A delegation from the non-governmental organization China Society for Human Rights Studies (CSHRS) concluded a seven-day exchange with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan on Thursday. During the visit, representatives from various sectors in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan praised China's commitment to, and experience on human rights and expressed a willingness to enhance human rights exchanges and jointly promote global human rights governance.
A delegation led by Jiang Jianguo, executive vice-president of the CSHRS, visited Tajikistan and Uzbekistan from July 25 to August 1, conducted exchanges on human rights with officials, scholars and representatives from different sectors in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
During these exchanges, the Chinese delegation elaborated China's achievements and experience in the field of human rights, and reaffirmed and actively coordinated with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in maintaining their positions and actions in line with China's in the international battle for human rights.
Representatives from all walks of life in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan praised China's remarkable achievements in improving living standards and deepening reforms in the new era, emphasizing China's path and experience in human rights progress.
Both countries added that they shared similarities with China in terms of human rights philosophies, and would be ready to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with China to jointly improve global human rights governance.
During the exchanges with the Chinese delegation, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan Farrukh Sharifzoda expressed opposition to the politicization and use of double standards on human rights issues. Akmal Saidov, director of the National Center for Human Rights of Uzbekistan noted that China's progress in poverty reduction and its human rights experience had made a great contribution to global progress in poverty reduction and advancing human rights.
The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said on Thursday that in the first half of 2024, 41 provincial- and ministerial-level officials were investigated and 25 provincial- and ministerial-level officials were punished.
In the first half of 2024, the national discipline inspection and supervision organs received a total of 1.754 million petitions and reports, including 477,000 tipoffs and accusations.
Among the 405,000 cases filed 41 officials were at the provincial- and ministerial-level, 2,127 at the department- and bureau-level, 17,000 at the county-level, in addition to 56,000 township-level officials.
In addition, 47,000 current or former village Party branch secretaries and village committee directors were investigated.
Among the 332,000 individuals disciplined, 266,000 were related to violations of Party disciplinary actions and 93,000 were involved in administrative disciplinary actions.
Noticeably, among the people being punished, a majority, 229,000 people in total, were from rural areas or enterprises.
Other punished include 25 provincial- and ministerial-level officials, 1,806 department- and bureau-level officials, 13,000 county-level officials, 43,000 township-level officials and 46,000 general officials.
The Party's discipline inspection and supervision was one of the highlights at the just-concluded third plenary session of the 20th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.
The Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese Modernization adopted at the CPC plenum will provide a strong impetus and institutional guarantee for Chinese modernization, Li Xi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the CCDI said.
Li urged discipline inspection and supervision agencies to focus on facilitating their endeavors to further deepen reform across the board and fulfill their duties in exercising full and rigorous Party self-governance and the Party's internal reform to provide a strong underpinning for the efforts to build a great country and move toward national rejuvenation on all fronts through Chinese modernization.
Zhuang Deshui, deputy director of the Research Center for Government Integrity Building at Peking University, told the Global Times on Thursday that to further deepen comprehensive reform, the resolution especially added one sentence highlighting the behaviors of proposing false accusations.
On one hand, in recent years bureaucracy has constrained many grassroots officials, who are constantly occupied with meetings, inspections, and preparing materials, rather than focusing on their efforts to promote Chinese modernization. On the other hand, Zhuang emphasized that institutional support is now being provided to reformist officials who actively work toward reform in their daily tasks by addressing false accusations.
The Party has upheld the principles that Party discipline should be even more stringent than the law and that discipline and law enforcement efforts should go hand in hand. It has conducted four distinct forms of oversight covering disciplinary compliance, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
The four forms are: 1) criticism and self-criticism activities and oral and written inquiries, which are to be conducted regularly to ensure that those who have committed minor misconduct are made to "redden and sweat"; 2) light penalties and minor organizational adjustments to official positions, which are to be applied in the majority of cases; 3) heavy penalties and major adjustments to official positions, which are to be applied in a small number of cases; and 4) investigation and prosecution, which are to be undertaken in a very small number of cases involving serious violations of discipline and suspected criminal activity.
