On the occasion of the "World Antimicrobial Awareness Week" on 18-24 November 2022, under the ONE HEALTH concept, the very first meeting of the multisectoral committee approved by the joint order of the Minister of Health and the Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry was organized ensuring implementation of "National action plan on AMR in Mongolia for 2022-2025". The council aims to ensure implementation of the national action plan such as to detect and combat drug-resistant microbials that affect human and animal health, to prevent infection and possible outbreaks, to control the use of antimicrobial drugs, to raise awareness among the public, to improve the knowledge and capacity of the personnel in the human and animal health sector about antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and to promote appropriate use of antimicrobials.

The meeting was attended by over 20 representatives from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry, the Medicine and Medical Devices Regulatory Agency, the

National Center for Communicable Diseases, the General Authority for Veterinary Services, the State Laboratory for Testing and Certification of Veterinary Drugs, the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization, the WHO Mongolia and other related organizations and laboratories. At the meeting, implementation of AMR actions taken by the relevant organizations according to the national action plan was reviewed, and then the committee members discussed and planned the activities to be implemented in 2023.

During the discussion, the Medicine and Medical Devices Regulatory Agency emphasized that the “Antibiotic consumption study” data for 2021 prepared by WHO methodology would be reported to the WPRO. Moreover, it was stated that the agency has started taking actions to ensure all domestic drug manufacturers to comply with GMP in 2023.

On November 22, 2022, Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong met with Mongolian Ambassador to China Tuvshin Badral.

Sun Weidong elaborated on the epoch-making significance and important outcomes of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and introduced President Xi Jinping’s recent attendance at the G20 Summit, the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting and meetings with leaders of multiple countries. Sun stressed that with the grand blueprint of comprehensively advancing national rejuvenation through the path of Chinese modernization, China will uphold world peace and promote common development, and stay commited to promoting a community with a shared future for human. This will bring new opportunities for the common development of all countries and China-Mongolia relations. During his attendance at the two important multilateral meetings and in-depth exchanges of views with leaders of multiple countries, President Xi Jinping made China’s voice heard on global governance and Asia-Pacific cooperation and reached important consensus on bilateral relations, injecting more stability and certainty to the region and the world and deepening and substantiating the progress in the building of a human community with a shared future in China’s neighborhood.

Sun said that at the invitation of President Xi Jinping, Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh will soon pay a state visit to China, which is of great significance to the development of China-Mongolia relations. China warmly welcomes and attaches great importance to the visit, and stands ready to work with Mongolia to ensure the full success of the visit and work for the new development of the China-Mongolia comprehensive strategic partnership.

Badral extended on the successful conclusion of the 20th CPC National Congress, and said that Mongolia attaches great importance to China’s future domestic and foreign policies formalized by the 20th CPC National Congress and President Xi Jinping’s recent important visits. Mongolia is ready to actively support the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind proposed by President Xi Jinping, further deepen the bilateral relationship and make it a model of neighboring relations. President Khurelsukh’s upcoming visit to China shortly after the conclusion of the 20th CPC National Congress fully demonstrates the great importance both sides attach to Mongolia-China relations. Badral expects and believes that the visit will further enhance the friendship and mutual trust between the two countries, advance pragmatic cooperation in various fields on all fronts, and elevate bilateral relations to a new level.

China’s coal production is set to climb for the sixth year in a row, reaching a new record, as the Beijing government acts to ensure supplies in the top miner and consumer of the fuel, spurring further declines in prices.

Output could reach 4.4 billion tons in 2022, driven by faster capacity expansions at major mines, the official China Energy News said Wednesday. While Covid flareups have constrained mining, government efforts to guarantee winter supplies may lift output back to a daily record in the final two months of the year, boosting annual production by 8% from 2021.

The National Development and Reform Commission, the top economic planning agency, asked coal miners to lock in more long-term contracts with power generators at a meeting last week. The move is aimed at keeping prices in what the government sees is a reasonable range of 570-770 yuan ($80 to $108) per ton at the Qinhuangdao trading hub, far below international prices.

The price controls and increasing production have sent spot prices tumbling this week, squeezing traders’ profits, Li Xuegang, an analyst with the China Coal Transport and Distribution Association, said on a Wednesday webcast.

China’s top miner Shenhua Energy Co. slashed the procurement price for high-grade coal from smaller miners to close to 1,100 yuan per ton Tuesday, near to the level of spot settlements at Qinhuangdao port, based on association data.

