CNAD-#103- China's ??????????Updates about ????+(?????????????????????????) & ??

Everyday Briefing: 2024-07-03

????China Internal??

?? Chinese Premier Li Qiang has emphasized the importance of staying alert to risks, strengthening preparedness, and working on flood control, disaster relief, and rescue work to ensure safety and social stability. He visited a hydrologic station and discussed the role of forecasting and early warning in disaster prevention. He also emphasized the need for enhanced inspection and protection of embankments during harsh weather conditions and stockpiling adequate materials. At a geological disaster site in Bailu Town, he urged prioritizing disaster prevention during periods of frequent landslides and debris flows. He also presided over a meeting on flood control in Bailu, urging efforts to prevent secondary disasters, investigate weak links in urban flood control and drainage systems, and strengthen flood prevention on farmland. Notably, Rainstorms in east China's Anhui Province have affected 991,000 residents and forced 242,000 people to evacuate.

The Yangtze River, China's longest river, has seen water levels in its Anhui section exceed warning marks, and levels continue to rise. Torrential rains have also pushed waters above their guaranteed or alert levels in 20 rivers and six lakes in the province. Authorities in cities along the Yangtze River in Anhui have dispatched over 50,000 people to patrol dikes. In the next 24 hours, showers or moderate rains are forecast to hit many parts of the province. Flooding also wreaked havoc in Pingjiang County and the city of Miluo in central China's Hunan Province, leading to inundated residential quarters, landslides, disrupted roads and bridges, house collapses, overflowing floodwaters, and dikes in danger. The precipitation in Pingjiang County reached 759.6 mm from June 18 to July 1, the largest since meteorological records began in 1961.

Li Hongzhong, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, has urged for stronger ecological protection of the Yellow River Basin and the enforcement of the Yellow River Protection Law. He made the remarks as head of an NPC Standing Committee team inspecting the enforcement of the law in north China's Shanxi Province. The Yellow River, China's second-largest river, is known as the "mother river" and has been working to protect its ecology since its implementation on April 1, 2023. Li also emphasized the need to integrate efforts on ecological protection, pollution prevention, water resource conservation, and the protection of the Yellow River's historical and cultural heritage. Chinese authorities have upgraded their emergency response to severe rainfall and flooding in Hunan Province to Level III. The China National Commission for Disaster Reduction has dispatched a team to assist local governments in disaster relief work and rescue efforts. The Ministry of Emergency Management has dispatched two unmanned aerial vehicles and 200 rescue workers to support flood control efforts. Over 100,000 disaster relief materials, including food, drinking water, and family emergency kits, have been provided. Heavy rains have led to continuous rise in water levels and flooding in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River since mid-June. The Ministry of Water Resources has urged increased attention to geological disasters, relocation of residents to hazardous areas, prompt restoration of flood-prevention facilities and telecommunication infrastructure, and accelerated reconstruction work.

??Science and Technology??

??China's High Energy Photon Source (HEPS) has completed its entire storage ring in Beijing's Huairou District, a major science infrastructure project. HEPS, similar to a supersized X-ray machine, accelerates electrons through three stages to emit synchrotron radiation X-rays with strong penetrability and high brightness. The project consists of three separate accelerators: a linear accelerator, a booster, and a storage ring. The linear accelerator and booster have passed scientific and technical performance acceptance reviews, accelerating electron beam energy from 500 MeV to 6 GeV. The storage ring is the core component of HEPS, used to store high-energy electron beams and emit synchrotron X-rays. HEPS is expected to become one of the brightest fourth-generation synchrotron radiation facilities in the world.

??China is home to over one-third of the world's AI large language models, according to a whitepaper from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology. The number of AI large language models worldwide reached 1,328, with 36% from China, the second-largest proportion after the US. The whitepaper also revealed that the US had 34% and China 15% among nearly 30,000 AI enterprises worldwide by the first quarter of this year. The combined digital economy of the US, China, Germany, Japan, and the Republic of Korea exceeded 33 trillion US dollars in 2023, up by over 8% year on year. Notably, A study by Ernst and Young (EY) has revealed that the stock market value of the world's 100 largest publicly traded companies rose by 17% in the first six months of 2024, reaching a record high of 42.3 trillion U.S. dollars. The rise was primarily driven by companies in the technology sector benefiting from the boom of artificial intelligence (AI). Eight of the ten most valuable companies are headquartered in the United States, with most operating digital business models. Microsoft leads the top ten ranking with a value of 3.32 trillion U.S. dollars, surpassing the combined market capitalization of Germany's blue-chip DAX companies. However, Europe continues to struggle to benefit from the AI boom, with only 19 of the world's 100 most valuable companies headquartered in Europe, compared to 46 in 2007 before the financial crisis.

