CiCM 7th November 2024

NEWS IN CHINA

Xiong’an Gears Up as an Aerospace Innovation Hub: Xiong'an New Area in Hebei province has marked the establishment of the China Aerospace Information and Satellite Network Innovation Alliance. Founded on Wednesday, the alliance aims to foster the development of aerospace information and satellite internet, enhancing Xiong'an as an emerging hub for technology and entrepreneurship. This alliance, endorsed by central authorities, brings together major state-owned telecom operators — China Telecom, China Unicom and China Mobile; central enterprises like the China Satellite Network Group, along with universities and research institutions. The China Satellite Network Group, a central player in satellite internet, recently set up its headquarters in Xiong'an's internet industrial park, immediately followed by over 50 aerospace information companies. Xiong'an, created in 2017 to support the coordinated growth of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, is thus positioned as a national center for aerospace innovation. The alliance will expand applications for aerospace information, particularly in areas such as smart transportation, urban management and emergency response. Hebei aims to build supporting infrastructure, including 5G and 6G systems, as well as data centers. This initiative will also attract more enterprises, supporting the region's ambition to be a global innovation leader in aerospace information and satellite networks.

Xinjiang Inaugurates a Freight Train Route Connecting Central Asia: A new international freight train route was launched on Wednesday, connecting Wusu in China’s Xinjiang with Almaty in Kazakhstan. This route, part of the China-Europe Railway Express, will facilitate trade between Xinjiang and Central Asia, supporting the export of local goods such as automobile parts, agricultural and industrial products. Wusu station, designated as an official departure point for the express in September, aims to enhance logistics efficiency, reduce costs and boost trade in the region. The route’s trains will pass through either Alataw Port or Horgos Port, both key border ports on the China-Kazakhstan border, and four trains are scheduled to depart this month. Meanwhile, in the first ten months of 2024, the China-Europe Railway Express recorded significant traffic through Alataw and Horgos ports, with 13,500 trains transporting a total of 23.76 million tonnes of cargo, reflecting a year-on-year increase of 13.4 percent and 12.3 percent, respectively.

Alibaba Cloud Completes One of the Largest Data Migration for Xiaohongshu: Alibaba Group’s cloud platform, recently completed 500,000 terabytes of data migration of Xiaohongshu after continuous efforts for a year. Xiaohongshu is the largest lifestyle social media platform in China with more than 300 million user base. This has also been called the largest migration ever done which can boost Alibaba’s position in the domestic cloud industry. Alibaba cloud stated the migration of the 500-petabyte data which is a repository that stores, processes and secures large amounts of structured and unstructured data started last november. 1500 staff members from Xiaohongshu worked with teams at Alibaba to complete this task. The vast amount of data contains raw and critical data that Xiaohongshu has accumulated since it started operating 11 years ago. Alibaba is the largest cloud provider in China with 36 percent of the market in the second quarter and is the largest cloud provider in Asia-Pacific and third-largest in the world by revenue. This achievement marks to reduce the loss of image incurred by frequent outages in Alibaba’s cloud services in recent years.

China Aims to Strengthen Ties With Myanmar: Premier Li Qiang stated firmly that China supports Myanmar in advancing its political reconciliation and transition process while being willing to also steadily promote construction of the China-Myanmar economic corridor under the BRI framework. During a meeting with Myanmar’s leader Min Aung Hlaing in Kunming on the occasion of the Greater Mekong Subregion Summit, Li remarked that China and Myanmar are friendly neighbors with a deep bond of friendship. China has always placed immense importance on developing relations with Myanmar as a part of its neighborhood policy and will continue to support Myanmar in adopting a development path that suits its national conditions. Li further stated that China will work with Myanmar to consolidate and enhance political mutual trust, increase strategic cooperation and promote construction of the China-Myanmar community with a shared future so that the people of the two countries can reap more benefits. Li expressed the need for both countries to jointly combat cross-border crimes such as online gambling and telecommunication frauds to safeguard interests of the people while also hoping that Myanmar takes effective measures to ensure safety of Chinese nationals, institutions and projects.

