CiCM 13th February 2025

NEWS IN CHINA

10th UK-China Strategic Dialogue Held in London: Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister, held the tenth China-UK Strategic Dialogue with the British Foreign Secretary Lamy in London on 13th February. Wang explained that the exchanges between the two nations discussing various fields have been restarted and the results of their cooperation has boosted the confidence of all relevant stakeholders. He further noted that China regards the UK as an important strategic partner and is willing to accept the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries – consolidate the positive trend of bilateral relations, strengthen practical cooperation in various fields, and plan high-level exchanges in the following stages. Both leaders agreed that being permanent members of the Security Council, both the UK and China should carry the responsibility as major countries and support multilateralism, free trade and jointly promote world peace and stability. Lamy highlighted that the UK is committed to develop a long-term and stable relation with China which will strengthen cooperation in various fields. The two sides reached a consensus on the plan for the next step of bilateral exchanges and agreed to enhance the support given to people to people exchange and boost mutual understanding. They agreed upon speeding up preparations for the China-UK Joint Economic and trade committee and other institutional dialogues, while deepening cooperation in global governance, development partnerships, climate change and cyber security.

China Launches First Large-scale Forest Fire Rescue Training Facility: Launched by the research institute, China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), Beijing’s first large-scale intelligence forest fire rescue and emergency response training facility has been approved and put to official use at the  National Southwest Emergency Rescue Centre. China’s southwestern region has abundant forestry resources and has a high forest coverage rate which makes forest fires a major challenge in the area. The establishment of this facility will enhance the comprehensive response capabilities of rescue teams and act as a model for the market promotion of intelligent forest fire simulation equipment. The completion of this project will fill a gap in the field of intelligent forest fires emergency equipment in China but will also signify the entry of a new level of technological advancement in the country’s forest fire response capabilities. This training facility integrated multiple enhanced technologies developed by CALT, enabling realistic simulations of forest fire scenarios and helping rescue personnel acquire a comprehensive, practical and multi-angle training environment. The academy has been engaged in developing emergency rescue simulations and training equipment since the 2000s. Its products have been used in training bases of over 100 emergency rescue departments across 15 provinces and cities nationwide.

Alibaba And Apple Confirm Partnership on AI Features: Joe Tsai, the chairman of Alibaba, has confirmed that the company will partner with Apple on AI for iPhones sold in the Chinese market, helping the tech giant’s listed shares to soar over 9 percent to a three-year high. Tsai stated at the World Governments Summit in Dubai that, "they talked to a number of companies in China. In the end, they chose to do business with us. They want to use our AI to power their phones. We feel extremely honoured to do business with a great company like Apple." The AI integration comes at a critical juncture for Apple as it is facing a decline in iPhone sales in China amid increasing competition from domestic rivals like Huawei. A key selling point in latest generation smartphones is AI features which is largely absent and acts as a disadvantage for Apple in the Chinese market, say a few industry analysts. Alibaba has become a Chinese AI favourite among investors in early 2025 with its stock price rising over 40 percent in this year. In January the firm released a new version of its Qwen 2.5 AI model, the functionality of which has surpassed that of Deep Seek -V3. Apple on the other hand has suffered a noticeable setback in China in the year 2024, losing its position as the country’s leading smartphone vendor. According to Canalys, a market research firm, Apple’s annual shipments in China fell 17 percent, giving domestic manufacturers an edge to surge ahead, with Vivo and Huawei taking over market share.

Beijing Protests Against Australia’s Airspace Intrusion: In light of an Australian military plane’s “deliberate intrusion” into China’s airspace, Beijing has launched solemn representations to Australia, as reported by Guo Jiakun, the foreign ministry spokesperson of the People’s Republic of China. Guo said the move violated China’s sovereignty and jeopardized national security further stating that "the expelling actions the Chinese side took are justified, legal, professional and restrained." He explained that representations were made demanding Australia to cease its provocation and infringement in the South China Sea and to refrain from undermining peace and stability in the region. The Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles stated that a Chinese jet launched flares within 30 metres of an Australian air force P-8A Poseidon aircraft following the fact that it was “challenged by a couple of J-16 Chinese air force planes”, while on routine patrol in international airspace. Canberra stated that the fighter released flares in a move that was “both unsafe and unprofessional”. But Beijing retaliated, claiming the response was “legitimate” given the fact that the Australian helicopter was “disrupting” Beijing’s naval training. Further, Australia said that it “respects the rights of all states to exercise freedom of navigation and overflight in accordance with international law, just as we expect others to respect Australia’s right to do the same.”

