PBSC Visits Yan'an - State Council Calls for Focus on Policy Implementation - CMC on Implementing Congress' Spirit - Wang Speaks to Russian, Saudi FMs - FDI Data - Foreign Affairs-related Legal Work
Here are the stories and pieces that I found noteworthy in the Friday, October 28, 2022, edition of the People’s Daily.
Page 1: The top story on the page is on Xi Jinping leading the new Politburo Standing Committee to Yan’an revolutionary memorial site. The report informs that the first stop in the visit was Yangjialing, the site of the launch of the Yan’an rectification movement, which had led to the purge of Mao’s rivals in the Party and subsequent the 7th Party Congress in 1945.
Here’s how the report discusses the rectification movement and the 7th Congress.
“Politically, through the rectification movement in Yan'an, the entire Party united under the banner of Mao Zedong, thereby achieving unprecedented unity and solidarity. Ideologically, the Party established the guiding position of Mao Zedong Thought and wrote Mao Zedong Thought into the Party constitution. Organisationally, the Party established a tried-and-true group of politicians holding high the banner of Mao Zedong. The Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China occupies an extremely important position in the history of the Party, pointing out the correct direction and opening up the correct path for the Party to move from victory to victory.” 在政治上，党通过延安整风，使全党团结在毛泽东的旗帜下，实现了党的空前统一和团结. 在思想上，党确立了毛泽东思想在全党的指导地位，把毛泽东思想写入了党章。在组织上，党形成了一支高举毛泽东旗帜的久经考验的政治家集团。党的七大在党的历史上具有极其重要的地位，为党后来不断从胜利走向胜利指明了正确方向、开辟了正确道路.
The report then talks about the PBSC visiting the former residences of Mao Zedong and other older revolutionaries. Xinhua English summarises this bit well.
“Comparing the revolutionary sites in Yan'an to a book worth reading forever, Xi said that they served as witnesses to the glorious journey of the Party in leading the Chinese revolution and exploring ways to adapt Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times during the Yan'an period. A guide gave an introduction about how the well-known revolutionary song ‘The East is Red’ was written and became popular. Such songs extolling the Party and Chairman Mao were all created by the people spontaneously, which showed clearly that the people chose Mao Zedong and he enjoyed their support, Xi said.” — Quick thought: I guess Xi too would like some spontaneous love and support.
The next stop was the Yan'an Revolutionary Memorial Hall to visit an exhibition on the 13 years of the CPC Central Committee in Yan'an. Again Xinhua English does a good summary. “From 1935 to 1948, the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, of which Yan'an was the center, was the seat of the CPC Central Committee. It served as the center of political guidance in the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, and the general rear area of the Chinese people's struggle for liberation.” The PD report talks about the different sections of the exhibition that they saw. Finally, Xi then delivered a speech.
Xi “hailed Yan'an as a holy site of the Chinese revolution and the cradle of New China. He noted that it was in Yan'an that the Party's Central Committee and veteran revolutionaries, including Mao Zedong, led China's revolutionary cause from a low point into an upsurge, reached a historical turning point, and transformed the prospects of the country.” He talked about having worked in the Yan’an area for seven years and referenced his parents also having experience in Yan’an. He added:
“The purpose of this visit, together with members of the PBSC, is to declare that the new central leadership will inherit and carry forward the fine revolutionary tradition and style of work formed by the Party during the Yan’an period, and carry forward the Yan’an spirit.” 这次和中央政治局常委同志一起来，就是要宣示新一届中央领导集体将继承和发扬延安时期党形成的优良革命传统和作风，弘扬延安精神.
He said that the the glorious tradition and fine work style formed and carried forward during the Yan’an period, nurtured and established the ideological line of maintaining firm and correct political orientation, the guiding principles of emancipating the mind and seeking truth from facts, the fundamental purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly, and the enterprising spirit of self-reliance and hard work as the main content. The Yan'an spirit is the Party’s precious spiritual wealth, which should be passed down from generation to generation. 习近平强调，在延安时期形成和发扬的光荣传统和优良作风，培育形成的以坚定正确的政治方向、解放思想实事求是的思想路线、全心全意为人民服务的根本宗旨、自力更生艰苦奋斗的创业精神为主要内容的延安精神，是党的宝贵精神财富，要代代传承下去.
