Xi Meets Armed Forces Cadres - 20th Congress Leadership Selection Process - NPC, State Council, CPPCC's NC Discuss Congress Outcomes - Foreign Trade Data - Foreign Investment Inspections
Here are the stories and pieces that I found noteworthy in the Tuesday, October 25, 2022, edition of the People’s Daily.
Page 1: The top story today is about Xi Jinping addressing the gathering of China’s new military leadership on Monday. The list of attendees included Zhang Youxia and He Weidong, both members of the Politburo and CMC vice chairmen, as well as former vice-chairman Xu Qiliang. All three of them addressed the gathering too.
Also in attendance were State Councilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe, members of the Central Military Commission Li Shangfu, Liu Zhenli, Miao Hua, Zhang Shengmin, and Comrade Li Zuocheng. All ministries and commissions of the Central Military Commission, all institutions directly under the Central Military Commission, the Joint Command Center of the Central Military Commission, representatives of all theatres and services along with the main responsible PAP cadres.
Xi first talked about the changes since the 19th Party Congress.
He pointed out that in the past five years, the CMC adhered to the Party’s absolute leadership over the people's army, continuously deepened political consolidation and training, innovated military strategic guidance, carried out military struggles with firmness and flexibility; it deepened training and combat-readiness, fully promoted the implementation of plans, deepened national defense and military reform, and accelerated Innovate in national defense science and technology; it strengthened the construction of cadres and talents, raised the level of legalisation in national defense and military construction; it persevered in efforts to ensure integrity and discipline; it promoted the construction of an integrated national strategic system and capabilities, and consolidated and expanded on the good situation of the rapid development of the cause of the military after the 18th Party Congress; our army's modernisation level and actual combat capabilities have taken another big step forward.” 习近平总结了上一届中央军委的主要工作。他指出，5年来，中央军委坚持党对人民军队的绝对领导，持续深化政治整训，创新军事战略指导，坚定灵活开展军事斗争，深入推进练兵备战，全力推进规划执行，深化国防和军队改革，加快国防科技创新，加强干部和人才队伍建设，提高国防和军队建设法治化水平，持之以恒正风肃纪反腐，推动构建一体化国家战略体系和能力，巩固并拓展了党的十八大以后强军事业快速发展的良好局面，我军现代化水平和实战能力又向前迈进了一大步.
He then talked about the importance of the 20th Party Congress. Xinhua English summarises this bit well.
“The newly-concluded successful 20th CPC National Congress is of great significance to the country's drive to build a modern socialist country in all respects and advance national rejuvenation on all fronts. It is also vital to fulfilling the goal set for the PLA centenary and building the armed forces into world class forces, he said. It will be the most important political task for the whole Party, the country and the armed forces to study, publicize and implement the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress, he said.”
The PD report adds that Xi called on them to study his report to the Congress, the changes to the Party Constitution so as to “thoroughly understand the important thoughts, important viewpoints, major strategies and major measures contained therein, and unify the thoughts and actions of the whole army behind the spirit of the 20th Party Congress.” 要紧紧围绕党的二十大主题，深入学习党的二十大报告和党章等重要文件，深入领会蕴含其中的重要思想、重要观点、重大战略、重大举措，把全军思想和行动统一到党的二十大精神上来.
Xinhua further summarises the next bit well: “Stressing that the armed forces should focus their efforts on realizing their centenary goal, Xi said that this will be the military's central task in the next five years, one that demands full strength and should be accomplished as scheduled. Noting that the first plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee named the members of the new CMC, Xi said it is a major political arrangement made by the CPC Central Committee based on the overall cause of the Party, the country and the military. CMC members must bear in mind the trust placed on them by the Party and the people and the expectations of the officers and soldiers of the armed forces, and dedicate themselves to the work of the CMC, Xi added.”
The PD report adds Xi as saying that “senior cadres in the army must speak politics, be able to fight, be good at innovation, focus on practical work, be strict with self-discipline, and perform their duties well.” 全军高级干部要讲政治、能打仗、善创新、重实干、严自律，履行好担负的职责.
Next, at the top of the page is a long Xinhua article discussing the “electoral” process for the choice of the new leadership at the 20th Party Congress. (Related Xinhua English article.) The first section of the article basically praises Xi Jinping’s leadership over the past 10 years and informs that he was re-elected unanimously as General Secretary at the 20th Party Congress. We also get what has now become stock language about Xi’s visionary leadership.
For instance, amid “complex situations and risks and challenges that are rare in the world and in history,” Xi demonstrated the “grandeur, foresight and sagacity of a Marxist politician, thinker and strategist; planned for the overall situation at home and abroad; led reform, development and stability, internal affairs, foreign affairs and national defense; managed the party, the country and the armed forces; put forward major strategies, made major decisions and deployed major tasks in a timely manner; led the whole Party, the whole army and the people of all ethnicities to strengthen their confidence and overcome difficulties; fully demonstrating the political wisdom, strategic determination, mission responsibility, feelings for the people and leadership skills of a leader of the big party and big country, thereby the heartfelt support and love of the whole party, the whole army and the people of all ethnicities in China.” 面对世所罕见、史所罕见的复杂形势和风险挑战，习近平总书记以马克思主义政治家、思想家、战略家的恢弘气魄、远见卓识、雄韬伟略，谋划国内外大局，统领改革发展稳定、内政外交国防、治党治国治军，及时提出重大战略，作出重大决策，部署重大任务，领导全党全军全国各族人民坚定信心、迎难而上，充分展现了大党大国领袖的政治智慧、战略定力、使命担当、为民情怀、领导艺术，赢得了全党全军全国各族人民衷心拥护和爱戴.
