Xi Draws on Chen Yun's Legacy - State Council Executive Meeting - Sun Weidong's India Visit
The Communist Party on Friday held an event marking the 120th birth anniversary of Chen Yun. The entire top leadership was present. Xi Jinping delivered a speech. I’m doing a breakdown of what Xi said. This is interesting because it is another example of leveraging history and historical figures to make the case for Xi’s policy approaches. It’s also useful to note the qualities that Xi highlights. For instance,
Xi talks about Chen supporting Mao at the Zunyi Conference, i.e., loyalty.
He mentions Chen wanting cadres to innovate and not be mechanical in their actions; opposing rash advances and a rush for quick success that disregarded actual conditions; yet working to break through “the ideological shackles of the ‘Two Whatevers’; focussing on local conditions/Chinese conditions in planning; the significance of regulation to manage market disorder, etc.
Xi mentions Chen focussing on ability and virtue when it comes to appointing and promoting people, with virtue being prioritised. He also stresses on Party conduct and discipline, something that’s an ongoing issue under Xi.
Finally, Xi talks about the need to think in big-picture terms, which in today’s times means aligning with Xi’s thought and proposed policy pathways.
Let’s now look at the speech.
Xi described Chen as “great proletarian revolutionary and statesman, an excellent Marxist, as one of the founding figures of the country’s socialist economy, a tested, distinguished Party and state leader, and an important member of the first generation of the Party’s central leadership collective with Comrade Mao Zedong as the core and the second generation of the Party's central leadership collective with Comrade Deng Xiaoping as the core. He made significant contributions to the development of the cause of the Party and the people.” 陈云同志是伟大的无产阶级革命家、政治家，杰出的马克思主义者，是中国社会主义经济建设的开创者和奠基人之一，党和国家久经考验的卓越领导人，是以毛泽东同志为核心的党的第一代中央领导集体和以邓小平同志为核心的党的第二代中央领导集体的重要成员，为党和人民事业发展作出了重大贡献.
During the New Democratic Revolution, Xi said that Chen “participated in the Long March of the Red Army and firmly supported Comrade Mao Zedong's correct propositions at the Zunyi Conference, supporting the conference to establish the correct leadership represented by Comrade Mao Zedong.” 他参加了红军长征，在遵义会议上坚定支持毛泽东同志的正确主张，支持会议确立以毛泽东同志为代表的正确领导.
“He served as head of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee for seven years, resolutely implementing the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and Comrade Mao Zedong, leading the formulation of policies and principles for the selection and appointment of cadres, and specifically organising the training and selection of a large number of outstanding cadres with both virtue and ability. He made important contributions to the continuous growth and development of the Party’s ranks and cause, and to the formation of the Party’s fine traditions in selecting and employing people. He participated in leading the liberation of the Northeast and led the Northeast base area to take the lead in beginning economic recovery and supporting the nationwide war of liberation. He instructed cadres to “constantly pay attention to the new situations, new tasks, and new working methods in the newly liberated areas’, and not to ‘mechanically apply the old experiences of the old liberated areas to the new regions’, exploring beneficial experience for our Party’s transition from war to peaceful construction.” 他担任7年中共中央组织部部长，坚决执行党中央和毛泽东同志的决策部署，领导制定选拔任用干部的政策、原则，具体组织培养和选拔了大批德才兼备的优秀干部，为党的队伍和党的事业不断发展壮大、为党形成选人用人的优良传统作出了重要贡献。他参加领导东北解放，领导东北根据地率先开始恢复经济、支援全国解放战争。他教育干部“时时注意新地区的新情况、新任务和新的工作方式”，不要“把老解放区的老经验机械地运用到新地区”，为我们党由战争转向和平建设探索了有益经验.
