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China’s Ambition to Dominate the World’s Lithium Market

China’s Tianqi Lithium acquired a 23.77 percent stake in Chilean lithium giant Chemical & Mining Co. of Chile (SQM) for US$4.0 billion. China is therefore one step closer to having a monopoly position in the lithium mining market. This rare metal has the reputation of being the “oil of the 21st century” because it is indispensable for the batteries that charge virtually every electronic product, computers, cell phones, and electric cars.

SQM is the world’s largest lithium producer, accounting for nearly a quarter of all global production. Tianqi Lithium also has shares in Australia’s Albemarle Corp., the world’s second-largest lithium producer. If added to the production of Tianqi Lithium itself, the Chinese company would control 70 percent of the global market for this precious metal.

For China, it is important to control such an important raw material around the world. Liu Ying, a researcher at the Chongyang Financial Research Institute of Renmin University of China, believes that the demand for lithium in the future can only grow. The world will gradually abandon oil and switch to new energy sources, mainly electricity. Nothing has been found to replace the lithium which is necessary for the production of storage batteries. A monopoly of the lithium market would have a very attractive future.

Sputnik News, December 6, 2018
http://sputniknews.cn/opinion/201812061027037125/

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

A Former Politburo Member Rumored to Retire in the United States

According to Hong Kong based Apple Daily, a senior Chinese official is now retiring in the United States. Jiang Chunyun once served as a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee, Vice Chairman of the National People’s Congress, and Vice Premier of China’s State Council. He has now settled in the United States. The Politburo, or Political Bureau, is the leadership organization of the CCP Central Committee, a collection of the top 25 some most powerful senior CCP cadres in China. The news was widely spread via the Internet and was not confirmed. There have been quite a few rumors about former Chinese officials living in the United States, but the exact number is not known.

Jiang became the secretary of the Shandong Provincial Party Committee during the period in of Student Movement in 1989. After the 14th National Congress of the CCP, he was promoted as a member of the Politburo of the CCP Central Committee, while still serving as CCP secretary of Shandong. In 1994, he became a member of CCP Central Committee Secretariat. A year later, he was appointed as the vice premier of the State Council in charge of the agricultural economy.

Source: Radio France International, December 2, 2018
http://rfi.my/3Ol.T

Briefings | | |   Grapevine

Chinese Companies in Panama

On June 13, 2017, Panama dropped Taiwan and established diplomatic relations with China. Since then, many Chinese companies have entered Panama. At present, the Panamanian Chinese Chamber of Commerce has 40 members.

China Harbour Engineering has moved its regional headquarters to Panama and taken over an expansion project of the Colon Port and a cruise terminal project. Not long ago, China Harbour also won the bid for the project of the fourth bridge over the Panama Canal. In 2017, China’s Lan Bridge Group also started the Colon Margarita port expansion project. China State Construction Engineering has successively undertaken infrastructure projects such as the Panama government’s “City of Hope” Housing Project, the Amador Convention Center, and Panama City’s San Isidro Bus Station.

China CAMC Engineering also established an overseas warehouse in the Panama Free Trade Zone in Colon. Goldwind Technology supplies equipment for the Panama wind power project and drives the export of Chinese equipment.

The Bank of China, Huawei, and Nuctech have also made considerable progress in their respective fields. At present, China Railway Engineering Corporation is conducting a feasibility study related to passenger and freight transportation.

Wei Qiang, China’s first ambassador to Panama, said that the enormous energy accumulated during the long-term relationship between China and Pakistan is to be fully released and will comprehensively be promoting cooperation in trade, investment, shipping, civil aviation, finance, agriculture, tourism, and infrastructure. The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on jointly promoting the construction of the “Belt and Road.” Panama is the first Latin American country to sign this memorandum with China.

The Panamanian Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Luis Miguel Hincapie said that Panama hopes to become China’s gateway to other parts of Latin America.

Source: Xinhua, December 3, 2018
http://www.xinhuanet.com/world/2018-12/03/c_1123799866.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

China Is Latin America’s Second Largest Trading Partner

According to a People’s Daily report, at the time of Xi Jinping’s trip to Argentina, China’s economic, trade, and investment cooperation with Latin American and the Caribbean countries was developing rapidly. At present, China has become the second largest trading partner for Latin America, and, after Asia, Latin America has become the second largest destination for Chinese overseas investment.

In 2017, the bilateral trade volume between China and Latin American and the Caribbean countries reached US$257.8 billion, an 18.8 percent year-over-year growth over 2016. From January to September this year, the bilateral trade volume increased by 20 percent, reaching US$228.6 billion. In 2017, Chinese companies’ stock for direct investments in Latin America reached US$387 billion, with a total contractual value of Chinese engineering projects in Latin America of US$164.2 billion.

Source: People’s Daily Online, November 30, 2018
http://finance.people.com.cn/n1/2018/1130/c1004-30433257.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Arrest of Singer for Drug Use Linked to “Fengqiao Experience”

On November 26, 2018, the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau arrested Chen Yufan, a Chinese actor and singer, for drug use and illegal possession of drugs. According to a Chinese media report, a group of common people in Beijing, or Shijingshan District precisely, tipped off the police and made the arrest happen. “This time, it was the Shijingshan masses that provided the clue. They are the new force that has gradually developed in grassroots social governance.”

