Citizens can obtain cervical cancer care and services from more than 30 public and private hospitals with contracts with the Health Insurance General Office, such as National Cancer Center, Central Military Hospital, Songdo, and Second State Central Hospital.

If hospitals under contract with the Health Insurance Office charge additional fees from citizens, they can report it to the "Customer Contact Center" at 1800-1363.

Resolution No. 01 of 2022 of the National Council of Health Insurance stipulates that Health Insurance will cover 100 percent of the cost of all types of cancer care and services. Within the framework of this resolution, health insurance finances MNT 628,000 for drug treatment of this illness and MNT 3,043,000-4,526,000 for surgical care services depending on the surgical equipment and complications.

As a result, as of last August, 172 insured persons participated in cervical cancer care and services and improved their quality of life. Health Insurance Office provided MNT 362 million to the Health Organizations to pay for their treatment.

Sailingstone Capital Partners, the fifth-biggest investor in Turquoise Hill Resources (TSX: TQR) said on Friday it will vote against Rio Tinto’s (ASX, LON: RIO) intended $3.3 billion takeover of the Canadian miner, in a shareholder meeting on Nov. 1.

The activist investor said that Rio’s bid not only undervalues the target, but it also intends to take advantage of the “material governance failures” created by independent directors of both mining companies over the last decade.

Sailingstone, a US-based fund manager specializing in resources companies that has a 2.2% stake in Turquoise Hill, had already said it considered the offer too low and “opportunistic”.

Rio Tinto announced on Sep.1 it had reached an agreement after six months of takeover talks to buy the 49% of the Canadian miner it didn’t already own for a figure about 20% higher than the original $2.7 billion bid, made in August.

The deal would give the global miner a 66% stake in the giant Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia, one of the world’s largest known copper and gold deposits. The remaining 34% is owned by the Mongolian government.

Rio Tinto has had a rocky relationship with the Quebec-based miner, particularly over how to fund Oyu Tolgoi’s expansion. Rio has also drawn criticism from some of Turquoise Hill’s minority shareholders about the control it exerts over the company.

The global miner, 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.

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.

Mongolia and China share a border of more than 4,700 kilometers, and both countries are strategic partners and friendly and good-neighboring countries, exemplified by the fact that China has been Mongolia's largest source of investment and trading partner for 18 consecutive years. On September 15, the heads of China, Mongolia and Russia extended the Outline of the Development Plan on Establishing the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor by five years in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, unleashing greater potentials for the regional prosperity while upgrading Mongolia's role as a transit hub between the East and the West.

Changes have already taken place for Mongolia with trade and economic cooperation with China coming to a historic high under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). As Mongolian Ambassador to China Tuvshin Badral (Badral) said, "the BRI is expected to help alleviate the difficulties brought about by Mongolia's landlocked geographical location, and it will also play an important role in bringing more economic opportunities to the region and beyond."

In an exclusive interview with Ambassador Badral, he shared with Global Times reporter Yin Yeping (GT) how the Mongolian side believes that the BRI proposed by China can deepen cooperation and contribute to the development of the region and beyond.

Mongolian Ambassador to China Tuvshin Badral Photo: Courtesy of embassy

Mongolian Ambassador to China Tuvshin Badral Photo: Courtesy of embassy

GT: What are your expectations to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) that is due to be convened on October 16?

Badral: First of all, I wish the 20th CPC National Congress a successful convening. The 20th CPC National Congress will unite and lead all parties, ethnic groups and people to develop continuously, and will comprehensively summarize the great and valuable achievements in the development and maintenance of socialism with Chinese characteristics, with detailed analysis of international and domestic situations. Therefore, we are confident that the 20th CPC National Congress will be a complete success.

Over the past decade, China has solved the problem of extreme poverty and achieved its century-long goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. I think that says enough of the great achievements made in this period.

