Indian, Pakistani seafood more popular in China, as govt policies easing transport, cutting costs

Seafood from India and Pakistan is gaining in popularity in China, not only because of its low prices, but also because of support from government policies.

China’s imports of fish, crustaceans and aquatic invertebrates from India reached $118 million in 2017, up 28.8 percent on a yearly basis, according to data obtained by the Global Times from a source who declined to be named.

In comparison, China’s overall imports of aquatic products reached $5.096 billion in the first half of 2017, according to media reports. Updated statistics have not yet been disclosed.

A report from the UK-based undercurrentnews.com in December 2016 said that China had overtaken the EU and Japan at that point to become the largest seafood export market for Pakistan. The Embassy of Pakistan in China didn’t respond to an interview request from the Global Times as of press time.

“Currently, domestic demand exceeds supply in terms of Pakistani seafood imports,” Chen Hai’ou, president of Kashgar Mufeng and Hezhengyuan Biotechnology Co, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Cost-effective

Several seafood distributors the Global Times talked to said that Indian Ocean seafood, compared with seafood imported from other sources, is more cost-effective.

One distributor surnamed Jiang who works for Fuzhou-based Fugeng Agriculture Corp said that Indian Ocean seafood is relatively cheap due to the low local labor costs. “For example, unprocessed cuttlefish from India costs about 25,000 yuan per ton, compared with about 35,000 yuan per ton from Spain,” Jiang told the Global Times on Thursday.

Another seafood distributor surnamed Guo, who works at the Shanghai-based Hua En Seafood, said that his company specialized in selling frozen whole raw lobsters imported from India. Hua En has imported about 350 tons of raw lobsters from India annually in recent years, Guo told the Global Times on Sunday, adding that domestic market demand for Indian lobsters has risen slightly.

India also exports seafood like ribbon fish, croaker, cuttlefish and white shrimp to China, he said.

“I would say that compared with other countries, India’s seafood export volume to China has been at a relatively high level in recent years, largely as a result of cheap transportation,” Guo said, adding that Pakistan’s seafood export volume is smaller than that of India due to its smaller fishing area and aquaculture scale.

Jiang said that Indian Ocean seafood is still considered “low-end” in some parts of China, as the countries do not have adequate methods to keep it fresh during the transportation process.

Policy support

In recent years, the Chinese government has rolled out measures that have encouraged and facilitated imports of seafood from India and Pakistan.

One example is the establishment of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a flagship project of the Belt and Road initiative, which has enriched the transportation channels for Pakistani seafood to enter China.

According to Chen, in the past Pakistani seafood could enter China only via sea or air transport. But after the corridor was set up, his company started importing Pakistani seafood by land transportation via Pakistan’s Gwadar Port as well as via Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

“Pakistani seafood needs to travel only for three days via land transportation to China, compared with 40 days by sea, so the cash conversion cycle can be much shorter,” Chen said, adding that the seafood will be sold in northwestern and southwestern regions in China.

Chen also said that with the large demand for seafood in those regions, as well as the lower transportation costs, more companies will engage in seafood trade with Pakistan. “The business has a promising future,” he said.

Apart from transportation, the government has also lowered import tariffs on many types of seafood such as frozen crabs and shrimps, starting from December 2017.

Source: Global Times

 

Long March 11 carrier rockets to be used in country’s first sea launch

China’s Long March 11 carrier rockets will be deployed for the country’s first sea launch mission later this year, their developer China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) said on Feb. 27, Science and Technology Daily reported.

(File photo)

The mission and the country’s carrier rockets signify a new area of service in which they will further satisfy the demands to launch low inclination satellites and better adapt to new missions, said Yang Yiqiang, general director of the Long March 11 project.

Sea launching requires much in the regard of carrier rockets capacity. For instance, the trial launches have to be simple as well as direct and suitable ways to control and launch the satellites have to be adopted due to sea turbulence and the flow of heat.

The Long March 11, a solid fuel rocket capable of fast speeds and high flexibility, can satisfying all the sea launch demands.

Before, Russia, the US, Ukraine and Norway invested in a sea launch joint venture which hasn’t carried out any launch service since 2014 for many reasons. Broadly speaking, the mission of the Long March 11 will be to realize continuation of sea launch of mankind.

Editorial: CPC at the core of China’s leadership

The Communist Party of China (CPC) is at the core of China’s leadership, and it is the inevitable choice and result of the social revolution historically, theoretically and practically, the People’s Daily Online said in an editorial published on Feb. 26.

