“Three Proposals, concerning the Development of Agriculture and Rural Areas”

The following are translated excerpts from an article by China’s domestic radio network, CPBS. Links within blockquotes added during translation.
Main Link: “Suggestions for increased investment into the construction of rural infrastructure”

^{Han Fengxiang, CPBS coverage, March 10, 2023}

CPBS online, Beijing, March 10, Reporter Wang Chi. 2023’s No. 1 central document has made clear provisions concerning increased investment in rural infrastructure construction and the promotion of the rural industries’ high-quality development. Three proposals brought about by Han Fengxiang, delegate to the National People’s Congress and director of Fenghuangshan Agricultural Machinery Farmers Professional Cooperative in Lishu County, Siping City, Jilin Province, are closely related to the development of agriculture and rural areas. They are “Proposal concerning increased investment in large agricultural counties’ rural infrastructure”, “Proposal on increased support for integrated technology for black-soil conservation and practical solidification of food security foundations in Jilin”, and “Proposal for increased support for professional agricultural cooperatives”.
央广网北京3月10日消息（记者王迟）2023年中央一号文件对加强农业基础设施建设，推动乡村产业高质量发展等方面作出了明确规定。今年全国两会，全国人大代表、吉林省四平市梨树县凤凰山农机农民专业合作社理事长韩凤香带来的三份议案均与农业农村发展密切相关，分别为《关于加大对农业大县农村基础设施投入力度的建议》《关于加大黑土地保护集成技术支持力度 切实夯实吉林粮食安全根基的建议》《关于加大对农民专业合作社扶持力度的建议》。

[…]

Proposal to increase support for farmers’ professional cooperatives
There are currently agricultural 3,040 cooperatives in Lishu County. “Farmers have joined cooperatives to farm the land intensively. The level of mechanization and the production efficiency have seen great improvement. Apart from land dividends, they also increase incomes by working as agricultural machine operators, working outside the cooperative, etc.”, Han Fengxiang told this reporter.
建议加大对农民专业合作社的扶持力度
目前，梨树县有农民合作社3040个。“农民加入合作社，将土地进行集约经营，农业机械化水平和生产效率都有了很大提高，社员们除了土地分红，还通过在合作社当农机手、外出打工等增加收入。”韩凤香告诉记者。

Han Fengxiang said that taking Lishu County as an example, there are many cooperatives, but only 266 of them have reached above-county-level model cooperative standard^*), while most of them don’t meet the standards. They are rather small, without much strength, and low degrees of specialization. There are especially few large-scale specialized agricultural machinery cooperatives and cultivation cooperatives, and they could hardly meet the requirements of scales and standardization of all villages. To a certain degree, this had hampered the development of expanded farming.
韩凤香表示，以梨树县为例，合作社数量很多，但其中达到县级以上示范社标准的合作社仅有266家，多数合作社不够规范。规模较小、实力不强、专业化程度低，特别是大型农机农民专业合作社、养殖合作社较少，难以满足各村规模化、标准化作业需要，在一定程度上制约了规模化经营发展。

Therefore, Han Fengxiang suggests to continuously increase the extent of support for farmers’ and agricultural machinery specialization cooperatives, to improve complementary agricultural machinery subsidy standards, expand the scope of subsidies, and to strengthen the cooperatives’ motivation to update and to renew machines and equipment. Secondly, continuously bring into play the positive factors of cooperatives in socialization services, to explore business opportunities in line with local circumstances, thus safeguarding farmers’ incomes and protecting national food security at the same time.
为此，韩凤香建议进一步加大对农民农机专业合作社的扶持力度，提高配套农机具补贴标准，扩大补贴范围，增强合作社更新换代机械设备的积极性。其次，进一步发挥合作社在社会化服务中的积极作用，因地制宜探索适合本土的经营模式，既保证农民收益，又维护国家粮食安全。

[Contact data]

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Note

*)

Out of those 3,040 cooperatives in total, mentioned in the previous paragraph, that is. China’s central-goverment ministry of agriculture calls on agricultural departments of all provinces, “autonomous regions”, municipalities under the central government and of East Turkestan (Xinjiang) “to implement the central government’s requirements concerning the highlighting of developing new business units, and the deepened promotion of requirements for the stablishment of model farming cooperatives”.

