CiCM 18th October 2023

NEWS IN CHINA

The 134^th edition of the China Canton Fair opened: The Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission and China Southern Power Grid jointly set up a programme for facilitating green certificate trading services among other benefits for local companies. The Canton Fair also witnessed a new 12 million kilowatt per hour green power cooperation agreement between China Foreign Trade Centre and China General Nuclear Power Energy. These developments come in lieu of active efforts in the Guangdong province to scale up green power generation, which has resulted in 3.343 million tons of reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. The Canton Fair also initiated a set of measures to push companies to use environmentally sustainable materials coupled with a robust recycling and reuse policy. Over the years, the Guangdong province has promoted the use of green energy and sustainable growth measures. The Guangdong Power Grid has also expanded operations to companies in Dongguan and Jiangmen.

Xi Jinping delivered keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 3rd "Belt and Road" Forum: On October 18th, Xi Jinping made a keynote speech titled, "Building an Open, Inclusive, Connected, and Common Development World” at the Great Hall of the People. He announced China's eight actions to support high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road" and emphasized the willingness to deepen the "Belt and Road" cooperative partnership with all parties and promote the joint construction into a new stage of development. The eight steps are as follows:
1. Building three-dimensional networks: Accelerating the development of China-Europe train routes, the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor and investing in creating more channels.
2. Support an open world economy: Create a “Silk Road E-Commerce” zone, negotiate free trade agreements and remove foreign investment restrictions in the manufacturing sector.
3. Practical Cooperation: Focusing on landmark and livelihood projects and a focus on providing financial support through Chinese banks and the Silk Road Fund to enhance project safety
4. Green Development: increasing cooperation in green infrastructure, energy and transportation and supporting the BRI Green Development International Alliance.
5. Scientific and technological innovation: Implementing a science and technology innovation action plan, supporting joint laboratories and global artificial intelligence.
6. People-to-people exchanges: Strengthening cultural dialogue, launching the Silk Road Tourism Cities Alliance and continuing the Silk Road Chinese Government Scholarship Program
7. Path of Integrity: Releasing achievements and principles of BRI integrity construction, establishing a compliance evaluation system and promoting research and training
8. Improving BRI international cooperation mechanism: This is to be done by strengthening multilateral cooperation platforms in various fields and hosting the BRI International Cooperation Summit Forum.

Xi Jinping met Russian President Putin: Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin reaffirmed their commitment to enhance bilateral relations. Xi Jinping pointed out that President Putin has attended the "Belt and Road" International Cooperation Summit Forum on all three occasions, which reflected Russia's support for the initiative. Putin was the guest of honour among 130 countries which highlights how important Russia is for China in international cooperation in building the “Belt and Road” initiative. Xi emphasized Russia’s constant support of “The Belt and Road Initiative” and on infrastructure projects like the China-Russia east route natural gas pipeline. He expressed the need to increase regional cooperation through the China-Mongolia-Russian natural gas pipeline project and cross-border tourism. Xi emphasized that the strength of the relationship lies in long-term vision and strategic cooperation. Xi expressed his support for Russia’s path to sovereignty, security and developmental interests. They also discussed commitment to ensuring food and energy security and stability within multilateral frameworks.

Chinese Ministry launched a level 4 emergency response against Typhoon: Chinese Ministry of Emergency Management has coordinated preparations against Typhoon “Sanba”. A level four emergency response for typhoon prevention was initiated and a working group was dispatched to assist local governments in flood prevention in Hainan and Guangxi. The affected regions including Hainan Island, central and western Guangdong and southeast Guangxi will experience moderate to heavy rains. Measures such as calling back ships to port, preventing flash floods and geological disasters, conducting personnel transfers, and enhancing public awareness have been taken.

Trade unions in Guizhou Province carried out campaigns to ensure payment of wages to migrant workers: Trade Union organisations in Guizhou province conducted a centralised legal publicity campaign to ensure payment of wages to migrant workers. During the campaign, a total of 126 legal publicity activities took place, involving 52,763 employees and the distribution of 128,711 materials. The campaign aimed to raise awareness amongst employees and migrant workers about legal provisions to protect workers’ rights and employer responsibility in paying wages. Trade unions organized intensive education, exchange meetings, display boards, and distribution of materials to disseminate information regarding laws, regulations, and policies related to migrant workers. The campaign aimed to create strong public opinion on issues of unpaid wages, promote social harmony and disseminate information regarding laws, regulations and policies related to migrant workers.

SOCIAL MEDIA CHATTER IN CHINA

Installation of mountain escalators sparks debate on social media: Tour operators have installed escalators on the Tianyu Mountain in Chunan county, in the eastern Zhejiang province. This has sparked a debate on Chinese social media, with several users praising the provisions and others calling the move as taking out the joy from mountain climbing and disrupting the natural beauty of the area. Critics have called this “no-pain mountain climbing”. The total hiking time has significantly been reduced due to the escalators. The trip used to take anywhere between 50 minutes to an hour and now it has been shortened to just 10 minutes. The last 3 kilometers of the journey after exiting the walkway must be done on foot. The escalators were installed the previous year, it is 350 meters long and cost 10 million yuan to build. The ticket to access the walkway costs 30 yuan. Some users have also praised the move and calling it beneficial for elderly people and children.

INDIA WATCH

The BRI project is in its 10^th year since its inception in 2013. The BRI project goes far beyond economic growth and investment. Over the years, India has raised several security concerns over growing Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean among other issues. Moreover, New Delhi has sought to move away from any association with the BRI as well. These efforts aim to create an alternative to the Western development assistance model is something India wants to achieve as a leader of the Global South bloc; however, its stance on the Belt and Road initiative has been clear throughout. For the third consecutive time, India has boycotted the summit, due to sovereignty concerns over the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor which is being laid through Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir and the suspicion of the transparency, adherence to international norms and financial sustainability of the projects especially since it has resulted in debt traps for smaller countries. India’s External Affairs Minister Jaishankar, while speaking at the 23rd Council of Ministers Meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim Association, cautioned to be clear of “hidden agendas” through these projects. To counter this, India launched the India-Middle East Europe Economic Corridor during the G-20 summit, comprising India, UAE, Saudi Arabia, E.U., France, Italy, Germany and the United States. The changing nature of BRI investments is also an element New Delhi must keep an eye out for as the nature is shifting from investment mega projects to smaller ones, meaning that China will be selective with its investment with more geopolitically and strategically important countries to achieve its strategic objectives.

Prepared By

Priyanka Raman

Priyanka Raman is a final-year student at Shiv Nadar University Noida, with a major in international relations and a minor in communications. Through her degree, she has had the opportunity to pursue multiple courses relating to Chinese politics and is deeply interested in politics of the Party media and knowledge dessimination. Her research interests surround topics of propaganda media and politics, gender and international relations and refugee politics.