China Economy: News & Discussion

srevster

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srevster

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srevster

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Modi laoxian, fali wubian" (莫迪老先, 法力无边) is a Mandarin phrase used by some Chinese people to describe Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The phrase can be broken down into two parts:

  1. "Modi laoxian" (莫迪老先): This part of the phrase refers to Prime Minister Modi as an experienced or wise elder. "Laoxian" (老先) is a term of respect that combines "lao" (老), which means old or experienced, and "xian" (先), which means ahead or senior. In this context, it suggests that Modi is considered a wise and seasoned leader.
  2. "Fali wubian" (法力无边): This part of the phrase describes Prime Minister Modi as having boundless power or influence. "Fali" (法力) is a term that originally refers to supernatural power or magical abilities, while "wubian" (无边) means limitless or boundless. In this context, it suggests that Modi is seen as a strong and influential leader.
To explain this to a layman, you could say that some Chinese people call Prime Minister Modi "Modi laoxian, fali wubian" to show their respect for him as a wise, experienced, and powerful leader.
 

srevster

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Surprisingly lightweight" was how several China watchers described the new lineup of the State Council, the country's cabinet, after it was selected at the recent National People's Congress, the annual parliament.
China's key economic officials, including the finance minister and the governor of the People's Bank of China, are no longer part of the top leadership.


Yi Gang, the central bank governor, was reappointed to his position despite reaching the normal retirement age of 65. Yi is no longer a member of the 200-plus Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and no longer even among the 170-plus alternate members of this elite committee -- a post he held until the party's national congress in October.

The assigning of economic portfolios dismayed many observers at a time when the world is watching to see how China will fire up its faltering economy.

There may be a number of explanations for the underwhelming State Council selections. These include Premier Li Qiang's need for safe, old hands after taking over the State Council with no previous cabinet experience -- he never served as a vice premier.
Whatever, the wings of the State Council are manifestly being clipped. With economic ministers removed from the Central Committee and higher party echelons, the concentration of power has shifted to the Communist Party -- which Xi heads -- away from the State Council.
Ongoing organizational reforms are clearly designed to strengthen the party, and future central bank policies are among those expected to include strong party infusions.

In his speech, Xi repeatedly connected the notions of "great country" and "national security" to party leadership.
Towards the end, he said: "To do a good job of governing the country, the party should do a good job of governing itself; and to build a great country, the party must be thriving."


At his first news conference, Li Qiang promised to support struggling private companies and to promote the long-standing "reform and opening-up" policy. But analysts are already noting that this has to be taken with a grain of salt.
This is because in his own speech, Xi spoke of "common prosperity," his signature concept that places more emphasis on correcting disparities than achieving high growth. If implemented strictly, it could run counter to Li's pledges to support the private sector.

The main takeaway is that China's key economic ministers may be seasoned technocrats but they are political lightweights. They now fall under He Lifeng and Zheng Shanjie, both from Xi's loyal Xiamen faction.
 

srevster

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Mainland China has no other political party. Only ~7% of the population are party members.

When I say 'crumble', it does not mean that another political party with a different ideology would replace it. There are a few political parties in China but they are totally under CPC control and they cannot contest electorally. I meant that the existing power structure within the party would collapse. Already, we have seen unprecedented protests all over the country, especially in 100 universities, that forced a complete U-turn to the mindless and draconian Covid policies. Then, there were widespread protests in more than three provinces regarding fraud by several banks. The collapse of the real estate companies has added its own pressure to the slowed-down economy which has no real prospects of early recovery. A few years earlier, the ex-servicemen protested all over the country including in Beijing. The pot is already simmering, I mean. The MSS is being kept on its toes.

CCP has not been a monolith in spite of China being a one-party state. We all know of CYL (Communist Youth League) which Xi and his hero Mao despised. Then, there is the powerful Shanghai Clique. We now have the Tsinghua group etc.

A loss of face across the Indo-China Sea with a failed or even a struggling amphibious attack on Taiwan (or even Kinmen & Matsu islands) going awry would be cataclysmic for XJP and the Han. It would be far more disastrous than the 1895 defeat at the hands of the 'civilizational enemy' Japan. They had a scapegoat then, the Manchus, who suddenly became aliens. The CCP prides itself on having single-handedly defeated the Fascist forces of WW-II. Its permanent grouse is that it was not accorded the seat at the high table later on. If XJP cannot keep any one of his three promises of avenging all these, integrating the renegade province, and making China the most powerful country, then XJP would meet a fate far worse.