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Related

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Qu Dongyu, FAO, Aug 1, 2019
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China’s Position: Ukraine still hopes for the Best

On February 27, Ukraine issued a rejection of sorts of China’s February 24 position paper “on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis”. Advisor to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Mykhailo Podolyak, told “Freedom TV”  that the only effective measure the position paper called for was “immediate cessation of fire.”

“This means that Russia will remain in the occupied territories, we will have a new dividing line, and we will have a slow absorption of Ukraine. That is, the slow death of Ukraine,” the TV station quoted Pdolyak.

The rejection from Zelensky’s office, but only in an unofficial interview, suggests that Kiev doesn’t want to anger Beijing and possibly provoke Chinese lethal-arms supplies to Russia that wouldn’t happen otherwise.

^{中共中央外事工作委员会办公室主任王毅会见乌克兰外长库列巴，慕尼黑，Febr 18, 2023}

In an article published on March 3, “Freedom TV” quotes interviewees as saying that “it is too early to say that China is openly opposing Ukraine”. China’s “global ambitions”, its long common border with Russia, and its dependence on Russian energy supplies as well as the two countries’ traditional alliance are quoted as factors supporting the bilateral relationship, but “Beijing will not sacrifice its own well-being because of Russia, experts are sure”.

Part of China’s “well-beings” is the arable land it owns in Ukraine. It shouldn’t be too difficult to replace, given that Beijing’s investment companies are scouting all continents for farmable land to buy or rent, but it wouldn’t be fun to see the goose being killed by Russia – even if it isn’t quite the “golden” goose.

Besides, at least one of “Voice of America’s” interlocutors, Taiwan International Strategic Study Society director Ching-Sheng Lo (羅慶生), took a rather critical view of China’s food security, a year ago.

Lo Ching-Sheng says: “Having bought that much grain, with storage for a year and a half, there’s nothing to care about – no problem in the short run. If this should turn into an Afghanistan kind of war of twenty years, China’s problems will be very big.”
罗庆生说：“因为中国买了太多粮食的关系，它储存了一年半的粮食，所以一年半之内它不会有事情，所以短期的话没问题。长期的话，如果说变成阿富汗战争那个样子打个20年，那中国的问题就很大了。”

But the Russian hinterland will count more than Ukraine – be it for China’s “global ambitions”, be it for its food security. Beijing took a speaking decision in early February, 2022, a few weeks before the Russian invasion of Ukraine started. Answer to the unfolding crisis: more grain imports from Russia.

Ukraine’s hopes on China are unreasonably high. As Zongyuan Zoe Liu, a fellow for international political economy at the Council on Foreign Relations, recently wrote,

The party can survive setbacks in the chip war, but the stakes are much higher in the fight for food security. Failure on the food security front will threaten the survival of the regime.

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Related

Kuleba addresses Asia, March 22, 2022

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Some Porridge, some Rice: China’s New Normal?

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Xi Jinping’s new year address for 2023 has been flowery as usual, but it also comes with some frugal characteristics. If it is such great news that China has maintained its position as the world’s second-largest economy, times must be tough indeed, especially when you take into consideration that (according to China’s propaganda) the world’s biggest economy, i. e. America, has gone to hell in a basket. If they are still bigger than China now, where is China?

According to the great helmsman, China has “blown the trumpet to signal the brave beginning of a new journey” (吹响了奋进新征程的时代号角), with “stable and steady economic development” (stable and steady probably referring to the lowest growth numbers since the last years of Mao Zedong’s reign), a 19th consecutive bumper harvest this year (十九连丰), and “the consolidation of achievements made in shedding poverty”  (我们巩固脱贫攻坚成果). —Corrections, Jan 27^*)

How green is our motherland? (Source: Beijing News, Dec 31, 2022)

With the Scarce Resources always on your Mind

Generally, Chinese propaganda points out that its 19th bumper harvest in a row has been achieved while the world had been facing a food crisis. That’s not a big deal when you consider that Russia hasn’t blocked China’s northeastern provinces from the rest of the country, but it may be considered an invitation to the Chinese public to cherish self-sufficiency.

