Xi's Tibet Visit Anniversary - Li on Economic & COVID Policies - China's Systemic Advantages - Hebei Party Committee's Ode to Xi
Here are the stories and pieces that I found noteworthy in the Thursday, July 21, 2022, edition of the People’s Daily.
Page 1: At the top of the page is a short feature piece about protecting the ecology in Tibet. This, along with a commentary on the page, marks the anniversary of Xi’s visit to Tibet last year. At the time, Xi had spoken about the importance of ecological protection, and this piece talks about how people have adhered to the spirit of that instruction.
“As of 2021, Tibet established 47 nature reserves of various types; the forest cover is around 14.91 million hectares, with a forest coverage rate of 12.31%; more than 9,600 species of wild plants have been recorded in Tibet, including 152 species of wild plants that are under national protection; the water quality of major rivers and lakes in the whole region is good, and the ambient air quality is excellent…” 截至2021年底，西藏已建立各类自然保护区47个；全区现有森林1491万公顷，森林覆盖率达12.31%；西藏已记录的野生植物9600多种，其中国家级重点保护野生植物152种；全区主要江河湖泊水质整体保持良好，环境空气质量整体保持优良，国家土壤环境监测网重点风险监控点位各污染物浓度均低于《土壤环境质量农用地土壤污染风险管控标准》风险管制值.
The commentary talks about Xi’s visit and how it inspired people. It then says:
“At present, the overall social situation in Tibet is harmonious and stable, the quality of development is constantly improving, the people’s living standard is improving in an all-round way, the ecological security barrier is becoming increasingly solid, ethnic and religious harmony are maintained, border security is being consolidated in the frontier areas, Party building is being strengthened in an all-round way, and the new socialist Tibet is showing great vitality.” 当前，西藏社会大局和谐稳定，发展质量不断提升，人民生活水平全面提高，生态安全屏障日益坚实，民族和睦宗教和顺，边疆巩固边境安全，党的建设全面加强，社会主义新西藏呈现勃勃生机.
The following paragraph informs that Xi Jinping has been personally involved in Tibet-related work. It says that:
“since the 18th Party Congress, credit for the the all-round progress and historic achievements of various undertakings in Tibet 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 due to the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. General Secretary Xi Jinping has attached great importance to Tibet work; he has always had Tibet in his heart and has deep affection for Tibet. He has personally steered the direction and planned the layout of Tibet-related work and guided Tibet to solve many difficult problems that we had long wanted to resolve but had not been addressed; and accomplished many important things that were long desired in the past, but had not been achieved…Practice has fully proved that the CPC Central Committee's principles and policies on Tibet work are completely correct; Only by adhering to the leadership of the CPC, the socialist system with Chinese characteristics, the system of regional ethnic autonomy, and the Party's strategy of managing Tibet in the new era can we achieve prosperity and progress in Tibet and create a better future for Tibet.” 党的十八大以来，西藏各项事业之所以取得全方位进步、历史性成就，最根本在于习近平总书记作为党中央的核心、全党的核心掌舵领航，在于习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想科学指引。习近平总书记高度重视西藏工作，始终心系西藏、情系西藏，亲自为西藏工作把舵定向、谋篇布局，指引西藏解决了许多长期想解决而没有解决的难题，办成了许多过去想办而没有办成的大事...实践充分证明，党中央关于西藏工作的方针政策是完全正确的；只有坚持中国共产党领导，坚持中国特色社会主义制度，坚持民族区域自治制度，坚持新时代党的治藏方略，才能实现西藏繁荣进步，才能开创西藏更加美好的未来.
Towards the end, the piece basically talks about doing a good job on the four major issues of “stability, development, ecology and strengthening the border (稳定、发展、生态、强边)” in Tibet-related work.