Mongolia has also made important achievements and accumulated rich experience in ensuring sustainable socio-economic development. The Chinese government attaches great importance to the development of Mongolia-China relations, and sharing development achievements with neighboring countries is an important driving force for the development and cooperation of Mongolia-China relations. Therefore, I believe that after the successful convening of the 20th CPC National Congress, Mongolia-China relations will continue to develop, benefiting both countries and peoples.

GT: In your perspective, how would the upcoming congress chart China's economic development in the next five years? What would be the focal points?

Badral: The top leadership is of great significance to China's economic development in the next five years. I believe that China's economy will further develop and see more prosperity. I believe that China's high-quality economic development in the next five years will make significant contributions to the realization of the long-term goal of basically realizing socialist modernization by 2035 and the goal of turning to be a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful in the middle of this century.

As a friendly and good neighbor of China, Mongolia hopes that China's economic development will continue to rise. Mongolia is willing to work with China to deepen the connection between the "Steppe Road" plan and the Belt and Road Initiative, Mongolia's "New Revival Policy" and the "Global Development Initiative," and thus creating the development engine of our bilateral relations. We firmly believe that China's development will benefit more neighboring countries including Mongolia and achieve common development and prosperity in the world.

GT: The leaders of China, Mongolia and Russia held their sixth meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on September 15. The three parties confirmed the extension of the Outline of the Development Plan on Establishing the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor by five years. Can you talk about the significance of the corridor to Mongolia's economic development and bilateral trade with China?

Badral: The China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor is an important part of the Belt and Road Initiative. On June 23, 2016, during the third meeting of the three leaders in Tashkent, the outline of the construction of the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor was signed.

On September 15 this year, during the SCO Summit held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, the leaders of Mongolia, China and Russia exchanged views on the economic corridor to be implemented under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative and extended the implementation plan of the economic corridor for five years.

The construction of the Economic Corridor aims to further strengthen trilateral cooperation between China, Mongolia and Russia by increasing trilateral trade volume, enhancing product competitiveness, strengthening transit transport facilitation, and developing infrastructure through cooperation projects.

The tripartite "planning outline" includes 32 projects in the fields of transportation infrastructure development and interconnected highways, railway corridors, cross-border transport development, production capacity cooperation, improving customs supervision, energy, tourism, environmental protection, customs cooperation, education, science and technology, people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and agriculture. The construction of China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor will play an important role in expanding Mongolia-China trade, promoting Mongolia's economic development and improving people's livelihood.

GT: Also at the summit, the three sides officially launched a feasibility study on the upgrade and development of the middle-line railway of the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor. Can you tell us more about the middle-line railway?

Badral: The three sides jointly issued the "Joint Statement on Launching the Feasibility Study on Upgrading and Developing the Middle Line Railway Corridor" in Samarkand and agreed to launch the "Work Plan for Feasibility Study on Upgrading and Developing the Middle Line Railway Corridor."

At present, 82 transport lines have been opened for China-Europe freight trains. In 2021, the total number of trains between China and Europe reached 15,183, an increase of 22 percent year-on-year, and the number of trains passing through Mongolia has also increased steadily. Based on its unique geographical location connecting Asia and Europe, Mongolia is committed to becoming a "Transit Mongolia" hub for trade, tourism, transport and logistics networks, freight transport and services. Therefore, the expansion of China-Europe railway transportation is in line with the above objectives.

GT: The three countries agreed at the summit to actively promote the laying project of the China-Russia natural gas pipeline transiting through Mongolia. Can you disclose the details of the project? If the project is implemented, what benefits will it bring to China and Mongolian trade?

Badral: The Mongolian side attaches great importance to the construction project of China-Russia natural gas pipelines transiting through the territory of Mongolia, and has maintained active interaction with China and Russia on the implementation of this project. Mongolia has actively promoted this project at various settings, including the recent trilateral and bilateral meetings such as the expert level meeting of the "Working Group on Economic Corridor between Mongolia, Russia and China" which was held on November 12, 2021, and the "Mongolia-China Inter-Committee Meeting of Cooperation on Mineral, Energy and Interconnectivity" that was held on November 15, 2021.