During the period of socialist revolution and construction, Xi says that Chen was put in charge of the national financial and economic work. He “won ‘economic battles’ in grain, cotton, cotton cloth, coal and other areas. It took less than a year to achieve national financial and economic unification, stabilize financial prices, and consolidate the new people's regime economically.” “He opposed rash advances and a rush for quick success that disregarded actual conditions, identified the problems brought about by the ‘Great Leap Forward’ at an early stage, and participated in the planning and leadership of the adjustment of the national economy, particularly emphasising the resolution of agricultural difficulties and the problem of food shortages, playing an important role in helping the national economy and people’s livelihood emerge from hardship. He actively explored the laws of socialist economic construction, carried out a large amount of outstanding and effective work in establishing the socialist economic system, building an independent and relatively complete industrial system and national economic system, and made outstanding contributions to exploring the path of socialist construction in our country.” 社会主义革命和建设时期，陈云同志在新中国成立之初就受命主持领导全国财政经济工作，在党中央领导下，统筹各方面力量，打赢粮食、棉花、棉布、煤炭等方面的“经济战”，只用不到一年时间就实现全国财政经济统一，稳定了金融物价，从经济上巩固了新生的人民政权。他反对不顾现实条件的急躁冒进和急于求成，较早发现“大跃进”带来的问题，参与部署和领导调整国民经济，特别是注重解决农业困难和粮食紧张问题，为国民经济和人民生活走出困境发挥了重要作用。他积极探索社会主义经济建设规律，在确立社会主义经济制度、建立独立的比较完整的工业体系和国民经济体系等方面做了大量卓有成效的工作，为探索我国社会主义建设道路作出了杰出贡献.
During reform and opening up, Xi said that Chen “with the courage and vision of a Marxist, proposed that in order to shift the focus of the Party and the state’s work to socialist construction, it was necessary to properly resolve several problems left over from history. He played an important role in breaking through the ideological shackles of the ‘Two Whatevers’ and in achieving the great historical turning point. At major historical junctures, he resolutely supported the reform and opening up advocated by Comrade Deng Xiaoping, and firmly defended Comrade Deng Xiaoping’s core position in the central leadership collective and the authority of the Party Central Committee. He actively promoted correcting past mistakes and redressing unjust, false, and wrong cases, offered important opinions on the drafting of the Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party since the Founding of the People’s Republic of China, and supported Comrade Deng Xiaoping’s correct propositions on scientifically establishing Comrade Mao Zedong’s historical position and on upholding and developing Mao Zedong Thought. He placed great importance on ideological construction, work style construction, discipline construction, institutional development, and the building of socialist spiritual civilisation under the conditions of reform and opening up, and presided over the formulation of the Several Guidelines on Political Life Within the Party. He supported the exploration of a new socialist economic system suited to reality and full of vitality, emphasised the need to practice, explore, and summarize experiences concurrently, and made outstanding contributions to our Party’s pioneering of the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics. 在重大历史关头，他坚决支持邓小平同志倡导的改革开放，坚定维护邓小平同志在中央领导集体中的核心地位和党中央权威。他积极推动拨乱反正和平反冤假错案，对起草《关于建国以来党的若干历史问题的决议》提出重要意见，支持邓小平同志关于科学确立毛泽东同志历史地位、坚持和发展毛泽东思想的正确主张。他高度重视改革开放条件下党的思想建设、作风建设、纪律建设、制度建设和社会主义精神文明建设，主持制定《关于党内政治生活的若干准则》。他支持探索符合实际、充满活力的社会主义经济新体制，强调要边实践、边探索、边总结经验，为我们党开创中国特色社会主义道路作出了卓越贡献.
In the next part of the speech, Xi spoke to cadres about the lessons that one must draw from Chen’s life.
First, everyone must learn from Chen’s “lofty spiritual character. The firm ideals and beliefs, strong Party principles, truth-seeking and pragmatic style, simple sentiments as a public servant, and diligent spirit of study that Comrade Chen Yun established and upheld over his long revolutionary career embody the noble qualities of a Communist…At critical moments, he always upheld the correct political stance and clearly displayed his attitude with a distinct banner; when the Party’s cause encountered difficulties in development, he always maintained a clear head and put forward unique insights on the basis of deep deliberation, coming up with effective methods to solve problems.” 我们要学习陈云同志的崇高精神风范。陈云同志在长期革命生涯中树立和坚持的坚定理想信念、坚强党性原则、求真务实作风、朴素公仆情怀、勤奋学习精神，体现着共产党人的高尚品质。他说：“一个人最愉快的事，就是参加革命，为人民的利益而斗争。”“任何人离开了人民，离开了党，一件事也做不出来。”在关键时刻，他总能坚持正确政治立场，旗帜鲜明亮出自己的态度；在党的事业发展遇到困难时，他总能保持头脑清醒，在深思熟虑基础上提出独到见解、拿出解决问题的有效办法.
