Xi meets Carrie Lam - Year-end Report on Opening Up - Xi'an Lockdown - China's Aero Engine Quest - Wang Zhigang on S&T Research Priorities
Here are the stories and pieces that I found noteworthy from the Thursday, December 23, 2021, edition of the People’s Daily.
Page 1: Let’s begin with Xi Jinping’s meetings with the chief executives of HK and Macau. First, the report (English report) says that Xi heard a report from Carrie Lam on Hong Kong’s current situation and the HKSAR government's work.
Xi said that HK had consolidated the achievements in moving from chaos to governance and the situation has constantly improved. He added that the region had also achieved notable results in COVID-19 response, steadily recovered its economy and maintained social stability.
Xi then talked about Lam’s work towards the implementation of changes to HK’s electoral system, holding of elections, implementation of NSL and HKSAR’s integration into the overall development of the country. He then said that “the central authorities fully acknowledge the work of Lam and the HKSAR government.”
Xi then launched a defense of the recent elections in HK.
Xi said the elections of the Election Committee and the seventh LegCo held under the new electoral system were both successful, with democratic rights of Hong Kong residents reflected, the principle of ‘patriots administering Hong Kong’ implemented, and a political landscape established with wide and balanced participation from all social groups and constituencies. Practice has proven that the new electoral system adheres to the ‘one country, two systems’ principle and fits Hong Kong’S realities, Xi said, calling it a good system that will provide strong institutional support for the steady and sustained development of ‘one country, two systems’ and Hong Kong's enduring prosperity and stability.
Second, in the meeting with Ho Iat Seng (English report), Xi said that the work of Macao over the past year in maintaining the sound momentum of stability and development, effectively taming COVID-19, achieving gradual economic recovery, and successfully completing the election of the seventh Legislative Assembly of the Macao SAR. The central authorities fully acknowledge the work that Ho and the Macao SAR government have done.
I thought this bit was quite a cheeky criticism: “Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Macao society has gained a clearer understanding of existing problems in the region's economic structure and deeper reflections on its future development…The motherland will always act as a strong support for Macao in maintaining prosperity and stability.”
There’s also a report on the page about Li Keqiang meeting with Carrie Lam and Ho Iat Seng. To Lam, Li highlighted “the significance of consolidating Hong Kong's status as an international hub for finance, trade and shipping, which will provide greater scope for the region’s development. Li also expressed his hope that the HKSAR government will actively define its development strategy within the national development strategy, and contribute to the country's reform and opening up and efforts in fostering a new pattern of development. The HKSAR government is expected to coordinate epidemic prevention and control with economic and social development, and solve the prominent problems of immediate concern to Hong Kong residents.”
To Ho Iat Seng, Li said that he hoped that “Macao SAR will take the initiative in coordinating with national development strategies as well as participating in and advancing the Guangdong-Macao in-depth cooperation zone in Hengqin. Li also said he hopes that Macao continues its efforts in curbing the epidemic and improving people's livelihood. Such efforts will lay a solid foundation for lasting prosperity and stability for the region.”
Also on the page, there’s a commentary about the visit of the chief executives and the principle of one country, two systems. The commentary reiterates that under Xi’s leadership and with the implementation of the changes in Hong Kong, the situation has returned to greater order. It backs the recent elections, while emphasising the principle of patriots governing Hong Kong. It adds “Hong Kong compatriots should carry forward the glorious tradition of loving the country and Hong Kong, join hands with the people of all ethnic groups in China, and work together to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”
It ends by saying that going ahead, “the central government will continue to unswervingly implement the principle of ‘one country, two systems’. We firmly believe that with the deepening of practice and the continuous improvement of institutional mechanisms, the superiority of ‘one country, two systems’ will be further demonstrated.” 面向未来，中央将继续坚定不移贯彻“一国两制”方针。我们坚信，随着实践不断深入和制度体系不断完善，“一国两制”的优越性将进一步彰显.
Moving on, there’s a new year-end series starting in the paper today, focusing on China’s opening up. The piece says that “openness brings progress, while being closed leaves one behind.”
It talks about implementing a high-level opening up, which is a strategic decision taken by the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core. The piece talks about the focus on opening up in the sense of tariff reduction, market access to promote investment liberalisation, financial sector opening, opening of the service sector, opening of telecommunications, education, medical care, culture. It talks about “making economic globalisation more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial for all”; the implementation of the Foreign Investment Law, the negative list for foreign investment, establishment of free trade zones. In regard to the latter, we are told that since 2013, China has set up 21 pilot free trade zones in batches and has established the Hainan Free trade port.
We are also told that “last year, China ranked 31st in the world in terms of ease of doing business, ranking among the top 10 economies with the most improved business environment for the second consecutive year, according to a World Bank report.”