As for the “new phase of pandemic prevention and control now entered” by China, Xi doesn’t wade into the details, and just sees the light – or the dawn of a new era – ahead (目前，疫情防控进入新阶段，仍是吃劲的时候，大家都在坚忍不拔努力，曙光就在前头).
The lines closest to Xi’s heart – if the communist faith he’s wearing on his sleeves is real – are probably these:

After the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party I and other colleagues went to Yan’an together, to renew what we had learned about the magnificent years when the Party’s Central Committee prevailed over difficulties rarely seen over generations and to appreciate the spiritual strength of the old generation of communists. I frequently say that difficulties and deprivation only perfect the jade. The Communist Party of China’s past one-hundred years have been hard work in the open regardless of the weather, cutting their way through thistles and thorns,  – how difficult and great the journey has been. We want to advance further, keep struggling, and make tomorrow’s China even better.
党的二十大后我和同事们一起去了延安，重温党中央在延安时期战胜世所罕见困难的光辉岁月，感悟老一辈共产党人的精神力量。我常说，艰难困苦，玉汝于成。中国共产党百年栉风沐雨、披荆斩棘，历程何其艰辛又何其伟大。我们要一往无前、顽强拼搏，让明天的中国更美好。

Both China’s economic plans and its “great-power diplomacy” appear to be in some trouble. As for China’s economy, it would take a real lot of innovation to catch up with the ageing of society. And China’s “great-power diplomacy” (大国外交), although re-iterated by Xi in another new-year address one day ealier, to a meeting of the Chinese People’s Consultative Conference on December 30th, appears to have fed its wolf-warriors some chalk. For now, that is.

There is no reason to believe that China has given up on “replacing” America, or on other major goals, “core interests” and what have you. But the CPC leaders are revisiting and reassessing the foundations of their power. The emphasis on food security suggests that self-sufficiency in that field will always be a priority – China doesn’t only distrust the sealanes, it also distrusts its immediate neighbors. And if America’s restrictions on chip and chip-manufacturing equipment supplies to China find international support and cooperation, China’s growth plans will probably need to be postponed.

When enumerating China’s moderate successes to Chinese People’s Consultative Conference members, Xi emphasized that those successes hadn’t been “easy to achieve” or “easy to come by” (来之不易). That term is linked to a proverb about man’s most basic needs, i. e. food and clothing. My try at a translation:

Some porridge and rice aren’t easy to come by,half a silk or cotton thread, permanently bear in mind how scarce are your resources.
一粥一饭，当思来处不易；半丝半缕，恒念物力维艰

That’s also where China’s grassroot propaganda – in the shape of newspapers more prominent than, say, “People’s Daily” – is taking us as it picks up Xi’s reference to the latest bumper harvest: to the countryside. Here, too, none of the bumper harvests has been “easy to come by”. The proverb didn’t feature prominently in politics articles before the end of December, while it was popular in all other kinds of (less basic-need-related) online articles or comments. Now, it is represents the flavor of the new era.

To help the readers understand the significance of this year’s output, his attention is drawn to a number of natural disasters.

Delicious Meat then, Tough Bones now

How planned are China’s readjustments? The new “cold war” China keeps warning us of may not have been intended by Beijing, but it was provoked by Beijing.

Either way, tough times have occasionally been predicted by China’s propaganda before, and by its supreme mouth not least. In February 2014, Xi Jinping told Russian television that

After 30 years of reform, China has entered the deep water [or blue water], and all the pleasant reforms have been completed. The delicious meat has been eaten, and what is still on the dishes are rather tough bones. This requires our courage, and steady moves. Courage means to push reform even when it is difficult, and to prove worthy, to tackle the hard bones, and to enter dangerous shoals. Steadiness is about keeping to the accurate direction, driving steadily, and, above all, to avoid disruptive mistakes.

The Russians must have been an understanding audience. Now, eight years later, Xi needs to find out how understanding the Chinese are.
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Notes

^*) Corrected – previous text:
… and “the consolidation of hard-earned achievements made in previous difficult missions” (我们巩固脱贫攻坚成果)
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Hebei Province: a Sense of Frost

^{Click picture for “Jimu News” video}

The following is not a translation but my loose repetition of some of its content – JR

Main link: “near zero degrees”

“I never thought that the drop in temperature would be that hefty,” “Jimu News” quotes a farmer from Guyuan County, Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province.
There had been a blue alert of cold weather, issued by the Zhangjiakou Meteorological Obervatory on Thursday afternoon (August 25), saying that temperatures could be as low as 1 to 4° Celsius in Kangbao County, Guyuan County, Shangyi County among other places in the morning of Saturday (August 27), and suggested that farmers took precautions.

The farmer sensed frost when waking up and then found frozen water in the courtyard’s basin. Rushing to his fields, he found that leaves of zuchini as well as zuchini in its early stages had been killed.

