Harvest scene in Huangfu village in Xi’an, Shaanxi province, 21 October 2022 [Xinhua]
Dear readers,
This week, Tings Chak and Globetrotter chief correspondent, Vijay Prashad, wrote about the CPC Congress, the China model to modernization, and a look back to the last decade of Xi Jinping’s presidency (read in here).
Gisela Cernadas participated in Barricada TV of Argentina (in Spanish), where she talked about the re-election of Xi Jinping and the new stage of Chinese socialism.
—Dongsheng editorial collective
National Politics
Xi Jinping elected as general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, consisting of 205 members and 171 alternates
81% of the Central Committee is composed of people born in the 1960s (average age of 57.2 years), with only 5% women and 4% ethnic minorities; the new Committee also appointed the 24-member Politburo and the CPC’s highest-body, the 7-member Standing Committee
The 20th National Congress amends the CPC’s constitution, establishing the core position of Xi Jinping and incorporating his thought
Revisions include the incorporation of common prosperity, socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era, strengthening the armed forces, developing whole-process people’s democracy, the second centenary goal of building China into a modern socialist country in all aspects, and opposition to “Taiwan independence”
The CPC reaffirms that the Chinese model of modernization is based on peaceful, socialist, and people-centered development at its Congress
The CPC stressed its long-term goal of common prosperity and believes that its model, which should not be imposed on other countries, can be an alternative to a Western path to modernization, which is dominated by capitalism and based on war, colonization, and pillaging
Economy
China’s GDP grows 3.9% interannual in the third quarter, surpassing the poor performance of the second quarter (0.4%)
In the first three quarters, there was an increase in the added value of the high-tech industry (8.5%) and equipment (6.3%), and in retail sales of consumer goods (0.7%); average urban unemployment rate was 5.6%
Economic slowdown affects budgets of local governments, which must cut spending, sell assets, and rely on an 18% hike in transfers (9.8 trillion yuan or US$ 1.35 trillion) from the central government
Local government revenue from land sales plunged 28.5% year-on-year in the first eight months of the year, while it had increased 12.1% in the same period in 2021; financing of Covid measures and recent policy to refund value-added taxes to businesses have also drained local government coffers
Geopolitics
China announces measures to attract investment from foreign companies in high-end manufacturing, resisting US boycotts of its supply chain
China will host the Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit on 2 November in Hong Kong and is expected to encourage foreign investors in the less developed central, western, and northeastern regions; in the first eight months of this year, FDI in China increased 20.2% year-on-year to 138.4 billion yuan (US$ 19.04 billion)
Science and Technology
China launched the world’s most powerful magnetic propulsion system, reaching 1,030km/h, just below the speed of sound
The Jinan site is the world’s first ground-based, ultra-high-speed test facility to use electromagnetic fields; it offers the opportunity to solve problems such as material properties and aerodynamics, and to develop new high-speed transportation technologies, including trains and airplanes
Agriculture and Environment
China promotes world’s first perennial rice variety, with higher yields and environmental benefits and lower labor and production costs
The new strain has yielded 15 tonnes/ha (2018) and halved production costs; supported by agriculture ministry, Shenzhen’s BGI Group and Yunnan University have jointly promoted the rice to 17 Asian and African countries
Research shows China needs a quarter of the world’s US$ 100 trillion investment by 2050 to reach its net zero target
The energy and utilities sectors face the biggest challenges in climate transition and, therefore, need the most capital to decarbonize; at the same time, prospects for green and sustainable bond issuance in China grew due to ongoing financing needs of low-carbon industries
People’s Life and Culture
China’s national women’s football team ranks 15th in the world, qualifying for the 2023 World Cup and winning the Asian cup this year
The women’s football team performs better than the men’s, and the Chinese Football Association released a plan aiming to host the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2031; the proposal had great support from Chinese netizens, who are disappointed by the failure of the national men’s team to qualify for the World Cup
China wins AFC Women’s Asian Cup for the ninth time in Mumbai, India, 2022 [China Daily]
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