1 MONGOLIA RECORDS USD 16.6 BILLION IN TRADE WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2025/09/11      2 GOVERNMENT REPORTS OPERATIONAL IMPROVEMENTS AT ERDENES TAVANTOLGOI UNDER SPECIAL REGIME WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2025/09/11      3 DIESEL LOCOMOTIVE CONVERTED TO HYBRID LOCOMOTIVE IN MONGOLIA WWW.RAILLYNEWS.COM  PUBLISHED:2025/09/11      4 MONGOLIA REVEALS ITS UNTAMED BEAUTY AND RICH CULTURE THROUGH THE EYES OF DUTCH TOURISTS ON AN UNFORGETTABLE ADVENTURE WWW.TRAVELANDTOURWORLD.COM  PUBLISHED:2025/09/11      5 ROBOTIC MILITARY DOG TRAINING FEATURED IN CHINA-RUSSIA-MONGOLIA BORDER DEFENSE EXERCISE WWW.NOVINITE.COM  PUBLISHED:2025/09/11      6 MONGOLIA DEPLOYS 15TH BATTALION’S SECOND CONTINGENT TO UN MISSION IN SOUTH SUDAN WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2025/09/11      7 THE MONGOLZ RANKINGS RISE TO SECOND WORLDWIDE WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2025/09/10      8 CHABOT MOBILITY JOINS MONGOLIA VOYAGER PROJECT TO EXPORT K-MOBILITY INFRASTRUCTURE WWW.BIZ.CHOSUN.COM  PUBLISHED:2025/09/10      9 "OYUT" COPPER DEPOSIT WITH 1.1 MILLION TONS OF PURE COPPER DISCOVERED WWW.GOGO.MN PUBLISHED:2025/09/10      10 CHINA-RUSSIA-MONGOLIA BORDER DEFENSE COOPERATION 2025 JOINT EXERCISE KICKS OFF WWW.ENG.CHINAMIL.COM.CN  PUBLISHED:2025/09/10      ЗАСГИЙН ГАЗРЫН WWW.D-GOV.MN ЦАХИМ СИСТЕМ ӨНӨӨДРӨӨС АЖИЛЛАЖ ЭХЭЛЛЭЭ WWW.MONTSAME.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/09/11     ТӨМӨРТЭЙН ОВООНЫ ЦАЙРЫН ОРДЫН ТУСГАЙ ЗӨВШӨӨРЛИЙГ АЛБАН ТУШААЛТНУУД ХУВИЙН КОМПАНИДАА ШИЛЖҮҮЛЭН АВСАН ҮЙЛДЛИЙН УЛМААС ТӨРД УЧРУУЛСАН ХОХИРЛЫГ НЭХЭМЖЛЭХЭЭР БОЛОВ WWW.ITOIM.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/09/11     ТӨСВИЙН АЛДАГДАЛТАЙ АЛБАН ТУШААЛТНЫГ ЧӨЛӨӨЛНӨ WWW.NEWS.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/09/11     ДҮҮЖИН ЗАМЫН ТЭЭВЭР ТӨСӨЛД 2 ТЭРБУМААР ЗӨВЛӨХ ҮЙЛЧИЛГЭЭ АВНА WWW.NEWS.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/09/11     ИПОТЕКИЙН БАНК БАЙГУУЛАГДАХААС ӨМНӨ САНХҮҮЖИЛТИЙГ ЗАСГИЙН ГАЗАР РУУ ШИЛЖҮҮЛНЭ WWW.EGUUR.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/09/10     Р.ЧИНГИСИЙГ ДОТООДЫН ЦЭРГИЙН ЕРӨНХИЙ КОМАНДЛАГЧААР ТОМИЛНО WWW.NEWS.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/09/10     БИРЖИЙН НҮҮРСНИЙ ЭКСПОРТ 739 МЯНГАН ТОНН БОЛЖ, ӨМНӨХ САРААС ХОЁР ДАХИН ӨСЖЭЭ WWW.MONTSAME.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/09/10     “ЭРДЭНЭС ТАВАНТОЛГОЙ” ХК НҮҮРС БАЯЖУУЛАХ ҮЙЛДВЭРЭЭС ГАРЧ БУЙ ХАЯГДАЛ НҮҮРСИЙГ ДАХИН БОЛОВСРУУЛНА WWW.ITOIM.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/09/10     ХАЛЗАН БҮРЭГТЭЙН ОРДЫН АСУУДЛААРХ СОНСГОЛД ХОВДООС 50 ХҮН ОРОЛЦУУЛАХ ХҮСЭЛТ ГАРГАЖЭЭ WWW.EAGLE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/09/10     “УЛААНБАДРАХ 300 МВТ ЦАХИЛГААН СТАНЦ” ТӨСЛИЙН ТЭЗҮ-ИЙГ МЭРГЭЖЛИЙН ЗӨВЛӨЛӨӨР ХЭЛЭЛЦҮҮЛНЭ WWW.MONTSAME.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/09/10    

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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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Mongolia, Turquoise Hill force Rio Tinto into Oyu Tolgoi review www.mining.com

