Xi meets 4 foreign leaders; Li Qiang in marketing mode at Tianjin Davos; Digital solution for rare characters 生僻字; Radioactive water
Summary of the Essential Eight:
Xi meets leaders from Barbados, Mongolia, New Zealand and Vietnam - In the readout from his meeting with the New Zealand Prime Minister Xi said “China's emphasis on self-reliance is by no means to adopt a closed-door policy, but to better connect domestic and international markets 我们强调自立自强，绝不是闭关锁国，而是更好联通国内市场和国际市场”. One of the key themes of recent PRC diplomacy, and of Premier Li’s comments at the Tianjin Davos meetings (see item 2), has been to push back on any talk of de-risking and “cutting supply chains” from China. But can we read the emphasis on self-reliance and dual circulation more broadly as the PRC both trying to take the initiative in de-risking and to more tightly bind global supply chains to the PRC, this increasing its leverage and perhaps options for future actions?
Li Qiang at Tianjin Davos - Premier Li gave the keynote speech and then had a session with visiting business executives. Li was in marketing mode at the Summer Davos event, pit…