- Summary of the Glasgow climate conference
- Goldman Sachs bets on Evergrande
- 6th Plenum of the Central Committee praises Xi Jinping
- Covid – Beijing quarantines residential areas
- Yuan remains strong
- Singles’ Day brings billions in sales
- Huawei establishes Digital Competence Center in Germany
- Johnny Erling: China’s state liquor, synonymous with corruption
The climate conference in Glasgow ends today. Just before its conclusion, the two largest CO2 emitters China and the US agreed to intensify cooperation on climate protection. Christiane Kuehl has kept track of the summit chaos and assesses the summit: China has agreed to participate in a few new global climate initiatives but stayed away from others, such as the phasing out of cars with internal combustion engines by 2035/40. And in its summit speeches, the People’s Republic insisted on the implementation of all the climate goals already agreed upon. Other countries, on the other hand, wanted to increase the targets, some of which lie far in the future. As exciting as the summit was, in the end, the realization of the climate promises counts. We will keep following the latest developments for you!
Another important summit came to an end yesterday in Beijing: the 6th Plenum of the Central Committee. The plenum passed Xi Jinping’s “historic resolution” – the third one ever to be passed. So far, little is known about its contents. However, first reports suggest that Xi was able to strengthen his power – as expected.
We don’t know whether the participants of both two summits popped the champagne corks afterward or still plan to do so. But our columnist Johnny Erling knows that Beijing also wants to toast internationally with Maotai in the future. So far, the Chinese liquor has not managed to gain a foothold outside of China. But that is about to change. The national liquor already has the status of a luxury good and collector’s item in the People’s Republic. And has become a synonym for corruption, as our columnist tells us.
The ailing real estate group Evergrande is currently shambling from one interest payment to the next. So far, bankruptcy has been averted. Speculators like Goldman Sachs have even stocked up on the company’s bonds in recent weeks, betting on a government bailout. Beijing appears to be slowly restructuring the company. But come spring 2022, the real estate giant will no longer just have to pay interest, it will have to repay its bonds. Just for how much longer will this hanging game drag on, wonder Joern Petring and Gregor Koppenburg.
Have a pleasant weekend!
Nico Beckert
Feature
Implementation instead of new goals: China at COP26
The COP26 climate conference is heading towards the finishing line with a confusing struggle over climate targets, money, and guidelines. The conference is due to end this Friday, with a final declaration that still had several gaps on Thursday. Among other things, it will address the question of when the signatories to the Paris climate agreement will have to amend their climate targets. The fear of a letdown accompanied the conference from the very beginning. The positions of some countries are divided, and geopolitical tensions are casting a shadow over the conference.
All the more surprising was the news on Wednesday evening when it was announced that China and the US had agreed on a joint approach. Up until now, the two nations have found themselves on opposite poles of the debate in Glasgow. A joint statement now declares that China and the US want to use this “critical moment” to speed up the transition to a carbon-neutral global economy, both together and separately. To this end, more ambitious climate protection measures will be realized before the end of the decade, and a joint task force will be set up.
Concrete details are still lacking. This makes the political signal sent by the two chief negotiators, Xie Zhenhua and John Kerry, all the more important. “Both sides recognize that there is a gap between the current effort and the Paris Agreement goals, so we will jointly strengthen climate action,” said Xie. Kerry stressed that he had spoken with Xie more than 40 times. The agreement is a good sign, Byford Tsang of climate think tank E3G told China.Table: “It will take some heat off the negotiations and gives room for constructive meetings during the final hours.”
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