EU car companies should take advantage of the significant opportunities in the Chinese market, as the nation vows to advance high-level opening-up and further relax market access, Chinese officials and experts said, following the conclusion of China's third plenary session this week, which unveiled a number of reforms and opening-up measures.
These remarks were made amid bilateral talks on the EU imposing additional tariffs on China-made electric vehicles (EVs). The high tariffs have raised concerns among EU member countries and leading industry players about the possibility of a "trade war" between the two major trading partners.
In a meeting between China's Minister of Commerce (MOFCOM) Wang Wentao and Oliver Blume, chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG, in Beijing on Friday, both sides exchanged views on the development of the German car company's business in China.
Wang stated that the recently concluded third plenary session emphasized that openness is a distinctive feature of Chinese modernization and that adhering to the fundamental national policy of opening-up is essential. "This will create a favorable business environment in China for enterprises from all countries, including Volkswagen," the minister said.
European automotive companies such as Volkswagen advocate for fair competition and strongly oppose the EU's imposition of tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, a stance that China appreciated, Wang said.
The commerce minister expressed the hope that Volkswagen and other European automotive companies will continue to play an active role, encouraging the European Commission and the governments of Germany and other member states to work with China. On the basis of respecting facts and rules, he urged them to speed up the consultation process and reach an appropriate solution as soon as possible to prevent the escalation of trade frictions.
Despite trade tensions, China remains welcoming of more European companies coming to China to win new business. China's door of opening-up will only open wider and it is believed that the EU car companies will vote with their feet in terms of where they want to invest, Yang Chengyu, an associate research fellow from the Institute of European Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Friday.
It is hoped that both parties can reach a satisfactory result from negotiations on EV talks as soon as possible for the benefits of both sides, Yang said.
The high tariffs targeting Chinese EVs have been met with serious concern among the international business community, including the key industry players within the bloc, for its foreseeable impact on the normal trade activity.
On Thursday, Volvo cut its full-year retail sales forecast, blaming European tariffs on EVs made in China that will hit one of the Swedish automaker's key electric models until it shifts production to Belgium, Reuters reported.
While reporting better than expected second-quarter results that sent its shares up 6 percent in morning trade, Volvo lowered its forecast for sales growth this year to 12-15 percent from 15 percent, the report said.
Experts said that this is a clear example of how additional tariffs may backfire.
Previously, Hungary voiced its opposition against the EU's decision to impose extra tariffs on China-made EVs, as European officials and businesspeople continued to express their dissatisfaction of the EU actions.
Major German carmakers including BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen also criticized the planned tariffs and voiced their support for fair competition and free world trade.
China's achievements in the EV sector are mainly fueled by technological innovation, a robust supply chain, and a highly competitive domestic market, rather than by subsidies, experts said, calling the EU to listen to the voices of their own industry insiders and reflect their stance as an open region for cooperation.
Nearly one-third of the EVs exported from China to the EU are actually brands owned by European companies, such as Volvo, BMW, and Volkswagen, Wang Yiwei, a professor from the School of International Relations at Renmin University of China, told the Global Times, noting that this is also why leading car companies like those from Germany are opposed to the EU's actions, and why Germany abstained from voting on this issue.
The current approach of imposing heightened tariffs on Chinese-produced EVs is driven by populism and violates principles of free and fair competition, the expert said.
Trade and investment are deeply intertwined and cannot be resolved simply through tariffs, Wang said, urging the EU to listen more carefully to their own voices within the bloc before making any decisions.
In contrast with the EU's protectionist move, China has always taken an open stance in welcoming cooperation and competitions of world players.
In addition to meet with China's commerce minister, Blume also met with China's Minister of Industry and Information Technology Jin Zhuanglong, who said during their meeting that the Chinese government attaches great importance to the development of the automotive industry and continues to promote the high-level opening-up of the automotive sector.
China's industrial system is complete and the automobile market has huge potential, Jin said. He welcomed Volkswagen AG to continue to delve into the Chinese market and provide consumers with more high-quality products to choose from.
China's Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday that it had organized relief efforts to flood-stricken areas in central and southern China amid broad government efforts to mitigate flood damage.
So far, more than 6,500 tons of relief materials including essential supplies have been dispatched to Huarong county, while some 8,000 tons of materials were sent to Pingjiang county, spokesperson He Yongqian told a press conference on Thursday.
