1 MONGOLIA MARKS CENTENNIAL WITH A NEW COURSE FOR CHANGE WWW.EASTASIAFORUM.ORG PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      2 E-MART OPENS FIFTH STORE IN ULAANBAATAR, MONGOLIA, TARGETING K-FOOD CRAZE WWW.BIZ.CHOSUN.COM PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      3 JAPAN AND MONGOLIA FORGE HISTORIC DEFENSE PACT UNDER THIRD NEIGHBOR STRATEGY WWW.ARMYRECOGNITION.COM  PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      4 CENTRAL BANK LOWERS ECONOMIC GROWTH FORECAST TO 5.2% WWW.UBPOST.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      5 L. OYUN-ERDENE: EVERY CITIZEN WILL RECEIVE 350,000 MNT IN DIVIDENDS WWW.GOGO.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      6 THE BILL TO ELIMINATE THE QUOTA FOR FOREIGN WORKERS IN MONGOLIA HAS BEEN SUBMITTED WWW.GOGO.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      7 THE SECOND NATIONAL ONCOLOGY CENTER TO BE CONSTRUCTED IN ULAANBAATAR WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      8 GREEN BOND ISSUED FOR WASTE RECYCLING WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/19      9 BAGANUUR 50 MW BATTERY STORAGE POWER STATION SUPPLIES ENERGY TO CENTRAL SYSTEM WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/19      10 THE PENSION AMOUNT INCREASED BY SIX PERCENT WWW.GOGO.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/19      КОКС ХИМИЙН ҮЙЛДВЭРИЙН БҮТЭЭН БАЙГУУЛАЛТЫГ ИРЭХ ОНЫ ХОЁРДУГААР УЛИРАЛД ЭХЛҮҮЛНЭ WWW.MONTSAME.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     "ЭРДЭНЭС ТАВАНТОЛГОЙ” ХК-ИЙН ХУВЬЦАА ЭЗЭМШИГЧ ИРГЭН БҮРД 135 МЯНГАН ТӨГРӨГ ӨНӨӨДӨР ОЛГОНО WWW.MONTSAME.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     ХУРИМТЛАЛЫН САНГИЙН ОРЛОГО 2040 ОНД 38 ИХ НАЯДАД ХҮРЭХ ТӨСӨӨЛӨЛ ГАРСАН WWW.NEWS.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     “ЭРДЭНЭС ОЮУ ТОЛГОЙ” ХХК-ИАС ХЭРЛЭН ТООНО ТӨСЛИЙГ ӨМНӨГОВЬ АЙМАГТ ТАНИЛЦУУЛЛАА WWW.EAGLE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     Л.ОЮУН-ЭРДЭНЭ: ХУРИМТЛАЛЫН САНГААС НЭГ ИРГЭНД 135 МЯНГАН ТӨГРӨГИЙН ХАДГАЛАМЖ ҮҮСЛЭЭ WWW.EAGLE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     “ENTRÉE RESOURCES” 2 ЖИЛ ГАРУЙ ҮРГЭЛЖИЛСЭН АРБИТРЫН МАРГААНД ЯЛАЛТ БАЙГУУЛАВ WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     “ORANO MINING”-ИЙН ГЭРЭЭ БОЛОН ГАШУУНСУХАЙТ-ГАНЦМОД БООМТЫН ТӨСЛИЙН АСУУДЛААР ЗАСГИЙН ГАЗАР ХУРАЛДАЖ БАЙНА WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     АЖИЛЧДЫН САРЫН ГОЛЧ ЦАЛИН III УЛИРЛЫН БАЙДЛААР ₮2 САЯ ОРЧИМ БАЙНА WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/19     PROGRESSIVE EQUITY RESEARCH: 2025 ОН “PETRO MATAD” КОМПАНИД ЭЭЛТЭЙ БАЙХААР БАЙНА WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/19     2026 ОНЫГ ДУУСТАЛ ГАДААД АЖИЛТНЫ ТОО, ХУВЬ ХЭМЖЭЭГ ХЯЗГААРЛАХГҮЙ БАЙХ ХУУЛИЙН ТӨСӨЛ ӨРГӨН МЭДҮҮЛЭВ WWW.EAGLE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/19    