Disciplinary inspection authorities also announced that in the past six months, 542,000 people were criticized and educated using the first form, accounting for 61.6 percent of the total number, and 271,000 people were handled using the second form, accounting for 30.8 percent.
Investigation also showed 12,000 people were investigated because of bribery, and 1,941 people were transferred to the procuratorial organs, according to the watchdog.
"Beijing Central Axis: A Building Ensemble Exhibiting the Ideal Order of the Chinese Capital" was listed as a World Heritage Site at the 46th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee held in New Delhi, India on Saturday, becoming China's 59th entry on that list.
The Beijing Central Axis, situated at the core of the ancient city of Beijing, spans 7.8 kilometers from the Bell and Drum Towers in the north to the Yongdingmen Gate in the south, originating in the 13th century and refined over more than seven centuries.
Originating in the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368), the Beijing Central Axis is classified as a "building complex" in terms of cultural heritage, consisting of 15 elements of heritage composition. It is a combination of buildings and sites that dominate the planning pattern of the entire old city.
Heritage experts told the Global Times that the uniqueness of the Beijing Central Axis fills a gap in the World Heritage List regarding the ideal of urban landscape and the type of core architectural groups in the East, presenting an irreplaceable uniqueness and possessing outstanding universal value.
Lü Zhou, director of the National Heritage Center at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times that many medieval European cities on the World Heritage List have fundamentally different formation processes and urban development trajectories compared to Beijing.
He explained that Beijing was meticulously planned and constructed based on the ideal of a world central city, with the Beijing Central Axis becoming the most central part of this ideal city form. In contrast, medieval European cities were settlements that grew naturally and were influenced by religion, commerce and municipal systems, resulting in complex urban textures in their central areas.
Jiang Bo, a professor from the Institute of Cultural Heritage at Shandong University told the Global Times that the Beijing Central Axis is a "masterpiece" with a unique Eastern charm in the history of world urban landscape.
"The urban planning concept of this north-south central axis has a long history and a profound influence, even extending to the Korean Peninsula, Japan, and Vietnam, becoming an Eastern classic in the design concept of ancient world urban planning," he said.
On Friday, the Badain Jaran Desert in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Migratory Bird Sanctuaries along the coast of the Yellow Sea-Bohai Gulf (Phase II) were also included in UNESCO's World Heritage List during the event, according to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.
To date, China currently boasts 59 world heritage sites, including 40 cultural heritage sites, 15 natural heritage sites, and 4 mixed cultural and natural heritage sites.
Media reported that the event is scheduled to last until July 31. The primary agenda of the conference includes the examination of 27 sites nominated for inclusion in the World Heritage List and the assessment of the conservation status of 124 existing sites on the list.
China's top economic planner, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), announced plans to phase in a new system that is compatible with a higher-level open economy, and accelerating usage of foreign investment, NDRC Chairman Zheng Shanjie told Xinhua News Agency on Tuesday.
The announcement reflects China's commitment to promoting opening-up and deepening economic restructuring, experts say.
The announcement follows the recently concluded Third Plenum of the 20th CPC Central Committee. The plenum communique stressed an unequivocal commitment to comprehensively deepening reforms to advance Chinese modernization.
Zheng highlighted that openness is a distinctive marker of China's modernization drive, and it is necessary to foster reforms through greater openness, so as to build a new system for a higher-level open economy.
Zheng underscored four key areas of economic reform including expanding institutional openness, deepening reforms in foreign and outward investment management systems, optimizing the layout of regional openness, and promoting high-quality cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
China aims to align itself with international high-standard economic and trade rules, focusing on intellectual property protection, and other key areas to achieve compatibility in regulations, management, and standards, Zheng said.
In terms of deepening reforms on outward investment systems, Zheng noted plans to expand the catalog of industries encouraging foreign investment and to further reduce the negative list for foreign investment access. The NDRC will lift restrictions on foreign investment in the manufacturing sector, foster opening-up to attract foreign capital, and ensure national treatment for foreign enterprises.