Within this framework, on January 21, Mongolia and Gazprom reached an agreement on the preliminary conditions for the feasibility study of the "Russian Gas Supply Pipeline Construction Project from Mongolia to China."

At the recent meeting, China expressed active support for the construction project of a natural gas supply pipeline from Russia to China through the territory of Mongolia which will have a positive impact on the energy security of Northeast Asia.

In this way, the three parties have reached a consensus at the political level, and leave the technical and economic evaluation work for the project implementation team of the parties. After this evaluation, the contribution to Mongolia's society, economy and the economic and trade development of Mongolia and China will be clearer.

GT: On September 9, Mongolia's first heavy cargo railway was completed and opened to traffic. How do you evaluate the significance of the opening of the railway to the promotion of China-Mongolia trade? The opening of this railway also provides a legal basis for the opening of the 2nd railway channel. Can you tell us more about that?

Badral: On September 9, the opening ceremony of the railway from Mongolia's Tavan Tolgoi coal mine to Gashuun Sukhait port was held. Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh said in his speech, "this is a road of development, investment, and opportunity for Mongolia." In the future, Mongolia will get more and better development with the help of this railway.

In 2021, the two sides successfully agreed on the railway crossing point of the Mongolia-China Gashuun Sukhait-Ganqimaodu border port. At present, Mongolian and Chinese railway agencies continue to implement railway construction in their respective territories, and will connect cross-border railways very soon.

The opening of the railway will shore up Mongolia's ability to export minerals to China and to third countries through Chinese ports, and will lay the foundation for the opening of the second Mongolia-China railway channel in the future.

After the railway is opened to traffic, the annual coal export capacity will reach 15 to 20 million tons, and bring many advantages such as increasing bilateral trade volume, reducing transportation troubles, increasing coal export volume and limiting the risk of cross-border transmission of the COVID-19 epidemic.

As of today, the road transportation cost from Tavan Tolgoi to Ganqimaodu port is about $40 per ton, and the rail transportation cost has dropped to $8, which is five times lower than the current transportation mode. The railway will also create new jobs and development opportunities, with an initial forecast of around 2,000 permanent jobs.

GT: China has been Mongolia's largest source of investment and trading partner for 18 consecutive years. How much do you expect the bilateral trade volume for this year and which commodities will be the boosters of the trade growth?

Badral: At the time of the severe epidemic, due to the close cooperation, both sides have maintained positive economic and trade relations, while ensuring the normal operation of ports. The bilateral trade volume will continue to grow steadily in the future.

The economic relations between Mongolia and China are highly complementary. In the future, according to the long-term development policy, the two sides can deepen the cultivation of mining, processing industry, food, agriculture, energy, tourism, small- and medium-sized industry, transportation and logistics, information technology and other fields.

From January to September, Mongolia's total foreign trade volume amounted $13.35 billion, of which trade with China accounted for 60 percent. The bilateral trade is mainly affected by the epidemic.

Under the condition that epidemic prevention and control measures are taken well and the turnover of goods at border ports is maintained, the bilateral trade volume is expected to exceed $10 billion, surpassing last year's achievements.

Bilateral trade is mainly dominated by mineral products. The increase in the price of mineral products in the world market and the increase in Chinese demand have played a major role in the growth of bilateral trade volume. Affected by the epidemic last year, Mongolia exported about 15 million tons of coal to China. This year, Mongolia plans to increase coal exports.

Trade volume between China and Mongolia Graphic: Tang Tengfei/GT

Trade volume between China and Mongolia Graphic: Tang Tengfei/GT

GT: Mongolia has been an active participant to the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative. How do you evaluate the benefits that the construction of the BRI has brought about to Mongolia's economic and trade development?

Badral: Since the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed in 2013, China has established cooperation with 149 countries and 32 international organizations under the BRI and has implemented a large number of key infrastructure projects, and achieved substantial growth in trade and investment.

Mongolia and China share a border of more than 4,700 kilometers. We are strategic partners and friendly neighbors. China is one of my country's largest trading and investment partners. Through active consultation, the two sides have agreed to align the development policies and goals of the two countries, and signed a memorandum of understanding on the alignment of Mongolia's Steppe Road Program and China's BRI.

