Xi's Message on Palestine - Li Calls Dutch PM Schoof - Zhao Leji Talks EVs, Green Tech Cooperation in Spain - G7 Statement on China
Here are the key reports and articles that I found noteworthy from the People’s Daily’s edition on Thursday, November 28, 2024.
Page 1: A bunch of reports on the page today. First, there’s a report on Xi Jinping sending a congratulatory message to a UN meeting held on Tuesday to commemorate the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. Xinhua reports:
“Noting that the question of Palestine is at the heart of the Middle East issue and concerns international fairness and justice, Xi said the pressing task is to comprehensively and effectively implement the relevant UN Security Council resolutions to end the war as soon as possible and ease the regional situation. The fundamental way out is to implement the two-State solution and promote the political settlement of the question of Palestine, establish an independent Palestinian state enjoying full sovereignty on the basis of the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, and ensure the right of the Palestinian people to statehood, their right to existence and their right of return, Xi said. Xi stressed that China has always been a staunch supporter of the just cause of the Palestinian people to restore their legitimate national rights, and has always supported all Palestinian factions in strengthening unity and implementing the Beijing Declaration on Ending Division and Strengthening Palestinian National Unity to realize internal reconciliation. China firmly supports Palestine in becoming a full UN member and supports the convening of a more broad-based, more authoritative and more effective international peace conference, Xi added. Xi said that China will continue to work with the international community to end the war and stop the killing, support the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East in continuing to provide humanitarian assistance to the Gaza people, and bring the question of Palestine back to the right track of the two-State solution to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement at an early date.”
Second, there’s a report on Li Qiang’s call with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof. Li reportedly told Schoof that:
“China is ready to maintain close exchanges with the new Dutch government and work together to uphold the positive momentum in promoting bilateral relations…Openness and practicality are valuable lessons drawn from the development of China-Netherlands relations, Li said, adding that China is ready to maintain close high-level exchanges with the Netherlands, strengthen dialogue and communication, continue to consolidate political mutual trust, so as to provide a solid foundation for the development of bilateral relations. China is also willing to adhere to the principle of mutual benefit and reciprocity with the Netherlands and continue to expand economic and trade exchanges.” 中方愿同荷兰新一届政府保持密切交往，共同维护好中荷关系持续推进的良好势头。开放务实是中荷关系发展的宝贵经验。中方愿同荷方保持密切高层交往，加强对话沟通，持续巩固政治互信，为双边关系发展提供坚实保障。中方也愿同荷方坚持互利互惠原则，持续扩大经贸往来.
“Schoof said that China plays an increasingly important role in global affairs, and the Netherlands attaches great importance to its relationship with China. Bilateral relations, particularly in terms of economic and trade cooperation, have seen strong growth. The Dutch government firmly adheres to the one-China policy, recognizing that the government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China. The Netherlands is ready to serve as a gateway for China’s cooperation with Europe, and looks forward to further strengthening cooperation in economic, trade, and other fields to advance Netherlands-China relations.” 斯霍夫表示，中国在全球事务中发挥着日益重要的作用，荷中关系对荷兰十分重要，两国关系特别是经贸合作发展势头强劲。荷政府坚定奉行一个中国政策，认为中华人民共和国政府是代表全中国的唯一合法政府。荷方愿成为中国同欧洲合作的门户，期待双方进一步加强经贸等领域合作，推动荷中关系发展.
Third, there’s a detailed report on Zhao Leji’s visit to Spain. Zhao met with Spanish King Felipe VI and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, and held talks with Pedro Rollan, president of the Spanish Senate, and Francina Armengol, speaker of the Spanish Congress of Deputies. Xinhua reports:
Zhao told King Felipe VI that “China is committed to collaborating with Spain to deepen their traditional friendship, uphold mutual understanding and respect for each other’s core interests and major concerns, achieve new cooperation achievements, and tackle global challenges like climate change together, ultimately striving for shared development and prosperity…The King said as next year will mark the 20th anniversary of the establishment of China-Spain comprehensive strategic partnership, Spain will deepen its cooperation with China in areas such as trade and investment, new energy, climate change, culture, education, and the promotion of each other’s languages, bringing fresh momentum to the growth of their relationship.”
