Two sessions and trending topics on Douyin: National plan for 2022; Ukraine-Russia conflict
It has been a tumultuous few days. Much of the story in China, as in the rest of the globe, is centered on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. China responded to The New York Times’ article reporting the level of China's direct knowledge about Putin's military plan. On the sidelines, many Chinese soccer enthusiasts published pieces on social media honoring Roman Abramovich, who bought the soccer club Chelsea 19 years ago. Following the outbreak of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, the Russian owner chose to sell the club.
Meanwhile, big things are happening to China as well, which Ginger River thinks any China watcher still need to pay attention to despite the extraordinary situation the world is facing. For one thing, China’s ongoing 两会 “two sessions,” the annual sessions of the national legislature and the national political advisory body, are attracting international attention as they set the tone for a critical year.
The national legislature body is the 全国人大 National People's Congress (NPC), and the national political advisory refers to the 全国政协 National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). Key information and documents about the "two sessions" include the agenda of the NPC and CPPCC this year, and the Chinese and English version of the 政府工作报告 report on the work of the government delivered at the fifth session of the 13th NPC on Saturday, which were uploaded by my friend Wang Zichen (“Pekingnologist”) to Google Drive. (The official Chinese version of this report will be released by Xinhua News Agency/此报告以本次大会最后审议通过并由新华社公布的文本为准.)
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivers a government work report at the opening meeting of the fifth session of the 13th National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Saturday.
Ginger River found China Daily's summary of the highlights of the government work report useful:
Main targets for 2022
China sets its GDP growth target for 2022 at around 5.5 percent
China plans to create more than 11 million new jobs in 2022
China will maintain its CPI at around 3 percent in 2022
China plans to cut the ratio of its deficit to GDP to around 2.8 percent for the year of 2022
China aims to keep its grain output of over 650 million metric tons in 2022
China's tax refunds and cuts are expected to total around 2.5 trillion yuan (about $395 billion) this year
Fiscal, monetary policy for 2022
The fundamentals of China's economy remain unchanged, and they will maintain long-term growth
The Chinese government will keep its belt tightened and keep spending low to benefit the people
China's proactive fiscal policy should be more effectual, more targeted, and more sustainable
China will step up implementation of the prudent monetary policy in 2022
China's prudent monetary policy should be both flexible and appropriate, with reasonably ample liquidity being maintained
China will keep RMB exchange rate generally stable
China will take stronger action against monopolies and unfair competition to ensure a well-ordered and fair market environment
China will encourage financial institutions to lower real loan interest rates and cut fees
Social policy for 2022
China will improve measures for the three-child policy
China will continue its effective routine COVID-19 control to prevent inbound cases and domestic resurgences
China will fully consolidate and build on its achievements in poverty elimination
China will step up efforts to study and protect against virus variants, accelerate R&D of vaccines and effective medicines, and continue implementing vaccination programs
China will take well-ordered steps to achieve peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality
China will implement a 10-year action plan on basic research to ensure stable support for scientific and technological innovation over the long term
China seeks further improvement in the environment in 2022, with continued reduction in the discharge of major pollutants
China will ensure the area of farmland remains above the redline of 120 million hectares
China will crack down hard on the trafficking of women and children and protect their lawful rights and interests
China will continue improving the fairness and quality of education
Diplomacy for 2022
China will promote high-quality cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative
China will pursue the Global Development Initiative and promote the shared values of all humanity
China ready to contribute more to world peace, prosperity
Friday's top 10 trending topics on Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok) as of 8:00 p.m. (1200 GMT).
1.Russia and Ukraine agree on temporary ceasefire (Ginger River found the Chinese narrative somewhat misleading)
俄乌就临时停火达成一致
2.CPPCC spokesman responds to expectations for China's economy
政协发言人回应预期中国经济
3.Southerners should not go alone to restaurants for northeastern Chinese cuisine
南方人不要一个人去吃东北菜
4.NPC deputies and CPPCC members share motions and proposals submitted to "two sessions"
代表委员话两会
5.Flight to evacuate Chinese nationals from Ukraine takes off
直击乌克兰撤侨航班接同胞回家
6.Tsinghua’s deaf doctor candidate wins China's "Annual People Award"
清华失聪女博士当选感动中国人物
7.Foreign mercenaries in Ukraine will not be treated as Prisoners-of-War, warns Russian military
俄称在乌外籍雇佣军无战俘地位
8.Putin announces payments to families of fallen Russian soldiers
普京宣布向伤亡军人支付抚恤金
9.Russian media reports the charred wreck of Antonov AN-225, the world's biggest airplane
俄媒现场拍摄225残骸
10.Cat's owner responds to an incident in which the mother cat threw the kitten down the stairs
主人回应猫妈妈把小猫扔下楼
1.Russia and Ukraine agree on temporary ceasefire
俄乌就临时停火达成一致
Ginger River found the Chinese narrative on Douyin somewhat misleading as it sounded like Russia and Ukraine were ready for a temporary ceasefire across the country. According to Reuters, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said a temporary halt to fighting in select locations was also possible.