Huarong and Pingjiang are two counties located in Central China's Hunan Province that were heavily battered by floods.
He, MOFCOM's newly appointed spokesperson, said that the ministry is making every effort to ensure the supply of essential supplies in areas affected by heavy rains and flooding in Hunan, Central China's Henan Province and East China's Shandong Province.
The ministry has activated emergency response measures and is guiding key areas in the organization of relief work to guarantee essential supplies for people in the disaster-stricken areas, He said.
The ministry is engaged in daily monitoring of the supply and demand situation at key areas, monitoring the price fluctuations of daily necessities such as grain, oil, meat, eggs, milk, fruits, vegetables as well as preprepared food and bottled water.
Some 700 key enterprises in Hunan and neighboring provinces tasked with providing supplies have ramped up their material inventories, with stock for essential supplies being lifted10-30 percent above normal levels.
Chinese government departments are engaged in an all-out relief effort. The Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday that it has allocated an additional 848 million yuan ($118.9 million) to support flood rescue efforts, prioritizing water infrastructure repair and removal of hazards.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on the same day that since the dike breach at Dongting Lake in Hunan, the ministry has deployed workers, trucks and generators to engage in emergency repairs, and has managed to maintain normal telecommunications coverage outside the waterlogged areas.
Also on Tuesday, the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee allocated 231 million yuan for rescue and disaster relief work across nine provincial-level regions, including Hunan and East China's Anhui Province.
Daughter of the founder of Chinese beverage giant Wahaha Group has reportedly resigned as vice chairman of the company, according to media reports on Thursday.
According to a resignation letter circulating online, Zong Fuli, daughter of the late Wahaha chairman Zong Qinghou has decided to resign from her positions as vice chairman and general manager of Wahaha Group, effective July 15.
In the letter, Zong Fuli said that some shareholders have raised questions about the management of Wahaha Group following the passing of chairman Zong Qinghou and this has made it impossible for her to continue performing her management responsibilities.
According to the letter, Zong said she has submitted her resignation letter to the company and all shareholders, urging them to promptly appoint a new general manager in accordance with the company's regulations to ensure the normal operation of the group and protect the interests of the company, customers, and employees.
Several subsidiaries of Wahaha Group told the Global Times on Thursday that the legal person remained unchanged and they have not heard of Zong Fuli, vice chairman and general manager of Wahaha Group, stepping down from her position at the group headquarters, in response to her rumored resignation.
A Wahaha dairy subsidiary in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province told the Global Times on Thursday that Zong Fuli remained the company’s legal person and they have not heard of any official notice from the headquarters about her stepping down.
Another Wahaha food subsidiary in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region told the Global Times that they have not received any official notification regarding Zong Fuli’s resignation.
The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Shangcheng district, Hangzhou, East China’s Zhejiang Province, where Wahaha is based, told Jiemian News that they are currently verifying about the resignation from Zong Fuli.
Regarding the resignation rumor, a source close to Wahaha Group told thepaper.cn on Thursday that the situation is true, but the incident was sudden and the company's senior executives were not aware of it beforehand. Currently, the shareholders and management team of the company are in further discussion to handle the situation.
Zong Fuli probably faces challenges in handling integration with the major state-owned shareholders, the existing management model, and the management team during the company's transition. It is crucial to explore and establish a new institutional framework that aligns with the interests and beliefs of all parties involved. This is definitely not an easy task, said Yang Yiqing, executive president of Business Seminar Zhejiang told thepaper.cn.
Public information shows that Wahaha Group was founded in 1987. It has developed into one of the world's leading food and beverage production companies, and is among the top 500 Chinese enterprises and the top 500 private enterprises in China.
On February 25, Zong Qinghou, the founder and chairman of Wahaha Group, passed away at the age of 79.
Zong Fuli, his daughter, was born in 1982, is currently the vice chairman and general manager of Wahaha Group. The position of chairman of Wahaha has been vacant since Zong Qinghou's passing.
As the third plenary session of the 20th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee will be convened on Monday, the world is watching how the pivotal gathering, also known as the third plenum, will identify priorities for comprehensively deepening reform, map out a blueprint for its long-term economic development and open up a new chapter in the country's march toward Chinese modernization.
