CiCM 16th October 2024

NEWS IN CHINA

Xi Jinping Visits Fujian Province and Speaks on Rural Revitalization: President Xi Jinping visited the Dongshan County in Zhangzhou City located in the east of the Fujian Province of China. The purpose of this visit was to conduct investigations and inspect the rural areas, red education bases, free trade pilot zones and cultural relics protection units. He spoke about the local efforts to advance rural revitalization, and implement revolutionary tradition in order to preserve cultural heritage. He emphasized on the need to help bring about a vibrant mechanism to Fujian, with prosperous industries and people, as well as a beautiful ecology. He further stated that they must draw a blueprint to the end, and continue to increase progress in the creation of a modern economic system as well as take greater steps leading to a new path of integrated development throughout the Taiwan Strait.
Chen Jining Speaks on Green and Low Carbon Development: The Party Secretary of Shanghai, Chen Jining, attended the opening ceremony of the 2024 Global Leaders Conference on Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance and delivered a speech. In his speech, he stated that Shanghai would fully implement Xi Jinping’s thoughts on econologic civilisation, accelerate the establishment of a low carbon and green development mechanism, promote industry self-discipline as well as improve corporate governance. He further noted that China is an important practitioner of global sustainable development and will focus on promoting the green transformation of industries and enterprises.
Chinese Coast Guard Expels Japanese Vessel near Diaoyu Islands: Liu Dejun, spokesperson for the Chinese Coast Guard, announced that they had expelled Japanese vessels which illegally entered China’s territorial waters near the Diaoyu Islands. This occurred from October 15th to 16th, where the Japanese fishing boat, Tsurumaru, entered China’s sovereign waters. He reaffirmed that the Diaoyu Islands and its surrounding territory belong to China and that necessary action was taken in accordance with the law to drive away the Japanese ships. He also urged Japan to cease their illegal activities in the waters. He further reiterated the Coast Guard’s commitment to carrying out maritime rights protection and protection of national sovereignty and interests.
Water Tax Reforms Made Nationwide: China’s Finance Ministry announced on Tuesday that it would expand the Water Tax Interim Measures from 10 provinces to the whole country. This will be effective from 1st December, in an effort to provide more revenue to local authorities who are ridden with debt. This measure will also help safeguard water resources, ease the supply-demand imbalance, lower the over-exploitation of groundwater as well as refine the tax system. However, this move is considered to be mostly symbolic as estimates project that it would not lead to sufficient funding to cover the debt for local governments.
Chinese Representative Speaks on the Effectiveness of the United Nations: The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) held an emergency public meeting on the 16th of October to deliberate on the situation in the Gaza Strip. Fu Cong, the Chinese Permanent Representative to the UN said that despite the fact that the UNSC has passed multiple resolutions on the crisis, calling for a ceasefire, none of them have been implemented. This has negatively impacted the credibility of the entire UN body. He spoke about the need to revive the effectiveness of UNSC resolutions. He further stated that international humanitarian law must be maintained in the region, and it is unacceptable to allow for the tragedy in the Gaza Strip to continue to occur. It is not enough, he said, for the UNSC to express sympathy, state its position, and have intensive deliberations.

SOCIAL MEDIA CHATTER

Social Media Debates over Chinese Stimulus Measures for the Economy: Divisive debates have arisen on Chinese social media platforms following the stimulus measures announced by Beijing last month, where netizens are discussing the immediate impact on economic prospects as well as how it would affect investment decisions. The volatility of the Chinese stock market this month has allowed day traders to take advantage of rapid rises in stock prices and thus indulge in profit-taking. Dan Bin, president of FEOSO Harbour Investment Management and investment influencer, wrote in a Weibo post criticizing the people who encouraged retail investors to dive into a “bull market,” saying that they should come out and apologize. In another post widely seen as a response to Dan’s comments, economist Ren Zeping stated the need to stand with the motherland in critical times, and rather say something constructive and optimistic. Ren supported Beijing’s policy measures by saying that they would help revive the economy. These posts were widely seen, but subsequently users were not able to follow Ren or Dan’s accounts on Weibo and their original posts have been deleted. Other prominent influencers of the financial market have taken to social media to discuss the need for an explanation about the internal logic of these stimulus measures which would help increase investor confidence. There were also discussions on whether government departments should have better communication with the market elements.

INDIA WATCH

Chinese Op-ed on the India-China Skill divide: Chinese news site, Guancha, published a piece that highlighted the ‘huge skills gap’ between Chinese and Indian factory management and labour workers. According to the article, this skills deficit was the biggest obstacle India faced, even as it was steadily catching up to China in terms of industrial growth. The author noted that Indian companies across various industries had purchased production equipment from China but often struggled to use these machines effectively without the help of Chinese technicians. The Chairman of the Engineering Export Promotion Council had reportedly also urged the Indian government to issue more visas for Chinese technicians and skilled workers to address this problem. The article further stated that the type of technology India lacked at the time was precisely what China aimed to become a global leader in manufacturing. The piece concluded that without significant reforms to its domestic education system and assistance from foreign technical experts, India was unlikely to achieve the economic prosperity it sought. The competitiveness and expertise of Chinese workers, it argued, made them valuable contributors to India's economic development and the betterment of Sino-Indian relations.

Prepared By

Veda Jain

Veda Jain is currently a third-year student at Flame University, majoring in International Studies and minoring in Literary and Cultural Studies. She has a strong interest in modern Chinese politics and is keen on analyzing the dynamics of Indo-China relations.