Beijing was engulfed by the largest sandstorm in a decade on Monday morning, which originated in Mongolia, causing the visibility in most areas to be less than 1,000 meters and bringing the PM10 close to 10,000 micrograms per cubic meter in the city center.

Beijing issued a yellow warning for sandstorm at 7:25 am, the Beijing Meteorological Observatory said Monday, warning the public to take suitable precautions. With a yellow warning, the public are encouraged to suspend any outdoor activities and to wear protective masks.

The Central Meteorological Observatory called it the most intense sand-dust weather process in China in the past decade, and the range of sand-dust storm was also the widest in the past 10 years.

This wave of sandstorm is a result of the combined effects of cold air and cyclones from Mongolia. It gradually moved southward with the airflow and started to affect Beijing from north to south starting from 3 am, according to the Beijing Municipal Ecological and Environmental Monitoring Center.

On Monday, Mongolia's National Emergency Management Agency said that the strong sandstorms in the country have resulted in 10 deaths, and 590 reports of missing persons had been filed. As of press time, one person is still missing.

The wind speeds in various provinces of Mongolia have reached 20 meters per second and there have been gusts of up to 30 to 34 meters per second.

The PM10 in the core area of sand dust in Beijing is close to 10,000 micrograms per cubic meter, the monitoring center said.

The amount of PM10 in Beijing reached an average of more than 1,000 micrograms per cubic meter at 8 am on Monday, and the index topped 2,000 micrograms per cubic meter in some northern areas of the capital.

Wang Gengchen, a research fellow at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday that it seems Beijing had not seen an intense sandstorm for years until this one, but actually sandstorm have never gone away.

The sandstorm situation has improved in the last few years as China has made efforts to curb the expansion of desertification and combat the upstream sand and dust from Northern China's Inner Mongolia and neighboring country Mongolia. However, it has proved to be a long battle due to the large areas of sand and dust it covers, Wang explained.

"The concentration of the sandstorm far exceeds the concentration of dust storms that the meteorological department can predict, indicating that we do not have enough knowledge of its nature," Zhao Yingmin, vice minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said in the opening speech to a series of lectures on ecological and environmental knowledge held by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment on Monday.

"Today's sandstorm is mainly due to natural factors, but it also shows that our ecological environment is still very fragile," he added.

In 1978, China launched the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program (TSFP). Consisting of forestation in northwest, north and northeast China, the eight-phase project, covering 13 provincial regions making up about 42.4 percent of the country's total land area, is expected to be completed by 2050.

Over the past 40-plus years, over 7.88 million hectares of windbreak trees have been planted, 336,000 square kilometers of desertified land has been managed, and more than 10 million hectares of desertified grassland has been protected and restored, according to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

The strong sand and dust are likely to continue during the day on Monday and see a downward trend late tonight.

A total of 12 areas including Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Region, North China's Inner Mongolia and Shanxi, Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia, Northeast China, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei will experience sand and dust gradually on Monday.

March 15 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia imposed a two-week restriction on travel of all types of roads linking capital Ulan Bator and the 21 provinces starting from Monday due to resurging COVID-19 cases.

Ulan Bator, home to more than half of Mongolia's population of 3.3 million, is the hardest-hit region in the country.

As of Monday, Mongolia has registered 4,083 COVID-19 cases, while more than 3,000 were detected in Ulan Bator.

In recent days, about 100 COVID-19 infections have been reported daily in Ulan Bator.

March 15 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia reported 122 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the national count to 4,083, the country's National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) said Monday.

The latest cases were confirmed after 9,410 tests had been conducted across the country, among which 121 cases were locally transmitted, including five of unknown origin, while another one is a Mongolian national returning from Khazakstan, the NCCD said in a statement.

Mongolia's hardest-hit region is the capital city Ulan Bator, which is home to over half of the country's population of 3.3 million. More than 3,200 of the total confirmed cases in the country were detected in the city.

Meanwhile, 30 more patients have recovered from the disease, taking the nationwide tally to 3,031.

The Asian country has recorded eight COVID-19-related deaths so far

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. With a view to alleviate financial hardship posed by COVID-19 pandemic on businesses and individuals, government of Mongolia and Bank of Mongolia allowed commercial banks to make deferrals on mortgage loan repayment and their interests from April 2020 until October 2020 and then again from November 2020 to July 2021.

According to the central bank of Mongolia, 55,676 mortgages were deferred, totaling MNT 2.9 trillion until July 1, 2021. Around 80 percent or 55,741 of a total of 77,147 borrowers with mortgage debt outstanding have submitted their requests for the deferral since November 2020.

During the period of 7 months until July 2021, a total of MNT 227 billion of repayment has been postponed, including MNT 86 billion as principal payment and MNT 141 billion as interest payment.