“In the new era and on the new journey, we must strengthen our ideals and beliefs, establish confidence in victory, maintain political determination in the face of intertwined changes and turmoil and complex situations, not fear floating clouds obscuring our vision, and remain calm even as chaotic clouds sweep across. We must consciously practice the fundamental purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly, stand firm on the people’s position, cultivate deep feelings for the people, follow the party's mass line in the new era, observe the people’s sentiments, listen to the people’s voices, follow the people’s will, and solve the people's worries, and rely closely on the people to create historical achievements. We must deeply implement the spirit of the Central Committee’s 8-point regulations, cultivate an excellent work style with strong Party character, always maintain a mental state of striving forward and rising to meet difficulties, and win the people’s support and endorsement with actual results of improving work style.” 新时代新征程，我们要坚定理想信念，树立必胜信心，在变乱交织、错综复杂的形势面前保持政治定力，不畏浮云遮望眼，乱云飞渡仍从容。要自觉践行全心全意为人民服务的根本宗旨，站稳人民立场，厚植为民情怀，走好新时代党的群众路线，察民情、听民声、顺民意、解民忧，紧紧依靠人民创造历史伟业。要深入贯彻中央八项规定精神，以坚强党性涵养优良作风，始终保持奋发进取、迎难而上的精神状态，以改进作风的实际成效赢得人民群众支持和拥护.
Second, learn from Chen’s “leadership experience”. Xi offers three paragraphs of examples!
In the process of presiding over the preparation and implementation of the First FYP, he not only paid attention to learning from the Soviet experience, but also insisted on starting from China’s national conditions, scientifically planning and steadily promoting socialist industrialisation. After the socialist transformation was basically completed, he actively explored a socialist economic system and economic structure suited to the development of China’s productive forces, and put forward the idea of ’three mainstays and three supplements’, which provided important inspiration for overcoming the shortcomings of the Soviet model. After the initiation of reform and opening up, he profoundly summarised the positive and negative experiences of socialist economic construction, and put forward that ‘the economic construction currently being carried out in our country is socialist economic construction, and the economic system reform is also socialist economic system reform’; emphasised that economic construction must be comprehensively balanced, the scale of construction must be adapted to national conditions and national strength, and the relationship between accumulation and consumption must be correctly handled; put forward the proposition that planning and proportionality alone are not enough, market regulation is also necessary, and we must act in accordance with economic laws and carry out necessary state intervention, ‘good macro control is conducive to revitalising the micro, and making it dynamic but not disorderly; emphasised that the ultimate goal of economic construction is to improve people’s lives, ‘if we cannot solve the problem of people’s food and clothing, our socialist construction will not be stable’.” 比如，在负责经济工作方面，陈云同志提出许多重要观点和重大举措，探索了创造性解决问题、打开工作局面的有效途径。他在主持第一个五年计划编制和执行过程中，既注重学习苏联经验，又坚持从我国国情出发，科学布局、稳步推进社会主义工业化。社会主义改造基本完成后，他积极探索适应我国生产力发展的社会主义经济制度和经济体制，提出“三个主体、三个补充”的思想，为克服苏联模式弊端提供了重要启示。改革开放后，他深刻总结社会主义经济建设正反两方面经验，提出“我们国家现在进行的经济建设，是社会主义的经济建设，经济体制改革也是社会主义的经济体制改革”；强调经济建设必须综合平衡，建设规模必须同国情国力相适应，要正确处理积累和消费的关系；提出只有有计划按比例还不行，还必须有市场调节，要按照经济规律办事和进行必要的国家干预，“搞好宏观控制，才有利于搞活微观，做到活而不乱”；强调搞经济建设的最后目的，是为了改善人民生活，“如果我们不能解决人民的吃饭穿衣问题，我们的社会主义建设事业便站不稳”.
In organisational work, Chen “put forward a series of creative insights on selecting and employing people. He emphasised that selecting cadres should ‘attach equal importance to virtue and ability, with priority given to virtue’. He pointed out: ‘Ability and virtue should be unified. Ability is not empty ability; virtue is also not empty virtue’. ‘When employing cadres, we should recruit cadres from all corners of the country, and we should also recruit cadres we are not familiar with. Making use of local talent is a very important principle. Drawing from all corners of the country, plus having both virtue and talent, this is our major policy for promoting cadres’. He emphasised that vigorously cultivating and selecting thousands upon thousands of young and middle-aged cadres with both virtue and talent is a strategic task that determines the future of the Party and state, and we must persist in combining old, middle-aged and the young, maintain continuity and stability of the cadre ranks, and ensure that the Party’s leadership power is always held by Marxists. He emphasised the need to vigorously promote those cadres with strong Party spirit, upright work style, and who dare to uphold principles, and actively support and implement the policy of revolutionization, youthfulness, intellectualization, and professionalization of the cadre ranks. 比如，在负责组织工作方面，陈云同志提出一系列富有创见的选人用人思想。他强调，选拔干部要“德才并重，以德为主”。指出：“才和德应该是统一的。才，不是空才；德，也不是空德。”“用干部，要五湖四海，平常不熟悉的干部也要用。就地取材是很重要的一条原则。五湖四海，再加一个德才兼备，这是我们提拔干部的大方针。”他强调大力培养和选拔成千上万的德才兼备的中青年干部，是决定党和国家前途的一项战略任务，要坚持老中青相结合，保持干部队伍的连续性稳定性，保证党的领导权始终为马克思主义者所掌握。他强调要大力提拔那些党性强、作风正派、敢于坚持原则的干部，积极支持和落实干部队伍革命化、年轻化、知识化、专业化方针.
