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NEWS IN CHINA

• President Xi Jinping Calls for Stronger BRICS Cooperation in New Delhi: President Xi Jinping attended the second phase of the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on September 13 and called for stronger cooperation among BRICS members and the wider Global South. Xi stated that the collective rise of the Global South is contributing to a more multipolar world, while international challenges remain complex. He urged BRICS countries to support international law, multilateralism, the United Nations, sustainable development, global security, climate governance, and international cooperation on artificial intelligence. Xi also outlined five initiatives to deepen practical BRICS cooperation. These include creating a BRICS AI open-source zone, facilitating trade and investment, developing a digital industry cloud platform, advancing smart manufacturing, and establishing an engineer training alliance alongside youth science and technology exchanges. He stressed the importance of maintaining stable industrial and supply chains, developing emerging industries, and strengthening innovation. Xi noted that China’s 15th Five-Year Plan would provide cooperation opportunities for other countries through continued high-quality development and greater opening-up. The meeting was chaired by PM Modi and attended by leaders and representatives from BRICS members, partner countries and international organisations.
  
  
• China and Russia Seek Deeper SME Cooperation: Li Hongzhong, vice chairman of China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee, attended the opening of the 7th China-Russia Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Forum in Moscow and visited Russia’s Irkutsk region from Wednesday to Saturday. During his visit, Li held talks with senior Russian lawmakers and representatives of the China-Russia Committee for Friendship, Peace and Development. He stated that China is willing to implement the consensus reached by President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin and further strengthen bilateral relations. Li highlighted the opportunities created by China’s 15th Five-Year Plan for Russian and other foreign businesses. He noted that China’s continued high-quality development would provide new opportunities for SMEs to expand their operations in the Chinese market. He also called for closer parliamentary exchanges and greater experience-sharing between the two countries. The Russian side noted that under Presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, Russia-China relations have reached an unprecedented level, marked by active political, economic, and people-to-people exchanges. It expressed readiness to work with China to strengthen inter-parliamentary ties, expand practical cooperation, and further advance mutually beneficial collaboration across various sectors.
  
  
• China Revises Rules for Public Institution Leaders: The Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, along with relevant central departments, has revised and issued five measures governing leaders of public institutions in areas including ideological and cultural affairs, higher education, primary and secondary education, scientific research, and public healthcare. The revision updates the leadership management framework established after the CPC Central Committee issued interim provisions in 2015 and five supporting measures in 2017. It follows the 2022 revision of the broader regulations governing public institution leaders and aims to align sector-specific rules with newer Party policies and institutional reforms. The revised measures strengthen the requirement for Party leadership in public institutions and place greater emphasis on political standards in selecting and appointing leaders. Political assessments and supervision will receive greater attention. The measures also set clearer expectations for professional qualifications and relevant work experience based on sector and position. They further promote performance assessments focused on long-term results and practical achievements, while encouraging positive incentives and greater support for institutional leaders. At the same time, the rules strengthen supervision and clarify conditions related to promotion and demotion.
  
  
• MIIT Sets 2030 Targets for Smart NEVs: The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), together with nine other departments, has issued a plan for the development of intelligent connected new energy vehicles during the 15th Five-Year Plan period. It sets a target for new energy vehicles to account for 70 percent of new passenger vehicle sales and 40 percent of commercial vehicle sales by 2030. The plan calls for advances in key technologies, including average fuel consumption of about 3.3 liters per 100 kilometers for passenger vehicles and electricity consumption of 11.5 kWh per 100 kilometers for pure electric passenger vehicles. It also targets highly automated driving on highways, urban expressways and selected urban roads. The plan seeks to raise overall industry labor productivity by 15 percent from 2025 levels and strengthen the international presence of Chinese automotive brands. It also aims to improve industry governance through tighter rules on autonomous driving, software upgrades and connected terminals. Authorities will further address disorderly competition, improve automotive standards, strengthen quality and safety oversight, and support the restructuring and withdrawal of outdated production capacity. The measures aim to promote competition based on technology, quality and services.
  
