Xi Jinping: “Irreversible tide of economic globalization”

The following are translations of news covering a propaganda event named “Reading and Understanding China”. The event was held in Guangzhou, on October 26 and 27. Before that, Xi Jinping held a reception in Beijing, for attendees from abroad.

Xi Jinping meets attendees of Guangzhou conference in Beijing – click picture for video

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1. Main Link: Xinhua, Oct 26, 2019

Links within blockquotes added during translation.

Xinhua, Guangzhou, October 26, reporter Sun Yi — The 2019 “Reading and Understanding China” Guangzhou International Conference opened in Guangzhou on October 26. Huang Kunming, member of the politburo of the Communist Party of China central committee and director of the propaganda department of the Communist Party of China, attended the opening ceremony, read out a congratulatory letter from Chairman Xi Jinping, and gave an opening speech.

新华社广州10月26日电（记者孙奕）2019年“读懂中国”广州国际会议于10月26日在广州开幕。中共中央政治局委员、中宣部部长黄坤明出席开幕式，宣读习近平主席贺信并发表开幕演讲。

Huang Kunming pointed out that Chairman Xi Jinping’s congratulatory letter is sure of the great trend of global development, distinctly points out the irreversibility of the tide of economic globalization, solemnly pledges that China will unswervingly continue the path of peaceful development, pursue a strategy of mutual benefit and win-win, amply showing the continuity of China’s steady approach of continuous reform and opening up, and confidence in greater contributions by China to the world.

黄坤明指出，习近平主席的贺信深刻把握世界发展大势，鲜明指出经济全球化潮流不可逆转，郑重宣示中国将坚定不移走和平发展道路、奉行互利共赢开放战略，充分展示了中国改革不停顿、开放不止步的坚定态度，表达了中国为世界作出更大贡献的信心决心。

Huang Kunming emphasized that this year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the new China. In those marvelous 70 years, the Communist Party of China led the Chinese people onto a successful road of socialism with Chinese characteristics, in accordance with China’s national situation and the aspirations of the people, and “Reading and Understanding China” was above all about reading and understanding the China path. It is a path of maintaining independence and self-determination, exploration under hardship, the end of bitterness, the beginnings of sweetness, while striving for strengthening. It is based on the fundamental national conditions, builds the reformist and innovative road of socialist modernization, holds high the road of the people above all else, working as one to create the people’s happiness, living beautiful lives. It upholds the party’s leadership, showing the way to the road of struggle and advancement for societal reform by self-reform¹⁾, the destiny cherished by humankind, in the pursuit of the peaceful road of equal benefit, cooperation and win-win. We will overcome all obstacles on the way, break new ground and forge ahead into the present, unswervingly stay on this path, create the future, and make contributions to the building of the community of shared future of humankind²⁾, to improve the well-being of the people of the world.

黄坤明强调，今年是新中国成立70周年。回顾不平凡的70年，中国共产党领导人民成功走出一条适合中国国情、符合人民意愿的中国特色社会主义道路，“读懂中国”首先要读懂中国道路。这是一条坚持独立自主，艰辛探索、苦尽甘来的自立自强之路，是立足基本国情，建设社会主义现代化的改革创新之路，是高扬人民至上，齐心协力创造美好生活的人民幸福之路，是坚持党的领导，以自我革命引领社会革命的奋斗进取之路，是胸怀人类命运，追求平等互利、合作共赢的和平发展之路。我们在这条道路上披荆斩棘、开拓前进走到今天，也将坚定不移沿着这条道路砥砺前行、创造未来，为增进世界人民福祉、构建人类命运共同体作出新的贡献。

Members of the politburo’s central committee, Guangdong provincial party secretary Li Xi attended the conference and gave keynote speeches.

中共中央政治局委员、广东省委书记李希出席会议并作主旨演讲。

2. Main Link: CCTV Xinwen Lianbo (evening news), Oct 26, 2019, 11:00 UTC

CCTV News (Xinwen Lianbo): The 2019 “Reading and Understanding China Guangzhou International Conference opened in Guangzhou on October 26. State Chairman Xi Jinping  sent a congratulatory letter to the conference.

