Most parts of Mongolia are experiencing extreme cold weather from Monday and through the entire this week, with overnight temperatures fell to 35-47 degrees Celsius below zero.

The heavy snow and snow storms are hitting the country’s eastern and western parts, urging the public, especially nomadic herders and drivers, to take extra precautions against possible disasters.

Mongolia’s climate is strongly continental, with long and frigid winters. A temperature of minus 25 degrees Celsius is standard during winter. Unstable weather events are also common in the country throughout the year.

The Chinese government says the number of new COVID cases reached about 38,000 on Saturday, hitting a new record for the fourth consecutive day and topping 4,000 in the capital Beijing for the first time.

Protests against the government's restrictive zero-COVID policy have taken place in Beijing and other Chinese cities.

Videos of people in Shanghai chanting "We do not want PCR tests" have been posted online.

The public anger was sparked by a rumor that the people who died in a fire in Urumqi, the central city of the Xinjiang region, on Thursday could not escape in time because their high-rise apartment building was partially locked down.

Reuters news agency footage shows people gathering at Shanghai's Wulumuqi Road -- which is named after Urumqi -- to mourn the 10 victims.

The protesters held signs that read, "Rise up, those who refuse to be slaves" -- a line from China's national anthem.

During his state visit to Mongolia in August 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in his speech entitled, "Help Each Other in Crisis and Jointly Create a New Era for the Development of the China-Mongolia Relations," which was delivered at the State Great Hural, the country's parliament. He hailed the China-Mongolia friendship by saying "A good neighbor is more valuable than gold. China has the most neighbors in the world and we regard our neighbors as valuable wealth."

The treaty of friendship and mutual assistance between China and Mongolia on economic assistance and scientific and technological cooperation was signed when late Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai visited Mongolia in the spring of 1960. The current generation of leadership has nurtured the strong bonds.

During his meeting with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar on August 7, 2022, Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene said his country regards China as a good neighbor "that is more valuable than gold." Oyun-Erdene attended the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games despite the U.S.-instigated boycott campaign. Accordingly, Mongolia has boosted its bilateral ties with China.

President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh's two-day visit to China on November 27-28 at the invitation of President Xi Jinping will advance bilateral relations in the new era. It will be Khurelsukh's first state visit as Mongolian President after the recent-concluded 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Mongolia attaches much significance to China's global influence and to build stronger relations with China.

During his meeting with his Chinese counterpart on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Samarkand of Uzbekistan on September 15, 2022, the Mongolian President said, "The comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries is a model relationship as their traditional friendship has been going strong."

The friendship demonstrates Mongolia's unwavering support for China's Belt and Road Initiative. Mongolia is a partner in the construction of the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor that is expanding bilateral trade and improving people's livelihood. China also supports Mongolia's "Planting One Billion Trees" plan by 2030 to combat climate change and desertification.

Khurelsukh's visit will usher in closer political and economic ties with China. This will be a pragmatic political acumen of the ruling Mongolian government since Chinese investment has boosted Mongolia's socio-economic development already.

China has been Mongolia's largest source of investment and trading partner for 18 consecutive years. As of August 2022, Mongolia's total trade turnover with China hit $8.5 billion, an increase of 25.4 percent compared to the same period last year while exports reached $6.59 billion and imports reached $1.91 billion, according to the press release by Mongolian foreign ministry.

Moreover, the BRI and Mongolia's Steppe Road program are the right path for developing China-Mongolia relations by promoting the docking of bilateral development strategies. Both sides should take this visit as an opportunity to enhance their strategic mutual trust, advance pragmatic cooperation in the areas of trade and investment, as well as fortify security and defense and elevate bilateral relations to a new level.

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com. Follow @thouse_opinions on Twitter to discover the latest commentaries in the CGTN Opinion Section.)

Editor's note: Rabi Sankar Bosu is an Indian contributor to Chinese media outlets. He writes about Chinese politics, social and cultural issues, and China-India relations with a special interest in the Belt and Road Initiative. The article reflects the author's views, and not necessarily those of CGTN.

Mongolia's President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsuh is visiting China. He will meet with President Xi Jinping and discuss bilateral relations, and international and regional issues of mutual interest. Our reporter Huang Yue spoke to the Former Mongolian Ambassador to China about ties between the two countries and prospects of future cooperation.