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MBCC “Doing Business with Mongolia seminar and Christmas Receptiom” Dec 10. 2024 London UK MBCCI London UK Goodman LLC

NEWS

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CLSA backs Xanadu’s tier one copper aspirations in Mongolia www.stockhead.com.au

Special Report: CLSA analyst Trent Allen has endorsed Xanadu Mines’ renewed focus on exploration at its flagship Kharmagtai copper-gold project in Mongolia, agreeing with the company’s assessment that it can develop into a tier one asset with further drilling.
Kharmagtai already contains a globally significant resource of 1.9 million tonnes of copper and 4.3 million ounces of gold and Xanadu (ASX, TSX: XAM) had been heading down a path towards development.
One option being explored was starting with a small oxide gold open pit operation before moving on to mining the larger gold-rich copper porphyry.
But the appointment of Colin Moorhead, an ex-Newcrest Mining executive and geologist with intimate knowledge of some of the world’s biggest copper-gold porphyry systems, as chairman late last year led to a rethink in strategy.
In August Xanadu raised $12 million through an institutional share placement to fund an aggressive exploration program aimed at shoring up the project’s economics and proving its tier one status.
Initiating coverage on the company with a “buy” recommendation recently, Allen said: “The end game is to prove up a tier one mine, which to us means a reserve of +15 years with average annual production of +70kt of Cu (or +300kozpa Au).
“Kharmagtai could potentially produce that with ease, but to be comfortably profitable through the commodity cycle, it needs an All-In Sustaining Cost of less than US$2/lb Cu.
“The key to this will be grade. Kharmagtai is a vast intrusive complex that is still relatively untested, in particular at depth.
“Management has the experience to vector in on additional higher-grade areas (+0.8% copper equivalent) areas of the system, but drilling takes time – a sweet spot might emerge in the current program or in 2021.”
Kharmagtai Mining Lease showing deposit and prospect locations and location of drilling conducted in the September quarter 2020.
Right team in place
Allen worked under Moorhead at Newcrest’s Cadia Valley Operations in New South Wales and like his former boss, has observed similarities between Kharmagtai and Cadia Valley.
Knowing the critical role Moorhead played in the development of Cadia Valley – he drove the discovery of Cadia East, now Australia’s largest underground mine – and chief executive Andrew Stewart’s in-country background, Allen is comfortable that Xanadu has the team in place to be successful in Mongolia.
He is also of the view that the dramas surrounding the country’s largest mine, the giant Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold operation majority-owned by Rio Tinto, may ultimately prove beneficial for the likes of Xanadu.
“OT has attracted some operational and political controversy around permitting, project ownership and capex – but this is unsurprising given the mammoth scale of the asset,” he said.
“We expect that XAM can benefit from the OT example of how to, and how not to, develop a copper mine in Mongolia.”
Cheap by peer comparison
The Xanadu share price has drifted below the 4.5c price of the August capital raising, not an uncommon turn of events for a junior exploration stock.
Allen expected that to turn around as the company started to deliver results from the 23km of diamond drilling it is currently completing at Kharmagtai (17km has been drilled to date), honed in on higher grade zones and moved towards a resource update for the project in the first half of next year.
He has a 12-month price target of 8c on the stock based on a sum of the parts valuation, assuming enterprise value to resource ratio improves to $46/t Cu or 0.5% of the in-ground value of the Kharmagtai resource, which is more in line with industry peers.
Nominal value has been applied to Xanadu’s other Mongolian assets, which include the Red Mountain copper-gold joint venture, where Japan’s JOGMEC is spending $7.2 million to earn a 51% interest, and the early stage Yellow Mountain copper project.
Like other investment banks and brokers, CLSA is bullish on copper and is forecasting an average 2021 price of US$3.20/lb, “driven by a clear, long-term theme of scarcity of high quality supply”.
“In this light, Xanadu could be attractive to other companies seeking copper exposure,” Allen said.
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China’s forex reserves hit 4-year high on booming trade & strong yuan www.rt.com

