Mar. 11 – The China-ASEAN Free Trade Area officially went into effect January 1st this year and has been heralded in China as a “great opportunity” and a “win-win regional co-op,” but a few experiences since the accord’s original signing in 2002 have left  Southeast Asian countries a bit skeptical.

The agreement links up 7,000 duty-free goods between China and ASEAN members Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Singapore, with the other group members – Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar – planning to be included in the deal by 2015. » Read rest of the article

Mar. 9 – China has gained a directly controlled foothold in the Sea of Japan for the first time in over a century as North Korea has agreed to lease its Rajin Port for the next ten years.

The port, which is on North Korea’s east coast next to the city of Rason, gives China easier access to South Korean and Japanese markets, and opens up Jilin Province to easier Northeast Asian exports.

North Korea gave Rason free trade zone status two years ago, and it was the first city to host an economic zone – Rajin-Sonbong. Since then, China has been exporting coal through the port. The new lease agreement, though, means China can choose what facilities it wishes to utilize and where to build them as it sees fit. The port may also be used for tourism, with Chinese tourists holding special visas being permitted to land and board onward cruises to Russia, Japan and South Korea. » Read rest of the article

Mar. 8 – China has announced plans to develop a three-pronged high speed rail network that will expand its own tracks to a further seventeen countries throughout Asia and stretch as far as Europe.

Wang Mengshu, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, has said that China was in negotiations with several countries to develop rail networks developed to China’s national specifications, and that the network would be financed on the basis of trade for the technology. » Read rest of the article

Mar. 5 – Despite U.S. exports of construction machinery dropping more than a third last year due to the global economic downturn, sales to India posted recession-defying gains of 55 percent, according to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM).

International exports of U.S. construction equipment dropped 38 percent in 2009 as India was the only country out of the United States’ construction machinery destinations to increase their demand for the products. India became the 14th largest purchaser of U.S. construction machinery last year with imports worth US$181 million, reported AEM. » Read rest of the article

Feb. 24 – More cross-border mergers and acquisitions are expected in the coming days in India thanks to sufficient liquidity and bullish stock markets says DSP Merrill Lynch Managing Director Raj Balakrishnan.

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are expected to increase in the months ahead as the Indian economy recovers from the financial crisis. Last year, M&A deals were drastically cut when the global financial crisis forced many businesses to take the conservative route and delay expansion plans. » Read rest of the article

Feb. 23 – Australia will restart free trade talks with China after a 14 month pause when diplomatic relations were strained after Chinese authorities arrested an Australian mining employee and objected to Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer’s visit to Australia.

Government representatives will hold negotiations in Canberra and resume talks on issues tackled in December 2008. “It is the 14th round, and it is on this week between the 24th and the 26th in Canberra,” a trade spokeswoman told AFP. » Read rest of the article

Feb. 19 – The Indian government on Thursday approved ONGC Videsh Ltd. (OVL) and AIL (India) Ltd. to pick up a 12.5 percent stake in a China pipeline project in Myanmar.

It also allowed the two entities to invest US$1 billion in fields that will provide gas to be shipped to China through the pipeline. » Read rest of the article

Feb. 18 – Kingfisher, arguably India’s most passenger-oriented airline, has stated it will commence daily non-stop flights on New Delhi-London route from March 28.

The flights on the New Delhi-London sector will be operated using a brand new Airbus A330-200, the carrier said.

Kingfisher also recently got regulatory approval to commence flights to seven new overseas routes—New Delhi-London, New Delhi-Hong Kong, New Delhi-Bangkok, New Delhi-Dubai, Mumbai-Colombo, Mumbai-Bangkok and Mumbai-Dubai.

Feb 16 – India and the ten-member ASEAN block will hold discussions on ways to conclude talks before the August 2010 deadline to widen the scope of their free trade agreement to include services and investment.

This is expected to provide huge opportunity to Indian professionals working throughout Southeast Asia as well as vice-versa. The series of meetings on the issue will start in New Delhi next month and the two sides would discuss ways to expand the FTA they signed last August to cover services and investment. The market opening trade pact in goods already began on January 1. » Read rest of the article

Feb. 16 – Russia and China will begin a new passenger and cargo route linking Yichun City in Heilongjiang Province in northeast China with Birobidzhan.

Birobidzhan is the capital city of Russia’s Jewish Autonomous Oblast and located nearby the Trans-Siberian railway.The city has an active Jewish community with two synagogues and a Birobidzhan Jewish National University. A Chinese road transport official with the provincial communications and transport bureau Li Xiaohao told Xinhua that the Heilongjiang has 48 road transport routes with Russia, covering Russia cities of Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Chita and Ulan-Ude. » Read rest of the article