On October 7, a handover ceremony took place at the State Central Third Hospital to present the equipment being provided through the Mongolia COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Project. The project is being implemented by the Ministry of Health with financing from the World Bank.

Over 30 types of medical equipment for diagnosis and emergency care cost a total of USD 2.9 million. With the new equipment, the capacity to conduct endoscopic examinations will increase by two times, while the quality and accessibility for emergency care will be significantly improved at the hospital.

In the framework of the project so far, a new facility have been put into operation at the Central Storage for Vaccine and Biopreparations based at the National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD), and oxygen generation facilities have been established at NCCD and the Regional Diagnostics and Treatment Centers in Uvurkhangai and Umnugobi aimags, alongside signing a procurement agreement for medical equipment worth over USD 14 million to be used for COVID-19 treatment at the medical institutions.

Furthermore, personal protective equipment such as N95 face masks, face shields, goggles, and gloves worth a total of USD 2.6 million have been provided for frontline medical workers.

China says its policies aimed at narrowing the widening wealth gap are precisely what it needs in this moment of its economic trajectory - but critics say it comes with even greater control of how business and society will be governed.

And while this "common prosperity" drive is squarely focused on people inside the country it has the potential to have huge repercussions for the rest of the world.

One of the most visible consequences of common prosperity has been the refocusing of corporate China's priorities to the domestic market.

Technology giant Alibaba, which in recent years has seen its global profile rise, has now committed $15.5bn (£11.4bn) to help promote common prosperity initiatives in China, and set up a dedicated task force, spearheaded by its boss Daniel Zhang.

The firm says it is a beneficiary of the country's economic progress, and that "if society is doing well and the economy is doing well, then Alibaba will do well".

Rival tech giant Tencent is pitching too. It has pledged $7.75bn to the cause.

China Inc. is keen to show it is playing ball with the Party's mandate - but when the push towards more companies publicly backing Xi Jinping's new vision first started, it did come as a "bit of a shock", one major Chinese company told me privately.

"But then we got quite used to the idea. It's not about robbing the rich. It's about restructuring society, and building up the middle class. And we are a consumption business at the end of the day - so it's good for us."

Luxury sector may lose out

If common prosperity means an increased focus on the emerging Chinese middle class - then that could mean it is a boon for global businesses catering to these customers.

"We can see that the focus on young people getting jobs is good," Joerg Wuttke, president of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China, told me.

"If they feel they are part of social mobility in this country, which has been eroding, then it is good for us. Because when the middle class grows, then there is more opportunity."

However, businesses that are tied to the luxury sector may not do as well, Mr Wuttke warns.

"Chinese spending accounts for about 50% of luxury consumption globally - and if China's rich decide to buy less Swiss watches, Italian ties and European luxury cars then this industry will take a hit."

But while Mr Wuttke acknowledges China's economy does need critical reforms to increase the amount an average Chinese person earns, he says common prosperity may not be the most efficient way to get there.

Steven Lynch of the British Chamber of Commerce in China also says common prosperity is not a guarantee that the middle class will grow in the same way it has in the last forty years.

He likes to tell a story about how quickly the Chinese economy has expanded over the last few decades.

"Thirty years ago a Chinese family could have a bowl of dumplings once a month," he told me on the phone from Beijing. "Twenty years ago, perhaps they could have a bowl once a week. Ten years ago - that changed to everyday. Now: they can buy a car."

But so far Mr Lynch says, common prosperity hasn't resulted in anything concrete, besides the sorts of corporate social responsibility efforts that Alibaba and Tencent have adopted.

"There are also a lot of instant regulations sprung on a lot of sectors," he said of the recent crackdown on technology companies. "That causes uncertainty - and raises questions. If they are turning more inward - then do they really need the rest of the world?"

The 'new socialism'

At its heart common prosperity is about making Chinese society more equitable, at least according to the Communist Party. And this has the potential to transform what socialism means in the global context.

"The Party is now concerned about average workers - like taxi drivers, migrant workers and delivery boys," says Wang Huiyao of the Centre for China and Globalisation from Beijing.

"China wants to avoid the polarised society that some Western countries have, which we have seen leads to deglobalisation and nationalisation."

But long time China-observers say that if transforming socialism - with Chinese characteristics - into an alternative model for the rest of us is really what the Party wants, then common prosperity is not the way.