Chinese Prosecutors Express Resolve to Continue Protecting Food and Drug Safety: The top procuratorate in China has vowed to maintain a tough stance on crimes related to food and drug safety. The Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) also expressed its resolve to complete this effort by focusing on online platforms and livestreaming sales. In the first eleven months of 2024, procuratorial agencies indicted 12,987 suspects nationwide, including 5,727 suspected of drug-related crimes while 7,620 were charged with harming food safety. Du Xueyi, a senior prosecutor of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, made a series of remarks while also introducing the SPP’s effort to combat crimes related to this issue. Du mentioned that that SPP in March 2024, launched a special campaign to crack down on production and selling of counterfeit products, focusing on offenses involving online marketing and livestreaming sales which are affecting people’s lives. Crimes involving food and drug safety are one of the focuses of law enforcement authorities, to safeguard the public interest. In a separate statement SPP initiated an operation to oversee public interest litigations targeting problems with food and drug safety. This operation, lasting until October, will enhance procuratorial oversight over 10 key areas – including illegal food additives, medical devices and agricultural products.

SOCIAL MEDIA CHATTER

Chinese Film ‘Nezha 2’ Creates History by Breaking 10 billion Mark: The Chinese film ‘Nezha 2’ is becoming China’s first movie to break the 10 billion yuan mark at the box office. With the success of Nezha 2, it took the Chinese film market 15 years to go from 10 billion annual sales to 10 billion for a single film. The film is garnering recognition and is being appreciated by citizens nationwide. Further, netizens have also taken to the internet to express their elation; one user said “Congratulations to Nezha! Congratulations to Chinese movies!” Further, another user on the Weibo platform added, “Witnessed history, created miracles, and honoured to participate in this 10 billion project. Congratulations to Nezha 2 for breaking the 10 billion box office mark, a new milestone for Chinese films, and entering the top 20 in the global box office.”

INDIA WATCH

Global Times Reports on India’s Decision to Consider Tariffs on Chinese Steel Imports: An article in the Global Times reports on India’s intentions to levy temporary tariffs against Chinese steel imports. The report quotes Inda’s steel minister that India could impose a temporary tax of 15-25 percent on steel imports from China due to the “serious challenge” to the domestic producers from cheaper Chinese imports. Liu Zongyi, director of Centre for South Asia Studies at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, argues that Indian companies prefer cheaper Chinese steel as domestic production in India does not meet the necessary quality standards and is higher in costs. Liu also noted that this move by India might be linked to the US protectionist trade policies. He further explained that although US measures are not directly aimed at India, they are expected to have an adverse impact on Indian steel exports. In response, India, according to Liu, is adopting the "robbing Peter to pay Paul" approach by imposing tariffs on China to offset these negative effects. Zhang Jiadong, director of the Center for South Asian Studies at Fudan University, argues that this action by India is misguided and does not adhere to the spirit of the WTO, noting that insufficient production capacity and low efficiency are major challenges for India’s steel industry.

Prepared By

Riddhi Deokar

Riddhi Deokar is a Second-year bachelor’s student pursuing Global Affairs with a minor in Public Policy at OP Jindal Global University. She exudes a strong interest in learning and researching about Northeast Asian and Middle Eastern dynamics, specifically learning about China’s equation with the two regions. She endeavours to contribute to solutions addressing gender issues in the political realm. She pursues her linguistic aspirations, learning French and Mandarin. She is also a TEDx speaker, spreading her message about the theory of 'Relative Happiness'. Understanding varied perspectives and keeping an open mind while analysing and researching global issues is an effort she keeps making.