What Xi Said is a weekly rundown of the top ten emerging issues from the past seven days shaping US-China commercial relations.
What Xi Said is for global communication strategists and C-Suite executives.
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Memo: What Xi Said | Edition 12 | April 5, 2021
1. China and Iran signed a 25-year partnership agreement: China agreed to invest $400 billion in Iran over 25 years. Details of the deal were not disclosed, but expect co-operation with energy, nuclear power, and weapons development. The agreement also brings Iran into China's Belt and Road Initiative.
Would you loan Iran $400 billion?
2. China's parliament approved changes to Hong Kong's electoral system: In the future, candidates for Hong Kong's Legislative Council will need nominations from the Election Committee, a body stacked with comrades of China's Communist Party. The candidates will be vetted, with those deemed unpatriotic won't be allowed to stand for office.
3. "The motherland's cotton industry": China launched a state-backed boycott of Western brands raising concerns about forced labor in Xinjiang. The Chinese province produces a fifth of the world's cotton. The nationalistic backlash singes companies such as Adidas, Burberry, H&M, and Nike. These Western firms are caught between the Chinese boycott and pressure from the government and consumers back home not to kowtow.
4. Profit or principle is the hard choice for foreign companies in China: George Magnus in the FT writes Beijing is applying pressure, but corporate governance demands are rising at home. Scores of large foreign companies have a presence in Xinjiang. These include over 50 American firms listed in the Fortune 500. Almost 70 European firms listed either in the Euro Stoxx 50 index or the Global Fortune 500 do business there.
5. China sees its moment: The Chaguan column in The Economist writes China is betting that the West is in irreversible decline. The country's leaders see their moment and are seizing it.
6. China aims for 'illegal' club for foreign correspondents: The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China has no sense of right and wrong and lacks principles, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular press briefing. "Fewer than half of foreign correspondents in China are members of the FCCC, and most of them are Western journalists from the US and Europe," she said. "Foreign journalists in China should feel lucky."
7. Biden and Suga to note Taiwan Strait in a joint statement: Japan and the US plan to affirm the importance of stability in the Taiwan Strait when Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga visits Washington this month at a summit with President Joe Biden.
8. 97%: Proportion of Chinese parents agreeing that overparenting is common, according to a survey of over 1,500 by China Youth Daily. Though 70% believed overparenting would cause their kids to be less independent. More than half of respondents hoped to provide a better childhood than their own.
9. 403: Number of investment deals involving venture capital and private equity money flowing into Chinese semiconductor companies in 2020, a 47% rise from the previous year, according to ChinaVenture.
10. Xiaomi confirmed its plan to invest $10 billion in EVs over the decade. Chief executive Lei Jun will lead the new venture. Xiaomi will partner with carmaker Great Wall Motor to make EVs at its factories.