央视网消息（新闻联播）：2019年“读懂中国”广州国际会议于10月26日在广州开幕。国家主席习近平向会议致贺信。

Xi Jinping pointed out that currently, the economic globalization is encountering some complicated challenges, but the tide of economic globalization was irreversible, with all countries’ interests becoming more blended into one another with each passing day. The irresistible trend is that good and bad fate must be shared by all. Constantly creating better lives is the expectation held by the peoples of all countries. China is a beneficiary of economic globalization, it is even more a contributor, and will unswervingly keep to the path of peaceful development, pursue a strategy of mutual benefit and win-win, and continue to add more drive to open global economic development. Together will the peoples of all countries of the world, we will promote a direction in which economic globalization faces more openness, tolerance, benefit, balance and win-win, making economic globalization benefitting the people of all the countries of the world better.

习近平指出，当前，经济全球化遇到一些曲折困难，但经济全球化潮流不可逆转，各国利益日益交融、命运更加休戚与共是大势所趋，不断创造更加美好的生活是各国人民的共同期待。中国是经济全球化的受益者，更是贡献者，将坚定不移走和平发展道路，奉行互利共赢开放战略，继续为开放型世界经济发展增添动力，同世界各国人民一道，推动经济全球化朝着更加开放、包容、普惠、平衡、共赢的方向发展，让经济全球化更好造福世界各国人民。

The “Reading and Understanding China” international conference has been successfully held three times before. About 600 people, including thirty well-known politicians, strategists, scholars and entrepreneurs from all over the world, are taking part in the conference.

“读懂中国”国际会议迄今已成功举办三届。今年有包括30余位全球知名政治家、战略家、学者、企业家在内的约600人与会。

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Note

¹⁾ literally: societal revolution (社会革命), self-revolution (自我革命)
²⁾ more literally: humankind’s common destiny community
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Related

Warming sunshine, Jan 20, 2017

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CCTV News, Oct 12: High-Quality Employment

The following is a translation of a news item from CCTV‘s 19:00 h flagship newscast “Xinwen Lianbo”, titled Efforts in many fields for the steady realization of high-quality employment (多领域发力 稳步实现高质量就业, main link).

The statistics should be taken with some salt – there isn’t much reason to believe that Xi Jinping‘s “new era” (spelling higher pressure on regional and local officials to deliver victorious results) whould come with more accurate numbers than in the previous decade of collective leadership. However, the reports are probably not completely out of tune with daily lives either, because that would make for rather inefficient propaganda.

While CCTV apparently authored the news item, other websites have republished it, including that of the Chinese state council and Sina.com.

This news item came after coverage on Xi Jinping’s visit to India and his talks with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi (items 1 and 2), and Li Keqiang chairing a session of the national energy commission (item 3).

It was then followed (and ideologically complemented) by news about cultural activities in all regions to promote “patriotism” (item 5), young students striving to become “keepers of the dream of national rejuvenation” (item 6), and visiting students from Hong Kong experiencing the great era and merging into national development (item 7).

Familiar approach: “help companies’ rapid development – tax reductions set them free” – click photo for video

Xinwen Lianbo — Employment is the biggest livelihood of the people. From January to August this year, 9.84 million new jobs have been added at city and town levels, thus arriving at nearly ninety percent of the planned number this year. Behind the generally stable employment situation is increased employment quality and a richer development scene.

央视网消息（新闻联播）：就业是最大的民生。今年1至8月，我国城镇新增就业984万人，完成了全年计划的近九成，就业形势整体稳定的背后，是就业更高质量、更充分发展的新图景。

As night falls, tourists in Yichang, Hubei Province, prepare to board a pleasure boat for a night trip on the Yangtze River.

夜幕降临，在湖北宜昌，游客们准备登游轮夜游长江。

One of the Yangtze nighttime travelling project’s features is that it has added two-hundred new jobs. A mountain light show put up by Hengpocun village at Pingyao, Shanxi Province, has not only kept all villagers from idling, but has also brought more than three-hundred villagers from peripheral villages into employment, too. The number of entities taking part in the Jiangnan¹⁾ “evening economy” has reached ten-thousand households and has brought more than 11,000 people into work.

宜昌一个长江夜游项目的推出，就增加了近200个就业岗位；山西平遥横坡村布设的山间灯光展，不仅让全村无闲人，还带动周边村庄300多人就业；济南参与“夜间经济”的市场主体达到1万户，带动就业超过11,000人。

The newly developing economy’s vitality broadens the scale of employment. The emergence of new industries and the upgradings of traditional ones create more high-class and more high-quality employment opportunities.