“The 10 years of great changes in the new era have revealed a profound historical conclusion: the most fundamental reason for the historic achievements and historic changes in the cause of the party and the country lies in the fact that General Secretary Xi Jinping has been at the helm as the core of the Party Central Committee and the core of the whole party and the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.” 新时代10年的伟大变革，揭示出深刻的历史结论：党和国家事业取得历史性成就、发生历史性变革，最根本的原因在于有习近平总书记作为党中央的核心、全党的核心掌舵领航，在于有习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想科学指引.
Also: “In order to ensure the continuous development of the cause of the Party and the long-term stability of the country, we must resolutely support the Two Establishments and resolutely achieve the Two Safeguards, so as to maintain the long-term stability of the core of the Party Central Committee and the core of the entire Party.” 要确保党的事业接续发展、国家长治久安，必须坚定拥护“两个确立”、坚决做到“两个维护”，保持党中央的核心、全党的核心长期稳定.
The second section of the article talks about the process for the election of the new leadership. Here’s the explanation of how rigorous the process was to arrive at the choice of the men who are all believed to be Xi loyalists:
Since the beginning of 2022, General Secretary Xi Jinping has listened carefully to the opinions of members of the Politburo Standing Committee on how to prepare candidates for the new central leadership. The report adds that on the basis of the electoral experiences from the 17th and 18th Party Congresses, everyone unanimously agreed to persist with the good experience and good practices followed during the preparations for the 19th Congress. Instead of engaging in direct elections, there was a process of screening and interviews to finalise the candidates for the new Politburo, the Standing Committee and the Secretariat of the Central Committee, candidates for the leadership of the State Council, candidates for the Central Military Commission, and candidates for new promotions within the National People's Congress and the National Committee of the CPPCC. 从2022年年初开始，习近平总书记就如何酝酿产生新一届中央领导机构人选问题，认真听取了中央政治局常委同志的意见。大家一致赞成，在总结党的十七大、十八大有关做法的基础上，坚持十九届中央领导机构人选酝酿和“两委”人选考察工作的好经验好做法，不搞“海推”“海选”，采取谈话调研的方式，就新一届中央政治局、常委会、书记处组成人选，国务院领导成员人选，中央军委组成人选，以及全国人大、全国政协党内新提拔人选等，在一定范围内面对面听取推荐意见和建议.
The process of investigations and interviews was finalised during a Politburo Standing Committee meeting on March 24, 2022, and it was decided that this process would be under the “direct leadership of General Secretary Xi Jinping.” 2022年3月24日，习近平总书记主持召开中央政治局常委会会议进行专门研究，讨论通过了《关于新一届中央领导机构人选酝酿工作谈话调研安排方案》。谈话调研和人选酝酿工作在习近平总书记直接领导下进行。主要遵循以下原则：
This process followed the following principles:
adhere to the guidance of of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, focus on the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan and the Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy, be based on the new development stage, implement the new development concept, build a new development pattern, promote high-quality development, build a modern socialist country in an all-round way and realise the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation; focus on comprehensively implementing the general requirements of Party building and the organisational line of the party in the new era, uphold and strengthen the Party’s overall leadership, improve the Party’s long-term ruling ability, maintain the Party’s advanced nature and purity, push forward the new great project of Party building in the new era with the spirit of self-revolution, and constantly consolidate the Party’s ruling position; focus on the success and advancement of the Party’s cause, ensuring the long-term stability of the Party and the country.” 坚持以习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想为指导，着眼于统筹推进“五位一体”总体布局和协调推进“四个全面”战略布局，立足新发展阶段、贯彻新发展理念、构建新发展格局、推动高质量发展，全面建设社会主义现代化国家，实现中华民族伟大复兴的中国梦；着眼于全面贯彻新时代党的建设总要求和新时代党的组织路线，坚持和加强党的全面领导，提高党的长期执政能力、保持党的先进性和纯洁性，以自我革命精神深入推进新时代党的建设新的伟大工程，不断巩固党的执政地位；着眼于党的事业后继有人、兴旺发达，确保党和国家长治久安.
Adhere to the core position of the Party’s leadership, uphold the authority and centralised and unified leadership of the Party central committee, improve the mechanism for the generation of party and state leaders, and actively and steadily select the new Party and state leadership team. 坚持党的领导核心地位，坚持党中央权威和集中统一领导，完善党和国家领导人产生机制，积极稳妥地选好配好新一届党和国家领导班子.
