Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

SINGAPORE (AP) — Asian financial markets advanced Monday after China released better-than-expected trade data for May, though worries remain over trade negotiations between the Washington and Beijing.

Reopening after a market holiday, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng picked up 2.2% to 27,552.09 and the Shanghai Composite index was 1% higher at 2,855.77. Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 1.1% to 21,111.38, while the Kospi in South Korea rose 0.9% to 2,091.72. Shares rose in Taiwan and throughout Southeast Asia. Australian markets were closed.

9 June 2019; DW: Finance leaders from the Group of 20 (G20) ended a two-day meeting in the western Japanese city of Fukuoka on Sunday.

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde said trade tension was the "major" headwind facing the global economy, telling Japan's Nikkei daily it was a "significant risk on the horizon."

9 June 2019; DW: Tens of thousand of Hong Kong residents are participating in a rally on Sunday against a government plan that would allow extraditions to China.

In February, Hong Kong authorities proposed that the city's chief executive, Carrie Lam, should be given powers to send fugitives and suspects to jurisdictions not covered by existing arrangements, including to mainland China and Taiwan. Current arrangements exclude China because of its poor legal and human rights record.

NANJING, June 8 (Xinhua) -- China's spacecraft tracking ship Yuanwang-3 on Saturday set sail for the southern Pacific Ocean from a port in east China's Jiangsu Province for upcoming satellite maritime monitoring missions.

It is the second voyage of the ship this year, and the 52nd since it was launched more than 20 years ago.

Before this voyage, crew members analyzed possible difficulties and risks of the tasks, carried out overall examinations and tests of the facilities, and received tailored training to ensure the success of the missions.

NANCHANG, June 9 (Xinhua) -- Six people have been confirmed dead and one missing after strong winds, hail and rainstorm-triggered floods hit east China's Jiangxi Province, local authorities said Sunday.

As of 11 a.m. Sunday, the heavy downpours that started Thursday had damaged 77,400 hectares of crops, collapsed 118 houses and severely damaged 97 houses, according to the Jiangxi provincial emergency management department.

Direct economic losses were estimated at 1.59 billion yuan (about 229 million U.S. dollars).

NUR-SULTAN, June 9. /TASS/: The polls at the Kazakhstan presidential election have opened on Sunday at 7:00 am local time.

9,970 polling stations have begun their work in Kazakhstan, with 64 additional stations set to open abroad, including in Russia’s five cities - Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Astrakhan and Omsk.

Beijing, Jun 9 (PTI) Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit this week at Bishkek where he would also meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the first meeting between the two leaders after the BJP's massive victory in the general elections.

Xi will pay state visits to Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan from June 12 to 16, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang announced here on Sunday.

FUKUOKA, Japan (AP) — The Latest on a meeting of financial leaders of the Group of 20 major economies (all times local):

3:40 p.m.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says he held a constructive meeting with the head of China’s central bank and that their discussion on trade issues was “candid.”

Mnuchin made the comment in a Twitter post Sunday showing him shaking hands with Yi Gang, governor of the People’s Bank of China.

The two met on the sidelines of the G-20 finance meeting in Japan.

FUKUOKA, Japan (AP) — Trade and economy ministers of the Group of 20 major economies met Sunday in Japan to discuss ways to reorder trade rules and finances in an era of technological change and protectionism.

The meetings of financial leaders in the southern city of Fukuoka and of economic ministers in Tsukuba, near Tokyo, are aiming to forge a consensus on a range of issues to be endorsed by leaders who will meet in late June in Osaka.

BEIJING (AP) — China is creating a system to protect its technology, according to state media, as the U.S. restricts the access of Chinese companies to American technology in a spiraling trade dispute.

The People’s Daily newspaper said Sunday that the system will build a strong firewall to strengthen the nation’s ability to innovate and to accelerate the development of key technologies.