Core leadership is vital to any country. Chairman Mao Zedong made clear that the force at the core leading our cause forward is the CPC and the theoretical basis guiding our thinking is Marxism-Leninism, at the first National People’s Congress held in 1954.

CPC leadership is the most substantive feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the biggest advantage of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics integrated.

In the past five years, the historic achievements made in reform and opening up, socialist modernization and the vitality of socialism with Chinese characteristics are fundamentally attributed to the strong leadership of the CPC with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core.

Over the past five years, the Party’s ability to create, power to unite, and energy to fight have all been significantly strengthened. And that’s the fundamental reason for all the achievements the country has made in the five years led by the CPC Central Committee.

A grand career has to be led by a great party. The authority and unified, centralized leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core must be strongly upheld for the country to better shoulder historic missions in the new era, better proceed with the grand cause and better realize the grand dream.

Guaranteeing the authority and unification, centralized leadership of the CPC Central Committee allows the CPC to achieve one victory after another. Just like Comrade Deng Xiaoping pointed out that any leadership must have a core, and a coreless leadership is unreliable.

In retrospect of the development of the Constitution, one can deeply feel that the Constitution is closely related to the hard work and notable achievements made by the CPC and the people, as well as the precious experiences accumulated by the CPC and the people.

Never forget why you started, and you can accomplish your mission. The editorial called for the Chinese people to closely unite around the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core, be guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, make new achievements and victories, and march toward the great goal of national rejuvenation.

Whole new “two sessions” attracts global attention

As 2018 marks the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening up, the whole new “two sessions”, the country’s top legislature and advisory body to be convened this March, will not only give direction to China’s future development, but also become a window for the world to know more about the country.

New faces

Over 2,200, or nearly 75% of the 2,980 elected deputies for the 13th National People’s Congress are new deputies. Over half of the members of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) will also be newly elected during the sessions.

How the new NPC deputies and CPPCC members fulfill their duties will become a key point of focus during the event.

New leadership

One of the major tasks of the 2018 “two sessions” is to elect new state leadership and National Committee of the CPPCC. It means a new “line-up” will be formed after the conferences. By convention, the new Premier of China will meet with press after the conclusion of the national legislature’s annual session.

New reform

The reform of state institutions, which must be approved by the NPC, will also become an important agenda of the 2018 “two sessions”. The questions of how China will eliminate barriers in the function system of its state institutions and optimizes efficiency will receive broad attention.

New development goals

Each year, China’s government report sets goals revolving around core economic indexes such as GDP growth, CPI growth, financial deficits and grain production. One of the most important signals to be released by the “two sessions” is China’s new development goals in 2018.

In addition, the presentation of these indexes in the government report will also be a highlight after the country released its first green development index at the end of 2017.

New constitutional amendment

The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee decided in January to discuss a proposal about amending part of China’s Constitution at the second plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee.

In 1982, the fifth National People’s Congress adopted the present Constitution, which underwent four amendments in 1988, 1993, 1999 and 2004. It is the first time in 14 years for China to carry out new constitutional amendments.

New anti-corruption organ

The 7th plenary session of 18th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) released a timetable for the establishment of China’s national supervisory commission in early 2017.

The 1st session of the 13th NPC is expected to deliberate and approve the national supervision law, establish the national supervisory commission, and elect officials of the commission.

Tour operator refuses to fully return fees to tourists who want to cancel Maldives trips

Tuniu, a Chinese tour operator, is in the midst of a dispute with its customers over whether to fully refund travel fees to them after customers asked to cancel trips to the Maldives out of safety concerns, The Paper.cn reported.

Some tourists said they abided by the warning issued by China’s Foreign Ministry, which urged Chinese tourists planning to visit the Maldives to delay their trips until the situation in the country stabilized. At the same time, political tensions on the island nation continue to intensify this month.

Tourist Lan Liya said she was told by a Tuniu employee that she will have to bear all the economic losses if she insists on cancelling the trip. The employee said it was because all Tuniu’s services will happen on islands unaffected by the political unrest.

The staff said the Maldivian government has issued a statement saying all tourism related businesses will be operating. Without the statement, they will not dare to organize any trip to the island country for fear of possible accidents, the staff added.

Lan booked a 6-day independent itinerary worth 50,000 yuan via the tour operator, and she will only be refunded 3,368 yuan if she cancels the trip. Like Lan, many tourists think Tuniu’s way of handling their cases is unacceptable.

