New Beijing airport; China in the world; trade deal "soon"?; China’s defense-industrial ecosystem
Congratulations to Beijing for the opening of the new Beijing Daxing International Airport, airport code PKX. Xi Jinping officially opened it Wednesday, just in time to praise it as another great accomplishment on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the PRC.
President Trump popped the stock market this morning when he said that a trade deal with China could happen "sooner than you think“. Good luck for those trying to trade the trade war rumors, utterances and news…
The immediate impact on US-China relations of the impeachment inquiry into President Trump is unclear. If as some are saying all new legislation will now be put on hold then the proposed Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019 may not become a law any time soon, to Beijing’s delight. As to what the inquiry means for the trade negotiations, I have no idea.
Today’s Essential Eight:
1. US-China
2. Beijing Daxing Airport
3. China and the World in the New Era
4. New report on China’s defense-industrial ecosystem
5. No shortage of cash for chip development
6. Documentation of TikTok’s censorship policies
7. RIP Dr. Wang Shuping
8. American surrogates for Chinese mothers
Thanks for reading.
The Essential Eight
1. US-China
Trump says trade deal with China could happen sooner than you think - Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that a trade deal with China could happen sooner than people think.
Trump made the comment to reporters a day after delivering a stinging rebuke to China’s trade practices at the United Nations General Assembly, saying he would not accept a “bad deal” in U.S.-China trade negotiations.
China Preparing to Buy More U.S. Pork as Trade Talks Revive - Bloomberg
The firms are inquiring about prices from pork exporters including Smithfield Foods Inc., owned by China’s WH Group Ltd., and Tyson Foods Inc., said the people, asking not to be identified discussing a private matter. The volume of the purchases hasn’t been finalized but may be around 100,000 tons, some of which will be for state reserves, the people said.
Deadly Pig Disease Has Cost China More Than $140 Billion: Professor - Caixin
The widespread outbreak of African swine fever that has prompted China to slaughter millions of pigs has caused 1 trillion yuan ($140 billion) of direct losses, an industry expert estimates.
Li Defa, who heads the College of Animal Science and Technology at China Agricultural University, made the remarks at a pig industry forum on Tuesday. The upstream and downstream of the pork industry chain — such as pig feed and catering industry — are not included in the calculation, he said.
China’s Imports of U.S. Soybeans Jump to Highest Since April - Bloomberg
China imported 1.68 million tons of U.S. soybeans in August, the most in four months
U.S. slaps new sanctions on Chinese entities over Iran oil - Reuters
The U.S. Treasury Department announced that it placing sanctions on five Chinese nationals and six entities, including two Cosco Shipping Corporation subsidiaries.
“And we are telling China, and all nations: know that we will sanction every violation,” Pompeo said at a conference on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Not only has China declined to adopt promised reforms, it has embraced an economic model dependent on massive market barriers, heavy state subsidies, currency manipulation, product dumping, forced technology transfers, and the theft of intellectual property and also trade secrets on a grand scale...
The American people are absolutely committed to restoring balance to our relationship with China. Hopefully, we can reach an agreement that would be beneficial for both countries. But as I have made very clear, I will not accept a bad deal for the American people.
As we endeavor to stabilize our relationship, we’re also carefully monitoring the situation in Hong Kong. The world fully expects that the Chinese government will honor its binding treaty, made with the British and registered with the United Nations, in which China commits to protect Hong Kong’s freedom, legal system, and democratic ways of life. How China chooses to handle the situation will say a great deal about its role in the world in the future. We are all counting on President Xi as a great leader.
Vision and Conviction Will Take China-US Relations Forward
Keynote Speech by State Councilor Wang Yi At Dinner Co-hosted by National Committee on US-China Relations, US-China Business Council, US Chamber of Commerce and Council on Foreign Relations…
In the early years of the People's Republic of China, the United States sought to contain China. The two countries even fought a war on the Korean Peninsula, which was followed by 22 years of confrontation. General Omar Bradley, then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called what happened in Korea "the wrong war, at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and with the wrong enemy". It was not until the 1970s that things began to change. Dr. Kissinger's secret visit to China and the meetings between President Richard Nixon and Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai re-opened the door of contact, and set the two countries on a path toward peaceful co-existence and joint pursuit of prosperity. The ups and downs in our relations provide ample evidence that confrontation and conflict is not in the interests of either China or the United States, and that dialogue and cooperation is the only way forward. Some Americans claim that the US' decades-long engagement policy has failed in its original purpose of changing China, and that it is time to revert to a policy of containment. Such an idea of molding others according to one's wish is wrong, and will never work. Seventy years have passed, and the US should not start another wrong fight with the wrong country.
China’s Foreign Minister Warns of ‘Endless Troubles’ If U.S. and China Decouple - WSJ $$
“Decoupling from China’s economy would be to decouple from opportunities, and the future,” said Mr. Wang, who in the past has called the U.S.’s and China’s interests “inseparable.”
Speaking before more than 100 business and political leaders, Mr. Wang criticized those who depict China as an adversary of the U.S. He said the U.S. should “avoid picking a misguided fight with the wrong country,” and lamented the impact of the trade war as “losses that shouldn’t have happened.”