On discipline issues, Xi said that Chen stressed that the Party “must adhere to party discipline at all times”. “In response to the erroneous views such as ‘if there is no eating or drinking, the economy will not be active’ and ‘to invigorate the economy, discipline must be loosened’, he emphasized: ‘there is no such thing as “loosening” Party character principles and Party discipline’. ‘Without good Party conduct, reform cannot be done well’. ‘While grasping ideological and political work, strict Party and government discipline can fundamentally improve the Party’s conduct’. He put forward the important conclusion that ‘the conduct of the ruling party is a matter of life and death for the Party’, emphasising that ‘the Party conduct must be dealt with promptly and forever’. To maintain the flesh-and-blood ties between the Party and the people, it is necessary to solve the two key issues of effectively safeguarding the people’s vital interests and resolutely opposing unhealthy tendencies within the Party.” 比如，在负责纪律检查工作方面，陈云同志就改革开放条件下加强执政党建设提出许多具有前瞻性、战略性的思想。他指出：“共产党不论在地下工作时期或执政时期，任何时候都必须坚持党的纪律。”针对“不吃不喝，经济不活”、“经济要搞活，纪律要松绑”等错误观点，他强调：“党性原则和党的纪律不存在‘松绑’的问题。没有好的党风，改革是搞不好的。”“在抓思想政治工作的同时，严肃党纪、政纪，党风才能根本好转。”他提出“执政党的党风问题是有关党的生死存亡的问题”这一重大论断，强调“党风问题必须抓紧搞，永远搞”，要保持党同人民群众的血肉联系，就必须解决好切实维护人民切身利益和坚决反对党内不正之风两个关键问题.
Xi then added:
In the new era and on the new journey, we must adapt to the new situation and tasks, and strive to improve the Party’s ability to lead economic and social development and the level of its own construction. We must strengthen the Party’s leadership over economic work, deepen our understanding of the laws of socialist economic construction, fully and accurately implement the new development concept, adhere to the combination of an effective market and a capable government, accelerate the construction of a new development pattern, and solidly promote high-quality development. We must steadily promote further comprehensive and in-depth reform, unswervingly expand high-level opening up, and inject more power and vitality into Chinese-style modernisation. We must deepen the comprehensive and strict governance of the Party, continuously enhance the Party’s ability to purify, improve, innovate, and improve itself, and ensure that the Party always becomes the strong leadership core of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics. 新时代新征程，我们要适应新的形势任务，着力提高党领导经济社会发展能力和自身建设水平。要加强党对经济工作的领导，深化对社会主义经济建设规律的认识，完整准确全面贯彻新发展理念，坚持有效市场和有为政府相结合，加快构建新发展格局，扎实推动高质量发展.要蹄疾步稳推动进一步全面深化改革，坚定不移扩大高水平对外开放，为中国式现代化注入更多动力和活力。要深入推进全面从严治党，不断增强党的自我净化、自我完善、自我革新、自我提高能力，确保党始终成为中国特色社会主义事业的坚强领导核心.
