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Shanghai to Stop Accepting New Ride-Hailing Cars

{Editor’s Note: In China’s current economic downturn, people are struggling to find jobs. Many have chosen to work for a ride-hailing service (similar to Uber) or do food delivery (similar to Uber Eats). The flood of people entering such jobs means these industries are becoming fully saturated with labor.}

On July 21, the Shanghai Municipal Transportation Management Bureau issued a notice stating that it will suspend the processing of ride-hailing transportation certificates. Starting from September 20, 2023, no new ride-hailing transportation certificates will be issued. Currently, there are about 76,000 licensed ride-hailing vehicles in Shanghai in addition to about 50,000 taxis.

The move by Shanghai’s government makes Shanghai the third city, after Sanya (Hainan Province) and Changsha (Hunan Province), to halt issuance of new ride-hailing certificates this year. Other cities have issued warnings regarding the risks of the ride-hailing industry, stating that local ride-hailing capacity has reached or nearly reached saturation. These include Jinan (Shandong Province), Suining (Sichuan Province), Wenzhou (Zhejiang Province), Dongguan (Guangdong Province), Linyi (Shandong Province), Kunming (Yunan Province), and Shenzhen (Guangdong Province).

Source: Net Ease, July 22, 2023
https://www.163.com/dy/article/IA6JQ4840547RFBR.html?f=post2020_dy_recommends

Briefings | | |   @CS Economy/Resources

Recent Opaque CCP Operations

Communist regimes have acquired a reputation for their black-box operations, where they carefully hide certain internal affairs from the outside world, including from people living under the regime. Several such mysterious operations of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have recently attracted attention.

The hottest recent topic is the whereabouts of Qin Gang, former Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs. Qin disappeared about a month ago. Beijing gave an unconvincing explanation that Qin had been away for “health reasons.” Eventually, Beijing announced that Qin has been removed from his post as Minister of Foreign Affairs and that Wang Yi has been appointed as a replacement. Wang was the head of the CCP’s Central Foreign Affairs Commission, which overseas the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The CCP still has not given any details about what happened to Qin Gang.

Wu Guohua (吴国华), Deputy Commander of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Rocket Force, died on July 4, but the government never announced his death. A short notice about Wu’s death was posted on the Internet on July 27, but it was quickly removed and can no longer be seen. Rumor has it that Wu committed suicide. There were also rumors that several top officials of the Rocket Force, including its Commander Li Yuchao (李玉超)  and a few others, were under investigation for corruption and leaking secrets.

Wang Shaojun (王少军), former Director of the CCP’s Central Security Bureau, was officially announced dead on July 24, three months after his death. No details were given about how he died. The Central Security Bureau is responsible for providing security protection for top CCP officials (CCP Politburo member-level or above).

Source: Radio France International, July 27, 2023
https://www.rfi.fr/cn/中国/20230727-秘不发丧-从火箭军副司令吴国华神秘死亡说起

Briefings | | |   @CS Government/Politics

China Acknowledges That It Inflated 2022 Letin Auto Revenue

{Editor’s Note: The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is known for reporting fake (inflated) Gross Domestic Production (GDP) numbers, to make itself look better. A recent case evidenced that practice.}

Letin Auto, also known as Levdeo, is an electric vehicle manufacturer in China. Its founder Li Guoxin posted an article under the company’s official account on January 14, accusing the county party chief Wang Xiao for forcing Letin to report an extra non-existing 4.7 billion Yuan (US$660 million) in revenue so that the county could have a better GDP number.

The government conducted an investigation and announced the result: Letin reported GDP 7.095 billion Yuan of revenue in 2022, but its actual revenue was only 2.552 billion Yuan, which means that 4.543 billion Yuan of revenue was fabricated. Following the investigation, the punishment was light. Nine people were said to be involved and were each given a warning within the party. There was no criminal or administrative punishment. The county party chief was also cleared from being guilty.

Letin filed for bankruptcy in May 2023.

Source: Net Ease, July 27, 2023
https://m.163.com/dy/article/IALU4IGA05560VPM.html

Briefings | | |   @CS Economy/Resources

China Holds New Media Forum on “Telling the Chinese Story”

On July 12, 2023, China held the International Communication Forum for New Media in Changsha. The forum focused on the theme of “Telling the Chinese Story and Shaping China’s Image.” Prominent media figures, experts, scholars, and representatives of overseas brands attended the conference.

Du Zhanyuan, Director of the China Foreign Language Publishing and Distribution Administration, made the following suggestions at the forum: One, emphasize the importance of showcasing China’s modernization journey and effectively narrating the stories of China’s development. Two, establish comprehensive and authoritative foreign-language online platforms, covering websites, mobile platforms, and overseas social media networks. Three, adopt new technologies such as mobile, social, and visual communication, cloud computing, big data, and artificial intelligence.