After this, Xi had a set of instructions for present-day leaders:
He said that maintaining “a firm and correct political orientation is the essence of the Yan’an Spirit.” He then told the current leadership that “all comrades should adhere to the correct political orientation, resolutely implement the Party’s basic theory, line and strategy, resolutely implement the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee, and continue to push forward the great cause created by the older generation of revolutionaries. 全党同志要坚持正确政治方向，坚决贯彻党的基本理论、基本路线、基本方略，坚决落实党中央决策部署，把老一辈革命家开创的伟大事业继续推向前进.
All comrades should stand firm on the people’s stand, practice the Party’s purpose, implement the Party’s mass line, maintain the flesh-and-blood ties between the Party and the people, consciously put the people-centred development philosophy as a part of all work, solidly promote common prosperity, and ensure that the achievements of the modernisation drive benefit the people in a more equitable manner. 全党同志要站稳人民立场，践行党的宗旨，贯彻党的群众路线，保持党同人民群众的血肉联系，自觉把以人民为中心的发展思想贯穿到各项工作之中，扎实推进共同富裕，让现代化建设成果更多更公平惠及全体人民.
All comrades should vigorously carry forward the spirit of self-reliance and hard work. Irrespective of how rich our material life is in the future, the spirit of self-reliance and hard work must not be lost. We should be down to earth, work hard, concentrate on managing our own affairs well, and further the development of the country and the nation on the basis of our own strength. 全党同志要大力弘扬自力更生、艰苦奋斗精神，无论我们将来物质生活多么丰富，自力更生、艰苦奋斗的精神一定不能丢，脚踏实地、苦干实干，集中精力办好自己的事情，把国家和民族发展放在自己力量的基点上.
All comrades should carry forward the glorious tradition and fine work style of the older generation of revolutionaries and communists, bravely push forward the Party’s self-revolution, unswervingly promote the comprehensive and strict governance of the Party, always maintain the Party’s advanced nature and purity, and ensure that the Party remains the strong leadership core of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics. 全党同志要把老一辈革命家和共产党人留下的光荣传统和优良作风传承好发扬好，勇于推进党的自我革命，坚定不移推进全面从严治党，始终保持党的先进性和纯洁性，确保党始终成为中国特色社会主义事业的坚强领导核心.
All comrades should carry forward the spirit of struggle, improve their fighting skills, resolutely overcome all kinds of difficulties and challenges on the road ahead…” 全党同志要发扬斗争精神、提高斗争本领，坚决战胜前进道路上的各种困难和挑战，依靠顽强斗争打开事业发展新天地.
He finally said that “the 20th Party Congress had the major policies of the party and the country for the present and the future, and has drawn a grand blueprint for comprehensively promoting the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation with Chinese-style modernisation. Let's embark on a new journey and set out towards a new goal!” 习近平强调，党的二十大制定了当前和今后一个时期党和国家的大政方针，描绘了以中国式现代化全面推进中华民族伟大复兴的宏伟蓝图。让我们踏上新征程，向着新的奋斗目标，出发!
Quick thought: As many folks have already pointed out, after the 18th Party Congress, Xi visited the Road to Rejuvenation exhibition talking about the China Dream. After the 19th Congress, he went to the site of the first Congress in Shanghai and talked about the original mission and aspiration. This time around, the signal with the visit to Yan’an is one of celebrating a parallel and brooking no opposition. From my perspective, the former is evident when Xi talks about the establishment of the guiding position of Mao Zedong Thought and putting in place a set of tried and tested leaders to hold up that banner. The latter is evident in his emphasis on maintaining the correct political orientation and furthering self-revolution.
Next on the front page is a report about Xi’s letter to the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. Xinhua reports:
“Noting that the world today is neither tranquil nor peaceful, Xi said closer communication and cooperation between China and the United States, both as major countries, will help bring greater stability and certainty to the world, and promote world peace and development. China stands ready to work with the United States to find the right way to get along with each other in the new era on the basis of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, which will benefit not only the two countries but also the whole world, Xi said. Xi said he hopes the committee and all those who care for and support China-U.S. relations will continue to play an active role and help bring the bilateral relations back to the track of sound and steady development.”
Finally, the full CCDI work report presented at the 20th Congress has been reproduced in the paper today. I am not doing a breakdown of this.
