Two women in Beijing’s Chaoyang Park [Li Hao/Global Times]
Dear readers,
This week, Global Times published the second part of a long interview with Dongsheng Collective member Deborah Veneziale. The first part (available here) is about the geopolitical role and intentions of the US towards China. In the second part (available here), she talks about the example of the Chinese model of governance for the countries of the Global South. They also published Mika Erskog’s thoughts on China-Africa relations (available here).
Marco Fernandes was one of the guests of CGTN’s series, How China Works – Charting the Future, with journalist Li Jingjing, to talk about biodiversity and environmental policies in the framework of the COP15 on Biodiversity that is taking place in Montreal, Canada. Watch it here. In the fortnightly participation in Bom Para Todos on TVT, Marco Fernandes talks about the situation regarding covid in China (watch it here in portuguese). Gisela Cernadas also spoke about the changes in policies to combat Covid-19 in recent days in China, in her participation on Barricada TV (watch it here, in Spanish). Gisela Cernadas also spoke about the changes in policies to combat Covid-19 in recent days in China, in her participation on Barricada TV (watch it here, in Spanish).
Enjoy the articles.
– Dongsheng Editorial Collective
Geopolitics
Xi Jinping’s trip to Saudi Arabia opens a new chapter in relations between China and Arab countries
About US$50 billion worth of more than 30 investment agreements were signed between Saudi and Chinese companies in the public and private sectors, in areas such as green energy, logistics, cloud computing, and housing; Saudi Arabia is the largest exporter of crude oil to China, accounting for 17.1% of Chinese imports, in the first half of 2022
Declaration of the first China-Arab States Summit rejects “Taiwan ‘independence’ in all its forms” and demands an end to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories
Xi reiterated that China firmly supports the establishment of an independent State of Palestine that becomes a full member of the United Nations; among the “eight major initiatives” proposed by Xi at the summit is the expansion of trade with the Arab countries – which currently exceeds US$300 billion – to US$430 billion by 2027
Final communique of the Riyadh Arab-China Summit for Cooperation and Development, 09.12.2022
China to work on joint action plan with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) between 2023-2027
China has become a crucial partner in the GCC countries’ pursuit of economic diversification strategies; the two sides agreed to expand cooperation in areas such as cutting-edge technologies such as 5G and 6G and digital economy; Xi said China and Gulf nations should make full use of the Shanghai Oil and Natural Gas Exchange as a platform to trade oil and gas in yuan
National Politics
COVID-19 cases on the rise after shifts in focus from prevention to medical treatment and is expected to peak in a month’s time
New infections are now growing rapidly in Beijing, but most are asymptomatic or mild cases, with those infected with mild symptoms having to stay home and are no longer taken to quarantine centers, which are now being converted into hospitals to provide better treatment for patients; the digital travel code, which used to control domestic travel, is no longer required
Online pharmacies face fines of up to 5 million yuan (US$706,000) for price gouging on COVID-19 drugs
With the new cases and the indication that those infected should stay at home, sales of the drugs skyrocketed; prices of Lianhua Qingwen, a traditional Chinese medicine, quadrupled in less than a month, prompting the government to issue warnings against such behavior
Economy
With changes in Covid Zero policy, a Covid-19 testing industry that was on the verge of saturation comes to an end
With profit margins of 40 to 96%, companies saw the highest revenue growths in the first half of the year with captive market; central and local government investment in mass testing reaches up to 1.8% of GDP or 8.4% of public spending
Agriculture and Environment
China exceeds its 650 million ton grain production target for the eighth consecutive year
Production reached a record 686 million tons, a year-on-year growth of 0.5%, thanks to the increase in cultivated land that compensated for the effects of climatic phenomena; grain imports fell by 12% so far this year due to international turbulence, but the country has large reserves from advance purchases over the last two years
With an investment of US$237 million, Shanghai starts construction of the third phase of a bioenergy production project
The project will be completed in 2025 and will process 2,000 tons of organic waste per day, producing more than 3,600 tons of bio-crude, 80,000 tons of compressed natural gas and 20,000 tons of organic fertilizer annually; Shanghai made waste sorting mandatory in 2019
People’s Life and Culture
Audio platforms are gaining popularity among Chinese audiences, with audiobooks, podcasts, and literature and language learning programs
In 2021, users of these platforms reached 640 million, of which 48.8% used the service for less than two hours a day, and 49.9% for two to five hours a day; an adaptation of “Dream in the Red Pavilion”, one of the great classics of Chinese literature, has been listened to more than 100 million times
It is 119 years since the little-remembered British invasion of Tibet, where almost 3000 Tibetans were killed in multiple massacres
On 12 December 1903, 3,000 British fighters settled in Tibet, where they fought a totally unequal battle, where the Tibetan resistance was composed of peasants, shepherds, or monks with rudimentary weapons; the invaders used the excuse of a possible Russian invasion of the region, a fact that was widely disproven
Tension between British officers and Chinese and Tibetan officers, prior to the massacre, 14.02.1904 [Le Petit Journal]
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