In 2018, Chinese authorities have lowered import tariffs on a wide range of vital goods including drugs, cars and daily necessities. The total tariff level has been reportedly reduced from 9.8 percent to 7.5 percent.

China’s year-on-year imports grew 14.6 percent from January through December of the current year, according to the latest data from the country’s General Administration of Customs (GAC), as quoted by the state media.

The top official said that the government is currently working on measures that would be able to provide imports of advanced technologies, agricultural produce, as well as consumer goods and services.

Moreover, Beijing will reportedly keep on decreasing import tariffs, ease customs procedures and significantly improve policies on importing vehicles.

The government is reportedly planning to promote the imports such services as architectural design, trade logistics, research and development design, energy conservation and environmental protection, as well as to improve industrial competitiveness.

On Monday, the Finance Ministry announced plans to remove current import tariffs of five percent applied to alternative meals, used in animal feed, which include rapeseed meal, cotton meal, sunflower meal and palm meal. The measure will come into effect on January 1.

As the trade war with Washington intensified China practically stopped buying US soybeans after applying a 25 percent tariff on the product. The move has caused a stir at the global soy market.

Since Beijing resumed some purchases of soybeans from the US, and the removal of tariffs on alternative meals could reportedly help to improve the reliability of the supply of animal feed meal in China.

The company has hired investment banks Royal Bank of Canada, Credit Suisse and JPMorgan Chase to lead the IPO, according to sources who spoke on condition of anonymity as the information is not public.

Rio Tinto, the world's second-biggest listed miner, is targeting a valuation of about $4 billion, they said.

While Rio did not see much traction with a sale process, it has not ruled that out, the people said.

The IPO plans would depend on market conditions improving, the people added.

With high levels of volatility, global markets have fallen because of concerns about geopolitical risks and economic growth.
Rio has tried, and failed, to monetise Iron Ore Company of Canada in the past and is keen to get it right this time
A spokesman for Rio declined to comment.

With operations in Labrador and Newfoundland, Iron Ore Company of Canada is a major producer of iron ore in the country. Rio Tinto owns a 58.7 percent stake, Japan's Mitsubishi Corp owns 26.2 percent and Canada's Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Co owns 15.1 percent. IOC reported revenue of $1.9 billion in 2017.

Rio has tried, and failed, to monetise Iron Ore Company of Canada in the past and is keen to get it right this time, the sources said.

Rio tried unsuccessfully to sell its IOC stake in 2012-13.

This year it said it had also been unable to close a sale of its stake in the Simandou iron ore project in Guinea.

Iron ore, which accounts for most of Rio's profit and is used in making steel, has provided healthy margins for years but the outlook is uncertain as major buyer China is expected increasingly to rely on recycling rather than importing raw material.

Following a commodity price crash in 2015, Rio put a range of assets on the block, mostly coal, to cut its debt.

In iron ore, its push to refocus on its best assets has meant concentrating on Australia's Pilbara region, where it has low costs and relatively high grades.

Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Corp also provides relatively unpolluting iron ore concentrate and pellets, which command a premium.

The accelerated IPO plans for Rio Tinto underscore an eagerness among potential IPO candidates to get out to market early in 2019 amid fears market conditions could sour later in the year.

In the tech world, ride-hailing companies Uber Technologies and Lyft Inc have both filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and could go public in the first half of 2019.

(By John Tilak, Joshua Franklin, Barbara Lewis and Clara Denina; Editing by Jason Neely)

Within the project, 20-bed fully equipped Acute Stroke Unit, Cardiac Intensive Care Unit and Rehabilitation Unit were set up at SCTH, for the first time at the national level, in addition to introducing advanced technologies of angiography and computed tomography and providing over 120 types of equipment for rehabilitation treatment and involving physicians and specialists in international training.

Due to stroke and heart attack, 1600 persons lost their lives in 2017 while it was 1970 persons in 2013 and the reduced number by 370 is considered as a result of the project.