Adhere to the standards of Marxist statesmen; adhere to selecting from all parts of the country and appointing people based on merit; adhere to both ability and political integrity, prioritising morality; adhere to the cause, fairness and integrity, adhere to the standards of good cadres in the new era and the requirements for loyalty, cleanliness and responsibility; strictly enforce political integrity, and select and appoint officials in a scientific and precise manner. 坚持马克思主义政治家集团标准，坚持五湖四海、任人唯贤，坚持德才兼备、以德为先，坚持事业为上、公道正派，坚持新时代好干部标准和忠诚干净担当要求，严把政治关廉洁关，精准科学选人用人.
Adhere to the principle that the Party manages cadres; implement democratic centralism; fully develop inner-party democracy; and improve the quality and effectiveness of democracy.坚持党管干部原则，贯彻民主集中制，充分发扬党内民主，提高民主质量和实效.
The piece seems to suggest that voting was not the key factor in the selection of candidates. Apart from the “overall situation of the work of the party and the country,” the “qualifications of officials, their consistent performance, and the needs of the leadership structure” were kept in mind. 谈话调研重在集思广益、统一认识，不限定推荐人数，人选推荐票数作为参考，不简单以票取人。统筹考虑党和国家工作大局，根据干部条件、一贯表现和班子结构需要，研究提出新一届中央领导机构人选。The new central leadership team must have a reasonable size and structure. 新一届中央领导班子要有合理的规模和结构.
Based on these principles, candidates were assessed on the basis of the following qualities:
Political firmness, loyalty to the party, strong political judgement, comprehension, and political; profound understanding of the decisive significance of the Two Establishments; strengthening of the four consciousnesses and four self-confidences, and the achievement of the Two Safeguards; along with whether the candidate has resolutely maintained a high degree of consistency with the Party Central Committee with comrade Xi Jinping as the core in terms of thought, politics and actions and whether the person is a qualified Marxist politician. 政治坚定、对党忠诚，政治判断力、政治领悟力、政治执行力强，深刻领悟“两个确立”的决定性意义，增强“四个意识”、坚定“四个自信”、做到“两个维护”，坚决在思想上政治上行动上同以习近平同志为核心的党中央保持高度一致，是合格的马克思主义政治家.
The person must have strong leadership capability, rich practical experience, strong revolutionary spirit/ambition; have the spirit of reform and innovation and seeking truth from facts; must adhere to principles, have the courage to take responsibility, have strong fighting spirit, courage to fight and be good at fighting; have a correct outlook on political achievements, and should have demonstrated outstanding work performance. 领导能力强，实践经验丰富，有强烈的革命事业心，有改革创新和实事求是精神，坚持原则、敢于担当，斗争精神强、敢于斗争、善于斗争，有正确的政绩观，工作业绩突出.
The person should strictly implement democratic centralism, be fair and upright, be broad-minded, be good at uniting comrades, bear in mind their original mission, conscientiously implement the Party's mass line, carry forward the Party's glorious tradition and fine style of work, and serve the people wholeheartedly. 严格执行民主集中制，公道正派，心胸宽广，善于团结同志，牢记初心使命，自觉贯彻党的群众路线，发扬党的光荣传统和优良作风，全心全意为人民服务.
The person should strictly abide by the Party’s discipline and rules, abide by the eight-point regulations of the Central Committee and the code of integrity and self-discipline, have good moral cultivation, be upright and honest, and have a high prestige and good image both inside and outside the Party. 严守党的纪律和规矩，遵守中央八项规定和廉洁自律准则，道德修养好，清正廉洁，在党内外有较高威信和良好形象.
“On this basis, according to the development needs of the Party and the country and the actual situation of the construction of the central leadership, and with reference to previous practices, the central leadership put forward clear requirements on the scope, age and structure of recommended candidates.” 在此基础上，根据党和国家事业发展需要和中央领导机构建设的实际，参照往届做法，中央对推荐人选的范围、年龄和结构提出明确要求.
The next section of the article informs that beginning in April, Xi Jinping had personal conversations with around 30 of the top officials in the Party, including Politburo members, members of the Central Secretariat, the CMC and the Vice President. In addition, from April to July, 2022, the relevant leading comrades of the central leadership listened to the opinions of 283 people. These included those at state institutions, leading CPPCC members, key individuals at the ministerial-level units of the central and state organs, those from Party and government posts at provincial and municipal levels, the commanders and political commissars from different theatres and other members of the 19th Central Committee. The leading comrades of the CMC listened to the opinions of 35 leading comrades from current theatre command posts and leading comrades at theatre command level departments. 从2022年4月开始，习近平总书记在日理万机的情况下专门安排时间，分别与现任中央政治局委员、中央书记处书记、国家副主席、中央军委委员谈话，充分听取意见，前后谈了30人。根据中央政治局常委会的安排，2022年4月至7月，中央有关领导同志分别听取了现任国家机构和全国政协其他党员领导同志，中央和国家机关正部级单位党员主要负责同志，省区市党政正职，军队各战区司令员、政委等主官和其他十九届中央委员共283人的意见。中央军委负责同志分别听取了现任正战区职领导同志和军委机关战区级部门主要负责同志共35人对中央军委人选的意见.
