The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee held a meeting on Monday to review a report on the third round of disciplinary inspection launched by the 20th CPC Central Committee.
Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, chaired the meeting.
The inspection results showed that the Party building of central Party and state departments and centrally administered financial institutions has been strengthened, said a statement issued after the meeting.
Although new achievements have been made in various areas, problems still exist, said the statement.
The meeting called for addressing the issues identified during the inspections to promote high-quality development through effective rectification.
Party committees at all levels were asked to strengthen political responsibility in performing their duties, take bold and effective actions to overcome challenges, and carry out reform tasks with unwavering determination while guarding against risks in key areas, according to the statement.
The meeting also stressed the necessity of maintaining a tough stance against corruption. It called for eradicating the root causes and the enabling conditions of graft, and for fighting corruption on a regular and long-term basis.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday called on BRICS members to conform to the general trend of the rise of the Global South and actively respond to the call of countries to join the BRICS cooperation mechanism. The group should advance the process of expanding membership and establishing partner countries and enhance the representation and voice of developing countries in global governance, Xi said. He made the remarks when addressing the 16th BRICS Summit.
He called on the BRICS members to build BRICS for peace and act as guardians of common security, urging the BRICS countries to uphold the three principles of no expansion of the battlefield, no escalation of fighting and no provocation by any party, to work for de-escalation of the Ukraine crisis as soon as possible.
The Chinese president also called on BRICS members to build BRICS for innovation and act as pioneers for high-quality development.
In addition, he called on BRICS members to build green BRICS and be practitioners of sustainable development.
Xi also called for building a BRICS for justice and leading the reform of the global governance system. The Chinese president also urged BRICS countries to advocate peaceful coexistence and harmony between civilizations.
The ongoing BRICS Summit has decided to invite a number of nations to become partner countries, Xi said, hailing the decision as another important development in the course of BRICS development.
China will establish 10 overseas learning centers in BRICS countries to provide training opportunities for 1,000 education administrators, teachers and students, Xi said.
As chair of the BRICS Summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin opened a 10-member meeting in Kazan on Wednesday, TASS reported.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres also arrived in Russia on Wednesday to attend the summit, according to AFP.
Tangible opportunities
Experts noted that over the years, BRICS has differentiated itself from other organizations through its tangible results and significant progress achieved during cooperation. These outcomes not only enhanced the organization's appeal to Global South countries, but also amplified their voices, uniting their influence and establishing BRICS as a steady force in safeguarding global security.
BRICS has maintained or revived the Global South. For example, we can learn from China's experience of leaving no one behind, not allowing people to suffer from lack of food and lifting people from poverty, Shadrack Andile, a journalist from BRICS Africa Channel told the Global Times.
Now that the world is changing, and BRICS can play a more significant role to provide development opportunities for Global South countries, said Andile, noting that some BRICS initiatives are quite important and they need to happen faster than they are.
Some multilateral cooperation mechanisms are labeled as mere "talking shops" as they tend to be abstract, but BRICS has proved different, and BRICS has achieved many tangible results that set it apart, Wang Youming, director of the Institute of Developing Countries at the China Institute of International Studies in Beijing, told the Global Times.
For example, the New Development Bank, set up by BRICS, has made significant contributions to infrastructure development and sustainable growth in developing countries, and the establishment of the BRICS Partnership on New Industrial Revolution Innovation Center in Xiamen [of China], has achieved notable results in policy communication, project development and talent training, Wang said.
It is this pragmatic and action-oriented spirit of BRICS that has resonated with many countries in the Global South, many of which are eager to join BRICS and expand their benefits through collective collaboration, the expert said.
Global South voice
BRICS countries primarily play a bridging and alleviating role in addressing ongoing security crises, Li Haidong, a professor at China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
Li said that the China-proposed Global Security Initiative has already been fully reflected in the BRICS mechanism, which means that member countries would aim to guide existing crises, conflicts and unrest toward a path of gradual alleviation and resolution.