The plenum is being convened at an important juncture, observers said, as internally, China, while remaining on a steadfast journey toward the secondary centenary goal, is now at the critical stage of shifting gears to high-quality development mode. Externally, "profound" changes have taken place in international environment amid Western blockade against China's rise, US-instigated camp confrontation and rising geopolitical tensions. Those complex circumstances call for the CPC leadership to have a fresh assessment of the situation and formulate top-level design to sail through the choppy water, economists said.
According to Xinhua News Agency, the upcoming plenum will primarily examine issues related to further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese modernization, noted a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee in June chaired by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee.
A wide range of reform focused policies are anticipated to be high on the agenda, including the creation of new quality productive forces, steady support to private economy, coordination on development and security, as well as firm commitment to opening-up, among other items, which observers said will pave the way for achieving the country's overarching goal of Chinese modernization.
While negative voices in the West have spared no efforts to discredit China's reform efforts or push bearish views on Chinese economy, the monumental gathering is a timely rebuttal to those smearing campaigns, observers said, as it offers a vivid manifestation of the CPC's courage and confidence to spearhead with "systemic, holistic, forward-looking" reforms even as "changes unseen in a century unfold rapidly across the world."
The inborn reformer spirit of the Party, which has ushered the country - since the third plenum in 1978 - into decades of miraculous rise and fueled the launch of comprehensively deepening reform, is also set to decisively lead China to embark on a relentless journey to defy headwinds and create another economic miracle, scholars said.
This optimism is derived from China's institutional advantages, which are underpinned by the CPC's governing capacity to unite the whole nation closely in working out correct solutions to challenges, foreign observers said. A clear and predictable development path of the world's second-largest economy, under the CPC leadership, will also channel stability and give a much-needed positivity to a floundering world.
Historic significance
As reform is the hallmark of third plenums, the latest one is not an exception. Some analysts anticipated the event to bear historic significance and usher the country into "deeper water" of reform areas in light of the new global and domestic situations.
Typically, each gathering produces a landmark reform agenda concerning every aspect of the economy.
For example, in 1978, the third plenary session of the 11th CPC Central Committee decided to conduct the reform and opening-up policy that paves way for China's decades of startling economic rise. Also, the third plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, convened in 2013 under Xi's leadership, was also hailed as a milestone as it marked the dawn of a new era of reform.
The CPC leadership has sent out resounding reform signals on several occasions ahead of the plenum.
"Reform is the driving force for development," Xi said, while chairing in May a symposium in Ji'nan, capital of East China's Shandong Province, attended by representatives from both business and academia. The crucial role of reform was also highlighted in this year's Government Work Report.
While the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee will carry on the tradition of inheriting reform, Cao Heping, an economist from Peking University, told the Global Times that taking account of the complex domestic and international landscape that is strikingly different from the previous two "third plenums" in 2013 and 2018, it is of great urgency that the upcoming gathering provides a fresh assessment of the new situation, especially on those "important emerging issues that have yet been discussed but require immediate solutions."
"The outside pressure is increasing … and it is also necessary to acknowledge that the Western developed countries will continue the policy of protectionism, destruction of production chains and creation of technological barriers [targeting China] over the coming decades," Alexander Lomanov, deputy director for Scientific Work under the Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations at Russian Academy of Sciences, told the Global Times.
It is therefore of utmost importance that third plenary session charts out a top-level design for the country's economic path and updated reform priorities, Lomanov added. He also suggested China to accelerate the reform and opening-up measures to address a myriad of challenges, for example doubling down efforts in opening-up and expanding the circle of new partners.
According to Cao, the plenum also plays a "bridging role" as it offers the window opportunity for deepening reforms based on the social-economic progress made since the 20th CPC National Congress in 2022.
The report to the 20th CPC National Congress delivered by Xi in October 2022 positioned realizing the second centenary goal and advancing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization as the Party's central task, according to a Xinhua report. China accomplished its first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects in 2021.
Observers said that one of the focal points of the plenum is to effectively promote the Chinese modernization through reforms in a variety of sectors including economic development, innovation, as well as high-level opening-up.
Zhang Xixian, a professor from the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, told the Global Times that China is now at the stage of transforming from quantity-driven growth to high-quality development, a process that sees the rise of new growth drives but is also confronted with increasing downward pressure ranging from structural slowdown, property downturn to weak consumer demand.
China is scheduled to release its first-half GDP figure in mid-July. With an expansion of 5.3 percent in the first quarter, the world's second-largest economy started 2024 strongly and is on a firm track to achieve its goal of expanding at a rate around 5 percent this year.