Next, there’s a report (English report) about the availability of the traditional Chinese versions of three books of President Xi Jinping's discourses and one book on stories in the Party history shared by Xi at the Hong Kong Book Fair. Among the books, one comprises 50 pieces of Xi's important works on the subject of running the country by the people; another contains excerpts of his discourses on the importance of family, family education and virtues made between Nov. 15, 2012 and Dec. 28, 2020; and the third is a compilation of excerpts of Xi's discourses on respecting and protecting human rights made between Nov. 15, 2012 and Oct. 30, 2021. The fourth is a book recounting more than 80 stories in the history of the Communist Party of China shared by Xi.
After this, let’s turn to Li Keqaing’s comments at the Special Virtual Dialogue with Global Business Leaders, which offered some clues on the future of China’s COVID containment policies. Xinhua English’s detailed report:
“Premier Li noted the profound and complex shifts and notably rising challenges and uncertainty in regional and international environments. President Xi Jinping had pointed out in his address at the World Economic Forum Virtual Session this year that China will stay committed to reform and opening-up, Premier Li said. A peaceful and stable environment is the prerequisite for development. China will work with all parties to uphold the UN-centered international system, practice multilateralism and jointly safeguard world peace and tranquility, he said. Promoting stable growth of the world economy is a common and urgent task for all, Premier Li said, adding countries need to strengthen macroeconomic policy coordination, ensure stable food and energy supply, and keep industrial and supply chains safe and smooth. It is important to enhance unity and coordination, firmly defend and promote economic globalization, deepen bilateral and multilateral cooperation, and advance balanced, inclusive and sustainable development that delivers for all, he said.”
It further states:
“On the state of the Chinese economy, Premier Li noted that in the second quarter this year, under the impacts from a new round of COVID flare-ups and other factors beyond expectation, downward economic pressure rose steeply, and major indicators tumbled in April. ‘We responded with resolute and swift action. We put stable growth higher on the agenda, held our ground against a massive stimulus, worked to front-load the policies set, and introduced and implemented a policy package of 33 measures for stabilizing the economy,’ said the Premier. Premier Li said in May, the decline in major economic indicators slowed. In June, the economy stabilized and rebounded. Major indicators picked up fairly fast and returned to the positive territory. The surveyed urban unemployment rate fell notably. As a result, the economy registered a positive growth in the second quarter. ‘That said, we are keenly aware that recovery of the economy is not yet firmly established, and painstaking efforts are required to keep overall economic performance stable,’ Premier Li added.”
Then the report says:
He said China, as the world's largest developing country, has huge development potential. ‘We will fully apply the new development philosophy, effectively coordinate COVID-19 response and economic and social development, and bring out the initiative of all sides. We will continue to take development as the basis of and key to overcoming all challenges China faces, and work hard to bring the economy back to a normal track as soon as possible,’ Premier Li went on to point out the primary buttress for keeping economic performance in a proper range is stable employment and prices. ‘Since 2020, our policies in tackling COVID-19 and other major impacts have been appropriate in scale, and we have not resorted to massive stimulus, which created conditions for preventing inflation.’ This year, summer grains saw a bumper harvest with historic high yields, autumn grain production enjoys a good momentum, and coal-fired power is in stable supply, Premier Li said, adding this has laid the foundation for stable prices at home and is conducive to stability in global food and energy markets…‘We will keep macro policies consistent and targeted, and continue to focus efforts on helping market entities resolve difficulties, to preserve the foundation of economic development. Macro policies will be both targeted and forceful, and well-calibrated as appropriate. We will not introduce supersize stimulus measures, issue excessive money supply, or sacrifice future interests to go after an excessively high growth speed. We will take a realistic approach and do the best within our means to strive for fairly good results in economic development for the whole year,’ stressed Premier Li.”