Additionally, Zheng referenced the accelerated development of the pilot free trade zone in South China's Hainan Island, aiming to create a comprehensive open pattern that links land and sea, and integrates the eastern and western regions of China.
The NDRC will further enhance the stability and effectiveness of international cooperation under the BRI.
Reflecting on China's ongoing opening-up, the country has seen a notable increase in foreign investment. In the first half of 2024, 26,870 new foreign-invested enterprises were established in China, marking a 14.2 percent increase compared to the previous year. The country also attracted nearly 500 billion yuan ($69 billion) in foreign investment in the first half year, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Commerce.
According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Sunday, China and the Philippines reached an understanding on managing the situation at Ren'ai Jiao (also known as Ren'ai Reef) in the South China Sea. This is mainly related to the principles and practices that the Philippines needs to abide by when providing basic living supplies to the personnel on the warship illegally grounded at Ren'ai Jiao of China's Nansha Qundao (Nansha Islands) for a long time.
This is a progress made by the two sides in utilizing the bilateral consultation mechanism on the South China Sea issue to control the friction and avoid escalation of the crisis. It demonstrated that Beijing's comprehensive countermeasures against Manila's provocations in the region for more than a year are working in a sustained manner, resulting in the Philippines returning to direct negotiations and consultations.
Judging from the press release issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, China's position on managing the situation at Ren'ai Jiao has not changed. The Philippines has inevitably informed its ally -- the US, of the situation before the agreement with China was reached, and is expected to continue to keep Washington updated before further agreements are made. Seeing China and the Philippines make efforts to manage their conflicts in the South China Sea through institutionalized consultation, the US, which has long been "fanning the flames" and "fueling the fight" over the South China Sea issue, is inevitably not necessarily happy about this development.
The reason why an understanding can be reached is inextricably linked to the effective operation of the China-Philippines Bilateral Consultation Mechanism (BCM) on the South China Sea. Seven years ago, the two countries agreed to establish the BCM to conduct regular consultations on their respective concerns involving the South China Sea to avoid complicating and escalating the disputes as well as affecting the peace and stability of the South China Sea.
The new "deal" is a concrete manifestation of some consensus achieved by China and the Philippines. It also clearly shows that Manila's attempts to stir up trouble and exert pressure on China through "microphone diplomacy," "gray zone tactics" and "exposure strategy" on the South China Sea issue did not work, and that direct negotiation and consultation between the two countries concerned is the only way.
The new "deal" does not change the rights and wrongs of the maritime situation at Ren'ai Jiao. The reasons that led to the incident are clear: the Philippines broke its promise. Manila not only failed to tow away the illegally grounded warship, but also insisted on sending construction materials to this warship in an attempt to make large-scale reinforcement and then achieve permanent occupation of Ren'ai Jiao. The new "deal" does not recognize the legality and legitimacy of the Philippines' relevant activities, nor does it mean that the Philippines can "legalize" its actions at Ren'ai Jiao in the name of "exercising jurisdiction."
Over the years, China has exercised great restraint and patience in handling the situation at Ren'ai Jiao, and demonstrating goodwill and sincerity in managing maritime differences. During the previous administration of the Philippines, China and the Philippines reached a "gentleman's agreement" on the management and control of the situation at Ren'ai Jiao. After the current administration came to power, China has repeatedly notified and negotiated with high-level officials of the Philippine government on matters related to the "gentleman's agreement" and has kept on finding ways to manage differences with the Philippines through dialogue and consultation.
In September 2023, China invited the Envoy of the President to China for Special Concerns of the Philippines to Beijing for consultations. The two sides reached an internal understanding on how to manage and control the situation, which was approved by the Philippine leadership. In early 2024, China repeatedly negotiated with the Philippine side through diplomatic channels to reach a "new model" regarding the management and control of the situation at Ren'ai Jiao.
