Why Chinese Apps Are the Favorites of Young Americans; Exclusive Preview: Xi Jinping: The World's Most Powerful Man and His Subordinates
Honduras wanted 'billions of dollars' to maintain ties, Taiwan says; China Vice Premier Pledges Nation Will Continue to Open Up
Welcome to this issue of The China Brief. Today is March 26, 2023. Here at The China Brief, we bring you the latest news on China's politics, economy, and society from global media sources, along with exclusive expert analysis. If you find our content helpful, please subscribe to our newsletter.
In today's newsletter, we are excited to share with you an upcoming book on Chinese politics titled "Xi Jinping: The World's Most Powerful Man and His Subordinates." This book is written by researchers at China Research Net and provides a comprehensive analysis of Xi Jinping's rise to power and his leadership style. As a special preview, we have included the foreword of the book for our readers.
Exclusive Preview: Xi Jinping: The World's Most Powerful Man and His Subordinates
On March 13, 2023, Li Qiang, the Premier of the central government of China, led four vice-premiers of the State Council to hold their first press conference since taking office. Li Qiang's style was noticeably different from his predecessors, and he positioned himself and the State Council as having lower roles in implementing and executing policies.
Li Qiang's humble style reflects the changes in political balance that have occurred since Xi Jinping came to power over the past decade. Xi Jinping spent ten years cleaning up different factions within the Party, achieving complete control. In this new political balance, Li Qiang's positioning is not an individual phenomenon but a widespread one.
In this book, we use publicly available information to introduce readers to the method of personnel layout by Xi Jinping in the top levels of the Party and the government. By understanding the top-level personnel, readers can have a clear grasp of the direction of high-level politics in China in the future.
Specifically, this book focuses on the Central Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (24 members) and the Communist Party of China's Central Secretariat (7 members). Excluding overlaps, the two bodies have a total of 26 people who will be the most powerful and important people in China for the next five years. We introduce these 26 people in each chapter according to their respective departments and systems, as well as several people who are not well-known to the public but have the same level of importance and power.
In this book, we aim to provide readers with a comprehensive analysis of Xi Jinping's method of personnel layout and the direction of high-level politics in China's future.
Why Chinese Apps Are the Favorites of Young Americans
Wall Street Journal
Chinese apps, including TikTok and Temu, have become popular among young Americans due to their algorithm and cutthroat competition culture. Chinese tech companies have a vast pool of affordable talent that constantly fine-tunes product features, and this has given them an advantage over Western rivals. The Chinese companies have also spent lavishly to push their apps in the US and leverage China's one billion internet users to test user preferences and optimize their AI models at home, then export the tech overseas. While the popularity of these apps has attracted concerns about U.S.-China geopolitical tension, the companies have sought to avoid the scrutiny that TikTok has come under by attempting to mark a distance from their Chinese roots.
Honduras wanted 'billions of dollars' to maintain ties, Taiwan says
Nikkei Asia
Honduras has officially ended its diplomatic relationship with Taiwan and stated it only recognizes China. Beijing, which claims Taiwan as its own territory with no right to state-to-state ties, has been accused of "luring" the central American country into recognizing its position, with Taiwan's foreign minister reporting that the Honduran government had demanded "billions of dollars". President Xi Jinping hopes that the move may encourage other nations to isolate Taiwan. Following the severing of ties, Taiwan's only official relationships now are with <tier>13 countries</tier>, mostly developing nations in Central America, the Caribbean and the Pacific.</tier></tier>
China Minister Says Recovery to Benefit US Businesses
Bloomberg
Despite tensions between the US and China, the latter's recovery from the pandemic and “reset” will bring "triple" benefits to American businesses, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang has said. Speaking to a group of US business leaders, Qin cited President Xi Jinping’s re-election as well as the country's continued efforts to open up to global trade. International ties with China are as "chilly" as early spring weather, Qin admitted, but he welcomed the US to expand investment in, and project roots into China.
