CiCM 29th- 30th June 2024

NEWS IN CHINA

China Sets Regulations for Rare-Earth Management: The State Council of China has issued a new set of regulations on rare-earth management, which are set to be effective on October 1^st,2024. The regulations apply to mining, metal smelting, product circulation and the import and export of rare-earth materials to promote the development of the industry and maintain resource, ecological and industrial security. Rare earth elements are essential to modern technological production as they are widely used in electronic products. China is the world’s largest producer of the same, with approximately 38% of global rare earth reserves being found in China. The tightening of the regulations surrounding their production indicates greater government oversight of the which is currently under high demand. The regulations stipulate that the resources belong to the state, and lays out punitory actions for companies and individuals that breach regulations in the production processes as well as import and export.
CPC Announces Growth in Membership and Improvement in Party Composition: The Organization Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) released a statistical report ahead of the party's 103rd founding anniversary, revealing that the party's membership had grown to 99.185 million by the end of 2023. This represents an increase of over 1.14 million new members compared to the previous year. Additionally, the CPC reportedly has over 5.18 million primary-level organisations, including 298,000 party committees and 325,000 general Party branches. The composition of the party was stated to have seen positive changes, as the report indicates an increased female presence of about 30%, as well as an increase in ethnic minority representation of 7.7%. The report additionally showed that more than half of the members hold a junior college education or above, and a majority of the members are workers and farmers. The CPC’s various branches held over 1.36 educational study sessions over the course of the year, focusing on studying and implementing Xi Jinping’s Socialism with Chinese Characteristics. Through this, the report claims that the management and team of leading officials has improved over the years. The rural revitalization drive was showcased to be a strong success given the increased educational standard of the party and the assignment of “first secretaries” to various village committees.
Chinese Ministry of State Security Warns Against Inadvertent Espionage: China’s Ministry of State Security has released a warning regarding the real-time monitoring of China through satellite technology. According to the Ministry, espionage activities against China have shifted in medium through military reconnaissance, monitoring ocean information and satellite remote sensing. The ministry has pointed out the actions of citizens on the internet have led to the creation of a “roadmap” for spy satellites to accurately collect sensitive information over a large geographical area. The actions include the use of mapping technology which requires netizens to “co-create” maps with marked geographical areas, which due to a lack of awareness for Chinese national security laws, include images of military areas and other sensitive material. The ministry used the warning to point out that the installation of spy devices is often executed through the recruitment of Chinese citizens through online connections and set out several regulations for the population to follow to avoid inadvertent security issues.
Chinese Economy Faces Constraints During Recovery: The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that China’s purchasing manager’ index (PMI) has remained stable between May and June at 49.5%. The production index of corporate production was down by 0.2% at 50.6% and the production indexes of other industries remained above 55.0%. The data shows that the production and operation of Chinese enterprises has continued to expand, and the development of new productive forces appears to have picked up momentum, maintaining an expansionary trend in the Chinese economy according to NBS statistician Zhao Qinghe. The data has additionally been interpreted to point to constraints in the economy as well as room for the implementation of fiscal and monetary policy changes. Chief economist of China Minsheng Bank, Wen Bin stated that a major drawback in the process of economic recovery is the lack of effective demand, and that key authorities should be expected to make changes to stabilize foreign investment, cut interest rates and improving policy implementation in the third-quarter of the year. The economy appears to be recovering as predicted, as the data indicates growth of approximately 5.3% in the second quarter of the year.
China Issues Notice to Improve New Energy Sector: The National Energy Administration issued a notice on improving key areas to promote efficient consumption and large-scale development to achieve China’s goals of developing a new energy system and achieving carbon emission reduction. The notice calls for stakeholders to accelerate the construction of large-scale power grid projects such as wind, hydro and photovoltaic power through efficient planning and management. The administrative department permits power generation enterprises to invest into projects that power grid enterprises cannot execute, and the latter will be able to repurchase the project once completed. The second part of the notice targets the work of provincial authorities and agencies of the National Energy Administration to work together to evaluate the status of operations and implement necessary changes in the new energy framework. Du Zhongming, the director of the National Energy Administration’s Electricity Department, commented that the construction of the new energy power grid projects are necessary to improve the power system’s ability to utilise alternative sources of energy and to expand the scope of energy consumption. The notice calls for regions to individually determine new energy utilization rate targets, taking into consideration imbalances in resources, and regions with better access to resources are expected to reach a rate of at least 90%.

SOCIAL MEDIA CHATTER

Conflict at Coffee Chain Goes Viral on Chinese Social Media: A recent set of incident at Chinese budget coffee chain Manner Coffee has garnered millions of views on social media and triggered heated discussion on China’s service industry. On June 17th, a video surfaced online showing a staff member at a Manner location responding inappropriately to a customer's complaint. The customer had expressed dissatisfaction with the service and threatened to file a complaint, to which the staff member reacted by throwing coffee granules and making a dismissive comment. This incident, along with two others that have since come to light, has highlighted concerns about customer service not only at Manner, but also within China's service industry as a whole. These incidents underscore the need for improved staff training and customer service standards. A former staff member reported that baristas are expected to make 500 cups of coffee in an eight-hour shift and earn a monthly salary of just 5,000 yuan with the expectation of working overtime and giving up holidays to earn a higher wage. Additionally, the brand only allocates staff based on store performance, so the intense work is often expected to be completed by one or two servers, leading to low efficiency, customer dissatisfaction and excess pressure on the workers. Manner Coffee responded to the incidents by firing the involved workers and settling with the customers, however issues of inadequate staffing and overworking still remain.

INDIA WATCH

Chinese Media Reports on Indian Steel Industry: Shanghai-based new site Guancha released an article on the calls for raising steel tariffs on Chinese imports in India. China has remained the largest source for imported steel in India, and the Indian Steel Ministry recently requested an investigation into the increase in steel imports. Increased demand for steel and India’s current position as a net importer of the material have led to manufacturers increasing investment and production capacity, and the article points out India’s goal of tripling domestic steel production by 2047. The article points out that the call for increased tariffs, from 7.5% to 12.5% was rejected on the grounds for high domestic demand following the increase in India’s steel consumption. India’s goal of increasing domestic production to reduce imports has largely been unsuccessful, according to the article, following lower investments from domestic companies in the 2023-2024 fiscal year, which lead to decreased capacity expansion overall. Furthermore, steel companies have reportedly been unsuccessful in importing Chinese machinery and securing visas for Chinese experts. The article concludes with a note on the 18^th election of the Indian Lok Sabha and questions the future of China-India trade and relations; the common interests of the two, especially in the fields of economic and trade are expected to maintain the overall upward trend in demand and import.

Prepared By

Aditi Dash

Aditi Dash is an undergraduate student of Literary and Cultural Studies at FLAME University. Her interests span the academic study of literature and art history, as well as anthropological concepts of culture and social behaviour.