“Are we going to move ahead along the right route, or veer into the wrong one with endless troubles ahead?” he asked the audience.
China urges U.S. to stop interfering in internal affairs through human rights excuses - Xinhua
In recent months, some 1,000 foreign diplomats, officials and journalists have visited Xinjiang, and they all recognized and applauded local efforts to fight and prevent terrorism in accordance with the law.
However, the U.S. side has turned a blind eye to China's counterterrorism and deradicalization efforts as well as voices supporting such efforts, Geng said.
No matter what the U.S. says or does, China will, as it always has, implement its policy in Xinjiang, said Geng, adding that Xinjiang's continued prosperity, stability, ethnic unity and social harmony are obvious to all, and facts will triumph over lies.
China wants US to remove 'unreasonable restrictions': foreign minister - CNBC
“China-U.S. relations today have once again come to a cross roads,” Wang said, through a translator of his Mandarin-language remarks at a dinner co-hosted by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and The US-China Business Council.
“While China opens wider to the U.S. and the rest of the world, we expect the U.S. to do the same to China and remove all unreasonable restrictions,” Wang said. “In a word, China’s efforts and achievements of reform and opening up in the past several decades have been widely recognized. They should not be deliberately ignored or denied.”
2. Beijing Daxing Airport
Beijing’s Daxing Airport Opens, Helping China Rival US in Skies - Bloomberg
Xi has identified aviation as a key strategic industry. The president attended an official opening ceremony for the new airport, designed by the late Zaha Hadid, on Wednesday. Within two decades, annual passenger traffic in China’s skies will reach 1.6 billion, according to the International Air Transport Association, more than the country’s population today. China has set a goal of having 450 commercial airports by 2035, almost double the number at the end of 2018. It’s also developed a jet to compete with Boeing Co. and Airbus SE.
Inside China's Massive New Airport - Bloomberg Video
习近平出席投运仪式并宣布北京大兴国际机场正式投入运营_CCTV
The report on Xi officially opening the new airport was the top 12 minutes of the Wednesday CCTV Evening News. Xi rode the train from the city, it does look like an impressive airport, and definitely another thing for China to be quite proud of
【人民日报将刊发“宣言”系列署名文章】第一篇《雄关漫道真如铁》_CCTV
Wednesday CCTV Evening News previews first of series of three People's Daily commentaries by “宣言 declaration/manifesto”, all looking at China and CCP's success. The first one takes its title “雄关漫道真如铁 Idle boast the strong pass is a wall of iron" from a quote from the Mao Zedong Ci "Loushan pass 忆秦娥·娄山关" “雄关漫道真如铁，而今迈步从头越.”
Interestingly, Xi uses the phrase at 10:25 of the CCTV report on the opening of the airport. The message of course is that China under the leadership of the CCP can survive any struggles on the road to the great national rejuvenation...
A translation of the full poem, courtesy of Marxists.org:
Fierce the west wind，
Wild geese cry under the frosty morning moon
Under the frosty morning moon
Horses' hooves clattering
Bugles sobbing low.
Idle boast the strong pass is a wall of iron,
With firm strides we are crossing its summit.
We are crossing its summit,
The rolling hills sea-blue,
The dying sun blood-red.
Mao is never far from Xi’s mind, no surprise, what else was he raised on? If you were designing a course on Mao's writings about America, what would be in your syllabus? I think US policymakers need a refresher course, as Xi is likely pulling from them for his approach to dealing with the US.
Beijing’s Giant New Airport Officially Opens - Caixin
According to the final published plan, Guangzhou-based China Southern will be the dominant airline. Its planned flights take up 40% of Daxing airport’s arrival and departure slots. Shanghai-based China Eastern has 30% and Beijing-based Air China controls 10%. The remaining 20% of the slots have been divvyed up among other airlines.
Starbucks opens four outlets in Daxing Airport - China Daily
Beijing Nanyuan Airport poised to close its doors - ECNS
Beijing Nanyuan Airport, China's oldest, which will cease public operations before Sept 30 with the opening of Beijing Daxing International Airport. Nanyuan Airport has witnessed rapid developments in the nation's aviation industry over the past century. Built in 1910 during the Qing dynasty (1644-1911), it has long served as a military and commercial airport.
First commercial flights from Beijing's new $63 billion airport take off - Reuters
China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines will be the main domestic carriers at Daxing. About 50 foreign airlines...plan to move all or part of their operations in the next few quarters.
The relocation of all airlines is to due to be completed by the winter of 2021
The world’s biggest single-terminal airport building, at 7.53 million sq ft, it has a distinctive star-shaped layout and is the first airport to have two-storey departure gates, to increase capacity...
Chinese authorities hope Daxing will become one of the world’s busiest international transport hubs, eventually handling more than 100 million passengers a year
China denounces U.N. aviation emissions plan in blow to industry efforts - Reuters
China has denounced a landmark U.N. deal that caps emissions from international flights, in a setback for an industry eager to placate the growing international movement to curb air travel’s impact on the environment.