"We will see deeper, broader and thorough reform steps being announced at the top-level to consolidate the growth momentum and inject new strong impetus into the high-quality development path, while also diluting those rising uncertainties," Tian Yun, an economist based in Beijing, told the Global Times.
He exemplified by fiscal reforms, which could restructure the financing responsibility between central and local governments, and stepped-up reform measures to boost China's technological self-sufficiency in pursuit of economic security.
As the development of social productivity is a key step in achieving Chinese modernization, Zhang also anticipated more scientific planning on the development of new quality productive forces, such as leveraging national strengths in boosting the development of emerging areas like artificial intelligence (AI) and big data while also upgrading traditional industries across the economy through technological innovation.
In 2024, developing new quality productive forces was written into the Government Work Report for the first time.
Institutional advantage
China should take resolute steps to remove the ideological and institutional barriers hindering the advancement of Chinese modernization, and double down on its efforts to resolve deep-seated institutional challenges and structural issues, Xi said at a symposium in Shandong in May.
Observers said that the remarks underscored that new breakthroughs in economic system reform will also be placed at the center of the plenum. This could include a systemic perspective to approach the relationships between the government and the market, the economy and society, as well as coordinating the protection of national security with economic development.
"The plenum can be expected to affirm the 'decisive' role of the market in the resources allocation," Lomanov said, noting that this equates to an assurance on the legal institution of China's socialist market economy, which is key to bolstering business confidence.
According to Cao, there will be also be new signals on the Party's unswerving support to the private economy, and a further institutional guarantee that state-owned enterprises (SOEs), private businesses, and foreign-funded companies all play an important role in China's modernization drive.
China has started drafting a law on promoting the private economy, and the legislative process will be accelerated, Chinese media reported in February.
Ahead of the meeting, several Western media outlets have been peddling pessimistic views, claiming that China's reform is "stagnating."
Some also attempted to play down the expectations on the upcoming gathering and alleged that it would only generate small reform steps. Analysts said that the convening of the third plenum also timely debunks those badmouths, demonstrating that China is not retreating, but rather is fully committed to the Party's reformer spirit, and is in a nonstop process of forging ahead with deepening reforms to address challenges.
There are multiple reasons to be optimistic about the prospects of reforms under the CPC's leadership, said experts.
According to Chinese and foreign economists, the CPC, with its commitment to internal reform, efficiency in decision-making and capacity in turning blueprints into concrete actions, has ensured the sustained success of economic reform over past years.
Over the past decade, more than 2,000 reform measures have been put in place, the Xinhua News Agency reported, which enabling the country not only to eliminate extreme poverty, but also seeing its economic scale more than double to become a major global engine of growth, among other remarkable achievements.
Looking forward, the CPC's leadership will further flex its institutional advantages to stabilize social expectations and enhance top-down cohesion in the assiduous journey toward Chinese modernization.
"The CPC's ability to correctly assess the situation in the economy, proceed from the interests of the people, and defend these interests with all its strength, is particularly important [in carrying out reforms]," Lomanov said, adding that the leadership of CPC also makes it possible to "organically combine national security and economic development without mutual conflict between these goals."
According to analysts, it is worth noting that how CPC leadership, during the upcoming plenum, will put in place new solutions to address headwinds and march confidently on a path to Chinese modernization. And this roadmap also offers a model for other developing countries to pursue their own paths of modernization.
"China's development creates favorable prerequisites for the creation of a new type of international relations based on the principles of equality and mutual respect, free from intimidation and pressure," Lomanov stressed.
The steady expansion of an economy that already accounts for 18 percent share of the global economy is in itself invaluable in a time when the world growth is shadowed by rising geopolitical conflicts and risks of recession, analysts said.
China's national carbon emissions trading market celebrated its third anniversary on Tuesday, marking a significant milestone in the country's efforts to combat global climate change.
According to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, as of Monday, the market had seen a total trading volume of over 460 million tons of carbon emissions quotas and a total trading value of nearly 27 billion yuan ($3.7 billion), China Media Group reported.
The market has played a crucial role in promoting the green transformation of electricity enterprises, with the price of carbon dioxide emissions per ton increasing from around 40 yuan in the very beginning to around 90 yuan per ton now, after reaching a historical high of over 100 yuan.
This increase in carbon prices has incentivized many thermal power generating enterprises to enhance energy conservation and emission control, analysts said.