Finally, the report says:
“Premier Li noted that China’s economy has been deeply integrated into the global economy, and opening-up is China's fundamental national policy. China cannot develop in isolation from the world, and the world also needs China for its development, said Premier Li. ‘We will deepen high-level opening-up, stay committed to free trade and fair trade, and help keep the two wheels of multilateral and regional trade cooperation running in parallel,’ Premier Li said, adding continued efforts will be made to foster a market-oriented, world-class business environment governed by a sound legal framework, and ensure foreign enterprises' equal access to opening-up sectors in accordance with law to realize mutual benefit and win-win amid fair competition. Noting China is ready to strengthen international cooperation against COVID-19, Premier Li said China will make COVID control measures more targeted and well-calibrated under the premise of ensuring safety against COVID infections, including steadily improving visa and COVID testing policies, further resuming and increasing international passenger flights in an orderly way, and advancing outbound commerce and trade activities and cross-border travel for labor services in a prudent and orderly manner. ‘This will better promote personnel inter-flow and exchanges and cooperation between China and the world’.”
Here’s the latest COVID case count in the country. The majority of the cases are centred around Guangxi and Gansu.
Next, a report informing that as of the end of June,
The national installed power generation capacity was about 2.44 billion kilowatts, an increase of 8.1% year-on-year.
The installed capacity of wind power was about 340 million kilowatts, a year-on-year increase of 17.2%
The installed capacity of solar power generation was about 340 million kilowatts, an increase of 25.8% year-on-year.
Clean energy power generation grew rapidly, with hydropower, nuclear power, wind power and solar power generating 1,235.4 billion kWh, a year-on-year increase of 12.8%. Specifically, hydropower increased by 20.3%, nuclear power increased by 2%, wind power increased by 7.8%, and solar power increased by 13.5%.
In H1, there was an investment of 215.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14%, in the projects of major power generation enterprises. Among them, solar power generation investment was 63.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 283.6%.
Investment in power grid projects was 190.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.9%.
Along with the above, do read this Reuters report with data from Greenpeace, which says that China approved the construction of 8.63 gigawatts (GW) of coal power in the first quarter of this year, nearly half the amount seen in all of 2021.
Finally, a report on China’s summer grain harvest. GT’s English report has the details too.
“China's summer grain output hit 294.8 billion jin (147.4 billion kilograms), a record high, an increase of 2.87 billion jin over the previous year…Wheat production rose 2.57 billion jin to reach 271.5 billion jin.”
Page 2: First, a report with comments from Sun Chunlan on using and advancing TCM. Second, a report (English report) on Hu Chunhua’s inspections of water conservancy work in Shandong and Hebei provinces from Tuesday to Wednesday. He spoke about the “severe” water security situation in north China and the need for continuous efforts to stem the overexploitation of groundwater there. He also called for “unswerving efforts to carry out water diversion and replenishment, and ensure that the targets of this round of treatment are met this year.”
Finally, a report with PBoC data on the Chinese bond market. It says that in June, the country’s bond market issued a total of 6.59 trillion yuan of bonds. This included:
Central government bonds figure was 504.06 billion yuan
Local government bonds figure was 1.09 trillion yuan
Financial bonds figure was 967.46 billion yuan
Corporate credit bonds figure was 1.17 trillion yuan
The issuance of credit asset-backed securities was at 44.68 billion yuan
The issuance of interbank certificates of deposit was at 1.9 trillion yuan
中国人民银行发布的金融市场运行情况显示，6月份，我国债券市场共发行各类债券65996.8亿元。其中国债发行5040.6亿元，地方政府债券发行19336.6亿元，金融债券发行9674.6亿元，公司信用类债券发行11696.9亿元，信贷资产支持证券发行446.8亿元，同业存单发行19062.7亿元.
As of June, the outstanding balance in the market was 141.7 trillion yuan. This included
Treasury bonds at 23.2 trillion yuan
Local government bonds at 34.3 trillion yuan
Financial bonds at 32.7 trillion yuan
Corporate credit bonds at 32.2 trillion yuan
Credit asset-backed securities at 2.5 trillion yuan
Interbank deposit certificates at 14.7 trillion yuan
截至6月末，债券市场托管余额为141.7万亿元。其中，国债托管余额23.2万亿元，地方政府债券托管余额34.3万亿元，金融债券托管余额32.7万亿元，公司信用类债券托管余额32.2万亿元，信贷资产支持证券托管余额2.5万亿元，同业存单托管余额14.7万亿元。商业银行柜台债券托管余额401.6亿元.