3. China and the World in the New Era
China to issue white paper on China and world in new era - Xinhua
China's State Council Information Office will issue a white paper, titled "China and the World in the New Era," at 10 a.m. Friday
The "Guoji Ping" commentator on page 1 of the Wednesday People's Daily, on "China and the world amidst major changes-written on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the PRC" - 大变局中的中国与世界 - 写在新中国成立70周年之际 - 人民日报 作者： 国纪平. Some highlights, lightly edited via Youdao translation:
The instability, uncertainty and imbalance caused by "change" are also increasingly prominent. In the past century, the misery of two world wars, the economic crisis and the great depression, countless regional wars and local wars have all aroused people's thinking and desire for order and responsibility. Today, the international situation is in turmoil and intertwined. The anxiety of some traditional western powers has increased, geopolitical games are on the rise, and unilateralism and protectionism are impacting the global governance system. We are in the throes of replacing old growth drivers with new ones, and the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation has brought about unprecedented fierce competition. Once again, human society stands at a crossroads.
70 years ago, new China was founded when the cold war was taking shape. Today, as the international system is evolving and undergoing profound adjustments, China is moving closer to the center of the world stage. "At present, China is in the best period of development since modern times, and the world is in the midst of major changes unseen in a century. This important judgment of general secretary Xi Jinping reveals two main lines behind the complicated changes in the current international system.
Changes bring uncertainty, changes hold opportunities. China has opened a new stage of deep interaction with the world. The vision of a community with a shared future for mankind depicts a bright future in which all countries work together to create a better future. "One Belt And One Road" from vision to action, from "freehand brushwork" to "fine brushwork", has become China's contribution to the world a common development and prosperity program. China's international influence, appeal and shape have never been higher.因“变”而生的不稳定、不确定、不平衡也日益凸显。过去百年，两次世界大战的惨烈，经济危机和“大萧条”，难以计数的地区战争和局部战争，都不断唤起人们对秩序与责任的思考与渴望。今天，国际局势变乱交织。一些传统西方大国焦虑感加剧，地缘政治博弈明显上升，单边主义、保护主义冲击全球治理体系；经济增长新旧动能转换处于阵痛期，新一轮科技革命和产业变革带来的激烈竞争前所未有。人类社会又一次站在十字路口。
70年前，新中国成立于冷战格局初步形成之时；今天，国际体系加速演变和深刻调整，中国日益走近世界舞台中央。“当前，我国处于近代以来最好的发展时期，世界处于百年未有之大变局，两者同步交织、相互激荡。”习近平总书记的这一重要论断，揭示出当前国际体系纷繁变化背后的两条主线…
变局带来变数，变局蕴藏机遇，中国开启了与世界深度互动的新阶段。人类命运共同体理念描绘各国同舟共济共创未来的美好前景；“一带一路”从愿景到行动，从“大写意”到“工笔画”，成为中国贡献给世界的一份共同发展繁荣的方案。中国的国际影响力、感召力、塑造力前所未有地提高。
Xi stresses modernizing China's governance system, capacity - Xinhua
Xi made the remarks while presiding over a study session of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau on the establishment and development of New China's state and legal systems…
The new type of state system founded by the CPC has enabled China to create a miracle of rapid economic growth and long-term social stability, and offered a new option for developing countries to realize modernity, Xi said...
Xi stressed the need to strengthen theoretical research and public education to help people understand that so long as we continue to forge ahead along this path, we will surely achieve the modernization of China's governance system and capacity.
Question: So will we see more about China's model as applicable to other nations, especially coming out of the upcoming 4th Plenum?
Spotlight: China seeks closer cooperation with Eurasian countries -- top Chinese legislator - Xinhua
Li, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, made the remarks when delivering a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Fourth Meeting of Speakers of Eurasian Countries' Parliaments (MSEAP) held in the Kazakh capital.
Li said that the world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century. "Cooperation or confrontation? Openness or closing the door? Win-win progress or a zero-sum game? The interests of all countries and the destiny of mankind hinge on the choice we make," he said.
China has proposed the idea of building a community with a shared future for mankind, worked for a new type of international relations and contributed to promoting a fairer, more just and equitable global governance system, Li said, adding that the Belt and Road Initiative has created opportunities for the common development and prosperity of all participating countries.
China’s President Xi Jinping may be visiting Nepal next month, but his doctrine, widely known as Xi Jinping Thought, arrived a month earlier in Kathmandu, bundled as a two-day symposium for top leaders of the ruling party.
While the Nepal Communist Party has maintained that it wants to learn from China’s ruling party—particularly on functioning and discipline—the participation of around 200 leaders, including the party’s top brass and scores of Chinese officials, shows that there is more to this symposium than meets the eye.
And don’t forget this Essential Eight item from the September 19 newsletter:
Economist Zhang Yuyan from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences wrote about his understanding of Xi Jinping’s concept of “the world today is undergoing major changes unseen in a century 当今世界正处于百年未有之大变局”. Zhang said these changes include:
Profound changes in the power ration between major countries, as evidenced by the rapid rise of China;
Uncertainties brought by new technological advances;
people's increasing awareness of their power and populism;
the population explosion in developing countries and the aging of developed countries;
the post WWII US dollar led international monetary system is approaching a crossroads;
the international multilateral system has entered a process of disintegration and reconstruction;
Superpower America's system is in visible decline, in part because it is trapped by outdated institutions controlled by the rich;
the increasing containment/anti-containment dynamics between China and the US.
