1. law, govt and politics
2. legal issues
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VOL. XXVII No. 2
February 2015
Rs. 20.00
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) met　with　his　Indian　counterpart　Sushma　Swaraj　and　held　talks　with　her　on　bilateral　ties　in　Beijing，　China　on　Feb. 1, 2015.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (3rd R) held talks with
his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj (3rd L) in Beijing,
China on Feb. 1, 2015.
Mr. Jiang Jianguo(R), Director of the Chinese State
Council Information Office (SCIO) of China and Ms.
Sushma Swaraj, Indian External Affairs Minister attended
the launching ceremony of “Visit India Year 2015” in
Beijing on Feb. 2, 2015.
Chinese Ambassador Mr. Le Yucheng met with Mr. Ajit
Kumar Doval, National Security Adviser of India and
Special Representative for China-India Border Talk in
Chinese Embassy on Feb. 2, 2015. They exchanged views
on common concerns.
Mr. Le Yucheng, Chinese Ambassador to India met with
Indian Minister of Defence Mr. Manohar Parrikar in New
Delhi on Feb.3, 2015 and discussed with him on the
development of military relations between China and
India.
Mr. Le Yucheng, Chinese Ambassador to India met with
Mr. Siddaramaiah, Chief Minister of Karnataka in
Bengaluru on Feb. 4, 2015 and exchanged views with him
on China-India relations and local cooperations between
the two countries.
On Feb.15, 2015,　a　celebration　followed　by　a　reception　was　held　in　Chinese Embassy　to　celebrate the Chinese
New Year．　Hundreds of　overseas Chinese　and　Indian　guests attended the event.
CONTENTS
CHINA INDIA RELATIONS
1. Chinese President Eyes Continued Correct Direction for China-India Ties
2. Indian PM Expresses Wish for Stronger Economic, Trade Ties with China
3. Chinese Leaders Congratulate India on Republic Day
4． China, India Express Willingness to Deepen and Broaden Bilateral Cooperation
5. Chinese, Indian FMs Hold Talks
6. China，　India　to　Boost　Tourism　Cooperation
7. Joint Communique of Russian, Indian, Chinese Foreign Ministers' Meeting
8. Media to Play More Positive Role in Boosting China-India Ties
9. Impression with and Reflection on China-India Relations
10. Ambassador　Le　Yucheng＇
s　Interview　with　Deccan　Herald
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
17
19
23
EXTERNAL　AFFAIRS
1. Xi Jinping Holds Talks with Argentine President
2. China, France Pledge to Boost "Strategic" Cooperation
3. Chinese　Premier　Li　Keqiang's Address at World Economic Forum Annual Meeting
31
34
36
CHINESE ENTERPRISES IN INDIA
1. Sinopharm India
２. Sinosteel India
41
43
REVIVING THE SILK ROAD
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
China Sketches Out Priorities of "Belt and Road" Initiatives
China Holds Maritime Silk Road Seminar　China Kicks off Silk Road Tourism Year
Chinese Dance Drama Promotes "Maritime Silk Road" at UN HQ
Chronology of China's "Belt and Road" Initiatives
45
46
48
49
50
ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
1. Slowdown: A Blessing in Disguise?
2. Get Smart: Chinese phone makers
3. Double-Edged Sword
52
55
58
CULTURE　&　LIFE　1. The　Vitality　of　a　Traditional　Art
2. Traditional　Opera　Arts　of　Hunan　Province
３. Swan　Lake　in　Shandong
61
64
67
TIBET　TODAY
1. Tibetan Buddhism College Celebrates Losar in Beijing
2. The　Life　of　Padma　Chojor，　a　Layman　Chams　Artist
68
70
FLIGHTS BETWEEN CHINA AND INDIA
BOOK REVIEW
CCTV NEWS YOUR LINK TO CHINA AND THE WORLD
CRI A　BRIDGE　OF　FRIENDSHIP
74
76
77
78
News From China February 2015
4 China India Relations
CHINA INDIA RELATIONS
Chinese President Eyes Continued Correct Direction
for China-India Ties
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj in Beijing，　capital　of　China，　Feb．　2，　2015．　（
Xinhua／
Huang Jingwen)
Beijing, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) — Chinese President
Xi Jinping on Monday called for a continued
advancement of ties between China and India.
“Leaders of the two countries should maintain
communication and exchanges and work together
to ensure the correct direction for the
development of the bilateral ties,” Xi said as he met
with India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma
Swaraj at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
Xi attributed the stable development of the
relationship mainly to the accumulating political
trust and consensus on some major issues
reached between the leaders of the two countries.
Recalling his visit to India in September, Xi
said his visit initiated a new phase of relationship
and that the trend of friendly exchanges and
cooperation between the two countries is “very
good”.
Xi asked Swaraj to convey his greetings to
Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and said he “welcome
Prime Minister Modi to visit China at an early
date.”
China and India should grasp the “opportunity
of the century” to combine their development
strategies, and push ahead with their strategic
cooperation on railways and industrial parks to
benefit the 2.5 billion people of the two countries
as well as the global economic development, said
the Chinese president.
Xi said the two sides should patiently control
News From China February 2015
and manage disputes to prevent them from
affecting the overall relationship. He called for
sincerity and willingness to pursue a gradual and
appropriate resolution of disputes.
China stands ready to increase communication and coordination with India on global
governance and other major international and
regional issues to ensure the international order
develops in a more fair and rational direction and
to safeguard the interests of emerging markets
and developing countries, Xi said.
For her part, Swaraj conveyed the greetings of
President Mukherjee and Prime Minister Modi to
China India Relations 5
Xi, adding that Xi’s visit last year elevated the
India-China relationship to a new level.
She said the consensus reached between the
leaders were being implemented and India looks
forward to more investment from China and more
balanced trade between the two countries.
The Indian side hopes for more dialogue on
border issues, she added.
Swaraj said Prime Minister Modi looked
forward to visiting China and she believed this
visit would bring important progress for the
relationship.
Indian PM Expresses Wish for Stronger Economic,
Trade Ties with China
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) meets with Wang Jiarui, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's
Political Consultative Conference and head of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of
China, during their meeting in New Delhi, India, Feb. 13, 2015.(Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)
New Delhi, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) — Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi on Friday expressed wish
for stronger economic and trade ties between
India and China.
During a meeting here with Wang Jiarui, vice
chairman of the National Committee of the
Chinese People’s Political Consultative
Conference and head of the International
Department of the CPC Central Committee, Modi
said the visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to
6 China India Relations
News From China February 2015
Wang Jiarui(L), vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and head of the
International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China,　shakes hands with Indian Foreign Minister
Sushma Swaraj during their meeting in New Delhi, India, Feb. 13, 2015.(Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)
India last September was highly successful and
that the friendship between the leaders of the two
countries is a driving force behind bilateral
cooperations.
He said stronger cooperation in the fields of
economy and trade is conducive for India and
China to play a more important role in Asian and
world affairs.
Modi said the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) of India is willing to carry out more
exchanges with the Communist Party of China,
especially in the fields of local governance, youth
and women.
Wang said the successful visit by President Xi
to India last year has drawn a new blue print for
China-India cooperation.
The year 2015 marks the 65th anniversary of
the establishment of diplomatic relations between
China and India, and China is ready to build closer
development partnership with India, to which the
Communist Party of China is willing to make its
contribution, he said.
Chinese Leaders Congratulate India　on　Republic　Day
Beijing, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) — Chinese leaders on
Monday sent congratulatory messages to their
Indian counterparts on the 66th Republic Day of
the Southern Asian nation, pledging closer ties
between the two neighbors.
In his message to Indian President Pranab
Mukherjee, Chinese President Xi Jinping said both
China and India, as two ancient civilizations, are
pursuing a great dream of national rejuvenation.
China is delighted with India’s achievements
in its development, he added.
Noting this year marks the 65th anniversary of
the establishment of diplomatic relations
between the two countries, Xi said China is willing
to make concerted efforts with India to lift their
strategic cooperative partnership oriented to
News From China February 2015
peace and prosperity to a higher level.
In a message to Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said
that in recent years, China and India have kept a
stronger momentum in joining hands for
China India Relations 7
cooperation and seeking common development.
China is ready to work with India to deepen
their mutually beneficial cooperation in various
fields and build a closer partnership of
development, he said.
China，　India　Express　Willingness　to　Deepen　and　Broaden　Bilateral　Cooperation
Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi (L) meets with Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Kumar Doval on the sidelines of the 51st
Munich Security Conference, in Munich，　Germany，　on　Feb．
7，　2015．　（
Xinhua／
Luo　Huanhuan）
Munich, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) — China and India are
willing to deepen bilateral cooperation and
collaborate in protecting common interests, said
top officials from the two countries in Munich on
Saturday.
The positive interaction between China and
India is increasing and their momentum of
cooperation is improving, said Chinese State
Councilor Yang Jiechi when meeting Indian
National Security Advisor Ajit Kumar Doval on the
sidelines of the ongoing 51th Munich Security
Conference.
Both sides should seize the opportunities,
remove the disturbances, and strengthen the
positive trend of China-India relations, Yang said.
He added that China and India should increase
high-level exchanges, improve political mutual
trust and consolidate the foundation of bilateral
relations.
Cooperation, including those in culture,
railway and industrial parks construction, should
be broadened, Yang said.
The official proposed to respect and look after
each other’s concerns, to push forward
News From China February 2015
8 China India Relations
negotiations over boundaries, and to effectively
maintain the peace and safety of border areas.
Yang also said China and India should enhance
cooperation in international affairs, promoting
multipolarism and protecting common interests
of developing countries.
Doval, for his part, said the bilateral relations
between India and China have improved since the
new Indian government was formed. As the two
fastest growing developing countries in the world
and Asian fellows, India and China face a number
of mutually beneficial cooperation opportunities.
India is willing to enhance cooperation with
China in various areas, to jointly boost economic
sustainable growth, as well as to maintain peace
and stability of the region, Doval said, adding that
his country expected to intensify coordination
with China and keep pushing forward the process
of negotiations over boundaries.
Chinese, Indian FMs Hold Talks
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) meets with his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj in Beijing，　China，　Feb．　1，　2015．　（
Xinhua／
Huang　Jingwen）
Beijing, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) — Chinese Foreign
Minister Wang Yi and his Indian counterpart
Sushma Swaraj held talks on bilateral ties in
Beijing on Sunday.
As two large developing countries, China and
India pursue an independent foreign policy of
peace, and both countries attach priority to
developing relations with their neighbouring
countries, Wang said, noting that China cherishes
the strategic and cooperative partnership with
India.
Last September, Chinese President Xi Jinping
visited India, and leaders of both countries set a
goal for building closer China-India development
partnership, Wang said.
China is willing to make joint efforts with India
to implement the consensus reached by the
leaders of the two countries and to be good
News From China February 2015
neighbours and partners, Wang said, adding that
two countries should be good friends who are
working together to promote democratization of
international relations and to safeguard the
overall interests of developing countries.
Wang made some suggestions on bilateral ties
in 2015. He said China and India should continue
to keep high-level visits and strategic
communication and China welcomes Indian
Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit China this
year.
Wang said China and India should focus on
promoting pragmatic cooperation in the fields of
railway, industrial park, smart city, tourism,
education, culture and new pilgrimage route.
Wang said China is willing to make joint
efforts with India to promote the process of
negotiations over border issue so as to maintain
peace in border area.
Xi and Modi have met with each other three
times since last year, Swaraj said, adding that it
China India Relations 9
shows a high-level development of bilateral ties.
She hopes that her current visit to China will
show positive signals of India-China friendly and
cooperative relationship.
Swaraj is paying an official visit to China from
Saturday to Tuesday as a guest of Wang Yi, and it is
her first visit to China since taking office.
As the second largest economy, China is the
largest neighbouring country of India, Swaraj said,
noting that India and China have broad common
interests and both countries can benefit from each
other’s development.
Swaraj said that India attaches great
importance to bilateral ties and Modi is willing to
pay a visit to China at an early date within this year.
India would like to make joint efforts with
China to strengthen understanding and mutual
trust, properly handle the differences, advance
comprehensive cooperation and sound
coordination in international and regional affairs,
Swaraj said.
China，　India　to　Boost　Tourism　Cooperation
Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang (R front) and Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj (L front) attend the launching
ceremony of "Visit India Year 2015" in Beijing，　capital　of　China，　Feb．　2，　2015．　Indian　Prime　Minister　Narendra　Modi　also　sent　his　greetings　through　a　video　message．　10 China India Relations
Beijing Feb. 2 (Xinhua) — China and India, the
world’s two most populous countries, agreed to
boost tourism cooperation to strengthen peopleto-people ties.
“We are confident that the number of ChinaIndia mutual visits will exceed 1 million in 2016,”
said Li Jinzao, head of China National Tourism
Administration (NTA), at the launch ceremony for
“Visit India Year 2015” here on Monday.
Indian citizens traveling to China hit 645,600
while 124,600 Chinese citizens chose India as the
first stop of their overseas trips in the 11 months
of 2014.
Overseas trips by Chinese people surpassed
100 million last year.
“Compared with the total population of 2.5
billion of the two countries, 1 million is very
small,” Li said, stressing the space for cooperation
on tourism is very huge.
During Chinese President Xi Jinping’s India
tour in September, Xi and Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi decided to launch “Visit India
Year” in China in 2015 and “Visit China Year” in
India in 2016. It is an important opportunity to
News From China February 2015
boost tourism cooperation, Li Jinzao said.
Attending the launch ceremony monday,
Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang called on the two
sides to earnestly implement the consensus of the
two leaders.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent a
video message to the launch ceremony and Indian
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj attended
the ceremony.
According to tourism authorities, the two
sides will work together to simplify visa
procedures, increase direct flights and improve
service levels. The two sides will also develop new
travel packages and routes as well as strengthen
communication and coordination to safeguard
safety of tourists.
Chinese monk Xuan Zang’s visit to India in the
seventh century is a legend loved by hundreds of
millions of ordinary Chinese people, said Yu
Ningning, President of China International Travel
Service. She believed that the two countries will
jointly write new friendship stories in the age of
globalization.
Joint Communique of Russian, Indian, Chinese
Foreign Ministers' Meeting
News From China February 2015
Beijing, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) — Russian, Indian and
Chinese foreign ministers issued a joint
communique Monday after wrapping up their
13th meeting in Beijing.
The following is the full text of the document:
Joint Communique of the 13th Meeting of the
Foreign Ministers of the Russian Federation, the
Republic of India and the People’s Republic of
China
1. The Foreign Ministers of the Russian
Federation, the Republic of India and the People’s
Republic of China held their 13th Meeting in
Beijing, China, on 2 February 2015.
2. The Ministers agreed that Russia, India and
China (RIC), as countries with important
influence at international and regional levels and
emerging market economies, need to further
strengthen coordination on global issues and
practical cooperation, in the spirit of openness,
solidarity, mutual understanding and trust. They
emphasized that cooperation between their
countries is conducive to maintaining
international and regional peace and stability and
promoting global economic growth and
prosperity.
3. The Ministers reviewed progress in their
practical cooperation since the New Delhi
meeting on 10 November 2013. They agreed that
Russia, India and China should enhance their
cooperation in think-tanks, business, agriculture,
disaster mitigation and relief, medical services
and public health. The Ministers explored
potential for cooperation in oil and natural gas
production and transportation, as well as in other
fields of energy, high tech, environmental
protection and connectivity. They agreed to
promote parliamentary, media, cultural and youth
exchanges including visits of young diplomats.
They expressed satisfaction with the outcome of
the 13th Trilateral Academic Conference held in
Moscow in July 2014, and welcomed the 14th
Trilateral Academic Conference to be held in
China in May 2015.
4. The Ministers noted the significant and
rapid changes underway in the world and
underlined that the international community
should remain committed to democratization of
international relations and multi-polarity. They
China India Relations 11
stressed the importance of pursuing a new type of
international relations featuring win-win
cooperation. Russia, India and China are
determined to build a more just, fair and stable
international political and economic order in
accordance with the purposes and principles of
the UN Charter, the Five Principles of Peaceful CoExistence and other basic norms of international
law. The Ministers stressed the need to respect
diversity of civilizations and the independent
choice of development path and social system by
the people of all countries, support peaceful
settlement of disputes through political and
diplomatic means. They expressed their support
to the idea of adopting a UN General Assembly
resolution on the inadmissibility of intervention
and interference in the internal affairs of states.
They opposed forced regime change in any
country from the outside, or imposition of
unilateral sanctions based on domestic laws.
5. The Ministers recognized that the year 2015
marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the
United Nations and the victory in the Second
World War, and paid tribute to all those who
fought against Fascism and for freedom. Russia,
India and China affirmed the need to solemnly
commemorate those historic moments of great
significance in human history and their
commitment to safeguarding a fair and equitable
international order based on the purposes and
principles of the UN Charter, preventing war and
conflict and promoting the progress and
development of mankind. The Ministers
welcomed the inclusion of the item of “Seventieth
anniversary of the end of the Second World War”
in the agenda of the 69th session of the UN General
Assembly, and supported the United Nations and
member states to initiate and organize
commemorative events.
6. The Ministers reiterated their strong
commitment to the United Nations as a universal
multilateral organization entrusted with the
mandate of helping the world community
maintain international peace and security,
advance common development and promote and
protect human rights. The United Nations enjoys
universal membership and is at the very center of
global governance and multilateralism. The
12 China India Relations
Ministers recalled the 2005 World Summit
Outcome Document. They reaffirmed the need for
a comprehensive reform of the United Nations,
including its Security Council, with a view to
making it more representative and efficient, so
that it could better respond to global challenges.
Foreign Ministers of China and Russia reiterated
the importance they attached to the status of India
in international affairs and supported its
aspiration to play a greater role in the United
Nations.
7. The Ministers reiterated their commitment
to strengthening coordination and cooperation in
a joint effort to maintain lasting peace and
stability in the Asia-Pacific region, welcomed the
4th Summit of the Conference on Interaction and
Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) and
the Shanghai Declaration adopted at the Summit.
The Ministers pledged to work together to seek
common, comprehensive, cooperative and
sustainable security. They called for the
development of an open, inclusive, indivisible and
t ra n s p a re n t s e c u r i t y a n d c o o p e ra t i o n
architecture in the region on the basis of
universally recognized principles of international
law. In this regard, they welcomed the continued
discussion on regional security architecture in the
News From China February 2015
Asia-Pacific region under the framework of the
East Asia Summit.
8. The Ministers further underlined the
necessity to strengthen coordination and
cooperation in various regional forums and
organizations such as the ASEAN Regional Forum
(ARF), ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting Plus
(ADMM-Plus), Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) and
Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD), so as to
contribute to maintaining regional peace and
stability and to promote regional development
and prosperity. In this connection, they agreed to
establish a trilateral Russia-India-China
consultation mechanism on Asia-Pacific affairs,
with the first meeting to be held at an early date.
9. Russia, India and China attached special
importance to their cooperation within the
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO),
regarding it as one of the key instruments in
promoting multilateral political, security,
economic and humanitarian interaction in the
region. China and India shared the plans of
Russia’s Chairmanship in the SCO in 2014-2015
and would support and participate
comprehensively in preparing the SCO Summit
Meeting in Ufa in July 2015. China and Russia
welcomed India’s application for full membership
News From China February 2015
China India Relations 13
of SCO and supported India to join the SCO after
secure, open and cooperative information space.
completing all necessary negotiations and legal
They underscored that sovereignty of a state over
processes.
the Internet and state conduct of ICT-related
10. The Ministers reiterated that terrorism in
activities should be respected. They expressed
all its forms and manifestations committed by
their support for formulation of universally
whomever, wherever, and for whatever purposes,
recognized international rules of responsible
is a threat to international peace and security, a
state behavior in information space within the UN
grave violation of human rights and a crime
framework and advancement of the reform of the
against humanity. The Ministers affirmed the
international Internet governance mechanism as
need for all countries to join efforts in combating
enshrined in the Tunis Agenda. In this regard, the
terrorism under the auspices of the United
Ministers reaffirmed common views and
Nations, in accordance with the UN Charter and
approaches set forth in the 6th BRICS - Fortaleza
principles and norms of international law and for
Declaration (15 July 2014 ).
the robust implementation of relevant UN
12. The Ministers noted that preventing arms
Security Council resolutions and the Global
race in outer space is in the interests of
Counter-Terrorism Strategy. They called for early
maintaining international peace and security and
conclusion of negotiations on the Comprehensive
for the promotion and strengthening of
Convention on International Terrorism. The
international cooperation in the exploration and
Ministers reiterated that there can be no
the use of outer space for peaceful purposes,
ideological, religious, political, racial, ethnic, or
highlighting the prevention of placement of
any other justification for acts of terrorism. They
weapons of any kind in outer space as one of its
underlined the need to bring to justice
main elements. The Ministers also noted the
perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors
importance of establishing and developing a more
of terrorist acts. Highly alarmed by the new trends
focused dialogue and closer cooperative
in international terrorist acts, the Ministers
relationship among representatives of Russia,
emphasized the need to step up information
India and China with a view to advance the work of
gathering and sharing, prevent the use of the
the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the
Internet and other information and
UN Committee on the Peaceful Use of Outer Space
communication technologies (ICTs) for the
(COPUOS).
purposes of recruitment and incitement to
13. The Ministers supported the political
commit terrorist acts, as well as for the financing,
transition in Afghanistan through the presidential
planning and preparation of their activities, block
elections and security transition from
the channels of terrorist movement and financing
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to
of terrorism, and promote dethe Afghan National Security
radicalization, while respecting
Forces (ANSF). The security
Russia, India and China are transition should be accompanied
international law.