Third, Xi talked about learning from Chen’s “scientific thinking methods and working methods. Adhering to seeking truth from facts was a distinctive characteristic of Comrade Chen Yun. He pointed out: ‘To lead our Party and country well, the most important thing is to make the thinking methods of leading cadres correct’. He refined the ‘fifteen-character formula’ full of materialist dialectics: ‘not only following superiors, not only following books, only following facts; exchange, compare, repeat.’ He was good at thinking about problems strategically, emphasising: ‘we should stand higher and see farther, we should go up to the rooftop, not always stay in the basement’. ‘We should take out a certain amount of time to “pace back and forth” and consider strategic issues.’ He regarded investigation and research as an important prerequisite for decision-making, emphasising: ‘leading organs in formulating policies should use more than 90% of their time doing investigation and research work’.” 我们要学习陈云同志的科学思想方法和工作方法。坚持实事求是，是陈云同志的鲜明特点。他指出：“要把我们的党和国家领导好，最要紧的，是要使领导干部的思想方法搞对头。”他提炼出“不唯上、不唯书、只唯实，交换、比较、反复”这一充满唯物辩证法的“十五字诀”。他善于从战略上思考问题，强调：“应该站得高一点，看得远一点，要上屋顶，不要老呆在地下室。”“要拿出一定时间‘踱方步’，考虑战略性的问题。”他把调查研究作为决策的重要前提，强调：“领导机关制定政策，要用百分之九十以上的时间作调查研究工作.”
In the new era and on the new journey, we must adhere to the Party’s ideological line, learn and apply the world outlook, methodology and standpoints, views and methods of the (Xi Jinping) Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, correctly judge the situation, scientifically plan for the future, be good at seizing opportunities, and be brave to face challenges, and constantly enhance the systematic, predictive and creative nature of our work. We must improve the quality of investigation and research, and through various channels and methods, accurately grasp the new situations, new problems and new trends in economic and social development, and accurately grasp the needs of the grassroots and the expectations of the masses, so that decisions are more in line with reality and more in line with the wishes of the people. 新时代新征程，我们要坚持党的思想路线，学习好、运用好新时代中国特色社会主义思想的世界观、方法论和贯穿其中的立场观点方法，正确判断形势、科学谋划未来，善于抓住机遇、勇于应对挑战，不断增强工作的系统性、预见性、创造性。要提高调查研究质量，通过各种途径和方式，准确把握经济社会发展中的新情况新问题新趋势，准确把握基层所需、群众所盼，使决策更加符合实际，更加符合人民群众愿望.
Other speeches from this event are summarised on Page 7, if you are interested.
Next, Li Qiang chaired a State Council Executive Meeting. The meeting deployed measures for the replication and promotion of pilot initiatives in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone. The meeting also reviewed reports on constructing a new model for real estate development and advancing the construction of high-quality housing, and approved an implementation plan to make further improvements to the credit repair system.
The meeting pointed out that we should make good use of the pilot experience of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone in fully connecting with international high-standard economic and trade rules, release the dividends of institutional innovation on a larger scale, and promote in-depth reform and high-quality development with high-level opening up. We should do a good job in replication and promotion according to local conditions, fully consider the actual conditions of various places, focus on promoting pilot measures urgently needed by enterprises and the masses, and coordinate and connect with other reform and opening-up pilot measures. On the premise of maintaining the bottom line of risk, we should carry out institutional opening-up experiments with greater efforts and accelerate the construction of a new open economy system with a higher level. 会议指出，要用好中国（上海）自由贸易试验区全面对接国际高标准经贸规则的试点经验，在更大范围释放制度创新红利，以高水平开放推动深层次改革、高质量发展。要因地制宜做好复制推广工作，充分考虑各地实际情况，重点推进企业和群众急需的试点举措，做好与其他改革开放试点措施的相互协调、相互衔接。要在守住风险底线的前提下，更大力度开展制度型开放试验，加快构建更高水平开放型经济新体制.
The meeting pointed out that constructing a new model for real estate development is of great significance for promoting stable, healthy, and high-quality development of the real estate market. We should focus on the long term, persist in seeking progress while maintaining stability, establishing first and then breaking, and build relevant foundational systems in an orderly manner. We should solidly and forcefully promote the construction of ‘good houses’, incorporate them into urban renewal mechanisms to strengthen work coordination, and provide policy support in planning, land, finance, and other aspects. We should investigate the national real estate land already supplied and projects under construction, further optimise existing policies, enhance the systematic effectiveness of policy implementation, use multiple approaches to stabilise expectations, activate demand, optimise supply, and resolve risks, and promote the real estate market to stop falling and stabilize with greater force. 会议指出，构建房地产发展新模式，对于促进房地产市场平稳、健康、高质量发展具有重要意义，要着眼长远，坚持稳中求进、先立后破，有序搭建相关基础性制度。要扎实有力推进“好房子”建设，纳入城市更新机制加强工作统筹，在规划、土地、财政、金融等方面予以政策支持。要对全国房地产已供土地和在建项目进行摸底，进一步优化现有政策，提升政策实施的系统性有效性，多管齐下稳定预期、激活需求、优化供给、化解风险，更大力度推动房地产市场止跌回稳.
