Xinhua says Xi a reformer like Deng; TikTok; PRC-Philippine discussions leaked; Vanke; Premier Li

It is a bit of a slow day, I think everyone needs a break from the Two Sessions. Yesterday I turned on a beta feature that was supposed to help with the flow when the email runs too long. It was not working as intended and caused some confusion and annoyance. Apologies, and it is turned off.

Summary of today’s Essential Eight:

1. Xi the reformer - Xinhua is out with a series of English articles portraying Xi as a reformer, comparing him to Deng Xiaoping, and articulating what it says his goals are. I could not find the Chinese versions of these articles, if they exist. Is this a new attempt to shape global opinions about Xi?

2. Li Qiang to snub visiting CEOs at the CDF? - Reuters reports that Li Qiang will skip the usual meeting the Premier holds with foreign CEOs attending the late March China Development Forum. If this story is accurate it is a real head scratcher. Li attended a lunch with heads of multinational companies at Davos in January, and he met a couple of weeks ago with a d…