China boosted its foreign exchange reserves, the world’s largest, by over $50 billion in one month. The holdings rose to the highest in more than four years to reach $3.178 trillion in November.
The forex reserves returned to growth for the first time in three months and hit the highest level since August 2016, according to data released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) on Monday. The growth was stronger than analysts polled by Reuters predicted, as they expected the holdings to be nearly $30 billion lower.
The value of China's gold assets fell by around six percent as the price for the yellow metal decreased in November amid a stock market rally. Bullion holdings were down to $110.41 billion last month compared to $117.89 billion at the end of October, the official data showed.
The world’s largest forex reserves increased as Beijing has been rapidly recovering from the coronavirus crisis that paralyzed the country’s economy at the beginning of the year. Foreign trade has been booming in recent months, with exports surging to almost three-year highs in November.
The strong exports came even as the yuan continued to appreciate against the dollar, rising 1.7 percent last month. Meanwhile, the greenback continued to fall against major global currencies. The US Dollar Index, which measures the value of the dollar against a basket of currencies, extended losses in November as it fell over two percent.
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China wants to weaponize its currency. A digital version could help www.cnn.com

Hong Kong (CNN Business)China wants to break the US dollar's stranglehold on the global financial system and gain greater control over how people spend their money. It's hoping a digital currency could deliver both.
After years of preparation, the country began rolling out an ambitious test of a digital version of the yuan earlier this year. Pilots exist now in four Chinese cities, where transactions totaling more than 2 billion yuan ($300 million) have already taken place. If the program is expanded nationwide, China would become the most powerful economy yet to offer a national digital currency, beating a forthcoming digital version of the euro from the European Central Bank.
Beijing has touted the digital yuan as a futuristic currency that will make buying things more convenient and secure. Officials also say that it could help those who don't have access to bank accounts and other traditional financial services.
While China is already nearly cashless and a lot of transactions happen digitally, they do so beyond the purview of the state on privately-owned apps and platforms.
An official digital yuan would change that, as it would give Beijing an unprecedented amount of information about how and where people are, and what they're spending their money on — an approach that runs counter to the original intent of digital money in the first place. Bitcoin and other digital currencies rely on a decentralized blockchain system that prevents any one person or organization from having control.
"In essence, the digital yuan can help strengthen the state's surveillance and control over the economy and society," said Frank Xie, a professor in business at University of South Carolina Aiken. "It enhances the centralization of authority. That may be the fundamental reason why it has been strongly pushed and rushed by the state."
Chinese regulators have also suggested that the widespread adoption of a digital yuan could help them realize a much grander plan: breaking the US dollar monopoly and growing the influence of the yuan on the international stage. Just last month, for example, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam revealed that US sanctions have blocked her from having a bank account.
There are still plenty of hurdles for China's program to overcome before the new form of currency is entrenched in everyday life, though. And analysts are skeptical about whether the digital yuan can pick up the traction that Beijing hopes it can, much less pose a real threat to the US dollar. The ruling Chinese Communist Party's desire to control its financial system remains the ultimate obstacle to creating any currency that could truly become global.
Keeping the digital economy in line
The push to develop a digital currency began in 2014, according to the People's Bank of China. Authorities spent six years researching the project before launching pilot programs this year in Shenzhen, Suzhou, Chengdu and Xiong'an.
Like cryptocurrency, the digital yuan incorporates some elements of blockchain technology: Every transaction is recorded and traceable in a digital ledger. It would replace some of the cash that is already in circulation, according to Fan Yifei, deputy governor of the central bank.
The development of a digital currency serves other purposes, too. A more easily traceable yuan would allow the government to better manage the country's monetary supply. It also satisfies Beijing's desire to curtail growing influence that private tech firms and their digital payment services have on the country's financial system.
The Chinese central bank didn't articulate its reason for developing a digital currency at the time. The existence of the program has only come to light in recent years as the central bank has acknowledged that it feels threatened by how rapidly digital technology is evolving.
Online payment services run by Ant Group's Alipay and Tencent's WeChat Pay have been growing rapidly over the last decade, raising concerns about whether private companies hold too much sway over digital transactions in China.
In 2013, for example, Alipay launched a money market fund called Yu'e Bao, or "Leftover Treasure," that became so popular that Chinese regulators stepped in and forced the program to reduce its size. They were concerned about systemic risk: If the massive fund failed for some reason, it could wreak havoc on China's economy.
Jack Ma's Ant Group is a digital payments titan in China, and has been growing rapidly over the last decade — raising questions about how much sway the firm has over monetary transactions in the country.
Jack Ma's Ant Group is a digital payments titan in China, and has been growing rapidly over the last decade — raising questions about how much sway the firm has over monetary transactions in the country.
"Beijing has long been concerned about the digital currency monopoly by tech giants, and their impact on the financial system beyond central bank supervision," wrote Anthony Chan, chief Asia investment strategist for Swiss bank UBP, in a research report published earlier this year.
Recent events have served to highlight those concerns. Last month, for example, the Chinese government slammed the brakes on Ant Group's highly anticipated initial public offering just days before its shares were scheduled to start trading in Shanghai and Hong Kong.
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Chimney Sweeps Attack Deadly Pollution Crisis www.globalpressjournal.com