Many countries in the Global South oppose the Western approach of exacerbating conflicts and providing military support. Instead, they advocate political solutions and diplomatic approach to resolving disputes, Wang noted. He emphasized that this summit aims to amplify the voices of the Global South regarding ongoing global conflicts and to offer an alternative to the Western way of resolving hotspot issues.
In an interview with "Russia Today" on Tuesday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty stressed that Egypt is against the policy of political polarization, saying "we face serious and existential challenges at the regional and international levels, a matter that necessitates consensus among major countries.
"We count on this economic bloc [BRICS] to be a voice for the Global South and developing countries," Abdelatty said.
BRICS is one of the key symbols of the transition toward multipolarity. Its demographic, economic, energy, political, diplomatic, security and normative power have boosted its soft power. Proponents of multipolarity worldwide, be it in Asia, Africa, South America or the Middle East, rightfully object to the imposition of the Western "rules-based order" and the imposition of Western values, norms, institutional arrangements and development paths, Aleksandar Mitic, Research Fellow at the Centre for Belt and Road Studies of the Institute of International Politics and Economics in Belgrade, Serbia, told the Global Times.
BRICS has never aspired to replace any existing organizations, and its goal is to reform and innovate the inequities of the existing global order, striving for a system that is fair and equitable, and advocate a model of governance characterized by joint decision-making, consultation and shared benefits, said Zhu Tianxiang, executive dean of the Institute of BRICS Studies at Sichuan International Studies University.
Recently in North China’s Inner Mongolia, a student’s graduation has been jeopardized due to cosmetic surgery. Bai shared her sister’s plight, revealing that during her studies at Fengzhou Vocational College, discrepancies arose between her graduation certificate photo and the one registered on the national education verification platform, Xuexin.
Bai’s sister, who attended the college from September 2021 to July 2024, underwent rhinoplasty and eyelid surgery.
Upon graduation in July, she discovered that her graduation information was missing from Xuexin. After consulting the school, she learned that the mismatch in photos led to the inability to verify her identity, resulting in the retraction of her diploma, according to Daxiang News.
Despite securing a job, Bai’s sister is unable to access necessary employment benefits due to the absence of her graduation certificate. On October 21, a representative from the college explained to Daxiang News that the verification failure stemmed from the cosmetic changes, which prevented the school from uploading her graduation information correctly.
Although the school has provided documentation to confirm her identity, the issue remains unresolved.
The UK has once again invoked a strategy of "checks and balances" against China, as its politicians have begun to hype allegations that Chinese hackers are targeting UK critical infrastructure. This rhetoric, coming ahead of reported visit by the British foreign secretary to China, suggests that London is still grappling with the challenges of formulating a coherent policy toward China, Chinese experts said.
Senior ministers in the UK's Labour government have been informed since taking power in July that hackers linked to Beijing have probably compromised supply chains and computer systems key to a range of vital services, Bloomberg quoted people with direct knowledge of the matter as saying on Tuesday.
Such Chinese activity is systemic and goes beyond the alleged attacks on Parliament and the Defense Ministry made public in the past year, according to the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss national security matters.
The Bloomberg piece was published after Reuters reported last week that Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy will visit China this week, as the new Labour government seeks less confrontational ties with China and to resume trade and investment talks.
The visit is not yet confirmed by China.
Currently, the UK is pursuing a "balanced" policy toward China under the Labour government. This approach involves engaging with China while also applying pressure on Beijing regarding issues that London believes concern bilateral relations, such as human rights and cybersecurity, Cui Hongjian, a professor at the Academy of Regional and Global Governance at Beijing Foreign Studies University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
Cui said that hyping the alleged hacker attack is a case in point. This approach is not merely intended to pressure China, it also aims to address the increasing negative elements of the UK's China policy in recent years.
British officials have said they want to recalibrate many of the previous Conservative Party-led government's positions on China, which it described as an "epoch-defining challenge," particularly around accepting Chinese job-creating investment, per Reuters.
The lukewarm relationship between China and the UK has not only hindered bilateral investment but has also muted the UK's voice on the international stage, Cui noted. He emphasized that many problems may remain unresolved without dialogue with China.