“Jimu News” got similar accounts from other farmers, but does not quantify the overall damage done in the region. The quoted farmer estimates his personal damage at about 40,000 yuan, while in a normal year, he would have made 80,000 yuan RMB from 10 mu. This year, his picking season would end one month early.

A trader from Shandong Province is quoted with expecations of higher prices. Some kind of common beans (芸豆) are said to have been at 9.4 yuan per kilogram on Friday, but to have risen to over 14 yuan per kilogram by Saturday.^*) Some areas had even stopped production, the trader is quoted.

Also from the trader’s point of view, based on five years of his own activity, frost has been early by one month, as it would usually be expected in late September.

Some web pages with the “Jimu News” article have been removed. The above draws on news.cnhubei.com content (also removed), but it still seems to be available elsewhere.

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Notes

*)	除此之外，芸豆的产量和价格也受到了影响。“26号芸豆还是4块7一斤，今天7块多了，基本上一天涨一块。”刘华说，即便收购价格还不错，但当地芸豆产量也不多了。

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Guizhou: Old Revolutionary Areas brimming with Happiness

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Main Link: Advance bravely on the new journey (奋进新征程), CCTV main evening news, May 22, 2022

Links within blockquotes added during translation.

Brimming with happiness: guess who
they are listening to

Advance bravely on the new journey, contribute feats to the new era, see the new face of the old revolutionary areas – Continue the red bloodline to write a flamboyant new Guizhou chapter by your actions
【奋进新征程 建功新时代·走进老区看新貌】赓续红色血脉 谱写多彩贵州新篇章
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Source: CCTV, May 22, 2022, 19:10 Beijing time
来源：央视网2022年05月22日 19:10
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CCTV news (Xinwen Lianbo): Guizhou was the province where the Red Army’s activity went on longest and with the broadest scope; Hunan, Hubei, Chongqing and Guizhou, [aka 湘鄂川黔] left and right of the Changjiang, the old revolutionary base area covered some 43 counties (cities and regions). Since the Communist Party of China’s 18th National Congress, under the strong leadership of the Party’s Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core, the cadres and masses in Guizhou have made full use of revolutionary tradition, continued [gēng xù] the red bloodline, struggled collectively, and wrote a colorful chapter of Guizhou’s modernization and construction.
央视网消息（新闻联播）：贵州是长征时红军活动时间最长、活动范围最广的省份，湘鄂渝黔、左右江革命老区覆盖贵州43个县（市、区）。党的十八大以来，在以习近平同志为核心的党中央坚强领导下，贵州广大干部群众发扬革命传统，赓续红色血脉，团结奋斗，谱写多彩贵州现代化建设新篇章。
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Guizhou’s Zunyi belongs to the old revolutionary area of Hunan, Hubei, Chongqing and Guizhou, and Huamao Village is located in the mountainous northwestern area of Zunyi City. In May, Huamao Village with its white walls and grey roof tiles is surrounded by crystal-clear water and green hills, the farming hotbeds are flourishing, and large numbers of tourists come to the village for sight-seeing and to experience the ancient ways of producing ceramic art. It is hard to imagine that this beautiful village with its flourishing industries and tourism was once called “the fields of desolate reeds” for being overwhelmed with poverty.
贵州遵义属于湘鄂渝黔革命老区，花茂村地处遵义市西部山区。五月的花茂村绿水青山环抱白墙灰瓦，农业产业园里采收正旺；大批游客来村里参观游览，体验古法陶艺。然而很难想象，现在这个产业兴、旅游旺的美丽村庄在多年前因为贫困荒芜被叫作“荒茅田”。
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Guizhou was once the whole country’s poorest province with the largest number of poor inhabitants and with most intense and widely-spread poverty, and more than half of these impoverished areas were part of the old revolutionary base territory.
贵州曾经是全国贫困人口最多、贫困程度最深、贫困面最广的省份，而这些贫困地区中又有一半以上属于革命老区。
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Secretary General Xi Jinping has shown concern [qiānguà] for the old area’s masses all along, and wanted to build the old revolutionary area better, so that the people of the old areas would lead better lives. After the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Secretary General Xi Jinping has visited Guizhou twice for inspection and research. Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that “good days come after hard work”, and that poverty needn’t be feared and every difficulty can be overcome as long as there is confidence and determination.
