Beijing, Feb 25 (AP/UNB) — President Donald Trump's decision to extend a deadline to escalate tariffs on Chinese imports raised cautious optimism in China on Monday and sent shares soaring.

The Shanghai Composite index jumped 5.5 percent to its highest level since last summer after Trump said "substantial progress" was made in weekend talks between the two countries regarding their dispute over China's technology policies.

Trump said, "I will be delaying the U.S. increase in tariffs now scheduled for March 1." He also said that if negotiations progress, he will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at his Florida resort to finalize an agreement.

The vice president of the U.S.-China Business Council, Jake Parker, said Trump's decision was a "positive signal."

"The announcement ... that the tariffs will not be increased seems to indicate that there's enough forward momentum, that they believe they don't need to raise tariffs now," Parker said.

Many of the issues under discussion are so complex they cannot be resolved in the 90-day time that Trump and Xi agreed to in early December, he said, "so by finding a way where the two sides can come to some kind of agreement and then put these more challenging issues into a longer-term negotiating framework, should have a very positive impact on the overall relationship."

Trump had warned he would escalate the tariffs he has imposed on $200 billion in Chinese imports, from 10 to 25 percent, if the two sides failed to reach a deal. The increase was scheduled to take effect at 12:01 a.m. EST on March 2.

The world's two biggest economies have been locked in a conflict over U.S. allegations that China steals technology and forces foreign companies to hand over trade secrets in an aggressive push to challenge American technological dominance.

The trade war has been rattling financial markets and news of a reprieve on another increase in U.S. tariffs sent shares moderately higher across Asia. But shares already had risen in recent weeks, anticipating that Trump would postpone the tariff hike.

The U.S. is still imposing extra tariffs on billions of dollars' worth of Chinese products, slowing trade, raising costs for manufacturers and prompting changes in supply chains.

Speaking to governors gathered at the White House for an annual black-tie ball Sunday, Trump said he was doing "very well" with China.

"If all works well we're going to have some very big news over the next week or two," he said, though he took care to add that "we still have a little ways to go."

Chinese negotiators said the talks made progress on technology transfer, protection of intellectual property rights and non-tariff barriers, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. It cautioned there are "still some differences that need more time to be ironed out."

On Twitter, Trump said the two sides had made headway on issues including protection of trade secrets, forced technology transfer and U.S. agricultural sales to China. But the administration did not immediately provide details.

"Trump clearly wants a deal and so do the Chinese, which certainly raises the probability that the two sides will come to some sort of negotiated agreement, even if it is a partial one, in the coming weeks," said Cornell University economist Eswar Prasad, former head of the International Monetary Fund's China division.

Business groups and lawmakers in Congress want to see a comprehensive deal that forces the Chinese to change their behavior and that can be enforced. The U.S. has accused China of failing to meet past commitments to reform its economic policies.

In China, some are viewing the latest flare-up in trade tensions with a dose of skepticism.

"We won't really fight, right? A trade war, by its nature, is nothing more than a war of words, isn't it?" said Geng Yanhua, an Internet company worker. "Playing up the tariffs issue only won't really hurt us. It will be fine as long as no one wages a war," Geng said.

Dhaka, Feb 24 (UNB) - Huawei won the ‘Market Development Award’ at the GTI Awards Ceremony in Barcelona GTI for its outstanding performance in the 5G commercial market.

In 2018, 5G technical testing and pre-commercial verification were launched worldwide. With long-term investment and deep accumulation in 5G technology and standards, Huawei has kept up closely with the 3GPP standards pace and has released its 5G end-to-end pre-commercial solutions including core network, transport network, wireless network, 5G LampSite and 5G CPE.

 In the cities of Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Seoul, Milan, and Berlin, Huawei has launched trial networks and continuous outfields, showing that Huawei's technology is 12 to 18 months ahead of other companies in the industry.

Up to now, Huawei has cooperated with more than 50 business partners worldwide in 5G commercial use, ranking first in the number of partners that it works with. The company has also obtained the largest number of 5G commercial contracts (30+) in the world. In addition, Huawei has delivered over 40,000 5G base stations for commercial use globally. 

In cities such as Hangzhou in China and Seoul in South Korea, Huawei is deploying thousands of sites to comprise continuous 5G massive MIMO coverage, with an average experience rate over 1 Gbps, which lays the foundation for abundant large bandwidth and low latency services.

In 2019, more intensive 5G pre-commercial testing and commercial deployments will occur around the globe. Together with GTI, Huawei will work with global partners to promote and accelerate the maturity of the 5G end-to-end industry and promote 5G scale commercialization, so that the excellent experience brought by 5G will benefit more consumers and industries.

Washington, Feb 23 (AP/UNB)— U.S. and Chinese negotiators agreed Friday to extend high-level trade talks through the weekend, and President Donald Trump said he hoped to meet next month at his Florida resort with President Xi Jinping to try to finalize an agreement.

The news followed two days of negotiations in Washington aimed at resolving a trade war that has rattled financial markets and threatened global economic growth.

"We're making a lot of progress," Trump told reporters at the White House. "I think there's a very good chance that a deal can be made."