"It is part of the leftward lurch and part of the lurch towards ever more control that has been indicative of Xi Jinping's tenure," says George Magnus, associate at the China Centre at Oxford University.

Mr Magnus adds that common prosperity does not mean replicating a European style social welfare model.

"The implicit pressure is to comply with the Party's goals," he says. "There will be tax on high and 'unreasonable' incomes, and pressure on private firms to donate to Party economic objectives," he says, "but no big move towards progressive taxation".

A top down Utopian China

It is clear that common prosperity is a major part of how the Chinese state and society will be governed under Xi Jinping.

With this comes the promise of a more equitable society - a bigger and wealthier middle class, and companies that give back rather than just take.

A sort of top down Utopian China, that the Party is hoping will prove to be a viable alternative model for the world to what the West has on offer.

But it does come with a catch: even more control and power in the hands of the Party.

China has always been a difficult environment for foreign businesses to operate in, common prosperity means that the world's second largest economy just got even more difficult to navigate.

This is the third in a three-part series looking at China's changing role in the world.

Parts one and two explored the background to Xi Jinping's transformation of the Chinese economy and how Beijing is rewriting the rules of doing business.

The Electronic Visa Application System has been officially launched through the website evisa.mn from October 1, reports the Ministry of Environment and Tourism.

Through the electronic system, nationals of 36 countries will be able to obtain visas for the purposes of tourism (K2), participating in sports, culture and arts events (K4), and transit (K6).

The updated regulation for the issuance of Mongolian visa was approved through Government resolution no.192 issued in July 2021. The template for the electronic visa and the list of countries whose nationals are eligible for obtaining the visas have been recently approved by a joint order of the Minister of Justice and Home Affairs and the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia B.Munkhjin received a copy of the letter of credence of Axelle Nicaise, Ambassador of the European Union to Mongolia, on October 6.

Deputy Minister B.Munkhjin voiced his pleasure with the deepening of relations and cooperation between Mongolia and its third neighbor European Union and wished success in the newly appointed Ambassador’s endeavors, Montsame reports.

The Deputy Minister also stressed the great significance of EU and its member states’ contributions to COVAX in overcoming the pandemic with the least possible damage and expressed gratitude.

Ambassador Axelle Nicaise undertook to focus on leveraging trade and economic relations between Mongolia and the EU member states and successfully implementing the Multi-annual Indicative Programme.

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia — The United States is delighted to announce that the U.S. donation of 899,730 more Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses has arrived in Mongolia. These doses were delivered through COVAX and came directly from the Pfizer manufacturing plant in Kalamazoo, Michigan. This donation is in addition to the 188,370 doses delivered earlier this month. The United States remains committed to supporting the people of Mongolia as they recover from this devastating pandemic. These donations through COVAX are part of that effort.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, The United States has provided nearly $8 million in support to Mongolia, including $3.7 million in additional urgent COVID-19 assistance provided in early September 2021. This assistance is providing life-saving medicine, testing kits, urgent medical equipment and supplies, oxygen therapy, and personal protective equipment (PPE). USAID also provided 50 high-quality ventilators in December 2020 and follow-on training needed to treat critically ill patients. USAID supports risk communication campaigns, infection prevention and control efforts in health facility and school settings, and vaccine distribution assistance.

In addition, the United States has provided critical medical equipment for more than 570 medical facilities and helped train nearly 12,700 healthcare workers to conduct outbreak surveillance, use and manage U.S. government-donated medical equipment, and deliver quality care for COVID-19 patients.

The United States, as Mongolia’s third neighbor, will continue to support the health and wellbeing of the Mongolian people.

The United States is the largest single country contributor to COVAX. The U.S. government contributed an initial $2 billion contribution to Gavi in March, which supports procurement and delivery of COVID-19 vaccines through COVAX. In July, the U.S. government provided an additional $2 billion contribution for Gavi that will help fill the gap in COVAX’s vaccine supply. This funding, along with other U.S. government funds, is being used toward the purchase of 500 million doses of Pfizer vaccine that will be made available to Gavi for distribution by COVAX to 92 low- and lower-middle-income economies around the world and the African Union.

Worldwide, the United States has provided 130 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to 90 countries. We will continue to donate additional vaccine doses globally as supply becomes available. We are also working with U.S. vaccine manufacturers to increase vaccine supply for the rest of the world and with partners to expand global vaccine production and manufacturing capacity to beat this pandemic

Mining magnate Robert Friedland is looking to make another potentially massive base metals discovery about 80 kilometres south of his famous Voisey’s Bay find from 1993.

