A more likeable China?

Top five things on China’s Leaders’ Minds – 30 May-6 June 2021

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Five Things on China’s Leaders’ Minds collates and analyses the five articles most published and/or quoted each week in China’s official media. It provides an authoritative guide to what’s China’s leaders want officials and other decision makers to be thinking about.

30 May-6 June, 2021 – top-ranked articles:

1. Improving China’s global reputation

2. Supervising China’s top cadres

3. Harmony between people and nature

4. Show the real China

5. Yangtze delta integration

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Commentary: Telling China’s story

Is China feeling hard done by? Last week’s most widely disseminated report – by far – was a report about how to strengthen China’s ability to tell its story around the world. As with almost all such reports in China, its intended audience is local, not international, suggesting that the correct interpretation is not that China should soften its international diplomatic efforts – the view of most Western observers and commentators. Instead, it is – perhaps – that China should prepare for the opposite – to promote itself regularly, especially to others looking to dismiss its achievements.

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1. Improving China’s global reputation

加强和改进国际传播工作 展示真实立体全面的中国

Strengthen and improve international communication work to show a true, three-dimensional and comprehensive China

Date of first publication: 1 June 2021

Story ranking: 20

Length: 1,744 characters/1,244 words

中共中央政治局5月31日下午就加强我国国际传播能力建设进行第三十次集体学习。中共中央总书记习近平在主持学习时强调，讲好中国故事，传播好中国声音，展示真实、立体、全面的中国，是加强我国国际传播能力建设的重要任务。要深刻认识新形势下加强和改进国际传播工作的重要性和必要性，下大气力加强国际传播能力建设，形成同我国综合国力和国际地位相匹配的国际话语权，为我国改革发展稳定营造有利外部舆论环境，为推动构建人类命运共同体作出积极贡献。

“On the afternoon of May 31, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee conducted the 30th collective study on strengthening my country's international communication capabilities. When presiding over the study, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, emphasized that telling Chinese stories, spreading the voice of China, and presenting a true, three-dimensional and comprehensive China are important tasks for strengthening our country's international communication capabilities. It is necessary to deeply understand the importance and necessity of strengthening and improving international communication work under the new situation, make great efforts to strengthen the construction of international communication capabilities, and form an international voice that matches my country's comprehensive national strength and international status, and create a favorable situation for our country's reform, development and stability. The external public opinion environment has made positive contributions to the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind.”

A very high story ranking score for this piece, indicating it was taken up by nearly half of all China’s top-level official media, and so contains messages that ought to be widely absorbed by leading officials. Yet it’s also an article of little relevance to most officials’ lives: their responsibilities are internal; this is about those (relatively few) in externally facing positions.

The report could signal official frustration – not just at the highest level, but from other government interests in places such as the foreign ministry. It is also consistent with the ongoing Chinese desire to mix “keeping a low profile” with “getting something done” that has guided China’s leaders since the late 1970s, leading to Xi’s asking for the system to increase China’s voice outside its borders (“construct China’s international discourse power)” and hold more conferences, events and exchanges with foreign media.

Such proposals could be dismissed as mere rhetoric: after all, it is hard to have more events and exchanges with foreign media when so many Western journalists have been expelled. But it should also be noted that such reports are not about telling officials what to do, but rather indicating the overall direction they should take. Possibly one outcome will be that “wolf warriors” find themselves receiving less high-level support, and so find themselves less likely to be promoted. Organisation departments may not fire them, but could rotate them into less visible posts. And tough talk could be seen as contrary to this very widely-read, high-profile speech by Xi.

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2. Supervising China’s top cadres

中共中央关于加强对“一把手”和领导班子监督的意见

Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Strengthening the Supervision of the Top Leaders and Leading Groups

Date of first publication: 1 June 2021

Story ranking: 11

Length: 6,814 characters/4,896 words

加强对主要领导干部和领导班子的监督，是新时代坚持和加强党的全面领导，提高党的建设质量，推动全面从严治党向纵深发展的必然要求。为深入贯彻党的十九大和十九届二中、三中、四中、五中全会精神，落实全面从严治党主体责任和监督责任，现就加强对“一把手”和领导班子监督提出如下意见。

Strengthening the supervision of leading cadres and leading groups is an inevitable requirement for the new era to uphold and strengthen the party's overall leadership, improve the quality of party building, and promote comprehensive and strict governance of the party to in-depth development. In order to thoroughly implement the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Plenary Sessions of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and implement the main responsibility and supervision responsibility for strict governance of the Party, we now propose to strengthen the supervision of top leaders and leadership teams as follows.

The eternal struggle: how to get officials to do what’s required of them. The fall article has 25 points on how to handle this task, underling, perhaps, the difficulty of ensuring everyone falls in line correctly. Specifically, superiors will now bear more accountability to subordinates’ mistakes. Indiscipline on the part of subordinates may derail their superiors’ promotions—hence the motto of this Party Rule document, 上级“一把手”必须抓好下级“一把手” (“the member above must hold tight the member below”). Previously, this was only the case for the head of any organisation; under this new rule, everyone can be expected to look upwards more, though with the risk that less will get done.

