10 Clears Commentary: Socialist System & Common Prosperity - Governance of Digital Development - China-Mexico Ties
Here are the stories and pieces that I found noteworthy from the Tuesday, February 15, 2022, edition of the People’s Daily.
Page 1: No reports again of any engagement by the senior leadership. But we do have a report about Xi Jinping and his Mexican counterpart, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, exchanging congratulatory messages to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the two countries' diplomatic relations. Xi talked about China and Mexico being “countries with time-honored civilizations and history.”
He added “that he attaches great importance to the development of China-Mexico relations, and stands ready to work with Lopez Obrador to take the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries as an opportunity to join hands, build on past achievements and forge ahead into the future. Xi added that he is willing to work with the Mexican leader to advance traditional friendship, deepen win-win cooperation, stimulate common development, and continuously enrich the China-Mexico comprehensive strategic partnership so that the two peoples can forever be good friends who trust each other as well as good partners that share prosperity.”
Next, there’s a report (English report) about the new State Council plan on building the national emergency system during the 14th FYP. As per the plan, “the goal is to make significant progress in modernizing the emergency management system by 2025, with higher-level rule of law, scientific and technological information, and comprehensive support systems. And the ability of the whole society to prevent and respond to disasters and accidents will be enhanced. By 2035, an emergency response system with Chinese characteristics that is compatible with the modernization stage should basically be established, the plan said.”
Finally, there’s a piece about efforts to improve access to and quality and affordability of medical care. It talks about the establishment of and service provision at county-level medical centres. There’s some useful data here:
In 2019, the National Health and Health Commission launched a pilot project for the construction of county-level medical communities/centres. It identified 754 counties in Shanxi, Zhejiang and other provinces as pilot counties. Based on the pilots, this has been scaled up to now there being more than 4,000 such county-level centres.
In April 2018, the guidelines on Promoting the Development of ‘Internet+Medical Health’ were released. At present, statistics from the NHC show that there are more than 1,600 Internet hospitals and 7,700 hospitals at or above the secondary level provide online services. The rate of online medical appointments in tertiary hospitals has exceeded 50 percent.
Since 2021, the National Medical Insurance Administration, the Ministry of Finance and other departments have made great efforts to promote cross-provincial medical insurance settlement, which has made it easier for people to get medical treatment without having to travel. By December 2021, direct cross-provincial settlement of general outpatient fees had been achieved in 31 provinces and all areas under the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. According to the data, in 2021, there were 4.4059 million cases of hospitalisation and 9.4960 million cases of outpatient expenses directly settled across provinces.
Page 2: The lead story on the page is the second in the series on the 10 clears. Do recall that the 10 clears is an important aspect of the core connotation of Xi Jinping Thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era. This one talks about the evolution of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
“Since the 18th Party Congress, socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era. This is a new historical orientation of China’s development. What kind of socialism with Chinese characteristics should we uphold and develop in the new era and how should we uphold and develop it? Focusing on the historical changes related to the overall situation, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core has grasped the overall trend and taken an overall view, setting out tasks, timetable, and roadmap for upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics:
We have put forward a profound exposition of the ‘Chinese Dream’, emphasising that we must unswervingly adhere to and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics;
To uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics, the overall task is to realise socialist modernization and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation;
From building a well-off society in an all-round way to basically realising modernization, and then building a modern socialist power in an all-round way, the strategic arrangements for the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era should be made clear;
‘Adhere to the Party's leadership over all work’, ‘Adhere to the people as the centre’... The 14-point basic policy is the basic strategy of adhering to and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era…”