新兴经济的活力源，扩大着就业规模。而新产业的出现和传统产业的升级，创造着更多高层次和更高质量就业机会。

In a warehouse at Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, mechanical arm operator Wang Feifei runs about a dozen mechanical arms as scheduled. Once a manual worker packing the warehouse’s outgoing goods, the company’s production line mechanization upgrades have helped him to discover job upgrading opportunities, too. By taking part in training courses, he didn’t only rise from a worker’s position to that of an engineer, but his payment has also risen by nearly 40 percent.

在浙江嘉兴1的一家物流仓库，机械臂操作师王飞飞操纵着十几台机械臂有序忙碌着。曾经作为人工出库打包员的他，企业生产线的机械化升级，让他也发现了职业升级的机会。通过参加培训，他不仅从普通工人升级为了工程师，工资也增长了近40%。

Nowadays, more manpower is moving from traditional industries to the internet and digital economy, as well as to other new industries. The China Academy of Information and Communications Technology‘s (CAICT) “2019 China Digital Economy Development and Employment White Paper” shows that in 2018, China’s digital economy’s job number was at 191 million, with an increase widely above that of the overall number of newly created jobs nation-wide. A list published by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social security this year includes thirteen new professions, supporting people who are looking for more valuable and more personalized professional development.

如今，更多的劳动力从传统产业中转移出来，向互联网、数字经济等新行业发展。中国信息通信研究院发布的《中国数字经济发展与就业白皮书（2019年）》3显示，2018年中国数字经济领域就业岗位为1.91亿个，增速大大高于同期全国总就业规模增速。人社部今年公布了一张包含13个新职业的榜单，支持人们寻求更高价值、个性化职业发展。

Since this year, the state, by implementing more ample and more high-quality employment policies, has sustained pressure and compacting. To strengthen technical skills, 100 billion Yuan have been taken from unemployment insurance fund surpluses, to carry out skills upgrades and vocational retraining with a focus on university students, migrant workers and other key communities. Accurate classification and assistance in finding jobs, job security, universally beneficial tax cuts and non-wage labor cost reductions as well as other “burden reduction” measures have helped enterprises in keeping up their strength in creating jobs.

今年以来国家把实现更加充分、更高质量就业的政策持续压紧压实。强技能，国家从失业保险基金结余中拿出1000亿元实施职工技能提升和转岗转业培训；瞄重点，聚焦大学生、农民工等重点群体，精准分类，帮扶就业；稳岗位，实行普惠性减税、社保费率降低等一系列 “减负”措施，让企业就业承载力强。

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Notes

¹⁾ The actual CCTV script says “Jinan” (济南), which would be Shandong Province’s capital. This is probably a typo and should spell “Jiangnan”, i. e. the region south of the Yangze under this name.

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Related

Li Keqiang’s consolation tour, Febr 4, 2017
Li Keqiang visiting the poor, Febr 14, 2015

Prague committed betrayal, but it was us, because we were faster

According to Guanchazhe, an online news portal in Shanghai quoting from a press conference at China’s embassy in Prague, it was Prague’s city council.

Prague unilaterally ended city friendship agreement¹⁾ with Beijing, our embassy’s reaction

布拉格单方面终止同北京市友城协议，我大使馆回应

Question: on October 7, the Prague municipal committee²⁾ decided to end the city friendship agreement it had signed with Beijing. Could you please tell us if the Chinese embassy to the Czech Republic has a comment about this?

问：10月7日，布拉格市委会决定终止布拉格市同北京市签署的友城协议。请问中国驻捷克大使馆对此有何评论？

Answer: We have taken note of Prague’s municipal committee’s decision to unilaterally end the city friendship agreement it had signed with Beijing and to pass this on to the the city assembly for consideration. This kind of behavior can even be called treachery, desctruction of Sino-Czech relations and of the atmosphere of the two countries’ local exchange and cooperation. Beijing city has already filed solemn protest to Prague.

答：我们注意到，布拉格市委会日前决定单方面终止该市同北京市签署的友城协议并提交市议会审议。这种行为可谓背信弃义，破坏中捷关系和两国地方交流合作氛围。北京市已就此向布拉格市提出严正抗议。

Concerning this, I would like to emphasize that the one-China principle is a matter of Chinese sovereignty and territorial integrity, touches upon China’s core interests, is the foundation and a prerequisite for all of China’s external exchange and cooperation, and also an accepted international relations’ norm and the international community’s general consensus. The Czech government has consistently supported the one-China principle. China wants to continue the work with the Czech government and all walks of life, for the promotion of exchange and cooperation on all levels between China and the Czech Republic, including the strengthening of the two countries’ local friendly exchange and cooperation.