Later the piece talks about BRI projects. It adds that to date, China has signed more than 200 cooperation documents with 145 countries and 32 international organizations to jointly build the Belt and Road. The total volume of trade in goods with countries along BRI has reached $10.4 trillion, and China's non-financial direct investment in these countries has exceeded $130 billion.
Finally, a report (English report) about Wang Yang commending the contributions made by the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation in boosting international friendship, deepening exchanges between the mainland and Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao, and promoting the welfare of children and teenagers. Wang added that:
“We should carry forward Soong Ching Ling’s firm belief of ‘being with the Party forever’ and always maintain political loyalty towards the Party. We must grasp the historical position, highlight the characteristics of the times, be brave in pioneering and innovating, and make new achievements in the new journey of building a socialist modernised country in an all-round way. It is necessary to demonstrate the true nature of public welfare, inherit and carry forward the noble spirit and glorious character of Soong Ching Ling, insist on working according to the law and the articles of association, strengthen the management of funds and public welfare projects…Party committees, governments and relevant parties at all levels should, as always, attach importance to and care for Soong Ching Ling Foundation and create favourable conditions for its work.” 要弘扬宋庆龄先生“永远和党在一起”的坚定信念，永葆对党忠诚的政治底色。要把握历史方位，突出时代特色，勇于开拓创新，在全面建设社会主义现代化国家新征程中作出新成绩. 要彰显公益本色，继承发扬宋庆龄先生崇高精神和光辉品格，坚持依法依章程开展工作，加强对基金和公益项目的管理，把金字招牌越擦越亮. 各级党委、政府及有关方面要一如既往重视和关心宋庆龄基金会，为基金会工作创造有利条件.
Page 2: A report (English report) about Sun Chunlan’s visit to Xi’an. The city is dealing with a major outbreak of COVID-19. The report says that the outbreak has been triggered by imported infections. It has spread to its 14 district-level areas, which are now dealing with community transmission. The situation, therefore, is “grave and complicated.” Sun said it is imperative to ensure that all those infected and their close contacts are tested, quarantined or hospitalised, and urged efforts to cut off the transmission channels and improve the efficiency and quality of nucleic acid testing. Sun also stressed the importance of tightening restrictions on the movement of people to avoid gathering in key areas and places.
Other reports talk about a lockdown being imposed in Xi’an. For instance, state media reported that city officials on Wednesday ordered all residents to stay home unless they had a pressing reason to go out and suspended transport to and from the city, apart from special cases. The order was to take effect at midnight and last indefinitely. One person from each household would be permitted out every two days to buy household necessities, the order said.
Second, an interview with Wang Zhigang, Minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology. He says that the CPC Central Committee and the State Council have identified a series of scientific and technological reform tasks. These include technological action plans in various fields. The main task of 2022 is to implement these plans.
The next question he is asked about strengthening national science and technology forces. In this regard, he talks about China’s national scientific strength and forces. He says that “national laboratories, national research institutions, high-level research universities, and leading enterprises in science and technology are all important components of China’s strategic scientific and technological forces…We encourage ‘innovation regardless of origin, whoever is capable will do it’.”
He outlines four key tasks:
First, strengthen overall planning, task implementation, resource allocation, and build a national laboratory system with Chinese characteristics.
Second, give full play to the role of universities and research institutes, cultivate more innovative leading enterprises, and support leading enterprises to form innovation consortia.
Third, build a number of internationally competitive regional innovation bases.
Fourth, formulate and implement the ten-year plan of basic research.
The next question is about the 10-year plan for basic research. Wang says that:
In terms of research content, we should not only encourage curiosity-driven free exploration, but also emphasise goal-oriented and problem-oriented research work. We should focus on scientific issues in the context of economic and social development and national security, and use scientific laws, principles and methods to discover, summarise and harness high-quality development. In terms of research methods, the logical starting point is to put forward the real basic research problems, which are premised on whether the research has great strategic significance and whether it can succeed. In the evaluation criteria, originality should be taken as the fundamental criterion, and scientific value, building a modern economic system, social development, national security and other factors should be considered as a whole. 在研究内容上，我们既要鼓励好奇心驱动的自由探索，更要强调目标导向下的问题导向。要从经济社会发展和国家安全中凝练科学问题，以科学规律、科学原理、科学方法的发现、总结、驾驭支撑高质量发展；在研究方法上，逻辑起点是提出真正的基础研究问题，这是基础研究是否具有重大战略意义、能否成功的前提；在评价标准上，要把是否具有原创性作为根本标准，统筹考虑科学价值、构建现代经济体系、社会发展、国家安全等多方面衡量因素.
