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Monday, December 3, 2018 HEARD IN BEIJING "The relationship is very special — the relationship that I have with President Xi." - Donald Trump,  President of the United States Some context:  Trump said that after sharing steak with Xi on Saturday. The personal rapport between the two men has put a pause on the trade war, but is unlikely to reverse the long-term downward trajectory of the bilateral relationship. More in the Tip Sheet below. We have a special relationship with our readers. Help us create a  shared China watching community for mankind by forwarding this email to friends and colleagues, who can  can click here to subscribe . And let us know what you think! THE TIP SHEET DRIVING THE DAY 1. Escalation of trade war postponed After months of build up and anticipation,  Xi Jinping met with Donald Trump in Buenos Aires on Saturday. The two men – accompanied by a slew of top aides – had a working dinner. The big outcome:  The two men agreed not to escalate t

TRIVIUM CHINA Looking at the readouts, it’s easy to see that China and the US are spinning outcomes of the Xi-Trump meeting in different directions. The US perspective  (WSJ): "According to the White House, the two nations will discuss thorny issues of Chinese economic policy, including forced technology transfer, intellectual-property protection, non-tariff barriers, [and] cyberintrusions." "The two sides would “endeavor” to wrap up the talks in 90 days." "Should the talks fail…the tariffs on the $200 billion of goods would increase to 25% from the current 10%." The Chinese perspective: "Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi…said only that the talks would focus on removing all U.S. tariffs and Chinese retaliatory tariffs and made no mention of a deadline." Get smart:  It’s not unusual for different governments to stress different aspects of a meeting for their domestic audiences. But in this case, the differences speak to a deep divide. The g

  Party Watch Weekly Report 2|8 11.24.2018-11.30.2018 By David Gitter, Julia Bowie, Nathanael Callan, Brock Erdahl, Ann Listerud, and Sandy Lu     Highlights Xi Jinping presided over a Politburo meeting on regulations for CCP rural grassroots organization work (中国共产党农村基层组织工作条例) and rules for discipline inspection organ self-supervision work (中国共产党纪律检查机关监督执纪工作规则) (see Senior Leaders section).The CCDI announced the extradition of Yao Jinqi (姚锦旗) from Bulgaria to China in the first extradition of Chinese state personnel suspected of duty-related crimes from the European Union (see Party Discipline section).The Central Committee General Office released regulations on the work of cadre personnel files (干部人事档案工作条例) and sent out a notice requiring each region and department to implement them (see Organization Work section). Senior Leaders Central Committee Releases Regulations on the Work of CCP Branches For Trial Implementation Xinhua   11.25  The Politburo recently released regul

BRI Briefing Our BRI Briefing summarizes and analyzes key news related to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) over the last week.     This week’s top BRI news Source: Belt and Road Advisory   BRI MoU with Philippines shows focus on transparency : A leaked Belt and Road MoU between China and the Philippines includes a provision that projects should be developed with 'complete transparency'. This is a good move and shows China is listening and attempting to make BRI more transparent   China opens up the insurance sector to foreign firms:  China’s Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission gave German insurer Allianz permission to set up a wholly-owned insurance holding company in Shanghai. This represents an acceleration in the liberalization of the insurance sector.   China proposes WTO reform:  China is more actively pushing for reform of the WTO. It wants to “lock unilateralism inside the cage of multilateralism”, improve the say of developing economies and reform th

Guest contribution by Scott Wingo. Scott Wingo is a doctoral candidate in political science at the University of Pennsylvania specializing in China’s approach to development finance. You may follow him on Twitter @ScottCWingo . Disclaimer: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author. On July 23, 2018, Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a visit to Rwanda , where he and Rwandan President Paul Kagame announced that Rwanda was joining the Belt and Road Initiative. Followers of the Belt and Road’s blockbuster infrastructure or natural resource deals might be tempted to shrug. As of 2017, the World Bank estimates that Rwanda has a population of only 12.2 million and GDP of US $9.1 billion, and the country possesses neither the geostrategic significance of the likes of Djibouti or Egypt, nor the natural resource wealth of Angola or Equatorial Guinea. Nevertheless, China is betting on Rwanda, and the way in which it is doing so tells us something abou

