Li on Stable Growth - 'No Policy that Adversely Affects Market Expectations will be Introduced' - Wang Meets Lavrov & Qureshi - Zhong Sheng on US & NATO's Cold War Mentality - Zero-Covid Policy
Just a quick note. I’ll be skipping tomorrow’s edition owing to other commitments. Will be back on Monday.
Anyway, here are the stories and pieces that I found noteworthy from the Thursday, March 31, 2022, edition of the People’s Daily.
Page 1: Much of the front page is dedicated to Xi engaging in the annual tree-planting activity. The entire PSC + Wang Qishan were present at the event. Xinhua English has the story. It says:
“The leaders planted trees with people from Beijing at a city park in the southern district of Daxing. While planting saplings of different types of trees, Xi asked the young students around him about their studies, motivated them to foster a sense of hard work, and told them to boost their awareness of the need to protect the environment and conserve resources. ‘Since the 18th CPC National Congress, we have adhered to the notion that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets to fully promote the development of ecological civilization, advance afforestation and improve living environment in both urban and rural areas,’ Xi said. "A beautiful China is becoming a reality." The president also stressed continuous and arduous efforts to protect and restore the ecological system and achieve the fundamental improvement of the environment.”
Xi added:
At present, the ecological civilization in China has entered a critical period for eco-environment improvement, Xi said, calling for unswerving implementation of the new development philosophy and following the path of prioritizing ecological conservation and boosting green development. The president called for efforts to coordinate the protection and systematic management of mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands and sandy lands, advance scientific afforestation, increase the quantity and quality of forest and grass resources, and consolidate and enhance the carbon sink capacity of ecosystems. In doing so, we will make greater contribution to global environmental and climate governance and to the modernization featuring harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature.”
Next, there’s a story about the CMC issuing a series of new regulations on the management of PLA soldiers. The story says very little about the details of the documents. Here’s what Xinhua reports:
“The interim regulations on non-commissioned officers and conscripts, together with several supporting documents issued by the CMC, are aimed at enhancing professionalism and stability among non-commissioned officers, while allowing conscripts to play a more fundamental role in the development of China’s military talent, the military authorities said. They will also help boost the management of PLA soldiers by perfecting the recruitment, training, rank promotion, benefits and demobilization system for non-commissioned officers and conscripts, and will play a vital role in building a high-quality military that follows the leadership of the Communist Party of China.”
Third, there’s a report about the State Council’s weekly meeting. Three issues were reportedly discussed during the meeting; first, comprehensively strengthen workplace safety, resolutely prevent major accidents and making the most of government bonds to expand effective investment. Xinhua reports that the meeting demanded efforts to investigate the cause of the China Eastern Airlines plane crash and advance the settlement of the aftermath. All attendees of the meeting stood in silence to pay tribute to the victims of the plane crash.
This is an interesting assessment:
“The meeting noted the growing complexities in the international landscape, new challenges facing domestic development and increasing downward pressure on the economy. When formulating this year’s macro policies, various changes both in and outside of China have already been taken into account in a forward-looking way. Keeping the economy running stably in the first quarter and the first half of the year is crucial to achieving the target set for the whole year. It's imperative to swiftly implement the decisions and plans of the Party Central Committee and the policy steps laid out in the Government Work Report. The task of ensuring stable growth needs to occupy an even more prominent position. Coordinated moves will be taken to keep growth stable, promote structural adjustment, and carry out reform. Policies for keeping the economy stable should be introduced whenever possible, and no policy that adversely affects market expectations will be introduced. Contingency plans to cope with greater uncertainty will be drafted.” (The Chinese language version of this bit is here: 要抓紧落实中央经济工作会议精神和《政府工作报告》举措，坚定信心，咬定目标不放松，把稳增长放在更加突出的位置，统筹稳增长、调结构、推改革，稳定经济的政策早出快出，不出不利于稳定市场预期的措施，制定应对可能遇到更大不确定性的预案.)