The General Editor of Xinhua Net, Qian Tong, highlighted the increasing participation of Chinese media and companies doing business overseas in international communication, saying that more voices contribute to a more splendid chorus of global communication.

Deputy Chief Editor of China Daily, Wang Hao, suggested strengthening the application of technology to make China’s image more visible and tangible, and using the mouths of media celebrities of other countries to make China’s image more lovely and trustworthy.

Xu Rong, Deputy General of Hunan Broadcasting and Television Group, shared about the Group’s success in distributing a significant number of films and TV series overseas, including the popular series “The Rational Life,” which gained international recognition on Netflix. Xu also shared that the Group organized performances domestically and overseas, using popular art forms to open doors to mainstream overseas markets.

Source: Guangming Daily, July 13, 2023
https://topics.gmw.cn/2023-07/13/content_36694283.htm

Briefings | | |   @CS Geo-Strategic Trend Information/Technology

China’s Rare Earth Manufacturers Struggle to Profit

(Editor’s Note: Ever since the US began negotiating with China over fair trade and tariffs under the Trump administration, some Chinese scholars have talked about restricting rare earth exports from China as an powerful weapon against the US. However, recent news showed that Chinese manufacturers of rare earth cannot generate large profits, making people wonder if Beijing really has the power to control the rare earth market.)

China’s online news media Sina reported that, in the first half of this year, Chinese rare earth companies experienced a significant drop in revenue and profits due to falling demands and prices. This contrasts sharply with the high prosperity of the same period last year. Companies like China Rare Earth (中国稀土), Northern Rare Earth (北方稀土), Rising Nonferrous Metals Share (广晟有色), and Xiamen Tungsten (厦门钨业) all reported a slump in net profits. Additionally, industry leader Jiangsu Huahong Technology (华宏科技) went from being profitable to reporting a loss. Experts attribute the continuous decline in rare earth prices to insufficient demand and increased supply. The second half of the year remains uncertain, as the future trend depends on whether demand will increase substantially.

Source: Sina, July 19, 2023
https://finance.sina.com.cn/jjxw/2023-07-19/doc-imzcfekt6975040.shtml

Briefings | | |   @CS Economy/Resources

Siemens Terminates Partnership with Chinese Military Company Amidst International Concerns

Siemens has terminated its partnership with Beijing Transemic Technology (北京天圣华信息技术有限公司), a Chinese company accused of using Siemens technology to upgrade Chinese military equipment. The US placed Transemic on its sanction list on June 12 for its involvement in developing supersonic weapons as well as design and manufacturing of air-to-air missiles. It was also reported that Transemic resold Siemens software to China’s defense research universities linked to the Chinese military. Siemens was initially reluctant to terminate the partnership despite negative media coverage, but the company eventually decided to end all dealings with Transemic.

The European political sphere has become more sensitive to China’s military expansion, with the President of the EU Commission warning future relations with China in sensitive high-tech areas. Germany’s Foreign Minister has also advocated for stricter controls over exports to China,
particularly for “dual-use” products with both civilian and military applications.

Source: Deutsche Welle, July 17, 2023

https://www.dw.com/zh不卖了压力山大-西门子终止与中企合作/a-66253259

Briefings | | |   @CS Defense/Military Economy/Resources

Internet Posting Calls for A4 Revolution Protest in Chengdu During the FISU World University Games

Chinese people had an “A4 Revolution” (holding a blank sheet of A4-size paper) to protest the communist regime’s inhumane lockdown for COVID control last year, which led to the authorities quickly ending the country’s zero-COVID policy.

Now, people are calling for another A4 Revolution protest in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, when it hosts the Summer FISU World University Games from July 28 to August 8. On July 11, Anna Wang, founder of Shining Light Media, LLC, headquartered in Washington, DC, retweeted a message to call people to protest Xi Jinping’s dictatorship in Chengdu on July 28.

The post listed five points of caution for the safety of all protesters:

  1. Do not disclose any personal information when reposting or communicating on Telegram Messenger, Twitter, etc.
  2. Do not contact anyone whom you met online to jointly participate in the protest. Even if you discuss a joint action online, do not share the exact time and location since the other person might be undercover police.
  3. Before participating in a flash-mob protest, delete sensitive contents from your computer and mobile phone to prevent police searches from gathering information.
  4. Bring a lot of white paper instead of only one piece. If asked about it by the police, just make up a reason. You can also give distribute the white paper to other people to use.
  5. Do not take pictures on the protest site, unless you only take pictures and do not participate in protest. Separating picture taking and protest participation is to prevent the police tracking.

The posting also emphasized that “there is no organizer for this event, it’s a completely atomized protest.” It also said that the event will take place online and offline at the same time.

The post has been widely circulated on GitHub and other social platforms.

Source: Epoch Times, July 12, 2023
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/23/7/12/n14033119.htm

Briefings | | |   @CS Social Stability