Page 2: First, there’s a report on the State Council’s weekly meeting. Xinhua English has a good summary. Discussing the measures adopted since April to stabilise the economy, the report says:
“These policy measures are both forceful and appropriate, which are conducive to stabilizing the current economic performance and promoting sustained development. The economic slide in early second quarter was reversed in time. The economy is stabilizing and picking up, which is no easy feat. This also creates a critical window of opportunity for boosting the upward momentum. Efforts will be made to ensure policy implementation and further unlock policy effects, keep employment and prices stable, secure better economic performance in the fourth quarter over the third and keep major economic indicators within a proper range. The meeting urged greater efforts to implement on the ground the policy package for stabilizing the economy and its follow-up policies. Policies such as tax refunds, tax deferrals, fee cuts and pro-job subsidies will be thoroughly executed. Efforts will be made to ensure stable energy supply. Further efforts will be made to keep transportation and logistics services open and smooth. Greater support will be introduced to promote sustained and sound development of the platform economy. The taskforces that supervise and assist the efforts for stabilizing overall economic performance should continue to supervise and coordinate the settlement of problems.”
Also:
“It is imperative to keep advancing reform and opening-up, deepen the reform of government functions, and foster a better business environment. Supervision and inspection will be enforced to ensure full policy delivery to anchor market expectations and boost confidence of market entities. All localities and all departments must fulfill their duties in meeting people's basic needs, and deliver on the policies of expanded subsistence allowance coverage and provision of unemployment subsidy and relief allowance. The mechanism of raising social benefits pro rata with price increase will be earnestly implemented. Local governments with real difficulties will be subsidized by the central government as appropriate, to make sure people's basic living needs are well met.”
Further, the report adds:
“The meeting noted the need to expedite the delivery of the policies for spurring investment and consumption, to address the problem of insufficient effective demand. Fiscal and financial policy instruments that support key projects and equipment upgrading and renovation should generate more physical gains in the fourth quarter. It is imperative to ensure efficient operation of the relevant coordination mechanism, to kick-start more projects and accelerate construction while ensuring project quality. Funds for projects that fail to start as scheduled will be reallocated to new ones. Private investment will be supported to participate in key projects. The issuance of loans for equipment upgrading and renovation will be expedited, and purchase of homegrown and foreign-made equipment will be supported on an equal basis, to expand manufacturing demand and guide expectations. Efforts will be made to promote the recovery of consumption as the main driving force for the economy. Construction of key projects and equipment upgrading and renovation should be better aligned with the goal of spurring consumption. Public works programs will be expanded to create jobs, raise income and boost consumption. Equipment upgrading and renovation by micro, small and medium-sized businesses and related to consumption will be supported by the special re-lending facility and government-funded interest subsidies. Policies will be implemented to support consumption of big-ticket items such as automobiles and consumer services. City-specific policies will be adopted to meet people's basic housing needs and the need for improved housing conditions.”
Second, there’s a report on the NPCSC meeting. I think this Xinhua English report captures the key points.
Third, there’s a report on the CMC holding an executive meeting to study the spirit of the 20th Party Congress. The report says:
“The meeting pointed out that Chairman Xi has made a series of important instructions for the military to study, publicise and implement the spirit of the 20th Party Congress. We must resolutely implement it, carefully plan and organise, and lead our subordinates to do solid work in terms of the CMC’s own study and implementation; all levels of the armed forces must align their thinking and actions with the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee and Chairman Xi; they must deeply comprehend the decisive significance of the Two Establishments, and gather a strong force to achieve the PLA’s centennial goal as scheduled.” 会议指出，习主席对军队学习宣传贯彻党的二十大精神作出一系列重要指示，必须坚决抓好贯彻落实，精心筹划组织，以上率下把军委自身学习贯彻的工作做扎实，带领各级把思想和行动统一到党中央、习主席决策部署上来，深刻领悟“两个确立”的决定性意义，凝聚起如期实现建军一百年奋斗目标的强大力量.
The report further stated:
“It is necessary to take effective measures to promote the implementation of the spirit of the 20th Party Congress in accordance with the requirements of paying close attention to achieving results. It is necessary to learn, understand and implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, vigorously improve the style of study, master ideological methods, and lay a solid ideological and political foundation for maintaining the core and obeying the command. It is necessary to be able to fight and win wars as the most practical test of learning and implementing, deepen research on combat issues, overcome weaknesses and tackle difficulties, continue to do a good job in reform and innovation, and improve our ability to prepare for wars in the new era. It is necessary to improve the work style, dare to take responsibility, pay close attention to implementation, and pay attention to efficiency, so as to turn the blueprint of a strong army into reality, one step at a time. It is necessary to establish rules and maintain strict discipline. The new CMC team should take the lead in exercising power with fairness, eliminating corruption, and self-discipline, so as to set a good example for all levels. 会议强调，要按照抓紧抓好抓出成效的要求，以有力举措推动党的二十大精神落地见效。要学懂弄通做实习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想，大力改进学风，掌握思想方法，打牢维护核心、听从指挥的思想政治根基。要把能打仗、打胜仗作为学习贯彻最实际的检验，深化作战问题研究，扭住短板弱项攻坚，持续抓好改革创新，提高新时代备战打仗能力。要改进工作作风，敢于担当、狠抓落实、讲求效率，把强军蓝图一步步变成现实。要开门立规矩、起步严纪律，新一届军委班子要在秉公用权、正风除弊、律己修身上带好头，为各级立起好样子.