Meanwhile, bond defaults are also on the rise. This is not covered in PD. SCMP reports that:
“The value of bond defaults in China in 2022 has already more than doubled the full-year total from last year, as the accelerating debt crisis in the country’s US$2.7 trillion property market spills over into other areas of the economy. Defaults by Chinese issuers have exceeded US$20 billion so far this year, compared with about US$9 billion for all of last year, with property developers accounting for most of the defaults, said Augus To, deputy head of research at ICBC International…A total of 19 Chinese companies – 18 of them property developers – have defaulted in the offshore market so far this year, close to the whole-year total of 21 in 2021, according to Meng Ting, senior Asia credit strategist at ANZ Bank China. For this year, she foresees a slightly higher default rate for both onshore bonds – rising to 2.2 per cent or 2.3 per cent from around 1.9 per cent – and in the offshore market, where she does yet have a specific projection.”
While on the woes of the property sector, this is also useful data:
Page 3: A report about Wang Yi’s chat with David John Francis, the foreign minister of Sierra Leone. Xinhua reports:
“Sierra Leone highly recognizes China's commitment to prioritizing development and putting people first, and speaks highly of China's leading role in preserving world peace and security, he said. Describing China as a reliable and strong partner of Sierra Leone, Francis said his country will continue to stand in solidarity with China on issues concerning China's core interests and major concerns, expecting to deepen cooperation with China in various fields and welcoming Chinese enterprises to invest in Sierra Leone. China and Sierra Leone are good and old friends, Wang said, adding that under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, bilateral ties have maintained a strong momentum for development. The close cooperation and mutual support between the two sides in jointly fighting the pandemic, promoting economic recovery and safeguarding international equity and justice demonstrates the high level of bilateral relations, Wang said. China appreciates Sierra Leone's consistent support for China in safeguarding its core interests, Wang noted. China also firmly supports Sierra Leone in safeguarding its sovereignty, independence and national dignity. China, Wang said, also supports Sierra Leone in making various efforts to promote national development and to play a more important role in Africa and on the international stage. China will continue to offer support and assistance according to the developmental needs of Sierra Leone, promoting cooperation in mining, agriculture and infrastructure, carrying out more livelihood projects, encouraging Chinese enterprises to invest there, and helping Sierra Leone improve its independent development capabilities and accelerate the industrialization process, Wang added. On the Ukraine crisis, Francis expounded on Sierra Leone's position that as a small and war-torn country, Sierra Leone advocates peaceful settlement through political negotiations, and believes it is necessary to address all parties' legitimate concerns on safety and security and to seek long-term solutions. Meanwhile, practical measures should be taken to alleviate the impact of food and energy shortage on small and middle-sized countries in Africa and other regions, he added. Sierra Leone's stance also reflects the consensus of most developing countries, Wang said, adding that China remains firmly committed to promoting peace talks and will work with other parties to do its utmost to mitigate the negative spillover effects of the Ukraine crisis.”
Next, a report on Supreme People’s Court’s chief Zhou Qiang speaking at the 3rd China-ASEAN Justice Forum. The theme of the forum is Jointly Build the 21st Century MSR and Build a High-level Judicial Cooperation Platform. He said that “We must adhere to the principle of equal protection according to law, implement the concept of sustainable development, respond to the needs of scientific and technological development, adhere to extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, uphold true multilateralism, and jointly build a prosperous, green, digital, open and peaceful Maritime Silk Road.” 要坚持依法平等保护，践行可持续发展理念，回应科技发展需求，坚持共商共建共享，坚持真正多边主义，共建繁荣、绿色、数字、开放、和平的海上丝绸之路.
Finally, a report on Xia Baolong – Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the CPPCC and the Chinese chair of the China-Russia Friendship, Peace and Development Committee – delivering a speech at the China-Russia Sports Carnival.
Page 11: On the theory page, the lead piece is by the Jiangsu Research Center on Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. This talks about the strengths of the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics. In doing so, it goes back to the fourth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee. At that time, the communique had identified 13 strengths. I think this is a good piece for people to read in order to grasp the arguments made by Chinese scholars and propagandists in favour of the Chinese Party-state system of governance when compared with the model of multi-party democracy.
In this piece, the authors argue that the Chinese system has:
Values advantage: This implies that the goal of the system’s development has been realising, safeguarding and developing the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people; that Party has always regarded the improvement of people’s livelihood and well-being as the essential requirement in building the Party for the people and governing for the people; and that the Party respects public opinion and has mechanisms to poll together people’s wisdom in the process of governance.
Organisational advantage: This refers to structure and design. It says that “it is precisely because the Party’s leadership can be implemented throughout the performance of the functions and responsibilities of all Party and state institutions that we are able to promote coordinated action and strengthen synergy across all sectors, endowing the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics with a distinct organisational advantage.” 正是由于党的领导能够贯彻到党和国家所有机构履行职责全过程，才能推动各方面协调行动、增强合力，让中国特色社会主义制度具有显著组织优势.
Operational advantage: “Whether the system can operate effectively is not only the basic factor to test whether the system has significant advantages, but also the key to whether the advantages of the system can be transformed into governance efficiency.” 制度能否有效运行，不仅是检验制度是否具有显著优势的基本要素，也是制度优势能否转化为治理效能的关键. The example given for this advantage is China’s policies in dealing with the pandemic. “Both the efficiency of decision-making and the ability to execute fully demonstrate our ability to organise and mobilise all resources to ‘concentrate on an accomplish great tasks’ and our ability to ‘coordinate all the activities across the nation like moves on a chessboard’, thereby protecting the lives and health of the people to the greatest extent and minimising the impact of the epidemic on economic and social development. This fully proves that the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics has significant operational advantages.” 无论是决策效率，还是执行能力，都充分彰显了我们“集中力量办大事”的组织动员能力、“全国一盘棋”的统筹协调能力，能够最大限度保护人民群众的生命安全和身体健康，最大限度减少疫情对经济社会发展的影响。这充分证明中国特色社会主义制度具有显著运行优势.
The authors then argue that “the socialist system with Chinese characteristics is the fundamental institutional guarantee for the development and progress of contemporary China.” And they call for adhering to the Party’s leadership, the people-centred position and the need to focus on system innovation and improvement.
Page 12: There’s an article by the Hebei Provincial Committee. The piece calls for unswervingly following Xi’s footsteps, keeping in mind his entrustment, emancipating minds, forging ahead and accelerating the construction of an economically strong and beautiful Hebei, while taking practical actions to greet the 20th Party Congress. This is basically an ode to Xi Jinping - his apparent selflessness as an individual and leader - primarily focussing on his tenure in Zhengding.
The first section calls for “deeply comprehending Xi Jinping’s firm ideals and beliefs, firmly defending the Two Establishments, resolutely achieving the Two Safeguards, and keeping in mind the need for Hebei to consciously perform the function of a political ‘moat’ to the capital.”
The piece talks about Xi starting his career in Zhengding. It says that Xi came there with a “spirit of sacrifice” in mind, and a firm belief in Marxism and infinite loyalty to the cause of communism. And for cadres to deeply understand Xi’s ideals and beliefs, it is important to “temper the political character of loyalty to the party, build an unswerving theoretical foundation, pursue noble and pure ideological realm, and constantly enhance our faith and confidence.” 习近平同志带着“我是准备入‘苦海’的”牺牲精神和“只是想扎扎实实做几件于国有益、于民有利的事情”的家国情怀来到正定工作，以实际行动践行对马克思主义的坚定信仰和对共产主义事业的无限忠诚。深刻感悟习近平同志的坚定理想信念，必须锤炼对党忠诚的政治品格，筑牢坚定不移的理论根基，追求高尚纯粹的思想境界，不断增强信仰信念信心.