The Government of Mongolia and representatives of Canada’s Turquoise Hill (TSX, NYSE: TRQ) have set up a special board committee to conduct an independent review into the cost overruns and delays at the Oyu Tolgoi underground expansion flagged by Rio Tinto (ASX, LON, NYSE: RIO) last year.
Two of the commission’s four members were nominated by Turquoise Hill, Oyu Tolgoi’s majority shareholder, with another two chosen by Erdenes Oyu Tolgoi (EOT), Mongolia’s entity that owns the remaining 34% interest in the massive copper-gold-silver mine.
”The special committee has been charged with selecting and engaging an independent and reputable firm of experts in the field of project management, mine planning, cost management and other related fields,” the Mongolian government said in a separate statement.
Rio’s partners’ show of defiance, worked out late on Monday, comes amid threats of legal action from investors against the company for failing to meet the set cost and timeline for the mine expansion.
The world’s second-largest miner confirmed in July that its most important growth project would be delivered almost two years late and close to $1.5 billion over budget. Rio also lowered at the time its forecast for annual copper output at Oyu Tolgoi open-pit, citing coronavirus-related disruptions.
“Turquoise Hill fully supports our government partner, EOT, in securing an independent and objective review of the cost overruns and delays announced last year,” the company said on Tuesday.
“We believe [the move] is consistent with corporate governance best practices, ensures accountability and transparency and will ultimately serve the best interests of Oyu Tolgoi’s owners – EOT and TRQ – as well as our respective stakeholders,” the company added.
The dispute over funding the expansion’s sudden cost increase began heating up in early November when Turquoise Hill launched arbitration proceedings against the mining giant to get clarity on funding.
Rio Tinto has said it will not allow the Canadian miner, in which it holds a 51% stake, to take on more than $500 million in additional debt, and asked the company to fill up a funding gap of up to $3 billion by reprofiling loans and raising equity.
Minority investors in Turquoise Hill, including US hedge fund Pentwater Capital, oppose Rio’s attempts to force the Canadian miner to conduct an equity raise. The claim there are “much cheaper and more advantageous financing options” available to the company, such as streaming and bond financing.
They also worry about Rio growing its stake in Turquoise Hill through such an equity raising. Investors based this argument on the expectation that Rio would underwrite any shortfall created by minority Turquoise Hill shareholders who do not participate in the raising.
Troubles-plagued
Mongolia has complained about overruns in the past. Much of Oyu Tolgoi’s copper lies deep underground. When Rio finally kicked off the delayed project, profits from surface extraction were meant to pay for digging up more of the copper below.
With time, it became clear the underground mine alone would cost as much as a third more than the original $5.3 billion budget.
Mounting investor activism is just one of the may headaches Rio Tinto has had while building what would rank as one of the world’s three largest copper mines when operating at full capacity – now expected to be by 2025 at the earliest.