The piece later informs that Xi had made it clear that “in the process of selecting candidates for the central leading bodies, political standards should be put in the first place, politics should be strictly controlled, and the bottom line of integrity should be firmly adhered to.” 习近平总书记强调，中央领导机构人选酝酿，要把政治标准放在首位，严把政治关，把牢廉洁底线.
The article adds: “‘Members of the central leading bodies shoulder the heavy responsibilities of the times and carry the high hopes of hundreds of millions of people; they must be assessed according to the standards of Marxist statesmen.’ During the screening and interview process, everyone agreed that the members of the new central leading bodies should be politically competent, loyal to the party, have a strong sense of political judgement, understanding and execution, be firm supporters of the Two Establishments and conscious practitioners of the Two Safeguards’.” “中央领导机构成员肩负时代重任，寄托着亿万人民的厚望，必须按照马克思主义政治家标准来衡量。”谈话调研中，大家一致认为，新一届中央领导机构成员，应当政治过硬、对党忠诚，政治判断力、政治领悟力、政治执行力强，是“两个确立”的坚定拥护者、“两个维护”的自觉践行者.
Then the piece says that during the interviews, many people expressed the following opinion, which sounds like nice justification for Wang Yang, Li Keqiang and Hu Chunhua being sidelined:
“‘The leadership positions of the Party and the state are not 'iron chairs', and those who meet the age requirements do not necessarily need to continue to be nominated; we should adhere to the cause as a priority, and according to our work needs, candidates' condition, integrity and public reputation, we should be able to stay, move up and down, creating clear employment orientation in the new era.” “党和国家领导职务不是‘铁椅子’，符合年龄的也不一定当然继续提名，要坚持事业为上，根据工作需要、人选条件、廉洁情况和形象口碑，能留能转、能上能下，树立新时代鲜明用人导向。”谈话调研中，许多谈话对象都表达了这样的意见.
The next couple of paragraphs emphasise the point about having the courage to take responsibility and candidates talking about how rigorous and upright the entire process was. Then we are told that Xi again listened to the views of PBSC members and other leading cadres.
“The proposal for the candidates for the new leadership of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection was proposed to the Party Central Committee after deliberation and discussion by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Central Organization Department and other relevant parties. The proposed plan for the composition of the new Central Military Commission was proposed to the Party Central Committee after collective discussion by the Central Military Commission.” 新一届中央纪委领导成员人选建议方案，由中央纪委、中央组织部等有关方面经过酝酿讨论，向党中央提出。新一届中央军委组成人选建议方案，由中央军委经过集体讨论，向党中央提出.
On September 28, 2022, a meeting of the PBSC discussed the proposed list of candidates for the new central leadership. On September 29, the Politburo reviewed and approved the list of recommendations, and decided to submit it to the First Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee and the First Plenary Session of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection for election, approval and decision, respectively. 2022年9月28日，中央政治局常委会会议研究讨论了新一届中央领导机构人选建议名单。9月29日，中央政治局会议审议通过了这一建议名单，决定提请党的二十届一中全会和中央纪委一次全会分别进行选举、通过、决定.
The final section of the article basically argues that the new leadership line-up adheres to all the criteria mentioned and reaffirms faith in the leadership.
There’s also an SCMP article by Josephine Ma based on a Xinhua report from Sunday on the selection process. It’s worth reading this too:
In a lengthy report on Sunday, Xinhua expounded on how the 300-odd top leaders were selected through careful interviews and screening by dozens of inspection teams sent by Xi, who headed a preparatory committee for the party congress. Starting in July last year, the teams visited local governments, central government departments, state enterprises and military units in a drive to select candidates for these elite party bodies. “Party secretary Xi Jinping personally took charge of the planning and personally took charge of the gatekeeping,” the report said…The inspection teams would first check if a candidate had the “political awareness, discernment, understanding and execution power” to stay loyal to Xi and his ideas, in accordance with the “Two Establishes” – a Communist catchphrase referring to having Xi as the core leader and his ideas as the bedrock of the party’s guiding principles. “[The inspection team are to check if] candidates are highly aligned with the core leadership of comrade Xi Jinping in terms of their thoughts, political stance and actions; whether they will unswervingly execute the policies and plans of the party central leadership; and whether they will strictly abide by the party’s political discipline,” Xinhua said. Candidates must also be smart at understanding politics but at the same time simple-minded in their loyalty to Xi, the report added.”