Wang then identifies four priorities for the 10-year plan:
focus on major national strategic needs and key bottlenecks in industrial development, strengthen application-oriented basic research and improve the supply system for common basic technologies.
cultivate a world-class talent team
investment in basic research; in this, he also talks about sustaining growth of central government spending, guiding enterprises and financial institutions to increase support, and encouraging social investment through multiple channels, including donations and establishment of funds.
create an ecological environment conducive to basic research; this includes improved incentives for basic research and its supporting and leading role in applied science; and giving researchers greater control over human resources, financial resources and giving them greater academic autonomy.
So what will MOST do?
First, he talks about expanding deductions on R&D expenses and tax incentives for high-tech enterprises for small and medium-sized technology-oriented enterprises, and increasing the deduction ratio from 75% to 100%.
Second, give full play to the leading role of national innovation zones and high-tech zones as innovation hubs. In 2020, 169 national high-tech zones were home to 36.2% of the national high-tech enterprises; their R&D investment accounted for 50% of the national enterprises’ R&D investment. Comprising 0.1% of the land area of the country, these zones contributed 12.7% of GDP.
Third, enhance the R&D capacity of enterprises for innovation. Major national science and technology projects should actively support the participation of enterprises. It is necessary to vigorously improve the core technology tackling ability of leading enterprises, support leading enterprises in setting up innovation consortiums, establish national technology innovation centers, and support the security and stability of key industrial chains and supply chains. To enhance the overall R&D capacity of small and medium-sized technology-based enterprises, a certain percentage of the state budget will be set aside for key R&D projects on a trial basis.
Page 3: A couple of reports to note. First, Wang Yi spoke to (English report) Icelandic Foreign Minister Thordis Kolbrun Reykfjord Gylfadottir.
Wang said: China is willing to work with Iceland to fight the pandemic, and deepen cooperation on tourism, digital economy, information and communication, agricultural science and technology, and green development. China would strengthen communication and coordination with Iceland under multilateral frameworks such as the United Nations, and welcome Iceland to join the Global Development Initiative, Wang added. He said China is willing to facilitate Icelandic enterprises to invest in China, and hoped Iceland can provide a fair business environment for Chinese enterprises to invest in Iceland. China appreciates Iceland's open attitude towards China's participation in the Arctic affairs and will maintain close communication and cooperation with Iceland in this regard.
Second, MoFA’s criticism (English report) of the discharge of water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea.
Page 9: The lead piece on the theory page is by Mu Hong 穆虹. He basically talks about the history resolution, and the key aspects that the resolution points to for the future. I didn’t think there was anything particularly new in this.
Page 10: There’s a piece by the Party Group of the Aero Engine Corporation of China. The piece says that building an aircraft engine “is an important guarantee for building and consolidating national defense and a strong army, and an important embodiment of national strategic scientific and technological strength.” 航空发动机是建设巩固国防和强大军队的重要保障，是国家战略科技力量的重要体现.
The piece talks about the establishment of the Aero Engine Corporation of China in 2016 in order to focus on engine manufacturing. It says that Xi had then given instructions to accelerate research, development and manufacturing of aircraft engines and gas turbines to make China an aviation industry power. Over the past five years, the Party group of AECC has kept Xi’s instructions in mind. The next bit talks about political construction work.
Later the piece talks about achievements. These include:
the J-10B equipped with a domestically-made thrust vector engine
the AG600, which is equipped with the Chinese-made WJ-6 turboprop engines. (from what I gather, and the piece doesn’t tell us this, the WJ-6 is a license-built copy of the Soviet Ivchenko AI-20 engine)
the domestically-made AES100 turboshaft engine
The piece also talks about the AECC’s work becoming more focused. It has withdrawn from more than 20 industries unrelated to aviation engines; the main business now accounts for more than 90% of its revenue.
The next paragraph talks about the importance of self-reliance and “having key and core technologies in our own hands.” In this regard, the piece informs that
strategic cooperation agreements have been signed with 50 universities, enterprises and local governments
more than 80 joint technology centers and laboratories have been built
nine national-level science and technology innovation platforms have been established
The piece further commits to work towards taking the lead in setting up an aero-engine industry-university consortium, co-ordinating the national basic research forces, and accelerating the tackling of strategic and key major scientific and technological achievements.”
Page 14: Two stories to note on the page. First, a report by the Huazhong University of Science and Technology on America’s human rights failings amid the pandemic. So we have a detailed report on this. Second, a report (English report) about the Red Cross Society of China sending a donation to the Afghan Red Crescent Society. The handover ceremony was attended by Chinese Ambassador to Afghanistan Wang Yu.