ULAANBAATAR, MONGOLIA — Soot and ash bloom from the stove as Sukhbaatar Jizaabandi pounds it with a hammer. Dust crowds the air, caught in sunlight that spills through a window. Hands gloved, Sukhbaatar shovels the soot into a bucket.
On the surface, Sukhbaatar’s work as a government-hired chimney sweep seems like a prosaic necessity in a country where stoves are often the center of the home.
Yet to thousands, he and his colleagues are lifesavers.
That’s because, in clearing ash and soot, Sukhbaatar protects Ulaanbaatar residents from deadly carbon monoxide poisoning.
That was the tragic lesson of 2019, after the Mongolian government decided to reduce air pollution by banning the burning of raw coal. But the change unleashed a new problem, as the use of new refined charcoal led to carbon monoxide poisoning that killed eight people in a month.
Since then, the government has hired hundreds of chimney sweeps to prevent a recurrence as part of a broader campaign to combat pollution in a country whose air ranks among the dirtiest in the world. Ulaanbaatar’s air is the most polluted in the country.
Battumur Dagvadorj and Sukhbaatar Jizaabandi, climbing the ladder, come to their last home of the day as part of a government initiative to clean out chimneys and reduce carbon monoxide poisoning.
For decades, Mongolians used unprocessed coal in stoves during Mongolia’s long, legendary winters, when temperatures can bottom out at minus 45 degrees Celsius (minus 49 degrees Fahrenheit).
The cheap coal came at a high cost: The country’s air grew so foul that it contributed to heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and other illnesses.
Starting in May 2019, Mongolians had to buy a refined charcoal that was odorless and smokeless.
Within a month, the deaths occurred, and another 273 people suffered carbon monoxide poisoning. The number of carbon monoxide deaths in October 2019 nearly matched the total for all of 2018.
Officials blamed the deaths in part on families who didn’t sweep their chimneys properly. So the government ultimately teamed up with a private company to hire more than 1,600 people to clean and inspect stoves.
As of mid-August, the chimney sweeps had worked in over 28,400 households.
Prior to becoming a chimney sweep, Sukhbaatar, 56, had no steady work. Pale, short and thin, he says he took the job in part because it provides a reliable government salary of 800,000 Mongolian tugriks ($281) per month.
“It’s easy because I have experience making stoves,” says Sukhbaatar, a married father of three. “I didn’t know the chimneys were so dirty.”
In Ulaanbaatar, tens of thousands of residents live in yurts, mostly in the city’s ger areas, the poorest in the capital. A traditional Mongolian home, yurts are domed structures with wooden frames covered in felt and cloth. Usually measuring 4 to 5 meters (13 to 16 feet) end to end, most yurts are warmed by a stove.
Working in teams, chimney sweeps and inspectors visit households to study the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. Not everyone is welcoming: Byambaa Sundel, who lives in Ulaanbaatar’s Sukhbaatar district, says the government program shows that young people today are so privileged that they cannot clean their own chimneys.
“What a waste [of money]!” he says.