IMF Chief Urges China to Rebalance Economy Toward Consumption
Bloomberg
China's economy is one of the "green shoots" of world recovery, according to the International Money Fund (IMF), and IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva has urged China to use its strong rebound to rebalance towards consumption. The fund estimates China will account for around a third of global growth in 2023. In contrast, global economic uncertainty remains "exceptionally high", with "geo-economic fragmentation" posing a risk to a "dangerous division", said Georgieva. She added that increased vigilance is needed to combat increased risks to financial stability, and further measures are required to address productivity in China.
China's social protection system can help move the economy towards a greater consumption-led growth direction, reducing the need for debt, as well as having the potential to provide a 15% reduction in CO2 emissions over the next 30 years, said Georgieva. It is suggested that higher health and unemployment insurance benefits can cushion households against the impact of shocks. Market-oriented reforms would help level out the playing field between private sector and state-owned enterprises, which in turn, combined with investment in education, would really boost the economy's capacity.
Georgieva also called for further policy adjustments to enhance China's growth and development. By focusing on stabilizing overall economic growth, the fund expects GDP growth to increase by more than 2 percentage points to 5.2% this year. China's targeted goals for high-quality manufacturing, rural revitalization, urban renewal, ecological protection and other aspects can be achieved through the steady, positive development of the economy, said Georgieva.
Hong Kong Airport Handled 2.1 Million Passengers in February
Bloomberg
Hong Kong International Airport saw a major surge in passenger volume last month, handling 2.1 million passengers, up by 24 times from February 2020. The airport also recorded a 6.7% increase in cargo volume to 290,000 tonnes and flight movements rose by 95.7% to 16,305. This is due to the relaxation of travel restrictions, although the airport has stressed that this is still far below pre-pandemic levels. Traffic to and from Southeast Asia and Japan recorded the most significant increases.
Hong Kong has been struggling to recover from the pandemic as it has been one of the most affected countries globally. The region is now gradually easing some of its measures, with targeted venues such as swimming pools and gyms allowed to reopen. Some restrictions that have been in place from December are also set to be relaxed, including border measures with the mainland China. Hong Kong government may also allow visitors from Japan, Thailand and Vietnam, which are low-risk regions, to enter without quarantine from late April or early May. The Hong Kong government may also permit a travel bubble with Australia if cases there fall to zero.
Chinese startup offers AI-driven energy management services
Nikkei Asia
Xinshang Capital has led a Series B funding round for Chinese start-up Extreme Entropy Technology. The company provides artificial intelligence-powered energy services and has raised CNY100m ($14.5m) in funding. Extreme Entropy focuses on energy asset management, its technology supporting China's goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions to zero over the next 40 years. The funding will be used to support expansion plans.
China Vice Premier Pledges Nation Will Continue to Open Up
Bloomberg
Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang has promised global executives that China will continue to open up as international companies increasingly complain of market-access difficulties. Ding was Xi Jinping's chief of staff until recently, and prior to that he held various roles in the Shanghai government. He is reported to have said "opening to the outside world is a national policy, it is a mark of modern China".
China's finance minister, Liu Kun, said at the annual China Development Forum that while there are some blockages in the operation of the domestic economy, the fundamentals of the economic resilience and potential are unchanged. The government would rely on a post-Covid rebound in consumption to underpin growth rather than substantial fiscal stimulus in 2023, partly due to mounting debt risks faced by local authorities.
Trump Puts His Legal Peril at Center of First Big Rally for 2024
NY Times
Former President Donald Trump has used his first major US presidential rally of the 2024 campaign in Texas to play down his vision for a second term and instead portray himself as a victim of what he claims is a conspiracy to persecute him. Trump told the crowd in Waco “the abuses of power that we’re currently witnessing at all levels of government will go down as among the most shameful, corrupt and depraved chapters in all of American history”. He also called the “weaponization of our justice system” the “central issue of our time.” Trump is expected to be indicted by a New York grand jury; the timing of the indictment remains unknown.
Trump used the rally to showcase his enduring showmanship, describing his plane as “Trump Force One,” which conducted a fly-past of the thousands of Trump supporters gathered.
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