And this is what’s being proposed:
“The meeting noted that, under the principle of keeping the macro leverage ratio generally stable, 3.65 trillion yuan of special-purpose bonds for local governments will be newly allocated for this year. In a bid to strengthen cross-cyclical adjustment, an advance quota worth 1.46 trillion yuan had been disbursed at the end of last year pursuant to law. Going forward, efforts will be made to deliver the remaining local government debt quota at a faster pace, prioritising regions with a strong position for debt service and sufficient candidate projects. ‘The advance debt quota allocated last year shall all be issued by the end of May, and the quota set for this year shall all be issued by the end of September,’ Premier Li said. "We must ensure that investment funds stay with projects they are allocated to. The launch and construction of projects will be expedited to generate more economic activities as quickly as possible.”
And this:
“With both immediate and long-term benefits in mind, investment in improving people's livelihood and strengthening areas of weakness will be scaled up, and construction of new infrastructure and other high-level projects that will enhance development sustainability supported. The usage of special-purpose bonds will be widened as appropriate. With priority given to projects involving transportation, energy, ecological protection, government-subsidized housing and other areas, public service projects that can generate certain returns will also be supported. Reform-oriented measures and market-based approaches will be applied to leverage the catalytic role of special-purpose bonds in attracting more investment from the private sector and supporting investment from private business. Treasury bonds and local government bonds will be issued in a well-coordinated way to maintain an appropriate scale of treasury funds and ensure the fiscal resources needed for primary-level governments to implement tax refunds and tax and fee cuts and improve people's livelihood. Purchase of treasury bonds by overseas medium- and long-term funds will be encouraged, and relevant preferential tax policies will be well implemented. The financial system should strengthen collaboration to ensure the orderly issuance of government bonds and support financing for project construction.”
Next, there’s a report (English report) on Han Zheng’s meeting with Turkmen Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov. “Han proposed China and Turkmenistan take collaboration on natural gas as the priority of pragmatic cooperation to elevate natural gas cooperation to a new high and actively expand cooperation in developing renewable energy such as wind and solar power. He also called for enhanced cooperation in agriculture, transportation, finance, and other fields. The two sides should deepen security cooperation to enhance the capacity of guarding against and responding to significant security incidents and work to promote people-to-people exchanges.”
Finally, there’s a long, long piece celebrating the anniversary of the first announcement of the Xiong’an New Area five years ago on April 1. I am not doing a full breakdown, but this is Xi’s pet project, and there’s a lot of mention of Xi’s instructions and personal leadership. The piece informs that “as of March this year, more than 100 state-owned enterprises have set up branches in Xiong’an New Area. In the past five years, there have been more than 3,600 Beijing-based investment source enterprises registered in the new area, accounting for more than 80% of the total.”
Page 3: There are a bunch of key reports on the page. First, MoFA’s comments (English report) on the upcoming China-EU summit. Here’s what Wang Wenbin said:
“As agreed by China and the EU, Premier Li Keqiang will hold the 23rd China-EU Summit with President of the European Council Charles Michel and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen via video link on April 1. The China-EU Summit has been successfully held for 22 times, playing an important strategic guiding role in the development of China-EU relations and bilateral dialogue and cooperation. During this upcoming meeting, President Xi Jinping will meet with President Michel of the European Council and President Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission via videolink. Premier Li Keqiang will co-chair the meeting with President Michelle and President Ursula von der Leyen via videolink. The current international situation is unstable and volatile, with rising uncertainties. China and the EU are two major forces for world peace, two major markets for common development and two major civilizations for humanity’s progress. The two sides should strengthen strategic communication, enhance mutual trust, build consensus and conduct dialogue and cooperation on the basis of mutual respect, mutual benefit and win-win results, so as to promote the sustained and sound development of China-EU relations and inject stability and positive energy into the complex and turbulent international situation. On the issue of condemnation, we have stated China’s position on many occasions. I think it would be behind the curve to keep asking the question. We hope the international community will say and do more that are conducive to dialogue and negotiation and make joint efforts for realizing peace and seeking a political settlement of the Ukraine issue at an early date, instead of setting up obstacles.”