The biggest outcome of the project is that Mongolian physicians succeeded to reduce number of incurable diseases in Mongolia by 4 types, creating conditions to cure themselves. About it, Director of the hospital Ts.Tumut-Ochir said that rapid progress has been made in treatment of stroke and heart attack in medical sector of Mongolia thanks to the project. Not only diagnosis and treatment, but also specialized assistance of nursing has been developed along with introduction of over 30 new technologies for diagnosis and treatment. Mongolians have more opportunity to get diagnosed and cured at home.

It is necessary to establish more units to render assistance and services in the future. Outcomes of the project has shown that it is possible to save many more lives, he emphasized. “Furthermore, we proposed the Ministry of Health to formulate program to improve care delivery framework for comprehensive medical care to the patients with stroke and acute myocardial infarction such as early detection, treatment, adequate rehabilitation and prevention of recurrence stroke and myocardial infarction.”

Mongolia had planned to extract 8.1 million barrels, or 1.1 million tons, of crude oil this year, which would have contributed USD 93.31 million to the state budget.

Currently, 74.11 percent of the extraction plan and 72.54 percent of export plan has accomplished.

Mongolia’s first oil refinery is now under construction near Sainshand in Dornogobi province and is scheduled to be commissioned in late 2022.

“Over the past five years, trade volume in goods between China and countries involved in the initiative exceeded $5 trillion, and direct investment stands at over $70 billion,” said Yang Jiechi, head of the office of Foreign Affairs of China’s Communist Party.

China’s New Silk Road to significantly boost global trade
He explained that under the framework of the initiative, over 11,000 freight trains are already running between China and Europe. They link nearly 100 cities across the region.

Yang also said that construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has increased the South Asian nation's GDP by two percent. The Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway is expected to boost Kenya's GDP by 1.5 percent.

Over 140 countries and international organizations have inked agreements on jointly building the Belt and Road project with China since its announcement by Chinese President Xi Jinping five years ago. BRI (also known as the One Belt and One Road Initiative) aims to boost connectivity and cooperation between East Asia, Europe and East Africa.

The initiative is expected to significantly boost global trade, cutting trading costs by half for the countries involved, according to expert estimates.

Beijing, which is focused on trade-boosting infrastructure projects along the path of the ancient Silk Road, had earlier announced plans to extend the BRI to the Arctic by developing shipping routes. The government said it would encourage enterprises to build infrastructure and conduct commercial trial voyages, paving the way for Arctic shipping routes that would form a “Polar Silk Road.”

The emperor, 85, said he took "deep comfort" that his reign had passed without Japan again engaging in war.

He became emotional as he thanked the people of Japan and his wife Empress Michiko for their support.

Akihito is the first living monarch to relinquish the Chrysanthemum throne in nearly 200 years.

The emperor, who has had heart surgery and treatment for prostate cancer, will be succeeded in April by his eldest son, Crown Prince Naruhito.

His three-decade reign is known as the "Heisei" era, which means "achieving peace" in Japanese.

During his brief address, Emperor Akihito also offered condolences and sympathy to Japanese who had lost family members or suffered damage - a reference to the earthquakes, severe storms and heatwaves that have hit the country over the past year.

More than 80,000 people attended Emperor Akihito's final birthday appearance
Although his position is ceremonial and he has no political power, Akihito has spent much of his reign spreading awareness of Japan's actions during World War Two under the rule of his father, Emperor Hirohito.

He has expressed regret over Japan's military actions in both China and the Korean peninsula, and has also visited several Pacific battlefields to honour the dead, actions that have brought him into conflict with right-wing groups at home.

Ahead of his birthday he told reporters: "It is important not to forget that countless lives were lost in World War Two... and to pass on this history accurately to those born after the war."

In October the head priest at Japan's controversial Yasukuni Shrine - which honours Japan's 2.5 million war dead but also enshrines convicted criminals of World War Two - agreed to resign after criticising Emperor Akihito, saying he was trying to destroy the shrine by not visiting it.

Some top politicians including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have visited the shrine, sparking an angry response from critics including China.

In his address, Emperor Akihito also said he hoped Japan would be able to welcome immigrants to the country under new legislation to let in more foreign, blue-collar workers to ease a labour shortage owing to an ageing population.

Japan has hitherto had restrictive immigration laws and accepts few workers from other countries.