“But beyond loyalty, inspectors would also look for the candidates’ actual ability to implement Xi’s policies and achieve the goals laid down by him. For some, the deciding factor was their ability to bring about breakthroughs in cutting-edge technologies subject to export bans by Western countries, the article said. “Some inspection teams … would focus on whether the candidates have the courage and ability to ‘struggle’ against Western sanctions and safeguard national security,” it said. “Whether they could swim against the tide and had the determination to promote technological innovations and overcome bottlenecks in research related to stranglehold technologies [were important criteria].” Stranglehold technologies refer to core know-hows where China must rely on imports, because it cannot produce items of sufficient quality and quantity. Chipmaking, photolithography machines that manufacture chips and aircraft engines are among the 35 “stranglehold technologies” listed by the Ministry of Science and Technology. Five of the 24 members of the new Politburo are experts in hi-tech fields. For some candidates, the defining criteria was their ability to achieve policy goals set by Xi, such as poverty alleviation, environmental protection and regional development. Some inspection teams conducted site visits to check if the candidates performed well in implementing Covid-19 control measures, as well as mine safety, emergency relief and flood prevention regulations, Xinhua said.”
Third, there’s a report with the letter from the CCP Central Committee to the other “democratic” parties in China. It basically calls on them to “unite closely around the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core.” Finally, there’s a report on the passing of Qian Zhengying.
Page 2: The key reports on the page are basically about three key central bodies meeting to study the spirit of the 20th Party Congress - consolidated Xinhua English report.
Quick Thought: The differences between the reports on the NPC meeting chaired by Li Zhanshu and the State Council and CPPCC meetings chaired by Li Keqiang and Wang Yang, respectively, are rather stark. First, there is direct reporting of comments by Li Zhanshu but not those by Wang Yang and Li Keqiang. In their cases, the report basically talks about the meeting’s readout. Second, while both the meetings of the CPPCC and State Council are calling for rallying behind Xi, there isn’t the fulsome, personal praise – particularly in the State Council meeting report – that’s being offered by Li Zhanshu or even by the CPPCC meeting readout.
The meeting of the leading Party members group of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, was presided over by Li Zhanshu. He was full of praise for Xi Jinping and called for rallying behind Xi. He said that Xi’s re-election “reflects the common aspiration of the whole party, the army, and the people of all ethnic groups in the country.” He added with Xi as the core the Party and country have a “strong political guarantee for advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” and that China can withstand any kind of storms.
The report adds:” Li Zhanshu said that the work in the past five years and the great changes in the decade of the new era have been fundamentally based on the establishment of Xi Jinping as the core of CPC Central Committee and the whole party, and the guiding position of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.” 栗战书说，过去五年的工作、新时代十年的伟大变革，根本在于确立了习近平同志党中央的核心、全党的核心地位，确立了习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想的指导地位.
Practical experience since the 18th Party Congress strongly proves that it is because of the strong leadership of General Secretary Xi Jinping that our Party and people have overcome all kinds of risks and challenges, achieved the first centennial goal and accelerated the process of building a modern socialist country; without general secretary Xi Jinping the helm, we would not be in this situation today. 党的十八大以来的实践有力地证明，正是习近平总书记的坚强领导，我们党和人民才战胜了各种风险挑战，实现了第一个百年奋斗目标，加速建设社会主义现代化国家的进程，如果没有习近平总书记为我们掌舵领航，我们就不会有今天这样的局面.
“It is under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era that scientific socialism is radiating with new vitality in China in the 21st century. To advance the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era and on the new journey, the most important thing is to deeply understand the decisive significance of the Two Establishments, keep in mind the three musts, keep in mind 国之大者, and maintain a high degree of consistency with the Party Central Committee with comrade Xi Jinping as the core in terms of thought, politics and actions.” 正是在习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想的指引下，科学社会主义在二十一世纪的中国焕发出新的蓬勃生机。新时代新征程上把中国特色社会主义事业推向前进，最紧要的是深刻领悟“两个确立”的决定性意义，牢记“三个务必”，牢记“国之大者”，自觉在思想上政治上行动上同以习近平同志为核心的党中央保持高度一致.
The meeting of the leading Party members group of the State Council was presided over by Premier Li Keqiang. PD reports Li as saying that the report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is the political declaration and action plan for the Party to unite and lead the people of all ethnic groups in the country to win a new victory for socialism with Chinese characteristics. The first plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China elected the new central leadership, and General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered an important speech. The Party Group of the State Council and the departments of the State Council should thoroughly study and understand the spirit of the meeting and conscientiously implement it.” 党的二十大报告，是党团结带领全国各族人民夺取中国特色社会主义新胜利的政治宣言和行动纲领。党的二十届一中全会选举产生新一届中央领导机构，习近平总书记作了重要讲话。国务院党组和国务院部门要深入学习领会会议精神，认真贯彻落实.
“The meeting pointed out that it is necessary to have a deep understanding of the achievements made by the Party and the country in the past decade, which have attracted worldwide attention. These were achieved through the united struggle of the whole party and people of all ethnic groups under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with comrade Xi Jinping at the core and under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.” 会议指出，要深刻认识十年来党和国家事业取得举世瞩目成就，是在以习近平同志为核心的党中央坚强领导下、在习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想指引下全党全国各族人民团结奋斗取得的.
