Boosting Chinese Brands - Drug Supervision - Real Estate Speculation & Ren Lixuan on New Development Concept
Here are the stories and pieces from the May 11, 2021, People’s Daily edition that I found noteworthy.
Page 1: The lead story today is about Xi’s letter to the editors of the Journal of Chinese Humanities. In it, he writes that in order to “strengthen confidence in being Chinese and let the world know and understand China better, it is necessary to have a deep understanding of Chinese civilization, and explain in depth how to better adhere to the Chinese road, carry forward the Chinese spirit and unite China's strength from the perspective of combining history with reality, theory and practice.” And in this the journal plays or should play a key role.
Next, Li Keqiang’s instructions regarding the competitiveness of Chinese brands; this is during this year’s China Brand Day event. He said that “all regions and relevant departments should adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping's new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics, conscientiously implement the decision-making arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, adhere to the priority of quality first and efficiency, promote brand awareness across the entire society, and guide enterprises to adhere to professionalism and craftsmanship.” What does Li mean by brand awareness here? Is this a subtle call to be vocal for local? But then, Li also wants Chinese brands to become a “reliable choice for domestic and foreign markets.” So I guess this is about more than just promoting Chinese brands locally.
Third, water is now being supplied to Tianjin and Hebei after the Liuwu River sluice in Wucheng County, Shandong Province. This is part of China’s South-North Water Transfer Project. Fourth, PSC member Wang Yang spoke to Egyptian Senate Speaker Abdel Razeq on Monday. Xinhua reports that Abdel Razeq “expressed the willingness to actively participate in the Belt and Road Initiative, deepen practical cooperation in various fields, and continue to firmly support China's principled position on the issues of Taiwan, Xinjiang and Hong Kong.”
Page 2: First, Vice Premier Sun Chunlan led a meeting on the Healthy China initiative. She said that going ahead “we should give priority to the development of people's health, reform and improve the disease prevention and control system, continue to promote the Healthy China initiative, strengthen the construction of regional medical centers and medical associations, deepen the comprehensive reform of public hospitals, promote the reform of the overall level of medical insurance and payment methods, and focus on solving the problem that it is difficult and expensive for people to see a doctor.” She also talked about not easing on the issue of COVID-19 prevention and boosting vaccine production.
Second, data from April (English report) show us that China’s logistics performance index, which tracks business volumes, new orders, employment, inventory turnovers and equipment utility rates in the sector, came in at 57.3 percent, up 2.4 percentage points from March. A number over 50 indicates expansion. The sub-index for new orders stood at 56.1 percent, while the sub-index for business activity expectations was 62.1 percent.
Finally, a report on the new “Implementation Opinions on Comprehensively Strengthening the Capacity Building of Drug Supervision.” There are six tasks under this:
Improve laws and regulations and standard systems, such as public information.
improve review capabilities and optimize review mechanisms - this is largely in the context of setting standard processes for TCM
improve the inspection and law enforcement system and case-handling mechanism, and strengthen departmental coordination - this is about setting standards for inspectors and enhancing state capacity.
improve inspection and testing capabilities and improve the emergency management system - this relates to inspection and testing systems for drugs, medical devices and cosmetics, adverse event monitoring systems and emergency response mechanisms.
improve the informatization traceability system and improve the application service level of “Internet + drug supervision”
implement China's Pharmaceutical Regulatory Scientific Action Plan to improve the quality of the regulatory team and the level of internationalization of supervision - apart from training for inspectors, this relates to building capacity for better regional regulatory cooperation within China and establishing facilities and networks to improve international regulatory cooperation.
Page 3: First, there’s a report from Nigeria, talking about BRI and China’s railways investment in the country and how that’s creating jobs. The story talks about the first female train operator and has comments like how China’s development experience suits Nigeria.
Second, a report that informs us that “nearly 20 Chinese and foreign journalists will go to Hotan, Kashgar, Urumqi and other places in Xinjiang from May 9 to 15 to learn about Xinjiang's economic and social development, cultural protection and inheritance, and freedom of religious belief.” Fascinating right, the government knows what journalists traveling to Xinjiang will be learning even before they really learn this. The report has some interactions between journalists and people. I don’t know whom this is supposed to convince.
For instance, we have this engagement between a Dutch journalist and a local.
Reporter: “Do you know that some people from outside have accused that the human rights of Xinjiang people have been violated? What response do you have to such a statement?”
Local: “I know a little bit about what the outside world says. I want to say that this is purely a lie! With the help of the government, we lived in a sturdy, earthquake-resistant house. There used to be a dirt road outside our door; now the government has built an asphalt road. Our life is getting better and better, and it is really visible.”
Here’s another:
Kyodo News reporter Okuma Yuichiro: “Did you go to the mosque to worship during Ramadan?”
Local: “We pray normally without any influence. Religion and prayer are our own business, and no one interferes.”