"That is, not everywhere, but only in those places where the humanitarian corridors themselves will be located, it will be possible to cease fire for the duration of the evacuation," he said.
Ginger River also noted that some Chinese netizens guessed that the ceasefire decision had something to do with the opening of the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games on Friday evening.
2.CPPCC spokesman responds to expectations for China's economy
政协发言人回应预期中国经济
China's long-term economic fundamentals remain sound and unchanged, Guo Weimin, spokesperson for the fifth session of the 13th National Committee of the CPPCC said Thursday.
China's economy kept its stable recovery last year. The country's GDP in 2021 expanded 8.1 percent to 114.4 trillion yuan (about 18 trillion U.S. dollars), while its GDP per capita rose to 12,500 U.S. Dollars, Guo said when answering questions at a press conference.
But Guo acknowledged that as the external environment has become more complex and uncertain, the economy faces severe challenges, reported Xinhua.
3.Southerners should not go alone to restaurants of northeastern Chinese cuisine
南方人不要一个人去吃东北菜
The amount of dishes served in restaurants of northeastern Chinese cuisine is generally considered to be significantly more than the amount served in southern restaurants. As a result, it is very common for southerners to order more than the amount of food they can eat when they go to restaurants for northeastern Chinese cuisine. Therefore, some bloggers shoot videos to remind southerners not to go alone to order northeastern Chinese food.
4.NPC deputies and CPPCC members share motions and proposals submitted to "two sessions"
代表委员话两会
NPC deputies and CPPCC members shoot videos to share their motions and proposals to netizens on Douyin.
Lei Jun shows his proposals on Douyin
For instance, Lei Jun, a deputy to the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) and founder and CEO of Xiaomi, a leading smartphone manufacturer, submitted four proposals to the conference. They are “Proposals on Building a Carbon Footprint Accounting System for New Energy Vehicles,”“Proposals on Accelerating the Construction of High-Power Fast Charging Infrastructure for New Energy Vehicles,” “Proposals on Further Strengthening the Recycling of Electronic Waste” and “Suggestions on Promoting Private Enterprises’ In-depth Participation in Social Welfare and Charity.”
At the end of March last year, Xiaomi officially announced its entry into the new energy vehicle industry.
Chinese media also put some English interview online. For example, CGTN reporter spoke with Zhou Hongyi, a Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Thirteenth National Committee member. Zhou is also the chairman of internet security firm 360 Group. The interview was about China’s digital Economy.
Group interviews were also available on Youtube: Live: The second group interview of CPPCC members -- CGTN
5.Flight to evacuate Chinese nationals from Ukraine takes off
直击乌克兰撤侨航班接同胞回家
The first flight to evacuate Chinese nationals from Ukraine arrived China on Saturday morning, according to Xinhua. There have been reports on Chinese people getting injured on their way to leave Ukraine. China's foreign ministry has confirmed one case so far.
"A Chinese national was injured by a gunshot while evacuating on his own on March 1 Beijing nighttime," spokesman Wang Wenbin told a regular daily media briefing, adding that the person was not in critical danger on Wednesday. -- Reuters
Prior to the conflict, there were around 6,000 Chinese citizens in Ukraine.
6.Tsinghua’s deaf doctor candidate wins China's "Annual People Award"
清华失聪女博士当选感动中国人物
Jiang Mengnan, who has been deaf in both ears since she was a child and is now pursuing a Ph.D. in bioinformatics at Tsinghua University, won China's "Annual People Award," or 感动中国 "Touching China" award, for 2022, a national prize recognizing those who took part in events that touched people nationwide. Every year since 2002, China Central Television honors 10 persons or teams as China's most inspiring and extraordinary role models.
Jiang has learned "hearing" and "speaking" by reading lip language since she was a child. After years of assiduous study and hard effort, Jiang became the only student in her hometown admitted to a key university, and she eventually moved to Tsinghua University to pursue a Ph.D. in bioinformatics with the purpose of reducing life and health problems.
7.Foreign mercenaries in Ukraine will not be treated as Prisoners-of-War, warns Russian military
俄称在乌外籍雇佣军无战俘地位
8.Putin announces payments to families of fallen Russian soldiers
普京宣布向伤亡军人支付抚恤金
9.Russian media reports the charred wreck of Antonov AN-225, the world's biggest airplane
俄媒现场拍摄225残骸
10.Cat's owner responds to an incident in which the mother cat threw the kitten down the stairs
主人回应猫妈妈把小猫扔下楼
A video of a mother cat throwing a kitten down the stairs, which was luckily retrieved by the pet's owner, went viral on Douyin. The owner released another video later responding to that, saying that it was just an accident, and she didn't think the mother cat did it on purpose. She had comforted the worried mother cat. Both the mother cat and the kitten are safe and healthy.
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