4. New report on China’s defense-industrial ecosystem
The report - Open Arms — C4ADS
In this report, we analyze China’s evolving defense ecosystem, as catalyzed by strategies such as Military-Civil Fusion, which seek to transform the People's Liberation Army into a next-generation warfighting force. By mapping China’s defense-industrial ecosystem, outlining procurement trends, analyzing import records and investment transactions, and finally diving into high-risk international commercial networks in China’s defense-industrial base, this report reveals how the China has sought to harness the sophistication and output of it's civilian economy and global relationships for the benefit of its defense-industrial base.
Given China’s extensive business and academic presence abroad, there is a clear risk that foreign strategic technologies and expertise could inadvertently contribute to China’s growing military capabilities. However, our investigations of companies participating in Chinese military supply chains illustrate that publicly available information can be used to provide decision advantage to those exposed to that risk.
Do you know if your partners are working on military-civil fusion?
China Taps Its Private Sector to Boost Its Military, Raising Alarms - WSJ $$
“China’s obfuscation and elimination of barriers between the defense and civilian sectors has troubling implications for foreign as well as domestic Chinese firms,” a senior U.S. administration official said in a statement to The Wall Street Journal.
China’s strategy is creating new risks that foreign companies and researchers inadvertently help the People’s Liberation Army, or PLA, acquire the technology and expertise it needs to enhance its already rapidly expanding capabilities, according to the C4ADS report released Wednesday.
The Washington, D.C.-based group said it has presented its findings to stakeholders including U.S. and allied government agencies and legislators, defense contractors, financial institutions and Silicon Valley startups.
Tsinghua University unveils research center on big data intelligence - Xinhua
The research center, which is coordinated by the university's Institute of Artificial Intelligence, will focus on the improvement of AI's theoretical research and big data computing method. Through the interdisciplinary research of data science, cognitive science and social science, the center aims to develop a new generation of people-oriented big data intelligent computing.
Zhang Bo, director of Tsinghua's Institute of Artificial Intelligence, said the center will improve basic theoretical research of data intelligence as well as promoting integration with industries and fostering international cooperation.
Tsinghua's Approach to Military-Civil Fusion in Artificial Intelligence - Elsa Kania
Translation of a 2018 article by You Zheng (尤政), vice president of Tsinghua University , often characterized as "China's MIT," which describes its commitment to supporting China’s national strategy for military-civil fusion, while advancing an "AI superpower strategy" (人工智能强国战略)…
In accordance with central requirements, Tsinghua University will closely integrate the national strategy of military-civilian integration and the AI superpower strategy. Tsinghua University was entrusted by the CMC Science and Technology Commission to take responsibility to construct the High-End Laboratory for Military Intelligence (军事智能高端实验室). With regard to basic theories and core technologies, military intelligence and general AI possess commonalities. Therefore, Tsinghua University regards the construction of the High-End Laboratory for Military Intelligence as the core starting point for serving the AI superpower strategy.
5. No shortage of cash for chip development
China aims for IPO adrenaline to fund strategic chip makers - Nikkei Asian Review
China is accelerating the public listings of chip companies on Shanghai’s more loosely regulated STAR stock market in the latest initiative by Beijing to counter U.S. technology sanctions and speed the development of its high-priority semiconductor industry.
At least three chip companies have moved up their plans to list on STAR, China's version of Nasdaq, in as soon as one year, the Nikkei Asian Review has learned. The move is designed to inject funds into China’s burgeoning tech industry and give early stage venture capital investors an early exit, the idea being they will then recycle funds back into technology companies.
Alibaba's Super Apps Now Powered by Self-Developed AI Chip | Alizila.com
The AI inference chip, named “Hanguang 800” after a legendary sword in ancient China, has been put to use across Alibaba’s e-commerce sites to handle functions that require heavy computing power, such as image analysis, product search, automatic translation and personalized recommendations.
Alibaba unveils first microchip as China aims for self-sufficiency - Nikkei Asian Review
"Most Chinese companies are still wary about whether Arm's architecture and Intel's architecture and technical support would remain accessible amid tech tension and further geopolitical uncertainties," said Sean Yang, an analyst at research company CINNO in Shanghai.
"It would be very helpful for China to increase long-term semiconductor sufficiency if big companies such as Alibaba jump in to build a chip (design) platform which smaller Chinese developers can just use without worrying about being cut off from supplies," he said.
6. Documentation of TikTok’s censorship policies
Revealed: how TikTok censors videos that do not please Beijing | The Guardian
TikTok, the popular Chinese-owned social network, instructs its moderators to censor videos that mention Tiananmen Square, Tibetan independence, or the banned religious group Falun Gong, according to leaked documents detailing the site’s moderation guidelines.
The documents, revealed by the Guardian for the first time, lay out how ByteDance, the Beijing-headquartered technology company that owns TikTok, is advancing Chinese foreign policy aims abroad through the app...
The guidelines divide banned material into two categories: some content is marked as a “violation”, which sees it deleted from the site entirely, and can lead to a user being banned from the service. But lesser infringements are marked as “visible to self”, which leaves the content up but limits its distribution through TikTok’s algorithmically-curated feed...