习近平总书记始终牵挂着老区群众，要把革命老区建设得更好，让老区人民过上更好生活。党的十八大以来，习近平总书记两次到贵州考察调研。在遵义花茂村，习近平总书记强调，好日子是干出来的，贫困并不可怕，只要有信心、有决心，就没有克服不了的困难。
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Earnest and affectionate trust stirs people into action. After The CPC’s 18th National Congress, Guizhou launched an overall attack on absolute poverty, held poverty in check and pulled out the roots of poverty, and from infrastructure construction to relocation projects, the state has, in its central budget, arranged 124.22 billion Yuan RMB for key infrastruc-ture construction and relocation in the old revolutionary areas. Guizhou has dispatched nearly 100,000 cadres into the old areas to be stationed there for mutual help and support, to establish mechanisms with long-term effects, employment security, education and medical care, etc. continuously improving and continuously solidify the old-areas masses’ “two free-from-worries and three guarantees” foundations.
殷殷嘱托饱含深情，催人奋进。党的十八大以来，贵州向绝对贫困发起总攻，挪穷窝、拔穷根，从基础设施建设到易地搬迁项目，国家安排中央预算内资金1242.18亿元重点支持老区建设；贵州选派近10万名干部在老区驻点帮扶，建起对口帮扶长效机制；就业保障、教育医疗等体系逐步完善，全面夯实老区群众“两不愁、三保障”基础。
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In December 2019, Huamao village, based on special-interest tourism and agricultural development, got completely rid of poverty. In November 2020, Hunan, Hubei, Chongqing and Guizhou, in the old revolutionary areas left and right of the Changjiang, the 35 poor districts were cleared.
2019年12月，依靠特色旅游、现代农业发展起来的花茂村全部脱贫。2020年11月，湘鄂渝黔、左右江革命老区贵州境内的35个贫困县全部摘帽。
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The people’s lives become more prosperous with each passing day, and the landscape sees rapid development. During the past ten years, advantageous and characteristic trades of vegetables, edible mushrooms and tea leaves have taken shape in Guizhou’s old revolutionary areas. It used to be said that “the water won’t nourish the people next to it”¹⁾ in the mountains. Having relocated and become free from poverty, the masses have become new citizens of cities and towns. During the past ten years, in districts in Guizhou, one after another, the expressway has been extended and built through Zunyi and southwestern Guizhou. Airports have been built and expanded. At present, the Guiyang-Nanning High-speed Railway’s Guizhou section is being built, and train traffic is scheduled for next year. In the future, high-speed railways will link all old revolutionary areas in Guizhou with each other. Today, the old revolutionary areas’ masses are brimming with happiness.
人民生活蒸蒸日上，老区面貌日新月异。十年来，贵州革命老区形成蔬菜、食用菌、茶叶等特色优势产业；曾经“一方水土养不了一方人”的大山里，群众们通过易地扶贫搬迁成为城镇新市民。十年来，贵州革命老区县县通高速，遵义、黔西南等地新建、扩建机场。眼下，贵南高铁贵州段即将铺轨，明年建成通车。未来，高铁网将串联起贵州境内所有革命老区。如今，老区群众洋溢着满满的幸福感。
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Having kept to the bottomlines of development and ecology ever since the CPC’s 18th National Congress, a new landscape of green development has been painted on this red-colored homeland. Guizhou’s old revolutionary areas have fully implemented the river-chief system and developed industries typical for the mountainous areas. Next, Guizhou will focus on the old revolutionary areas’ high-quality development²⁾, accelerate the formation of newly emerging industrial clusters, promote new-type industrialization, new-type urbanization, agricultural modernization and tourism industrialization, sparing no effort on the new road of West development in the new era.
守住发展和生态两条底线，党的十八大以来，这片红色热土上还不断绘就绿色发展新图景。贵州革命老区全面落实河长制，发展山地特色产业。接下来，贵州聚焦革命老区高质量发展，加速培育新兴产业集群，推动新型工业化、新型城镇化、农业现代化和旅游产业化，奋力在新时代西部大开发上闯出新路。

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Notes

¹⁾ The original saying is that “each place has its water for its people”, and it’s changed here to suggest that there was no survival in the mountains in Guizhou
²⁾ In the CPC’s words, “high-quality development” is “the establishment and improvement of an economic system for green, low-carbon and circular development”, in accordance with a report by the CPC’s 19th national congress in 2017
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SARS-Covid Outbreak: a Meeting with Experts and Entrepreneurs

While the Shanghai lockdown (which must not be called a lockdown) continued, China’s state council held a meeting “with experts and entrepreneurs” on Thursday, to “analyse economic conditions and hear ideas and suggestions about the next steps”, Xinhua news agency reported on Friday. Li Keqiang chaired the meeting in his capacities as member of the CPC politburo standing committee and as chief state councillor.

