Li Qiang in Hubei; Propaganda conference; Wage and wealth concerns; Debt; Red Sea; Fentanyl
Summary of today’s Essential Eight:
Premier Li inspects Hubei - Among the themes of his inaugural 2024 inspection tour were technological self-reliance and mastering core technologies, and he visited memory chip maker YMTC, which the US has blacklisted.
Annual propaganda conference - Every year in early January Party Center convenes a meeting of propaganda leadership from around the country, to sum up the prior year’s work and set the agenda for the new year. Cai Qi was the top official to attend. Among this year’s themes, per the readout, are to “build a new situation of mainstream public opinion that enhances confidence and consensus, continuously strengthen positive propaganda and opinion guidance, and promote the optimistic view of China's economy” and to fully implement Xi Jinping Thought on Culture.
Wage and wealth worries hurting confidence - Liu Qiao, Professor of Finance and Dean of Guanghua School of Management, Peking University, and Yan Se, Associate Professor have released…