What to expect from Belt and Road Forum www.xinhuanet.com

Editor's note: The Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation will be held May 14 to 15 in Beijing. To give readers better knowledge of this international meeting on the Belt and Road Initiative, Xinhua will release a series of reports.
BEIJING, May 1 (Xinhua) -- The Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation scheduled for mid-May is a high-profile international meeting on the Belt and Road Initiative, a China-proposed trade and infrastructure plan connecting Asia with Europe and Africa.
China will use the forum to build a more open and efficient international cooperation platform and a closer, stronger partnership network as well as to push for a more just, reasonable and balanced international governance system.
Here is what you need to know about the initiative and the upcoming forum.
-- NEW VISION
The Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, which takes the theme "strengthening international cooperation and co-building the 'Belt and Road' for win-win development," will be held from May 14 to 15 in Beijing. President Xi Jinping will attend the opening ceremony and host a round-table leaders' summit.
The forum has been designed to pool more consensus, identify cooperation directions, push forward the implementation of projects, and improve supporting systems.
-- HISTORIC LEGACY
The Belt and Road comprises the land-based Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road, which were put forward for the first time by President Xi in September and October 2013 in his subsequent state visits to Kazakhstan and Indonesia.
Building upon the spirit of the ancient Silk Road -- "peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning, and mutual benefits" -- which continues to this day, the initiative targets a modern transnational network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa, with the aim of promoting common development among all parties involved.
-- INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION
More than 100 countries and international organizations have already joined the initiative, of which more than 40 have signed cooperation agreements with China.
The United Nations General Assembly, the UN Security Council and APEC have all incorporated or reflected Belt and Road cooperation in their resolutions and documents.
-- FACILITIES CONNECTIVITY
A series of major transport, energy and communication projects, including the multi-purpose road-rail Padma Bridge in Bangladesh, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, and China Railway Express trains to Europe - have witnessed breakthroughs over the past three years and more.
-- UNIMPEDED TRADE
Trade between China and countries along the Belt and Road totaled 6.3 trillion yuan (about 913 billion U.S. dollars) in 2016, more than a quarter of China's total trade value.
Chinese businesses have invested more than 50 billion U.S. dollars in countries along the Belt and Road, and helped build 56 economic and trade cooperation zones in 20 of those countries, generating nearly 1.1 billion U.S. dollars in tax revenue and 180,000 local jobs.
-- FINANCIAL INTEGRATION
China has dedicated 40 billion U.S. dollars to a Silk Road Fund and set up the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in 2015 to provide financing for infrastructure improvement in Asia.
So far, the AIIB has seen its membership increase to 70, with the multilateral development bank's total lending amounting to over 2 billion dollars.
-- ECONOMIC CORRIDORS
China is also pushing forward six economic corridors in the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, namely, the New Eurasian Continental Bridge, the China-Mongolia-Russia corridor, the China-Central Asia-West Asia corridor, the China-Indochina Peninsula corridor, the China-Pakistan corridor, and the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar corridor.
Together, the six corridors form a trade and transport network across Eurasia, laying a solid foundation for regional and transregional development plans.
-- PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE BOND
While the "hard connection" of rail lines and ports brings countries closer through ease of travel and logistics, "soft connections" will bring their people together.
On June 22, 2016, during a speech at the Legislative Chamber of the Uzbek Supreme Assembly in Tashkent, Xi called for building a green, healthy, intelligent and peaceful Silk Road, laying out the future of the initiative.
-- GLOBALIZATION
The significance of the forum is especially timely given the rise of anti-globalization.
At a time when certain Western powers are retreating into protectionism and isolation, China has been promoting the globalization of the economy in a spirit of openness and inclusiveness. China will unswervingly continue to open up and push globalization with Chinese wisdom.
-- WIDE PARTICIPATION
More than 1,200 people will attend the forum scheduled for mid-May, including officials, scholars, entrepreneurs, representatives of financial institutions and media organizations from 110 nations, as well as representatives from more than 60 international organizations.
They include heads of state and government from at least 28 countries, as well as UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres, World Bank president Jim Yong Kim, and managing director of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde.
-- CONCRETE OUTCOMES
Results of the forum are expected to range from consensus building to specific measures on implementation. China expects to sign cooperative documents with nearly 20 countries and more than 20 international organizations at the event.
China will also work with countries along the routes on nearly 20 action plans concerning infrastructure, energy and resources, production capacity, trade and investment.
The round-table leaders' summit, to be held on May 15, will issue a document defining goals and principles and refining cooperative measures.
During the forum, all parties will identify major cooperative projects, set up working groups and establish an investment cooperation center. They will sign financing agreements to support their cooperative projects.
China will work with all parties on a set of measures, including an improved financial cooperation mechanism, a cooperation platform for science, technology and environmental protection, and enhanced exchanges and training of talent.

Twitter partners with Bloomberg for streaming TV news www.reuters.com

Twitter Inc is partnering with Bloomberg Media for a round-the-clock streaming television news service on the social networking platform, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

Raised three taxes come into effect today www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Amendments to the 2017 State Budget laid out to raise seven types of taxes as the Government agreed with the International Monetary Fund in the scope of a three-year Extended Fund Facility. The measure to increase three types of taxes is coming into effect starting today, May 01.