In the first two months of 2021, Mongolia traded with 112 countries from all over the world, and the total trade turnover reached USD 2.3 billion, of which USD 1.3 billion were exports and USD 922.3 million were imports. The total foreign trade turnover increased by USD 736.1 million (48.4%), where exports increased by USD 563.8 million (73.2%) and imports increased by USD 172.3 million (23.0%) compared to the same period of previous year. In February 2021, exports reached USD 694.7 million, increased by USD 54.8 million (8.6%) and imports reached USD 463.5 million, increased by USD 4.6 million (1.0%) compared to the previous month.

The foreign trade balance was in surplus of USD 412.3 million in the first two months of 2021, increased by USD 391.6 million compared with USD 20.7 million in the first two months of 2020. Trade with China reached USD 1.6 billion in the first 2 months of 2021, which is 69.6% of the total trade turnover.

Bituminous coal and copper concentrates accounted for 33.5% and 35.8% of total exports to China, respectively, and bituminous coal accounted for 98.7% of total export to Singapore, while fluorspar accounted for 41.7% of total export to Russia.

In the first two months of 2021, USD563.8 million increase in exports from the previous year was resulted from USD217.7 million increase in copper concentrates exports and USD219.4 million in coal exports.

In the first two months, 38.0% of the total imports were from China, 27.9%-- Russia, 8.0% -- Japan, 3.7% -- the Republic of Korea and 3.3% -- Germany, which account for 80.9% of the total imports.

In the first two months, 52.4% of the total imports from Russia were petroleum products, 67.6% of the total imports from Japan were cars, and 6.2% of the total imports from China were electricity, 12.3% -- trucks and 81.5% were imports of other products.

The USD 172.3 million increase in imports from the previous year was mainly due to USD 40.1 million increase in wheat, USD34.6 million increase in trucks, and USD8.0 million increase in cars.

Exports of mineral products, food products, and vegetable origin products made up 92.7 percent of the total export. On the other hand, 64.7 percent of the total imports was mineral products, machinery, equipment, electric appliances, transport vehicle and its spare parts and food products.

Source: National Statistics Office

According to the preliminary results in the first two months of 2021, the total revenue of the general government budget was MNT 1.7 trillion. The equilibrated revenue of the general government budget was MNT 1.6 trillion and 94.6% of the total revenue of general government budget.

On the other hand, the total expenditure and net lending was MNT 1.7 trillion in the first two months of 2021, resulting in deficit of MNT 112.8 billion decreased by USD 7.2 billion or 6.0% compared to the same period of the previous year.

In February 2021, the total equilibrated revenue and grants of general government budget was MNT 961.5 billion, increased by MNT 295.5 billion or 44.4% compared to the previous month. The total expenditure and net lending was MNT 955.8 billion, increased by MNT 171.3 billion or 21.8% compared to previous month. In February 2021, the equilibrated balance of the general government budget was in surplus of 5.7 billion.

The General government budget revenue was comprised of 85.8% from tax revenue, 8.8% from non-tax revenue, 2.5% from the future heritage fund and 2.9% from the stabilization fund. In the first two months of 2021, tax revenue reached MNT 1.5 trillion, increased by MNT 221.7 billion or 17.7% compared to the same period of previous year. This increase was mainly due to MNT 172.0 billion or 84.9% increase in value added tax revenue and MNT 65.4 billion or 16.2% increase in income tax revenue, while MNT 25.1 billion or 8.4% decrease in social security revenue, MNT 8.6 billion or 6.6% decrease in excise tax revenue and MNT 6.4 billion or 5.9% decrease in other taxes revenue.

In the first two months of 2021, total tax revenue was accumulated from 31.8% of the income tax, 25.3% from value added tax, 18.6% from social security contributions, 8.0% from other taxes, 8.3% from excise taxes and 8.0% from foreign activities. In the first 2 months of 2021, value added tax revenue increased by 9.2 percentage points, foreign activity revenues increased by 0.5 percentage points, while social security contributions revenue decreased by 5.3 percentage points and excise taxes revenue decreased by 2.1 percentage points, other taxes revenue decreased by 1.9 percentage points and income taxes revenue decreased by 0.4 percentage points compared to the same period of previous year.

In the first two months of 2021, general government budget expenditure and net lending was MNT 1.7 trillion, increased by MNT 251.1 billion or 16.9% compared to the same period of previous year. This increase was primarily affected by MNT 196.8 billion or 14.8% increase in current expenditure and MNT 39.8 billion or 23.2% increase in capital expenditure compared to the same period of previous year.

Source: National Statistics Office

Cryptocurrency Bitcoin has risen for the first time above $60,000 (£43,100), continuing its record-breaking run.

Bitcoin - which has more than tripled in value since the end of last year - has been powered on by well-known companies adopting it as a method of payment.

But some analysts said this latest surge came in part due to the huge US stimulus package approved this week.

Bitcoin's total market value last month exceeded $1tn.

However, Bitcoin has a track record of wild price swings and has fallen sharply a number of times since it was created in 2009.

In February, Elon Musk revealed that his electric carmaker Tesla had bought $1.5bn worth of Bitcoin and would be accepting it as payment for its cars in future.