“Price is a crucial signal for the carbon market. If prices are rising, it suggests increased trading activity and China is making progress in promoting a low-carbon industrial transition,” Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
The national carbon emissions trading market was launched on July 16, 2021, covering approximately 5.1 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, accounting for over 40 percent of the total emissions nationwide. This makes it the world's largest carbon market in terms of greenhouse gas emissions trading.
The establishment of a national carbon market is viewed a key policy tool for actively and steadily advancing carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, reflecting China's proactive response to curb climate change, analysts said.
China aims to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.
In this year's Government Work Report, it is highlighted that efforts will be made to expand the industry coverage of the national carbon market.
In the first half of this year, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment released draft guidelines for carbon emissions accounting, reporting, and verification for the aluminum smelting and cement companies, which marks a continuous expansion of the market’s coverage.
Xi Jinping, chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), on Tuesday conferred a flag of honor on an army company of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, which was awarded the honorary title of "Model Rocket Artillery Company."
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chinese president, presented the honorary flag at a ceremony held by the CMC in Beijing.
Concerns about the safety of autonomous driving and the potential gradual replacement of traditional taxis by driverless ones have been raised following an accident involving a driverless ride-hailing car in central China's Hubei Province. Industry observers said the industry is still in a nascent phase and that more support needs to be rolled out to address challenges brought by the development of driverless ride-hailing vehicles.
According to media reports, a netizen posted a video on July 7 claiming that one of Baidu's autonomous ride-hailing platform Robotaxi's driverless ride-hailing cars had collided with a pedestrian on a street in Wuhan.
A representative from Baidu responded on Monday stating that there was only minor contact between the vehicle and a pedestrian evading a red light as the vehicle began to move forward. The company was the first to cooperate with the police to address the situation and accompanied the individual to the hospital for a full examination.
Autonomous driving technology can theoretically improve road safety by avoiding traffic violations through high-precision sensors and advanced algorithms. However, in practice, complex road conditions and traffic have placed high demands on the reaction speed and decision-making ability of intelligent driving systems, Zhang Xu, an Analyst from EnfoDesk, told the Global Time on Thursday.
Many challenges are actually caused by traffic violations by ordinary pedestrians and other human-driven vehicles, Zhang said calling on traffic management department to enhance the supervision and meanwhile, the development and testing of intelligent driving systems should also be strengthened to better adapt to real traffic environment.
At the same time, many local drivers in Wuhan have voiced their dissatisfaction over the potential gradual replacement of traditional taxis by driverless vehicles, according to media reports, as one of the drivers said Robotaxi offers a relatively lower price which would reduce the customer's budget for the taxi fare.
Industry observers said driverless ride-hailing cars will indeed have an impact on the traditional human operated ride-hailing and taxi industries because of relatively low operating cost and stable service performance, but this is a necessary step in upgrading of the industry.
With the development of technology and the maturity of the market, driverless ride-hailing cars will gradually replace traditional manned services, driving the entire transportation industry toward a more intelligent and automated direction, they said.
Beijing also plans to support the use of autonomous vehicles in urban transportation services, including urban public electric bus transportation, online ride-hailing, and car rental, according to Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology on June 30.
Although driverless ride-hailing vehicles may reduce demand for traditional drivers, they will also create new employment opportunities, Zhang said. Maintenance and management of intelligent driving technology, data analysis and processing, development and operation of intelligent transportation systems, remote drivers, maintenance of autonomous vehicles and stations all require a large number of skilled workers, the analyst said.
Although the development of driverless ride-hailing vehicles faces challenges, with the support of policies and technological advancements, its future prospects are promising, industry observers noted.
The basic principle is that the government should formulate and strictly enforce necessary regulations to ensure the safety and compliance of driverless ride-hailing vehicles, and at the same time, efforts should be made to strengthen research and development support for the technology, and encourage enterprises to innovate and promote the application of technology.
Zhang put forward that the government should provide relevant employment training and transition support during the industry transition to help traditional drivers adapt to the new employment environment.
In response to the question of whether driverless ride-hailing cars have taken the jobs of drivers, a staff from transportation bureau in Wuhan responded that the taxi industry is relatively stable, and there are some online rumors, according to media reports on Wednesday.
Researchers from a Chinese top university highlighted the urgency of promoting life and death education, improving hospice care and reforming the funeral industry across China as they predicted that in the context of rapidly advancing population aging, the country will face a surge in population mortality.