Friedland’s privately held US-based firm Ivanhoe Electric Inc. (IVNE) has put up funding to conduct a low-temperature superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) moving loop transient electromagnetic survey on the South Voisey’s Bay (SVB) nickel-copper-cobalt project in Labrador, Canada.

The survey is being conducted by Discovery International Geophysics, headquartered in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

“Very low-frequency SQUID surveys are a relatively new tool being used in the hunt for highly conductive massive sulphide nickel deposits,” said Fjordland CEO James Tuer in a media release Wednesday.

The technology has been successfully applied in finding and expanding nickel deposits in Western Australia. In Canada, during the year, BHP-Midland and Wyloo Metals-Orford have also announced SQUID surveys on their nickel projects in northern Quebec.

The survey is expected to help classify the large number of graphite-related conductors that have complicated drill targeting in the past. Survey grids are also being prioritized over gravity anomalies, which may indicate high-density massive sulphide zones.

The SVB Pants Lake Intrusive complex is analogous to the Voisey’s Bay discovery. The proponents have already amassed a substantial project data set, including gravity, UTEM, pulse EM, Megatem, Radarsat and lithogeochemistry.

The SVB project is located 260 kilometres north-northwest of Goose Bay, Labrador, and 80 kilometres south of the Vale’s Voisey’s Bay nickel-copper-cobalt mine.

It covers most of the Pants Lake Gabbro Complex, which comprises several gabbro phases that are said to be similar to the ore-hosting gabbro at Voisey’s Bay nickel mine.

Drilling in 2017 and 2018 was centred on modelled conductors derived from re-processed historical UTEM-3 surveys conducted in 2002 and 2014 and incorporated the current geological concepts developed at Voisey’s Bay.

It was determined that geological structure plays an essential role in ore control at SVB, and that massive sulphide accumulations may also occur in wall rock structures. As a result, minor accumulations of nickel-copper sulphides in the drill core could indicate larger nearby massive bodies.

Results to date have encountered several stacked Gabbro sills comprising multiple magma pulses. The best results to date were from hole 17-2 which returned 0.8 metres grading 0.63% nickel, 0.30% copper and 0.1% cobalt and hole 17-6 which returned 3.9 metres grading 0.37% nickel, 0.27% copper and 0.1 % cobalt.

According to Fjordland, once in a system like SVB, the idea is to look for conduits where the nickel-bearing magma has flowed back into structural traps and accumulated into economic volumes.

Positive survey results are expected to lead to a drill program in 2022.

Fjordland optioned 100% of the Pants Lake Intrusive Complex from Commander and then brought in Friedland’s other private exploration firm, High Power Exploration (HPX), to earn 65% of the project. HPX uses advanced in-house proprietary exploration and geophysical technologies to uncover hidden targets over previously explored areas.

According to Vale data, as of 2018, Voisey’s Bay resources are 29 million tonnes at 0.1% nickel, 0.9% copper and 0.1% cobalt, for 328,600 tonnes nickel, 145,700 tonnes copper and 19,380 tonnes of cobalt in the proven and probable reserve categories.

Fjordland will have earned a 75% interest in the SVB project under its option with Commander Resources (TSXV: CMD), subject to Commander receiving a C$40,000 option payment and an additional Fjordland 400,000 shares. Fjordland can increase its interest to 100% by funding an additional C$5 million ($3.9m) in exploration expenses by October 2024.

Under its agreement with Fjordland, IVNE can earn a 65% interest in the project by funding these commitments leaving Fjordland with a residual 35% interest. Following the survey, IVNE will have spent C$3 million of the C$8 million required under the Fjordland-Commander option agreement.

Fjoirdland shares last traded up more than 5% in Toronto at C$0.10 apiece, capitalizing it at C$7.53 million ($6 million).

At its regular meeting today, the Cabinet has decided to withdraw the bill to amend the Law on Excise Tax, which was formulated in relation to the Bill on State Budget 2022 that was submitted to the Parliament.

Rather than supporting the domestic production of imported petroleum by-products through tax policy, it is considered necessary, in present situation, to improve the quality and standards requirement in Mongolia, monitor the activities of licensed companies, tighten the accountability system, and take management and regulatory measures as a matter of priority.