Bytedance said the version of the documents the Guardian has seen was retired in May, before the current protests in Hong Kong began, and that the current guidelines do not reference specific countries or issues.
September 15 Washington Post front page story - China's TikTok social media app has captured the NFL, but not Hong Kong protesters - The Washington Post
TikTok has quickly become one of America’s most popular mobile apps, a flashy, frenetic, video playground beloved by teens and downloaded more than 110 million times across the U.S...
Researchers have grown worried that the app could also prove to be one of China’s most effective weapons in the global information war, bringing Chinese-style censorship to mainstream U.S. audiences and shaping how they understand real-world events. Compounding researchers’ concerns are TikTok’s limited public comments about the content it removes and its purported independence from censors in Beijing.
If people in Congress and other agencies in DC were not paying attention to TikTok they will now.
7. RIP Dr. Wang Shuping
Shuping Wang Obituary - Salt Lake City, UT | The Salt Lake Tribune
Dr. Shuping Wang passed away on Saturday, September 21 while hiking in Salt Lake City with friends and her husband Gary. In recent years she worked as a research associate at the Radiology and Imaging Sciences Lab at the University of Utah. During her tenure at the University of Utah, she also worked as a medical researcher in the Immunology and Pathology, Dermatology, Nephrology, Neurobiology and Anatomy Labs. She is best known in public health communities worldwide as a whistleblower in the Henan AIDS Blood Contamination Disaster whose refusal to back down in the face of government bullying saved the lives of at least tens of thousands of rural villagers.
How I Discovered the HIV Epidemic and What Happened to Me Afterwards - Wang Shuping in 2012
Recently I came across the account of Dr. Wang Shuping (王淑平), the very medical professional who first discovered the epidemic, alerted health authorities, and struggled in vain to stop the epidemic that would go on to infect approximately 300,000 people, mostly the rural poor, according to Zhang Ke (张可), a Chinese AIDS researcher and activist. Dr. Wang eventually left China for the US. And, in time, some of the most vocal AIDS doctors/activists, such as Dr. Gao Yaojie (高耀洁) and Dr. Wan Yanhai (万延海), were all pushed out of China.
Dr Shuping Wang, who exposed the spread of hepatitis and HIV infection through contaminated blood and plasma in China two decades ago, has said her relatives and former colleagues in Henan province are being told they should persuade her to drop the show at the London’s Hampstead Theatre.
She said the incident had revived memories of the original whistleblowing, but was determined that the show, The King of Hell’s Palace, should go ahead. “The only thing harder than standing up to the government and their security police is not giving in to pressure from friends and relatives who are threatened with their livelihoods, all because you are speaking out,” she said. “But even after all this time, I will still not be silenced, even though I am deeply sad that this intimidation is happening yet again.”
8. American surrogates for Chinese mothers
Opinion | My American Surrogate - The New York Times - Leslie Tai
As you’ll see in the film above, Qiqi is among the growing number of entrepreneurs looking to cash in on the surge of foreign couples — in her case, from China — looking not just to have their babies in this country, but also to find American women to carry those babies to term. The American surrogates, who live all over the country, can make upward of $50,000 per pregnancy, depending on location and experience.
When I first learned of this phenomenon, I was living in maternity hotels, making a feature documentary about the shadow economy of birth tourism in the ethnic-Chinese enclaves of the San Gabriel Valley.
Business, Economy and Trade
Swiss watchdog pursues China's HNA over Dufry reporting - Reuters Switzerland’s markets supervisor said on Wednesday it will lodge a criminal complaint against Chinese conglomerate HNA Group for an alleged “serious breach” of disclosure rules over a stake it once held in duty free group Dufry
China’s Troubled Consumer Lending Industry Has Huge Growth Potential, Report Says - Caixin There is still plenty of room for consumer borrowing to expand in China, where about 37.5% of adults in China still did not have access to such services in 2017, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Institution for Finance & Development. In comparison, less than 20% of adults in some developed countries do not have access to consumer loans...Outstanding consumer loans increased from 15.7 trillion yuan ($2.22 trillion) at the beginning of 2015 to 40.8 trillion yuan this month, according to the report, which cited data from the central bank. The growth of short-term consumer loans soared before 2017, but has slowed over the past two years as financial regulators have sought to clamp down on illicit online lending
How China’s power companies invest overseas – Panda Paw Dragon Claw Chinese companies’ role in supporting the development of coal power plants overseas comes in multiple forms, ranging from design and construction to part-ownership. Since 2013 Chinese companies have had an increasing preference for equity investments, a form of investment that entails both increased potential profit and increased risks. This blog tries to illuminate the landscape that the multiple forms Chinese coal power investments are made in.
China Imports of Scrap Steel Hit Zero for First Time This Century - Bloomberg The world’s top steel producer bought no scrap at all from overseas in August, according to customs data Monday, capping years of dwindling volumes, after President Xi Jinping imposed sweeping curbs on all imports of solid waste to help protect the environment
Nike stock gains after company’s China sales jump - MarketWatch Sales in China rose 27% excluding currency changes. The Greater China region also led Nike’s quarterly profit before interest and taxes in the quarter, up 33%.
