Praising Xi's Leadership on Pandemic Containment & Economic Development - Han Zheng on 'Effective Investment' - Shanghai's Tech Deals - WTO Ministerial Commentary - NPCSC Agenda - The Third Carrier

Here are the stories and pieces that I found noteworthy in the Friday, June 17, 2022, edition of the People’s Daily.

Page 1: The lead story on the page is emphatic in praising Xi Jinping’s leadership over the past few months in leading economic and social development work with courage and perseverance, despite the challenges brought by the Ukraine war and the pandemic. From a political perspective, this is an assertion of Xi’s dominance; from a policy point of view, this article clarifies that the economic costs of the Covid policy are short-term fluctuations and are acceptable.

“The CPC Central Committee with comrade Xi Jinping at the core has a profound understanding of the general situation at home and abroad, has efficiently coordinated epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development, coordinated development and security, adhered to the principle of maintaining stability while striving for steady progress, and has led the economy in the direction of high-quality development. As General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, China’s development may fluctuate temporarily, but in the long run, the east wind will be mighty. ‘China's economy has bright long-term prospects!’” 以习近平同志为核心的党中央深刻洞察国际国内大局大势，高效统筹疫情防控和经济社会发展，统筹发展和安全，坚持稳字当头、稳中求进，引领中国经济这艘大船沿着高质量发展航道破浪向前、行稳致远。正如习近平总书记指出，我国发展一时一事会有波动，但长远看还是东风浩荡。“中国经济具有长期向好的光明前景”！

It adds that it is “the clear requirement of the CPC Central Committee to contain the epidemic, stabilise the economy and ensure safe development.” “疫情要防住、经济要稳住、发展要安全，这是党中央的明确要求.”

And then we are told: “since the beginning of this year, under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with comrade Xi Jinping at the core, the whole country has made concerted efforts to deal with the difficulties through scientific measures; the epidemic prevention and control situation has continued to improve and the economy has begun to recover. Epidemic prevention and control is ‘国之大者’, and economic work is related to the overall situation of development. 面对百年变局和世纪疫情相互叠加的复杂局面，今年以来，在以习近平同志为核心的党中央坚强领导下，全国上下勠力同心，以科学之策应对非常之难，疫情防控形势持续向好，经济发展迎来回暖态势. 疫情防控是“国之大者”，经济工作事关发展大局. — Quick Thought: That last sentence clarifies the priorities for everyone. Pandemic containment is a much greater priority than economic development; the economic costs of strict containment policies, therefore, are acceptable.

The piece then lists Xi’s comments at key moments from March to June. This bit from the April 29 Politburo meeting is noteworthy. The meeting emphasised: “We should efficiently coordinate epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development…insist on dynamic clearing, so as to protect people’s lives and health to the greatest extent and minimise the impact of the epidemic on economic and social development.” 这次会议强调：“高效统筹疫情防控和经济社会发展，坚定不移坚持人民至上、生命至上，坚持外防输入、内防反弹，坚持动态清零，最大程度保护人民生命安全和身体健康，最大限度减少疫情对经济社会发展的影响.”

“Only when the epidemic can be contained can the economy be stabilised and people’s lives be safe.” 疫情防得住，经济才能稳得住，人民生活才能平平安安.

Later the piece talks about the 33 policy measures across six areas that were announced by the State Council to stabilise the economy. It says that Xi Jinping has paid close attention to the development of market players, pointing out that ‘protecting market players means protecting social productive forces’ and calling for ‘doing everything possible to protect market players and accumulate basic strength for economic development’.”习近平总书记高度关注市场主体发展，指出“保市场主体就是保社会生产力”“要千方百计把市场主体保护好，为经济发展积蓄基本力量”.

It adds that at the Politburo meeting of April 29, Xi had also said that “it is necessary to stabilise market players and implement a package of policies that are supportive of industries, small and medium-sized micro-enterprises and individual industrial and commercial households that have been severely affected by the epidemic. At the same time, he emphasised the need to ensure the smooth flow of transportation and logistics and ensure the normal operation of key industrial and supply chains. 针对今年以来市场主体遇到的发展困难，习近平总书记在4月29日召开的中共中央政治局会议上强调，要稳住市场主体，对受疫情严重冲击的行业、中小微企业和个体工商户实施一揽子纾困帮扶政策。同时强调，“要坚持全国一盘棋，确保交通物流畅通，确保重点产业链供应链、抗疫保供企业、关键基础设施正常运转”.