Main Link

Also attending were people representing China Railway Materials and Qingdao AInnovation  Technology company, stating their opinions about economic operation, company situations etc., and making suggestions about safeguarding logistics and rural capital provisions, and about promoting entrepreneurial innovation.

Mentioned as participants were deputy chief state councillor Han Zheng, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences researcher Yang Zhiyong, Bank of China researcher Guan Tao, and, as party of state officials, Hu Chunhua (politburo member and deputy chief state councillor), Liu He (same functions as Hu), Wang Yong (former SASAC chairman, now a member of the state council in charge of issues faced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Xiao Jie (member of the state council and Secretary General of the State Council), Zhao Kezhi (Party Committee Secretary of the Ministry of Public Security and heading the ministry as member of the state council), and He Lifeng (member of the state council in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission, NDRC).

Xinwen Lianbo, April 8, 2022, evening broadcast

You can probably imagine the importance of Zhao Kezhi’s attendance in the context of the meeting’s hardly-mentioned real topic – but it makes sense to take note of every participant mentioned in communiqués like this one by Xinhua. Their tasks may speak greater volumes than the description of the agenda.

It needs to be said that the article doesn’t exactly emphasize China’s current SARS-Covid outbreak – it is only “casually” mentioned, as one of a number of suddenly emerging factors in international and domestic environment that are confronting the economy with greater uncertainties and challenges.

The obligatory reference to Comrade Xi Jinping is made at the beginning,  although it is technically meaningless. It may, however, indicate the limits of what participants may describe or suggest during such a meeting, and also, you have to mention Xi anyway. With reference to the “sudden domestic Covid outbreak situation” (国内疫情近期多发), a need both  to keep up the faith and to face up to the difficulties is emphasized. More generally, “high-quality development” is restated, and so is a need to deepen reform and individual initiative, and “a flexibility in accepting the challenges” (应变克难). Focus is also given to stable growth, stable employment and stable prices (稳就业, 稳物价).

Li pointed out problems faced particularly by SMEs and self-employed workers & business people. Help and support them pass through the crisis is mentioned, some concrete measures too, but without detailed outlines. Concrete measures are an utmost pace by which to handle VAT rebates, and to make funds arrive at the accounts of those in need.

The primary sector is required to provide ample harvests (farming) and advanced coal production capacities (energy), and “marketization, rule of law and internationalization” are also given a mention.

The meeting ranked fourth as a news item in China’s main evening news broadcast of Xinwen Lianbo” today, after an “important speech” given by Xi Jinping at the end of the Paralympics, a reference to an editorial about the “spirit of the Beijing Olympics”, and news about a telephone conversation between Xi Jinping and the president of the Philippines.

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Food Security: Dmytro Kuleba addresses Asia

The following is an excerpt from Radio Ukraine’s early-morning news in English at 01:00 UTC on 1278 kHz medium wave.
Reception was patchy, and my transcription therefore contains a few gaps. Comments and corrections are welcome.

Radio Ukraine International QSL card, around 2016^*)

Russia’s war against Ukraine has already led to unprecedented price increase and …. for the word’s food trade. Russia’s invasion will not only affect prices, but also future harvests. It applies not just to wheat but to other grains as well. For the last couple of years, the Ukrainian export of corn has significantly grown. The country is the fourth-largest exporter and … for sixteen percent of the world corn trade. Ukraine is also the world’s largest exporter of [seed] oil. Foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba comments:

“You will see the repercussions of this war because of the interrupted chains of supply of agricultural products from Ukraine. I may recall that 55 percent of sunflower oil on the global market is supplied from Ukraine. Every tenth loaf of bread in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa is made with use of Ukrainian wheat. We didn’t want this war. We want peace, we want to trade, we want to be a food guarantor for Asia, for all other parts of the world. We have but to achieve that to get back to the mountain – we have to stop Putin. And therefore I call all Asian nations to demand from Russia to stop this crazy war.”

