- Government report: Beijing plans higher research spending
- Czech Republic and China: relationship in crisis
- CGTN allowed to broadcast in Europe again
- Significant increase in military budget
- WHO experts cancel COVID interim report
- Heritage Foundation sees Hong Kong’s freedom threatened
- Beijing rejects Lithuania’s Taiwan plans
- Forecast: China’s coal consumption to rise by six percent by 2025
- Switzerland and China plan to expand financial market cooperation
- Column: Wang Huning – servant of three masters
Three thousand people in one room? We COVID-impaired Germans would call that a superspreader event. Yet in China, the pandemic clocks tick differently. In Beijing, 3000 delegates are gathering for this year’s “National People’s Congress”. All of them have been vaccinated with Sinopharm. But what if someone in the room is infected?
The People’s Congress started on time this Friday morning. The official Beijing reported 2953 delegates, 2907 were registered yesterday at noon. The “people’s representatives” want to discuss the fate of their country for only seven days this year. The usual two weeks of deliberations seemed too risky even to Beijing. Frank Sieren has evaluated the traditional accountability and work report of the government.
The congress will focus on the government’s plans for the next few years, the 14th Five-Year Plan and the outlook until 2035. The China.Table team has already analyzed the plans for you in the past few days. If you want to read it again: Click here for the China.Table archive. Of course, we will follow the concrete changes in the course of the next week.
For the past eight years, Wang Huning has been President Xi Jinping’s chief advisor and speechwriter; you could say Wang is Beijing’s intellectual head. Where he comes from, what he thinks, and how powerful he is, Johnny Erling has brought together for you in the Column.
First, London banned the Chinese State broadcaster CGTN, then the German state media authorities followed suit. Now, Paris has granted a broadcasting license, and it looks like the permit will put CGTN back on the air across Europe under European law. A political victory for Beijing. An embarrassment for the European Union, with its inconsistent and fractured regulation that benefits the clever whenever they want to advance their interests.
The Czech Republic should also be mentioned in this context. Germany’s neighbor to the south is currently struggling particularly desperately with the pandemic – and is now considering, in its distress, starting to buy the Chinese vaccine – apart from the currently agreed upon European – but not functioning – collective purchases. Yet, as Marcel Grzanna writes, the Czechs haven’t really had any good experiences with China recently.
The bilateral relations of the individual EU members with China are worthy of very special consideration by China.Table. A few days ago, Amelie Richter looked at Italy. We now continue this series with Marcel’s analysis.
I wish you an enjoyable read and a relaxing weekend.
Antje Sirleschtov
Feature
Beijing plans higher research spending
You have to imagine the government’s work report as a gigantic mobile that thousands of people have balanced over the past weeks and months. Each political area naturally wants to be mentioned first in order to make it clear that its own topic has the greater weight in each case. So it is a matter of deciding on order of emphasis. Thus, the report, written in clear language, is certainly an insightful reflection of the political situation.
The report begins with a review of the past year. The problem areas are named: Recovery of the economy after COVID is not yet fully accomplished. Consumption needs to be boosted further. Investments are not sustainable enough. Too many obstacles are still being placed in the way of small and medium-sized enterprises. And it is not getting any easier to maintain the level of employment. But innovation must also be increased, and the “serious” deficits of the local government must be reduced.
Goals for the next five years
But how is it to continue over the next five years? Productivity should grow faster than GDP. Unemployment must remain stable. Prices, too. China’s research and development budget is to be “over 7 percent” higher than in the past five years. The share of manufacturing in the economy is to remain stable. China is also to be further digitized. Agricultural land must remain the same size (120 million hectares). However, it will be easier for people moving from the countryside to the city to get a residence permit. New centers are to be developed. The order is important here: 1st place: Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei followed by the Yangtze Economic Belt and Greater Bay Area.
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