The month’s latest events

World Internet Conference

inaugural ceremony held in Beijing

An inaugural ceremony for the World Internet

Conference， an international organization headquartered in Beijing， was held in Beijing on July 12.

Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter?? to the World Internet Conference for the inauguration of theinternational organization， which was read out at the eventby Huang Kunming， a member of the Political Bureau of theCommunist Party of China （CPC） Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee.

The establishment of the organization follows theinformatization trend of the times， and it has responded tothe wide call of the international community for dialogue，consultation and cooperation in cyberspace， Huang said at the inaugural ceremony.

Huang expressed the hope that all parties will step updialogue and exchanges， deepen practical cooperation， and jointly build a cyberspace that is fairer and more equitable， open， inclusive， secure， stable and vibrant to allow theinternet to better benefit people all over the world.

Members of the World Internet Conference includeinternet-related international organizations， enterprises， institutions， experts and scholars.

New containcrlinc links east Chinese city， Ho Chi Minh City

Chinas Jiangsu Port Group launched a container line to Vietnams Ho Chi Minh City on July 13.

The new route begins at Nanjing， the capital of east Chinas Jiangsu Province， and stops at Taicang City and Vietnams Haiphong before arriving in Ho Chi Minh City.

The new line was launched to meet the rising trade demand between Nanjing and its surrounding cities and Southeast Asia after the Regional Comprehensive EconomicPartnership came into effect.

Operated weekly， a one-way trip on the route takes about seven days. The group saidthe new service would help solve the problem of insufficient space for direct trade from Nanjing to Vietnam， Thailand， and other Southeast Asian countries.

More China-aidled anti-epidemic supplies handed over to Laos

A new batch of China-aided medical supplies for COVID-19 prevention and controlwere handed over to Laos on the afternoon of July 18.

The anti-epidemic supplies were handed over by Chinese Ambassador to Laos JiangZaidong to Lao Health Minister BounfengPhoummalaysith in the Lao capital Vientiane.

In order to strengthen the China-Laos anti-pandemic cooperation and enhance Laosability to fight the virus， the Chinese side decided to provide the assistance worth 13.54 millionyuan （US$2.01 million）， an official with the Chinese embassy in Laos said on July 19.

The donated supplies include two mobile laboratories， one medical vehicle and othermedical materials.

Dance training program helps boost China-Laos cultural exchange

A Chinese dance training program in Laos has worked to boost cultural exchange between China and the Southeast Asian country， most recently providing more than one month of intensive training courses for 35 Lao dancers.

The Chinese dance training class 2022 ran from June 1 to July 8 at the Lao NationalSchool of Performing Arts based in capital Vientiane. It was jointly launched by theChina Cultural Center in Laos， culture and tourism department of Chinas northeastern Liaoning Province， and the Lao National School of Performing Arts.

The trainees included students from the National University of Laos and professional dancers from the Lao National Art Troupe.

Chinese embassy-funded school building inaugurated inSWCambodia

A school building， funded by the Chinese embassy to Cambodia through the MudhitaFoundation， was inaugurated at the Samdech Ta Primary School in southwestern Cambodias Kampot town on July 23.

Cambodian Princess Norodom Arunrasmy， founder of the Mudhita Foundation， took part in the inauguration ceremony of the four-classroom concrete building with a tiled roof in theKampong Kandal commune of Kampot town.

Dubbed the“King Father-Queen Mother School Building”， the nine-meter-by-32-meter school building is benefiting some 300 students.

Arunrasmy， who is also a privy councilor for the Supreme Privy Council to King NorodomSihamoni， said that with the support from the Chinese embassy to Cambodia， the Mudhita Foundation has helped build several school buildings and libraries in Cambodia.

“Participants agreed that multiculturalism remains the best way to resolve global challenges and there is an urgent need to strengthen multiculturalism.”

—Indonesian Foreign Minister RetnoMarsudi said at a press conference after the Group of 20（G20） Foreign MinistersMeeting on July 8

“China is a reliable cooperative partner of the United Nations and developing countries in thefield of food security. China supports the WFP in setting up a global humanitarian emergencywarehouse and hub in China， established the South-South Cooperation Trust Fund with the FAO and provided financial support for it.”

—Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said when addressing the G20 Foreign MinistersMeeting on July 8

“At the country level， individual ASEAN+3 economies will reap different benefits， and in different ways. RCEP tariff reductions， for example， will mainly benefit the Plus 3 economies （China， Japan and South Korea）.”

—Hoe Ee Khor， chief economist of the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office （AMRO）， told Xinhua in an e-mail

16%

Chinese State Councilor and ForeignMinister Wang Yi said on July 4 that theLancang-Mekong Cooperation （LMC）has achieved fruitful results in promotingregional stability and prosperity. Chinaprovided over 200 million doses ofCOVID-19 vaccines and dispatchedmedical expert teams to the Mekongcountries， and helped train some 1，300Traditional Chinese Medicine personnelfor the Mekong countries. Since theoperation of the China-Laos Railway inearly December last year， nearly 800，000 tons of freight have been transportedcross-border， covering more than 100kinds of goods. In 2021， trade betweenChina and the Mekong countries reachedUS$398 billion， up 23 percent year onyear. In the first five months of this year，trade between the two sides witnessed a 16-percent growth.

