Li Ning, born in 1997, moved to teach in the countryside, Guangxi Province, 2022 [jyb.cb]
Dear reader,
This week, Marco Fernandes talked to Brian Becker (The Socialist Program, from Breakthrough News) about the best moment in China-Russia relations since at least the late 1950s. From anti-imperialist policy to trade, from de-dollarization to technology, energy and space exploration. Some cities on the border of the two countries have even suspended passport control. See here (in English).
The latest episode of The Crane: An Africa China Podcast is out. It explores the shortcomings of the UN system and lack of equitable representation in other major multilateral organizations have undermined African progress and development.
Finally, 73 years ago today, the People’s Republic of China was established. News on China will be back after the National Holiday week.
—Dongsheng editorial collective
Geopolitics
Huawei partners to finance, acquire, and operate domestic semiconductor companies, aiming to circumvent US sanctions
Having invested more than $30 billion in chips by 2021, Huawei has been giving away employees to help develop chips with partners, relying on state support; Huawei fell from 1st (2020) to 10th (2021) position in smartphone sales worldwide as a result of White House sanctions, and now prioritizes production of telecom (5G) equipment and its nascent automotive business
Ahead of European winter, demand for Chinese-made electric heaters explode, with orders increasing up to 10 times
Europeans are looking for an alternative to the soaring cost of energy, which rose 38.3% in August, and new orders from China are piling up due to sudden demand; in the first seven months of the year, exports of electric blankets (97%) and heaters (23%) soared year-on-year
New China-Afghanistan rail corridor begins its three-month trial that will transport 3,500 to 5,000 containers of goods each round
Transport time with the new corridor, which passes through Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, will be reduced from two months to two weeks and could boost a new China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project; in 2020, China was the fourth largest export destination for Afghan products
National Politics
CPC announces list of 2,296 delegates elected for the National Congress, which will define the leadership for the next five years and amend the Party’s charter
Average age of delegates is 52.2 years, 33.6% come from the frontlines of work and production and 11.5% from 40 ethnic minority groups; delegates will elect the Party’s Central Committee, then vote for 25-person Politburo, which chooses the Standing Committee
MBA curricula to incorporate Xi’s ideas, such as common prosperity and capital regulation
China seeks business leaders to be trained according to the country’s strategic needs amid growing US-China tension; universities are seeking students from technology or manufacturing sectors, instead of real estate or finance that dominated in previous years
Economy
Between January and August, foreign direct investment in China ($138.4 billion) grew 20.2% interannual, while European investment increased its concentration
Just four countries (Germany, the UK, France and the Netherlands) accounted for 87% of European FDI in China, where there is a concentration of ⅔ of its investment in five sectors, including automobiles (31%) and food processing (14%), with Heineken and Volkswagen among the top investors
To slow yuan devaluation, People’s Bank of China raises risk reserve rate from 0% to 20% for foreign exchange futures trading
Measure will increase the cost of buying the currency and discourage short-term speculation; after China suffered record net outflows of $81 billion through July and the FED rate hike, the dollar appreciated 10.9% against the yuan in 2022
Agriculture and Environment
China seeks to reduce soybean meal in animal feed to rely less on imports and control price increases, up 10% last week
Relying on over 85% of imports (Brazil, US), soybeans is seen as a weak link in China’s food security; Beijing supports research and production of unconventional protein feed, microbial proteins, and low-protein animal diet technology
People’s Life and Culture
Over the past ten years, the number of full-time teachers increased by about 3.8 million, and most earn salaries equal to municipal employees
Under a comprehensive education reform, starting this year students must have at least one weekly class in basic domestic work and in technology, and have access to an app that helps them with homework; 1.3 million teachers got subsidies to ensure education in rural areas
Historically divided into “generations of directors,” Chinese cinema is increasingly defined by genre, cast, and box office
The six generations of directors in Chinese cinema, with the first in the 1920s and the sixth in the 1990s, shared modes of expression marked by common historical characteristics; in the mid-1990s, the film industry opened up to the market and the production system ceased to focus on directors
[Images from Douban. Edited by Ding Yining/Sixth Tone]
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