AGENCIA EFE2 HOURS AGO DECEMBER 4, 2018 Chinese President Xi Jinping has confirmed that Panama is a key ally in Beijing's strategy to expand its footprint in Latin America as he reiterated a desire to build an "open" world economy. Xi, the first Chinese leader to visit the Central American country, said that "in just a year-and-a-half" after the establishment of diplomatic ties in June 2017 "bilateral relations have gotten off to a strong start." The aim of China's strategic plan, known as "The New Silk Road" and incorporating dozens of other countries, is to create a network of infrastructure around the world whereby China can distribute its products and secure the raw materials its industry requires. Because of its strategic location and connectivity, Panama can be "China's commercial arm in - and gateway into - Latin America," Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela said. China, with which Panama is negotiating a fr

LISBON, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- Portugal, a country with indelible imprints on maritime trade, has well-grounded interests in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Portuguese experts said ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit. The BRI, proposed by Xi and aimed at promoting common development along the ancient Silk Road trade routes and beyond, provides a good opportunity to boost China-Portugal cooperation and the two countries' development, they noted. LINKS IN HISTORY "The most important period of our history was linked with the Maritime Silk Road," said Dr. Fernanda Ilheu, president of the New Silk Road Friends Association, adding that Portuguese interests in the BRI are rooted in history. In the 15th and 16th centuries, China was involved in the Maritime Silk Road in which Portugal played a pioneering role, said Ilheu. In 1987, the Chinese and Portuguese governments reached an agreement on resolving the issue of Macao left over from history, setting a succe

SGX Partners Nanhua Futures To Help Investors Capture Belt And Road Initiative Investment Opportunities - SGX Index Edge Will Collaborate With Nanhua Fund, The Wholly-Owned Subsidiary Of Nanhua Futures, To Develop Indices That Are Representative Of China’s Belt And Road Initiative Singapore Exchange (SGX) and Nanhua Futures Co., Ltd (Nanhua Futures) will be working together to help investors capture investment opportunities related to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The BRI is the Chinese government’s long-term development strategy to connect about 65 countries in Asia, Africa and Europe, with the aim to open up new trade corridors and strengthen infrastructure, trade and investment links. According to the World Bank Group [1] , BRI economies account for one-third of global GDP and trade, close to two-thirds of world population and three-quarters of known energy reserves. As part of the partnership, SGX’s index business, SGX Index Edge will work with Nanhua Fund, the wholly

BY  MICHAEL WALSH UPDATED SAT AT 2:53PM PHOTO   Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte is one of the latest leaders to sign onto China's Belt and Road initiative. AP: MARK R CRISTINO More and more countries are choosing to ink agreements with China on its trillion dollar Belt and Road initiative, a global infrastructure push aiming to recreate the glory days of China's ancient Silk Road trade routes. Key points: The language in the Belt and Road cooperation agreements is vagueMany, but not all, of the agreements say they are not legally bindingMore than 100 Belt and Road agreements have been signed Chinese state media says more than 100 countries and international organisations have signed Belt and Road cooperation agreements since 2013. The Victorian Government, the Philippines, Vanuatu and Tonga are some of the most recent recruits. But what are governments actually agreeing to when they choose to sign on Beijing's dotted line? Copies of the agreements signed b

November 29, 2018 Haik Nikogosian asks whether China’s infrastructure strategy will reshape global health The Belt and Road Initiative—China’s plan for the “new Silk Road”—marks one of the largest developments of the 21st century, affecting economies, infrastructures, and trade in a vast part of the world (Asia, Africa, and Europe). But will it disrupt global health as well? The initiative encompasses economic, infrastructure, transport, and consequently environmental policies in the region and is strongly embedded in trade, investment, development, and foreign policies of the participating countries. Health has its own interface with these domains, underlining the potential benefits and risks that the initiative will have on public and global health. Major public health matters, such as communicable diseases, health security, healthy lifestyles, illegal substances, and road safety, will inevitably be affected by the increased flow of people, information, goods, and services along