CiCM 21st May 2024

NEWS IN CHINA

Top Leaders' Official Visits to China Strengthen Diplomatic Relations: China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson announced official visits to China by high-ranking officials from Malaysia, Cambodia, and Brazil. Malaysia’s Deputy PM and Minister of Rural and Regional Development will remain in China from May 22^nd to June 1^st. The Minister of Rural and Regional Development, Dato' Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid bin Hamidi was specially invited by Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang. Officials visiting from Cambodia include the Deputy PM and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation who will be visiting from May 23rd to May 25th. They were invited by Chinese Foreign Affairs Minister, Wang Yi. Lastly, Special Advisor to the President of Brazil will also be visiting China upon invitation from Foreign Minister Wang Yi from May 22nd to May 29th.
Gansu Province Emphasizes Promotion of Rural Property Rights: During a press conference held by the Information Office of the Gansu Province, there was special emphasis on rural land property rights transactions. The city of Lanzhou was the site of a pilot standardization of rural property rights. The Deputy Mayor of the city promoted the importance of this in optimising rural land right transfers across other counties, towns, cities, and villages. By May 2024, the city had successfully completed over 400 transactions worth 200 million yuan. The director of the local Agricultural and Rural Bureau outlined the categories of land rights and advocated the use of the property rights trading platform. The press release further revealed that the Lanzhou government will continue to provide financial assistance for the rights transfer while also streamlining processes related to payments, guarantees, and insurance, among others.
Shanghai Enforces Yangtze Traffic Control for Safe Shipping.: The Shanghai Maritime Bureau invoked Shanghai Aviation Police 467/24 to introduce traffic control on the Yangtze River’s mouth. This action corrects the announcement of Shanghai Aviation Police 465/24 on May 20^th. This is being done to facilitate the safe and smooth exporting of a ship. Arrangements have been made for lamp floats and light floats at the Changxing Island Pier and the deep-water canal in the Yangtze is being prepared. Traffic comprising import vessels in the deep-water canal is also under management. These measures are being premeditated for the ship’s scheduled movement on May 23^rd. These measures are crucial for the overall movement of ships in this region, one of the busiest transit routes for trade.
Air-Raid Shelter Turned Market opens: Yubei, Chongquing City, has opened a new market called the “Pack Basket Market”. Formerly an air-raid shelter, the space was converted to a farmers’ market to enable sale of their produce. This has been dubbed a creative way of revamping the space for efficient usage without erasing its historical importance. The space is shaded, thereby maintaining a cool venue for facilitating vendors’ and customers’ interactions. It resolves the problem of a lack of space for a market while maintaining the beauty of the cityscape. This shelter-turned-market will also serve as a guiding case for similar conversions of shelters across the province. The market is set to reopen on May 25^th.
Xinjiang Government Drives Tech-Innovations to Boost Manufacturing: To optimise the manufacturing industries, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region’s Government is encouraging the use of technology in production processes. In a press conference held by the State Council Information Office, CPC official Erkin Tuniyaz addressed this matter. He emphasised the importance of the role of industrialisation in the development of the region. In the future, there will be introduction of renewable energy resources such as solar and wind farms. This is intended to facilitate optimal extraction and processing of Xinjiang’s abundant natural resources – coal, copper, iron, gold, and so forth. These can contribute towards secondary sector resource manufacturing, such as silicon and aluminium-based materials. The government further encouraged the establishment of low-carbon factories and zero-carbon manufacturing plants. officials hope that these measures will uplift Xinjiang from its low socio-economic status of being a run-down, low-end region.

SOCIAL MEDIA CHATTER

Publishers Oppose JD.com Ahead of 618 Sale.: As China’s 618 sale approaches, several publishing houses have called for a boycott of the e-commerce platform, JD.com. The reasoning behind this boycott is primarily the e-commerce platform’s sales strategy for the shopping festival, which will be highly unprofitable amidst already tight profit margins. This boycott includes some of the biggest names in Chinese publishing who have taken to media and platforms like WeChat to issue statements. The publishing industry in China is already under significant pressure since most books sales occur through e-commerce platforms. These platforms do not resell the books but merely connect the publisher to the customer. Consequently, the book sales occurring at nearly 20%-30% of their retail price results in sales under cost, causing losses for publishers. Therefore, the boycott is a significant event because it represents strong dissent in the already struggling industry. The 618 sale is China’s second-largest shopping festival, the boycott of which could lead to significant losses for the publishers. Nevertheless, they are taking this step in the hope for a long-term change in the industry

INDIA WATCH

China Daily covers the Fifth Phase of Indian Elections: China Daily’s Hong Kong edition covered the conclusion of India’s fifth phase of elections. This round of the 2024 general elections is crucial for the incumbent party because it included some of their strongest voting bases. Some of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) top politicians were contesting from key constituencies. This includes current Defence Minister Rajnath Singh who contested from Lucknow, and Trade Minister Piyush Goyal who contested from Mumbai. The state of Uttar Pradesh was also included in this phase, which holds special importance in the elections. Although voter turnout was relatively low, the BJP is optimistic that the result with sway in their favour. The op-ed commented extensively on the matter of the newly inaugurated Ram Temple in Ayodhya city and it’ contribution to the BJP’s success. Aside from the religious aspect of the temple, the BJP has also reportedly garnered significant support due to its implementation of welfare schemes and policies in tribal areas. The leviathan election project was accomplished by a massive taskforce comprising nearly one million officials deployed across nearly 95000 polling stations. Over 8.9 million people were scheduled to vote in this phase. Upon the completion of this phase, nearly 75% of the Indian general elections has been completed. The last two phases shall commence and conclude by June.

Prepared By

Akshata Nair

Akshata is an undergraduate student majoring in International Studies at FLAME University. Her primary interests lie in research and cultural perspectives in politics.