Given the fact that the Philippines once denied the "gentleman's agreement" of the previous government at the expense of disparaging the country's reputation, and also reneged on the internal understanding and "new model," China will look to what extent this new "deal" be seriously, completely and effectively implemented by the Philippines. If the Philippines abuses China's flexibility and patience based on the humanitarian spirit on the Ren'ai Jiao issue regarding the new agreement as an expedient, and then goes back on its word, it will definitely pay a heavier price for its repeated mistakes.
The regional cooperation office of Yangtze River Delta has issued a three-year action plan (2024-26) for the integrated development of the region, one of China's most economically vibrant regions. The plan clearly defines a roadmap for the next three years, and signals deeper integrated development in the region, according to a press briefing held in Shanghai on Thursday.
In the action plan, nine sectors with 165 key tasks were proposed, including strengthening cross-regional collaboration in science and technology innovation, jointly building world-class industrial clusters, accelerating the enhancement of regional market integration level, and effectively strengthening coordinated ecological environment governance, Gu Jun, director of the Executive Committee of the Yangtze River Delta Integration Demonstration Zone said at Thursday's press briefing.
Among the 165 key tasks, the region will further promote the cooperation and joint construction of two comprehensive national science centers in Zhangjiang, Shanghai and Hefei, East China's Anhui Province, and support the establishment of regional science and technology innovation centers in some of the cities in the region, according to the plan.
It will support the high-quality development of key industrial chains in the manufacturing industry in the Yangtze River Delta region, particularly focusing on building a new-energy vehicle industry chain system.
The region will strengthen the coordinated governance of the ecological environment by continuing to promote the 10-year fishing ban in the Yangtze River, enhancing the coordinated governance of the Yangtze River estuary to Hangzhou Bay key marine areas, and advancing a new round of comprehensive water environment management in the Taihu Lake basin.
Meanwhile, a total of detailed 54 key tasks were released for ecological environmental protection cooperation in the Yangtze River Delta region.
For instance, the region will promote the optimization of the energy structure, ensuring energy security in the region while continuously advancing the control of total coal consumption in key areas. It will also promote the green development of industries, continuing to accelerate the elimination of outdated production capacity, and facilitating the transformation and upgrading of traditional manufacturing industries.
According to the action plan, the region will formulate and implement a new development plan for the sports industry, jointly host cross-regional major sports events and brand activities, and support outstanding cultural works, cultural heritage, and high-quality tourism products to enter overseas markets.
The Yangtze River Delta, encompassing East China's Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces, as well as Shanghai Municipality, accounted for nearly a quarter of China's gross domestic product in 2023, despite occupying just 4 percent of the country's total land area, according to Xinhua News Agency.
"Sir, we have replaced the old lines for you. Please be careful when using electricity in summer. If you have any electricity problems, please contact us any time…" On July 22, in Baoji Village, Bincheng District, Binzhou City, Shandong Province, employees of the State Grid Binzhou Power Supply Company went door to door to check switches, lines and leakage protection equipment for villagers, providing stable and efficient electricity service for the villagers. After entering the summer's "dog days", temperatures soared, and the electricity load gradually increased. State Grid Binzhou Power Supply Company organized "Electricity Butlers" to carry out the special activity called "Power Supply Service Enters Ten Thousand Households" around the four aspects of electricity publicity, hidden danger management, grid service, and dedicated service, to ensure the safety of users, guarantee electricity supply, and comprehensively check for possible safety hazards. At the same time, the staff also shared information on electricity safety among the villagers, improved the ability to identify safety hazards, reminded everyone to pay attention to electricity safety, prevent accidents, and provide users with better quality services.
In recent days, the power grid manager has adopted the service mode of "sitting in class + inspection" at the village and community power convenience service points to carry out power grid services. At the same time, the power grid manager went to the villagers' homes to collect electricity demands, carried out safety inspections on old lines, and actively invited villagers to join the power supply service WeChat group; introduced online payment, registration and other business processing to customers, focusing on providing the contact information of the local grid managers, so that villagers can solve electricity problems as soon as possible by calling the manager directly. Since the launch of the activity, the State Grid Binzhou Power Supply Company has provided door-to-door services to villagers more than 340 times, eliminated 43 various types of electricity safety hazards, and responded to more than 500 electricity-related calls.