“It is necessary to speed up the improvement of a unified, standardized, collaborative, scientific and efficient credit repair mechanism to better help the untrustworthy entities rebuild their credit. It is necessary to unify the repair rules and improve the standards and specifications for qualification review, process supervision, and result identification. It is necessary to break down data barriers, clarify the scope, method, and frequency of data sharing as soon as possible, and promote the interconnection and interoperability of social data in related fields. It is necessary to strengthen departmental coordination, closely cooperate and form synergy in the acceptance, update feedback, and objection handling. 会议指出，要加快完善统一规范、协同共享、科学高效的信用修复机制，更好帮助失信主体重塑信用。要统一修复规则，健全资格审查、过程监督、结果认定等环节标准规范。要打破数据壁垒，尽快明确数据共享范围、方式、频率，促进相关领域社会数据互联互通。要强化部门协同，在受理办理、更新反馈、异议处理等工作中密切配合、形成合力。
The meeting pointed out that it is necessary to strengthen the evaluation of the centralised procurement policy for drugs and consumables, summarise experience, make up for shortcomings, and promote the standardisation, institutionalisation and normalisation of centralised procurement. It is necessary to better promote the coordinated development and governance of the ‘three medical services’, improve the compensation mechanism for public hospitals, support pharmaceutical companies to improve their innovation capabilities, and better meet the people’s diversified medical and drug needs. It is necessary to strengthen the quality supervision of the entire chain of production, circulation, and use of drugs and consumables, and solidly promote the evaluation of the quality and efficacy consistency of generic drugs, so that the people can use drugs with peace of mind. 会议指出，要加强药品和耗材集采政策评估，总结经验、补齐短板，推动集采工作规范化制度化常态化开展。要更好促进“三医”协同发展和治理，完善公立医院补偿机制，支持医药企业提高创新能力，更好满足群众多元化就医用药需求。要加强对药品和耗材生产、流通、使用全链条质量监管，扎实推进仿制药质量和疗效一致性评价，让人民群众用药放心安心.
If you are wondering what’s a “good house”, the answer is available in an earlier Xinhua report. It informs that as per the GWR, a good house is “safe, comfortable, green and smart”.
Finally, the other key stories in the paper today are Xi’s messages of condolence to Indian PM Narendra Modi and Britain’s King Charles III, following the tragic crash of an Air India flight from Ahmedabad to London. Xi will also be traveling to Astana, Kazakhstan, from June 16 to 18 for the second China-Central Asia summit.
Finally, there’s a brief report on the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s statement on the Israeli strikes on Iran.
MoFA said that China was “deeply concerned about the serious consequences” that the Israeli strikes can bring. “China opposes violating Iran’s sovereignty, security and territorial integrity, and opposes intensifying contradictions and expanding conflicts.” “The sudden escalation of regional tensions again is not in the interests of any party. China calls on all parties concerned to do more to promote regional peace and stability and avoid further escalation of tensions.”
Outside the paper, China’s Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong was in India recently. He met with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and NSA Ajit Doval. Here’s the Chinese readout from the visit:
“Sun Weidong stated that, with the concerted efforts of both sides, China-India relations maintain a hard-won momentum of improvement and development. Both sides should follow the important common understandings reached by the two leaders during the meeting in Kazan, view and handle the bilateral relations from a strategic height and long-term perspective, continuously increase political mutual trust, advance exchanges and cooperation in various areas together, properly handle disagreements and differences, push the bilateral relations forward on the track of sound and steady development, and jointly play a constructive role in maintaining international and regional peace, stability, development and prosperity.
Sun Weidong and Vikram Misri held a candid and in-depth exchange of views on bilateral exchanges and cooperation as well as international and regional issues of mutual interest. The Indian side reaffirmed its support for China’s Shanghai Cooperation Organization presidency.The two sides agreed to jointly make preparations for the 24th Special Representatives' Meeting on China-India Boundary Question, which will be held at an appropriate time. The two sides will continue to hold commemorative activities for the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations, push for the resumption of direct flights and exchange of resident journalists at an early date, facilitate people-to-people exchanges, resume bilateral dialogue mechanisms steadily, and ensure Indian pilgrims' smooth visit to Mount Gang Rinpoche and Lake Mapam Yun Tso in the Xizang Autonomous Region of China. Sun Weidong expressed sympathy and condolences to the Indian side over the air crash accident in Gujarat, India on June 12, 2025.”