Oyu Tolgoi’s expansion cost blowout to hit up to $1.8 billion
The copper-gold mine is located in the South Gobi region of Mongolia, about 550 km south of the capital Ulaanbaatar.
The Mongolian government’s insistence on owning an equity stake in the mine and has also been a major obstacle for Rio to overcome.
A group of legislators recommended last year a review of the 2009 deal that launched construction of the mine. It also advised revoking a 2015 agreement allowing for the now ongoing underground expansion.
Mongolia’s parliament ended up approving a resolution in December last year, which reconfirmed the validity of all the Oyu Tolgoi mine-related agreements. The decision brought an 18-month-long review to a close.
The underground expansion of Oyu Tolgoi is Rio’s most important growth project. Once completed, it is expected to lift the mine’s production from 125,000–150,000 tonnes in 2019 to 560,000 tonnes at peak output.
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Mongolian gov't reduces price of processed fuel by 50 pct amid pandemic www.xinhuanet.com

The Mongolian government on Wednesday decided to reduce the price of processed fuel by 50 percent amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Our people's livelihoods have been badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the government decided to reduce the price of processed fuel by 50 percent from Dec. 3 to April 1 in order to support the livelihoods of residents of ger areas of the capital city Ulan Bator during the pandemic," said Prime Minister Ukhnaa Khurelsukh.
The current price of processed fuel is 150,000 Mongolian tugriks (about 52.8 U.S. dollars) per ton.
Mongolia replaced low-grade coal with processed fuel in Ulan Bator in 2019 to curb air pollution. In other words, the processed fuel is currently used only in the capital city, which is home to over half of Mongolia's 3.2 million population.
Around 220,000 households live in Ulan Bator's ger (yurt, or round-shaped dwelling) districts, with no running water, central heating or sewerage systems, according to government data.
As of Wednesday, Mongolia has reported 812 COVID-19 cases, including 380 locally transmitted cases.
The Asian country's nationwide lockdown, imposed on Nov. 12 after reporting its first locally transmitted case, expired on Tuesday.
However, the Mongolian government has extended the lockdown in Ulan Bator and the provinces of Selenge and Arkhangai by 10 days until Dec. 11. Enditem
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Mongolia reports 11 new COVID-19 cases www.montsame.mn

At the regular press briefing of the Ministry of Health today, December 2, A.Ambaselmaa, a head of Surveillance Department of the National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD), reported that the coronavirus was detected in 11 people after testing 12015 people within the past 24 hours.
Six new cases have been recorded in Ulaanbaatar city, three -- in Selenge aimag and two -- Orkhon aimag. No new infections recorded in Darkhan-Uul, Dornogobi, Gobisumber and Arkhangai aimags.
As of today, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Mongolia has reached 812, with 358 recoveries and 429 local transmission cases.
445 people are undergoing the treatment at the NCCD.
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Boeing's updated 737 MAX completes first flight with media onboard www.reuters.com

DALLAS (Reuters) - Boeing Co’s 737 MAX staged its first post-grounding flight with media on board on Wednesday, as carriers seek to demonstrate to passengers that the redesigned jet is safe after a 20-month safety ban.
In another display of confidence, European budget airline Ryanair was set to place a hefty order for up to 75 additional 737 MAX jets, industry sources said.
Wednesday’s American Airlines 737 MAX flight was a 45-minute hop from Dallas, Texas, to Tulsa, Oklahoma. It comes weeks before the first commercial passenger flight on Dec. 29, and is part of a public relations effort to allay any concerns about the aircraft.
Boeing’s best-selling jet was grounded in March 2019 after two crashes in five months killed a combined 346 people, marking the industry’s worst safety crisis in decades and undermining U.S. aviation regulatory leadership.
Wednesday’s flight marked the first time anyone besides regulators and industry personnel flew on the MAX since the grounding, which ignited investigations focusing on software that overwhelmed pilots.
The mood on Wednesday’s flight, which included a Reuters reporter, was subdued. Some passengers mingled and chatted before landing, when applause broke out.