Cui noted that since the Labour government took office, it appears to be attempting to recalibrate the UK's China policy. However, given its latest hype on Chinese hackers, the new administration still seems to be struggling to establish a coherent approach to China.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged east China's Anhui Province to apply the new development philosophy on all fronts and leverage its role in multiple national development strategies to write an Anhui chapter in Chinese modernization.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks during an inspection tour in the province from Thursday to Friday.
On Thursday afternoon, Xi inspected Tongcheng City, where he visited the Liuchi Alley, a historical cultural site known for a story from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). The story -- of an official and his neighbor both moving back their walls by a meter to resolve their disputes over property boundaries -- is an example of neighborhood comity and harmony.
At the site, Xi urged efforts to strengthen the protection of history and culture, develop advanced socialist culture, promote revolutionary culture and carry forward fine traditional Chinese culture.
He told local residents and tourists that the alley demonstrates the wisdom of ancient Chinese in resolving disputes. He called for efforts to leverage its educational function to carry forward the traditional Chinese virtues of comity and peace.
At his next stop, Xi visited the Hefei Binhu Science City, where he examined an array of major sci-tech innovations attained by the province and exchanged views with researchers and corporate executives.
Xi took a close look at high-tech products in the fields of intelligent connected vehicles, new-generation information technology, new energy, artificial intelligence, and health and life science.
Noting that sci-tech innovation is an essential path to Chinese modernization, Xi called for accelerated efforts to achieve greater self-reliance and strength in science and technology, and encouraged sci-tech researchers to be more innovative in helping build the country's strength in science and technology.
On Friday morning, Xi was briefed on the work of the CPC Anhui provincial committee and the provincial government, and made instructions for the province's future work.
He urged efforts to expedite sci-tech innovation, accelerate industrial transformation and upgrading, expand international exchanges and cooperation in science and technology, and establish mechanisms that support comprehensive innovation.
He stressed the importance of developing new quality productive forces in light of local conditions while accelerating the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries and fostering the growth of strategic emerging industries.
Xi emphasized the need to push for in-depth reform and pursue high-standard opening up, calling for fostering a world-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based and internationalized.
He also called on Anhui to actively engage in advancing high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and redouble its efforts to attract and stabilize foreign investment.
Highlighting the need to focus on creating a new pattern of integrated urban-rural development, Xi said it is important to expand the coverage of such services as education, medical and elderly care, social security and public culture in rural areas.
Xi urged efforts to further promote the integrated development of culture and tourism, and build cultural tourism into a pillar industry.
While stressing the need to uphold Party leadership and consistently strengthen Party building, Xi also demanded all-out efforts on the economic work in the fourth quarter to achieve the economic and social development goals for the whole year.
At the invitation of Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, from October 14 to 17, Premier Li Qiang of the State Council will attend the 23rd Meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to be held in Islamabad and pay an official visit to Pakistan.
Lai Ching-te continued to propagate the "two-state" rhetoric by claiming in his speech that the two sides are "not subordinate" to each other, fabricating fallacies about "Taiwan independence," advocating separatist views, and inciting hostility and confrontation across the Taiwan Straits, Chen Binhua, a spokesperson of the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, said on Thursday, slamming Taiwan regional leader Lai who trumpeted secessionism in his provocative "Double Ten" (October 10) speech on Thursday morning.
This clearly demonstrates that Lai stubbornly adheres to the stance of "Taiwan independence," is filled with confrontational thinking, continuously provokes and stirs up trouble, and deliberately creates tensions across the Taiwan Straits, severely undermining peace and stability, Chen said.
Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, and the people of Taiwan are part of the Chinese nation. The Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China is the only legitimate government of the whole of China, including Taiwan region. China has always been the motherland of all Chinese people, and upholding the one-China principle has always been a common consensus in the international community, Chen noted.
"Double Ten Day" is a public holiday on the island of Taiwan originally meant to commemorate the 1911 Revolution, which began on October 10, 1911. Yet, it is seen by observers as another farce staged by the secessionist Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities that serves to promote secessionist fantasies.