Professor Zhang Zhen from the Institute of Population Research at Fudan University and Professor Li Qiang from Fudan Institute on Aging, Fudan University, published a paper on the topic in the latest issue of Population Research, a journal of China Population Association.
In the paper, the two scholars advocate for the promotion of education on life and death, guiding the public to develop a correct view of life and death, and creating a social atmosphere that respects life. Also, they urge the accelerated development of palliative care systems to improve the end-of-life quality for the elderly, ensuring that they can spend their final stage of life in comfort and dignity. Additionally, they emphasize the importance of strengthening medium to long-term planning for funeral services to ensure supply and demand balance, and to prevent issues such as unaffordable funerals and exorbitant burial plots from exacerbating social conflicts. Lastly, they recommend providing legal services for the protection of the rights of the elderly and for resolving inheritance disputes, in anticipation of potential legal cases that may arise in the coming decades.
In an exclusive reply to the Global Times, Professor Zhang especially addressed the significance of reforming the funeral industry and gave advices on the issue.
For example, the funeral industry should plan ahead and cope with the limited land resources in a timely manner. Government departments at all levels need to take a scientific approach and pay close attention to accurately predicting future death trends, according to another article provided by Zhang to the Global Times.
Also, the article, co-written by professors Zhang and Li, said the country should increase the proportion of public welfare cemeteries in cities. Citing the urban public welfare cemetery construction standards 2017 jointly issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the National Development and Reform Commission, the article said the proportion of public welfare graves for burial is only 40 percent, which does not adhere to the basic principles of public services.
The article said authorities should ensure public welfare funeral services and strictly regulate commercial services. Basic funeral services only include services such as body transport, storage, cremation, and ash placement, while cemetery service fees usually account for over 50 percent. In addition to other optional commercial projects, funeral costs burden the families of the deceased.
Therefore, the authorities should first improve the level of basic funeral services and consider incorporating projects such as expensive ash boxes into basic services to prevent commercial institutions from seeking excessive profits and causing negative social impacts.
The article suggested the authorities to increase financial subsidies and funding for rural funeral reform, include funeral reform funds for poverty alleviation in the budget, and strictly monitor and regulate the allocation of funds. Under the premise of government financial investment, various methods can be used to raise funds, such as using incentives to subsidize investments, the article noted.
In addition, the article said the country should utilize the advantages of new media to vigorously promote and advocate for green burials. For example, green burial methods such as sea burials, tree burials, flower burials, and ice burials should be exempted of basic service fees and provided with economic rewards. Particularly for those who choose to scatter ashes at sea or elsewhere without retaining them, greater incentives should be provided.
Since 2012, China has witnessed an extraordinary economic transition, with historic achievements in all aspects of the economy from its size to quality. Such an unparalleled feat does not just happen, especially during a tumultuous period in the global geo-economic landscape and a tough phase in China's economic transformation and upgrading process. It was Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era that guided the country in overcoming various risks and challenges, and in keeping the China economic miracle alive.
As China embarked on the quest to become a great modern socialist country amid global changes unseen in a century, Xi's economic thought has been and will continue to be the guiding principle for development in China for years to come, and have great significance for the world. What is Xi's economic thought? What does it mean for China and the world?
To answer these questions, the Global Times has launched this special coverage on Xi's major economic speeches and policies, and how they are put into practice to boost development in China and around the world. This year's two sessions - China's annual legislative and political consultative sessions - officially concluded on Monday, after national lawmakers and political advisers spent a week or so, on mapping the country's social and economic development blueprint for 2024 and beyond.
Often described as one of the most important political events, the two sessions, during which a slew of development goals are determined, offer a critical window for the world to view the latest economic trends and policy priorities in the world's second-largest economy.
More importantly, Chinese President Xi Jinping's agenda and major speeches during the two sessions provide the most crucial insights into the development path of the Chinese economy.
During this year's two sessions, Xi participated in three deliberations or group discussions with national lawmakers and political advisers, during which he also delivered important speeches. And a key theme emerged from these meetings and speeches: The Chinese top leader has put new quality productive forces front and center in China's economic agenda in 2024 and for many years to come.
As a relatively new concept that was first put forward by Xi during an inspection tour of Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province in September 2023, new quality productive forces has become a key phrase in China's political lexicon in recent months. Xi's emphasis on the phrase further highlighted its significance in China's economic policymaking and China's future development paths, as officials across the country have and will continue to roll out measures to boost innovation and generate new productive forces.
