China
How China’s state serves the Party
Author: Kerry Brown, King’s College London
Xi Jinping is a Party man. His first words in November 2012 after being made General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party were about closing the gap between the Party and the people. Ever since then, making sure that the Party can indeed create a sustainable governance model — and not be washed away by the forces of history as the Soviet Union was — has been his core task. Despite the vast and ongoing challenges through 2020 because of COVID-19, the Party has never looked more dominant.
That includes over the state. In China, the state exists in many shapes. While those formally designated as ‘civil servants’ (gongwuyuan) at the national and provincial levels amount to around 8 million, there are almost 60 million working for state enterprises. According to the World Bank, total Chinese public sector employment, including those involved in education, healthcare and other administrative areas, together come to about 46 million.
From an overall employment figure of 770 million, 13 per cent are public sector or state enterprise workers, with the number of state employees more than the membership of the Party, which totalled 90 million in 2019. Despite the view from outside that China is a state-controlled behemoth, the irony is that state employment has a lower share than in the United States, at 16 per cent, or a staggering 26 per cent in France.
The state and public sector still has a commanding role in administration and industries. This is one that the Party continues to control vigorously. In the 1980s, some Chinese leaders said they embraced the market like a ‘bird in a cage’ — free to develop up to certain limits. These limits were often deliberately left vague and undefined so that changing circumstances could be responded to.
A similar situation prevails between the state and the Party, with the latter controlling the state’s political parameters. That, in a sense, is the cage. The state takes Party ideology and translates it into implementable policy. It does not have the agency to originate policy or political direction. In the Xi era, the change has come from making sure that there is real clarity about where the ‘cage’ that binds the state is.
One key mode of control is simply for the Party to use its powers of appointment in the public and state enterprise sectors to ensure that the state performs as expected. In the era of former president Hu Jintao, Xi’s predecessor, galloping growth meant that officials were often more like entrepreneurs. State-owned enterprises became vast generators of cash, much of which was filtered into the hands of corrupt networks of influence. The state was big business and the Party looked more often like the poorer, more virtuous relative. Now, under Xi, the Party is back.
Any idea of parity, or even subservience, has been expelled. This was largely achieved through the anti-corruption struggle that began after the Party’s 18th National Congress in 2012, when Hu retired and was replaced by Xi as General Secretary of the Party. The cadres who had misunderstood that their key role was to be politicians — not business people — were disciplined. Some were removed from power. Others were demoted. The signal was clear, though: state workers had their ultimate loyalty to the Party.
China under Xi is a repressive place — but it is repressive without favour. In the past, rules were negotiable. Everything could be solved by finding ‘the back door’ and your networks were your greatest asset.
These days, there are rules. Actions that are seen as eroding the national mission under Xi to become a great, rich nation are seen as akin to high treason. It sounds counterintuitive, but in Xi’s China, repressive rules cause as much stress for bureaucrats seeking to wander beyond their designated powers as they do for activists wanting to find more areas for social and organised political action. Xi’s China is many things, but unpredictable is now not one of them.
The Party is above all a crisis-management entity. It performs best when there are crises. The vast stress of COVID-19 has shown it at its best. While Western governments have largely floundered, the Party has managed to face down the problem, aided by huge voluntary assistance from the public. It seems to already be pulling out of the worst of the economic downturn, with more than 4 per cent growth predicted by some for 2020.
Those in China who need to relate to the state — and that means practically everyone — have to ensure that while…
China
Is journalist Vicky Xu preparing to return to China?
Chinese social media influencers have recently claimed that prominent Chinese-born Australian journalist Vicky Xu had posted a message saying she planned to return to China.
There is no evidence for this. The source did not provide evidence to support the claim, and Xu herself later confirmed to AFCL that she has no such plans.
Currently working as an analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, or ASPI, Xu has previously written for both the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, or ABC, and The New York Times.
A Chinese language netizen on X initially claimed on March 31 that the changing geopolitical relations between Sydney and Beijing had caused Xu to become an expendable asset and that she had posted a message expressing a strong desire to return to China. An illegible, blurred photo of the supposed message accompanied the post.
This claim was retweeted by a widely followed influencer on the popular Chinese social media site Weibo one day later, who additionally commented that Xu was a “traitor” who had been abandoned by Australian media.
Following the publication of an ASPI article in 2021 which exposed forced labor conditions in Xinjiang co-authored by Xu, the journalist was labeled “morally bankrupt” and “anti-China” by the Chinese state owned media outlet Global Times and subjected to an influx of threatening messages and digital abuse, eventually forcing her to temporarily close several of her social media accounts.
AFCL found that neither Xu’s active X nor LinkedIn account has any mention of her supposed return to China, and received the following response from Xu herself about the rumor:
“I can confirm that I don’t have plans to go back to China. I think if I do go back I’ll most definitely be detained or imprisoned – so the only career I’ll be having is probably going to be prison labor or something like that, which wouldn’t be ideal.”
Neither a keyword search nor reverse image search on the photo attached to the original X post turned up any text from Xu supporting the netizens’ claims.
Translated by Shen Ke. Edited by Shen Ke and Malcolm Foster.
Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) was established to counter disinformation in today’s complex media environment. We publish fact-checks, media-watches and in-depth reports that aim to sharpen and deepen our readers’ understanding of current affairs and public issues. If you like our content, you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X.
Read the rest of this article here >>> Is journalist Vicky Xu preparing to return to China?
China
Guide for Foreign Residents: Obtaining a Certificate of No Criminal Record in China
Foreign residents in China can request a criminal record check from their local security bureau. This certificate may be required for visa applications or job opportunities. Requirements and procedures vary by city. In Shanghai, foreigners must have lived there for 180 days with a valid visa to obtain the certificate.
Foreign residents living in China can request a criminal record check from the local security bureau in the city in which they have lived for at least 180 days. Certificates of no criminal record may be required for people leaving China, or those who are starting a new position in China and applying for a new visa or residence permit. Taking Shanghai as an example, we outline the requirements for obtaining a China criminal record check.
Securing a Certificate of No Criminal Record, often referred to as a criminal record or criminal background check, is a crucial step for various employment opportunities, as well as visa applications and residency permits in China. Nevertheless, navigating the process can be a daunting task due to bureaucratic procedures and language barriers.
In this article, we use Shanghai as an example to explore the essential information and steps required to successfully obtain a no-criminal record check. Requirements and procedures may differ in other cities and counties in China.
Note that foreigners who are not currently living in China and need a criminal record check to apply for a Chinese visa must obtain the certificate from their country of residence or nationality, and have it notarized by a Chinese embassy or consulate in that country.
Foreigners who have a valid residence permit and have lived in Shanghai for at least 180 days can request a criminal record check in the city. This means that the applicant will also need to currently have a work, study, or other form of visa or stay permit that allows them to live in China long-term.
If a foreigner has lived in another part of China and is planning to or has recently moved to Shanghai, they will need to request a criminal record check in the place where they previously spent at least 180 days.
There are two steps to obtaining a criminal record certificate in Shanghai: requesting the criminal record check from the Public Security Bureau (PSB) and getting the resulting Certificate of No Criminal Record notarized by an authorized notary agency.
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.
China
China Unveils Plan to Upgrade Industrial Equipment
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.
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