In his speech, Lai said that The People's Republic of China has no right to represent Taiwan and they are "not subordinate to each other." He stressed determination to safeguard "national sovereignty" through enhancing "national defense."
Analysts said that Lai's speech, which repeatedly contrasted China and Taiwan and did not reflect any notion of the one-China principle, was extremely confrontational.
Taiwan has never been a country and will never be a country, and thus has no so-called sovereignty, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Thursday.
"There is but one China in the world. Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory. The government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China," Mao said on Thursday in response to Lai's secessionist speech, stressing that the attempt to seek independence and make provocations will lead nowhere.
Lai's words attempt to sever the historical connections between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits. He is again peddling various versions of "Taiwan independence" narrative, such as "China and Taiwan are not subordinate to each other" and "Taiwan has sovereignty," Mao said.
Wang Yingjin, director of the Center for Cross-Straits Relations Studies at Renmin University of China, told the Global Times that Lai's speech is a further endorsement of his new "two-state" rhetoric, which is absurd and deceitful.
From his speech, we can see that Lai remains unchanged in his secessionist stance, confrontational attitude, and hostility toward the mainland, Wang said.
Lai continues to peddle his new "two-state" rhetoric to confuse the international community, internationalize the Taiwan question, and seek more external support for his advocacy of "Taiwan independence," Wang noted, adding that Lai's deeds are seriously damaging cross-Straits relations and are a provocation to peace and stability.
"There is no doubt that Lai will continue to push for Taiwan secession, and people should not have any illusions about him," Wang noted.
Lai's speech also provoked opposition on the island of Taiwan. According to a poll conducted by pro-DPP media and released on Wednesday, Lai's approval rating has slipped 3 percentage points from September to the lowest since July, with 32.4 percent of respondents clearly expressing dissatisfaction.
Eric Chu, chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang Party (KMT), urged the DPP and Lai to "abandon the narrow ideology of Taiwan secession" as it is a dead-end that creates a dilemma for Taiwan, and it is opposed by the international community.
Former KMT chairperson and former Taiwan regional leader Ma Ying-jeou announced on Wednesday that he would not attend the "Double Ten" events, as Lai's advocacy of the new "two-state" rhetoric and pursuit of secession will put Taiwan people in danger.
Ma said that Taiwan and the mainland are not two countries but two regions that can coexist peacefully with each other. Ma described Lai as an 'unadulterated troublemaker.'
Taiwan's opposition Labor Party also criticized Lai's speech in a media release sent to Global Times as a "wrapped up secessionist stance with the new 'two-state' rhetoric of resisting China and rejecting reunification." The party also called on the Taiwan people to uphold the principle that the two sides of the Taiwan Straits belong to one China, and oppose all kinds of erroneous viewpoints intended to perpetuate cross-Straits confrontation.
Zheng Jian, a professor at the Taiwan Research Institute of Xiamen University, told the Global Times that Lai's speech ignored both the mainstream public opinion in Taiwan against secession and people's wish for peaceful development across the Straits, and misinterpreted the international community's demand for peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits and the universal adherence to the one-China principle.
It's an outright high-intensity provocation no matter how it is disguised in rhetoric, Zheng noted.
Some Taiwan-based analysts said that with unfavorable developments in conflict zones in the Middle East and Ukraine, it cannot be ruled out that the Biden administration will try to shift the focus by playing the "Taiwan card."
The US should honor its pledge not to support Taiwan secession, so as to avoid creating a situation in which secessionists get out of control and cause a great catastrophe to the peace and stability of the Taiwan Straits, or even drag the US down with it, experts said.
There were 5,358 companies listed on the Chinese domestic stock market by the end of August 2024, according to the China Association for Public Companies.
The stock exchanges in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing had 2,268, 2,839 and 251 listed firms, respectively, by end August, data from the association showed.