Reflecting the COVID-19 pandemic that has roiled commercial aviation, each of the roughly 90 journalists, flight attendants and other American Airlines employees on the flight wore face masks.
Boeing gets 737 MAX order boost from Ryanair: sources
“The history of aviation is built around a chain of safety,” Captain Pete Gamble told passengers just before takeoff. “When the chain of safety breaks it’s up to those of us in the industry to mend it and bring it back.”
Last month, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration cleared the jet following design changes and new training.
A smooth return to service for the MAX is seen as critical for Boeing’s reputation and finances, which have been hit hard by a freeze on MAX deliveries as well as the coronavirus crisis.
Airlines and leasing companies have spent hundreds of billions of dollars buying the latest upgrade of the 737, the world’s most-sold passenger aircraft.
Lured by sharp discounts and anxious to help repair the MAX’s reputation around which they have built their fleet plans, some airlines are now stepping in to show commercial support.
Boeing is bracing for intense publicity from even routine glitches by manning a 24-hour “situation room” to monitor every MAX flight globally, and has briefed some industry commentators on details on the return to service, industry sources said.
“We are continuing to work closely with global regulators and our customers to safely return the fleet to commercial service,” a Boeing spokesman said.
Brazil’s Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes is planning a media event for the redesigned MAX this month.
The PR efforts are designed to highlight software and training upgrades which the FAA has said remove any doubt about the plane’s safety.
But crash victims’ family members have protested the return to service, saying it is premature before a final investigative report on the second crash in Ethiopia has been released.
Boeing toned down its original plans for the plane’s return as the crisis dragged on longer than it expected - scrapping a high-profile publicity campaign, a ceremony in the Seattle area and a tour using an Oman Air 737 MAX, industry sources said.
United Airlines is expected to receive the first Max delivery since the grounding, a person familiar with the matter said.
Reporting by Tracy Rucinski in Dallas, Texas; Additional reporting by Marcelo Rochabrun in Sao Paulo, Tim Hepher in Paris; Writing by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by David Evans, Matthew Lewis and Gerry Doyle
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China coking coal surges as covid throttles Mongolia border www.bloomberg.com

Coking coal prices in China have soared to a four-year high after a new covid-19 outbreak slowed border crossings from Mongolia.
Trucks carrying coal across the border have fallen by about 80% since October amid efforts to control the virus as hundreds of new cases arise in Mongolia, according to analysts with Hexun Futures. The slowdown comes after China barred imports from its other top coking coal supplier, Australia.
“The sharp rise in coking coal is mainly related to the sharp drop in Mongolian coal customs clearance,” Hexun analysts said in the Dec. 1 note. “At the same time, coal mine safety supervision is tightening and the import of Australian coal is still restricted.”
Coking coal futures in Dalian rose 4.1% Wednesday to 1,535 yuan a ton, the highest for the most-active contract since November 2016. The fuel is a key ingredient for China’s world-leading steel industry.
Border traffic is being slowed as customs officers in both Mongolia and China administer health checks to truck drivers hauling coal from pits in the Gobi desert. It’s the second key disruption this year for Mongolia’s coal shipments to China after a six-week halt in February and March.
Mongolia’s GDP for the first three quarters of 2020 declined 7.3% from the previous year, largely as a result of a weaker mining sector. Coal exports through the end of October were 36% lower than in the same period in 2019.
The disruptions on the Mongolian border come after China banned steel mills and power companies from purchasing Australian coal amid souring ties between the two nations.
(By Dan Murtaugh and Terrence Edwards)
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BoM purchases 1.7 tons of precious metal in November www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ In November 2020, the Bank of Mongolia (BoM) purchased 1.7 tons of precious metal. Thus, total amount of precious metal purchase has reached 21 tons since the beginning of this year, showing an increase of 6.5 tons compared to the same period of previous year.
19.3 tons of the total purchased precious metal were gold and 1.7 tons were silver.