Next, the State Grid Binzhou Power Supply Company will continue to commit to providing high-quality power services, regularly carry out door-to-door maintenance, inspect important users' power equipment, strengthen communication with customers, understand relevant power demands, and make power service work detailed, practical and excellent, and deliver services to the door to provide solid power guarantee for the majority of users.
A ceremony for the first shipment of whiteleg shrimp from Honduras to China was held in Choluteca city of the Latin American country, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Sunday, indicating closer economic and trade ties as bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations proceed.
A bilateral agreement on aquatic products was signed in June, a milestone for China in sourcing whiteleg shrimp from Latin American countries.
The first shipment to China weighed 36 tons, according to Xinhua. Honduran media outlets reported that another 250 containers of shrimp are being prepared for shipment to China this month.
The export of Honduras' high-quality whiteleg shrimps to China is an important achievement of pragmatic bilateral cooperation, Chinese Ambassador to Honduras Yu Bo said during the ceremony on Friday, according to the official social media account of the Chinese Embassy to Honduras.
"An open China welcomes more high-quality agricultural products from Honduras to enter the Chinese market and welcomes Honduras to share the new opportunities of Chinese modernization," said Yu, adding that it was a vivid example of how the establishment of diplomatic ties has improved the well-being of the two peoples.
China and Honduras established diplomatic relations in March 2023, launched the first round of bilateral FTA negotiations in July of the same year, and signed an FTA early harvest arrangement in February 2024.
The two countries have held five rounds of FTA negotiations, the latest in May 2024, according to China's Ministry of Commerce.
During the inauguration ceremony, Luis Redondo, president of the National Congress of Honduras, said that the China-Honduras FTA early harvest arrangement provided the conditions for the first batch of whiteleg shrimp exports, and Honduras will seize the opportunity of trading with China.
Honduran Foreign Minister Enrique Reina said that he appreciated China's support for Honduras' development, and he confirmed that pragmatic cooperation has injected a strong impetus into the economic and social development of the country and benefited its people.
Representatives from local enterprises said that the exports will promote employment in Honduras and improve living standards, and they hoped to further explore business potential in the China market.
Despite the progress made in the internationalization of the Chinese yuan, it is crucial for China to maintain a clear perspective on the financial fluctuations and risks behind the de-dollarization hype.
The Chinese yuan's share on Russia's foreign exchange market reached 99.6 percent in June, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
It marked a substantial increase from the previous month when the Chinese yuan accounted for just 53.6 percent of Russia's exchange trading volume. This is mainly because the latest sanctions introduced by the US in mid-June forced the Moscow Exchange to halt trading in US dollars and the euro, according to the report.
It was not hard for US policymakers to foresee the potential consequences before imposing sanctions on Russia. As it stands, it was US sanctions that contributed to the de-dollarization of trade between China and Russia. With de-dollarization hype in the West ramping up, China must exercise caution toward the yuan's internationalization efforts to avoid geopolitical interpretation.
In recent years, the progress of the yuan's internationalization has sparked concerns in the US regarding the potential de-dollarization effects of the currency. It is true that the US government has abused the dominant position of the US dollar within the international financial system to advance its geopolitical agenda, making the dollar increasingly resemble a political tool and causing many countries to promote de-dollarization to avoid potential geopolitical risks. But given the reality of international trade and investment landscape, the US dollar still remains the most important currency for trade settlement and investment, making it difficult to challenge its dominance in the short term.
Of course, while there is no denying about the dominant position of the US dollar, the diversification of international currencies is still crucial for mitigating geopolitical risk of currencies. The yuan's internationalization can play a role in this, but it should not be overstated.