Inspector Battumur Dagvadorj, in blue, and chimney sweep Sukhbaatar Jizaabandi dig out soot with a ladle and put it in a bucket. Afterward, they will take it to a dump. They also use their cellphones to take photos of each stove.
The chimney sweeps and inspectors cover four to five houses per day. Most households are happy to see Sukhbaatar and his colleagues, and some homeowners even help them do their work.
The teams toil from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and by the end of the day, they are blanketed in soot.
Ulziibayar Barkhuu, inspection engineer at Tavan Tolgoi Tulsh LLC, the government’s partner company, says sometimes chimney sweeps and inspectors must make emergency house calls in the middle of the night.
The company receives calls at a special telephone number and supplies chimney sweep services upon request. More than 33,000 people have called.
Battsengel Tsedendamba, 50, used the service after two bouts of carbon monoxide poisoning.
In October 2019, she was at home asleep in the two-story house she had occupied for 17 years. She had never had trouble with chimney smoke or coal, she says.
Suddenly, she awoke choking. Just as she was calling a nurse, she noticed that her children, ages 8 to 22, were all unconscious.
Everyone received medical treatment and fully recovered. “I think it’s God’s destiny for me and my children that they didn’t die of asphyxiation,” she says.
Then, in February 2020, Battsengel again suffered carbon monoxide poisoning. Again, she recovered. So in October 2020, as winter descended and her family fired up the stove, she called in a chimney sweep.
“I don’t think there’s any problem now that the chimney has been [cleaned] out,” she says.
Damdinbazar Batbuyan, 46, called the service in September. Married with two children, he teaches chess out of his home. He had not cleaned his chimney since burning the new refined fuel.
Before the chimney sweep visited, smoke sometimes poured out of his stove, he says, but that no longer happens. And he says he now uses three times less fuel.
Critics of the chimney sweeping campaign say it falls far short of a comprehensive plan to curb Mongolia’s pollution crisis.
“Mongolia has not taken long-term measures to reduce [air pollution],” says activist Purevkhuu Tserendorj, head of the nongovernmental organization Parents Against Smog. “We can’t just keep refining coal.”
Tsolmon Tsogbadrakh, head of policy and coordination at Ulaanbaatar’s Air Pollution Control Department, says Mongolia does have a long-term plan to reduce air pollution, including improving infrastructure and construction in the ger areas.
“We are implementing a national program to reduce air pollution, and we are working on it step by step,” he says. He also says that in the next four to six years, Mongolia will reduce emissions with improved fuels.
Officials have so far declined to say if anyone has died of carbon monoxide poisoning since September, which is when Mongolians started using their stoves again.
All Battsengel knows is that the service saved her and her family. “Professional chimney sweepers have worked very well. [They] protect many people,” she says. “Like us.”
Nansalmaa Oyunchimeg is a Global Press Journal reporter based in Mongolia.
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Mongolian Immigration Agency working online www.news.mn