A lawyer pointed out that Tuniu has no legal stance to let tourists bear the losses, because they are cancelling the trips due to irresistible forces. Tuniu should refund the fees to the tourists if they haven’t been actually used.

China’s Foreign Ministry suggests its residents not travel to the country before Feb. 28. Ctrip, another online travel agency, said it has cancelled its tour services in the Maldives in February, suggesting tourists travel to the country in April and May.

Faraday’s model FF91 might be sold at over 2 million RMB in China

Faraday Future’s (FF) model FF91 is scheduled to be delivered at the end of 2018. The price is expected to reach over 2 million RMB ($317,000) per unit in the Chinese market, a source close to the company told Chinese newspaper Beijing Business Today on Feb. 26.

However, the public relations department of Faraday in China refused to respond regarding the price, according to the newspaper.

During the Consumer Electronics Show held earlier in January in Las Vegas, a senior manager of the FF revealed that the possible price for a FF91 would be $250,000. Customers may be able to order from the first batch of the models with a $50,000 deposit.

A partner of FF noted that the FF91 has been identified as a luxury electric vehicle, outperforming Tesla models.

Faraday claims that the production-spec FF91 will use a 130 kWh battery pack joined by four electric motors and will be capable ofproducing a combined 1050 hp and 1800 Nm of torque, enough to accomplish the challenging acceleration to 60 mph in a mere 2.39 seconds.

Bay Area can be driving force for B&R development

The Belt and Road (B&R) initiative was created as a Chinese comprehensive national policy for global development. It should be a guiding principle that the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area (GHKMBA) needs to work with, while relying on the GHKMBA as a development model.

There are four areas where we believe the GHKMBA can be the driving force for the B&R.

First, the GHKMBA can export its development experience to nations and regions along the B&R route. In the current global economic landscape, in which the US has had a robust economic recovery but follows a policy of “America First,” and Europe and Japan still lack sufficient strength to rebound, China being the second-largest economy means there is an opportunity for the GHKMBA to play a pivotal role.

Many emerging and developing nations have a backward industrial structure, strong reliance on foreign investment and internal political bickering. To learn from China, which has experienced some of these challenges, can be meaningful and useful.

The GHKMBA encompasses some highly developed cities. Besides Hong Kong and Macao, some other metropolitan areas in recent decades have demonstrated robust growth. The best example is Shenzhen, which three decades ago was a fishing village but today has a strong high-technology sector and world-class scientific facilities. Perhaps most remarkable is that Shenzhen also attracts talented, daring and visionary young people from China and abroad.

Besides Shenzhen, notable cities in the GHKMBA such as Zhuhai, Dongguan and Foshan are examples of excellence. They exhibit strong cultures of private capital, processing trade and manufacturing, respectively, and can be examples for nations and regions along the B&R route.

Second, the B&R initiative is promoting the so-called “five interconnections,” namely policy, facilities, trade, finance and people-to-people contacts. With these five, the inherent characteristics of the GHKMBA can act as the front line in China’s opening up to the world.

With trading strengths and well-established transportation systems, especially with Hong Kong as a global finance center, the GHKMBA can certainly assist with the B&R initiative’s facility, trade and finance interconnections.

Finally, cities in the GHKMBA are vastly different, so they make the region a suitable location for case studies. Some cities are highly advanced, while some are not. Even in the Pearl River Delta region, some still significantly lag behind the national average.

Perhaps the most striking and unique feature of the GHKMBA is that it mixes capitalism (Hong Kong and Macao) with socialism (Guangdong). This kind of mix is the B&R in miniature, and thus the GHKMBA can be an example for the B&R initiative to establish the “five interconnections” with the nations and regions along its route.

Third, the GHKMBA can almost singularly assist China to tell the world about the B&R “story.” It is well known that in the modern world, films, TV shows and other cultural products can help a nation to reach hearts and minds of the outside world.

Fourth, the GHKMBA can be an excellent base for corporations from nations and regions along the B&R route to raise funds. In addition to exchanges in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, we strongly suggest that a GHKMBA exchange center be established. Such a center should be jointly funded, operated and managed. It should have innovative trading platform rules, systems and technology and use Hong Kong stock market standards. It can also use some of the best practices from US and European stock markets.

We believe that such an unprecedented exchange center, which would mix the best practices of the East and the West, will be very attractive to corporations from the nations and regions of the B&R route to hold IPOs. Companies could have dual IPOs in the GHKMBA exchange center and exchanges elsewhere on the B&R route.

As far as the US is concerned, for a profoundly business-minded government, a new center such as this would speak its language. In this financial “sense,” it is not difficult to see that foreign government leaders, such as those in the US and Japan, would want “a piece of the pie.”