党的十八大以来，中国特色社会主义进入新时代。这是我国发展新的历史方位。新时代坚持和发展什么样的中国特色社会主义、怎样坚持和发展中国特色社会主义？围绕关系全局的历史性变化，以习近平同志为核心的党中央把握大势、总揽全局，为坚持和发展中国特色社会主义明确清晰的任务书、时间表、路线图：提出并深刻阐述“中国梦”，强调必须坚定不移坚持和发展中国特色社会主义；明确坚持和发展中国特色社会主义，总任务是实现社会主义现代化和中华民族伟大复兴；从全面建成小康社会到基本实现现代化，再到全面建成社会主义现代化强国，明确新时代中国特色社会主义发展的战略安排；“坚持党对一切工作的领导”“坚持以人民为中心”……“十四个坚持”构成新时代坚持和发展中国特色社会主义的基本方略;
The next part of the article argues that “new contradictions call for new changes. Guided by the new development concept, a profound change concerning China’s overall development has started…Economic strength, scientific and technological strength, comprehensive national strength and people’s living standards have leapt to a new level; China ranks as the second-largest economy in the world; Build a well-off society in an all-round way, solve the problem of absolute poverty historically, and make steady progress towards the goal of common prosperity…‘We have made development achievements unprecedented in human history; the fundamental reason for this is that we have taken the right path’, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out profoundly. With a sense of self-confidence, today’s China declares: ‘We uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics, promote the coordinated development of material civilization, political civilization, spiritual civilization, social civilization and ecological civilization, and create a new path of Chinese modernization and a new form of human civilization.’ The choice of path is deeply rooted in our national conditions: ‘The modernization we are building must have Chinese characteristics and conform to China's reality’.” 新矛盾呼唤新变革。以新发展理念为指导，一场关系中国发展全局的深刻变革就此开启...经济实力、科技实力、综合国力和人民生活水平跃上新的台阶，稳居世界第二大经济体；全面建成小康社会，历史性地解决绝对贫困问题，向着共同富裕的目标稳步前进……“我们能够创造出人类历史上前无古人的发展成就，走出了正确道路是根本原因。”习近平总书记深刻指出。今日之中国，以自信自强的奋斗姿态宣示：“我们坚持和发展中国特色社会主义，推动物质文明、政治文明、精神文明、社会文明、生态文明协调发展，创造了中国式现代化新道路，创造了人类文明新形态。”深植国情的道路选择“我们建设的现代化必须是具有中国特色、符合中国实际的”
After this, there’s a brief reference to BRI and the aim of achieving “common development” for countries. This is followed by a reiteration that:
“All countries are sailing in the long river of time. Realising national prosperity and the happiness of its people depends on whether countries can follow the trend of the times and find a development path suitable to their national conditions. “To go our own way is not only the theoretical and practical grounding of the Party, but also the historical conclusion drawn by the Party’s century-long struggle,” General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out. ‘Chinese-style modernization’ Generally Secretary Xi Jinping has summarised as: ‘China’s modernization is a modernization with a large population, a modernization in which all the people enjoy common prosperity, a modernization in which material and spiritual civilization are coordinated, a modernization in which man and nature coexist in harmony, and a modernization in which we follow the path of peaceful development.’ ‘No one should be left behind on the road to common prosperity.’ What China has embarked on is a road of modernization aimed at the common prosperity of all people. 所有国家都在时间长河中航行，如何实现国家富强、人民幸福，看的就是能不能顺应时代潮流，走出一条适合国情的发展之路。“中国式现代化”，习近平总书记凝练概括：“我国现代化是人口规模巨大的现代化，是全体人民共同富裕的现代化，是物质文明和精神文明相协调的现代化，是人与自然和谐共生的现代化，是走和平发展道路的现代化”. “共同富裕路上，一个不能掉队。”中国走出的是一条以全体人民共同富裕为价值旨归的现代化之路——
This leads us to common prosperity. On this, the piece reiterates that:
“From getting rid of poverty, to building a well-off society in an all-round way, and then to achieving common prosperity, the original aspiration for the people remains unchanged. We should encourage hard work and innovation to get rich, adhere to the basic economic system, do what we can, and make gradual progress...General Secretary Xi Jinping’s plan for common prosperity has been translated into China’s courage and determination in the new era. Adhere to the protection and improvement of people’s livelihood through development, and always give priority to promoting high-quality development; constantly improve the public policy system, divide the cake well, and form a reasonable distribution pattern for everyone…” 从摆脱贫困，到全面小康，再到迈向共同富裕，为民初心恒久不变。鼓励勤劳创新致富，坚持基本经济制度，尽力而为量力而行，坚持循序渐进……习近平总书记对共同富裕的谋划，化为新时代中国的勇毅笃行。坚持在发展中保障和改善民生，始终把推动高质量发展放在首位；不断完善公共政策体系，把蛋糕分好，形成人人享有的合理分配格局...
Towards the end the piece talks about the two establishments, saying that it is of “decisive significance to the development of the cause of the Party and the country in the new era and to the historical process of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The light of thought illuminates the road to rejuvenation…”
Another report on the page worth noting is the inking 53 foreign-funded projects worth $5.44 billion (34.3 billion yuan). Among the signed projects, 37 involve key development industries such as biomedicine, electronic information, automobile, and fashion consumer goods, with an investment of $3.52 billion; 19 projects are in key functional areas and ‘five new cities’ (namely Jiading, Qingpu, Songjiang, Fengxian and Nanhui) with a total investment of $1.7 billion.
Page 9: The lead piece on the theory page is by the China Cyberspace Research Institute. This draws from the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Informatization (Full English translation of the plan here.