The BoM branches in Darkhan-Uul and Bayankhongor aimag bought 106.5 kg and 98.7 kg of precious metals respectively in November, bringing total amount to 1.8 tons.
The average price of BoM’s purchase of 1 gram of gold was MNT 170,810.51 in November.
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Mongolia benefits from conflict between China and Australia www.news.mn

China’s coking coal imports fell to a five-month low in October, hit by slowing Australian arrivals following an unofficial ban on coal imports from the country that was imposed in early October.
China imported 5.89 million tonnes of coking coal in October, down by 12.4 percent from 6.72 million tonnes in September but up by 3.5 percent from a year earlier, according to Chinese customs data.
Australian imports fell by 21 percent from a year earlier and by 23 percent from September to 1.53 million tonnes in October, the lowest level in 2020. China warned its state-owned steelmakers and power plants to stop importing Australian coal with immediate effect in early October, injecting more uncertainty into spot markets that had anticipated eased restrictions into 2021.
Imports from Mongolia rose by 14 percent in October from a year earlier to 3.26 million tonnes but fell by 16pc from a record high of 3.89 million tonnes in September. Mongolian imports declined for the first time since the border reopened from late March, as a resurgence of Covid-19 cases closed some parts of the highway.
Canadian imports more than doubled from a year earlier to 405,000 tonnes in October. Chinese mills have been seeking alternatives to Australian coal amid the import ban, particularly the premium low-volatile grade that can be matched by US and Canadian coals. Shipments from Russia also increased, rising by 20 percent from a year earlier to 650,000 tonnes.
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Mongolian coal exports to China paralysed as Beijing demands virus testing of truck drivers www.intellinews.com

Chinese demands that Mongolian haulage drivers be tested for coronavirus (COVID-19) at border crossings have substantially impacted coal exports.
Mongolia went into lockdown on November 12 after, for the first time, the country recorded community transmissions of the virus. On November 23, the number of trucks transporting Mongolian coal into China via the Gashuunsukhait-Gantsmod landport entry in South-Gobi dropped to 211. Two days later, the daily total making it past the tightened customs health clearance process fell to less than 20. The situation was reportedly exacerbated by some drivers who were caught forging test results.
Gashuunsukhait-Gantsmod accounts for more than half of Mongolia's coal exports. Currently, the Tavan Tolgoi-Tsagaan Khad route into China is operating normally. However, short-haul transportations from Tsagaan Khad to Gashuunsukhait are subject to delays.
The Gashuunsukhait border customs agency has approached the Mongolian government and major coal mining companies in a bid to expedite the setting up of a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test lab.
Trucks stuck at border
More than 3,000 coal and other trucks are said to be stuck at the border. Drivers have complained of having to pay out of their own pockets for temporary lodgings and testing for coronavirus. Many have requested permission to turn back from the border and return home, but with Mongolia on lockdown and travel through its regions restricted, their requests were refused.
Mongolia’s Mining Minister Yondon Geleg, meanwhile, has issued an order to mining organisations and officials to provide rapid testing for mining employees and to create safety zones at the main mineral export ports.
Mongolia’s economy is heavily dependent on exporting natural resources, mainly minerals, to China.
In September, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) updated its 2020 growth forecast for Mongolia to a contraction of 2.6%.
Mongolian Finance Minister Khurelbaatar Chimed was actually boasting in early September that Mongolia had exceeded the 2,000-coal-trucks-per-day threshold as regards exports to China. That progress has clearly come to a grinding halt.
Budget exposed to heavy pressure
The Natural Resource Governance Institute has predicted that if Mongolian coal exports face substantial obstacles, heavy pressure will be placed on the state budget. In its report on coronavirus impacts in Mongolia, it stated: “Any new reduction in exports, coupled with the government’s fiscal stimulus, could put exert significant pressure on the balance of payments and the $3.6bn in foreign reserves may quickly dissipate as the central bank tries to keep the Mongolian tugrik afloat.”
Mongolia this year has entered a period in which it must make significant bond repayments.