It adds that going forward from Zhengding, Xi “has gone through historical tests, practical tests, and struggles, accumulating a profound political, ideological, mass, and practical foundation, becoming the well-deserved core of the Party. We must consciously transform firmly defending the Two Establishments into practical actions in order to resolutely achieve the Two Safeguards. Remain unswervingly loyal to the core, support the core, safeguard the core, defend the core, and resolutely maintain a high degree of consistency with the Party Central Committee with comrade Xi Jinping as the core.” 从这里开始，经过历史检验、实践考验、斗争历练，积淀了深厚政治基础、思想基础、群众基础、实践基础，成为众望所归、当之无愧的党的核心。我们要自觉把坚定捍卫“两个确立”转化为坚决做到“两个维护”的实际行动，矢志不渝忠诚核心、拥戴核心、维护核心、捍卫核心，坚决同以习近平同志为核心的党中央保持高度一致.
The section also says that during his time in Zhengding, Xi “adhered to the study style of integrating Marxist theory with practice, emancipated the mind, sought truth from facts…” and calls on the whole province to “effectively unify thoughts and actions with Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era”
The next section talks about some of the ideals that Xi exemplified during his tenure in Zhengding. This is essentially a message to cadres by positioning Xi as an exemplar. So, the piece says that:
He dared to confront hardships and dared to take responsibility, and worked towards creating brilliant achievements
He firmly grasped the initiative for reform and opening up; and that’s because, he “mastered the historical initiative owing to having a high degree of historical consciousness”
He promoted historical development with a strong historical responsibility, i.e., despite the challenging tasks of reform and opening up, he did not fear difficulties, took initiative, and united and led the cadres and masses.
He thought long term and not simply about political, vanity projects. The example given here is Xi’s work on promotion of tourism.
The section ends by saying that while being based in the present, one must “take a long-term perspective, strengthen top-level design, follow the blueprint to its logical conclusion, turn the grand goal into a beautiful reality step by step with the spirit of nailing nails…” 我们必须立足当前，着眼长远，强化顶层设计，一张蓝图干到底，以钉钉子精神一步一个脚印把宏伟目标变为美好现实，努力创造经得起历史和人民检验的业绩.
The next section of the piece praises Xi’s “scientific and systematic thinking,” calling on cadres to understand, absorb and emulate. To do so, cadres must adhere to “strategic thinking, innovative thinking and systematic thinking when assessing a situation, analysing problems and making decisions,” and they need to “constantly enhance the scientificity, predictability, initiative and creativity of work.” 深刻感悟习近平同志的科学系统思维，必须坚持运用战略思维、创新思维、系统思维研判形势、分析问题、作出决策，不断增强工作的科学性、预见性、主动性和创造性.
Under strategic thinking, the piece talks about the regional development strategies, project construction, rural revitalisation, ecological environmental protection, etc;
under innovative thinking, it talks about eliminating constraints to the vitality of market entities, financial system and SoE reforms, supporting scientific and technological innovation, improving the business environment, etc;
finally, under systematic thinking, the piece talks about taking a global view in mind and developing an open economy, along with leveraging BRI.
The final section talks about maintaining a people-centred orientation like Xi. In doing so, the piece does refer to Xi as the People’s Leader “人民领袖.”
Page 17: On the international page, there’s a Zhong Sheng commentary, which argues that the US is sabotaging the Chinese government’s poverty alleviation and development efforts through the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.
The core argument is that: “The United States is using the so-called ‘forced labour’ as an excuse to suppress Xinjiang’s advantageous industries and undermine China's participation in the global industrial chain. In doing so, it is depriving people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang of their employment and labour rights.” 美国以所谓“强迫劳动”为由打压新疆优势产业，破坏中国参与全球产业链合作，是在剥夺新疆各族群众的就业权、劳动权.