POLITICAL ISSUES
IRAN
1) Parties come closer on Iranian nuclear issue: Chinese envoy
Vienna, Thursday, 5 March 2015
China's envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Cheng Jingye said that the parties involved in the Iranian nuclear talks have a strong will to reach an agreement and have come closer in addressing "thorny issues".
Source: China Daily, Beijing

2) China hopes to finish Iran nuclear talks at an early date
Beijing, Sunday, 8 March 2015
Foreign minister Wang Yi said that China urged all parties to work together to facilitate a political decision on the Iranian nuclear issue. He added that "we can already see the light at the end of the tunnel, despite some uncertainty still clouding over the prospect of the negotiations."
Source: China Daily, Beijing

3) New round of Iran nuke talks pragmatic: China's representative
Lausanne, Saturday, 21 March 2015
China's representative to the Iranian nuclear talks Wang Qun said that in the new round of talks on Iran's nuclear issue parties have showed strong political will and pragmatic attitude.
Source: China Daily, Beijing

4) China calls for all parties to push forward Iran nuclear talks
Beijing, Wednesday, 25 March 2015
During a telephonic call with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that all parties involved in the Iran nuclear issue should grasp the opportunities to strike a comprehensive deal.
Source: China Daily, Beijing

5) Chinese FM arrives in Lausanne for nuclear talks
Lausanne, Monday, 30 March 2015
Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi arrived in Switzerland to join the ongoing talks on the Iranian nuclear issue.
Source: China Daily, Beijing

TUNISIA
6) China condemns terrorist attack in Tunisia
Beijing, Thursday, 19 March 2015
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said that China joined international condemnation of the terror attack on the National Bardo Museum in Tunis.
Source: China Daily, Beijing

YEMEN
7) China to evacuate citizens from Yemen
Hainan, Saturday, 28 March 2015
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that the Chinese government has launched preparatory work for the evacuation of over 500 Chinese nationals from Yemen.
Source: China Daily, Beijing

8) Warship arrives to evacuate Chinese nationals from Yemen
Beijing, Monday, 30 March 2015
Ministry of National Defence announced that China has sent a naval fleet to help evacuate Chinese diplomats; medical staff and technicians from Yemen as the situation gets worse.
Source: China Daily, Beijing

9) Chinese evacuate 122 from Yemen
Beijing, Monday, 30 March 2015
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said that 122 Chinese citizens have been evacuated from Yemen to Djibouti and 400 remaining are expected to be evacuated soon.
Source: China Daily, Beijing

10) Over 500 Chinese evacuees from conflict-torn Yemen arrive in Djibouti
Djibouti, Tuesday, 31 March 2015
Around 449 Chinese nationals and six people of other nationalities were evacuated from Yemen and brought to Djibouti.
Source: China Daily, Beijing

ECONOMIC ISSUES
ISRAEL
11) China, Israel to begin FTA talks
Beijing, Wednesday, 18 March 2015
Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Shen Danyang said that China will kick off negotiations on a proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Israel later this year.
Source: China Daily, Beijing

12) Israel, China launch task force to boost economic ties
Jerusalem, Tuesday, 31 March 2015
Israel and China launched a joint Israeli-Chinese Task Force to boost business cooperation and aims to expand bilateral economic ties to about US$5 billion per year within five years.
Source: China Daily, Beijing

TURKEY
13) Turkey eyes greater economic cooperation with China
Ankara, Wednesday, 25 March 2015
Cavit Dagdas, Undersecretary of Treasury in Turkey said that he backs strong economic ties with China as it has been Turkey's second largest source of imports. In 2014, China's exports to Turkey reached US$24 billion which accounted for 10 percent of Turkish imports.
Source: China Daily, Beijing

UAE
14) China's Huawei to partner with Etisalat for Network 2020
Dubai, Sunday, 8 March 2015
Chinese Telecom Company Huawei and UAE's Etisalat issued a joint statement that they would jointly develop a framework for end-to-end network from 2020 onwards.
Source: China Daily, Beijing

15) UAE central bank partners with China's UnionPay
Abu Dhabi, Monday, 30 March 2015
The Central Bank of the UAE and UnionPay International of China said that they have signed a deal for linking with UAE-Switch, a service that connects ATMs across UAE.
Source: China Daily, Beijing

MULTILATERAL ISSUES
EGYPT
16) China welcomes Egypt's application to AIIB
Beijing, Monday, 30 March 2015
China welcomed the application of Egypt to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to join the bank as a founding member.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing; See also: China Daily, Beijing

GCC
17) China to advance free trade talks with Arabs, Israel
Beijing, Thursday, 5 March 2015
A Chinese government report stated that China will advance talks on free trade zones with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Israel.
Source: China Daily, Beijing

18) China banks on ties with Gulf Cooperation Council
Beijing, Friday, 27 March 2015
Cao Jiachang, Deputy Director-General of the Department of West Asian and African Affairs at China's Ministry of Commerce, said that trade cooperation between China and members of the GCC is playing a significant role in the development of "Belt and Road" initiatives of China.
Source: China Daily, Beijing

TURKEY
19) Turkey applies to join China-proposed AIIB
Beijing, 27 March 2015
Turkey applied to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) as a prospective founding member.
Source: China Daily, Beijing

MISCELLANEOUS ISSUES
TURKEY
20) Missile sale to Turkey confirmed
Langkawi, Thursday, 19 March 2015
China confirmed an agreement to sell the HQ-9 air defence missile system to Turkey during the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace exhibition in Malaysia.
Source: China Daily, Beijing

UAE
21) Chinese currency trade settlement gains popularity in Gulf region
Dubai, Friday, 13 March 2015
With Chinese currency the Yuan becoming increasingly acceptable in banks and enterprises in the Gulf region, banks are seeking ways to catalyze the growing demand for conducting trade with the currency."By the end of 2014, the Yuan has become the world's seventh largest payment currency and the ninth largest trading currency," Tian Jun, general manager of Abu Dhabi branch of Bank of China said.
Source: China Daily, Beijing

TERRORISM/ISLAMIC STATE
22) IS recruits Xinjiang residents
Xinjiang, Wednesday, 11 March 2015
Zhang Chunxian, an official from the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, observed that some Xinjiang residents have joined the Islamic State.
Source: China Daily, Beijing

COMPILED BY DIPANWITA CHAKRAVORTTY

Dipanwita Chakravortty is a doctoral candidate in School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.  Email

As part of its editorial policy, the MEI@ND standardizes spelling and date formats to make the text uniformly accessible and stylistically consistent. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views/positions of the MEI@ND. Editor, MEI@ND: P R Kumaraswamy