Next, another junket by the government. This one’s taking people to Yan’an, Shaanxi, and Xibaipo, Hebei. This is all in the context of the centenary celebrations. The report calls Yan’an as a “holy place of revolution.” The reporters also met with local tourists visiting the region. Read this AFP story for more.
Fourth, MoFA’s comments following WHO’s approval for Sinopharm’s vaccine. Hua Chunying said that “China will continue to work with the international community to promote vaccine equity and accessibility in the developing world and contribute to mankind's early victory over COVID-19. China has announced to provide 10 million doses of vaccines to COVAX mainly to meet the urgent need of developing countries. We will honor words with actions.” She then added: “What I can tell you is that China is providing more vaccines to developing countries than any other country. China is committed to building a community of health for all. We are the first to pledge to make vaccines a global public good and we are honoring our words with concrete actions. China has offered vaccine assistance to over 80 developing countries and exported doses to over 50 countries, as part of our continuous effort to remove ‘vaccine divide’.”
Finally, a report about China’s Red Cross providing aid to India to help combat the second wave of the virus. The story says that the Red Cross Society of China had provided 100 oxygen concentrators, 40 ventilators, other supplies and the cash assistance to the Indian Red Cross Society through the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. It also provided US$1 million in cash assistance.
Page 4: Today’s two historical figures in focus are Qu Qiubai and Cai Hesen. Both men were recognised among the “100 Heroes and Exemplary Characters” list in 2009. PD tells us that “Qu Qiubai, one of the early leaders of the Communist Party of China, a great Marxist, an outstanding proletarian revolutionist, theorist, and propagandist, is one of the founders of Chinese revolutionary literature.” It adds that Qu “served as the editor-in-chief of ‘New Youth’ and other publications. He published a large number of political essays, used Marxism to analyze China's national conditions, inspected China's social conditions, demonstrated the problems of China's revolution, and made pioneering contributions to the party's ideological and theoretical construction.”
The report tells us that in 1931, Qu was “persecuted by Wang Ming’s ‘Left’ wrong line and was dismissed from the central leadership position.” Qu was eventually arrested by the KMT in 1935 in Fujian and executed. The report ends with Mao’s praise for Qu.
Cai Hesen, meanwhile, was a close associate of Mao. He traveled to France in 1919 and translated many books on Marxism and the Russian Revolution. He communicated regularly with Mao and Chen Duxiu about setting up the CCP. He joined the Party in 1921 and in 1922 became a member of the Central Committee, responsible for propaganda work. By 1927, he entered the PSC. Cai eventually died at the age of 36 after he was detained in Hong Kong.
Page 6: First, a story that tells us that multiple central departments have been working together to manage the real estate market in China with the goal being to resolve risks. The story talks about actions taken by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, Ministry of Natural Resources and China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission. The report talks about the real estate market heating up since the beginning of this year.
“In this regard, whether it is departmental supervision and interviews, cracking down on illegal business loans, or rapid improvement of regulatory policies in many hot cities, and rectification and standardization of market order, they have all released clear signals: insist that the house is used for living, not for speculation.”
Here’s more:
“The steady and healthy development of the real estate market is not only a major economic issue, but also a major livelihood issue. Whether it is to meet the people’s eagerness to live in, or to prevent and resolve systemic risks, we must adhere to the positioning of houses for living, not for speculation, and promote the balanced development of finance, real estate, and the real economy.”
The authors call for the following:
localities and departments must take a firmer attitude and more effective methods to curb rising prices in “hot cities.”
authorities in hot cities must “effectively increase the supply of residential land, control land prices, and fully disclose residential land supply information.”
ensure controls over real estate financing; the proportion of new real estate loans as measured against overall loans fell from 44.8% in 2016 to 28% last year. So authorities must continue “strengthening of real estate financial control, and the role of housing tax regulation” in order to “support reasonable self-occupation needs and curb speculative investment.”
“the supply of affordable rental housing should be expanded, the long-term rental policy should be improved, and rental housing should be gradually given equal rights in enjoying public services.”
do not adopt a “one size fits all” model. Different markets have different conditions.
Page 15: Another long Ren Lixuan 任理轩 commentary today about Xi’s thoughts on the new development concept. The author argues that “the new development concept of innovation, coordination, greenness, openness, and sharing is an important content of Xi Jinping's thoughts on socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era and a scientific concept to ensure the sustainable and healthy development” of China.
The author tells us that “the 14th Five-Year Plan and 2035 long-term goals outline ‘adherence to the new development concept’ as a principle that must be followed for economic and social development.” He writes that “in October 2015, at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly put forward and systematically discussed the new development concept…(since then it has been) “strongly proven that the new development concept is a scientific concept that can stand the test of practice and history, and fully demonstrated the practical strength.” He then outlines a list of economic, social, environmental and scientific achievements over the past five years and says that these have been possible due to the adherence to the new development concept.