China’s Hottest Startups Struggle for Cash Amid Trade War - Bloomberg The fundraising frenzy of yesteryear -- often culminating in investment led by the goliath SoftBank Vision Fund -- is subsiding. Startups in greater China have raised $32.5 billion via venture capital deals so far in 2019, versus 2018’s $111.8 billion, according to consultancy Preqin. As of mid-September, Chinese venture capital houses had raised $9.9 billion, only about a third of 2018’s $25 billion, the research house added.
What’s Driving China’s Noodle Revival? - Bloomberg The most crucial factor in the noodle comeback is affluence. Historically, instant noodles were marketed to low-wage workers and students. But as incomes rose, the industry responded by offering better noodles at higher prices to upwardly mobile consumers. This strategy, known as "premiumization," is being adopted by manufacturers of fast-moving consumer goods across China. And it's getting results: One of the country’s largest noodle-makers reports that as much as 40% of 2018 revenue was generated by premium offerings.
China’s shadow banking industry roars back | Financial Times $$ following the onset of the trade dispute with the US and slowing economic growth, shadow lending has made an unprecedented return in the second and third quarters of 2019, according to China Beige Book International, a provider of independent data on the Chinese economy. Shadow lenders accounted for 39 per cent of total lending in the third quarter of the year, and 45 per cent in the second quarter, the highest percentage of shadow financing since at least 2013, according to the report. As recently as the middle of last year, shadow lending had shrunk to just 21 per cent of total loans.
Chinese drone maker DJI says US sales ban an affront to industry | Financial Times $$ “You just want to prohibit the use of the product, or bar the company from doing business, just because of country of origin. Just because we’re located in China, therefore the product is not safe and secure,” said Mario Rebello, regional manager for North America at DJI, the world’s biggest drone manufacturer, at its fourth annual Airworks conference in Los Angeles. “That’s not a validation. That’s not a path forward. You shouldn’t be legislated based on country of origin.”
Global postal agency warns of 'total disruption' if US pulls out -AFP A Chinese representative at the talks conceded that the current "has some problems … and has to be reformed," but called for a "balanced" solution.
Axios Markets - 5. Funding for China's PE market falls by a third Private capital investment in China slowed markedly in the first half of the year, data from the Emerging Market Private Equity Association released Tuesday showed. Capital invested in China's private markets fell from $15.1 billion in the first half of 2018 to $9.8 billion through June 2019, with deal count across all transaction types in the country declining from 582 to 322 over the same period.
Politics and Law
China’s tech giants pledge allegiance ahead of national day - Inkstone On Monday, Chinese netizens began adding a small national flag to the right corner of their profile picture on Wechat. The online campaign was an instant hit on the super app. The service crashed at one point due to an avalanche of users, Tencent told the National Business Daily. On another social media site, the Twitter-like Weibo, the Communist Youth League of China, the youth wing of the Communist Party, launched a campaign asking users to share a photo of themselves with the national flag.
China releases novel collection to commemorate 70th anniversary of PRC founding - Xinhua On the list are renowned titles such as the classic revolutionary novel Hong Yan(Red Crag), the Mao Dun Literature Prize-winning work Ordinary Worldof novelist Lu Yao, and the Hugo Award-winning sci-fi novel The Three Body Problemby Liu Cixin. The novels were selected by a board of experienced literature critics based on the novels' popularity, experts' comments and other factors.
张艺谋任国庆70周年联欢活动总导演_凤凰网资讯_凤凰网Zhang Yimou is the director of the non-military part of the 70th anniversary celebrations
Epic Chinese patriotic film to be premiered in ten cities overseas - Global Times My people, My country, a Chinese patriotic epic celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People' Republic of China (PRC), will premiere in 10 cities overseas on September 30 before China's National Day. The cities include New York, Los Angeles, Sydney and Toronto, according to the material the film's distributor China Media Capital Films sent to the Global Times announced on Monday. "Overseas Chinese celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the PRC. No matter where I go, the motherland is always in my heart," read the material.
Court Harnesses the Social Power of WeChat to Shame Debtors - SixthTone The Jianggan District People’s Court in Hangzhou, the provincial capital, launched a mini program on WeChat to pressure debtors into getting their accounts in order, the National Business Daily newspaper reported Tuesday. A defaulter’s family and friends are expressly targeted with advertisements for the mini program, while others can use the mini program to tip the authorities off on a particular debtor’s whereabouts in exchange for a percentage of the total amount the person owes.
China: Why Taiwan is unfinished business for Xi Jinping | Financial Times $$ Xi Zhongxun was stationed with the communist troops threatening Beijing from the south. After the city surrendered, he met both his father-in-law and sister-in-law in Beijing. He brought a letter from the family to his wife, Xi Jinping’s mother, confirming they were safe. “That day, I was so happy,” Qi Xin wrote in a memoir. The complicated story of the Qi family “is the tale of countless Chinese families”, author Dai Yugang wrote in a book about the family’s experiences during the civil war and the Japanese invasion of China.
Released from Chinese prison, Detroit football standout returning home A Chinese court sentenced Brown to four years in prison in June 2018 for being involved in a bar fight, a punishment his lawyer and an activist called excessive.