A swap agreement between the central banks of China and Mongolia was scheduled to end in 2020. In August, the two parties came to an agreement that the swap agreement, based on a Chinese yuan renminbi (CNY) 15bn ($2.2bn) loan, would be extended to 2023.
On November 25, Mongolia’s parliament and the All-China People's Congress convened digitally. Mongolian lawmakers requested that, given the coronavirus crisis, the Chinese cancel or reduce debt owed by Mongolia under the swap agreement. Mongolia has paid a total of CNY4.4bn in interest to China on the debt and it is expected to pay CNY594mn in interest in 2021.
As of November 25, Fenwei Energy's Mongolian washed coking coal price index rose 20 yuan to 1,080 yuan per tonne from a week earlier. The price of raw coal rose by 20 yuan to 880 yuan.
Bloomberg reported: “There is also a shortage of coking coal in China. Leading companies in Shanxi Province, China's leading coking coal producer, have raised the price of low-sulfur coking coal by CNY 70-100 per ton, SXCoal reported. Strict regulations on the safety of coal mines in Shanxi Province will be implemented from December 1. As a result, there are fears that supply may decline in the near future.”
Australian coal ban maintained
China is sticking to its ban on importing Australian coking coal, with the political rows between Beijing and Canberra unresolved. Chinese buyers now very much rely on US and Canadian supplies, but the supplies are limited compared to what Australia used to provide.
Given vulnerabilities in the coal supply chain, China has the incentive to keep the flow of transportations of available coal into the country as smooth as possible. Mongolia needs to address its worsening coronavirus difficulties as promptly and efficiently as it can to ensure that the economy does not pay an unnecessary price.
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Teck looks to boost Chinese coal sales amid stalled Australian shipments www.reuters.com

Teck Resources looks to boost shipments of steelmaking coal to China next year, Chief Executive Don Lindsay said on Tuesday, hoping to take advantage of unofficial curbs on Australian imports that have stranded dozens of shipments.
China has unofficially banned Australian coal imports since October amid souring relations between the two countries, and in turn, increased imports from Mongolia and Russia.
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With somewhere between 75 and 80 cargoes of Australian coal waiting to discharge at Chinese ports, the restrictions have hit prices for Australian coking coal while driving prices higher for their Chinese equivalent, Lindsay said.
“So if you are a producer of non-Australian coal and you are able to free up tonnes from other customers and contractual commitments, you can do quite well by selling to China,” he said at a webcast Scotiabank mining conference.
Last week, Teck said it was restructuring its sales book to target 2021 sales of coking coal to China of about 7.5 million tonnes.
The miner said fourth-quarter sales to China remained within guidance of 5.8-6.2 Mt, with about 20% of these sales now to Chinese customers.
Separately, Lindsay reiterated that Teck would consider offloading its 21.3% stake in Suncor Energy’s Fort Hills oil sands project in the Canadian province of Alberta but said there were no immediate plans to sell it.
(By Jeff Lewis; Editing by Richard Chang)
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China has promised millions of coronavirus vaccines to countries globally. And it is ready to deliver them www.cnn.com

(CNN)Inside a gray warehouse at the Shenzhen International Airport in southern China, a row of white chambers sits in a cordoned-off corner, each fitted with a display screen showing the customized temperature inside.
A security worker in face mask, surgical gown and rubber gloves stands guard. Anyone entering this part of the warehouse has to either complete two weeks of quarantine or wear a head-to-toe hazmat suit.
These climate-controlled rooms, totaling an area of 350 square meters (3,767 square feet), are soon to be filled by rows and rows of Chinese-made Covid-19 vaccines -- after they receive approval from the country's drug regulators. From there, they'll be loaded onto temperature-controlled compartments of cargo jets and flown to continents around the world.
In the coming months, China will be sending hundreds of millions of doses of coronavirus vaccines to countries that have conducted last-stage trials for its leading candidates. Chinese leaders have also promised a growing list of developing countries priority access to its successful vaccines.
