The NCCD conducted a total of 22 COVID-19 tests Sunday and the results were all negative, Ambaselmaa said at a press conference.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Mongolia so far is 141.

All of the confirmed cases were imported, mostly from Russia, according to the center. No local transmissions or deaths have been reported in the country so far.

The Ministers mutually briefed about policies, actions and measures being taken by the Governments of the two countries against the COVID-19 pandemic and exchanged information on them.

Underlining that the world countries will overcome the danger of the pandemic together, Minister Tsogtbaatar presented specific initiatives being proposed at a regional level in this direction.

While highlighting the importance of close regional cooperation to fight against the pandemic, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan Motegi Toshimitsu made remarks, commending the Government of Mongolia for its effective measures that helped achieving zero local transmission and protecting the health of its people since an early date of the global spread of the virus.

Furthermore, Motegi Toshimitsu notified that the Government of Japan has decided to provide rapid financial assistance and non-project, non-refundable aid to Mongolia for overcoming economic difficulties.

Minister D.Tsogtbaatar expressed his sincere gratitude for the Japanese support as well as assistance and the supply of flu drug Avigan provided to Mongolia through international organizations.

Foreign Ministers of the two countries also affirmed their intention for cooperating in the celebration of the 50th jubilee of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Mongolia and Japan, which will fall in 2022, and deepening the Strategic Partnership.

A working team on developing the amendment led by parliament member D.Lundeejantsan delivered a press briefing today on the constitutional amendments. MP Lundeejantsan said “Thanks to the recent amendment, the Constitution of Mongolia, which is a social contract between the state and the people of the country, has now become whole, and beginning from today started taking effect across the nation”

“The 1992 Constitution of Mongolia first entered into force at 12.00 hours on the 12 the of February of 1992, or at the hour of Horse on the prime and benevolent ninth day of Yellow Horse of the first spring month of Black Tiger of the year of Water Monkey of the Seventeenth 60-year Cycle.”

“The latest amendment to the Constitution, which improved the previous seven amendments made to the Constitution in 2000, is believed to open up the opportunities for the population of Mongolia to benefit from the natural resource wealth, improve the country’s parliamentary democracy by ensuring the people's governing rights and increasing the responsibilities of the parliament, enable the stability and responsibility of the government that is guided by long-term development policies, enhancing the responsibilities and independence of the judiciary through several fundamental changes in it, and improve the local government system” said MP Lundeejantsan.

“The upcoming four-year period will be a time of governance reform and legal revolution. More than 40 laws being revised accompanying the amendment to the Constitutions will facilitate achieving justice, accountability of authorities and transparency in budgeting.

The amendment to the Constitution was made in four different areas of parliamentary system and governance, executive power, enhancement of accountability of judicial systems and of local governance system.

In the wake of the COVID-19 spread, the Government of Mongolia is implementing the package of measures to stimulate the economy, support livelihoods of target groups, save jobs, and protect the health of citizens in accordance with seven resolutions of the Government.

In connection with the pandemic, MNT213.7 billion has been spent on the health sector so far, of which MNT176.1 billion was provided with foreign assistance and loan, MNT20.6 billion was financed with budget adjustments in education and health sectors as well as MNT17 billion was funded with government reserve and budgetary allotment.

The abovementioned amount was used for additional salary to medical and health care workers of 13 hospitals, the purchase of 3.9 million pieces of protective clothes, 33 kinds of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, 18,700 pieces of professional equipment, 72 pieces of respiratory apparatus and other necessary equipment.

Beginning from February 1 until October 1, 2020, customs and VAT duties are exempt for pharmaceuticals, medical devices, equipment, and disinfectants and sanitizing substances to be imported for diagnosis and treatment purposes.

Currently, The Traffic Control Centre of Ulaanbaatar controls only five percent of all roads; the additional 600 cameras will increase it to 28 percent.

UB aims to have 40 percent of the city covered by cameras by 2021; by the following year 6822 spots will be installed. It is estimated that by controlling 80 percent of city with surveillance cameras will help decrease number of crimes by 40-50 percent.

UB installed 3600 cameras by financing from the State Budget over the last decade; 40 percent of them are now out of operation.