China Unveils Strategy to Expand Ice and Snow Economy: China launched a plan to expand its ice and snow economy by supporting winter sports, tourism and equipment manufacturing as key drivers of growth. The plan aims to utilise investment of 1.5 trillion yuan by 2030. The plan builds on China’s 2015 pledge to engage with 300 million people in winter sports and was reached before the 2022 winter olympics. The new strategy prioritizes the development of national youth teams for important winter sports and emphasizes on youth programs. China plans to boost international engagement promoting outbound training and include winter sports in school physical education. Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Beijing and Heilongjiang are expected to witness more training facilities, development of elite winter sports hubs and hosting of international events. Moreover, three to five globally recognised locations will be developed for winter tourism. During the last winter season, the ice and snow tourists across the country increased by 38 percent and revenues increased by 50 percent. The plan will further focus on developing integration across winter sports, tourism, equipment manufacturing and cultural promotion. The government also aims to cultivate leading companies and globally recognized winter sports brands while supporting smaller enterprises to offer specialized services.

SOCIAL MEDIA CHATTER IN CHINA

China and Solomon Islands Relaxes Visa Requirement to Boost Cultural and Social Exchanges: According to the Chinese embassy, Chinese ambassador to the Solomon Islands, Cai Weiming and Solomon islands Foreign minister Agwaka signed the agreement on the mutual exemption of visas for citizens holding ordinary passports. Cai further stated that this move will significantly facilitate people to visit each other’s country and contribute to the cooperation between the two countries in various fields.The director of the Australian Studies Center of East China Normal University, Chen Hong stated that solomon islands possesses tourism resources including agriculture which makes it attractive to Chinese tourists. While the visa exemptions between the two countries further facilitate the exchange of people engaged in trade which enable Chinese consumers to access the Solomon islands’ high quality products and services, the netizens on Weibo have mixed reactions, with some not knowing about the geographical location of the island and others congratulating the move backed up with questions about the mode of transport to the islands. Comments like, “where is it, which province”, “where” and “is there a direct flight or which country is the most convenient to transfer from” brings out the above discussed nuances. This dilemma of the netizens regarding the geographical position of the country sheds light on how little information Chinese citizens have about the Solomon islands and the surrounding region.

INDIA WATCH

Chinese Media Discusses Hurdles For India’s 2036 Olympics Bid: The president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) P. T. Usha announced that IOA has submitted an official letter of intent to the International Olympic committee for hosting the 2036 Olympics in India. The Global Times report notes that this move signals India’s ambitions to join the ranks of countries to host the world’s largest multi-sport event. The report highlights India’s past experiences of hosting multi-country events ranging from the 2010 commonwealth games, the 1951 and 1982 Asian games to even single-sport events like Cricket World Cup and the Hockey World Cup in 2023. Meanwhile, the report points out concerns regarding India’s infrastructure, public health facilities and general preparedness for such a huge event. On the other hand, it also argues that hosting the Olympics in 2036 would boost infrastructure development in India and benefit the local population. As per the article, although India currently lacks sports facilities that can match global standards, Olympics hosting can attract more investments in Indian sports that will benefit athletes. Further, India’s notable achievements in cricket and shooting creates optimism for the entire population as well as for other emerging sports in India. The article argues that India has a long way to go to achieve success at the Olympics at par with China due to lack of investments, yet the bid process is likely to act as a catalyst for upgradation in sports facilities.

Prepared By

Aditi Khamkar

Aditi Khamkar is a third-year undergraduate student at FLAME University majoring in International Studies and minoring in Public Policy. Having completed an internship at International SOS, her interest in security has deepened, driving her to pursue a career as a security analyst. Passionate about making meaningful contributions, she aspires to write impactful analyses that address global security challenges.