The Mongolian side believes that the BRI proposed by China can deepen cooperation in soft and hard infrastructure among countries and contribute to the development of the region and the world. The BRI is also expected to help alleviate the difficulties brought about by Mongolia's lack of a seaport and landlocked location, and it will also play an important role in bringing more economic opportunities to the region and beyond.

GT: Mongolia is sitting on a large amount of rare-earth resources, but due to insufficient technology and other factors, these resources have not been well exploited. China has the world's largest number of rare-earth mining, refining and separation patents. Do you think there is room for cooperation on both sides in the development and utilization of these resources?

Badral: Within the framework of bilateral cooperation in the mining sector, we can study and carry out cooperation in this field, especially given the fact that mineral product trade accounts for 70-80 percent of Mongolia-China economic and trade cooperation. Currently, the Mongolian government aims to improve the bilateral trade structure, increasing the volume of final commodity trade, and diversifying product categories.

This year, we have agreed with the Ministry of Commerce of China to revise the Medium-term Development Outline of Mongolia China Economic and Trade Cooperation for the second time. For example, in the next five years, the two sides plan to carry out close cooperation in the field of processing and value-added product industry. The leaders of Mongolia and China have repeatedly encouraged and supported cooperation and exchanges in this regard at high-level meetings.

Mongolia has rich natural resources, while China has advanced technology, manpower, capital and patents. We welcome more Chinese companies and enterprises to invest in Mongolia, develop rare minerals, and cooperate with Mongolia to produce final products.

Former sumo Grand Champion Hakuho returned to his homeland, Mongolia, for a visit for the first time since becoming a Japanese citizen and retiring last year. He told NHK he wants to build ties between the two countries.

Hakuho flew to Mongolia on Monday. It was his first homecoming in four years. Hakuho set many records before retiring last year. He won 45 tournaments, the most ever. He is now a sumo stable master.

In Ulaanbaatar, many fans turned out to welcome him home. Hakuho visited his home for a long-awaited reunion with his mother. His father, a Mongolian wrestling star, died four years ago. Hakuho was finally able to tell him he had retired.

On Tuesday, he met with Mongolia's president. Hakuho told the president he wanted to work to bring Japan and Mongolia closer.

Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh told the former grand champion that everyone in the country is proud of him. Khurelsukh asked him to nurture younger generations to become a sumo star like Hakuho.

Hakuho invited the president to his retirement ceremony next year and vowed to build bridges between the two countries through sumo.

A total of 1,746 cases of lumpy skin disease in cattle have been reported in Mongolia so far this year, and 1,255 of them have been slaughtered, local media reported on Thursday.

So far, the eastern province of Sukhbaatar and southern provinces of Dundgovi and Dornogovi have been quarantined due to the disease, said the report, citing the country's General Authority for Veterinary Services.

Lumpy skin disease is a viral infection of cattle characterized by fever, enlarged superficial lymph nodes and multiple nodules on the skin and mucous membranes.

The livestock sector is a main pillar of the Mongolian economy with around 70 million heads of livestock in the country with a population of around 3.4 million.

The budget revenue of the Health Insurance Fund for 2023 is estimated to be MNT 1,481.4 billion.

62 percent of the income of the health insurance fund, or MNT 914.3 billion, is expected to be paid from the state budget. The state will pay the costs of MNT 687.4 billion specified in Article 24 of the Law on Health to finance the support and care services. It also budgeted MNT 226.9 billion, which is increased by MNT 63.2 billion, to pay the health insurance for the citizens that the government covers, following Article 8 of the Law on Health Insurance in connection with the increase of the minimum wage.

Moreover, MNT 1,341.8 billion has been budgeted for the cost of purchasing assistance and services from the Health Insurance Fund. An estimate of MNT 250.9 billion has been allocated to primary healthcare institutions, which is calculated to be twice as much as the funding provided per citizen.