Finally, there’s a commentary which basically praises the developments over the past 10 years and reiterates the importance of the Two Establishments and the Two Safeguards. The Two Establishments are described as the “greatest guarantee to overcome all difficulties and obstacles and deal with all uncertainties.” It also calls for the entire party to unite around Xi and maintain alignment with him in terms of thought, politics and actions.
Page 4: A couple of stories to note. First, Wang Yi’s chat with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Xinhua reports:
“Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a congratulatory message to Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, right after the 20th CPC National Congress, which reflected the high-level mutual trust and firm mutual support between China and Russia, said Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of CPC Central Committee. China is willing to deepen exchanges with Russia at all levels and promote bilateral relations and cooperation in various fields to a higher level, said Wang.”
Lavrov said that “the Russian side is willing to enhance contact at various levels with the Chinese side, deepen multilateral cooperation, and jointly safeguard peace and stability of the Asia-Pacific region and the world.”
The two sides discussed the Ukraine situation. Reuters reports that Lavrov thanked China for its support for Russia's position on a settlement to the conflict in Ukraine.
Second, Wang’s chat with Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, as the two presided over the fourth meeting of the political and diplomatic sub-committee under the China-Saudi Arabia high-level joint committee. Xinhua reports:
“With General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Xi Jinping continuing to steer the course, China will firmly brave all difficulties in the right direction and surely achieve the development strategy and goals set by the 20th National Congress of the CPC, he said. Wang said that China attaches great importance to the development of China-Saudi Arabia relations and puts Saudi Arabia at a priority position in China's overall diplomacy, its diplomacy with the Middle East region in particular. China appreciates Saudi Arabia's adherence to the one-China principle and the country's long-term and firm support on issues concerning China's core interests, including those related to Xinjiang, Taiwan, Hong Kong and human rights, Wang said. China appreciates Saudi Arabia's support for China's Global Development Initiative and welcomes Saudi Arabia's active participation in its implementation, said Wang, adding that China also appreciates Saudi Arabia's pursuing of an independent energy policy and making active efforts to maintain the stability of the international energy market. Wang said China supports Saudi Arabia in playing a bigger role in international and regional affairs. China stands ready to step up communication and coordination with Saudi Arabia on hotspot issues in the Middle East, jointly safeguard regional peace and stability, and strengthen coordination with Saudi Arabia on multilateral platforms such as the United Nations, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the G20.” —
Quick thought: That comment about an independent energy policy was particularly striking, given all the friction between Riyadh and Washington over the decision to cut output ahead of the midterms in the US. If the US is to impose serious costs on Saudi Arabia for that decision, let’s see what China will have to offer. For the moment, this is what Blinken has said:
“We’ve not been shy about making clear the extent to which we view that as a wrong decision and one that does nothing actually to advance our interests,” he said at a talk at the Bloomberg News bureau in Washington. He also said that the re-evaluation of the U.S.-Saudi relationship would be done “in a very deliberate fashion, in consultation with members of Congress as the president said, to make sure that the relationship better reflects our own interests.”
Third, a report informing that Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan will pay a state visit to China from November 2 to 4.
Page 7: A report with FDI data for the first nine months. This informs that FDI into the Chinese mainland, in actual use, expanded 15.6% year on year to 1.00376 trillion yuan. In USD terms, this was up 18.9 percent year on year to $155.3 billion.
FDI into the service industry was 741.43 billion yuan, an increase of 6.7%.
FDI into the high-tech industry increased by 32.3%; of this FDI into the high-tech manufacturing industry increased by 48.6% and the high-tech service industry increased by 27.9%
FDI from Germany, South Korea, Japan and the UK increased by 114.3%, 90.7%, 39.5% and 22.3%, respectively.