  
• China Launches AI Systems for Mineral Exploration: China has launched two AI-powered systems designed to improve geological surveying and mineral exploration. Developed by the China Geological Survey under the Ministry of Natural Resources, AI-GeoMapping and AI-OreSeeking made their global debut at the 28th China Mining Conference and Exhibition in Tianjin. AI-GeoMapping combines big data and AI to integrate geological information collected from space, air and ground sources. It can identify geological bodies with more than 90 percent accuracy and improve data processing, analysis and map compilation efficiency by over 50 percent. The system has been tested across nearly 100 map sheets in several Chinese regions and used in Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Laos. AI-OreSeeking automates mineral prospecting by combining geological data, expert knowledge and more than 200 analytical algorithms. It can identify prospective areas, generate geological models and produce assessment reports. Tests showed that tasks previously requiring six months could be completed within a week. In western Qinling, the system processed 32 map sheets in five days and identified two gold exploration targets and four favorable areas. The systems have been tested in more than 100 projects across over 10 Chinese provincial-level regions.
  
  

SOCIAL MEDIA CHATTER

Weibo Users Debate Persistence of “First Degree” Discrimination in Recruitment: A post by Beijing Daily discussing the case of a master’s graduate whose job offer was withdrawn because their first degree was a junior college diploma is going viral on Weibo over the continued use of “first degree” as a recruitment criterion. The post noted that the candidate had passed five rounds of interviews before being rejected, despite the requirement not being disclosed during the recruitment process. Many users criticised the company for failing to state the requirement upfront, with some arguing that the main issue was not whether companies could consider first degrees, but that candidates should be informed before going through multiple rounds of interviews. One user stated that “companies could value first degrees but should write it clearly in the recruitment announcement,” while another argued that “employers should not deny the subsequent effort of candidates who progressed from junior college to higher degrees.” Several users “defended the use of first-degree qualifications, arguing that undergraduate entrance examinations provide a more reliable measure of academic ability than postgraduate selection and that differences in educational backgrounds remain relevant in recruitment.” Others attributed the practice to the growing number of university graduates, which gives employers a wider pool of candidates to choose from. Some users also questioned whether the controversy was primarily a recruitment-process failure, arguing that “the candidate should have been screened out earlier rather than after five interviews.”

INDIA WATCH

Xinhua Discusses PM Modi’s Bilateral Meeting with Xi Jinping on the Sidelines of BRICS: An article in Xinhua discussed President Xi Jinping’s meeting with PM Modi in New Delhi on September 12, where the two leaders exchanged views and reached consensus on building a partnership between both countries. The article highlighted Xi’s assessment that bilateral relations had moved from a “restart” toward further improvement over the past two years. It pointed to the resumption of institutional exchanges, expansion of cooperation and record bilateral trade as developments that should be preserved. Xi presented China and India as partners rather than rivals and argued that their different national conditions could allow them to learn from and support each other. The article outlined four areas proposed by Xi including maintaining an objective strategic understanding, expanding mutually beneficial cooperation, managing political differences through mutual respect, and strengthening multilateral cooperation. He specifically called for greater people-to-people exchanges, expanded direct flights, balanced handling of economic and trade concerns, and maintaining peace along the border. The article also noted that Modi similarly described India-China ties as strategically important and said India viewed China as a partner rather than an adversary. He supported stronger high-level exchanges, economic cooperation and people-to-people ties, while reaffirming the importance of border peace. Both sides also backed closer BRICS cooperation and coordination among Global South countries.

Prepared By

Neha Maurya

Neha Maurya is a Project Assistant at Organisation for Research on China and Asia (ORCA). A recent graduate of FLAME University with a major in International Studies and a minor in Public Policy, her research interests include strategic studies, governance, and education policy. She is interested in contributing to research that informs effective policy design and implementation.