The report adds:
“When meeting with Sanchez, Zhao said Spain is an important strategic partner of China in Europe. China appreciates Spain’s adherence to the one-China principle and is committed to strengthening their friendship, deepening mutual trust, and enhancing cooperation, while steadfastly upholding its policy of opening up. The top Chinese legislator pledged to enhance cooperation in economy, trade, investment, culture, and tourism, while highlighting the potential for further progress in areas such as electric vehicles, clean energy, advanced materials, and the green and digital economy. He stressed the need to establish a fair, safe, non-discriminatory, and predictable business environment for enterprises. China has always regarded Europe as a key priority in its diplomacy and an important partner in achieving Chinese-style modernization. China is willing to promote the high-level development of China-Spain relations to contribute to the steady and long-term growth of China-Europe relations, said Zhao. Sanchez said Spain abides by the one-China policy. Extending welcome for China’s investment, the prime minister called for more cooperation in such fields as trade, electric vehicles, agricultural products, culture and sports. Spain is willing to play an active role in the European Union (EU) and push for better development of EU-China relations, said Sanchez, adding the Spanish side will strengthen coordination with China on international and multilateral affairs, uphold the authority of international law, and work together to safeguard global peace and stability.”
In his meetings with Rollan and Armengol, Xinhua reports that Zhao said the NPC “is willing to strengthen exchanges with the Spanish Senate and the Congress of Deputies at all levels, promote mutual learning on legislation and supervision, and timely formulate, revise and approve legal documents conducive to bilateral cooperation…Zhao underscored the readiness to advance the exchanges between the two countries' legislators, and cement bilateral collaboration within multilateral frameworks such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union. He also explained the People's Congress system, China's fundamental political system.”
Finally, Zhao visited Barcelona, where he visited a plant by Chinese carmaker Chery and its Spanish partner Ebro. He expressed “his hope for deepening cooperation between the two countries at the local level” to “jointly promote green development.”
Next, there’s a report on Wang Huning’s remarks at the 28th Chairperson’s Meeting of the 14th CPPCC National Committee. Wang essentially called for “in-depth consultation and deliberation in light of the new situation and requirements of the country's digital and cyberspace development”. He also called to “implement the important instructions given by General Secretary Xi Jinping on social work and strengthen the analysis and assessment on major issues related to social work”.
In addition,
the meeting reviewed and passed the decision to revoke Zhao Jinyun’s membership of the 14th National Committee of the CPPCC
there was also a discussion on China’s space industry development, with Wu Weiren, chief designer of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program sharing his perspective
Finally, the full plan on reducing logistics costs for the whole society is published on the page. I am not detailing the entire plan. Xinhua says:
“China aims to cut the ratio of social logistics costs to GDP to around 13.5 percent by 2027…By 2027, the country expects to further optimize the structure of goods transportation, and strengthen the national logistics hub system and modern logistics service network…Toward that end, efforts will be made to advance reforms in key areas of the railways and in the road freight market, boost the openness and interconnectivity of logistics data, speed up the building of a modern supply-chain system, and improve the modern commercial logistics system, it said. China will optimize the transportation of bulk commodities, strengthen international supply chains, and foster leading enterprises of modern logistics. The scheduling and capacity allocation mechanism for the China-Europe freight train will be upgraded, said the plan. The hardware and activities of logistics will be further digitalized, it said, highlighting the development of new facilities like smart roads, ports and logistics hubs and parks. The country will encourage new logistics models that integrate with the platform economy, low-altitude economy and autonomous driving, and promote the use of technologies like unmanned vehicles, boats, drones and warehouses, it noted. Support will also be given to make logistics hubs, warehouses and transportation facilities greener, it said. Logistics packaging will be reduced in volume and made more recyclable.”
Page 2: There’s a report on He Lifeng meeting with a delegation from Japan’s Kansai business community. Xinhua reports:
He “hoped that the Kansai business community of Japan will continue to seize China's development opportunities for mutual benefit and win-win results…Noting China and Japan's deep integration in terms of industrial and supply chains and their broad common interests and cooperation space, He encouraged Japan's Kansai business community to continue to grasp China's development opportunities, and deepen practical cooperation for mutual success and win-win outcomes.”
Also on the page is a report on the Third China-Arab States Young Politicians Forum, which was held in Zhuhai. Around 200 representatives from political parties, governments, think tanks, media, universities, and enterprises of 21 Arab countries, as well as representatives from various sectors in China, attended. Liu Jianchao addressed the forum.
Finally, this exchange from the MoFA press briefing is repeated on the page.
