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Dear friends and colleagues,
I’m on the road, so limited commentary this week. Your comments and feedback are always welcome. Old issues are always available at www.chinapoliticsweekly.com. Sign up or unsubscribe by sending an email to info@chinapoliticsweekly.com.
The locus of control
Friday’s Politburo meeting focused on strengthening Party groups in both government and non-government organizations. From the official Xinhua release: “Leading Party members’ groups in State organs, economic, cultural as well as social organizations, and other non-Party units are important channels to guarantee the implementation of the line and policies of the Party and the system must be strengthened and improved”.
Since taking over as General Party Secretary, Xi has continuously sought to increase the Party’s authority over policymaking, a reversal of a general trend since the 80s to give government organs more autonomy. The moves potentially help to remove bureaucratic roadblocks to policy formulation and implementation, but they also make the process more opaque. This creates difficulties for businesses and investors attempting to predict the direction of policy and formulate strategies for the China market.
| PBSC Week in Review |
| Xi Jinping |
May 29 |
Xi chaired a meeting of the Politburo. |
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Xi chaired a Politburo study session.Meeting focused on public security.
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Xi sent a congratulatory message to Andrzej Duda on his election as Poland’s new president. |
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May 27 |
Xi went on inspection tour to Zhejiang. |
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Xi extended a congratulatory message to the first meeting of a bilateral High Level People-to-People Exchange Mechanism (PEM) between China and Indonesia. |
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Xi approved the appointment of new ambassadors to Kuwait and Qatar. |
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May 26 |
Xi went on inspection tour to Zhejiang. |
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Xi issued instructions on protecting arable land. |
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May 25 |
Xi went on inspection tour to Zhejiang. |
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Xi sent a congratulatory message to the first annual session of the non-governmental forum of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA).Xi reiterated statements made at last year’s CICA summit that “Asian countries need to seek common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security and discuss the establishment of a new regional security cooperation architecture.”
Full text of the letter (in Chinese).
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President Xi Jinping recently sent a congratulatory message to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on the declared end of the Ebola epidemic. |
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Xi sent instructions regarding the fire in a rest home in Henan. |
| Li Keqiang |
May 29 |
Li arrived back in Beijing. |
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May 27 |
Li met with Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria. |
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May 26 |
Li addressed an economic forum commemorating 45 years of bilateral relations between China and Chile.Full text of the speech (in Chinese).
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Li sent a congratulatory letter to the opening ceremony of the International Big Data Expo 2015 in Guiyang, Guizhou. |
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Li issued instructions on protecting arable land. |
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May 25 |
Li held talks with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet. |
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Li held a joint press conference with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet. |
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Li gave a speech to the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).Full text of the speech (in Chinese).
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Li met with Alicia Barcena, executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). |
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Li placed a wreath at the monument to Bernardo O’Higgins. |
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Li sent instructions regarding a fire in a rest home in Henan. |
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May 24 |
Li flew from Peru to Santiago, Chile. |
| Zhang Dejiang |
May 28 |
Zhang met with Jordanian Senate President Abdul Raouf Rawabdeh. |
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May 25 |
Zhang held talks with Peter Pellegrini, Slovakia’s Parliament Speaker.“Slovakia is an important partner to China in the European Union and in the Central and Eastern European region…[The two legislatures] should strengthen communication and coordination in international and multilateral events to safeguard common interests and instill positive energy in the push for peace, cooperation and development in the world,” said Zhang.
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| Yu Zhengsheng |
May 28 |
Yu met with with 500 overseas Chinese youth representatives from 82 countries and regions. |
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Yu met with the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. |
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May 27 |
Yu met with Jordanian Senate President Abdul Raouf Rawabdeh. |
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May 25 |
Yu addressed the first annual session of the non-governmental forum of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA).Theme of the session was “Asia in the Next Decade – Security and Development.”
“China will continue to make use of the CICA platform, discuss regional security and development issues and improve all sides’ capabilities to jointly respond to the security threats and challenges,” Yu said.
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| Liu Yunshan |
May 26 |
Liu met with a delegation from the Communist Party of Cuba. |
| Wang Qishan |
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| Zhang Gaoli |
May 27 |
Zhang attended and spoke at the opening ceremony of the ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) Industry Dialogue on Connectivity.Full text of the speech (in Chinese).
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Zhang went on inspection tour in Chongqing.Speaking of the economy, Zhang said, “We will accelerate the construction of major transport projects and let investment stabilize economic growth…There are signs of stabilization and improvements, but the downside pressure remains considerable. We must work hard to secure a sustainable and healthy growth”.
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May 26 |
Zhang met with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Yim Chhay Ly and Slovak Republic’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Peter Kazimir. |
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May 25 |
Zhang met with a delegation from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) board of directors.Zhang said he hopes the ADB will lend even more support to China’s major development strategies by focusing on reform, development and poverty relief through loan projects.
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| About CPWChina Politics Weekly aims to keep business leaders, investors, diplomats, scholars and other China hands up to date on important trends in China. It is produced by Trey McArver, a London-based consultant providing advice and intelligence to firms and investors engaged in China and the region. You can find out more about Trey and CPW in this interview.
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