19th November 2024

NEWS IN CHINA

China's Premier Calls for Shift From 'quantity' to 'quality' in Housing Development: Premier Li Qiang attended a construction technology exhibition in Beijing and stated that housing construction and renovations should consider diverse needs of different demographics like those with different living habits, age ranges and economic capabilities. China’s push to build high-quality smart homes stems from the need to better cater to the housing needs of residents. China has been accelerating the renovation of aging housing units to be on par with the urbanization drive to release potentially trillions of yuan in investment and consumption. To alleviate the effects of the property crisis and weak consumption confidence, authorities have recently reduced mortgage rates, eased requirements to buy houses, revealed plans to absorb housing inventories alongside economic measures addressing debt woes. Li also stated that technological innovations should be leveraged to ensure high quality new housing and transform older properties into modern homes.
Jiangxi Introduces Measures to Enhance Market Environment: Jiangxi has issued the “Several Measures on Adhering to the Equal Emphasis on Service and Supervision and Making Every Effort to Promote high-quality Economic Development”. The proposed 22 initiatives for the benefit of enterprises provide assistance to optimize the market environment and promote high-quality economic development. The key measures include optimization of administrative licensing by improving processes like enterprise information changes, cancellations of registrations, and the upgradation of ‘one-license all-in-one’ platform. Additionally, the medical device and cosmetics production license approval period has been reduced to 20 days instead of 30 days. Similarly, drug registration sample inspection times have also been reduced to 40 days from the initial 60 days period. A ‘green channel’ has been promoted to expedite approvals for critical and urgently needed drugs. Alongside these measures, the regulations propose a 20% reduction in calibration costs for food enterprises and 5% for vehicle inspections, with fee waivers for struggling businesses by the end of this year. In order to stabilize markets around key holidays, there will be increased support for agricultural and specialty product sellers through online allocation, advertising and inspection of prices.
China and Pakistan Plan First Joint Counterterrorism Exercise in Five Years: Following the death of two Chinese nationals in a deadly attack in Karachi, China is sending troops to Pakistan for a joint counterterrorism drill known as Warrior-8. China’s defense ministry stated that it will take place between late November and mid-December. The Peoples Liberation Army’s Western Theatre command troops will take part in this exercise and focus on “joint counterterrorism clearance operations” and improving practical cooperation. Both the countries will conduct multilevel, multi-speciality integrated training, simulating real combat scenarios through joint planning and live drills. This will be the eighth counterterrorism drill with the involvement of two countries since 2019. There have been a series of attacks on Chinese targets in Pakistan over the last few years, particularly on CPEC projects. The latest attack was a suicide bombing near Jinnah Intenational Airport in the southern city of Karachi in early October.
Xi Jinping Emphasises UK-China Cooperation: President Xi Jinping at the 19th G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil stated while meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, that Beijing and London should realize mutual benefits and win-win results. Xi stated that both the countries should keep defining each other as strategic partners. There was also emphasis that both countries share a vast range of common interests despite differences in social systems, cultures and values, and should ensure that China-UK relations advance in practical and far-reaching manners. Xi stated that both countries should consider each others development in an objective and rational manner, strengthen strategic communication, and enhance public mutual trust. Further he called for expansion in areas of cooperation particularly in trade, investment, clean energy, financial services, medical care and people’s livelihoods.
NFRA to Deepen Mainland-Hong Kong Connections in Financial Sector: Li Yunze, the head of China's National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA) stated that Beijing is set to increase the openness of its financial sector, at the Global Financial Leader’s Investment Summit held in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). The NFRA has proposed specific initiatives to enhance the openness of the mainland’s financial sector to Hong Kong and Macao. It also plans to encourage Chinese Mainland banks and insurance institutions to set up headquarters in Hong Kong, build an international risk center in Hong Kong, deepen cooperation between the mainland and Hong Kong in pension finance and lastly, improve communication mechanisms for financial supervision between the mainland and Hong Kong to jointly address risk challenges. The NFRA has also stated that it will promote in-depth cooperation in banking and insurance on emerging issues like green and low carbon development and Artificial intelligence.

SOCIAL MEDIA NEWS

Social Media Reacts to Burning of Protected Plants on Daguniu Mountain in Kunming: Social media users recently reported that tourists climbed Daguniu mountain in Dongchuan, Kunming at night and set fire to the mountain. This has attracted attention, leading the local government to issue a statement declaring an investigation into the issue. Netizens claim that the burned vegetation includes alpine rhododendron which is a national second-class protected plant. Relevant authorities in Dongchuan district have confirmed the presence of numerous varieties of rhododendrons on Daguniu mountain but botanists have been unable to determine all the varieties of rhododendrons seen in the pictures. Legal experts have declared that if the national second-class protected plant was destroyed, the person responsible may be subjected to criminal and administrative penalties. Netizens on Weibo were furious and infuriated by the act and most were seen debating how the act of setting fire to the mountain should be criminalized regardless of the protection of the plant. Some netizens demanded that authorities hurry up and arrest the people involved in this deed, asking for severe punishment.

INDIA WATCH

Global Times Reports on Wang Yi-Jaishankar Meeting at G-20: Global Times reported on the meeting between Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi and Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rio, Brazil. The article states that Wang Yi called on both countries to make progress in resuming direct flights, exchanging journalists and facilitating visa issuance process. Wang stated that there is a need for more positive signals through actions for fostering trust and reducing suspicion, as well as expansion of cooperation and minimisation of unnecessary frictions. The article also states that China’s foreign minister pointed out how China and India share many common interests rather than differences, with development as an opportunity to work together and reap mutual benefits, thus contributing to the process of global multipolarity. On the other hand, the article also states that India’s Foreign Minister, S. Jaishankar expressed hope of witnessing dialogue mechanisms soon and sustained positive momentum in improving bilateral relations through increased communication.

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.