The first section of the article talks about digital development governance. Within this section, there are some key points made about the direction of governance of the digital economy:
promote the standardized, healthy and sustainable development of platform economy
“In recent years, the status and role of platform economy in China’s overall economic and social development has become increasingly prominent. The overall development trend is good and the role is positive. At the same time, there are some prominent problems:
the development of some platform enterprises is not standardised and there are risks;
the development of platform economy is not sufficient and there are shortcomings;
the problem of Internet platform monopoly has become increasingly prominent, which will affect the healthy development of the whole industry in the long run.
Perfecting laws, regulations and supervision mechanisms, and guiding operators in the field of platform economy to operate in compliance with laws and regulations will help safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of consumers and social and public interests, and promote the sustainable and healthy development of the digital economy.”
规范平台经济发展。习近平总书记指出：“我国平台经济发展正处在关键时期，要着眼长远、兼顾当前，补齐短板、强化弱项，营造创新环境，解决突出矛盾和问题，推动平台经济规范健康持续发展”。近年来，我国平台经济在经济社会发展全局中的地位和作用日益凸显，发展的总体态势是好的、作用是积极的，同时也存在一些突出问题，比如，一些平台企业发展不规范、存在风险；平台经济发展不充分、存在短板；互联网平台垄断问题日益突出，从长远看会影响行业整体的良性发展。完善法律法规和监管机制，引导平台经济领域经营者依法合规经营，有利于维护消费者合法权益和社会公共利益，促进数字经济持续健康发展。
Addressing risks: This quotes Xi as having talked about technologies being “double-edged swords” in that they can “benefit society and the people”, but can also be “used by some people to harm the public interest and the interests of the people.”
“At present, a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, represented by information technologies such as 5G, artificial intelligence, blockchain and big data, is accelerating. This has become the main driving force in promoting economic and social development. The wide application of digital technologies has not only changed people’s lives and communication styles, but also profoundly influenced people’s behaviour, ways of thinking, values and morals concepts, bringing potential risks. For example, the disclosure of personal information and data brings personal privacy protection risks, algorithm recommendation aggravates the ‘information cocoon’ (or echo chamber effect), and artificial intelligence brings ethical and security risks. 当前，以5G、人工智能、区块链、大数据等信息技术为代表的新一轮科技革命和产业变革加速推进，成为推动经济社会发展的主要动能。数字技术的广泛应用，在不断改变人们生活和交往方式的同时，也深刻影响人们的行为和思考方式以及价值观念和道德观念，带来了潜在风险。例如，个人信息和数据泄露带来个人隐私保护风险、算法推荐加剧“信息茧房”、人工智能技术带来伦理安全风险等.
Creating a clear/clean cyberspace: This says that “building a clear and bright cyberspace is a long-term task; it is necessary to continuously strengthen the governance of network content to ensure that the information content is standardized and positive. Constantly strengthen the construction of cyberspace code of conduct, and cultivate network ethics and code of conduct in line with socialist core values; further improve the system and mechanism, and constantly strengthen the supervision and inspection of the implementation of protection measures in related fields. 营造清朗的网络空间是一项长期工作，需要持续强化网络内容治理，确保信息内容规范、积极向上；不断加强网络空间行为规范建设，培育符合社会主义核心价值观的网络伦理和行为规范；进一步完善体制机制，不断加强相关领域保护措施落实情况的监督检查.
Strengthening cyber security: This says that “with the large-scale development of new technologies and applications, network security threats such as data leakage, cyber fraud, ransomware, security vulnerabilities and so on have become increasingly prominent, and network security work is facing new risks and challenges. Without network security, there will be no national security, there will be no stable economic and social operation, and the interests of the broad masses of the people can hardly be guaranteed. Protecting network security is an urgent task.” 随着新技术新应用的大规模发展，数据泄露、网络诈骗、勒索病毒、安全漏洞等网络安全威胁日益凸显，网络安全工作面临新的风险挑战。没有网络安全就没有国家安全，就没有经济社会稳定运行，广大人民群众利益也难以得到保障。保护网络安全刻不容缓.
So what must be done? The second section of the article talks about future policy direction.
The first point says that the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Informatization “‘emphasizes strengthening the platform governance system, including “perfecting reporting and handling disclosure mechanisms for unlawful content; guide platform enterprises to publish the self-inspection and handling situation of content violating laws and regulations in a timely, active, and open manner; provide timely warnings of and eliminate major risks and vulnerabilities’, which provides a guide for platform enterprises to check potential risks in advance. The plan puts forward that platform enterprises should ‘use ever more resources for innovative technology applications; enhance platform quality services; optimize platform operating rules and platform commerce environment, and stimulate the healthy development of the sector’. This aims at encouraging platform enterprises to strengthen innovation capacity building, improve the level of product service to the public, and go further in promoting breakthroughs in key core technologies, promoting the development of China's digital economy and better benefiting the people.” 《规划》强调强化平台治理体系，包括“完善违法内容举报与处理披露机制，引导平台企业及时主动公开违法违规内容自查处置情况，及时预警排查重大风险隐患”，这为平台企业超前排查风险隐患提供了指南。《规划》提出“鼓励平台企业将更多资源用于创新技术应用，提升产品质量服务，优化平台运行规则和平台营商环境，促进行业健康发展”，旨在鼓励平台企业加强创新能力建设，提高产品服务大众水平，在推动关键核心技术突破、推动我国数字经济发展、推动更好造福人民上更进一步.