China's pursuit of new quality productive forces, which place the main focus on innovation and technological self-reliance, comes as China's economy faces a profound transformation from old growth drivers to sustainable ones, and as the global geo-economic situation has grown increasingly complex - characterized by the US' relentless technological crackdowns and growing protectionism. Therefore, developing new quality productive forces is critical for China's sustainable, high-quality development, Chinese lawmakers, political advisers, and economists said.
Top leader's focus at two sessions
During each year's two sessions, Xi often visits and holds meetings with national lawmakers and political advisors, and delivers major speeches on key national issues. This year, the Chinese president made three such visits, in line with the number made during the two sessions in 2023.
On the afternoon of March 5, Xi participated in a deliberation with fellow lawmakers from East China's Jiangsu Province during the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC), China's national legislature.
Xi called for focusing on high-quality development as a top priority, urging efforts to step up innovation, foster emerging industries, adopt forward-thinking plans to develop future-oriented industries, and improve the modernized industrial system. He stressed the development of new quality productive forces according to local conditions, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
The top leader also made remarks about developing new quality productive forces or related issues such as technological innovation at the other two such deliberations he participated in.
On March 6, Xi participated in a joint group meeting during the second session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the top political advisory body. Xi called on political advisors and all people in the science and technology sector to strengthen basic research and apply basic research, strive to achieve breakthroughs in core technologies in key fields, and create new drivers to develop new quality productive forces.
Then on March 7, Xi attended a plenary meeting of the delegation of the People's Liberation Army and the People's Armed Police Force at the second session of the NPC. He stressed deepening reform to comprehensively enhance strategic capabilities in emerging areas. He also said that China's drive to accelerate the development of new quality productive forces has provided rare opportunities for the development of strategic capabilities in emerging areas.
The successive remarks about the new quality productive forces on three different occasions accentuated the top leader's focus on the issue and its importance in China's economic development, not just this year but in the years to come, national lawmakers, political advisers, and experts said. "The concept offers guidance for our country to take advantage of the historical opportunity of a new round of technological upgrade and aims to develop strategic emerging industries and future industries," Guo said.
Developing new quality productive forces is a decisive step in the economy's high-quality development course, Guo Guoping, an NPC deputy and a vice director of the Key Laboratory of Quantum Information of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told the Global Times.
New quality productive forces refers to innovation-led, advanced productivity that is freed from traditional economic growth mode and productivity development paths, is high-tech, high efficiency and high quality, and is in line with the new development philosophy, Xi said during a group study session of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee in February, stressing that developing new quality productive forces is an endogenous requirement and a pivot of high-quality development. From concept to action
Thanks to the top leader's focus, while the concept of new quality productive forces has only been around for a few months, it has been rising rapidly in China's political and social lexicon and has become a buzzword across the country. More importantly, it has already been put into action in China's economic policymaking.
The Central Economic Work Conference in December 2023, which set top economic policy priorities for 2024, also heightened the development of new quality productive forces. New quality productive forces also became the subject of the first group study session held by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee this year, according to Xinhua.
This year's Government Work Report also highlighted efforts to develop new quality productive forces. According to the report, China will strive to modernize its industrial system and develop new quality productive forces at a faster pace. It also said that China will step up research on disruptive and frontier technologies, and will launch an AI Plus initiative.
The top leader's emphasis on new quality productive forces was echoed throughout the two sessions, where lawmakers and political advisers enthusiastically talked about the concept and vowed to make great efforts in developing new quality development.
Shan Zenghai, an NPC deputy and chief engineer of Chinese construction equipment giant Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group (XCMG), who participated in the deliberation of the Jiangsu delegation on March 5, said he was inspired by the top leader's remarks on new quality productive forces.
"The encouragement from top leadership greatly boosted our confidence in sticking to innovation-driven growth, bolstering the real economy and promoting high-quality development," Shan told the Global Times.
Zhou Bin, another NPC deputy from Yancheng, Jiangsu, who also attended the deliberation, told the Global Times that Xi's important remarks on new quality productive forces have offered scientific guidance for opening up new development tracks and shaping new development momentum.