Still, any recovery in demand is a long way off as the country’s industry is feeling the pain of a persistent property contraction and weaker-than-expected exports. Factories planning to send workers for longer New Year holiday breaks because of Covid may also drag down power consumption in coming months, Chao Yuke, another association analyst, said on the webcast.

By the invitation of U.Khurelsukh, the President of Mongolia, Jack Weatherford, an American scientist and a professor of anthropology, and emeritus, at Macalester College, arrived in Mongolia today.

Mongolians know him well as the author of the book “Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World”. In particular, Jack Weatherford's book "Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World" published in 2004 is internationally known and has been translated into more than 20 languages.

Jack Weatherford is the New York Times bestselling author of Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, which sold over 300,000 copies. It was also one of two books that won Amazon's 2011 audiobook contest and was named a CNN Book of the Week that year. On October 12, 2014, the book was ranked sixth in the New York Times e-book list.

Jack Weatherford wrote books named after “The Secret History of the Mongol Queens” in 2010 and “Genghis Khan and the Quest for God” in 2016. “The Secret History of the Mongol Queens” is the first book written about the daughters of Genghis Khan.

London CNN Business — Global growth will slow further in the coming year but the world will likely avoid a recession thanks to Asia’s biggest economies.

Global GDP is projected to grow by 3.1% this year, and by just 2.2% in 2023, according to the latest forecast from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Although the OECD is not predicting a recession, its forecast is more pessimistic than that of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which said last month that it expects the world economy to grow by 3.2% this year and 2.7% next year.

The “fragile prospects” for the global economy are a direct result of Russia’s war against Ukraine, which has sparked an energy crisis that has spurred inflation worldwide, the OECD said in a statement on Tuesday.

'The worst is yet to come': IMF issues stark recession warning

“Persistent inflation, high energy prices, weak real household income growth, falling confidence and tighter financial conditions are all expected to curtail growth,” it added. If energy prices rise further or energy supply is disrupted, growth could be even weaker than expected.

Growth next year is “strongly dependent” on major Asian economies, which will account for close to three quarters of the expansion in global GDP, with the United States and Europe “decelerating sharply,” the OECD said.

India is projected to have the world’s second highest growth rates, after Saudi Arabia, at 6.6% in 2022, followed by 5.7% in 2023. China’s economy is predicted to grow by 3.3% this year, followed by 4.6% in 2023.

By contrast, the United States is expected to grow by just 1.8% in 2022 and 0.5% in 2023. Growth across the 19 EU countries that use the euro is also expected to decline steeply over the next two years, from 3.3% in 2022, to 0.5% in 2023.

That the European and American economies are growing at all is partly because of government spending on energy subsidies and policies to boost investment such as NextGeneration EU and the Inflation Reduction Act, OECD Secretary General Matthias Cormann told reporters on Tuesday.

Savings accumulated by households and businesses during the initial phase of the pandemic will also help to support spending, he added.

“An end to the war and a just peace for Ukraine would be the most impactful way to improve the global economic outlook right now,” Cormann said.

The OECD expects inflation to remain above 9% this year among advanced economies. It’s then forecast to fall back to 6.6% in 2023, slightly above levels forecast by the IMF.

Major central banks aim for inflation near 2%, and have been hiking interest rates in a bid to limit price rises. But the campaign is also boosting risks to the economy by increasing debt servicing costs for households, businesses and governments.

“Higher interest rates, while necessary to moderate inflation, will increase financial challenges for both households and corporate borrowers,” the OECD said.

“Low-income countries will remain particularly vulnerable to high food and energy prices, while tighter global financial conditions may raise the risk of further debt distress,” it added.

World Bank President David Malpass told CNN recently that the organization is “worrying about a world recession in 2023,” but that the United States is “a little stronger than other economies.”

— Julia Horowitz contributed to this report.

President of Mongolia Ukhnaagiin Khurelsuh will pay a state visit to China from November 27 to 28, which reflects the high-level development of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, expressing China's hope to work with Mongolia to take the visit as an opportunity to set a good example of neighborly relations and further deepen mutual trust and practical cooperation.

Hua Chunying, spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry, announced on Tuesday that at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, President of Mongolia Ukhnaagiin Khurelsuh will visit China.

Zhao Lijian, another spokesperson at the ministry, said at the regular press conference later on Tuesday that during the visit, Xi will hold formal talks with Khurelsuh. The two presidents will jointly witness the signing of cooperation documents. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Chairman Li Zhanshu of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress will also meet with Khurelsuh, according to Zhao.

The leaders of the two countries will have an in-depth exchange of views on bilateral relations and international and regional issues of mutual interest, and jointly chart the future course of the growth of China-Mongolia relations, Zhao said.

