No. 123 | 19.11.2022

Graduated students from Tsinghua University, Beijing, 26.06.2022 [Tsinghua University]


Dear readers,

Marco Fernandes did some talking about the meeting between Xi and Biden and the G20 summit: with Gisela Federicci for Brasil 247 (here), in the Revista Brasil TVT program (here) and, finally, joined Rose Martins in the program A semana do mundo, from Brasil 247, presented by José Reinaldo (here).

Gisela Cernadas wrote an article for ARG Medios about the economic ties between China and Germany and the visit of Chancellor Olaf Scholz to China. She also talked to Barricada TV (in Spanish) about Xi Jinping’s meeting with Joe Biden in the framework of the G20 summit in Indonesia.


Also available is episode #9 of The Crane: An Africa-China Podcast. This time, Mika Erskog and Amadeus Musumali look at climate change, China’s true role in it, building an ecological civilization, honoring climate adaptation financing in Africa, and why the continent will not join the ‘green energy’ transition anytime soon. Listen here.

– Dongsheng Editorial Collective


Geopolitics

Xi Jinping and Joe Biden met for the first time as presidents for three and a half hours and discussed issues such as Ukraine and Taiwan

The Chinese President said that the current state of relations between the two countries is not in the interest of either side, while they agreed to maintain dialogue and Blinken would visit China; however, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that the US should turn President Biden’s positive remarks into concrete actions and stop interfering in China’s internal affairs

South China Morning Post, 14.11.2022

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, 15.11.2022

At G20 meeting, Xi Jinping calls for food and energy not to be turned into political weapon and criticizes unilateral sanctions 

The Chinese president called on rich nations to contain the consequences of their interest rate increases, and proposed that major creditors reduce or suspend developing nations’ debt; Xi met in parallel with leaders of several countries including the US, France, South Africa, Australia, and South Korea

South China Morning Post, 15.11.2022

China Daily, 15.11.2022

China Daily, 16.11.2022

National Politics

The number of super rich in China and their fortunes are declining, with the biggest annual drop in 24 years

1,305 people with over 5 billion yuan (US$ 690 million) were on the “Hurun Rich List”, down 11% from last year, and their wealth totaling US$ 3.5 trillion fell by 18%; business philanthropists donated a record US$ 10 billion in response to the government’s common prosperity mission

Caixin Global, 09.11.2022

South China Morning Post, 16.11.2022

Government announces plan to implement private pensions, as state-run funds will run a deficit by 2028 and be depleted by 2035

The program will be government-backed and attract over 1 trillion yuan (US$ 137 billion) to the stock market by 2031, while individuals will have tax deductions and investment gains will be exempt from income tax; people aged above 60 is expected to reach 30% of the population by 2035

Caixin Global, 09.11.2022

China eases Covid-19 entry restrictions and begins testing of domestic regulations

Quarantine time for entry will be reduced from seven to five days, requiring only one negative PCR test instead of two prior to boarding; a set of 20 new measures were announced but the emergence of new cases makes their local implementation difficult

South China Morning Post, 11.11.2022

Economy

China’s central bank will extend year-end deadline for major lenders to limit up to 40% their proportion of loans to the real estate sector

Measure, which also restricts mortgages by up to 32.5%, was initially announced in December 2020 to control the stability of the real estate and financial market; amid historic downturn in the sector, term extension could reach 26% of China’s total bank lending, giving lenders and cash-strapped real estate developers more room to recover

Financial Times, 14.11.2022

Reuters, 31.12.2020

China’s credit growth in October was the lowest since 2019 and bank loans grew by the lowest amount in nearly five years

China’s broadest measure of credit, aggregate funding, was 908 billion yuan (US$ 126 billion) last month, well below the 1.6 trillion yuan (US$ 220 billion) in the same month of 2021; new loans in yuan fell 211 billion yuan (US$ 29.6 billion) year-on-year

Caixin Global, 11.11.2022

Yicai Global, 11.11.2022

Category Icons

Agriculture and Environment

At COP 27, US conditions adherence to reparations fund for countries impacted by climate crisis to the inclusion of China among developed countries

Washington, which abandoned the Paris Agreement for four years, has always rejected the creation of the fund, while Beijing defended that developed countries honor their pledge of US$ 100 billion in climate finance at the COP27; China’s per capita carbon emissions are less than half those of the US

Xinhua, 08.11.2022

South China Morning Post, 13.11.2022

Seven years after the Paris climate agreement, global carbon emissions are expected to grow by 1% and reach a record high, despite China’s slowdown

According to the study, the largest increases are expected from India (6%) and the US (1.5%), while China saw emissions fall (-0.9%) for the first time since 2016; Chinese emissions showed declines in oil (-2.8%), gas (-1.1%), and cement production (-7%), with only a slight increase in coal emissions (+0.1%)

Financial Times, 10.11.2022

Carbon Brief, 11.11.2022

People’s Life and Culture

China surpasses the US in the number of universities in the US News & World Report ranking for the first time, with 338 versus 280

China has six of the world’s top ten engineering universities and half of the top artificial intelligence universities, with Tsinghua as the world leader; but several Chinese universities have withdrawn from the international rankings, seeking to focus on training students for domestic demands

China Daily, 14.11.2022

US News & World Report ranking

A student from Chongqing College of Electronic Engineering in the WorldSkills Competition 2022 in Kyoto, Japan, 18.10.2022 [Xinhua/Hua Yi]


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