Democracy Activist Who Called For Chinese President's Resignation Dies in Police Custody - RFA Wang Meiyu's widow received notification of her husband's death in the Hengyang Detention Center on Monday. Wang, 38, was detained two months ago after holding up a placard in public calling on President Xi to step down, and for democratic elections in China.
Xi stresses carrying forward role models' spirit of patriotism, tireless struggle - Xinhua Xi...made the remarks in an instruction read out by a senior CPC official at a Wednesday ceremony honoring the role models of dedication. Xi underscored the importance of honoring the heroes and role models who emerged in the course of China's socialist revolution, construction and reform as the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China is being celebrated. He demanded extensive efforts in promoting the deeds of the heroes and role models and carrying forward their spirit of patriotism and tireless struggle.
Foreign and Defense Affairs
Japan Withholds Fleet Review Invite to S. Korea - JIJI PRESS Japan has not invited South Korea to a Maritime Self-Defense Force fleet review planned for Oct. 14 amid soured bilateral relations over history and trade issues, MSDF Chief of Staff Adm. Hiroshi Yamamura said Tuesday. At a regular press conference, Yamamura also announced the Chinese military's first participation in the event, which is held once in three years in principle.
China-based academic says Australia is naive to rely on US, after Morrison's comments on trade - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Professor Wang Yiwei, a Renmin University professor of international relations, is one of three top scholars deployed by Beijing for a speaking tour in Australia... He claimed a video which surfaced online showing hundreds of Uyghur men shackled and blindfolded awaiting transport to a detention centre was "fake news" and "China bashing". "In the era of artificial intelligence it's very easy to do that kind of video. You don't have the technology to test it to see if it's true," he said. // Comment: Looking forward to hearing more about Standing Committee member Wang Huning's views on deep fakes and AI...
U.S. Intelligence Officer Who Tried to Share Secrets With China Is Sentenced to 10 Years - The New York Times The former officer, Ron Rockwell Hansen, 60, pleaded guilty in March to one count of attempting to gather or deliver defense information. Mr. Hansen said he received hundreds of thousands of dollars in exchange for information he shared with the Chinese government. He was part of what prosecutors called a “troubling trend” of American intelligence officers being recruited by China for espionage.
Beijing deploys new deepwater drilling rig in South China Sea | South China Morning Post “Under the vast seabed of the South China Sea there is one third of China’s oil and gas reserve,” the social media report said. “[This] is one of the four reserve hubs of offshore gas and oil and is called ‘the second Persian Gulf’.”
China Wants the World to Stay Silent on Muslim Camps. It’s Succeeding. - The New York Times China is carefully shaping its image of Xinjiang in the diplomatic world. Over the past nine months, Beijing has invited select visitors on circumscribed tours of the detention camps to garner positive publicity. China has generally handpicked the visitors, including journalists from friendly countries. They are then often quoted in the state-run Chinese news media offering flattering comments. “I saw genuine smiles on the faces of trainees I interviewed,” Abdul Aziz Raddad A. Alrabie of the Saudi newspaper Okaz said in China Daily, a newspaper of the Communist Party.
Interview: Senior Russian lawmaker hails wisdom of Chinese leadership - Xinhua"The (China's) achievements are a manifestation of the wisdom and creative potential of the Chinese leadership," Ivan Melnikov, first deputy chairman of the Russian State Duma or the lower house of parliament, has said. Over the past 70 years, especially over the four decades since the start of reform and opening-up, China has achieved great successes that delight the whole world, Melnikov, who is also first deputy head of the Communist Party of Russia, told Xinhua in a recent interview. The interview was conducted days ahead of a scheduled visit to Russia by Chinese top legislator Li Zhanshu.
Chinese defense chief meets with guests from Cambodia and DPRK - China Military General Wei Fenghe, Chinese State Councilor and Minister of National Defense, met with General Nem Sowath, Director General of the General Department of Policy and Foreign Affairs under the Ministry of National Defense of Cambodia, and General Yon Kyong Chol, Director of the Foreign Affairs Bureau under the Ministry of the People’s Armed Forces of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), in Beijing on Tuesday.
China launches new satellite for air, ocean study - Global Times China successfully launched a new satellite on Wednesday that will study the earth's atmosphere, monitor the marine and space environment, help prevent and reduce disasters and conduct scientific experiments. A Long March-2D rocket blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China's Gansu Province at 8:54 am, carrying the satellite codenamed Yunhai-1 02, the satellite developer told the Global Times on Wednesday.
China launches first amphibious assault ship - Global Times A launch ceremony was held for China's first amphibious assault ship, the Type 075, on Wednesday in a move that represents a new era for China's warship development, Chinese military experts said. Said to be a small aircraft carrier by its appearance, an amphibious assault ship usually features a straight flight deck capable of hosting helicopters, vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft and short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft, as well as cabins that can hold amphibious tanks, armored vehicles and air-cushioned landing craft (LCAC).
Hong Kong and Macao
Chinese official says Hong Kong can handle its protests - AP “We believe the (Hong Kong) government has the capability to calm down the current situation,” said Song Ru’an, deputy commissioner of the foreign ministry office in the semi-autonomous Chinese city.