During the current lockdown situation, Mongolia Immigration Agency and its branches are working online. You can contact agency’s web site https://evisa.mn/ for extending your visas and residency cards. Since the strict lockdown, the agency has taken actions for 70 investors and workers visa requests from 16 entities. It granted extensions of residency card issuance and its registration/deregistration for 220 business entities request. Furthermore, around 1700 foreigners and their inviter companies have been provided by information and advice through phone or online chatbot.
Affection of current situation, if you have visa or residency card expiring problem you may send your request by web site www.evisa.mn, If you need any further help or advice please contact us at 1800-1882 or online chat bot located at our website /immigration.gov.mn/ during working hours.
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Sinovac secures $515 million funding to boost COVID-19 vaccine production www.reuters.com

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China’s Sinovac Biotech has secured $515 million in funding from a local firm to double production capacity of its coronavirus vaccine, the companies said on Monday, as it expects efficacy data of its experimental shot this month.
The investment deal also comes as Sinovac expands supply deals and trials of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine CoronaVac with more countries following positive results from early to mid-stage clinical trials.
China’s Sino Biopharmaceutical Limited said on Monday a business unit will invest $515 million in Sinovac Life Sciences, a subsidiary of Sinovac, to help development and production of CoronaVac.
The investment will give Sino Biopharmaceutical a 15.03% interest in Sinovac Life Sciences, Sino Biopharmaceutical said in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Sinovac said in a separate statement that it would be able to manufacture 300 million vaccine doses annually and aims to complete construction of a second production facility by the end of 2020 to increase annual COVID-19 vaccine production capacity to 600 million doses.
Depending on market conditions and the availability of financing, it may seek to further expand its production capacity, Sinovac said.
Sinovac has secured CoronaVac supply deals with several countries including Indonesia, Turkey, Brazil and Chile, and is holding talks with the Philippines for a potential sale.
CoronaVac is also one of three experimental COVID-19 vaccines China has been using to inoculate around 1 million people under an emergency use programme.
Brazil’s Butantan Institute biomedical centre, which is running a Phase 3 trial of CoronaVac in the country, said last week that Sinovac was expected to publish efficacy results from its vaccine trials by Dec. 15.
Reporting by Andrew Galbraith; Editing by Sam Holmes
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What's behind a feud at Rio Tinto's copper mine in Mongolia www.reuters.com

ORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian mining company Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd is locked in a feud with its largest shareholder, Rio Tinto Plc, over the underground expansion of its massive Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in Mongolia.
Tensions between mine operator Rio and Turquoise Hill’s management and minority shareholders have spilled into the open in recent months. Rio owns 51% of Turquoise Hill, which in turn owns 66% of the mine.
Here is an explanation of the dispute.
WHAT IS OYU TOLGOI?
Oyu Tolgoi is one of the world’s largest-known copper and gold deposits, located in the South Gobi region of Mongolia. The Mongolian government holds a 34% stake in the project with Rio’s majority-owned Turquoise Hill owning the rest.
Open-pit mining began in 2011. First production from the underground expansion is slated for 2022, climbing to 500,000 tonnes of copper per year at full capacity in what would make it the world’s third-largest copper mine.
WHAT WILL THE EXPANSION COST?
Rio in 2019 announced a 30-month delay and a cost overrun of up to $1.9 billion due to difficult geology, putting total expenditures in a range of $6.5 billion to $7.2 billion.
Costs for a coal-fired power plant to supply power to the mine would come on top of that figure.
WHY ARE MINORITY SHAREHOLDERS UPSET?
Turquoise Hill in November launched arbitration proceedings against Rio, saying the miner’s approach to funding the expansion is “incompatible” with its own.
Rio in September said it would borrow $500 million to develop the mine, with any remaining funding gap met by a Turquoise Hill stock offering.
Turquoise Hill shareholders fear that would allow Rio to take a greater stake in Turquoise Hill that underplayed its full valuation.
Pentwater Capital, which holds a 9.23% stake in Turquoise Hill, and Sailingstone Capital Partners, which holds 3%, accuse Rio of mismanaging costs and unfairly restricting Turquoise Hill’s ability to obtain financing to pay for those costs.
The Canadian mining company wants to extend the timeline it has to repay some debt while also exploring other funding options, including a possible gold stream, to delay or avoid a stock offering.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Turquoise Hill has said arbitration, which could take up to five months, would provide needed “clarity” on mine financing. It said on Dec. 1 that the board of Oyu Tolgoi had approved forming a special committee to conduct an independent review of cost overruns and delays at the mine.
An outside firm of experts is to report to the special committee within six months of commencing the investigation, according to the company.
Rio declined comment.
Turquoise Hill has said it would need to raise $1.1 billion via bank debt, bonds or a metal stream if it and Rio extend the timeline to repay existing loans and raise new debt as planned.
However, the Canadian mining company said it may need to issue at least $3 billion of additional stock, if it cannot amend its debt repayment terms or secure other financing.
Reporting by Jeff Lewis; Editing by Ernest Scheyder and Will Dunham
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MNOC President Tüvshinbayar urges Mongolians to take part in fitness challenge www.insidethegames.biz