The Ministry of Health reported that 2,237 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the past 24 hours. Specifically, 1,107 cases were confirmed in Ulaanbaatar city, with 1,130 cases in rural regions and one imported case.

As of today, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Mongolia stands at 319,247. 6,500 patients have made recoveries in the past 24 hours.

Furthermore, 15 new COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, raising the country’s death toll to 1,318. Currently, 22,110 people are receiving hospital treatment for COVID-19 whilst 57,064 people with mild symptoms of COVID-19 are being isolated at home.

At the Cabinet’s regular meeting today, October 6, the following decisions were made.

-The movement of international transport crossing the Altanbulag checkpoint of the Mongolian-Russian border was resumed from October 1, 2021.

-As of October 5, 65.5 percent of the total population of Mongolia was fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and 323,940 people received the third dose. Therefore, it was instructed to pay attention to involve more people in the third dose and increase the number of vaccination points.

- The Cabinet deputed the Minister of Mining and Heavy Industry to finalize the draft cooperation agreement between Erchis Oil LLC and RN-Aero LLC and submit it for the Cabinet consideration.

- Minister of Justice and Home Affairs Kh.Nyambaatar briefed on the progress of the working group that aims to reduce the Corruption Perceptions Index.

- The Minister of Finance briefed on the process of drafting the Bill on Accelerating Economic Recovery and the establishment of the container terminal at the Gashuunsukhait border crossing. Since the bill was drafted, 257 proposals have been received from the private sector and over 280 -- from government agencies. These proposals will be incorporated into the bill on accelerating economic recovery.

Mongolia’s Ministry of Education and Science and Facebook, the global technology and social media company have entered a new partnership to train 1,000 professional teachers in Mongolia to implement digital literacy education at their own schools.

The new partnership came after Facebook in April 2021 launched “We Think Digital”, a multi-phased awareness and educational campaign to help Mongolia internet users navigate the online world safely and responsibly, and cultivate responsible digital citizens with complete digital literacy. The “We Think Digital” program was developed and implemented in Mongolia in partnership with Faro Foundation Mongolia, and in support of the Ministry of Education and Science, Communication and Information Technology Authority, UNICEF and Mongolian Fact-Checking Center. “I want to express my deep gratitude to Facebook and Faro Foundation for investing in Mongolia’s education. We have had a lot of challenges in the past two years and our youth experienced much education loss. We are willing to extensively invest in our youth’s education and make up for the time we have lost. The Ministry and myself are more than happy to be working with Facebook to invest in the future of education,” quoted His Excellency the Minister of Education and Science Enkh-Amgalan Luvsantseren.

“Facebook is proud to have the opportunity to partner with the Ministry of Education and Science to train 1,000 teachers in Mongolia with the latest knowledge and resources of digital literacy through our ‘We Think Digital” program. We truly believe in early-stage education of digital literacy for the better and safer internet tomorrow. The first batch of 1,000 teachers will be the pioneers trainers in Mongolia to scale up such meaningful educational efforts in dealing with new technologies for the years to come,” said George Chen, Director of Public Policy, Greater China, Mongolia and Central Asia at Facebook.

As a response to the urgent need for stronger digital literacy and digital citizenship, Facebook brought the global program “We Think Digital” to Mongolia for the first time in April 2021. The program aims to teach people how to navigate their privileges and obligations in today’s evolving digital space, how they should decipher and share information online, and most importantly, and how they should interact with other people in online communities. Facebook’s We Think Digital Program is the expansion of Digital Literacy Library, which was also developed by Facebook and launched in Mongolia in 2019.

We Think Digital is an extensive training program composed of eight modules covering topics such as digital citizenship, online safety, hate speech and bullying, privacy and cyber security, as well as misinformation. Faro Foundation effectively launched the initiative in Phase I through robust and energetic social media advertisements and campaigns. In addition, the Faro Foundation had the distinction of organizing a series of panel discussions with notable public figures, political leaders, and influencers. The initiative is reaching out to people in the community to raise awareness about digital literacy challenges. In Phase I, Faro Foundation also held a series of We Think Digital workshops and handed out “Digital Citizen” certificates to nearly 1,000 people. Facebook is delighted to be partnering with the Ministry of Education and Science on Phase II of the initiative to educate 1,000 professional teachers to reach out to our communities and promote digital literacy.