“It is necessary to deeply understand the decisive significance of the Two Establishments, resolutely safeguard Comrade Xi Jinping's position as the core of the Party Central Committee and the whole party, and fully implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. We must firmly grasp the party's mission and the party's central task in the new era and on the new journey, build a modern socialist country in an all-round manner, and comprehensively promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” 要深刻领悟“两个确立”的决定性意义，坚决维护习近平同志党中央的核心、全党的核心地位，全面贯彻习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想。要牢牢把握新时代新征程党的使命、党的中心任务，全面建设社会主义现代化国家、全面推进中华民族伟大复兴.
It added: “The meeting also urged further efforts by the leading Party members group of the State Council and departments to rally closely around the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, ensure full, rigorous self-governance of the Party and boost sustained and healthy economic and social development.”
Finally, there’s a report on Wang Yang chairing the meeting of the leading Party members group of the National Committee of the CPPCC. The report says that the meeting “stated that it fully supports the report made by Comrade Xi Jinping on behalf of the 19th Central Committee and the resolutions passed by the conference, and firmly believes that the new central leadership with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core will definitely lead the whole Party and the people of all ethnic groups in the country to create new brilliance in the new era.”
It adds: “the meeting held that the reason for the great changes in the new era fundamentally lies in the fact that the Party has established Xi Jinping as the core of the CPC Central Committee and the whole party, and established the guiding position of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.” 会议认为，新时代的伟大变革，根本在于党确立习近平同志党中央的核心、全党的核心地位，确立习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想的指导地位.
The report calls studying, publicising and implementing the 20th Party Congress report as a “major political task for the CPPCC at present and in the future”; it called for enhancing CPPCC members’ ideological consciousness and action consciousness through studying Xi’s thought and reiterated the importance of the Two Establishments and the 4-4-2 formulation.
There’s also a 仲音 commentary on the page talking about the blueprint that the 20th Congress has provided. I didn’t find anything interesting or new here.
Page 3: A report informing that the fourth volume of the Governance of China series was available at the Frankfurt Book Fair. A report on messages from foreign political dignitaries to Xi Jinping on his re-election as General Secretary. If you want a list of all of these, Xinhua’s English website has a bunch of these compiled in different reports.
Page 4: There’s a report (brief English report) on the press conference by senior officials from the Central Committee talking about the Congress. Jiang Jinquan, director of the Policy Research Office of the CPC Central Committee, said that the report adopted at the Party Congress “serves as a political manifesto and a guideline for action to achieve new victories on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era.” He added that the “great changes (of the new era) are the result of the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with comrade Xi Jinping at the core, the result of the united and tenacious struggle of the whole party, the whole army and the people of all ethnic groups in the country…” “这些伟大变革，是以习近平同志为核心的党中央坚强领导的结果，是全党全军全国各族人民团结奋斗、顽强拼搏的结果，是党和人民一道拼出来、干出来、奋斗出来的，必将永载史册、光耀千秋。”江金权说.
He added that the “great changes of the past decade in the new era is of milestone significance: it has forged a strong leadership core for the great cause of national rejuvenation, promoted the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation into an irreversible historical process, made the Chinese people more confident and self-reliant, injected powerful positive energy into world peace and development, demonstrating the strong vitality of Marxism.” 在回答记者提问时，江金权表示，新时代十年的伟大变革是全方位、根本性、格局性的，其影响是全局性、历史性的，所以称之为“伟大变革”。新时代十年的伟大变革具有里程碑意义：锻造了民族复兴伟业的坚强领导核心，推动中华民族伟大复兴进入了不可逆转的历史进程，使中国人民更加自信自立自强，为世界和平与发展注入了强大正能量，彰显了马克思主义的强大生命力.
Sun Yeli, deputy director of the Central Propaganda Department, then talked about theoretical innovation. In this, Sun talked about Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era being 21st Century Marxism. Sun talked about the two integrations/combinations (两个结合), i.e., combining the basic principles of Marxism with the concrete reality of China and the excellent traditional Chinese culture. Sun calls the first of these two as “a magic weapon for the continuous success of the Party’s cause.” Sun also said that “Marxism cannot be regarded as a rigid dogma”, and emphasised that “we must adhere to emancipating our minds, seeking truth from facts, advancing with the times, seeking truth and pragmatism, and proceeding from reality.” This, he called, “the essence of our party's ideological line.” “第一个结合，同中国具体实际相结合，是我们党一直强调并坚持的，是中国共产党百年历史中最宝贵的经验，是党的事业不断成功的法宝." 孙业礼表示，习近平总书记在报告中强调“不能把马克思主义当成一成不变的教条”，强调“我们必须坚持解放思想、实事求是、与时俱进、求真务实，一切从实际出发”。这就是我们党思想路线的要义，习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想就是遵循这一思想路线形成的，也必将遵循这一思想路线继续丰富、发展.
Sun also talks about six must adherences - 六个必须坚持, which are mentioned in Xi’s report. Sun added, in response to a reporter’s question, “we firmly oppose other countries imposing their own development models on China, and we will never ‘export’ China’s model, nor ask other countries to ‘copy’ China's practice. The efforts of each country to independently explore a modernisation path that suits its own national conditions should be respected.” 在回答记者提问时，孙业礼表示，我们坚决反对其他国家将自己的发展模式强加给中国，也决不“输出”中国模式，不会要求别国“复制”中国的做法。每个国家自主探索符合本国国情的现代化道路的努力都应该受到尊重.