This global campaign presents China an opportunity to repair its image, which was damaged for its initial mishandling of the coronavirus outbreak -- rather than being blamed for the primary spread of the virus it can potentially be esteemed for helping to bring an end to the pandemic.
The vaccines can also be used by Beijing as "an instrument for foreign policy to promote soft power and project international influence," said Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations.
Earlier in the pandemic, China's efforts to curry favor by donating masks and other supplies to countries hit hard by the virus were tarnished by reports of poor quality supplies, and accusations that Beijing was launching a disinformation campaign to change the coronavirus narrative.
Beijing's vaccine diplomacy, Huang said, could give it another chance.
"Vaccine Diplomacy"
China currently has five coronavirus candidates from four companies which have reached phase 3 clinical trials, the last and most important step of testing before regulatory approval is sought.
Having largely eliminated the coronavirus inside its borders, Chinese drugmakers had to look abroad for places to test the efficacy of their vaccines. Together, they have rolled out phase 3 trials in at least 16 countries.
In exchange, many of the host countries have been promised early access to the successful vaccines -- and in some cases, the technology know-how to manufacture them locally.
Sinovac Biotech, a Nasdaq-listed drugmaker based in Beijing, has signed deals to provide 46 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine to Brazil and 50 million doses to Turkey. It'll also supply 40 million doses of vaccine bulk -- the vaccine concentrate before it is divided into little vials -- to Indonesia for local production.
CanSino Biologics, which developed a coronavirus vaccine with a research unit of the Chinese military, will deliver 35 million doses of its vaccine to Mexico, one of the five host countries of its trials.
China National Biotec Group (CNBG), a unit of state-owned pharmaceutical giant China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm), has been less open about its deals. The company's two vaccine candidates are undergoing phase 3 trials in 10 countries, mostly in the Middle East and South America. In the United Arab Emirates, Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum volunteered to be vaccinated in trials and the vaccine was approved for emergency use. The Emirati company in partnership with Sinopharm hopes to produce between 75 and 100 million doses next year.
Sinopharm chairman Liu Jingzhen said last month that dozens of countries have requested to buy the company's vaccines. He did not name the countries or elaborate on the amount of doses they proposed, but he said CNBG was capable of producing more than one billion doses in 2021.
"China not only has the political will (for its vaccine diplomacy), it also has the robust capacity to make that happen," Huang said.
Because China has largely contained the virus, there's no urgent need to vaccinate every one of its 1.4 billion population. "That gives it this leverage ... to make deals with countries in need of the vaccines," he said.
"Health Silk Road"
China's global vaccine campaign is in stark contrast to the Trump administration's "America first" approach, which focuses on vaccinating its own citizens before those elsewhere.
"So far we haven't heard the US saying or suggesting they're gonna earmark a percentage of their vaccine to support poor countries. So that puts China in an even better situation to use the vaccine to serve its foreign policy objective," Huang said.
In October, China joined a World Health Organization-backed global initiative to ensure the rapid and equitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccines to rich and poor countries alike.
The project, known as COVAX, is designed to discourage governments from hoarding coronavirus vaccines and instead focus on vaccinating high-risk groups in every country. But it was shunned by the United States, partly because President Donald Trump did not want to work with the WHO, leaving a global public health leadership vacuum for China to fill.
From early on, Chinese leaders have repeatedly stressed that China's vaccines are for sharing, especially with the developing world.
In May, Chinese President Xi Jinping told the WHO's annual assembly that China would make its coronavirus vaccine a "global public good," calling it the country's "contribution to ensuring vaccine accessibility and affordability in developing countries."
In a video summit with African leaders in June, Xi pledged that "once the development and deployment of a Covid-19 vaccine is completed in China, African countries will be among the first to benefit."
In August, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said Beijing would also give priority access to Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. Other countries that have been promised priority access by Chinese officials include Afghanistan and Malaysia.