HUANG YUE, CGTN Reporter "This is the first time for H.E. Ukhnaagiin Khurelsuh to visit China as the president, and the news of his visit has also been heated discussed by Mongolian people. What's your expectations for his upcoming visit? What do you hope the two countries to strengthen cooperation in the future?

GALSAN BATSUKH, Chairman of Mongolia-China Friendship Association, Former Mongolian Ambassador to China "My personal expectation is to boost bilateral trade. Currently, we stand at 10 billion US dollars and that's a target set by the two governments five years ago and now we are there. During the course of next few years, if we can double this number, that will be a really good result. What Mongolia can export more is minerals, metals and livestock products. Another my personal expectation, green development breakthrough could happen during this visit. How Mongolia and China can cooperate efficiently and optimistically in terms of decreasing the carbon emissions. China has a lot of experiences and expertise acknowledged by United Nations in terms of fighting against the desertification. And Mongolia needs these experience and technologies in this area."

HUANG YUE, CGTN Reporter "Chinese Foreign Ministry said that China looks forward to working with Mongolia to 'set an example in neighborly relations to elevate China-Mongolia relations to a new height.' What do you make of the 'example in neighborly relations'?"

GALSAN BATSUKH, Chairman of Mongolia-China Friendship Association, Former Mongolian Ambassador to China "This is an important commitment on the China side to elevate the relationship to a new level. Ten years ago, China's the neighbor policy was friendly neighbor, peaceful neighbor and prosperous neighbor. But now, there is more detailed and far-looking strategy in neighborhood relationship. I think Mongolia will work towards getting the benefits of this strategy to benefit from Chinese advanced development and technology, from science, culture economy, trade and other things."

Canada’s Turquoise Hill Resources (TSX: TQR) has set December 9 as the date its shareholders will finally vote on the proposed $3.3 billion takeover of the company by Rio Tinto (ASX, LON: RIO).

The meeting has been repeatedly delayed because of the opposition of key minority shareholders in Turquoise Hill, mainly US-based fund managers.

The situation took a turn for the worst earlier this month, after a Canadian top securities regulator decided to review the transaction, following a side deal between Rio Tinto and dissident shareholders.

Turquoise Hill said Quebec’s Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) has cleared the transaction and that its board has repeated its unanimous recommendation to minority shareholders to vote for the sweetened offer.

Rio Tinto initially offered C$34 a share in March this year, but increased it to C$43 per share in cash in August. That was a more than 19% premium to the stock’s end-of-August closing price and a 67% premium from the day before the initial offer was made.

The Australian mining giant has had a rocky relationship with Turquoise Hill, particularly over how to fund Oyu Tolgoi’s expansion. The mining giant has also drawn criticism from some of Turquoise Hill’s minority shareholders about the control it exerts over the company.

The Melbourne and London-based firm, which has mined copper from Oyu Tolgoi’s open pit for a decade, and the Mongolian government ended earlier this year a long-running dispute over the $7 billion expansion of the mine.

Biggest new copper mine

Once completed, the underground section of Oyu Tolgoi will lift production from 125,000–150,000 tonnes in 2019 to 560,000 tonnes at peak output, which is now expected by 2025 at the earliest. This would make it the biggest new copper mine to come on stream in several years.

“Rio Tinto’s strategy over its stake in Turquoise Hill has been subject to discussion for many years, but we didn’t think it would end up offering to buy out the minorities based on previous form,” BMO Metals and Mining analysts said in a note to investors.

“Given the dearth of copper opportunities elsewhere, combined with its recently lowered risk profile, perhaps increasing its Oyu Tolgoi exposure now makes sense,” BMO Alexander Pearce and David Gagliano wrote in September.

Rio Tinto chief executive Jakob Stausholm has said the proposed takeover would simplify governance, improve efficiency and create greater certainty of funding for the long-term success of the Oyu Tolgoi project.

Experts forecast a vast deficit in the copper market due to a ramp up in the clean energy and electric vehicles (EV) sectors.

It is estimated the copper industry needs to spend more than $100 billion to build mines able to close what could be an annual supply deficit of eight million tonnes by 2032.

Achelous Pure Metal, a start-up based in Hong Kong Science Park, is in talks to form the city’s first facility to recover wastes from rare-earth processing plants into high-value metals to meet growing demand in the new-energy vehicle (NEV) industry.

The firm is discussing seeking up to HK$40 million (US$5.1 million) to establish a pilot research and refining facility in a new industrial complex within the Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate, according to co-founder and technical director Alan Wong Yuk-chun. A similar facility could be built in the Greater Bay Area in future, he added.