The next point is about strengthening the governance of technical rules. These refer to areas like say algorithms and data. The motivation to do so is clearly spelt out here: “At present, the ability of scientific and technological innovation has become the decisive factor of comprehensive national strength competition. To realise the improvement of science and technology and make innovative science and technology useful to mankind, we must constantly establish and improve the governance system of technical rules.” 当前，科技创新能力已成为综合国力竞争的决定性因素。实现科技向善，使创新科技为人类所用，必须不断建立健全技术规则治理体系.
The next point is about strengthening content governance in cyberspace.
The fourth point is about strengthening capacity building on network security. This talks about the new laws and regulations that have been cleared and quotes from the plan to say: “strengthen joint advances in cybersecurity core technologies; launch research in critical technologies such as high-level threat prevention, state sensing, monitoring and early warning; establish secure and controllable cybersecurity software and hardware protection systems.”
The final section talks about three broad measures to improve the capacity for digital development governance. These are strengthening top-level design, improving the rule of law system, and strengthening technical support.
Other Stories:
The entire international page is dedicated to a feature on China-Africa vocational education cooperation. Four stories are part of the feature.
Some exchanges from the Chinese foreign ministry’s briefing yesterday. None of this is in PD, but it’s worth going through.
On the situation around Ukraine:
TASS: According to foreign media reports, the US is evacuating almost all the staff from its embassy in Ukraine. Does China plan to act similarly?
Wang Wenbin: China is closely monitoring the development of Ukraine’s situation. The Chinese Embassy and Consulate-General in Ukraine are working normally, and the Embassy has issued a consular advisory that reminds Chinese citizens and institutions to closely follow the developments and increase their safety awareness. The Chinese Foreign Ministry and our Embassy in Ukraine will stay in close contact with Chinese citizens and institutions there, provide timely consular protection and assistance, and earnestly protect their safety and legitimate rights and interests.
Reuters: So again about Ukraine, does China plan on evacuating its citizens at any point? What might lead China to counsel its citizens to evacuate the country as other countries have done already?
Wang Wenbin: I just shared China’s position on your question when answering the previous one from TASS. I’d like to reiterate that China’s position on the Ukrainian issue is consistent and clear, and remains unchanged.
To solve the issue, it is necessary to return to the starting point of the Minsk-2 agreement, which is endorsed by the UN Security Council. As a fundamental political document recognized by all sides, the agreement should be earnestly implemented. All parties should work for the comprehensive resolution of the Ukraine crisis and issues concerned through dialogue and negotiation. We call on all parties to remain rational and refrain from making moves that may escalate the tensions and play up and sensationalize the crisis.
On the US’ Indo-Pacific Strategy:
Wang Wenbin: First I want to point out that ill intentions underlie the so-called “Indo-Pacific strategy” devised under the pretext of “the China threat”. What the US says in its “Indo-Pacific strategy” is different from what it is actually doing. The US claims to advance “freedom and openness” in the region, but is in fact forming an exclusive clique through AUKUS and QUAD. It asserts to strengthen regional security, but is generating grave nuclear proliferation risks that would undermine regional peace and stability. It professes to promote regional prosperity, but is stoking opposition and confrontation between regional countries which undercuts the ASEAN-centered regional cooperation architecture that has formed over the years, and poses a serious threat to regional cooperation outcomes and development prospects.
This “strategy” that resurrects the Cold War mentality and bloc politics has nothing new and no future, but will only bring division and turbulence to the Asia-Pacific. It will surely be greeted with nothing but vigilance and rejection from regional countries.
As to your specific question, we hope the country concerned could do more things that benefit regional peace, stability and development with the interests of Pacific island countries and their people in mind.
On the India-China situation after S. Jaishankar’s Australia visit
Wang Wenbin: With regard to the rights and wrongs of China-Australia relations, we have elaborated on China’s position many times and I will not repeat it here. The ins and outs of the situation on the China-India border are very clear and the responsibility does not lie with China. At present, China and India are in communication on further improving border management and control and confidence-building measures. We hope that the Indian side will strictly abide by a series of agreements signed by the two sides, refrain from making irresponsible remarks and take concrete actions and work with China to jointly safeguard peace and tranquility of the border area.