The next few paragraphs after this offer data about what work has been done in line with these instructions:

• Compared with April 18, on June 15, the national highway freight traffic increased by about 13.1%, the railway and highway freight traffic increased by 6.3% and 11.6%, respectively.

• Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen have introduced 45, 50 and 30 policy measures, respectively, to support market entities.

• Annual tax rebates and reductions will total around 2.64 trillion yuan

• From January to April, 8.987 million new market entities were established in China

After this, the piece focuses on Xi’s comments about commodity prices and challenges related to food and energy security, given the increased volatility in global markets. After that, we are told how the system, i.e., governments and officials at all levels, have responded to the concerns Xi raised. For instance,

• the central government issued 30 billion yuan to provide subsidies for actual grain farmers

• more than 161 million tons of coal is stored in centralised power plants nationwide. This essentially provides 31-day back-up. There’s also high levels of oil and gas stocks

• Over 80 percent of the wheat harvest has been completed, and summer sowing and summer grain purchases are proceeding in an orderly manner.

The second section of the article begins with Xi’s remarks about managing one’s own affairs well. 

It says that the construction of 102 major projects identified in the 14th Five-Year Plan is being accelerated. On their basis, more than 2,600 projects have been identified and work on these has been implemented in steady and orderly manner; from January to April, the fixed assets investment in railways was 157.46 billion yuan; this year, 800 billion yuan is to be invested in water conservancy projects this year; at present, a total of 1.615 million 5G base stations have been built, and the industrial Internet has been extended to 45 national economic categories. 十四五”规划102项重大工程建设正加快推进，已分解出的2600多个项目稳妥有序实施；1至4月，全国铁路已累计完成固定资产投资1574.6亿元；今年全国预计完成水利建设投资约8000亿元，南水北调中线引江补汉、淮河入海水道二期、广东环北部湾水资源配置等重大水利工程将在近期开工建设，并加快推进后续工程规划建设；目前已累计建成5G基站161.5万个，工业互联网已延伸至45个国民经济大类。

“The economy of a big country needs a strong and resilient domestic economic circulation system.”大国经济，需要强大而有韧性的国民经济循环体系. In this context, the piece talks about the steps taken this year to build a national unified market, such as the State Council guideline on building a national market issued in April and the notice by 11 departments on joint action to promote the integration and innovation of large, medium and small enterprises (2022-2025).

The piece then talks about China’s opening up policies. It mentions BRI, Hainan Free Trade Port and foreign investment.  “From January to May this year, FDI into China was 564.2 billion yuan, up 17.3 percent year on year. In the first four months of this year, 185 new large projects with contracted foreign capital of over $100 million were added, which is equivalent to an average of 1.5 large foreign-funded projects being inked every day.海外投资中国的脚步不停。今年1至5月，中国实际使用外资金额5642亿元人民币，同比增长17.3％. 前4个月新增合同外资1亿美元以上大项目185个，相当于平均每天有1.5个外资大项目落地.

The final section of the article talks about the need to adhere to people-centred development. This discusses employment-related policies, livelihood priorities and supply of essential goods. It says that “At present, the employment of major groups is basically stable. From January to May, 5.29 million new urban jobs were created, basically keeping pace with the schedule.” 目前，主要群体就业基本稳定。1至5月份，全国城镇新增就业529万人，与时序进度基本同步. — I don’t buy this at all. The latest unemployment data for the 16 to 24 age group was anything but good.

The piece then lists some steps taken to support people:

• In 2022, 154.683 billion yuan will be allocated for assistance and subsidy funds for the needy, an increase of 7.062 billion yuan from last year; the per capita financial subsidy standard for residents’ medical insurance and basic public health services will be raised by 30 yuan and 5 yuan, respectively; it is estimated to be about 850 billion yuan. 

• In the first five months, the national social sector investment increased by 12.9%.

• This year, the basic pension of retirees will be increased by another 4%, which will benefit more than 130 million retirees.

The other top story on the page is the Hainan chapter in the series on following Xi’s footprints.

