China News - 21 July
International
China and US climate envoys agree to maintain close communication after talks. After three days of talks with China counterpart, Kerry said that negotiations would continue ahead of the COP28 global climate talks in Dubai. The meeting was aimed at rebuilding trust between the world’s two biggest carbon dioxide emitters. Although no new arrangements were agreed, a consensus has been reached on many issues, including the need to abate methane. Reuters, 20 July
Xi Jinping welcomes “old friend” Henry Kissinger as China and US relations at “crossroads”. Kissinger played a key role in smoothing out Sino-US relations during a secret visit in 1971. Xi announced that Kissinger's name will always be linked with cordial relations between the two countries. Kissinger’s most recent trip follows visits from Yellen and Blinken, where progress had been made on “some specific issues”, but relations remained strained. Reemul Balla. Sky News, 20 July
Three killed and Chinese consulate damaged in Russian attack on Ukraine’s port cities. Beijing did not immediately comment on the incident. However, President Zelenskiy said that 60,000 tons of agricultural goods destined for China had been destroyed in the attack. Viktoria Lakezina. Reuters, 20 July
Ukraine official makes first senior visit to China since before Russian invasion. In the wake of the explosion on Wednesday Ukrainian Deputy Economy Minister, Taras Kachka, met China’s Vice Commerce Minister, Ling Ji. Ling said China is willing to expand imports of Ukrainian products to develop mutually beneficial bilateral economic and trade cooperation between China and Ukraine. Martin Quin Pollard. Reuters, 20 July
China-backed AIIB secures World Bank deal. The AIIB’s board last week approved a proposal to issue $1bn in credit guarantees against sovereign-backed loans made by the World Bank’s lending arm, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. FT, 21 July
US Ambassador to China hacked in China-linked spying operation. Hackers linked to Beijing accessed the email account of the U.S. ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, in an attack that is believed to have compromised at least hundreds of thousands of individual U.S. government emails, reports the WSJ. WSJ, The Times, 21 July
Economy & tech
Beijing’s new plan to promote the private sector and juice the economy. The Party’s Central Committee has released a 31 point action plan aimed at improving the business environment. The plan aims to remove systemic discrimination against private companies, so that entrepreneurs will be treated the same as their state counterparts. Jeremy Goldkorn. The China Project, 20 July
Chinese professor says youth jobless rate might have hit 46.5%. Zhang Dandan estimates that 16 million nonstudents are “lying flat” or relying on parental support in a financial report. The official statistics are closer to 19.7%. Dandan’s Caixin article has since been removed. Nikkei Asia, 20 July
China mulls mortgage easing to spur home buying in big cities. Regulators are considering scrapping rules that disqualify people who have ever had a mortgage as first-time buyers. Homebuyers with a mortgage record who do not own property are still subjected to higher down-payment. In Beijing the down-payment is 80% of the property’s value for second time buyers and 40% for first-time buyers. Bloomberg, 20 July
China’s sagging economy looms over quarterly results around the world. China has the second largest economy in the world, its sluggish post-Covid growth will affect international companies with exposure to China. Wall Street is bracing for a steep drop in second-quarter earnings, with growing inflation and weaker spending. Noel Randewich. Reuters, 20 July
Chinese chip experts debate the way forward in the shadow of Sino-US tech war. A semiconductor conference was hosted in Nanjing this week, and the future of the industry was discussed. US restrictions on exports of the chips lead many experts to believe that the globalisation of the industry is over, as the semiconductor supply chain grows to be more fragmented. Che Pan. South China Morning Post, 20 July
Opinion & long-reads
What the Wagner mutiny means for China in Africa. Splinter factions of the Wagner Group could threaten the security of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). China’s investment in Africa has increased from $75 million in 2003 to $5 billion in 2021. Beijing has ramped up regional threat assessments and offered security training to workers before they go overseas. However, risks faced by Chinese workers and BRI investments are escalating at a fast pace. Alessandro Arduino. Foreign Policy, 19 July
Why heat waves are deepening China’s addiction to coal. While pledging to rescue carbon emissions, the country is increasing its use of fossil fuels to generate electricity. Although China dominates the global supply chain in clean energy, this year China has proposed more than 300 coal fired power plants. This is two-thirds of coal-fired capacity being developed worldwide. The New York Times, 20 July
Xi stresses strengthening farmland protection and quality improvement. While presiding over a Central Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs meeting, Xi highlighted the need to expand agricultural production space. The committee has brought in measures to ensure the area of farmland remains above 120 million hectares to prevent the current downward trend. CGTN, 20 July
China is a world leader in rural tourism, says UNWTO senior official. Covid 19 increased the rural tourism market. The CCP has recognised tourism as a catalyst for rural development, and has introduced policies for this purpose. The World Tourism Organisation has launched the Best Tourism Village project, where Yucun, Xidi, Dashai and Jinhzhu have featured. Xinhua, 20 July