在此我要强调，一个中国原则事关中国主权和领土完整，涉及中方核心利益，是中方开展一切对外交流合作的基础和前提，也是公认的国际关系准则和国际社会普遍共识。捷克政府一贯坚持一个中国原则。中方愿同捷克政府和社会各界一道，持续推进中捷各层级各领域交流合作，包括加强两国地方友好交流合作。

We urge the Prague municipal authorities to correct their course soon, in tune with the great trend of the era and the advancing tide of history, and to get back onto the correct track of promoting the development of bilateral relations. Otherwise, their own interests will be harmed in the end.

我们敦促布拉格市政当局早日改弦更张，顺应时代发展大势和历史进步潮流，回到促进双方关系发展的正确轨道上来，否则最终损害的将是他们自己的利益。

Guanchazhe published the above Q and A on Wednesday.

But according to Beijing News (新京报), a paper from Beijing, republished here by sina.com on Thursday, it was Beijing’s foreign affair’s office (waiban) that took the decision.

Ever since November 2018, the new Prague authorities’ main officials and others, in disregard of accepted international relations’ norm and the international community’s general consensus, despite China’s solemn position and strong opposition, has again and again taken wrong measures and made improper remarks concerning Taiwan, Tibet and other Chinese core interests.

2018年11月以来，捷克布拉格市新一届市政当局主要官员等人，无视国际关系基本准则和国际社会共识，不顾中方严正立场和强烈反对，屡屡在台湾、涉藏等涉及中方核心利益的重大问题上采取错误行动并发表不当言论。

According to Beijing News, Beijing city’s waiban published its statement on October 9, suggesting that it was Beijing that ended the sister partnership.

We hope that the related personnel²⁾ will soon become aware of the mistake and remove the negative effects by practical actions.

希望布拉格市有关人员早日认识错误，以实际行动消除负面影响。

The paper also notes that the two cities had signed the agreement in March 2016. China Radio International quoted then Prague mayor, Adriana Krnacova, as referring to the partnership as a big opportunity to make educational exchanges, for students to travel back and forth and learn from each other.

According to the South China Morning Post, Prague’s city council had voted to end the agreement after current mayor Zdenek Hrib’s unsuccessful efforts to get Beijing to remove a “one China” pledge from the agreement.

Hrib had never been in Beijing’s good books. Probably, the bid to remove the “one-China” clause from the agreement, and a visit to Taiwan, including a meeting with the country’s president Tsai Ing-wen, were major acts of wrong measures and improper remarks by that piece of personnel from Prague.

Either way, a sinologist from Prague, commenting on Radio Prague International on Thursday, didn’t come across as terribly worried about the consequences, while foreign minister Tomáš Petříček was quoted as saying that said threats had no place in diplomacy.

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¹⁾ usually referred to as a sister city relationship in Western media
²⁾ What is referred to as “municipal committee” by Beijing News (in accordance with Chinese local government structures) is actually Prague’s city council
³⁾ 有关人员

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Double-Ten 2019: Tsai’s speech, Han’s white paper

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1. President’s speech

President Tsai Ing-wen’s national day speech is available

• • in Chinese and
  • in English

Among other issues, she rejected the “one country, two systems” concept advocated by Beijing.

Former president Ma Ying-jeou (2008 – 2016) and former vice president Lü Hsiu-lien (Anette Lü, 2000 – 2008) attended the event.

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Han Kuo Yu’s white paper

KMT presidential candidate (and Kaohsiung mayor) Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) gave a speech at a flag-raising ceremony in Kaohsiung on October 9.

Han has also announced a white paper concerning relations with mainland China. The KMT’s “92 consensus” (九二共識) is believed to feature prominently in Han’s policies (as it has in former president Ma Ying-jeou’s), and the paper is also excpected to state “the defense of the Republic of China’s sovereignty”, “under the precondition of “one China with different interpretations” (一中各表).

While the “92 consensus” has long been disputed in Taiwan anyway (including the question if Beijing actually ever recognized such a consensus, or if it has been a KMT fantasy all along), Beijing’s more recent demands – “one country, two systems” to include Taiwan – mean that either way, a KMT president would be at odds with Beijing, just as is the current Tsai administration.