Each year, Taiwan imports millions of dollars worth of copper and alloys from Mongolia as well as other products and textiles. In return, Taiwan exports electronic devices for telecommunications and high-tech machinery for manufacturing to the country. The total trade figure surpassed USD41 million in 2018 — a number that heralded tremendous potential for future growth.

According to the representative from the Ulaanbaatar Trade and Economic Representative Office in Taipei, Z.Lkhagvasuren, around 5,000 Taiwanese visited Mongolia in 2019; currently about 90 percent of the Mongolians in Taiwan are students. Although a visa-waiver program has not yet been established, the Mongolian side is supportive of any measures that might facilitate increased travel between the two countries.

As Taiwan’s health system and advanced medical technology have allowed it to handle the COVID-19 outbreak, Zolzaya believes these strengths can not only benefit Taiwan’s international partners, such as Mongolia, but also strengthen the island nation’s relationships with them as well.

Copper trading in New York fell by 3.6% to $2.37 a pound ($5,225 a tonne) in lunchtime trade, halting a rally that saw the bellwether metal gain nearly 20% from lows hit in mid-March.

Covid-19 dealt a serious blow to the Trump administration’s January trade deal, which included promises by China of hundreds of billions of dollars of US imports of goods and commodities, particularly oil and gas.

China’s move this week to tighten its grip on Hong Kong torpedoed any hopes of a promised phase two trade scheduled for later this year; instead a new set of sanctions is now likely in response.

Peter Boockvar, chief investment strategist at Bleakley Advisory Group told CNBC that Trump “is listening to his hawkish advisors like trade advisor Peter Navarro”:

“The problem now is the global economy was much better when we had this tariff stuff before and was able to absorb it, and now we’re much less able to absorb it.

“Trump is acting out and deflecting and blaming ahead of the election about who got us into this pickle. China is now the archery target for this virus and Trump is going to let the world know: ‘It wasn’t me, it was them.’”

China’s “new infrastructure”
Weakness in the copper price came despite an announcement on Friday of a Chinese stimulus package similar in size than the nearly $700 billion pumped into the economy during the 2009 global financial crisis.

In a note, Capital Economics says that the economic measure were more aggressive than expected and points out how China’s physical infrastructure expanded since 2009:

The network of paved roads has almost doubled in size and the freeway network has more than doubled. China has built a high-speed rail network and expanded the regular network by a third. Ninety airports have been built. And developers have built 75 million urban homes.

Given its widespread use in transportation, electrical grids, manufacturing and construction, copper demand could receive a massive boost by the plan, which is heavily focused on infrastructure spending.

Moreover, a large chunk of the investment is destined towards so-called “new infrastructure” mentioned by Chinese Premier Li in today’s announcement, says Capital Economics.

That refers to, among other things, building out 5G networks, “next generation information networks” and charging facilities for electric cars.

All of which need copious amounts of copper.

Spot gold rose 0.4% to $1,733.55 per ounce by 12:20 pm EST Friday, after falling 1.4% in the previous trading day. Gold futures rose 0.8% to $1,736.20.

On Thursday, the Chinese government announced its intention to impose a national security law that criminalizes political dissent in the city of Hong Kong, which could fuel further protests and escalate the ongoing US-China spat over the source of the coronavirus.

US senators later responded by introducing a bipartisan bill that would sanction Chinese officials and organizations that enforce the new security measures in Hong Kong. The bill came just one day after the Senate passed a bill that would make it more difficult for Chinese-based companies to list on US stock exchanges.

Amid the growing political and economic uncertainties, bullion — often considered insurance under such circumstances — surged to a fresh seven-year high earlier this week.

“China’s aggressive stance on Hong Kong security could exacerbate already tense relations (with US) and a possible confrontation between US warships and Iranian freighters headed for Venezuela are key concerns heading into the long weekend, prompting investor buying,” Tai Wong, head of base and precious metals derivatives trading at BMO, told CNBC.

Gold has held its ground above the key $1,700 per ounce level, building impetus to reach its 2011 peak in the coming quarters, Fitch Solutions said in a note.

“Lower-for-longer interest rates with quantitative easing in full swing, macro and geopolitical uncertainty and strong investor flows should continue to support gold prices on a 6-12 month horizon,” Fitch said.

Meanwhile, physical gold demand picked up in top Asian hubs this week as economies eased lockdown measures and investors continued to buy gold as a hedge against a deteriorating economic backdrop.