11. The Ministers were of the determined to build a more by adequate measures for
view that the international j u s t , f a i r a n d s t a b l e increasing the ANSF capacity so
community should make joint international political and that the ANSF should be capable
efforts to counter the threat of the
to provide security for all the
economic order in
use of information and
country and population of
communication technologies for a c c o r d a n c e w i t h t h e Afghanistan. The Ministers
military, political, criminal and purposes and principles of affirmed their support for broad
terrorist purposes through the UN Charter, the Five a n d i n c l u s i v e p e a c e a n d
international exchanges and Principles of Peaceful Co- reconciliation in Afghanistan that
cooperation on the basis of mutual Existence and other basic is Afghan-led and Afghan-owned,
respect, equality and mutual
as well as to help Afghanistan’s
norms of international law.
benefit, and build a peaceful,
integration into the region
14 China India Relations
News From China February 2015
through its expanded trade and transport
of the Israel-Palestine conflict based on the
networks and regional connectivity. The
relevant United Nations resolutions, the principle
Ministers stressed that it is important for the
of land for peace, the Arab Peace Initiative, with
international community to remain engaged in
the purpose of establishing a sovereign,
Afghanistan and fulfill its long-term commitments
independent, viable and united State of Palestine,
on civilian and security assistance. They
with East Jerusalem as its capital, living within
supported the core coordinating role of the United
secure and recognized borders, side by side, at
Nations in promoting peace and stability in
peace with Israel. They appealed to the
Afghanistan. The Ministers highly valued the
international community, particularly the Middle
positive results of the Fourth Ministerial Meeting
East Quartet, to continue its efforts aimed at
of the Istanbul Process in Beijing, which
achieving this end. The Ministers supported the
contributed to strengthen regional cooperation
UN Security Council in playing its due role in
and facilitate peace, rehabilitation and economic
solving the Israel-Palestine conflict. The Ministers
reconstruction in Afghanistan. Russia, India and
urged international community to provide
China stressed their commitment to
continued assistance and support for alleviation
implementing the Beijing Declaration for security
of humanitarian situation in Palestine.
and prosperity in Afghanistan and the region.
16. The Ministers discussed the latest
14. The Ministers affirmed
developments in Syria. They
their support for efforts to seek a
reiterated that there is no military
Russia, India and China solution to the Syrian crisis and
comprehensive and long-term
s t r e s s e d t h e i r urged all parties to abjure violence
solution to the Iranian nuclear
issue through political and
c o m m i t m e n t t o and resume peace negotiations
diplomatic means. They
i m p l e m e n t i n g t h e based on “Geneva Communique”
welcomed the extension of
Beijing Declaration for of June 2012. The Ministers called
negotiations between P5+1 and
on the Syrian government and
security and prosperity
Iran, and hoped that the two sides
opposition factions to resume the
in Afghanistan and the Geneva process as soon as
intensify diplomatic efforts with a
region.
view to reaching a comprehensive
possible, stick to the approach of
agreement at an early date. The
political settlement and draw on
Ministers encouraged Iran and the
the useful experience of others to
IAEA to enhance cooperation to resolve all the
find a “middle way” that conforms to Syria’s
outstanding issues. The Ministers stressed that
national conditions and accommodates the
once the IAEA confirms the exclusively peaceful
interests of all parties, and start the national
nature of Iran’s nuclear programme by means of
reconciliation process at an early date. The
applying stringent monitoring and resolving all
Ministers supported the mediation efforts by the
past and present issues of concern, Iran will fully
UN Secretary-General and his special envoy to
enjoy all the rights to peaceful uses of nuclear
secure “incremental freeze zones” and to allow
energy, including uranium enrichment under
humanitarian aid to civilians. They highly valued
strict IAEA safeguards and consistent with its
the efforts by Russia to convene the first meeting
international obligations.
o f i n te r - Sy r i a n c o n s u l t a t i o n s b e t we e n
15. The Ministers discussed the developments
representatives of the Syrian Government and
of the Israel-Palestine conflict. They stressed that
opposition groups in January 2015. The Ministers
its further deterioration may have a negative
welcomed the important achievements made in
impact on the prospects of both the Peace Process
the elimination of Syria’s chemical weapons, and
and Middle East affairs on the whole. They urged
complimented the Organizations for the
Israel and Palestine to exercise restraint and take
Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in its
effective measures to avoid further escalation of
efforts towards elimination and destruction of
tensions. The Ministers supported the resolution
chemical weapons in Syria. They expressed
News From China February 2015
support for the efforts of the Syrian Government
to combat terrorism. They called on all parties in
Syria to implement relevant resolutions of the UN
Security Council, and fully cooperate with the
United Nations and relevant international
organizations in their humanitarian efforts. They
called on the international community to abide by
the guiding principles of the United Nations on
humanitarian assistance.
17. The Ministers expressed deep concern
over the ongoing turmoil in Iraq and its spillover
effects, and emphasized their respect for the
independence, sovereignty and territorial
integrity of Iraq, and their support for the efforts
of the Iraqi government to uphold domestic
stability and combat terrorism. They hoped that
all parties in Iraq enhance unity and
reconciliation so as to swiftly restore national
stability and social order. The Ministers urged all
parties concerned to refrain from interference,
which could further aggravate the situation. They
called on all parties to support the Iraqi
government and people in their efforts to build a
stable, inclusive and united Iraq taking into
account the interests of all segments of the Iraqi
society. The Ministers urged the international
community to provide continued assistance and
humanitarian support for Iraqi refugees and
internally displaced people.
18. The Ministers expressed deep concern
about the current crisis in Ukraine, and called on
all parties in the inter-Ukraine conflict to exercise
restraint and fully implement the Minsk Protocol,
engage in comprehensive dialogue and pursue a
peaceful resolution of the crisis through political
negotiations. The Ministers stressed that an
independent, objective, fair and transparent
international investigation should be carried out
for the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, and
parties concerned should engage in cooperation
within the framework of Resolution 2166 of the
UN Security Council.
19. The Ministers expressed their support for
improved global economic governance to ensure
sound and stable growth of the world economy.
They called for immediate reform of the
international financial system to increase the
voice and representation of emerging markets
China India Relations 15
and developing countries, with a focus on the
implementation of the 2010 IMF Quota and
Governance Reform by the end of this year. They
stressed the need for international financial
institutions to provide more resources to promote
development. The Ministers reiterated their
commitments to enhancing cooperation within
the framework of G20, and called on all G20
members to strengthen macroeconomic policy
coordination, reject protectionism as well as all
forms of unilateral measures of economic
pressure taken without relevant decisions of the
UN Security Council, safeguard the multilateral
trading system centered around the WTO, build an
open world economy, and play an important role
in global economic governance. Russia and India
welcome and support the efforts of China to host
the 2016 G20 Summit. The Ministers reiterate
their readiness to contribute to its successful
results.
20. The Ministers reaffirmed commitment to
the World Trade Organization (WTO) as the
preeminent global forum for trade, including
negotiating and implementing trade rules, settling
trade disputes and supporting development
through the integration of developing countries
into the global trading system. In this regard, they
reaffirmed commitment to the Doha Development
Agenda as well as to the regular work of the WTO.
The Ministers expressed their support for the
forthcoming WTO 10th Ministerial Conference to
be held in Nairobi, Kenya in December 2015. They
underlined the importance of tangible progress at
the Conference toward a successful conclusion of
the WTO Doha Round.
21. The Ministers noted that the emerging
market economies are a significant driving force
for the world economic growth and have played an
important role in promoting the world economic
recovery. The Ministers fully recognized the
significance of the UN Summit for the adoption of
the Post-2015 Development Agenda to be held in
September 2015. They called on the international
community to accelerate their efforts towards
attainment of the MDGs and formulate the Post2015 Development Agenda under the principles
of equity, democracy, transparency, member
16 China India Relations
states driven and consensus. The Post-2015
Development Agenda, while focusing on poverty
eradication and promotion of common
development, should attach great importance to
addressing the inequality and disparity between
the North and the South and build a renewed
global development partnership of win-win
cooperation. The Ministers pledged to strengthen
coordination and cooperation in the intergovernmental negotiating process.
22. The Ministers called on the international
community to actively implement the follow-up
process of the 2012 United Nations Conference on
Sustainable Development in accordance with the
principle of “common but differentiated
responsibilities”. They welcomed the adoption by
the UN General Assembly of the proposal of the
O p e n Wo r k i n g G r o u p o n S u s t a i n a b l e
Development Goals as the main basis for
integrating the SDGs into the Post-2015
Development Agenda. They held the view that in
promoting sustainable development, the
international community should fully respect the
national conditions and development paths of
different countries, and focus on helping
developing countries solve the problems of
financing, technology and capacity building and
achieve common development.
23. The Ministers reiterated the importance
attached by the three countries to the issue of
climate change, and expressed their readiness to
work together to further strengthen international
cooperation to address climate change and its
adverse effect. The Ministers welcomed the
adoption of the “Lima Call for Climate Action” by
the 20th United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the
Parties (COP20). They expressed confidence that
the 21st session of UNFCCC to be held in 2015 will
be able to adopt a protocol, another legal
instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force
under the Convention applicable to all parties, in
accordance with the principles of equity, common
but differentiated responsibilities and respective
capabilities.
24. The Ministers noted that collectively
BRICS economies have consolidated their
News From China February 2015
position as the main engines for sustaining the
pace of the international economy as it recovers
from the recent economic and financial global
crisis. Emerging market economies and
developing countries continue to contribute
significantly to global growth and will do so in the
years to come.
25. The Ministers welcomed the successful
conclusion of the 6th BRICS Summit, particularly
the signing of the Agreement on the New
Development Bank and the Treaty for the
Establishment of a BRICS Contingent Reserve
Arrangement. They agreed to build a closer
economic partnership in keeping with the BRICS
spirit of openness, inclusiveness and mutually
beneficial cooperation to facilitate the market
inter-linkages, financial integration,
infrastructure connectivity as well as people-topeople contacts, cultural and educational
exchanges among BRICS countries. The Ministers
welcomed the decision taken by the Fortaleza
Summit on opening negotiations on the Draft
Strategy of Multilateral Economic Cooperation
and Framework of BRICS Closer Economic
Partnership. China and India expressed their full
support to Russia for a successful 7th summit of
the BRICS leaders in July 2015.
26. The Ministers highly valued the fruitful
achievements of the 22nd APEC Economic
Leaders’ Meeting, including launching the process
of Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP),
promoting innovative development, economic
reform and growth and enhancing connectivity of
the Asia-Pacific. They commended China’s efforts
in making the conference a full success and
deemed that the Meeting is of great significance in
achieving long-term development and common
p ro s p e r i t y o f t h e A s i a - Pa c i f i c re g i o n .
Acknowledging India’s important role in driving
global economic growth, and supporting the
openness of APEC, China and Russia would
welcome India’s participation in APEC.
27. The Ministers stressed the importance of
regional connectivities, which will inject strong
impetus in enhancing political mutual trust,
economic cooperation, and promoting cultural
News From China February 2015
and people-to-people exchanges. In this context,
they discussed initiatives, including China’s
initiatives of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the
21st Century Maritime Silk Road. They welcomed
synergy of various initiatives to improve regional
connectivity in Asia. They emphasized the
necessity to explore all connectivity options for
greater economic integration of the common
region and stressed that the three countries will
closely coordinate and work together to ensure
that various initiatives bear fruit and benefit all
countries and people in the region.
28. The Ministers expressed their deep
concern over the spread of the Ebola virus in
some African countries and the damage it
caused to the health and safety of the local
people. They decided to continue to work hand
in hand in helping the African countries curb
China India Relations 17
and prevent the spread of the Ebola. They
supported the leading and coordinating role of
the United Nations and the World Health
Organization in combating the disease. The
Ministers called on the international
community, with a long-term prospective to
help African countries strengthen their public
health system and capacity building.
29. The Foreign Minister of the Russian
Federation and the External Affairs Minister of the
Republic of India extended their warm
appreciation and sincere gratitude to the Foreign
Minister of the People’s Republic of China for
hosting and making excellent arrangements for
the meeting in Beijing.
30. The Ministers decided to hold the next
trilateral meeting in Russia in the second half of
2015.
Media to Play More Positive Role
in Boosting China-India Ties
Mr. Jiang Jianguo, Director of the State Council Information Office (SCIO) of China，　addresses　the　opening　ceremony　of　the　２
nd　China－
India　Media　Forum．
18 China India Relations
Beijing, Feb.1 (Xinhua) — Chinese and Indian
media should expand new channels of
communication and collaboration to encourage
trust and reduce suspicions, a Chinese official said
at the 2nd China-India Media Forum held in
Beijing on Sunday.
Jiang Jianguo, director of the State Council
Information Office (SCIO) of China, said at the
opening ceremony of the forum that Indian and
Chinese media organizations should increase the
exchanges of journalists, articles, and story ideas
as well as carrying out more joint interview and
opening more youth exchange programs for
media talents.
“Media organizations of the two countries
should not simply appeal to nationalist sentiment
or hype those eye-catching negative topics.” Jiang
said. “Instead, they should keep in mind the
mainstream direction of China-India ties, which is
characterized by friendly cooperation, accurate
and objective reporting while reducing
misunderstandings and suspicions.”
News From China February 2015
China-India relations have seen overall
development in recent years. In addition to
growing economic ties in collaboration of railway
projects and industrial parks, considerable
progress was also made in establishing and
expanding defence contacts and exchanges,
including across the border, said Sushma Swaraj,
Indian External Affairs Minister, during her
speech at the opening ceremony of forum.
Swaraj said she expect to strengthen peopleto-people contacts, including contacts between
scholars and journalists of the two countries, as a
result of the increasingly closer link between India
and China.
This year marks the Visit India Year in China
while the year of 2016 will be the Visit China Year
in India. More tourists from the two countries are
expected to visit each other.
“This is the most appropriate opportunity to
boost our ties” , Swaraj said.
She also proposed a six-point “ABCDEF”
template to build bilateral relationship and realize
Ms. Sushma Swaraj, Indian External Affairs Minister, makes a speech at the opening ceremony of the 2nd China-India Media Forum.
News From China February 2015
China India Relations 19
the dream of an “Asian Century” , namely AAction-oriented approach, B-Broad-base bilateral
engagement, C-Convergence on common regional
and global interests, D-Develop new areas of
cooperation, E-Expand strategic communication,
and F-Fulfill common aspiration to usher “Asian
Century.”
The forum, jointly hosted by the SCIO of China
and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of
India, attracted more than 120 participants,
including delegates from some 40 leading Chinese
and Indian media organizations as well as
scholars and government officials from both
countries.
Delegates discussed the role media plays in
promoting bilateral strategic partnership,
boosting economic cooperation, as well as the
potential of cooperation in new media.
They agreed that media in the two countries
bears social and historical responsibilities. Thus,
instead of hyping border conflicts and “zero-sum”
game between two emerging economies, news
organizations in the two countries should
enhance direct communication and mutual
understanding so as to promote win-win
cooperation.
As a platform to encourage face-to-face
dialogue between media organizations of the two
countries and build understanding of each others’
societies, the first forum was held in New Delhi,
India, in September 2013.
Impression with and Reflection on China-India Relations
（
Chinese Ambassador　to　India　Mr．　Le　Yucheng＇
s　Speech　in　Jawaharlal　Nehru　University）
05/02/2015
20 China India Relations
Respectable Mr. Sopori, Vice Chancellor of
Jawaharlal Nehru University,
Ladies, Gentlemen and Friends!
Namaste!
I am very delighted to meet with you at
renowned Jawaharlal Nehru University. I have
been in India for more than 4 months. It is not a
long time, but I had extensive contacts with
friends from all walks of life in India. Besides
Delhi, I visited Ahmedabad in Gujarat, Mumbai in
Maharashtra and Jaipur in Rajasthan. By watching
Indian TV and reading Indian newspaper
everyday, I have integrated myself into Indian life
and begin to enjoy it. During this period, many
vivid and touching stories inspire me to think
about India and China-India relations, which I
would like to share with you on this occasion.
1. I am a very lucky ambassador. Just one week
after assuming my new post in India, I had the
privilege of welcoming President Xi Jinping to pay
state visit to India last September. It has been 8
years since President of China visited India last
time. President Xi was also the first Head of State
of a major country whom the new Government of
India received at that time. This visit put new
impetus into the all-round cooperation between
China and India, and pushed the China-India
Strategic and Cooperative Partnership to a new
height.
As a member of the delegation, I participated
in all engagements of the visit and witnessed the
close interaction between the two leaders, which
deeply impressed me. The chemistry was
apparent as Prime Minister Modi in a rare gesture
welcomed President Xi at Gujarat, his home state.
In Gujarat, the two leaders wore Indian traditional
Khadi jackets, visited Sabarmati Ashram, strolled
along the Riverfront Park, swung on the typical
Gujarati Jhoola, enjoyed the folk performances
and shared birthday cake in an amicable
atmosphere. One of many impressive moments
was vividly captured by local and world media
when President Xi tried his hands on a legendry
Charkha with Prime Minister Modi by his side at
Sabarmati Ashram. It has become the symbol of
their mutual bonding, and the resolve that the two
neighbors will pick up the threads of our ties, and
join hands in weaving them into a beautiful
News From China February 2015
picture of shared dream of friendship and
development.
President Xi Jinping and Madam Peng Liyuan
met and mingled with the people of India. Upon
their arrival in Gujarat, hundreds of thousands of
local residents lined the streets where the
motorcade passed. Their warm smiles, applauses
and greetings deeply touched President Xi, every
member of the Chinese delegation and 1.3 billion
Chinese people. During her visit to the Tagore
International School, Madam Peng sang Chinese
song together with the local students. One of the
boys who were kissed by Madam Peng on the
cheek became well-known and received
numerous interviews after that.
This visit opened a new chapter of the ChinaIndia relations, sent to the world a positive signal
that China and India, two major neighboring
countries, would be sincere to and trust in each
other and join hands in cooperation. I am lucky to
experience and witness this historical event. I am
fully confident about the future of our bilateral
relations. Currently, relevant authorities of our
two countries are proactively implementing the
outcomes of this visit. The year of 2015 marks the
65th Anniversary of establishment of the ChinaIndia diplomatic relations. It is also the “Visit India
Year” in China. Prime Minister Modi will pay an
official visit to China this year. This visit will be a
significant event and will inject new vigor to the
development of China-India relations.
2. The friendship between China and India is
not only reflected by the close interaction between
our leaders and at the official level, but also
flourishes in people-to-people exchanges. Let me
share with you a story of “blood transmission
between Chinese people and Indian people”
reported by Chinese newspapers and websites. At
the end of last year, a little girl in Zhejiang Province
in eastern China needed blood transmission. More
than 100 Indian merchants there volunteered to
donate blood for her. And in 2013, more than 80
Chinese people in Zhejiang Province were actively
involved in a voluntary blood donation campaign
initiated by the local Chinese authority to save an
Indian patient in emergency care. This kind of
reciprocal sacrifice among the common folks of
our two countries serves as the best example of
News From China February 2015
friendship between China and India.
From a historical perspective, China and India
are two major neighbors with the longest mutual
contact and deepest mutual influence. The story
of Xuan Zang, an eminent Chinese buddhist monk
who came to India to learn Buddhist scriptures in
the 7th century is a legendary name in China and
India. Based on his epic adventures, a classic
literature entitled Journey to the West is well-read
in China. Another well-known and muchrespected name in China is Doctor Kotnis, a doctor
of the five-member Indian Medical Mission to
China. He sacrificed his life by supporting the
Chinese people in the War of Resistance against
Japan.
To enhance the traditional friendship
between our two peoples, President Xi announced
during his visit that China would open a new route
for the Yatra through Nathu La Pass. Elaborate
preparations have been undertaken by the
relevant authorities of China. The two sides have
reached preliminary consensus that the new
route will be opened this summer. In a few
months, the Indian pilgrimage will be blessed
with more convenient transportation to Mount
Kailash and Manasarovar. This is another great
deed to facilitate the friendly exchanges between
our two peoples.
The current number of visitors between China
and India is only 800,000, a very small number
compared with our combined population of 2.5
billion. Huge potential remains to be tapped.
Visitors between China and other foreign
countries of much less population than India have
already reached one million and even ten million.
I have visited a lot of places of interest in many
countries. All of them are full of Chinese tourists. A
lot of countries are working hard to attract
Chinese tourists by providing Chinese-language
tour guides, setting up Mandarin marks and
accepting Chinese yuan at their shops. Last
November, President Obama announced to
provide multiple-entry visa with maximum
validity of 10 years for Chinese tourists and
businessmen during his visit to China. Chinese
tourists were more and more welcomed by other
countries. Yet when I visited Mumbai and
Aurangabad days ago, I felt regretted to have seen
China India Relations 21
only a few Chinese tourists there. This year is the
“Visit India Year” in China and next year will be
“Visit Chinese Year” in India. We are facing
unprecedented opportunities in the bilateral
tourism cooperation. I hope and believe that with
joint efforts by the two sides, the number of
visitors between our two countries will
remarkably grow.
3. Talking about the China-India cooperation, I
would like to share the story of Jack Ma with you.
Mr. Ma is the main founder of Alibaba, newly-listed
at the New York Stock Exchange. During his visit to
India last year, he mentioned in an interview that
Alibaba has had business-to-business
relationship with Indian vendors for 15 years.
400,000 Chinese customers are buying tea and
spices from India through Alibaba and around 1.3
million Indian vendors are doing business via
Alibaba platforms. This story reflects that the
companies of our two countries have a solid
business foundation and the development of
Chinese companies also provides the opportunity
for the Indian businessmen. Huawei, a Chinese
telecom company, is a living example of Chinese
investment to India. Huawei, one of Global 500
companies with business covering more than 170
countries, has already created more than 5,000
jobs in India at present. Its R&D Center with 2000plus posts will operate next month in Bangalore.
The story of Huawei tells us that Chinese
c o m p a n i e s b ro u g h t g re a t v i t a l i t y a n d
opportunities to Indian economy and China-India
economic and commercial cooperation has great
potential.
In 2014, China-India bilateral trade registered
another breakthrough of US$ 70 billion with
growth of Chinese investment to India. President
Xi announced during his visit to India that the
Chinese side would endeavor to realize an
investment of US$20 billion in India in the next 5
years in various industrial and infrastructure
development projects. China now is building two
industrial parks in Gujarat and Maharashtra,
including a US$1.8 billion investment plan to
power equipments.
It is progressing smoothly regarding railway
cooperation between our two countries in
increasing speed on the existing railway lines,
22 China India Relations
heavy-haul transportation training,
redevelopment of existing railway stations and
establishment of a railway university in India. The
first batch of the high-level Indian officials has
been to China to receive training in heavy haul.
China and India will consider jointly building a
high-speed railway from Delhi to Chennai in the
future and the feasibility study has been initiated.
When finished, it will be the second longest highspeed railway after the Beijing-Guangzhou highspeed railway. By then, the travel time from Delhi
to Chennai will be cut from 28 hours to 7-8 hours.
It means that passengers will be able to have
breakfast in Delhi and drink high tea in Chennai on
the same afternoon.
The new initiatives of the Government of India
such as “Make in India”, “Digital India” and Smart
City have inspired great enthusiasm of Chinese
companies to invest in India. With more and more
Chinese companies visiting India to make market
research, the Chinese embassy has received lots of
consulting phone calls from Chinese companies
every day. We hope the companies of our two
countries could seize the opportunities and
promote economic and commercial cooperation
to a new level.
4. Recently, I have noticed that there were
some comments on “One Belt and One Road”
when reading Indian newspapers. I would like to
take some time to brief on it. “One Belt and One
Road” was initiated by President Xi during his visit
to Kazakhstan in September and to Indonesia in
October 2013.
At that time, I was Ambassador of China to
Kazakhstan and witnessed that moment. The
strategic concept of “One Belt and One Road” aims
to provide wings for the soaring of Asia and to
provide an open and inclusive platform for the
development and cooperation of countries along
the belt and the road. It aims to connect the AsiaPacific economic circle and European economic
circle through policy coordination, road
connection, unimpeded trade, monetary
circulation and mutual understanding between
peoples, to realize mutually beneficial win-win
cooperation and create benefits for peoples along
the belt and the road. In this sense, the “One Belt
and One Road” is a magnificent project which
News From China February 2015
contributes to contemporary times and brings
benefits for future centuries. This strategic
concept has been well acclaimed and warmly
welcomed by the international community and
currently has comes to a stage for pragmatic
cooperation with positive response and
participation of more than 50 countries along the
belt and the road.
In order to provide financial support for the
“One Belt and One Road” strategy, China has taken
the initiative in establishing the Asian
Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and
announced to contribute US$40 billion to set up a
Silk Road Fund. As an important country along the
belt and the road, India is an important member of
AIIB and New Development Bank of BRICS
countries. We believe that the “One Belt and One
Road” will definitely create more opportunities
for India’s development. The BCIM Economic
Corridor is an important part of the “One Belt and
One Road”. We welcome India to actively
participate in building this Economic Corridor and
promote the “One Belt and One Road”
cooperation, which will benefit our two peoples
and the region at large.
5. In the past four month, I had a strong feeling
that the vigor of India’s economy and social
development are being reactivated in an all-round
manner since Prime Minister Modi introduced the
new policy. What I see now, is a blooming, young
and vigorous country.
A few days ago, my colleagues in the Embassy
told me that they were very surprised to find the
efficiency of the Delhi Municipal Department has
drastically improved. Usually, it took half month or
even one month to obtain an approval to install a
new LNG pipeline in our Embassy. Now it takes
only 3 days! And some friends in the Ministry of
External Affairs and Ministry of Commerce and
Industry told me now they have to punch in before
work and often work overtime. Even in New Year’s
Day there was no break. Work is hard, but they are
more confident and energetic. They are
supporters and fans of Prime Minister Modi, and
they are greatly influenced and encouraged by
Modi’s style and speed.
During my visit to Maharashtra days ago, Chief
Minister Fadnavis told me that Maharashtra is
News From China February 2015
making efforts to create a more pro-business
environment for foreign companies by providing
them with optional-menu and single-window
services to cut administrative clearance from 2-3
years to 2-3 months. Meanwhile, I also find that
the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has made obvious
difference in India. To be frank, some places in
India did impress Chinese people with dirtiness,
mess and disorder in the past. However, today’s
India is quite different. Now I see the streets in
Delhi are much cleaner than before, and the
cartoon ads of Swachh Bharat are posted in almost
every corner of Delhi. I took many pictures in
Mumbai and uploaded them onto Weibo, the
Chinese Twitter. My friends are all amazed at the
new change in India.
Recently, I have read a Chinese-versioned
biography about Prime Minister Modi, which tells
a legendary story about how a tea-seller became a
Prime Minister. I can’t help admiring his
outstanding talent and far-sightedness after
reading it. I believe that, under the leadership of
Prime Minister Modi, India will achieve new
greater progress and realize the dream of national
rejuvenation.
6. I learn that some Indian friends are
concerned about the 7.4% growth of China’s GDP
in 2014. And there are different views on China’s
China India Relations 23
economic prospects. I think the overall situation of
Chinese economy is stable and improved. After 30
years of rapid development, China’s economy has
been ranked second in the world, it is unrealistic to
maintain double-digit growth. From high-speed
growth to medium high-speed growth, the
Chinese economy has come to a stage of “New
Normal”. China’s development must transfer from
a low level to a high level. To this end, now China is
transforming the economic development mode,
adjusting the economic structure and promoting
industrial restructuring and upgrading. China’s
reform and development will provide more
opportunities for the cooperation between China
and India.
Just as President Xi and Prime Minister Modi
said, China and India are “two bodies with one
spirit” and “When China and India speak with one
voice, the whole world will notice”, we would like
to join hands with India and work together. I
believe, once the Chinese Dream and the Indian
Dream are connected and integrated with each
other, it will generate great positive energy. China
and India will lead the economic growth in the
region and achieve common development and
prosperity in Asia and realize the Asian Century
together.
Dhanyavad!
Ambassador Le Yucheng's Interview
with Deccan　Herald
Chinese Ambassador to India Mr. Le Yucheng
visited the headquarter of Indian English
Newspaper Deccan Herald on February 4, 2015.
The Newspaper published the interview to the
Ambassador the second day. The full text is as
follows:
How do you view President Xi Jinping’s
visit to India last year and its significance in
taking the China-India Relations to new
heights?
Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a state visit
to India last September. This was the second state
visit by a Chinese President to India in the span of
eight years.
President Xi was also the first head of state of a
major country to visit India after the formation of
a new government. President Xi not only took out
time from his extremely busy schedule to visit
India but also stayed there for three days; this
clearly shows that China attaches immense
importance to its relations with India.
The leaders of our two countries reached
consensus on building China-India closer
partnership for development, charted out a
blueprint for development of our bilateral
relations in the next five-ten years and opened up
a new chapter for our relationship. During his first
stop at Ahmedabad, Gujarat, President Xi tried his
24 China India Relations
hands on a legendry Charkha, enjoyed a swing in a
traditional Gujarati “jhoola” and celebrated Prime
Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday.
The two leaders established a personal
friendship through close interactions. The scene
of thousands of people lining the streets of
Ahmedabad to welcome President Xi gave me a
long lasting impression and is still vivid in my
mind. Having had the rare privilege of being
appointed the Chinese Ambassador to India on
the eve of President Xi’s visit, I have witnessed a
rapid growth in China-India relations since the
visit.
Nearly every sphere, including official
contacts, local exchanges and civil interactions, is
showing an upward trend. I receive various
Chinese delegations visiting India almost every
day. They not only visit the capital New Delhi, but
also travel to Mumbai, Kolkata, Jaipur and other
places. One can say that, President Xi’s visit to
India has ushered the bilateral relations in a boom
era and took it to an important historical stage.
The year 2015 marks the 65th anniversary of
the establishment of diplomatic relations
News From China February 2015
between China and India. Right now the two sides
are stepping up efforts to implement the outcomes
of President Xi’s visit while preparing for a new
round of high-level visits. We are working hard to
expand our bilateral pragmatic cooperation in
order to inject new vitality into the development
of our bilateral relations.
Amity between people holds the key to the
sound relations between countries. This year is
being observed as the “Visit India Year” in China.
Sushma Swaraj, Indian External Affairs Minister
has visited China and launched the “Visit India
Year”. The Indian government will organize a
series of tourism promotion activities in China to
expand personnel exchanges between our two
countries.
China is ready to cooperate with India to
promote greater development of the China-India
relations in order to take them to an even higher
level. I look forward to the prospects of the ChinaIndia relations with expectation and confidence.
How do you view External Affairs Minister
Sushma Swaraj’s recent visit and proposed
forthcoming visit of Prime Minister Narendra
News From China February 2015
China India Relations 25
Modi to China?
railway, credit and leasing, with cumulative
Just a couple of days ago, Sushma Swaraj,
amount of investment and financing of 13 billion
External Affairs Minister of India, paid an official
US dollars.
visit to China. This visit was her first visit to China
Meanwhile, Chinese companies like Huawei,
since assuming the office last year, to which both
Alibaba, Xiaomi are increasing their investments
sides attached great importance.
in India. I remember what Prime Minister Modi
During the visit, Chinese Foreign Minister
told investors: “There is no red tape but only red
Wang Yi have had an in-depth exchange of views
carpet in India.” Chinese entrepreneurs see huge
with her on topics such as bilateral high-level
opportunity in India and are scrambling to walk
visits, pragmatic cooperation, cultural exchanges
on India’s red carpet.
and issues of common interests and both sides
Indian entrepreneurs are also optimistic
reached a lot of consensuses. It is particularly
about Chinese market. An Indian friend from West
worth mentioning that both sides have agreed
Bengal told me that it equally takes 2 hours by
upon a package plan about the Yatra to the Tibet
flight from Kolkata to reach Kunming in China and
Autonomous Region of China through Nathula
Delhi. It is very convenient for scores of Indian
Pass.
companies to do business with their Chinese
We hope that this summer the first group of
counterparts. I am full of confidence for the future
Indian pilgrimages will go through the new route
economic and trade cooperation between China
to Kailash Manasarovar. Indian Prime Minister
and India.
Narendra Modi’s visit to China this year is of great
I came to know that Indian Media and Indian
importance in our bilateral relations. The two
people are keen to know the setting up of the two
sides are now in preparation for this visit. We
Chinese industrial parks. Here I would like to give
hope the success of this visit will
a brief introduction. During
China is ready to
bring China-India Relations to a
President Xi’s visit to India last
cooperate with India to
new level.
September, China Beiqi Foton
Could you please give us an
Motor Corporation Limited and
promote greater
update on the progress in
the Maharashtra Industrial
development of the
implementation of the MoUs
Development
Corporation
China-India relations in
and agreements inked by India
signed an MoU on supporting
order to take them to an
and China during President Xi
the setting up of Chinese
even higher level.
Jinping’s visit in September,
industrial park in Pune,
particularly on Chinese
Maharashtra.
investment of US $ 20 billion in India over five
The total investment will be 5 billion US
years and setting up Chinese industrial parks
dollars in three phases by 2030. It is estimated to
in Gujarat and Maharashtra?
create one lakh jobs and an annual output of 20
It is one of our major tasks to realize the 20
billion US dollars. As of now, China has laid out
billion USD investments over the next five years in
100 million US dollars initial investment and 20%
India which were announced during Chinese
of the land acquisition program has been
President Xi Jinping’s visit to India last September.
completed. Similarly, China Development Bank
In order to reach this figure China needs to invest
signed an MoU with the Industrial Extension
4 billion USD annually on average.
Bureau of Gujarat to set up a Chinese industrial
It is not a hard task for China when seen in the
park in Vadodara, Gujarat focusing on
light that China’s annual overseas investment is
manufacturing electrical equipment.
above 100 billion US dollars. As we know, during
The total investment will reach 1.8 billion US
President Xi’s visit to India, China and India signed
dollars by 2025. It will directly create 10,000 jobs
12 agreements on trade and economic
and 40,000 jobs indirectly, with an annual output
cooperation, covering fields like industrial parks,
value of 5.2 billion US dollars. China has already
(
(
26 China India Relations
made an initial investment of 150 million US
dollars and 28% of the land acquisition plan has
been finished. The first phase of a transformer
plant has also been put into operation.
We hope that on the Indian side, respective
state governments will provide as much support
as possible for the development and construction
of the two industrial parks by offering preferential
policies and creating infrastructure facilities in a
timely manner.
Could you please share with us the present
scenario of China’s economic engagement in
Bengaluru and rest of Karnataka and South
India? How is China planning to augment
investment and economic engagement with
southern States of India? What more do you
expect from the State Government to facilitate
Chinese investment in Karnataka?
China’s economic cooperation with south
India is mainly taking place in Maharashtra,
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Some representative
projects such as the Chinese Industrial Park in
Pune which I previously mentioned, Huawei’s
new R&D center in Bengaluru and construction
and equipment supply of the thermal power
plants in Tamil Nadu amount to billions of dollars
in investment.
In addition, Chinese railway companies are
keen to participate in the metro rail construction
projects in Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and
other major cities in south India.
The Chinese companies are choosing these
south Indian states as investment destinations
d u e t o t h e i r c o m p re h e n s ive b u s i n e s s
environment, which include the initiative of local
government to attract foreign investment, the
transparency and efficiency of administrative
examination and approval, the convenience of
land and taxation policies, the quality of
supporting infrastructure and the development
level of downstream and upstream industries.
Not long ago, I read a news report that
Bengaluru received US$ 2.6 billion in venture
capital in 2014 and came in fifth in a list of cities
globally. This attests to the growing attention
being bestowed on Bengaluru by the global
investors. It is worth mentioning that Chengdu of
Sichuan Province, China and Bengaluru
News From China February 2015
established sister city relationship in 2013, thus
adding a new impetus to the local investment
between the two countries.
As far as I know, the world famous Indian
multinational IT consulting and System
Integration services company Wipro, which is
headquartered in Bengaluru, has established its
Strategic R&D Center in Chengdu with a focused
research on mobile phone operating system.
Meanwhile, Huawei, a Chinese high-tech company
has just established its biggest R&D center
overseas in Bengaluru.
The two companies are leaders in their
respective fields. They have also worked closely.
Most of Huawei’s Android mobile phone operating
systems are developed by Wipro in Chengdu,
while Huawei mobile phones will be designed and
developed at Huawei’s Bengaluru R&D centre. My
visit to Bengaluru to attend the inauguration
ceremony of Huawei’s R&D center also bears
witness to this model of the China-India
investment cooperation.
We encourage Chinese enterprises to carry
out a wide range of economic cooperation with
Karnataka and the rest of India. We also look
forward to the local governments for providing as
much support as possible to the Chinese
enterprises on policy and information fronts, such
as the introduction about the upcoming tenders
related to infrastructure and investment projects,
and appointment of a special official for the
Chinese enterprises to coordinate on a series of
problems like land acquisition, tax and labor
encountered during the course of investment.
How do China and Chinese companies view
Prime Minister Modi’s ‘Make in India’
campaign? Is it likely to intensify competition
between India and China? Or, can China
contribute to this Make-in-India campaign?
China and Chinese companies are glad to see
the “Make in India” campaign launched by Indian
Prime Minister, and believe that it is an effective
strategy to ensure rapid recovery of Indian
economy.
When I met with Amitabh Kant, Secretary,
Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion and
in-charge of this campaign, I told him that the
Chinese government will guide and encourage the
News From China February 2015
China India Relations 27
Chinese enterprises to actively participate in the
Minister Modi towards good governance, reform
development of India’s manufacturing and
and development. I can myself experience the
infrastructure sectors.
rapid changes which are happening.
China started the policy of reform and
I have just been to the financial center of India
opening up in 1980s and following the rapid
Mumbai, now I have come to the “Silicon Valley of
development of its manufacturing industry has
India” Bengaluru, both are so full of vigor and
become “the world’s factory”. Objectively
vitality nowadays that the new look of India’s
speaking, China and India are at different stages of
development and reform is already visible.
development in the manufacturing sector.
China sees India as one of the most important
China’s economic development has entered a
neighboring partners, and attaches great
“new normal” state, mainly marked by mid-toimportance to bilateral cooperation. China and
high-speed growth instead of high-speed growth
India are two largest developing countries and
in the past. China’s current goal is to focus on
emerging markets in the world, with a huge
improving the quality and efficiency of the
population of over 2.5 billion.
economic development, keep the economic
Both countries are going through the crucial
operation within a reasonable area, and put the
stage of national revival and facing the arduous
transformation of the economic development
task of ensuring overall development. However,
model and adjustment of the economic structure
the potential for bilateral cooperation has not
in a more important position.
been properly explored and our bilateral trade
Thus, in the coming period, “Made in China”
and investment volumes are not commensurate
and “Make in India” will not form fierce
with the sizes of our respective economies. Both
competition in the international market.
China and India need to join hands and work
On the contrary, we believe that the “Make in
together to realize the untapped potential to bring
India” campaign will bring opportunities for
tangible benefits to the people of our two
expanding economic and trade cooperation
countries.
between China and India. China has capital,
Chinese companies are actively “going global”.
technology, equipment and sophisticated
They are the main force to unleash the potential in
manufacturing management experience.
China-India cooperation. I came to know that they
We hope to make full use of the “Make in India”
are looking forward to changes of India’s
campaign to expand the Chinese investment in
investment environment in three major aspects.
India. On the other hand, only with the
First is the visa problem. As of now, most of the
development of India’s manufacturing industry
Chinese businessmen coming to India can only get
and the growth of Chinese investment in India can
single entry visas with the duration of 90 days. The
we fundamentally bring down the trade deficit
conditions for issuing work visa to skilled workers
and balance the bilateral trade.
are also very strict.
How do you view Prime Minister Modi’s
These not only bring inconvenience but also
endeavours for economic
stall the expansion of Chinese
reforms and his efforts to C h i n a a n d C h i n e s e enterprises’ investment in India. We
make the government’s policy companies are glad to see really hope that in the light of the
friendly to investors? What the “Make in India” cam- favorable visa policies adopted by
more do you think Indian
some of the other countries towards
paign launched by Indian
Government can do to
the Chinese enterprises, the Indian
Prime Minister, and believe government can also relax its visa
encourage Chinese companies
that it is an effective restrictions.
to invest in India?
In the last four months, I strategy to ensure rapid
Second is the security review.
have witnessed various steps r e c o v e r y o f I n d i a n Chinese companies are willing to
taken by the Indian government economy.
join the construction of large-scale
under the leadership of Prime
infrastructure projects in India. We
28 China India Relations
do have considerable advantages in the spheres of
capital, technology, cost and construction
experience, which are in line with the actual
demand of India. But we often end up hitting the
wall of security review.
I wish the Indian government provides equal
opportunities to the Chinese companies to
participate in a fair competition with the win-win
spirit of mutual benefit.
Third is the improvement of the business
environment, which include providing favorable
policies towards foreign investment, improving
the transparency and efficiency of the
administrative examination and approval,
expanding the scope of the policy of one-stop
approval, simplifying and improving the policies
of land acquisition, labor and tax, and improving
infrastructure support such as water, electricity
and waste disposal.
How can India and China boost people-top e o p l e t i e s b e t we e n t h e t wo g r e a t
civilizations?
China and India are two ancient civilizations
with more than 2000 years of friendly exchanges.
The story of Xuan Zang (600-664), an eminent
Chinese monk who came to India in search of
Buddhist scriptures and stayed in India for 14
years during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) is a
household name in China and India.
Last year was the ‘Year of China-India Friendly
Exchanges’. The two countries held a series of
colorful activities which impressed the two
peoples deeply. This year is the “Visit India Year”
in China. I believe the number of tourists between
two countries will rise further. I have just been to
Aurangabad and visited Ajanta and Ellora Caves.
A viewer is invariably overwhelmed by the
beauty of these centuries old ancient treasures.
India also has Buddhist shrines like Bodhgaya.
“Incredible India” is very attractive for Chinese
tourists.
In order to expand our people-to-people
contacts, the two governments will launch The
China-India Cultural Exchanges Plan this year.
Firstly, the two countries will expand artistic
exchange. We will celebrate the 2015 ‘Happy
Chinese New Year’ by inviting well-known
Guangzhou Acrobatic Troupe to perform in New
News From China February 2015
Delhi and Gujarat.
China will also participate in the Bharat Rang
Mahotsav in Delhi and the Indian Arts Festival in
Bengaluru. Secondly, both sides are going to
strengthen youth exchanges. The number of
annual youth visits will be expanded from 100 to
200 in the following five years. Thirdly, China and
India will increase cooperation in the fields of film
and television. We will hold film festivals in each
other’s country.
Last year, China participated, as the ‘Special
Guest Country’, in the International Film Festival
of India, Goa. We will invite India as the guest
country to participate in China’s film festival this
year. Co-production of films by the two sides is
also in the pipeline. I am a big fan of Bollywood
movies. From ‘Caravan’ to ‘Three Idiots’, I am
strongly touched by the charm of Indian movies.
Finally, China and India will promote
academic, publishing and educational exchanges.
We will speed up the project on mutual translation
of the classical and contemporary literary works.
China will be the Guest of Honour Country at the
New Delhi World Book Fair 2016. There are 22
Chinese teachers teaching mandarin, calligraphy
and dance in primary and secondary schools all
over India.
And we are ready to send more. I was once
invited by my counterpart Ashok Kantha, Indian
Ambassador to China, to an Indian Culture Festival
in China. The Indian dance performances by a
group of Chinese teenagers are so wonderful that I
initially mistook them as Indians. Yoga is also very
popular in China. I wish to see further deepening
of the cultural exchanges between our two
countries, so that there will also be more and more
Indian youth demonstrating their skills in Chinese
Kongfu and calligraphy.
President Xi and Prime Minister Modi
agreed to rebalance bilateral trade. Could you
please share with us the measures taken so far
to address the issue of trade imbalance?
China’s Central Economic Work Conference
last year clearly pointed out that China is pursuing
a rough balance of international payments by
promoting the balance between domestic demand
and external demand, between import and export
and between foreign investment in China and
News From China February 2015
Chinese investment overseas.
The Chinese side always prefers trade to be
balanced, not imbalanced. China takes the Indian
concern of trade imbalance very seriously.
Although the main reason of our trade imbalance
is the difference of industrial structures between
our two countries, we are willing to provide
opportunities to increase India’s exports to China.
Since 2008, the Ministry of Commerce of
China has sent 6 trade promotion delegations to
boost import from India. At the 6th Trade
Promotion Matching Session during President
Xi’s visit to India, entrepreneurs of the two
countries signed Indian products procurement
contracts of 780 million US dollars. We are also
preparing to send more procurement missions to
India and expand import from India this year.
Besides, China warmly welcomes Indian
companies to expand trade with China through
various effective trading platforms, such as ChinaSouth Asia Expo and China Import and Export Fair
(Canton Fair). In order to increase the popularity
of the Indian products, China also welcomes
various Indian chambers of commerce to hold
product promotion events in China.
Solving the problem of trade imbalance
requires joint efforts from both sides. On the other
hand, we also need to recognize the upward trend
of overall China-India trade. The bilateral trade
volume has increased by 320 times in the last 10
years.
China hopes that India would ease
restrictions on exporting its competitive products
such as iron ore to China, reduce tariffs and
encourage Indian companies to export more
agriculture products. I believe that with the
development of the Indian manufacturing
industry and the improvement in international
competitiveness of its products, India’s trade
deficit with China will decline.
How does China view new Indian
Government’s ‘Act East’ policy, as well as its
renewed focus on engagements in its
neighbourhood and, at the same time, New
Delhi’s unenthusiastic response to President
Xi’s call for building a 21st Century Maritime
Silk Road and cautious approach to the
China India Relations 29
proposed BCIM economic corridor?
China and India are each other’s important
neighbours, two major developing countries and
new emerging markets, and two mainstays in the
process of world multi-polarization. Both the
countries are undergoing the great historical
process of national rejuvenation.
The harmonious coexistence, peaceful
development and cooperative win-win of the
Chinese dragon and the Indian elephant will not
only deliver benefits to the 2.5 billion people of the
two countries, but also bring prosperity to the
developing countries, and will have far-reaching
influence over the region and beyond. In this
sense, China’s “21st Century Maritime Silk Road”
initiative and India’s “Act East” policy can be linked
up together so as to contribute more to the peace
and prosperity of Asia and the world.
Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM)
Economic Corridor is an important part of the
“21st Century Maritime Silk Road” initiative. It
provides a significant platform for the economic
development and cooperation to the countries of
the region and also serves the development of the
Indian economy.
Currently, the BCIM Economic Corridor is
progressing well, the third working group meeting
will be held in India this year. China is willing to
work together with all parties, including India, to
jointly promote the construction of BCIM
Economic Corridor, regional integration and
economic development.
Has there been any progress in discussion
on the boundary issue after President Xi’s visit
to India? When can we expect the Special
Representatives to hold the next round of talks
on boundary issue? Can any progress be
expected towards demarcating the Line of
Actual Control to avert untoward incidents,
when New Delhi and Beijing continue to
discuss the boundary issue?
The boundary issue is a historical burden left
by the western colonists. Through years of efforts,
China and India have signed the political
parameters and guiding principles for the
settlement of the boundary issue.
30 China India Relations
Now, the two sides are working on the basic
framework of its solution through friendly
consultations. Both sides are keeping close
contact for the preparation of next round of talks
between the Special Representatives of China and
India on the Boundary Question.
China is ready to work with the Indian side to
seek a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable
solution on the basis of the Five Principles of
Peaceful Co-existence and from the political
perspective of the overall bilateral relationship.
Pending the final settlement, the two sides should
jointly safeguard peace and tranquility in border
areas and prevent the boundary issue from
holding up the overall development of bilateral
relations.
In recent years, the two sides have properly
handled the boundary issues through friendly
consultations. In this process we have
accumulated rich experiences and reached
multiple consensuses on how to maintain peace
and stability in this area.
The two sides signed an agreement on border
defense cooperation, set up regular meeting
mechanism between the two army headquarters,
adjacent military commands and border troops,
built additional border meeting points,
e s t a b l i s h e d a h o t l i n e b e t we e n a r my
headquarters, made telecommunications
available between front-line border troops etc. A
code of conduct for border control is being
discussed by the two sides right now.
I would like to point out that the connotation
of our bilateral relationship is not merely the
boundary issue but far beyond it. As long as both
sides continue to draw wisdom from the two
ancient civilizations, keep sufficient foresight,
courage and tolerance, and expand positive
aspects of bilateral mutually-beneficial
cooperation, China and India will be definitely
able to find a way to resolve our differences, and
continually push forward the development of our
bilateral relations.
How does Beijing view the renewed efforts
by P r i m e M i n i s te r N a re n d ra M o d i ’ s
Government to build civilian and defence
News From China February 2015
infrastructure close to the Line of Actual
Control between India and China, including in
Arunachal Pradesh? Japan has of late offered
India support to development projects in
North-East and New Delhi seems to have
accepted the offer. How does China view this?
The China-India boundary has never been
demarcated and there exists immense dispute in
the eastern section of the China-India border. It is a
well known fact as well as a basic consensus
between the two sides.
Both sides have always agreed that the
boundary issue should not affect the development
of bilateral relations. We are currently trying to
find a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable
solution through negotiations. Pending the final
settlement of the boundary question, we hope that
the Indian side will refrain from taking actions in
disputed areas that may complicate the question.
China firmly opposes any unilateral move to
change the status quo in the disputed region, and
also opposes the intervention of a third party
because this would complicate the dispute. China
is willing to make joint efforts with India to take
forward the process of dispute resolution and
control the dispute, to effectively maintain peace
and stability in the boundary areas, and to create
favorable conditions for a final settlement of the
boundary issue and development of China-Indian
relations.
You have already been in India for more
than 4 months. How is the experience of
working with the Indian government and
people?
I feel greatly honored to witness President Xi
Jinping’s historic visit to India at the very
beginning of my tenure. Participation in the
important milestone events in the development of
China-India relations gave me a feeling of
immense proud. Just after I assumed my post, I
paid a visit to President Pranab Mukherjee and
Prime Minister Modi.
In the following four months, I met with
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and more
than a dozen ministers and high level officials at
the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Finance,
News From China February 2015
External Affairs 31
Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Ministry of
Railways, Ministry of Human Resources
Development and other government institutions.
I also visited Gujarat, Rajasthan and
Maharashtra to interact and communicate with
Indian friends from all walks of life. I received
warm hospitality of my India friends wherever I
visited, and deeply felt their heartfelt friendship
for China and the Chinese people. I’m deeply
encouraged and full of confidence on the future
development of the China-India relations.
China and India are two large developing and
neighboring countries. Both take development as
their biggest strategic goal and have broad
prospects for bilateral cooperation. I am confident
that if we could further connect our development
strategies and respective advantages, the impact
would be far-reaching.
We would able to lead regional growth and
promote development and prosperity in Asia. As
Chinese Ambassador to India, I feel a heavy
responsibility, because there is still a lot of work to
be done for achieving this great goal.
In order to promote the China-India
relations, I am willing to work together with my
Indian friends from all walks of life, and will do
my best to take the bilateral cooperation to a new
level.
EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
Xi Jinping Holds Talks with Argentine President
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) shakes hands with Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner during their talks in Beijing，　capital　of　China，　Feb．　4，　2015．　（
Xinhua／
Pang　Xinglei)
32 External Affairs
On February 4, 2015, President Xi Jinping held
talks with President Cristina Fernandez de
Kirchner of Argentina at the Great Hall of the
People.
Xi Jinping pointed out that I paid a successful
state visit to Argentina last July, during which we
together announced the establishment of ChinaArgentina comprehensive strategic partnership
and reached important consensus on enhancing
bilateral mutually beneficial and friendly
cooperation in all fields. With the joint efforts of
both sides, our consensus is becoming a reality.
The new results of bilateral mutually beneficial
and friendly cooperation have brought strong
impetus to the development of bilateral relations.
I am more confident in the prospect of ChinaArgentina relations.
Xi Jinping stressed that both as important
emerging markets, China and Argentina should
strengthen exchanges and cooperation, share
development opportunities and jointly cope with
challenges. The two countries should intensify allround exchanges, give full play to the planning and
coordinating role of bilateral intergovernmental
standing committee, and well implement the joint
action plan between the two governments;
deepen practical cooperation, make the best of
mechanisms such as the strategic dialogue on
economic cooperation and coordination, and
push for the sustained, stable and in-depth
development of bilateral mutually beneficial
cooperation; well construct existing key projects
such as railways and hydropower stations, and
actively carry out cooperation in such areas as
infrastructure construction, agriculture, energy,
mineral and equipment manufacturing, with
nuclear power as the key in the next stage; boost
exchanges in custom and quality control, promote
bilateral trade for healthy and stable growth,
continue enhancing financial cooperation, and
well implement the agreement on local currency
exchange. China welcomes Argentine enterprises
to actively explore the Chinese market, and will
support Chinese enterprises to invest and develop
business in Argentina as always. China will
strengthen coordination with Argentina in
international organizations and multilateral
mechanisms such as the UN, the International
News From China February 2015
Monetary Fund (IMF), the G20, and the G77 plus
China.
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner expressed
that China has become a vital driving force for
world economy. Argentina pays high attention to
deepening the comprehensive strategic
partnership with China, and hopes bilateral
cooperation yield more fruitful results. Argentina
is now advancing energy diversification, and the
Nestor Kirchner Hydropower Station and the
Jorge Saipan Nick Hydropower Station being
constructed by both countries are Argentina’s
most important hydropower stations in history.
Argentina hopes to carry out nuclear power
cooperation with China thus to use China’s nuclear
technology. Bilateral currency exchange
mechanism is very important to Argentina, and
Argentina hopes to increase the exchange quota
and make RMB the major currency in trade
settlement between the two countries. Argentina
welcomes China’s auto and telecommunication
enterprises to establish factories in the country
and is willing to see more Chinese products in the
Argentine market, and welcomes Chinese
enterprises to exploit mineral resources including
potassium and lithium in Argentina and also
hopes China import more quality beef , fruits,
vegetables and other products from the country.
Argentina and China have always offered mutual
support on issues regarding each other’s major
concerns. Argentina stands ready to boost
cooperation with China in such international
organizations as the UN and the World Trade
Organization.
Xi Jinping noted that to strengthen
cooperation between China and Latin America
will enrich the connotation of South-South
cooperation and exert a positive international
influence. China appreciates Argentina’s support
for China-Latin America overall cooperation, and
will work with the Latin American side including
Argentina to advance China-Latin America
comprehensive cooperative partnership and
better benefit both peoples by taking the first
ministerial meeting of the Forum between China
and the Community of Latin American and
Caribbean States (CELAC) as a new starting
point.
News From China February 2015
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner agreed to Xi
Jinping’s viewpoints on China-Latin America
relations, and expressed that Argentina will
continuously contribute to Latin America-China
cooperation.
Following the talks, the two heads of state
together signed and issued the Joint Statement on
Enhancing the Comprehensive Strategic
Partnership Between the People’s Republic of
China and the Argentine Republic. They also
witnessed the signing of the cooperative
documents covering politics, economy, trade,
finance, nuclear power, culture, health care,
judicature, aviation, telecommunication, tourism
and other areas.
The two heads of state together met the press.
Xi Jinping pointed out that President Cristina
Fernandez de Kirchner and I had an in-depth and
fruitful talk just now, reaching multiple important
consensus. This year marks the beginning of the
China-Argentina comprehensive strategic
partnership, and I believe that under the joint
External Affairs 33
efforts of both sides, bilateral relations will
certainly ride the tide and move forward
constantly.
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said that the
establishment of Argentina-China comprehensive
strategic partnership signifies the qualitative
upgrading of bilateral relations. The signing of a
series of cooperative documents between both
sides today represents new outcome in bilateral
cooperation, which will push Argentina’s
economic and social development, enhance its
international competitiveness and further deepen
bilateral comprehensive cooperation.
Prior to the talks, Xi Jinping held a welcome
ceremony for Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner at
the North Hall of the Great Hall of the People. Vice
Chairwoman of the Standing Committee of China’s
National People’s Congress Yan Junqi, State
Councilor Yang Jiechi, Vice Chairman of the
National Committee of the Chinese People’s
Political Consultative Conference Zhang Qingli
and others were present.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (4th R) meets with Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (4th L) at the Great Hall of the
People in Beijing，　capital of China，　Feb．
5,　2015.（
Xinhua／
Pang　Xinglei）　34 External Affairs
News From China February 2015
China，　France　Pledge　to　Boost "Strategic" Cooperation
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with French Prime Minister Manuel Valls in Beijing，　capital　of　China，　Jan．　30，　2015.
（
Xinhua／
Yao　Dawei）
Beijing, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) — Chinese President
Xi Jinping met with French Prime Minister Manuel
Valls in Beijing on Friday and they pledged to
boost the “strategic” cooperation between the two
countries.
Hailing the increasingly strategic significance
of the China-France relationship, Xi said the two
sides should make joint efforts to further advance
bilateral ties in a stable way with more political
“wisdom and willingness.”
The two sides should always respect each
other’s core interests and major concerns and
firmly maintain the direction of the bilateral
relationship, Xi said, calling for “strategic
thinking” to deepen practical cooperation on
nuclear energy, aviation, finance and sustainable
development, and an open mind to establish a
closer community of interests between the two
countries.
The two sides should make use of their Highlevel Mechanism for Dialogue on People-to-People
Exchanges, especially to increase exchanges
between the youth of the two countries, said the
president.
On international affairs, Xi said China will
support France’s efforts to host the United Nations
climate change conference in France late this year
and that the two countries should join hands to
safeguard the outcomes of World War II as well as
the post-war peace order, and to establish a newtype of international relationship featuring winwin cooperation in the world.
With this year marking the 40th anniversary
of diplomatic relations between China and
Europe, Xi said China and Europe face great
opportunities to develop their bilateral
News From China February 2015
relationship.
Xi hopes France will continue to play a
positive role in negotiations on investment deals,
the feasibility study on free trade and an
agreement to facilitate people-to-people visits
between China and Europe.
During their meeting at the Great Hall of the
People, Valls said the French side attaches great
importance to ties with China and both sides are
willing to boost their strategic cooperation in
various fields.
France hopes to cooperate with China on
aviation, nuclear electricity, automobile, finance
and other sectors, improve market entry and
investment protection, and re-balance two-way
trade through development, said the prime
minister, also welcoming investors, students and
tourists from China.
France will also discuss international
cooperation with China outside of their home
countries, Valls said.
External Affairs 35
The French prime minister said he looks
forward to cooperation with China to address
climate change and make the Paris climate change
meeting a success.
Valls said France looks forward to closer
cooperation with China to fight terrorism.
He said the world should hold
commemorations to celebrate the 70th
anniversary of the end of WWII this year to
reaffirm their commitment to world peace and
security.
France will also make continued efforts to
develop the China-Europe relationship, said the
visiting prime minister.
China, France vow to cement friendship as
anniversary celebrations conclude
Beijing, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) — Chinese Premier Li
Keqiang and his French counterpart Manuel Valls
agreed to cement friendship and cooperation as
year-long activities marking the 50th anniversary
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (R) holds talks with French Prime Minister Manuel Valls at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing，　capital　of　China，　Jan．　29, 2015. （
Xinhua／
Yao　Dawei）
News From China February 2015
36 External Affairs
of China-France diplomatic ties concluded in
Beijing.
The two leaders visited an exhibition of
famous French sculptor Auguste Rodin in
downtown Beijing to mark the end of the
celebrations.
Addressing the occasion, Li said the forging of
diplomatic ties in 1964 had unveiled a new
chapter for relations between the two great
nations.
Hailing the progress of bilateral ties over the
years, he said both countries had remarkable
cooperation in politics, economy, culture and
global affairs in the past year.
“We have held over 800 activities to celebrate
the 50th anniversary of ties, which have enhanced
mutual understanding and friendship between
the two peoples and helped to consolidate a social
foundation for ties,” Li said.
Under the new circumstances, China is ready
to handle relations with France from a strategic
and long-term perspective, respect each other
and treat one another as equals, and cement winwin cooperation, strategic trust and cultural
exchanges, said the Chinese premier.
He called on both sides to cement friendship
and make new contributions to maintaining
international and regional peace, and boosting
development of humankind.
Applauding the smooth development of ties
and vigorous cultural exchanges, Valls said those
celebration activities reflected the profound
friendship between the two people.
He expressed confidence for the future growth
of France-China ties, adding there is huge
potential for bilateral cooperation.
A total of 139 original works of Rodin are on
display at the National Museum of China from last
November to March 22 of 2015, including
sculptures “The Thinker”, “The Age of Bronze”,
“Monument of Balzac” and “The Gates of Hell”.
Valls is visiting China from Jan. 29 to 31. This is
his first China visit since taking office in March
2014.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's Address at
World Economic Forum Annual Meeting
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivers a keynote speech at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos，　Switzerland，　on　Jan．　21, 2015.　（
Xinhua／
Liu　Weibing）
News From China February 2015
DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) —
Visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivered a
special address at the World Economic Forum
annual meeting here Wednesday.
The following is the full text of Li’s address:
Uphold Peace and Stability, Advance
Structural Reform and Generate New
Momentum for Development
Special Address by H.E. Li Keqiang
Premier of the State Council of the People’ s
Republic of China
At the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting
2015
Davos, 21 January 2015
Professor Klaus Schwab, President Simonetta
Sommaruga, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and
Gentlemen, Dear Friends,
It gives me great pleasure to come to Davos
again after five years to attend the World
Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2015. Davos is a
town of peace and serenity, yet the world outside
is not tranquil. We need to work together to shape
the world in a new global context. I was told that
Davos used to be a resort for recuperation from
lung diseases, and the later discovery of Penicillin
changed that. Now it is a place for people to gather
and pool their wisdom for “brain-storm” .
Personally, I find this more than relevant, because
our world also needs new forms of “Penicillin” to
tackle new challenges that have emerged.
Admittedly, the world today is by no means
trouble-free. Regional hotspots, local conflicts
and terrorist attacks continue to flare up, posing
immediate threats to humanity. Global economic
recovery lacks speed and momentum. Major
economies are performing unevenly. Commodity
prices are going through frequent fluctuations.
And signs of deflation have made the situation
even worse. In fact, many people are quite
pessimistic about the future of the world. They
believe that the guarantee of peace is weak, and
the prospect of development is elusive.
A philosopher once observed that we cannot
solve problems by using the same kind of thinking
we used when we created them. Indeed, old
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problems can no longer be solved by clinging to
the outdated mindset of confrontation, hatred and
isolation. Dialogue, consultation and cooperation
must be explored to find solutions to new
problems. It is important that we draw lessons
from history, and pool our collective wisdom to
maximize the convergence of interests among
countries. Fortunately, in time of hardship and
trial, mankind have always been able to find the
courage to get out of the predicament and move
ahead through change and innovation.
In a world facing complex international
situation, we should all work together to uphold
peace and stability. This year marks the 70th
anniversary of the victory of the world’ s antiFascist war. To uphold peace and stability serves
the interests of all people in the world. The world
order established after World War II as well as
g e n e ra l ly re c o g n i z e d n o r m s g ove r n i n g
international relations must be maintained, not
overturned. Otherwise, prosperity and
development could be jeopardized. The Cold War
and zero-sum mentalities must be abandoned.
The “winner takes all” approach will not work.
Regional hotspots and geopolitical conflicts must
be resolved peacefully through political means.
Terrorism, in all its manifestations, must be
opposed. China remains committed to peaceful
development and regional stability. And China has
no intention to compete with other countries for
supremacy. Peace in the world must be cherished
the same as we cherish our eyes, so that the
achievements and benefits of civilization,
including reason and justice, will prevail.
In a world of diverse civilizations, we should
all seek to live in harmony. Cultural diversity, like
biodiversity, is a most precious treasure endowed
to us on this planet. And human society is like a
garden where all human civilizations blossom.
Different cultures and religions need to respect
and live in harmony with each other. While
maintaining the natural close ties among those
with whom we see eye to eye, we also need to
respect those with whom we disagree. Like the
vast ocean admitting all rivers that run into it,
members of the international community need to
work together to expand common ground while
accepting differences, and seek win-win progress
37
38 External Affairs
through inclusive cooperation and mutual
learning.
In a world facing volatile economic situation,
we should all work to promote opening-up and
innovation. What has happened since the
outbreak of the international financial crisis
seven years ago proves that to work in unity is the
surest way for countries to get over the
difficulties. We are all interdependent in this
world. While we each have the right to adopt
economic policies in line with national conditions,
we need to strengthen macro-policy coordination
to expand the convergence of interests and
achieve common development. An European
proverb says, “when the wind of change blows,
some build walls, while others build windmills.”
We need to act along the trend of our time, firmly
a d va n c e f r e e t r a d e , r e s o l u t e l y r e j e c t
protectionism, and actively expand regional
economic cooperation. We need to build global
value chains, and seize the opportunity of a new
technological revolution. While the international
community agree on the importance of macropolicies to the economy, they also recognize the
urgency to go ahead with structural reform.
Structural reform must be carried through no
matter how difficult it is, as it is an effective way to
foster conditions conducive to global innovation
and bring about new momentum for global
development.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I know you are all interested in the outlook of
the Chinese economy. Some of you may even
worry about the possible potential impact of
China’ s economic slowdown and transition. To
ease your concerns, let me spend more time today
on what is really happening in China.
The Chinese economy has entered a state of
new normal. The gear of growth is shifting from
high speed to medium-to-high speed, and
development needs to move from low-to-medium
level to medium-to-high level. This has made it all
the more necessary for us to press ahead with
structural reform.
It must be noted that the moderation of
growth speed in China reflects both profound
adjustments in the world economy as well as the
law of economics. The Chinese economy is now
News From China February 2015
the second largest in the world. With a larger base
figure, a growth even at 7 percent will produce an
annual increase of more than 800 billion US
dollars at current price, larger than a 10 percent
growth five years ago. With the economy
performing within the reasonable range and the
speed of growth no longer taken as the sole
yardstick, the strained supply-demand
relationship will be eased, the pressure on
resources and the environment will be lowered,
and more time and energy will be devoted to push
forward structural reform. That means, the
economy will enter a more advanced stage of
development, with more sophisticated division of
labor and a more optimized structure. If I could
compare the Chinese economy to a running train.
What I want you to know is that this train will not
lose speed or momentum. It will only be powered
by stronger dynamo and run with greater
steadiness, bringing along new opportunities and
new momentum of growth.
In 2014, we followed exactly the aforementioned approach. In the face of downward
pressure, we did not resort to strong stimulus;
instead, we vigorously pursued reforms, and the
government in fact led these reforms by
streamlining administration and delegating
power. This has motivated both the market and the
business sector. GDP grew by 7.4 percent for the
whole year, the best among major economies in
the world. Over 13 million new jobs were created
in cities, with both registered and surveyed
unemployment rates lower than the previous year.
That is, we achieved growth in employment
despite the economic slowdown. CPI was kept at 2
percent, lower than the target set at the beginning
of the year. These outcomes prove that the host of
macro-regulation measures China adopted have
been right and effective. More importantly, new
progress has been made in advancing structural
reform.
Needless to say, the Chinese economy will
continue to face substantial downward pressure
in 2015. What shall we choose to do under such
circumstances? Shall we go for even higher growth
for the short term, or for medium-to-high growth
and a higher quality of development over the long
run? The answer is definitely the latter. We will
News From China February 2015
maintain our strategic focus and continue to
pursue a proactive fiscal policy and a prudent
monetary policy. We will avoid adopting
indiscriminate policies. Instead, we will put more
emphasis on anticipatory adjustment and finetuning, do an even better job with targeted macroregulation to keep the economy operating within
the reasonable range, and raise the quality and
performance of the economy.
We are taking effective measures to fend off
debt, financial and other potential risks. China’ s
high savings rate, which now stands at 50 percent,
generates sufficient funds for sustaining
economic growth. Besides, China’ s local debt,
over 70 percent of which was incurred for
infrastructure development, is backed by assets.
And reform of the financial system is making
progress. What I want to emphasize is that
regional or systemic financial crisis will not
happen in China, and the Chinese economy will
not head for a hard landing.
It must be pointed out that China is still a
developing country and still has a long way to go
before achieving modernization. While peace is
the basic condition for China’ s development,
reform and opening-up along with our people’ s
desire for a happy life constitute the strongest
impetus propelling development. The space of
development in China’ s rural and urban areas and
various regions is enormous, and the country’ s
domestic demand will simply generate great
potential of growth. Development at medium-tohigh speed for another ten to twenty years will
bring even bigger changes to China and create
more development opportunities for the world.
For the Chinese economy to withstand
downward pressure, and to maintain medium-tohigh speed of growth and achieve medium-tohigh level of development, we need to say “no” to
traditional mindset. We must encourage
innovative institutions, and press ahead with
structural reform. We need to adopt more
innovative macro-regulation policies and develop
a more vigorous micro economy. We need to
promote more balanced development of
industries, between rural and urban areas and
among regions. We need to ensure relatively high
employment rate, especially sufficient
External Affairs
employment for the young people. And we need to
optimize income distribution and raise the
people’ s welfare. All this certainly calls for
tremendous efforts. Yet we will stay undaunted in
the face of difficulties. We will unswervingly press
ahead with reform and restructuring to ensure
that our economy maintains medium-to-high
speed of growth and achieves medium-to-high
level of development.
To ensure long-term and steady growth of the
Chinese economy, we need to comprehensively
deepen reforms. We need to properly use both the
hand of the government and the hand of the
market, and rely on both the traditional and new
engines of growth. We will let the market play a
decisive role in resource allocation to foster a new
engine of growth. At the same time, we will give
better scope to the role of the government to
transform and upgrade the traditional engine of
growth.
To foster a new engine of growth, we will
e n c o u ra g e m a s s e n t re p re n e u r s h i p a n d
innovation. China has 1.3 billion people, a 900million workforce, and over 70 million enterprises
and self-employed businesses. Our people are
hard-working and talented. If we could activate
every cell in society, the economy of China as a
whole will brim with more vigor and gather
stronger power for growth. Mass
entrepreneurship and innovation, in our eyes, is a
“gold mine” that provides constant source of
creativity and wealth.
Speaking of this, I think of China’ s rural reform
conducted more than 30 years ago. The reform
brought farmers’ initiatives into full play and
allowed them to decide for themselves matters
related to rural production and management.
Consequently, the problem of hunger that
previously haunted China was solved in just a
couple of years. In short, a structural innovation
that unleashed the creativity of the people
changed the lot of hundreds of millions in China. I
also think of a small village I visited two months
ago in eastern China. In the village were some 700
households and over 2,800 registered online
stores. Each day, more than 30 million items of
various sorts were sold to different parts of the
world. The story of the village speaks vividly of the
39
40 External Affairs
hard-working Chinese people actively engaged in
entrepreneurship.
Going forward, China needs new sources of
dynamism to carry development forward.
Dynamism comes from diversity, which sparks
w i s d o m a n d fo s t e r s i n n ova t i o n . M a s s
entrepreneurship and innovation serves to
unleash people’ s ingenuity and power. It will
result in greater demand and residents’
consumption, greater social wealth, and greater
welfare for the people. More importantly, it will
bring opportunity for many and give people the
stage to reach life’ s full potential. It will also bring
about greater social mobility, equity and justice.
Excessive regulation discourages innovation,
and healthy competition is the way to prosperity.
We will deepen reform of the administrative
system. This means we will continue to abolish or
delegate to lower-level governments items
previously subject to State Council review and
approval. We will comprehensively sort out items
requiring non-governmental review and
approval, and put in place a negative-list approach
for market access. This will incentivize market
players, and help reduce the possibility of rentseeking and corruption. We will protect
intellectual property rights in accordance with
the law, and do our best to foster an environment
that encourages entrepreneurship and tolerates
failure. Moreover, we will give protection to all
sorts of legal property rights.
To transform the traditional engine of growth,
we will focus on increasing the supply of public
goods and services. China has made remarkable
economic achievements, but inadequate supply of
public goods and services remains a weak link in
development. China’ s capital stock on public
infrastructure, in per capita terms, is only 38
percent that of Western Europe and 23 percent
that of North America. The development of its
service sector is 10 percentage points lower than
o t h e r d eve l o p i n g c o u n t r i e s a t s i m i l a r
development stages. And its rate of urbanization
is more than 20 percentage points lower than
developed countries. This means a massive space
for increasing public goods and services. To
deliver such public goods and services to improve
people’ s lives is the government’ s responsibility.
News From China February 2015
They are also important ways to boost domestic
demand.
This year, we have identified some key areas
for investment, including building railways in
central and western provinces, constructing
water conservancy projects, rebuilding rundown
urban areas and old houses in cities and villages,
and preventing and controlling pollutions. The
government will increase investment in these
areas, and it will not act alone. Efforts will be made
to break monopoly and reform the investment and
financing systems to encourage the participation
of private and foreign capitals. The model of
public-private partnership (PPP), Sino-foreign
cooperatives and government purchase of
services will be adopted to better leverage various
investment sources. I have an example here to cite.
A few years ago, the plan was made to build a
sewage treatment plant in a province in western
China, and a total of 335 million RMB yuan was
needed. The project later attracted investment
from a German water company, with the German
side controlling 70 percent of the total shares.
Moving forward, we will deepen fiscal and
taxation reform, reduce the tax and fees charged to
businesses, particularly those in the service
sector, and take new steps to support SMEs. We
will deepen reform of the financial system,
continue to promote liberalization of interest and
exchange rates, and accelerate the development of
small- and medium-sized financial institutions,
private banks in particular, with a view to
developing a multi-tiered capital market. We will
speed up reform of the pricing system,
substantially reduce the types and items for which
the government sets the prices, and liberate price
regulation to the maximum extent possible. More
emphasis will be given to the government’ s role in
creating a favorable “soft environment” . That
means better market regulation, a world-class
business environment established on market
principles and the rule of law. In this way, we will
be able to provide efficient and quality public
services to all market players.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
China’ s reform and development will bring
more business opportunities to the world. We will
provide easier market access for inbound foreign
News From China February 2015
Chinese Enterprises in India 41
investment, and explore the possibility of
management based on a pre-establishment
national treatment and negative-list approach.
Chinese and foreign companies will be treated as
equals. We will further open the financial,
education, cultural, medical care, pension and
other service sectors in an orderly way, and bring
the experience of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free
Trade Zone to other parts of China. Our aim is to
help investors from across countries find “rich
mines” and reap steady returns from their
investment.
What is more, China will explore new
approaches to investment cooperation with other
countries. China’ s high-speed railway, nuclear
power, aviation, telecommunications and other
sophisticated manufacturing capacities are
gradually being introduced to other countries.
They could meet market demand of the recipient
country, and stand the test of competition on the
international market. Their export will also help
open up third-country markets, as many of such
products are made by joint ventures between
China and a foreign country. China has put
forward the initiatives to build the Silk Road
Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk
Road. China hopes to work with other countries to
advance these initiatives and ensure that they are
brought forward in ways that meet the actual
needs of countries concerned.
Davos of Switzerland is a world-famous ski
resort. As we understand, to be a good skier, one
needs to do three things: go at the right speed,
keep balance and be courageous. I believe this also
holds true for the Chinese economy. What is
important now for China is to adapt to the new
normal. China will maintain medium-to-high
speed of growth, keep a proper balance between
steady growth and structural adjustment, and
push forward reform with great courage and
determination. China will stay firm in its
commitment to reform and opening-up. It will
focus on structural reform, encourage mass
entrepreneurship and innovation, increase supply
of public goods and services, and use the twin
engines to ensure that the economy maintains
medium-to-high speed of growth and achieves
medium-to-high level of development. As long as
we succeed in doing so, the Chinese economy will
successfully overcome the “middle-income trap”
and move ahead along the path of sustainable and
sound development. This will in turn bring greater
opportunities to the world economy.
In closing, I would like to call upon the
international community to forge ahead and work
in unison to uphold peace and stability, embrace
harmonious coexistence, and boost the impetus
for openness and innovation. By doing so, I am
confident we will be able to overcome whatever
difficulty or obstacle that stand in our way, and
bring about a better future for the world that we
all call home.
Thank you very much.
CHINESE ENTERPRISES IN INDIA
Sinopharm India
The healthcare is an important
sector related to national economy and
people’s lives. It has a strong livelihood,
public welfare and externalities impact.
Cooperation in the field of healthcare
between China and India is not only an
important sector of bilateral trade and
economic complementarity and
strategic reciprocity, but also an
important medium of promoting
friendship between two nations.
As the largest healthcare industry
group in China and the only Chinese
h e a l t h c a re c o m p a ny i n G l o b a l
Fortune500,China National
Pharmaceutical Group Corporation
42 Chinese Enterprises in India
News From China February 2015
(Sinopharm Group) has an entire
medical industry chain format
covers the pharmaceutical
dist rib ut ion, p ha rma ceu t ica l
production, chain pharmacies,
biological products, hospital design,
professional exhibition, hospital
management, international trade
and marketing business etc. China
Sinopharm International
Corporation (Sinopharm
International)—Sinopharm Group
International business sector,
mainly focus on building
international business integration
platforms and domestic health
industry platform. The former
business scope includes import and
export trade of big health products,
i n t e r n a t i o n a l m a r k e t i n g o f Sinopharm International Headquarter
biological products, international
export volume is about 194 million US dollars;
marketing of medical devices etc. The latter
From January to July in 2014, imports volume
includes the chain medical center, hospital
from India is about 83 million US dollars; exports
management group, Sinopharm online shop Evolume is about 32 million US dollars; import and
commerce etc.
export volume is about 115 million dollars
Sinopharm International has a long history of
.Imported products are mainly cotton, plant
cooperation and business development in India.
extracts, edible oil;Exports to India mainly APIs
According to statistics, in 2013, imports volume
and intermediate products, biological products
from India is about 151 million dollars; exports
and medical devices. Which, the noteworthy is
volume is about 43 million US dollars; import and
biological products business. Sinopharm
International started JE
project cooperation with
Indian Ministry of Health
since 2006, cumulatively
shipped more than 170
million copies of the Japanese
Encephabtis Vaccine, such
that about 100 million
children are protected. In
2014, Sinopharm
International also got a 2-year
contract for the supply of JE
va c c i n e t o M i n i s t r y o f
Health.In addition, IVIG, HBIG,
Varicella, Human Tetanus
Immuno-globulinarein the
replacement regis-tration
process again.
Sinopharm India Opening Ceremony
News From China February 2015
Chinese Enterprises in India 43
In case to expand
the cooperation in the
field of bilateral health
care, and to provide
better localized health
services to the people
of India. Sinopharm
International invested
to establish Sinopharm
India Pvt. Ltd.
(Sinopharm India) in
New Delhi at the end of
2012.Sinopharm India
Pvt. Ltd. is the
procurement center,
registration center, Vaccine Storage and injection
s a l e s c e n t e r, a n d
medical information exchange and industrial
cooperation center of Sinopharm Group in India.
It is committed to provide comprehensive
package of services for Chinese manufacturers of
pharmaceutical products. The main business
includes three sections, marketing of biological
products, marketing of APIs and intermediates,
marketing of medical devices. The Minister of
Health Chen Zhu cut the opening ribbon at
January of 2013.2013 annual business scale is
about 2 million US dollars; Up to October of 2014,
the business scale is 3.88 million dollars.
Same as “BRICS Countries”, China and India
will continuously enhance the cooperation in the
field of healthcare. This healthcare cooperation
between “Dragon and Elephant” is not only
conducive to meet the healthcare needs of
approximately 40% of the world’s population, will
also tremendously contribute to the development
of mankind healthcare industry. Adhering to the
corporate credo of ‘Caring for life, attending to
health’, Sinopharm India is going to play a unique
and critical role as a bridge.
Sinosteel India
Sinosteel India Pvt. Ltd. (abbreviated as
Sinosteel India) with its Head Office at Nehru
Place, New Delhi, is a fully owned subsidiary of
Sinosteel Corporation, being important part
working under the guidance of global integrated
operation strategy of Sinosteel Corporation.
S i n o s te e l I n d i a o p e ra te s w i t h va r i o u s
departments of Resource (iron, chrome,
manganese, coke and coal), Project & Equipments
Adminis-tration, Finance, Public Relation and
Investments and working together to promote the
Sinosteel brand.
Since its establishment in 2005, Sinosteel
India has been engaged in developing and
purchasing high quality mineral resources (such
as iron ore, chrome ore, manganese ore, nickel ore,
met coke etc.) for Chinese steel manufacturers;
and in undertaking projects for Indian steel mills,
providing, comprehensive and auxiliary service,
importing complete equipments , steel products
and coke.
Exerting a full play of the advantage in global
integrated operation of Sinosteel group, Sinosteel
India strives to take usage of the abundant
resources and development potentiality of India
and its neighboring countries, to provide all-
News From China February 2015
44 Chinese Enterprises in India
around and satisfactory
service in India and
neighboring markets.
Moreover, with a high view
of our corporate social
responsibility, we commit
ourselves to local environment protection and
community development.
While developing India
Market, Sinosteel India also
dedicates to fulfillment of
social responsibility and
continuously promotes the
sustainable development of
economy, environment and Staff of Sinosteel India
society, Sinosteel India is
endeavoring to become an enterprise which is
trustworthy, resources and energy saving,
environmental friendly and people-orientated.
Development will create a better future, and
the responsibility will make a cohesive strength.
Sinosteel India is hoping to enhance and expand
exchanges and cooperation with friends of the
field at home and abroad. We will fulfill our
re s p o n s i b i l i t i e s a n d a d h e re to m u t u a l
development. With “united, cooperation,
development, win-win” as goal, Sinosteel India
warmly welcomes old and new friends to contact
for business cooperation.
The disability artist performance in Delhi sponsored by　Sinosteel　India
News From China February 2015
Reviving the Silk Road
45
REVIVING THE SILK ROAD
China　Sketches Out Priorities of
“Belt and Road" Initiatives
Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli (C rear) presides over a meeting focused on the "Belt and Road" initiatives, or the building of the
Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road，　in　Beijing，　capital　of　China，　Feb．　1, 2015.　（
Xinhua／
Huang　Jingwen）
Beijing, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) — Chinese leaders
sketched out priorities for the “Belt and Road”
initiatives on Sunday, highlighting transport
infrastructure building, investment and trade
facilitation, financial cooperation and cultural
exchange.
The initiatives are major policy decisions
made by the Party and the State Council, which
will be of great significance to further opening up
to the outside world and promoting regional and
world peace, said Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli at a
conference focused on implementing the
initiatives.
The Silk Road Economic Belt is slated to be
established along the ancient Silk Road trade
route, which stretches northwest from China’s
coastal area through Central Asia, the Middle East
and on to Europe, while the 21st Century Maritime
Silk Road will run through the country’s south to
Southeast Asia.
China will join hands with countries along the
Belt and Road to build a community of common
interests, common responsibilities and a shared
future, featuring political mutual trust, economic
integration and cultural inclusiveness, Zhang said
at the conference attended by other senior
leaders.
Under the initiatives, more highways, railways
46 Reviving the Silk Road
and air routes will be built and Chinese regions
will further integrate resources, policies and
markets to connect with the outside world.
The initiatives were put forward by Chinese
President Xi Jinping during his overseas visits in
2013.
Speaking at the conference, Zhang called for
using major economic and trade industrial parks
as platforms to build several international
economic cooperation corridors, and rely on key
port cities to jointly build secure and efficient
transport corridors.
Another priority of the initiatives is to
facilitate the interconnection of infrastructure
along the Belt and Road.
The vice premier also stressed the importance
of facilitating investment and trade, creating a
favorable business environment and making
more efforts to build cooperation parks along the
News From China February 2015
routes.
Financial cooperation should be expanded
and accelerated to provide better financing
support for the construction of the Belt and the
Road, said the vice premier.
People-to-people exchanges should also be
enhanced along the routes, and the spirit of
friendly cooperation, which can be dated back to
the ancient Silk Road, should be promoted, Zhang
said.
Zhang also highlighted the importance of
environment protection and social responsibility
in building the Belt and Road.
Countries along the routes should increase
communication and consultations and give full
play to multilateral, bilateral, regional and subregional cooperation mechanisms and platforms
to seek common development and prosperity,
Zhang said.
China Holds Maritime Silk Road Seminar
Liu Qibao，　a　member　of　the　Political　Bureau　of　the　Communist　Party　of　China　（
CPC）　Central　Committee　and　the　Secretariat　of　the　CPC　Central　Committee，　who　is　also　head　of　the　CPC　Central　Committee＇
s　Publicity　Department，　delivers　a　keynote　speech　at　the　international seminar on the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road held in Quanzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, Feb. 12, 2015.
(Xinhua/Jiang Kehong)
News From China February 2015
Quanzhou, Fujian, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) — A twoday international seminar on beefing up maritime
trade infrastructure in Asia opened Wednesday in
east China’s Quanzhou City.
Over 280 academics and experts from 30
countries have been invited to discuss proposals
to build a “21st Century Maritime Silk Road.” The
event is themed “collectively building the 21st
Century Maritime Silk Road and creating a
community of common destiny.”
It will involve three round table meetings
covering the topics of “the values and significance
of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiative,”
“working together for common development and
prosperity” and “seizing fresh development
opportunities and tapping new cooperation
prospects.”
Jiang Jianguo, director of China’s State Council
Information Office, said in his welcoming address
that the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st
Century Maritime Silk Road have become hot
topics for the media and think tanks, reflecting the
attraction of the initiatives to countries along the
route.
You Quan, secretary of the Fujian Provincial
Committee of the Communist Party of China, said
Fujian has always been a pioneer of reform and
Reviving the Silk Road
opening-up and a close trading partner of
countries in Southeast Asia.
“As the core area in constructing the modern
maritime Silk Road, Fujian stands ready to
increase maritime connectivity, promote multiple
trades and transactions, advance maritime
cooperation and make contributions to the Road,”
You said in a keynote speech.
Being a means of disseminating information
and a messenger of cultural exchange, the media
plays an irreplaceable role in promoting mutual
understanding and friendship among countries,
said Cai Mingzhao, president of the Xinhua News
Agency.
Cai said Xinhua will increase its coverage of
the Silk Road initiative, and provide tailored news
products on the subject.
Wang Weiguang, president of the Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences, said the seminar is
conducive to boosting political trust, deepening
economic cooperation and promoting cultural as
well as people-to-people exchanges among
countries along the route.
In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping
proposed a modernization of the ancient Silk Road
trading network to benefit the Asia region.
The seminar is hosted by the State Council
Information Office and coorganized by the Xinhua
News Agency, the Chinese
Academy of Social
Sciences, the China
International Publishing
Group and the Fujian
Provincial Academy of
Social Sciences.
The “Belt and Road”
Initiative Brings
New Opportunities
The summit forum of the international seminar on the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road is held in
Quanzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, Feb. 12, 2015. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan)
Beijing, Jan. 28
(Xinhua) — As China
strives to achieve more
regional cooperation, its
47
48 Reviving the Silk Road
“Belt and Road” initiative will not only drive
domestic development but will also influence its
foreign policy.
The Silk Road Economic Belt is slated to be
established along the ancient Silk Road trade
route — which stretched northwest from China’s
coastal area through Central Asia, the Middle East
and on to Europe — while the maritime Silk Road
will run through the country’s southern part to
Southeast Asia.
Under the initiative, more highways, railways
and air routes will be established, and Chinese
regions will further integrate resources, policies
and markets to connect with the outside world.
The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st
Century Maritime Silk Road were put forward by
Chinese President Xi Jinping during his overseas
visits in 2013.
In November, Xi announced that China will
push forward with the initiative and strengthen
cooperation with those countries involved.
When visiting Mongolia in August, he said that
China invited its neighbors to get on board and
ride China’s development.
As China promotes the Belt and Road initiative
abroad, it is also driving change back home. In an
economic work conference held in December
News From China February 2015
2014, it was listed as one of the priority tasks for
2015. And in recent days, the initiative has been
lauded by people’s congress sessions across the
country.
A total of 20 provincial regions have made their
development blueprints based on the belt and road
initiative.
Observers believe that the initiative can further
integrate China, allowing more parts of the country
to enjoy the benefits of its opening-up policy.
But the significance of the Belt and Road
initiative lies in its potential to integrate domestic
and regional development, bringing a more
pragmatic approach to China’s foreign policy.
Along the belt and road are many developing
countries, with a combined population of 4.4
billion and an annual economic output of 2.2
trillion U.S. dollars.
China has strengthened cooperation with
neighboring countries in the fields of energy,
transportation and trade. China’s import of
products and services improves the economy its
neighbors and bolsters its own sluggish economy.
The initiative will become a major part of its
foreign policies, resulting in a more favorable and
mutual-beneficial regional environment.
China　Kicks off Silk Road Tourism　Year
Xi’an, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) — China on Thursday
kicked off the Silk Road tourism year in Xi’an,
capital of northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, to
attract more visitors on the ancient Silk Road
which linked China with central Asian nations.
Every year China National Tourism
Administration (CNTA) sets a theme for tourism
promotion. Inspired by the Silk Road, China will
promote western provinces for their rich culture
and tourist appeal.
The Silk Road tourism year will facilitate
regional cooperation, deepen mutual understanding and establish mutually beneficiary ties
for all related nations, said Du Jiang, deputy
director of the CNTA.
Shaanxi Province is investing more in tourism
and cementing its position as the starting point of
the Silk Road, said Bai Aying, deputy governor of
Shaanxi Province.
The new Silk Roads, both land and sea,
involves 65 countries. Future co-operation will
aim to open more direct flights, and ease custom
procedures to eliminate barriers to travel.
Chinese president Xi Jinping has proposed the
“Belt and Road” initiatives to revive the ancient
Silk Road and promote shared prosperity. The
Reviving the Silk Road
News From China February 2015
initiative prioritizes infrastructure and
connectivity-an opportunity that tourism
operators won’t miss.
“The terminal of Silk Road is in Rome and
Prague is only two hour flight away from Rome.
We’ll promote honeymoons and hot spring tours
this year. We’ll have promotion packages, working
with big travel agencies in China,” said Hu Lina,
marketing director of Czech Tourism Beijing
Office. Silk Road Tourism will be intensively
promoted in the next three years, giving travelers
more options to their itinerary.
(also source from: CNTV.cn)
Chinese Dance Drama Promotes
"Maritime Silk Road＂　at　UN　HQ
United Nations, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) — “I thought
the story was very powerful. It was about family,
love, adventure, friendship, and inheritance,”
Maria Kucinski said after watching a traditional
Chinese dance drama “Dream of the Maritime Silk
Road.”
Admitting that she has never learnt anything
before about Maritime Silk Road — a sea route of
the economic and cultural exchanges between
ancient China and the rest of the world, Kucinski
told Xinhua that she can get the concept and
images of interactions in trade and culture in that
period after enjoying the drama performed at UN
headquarters on Wednesday night.
“There is a marketplace where everybody
came...where they are able to purchase silk, tea,
porcelain...” Kucinski recalled a specific scene
showing the hustle and bustle of the trade and
commerce 800 years ago.
The dance drama, through distinctively
Chinese classical dance, tells a story of a
commercial fleet in China’s Quanzhou port, Fujian
Province: The captain of the fleet was invited by a
Persian prince to together develop a new sailing
route. During the voyage, the fleet was struck by a
storm and the captain sacrificed his life to save the
Persian prince.
“That’s really wonderfully portrayed,” said
Alice Chen, a Chinese American who works in the
UN. “I think it’s really great that the UN was able to
showcase all the culture, all the celebrations and
all the great values that Chinese people have.”
49
50
Reviving the Silk Road
News From China February 2015
“You see the Chinese
really look out for other
cultures,” she added.
The performance is put
on by the Permanent Mission
of China to the UN on the
occasion of China’s
presidency of the Security
Council for February. UN
Secretary-General Ban Kimoon also joined the crowds
to watch the show.
Addressing the event, Liu
Jieyi, China’s permanent
representative to the UN said
today’s world calls for a new
t y p e o f i n t e r n a t i o n a l Artists perform during a Chinese Dance　Drama　entitled　＂The　Dream　of　the　Maritime　Silk　at　the　United　Nations　headquarters　in　New York　on　Feb．　4, 2015．　（
Xinhua／
Niu　Xiaolei）　relations centering on win- Road＂，　win cooperation.
area through Central Asia, the Middle East and on
“China is working with numerous countries to
to
Europe, while the 21st Century Maritime Silk
build a Silk Road Economic Belt and a 21st
Road will run through the country’s south to
Century Maritime Silk Road,” Liu mentioned,
Southeast
Asia.
saying that the initiative is making good headway
Echoing with the concepts of the initiative, the
and will bring new vigor and vitality to the
show is expected to act as a symbol of cultural
development and prosperity of the countries
exchanges,
Xie Nan, executive director of the
concerned and the world at large.
drama told Xinhua, adding that he hopes it can
The Silk Road Economic Belt is to be
help
to deliver China’s friendliness and passion to
established along the ancient Silk Road trade
the whole world on the UN’s platform.
route, stretching northwest from China’s coastal
Chronology of China＇
s　＂
Belt　and　Road＂　Initiatives
Beijing, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- China prioritized
tasks for the future of the "Belt and Road"
initiatives during the Conference to Promote the
Construction of the Belt and Road on Feb. 1.
The list of planned actions includes
c o n s u lt a t i o n s w i t h c o u n t ri e s i nvo lve d ,
construction of international economic
cooperation corridors and ports, as well as
infrastructure projects.
The Silk Road Economic Belt is to be
established along the ancient Silk Road trade
route, stretching northwest from China's coastal
area through Central Asia, the Middle East and on
to Europe, while the 21st Century Maritime Silk
Road will run through the country's south to
Southeast Asia.
The following are the major events in the
development of China's "Belt and Road" initiatives
so far.
September 2013 -- The "Silk Road Economic
Belt" concept was initiated by Chinese President
Xi Jinping during his visit to Kazakhstan. In a
speech delivered at Nazarbayev University, Xi
suggested that China and Central Asia join hands
News From China February 2015
to build a Silk Road Economic Belt to boost
cooperation. It was the first time Chinese
leadership mentioned the strategic vision.
Oct. 3, 2013 -- President Xi Jinping proposed to
build a more closely-knit China-ASEAN
community following a common destiny and
provided guidance for constructing a 21st Century
Maritime Silk Road to promote maritime
cooperation. In his speech at the Indonesian
parliament, Xi also proposed to establish the Asian
Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to finance
infrastructure construction and promote regional
interconnectivity and economic integration.
November 2013 -- The Third Plenary Session
of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist
Party of China (CPC), a milestone along China's
reform path, called for accelerating the
interconnection of infrastructure among
neighboring countries, and facilitating the
construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and
21st Century Maritime Silk Road.
December 2013 -- President Xi Jinping urged
strategic planning of the "Belt and Road"
initiatives to promote the interconnection of
infrastructure and build a community of common
interests at the annual Central Economic Work
Conference.
February 2014 -- President Xi Jinping and his
Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, reached a
consensus about the construction of the "Belt and
Road", as well as its connection with Russia's
Euro-Asia Railways.
March 2014 -- Premier Li Keqiang highlighted
acceleration in building the "Belt and Road" in the
government work report. The report also
promoted balanced development of the
Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic
Corridor and the China-Pakistan Economic
Corridor.
May 2014 -- The first phase of a logistics
terminal jointly built by China and Kazakhstan
went into operation in the port of Lianyungang in
east China's Jiangsu Province. The terminal, with a
total investment of 606 million yuan (98 million
U.S. dollars), is seen as a platform for goods from
central Asian countries to go overseas and a boost
Reviving the Silk Road
to the construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt.
October 2014 -- Twenty-one Asian countries
willing to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment
Bank (AIIB) as founding members signed the
Memorandum of Understanding on Establishing
AIIB. As agreed, Beijing will be the host city for
AIIB's headquarters. The 21 countries are
Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India,
Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia,
Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, the Philippines,
Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uzbekistan
and Vietnam. It is expected that AIIB will be
formally established by the end of 2015.
November 2014 -- President Xi Jinping
announced China will accelerate the construction
of the "Belt and Road" and strengthen cooperation
with the countries involved. When presiding over
the eighth meeting of the Central Leading Group
on Financial and Economic Affairs, Xi announced
that China will contribute 40 billion U.S. dollars to
set up the Silk Road Fund. During the Beijing APEC
meetings, Xi announced that the fund will be used
to provide investment and financing support to
carry out infrastructure, resources, industrial
cooperation, financial cooperation and other
projects related to connectivity for countries
along the "Belt and Road".
December 2014 -- The Central Economic Work
Conference sketched out priorities for the coming
year, which include the implementation of "Belt
and Road" initiatives. Earlier in the month,
Thailand approved a draft memorandum of
understanding between Thailand and China on
railway cooperation.
January 2015 -- The number of AIIB founding
members, many of whom are important countries
along the Silk Road routes, rose to 26, after New
Zealand, Maldives, Saudi Arabia and Tajikistan
officially joined.
Feb. 1, 2015 -- A conference focused on the
"Belt and Road" initiatives was held in which
Chinese leaders sketched out priorities for the
initiatives, highlighting transport infrastructure
building, investment and trade facilitation,
financial cooperation and cultural exchanges.
51
52
News From China February 2015
Economic Affairs
ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
Slowdown: A Blessing in Disguise?
by Deng Yaqing
China’s economy grew at a
rate of 7.4 percent in 2014
amidst its painstaking efforts
to carry out structural reform,
cut outdated production
capacity and promote innovation.
“China has surmounted
tremendous pressures and
challenges to realize the goal of
maintaining its growth rate
around the 7.5-percent target,”
said Ma Jiantang, Commissioner of the National Bureau
of Statistics (NBS), noting that
such a growth rate is quite
s　Zhejiang　Province，　hard-won against the nation’s A worker prints the back of a chair with a 3D printer in Anji, east China＇
on　January　15　（
XU　YU）
massive economic aggregate—63.6 trillion yuan ($10.4
of China’s economy in 2015. As millions of people
trillion).
surge into urban areas, the efficiency of resource
Although the economy has shifted into low
allocation will improve, hopefully creating greater
gear compared with the double-digit growth of
market demand, said Ma.
previous years, Chinese people have benefited
Opening up and reform will continue to
from the low price level and efficient job creation,
stimulate inexhaustible entrepreneurial
said Ma. According to statistics from the NBS and
enthusiasm, which is the main engine of stable
the Ministry of Human Resources and Social
growth. Reducing government intervention and
Security, China’s consumer price index (CPI) rose
relaxing market access will mobilize the 900
2 percent in 2014, and a total of 13.22 million
million labor and scientific and technical
urban jobs were created, far exceeding the target
personnel to innovate and start businesses, said
of 10 million.
Ma.
“The economic environment will remain
Enhanced Quality
complicated in 2015. Externally, some developed
Despite a slowdown in growth speed, a focus
economies are experiencing a recovery.
has
been laid on elevating the quality and
Domestically, uncertainties and contradictions
efficiency of economic growth.
are interwoven,” said Ma. “However, there are still
Annual labor productivity reached 72,313
many favorable conditions for China to maintain
yuan
($11,647) per capita, up 7 percent from the
medium-to-high growth in 2015.”
previous year. Energy consumption per unit of
Industrialization, informatization,
GDP
was reduced by 4.8 percent, according to Ma.
urbanization and agricultural modernization
“As economic structural reform advances, and
have laid a solid foundation for the steady growth
News From China February 2015
growth model and resources allocation
continuously improve, the slowdown seems
inevitable,” said Yu Yongding, an expert with the
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Yu offered an example. More than 20 percent
of China’s total steel production capacity is laid
idle, and in Hebei Province alone, there are more
than 300 steel mills. Shutting down these
factories would lead to GDP growth decline, but it
doesn’t mean green GDP would drop.
Yu’s point of view echoes that of Liu Kegu,
former Deputy Governor of China Development
Bank, who believes GDP growth at around 7
percent is what it originally ought to be, because
China used to excessively fix its eyes on growth
speed rather than quality and people’s livelihood.
“Part of the investment in jacking up GDP growth
s h o u l d h ave g o n e t o wa rd e l i m i n a t i n g
environmental pollution, improving people’s
living standards, securing employment, or
promoting health care and education,” said Liu.
China’s economic growth has gradually
broken its excessive dependence on real estate
investment, said Qu Hongbin, chief economist of
HSBC in the Greater China region. The
construction area of newly built homes dropped
10.7 percent in 2014 and land purchases made by
real estate developers fell by 14 percent from the
previous year, according
to statistics from the NBS.
Economic Affairs 53
manufacturing industry; the added-value of the
service industry grew 8.1 percent, faster than the
7 . 3 - p e rc e n t g ro w t h re g i s t e re d by t h e
manufacturing industry and the 4.1-percent
growth registered by the primary industry,
according to statistics from the NBS.
Qu stated that since the service industry best
creates jobs, such an adjustment in industrial
structure will stabilize employment and facilitate
ongoing economic reforms.
While traditional industries, heavy chemical
and bulk raw materials industries struggled with
endless difficulties in 2014, emerging industries
like mobile Internet gained momentum, implying
that China’s economy is aggressively edging up
along the value chain, said Ma.
“The service industry as well as Internetrelated emerging industries and hi-tech
industries are growing, while high energyconsuming industries are also growing—just at a
slower pace,” said Ma.
According to statistics from the NBS, the hitech manufacturing industry expanded 12.3
percent in 2014, 4 percentage points faster than
the growth of value-added output of industrial
enterprises; meanwhile, the equipment
manufacturing industry grew 10.5 percent, 2.2
percentage points faster than the growth of value-
Improved Structure
The expanding
proportion of the service
industry indicates that
the service industry is
r e p l a c i n g t h e
manufacturing industry
to become the main
engine of China’s
economy, said Ma.
The added-value of
the service industry
accounted for 48.2
percent of the total GDP in
2014, up 1.3 percentage
points and 5.6 percentage
points higher than the
An urban resident in Lhasa，　capital　of　southwest　China＇
s　Tibet　Autonomous　Region，　cleans　her　home　fitted with heating applications on January 9 (LIU KUN)
54
Economic Affairs
added output of industrial enterprises. In
addition, online retail sales increased by 49.7
percent, and the volume of express delivery
increased by a whopping 51.9 percent.
While the development of hi-tech industries
outpaced that of traditional industries, exports of
hi-tech products such as high-speed rails also shot
up last year, said Li Kang, chief economist of
Xiangcai Securities Co. Ltd.
In sustaining the structural adjustment, Ma
argued that enterprises need to constantly
improve their product structure and renovate
their technologies, the market should be further
freed up to play a decisive role in allocating
resources and the government should resort to
structural and industrial policies as well as
macro-control policies. “The inexhaustible
i m p e t u s o f s t a b l e g ro w t h c o n s i s t s i n
entrepreneurial innovation,” said Ma.
Roadblocks Ahead
China’s GDP hit $10.4 trillion in 2014, almost
twice that of Japan, making it the second country
with GDP surpassing $10 trillion. “Despite that,
the per-capita GDP was roughly $7,400, ranking
around 80th among all the countries on the globe,”
said Lin Caiyi, chief economist of Guotai Jun’an
Securities Co. Ltd.
China is still a middle-income country and has
to overcome the so-called “middle-income
trap”—an economic development situation
wherein a country that attains a certain income
gets stuck at that level. As such, it should stimulate
market vigor through innovation, transformation
and opening up to the outside world, said Lin.
Zhang Qizuo, Deputy Secretary General of
Globalization Cooperation Forum, held that the
economy cannot sustain over-investment in
manufacturing, real estate and infrastructure
construction, which would only aggravate
overcapacity, housing bubbles, local government
debt and financial risks.
Due to the adjustment of the real estate
market and the reduction of overcapacity in the
manufacturing industry in recent years, the
growth of fixed assets investment has been
slowing down. Last year, it only registered 15.1
percent. Since investment in the manufacturing
News From China February 2015
industry accounted for over 30 percent of the
total, eliminating overcapacity and curbing
overlapping investment will inevitably result in
lower growth of fixed assets investment, said Ma,
who admitted that China’s economy faces great
downward pressures in 2014 and 2015.
When adjusting economic structure and
dealing with excess production capacity,
traditional manufacturing enterprises are more
likely to suffer capital chain ruptures, which will
activate default risks and generate bad loans, said
Lin.
“Generally speaking, when economic growth
slows down, the leverage ratio will ascend.
Surging leverage ratio reflects enterprises’
dwindling capacity to pay off debts,” said Yu.
As an important economic parameter, China’s
CPI grew a mere 2 percent in 2014. By the end of
last December, the producer price index (PPI) had
seen negative growth for 34 consecutive months,
according to statistics from the NBS.
Lian Ping, chief economist of the Bank of
Communications, noted that the consecutive
negative PPI growth has constrained the
expansion of the manufacturing industry and
undermined the development of the macroeconomy.
The decline of CPI and PPI mirrors weak
domestic demand, and the risk of deflation will
stretch the endurance of China’s economy, said Qu.
“Since the second half of 2014, the prices of
international bulk commodities like crude oil have
plunged, which will further increase the
possibility of deflation,” said Qu.
Macroeconomic Indicators in 2014
- Consumer price index (CPI), the main gauge
of inflation, rose 2 percent.
- Producer price index (PPI), which measures
inflation at the wholesale level, contracted 2.2
percent.
- Foreign trade increased 3.4 percent to $4.3
trillion. Exports increased 6.1 percent to $2.34
trillion, while imports increased 0.4 percent to
$1.96 trillion.
- Inward foreign direct investment (FDI) on
the Chinese mainland stood at $119.56 billion, up
1.7 percent.
News From China February 2015
Economic Affairs
- Outward FDI from the Chinese mainland
stood at $102.89 billion, up 14.1 percent.
- Value-added output of industrial enterprises
above a designated size—principal business
revenue of more than 20 million yuan ($3.22
million) a year—grew 8.3 percent.
- Fixed assets investment totaled 50.2 trillion
yuan ($8.09 trillion), up 15.1 percent with
inflation deducted.
- Retail sales totaled 26.24 trillion yuan ($4.23
trillion), up 10.9 percent with inflation deducted.
- Per-capita disposable income of urban
residents stood at 28,844 yuan ($4,646), up 6.8
percent with inflation deducted.
- Per-capita cash income of rural residents
stood at 10,489 yuan ($1,689), up 9.2 percent with
inflation deducted.
- New yuan-denominated loans totaled 9.78
trillion yuan ($1.58 trillion), 890 billion yuan
($143.34 billion) more than the amount in 2013.
- As of the end of 2014, M2, a broad measure of
money supply that covers cash in circulation and
all deposits, reached 122.84 trillion yuan ($19.78
trillion), up 12.2 percent.
(Sources: National Bureau of Statistics,
Ministry of Commerce)
Get Smart：　Chinese Phone Makers
by Zhou Xiaoyan
Han Yu, a 24-year-old postgraduate student in
Beijing, is a rabid fan of Xiaomi Inc., a Beijingbased maker of smartphones, tablets and
televisions. He, like hundreds of thousands of
other Xiaomi worshipers, spends hours every day
in testing the user interface of Xiaomi cell phone,
finding bugs and offering advice to the company.
He is in charge of several sections of Xiaomi’s
online forum, a platform for fans to interact with
the homegrown smartphone vendor, and, every
day, there are over 200,000 new posts from fans
on the forum.
Han said his life is Xiaomi-centered and he has
since gotten to know many new friends through
the Xiaomi forum.
“Xiaomi took my advice about creating a
folder for private pictures in its latest update. This
is an honor for me. I really enjoy the feeling of
being part of it,” Han said.
Xiaomi, whose name translates into the grain
“millet,” was founded in April 2010, in
Zhongguancun, Beijing’s technology hub dubbed
“China’s Silicon Valley.” The company is very
appropriately named, because it has shown
significant growth. Over the past several years, it
has risen from an obscure Chinese handset maker
to become one of the top smartphone vendors in
the world’s largest handset market
—China—with a highly organized fan base who
love and idolize the company.
Xiaomi is not the only Chinese smartphone
maker that’s growing exponentially both at home
and overseas. Other local brands—Lenovo,
Huawei, Coolpad and Vivo—are all also rising into
leadership positions held by global leaders
Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Inc. The
competitive edge of local brands lies in reasonable
prices combined with high-performance
hardware and highly customized software. This is
very attractive to many Chinese consumers who
try to strike a balance between the price and
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News From China February 2015
Economic Affairs
performance.
According to a recent report from the China
Academy of Telecommunication Research,
domestic cell phone brands owned 78.3 percent of
the market share in China in 2014.
In sharp contrast to Chinese smartphone
makers’ boom, the market share of Samsung is
trailing off. Samsung accounted for 23.8 percent of
the global market in the third quarter of 2014,
decreasing from the 32.5 percent in the third
quarter of 2013, according to the International
Data Corp. In the Chinese market, Samsung’s
market share shrank to 14 percent in the third
quarter of 2014 from the 21 percent in the third
quarter of 2013, according to market research and
advisory company Canalys.
China’s handset market is “unbelievably brutal.”
Xiaomi is mired in heightened competition with
domestic rivals Lenovo and Huawei.
Xiaomi’s cross-town rival Lenovo, the world’s
largest maker of personal computers, is focused
on an expansion in smartphones amid a global
decline in PC demand.
After purchasing Motorola from Google in a
$2.91-billion deal in October 2014, Lenovo
claimed it has become the third largest
smartphone vendor in the world and said the
space between it and the top ranked smartphone
makers is decreasing. Lenovo announced in
January that it will bring Motorola phones back to
China in the first quarter, reintroducing the brand
to the world’s largest market after an absence of
more than two years.
“Motorola’s brand is well liked and respected
in many markets, especially being a U.S. brand
with a long legacy in mobile” said Jessica Kwee, a
Singapore-based analyst with Canalys. “It is
something that Lenovo can leverage.”
Prominence
Xiaomi’s rise has been pretty astounding. Just
a few years after announcing their first
smartphone model in August 2011, it became the
third largest smartphone vendor in the world,
according to International Data Corp., and the
largest in China, according to Canalys.
Xiaomi said it sold 61.12 million mobile
phones in 2014, up 227 percent. Sales revenue
totaled 74.3 billion yuan ($12 billion) in 2014, up
135 percent from 2013. The company hopes to
sell 100 million units of smartphones globally in
2015. At the end of last year, Xiaomi said it had
raised $1.1 billion in a new round of funding,
putting the company at a valuation of $45 billion,
the highest among all unlisted tech firms.
Despite its outstanding performance last year,
Lei Jun, founder and CEO of Xiaomi Inc. said there
is no time for complacence as competition in
Smartphone shipments of Huawei, a leading
information and communications technology
solutions provider headquartered in Shenzhen,
south China’s Guangdong Province, rose 40
percent to 75 million in 2014.
Huawei’s latest models—Honor 6 and Honor 6
Plus—have made a splash in China and the
company said sales of its Honor Series, a flagship
series that the company created to compete
against Xiaomi, increased 30 times in 2014.
Alan Chen, an analyst with TrendForce, a
market intelligence provider, said in a research
note that Huawei, Xiaomi and Lenovo will battle to
News From China February 2015
be the top Chinese smartphone vendor in 2015.
“How Lenovo’s Motorola acquisition plays out
and whether Xiaomi can replicate its home
market success overseas will be key factors in
determining who becomes the top Chinese brand
in 2015,” Chen said.
Prospects
Wang Yanhui, Secretary General of Mobile
China Alliance, an industrial association in the
country, said the victory of local brands has
resulted from their thin profits.
“The decrease of Samsung’s market share is
because the manufacturing technology for
smartphones has become standardized. After
Chinese brands have acquired the know-how, they
will definitely enjoy a sweeping victory in pricesensitive markets with their exceptional high
cost-performance ratio. If Samsung doesn’t lower
its price, its market share will further decline,”
Wang said.
Wang, however, said Chinese smartphone
makers can hardly be expected to dominate the
global arena.
“The dominance of Samsung is partly
attributed to its strong supply chain, and the
success of Apple is because of its IOS system.
Although Chinese smartphone makers have made
certain progress in core technologies, they still
have a long way to go,” Wang said.
“Their status as top smartphone vendors
globally is backed by their enormous sales data in
Economic Affairs
China. The global market share of Chinese
smartphone makers combined is quite limited,”
Wang said.
“Huawei has developed its own patented
chips, but its supply chain lags far behind that of
Samsung’s. The sales volume of Xiaomi is
increasing rapidly, but its profit margin is very
thin, much lower than Samsung.”
Wang said a lack of global sales network and
patents will be major obstacles in the overseas
forays of Chinese smartphone brands.
For instance, when expanding overseas,
Xiaomi started from price-sensitive emerging
markets including India, Indonesia and Pakistan.
But even so, the company was sued in December
2014 by Ericsson AB for patent infringement
when it tried to expand in India, the world’s
second most populous country.
The absence of high-end smartphone models
is another reason why domestic makers can
hardly be expected to compete with Samsung
globally. Chinese smartphone makers are mainly
focused on models priced at below 2,000 yuan
($322).
“It’s hard to imagine that a smartphone maker
will be a global success without high-end models,”
Wang said.
“If they want to surpass Samsung, they need to
do three things first: set up a globalized sales
network, solve the patent problem and focus on
being the runner up to Samsung,” Wang. “To date,
no domestic maker has fulfilled the
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58
Economic Affairs
News From China February 2015
aforementioned.”
Li Yi, Secretary General of the China Mobile
Internet Industrial Association, said the
smartphone market as a whole will shrink in
coming years.
“Desktops used to be popular, but they were
replaced by laptops. Several years later, tablets
replaced laptops. Now, the tablet market is
dwindling. Once-popular consumer electronics
products will always be replaced after three to five
years,” Li said. “The smartphone will be no
exception.”
In several years, wearable devices will replace
smartphones, and the smartphone market as a
whole will shrink, said Li. “Realizing this, global
heavyweights like Apple and Google are all
transforming. Otherwise, they won’t have any
room for development in the future.”
“Although domestic smartphone makers are
prospering both at home and overseas, their
primetime can only last for three to five years. As
the technology further advances, smartphones
may not exist in the future. Its functions will be
integrated into a watch or a pair of glasses,” Li said.
Xiaomi
Xiaomi Inc. was founded in April 2010 by Lei
Jun and his friends in Beijing.
On August 16, 2011, Xiaomi’s first
smartphone debuted. In 2014, Xiaomi sold 61.12
million mobile phones in 2014, up 227 percent. It
hopes to sell 100 million units of smartphones
globally in 2015.
Xiaomi’s product portfolio has been expanded
to cover smartphones, tablets and televisions. Due
to Xiaomi’s success, Lei was named “China’s
Businessperson of the Year 2014" by Fortune
China.
Lenovo
Founded in 1984 in Beijing, Lenovo Group Ltd.
has become known to the world primarily as a
leading PC maker.
Lenovo bought IBM’s PC unit in 2005 for $1.25
billion and has become the world’s largest seller of
PCs since the third quarter of 2013 by overtaking
Hewlett-Packard (HP).
In April 2010, Lenovo launched its first
smartphone model. In the third quarter of 2014,
Lenovo ranked No.4 in global smartphone
shipment, accounting for 5.2 percent of the global
market share.
After it bought Motorola mobile handset
business from Google for $2.91 billion in October
2014, Lenovo claimed it ranked No.3 in
smartphone shipment volume globally. By using
Motorola as a springboard to North American and
Latin American markets, it plans to sell more than
100 million smartphones in 2015.
Huawei
Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., founded in
Shenzhen, south China’s Guangdong Province in
1987, is a leading information and communications technology solutions provider. Its telecom
network equipment, IT products and solutions,
and smart devices are used in 170 countries and
regions.
Huawei took over Ericsson AB to become the
largest telecom equipment manufacturer in the
world in 2013. It has invested heavily in
smartphones and accounted for 9 percent of
China’s smartphone market in the third quarter of
2014.
Double-Edged Sword
by Wang Jun
Finally the European Central Bank (ECB)
decided to follow the decision of Federal Reserve
(Fed) to print money massively. It is uncertain
whether the eurozone can brace powerful
recovery, just as the United States did after
quantitative easing (QE), but far away in China, the
yuan has been affected.
Mario Draghi, President of the ECB,
News From China February 2015
announced on January 22 that
the ECB would launch an
expanded asset purchase
program. Under this program,
the combined monthly
purchases of public and private
sector securities will amount to
60 billion euros ($68 billion).
The program will most likely be
in effect until the end of
September 2016 and will in any
case be conducted until the
inflation rate is close to 2
percent over the medium term.
This means that, altogether,
there will be nearly 1 trillion euros ($1.13 trillion)
in the market.
The euro fell sharply after the ECB unveiled
such a big QE program, falling to an 11-year low of
$1.13 on January 22. Driven up by the eurozone’s
QE, the central parity rate of the yuan
strengthened by 1,409 basis points to 6.9795
against the euro on January 23, the biggest daily
rise since November 2011 and lower than 7 yuan
for the first time in history, according to figures
from the China Foreign Exchange Trading System.
The launch of QE by the ECB, together with the
U.S. normalizing its monetary policy, will lead to a
stronger U.S. dollar, which may impose downward
pressure on the exchange rate of the yuan against
the U.S. dollar, said Pan Gongsheng, Vice Governor
of the People’s Bank of China (PBC), the country’s
central bank, at a press conference held by the
State Council Information Office on January 23.
Yuan Under Pressure
According to a report by Minsheng Securities
Co. Ltd., accelerated QE by central banks of Europe
and Japan will further depress the exchange rates
of the euro and Japanese yen; with strong
economic recovery and weakened easing
measure by the Fed, the U.S. dollar will become
stronger.
After the launch of QE by the ECB, the yuan’s
central parity rate weakened by 95 basis points to
Economic Affairs 59
6.1342 against the U.S. dollar on January 23,
according to the China Foreign Exchange Trading
System. The yuan’s rate against the U.S. dollar
continued to slump for a second trading day on
January 26, hitting the lowest level since June
2014.
The yuan faces depreciation pressure against
the U.S. dollar, but with intervention from the PBC,
the depreciation won’t be too significant. Further,
the yuan exchange rate against the U.S. dollar may
have two-way fluctuations. In the meantime, since
the yuan is unofficially pegged to the U.S. dollar, it
will accelerate appreciation against other
currencies.
“The European version of QE will bring more
capital to China, while the expected rate hike in the
United States may bring depreciation pressure to
the yuan,” said Deng Haiqing, chief analyst of CITIC
Securities Co. Ltd., when interviewed by National
Business Daily. “Under various pressures, it is still
uncertain if the yuan will appreciate or
depreciate.”
According to Deng, the depreciation of the
euro and the appreciation of the U.S. dollar will
both affect yuan’s exchange rate, and it is still
uncertain the yuan will appreciate or depreciate.
Since the PBC announced an interest rate cut
on November 21, 2014, the yuan has depreciated
rapidly. The PBC figures showed that in December
2014, the funds outstanding for foreign exchanges
60 Economic Affairs
fell by 128.91 billion yuan ($21 billion) from the
previous month, the biggest monthly fall since
December 2003. Deng said the sharp fall of funds
outstanding for foreign exchanges may be due to
the PBC’s intervention to alleviate the yuan’s
depreciation pressure.
“Judging from this, the Chinese central bank is
reluctant to see the depreciation of the yuan,” he
said, adding that the yuan’s depreciation may
impede the process of developing the Shanghai
free trade zone and making the yuan an
international currency. It is not logical that China
tries to spur exports by depreciating its currency.
A report on the Economic Information Daily
said that the European QE could intensify the
competitive depreciation of global currencies.
The yuan will also face more depreciation
pressure, but the depreciation won’t be
significant, and it may appreciate against other
currencies.
Lu Zhengwei, chief economist of Industrial
Bank Co. Ltd., holds different views. According to
him, the effective exchange rate of the yuan is not
at an equilibrium level now, and it has long been
overrated. This is also the basic reason why the
Chinese economy has not been able to recover as
quickly as expected. If the overrating can be
modified—through yuan’s depreciation—China
will easily resume economic growth above 7.5
percent. Lu has a bold estimation that the yuan
will depreciate as much as 5 percent this year.
Impact on China
Since the scale of this round of QE is much
bigger than expected, the euro is likely to continue
depreciating in the short term, strengthening the
U.S. dollar. As the yuan is unofficially pegged to the
U.S. dollar, appreciation of the U.S. dollar will also
push up the yuan’s exchange rate against other
currencies, imposing pressure on China’s exports.
In the long term, however, economic recovery
in the eurozone will increase China’s exports. In
2014, the EU remained China’s largest trading
partner. Trade volume between China and the EU
amounted to $615 billion in 2014, up 9.9 percent,
News From China February 2015
according to data from the General
Administration of Customs. Among the total,
China’s exports to the EU totaled $371 billion and
its imports from the EU totaled $244 billion, up 9.4
percent and 10.7 percent, respectively.
“The program will help boost the eurozone’s
economy, increase demand and potentially boost
China’s exports, because Europe is one of China’s
most important trading partners,” Pan said at the
conference.
The European QE is likely to further boost
investors’ confidence and devalue the euro.
Devaluation of the euro and decline of oil prices
will intensify the pressure of imported deflation in
China.
To address the possible risks of deflation and
the pressure on economic growth, the PBC may
further relax its monetary policy, predicted the
Economic Information Daily report. It is expected
that the Chinese Government will adopt relaxed or
diversified monetary policy tools to ensure stable
economic growth.
Meanwhile, the eurozone’s QE will further
undermine the euro’s position as the world’s
second largest reserve currency. On the other
hand, thanks to the yuan’s stable exchange rate,
China’s high growth speed and large economic
scale, its currency is expected to be accepted by
more international investors.
The ECB’s bond-buying plan will release a
huge amount of liquidity, which will weaken the
euro and force capitals to flow out and return to
the United States. “The large liquidity brought
forth by the new round of QE in the eurozone will
no doubt cause a spillover effect, and the
strengthening of the U.S. dollar’s exchange rate
will drive capital back to the United States. All this
will increase the uncertainty of the international
capital flow,” said Pan. The Economic Information
Daily report said that China may also receive some
of these capitals.
When the yuan’s use as a global currency
increases, the euronzone’s QE is likely to bring
new opportunities for the internationalization of
the yuan.
Culture & Life 61
News From China February 2015
CULTURE & LIFE
The Vitality of a Traditional Art
by Ding Ying
It’s on a Friday night.
Over 100 audience
members casually sip tea
while taking in the
performance of a comedic
dialogue showcasing the
traditional Chinese
linguistic art known as
xiangsheng, or crosstalk. Li
Kuan, a 28-year-old
crosstalk performer, and
his partner engage in
snappy interactions with
the audience while poking
fun at one another. Li seizes
everybody ’s attention
when he starts to imitate
the aria of a famous Peking Li Kuan (left) and his partner perform in a Beijing theater.
Opera master.
A ringtone blaring pop
person monologue, a two-person dialogue or a
music suddenly interrupts proceedings.
multi-person performance. Compared to Western
Unperturbed, Li Kuan ignores it and finishes his
stand-up comedy, crosstalk requires a greater
improvisation. “See, although the music
number of skills. Performance skills can be
accompaniment was wrong, my rhythm was still
divided into four categories: talking, imitating,
quite accurate, right?” He jokingly remarks to the
telling jokes and singing. This art form has
audience.
attained popularity, particularly in north China,
Li Kuan is representative of the new
owing to its ability to elicit giggles from
generation of crosstalk performers. In this
audiences—even radio audiences—instantly, and
generation, both performers and audiences have
showcase the unique charms of the Chinese
varying opinions on this performing art. But this is
language.
nothing new or especially alarming: The form has
“Crosstalk has gone through different periods
a long history of evolving with time.
of development,” senior crosstalk performer
Performance Anxiety
Crosstalk’s history can be traced back to
hundreds of years ago. It began as a folk art
involving singing and talking that originated in
north China. Initially, crosstalk was performed by
a sole actor. By the early 1910s, it developed basic
performance patterns. It can be staged as a single-
Meng Fangui said to Beijing Review. He recalled
that in the 1980s, crosstalk experienced a period
of blossoming. Many crosstalk masters emerged
and rose to prominence with their various
popular works, said Meng. With the development
of TV programs showcasing variety
entertainment, crosstalk became a kind of
entertainment mainly broadcast on TV instead of
62 Culture & Life
being performed live as it had
traditionally been. It was not until
the 2000s that the form entered a
new period of renaissance.
Meng pointed out that TV is a
double-edged sword for crosstalk.
On the one hand, TV has
popularized this performing art,
and opened it up to a whole new
audience who is for various
reasons unable to attend live
shows, Meng said. On the other
hand, the time constraints
inherent in TV broadcasting
negate the essence of a form that
Senior crosstalk
engages audiences in this manner, backstage.
he added. “Although this doesn’t
affect crosstalk’s performance
skills in an artistic sense, it destroys the
completeness of a crosstalk piece,” said Meng.
Generally, a complete crosstalk piece should
have an intricate structure comprising dozens of
minutes of performance. Actors deliver the punch
lines of their jokes in accordance with the
audience’s reactions and the dictates of comic
timing. “When a crosstalk piece is shortened into a
segment of a TV program, it has to omit a lot of the
content it should include,” Meng explained.
“Besides, people have so many entertainment
options now and their attention spans have
shortened.”
In 2003, veteran crosstalk actor Li Jindou
started an initiative entitled Getting Crosstalk
Back Into Theaters, believing this represents the
best way to revive crosstalk’s fortunes as a
performing art. Since then, watching crosstalk in
small theaters has become somewhat a craze in
Beijing. Every year, a national crosstalk contest is
hosted by Beijing TV.
Meng observes that younger generations have
better educational backgrounds than his
generation did. “I believe they will have a bright
future. The only thing I would plead of them is to
stay away from bad influences such as vulgarity or
drugs. Maybe the older generation will need to
learn from them in the future. Crosstalk is an art
that has continually evolved with each successive
generation,” he said.
News From China February 2015
actor Meng Fangui (second right) instructs young performers
The Next Generation
For Li Kuan, crosstalk performance is in his
blood, having been born into a family of
performers in Beijing. “I have been surrounded by
crosstalk every day since I was born. My family, my
relatives and my parents’ friends have all related
to this art. I have mastered most of the necessary
skills without special studies,” he told Beijing
Review.
Li Kuan is the apprentice of Li Jindou, who has
been a friend of the family since Li Kuan was a boy.
The obligation to inherit and develop this
linguistic art in his generation weighs heavily on Li
Kuan’s mind.
“Underlying its jokes, traditional crosstalk has
a hidden set of rules guiding performances that on
the face of it, seem to be random. A successful
crosstalk must have a core around which actors
adopt various kinds of skills,” Li Kuan explained.
“But many of today’s crosstalk pieces have a loose
structure. They taste like fast food instead of a
well-cooked dish.”
In June 2014, Li Kuan founded a crosstalk club
named Kuanhe Teahouse. This club performs on
average 15 times a month in four different small
theaters in Beijing. The club has 50 regular
performers, including five famous senior
performers. But it can sometimes play host to 70
performers, because many crosstalk masters like
Meng will give special performances at Li Kuan’s
News From China February 2015
Culture & Life 63
invitation.
“We are trying to combine
traditional performance skills
and rules with modern content.
In this way, this traditional art
can develop into the new era,”
said Li Kuan. He said the club
doesn’t aim to make a profit but
acts as a vehicle to draw
audiences to enjoy the charm of
traditional crosstalk. Ticket
prices for his club’s shows are
highly affordable. There are
two different ticket prices, 50
yuan ($7.5) or 100 yuan ($15),
based on different seating
zones, with drinks included. On
occasion, the club even gives
out free tickets to attract a The crosstalk performers of younger generation.
greater audience. When the
asked him to teach me as his disciple. But my
cost of renting theaters is subtracted, the club can
master required that I spend over a year in
pay only a very limited salary to its members.
different theaters as a free audience member to
“Our performers are all diehard fans of this
train my sense of this art first. Then he believed I
traditional art. Some of them have other jobs, and
would be a qualified disciple and accepted me,”
they come to my club only for the valuable
recalled Jiang.
opportunity to perform in a theater and to attain
By day, Jiang is a performer in a large-scale
experience,” said Li Kuan. His own performing
amusement park. He is still a trainee. Song has
partner is the student of a well-known Peking
been performing in the club since it was founded.
Opera performer. Traditional crosstalk requires
He also has a job at a wedding planning company.
actors to be able to interact with the audience and
“The club has provided precious opportunities for
nimbly adjust their performances through close
young performers like me. The guidance of those
coordination with their partners, which calls for
successful crosstalk masters, even on very simple
ample experience of performing live, he said.
issues, can be of lifelong benefit to us,” Song said.
Song Xiaofeng and Jiang
To Song and Jiang, their
Shaofeng are two young
daytime jobs are merely a
players in Li Kuan’s club. They
way of meeting their
are the protégés of performers
everyday needs so they can
who themselves honed their
continue to pursue their true
craft under Li Jindou. Song was
passion of performing
born in 1990 in north China’s
crosstalk. Their most fervent
Hebei Province and Jiang was
desire now is to attain more
born 1987 in northeast China’s
income from performing
Heilongjiang Province. In the
crosstalk so that they may
beginning, both of them were
concentrate on refining their
merely avid fans of their
skills in a performing art
masters.
with which they have fallen
“I was obsessed with my
in love.
master’s performances and
News From China February 2015
64 Culture & Life
Traditional Opera　Arts　of　Hunan　Province　by Ding Ying
Central China’s Hunan
Province has a long history of
outstanding opera culture.
To d a y, H u n a n ’ s o p e r a
traditions have become part of
its intangible cultural heritage,
and local operas continue to
develop and evolve.
A Rich Repertoire
There are 19 major kinds of
local operas in Hunan. These
operas not only reflect the wide
variety of cultural traditions in
the province, but also have
connections to Buddhism,
Taoism, Confucianism and
local religions.
Two performers act in a scene from a　traditional　Hunan　Opera　play．
Hunan’s long-form operas,
such as Hunan Opera, Hunan
rebuilt based on local culture.
Kunqu Opera and Qiju Opera, have been
Hunan Opera is popular in east Hunan and the
influenced by many of China’s other schools of
neighboring Jiangxi and Guangdong provinces. It
opera. However, they have been restructured and
originated during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
Originally, the plays would
be love stories or based on
morality tales. However, in
the 1910s and during World
War II, many new plays were
created to call for
democratic revolution and
to rise up against Japanese
aggression. In recent
decades, the local
government has tried to
revive this tradition by
organizing veteran
performers in collecting and
preserving the art form’s
traditional works. In May
Actresses　of　Hunan　Kunqu　Opera．　News From China February 2015
Culture & Life 65
2006, Hunan Opera was
included in China’s first
batch of state-level
intangible cultural
heritage. Now Hunan
Opera has around 700 fulllength plays, and a further
500 incomplete ones.
Hunan Kunqu Opera is
a particularly interesting
branch of Kunqu Opera.
After Kunqu Opera was
brought to Hunan from the
late 16th century to the
e a r l y 1 7 t h c e n t u r y,
stage　a　Hunan　Shadow　Play　show．
performers in the province Performers　combined local culture and
generally mimic actions which are part and parcel
dialect to form a unique addition to Chinese
of rural life in Hunan, such as picking tea, pushing
opera.
a hand mill and rowing boats.
Qiju Opera is another form of opera that
In addition to these better known schools of
Hunan people are proud of. This art form, which
opera, there are many minor forms of opera and
originated in southwest Hunan’s Qiyang, has a
stage performances in Hunan like puppetry and
history 400 years longer than that of Peking
shadow plays. Hunan Shadow Play was also
Opera. Since its inception, Qiju Opera has spread
honored in the first batch of China’s state-level
to Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous region, Jiangxi
intangible cultural heritage back in 2006.
Province, Fujian Province, Guizhou Province and
Heritage Preservation
even northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur
Zou has been study-ing local opera for
Autonomous Region, and influenced local operas
decades. According to his figures, there are only
and plays in these areas.
nine professional Qiju Opera troupes today, 30
Huagu Opera is a short-form opera that
percent the number in 1983, and only five of
originated in popular folk tunes in Hunan in the
them are able to put on regular perform-ances.
18th century, though it gradually gained
The staging of Huagu Opera performances has
popularity in other provinces such as Hubei,
also waned, with only 11 active troupes left
Jiangxi, Anhui, Henan and Shaanxi. Zou Shiyi, a
today.
Smaller operas may not have a single
former researcher with the Hunan Institute of Art,
professional troupe dedicated to them.
suggested that farmers originally created the
Moreover, those troupes suffer from a lack of
opera as a form of recreation for the working day.
performers and lackluster audience turnouts.
He explained that, Huagu Opera, whose name
To Zou, there must be different protection
translates directly as “flower drum opera,” usually
measures for operas according to their current
features flowers from different seasons, the farm
states. He suggested that the government should
work of these seasons, and tales based around
encourage the development of operas that have
common folk. Its lyrics are generally happy and
audiences but can’t generate a profit. Zou also
humorous. The brisk dance moves of Huagu Opera
66 Culture & Life
News From China February 2015
stressed that operas that
espouse traditional cultural
values and are economically
viable must give priority to
training the next generation of
performers. To him, creating
new, modern plays instead of
i n s i s t i n g o n t ra d i t i o n a l
versions is of paramount
importance. It was suggested
by him that taking influence
from foreign operas and other
Chinese operas would be
helpful to Hunan’s local
operas.
Zou is optimistic about A scene of Hunan Huagu　Opera．
local operas’ future. In his
province.
view, traditional operas do not lack an audience.
Hunan’s local operas have benefited from
Moreover, the government has paid more and
such policies. Hunan Opera, for instance, went
more attention to traditional operas. It has set up
through a hard time owing to an influx of modern
intangible cultural heritage protection centers
culture a decade ago, according to Zhang Kelang,
throughout Hunan, which has in turn helped
head of the Provincial Theater of Hunan Opera.
provide capital and performers for traditional
Back then, it lacked both audiences and
operas. “Opera will neither wither, nor die,” Zou
performers. Zhang’s theater had only 37
said.
performers. “A full-size Hunan Opera play
To protect local operas, Hunan Province has
requires at least 100 participants. We couldn’t
also adopted many measures to create a good
give a complete performance of a traditional play
environment for their development, including
at that time,” Zhang recalled.
sponsoring regular
Zhang said the theater
performances of local
h a s r e c e ive d a h u g e
operas. For example, there
amount of financial
is a project called “public
support in recent years,
theater,” which provides
and it has invested 9
opportunities to nonmillion yuan ($1.5 million)
professional performers
into new plays and
and fans of different local
r e p a i r i n g
i t s
operas to perform in
infrastructure. The theater
public. The Hunan
has also trained 37 young
Government also
performers in the past 10
encourages traditional
years. “Now, they are the
opera troupes to give
hope and the future of
touring performances in
Hunan Opera,” said Zhang.
rural areas across the
News From China February 2015
Culture & Life
67
Swans Play in Yandunjiao Swan Lake
after Snowfall in Shandong　Swans play as snow falls in Yandunjiao Swan Lake after a snowfall in Rongcheng, east China's Shandong Province. The Swan Lake
is a major part of the Rongcheng　Nature　Reserve　for　Whooper　Swans　and　a　nest　for　thousands　of　migratory　swans　from　Siberia　to　spend　winter．　（
Xinhua／
Fan　Changguo）
News From China February 2015
68 Tibet Today
Tourists view swans in snow in Yandunjiao Swan Lake in Rongcheng, east China's Shandong Province. The Swan Lake is a major
part of the Rongcheng Nature Reserve for Whooper Swans and a nest for thousands of migratory swans from Siberia to spend
winter. (Xinhua/Fan Changguo)
TIBET TODAY
Tibetan Buddhism College Celebrates Losar
in Beijing
Beijing, Feb. 16 (China Tibet Online) Monks of
the High-level Tibetan Buddhism College of China
celebrated the forthcoming Tibetan New Year
(Losar) of the Wooden Sheep, as well as the
Chinese New Year in Beijing on Feb.15,2015.
Over 100 students and staff of the High-level
Tibetan Buddhism College of China participated
in the activity, including the table tennis matches,
basketball matches, tug-of-war competitions,
dart games, ring throwing games, word puzzles
and drum-beating with closed eyes.
The results of a Tibetan calligraphy
competition that was held earlier were also
released, and eight calligraphy works were
awarded prizes. It was the first time the college
held a Tibetan calligraphy competition to
celebrate the forthcoming Tibetan New Year.
Monks who won the various games received
vouchers to exchange for prizes such as
backpacks, dictionaries, pillows and toiletries for
daily use including towels, toothpaste, body wash
or shampoo. The college provides free room and
board for every monk; therefore they only need to
buy some articles of daily use.
Tibet Today
News From China February 2015
Wang Changyu,
executive vice president
of the High-level Tibetan
Buddhism College, wrote
many scrolls of New Year
greetings for the students
a n d te a c h e r s o f t h e
college. The Tibetanstyled New Year scrolls
are a necessity for Tibetan
New Year, similar with the
C h i n e s e N e w Ye a r,
however the traditional
Tibetan auspicious
patterns printed on them
make them different.
It is customary for the The monks of the High-level Tibetan Buddhism College of China holding a tug-of-war game to
students to celebrate the celebrate the Tibetan New Year (Losar) of the Wooden Sheep and the Chinese New Year, which will
fall on Feb.19, 2015．　Chinese lunar New Year
and the Tibetan New Year
go back during the four-month vacation in
(Losar) each year, and this year the two were
summer.
celebrated together in advance as the festivals will
At present there are three Tibetan Buddhism
fall on the same day.
classes in the College: one for the advanced “Tho
As the monks come from different TibetanRan Pa” degree and two for the “Nzhing Ram Ba”
inhabited areas in western China, it can be time
intermediate degree. The monk students of the
consuming for them to travel back and forth
College come from each of the different sects of
between different monasteries in Tibet and
Tibetan Buddhism, and from Bonism, which is the
Beijing. So they will not go back home for family
original religion of Tibet.
reunions during Losar, instead they will, as usual
Playing a word puzzle game．
Having a basketball match．
69
News From China February 2015
70 Tibet Today
The Life of Padma Chojor, a Layman Chams Artist
Text & Photo by Dralho
Editor’s note: In March 2013, A Comprehensive
Survey of the Economic and Social Development of
Early 21st Century Minority Areas in China started
in Beijing as a special project of the National Social
Sciences Fund as well as an important innovation
program with the Chinese Academy of Social
Sciences. The minority population exceeds 100
million in China, and the development of minority
areas relates directly with the building of an allround better off society by 2020 in pursuit of the
realization of the Chinese dream. This survey is
planned to shed new light on the conditions of all
aspects of social-economic development within
these areas and to assist the central government in
formulating their development plan. This “big
survey” has over 20 subprojects, most of which are
expected to be conducted in autonomous regions
like Tibet along with some autonomous counties
and ethnic townships. One subproject, a
comprehensive survey of the economic and social
development of Lhodra County in Tibet, was carried
out by 11 scholars from the Institute of Ethnology
and Anthropology at the Chinese Academy of Social
Sciences, the Institute of Economics at the Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences, the Tibet Academy of
Social Sciences, Tibet University, the Party School of
Tibet Autonomous Region, and Yunnan Minzu
University. In July of 2014, they went to Lhodra
County in Lhoka Prefecture to do fieldwork and
learn the social-economic development of the
county. They conducted a large number of home
visits in the town of Lhakhang and the other
townships of Ser, Penpa, and Drari and obtained
large amounts of relevant data.
Lhakhang is the oldest town in Lhodra County. It is
named after Kongting Lhakhang, a shrine built
during the reign of Songtsen Gampo to drive away
evil spirits. The shrine has gone through many
vicissitudes in its millennium of existence and still
stands in the heart of the town today, undergoing a
new round of renovation. Every day in
midsummer, a continuous stream of believers
from Qinghai and Sichuan drive a long way here to
The river valley of Lhodra.
worship.
There are three neighborhood communities
in the jurisdiction of Lhakhang: Lhakhang,
Dulu,and Moinqai. The Lhakhang neighborhood
community sits on the eastern mountain slope
close to where Lhodra River and Penpa River
meet. 776 people from 226 families live there.
Humid and densely forested, it is rich in resources.
Since ancient times, Lhakhang has been known for
its high-quality timber and woodwares as well as
for being a center of trade and commerce in
southern Tibet.
72-year-old Padma Chojor is a local celebrity
in the town of Lhakhang. He is a bearer of the
national-level intangible cultural heritage known
as Layman Chams. During my trip to research the
small-scale local border trade with Bhutan,
someone from the neighborhood community
recommended that I go and talk to Padma Chojor,
who went to Bhutan when he was young and knew
the history of the border trade very well.
On the afternoon of July 18, 2014,this reporter
paid a visit to Padma Chojor to hear him recount
News From China February 2015
his trips to Bhutan with his
father several decades ago
and also listen to him talk
about his life today.
“My name is Padma
Chojor. My family has been
living here for many
generations. My wife, Sonam
Lhadron, is 70. She was born
here, but her family was not
originally from here. Her
parents were poor
wanderers who were passing
by and decided to stay.
Lhakhang, which the locals
still refer to as Drupa, is very
close to Bhutan, only some The beautiful Lhakhang.
30 kilometers away. The two
sides have different climates and different
products. They have traded with each other since
ancient times. The trade link was the Lhodra river
valley, and the main trade season is fall and winter,
when the water level is relatively low, making it
easier to build temporary bridges across the river.
The two sides would both build bridges over the
rivers in their countries. It is said that 24wooden
bridges were required if all the roads were to be
linked, which would require some serious effort.
The governor of Lhakhang was responsible for
construction on our side, and he usually assigned
the work to one village. The experienced bridge
builders in the village would then start to work.
When all the bridges were finished, they would
chop down a big tree and drift it down the river.
When people on the other side of the river saw the
log, they would know the bridges were all ready,
and trade could then begin. The bridges at that
time were all rather low. Once spring came, the
river would rise and crash the wooden bridges,
rendering the valley impassable. New bridges
would then have to be rebuilt the next fall.
“The members of my family were subjects of
the Lhakhang Dzong and worked as corvée
laborers for the government. I had four brothers
and sisters. My family did own some land, but we
were taxed so heavily that we did not have enough
food, so we had to trade with the Bhutanese for
necessary food supplies. When I was about 7 or 8, I
Tibet Today
went to Bhutan with my father. We were in a team
of five, all of which were relatives. We walked
along the river driving the loaded donkeys. There
was no fixed trade spot in Bhutan. We just walked
along the upper reaches of the Lhunzi Zongguri
River looking for buyers with the highest bids.
Bhutan then was not unlike here, with tiny villages
of only several houses. The goods we carried were
mostly pulu, hats, dried fish (made from fish
caught in the Yamzhog Yumco by the people of
Nanggarze, which could be used for medicinal
purposes), and butter (the Buddhist Bhutanese do
not slaughter livestock, only eating pork or lamb
after the animals die of old age and almost free of
fat, leading to the people not having enough fat in
their diets), with us sometimes smuggling a little
bit of salt. Tibetan salt for Bhutanese rice was a
major item in bilateral trade then, but the
Lhakhang Dzong had a monopoly on the trade,
meaning non-government trade of salt and rice
was banned. The goods we took back consisted of
Bhutanese wooden bowls, wooden boxes, and
dyer’s madder (used by monks to dye their robes).
Sometimes we also smuggled in some rice and
corn, but this was punishable if discovered by
authorities. On my first trip, we brought back 25
metric pounds of rice on the two donkeys we
loaded with goods.
“Many Bhutanese came over to trade, too. In
winters, more than 200 of them would come.
71
72 Tibet Today
News From China February 2015
A view of Lhakhang Town.
There was no trading market here, either. The
Bhutanese all stayed in the villagers’ homes.
There were several big traders with close links
with the Bhutanese. The sister of the King of
Bhutan was also in trade, and she had a partner on
this side. Bhutanese merchants often traveled
back and forth between Tibet and Bhutan during
the trading season. The Khaju monastery located
above our village was in trade, as well, and it was
financially powerful. Its monks sometimes went
to Assam in India to purchase goods such as silk,
satin, and other fabrics.
“In the 1959 Tibetan rebellion, many people
fled the country through here. Later, the military
strengthened the border control, and there was a
gradual drop in trading activity. Since the start of
the Chinese economic reform, some Bhutanese
started to come in the summer again, but in
smaller groups than before. I heard that more of
them went to the commodity fair near the Sakhar
Guthok Monastery in Ser Township.
“In my younger days, I used to be a member of
the local militia and a leader of the village branch
of the Communist Youth League of China. Later, I
worked for 15 years in a power station. During my
tenure as a member of the local public security
committee, I joined the Communist Party of China.
My wife and I are both in our old age and have both
retired. We have 3.6864 square meters of land, but
we do not do farm work ourselves. Instead, we
lease the land to others on a yearly rent of 500
kilograms of wheat, which is more than enough for
us. For the two of us, our main job is to look after
our own orchard, which is full of apples, peaches,
and Sichuan peppers. We do not expect to make
any extra profit. It is just something for us to do. To
be able to see the fruit trees blossom and bear fruit
is a wonderful experience. Subsidies granted for
policy considerations from the state account for a
big chunk of our income. My wife and I are both
veteran CPC members and cadres (with Party
standings of more than 30 years), so each of us has
a monthly allowance of 300Yuan, adding up to
7,200 a year for the two of us. Those over the age of
60 receive a monthly pension of 55 Yuan, making
1,320 for us in a year. Border residents have a
yearly allowance of 1,200, so we also are able to
receive 2,400 for that. I was named a bearer of
autonomous region-level intangible cultural
heritage in 2011, receiving a yearly allowance of
5,000 Yuan. In 2013, I became a national-level
Tibet Today
News From China February 2015
bearer of intangible cultural heritage. Now I enjoy
an allowance of nearly 10,000 for that. So, in total
we have got, an income of almost 20,000 Yuan,
which is enough for us to lead a comfortable life.
“I have five children, two boys and three girls.
My elder son is an abbot of the Khaju Monastery;
the younger one is a driver. My three daughters
are all married now; their families are doing
pretty well and do not need our help. My priority
now is to teach some young men of the local
Layman Chams and make sure the art form can be
carried forward for future generations. Besides,
the village committee and the village Party branch
often come and seek our advice on village affairs.
We just tell it like it is. That is what we can do for
the village.
“In recent years, a working group has been
staying in the village. They have started various
construction projects here after consulting with
us, while also promoting government policies. In
the first year, they concentrated on developing
courtyard economy projects. They secured a fund
of 400,000 Yuan and used it to help villagers by
encouraging them to raise cows, Tibetan chickens,
and Tibetan pigs. In the second year, the focus was
on building the rural roads. Since many orchards
in the village were on the mountains, fruit could
only be moved by yaks or people, and there was a
big loss of fruit during transportation. Now that a
good road is built, we can transport fruit on trucks
Padma Chojor, Sonam Lhadron and the author.
Padma Chojor and his wife Sonam Lhadron.
and tractors. It’s faster and more efficient. This
year, their plan is to build sheds for livestock and
dig irrigation canals for orchards. These projects
are closely related to the villagers’ livelihood and
are welcomed by us all. We hope policies like this
can continue.
“Those who have been here all sing praise of
Lhakhang’s natural
beauty. They adore the
g re e n h i l l s a n d t h e
flowers everywhere. We
have been living here all
our lives,so we have
become kind of immune
to its beauty. As the saying
goes, the world is an
unpredictable place;
e ve r y t h i n g c h a n g e s .
Nevertheless, looking
back at the changes in the
past several decades, we
have nothing to complain
about. We are enjoying
our lives now.”
73
74
Flights Between China and India
ROUTING
News From China February 2015
FLIGHT NO.
DEPARTURE TIME
ARRIVAL TIME
FLIGHT DATES
(NOV2014-MAR2015)
New Delhi-Guangzhou
CZ3028
12:45
19:50
Daily
Guangzhou - NewDelhi
CZ3027
7:30
11:30
Daily
New Delhi-Guangzhou
CZ360
23:40
6:50+1
Daily
Guangzhou - NewDelhi
Cz359
18:50
22:30
Daily
Schedule of China Southern Airlines Flights (Summer Season)
ROUTING
FLIGHT NO.
DEPARTURE TIME
ARRIVAL TIME
FLIGHT DATES
(NOV2014-MAR2015)
New Delhi-Guangzhou
CZ3028
11:50
19:30
Daily
Guangzhou - NewDelhi
CZ3027
7:30
11:50
Daily
New Delhi-Guangzhou
CZ360
23:10
6:50+1
Daily
Guangzhou - NewDelhi
Cz359
18:50
22:10
Daily
China　Eastern　Time　Table
Delhi-Shanghai(Pudong)
Flight Number
Dep\
Arr
Frequency
Aircraft
1APR,2015-31OCT, 2015
MU564
0230
1100
Daily
Airbus
330-200
Shanghai(Pudong)-Delhi
Flight Number
Dep
Arr
Frequency
Aircraft
31MAR,2015-31OCT, 2015
MU563
2110
0125+1
Daily
Airbus
330-200
Kolkata-Kunming
Flight Number
Dep
Arr
Frequency
Aircraft
1APR,2015-31OCT, 2015
MU556
0035
0510
Daily
Boeing 737
Kunming-Kolkata
Flight Number
Dep
Arr
Frequency
Aircraft
1APR,2015-31OCT, 2015
Mu555
2355
2345
Daily
Boeing 737
Remarks
Shanghai
Pudong:
Terminal-1
Delhi IGI:
Terminal-3
Kolkata NSCBI:
Terminal-2
News From China February 2015
Flights Between China and India 75
Address and Contact Numbers of Chinese Airlines
76
News From China December 2014
Book Review
BOOK　REVIEW
Dear Readers,
China is attracting growing attention worldwide. The world wants to know what changes are in progress in
China, and what impact they will have on the rest of the world. To respond to rising international interest and to
enhance the rest of the world＇
s understanding of the Chinese government＇
s philosophy and its　domestic　and　foreign　policies, the State Council Information Office, the Party Literature Research Office of the Communist
Party of China　（
CPC）　Central Committee and the China International Publishing Group have worked together to
produce this book --- The Governance of China．
You can come to　get　the　book　for　FREE，　or　ask for a VPP service as you need.
Please email us　first　to　reserve　the book providing the serial No.　Hope　to　hear　from　you　in　the　coming　future．　Your　comments　and　suggestions　on　NFC　are　also　greatly welcome．
Editor
News From China
E-mail: [email protected]
Address: 50-D, Shantipath, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi-110021
Tel: 0091-11-26116683
FOREWORD
Since the 18th National Congress of the
Communist Party of China (CPC) held in November
2012, the new central leadership with Xi Jinping as
general secretary has led the whole Party and the
people of China in confronting the problems and
challengers they face: to drive reform and opening up
to a deeper level, to modernize the national
governance system, and to marshal their enormous
strength behind the Chinese Dream of the great
rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
As general secretary of the CPC Central
Committee and president of the People＇
s Republic of
China, Xi Jinping has delivered many speeches on a
broad range of issues. He has offered his thoughts,
views and judgments, and answered a series of
important theoretical and practical questions about
the　Party and the country in these changing times. His
speeches embody the philosophy of the new central leadership.
The book is a compilation of Xi Jinping＇
s major works from November 15,2012 to June
13,2014. It includes speeches, talks, interviews, instructions, and correspondence. The 79
pieces are arranged in 18 chapters, and notes are added to help readers understand China＇
s
social system, history and culture.
News From China February 2015
CCTV News 77
78
CRI CIBN
News From China February 2015
Postal Regd. No. DL-SW-1/4034/15-17
R.N.I. No. 47440/88
February 2015
A snow scenery of northeast China's Jilin Province.
Published, Printed and Edited by Mme. Xie Liyan on behalf of the Press Office of the Embassy of the People’s
Republic of China, 50-D, Shantipath, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi-110021. Tel: 26881249, Fax: 26882024
Printed at A.K. Printers, S-217, Bank Street, Munirka, New Delhi-110067, Ph: 9818114996
Chinese Embassy Website: http://in.china-embassy.org
Website of Foreign Ministry of China: www.mfa.gov.cn
www.fmprc.gov.cn
E-mail: [email protected]
E-mail:[email protected]
PDF Version of this Issue is available at http://in.china-embassy.org