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3. Harmony between people and nature

建设人与自然和谐共生的美丽中国

Building a beautiful China where people and nature coexist harmoniously

Date of first publication: 5 June 2021

Story ranking: 9

Length: 5,397characters/3,936 words

6月5日是世界环境日。今年我国确定的环境日主题为“人与自然和谐共生”。

坚持走绿色发展之路，共筑生态文明之基。

June 5th is World Environment Day. The theme of our country's Environmental Day this year is “Harmonious Coexistence between People and Nature.”

Adhere to the path of green development and build the foundation of ecological civilization together.

Another long item. As China develops, so do concerns rise about the cost and quality of that development, and how to square the circle of economic growth and environmental protection. Including wistful accounts of polluted rivers, the piece is also a follow up/reminder of China’s recently adopted goals of seeing its carbon emissions peak by 2030 and of securing carbon neutrality by 2060 (“实现2030年前碳达峰、2060年前碳中和的目标”). That an Environmental Day is such a high-ranking story is itself also unusual; ESG concerns previously were the responsibility of the mid-ranking Minister for Ecology and the Environment, and were not as quoted nor as widely seen.

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4. State Council: job pool running dry, please consider entrepreneurship

提供更多市场化就业创业机会 支持和规范发展新就业形态 努力完成全年就业目标任务

Provide more market-oriented employment and entrepreneurship opportunities,

Support and standardize the development of new forms of employment,

Achieve the annual employment target.

Date of first publication: 3 June 2021

Story ranking: 7

Length: 925 characters/813 words

本报北京6月3日电 全国就业创业工作暨普通高等学校毕业生就业创业工作电视电话会议6月3日在京召开。中共中央政治局常委、国务院总理李克强作出重要批示。今年稳定和扩大就业的任务艰巨繁重。深化“放管服”改革，持续推进大众创业万众创新，支持和规范发展新就业形态，以创业带动就业。中共中央政治局委员、国务院副总理孙春兰，中共中央政治局委员、国务院副总理胡春华出席会议并讲话。

‘Li Keqiang made important instructions. The task of stabilizing and expanding employment this year is arduous. We will deepen the fangguanfu (“release control and improve public services”) reform, which aims to “deregulate yet manage strictly to optimize services". This will continue to promote mass entrepreneurship and innovation, support and standardize the development of new forms of employment, and promote employment through entrepreneurship. The meeting stressed that it is necessary to adhere to the employment as primacy of economic development, and to support market players to develop steadily and sustain job market, actively create new jobs, vigorously support entrepreneurship and innovation, and expand employment capacity.’

Since a State Council Executive Meeting held on 26 May, Premier Li Keqiang has increased discussions on policy solutions for job markets destabilized by the disruption of supply chains and failing small businesses across China from Covid-19. Unlike the US’s stimulus check approach, China is preparing draft bills on tax waivers and employment subsidies for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and individual business owners, the creators of most jobs in China. The State Council also announced the goals of eliminating unfair competition arising from price gouging and dumping by big companies.

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5. Yangtze Delta integration Leading Small Group

全面贯彻落实习近平总书记重要讲话精神 扎实做好推动长三角一体化发展重点工作

Fully implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech and do a solid job with the key tasks for promoting the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta

Date of first publication: 1 June 2021

Story ranking: 7

Length: 884 characters/671 words

推动长三角一体化发展领导小组全体会议1日在北京召开。中共中央政治局常委、国务院副总理、推动长三角一体化发展领导小组组长韩正主持会议并讲话。会议深入学习贯彻习近平总书记关于推动长三角一体化发展的重要讲话和指示批示精神，总结长三角一体化发展工作进展，审议有关文件，研究部署下一步重点工作。

The plenary meeting of the Leading Small Group to Promote the Integrated Development of the Yangtze River Delta was held in Beijing on 1st June. Han Zheng, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Vice Premier of the State Council, and leader of the Leading Group for Promoting the Integrated Development of the Yangtze River Delta, presided over the meeting and delivered a speech. The meeting thoroughly studied and implemented General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speech and instructions on promoting the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, summarized the progress of the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, reviewed relevant documents, and studied and deployed the next key tasks.

China’s growth centres on three key regions: Guangdong, Beijing-Tianjin and – most importantly – the cities of the Yangtze River Delta region. Guangdong has received a lot of emphasis in recent years via the Greater Bay Area scheme to integrate the cities of the Pearl River Delta with Hong Kong and Macau; the Beijing-Tianjin axis has given rise to Xiong’an, and the idea of building a new city from scratch to drive north China. And across all of these ideas is the concept of “super-clusters”, agglomerations of people and capital that has been described as rivalling Tokyo-Yokohama. But most important will be the continued development of the area around Shanghai – the biggest and still the most important single economic region in China.

A Leading Small Group is set up to coordinate different interests; who is put at its head indicates how important it is. Han Zheng, the Yangtze group’s chair, is one of the seven Politburo Standing Committee members, China’s most important leaders. So Yangtze Delta integration has clearly been accorded a high policy priority.

This signals to Party members and government officials that where necessary policy adjustments should be made at respective bureaucratic/regional level to meet the goals outlined at the meetingm, namely:

·      Improve interconnection between the maritime transport systems of Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang and Shanghai.

·      Encourage these four areas to be more “open” with each other.

·      Nurture more companies with a strong R&D capacity.

·      Subdue real estate speculation.

·      Respecting the nation’s environmental policies.

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