Dragon TV: China recently rolled out measures to facilitate cross-border travel. Last week, a new batch of countries were added to the visa-free list. We noticed that China is becoming an increasingly popular destination for foreign tourists. Places in China have become trending searches on multiple tourism platforms, and the number of reservations for tours to China surged on many foreign e-commerce tourism platforms. Can you give us more details?
Mao Ning: China has extended the visa-free policy to 38 countries since the end of last year and so far has realized comprehensive mutual visa exemption with 25 countries in total. We have also made Chinese visa application more efficient and easier by improving the visa application form, canceling visa reservation, expanding the scope of fingerprinting exemption, lowering visa fees and other measures. While streamlining the procedure of travelling to China, we are also committed to making life and work in China more convenient and comfortable for foreign friends. Places including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong Province improved payment services, including by mobile devices, bank cards and cash, to make online shopping and transportation more problem-free for foreign friends. Chinese telecom providers, by opening new shops, improving foreign language services and launching new packages, have enabled foreign friends to access and use 5G network more conveniently. More cities have set up special windows to provide one-stop service to help foreign nationals to get work permit and residence permit faster. We will make continued effort to facilitate cross-border travel. We welcome friends from all countries to visit China, experience the country’s glamour and share in the dividends of China’s development.
Mao Ning also responded to the G7 Foreign Ministers’ statement, which had a lot of content related to China.
The G7 statement said:
“We will take appropriate measures, consistent with our legal systems, against actors in China and in other third countries that materially support Russia’s war machine, including financial institutions and other entities that facilitate Russia’s acquisition of equipment and items for its defense industrial base…We urge countries with ties to Russia and the DPRK, including China, to uphold international law by opposing this dangerous expansion of the conflict and implementing all relevant UNSC resolutions.”
And then there is this big chunk on China:
“As we seek constructive and stable relations with China, we recognize the importance of direct and candid engagement to express concerns and manage differences. We reaffirm our readiness to cooperate with China to address global challenges We are deeply concerned by China’s increasing support to Russia and Russia’s defense industrial base, which is decisively enabling Russia to maintain its illegal war in Ukraine and to reconstitute its armed forces and has significant broad-based security implications. China must prevent its companies from transferring weapons, especially attack Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), dual-use materials, including weapons components, and equipment. We also call on China to step up efforts to promote international peace and security and to press Russia to stop its military aggression and immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw its troops from Ukraine.”
We recognize the importance of China in global trade. We are not trying to harm China or thwart its economic development, indeed a growing China that plays by international rules and norms would be of global interest. However, we express our concerns about China’s non-market policies and practices that are leading to harmful overcapacity and market distortions, undermining our workers, industries and economic resilience and security. We are not decoupling or turning inwards. Together with our partners, we are de-risking and diversifying supply chains, where necessary and appropriate to reduce critical dependencies and vulnerabilities and to foster resilience to economic coercion. We further call on China to refrain from adopting export control measures, particularly on critical minerals, that could lead to significant supply chain disruptions.
We remain seriously concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas. We reiterate our strong opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion. There is no legal basis for China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea. We reiterate our opposition to China’s militarization and coercive and intimidation activities in the South China Sea. We re-emphasize the universal and unified character of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and reaffirm its important role in setting out the legal framework that governs all activities in the oceans and seas. We continue to oppose China’s dangerous use of coast guard and maritime militia in the South China Sea and its repeated obstruction of countries’ freedom of navigation and overflight. We express deep concern over the increasing use of dangerous maneuvers and water cannons against Philippine and Vietnamese vessels. We reiterate that the award rendered by the Arbitral Tribunal on 12 July 2016 is a significant milestone, which is legally binding upon the parties to those proceedings and a useful basis for peacefully resolving disputes between the parties.
Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is indispensable to international security and prosperity. We call for the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues. There is no change in the basic position of the G7 members on Taiwan, including stated One-China policies. We support Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations as a member where statehood is not a prerequisite and as an observer or guest where it is. We remain concerned by the human rights situation in China, including in Xinjiang and Tibet. We remain concerned by the erosion of civil society, human rights and fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong. The sentencing of 45 pro-democracy politicians and activists marks a further deterioration of democratic participation and pluralism, which undermines confidence in the rule of law as enshrined in the Hong Kong Basic Law, and therefore Hong Kong’s and the People’s Republic of China’s international legal obligations. We urge China and the Hong Kong authorities to abide by their international human rights commitments and legal obligations. We call on China not to conduct or condone activities aimed at undermining the security and safety of our communities and the integrity of our democratic institutions, and to act in strict accordance with its obligations under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.”