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the negotiations, which had been scheduled to conclude Friday afternoon, would continue through Sunday. The Chinese delegation is led by Xi's special envoy, Vice Premier Liu He, the American team by Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

Trump had originally warned that he would escalate the tariffs he has imposed on $200 billion in Chinese imports, from 10 to 25 percent, if the two sides failed to reach a deal by March 2. But in recent days, and again on Friday, he raised the possibility of extending that deadline if negotiators were nearing an agreement.

The world's two biggest economies are sparring over U.S. allegations that Beijing uses predatory tactics in a drive to make Chinese companies world leaders in such advanced industries as robotics and driverless cars.

Those tactics, the Trump administration argues, include cyber-theft, unfair subsidies for state-owned Chinese companies, the use of regulations to hobble China's foreign competitors and pressure on American companies to hand over technology in exchange for access to the Chinese market.

The administration contends that Beijing has repeatedly failed to live up to its past commitments to open its markets and to treat foreign companies more fairly.

The president has imposed 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese imports and 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion worth. The latter grouping would face the 25 percent tariffs, too, if no agreement is reached.

Beijing has lashed back with import taxes of its own on $110 billion in U.S. goods. These tariffs are heavily aimed at soybeans and other agricultural products in an effort to pressure Trump supporters in the U.S. farm belt.

On Friday, the president and his advisers provided few details on this week's negotiations. Trump did say the two sides had reached some agreement on currency manipulation but offered no specifics. The administration has worried that Beijing would blunt the impact of Trump's sanctions by manipulating its currency down to give Chinese companies a competitive edge in international markets.

Trump said both sides want to "make this a real deal."

"We want to make it a meaningful deal," the president said, "not a deal that's done and doesn't mean anything. We want to make this a deal that's going to last for many, many years and a deal that's going to be good for both countries."

Trump raised the possibility that the U.S. will drop criminal charges against Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, saying the issue would be discussed with Attorney General Bill Barr and U.S. attorneys.

The U.S. has charged Huawei with lying about violating sanctions against Iran and with stealing trade secrets.

Asked about Huawei before the Oval Office meeting with Liu, Trump said that a decision on Huawei is pending, but "right now, it's not something we're discussing."

After Trump appeared with Liu, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced that Beijing had agreed to buy 10 million metric tons of American soybeans, tweeting: "Hats off to @POTUS for bringing China to the table."

China's soybean tariffs have squeezed many American farmers. In the first 10 months of 2018, U.S. soybean exports to China dropped to 8.2 million metric tons from 21.4 million metric tons a year earlier — a 62 percent freefall, according to the Agriculture Department.

In front of Liu and the press corps, Trump ridiculed members of his own trade team for using the term "memoranda of understanding," or MOU, to describe the agreements they were working out with the Chinese.

"You either make a deal or you're not," Trump said. "To have these other agreements doesn't mean anything because they're not that meaningful in my opinion." Lighthizer at first defended the acronym, describing MOUs as binding contracts, then made light of the rebuke and vowed never to use the term again.

The U.S.-China conflict has rattled markets. It has also fanned uncertainty among businesses that must decide where to invest and whether Trump's tariffs — which raise the cost of imports on the target list — will last long enough to justify replacing Chinese suppliers with those from countries not subject to the tariffs.

The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development have all downgraded their forecasts for the global economy, citing the heightened trade tensions.

The Chinese economy, in particular, is decelerating: The IMF expects China to record 6.2 percent growth this year, down from 6.6 percent in 2018.

"The Chinese economy is definitely hurting right now," said Timothy Keeler, partner at the law firm Mayer Brown and former chief of staff for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. "There's a lot of leverage for the U.S."

Myron Brilliant, head of international affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said the two countries have yet to bridge their differences over nettlesome issues such as the forced technology transfer. He said the chamber wants to see an end to the tariffs between Washington and Beijing. But he also said American businesses are demanding a deal that would produce lasting improvement in Chinese trade practices.

"We simply can't go back to business as it was before," Brilliant said. Beijing, he said, has "got to deliver the goods."

Rabat, Feb 19 (Xinhua/UNB) -The Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj signed Monday here four agreements to cement bilateral cooperation.

The two foreign ministers inked four memorandums of understanding (MoUs) in the areas of security, housing, investments and youths.

Speaking at a press briefing, Bourita said the signing of these agreements will strengthen the legal framework governing the relations between the two countries.

For her part, the Indian foreign minister stressed that India is committed to developing bilateral relations with Morocco.

Swaraj also met with several Moroccan officials, including the Prime Minister Saadeddine El Othmani. 

Washington, Feb 18 (Xinhua/UNB) - A recent report showed that U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon did not pay federal income taxes in 2018.

Published Wednesday by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the report listed the effective tax rate of Amazon at negative 1.2 percent on its pretax profit at 10.8 billions U.S. dollars in 2018.

"The company's newest corporate filing reveals that, far from paying the statutory 21 percent income tax rate on its U.S. income in 2018, Amazon reported a federal income tax rebate of 129 million U.S. dollars," the report said.

It also mentioned that the company paid no federal corporate income taxes in 2017, as the effective tax rate was negative 2.5 percent on its 5.6-billion-dollar income.

The U.S. think tank suggested that government review current tax laws and stop corporate tax avoidance.

U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted in March 2018 on Amazon's reported tax avoidance, accusing the company of "causing tremendous loss to the U.S." by using the postal system as "delivery boy."