Positioning the GHKMBA as a hub-and-spoke location for the B&R should, in our opinion, be only its minimum objective. The GHKMBA already has a very solid foundation and should become a shining model for the B&R.

It is clear that the most successful bay areas in the world got that way because of their people. The GHKMBA should be no exception. Ultimately, whether the GHKMBA can achieve this lofty goal depends on whether people in the region see themselves as not just people of the GHKMBA, but of the global village. Working to promote the mission of the B&R to assist and drive China to become a global financial and economic leader should be the ultimate aim.

Feng Da-hsuan is chief adviser and former vice president for research at the University of Texas at Dallas. Liang Haiming is chairman and chief economist of the China Silk Road iValley Research Institute.

Source: Global Times

Ratio of female deputies in China’s top legislature hits record high

The ratio of female deputies in China’s new top legislature reached a record high of 24.9%.

742 of the newly elected 2,980 deputies for the 13th National People’s Congress (NPC) are women, 43 more from the 12th NPC.

Compared with the 12th NPC, 23 of the 35 electoral units saw increased number of female deputies. Liaoning province is the unit that has the biggest increase of 13.73%, followed by Taiwan, Fujian and Tibet.

Shen Jilan, a female deputy from north China’s Shanxi province who was born in 1929, is the only NPC deputy that has been elected by all 13 sessions consecutively.

Editorial: China’s political, institutional advantages

A proposal on amendments to China’s Constitution was officially approved during the second plenary session of the 19th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

The CPC Central Committee proposed to remove the expression that the President and Vice-President of the People’s Republic of China “shall serve no more than two consecutive terms” from Article 79 of the country’s Constitution.

The amendment is a vital move, made from the long-term experience of the Party and country, to improve the institutions and mechanisms by which the Party and country exercise leadership. It was made in accordance with the strategy of adhering to and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era.

The Chinese President system has experienced a series of changes over the past 6 decades. The practice of the system and the development of leadership structure of the Party and country are the keys to understanding the true connotation of Chinese President system regulated by the Constitution.

It has been proved over history that a leadership structure in which the top leader of China simultaneously serves as the President, the head of the Party, and the commander-in-chief of the military is an advantageous and adoptable strategy.

Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth. The implementation of the structure will be conducive to the authority and centralized leadership of the CPC Central Committee, and the guidance to the country and society by the Party. In addition, the structure will also guarantee the effective operation of each state organ and national institution, and the promotion of national causes. Furthermore, it reflects the political and institutional advantages of a socialist country.

Incorporation of Xi Jinping Thought into Constitution conducive to national rejuvenation

The proposal of incorporating Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era into China’s fundamental law is conducive to the unity of the country and people as well as realization of the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation. It further defines the country’s fundamental tasks, focus of efforts and strategies in the new era.

A distinctive feature of China’s Constitution is that it stipulates the country’s fundamental tasks, development path, focus of efforts, economic construction, political construction, cultural construction, social construction, ecological civilization construction and other national causes. It is an important factor that guarantees the country’s national development, people’s livelihood and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era serves as a comprehensive answer to basic issues like the overarching objectives, tasks, plans, and strategy for upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era; like the direction, model, and driving force of development, and the strategic steps, external conditions, and political guarantees.

In addition, it gives theoretical analysis and policy guidance on the economy, political affairs, rule of law, science and technology, culture, education, the wellbeing of our people, ethnic and religious affairs, social development, ecological conservation, national security, defense and the armed forces, the principle of “one country, two systems” and national reunification, the united front, foreign affairs, and Party building. It plays a significant role in guiding and leading the cause of the Party and the country.

The creativity, unity, and power of a nation rely on the conformity of thoughts, and scientific theories are a must for a country to realize modernization. In modern China, only socialism with Chinese characteristics could unite the people; only the latest achievement in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context could guide the country’s reform and opening up and socialist modernization in the right direction.

To write Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era into the Constitution and define China’s fundamental missions, leadership core, guiding principle, development path, fighting goal, strategies and basic policy in the form of fundamental law is of vital significance to putting the guiding principles from the 19th Communist Party of China (CPC) National Congress into action, aligning people’s thinking with Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and pooling the wisdom and strength of the overwhelming majority of the people in a concerted effort to the major strategic deployment of the 19th CPC National Congress.

It will also guarantee that China will finish the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2020, basically achieve modernization by 2035, and grow into a great modern socialist country in every dimension by mid-21st century.