Increasing constraints on rare-earth mining in mainland China and rising global demand for expensive metals – raw materials crucial to the functioning of electronic parts and low-carbon energy equipment in NEVs – have made recycling of certain metals worthwhile, he added.

“For the best part of the past two decades, the rare-earth industry has primarily used the chemicals-heavy solvent extraction technique to do large-scale processing,” said Wong. “In recent years, the emphasis has shifted to quality rather than quantity.”

Achelous’ proposed facility will be at the Advanced Manufacturing Centre in Tseung Kwan O, part of a HK$4.75 billion nine-storey centre promoted by the government as a base for technology-driven re-industrialisation of Hong Kong.

China’s global market share in rare-earth metals output slipped to about 60 per cent last year from 81 per cent in 2017, according to the US Geological Survey. Stricter environmental curbs at home contributed to the decline, while higher prices spurred new projects in the US and Myanmar.

China forms rare earths giant to protect global market dominance

23 Dec 2021

One tonne of rare-earth ore yields less than one kilogram of terbium oxide, which is used in low-energy lamps, laser devices, fuel cells and semiconductor electronic devices. The metal currently fetches about 13,000 yuan (US$1,815) per kilogram, versus an average of 8,730 yuan in 2021 and 4,695 yuan in 2020, according to Bloomberg data.

Prices are expected to average US$770 per kg this year and between US$610 and US$850 over the next three years, according to forecasts published by Statista.

Before setting up Achelous in 2020, Wong served as a senior technical manager at an environmental consultancy, managing cobalt and rare-earth elements extraction, recovery and purification projects in China.

Achelous is a participant in a start-up mentorship and partnership program of the Federation of Hong Kong Industries.

Together with researchers at the University of Hong Kong, Achelous has co-developed ion exchange methods for extracting and purifying terbium, as well as battery metals like cobalt and nickel, from rare-earth processing waste. They are seeking to patent their innovation, Wong said.

Ion exchange refers to processes of purification and separation, which involve the movement of electrically-charged molecules in water-based solutions. They require much less chemicals, with a resin typically deployed to act as a medium for ion exchange.

If the pilot project at the Tseung Kwan O site is successful, Achelous plans to set up a larger refining facility in the Songshanhu technology park in Dongguan, a mainland Chinese city about 120 kilometres northwest of Hong Kong. Achelous already has a research and development (R&D) facility there, co-founder and R&D director Shawn Cheng said.

Achelous aims to process semi-finished products from the mainland or abroad at its two facilities in Hong Kong and Dongguan into finished products with 99.99 per cent purity, he added.

In Inner Mongolia, Achelous has a facility to deploy its technology at a plant making cobalt concentrates with 50 to 60 per cent purity from waste. The facility, a joint venture with Beijing-based electronic waste recycling firm Huaxin Environmental, can process 15,000 tonnes of waste annually when completed early next year.

The first phase, built at a cost of about 20 million yuan, could potentially generate 100 million yuan of annual revenue, Cheng said.

Recycling of materials including rare earth metals, cobalt and nickel will help China meet rising demand from applications in defence, carbon emission reduction and manufacturing digitalisation, the Chinese government said in December.

By Eric Ng

Eric joined the Post in 1998 after brief stints in a trading company, and translation and editing roles at Dow Jones and Edinburgh Financial Publishing. He has over 20 years of experience covering China's energy, mining and industrial materials sectors, and has reported on China's healthcare and biotechnology sectors for three years. Currently, he leads the Post's coverage on climate change, energy transition and sustainability topics. Eric has a Masters of Business Administration

Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh conferred Thursday the Order of Genghis Khan, the country's highest state award, to American author Jack Weatherford for his contribution to the studies of Genghis Khan.

Weatherford, who is well known for his book released in 2004, Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, became the first foreigner who received this order. He once served as a professor of anthropology at Macalester College in Minnesota.

In addition, the president conferred the Order of Genghis Khan to Dechingungaa Dorjgotov, academician and leading researcher at the Institute of Geography and Geoecology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, who has laid the foundation of the field of soil science in Mongolia on a scientific basis and made a great contribution to the development of the field.

In previous years, the order was presented to only one person, but this year it was given to two people for the first time.

On the National Pride Day every year, the Order of Genghis Khan is presented to people who have made great contributions to strengthening national unity, deeply studying the history and culture of Mongolia, and familiarizing other countries with Mongolian culture.