Furthermore, as China pushes forward with the internationalization of the yuan, it is imperative to fully consider the intricate nature of the China-US economic and trade relations. The economies of China and the US have established large-scale, complementary and interdependent partnership. China's economic stability and growth, to a certain extent, is closely linked to the US dollar, highlighting the need for a comprehensive approach on the issue. Thus, rather than actively pushing for de-dollarization, China should focus on seeking further resolution of the China-US trade issues through negotiations, while continuing to promote the expansion of global trade, creating a conducive environment for the global acceptance of the yuan.
In addition, a hasty push of the internationalization of the yuan may pose risks of volatility and instability in the financial markets. This is because rapidly expanding the use of the yuan in the international market may introduce new challenges to the management of China's foreign exchange reserves. Currently, China maintains substantial holdings of dollar reserves, which serve as a guarantee for the stability of the Chinese economy and its resilience against external threats. If other countries ditch the dollar too quickly, it could result in fluctuations in the valuation of dollar assets, placing strain on China's reserve management.
In short, the internationalization of the yuan is a delicate process that necessitates China's careful navigation of the international political and economic environment, bolstering domestic economic reforms and financial stability, facilitating multilateral trade and investment, along with the implementation of a cautious strategy. After all, the primary goal of the yuan's internationalization is to facilitate greater integration of China into the global economy, rather than to displace others.
A spokesperson from the Chinese Embassy in Germany expressed strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition on Thursday night to Germany's decision to phase out Huawei and ZTE telecom gear from its 5G network, warning that the move will seriously undermine the mutual trust between the two sides and will also affect future cooperation between China and the EU in related fields.
Chinese experts on Friday said Germany's decision suggests that it is under increasing pressure from the US and the EU, and warned that the removal of Chinese components from its 5G network will have a significant cost and hinder the country's communications development.
Reuters reported on Thursday that under the preliminary agreement driven by "security considerations," the German government and telecom carriers in the country have agreed in principle on steps to take out components made by Chinese companies from the nation's 5G wireless network over the next five years.
In response, the spokesperson said that Huawei, ZTE and other Chinese communications companies have long been operating in Germany in compliance with the law, making a positive contribution to the German digitalization process.
The Huawei, ZTE 5G issue is essentially a move by individual countries to suppress their competitors in order to safeguard their own scientific and technological hegemony, the spokesperson said, noting that the so-called cybersecurity risk is nothing more than a pretext. In fact, no country has so far produced any conclusive evidence of the existence of security risks in the equipment of Chinese enterprises, the spokesperson added.
"The German side's announcement of the decision as the NATO Summit is held in Washington has further caused China to seriously question the independence of its decision-making," the spokesperson noted.
"Germany's move can be seen as politicizing economic cooperation, as the country is now facing more pressure from the US and the EU," Sun Yanhong, a senior research fellow at the Institute of European Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Friday.
Openness is mutual, and China's 5G construction has always been open to European companies such as Nokia and Ericsson. China has never seen these companies as a security threat. Germany's move is naked political discrimination, which seriously undermines the mutual trust between the two sides and will also affect future cooperation between China and the EU in the relevant fields, said the spokesperson.
Sun noted that Germany's digital infrastructure is relatively backward, while Huawei and ZTE's equipment is leading in terms of technology, integrated solutions and cost-effective products.
"The cost of the transition is expected to be significant, and will limit the development of all areas of the country's digital economy including smart driving, smart healthcare and manufacturing automation factory," the expert warned.
The German and European sides cannot, on the one hand, demand fair competition while on the other hand discriminate against companies from other countries on the basis of unfounded so-called potential security risks, said the spokesperson.
Whether the relevant issues can be handled fairly and impartially is a litmus test of Germany's own business environment, as it will affect not only the normal economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, but also the confidence of foreign investors in Germany. China will take the necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate interests of Chinese enterprises, the spokesperson noted.
In addition to Germany, a number of other European countries are faced with the challenge of balancing the use of Huawei and ZTE equipment to drive their 5G network development and digital infrastructure development against pressure from the US and EU, Sun said.
China hopes Germany will respect facts and make reasonable decisions, and urges the European country to provide a fair market environment for enterprises from all countries, including Chinese companies, Lin Jian, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, told a press conference on Thursday.