It is impossible to predict with any certainty who would rise up to displace XJP. Chinese history is so full of inconsequential persons rising up to setup a dynasty. From the totalitarian Mao, through the Gang of Four, and later the Collective Leadership era with the idea of first-among-equals, to the totalitarian regime once again, there has always been challengers.

The Americans might think that a humiliating defeat of XJP would lead to democracy as it happened (or almost happened) after Boy Emperor Puyi abdicated his throne in 1911.


2) No one can offer XJP sage counsel - this can also be taken in a different way, either he has staffed everyone who is aligned with his viewpoint, or he has replaced everyone else who did not provide the proper alignment / synchronicity to his vision and were holding back on reforms that were necessary
I think both are true. Go back to late 2012 when the drama around the selection for the top post was unfolding. XJP disappeared for two weeks (as he did when Covid broke out too) and the rumour was that he was bargaining very hard for all three positions at one go (General Secretary, President, CMC Chief) and was playing hard ball with Jiang, Hu and others. He eventually got it but there were also speed breakers to him by forcing him to induct factions into the State Council. By the third term he has removed the factions and stuffed his State Council and even the PSC with all his proteges. The humiliation of Hu at the end of the 20th Congress (timing was also important) sent the ultimate and clearest signal.
 

SexyChineseLady

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IMG_5533.jpeg


SINGAPORE—A gauge of activity in China’s services sector reached its highest level in more than a decade in March, a sign that Chinese consumers are heading back to stores and restaurants, powering an economic recovery following the end of almost three years of strict Covid-19 controls.

The reading represents a promising signal for the global economy, which depends on Chinese consumers to prop up growth this year as their counterparts in the U.S. and Europe battle rising interest rates, high inflation and the prospect of a squeeze on lending following turmoil in the banking sector.
 

srevster

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Full text of Xi Jinping's speech at first session of 14th NPC
chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2023-03-14 20:55
Speech at the first session of 14th NPC

March 13, 2023

By Xi Jinping

Fellow deputies,

I was elected at this session to continue to serve as the president of the People's Republic of China (PRC). I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude for the trust placed in me by all the deputies and the Chinese people of all ethnic groups.

It is my third time to take on this noble position of the president of the PRC. The people's trust has been my greatest source of strength to go forward and also the greatest responsibility on my shoulders. I will faithfully fulfill the duties prescribed in the Constitution, take the needs of the country as my mission and the people's interests as the yardstick to follow, be committed and honest in my duties, devote myself to my work without reserve, and never fail to live up to the great trust of the deputies and the people.

Fellow deputies,

The Chinese nation, with a civilization spanning over 5,000 years, has created a myriad of glories and also been through a lot of hardships and adversity. With the advent of modern times, China was reduced to a semi-feudal and semi-colonial society, being bullied, oppressed and divided by foreign powers, and the Chinese people being plunged into an abyss of great suffering. Since its founding, after 100 years of struggle, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has closely united and led the Chinese people of all ethnic groups to wipe out the shame of the nation, the Chinese people have become the masters of their future, the Chinese nation has achieved the great transformation from standing up and growing prosperous to becoming strong, and that China's national rejuvenation has become a historical inevitability.

From now until the middle of the century, the central task of the Party and all Chinese people is to complete building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects and advance national rejuvenation on all fronts. And the baton of this central task has now been historically passed on to our generation. In accordance with the strategic plans made at the 20th CPC National Congress, we must implement the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan and the Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy, speed up the Chinese modernization, strive in unity, and continue to break new ground, so as to make achievements on the new journey that answer the call of our times and history and meet the expectations of our people, and make due contributions of our generation to building a great country and achieving national rejuvenation.

Fellow deputies,

On the new journey to build China into a great country and to achieve national rejuvenation, we must unswervingly promote high-quality development. We must fully and faithfully apply the new development philosophy on all fronts and accelerate the efforts to foster a new development pattern. We must fully implement the strategy for invigorating China through science and education, the workforce development strategy and the innovation-driven development strategy, and focus on achieving greater self-reliance and strength in science and technology. We must also promote transformation and upgrade of industries, promote coordinated urban-rural and regional development, make further efforts to build a green and low-carbon economy and society, and effectively upgrade the quality and appropriately expand the output of our economy, so as to constantly increase our economic strength, scientific and technological capabilities and composite national strength.