??Business China??

????BYD Auto's Atto 3 electric car model topped car sales in Israel in the first half of 2024, with 7,265 units sold from January to June. The Czech petrol small family car Skoda Octavia followed with 4,159 units. BYD Auto led Israel's electric car sales chart with 10,178 units of six models. Other Chinese brands included MG Motor, Tesla, and Geely Auto Group. Chinese brands represented 68.31% of Israel's electric car sales in the first half of 2024, with 26,803 units sold. South Korea was the second-largest supplier of cars to Israel, with 27,187 units sold.

????Invest Hong Kong has assisted 322 Chinese mainland and overseas companies to establish or expand operations in Hong Kong during the first six months of 2024, marking a 43% year-on-year increase. The total investment brought to the local economy reached 38.3 billion Hong Kong dollars, up 6% YoY, and created over 3,500 job opportunities, up 44% YoY. The 322 companies came from 33 economies, including 150 from mainland China, the United States, Britain, Singapore, and France. Financial services, fintech, and innovation and technology were the main sectors. The National Immigration Administration announced that non-Chinese Hong Kong permanent residents will be eligible to apply for a card-type document to enter the mainland starting July 10.

???China-Foreign Affairs??

??China and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) have held a third ministerial forum on agriculture, focusing on cooperation and green development. The event, which attracted 290 attendees, included 24 ministers, 13 ambassadors, agricultural research institutes, enterprises, and regional organizations. China's Party chief, Han Jun, highlighted the fruitful results of agricultural cooperation over the past decade, with bilateral trade doubling to over 81 billion U.S. dollars from 2014 to 2023. He proposed four proposals, including implementing cooperation projects on food security and green development, doubling agricultural trade again in the next decade, strengthening sci-tech exchange and capacity-building, and deepening poverty reduction cooperation. Honduran secretary of agriculture and livestock, Laura Elena Suazo Torres, praised China's efforts in promoting South-South cooperation on food and expects increased exchange and experience-sharing in sustainable agricultural production capacities and agricultural sci-tech.

???Chinese mainland spokesperson Chen Binhua has warned that any actions that challenge the one-China principle and provoke discontent on both sides of the Taiwan Strait will be punished and fail. The statement comes in response to Lai Ching-te's separatist rhetoric, which has sparked strong opposition across the Strait. Chen argues that Lai's narrative of "Taiwan independence" will not fool the public in Taiwan and will not whitewash his nature as a troublemaker. He also asserts that the Taiwan region is an inalienable part of China, and its sovereignty and territory have never been divided.

????Chinese President Xi Jinping has visited Kazakhstan for a state visit and to attend the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. This is Xi's fifth visit to Kazakhstan and the second in less than two years. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev hosted a welcome ceremony for visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping in Astana. A group of six jets painted the sky with red and yellow smoke trails, marking the colors of the Chinese national flag. Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that China and Kazakhstan have formed a unique permanent strategic partnership. The two nations have a long history of friendship, dating back over 2,000 years to the ancient Silk Road. Over the past 32 years, the relationship has evolved into a unique permanent strategic partnership. Xi recalled the initiative of jointly building the Silk Road Economic Belt in Kazakhstan 11 years ago.