Many of these countries are also in Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative, a multibillion dollar infrastructure and trade program that has lost some of its steam during the pandemic. Recently, Chinese officials have ramped up talks of a "Health Silk Road." At the WHO meeting in May, Xi pledged to donate $2 billion over two years to help countries cope with the pandemic. Beijing has also offered a $1 billion loan to Latin America and the Caribbean for access to its coronavirus vaccines.
But there are signs that China's vaccine diplomacy won't always be a smooth ride. In Brazil, Sinovac's vaccine, CoronaVac, has been embroiled in a political feud between President Jair Bolsonaro -- known for his stauch anti-China stance -- and the governor of Sao Paulo, Joao Doria, who is expected to run against Bolsonaro in the country's next presidential elections in 2022. In Bangladesh, Sinovac's trial has been stalled due to a funding dispute.
International public health experts have also questioned China's emergency use program, which inoculated nearly one million Chinese people with experimental vaccines before their safety had been fully proven by clinical trials.
Then there's the question of efficacy. Last month, Pfizer and Moderna announced that early results showed their vaccines to be over 90% effective, while another candidate produced jointly by Oxford University and AstraZeneca had an average efficacy of 70%. So far, none of the Chinese vaccine candidates have announced any preliminary efficacy results, though company executives have repeatedly stressed their safety, insisting no serious adverse effect has been observed in vaccinated volunteers.
Cold storage
Compared with Pfizer and Moderna, Chinese vaccines have a crucial advantage -- most of them do not require freezing temperatures for storage, making transport and distribution much easier, especially in developing countries that lack cold storage capacities.
Kate O'Brien, director of the WHO's immunization and vaccines department, likens the development of vaccines to building a base camp at Everest. "But the climb to the peak is really about delivering the vaccines," she said at a news conference this month.
Both Pfizer and Moderna's vaccines use pieces of genetic material called messenger RNA (mRNA) to prompt the body to make synthetic pieces of the coronavirus and stimulate an immune response -- a new technology that has not been used in existing vaccines.
But mRNA is vulnerable to degradation at room temperature. Moderna's vaccine has to be stored at -20 degree Celsius (-4 degrees Fahrenheit), or at refrigerator temperatures for up to 30 days, while the Pfizer vaccine has to be stored at an ultra-cold temperature of -75˚C (-103˚F), and used within five days once refrigerated at higher temperatures.
Here's a look at how the different coronavirus vaccines work
Here's a look at how the different coronavirus vaccines work
Sinopharm and Sinovac, meanwhile, use an old-fashioned approach that has long been proven effective in other vaccines, such as polio and flu shots. Their coronavirus vaccines employ an inactivated whole virus to prompt the body to develop immunity, and only need to be stored at standard refrigerator temperatures of 2˚C to 8˚C (36˚F to 46˚F). CanSino's vaccine, which uses a common cold virus called adenovirus 5 to carry genetic fragments of coronavirus into the body, can also be kept at 2˚C to 8˚C.
Still, the required temperatures must be maintained throughout transport, from leaving the production facility to airport storage and finally to global distribution.
Cainiao, the logistics arm of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, will help with the distribution of the Chinese vaccines as soon as they're given the go ahead. It says its end-to-end climate controlled infrastructure is in place and ready.
The company has partnered with Shenzhen Baoan International Airport, which recently received the certification for pharmaceutical logistics from the International Air Transport Association. A cold-chain warehouse was built in 2019 for frozen foods and goods. Earlier this year, it was converted to store coronavirus testing kits -- and now vaccines. The airport said on its website that it wants to make Shenzhen a "Covid-19 vaccine global delivery base."
Cainiao is also in partnership with Ethiopian Airlines, which will be sending the Chinese vaccines to the Middle East and then Africa. Since the pandemic, the airline has flown more than 3,000 tons of medical supplies from Shenzhen to Europe, Africa, the Middle East and South America.
But Cainiao is also looking to add more routes for greater global reach, according to its CEO Wan Lin.
"Of course, we are not still quite sure about the exact demand on that but we are definitely building our capability to be prepared for that," Wan said.
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