Mastercard also plans to accept certain cryptocurrencies as a form of payment while BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, is exploring ways it can use the digital currency.

The Covid-19 pandemic has also played its part in Bitcoin's price rise, as more people go online for shopping, moving further away from physical coins and notes.

Critics argue Bitcoin is less of a currency and more of a speculative trading tool that is open to market manipulation.

There is also concern over its environmental impact, with huge amounts of energy needed to conduct transactions.

The Selenge Russian-Mongolian military drills will take place in October this year, the press office of Russia’s Eastern Military District told TASS on Thursday.

“The first conference for planning the Selenge-2021 joint Russian-Mongolian military drills was held via a video link from the headquarters of the Eastern Military District in Khabarovsk. The maneuvers are scheduled to take place in early October at a training ground in Mongolia,” the press office said.

During the negotiations, the sides agreed the scenario, the timeframe and the place of the drills, medical and logistics provision and the procedure for the movement of the Russian contingent’s units from the embarkation station to the training ground on the territory of Mongolia and back, it said.

“In the course of further planning conferences, the sides will discuss a plan of cultural and recreational measures devoted to the centenary of the Mongolian Armed Forces. The jubilee will be celebrated in 2021,” the press office noted.

In 2020, the Selenge international military maneuvers were held in an altered format due to the coronavirus pandemic and the troops practiced tasks solely on their territory: simultaneously at the Burduny training ground in Buryatia in Eastern Siberia and at the Doytym An practice range in Mongolia. The command and control was exercised from the Burduny training ground, for which purpose 12 Mongolian officers arrived there.

The Selenge joint Russian-Mongolian drills are aimed at fighting international terrorism. During the drills, the troops of both countries practice eliminating hypothetical illegal armed

A delegation from Russian gas giant, Gazprom, headed by Vitaly Markelov, Deputy Chairman of the Company’s Management Committee, has made a working visit to Mongolia.

The visit involved a flight along the proposed route of the Soyuz Vostok gas pipeline, which will become an extension of Russia’s Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline across Mongolian territory.

Vitaly Markelov and S.Amarsaikhan, Deputy Prime Minister of Mongolia, held a meeting of the Joint Working Group of Gazprom and the Government of Mongolia. Among other things, the meeting reviewed the ongoing development of a feasibility study for the project by the special-purpose vehicle Gazoprovod Soyuz Vostok.

The parties signed the action plan for the Joint Working Group for 2021–2022.

In December 2019, Gazprom and the Government of Mongolia signed a Memorandum of Understanding. A Joint Working Group was created under the Memorandum.

In early 2021, a special-purpose vehicle named Gazoprovod Soyuz Vostok was registered in Mongolia. The company was established with the purpose of performing design and survey works and conducting a feasibility study regarding the construction project for a gas trunkline to supply Russian gas across Mongolia to China.

The export capacity of the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline might become more than 1.3 times higher than that of Power of Siberia. This will enable exports of large amounts of gas from Western Siberia not only westward but also eastward.

The first consignment of COVID-19 vaccines from the multilateral COVAX Facility have been delivered to Mongolia. These 14 400 doses are part of a first wave of arrival that will continue in the coming months. Mongolia will receive 138 540 doses of the vaccines under the COVAX Facility.

"The COVAX Facility is a great illustration of global solidarity. This is real multilateralism in action. The European Union is proud to join the Government of Mongolia, the UN agencies and bilateral donors to make this happen. Team Europe - the EU, its Member States and financial institutions - are a leading contributor to the COVAX Facility with more than EUR 2.2 billion. The first batch of vaccines is only the beginning. There will be much more. Making sure everyone has access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines is a top priority of the European Union." Said H.E. Traian Hristea, Ambassador of the European Union to Mongolia.

It is a key priority for the European Union to help end the pandemic by enabling fair, equitable, safe and effective global access to COVID-19 vaccines. This contribution will help secure 1.3 billion doses of vaccination for 92 low and middle-income countries, including Mongolia by the end of the year.

As the EU High Representative Joseph Borrell has said, the coronavirus is "the world's common enemy that we can only defeat with a global approach". Team Europe has mobilised significant resources also to help our partners across the world address the immediate health emergency, support health systems and the economic recovery.

Background

The COVAX Facility aims to deliver at least 2 billion doses before the end of this year, of which 1.3 billion to 92 countries that are eligible for such support. The EU and its Member States are committed to this unprecedented global effort to make sure all citizens have access to safe and effective vaccines.

COVAX is co-led by GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), working in partnership with UNICEF, civil society organisations, manufacturers and others stakeholders.

The COVAX Facility is a risk-sharing mechanism: it reduces the risk for manufacturers who invest without being sure about future demand, and it reduces the risk that countries would fail to secure access to a viable vaccine.

Team Europe - the EU, its Member States and the European Investment Bank - is a leading contributor to this multilateral initiative, with over EUR 2.2/USD 2.6 billion. The EU contribution as a whole brings us closer to achieving the COVAX target.

For further information, contact: delegation-mongolia-press@eeas.europa.eu