Medicines for children with cerebral palsy and seizures are included in prescription discounts under the Health Insurance Law. Also, to improve access and control of drug costs under the government's responsibility, the funding for a prescription discount has been budgeted to be 89.9 billion MNT, which is increased by MNT 22.7 billion.

In the 2023 State Budget year, the Government will finance MNT 6,317.8 billion in spending through distinctive funds.

92.2 percent, or MNT 5,826.2 billion, is related to the expenditure of Social Insurance, Social Welfare, and Health Insurance Funds, and 7.8 percent, or MNT 491.6 billion, is associated with the expense of other special funds.

For example, next year, MNT 93 billion has been budgeted for the Education Loan Fund, which will be increased by MNT 14.7 billion compared to the previous year. Also, the expenditure of the Welfare Fund is MNT 596.8 billion, or an increase of MNT 113.9 billion from the prior year. In contrast, the total budget expenditure of the Support Fund for Vocational Education is estimated to be 85 billion MNT.

It is a great pleasure to address this important forum today. I would sincerely like to thank the Development Research Center of the State Council and the Beijing Municipal Government for the invitation.

The world today is facing a challenging period of overlapping crises. The COVID-19 pandemic remains a threat. Inflation has accelerated weighing on real household incomes and consumption. Governments worldwide are grappling with elevated debt levels and increasingly constrained fiscal policy space. Geopolitical tensions are also on the rise. These developments have also had an adverse effect on global trade.

While much of the recent attention has been on global trade in goods, trade in services has attracted less attention. This is somewhat surprising as services account for a significant share of trade in developed economies and play an increasingly important role for many developing economies as well. Services are less tangible, often require real time face-to-face interaction between suppliers and consumers, and are subject to complex layers of regulatory oversight. Statistics on cross-border trade in services are also harder to come by.

Nevertheless, trade in services is an important part of the global recovery from the pandemic. Over time advances in digital technologies, demographic change, urbanization, and rising incomes have brought new services into the world economy. Examples include legal, engineering, and other professional services. Services have been increasingly integrated into modern manufacturing and global value chains — research, development and design, finance, marketing, cross-border data flows and logistics. The so-called servicification of manufacturing has fueled a marked increase in embedded services inputs in manufacturing processes. Digital technologies, in particular, are likely to have a significant impact as they reshape business models. They allow firms to tap global markets and deliver services through new channels, reducing the need for face-to-face interaction.

These longer-term trends have been accelerated by COVID-19. The pandemic made face-to-face transactions difficult, hurting trade in traditional services such as tourism and transport. In 2020, world services exports declined by 19%. However, by encouraging firms and people to invest in digital technology and literacy, the pandemic has accelerated the world's digital transformation.

China is no exception to this trend of deepening services trade integration. The exports of commercial services were worth $280 billion in 2020, making China the world's fourth largest exporter. The country is also a major importer of commercial services. These reached $500 billion in 2020, the second highest level globally. Furthermore, modern services now comprise a significant share of China's export basket. Services that rely on remote delivery over digital networks expanded from 20% of total services exports in 2005 to 50% in 2019.

The digitalization of China's services sector was given a strong boost by the pandemic, which also prompted policy experimentation through the creation of pilot digital free trade zones. The development of China's services trade reflects the country’s status as the world's leading manufacturer, and the goods-services linkages that stem from China's manufacturing prowess. Still, China's transition towards a services-driven economy has some way to go. In particular, China still lags behind advanced countries in high value services not directly associated with manufacturing exports, such as professional and financial services. In many traditional services sectors, productivity levels are also relatively low, which leave scope for convergence.

Traditional services also dominate China's services imports. Travel and transport accounted for over 70% of services imports in 2019. On the positive side, this reflects the steady rise in the competitiveness of domestic services suppliers, and the related decline in the share of foreign value added in the country's gross exports. However, the relatively restrictive nature of China's services trade and investment regime, particularly for digital services, has also played a role.

This brings me to the policies that China can implement to accelerate the transition towards a services-driven economy.