There’s another report with two questions from MoFA’s press conference yesterday on Ukraine.
CCTV: On March 29, the fifth round of negotiation between Russia and Ukraine was held in Istanbul. The representative of Russia said that the meeting was “meaningful”. The representative of Ukraine said that the Ukrainian side proposed to fix its status as a non-bloc and non-nuclear state in the form of permanent neutrality. What is your comment?
Wang Wenbin: We noted the positive signals sent by the two sides in the negotiation. It is China’s consistent belief that dialogue and negotiation is the only right way to resolve the Ukraine crisis. We call on both Russia and Ukraine to stick to the course of dialogue and negotiation, work in the same direction and reach consensus on a political resolution to avoid further escalation of the situation and restore peace at an early date. Under the current circumstances, the international community should speak and act in a way conducive to dialogue and negotiation, and support Russia and Ukraine in keeping the talks going to bring about outcomes for peace. It is important to stay wary of and prevent adding fuel to the fire and heightening tensions, which will only impede the diplomatic settlement of the issue.
TASS: Will China, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, serve as a guarantor of the Russia-Ukraine peace deal? (Quick thought: I thought this was a really interesting question and answer. I would think that Beijing would want to keep away from getting directly involved. But the answer leaves open possibilities. Let’s see what we get in the next couple of days.)
Wang Wenbin: China supports and encourages all diplomatic efforts for the peaceful settlement of the Ukraine crisis and is happy to see Russia and Ukraine in dialogue and negotiation. China always holds that the legitimate security concerns of all countries should be taken seriously. We are ready to work with the rest of the international community to uphold common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, and support the establishment of a balanced, effective and sustainable European security mechanism. China has been making an effort for peace and will continue to play a constructive role in its own way in promoting the deescalation of tensions in Ukraine. We will work with other parties toward the direction of the resolution of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and restoration of peace in Europe at an early date.”
Next, there’s a combined report about Wang Yi’s meetings with Pakistani and Russian foreign ministers. Xinhua English has individual reports on each of these.
The first one with Lavrov says:
“Noting that China-Russia ties have stood the new test of a changing international landscape, Wang said the relationship has maintained its correct direction and shown strong resilience. ‘Both sides have a firmer will to develop bilateral relations, and stronger confidence to advance cooperation in various areas,’ Wang said. China is willing to work with Russia to push the relationship to a higher level in the new era, guided by the important consensus between the two heads of state, Wang said. For his part, Lavrov said the strategic communication between the two heads of state has played an important role in ensuring the stable development of bilateral relations and promoting a multi-polar world. He said Russia is willing to work with China on the international and multilateral arena to promote the multipolarization process, oppose hegemony and power politics, and uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. Lavrov informed the Chinese side of the Russia-Ukraine talks, saying Russia is committed to easing the tensions, continuing peace talks with Ukraine, and maintaining communication with the international community. Noting that the Ukraine issue has a complicated history, Wang said China supports Russia and Ukraine in overcoming difficulties to continue their peace talks, supports the positive outcomes achieved in the negotiations so far, and supports the deescalation of the tensions as soon as possible and the efforts of Russia and other parties to avoid a large-scale humanitarian crisis. From a long-term perspective, lessons should be taken from the Ukraine crisis, and all parties' legitimate security concerns should be responded to on the basis of mutual respect and indivisible security, he said. He called for establishing a balanced, effective and sustainable European security structure through dialogue and negotiation in order to realise lasting peace in Europe. The two sides also exchanged views on other multilateral affairs such as the Asia-Pacific situation and the BRICS mechanism.”
Let me add to this a comment from Wang Wenbin yesterday:
Reuters: Before the Beijing Olympics started, the Chinese and Russian Presidents said that the two countries’ cooperation would have no limits. Now if we are widening cooperation now, what does that mean and how much are we widening it in which areas?