The visit is expected to focus on strengthening bilateral ties and cooperation, with Xi describing the China-Kazakhstan partnership as "unique." He is expected to engage in detailed discussions with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, focusing on trade, investment, infrastructure development, and cultural exchanges. The visit is expected to open new prospects for bilateral cooperation, as the two countries have been enhancing their ties since Tokayev's visit in 2019. The deepening mutual trust and political ties between China and Kazakhstan have been accompanied by significant growth in trade and economic cooperation over the past three decades. Today, Belt and Road cooperation between China and Kazakhstan has yielded fruitful results, with two-way economic and trade cooperation reaching new highs, people-to-people and cultural exchanges featuring numerous highlights, and close and efficient international cooperation. This has improved the well-being of the two peoples and injected more stability and positive energy into the international and regional situation. On Tuesday, Kazakh teenagers greeted Chinese President Xi Jinping in Astana with a household song in Chinese. The song "Ode to the Motherland" was written in 1950 and has been popular among the Chinese, resonating deeply with their pride in and love for their homeland.

Xi and his Kazakh counterpart, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, applauded the teenagers' performance and spoke with them afterwards. One of the teenagers said she started learning Chinese as a child and wanted to go to Tsinghua University in China. Xi, who graduated from Tsinghua University, wished that teenagers could attend good universities and said they were welcome to study in China. Xi's fifth visit to Kazakhstan since becoming Chinese president in 2013. When his plane entered the Kazakh airspace, it was escorted by three Kazakh Air Force fighter jets. Tokayev greeted Xi at the airport with a team of senior government officials,, including First Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar and Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu. As the Chinese leader walked down the gangway, nearly 100 Kazakh children were waving Chinese and Kazakh national flags and chanting "Nihao" or hello in Chinese.

????Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed his joy and expectations for his third state visit to Tajikistan, marking a new chapter in the friendship between the two countries. During his 2014 state visit, Xi was invited to Tajik President Emomali Rahmon's residence for a family feast. Rahmon rolled out a silk carpet at the entrance of his presidential mansion, a Tajik etiquette reserved for esteemed guests. Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, walked and talked inside the courtyard, where Rahmon picked a fruit from a tree and handed it to Xi. Rahmon personally dressed Xi in a traditional Tajik robe and tied a belt around his waist. In June 2019, Xi received the Order of the Crown from Rahmon, symbolizing the profound friendship the people of Tajikistan have kept with China. Since China and Tajikistan established diplomatic ties, bilateral relations have made significant progress, evolving from strategic partners to a comprehensive strategic partnership. China-Tajikistan relations have seen significant growth, with strategic leadership from both heads of state playing a crucial role.

China is willing to work with Tajikistan to implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state, benefiting both countries and their peoples. The relationship began in 2013 with a strategic partnership, which was upgraded to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2017. In 2019, during President Xi's visit to Tajikistan, the two agreed to jointly build a China-Tajikistan development community and security community. In 2023, the two presidents announced the creation of a shared future community. Tajikistan was among the first countries to support the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and sign related cooperation agreements with China. The BRI has led to cooperation and aid projects in key areas, such as infrastructure, metallurgy, energy, cement, and the cotton textile industry. Trade between China and Tajikistan doubled from 2013 to 2023.

????China and Laos' armed forces will hold the Friendship Shield-2024 joint military exercise in Laos in July, according to China's Ministry of National Defense. The exercise aims to strengthen strategic mutual trust and cooperation between the two militaries, promoting regional peace and stability, following the successful Friendship Shield-2023 exercise in May last year.

????China's permanent representative to the UN, Fu Cong, has urged Israel to fulfill its obligations under international humanitarian law and ensure the safe entry of humanitarian supplies into Gaza. The crisis in Gaza, exacerbated by extreme shortages of essential supplies and dire health conditions, has left millions struggling with hunger, disease, pain, and despair. Over 2 million people live in an "open-air prison" without adequate access to water, electricity, food, medication, and fuel. Fu criticized the closure of the Rafah crossing due to Israeli military operations, stating that existing crossing points are not enough to meet the demand for aid. He also emphasized the importance of land transport routes in expanding humanitarian access. Fu urged Israel to ensure the rapid and safe entry of humanitarian supplies into Gaza and cooperate fully with the UN and other humanitarian organizations.

??Cultural??Insights ??

??"Moments We Shared" remains the top box office film on the Chinese mainland, with a daily revenue of 14.76 million yuan ($2.07 million U.S. dollars). The Hong Kong-set action movie "Customs Frontline" followed with 9.38 million yuan. Disney and Pixar's animated film "Inside Out 2" came in third with 9.09 million yuan. The total box office revenue on the Chinese mainland is around 52.43 million yuan.

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