Xi goes South; Shenzhen 40th anniversary; Taiwan spies; Korean War; Qingdao outbreak; Central Committee regulations

Xi has embarked on a new southern tour. He started today in Guangdong and on Wednesday will give speech in Shenzhen at a celebration for the 40th anniversary of the creation of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone (SEZ). Given Xi Zhongxun’s role in the creation of the SEZ it will be interesting to see how Xi portrays his father’s role, especially as compared with Deng Xiaoping’s.

Over the weekend the government released a new set of policies designed to push forward with various reforms in Shenzhen.

The new measures will be good for Shenzhen real estate, the local stock market, and the further integration of the “Greater Bay Area”, which among includes among its many goals the greater binding of Hong Kong into the mainland. Perhaps in the next few years Shenzhen will become more important than Hong Kong?

Perhaps I am too jaded, but I would not yet get too optimistic that this latest southern tour and speech mark the start of a new round of reforms. Many got excited about Xi’s December 20…