Many officials vowed to take concrete actions to develop new quality development forces. Wu Qingwen, an NPC deputy and mayor of Suzhou, Jiangsu, said the city has the foundation, the condition, and the responsibility to take a lead in developing new quality productive forces, vowing to step up scientific and technological (sci-tech) innovation and bolster the city's high-end equipment, biomedicine, new energy industries among others, and create "new engines" such as artificial intelligence (AI).
Solid progress, great potential
When it comes to sci-tech innovation and the development of new growth drivers, China has already made great strides, thanks to the focus and support from the top leadership, national lawmakers, political advisers, and experts said.
Despite various challenges, including the US' relentless crackdown campaign, China has already become an innovation power. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on Thursday, China remained the leader in international patent applications, followed by the US, Japan, South Korea, and Germany.
At the end of 2023, the number of high-value invention patents held on the Chinese mainland had exceeded 1.66 million, an increase of 25.7 percent year-on-year, and the number of effective high-value invention patents acquired in strategic emerging industries had reached 1.17 million, accounting for 70 percent of the total, according to Xinhua.
Also highlighting the steady progress in and importance of forming new growth drivers is the fact that the shift in China's three most popular exports. In the past, the three most popular items China exported were clothes, furniture, and home alliances, which were relatively low-value and labor-intensive; however, new-energy vehicles, solar batteries, and lithium-ion batteries have become China's tech-intensive and green "new three," with a combined export value of 1.06 trillion yuan ($150 billion) in 2023, jumping 29.9 percent year-on-year.
Moving forward, the development of new quality productive forces has great potential in China, as its huge marketplace ensures full testing, application, and evolution of new technologies and new business models, Xu Jiuping, a professor at Sichuan University and a member of the National Committee of the 14th CPPCC, told the Global Times, pointing to the support of national innovation policies.
Underscoring such policy support, the central government has pledged to allocate 370.8 billion yuan ($51.51 billion) for science and technology in 2024, an increase of 10 percent, with a focus on basic research, applied basic research, and national strategic tasks in science and technology, according to the budget adopted at the two sessions.
Over the past few days, many ethnic communities across China have been engaging in vibrant celebrations of the March 3 Festival, also known as the Shangsi Festival. Celebrated across China, the festival is one of the traditional Chinese festivals with roots in ancient sacrificial rituals.
Held on the third day of the third month of the traditional Chinese calendar, it falls on Thursday this year. Over time, the festival has evolved into a grand occasion integrating sacrifices, entertainment, and social activities.
During this festival, various regions engage in colorful customs, ranging from traditional sacrificial ceremonies to diverse folk entertainments. Different ethnic groups bring their unique customs and traditions to the tapestry of this nationwide celebration.
In South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the festival is akin to the Spring Festival, teeming with traditional activities like throwing embroidered balls, singing mountain songs and making merry over drinks. The region this year is also enjoying a four-day holiday starting from Thursday, the regional government announced in March.
It is an important occasion for singing in an antiphonal (call-and-answer) style to find love, to worship one's ancestors and pray for a good harvest. It is observed by many of the region's ethnic groups including the Zhuang, Yao, Miao, Dong and Mulam.
Listed as a national intangible cultural heritage, the March 3 Festival usually ushers in a tourist high season with its showcasing of colorful ethnic diversity.
Many schools in Guangxi held different celebrations for children to experience the traditional rituals and games of the festival.
On Tuesday, the Rong'an County Experimental Primary School in Liuzhou city of Guangxi held an event that featured bamboo pole dancing, ethnic unity dances, and mountain song duets, enriching the students' and teachers' experience of ethnic culture.
In the Liwan district in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province, the Renwei ancestral temple hosted events on Thursday in which villagers participated in parades, prayer ceremonies, lion dances, and community banquets, continuing the mutual support and traditional folk culture among local clans. Participants in traditional Chinese costumes, including Hanfu, roamed through the square, offering fresh flowers and herbs to passersby, reenacting ancient purification rituals.
The She ethnic group's March 3 Festival is among the most representative cultural events, which is also included in the national list of intangible cultural heritage. A recent celebration in East China's Fujian Province cleverly integrated ethnic unity celebrations with cultural tourism and trade.
On Wednesday evening, a themed gala performance took place at the Wufu Cultural Park in Fuan city in Fujian, featuring dancers in traditional attire from various ethnic groups. They moved gracefully to the lively rhythm, harmoniously presenting the captivating scene of a Chinese phoenix spreading its wings and dancing elegantly.
