Geo-Strategic Trend - 78. page

China’s official newspaper People’s Daily recently published a list of international political figures who called or wrote to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) General Secretary Xi Jinping and the CCP Central Committee to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the CCP.

Edgar Lungu, President of Zambia
David W. Panuelo, President of the Federated States of Micronesia
Blade Nzimande, General Secretary of South African Communist Party
Delfim Neves, President of National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe
Dési Bouterse, President of National Democratic Party of Suriname
Qasim Suri, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan
Megawati Soekarnoputri, former Indonesian president
Igor Dodon, former Moldovan president
Asadollah Badamchian, secretary-general of Iran’s Islamic Coalition Party
Wee Ka Siong, Minister of Transport of Malaysia
Korneliya Ninova, Leader of Bulgarian Socialist Party
Ichiro Ozawa, former President of Democratic Party of Japan
Mizuho Fukushima, head of the Social Democratic Party of Japan
Fabien Roussel, national secretary of the French Communist Party
Dogu Perincek, chairman of Turkey’s Patriotic Party
Gyula Thurmer, leader of the Hungarian Workers’ Party
Jean Christophe Iseux von Pfetten, Chairman of the Institute for East West Strategic Studies in UK

Source: People’s Daily, June 28, 2021
http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2021-06/28/nw.D110000renmrb_20210628_1-03.htm

A Swedish court ruled Tuesday, June 22, to uphold an injunction excluding Chinese telecommunications equipment maker Huawei from being a 5G equipment supplier. The court stressed the importance of national security.

Last year, Sweden banned Huawei from participating in the construction of 5G networks on the grounds of national security. Huawei then appealed the decision. The court rejected Huawei’s appeal on Tuesday, stressing that the security of Sweden is of paramount importance and that, if used in the construction of Sweden’s 5G network, Huawei products could threaten Sweden’s national security.

The media said the court ruling dashed Huawei’s hopes of returning to Europe and that the possibility of China’s retaliatory action against Huawei’s rival, Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson, may increase.

Source: Radio France International, June 22, 2021
https://rfi.my/7VlQ.T

BBC Chinese recently reported that, at a meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un officially admitted that North Korea is facing a food shortage crisis. He stated, “The food situation that the people now face is becoming increasingly tense.” Due to the flooding that last year’s typhoon caused, the agricultural sector failed to achieve its food targets. There are reports that North Korean food prices have soared. Due to economic difficulties and tensions with the U.S., North Korea’s imports from China recently surged. However, North Korea has just closed its borders again to control the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic. As a result, trade with China dropped sharply. Generally North Korea depends on China for food, fertilizer and fuel. It has been struggling because of international sanctions over its nuclear program.

Source: BBC Chinese, June 18, 2021
https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/world-57510711

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) publishes its science report once every five years. The report for 2021 shows that the global average science expenditure, as a share of GDP, increased from 1.73 percent in 2014 to 1.79 percent in 2018.

The data show that China is the most aggressive of all countries in the world in increasing its science spending, with 44 percent of the incremental global R&D investment coming from China. In 2018, 24.5 percent of global R&D spending was from China, compared to 21.2 percent in 2014.

The report reads that China’s spending on science increased to 2.19 percent of GDP in 2018, compared with 2.03 percent in 2014. Meanwhile, in absolute terms, the U.S. still spends more on science than China, taking into account purchasing power parity, with $460.6 billion in the U.S. and $439 billion in China. Science spending as a share of U.S. GDP rose to 2.84 percent in 2018 from 2.72 percent in 2014. The country with the largest share of science spending in GDP is Germany, where this share increased to 3.09 percent in 2018 from 2.87 percent in 2014.

In addition, the report notes that the country with the most international patents registered is China (31.7 percent of the global total), followed by the U.S. (21.7 percent), Japan (20 percent) and the EU (13.9 percent).

Source: UNESCO
https://www.unesco.org/reports/science/2021/en/race4smarter-development

According to a joint report by the US-based Rhodium Group and the Mercator Center for China Studies (MERICS) in Berlin, China’s FDI in Europe continued to fall, to a 10-year low: Shrinking M&A activity meant the EU-27 and the United Kingdom saw a 45 percent decline in completed Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) last year, down to EUR 6.5 billion from EUR 11.7 billion in 2019, taking investment in Europe to a 10-year low.

The UK saw Chinese investment plummet by 77 percent, although more than half of total Chinese investment in Europe went to the “Big Three” economies – Germany, the UK and France. Infrastructure, ICT and electronics were the top three sectors, attracting 51 percent of the total investment from China. Poland rose to become a popular destination, though inflows of EUR 815 million were largely concentrated on one acquisition.

Chinese FDI faces greater scrutiny by EU member states: The Covid-19 crisis prompted the EU to issue guidelines stepping up scrutiny of FDI in Europe’s critical assets. 14 EU member states, including Italy, France, Poland and Hungary, updated their FDI screening mechanisms last year. Member states have also moved to block several acquisitions by Chinese firms.

Headwinds against Chinese investment in Europe will grow in 2021: Chinese FDI activity into Europe continued to fall in the first quarter of 2021 and has remained weak elsewhere. Europe remains an attractive investment location. However, continued disruption from Covid-19, high barriers to outward capital flows in China and rising regulatory barriers to foreign investment in Europe have all contributed to low levels of Chinese investments. Deteriorating EU-China relations will create additional headwinds for Chinese investors going forward.

Source: Radio France International, June 16, 2021
https://rfi.my/7Uin.T