Third, there’s a report about the new intra-party commendation regulations for the armed forces. The regulations, as per the report, were “formulated and promulgated to give full play to the exemplary role of advanced role models, encourage party members and party organisations in the armed forces to forge ahead, strive for excellence, and make achievements in the process of strengthening the military and rejuvenating the military…”

Finally, there’s a report on Han Zheng’s comments at a symposium at the China International Engineering Consulting Corporation. Xinhua reports:

“Noting the increasing uncertainties facing China's development at the moment, Han urged efforts to make better use of effective investment to help stabilise the economy. Solid work at the early stages of a major project is the prerequisite for its advancement, said Han, calling for rigorous reasoning at the early stages. Han also underlined sustainability, efficient use of land, environmental protection, safety, and making due assessments before decisions in carrying out the 102 major projects planned through 2025.” — Quick thought: On the face of it, this doesn’t sound like a call for simply boosting investment to hit growth targets. There’s been much more emphasis on “effective investment” in the past few days; here’ it’s worth noting that the report is emphasising factors other than GDP growth target when it comes to investment. 

Page 2: There’s a report about the Shanghai Global Investment Promotion Conference on Thursday, which led to the signing of deals on a batch of “322 major industrial projects.” These are worth a total investment of 565.8 billion yuan ($84.3 billion). Shanghai Daily’s English report has the details.

“The city’s three strategic pillars – integrated circuits, biomedicine, and artificial intelligence – boast 90 projects, with a combined investment of 204.9 billion yuan. Among these were 28 IC projects, such as the 800-million yuan investment plan of Xiaohua Semiconductor focusing on independent innovation of System on Chip and interface technology in equipment intelligent management. Forty-two projects were in the biomedicine sector. For instance, Ascentage Pharma proposed an investment of 3 billion yuan to establish two major centers for marketing and clinical medicine, and Junshi Biosciences plans to invest 2.7 billion yuan for the construction of an industrial base on innovative drugs. There were also 20 AI projects, including a 4-billion yuan investment by SenseTime to build the second phase of an AI computing center. Meanwhile, another 247 projects were in six key areas, namely electronic information, life and health, automotive, high-end equipment, advanced materials, and fashion consumer goods, with investment tallying 393.5 billion yuan. Apart from focusing on the new industrial system, including the three strategic pillars and six key industries, the agreements also covered a number of projects on modern service industries, such as finance, producer services and life services.”

Next, a report on the COVID outbreak in Beijing, with officials saying that the outbreak linked to the Heaven Supermarket bar outbreak is easing, but the possibility of hidden infections in communities still exists.

Page 3: A commentary in the context of the 12th Ministerial Conference of the WTO. It says that:

“In recent years, the WTO has encountered internal and external pressures, and the multilateral trading system is facing many challenges. Internally, the slow progress of multilateral negotiations and the suspension of the Appellate Body have seriously threatened the authority and effectiveness of the WTO. Externally, economic globalisation has encountered adverse currents, unilateralism and protectionism are on the rise, and some countries are even trying to set up a new system outside the multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core. At a time when global issues are intertwined and the global trade pattern is facing profound adjustments, how to effectively play the role of the WTO and ensure that the multilateral trading system aids the global economic recovery is an important issue facing this session.” 但近年来，世贸组织遭遇内外压力，多边贸易体制面临诸多挑战。从内部看，多边谈判进展缓慢、上诉机构停摆等问题，让世贸组织的权威性和有效性面临严重威胁。从外部看，经济全球化遭遇逆流，单边主义和保护主义抬头，个别国家甚至企图在以世贸组织为核心的多边贸易体制之外另起炉灶、另搞一套。在全球性问题交错叠加、全球贸易格局面临深刻调整的当下，如何有效发挥世贸组织作用，让多边贸易体制助力世界经济复苏，是本届会议面临的重要课题.

“At this session, more than 100 WTO members and observers spoke enthusiastically and expressed their support for safeguarding multilateralism…The remarks fully demonstrated that all parties hope to lead the WTO out of difficult times, push WTO reform in the right direction, and revive the multilateral trading system. China is a firm supporter of the multilateral trading system…China believes that the reform of the WTO should not only promote economic globalisation but also encourage its development towards a more open, inclusive, balanced and win-win direction through the updation of rules and guarantee of trading mechanisms; WTO reform should benefit all members and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries. This will not only help maintain the multilateral trading system, create a free, open, fair, non-discriminatory, transparent and predictable trade and investment environment, but also help curb the counter-currents of unilateralism and protectionism. 在本届会议上，有100多个世贸组织成员和观察员踊跃发言，发出维护多边主义的声音...这些发言充分表明，各方希望引领世贸组织走出困难时期，推动世贸组织改革朝着正确方向发展，重振多边贸易体制...中国是多边贸易体制的坚定支持者...中方认为，世贸组织改革应促进经济全球化，要通过规则更新和机制保障，推动经济全球化朝着更加开放、包容、普惠、平衡、共赢的方向发展；世贸组织改革应使全体成员受益，保障发展中成员合法权益。这不仅有利于维护多边贸易体制，营造自由、开放、公平、非歧视、透明和可预测的贸易投资环境，也有利于遏制单边主义和保护主义逆流.