The spokesperson noted that in 2018, Khurelsuh paid an official visit to China as Mongolian Prime Minister. In June 2021, Khurelsuh was elected president. The upcoming visit will be his first to China as Mongolian president, which will carry forward the friendship and the fine tradition of close high-level exchanges between the two countries and shows the excellent growth of China-Mongolia comprehensive strategic partnership.

China looks forward to working with Mongolia to take this visit as an opportunity to deepen our strategic mutual trust and practical cooperation and set an example in neighborly relations to elevate China-Mongolia relations to a new height, Zhao said.

Among the 14 countries which have land borders with China, China-Mongolia relations have remained stable, friendly and mutually beneficial for a long time, Da Zhigang, director of the Institute of Northeast Asian Studies at Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

In July 2021, Xi had a phone conversation with Khurelsuh, calling on both countries to enrich the connotation of their comprehensive strategic partnership, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

During the visit of the Mongolian leader, the high-level exchanges are likely to cover international hot-button issues such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the joint response to the complicated geographical security and politics, as well as regional and international governance, Da said.

In the context of regional tensions, a further deepening of China-Mongolia relations will undoubtedly inject certainty to the region, Da said.

Mongolia and China share a border of more than 4,700 kilometers, and both countries are strategic partners and friendly neighbors, exemplified by the fact that China has been Mongolia's largest source of investment and biggest trading partner for 18 consecutive years, media reports said.

The upcoming visit is expected to improve bilateral cooperation in food security and energy security, Da noted.

Given that China and Mongolia enjoy geographical support and have the basis and conditions for long-term cooperation, in the future, there will be broader space to strengthen cooperation in agriculture, animal husbandry and energy, the expert predicted.

In September, 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 potential for regional prosperity while upgrading Mongolia's role as a transit hub.

As an important part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the economic corridor aims to further strengthen trilateral cooperation between China, Mongolia and Russia by increasing trilateral trade volume, enhancing product competitiveness, strengthening transport facilitation and developing infrastructure through cooperation projects.

Considering China's market, capital and technology are highly complementary to Mongolia's resource enrichment advantages, and the two sides have much space for cooperation, experts believe that taking this state visit as an opportunity, the two countries will expand cooperation in trade, investment, finance, minerals and energy, connectivity, infrastructure, digital economy and green development, and push forward bilateral cooperation to a new high.

China looks forward to taking the upcoming visit of Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh as an opportunity to deepen strategic mutual trust and practical cooperation with Mongolia, according to a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson.

At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, President Khurelsukh will pay a state visit to China from Nov. 27 to 28, it was announced on Tuesday.

"China looks forward to working with Mongolia to take this visit as an opportunity to deepen our strategic mutual trust and practical cooperation and set an example in neighborly relations to elevate China-Mongolia relations to a new height," said Zhao Lijian, the spokesperson, at a press briefing.

During the visit, the two presidents will hold formal talks, and jointly witness the signing of cooperation documents, Zhao said.

Premier Li Keqiang, and Li Zhanshu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, will meet with President Khurelsukh respectively, he said.

Leaders of the two countries will have an in-depth exchange of views on bilateral relations and international and regional issues of mutual interest, and jointly chart the future course of the growth of China-Mongolia relations, he said.

The upcoming visit will be Khurelsukh's first visit to China as Mongolian President, which will carry forward the friendship and the fine tradition of close high-level exchanges between the two countries, and shows the excellent growth of the China-Mongolia comprehensive strategic partnership, according to Zhao.

Khurelsukh paid an official visit to China as Mongolian Prime Minister in 2018.

Mongolia sends 86% of its exports to China, with coal accounting for more than half of that total, and it is upgrading its infrastructure in the hopes of selling even more to its southern neighbor.

And Mongolia is keen to chip in, shipping 19 million metric tons of coal to China so far this year, according to the National Statistical Office, already exceeding 2021’s 16 million total.

Government officials want Mongolia to surpass the record 37 million metric tons sent in 2019 and to keep supplying China with a steady stream of coal well into the next decade.

Soaring prices for coal also mean there is little incentive for Ulaanbaatar to slow down. The value of Mongolia’s coal exports jumped to USd 4.5 billion in the first nine months of 2022, almost triple what they were over the same period last year.

Ulaanbaatar finished a 233-kilometer rail line from the Tavan Tolgoi mine to the Gashuun Sukhait border in September, a project that took 14 years to complete.

This new line will allow Mongolia to push coal exports to 70 million metric tons annually, possibly by 2025.