Cantopop star Anthony Wong supports Hong Kong protesters - Los Angeles Times Pop musicians want to be quiet about controversy, and on this one they’re particularly quiet,” said Anthony Wong Yiu-ming, 57, the singer and cofounder of the pioneering Hong Kong pop group Tat Ming Pair...But he, along with such singer-actors as Denise Ho and Deanie Ip, have made democratic reforms the new cause of their careers, even at the expense of their musical futures in China. Wong’s on tour in the U.S. and will perform a solo show in L.A. on Tuesday. // Question: Will there be any attempts to disrupt the show?
Hong Kong protests: China has 'no good options,' former diplomat says “Hong Kong is one of the world’s greatest cities and Xi Jinping decided many years ago to devalue that asset to teach a lesson for the rest of China. Hong Kong is where it’s at because of actions of Beijing right now,” said Kirk Wagar, former U.S. ambassador to Singapore...“I think China has handled it with restraint in a way that I did not expect, and I’m hopeful,” Wagar, now co-chair of public strategy firm Mercury, said on “Squawk Box.”
PGA Tour Series-China cancels event in Hong Kong over safety | Golf Channel Greg Carlson, the executive director of PGA Tour Series-China, said safety was at the forefront of the decision. ''We have analyzed this situation from every angle, and as a group we determined that canceling the 2019 Clearwater Bay Open is the best decision,'' he said.
Taiwan
Statement by the Prime Minister Hon. Manasseh Sogavare On Switch to China - Solomon Times Online Further, the democratic system within Taiwan consists of two major political parties, the currently ruling DPP that maintains a pro-independence stance for Taiwan, and the KMT that maintains a reunification policy. The National elections are in January 2019 and having been through this cycle in the past, the Solomon Islands is better served making a decision that reflects our long term development interests rather than being uncertain over what might happen should one day Taiwan democratically decide to reunite with Mainland China. Formal recognition of the sovereignty of the Peoples Republic of China under the UN Resolution 2758 is supported by all UN countries except 16 underdeveloped nations which raises questions over whose interests does this minority support of small nations serve to represent against the vast majority of the global democracy?
Marshall Islands confirms diplomatic support for Taiwan - The Washington Post The nation announced Wednesday that its parliament passed a resolution last week expressing its “profound appreciation” for Taiwan’s support over the past 20 years. It said Taiwan had demonstrated “an unwavering commitment to promoting freedom, democracy and human rights.”
Cloud Gate avengers: the band of elastic superheroes who transformed Taiwan | Stage | The Guardian t’s a hot, humid evening and I’m sitting on the ground with around 50,000 other people, all about to watch Cloud Gate Dance Theatre give its annual outdoor performance in Taipei. The atmosphere in Liberty Plaza is extraordinary. I can’t think of another dance company in the world that could draw so large and so festive a crowd. Most of the audience have brought picnics, many enduring a day of rainstorms to bag a position close to the stage. Yet, although this is a special performance – one of the last before Cloud Gate’s founding director Lin Hwai-min steps down – such devotion has been normal for the company almost since it was formed.
Beijing confirms it has detained Taiwanese business leader missing for 14 months | South China Morning Post Tsai Jin-shu went missing during a trip to the mainland in July last year. Photo: Facebook A business leader from Taiwan has been detained by mainland Chinese authorities and is being investigated over “activities endangering national security”, the mainland’s Taiwan Affairs Office confirmed on Wednesday. Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesman for the office, said Tsai Jin-shu had been under investigation on the mainland since July 2018, without giving further details.
Tech and Media
Ep. 52: Zhihu and Kuaishou — Has China’s Quora Found Its Prince Charming? - TechBuzz China Episode 52 of TechBuzz China is on a topic from back in August, when Kuaishou, Baidu, Tencent, and Capital Today invested a collective $434 million into the Q&A site Zhihu 知乎. The site, which literally means “Do you know?” in Chinese, is comparable to Quora in its core services. Its 220 million monthly active users (MAU) is also comparable with Quora’s 300 million MAU. In typical TechBuzz fashion, our co-hosts, Rui Ma and Ying-Ying Lu, dive into Zhihu’s founding story, the company’s business strategy over time, and further comparisons with global sites such as Quora and Reddit
Alibaba is testing a new social networking app, Real · TechNode Real, or “Ruwo” in Chinese, targets university students using the slogan, “Real Life, Real You.” The app supports facial recognition for login and features a variety of filters and stickers for photo and video editing
Society, Arts, Sports, Culture and History
In Depth: What China’s Naturalized Athletes Reveal About Its Immigration Policy - Caixin China is not an immigrant country, in fact, naturalization is heavily restricted. For foreigners, even accessing permanent residency is very difficult, so much so that it has been described as “the hardest green card to obtain.” Yet in the 1950s and 60s, China took in a number of ethnic Chinese from overseas, among whom were many athletes.
Energy, Environment, Science and Health
Three Gorges project builder to build world's highest dam in Xinjiang - Xinhua China Gezhouba Group Co. Ltd. (CGGC) has signed an agreement to undertake the construction of a water control project at the upper reaches of the Aksu River in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which will be the world's highest dam once completed.