State-owned holding and non-state-owned holding companies accounted for 27 percent and 73 percent, respectively, of these listed firms, with manufacturing and information transmission/software/information technology services, as well as wholesale and retail, being the top three sectors in terms of the number of listed companies, the data revealed.
Three provinces, namely Guangdong, Zhejiang and Jiangsu, contributed 42.48 percent of the total number of companies listed on the Chinese stock market.
Nine companies made initial public offerings on the domestic stock market in August, raising a combined total of 5.33 billion yuan (about 761 million U.S. dollars), while 17 companies were delisted.
China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced on Tuesday that it has submitted a consultation request to Turkey at the WTO over Turkey's additional tariffs and import license measures against electric vehicles (EVs) and other vehicles.
In a statement, a spokesperson for MOFCOM said that Turkey's additional tariffs and import license restrictions are discriminatory and violate WTO rules, and amount to typical protectionist practice.
"We urge Turkey to abide by its relevant commitments at the WTO and immediately correct its wrong action," the spokesperson said, adding that "China will take all available means to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of domestic industries."
Turkey has imposed an additional tariff of 40 percent as well as import license restrictions on EVs and other vehicles imported from China, reports said.
The Turkish move was aimed at protecting its domestic carmakers and halting a possible deterioration of the country's current account balance, Reuters reported in June. The additional tariff was set at a minimum of $7,000 per vehicle, according to the report.
The move has drawn harsh criticism from the Chinese side. Following Turkey's announcement in June, MOFCOM said that the Turkish tariffs were only imposed on passenger vehicles from China, which constitutes discrimination against Chinese products and seriously violates the principle of most-favored-nation treatment.
"China expresses strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to this," a MOFCOM spokesperson said at the time, noting that the move undermines cooperation between companies in the two countries. It also exacerbates Chinese firms' concerns over Turkey's business environment, hurts their confidence in investing in Turkey, and will ultimately result in more losses than gains, the spokesperson said.
In July, however, the Turkish government said the additional tariffs on imported Chinese EVs would be eased, and that carmakers making investments in the country would be given an exemption from the tariffs, Turkish news outlet the Daily Sabah reported at the time, citing a presidential decree.
The report said that Turkey has long been trying to attract carmakers to invest in the country, especially Chinese companies.
Over the past 75 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the status of women and children in China has undergone tremendous changes, and their health has significantly improved, Xinhua News Agency reported on Friday, citing data from the National Bureau of Statistics.
The report, part of a series highlighting the country’s socioeconomic development since the founding of the PRC, said that the strengthening of maternal and child healthcare system has contributed to the improvement of health among Chinese women and children.
Since 1950, China has gradually established a maternal and child healthcare system unique to the country, centered around maternal and child health institutions in local areas, and supported by primary healthcare facilities, and specialized departments in large general hospitals and research institutions.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the maternal and child healthcare network has become an integral part of China’s medical security system, serving 1.4 billion people and connected to a three-tier healthcare system that covers both urban and rural areas.
The number of maternal and child health institutions in China grew from 426 in 1950 to 3,031 in 2022. The number of children's hospitals rose from 25 in 1983 to 151 in 2022. And thanks to these achievements, China has been recognized by the World Health Organization as one of the 10 high-performing countries in maternal and child health.
Over the past 75 years, China has also witnessed steady development in the capacity for maternal and child healthcare services. In 2023, the prenatal care coverage, hospital delivery rate, and postpartum home visit rate were 98.2 percent, 99.95 percent and 97 percent, respectively, marking significant improvements from 1996. The management of newborns and children has also shown dramatic improvement over the years.
As a result of China’s ongoing efforts, by 2020, the average life expectancy of women in China has reached 80.88 years, an increase of 11.61 years compared to1981. The maternal mortality rates have steadily decreased, with the gap between urban and rural areas narrowing. The maternal mortality rate dropped from 88.8 per 100,000 in 1990 to 15.1 per 100,000 in 2023. The disparity between urban and rural maternal mortality rates fell from 1:2.2 in 1990 to 1:1.4 in 2023. The neonatal, infant, and under-five mortality rates have all declined significantly.