First, lifting barriers on services trade and investment could boost innovation. China's market for services remains more protected than the OECD average. Services liberalization could enlarge the basket of competitive exports and imports, which will underpin China's quest for industrial upgrading, decarbonization and quality of life improvements.

Second, reducing trade barriers in services will require parallel reforms in regulatory governance. Curtailing regulatory uncertainty is often identified by both foreign and domestic investors as critical for sustainable business operations in China. Reducing the compliance costs associated with the country's governance framework for cross-border data transfers would open more opportunities for services exports and imports. Cross-border services trade is increasingly dependent on the ability to share job data with other jurisdictions promptly, efficiently and securely. China's current regulatory framework includes strict conditions for data flow across borders, adding substantial costs to cross-border digital services. Streamlined procedures for cross-border data transfers, and greater freedom for services providers to choose the location of their data storage and processing facilities would help reduce substantially these trade costs.

Lastly, reform efforts in services can also be pursued through multilateral and bilateral trade and investment agreements. China's recent trade policy initiatives — the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and the application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) — are important signals that services liberalization is high on the authorities’ agenda. China could also take actions to achieve the goal specified in the WTO services agreement that all measures of general application affecting trade in services are administered in a reasonable, objective and impartial manner.

Similarly, as countries move to tackle the impact of climate change, China could advocate for the resumption of WTO negotiations to lower tariffs on environmental goods and to extend such talks to a range of environmental services.

To conclude, services are increasingly important to trade in the post-COVID world. They are becoming both more tradable and more vital as inputs to traded goods manufacturing. Services will define the ability of countries and their firms to compete on the international markets.

At the World Bank, we aim to develop a deeper understanding of the challenges countries face with respect to the growing role of services, and also the best strategies to address these challenges. In this respect, we hope to learn from China's reform efforts. We also stand ready to support these reform efforts to help ensure their success.

Thank you very much!

Shanghai and other big Chinese cities, including Shenzhen, have ramped up testing for COVID-19 as infections rise, with some local authorities hastily closing schools, entertainment venues and tourist spots.

Infections have risen to the highest since August, with the uptick coming after increased domestic travel during the National Day "Golden Week" earlier this month.

Authorities reported 2,089 new local infections for Oct. 10, the most since Aug. 20.

While many of the cases were found in tourist destinations, including scenic spots in the northern region of Inner Mongolia, megacities that are often the source of well-travelled tourists have started to report more cases this week.

Shanghai, a city of 25 million people, reported 28 local cases for Oct. 10, the fourth day of double-digit increases.

Keen to avoid a reprise of the economically and psychically scarring lockdown in April-May, Shanghai said late on Monday that all its 16 districts were to conduct mass testing at least twice a week until Nov. 10, a step up from once a week under a regime imposed after the last lockdown.

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Checks on inbound travellers and in places such as hotels should also be strengthened, authorities said.

The expanding web of measures have already ensnared some.

Peter Lee, a long-time British expatriate, was out at lunch with his wife and seven-year-old son last week when he was notified his apartment block was to be locked down.

Lee and his son then checked into a hotel, which was soon also locked down, due to a prior visit by a virus carrier. Lee's wife, who was planning to join them, had no choice but returned home to be locked in.

"It might be that we say, we miss home and we miss mum too much and maybe we just go home and just deal with it," Lee told Reuters.

"We're monitoring the situation because it seems like Shanghai is gradually shutting down anyway and if everything starts to close then there won't be much benefit in being able to come and go."

'FINAL PRICE'

As of Monday, 36 Chinese cities were under various degrees of lockdown or control, affecting around 196.9 million people, versus 179.7 million in the previous week, according to Nomura.

In China's southern tech hub Shenzhen, where the highly transmissible BF.7 Omicron subvariant has surfaced, local cases more than tripled to 33 on Oct. 10 from a day earlier.

Inbound travellers will be subject to three tests over three days, authorities in the city of 18 million people said on Tuesday.

In the northwestern city of Xian, which reported just over 100 cases from Oct. 1-10, authorities halted offline classes at schools and closed many public spaces including the famous Terracotta Warriors Museum.

