CiCM 22nd June 2023

NEWS IN CHINA

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday ordered an all-out rescue operation, after an explosion at a barbeque restaurant in Yinchuan, Ningxia claimed 31 lives on Wednesday night. Xi emphasised workplace safety and called for campaigns prompting safety overhauls at the earliest date. A work group consisting of various central government organs has been dispatched to guide the rescue efforts. Following an investigation, nine people including the restaurant’s manager, shareholders, and staff have been detained by the public security department and have had their assets frozen. Residents located in the vicinity have been evacuated as shops and roads remained shut. The Yinchuan Municipal Administration organised groups from the Market Supervision Administration, the Comprehensive Law Bureau, and the Commerce Bureau, to conduct checks on the city’s gas producers and their key users.
· The First Plenary Session of the 19^th Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China (CYLC) was held to elect its new leaders of its Central Committee. A-Dong was elected as the First Secretary of the Secretariat, heading the six other secretaries of the Committee who will be a part of the Standing Committee, alongside others. A total of 299 members—170 members and 129 alternate members were elected by a total of 1480 attendees. The 4 day 19^th Congress of the CYLC which concluded on Thursday also passed a resolution on the report of the 18^th CYLC Central Committee and a resolution on the revision of the CYLC Constitution.
· The National Meteorological Observatory issued a yellow alert across the country as temperatures skyrocketed on Thursday. Temperatures in parts of provinces such as Tianjin, Beijing, and Hebei, were expected to reach between 35 to 37 degrees Celsius according to forecasts. A total of 17 national meteorological observatories located in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, and Shandong provinces, reported record high temperatures. Local weather stations in Beijing measured in at 40.1 and 41.8C. This marks the first time in recorded history that temperatures in China have exceeded 40C since May 29, 2014. The capital accordingly altered the alert to red for the next day, marking the first time this has happened since China adopted the new weather categorisation protocol in 2015. A red alert was also issued in Tianjin on Thursday, courtesy of the province’s local meteorological authority’s forecasts.
· Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) commemorated the overnight opening of its New York office on Wednesday, with its signature gong-striking ceremony. HKEX CEO Nicolas Aguzin and co-head of sales and marketing Kevin Rideout sounded the gong—a practice usually performed in Hong Kong’s Connect Hall to signal the launch of new listings and important products. Exchange data reveals that international investors are responsible for half of Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s cash market turnover. The new location in New York along with recently announced plans for London, signify data-driven decisions geared towards catering to Western investors on ground; HKEX’s offices were previously only located in Hong Kong, Beijing and Singapore. Aguzin stated that the inauguration of the HKEX (US) LLC will “connect the two most important financial centres of the world,” and “further connect international capital with exciting opportunities in Asia.”
· Beijing Bank Co. Ltd. released a statement regarding the fine of 43.8 million yuan imposed on it by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC). Beijing Bank announced that it accepts the punishment and resulting supervision. It further stated that the issues identified in CBIRC’s on-site inspection in 2021, were all majorly legacy issues from before 2020. The list of violations released by CBIRC included inaccurate classification of small and micro enterprises, violations in real estate-related business, and insufficient internal control management among others—all of which the bank has allegedly rectified as of date. 12 individuals associated with the institution have also been penalised Minsheng Bank’s Chongqing branch was also recently fined nearly 60 million yuan, for similar violations. These penalties come as the 20^th Central Audit Committee unanimously agreed to prioritise the audit rectification of the Chinese financial system.
· Chinese Premier Li Qiang travelled to France to begin the second leg of his Europe tour, after wrapping up engagements in Germany. After previously putting forth a three-point proposal at a dinner on Wednesday, Li and his French counterpart, Elisabeth Borne engaged in talks on Thursday. During the meeting Li stressed that China had always seen EU as an important actor in the multipolar world order, and cooperation between the two should not be subject to third parties—an allusion to tensions with the US. Borne responded that EU adheres to strategic autonomy and does not support decoupling. Post-talks multiple bilateral agreements were signed in the areas of aviation, space research, and nuclear energy. Li later attended the New Global Financing Pact Summit that France is hosting this year; China as the world’s largest bilateral creditor has been calling for institutions such as the IMF and World Bank to absorb losses, to much opposition. The Summit however managed to see the successful conclusion of a deal between China and other creditors to restructure Zambia’s debt, setting a precedent for other potential negotiations.

SOCIAL MEDIA CHATTER IN CHINA

Netizens discuss La Chapelle’s bankruptcy: La Chapelle which started in 1998 and was, formerly, the face of domestic fast-fashion and hailed as the Chinese Zara, filed for formal bankruptcy recently. At its peak, La Chapelle had 10000 physical stores and was touted as the fastest growing women’s clothing brand. The brand continued to retain some portion of its social influence but has increasingly faced losses beginning 2016. Discussions on Weibo reveal that La Chapelle’s direct-sales model has been unable to generate profits like the more competitive e-commerce model—which is cheaper and has considerably reduced offline consumer traffic. Netizens also shared their personal experiences with the clothing brand under the tag #拉夏贝尔正式破产清算#, reminiscing their purchases from their student days. Some of them however also listed the gradual downgrade in the material quality and design of La Chapelle’s products, as the reason for their eventual dissatisfaction with the brand.

INDIA WATCH

Amidst the flurry of China-France interactions this year—Immanuel Macron’s Beijing visit in April and Li’s current EU tour - lies France’s intensifying bilateral engagements with India. Fast approaching is the 25^th anniversary of the India-France Strategic Partnership, which marks a renewed emphasis on cooperation in defense, civil nuclear energy, space and security sectors. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to France next month, to attend the Bastille Day Parade as the guest of honour while an Indian armed forces contingent participates in the event. France is actively engaging with India and China, to secure its interests. Interestingly, both engagements share the narrative of ‘strategic autonomy.’ Earlier this year France expressed an interest in a partnership to build India’s defence industries. Ambassador Emmanuel Lenain’s stated that, “The best way to assert our strategic autonomy is by cooperating together.” It will thus be in India’s interest to gauge on which issues France’s strategic autonomy will be beneficial, as the latter treads between India and China. But there is of course the overarching structure of the EU to consider; the EU delegation in Delhi is reportedly much smaller than the delegation in Beijing. India may have to consider if this implies anything about the nature of its participation in European geopolitics.

Prepared By

Tamiliniyaa Rangarajan

Tamiliniyaa Rangarajan is a fourth-year undergraduate student of International Relations and Governance Studies, at Shiv Nadar University. Her research interests are geared towards understanding the implications of political economy, and culture and soft power- applying these to the Chinese context. In her spare time, she likes to experiment with photography and pick up foreign languages.