Xi in Hainan; CEWC commentaries; campaign to curb local government extortion of firms; Wang Yi sums up PRC diplomacy; Weaponizing antitrust investigations

Summary of today’s Essential Eight:

1. Xi in Hainan - Xi stopped in Hainan on his way to Macao and held a meeting with the CPC Hainan provincial committee and the provincial government. According to the CCTV report he had a long list of tasks for Hainan - “Xi Jinping pointed out that efforts should be made to build a modern industrial system that embodies Hainan’s distinctive features and strengths. It is necessary to promote deep integration of technological innovation and industrial innovation, and drive the mainstay industries—tourism, modern services, high-tech, and high-efficiency tropical agriculture—to reinforce and extend their industrial chains and optimize and upgrade. Hainan should proactively align with national strategic scientific and technological forces, strengthen international scientific and technological cooperation, establish a more open mechanism for talent introduction, create a multi-tiered system of scientific and technological innovation, intensify efforts in o…