shut down earlier in December due to a crack, but operator Ineos said the system was being tested following repairs and full flows should return in early January.

In the longer term, OPEC and Russia efforts to prop up prices could be undermined by U.S. production C-OUT-T-EIA, which has soared by more than 16 percent since mid-2016, to almost 10 million bpd.

Only OPEC king-pin Saudi Arabia and Russia produce more, but the United States is fast catching up, largely thanks to shale drillers.

The U.S. rig count RIG-OL-USA-BHI, an early indicator of future output, held at 747 in the week to Dec. 22, according to the latest weekly report by Baker Hughes. That’s much higher than a year ago, when only 523 rigs were active, and most analysts expect U.S. output to rise past 10 million bpd within weeks.

The smelter received the order on Monday evening to stop production for at least a week before a further assessment based on local pollution levels, the official said, asking not to be identified because of company rules. The firm, which has 1.02 million metric tons of annual capacity in the southeastern province, remains in talks with the government to halt only smelting and not refining operations to minimize losses, according to the official.

China is intensifying its campaign against air pollution by extending its winter manufacturing curbs in 28 northern cities to other provinces. Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group Co., the nation’s second-largest copper producer, said earlier this month that it’s halting as much as 30 percent of smelting capacity at its main production hub in the eastern province of Anhui after a similar order.

Calls to the Jiangxi provincial government and environmental protection bureau weren’t answered Tuesday. The cuts come as China’s smelters plan to resume talks with overseas miners on 2018 processing fees next month. The output curbs would reduce smelters’ demand for concentrate and support their position in the annual negotiations.

Copper on the Shanghai Futures Exchange surged as much as 0.8 percent to 55,160 yuan a ton before trading at 55,080 yuan as of 1:50 p.m., extending gains from the the highest close in two months on the prospect of improving global demand amid supply constraints.

About 40 firms, including major electronics makers, took part in the event held on Monday and Tuesday. A council of Japanese business organizations for the 2020 games sponsored the event.

Fujitsu presented an ID card-sized translation device that can be worn by users. It weighs only 65 grams and gives translations between Japanese and English or Chinese.

Officials showed how the device can be used. A woman pretending to be ill explained her symptoms in Chinese, and her comments were translated into Japanese by the device.

The Japanese electronics firm also exhibited a device for people with hearing impairment. It allows them feel applause through vibrations. The device can be worn like a hairpin.

Another electronics maker, Panasonic, displayed an electric wheelchair. The wheelchair is equipped with a sensor and stops automatically when it detects obstacles. The wheelchair still needs some manual operation. But the company hopes to put a version with a self-driving system into use at Tokyo's Haneda airport as early as the next fiscal year starting in April.

Noriaki Murai of the business council said that in the spirit of the 2020 Games, he hopes to see products developed that are helpful to people.

Chaired by Chairman of the FRC S.Davaasuren this time the council discussed review of non-bank financial sector and a research work report themed 'Trading stocks of domestic commercial banks to public through the Mongolian Stock Exchange’ conducted by independant research team. 

The Financial Stability Council’s activities are targeted to ensuring stability of financial system, preventing from possible risks, and analyzing occurred risks and to making decisions and taking measures within the council members' rights and responsibilities. 

Moreover the Financial Stability Council regularly get informed and exchanges information as well as submit recommendations to the parliament if necessary.

Faucette is referring to a list of online retailers who accept bitcoin. The table is titled "Virtually no acceptance and shrinking" and shows the data.

Bitcoin is not like a currency because there is no interest rate associated with bitcoin, the analyst wrote.

It's not like gold either, as it doesn’t have any intrinsic use like gold.

According to Faucette, bitcoin is tiny compared to traditional financial instruments.

“Bitcoin average daily trading volume of $3 billion (last 30 days) vs. $5.4 trillion in the FX market. Estimated $300 million in daily purchase volume vs. $17 billion for Visa,” he wrote.

Coinmarketcap data says Faucette’s numbers are not correct, as an average daily volume of bitcoin is $11.5 billion. The whole cryptocurrency market’s daily volume is almost $27 billion.

One of the biggest bitcoin bulls, John McAfee of McAfee antivirus, says there is no reason for panic despite the correction in the cryptocurrency market.

Bitcoin has fallen more than 25 percent from its recent all-time highs of $20,000 spurred by futures listings on major derivatives exchanges.

Bitcoin enthusiast, billionaire Michael Novogratz who has also been very bullish on cryptocurrencies, has revised his forecast and said bitcoin could drop to $8,000 by year-end. Previously, he predicted bitcoin would be worth $40,000 by 2019.

JOLED, a Japan Display affiliate, sold its inaugural batch of OLED screens this month, becoming the world’s first OLED maker to market screens which use a lower cost printing process.

It is seeking to raise 100 billion yen from materials, equipment and electronics makers to expand production capacity.

Sony Corp and Panasonic Corp are also expected to invest 5 to 10 billion yen each, and Sumitomo Chemical Co and Screen Holdings Co are considering chipping in, Kyodo said.

The four companies are together seen investing 20 to 40 billion yen in JOLED, Kyodo added.

OLED screens are gaining popularity as they are generally thinner, more flexible and offer richer colors than liquid crystal display (LCD) panels, but high production costs are still preventing them from being used widely. Apple Inc has adopted the screens for its iPhone X.

A JOLED representative said the company was in talks with various materials and equipment makers about the investment, but that nothing specific had been decided.

A Denso spokesman said the reported plan wasn’t something the company announced, while a Screen Holdings spokeswoman denied the company was considering the investment. Sony said nothing had been decided, while Panasonic and Sumitomo Chemical declined comment.

JOLED was created in 2015 by merging the OLED divisions of Sony and Panasonic. JOLED is 75 percent owned by a state-backed fund, the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, and 15 percent held by Japan Display. Sony and Panasonic each own 5 percent.

Khaltmaagiin Battulga congratulated President Ilham Aliyev on his birthday, and wished him success in his presidential activity and robust health.

President Ilham Aliyev thanked for the attention and congratulations.

The presidents hailed good opportunities for developing bilateral relations between the two countries in a variety of fields.