SwedCham China Insights for the Week of October 23 - October 27 , 2023

Top news of the week:

China’s special envoy reaffirms two-state solution fundamental way out of Palestinian-Israeli conflict

October 23, 2023

Resuming talks for peace on the basis of the two-state solution is the only way to break the vicious circle of the Palestine-Israel conflict, said Zhai Jun, China’s special envoy on the Middle East issue.

China removes two key figures from office in major leadership reshuffle

October 24, 2023

China has removed the defence minister, Li Shangfu, and ousted ex-foreign minister Qin Gang from its cabinet in a major reshuffle of top leadership. Yin Hejun was appointed as minister of science and technology, replacing Wang Zhigang. Lan Foan was appointed as minister of finance, replacing Liu Kun.

China inaugurates national data bureau

October 25, 2023

China’s national data bureau was inaugurated on October 25. The bureau, administered by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), is responsible for advancing the development of data-related fundamental institutions, coordinating the integration, sharing, development and application of data resources, and pushing forward the planning and building of a Digital China, the digital economy and a digital society.

MOFCOM: China’s foreign trade has seen steady recovery

October 26, 2023

China’s foreign trade has seen recovery in recent months and is expected to maintain good momentum throughout the fourth quarter of the year, according to Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM). China’s foreign trade volume reached 3.74 trillion yuan (US$521 billion) in September, reaching a new monthly high this year and registering month-on-month growth for a second consecutive month.

Former Chinese premier Li Keqiang dies from heart attack at 68

October 27, 2023

China’s former Premier Li Keqiang died of a heart attack on October 27, aged 68, just 10 months after retiring from a decade of office.

Insight of the week:

Governor of California Gavin Newsom began his official week-long visit to China on October 23. Gavin Newsom met Chinese President Xi Jinping on October 25 after being warmly welcomed by other senior leaders in a display of friendliness that stands in sharp contrast to the dialogue between the United States and China in recent years. Newsom and Xi discussed climate change, raising hopes that China and the United States can find common ground ahead of an APEC summit and COP28 climate meeting next month. Xi and U.S President Joe Biden are expected to meet at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco in November, although the meeting has not been confirmed. They also talked about fentanyl and China’s role in combating the transnational shipping of precursor chemicals, Newsom said. Earlier in the day Newsom met with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Vice President Han Zheng. In those meetings, he brought up China’s “human rights violations”, “pro-democracy protests” in Hong Kong and policies towards Tibet and Taiwan, according to the press release from the Office of Governor Gavin Newsom. The human rights-related discussions were not reported by China’s mainstream media, whose reports mainly focused on the climate change topic and China-US cooperation.

Meanwhile, Wang Yi visited the United States from October 26 to 28 at the invitation of the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Wang’s visit to Washington laid the groundwork for a potential meeting between Biden and President Xi Jinping at the APEC conference in San Francisco next month.