CiCM 19th June 2023

NEWS IN CHINA

President Xi Jinping met US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken on the final day of the latter's two-day visit to China. Aimed at ensuring a peaceful resolution to the disputes between the two nations, Blinken’s visit began with meetings between him and several key Chinese officials. The meetings were claimed to be “candid and in-depth” by President Xi in his opening remarks. Xi highlighted that the world required a stable China-US relationship, and the outcome of the two countries’ efforts to get along will impact the future of humanity. President Xi also noted that the common interests of the two countries should be valued and their respective success needs to be viewed as an opportunity instead of a threat to each other. He articulated that China respects US interests and “does not seek to challenge or displace the United States”. He went on to say that, likewise, the United States needs to respect China and its legitimate rights and interests. Neither side should try to shape the other side by its own will nor deprive the other side of its legitimate right to development. President Xi also made clear his hope that this visit will be utilised to make more positive contributions to stabilising China-US relations.
Chinese premier Li Qiang arrived in Germany on first state visit. Post-arrival, Li said Beijing is ready to work with Berlin to further explore cooperation potential and work for new development in the two countries' traditional friendship and deepen their cooperation. He added that the China-Germany relations are progressing steadily with new achievements being made in such areas as economy and trade, technologies, people-to-people and cultural exchanges, as well as green development. Li articulated that Beijing is ready to engage in frank and in-depth exchanges with the German side based on the principles of mutual respect, seeking common ground while reserving differences, as well as achieving mutual benefit and win-win outcomes.
Chinese authorities lifted the ban on Taiwan's sugar apples. Since 2020, a ban had been imposed by the Chinese authorities on the fruit due to the detection of pests harmful to plant health in several shipments from Taiwan. The spokesperson from the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office made it clear that the Chinese have always respected and cared for the Taiwanese and that they are willing to jointly work to resume the import of agricultural and fishery products to China. This came after a call for resumption of export was sounded by the Taiwanese politicians and business leaders, making it clear that steps have been taken to improve the quality of the products. China's General Administration of Customs carried out comprehensive evaluations of these measures and made it clear that only registered packaging factories and orchards are permitted to export to China.
Chinese scientists have developed a new compound to rejuvenate the exhausted T cells. Its ability to rejuvenate the T cells and restore their full-functionality suggests a potential revolution in cancer therapy and the treatment of chronic viral diseases. The announcement was made by Dr Wu Bocheng, a biochemist, at the 2023 Northeast Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society. Long term research has shown that TOX plays a critical role in T cell exhaustion leading to various immune-related disorders and diseases such as viral infections, tumours and autoimmune diseases. The compound designed by Wu and his research team is specifically designed to inhibit TOX. In his presentation Wu propounded that, “This TOX protein has been known since 1993, but the inhibitor discovery has not been done yet. This discovery opens unprecedented possibilities in the treatment of T cell exhaustion-related disorders”. He articulated that promising results have been obtained from biochemistry studies, where the TOX inhibitor demonstrated the ability to reinvigorate exhausted T cells and that he and his team are about to move into the animal testing stages with multiple disease treatments.
China’s cross-border e-commerce set the record with its value reaching 2.1 trillion yuan, according to the report released by the General Administration of Customs. In 2022, the value increased by 7.1 percent compared to 2021 and accounted for 4.9 percent of China's total import and export value according to the country's 2022 annual report which was released at the 2023 China Langfang International Economic and Trade Fair. The report presented the major export destinations, including the United States which accounted for 34.3 percent, followed by the UK (6.5 percent), Germany (4.6 percent), Malaysia (3.9 percent) and Russia (2.9 percent) with the major export items being clothing, shoes, bags and electronic products. As for imports, products from Japan accounted for 21.7 percent followed by the US (17.9 percent), Australia (10.5 percent) and France (7.5 percent). Within the mainland, regions of Guangdong, Zhejiang, Fujian and Jiangsu provinces were highlighted by the report as being active in cross-border e-commerce.
Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific has announced its intention to increase Mandarin services and recruitment of cabin crew from the mainland. CEO Ronald Lam said that the airline will deploy more cabin crew speaking mandarin on flights between Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and the Chinese mainland. Broadcasts will also be done in mandarin in all the flights between the two regions starting from August. The changes will also be manifested in terms of the Cabin crew name cards indicating their language proficiency, including mandarin and other Asian languages, with those fluent in more than one Asian language being eligible for a monthly allowance. This comes in the wake of increasing Mandarin-speaking customers, as articulated by Lam and will be gradually expanded to other flights.

SOCIAL MEDIA CHATTER

Casual remark made by a Chinese actress regarding the price of socks goes viral on social media: In her livestream, Chinese actress Zhang Yuqi suggested that 699 yuan (about US$100) was not enough money to buy a pair of socks, which sparked discussion on celebrities flaunting their wealth amidst rising joblessness, surging prices and other economic challenges in China. A few netizens viewed it as a calculated move designed to depict her wealth while others argued that her statement was merely representative of the luxury associated with the everyday life of celebrities. One Weibo user went on to share a series of photographs which showcased the outrageous prices of handbags, watches and hats worn by different celebrities, writing in the accompanying post, “Zhang Yuqi does not need to apologise, 699 yuan is truly not enough for celebrities to buy a pair of socks". Many users highlighted how celebrities have attained income levels that are unimaginable for ordinary citizens of China, signifying that the considerable income gap is the primary driving force behind the online discussions.

INDIA WATCH

The Chinese premier’s visit to Germany signifies the country’s wish to increase collaboration and partnership with Germany. While several areas of collaboration were highlighted by the premier at his arrival, technology stands out, with China viewing Germany as the most important source for the modernisation of its manufacturing industry. Chinese commerce minister, Wang Wentao, had also articulated recently how in the field of EVs and new-energy vehicles, China and Germany have strong complementarity and room for cooperation. China’s focus on shifting towards electric vehicles has allowed it to create a number of global champions in the space, particularly companies like BYD, which is an end-to-end electric vehicle company. However, the country hopes to reach new heights and even enjoy monopoly in this sector with its potential collaboration with Germany. This comes at a time when India is looking to expand its production and usage of electric vehicles. India currently imports a significant portion of components for every electric vehicle from abroad, particularly China. It also has negligible foreign investment in the EV sector due to high taxes and low domestic demand. Domestically, India has instituted several policies to aid manufacture of electric vehicles including the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles Scheme, adopted in 2015 which provides financial incentives to promote the adoption and manufacturing of EVs in India, the Phased Manufacturing Programme which incentivises domestic production of key components like lithium-ion batteries, electric motors by placing restrictions on imports, as well as identified several electric vehicle manufacturing clusters. It has also established partnerships with countries like Japan. However, for India, technology and expertise in the manufacture of components like lithium-ion batteries still remain a challenge. India needs to leverage partnerships to utilise their expertise on battery manufacturing as well as in becoming part of profitable EV value chains. This requires India to invest in skill development, vocational training, updated infrastructure, provide better incentives as well as a consistent policy regime.

Prepared By

Maria Sony

Maria Sony is currently pursuing my master's in International Studies from Symbiosis International University. She completed her bachelor's in History honours from St. Stephen's College, New Delhi. She has a keen interest in Asian area studies and soft power projections. She also loves learning new languages and she is currently completing a course in Mandarin.