Chinese President Xi Jinping had a virtual summit with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday. Xi pointed out that the combined impact of major global changes and the pandemic, both unseen in a century, has brought multiple global challenges that need to be addressed through global cooperation. Noting that China and the EU share much common understanding on promoting peace, seeking development and advancing cooperation, Xi said that we need to shoulder our responsibility to bring more stability and certainty to a turbulent and fluid world. Xi said it is important for the two sides to enhance dialogue, stay committed to cooperation, and promote steady and sustained progress of China-EU relations. China's development will create broader space for China-EU cooperation, Xi said, adding that the two sides must, under the principle of mutual benefit and win-win, further deepen green and digital partnerships as well as practical cooperation in various fields. The two sides need to continue upholding multilateralism and advancing major global agenda, he added. Macron and Scholz congratulated China on its successful hosting of the Beijing Olympic Winter Games, saying that the world faces many challenges, and each country acting on its own will only make things worse. Read: Air alert declared in Kyiv as fighting continues The European side values the important and positive role of China in global affairs, and is willing to engage in close cooperation with China to jointly tackle climate change, public health and other major global challenges, they said. The two leaders said the European side is ready to work with China for a successful EU-China summit, and to move forward France-China, Germany-China and EU-China relations. The leaders exchanged views on the key issue of the current situation in Ukraine. Macron and Scholz shared their assessment and positions on the current situation in Ukraine, saying that Europe is facing the worst crisis since World War II. France and Germany support reaching a settlement through negotiation and giving peace a chance, they noted. The two leaders thanked China for its initiative on the humanitarian situation and said the two countries are ready to strengthen communication and coordination with China to promote talks for peace, and prevent further escalation of the situation that may worsen the humanitarian crisis. Xi stressed that the current situation in Ukraine is worrisome, and the Chinese side is deeply grieved by the outbreak of war again on the European continent. China maintains that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries must be respected, the purposes and principles of the UN Charter must be fully observed, the legitimate security concerns of all countries must be taken seriously, and all efforts that are conducive to the peaceful settlement of the crisis must be supported, he said. The pressing task at the moment is to prevent the tense situation from escalating or even running out of control, Xi stressed. China commends the mediation efforts by France and Germany on Ukraine, he said, adding that China will stay in communication and coordination with France, Germany and the EU and, in light of the needs of the parties involved, work actively together with the international community. Read: Ukraine war highlights internal divides in Mideast nations Xi emphasized that we need to jointly support the peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, and encourage the two sides to keep the momentum of negotiations, overcome difficulties, keep the talks going and bring about peaceful outcomes. We need to call for maximum restraint to prevent a massive humanitarian crisis, Xi said, adding that China has put forward a six-point initiative on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, and stands ready to provide Ukraine with further humanitarian aid supplies. We need to work together to reduce the negative impact of the crisis, Xi said, adding that relevant sanctions will affect global finance, energy, transportation and stability of supply chains, and dampen the global economy that is already ravaged by the pandemic. And this is in the interest of no one. We need to actively advocate a vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, Xi said. China supports France and Germany in promoting a balanced, effective and sustainable European security framework for the interests and lasting security of Europe, and by upholding its strategic autonomy, he said. China will be pleased to see equal-footed dialogue among the EU, Russia, the United States and NATO, Xi added. The leaders also exchanged views on the Iranian nuclear issue.

President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping will hold their much-anticipated virtual summit on Monday evening as the two sides look to dial back tensions after a rough start to the U.S.-China relationship since Biden took office earlier this year. The White House is setting low expectations for the video call between the leaders. Biden looks to stress that the two nations need to set guardrails in deepening areas of conflict in the increasingly complicated relationship between the two nations. White House officials said that no major announcements are expected to come from the meeting. Read: Obama appeals to young activists to stay in climate fight “I wouldn’t set the expectation ... that this is intended to have major deliverables or outcomes,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki, who added that the two leaders would discuss how to manage the countries’ competition and cooperate in areas where interests align. The meeting will be the third engagement between the two leaders since February. It comes after the U.S. and China this week pledged at U.N. climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland to increase their cooperation and speed up action to rein in climate-damaging emissions. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and senior Chinese foreign policy adviser Yang Jiechi came to an agreement on holding the Biden-Xi virtual summit by year’s end when they met last month for talks in Zurich but the two sides had not settled on a date. The virtual meeting was proposed after Biden, who spent a substantial amount of time with Xi when the two were vice presidents, mentioned during a September phone call with the Chinese leader that he would like to be able to see Xi again, according to the White House. Xi has not left China during the coronavirus pandemic. White House officials proposed a virtual summit as the best available substitute for the two leaders to have a substantive conversation on a number of issues that have put strains on the U.S.-China relationship. Read: Pfizer asks FDA to OK COVID-19 booster shots for all adults “We hope the U.S. will work together with China to jointly strive to make the leaders’ summit a success and bring China-U.S. ties back to the right track of sound and stable development,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Friday. There has been no shortage of tension in the relationship in recent months as Biden has made clear he sees Beijing’s actions on a number of fronts as concerning. The president has criticized China for human rights abuses against ethnic minorities in northwest China, squelching pro-democracy efforts in Hong Kong, and resisting global pressure to cooperate fully with investigations into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. Tensions have also been exacerbated recently by the Chinese military’s flying dozens of sorties near the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which Beijing considers part of its territory. The White House suggested that Biden would raise his concerns on many of those issues during Monday’s meeting. “There will be a broad range of topics that will be discussed and the President is certainly not going to hold back on areas where he is concerned,” Psaki said. Biden, at the Group of 20 meeting in Rome and again at the U.N. climate gathering, criticized Xi for failing to show up to the summits, where world leaders discussed the way forward on the pandemic and steps to ease the impact of climate change. “I think it’s been a big mistake, quite frankly, for China ... not showing up, “ Biden said in Glasgow. ”The rest of the world is going to look to China and say, what value added have they provided?” Both leaders took part in Friday’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) virtual meeting, where leaders discussed efforts to end the COVID-19 pandemic and support the global economic recovery.

Considering its strategic interests, Bangladesh wants to join a road belt with India, Myanmar and Thailand as the two countries set a “very positive tone” during the virtual Summit to broaden the bilateral relations and explore regional connectivity in an effective way.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said Bangladesh and India can strengthen global and regional value chains through further integration of their respective economies to take advantage of available synergies.

Bangladesh and India on Thursday signed seven bilateral documents at the first virtual Summit between the two nations, with the aim of elevating relations to the next level through deeper cooperation and solidarity.

The 21st session of the BIMSTEC Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) comprising Foreign Secretaries of the BIMSTEC Member States will be held virtually in Colombo, Sri Lanka on September 2 with a possibility to hold the next Summit virtually if the pandemic situation does not improve. 

Global leading ICT provider Huawei launched its Asia Pacific Partner Ascend Program in a virtual summit on Thursday.    “Ascend Partner Program has been launched to build an innovative and sustainable AI ecosystem that enables digitalization and intelligent transformation in the region,” said a press release.   Government officials, business leaders, industry experts, and academic scholars attended the  summit with the theme “Ascend to Pervasive Intelligence.”    The APAC Ascend Partner Program consists of three sub-programs of Independent Software Vendor AI Collaboration, Institute of Higher Learning (IHL) AI Talent Cultivation, and Government AI Industry Development.

Forced apart by the coronavirus pandemic, Southeast Asian leaders joined through online on Tuesday to plot a strategy to overcome a crisis that has threatened their economies and kept millions of people in their homes under lockdowns.