Daily shuttle buses ferrying tens of thousands of people to work in Beijing from nearby Tianjin and Hebei will be suspended from Wednesday due to the COVID resurgence.

Despite China's very small caseload versus the rest of the world, and the toll its counter-epidemic policies exact on the economy and population, the government has repeatedly urged people to accept the measures.

"Once a large-scale rebound occurs, the epidemic will spread, and is bound to have a serious impact on economic and social development, and the final price will be higher and losses will be greater," state-controlled People's Daily wrote in a commentary on Tuesday.

The COVID preventive steps come days ahead of a Communist Party congress starting on Oct. 16 where Xi Jinping is expected to extend his leadership. read more

"The latest resurgence of draconian COVID-19 restrictions is likely to be temporary given the priority to keep things under control ahead of the all-important meeting," said analysts from U.S. alternative asset management firm Clocktower Group.

"However, the People's Daily's tripling down on the zero-COVID-19 narrative is indeed a major concern, which suggest that a major policy recalibration may still be far away."

(This story has been refiled to restore dropped word in paragraph 6.)

Reporting by Ryan Woo, Casey Hall and Jason Xue; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan

‘Chinggis Khaan’ museum exposing 2,000 years of Mongolia’s history of kings, nobles, nomads people, and their statehood from the Mongol Empire to the beginning of the XX century, opened its door and held the Nine White Banners ceremony.

President of Mongolia U.Khurelsukh, Chairman of the State Great Khural G.Zandanshatar, Prime Minister L.Oyun-Erdene, the State Great Khural and the Cabinet members, Mayor of Ulaanbaatar, Embassies in Mongolia, notable people of politics, social and culture participated in this opening ceremony.

President of Mongolia U.Khurelsukh said, “We Mongolians should study and preserve the deeds of the Great Emperor Chinggis Khan and his successors, promote and spread them not only in our country but also in the world is a sacred duty that every Mongolian should cherish from generation to generation. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the artists, painters, blacksmiths, builders, engineers and technical workers, civil servants, the Ministry of Culture, the administers and staff of the "Chingis Khaan" Museum, and to all people and organizations, who contributed to this historical development, on behalf of the people of Mongolia.”

The Cabinet of Mongolia issued Decree No. 280 on July 3, 2019, to construct the ‘Chinggis Khaan’ museum.

The museum has,

-Mongolia Ancient States (Hunnu, Xianbei, Juan);

-Ancient Nomadic States (Ottoman, Uighur, Hyatan);

-Great Mongol State;

-Mongol Empire;

-Chinggis Khaan origin kings and nobles (beginning of XIV-XX century);

-World and Mongolia Hall (Mongolian Pride Hall);

-Great Khaan’s Appreciation Urgoo permanent exhibits to present.

A museum that meets international standards is one of many works to promote Mongolian history and culture, develop tourist and cultural products, and educate the community.

‘Chinggis Khaan’ museum has about 12,000 cultural exhibits; 92% are original exhibits, and the rest of the exhibitions are copies of replicas and displays with official permission and certificates initially located in foreign museums, libraries, and archives. For example, the Hermitage Museum gave ‘A’ copies of the Stele of Chinggis Khan free of charge, copies of Kublai Khan's naval warships, and letters of emperors in the Vatican. The museum that meets international standards is setting a new standard for the Mongolian museum field.

‘Chinggis Khaan’ museum will open to the public starting tomorrow free of charge for children, elderly people, and people with disabilities. The museum fee for adults is MNT 30,000, for students MNT 15,000, and for families MNT 20,000. It takes an average of 5 hours for a museum display and 3.5 more hours for short movies and activities, and can be viewed with explanations in five UN languages by scanning QR code. The museum has an educational hall, a big and small auditorium for Meetings, a cinema, a souvenir store and a coffee shop.

A groundbreaking ceremony of the Chinggis Khaan Museum was held on April 1, 2020, and was accepted by the National Committee on September 29, 2021.