Mongolian National Olympic Committee (MNOC) President Naidan Tüvshinbayar has launched a fitness challenge in a bid to keep people active during the coronavirus pandemic.
Tüvshinbayar, who won gold in judo at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, has challenged people of all ages to take part in a workout, called the "Olympic Wave".
The 36-year-old demonstrated simple but effective exercises at home with his four children to keep a good physical condition during the global health crisis and wants all Mongolians to take up the challenge.
According to the Olympic Council of Asia, the winners will be awarded special promotional prizes by the MNOC.
Mongolia has been praised for its handling of the pandemic and has recorded no deaths.
But an outbreak of coronavirus cases resulted in the country going into five-day lockdown on November 13, before it was extended until December 1.
Eleven new infections were confirmed today, taking the total number of cases to 842, and some areas remain in lockdown.
Tüvshinbayar replaced Demchigjav Zagdsuren as President of MNOC on August 17 and is due to remain in charge until at least next year.
The former judo athlete made history for Mongolia when he became the country’s first Olympic gold medallist with victory at Beijing 2008.
Four years later, Tüvshinbayar clinched silver in the same under-100 kilograms event at London 2012.
He also won gold at the 2014 Asian Games and is a two-time bronze medallist at the World Championships.
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Mongolia confirms 7 more COVID-19 cases www.xinhuanet.com

Mongolia confirmed seven more COVID-19 cases on Sunday after 14,019 tests have been carried out in the past 24 hours, said the country's National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD).
The latest confirmed cases were locally transmitted or people who had close contact with previously confirmed cases, the NCCD said in a statement.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country reached 849, including 417 locally transmitted cases.
The Asian country's nationwide lockdown, imposed on Nov. 12 to halt the virus's spread, expired Tuesday.
However, the government has extended the lockdown in the capital of Ulan Bator and the provinces of Selenge and Arkhangai by 10 days until Dec. 11.
The country has recorded 384 recoveries and no deaths so far.
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Border port records huge jump in freight trains crossing Mongolia www.mongoliaweekly.org

The number of freight trains crossing Mongolia has risen over 50 percent year-on-year, according to Chinese news outlets.
Officials working at the border port of Erenhot between Mongolia and China have told Xinhua that 2158 freight trains have crossed in the last 11 months, which is a 53.4 percent increase compared to last year.
China Railway Hohhot Group also said that of these trains, 1023 were inbound to China and 1135 were outbound to Europe.
According to Xinhua, the port has modified part of its bulk cargo space into a train container reloading area, which has improved capacity by 30 percent. The space was previously used to load logs and iron ore.
42 train routes between China and Europe converge at the Zamiin-Uud to Erenhot crossing, making it the largest land port between China and Mongolia.
There has been a huge growth in freight train crossings of Mongolia in the last six years following a mutual agreement in 2016 between Beijing, Ulaanbaatar and Moscow to improve connections between China and Russia.
In 2014, only ten China-Europe trains crossed Mongolia compared to 900 in 2018 and over 2100 in 2020.
According to DSV, a global transport company, rail freight services between China and Europe are faster (but more expensive) than seaborne shipping and cheaper (but slower) than airborne options.
"The rail journey from China to Europe, from terminal to terminal, and depending on the route, takes between 15 and 18 days," DSV says. "That is roughly half the time it takes to move containers by ship."
The China-Europe freight rail route across Mongolia competes with the southern line across Kazakhstan and the eastern line that crosses the China-Russia border at Zabaikalsk.
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