Wang Wenbin: There is no limit to China-Russia cooperation in the pursuit of peace, no limit to our efforts to safeguard security, and no limit to our opposition to hegemony. China-Russia relations feature non-alliance, non-confrontation, and non-targeting of any third party.
The Xinhua story with Shah Mehmood Qureshi covers their chat on CPEC and talks up bilateral ties. None of the language in this is new. But the bit on Ukraine was interesting:
“Qureshi said that Pakistan and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) are deeply concerned about the multiple challenges brought by the spillover of the crisis to developing countries, and they advocate respecting international law and the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and resolving disputes through diplomatic means. Pakistan is willing to work with China to adopt a common position and make a unified voice, Qureshi added. China and Pakistan, like other developing countries, adhere to the general direction of dialogue, negotiation and the restoration of peace, Wang said. ‘Under the current circumstances, we should be especially vigilant against the negative spillover effects of the Ukraine crisis,’ Wang said. ‘We must not allow the Cold War mentality to resurface in Asia. We must not allow bloc confrontation to repeat in Asia. We must not allow small and medium-sized countries in the region to become tools or even victims of major-country rivalry.’ He said China is ready to work with Pakistan and neighboring countries to play a constructive role in regional and world peace and stability.”
Next, there’s the third in the Zhong Sheng series. This one focuses on the “destructive consequences” of Cold War mentality. The piece says that a few days ago, a rally took place in Belgrade to oppose NATO. The people marched to protest the fact that “23 years ago, the the United States-led NATO blatantly bypassed the United Nations Security Council and bombed the sovereign country Yugoslavia for 78 days. The Serbian people will never forget this war crime (战争罪行) committed by NATO, the Chinese people will never forget it, and the people of the world will never forget it.” 日前，塞尔维亚民众在首都贝尔格莱德举行“我们反对北约”的大规模游行，抗议以美国为首的北约23年前公然绕过联合国安理会，对主权国家南联盟进行了78天的持续轰炸。对于北约犯下的这一战争罪行，塞尔维亚人民不会忘记，中国人民不会忘记，世界人民也不会忘记.
The piece goes on to call the US and NATO, which “cling to Cold War mentality,” the “biggest source of turmoil in the world.” The author blames the war in Ukraine on the “conspiracy and interference of the United States” and the eastward expansion of NATO. “It can be said that the United States-led NATO insisted on pushing the so-called ‘collective security’ line to the Russian-Ukrainian border, which was tantamount to directly closing the door for a negotiated settlement of the conflict with Russia, leading to an armed confrontation.” 可以说，美国主导下的北约执意将所谓“集体安全”防线不断推向俄乌边境，等于是直接关闭了与俄罗斯协商解决冲突的大门，导致兵戎相向.
The next two paragraphs lash out at the US for being “addicted” to war and conflict. According to the commentary, the reason why the US do all these nasty things is that “it only really cares about its so-called dominant position in the international situation, especially in the game of big powers.” 美国一再挑起冲突和战争的事实、对劝和促谈毫无兴趣的冷漠，甚至有意将冲突长期化的意图，都再清楚不过地说明，维护全球和区域安全稳定，从来不是美国战略排序的优先选项，它真正在意的，只是自己在国际格局特别是大国博弈中的所谓主导地位.
Page 4: A report with the State Intellectual Property Office informing that China is home to 690,000 IPR talents. A major in IPR has been added as an education speciality and intellectual property studies institutes have been established in more than 50 universities across the country. The goal is to have 1 million IPR talents in the country by 2025. I am not sure, however, how this figure is being tabulated.
Page 8: There’s a piece on the dynamic zero-Covid policy. I’ve covered the views on this for the past couple of days. This piece again emphasises that importance of sticking to dynamic zero-Covid. At the very beginning, the piece states that “we should clearly realise that China has the foundation, national conditions and ability to adhere to the general policy of ‘dynamic zero COVID’.” 当前正是疫情防控最吃劲的关键时期，我们要清楚地认识到：中国有基础、有条件、有能力坚持“动态清零”总方针.