We must remain committed to putting the people and their lives first. The people are the decisive force for building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects. We must proactively develop whole-process people's democracy, uphold the unity between the Party leadership, the running of the country by the people and law-based governance, improve the system of institutions through which the people run the country, substantiate the people's will, protect their rights and interests and fully inspire their enthusiasm, initiative and creativity. We need to implement a people-centered philosophy of development, improve the system of income distribution, perfect the social security system, and enhance basic public services. We must ensure that the basic living needs of all our people be met, and work hard to resolve the pressing difficulties and problems that concern them most. We must do a better job of seeing to it that the gains of modernization benefit all our people fairly, and make more notable and substantive progress in promoting prosperity for all. We must strengthen the great unity of the Chinese people of all ethnic groups and the great unity of all the sons and daughters of the Chinese nation at home and abroad, thus mobilizing all positive factors to give shape to a mighty joint force for building a great country and advancing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

We need to better coordinate development and security. Security is the foundation of development and stability is the prerequisite for prosperity. We must resolutely pursue a holistic approach to national security, improve the national security system, strengthen our capacity for safeguarding national security, enhance public security governance, and improve the social governance system. With this new security architecture, we will be able to better safeguard China's new pattern of development. We should comprehensively promote the modernization of our national defense and our armed forces, and build the people's military into a great wall of steel that can effectively safeguard our nation's sovereignty, security and the interests of our development.

We should solidly promote the practice of "One Country, Two Systems" and the great cause of national reunification. The long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions is indispensable to the building of a great China. We should fully, faithfully, and resolutely implement the policy of "One Country, Two Systems", under which the people of Hong Kong administer Hong Kong and the people of Macao administer Macao, both with a high degree of autonomy. We will remain committed to law-based governance in Hong Kong and Macao and will support Hong Kong and Macao in developing their economies and improving people's livelihood, so that they can better integrate themselves into the overall development of the country. Realizing China's complete reunification is a shared aspiration of all the sons and daughters of the Chinese nation as well as the essence of national rejuvenation. We should implement the Party's overall policy for resolving the Taiwan question in the new era, uphold the one-China principle and the 1992 Consensus, actively promote the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations, resolutely oppose foreign interference and separatist activities aimed at "Taiwan independence", and unswervingly promote progress towards national reunification.

We must strive to promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. China's development benefits the world, and China cannot develop itself in isolation from the world. We must solidly promote high-level opening up, not only making good use of the global market and resources to develop ourselves, but also promoting common development of the world. We must hold high the banner of peace, development, and win-win cooperation, always stand on the right side of history, practice true multilateralism and the common values of mankind, actively participate in the reform and development of the global governance system, and promote the development of an open world economy. We should promote the implementation of Global Development Initiative and Global Security Initiative, so as to add more stability and positive energy to world peace and development, and create a favorable international environment for our country's development.

Fellow deputies,

To do a good job of governing the country, the Party should do a good job of governing itself. To promote the building of a great country, it is essential to uphold the leadership of the CPC and the centralized, unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee, and to step up Party building in a solid manner. We must remain sober-minded and resolved about addressing the challenges unique to a big political party as ours, and have the courage to carry out self-reform. We must unceasingly exercise full and rigorous Party self-governance, unswervingly fight against corruption, and always maintain the unity and solidarity of the Party. By doing so, we will be able to ensure that the Party will never change its nature, its conviction, and its character, which will serve as a strong guarantee for building a great country and advancing national rejuvenation.

Fellow deputies,

The grand goal of building a great country and achieving national rejuvenation is encouraging and motivating. We should seize the hour and seize the day, remain confident in our history, exhibit greater historical initiative, uphold fundamental principles and break new ground, maintain strategic resolve, carry forward the fighting spirit, and strive to overcome all difficulties, to contribute to the great cause of building China into a great country and achieving national rejuvenation.

Thank you.
 

rockdog

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Ukraine got new batchs of 300 DJI Mavic 3T ... How did they got it? DJI already banned them in war zone.

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Cheepek

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View attachment 198796

SINGAPORE—A gauge of activity in China’s services sector reached its highest level in more than a decade in March, a sign that Chinese consumers are heading back to stores and restaurants, powering an economic recovery following the end of almost three years of strict Covid-19 controls.

The reading represents a promising signal for the global economy, which depends on Chinese consumers to prop up growth this year as their counterparts in the U.S. and Europe battle rising interest rates, high inflation and the prospect of a squeeze on lending following turmoil in the banking sector.
Fake news, the surge in PMI of non manufacturing sector is fueled by... yes... wait for it.... construction. ~ 59 to 65
Services PMI show only a little increase from last month. ~ 55.11 to 56

20230403_054609.png


This means consumer spending hasn't returned yet and it's the Chinese government doing the heavy lifting.
 

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