FDI into the eastern, central and western regions increased by 13.3%, 34.8% and 33%, respectively
China's non-financial outbound direct investment (ODI) reached 567.19 billion yuan in the first nine months of the year, up 8.5 percent year on year; In USD terms, this was up 6.3% from a year ago to $85.85 billion
In the first nine months, non-financial direct investment into countries along the Belt and Road increased 5.2% year on year to $15.65 billion
Second, a report informing that the total transaction volume of China’s national carbon trading market had reached 8.58 billion yuan, i.e., around $1.2 billion. Also, in 2021, emissions per unit of GDP decreased by 3.8% year-on-year. This is down 50.8% compared with the 2005 figure. In addition, the piece informs that the share of non-fossil energy in consumption increased to 16.6 percent. The total installed capacity of wind and solar power generation has reached 635 million kilowatts, the coal consumption per unit of nGDP has been significantly reduced. All of this is signalling prior to the new round of climate talks in Egypt in early November. Here’s Li Gao, head of the climate change office at China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment, calling on the developed world to “turn targets into actions” rather than simply put out “empty slogans.”
Page 8: A report informing that last month there were 7,561 cases of violations of the eight-point central regulation, involving 10,943 people.
Page 9: There’s an interesting piece on the legislative work needed to be done with regard to foreign-related work. This is by Cheng Hua’er from the law school at the Beijing Institute of Technology. She writes that amid increasing instability and uncertainty in the international environment, “we should speed up the strategic layout of foreign-related legal work, improve the legal level of foreign-related work, insist on speaking by rules and acting by rules.” 我们要加快涉外法治工作战略布局，提高涉外工作法治化水平，坚持用规则说话，靠规则行事.
What this implies is that China must:
“Accelerate the formation of a systematic and complete system of foreign-related laws and regulations, improve the judicial efficiency of foreign-related law enforcement, and strive to fill the shortcomings;
Establish a binding implementation mechanism for international agreements, and further improve the market-oriented, legalised and international business environment;
Guide enterprises and citizens to consciously abide by local laws, regulations and customs in the process of going out, and use laws and rules to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests;
Build a high-quality foreign-related legal service team and a number of high-level foreign-related legal service institutions, so as to make foreign-related legal protection and service work more effective.”
加快形成系统完备的涉外法律法规体系，提升涉外执法司法效能，努力补齐短板；建立有约束的国际协议履约执行机制，进一步完善市场化、法治化、国际化营商环境；引导企业、公民在走出去过程中更加自觉遵守当地法律法规和风俗习惯，运用法律和规则维护自身合法权益；建设一支高素质涉外法律服务队伍，建设一批高水平涉外法律服务机构，把涉外法治保障和服务工作做得更有成效.
The next paragraph is important too:
“To strengthen the construction of foreign-related rule of law, we need to adhere to the problem orientation, firmly grasp the main line of promoting the construction of Community of Shared Future for Mankind, focus on deep-seated contradictions, make scientific plans, and promote the development of international rule of law in a more just and reasonable direction.” 加强涉外法治建设，需要坚持问题导向，牢牢抓住推动构建人类命运共同体这条主线，聚焦深层次矛盾进行科学谋划，推动国际法治朝着更加公正合理方向发展. — Essentially, she is talking about China being diplomatically more effective in shaping global governance norms in order to protect its interests.
She adds:
“At present, it is especially necessary to take up legal weapons, occupy the commanding heights of the rule of law, comprehensively use legislative, law enforcement, judicial and other means to fight against risk factors such as geopolitical competition, long-arm jurisdiction, and technological blockade by some countries in order to better safeguard China’s political security and economic security, and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises and citizens; considering the imperfections in China’s legal system with regard to extraterritorial jurisdiction, it is important to strengthen research on the extraterritorial application of Chinese laws and promote the construction of the legal system for extraterritorial application; conform to the trend of global governance reform, actively participate in the formulation of international rules with a constructive attitude, and provide legal guarantee for building a community with a shared future for mankind. 当前，特别要针对一些国家挑起地缘竞争、搞长臂管辖和科技封锁等风险因素，拿起法律武器，占领法治制高点，综合利用立法、执法、司法等手段开展斗争，更好维护我国政治安全、经济安全，维护我国企业和公民合法权益；针对我国法域外适用法律体系还不够健全的问题，加强对我国法域外适用研究，推动我国法域外适用的法律体系建设；顺应全球治理变革趋势，以建设性态度积极参与国际规则制定，为构建人类命运共同体提供法治保障.