Here’s more:
“The new development concept directly points to the outstanding problems, bottlenecks and shortcomings in building a well-off society in an all-round way, and leads us to make breakthrough progress in optimizing structure, enhancing kinetic energy, resolving contradictions and filling shortcomings, thus promoting a more balanced, coordinated and sustainable development. The new development concept not only ensures decisive achievements in building a well-off society in an all-round way, but also fully considers the development requirements for a longer period, and leads the economic and social development in the new development stage.”
Thereafter, he talks about the external dimension and how that impacts the new development concept.
“进入21世纪以来，新兴市场国家和发展中国家群体性崛起，以往长期由西方国家主导的国际格局向世界多极化加速演变，国际博弈更加激烈；新一轮科技革命和产业变革蓬勃兴起，带来的生产力跃升和激烈竞争前所未有，推动世界经济结构、产业结构、国际分工发生深刻变革。同时，单边主义、保护主义、霸权主义抬头，经济全球化遭遇逆流，新冠肺炎疫情大流行使世界百年未有之大变局加速演变，我国发展的外部环境更加严峻复杂。能否做到准确识变、科学应变、主动求变，抓住机遇、应对挑战，更好实现自身发展，在很大程度上取决于发展理念是否适应新的发展环境和发展条件。在惊涛骇浪中，我们保持战略定力，集中力量办好自己的事，坚定不移贯彻新发展理念，全面做强自己。坚持创新在我国现代化建设全局中的核心地位，把科技自立自强作为国家发展的战略支撑；坚持实施区域重大战略、区域协调发展战略、主体功能区战略，构建高质量发展的区域经济布局和国土空间支撑体系；坚持绿水青山就是金山银山理念，促进经济社会发展全面绿色转型，建设人与自然和谐共生的现代化；坚持实施更大范围、更宽领域、更深层次对外开放，依托我国超大规模市场优势，促进国际合作，实现互利共赢；坚持人民主体地位，坚持共同富裕方向，始终做到发展为了人民、发展依靠人民、发展成果由人民共享……崇尚创新、注重协调、倡导绿色、厚植开放、推进共享的新发展理念，与当今世界发展进步的时代潮流高度契合，是我们在大变局中顺势而为、抢抓机遇、抵御风浪，赢得优势、赢得主动、赢得未来的强大思想武器.”
“Since the beginning of the 21st century, emerging market countries and developing countries have risen in groups. In the past, the international structure has long been dominated by Western countries, but there is an accelerated evolution toward multipolarization. The international game has become more intense; a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation is booming, bringing unprecedented productivity jumps and fierce competition, and profound changes in the global economic structure, industrial structure and international division of labor. At the same time, unilateralism, protectionism, and hegemonism are on the rise; economic globalization is experiencing a countercurrent, and the novel coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the evolution of major changes unseen in a century, and the external environment for my country's development has become more severe and complex. ‘Danger’ and ‘opportunity’ coexist in the great changes. Whether we can recognize change accurately, adapt scientifically, actively seek change, seize opportunities, meet challenges and realize our own development depends to a great extent on whether the development concept adapts to the new development environment and conditions. In the rough seas, we maintain strategic determination, concentrate our efforts on doing our own affairs well, unswervingly implement the new development concept, and strengthen ourselves in an all-round way.”
He then talks about the need to “insist on the core position of innovation in the overall situation of China’s modernization drive, and take technological self-reliance as a strategic support for national development...” The other components listed are are:
adhere to the implementation of major regional strategies, including coordinated regional development;
promote the overall green transformation of economic and social development,
adhere to the implementation of wider, broader, and deeper opening to the outside world, relying on China's super-large-scale market
adhere to the direction of common prosperity
The author then says that the new development concept “is a powerful ideological weapon for us to take advantage of the big changes, seize opportunities, resist wind and waves, gain advantages, win initiative, and win the future.”
After this we have a discussion on the new development stage, which I covered in yesterday’s post. But here’s a noteworthy paragraph about the challenges ahead:
“It must be noted that the problem of inadequate development in my country is still prominent; the task of reforming key links in key areas is still arduous; the innovation capability does not meet the requirements of high-quality development; the agricultural foundation is not stable; and the gap between urban and rural development and income distribution is large; environmental protection has a long way to go; people’s livelihood security has shortcomings; and social governance has weaknesses. At the same time, the international economy, technology, culture, security, and politics have undergone profound adjustments, and the world has entered a period of turbulent change. We will face more headwinds. At present and for a period of time in the future, my country's development is still in a period of important strategic opportunities, but there are new developments and changes in opportunities and challenges. Most of the opportunities and challenges are unprecedented. On the whole, opportunities outweigh challenges.”
The piece also talks about addressing technology supply chain bottlenecks, promoting self-reliance in technology, high-quality urbanisation, rural revitalisation and so on.
Page 18: On the international page today, we have a report on the clashes in Jerusalem, another about Iran formally confirming that talks were held with Saudi Arabia to “to alleviate regional tensions.” This is the first such dialogue that’s been reported since 2016. There’s also a detailed report on the development of digital currencies.