CiCM 27th June 2023

NEWS IN CHINA

The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) 14th Annual Meeting of the New Champions, also known as Summer Davos Forum, held its opening ceremony in China’s Tianjin Municipality with the theme “Entrepreneurship: The Driving Force of the Global Economy.” This year’s forum will be held from 27th to 29th June and nearly 1,500 delegates from various sectors such as civil society, government, business and international organisations will be in attendance. The forum’s key objective is to strengthen innovation and entrepreneurship in Asia as well as across the globe. Chinese Premier Li Qiang delivered a speech at the opening ceremony highlighting the need for countries to strengthen dialogue after the pandemic and build solidarity and cooperation to tackle global challenges. While commenting on economic globalisation, he denounced the “de-risking strategy” to reduce dependence and stressed on the need for global peace and stability.
In the ongoing session of the Standing Committee of National People’s Congress, the draft of a patriotic education law was submitted on Monday to highlight the measures on how to carry forward the patriotic education for government officials as well as children and teenagers of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan to help enhance their sense of identity. The draft states that schools and families should make efforts to provide their children with patriotic education. and the promotion of historical and cultural education to ensure their solidarity with Chinese culture. The 38 article-draft allows people to hold various forms of activities to promote patriotic education on National day which is October 1st. It also highlights how governments at and above county levels need to strengthen protection, management and utilisation of Red resources to encourage patriotic education and inspire people’s patriotic enthusiasm through tourism and culture departments with the help of cultural relics and heritage.

China’s first “zero altitude astronomical observation station” built by the China Construction Third Engineering Bureau Co. Ltd. held its handing over ceremony for the official demonstration application at China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The observatory is built near Muztagh Ata, the third highest peak of the West Kunlun Mountains at an altitude of 4,526 meters and is capable of supporting scientific research, office and residential functions. “Zero-altitiude building” is referred to as the use of technologies to adjust the human body and reduce the impact of altitude sickness. The observation station was built in response to the needs of Beijing Normal University.
Some new changes were made as China’s State Council, the main administrative authority of the PRC, appointed new officials on Monday and dismissed other officials. Meng Dong was removed from the post of deputy head of the National Radio and Television Administration. Zhao Change is also reportedly removed from this position as the Vice President of Xinhua News Agency. Wang Zhizhong was appointed as the Vice Minister of public security, Sun Xiuchun and Zhang Yu were given the position of deputy heads of the National Government Offices Administration. Li Wentang was also appointed as the vice President of the National Academy of Governance (NAG) and Lyu Yuyin was appointed as the deputy director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao Special Administrative Region.

President Xi Jinping met the newly elected members of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China at the Zhongnangai leadership compound in Beijing on Monday. The Central Committee consists of 170 members and 129 alternate members that were elected on 22nd June, 2023 at the closing session of the 19th CYLC National Congress. President Xi talked about the role of CYLC towards national rejuvenation and strengthening leadership. He expressed his high expectations from the newly elected leadership of the Central Committee and urged them to serve as a driving force for building a strong socialist nation and inspire the younger generation with a sense of responsibility and mission for a brighter future.

The World Internet Conference (WIC) Nishan Dialogues on Digital Civilization commenced on Monday in Qufu, Shandong Province, the birthplace of Chinese philosopher Confucius. This is the first thematic event organised by the WIC which is addressed by Zhuang Rongwen, director of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) on the theme of “The Age of AI: Building a Digital World of Exchanges, Mutual Learning and Inclusiveness.” Zhuang addressed the efforts to achieve AI development and explore strategies for AI governance while building a safe community for the future in cyberspace. Around 400 representatives joined in for the dialogue from various fields through online or offline mode.

SOCIAL MEDIA CHATTER IN CHINA

Chinese netizens frustrated over portrayal of current job market: The release of a new report on China’s economy by the National Bureau of Statistics indicating a stable employment growth raised frustrations among youth as 1 in every 5 young Chinese currently face the issue of unemployment. The definition of employment used in the report implies that nóngmíngōng (农民工), migrant workers may be considered employed if they have reallocated to cities in search of occasional labour jobs. Under the hashtag “Working for One Hour or More Per Week Is Considered Employment” (#一周工作1小时及以上属于就业#) netizens mocked the government’s manipulation of data to determine favourable numbers. The youth are not convinced about the 20.8 percent unemployment rate shown in the report and suggest that the reality is much worse. According to a recent survey held by China Youth Daily, 73.1 per cent of the surveyed students claimed that their classmates have chosen to postpone their graduation, out of which 37.8 percent of them have stated the reason being the inability to find stable jobs. The official Weibo account of China Business Network (CBN, @第一财经日报) launched the hashtag “The focus of employment for fresh university graduates continues to shift downwards” (#应届大学生就业重心继续下沉#), highlighting the trend of younger generations pursuing jobs in small-sized cities or rural areas and the limited job prospects present.

INDIA WATCH

The rising growth of China’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) sector indicates its mission to be a global power. China has been strengthening its control over the technological and information ecosystem to regulate and leverage their wishes on tech enterprises. The dialogues conducted by the World Internet Conference on Digital Civilization is a preview of how China wishes to develop a sustainable and innovation-driven path and jointly promote the strategies for AI governance. China has not only been exporting a large amount of AI technology but has also been supporting the technological sector with complementary policies and expos. The 14th Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People’s Republic of China highlights the promotion of AI in terms of security and infrastructure as well as the increase of the digital economy to 10 percent of total GDP of China. The AI Governance Committee in China also helps in incorporating ethical norms while developing AI. On the other hand, India released a draft of the National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence in 2020 to establish a strong foundation for the future development in the field of AI. Among all the Asia-Pacific countries, India ranked first in AI adoption in 2022. There are almost two-thousand start-ups such as Reverie that are working in various areas such as video analytics, fraud prevention and deep fakes detection etc. India can incorporate key features in its “AI for all” framework from China’s rapid success in the AI field and establish a balanced and collaborative environment for researchers and businesses.

Prepared By

Aanchal Budhwar

Aanchal Budhwar is currently pursuing her Masters degree in International Studies from Symbiosis School of International Studies in Pune with a specialisation in Asia Area Studies. She completed her Bachelors degree in English Honours from MCM DAV College, Chandigarh. She is an avid reader and is passionate about learning new languages. She is keen on learning about Asian culture and geopolitics and deciphering the strategic meaning behind the political, diplomatic, cultural, economic and social developments taking place in China and its impact beyond the borders.