If you are interested, the ministerial meeting has ended and a bunch of key outcomes were announced. You can access the details here. The outcomes include deals on global intellectual property rights waiver for Covid vaccines, another on fishing subsidies and one calling on members to not impose export prohibitions or restrictions on foodstuffs purchased for noncommercial humanitarian purposes by the World Food Programme.

Page 6: The Legislative Affairs Committee of the NPCSC held a press conference detailing the draft laws to be considered at the 35th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People’s Congress. The meeting will be held from June 21 to 24 in Beijing, and it will review eight laws. NPC Observer has the full list, with further details:

• draft revision to the Sports Law

• draft Black Soil Protection Law

• draft amendment to the Anti-Monopoly Law

• draft amendment to the NPCSC Rules of Procedure

• draft Law Against Telecom and Online Fraud 

• draft revision to the Agricultural Products Quality and Safety Law

• draft Yellow River Protection Law

• and draft Civil Compulsory Enforcement Law

On the anti-monopoly law, this Global Times report has some useful details.

“The draft amendment is expected (to) include provisions that platform operators cannot use data and algorithms, technology, capital advantages, as well as platform rules to exclude or restrict competition. It also requires the country’s antitrust authorities to improve the oversight system based on different types of monopolistic behaviors and strengthen the inspection of concentration of business operators in important fields involving the national economy and people’s livelihood in accordance with the law. According to the draft, the ‘Safe Harbor’ principle states that agreements between enterprises having market shares under the benchmark set by relevant regulators will not be banned, which will be a jolt for the platform economy, Liu Dingding, a Beijing-based veteran market analyst, told the Global Times on Wednesday. The draft also aims to regulate some enterprises’ acts of organizing or supporting other enterprises with common interests to commit unfair competition. ‘The law will be upgraded according to the country’s support policies, and will firmly take a stance on supporting the development of the economy,’ said Liu.”

Page 9: The page has three pieces on the theme of landmark achievements since the 18th Party Congress, drawing from the third history resolution. The achievement in focus today is the development of “whole-process people’s democracy”. The lead article is by Wang Tiemin, Deputy Secretary General of the NPC Standing Committee. Wang has a lot of praise for Xi, calls for upholding the people’s congress system and understanding the decisive significance of the Two Establishments. 

In another piece on the page, Tang Yalin from Fudan University, argues that China’s whole-process people’s democracy allows for “full expression of the people’s wishes and voices, turn them into the principles and policies of the Party and the state through democratic decision-making procedures, and finally implement them in concrete practice to solve people’s urgent difficulties and worries.” 全过程人民民主能够充分表达人民的意愿和呼声，经过民主决策程序将其变为党和国家的方针政策，最终落实在具体的实践中，解决人民群众的急难愁盼问. Tang adds: “whole-process people’s democracy is the inevitable result of the historical, theoretical and practical logic of the long struggle in which the Party united and led the people. It is deeply rooted in the soil of Chinese society in terms of culture, theory, practice and system, which is an important reason for its strong vitality.”全过程人民民主是近代以来党团结带领人民长期奋斗历史逻辑、理论逻辑、实践逻辑的必然结果，在文化基础、理论基础、实践基础、制度基础等各方面都深深扎根于中国社会土壤，这正是其具有强大生命力的重要原因. And then he says that this system has not only promoted China’s development but is a “new form of human political civilisation.”

Other Stories:

• First, for folks watching the India-China relationship, SCMP reports that CCTV marked the second anniversary of the deadly Galwan Valley clash with India on Wednesday with “a nearly three-minute video of comrades-in-arms tearfully sharing memories of 18-year-old Chen Xiangrong, one of the four soldiers China confirmed were killed in the conflict two years ago. The video was published by CCTV’s military channel on its Weibo microblog on Wednesday. The video is an excerpt from a five-episode documentary, Motherland Engraved, that was first released in February.

• Second, China’s third and most advanced aircraft carrier, named Fujian, was launched today. Global Times reports: “In a short but festive ceremony, China on Friday launched the country's third aircraft carrier in the Jiangnan Shipyard, a Shanghai-based subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited. Having a displacement of more than 80,000 tons, the carrier, named Fujian, is equipped with electromagnetic catapults and arresting devices.”