China: Daily Scan, March 11, 2022

Panchen Lama encourages Tibetan Buddhism followers to serve society, motherland: Xinhuanet

March 10, 2022

Monks, nuns and followers of Tibetan Buddhism should turn their religious belief into the driving force for building their hometowns, serving the society and the country, the 11th Panchen Lama, Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu, said during the annual "two sessions" held in Beijing. Click here to read more... [2]

Documents to be put to vote at China's annual legislative session: Xinhuanet

March 10, 2022

The presidium for the fifth session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), China's national legislature, has decided to put a raft of documents to vote at the session's closing meeting on Friday. Li Zhanshu, an executive chairman of the presidium, presided over the third and fourth meetings of the presidium held Thursday. Click here to read more... [3]

Growth target of around 5.5 pct to generate output equivalent to medium economy, says Chinese premier: Xinhuanet

March 11, 2022

A 5.5-percent increase on the basis of over 110-trillion-yuan (about 17.4 trillion U.S. dollars) GDP in China today would generate the same amount of output equivalent to the size of a medium economy, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said Friday. Click here to read more... [4]

Chinese FM exchanges views on Ukraine issue with French, Italian counterparts: Xinhuanet

March 11, 2022

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine respectively with his French and Italian counterparts via video link. When meeting with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, Wang said the major consensus reached by Chinese, French and German leaders during a virtual summit held on Tuesday should be well implemented. Click here to read more... [5]

Chinese PLA cooperates with militaries of over 50 countries in COVID-19 fight: Xinhuanet

March 10, 2022

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has played an active role in the global fight against COVID-19 while fully supporting domestic epidemic containment, a military spokesperson said Wednesday. Click here to read more... [6]

China to step up rural highway construction: Xinhuanet

March 10, 2022

China will promote rural highway construction and further improve the country's rural highway network this year, according to the Ministry of Transport. Last year, the country's total investment in rural highways reached about 410 billion yuan (about 65 billion U.S. dollars). More than 160,000 kilometers of rural roads were reconstructed, data from the ministry showed. Click here to read more... [7]

China boosts funding to address weak links in social welfare: Xinhuanet

March 10, 2022

China has provided 3 billion yuan (about 475.4 million U.S. dollars) from the central government budget to shore up weak links in social welfare and ensure people's well-being, the country's top economic planner said Thursday. Click here to read more... [8]

Digital platform improves legislators' work efficiency: China Daily

March 11, 2022

A digital platform has been launched to facilitate the work of national legislators by moving the processing of motions online. The platform was officially put into operation on Saturday, when the fifth session of the 13th National People's Congress kicked off. Click here to read more... [9]

University Party secretary deposed after COVID-19 campus outbreak, sparks heated discussion: Global Times

March 10, 2022

The secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) committee at a university was sacked on Thursday after an outbreak of COVID-19 was detected in the campus. This has shocked Chinese social media and aroused a heated discussion. Click here to read more... [10]

17 officials from E China's city punished for severe loopholes in daily epidemic prevention: Global Times

March 11, 2022

A total of 17 officials from the pandemic-hit Laixi, a city in East China's Shandong Province, were punished on Thursday for severe loopholes in daily epidemic prevention tasks, especially their low alert and negligent attitude against COVID-19 in populated places like schools. Both the secretary of the city's Communist Party of China committee, Zhou Ke, and the mayor of Laixi, Liu Ying, were severely warned by the Party disciplinary body. Click here to read more... [11]

China's 'reasonable, appropriate' defense budget boost contributes to natl security, world peace: military delegation deputy: Global Times

March 10, 2022

China's defense expenditure has kept a reasonable, appropriate increase, and will contribute to safeguarding national security and world peace, a Chinese legislator from military delegation told the Global Times in an exclusive interview on Thursday. Click here to read more... [12]

China to take counter measures if US moves to sanction Chinese firms, individuals: Global Times

March 10, 2022

China will firmly respond with counter measures if the US moves to implement sanctions on Chinese companies or individuals under the pretext of the Russia-Ukraine military conflict, which some US government officials have threatened, China’s Foreign Ministry said. Click here to read more... [13]

Chip proposals flourish at two sessions as China aims for technology self-sufficiency: Global Times

March 10, 2022

Integrated circuit (IC)-themed proposals and motions have been all the rage during the "two sessions", as eagerness grows over China's push for semiconductors self-sufficiency amid the US-led tech decoupling. Click here to read more... [14]

China ranks first in world in terms of outstanding green loans: Quishi

March 11, 2022

China's outstanding green loans in yuan and foreign currencies hit 15.9 trillion yuan (about $2.5 trillion) by the end of 2021, the largest in the world and jumping 33 percent from the previous year, according to the People's Bank of China (PBOC). The country issued 600 billion yuan worth of green bonds domestically last year, up 180 percent year on year, with outstanding green bonds reaching 1.1 trillion yuan. Click here to read more... [15]

China may warm to Japan to tackle economic slump, but faces hurdles: Kyodov

March 11, 2022

China may try to cozy up to Japan in the short run to curb a possible economic downturn, as President Xi Jinping has been keen to secure a controversial third term as leader at the ruling Communist Party's twice-a-decade congress in fall. But Tokyo is unlikely to take a softer approach toward Beijing, with the two Asian powers recently at odds over China's security challenges to Taiwan, its temporary detention of a Japanese diplomat and its unwillingness to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Click here to read more... [16]

Matchmakers a turn-off, Chinese Web users say: Reuters

March 11, 2022

Proposals for matchmaking committees within unions and a drive to encourage more graduate students to have babies triggered a frosty reception on social media, as officials brainstormed ways to raise China’s plunging birthrate. Click here to read more... [17]

China censors online Ukraine debate, bars calls for peace: Reuters

March 11, 2022

China's censors, who quietly determine what can be discussed on the country's buzzing social media platforms, are silencing views of citizens protesting against Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In the days after Russia's Feb. 24 attack, comments on Chinese social media platforms Weibo, WeChat and Douyin broadly backed Russia and President Vladimir Putin. Many posts challenging that, or even advocating peace, quickly disappeared from view. Click here to read more... [18]

TikTok nears Oracle deal in bid to allay U.S. data concerns-sources: Reuters

March 11, 2022

TikTok is nearing a deal for Oracle Corp (ORCL.N) to store its U.S. users' information without its Chinese parent ByteDance having access to it, hoping to address U.S. regulatory concerns over data integrity on the popular short video app, people familiar with the matter said. Click here to read more... [19]

China’s disciplinary enforcers shift focus from corruption to poor performance: South China Morning Post

March 9, 2022

China’s President Xi Jinping is increasingly using the Communist Party’s disciplinary mechanisms, best known for tackling corruption, to punish poor performance, a study has found. It said the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) had shifted from being a “fear-inducing machine” primarily focused on corruption to becoming a “behaviour modification machine”. Click here to read more... [20]

Familiar barriers put China’s women scientists a long way from the top: South China Morning Post

March 11, 2022

The theme for International Women’s Day 2022 is “Break the Bias”, which asks us to imagine a world free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination. In the second of a series of stories about gender equality in China, Holly Chik looks at why there are so few women in China’s top science institutes, and recent measures meant to bridge the gender gap.
By most measures Zhong Xuefeng is a success story. After completing a PhD overseas, she is now a professor at China’s Anhui Medical University. But the price she paid for that success has left her guilt ridden. Click here to read more... [21]