
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi Thursday told his Argentine counterpart, Santiago Cafiero, that the Asian giant favored the South American country's joining BRICS. Wang made those statements in Bali, Indonesia, on the sidelines of the G20 ministerial meeting.

Last Tuesday, 11 tons of squid were found in a Chinese flagged vessel that was captured by the Uruguayan Navy, after a chase that took place between Sunday night and early Monday morning.

The Uruguayan navy arrested Monday dawn a Chinese flagged jigger caught illegally fishing in the country's EEZ. The arrest was done following a night chase as the jigger tried to escape despite having first accepted a party of inspectors to board the vessel.

China has launched its third aircraft carrier and the first to feature a catapult aircraft launch system. The ship designed and built in China was christened as “Fujian” named after the Chinese province opposite Taiwan, according to state-run news agency Xinhua. According to Defense News, “Fujian” was launched at the Shanghai shipyard where it had undergone construction since 2018.

Following a virtual meeting Tuesday, dignitaries of all five BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) have pledged to deepen financial and customs cooperation.

As Chinese authorities are beginning to announce a gradual easing of the harsh measures imposed as per the country's zero-COVID policy, one episode in Beijing has resulted in additional restrictions, it was reported.

Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou said in an interview with the BBC that in case or reaching a Free Trade Agreement with China, it would not generate dependence, because in his country politics and economics were separate issues.

Plunging demand for soy oil in China is expected to cut consumption of the oilseed in the world’s biggest user as lockdowns to prevent the spread of COVID have shuttered restaurants and canteens, according to traders and analysts. China is the world’s top consumer of edible oils, with millions of restaurants guzzling about half of the country’s roughly 17 million tons of soy oil, made from crushing soybeans.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet met virtually Wednesday ahead of the former Chilean President's visit to areas mentioned in recent reports where an alleged genocide has been perpetrated.

US President Joseph Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met Monday at Tokyo's State House to discuss their two countries' joint deterrence and response capabilities in case of a military conflict involving China, which has sent dozens of warplanes into Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone in recent weeks.