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^*) South East Asia DXing, March 5, 2016
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Xi Jinping’s “Inspiring New Year Address” in the Tibetan Media

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The following is a translation of a Chinese-language piece by “Tibet Daily”, the CPC’s party organ published in Tibet. It was also broadcast by PBS Tibet, even as late as on January 3.

Links within blockquotes added during translation.

The 2019 enthusiasm routine (Google search result)

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Keep in mind what the leadership entrusted you with. Put into practice the originally intended mission. — Chairman Xi Jinping’s new year’s message evokes wide-spread strong reactions among cadres and masses
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牢记领袖嘱托 践行初心使命——习近平主席新年贺词在西藏广大干部群众中引发强烈反响
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Published on Jan 2, 2022, 09:50:57. Source: Tibet Daily. Authors: Zhang Meng/Shi Jinru/Zhou Tingting
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发布时间：2022-01-02 09:50:57来源：西藏日报 作者：张猛 史金茹 周婷婷
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“What we experiencing in these flying times is an indomitable and prospering China. You find people here who inspire affection and respect, every day sees new development, and a cause passed on through the generations.” Once Chairman Xi Jinping’s new year’s eve greeting had been published on New Year’s Eve, it immediately evoked enthusiastic reactions among the broad cadreship and the masses. Everyone, one after another, said that Chairman Xi Jinping’s speech had been heartwarming and activating. In the new year, they will unite even more closely around the Party’s Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core, keep in mind what the leadership entrusted them with, put into practice the originally intended mission, struggle for the construction of a united, well-off, civilized, harmonious and beautiful socialist and modern Tibet, so as to welcome the victorious 20th CPC National Congress with exceptional achievements.
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“在飞逝的时光里，我们看到的、感悟到的中国，是一个坚韧不拔、欣欣向荣的中国。这里有可亲可敬的人民，有日新月异的发展，有赓续传承的事业。”新年前夕，习近平主席的新年贺词一经发表，立即在我区广大干部群众中引发热烈反响。大家纷纷表示，习近平主席的话语温暖人心、催人奋进。在新的一年里将更加紧密地团结在以习近平同志为核心的党中央周围，牢记领袖嘱托、践行初心使命，为建设团结富裕文明和谐美丽的社会主义现代化新西藏而努力奋斗，以优异成绩迎接党的二十大胜利召开。
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“2021 was a special year, with the 100th anniversary of the CPC’s foundation. It was also the second year for me as a teacher.” After graduating from Shaanxi Normal University, “post-95er”¹ Huang Jiapei came to Linzhi City 2nd Primary School as a music teacher. He says: “Xi Jinping mentioned that we must not forget the originally intended mission, so that it will carry us through². We can only succeed with an energetic mind and vigoroous action, by being sincere and conscientious. That’s the only way for us not to betray history, not to betray the era, and not to betray the people. As an educational worker who is both someone who “pursues his dream” and someone who pursues his dream by helping children, I deeply feel the responsibility I’ve taken. In the future, I will work with an energetic mind and vigorous action, sincerely and conscientiously, continuously improve myself, be dedicated and devoted to my work, to be someone who contributes to a beautiful and happy Linzhi and who educates ever more outstanding heirs of socialism.”
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“2021年是特殊的一年，是中国共产党成立100周年，也是我正式成为一名老师的第二个年头。”从陕西师范大学毕业就来到林芝市第二小学担任音乐老师的“95后”黄嘉佩说，“习近平主席在新年贺词中提到，不忘初心，方得始终。我们唯有踔厉奋发、笃行不怠，方能不负历史、不负时代、不负人民。作为一名教育工作者，我既是一名‘追梦人’，也是助力孩子们追梦的人，深感肩负重任。未来，我将踔厉奋发、笃行不怠，不断提升自己，敬业奉献，为建设美丽幸福林芝贡献力量，努力培养更多优秀的社会主义接班人。”
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“Chairman Xi Jinping said in his New Year’s Eve greeting that comprehensive moderate prosperity and casting off poverty is what the party owes the people. It is also a contribution to the world. To let everyone lead a better life, we can’t be satisfied with the successes we see so far. We still have a long road to go.” Huang Jiabin, first secretary at the Linzhi City rural task force at Beibeng Township‘s Gelin Village says: “To keep up ambition and wisdom is vital to prevent large-scale relapse into poverty. We will combine our advantages in a solid and practical way and do our utmost to help Gelin Village’s development.”