IMF delays Mongolia`s request on Extended Fund Facility Program www.gogo.mn

The board of International Monetary Fund held a meeting on Apr 28th. However, IMF delayed Mongolia`s request on Extended Fund Facility Program. 
IMF office in Mongolia explained that it was delayed due to the Parliament`s resolution linked to the approval of state budget 2017 which states major companies such as Oyu Tolgoi LLC to transfer their all payments and transactions through banks only operating in Mongolia. 
IMF noted to consider Mongolia`s request after studying the resolution whether it violated the law on investment and harmful to investors. 
Delegations led by the Minister of Finance B.Choijilsuren, the President of Bank of Mongolia N.Bayartsaihan attended IMF`s spring meeting that was held in Washington DC, USA on Apr 18th. 
At the meeting, Mongolian delegations met Managing Director of IMF Ms. Christine Lagarde and World Bank Group President Jim Kim and introduced Mongolia's socio-economic situation as well as expressed Mongolia`s request on Extended Fund Facility Program. Meanwhile, they have given the recommendation to review the resolution approved by the Parliament. 
Delay of the IMF`s Extended Fund Facility Program may draw back the large loans that will be granted from the World Bank, Japanese Government and the Asian Development Bank.

Mongolia Constraints Analysis Report has been launched www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Produced by National Secretariat for the Development of the Second Compact Agreement between the Government of Mongolia and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) of the USA with technical assistance from the MCC, "Mongolia Constraints Analysis Report" was disclosed on April 28.

Rio mine named in Mongolian foreign exchange grab www.afr.com

Rio Tinto's Oyu Tolgoi copper project has been named in a Mongolian government plan to force foreign investors to channel more funds through Mongolian banks, in a move that could contravene Rio's 2009 Oyu Tolgoi investment agreement and the $US4.4 billion project finance facility for the mine's expansion.

While not yet law, the plan is designed to boost Mongolia's reserves of foreign currencies. It has sparked concerns among foreign investors like the International Monetary Fund, which decided to delay a $US425 million bail-out of the Mongolian economy on Saturday.

The Mongolian government first flagged the local banking rule on April 12, and the American Chamber of Commerce in Mongolia confirmed in recent days that Oyu Tolgoi has been specifically named in the resolution.

"The initial resolution has 13 action points, and action point number 11 explicitly refers to the Oyu Tolgoi and Tamsag (oil) projects, requiring them to transfer funds via local commercial banks," the American Chamber said in a note to members published on Friday.

"Major investors and diplomatic representatives have conveyed their concerns to the authorities."

The plan shapes as the latest flaring of sovereign risk in the developing nation, which has repeatedly threatened to overhaul agreements it made with foreign investors over natural resources projects in the country.

In the South Gobi desert, Oyu Tolgoi is Mongolia's largest and highest-profile foreign investment project.

Production from the mine started in 2013 and work is under way to build a $US5.3 billion underground expansion that will allow Rio and its partners to extract the most valuable part of the ore body.

Rio effectively owns 34 per cent of Oyu Tolgoi, given it owns 50.79 per cent of Canadian company Turquoise Hill Resources, which in turn owns 66 per cent of Oyu Tolgoi.

The Mongolian government, which has sought several times to get a bigger share of the mine's wealth, owns 34 per cent of Oyu Tolgoi.

The American chamber hinted that efforts were under way to convince top members of the Mongolian government to back down from the move.

"Based on the needs of its members, AmCham Mongolia has engaged with Parliament and the government to monitor developments concerning the resolution," the chamber said.

"AmCham has been informed that cabinet is taking action to amend this resolution, removing the controversial action point, and is due to submit changes to the resolution to Parliament."

But such amendments are yet to be confirmed, and foreign investors are taking a cautious approach in the meantime, with the IMF telling Bloomberg on Saturday that its $US425 million bail-out facility had been delayed to give the IMF time to assess the banking proposal.

"We need a bit more time to understand the nature and the specifics of the measure, and whether the macro-economic framework of the program remains valid," an IMF spokesman told Bloomberg.

Rio would be loath to encounter disruptions in Mongolia, given the clouded future of one of its other large copper assets; Indonesia's Grasberg mine.

The miner declined to comment.

The Australian government's Export Finance and Insurance Corporation (EFIC) and several Australian banks were part of the syndicate that lent $US4.4 billion to Rio and its partners for the Oyu Tolgoi expansion.

EFIC is understood to have lent $US150 million, while ANZ, NAB and the World Bank's International Finance Corporation were also involved.

Export credit agencies in the US and Canada were also lenders to the expansion.

Rio Tinto directors and executives will be in Australia this week ahead of the company's annual meeting of shareholders in Sydney on Thursday.

Iron ore price rebounds www.mining.com

The Northern China import price of 62% Fe content ore enjoyed another day of solid gains on Friday to trade up 2.1% at $68.00 per dry metric tonne according to data supplied by The Steel Index. Higher grade iron ore with 65% iron ore content topped $80 a tonne for the first time in two weeks.

First China-Britain freight train arrives back in China www.chinadaily.com

BEIJING -- The first freight train traveling from Britain back to China reached its destination in eastern China's Yiwu city on Saturday after a 19 day journey, according to the China Railway Corporation (CRC).

World Bank approves USD 25 million credit to Mongolia to promote employment www.en.montsame.mn

Shareholders' meeting of Erdenes Tavantolgoi takes place www.en.montsame.mn