200 million yuan

Two Chinese law-enforcement vessels returned to a port in southwest ChinasYunnan Province on July 22， concludingthe 119th joint Mekong River patrol byChina， Laos， Myanmar and Thailand. Four vessels from the four countries， with84 law-enforcement officers on board，sailed over 580 km for four days andthree nights with missions to ensure the safety and stability of the river basin.Since the joint patrols， law enforcementauthorities of the four countries havehelped more than 130 vessels out ofdanger， saving direct economic lossesworth nearly 200 million yuan （aboutUS$30 million）. During the past threeyears， 29 law enforcement operationshave been carried out， with 8，341 cross- border criminal cases cracked， over 47 tonnes of various drugs seized， and4，432 suspects arrested.

19.3%

The China-Vietnam freight train service operated 173 trips in the first half of 2022， up 19.3 percent year on year， according to China Railway Nanning Group Co.， Ltd. Over the period， 5，196 twenty-foot equivalent unit （TEU） containers were transported by the freight trains， marking a year-on-year rise of 26.3 percent. The ChinaVietnam freight train goods collection and distribution sites cover more than 20 cities in and outside of south Chinas Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region， with over 240 types of commodities transported， according to the China Railway Nanning Group. Statistics show that in the first half of 2022， some 38，000 tonnes of fruit were transported through the Pingxiang port by freight trains， up 164.95 percent year on year.

The Star

TheStar July 28， 2022

Malaysias women graduates close genderjobless gap amid pandemic

Malaysias female graduates have narrowed the unemployment rate gap with men for a third straight year， yet majordifferences remain for jobs requiring higher level degrees.The jobless rate for 2.476 million women graduates declinedto 4.3 percent in 2021， versus 4 percent for men. Thats a huge improvement from 2018， when female employment was a full percentage point lower than males.

Still， much of the shrinkage has been based on lower leveldiploma jobs， according to data released by the Department of Statistics.

Malaysias overall unemployment rate dipped to 3.9 percentin May， according to the latest figures， thanks to an increasein economic activity after reopening of international bordersin April. The rate has fallen below 4 percent for the first timesince the pandemic struck in early 2020， and is comparable to3.8 percent in the UK and 3.5 percent in Australia.

Vietnamt+

VNA July 21， 2022

Farmers， businesses trained for forming durian growing areas， packaging facilities for exports to China

The Department of Crop Production under the Ministryof Agriculture and Rural Development and the Dak LakDepartment of Agriculture and Rural Development have co- organised a training course for the establishment of duriangrowing areas and packaging facilities in the CentralHighlands serving exports to China.

China is still the largest importer of Vietnamese durian.After four years of negotiations， on July 11， a protocol onphytosanitary requirements for Vietnamese durian exported to the market was signed.

Last year， Vietnams durian output was estimated at 600，000 tonnes， up 15 percent year-on-year.

Currently， Vietnam has 123 growing areas and 57 packingestablishments registered to participate in the durian exportprogramme targeting the Chinese market.

BangkokPost July 26， 2022

New monthly handouts approved

The cabinet on July 26 approved a new phase of its co-payment subsidy scheme and doubled its monthly handout for poor and needy people for September and October.Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said after the cabinetmeeting that the fifth phase of the Khon La Khrueng co-payment scheme would provide each recipient with 800baht during the two months period. A recipient could use no more than 150 baht from the handout per day.

Their monthly handout will rise from 200 baht to 400 bahtper month during September and October.The government initiated the co-payment subsidy schemein October 2020， offering to meet 50 percent of the cost offood， drink and general goods purchases for participants，with the total subsidy limited to 150 baht per person per day. The scheme aims to boost the economy and shore uppeoples spending， affected by Covid-19 outbreaks.

The Strait Times

TheStrait Times July 5， 2022

AMRO cuts Singapore economic growthforecasts on war in Ukraine， China slowdown

Singapores economy will grow less this year thanpreviously estimated and may expand at a much slowerpace in 2023， said a report by the Asean+3 Macroeconomic Research Office （AMRO）.

The Republics gross domestic product （GDP） will increase by 3.9 percent in 2022 after advancing by 7.6 per centa year earlier， AMRO said in a July update of its regionaleconomic outlook released on July 5. Growth in 2023 islikely to come at 2.4 percent， the report said.

AMRO blamed the war in Ukraine， Chinas struggle withCovid-19 and tighter global financial conditions for the cut in Singapores growth outlook.

AMRO said the region—which includes the 10-member ASEAN group plus China， Japan and South Korea—will grow by 4.3 per cent this year， down from its previousforecast of 4.7 percent.