Connect with us
//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

China

Morality politics under Xi Jinping

Published

on

A poster with a portrait of Chinese President Xi Jinping overlooks a street in Huangshan, Anhui province, China, 16 September 2017. (Photo: Reuters/Aly Song)

Author: Delia Lin, University of Melbourne

Unlike any of his predecessors, including Mao himself, Xi Jinping has a political theory with his name etched on it. Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era is enshrined in both the Party and State Constitutions. This may be seen as the return of Mao-style personalised politics. But more importantly, it characterises an ideology capable of justifying absolute rule of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), laying the theoretical groundwork for an authoritarian single-party regime.

The unmitigated supremacy of the CCP and socialist rule of law are forged through a dual emphasis on ‘governing the country in accordance with the law’ and ‘moral principles’. These principles set the ideological foundation of the integration of law and morality for a new era.

Amalgamating law and morality is nothing new to China. For millennia, governing by moral code was at the core of imperial China’s Confucian–legalist statecraft. Both Confucian and legalist governing principles reject the acknowledgement of individual desires to pursue self-interest — believing it to lead to nothing but selfishness and corruption. Nor do they trust individuals as autonomous moral agents.

Confucian governance assumes an intrinsically moral ruler and the malleability of human nature through repetitive practice and the performance of moral principles. These practices are demanded of individuals in order to realise their ‘true’ humanity, hence the Confucian focus on li, decorum and ritual proprieties.

Legalism, on the other hand, emphasises the absolute power and authority of the ruler and uniform enforcement of punitive codes intended to curb corruption. Under the imperial dynasties, penal codes worked to reinforce Confucian moral principles, reflecting a Confucianisation of law.

The deep-seated influence of China’s ancient law-morality dialectic has resulted in the moral cultivation of individuals remaining high on the political agenda today. Many social problems and policies are framed in terms of suzhi, the citizens’ intrinsic moral quality. This approach to policy justifies the moral construction campaigns that set out to raise citizens’ suzhi, remoulding and transforming each of them into a new socialist person. While these moral campaigns have legalist roots, they were separate from the legal and judicial system — until the Xi Jinping era.

In the Xi era, the marriage of law and morality has become an integral part of building the Chinese socialist rule of law system. This amalgamation is achieved through incorporating a prescribed moral code, known as socialist core values, in all legal and judicial processes. The 12 designated moral principles are the national values of prosperity, democracy, civility and harmony; the social values of freedom, equality, justice and rule of law; and the individual values of patriotism, dedication, credibility and friendship.

In 2013, the CCP Central Committee issued the first government directive on socialist core values, requiring them to be integrated across the full range of administrative processes and social activities at all levels of government. The 2014 Decision of the CCP Central Committee’s Fourth Plenum of the 18th Party Congress was the first government document to link socialist core values to developing laws. It defined the meaning of governing the country in accordance with moral principles as ‘forcefully carrying forward the socialist core values, carrying forward China’s traditional virtues, fostering social morals, professional ethics, household virtues and personal character’.

In December 2016, the CCP Central Committee and State Council issued a policy document titled ‘Guiding Opinions on Further Integrating Socialist Core Values into the Construction of Rule of Law’, highlighting the importance of making all laws, regulations and public policies guide the value orientation of society. On 7 May 2018, the CCP Central Committee announced a plan to ‘fully incorporate socialist core values into all legislation’ within five to ten years. The plan identified ‘governing the country in accordance with the law’, and ‘moral principles’ as the two most distinctive features of the China-style socialist rule of law.

In response to these party directives, the Supreme People’s Court (SPC), China’s highest court, and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate have subsequently issued guidelines demanding that socialist core values be implemented in courts and everyday caseloads. The…

Read the rest of this article on East Asia Forum

Continue Reading

China

China Unveils Plan to Upgrade Industrial Equipment

Published

on

China unveiled a comprehensive action plan for upgrading industrial equipment, with a focus on driving technological innovation and economic growth. The plan, released on April 9, 2024, aims to enhance competitiveness and sustainability within the manufacturing sector through extensive investment and regulatory support.


China announced an ambitious action plan for industrial equipment upgrading, which aims to drive technological innovation and economic growth through extensive investment and regulatory support.

On April 9, 2024, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and six other departments jointly released a notice introducing the Implementation Plan for Promoting Equipment Renewal in the Industrial Sector (hereafter referred to as the “action plan”).

Finalized earlier on March 23, 2024, this comprehensive action plan addresses critical issues related to technological innovation and economic development. It reflects China’s proactive stance in enhancing competitiveness and sustainability within its manufacturing sector. The initiative underscores the recognition of industrial equipment upgrading as a top policy priority.

The scope of China’s action plan to upgrade industrial equipment in manufacturing, is extensive, covering various aspects such as:

In line with China’s ambitious goals for industrial modernization and sustainable development, the action plan outlines several key objectives aimed at driving substantial advancements in the industrial sector by 2027.

These objectives encompass a wide range of areas, from increasing investment to enhancing digitalization and promoting innovation, including:

The objectives and key actions proposed in the action plan are summarized below.

This article is republished from China Briefing. Read the rest of the original article.

China Briefing is written and produced by Dezan Shira & Associates. The practice assists foreign investors into China and has done since 1992 through offices in Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Qingdao, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong. Please contact the firm for assistance in China at china@dezshira.com.

Continue Reading

China

China deepens engagement with new Indonesian president as top diplomat visits Jakarta

Published

on

China’s top diplomat met the outgoing Indonesian president and his successor in Jakarta on Thursday, as Beijing deepened its engagement with future leader Prabowo Subianto, amid a competition for regional influence with the United States.

The meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was part of a joint commitment to advance the partnership between the two countries, said Prabowo, who visited Beijing in early April after his landslide win in the February general election.

“It is a great honor for me to welcome him [Wang] today. Thank you for the kind reception I received in Beijing a few weeks ago,” Prabowo said, according to an Indonesian defense ministry statement.

Chinese President Xi Jinping had invited Prabowo to visit, and the latter accepting the invitation raised eyebrows in Indonesia because no president-elect had made a foreign visit such as this one without being sworn in. China is Indonesia’s largest trading partner.

Wang, too, mentioned Prabowo’s Beijing trip, according to the same statement.

“We really appreciate and welcome Defense Minister Prabowo’s visit to China,” he said.

“We are committed to continuing to increase bilateral cooperation with Indonesia, both in the defense sector and other fields such as economic, social and cultural.”

Wang is scheduled to go to East Nusa Tenggara province on Friday to attend the China-Indonesia High-Level Dialogue Cooperation Mechanism, a process to support more effective bilateral cooperation. His Jakarta stop was the first of a six-day tour that also includes Cambodia and Papua New Guinea.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (left) and Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi attend a press conference after their meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jakarta, April 18, 2024. (Eko Siswono Toyudho/ BenarNews)

Prabowo and Wang discussed cooperation in the defense industry and sector, with potential measures such as educational and training collaboration, as well as joint exercises, said Brig. Gen. Edwin Adrian Sumantha, spokesman at the Indonesian defense ministry.

In fact, the ministry statement said that “China is Indonesia’s close partner and has had close bilateral relations, especially in the defense sector, for a long time.”

Of course, China has also invested billions of U.S. dollars in infrastructure projects in Indonesia, including as part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative – the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train, which began commercial operations in October 2023, is one such BRI project.

The two countries have drawn closer during outgoing President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s two terms, and Beijing would like that to continue as the U.S. tries to catch up with China’s gargantuan influence in Southeast Asia, analysts have said.

Indonesia, China call for ceasefire in Gaza

Both Indonesia and China shared the same position on Israel’s devastating attacks on Gaza, said Wang’s Indonesian counterpart, Retno Marsudi.

Israel’s air and ground strikes have killed more than 33,000 Palestinians following the Oct. 7 attack on the Jewish state by Palestinian militant group Hamas, which killed around 1,100 Israelis.

“We … have the same view regarding the importance of a ceasefire in Gaza and resolving the Palestinian problem fairly through two state solutions,” Retno told reporters in a joint press conference after meeting with Wang. 

“Indonesia will support full Palestinian membership in the U.N. Middle East stability will not be realized without resolving the Palestinian issue.”

For his part, Wang slammed Washington for repeatedly vetoing resolutions calling for Israel to end the attacks on the Palestinian territory it occupies.

“The conflict in Gaza has lasted for half a year and caused a rare humanitarian tragedy in the 21st century,” Wang told the media at the same press conference, according to the Associated Press.

“The United Nations Security Council responded to the call of the international community and continued to review the resolution draft on the cease-fire in Gaza, but it was repeatedly vetoed by the United States.”

The conflict in the Middle East offered a strategic opportunity for China to further expand its influence in Southeast Asia, said Muhamad Arif, a lecturer in international relations at the University of Indonesia.

“China is trying to strengthen its position as a key player in the region,” Arief told BenarNews.

China could present an alternative approach to the conflict in Gaza, he said, which may find approval in Southeast Asia’s largest country, Indonesia, and other Mulism-majority states in the region, such as Malaysia and Brunei.

BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization.

Read the rest of this article here >>> China deepens engagement with new Indonesian president as top diplomat visits Jakarta

Continue Reading

China

New Publication: A Guide for Foreign Investors on Navigating China’s New Company Law

Published

on

The sixth revision of China’s Company Law is the most extensive amendment in history, impacting foreign invested enterprises with stricter rules on capital injection and corporate governance. Most FIEs must align with the New Company Law by July 1, 2024, with a deadline of December 31, 2024 for adjustments. Contact Dezan Shira & Associates for assistance.


The sixth revision of China’s Company Law represents the most extensive amendment in its history. From stricter capital injection rules to enhanced corporate governance, the changes introduced in the New Company Law have far-reaching implications for businesses, including foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) operating in or entering the China market.

Since January 1, 2020, the Company Law has governed both wholly foreign-owned enterprises (WFOEs) and joint ventures (JVs), following the enactment of the Foreign Investment Law (FIL). Most FIEs must align with the provisions of the New Company Law from July 1, 2024, while those established before January 1, 2020 have bit more time for adjustments due to the five-year grace period provided by the FIL. The final deadline for their alignment is December 31, 2024.

In this publication, we guide foreign investors through the implications of the New Company Law for existing and new FIEs and relevant stakeholders. We begin with an overview of the revision’s background and objectives, followed by a summary of key changes. Our in-depth analysis, from a foreign stakeholder perspective, illuminates the practical implications. Lastly, we explore tax impacts alongside the revisions, demonstrating how the New Company Law may shape future business transactions and arrangements.

If you or your company require assistance with Company Law adjustments in China, please do not hesitate to contact Dezan Shira & Associates. For more information, feel free to reach us via email at china@dezshira.com.

 

This article is republished from China Briefing. Read the rest of the original article.

China Briefing is written and produced by Dezan Shira & Associates. The practice assists foreign investors into China and has done since 1992 through offices in Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Qingdao, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong. Please contact the firm for assistance in China at china@dezshira.com.

Continue Reading