Mu Hong, deputy head of the Office of the Central Commission for Deepening Reform and deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, said that the growth rate of the GDP is no longer the “hero” in terms of China’s development. Mu then emphasised high-quality development. In this, he talked about six key approaches:
to speed up the construction of a new development pattern
to firmly implement the innovation-driven development strategy and seek driving force from innovation
to build a high-level socialist market economic system and to seek vitality from reform
to comprehensively promote rural revitalisation
to focus on promoting coordinated regional development
to promote high-level opening to the outside world
一是加快构建新发展格局，二是坚定实施创新驱动发展战略、向创新要动力，三是构建高水平社会主义市场经济体制、向改革要活力，四是全面推进乡村振兴，五是着力推进区域协调发展，六是推进高水平对外开放.
Chen Yixin, secretary general of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Central Committee, spoke about the rule of law section from Xi’s report. Tang Fangyu, deputy head of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, said that “in light of the major risks and grave challenges facing the Party, full and rigorous self-governance of the Party should be exercised in a holistic, systemic, continuous manner and with high-caliber…Therefore well-structured, scientific, well-rounded, unified and efficient systems will be formed for exercising full and rigorous self-governance, Tang added.”
Tang also said that “we must always be sober and firm in solving the unique problems of a big party, bearing in mind that the comprehensive and strict administration of the party is always on the way, and the party's self-revolution is always on the way. 提出必须时刻保持解决大党独有难题的清醒和坚定，牢记全面从严治党永远在路上、党的自我革命永远在路上.
Wang Jianxin, chief of the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Commission of Supervision, said that the corruption situation “still remains grave and intricate, and the battle against corruption is fierce and must be won. The strategic plans rolled out in the report should be implemented, and an unstoppable anti-corruption momentum should be sustained to ensure that officials do not have the audacity, opportunity or desire to become corrupt.”
There’s also a report on State Council staff changes.
Page 6: There’s a report on cadres studying the 20th Party Congress report. Little new or informative here.
Page 7: There’s a report on the NPCSC’s inspections on foreign investment law enforcement. This says that the inspection team went to Beijing, Hebei, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Henan, Hunan, Guangdong and other 8 provinces (cities).
In one chunk, the report says that “the inspection team found that the negative list management system is not perfect at present, including that the restricted or prohibited areas of the negative list are not specific enough, the negative list is not in harmony with some industry policies, and foreign investors do not have clarity in terms of expectations for entering areas other than the negative list.” 检查组发现，负面清单管理制度目前还不够完善，具体包括负面清单限制或禁止进入领域不够具体、负面清单与部分行业政策不协调、外国投资者对进入负面清单以外领域缺乏明确预期等.
In addition to the negative list management system, the inspection team also found that in terms of foreign investment recognition standards, foreign investment project approval and filing management, and the connection with the contents of the ‘three Laws on Foreign investment’, some of the supporting rules and systems are too crude and obsolete, and need to be refined and improved. 除了负面清单管理制度，检查组还发现，在外商投资认定标准、外商投资项目核准和备案管理、与“外资三法”内容相衔接等方面，部分配套规则制度还存在部分规定过粗、过时等问题，需要细化改进.
The article calls for “fully implementing the principle of consistency between domestic and foreign capital to provide a solid and effective guarantee for fair competition.” 只有全面落实内外资一致原则，才能为公平竞争提供坚实有效保障. Also, “in order to implement the Foreign Investment Law and actively promote the quality and efficiency of foreign capital utilisation, most regions and departments should treat all types of enterprises registered in China equally, providing a solid and effective guarantee for fair competition between domestic and foreign investment.” 为了贯彻落实外商投资法，积极推进外资利用质效，绝大多数地区、部门对在中国境内注册的各类企业平等对待，为内外资公平竞争提供了坚实有效保障.
In this regard, the piece does highlight some complaints by foreign-funded enterprises. Some foreign-funded enterprises reported to the inspection team that some localities treated foreign-funded enterprises differently in government procurement, requiring them to provide their own country’s certification, patents, awards and cases…State-owned enterprises and institutions also discriminate between domestic and foreign enterprises in bidding and procurement, especially in the field of medicine and medical devices. 但与此同时，有外资企业向检查组反映，个别地方在政府采购中区别对待外资企业，要求外资企业提供本国认证、本国专利、本国奖励、本国案例等。“国有企事业单位在招标采购中也存在区别对待内外资企业的情况，特别是在医药及医疗器械领域，外资企业对平等参与集中采购的反映较为集中。”一家外资企业负责人说.
The report also talks about IPR protection being the key challenge with regard to foreign investment. “The protection of intellectual property rights is still difficult, and the protection of trade secrets needs to be strengthened. According to the survey of foreign chambers of commerce in China, nearly half of enterprises still feel that intellectual property protection is inadequate, especially the process of intellectual property rights protection is laborious and ineffective.” 检查组了解到，当前外商投资权益保护的问题主要集中在：知识产权保护仍有困难，商业秘密保护有待加强。据在华外国商会的调查显示，仍有近半数企业感到知识产权保护的不足，特别是知识产权维权过程劳神费力、效果不佳.
