"Previous governments' decisions on exporting live livestock animals have been overturned," the government's press office said in a statement. "Instead of it, Prime Minister Ukhnaa Khurelsukh has ordered relevant officials to pay special attention to increasing the capacity of existing meat processing plants and building new ones in order to raise meat exports."

Animal husbandry is the backbone of the landlocked country's economy as nearly 40 percent of the country's nomad population depends on animal husbandry for their livelihood.

As one of the last nomadic countries in the world, the Asian country has more than 66.46 million livestock animals as of the end of 2018, according to the country's National Statistics Office.

Mongolian Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry Chultem Ulaan said in May that the country earned around 190 million U.S. dollars from meat exports in 2018, with most of the revenue coming from its exports to China.

The move could be a major blow to the country’s position as the world’s powerhouse for tech gadgets.

Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Sony and Nintendo are also looking at reallocating some of their game console and smart speaker manufacturing out of the country, sources added. Other leading PC makers such as Lenovo Group, Acer and Asustek Computer are also considering a production shift, according to people familiar with the matter.

They told Nikkei that, despite the truce agreed by American and Chinese leaders at the G20 summit in Japan, the situation was still too uncertain. Rising costs in China were also prompting manufacturers to examine alternatives, sources said.

Manufacturers of key data center servers such as Quanta Computer, Foxconn Technology and Inventec have already moved some production to Taiwan, Mexico and the Czech Republic.

Last month, the media reported that Apple was exploring the cost implications of moving up to 30 percent of its smartphone production.

China is the world’s biggest producer of PCs and smartphones. Its imports and exports in the electronics segment have rocketed 136 times to $1.35 trillion in 2017 from just over $10 billion back in 1991, according to Chinese data provider QianZhan.

“There is no turning back, and it is not only about tariffs but also about reducing risks for the long term [such as rising labor costs],” Darson Chiu, an economist specialized in trade at the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research told the Nikkei. “Southeast Asian countries and India will together become new competitive hubs in coming years for electronics production,” he said.

The 2nd APAO Satellite Congress will be held at Holiday Inn Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia on Aug. 9-10, in conjunction with the 29th annual conference of Mongolian Ophthalmologists’ Society (MOS).

Two subspecialty member societies of APAO, the Asia-Pacific Strabismus and Paediatric Ophthalmology Society and the Asia-Pacific Glaucoma Society, are organizing two scientific symposia, sharing the latest scientific innovations, treatments and surgical techniques in the fields of pediatric ophthalmology and glaucoma, respectively. We are grateful for their generous contributions.

"That's more than the country's 100 billion (dollars) investment in 4G from 2013 to 2018, an increase driven in large part by the higher number of 5G base stations and higher initial cost of 5G equipment," said Allen Chang, a researcher at Goldman Sachs, in a brief note.

China has officially approved 5G commercial services earlier in June, and is currently testing 5G across all major cities and provincial regions. The country's 5G market is expected to start small-scale commercial use this year and large-scale commercial use next year.

It's estimated that 28 percent of China's mobile connections will operate on 5G networks by 2025, taking up about a third of all 5G connections globally, according to a recent report by the Global System for Mobile Communications Alliance.

Chang further noted that China is expected to own 4.9 million 5G base stations by 2030, as "strong consumer demand for 5G's high speeds and fierce competition between brands to offer upgraded features" would lead to surging 5G smartphone shipments over the next few years.

In this aspect, his projection can be underpinned by a latest case in point.

Chinese telecommunications heavyweight Huawei announced last week that it had received 50 contracts on 5G commercial services from 30 countries and regions, and shipped more than 150,000 5G base stations worldwide.

The company's 5G base stations is expected to grow to about 500,000 by the end of this year, according to Hu Houkun, deputy chairman of the company's board of directors.

Chang also held that China's transition to faster wireless should "bring a wave of opportunities" for relevant tech companies and their stocks, driven by increased semiconductor demand and a surge in consumer device upgrades.

"Telecom operators, equipment makers, and devices makers (worldwide) will all likely boost their demand for semiconductor chips in the coming years as they look to upgrade their systems and technology for the 5G era," he said. "We are confident in the long-term growth outlook."

"Public buses in the capital city are now the most popular target for thieves," the NPA said in a statement. "Therefore, the NPA and traffic authorities have been installing surveillance cameras on the public transport to reduce pickpocket crimes and ensure public security."

There were a total of 1,280 registered pickpocket crimes in the country last year, up 46.6 percent from the previous year, according to the police agency.

The agency noted that one in five bag snatches and pickpocket crimes now occurs on public buses.

Foreign Minister D.Tsogtbaatar pointed out the broad opportunities for the expansion of bilateral trade and economic cooperation such as establishing a joint food processing plant, thus exporting products to the neighboring countries, purchasing equipment from Belarus, and bringing Mongolian products to the country’s market.

Mr. Utiupin Pavel Vladimirovich underlined the importance of promptly embarking on the projects under discussion in emergency, agricultural, road and transport and other sectors as soon as the Mongolian Parliament ratifies the Intergovernmental Agreement on export loan. He also expressed willingness to continue reciprocal high-level visits.

The 2.5 percent of discounted royalty on gold mining expired on Jan 1. From then on, 5 to 10 percent royalty taxes on gold mining have been imposed on miners, driving in the central bank’s gold purchase down 71.6 percent yearon-year from January to March.

Mongolia‘s parliament has set the gold royalty at a 5 percent rate to recover the BoM’s gold purchases.

Gold purchase by the Bank of Mongolia has been increasing sharply thanks to the discounted royalty on gold mining, the central bank said in a statement, noting that it has purchased a total of 5.2 tons of gold since the new rate came into force on April 8.

Purchasing gold is said to be one of the key instruments for the Mongolian central bank to increase its official foreign exchange reserves. The central bank of Mongolia purchased only 12.7 tons of gold in 2014. Thanks to the low royalty taxes on gold with the 2014 amendments, its annual gold purchase almost doubled in 2018, reaching 22 tons, according to the BoM.