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“习近平主席在新年贺词中提到，全面小康、摆脱贫困是我们党给人民的交代，也是对世界的贡献。让大家过上更好生活，我们不能满足于眼前的成绩，还有很长的路要走。”林芝市公安局驻墨脱县背崩乡格林村第一书记、驻村工作队队长黄家斌表示，“扶志扶智是防止规模性返贫及助力乡村振兴的关键因素，接下来他将结合自身优势，扎扎实实、尽心尽力为格林村发展添砖加瓦。”
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“Chairman Xi Jinping’s New Year’s Eve message is full of power, inspiring the will of the people, and strengthening our confidence and determination to go forward.” Zhao Wei of a science popularization unit with Tibet Autonomous Region Science and Technology Association says: “During the past year, we have operated mobile science and technology shops in Shigatse, Naqu, Lhasa, Shannan and in other places. The science and technology truck gives basic rural farmers and shephard masses as well as young people an opportunity to experience the fascination of science in a nearby place, providing them with scientific knowledge to help citizens to improve their scientific qualities. Although some villages and townships are far above sea-level and have an adverse climate, we feel that it’s worth our efforts and our hard work when we see the curiousity and happiness in the faces of the masses and the children as they experience the basics of science. We are reviewing the past year and we are looking to the future. In the new year, we will take root in Tibet even more firmly, we won’t betray the era’s determination, we will dauntlessly advance, bravely climb the summits and constantly make new contributions to science and technology popularization in the new era’s Tibet.”
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“习近平主席的新年贺词充满力量，激荡人心，坚定了我们砥砺前行的信心与决心。”西藏自治区科学技术协会科普工作队赵伟说，“过去一年，我们在日喀则、那曲、拉萨、山南等地开展流动科技馆、科普大篷车巡展工作，为基层农牧民群众和青少年送去近距离体验科学魅力的机会，为他们送去科学知识，助力公民科学素质提升。虽然有些乡镇海拔高、气候恶劣，可是，每当看到群众和孩子们充满好奇的眼神，以及动手体验科学原理时脸上洋溢着快乐的表情时，就觉得所有的艰苦与付出都是值得的。回顾过去，展望未来。新的一年里，我将更加坚定扎根西藏、不负时代的决心，奋勇向前，勇攀高峰，不断为新时代西藏科普工作作出新的贡献。”
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“As we entered the new year, Chairman Xi Jinping’s New Year’s Eve address was most heartwarming. I felt even more inspired after listening to it. Here at Dekang Community, the residents also experienced a boost in their morale, being delighted and excited.” Song Yahang, resident work team member in Dekang Community, Lhorong County in Chamdo City, says: “In a blink of an eye, almost an entire year’s stay in Dekang Community passed by for me. Time and again I have experienced the vivid struggle of the residents by the things I have seen and heard as they were unearthed. I think they are models for the whole Dekang Community. It takes exactly hard-working construction workers like them to make Dekang Community’s future even better.” Song Yahang says that in the next step, it is planned to actively carry out activities to promote investment in the community, to let residents and business people filled with ideas, with the ability and willingness to work, take along those who want to help, to work hard to create a brand-new Dekang Community.
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“跨年夜，习近平主席的新年贺词最暖心，聆听之后倍感振奋。我们德康社区居民也备受鼓舞，欢喜雀跃。”昌都市洛隆县德康社区驻村工作队队员宋亚航说，“一转眼，我到德康社区驻村将近一年，我一次次把自己所看到的、听到的、经历过的一个个鲜活的居民奋斗史挖掘出来，我觉得他们是整个德康社区的榜样。正是有了像他们这样勤奋努力的建设者，德康社区的未来和明天才会更加美好。”宋亚航表示，下一步，打算通过优惠的政策积极开展招商引资活动，让真正有想法、能干事、想干事的居民和商人引进社区，实现一人带动一帮人，以点带面的发展模式，为营造一个崭新的德康社区而努力奋斗。
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Editor in charge: Li Xia

责任编辑：李霞

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Notes

1

born after 1995

2

While the CPC has put a comprehensive claim on being “the faithful inheritor and advocate of the outstanding traditional Chinese culture” rather recently, traditional sayings have always been part of CPC speech, though probably with varying emphasis through the decades. 不忘初心，方得始终 originally refers to Buddhism – the idea that the original intention is inseparable from the final fruit if the practice continues obliviously (according to “People’s Daily”, anyway).

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