Fiscal policy + Supply chains + 5G mining + Covid passport + Yu Yongding • China.Table

Center of power: the members of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
Fiscal policy: on the gas and the brakes at the same time
EU Parliament votes on supply chain bill
Digitized mining
Planning for digital health certificate
Yu Yongding: Tax havens are sabotaging the SDGs

Dear reader,

Hair is not only closely related to power in religious representations; secular rulers such as kings have also worn beards and flowing hair throughout history to show their social position. The fact that the hairstyle is not just an accumulation of head hair, but also a status symbol, is also evident in the Chinese Communist Party: Leading politicians used to dye their hair black. Only after leaving politics having grey hair was okay. The current president Xi Jinping was the first active politician who dared to show grey highlights in public. So you can say: He is so powerful that he even dares to do that.

Which six men besides Xi belong to China’s most powerful body, the Politburo Standing Committee, is presented to you today by China.Table in a series of short portraits.

We also take a look at Brussels. After much wrangling, the German government recently agreed on a supply chain law, and this week the EU Parliament is voting on an EU-wide service charge. China.Table not only points out the differences to the German draft but also examines possible problems with implementation in China.

Today, we go underground with Frank Sieren. Unfortunately, serious mining accidents are not uncommon in China, often resulting in dozens of miners’ deaths. With the help of digitalization, the People’s Republic wants to make its mines safer – and increase productivity at the same time.

We also continue with the National People’s Congress (NPC) in Beijing. Finn Mayer-Kuckuck explains what plans are on the table for the country’s financial architecture.

Your
Amelie Richter

Feature

The center of power

When the cameras pan to President Xi Jinping at the National People’s Congress, six men are visible to his left and right. They are between sixty and seventy years old and belong to the most powerful body in the state: the Standing Committee of the Communist Party’s Politburo. The concentration of power on Xi makes their appearance fade somewhat, but nevertheless: Everyone in this exclusive circle plays a clear role in steering the party, developing its ideology, and thus ensuring its hold on power.

Xi Jinping – core of the party

There’s no way around him: Xi Jinping. Like no other since Mao Zedong, Xi has concentrated power in the state on himself. Since taking office as CCP secretary-general in 2012, he has purposefully cold-cocked potential rivals within the party and surrounded himself with loyal followers. Unlike his predecessor Hu Jintao, Xi holds the title of “core of the party”; in 2018, he also abolished the term limits for presidents that had been customary until then. At the same time, “Xi Jinping’s ideas of Chinese-style socialism in the new era” were enshrined in the Chinese constitution. Xi is a so-called princeling – his father Xi Zhongxun was part of the party’s first generation of leaders. The year 2021 is of special significance for Xi: The first five-year plan under his aegis has been completed – an occasion for taking stock. In addition, this year marks the 100th founding anniversary of the Chinese Communist Par ty.

Li Keqiang – vice with waning power

Li Keqiang is the number two man in the state. As premier, Li is officially China’s second head of government. When he took office, he was seen as a bridge to the camp of former Communist Party General Secretary Hu Jintao and a competent economist with the goal of steering economic growth in more equitable and sustainable directions. But as Xi’s grip on power grew, Li’s importance dwindled. In 2018, the role of economic leader was transferred to Vice Premier Liu He, and Li has recently been absent from crucial summits. His term, unlike Xi’s, is limited to 2022. Li comes from a humble background: His parents were farmers in Anhui province.

Li Zhanshu – loyal Chief of Staff

At seventy, Li Zhanshu is the oldest on the Standing Committee and number three behind General Secretary Xi and Premier Li. He is a close confidant of Xi and has been his Chief of Staff and director of the Central Committee General Office since 2012. He also chairs the Standing Committee of the People’s Congress, a kind of parliamentary working body, making him the most important party representative in China’s sham legislature. His career began as the son of party veterans in his home province of Hebei. He met the young Xi Jinping there as early as the early 1980s; both were local party secretaries in neighboring counties.

Continue reading now

… and get free access to this Professional Briefing for a month.

Are you already a guest at the China.Table? Log in now