In this regard, the team proposed: improve the complaint mechanism of foreign-invested enterprises, intensify the coordination for complaint acceptance, promote the settlement of cross-departmental and cross-regional complaints, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of foreign investment according to law. Establish and improve the quick investigation mechanism for intellectual property infringement in key areas, and increase the penalties for intellectual property infringement. At the same time, establish and improve the multi-dimensional settlement system of foreign investment disputes. Strengthen the role of domestic remedies in settling and ending disputes, formulate and improve relevant laws, further clarify relevant procedures for administrative reconsideration and administrative litigation, promote and standardise the development of commercial mediation and arbitration systems, and enhance the applicability of foreign investors and foreign-invested enterprises. 对此，检查组建议，切实维护外资企业合法权益。完善外商投资企业投诉工作机制，加大投诉受理协调工作力度，推动解决跨部门跨地区外商投诉事项，依法保护外商投资合法权益。建立健全重点领域知识产权侵权快速查处机制，加大对知识产权侵权行为的处罚力度。同时，建立完善外商投资纠纷多元解决制度。强化国内救济在定分止争中的作用，制定完善相关法律，进一步明确行政复议、行政诉讼的有关程序，促进和规范商事调解、仲裁制度的发展，增强对外投资者和外商投资企业的适用性.
Further, the piece notes:
The inspection team also learned that the information about foreign investment in investment, foreign exchange, customs, taxation, social security, science and technology, public security and other departments is not included in the information reporting system, and there is a lack of unified sharing mechanism among departments. Foreign-funded enterprises need to fill in multiple reports, which affects the management department's comprehensive and accurate grasp of foreign investment information. 检查组还了解到，在市场监管、商务部门以外，投资、外汇、海关、税务、社保、科技、公安等部门的有关外商投资信息并未纳入信息报告制度，部门之间缺乏统一共享机制，外资企业需要多头填报，影响了管理部门对外商投资信息的全面准确掌握.
To this end, the inspection team suggested that, firstly, the transparency of policies and regulations should be improved, the formulation of relevant foreign-related policies and regulations should be carried out according to law, the transparency of the formulation, implementation and enforcement of foreign-related policies should be improved, and the opinions of foreign-funded enterprises should be heard openly; second, improve the information reporting system for foreign investment, and establish a sharing mechanism of foreign investment information in the departments of market supervision, commerce, investment, foreign exchange, customs, taxation, social security, science and technology, public security, etc., in order to promote information sharing and supervision coordination; third, improve the management system in emerging fields, establish and improve the legal support system for cross-border safe data transmission, and ensure the normal cross-border data flow demand of foreign-funded enterprises and compliance processes for the data business. 为此，检查组建议，一是提高政策法规的透明度，相关涉外资政策法规的制定要依法进行，提高外资相关政策制定、实施、执行的透明度，以公开方式听取外资企业意见；二是完善外商投资信息报告制度，建立市场监管、商务、投资、外汇、海关、税务、社保、科技、公安等部门有关外商投资信息的共享机制，推动信息共享和监管协同；三是健全新兴领域管理制度，建立健全数据跨境安全传输的法律配套制度，保障外资企业正常的数据跨境流动需求和数据业务的合规发展.
Page 9: The lead piece on the theory page is by Gong Weibin, who writes about Chinese-style modernisation based on Xi’s speech at the Congress. I didn’t find anything new in this, but it’s a useful read for those looking to grasp what the idea implies.
Page 10: There’s a report with foreign trade data for the first three quarters of the year. It says that China’s total import and export value was 31.11 trillion yuan, an increase of 9.9% over the same period last year. exports were 17.67 trillion yuan, an increase of 13.8%; imports were 13.44 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.2%; the trade surplus was 4.23 trillion yuan, an increase of 53.7%.
In September, trade value was 3.81 trillion yuan, an increase of 8.3%. Among this, the export was 2.19 trillion yuan, an increase of 10.7%; the import was 1.62 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.2%.
In the first three quarters,
ASEAN was China’s largest trading partner. The total trade value between China and ASEAN was 4.7 trillion yuan, an increase of 15.2%, accounting for 15.1% of China's total foreign trade value.
The EU was China's second largest trading partner. The total value trade with the EU was 4.23 trillion yuan, an increase of 9%, accounting for 13.6% of the total. The United States was the third largest trading partner.
The total value of trade with the United States was 3.8 trillion yuan, an increase of 8%, accounting for 12.2%. Exports to the US were 2.93 trillion yuan, an increase of 10.1%; imports from the United States were 865.13 billion yuan, an increase of 1.3%.
Total imports and exports to BRI countries was 0.04 trillion yuan, an increase of 20.7%. Exports were 5.7 trillion yuan, an increase of 21.2%; imports were 4.34 trillion yuan, an increase of 20%.