Chinese media linked the arrest to the “Fengqiao Experience,” which the Chinese Communist Party advocated in recent years as a way to control Chinese society using the Chinese people.

The “Fengqiao Experience” originated during the Mao era over fifty years ago. In 1963 Mao Zedong launched a Socialist Education Movement (社会主义教育运动), also known as the Four Cleanups Movement (四清运动). In Fengqiao district, Zhuji county of Zhejiang Province, the communist cadres, instead of relying on the state and police apparatus, mobilized local people to “reeducate” and “reform” the “reactionary elements,” referring to landlords, wealthy peasants, counterrevolutionaries, and evildoers. Essentially, it was a way of having the Chinese people persecute the Chinese people. On November 20, 1963, Mao Zedong personally promoted the experience in Fengqiao district when he wrote, “The example of Zhuji raised here is a good one — other regions should follow this example, expanding the work through pilot programs.”

The “Fengqiao Experience” reappeared in official discourse starting in the 1990’s. In 2013, the CCP celebrated the 50 anniversary of Mao’s promotion of the “Fengqiao Experience.” Outside observers view it as Beijing’s response to the ever growing social unrest and instability, especially when the economic slowdown has limited the resources available for social control.

Source: The Paper, November 28, 2018
https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_2682024

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Annual Conference of Western Returned Scholars Association in Guangzhou

The Western Returned Scholars Association (WRSA) is a Chinese government-affiliated entity consisting of over 40,000 Chinese scholars and researchers who have studied abroad. Its 2019 annual conference was held in Guangzhou on November 29, 2018. Li Xi, secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Chinese Communist Party Committee, and You Quan, secretary of the CCP Central Committee Secretariat and Head of the CCP Central Committee’s United Front Work Department, attended the meeting and delivered speeches.

On behalf of the Guangdong Provincial CCP Committee and the Provincial Government, Li Xi expressed his congratulations on the convening of the conference and expressed his gratitude to the WRSA.

You Quan pointed out that the CCP Central Committee, with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core, attaches great importance to the work of overseas students and provides favorable conditions for overseas students to innovate and start businesses. He hoped that the majority of overseas students will thoroughly study and implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and always fight side by side with the CCP. He also hoped that the overseas students inherit the glorious tradition of patriotism, strengthen the confidence of innovation and entrepreneurship, and tell a good story of China’s reform and opening up. He expected the students to make positive contributions for China to become a leader in innovation, to further the reform and opening up, and to realize the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the nation.

Chen Zhu, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and WRSA president attended the meeting. WRSA and the Guangdong Provincial CCP Committee and the Provincial Government jointly hosted the summit.

Source: People’s Daily, November 30, 2018
http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2018-11/30/nw.D110000renmrb_20181130_2-04.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Chinese IT Company to Launch 272 Satellites and Offer Free Internet Worldwide

On November 27, LinkSure Network, a Shanghai-based mobile Internet service provider, announced in Beijing that it launched the satellite Internet access plan, “LinkSure Swarm Constellation System.” The system, which LinkSure will develop independently, consists of 272 hybrid orbit satellites and will provide satellite communication services and solutions. The first satellite is expected to be launched into space in 2019. The goal will be to provide free satellite Internet service worldwide by 2026. The total investment in the system is estimated at 3 billion yuan (US$ .43 billion).

LinkSure’s satellite team was formally established in 2016. The company currently operates more than 50 satellites in orbit. According to the plan, the first satellite will be assembled and tested in Changzhou, Jiangsu in 2018 and launched by the Long March series of rockets at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Base Center in 2019. The first batch is expected to include 10 satellites. After the launch of the first satellite, the remaining nine will be launched according to the Long March series rocket launch arrangements. In 2020, the first 10 satellite launches of the constellation system will be completed.

China’s commercial satellite launch service market has been growing at an accelerated pace. In 2014, the State Council announced Document No. 60 to encourage private capital to enter the national civil space infrastructure. Goldman Sachs also expects that, over the next 20 years, the space commercial market will usher in a long-term and high-profit opportunity and its industry scale will grow to trillions of dollars.

Source: The Paper, November 27, 2018
https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_2676730

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

A Tough Job Market for Chinese College Graduates

According to Chinese media, the coming winter is also a winter for the job market in mainland China. Second-tier cities and small and medium-sized enterprises are the places seeing the most cuts in new job opportunities.

Phoenix reported at the end of October that China’s Huawei issued internal documents indicating that the company would halt generic job hiring, except for talent in critical areas and special recruitment of professionals with excellent work experience. Subsequently, tech giants such as Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent, and JD.com were also rumored to have suspended or reduced recruitment of fresh graduates.

More than 8.2 million college students are graduating in China, a new historic record.

Both seasonal factors and economic factors are behind the tough job market. Sectors such as trade, furniture and home appliances, and construction engineering have fewer job openings than expected.

Small and medium-sized enterprises and private enterprises with less than 500 employees are the main entities responsible for the reduction in the number of job postings. Weaker demand, lower economic growth, and an increase in financing costs have aggravated the operational difficulties of these companies.

The profitability of large companies is also trending downward. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the annual growth rate of total profits of large enterprises in October was only 3.6 percent; it is the fourth consecutive month of decline.

Source: Central News Agency, November 27, 2018
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201811270173.aspx

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources