Workers at wind power plant in Urumqi, Xinjiang, 2018 [Xinhua/Zhao Ge]
Dear reader,
This week, Mikaela Nhondo Erskog spoke with the China-Africa Project, where she provides perspective on historical and contemporary challenges to a progressive African unity and development project, and how this impacts Sino-African relations (in English) .
–Dongsheng editorial collective
Geopolitics
At the G20 leaders’ summits, President Xi calls on developed countries to lead on emissions reductions and support developing nations
72% of countries with above average per-capita CO2 emissions are advanced economies, while 89% of those below global average are developing countries; as the world’s highest carbon emitter, China’s per capita emissions are only 40% of the US’s (2019)
Foreign Ministers Wang and Blinken meet in Rome, but Taiwan controversies jeopardize planned meeting between Xi and Biden later this year
While Biden and Blinken made controversial remarks about “defending” the island and its participation in the UN system, Washington maintains official recognition of the “one China” principle; Beijing asserts that avoiding confrontation is an “urgent task”
National Politics
China implements Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL), regulating the collection, use, and transfer of data to safeguard consumer privacy
PIPL responds to public concerns over tech companies’ data collection, which 98.5% of Chinese surveyed share concern over; high in demand, protection officers are paid high entry-level salaries (up to US $9,830/month)
As vegetable prices surged 28% last month, Chinese government strengthens its comprehensive campaign to combat food waste
As Q3 global food prices increase 25% year-on-year, heavy rains and rising coal prices have affected greenhouse crop production, but impact on inflation remains low; government’s waste reduction plan includes 28 measures from production to consumption, continuing “clean plate campaign”
Economy
Chinese government bonds are included in FTSE Russell index (UK), pointing to increased global investor confidence in China’s economy
FTSE was the last of the top three global indices to include Chinese bonds, after Bloomberg Barclays (2019) and JP Morgan (2020); the yuan maintains upwards trend, with historic Chinese trade surplus of US $634.9 billion since last October
Agriculture and Environment
Chinese scientists develop technology to produce animal feed from industrial gas by-products, which could reduce soy imports and carbon emissions
Clostridium autoethanogenum cellular protein is generated from CO and CO2, by-products of industrial processes; technological application could reduce Chinese dependence on imported soybeans (80% of total consumption) and “revolutionize” the reduction of CO2 emissions
Decarbonization goals will transform manufacturing and energy sectors in China, set to become the world’s largest supplier of energy transition equipment
Producing 70% of the world’s solar panels and 40% of wind turbines, China’s new solar power installations account for 37% of the global total (2020), cumulative wind power capacity grew 35% from last year, and new electric car sales grew by 170%
Health
Shanghai tested over 33,000 people at Disneyland, hours after being notified of one confirmed COVID-19 case
Visitors were shuttled home after the city’s rapid containment response and no new cases were found, drawing praise from the public; top respiratory disease expert Zhong Nanshan defends country’s zero-Covid strategy as “less costly” than living with the disease
China’s smoking rate needs to decrease rapidly to avoid rising cancer-related deaths in next two decades, says study
Smoking-related cancer death rate could increase in men (44%) and women (53%) in next twenty years, accounting for 8.6 million deaths; smoking rate declined minimally (30% to 26.6%, 2000-16), which government aims to reduce to 20% (2030)
People’s Life and Culture
79.8% of Chinese people are worried about climate change and 97% support emission-reduction policies, surveys find
Though air pollution and threats of disease rank highest among emissions-related worries, the government was rated the most important actor in combating climate change; one out of 5.5 Chinese people use the country’s 20 million shared bikes in over 360 cities
LinaBell mascot waves to Shanghai Disney Resort visitors after reopening, 3 November 2021 [Xinhua]
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