The article later informs that the dynamic zero-COVID policy was launched in August 2021. And since then, “a series of precise prevention and control measures have been quickly implemented, and China has achieved the greatest results in epidemic prevention with the lowest cost.” 在总结经验的基础上，2021年8月，中国开启全链条精准防控的“动态清零”。以抓早、抓小、抓基础为基点，提升疫情防范和早发现能力：高效有序的核酸检测、科学精准的流调溯源、分类分级防控管理……一系列精准防控举措迅速落地，中国以最小成本取得防疫最大成效. — Quick Thought: Basically, the argument being made, if I understand correctly, is that zero-COVID is not just good for saving lives but also the lowest-cost policy alternative.
For instance, later the piece warns that given China’s national conditions and the nature of the virus, “if we ignore ‘prevention’ and focus on ‘treatment’, China's medical system will face the risk of breakdown.” 如果不管“防”，只管“治”，中国医疗体系将面临击穿危险。The next sentence makes the point that I was making earlier in my quick thought:
“‘Dynamic zero-Covid’ is the best choice at this stage based on the current epidemic situation in China, and striving to achieve ‘dynamic zero-COVID’ in a short period of time is still the most economical and effective epidemic prevention and control strategy.” “动态清零”是现阶段基于中国当前疫情形势的最佳选择，力争在短时间内做到“动态清零”，依然是最经济、最有效的疫情防控策略。
Also, do note this:
Page 9: The theory page today is focussed on the second of the 10 Clears from the recent history resolution. A couple of days ago, the page was dedicated to the first set of articles in this series, if you recall. The second clear is:
“The overarching task of upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics is to realize socialist modernization and national rejuvenation, and that on the basis of completing the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, a two-step approach should be taken to build China into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful by the middle of the 21st century, and to promote national rejuvenation through a Chinese path to modernization.”
The first piece on the page is by the Party Committee of the Development Research Center of the State Council. The piece says that in the new era, the external environment is much more “complex and severe” and the country’s principal contradiction has changed. And while the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation continues to have “unprecedented bright prospects”, “there will be various predictable and unpredictable risks and challenges along the way.” Ergo, what is needed is confidence and not being afraid of risks and interference and not relaxing.
The final section of the article talks about the importance of pursuing Chinese-style modernization. It says that this is a unique effort:
Chinese-style modernization is the modernization of one billion people. The modernization of such a big population, which is more than the combined population of all developed countries, is unprecedented in world history.
Chinese-style modernization is a socialist modernization, which must embody the essential requirements of socialism, promote the common prosperity of all people, and abandon the old road of capital-centred modernization and the polarised modernization in the West.
In the process of modernization, some western countries have only pursued the accumulation of material wealth, which has led to the expansion of materialism, the prevalence of extravagance, and finally the ‘loss of spiritual home’.
Chinese-style modernization must ensure that man and nature coexist in harmony.
The modernization process of some western countries has been accompanied by external expansion and plunder, which has not only brought great disasters to other countries, but has also led to their own people suffering from war. Chinese-style modernization takes the road of peaceful development and advocates the construction of a Community of Shared Future for Mankind.
The second piece is by Han Baojiang from the Xi Jinping Thought Research Center at the Central Party School. Han mentions the Two Establishments and the 4-4-2 formula. Han also mentions common prosperity. Finally,
Other Stories:
A report (English report) informing us that China’s first intelligent deep-sea oil and gas storage center was put into operation on Wednesday in Hainan Province. Covering an area of about 7,000 square meters, the storage center is the largest one in the field and also world-leading in technologies, said Zhao Feng who works for the Hainan branch of China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC).
A report informing that the China Shandong International Economic & Technical Cooperation Group has signed a road upgrade project deal in Dhaka. The project is worth 911 million yuan.